[ {"source_document": "", "creation_year": 1807, "culture": " English\n", "content": "Produced by Mary Munarin and David Widger\nA RESIDENCE IN FRANCE,\nDURING THE YEARS\nDESCRIBED IN A SERIES OF LETTERS\nFROM AN ENGLISH LADY;\nWith General And Incidental Remarks\nOn The French Character And Manners.\nPrepared for the Press\nBy John Gifford, Esq.\nAuthor of the History of France, Letter to Lord\nLauderdale, Letter to the Hon. T. Erskine, &c.\nSecond Edition.\n_Plus je vis l'Etranger plus j'aimai ma Patrie._\n--Du Belloy.\nLondon: Printed for T. N. Longman, Paternoster Row. 1797.\nAmiens, Jan. 23, 1795.\nNothing proves more that the French republican government was originally\nfounded on principles of despotism and injustice, than the weakness and\nanarchy which seem to accompany every deviation from these principles.\nIt is strong to destroy and weak to protect: because, deriving its\nsupport from the power of the bad and the submission of the timid, it is\ndeserted or opposed by the former when it ceases to plunder or oppress--\nwhile the fears and habits of the latter still prevail, and render them\nas unwilling to defend a better system as they have been to resist the\nworst possible.\nThe reforms that have taken place since the death of Robespierre, though\nnot sufficient for the demands of justice, are yet enough to relax the\nstrength of the government; and the Jacobins, though excluded from\nauthority, yet influence by the turbulence of their chiefs in the\nConvention, and the recollection of their past tyranny--against the\nreturn of which the fluctuating politics of the Assembly offer no\nsecurity. The Committees of Public Welfare and General Safety (whose\nmembers were intended, according to the original institution, to be\nremoved monthly) were, under Robespierre, perpetual; and the union they\npreserved in certain points, however unfavourable to liberty, gave a\nvigour to the government, of which from its conformation it should appear\nto have been incapable. It is now discovered, that an undefined power,\nnot subject to the restriction of fixed laws, cannot remain long in the\nsame hands without producing tyranny. A fourth part of the Members of\nthese Committees are, therefore, now changed every month; but this\nregulation, more advantageous to the Convention than the people, keeps\nalive animosities, stimulates ambition, and retains the country in\nanxiety and suspense; for no one can guess this month what system may be\nadopted the next--and the admission of two or three new Jacobin members\nwould be sufficient to excite an universal alarm.\nWe watch these renewals with a solicitude inconceivable to those who\nstudy politics as they do a new opera, and have nothing to apprehend from\nthe personal characters of Ministers; and our hopes and fears vary\naccording as the members elected are Moderates, Doubtfuls, or decided\nMountaineers.*\n * For instance, Carnot, whose talents in the military department\n obliged the Convention (even if they had not been so disposed) to\n forget his compliances with Robespierre, his friendship for Barrere\n and Collot, and his eulogiums on Carrier.\n--This mixture of principles, which intrigue, intimidation, or\nexpediency, occasions in the Committees, is felt daily; and if the\nlanguor and versatility of the government be not more apparent, it is\nthat habits of submission still continue, and that the force of terror\noperates in the branches, though the main spring be relaxed. Were armies\nto be raised, or means devised to pay them now, it could not be done;\nthough, being once put in motion, they continue to act, and the\nrequisitions still in a certain degree supply them.\nThe Convention, while they have lost much of their real power, have also\nbecome more externally contemptible than ever. When they were overawed\nby the imposing tone of their Committees, they were tolerably decent; but\nas this restraint has worn off, the scandalous tumult of their debates\nincreases, and they exhibit whatever you can imagine of an assemblage of\nmen, most of whom are probably unacquainted with those salutary forms\nwhich correct the passions, and soften the intercourse of polished\nsociety. They question each other's veracity with a frankness truly\ndemocratic, and come fraternally to \"Touchstone's seventh remove\" at\nonce, without passing any of the intermediate progressions. It was but\nlately that one Gaston advanced with a stick in full assembly to thresh\nLegendre; and Cambon and Duhem are sometimes obliged to be holden by the\narms and legs, to prevent their falling on Tallien and Freron. I\ndescribed scenes of this nature to you at the opening of the Convention;\nbut I assure you, the silent meditations of the members under Robespierre\nhave extremely improved them in that species of eloquence, which is not\nsusceptible of translation or transcription. We may conclude, that these\nlicences are inherent to a perfect democracy; for the greater the number\nof representatives, and the nearer they approach to the mass of the\npeople, the less they will be influenced by aristocratic ceremonials. We\nhave, however, no interest in disputing the right of the Convention to\nuse violence and lavish abuse amongst themselves; for, perhaps, these\nscenes form the only part of their journals which does not record or\napplaud some real mischief.\nThe French, who are obliged to celebrate so many aeras of revolution, who\nhave demolished Bastilles and destroyed tyrants, seem at this moment to\nbe in a political infancy, struggling against despotism, and emerging\nfrom ignorance and barbarity. A person unacquainted with the promoters\nand objects of the revolution, might be apt to enquire for what it had\nbeen undertaken, or what had been gained by it, when all the manufactured\neloquence of Tallien is vainly exerted to obtain some limitation of\narbitrary imprisonment--when Freron harangues with equal labour and as\nlittle success in behalf of the liberty of the press; while Gregoire\npleads for freedom of worship, Echasseriaux for that of commerce, and all\nthe sections of Paris for that of election.*\n * It is to be observed, that in these orations all the decrees\n passed by the Convention for the destruction of commerce and\n religion, are ascribed to the influence of Mr. Pitt.--\"La libertedes\n cultes existe en Turquie, elle n'existe point en France. Le peuple\n y est prive d'un droit donc on jouit dans les etats despotiques\n memes, sous les regences de Maroc et d'Algers. Si cet etat de\n choses doit perseverer, ne parlons plus de l'inquisition, nous en\n avons perdu le droit, car la liberte des cultes n'est que dans les\n decrets, et la persecution tiraille toute la France.\n \"Cette impression intolerante aurait elle ete (suggeree) par le\n cabinet de St. James?\"\n \"In Turkey the liberty of worship is admitted, though it does not\n exist in France. Here the people are deprived of a right common to\n the most despotic governments, not even excepting those of Algiers\n and Morocco.--If things are to continue in this state, let us say no\n more about the Inquisition, we have no right, for religious liberty\n is to be found only in our decrees, while, in truth, the whole\n country is exposed to persecution.\n \"May not these intolerant notions have been suggested by the Cabinet\n of St. James?\"\n Gregoire's Report on the Liberty of Worship.\n--Thus, after so many years of suffering, and such a waste of whatever is\nmost valuable, the civil, religious, and political privileges of this\ncountry depend on a vote of the Convention.\nThe speech of Gregoire, which tended to restore the Catholic worship, was\nvery ill received by his colleagues, but every where else it is read with\navidity and applause; for, exclusive of its merit as a composition, the\nsubject is of general interest, and there are few who do not wish to have\nthe present puerile imitations of Paganism replaced by Christianity. The\nAssembly listened to this tolerating oration with impatience, passed to\nthe order of the day, and called loudly for Decades, with celebrations in\nhonour of \"the liberty of the world, posterity, stoicism, the republic,\nand the hatred of tyrants!\" But the people, who understand nothing of\nthis new worship, languish after the saints of their ancestors, and think\nSt. Francois d'Assise, or St. Francois de Sales, at least as likely to\nafford them spiritual consolation, as Carmagnoles, political homilies, or\npasteboard goddesses of liberty.\nThe failure of Gregoire is far from operating as a discouragement to this\nmode of thinking; for such has been the intolerance of the last year,\nthat his having even ventured to suggest a declaration in favour of free\nworship, is deemed a sort of triumph to the pious which has revived their\nhopes. Nothing is talked of but the restoration of churches, and\nreinstalment of priests--the shops are already open on the Decade, and\nthe decrees of the Convention, which make a principal part of the\nrepublican service, are now read only to a few idle children or bare\nwalls. [When the bell toll'd on the Decade, the people used to say it was\nfor La messe du Diable--The Devil's mass.]--My maid told me this morning,\nas a secret of too much importance for her to retain, that she had the\npromise of being introduced to a good priest, (un bon pretre, for so the\npeople entitle those who have never conformed,) to receive her confession\nat Easter; and the fetes of the new calendar are now jested on publicly\nwith very little reverence.\nThe Convention have very lately decreed themselves an increase of pay,\nfrom eighteen to thirty-six livres. This, according to the comparative\nvalue of assignats, is very trifling: but the people, who have so long\nbeen flattered with the ideas of partition and equality, and are now\nstarving, consider it as a great deal, and much discontent is excited,\nwhich however evaporates, as usual, in the national talent for bon mots.\nThe augmentation, though an object of popular jealousy, is most likely\nvalued by the leading members only as it procures them an ostensible\nmeans of living; for all who have been on missions, or had any share in\nthe government, have, like Falstaff, \"hid their honour in their\nnecessities,\" and have now resources they desire to profit by, but cannot\ndecently avow.\nThe Jacobin party have in general opposed this additional eighteen\nlivres, with the hope of casting an odium on their adversaries; but the\npeople, though they murmur, still prefer the Moderates, even at the\nexpence of paying the difference. The policy of some Deputies who have\nacquired too much, or the malice of others who have acquired nothing, has\nfrequently proposed, that every member of the Convention should publish\nan account of his fortune before and since the revolution. An\nenthusiastic and acclamatory decree of assent has always insued; but\nsomehow prudence has hitherto cooled this warmth before the subsequent\ndebate, and the resolution has never yet been carried into effect.\nThe crimes of Maignet, though they appear to occasion but little regret\nin his colleagues, have been the source of considerable embarrassment to\nthem. When he was on mission in the department of Vaucluse, besides\nnumberless other enormities, he caused the whole town of Bedouin to be\nburnt, a part of its inhabitants to be guillotined, and the rest\ndispersed, because the tree of liberty was cut down one dark night, while\nthey were asleep.*\n * Maignet's order for the burning of Bedouin begins thus: \"Liberte,\n egalite, au nom du peuple Francais!\" He then states the offence of\n the inhabitants in suffering the tree of liberty to be cut down,\n institutes a commission for trying them, and proceeds--\"It is hereby\n ordered, that as soon as the principal criminals are executed, the\n national agent shall notify to the remaining inhabitants not\n confined, that they are enjoined to evacuate their dwellings, and\n take out their effects in twenty-four hours; at the expiration of\n which he is to commit the town to the flames, and leave no vestige\n of a building standing. Farther, it is forbidden to erect any\n building on the spot in future, or to cultivate the soil.\"\n \"Done at Avignon, the 17th Floreal.\"\n The decree of the Convention to the same effect passed about the 1st\n of Floreal. Merlin de Douai, (Minister of Justice in 1796,)\n Legendre, and Bourdon de l'Oise, were the zealous defenders of\n Maignet on this occasion.\n--Since the Assembly have thought it expedient to disavow these\nrevolutionary measures, the conduct of Maignet has been denounced, and\nthe accusations against him sent to a commission to be examined. For a\nlong time no report was made, till the impatience of Rovere, who is\nMaignet's personal enemy, rendered a publication of the result\ndispensable. They declared they found no room for censure or farther\nproceedings. This decision was at first strongly reprobated by the\nModerates; but as it was proved, in the course of the debate, that\nMaignet was authorized, by an express decree of the Convention, to burn\nBedouin, and guillotine its inhabitants, all parties soon agreed to\nconsign the whole to oblivion.\nOur clothes, &c. are at length entirely released from sequestration, and\nthe seals taken off. We are indebted for this act of justice to the\nintrigues of Tallien, whose belle Espagnole is considerably interested.\nTallien's good fortune is so much envied, that some of the members were\nlittle enough to move, that the property of the Spanish Bank of St.\nCharles (in which Madame T----'s is included) should be excepted from the\ndecree in favour of foreigners. The Convention were weak enough to\naccede; but the exception will, doubtless, be over-ruled.\nThe weather is severe beyond what it has been in my remembrance. The\nthermometer was this morning at fourteen and a half. It is, besides,\npotentially cold, and every particle of air is like a dart.--I suppose\nyou contrive to keep yourselves warm in England, though it is not\npossible to do so here. The houses are neither furnished nor put\ntogether for the climate, and we are fanned by these congealing winds, as\nthough the apertures which admit them were designed to alleviate the\nardours of an Italian sun.\nThe satin hangings of my room, framed on canvas, wave with the gales\nlodged behind them every second. A pair of \"silver cupids, nicely poised\non their brands,\" support a wood fire, which it is an occupation to keep\nfrom extinguishing; and all the illusion of a gay orange-grove pourtrayed\non the tapestry at my feet, is dissipated by a villainous chasm of about\nhalf an inch between the floor and the skirting-boards. Then we have so\nmany corresponding windows, supernumerary doors, \"and passages that lead\nto nothing,\" that all our English ingenuity in comfortable arrangement is\nbaffled.--When the cold first became so insupportable, we attempted to\nlive entirely in the eating-room, which is warmed by a poele, or German\nstove, but the kind of heat it emits is so depressive and relaxing to\nthose who are not inured to it, that we are again returned to our large\nchimney and wood-fire.--The French depend more on the warmth of their\nclothing, than the comfort of their houses. They are all wadded and\nfurred as though they were going on a sledge party, and the men, in this\nrespect, are more delicate than the ladies: but whether it be the\nconsequence of these precautions, or from any other cause, I observe they\nare, in general, without excepting even the natives of the Southern\nprovinces, less sensible of cold than the English.\nAmiens, Jan. 30, 1795.\nDelacroix, author of _\"Les Constitutions Politiques de l'Europe,\"_ [The\nPolitical Constitutions of Europe.] has lately published a work much\nread, and which has excited the displeasure of the Assembly so highly,\nthat the writer, by way of preliminary criticism, has been arrested. The\nbook is intitled _\"Le Spectateur Francais pendant la Revolution.\"_ [The\nFrench Spectator during the Revolution.] It contains many truths, and\nsome speculations very unfavourable both to republicanism and its\nfounders. It ventures to doubt the free acceptance of the democratic\nconstitution, proposes indirectly the restoration of the monarchy, and\ndilates with great composure on a plan for transporting to America all\nthe Deputies who voted for the King's death. The popularity of the work,\nstill more than its principles, has contributed to exasperate the\nAssembly; and serious apprehensions are entertained for the fate of\nDelacroix, who is ordered for trial to the Revolutionary Tribunal.\nIt would astonish a superficial observer to see with what avidity all\nforbidden doctrines are read. Under the Church and Monarchy, a deistical\nor republican author might sometimes acquire proselytes, or become the\nfavourite amusement of fashionable or literary people; but the\ncirculation of such works could be only partial, and amongst a particular\nclass of readers: whereas the treason of the day, which comprises\nwhatever favours Kings or religion, is understood by the meanest\nindividual, and the temptation to these prohibited enjoyments is assisted\nboth by affection and prejudice.--An almanack, with a pleasantry on the\nConvention, or a couplet in behalf of royalism, is handed mysteriously\nthrough half a town, and a _brochure_ [A pamphlet.] of higher\npretensions, though on the same principles, is the very bonne bouche of\nour political _gourmands_. [Gluttons.]\nThere is, in fact, no liberty of the press. It is permitted to write\nagainst Barrere or the Jacobins, because they are no longer in power; but\na single word of disrespect towards the Convention is more certain of\nbeing followed by a Lettre de Cachet, than a volume of satire on any of\nLouis the Fourteenth's ministers would have been formerly. The only\nperiod in which a real freedom of the press has existed in France were\nthose years of the late King's reign immediately preceding the\nrevolution; and either through the contempt, supineness, or worse\nmotives, of those who should have checked it, it existed in too great a\ndegree: so that deists and republicans were permitted to corrupt the\npeople, and undermine the government without restraint.*\n * It is well known that Calonne encouraged libels on the Queen, to\n obtain credit for his zeal in suppressing them; and the culpable\n vanity of Necker made made him but too willing to raise his own\n reputation on the wreck of that of an unsuspecting and unfortunate\n Monarch.\nAfter the fourteenth of July 1789, political literature became more\nsubject to mobs and the lanterne, than ever it had been to Ministers and\nBastilles; and at the tenth of August 1792, every vestige of the liberty\nof the press disappeared.*--\n * \"What impartial man among us must not be forced to acknowledge,\n that since the revolution it has become dangerous for any one, I\n will not say to attack the government, but to emit opinions contrary\n to those which the government has adopted.\"\n Discours de Jean Bon St. Andre sur la Liberte de la Presse, 30th\n A law was passed on the first of May, 1795, a short time after this\n letter was written, making it transportation to vilify the National\n Representation, either by words or writing; and if the offence were\n committed publicly, or among a certain number of people, it became\n capital.\n--Under the Brissotins it was fatal to write, and hazardous to read, any\nwork which tended to exculpate the King, or to censure his despotism, and\nthe massacres that accompanied and followed it.*--\n * I appeal for the confirmation of this to every person who resided\n in France at that period.\n--During the time of Robespierre the same system was only transmitted to\nother hands, and would still prevail under the Moderates, if their\ntyranny were not circumscribed by their weakness. It was some time\nbefore I ventured to receive Freron's Orateur du Peuple by the post.\nEven pamphlets written with the greatest caution are not to be procured\nwithout difficulty in the country; and this is not to be wondered at when\nwe recollect how many people have lost their lives through a subscription\nto a newspaper, or the possession of some work, which, when they\npurchased it, was not interdicted.\nAs the government has lately assumed a more civilized cast, it was\nexpected that the anniversary of the King's death would not have been\ncelebrated. The Convention, however, determined otherwise; and their\nmusical band was ordered to attend as usual on occasions of festivity.\nThe leader of the band had perhaps sense and decency enough to suppose,\nthat if such an event could possibly be justified, it never could be a\nsubject of rejoicing, and therefore made choice of melodies rather tender\nthan gay. But this Lydian mood, far from having the mollifying effect\nattributed to it by Scriblerus, threw several Deputies into a rage; and\nthe conductor was reprimanded for daring to insult the ears of the\nlegislature with strains which seemed to lament the tyrant. The\naffrighted musician begged to be heard in his defence; and declaring he\nonly meant, by the adoption of these gentle airs, to express the\ntranquillity and happiness enjoyed under the republican constitution,\nstruck off Ca Ira.\nWhen the ceremony was over, one Brival proposed, that the young King\nshould be put to death; observing that instead of the many useless crimes\nwhich had been committed, this ought to have had the preference. The\nmotion was not seconded; but the Convention, in order to defeat the\npurposes of the royalists, who, they say, increase in number, have\nordered the Committees to consider of some way of sending this poor child\nout of the country.\nWhen I reflect on the event which these men have so indecently\ncommemorated, and the horrors which succeeded it, I feel something more\nthan a detestation for republicanism. The undefined notions of liberty\nimbibed from poets and historians, fade away--my reverence for names long\nconsecrated in our annals abates--and the sole object of my political\nattachment is the English constitution, as tried by time and undeformed\nby the experiments of visionaries and impostors. I begin to doubt either\nthe sense or honesty of most of those men who are celebrated as the\npromoters of changes of government which have chiefly been adopted rather\nwith a view to indulge a favourite theory, than to relieve a people from\nany acknowledged oppression. A wise or good man would distrust his\njudgment on a subject so momentous, and perhaps the best of such\nreformers were but enthusiasts. Shaftesbury calls enthusiasm an honest\npassion; yet we have seen it is a very dangerous one: and we may perhaps\nlearn, from the example of France, not to venerate principles which we do\nnot admire in practice.*\n * I do not imply that the French Revolution was the work of\n enthusiasts, but that the enthusiasm of Rousseau produced a horde of\n Brissots, Marats, Robespierres, &c. who speculated on the\n affectation of it. The Abbe Sieyes, whose views were directed to a\n change of Monarchs, not a dissolution of the monarchy, and who in\n promoting a revolution did not mean to found a republic, has\n ventured to doubt both the political genius of Rousseau, and the\n honesty of his sectaries. These truths from the Abbe are not the\n less so for our knowing they would not be avowed if it answered his\n purpose to conceal them.--_\"Helas! un ecrivain justement celebre qui\n seroit mort de douleur s'il avoit connu ses disciples; un philosophe\n aussi parfait de sentiment que foible de vues, n'a-t-il pas dans ses\n pages eloquentes, riches en detail, pauvre au fond, confondu\n lui-meme les principes de l'art social avec les commencemens de la\n societe humaine? Que dire si l'on voyait dans un autre genre de\n mechaniques, entreprendre le radoub ou la construction d'un vaisseau\n de ligne avec la seule theorie, avec les seules resources des\n Sauvages dans la construction de leurs Pirogues!\"_--\"Alas! has not a\n justly-celebrated writer, who would have died with grief, could he\n have known what disciples he was destined to have;--a philosopher as\n perfect in sentiment as feeble in his views,--confounded, in his\n eloquent pages--pages which are as rich in matter as poor in\n substance--the principles of the social system with the commencement\n of human society? What should we say to a mechanic of a different\n description, who should undertake the repair or construction of a\n ship of the line, without any practical knowledge of the art, on\n mere theory, and with no other resources than those which the savage\n employs in the construction of his canoe?\"\nWhat had France, already possessed of a constitution capable of rendering\nher prosperous and happy, to do with the adoration of Rousseau's\nspeculative systems? Or why are the English encouraged in a traditional\nrespect for the manes of republicans, whom, if living, we might not\nimprobably consider as factious and turbulent fanatics?*\n * The prejudices of my countrymen on this subject are respectable,\n and I know I shall be deemed guilty of a species of political\n sacrilege. I attack not the tombs of the dead, but the want of\n consideration for the living; and let not those who admire\n republican principles in their closets, think themselves competent\n to censure the opinions of one who has been watching their effects\n amidst the disasters of a revolution.\nOur slumbers have for some time been patriotically disturbed by the\ndanger of Holland; and the taking of the Maestricht nearly caused me a\njaundice: but the French have taught us philosophy--and their conquests\nappear to afford them so little pleasure, that we ourselves hear of them\nwith less pain. The Convention were indeed, at first, greatly elated by\nthe dispatches from Amsterdam, and imagined they were on the eve of\ndictating to all Europe: the churches were ordered to toll their only\nbell, and the gasconades of the bulletin were uncommonly pompous--but the\nnovelty of the event has now subsided, and the conquest of Holland\nexcites less interest than the thaw. Public spirit is absorbed by\nprivate necessities or afflictions; people who cannot procure bread or\nfiring, even though they have money to purchase it, are little gratified\nby reading that a pair of their Deputies lodged in the Stadtholder's\npalace; and the triumphs of the republic offer no consolation to the\nfamilies which it has pillaged or dismembered.\nThe mind, narrowed and occupied by the little cares of hunting out the\nnecessaries of life, and evading the restraints of a jealous government,\nis not susceptible of that lively concern in distant and general events\nwhich is the effect of ease and security; and all the recent victories\nhave not been able to sooth the discontents of the Parisians, who are\nobliged to shiver whole hours at the door of a baker, to buy, at an\nextravagant price, a trifling portion of bread.\n * \"Chacun se concentre aujourdhui dans sa famille et calcule ses\n resources.\"--\"The attention of every one now is confined to his\n family, and to the calculation of his resources.\"\n Discours de Lindet.\n \"Accable du soin d'etre, et du travail de vivre.\"--\"Overwhelmed with\n the care of existence, and the labour of living.\"\n St. Lambert\n--The impression of these successes is, I am persuaded, also diminished\nby considerations to which the philosopher of the day would allow no\ninfluence; yet by their assimilation with the Deputies and Generals whose\nnames are so obscure as to escape the memory, they cease to inspire that\nmixed sentiment which is the result of national pride and personal\naffection. The name of a General or an Admiral serves as the epitome of\nan historical relation, and suffices to recall all his glories, and all\nhis services; but this sort of enthusiasm is entirely repelled by an\naccount that the citizens Gillet and Jourbert, two representatives heard\nof almost for the first time, have taken possession of Amsterdam.\nI enquired of a man who was sawing wood for us this morning, what the\nbells clattered for last night. _\"L'on m'a dit_ (answered he) _que c'est\npour quelque ville que quelque general de la republique a prise. Ah! ca\nnous avancera beaucoup; la paix et du pain, je crois, sera mieux notre\naffaire que toutes ces conquetes.\"_ [\"They say its for some town or\nother, that some general or other has taken.--Ah! we shall get a vast\ndeal by that--a peace and bread, I think, would answer our purpose better\nthan all these victories.\"] I told him he ought to speak with more\ncaution. _\"Mourir pour mourir,_ [One death's as good as another.] (says\nhe, half gaily,) one may as well die by the Guillotine as be starved. My\nfamily have had no bread these two days, and because I went to a\nneighbouring village to buy a little corn, the peasants, who are jealous\nthat the town's people already get too much of the farmers, beat me so\nthat I am scarce able to work.\"*--\n * _\"L'interet et la criminelle avarice ont fomente et entretenu des\n germes de division entre les citoyens des villes et ceux des\n campagnes, entre les cultivateurs, les artisans et les commercans,\n entre les citoyens des departements et districts, et meme des\n communes voisines. On a voulu s'isoler de toutes parts.\"\n Discours de Lindet._\n \"Self-interest and a criminal avarice have fomented and kept alive\n the seeds of division between the inhabitants of the towns and those\n of the country, between the farmer, the mechanic, and the trader--\n the like has happened between adjoining towns and districts--an\n universal selfishness, in short, has prevailed.\"\n Lindet's Speech.\n This picture, drawn by a Jacobin Deputy, is not flattering to\n republican fraternization.\n--It is true, the wants of the lower classes are afflicting. The whole\ntown has, for some weeks, been reduced to a nominal half pound of bread a\nday for each person--I say nominal, for it has repeatedly happened, that\nnone has been distributed for three days together, and the quantity\ndiminished to four ounces; whereas the poor, who are used to eat little\nelse, consume each, in ordinary times, two pounds daily, on the lowest\ncalculation.\nWe have had here a brutal vulgar-looking Deputy, one Florent-Guyot, who\nhas harangued upon the virtues of patience, and the magnanimity of\nsuffering hunger for the good of the republic. This doctrine has,\nhowever, made few converts; though we learn, from a letter of\nFlorent-Guyot's to the Assembly, that the Amienois are excellent\npatriots, and that they starve with the best grace possible.\nYou are to understand, that the Representatives on mission, who describe\nthe inhabitants of all the towns they visit as glowing with\nrepublicanism, have, besides the service of the common cause, views of\ntheir own, and are often enabled by these fictions to administer both to\ntheir interest and their vanity. They ingratiate themselves with the\naristocrats, who are pleased at the imputation of principles which may\nsecure them from persecution--they see their names recorded on the\njournals; and, finally, by ascribing these civic dispositions to the\npower of their own eloquence, they obtain the renewal of an itinerant\ndelegation--which, it may be presumed, is very profitable.\nBeauvais, March 13, 1795.\nI have often, in the course of these letters, experienced how difficult\nit is to describe the political situation of a country governed by no\nfixed principles, and subject to all the fluctuations which are produced\nby the interests and passions of individuals and of parties. In such a\nstate conclusions are necessarily drawn from daily events, minute facts,\nand an attentive observation of the opinions and dispositions of the\npeople, which, though they leave a perfect impression on the mind of the\nwriter, are not easily conveyed to that of the reader. They are like\ncolours, the various shades of which, though discriminated by the eye,\ncannot be described but in general terms.\nSince I last wrote, the government has considerably improved in decency\nand moderation; and though the French enjoy as little freedom as their\nalmost sole Allies, the Algerines, yet their terror begins to wear off--\nand, temporizing with a despotism they want energy to destroy, they\nrejoice in the suspension of oppressions which a day or an hour may\nrenew. No one pretends to have any faith in the Convention; but we are\ntranquil, if not secure--and, though subject to a thousand arbitrary\ndetails, incompatible with a good government, the political system is\ndoubtless meliorated. Justice and the voice of the people have been\nattended to in the arrest of Collot, Barrere, and Billaud, though many\nare of opinion that their punishment will extend no farther; for a trial,\nparticularly that of Barrere, who is in the secret of all factions, would\nexpose so many revolutionary mysteries and patriotic reputations, that\nthere are few members of the Convention who will not wish it evaded; they\nprobably expect, that the seclusion, for some months, of the persons of\nthe delinquents will appease the public vengeance, and that this affair\nmay be forgotten in the bustle of more recent events.--If there had been\nany doubt of the crimes of these men, the publication of Robespierre's\npapers would have removed them; and, exclusive of their value when\nconsidered as a history of the times, these papers form one of the most\ncurious and humiliating monuments of human debasement, and human\ndepravity, extant.*\n * The Report of Courtois on Robespierre's papers, though very able,\n is an instance of the pedantry I have often remarked as so peculiar\n to the French, even when they are not deficient in talents. It\n seems to be an abstract of all the learning, ancient and modern,\n that Courtois was possessed of. I have the book before me, and have\n selected the following list of persons and allusions; many of which\n are indeed of so little use or ornament to their stations in this\n speech, that one would have thought even a republican requisition\n could not have brought them there:\n \"Sampson, Dalila, Philip, Athens, Sylla, the Greeks and Romans,\n Brutus, Lycurgus, Persepolis, Sparta, Pulcheria, Cataline, Dagon,\n Anicius, Nero, Babel, Tiberius, Caligula, Augustus, Antony, Lepidus,\n the Manicheans, Bayle and Galileo, Anitus, Socrates, Demosthenes,\n Eschinus, Marius, Busiris, Diogenes, Caesar, Cromwell, Constantine,\n the Labarum, Domitius, Machiavel, Thraseas, Cicero, Cato,\n Aristophanes, Riscius, Sophocles, Euripides, Tacitus, Sydney,\n Wisnou, Possidonius, Julian, Argus, Pompey, the Teutates, Gainas,\n Areadius, Sinon, Asmodeus, Salamanders, Anicetus, Atreus, Thyestus,\n Cesonius, Barca and Oreb, Omar and the Koran, Ptolomy Philadelphus,\n Arimanes, Gengis, Themuginus, Tigellinus, Adrean, Cacus, the Fates,\n Minos and Rhadamanthus,\" &c. &c.\n Rapport de Courtois su les Papiers de Robespierre.\nAfter several skirmishes between the Jacobins and Muscadins, the bust of\nMarat has been expelled from the theatres and public places of Paris, and\nthe Convention have ratified this popular judgment, by removing him also\nfrom their Hall and the Pantheon. But reflecting on the frailty of our\nnature, and the levity of their countrymen, in order to obviate the\ndisorders these premature beatifications give rise to, they have decreed\nthat no patriot shall in future by Pantheonized until ten years after his\ndeath. This is no long period; yet revolutionary reputations have\nhitherto scarcely survived as many months, and the puerile enthusiasm\nwhich is adopted, not felt, has been usually succeeded by a violence and\nrevenge equally irrational.\nIt has lately been discovered that Condorcet is dead, and that he\nperished in a manner singularly awful. Travelling under a mean\nappearance, he stopped at a public house to refresh himself, and was\narrested in consequence of having no passport. He told the people who\nexamined him he was a servant, but a Horace, which they found about him,\nleading to a suspicion that he was of a superior rank, they determined to\ntake him to the next town. Though already exhausted, he was obliged to\nwalk some miles farther, and, on his arrival, he was deposited in a\nprison, where he was forgotten, and starved to death.\nThus, perhaps at the moment the French were apotheosing an obscure\ndemagogue, the celebrated Condorcet expired, through the neglect of a\ngaoler; and now, the coarse and ferocious Marat, and the more refined,\nyet more pernicious, philosopher, are both involved in one common\nobloquy.\nWhat a theme for the moralist!--Perhaps the gaoler, whose brutal\ncarelessness terminated the days of Condorcet, extinguished his own\nhumanity in the torrent of that revolution of which Condorcet himself was\none of the authors; and perhaps the death of a sovereign, whom Condorcet\nassisted in bringing to the scaffold, might have been this man's first\nlesson in cruelty, and have taught him to set little value on the lives\nof the rest of mankind.--The French, though they do not analyse\nseriously, speak of this event as a just retribution, which will be\nfollowed by others of a similar nature. _\"Quelle mort,\"_ [\"What an end.\"]\nsays one--_\"Elle est affreuse,_ (says another,) _mais il etoit cause que\nbien d'autres ont peri aussi.\"_--_\"Ils periront tous, et tant mieux,\"_\n[\"'Twas dreadful--but how many people have perished by his means.\"--\n\"They'll all share the same fate, and so much the better.\"] reply twenty\nvoices; and this is the only epitaph on Condorcet.\nThe pretended revolution of the thirty-first of May, 1792, which has\noccasioned so much bloodshed, and which I remember it dangerous not to\nhallow, though you did not understand why, is now formally erased from\namong the festivals of the republic; but this is only the triumph of\nparty, and a signal that the remains of the Brissotines are gaining\nground.\nA more conspicuous and a more popular victory has been obtained by the\nroyalists, in the trial and acquittal of Delacroix. The jury had been\nchanged after the affair of Carrier, and were now better composed; though\nthe escape of Delacroix is more properly to be attributed to the\nintimidating favour of the people. The verdict was received with shouts\nof applause, repeated with transport, and Delacroix, who had so\npatriotically projected to purify the Convention, by sending more than\nhalf its members to America, was borne home on the shoulders of an\nexulting populace.\nAgain the extinction of the war in La Vendee is officially announced; and\nit is certain that the chiefs are now in treaty with government. Such a\npeace only implies, that the country is exhausted, for it suffices to\nhave read the treatment of these unhappy people to know that a\nreconciliation can neither be sincere nor permanent. But whatever may be\nthe eventual effect of this negotiation, it has been, for the present,\nthe means of wresting some unwilling concessions from the Assembly in\nfavour of a free exercise of religion. No arrangement could ever be\nproposed to the Vendeans, which did not include a toleration of\nChristianity; and to refuse that to patriots and republicans, which was\ngranted to rebels and royalists, was deemed at this time neither\nreasonable nor politic. A decree is therefore passed, authorizing\npeople, if they can overcome all the annexed obstacles, to worship God in\nthey way they have been accustomed to.\nThe public hitherto, far from being assured or encouraged by this decree,\nappear to have become more timid and suspicious; for it is conceived in\nso narrow and paltry a spirit, and expressed in such malignant and\nillusive terms, that it can hardly be said to intend an indulgence. Of\ntwelve articles of an act said to be concessive, eight are prohibitory\nand restrictive; and a municipal officer, or any other person \"in place\nor office,\" may controul at his pleasure all religious celebrations. The\ncathedrals and parish churches yet standing were seized on by the\ngovernment at the introduction of the Goddesses of Reason, and the decree\nexpressly declares that they shall not be restored or appropriated to\ntheir original uses. Individuals, who have purchased chapels or\nchurches, hesitate to sell or let them, lest they should, on a change of\npolitics, be persecuted as the abettors of fanaticism; so that the\nlong-desired restoration of the Catholic worship makes but very slow\nprogress.*--\n * This decree prohibits any parish, community, or body of people\n collectively, from hiring or purchasing a church, or maintaining a\n clergyman: it also forbids ringing a bell, or giving any other\n public notice of Divine Service, or even distinguishing any building\n by external signs of its being dedicated to religion.\n--A few people, whose zeal overpowers their discretion, have ventured to\nhave masses at their own houses, but they are thinly attended; and on\nasking any one if they have yet been to this sort of conventicle, the\nreply is, _\"On new sait pas trop ce que le decret veut dire; il faut voir\ncomment cela tournera.\"_ [\"One cannot rightly comprehend the decree--it\nwill be best to wait and see how things go.\"] Such a distrust is indeed\nvery natural; for there are two subjects on which an inveterate hatred is\napparent, and which are equally obnoxious to all systems and all parties\nin the Assembly--I mean Christianity and Great Britain. Every day\nproduces harangues against the latter; and Boissy d'Anglas has solemnly\nproclaimed, as the directing principle of the government, that the only\nnegociation for peace shall be a new boundary described by the Northern\nconquests of the republic; and this modest diplomatic is supported by\narguments to prove, that the commerce of England cannot be ruined on any\nother terms.*\n * \"How (exclaims the sagacious Bourdon de l'Oise) can you hope to\n ruin England, if you do not keep possession of the three great\n rivers.\" (The Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt.)\nThe debates of the Convention increase in variety and amusement. Besides\nthe manual exercises of the members, the accusations and retorts of\nunguarded choler, disclose to us many curious truths which a politic\nunanimity might conceal. Saladin, who was a stipendiary of the Duke of\nOrleans, and whose reputation would not grace any other assembly, is\ntransformed into a Moderate, and talks of virtue and crime; while Andre\nDumont, to the great admiration of his private biographists, has been\nsigning a peace with the Duke of Tuscany.--Our republican statesmen\nrequire to be viewed in perspective: they appear to no advantage in the\nforeground. Dumont would have made \"a good pantler, he would have\nchipp'd bread well;\" or, like Scrub, he might have \"drawn warrants, or\ndrawn beer,\"--but I should doubt if, in a transaction of this nature, the\nDukedom of Tuscany was ever before so assorted; and if the Duke were\nobliged to make this peace, he may well say, \"necessity doth make us herd\nwith strange companions.\"\nNotwithstanding the Convention still detests Christianity, utters\nanathemas against England, and exhibits daily scenes of indecent\ndiscussion and reviling, it is doubtless become more moderate on the\nwhole; and though this moderation be not equal to the people's wishes, it\nis more than sufficient to exasperate the Jacobins, who call the\nConvention the Senate of Coblentz, and are perpetually endeavouring to\nexcite commotions. The belief is, indeed, general, that the Assembly\ncontains a strong party of royalists; yet, though this may be true in a\ndegree, I fear the impulse which has been given by the public opinion, is\nmistaken for a tendency in the Convention itself. But however, this may\nbe, neither the imputations of the Jacobins, nor the hopes of the people,\nhave been able to oppose the progress of a sentiment which, operating on\na character like that of the French, is more fatal to a popular body than\neven hatred or contempt. The long duration of this disastrous\nlegislature has excited an universal weariness; the guilt of particular\nmembers is now less discussed than the insignificance of the whole\nassemblage; and the epithets corrupt, worn out, hackneyed, and\neverlasting, [Tare, use, banal, and eternel.] have almost superseded\nthose of rogues and villains.\nThe law of the maximum has been repealed some time, and we now procure\nnecessaries with much greater facility; but the assignats, no longer\nsupported by violence, are rapidly diminishing in credit--so that every\nthing is dear in proportion. We, who are more than indemnified by the\nrise of exchange in our favour, are not affected by these progressive\naugmentations in the price of provisions. It would, however, be\nerroneous and unfeeling to judge of the situation of the French\nthemselves from such a calculation.\nPeople who have let their estates on leases, or have annuities on the\nHotel de Ville, &c. receive assignats at par, and the wages of the\nlabouring poor are still comparatively low. What was five years ago a\nhandsome fortune, now barely supplies a decent maintenance; and smaller\nincomes, which were competencies at that period, are now almost\ninsufficient for existence. A workman, who formerly earned twenty-five\nsols a day, has at present three livres; and you give a sempstress thirty\nsols, instead of ten: yet meat, which was only five or six sols when\nwages was twenty-five, is now from fifty sols to three livres the pound,\nand every other article in the same or a higher proportion. Thus, a\nman's daily wages, instead of purchasing four or five pounds of meat, as\nthey would have done before the revolution, now only purchase one.\nIt grieves me to see people whom I have known at their ease, obliged to\nrelinquish, in the decline of life, comforts to which they were\naccustomed at a time when youth rendered indulgence less necessary; yet\nevery day points to the necessity of additional oeconomy, and some little\nconvenience or enjoyment is retrenched--and to those who are not above\nacknowledging how much we are the creatures of habit, a dish of coffee,\nor a glass of liqueur, &c. will not seem such trifling privations. It is\ntrue, these are, strictly speaking, luxuries; so too are most things by\ncomparison--\n \"O reason not the need: our basest beggars\n \"Are in the poorest thing superfluous:\n \"Allow not nature more than nature needs,\n \"Man's life is cheap as beast's.\"\nIf the wants of one class were relieved by these deductions from the\nenjoyments of another, it might form a sufficient consolation; but the\nsame causes which have banished the splendor of wealth and the comforts\nof mediocrity, deprive the poor of bread and raiment, and enforced\nparsimony is not more generally conspicuous than wretchedness.\nThe frugal tables of those who were once rich, have been accompanied by\nrelative and similar changes among the lower classes; and the suppression\nof gilt equipages is so far from diminishing the number of wooden shoes,\nthat for one pair of sabots which were seen formerly, there are now ten.\nThe only Lucullus's of the day are a swarm of adventurers who have\nescaped from prisons, or abandoned gaming-houses, to raise fortunes by\nspeculating in the various modes of acquiring wealth which the revolution\nhas engendered.--These, together with the numberless agents of government\nenriched by more direct pillage, live in coarse luxury, and dissipate\nwith careless profusion those riches which their original situations and\nhabits have disqualified them from converting to a better use.\nAlthough the circumstances of the times have necessitated a good deal of\ndomestic oeconomy among people who live on their fortunes, they have\nlately assumed a gayer style of dress, and are less averse from\nfrequenting public amusements. For three years past, (and very\nnaturally,) the gentry have openly murmured at the revolution; and they\nnow, either convinced of the impolicy of such conduct, terrified by their\npast sufferings, or, above all, desirous of proclaiming their triumph\nover the Jacobins, are every where reviving the national taste for modes\nand finery. The attempt to reconcile these gaieties with prudence, has\nintroduced some contrasts in apparel whimsical enough, though our French\nbelles adopt them with much gravity.\nIn consequence of the disorders in the South of France, and the\ninterruption of commerce by sea, soap is not only dear, but sometimes\ndifficult to purchase at any rate. We have ourselves paid equal to five\nlivres a pound in money. Hence we have white wigs* and grey stockings,\nmedallions and gold chains with coloured handkerchiefs and discoloured\ntuckers, and chemises de Sappho, which are often worn till they rather\nremind one of the pious Queen Isabel, than the Greek poetess.\n * Vilate, in his pamphlet on the secret causes of the revolution of\n the ninth Thermidor, relates the following anecdote of the origin of\n the peruques blondes. \"The caprice of a revolutionary female who,\n on the fete in celebration of the Supreme Being, covered her own\n dark hair with a tete of a lighter colour, having excited the\n jealousy of La Demahe, one of Barrere's mistresses, she took\n occasion to complain to him of this coquettry, by which she thought\n her own charms eclipsed. Barrere instantly sent for Payen, the\n national agent, and informed him that a new counter-revolutionary\n sect had started up, and that its partizans distinguished themselves\n by wearing wigs made of light hair cut from the heads of the\n guillotined aristocrats. He therefore enjoined Payen to make a\n speech at the municipality, and to thunder against this new mode.\n The mandate was, of course, obeyed; and the women of rank, who had\n never before heard of these wigs, were both surprized and alarmed at\n an imputation so dangerous. Barrere is said to have been highly\n amused at having thus solemnly stopped the progress of a fashion,\n only becuase it displeased one of his female favourites.--I\n perfectly remember Payen's oration against this coeffure, and every\n woman in Paris who had light hair, was, I doubt not, intimidated.\"\n This pleasantry of Barrere's proves with what inhuman levity the\n government sported with the feelings of the people. At the fall of\n Robespierre, the peruque blonde, no longer subject to the empire of\n Barrere's favourites, became a reigning mode.\n--Madame Tallien, who is supposed occasionally to dictate decrees to the\nConvention, presides with a more avowed and certain sway over the realms\nof fashion; and the Turkish draperies that may float very gracefully on a\nform like hers, are imitated by rotund sesquipedal Fatimas, who make one\nregret even the tight lacings and unnatural diminishings of our\ngrandmothers.\nI came to Beauvais a fortnight ago with the Marquise. Her long\nconfinement has totally ruined her health, and I much fear she will not\nrecover. She has an aunt lives here, and we flattered ourselves she\nmight benefit by change of air--but, on the contrary, she seems worse,\nand we propose to return in the course of a week to Amiens.\nI had a good deal of altercation with the municipality about obtaining a\npassport; and when they at last consented, they gave me to understand I\nwas still a prisoner in the eye of the law, and that I was indebted to\nthem for all the freedom I enjoyed. This is but too true; for the decree\nconstituting the English hostages for the Deputies at Toulon has never\nbeen repealed--\n \"Ah, what avails it that from slavery far,\n \"I drew the breath of life in English air?\"\nYet is it a consolation, that the title by which I was made an object of\nmean vengeance is the one I most value.*\n * An English gentleman, who was asked by a republican Commissary,\n employed in examining the prisons, why he was there, replied,\n \"Because I have not the misfortune to be a Frenchman!\"\nThis is a large manufacturing town, and the capital of the department of\nl'Oise. Its manufactories now owe their chief activity to the\nrequisitions for supplying cloth to the armies. Such commerce is by no\nmeans courted; and if people were permitted, as they are in most\ncountries, to trade or let it alone, it would soon decline.--The choir of\nthe cathedral is extremely beautiful, and has luckily escaped republican\ndevastation, though there seems to exist no hope that it will be again\nrestored to the use of public worship. Your books will inform you, that\nBeauvais was besieged in 1472 by the Duke of Burgundy, with eighty\nthousand men, and that he failed in the attempt. Its modern history is\nnot so fortunate. It was for some time harassed by a revolutionary army,\nwhose exactions and disorders being opposed by the inhabitants, a decree\nof the Convention declared the town in a state of rebellion; and this\nban, which operates like the Papal excommunications three centuries ago,\nand authorizes tyranny of all kinds, was not removed until long after the\ndeath of Robespierre.--Such a specimen of republican government has made\nthe people cautious, and abundant in the exteriors of patriotism. Where\nthey are sure of their company, they express themselves without reserve,\nboth on the subject of their legislators and the miseries of the country;\nbut intercourse is considerably more timid here than at Amiens.\nTwo gentlemen dined with us yesterday, whom I know to be zealous\nroyalists, and, as they are acquainted, I made no scruple of producing an\nengraving which commemorates mysteriously the death of the King, and\nwhich I had just received from Paris by a private conveyance. They\nlooked alarmed, and affected not to understand it; and, perceiving I had\ndone wrong, I replaced the print without farther explanation: but they\nboth called this evening, and reproached me separately for thus exposing\ntheir sentiments to each other.--This is a trifling incident, yet perhaps\nit may partly explain the great aenigma why no effectual resistance is\nmade to a government which is secretly detested. It has been the policy\nof all the revolutionists, from the Lameths and La Fayette down to\nBrissot and Robespierre, to destroy the confidence of society; and the\ncalamities of last year, now aiding the system of spies and informers,\noccasion an apprehension and distrust which impede union, and check every\nenterprize that might tend to restore the freedom of the country.--Yours,\nAmiens, April 12, 1795.\nInstead of commenting on the late disorders at Paris, I subjoin the\ntranslation of a letter just received by Mrs. D-------- from a friend,\nwhose information, we have reason to believe, is as exact as can possibly\nbe obtained in the chaos of little intrigues which now comprise the whole\nscience of French politics.\n\"Paris, April 9.\n\"Though I know, my good friend, you are sufficiently versed in the\ntechnicals of our revolution not to form an opinion of occurrences from\nthe language in which they are officially described, yet I cannot resist\nthe favourable opportunity of Mad. --------'s return, to communicate such\nexplanations of the late events as their very ambiguous appearance may\nrender necessary even to you.\n\"I must begin by informing you, that the proposed decree of the\nConvention to dissolve themselves and call a new Assembly, was a mere\ncoquettry. Harassed by the struggles of the Jacobins, and alarmed at\nthe symptoms of public weariness and disgust, which became every day more\nvisible, they hoped this feint might operate on the fears of the people\nof Paris, and animate them to a more decided support against the efforts\nof the common enemy, as well as tend to reconcile them to a farther\nendurance of a representation from which they did not disguise their\nwishes to be released. An opportunity was therefore seized on, or\ncreated, when our allowance of bread had become unusually short, and the\nJacobins unusually turbulent, to bring forward this project of renovating\nthe legislature. But in politics, as well as love, such experiments are\ndangerous. Far from being received with regret, the proposition excited\nuniversal transport; and it required all the diligence of the agents of\ngovernment to insinuate effectually, that if Paris were abandoned by the\nConvention at this juncture, it would not only become a prey to famine,\nbut the Jacobins would avail themselves of the momentary disorder to\nregain their power, and renew their past atrocities.\n\"A conviction that we in reality derive our scanty supplies from\nexertions which would not be made, were they not necessary to restrain\nthe popular ill humour, added to an habitual apprehension of the Clubs,*\nassisted this manoeuvre; and a few of the sections were, in consequence,\nprevailed on to address our Representatives, and to request they would\nremain at their post.--\n * Paris had been long almost entirely dependent on the government\n for subsistence, so that an insurrection could always be procured by\n withholding the usual supply. The departments were pillaged by\n requisitions, and enormous sums sent to the neutral countries to\n purchase provisions, that the capital might be maintained in\n dependence and good humour. The provisions obtained by these means\n were distributed to the shopkeepers, who had instructions to retail\n them to the idle and disorderly, at about a twentieth part of the\n original cost, and no one could profit by this regulation, without\n first receiving a ticket from the Committee of his section.\n It was lately asserted in the Convention, and not disavowed, that if\n the government persisted in this sort of traffic, the annual loss\n attending the article of corn alone would amount to fifty millions\n sterling. The reduction of the sum in question into English money\n is made on a presumption that the French government did not mean\n (were it to be avoided) to commit an act of bankruptcy, and redeem\n their paper at less than par. Reckoning, however, at the real value\n of assignats when the calculation was made, and they were then worth\n perhaps a fifth of their nominal value, the government was actually\n at the expence of ten millions sterling a year, for supplying Paris\n with a very scanty portion of bread! The sum must appear enormous,\n but the peculation under such a government must be incalculable; and\n when it is recollected that all neutral ships bringing cargoes for\n the republic must have been insured at an immense premium, or\n perhaps eventually purchased by the French, and that very few could\n reach their destination, we may conclude that such as did arrive\n cost an immoderate sum.\n--\"The insurrection that immediately succeeded was at first the effect of\na similar scheme, and it ended in a party contention, in which the\npeople, as usual, were neuter.\n\"The examination into the conduct of Barrere, Collot, &c. had been\ndelayed until it seemed rather a measure destined to protect than to\nbring them to punishment; and the impatience which was every where\nexpressed on the subject, sufficiently indicated the necessity, or at\nleast the prudence, of hastening their trial. Such a process could not\nbe ventured on but at the risk of involving the whole Convention in a\nlabyrinth of crimes, inconsistencies, and ridicule, and the delinquents\nalready began to exonerate themselves by appealing to the vote of solemn\napprobation passed in their favour three months after the death of\nRobespierre had restored the Assembly to entire freedom.\n\"The only means of extrication from this dilemma, appeared to be that of\nfinding some pretext to satisfy the public vengeance, without hazarding\nthe scandal of a judicial exposure. Such a pretext it was not difficult\nto give rise to: a diminished portion of bread never fails to produce\ntumultuous assemblages, that are easily directed, though not easily\nsuppressed; and crouds of this description, agitated by real misery, were\nexcited (as we have every reason to suppose) by hired emissaries to\nassail the Convention with disorderly clamours for bread. This being\nattributed to the friends of the culprits, decrees were opportunely\nintroduced and passed for transporting them untried out of the republic,\nand for arresting most of the principal Jacobin members as their\npartizans.\n\"The subsequent disturbances were less artificial; for the Jacobins, thus\nrendered desperate, attempted resistance; but, as they were unsuccessful,\ntheir efforts only served their adversaries as an excuse for arresting\nseveral of the party who had escaped the former decrees.\n\"Nothing, I assure you, can with less truth be denominated popular\nmovements, than many of these scenes, which have, notwithstanding,\npowerfully influenced the fate of our country. A revolt, or\ninsurrection, is often only an affair of intrigue and arrangement; and\nthe desultory violences of the suburbs of St. Antoine, or of the market\nwomen, are regulated by the same Committee and cabals that direct our\ncampaigns and treaties. The common distresses of the people are\ncontinually drawing them together; and, when thus collected, their\ncredulity renders them the ready instruments of any prevailing faction.\n\"Our recent disorders afforded a striking proof of this. I was myself\nthe Cicerone of a country friend on the day the Convention was first\nassailed. The numbers who crouded into the hall were at first\nconsiderable, yet they exhibited no signs of hostility, and it was\nevident they were brought there for some purpose of which they were\nthemselves ignorant. When asked their intentions, they vociferated 'Du\npain! Du pain!'--Bread, Bread; and, after occupying the seats of the\nDeputies for a short time, quietly withdrew.\n\"That this insurrection was originally factitious, and devised for the\npurpose I have mentioned, is farther corroborated by the sudden\nappearance of Pichegru and other officers, who seemed brought expressly\nto protect the departure of the obnoxious trio, in case it should be\nopposed either by their friends or enemies. It is likewise to be\nremarked, that Barrere and the rest were stopped at the gates of Paris by\nthe same mob who were alledged to have risen in their favour, and who,\ninstead of endeavouring to rescue them, brought them back to the\nCommittee of General Safety, on a supposition that they had escaped from\nprison.--The members of the moderate party, who were detained in some of\nthe sections, sustained no ill treatment whatever, and were released on\nbeing claimed by their colleagues, which could scarcely have happened,\nhad the mob been under the direction of the Jacobins, or excited by\nthem.--In short, the whole business proved that the populace were mere\nagents, guided by no impulse of their own, except hunger, and who, when\nleft to themselves, rather impeded than promoted the designs of both\nfactions.\n\"You must have been surprized to see among the list of members arrested,\nthe name of Laurent Lecointre; but he could never be pardoned for having\nreduced the Convention to the embarrassing necessity of prosecuting\nRobespierre's associates, and he is now secured, lest his restless\nQuixotism should remind the public, that the pretended punishment of\nthese criminals is in fact only a scandalous impunity.\n\"We are at present calm, but our distress for bread is intolerable, and\nthe people occasionally assail the pastry-cooks' shops; which act of\nhostility is called, with more pleasantry than truth or feeling, _'La\nguerre du pain bis contre la brioche.'_ [The war of brown bread against\ncakes.]--God knows, it is not the quality of bread, but the scarcity of\nit which excites these discontents.\n\"The new arithmetic* is more followed, and more interesting, than ever,\nthough our hopes are all vague, and we neither guess how or by whom they\nare to be fulfilled.\n * This was a mysterious way of expressing that the royalists were\n still gaining ground. It alluded to a custom which then prevailed,\n of people asking each other in the street, and sometimes even\n assailing the Deputies, with the question of \"How much is eight and\n a half and eight and a half?\"--By which was understood Louis the\n Seventeenth.\n\"I have done every thing that depends on me to obtain your passports\nwithout success, and I still advise you to come to Paris and solicit them\nin person. Your departure, in happier times, would be a subject of\nregret, at present I shall both envy and congratulate you when you are\nenabled to quit a country which promises so little security or\nsatisfaction.\n\"We receive, at this moment, the two loaves. My sister joins me in\nacknowledgments, and expresses her fears that you must suffer by your\nkindness, though it is truly acceptable--for I have been several days\nunder arms, and have had no time to make my usual excursions in search of\nbread.\n\"Yours, &c.\"\nThe proposed dissolution of the Assembly alluded to in the beginning of\nMons. --------'s letter, occasioned here a more general rejoicing than\neven the fall of the Jacobin club, and, not being influenced by the\nmotives suggested to the Parisians, we were sincerely disappointed when\nwe found the measure postponed. The morning this news arrived, we walked\nabout the town till dinner, and in every street people were collected in\ngroupes, and engaged in eager discussion. An acquaintance whom we\nhappened to meet, instead of the usual salutations, exclaimed \"_Nous\nviola quittes, ils s'en vont les brigands_\" [\"At length we are quit of\nthem--the rogues are going about their business.\"]; and I observed several\nrecontres of this sort, where people skipped and caracoled, as though\nunable to contain their satisfaction. Nothing was talked of but _Le\nPetit_ [An endearing appellation given to the young King by those who\nwould not venture to mention his name.], and the new elections; and I\nremarked with pleasure, that every one agreed in the total exclusion of\nall the present Deputies.\nTwo mornings after we had been indulging in these agreeable visions, we\nlearned that the Convention, purely from a patriotic desire of serving\ntheir country, had determined not to quit their post. We were at this\ntime in extreme want of bread, the distribution not exceeding a quarter\nof a pound per day; and numbers who are at their ease in other respects,\ncould not obtain any. This, operating perhaps with the latent ill humour\noccasioned by so unwelcome a declaration of perseverance on the part of\ntheir Representatives, occasioned a violent ferment among the people, and\non the second of this month they were in open revolt; the magazine of\ncorn for the use of the army was besieged, the national colours were\ninsulted, and Blaux, a Deputy who is here on mission, was dragged from\nthe Hotel de Ville, and obliged by the enraged populace to cry \"Vive le\nRoi!\" These disorders continued till the next day, but were at length\nappeased by a small distribution of flour from the magazine.\nIn the debates of the Convention the whole is ascribed to the Jacobins,\nthough it is well known they have no influence here; and I wish you to\nattend to this circumstance more particularly, as it proves what\nartifices are used to conceal the real sentiments of the people.\nI, and every inhabitant of Amiens, can attest that this revolt, which was\ndeclared in the Assembly to have been instigated by the partizans of the\nJacobins, was, as far as it had any decided political character, an\neffervescence of royalism.\nAt Rouen, Abbeville, and other places, the trees of liberty, (or, rather,\nthe trees of the republic,) have been cut down, the tri-coloured flag\ntorn, and the cry of \"Vive le Roi!\" was for some time predominant; yet\nthe same misrepresentation was had recourse to, and all these places were\nasserted to have espoused the cause of that party to which they are most\nrepugnant.\nI acknowledge that the chief source of these useless excesses is famine,\nand that it is for the most part the lower classes only who promote them;\nbut the same cause and the same description of people were made the\ninstruments for bringing about the revolution, and the poor seek now, as\nthey did in 1789, a remedy for their accumulated sufferings in a change\nof government. The mass of mankind are ever more readily deluded by hope\nthan benefited by experience; and the French, being taught by the\nrevolutionists to look for that relief from changes of government which\nsuch changes cannot afford, now expect that the restoration of the\nmonarchy will produce plenty, as they were before persuaded that the\nfirst efforts to subvert it would banish want.\nWe are now tolerably quiet, and should seriously think of going to Paris,\nwere we not apprehensive that some attempt from the Jacobins to rescue\ntheir chiefs, may create new disturbances. The late affair appears to\nhave been only a retaliation of the thirty-first of May, 1792; and the\nremains of the Girondists have now proscribed the leaders of the\nMountaineers, much in the same way as they were then proscribed\nthemselves.--Yours.\nAmiens, May 9, 1795.\nWhilst all Europe is probably watching with solicitude the progress of\nthe French arms, and the variations of their government, the French\nthemselves, almost indifferent to war and politics, think only of\naverting the horrors of famine. The important news of the day is the\nportion of bread which is to be distributed; and the siege of Mentz,\nor the treaty with the King of Prussia, are almost forgotten, amidst\nenquiries about the arrival of corn, and anxiety for the approach of\nharvest. The same paper that announces the surrender of towns, and the\nsuccess of battles, tells us that the poor die in the streets of Paris,\nor are driven to commit suicide, through want. We have no longer to\ncontend with avaricious speculations, but a real scarcity; and\ndetachments of the National Guard, reinforced by cannon, often search the\nadjacent villages several days successively without finding a single\nseptier of corn. The farmers who have yet been able to conceal any,\nrefuse to dispose of it for assignats; and the poor, who have neither\nplate nor money, exchange their best clothes or linen for a loaf, or a\nsmall quantity of flour. Our gates are sometimes assailed by twenty or\nthirty people, not to beg money, but bread; and I am frequently accosted\nin the street by women of decent appearance, who, when I offer them\nassignats, refuse them, saying, \"We have enough of this sorry paper--it\nis bread we want.\"--If you are asked to dine, you take your bread with\nyou; and you travel as though you were going a voyage--for there are not\nmany inns on the road where you can expect to find bread, or indeed\nprovisions of any kind.\nHaving procured a few six-livre pieces, we were enabled to purchase a\nsmall supply of corn, though by no means enough for our consumption, so\nthat we are obliged to oeconomise very rigidly. Mr. D-------- and the\nservants eat bread made with three-parts bran to one of flour. The\nlittle provision we possess is, however, a great embarrassment to us, for\nwe are not only subject to domiciliary visits, but continually liable to\nbe pillaged by the starving poor around us; and we are often under the\nnecessity of passing several meals without bread, because we dare not\nsend the wheat to be ground, nor bake except at night. While the last\noperation is performing, the doors are carefully shut, the bell rings in\nvain, and no guest is admitted till every vestige of it is removed.--All\nthe breweries have seals put upon the doors, and severe penal laws are\nissued against converting barley to any other purpose than the making of\nbread. If what is allowed us were composed only of barley, or any other\nwholesome grain, we should not repine; but the distribution at present is\na mixture of grown wheat, peas, rye, &c. which has scarcely the\nresemblance of bread.\nI was asked to-day, by some women who had just received their portion,\nand in an accent of rage and despair that alarmed me, whether I thought\nsuch food fit for a human creature.--We cannot alleviate this misery, and\nare impatient to escape from the sight of it. If we can obtain passports\nto go from hence to Paris, we hope there to get a final release, and a\npermission to return to England.\nMy friend Madame de la F-------- has left us, and I fear is only gone\nhome to die. Her health was perfectly good when we were first arrested,\nthough vexation, more than confinement, has contributed to undermine it.\nThe revolution had, in various ways, diminished her property; but this\nshe would have endured with patience, had not the law of successions\ninvolved her in difficulties which appeared every day more interminable,\nand perplexed her mind by the prospect of a life of litigation and\nuncertainty. By this law, all inheritances, donations, or bequests,\nsince the fourteenth of July 1789, are annulled and subjected to a\ngeneral partition among the nearest relatives. In consequence, a large\nestate of the Marquise's, as well as another already sold, are to be\naccounted for, and divided between a variety of claimants. Two of the\nnumber being emigrants, the republic is also to share; and as the live\nstock, furniture, farming utensils, and arrears, are included in this\nabsurd and iniquitous regulation, the confusion and embarrassment which\nit has occasioned are indescribable.\nThough an unlucky combination of circumstances has rendered such a law\nparticularly oppressive to Madame de la F--------, she is only one of an\ninfinite number who are affected by it, and many of whom may perhaps be\nstill greater sufferers than herself. The Constituent Assembly had\nattempted to form a code that might counteract the spirit of legal\ndisputation, for which the French are so remarkable; but this single\ndecree will give birth to more processes than all the _pandects, canons,_\nand _droits feodaux,_ accumulated since the days of Charlemagne; and I\ndoubt, though one half the nation were lawyers, whether they might not\nfind sufficient employment in demalgamating the property of the other\nhalf.\nThis mode of partition, in itself ill calculated for a rich and\ncommercial people, and better adapted to the republic of St. Marino than\nto that of France, was introduced under pretext of favouring the system\nof equality; and its transition from absurdity to injustice, by giving it\na retroactive effect, was promoted to accommodate the \"virtuous\" Herault\nde Sechelles, who acquired a considerable addition of fortune by it. The\nConvention are daily beset with petitions from all parts on this subject;\nbut their followers and themselves being somewhat in the style of\nFalstaff's regiment--\"younger sons of younger brothers,\" they seem\ndetermined, as they usually are, to square their notions of justice by\nwhat is most conducive to their own interest.\nAn apprehension of some attempt from the Jacobins, and the discontents\nwhich the scarcity of bread give rise to among the people, have produced\na private order from the Committees of government for arming and\nre-organizing the National Guard.*\n * Though I have often had occasion to use the term National Guard,\n it is to be understood only as citizens armed for some temporary\n purpose, whose arms were taken from them as soon as that service was\n performed. The _Garde Nationale,_ as a regular institution, had\n been in a great measure suppressed since the summer of 1793, and\n those who composed it gradually disarmed. The usual service of\n mounting guard was still continued, but the citizens, with very few\n exceptions, were armed only with pikes, and even those were not\n entrusted to their own care, each delivering up his arms when he\n retired more exactly than if it were an article of capitulation with\n a successful enemy.\n--I remember, in 1789 and 1790, when this popular militia was first\ninstituted, every one, either from policy or inclination, appeared eager\nto promote it; and nothing was discussed but military fetes, balls,\nexercise, and uniforms. These patriotic levities have now entirely\nvanished, and the business proceeds with languor and difficulty. One\ndreads the present expence, another future persecution, and all are\nsolicitous to find cause for exemption.\nThis reluctance, though perhaps to be regretted, is in a great measure\njustifiable. Where the lives and fortunes of a whole nation are\ndependent on the changes of party, obscurity becomes the surest\nprotection, and those who are zealous now, may be the first sacrifices\nhereafter. Nor is it encouraging to arm for the defence of the\nConvention, which is despised, or to oppose the violence of a populace,\nwho, however misguided, are more objects of compassion than of\npunishment.\nFouquier Tinville, with sixteen revolutionary Judges and Jurymen, have\nbeen tried and executed, at the moment when the instigators of their\ncrimes, Billaud-Varennes, Collot, &c. were sentenced by the Convention to\na banishment, which is probably the object of their wishes. This\nTinville and his accomplices, who condemned thousands with such ferocious\ngaiety, beheld the approach of death themselves with a mixture of rage\nand terror, that even cowardice and guilt do not always exhibit. It\nseems an awful dispensation of Providence, that they who were inhuman\nenough to wish to deprive their victims of the courage which enabled them\nto submit to their fate with resignation, should in their last moments\nwant that courage, and die despairing, furious, and uttering\nimprecations, which were returned by the enraged multitude.*\n--Yours, &c.\n * Some of the Jurymen were in the habit of taking caricatures of the\n prisoners while they condemned them. Among the papers of the\n Revolutionary Tribunal were found blank sentences, which were\n occasionally sent to the Committee of Public Safety, to be filled up\n with the names of those intended to be sacrificed.--The name of one\n of the Jurymen executed on this occasion was Leroi, but being a very\n ardent republican, he had changed it for that of Citizen Tenth of\n August.\nAmiens, May 26, 1795.\nOur journey to Paris has been postponed by the insurrection which\noccurred on the first and second of Prairial, (20th and 21st of May,) and\nwhich was not like that of Germinal, fabricated--but a real and violent\nattempt of the Jacobins to regain their power. Of this event it is to be\nremarked, that the people of Paris were at first merely spectators, and\nthat the Convention were at length defended by the very classes which\nthey have so long oppressed under the denomination of aristocrats. For\nseveral hours the Assembly was surrounded, and in the power of its\nenemies; the head of Ferraud, a deputy, was borne in triumph to the\nhall;* and but for the impolitic precipitation of the Jacobins, the\npresent government might have been destroyed.\n * The head of Ferraud was placed on a pole, and, after being paraded\n about the Hall, stationed opposite the President. It is impossible\n to execrate sufficiently this savage triumph; but similar scenes had\n been applauded on the fourteenth of July and the fifth and sixth of\n October 1789; and the Parisians had learned, from the example of the\n Convention themselves, that to rejoice in the daily sacrifice of\n fifty or sixty people, was an act of patriotism. As to the epithets\n of Coquin, Scelerats, Voleurs, &c. which were now bestowed on the\n Assembly, they were only what the members were in the constant habit\n of applying to each other.\n The assassin of Ferraud being afterwards taken and sentenced to the\n Guillotine, was rescued by the mob at the place of execution, and\n the inhabitants of the Fauxbourg St. Antoine were in revolt for two\n days on this occasion, nor would they give him up until abandoned by\n the cannoneers of their party.--It is singular, and does no honour\n to the revolutionary school, or the people of Paris, that Madame\n Elizabeth, Malsherbes, Cecile Renaud, and thousands of others,\n should perish innocently, and that the only effort of this kind\n should be exerted in favour of a murderer who deserved even a worse\n death.\nThe contest began, as usual, by an assemblage of females, who forced\nthemselves into the national palace, and loudly clamoured for immediate\nsupplies of bread. They then proceeded to reproach the Convention with\nhaving robbed them of their liberty, plundered the public treasure, and\nfinally reduced the country to a state of famine.*\n * People.--_\"Nous vous demandons ce que vous avez fait de nos\n tresors et de notre liberte?\"_--\"We want to know what you have done\n with our treasure and our liberty?\"\n President.--_\"Citoyens, vous etes dans le sein de la Convention\n Nationale.\"_--\"Citizens, I must remind you that you are in the\n presence of the National Convention.\"\n People.--_\"Du pain, du pain, Coquin--Qu'as tu fait de notre argent?\n Pas tant de belles phrases, mais du pain, du pain, il n'y a point\n ici de conspirateurs--nous demandons du pain parceque nous avons\n saim.\"_--\"Bread, bread, rogue!--what have you done with our money?--\n Fine speeches won't do--'tis bread we want.--There are no\n conspirators among us--we only ask for bread, because we are\n hungry.\"\n See Debates of the Convention.\n--It was not easy either to produce bread, or refute these charges, and\nthe Deputies of the moderate party remained silent and overpowered, while\nthe Jacobins encouraged the mob, and began to head them openly. The\nParisians, however interested in the result of this struggle, appeared to\nbehold it with indifference, or at least with inactivity. Ferraud had\nalready been massacred in endeavouring to repel the croud, and the\nConvention was abandoned to outrage and insult; yet no effectual attempt\nhad been made in their defence, until the Deputies of the Mountain\nprematurely avowed their designs, and moved for a repeal of all the\ndoctrines since the death of Robespierre--for the reincarceration of\nsuspected persons--and, in fine, for an absolute revival of the whole\nrevolutionary system.\nThe avowal of these projects created an immediate alarm among those on\nwhom the massacre of Ferraud, and the dangers to which the Assembly was\nexposed, had made no impression. The dismay became general; and in a few\nhours the aristocrats themselves collected together a force sufficient to\nliberate the Assembly,* and wrest the government from the hands of the\nJacobins.--\n * This is stated as a ground of reproach by the Jacobins, and is\n admitted by the Convention. Andre Dumont, who had taken so active a\n part in supporting Robespierre's government, was yet on this\n occasion defended and protected the whole day by a young man whose\n father had been guillotined.\n--This defeat ended in the arrest of all who had taken a part against the\nnow triumphant majority; and there are, I believe, near fifty of them in\ncustody, besides numbers who contrived to escape.*\n * Among those implicated in this attempt to revive the revolutionary\n government was Carnot, and the decree of arrest would have been\n carried against him, had it not been suggested that his talents were\n necessary in the military department. All that remained of\n Robespierre's Committees, Jean Bon St. Andre, Robert Lindet, and\n Prieur, were arrested. Carnot alone was excepted; and it was not\n disguised that his utility, more than any supposed integrity,\n procured him the exemption.\nThat the efforts of this more sanguinary faction have been checked, is\ndoubtless a temporary advantage; yet those who calculate beyond the\nmoment see only the perpetuation of anarchy, in a habit of expelling one\npart of the legislature to secure the government of the other; nor can it\nbe denied, that the freedom of the representative body has been as much\nviolated by the Moderates in the recent transactions, as by the Jacobins\non the thirty-first of May 1793. The Deputies of the Mountain have been\nproscribed and imprisoned, rather as partizans than criminals; and it is\nthe opinion of many, that these measures, which deprive the Convention of\nsuch a portion of its members, attach as much illegality to the\nproceedings of the rest, as the former violences of Robespierre and his\nfaction.*\n * The decrees passed by the Jacobin members during their few hours\n triumph cannot be defended; but the whole Convention had long\n acquiesced in them, and the precise time when they were to cease was\n certainly a matter of opinion. The greater part of these members\n were accused of no active violence, nor could they have been\n arrested on any principles but that of being rivals to a faction\n stronger than themselves.\n--It is true, the reigning party may plead in their justification that\nthey only inflict what they would themselves have suffered, had the\nJacobins prevailed; and this is an additional proof of the weakness and\ninstability of a form of government which is incapable of resisting\nopposition, and which knows no medium between yielding to its\nadversaries, and destroying them.\nIn a well organized constitution, it is supposed that a liberal spirit of\nparty is salutary. Here they dispute the alternatives of power and\nemolument, or prisons and guillotines; and the sole result to the people\nis the certainty of being sacrificed to the fears, and plundered by the\nrapacity of either faction which may chance to acquire the superiority.--\nHad the government any permanent or inherent strength, a party watching\nits errors, and eager to attack them, might, in time, by these perpetual\ncollisions, give birth to some principles of liberty and order. But, as\nI have often had occasion to notice, this species of republicanism is in\nitself so weak, that it cannot exist except by a constant recurrence to\nthe very despotism it professes to exclude. Hence it is jealous and\nsuspicious, and all opposition to it is fatal; so that, to use an\nargument somewhat similar to Hume's on the liberty of the press in\nrepublics, the French possess a sort of freedom which does not admit of\nenjoyment; and, in order to boast that they have a popular constitution,\nare obliged to support every kind of tyranny.*\n * Hume observes, that absolute monarchies and republics nearly\n approach; for the excess of liberty in the latter renders such\n restraints necessary as to make them in practice resemble the\n former.\nThe provinces take much less interest in this event, than in one of a\nmore general and personal effect, though not apparently of equal\nimportance. A very few weeks ago, the Convention asseverated, in the\nusual acclamatory style, that they would never even listen to a proposal\nfor diminishing the value, or stopping the currency, of any description\nof assignats. Their oaths are not, indeed, in great repute, yet many\npeople were so far deceived, as to imagine that at least the credit of\nthe paper would not be formally destroyed by those who had forced its\ncirculation. All of a sudden, and without any previous notice, a decree\nwas issued to suppress the corsets, (or assignats of five livres,)\nbearing the King's image;* and as these were very numerous, and chiefly\nin the hands of the lower order of people, the consternation produced by\nthis measure was serious and unusual.--\n * The opinion that prevailed at this time that a restoration of the\n monarchy was intended by the Convention, had rendered every one\n solicitous to amass assignats issued during the late King's reign.\n Royal assignats of five livres were exchanged for six, seven, and\n eight livres of the republican paper.\n--There cannot be a stronger proof of the tyranny of the government, or\nof the national propensity to submission, than the circumstance of making\nit penal to refuse one day, what, by the same authority, is rendered\nvalueless the next--and that notwithstanding this, the remaining\nassignats are still received under all the probability of their\nexperiencing a similar fate.\nParis now offers an interval of tranquillity which we mean to avail\nourselves of, and shall, in a day or two, leave this place with the hope\nof procuring passports for England. The Convention affect great\nmoderation and gratitude for their late rescue; and the people, persuaded\nin general that the victorious party are royalists, wait with impatience\nsome important change, and expect, if not an immediate restoration of the\nmonarchy, at least a free election of new Representatives, which must\ninfallibly lead to it. With this hope, which is the first that has long\npresented itself to this harassed country, I shall probably bid it adieu;\nbut a visit to the metropolis will be too interesting for me to conclude\nthese papers, without giving you the result of my observations.\n--Yours. &c.\nParis, June 3, 1795.\nWe arrived here early on Saturday, and as no stranger coming to Paris,\nwhether a native of France, or a foreigner, is suffered to remain longer\nthan three days without a particular permission, our first care was to\npresent ourselves to the Committee of the section where we lodge, and, on\ngiving proper security for our good conduct, we have had this permission\nextended to a Decade.\nI approached Paris with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension, as\nthough I expected the scenes which had passed in it, and the moral\nchanges it had undergone, would be every where visible; but the gloomy\nideas produced by a visit to this metropolis, are rather the effect of\nmental association than external objects. Palaces and public buildings\nstill remain; but we recollect that they are become the prisons of\nmisfortune, or the rewards of baseness. We see the same hotels, but\ntheir owners are wandering over the world, or have expired on the\nscaffold. Public places are not less numerous, nor less frequented; but,\nfar from inspiring gaiety, we behold them with regret and disgust, as\nproofs of the national levity and want of feeling.\nI could almost wish, for the credit of the French character, to have\nfound some indications that the past was not so soon consigned to\noblivion. It is true, the reign of Robespierre and his sanguinary\ntribunal are execrated in studied phrases; yet is it enough to adopt\nhumanity as a mode, to sing the _Revel du Peuple_ in preference to the\n_Marseillois,_ or to go to a theatre with a well-powdered head, instead\nof cropped locks a la Jacobin? But the people forget, that while they\npermitted, and even applauded, the past horrors, they were also accessary\nto them, and if they rejoice at their termination, their sensibility does\nnot extend to compunction; they cast their sorrows away, and think it\nsufficient to exhibit their reformation in dressing and dancing--\n \"Yet hearts refin'd their sadden'd tint retain,\n \"The sigh is pleasure, and the jest is pain.\"\nFrench refinements are not, however, of this poetical kind.*\n * This too great facility of the Parisians has been commented upon\n by an anonymous writer in the following terms:\n \"At Paris, where more than fifty victims were dragged daily to the\n scaffold, the theatres never failed to overflow, and that on the\n Place de la Revolution was not the least frequented. The public, in\n their way every evening to the Champs Ellisees, continued\n uninterruptedly to cross the stream of blood that deluged this fatal\n spot with the most dreadful indifference; and now, though these days\n of horror are scarcely passed over our heads, one would suppose them\n ages removed--so little are we sensible that we are dancing, as it\n were, on a platform of dead bodies. Well may we say, respecting\n those events which have not reached ourselves--\n _'Le malheur Qui n'est plus, n'a jamais existe.'_\n But if we desire earnestly that the same misfortunes should not\n return, we must keep them always present in our recollection.\"\nThe practice of the government appears to depart every day more widely\nfrom its professions; and the moderate harangues of the tribune are often\nsucceeded by measures as arbitrary as those which are said to be\nexploded.--Perhaps the Convention begin to perceive their mistake in\nsupposing that they can maintain a government against the inclination of\nthe people, without the aid of tyranny. They expected at the same time\nthat they decried Robespierre, to retain all the power he possessed.\nHence, their assumed principles and their conduct are generally at\nvariance; and, divided between despotism and weakness, they arrest the\nprinters of pamphlets and newspapers one day, and are obliged to liberate\nthem the next.--They exclaim publicly against the system of terror, yet\nsecretly court the assistance of its agents.--They affect to respect the\nliberty of the press, yet every new publication has to defend itself\nagainst the whole force of the government, if it happen to censure a\nsingle member of the reigning party.--Thus, the _Memoirs of Dumouriez_\nhad circulated nearly through all Europe, yet it was not without much\nrisk, and after a long warfare, that they were printed in France.*\n *On this subject the government appears sometimes to have adopted\n the maxim--that prevention is better than punishment; for, in\n several instances, they seized on manuscripts, and laid embargoes on\n the printers' presses, where they only suspected that a work which\n they might disapprove was intended to be published.\nI know not if it be attributable to these political inconsistencies that\nthe calm which has succeeded the late disorders is little more than\nexternal. The minds of the people are uncommonly agitated, and every one\nexpresses either hope or apprehension of some impending event. The\nroyalists, amidst their ostensible persecutions, are particularly elated;\nand I have been told, that many conspicuous revolutionists already talk\nof emigration.\nI am just returned from a day's ramble, during which I have met with\nvarious subjects of unpleasant meditation. About dinner-time I called on\nan old Chevalier de St. Louis and his lady, who live in the Fauxbourg\nSt. Germain. When I knew them formerly, they had a handsome annuity on\nthe Hotel de Ville, and were in possession of all the comforts necessary\nto their declining years. To-day the door was opened by a girl of dirty\nappearance, the house looked miserable, the furniture worn, and I found\nthe old couple over a slender meal of soup maigre and eggs, without wine\nor bread. Our revolutionary adventures, as is usual on all meetings of\nthis kind, were soon communicated; and I learned, that almost before they\nknew what was passing around them, Monsieur du G--------'s forty years'\nservice, and his croix, had rendered him suspected, and that he and his\nwife were taken from their beds at midnight and carried to prison. Here\nthey consumed their stock of ready money, while a guard, placed in their\nhouse, pillaged what was moveable, and spoiled what could not be\npillaged. Soon after the ninth of Thermidor they were released, but they\nreturned to bare walls, and their annuity, being paid in assignats, now\nscarcely affords them a subsistence.--Monsieur du G-------- is near\nseventy, and Madame is become helpless from a nervous complaint, the\neffect of fear and confinement; and if this depreciation of the paper\nshould continue, these poor people may probably die of absolute want.\nI dined with a relation of the Marquise's, and in the afternoon we called\nby appointment on a person who is employed by the Committee of National\nDomains, and who has long promised my friend to facilitate the adjustment\nof some of the various claims which the government has on her property.\nThis man was originally a valet to the brother of the Marquise: at the\nrevolution he set up a shop, became a bankrupt, and a furious Jacobin,\nand, in the end, a member of a Revolutionary Committee. In the last\ncapacity he found means to enrich himself, and intimidate his creditors\nso as to obtain a discharge of his debts, without the trouble of paying\nthem.*\n * \"It was common for men in debt to procure themselves to be made\n members of a revolutionary committee, and then force their creditors\n to give them a receipt in full, under the fear of being imprisoned.\"\n I am myself acquainted with an old lady, who was confined four\n months, for having asked one of these patriots for three hundred\n livres which he owed her.\n--Since the dissolution of the Committees, he has contrived to obtain the\nsituation I have mentioned, and now occupies superb apartments in an\nhotel, amply furnished with the proofs of his official dexterity, and the\nperquisites of patriotism.\nThe humiliating vicissitudes occasioned by the revolution induced Madame\nde la F-------- to apply to this democratic _parvenu,_ [Upstart.] whose\noffice at present gives him the power, and whose former obligations to\nher family (by whom he was brought up) she hoped would add the\ndisposition, to serve her.--The gratitude she expected has, however,\nended only in delays and disappointments, and the sole object of my\ncommission was to get some papers which she had entrusted to him out of\nhis possession.\nWhen we enquired if the Citizen was at home, a servant, not in livery,\ninformed us Monsieur was dressing, but that if we would walk in, he would\nlet Monsieur know we were there. We passed through a dining parlour,\nwhere we saw the remains of a dessert, coffee, &c. and were assailed by\nthe odours of a plentiful repast. As we entered the saloon, we heard the\nservant call at the door of an adjoining parlour, _\"Monsieur, voici deux\nCitoyennes et un Citoyen qui vous demandent.\"_ [\"Sir, here are two female\ncitizens and one male citizen enquiring for you.\"] When Monsieur\nappeared, he apologized with an air of graciousness for the impossibility\nhe had been under of getting my friend's affairs arranged--protested he\nwas _accable_ [Oppressed..]--that he had scarcely an instant at his own\ndisposal--that _enfin_ the responsibility of people in office was so\nterrible, and the fatigue so _assommante,_ [Overpowering.] that nothing\nbut the purest _civism,_ and a heart _penetre de l'amour de la patrie,_\n[Penetrated with the love of his country.] could enable him to persevere\nin the task imposed on him. As for the papers we required, he would\nendeavour to find them, though his cabinet was really so filled with\npetitions and certificates of all sorts, _que des malheureux lui avoient\naddresses,_ [Addressed to him by unfortunate people.] that it would not\nbe very easy to find them at present; and, with this answer, which we\nshould have smiled at from M. de Choiseul or Sartine, we were obliged to\nbe satisfied. We then talked of the news of the day, and he lamented\nthat the aristocrats were still restless and increasing in number, and\nthat notwithstanding the efforts of the Convention to diffuse a spirit of\nphilosophy, it was too evident there was yet much fanaticism among the\npeople.\nAs we rose to depart, Madame entered, dressed for visiting, and decorated\nwith bracelets on her wrists and above her elbows, medallions on her\nwaists and neck, and, indeed, finery wherever it could possibly be\nbestowed. We observed her primitive condition of a waiting-woman still\noperated, and that far from affecting the language of her husband, she\nretained a great deference for rank, and was solicitous to insinuate that\nshe was secretly of a superior way of thinking. As we left the room\ntogether, she made advances to an acquaintance with my companions (who\nwere people of condition); and having occasion to speak to a person at\nthe door, as she uttered the word _Citoyen_ she looked at us with an\nexpression which she intended should imply the contempt and reluctance\nwith which she made use of it.\nI have in general remarked, that the republicans are either of the\nspecies I have just been describing, waiters, jockies, gamblers,\nbankrupts, and low scribblers, living in great splendour, or men taken\nfrom laborious professions, more sincere in their principles, more\nignorant and brutal--and who dissipate what they have gained in gross\nluxury, because they have been told that elegance and delicacy are worthy\nonly of Sybarites, and that the Greeks and Romans despised both. These\npatriots are not, however, so uninformed, nor so disinterested, as to\nsuppose they are to serve their country without serving themselves; and\nthey perfectly understand, that the rich are their legal patrimony, and\nthat it is enjoined them by their mission to pillage royalists and\naristocrats.*\n--Yours.\n * Garat observes, it was a maxim of Danton, _\"Que ceux qui fesaient\n les affaires de la republique devaient aussi faireles leurs,\"_ that\n who undertook the care of the republic should also take care of\n themselves. This tenet, however, seems common to the friends of\n both.\nParis, June 6, 1795.\nI had scarcely concluded my last, when I received advice of the death of\nMadame de la F--------; and though I have, almost from the time we\nquitted the Providence, thought she was declining, and that such an event\nwas probable, it has, nevertheless, both shocked and grieved me.\nExclusively of her many good and engaging qualities, which were\nreasonable objects of attachment, Madame de la F-------- was endeared to\nme by those habits of intimacy that often supply the want of merit, and\nmake us adhere to our early friendships, even when not sanctioned by our\nmaturer judgment. Madame de la F-------- never became entirely divested\nof the effects of a convent education; but if she retained a love of\ntrifling amusements, and a sort of infantine gaiety, she likewise\ncontinued pious, charitable, and strictly attentive not only to the\nduties, but to the decorum, essential in the female character and merits\nof this sort are, I believe, now more rare than those in which she might\nbe deemed deficient.\nI was speaking of her this morning to a lady of our acquaintance, who\nacquiesced in my friendly eulogiums, but added, in a tone of superiority,\n_\"C'etoit pourtant une petite femme bien minutieuse_--she always put me\nout of patience with her birds and her flowers, her levees of poor\npeople, and her persevering industry in frivolous projects.\" My friend\nwas, indeed, the most feminine creature in the world, and this is a\nflippant literary lady, who talks in raptures of the Greeks and Romans,\ncalls Rousseau familiarly Jean Jaques, frisks through the whole circle of\nscience at the Lyceum, and has an utter contempt both for personal\nneatness and domestic oeconomy. How would Madame de Sevigne wonder,\ncould she behold one of these modern belles esprits, with which her\ncountry, as well as England, abounds? In our zeal for reforming the\nirregular orthography and housewifely penmanship of the last century, we\nare all become readers, and authors, and critics. I do not assert, that\nthe female mind is too much cultivated, but that it is too generally so;\nand that we encourage a taste for attainments not always compatible with\nthe duties and occupations of domestic life. No age has, I believe,\nproduced so many literary ladies as the present;* yet I cannot learn that\nwe are at all improved in morals, or that domestic happiness is more\nuniversal than when, instead of writing sonnets to dew-drops or\ndaisies,** we copied prayers and recipes, in spelling similar to that of\nStowe or Hollingshed.\n * Let me not be supposed to undervalue the female authors of the\n present day. There are some who, uniting great talents with\n personal worth, are justly entitled to our respect and admiration.\n The authoress of \"Cecilia,\" or the Miss Lees, cannot be confounded\n with the proprietors of all the Castles, Forests, Groves, Woods,\n Cottages, and Caverns, which are so alluring in the catalogue of a\n circulating library.\n ** Mrs. Smith's beautiful Sonnets have produced sonnetteers for\n every object in nature, visible or invisible; and her elegant\n translations of Petrarch have procured the Italian bard many an\n English dress that he would have been ashamed to appear in.\n--We seem industrious to make every branch of education a vehicle for\ninspiring a premature taste for literary amusements; and our old\nfashioned moral adages in writing-books are replaced by scraps from\n\"Elegant Extracts,\" while print-work and embroidery represent scenes from\npoems or novels. I allow, that the subjects formerly pourtrayed by the\nneedle were not pictoresque, yet, the tendency considered, young ladies\nmight as well employ their silk or pencils in exhibiting Daniel in the\nlions' den, or Joseph and his brethren, as Sterne's Maria, or Charlotte\nand Werter.\nYou will forgive this digression, which I have been led into on hearing\nthe character of Madame de la F-------- depreciated, because she was only\ngentle and amiable, and did not read Plutarch, nor hold literary\nassemblies. It is, in truth, a little amende I owe her memory, for I may\nmyself have sometimes estimated her too lightly, and concluded my own\npursuits more rational than hers, when possibly they were only different.\nHer death has left an impression on my mind, which the turbulence of\nParis is not calculated to soothe; but the short time we have to stay,\nand the number of people I must see, oblige me to conquer both my regret\nand my indolence, and to pass a great part of the day in running from\nplace to place.\nI have been employed all this morning in executing some female\ncommissions, which, of course, led me to milliners, mantua-makers, &c.\nThese people now recommend fashions by saying one thing is invented by\nTallien's wife, and another by Merlin de Thionville, or some other\nDeputy's mistress; and the genius of these elegantes has contrived, by a\nmode of dressing the hair which lengthens the neck, and by robes with an\ninch of waist, to give their countrywomen an appearance not much unlike\nthat of a Bar Gander.\nI saw yesterday a relation of Madame de la F--------, who is in the army,\nand whom I formerly mentioned as having met when we passed through\nDourlens. He was for some months suspended, and in confinement, but is\nnow restored to his rank, and ordered on service. He asked me if I ever\nintended to visit France again. I told him I had so little reason to be\nsatisfied with my treatment, that I did not imagine I should.--\"Yes,\n(returned he,) but if the republic should conquer Italy, and bring all\nits treasures to Paris, as has lately been suggested in the Convention,\nwe shall tempt you to return, in spite of yourself.\"*\n *The project of pillaging Italy of its most valuable works of art\n was suggested by the philosophic Abbe Gregoire, a constitutional\n Bishop, as early as September 1794, because, as he alledged, the\n chefs d'ouvres of the Greek republic ought not to embellish a\n country of slaves.\n--I told him, I neither doubted their intending such a scheme, nor the\npossibility of its success, though it was not altogether worthy of\nphilosophers and republicans to wage war for Venus's and Appollos, and to\nsacrifice the lives of one part of their fellow-citizens, that the rest\nmight be amused with pictures and statues.--\"That's not our affair (says\nMonsieur de --------). Soldiers do not reason. And if the Convention\nshould have a fancy to pillage the Emperor of China's palace, I see no\nremedy but to set sail with the first fair wind,\"--\"I wish, (said his\nsister, who was the only person present,) instead of being under such\norders, you had escaped from the service.\" \"Yes, (returned the General\nquickly,) and wander about Europe like Dumouriez, suspected and despised\nby all parties.\" I observed, Dumouriez was an adventurer, and that on\nmany accounts it was necessary to guard against him. He said, he did not\ndispute the necessity or even the justice of the conduct observed towards\nhim, but that nevertheless I might be assured it had operated as an\neffectual check to those who might, otherwise, have been tempted to\nfollow Dumouriez's example; \"And we have now (added he, in a tone between\ngaiety and despair,) no alternative but obedience or the guillotine.\"--I\nhave transcribed the substance of this conversation, as it confirms what\nI have frequently been told, that the fate of Dumouriez, however merited,\nis one great cause why no desertion of importance has since taken place.\nI was just now interrupted by a noise and shouting near my window, and\ncould plainly distinguish the words Scipio and Solon uttered in a tone of\ntaunt and reproach. Not immediately comprehending how Solon or Scipio\ncould be introduced in a fray at Paris, I dispatched Angelique to make\nenquiry; and at her return I learned that a croud of boys were following\na shoemaker of the neighbourhood, who, while he was member of a\nrevolutionary Committee, had chosen to unite in his person the glories of\nboth Rome and Greece, of the sword and gown, and had taken unto himself\nthe name of Scipio Solon. A decree of the Convention some weeks since\nenjoined all such heroes and sages to resume their original appellations,\nand forbade any person, however ardent his patriotism, to distinguish\nhimself by the name of Brutus, Timoleon, or any other but that which he\nderived from his Christian parents. The people, it seems, are not so\nobedient to the decree as those whom it more immediately concerns; and as\nthe above-mentioned Scipio Solon had been detected in various larcenies,\nhe is not allowed to quit his shop without being reproached with his\nthefts, and his Greek and Roman appellations.\nParis, June 8, 1795.\nYesterday being Sunday, and to-day the Decade, we have had two holidays\nsuccessively, though, since the people have been more at liberty to\nmanifest their opinions, they give a decided preference to the Christian\nfestival over that of the republic.*\n * This was only at Paris, where the people, from their number, are\n less manageable, and of course more courageous. In the departments,\n the same cautious timidity prevailed, and appeared likely to\n continue.\n--They observe the former from inclination, and the latter from\nnecessity; so that between the performance of their religious duties, and\nthe sacrifice to their political fears, a larger portion of time will be\ndeducted from industry than was gained by the suppression of the Saints'\ndays. The Parisians, however, seem to acquiesce very readily in this\ncompromise, and the philosophers of the Convention, who have so often\ndeclaimed against the idleness occasioned by the numerous fetes of the\nold calendar, obstinately persist in the adoption of a new one, which\nincreases the evil they pretend to remedy.\nIf the people are to be taken from their labour for such a number of\ndays, it might as well be in the name of St. Genevieve or St. Denis, as\nof the Decade, and the Saints'-days have at least this advantage, that\nthe forenoons are passed in churches; whereas the republican festivals,\ndedicated one to love, another to stoicism, and so forth, not conveying\nany very determinate idea, are interpreted to mean only an obligation to\ndo nothing, or to pass some supernumerary hours at the cabaret.\n[Alehouse.]\nI noticed with extreme pleasure yesterday, that as many of the places of\npublic worship as are permitted to be open were much crouded, and that\nreligion appears to have survived the loss of those exterior allurements\nwhich might be supposed to have rendered it peculiarly attractive to the\nParisians. The churches at present, far from being splendid, are not\neven decent, the walls and windows still bear traces of the Goths (or, if\nyou will, the philosophers,) and in some places service is celebrated\namidst piles of farage, sacks, casks, or lumber appertaining to the\ngovernment--who, though they have by their own confession the disposal of\nhalf the metropolis, choose the churches in preference for such\npurposes.*\n * It has frequently been asserted in the Convention, that by\n emigrations, banishments, and executions, half Paris had become the\n property of the public.\n--Yet these unseemly and desolate appearances do not prevent the\nattendance of congregations more numerous, and, I think, more fervent,\nthan were usual when the altars shone with the offerings of wealth, and\nthe walls were covered with the more interesting decorations of pictures\nand tapestry.\nThis it is not difficult to account for. Many who used to perform these\nreligious duties with negligence, or indifference, are now become pious,\nand even enthusiastic--and this not from hypocrisy or political\ncontradiction, but from a real sense of the evils of irreligion, produced\nby the examples and conduct of those in whom such a tendency has been\nmost remarkable.--It must, indeed, be acknowledged, that did Christianity\nrequire an advocate, a more powerful one need not be found, than in a\nretrospect of the crimes and sufferings of the French since its\nabolition.\nThose who have made fortunes by the revolution (for very few have been\nable to preserve them) now begin to exhibit equipages; and they hope to\nrender the people blind to this departure from their visionary systems of\nequality, by foregoing the use of arms and liveries--as if the real\ndifference between the rich and the poor was not constituted rather by\nessential accommodation, than extrinsic embellishments, which perhaps do\nnot gratify the eyes of the possessor a second time, and are, probably of\nall branches of luxury, the most useful. The livery of servants can be\nof very little importance, whether morally or politically considered--it\nis the act of maintaining men in idleness, who might be more profitably\nemployed, that makes the keeping a great number exceptionable; nor is a\nman more degraded by going behind a carriage with a hat and feather, than\nwith a bonnet de police, or a plain beaver; but he eats just as much, and\nearns just as little, equipped as a Carmagnole, as though glittering in\nthe most superb gala suit.*\n * In their zeal to imitate the Roman republicans, the French seem to\n forget that a political consideration very different from the love\n of simplicity, or an idea of the dignity of man, made the Romans\n averse from distinguishing their slaves by any external indication.\n They were so numerous that it was thought impolitic to furnish them\n with such means of knowing their own strength in case of a revolt.\nThe marks of service cannot be more degrading than service itself; and it\nis the mere chicane of philosophy to extend reform only to cuffs and\ncollars, while we do not dispense with the services annexed to them. A\nvalet who walks the street in his powdering jacket, disdains a livery as\nmuch as the fiercest republican, and with as much reason--for there is no\nmore difference between domestic occupation performed in one coat or\nanother, than there is between the party-coloured habit and the jacket.\nIf the luxury of carriages be an evil, it must be because the horses\nemployed in them consume the produce of land which might be more\nbeneficially cultivated: but the gilding, fringe, salamanders, and lions,\nin all their heraldic positions, afford an easy livelihood to\nmanufacturers and artisans, who might not be capable of more laborious\noccupations.\nI believe it will generally be found, that most of the republican reforms\nare of this description--calculated only to impose on the people, and\ndisguising, by frivolous prohibitions, their real inutility. The\naffectation of simplicity in a nation already familiarized with luxury,\nonly tends to divert the wealth of the rich to purposes which render it\nmore destructive. Vanity and ostentation, when they are excluded from\none means of gratification, will always seek another; and those who,\nhaving the means, cannot distinguish themselves by ostensible splendour,\nwill often do so by domestic profusion.*\n * \"Sectaries (says Walpole in his Anecdotes of Painting, speaking of\n the republicans under Cromwell) have no ostensible enjoyments; their\n pleasures are private, comfortable and gross. The arts of civilized\n society are not calculated for men who mean to rise on the ruins of\n established order.\" Judging by comparison, I am persuaded these\n observations are yet more applicable to the political, than the\n religious opinions of the English republicans of that period; for,\n in these respects, there is no difference between them and the\n French of the present day, though there is a wide one between an\n Anabaptist and the disciples of Boulanger and Voltaire.\n--Nor can it well be disputed, that a gross luxury is more pernicious\nthan an elegant one; for the former consumes the necessaries of life\nwantonly, while the latter maintains numerous hands in rendering things\nvaluable by the workmanship which are little so in themselves.\nEvery one who has been a reflecting spectator of the revolution will\nacknowledge the justice of these observations. The agents and retainers\nof government are the general monopolizers of the markets, and these men,\nwho are enriched by peculation, and are on all occasions retailing the\ncant phrases of the Convention, on the _purete des moeurs republicains,\net la luxe de la ci-devant Noblesse,_ [The purity of republican manners,\nand the luxury of the ci-devant Noblesse.] exhibit scandalous exceptions\nto the national habits of oeconomy, at a time too when others more\ndeserving are often compelled to sacrifice even their essential\naccommodations to a more rigid compliance with them.*\n * Lindet, in a report on the situation of the republic, declares,\n that since the revolution the consumption of wines and every article\n of luxury has been such, that very little has been left for\n exportation. I have selected the following specimens of republican\n manners, from many others equally authentic, as they may be of some\n utility to those who would wish to estimate what the French have\n gained in this respect by a change of government.\n \"In the name of the French people the Representatives sent to\n Commune Affranchie (Lyons) to promote the felicity of its\n inhabitants, order the Committee of Sequestration to send them\n immediately two hundred bottles of the best wine that can be\n procured, also five hundred bottles of claret, of prime quality, for\n their own table. For this purpose the commission are authorized to\n take of the sequestration, wherever the above wine can be found.\n Done at Commune Affranchie, thirteenth Nivose, second year.\n (Signed) \"Albitte,\n \"Fouche,\n \"Deputies of the National Convention.\"\n Extract of a denunciation of Citizen Boismartin against Citizen\n Laplanche, member of the National Convention:\n \"The twenty-fourth of Brumaire, in the second year of the republic,\n the Administrators of the district of St. Lo gave orders to the\n municipality over which I at that time presided, to lodge the\n Representative of the people, Laplanche, and General Siphert, in the\n house of Citizen Lemonnier, who was then under arrest at Thorigni.\n In introducing one of the founders of the republic, and a French\n General, into this hospitable mansion, we thought to put the\n property of our fellow-citizen under the safeguard of all the\n virtues; but, alas, how were we mistaken! They had no sooner\n entered the house, than the provisions of every sort, the linen,\n clothes, furniture, trinkets, books, plate, carriages, and even\n title-deeds, all disappeared; and, as if they purposely insulted our\n wretchedness, while we were reduced to the sad necessity of\n distributing with a parsimonious hand a few ounces of black bread to\n our fellow-citizens, the best bread, pillaged from Citizen\n Lemonnier, was lavished by buckets full to the horses of General\n Siphert, and the Representative Laplanche.--The Citizen Lemonnier,\n who is seventy years of age, having now recovered his liberty, which\n he never deserved to lose, finds himself so entirely despoiled, that\n he is at present obliged to live at an inn; and, of property to the\n amount of sixty thousand livres, he has nothing left but a single\n spoon, which he took with him when carried to one of the Bastilles\n in the department de la Manche.\"\n The chief defence of Laplanche consisted in allegations that the\n said Citizen Lemonnier was rich, and a royalist, and that he had\n found emblems of royalism and fanaticism about the house.\nAt the house of one of our common friends, I met --------, and so little\ndid I imagine that he had escaped all the revolutionary perils to which\nhe had been exposed, that I could almost have supposed myself in the\nregions of the dead, or that he had been permitted to quit them, for his\nbeing alive scarcely seemed less miraculous or incredible. As I had not\nseen him since 1792, he gave me a very interesting detail of his\nadventures, and his testimony corroborates the opinion generally\nentertained by those who knew the late King, that he had much personal\ncourage, and that he lost his crown and his life by political indecision,\nand an humane, but ill-judged, unwillingness to reduce his enemies by\nforce. He assured me, the Queen might have been conveyed out of France\nprevious to the tenth of August, if she would have agreed to leave the\nKing and her children behind; that she had twice consulted him on the\nsubject; but, persisting in her resolution not to depart unaccompanied by\nher family, nothing practicable could be devised, and she determined to\nshare their fate.*\n * The gentleman here alluded to has great talents, and is\n particularly well acquainted with some of the most obscure and\n disastrous periods of the French revolution. I have reason to\n believe, whenever it is consistent with his own safety, he will, by\n a genuine relation, expose many of the popular falsehoods by which\n the public have been misled.\nThis, as well as many other instances of tenderness and heroism, which\ndistinguished the Queen under her misfortunes, accord but ill with the\nvices imputed to her; and were not such imputations encouraged to serve\nthe cause of faction, rather than that of morality, these inconsistencies\nwould have been interpreted in her favour, and candour have palliated or\nforgotten the levities of her youth, and remembered only the sorrows and\nthe virtues by which they were succeeded.\nI had, in compliance with your request on my first arrival in France,\nmade a collection of prints of all the most conspicuous actors in the\nrevolution; but as they could not be secreted so easily as other papers,\nmy fears overcame my desire of obliging you, and I destroyed them\nsuccessively, as the originals became proscribed or were sacrificed.\nDesirous of repairing my loss, I persuaded some friends to accompany me\nto a shop, kept by a man of whom they frequently purchased, and whom, as\nhis principles were known to them, I might safely ask for the articles I\nwanted. He shook his head, while he ran over my list, and then told me,\nthat having preferred his safety to his property, he had disposed of his\nprints in the same way I had disposed of mine. \"At the accession of a\nnew party, (continued he,) I always prepare for a domiciliary visit,\nclear my windows and shelves of the exploded heads, and replace them by\nthose of their rivals. Nay, I assure you, since the revolution, our\ntrade is become as precarious as that of a gamester. The\nConstitutionalists, indeed, held out pretty well, but then I was half\nruined by the fall of the Brissotins; and, before I could retrieve a\nlittle by the Hebertists and Dantonists, the too were out of fashion.\"--\n\"Well, but the Robespierrians--you must have gained by them?\"--\"Why,\ntrue; Robespierre and Marat, and Chalier, answered well enough, because\nthe royalists generally placed them in their houses to give themselves an\nair of patriotism, yet they are gone after the rest.--Here, however,\n(says he, taking down an engraving of the Abbe Sieyes,) is a piece of\nmerchandize that I have kept through all parties, religions, and\nconstitutions--_et le voila encore a la mode,_ [\"And now you see him in\nfashion again.\"] mounted on the wrecks, and supported by the remnants of\nboth his friends and enemies. _Ah! c'est un fin matois.\"_ [\"Ah! He's a\nknowing one.\"]\nThis conversation passed in a gay tone, though the man added, very\nseriously, that the instability of popular factions, and their\nintolerance towards each other, had obliged him to destroy to the amount\nof some thousand livres, and that he intended, if affairs did not change,\nto quit business.\nOf all the prints I enquired for, I only got Barrere, Sieyes, and a few\nothers of less note. Your last commissions I have executed more\nsuccessfully, for though the necessaries of life are almost\nunpurchaseable, articles of taste, books, perfumery, &c. are cheaper than\never. This is unfortunately the reverse of what ought to be the case,\nbut the augmentation in the price of provisions is to be accounted for in\nvarious ways, and that things of the description I allude to do not bear\na price in proportion is doubtless to be attributed to the present\npoverty of those who used to be the purchasers of them; while the people\nwho are become rich under the new government are of a description to seek\nfor more substantial luxuries than books and essences.--I should however\nobserve, that the venders of any thing not perishable, and who are not\nforced to sell for their daily subsistence, are solicitous to evade every\ndemand for any article which is to be paid for in assignats.\nI was looking at some trinkets in a shop at the Palais Royal, and on my\nasking the mistress of it if the ornaments were silver, she smiled\nsignificantly, and replied, she had nothing silver nor gold in the shop,\nbut if I chose to purchase _en espece,_ she would show me whatever I\ndesired: _\"Mais pour le papier nous n'en avons que trop.\"_ [\"In coin, but\nfor paper we have already too much of it.\"]\nMany of the old shops are nearly empty, and the little trade which yet\nexists is carried on by a sort of adventurers who, without being bred to\nany one trade, set up half a dozen, and perhaps disappear three months\nafterwards. They are, I believe, chiefly men who have speculated on the\nassignats, and as soon as they have turned their capital in a mercantile\nway a short time, become apprehensive of the paper, realize it, and\nretire; or, becoming bankrupts by some unlucky monopoly, begin a new\ncareer of patriotism.\nThere is, properly speaking, no money in circulation, yet a vast quantity\nis bought and sold. Annuitants, possessors of moderate landed property,\n&c., finding it impossible to subsist on their incomes, are forced to\nhave recourse to the little specie they have reserved, and exchange it\nfor paper. Immense sums in coin are purchased by the government, to make\ngood the balance of their trade with the neutral countries for\nprovisions, so that I should suppose, if this continue a few months, very\nlittle will be left in the country.\nOne might be tempted to fancy there is something in the atmosphere of\nParis which adapts the minds of its inhabitants to their political\nsituation. They talk of the day appointed for a revolt a fortnight\nbefore, as though it were a fete, and the most timid begin to be inured\nto a state of agitation and apprehension, and to consider it as a natural\nvicissitude that their lives should be endangered periodically.\nA commission has been employed for some time in devising another new\nconstitution, which is to be proposed to the Assembly on the thirteenth\nof this month; and on that day, it is said, an effort is to be made by\nthe royalists. They are certainly very numerous, and the interest taken\nin the young King is universal. In vain have the journalists been\nforbidden to cherish these sentiments, by publishing details concerning\nhim: whatever escapes the walls of his prison is circulated in impatient\nwhispers, and requires neither printing nor gazettes a la main to give it\npublicity.*\n * Under the monarchy people disseminated anecdotes or intelligence\n which they did not think it safe to print, by means of these written\n gazettes.--I doubt if any one would venture to have recourse to them\n at present.\n--The child is reported to be ill, and in a kind of stupefaction, so as\nto sit whole days without speaking or moving: this is not natural at his\nage, and must be the consequence of neglect, or barbarous treatment.\nThe Committees of Government, and indeed most of the Convention who have\noccasionally appeared to give tacit indications of favouring the\nroyalists, in order to secure their support against the Jacobins, having\nnow crushed the latter, begin to be seriously alarmed at the projects of\nthe former.--Sevestre, in the name of the Committee of Public Safety,\nhas announced that a formidable insurrection may be expected on the\ntwenty-fifth of Prairial, (thirteenth June,) the Deputies on mission are\nordered to return, and the Assembly propose to die under the ruins of the\nrepublic. They have, notwithstanding, judged it expedient to fortify\nthese heroic dispositions by the aid of a military force, and a large\nnumber of regular troops are in Paris and the environs. We shall\ncertainly depart before this menacing epoch: the application for our\npassports was made on our first arrival, and Citizen Liebault, Principal\nof the Office for Foreign Affairs, who is really very civil, has promised\nthem in a day or two.\nOur journey here was, in fact, unnecessary; but we have few republican\nacquaintance, and those who are called aristocrats do not execute\ncommission of this kind zealously, nor without some apprehensions of\ncommitting themselves.--You will wonder that I find time to write to you,\nnor do I pretend to assume much merit from it. We have not often courage\nto frequent public places in the evening, and, when we do, I continually\ndread some unlucky accident: either a riot between the Terrorists and\nMuscadins, within, or a military investment without. The last time we\nwere at the theatre, a French gentleman, who was our escort, entered into\na trifling altercation with a rude vulgar-looking man, in the box, who\nseemed to speak in a very authoritative tone, and I know not how the\nmatter might have ended, had not a friend in the next box silenced our\ncompanion, by conveying a penciled card, which informed him the person he\nwas disputing with was a Deputy of the Convention. We took an early\nopportunity of retreating, not perfectly at ease about the consequences\nwhich might ensue from Mr. -------- having ventured to differ in opinion\nfrom a Member of the Republican Legislature. Since that time we have\npassed our evenings in private societies, or at home; and while Mr.\nD-------- devours new pamphlets, and Mrs. D-------- and the lady we lodge\nwith recount their mutual sufferings at Arras and St. Pelagie, I take the\nopportunity of writing.\n--Adieu.\nParis, June 12, 1795.\nThe hopes and fears, plots and counterplots, of both royalists and\nrepublicans, are now suspended by the death of the young King. This\nevent was announced on Tuesday last, and since that time the minds and\nconversation of the public have been entirely occupied by it. Latent\nsuspicion, and regret unwillingly suppressed, are every where visible;\nand, in the fond interest taken in this child's life, it seems to be\nforgotten that it is the lot of man \"to pass through nature to eternity,\"\nand that it was possible for him to die without being sacrificed by human\nmalice.\nAll that has been said and written on original equality has not yet\npersuaded the people that the fate of Kings is regulated only by the\nordinary dispensations of Providence; and they seem to persist in\nbelieving, that royalty, if it has not a more fortunate pre-eminence, is\nat least distinguished by an unusual portion of calamities.\nWhen we recollect the various and absurd stories which have been\npropagated and believed at the death of Monarchs or their offspring,\nwithout even a single ground either political or physical to justify\nthem, we cannot now wonder, when so many circumstances of every kind tend\nto excite suspicion, that the public opinion should be influenced, and\nattribute the death of the King to poison. The child is allowed to have\nbeen of a lively disposition, and, even long after his seclusion from his\nfamily, to have frequently amused himself by singing at the window of his\nprison, until the interest he was observed to create in those who\nlistened under it, occasioned an order to prevent him. It is therefore\nextraordinary, that he should lately have appeared in a state of\nstupefaction, which is by no means a symptom of the disorder he is\nalledged to have died of, but a very common one of opiates improperly\nadministered.*\n * In order to account in some way for the state in which the young\n King had lately appeared, it was reported that he had been in the\n habit of drinking strong liquors to excess. Admitting this to be\n true, they must have been furnished for him, for he could have no\n means of procuring them.--It is not inapposite to record, that on a\n petition being formerly presented to the legislature from the\n Jacobin societies, praying that the \"son of the tyrant\" might be put\n to death, an honourable mention in the national bulletin was\n unanimously decreed!!!\nThough this presumption, if supported by the evidence of external\nappearances, may seem but of little weight; when combined with others, of\na moral and political nature, it becomes of considerable importance. The\npeople, long amused by a supposed design of the Convention to place the\nDauphin on the throne, were now become impatient to see their wishes\nrealized; or, they hoped that a renewal of the representative body,\nwhich, if conducted with freedom, must infallibly lead to the\naccomplishment of this object, would at least deliver them from an\nAssembly which they considered as exhausted in talents and degraded in\nreputation.--These dispositions were not attempted to be concealed; they\nwere manifested on all occasions: and a general and successful effort in\nfavour of the Royal Prisoner was expected to take place on the\nthirteenth.*\n * That there were such designs, and such expectations on the part of\n the people, is indubitable. The following extract, written and\n signed by one of the editors of the _Moniteur,_ is sufficiently\n expressive of the temper of the public at this period; and I must\n observe here, that the _Moniteur_ is to be considered as nearly\n equivalent to an official paper, and is always supposed to express\n the sense of government, by whom it is supported and paid, whatever\n party or system may happen to prevail:\n _\"Les esperances les plus folles se manifestent de toutes parts.--\n C'est a qui jettera plus promptement le masque--on dirait, a lire\n les ecrits qui paraissent, a entendre les conversations des gens qui\n se croient dans les confidences, que c'en est fait de la republique:\n la Convention, secondee, poussee meme par le zele et l'energie des\n bons citoyens a remporte une grande victoire sur les Terroristes,\n sur les successeurs de Robespierre, il semble qu'elle n'ait plus\n qu'a proclamer la royaute. Ce qui donne lieu a toutes les\n conjectures plus ou moins absurdes aux quelles chacun se livre,\n c'est l'approche du 25 Prairial.\"_ (13th June, the day on which the\n new constitution was to be presented).\n \"The most extravagant hopes, and a general impatience to throw off\n the mask are manifested on all sides.--To witness the publications\n that appear, and to hear what is said by those who believe\n themselves in the secret, one would suppose that it was all over\n with the republic.--The Convention seconded, impelled even, by the\n good citizens, has gained a victory over the Terrorists and the\n successors of Robespierre, and now it should seem that nothing\n remained to be done by to proclaim royalty--what particularly gives\n rise to these absurdities, which exist more or less in the minds of\n all, is the approach of the 25th Prairial.\"\nPerhaps the majority of the Convention, under the hope of securing\nimpunity for their past crimes, might have yielded to the popular\nimpulse; but the government is no longer in the hands of those men who,\nhaving shared the power of Robespierre before they succeeded him, might,\nas Rabaut St. Etienne expressed himself, \"be wearied of their portion of\ntyranny.\"*\n * -\"Je suis las de la portion de tyrannie que j'exerce.\"---\"I am\n weary of the portion of tyranny which I exercise.\"\n--The remains of the Brissotins, with their newly-acquired authority,\nhave vanity, interest, and revenge, to satiate; and there is no reason to\nsuppose that a crime, which should favour these views, would, in their\nestimation, be considered otherwise than venial. To these are added\nSieyes, Louvet, &c. men not only eager to retain their power, but known\nto have been of the Orleans faction, and who, if they are royalists, are\nnot loyalists, and the last persons to whose care a son of Louis the\nSixteenth ought to have been intrusted.\nAt this crisis, then, when the Convention could no longer temporize with\nthe expectations it raised--when the government was divided between one\nparty who had deposed the King to gratify their own ambition, and another\nwho had lent their assistance in order to facilitate the pretensions of\nan usurper--and when the hopes of the country were anxiously fixed on\nhim, died Louis the Seventeenth. At an age which, in common life, is\nperhaps the only portion of our existence unalloyed by misery, this\ninnocent child had suffered more than is often the lot of extended years\nand mature guilt. He lived to see his father sent to the scaffold--to be\ntorn from his mother and family--to drudge in the service of brutality\nand insolence--and to want those cares and necessaries which are not\nrefused even to the infant mendicant, whose wretchedness contributes to\nthe support of his parents.*\n * It is unnecessary to remind the reader, that the Dauphin had been\n under the care of one Simon, a shoemaker, who employed him to clean\n his (Simon's) shoes, and in any other drudgery of which his close\n confinement admitted.\n--When his death was announced to the Convention, Sevestre, the reporter,\nacknowledged that Dessault, the surgeon, had some time since declared the\ncase to be dangerous; yet, notwithstanding policy as well as humanity\nrequired that every appearance of mystery and harshness should, on such\nan occasion, be avoided, the poor child continued to be secluded with the\nsame barbarous jealousy--nor was the Princess, his sister, whose evidence\non the subject would have been so conclusive, ever suffered to approach\nhim.\nNo report of Dessault's opinion had till now been made public; and\nDessault himself, who was an honest man, died of an inflammatory disorder\nfour days before the Dauphin.--It is possible, he might have expressed\nhimself too freely, respecting his patient, to those who employed him--\nhis future discretion might be doubted--or, perhaps, he was only called\nin at first, that his character might give a sanction to the future\noperations of those who were more confided in. But whether this event is\nto be ascribed to natural causes, or to that of opiates, the times and\ncircumstances render it peculiarly liable to suspicions, and the\nreputation of those who are involved, is not calculated to repel them.\nIndeed, so conscious are the advocates of government, that the imputation\ncannot be obviated by pleading the integrity of the parties, that they\nseem to rest their sole defence on the inutility of a murder, which only\ntransfers whatever rights the House of Bourbon may be supposed to\npossess, from one branch of it to another. Yet those who make use of\nthis argument are well aware of its fallaciousness: the shades of\npolitical opinion in France are extremely diversified, and a considerable\npart of the Royalists are also Constitutionalists, whom it will require\ntime and necessity to reconcile to the emigrant Princes. But the young\nKing had neither enemies nor errors--and his claims would have united the\nefforts and affections of all parties, from the friends of the monarchy,\nas it existed under Louis the Fourteenth, down to the converted\nRepublican, who compromises with his principles, and stipulates for the\ntitle of Perpetual President.\nThat the removal of this child has been fortunate for those who govern,\nis proved by the effect: insurrections are no longer talked of, the\nroyalists are confounded, the point of interest is no more, and a sort of\ndespondency and confusion prevails, which is highly favourable to a\ncontinuance of the present system.--There is no doubt, but that when\nmen's minds become more settled, the advantage of having a Prince who is\ncapable of acting, and whose success will not be accompanied by a long\nminority, will conciliate all the reflecting part of the constitutional\nroyalists, in spite of their political objections. But the people who\nare more under the influence of their feelings, and yield less to\nexpediency, may not, till urged by distress and anarchy, be brought to\ntake the same interest in the absent claimant of the throne, that they\ndid in their infant Prince.\nIt is to be regretted, that an habitual and unconquerable deference for\nthe law which excludes females from the Crown of France, should have\nsurvived monarchy itself; otherwise the tender compassion excited by the\nyouth, beauty and sufferings of the Princess, might yet have been the\nmeans of procuring peace to this distracted country. But the French\nadmire, lament, and leave her to her fate--\n \"O, shame of Gallia, in one sullen tower\n \"She wets with royal tears her daily cell;\n \"She finds keen anguish every rose devour,\n \"They spring, they bloom, then bid the world farewell.\n \"Illustrious mourner! will no gallant mind\n \"The cause of love, the cause of justice own?\n \"Such claims! such charms! And is no life resign'd\n \"To see them sparkle from their parent throne?\"\nHow inconsistent do we often become through prejudices! The French are\nat this moment governed by adventurers and courtezans--by whatever is\nbase, degraded, or mean, in both sexes; yet, perhaps, would they blush to\nsee enrolled among their Sovereigns an innocent and beautiful Princess,\nthe descendant of Henry the Fourth.\nNothing since our arrival at Paris has seemed more strange than the\neagerness with which every one recounts some atrocity, either committed\nor suffered by his fellow-citizens; and all seem to conclude, that the\nguilt or shame of these scenes is so divided by being general, that no\nshare of either attaches to any individual. They are never tired of the\ndetails of popular or judicial massacres; and so zealous are they to do\nthe honours of the place, that I might, but for disinclination on my\npart, pass half my time in visiting the spots where they were\nperpetrated. It was but to-day I was requested to go and examine a kind\nof sewer, lately described by Louvet, in the Convention, where the blood\nof those who suffered at the Guillotine was daily carried in buckets, by\nmen employed for the purpose.*\n * \"At the gate of St. Antoine an immense aqueduct had been\n constructed for the purpose of carrying off the blood that was shed\n at the executions, and every day four men were employed in taking it\n up in buckets, and conveying it to this horrid reservoir of\n butchery.\"\n--These barbarous propensities have long been the theme of French\nsatyrists; and though I do not pretend to infer that they are national,\nyet certainly the revolution has produced instances of ferocity not to be\nparalleled in any country that ever had been civilized, and still less in\none that had not.*\n * It would be too shocking, both to decency and humanity, to recite\n the more serious enormities alluded to; and I only add, to those I\n have formerly mentioned, a few examples which particularly describe\n the manners of the revolution.--\n At Metz, the heads of the guillotined were placed on the tops of\n their own houses. The Guillotine was stationary, fronting the\n Town-house, for months; and whoever was observed to pass it with\n looks of disapprobation, was marked as an object of suspicion. A\n popular Commission, instituted for receiving the revolutionary tax\n at this place, held their meetings in a room hung with stripes of\n red and black, lighted only with sepulchral lamps; and on the desk\n was placed a small Guillotine, surrounded by daggers and swords. In\n this vault, and amidst this gloomy apparatus, the inhabitants of\n Metz brought their patriotic gifts, (that is, the arbitrary and\n exorbitant contributions to which they were condemned,) and laid\n them on the altar of the Guillotine, like the sacrifice of fear to\n the infernal deities; and, that the keeping of the whole business\n might be preserved, the receipts were signed with red ink, avowedly\n intended as expressive of the reigning system.\n At Cahors, the deputy, Taillefer, after making a triumphal entry\n with several waggons full of people whom he had arrested, ordered a\n Guillotine to be erected in the square, and some of the prisoners to\n be brought forth and decorated in a mock costume representing Kings,\n Queens, and Nobility. He then obliged them successively to pay\n homage to the Guillotine, as though it had been a throne, the\n executioner manoeuvring the instrument all the while, and exciting\n the people to call for the heads of those who were forced to act in\n this horrid farce. The attempt, however, did not succeed, and the\n spectators retired in silent indignation.\n At Laval, the head of Laroche, a deputy of the Constituent Assembly,\n was exhibited (by order of Lavallee, a deputy there on mission) on\n the house inhabited by his wife.--At Auch, in the department of\n Gers, d'Artigoyte, another deputy, obliged some of the people under\n arrest to eat out of a manger.--Borie used to amuse himself, and the\n inhabitants of Nismes, by dancing what he called a farandole round\n the Guillotine in his legislative costume.--The representative\n Lejeune solaced his leisure hours in beheading animals with a\n miniature Guillotine, the expence of which he had placed to the\n account of the nation; and so much was he delighted with it, that\n the poultry served at his table were submitted to its operation, as\n well as the fruits at his dessert! (Debates, June 1.)\n But it would be tedious and disgusting to describe all the _menus\n plaisirs_ of these founders of the French republic. Let it suffice\n to say, that they comprised whatever is ludicrous, sanguinary, and\n licentious, and that such examples were but too successful in\n procuring imitators. At Tours, even the women wore Guillotines in\n their ears, and it was not unusual for people to seal their letters\n with a similar representation!\nWe have been once at the theatre since the King's death, and the stanza\nof the _Reveil du Peuple,_ [The rousing of the people.] which contains a\ncompliment to the Convention, was hissed pretty generally, while those\nexpressing an abhorrence of Jacobinism were sung with enthusiasm. But\nthe sincerity of these musical politics is not always to be relied on: a\npopular air is caught and echoed with avidity; and whether the words be\n_\"Peuple Francais, peuple de Freres,\"_ [\"Brethren.\"]--or _\"Dansons la\nGuillotine,\"_ the expression with which it is sung is not very different.\nHow often have the theatres resounded with _\"Dieu de clemence et de\njustice.\"_ [\"God of mercy and justice.\"] and _\"Liberte, Liberte,\ncherie!\"_ [\"Liberty, beloved Liberty!\"] while the instrument of death was\nin a state of unceasing activity--and when the auditors, who joined in\nthese invocations to Liberty, returned to their homes trembling, lest\nthey should be arrested in the street, or find a mandate or guard at\ntheir own houses.*\n * An acquaintance of mine told me, that he was one evening in\n company at Dijon, where, after singing hymns to liberty in the most\n energetic style, all the party were arrested, and betook themselves\n as tranquilly to prison, as though the name of liberty had been\n unknown to them. The municipality of Dijon commonly issued their\n writs of arrest in this form--\"Such and such a person shall be\n arrested, and his wife, if he has one!\"\n--At present, however, the Parisians really sing the _Reveil_ from\nprinciple, and I doubt if even a new and more agreeable air in the\nJacobin interest would be able to supplant it.\nWe have had our permission to remain here extended to another Decade; but\nMr. D------, who declares, ten times in an hour, that the French are the\nstrangest people on earth, besides being the most barbarous and the most\nfrivolous, is impatient to be gone; and as we now have our passports, I\nbelieve we shall depart the middle of next week.\n--Yours.\nParis, June 15, 1795.\nI am now, after a residence of more than three years, amidst the chaos of\na revolution, on the eve of my departure from France. Yet, while I\njoyfully prepare to revisit my own country, my mind involuntarily traces\nthe rapid succession of calamities which have filled this period, and\ndwells with painful contemplation on those changes in the morals and\ncondition of the French people that seem hitherto to be the only fruits\nwhich they have produced. In this recurrence to the past, and estimation\nof the present, however we may regret the persecution of wealth, the\ndestruction of commerce, and the general oppression, the most important\nand irretrievable mischief of the revolution is, doubtless, the\ncorruption of manners introduced among the middle and lower classes of\nthe people.\nThe labouring poor of France have often been described as frugal,\nthoughtless, and happy, earning, indeed, but little, yet spending still\nless, and in general able to procure such a subsistence as their habits\nand climate rendered agreeable and sufficient.*\n * Mr. Young seems to have been persuaded, that the common people of\n France worked harder, and were worse fed, than those of the same\n description in England. Yet, as far as I have had opportunity of\n observing, and from the information I have been able to procure, I\n cannot help supposing that this gentleman has drawn his inference\n partially, and that he has often compared some particular case of\n distress, with the general situation of the peasantry in the rich\n counties, which are the scene of his experiments. The peasantry of\n many distant parts of England fare as coarsely, and labour harder,\n than was common in France; and taking their habits of frugality,\n their disposition to be satisfied, and their climate into the\n account, the situation of the French perhaps was preferable.\n Mr. Young's Tour has been quoted very triumphantly by a Noble Lord,\n particularly a passage which laments and ascribes to political\n causes the appearance of premature old age, observable in French\n women of the lower classes. Yet, for the satisfaction of his\n Lordship's benevolence and gallantry, I can assure him, that the\n female peasants in France have not more laborious occupations than\n those of England, but they wear no stays, and expose themselves to\n all weathers without hats; in consequence, lose their shape, tan\n their complexions, and harden their features so as to look much\n older than they really are.--Mr. Young's book is translated into\n French, and I have too high an opinion both of his principles and\n his talents to doubt that he must regret the ill effects it may have\n had in France, and the use that has been made of it in England.\n--They are now become idle, profuse, and gloomy; their poverty is\nembittered by fanciful claims to riches and a taste for expence. They\nwork with despair and unwillingness, because they can no longer live by\ntheir labour; and, alternately the victims of intemperance or want, they\nare often to be found in a state of intoxication, when they have not been\nable to satisfy their hunger--for, as bread cannot always be purchased\nwith paper, they procure a temporary support, at the expence of their\nhealth and morals, in the destructive substitute of strong liquors.\nThose of the next class, such as working tradesmen, artizans, and\ndomestic servants, though less wretched, are far more dissolute; and it\nis not uncommon in great towns to see men of this description unite the\nferociousness of savages with all the vices of systematic profligacy.\nThe original principles of the revolution, of themselves, naturally\ntended to produce such a depravation; but the suspension of religious\nworship, the conduct of the Deputies on mission, and the universal\nimmorality of the existing government, must have considerably hastened\nit. When the people were forbidden the exercise of their religion,\nthough they did not cease to be attached to it, yet they lost the good\neffects which even external forms alone are calculated to produce; and\nwhile deism and atheism failed in perverting their faith, they were but\ntoo successful in corrupting their morals.\nAs in all countries the restraints which religion imposes are more\nreadily submitted to by the inferior ranks of life, it is these which\nmust be most affected by its abolition; and we cannot wonder, that when\nmen have been once accustomed to neglect the duty they consider as most\nessential, they should in time become capable of violating every other:\nfor, however it may be among the learned, _qui s'aveuglent a force de\nlumiere,_ [Who blind themselves by excess of light. Destouchet.] with\nthe ignorant the transition from religious indifference to actual vice is\nrapid and certain.\nThe Missionaries of the Convention, who for two years extended their\ndestructive depredations over the departments, were every where guilty of\nthe most odious excesses, and those least culpable offered examples of\nlicentiousness and intemperance with which, till then, the people had\nnever been familiar.*\n * \"When the Convention was elected, (says Durand Maillane, see\n Report of the Committee of Legislation, 13th Prairial, 1st June,)\n the choice fell upon men who abused the name of patriot, and adopted\n it as a cloak for their vices.--Vainly do we inculcate justice, and\n expect the Tribunals will bring thieves and assassins to punishment,\n if we do not punish those amongst ourselves.--Vainly shall we talk\n of republican manners and democratic government, while our\n representatives carry into the departments examples of despotism and\n corruption.\"\n The conduct of these civilized banditti has been sufficiently\n described. Allard, Lacoste, Mallarme, Milhaud, Laplanche,\n Monestier, Guyardin, Sergent, and many others, were not only\n ferocious and extravagant, but known to have been guilty of the\n meanest thefts. Javoques is alledged to have sacrificed two hundred\n people of Montibrison, and to have stolen a vast quantity of their\n effects. It was common for him to say, that he acknowledged as true\n patriots those only who, like himself, _\"etaient capables de boire\n une verre de sang,\"_--(\"were capable of drinking a glass of blood.\")\n D'Artigoyte distinguished himself by such scandalous violations of\n morals and decency, that they are not fit to be recited. He often\n obliged married women, by menaces, to bring their daughters to the\n Jacobin clubs, for the purpose of insulting them with the grossest\n obscenities.--Having a project of getting up a play for his\n amusement, he caused it to be declared, that those who had any\n talents for acting, and did not present themselves, should be\n imprisoned as suspects. And it is notorious, that this same Deputy\n once insulted all the women present at the theatre, and, after using\n the most obscene language for some time, concluded by stripping\n himself entirely in presence of the spectators.\n Report of the Committee of Legislation, 13th Prairial (1st of\n Lacoste and Baudet, when they were on mission at Strasburgh, lived\n in daily riot and intoxication with the members of the Revolutionary\n Tribunal, who, after qualifying themselves in these orgies,\n proceeded to condemn all the prisoners brought before them.--During\n the debate following the above quoted report, Dentzel accused\n Lacoste, among other larcenies, of having purloined some shirts\n belonging to himself; and addressing Lacoste, who was present in the\n Assembly, with true democratic frankness, adds, _\"Je suis sur qu'il\n en a une sur le corps.\"_--(\"I am certain he has one of them on at\n this moment.\") Debate, 1st of June.\n The following is a translation of a letter from Piorry,\n Representative of the People, to the popular society of Poitiers:--\n \"My honest and determined _Sans Culottes,_ as you seemed to desire a\n Deputy amongst you who has never deviated from the right principles,\n that is to say, a true Mountaineeer, I fulfil your wishes in sending\n you the Citizen Ingrand.--Remember, honest and determined _Sans\n Culottes,_ that with the sanction of the patriot Ingrand, you may do\n every thing, obtain every thing, destroy every thing--imprison all,\n try all, transport all, or guillotine all. Don't spare him a\n moment; and thus, through his means, all may tremble, every thing be\n swept away, and, finally, be re-established in lasting order.\n The gentleman who translated the above for me, subjoined, that he\n had omitted various oaths too bad for translation.--This Piorry\n always attended the executions, and as fast as a head fell, used to\n wave his hat in the air, and cry, _\"Vive la Republique!\"_\n Such are the founders of the French Republic, and such the means by\n which it has been supported!\n--It may be admitted, that the lives of the higher Noblesse were not\nalways edifying; but if their dissipation was public, their vices were\nless so, and the scenes of both were for the most part confined to Paris.\nWhat they did not practise themselves, they at least did not discourage\nin others; and though they might be too indolent to endeavour at\npreserving the morals of their dependents, they knew their own interest\ntoo well to assist in depraving them.\nBut the Representatives, and their agents, are not to be considered\nmerely as individuals who have corrupted only by example;--they were\narmed with unlimited authority, and made proselytes through fear, where\nthey failed to produce them from inclination. A contempt for religion or\ndecency has been considered as the test of an attachment to the\ngovernment; and a gross infraction of any moral or social duty as a proof\nof civism, and a victory over prejudice. Whoever dreaded an arrest, or\ncourted an office, affected profaneness and profligacy--and, doubtless,\nmany who at first assumed an appearance of vice from timidity, in the end\ncontracted a preference for it. I myself know instances of several who\nbegan by deploring that they were no longer able to practise the duties\nof their religion, and ended by ridiculing or fearing them. Industrious\nmechanics, who used to go regularly to mass, and bestow their weekly\n_liard_ on the poor, after a month's revolutionising, in the suite of a\nDeputy, have danced round the flames which consumed the sacred writings,\nand become as licentious and dishonest as their leader.\nThe general principles of the Convention have been adapted to sanction\nand accelerate the labours of their itinerant colleagues. The sentences\nof felons were often reversed, in consideration of their \"patriotism\"--\nwomen of scandalous lives have been pensioned, and complimented publicly\n--and various decrees passed, all tending to promote a national\ndissoluteness of manners.*\n * Among others, a decree which gave all illegitimate children a\n claim to an equal participation in the property of the father to\n whom they should (at the discretion of the mother) be attributed.\n--The evil propensities of our nature, which penal laws and moralists\nvainly contend against, were fostered by praise, and stimulated by\nreward--all the established distinctions of right and wrong confounded--\nand a system of revolutionary ethics adopted, not less incompatible with\nthe happiness of mankind than revolutionary politics.\nThus, all the purposes for which this general demoralization was\npromoted, being at length attained, those who were rich having been\npillaged, those who were feared massacred, and a croud of needy and\ndesperate adventurers attached to the fate of the revolution, the\nexpediency of a reform has lately been suggested. But the mischief is\nalready irreparable. Whatever was good in the national character is\nvitiated; and I do not scruple to assert, that the revolution has both\ndestroyed the morals of the people, and rendered their condition less\nhappy*--that they are not only removed to a greater distance from the\npossession of rational liberty, but are become more unfit for it than\never.\n * It has been asserted, with a view to serve the purposes of party,\n that the condition of the lower classes in France was mended by the\n revolution. If those who advance this were not either partial or\n ill-informed, they would observe that the largesses of the\n Convention are always intended to palliate some misery, the\n consequence of the revolution, and not to banish what is said to\n have existed before. For the most part, these philanthropic\n projects are never carried into effect, and when they are, it is to\n answer political purposes.--For instance, many idle people are kept\n in pay to applaud at the debates and executions, and assignats are\n distributed to those who have sons serving in the army. The\n tendency of both these donations needs no comment. The last, which\n is the most specious, only affords a means of temporary profusion to\n people whose children are no incumbrance to them, while such as have\n numerous and helpless families, are left without assistance. Even\n the poorest people now regard the national paper with contempt; and,\n persuaded it must soon be of no value, they eagerly squander\n whatever they receive, without care for the future.\nAs I have frequently, in the course of these letters, had occasion to\nquote from the debates of the Convention, and other recent publications,\nI ought to observe that the French language, like every thing else in the\ncountry, has been a subject of innovation--new words have been invented,\nthe meaning of old ones has been changed, and a sort of jargon,\ncompounded of the appropriate terms of various arts and sciences,\nintroduced, which habit alone can render intelligible. There is scarcely\na report read in the Convention that does not exhibit every possible\nexample of the Bathos, together with more conceits than are to be found\nin a writer of the sixteenth century; and I doubt whether any of their\nprojects of legislation or finance would be understood by Montesquieu or\nColbert.\nBut the style most difficult to be comprehended by foreigners, is that\nof the newspapers; for the dread of offending government so entirely\npossesses the imagination of those who compose such publications, that it\nis not often easy to distinguish a victory from a defeat, by the language\nin which it is conveyed. The common news of the day is worded as\ncautiously as though it were to be the subject of judicial disquisition;\nand the real tendency of an article is sometimes so much at variance with\nits comment, that the whole, to a cursory peruser, may seem destitute of\nany meaning at all. Time, however, has produced a sort of intelligence\nbetween news-writers and their readers--and rejoicings, lamentations,\npraise, or censure, are, on particular occasions, understood to convey\nthe reverse of what they express.\nThe affected moderation of the government, and the ascendency which some\nof the Brissotin party are beginning to take in it, seem to flatter the\npublic with the hope of peace. They forget that these men were the\nauthors of the war, and that a few months imprisonment has neither\nexpiated their crimes, nor subdued their ambition. It is the great\nadvantage of the Brissotins, that the revolutionary tyranny which they\nhad contributed to establish, was wrested from them before it had taken\nits full effect; but those who appreciate their original claims, without\nregard to their sufferings under the persecution of a party, are disposed\nto expect they will not be less tenacious of power, nor less arbitrary in\nthe exercise of it than any of the intervening factions. The present\ngovernment is composed of such discordant elements, that their very union\nbetrays that they are in fact actuated by no principle, except the\ngeneral one of retaining their authority. Lanjuinais, Louvet, Saladin,\nDanou, &c. are now leagued with Tallien, Freron, Dubois de Crance, and\neven Carnot.\nAt the head of this motley assemblage of Brissotins, Orleanists, and\nRobespierrians, is Sieyes--who, with perhaps less honesty, though more\ncunning, than either, despises and dupes them all. At a moment when the\nConvention had fallen into increased contempt, and when the public\naffairs could no longer be conducted by fabricators of reports and\nframers of decrees, the talents of this sinister politician became\nnecessary; yet he enjoys neither the confidence of his colleagues nor\nthat of the people--the vanity and duplicity of his conduct disgust and\nalarm the first, while his reputation of partizan of the Duke of Orleans\nis a reason for suspicion in the latter. But if Sieyes has never been\nable to conciliate esteem, nor attain popularity, he has at length\npossessed himself of power, and will not easily be induced to relinquish\nit.--Many are of opinion, that he is secretly machinating for the son of\nhis former patron; but whether he means to govern in the name of the Duke\nof Orleans, or in that of the republic, it is certain, had the French any\nliberty to lose, it never could have found a more subtle and dangerous\nenemy.*\n * The Abbe, in his _\"notices sur la Vie de Sieyes,\"_ declares that\n his contempt and detestation of the colleagues \"with whom his\n unfortunate stars had connected him,\" were so great, that he\n determined, from his first arrival at the Convention, to take no\n part in public affairs. As these were his original sentiments of\n the Assembly, perhaps he may hereafter explain by which of their\n operations his esteem was so much reconciled, that he has\n condescended to become their leader.\nParis may, without exaggeration, be described as in a state of famine.\nThe markets are scantily supplied, and bread, except the little\ndistributed by order of the government, not to be obtained: yet the\ninhabitants, for the most part, are not turbulent--they have learned too\nlate, that revolutions are not the source of plenty, and, though they\nmurmur and execrate their rulers, they abstain from violence, and seem\nrather inclined to yield to despair, than to seek revenge. This is one\nproof, among a variety of others, that the despotism under which the\nFrench have groaned for the last three years, has much subdued the\nvivacity and impatience of the national character; for I know of no\nperiod in their history, when such a combination of personal suffering\nand political discontent, as exists at present, would not have produced\nsome serious convulsion.\nAmiens, June 18, 1795.\nWe returned hither yesterday, and on Friday we are to proceed to Havre,\naccompanied by an order from the Committee of Public Welfare, stating\nthat several English families, and ourselves among the number, have been\nfor some time a burthen on the generosity of the republic, and that for\nthis reason we are permitted to embark as soon as we can find the means.\nThis is neither true, nor very gallant; but we are too happy in quitting\nthe republic, to cavil about terms, and would not exchange our\npauper-like passports for a consignment of all the national domains.\nI have been busy to-day in collecting and disposing of my papers, and\nthough I have taken infinite pains to conceal them, their bulk is so\nconsiderable, that the conveyance must be attended with risk. While I\nwas thus employed, the casual perusal of some passages in my letters and\nnotes has led me to consider how much my ideas of the French character\nand manners differ from those to be found in the generality of modern\ntravels. My opinions are not of importance enough to require a defence;\nand a consciousness of not having deviated from truth makes me still more\naverse from an apology. Yet as I have in several instances varied from\nauthorities highly respectable, it may not be improper to endeavour to\naccount for what has almost the appearance of presumption.\nIf you examine most of the publications describing foreign countries, you\nwill find them generally written by authors travelling either with the\neclat of birth and riches, or, professionally, as men of science or\nletters. They scarcely remain in any place longer than suffices to view\nthe churches, and to deliver their letters of recommendation; or, if\ntheir stay be protracted at some capital town, it is only to be feted\nfrom one house to another, among that class of people who are every where\nalike. As soon as they appear in society, their reputation as authors\nsets all the national and personal vanity in it afloat. One is polite,\nfor the honour of his country--another is brilliant, to recommend\nhimself; and the traveller cannot ask a question, the answer to which is\nnot intended for an honourable insertion in his repertory of future fame.\nIn this manner an author is passed from the literati and fashionable\npeople of one metropolis to those of the next. He goes post through\nsmall towns and villages, seldom mixes with every-day life, and must in a\ngreat degree depend for information on partial enquiries. He sees, as it\nwere, only the two extremes of human condition--the splendour of the\nrich, and the misery of the poor; but the manners of the intermediate\nclasses, which are less obtrusive, are not within the notice of a\ntemporary resident.\nIt is not therefore extraordinary, that I, who have been domesticated\nsome years in France, who have lived among its inhabitants without\npretensions, and seen them without disguise, should not think them quite\nso polite, elegant, gay, or susceptible, as they endeavour to appear to\nthe visitant of the day. Where objects of curiosity only are to be\ndescribed, I know that a vast number may be viewed in a very rapid\nprogress; yet national character, I repeat, cannot be properly estimated\nbut by means of long and familiar intercourse. A person who is every\nwhere a stranger, must see things in their best dress; being the object\nof attention, he is naturally disposed to be pleased, and many\ncircumstances both physical and moral are passed over as novelties in\nthis transient communication, which might, on repetition, be found\ninconvenient or disgusting. When we are stationary, and surrounded by\nour connections, we are apt to be difficult and splenetic; but a literary\ntraveller never thinks of inconvenience, and still less of being out of\nhumour--curiosity reconciles him to the one, and his fame so smooths all\nhis intercourse, that he has no plea for the other.\nIt is probably for these reasons that we have so many panegyrists of our\nGallic neighbours, and there is withal a certain fashion of liberality\nthat has lately prevailed, by which we think ourselves bound to do them\nmore than justice, because they [are] our political enemies. For my own\npart, I confess I have merely endeavoured to be impartial, and have not\nscrupled to give a preference to my own country where I believed it was\ndue. I make no pretensions to that sort of cosmopolitanism which is\nwithout partialities, and affects to consider the Chicktaw or the Tartars\nof Thibet, with the same regard as a fellow-countryman. Such universal\nphilanthropists, I have often suspected, are people of very cold hearts,\nwho fancy they love the whole world, because they are incapable of loving\nany thing in it, and live in a state of \"moral vagabondage,\" (as it is\nhappily termed by Gregoire,) in order to be exempted from the ties of a\nsettled residence. _\"Le cosmopolytisme de systeme et de fait n'est qu'un\nvagabondage physique ou moral: nous devons un amour de preference a la\nsociete politique dont nous sommes membres.\"_ [\"Cosmopolytism, either in\ntheory or in practice, is no better than a moral or physical vagrancy:\nthe political society of which we are members, is entitled to a\npreference in our affections.\"]\nLet it not be imagined, that, in drawing comparisons between France and\nEngland, I have been influenced by personal suffering or personal\nresentment. My opinions on the French characters and manners were formed\nbefore the revolution, when, though my judgment might be deficient, my\nheart was warm, and my mind unprejudiced; yet whatever credit may be\nallowed to my general opinions, those which particularly apply to the\npresent situation and temper of the French will probably be disputed.\nWhen I describe the immense majority of the nation as royalists, hating\ntheir government, and at once indignant and submissive, those who have\nnot studied the French character, and the progress of the revolution, may\nsuspect my veracity. I can only appeal to facts. It is not a new event\nin history for the many to be subdued by the few, and this seems to be\nthe only instance in which such a possibility has been doubted.*\n * It is admitted by Brissot, who is in this case competent\n authority, that about twenty factious adventurers had oppressed the\n Convention and the whole country. A more impartial calculator would\n have been less moderate in the number, but the fact is the same; and\n it would be difficult to fix the period when this oppression ceased.\n--The well-meaning of all classes in France are weak, because they are\ndivided; while the small, but desperate factions that oppress them, are\nstrong in their union, and in the possession of all the resources of the\ncountry.\nUnder these circumstances, no successful effort can be made; and I have\ncollected from various sources, that the general idea of the French at\npresent is, to wait till the new constitution appears, and to accept it,\nthough it should be even more anarchical and tyrannic than the last.\nThey then hope that the Convention will resign their power without\nviolence, that a new election of representatives will take place, and\nthat those representatives, who they intend shall be men of honesty and\nproperty, will restore them to the blessings of a moderate and permanent\ngovernment.\n--Yours.\nHavre, June 22, 1795.\nWe are now in hourly expectation of sailing for England: we have agreed\nwith the Captain of a neutral vessel, and are only waiting for a\npropitious wind. This good ally of the French seems to be perfectly\nsensible of the value of a conveyance out of the republic, and\naccordingly we are to pay him about ten times more for our passage than\nhe would have asked formerly. We chose this port in preference to Calais\nor Boulogne, because I wished to see my friend Madame de ------ at Rouen,\nand leave Angelique with her relations, who live there.\nI walked this morning to the harbour, and seeing some flat-bottomed boats\nconstructing, asked a French gentleman who accompanied me, perhaps a\nlittle triumphantly, if they were intended for a descent on the English\ncoast. He replied, with great composure, that government might deem it\nexpedient (though without any views of succeeding) to sacrifice ten or\ntwenty thousand men in the attempt.--It is no wonder that governments,\naccountable for the lives and treasure they risk, are scarcely equal to a\nconflict sustained by such power, and conducted on such principles.--But\nI am wearied and disgusted with the contemplation of this despotism, and\nI return to my country deeply and gratefully impressed with a sense of\nthe blessings we enjoy in a free and happy constitution.\nFINIS.", "source_dataset": "gutenberg", "source_dataset_detailed": "gutenberg - A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Part IV., 1795\n"}, {"source_document": "", "creation_year": 1807, "culture": " English\n", "content": "Produced by Mary Munarin and David Widger\nA RESIDENCE IN FRANCE,\nDURING THE YEARS\nDESCRIBED IN A SERIES OF LETTERS\nFROM AN ENGLISH LADY;\nWith General And Incidental Remarks\nOn The French Character And Manners.\nPrepared for the Press\nBy John Gifford, Esq.\nAuthor of the History of France, Letter to Lord\nLauderdale, Letter to the Hon. T. Erskine, &c.\nSecond Edition.\n_Plus je vis l'Etranger plus j'aimai ma Patrie._\n--Du Belloy.\nLondon: Printed for T. N. Longman, Paternoster Row. 1797.\nJanuary 6, 1794.\nIf I had undertaken to follow the French revolution through all its\nabsurdities and iniquities, my indolence would long since have taken the\nalarm, and I should have relinquished a task become too difficult and too\nlaborious. Events are now too numerous and too complicated to be\ndescribed by occasional remarks; and a narrator of no more pretensions\nthan myself may be allowed to shrink from an abundance of matter which\nwill hereafter perplex the choice and excite the wonder of the\nhistorian.--Removed from the great scene of intrigues, we are little\nacquainted with them--we begin to suffer almost before we begin to\nconjecture, and our solicitude to examine causes is lost in the rapidity\nwith which we feel their effects.\nAmidst the more mischievous changes of a philosophic revolution, you will\nhave learned from the newspapers, that the French have adopted a new aera\nand a new calendar, the one dating from the foundation of their republic,\nand other descriptive of the climate of Paris, and the productions of the\nFrench territory. I doubt, however, if these new almanack-makers will\ncreate so much confusion as might be supposed, or as they may desire, for\nI do not find as yet that their system has made its way beyond the public\noffices, and the country people are particularly refractory, for they\npersist in holding their fairs, markets, &c. as usual, without any regard\nto the hallowed decade of their legislators. As it is to be presumed\nthat the French do not wish to relinquish all commercial intercourse with\nother nations, they mean possibly to tack the republican calendar to the\nrights of man, and send their armies to propagate them together;\notherwise the correspondence of a Frenchman will be as difficult to\ninterpret with mercantile exactness as the characters of the Chinese.\nThe vanity of these philosophers would, doubtless, be gratified by\nforcing the rest of Europe and the civilized world to adopt their useless\nand chimerical innovations, and they might think it a triumph to see the\ninhabitant of the Hebrides date _\"Vendemiaire,\"_ [Alluding to the\nvintage.] or the parched West-Indian _\"Nivose;\"_ but vanity is not on\nthis, as it is on many other occasions, the leading principle.--It was\nhoped that a new arrangement of the year, and a different nomenclature of\nthe months, so as to banish all the commemorations of Christianity, might\nprepare the way for abolishing religion itself, and, if it were possible\nto impose the use of the new calendar so far as to exclude the old one,\nthis might certainly assist their more serious atheistical operations;\nbut as the success of such an introduction might depend on the will of\nthe people, and is not within the competence of the bayonet, the old year\nwill maintain its ground, and these pedantic triflers find that they have\nlaboured to no more extensive a purpose, than to furnish a date to the\nnewspapers, or to their own decrees, which no one will take the pains to\nunderstand.\nMankind are in general more attached to customs than principles. The\nuseful despotism of Peter, which subdued so many of the prejudices of his\ncountrymen, could not achieve the curtailment of their beards; and you\nmust not imagine that, with all the endurance of the French, these\ncontinual attempts at innovation pass without murmurs: partial revolts\nhappen very frequently; but, as they are the spontaneous effect of\npersonal suffering, not of political manoeuvre, they are without concert\nor union, of course easily quelled, and only serve to strengthen the\ngovernment.--The people of Amiens have lately, in one of these sudden\neffusions of discontent, burnt the tree of liberty, and even the\nrepresentative, Dumont, has been menaced; but these are only the blows of\na coward who is alarmed at his own temerity, and dreads the chastisement\nof it.*\n * The whole town of Bedouin, in the south of France, was burnt\n pursuant to a decree of the convention, to expiate the imprudence of\n some of its inhabitants in having cut down a dead tree of liberty.\n Above sixty people were guillotined as accomplices, and their bodies\n thrown into pits, dug by order of the representative, Magnet, (then\n on mission,) before their death. These executions were succeeded by\n a conflagration of all the houses, and the imprisonment or\n dispersion of their possessors. It is likewise worthy of remark,\n that many of these last were obliged, by express order of Maignet,\n to be spectators of the murder of their friends and relations.\nThis crime in the revolutionary code is of a very serious nature; and\nhowever trifling it may appear to you, it depends only on the will of\nDumont to sacrifice many lives on the occasion. But Dumont, though\nerected by circumstances into a tyrant, is not sanguinary--he is by\nnature and education passionate and gross, and in other times might only\nhave been a good natured Polisson. Hitherto he has contented himself\nwith alarming, and making people tired of their lives, but I do not\nbelieve he has been the direct or intentional cause of anyone's death.\nHe has so often been the hero of my adventures, that I mention him\nfamiliarly to you, without reflecting, that though the delegate of more\nthan monarchical power here, he is too insignificant of himself to be\nknown in England. But the history of Dumont is that of two-thirds of the\nConvention. He was originally clerk to an attorney at Abbeville, and\nafterwards set up for himself in a neighbouring village. His youth\nhaving been marked by some digressions from the \"'haviour of reputation,\"\nhis profession was far from affording him a subsistence; and the\nrevolution, which seems to have called forth all that was turbulent,\nunprincipled, or necessitous in the country, naturally found a partizan\nin an attorney without practice.--At the election of 1792, when the\nKing's fall and the domination of the Jacobins had spread so general a\nterror that no man of character could be prevailed upon to be a candidate\nfor a public situation, Dumont availed himself of this timidity and\nsupineness in those who ought to have become the representatives of the\npeople; and, by a talent for intrigue, and a coarse facility of\nphrase-making, (for he has no pretensions to eloquence,) prevailed on\nthe mob to elect him. His local knowledge, active disposition, and\nsubservient industry, render him an useful kind of drudge to any\nprevailing party, and, since the overthrow of the Brissotines, he has\nbeen entrusted with the government of this and some of the neighbouring\ndepartments. He professes himself a zealous republican, and an apostle\nof the doctrine of universal equality, yet unites in his person all the\nattributes of despotism, and lives with more luxury and expence than\nmost of the _ci-devant_ gentry. His former habitation at Oisemont is not\nmuch better than a good barn; but patriotism is more profitable here\nthan in England, and he has lately purchased a large mansion belonging\nto an emigrant.\n * \"Britain no longer pays her patriots with her spoils:\" and perhaps\n it is matter of congratulation to a country, when the profession of\n patriotism is not lucrative. Many agreeable inferences may be made\n from it--the sentiment may have become too general for reward,\n Ministers too virtuous to fear, or even the people too enlightened\n to be deceived.\n--His mode of travelling, which used at best to be in the _coche d'eau_\n[Passage-boat.] or the diligence, is now in a coach and four, very\nfrequently accompanied by a led horse, and a party of dragoons. I fear\nsome of your patriots behold this with envy, and it is not to be wondered\nat that they should wish to see a similar revolution in England. What a\nseducing prospect for the assertors of liberty, to have the power of\nimprisoning and guillotining all their countrymen! What halcyon days,\nwhen the aristocratic palaces* shall be purified by solacing the fatigues\nof republican virtue, and the levellers of all distinction travel with\nfour horses and a military escort!--But, as Robespierre observes, you are\ntwo centuries behind the French in patriotism and information; and I\ndoubt if English republicanism will ever go beyond a dinner, and toasting\nthe manes of Hampden and Sydney. I would, therefore, seriously advise\nany of my compatriots who may be enamoured of a government founded on the\nrights of man, to quit an ungrateful country which seems so little\ndisposed to reward their labours, and enjoy the supreme delight of men a\nsysteme, that of seeing their theories in action.\n * Many of the emigrants' houses were bought by members of the\n Convention, or people in office. At Paris, crouds of inferior\n clerks, who could not purchase, found means to get lodged in the\n most superb national edifices: Monceaux was the villa of\n Robespierre--St. Just occasionally amused himself at Raincy--Couthon\n succeed the Comte d'Artois at Bagatelle-and Vliatte, a juryman of\n the Revolutionary Tribunal, was lodged at the pavillion of Flora, in\n the Tuilleries, which he seems to have occupied as a sort of Maitre\n d'Hotel to the Comite de Salut Public.\n_A propos_--a decree of the Convention has lately passed to secure the\nperson of Mr. Thomas Paine, and place seals on his papers. I hope,\nhowever, as he has been installed in all the rights of a French citizen,\nin addition to his representative inviolability, that nothing more than a\ntemporary retreat is intended for him. Perhaps even his personal\nsufferings may prove a benefit to mankind. He may, like Raleigh, \"in his\nprison hours enrich the world,\" and add new proselytes to the cause of\nfreedom. Besides, human evils are often only blessings in a questionable\nform--Mr. Paine's persecutions in England made him a legislator in\nFrance. Who knows but his persecutions in France may lead to some new\nadvancement, or at least add another line to the already crouded\ntitle-pages that announce his literary and political distinctions!\n--Yours.\nJanuary, 1794.\nThe total suppression of all religious worship in this country is an\nevent of too singular and important a nature not to have been commented\nupon largely by the English papers; but, though I have little new to add\non the subject, my own reflections have been too much occupied in\nconsequence for me to pass it over in silence.\nI am yet in the first emotions of wonder: the vast edifice which had been\nraised by the blended efforts of religion and superstition, which had\nbeen consecrated by time, endeared by national taste, and become\nnecessary by habit, has now disappeared, and scarcely left a vestige of\nits ruins. To those who revert only to the genius of the Catholic\nreligion, and to former periods of the history of France, this event must\nseem incredible; and nothing but constant opportunities of marking its\ngradual approach can reconcile it to probability. The pious christian\nand the insidious philosopher have equally contributed to the general\neffect, though with very different intentions: the one, consulting only\nhis reason, wished to establish a pure and simple mode of worship, which,\ndivested of the allurements of splendid processions and imposing\nceremonies, should teach the people their duty, without captivating their\nsenses; the other, better acquainted with French character, knew how\nlittle these views were compatible with it, and hoped, under the specious\npretext of banishing the too numerous ornaments of the Catholic practice,\nto shake the foundations of Christianity itself. Thus united in their\nefforts, though dissimilar in their motives, all parties were eager at\nthe beginning of the revolution for a reform in the Church: the wealth of\nthe Clergy, the monastic establishments, the supernumerary saints, were\ndevoted and attacked without pity, and without regret; and, in the zeal\nand hurry of innovation, the decisive measure, which reduced\necclesiastics to small pensions dependent on the state, was carried,\nbefore those who really meant well were aware of its consequences. The\nnext step was, to make the receiving these pensions subject to an oath,\nwhich the selfish philosopher, who can coldly calculate on, and triumph\nin, the weakness of human nature, foresaw would be a brand of discord,\ncertain to destroy the sole force which the Clergy yet possessed--their\nunion, and the public opinion.\nUnfortunately, these views were not disappointed: conviction, interest,\nor fear, prevailed on many to take the oath; while doubt, worldly\nimprovidence, or a scrupulous piety, deterred others. A schism took\nplace between the jurors and nonjurors--the people became equally\ndivided, and adhered either to the one or the other, as their habits or\nprepossessions directed them. Neither party, as it may be imagined,\ncould see themselves deprived of any portion of the public esteem,\nwithout concern, perhaps without rancour; and their mutual animosity, far\nfrom gaining proselytes to either, contributed only to the immediate\ndegradation and future ruin of both. Those, however, who had not taken\nthe prescribed oath, were in general more popular than what were called\nthe constitutionalists, and the influence they were supposed to exert in\nalienating the minds of their followers from the new form of government,\nsupplied the republican party with a pretext for proposing their\nbanishment.*\n *The King's exertion of the power vested in him by the constitution,\n by putting a temporary negative on this decree, it is well known,\n was one of the pretexts for dethroning him.\nAt the King's deposition this decree took place, and such of the\nnonjuring priests as were not massacred in the prisons, or escaped the\nsearch, were to be embarked for Guiana. The wiser and better part of\nthose whose compliances entitled them to remain, were, I believe, far\nfrom considering this persecution of their opponents as a triumph--to\nthose who did, it was of short duration. The Convention, which had\nhitherto attempted to disguise its hatred of the profession by censure\nand abuse of a part of its members, began now to ridicule the profession\nitself: some represented it as useless--others as pernicious and\nirreconcileable with political freedom; and a discourse* was printed,\nunder the sanction of the Assembly, to prove, that the only feasible\nrepublic must be supported by pure atheism.\n * Extracts from the Report of Anacharsis Cloots, member of the\n Committee of Public Instruction, printed by order of the National\n Convention:\n \"Our _Sans-culottes_ want no other sermon but the rights of man, no\n other doctrine but the constitutional precepts and practice, nor any\n other church than where the section or the club hold their meetings,\n \"The propagation of the rights of man ought to be presented to the\n astonished world pure and without stain. It is not by offering\n strange gods to our neighbours that we shall operate their\n conversion. We can never raise them from their abject state by\n erecting one altar in opposition to another. A trifling heresy is\n infinitely more revolting than having no religion at all. Nature,\n like the sun, diffuses her light without the assistance of priests\n and vestals. While we were constitutional heretics, we maintained\n an army of an hundred thousand priests, who waged war equally with\n the Pope and the disciples of Calvin. We crushed the old priesthood\n by means of the new, and while we compelled every sect to contribute\n to the payment of a pretended national religion, we became at once\n the abhorrence of all the Catholics and Protestants in Europe. The\n repulsion of our religious belief counteracted the attraction of our\n political principles.--But truth is at length triumphant, and all\n the ill-intentioned shall no more be able to detach our neighbours\n from the dominion of the rights of man, under pretext of a religious\n dominion which no longer exists.--The purpose of religion is no how\n so well answered as by presenting carte blanche to the abused world.\n Every one will then be at liberty to form his spiritual regimen to\n his own taste, till in the end the invincible ascendant of reason\n shall teach him that the Supreme Being, the Eternal Being, is no\n other than Nature uncreated and uncreatable; and that the only\n Providence is the association of mankind in freedom and equality!--\n This sovereign providence affords comfort to the afflicted, rewards\n the good, and punishes the wicked. It exercises no unjust\n partialities, like the providence of knaves and fools. Man, when\n free, wants no other divinity than himself. This god will not cost\n us a single farthing, not a single tear, nor a drop of blood. From\n the summit of our mountain he hath promulgated his laws, traced in\n evident characters on the tables of nature. From the East to the\n West they will be understood without the aid of interpreters,\n comments, or miracles. Every other ritual will be torn in pieces at\n the appearance of that of reason. Reason dethrones both the Kings\n of the earth, and the Kings of heaven.--No monarch above, if we wish\n to preserve our republic below.\n \"Volumes have been written to determine whether or no a republic of\n Atheists could exist. I maintain that every other republic is a\n chimera. If you once admit the existence of a heavenly Sovereign,\n you introduce the wooden horse within your walls!--What you adore by\n day will be your destruction at night.\n \"A people of theists necessarily become revelationists, that is to\n say, slaves of priests, who are but religious go-betweens, and\n physicians of damned souls.\n \"If I were a scoundrel, I should make a point of exclaiming against\n atheism, for a religious mask is very convenient to a traitor.\n \"The intolerance of truth will one day proscribe the very name of\n temple 'fanum,' the etymology of fanaticism.\n \"We shall instantly see the monarchy of heaven condemned in its turn\n by the revolutionary tribunal of victorious Reason; for Truth,\n exalted on the throne of Nature, is sovereignly intolerant.\n \"The republic of the rights of man is, properly speaking, neither\n theistical nor atheistical--it is nihilistical.\"\nMany of the most eminent conforming Prelates and Clergy were arrested,\nand even individuals, who had the reputation of being particularly\ndevout, were marked as objects of persecution. A new calendar was\ndevised, which excluded the ancient festivals, and limited public worship\nto the decade, or tenth day, and all observance of the Sabbath was\ninterdicted. The prisons were crouded with sufferers in the cause of\nreligion, and all who had not the zeal or the courage of martyrs,\nabstained from manifesting any attachment to the Christian faith.\nWhile this consternation was yet recent, the Deputies on mission in the\ndepartments shut up the churches entirely: the refuse of low clubs were\npaid and encouraged to break the windows and destroy the monuments; and\nthese outrages, which, it was previously concerted, should at first\nassume the appearance of popular tumult, were soon regulated and directed\nby the mandates of the Convention themselves. The churches were again\nopened, an atheistic ritual, and licentious homilies,* were substituted\nfor the proscribed service--and an absurd and ludicrous imitation of the\nGreek mythology was exhibited, under the title of the Religion of\nReason.--\n * I have read a discourse pronounced in a church at Paris, on the\n decade, so indecent and profane, that the most humble audience of a\n country-puppet show in England would not have tolerated it.\nOn the principal church of every town was inscribed, \"The Temple of\nReason;\" and a tutelary goddess was installed with a ceremony equally\npedantic, ridiculous, and profane.*\n * At Havre, the goddess of Reason was drawn on a car by four\n cart-horses, and as it was judged necessary, to prevent accidents,\n that the horses should be conducted by those they were accustomed\n to, the carters were likewise put in requisition and furnished with\n cuirasses a l'antique from the theatre. The men, it seems, being\n neither martial nor learned, were not au fait at this equipment,\n and concluding it was only a waistcoat of ceremony, invested\n themselves with the front behind, and the back part laced before,\n to the great amusement of the few who were sensible of the mistake.\nYet the philosophers did not on this occasion disdain those adventitious\naids, the use of which they had so much declaimed against while they were\nthe auxiliaries of Christianity.*\n * Mr. Gibbon reproaches the Christians with their adoption of the\n allurements of the Greek mythology.--The Catholics have been more\n hostilely despoiled by their modern persecutors, and may retort that\n the religion of reason is a more gross appeal to the senses than the\n darkest ages of superstition would have ventured on.\nMusic, processions, and decorations, which had been banished from the\nancient worship, were introduced in the new one, and the philosophical\nreformer, even in the very attempt to establish a religion purely\nmetaphysical, found himself obliged to inculcate it by a gross and\nmaterial idolatry.*--\n * The French do not yet annex any other idea to the religion of\n reason than that of the female who performs the part of the goddess.\nThus, by submitting his abstractions to the genius of the people, and the\nimperfections of our nature, perhaps the best apology was offered for the\nerrors of that worship which had been proscribed, persecuted, and\nridiculed.\nPrevious to the tenth day, on which a celebration of this kind was to\ntake place, a Deputy arrived, accompanied by the female goddess:* that\nis, (if the town itself did not produce one for the purpose,) a Roman\ndress of white satin was hired from the theatre, with which she was\ninvested--her head covered with a red cap, ornamented with oak leaves--\none arm was reclined on a plough, the other grasped a spear--and her feet\nwere supported by a globe, and environed by mutilated emblems of\nseodality. [It is not possible to explain this costume as appropriate.]\n * The females who personated the new divinity were usually selected\n from amongst those who \"might make sectaries of whom they bid but\n follow,\" but who were more conspicuous for beauty than any other\n celestial attribute.--The itinerant goddess of the principal towns\n in the department de la Somme was the mistress of one Taillefer, a\n republican General, brother to the Deputy of the same name.--I know\n not, in this military government, whether the General's services on\n the occasion were included in his other appointments. At Amiens, he\n not only provided the deity, but commanded the detachment that\n secured her a submissive adoration.\nThus equipped, the divinity and her appendages were borne on the\nshoulders of Jacobins \"en bonnet rouge,\" and escorted by the National\nGuard, Mayor, Judges, and all the constituted authorities, who, whether\ndiverted or indignant, were obliged to preserve a respectful gravity of\nexterior. When the whole cavalcade arrived at the place appointed, the\ngoddess was placed on an altar erected for the occasion, from whence she\nharangued the people, who, in return, proffered their adoration, and sung\nthe Carmagnole, and other republican hymns of the same kind. They then\nproceeded in the same order to the principal church, in the choir of\nwhich the same ceremonies were renewed: a priest was procured to abjure\nhis faith and avow the whole of Christianity an imposture;* and the\nfestival concluded with the burning of prayer-books, saints,\nconfessionals, and every thing appropriated to the use of public\nworship.**--\n *It must be observed, in justice to the French Clergy, that it was\n seldom possible to procure any who would consent to this infamy. In\n such cases, the part was exhibited by a man hired and dressed for\n the purpose.--The end of degrading the profession in the eyes of the\n people was equally answered.\n ** In many places, valuable paintings and statues were burnt or\n disfigured. The communion cups, and other church plate, were, after\n being exorcised in Jacobin revels, sent to the Convention, and the\n gold and silver, (as the author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman\n Empire invidiously expresses himself,) the pearls and jewels, were\n wickedly converted to the service of mankind; as if any thing whose\n value is merely fictitious, could render more service to mankind\n than when dedicated to an use which is equally the solace of the\n rich and the poor--which gratifies the eye without exciting\n cupidity, soothes the bed of sickness, and heals the wounds of\n conscience. Yet I am no advocate for the profuse decorations of\n Catholic churches; and if I seem to plead in their behalf, it is\n that I recollect no instance where the depredators of them have\n appropriated the spoil to more laudable purposes.\nThe greater part of the attendants looked on in silent terror and\nastonishment; whilst others, intoxicated, or probably paid to act this\nscandalous farce, danced round the flames with an appearance of frantic\nand savage mirth.--It is not to be forgotten, that representatives of the\npeople often presided as the high priests of these rites; and their\nofficial dispatches to the convention, in which these ceremonies were\nminutely described, were always heard with bursts of applause, and\nsanctioned by decrees of insertion in the bulletin.*\n * A kind of official newspaper distributed periodically at the\n expence of Government in large towns, and pasted up in public\n places--it contained such news as the convention chose to impart,\n which was given with the exact measure of truth or falsehood that\n suited the purpose of the day.\nI have now conducted you to the period in which I am contemplating France\nin possession of all the advantages which a total dereliction of\nreligious establishments can bestow--at that consummation to which the\nlabours of modern philosophers have so long tended.\nYe Shaftesburys, Bolingbrokes, Voltaires, and must I add the name of\nGibbon,* behold yourselves inscribed on the registers of fame with a\nLaplanche, a Chenier, an Andre Dumont, or a Fouche!**--\n * The elegant satirist of Christianity will smile at the presumption\n of so humble a censurer.--It is certain, the misapplication only of\n such splendid talents could embolden me to mention the name of the\n possessor with diminished respect.\n ** These are names too contemptible for notice, but for the mischief\n to which they were instrumental--they were among the first and most\n remarkable persecutors of religion.\nDo not blush at the association; your views have been the same; and the\nsubtle underminer of man's best comfort in the principles of his\nreligion, is even more criminal than him who prohibits the external\nexercise of it. Ridicule of the sacred writings is more dangerous than\nburning them, and a sneer at the miracles of the gospel more mischievous\nthan disfiguring the statues of the evangelists; and it must be confessed\nthat these Anti-christian Iconoclasts themselves might probably have been\ncontent to \"believe and say their prayers,\" had not the intolerance of\nphilosophy made them atheists and persecutors.--The coarse legend of\n\"death is the sleep of eternity,\"* is only a compendium of the fine-drawn\ntheories of the more elaborate materialist, and the depositaries of the\ndead will not corrupt more by the exhibition of this desolating standard,\nthan the libraries of the living by the volumes which hold out the same\noblivion to vice, and discouragement to virtue.--\n * Posts, bearing the inscription \"la mort est un sommeil eternel,\"\n were erected in many public burying-grounds.--No other ceremony is\n observed with the dead than enclosing the body in some rough boards,\n and sending it off by a couple of porters, (in their usual garb,)\n attended by a municipal officer. The latter inscribes on a register\n the name of the deceased, who is thrown into a grave generally\n prepared for half a score, and the whole business is finished.\nThe great experiment of governing a civilized people without religion\nwill now be made; and should the morals, the manners, or happiness of the\nFrench, be improved by it, the sectaries of modern philosophy may\ntriumph. Should it happen otherwise, the Christian will have an\nadditional motive for cherishing his faith: but even the afflictions of\nhumanity will not, I fear, produce either regret or conviction in his\nadversary; for the prejudices of philosophers and systemists are\nincorrigible.*\n * _\"Ce ne sont point les philosophes qui connoissent le mieux les\n hommes. Ils ne les voient qu'a travers les prejuges, et je ne fache\n aucun etat ou l'on en ait tant.\"_--J. J. Rousseau. [\"It is not among\n philosophers that we are to look for the most perfect knowledge of\n human nature.--They view it only through the prejudices of\n philosophy, and I know of no profession where prejudices are more\n abundant.\"]\nProvidence, Jan. 29.\nWe are now quite domesticated here, though in a very miserable way,\nwithout fire, and with our mattresses, on the boards; but we nevertheless\nadopt the spirit of the country, and a total absence of comfort does not\nprevent us from amusing ourselves. My friend knits, and draws landscapes\non the backs of cards; and I have established a correspondence with an\nold bookseller, who sends me treatises of chemistry and fortifications,\ninstead of poetry and memoirs. I endeavoured at first to borrow books of\nour companions, but this resource was soon exhausted, and the whole\nprison supplied little more than a novel of Florian's, _Le Voyage du jeune\nAnarcharsis,_ and some of the philosophical romances of Voltaire.--They\nsay it ennuyes them to read; and I observe, that those who read at all,\ntake their books into the garden, and prefer the most crowded walks.\nThese studious persons, who seem to surpass Crambe himself in the faculty\nof abstraction, smile and bow at every comma, without any appearance of\nderangement from such frequent interruptions.\nTime passes sorrowly, rather than slowly; and my thoughts, without being\namused, are employed. The novelty of our situation, the past, the\nfuture, all offer so many subjects of reflection, that my mind has more\noccasion for repose than amusement. My only external resource is\nconversing with our fellow-prisoners, and learning the causes of their\ndetention. These relations furnish me with a sort of \"abstract of the\ntimes,\" and mark the character of the government better than\ncircumstances of more apparent consequence; for what are battles, sieges,\nand political machinations, but as they ultimately affect the happiness\nof society? And when I learn that the lives, the liberty, and property\nof no class are secure from violation, it is not necessary one should be\nat Paris to form an opinion of this period of the revolution, and of\nthose who conduct it.\nThe persecution which has hitherto been chiefly directed against the\nNoblesse, has now a little subsided, and seems turned against religion\nand commerce. People are daily arrested for assisting at private masses,\nconcealing images, or even for being possessors of religious books.\nMerchants are sent here as monopolizers, and retailers, under various\npretexts, in order to give the committees an opportunity of pillaging\ntheir shops. It is not uncommon to see people of the town who are our\nguards one day, become our fellow-prisoners the next; and a few weeks\nsince, the son of an old gentleman who has been some time here, after\nbeing on guard the whole day, instead of being relieved at the usual\nhour, was joined by his wife and children, under the escort of a couple\nof dragoons, who delivered the whole family into the custody of our\nkeeper; and this appears to have happened without any other motive than\nhis having presented a petition to Dumont in behalf of his father.\nAn old man was lately taken from his house in the night, and brought\nhere, because he was said to have worn the cross of St. Louis.--The fact\nis, however, that he never did wear this obnoxious distinction; and\nthough his daughter has proved this incontrovertibly to Dumont, she\ncannot obtain his liberty: and the poor young woman, after making two or\nthree fruitless journeys to Paris, is obliged to content herself with\nseeing her father occasionally at the gate.\nThe refectory of the convent is inhabited by hospital nuns. Many of the\nhospitals in France had a sort of religious order annexed to them, whose\nbusiness it was to attend the sick; and habit, perhaps too the\nassociation of the offices of humanity with the duties of religion, had\nmade them so useful in their profession, that they were suffered to\nremain, even after the abolition of the regular monasteries. But the\ndevastating torrent of the revolution at length reached them: they were\naccused of bestowing a more tender solicitude on their aristocratic\npatients than on the wounded volunteers and republicans; and, upon these\ncurious charges, they have been heaped into carts, without a single\nnecessary, almost without covering, sent from one department to another,\nand distributed in different prisons, where they are perishing with cold,\nsickness, and want! Some people are here only because they happened to\nbe accidentally at a house when the owner was arrested;* and we have one\nfamily who were taken at dinner, with their guests, and the plate they\nwere using!\n * It was not uncommon for a mandate of arrest to direct the taking\n \"Citizen Such-a-one, and all persons found in his house.\"\nA grand-daughter of the celebrated De Witt, who resided thirty leagues\nfrom hence, was arrested in the night, put in an open cart, without any\nregard to her age, her sex, or her infirmities, though the rain fell in\ntorrents; and, after sleeping on straw in different prisons on the road,\nwas deposited here. As a Fleming, the law places her in the same\npredicament with a very pretty young woman who has lived some months at\nAmiens; but Dumont, who is at once the maker, the interpreter, and\nexecutor of the laws, has exempted the latter from the general\nproscription, and appears daily with her in public; whereas poor Madame\nDe Witt is excluded from such indulgence, being above seventy years old--\nand is accused, moreover, of having been most exemplarily charitable,\nand, what is still worse, very religious.--I have given these instances\nnot as any way remarkable, and only that you may form some idea of the\npretexts which have served to cover France with prisons, and to conduct\nso many of its inhabitants to the scaffold.\nIt is impossible to reflect on a country in such a situation, without\nabhorring the authors of it, and dreading the propagation of their\ndoctrines. I hope they neither have imitators nor admirers in England;\nyet the convention in their debates, the Jacobins, and all the French\nnewspapers, seem so sanguine in their expectation, and so positive in\ntheir assertions of an English revolution, that I occasionally, and in\nspite of myself, feel a vague but serious solicitude, which I should not\nhave supposed the apprehension of any political evil could inspre. I\nknow the good sense and information of my countrymen offer a powerful\nresource against the love of change and metaphysical subtilties; but, it\nis certain, the French government have much depended on the spirit of\nparty, and the zeal of their propagandistes. They talk of a British\nconvention, of a conventional army, and, in short, all France seem\nprepared to see their neighbours involved in the same disastrous system\nwith themselves. The people are not a little supported in this error by\nthe extracts that are given them from your orators in the House of\nCommons, which teem with nothing but complaints against the oppression of\ntheir own country, and enthusiastic admiration of French liberty. We\nread and wonder--collate the Bill of Rights with the Code\nRevolutionnaire, and again fear what we cannot give credit to.\nSince the reports I allude to have gained ground, I have been forcibly\nstricken by a difference in the character of the two nations. At the\nprospect of a revolution, all the French who could conveniently leave the\ncountry, fled; and those that remained (except adventurers and the\nbanditti that were their accomplices) studiously avoided taking any part.\nBut so little are our countrymen affected with this selfish apathy, that\nI am told there is scarcely one here who, amidst all his present\nsufferings, does not seem to regret his absence from England, more on\naccount of not being able to oppose this threatened attack on our\nconstitution, than for any personal motive.--The example before them\nmust, doubtless, tend to increase this sentiment of genuine patriotism;\nfor whoever came to France with but a single grain of it in his\ncomposition, must return with more than enough to constitute an hundred\npatriots, whose hatred of despotism is only a principle, and who have\nnever felt its effects.--Adieu.\nFebruary 2, 1794.\nThe factions which have chosen to give France the appellation of a\nrepublic, seem to have judged, and with some reason, that though it might\nanswer their purpose to amuse the people with specious theories of\nfreedom, their habits and ideas were far from requiring that these fine\nschemes should be carried into practice. I know of no example equal to\nthe submission of the French at this moment; and if \"departed spirits\nwere permitted to review the world,\" the shades of Richelieu or Louvois\nmight hover with envy round the Committee of Public Welfare, and regret\nthe undaring moderation of their own politics.\nHow shall I explain to an Englishman the doctrine of universal\nrequisition? I rejoice that you can imagine nothing like it.--After\nestablishing, as a general principle, that the whole country is at the\ndisposal of government, succeeding decrees have made specific claims on\nalmost every body, and every thing. The tailors, shoemakers,* bakers,\nsmiths, sadlers, and many other trades, are all in requisition--carts,\nhorses, and carriages of every kind, are in requisition--the stables and\ncellars are put in requisition for the extraction of saltpetre, and the\nhouses to lodge soldiers, or to be converted into prisons.\n * In order to prevent frauds, the shoemakers were obliged to make\n only square-toed shoes, and every person not in the army was\n forbidden to wear them of this form. Indeed, people of any\n pretentions to patriotism (that is to say, who were much afraid) did\n not venture to wear any thing but wooden shoes; as it had been\n declared anti-civique, if not suspicious, to walk in leather.\n--Sometimes shopkeepers are forbidden to sell their cloth, nails, wine,\nbread, meat, &c. There are instances where whole towns have been kept\nwithout the necessaries of life for several days together, in consequence\nof these interdictions; and I have known it proclaimed by beat of drum,\nthat whoever possessed two uniforms, two hats, or two pair of shoes,\nshould relinquish one for the use of the army! Yet with all these\nefforts of despotism, the republican troops are in many respects ill\nsupplied, the produce being too often converted to the use of the agents\nof government, who are all Jacobins, and whose peculations are suffered\nwith impunity, because they are too necessary, or perhaps too formidable\nfor punishment.\nThese proceedings, which are not the less mischievous for being absurd,\nmust end in a total destruction of commerce: the merchant will not import\nwhat he may be obliged to sell exclusively to government at an arbitrary\nand inadequate valuation.--Those who are not imprisoned, and have it in\ntheir power, are for the most part retired from business, or at least\navoid all foreign speculations; so that France may in a few months depend\nonly on her internal resources. The same measures which ruin one class,\nserve as a pretext to oppress and levy contributions on the rest.--In\norder to make this right of seizure still more productive, almost every\nvillage has its spies, and the domiciliary visits are become so frequent,\nthat a man is less secure in his own house, than in a desert amidst\nArabs. On these occasions, a band of Jacobins, with a municipal officer\nat their head, enter sans ceremonie, over-run your apartments, and if\nthey find a few pounds of sugar, soap, or any other article which they\nchoose to judge more than sufficient for immediate consumption, they take\npossession of the whole as a monopoly, which they claim for the use of\nthe republic, and the terrified owner, far from expostulating, thinks\nhimself happy if he escapes so well.--But this is mere vulgar tyranny:\na less powerful despotism might invade the security of social life, and\nbanish its comforts. We are prone to suffer, and it requires often\nlittle more than the will to do evil to give us a command over the\nhappiness of others. The Convention are more original, and, not\nsatisfied with having reduced the people to the most abject slavery,\nthey exact a semblance of content, and dictate at stated periods the\nchastisement which awaits those who refuse to smile.\nThe splendid ceremonies at Paris, which pass for popular rejoicings,\nmerit that appellation less than an auto de fe. Every movement is\npreviously regulated by a Commissioner appointed for the purpose,\n(to whom en passant these fetes are very lucrative jobs,) a plan of the\nwhole is distributed, in which is prescribed with great exactness, that\nat such and such parts the people are to \"melt into tears,\" at others\nthey are to be seized with a holy enthusiasm, and at the conclusion of\nthe whole they are to rend the air with the cry of \"Vive la Convention!\"\n--These celebrations are always attended by a military force, sufficient\nto ensure their observance, besides a plentiful mixture of spies to\nnotice refractory countenances or faint acclamations.\nThe departments which cannot imitate the magnificence of Paris, are\nobliged, nevertheless, to manifest their satisfaction. At every occasion\non which a rejoicing is ordered, the same kind of discipline is\npreserved; and the aristocrats, whose fears in general overcome their\nprinciples, are often not the least zealous attendants.\nAt the retaking of Toulon, when abandoned by our countrymen, the National\nGuards were every where assembled to participate in the festivity, under\na menace of three days imprisonment. Those persons who did not\nilluminate their houses were to be considered as suspicious, and treated\nas such: yet, even with all these precautions, I am informed the business\nwas universally cold, and the balls thinly attended, except by\naristocrats and relations of emigrants, who, in some places, with a\nbaseness not excused even by their terrors, exhibited themselves as a\npublic spectacle, and sang the defeats of that country which was armed in\ntheir defence.\nI must here remark to you a circumstance which does still less honour to\nthe French character; and which you will be unwilling to believe. In\nseveral towns the officers and others, under whose care the English were\nplaced during their confinement, were desirous sometimes on account of\nthe peculiar hardship of their situation as foreigners, to grant them\nlittle indulgences, and even more liberty than to the French prisoners;\nand in this they were justified on several considerations, as well as\nthat of humanity.--They knew an Englishman could not escape, whatever\nfacility might be given him, without being immediately retaken; and that\nif his imprisonment were made severe, he had fewer external resources and\nalleviations than the natives of the country: but these favourable\ndispositions were of no avail--for whenever any of our countrymen\nobtained an accommodation, the jealousy of the French took umbrage, and\nthey were obliged to relinquish it, or hazard the drawing embarrassment\non the individual who had served them.\nYou are to notice, that the people in general, far from being averse to\nseeing the English treated with a comparative indulgence, were even\npleased at it; and the invidious comparisons and complaints which\nprevented it, proceeded from the gentry, from the families of those who\nhad found refuge in England, and who were involved in the common\npersecution.--I have, more than once, been reproached by a female\naristocrat with the ill success of the English army; and many, with whom\nI formerly lived on terms of intimacy, would refuse me now the most\ntrifling service.--I have heard of a lady, whose husband and brother are\nboth in London, who amuses herself in teaching a bird to repeat abuse of\nthe English.\nIt has been said, that the day a man becomes a slave, he loses half his\nvirtue; and if this be true as to personal slavery, judging from the\nexamples before me, I conclude it equally so of political bondage.--The\nextreme despotism of the government seems to have confounded every\nprinciple of right and wrong, every distinction of honour and dishonour\nand the individual, of whatever class, alive only to the sense of\npersonal danger, embraces without reluctance meanness or disgrace, if it\ninsure his safety.--A tailor or shoemaker, whose reputation perhaps is\ntoo bad to gain him a livelihood by any trade but that of a patriot,\nshall be besieged by the flatteries of people of rank, and have levees as\nnumerous as Choiseul or Calonne in their meridian of power.\nWhen a Deputy of the Convention is sent to a town on mission, sadness\ntakes possession of every heart, and gaiety of every countenance. He is\nbeset with adulatory petitions, and propitiating gifts; the Noblesse who\nhave escaped confinement form a sort of court about his person; and\nthrice happy is the owner of that habitation at which he condescends to\nreside.--*\n * When a Deputy arrives, the gentry of the town contend with jealous\n rivalship for the honour of lodging him; and the most eloquent\n eulogist of republican simplicity in the Convention does not fail to\n prefer a large house and a good table, even though the unhallowed\n property of an aristocrat.--It is to be observed, that these\n Missionaries travel in a very patriarchal style, accompanied by\n their wives, children, and a numerous train of followers, who are\n not delicate in availing themselves of this hospitality, and are\n sometimes accused of carrying off the linen, or any thing else\n portable--even the most decent behave on these occasions as though\n they were at an inn.\n--A Representative of gallantry has no reason to envy either the\nauthority of the Grand Signor, or the licence of his seraglio--he is\narbiter of the fate of every woman that pleases him; and, it is supposed,\nthat many a fair captive has owed her liberty to her charms, and that the\nphilosophy of a French husband has sometimes opened the doors of his\nprison.\nDumont, who is married, and has besides the countenance of a white Negro,\nnever visits us without occasioning a general commotion amongst all the\nfemales, especially those who are young and pretty. As soon as it is\nknown that he is expected, the toilettes are all in activity, a\nrenovation of rouge and an adjustment of curls take place, and, though\nperformed with more haste, not with less solicitude, than the preparatory\nsplendour of a first introduction.--When the great man arrives, he finds\nthe court by which he enters crowded by these formidable prisoners, and\neach with a petition in her hand endeavours, with the insidious coquetry\nof plaintive smiles and judicious tears, that brighten the eye without\nderanging the features, to attract his notice and conciliate his favour.\nHappy those who obtain a promise, a look of complacence, or even of\ncuriosity!--But the attention of this apostle of republicanism is not\noften bestowed, except on high rank, or beauty; and a woman who is old,\nor ill dressed, that ventures to approach him, is usually repulsed with\nvulgar brutality--while the very sight of a male suppliant renders him\nfurious. The first half hour he walks about, surrounded by his fair\ncortege, and is tolerably civil; but at length, fatigued, I suppose by\ncontinual importunity, he loses his temper, departs, and throws all the\npetitions he has received unopened into the fire.\nAdieu--the subject is too humiliating to dwell on. I feel for myself, I\nfeel for human nature, when I see the fastidiousness of wealth, the more\nliberal pride of birth, and the yet more allowable pretensions of beauty,\ndegraded into the most abject submission to such a being as Dumont. Are\nour principles every where the mere children of circumstance, or is it in\nthis country only that nothing is stable? For my own part I love\ninflexibility of character; and pride, even when ill founded, seems more\nrespectable while it sustains itself, than concessions which, refused to\nthe suggestions of reason, are yielded to the dictates of fear.--Yours.\nFebruary 12, 1794.\nI was too much occupied by my personal distresses to make any remarks on\nthe revolutionary government at the time of its adoption. The text of\nthis political phoenomenon must be well known in England--I shall,\ntherefore, confine myself to giving you a general idea of its spirit and\ntendency,--It is, compared to regular government, what force is to\nmechanism, or the usual and peaceful operations of nature to the ravages\nof a storm--it substitutes violence for conciliation, and sweeps with\nprecipitate fury all that opposes its devastating progress. It refers\nevery thing to a single principle, which is in itself not susceptible of\ndefinition, and, like all undefined power, is continually vibrating\nbetween despotism and anarchy. It is the execrable shape of Milton's\nDeath, \"which shape hath none,\" and which can be described only by its\neffects.--For instance, the revolutionary tribunal condemns without\nevidence, the revolutionary committees imprison without a charge, and\nwhatever assumes the title of revolutionary is exonerated from all\nsubjection to humanity, decency, reason, or justice.--Drowning the\ninsurgents, their wives and children, by boatloads, is called, in the\ndispatch to the Convention, a revolutionary measure--*\n * The detail of the horrors committed in La Vendee and at Nantes\n were not at this time fully known. Carrier had, however,\n acknowledged, in a report read to the Convention, that a boat-load\n of refractory priests had been drowned, and children of twelve years\n old condemned by a military commission! One Fabre Marat, a\n republican General, wrote, about the same period, I think from\n Angers, that the Guillotine was too slow, and powder scarce, so that\n it was concluded more expedient to drown the rebels, which he calls\n a patriotic baptism!--The following is a copy of a letter addressed\n to the Mayor of Paris by a Commissary of the Government:\n\"You will give us pleasure by transmitting the details of your fete at\nParis last decade, with the hymns that were sung. Here we all cried\n_\"Vive la Republique!\"_ as we ever do, when our holy mother Guillotine is\nat work. Within these three days she has shaved eleven priests, one\n_ci-devant_ noble, a nun, a general, and a superb Englishman, six feet high,\nand as he was too tall by a head, we have put that into the sack! At the\nsame time eight hundred rebels were shot at the Pont du Ce, and their\ncarcases thrown into the Loire!--I understand the army is on the track of\nthe runaways. All we overtake we shoot on the spot, and in such numbers\nthat the ways are heaped with them!\"\n--At Lyons, it is revolutionary to chain three hundred victims together\nbefore the mouths of loaded cannon, and massacre those who escape the\ndischarge with clubs and bayonets;* and at Paris, revolutionary juries\nguillotine all who come before them.--**\n * The Convention formally voted their approbation of this measure,\n and Collot d'Herbois, in a report on the subject, makes a kind of\n apostrophical panegyric on the humanity of his colleagues. \"Which\n of you, Citizens, (says he,) would not have fired the cannon? Which\n of you would not joyfully have destroyed all these traitors at a\n ** About this time a woman who sold newspapers, and the printer of\n them, were guillotined for paragraphs deemed incivique.\n--Yet this government is not more terrible than it is minutely vexations.\nOne's property is as little secure as one's existence. Revolutionary\ncommittees every where sequestrate in the gross, in order to plunder in\ndetail.*\n * The revolutionary committees, when they arrested any one,\n pretended to affix seals in form. The seal was often, however, no\n other than the private one of some individual employed--sometimes\n only a button or a halfpenny, which was broken as often as the\n Committee wanted access to the wine or other effects. Camille\n Desmoulins, in an address to Freron, his fellow-deputy, describes\n with some humour the mode of proceeding of these revolutionary\n pilferers:\n_\"Avant hier, deux Commissaires de la section de Mutius Scaevola, montent\nchez lui--ils trouvent dans la bibliotheque des livres de droit; et\nnon-obstant le decret qui porte qu'on ne touchera point Domat ni a Charles\nDumoulin, bien qu'ils traitent de matieres feodales, ils sont main basse\nsur la moitie de la bibliotheque, et chargent deux Chrocheteurs des\nlivres paternels. Ils trouvent une pendule, don't la pointe de Paiguille\netoit, comme la plupart des pointes d'aiguilles, terminee en trefle: il\nleur semble que cette pointe a quelque chose d'approchant d'une fleur de\nlys; et non-obstant le decret qui ordonne de respecter les monumens des\narts, il confisquent la pendule.--Notez bien qu'il y avoit a cote une\nmalle sur laquelle etoit l'adresse fleurdelisee du marchand.--Ici il n'y\navoit pas moyen de aier que ce fut une belle et bonne fleur de lys; mais\ncomme la malle ne valoit pas un corset, les Commissaires se contentent de\nrayer les lys, au lieu que la malheureuse pendule, qui vaut bien 1200\nlivres, est, malgre son trefle, emportee par eux-memes, qui ne se fioient\npas aux Chrocheteurs d'un poid si precieux--et ce, en vertu du droit que\nBarrere a appelle si heureusement le droit de prehension, quoique le\ndecret s'opposat, dans l'espece, a l'application de ce droit.--Enfin,\nnotre decemvirat sectionnaire, qui se mettoit ainsi au-dessus des\ndecrets, trouve le brevet de pension de mon beau-pere, qui, comme tous\nles brevets de pension, n'etant pas de nature a etre porte sur le grand\nlivre de la republique, etoit demeure dans le porte-feuille, et qui,\ncomme tous les brevets de pension possibles, commencoit par ce protocole;\nLouis, &c. Ciel! s'ecrient les Commissaires, le nom du tyran!--Et apres\navoir retrouve leur haleine, suffoquee d'abord par l'indignation, ils\nmettent en poche le brevet de pension, c'est a dire 1000 livres de rente,\net emportent la marmite. Autre crime, le Citoyen Duplessis, qui etoit\npremier commis des finances, sous Clugny, avoit conserve, comme c'etoit\nl'usage, la cachet du controle general d'alors--un vieux porte-feuille de\ncommis, qui etoit au rebut, ouble au dessus d'une armoire, dans un tas de\npoussiere, et auquel il n'avoit pas touche ne meme pense depuis dix ans\npeutetre, et sur le quel on parvint a decouvrir l'empreinte de quelques\nfleurs de lys, sous deux doigts de crasse, acheva de completer la preuve\nque le Citoyen Duplessis etoit suspect--et la voila, lui, enferme jusqu'a\nla paix, et le scelle mis sur toutes les portes de cette campagne, ou, tu\nte souviens, mon cher Freroa--que, decretes tous deux de prise de corps,\napres le massacre du Champ de Mars, nous trouvions un asyle que le tyran\nn'osoit violer.\"_\n\"The day before yesterday, two Commissaries belonging to the section of\nMutius Scaevola, entered my father-in-law's apartments; they found some\nlaw-books in the library, and, notwithstanding the decree which exempts\nfrom seizure the works of Domat and Charles Dumouin, (although they treat\nof feudal matters,) they proceeded to lay violent hands on one half of\nthe collection, and loaded two porters with paternal spoils. The next\nobject that attracted their attention was a clock, the hand of which,\nlike the hands of most other clocks, terminated in a point, in the form\nof a trefoil, which seemed to them to bear some resemblance to a fleur de\nlys; and, notwithstanding the decree which ordains that the monuments of\nthe arts shall be respected, they immediately passed sentence of\nconfiscation on the clock. I should observe to you, that hard by lay a\nportmanteau, having on it the maker's address, encircled with lilies.--\nHere there was no disputing the fact, but as the trunk was not worth five\nlivres, the Commissaries contented themselves with erasing the lilies;\nbut the unfortunate clock, being worth twelve hundred, was,\nnotwithstanding its trefoil, carried off by themselves, for they would\nnot trust the porters with so precious a load.--And all this was done in\nvirtue of the law, which Barrere aptly denominated the law of prehension,\nand which, according to the terms of the decree itself, was not\napplicable to the case in question.\n\"At length our sectionary decemvirs, who thus placed themselves above the\nlaw, discovered the grant of my father-in-law's pension, which, like all\nsimilar grants, being excluded from the privilege of inscription on the\ngreat register of public debts, had been left in his port-folio; and\nwhich began, as all such grants necessarily must, with the words, Louis,\n&c. \"Heaven!\" exclaimed the Commissaries, \"here is the very name of the\ntyrant!\" And, as soon as they recovered their breaths, which had been\nnearly stopped by the violence of the indignation, they coolly pocketed\nthe grant, that is to say, an annuity of one thousand livres, and sent\noff the porridge-pot. Nor did these constitute all the crimes of Citizen\nDuplessis, who, having served as first clerk of the revenue board under\nClugny, had, as was usual, kept the official seal of that day. An old\nport-folio, which had been thrown aside, and long forgotten, under a\nwardrobe, where it was buried in dust, and had, in all probability, not\nbeen touched for ten years, but, which with much difficulty, was\ndiscovered to bear the impression of a fleur de lys, completed the proof\nthat Citizen Duplessis was a suspicious character. And now behold him\nshut up in a prison until peace shall be concluded, and the seals put\nupon all the doors of that country seat, where, you may remember, my dear\nFreron, that at the time when warrants were issued for apprehending us\nboth, after the massacre in the Champ de Mars, we found an asylum which\nthe tyrant did not dare to violate.\"\n--In a word, you must generally understand, that the revolutionary system\nsupersedes law, religion, and morality; and that it invests the\nCommittees of Public Welfare and General Safety, their agents, the\nJacobin clubs, and subsidiary banditti, with the disposal of the whole\ncountry and its inhabitants.\nThis gloomy aera of the revolution has its frivolities as well as the\nless disastrous periods, and the barbarism of the moment is rendered\nadditionally disgusting by a mixture of levity and pedantry.--It is a\nfashion for people at present to abandon their baptismal and family\nnames, and to assume that of some Greek or Roman, which the debates of\nthe Convention have made familiar.--France swarms with Gracchus's and\nPublicolas, who by imaginary assimilations of acts, which a change of\nmanners has rendered different, fancy themselves more than equal to their\nprototypes.*\n * The vicissitudes of the revolution, and the vengeance of party,\n have brought half the sages of Greece, and patriots of Rome, to the\n Guillotine or the pillory. The Newgate Calendar of Paris contains\n as many illustrious names as the index to Plutarch's Lives; and I\n believe there are now many Brutus's and Gracchus's in durance vile,\n besides a Mutius Scaevola condemned to twenty years imprisonment for\n an unskilful theft.--A man of Amiens, whose name is Le Roy,\n signified to the public, through the channel of a newspaper, that he\n had adopted that of Republic.\n--A man who solicits to be the executioner of his own brother ycleps\nhimself Brutus, and a zealous preacher of the right of universal pillage\ncites the Agrarian law, and signs himself Lycurgus. Some of the Deputies\nhave discovered, that the French mode of dressing is not characteristic\nof republicanism, and a project is now in agitation to drill the whole\ncountry into the use of a Roman costume.--You may perhaps suspect, that\nthe Romans had at least more bodily sedateness than their imitators, and\nthat the shrugs, jerks, and carracoles of a French petit maitre, however\nrepublicanized, will not assort with the grave drapery of the toga. But\non your side of the water you have a habit of reasoning and deliberating\n--here they have that of talking and obeying.\nOur whole community are in despair to-day. Dumont has been here, and\nthose who accosted him, as well as those who only ventured to interpret\nhis looks, all agree in their reports that he is in a \"bad humour.\"--The\nbrightest eyes in France have supplicated in vain--not one grace of any\nsort has been accorded--and we begin to cherish even our present\nsituation, in the apprehension that it may become worse.--Alas! you know\nnot of what evil portent is the \"bad humour\" of a Representant. We are\nhalf of us now, like the Persian Lord, feeling if our heads are still on\nour shoulders.--I could add much to the conclusion of one of my last\nletters. Surely this incessant solicitude for mere existence debilitates\nthe mind, and impairs even its passive faculty of suffering. We intrigue\nfor the favour of the keeper, smile complacently at the gross\npleasantries of a Jacobin, and tremble at the frown of a Dumont.--I am\nashamed to be the chronicler of such humiliation: but, \"tush, Hal; men,\nmortal men!\" I can add no better apology, and quit you to moralize on\nit.--Yours.\n[No date given.]\nWere I a mere spectator, without fear for myself or compassion for\nothers, the situation of this country would be sufficiently amusing. The\neffects produced (many perhaps unavoidably) by a state of revolution--the\nstrange remedies devised to obviate them--the alternate neglect and\nseverity with which the laws are executed--the mixture of want and\nprofusion that distinguish the lower classes of people--and the distress\nand humiliation of the higher; all offer scenes so new and unaccountable,\nas not to be imagined by a person who has lived only under a regular\ngovernment, where the limits of authority are defined, the necessaries of\nlife plentiful, and the people rational and subordinate. The\nconsequences of a general spirit of monopoly, which I formerly described,\nhave lately been so oppressive, that the Convention thought it necessary\nto interfere, and in so extraordinary a way, that I doubt if (as usual)\n\"the distemper of their remedies\" will not make us regret the original\ndisease. Almost every article, by having passed through a variety of\nhands, had become enormously dear; which, operating with a real scarcity\nof many things, occasioned by the war, had excited universal murmurings\nand inquietude. The Convention, who know the real source of the evil\n(the discredit of assignats) to be unattainable, and who are more\nsolicitous to divert the clamours of the people, than to supply their\nwants, have adopted a measure which, according to the present\nappearances, will ruin one half of the nation, and starve the other. A\nmaximum, or highest price, beyond which nothing is to be sold, is now\npromulgated under very severe penalties for all who shall infringe it.\nSuch a regulation as this, must, in its nature, be highly complex, and,\nby way of simplifying it, the price of every kind of merchandise is fixed\nat a third above what it bore in 1791: but as no distinction is made\nbetween the produce of the country, and articles imported--between the\nsmall retailer, who has purchased perhaps at double the rate he is\nallowed to sell at, and the wholesale speculator, this very\nsimplification renders the whole absurd and inexecutable.--The result was\nsuch as might have been expected; previous to the day on which the decree\nwas to take place, shopkeepers secreted as many of their goods as they\ncould; and, when the day arrived, the people laid siege to them in\ncrowds, some buying at the maximum, others less ceremonious, and in a few\nhours little remained in the shop beyond the fixtures. The farmers have\nsince brought neither butter nor eggs to market, the butchers refuse to\nkill as usual, and, in short, nothing is to be purchased openly. The\ncountry people, instead of selling provisions publicly, take them to\nprivate houses; and, in addition to the former exorbitant prices, we are\ntaxed for the risk that is incurred by evading the law. A dozen of eggs,\nor a leg of mutton, are now conveyed from house to house with as much\nmystery, as a case of fire-arms, or a treasonable correspondence; the\nwhole republic is in a sort of training like the Spartan youth; and we\nare obliged to have recourse to dexterity and intrigue to procure us a\ndinner.\nOur legislators, aware of what they term the \"aristocratie marchande,\"--\nthat is to say, that tradesmen would naturally shut up their shops when\nnothing was to be gained--provided, by a clause in the above law, that no\none should do this in less time than a year; but as the injunction only\nobliged them to keep the shops open, and not to have goods to sell, every\ndemand is at first always answered in the negative, till a sort of\nintelligence becomes established betwixt the buyer and seller, when the\nformer, if he may be trusted, is informed in a low key, that certain\narticles may be had, but not au maximum.--Thus even the rich cannot\nobtain the necessaries of life without difficulty and submitting to\nimposition--and the decent poor, who will not pillage nor intimidate the\ntradesmen, are more embarrassed than ever.\nThe above species of contraband commerce is carried on, indeed, with\ngreat circumspection, and no avowed hostilities are attempted in the\ntowns. The great war of the maximum was waged with the farmers and\nhiglers, as soon as it was discovered that they took their commodities\nprivily to such people as they knew would buy at any price, rather than\nnot be supplied. In consequence, the guards were ordered to stop all\nrefractory butter-women at the gates, and conduct them to the town-house,\nwhere their merchandize was distributed, without pity or appeal, au\nmaximum, to those of the populace who could clamour loudest.\nThese proceedings alarmed the peasants, and our markets became deserted.\nNew stratagems, on one side, new attacks on the other. The servants were\nforced to supply themselves at private rendezvous in the night, until\nsome were fined, and others arrested; and the searching all comers from\nthe country became more intolerable than the vexations of the ancient\nGabelle.--Detachments of dragoons are sent to scour the farm-yards,\narrest the farmers, and bring off in triumph whatever the restive\nhousewives have amassed, to be more profitably disposed of.\nIn this situation we remain, and I suppose shall remain, while the law of\nthe maximum continues in force. The principle of it was certainly good,\nbut it is found impossible to reduce it to practice so equitably as to\naffect all alike: and as laws which are not executed are for the most\npart rather pernicious than nugatory, informations, arrests, imposition,\nand scarcity are the only ends which this measure seems to have answered.\nThe houses of detention, before insupportable, are now yet more crouded\nwith farmers and shopkeepers suspected of opposing the law.--Many of the\nformer are so ignorant, as not to conceive that any circumstances ought\nto deprive them of the right to sell the produce of their farms at the\nhighest price they can get, and regard the maximum much in the same light\nas they would a law to authorize robbing or housebreaking: as for the\nlatter, they are chiefly small dealers, who bought dearer than they have\nsold, and are now imprisoned for not selling articles which they have not\ngot. An informer by trade, or a personal enemy, lodges an accusation\nagainst a particular tradesman for concealing goods, or not selling au\nmaximum; and whether the accusation be true or false, if the accused is\nnot in office, or a Jacobin, he has very little chance of escaping\nimprisonment.--It is certain, that if the persecution of these classes of\npeople continue, and commerce (already nearly annihilated by the war) be\nthus shackled, an absolute want of various articles of primary\nconsumption must ensue; but if Paris and the armies can be supplied, the\nstarving the departments will be a mere pleasurable experiment to their\nhumane representatives!\nThe freedom of the press is so perfectly well regulated, that it is not\nsurprizing we are indulged with the permission of seeing the public\npapers: yet this indulgence is often, I assure you, a source of much\nperplexity to me--our more intimate associates know that I am a native of\nEngland, and as often as any debates of our House of Commons are\npublished, they apply to me for explanations which it is not always in my\npower to give them. I have in vain endeavoured to make them comprehend\nthe nature of an opposition from system, so that when they see any thing\nadvanced by a member exactly the reverse of truth, they are wondering how\nhe can be so ill informed, and never suspect him of saying what he does\nnot believe himself. It must be confessed, however, that our extracts\nfrom the English papers often form so complete a contrast with facts,\nthat a foreigner unacquainted with the tactics of professional\npatriotism, may very naturally read them with some surprize. A noble\nPeer, for example, (whose wisdom is not to be disputed, since the Abbe\nMably calls him the English Socrates,*) asserts that the French troops\nare the best clothed in Europe; yet letters, of nearly the same date with\nthe Earl's speech, from two Generals and a Deputy at the head of\ndifferent armies intreat a supply of covering for their denudated\nlegions, and add, that they are obliged to march in wooden shoes!**\n * It is surely a reflection on the English discernment not to have\n adopted this happy appellation, in which, however, as well as in\n many other parts of \"the rights of Man and the Citizen,\" the Abbe\n seems to have consulted his own zeal, rather than the noble Peer's\n modesty.\n ** If the French troops are now better clothed, it is the effect of\n requisitions and pre-emptions, which have ruined the manufacturers.\n --Patriots of the North, would you wish to see our soldiers clothed\n by the same means?\n--On another occasion, your British Sage describes, with great eloquence,\nthe enthusiasm with which the youth of France \"start to arms at the call\nof the Convention;\" while the peaceful citizen anticipates, with equal\neagerness, the less glorious injunction to extract saltpetre.--The\nrevolts, and the coercion, necessary to enforce the departure of the\nfirst levies (however fear, shame, and discipline, may have since made\nthem soldiers, though not republicans) might have corrected the ardour of\nthe orator's inventive talents; and the zeal of the French in\nmanufacturing salpetre, has been of so slow a growth, that any reference\nto it is peculiarly unlucky. For several months the Convention has\nrecommended, invited, intreated, and ordered the whole country to occupy\nthemselves in the process necessary for obtaining nitre; but the\nrepublican enthusiasm was so tardy, that scarcely an ounce appeared, till\na long list of sound penal laws, with fines and imprisonments in every\nline, roused the public spirit more effectually.*\n * Two years imprisonment was the punishment assigned to a Citizen\n who should be found to obstruct in any way the fabricating\n saltpetre. If you had a house that was adjudged to contain the\n materials required, and expostulated against pulling it down, the\n penalty was incurred.--I believe something of this kind existed\n under the old government, the abuses of which are the only parts the\n republic seems to have preserved.\n--Another cause also has much favoured the extension of this manufacture:\nthe necessity of procuring gunpowder at any rate has secured an exemption\nfrom serving in the army to those who shall be employed in making it.--*\n * Many, under this pretext, even procured their discharge from the\n army; and it was eventually found requisite to stop this commutation\n of service by a decree.\n--On this account vast numbers of young men, whose martial propensities\nare not too vehement for calculation, considering the extraction of\nsaltpetre as more safe than the use of it, have seriously devoted\nthemselves to the business. Thus, between fear of the Convention and of\nthe enemy, has been produced that enthusiasm which seems so grateful to\nLord S____. Yet, if the French are struck by the dissimilitude of facts\nwith the language of your English patriots, there are other circumstances\nwhich appear still more unaccountable to them. I acknowledge the word\npatriotism is not perfectly understood any where in France, nor do my\nprison-associates abound in it; but still they find it difficult to\nreconcile the love of their country, so exclusively boasted by certain\nsenators, with their eulogiums on a government, and on men who avow an\nimplacable hatred to it, and are the professed agents of its future\ndestruction. The Houses of Lords and Commons resound with panegyrics on\nFrance; the Convention with _\"delenda est Carthate\"--\"ces vils\nInsulaires\"--\"de peuple marchand, boutiquier\"--\"ces laches Anglois\"--_ &c.\n&c. (\"Carthage must be destroyed\"--\"those vile Islanders\"--\"that nation\nof shopkeepers\"--\"those cowardly Englishmen\"--&c.)\nThe efforts of the English patriots overtly tend to the consolidation of\nthe French republic, while the demagogues of France are yet more\nstrenuous for the abolition of monarchy in England. The virtues of\ncertain people called Muir and Palmer,* are at once the theme of Mr. Fox\nand Robespierre,** of Mr. Grey and Barrere,***, of Collot d'Herbois****\nand Mr. Sheridan; and their fate is lamented as much at the Jacobins as\nat St. Stephen's.*****\n * If I have not mentioned these gentlemen with the respect due to\n their celebrity, their friends must pardon me. To say truth, I did\n not at this time think of them with much complacence, as I had heard\n of them only from the Jacobins, by whom they were represented as the\n leaders of a Convention, which was to arm ninety thousand men, for\n the establishment of a system similar to that existing in France.\n **The French were so much misled by the eloquence of these gentlemen\n in their favour, that they were all exhibited on the stage in red\n caps and cropped heads, welcoming the arrival of their Gallic\n friends in England, and triumphing in the overthrow of the British\n constitution, and the dethronement of the King.\n *** If we may credit the assertions of Barrere, the friendship of\n the Committee of Public Welfare was not merely verbal. He says, the\n secret register of the Committee furnishes proofs of their having\n sent three frigates to intercept these distinguished victims, whom\n their ungrateful country had so ignominiously banished.\n **** This humane and ingenious gentleman, by profession a player, is\n known likewise as the author of several farces and vaudevilles, and\n of the executions at Lyons.--It is asserted, that many of the\n inhabitants of this unfortunate city expiated under the Guillotine\n the crime of having formerly hissed Collot's successful attempts on\n the stage.\n ***** The printing of a particular speech was interdicted on account\n of its containing allusions to certain circumstances, the knowledge\n of which might be of disservice to their unfortunate friends during\n their trial.\n--The conduct of Mr. Pitt is not more acrimoniously discussed at the\nPalais National than by a part of his colleagues; and the censure of the\nBritish government, which is now the order of the day at the Jacobins, is\nnearly the echo of your parliamentary debates.*\n * Allowing for the difference of education in the orators, a\n journeyman shoemaker was, I think, as eloquent, and not more\n abusive, than the facetious _ci-devant_ protege of Lord T____d.\n--All this, however, does not appear to me out of the natural order of\nthings; it is the sorry history of opposition for a century and an half,\nand our political rectitude, I fear, is not increasing: but the French,\nwho are in their way the most corrupt people in Europe, have not\nhitherto, from the nature of their government, been familiar with this\nparticular mode of provoking corruption, nor are they at present likely\nto become so. Indeed, I must here observe, that your English Jacobins,\nif they are wise, should not attempt to introduce the revolutionary\nsystem; for though the total possession of such a government is very\nalluring, yet the prudence, which looks to futurity, and the incertitude\nof sublunary events, must acknowledge it is \"Caesar or nothing;\" and that\nit offers no resource in case of those segregations, which the jealousy\nof power, or the appropriation of spoil, may occasion, even amongst the\nmost virtuous associates.--The eloquence of a discontented orator is here\nsilenced, not by a pension, but by a mandat d'arret; and the obstinate\npatriotism, which with you could not be softened with less than a\nparticipation of authority, is more cheaply secured by the Guillotine. A\nmenace is more efficacious than a bribe, and in this respect I agree with\nMr. Thomas Paine,* that a republic is undoubtedly more oeconomical than a\nmonarchy; besides, that being conducted on such principles, it has the\nadvantage of simplifying the science of government, as it consults\nneither the interests nor weaknesses of mankind; and, disdaining to\nadminister either to avarice or vanity, subdues its enemies by the sole\ninfluence of terror.--*\n * This gentleman's fate is truly to be pitied. After rejecting, as\n his friends assert, two hundred a year from the English Ministry, he\n is obliged now to be silent gratis, with the additional desagrement\n of occupying a corner in the Luxembourg.\n--Adieu!--Heaven knows how often I may have to repeat the word thus\nunmeaningly. I sit here, like Pope's bard \"lulled by soft zephyrs\nthrough the broken pane,\" and scribbling high-sounding phrases of\nmonarchy, patriotism, and republics, while I forget the humbler subject\nof our wants and embarrassments. We can scarcely procure either bread,\nmeat, or any thing else: the house is crouded by an importation of\nprisoners from Abbeville, and we are more strictly guarded than ever. My\nfriend ennuyes as usual, and I grow impatient, not having sang froid\nenough for a true French ennuie in a situation that would tempt one to\nhang one's self.\nMarch, 1794.\nThe aspect of the times promises no change in our favour; on the\ncontrary, every day seems to bring its attendant evil. The gentry who\nhad escaped the comprehensive decree against suspected people, are now\nswept away in this and the three neighbouring departments by a private\norder of the representatives, St. Just, Lebas, and Dumont.*\n * The order was to arrest, without exception, all the ci-devant\n Noblessse, men, women, and children, in the departments of the\n Somme, North, and Pas de Calais, and to exclude them rigourously\n from all external communication--(mettre au secret).\n--A severer regimen is to be adopted in the prisons, and husbands are\nalready separated from their wives, and fathers from their daughters, for\nthe purpose, as it is alledged, of preserving good morals. Both this\nplace and the Bicetre being too full to admit of more inhabitants, two\nlarge buildings in the town are now appropriated to the male prisoners.--\nMy friends continue at Arras, and, I fear, in extreme distress. I\nunderstand they have been plundered of what things they had with them,\nand the little supply I was able to send them was intercepted by some of\nthe harpies of the prisons. Mrs. D____'s health has not been able to\nsustain these accumulated misfortunes, and she is at present at the\nhospital. All this is far from enlivening, even had I a larger share of\nthe national philosophy; and did I not oftener make what I observe, than\nwhat I suffer, the subject of my letters, I should tax your patience as\nmuch by repetition, as I may by dullness.\nWhen I enumerated in my last letters a few of the obligations the French\nhave to their friends in England, I ought also to have observed, with how\nlittle gratitude they behave to those who are here. Without mentioning\nMr. Thomas Paine, whose persecution will doubtless be recorded by abler\npens, nothing, I assure you, can be more unpleasant than the situation of\none of these Anglo-Gallican patriots. The republicans, supposing that an\nEnglishman who affects a partiality for them can be only a spy, execute\nall the laws, which concern foreigners, upon him with additional rigour;*\nand when an English Jacobin arrives in prison, far from meeting with\nconsolation or sympathy, his distresses are beheld with triumph, and his\nperson avoided with abhorrence. They talk much here of a gentleman, of\nvery democratic principles, who left the prison before I came. It seems,\nthat, notwithstanding Dumont condescended to visit at his house, and was\non terms of intimacy with him, he was arrested, and not distinguished\nfrom the rest of his countrymen, except by being more harshly treated.\nThe case of this unfortunate gentleman was rendered peculiarly amusing to\nhis companions, and mortifying to himself, by his having a very pretty\nmistress, who had sufficient influence over Dumont to obtain any thing\nbut the liberation of her protector. The Deputy was on this head\ninflexible; doubtless, as a proof of his impartial observance of the\nlaws, and to show that, like the just man in Horace, he despised the\nclamour of the vulgar, who did not scruple to hint, that the crime of our\ncountryman was rather of a moral than a political nature--that he was\nunaccommodating, and recalcitrant--addicted to suspicions and jealousies,\nwhich it was thought charitable to cure him of, by a little wholesome\nseclusion. In fact, the summary of this gentleman's history is not\ncalculated to tempt his fellow societists on your side of the water to\nimitate his example.--After taking refuge in France from the tyranny and\ndisappointments he experienced in England, and purchasing a large\nnational property to secure himself the rights of a citizen, he is\nawakened from his dream of freedom, to find himself lodged in a prison,\nhis estate under sequestration, and his mistress in requisition.--Let us\nleave this Coriolanus among the Volscians--it is a persecution to make\nconverts, rather than martyrs, and\n _\"Quand le malheur ne seroit bon,\n \"Qu'a mettre un sot a la raison,\n \"Toujours seroit-ce a juste cause\n \"Qu'on le dit bon a quelque chose.\"_*\n * If calamity were only good to restore a fool to his senses, still\n we might justly say, \"that it was good for some thing.\"\nYours, &c.\nOf what strange influence is this word revolution, that it should thus,\nlike a talisman of romance, keep inchained, as it were, the reasoning\nfaculties of twenty millions of people! France is at this moment looking\nfor the decision of its fate in the quarrels of two miserable clubs,\ncomposed of individuals who are either despised or detested. The\nmunicipality of Paris favours the Cordeliers, the Convention the\nJacobins; and it is easy to perceive, that in this cafe the auxiliaries\nare principals, and must shortly come to such an open rupture, as will\nend in the destruction of either one or the other. The world would be\nuninhabitable, could the combinations of the wicked be permanent; and it\nis fortunate for the tranquil and upright part of mankind, that the\nattainment of the purposes for which such combinations are formed, is\nusually the signal of their dissolution.\nThe municipality of Paris had been the iniquitous drudges of the Jacobin\nparty in the legislative assembly--they were made the instruments of\nmassacring the prisoners,* of dethroning and executing the king,** and\nsuccessively of destroying the Brissotine faction,*** filling the prisons\nwith all who were obnoxious to the republicans,**** and of involving a\nrepentant nation in the irremidiable guilt of the Queen's death.--*****\n * It is well known that the assassins were hired and paid by the\n municipality, and that some of the members presided at these horrors\n in their scarfs of office.\n ** The whole of what is called the revolution of the 10th of August\n may very justly be ascribed to the municipality of Paris--I mean the\n active part of it. The planning and political part has been so\n often disputed by different members of the Convention, that it is\n not easy to decide on any thing, except that the very terms of these\n disputes fully evince, that the people at large, and more\n particularly the departments, were both innocent, and, until it took\n place, ignorant of an event which has plunged the country into so\n many crimes and calamities.\n *** A former imprisonment of Hebert formed a principal charge\n against the Brissotines, and, indeed, the one that was most insisted\n on at their trial, if we except that of having precipitated France\n into a war with England.--It must be difficult for the English\n Jacobins to decide on this occasion between the virtues of their\n dead friends and those of their living ones.\n **** The famous definition of suspected persons originated with the\n municipality of Paris.\n ***** It is certain that those who, deceived by the calumnies of\n faction, permitted, if not assented to, the King's death, at this\n time regretted it; and I believe I have before observed, that one of\n the reasons urged in support of the expediency of putting the Queen\n to death, was, that it would make the army and people decisive, by\n banishing all hope of peace or accommodation. See the _Moniteur_ of\n that time, which, as I have elsewhere observed, may be always\n considered as official.\n--These services being too great for adequate reward, were not rewarded\nat all; and the municipality, tired of the odium of crime, without the\nparticipation of power, has seized on its portion of tyranny; while the\nconvention, at once jealous and timid, exasperated and doubtful, yet\nmenaces with the trepidation of a rival, rather than with the security of\na conqueror.\nHebert, the Deputy-solicitor for the commune of Paris, appears on this\noccasion as the opponent of the whole legislature; and all the\ntemporizing eloquence of Barrere, and the mysterious phraseology of\nRobespierre, are employed to decry his morals, and to reproach the\nministers with the sums which have been the price of his labours.--*\n * Five thousand pounds, two thousand pounds, and other considerable\n sums, were paid to Hebert for supplying the army with his paper,\n called \"La Pere Duchene.\" Let whoever has read one of them,\n conceive the nature of a government to which such support was\n necessary, which supposed its interests promoted by a total\n extinction of morals, decency, and religion. I could almost wish,\n for the sake of exhibiting vice under its most odious colours, that\n my sex and my country permitted me to quote one.\n--Virtuous republicans! the morals of Hebert were pure when he outraged\nhumanity in his accusations of the Queen--they were pure when he\nprostrated the stupid multitude at the feet of a Goddess of Reason;* they\nwere pure while his execrable paper served to corrupt the army, and to\neradicate every principle which yet distinguished the French as a\ncivilized people.\n * Madame Momoro, the unfortunate woman who exposed herself in this\n pageant, was guillotined as an accomplice of Hebert, together with\n the wives of Hebert and Camille Desmoulins.\n--Yet, atrocious as his crimes are, they form half the Magna Charta of\nthe republic,* and the authority of the Convention is still supported by\nthem.\n * What are the death of the King, and the murders of August and\n September, 1792, but the Magna Charta of the republicans?\n--It is his person, not his guilt, that is proscribed; and if the one be\nthreatened with the scaffold, the fruits of the other are held sacred.\nHe will fall a sacrifice--not to offended religion or morality, but to\nthe fears and resentment of his accomplices!\nAmidst the dissentions of two parties, between which neither reason nor\nhumanity can discover a preference, a third seems to have formed itself,\nequally inimical to, and hated by both. At the head of it are Danton,\nCamille Desmoulins, Philipeaux, &c.--I own I have no better opinion of\nthe integrity of these, than of the rest; but they profess themselves the\nadvocates of a system of mildness and moderation, and, situated as this\ncountry is at present, even the affectation of virtue is captivating.--\nAs far as they dare, the people are partial to them: bending beneath the\nweight of a sanguinary and turbulent despotism, if they sigh not for\nfreedom, they do for repose; and the harassed mind, bereft of its own\nenergy, looks up with indolent hope for relief from a change of factions.\nThey forget that Danton is actuated by ambitious jealousy, that Camille\nDesmoulins is hacknied in the atrocities of the revolution, and that\ntheir partizans are adventurers, with neither honour nor morals. Yet,\nafter all, if they will destroy a few of the guillotines, open our\nbastilles, and give us at least the security of servitude, we shall be\ncontent to leave these retrospections to posterity, and be thankful that\nin this our day the wicked sometimes perceive it their interest to do\ngood.\nIn this state of seclusion, when I remark to you the temper of the public\nat any important crisis, you are, perhaps, curious to know my sources of\nintelligence; but such details are unnecessary. I might, indeed, write\nyou a manuel des prisons, and, like Trenck or Latude, by a vain display\nof ingenuity, deprive some future victim of a resource. It is enough,\nthat Providence itself seems to aid our invention, when its object is to\nelude tyranny; besides that a constant accession of prisoners from all\nparts, who are too numerous to be kept separate, necessarily circulates\namong us whatever passes in the world.\nThe Convention has lately made a sort of _pas retrogade_ [Retrogade\nmovement.] in the doctrine of holy equality, by decreeing, that every\nofficer who has a command shall be able to read and write, though it\ncannot be denied that their reasons for this lese democratie are of some\nweight. All gentlemen, or, as it is expressed here, noblesse, have been\nrecalled from the army, and replaced by officers chosen by the soldiers\nthemselves, [Under the rank of field-officers.] whose affections are\noften conciliated by qualities not essentially military, though sometimes\nprofessional. A buffoon, or a pot-companion, is, of course, often more\npopular than a disciplinarian; and the brightest talents lose their\ninfluence when put in competition with a head that can bear a greater\nnumber of bottles.*\n * Hence it happened, that a post was sometimes confided to one who\n could not read the parole and countersign; expeditions failed,\n because commanding officers mistook on the map a river for a road,\n or woods for mountains; and the most secret orders were betrayed\n through the inability of those to whom they were entrusted to read\n them.\n--Yet this reading and writing are a sort of aristocratic distinctions,\nand not among the primeval rights of man; so that it is possible your\nEnglish patriots will not approve of any regulations founded on them.\nBut this is not the only point on which there is an apparent discordance\nbetween them and their friends here--the severity of Messrs. Muir and\nPalmer's sentence is pathetically lamented in the House of Commons, while\nthe Tribunal Revolutionnaire (in obedience to private orders) is\npetitioning, that any disrespect towards the convention shall be punished\nwith death. In England, it is asserted, that the people have a right to\ndecide on the continuation of the war--here it is proposed to declare\nsuspicious, and treat accordingly, all who shall dare talk of peace.--Mr.\nFox and Robespierre must settle these trifling variations at the general\ncongress of republicans, when the latter shall (as they profess) have\ndethroned all the potentates in Europe!\nDo you not read of cart-loads of patriotic gifts,* bales of lint and\nbandages, and stockings, knit by the hands of fair citizens, for the use\nof the soldiers?\n * A sum of money was at this time publicly offered to the Convention\n for defraying the expences and repairs of the guillotine.--I know\n not if it were intended patriotically or correctionally; but the\n legislative delicacy was hurt, and the bearer of the gift ordered\n for examination to the Committee of General Safety, who most\n probably sent him to expiate either his patriotism or his pleasantry\n in a prison.\n--Do you not read, and call me calumniator, and ask if these are proofs\nthat there is no public spirit in France? Yes, the public spirit of an\neastern tributary, who offers, with apprehensive devotion, a part of the\nwealth which he fears the hand of despotism may ravish entirely.--The\nwives and daughters of husbands and fathers, who are pining in arbitrary\nconfinement, are employed in these feeble efforts, to deprecate the\nmalice of their persecutors; and these voluntary tributes are but too\noften proportioned, not to the abilities, but the miseries of the donor.*\n * A lady, confined in one of the state prisons, made an offering,\n through the hands of a Deputy, of ten thousand livres; but the\n Convention observed, that this could not properly be deemed a gift--\n for, as she was doubtless a suspicious person, all she had belonged\n of right to the republic:\n _\"Elle doit etre a moi, dit il, et la raison,\n \"C'est que je m'appelle Lion\n \"A cela l'on n'a rien a dire.\"_\n Sometimes these _dons patriotiques_ were collected by a band of\n Jacobins, at others regularly assessed by a Representative on\n mission; but on all occasions the aristocrats were most assiduous\n and most liberal:\n \"Urg'd by th' imperious soldier's fierce command,\n \"The groaning Greeks break up their golden caverns,\n \"The accumulated wealth of toiling ages;\n \"That wealth, too sacred for their country's use;\n \"That wealth, too pleasing to be lost for freedom,\n \"That wealth, which, granted to their weeping Prince,\n \"Had rang'd embattled nations at their gates.\"\n Or, what is still better, have relieved the exigencies of the state,\n without offering a pretext for the horrors of a revolution.--O\n selfish luxury, impolitic avarice, how are ye punished? robbed of\n your enjoyments and your wealth--glad even to commute both for a\n painful existence!\n--The most splendid sacrifices that fill the bulletin of the Convention,\nand claim an honourable mention in their registers, are made by the\nenemies of the republican government--by those who have already been the\nobjects of persecution, or are fearful of becoming such.--Ah, your prison\nand guillotine are able financiers: they raise, feed, and clothe an army,\nin less time than you can procure a tardy vote from the most complaisant\nHouse of Commons!--Your, &c.\nAfter some days of agitation and suspense, we learn that the popularity\nof Robespierre is victorious, and that Hebert and his partizans are\narrested. Were the intrinsic claims of either party considered, without\nregard to the circumstances of the moment, it might seem strange I should\nexpress myself as though the result of a contest between such men could\nexcite a general interest: yet a people sadly skilled in the gradations\nof evil, and inured to a choice only of what is bad, learn to prefer\ncomparatively, with no other view than that of adopting what may be least\ninjurious to themselves; and the merit of the object is out of the\nquestion. Hence it is, that the public wish was in favour of\nRobespierre; for, besides that his cautious character has given him an\nadvantage over the undisguised profligacy of Hebert, it is conjectured by\nmany, that the more merciful politics professed by Camille Desmoulins,\nare secretly suggested, or, at least assented to, by the former.*\n * This was the opinion of many.--The Convention and the Jacobins had\n taken alarm at a paper called \"The Old Cordelier,\" written by\n Camille Desmoulins, apparently with a view to introduce a milder\n system of government. The author had been censured at the one,\n expelled the other, and defended by Robespierre, who seems not to\n have abandoned him until he found the Convention resolved to persist\n in the sanguinary plan they had adopted. Robespierre afterwards\n sacrificed his friends to retrieve his influence; but could his\n views have been answered by humane measures, as certainly as by\n cruel ones, I think he would have preferred the first; for I repeat,\n that the Convention at large were averse from any thing like reason\n or justice, and Robespierre more than once risked his popularity by\n professions of moderation.--The most eloquent speech I have seen of\n his was previous to the death of Danton, and it seems evidently\n intended to sound the principles of his colleagues as to a change of\n system.--Camille Desmoulins has excited some interest, and has been\n deemed a kind of martyr to humanity. Perhaps nothing marks the\n horrors of the time more than such a partiality.--Camille\n Desmoulins, under an appearance of simplicity, was an adventurer,\n whose pen had been employed to mislead the people from the beginning\n of the revolution. He had been very active on the 10th of August;\n and even in the papers which have given him a comparative\n reputation, he is the panegyrist of Marat, and recommends \"une\n Guillotine economique;\" that is, a discrimination in favour of\n himself and his party, who now began to fear they might themselves\n be sacrificed by the Convention and deserted by Robespierre--after\n being the accomplices and tools of both.\nThe vicissitudes of the revolution have hitherto offered nothing but a\nchange of vices and of parties; nor can I regard this defeat of the\nmunicipality of Paris as any thing more: the event is, however,\nimportant, and will probably have great influence on the future.\nAfter having so long authorized, and profited by, the crimes of those\nthey have now sacrificed, the Convention are willing to have it supposed\nthey were themselves held in subjection by Hebert and the other\nrepresentatives of the Parisian mob.--Admitting this to be true, having\nregained their independence, we ought naturally to expect a more rational\nand humane system will take place; but this is a mere hope, and the\npresent occurrences are far from justifying it. We hear much of the\nguilt of the fallen party, and little of remedying its effects--much of\npunishment, and little of reform; and the people are excited to\nvengeance, without being permitted to claim redress. In the meanwhile,\nfearful of trusting to the cold preference which they owe to a superior\nabhorrence of their adversaries, the Convention have ordered their\ncolleagues on mission to glean the few arms still remaining in the hands\nof the National Guard, and to arrest all who may be suspected of\nconnection with the adverse party.--Dumont has performed this service\nhere very diligently; and, by way of supererogation, has sent the\nCommandant of Amiens to the Bicetre, his wife, who was ill, to the\nhospital, and two young children to this place.\nAs usual, these proceedings excite secret murmurs, but are nevertheless\nyielded to with perfect submission.\nOne can never, on these occasions, cease admiring the endurance of the\nFrench character. In other countries, at every change of party, the\npeople are flattered with the prospect of advantage, or conciliated by\nindulgences; but here they gain nothing by change, except an accumulation\nof oppression--and the success of a new party is always the harbinger of\nsome new tyranny. While the fall of Hebert is proclaimed as the triumph\nof freedom, all the citizens are disarmed by way of collateral security;\nand at the instant he is accused by the Convention of atheism and\nimmorality,* a militant police is sent forth to devastate the churches,\nand punish those who are detected in observing the Sabbath--_\"mais plutot\nsouffrir que mourir, c'est la devise des Francois.\"_ [\"To suffer rather\nthan die is the motto of Frenchmen.\"]\n * It is remarkable, that the persecution of religion was never more\n violent than at the time when the Convention were anathematizing\n Hebert and his party for athiesm.\n--Brissot and his companions died singing a paraphrase of my quotation:\n _\"Plutot la mort que l'esclavage,\n \"C'est la devise des Francois.\"_\n [\"Death before slavery, is the Frenchman's motto.\"]\n--Let those who reflect on what France has submitted to under them and\ntheir successors decide, whether the original be not more apposite.\nI hope the act of accusation against Chabot has been published in\nEngland, for the benefit of your English patriots: I do not mean by way\nof warning, but example. It appears, that the said Chabot, and four or\nfive of his colleagues in the Convention, had been bribed to serve a\nstock-jobbing business at a stipulated sum,* and that the money was to be\ndivided amongst them.\n * Chabot, Fabre d'Eglantine, (author of \"l'Intrigue Epistolaire,\"\n and several other admired dramatic pieces,) Delaunay d'Angers,\n Julien de Toulouse, and Bazire, were bribed to procure the passing\n certain decrees, tending to enrich particular people, by defrauding\n the East India Company.--Delaunay and Julien (both re-elected into\n the present Assembly) escaped by flight, the rest were guillotined.\n --It is probable, that these little peculations might have passed\n unnoticed in patriots of such note, but that the intrigues and\n popular character of Chabot made it necessary to dispose of him, and\n his accomplices suffered to give a countenance to the measure.\n--Chabot, with great reason, insisted on his claim to an extra share, on\naccount, as he expressed it, of having the reputation of one of the first\npatriots in Europe. Now this I look upon to be a very useful hint, as it\ntends to establish a tariff of reputations, rather than of talents. In\nEngland, you distinguish too much in favour of the latter; and, in a\nquestion of purchase, a Minister often prefers a \"commodity\" of\nrhetoricians, to one of \"good names.\"--I confess, I am of Chabot's\nopinion; and think a vote from a member who has some reputation for\nhonesty, ought to be better paid for than the eloquence which, weakened\nby the vices of the orator, ceases to persuade. How it is that the\npatriotic harangues at St. Stephen's serve only to amuse the auditors,\nwho identify the sentiments they express as little with the speaker, as\nthey would those of Cato's soliloquy with the actor who personates the\ncharacter for the night? I fear the people reason like Chabot, and are\n\"fools to fame.\" Perhaps it is fortunate for England, that those whose\ntalents and principles would make them most dangerous, are become least\nso, because both are counteracted by the public contempt. Ought it not\nto humble the pride, and correct the errors, which too often accompany\ngreat genius, that the meanest capacity can distinguish between talents\nand virtue; and that even in the moment our wonder is excited by the one,\na sort of intrinsic preference is given to the other?--Yours, &c.\nProvidence, April 15, 1794.\n\"The friendship of bad men turns to fear:\" and in this single phrase of\nour popular bard is comprized the history of all the parties who have\nsucceeded each other during the revolution.--Danton has been sacrificed\nto Robespierre's jealousy,* and Camille Desmoulins to support his\npopularity;** and both, after sharing in the crimes, and contributing to\nthe punishment, of Hebert and his associates, have followed them to the\nsame scaffold.\n * The ferocious courage of Danton had, on the 10th of August, the 2d\n of September, the 31st of May, and other occasions, been the ductile\n instrument of Robespierre; but, in the course of their iniquitous\n connection, it should seem, they had committed themselves too much\n to each other. Danton had betrayed a desire of more exclusively\n profiting by his crimes; and Robespierre's views been equally\n ambitious, though less daring, their mutual jealousies had risen to\n a height which rendered the sacrifice of one party necessary--and\n Robespierre had the address to secure himself, by striking the first\n blow. They had supped in the country, and returned together to\n Paris, on the night Danton was arrested; and, it may be supposed,\n that in this interview, which was intended to produce a\n reconciliation, they had been convinced that neither was to be\n trusted by the other.\n ** There can be no doubt but Robespierre had encouraged Camille\n Desmoulins to publish his paper, intitled \"The Old Cordelier,\" in\n which some translations from Tacitus, descriptive of every kind of\n tyranny, were applied to the times, and a change of system\n indirectly proposed. The publication became highly popular, except\n with the Convention and the Jacobins; these, however, it was\n requisite for Robespierre to conciliate; and Camille Desmoulins was\n sacrificed, to prove that he did not favour the obnoxious moderation\n of his friend.\nI know not if one's heart gain any thing by this habitual contemplation\nof successive victims, who ought not to inspire pity, and whom justice\nand humanity forbid one to regret.--How many parties have fallen, who\nseem to have laboured only to transmit a dear-bought tyranny, which they\nhad not time to enjoy themselves, to their successors: The French\nrevolutionists may, indeed, adopt the motto of Virgil's Bees, \"Not for\nourselves, but for you.\" The monstrous powers claimed for the Convention\nby the Brissotines,* with the hope of exclusively exercising them, were\nfatal to themselves--the party that overthrew the Brissotines in its turn\nbecame insignificant--and a small number of them only, under the\ndescription of Committees of Public Welfare and General Safety, gradually\nusurped the whole authority.\n * The victorious Brissotines, after the 10th of August, availing\n themselves of the stupor of one part of the people, and the\n fanaticism of the other, required that the new Convention might be\n entrusted with unlimited powers. Not a thousandth portion of those\n who elected the members, perhaps, comprehended the dreadful extent\n of such a demand, as absurd as it has proved fatal.--_\"Tout pouvoir\n sans bornes ne fauroit etre legitime, parce qu'il n'a jamais pu\n avoir d'origine legitime, car nous ne pouvons pas donner a un autre\n plus de pouvoir sur nous que nous n'en avons nous-memes\"_\n [Montesquieu.]:--that is, the power which we accord to others, or\n which we have over ourselves, cannot exceed the bounds prescribed by\n the immutable laws of truth and justice. The united voice of the\n whole French nation could not bestow on their representatives a\n right to murder or oppress one innocent man.\n--Even of these, several have already perished; and in the hands of\nRobespierre, and half a dozen others of equal talents and equal atrocity,\nbut less cunning, center at present all the fruits of so many miseries,\nand so many crimes.\nIn all these conflicts of party, the victory seems hitherto to have\nremained with the most artful, rather than the most able; and it is under\nthe former title that Robespierre, and his colleagues in the Committee of\nPublic Welfare, are now left inheritors of a power more despotic than\nthat exercised in Japan.--Robespierre is certainly not deficient in\nabilities, but they are not great in proportion to the influence they\nhave acquired him. They may, perhaps, be more properly called singular\nthan great, and consist in the art of appropriating to his own advantage\nboth the events of chance and the labours of others, and of captivating\nthe people by an exterior of severe virtue, which a cold heart enables\nhim to assume, and which a profligacy, not the effect of strong passions,\nbut of system, is easily subjected to. He is not eloquent, nor are his\nspeeches, as compositions,* equal to those of Collot d'Herbais, Barrere,\nor Billaud Varennes; but, by contriving to reserve himself for\nextraordinary occasions, such as announcing plots, victories, and systems\nof government, he is heard with an interest which finally becomes\ntransferred from his subject to himself.**\n * The most celebrated members of the Convention are only readers of\n speeches, composed with great labour, either by themselves or\n others; and I think it is distinguishable, that many are\n manufactured by the same hand. The style and spirit of Lindet,\n Barrere, and Carnot, seem to be in common.\n ** The following passages, from a speech of Dubois Crance, who may\n be supposed a competent judge, at once furnish an idea of\n Robespierre's oratory, exhibit a leading feature in his character,\n and expose some of the arts by which the revolutionary despotism was\n maintained:\n _\"Rapportant tout a lui seul, jusqu'a la patrie, il n'en parla\n jamais que pour s'en designer comme l'unique defenseur: otez de ses\n longs discours tout ce qui n'a rapport qu'a son personnel, vous n'y\n trouverez plus que de seches applications de prinipes connus, et\n surtout de phrases preparees pour amener encore son eloge. Vous\n l'avez juge timide, parce que son imagination, que l'on croyait\n ardente, qui n'etait que feroce, parassait exagerer souvent les maux\n de son pays. C'etait une jonglerie: il ne croyait ni aux\n conspirations don't il faisait tant d'etalage, ni aux poignards\n aux-quels il feignoit de sse devouer; mais il vouloit que les\n citoyens fusssent constamment en defiance l'un de l'autre,\" &c._\n \"Affecting to consider all things, even the fate of the country, as\n depending on himself alone, he never spoke of it but with a view to\n point himself out its principal defender.--If you take away from his\n long harangues all that regards him personally, you will find only\n dry applications of familiar principles, and, above all, those\n studied turns, which were artfully prepared to introduce his own\n eternal panegyric.--You supposed him timid because his imagination\n (which was not merely ardent, as was supposed, but ferocious) seemed\n often to exaggerate the misfortunes of his country.--This was a mere\n trick: he believed neither in the conspiracies he made so great a\n parade of, nor in the poignards to which he pretended to devote\n himself as a victim.--His real design was to infuse into the minds\n of all men an unceasing diffidence of each other.\"\nOne cannot study the characters of these men, and the revolution, without\nwonder; and, after an hour of such scribbling, I wake to the scene around\nme, and my wonder is not a little increased, at the idea that the fate of\nsuch an individual as myself should be at all dependent on either.--My\nfriend Mad. de ____ is ill,* and taken to the hospital, so that having no\nlonger the care of dissipating her ennui, I am at full liberty to indulge\nmy own.\n * I have generally made use of the titles and distinctions by which\n the people I mention were known before the revolution; for, besides\n that I found it difficult to habituate my pen to the republican\n system of levelling, the person to whom these letters were addressed\n would not have known who was meant by the new appellations. It is,\n however, to be observed, that, except in private aristocratic\n intercourse, the word Citizen was in general use; and that those who\n had titles relinquished them and assumed their family names.\n--Yet I know not how it is, but, as I have before observed to you, I do\nnot ennuye--my mind is constantly occupied, though my heart is vacant--\ncuriosity serves instead of interest, and I really find it sufficiently\namusing to conjecture how long my head may remain on my shoulders.--You\nwill, I dare say, agree with me that any doubts on such a subject are\nvery well calculated to remove the tranquil sort of indifference which\nproduces ennui; though, to judge by the greater part of my\nfellow-prisoners, one would not think so.--There is something surely in\nthe character of the French, which makes them differ both in prosperity\nand adversity from other people. Here are many amongst us who see\nlittle more in the loss of their liberty than a privation of their usual\namusements; and I have known some who had the good fortune to obtain\ntheir release at noon, exhibit themselves at the theatre at night.--God\nknows how such minds are constituted: for my part, when some consolatory\nillusion restores me to freedom, I associate with it no idea of positive\npleasure, but long for a sort of intermediate state, which may repose my\nharassed faculties, and in which mere comfort and security are portrayed\nas luxuries. After being so long deprived of the decent accommodations\nof life, secluded from the intercourse which constitutes its best\nenjoyments, trembling for my own fate, and hourly lamenting that of my\nfriends, the very thoughts of tumult or gaiety seem oppressive, and the\ndesire of peace, for the moment, banishes every other. One must have no\nheart, after so many sufferings, not to prefer the castle of Indolence\nto the palace of Armida.\nThe coarse organs of an Argus at the door, who is all day employed in\ncalling to my high-born companions by the republican appellations of\n_\"Citoyen,\"_ and _\"Citoyenne,\"_ has just interrupted me by a summons to\nreceive a letter from my unfortunate friends at Arras.--It was given me\nopen;* of course they say nothing of their situation, though I have\nreason to believe it is dreadful.\n * The opening of letters was now so generally avowed, that people\n who corresponded on business, and were desirous their letters should\n be delivered, put them in the post without sealing; otherwise they\n were often torn in opening, thrown aside, or detained, to save the\n trouble of perusing.\n--They have now written to me for assistance, which I have not the means\nof affording them. Every thing I have is under sequestration; and the\ndifficulty which attends the negociating any drafts drawn upon England,\nhas made it nearly impossible to procure money in the usual way, even if\nI were not confined. The friendship of Mad. de ____ will be little\navailable to me. Her extensive fortune, before frittered to mere\ncompetency by the extortions of the revolution, now scarcely supplies her\nown wants; and her tenants humanely take the opportunity of her present\ndistress to avoid paying their rent.*\n * In some instances servants or tenants have been known to seize on\n portions of land for their own use--in others the country\n municipalities exacted as the price of a certificate of civism,\n (without which no release from prison could be obtained,) such\n leases, lands, or privileges, as they thought the embarrassments of\n their landlords would induce them to grant. Almost every where the\n houses of persons arrested were pilfered either by their own\n servants or the agents of the republic. I have known an elegant\n house put in requisition to erect blacksmiths' forges in for the use\n of the army, and another filled with tailors employed in making\n soldiers' clothes.--Houses were likewise not unfrequently abandoned\n by the servants through fear of sharing the fate of their masters,\n and sometimes exposed equally by the arrest of those who had been\n left in charge, in order to extort discoveries of plate, money, &c.\n the concealment of which they might be supposed privy to.\n--So that I have no resource, either for myself or Mrs. D____, but the\nsale of a few trinkets, which I had fortunately secreted on my first\narrest. How are we to exist, and what an existence to be solicitous\nabout! In gayer moments, and, perhaps, a little tinctured by romantic\nrefinement, I have thought Dr. Johnson made poverty too exclusively the\nsubject of compassion: indeed I believe he used to say, it was the only\nevil he really felt for. This, to one who has known only mental\nsuffering, appears the notion of a coarse mind; but I doubt whether, the\nfirst time we are alarmed by the fear of want, the dread of dependence\ndoes not render us in part his converts. The opinion of our English sage\nis more natural than we may at first imagine; or why is it that we are\naffected by the simple distresses of Jane Shore, beyond those of any\nother heroine?--Yours.\nOur abode becomes daily more crouded; and I observe, that the greater\npart of those now arrested are farmers. This appears strange enough,\nwhen we consider how much the revolutionary persecution has hitherto\nspared this class of people; and you will naturally enquire why it has at\nlength reached them.\nIt has been often observed, that the two extremes of society are nearly\nthe same in all countries; the great resemble each other from education,\nthe little from nature. Comparisons, therefore, of morals and manners\nshould be drawn from the intervening classes; yet from this comparison\nalso I believe we must exclude farmers, who are every where the same, and\nwho seem always more marked by professional similitude than national\ndistinction.\nThe French farmer exhibits the same acuteness in all that regards his own\ninterest, and the same stupidity on most other occasions, as the mere\nEnglish one; and the same objects which enlarge the understanding and\ndilate the heart of other people, seem to have a contrary effect on both.\nThey contemplate the objects of nature as the stock-jobber does the\nvicissitudes of the public funds: \"the dews of heaven,\" and the\nenlivening orb by which they are dispelled, are to the farmer only\nobjects of avaricious speculation; and the scarcity, which is partially\nprofitable, is but too often more welcome than a general abundance.--They\nconsider nothing beyond the limits of their own farms, except for the\npurpose of making envious comparisons with those of their neighbours; and\nbeing fed and clothed almost without intermediate commerce, they have\nlittle necessity for communication, and are nearly as isolated a part of\nsociety as sailors themselves.\nThe French revolutionists have not been unobserving of these\ncircumstances, nor scrupulous of profiting by them: they knew they might\nhave discussed for ever their metaphysical definitions of the rights of\nman, without reaching the comprehension, or exciting the interest, of the\ncountry people; but that if they would not understand the propagation of\nthe rights of man, they would very easily comprehend an abolition of the\nrights of their landlords. Accordingly, the first principle of liberty\nthey were taught from the new code was, that they had a right to assemble\nin arms, to force the surrender of title-deeds; and their first\nrevolutionary notions of equality and property seem to have been\nmanifested by the burning of chateaux, and refusing to pay their rents.\nThey were permitted to intimidate their landlords, in order to force them\nto emigration, and either to sell their estates at a low price, or leave\nthem to the mercy of the tenants.\nAt a time when the necessities of the state had been great enough to be\nmade the pretext of a dreadful revolution, they were not only almost\nexempt from contributing to its relief, but were enriched by the common\ndistress; and while the rest of their countrymen beheld with unavailing\nregret their property gradually replaced by scraps of paper, the peasants\nbecame insolent and daring by impunity, refused to sell but for specie,\nand were daily amassing wealth. It is not therefore to be wondered at,\nthat they were partial to the new order of things. The prisons might\nhave overflowed or been thinned by the miseries of those with whom they\nhad been crowded--the Revolutionary Tribunal might have sacrificed half\nFrance, and these selfish citizens, I fear, would have beheld it\ntranquilly, had not the requisition forced their labourers to the army,\nand the \"maximum\" lowered the price of their corn. The exigency of the\nwar, and an internal scarcity, having rendered these measures necessary,\nand it being found impossible to persuade the farmers into a peaceful\ncompliance with them, the government has had recourse to its usual\nsummary mode of expostulation--a prison or the Guillotine.*\n * The avarice of the farmers was doubtless to be condemned, but the\n cruel despotism of the government almost weakened our sense of\n rectitude; for by confounding error with guilt, and guilt with\n innocence, they habituated us to indiscriminate pity, and obliged us\n to transfer our hatred of a crime to those who in punishing it,\n observed neither mercy nor justice. A farmer was guillotined,\n because some blades of corn appeared growing in one of his ponds;\n from which circumstance it was inferred, he had thrown in a large\n quantity, in order to promote a scarcity--though it was\n substantially proved on his trial, that at the preceding harvest the\n grain of an adjoining field had been got in during a high wind, and\n that in all probability some scattered ears which reached the water\n had produced what was deemed sufficient testimony to convict him.--\n Another underwent the same punishment for pursuing his usual course\n of tillage, and sowing part of his ground with lucerne, instead of\n employing the whole for wheat; and every where these people became\n the objects of persecution, both in their persons and property.\n \"Almost all our considerable farmers have been thrown into prison;\n the consequence is, that their capital is eat up, their stock gone\n to ruin, and our lands have lost the almost incalculable effect of\n their industry. In La Vendee six million acres of land lie\n uncultivated, and five hundred thousand oxen have been turned\n astray, without shelter and without an owner.\"\n Speech of Dubois Crance, Sept. 22, 1794.\n--Amazed to find themselves the objects of a tyranny they had hitherto\ncontributed to support, and sharing the misfortune of their Lords and\nClergy, these ignorant and mistaken people wander up and down with a\nvacant sort of ruefulness, which seems to bespeak that they are far from\ncomprehending or being satisfied with this new specimen of\nrepublicanism.--It has been a fatality attending the French through the\nwhole revolution, that the different classes have too readily facilitated\nthe sacrifice of each other; and the Nobility, the Clergy, the Merchant,\nand the Farmer, have the mortification of experiencing, that their\nselfish and illiberal policy has answered no purpose but to involve all\nin one common ruin.\nAngelique has contrived to-day to negotiate the sale of some bracelets,\nwhich a lady, with whom I was acquainted previous to our detention, has\nvery obligingly given almost half their value for, though not without\nmany injunctions to secresy, and as many implied panegyrics on her\nbenevolence, in risking the odium of affording assistance to a foreigner.\nWe are, I assure you, under the necessity of being oeconomists, where the\nmost abundant wealth could not render us externally comfortable: and the\nlittle we procure, by a clandestine disposal of my unnecessary trinkets,\nis considerably diminished,* by arbitrary impositions of the guard and\nthe poor,** and a voluntary tax from the misery that surrounds us.\n * I am aware of Mr. Burke's pleasantry on the expression of very\n little, being greatly diminished; but my exchequer at this time was\n as well calculated to prove the infinite divisibility of matter, as\n that of the Welch principality.\n ** The guards of the republican Bastilles were paid by the prisoners\n they contained; and, in many places, the tax for this purpose was\n levied with indecent rigour. It might indeed be supposed, that\n people already in prison could have little to apprehend from an\n inability or unwillingness to submit to such an imposition; yet\n those who refused were menaced with a dungeon; and I was informed,\n from undoubted authority, of two instances of the sort among the\n English--the one a young woman, the other a person with a large\n family of children, who were on the point of suffering this\n treatment, but that the humanity of some of their companions\n interfered and paid the sum exacted of them. The tax for supporting\n the imprisoned poor was more willingly complied with, though not\n less iniquitous in its principle; numbers of inoffensive and\n industrious people were taken from their homes on account of their\n religion, or other frivolous pretexts, and not having the\n wherewithal to maintain themselves in confinement, instead of being\n kept by the republic, were supported by their fellow-prisoners, in\n consequence of a decree to that purpose. Families who inherited\n nothing from their noble ancestors but their names, were dragged\n from obscurity only to become objects of persecution; and one in\n particular, consisting of nine persons, who lived in extreme\n indigence, but were notwithstanding of the proscribed class; the\n sons were brought wounded from the army and lodged with the father,\n mother, and five younger children in a prison, where they had\n scarcely food to support, or clothing to cover them.\n I take this opportunity of doing justice to the Comte d'Artois,\n whose youthful errors did not extinguish his benevolence--the\n unfortunate people in question having enjoyed a pension from him\n until the revolution deprived them of it.\nOur male companions are for the most part transferred to other prisons,\nand among the number are two young Englishmen, with whom I used sometimes\nto converse in French, without acknowledging our compatriotism. They\nhave told me, that when the decree for arresting the English was received\nat Amiens, they happened to be on a visit, a few miles from the town; and\nhaving notice that a party of horse were on the road to take them,\nwilling to gain time at least, they escaped by another route, and got\nhome. The republican constables, for I can call the military employed in\nthe interior by no better appellation, finding their prey had taken\nflight, adopted the impartial justice of the men of Charles Town,* and\ncarried off the old couple (both above seventy) at whose house they had\nbeen.\n * \"But they maturely having weigh'd\n \"They had no more but him o'th'trade,\n \"Resolved to spare him, yet to do\n \"The Indian Hoghan-Moghan too\n \"Impartial justice--in his stead did\n \"Hang an old weaver that was bed-rid.\"\nThe good man, who was probably not versed in the etiquette of the\nrevolution, conceived nothing of the matter, and when at the end of their\njourney they were deposited at the Bicetre, his head was so totally\nderanged, that he imagined himself still in his own house, and continued\nfor some days addressing all the prisoners as though they were his\nguests--at one moment congratulating them on their arrival, the next\napologizing for want of room and accommodation.--The evasion of the young\nmen, as you will conclude, availed them nothing, except a delay of their\ncaptivity for a few hours.\nA report has circulated amongst us to-day, that all who are not detained\non specific charges are soon to be liberated. This is eagerly believed\nby the new-comers, and those who are not the \"pale converts of\nexperience.\" I am myself so far from crediting it, that I dread lest it\nshould be the harbinger of some new evil, for I know not whether it be\nfrom the effect of chance, or a refinement in atrocity, but I have\ngenerally found every measure which tended to make our situation more\nmiserable preceded by these flattering rumours.\nYou would smile to see with what anxious credulity intelligence of this\nsort is propagated: we stop each other on the stairs and listen while our\npalled dinner, just arrived from the traiteur, is cooling; and the bucket\nof the draw-well hangs suspended while a history is finished, of which\nthe relator knows as little as the hearer, and which, after all, proves\nto have originated in some ambiguous phrase of our keeper, uttered in a\ngood-humoured paroxysm while receiving a douceur.\nWe occasionally lose some of our associates, who, having obtained their\ndischarge, _depart a la Francaise,_ forget their suffering, and praise the\nclemency of Dumont, and the virtue of the Convention; while those who\nremain still unconverted amuse themselves in conjecturing the channel\nthrough which such favours were solicited, and alleging reasons why such\npreferences were partial and unjust.\nDumont visits us, as usual, receives an hundred or two of petitions,\nwhich he does not deign to read, and reserves his indulgence for those\nwho have the means of assailing him through the smiles of a favourite\nmistress, or propitiating him by more substantial advantages.--Many of\nthe emigrants' wives have procured their liberty by being divorced, and\nin this there is nothing blameable, for I imagine the greater number\nconsider it only as a temporary expedient, indifferent in itself, and\nwhich they are justified in having recourse to for the protection of\ntheir persons and property. But these domestic alienations are not\nconfined to those who once moved in the higher orders of society--the\nmonthly registers announce almost as many divorces as marriages, and the\nfacility of separation has rendered the one little more than a licentious\ncompact, which the other is considered as a means of dissolving. The\neffect of the revolution has in this, as in many other cases, been to\nmake the little emulate the vices of the great, and to introduce a more\ngross and destructive policy among the people at large, than existed in\nthe narrow circle of courtiers, imitators of the Regent, or Louis the\nfifteenth. Immorality, now consecrated as a principle, is far more\npernicious than when, though practised, it was condemned, and, though\nsuffered, not sanctioned.\nYou must forgive me if I ennuye you a little sententiously--I was more\npartial to the lower ranks of life in France, than to those who were\ndeemed their superiors; and I cannot help beholding with indignant regret\nthe last asylums of national morals thus invaded by the general\ncorruption.--I believe no one will dispute that the revolution has\nrendered the people more vicious; and, without considering the matter\neither in a moral or religious point of view, it is impossible to assert\nthat they are not less happy. How many times, when I was at liberty,\nhave I heard the old wish for an accession of years, or envy those yet\ntoo young to be sensible of \"the miseries of a revolution!\"--Were the\nvanity of the self-sufficient philosopher susceptible of remorse, would\nhe not, when he beholds this country, lament his presumption, in\nsupposing he had a right to cancel the wisdom of past ages; or that the\nhappiness of mankind might be promoted by the destruction of their\nmorals, and the depravation of their social affections?--Yours, &c.\nFor some years previous to the revolution, there were several points in\nwhich the French ascribed to themselves a superiority not very distant\nfrom perfection. Amongst these were philosophy, politeness, the\nrefinements of society, and, above all, the art of living.--I have\nsometimes, as you know, been inclined to dispute these claims; yet, if it\nbe true that in our sublunary career perfection is not stationary, and\nthat, having reached the apex of the pyramid on one side, we must\nnecessarily descend on the other, I might, on this ground, allow such\npretensions to be more reasonable than I then thought them. Whatever\nprogress might have been attained in these respects, or however near our\nneighbours might have approached to one extreme, it is but too certain\nthey are now rapidly declining to the other. This boasted philosophy is\nbecome a horrid compound of all that is offensive to Heaven, and\ndisgraceful to man--this politeness, a ferocious incivility--and this\nsocial elegance and exclusive science in the enjoyment of life, are now\nreduced to suspicious intercourse, and the want of common necessaries.\nIf the national vanity only were wounded, perhaps I might smile, though I\nhope I should not triumph; but when I see so much misery accompany so\nprofound a degradation, my heart does not accord with my language, if I\nseem to do either one or the other.\nI should ineffectually attempt to describe the circumstances and\nsituation which have given rise to these reflections. Imagine to\nyourself whatever tyranny can inflict, or human nature submit to--\nwhatever can be the result of unrestrained wickedness and unresisting\ndespair--all that can scourge or disgrace a people--and you may form some\nidea of the actual state of this country: but do not search your books\nfor comparisons, or expect to find in the proscriptions and\nextravagancies of former periods any examples by which to judge the\npresent.--Tiberius and Nero are on the road to oblivion, and the subjects\nof the Lama may boast comparative pretensions to rank as a free and\nenlightened nation.\nThe frantic ebullitions of the revolutionary government are now as it\nwere subsided, and instead of appearing the temporary resources of\n\"despotism in distress,\" [Burke.] have assumed the form of a permanent\nand regular system. The agitation occasioned by so many unexampled\nscenes is succeeded by an habitual terror, and this depressing sentiment\nhas so pervaded all ranks, that it would be difficult to find an\nindividual, however obscure or inoffensive, who deems his property, or\neven his existence, secure only for a moment. The sound of a bell or a\nknocker at the close of the evening is the signal of dismay. The\ninhabitants of the house regard each other with looks of fearful\ninterrogation--all the precautions hitherto taken appear insufficient--\nevery one recollects something yet to be secreted--a prayer-book, an\nunburied silver spoon, or a few assignats \"a face royale,\" are hastily\nscrambled together, and if the visit prove nothing more than an amicable\ndomiciliary one, in search of arms and corn, it forms matter of\ncongratulation for a week after. Yet such is the submission of the\npeople to a government they abhor, that it is scarcely thought requisite\nnow to arrest any person formally: those whom it is intended to secure\noften receive nothing more than a written mandate* to betake themselves\nto a certain prison, and such unpleasant rendezvous are attended with\nmore punctuality than the most ceremonious visit, or the most gallant\nassignation.\n * These rescripts were usually couched in the following terms:--\n \"Citizen, you are desired to betake yourself immediately to ------,\n (naming the prison,) under pain of being conveyed there by an armed\n force in case of delay.\"\n--A few necessaries are hastily packed together, the adieus are made,\nand, after a walk to their prison, they lay their beds down in the corner\nallotted, just as if it were a thing of course.\nIt was a general observation with travellers, that the roads in France\nwere solitary, and had rather the deserted appearance of the route of a\ncaravan, than of the communications between different parts of a rich and\npopulous kingdom. This, however, is no longer true, and, as far as I can\nlearn, they are now sufficiently crowded--not, indeed, by curious\nitinerants, parties of pleasure, or commercial industry, but by Deputies\nof the Convention,* agents of subsistence,** committee men, Jacobin\nmissionaries,*** troops posting from places where insurrection is just\nquelled to where it has just begun, besides the great and never-failing\nsource of activity, that of conveying suspected people from their homes\nto prison, and from one prison to another.--\n * Every department was infested by one, two, or more of these\n strolling Deputies; and, it must be confessed, the constant tendency\n of the people to revolt in many places afforded them sufficient\n employment. Sometimes they acted as legislators, making laws on the\n spot--sometimes, both as judges and constables--or, if occasion\n required, they amused themselves in assisting the executioner.--The\n migrations of obscure men, armed with unlimited powers, and whose\n persons were unknown, was a strong temptation to imposture, and in\n several places adventurers were detected assuming the character of\n Deputies, for various purposes of fraud and depredation.--The\n following instance may appear ludicrous, but I shall be excused\n mentioning it, as it is a fact on record, and conveys an idea of\n what the people supposed a Deputy might do, consistent with the\n \"dignity\" of his executive functions.\n An itinerant of this sort, whose object seems to have been no more\n than to procure a daily maintenance, arriving hungry in a village,\n entered the first farm-house that presented itself, and immediately\n put a pig in requisition, ordered it to be killed, and some sausages\n to be made, with all speed. In the meanwhile our mock-legislator,\n who seems to have acted his part perfectly well, talked of liberty,\n l'amour de la Patrie, of Pitt and the coalesced tyrants, of\n arresting suspicious people and rewarding patriots; so that the\n whole village thought themselves highly fortunate in the presence of\n a Deputy who did no worse than harangue and put their pork in\n requisiton.--Unfortunately, however, before the repast of sausages\n could be prepared, a hue and cry reached the place, that this\n gracious Representant was an impostor! He was bereft of his\n dignities, conveyed to prison, and afterwards tried by the Tribunal\n Revolutionnaire at Paris; but his Counsel, by insisting on the\n mildness with which he had \"borne his faculties,\" contrived to get\n his punishment mitigated to a short imprisonment.--Another suffered\n death on a somewhat similar account; or, as the sentence expressed\n it, for degrading the character of a National Representative.--Just\n Heaven! for degrading the character of a National Representative!!!\n --and this too after the return of Carrier from Nantes, and the\n publication of Collot d'Herbois' massacres at Lyons!\n **The agents employed by government in the purchase of subsistence\n amounted, by official confession, to ten thousand. In all parts\n they were to be seen, rivalling each other, and creating scarcity\n and famine, by requisitions and exactions, which they did not\n convert to the profit of the republic, but to their own.--These\n privileged locusts, besides what they seized upon, occasioned a\n total stagnation of commerce, by laying embargoes on what they did\n not want; so that it frequently occurred that an unfortunate\n tradesman might have half the articles in his shop under requisition\n for a month together, and sometimes under different requisitions\n from deputies, commissaries of war, and agents of subsistence, all\n at once; nor could any thing be disposed of till such claims were\n satisfied or relinquished.\n *** Jacobin missionaries were sent from Paris, and other great\n towns, to keep up the spirits of the people, to explain the benefits\n of the revolution, (which, indeed, were not very apparent,) and to\n maintain the connection between the provincial and metropolitan\n societies.--I remember the Deputies on mission at Perpignan writing\n to the Club at Paris for a reinforcement of civic apostles, _\"pour\n evangeliser les habitans et les mettre dans la voie de salut\"_--(\"to\n convert the inhabitants, and put them in the road to salvation\").\n--These movements are almost entirely confined to the official travellers\nof the republic; for, besides the scarcity of horses, the increase of\nexpence, and the diminution of means, few people are willing to incur the\nsuspicion or hazard* attendant on quitting their homes, and every\npossible obstacle is thrown in the way of a too general intercourse\nbetween the inhabitants of large towns.\n * There were moments when an application for a passport was certain\n of being followed by a mandat d'arret--(a writ of arrest). The\n applicant was examined minutely as to the business he was going\n upon, the persons he was to transact it with, and whether the\n journey was to be performed on horseback or in a carriage, and any\n signs of impatience or distaste at those democratic ceremonies were\n sufficient to constitute _\"un homme suspect\"_--(\"a suspicious\n person\"), or at least one _\"soupconne d'etre suspect,\"_ that is, a man\n suspected of being suspicious. In either case it was usually deemed\n expedient to prevent the dissemination of his supposed principles,\n by laying an embargo on his person.--I knew a man under persecution\n six months together, for having gone from one department to another\n to see his family.\nThe committee of Public Welfare is making rapid advances to an absolute\nconcentration of the supreme power, and the convention, while they are\nthe instruments of oppressing the whole country, are themselves become\ninsignificant, and, perhaps, less secure than those over whom they\ntyrannize. They cease to debate, or even to speak; but if a member of\nthe Committee ascends the tribune, they overwhelm him with applauses\nbefore they know what he has to say, and then pass all the decrees\npresented to them more implicitly than the most obsequious Parliament\never enregistered an arrete of the Court; happy if, by way of\ncompensation, they attract a smile from Barrere, or escape the ominous\nglances of Robespierre.*\n * When a member of the committee looked inauspiciously at a\n subordinate accomplice, the latter scarce ventured to approach his\n home for some time.--Legendre, who has since boasted so continually\n about his courage, is said to have kept his bed, and Bourdon de\n l'Oise, to have lost his senses for a considerable time, from\n frights, the consequence of such menaces.\nHaving so far described the situation of public affairs, I proceed as\nusual, and for which I have the example of Pope, who never quits a\nsubject without introducing himself, to some notice of my own. It is not\nonly bad in itself, but worse in perspective than ever: yet I learn not\nto murmur, and derive patience from the certainty, that almost every part\nof France is more oppressed and wretched than we are.--Yours, etc.\nThe individual sufferings of the French may perhaps yet admit of\nincrease; but their humiliation as a people can go no farther; and if it\nwere not certain that the acts of the government are congenial to its\nprinciples, one might suppose this tyranny rather a moral experiment on\nthe extent of human endurance, than a political system.\nEither the vanity or cowardice of Robespierre is continually suggesting\nto him plots for his assassination; and on pretexts, at once absurd and\natrocious, a whole family, with near seventy other innocent people as\naccomplices, have been sentenced to death by a formal decree of the\nconvention.\nOne might be inclined to pity a people obliged to suppress their\nindignation on such an event, but the mind revolts when addresses are\npresented from all quarters to congratulate this monster's pretended\nescape, and to solicit a farther sacrifice of victims to his revenge.--\nThe assassins of Henry the Fourth had all the benefit of the laws, and\nsuffered only after a legal condemnation; yet the unfortunate Cecilia\nRenaud, though evidently in a state of mental derangement, was hurried to\nthe scaffold without a hearing, for the vague utterance of a truth, to\nwhich every heart in France, not lost to humanity, must assent. Brooding\nover the miseries of her country, till her imagination became heated and\ndisordered, this young woman seems to have conceived some hopeless plan\nof redress from expostulation with Robespierre, whom she regarded as a\nprincipal in all the evils she deplored. The difficulty of obtaining an\naudience of him irritated her to make some comparison between an\nhereditary sovereign and a republican despot; and she avowed, that, in\ndesiring to see Robespierre, she was actuated only by a curiosity to\n\"contemplate the features of a tyrant.\"--On being examined by the\nCommittee, she still persisted that her design was \"seulement pour voir\ncomment etoit fait un tyrant;\" and no instrument nor possible means of\ndestruction was found upon her to justify a charge of any thing more than\nthe wild and enthusiastic attachment to royalism, which she did not\nattempt to disguise. The influence of a feminine propensity, which often\nsurvives even the wreck of reason and beauty, had induced her to dress\nwith peculiar neatness, when she went in search of Robespierre; and, from\nthe complexion of the times, supposing it very probable a visit of this\nnature might end in imprisonment and death, she had also provided herself\nwith a change of clothes to wear in her last moments.\nSuch an attention in a beautiful girl of eighteen was not very unnatural;\nyet the mean and cruel wretches who were her judges, had the littleness\nto endeavour at mortifying, by divesting her of her ornaments, and\ncovering her with the most loathsome rags. But a mind tortured to\nmadness by the sufferings of her country, was not likely to be shaken by\nsuch puerile malice; and, when interrogated under this disguise, she\nstill preserved the same firmness, mingled with contempt, which she had\ndisplayed when first apprehended. No accusation, nor even implication,\nof any person could be drawn from her, and her only confession was that\nof a passionate loyalty: yet an universal conspiracy was nevertheless\ndecreed by the Convention to exist, and Miss Renaud, with sixty-nine\nothers,* were sentenced to the guillotine, without farther trial than\nmerely calling over their names.\n * It is worthy of remark, that the sixty-nine people executed as\n accomplices of Miss Renaud, except her father, mother, and aunt,\n were totally unconnected with her, or with each other, and had been\n collected from different prisons, between which no communication\n could have subsisted.\n--They were conducted to the scaffold in a sort of red frocks, intended,\nas was alleged, to mark them as assassins--but, in reality, to prevent\nthe crowd from distinguishing or receiving any impression from the number\nof young and interesting females who were comprised in this dreadful\nslaughter.--They met death with a courage which seemed almost to\ndisappoint the malice of their tyrants, who, in an original excess of\nbarbarity, are said to have lamented that their power of inflicting could\nnot reach those mental faculties which enabled their victims to suffer\nwith fortitude.*\n * Fouquier Tinville, public accuser of the Revolutionary Tribunal,\n enraged at the courage with which his victims submitted to their\n fate, had formed the design of having them bled previous to their\n execution; hoping by this means to weaken their spirits, and that\n they might, by a pusillanimous behaviour in their last moments,\n appear less interesting to the people.\nSuch are the horrors now common to almost every part of France: the\nprisons are daily thinned by the ravages of the executioner, and again\nrepeopled by inhabitants destined to the fate of their predecessors. A\ngloomy reserve, and a sort of uncertain foreboding, have taken possession\nof every body--no one ventures to communicate his thoughts, even to his\nnearest friend--relations avoid each other--and the whole social system\nseems on the point of being dissolved. Those who have yet preserved\ntheir freedom take the longest circuit, rather than pass a republican\nBastille; or, if obliged by necessity to approach one, it is with\ndowncast or averted looks, which bespeak their dread of incurring the\nsuspicion of humanity.\nI say little of my own feelings; they are not of a nature to be relieved\nby pathetic expressions: \"I am e'en sick at heart.\" For some time I have\nstruggled both against my own evils, and the share I take in the general\ncalamity, but my mortal part gives way, and I can no longer resist the\ndespondency which at times depresses me, and which indeed, more than the\ndanger attending it, has occasioned my abandoning my pen for the last\nmonth.--Several circumstances have occurred within these few days, to add\nto the uneasiness of our situation, and my own apprehensions. Le Bon,*\nwhose cruelties at Arras seem to have endeared him to his colleagues in\nthe Convention, has had his powers extended to this department, and Andre\nDumont is recalled; so that we are hourly menaced with the presence of a\nmonster, compared to whom our own representative is amiable.--\n * I have already noticed the cruel and ferocious temper of Le Bon,\n and the massacres of his tribunals are already well known. I will\n only add some circumstances which not only may be considered as\n characteristic of this tyrant, but of the times--and I fear I may\n add of the people, who suffered and even applauded them. They are\n selected from many others not susceptible of being described in\n language fit for an English reader.\n As he was one day enjoying his customary amusement of superintending\n an execution, where several had already suffered, one of the victims\n having, from a very natural emotion, averted his eyes while he\n placed his body in the posture required, the executioner perceived\n it, and going to the sack which contained the heads of those just\n sacrificed, took one out, and with the most horrible imprecations\n obliged the unhappy wretch to kiss it: yet Le Bon not only\n permitted, but sanctioned this, by dining daily with the hangman.\n He was afterwards reproached with this familiarity in the\n Convention, but defended himself by saying, \"A similar act of\n Lequinio's was inserted by your orders in the bulletin with\n 'honourable mention;' and your decrees have invariably consecrated\n the principles on which I acted.\" They all felt for a moment the\n dominion of conscience, and were silent.--On another occasion he\n suspended an execution, while the savages he kept in pay threw dirt\n on the prisoners, and even got on the scaffold and insulted them\n previous to their suffering.\n When any of his colleagues passed through Arras, he always proposed\n their joining with him in a _\"partie de Guillotine,\"_ and the\n executions were perpetrated on a small square at Arras, rather than\n the great one, that he, his wife, and relations might more\n commodiously enjoy the spectacle from the balcony of the theatre,\n where they took their coffee, attended by a band of music, which\n played while this human butchery lasted.\n The following circumstance, though something less horrid, yet\n sufficiently so to excite the indignation of feeling people,\n happened to some friends of my own.--They had been brought with many\n others from a distant town in open carts to Arras, and, worn out\n with fatigue, were going to be deposited in the prison to which they\n were destined. At the moment of their arrival several persons were\n on the point of being executed. Le Bon, presiding as usual at the\n spectacle, observed the cavalcade passing, and ordered it to stop,\n that the prisoners might likewise be witnesses. He was, of course,\n obeyed; and my terrified friends and their companions were obliged\n not only to appear attentive to the scene before them, but to join\n in the cry of _\"Vive la Republique!\"_ at the severing of each head.--\n One of them, a young lady, did not recover the shock she received\n for months.\n The Convention, the Committees, all France, were well acquainted\n with the conduct of Le Bon. He himself began to fear he might have\n exceeded the limits of his commission; and, upon communicating some\n scruples of this kind to his employers, received the following\n letters, which, though they do not exculpate him, certainly render\n the Committee of Public Welfare more criminal than himself.\n \"Citizen,\n \"The Committee of Public Welfare approve the measures you have\n adopted, at the same time that they judge the warrant you solicit\n unnecessary--such measures being not only allowable, but enjoined by\n the very nature of your mission. No consideration ought to stand in\n the way of your revolutionary progress--give free scope therefore to\n your energy; the powers you are invested with are unlimited, and\n whatever you may deem conducive to the public good, you are free,\n you are even called upon by duty, to carry into execution without\n delay.--We here transmit you an order of the Committee, by which\n your powers are extended to the neighbouring departments. Armed\n with such means, and with your energy, you will go on to confound\n the enemies of the republic, with the very schemes they have\n projected for its destruction.\n \"Carnot.\n \"Barrere.\n \"R. Lindet.\"\n Extract from another letter, signed Billaud Varenne, Carnot,\n Barrere.\n \"There is no commutation for offences against a republic. Death\n alone can expiate them!--Pursue the traitors with fire and sword,\n and continue to march with courage in the revolutionary track you\n have described.\"\n--Merciful Heaven! are there yet positive distinctions betwixt bad and\nworse that we thus regret a Dumont, and deem ourselves fortunate in being\nat the mercy of a tyrant who is only brutal and profligate? But so it\nis; and Dumont himself, fearful that he has not exercised his mission\nwith sufficient severity, has ordered every kind of indulgence to cease,\nthe prisons to be more strictly guarded, and, if possible, more crowded;\nand he is now gone to Paris, trembling lest he should be accused of\njustice or moderation!\nThe pretended plots for assassinating Robespierre are, as usual,\nattributed to Mr. Pitt; and a decree has just passed, that no quarter\nshall be given to English prisoners. I know not what such inhuman\npolitics tend to, but my contempt, and the conscious pride of national\nsuperiority; certain, that when Providence sees fit to vindicate itself,\nby bestowing victory on our countrymen, the most welcome\n \"Laurels that adorn their brows\n \"Will be from living, not dead boughs.\"\nThe recollection of England, and its generous inhabitants, has animated\nme with pleasure; yet I must for the present quit this agreeable\ncontemplation, to take precautions which remind me that I am separated\nfrom both, and in a land of despotism and misery!\n--Yours affectionately.\nThe immorality of Hebert, and the base compliances of the Convention, for\nsome months turned the churches into \"temples of reason.\"--The ambition,\nperhaps the vanity, of Robespierre, has now permitted them to be\ndedicated to the \"Supreme Being,\" and the people, under such auspices,\nare to be conducted from atheism to deism. Desirous of distinguishing\nhis presidency, and of exhibiting himself in a conspicuous and\ninteresting light, Robespierre, on the last decade, appeared as the hero\nof a ceremony which we are told is to restore morals, destroy all the\nmischiefs introduced by the abolition of religion, and finally to defeat\nthe machinations of Mr. Pitt. A gay and splendid festival has been\nexhibited at Paris, and imitated in the provinces: flags of the\nrepublican colours, branches of trees, and wreaths of flowers, were\nordered to be suspended from the houses--every countenance was to wear\nthe prescribed smile, and the whole country, forgetting the pressure of\nsorrow and famine, was to rejoice. A sort of monster was prepared,\nwhich, by some unaccountable ingenuity, at once represented Atheism and\nthe English, Cobourg and the Austrians--in short, all the enemies of the\nConvention.--This external phantom, being burned with proper form,\ndiscovered a statue, which was understood to be that of Liberty, and the\ninauguration of this divinity, with placing the busts of Chalier* and\nMarat in the temple of the Supreme Being, by way of attendant saints,\nconcluded the ceremony.--\n * Chalier had been sent from the municipality of Paris after the\n dethronement of the King, to revolutionize the people of Lyons, and\n to excite a massacre. In consequence, the first days of September\n presented the same scenes at Lyons as were presented in the capital.\n For near a year he continued to scourge this unfortunate city, by\n urging the lower classes of people to murder and pillage; till, at\n the insurrection which took place in the spring of 1793, he was\n arrested by the insurgents, tried, and sentenced to the guillotine.\n --The Convention, however, whose calendar of saints is as\n extraordinary as their criminal code, chose to beatify Chalier,\n while they executed Malesherbes; and, accordingly, decreed him a\n lodging in the Pantheon, pensioning his mistress, and set up his\n bust in their own Hall as an associate for Brutus, whom, by the way,\n one should not have expected to find in such company.\nThe good citizens of the republic, not to be behind hand with their\nrepresentatives, placed Chalier in the cathedrals, in their\npublic-houses, on fans and snuff-boxes--in short, wherever they thought\nhis appearance would proclaim their patriotism.--I can only exclaim as\nPoultier, a deputy, did, on a similar occasion--\"Francais, Francais,\nserez vous toujours Francais?\"--(Frenchmen, Frenchmen, will you never\ncease to be Frenchmen?)\n--But the mandates for such celebrations reach not the heart: flowers\nwere gathered, and flags planted, with the scrupulous exactitude of\nfear;* yet all was cold and heavy, and a discerning government must have\nread in this anxious and literal obedience the indication of terror and\nhatred.\n * I have more than once had occasion to remark the singularity of\n popular festivities solemnized on the part of the people with no\n other intention but that of exact obedience to the edicts of\n government. This is so generally understood, that Richard, a deputy\n on mission at Lyons, writes to the Convention, as a circumstance\n extraordinary, and worthy of remark, that, at the repeal of a decree\n which was to have razed their city to the ground, a rejoicing took\n place, _\"dirigee et executee par le peuple, les autorites\n constitutees n'ayant fait en quelque sorte qu'y assister,\"_--\n (directed and executed by the people, the constituted authorities\n having merely assisted at the ceremony).\n--Even the prisons were insultingly decorated with the mockery of\ncolours, which, we are told, are the emblems of freedom; and those whose\nrelations have expired on the scaffold, or who are pining in dungeons for\nhaving heard a mass, were obliged to listen with apparent admiration to a\ndiscourse on the charms of religious liberty.--The people, who, for the\nmost part, took little interest in the rest of this pantomime, and\ninsensible of the national disgrace it implied, beheld with stupid\nsatisfaction* the inscription on the temple of reason replaced by a\nlegend, signifying that, in this age of science and information, the\nFrench find it necessary to declare their acknowledgment of a God, and\ntheir belief in the immortality of the soul.\n * Much has been said of the partial ignorance of the unfortunate\n inhabitants of La Vendee, and divers republican scribblers attribute\n their attachment to religion and monarchy to that cause: yet at\n Havre, a sea-port, where, from commercial communication, I should\n suppose the people as informed and civilized as in any other part of\n France, the ears of piety and decency were assailed, during the\n celebration above-mentioned, by the acclamations of, _\"Vive le Pere\n Eternel!\"--\"Vive l'etre Supreme!\"_--(I entreat that I may not be\n suspected of levity when I translate this; in English it would be\n \"God Almighty for ever! The Supreme Being for ever!\")\n--At Avignon the public understanding seems to have been equally\nenlightened, if we may judge from the report of a Paris missionary, who\nwrites in these terms:--\"The celebration in honour of the Supreme Being\nwas performed here yesterday with all possible pomp: all our\ncountry-folks were present, and unspeakably content that there was still\na God--What a fine decree (cried they all) is this!\"\nMy last letter was a record of the most odious barbarities--to-day I am\ndescribing a festival. At one period I have to remark the destruction of\nthe saints--at another the adoration of Marat. One half of the newspaper\nis filled with a list of names of the guillotined, and the other with\nthat of places of amusement; and every thing now more than ever marks\nthat detestable association of cruelty and levity, of impiety and\nabsurdity, which has uniformly characterized the French revolution. It\nis become a crime to feel, and a mode to affect a brutality incapable of\nfeeling--the persecution of Christianity has made atheism a boast, and\nthe danger of respecting traditional virtues has hurried the weak and\ntimid into the apotheosis of the most abominable vices. Conscious that\nthey are no longer animated by enthusiasm,* the Parisians hope to imitate\nit by savage fury or ferocious mirth--their patriotism is signalized only\nby their zeal to destroy, and their attachment to their government only\nby applauding its cruelties.--If Robespierre, St. Just, Collot d'Herbois,\nand the Convention as their instruments, desolate and massacre half\nFrance, we may lament, but we can scarcely wonder at it. How should a\nset of base and needy adventurers refrain from an abuse of power more\nunlimited than that of the most despotic monarch; or how distinguish the\ngeneral abhorrence, amid addresses of adulation, which Louis the\nFourteenth would have blushed to appropriate?*\n * Louis the Fourteenth, aguerri (steeled) as he was by sixty years\n of adulation and prosperity, had yet modesty sufficient to reject a\n \"dose of incense which he thought too strong.\" (See D'Alembert's\n Apology for Clermont Tonnerre.) Republicanism, it should seem, has\n not diminished the national compliasance for men in power, thought\n it has lessened the modesty of those who exercise it.--If Louis the\n Fourteenth repressed the zeal of the academicians, the Convention\n publish, without scruple, addresses more hyperbolical than the\n praises that monarch refused.--Letters are addressed to Robespierre\n under the appellation of the Messiah, sent by the almighty for the\n reform of all things! He is the apostle of one, and the tutelar\n deity of another. He is by turns the representative of the virtues\n individually, and a compendium of them altogether: and this monster,\n whose features are the counterpart of his soul, find republican\n parasites who congratulate themselves on resembling him.\nThe bulletins of the Convention announce, that the whole republic is in a\nsort of revolutionary transport at the escape of Robespierre and his\ncolleague, Collot d'Herbois, from assassination; and that we may not\nsuppose the legislators at large deficient in sensibility, we learn also\nthat they not only shed their grateful tears on this affecting occasion,\nbut have settled a pension on the man who was instrumental in rescuing\nthe benign Collot.\nThe members of the Committee are not, however, the exclusive objects of\npublic adoration--the whole Convention are at times incensed in a style\ntruly oriental; and if this be sometimes done with more zeal than\njudgment, it does not appear to be less acceptable on that account. A\npetition from an incarcerated poet assimilates the mountain of the\nJacobins to that of Parnassus--a state-creditor importunes for a small\npayment from the Gods of Olympus--and congratulations on the abolition of\nChristianity are offered to the legislators of Mount Sinai! Every\ninstance of baseness calls forth an eulogium on their magnanimity. A\nscore of orators harangue them daily on their courage, while they are\nover-awed by despots as mean as themselves and whom they continue to\nreinstal at the stated period with clamorous approbation. They\nproscribe, devastate, burn, and massacre--and permit themselves to be\naddressed by the title of \"Fathers of their Country!\"\nAll this would be inexplicable, if we did not contemplate in the French a\nnation where every faculty is absorbed by a terror which involves a\nthousand contradictions. The rich now seek protection by becoming\nmembers of clubs,* and are happy if, after various mortifications, they\nare finally admitted by the mob who compose them; while families, that\nheretofore piqued themselves on a voluminous and illustrious genealogy,**\neagerly endeavour to prove they have no claim to either.\n * _Le diplome de Jacobin etait une espece d'amulette, dont les\n inities etaient jaloux, et qui frappoit de prestiges ceux qui ne\n l'etaient pas_--\"The Jacobin diploma was a kind of amulet, which the\n initiated were jealous of preserving, and which struck as it were\n with witchcraft, those who were not of the number.\"\n Rapport de Courtois sur les Papiers de Robespierre.\n ** Besides those who, being really noble, were anxious to procure\n certificates of sans-cullotism, many who had assumed such honours\n without pretensions now relinquished them, except indeed some few,\n whose vanity even surmounted their fears. But an express law\n included all these seceders in the general proscription; alledging,\n with a candour not usual, that those who assumed rank were, in fact,\n more criminal than such as were guilty of being born to it.\n --Places and employments, which are in most countries the objects of\n intrigue and ambition, are here refused or relinquished with such\n perfect sincerity, that a decree became requisite to oblige every\n one, under pain of durance, to preserve the station to which his ill\n stars, mistaken politics, or affectation of patriotism, had called\n him. Were it not for this law, such is the dreadful responsibility\n and danger attending offices under the government, that even low and\n ignorant people, who have got possession of them merely for support,\n would prefer their original poverty to emoluments which are\n perpetually liable to the commutation of the guillotine.--Some\n members of a neighbouring district told me to-day, when I asked them\n if they came to release any of our fellow-prisoners, that so far\n from it, they had not only brought more, but were not certain twelve\n hours together of not being brought themselves.\nThe visionary equality of metaphysical impostors is become a substantial\none--not constituted by abundance and freedom, but by want and\noppression. The disparities of nature are not repaired, but its whole\nsurface is levelled by a storm. The rich are become poor, but the poor\nstill remain so; and both are conducted indiscriminately to the scaffold.\nThe prisons of the former government were \"petty to the ends\" of this.\nConvents, colleges, palaces, and every building which could any how be\nadapted to such a purpose, have been filled with people deemed\nsuspicious;* and a plan of destruction seems resolved on, more certain\nand more execrable than even the general massacre of September 1792.\n * Now multiplied to more than four hundred thousand!--The prisons of\n Paris and the environs were supposed to contain twenty-seven\n thousand. The public papers stated but about seven thousand,\n because they included the official returns of Paris only.\n--Agents of the police are, under some pretended accusation, sent to the\ndifferent prisons; and, from lists previously furnished them, make daily\ninformation of plots and conspiracies, which they alledge to be carrying\non by the persons confined. This charge and this evidence suffice: the\nprisoners are sent to the tribunal, their names read over, and they are\nconveyed by cart's-full to the republican butchery. Many whom I have\nknown, and been in habits of intimacy with, have perished in this manner;\nand the expectation of Le Bon,* with our numbers which make us of too\nmuch consequence to be forgotten, all contribute to depress and alarm me.\n * Le Bon had at this period sent for lists of the prisoners in the\n department of the Somme--which lists are said to have been since\n found, and many of the names in them marked for destruction.\n--Even the levity of the French character yields to this terrible\ndespotism, and nothing is observed but weariness, silence, and sorrow:--\n_\"O triste loisir, poids affreux du tems.\"_ [St. Lambert.] The season\nreturns with the year, but not to us--the sun shines, but to add to our\nmiseries that of insupportable heat--and the vicissitudes of nature only\nawaken our regret that we cannot enjoy them--\n \"Now gentle gales o'er all the vallies play,\n \"Breathe on each flow'r, and bear their sweets away.\"\nYet what are fresh air and green fields to us, who are immured amidst a\nthousand ill scents, and have no prospect but filth and stone walls? It\nis difficult to describe how much the mind is depressed by this state of\npassive suffering. In common evils, the necessity of action half\nrelieves them, as a vessel may reach her port by the agitation of a\nstorm; but this stagnant listless existence is terrible.\nThose most to be envied here are the victims of their religious opinions.\nThe nuns, who are more distressed than any of us,* employ themselves\npatiently, and seem to look beyond this world; whilst the once gay deist\nwanders about with a volume of philosophy in his hand, unable to endure\nthe present, and dreading still more the future.\n * These poor women, deprived of the little which the rapacity of the\n Convention had left them, by it subordinate agents, were in want of\n every thing; and though in most prisons they were employed for the\n republican armies, they could scarcely procure more than bread and\n water. Yet this was not all: they were objects of the meanest and\n most cruel persecution.--I knew one who was put in a dungeon, up to\n her waist in putrid water, for twelve hours altogether, without\n losing her resolution or serenity.\nI have already written you a long letter, and bid you adieu with the\nreluctance which precedes an uncertain separation. Uneasiness, ill\nhealth, and confinement, besides the danger I am exposed to, render my\nlife at present more precarious than \"the ordinary of nature's tenures.\"\n--God knows when I may address you again!--My friend Mad. de ____ is\nreturned from the hospital, and I yield to her fears by ceasing to write,\nthough I am nevertheless determined not to part with what I have hitherto\npreserved; being convinced, that if evil be intended us, it will be as\nsoon without a pretext as with one.--Adieu.\nProvidence, Aug. 11, 1794.\nI have for some days contemplated the fall of Robespierre and his\nadherents, only as one of those dispensations of Providence, which were\ngradually to pursue all who had engaged in the French revolution. The\nlate change of parties has, however, taken a turn I did not expect; and,\ncontrary to what has hitherto occurred, there is a manifest disposition\nin the people to avail themselves of the weakness which is necessarily\noccasioned by the contentions of their governors.\nWhen the news of this extraordinary event first became public, it was\never where received with great gravity--I might say, coldness.--Not a\ncomment was uttered, nor a glance of approbation seen. Things might be\nyet in equilibrium, and popular commotions are always uncertain.\nPrudence was, therefore, deemed, indispensable; and, until the contest\nwas finally decided, no one ventured to give an opinion; and many, to be\ncertain of guarding against verbal indiscretion, abstained from all\nintercourse whatever.\nBy degrees, the execution of Robespierre and above an hundred of his\npartizans, convinced even the most timid; the murmurs of suppressed\ndiscontent began to be heard; and all thought they might now with safety\nrelieve their fears and their sufferings, by execrating the memory of the\ndeparted tyrants. The prisons, which had hitherto been avoided as\nendangering all who approached them, were soon visited with less\napprehension; and friendship or affection, no longer exanimate by terror,\nsolicited, though still with trepidation, the release of those for whom\nthey were interested. Some of our associates have already left us in\nconsequence of such intercessions, and we all hope that the tide of\nopinion, now avowedly inimical to the detestable system to which we are\nvictims, will enforce a general liberation.--We are guarded but slightly;\nand I think I perceive in the behaviour of the Jacobin Commissaries\nsomething of civility and respect not usual.\nThus an event, which I beheld merely as the justice which one set of\nbanditti were made the instruments of exercising upon another, may\nfinally tend to introduce a more humane system of government; or, at\nleast, suspend proscription and massacre, and give this harassed country\na little repose.\nI am in arrears with my epistolary chronicle, and the hope of so\ndesirable a change will now give me courage to resume it from the\nconclusion of my last. To-morrow shall be dedicated to this purpose.--\nYours.\nAugust 12.\nMy letters, previous to the time when I judged it necessary to desist\nfrom writing, will have given you some faint sketch of the situation of\nthe country, and the sufferings of its inhabitants--I say a faint sketch,\nbecause a thousand horrors and iniquities, which are now daily\ndisclosing, were then confined to the scenes where they were perpetrated;\nand we knew little more of them than what we collected from the reports\nof the Convention, where they excited a laugh as pleasantries, or\napplause as acts of patriotism.\nFrance had become one vast prison, executions were daily multiplied, and\na minute and comprehensive oppression seemed to have placed the lives,\nliberty, and fortune of all within the grasp of the single Committee.\nDespair itself was subdued, and the people were gradually sinking into a\ngloomy and stupid obedience.\n * The words despotism and tyranny are sufficiently expressive of the\n nature of the government to which they are applied; yet still they\n are words rendered familiar to us only by history, and convey no\n precise idea, except that of a bad political system. The condition\n of the French at this time, besides its wretchedness, had something\n so strange, so original in it, that even those who beheld it with\n attention must be content to wonder, without pretending to offer any\n description as adequate.\n--The following extract from a speech of Bailleul, a member of the\nConvention, exhibits a picture nearer the original than I have yet seen--\n _\"La terreur dominait tous les esprits, comprimait tous les couers--\n elle etait la force du gouvernement, et ce gouvernement etait tel,\n que les nombreux habitans d'un vaste territoire semblaient avoir\n perdu les qualites qui distinguent l'homme de l'animal domestique:\n ils semblaient meme n'avoir de vie que ce que le gouvernement\n voulait bien leur en accorder.--Le moi humain n'existoit plus;\n chaque individu n'etait qu'une machine, allant, venant, pensant ou\n ne pensant pas, felon que la tyrannie le pressait ou l'animait.\"_\n Discours de Bailleul, 19 March 1795.\n \"The minds of all were subdued by terror, and every heart was\n compressed beneath its influence.--In this consisted the strength of\n the government; and that government was such, that the immense\n population of a vast territory, seemed to have lost all the\n qualities which distinguish man from the animals attached to him.--\n They appeared to exhibit no signs of life but such as their rulers\n condescended to permit--the very sense of existence seemed doubtful\n or extinct, and each individual was reduced to a mere machine, going\n or coming, thinking or not thinking, according as the impulse of\n tyranny gave him force or animation.\"\nOn the twenty-second of Prairial, (June 10,) a law, consisting of a\nvariety of articles for the regulation of the Revolutionary Tribunal, was\nintroduced to the convention by Couthon, a member of the government; and,\nas usual adopted with very little previous discussion.--Though there was\nno clause of this act but ought to have given the alarm to humanity,\n\"knocked at the heart, and bid it not be quiet;\" yet the whole appeared\nperfectly unexceptionable to the Assembly in general: till, on farther\nexamination, they found it contained an implied repeal of the law\nhitherto observed, according to which, no representative could be\narrested without a preliminary decree for that purpose.--This discovery\nawakened their suspicions, and the next day Bourdon de l'Oise, a man of\nunsteady principles, (even as a revolutionist,) was spirited up to demand\nan explicit renunciation of any power in the Committee to attack the\nlegislative inviolability except in the accustomed forms.--The clauses\nwhich elected a jury of murderers, that bereft all but guilt of hope, and\noffered no prospect to innocence but death, were passed with no other\ncomment than the usual one of applause.*--\n * The baseness, cruelty, and cowardice of the Convention are neither\n to be denied, nor palliated. For several months they not only\n passed decrees of proscription and murder which might reach every\n individual in France except themselves, but they even sacrificed\n numbers of their own body; and if, instead of proposing an article\n affecting the whole Convention, the Committee had demanded the heads\n of as many Deputies as they had occasion for by name, I am persuaded\n they would have met no resistance.--This single example of\n opposition only renders the convention still more an object of\n abhorrence, because it marks that they could subdue their\n pusillanimity when their own safety was menaced, and that their\n previous acquiescence was voluntary.\n--This, and this only, by involving their personal safety, excited their\ncourage through their fears.--Merlin de Douay, originally a worthless\ncharacter, and become yet more so by way of obviating the imputation of\nbribery from the court, seconded Bourdon's motion, and the obnoxious\narticle was repealed instantaneously.\nThis first and only instance of opposition was highly displeasing to the\nCommittee, and, on the twenty-fourth, Robespierre, Barrere, Couthon, and\nBillaud, animadverted with such severity on the promoters of it, that the\nterrified Bourdon* declared, the repeal he had solicited was unnecessary,\nand that he believed the Committee were destined to be the saviours of\nthe country; while Merlin de Douay disclaimed all share in the business--\nand, in fine, it was determined, that the law of the twenty-second of\nPrairial should remain as first presented to the Convention, and that the\nqualification of the succeeding day was void.\n * It was on this occasion that the \"intrepid\" Bourdon kept his bed a\n whole month with fear.\nSo dangerous an infringement on the privileges of the representative\nbody, dwelt on minds insensible to every other consideration; the\nprincipal members caballed secretly on the perils by which they were\nsurrounded; and the sullen concord which now marked their deliberations,\nwas beheld by the Committee rather as the prelude to revolt, than the\nindication of continued obedience. In the mean while it was openly\nproposed to concentrate still more the functions of government. The\ncirculation of newspapers was insinuated to be useless; and Robespierre\ngave some hints of suppressing all but one, which should be under\nparticular and official controul.*\n * This intended restriction was unnecessary; for the newspapers were\n all, not indeed paid by government, but so much subject to the\n censure of the guillotine, that they had become, under an \"unlimited\n freedom of the press,\" more cautious and insipid than the gazettes\n of the proscribed court. Poor Duplain, editor of the \"Petit\n Courier,\" and subsequently of the \"Echo,\" whom I remember one of the\n first partizans of the revolution, narrowly escaped the massacre of\n August 1792, and was afterwards guillotined for publishing the\n surrender of Landrecy three days before it was announced officially.\nA rumour prevailed, that the refractory members who had excited the late\nrebellion were to be sacrificed, a general purification of the Assembly\nto take place, and that the committee and a few select adherents were to\nbe invested with the whole national authority. Lists of proscription\nwere said to be made; and one of them was secretly communicated as having\nbeen found among the papers of a juryman of the Revolutionary Tribunal\nlately arrested.--These apprehensions left the members implicated no\nalternative but to anticipate hostilities, or fall a sacrifice; for they\nknew the instant of attack would be that of destruction, and that the\npeople were too indifferent to take any part in the contest.\nThings were in this state, when two circumstances of a very different\nnature assisted in promoting the final explosion, which so much\nastonished, not only the rest of Europe, but France itself.\nIt is rare that a number of men, however well meaning, perfectly agree in\nthe exercise of power; and the combinations of the selfish and wicked\nmust be peculiarly subject to discord and dissolution. The Committee of\nPublic Welfare, while it enslaved the convention and the people, was torn\nby feuds, and undermined by the jealousies of its members. Robespierre,\nCouthon, and St. Just, were opposed by Collot and Billaud Varennes; while\nBarrere endeavoured to deceive both parties; and Carnot, Lindet, the two\nPrieurs, and St. Andre, laboured in the cause of the common tyranny, in\nthe hope of still dividing it with the conquerors.\nFor some months this enmity was restrained, by the necessity of\npreserving appearances, and conciliated, by a general agreement in the\nprinciples of administration, till Robespierre, relying on his superior\npopularity, began to take an ascendant, which alarmed such of his\ncolleagues as were not his partisans, both for their power and their\nsafety. Animosities daily increased, and their debates at length became\nso violent and noisy, that it was found necessary to remove the business\nof the Committee to an upper room, lest people passing under the windows\nshould overhear these scandalous scenes. Every means were taken to keep\nthese disputes a profound secret--the revilings which accompanied their\nprivate conferences were turned into smooth panegyrics of each other when\nthey ascended the tribune, and their unanimity was a favourite theme in\nall their reports to the Convention.*\n * So late as on the seventh of Thermidor, (25th July,) Barrere made\n a pompous eulogium on the virtues of Robespierre; and, in a long\n account of the state of the country, he acknowledges \"some little\n clouds hang over the political horizon, but they will soon be\n dispersed, by the union which subsists in the Committees;--above\n all, by a more speedy trial and execution of revolutionary\n criminals.\" It is difficult to imagine what new means of dispatch\n this airy barbarian had contrived, for in the six weeks preceding\n this harangue, twelve hundred and fifty had been guillotined in\n Paris only.\nThe impatience of Robespierre to be released from associates whose views\ntoo much resembled his own to leave him an undivided authority, at length\novercame his prudence; and, after absenting himself for six weeks from\nthe Committee, on the 8th of Thermidor, (26th July,) he threw off the\nmask, and in a speech full of mystery and implications, but containing no\ndirect charges, proclaimed the divisions which existed in the\ngovernment.--On the same evening he repeated this harangue at the\nJacobins, while St. Just, by his orders, menaced the obnoxious part of\nthe Committee with a formal denunciation to the Convention.--From this\nmoment Billaud Varennes and Collot d'Herbois concluded their destruction\nto be certain. In vain they soothed, expostulated with, and endeavoured\nto mollify St. Just, so as to avert an open rupture. The latter, who\nprobably knew it was not Robespierre's intention to accede to any\narrangement, left them to make his report.\nOn the morning of the ninth the Convention met, and with internal dread\nand affected composure proceeded to their ordinary business.--St. Just\nthen ascended the tribune, and the curiosity or indecision of the greater\nnumber permitted him to expatiate at large on the intrigues and guilt of\nevery kind which he imputed to a \"part\" of the Committee.--At the\nconclusion of this speech, Tallien, one of the devoted members, and\nBillaud Varennes, the leader of the rival party, opened the trenches, by\nsome severe remarks on the oration of St. Just, and the conduct of those\nwith whom he was leagued. This attack encouraged others: the whole\nConvention joined in accusing Robespierre of tyranny; and Barrere, who\nperceived the business now deciding, ranged himself on the side of the\nstrongest, though the remaining members of the Committee still appeared\nto preserve their neutrality. Robespierre was, for the first time,\nrefused a hearing, yet, the influence he so lately possessed still seemed\nto protect him. The Assembly launched decrees against various of his\nsubordinate agents, without daring to proceed against himself; and had\nnot the indignant fury with which he was seized, at the desertion of\nthose by whom he had been most flattered, urged him to call for arrest\nand death, it is probable the whole would have ended in the punishment of\nhis enemies, and a greater accession of power to himself.\nBut at this crisis all Robespierre's circumspection abandoned him.\nHaving provoked the decree for arresting his person, instead of\nsubmitting to it until his party should be able to rally, he resisted;\nand by so doing gave the Convention a pretext for putting him out of the\nlaw; or, in other words, to destroy him, without the delay or hazard of a\nprevious trial.\nHaving been rescued from the Gens d'Armes, and taken in triumph to the\nmunicipality, the news spread, the Jacobins assembled, and Henriot, the\ncommander of the National Guard, (who had likewise been arrested, and\nagain set at liberty by force,) all prepared to act in his defence. But\nwhile they should have secured the Convention, they employed themselves\nat the Hotel de Ville in passing frivolous resolutions; and Henriot, with\nall the cannoneers decidedly in his favour, exhibited an useless\ndefiance, by stalking before the windows of the Committee of General\nSafety, when he should have been engaged in arresting its members.\nAll these imprudences gave the Convention time to proclaim that\nRobespierre, the municipality, and their adherents, were decreed out of\nthe protection of the laws, and in circumstances of this nature such a\nstep has usually been decisive--for however odious a government, if it\ndoes but seem to act on a presumption of its own strength, it has always\nan advantage over its enemies; and the timid, the doubtful, or\nindifferent, for the most part, determine in favour of whatever wears the\nappearance of established authority. The people, indeed, remained\nperfectly neuter; but the Jacobins, the Committees of the Sections, and\ntheir dependents, might have composed a force more than sufficient to\noppose the few guards which surrounded the National Palace, had not the\npublication of this summary outlawry at once paralyzed all their hopes\nand efforts.--They had seen multitudes hurried to the Guillotine, because\nthey were \"hors de la loi;\" and this impression now operated so forcibly,\nthat the cannoneers, the national guard, and those who before were most\ndevoted to the cause, laid down their arms, and precipitately abandoned\ntheir chiefs to the fate which awaited them. Robespierre was taken at\nthe Hotel de Ville, after being severely wounded in the face; his brother\nbroke his thigh, in attempting to escape from a window; Henriot was\ndragged from concealment, deprived of an eye; and Couthon, whom nature\nhad before rendered a cripple, now exhibited a most hideous spectacle,\nfrom an ineffectual effort to shoot himself.--Their wounds were dressed\nto prolong their suffering, and their sentence being contained in the\ndecree that outlawed them, their persons were identified by the same\ntribunal which had been the instrument of their crimes.\n--On the night of the tenth they were conveyed to the scaffold, amidst\nthe insults and execrations of a mob, which a few hours before beheld\nthem with trembling and adoration.--Lebas, also a member of the\nconvention, and a principal agent of Robespierre, fell by his own hand;\nand Couthon, St. Just, and seventeen others, suffered with the two\nRobespierres.--The municipality of Paris, &c. to the number of\nseventy-two, were guillotined the succeeding day, and about twelve\nmore the day after.\nThe fate of these men may be ranked as one of the most dreadful of those\nexamples which history vainly transmits to discourage the pursuits of\nambition. The tyrant who perishes amidst the imposing fallaciousness of\nmilitary glory, mingles admiration with abhorrence, and rescues his\nmemory from contempt, if not from hatred. Even he who expiates his\ncrimes on the scaffold, if he die with fortitude, becomes the object of\ninvoluntary compassion, and the award of justice is not often rendered\nmore terrible by popular outrage. But the fall of Robespierre and his\naccomplices was accompanied by every circumstance that could add\npoignancy to suffering, or dread to death. The ambitious spirit which\nhad impelled them to tyrannize over a submissive and defenceless people,\nabandoned them in their last moments. Depressed by anguish, exhausted by\nfatigue, and without courage, religion, or virtue, to support them, they\nwere dragged through the savage multitude, wounded and helpless, to\nreceive that stroke, from which even the pious and the brave sometimes\nshrink with dismay.\nRobespierre possessed neither the talents nor merits of Nicolas Riezi;\nbut they are both conspicuous instances of the mutability of popular\nsupport, and there is a striking similitude in the last events of their\nhistory. They both degraded their ambition by cowardice--they were both\ndeserted by the populace, whom they began by flattering, and ended by\noppressing; and the death of both was painful and ignominious--borne\nwithout dignity, and embittered by reproach and insult.*\n * Robespierre lay for some hours in one of the committee-rooms,\n writhing with the pain of his wound, and abandoned to despair; while\n many of his colleagues, perhaps those who had been the particular\n agents and applauders of his crimes, passed and repassed him,\n glorying and jesting at his sufferings. The reader may compare the\n death of Robespierre with that of Rienzi; but if the people of Rome\n revenged the tyranny of the Tribune, they were neither so mean nor\n so ferocious as the Parisians.\nYou will perceive by this summary that the overthrow of Robespierre was\nchiefly occasioned by the rivalship of his colleagues in the Committee,\nassisted by the fears of the Convention at large for themselves.--Another\ncircumstance, at which I have already hinted, as having some share in\nthis event, shall be the subject of my next letter.\nProvidence, Aug. 13, 1794.\n_Amour, tu perdis Troye_ [Love! thou occasionedst the destruction of\nTroy.]:--yet, among the various mischiefs ascribed to the influence of\nthis capricious Sovereign, amidst the wrecks of sieges, and the slaughter\nof battles, perhaps we may not unjustly record in his praise, that he was\ninstrumental to the solace of humanity, by contributing to the overthrow\nof Robespierre. It is at least pleasing to turn from the general horrors\nof the revolution, and suppose, for a moment, that the social affections\nwere not yet entirely banished, and that gallantry still retained some\nempire, when every other vestige of civilization was almost annihilated.\nAfter such an exordium, I feel a little ashamed of my hero, and could\nwish, for the credit of my tale, it were not more necessary to invoke the\nhistoric muse of Fielding, than that of Homer or Tasso; but imperious\nTruth obliges me to confess, that Tallien, who is to be the subject of\nthis letter, was first introduced to celebrity by circumstances not\nfavourable for the comment of my poetical text.\nAt the beginning of the revolution he was known only as an eminent orator\nen plain vent; that is, as a preacher of sedition to the mob, whom he\nused to harangue with great applause at the Palais Royal. Having no\nprofession or means of subsistence, he, as Dr. Johnson observes of one of\nour poets, necessarily became an author. He was, however, no farther\nentitled to this appellation, than as a periodical scribbler in the cause\nof insurrection; but in this he was so successful, that it recommended\nhim to the care of Petion and the municipality, to whom his talents and\nprinciples were so acceptable, that they made him Secretary to the\nCommittee.\nOn the second and third of September 1792, he superintended the massacre\nof the prisons, and is alledged to have paid the assassins according to\nthe number of victims they dispatched with great regularity; and he\nhimself seems to have little to say in his defence, except that he acted\nofficially. Yet even the imputation of such a claim could not be\noverlooked by the citizens of Paris; and at the election of the\nConvention he was distinguished by being chosen one of their\nrepresentatives.\nIt is needless to describe his political career in the Assembly otherwise\nthan by adding, that when the revolutionary furor was at its acme, he was\ndeemed by the Committee of Public Welfare worthy of an important mission\nin the South. The people of Bourdeaux were, accordingly, for some time\nharassed by the usual effects of these visitations--imprisonments and the\nGuillotine; and Tallien, though eclipsed by Maignet and Carrier, was by\nno means deficient in the patriotic energies of the day.\nI think I must before have mentioned to you a Madame de Fontenay, the\nwife of an emigrant, whom I occasionally saw at Mad. de C____'s. I then\nremarked her for the uncommon attraction of her features, and the\nelegance of her person; but was so much disgusted at a tendency to\nrepublicanism I observed in her, and which, in a young woman, I thought\nunbecoming, that I did not promote the acquaintance, and our different\npursuits soon separated us entirely. Since this period I have learned,\nthat her conduct became exceedingly imprudent, or at least suspicious,\nand that at the general persecution, finding her republicanism would not\nprotect her, she fled to Bourdeaux, with the hope of being able to\nproceed to Spain. Here, however, being a Spaniard by birth, and the wife\nof an emigrant, she was arrested and thrown into prison, where she\nremained till the arrival of Tallien on his mission.\nThe miscellaneous occupations of a deputy-errant, naturally include an\nintroduction to the female prisoners; and Tallien's presence afforded\nMad. de Fontenay an occasion of pleading her cause with all the success\nwhich such a pleader might, in other times, be supposed to obtain from a\njudge of Tallien's age. The effect of the scenes Tallien had been an\nactor in, was counteracted by youth, and his heart was not yet\nindifferent to the charms of beauty--Mad. de Fontenay was released by the\ncaptivation of her liberator, and a reciprocal attachment ensued.\nWe must not, however, conclude, all this merely a business of romance.\nMad. de Fontenay was rich, and had connexions in Spain, which might\nhereafter procure an asylum, when a regicide may with difficulty find\none: and on the part of the lady, though Tallien's person is agreeable, a\ndesire of protecting herself and her fortune might be allowed to have\nsome influence.\nFrom this time the revolutionist is said to have given way: Bourdeaux\nbecame the Capua of Tallien; and its inhabitants were, perhaps, indebted\nfor a more moderate exercise of his power, to the smiles of Mad. de\nFontenay.--From hanging loose on society, he had now the prospect of\nmarrying a wife with a large fortune; and Tallien very wisely considered,\nthat having something at stake, a sort of comparative reputation among\nthe higher class of people at Bourdeaux, might be of more importance to\nhim in future, than all the applause the Convention could bestow on a\nliberal use of the Guillotine.--The relaxed system which was the\nconsequence of such policy, soon reached the Committee of Public Welfare,\nto whom it was highly displeasing, and Tallien was recalled.\nA youth of the name of Julien, particularly in the confidence of\nRobespierre, was then sent to Bourdeaux, not officially as his successor,\nbut as a spy, to collect information concerning him, as well as to watch\nthe operations of other missionaries, and prevent their imitating\nTallien's schemes of personal advantage, at the expence of scandalizing\nthe republic by an appearance of lenity.--The disastrous state of Lyons,\nthe persecutions of Carrier, the conflagrations of Maignet, and the\ncrimes of various other Deputies, had obliterated the minor\nrevolutionisms of Tallien:* The citizens of Bourdeaux spoke of him\nwithout horror, which in these times was equal to eulogium; and Julien\ntransmitted such accounts of his conduct to Robespierre,** as were\nequally alarming to the jealousy of his spirit, and repugnant to the\ncruelty of his principles.\n * It was Tallien's boast to have guillotined only aristocrats, and\n of this part of his merit I am willing to leave him in possession.\n At Toulon he was charged with the punishment of those who had given\n up the town to the English; but finding, as he alledged, nearly all\n the inhabitants involved, he selected about two hundred of the\n richest, and that the horrid business might wear an appearance of\n regularity, the patriots, that is, the most notorious Jacobins, were\n ordered to give their opinion on the guilt of these victims, who\n were brought out into an open field for that purpose. With such\n judges the sentence was soon passed, and a fusillade took place on\n the spot.--It was on this occasion that Tallien made particular\n boast of his humanity; and in the same publication where he relates\n the circumstance, he exposes the \"atrocious conduct\" of the English\n at the surrender of Toulon. The cruelty of these barbarians not\n being sufficiently gratified by dispatching the patriots the\n shortest way, they hung up many of them by their chins on hooks at\n the shambles, and left them to die at their leisure.--See\n \"Mitraillades, Fusillades,\" a recriminating pamphlet, addressed by\n Tallien to Collot d'Herbois.--The title alludes to Collot's exploits\n at Lyons.\n ** It is not out of the usual course of things that Tallien's\n moderation at Bourdeaux might have been profitable; and the wife or\n mistress of a Deputy was, on such occasions, a useful medium,\n through which the grateful offerings of a rich and favoured\n aristocrat might be conveyed, without committing the legislative\n reputation.--The following passage from Julien's correspondence with\n Robespierre seems to allude to some little arrangements of this\n nature:\n \"I think it my duty to transmit you an extract from a letter of\n Tallien's, [Which had been intercepted.] to the National Club.--It\n coincides with the departure of La Fontenay, whom the Committee of\n General Safety have doubtless had arrested. I find some very\n curious political details regarding her; and Bourdeaux seems to have\n been, until this moment, a labyrinth of intrigue and peculation.\"\nIt appears from Robespierre's papers, that not only Tallien, but\nLegendre, Bourdon de l'Oise, Thuriot, and others, were incessantly\nwatched by the spies of the Committee. The profession must have improved\nwonderfully under the auspices of the republic, for I doubt if _Mons. le\nNoir's Mouchards_ [The spies of the old police, so called in derision.--\nBrissot, in this act of accusation, is described as having been an agent\nof the Police under the monarchy.--I cannot decide on the certainty of\nthis, or whether his occupation was immediately that of a spy, but I have\nrespectable authority for saying, that antecedent to the revolution, his\ncharacter was very slightly estimated, and himself considered as \"hanging\nloose on society.\"] were as able as Robespierre's.--The reader may judge\nfrom the following specimens:\n \"The 6th instant, the deputy Thuriot, on quitting the Convention,\n went to No. 35, Rue Jaques, section of the Pantheon, to the house of\n a pocket-book maker, where he staid talking with a female about ten\n minutes. He then went to No. 1220, Rue Fosse St. Bernard, section\n of the Sans-Culottes, and dined there at a quarter past two. At a\n quarter past seven he left the last place, and meeting a citizen on\n the Quay de l'Ecole, section of the Museum, near le Cafe Manoury,\n they went in there together, and drank a bottle of beer. From\n thence he proceeded to la Maison Memblee de la Providence, No. 16,\n Rue d'Orleans Honore, section de la Halle au Bled, whence, after\n staying about five-and-twenty minutes, he came out with a citoyenne,\n who had on a puce Levite, a great bordered shawl of Japan cotton,\n and on her head a white handkerchief, made to look like a cap. They\n went together to No. 163, Place Egalite, where after stopping an\n instant, they took a turn in the galleries, and then returned to\n sup.--They went in at half past nine, and were still there at eleven\n o'clock, when we came away, not being certain if they would come out\n again.\n \"Bourdon de l'Oise, on entering the Assembly, shook hands with four\n or five Deputies. He was observed to gape while good news was\n announcing.\"\nTallien was already popular among the Jacobins of Paris; and his\nconnexion with a beautiful woman, who might enable him to keep a domestic\nestablishment, and to display any wealth he had acquired, without\nendangering his reputation, was a circumstance not to be overlooked; for\nRobespierre well knew the efficacy of female intrigue, and dinners,* in\ngaining partizans among the subordinate members of the Convention.\n * Whoever reads attentively, and in detail, the debates of the\n Convention, will observe the influence and envy created by a\n superior style of living in any particular member. His dress, his\n lodging, or dinners, are a perpetual subject of malignant reproach.\n --This is not to be wondered at, when we consider the description of\n men the Convention is composed of;--men who, never having been\n accustomed to the elegancies of life, behold with a grudging eye the\n gay apparel or luxurious table of a colleague, who arrived at Paris\n with no other treasure but his patriotism, and has no ostensible\n means beyond his eighteen livres a day, now increased to thirty-six.\nMad. de Fontenay, was, therefore, on her arrival at Paris, whither she\nhad followed Tallien, (probably in order to procure a divorce and marry\nhim,) arrested, and conveyed to prison.\nAn injury of this kind was not to be forgiven; and Robespierre seems to\nhave acted on the presumption that it could not. He beset Tallien with\nspies, menaced him in the Convention, and made Mad. de Fontenay an offer\nof liberty, if she would produce a substantial charge against him, which\nhe imagined her knowledge of his conduct at Bourdeaux might furnish her\ngrounds for doing. A refusal must doubtless have irritated the tyrant;\nand Tallien had every reason to fear she would soon be included in one of\nthe lists of victims who were daily sacrificed as conspirators in the\nprisons. He was himself in continual expectation of being arrested; and\nit was generally believed Robespierre would soon openly accuse him.--Thus\nsituated, he eagerly embraced the opportunity which the schism in the\nCommittee presented of attacking his adversary, and we certainly must\nallow him the merit of being the first who dared to move for the arrest\nof Robespierre.--I need not add, that la belle was one of the first whose\nprison doors were opened; and I understand that, being divorced from\nMons. de Fontenay, she is either married, or on the point of being so, to\nTallien.\nThis conclusion spoils my story as a moral one; and had I been the\ndisposer of events, the Septembriser, the regicide, and the cold assassin\nof the Toulonais, should have found other rewards than affluence, and a\nwife who might represent one of Mahomet's Houris. Yet, surely, \"the time\nwill come, though it come ne'er so slowly,\" when Heaven shall separate\nguilt from prosperity, and when Tallien and his accomplices shall be\nremembered only as monuments of eternal justice. For the lady, her\nfaults are amply punished in the disgrace of such an alliance--\n \"A cut-purse of the empire and the rule;\n \"____ a King of shreds and patches.\"\nProvidence, Aug. 14, 1794.\nThe thirty members whom Robespierre intended to sacrifice, might perhaps\nhave formed some design of resisting, but it appears evident that the\nConvention in general acted without plan, union, or confidence.*--\n * The base and selfish timidity of the Convention is strongly\n evinced by their suffering fifty innocent people to be guillotined\n on the very ninth of Thermidor, for a pretended conspiracy in the\n prison of St. Lazare.--A single word from any member might at this\n crisis have suspended the execution of the sentence, but that word\n no one had the courage or the humanity to utter.\n--Tallien and Billaud were rendered desperate by their situation, and it\nis likely that, when they ventured to attack Robespierre, they did not\nthemselves expect to be successful--it was the consternation of the\nlatter which encouraged them to persist, and the Assembly to support\nthem:\n \"There is a tide in the affairs of men,\n \"Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.\"\nAnd to have been lucky enough to seize on this crisis, is, doubtless, the\nwhole merit of the convention. There has, it is true, been many\nallusions to the dagger of Brutus, and several Deputies are said to have\nconceived very heroic projects for the destruction of the tyrant; but as\nhe was dead before these projects were brought to light, we cannot justly\nascribe any effect to them.\nThe remains of the Brissotin faction, still at liberty, from whom some\nexertions might have been expected, were cautiously inactive; and those\nwho had been most in the habit of appreciating themselves for their\nvalour, were now conspicuous only for that discretion which Falstaff\ncalls the better part of it.--Dubois Crance, who had been at the expence\nof buying a Spanish poniard at St. Malo, for the purpose of assassinating\nRobespierre, seems to have been calmed by the journey, and to have\nfinally recovered his temper, before he reached the Convention.--Merlin\nde Thionville, Merlin de Douay, and others of equal note, were among the\n\"passive valiant;\" and Bourdon de l'Oise had already experienced such\ndisastrous effects from inconsiderate exhibitions of courage, that he now\nrestrained his ardour till the victory should be determined. Even\nLegendre, who is occasionally the Brutus, the Curtius, and all the\npatriots whose names he has been able to learn, confined his prowess to\nan assault on the club-room of the Jacobins, when it was empty, and\ncarrying off the key, which no one disputed with him, so that he can at\nmost claim an ovation. It is, in short, remarkable, that all the members\nwho at present affect to be most vehement against Robespierre's\nprinciples, [And where was the all-politic Sieyes?--At home, writing his\nown eulogium.] were the least active in attacking his person; and it is\nindisputable, that to Tallien, Billaud, Louchet, Elie Lacoste, Collot\nd'Herbois, and a few of the more violent Jacobins, were due those first\nefforts which determined his fall.--Had Robespierre, instead of a\nquerelous harangue, addressed the convention in his usual tone of\nauthority, and ended by moving for a decree against a few only of those\nobnoxious to him, the rest might have been glad to compound for their own\nsafety, by abandoning a cause no longer personal: but his impolicy, not\nhis wickedness, hastened his fate; and it is so far fortunate for France,\nthat it has at least suspended the system of government which is ascribed\nto him.\nThe first days of victory were passed in receiving congratulations, and\ntaking precautions; and though men do not often adapt their claims to\ntheir merits, yet the members of the Convention seemed in general to be\nconscious that none amongst them had very decided pretensions to the\nspoils of the vanquished.--Of twelve, which originally composed the\nCommittee of Public Welfare, seven only remained; yet no one ventured to\nsuggest a completion of the number, till Barrere, after previously\ninsinuating how adequate he and his colleagues were to the task of\n\"saving the country,\" proposed, in his flippant way, and merely as a\nmatter of form, that certain persons whom he recommended, should fill up\nthe vacancies in the government.\nThis modest Carmagnole* was received with great coolness; the late\nimplicit acquiescence was changed to demur, and an adjournment\nunanimously called for.\n * A ludicrous appellation, which Barrere used to give to his reports\n in the presence of those who were in the secret of his Charlatanry.\n The air of \"La Carmagnole\" was originally composed when the town of\n that name was taken by Prince Eugene, and was adapted to the\n indecent words now sung by the French after the 10th of August 1792.\n--Such unusual temerity susprised and alarmed the remains of the\nCommittee, and Billaud Varennes sternly reminded the Convention of the\nabject state they were so lately released from. This produced retort and\nreplication, and the partners of Robespierre's enormities, who had hoped\nto be the tranquil inheritors of his power, found, that in destroying a\nrival, they had raised themselves masters.\nThe Assembly persisted in not adopting the members offered to be imposed\nupon them; but, as it was easier to reject than to choose, the Committee\nwere ordered to present a new plan for this part of the executive branch,\nand the election of those to be entrusted with it was postponed for\nfarther consideration.\nHaving now felt their strength, they next proceeded to renew a part of\nthe committee of General Safety, several of its members being inculpated\nas partizans of Robespierre, and though this Committee had become\nentirely subordinate to that of Public Welfare, yet its functions were\ntoo important for it to be neglected, more especially as they comprised a\nvery favourite branch of the republican government, that of issuing writs\nof arrest at pleasure.--The law of the twenty-second of Prairial is also\nrepealed, but the Revolutionary Tribunal is preserved, and the necessity\nof suspending the old jury, as being the creatures of Robespierre, has\nnot prevented the tender solicitude of the Convention for a renovated\nactivity in the establishment itself.\nThis assumption of power has become every day more confirmed, and the\naddresses which are received by the Assembly, though yet in a strain of\ngross adulation,* express such an abhorrence of the late system, as must\nsuffice to convince them the people are not disposed to see such a system\ncontinued.\n * A collection of addresses, presented to the Convention at various\n periods, might form a curious history of the progress of despotism.\n These effusions of zeal were not, however, all in the \"sublime\"\n style: the legislative dignity sometimes condescended to unbend\n itself, and listen to metrical compositions, enlivened by the\n accompaniment of fiddles; but the manly and ferocious Danton, to\n whom such sprightly interruptions were not congenial, proposed a\n decree, that the citizens should, in future, express their\n adorations in plain prose, and without any musical accessories.\nBillaud Varennes, Collot, and other members of the old Committee, view\nthese innovations with sullen acquiescence; but Barrere, whose frivolous\nand facile spirit is incapable of consistency, even in wickedness,\nperseveres and flourishes at the tribune as gaily as ever.--Unabashed by\ndetection, insensible to contempt, he details his epigrams and antitheses\nagainst Catilines and Cromwells with as much self-sufficiency as when, in\nthe same tinsel eloquence, he promulgated the murderous edicts of\nRobespierre.\nMany of the prisoners at Paris continue daily to obtain their release,\nand, by the exertions of his personal enemies, particularly of our\nquondam sovereign, Andre Dumont, (now a member of the Committee of\nGeneral Safety,) an examination into the atrocities committed by Le Bon\nis decreed.--But, amidst these appearances of justice, a versatility of\nprinciple, or rather an evident tendency to the decried system, is\nperceptible. Upon the slightest allusion to the revolutionary\ngovernment, the whole Convention rise in a mass to vociferate their\nadherence to it:* the tribunal, which was its offspring and support, is\nanxiously reinstalled; and the low insolence with which Barrere announces\ntheir victories in the Netherlands, is, as usual, loudly applauded.\n * The most moderate, as well as the most violent, were always united\n on the subject of this irrational tyranny.--_\"Toujours en menageant,\n comme la prunelle de ses yeux, le gouvernement revolutionnaire.\"_--\n \"Careful always of the revolutionary government, as of the apple of\n their eye.\" _Fragment pour servir a l'Hist. de la Convention, par\n J. J. Dussault_.\nThe brothers of Cecile Renaud, who were sent for by Robespierre from the\narmy to Paris, in order to follow her to the scaffold, did not arrive\nuntil their persecutor was no more, and a change of government was\navowed. They have presented themselves at the bar of the Convention, to\nentreat a revisal of their father's sentence, and some compensation for\nhis property, so unjustly confiscated.--You will, perhaps, imagine, that,\nat the name of these unfortunate young men, every heart anticipated a\nconsent to their claims, even before the mind could examine the justice\nof them, and that one of those bursts of sensibility for which this\nlegislature is so remarkable instantaneously accorded the petition.\nAlas! this was not an occasion to excite the enthusiasm of the\nConvention: Coupilleau de Fontenay, one of the \"mild and moderate party\",\nrepulsed the petitioners with harshness, and their claim was silenced by\na call for the order of the day. The poor Renauds were afterwards coldly\nreferred to the Committee of Relief, for a pittance, by way of charity,\ninstead of the property they have a right to, and which they have been\ndeprived of, by the base compliance of the Convention with the caprice of\na monster.\nSuch relapses and aberrations are not consolatory, but the times and\ncircumstances seem to oppose them--the whole fabric of despotism is\nshaken, and we have reason to hope the efforts of tyranny will be\ncounteracted by its weakness.\nWe do not yet derive any advantage from the early maturity of the\nharvest, and it is still with difficulty we obtain a limited portion of\nbad bread. Severe decrees are enacted to defeat the avarice of the\nfarmers, and prevent monopolies of the new corn; but these people are\ninvulnerable: they have already been at issue with the system of terror--\nand it was found necessary, even before the death of Robespierre, to\nrelease them from prison, or risk the destruction of the harvest for want\nof hands to get it in. It is now discovered, that natural causes, and\nthe selfishness of individuals, are adequate to the creation of a\ntemporary scarcity; yet when this happened under the King, it was always\nascribed to the machinations of government.--How have the people been\ndeceived, irritated, and driven to rebellion, by a degree of want, less,\nmuch less, insupportable than that they are obliged to suffer at present,\nwithout daring even to complain!\nI have now been in confinement almost twelve months, and my health is\nconsiderably impaired. The weather is oppressively warm, and we have no\nshade in the garden but under a mulberry-tree, which is so surrounded by\nfilth, that it is not approachable. I am, however, told, that in a few\ndays, on account of my indisposition, I shall be permitted to go home,\nthough with a proviso of being guarded at my own expence.--My friends are\nstill at Arras; and if this indulgence be extended to Mad. de la F____,\nshe will accompany me. Personal accommodation, and an opportunity of\nrestoring my health, render this desirable; but I associate no idea of\nfreedom with my residence in this country. The boundary may be extended,\nbut it is still a prison.--Yours.\nProvidence, Aug. 15, 1794.\nTo-morrow I expect to quit this place, and have been wandering over it\nfor the last time. You will imagine I can have no attachment to it: yet\na retrospect of my sensations when I first arrived, of all I have\nexperienced, and still more of what I have apprehended since that period,\nmakes me look forward to my departure with a satisfaction that I might\nalmost call melancholy. This cell, where I have shivered through the\nwinter--the long passages, which I have so often traversed in bitter\nrumination--the garden, where I have painfully breathed a purer air, at\nthe risk of sinking beneath the fervid rays of an unmitigated sun, are\nnot scenes to excite regret; but when I think that I am still subject to\nthe tyranny which has so long condemned me to them, this reflection, with\na sentiment perhaps of national pride, which is wounded by accepting as a\nfavour what I have been unjustly deprived of, renders me composed, if not\nindifferent, at the prospect of my release.\nThis dreary epoch of my life has not been without its alleviations. I\nhave found a chearful companion in Mad. de M____, who, at sixty, was\nbrought here, because she happened to be the daughter of Count L____, who\nhas been dead these thirty years!--The graces and silver accents of\nMadame de B____, might have assisted in beguiling severer captivity; and\nthe Countess de C____, and her charming daughters (the eldest of whom is\nnot to be described in the common place of panegyric), who, though they\nhave borne their own afflictions with dignity, have been sensible to the\nmisfortunes of others, and whom I must, in justice, except from all the\nimputations of meanness or levity, which I have sometimes had occasion to\nnotice in those who, like themselves, were objects of republican\npersecution, have essentially contributed to diminish the horrors of\nconfinement.--I reckon it likewise among my satisfactions, that, with the\nexception of the Marechalle de Biron,* and General O'Moran, none of our\nfellow-prisoners have suffered on the scaffold.--\n * The Marechalle de Biron, a very old and infirm woman, was taken\n from hence to the Luxembourg at Paris, where her daughter-in-law,\n the Duchess, was also confined. A cart arriving at that prison to\n convey a number of victims to the tribunal, the list, in the coarse\n dialect of republicanism, contained the name of la femme Biron. \"But\n there are two of them,\" said the keeper. \"Then bring them both.\"--\n The aged Marechalle, who was at supper, finished her meal while the\n rest were preparing, then took up her book of devotion, and departed\n chearfully.--The next day both mother and daughter were guillotined.\n--Dumont has, indeed, virtually occasioned the death of several; in\nparticular the Duc du Chatelet, the Comte de Bethune, Mons. de\nMancheville, &c.--and it is no merit in him that Mr. Luttrell, with a\npoor nun of the name of Pitt,* whom he took from hence to Paris, as a\ncapture which might give him importance, were not massacred either by the\nmob or the tribunal.\n * This poor woman, whose intellects, as I am informed, appeared in a\n state of derangement, was taken from a convent at Abbeville, and\n brought to the Providence, as a relation of Mr. Pitt, though I\n believe she has no pretensions to that honour. But the name of Pitt\n gave her importance; she was sent to Paris under a military escort,\n and Dumont announced the arrival of this miserable victim with all\n the airs of a conqueror. I have been since told, she was lodged at\n St. Pelagie, where she suffered innumerable hardships, and did not\n recover her liberty for many months after the fall of Robespierre.\n--If the persecution of this department has not been sanguinary,* it\nshould be remembered, that it has been covered with prisons; and that the\nextreme submission of its inhabitants would scarcely have furnished the\nmost merciless tyrant with a pretext for a severer regimen.--\n * There were some priests guillotined at Amiens, but the\n circumstance was concealed from me for some months after it\n happened.\n--Dumont, I know, expects to establish a reputation by not having\nguillotined as an amusement, and hopes that he may here find a retreat\nwhen his revolutionary labours shall be finished.\nThe Convention have not yet chosen the members who are to form the new\nCommittee. They were yesterday solemnly employed in receiving the\nAmerican Ambassador; likewise a brass medal of the tyrant Louis the\nFourteenth, and some marvellous information about the unfortunate\nPrincess' having dressed herself in mourning at the death of Robespierre.\nThese legislators remind me of one of Swift's female attendants, who, in\nspite of the literary taste he endeavoured to inspire her with, never\ncould be divested of her original housewifely propensities, but would\nquit the most curious anecdote, as he expresses it, \"to go seek an old\nrag in a closet.\" Their projects for the revival of their navy seldom go\nfarther than a transposal in the stripes of the flag, and their vengeance\nagainst regal anthropophagi, and proud islanders, is infallibly diverted\nby a denunciation of an aristocratic quartrain, or some new mode, whose\ngeneral adoption renders it suspected as the badge of a party.--If,\naccording to Cardinal de Retz' opinion, elaborate attention to trifles\ndenote a little mind, these are true Lilliputian sages.--Yours, &c.\nAugust, 1794.\nI did not leave the Providence until some days after the date of my last:\nthere were so many precautions to be taken, and so many formalities to be\nobserved--such references from the municipality to the district, and from\nthe district to the Revolutionary Committee, that it is evident\nRobespierre's death has not banished the usual apprehension of danger\nfrom the minds of those who became responsible for acts of justice or\nhumanity. At length, after procuring a house-keeper to answer with his\nlife and property for our re-appearance, and for our attempting nothing\nagainst the \"unity and indivisibility\" of the republic, we bade (I hope)\na long adieu to our prison.\nMadame de ____ is to remain with me till her house can be repaired; for\nit has been in requisition so often, that there is now, we are told,\nscarcely a bed left, or a room habitable. We have an old man placed with\nus by way of a guard, but he is civil, and is not intended to be a\nrestraint upon us. In fact, he has a son, a member of the Jacobin club,\nand this opportunity is taken to compliment him, by taxing us with the\nmaintenance of his father. It does not prevent us from seeing our\nacquaintance, and we might, I suppose, go out, though we have not yet\nventured.\nThe politics of the Convention are fluctuating and versatile, as will\never be the case where men are impelled by necessity to act in opposition\nto their principles. In their eagerness to attribute all the past\nexcesses to Robespierre, they have, unawares, involved themselves in the\nobligation of not continuing the same system. They doubtless expected,\nby the fall of the tyrant, to become his successors; but the people,\nweary of being dupes, and of hearing that tyrants were fallen, without\nfeeling any diminution of tyranny, have every where manifested a temper,\nwhich the Convention, in the present relaxed state of its power, is\nfearful of making experiments upon. Hence, great numbers of prisoners\nare liberated, those that remain are treated more indulgently, and the\nfury of revolutionary despotism is in general abated.\nThe Deputies who most readily assent to these changes have assumed the\nappellation of Moderates; (Heaven knows how much they are indebted to\ncomparison;) and the popularity they have acquired has both offended and\nalarmed the more inflexible Jacobins. A motion has just been made by one\nLouchet, that a list of all persons lately enlarged should be printed,\nwith the names of those Deputies who solicited in their favour, annexed;\nand that such aristocrats as were thus discovered to have regained their\nliberty, should be re-imprisoned.--The decree passed, but was so ill\nreceived by the people, that it was judged prudent to repeal it the next\nday.\nThis circumstance seems to be the signal of dissention between the\nAssembly and the Club: the former, apprehensive of revolting the public\nopinion on the one hand, and desirous of conciliating the Jacobins on the\nother, waver between indulgence and severity; but it is easy to discover,\nthat their variance with the Jacobins is more a matter of expediency than\nprinciple, and that, were it not for other considerations, they would not\nsuffer the imprisonment of a few thousand harmless people to interrupt\nthe amity which has so long subsisted between themselves and their\nancient allies.--It is written, \"from their works you shall know them;\"\nand reasoning from this tenet, which is our best authority, (for who can\nboast a science in the human heart?) I am justified in my opinion, and I\nknow it to be that of many persons more competent to decide than myself.\nIf I could have had doubts on the subject, the occurrences of the last\nfew days would have amply satisfied them.\nHowever rejoiced the nation at large might be at the overthrow of\nRobespierre, no one was deceived as to the motives which actuated his\ncolleagues in the Committee. Every day produced new indications not only\nof their general concurrence in the enormities of the government, but of\ntheir own personal guilt. The Convention, though it could not be\ninsensible of this, was willing, with a complaisant prudence, to avoid\nthe scandal of a public discussion, which must irritate the Jacobins, and\nexpose its own weakness by a retrospect of the crimes it had applauded\nand supported. Laurent Lecointre,* alone, and apparently unconnected\nwith party, has had the courage to exhibit an accusation against Billaud,\nCollot, Barrere, and those of Robespierre's accomplices who were members\nof the Committee of General Safety. He gave notice of his design on the\neleventh of Fructidor (28th of August).\n * Lecointre is a linen-draper at Versailles, an original\n revolutionist, and I believe of more decent character than most\n included in that description. If we could be persuaded that there\n were any real fanatics in the Convention, I should give Lecointre\n the credit of being among the number. He seems, at least, to have\n some material circumstances in his favour--such as possessing the\n means of living; of not having, in appearance, enriched himself by\n the revolution; and, of being the only member who, after a score of\n decrees to that purpose, has ventured to produce an account of his\n fortune to the public.\n--It was received everywhere but in the Convention with applause; and the\npublic was flattered with the hope that justice would attain another\nfaction of its oppressors. On the succeeding day, Lecointre appeared at\nthe tribune to read his charges. They conveyed, even to the most\nprejudiced mind, an entire conviction, that the members he accused were\nsole authors of a part, and accomplices in all the crimes which had\ndesolated their country. Each charge was supported by material proof,\nwhich he deposited for the information of his colleagues. But this was\nunnecessary--his colleagues had no desire to be convinced; and, after\noverpowering him with ridicule and insult, they declared, without\nentering into any discussion, that they rejected the charges with\nindignation, and that the members implicated had uniformly acted\naccording to their [own] wishes, and those of the nation.\nAs soon as this result was known in Paris, the people became enraged and\ndisgusted, the public walks resounded with murmurs, the fermentation grew\ngeneral, and some menaces were uttered of forcing the Convention to give\nLecointre a more respectful hearing.--Intimidated by such unequivocal\nproofs of disapprobation, when the Assembly met on the thirteenth, it was\ndecreed, after much opposition from Tallien, that Lecointre should be\nallowed to reproduce his charges, and that they should be solemnly\nexamined.\nAfter all this, Lecointre, whose figure is almost ludicrous, and who is\nno orator, was to repeat a voluminous denunciation, amidst the clamour,\nabuse, chicane, and derision of the whole Convention. But there are\noccasions when the keenest ridicule is pointless; when the mind, armed by\ntruth and elevated by humanity, rejects its insidious efforts--and,\nabsorbed by more laudable feelings, despises even the smile of contempt.\nThe justice of Lecointre's cause supplied his want of external\nadvantages: and his arguments were so clear and so unanswerable, that the\nplain diction in which they were conveyed was more impressive than the\nmost finished eloquence; and neither the malice nor sarcasms of his\nenemies had any effect but on those who were interested in silencing or\nconfounding him. Yet, in proportion as the force of Lecointre's\ndenunciation became evident, the Assembly appeared anxious to suppress\nit; and, after some hours' scandalous debate, during which it was\nfrequently asserted that these charges could not be encouraged without\ncriminating the entire legislative body, they decreed the whole to be\nfalse and defamatory.\nThe accused members defended themselves with the assurance of delinquents\ntried by their avowed accomplices, and who are previously certain of\nfavour and acquittal; while Lecointre's conduct in the business seems to\nhave been that of a man determined to persevere in an act of duty, which\nhe has little reason to hope will be successful.*\n * It is said, that, at the conclusion of this disgraceful business,\n the members of the convention crouded about the delinquents with\n their habitual servility, and appeared gratified that their services\n on the occasion had given them a claim to notice and familiarity.\nThough the galleries of the Convention were more than usually furnished\non the day with applauders, yet this decision has been universally ill\nreceived. The time is passed when the voice of reason could be silenced\nby decrees. The stupendous tyranny of the government, though not\nmeliorated in principle, is relaxed in practice; and this vote, far from\noperating in favour of the culprits, has only served to excite the public\nindignation, and to render them more odious. Those who cannot judge of\nthe logical precision of Lecointre's arguments, or the justness of his\ninferences, can feel that his charges are merited. Every heart, every\ntongue, acknowledges the guilt of those he has attacked. They are\ncertain France has been the prey of numberless atrocities--they are\ncertain, that these were perpetrated by order of the committee; that\neleven members composed it; and that Robespierre and his associates being\nbut three, did not constitute a majority.\nThese facts are now commented on with as much freedom as can be expected\namong a people whose imaginations are yet haunted by revolutionary\ntribunals and Bastilles, and the conclusions are not favourable to the\nConvention. The national discontent is, however, suspended by the\nhostilities between the legislature and the Jacobin club: the latter\nstill persists in demanding the revolutionary system in its primitive\nseverity, while the former are restrained from compliance, not only by\nthe odium it must draw on them, but from a certainty that it cannot be\nsupported but through the agency of the popular societies, who would thus\nagain become their dictators. I believe it is not unlikely that the\npeople and the Convention are both endeavouring to make instruments of\neach other to destroy the common enemy; for the little popularity the\nConvention enjoy is doubtless owing to a superior hatred of the Jacobins:\nand the moderation which the former affect towards the people, is equally\ninfluenced by a view of forming a powerful balance against these\nobnoxious societies.--While a sort of necessity for this temporizing\ncontinues, we shall go on very tranquilly, and it is become a mode to say\nthe Convention is \"adorable.\"\nTallien, who has been wrestling with his ill fame for a transient\npopularity, has thought it advisable to revive the public attention by\nthe farce of Pisistratus--at least, an attempt to assassinate him, in\nwhich there seems to have been more eclat than danger, has given rise to\nsuch an opinion. Bulletins of his health are delivered every day in form\nto the Convention, and some of the provincial clubs have sent\ncongratulations on his escape. But the sneers of the incredulous, and\nperhaps an internal admonition of the ridicule and disgrace attendant on\nthe worship of an idol whose reputation is so unpropitious, have much\nrepressed the customary ardour, and will, I think, prevent these\n\"hair-breadth 'scapes\" from continuing fashionable.--Yours, &c.\n[No Date Given]\nWhen I describe the French as a people bending meekly beneath the most\nabsurd and cruel oppression, transmitted from one set of tyrants to\nanother, without personal security, without commerce--menaced by famine,\nand desolated by a government whose ordinary resources are pillage and\nmurder; you may perhaps read with some surprize the progress and\nsuccesses of their armies. But, divest yourself of the notions you may\nhave imbibed from interested misrepresentations--forget the revolutionary\ncommon-place of \"enthusiams\", \"soldiers of freedom,\" and \"defenders of\ntheir country\"--examine the French armies as acting under the motives\nwhich usually influence such bodies, and I am inclined to believe you\nwill see nothing very wonderful or supernatural in their victories.\nThe greater part of the French troops are now composed of young men taken\nindiscriminately from all classes, and forced into the service by the\nfirst requisition. They arrive at the army ill-disposed, or at best\nindifferent, for it must not be forgotten, that all who could be\nprevailed on to go voluntarily had departed before recourse was had to\nthe measure of a general levy. They are then distributed into different\ncorps, so that no local connections remain: the natives of the North are\nmingled with those of the South, and all provincial combinations are\ninterdicted.\nIt is well known that the military branch of espionage is as extended as\nthe civil, and the certainty of this destroys confidence, and leaves even\nthe unwilling soldier no resource but to go through his professional duty\nwith as much zeal as though it were his choice. On the one hand, the\ndiscipline is severe--on the other, licentiousness is permitted beyond\nall example; and, half-terrified, half-seduced, principles the most\ninimical, and morals the least corrupt, become habituated to fear nothing\nbut the government, and to relish a life of military indulgence.--The\narmies were some time since ill clothed, and often ill fed; but the\nrequisitions, which are the scourge of the country, supply them, for the\nmoment, with profusion: the manufacturers, the shops, and the private\nindividual, are robbed to keep them in good humour--the best wines, the\nbest clothes, the prime of every thing, is destined to their use; and\nmen, who before laboured hard to procure a scanty subsistence, now revel\nin luxury and comparative idleness.\nThe rapid promotion acquired in the French army is likewise another cause\nof its adherence to the government. Every one is eager to be advanced;\nfor, by means of requisitions, pillage and perquisites, the most trifling\ncommand is very lucrative.--Vast sums of money are expended in supplying\nthe camps with newspapers written nearly for that purpose, and no others\nare permitted to be publicly circulated.--When troops are quartered in a\ntown, instead of that cold reception which it is usual to accord such\ninmates, the system of terror acts as an excellent Marechal de Logis, and\nprocures them, if not a cordial, at least a substantial one; and it is\nindubitable, that they are no where so well entertained as at the houses\nof professed aristocrats. The officers and men live in a familiarity\nhighly gratifying to the latter; and, indeed, neither are distinguishable\nby their language, manners, or appearance. There is, properly speaking,\nno subordination except in the field, and a soldier has only to avoid\npolitics, and cry \"Vive la Convention!\" to secure plenary indulgence on\nall other occasions.--Many who entered the army with regret, continue\nthere willingly for the sake of a maintenance; besides that a decree\nexists, which subjects the parents of those who return, to heavy\npunishments. In a word, whatever can operate on the fears, or interests,\nor passions, is employed to preserve the allegiance of the armies to the\ngovernment, and attach them to their profession.\nI am far from intending to detract from the national bravery--the annals\nof the French Monarchy abound with the most splendid instances of it--I\nonly wish you to understand, what I am fully convinced of myself, that\nliberty and republicanism have no share in the present successes. The\nbattle of Gemappe was gained when the Brissotin faction had enthroned\nitself on the ruins of a constitution, which the armies were said to\nadore with enthusiasm: by what sudden inspiration were their affections\ntransferred to another form of government? or will any one pretend that\nthey really understood the democratic Machiavelism which they were to\npropagate in Brabant? At the battle of Maubeuge, France was in the first\nparoxysm of revolutionary terror--at that of Fleurus, she had become a\nscene of carnage and proscription, at once the most wretched and the most\ndetestable of nations, the sport and the prey of despots so contemptible,\nthat neither the excess of their crimes, nor the sufferings they\ninflicted, could efface the ridicule which was incurred by a submission\nto them. Were the French then fighting for liberty, or did they only\nmove on professionally, with the enemy in front, the Guillotine in the\nrear, and the intermediate space filled up with the licentiousness of a\ncamp?--If the name alone of liberty suffices to animate the French troops\nto conquest, and they could imagine it was enjoyed under Brissot or\nRobespierre, this is at least a proof that they are rather amateurs than\nconnoisseurs; and I see no reason why the same impulse might not be given\nto an army of Janizaries, or the the legions of Tippoo Saib.\nAfter all, it may be permitted to doubt, whether the sort of enthusiasm\nso liberally ascribed to the French, would really contribute more to\ntheir successes, than the thoughtless courage I am willing to allow\nthem.--It is, I believe, the opinion of military men, that the best\nsoldiers are those who are most disposed to act mechanically; and we are\ncertain that the most brilliant victories have been obtained where this\nardour, said to be produced by the new doctrines, could have had no\ninfluence.--The heroes of Pavia, of Narva, or those who administered to\nthe vain-glory of Louis the Fourteenth, by ravaging the Palatinate, we\nmay suppose little acquainted with it. The fate of battles frequently\ndepends on causes which the General, the Statesman, or the Philosopher,\nare equally unable to decide upon; and the laurel, \"meed of mighty\nconquerors,\" seems oftener to fall at the caprice of the wind, than to be\ngathered. It is sometimes the lot of the ablest tactician, at others of\nthe most voluminous muster-roll; but, I believe, there are few examples\nwhere these political elevations have had an effect, when unaccompanied\nby advantages of situation, superior skill, or superior numbers.--_\"La\nplupart des gens de guerre_ (says Fontenelle) _sont leur metier avec\nbeaucoup de courage. Il en est peu qui y pensent; leurs bras agissent\naussi vigoureusement que l'on veut, leurs tetes se reposent, et ne\nprennent presque part a rieu\"_*--\n * \"Military men in general do their duty with much courage, but few\n make it a subject of reflection. With all the bodily activity that\n can be expected of them, their minds remain at rest, and partake but\n little of the business they are engaged in.\"\n--If this can be applied with truth to any armies, it must be to those of\nFrance. We have seen them successively and implicitly adopting all the\nnew constitutions and strange gods which faction and extravagance could\ndevise--we have seen them alternately the dupes and slaves of all\nparties: at one period abandoning their King and their religion: at\nanother adulating Robespierre, and deifying Marat.--These, I confess are\ndispositions to make good soldiers, but convey to me no idea of\nenthusiasts or republicans.\nThe bulletin of the Convention is periodically furnished with splendid\nfeats of heroism performed by individuals of their armies, and I have no\ndoubt but some of them are true. There are, however, many which have\nbeen very peaceably culled from old memoirs, and that so unskilfully,\nthat the hero of the present year loses a leg or an arm in the same\nexploit, and uttering the self-same sentences, as one who lived two\ncenturies ago. There is likewise a sort of jobbing in the edifying\nscenes which occasionally occur in the Convention--if a soldier happen to\nbe wounded who has relationship, acquaintance, or connexion, with a\nDeputy, a tale of extraordinary valour and extraordinary devotion to the\ncause is invented or adopted; the invalid is presented in form at the bar\nof the Assembly, receives the fraternal embrace and the promise of a\npension, and the feats of the hero, along with the munificence of the\nConvention, are ordered to circulate in the next bulletin. Yet many of\nthe deeds recorded very deservedly in these annals of glory, have been\nperformed by men who abhor republican principles, and lament the\ndisasters their partizans have occasioned. I have known even notorious\naristocrats introduced to the Convention as martyrs to liberty, and who\nhave, in fact, behaved as gallantly as though they had been so.--These\nare paradoxes which a military man may easily reconcile.\nIndependently of the various secondary causes that contribute to the\nsuccess of the French armies, there is one which those persons who wish\nto exalt every thing they denominate republican seem to exclude--I mean,\nthe immense advantage they possess in point of numbers. There has\nscarcely been an engagement of importance, in which the French have not\nprofited by this in a very extraordinary degree.*\n * This has been confessed to me by many republicans themselves; and\n a disproportion of two or three to one must add considerably to\n republican enthusiasm.\n--Whenever a point is to be gained, the sacrifice of men is not a matter\nof hesitation. One body is dispatched after another; and fresh troops\nthus succeeding to oppose those of the enemy already harassed, we must\nnot wonder that the event has so often proved favourable to them.\nA republican, who passes for highly informed, once defended this mode of\nwarfare by observing, that in the course of several campaigns more troops\nperished by sickness than the sword. If then an object could be attained\nby such means, so much time was saved, and the loss eventually the same:\nbut the Generals of other countries dare not risk such philosophical\ncalculations, and would be accountable to the laws of humanity for their\ndestructive conquests.\nWhen you estimate the numbers that compose the French armies, you are not\nto consider them as an undisciplined multitude, whose sole force is in\ntheir numbers. From the beginning of the revolution, many of them have\nbeen exercised in the National Guard; and though they might not make a\nfigure on the parade at Potsdam, their inferiority is not so great as to\nrender the German exactitude a counterbalance for the substantial\ninequality of numbers. Yet, powerfully as these considerations favour\nthe military triumphs of France, there is a period when we may expect\nboth cause and effect will terminate. That period may still be far\nremoved, but whenever the assignats* become totally discredited, and it\nshall be found requisite to economize in the war department, adieu la\ngloire, a bas les armes, and perhaps bon soir la republique; for I do not\nreckon it possible, that armies so constituted can ever be persuaded to\nsubject themselves to the restraints and privations which must be\nindispensible, as soon as the government ceases to have the disposal of\nan unlimited fund.\n * The mandats were, in fact, but a continuation of the assignats,\n under another name. The last decree for the emission of assignats,\n limited the quantity circulated to forty milliards, which taken at\n par, is only about sixteen hundred millions of pounds sterling!\nWhat I have hitherto written you will understand as applicable only to\nthe troops employed on the frontiers. There are some of another\ndescription, more cherished and not less serviceable, who act as a sort\nof police militant and errant, and defend the republic against her\ninternal enemies--the republicans. Almost every town of importance is\noccasionally infested by these servile instruments of despotism, who are\nmaintained in insolent profusion, to overawe those whom misery and famine\nmight tempt to revolt. When a government, after imprisoning some hundred\nthousands of the most distinguished in every class of life, and disarming\nall the rest, is yet obliged to employ such a force for its protection,\nwe may justifiably conclude, it does not presume on the attachment of the\npeople. It is not impossible that the agents of different descriptions,\ndestined to the service of conciliating the interior to republicanism,\nmight alone form an army equal to that of the Allies; but this is a task,\nwhere the numbers employed only serve to render it more difficult. They,\nhowever, procure submission, if they do not create affection; and the\nConvention is not delicate.\nAmiens, Sept. 30, 1794.\nThe domestic politics of France are replete with novelties: the\nConvention is at war with the Jacobins--and the people, even to the most\ndecided aristocrats, have become partizans of the Convention.--My last\nletters have explained the origin of these phaenomena, and I will now add\na few words on their progress.\nYou have seen that, at the fall of Robespierre, the revolutionary\ngovernment had reached the very summit of despotism, and that the\nConvention found themselves under the necessity of appearing to be\ndirected by a new impulse, or of acknowledging their participation in the\ncrimes they affected to deplore.--In consequence, almost without the\ndirect repeal of any law, (except some which affected their own\nsecurity,) a more moderate system has been gradually adopted, or, to\nspeak more correctly, the revolutionary one is suffered to relax. The\nJacobins behold these popular measures with extreme jealousy, as a means\nwhich may in time render the legislature independent of them; and it is\ncertainly not the least of their discontents, that, after all their\nlabours in the common cause, they find themselves excluded both from\npower and emoluments. Accustomed to carry every thing by violence, and\nmore ferocious than politic, they have, by insisting on the\nreincarceration of suspected people, attached a numerous party to the\nConvention, which is thus warned that its own safety depends on\nrepressing the influence of clubs, which not only loudly demand that the\nprisons may be again filled, but frequently debate on the project of\ntransporting all the \"enemies of the republic\" together.\nThe liberty of the press, also, is a theme of discord not less important\nthan the emancipation of aristocrats. The Jacobins are decidedly adverse\nto it; and it is a sort of revolutionary solecism, that those who boast\nof having been the original destroyers of despotism, are now the\nadvocates of arbitrary imprisonment, and restraints on the freedom of the\npress. The Convention itself is divided on the latter subject; and,\nafter a revolution of five years, founded on the doctrine of the rights\nof man, it has become matter of dispute--whether so principal an article\nof them ought really to exist or not. They seem, indeed, willing to\nallow it, provided restrictions can be devised which may prevent calumny\nfrom reaching their own persons; but as that cannot easily be atchieved,\nthey not only contend against the liberty of the press in practice, but\nhave hitherto refused to sanction it by decree, even as a principle.\nIt is perhaps reluctantly that the Convention opposes these powerful and\nextended combinations which have so long been its support, and it may\ndread the consequences of being left without the means of overawing or\ninfluencing the people; but the example of the Brissotins, who, by\nattempting to profit by the services of the Jacobins, without submitting\nto their domination, fell a sacrifice, has warned their survivors of the\ndanger of employing such instruments. It is evident that the clubs will\nnot act subordinately, and that they must either be subdued to\ninsignificance, or regain their authority entirely; and as neither the\npeople nor Convention are disposed to acquiesce in the latter, they are\npoliticly joining their efforts to accelerate the former.\nYet, notwithstanding these reciprocal cajoleries, the return of justice\nis slow and mutable; an instinctive or habitual preference of evil\nappears at times to direct the Convention, even in opposition to their\nown interests. They have as yet done little towards repairing the\ncalamities of which they are the authors; and we welcome the little they\nhave done, not for its intrinsic value, but as we do the first spring\nflowers--which, though of no great sweetness or beauty, we consider as\npledges that the storms of winter are over, and that a milder season is\napproaching.--It is true, the revolutionary Committees are diminished in\nnumber, the prisons are disencumbered, and a man is not liable to be\narrested because a Jacobin suspects his features: yet there is a wide\ndifference between such toleration and freedom and security; and it is a\ncircumstance not favourable to those who look beyond the moment, that the\ntyrannical laws which authorized all the late enormities are still\nunrepealed. The Revolutionary Tribunal continues to sentence people to\ndeath, on pretexts as frivolous as those which were employed in the time\nof Robespierre; they have only the advantage of being tried more\nformally, and of forfeiting their lives upon proof, instead of without\nit, for actions that a strictly administered justice would not punish by\na month's imprisonment.*\n * For instance, a young monk, for writing fanatic letters, and\n signing resolutions in favour of foederalism--a hosier, for\n facilitating the return of an emigrant--a man of ninety, for\n speaking against the revolution, and discrediting the assignats--a\n contractor, for embezzling forage--people of various descriptions,\n for obstructing the recruitment, or insulting the tree of liberty.\n These, and many similar condemnations, will be found in the\n proceedings of the Revolutionary Tribunal, long after the death of\n Robespierre, and when justice and humanity were said to be restored.\nA ceremony has lately taken place, the object of which was to deposit the\nashes of Marat in the Pantheon, and to dislodge the bust of Mirabeau--\nwho, notwithstanding two years notice to quit this mansion of\nimmortality, still remained there. The ashes of Marat being escorted to\nthe Convention by a detachment of Jacobins, and the President having\nproperly descanted on the virtues which once animated the said ashes,\nthey were conveyed to the place destined for their reception; and the\nexcommunicated Mirabeau being delivered over to the secular arm of a\nbeadle, these remains of the divine Marat were placed among the rest of\nthe republican deities. To have obliged the Convention in a body to\nattend and consecrate the crimes of this monster, though it could not\ndegrade them, was a momentary triumph for the Jacobins, nor could the\nroyalists behold without satisfaction the same men deploring the death of\nMarat, who, a month before, had celebrated the fall of Louis the\nSixteenth! To have been so deplored, and so celebrated, are, methinks,\nthe very extremes of infamy and glory.\nI must explain to you, that the Jacobins have lately been composed of two\nparties--the avowed adherents of Collot, Billaud, &c. and the concealed\nremains of those attached to Robespierre; but party has now given way to\nprinciple, a circumstance not usual; and the whole club of Paris, with\nseveral of the affiliated ones, join in censuring the innovating\ntendencies of the Convention.--It is curious to read the debates of the\nparent society, which pass in afflicting details of the persecutions\nexperienced by the patriots on the parts of the moderates and\naristocrats, who, they assert, are become so daring as even to call in\nquestion the purity of the immortal Marat. You will suppose, of course,\nthat this cruel persecution is nothing more than an interdiction to\npersecute others; and their notions of patriotism and moderation may be\nconceived by their having just expelled Tallien and Freron as moderates.*\n * Freron endeavoured, on this occasion, to disculpate himself from\n the charge of \"moderantisme,\" by alledging he had opposed\n Lecointre's denunciation of Barrere, &c.--and certainly one who\n piques himself on being the pupil of the divine Marat, was worthy of\n remaining in the fraternity from which he was now expelled.--Freron\n is a veteran journalist of the revolution, of better talents, though\n not of better fame, than the generality of his contemporaries: or,\n rather, his early efforts in exciting the people to rebellion\n entitle him to a preeminence of infamy.\nAmiens, October 4, 1794.\nWe have had our guard withdrawn for some days; and I am just now returned\nfrom Peronne, where we had been in order to see the seals taken off the\npapers, &c. which I left there last year. I am much struck with the\nalteration observable in people's countenances. Every person I meet\nseems to have contracted a sort of revolutionary aspect: many walk with\ntheir heads down, and with half-shut eyes measure the whole length of a\nstreet, as though they were still intent on avoiding greetings from the\nsuspicious; some look grave and sorrow-worn; some apprehensive, as if in\nhourly expectation of a _mandat d'arret;_ and others absolutely ferocious,\nfrom a habit of affecting the barbarity of the times.\nTheir language is nearly as much changed as their appearance--the\nrevolutionary jargon is universal, and the most distinguished aristocrats\nconverse in the style of Barrere's reports. The common people are not\nless proficients in this fashionable dialect, than their superiors; and,\nas far as I can judge, are become so from similar motives. While I was\nwaiting this morning at a shop-door, I listened to a beggar who was\ncheapening a slice of pumpkin, and on some disagreement about the price,\nthe beggar told the old _revendeuse_ [Market-woman.] that she was\n_\"gangrenee d'aristocratie.\"_ [\"Eat up with aristocracy.\"] _\"Je vous en\ndefie,\"_ [\"I defy you.\"] retorted the pumpkin-merchant; but turning pale\nas she spoke, _\"Mon civisme est a toute epreuve, mais prenez donc ta\ncitrouille,\"_ [\"My civism is unquestionable; but here take your pumpkin.\"]\ntake it then.\" _\"Ah, te voila bonne republicaine,_ [\"Ah! Now I see you\nare a good republican.\"] says the beggar, carrying off her bargain; while\nthe old woman muttered, _\"Oui, oui, l'on a beau etre republicaine tandis\nqu'on n'a pas de pain a manger.\"_ [\"Yes, in troth, it's a fine thing to\nbe a republican, and have no bread to eat.\"]\nI hear little of the positive merits of the convention, but the hope is\ngeneral that they will soon suppress the Jacobin clubs; yet their attacks\ncontinue so cold and cautious, that their intentions are at least\ndoubtful: they know the voice of the nation at large would be in favour\nof such a measure, and they might, if sincere, act more decisively,\nwithout risk to themselves.--The truth is, they would willingly proscribe\nthe persons of the Jacobins, while they cling to their principles, and\nstill hesitate whether they shall confide in a people whose resentment\nthey have so much deserved, and have so much reason to dread. Conscious\nguilt appears to shackle all their proceedings, and though the punishment\nof some subordinate agents cannot, in the present state of things, be\ndispensed with, yet the Assembly unveil the register of their crimes very\nreluctantly, as if each member expected to see his own name inscribed on\nit. Thus, even delinquents, who would otherwise be sacrificed\nvoluntarily to public justice, are in a manner protected by delays and\nchicane, because an investigation might implicate the Convention as the\nexample and authoriser of their enormities.--Fouquier Tinville devoted a\nthousand innocent people to death in less time than it has already taken\nto bring him to a trial, where he will benefit by all those judicial\nforms which he has so often refused to others. This man, who is much the\nsubject of conversation at present, was Public Accuser to the\nRevolutionary Tribunal--an office which, at best, in this instance, only\nserved to give an air of regularity to assassination: but, by a sort of\ngenius in turpitude, he contrived to render it odious beyond its original\nperversion, in giving to the most elaborate and revolting cruelties a\nturn of spontaneous pleasantry, or legal procedure.--The prisoners were\ninsulted with sarcasms, intimidated by threats, and still oftener\nsilenced by arbitrary declarations, that they were not entitled to speak;\nand those who were taken to the scaffold, after no other ceremony than\ncalling over their names, had less reason to complain, than if they had\npreviously been exposed to the barbarities of such trials.--Yet this\nwretch might, for a time at least, have escaped punishment, had he not,\nin defending himself, criminated the remains of the Committee, whom it\nwas intended to screen. When he appeared at the bar of the Convention,\nevery word he uttered seemed to fill its members with alarm, and he was\nordered away before he could finish his declaration. It must be\nacknowledged, that, however he may be condemned by justice and humanity,\nnothing could legally attach to him: he was only the agent of the\nConvention, and the utmost horrors of the Tribunal were not merely\nsanctioned, but enjoined by specific decrees.\nI have been told by a gentleman who was at school with Fouquier, and has\nhad frequent occasions of observing him at different periods since, that\nhe always appeared to him to be a man of mild manners, and by no means\nlikely to become the instrument of these atrocities; but a strong\naddiction to gaming having involved him in embarrassments, he was induced\nto accept the office of Public Accuser to the Tribunal, and was\nprogressively led on from administering to the iniquity of his employers,\nto find a gratification in it himself.\nI have often thought, that the habit of watching with selfish avidity for\nthose turns of fortune which enrich one individual by the misery of\nanother, must imperceptibly tend to harden the heart. How can the\ngamester, accustomed both to suffer and inflict ruin with indifference,\npreserve that benevolent frame of mind, which, in the ordinary and less\ncensurable pursuits of common life, is but too prone to become impaired,\nand to leave humanity more a duty than a feeling?\nThe conduct of Fouquier Tinville has led me to some reflections on a\nsubject which I know the French consider as matter of triumph, and as a\npeculiar advantage which their national character enjoys over the\nEnglish--I mean that smoothness of manner and guardedness of expression\nwhich they call \"aimable,\" and which they have the faculty of attaining\nand preserving distinctly from a correspondent temper of the mind. It\naccompanies them through the most irritating vicissitudes, and enables\nthem to deceive, even without deceit: for though this suavity is\nhabitual, of course frequently undesigning, the stranger is nevertheless\nthrown off his guard by it, and tempted to place confidence, or expect\nservices, which a less conciliating deportment would not have been\nsuggested. A Frenchman may be an unkind husband, a severe parent, or an\narrogant master, yet never contract his features, or asperate his voice,\nand for this reason is, in the national sense, \"un homme bien doux.\" His\nheart may become corrupt, his principles immoral, and his disposition\nferocious--yet he shall still retain his equability of tone and\ncomplacent phraseology, and be \"un homme bien aimable.\"\nThe revolution has tended much to develope this peculiarity of the French\ncharacter, and has, by various examples in public life, confirmed the\nopinions I had formed from previous observation. Fouquier Tinville, as I\nhave already noticed, was a man of gentle exterior.--Couthon, the\nexecrable associate of Robespierre, was mildness itself--Robespierre's\nharangues are in a style of distinguished sensibility--and even Carrier,\nthe destroyer of thirty thousand Nantais, is attested by his\nfellow-students to have been of an amiable disposition. I know a man of\nmost insinuating address, who has been the means of conducting his own\nbrother to the Guillotine; and another nearly as prepossessing, who,\nwithout losing his courteous demeanor, was, during the late\nrevolutionary excesses, the intimate of an executioner.\n *It would be too voluminous to enumerate all the contrasts of\n manners and character exhibited during the French revolution--The\n philosophic Condorcet, pursuing with malignancy his patron, the Duc\n de la Rochefoucault, and hesitating with atrocious mildness on the\n sentence of the King--The massacres of the prisons connived at by\n the gentle Petion--Collot d'Herbois dispatching, by one discharge of\n cannon, three hundred people together, \"to spare his sensibility\"\n the talk of executions in detail--And St. Just, the deviser of a\n thousand enormities, when he left the Committee, after his last\n interview, with the project of sending them all to the Guillotine,\n telling them, in a tone of tender reproach, like a lover of romance,\n \"Vous avez fletri mon coeur, je vais l'ouvrir a la Convention.\"--\n Madame Roland, in spite of the tenderness of her sex, could coldly\n reason on the expediency of a civil war, which she acknowledged\n might become necessary to establish the republic. Let those who\n disapprove this censure of a female, whom it is a sort of mode to\n lament, recollect that Madame Roland was the victim of a celebrity\n she had acquired in assisting the efforts of faction to dethrone the\n King--that her literary bureau was dedicated to the purpose of\n exasperating the people against him--and that she was considerably\n instrumental to the events which occasioned his death. If her\n talents and accomplishments make her an object of regret, it was to\n the unnatural misapplication of those talents and accomplishments in\n the service of party, that she owed her fate. Her own opinion was,\n that thousands might justifiably be devoted to the establishment of\n a favourite system; or, to speak truly, to the aggrandisement of\n those who were its partizans. The same selfish principle actuated\n an opposite faction, and she became the sacrifice.--\"Oh even-handed\n justice!\"\nI do not pretend to decide whether the English are virtually more gentle\nin their nature than the French; but I am persuaded this douceur, on\nwhich the latter pride themselves, affords no proof of the contrary. An\nEnglishman is seldom out of humour, without proclaiming it to all the\nworld; and the most forcible motives of interest, or expediency, cannot\nalways prevail on him to assume a more engaging external than that which\ndelineates his feelings.\nIf he has a matter to refuse, he usually begins by fortifying himself\nwith a little ruggedness of manner, by way of prefacing a denial he might\notherwise not have resolution to persevere in. \"The hows and whens of\nlife\" corrugate his features, and disharmonize his periods; contradiction\nsours, and passion ruffles him--and, in short, an Englishman displeased,\nfrom whatever cause, is neither \"un homme bien doux,\" nor \"un homme bien\naimable;\" but such as nature has made him, subject to infirmities and\nsorrows, and unable to disguise the one, or appear indifferent to the\nother. Our country, like every other, has doubtless produced too many\nexamples of human depravity; but I scarcely recollect any, where a\nferocious disposition was not accompanied by corresponding manners--or\nwhere men, who would plunder or massacre, affected to retain at the same\ntime habits of softness, and a conciliating physiognomy.\nWe are, I think, on the whole, authorized to conclude, that, in\ndetermining the claims to national superiority, the boasted and unvarying\ncontroul which the French exercise over their features and accents, is\nnot a merit; nor those indications of what passes within, to which the\nEnglish are subject, an imperfection. If the French sometimes supply\ntheir want of kindness, or render disappointment less acute at the\nmoment, by a sterile complacency, the English harshness is often only the\nalloy to an efficient benevolence, and a sympathizing mind. In France\nthey have no humourists who seem impelled by their nature to do good, in\nspite of their temperament--nor have we in England many people who are\ncold and unfeeling, yet systematically aimable: but I must still persist\nin not thinking it a defect that we are too impetuous, or perhaps too\ningenuous, to unite contradictions.\nThere is a cause, that doubtless has its effects in representing the\nEnglish disadvantageously, and which I have never heard properly allowed\nfor. The liberty of the press, and the great interest taken by all ranks\nof people in public affairs, have occasioned a more numerous circulation\nof periodical prints of every kind in England, than in any other country\nin Europe. Now, as it is impossible to fill them constantly with\npolitics, and as the taste of different readers must be consulted, every\nbarbarous adventure, suicide, murder, robbery, domestic fracas, assaults,\nand batteries of the lower orders, with the duels and divorces of the\nhigher, are all chronicled in various publications, disseminated over\nEurope, and convey an idea that we are a very miserable, ferocious, and\ndissolute nation. The foreign gazettes being chiefly appropriated to\npublic affairs, seldom record either the vices, the crimes, or\nmisfortunes of individuals; so that they are thereby at least prevented\nfrom fixing an unfavourable judgement on the national character.\nMercier observes, that the number of suicides committed in Paris was\nsupposed to exceed greatly that of similar disasters in London; and that\nmurders in France were always accompanied by circumstances of peculiar\nhorror, though policy and custom had rendered the publication of such\nevents less general than with us.--Our divorces, at which the Gallic\npurity of manners used to be so much scandalized, are, no doubt, to be\nregretted; but that such separations were not then allowed, or desired in\nFrance, may perhaps be attributed, at least as justly, to the\ncomplaisance of husbands, as to the discretion of wives, or the national\nmorality.*\n * At present, in the monthly statement, the number of divorces in\n France, is often nearly equal to that of the marriages.\nI should reproach myself if I could feel impartial when I contemplate the\nEnglish character; yet I certainly endeavour to write as though I were\nso. If I have erred, it has been rather in allowing too much to received\nopinions on the subject of this country, than in suffering my affections\nto make me unjust; for though I am far from affecting the fashion of the\nday, which censures all prejudices as illiberal, except those in\ndisfavour of our own country, yet I am warranted, I hope, in saying, that\nhowever partial I may appear to England, I have not been so at the\nexpence of truth.--Yours, &c.\nOctober 6, 1794.\nThe sufferings of individuals have often been the means of destroying or\nreforming the most powerful tyrannies; reason has been convinced by\nargument, and passion appealed to by declamation in vain--when some\nunvarnished tale, or simple exposure of facts, has at once rouzed the\nfeelings, and conquered the supineness of an oppressed people.\nThe revolutionary government, in spite of the clamorous and weekly\nswearings of the Convention to perpetuate it, has received a check from\nan event of this nature, which I trust it will never recover.--By an\norder of the Revolutionary Committee of Nantes, in November 1793, all\nprisoners accused of political crimes were to be transferred to Paris,\nwhere the tribunal being more immediately under the direction of\ngovernment, there would be no chance of their acquittal. In consequence\nof this order, an hundred and thirty-two inhabitants of Nantes, arrested\non the usual pretexts of foederalism, or as suspected, or being\nMuscadins, were, some months after, conducted to Paris. Forty of the\nnumber died through the hardships and ill treatment they encountered on\nthe way, the rest remained in prison until after the death of\nRobespierre.\nThe evidence produced on their trial, which lately took place, has\nrevealed but too circumstantially all the horrors of the revolutionary\nsystem. Destruction in every form, most shocking to morals or humanity,\nhas depopulated the countries of the Loire; and republican Pizarro's and\nAlmagro's seem to have rivalled each other in the invention and\nperpetration of crimes.\nWhen the prisons of Nantes overflowed, many hundreds of their miserable\ninhabitants had been conducted by night, and chained together, to the\nriver side; where, being first stripped of their clothes, they were\ncrouded into vessels with false bottoms, constructed for the purpose, and\nsunk.*--\n * Though the horror excited by such atrocious details must be\n serviceable to humanity, I am constrained by decency to spare the\n reader a part of them. Let the imagination, however repugnant,\n pause for a moment over these scenes--Five, eight hundred people of\n different sexes, ages, and conditions, are taken from their prisons,\n in the dreary months of December and January, and conducted, during\n the silence of the night, to the banks of the Loire. The agents of\n the Republic there despoil them of their clothes, and force them,\n shivering and defenceless, to enter the machines prepared for their\n destruction--they are chained down, to prevent their escape by\n swimming, and then the bottom is detached for the upper part, and\n sunk.--On some occasions the miserable victims contrived to loose\n themselves, and clinging to the boards near them, shrieked in the\n agonies of despair and death, \"O save us! it is not even now too\n late: in mercy save us!\" But they appealed to wretches to whom\n mercy was a stranger; and, being cut away from their hold by strokes\n of the sabre, perished with their companions. That nothing might be\n wanting to these outrages against nature, they were escribed as\n jests, and called \"Noyades, water parties,\" and \"civic baptisms\"!\n Carrier, a Deputy of the Convention, used to dine and make parties\n of pleasure, accompanied by music and every species of gross luxury,\n on board the barges appropriated to these execrable purposes.\n--At one time, six hundred children appear to have been destroyed in this\nmanner;--young people of different sexes were tied in pairs and thrown\ninto the river;--thousands were shot in the high roads and in the fields;\nand vast numbers were guillotined, without a trial!*\n * Six young women, (the _Mesdemoiselles la Meterie,_) in particular,\n sisters, and all under four-and-twenty, were ordered to the\n Guillotine together: the youngest died instantly of fear, the rest\n were executed successively.--A child eleven years old, who had\n previously told the executioner, with affecting simplicity, that he\n hoped he would not hurt him much, received three strokes of the\n Guillotine before his head was severed from his body.\n--Two thousand died, in less than two months, of a pestilence, occasioned\nby this carnage: the air became infected, and the waters of the Loire\nempoisoned, by dead bodies; and those whom tyranny yet spared, perished\nby the elements which nature intended for their support.*\n * Vast sums were exacted from the Nantais for purifying the air, and\n taking precautions against epidemical disorders.\nBut I will not dwell on horrors, which, if not already known to all\nEurope, I should be unequal to describe: suffice it to say, that whatever\ncould disgrace or afflict mankind, whatever could add disgust to\ndetestation, and render cruelty, if possible, less odious than the\ncircumstances by which it was accompanied, has been exhibited in this\nunfortunate city.--Both the accused and their witnesses were at first\ntimid through apprehension, but by degrees the monstrous mysteries of the\ngovernment were laid open, and it appeared, beyond denial or palliation,\nthat these enormities were either devised, assisted, or connived at, by\nDeputies of the Convention, celebrated for their ardent republicanism and\nrevolutionary zeal.--The danger of confiding unlimited power to such men\nas composed the majority of the Assembly, was now displayed in a manner\nthat penetrated the dullest imagination, and the coldest heart; and it\nwas found, that, armed with decrees, aided by revolutionary committees,\nrevolutionary troops, and revolutionary vehicles of destruction,*\nmissionaries selected by choice from the whole representation, had, in\nthe city of Nantes alone, and under the mask of enthusiastic patriotism,\nsacrificed thirty thousand people!\n * A company was formed of all the ruffians that could be collected\n together. They were styled the Company of Marat, and were specially\n empowered to arrest whomsoever they chose, and to enter houses by\n night or day--in fine, to proscribe and pillage at their pleasure.\nFacts like these require no comment. The nation may be intimidated, and\nhabits of obedience, or despair of redress, prolong its submission; but\nit can no longer be deceived: and patriotism, revolutionary liberty, and\nphilosophy, are for ever associated with the drowning machines of\nCarrier, and the precepts and calculations of a Herault de Sechelles,* or\na Lequinio.**--\n * Herault de Sechelles was distinguished by birth, talents, and\n fortune, above most of his colleagues in the Convention; yet we find\n him in correspondence with Carrier, applauding his enormities, and\n advising him how to continue them with effect.--Herault was of a\n noble family, and had been a president in the Parliament of Paris.\n He was one of Robespierre's Committee of Public Welfare, and being\n in some way implicated in a charge of treachery brought against\n Simon, another Deputy, was guillotined at the same time with Danton.\n ** Lequinio is a philosopher by profession, who has endeavoured to\n enlighten his countrymen by a publication entitled \"_Les Prejuges\n Detruits,_\" and since by proving it advantageous to make no prisoners\n of war.\n--The ninety Nantais, against whom there existed no serious charge, and\nwho had already suffered more than death, were acquitted. Yet, though\nthe people were gratified by this verdict, and the general indignation\nappeased by an immediate arrest of those who had been most notoriously\nactive in these dreadful operations, a deep and salutary impression\nremains, and we may hope it will be found impracticable either to renew\nthe same scenes, or for the Convention to shelter (as they seemed\ndisposed to do) the principal criminals, who are members of their own\nbody. Yet, how are these delinquents to be brought to condemnation?\nThey all acted under competent authority, and their dispatches to the\nConvention, which sufficiently indicated their proceedings, were always\nsanctioned by circulation, and applauded, according to the excess of\ntheir flagitiousness.\nIt is worthy of remark, that Nantes, the principal theatre of these\npersecutions and murders, had been early distinguished by the attachment\nof its inhabitants to the revolution; insomuch, that, at the memorable\nepoch when the short-sighted policy of the Court excluded the Constituent\nAssembly from their Hall at Versailles, and they took refuge in the Jeu\nde Paume, with a resolution fatal to their country, never to separate\nuntil they had obtained their purposes, an express was sent to Nantes, as\nthe place they should make choice of, if any violence obliged them to\nquit the neighbourhood of Paris.\nBut it was not only by its principles that Nantes had signalized itself;\nat every period of the war, it had contributed largely both in men and\nmoney, and its riches and commerce still rendered it one of the most\nimportant towns of the republic.--What has been its reward?--Barbarous\nenvoys from the Convention, sent expressly to level the aristocracy of\nwealth, to crush its mercantile spirit, and decimate its inhabitants.*--\n * When Nantes was reduced almost to a state of famine by the\n destruction of commerce, and the supplies drawn for the maintenance\n of the armies, Commissioners were sent to Paris, to solicit a supply\n of provisions. They applied to Carrier, as being best acquainted\n with their distress, and were answered in this language:--_\"Demandez,\n pour Nantes! je solliciterai qu'on porte le fer et la flamme dans\n cette abominable ville. Vous etes tous des coquins, des contre-\n revolutionnaires, des brigands, des scelerats, je ferai nommer une\n commission par la Convention Nationale.--J'irai moi meme a la tete\n de cette commission.--Scelerats, je serai rouler les tetes dans\n Nantes--je regenererai Nantes.\"_--\"Is it for Nantes that you\n petition? I'll exert my influence to have fire and sword carried\n into that abominable city. You are all scoundrels, counter-\n revolutionists, thieves, miscreants.--I'll have a commission\n appointed by the Convention, and go myself at the head of it.--\n Villains, I'll set your heads a rolling about Nantes--I'll\n regenerate Nantes.\"\n Report of the Commission of Twenty-one, on the conduct of Carrier.\n--Terrible lesson for those discontented and mistaken people, who,\nenriched by commerce, are not content with freedom and independence, but\nseek for visionary benefits, by becoming the partizans of innovation, or\nthe tools of faction!*\n * The disasters of Nantes ought not to be lost to the republicans of\n Birmingham, Manchester, and other great commercial towns, where \"men\n fall out they know not why;\" and where their increasing wealth and\n prosperity are the best eulogiums on the constitution they attempt\n to undermine.\nI have hitherto said little of La Vendee; but the fate of Nantes is so\nnearly connected with it, that I shall make it the subject of my next\nletter.\n[No Date or Place Given.]\nIt appears, that the greater part of the inhabitants of Poitou, Anjou,\nand the Southern divisions of Brittany, now distinguished by the general\nappellation of the people of La Vendee, (though they include those of\nseveral other departments,) never either comprehended or adopted the\nprinciples of the French revolution. Many different causes contributed\nto increase their original aversion from the new system, and to give\ntheir resistance that consistency, which has since become so formidable.\nA partiality for their ancient customs, an attachment to their Noblesse,\nand a deference for their Priests, are said to characterize the brave\nand simple natives of La Vendee. Hence republican writers, with\nself-complacent decision, always treat this war as the effect of\nignorance, slavery, and superstition.\nThe modern reformist, who calls the labourer from the plough, and the\nartizan from the loom, to make them statesmen or philosophers, and who\nhas invaded the abodes of contented industry with the rights of man, that\nour fields may be cultivated, and our garments wove, by metaphysicians,\nwill readily assent to this opinion.--Yet a more enlightened and liberal\nphilosophy may be tempted to examine how far the Vendeans have really\nmerited the contempt and persecution of which they have been the objects.\nBy the confession of the republicans themselves, they are religious,\nhospitable, and frugal, humane and merciful towards their enemies, and\neasily persuaded to whatever is just and reasonable.\nI do not pretend to combat the narrow prejudices of those who suppose the\nworth or happiness of mankind compatible but with one set of opinions;\nand who, confounding the adventitious with the essential, appreciate only\nbook learning: but surely, qualities which imply a knowledge of what is\ndue both to God and man, and information sufficient to yield to what is\nright or rational, are not descriptive of barbarians; or at least, we may\nsay with Phyrrhus, \"there is nothing barbarous in their discipline.\"*\n *\"The husbandmen of this country are in general men of simple\n manners, naturally well inclined, or at least not addicted to\n serious vices.\" Lequinio, Guerre de La Vendee.\n Dubois de Crance, speaking of the inhabitants of La Vendee, says,\n \"They are the most hospitable people I ever saw, and always disposed\n to listen to what is just and reasonable, if proffered with mildness\n and humanity.\"\n \"This unpolished people, whom, however, it is much less difficult to\n persuade than to fight.\" Lequinio, G. de La V.\n \"They affected towards our prisoners a deceitful humanity,\n neglecting no means to draw them over to their own party, and often\n sending them back to us with only a simple prohibition to bear arms\n against the King or religion.\"\n Report of Richard and Choudieu.\n The ignorant Vendeans then could give lessons of policy and\n humanity, which the \"enlightened\" republicans were not capable of\n profiting by.\n--Their adherence to their ancient institutions, and attachment to their\nGentry and Clergy, when the former were abolished and the latter\nproscribed, might warrant a presumption that they were happy under the\none, and kindly treated by the other: for though individuals may\nsometimes persevere in affections or habits from which they derive\nneither felicity nor advantage, whole bodies of men can scarcely be\nsupposed eager to risk their lives in defence of privileges that have\noppressed them, or of a religion from which they draw no consolation.\nBut whatever the cause, the new doctrines, both civil and religious, were\nreceived in La Vendee with a disgust, which was not only expressed by\nmurmurs, but occasionally by little revolts, by disobedience to the\nconstitutional authorities, and a rejection of the constitutional clergy.\nSome time previous to the deposition of the King, Commissioners were sent\nto suppress these disorders; and though I doubt not but all possible\nmeans were taken to conciliate, I can easily believe, that neither the\nKing nor his Ministers might be desirous of subduing by force a people\nwho erred only from piety or loyalty. What effect this system of\nindulgence might have produced cannot now be decided; because the\nsubsequent overthrow of the monarchy, and the massacre or banishment of\nthe priests, must have totally alienated their minds, and precluded all\nhope of reconcilement.--Disaffection, therefore, continued to increase,\nand the Brissotines are suspected of having rather fostered than\nrepressed these intestine commotions,* for the same purpose which induced\nthem to provoke the war with England, and to extend that of the\nContinent.\n * Le Brun, one of the Brissotin Ministers, concealed the progress of\n this war for six months before he thought fit to report it to the\n Convention.\n--It is impossible to assign a good motive to any act of this literary\nintriguer.\n--Perhaps, while they determined to establish their faction by \"braving\nall Europe,\" they might think it equally politic to perplex and overawe\nParis by a near and dangerous enemy, which would render their continuance\nin power necessary, or whom they might join, if expelled from it.*\n * This last reason might afterwards have given way to their\n apprehensions, and the Brissotins have preferred the creation of new\n civil wars, to a confidence in the royalists. These men, who\n condemned the King for a supposed intention of defending an\n authority transmitted to him through whole ages, and recently\n sanctioned by the voice of the people, did not scruple to excite a\n civil war in defence of their six months' sovereignty over a\n republic, proclaimed by a ferocious comedian, and certainly without\n the assent of the nation. Had the ill-fated Monarch dared thus to\n trifle with the lives of his subjects, he might have saved France\n and himself from ruin.\nWhen men gratify their ambition by means so sanguinary and atrocious as\nthose resorted to by the Brissotines, we are authorized in concluding\nthey will not be more scrupulous in the use or preservation of power,\nthan they were in attaining it; and we can have no doubt but that the\nfomenting or suppressing the progress of civil discord, was, with them,\na mere question of expediency.\nThe decree which took place in March, 1793, for raising three hundred\nthousand men in the departments, changed the partial insurrections of La\nVendee to an open and connected rebellion; and every where the young\npeople refused going, and joined in preference the standard of revolt.\nIn the beginning of the summer, the brigands* (as they were called) grew\nso numerous, that the government, now in the hands of Robespierre and his\nparty, began to take serious measures to combat them.\n * Robbers--_banditti_--The name was first given, probably, to the\n insurgents of La Vendee, in order to insinuate a belief that the\n disorders were but of a slight and predatory nature.\n--One body of troops were dispatched after another, who were all\nsuccessively defeated, and every where fled before the royalists.\nIt is not unusual in political concerns to attribute to deep-laid plans\nand abstruse combinations, effects which are the natural result of\nprivate passions and isolated interests. Robespierre is said to have\npromoted both the destruction of the republican armies and those of La\nVendee, in order to reduce the national population. That he was capable\nof imagining such a project is probable--yet we need not, in tracing the\nconduct of the war, look farther than to the character of the agents who\nwere, almost necessarily, employed in it. Nearly every officer qualified\nfor the command of an army, had either emigrated, or was on service at\nthe frontiers; and the task of reducing by violence a people who resisted\nonly because they deemed themselves injured, and who, even in the\nestimation of the republicans, could only be mistaken, was naturally\navoided by all men who were not mere adventurers. It might likewise be\nthe policy of the government to prefer the services of those, who, having\nneither reputation nor property, would be more dependent, and whom,\nwhether they became dangerous by their successes or defeats, it would be\neasy to sacrifice.\nEither, then, from necessity or choice, the republican armies in La\nVendee were conducted by dissolute and rapacious wretches, at all times\nmore eager to pillage than fight, and who were engaged in securing their\nplunder, when they should have been in pursuit of the enemy. On every\noccasion they seemed to retreat, that their ill success might afford them\na pretext for declaring that the next town or village was confederated\nwith the insurgents, and for delivering it up, in consequence, to murder\nand rapine. Such of the soldiers as could fill their pocket-books with\nassignats, left their less successful companions, and retired as invalids\nto the hospitals: the battalions of Paris (and particularly \"the\nconquerors of the Bastille\") had such ardour for pillage, that every\nperson possessed of property was, in their sense, an aristocrat, whom it\nwas lawful to despoil.*\n * _\"Le pillage a ete porte a son comble--les militaires au lieu de\n songer a ce qu'ils avoient a faire, n'ont pense qu'a remplir leurs\n sacs, et a voir se perpetuer une guerre aussi avantageuse a leur\n interet--beaucoup de simples soldats ont acquis cinquante mille\n francs et plus; on en a vu couverts de bijoux, et faisant dans tous\n les genres des depenses d'une produgaloite, monstreuse.\"\n Lequinio, Guerre de la Vendee._\n \"The most unbridled pillage prevailed--officers, instead of\n attending to their duty, thought only of filling their portmanteaus,\n and of the means to perpetuate a war they found so profitable.--Many\n private soldiers made fifty thousand livres, and they have been seen\n loaded with trinkets, and exercising the most abominable\n prodigalities of every kind.\"\n Lequinio, War of La Vendee.\n \"The conquerors of the Bastille had unluckily a most unbridled\n ardour for pillage--one would have supposed they had come for the\n express purpose of plunder, rather than fighting. The stage coaches\n for Paris were entirely loaded with their booty.\"\n Report of Benaben, Commissioner of the Department of Maine and\n Loire.\n--The carriages of the army were entirely appropriated to the conveyance\nof their booty; till, at last, the administrators of some departments\nwere under the necessity of forbidding such incumbrances: but the\nofficers, with whom restrictions of this sort were unavailing, put all\nthe horses and waggons of the country in requisition for similar\npurposes, while they relaxed themselves from the serious business of the\nwar, (which indeed was nearly confined to burning, plundering, and\nmassacring the defenceless inhabitants,) by a numerous retinue of\nmistresses and musicians.\nIt is not surprizing that generals and troops of this description were\nconstantly defeated; and their reiterated disasters might probably have\nfirst suggested the idea of totally exterminating a people it was found\nso difficult to subdue, and so impracticable to conciliate.--On the first\nof October 1793, Barrere, after inveighing against the excessive\npopulation of La Vendee, which he termed \"frightful,\" proposed to the\nConvention to proclaim by a decree, that the war of La Vendee \"should be\nterminated\" by the twentieth of the same month. The Convention, with\nbarbarous folly, obeyed; and the enlightened Parisians, accustomed to\nthink with contempt on the ignorance of the Vendeans, believed that a\nwar, which had baffled the efforts of government for so many months, was\nto end on a precise day--which Barrere had fixed with as much assurance\nas though he had only been ordering a fete.\nBut the Convention and the government understood this decree in a very\ndifferent sense from the good people of Paris. The war was, indeed, to\nbe ended; not by the usual mode of combating armies, but by a total\nextinction of all the inhabitants of the country, both innocent and\nguilty--and Merlin de Thionville, with other members, so perfectly\ncomprehended this detestable project, that they already began to devise\nschemes for repeopling La Vendee, when its miserable natives should be\ndestroyed.*\n * It is for the credit of humanity to believe, that the decree was\n not understood according to its real intention; but the nation has\n to choose between the imputation of cruelty, stupidity, or slavery--\n for they either approved the sense of the decree, believed what was\n not possible, or were obliged to put on an appearance of both, in\n spite of their senses and their feelings. A proclamation, in\n consequence, to the army, is more explicit--\"All the brigands of La\n Vendee must be exterminated before the end of October.\"\nFrom this time, the representatives on mission, commissaries of war,\nofficers, soldiers, and agents of every kind, vied with each other in the\nmost abominable outrages. Carrier superintended the fusillades and\nnoyades at Nantes, while Lequinio dispatched with his own hands a part of\nthe prisoners taken at La Fontenay, and projected the destruction of the\nrest.--After the evacuation of Mans by the insurgents, women were brought\nby twenties and thirties, and shot before the house where the deputies\nTureau and Bourbotte had taken up their residence; and it appears to have\nbeen considered as a compliment to these republican Molochs, to surround\ntheir habitation with mountains of the dead. A compliment of the like\nnature was paid to the representative Prieur de la Marne,* by a\nvolunteer, who having learned that his own brother was taken amongst the\nenemy, requested, by way of recommending himself to notice, a formal\npermission to be his executioner.--The Roman stoicism of Prieur accepted\nthe implied homage, and granted the request!!\n * This representative, who was also a member of the Committee of\n Public Welfare, was not only the Brutus, but the Antony of La\n Vendee; for we learn from the report of Benaben, that his stern\n virtues were accompanied, through the whole of his mission in this\n afflicted country, by a cortege of thirty strolling fiddlers!\nFourteen hundred prisoners, who had surrendered at Savenay, among whom\nwere many women and children, were shot, by order of the deputy\nFrancastel, who, together with Hentz, Richard, Choudieu, Carpentier, and\nothers of their colleagues, set an example of rapine and cruelty, but too\nzealously imitated by their subordinate agents. In some places, the\ninhabitants, without distinction of age or sex, were put indiscriminately\nto the sword; in others, they were forced to carry the pillage collected\nfrom their own dwellings, which, after being thus stripped, were\nconsigned to the flames.*\n * \"This conflagration accomplished, they had no sooner arrived in\n the midst of our army, than the volunteers, in imitation of their\n commanders, seized what little they had preserved, and massacred\n them.--But this is not all: a whole municipality, in their scarfs of\n office, were sacrificed; and at a little village, inhabited by about\n fifty good patriots, who had been uniform in their resistance of the\n insurgents, news is brought that their brother soldiers are coming\n to assist them, and to revenge the wrongs they have suffered. A\n friendly repast is provided, the military arrive, embrace their\n ill-fated hosts, and devour what they have provided; which is no\n sooner done, than they drive all these poor people into the\n churchyard, and stab them one after another.\"\n Report of Faure, Vice-President of a Military Commission at\n Fontenay.\n--The heads of the prisoners served occasionally as marks for the\nofficers to shoot at for trifling wagers, and the soldiers, who imitated\nthese heinous examples, used to conduct whole hundreds to the place of\nexecution, singing _\"allons enfans de la patrie.\"_*\n * Woe to those who were unable to walk, for, under pretext that\n carriages could not be found to convey them, they were shot without\n hesitation!--Benaben.\nThe insurgents had lost Cholet, Chatillon, Mortagne, &c. Yet, far from\nbeing vanquished by the day appointed, they had crossed the Loire in\ngreat force, and, having traversed Brittany, were preparing to make an\nattack on Granville. But this did not prevent Barrere from announcing to\nthe convention, that La Vendee was no more, and the galleries echoed with\napplauses, when they were told that the highways were impassable, from\nthe numbers of the dead, and that a considerable part of France was one\nvast cemetery. This intelligence also tranquillized the paternal\nsolicitude of the legislature, and, for many months, while the system of\ndepopulation was pursued with the most barbarous fury, it was not\npermissible even to suspect that the war was yet unextinguished.\nIt is only since the trial of the Nantais, that the state of La Vendee\nhas again become a subject of discussion: truth has now forced its way,\nand we learn, that, whatever may be the strength of these unhappy people,\ntheir minds, embittered by suffering, and animated by revenge, are still\nless than ever disposed to submit to the republican government. The\ndesign of total extirpation, once so much insisted on, is at present said\nto be relinquished, and a plan of instruction and conversion is to be\nsubstituted for bayonets and conflagrations. The revolted countries are\nto be enlightened by the doctrines of liberty, fanaticism is to be\nexposed, and a love of the republic to succeed the prejudices in favour\nof Kings and Nobles.--To promote these objects, is, undoubtedly, the real\ninterest of the Convention; but a moralist, who observes through another\nmedium, may compare with regret and indignation the instructors with the\npeople they are to illumine, and the advantages of philosophy over\nignorance.\nLequinio, one of the most determined reformers of the barbarism of La\nVendee, proposes two methods: the first is, a general massacre of all the\nnatives--and the only objection it seems susceptible of in his opinion\nis, their numbers; but as he thinks on this account it may be attended\nwith difficulty, he is for establishing a sort of perpetual mission of\nRepresentatives, who, by the influence of good living and a company of\nfiddlers and singers, are to restore the whole country to peace.*--\n *\"The only difficulty that presents itself is, to determine whether\n recourse shall be had to the alternative of indulgence, or if it\n will not be more advantageous to persist in the plan of total\n destruction.\n \"If the people that still remain were not more than thirty or forty\n thousand, the shortest way would doubtless be, to cut all their\n throats (egorger), agreeably to my first opinion; but the population\n is immense, amounting still to four hundred thousand souls.--If\n there were no hope of succeeding by any other methods, certainly it\n were better to kill all (egorger), even were there five hundred\n thousand.\n \"But what are we to understand by measures of rigour? Is there no\n distinction to be made between rigorous and barbarous measures? The\n utmost severity is justified on the plea of the general good, but\n nothing can justify barbarity. If the welfare of France\n necessitated the sacrifice of the four hundred thousand inhabitants\n of La Vendee, and the countries in rebellion adjoining, they ought\n to be sacrificed: but, even in this case, there would be no excuse\n for those atrocities which revolt nature, which are an outrage to\n social order, and repugnant equally to feeling (sentiment) and\n reason; and in cutting off so many entire generations for the good\n of the country, we ought not to suffer the use of barbarous means in\n a single instance.\n \"Now the most effectual way to arrive at this end (converting the\n people), would be by joyous and fraternal missions, frank and\n familiar harangues, civic repasts, and, above all, dancing.\n \"I could wish, too, that during their circuits in these countries,\n the Representatives were always attended by musicians. The expence\n would be trifling, compared with the good effect; if, as I am\n strongly persuaded, we could thus succeed in giving a turn to the\n public mind, and close the bleeding arteries of these fertile and\n unhappy provinces.\"\n Lequinio, Guerre de La Vendee.\n And this people, who were either to have their throats cut, or be\n republicanized by means of singing, dancing, and revolutionary Pans\n and Silenus's, already beheld their property devastated by pillage\n or conflagration, and were in danger of a pestilence from the\n unburied bodies of their families.--Let the reader, who has seen\n Lequinio's pamphlet, compare his account of the sufferings of the\n Vendeans, and his project for conciliating them. They convey a\n strong idea of the levity of the national character; but, in this\n instance, I must suppose, that nature would be superior to local\n influence; and I doubt if Lequinio's jocund philosophy will ever\n succeed in attaching the Vendeans to the republic.\n--Camille Desmouins, a republican reformer, nearly as sanguinary, though\nnot more liberal, thought the guillotine disgraced by such ignorant prey,\nand that it were better to hunt them down like wild beasts; or, if made\nprisoners, to exchange them against the cattle of their country!--The\neminently informed Herault de Sechelles was the patron and confidant of\nthe exterminating reforms of Carrier; and Carnot, when the mode of\nreforming by noyades and fusillades was debated at the Committee, pleaded\nthe cause of Carrier, whom he describes as a good, nay, an excellent\npatriot.--Merlin de Thionville, whose philosophy is of a more martial\ncast, was desirous that the natives of La Vendee should be completely\nannihilated, in order to furnish in their territory and habitations a\nrecompence for the armies.--Almost every member of the Convention has\nindividually avowed principles, or committed acts, from which common\nturpitude would recoil, and, as a legislative body, their whole code has\nbeen one unvarying subversion of morals and humanity. Such are the men\nwho value themselves on possessing all the advantages the Vendeans are\npretended to be in want of.--We will now examine what disciples they have\nproduced, and the benefits which have been derived from their\ninstructions.\nEvery part of France remarkable for an early proselytism to the\nrevolutionary doctrines has been the theatre of crimes unparalleled in\nthe annals of human nature. Those who have most boasted their contempt\nfor religious superstition have been degraded by an idolatry as gross as\nany ever practiced on the Nile; and the most enthusiastic republicans\nhave, without daring to murmur, submitted for two years successively to a\nhorde of cruel and immoral tyrants.--A pretended enfranchisement from\npolitical and ecclesiastical slavery has been the signal of the lowest\ndebasement, and the most cruel profligacy: the very Catechumens of\nfreedom and philosophy have, while yet in their first rudiments,\ndistinguished themselves as proficients in the arts of oppression and\nservility, of intolerance and licentiousness.--Paris, the rendezvous of\nall the persecuted patriots and philosophers in Europe, the centre of the\nrevolutionary system, whose inhabitants were illumined by the first rays\nof modern republicanism, and who claim a sort of property in the rights\nof man, as being the original inventors, may fairly be quoted as an\nexample of the benefits that would accrue from a farther dissemination of\nthe new tenets.\nWithout reverting to the events of August and September, 1792, presided\nby the founders of liberty, and executed by their too apt sectaries, it\nis notorious that the legions of Paris, sent to chastise the\nunenlightened Vendeans, were the most cruel and rapacious banditti that\never were let loose to afflict the world. Yet, while they exercised this\nsavage oppression in the countries near the Loire, their fellow-citizens\non the banks of the Seine crouched at the frown of paltry tyrants, and\nwere unresistingly dragged to dungeons, or butchered by hundreds on the\nscaffold.--At Marseilles, Lyons, Bourdeaux, Arras, wherever these baleful\nprinciples have made converts, they have made criminals and victims; and\nthose who have been most eager in imbibing or propagating them have, by a\nnatural and just retribution, been the first sacrificed. The new\ndiscoveries in politics have produced some in ethics not less novel, and\nuntil the adoption of revolutionary doctrines, the extent of human\nsubmission or human depravity was fortunately unknown.\nIn this source of guilt and misery the people of La Vendee are now to be\ninstructed--that people, who are acknowledged to be hospitable, humane,\nand laborious, and whose ideas of freedom may be better estimated by\ntheir resistance to a despotism which the rest of France has sunk under,\nthan by the jargon of pretended reformers.--I could wish, that not only\nthe peasants of La Vendee, but those of all other countries, might for\never remain strangers to such pernicious knowledge. It is sufficient for\nthis useful class of men to be taught the simple precepts of religion and\nmorality, and those who would teach them more, are not their benefactors.\nOur age is, indeed, a literary age, and such pursuits are both liberal\nand laudable in the rich and idle; but why should volumes of politics or\nphilosophy be mutilated and frittered into pamphlets, to inspire a\ndisgust for labour, and a taste for study or pleasure, in those to whom\nsuch disgusts or inclinations are fatal. The spirit of one author is\nextracted, and the beauties of another are selected, only to bewilder the\nunderstanding, and engross the time, of those who might be more\nprofitably employed.\nI know I may be censured as illiberal; but I have, during my abode in\nthis country, sufficiently witnessed the disastrous effects of corrupting\na people through their amusements or curiosity, and of making men neglect\ntheir useful callings to become patriots and philosophers.*--\n *This right of directing public affairs, and neglecting their own,\n we may suppose essential to republicans of the lower orders, since\n we find the following sentence of transportation in the registers of\n a popular commission:\n \"Bergeron, a dealer in skins--suspected--having done nothing in\n favour of the revolution--extremely selfish (egoiste,) and blaming\n the Sans-Culottes for neglecting their callings, that they may\n attend only to public concerns.\"--Signed by the members of the\n Commission and the two Committees.\n--_\"Il est dangereux d'apprendre au peuple a raisonner: il ne faut pas\nl'eclairer trop, parce qu'il n'est pas possible de l'eclairer assez.\"_\n[\"It is dangerous to teach the people to reason--they should not be too\nmuch enlightened, because it is not possible to enlighten them\nsufficiently.\"]--When the enthusiasm of Rousseau's genius was thus\nusefully submitted to his good sense and knowledge of mankind, he little\nexpected every hamlet in France would be inundated with scraps of the\ncontrat social, and thousands of inoffensive peasants massacred for not\nunderstanding the Profession de Foi.\nThe arguments of mistaken philanthropists or designing politicians may\ndivert the order of things, but they cannot change our nature--they may\ncreate an universal taste for literature, but they will never unite it\nwith habits of industry; and until they prove how men are to live without\nlabour, they have no right to banish the chearful vacuity which usually\naccompanies it, by substituting reflections to make it irksome, and\npropensities with which it is incompatible.\nThe situation of France has amply demonstrated the folly of attempting to\nmake a whole people reasoners and politicians--there seems to be no\nmedium; and as it is impossible to make a nation of sages, you let loose\na horde of savages: for the philosophy which teaches a contempt for\naccustomed restraints, is not difficult to propagate; but that superior\nkind, which enables men to supply them, by subduing the passions that\nrender restraints necessary, is of slow progress, and never can be\ngeneral.\nI have made the war of La Vendee more a subject of reflection than\nnarrative, and have purposely avoided military details, which would be\nnot only uninteresting, but disgusting. You would learn no more from\nthese desultory hostilities, than that the defeats of the republican\narmies were, if possible, more sanguinary than their victories; that the\nroyalists, who began the war with humanity, were at length irritated to\nreprisals; and that more than two hundred thousand lives have already\nbeen sacrificed in the contest, yet undecided.\nAmiens, Oct. 24, 1794.\nRevolutions, like every thing else in France, are a mode, and the\nConvention already commemorate four since 1789: that of July 1789, which\nrendered the monarchical power nugatory; that of August the 10th, 1792,\nwhich subverted it; the expulsion of the Brissotins, in May 1793; and the\ndeath of Robespierre, in July 1794.\nThe people, accustomed, from their earliest knowledge, to respect the\nperson and authority of the King, felt that the events of the two first\nepochs, which disgraced the one and annihilated the other, were violent\nand important revolutions; and, as language which expresses the public\nsentiment is readily adopted, it soon became usual to speak of these\nevents as the revolutions of July and August.\nThe thirty-first of May has always been viewed in a very different light,\nfor it was not easy to make the people at large comprehend how the\nsuccession of Robespierre and Danton to Brissot and Roland could be\nconsidered as a revolution, more especially as it appeared evident that\nthe principles of one party actuated the government of the other. Every\ntown had its many-headed monster to represent the defeat of the\nFoederalists, and its mountain to proclaim the triumph of their enemies\nthe Mountaineers; but these political hieroglyphics were little\nunderstood, and the merits of the factions they alluded to little\ndistinguished--so that the revolution of the thirty-first of May was\nrather a party aera, than a popular one.\nThe fall of Robespierre would have made as little impression as that of\nthe Girondists, if some melioration of the revolutionary system had not\nsucceeded it; and it is in fact only since the public voice, and the\ninterest of the Convention, have occasioned a change approaching to\nreform, that the death of Robespierre is really considered as a benefit.\nBut what was in itself no more than a warfare of factions, may now, if\nestimated by its consequences, be pronounced a revolution of infinite\nimportance. The Jacobins, whom their declining power only rendered more\ninsolent and daring, have at length obliged the Convention to take\ndecided measures against them, and they are now subject to such\nregulations as must effectually diminish their influence, and, in the\nend, dissolve their whole combination. They can no longer correspond as\nsocieties, and the mischievous union which constituted their chief force,\ncan scarcely be supported for any time under the present restrictions.*\n * \"All affiliations, aggregations, and foederations, as well as\n correspondences carried on collectively between societies, under\n whatever denomination they may exist, are henceforth prohibited, as\n being subversive of government, and contrary to the unity of the\n republic.\n \"Those persons who sign as presidents or secretaries, petitions or\n addresses in a collective form, shall be arrested and confined as\n suspicious, &c. &c.--Whoever offends in any shape against the\n present law, will incur the same penalty.\"\n The whole of the decree is in the same spirit. The immediate and\n avowed pretext for this measure was, that the popular societies, who\n have of late only sent petitions disagreeable to the Convention, did\n not express the sense of the people. Yet the deposition of the\n King, and the establishment of the republic, had no other sanction\n than the adherence of these clubs, who are now allowed not to be the\n nation, and whose very existence as then constituted is declared to\n be subversive of government.\nIt is not improbable, that the Convention, by suffering the clubs still\nto exist, after reducing them to nullity, may hope to preserve the\ninstitution as a future resource against the people, while it represses\ntheir immediate efforts against itself. The Brissotins would have\nattempted a similar policy, but they had nothing to oppose to the\nJacobins, except their personal influence. Brissot and Roland took part\nwith the clubs, as they approved the massacres of August and September,\njust as far as it answered their purpose; and when they were abandoned by\nthe one, and the other were found to incur an unprofitable odium, they\nacted the part which Tallien and Freron act now under the same\ncircumstances, and would willingly have promoted the destruction of a\npower which had become inimical to them.*--\n * Brissot and Roland were more pernicious as Jacobins than the most\n furious of their successors. If they did not in person excite the\n people to the commission of crimes, they corrupted them, and made\n them fit instruments for the crimes of others. Brissot might affect\n to condemn the massacres of September in the gross, but he is known\n to have enquired with eager impatience, and in a tone which implied\n he had reasons for expecting it, whether De Morande, an enemy he\n wished to be released from, was among the murdered.\n--Their imitators, without possessing more honesty, either political or\nmoral, are more fortunate; and not only Tallien and Freron, who since\ntheir expulsion from the Jacobins have become their most active enemies,\nare now in a manner popular, but even the whole Convention is much less\ndetested than it was before.\nIt is the singular felicity of the Assembly to derive a sort of\npopularity from the very excesses it has occasioned or sanctioned, and\nwhich, it was natural to suppose, would have consigned it for ever to\nvengeance or obloquy; but the past sufferings of the people have taught\nthem to be moderate in their expectations; and the name of their\nrepresentation has been so connected with tyranny of every sort, that it\nappears an extraordinary forbearance when the usual operations of\nguillotines and mandates of arrest are suspended.\nThus, though the Convention have not in effect repaired a thousandth part\nof their own acts of injustice, or done any good except from necessity,\nthey are overwhelmed with applauding addresses, and affectionate\ninjunctions not to quit their post. What is still more wonderful, many\nof these are sincere; and Tallien, Freron, Legendre, &c. with all their\nrevolutionary enormities on their heads, are now the heroes of the\nreviving aristocrats.\nSituated as things are at present, there is much sound policy in\nflattering the Convention into a proper use of their power, rather than\nmaking a convulsive effort to deprive them of it. The Jacobins would\ndoubtless avail themselves of such a movement; and this is so much\napprehended, that it has given rise to a general though tacit agreement\nto foment the divisions between the Legislature and the Clubs, and to\nsupport the first, at least until it shall have destroyed the latter.\nThe late decrees, which obstruct the intercourse and affiliation of\npopular societies, may be regarded as an event not only beneficial to\nthis country, but to the world in general; because it is confessed, that\nthese combinations, by means of which the French monarchy was subverted,\nand the King brought to the scaffold, are only reconcileable with a\nbarbarous and anarchical government.\nThe Convention are now much occupied on two affairs, which call forth all\ntheir \"natural propensities,\" and afford a farther confirmation of this\nfact--that their feelings and principles are always instinctively at war\nwith justice, however they may find it expedient to affect a regard for\nit--_C'est la chatte metamorphosee en femme_ [The cat turned into a\nwoman.]--\n _\"En vain de son train ordinaire\"\n \"On la veut desaccoutumer,\n \"Quelque chose qu'on puisse faire\n \"On ne fauroit la reformer.\"_\nThe Deputies who were imprisoned as accomplices of the Girondists, and on\nother different pretexts, have petitioned either to be brought to trial\nor released; and the abominable conduct of Carrier at Nantes is so fully\nsubstantiated, that the whole country is impatient to have some steps\ntaken towards bringing him to punishment: yet the Convention are averse\nfrom both these measures--they procrastinate and elude the demand of\ntheir seventy-two colleagues, who were arrested without a specific\ncharge; while they almost protect Carrier, and declare, that in cases\nwhich tend to deprive a Representative of his liberty, it is better to\nreflect thirty times than once. This is curious doctrine with men who\nhave sent so many people arbitrarily to the scaffold, and who now detain\nseventy-two Deputies in confinement, they know not why.\nThe ashes of Rousseau have recently been deposited with the same\nceremonies, and in the same place, as those of Marat. We should feel for\nsuch a degradation of genius, had not the talents of Rousseau been\nfrequently misapplied; and it is their misapplication which has levelled\nhim to an association with Marat. Rousseau might be really a fanatic,\nand, though eccentric, honest; yet his power of adorning impracticable\nsystems, it must be acknowledged, has been more mischievous to society\nthan a thousand such gross impostors as Marat.\nI have learned since my return from the Providence, the death of Madame\nElizabeth. I was ill when it happened, and my friends took some pains to\nconceal an event which they knew would affect me. In tracing the motives\nof the government for this horrid action, it may perhaps be sufficiently\naccounted for in the known piety and virtues of this Princess; but\nreasons of another kind have been suggested to me, and which, in all\nlikelihood, contributed to hasten it. She was the only person of the\nroyal family of an age competent for political transactions who had not\nemigrated, and her character extorted respect even from her enemies. [The\nPrince of Conti was too insignificant to be an object of jealousy in this\nway.] She must therefore, of course, since the death of the Queen, have\nbeen an object of jealousy to all parties. Robespierre might fear that\nshe would be led to consent to some arrangement with a rival faction for\nplacing the King on the throne--the Convention were under similar\napprehensions with regard to him; so that the fate of this illustrious\nsufferer was probably gratifying to every part of the republicans.\nI find, on reading her trial, (if so it may be called,) a repetition of\none of the principal charges against the Queen--that of trampling on the\nnational colours at Versailles, during an entertainment given to some\nnewly-arrived troops. Yet I have been assured by two gentlemen,\nperfectly informed on the subject, and who were totally unacquainted with\neach other, that this circumstance, which has been so usefully enlarged\nupon, is false,* and that the whole calumny originated in the jealousy of\na part of the national guard who had not been invited.\n * This infamous calumny (originally fabricated by Lecointre the\n linen draper, then an officer of the National Guard, now a member of\n the council of 500) was amply confuted by M. Mounier, who was\n President of the States-General at the time, in a publication\n intitled \"_Expose de ma Conduite,_\" which appeared soon after the\n event--in the autumn of 1789.--Editor.\nBut this, as well as the taking of the Bastille, and other revolutionary\nfalsehoods, will, I trust, be elucidated. The people are now undeceived\nonly by their calamities--the time may come, when it will be safe to\nproduce their conviction by truth. Heroes of the fourteenth of July, and\npatriots of the tenth of August, how will ye shrink from it!--Yours, &c.\nAmiens, Nov. 2, 1794.\nEvery post now brings me letters from England; but I perceive, by the\nsuppressed congratulations of my friends, that, though they rejoice to\nfind I am still alive, they are far from thinking me in a state of\nsecurity. You, my dear Brother, must more particularly have lamented the\ntedious confinement I have endured, and the inconveniencies to which I\nhave been subjected; I am, however, persuaded that you would not wish me\nto have been exempt from a persecution in which all the natives of\nEngland, who are not a disgrace to their country, as well as some that\nare so, have shared. Such an exemption would now be deemed a reproach;\nfor, though it must be confessed that few of us have been voluntary\nsufferers, we still claim the honour of martyrdom, and are not very\ntolerant towards those who, exposed by their situation, may be supposed\nto have owed their protection to their principles.\nThere are, indeed, many known revolutionists and republicans, who, from\nparty disputes, personal jealousies, or from being comprised in some\ngeneral measure, have undergone a short imprisonment; and these men now\nwish to be confounded with their companions who are of a different\ndescription. But such persons are carefully distinguished;* and the\naristocrats have, in their turn, a catalogue of suspicious people--that\nis, of people suspected of not having been suspicious.\n * Mr. Thomas Paine, for instance, notwithstanding his sufferings, is\n still thought more worthy of a seat in the Convention or the\n Jacobins, than of an apartment in the Luxembourg.--Indeed I have\n generally remarked, that the French of all parties hold an English\n republican in peculiar abhorrence.\nIt is now the fashion to talk of a sojourn in a maison d'arret with\ntriumph; and the more decent people, who from prudence or fear had been\nforced to seek refuge in the Jacobin clubs, are now solicitous to\nproclaim their real motives. The red cap no longer \"rears its hideous\nfront\" by day, but is modestly converted into a night-cap; and the bearer\nof a diplome de Jacobin, instead of swinging along, to the annoyance of\nall the passengers he meets, paces soberly with a diminished height, and\nan air not unlike what in England we call sneaking. The bonnet rouge\nbegins likewise to be effaced from flags at the doors; and, as though\nthis emblem of liberty were a very bad neighbour to property, its\nrelegation seems to encourage the re-appearance of silver forks and\nspoons, which are gradually drawn forth from their hiding-places, and\nresume their stations at table. The Jacobins represent themselves as\nbeing under the most cruel oppression, declare that the members of the\nConvention are aristocrats and royalists, and lament bitterly, that,\ninstead of fish-women, or female patriots of republican external, the\ngalleries are filled with auditors in flounces and anti-civic top-knots,\nfemmes a fontanges.\nThese imputations and grievances of the Jacobins are not altogether\nwithout foundation. People in general are strongly impressed with an\nidea that the Assembly are veering towards royalism; and it is equally\ntrue, that the speeches of Tallien and Freron are occasionally heard and\napplauded by fair elegantes, who, two years ago, would have recoiled at\nthe name of either. It is not that their former deeds are forgotten, but\nthe French are grown wise by suffering; and it is politic, when bad men\nact well, whatever the motive, to give them credit for it, as nothing is\nso likely to make them persevere, as the hope that their reputation is\nyet retrievable. On this principle the aristocrats are the eulogists of\nTallien, while the Jacobins remind him hourly of the massacres of the\npriests, and his official conduct as Secretary to the municipality or\nParis.*\n * Tallien was Seecretary to the Commune of Paris in 1792, and on the\n thirty-first of August he appeared at the bar of the Legislative\n Assembly with an address, in which he told them \"he had caused the\n refractory priests to be arrested and confined, and that in a few\n days the Land of Liberty should be freed of them.\"--The massacres of\n the prisons began two days after!\nAs soon as a Representative is convicted of harbouring an opinion\nunfavourable to pillage or murder, he is immediately declared an\naristocrat; or, if the Convention happen for a moment to be influenced by\nreason or justice, the hopes and fears of both parties are awakened by\nsuspicions that the members are converts to royalism.--For my own part,\nI believe they are and will be just what their personal security and\npersonal interest may suggest, though it is but a sorry sort of panegyric\non republican ethics to conclude, that every one who manifests the least\nsymptom of probity or decency, must of course be a royalist or an\naristocrat.\nNotwithstanding the harmony which appears to subsist between the\nConvention and the people, the former is much less popular in detail than\nin the gross. Almost every member who has been on mission, is accused of\ndilapidations and cruelties so heinous, that, if they had not been\ncommitted by Representans du Peuple, the criminal courts would find no\ndifficulty in deciding upon them.--But as theft or murder does not\ndeprive a member of his privileges, complaints of this nature are only\ncognizable by the Assembly, which, being yet in its first days of\nregeneration, is rather scrupulous of defending such amusements overtly.\nAlarmed, however, at the number, and averse from the precedent of these\ndenunciations, it has now passed a variety of decrees, which are termed a\nguarantee of the national representation, and which in fact guarantee it\nso effectually, that a Deputy may do any thing in future with impunity,\nprovided it does not affect his colleagues. There are now so many forms,\nreports, and examinations, that several months may be employed before the\nperson of a delinquent, however notorious his guilt, can be secured. The\nexistence of a fellow-creature should, doubtless, be attacked with\ncaution; for, though he may have forfeited his claims on our esteem, and\neven our pity, religion has preserved him others, of which he should not\nbe deprived.--But when we recollect that all these merciful ceremonies\nare in favour of a Carrier or a Le Bon, and that the King, Madame\nElizabeth, and thousands of innocent people, were hurried to execution,\nwithout being allowed the consolations of piety or affection, which only\na mockery of justice might have afforded them; when, even now, priests\nare guillotined for celebrating masses in private, and thoughtless people\nfor speaking disrespectfully of the Convention--the heart is at variance\nwith religion and principle, and we regret that mercy is to be the\nexclusive portion of those who were never accessible to its dictates.*\n * The denunciation being first presented to the Assembly, they are\n to decide whether it shall be received. If they determine in the\n affirmative, it is sent to the three Committees of Legislation,\n Public Welfare, and General Safety, to report whether there may be\n room for farther examination. In that case, a commission of\n twenty-one members is appointed to receive the proofs of the accuser,\n and the defence of the accused. These Commissioners, after as long a\n delay as they may think fit to interpose, make known their opinion;\n and if it be against the accused, the Convention proceed to\n determine finally whether the matter shall be referred to the\n ordinary tribunal. All this time the culprit is at large, or, at\n worst, and merely for the form, carelessly guarded at his own\n dwelling.\nI would not \"pick bad from bad,\" but it irks one's spirit to see these\nmiscreants making \"assurance doubly sure,\" and providing for their own\nsafety with such solicitude, after sacrificing, without remorse, whatever\nwas most interesting or respectable in the country.--Yours, &c.\nBasse-ville, Arras, Nov. 6, 1794.\nSince my own liberation, I have been incessantly employed in endeavouring\nto procure the return of my friends to Amiens; who, though released from\nprison some time, could not obtain passports to quit Arras. After\nnumerous difficulties and vexations, we have at length succeeded, and I\nam now here to accompany them home.\nI found Mr. and Mrs. D____ much altered by the hardships they have\nundergone: Mrs. D____, in particular, has been confined some months in a\nnoisome prison called the Providence, originally intended as a house of\ncorrection, and in which, though built to contain an hundred and fifty\npersons, were crouded near five hundred females, chiefly ladies of Arras\nand the environs.--The superintendance of this miserable place was\nentrusted to a couple of vulgar and vicious women, who, having\ndistinguished themselves as patriots from the beginning of the\nrevolution, were now rewarded by Le Bon with an office as profitable\nas it was congenial to their natures.\nI know not whether it is to be imputed to the national character, or to\nthat of the French republicans only, but the cruelties which have been\ncommitted are usually so mixed with licentiousness, as to preclude\ndescription. I have already noticed the conduct of Le Bon, and it must\nsuffice to say, his agents were worthy of him, and that the female\nprisoners suffered every thing which brutality, rapaciousness, and\nindecency, could inflict. Mr. D____ was, in the mean time, transferred\nfrom prison to prison--the distress of separation was augmented by their\nmutual apprehensions and pecuniary embarrassments--and I much fear, the\nhealth and spirits of both are irretrievably injured.\nI regret my impatience in coming here, rather than waiting the arrival of\nmy friends at home; for the changes I observe, and the recollections they\ngive birth to, oppress my heart, and render the place hateful to me.--All\nthe families I knew are diminished by executions, and their property is\nconfiscated--those whom I left in elegant hotels are now in obscure\nlodgings, subsisting upon the superfluities of better days--and the\nsorrows of the widows and orphans are increased by penury; while the\nConvention, which affects to condemn the crimes of Le Bon, is profiting\nby the spoils of his victims.\nI am the more deeply impressed by these circumstances, because, when I\nwas here in 1792, several who have thus fallen, though they had nothing\nto reproach themselves with, were yet so much intimidated as to propose\nemigrating; and I then was of opinion, that such a step would be\nimpolitic and unnecessary. I hope and believe this opinion did not\ninfluence them, but I lament having given it, for the event has proved\nthat a great part of the emigrants are justifiable. It always appeared\nto me so serious and great an evil to abandon one's country, that when I\nhave seen it done with indifference or levity, I may perhaps have\nsometimes transferred to the measure itself a sentiment of\ndisapprobation, excited originally by the manner of its adoption. When I\nsaw people expatiate with calmness, and heard them speak of it as a means\nof distinguishing themselves, I did not sufficiently allow for the\ntendency of the French to make the best of every thing, or the influence\nof vanity on men who allow it to make part of the national\ncharacteristic: and surely, if ever vanity were laudable, that of marking\na detestation for revolutionary principles, and an attachment to loyalty\nand religion, may justly be considered so. Many whom I then accused of\nbeing too lightly affected by the prospect of exile, might be animated by\nthe hope of personally contributing to the establishment of peace and\norder, and rescuing their country from the banditti who were oppressing\nit; and it is not surprising that such objects should dazzle the\nimagination and deceive the judgment in the choice of measures by which\nthey were to be obtained.\nThe number of emigrants from fashion or caprice is probably not great;\nand whom shall we now dare to include under this description, when the\nhumble artizan, the laborious peasant, and the village priest, have\nensanguined the scaffold destined for the prince or the prelate?--But if\nthe emigrants be justifiable, the refugees are yet more so.\nBy Emigrants, I mean all who, without being immediately in danger, left\ntheir country through apprehension of the future--from attachment to the\npersons of the Princes, or to join companions in the army whom they might\ndeem it a disgrace to abandon.--Those whom I think may with truth be\nstyled Refugees, are the Nobility and Priests who fled when the people,\nirritated by the literary terrorists of the day, the Brissots, Rolands,\nCamille Desmoulins, &c. were burning their chateaux and proscribing their\npersons, and in whom expatriation cannot properly be deemed the effect of\nchoice. These, wherever they have sought an asylum, are entitled to our\nrespect and sympathy.\nYet, I repeat, we are not authorized to discriminate. There is no\nreasoning coldly on the subject. The most cautious prudence, the most\nliberal sacrifices, and the meanest condescensions, have not insured the\nlives and fortunes of those who ventured to remain; and I know not that\nthe absent require any other apology than the desolation of the country\nthey have quitted. Had my friends who have been slaughtered by Le Bon's\ntribunal persisted in endeavouring to escape, they might have lived, and\ntheir families, though despoiled by the rapacity of the government, have\nbeen comparatively happy.*\n * The first horrors of the revolution are well known, and I have\n seen no accounts which exaggerate them. The niece of a lady of my\n acquaintance, a young woman only seventeen, escaped from her\n country-house (whilst already in flames) with her infant at her\n breast, and literally without clothes to cover her. In this state\n she wandered a whole night, and when she at length reached a place\n where she procured assistance, was so exhausted that her life was in\n danger.--Another lady, whom I knew, was wounded in the arm by some\n peasants assembled to force from her the writings of her husband's\n estates. Even after this they still remained in France, submitted\n with cheerfulness to all the demands of patriotic gifts, forced\n loans, requisitions and impositions of every kind; yet her husband\n was nevertheless guillotined, and the whole of their immense\n property confiscated.\nRetrospections, like these, obliterate many of my former notions on the\nsubject of the Emigrants; and if I yet condemn emigration, it is only as\na general measure, impolitic, and inadequate to the purposes for which it\nwas undertaken. But errors of judgment, in circumstances so\nunprecedented, cannot be censured consistently with candour, through we\nmay venture to mark them as a discouragement to imitation; for if any\nnation should yet be menaced by the revolutionary scourge, let it beware\nof seeking external redress by a temporary abandonment of its interests\nto the madness of systemists, or the rapine of needy adventurers. We\nmust, we ought to, lament the fate of the many gallant men who have\nfallen, and the calamities of those who survive; but what in them has\nbeen a mistaken policy, will become guilt in those who, on a similar\noccasion, shall not be warned by their example. I am concerned when I\nhear these unhappy fugitives are any where objects of suspicion or\npersecution, as it is not likely that those who really emigrated from\nprinciple can merit such treatment: and I doubt not, that most of the\ninstances of treachery or misconduct ascribed to the Emigrants originated\nin republican emissaries, who have assumed that character for the double\npurpose of discrediting it, and of exercising their trade as spies.\nThe common people here, who were retained by Le Bon for several months to\nattend and applaud his executions, are still dissolute and ferocious, and\nopenly regret the loss of their pay, and the disuse of the guillotine.\n--I came to Arras in mourning, which I have worn since the receipt of\nyour first letter, but was informed by the lady with whom my friends\nlodge, that I must not attempt to walk the streets in black, for that it\nwas customary to insult those who did so, on a supposition that they were\nrelated to some persons who had been executed; I therefore borrowed a\nwhite undress, and stole out by night to visit my unfortunate\nacquaintance, as I found it was also dangerous to be seen entering houses\nknown to contain the remains of those families which had been dismembered\nby Le Bon's cruelties.\nWe return to Amiens to-morrow, though you must not imagine so formidable\na person as myself is permitted to wander about the republic without due\nprecaution; and I had much difficulty in being allowed to come, even\nattended by a guard, who has put me to a considerable expence; but the\nman is civil, and as he has business of his own to transact in the town,\nhe is no embarrassment to me.\nAmiens, Nov. 26, 1794.\nThe Constituent Assembly, the Legislative Assembly, and the National\nConvention, all seem to have acted from a persuasion, that their sole\nduty as revolutionists was comprised in the destruction of whatever\nexisted under the monarchy. If an institution were discovered to have\nthe slightest defect in principle, or to have degenerated a little in\npractice, their first step was to abolish it entirely, and leave the\nreplacing it for the present to chance, and for the future to their\nsuccessors. In return for the many new words which they have introduced\ninto the French language, they have expunged that of reform; and the\nhavock and devastation, which a Mahometan conqueror might have performed\nas successfully, are as yet the only effects of philosophy and\nrepublicanism.\nThis system of ignorance and violence seems to have persecuted with\npeculiar hostility all the ancient establishments for education; and the\nsame plan of suppressing daily what they have neither leisure nor\nabilities to supply, which I remarked to you two years ago, has directed\nthe Convention ever since. It is true, the interval has produced much\ndissertation, and engendered many projects; but those who were so\nunanimous in rejecting, were extremely discordant in adopting, and their\nown disputes and indecision might have convinced them of their\npresumption in condemning what they now found it so difficult to excel.\nSome decided in favour of public schools, after the example of Sparta--\nthis was objected to by others, because, said they, if you have public\nschools you must have edifices, and governors, and professors, who will,\nto a certainty, be aristocrats, or become so; and, in short, this will\nonly be a revival of the colleges of the old government--A third party\nproposed private seminaries, or that people might be at liberty to\neducate their children in the way they thought best; but this, it was\ndeclared, would have a still greater tendency to aristocracy; for the\nrich, being better able to pay than the poor, would engross all the\nlearning to themselves. The Jacobins were of opinion, that there should\nbe no schools, either public or private, but that the children should\nmerely be taken to hear the debates of the Clubs, where they would\nacquire all the knowledge necessary for republicans; and a few spirits of\na yet sublimer cast were adverse both to schools or clubs, and\nrecommended, that the rising generation should \"study the great book of\nNature alone.\" It is, however, at length concluded, that there shall be\na certain number of public establishments, and that people shall even be\nallowed to have their children instructed at home, under the inspection\nof the constituted authorities, who are to prevent the instillation of\naristocratic principles.*\n * We may judge of the competency of many of these people to be\n official censors of education by the following specimens from a\n report of Gregoire's. Since the rage for destruction has a little\n subsided, circular letters have been sent to the administrators of\n the departments, districts, &c. enquiring what antiquities, or other\n objects of curiosity, remain in their neighbourhood.--\"From one,\n (says Gregoire,) we are informed, that they are possessed of nothing\n in this way except four vases, which, as they have been told, are of\n porphyry. From a second we learn, that, not having either forge or\n manufactory in the neighbourhood, no monument of the arts is to be\n found there: and a third announces, that the completion of its\n library cataloges has been retarded, because the person employed at\n them ne fait pas la diplomatique!\"--(\"does not understand the\n science of diplomacy.\")\nThe difficulty as to the mode in which children were to be taught being\ngot over, another remained, not less liable to dispute--which was, the\nchoice of what they were to learn. Almost every member had a favourite\narticle---music, physic, prophylactics, geography, geometry, astronomy,\narithmetic, natural history, and botany, were all pronounced to be\nrequisites in an eleemosynary system of education, specified to be\nchiefly intended for the country people; but as this debate regarded only\nthe primary schools for children in their earliest years, and as one man\nfor a stipend of twelve hundred livres a year, was to do it all, a\ncompromise became necessary, and it has been agreed for the present, that\ninfants of six years shall be taught only reading, writing, gymnastics,\ngeometry, geography, natural philosophy, and history of all free nations,\nand that of all the tyrants, the rights of man, and the patriotic songs.\n--Yet, after these years of consideration, and days of debate, the\nAssembly has done no more than a parish-clerk, or an old woman with a\nprimer, and \"a twig whilom of small regard to see,\" would do better\nwithout its interference.\nThe students of a more advanced age are still to be disposed of, and the\ntask of devising an institution will not be easy; because, perhaps a\nCollot d'Herbois or a Duhem is not satisfied with the system which\nperfectioned the genius of Montesquieu or Descartes. Change, not\nimprovement, is the object--whatever bears a resemblance to the past must\nbe proscribed; and while other people study to simplify modes of\ninstruction, the French legislature is intent on rendering them as\ndifficult and complex as possible; and at the moment they decree that the\nwhole country shall become learned, they make it an unfathomable science\nto teach urchins of half a dozen years old their letters.\nForeigners, indeed, who judge only from the public prints, may suppose\nthe French far advanced towards becoming the most erudite nation in\nEurope: unfortunately, all these schools, primary, and secondary, and\ncentrical, and divergent, and normal,* exist as yet but in the\nrepertories of the Convention, and perhaps may not add \"a local\nhabitation\" to their names, till the present race** shall be unfit to\nreap the benefit of them.\n * _Les Ecoles Normales_ were schools where masters were to be\n instructed in the art of teaching. Certain deputies objected to\n them, as being of feudal institution, supposing that Normale had\n some reference to Normandy.\n ** This was a mistake, for the French seem to have adopted the\n maxim, \"that man is never too old to learn;\" and, accordingly, at\n the opening of the Normal schools, the celebrated Bougainville, now\n eighty years of age, became a pupil. This Normal project was,\n however, soon relinquished--for by that fatality which has hitherto\n attended all the republican institutions, it was found to have\n become a mere nursery for aristocrats.\nBut this revolutionary barbarism, not content with stopping the progress\nof the rising generation, has ravaged without mercy the monuments of\ndeparted genius, and persecuted with senseless despotism those who were\ncapable of replacing them. Pictures have been defaced, statues\nmutilated, and libraries burnt, because they reminded the people of their\nKings or their religion; while artists, and men of science or literature,\nwere wasting their valuable hours in prison, or expiring on the\nscaffold.--The moral and gentle Florian died of vexation. A life of\nabstraction and utility could not save the celebrated chymist, Lavoisier,\nfrom the Guillotine. La Harpe languished in confinement, probably, that\nhe might not eclipse Chenier, who writes tragedies himself; and every\nauthor that refused to degrade his talents by the adulation of tyranny\nhas been proscribed and persecuted. Palissot,* at sixty years old, was\ndestined to expiate in a prison a satire upon Rousseau, written when he\nwas only twenty, and escaped, not by the interposition of justice, but by\nthe efficacity of a bon mot.\n * Palissot was author of \"The Philosophers,\" a comedy, written\n thirty years ago, to ridicule Rousseau. He wrote to the\n municipality, acknowledged his own error, and the merits of\n Rousseau; yet, says he, if Rousseau were a god, you ought not to\n sacrifice human victims to him.--The expression, which in French is\n well tuned, pleased the municipality, and Palissot, I believe, was\n not afterwards molested.\n--A similar fate would have been awarded Dorat, [Author of \"Les Malheurs\nde l'Inconstance,\" and other novels.] for styling himself Chevalier in\nthe title-pages of his novels, had he not commuted his punishment for\nbase eulogiums on the Convention, and with the same pen, which has been\nthe delight of the French boudoir, celebrated Carrier's murders on the\nLoire under the appellation of \"baptemes civiques.\" Every province in\nFrance, we are informed by the eloquent pedantry of Gregoire, exhibits\ntraces of these modern Huns, which, though now exclusively attributed to\nthe agents of Robespierre and Mr. Pitt,* it is very certain were\nauthorized by the decrees of the Convention, and executed under the\nsanction of Deputies on mission, or their subordinates.\n * _\"Soyez sur que ces destructions se sont pour la plupart a\n l'instigation de nos ennemis--quel triomphe pour l'Anglais si il eul\n pu ecraser notre commerce par l'aneantissement des arts dont la\n culture enrichit le sien.\"_--\"Rest assured that these demolitions\n were, for the most part, effected at the instigation of our enemies\n --what a triumph would it have been for the English, if they had\n succeeded in crushing our commerce by the annihilation of the arts,\n the culture of which enriched their own.\"\n--If the principal monuments of art be yet preserved to gratify the\nnational taste or vanity, it is owing to the courage and devotion of\nindividuals, who obeyed with a protecting dilatoriness the destructive\nmandates of government.\nAt some places, orangeries were sold by the foot for fire-wood, because,\nas it was alledged, that republicans had more occasion for apples and\npotatoes than oranges.--At Mousseaux, the seals were put on the\nhot-houses, and all the plants nearly destroyed. Valuable remains of\nsculpture were condemned for a crest, a fleur de lys, or a coronet\nattached to them; and the deities of the Heathen mythology were made war\nupon by the ignorance of the republican executioners, who could not\ndistinguish them from emblems of feodality.*\n * At Anet, a bronze stag, placed as a fountain in a large piece of\n water, was on the point of being demolished, because stags are\n beasts of chace, and hunting is a feodal privilege, and stags of\n course emblems of feodality.--It was with some difficulty preserved\n by an amateur, who insisted, that stags of bronze were not included\n in the decree.--By a decree of the Convention, which I have formerly\n mentioned, all emblems of royalty or feodality were to be demolished\n by a particular day; and as the law made no distinction, it could\n not be expected that municipalities, &c. often ignorant or timid,\n should either venture or desire to spare what in the eyes of the\n connoisseur might be precious.\n \"At St. Dennis, (says the virtuoso Gregoire,) where the National\n Club justly struck at the tyrants even in their tombs, that of\n Turenne ought to have been spared; yet strokes of the sword are\n still visible on it.\"--He likewise complains, that at the Botanic\n Garden the bust of Linnaeus had been destroyed, on a presumption of\n its being that of Charles the Ninth; and if it had been that of\n Charles the Ninth, it is not easy to discern how the cause of\n liberty was served by its mutilation.--The artist or moralist\n contemplates with equal profit or curiosity the features of Pliny or\n Commodus; and History and Science will appreciate Linnaeus and\n Charles the Ninth, without regarding whether their resemblances\n occupy a palace, or are scattered in fragments by republican\n ignorance.--Long after the death of Robespierre, the people of\n Amiens humbly petitioned the Convention, that their cathedral,\n perhaps the most beautiful Gothic edifice in Europe, might be\n preserved; and to avoid giving offence by the mention of churches or\n cathedrals, they called it a Basilique.--But it is unnecessary to\n adduce any farther proof, that the spirit of what is now called\n Vandalism originated in the Convention. Every one in France must\n recollect, that, when dispatches from all corners announced these\n ravages, they were heard with as much applause, as though they had\n related so many victories gained over the enemy.\n--Quantities of curious medals have been melted down for the trifling\nvalue of the metal; and at Abbeville, a silver St. George, of uncommon\nworkmanship, and which Mr. Garrick is said to have desired to purchase at\na very high price, was condemned to the crucible--\n _\"----Sur tant de tresors\n \"Antiques monumens respectes jusqu'alors,\n \"Par la destruction signalant leur puissance,\n \"Las barbares etendirent leur stupide vengeance.\"\n \"La Religion,\"_ Racine.\nYet the people in office who operated these mischiefs were all appointed\nby the delegates of the Assembly; for the first towns of the republic\nwere not trusted even with the choice of a constable. Instead,\ntherefore, of feeling either surprise or regret at this devastation, we\nought rather to rejoice that it has extended no farther; for such agents,\narmed with such decrees, might have reduced France to the primitive state\nof ancient Gaul. Several valuable paintings are said to have been\nconveyed to England, and it will be curious if the barbarism of France in\nthe eighteenth century should restore to us what we, with a fanaticism\nand ignorance at least more prudent than theirs, sold them in the\nseventeenth. The zealots of the Barebones' Parliament are, however, more\nrespectable than the atheistical Vandals of the Convention; and, besides\nthe benefit of our example, the interval of a century and an half, with\nthe boast of a philosophy and a degree of illumination exceeding that of\nany other people, have rendered the errors of the French at once more\nunpardonable and more ridiculous; for, in assimilating their past\npresentations to their present conduct and situation, we do not always\nfind it possible to regret without a mixture of contempt.\nAmiens, Nov. 29, 1794.\nThe selfish policy of the Convention in affecting to respect and preserve\nthe Jacobin societies, while it deprived them of all power, and help up\nthe individuals who composed them to abhorrence, could neither satisfy\nnor deceive men versed in revolutionary expedients, and more accustomed\nto dictate laws than to submit to them.*\n * The Jacobins were at this time headed by Billaud Varenne, Collot,\n Thuriot, &c.--veterans, who were not likely to be deceived by\n temporizing.\nSupported by all the force of government, and intrinsically formidable by\ntheir union, the Clubs had long existed in defiance of public\nreprobation, and for some time they had braved not only the people, but\nthe government itself. The instant they were disabled from corresponding\nand communicating in that privileged sort of way which rendered them so\nconspicuous, they felt their weakness; and their desultory and\nunconnected efforts to regain their influence only served to complete its\nannihilation. While they pretended obedience to the regulations to which\nthe Convention had subjected them, they intrigued to promote a revolt,\nand were strenuously exerting themselves to gain partizans among the idle\nand dissolute, who, having subsisted for months as members of\nrevolutionary committees, and in other revolutionary offices, were\nnaturally averse from a more moderate government. The numbers of these\nwere far from inconsiderable: and, when it is recollected that this\ndescription of people only had been allowed to retain their arms, while\nall who had any thing to defend were deprived of them, we cannot wonder\nif the Jacobins entertained hopes of success.\nThe Convention, aware of these attempts, now employed against its ancient\naccomplices the same arts that had proved so fatal to all those whom it\nhad considered as its enemies. A correspondence was \"opportunely\"\nintercepted between the Jacobins and the Emigrants in Switzerland, while\nemissaries insinuated themselves into the Clubs, for the purpose of\nexciting desperate motions; or, dispersed in public places, contrived, by\nassuming the Jacobin costume, to throw on the faction the odium of those\nseditious exclamations which they were employed to vociferate.\nThere is little doubt that the designs of the Jacobins were nearly such\nas have been imputed to them. They had, however, become more politic\nthan to act thus openly, without being prepared to repel their enemies,\nor to support their friends; and there is every appearance that the Swiss\nplots, and the insurrections of the _Palais Egalite,_ were the devices of\nthe government, to give a pretext for shutting up the Club altogether,\nand to avert the real dangers with which it was menaced, by spreading an\nalarm of fictitious ones. A few idle people assembled (probably on\npurpose) about the _Palais Egalite,_ and the place where the Jacobins held\ntheir meetings, and the exclamation of \"Down with the Convention!\" served\nas the signal for hostilities. The aristocrats joined the partizans of\nthe Convention, the Jacobins were attacked in their hall, and an affray\nensued, in which several persons on each side were wounded. Both parties\naccused each other of being the aggressor, and a report of the business\nwas made to the Assembly; but the Assembly had already decided--and, on\nthe ninth of November, while the Jacobins were endeavouring to raise the\nstorm by a recapitulation of the rights of man, a decree was passed,\nprohibiting their debates, and ordering the national seal to be put on\ntheir doors and papers. The society were not in force to make\nresistance, and the decree was carried into execution as quietly as\nthough it had been levelled against the hotel of some devoted aristocrat.\nWhen the news of this event reached the departments, it occasioned an\nuniversal rejoicing--not such a rejoicing as is ordered for the successes\nof the French arms, (which always seems to be a matter of great\nindifference,) but a chearfulness of heart and of countenance; and many\npersons whom I do not remember to have ever seen in the least degree\nmoved by political events, appeared sincerely delighted at this--\n \"And those smile now, who never smil'd before,\n \"And those who always smil'd, now smile the more.\"\n Parnell's Claudian.\nThe armies might proceed to Vienna, pillage the Escurial, or subjugate\nall Europe, and I am convinced no emotion of pleasure would be excited\nequal to that manifested at the downfall of the Jacobins of Paris.\nSince this disgrace of the parent society, the Clubs in the departments\nhave, for the most part, dissolved themselves, or dwindled into peaceable\nassemblies to hear the news read, and applaud the convention.--The few\nJacobin emblems which were yet remaining have totally disappeared, and no\nvestige of Jacobinism is left, but the graves of its victims, and the\ndesolation of the country.\nThe profligate, the turbulent, the idle, and needy, of various countries\nin Europe, have been tempted by the successes of the French Jacobins to\nendeavour to establish similar institutions; but the same successes have\noperated as a warning to people of a different description, and the fall\nof these societies has drawn two confessions from their original\npartizans, which ought never to be forgotten--namely, that they were\nformed for the purpose of subverting the monarchy, and that their\nexistence is incompatible with regular government of any kind.--\"While\nthe monarchy still existed, (says the most philosophic Lequinio, with\nwhose scheme of reforming La Vendee you are already acquainted,) it was\npolitic and necessary to encourage popular societies, as the most\nefficacious means of operating its destruction; but now we have effected\na revolution, and have only to consolidate it by mild and philosophic\nlaws, these societies are dangerous, because they can produce only\nconfusion and disorder.\"--This is also the language of Brissot, who\nadmires the Jacobins from their origin till the end of 1792, but after\nthat period he admits they were only the instruments of faction, and\ndestructive of all property and order.*\n * The period of the Jacobin annals so much admired by Brissot,\n comprises the dethronement of the King, the massacres of the\n prisons, the banishment of the priests, &c. That which he\n reprobates begins precisely at the period when the Jacobins disputed\n the claims of himself and his party to the exclusive direction of\n the government.--See Brissot's Address to his Constituents.\n--We learn therefore, not from the abuses alone, but from the praises\nbestowed on the Jacobins, how much such combinations are to be dreaded.\nTheir merit, it appears, consisted in the subversion of the monarchical\ngovernment, and their crime in ceasing to be useful as agents of tyranny,\nthe moment they ceased to be principals.\nI am still sceptical as to the conversion of the Assembly, and little\ndisposed to expect good from it; yet whatever it may attempt in future,\nor however its real principles may take an ascendant, this fortunate\nconcurrence of personal interests, coalition of aristocrats and\ndemocrats, and political rivalry, have likewise secured France from a\nreturn of that excess of despotism which could have been exercised only\nby such means. It is true, the spirit of the nation is so much\ndepressed, that an effort to revive these Clubs might meet no resistance;\nbut the ridicule and opprobrium to which they have latterly been subject,\nand finally the manner of their being sacrificed by that very Convention,\nof which they were the sole creators and support, will, I think, cool the\nzeal, and diminish the numbers of their partizans too much for them ever\nagain to become formidable.\nThe conduct of Carrier has been examined according to the new forms, and\nhe is now on his trial--though not till the delays of the Convention had\ngiven rise to a general suspicion that they intended either to exonerate\nor afford him an opportunity of escaping; and the people were at last so\nhighly exasperated, that six thousand troops were added to the military\nforce of Paris, and an insurrection was seriously apprehended. This\nstimulated the diligence, or relaxed the indulgence, of the commission\nappointed to make the report on Carrier's conduct; and it being decided\nthat there was room for accusation, the Assembly confirmed the decision,\nand he was ordered into custody, to be tried along with the Revolutionary\nCommittee of Nantes which had been the instrument of his crimes.\nIt is a circumstance worth noting, that most of the Deputies who\nexplained the motives on which they thought Carrier guilty, were silent\non the subject of his drowning, shooting, and guillotining so many\nthousands of innocent people, and only declared him guilty, as having\nbeen wanting in respect towards Trehouard, one of his colleagues, and of\ninjuring the republican cause by his atrocities.\nThe fate of this monster exhibits a practical exposition of the enormous\nabsurdity of such a government. He is himself tried for the exercise of\na power declared to be unbounded when entrusted to him. The men tried\nwith him as his accomplices were obliged by the laws to obey him; and the\nacts of which they are all accused were known, applauded, and held out\nfor imitation, by the Convention, who now declare those very acts to be\ncriminal!--There is certainly no way of reconciling justice but by\npunishing both chiefs and subordinates, and the hour for this will yet\ncome.--Adieu.\nAmiens. [No date given.]\nI do not yet venture to correspond with my Paris friends by the post, but\nwhenever the opportunity of private conveyance occurs, I receive long and\ncircumstantial letters, as well as packets, of all the publications most\nread, and the theatrical pieces most applauded. I have lately drudged\nthrough great numbers of these last, and bestowed on them an attention\nthey did not in themselves deserve, because I considered it as one means\nof judging both of the spirit of the government and the morals of the\npeople.\nThe dramas produced at the beginning of the revolution were in general\ncalculated to corrupt the national taste and morals, and many of them\nwere written with skill enough to answer the purpose for which they were\nintended; but those that have appeared during the last two years, are so\nstupid and so depraved, that the circumstance of their being tolerated\neven for a moment implies an extinction both of taste and of morals.*\n * _\"Dans l'espace d'un an ils ont failli detruire le produit de\n plusieurs siecles de civilization.\"_--(\"In the space of a year they\n nearly destroyed the fruits of several ages of civilization.\")\nThe principal cause of this is the despotism of the government in making\nthe stage a mere political engine, and suffering the performance of such\npieces only as a man of honesty or genius would not submit to write.*\n * The tragedy of Brutus was interdicted on account of these two\n lines:\n _\"Arreter un romain sur de simple soupcons,\n \"C'est agir en tyrans, nous qui les punissons.\"_\n That of Mahomet for the following:\n _\"Exterminez, grands dieux, de la terre ou nous sommes\n \"Quiconque avec plaisir repand le sang des hommes.\"_\n It is to be remarked, that the last lines are only a simple axiom of\n humanity, and could not have been considered as implying a censure\n on any government except that of the French republic.\n--Hence a croud of scribblers, without shame or talents, have become the\nexclusive directors of public amusements, and, as far as the noise of a\ntheatre constitutes success, are perhaps more successful than ever was\nRacine or Moliere. Immorality and dulness have an infallible resource\nagainst public disapprobation in the abuse of monarchy and religion, or a\nniche for Mr. Pitt; and an indignant or impatient audience, losing their\nother feelings in their fears, are glad to purchase the reputation of\npatriotism by applauding trash they find it difficult to endure. The\ntheatres swarm with spies, and to censure a revolutionary piece, however\ndetestable even as a composition, is dangerous, and few have courage to\nbe the critics of an author who is patronized by the superintendants of\nthe guillotine, or who may retaliate a comment on his poetry by the\nsignificant prose of a mandat d'arret.\nMen of literature, therefore, have wisely preferred the conservation of\ntheir freedom to the vindication of their taste, and have deemed it\nbetter to applaud at the Theatre de la Republique, than lodge at St.\nLazare or Duplessis.--Thus political slavery has assisted moral\ndepravation: the writer who is the advocate of despotism, may be dull and\nlicentious by privilege, and is alone exempt from the laws of Parnassus\nand of decency.--One Sylvan Marechal, author of a work he calls\nphilosophie, has written a sort of farce, which has been performed very\ngenerally, where all the Kings in Europe are brought together as so many\nmonsters; and when the King of France is enquired after as not being\namong them, a Frenchman answers,--\"Oh, he is not here--we have\nguillotined him--we have cut off his head according to law.\"--In one\npiece, the hero is a felon escaped from the galleys, and is represented\nas a patriot of the most sublime principles; in another, he is the\nvirtuous conductor of a gang of banditti; and the principal character in\na third, is a ploughman turned deist and politician.\nYet, while these malevolent and mercenary scribblers are ransacking past\nages for the crimes of Kings or the abuses of religion, and imputing to\nboth many that never existed, they forget that neither their books nor\ntheir imagination are able to furnish scenes of guilt and misery equal to\nthose which have been presented daily by republicans and philosophers.\nWhat horror can their mock-tragedies excite in those who have\ncontemplated the Place de la Revolution? or who can smile at a farce in\nridicule of monarchy, that beholds the Convention, and knows the\ncharacters of the men who compose it?--But in most of these wretched\nproductions the absurdity is luckily not less conspicuous than the\nimmoral intention: their Princes, their Priests, their Nobles, are all\ntyrannical, vicious, and miserable; yet the common people, living under\nthese same vicious tyrants, are described as models of virtue,\nhospitality, and happiness. If, then, the auditors of such edifying\ndramas were in the habit of reasoning, they might very justly conclude,\nthat the ignorance which republicanism is to banish is desirable, and\nthat the diffusion of riches with which they have been flattered, will\nonly increase their vices, and subtract from their felicity.\nThere are, however, some patriotic spirits, who, not insensible to this\ndegeneracy of the French theatre, and lamenting the evil, have lately\nexercised much ingenuity in developing the cause. They have at length\ndiscovered, that all the republican tragedies, flat farces, and heavy\ncomedies, are attributable to Mr. Pitt, who has thought proper to corrupt\nthe authors, with a view to deprave the public taste. There is,\ncertainly, no combating this charge; for as, according to the assertions\nof the Convention, Mr. Pitt has succeeded in bribing nearly every other\ndescription of men in the republic, we may suppose the consciences of\nsuch scribblers not less flexible. Mr. Pitt, indeed, stands accused,\nsometimes in conjunction with the Prince of Cobourg, and sometimes on his\nown account, of successively corrupting the officers of the fleet and\narmy, all the bankers and all the farmers, the priests who say masses,\nand the people who attend them, the chiefs of the aristocrats, and the\nleaders of the Jacobins. The bakers who refuse to bake when they have no\nflour, and the populace who murmur when they have no bread, besides the\nmerchants and shopkeepers who prefer coin to assignats, are notoriously\npensioned by him: and even a part of the Representatives, and all the\nfrail beauties, are said to be enlisted in his service.--These\nmultifarious charges will be found on the journals of the Assembly, and\nwe must of course infer, that Mr. Pitt is the ablest statesman, or the\nFrench the most corrupt nation, existing.\nBut it is not only Barrere and his colleagues who suppose the whole\ncountry bribeable--the notion is common to the French in general; and\nvanity adding to the omnipotence of gold, whenever they speak of a battle\nlost, or a town taken, they conclude it impossible to have occurred but\nthrough the venal treachery of their officers.--The English, I have\nobserved, always judge differently, and would not think the national\nhonour sustained by a supposition that their commanders were vulnerable\nonly in the hand. If a general or an admiral happen to be unfortunate,\nit would be with the utmost reluctance that we should think of\nattributing his mischance to a cause so degrading; yet whoever has been\nused to French society will acknowledge, that the first suggestion on\nsuch events is _\"nos officiers ont ete gagnes,\"_ [Our officers were\nbought.] or _\"sans la trahison ce ne seroit pas arrive.\"_ [This could not\nhave happened without treachery.]--Pope's hyperbole of\n \"Just half the land would buy, and half be sold,\"\nis more than applicable here; for if we may credit the French themselves,\nthe buyers are by no means so well proportioned to the sellers.\nAs I have no new political intelligence to comment upon, I shall finish\nmy letter with a domestic adventure of the morning.--Our house was\nyesterday assigned as the quarters of some officers, who, with part of a\nregiment, were passing this way to join the Northern army. As they spent\nthe evening out, we saw nothing of them, but finding one was a Colonel,\nand the other a Captain, though we knew what republican colonels and\ncaptains might be, we thought it civil, or rather necessary, to send them\nan invitation to breakfast. We therefore ordered some milk coffee early,\n(for Frenchmen seldom take tea,) and were all assembled before the usual\ntime to receive our military guests. As they did not, however, appear,\nwe were ringing to enquire for them, when Mr. D____ entered from his\nmorning walk, and desired us to be at ease on their account, for that in\npassing the kitchen, he had perceived the Captain fraternizing over some\nonions, bread, and beer, with our man; while the Colonel was in close\nconference with the cook, and watching a pan of soup, which was warming\nfor his breakfast. We have learned since, that these heroes were very\nwilling to accept of any thing the servants offered them, but could not\nbe prevailed upon to approach us; though, you are to understand, this was\nnot occasioned either by timidity or incivility, but by mere ignorance.\n--Mr. D____ says, the Marquise and I have not divested ourselves of\naristocratic associations with our ideas of the military, and that our\ndeshabilles this morning were unusually coquetish. Our projects of\nconquest were, however, all frustrated by the unlucky intervention of\nBernardine's _soupe aux choux,_ [Cabbage-soup.] and Eustace's regale of\ncheese and onions.\n \"And with such beaux 'tis vain to be a belle.\"\nYours, &c.\nAmiens, Dec. 10, 1794.\nYour American friend passed through here yesterday, and delivered me the\ntwo parcels. As marks of your attention, they were very acceptable; but\non any other account, I assure you, I should have preferred a present of\na few pecks of wheat to all your fineries.\nI have been used to conclude, when I saw such strange and unaccountable\nabsurdities given in the French papers as extracts from the debates in\neither of your Houses of Parliament, that they were probably fabricated\nhere to serve the designs of the reigning factions: yet I perceive, by\nsome old papers which came with the muslins, that there are really\nmembers so ill-informed or so unprincipled, as to use the language\nattributed to them, and who assert that the French are attached to their\ngovernment, and call France \"a land of republicans.\"\nWhen it is said that a people are republicans, we must suppose they are\neither partial to republicanism as a system, or that they prefer it in\npractice. A little retrospection, perhaps, will determine both these\npoints better than the eloquence of your orators.\nA few men, of philosophic or restless minds, have, in various ages and\ncountries, endeavoured to enlighten or disturb the world by examinations\nand disputes on forms of government; yet the best heads and the best\nhearts have remained divided on the subject, and I never heard that any\nwriter was able to produce more than a partial conviction, even in the\nmost limited circle. Whence, then, did it happen in France, where\ninformation was avowedly confined, and where such discussions could not\nhave been general, that the people became suddenly inspired with this\npolitical sagacity, which made them in one day the judges and converts of\na system they could scarcely have known before, even by name?--At the\ndeposition of the King, the French, (speaking at large,) had as\nperspicuous a notion of republics, as they may be supposed to have of\nmathematics, and would have understood Euclid's Elements as well as the\nSocial Contract. Yet an assemblage of the worst and most daring men from\nevery faction, elected amidst massacres and proscription, the moment they\nare collected together, declare, on the proposal of Collot d'Herbois, a\nprofligate strolling player, that France shall be a republic.--Admitting\nthat the French were desirous of altering their form of government, I\nbelieve no one will venture to say such an inclination was ever\nmanifested, or that the Convention were elected in a manner to render\nthem competent to such a decision. They were not the choice of the\npeople, but chiefly emissaries imposed on the departments by the Jacobins\nand the municipality of Paris; and let those who are not acquainted with\nthe means by which the elections were obtained, examine the composition\nof the Assembly itself, and then decide whether any people being free\ncould have selected such men as Petion, Tallien, Robespierre, Brissot,\nCarrier, Taillefer, &c. &c. from the whole nation to be their\nRepresentatives.--There must, in all large associations, be a mixture of\ngood and bad; but when it is incontrovertible that the principal members\nof the Convention are monsters, who, we hope, are not to be paralleled--\nthat the rest are inferior rather in talents than wickedness, or cowards\nand ideots, who have supported and applauded crimes they only wanted\nopportunity to commit--it is not possible to conceive, that any people in\nthe world could make a similar choice. Yet if the French were absolutely\nunbiassed, and of their own free will made this collection, who would,\nafter such an example, be the advocates of general suffrage and popular\nrepresentation?--But, I repeat, the people were not free. They were not,\nindeed, influenced by bribes--they were intimidated by the horrors of the\nmoment; and along with the regulations for the new elections, were every\nwhere circulated details of the assassinations of August and September.*\n * The influence of the municipality of Paris on the new elections is\n well known. The following letter will show what instruments were\n employed, and the description of Representatives likely to be chosen\n under such auspices.\n \"Circular letter, written by the Committee of Inspection of the\n municipality of Paris to all the departments of the republic, dated\n the third of September, the second day of the massacres:\n \"The municipality of Paris is impatient to inform their brethren of\n the departments, that a part of the ferocious conspirators detained\n in the prisons have been put to death by the people: an act of\n justice which appeared to them indispensable, to restrain by terror\n those legions of traitors whom they must have left behind when they\n departed for the army. There is no doubt but the whole nation,\n after such multiplied treasons, will hasten to adopt the same\n salutary measure!\"--Signed by the Commune of Paris and the Minister\n of Justice.\n Who, after this mandate, would venture to oppose a member\n recommended by the Commune of Paris?\n--The French, then, neither chose the republican form of government,\nnor the men who adopted it; and are, therefore, not republicans on\nprinciple.--Let us now consider whether, not being republicans on\nprinciple, experience may have rendered them such.\nThe first effects of the new system were an universal consternation,\nthe disappearance of all the specie, an extravagant rise in the price of\nprovisions, and many indications of scarcity. The scandalous quarrels of\nthe legislature shocked the national vanity, by making France the\nridicule of all Europe, until ridicule was suppressed by detestation at\nthe subsequent murder of the King. This was followed by the efforts of\none faction to strengthen itself against another, by means of a general\nwar--the leaders of the former presuming, that they alone were capable of\nconducting it.\nTo the miseries of war were added revolutionary tribunals, revolutionary\narmies and committees, forced loans, requisitions, maximums, and every\nspecies of tyranny and iniquity man could devise or suffer; or, to use\nthe expression of Rewbell, [One of the Directory in 1796.] \"France was in\nmourning and desolation; all her families plunged in despair; her whole\nsurface covered with Bastilles, and the republican government become so\nodious, that the most wretched slave, bending beneath the weight of his\nchains, would have refused to live under it!\"\nSuch were the means by which France was converted into a land of\nrepublicans, and such the government to which your patriots assert the\nFrench people were attached: yet so little was this attachment\nappreciated here, that the mere institutions for watching and suppressing\ndisaffection amount, by the confession of Cambon, the financier, to\ntwenty-four millions six hundred and thirty-one thousand pounds sterling\na year!\nTo suppose, then, that the French are devoted to a system which has\nserved as a pretext for so many crimes, and has been the cause of so many\ncalamities, is to conclude them a nation of philosophers, who are able to\nendure, yet incapable of reasoning; and who suffer evils of every kind in\ndefence of a principle with which they can be little acquainted, and\nwhich, in practice, they have known only by the destruction it has\noccasioned.\nYou may, perhaps, have been persuaded, that the people submit patiently\nnow, for the sake of an advantage in perspective; but it is not in the\ndisposition of unenlightened men (and the mass of a people must\nnecessarily be so) to give up the present for the future. The individual\nmay sometimes atchieve this painful conquest over himself, and submit to\nevil, on a calculation of future retribution, but the multitude will ever\nprefer the good most immediately attainable, if not under the influence\nof that terror which supersedes every other consideration. Recollect,\nthen, the counsel of the first historian of our age, and \"suspend your\nbelief of whatever deviates from the laws of nature and the character of\nman;\" and when you are told the French are attached to a government which\noppresses them, or to principles of which they are ignorant, suppose\ntheir adoption of the one, and their submission to the other, are the\nresult of fear, and that those who make these assertions to the contrary,\nare either interested or misinformed.\nExcuse me if I have devoted a few pages to a subject which with you is\nobsolete. I am indignant at the perusal of such falsehoods; and though I\nfeel for the humiliation of great talents, I feel still more for the\ndisgrace such an abuse of them brings on our country.\nIt is not inapposite to mention a circumstance which happened to a friend\nof Mr. D____'s, some little time since, at Paris. He was passing through\nFrance, in his way from Italy, at the time of the general arrest, and was\ndetained there till the other day. As soon as he was released from\nprison, he applied in person to a member of the Convention, to learn when\nhe might hope to return to England. The Deputy replied, _\"Ma soi je n'en\nsais rien_ [Faith I can't tell you.]--If your Messieurs (naming some\nmembers in the opposition) had succeeded in promoting a revolution, you\nwould not have been in your cage so long--_mais pour le coup il faut\nattendre.\"_ [But now you must have patience.] It is not probable the\nmembers he named could have such designs, but Dumont once held the same\nlanguage to me; and it is mortifying to hear these miscreants suppose,\nthat factious or ambitious men, because they chance to possess talents,\ncan make revolutions in England as they have done in France.\nIn the papers which gave rise to these reflections, I observe that some\nof your manufacturing towns are discontented, and attribute the\nstagnation of their commerce to the war; but it is not unlikely, that the\nstagnation and failures complained of might have taken place, though the\nwar had not happened.--When I came here in 1792, every shop and warehouse\nwere over-stocked with English goods. I could purchase any article of\nour manufacture at nearly the retail price of London; and some I sent for\nfrom Paris, in the beginning of 1793, notwithstanding the reports of war,\nwere very little advanced. Soon after the conclusion of the commercial\ntreaty, every thing English became fashionable; and so many people had\nspeculated in consequence, that similar speculations took place in\nEngland. But France was glutted before the war; and all speculations\nentered into on a presumption of a demand equal to that of the first\nyears of the treaty, must have failed in a certain degree, though the two\ncountries had remained at peace.--Even after a two years cessation of\ndirect intercourse, British manufactures are every where to be procured,\nwhich is a sufficient proof that either the country was previously over\nsupplied, or that they are still imported through neutral or indirect\nchannels. Both these suppositions preclude the likelihood that the war\nhas so great a share in relaxing the activity of your commerce, as is\npretended.\nBut whatever may be the effect of the war, there is no prospect of peace,\nuntil the efforts of England, or the total ruin of the French finances,*\nshall open the way for it.\n * By a report of Cambon's at this time, it appears the expences of\n France in 1792 were eighteen millions sterling--in 1793, near ninety\n millions--and, in the spring of 1794, twelve and a half millions per\n month!--The church bells, we learn from the same authority, cost in\n coinage, and the purchase of copper to mix with the metal, five or\n six millions of livres more than they produced as money. The church\n plate, which was brought to the bar of the Convention with such\n eclat, and represented as an inexhaustible resource, amounted to\n scarcely a million sterling: for as the offering was every where\n involuntary, and promoted by its agents for the purposes of pillage,\n part was secreted, a still greater part stolen, and, as the\n conveyance to Paris was a sort of job, the expences often exceeded\n the worth--a patine, a censor, and a small chalice, were sent to the\n Convention, perhaps an hundred leagues, by a couple of Jacobin\n Commissioners in a coach and four, with a military escort. Thus,\n the prejudices of the people were outraged, and their property\n wasted, without any benefit, even to those who suggested the\n measure.\n--The Convention, indeed, have partly relinquished their project of\ndestroying all the Kings of the earth, and forcing all the people to be\nfree. But, though their schemes of reformation have failed, they still\nadhere to those of extirpation; and the most moderate members talk\noccasionally of \"vile islanders,\" and \"sailing up the Thames.\"*--\n * The Jacobins and the Moderates, who could agree in nothing else,\n were here perfectly in unison; so that on the same day we see the\n usual invectives of Barrere succeeded by menaces equally ridiculous\n from Pelet and Tallien--\n _\"La seule chose dont nous devons nous occuper est d'ecraser ce\n gouvernement infame.\"_\n Discours de Pelet, 14 Nov.\n \"The destruction of that infamous government is the only thing that\n ought to engage our attention.\"\n Pelet's Speech, 14 Nov. 1794.\n _\"Aujourdhui que la France peut en se debarrassant d'une partie de\n ses ennemis reporter la gloire de ses armes sur les bordes de la\n Tamise, et ecraser le gouvernement Anglais.\"\n Discours de Tallien._\n \"France, having now the opportunity of lessening the number of her\n enemies, may carry the glory of her arms to the banks of the Thames,\n and crush the English government.\"\n Tallien's Speech.\n _\"Que le gouvernement prenne des mesures sages pour faire une paix\n honorable avec quelques uns de nos ennemis, et a l'aide des\n vaisseaux Hollandais et Espagnols, portons nous ensuite avec vigueur\n sur les bordes de la Tamise, et detruisons la nouvelle Carthage.\"\n Discours de Tallien, 14 Nov._\n \"Let the government but adopt wise measures for making an honorable\n peace with a part of our enemies, and with the aid of the Dutch and\n Spanish navies, let us repair to the banks of the Thames, and\n destroy the modern Carthage.\"\n Tallien's Speech, 14 Nov. 1794.\nNo one is here ignorant of the source of Tallien's predilection for\nSpain, and we may suppose the intrigue at this time far advanced.\nProbably the charms of his wife (the daughter of Mons. Cabarrus, a French\nspeculator, formerly much encouraged by the Spanish government,\nafterwards disgraced and imprisoned, but now liberated) might not be the\nonly means employed to procure his conversion.\n--Tallien, Clauzel, and those who have newly assumed the character of\nrational and decent people, still use the low and atrocious language of\nBrissot, on the day he made his declaration of war; and perhaps hope, by\nexciting a national spirit of vengeance against Great Britain, to secure\ntheir lives and their pay, when they shall have been forced to make peace\non the Continent: for, be certain, the motives of these men are never to\nbe sought for in any great political object, but merely in expedients to\npreserve their persons and their plunder.\nThose who judge of the Convention by their daily harangues, and the\njustice, virtue, or talents which they ascribe to themselves, must\nbelieve them to be greatly regenerated: yet such is the dearth both of\nabilities and of worth of any kind, that Andre Dumont has been\nsuccessively President of the Assembly, Member of the Committee of\nGeneral Safety, and is now in that of Public Welfare.--Adieu.\nAmiens, Dec. 16, 1794.\nThe seventy-three Deputies who have been so long confined are now\nliberated, and have resumed their seats. Jealousy and fear for some time\nrendered the Convention averse from the adoption of this measure; but the\npublic opinion was so determined in favour of it, that farther resistance\nmight not have been prudent. The satisfaction created by this event is\ngeneral, though the same sentiment is the result of various conclusions,\nwhich, however, all tend to one object--the re-establishment of monarchy.\nThe idea most prevalent is, that these deputies, when arrested, were\nroyalists.*\n * This opinion prevailed in many places where the proscribed\n deputies took refuge. \"The Normans (says Louvet) deceived by the\n imputations in the newspapers, assisted us, under the idea that we\n were royalists: but abandoned us when they found themselves\n mistaken.\" In the same manner, on the appearance of these Deputies\n in other departments, armies were collecting very fast, but\n dispersed when they perceived these men were actuated only by\n personal fear or personal ambition, and that no one talked of\n restoring the monarchy.\n--By some it is thought, persecution may have converted them; but the\nreflecting part of the nation look on the greater number as adherents of\nthe Girondists, whom the fortunate violence of Robespierre excluded from\nparticipating in many of the past crimes of their colleagues, and who\nhave, in that alone, a reason for not becoming accomplices in those which\nmay be attempted in future.\nIt is astonishing to see with what facility people daily take on trust\nthings which they have it in their power to ascertain. The seventy-three\nowe a great part of the interest they have excited to a persuasion of\ntheir having voted either for a mild sentence on the King, or an appeal\nto the nation: yet this is so far from being true, that many of them were\nunfavourable to him on every question. But supposing it to have been\notherwise, their merit is in reality little enhanced: they all voted him\nguilty, without examining whether he was so or not; and in affecting\nmercy while they refused justice, they only aimed at conciliating their\npresent views with their future safety.\nThe whole claim of this party, who are now the Moderates of the\nConvention, is reducible to their having opposed the commission of crimes\nwhich were intended to serve their adversaries, rather than themselves.\nTo effect the dethronement of the King, and the destruction of those\nobnoxious to them, they approved of popular insurrections; but expected\nthat the people whom they had rendered proficients in cruelty, should\nbecome gentle and obedient when urged to resist their own authority; yet\nthey now come forth as victims of their patriotism, and call the heads of\nthe faction who are fallen--martyrs to liberty! But if they are victims,\nit is to their folly or wickedness in becoming members of such an\nassembly; and if their chiefs were martyrs, it was to the principles they\ninculcated.\nThe trial of the Brissotins was justice, compared with that of the King.\nIf the former were condemned without proof, their partizans should\nremember, that the revolutionary jury pretended to be influenced by the\nsame moral evidence they had themselves urged as the ground on which they\ncondemned the King; and if the people beheld with applause or\nindifference the execution of their once-popular idols, they only put in\npractice the barbarous lessons which those idols had taught them;--they\nwere forbidden to lament the fate of their Sovereign, and they rejoiced\nin that of Brissot and his confederates.--These men, then, only found the\njust retribution of their own guilt; and though it may be politic to\nforget that their survivors were also their accomplices, they are not\nobjects of esteem--and the contemporary popularity, which a long\nseclusion has obtained for them, will vanish, if their future conduct\nshould be directed by their original principles.*\n * Louvet's pamphlet had not at this time appeared, and the\n subsequent events proved, that the interest taken in these Deputies\n was founded on a supposition they had changed their principles; for\n before the close of the Convention they were as much objects of\n hatred and contempt as their colleagues.\nSome of these Deputies were the hirelings of the Duke of Orleans, and\nmost of them are individuals of no better reputation than the rest of the\nAssembly. Lanjuinais has the merit of having acted with great courage in\ndefence of himself and his party on the thirty-first of May 1792; but the\nfollowing anecdote, recited by Gregoire* in the Convention a few days ago\nwill sufficiently explain both his character and Gregoire's, who are now,\nhowever, looked up to as royalists, and as men comparatively honest.\n * Gregoire is one of the constitutional Clergy, and, from the habit\n of comparing bad with worse, is more esteemed than many of his\n colleagues; yet, in his report on the progress of Vandalism, he\n expresses himself with sanguinary indecency--\"They have torn (says\n he) the prints which represented the execution of Charles the first,\n because there were coats of arms on them. Ah, would to god we could\n behold, engraved in the same manner, the heads of all Kings, done\n from nature! We might then reconcile ourselves to seeing a\n ridiculous embellishment of heraldry accompany them.\"\n--\"When I first arrived at Versailles, (says Gregoire,) as member of the\nConstituent Assembly, (in 1789,) I met with Lanjuinais, and we took an\noath in concert to dethrone the King and abolish Nobility.\" Now, this\nwas before the alledged provocations of the King and Nobility--before the\nconstitution was framed--before the flight of the royal family to\nVarennes--and before the war. But almost daily confessions of this sort\nescape, which at once justify the King, and establish the infamy of the\nrevolutionists.\nThese are circumstances not to be forgotten, did not the sad science of\ndiscriminating the shades of wickedness, in which (as I have before\nnoticed) the French have been rendered such adepts, oblige them at\npresent to fix their hopes--not according to the degree of merit, but by\nthat of guilt. They are reduced to distinguish between those who\nsanction murders, and those who perpetrated them--between the sacrificer\nof one thousand victims, and that of ten--between those who assassinate,\nand those who only reward the assassin.*\n * Tallien is supposed, as agent of the municipality of paris, to\n have paid a million and a half of livres to the Septembrisers or\n assassins of the prisons! I know not whether the sum was in\n assignats or specie.--If in the former, it was, according to the\n exchange then, about two and thirty thousand pounds sterling: but if\n estimated in proportion to what might be purchased with it, near\n fifty thousand. Tallien has never denied the payment of the money--\n we may, therefore, conclude the charge to be true.\n--Before the revolution, they would not have known how to select, where\nall were objects of abhorrence; but now the most ignorant are casuists in\nthe gradations of turpitude, and prefer Tallien to Le Bon, and the Abbe\nSieyes to Barrere.\nThe crimes of Carrier have been terminated, not punished, by death. He\nmet his fate with a courage which, when the effect of innocence, is\nglorious to the sufferer, and consoling to humanity; but a career like\nhis, so ended, was only the confirmation of a brutal and ferocious mind.*\n * When Carrier was arrested, he attempted to shoot himself, and, on\n being prevented by the Gens-d'armes, he told them there were members\n of the Convention who would not forgive their having prevented his\n purpose--implying, that they apprehended the discoveries he might\n make on his trial. While he was dressing himself, (for they took\n him in bed,) he added, \"_Les Scelerats!_ (Meaning his more\n particular accomplices, who, he was told, had voted against him,)\n they deserved that I should be as dastardly as themselves.\" He\n rested his defence entirely on the decrees of the Convention.\n--Of thirty who were tried with him as his agents, and convicted of\nassisting at the drownings, shootings, &c. two only were executed, the\nrest were acquitted; because, though the facts were proved, the moral\nlatitude of the Revolutionary Jury* did not find the guilt of the\nintention--that is, the culprits were indisputably the murderers of\nseveral thousand people, but, according to the words of the verdict, they\ndid not act with a counter-revolutionary intention.\n * An English reader may be deceived by the name of Jury. The\n Revolutionary Jury was not only instituted, but even appointed by\n the Convention.--The following is a literal translation of some of\n the verdicts given on this occasion:\n \"That O'Sulivan is author and accomplice of several noyades\n (drownings) and unheard-of cruelties towards the victims delivered\n to the waves.\n \"That Lefevre is proved to have ordered and caused to be executed a\n noyade of men, women, and children, and to have committed various\n arbitrary acts.\n \"That General Heron is proved to have assassinated children, and\n worn publicly in his hat the ear of a man he had murdered. That he\n also killed two children who were peaceably watching sheep.\n \"That Bachelier is author and accomplice of the operations at\n Nantes, in signing arbitrary mandates of arrest, imposing vexatious\n taxes, and taking for himself plate, &c. found at the houses of\n citizens arrested on suspicion.\n \"That Joly is guilty, &c. in executing the arbitrary orders of the\n Revolutionary Committee, of tying together the victims destined to\n be drowned or shot.\"\n There are thirty-one articles conceived nearly in the same terms,\n and which conclude thus--\"All convicted as above, but not having\n acted with criminal or counter-revolutionary intentions, the\n Tribunal acquits and sets them at liberty.\"\n All France was indignant at those verdicts, and the people of Paris\n were so enraged, that the Convention ordered the acquitted culprits\n to be arrested again, perhaps rather for protection than punishment.\n They were sent from Paris, and I never heard the result; but I have\n seen the name of General Heron as being at large.\nThe Convention were certainly desirous that the atrocities of these men\n(all zealous republicans) should be forgotten; for, independently of the\ndisgrace which their trial has brought on the cause, the sacrifice of\nsuch agents might create a dangerous timidity in future, and deprive the\ngovernment of valuable partizans, who would fear to be the instruments of\ncrimes for which, after such a precedent, they might become responsible.\nBut the evil, which was unavoidable, has been palliated by the tenderness\nor gratitude of a jury chosen by the Convention, who, by sacrificing two\nonly of this mass of monsters, and protecting the rest, hope to\nconsecrate the useful principle of indulgence for every act, whatever its\nenormity, which has been the consequence of zeal or obedience to the\ngovernment.\nIt is among the dreadful singularities of the revolution, that the\ngreatest crimes which have been committed were all in strict observance\nof the laws. Hence the Convention are perpetually embarrassed by\ninterest or shame, when it becomes necessary to punish them. We have\nonly to compare the conduct of Carrier, le Bon, Maignet, &c. with the\ndecrees under which they acted, to be convinced that their chief guilt\nlies in having been capable of obeying: and the convention, coldly\nissuing forth their rescripts of extermination and conflagration, will\nnot, in the opinion of the moralist, be favorably distinguished from\nthose who carried these mandates into execution.\nDecember 24, 1794.\nI am now at a village a few miles from Amiens, where, upon giving\nsecurity in the usual form, we have been permitted to come for a few days\non a visit to some relations of my friend Mad. de ____. On our arrival,\nwe found the lady of the house in a nankeen pierrot, knitting grey thread\nstockings for herself, and the gentleman in a thick woollen jacket and\npantaloons, at work in the fields, and really labouring as hard as his\nmen.--They hope, by thus taking up the occupation and assuming the\nappearance of farmers, to escape farther persecution; and this policy may\nbe available to those who have little to lose: but property is now a more\ndangerous distinction than birth, and whoever possesses it, will always\nbe considered as the enemies of the republic, and treated accordingly.\nWe have been so much confined the last twelve months, that we were glad\nto ride yesterday in spite of the cold; and our hosts having procured\nasses for the females of the party, accompanied us themselves on foot.--\nDuring our ramble, we entered into conversation with two old men and a\nboy, who were at work in an open field near the road. They told us, they\nhad not strength to labour, because they had not their usual quantity of\nbread--that their good lady, whose chateau we saw at a distance, had been\nguillotined, or else they should have wanted for nothing--_\"Et ste pauvre\nJavotte la n'auroit pas travaille quant elle est qualsiment prete a\nmourir.\"_ [\"And our poor Javotte there would not have had to work when she\nis almost in her grave.\"]--_\"Mon dieu,\"_ (says one of the old men, who had\nnot yet spoke,) _\"Je donnerais bien ma portion de sa terre pour la ravoir\nnotre bonne dame.\"_ [\"God knows, I would willingly give up my share of\nher estate to have our good lady amongst us again.\"]--_\"Ah pour ca oui,\"_\n(returned the other,) _\"mais j'crois que nous n'aurons ni l'une l'autre,\nvoila ste maudite nation qui s'empare de tout.\"_ [\"Ah truly, but I fancy\nwe shall have neither one nor the other, for this cursed nation gets hold\nof every thing.\"]\nWhile they were going on in this style, a berline and four cabriolets,\nwith three-coloured flags at the windows, and a whole troop of national\nguard, passed along the road. _\"Vive la Republique!\"_--\"Vive la Nation!\"\ncried our peasants, in an instant; and as soon as the cavalcade was out\nof sight, _\"Voyez ste gueusaille la, quel train, c'est vraiment quelque\ndepute de la Convention--ces brigands la, ils ne manquent de rien, ils\nvivent comme des rois, et nous autres nous sommes cent sois plus\nmiserables que jamais.\"_ [\"See there what a figure they make, those\nbeggarly fellows--it's some deputy of the convention I take it. The\nthieves want for nothing, they live like so many kings, and we are all a\nhundred times worse off than ever.\"]--_\"Tais toi, tais tois,\"_ [\"Be quiet,\nI tell you.\"] (says the old man, who seemed the least garrulous of the\ntwo.)--_\"Ne crains rien,_ [\"Never fear.\"] (replied the first,) _c'est de\nbraves gens;_ these ladies and gentlemen I'm sure are good people; they\nhave not the look of patriots.\"--And with this compliment to ourselves,\nand the externals of patriotism, we took our leave of them.\nI found, however, by this little conversation, that some of the peasants\nstill believe they are to have the lands of the gentry divided amongst\nthem, according to a decree for that purpose. The lady, whom they\nlamented, and whose estate they expected to share, was the Marquise de\nB____, who had really left the country before the revolution, and had\ngone to drink some of the German mineral waters, but not returning within\nthe time afterwards prescribed, was declared an emigrant. By means of a\nfriend, she got an application made to Chabot, (then in high popularity,)\nwho for an hundred thousand livres procured a passport from the Executive\nCouncil to enter France. Upon the faith of this she ventured to return,\nand was in consequence, notwithstanding her passport, executed as an\nemigrant.\nMrs. D____, who is not yet well enough for such an expedition, and is,\nbesides, unaccustomed to our montures, remained at home. We found she\nhad been much alarmed during our absence, every house in the village\nhaving been searched, by order of the district, for corn, and two of the\nhorses taken to the next post to convey the retinue of the Deputy we had\nseen in the morning. Every thing, however, was tranquil on our arrival,\nand rejoicing it was no worse, though Mons. ____ seemed to be under great\napprehension for his horses, we sat down to what in France is called a\nlate dinner.\nOur host's brother, who left the army at the general exclusion of the\nNoblesse, and was in confinement at the Luxembourg until after the death\nof Robespierre, is a professed wit, writes couplets to popular airs, and\nhas dramatized one of Plutarch's Lives. While we were at the desert, he\namused us with some of his compositions in prison, such as an epigram on\nthe Guillotine, half a dozen calembours on the bad fare at the _Gamelle,_\n[Mess.] and an ode on the republican victory at Fleurus--the last written\nunder the hourly expectation of being sent off with the next _fournee_\n(batch) of pretended conspirators, yet breathing the most ardent\nattachment to the convention, and terminated by a full sounding line\nabout tyrants and liberty.--This may appear strange, but the Poets were,\nfor the most part, in durance, and the Muses must sing, though in a cage:\nhope and fear too both inspire prescriptively, and freedom might be\nobtained or death averted by these effusions of a devotion so profound as\nnot to be alienated by the sufferings of imprisonment, or the menace of\ndestruction. Whole volumes of little jeux d'esprit, written under these\ncircumstances, might be collected from the different prisons; and, I\nbelieve, it is only in France that such a collection could have been\nfurnished.*\n * Many of these poetical trifles have been published--some written\n even the night before their authors were executed. There are\n several of great poetical merit, and, when considered relatively,\n are wonderful.--Among the various poets imprisoned, was one we\n should scarcely have expected--Rouget Delille, author of the\n Marseillois Hymn, who, while his muse was rouzing the citizens from\n one end of the republic to the other to arm against tyrants, was\n himself languishing obscurely a victim to the worst of all\n tyrannies.\nMr. D____, though he writes and speaks French admirably, does not love\nFrench verses; and I found he could not depend on the government of his\nfeatures, while a French poet was reciting his own, but kept his eyes\nfixed on a dried apple, which he pared very curiously, and when that was\natchieved, betook himself to breaking pralines, and extracting the\nalmonds with equal application. We, however, complimented Monsieur's\npoetry; and when we had taken our coffee, and the servants were entirely\nwithdrawn, he read us some trifles more agreeable to our principles, if\nnot to our taste, and in which the Convention was treated with more\nsincerity than complaisance. It seems the poet's zeal for the republic\nhad vanished at his departure from the Luxembourg, and that his wrath\nagainst coalesced despots, and his passion for liberty, had entirely\nevaporated. In the evening we played a party of reversi with republican\ncards,* and heard the children sing \"Mourrons pour la Patrie.\"\n * The four Kings are replaced by four Genii, the Queens by four\n sorts of liberty, and the Knaves by four descriptions of equality.\n--After these civic amusements, we closed our chairs round the fire,\nconjecturing how long the republic might last, or whether we should all\npass another twelve months in prison, and, agreeing that both our fate\nand that of the republic were very precarious, adjourned to rest.\nWhile I was undressing, I observed Angelique looked extremely\ndiscontented, and on my enquiring what was the matter, she answered,\n_\"C'est que je m'ennuie beaucoup ici,\"_ [\"I am quite tired of this\nplace.\"] \"Mademoiselle,\" (for no state or calling is here exempt from this\npolite sensation.) \"And why, pray?\"--_\"Ah quelle triste societe, tout le\nmonde est d'un patriotisme insoutenable, la maison est remplie d'images\nrepublicaines, des Marat, des Voltaire, des Pelletier, que sais-moi? et\nvoila jusqu'au garcon de l'ecurie qui me traite de citoyenne.\"_ [\"Oh,\nthey are a sad set--every body is so insufferably patriotic. The house\nis full from top to bottom of republican images, Marats, and Voltaires,\nand Pelletiers, and I don't know who--and I am called Citizen even by the\nstable boy.\"] I did not think it right to satisfy her as to the real\nprinciples of our friends, and went to bed ruminating on the improvements\nwhich the revolution must have occasioned in the art of dissimulation.\nTerror has drilled people of the most opposite sentiments into such an\nuniformity of manner and expression, that an aristocrat who is ruined and\npersecuted by the government is not distinguishable from the Jacobin who\nhas made his fortune under it.\nIn the morning Angelique's countenance was brightened, and I found she\nhad slept in the same room with Madame's _femme de chambre,_ when an\nexplanation of their political creeds had taken place, so that she now\nassured me Mad. Augustine was _\"fort honnete dans le fond,\"_ [A very good\ngirl at heart.] though she was obliged to affect republicanism.--\"All the\nworld's a stage,\" says our great dramatic moralist. France is certainly\nso at present, and we are not only necessitated to act a part, but a\nsorry one too; for we have no choice but to exhibit in farce, or suffer\nin tragedy.--Yours, &c.\nDecember 27, 1794.\nI took the opportunity of my being here to go about four leagues farther\nto see an old convent acquaintance lately come to this part of the\ncountry, and whom I have not met since I was at Orleans in 1789.\nThe time has been when I should have thought such a history as this\nlady's a romance, but tales of woe are now become familiar to us, and, if\nthey create sympathy, they no longer excite surprize, and we hear of them\nas the natural effects of the revolution.\nMadame de St. E__m__d is the daughter of a gentleman whose fortune was\ninadequate both to his rank and manner of living, and he gladly embraced\nthe offer of Monsieur de St. E__m__d to marry her at sixteen, and to\nrelinquish the fortune allotted her to her two younger sisters. Monsieur\nde St. E__m__d, being a dissipated man, soon grew weary of any sort of\ndomestic life, and placing his wife with her father, in less than a year\nafter their marriage departed for Italy.--Madame de St. E__m__d, thus\nleft in a situation both delicate and dangerous for a young and pretty\nwoman, became unfortunately attached to a gentleman who was her distant\nrelation: yet, far from adopting the immoral principles not unjustly\nascribed to your country, she conducted herself with a prudence and\nreserve, which even in France made her an object of general respect.\nAbout three years after her husband's departure the revolution took\nplace, and not returning, he was of course put on the list of emigrants.\nIn 1792, when the law passed which sanctioned and facilitated divorces,\nher friends all earnestly persuaded her to avail herself of it, but she\ncould not be prevailed upon to consider the step as justifiable; for\nthough Monsieur de St. E__m__d neglected her, he had, in other respects,\ntreated her with generosity and kindness. She, therefore, persisted in\nher refusal, and her lover, in despair, joined the republican army.\nAt the general arrest of the Noblesse, Madame de St. E__m__d and her\nsisters were confined in the town where they resided, but their father\nwas sent to Paris; and a letter from one of his female relations, who had\nemigrated, being found among his papers, he was executed without being\nable to see or write to his children. Madame de St. E__m__d's husband had\nreturned about the same time to France, in the disguise of a post-boy,\nwas discovered, and shared the same fate. These events reached her love,\nstill at the army, but it was impossible for him to quit his post, and in\na few days after, being mortally wounded, he died,* recommending Eugenie\nde St. E__m__d to the protection of his father.--\n * This young man, who died gallantly fighting in the cause of the\n republic, was no republican: but this does not render the murder of\n his father, a deaf [There were people both deaf and dumb in the\n prisons as conspirators.] and inoffensive man, less abominable.--The\n case of General Moreau's father, though somewhat similar, is yet\n more characteristic of the revolution. Mons. Moreau was persuaded,\n by a man who had some interest in the business, to pay a debt which\n he owed an emigrant, to an individual, instead of paying it, as the\n law directed, to the use of the republic. The same man afterwards\n denounced him, and he was thrown into prison. At nine o'clock on\n the night preceding his trial, his act of accusation was brought\n him, and before he had time to sketch out a few lines for his\n defence, the light by which he wrote was taken away. In the morning\n he was tried, the man who had informed against him sitting as one of\n his judges, and he was condemned and executed the very day on which\n his son took the Fort de l'Ecluse!--Mons. Moreau had four sons,\n besides the General in the army, and two daughters, all left\n destitute by the confiscation of his property.\n--A brother officer, who engaged to execute this commission, wrote\nimmediately to the old man, to inform him of his loss, and of his son's\nlast request. It was too late, the father having been arrested on\nsuspicion, and afterwards guillotined, with many other persons, for a\npretended conspiracy in prison, the very day on which his son had fallen\nin the performance of an act of uncommon bravery.\nWere I writing from imagination, I should add, that Madame de St. E__m__d\nhad been unable to sustain the shock of these repeated calamities, and\nthat her life or understanding had been the sacrifice. It were, indeed,\nhappy for the sufferer, if our days were always terminated when they\nbecame embittered, or that we lost the sense of sorrow by its excess: but\nit is not so--we continue to exist when we have lost the desire of\nexistence, and to reason when feeling and reason constitute our torments.\nMadame de St. E__m__d then lives, but lives in affliction; and having\ncollected the wreck of her personal property, which some friends had\nconcealed, she left the part of France she formerly inhabited, and is now\nwith an aunt in this neighbourhood, watching the decay of her eldest\nsister, and educating the youngest.\nClementine was consumptive when they were first arrested, and vexation,\nwith ill-treatment in the prison, have so established her disorder, that\nshe is now past relief. She is yet scarcely eighteen, and one of the\nmost lovely young women I ever saw. Grief and sickness have ravaged her\nfeatures; but they are still so perfect, that fancy, associating their\npast bloom with their present languor, supplies perhaps as much to the\nmind as is lost by the eye. She suffers without complaining, and mourns\nwithout ostentation; and hears her father spoken of with such solemn\nsilent floods of tears, that she looks like the original of Dryden's\nbeautiful portrait of the weeping Sigismunda.\nThe letter which condemned the father of these ladies, was not, it seems,\nwritten to himself, but to a brother, lately dead, whose executor he was,\nand of whose papers he thus became possessed. On this ground their\nfriends engaged them to petition the Assembly for a revision of the\nsentence, and the restoration of their property, which was in consequence\nforfeited.\nThe daily professions of the Convention, in favour of justice and\nhumanity, and the return of the seventy-three imprisoned Deputies, had\nsoothed these poor young women with the hopes of regaining their paternal\ninheritance, so iniquitously confiscated. A petition was, therefore,\nforwarded to Paris about a fortnight ago; and the day before, the\nfollowing decree was issued, which has silenced their claims for ever:\n\"La Convention Nationale declare qu'elle n'admettra aucune demande en\nrevision des jugemens criminels portant confiscation de biens rendus et\nexecutes pendant la revolution.\"*\n * \"The National Convention hereby declares that it will admit no\n petitions for the revisal of such criminal sentences, attended with\n confiscation of property, as have been passed and executed since the\n revolution.\"\n Yet these revolutionists, who would hear nothing of repairing their\n own injustice, had occasionally been annulling sentences past half a\n century ago, and the more recent one of the Chevalier La Barre. But\n their own executions and confiscations for an adherence to religion\n were to be held sacred.--I shall be excused for introducing here a\n few words respecting the affair of La Barre, which has been a\n favourite topic with popular writers of a certain description. The\n severity of the punishment must, doubtless, be considered as\n disgraceful to those who advised as well as to those who sanctioned\n it: but we must not infer from hence that he merited no punishment\n at all; and perhaps degradation, some scandalous and public\n correction, with a few years solitary confinement, might have\n answered every purpose intended.\n La Barre was a young etourdi, under twenty, but of lively talents,\n which, unfortunately for him, had taken a very perverse turn. The\n misdemeanour commonly imputed to him and his associates was, that\n they had mutilated a Christ which stood on the Pont-neuf at\n Abbeville: but La Barre had accustomed himself to take all\n opportunities of insulting, with the most wanton malignity, these\n pious representations, and especially in the presence of people,\n with whom his particular connections led him to associate, and whose\n profession could not allow them entirely to overlook such affronts\n on what was deemed an appendage to the established religion of the\n country.\n The people of Abbeville manifested their sense of the business when\n d'Etalonde, La Barre's intimate friend, who had saved himself by\n flight, returned, after a long exile, under favour of the\n revolution. He was received in the neighbourhood with the most\n mortifying indifference.\n The decree of the Convention too, by which the memory of this\n imprudent young man was re-established, when promulgated, created\n about as much interest as any other law which did not immediately\n affect the property or awaken the apprehensions of the hearers.\nMadame de St. E__m__d told me her whole fortune was now reduced to a few\nLouis, and about six or seven thousand livres in diamonds; that she was\nunwilling to burden her aunt, who was not rich, and intended to make some\nadvantage of her musical talents, which are indeed considerable. But I\ncould not, without anguish, hear an elegant young woman, with a heart\nhalf broken, propose to get her living by teaching music.--I know not\nthat I ever passed a more melancholy day. In the afternoon we walked up\nand down the path of the village church-yard. The church was shut up,\nthe roof in part untiled, the windows were broken, and the wooden crosses\nthat religion or tenderness had erected to commemorate the dead, broken\nand scattered about. Two labourers, and a black-smith in his working\ngarb, came while we were there, and threw a sort of uncouth wooden coffin\nhastily into a hole dug for the purpose, which they then covered and left\nwithout farther ceremony. Yet this was the body of a lady regretted by a\nlarge family, who were thus obliged to conquer both their affection and\ntheir prejudices, and inter her according to the republican mode.*\n * The relations or friends of the dead were prohibited, under severe\n penalties, from following their remains to the grave.\nI thought, while we traversed the walk, and beheld this scene, that every\nthing about me bore the marks of the revolution. The melancholy objects\nI held on my arm, and the feeble steps of Clementine, whom we could\nscarcely support, aided the impression; and I fear that, for the moment,\nI questioned the justice of Heaven, in permitting such a scourge to be\nlet loose upon its works.\nI quitted Madame de St. E__m__d this morning with reluctance, for we\nshall not meet again till I am entirely at liberty. The village\nmunicipality where she now resides, are quiet and civil, and her\nmisfortunes make her fearful of attracting the notice of the people in\nauthority of a large place, so that she cannot venture to Amiens.--You\nmust observe, that any person who has suffered is an object of particular\nsuspicion, and that to have had a father or a husband executed, and to be\nreduced to beggary, are titles to farther persecution.--The politics of\nthe day are, it is true, something less ferocious than they were: but\nconfidence is not to be restored by an essay in the Orateur du Peuple,*\nor an equivocal harangue from the tribune; and I perceive every where,\nthat those who have been most injured, are most timid.\n * _\"L'Orateur du Peuple,\"_ was a periodical paper published by\n Freron, many numbers of which were written with great spirit.--\n Freron was at this time supposed to have become a royalist, and his\n paper, which was comparatively favourable to the aristocrats, was\n read with great eagerness.\n The following extract from the registers of one of the popular\n commissions will prove, that the fears of those who had already\n suffered by the revolution were well founded:\n \"A. Sourdeville, and A. N. E. Sourdeville, sisters of an emigrant\n Noble, daughters of a Count, aristocrats, and having had their\n father and brother guillotined.\n \"M. J. Sourdeville, mother of an emigrant, an aristocrat, and her\n husband and son having been guillotined.\n \"Jean Marie Defille--very suspicious--a partizan of the Abbe Arnoud\n and La Fayette, has had a brother guillotined, and always shewn\n himself indifferent about the public welfare.\"\n The commissions declare that the above are condemned to banishment.\nI did not reach this place till after the family had dined, and taking my\nsoup and a dish of coffee, have escaped, under pretext of the headache,\nto my own room. I left our poet far gone in a classical description of a\nsort of Roman dresses, the drawings of which he had seen exhibited at the\nLyceum, as models of an intended national equipment for the French\ncitizens of both sexes; and my visit to Madame de St. E__m__d had\nincapacitated me for discussing revolutionary draperies.\nIn England, this is the season of festivity to the little, and\nbeneficence in the great; but here, the sterile genius of atheism has\nsuppressed the sounds of mirth, and closed the hands of charity--no\nseason is consecrated either to the one or the other; and the once-varied\nyear is but an uniform round of gloom and selfishness. The philosopher\nmay treat with contempt the notion of periodical benevolence, and assert\nthat we should not wait to be reminded by religion or the calendar, in\norder to contribute to the relief of our fellow creatures: yet there are\npeople who are influenced by custom and duty, that are not always awake\nto compassion; and indolence or avarice may yield a too ready obedience\nto prohibitions which favour both. The poor are certainly no gainers by\nthe substitution of philosophy for religion; and many of those who are\nforbidden to celebrate Christmas or Easter by a mass, will forget to do\nit by a donation. For my own part, I think it an advantage that any\nperiod of the year is more particularly signalized by charity; and I\nrejoice when I hear of the annual gifts of meat or firing of such, or\nsuch a great personage--and I never enquire whether they might still\ncontinue their munificence if Christianity were abolished.--Adieu.", "source_dataset": "gutenberg", "source_dataset_detailed": "gutenberg - A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Part III., 1794\n"}, {"source_document": "", "creation_year": 1807, "culture": " English\n", "content": "Produced by Mary Munarin and David Widger\nA RESIDENCE IN FRANCE,\nDURING THE YEARS\nDESCRIBED IN A SERIES OF LETTERS\nFROM AN ENGLISH LADY;\nWith General And Incidental Remarks\nOn The French Character And Manners.\nPrepared for the Press\nBy John Gifford, Esq.\nAuthor of the History of France, Letter to Lord\nLauderdale, Letter to the Hon. T. Erskine, &c.\nSecond Edition.\n_Plus je vis l'Etranger plus j'aimai ma Patrie._\n--Du Belloy.\nLondon: Printed for T. N. Longman, Paternoster Row. 1797.\nAmiens, January, 1793.\nVanity, I believe, my dear brother, is not so innoxious a quality as we\nare desirous of supposing. As it is the most general of all human\nfailings, so is it regarded with the most indulgence: a latent\nconsciousness averts the censure of the weak; and the wise, who flatter\nthemselves with being exempt from it, plead in its favour, by ranking it\nas a foible too light for serious condemnation, or too inoffensive for\npunishment. Yet, if vanity be not an actual vice, it is certainly a\npotential one--it often leads us to seek reputation rather than virtue,\nto substitute appearances for realities, and to prefer the eulogiums of\nthe world to the approbation of our own minds. When it takes possession\nof an uninformed or an ill-constituted mind, it becomes the source of a\nthousand errors, and a thousand absurdities. Hence, youth seeks a\npreeminence in vice, and age in folly; hence, many boast of errors they\nwould not commit, or claim distinction by investing themselves with an\nimputation of excess in some popular absurdity--duels are courted by the\ndaring, and vaunted by the coward--he who trembles at the idea of death\nand a future state when alone, proclaims himself an atheist or a\nfree-thinker in public--the water-drinker, who suffers the penitence of\na week for a supernumerary glass, recounts the wonders of his\nintemperance--and he who does not mount the gentlest animal without\ntrepidation, plumes himself on breaking down horses, and his perils in\nthe chace. In short, whatever order of mankind we contemplate, we shall\nperceive that the portion of vanity allotted us by nature, when it is\nnot corrected by a sound judgement, and rendered subservient to useful\npurposes, is sure either to degrade or mislead us.\nI was led into this train of reflection by the conduct of our\nAnglo-Gallican legislator, Mr. Thomas Paine. He has lately composed a\nspeech, which was translated and read in his presence, (doubtless to his\ngreat satisfaction,) in which he insists with much vehemence on the\nnecessity of trying the King; and he even, with little credit to his\nhumanity, gives intimations of presumed guilt. Yet I do not suspect Mr.\nPaine to be of a cruel or unmerciful nature; and, most probably, vanity\nalone has instigated him to a proceeding which, one would wish to\nbelieve, his heart disapproves. Tired of the part he was playing, and\nwhich, it must be confessed, was not calculated to flatter the censurer\nof Kings and the reformer of constitutions, he determined to sit no\nlonger for whole hours in colloquy with his interpreter, or in mute\ncontemplation, like the Chancellor in the Critic; and the speech to\nwhich I have alluded was composed. Knowing that lenient opinions would\nmeet no applause from the tribunes, he inlists himself on the side of\nseverity, accuses all the Princes in the world as the accomplices of\nLouis the Sixteenth, expresses his desire for an universal revolution,\nand, after previously assuring the Convention the King is guilty,\nrecommends that they may instantly proceed to his trial. But, after all\nthis tremendous eloquence, perhaps Mr. Paine had no malice in his heart:\nhe may only be solicitous to preserve his reputation from decay, and to\nindulge his self-importance by assisting at the trial of a Monarch whom\nhe may not wish to suffer.--I think, therefore, I am not wrong in\nasserting, that Vanity is a very mischievous counsellor.\nThe little distresses I formerly complained of, as arising from the paper\ncurrency, are nearly removed by a plentiful emission of small assignats,\nand we have now pompous assignments on the national domains for ten sols:\nwe have, likewise, pieces coined from the church bells in circulation,\nbut most of these disappear as soon as issued. You would scarcely\nimagine that this copper is deemed worthy to be hoarded; yet such is the\npeople's aversion from the paper, and such their mistrust of the\ngovernment, that not an housewife will part with one of these pieces\nwhile she has an assignat in her possession; and those who are rich\nenough to keep a few livres by them, amass and bury this copper treasure\nwith the utmost solicitude and secresy.\nA tolerably accurate scale of the national confidence might be made, by\nmarking the progress of these suspicious interments. Under the first\nAssembly, people began to hide their gold; during the reign of the second\nthey took the same affectionate care of their silver; and, since the\nmeeting of the Convention, they seem equally anxious to hide any metal\nthey can get. If one were to describe the present age, one might, as far\nas regards France, call it, both literally and metaphorically, the Iron\nAge; for it is certain, the character of the times would justify the\nmetaphoric application, and the disappearance of every other metal the\nliteral one. As the French are fond of classic examples, I shall not be\nsurprized to see an iron coinage, in imitation of Sparta, though they\nseem in the way of having one reason less for such a measure than the\nSpartans had, for they are already in a state to defy corruption; and if\nthey were not, I think a war with England would secure the purity of\ntheir morals from being endangered by too much commercial intercourse.\nI cannot be displeased with the civil things you say of my letters, nor\nat your valuing them so much as to preserve them; though, I assure you,\nthis fraternal gallantry is not necessary, on the account you intimate,\nnor will our countrymen suffer, in my opinion, by any comparisons I can\nmake here. Your ideas of French gallantry are, indeed, very erroneous--\nit may differ in the manner from that practised in England, but is far\nfrom having any claim to superiority. Perhaps I cannot define the\npretensions of the two nations in this respect better than by saying,\nthat the gallantry of an Englishman is a sentiment--that of a Frenchman a\nsystem. The first, if a lady happen to be old or plain, or indifferent\nto him, is apt to limit his attentions to respect, or utility--now the\nlatter never troubles himself with these distinctions: he is repulsed by\nno extremity of years, nor deformity of feature; he adores, with equal\nardour, both young and old, nor is either often shocked by his visible\npreference of the other. I have seen a youthful beau kiss, with perfect\ndevotion, a ball of cotton dropped from the hand of a lady who was\nknitting stockings for her grand-children. Another pays his court to a\nbelle in her climacteric, by bringing _gimblettes_ [A sort of\ngingerbread.] to the favourite lap-dog, or attending, with great\nassiduity, the egresses and regresses of her angola, who paces slowly out\nof the room ten times in an hour, while the door is held open by the\ncomplaisant Frenchman with a most respectful gravity.\nThus, you see, France is to the old what a masquerade is to the ugly\n--the one confounds the disparity of age as the other does that of\nperson; but indiscriminate adoration is no compliment to youth, nor is a\nmask any privilege to beauty. We may therefore conclude, that though\nFrance may be the Elysium of old women, England is that of the young.\nWhen I first came into this country, it reminded me of an island I had\nread of in the Arabian Tales, where the ladies were not deemed in their\nbloom till they verged towards seventy; and I conceived the project of\ninviting all the belles, who had been half a century out of fashion in\nEngland, to cross the Channel, and begin a new career of admiration!--\nYours, &c.\nAmiens, 1793.\nDear Brother,\nI have thought it hitherto a self evident proposition--that of all the\nprinciples which can be inculcated in the human mind, that of liberty is\nleast susceptible of propagation by force. Yet a Council of Philosophers\n(disciples of Rousseau and Voltaire) have sent forth Dumouriez, at the\nhead of an hundred thousand men, to instruct the people of Flanders in\nthe doctrine of freedom. Such a missionary is indeed invincible, and the\ndefenceless towns of the Low Countries have been converted and pillaged\n[By the civil agents of the executive power.] by a benevolent crusade of\nthe philanthropic assertors of the rights of man. These warlike\nPropagandistes, however, do not always convince without experiencing\nresistance, and ignorance sometimes opposes, with great obstinacy, the\nprogress of truth. The logic of Dumouriez did not enforce conviction at\nGemappe, but at the expence of fifteen thousand of his own army, and,\ndoubtless, a proportionate number of the unconverted.\nHere let me forbear every expression tending to levity: the heart recoils\nat such a slaughter of human victims; and, if a momentary smile be\nexcited by these Quixotisms, it is checked by horror at their\nconsequences!--Humanity will lament such destruction; but it will\nlikewise be indignant to learn, that, in the official account of this\nbattle, the killed were estimated at three hundred, and the wounded at\nsix!--But, if the people be sacrificed, they are not deceived. The\ndisabled sufferers, who are returning to their homes in different parts\nof the republic, betray the turpitude of the government, and expose the\nfallacy of these bloodless victories of the gazettes. The pedants of the\nConvention are not unlearned in the history of the Praetorian Bands and\nthe omnipotence of armies; and an offensive war is undertaken to give\noccupation to the soldiers, whose inactivity might produce reflection, or\nwhose discontent might prove fatal to the new order of things.--Attempts\nare made to divert the public mind from the real misery experienced at\nhome, by relations of useless conquests abroad; the substantial losses,\nwhich are the price of these imaginary benefits, are palliated or\nconcealed; and the circumstances of an engagement is known but by\nindividual communication, and when subsequent events have nearly effaced\nthe remembrance of it.--By these artifices, and from motives at least not\nbetter, and, perhaps, worse than those I have mentioned, will population\nbe diminished, and agriculture impeded: France will be involved in\npresent distress, and consigned to future want; and the deluded people be\npunished in the miseries of their own country, because their unprincipled\nrulers have judged it expedient to carry war and devastation into\nanother.\nOne of the distinguishing features in the French character is _sang froid_\n--scarcely a day passes that it does not force itself on one's\nobservation. It is not confined to the thinking part of the people, who\nknow that passion and irritability avail nothing; nor to those who, not\nthinking at all, are, of course, not moved by any thing: but is equally\npossessed by every rank and condition, whether you class them by their\nmental endowments, or their temporal possessions. They not only (as, it\nmust be confessed, is too commonly the case in all countries,) bear the\ncalamities of their friends with great philosophy, but are nearly as\nreasonable under the pressure of their own. The grief of a Frenchman,\nat least, partakes of his imputed national complaisance, and, far from\nintruding itself on society, is always ready to accept of consolation,\nand join in amusement. If you say your wife or relations are dead, they\nreplay coldly, _\"Il faut se consoler:\"_ or if they visit you in an\nillness, _\"Il faut prendre patience.\"_ Or tell them you are ruined, and\ntheir features then become something more attenuated, the shoulders\nsomething more elevated, and a more commiserating tone confesses, _\"C'est\nbien mal beureux--Mai enfin que voulez vous?\"_ [\"It's unlucky, but what\ncan be said in such cases?\"] and in the same instant they ill recount\nsome good fortune at a card party, or expatiate on the excellence of a\nragout.--Yet, to do them justice, they only offer for your comfort the\nsame arguments they would have found efficacious in promoting their own.\nThis disposition, which preserves the tranquillity of the rich, indurates\nthe sense of wretchedness in the poor; it supplies the place of fortitude\nin the one, and that of patience in the other; and, while it enables both\nto endure their own particular distresses, it makes them submit quietly\nto a weight and excess of public evils, which any nation but their own\nwould sink under, or resist. Amongst shopkeepers, servants, &c. without\nincurring personal odium, it has the effect of what would be deemed in\nEngland impenetrable assurance. It forces pertinaceously an article not\nwanted, and preserves the inflexibility of the features at a detected\nimposition: it inspires servants with arguments in defence of every\nmisdemeanour in the whole domestic catalogue; it renders them insensible\neither of their negligences or the consequences of them; and endows them\nwith a happy facility of contradicting with the most obsequious\npoliteness.\nA gentleman of our acquaintances dined at a table d'Hote, where the\ncompany were annoyed by a very uncommon and offensive smell. On cutting\nup a fowl, they discovered the smell to have been occasioned by its being\ndressed with out any other preparation than that of depluming. They\nimmediately sent for the host, and told him, that the fowl had been\ndressed without having been drawn: but, far from appearing disconcerted,\nas one might expect, he only replied, _\"Cela se pourroit bien,\nMonsieur.\"_ [\"'Tis very possible, Sir.\"] Now an English Boniface, even\nthough he had already made his fortune, would have been mortified at such\nan incident, and all his eloquence would scarcely have produced an\nunfaultering apology.\nWhether this national indifference originate in a physical or a moral\ncause, from an obtuseness in their corporeal formation or a perfection in\ntheir intellectual one, I do not pretend to decide; but whatever be the\ncause, the effect is enjoyed with great modesty. So little do the French\npique themselves on this valuable stoicism, that they acknowledge being\nmore subject to that human weakness called feeling, than any other people\nin the world. All their writers abound in pathetic exclamations,\nsentimental phrases, and allusions to \"la sensibilite Francaise,\" as\nthough they imagined it proverbial. You can scarcely hold a conversation\nwith a Frenchman without hearing him detail, with an expression of\nfeature not always analogous, many very affecting sentences. He is\n_desole, desespere, or afflige_--he has _le coeur trop sensible, le coeur\nserre, or le coeur navre;_ [Afflicted--in despair--too feeling a heart--\nhis heart is wrung or wounded.] and the well-placing of these dolorous\nassertions depends rather upon the judgement and eloquence of the\nspeaker, than the seriousness of the case which gives rise to them. For\ninstance, the despair and desolation of him who has lost his money, and\nof him whose head is ill drest, are of different degrees, but the\nexpressions are usually the same. The debates of the Convention, the\ndebates of the Jacobins, and all the public prints, are fraught with\nproofs of this appropriated susceptibility, and it is often attributed to\npersons and occasions where we should not much expect to find it. A\nquarrel between the legislators as to who was most concerned in promoting\nthe massacres of September, is reconciled with a \"sweet and enthusiastic\nexcess of fraternal tenderness.\" When the clubs dispute on the\nexpediency of an insurrection, or the necessity of a more frequent\nemployment of the guillotine, the debate terminates by overflowing of\nsensibility from all the members who have engaged in it!\nAt the assassinations in one of the prisons, when all the other miserable\nvictims had perished, the mob discovered one Jonneau, a member of the\nAssembly, who had been confined for kicking another member named\nGrangeneuve.* As the massacrers probably had no orders on the subject,\nhe was brought forth, from amidst heaps of murdered companions, and a\nmessenger dispatched to the Assembly, (which during these scenes met as\nusual,) to enquire if they acknowledged Jonneau as a member. A decree\nwas passed in the affirmative, and Jonneau brought by the assassins, with\nthe decree fastened on his breast, in triumph to his colleagues, who, we\nare told, at this instance of respect for themselves, shed tears of\ntenderness and admiration at the conduct of monsters, the sight of whom\nshould seem revolting to human nature.\n * When the massacres began, the wife and friends of Jonneau\n petitioned Grangeneuve on their knees to consent to his enlargement;\n but Grangeneuve was implacable, and Jonneau continued in prison till\n released by the means above mentioned. It is observable, that at\n this dreadful moment the utmost strictness was observed, and every\n form literally enforced in granting the discharge of a prisoner. A\n suspension of all laws, human and divine, was allowed to the\n assassins, while those only that secured them their victims were\n rigidly adhered to.\nPerhaps the real sang froid I have before noticed, and these pretensions\nto sensibility, are a natural consequence one or the other. It is the\nhistory of the beast's confession--we have only to be particularly\ndeficient in any quality, to make us solicitous for the reputation of it;\nand after a long habit of deceiving others we finish by deceiving\nourselves. He who feels no compassion for the distresses of his\nneighbour, knows that such indifference is not very estimable; he\ntherefore studies to disguise the coldness of his heart by the\nexaggeration of his language, and supplies, by an affected excess of\nsentiment, the total absence of it.--The gods have not (as you know) made\nme poetical, nor do I often tax your patience with a simile, but I think\nthis French sensibility is to genuine feeling, what their paste is to the\ndiamond--it gratifies the vanity of the wearer, and deceives the eye of\nthe superficial observer, but is of little use or value, and when tried\nby the fire of adversity quickly disappears.\nYou are not much obliged to me for this long letter, as I own I have\nscribbled rather for my own amusement than with a view to yours.--\nContrary to our expectation, the trial of the King has begun; and, though\nI cannot properly be said to have any real interest in the affairs of\nthis country, I take a very sincere one in the fate of its unfortunate\nMonarch--indeed our whole house has worn an appearance of dejection since\nthe commencement of the business. Most people seem to expect it will\nterminate favourably, and, I believe, there are few who do not wish it.\nEven the Convention seem at present disposed to be merciful; and as they\njudge now, so may they be judged hereafter!\n--Yours.\nAmiens, January 1793.\nI do all possible justice to the liberality of my countrymen, who are\nbecome such passionate admirers of the French; and I cannot but lament\ntheir having been so unfortunate in the choice of the aera from whence\nthey date this new friendship. It is, however, a proof, that their\nregards are not much the effect of that kind of vanity which esteems\nobjects in proportion as they are esteemed by the rest of the world; and\nthe sincerity of an attachment cannot be better evinced than by its\nsurviving irretrievable disgrace and universal abhorrence. Many will\nswell the triumph of a hero, or add a trophy to his tomb; but he who\nexhibits himself with a culprit at the gallows, or decorates the gibbet\nwith a wreath, is a friend indeed.\nIf ever the character of a people were repugnant to amity, or inimical to\nconnection, it is that of the French for the last three years.--*\n * The editor of the _Courier de l'Egalite,_ a most decided patriot,\n thus expresses himself on the injuries and insults received by the\n King from the Parisians, and their municipality, previous to his\n trial:\n \"I know that Louis is guilty--but are we to double his punishment\n before it is pronounced by the law? Indeed one is tempted to say\n that, instead of being guided by the humanity and philosophy which\n dictated the revolution, we have taken lessons of barbarity from the\n most ferocious savages! Let us be virtuous if we would be\n republicans; if we go on as we do, we never shall, and must have\n recourse to a despot: for of two evils it is better to choose the\n least.\"\nThe editor, whose opinion of the present politics is thus expressed, is\nso truly a revolutionist, and so confidential a patriot, that, in August\nlast, when almost all the journalists were murdered, his paper was the\nonly one that, for some time, was allowed to reach the departments.\nIn this short space they have formed a compendium of all the vices which\nhave marked as many preceding ages:--the cruelty and treachery of the\nleague--the sedition, levity, and intrigue of the _Fronde_ [A name given\nto the party in opposition to the court during Cardinal Mazarin's\nministry.--See the origin of it in the Memoirs of that period.] with the\nlicentiousness and political corruption of more modern epochs. Whether\nyou examine the conduct of the nation at large, or that of its chiefs and\nleaders, your feelings revolt at the one, and your integrity despises the\nother. You see the idols erected by Folly, degraded by Caprice;--the\nauthority obtained by Intrigue, bartered by Profligacy;--and the perfidy\nand corruption of one side so balanced by the barbarity and levity of the\nother, that the mind, unable to decide on the preference of contending\nvices, is obliged to find repose, though with regret and disgust, in\nacknowledging the general depravity.\nLa Fayette, without very extraordinary pretensions, became the hero of\nthe revolution. He dictated laws in the Assembly, and prescribed oaths\nto the Garde Nationale--and, more than once, insulted, by the triumph of\nostentatious popularity, the humiliation and distress of a persecuted\nSovereign. Yet when La Fayette made an effort to maintain the\nconstitution to which he owed his fame and influence, he was abandoned\nwith the same levity with which he had been adopted, and sunk, in an\ninstant, from a dictator to a fugitive!\nNeckar was an idol of another description. He had already departed for\nhis own country, when he was hurried back precipitately, amidst universal\nacclamations. All were full of projects either of honour or recompence--\none was for decreeing him a statue, another proposed him a pension, and a\nthird hailed him the father of the country. But Mr. Neckar knew the\nFrench character, and very wisely declined these pompous offers; for\nbefore he could have received the first quarter of his pension, or the\nstatue could have been modelled, he was glad to escape, probably not\nwithout some apprehensions for his head!\nThe reign of Mirabeau was something longer. He lived with popularity,\nwas fortunate enough to die before his reputation was exhausted, was\ndeposited in the Pantheon, apotheosised in form, and his bust placed as a\ncompanion to that of Brutus, the tutelary genius of the Assembly.--Here,\none might have expected, he would have been quit for this world at least;\nbut the fame of a patriot is not secured by his death, nor can the gods\nof the French be called immortal: the deification of Mirabeau is\nsuspended, his memory put in sequestration, and a committee appointed to\nenquire, whether a profligate, expensive, and necessitous character was\nlikely to be corruptible. The Convention, too, seem highly indignant\nthat a man, remarkable only for vice and atrocity, should make no\nconscience of betraying those who were as bad as himself; and that, after\nhaving prostituted his talents from the moment he was conscious of them,\nhe should not, when associated with such immaculate colleagues, become\npure and disinterested. It is very probable that Mirabeau, whose only\naim was power, might rather be willing to share it with the King, as\nMinister, than with so many competitors, and only as Prime Speechmaker to\nthe Assembly: and as he had no reason for suspecting the patriotism of\nothers to be more inflexible than his own, he might think it not\nimpolitic to anticipate a little the common course of things, and betray\nhis companions, before they had time to stipulate for felling him. He\nmight, too, think himself more justified in disposing of them in the\ngross, because he did not thereby deprive them of their right of\nbargaining for themselves, and for each other in detail.--*\n * La Porte, Steward of the Household, in a letter to Duquesnoy, [Not\n the brutal Dusquenoy hereafter mentioned.] dated February, 1791,\n informs him that Barrere, Chairman of the Committee of Domains, is\n in the best disposition possible.--A letter of Talon, (then\n minister,) with remarks in the margin by the King, says, that\n \"Sixteen of the most violent members on the patriotic side may be\n brought over to the court, and that the expence will not exceed two\n millions of livres: that fifteen thousand will be sufficient for the\n first payment; and only a Yes or No from his Majesty will fix these\n members in his interest, and direct their future conduct.\"--It\n likewise observes, that these two millions will cost the King\n nothing, as the affair is already arranged with the\n Liquidator-General.\nExtract of a letter from Chambonas to the King, dated June 18, 1792:\n \"I inform your Majesty, that my agents are now in motion. I have\n just been converting an evil spirit. I cannot hope that I have made\n him good, but I believe I have neutralized him.--To-night we shall\n make a strong effort to gain Santerre, (Commandant of the Garde\n Nationale,) and I have ordered myself to be awakened to hear the\n result. I shall take care to humour the different interests as well\n as I can.--The Secretary of the Cordeliers club is now secured.--All\n these people are to be bought, but not one of them can be hired.--I\n have had with me one Mollet a physician. Perhaps your Majesty may\n have heard of him. He is an outrageous Jacobin, and very difficult,\n for he will receive nothing. He insists, previous to coming to any\n definitive treaty, on being named Physician to the Army. I have\n promised him, on condition that Paris is kept quiet for fifteen\n days. He is now gone to exert himself in our favour. He has great\n credit at the Caffe de Procope, where all the journalists and\n 'enragis' of the Fauxbourg St. Germain assemble. I hope he will\n keep his word.--The orator of the people, the noted Le Maire, a\n clerk at the Post-office, has promised tranquility for a week, and\n he is to be rewarded.\n \"A new Gladiator has appeared lately on the scene, one Ronedie\n Breton, arrived from England. He has already been exciting the\n whole quarter of the Poisonnerie in favour of the Jacobins, but I\n shall have him laid siege to.--Petion is to come to-morrow for\n fifteen thousand livres, [This sum was probably only to propitiate\n the Mayor; and if Chambonas, as he proposed, refused farther\n payment, we may account for Petion's subsequent conduct.] on account\n of thirty thousand per month which he received under the\n administration of Dumouriez, for the secret service of the police.--\n I know not in virtue of what law this was done, and it will be the\n last he shall receive from me. Your Majesty will, I doubt not,\n understand me, and approve of what I suggest.\n (Signed) \"Chambonas.\"\n Extract from the Papers found at the Thuilleries.\n It is impossible to warrant the authenticity of these Papers; on\n their credibility, however, rests the whole proof of the most\n weighty charges brought against the King. So that it must be\n admitted, that either all the first patriots of the revolution, and\n many of those still in repute, are corrupt, or that the King was\n condemned on forged evidence.\nThe King might also be solicitous to purchase safety and peace at any\nrate; and it is unfortunate for himself and the country that he had not\nrecourse to the only effectual means till it was too late. But all this\nrests on no better evidence than the papers found at the Thuilleries; and\nas something of this kind was necessary to nourish the exhausted fury of\nthe populace, I can easily conceive that it was thought more prudent to\nsacrifice the dead, than the living; and the fame of Mirabeau being less\nvaluable than the safety of those who survived him, there would be no\ngreat harm in attributing to him what he was very likely to have done.--\nThe corruption of a notorious courtier would have made no impression: the\nKing had already been overwhelmed with such accusations, and they had\nlost their effect: but to have seduced the virtuous Mirabeau, the very\nConfucius of the revolution, was a kind of profanation of the holy fire,\nwell calculated to revive the languid rage, and extinguish the small\nremains of humanity yet left among the people.\nIt is sufficiently remarkable, that notwithstanding the court must have\nseen the necessity of gaining over the party now in power, no vestige of\nany attempt of this kind has been discovered; and every criminating\nnegotiation is ascribed to the dead, the absent, or the insignificant. I\ndo not, however, presume to decide in a case so very delicate; their\npanegyrists in England may adjust the claims of Mirabeau's integrity, and\nthat of his accusers, at their leisure.\nAnother patriot of \"distinguished note,\" and more peculiarly interesting\nto our countrymen, because he has laboured much for their conversion, is\nTalleyrand, Bishop of Autun.--He was in England some time as\nPlenipotentiary from the Jacobins, charged with establishing treaties\nbetween the clubs, publishing seditious manifestoes, contracting friendly\nalliances with discontented scribblers, and gaining over neutral or\nhostile newspapers.--But, besides his political and ecclesiastical\noccupations, and that of writing letters to the Constitutional Society,\nit seems this industrious Prelate had likewise a correspondence with the\nAgents of the Court, which, though he was too modest to surcharge his\nfame by publishing it, was, nevertheless, very profitable.\nI am sorry his friends in England are mostly averse from episcopacy,\notherwise they might have provided for him, as I imagine he will have no\nobjection to relinquish his claims on the see of Autun. He is not under\naccusation, and, were he to return, he would not find the laws quite so\nceremonious here as in England. After labouring with impunity for months\ntogether to promote an insurrection with you, a small private barter of\nhis talents would here cost him his head; and I appeal to the Bishop's\nfriends in England, whether there can be a proper degree of freedom in a\ncountry where a man is refused the privilege of disposing of himself to\nthe best advantage.\nTo the eternal obloquy of France, I must conclude, in the list of those\nonce popular, the ci-devant Duke of Orleans. But it was an unnatural\npopularity, unaided by a single talent, or a single virtue, supported\nonly by the venal efforts of those who were almost his equals in vice,\nthough not in wealth, and who found a grateful exercise for their\nabilities in at once profiting by the weak ambition of a bad man, and\ncorrupting the public morals in his favour. The unrighteous compact is\nnow dissolved; those whom he ruined himself to bribe have already\nforsaken him, and perhaps may endeavour to palliate the disgrace of\nhaving been called his friends, by becoming his persecutors.--Thus, many\nof the primitive patriots are dead, or fugitives, or abandoned, or\ntreacherous; and I am not without fear lest the new race should prove as\nevanescent as the old.\nThe virtuous Rolland,* whose first resignation was so instrumental in\ndethroning the King, has now been obliged to resign a second time,\ncharged with want of capacity, and suspected of malversation; and this\nvirtue, which was so irreproachable, which it would have been so\ndangerous to dispute while it served the purposes of party, is become\nhypocrisy, and Rolland will be fortunate if he return to obscurity with\nonly the loss of his gains and his reputation.\n * In the beginning of December, the Council-General of the\n municipality of Paris opened a register, and appointed a Committee\n to receive all accusations and complaints whatever against Rolland,\n who, in return, summoned them to deliver in their accounts to him as\n Minister of the interior, and accused them, at the same time, of the\n most scandalous peculations.\nThe credit of Brissot and the Philosophers is declining fast--the clubs\nare unpropitious, and no party long survives this formidable omen; so\nthat, like Macbeth, they will have waded from one crime to another, only\nto obtain a short-lived dominion, at the expence of eternal infamy, and\nan unlamented fall.\nDumouriez is still a successful General, but he is denounced by one\nfaction, insulted by another, insidiously praised by a third, and, if he\nshould persevere in serving them, he has more disinterested rectitude\nthan I suspect him of, or than they merit. This is another of that\nJacobin ministry which proved so fatal to the King; and it is evident\nthat, had he been permitted to entertain the same opinion of all these\npeople as they now profess to have of each other, he would have been\nstill living, and secure on his throne.\nAfter so many mutual infidelities, it might be expected that one party\nwould grow indifferent, and the other suspicious; but the French never\ndespair: new hordes of patriots prepare to possess themselves of the\nplaces they are forcing the old ones to abandon, and the people, eager\nfor change, are ready to receive them with the momentary and fallacious\nenthusiasm which ever precedes disgrace; while those who are thus\nintriguing for power and influence, are, perhaps, secretly devising how\nit may be made most subservient to their personal advantage.\nYet, perhaps, these amiable levities may not be displeasing to the\nConstitutional Society and the revolutionists of England; and, as the\nvery faults of our friends are often endearing to us, they may extend\ntheir indulgence to the \"humane\" and \"liberal\" precepts of the Jacobins,\nand the massacres of September.--To confess the truth, I am not a little\nashamed for my country when I see addresses from England to a Convention,\nthe members of which have just been accusing each other of assassination\nand robbery, or, in the ardour of a debate, threatening, cuffing, and\nknocking each other down. Exclusive of their moral character, considered\nonly as it appears from their reciprocal criminations, they have so\nlittle pretension to dignity, or even decency, that it seems a mockery to\naddress them as the political representatives of a powerful nation\ndeliberating upon important affairs.\nIf a bearer of one of these congratulatory compliments were not apprized\nof the forms of the House, he would be rather astonished, at his\nintroduction, to see one member in a menacing attitude, and another\ndenying his veracity in terms perfectly explicit, though not very civil.\nPerhaps, in two minutes, the partizans of each opponent all rise and\nclamour, as if preparing for a combat--the President puts on his hat as\nthe signal of a storm--the subordinate disputants are appeased--and the\nrevilings of the principal ones renewed; till, after torrents of indecent\nlanguage, the quarrel is terminated by a fraternal embrace.*--I think,\nafter such a scene, an addresser must feel a little humiliated, and would\nreturn without finding his pride greatly increased by his mission.\n * I do not make any assertions of this nature from conjecture or\n partial evidence. The journals of the time attest that the scenes I\n describe occur almost in every debate.--As a proof, I subjoin some\n extracts taken nearly at hazard:\n \"January 7th, Convention Nationale, Presidence de Treilhard.--The\n debate was opened by an address from the department of Finisterre,\n expressing their wishes, and adding, that these were likewise the\n wishes of the nation at large--that Marat, Robespierre, Bazire,\n Chabot, Merlin, Danton, and their accomplices, might be expelled the\n Convention as caballers and intriguers paid by the tyrants at war\n with France.\"\n The account of this debate is thus continued--\"The almost daily\n troubles which arise in the Convention were on the point of being\n renewed, when a member, a friend to order, spoke as follows, and, it\n is remarked, was quietly listened to:\n \"'Citizens,\n \"'If three months of uninterrupted silence has given me any claim to\n your attention, I now ask it in the name of our afflicted country.\n Were I to continue silent any longer, I should render myself as\n culpable as those who never hold their tongues. I see we are all\n sensible of the painfulness of our situation. Every day\n dissatisfied with ourselves, we come to the debate with the\n intention of doing something, and every day we return without having\n done any thing. The people expect from us wise laws, and not storms\n and tumults. How are we to make these wise laws, and keep\n twenty-five millions of people quiet, when we, who are only seven\n hundred and fifty individuals, give an example of perpetual riot and\n disorder? What signifies our preaching the unity and indivisibility\n of the republic, when we cannot maintain peace and union amongst\n ourselves? What good can we expect to do amidst such scandalous\n disturbances, and while we spend our time in attending to\n informations, accusations, and inculpations, for the most part\n utterly unfounded? For my part, I see but one means of attaining\n any thing like dignity and tranquillity, and that is, by submitting\n ourselves to coercive regulations.'\"\n Here follow some proposals, tending to establish a little decency in\n their proceedings for the future; but the account from whence this\n extract is taken proceeds to remark, that this invitation to peace\n was no sooner finished, than a new scene of disturbance took place,\n to the great loss of their time, and the scandal of all good\n citizens. One should imagine, that if ever the Convention could\n think it necessary to assume an appearance of dignity, or at least\n of seriousness and order, it would be in giving their judgement\n relative to the King. Yet, in determining how a series of questions\n should be discussed, on the arrangement of which his fate seems much\n to have depended, the solemnity of the occasion appears to have had\n no weight. It was proposed to begin by that of the appeal to the\n people. This was so violently combated, that the Convention would\n hear neither party, and were a long time without debating at all.\n Petion mounted the tribune, and attempted to restore order; but the\n noise was too great for him to be heard. He at length, however,\n obtained silence enough to make a motion. Again the murmurs\n recommenced. Rabaud de St. Etienne made another attempt, but was\n equally unsuccessful. Those that were of an opposite opinion\n refused to hear him, and both parties rose up and rushed together to\n the middle of the Hall. The most dreadful tumult took place, and\n the President, with great difficulty, procured a calm. Again the\n storm began, and a member told them, that if they voted in the\n affirmative, those on the left side (Robespierre, &c.) would not\n wait the result, but have the King assassinated. \"Yes! Yes!\n (resounded from all parts) the Scelerats of Paris will murder him!\"\n --Another violent disorder ensuing, it was thought no decree could\n be passed, and, at length, amidst this scene of riot and confusion,\n the order of questions was arranged, and in such a manner as to\n decide the fate of the King.--It was determined, that the question\n of his guilt should precede that of the appeal to the people. Had\n the order of the questions been changed, the King might have been\n saved, for many would have voted for the appeal in the first\n instance who did not dare do it when they found the majority\n resolved to pronounce him guilty.\nIt is very remarkable, that, on the same day on which the friends of\nliberty and equality of Manchester signalized themselves by a most\npatriotic compliment to the Convention, beginning with _\"Francais, vous\netes libres,\"_ [\"Frenchmen, you are free.\"] they were, at that very\nmoment, employed in discussing a petition from numbers of Parisians who\nhad been thrown into prison without knowing either their crime or their\naccusers, and were still detained under the same arbitrary\ncircumstances.--The law of the constitution is, that every person\narrested shall be interrogated within twenty-four hours; but as these\nimprisonments were the work of the republican Ministers, the Convention\nseemed to think it indelicate to interpose, and these citizens of a\ncountry whose freedom is so much envied by the Manchester Society, will\nmost likely remain in durance as long as their confinement shall be\nconvenient to those who have placed them there.--A short time after,\nVillette, who is a news-writer and deputy, was cited to appear before the\nmunicipality of Paris, under the charge of having inserted in his paper\n\"equivocal phrases and anti-civic expressions, tending to diminish the\nconfidence due to the municipality.\"--Villette, as being a member of the\nConvention, obtained redress; but had he been only a journalist, the\nliberty of the press would not have rescued him.--On the same day,\ncomplaint was made in the Assembly, that one man had been arrested\ninstead of another, and confined for some weeks, and it was agreed\nunanimously, (a thing that does not often occur,) that the powers\nexercised by the Committee of Inspection [Surveillance.--See Debates,\nDecember.] were incompatible with liberty.\nThe patriots of Belfast were not more fortunate in the adaption of their\ncivilities--they addressed the Convention, in a strain of great piety, to\ncongratulate them on the success of their arms in the \"cause of civil and\nreligious liberty.\"*\n * At this time the municipalities were empowered to search all\n houses by night or day; but their visites domiciliaires, as they are\n called, being made chiefly in the night, a decree has since ordained\n that they shall take place only during the day. Perhaps an\n Englishman may think the latter quite sufficient, considering that\n France is the freeest country in the world, and, above all, a\n republic.\nThe harangue was interrupted by the _mal-a-propos_ entrance of two\ndeputies, who complained of having been beaten, almost hanged, and half\ndrowned, by the people of Chartres, for belonging, as they were told, to\nan assembly of atheistical persecutors of religion; and this Convention,\nwhom the Society of Belfast admire for propagating \"religious liberty\" in\nother countries, were in a few days humbly petitioned, from various\ndepartments, not to destroy it in their own. I cannot, indeed, suppose\nthey have really such a design; but the contempt with which they treat\nreligion has occasioned an alarm, and given the French an idea of their\npiety very different from that so kindly conceived by the patriots of\nBelfast.\nI entrust this to our friend Mrs. ____, who is leaving France in a few\ndays; and as we are now on the eve of a war, it will be the last letter\nyou will receive, except a few lines occasionally on our private affairs,\nor to inform you of my health. As we cannot, in the state Mrs. D____ is\nin, think of returning to England at present, we must trust ourselves to\nthe hospitality of the French for at least a few weeks, and I certainly\nwill not abuse it, by sending any remarks on their political affairs out\nof the country. But as I know you interest yourself much in the subject,\nand read with partiality my attempts to amuse you, I will continue to\nthrow my observations on paper as regularly as I have been accustomed to\ndo, and I hope, ere long, to be the bearer of the packets myself. I here\nalso renew my injunction, that no part of my correspondence that relates\nto French politics be communicated to any one, not even my mother. What\nI have written has been merely to gratify your own curiosity, and I\nshould be extremely mortified if my opinions were repeated even in the\nlittle circle of our private acquaintance. I deem myself perfectly\njustifiable in imparting my reflections to you, but I have a sort of\ndelicacy that revolts at the thought of being, in the remotest degree,\naccessary to conveying intelligence from a country in which I reside,\nand which is so peculiarly situated as France is at this moment. My\nfeelings, my humanity, are averse from those who govern, but I should\nregret to be the means of injuring them. You cannot mistake my\nintentions, and I conclude by seriously reminding you of the promise I\nexacted previous to any political discussion.--Adieu.\nAmiens, February 15, 1793.\nI did not, as I promised, write immediately on my return from Chantilly;\nthe person by whom I intended to send my letter having already set out\nfor England, and the rule I have observed for the last three months of\nentrusting nothing to the post but what relates to our family affairs,\nis now more than ever necessary. I have before requested, and I must now\ninsist, that you make no allusion to any political matter whatever, nor\neven mention the name of any political person. Do not imagine that you\nare qualified to judge of what is prudent, or what may be written with\nsafety--I repeat, no one in England can form an idea of the suspicion\nthat pervades every part of the French government.\nI cannot venture to answer decisively your question respecting the King--\nindeed the subject is so painful to me, that I have hitherto avoided\nreverting to it. There certainly was, as you observe, some sudden\nalteration in the dispositions of the Assembly between the end of the\ntrial and the final judgement. The causes were most probably various,\nand must be sought for in the worst vices of our nature--cruelty,\navarice, and cowardice. Many, I doubt not, were guided only by the\nnatural malignity of their hearts; many acted from fear, and expected to\npurchase impunity for former compliances with the court by this popular\nexpiation; a large number are also supposed to have been paid by the Duke\nof Orleans--whether for the gratification of malice or ambition, time\nmust develope.--But, whatever were the motives, the result was an\niniquitous combination of the worst of a set of men, before selected from\nall that was bad in the nation, to profane the name of justice--to\nsacrifice an unfortunate, but not a guilty Prince--and to fix an\nindelible stain on the country.\nAmong those who gave their opinion at large, you will observe Paine: and,\nas I intimated in a former letter, it seems he was at that time rather\nallured by the vanity of making a speech that should be applauded, than\nby any real desire of injuring the King. Such vanity, however, is not\npardonable: a man has a right to ruin himself, or to make himself\nridiculous; but when his vanity becomes baneful to others, as it has all\nthe effect, so does it merit the punishment, of vice.\nOf all the rest, Condorcet has most powerfully disgusted me. The avowed\nwickedness of Thuriot or Marat inspires one with horror; but this cold\nphilosophic hypocrite excites contempt as well as detestation. He seems\nto have wavered between a desire to preserve the reputation of humanity,\nwhich he has affected, and that of gratifying the real depravity of his\nmind. Would one have expected, that a speech full of benevolent systems,\nmild sentiments, and aversion from the effusion of human blood, was to\nend in a vote for, and recommendation of, the immediate execution of his\nsovereign?--But such a conduct is worthy of him, who has repaid the\nbenefits of his patron and friend [The Duke de la Rochefaucault.] by a\npersecution which ended in his murder.\nYou will have seen, that the King made some trifling requests to be\ngranted after his decease, and that the Convention ordered him to be\ntold, that the nation, \"always great, always just,\" accorded them in\npart. Yet this just and magnanimous people refused him a preparation of\nonly three days, and allowed him but a few hours--suffered his remains to\nbe treated with the most scandalous indecency--and debated seriously,\nwhether or no the Queen should receive some little tokens of affection he\nhad left for her.\nThe King's enemies had so far succeeded in depreciating his personal\ncourage, that even his friends were apprehensive he might not sustain his\nlast moments with dignity. The event proves how much injustice has been\ndone him in this respect, as well as in many others. His behaviour was\nthat of a man who derived his fortitude from religion--it was that of\npious resignation, not ostentatious courage; it was marked by none of\nthose instances of levity and indifference which, at such a time, are\nrather symptoms of distraction than resolution; he exhibited the\ncomposure of an innocent mind, and the seriousness that became the\noccasion; he seemed to be occupied in preparing for death, but not to\nfear it.--I doubt not but the time will come, when those who have\nsacrificed him may envy the last moments of Louis the Sixteenth!\nThat the King was not guilty of the principal charges brought against\nhim, has been proved indubitably--not altogether by the assertions of\nthose who favour him, but by the confession of his enemies. He was, for\nexample, accused of planning the insurrection of the tenth of August; yet\nnot a day passes that both parties in the Convention are not disputing\nthe priority of their efforts to dethrone him, and to erect a republic;\nand they date their machinations long before the period on which they\nattribute the first aggression to the King.--Mr. Sourdat, and several\nother writers, have very ably demonstrated the falsehood of these\ncharges; but the circulation of such pamphlets was dangerous--of course,\nsecret and limited; while those which tended to deceive and prejudice the\npeople were dispersed with profusion, at the expence of the government.*\n * Postscript of the Courier de l'Egalite, Sept. 29:\n \"The present minister (Rolland) takes every possible means in his\n power to enlighten and inform the people in whatever concerns their\n real interests. For this purpose he has caused to be printed and\n distributed, in abundance, the accounts and papers relative to the\n events of the tenth of August. We have yet at our office a small\n number of these publications, which we have distributed to our\n subscribers, and we still give them to any of our fellow-citizens\n who have opportunities of circulating them.\"\nI have seen one of these written in coarse language, and replete with\nvulgar abuse, purposely calculated for the lower classes in the country,\nwho are more open to gross impositions than those of the same rank in\ntowns; yet I have no doubt, in my own mind, that all these artifices\nwould have proved unavailing, had the decision been left to the nation at\nlarge: but they were intimidated, if not convinced; and the mandate of\nthe Convention, which forbids this sovereign people to exercise their\njudgement, was obeyed with as much submission, and perhaps more\nreluctance, than an edict of Louis the fourteenth.*\n * The King appealed, by his counsel, to the People; but the\n convention, by a decree, declared his appeal of no validity, and\n forbade all persons to pay attention to it, under the severest\n penalties.\nThe French seem to have no energy but to destroy, and to resist nothing\nbut gentleness or infancy. They bend under a firm or oppressive\nadministration, but become restless and turbulent under a mild Prince or\na minority.\nThe fate of this unfortunate Monarch has made me reflect, with great\nseriousness, on the conduct of our opposition-writers in England. The\nliterary banditti who now govern France began their operations by\nridiculing the King's private character--from ridicule they proceeded to\ncalumny, and from calumny to treason; and perhaps the first libel that\ndegraded him in the eyes of his subjects opened the path from the palace\nto the scaffold.--I do not mean to attribute the same pernicious\nintentions to the authors on your side the Channel, as I believe them,\nfor the most part, to be only mercenary, and that they would write\npanegyrics as soon as satires, were they equally profitable. I know too,\nthat there is no danger of their producing revolutions in England--we do\nnot suffer our principles to be corrupted by a man because he has the art\nof rhyming nothings into consequence, nor suffer another to overturn the\ngovernment because he is an orator. Yet, though these men may not be\nvery mischievous, they are very reprehensible; and, in a moment like the\npresent, contempt and neglect should supply the place of that punishment\nagainst which our liberty of the press secures them.\nIt is not for a person no better informed than myself to pronounce on\nsystems of government--still less do I affect to have more enlarged\nnotions than the generality of mankind; but I may, without risking those\nimputations, venture to say, I have no childish or irrational deference\nfor the persons of Kings. I know they are not, by nature, better than\nother men, and a neglected or vicious education may often render them\nworse. This does not, however, make me less respect the office. I\nrespect it as the means chosen by the people to preserve internal peace\nand order--to banish corruption and petty tyrants [\"And fly from petty\ntyrants to the throne.\"--Goldsmith]--and give vigour to the execution of\nthe laws.\nRegarded in this point of view, I cannot but lament the mode which has\nlately prevailed of endeavouring to alienate the consideration due to our\nKing's public character, by personal ridicule. If an individual were\nattacked in this manner, his house beset with spies, his conversation\nwith his family listened to, and the most trifling actions of his life\nrecorded, it would be deemed unfair and illiberal, and he who should\npractice such meanness would be thought worthy of no punishment more\nrespectful than what might be inflicted by an oaken censor, or an\nadmonitory heel.--But it will be said, a King is not an individual, and\nthat such a habit, or such an amusement, is beneath the dignity of his\ncharacter. Yet would it be but consistent in those who labour to prove,\nby the public acts of Kings, that they are less than men, not to exact,\nthat, in their private lives, they should be more.--The great prototype\nof modern satyrists, Junius, does not allow that any credit should be\ngiven a Monarch for his domestic virtues; is he then to be reduced to an\nindividual, only to scrutinize his foibles, and is his station to serve\nonly as the medium of their publicity? Are these literary miners to\npenetrate the recesses of private life, only to bring to light the dross?\nDo they analyse only to discover poisons? Such employments may be\ncongenial to their natures, but have little claim to public remuneration.\nThe merit of a detractor is not much superior to that of a flatterer; nor\nis a Prince more likely to be amended by imputed follies, than by\nundeserved panegyrics. If any man wished to represent his King\nadvantageously, it could not be done better than by remarking, that,\nafter all the watchings of assiduous necessity, and the laborious\nresearches of interested curiosity, it appears, that his private life\naffords no other subjects of ridicule than, that he is temperate,\ndomestic, and oeconomical, and, as is natural to an active mind, wishes\nto be informed of whatever happens not to be familiar to him. It were to\nbe desired that some of these accusations were applicable to those who\nare so much scandalized at them: but they are not littlenesses--the\nlittleness is in him who condescends to report them; and I have often\nwondered that men of genius should make a traffic of gleaning from the\nrefuse of anti-chambers, and retailing the anecdotes of pages and\nfootmen!\nYou will perceive the kind of publications I allude to; and I hope the\nsituation of France, and the fate of its Monarch, may suggest to the\nauthors a more worthy employ of their talents, than that of degrading the\nexecutive power in the eyes of the people.\nAmiens, Feb. 25, 1793.\nI told you, I believe, in a former letter, that the people of Amiens were\nall aristocrates: they have, nevertheless, two extremely popular\nqualifications--I mean filth and incivility. I am, however, far from\nimputing either of them to the revolution. This grossness of behavior\nhas long existed under the palliating description of _\"la franchise\nPicarde,\"_ [\"Picardy frankness.\"] and the floors and stairs of many\nhouses will attest their preeminence in filth to be of a date much\nanterior to the revolution.--If you purchase to the amount of an hundred\nlivres, there are many shopkeepers who will not send your purchases home;\nand if the articles they show you do not answer your purpose, they are\nmostly sullen, and often rude. No appearance of fatigue or infirmity\nsuggests to them the idea of offering you a seat; they contradict you\nwith impertinence, address you with freedom, and conclude with cheating\nyou if they can. It was certainly on this account that Sterne would not\nagree to die at the inn at Amiens. He might, with equal justice, have\nobjected to any other house; and I am sure if he thought them an\nunpleasant people to die amongst, he would have found them still worse to\nlive with.--My observation as to the civility of aristocrates does not\nhold good here--indeed I only meant that those who ever had any, and were\naristocrates, still preserved it.\nAmiens has always been a commercial town, inhabited by very few of the\nhigher noblesse; and the mere gentry of a French province are not very\nmuch calculated to give a tone of softness and respect to those who\nimitate them. You may, perhaps, be surprized that I should express\nmyself with little consideration for a class which, in England, is so\nhighly respectable: there gentlemen of merely independent circumstances\nare not often distinguishable in their manners from those of superior\nfortune or rank. But, in France, it is different: the inferior noblesse\nare stiff, ceremonious, and ostentatious; while the higher ranks were\nalways polite to strangers, and affable to their dependents. When you\nvisit some of the former, you go through as many ceremonies as though you\nwere to be invested with an order, and rise up and sit down so many\ntimes, that you return more fatigued than you would from a cricket match;\nwhile with the latter you are just as much at your ease as is consistent\nwith good breeding and propriety, and a whole circle is never put in\ncommotion at the entrance and exit of every individual who makes part of\nit. Any one not prepared for these formalities, and who, for the first\ntime, saw an assembly of twenty people all rising from their seats at the\nentrance of a single beau, would suppose they were preparing for a dance,\nand that the new comer was a musician. For my part I always find it an\noeconomy of strength (when the locality makes it practicable) to take\npossession of a window, and continue standing in readiness until the hour\nof visiting is over, and calm is established by the arrangement of the\ncard tables.--The revolution has not annihilated the difference of rank;\nthough it has effected the abolition of titles; and I counsel all who\nhave remains of the gout or inflexible joints, not to frequent the houses\nof ladies whose husbands have been ennobled only by their offices, of\nthose whose genealogies are modern, or of the collaterals of ancient\nfamilies, whose claims are so far removed as to be doubtful. The society\nof all these is very exigent, and to be avoided by the infirm or\nindolent.\nI send you with this a little collection of airs which I think you will\nfind very agreeable. The French music has not, perhaps, all the\nreputation it is entitled to. Rousseau has declared it to be nothing but\ndoleful psalmodies; Gray calls a French concert \"Une tintamarre de\ndiable:\" and the prejudices inspired by these great names are not easily\nobliterated. We submit our judgement to theirs, even when our taste is\nrefractory.--The French composers seem to excel in marches, in lively\nairs that abound in striking passages calculated for the popular taste,\nand yet more particularly in those simple melodies they call romances:\nthey are often in a very charming and singular style, without being\neither so delicate or affecting as the Italian. They have an expression\nof plaintive tenderness, which makes one tranquil rather than melancholy;\nand which, though it be more soothing than interesting, is very\ndelightful.--Yours, &c.\nAmiens, 1793.\nI have been to-day to take a last view of the convents: they are now\nadvertised for sale, and will probably soon be demolished. You know my\nopinion is not, on the whole, favourable to these institutions, and that\nI thought the decree which extinguishes them, but which secured to the\nreligious already profest the undisturbed possession of their habitations\nduring life, was both politic and humane. Yet I could not see the\npresent state of these buildings without pain--they are now inhabited by\nvolunteers, who are passing a novitiate of intemperance and idleness,\nprevious to their reception in the army; and those who recollect the\npeace and order that once reigned within the walls of a monastery, cannot\nbut be stricken with the contrast. I felt both for the expelled and\npresent possessors, and, perhaps, gave a mental preference to the\nsuperstition which founded such establishments, over the persecution that\ndestroys them.\nThe resigned and pious votaries, who once supposed themselves secure from\nall the vicissitudes of fortune, and whose union seemed dissoluble only\nby the common lot of mortality, are now many of them dispersed,\nwandering, friendless, and miserable. The religion which they cherished\nas a comfort, and practised as a duty, is now pursued as a crime; and it\nis not yet certain that they will not have to choose between an\nabjuration of their principles, and the relinquishment of the means of\nexistence.--The military occupiers offered nothing very alleviating to\nsuch unpleasant reflections; and I beheld with as much regret the\ncollection of these scattered individuals, as the separation of those\nwhose habitations they fill. They are most of them extremely young,\ntaken from villages and the service of agriculture, and are going to risk\ntheir lives in a cause detested perhaps by more than three parts of the\nnation, and only to secure impunity to its oppressors.\nIt has usually been a maxim in all civilized states, that when the\ngeneral welfare necessitates some act of partial injustice, it shall be\ndone with the utmost consideration for the sufferer, and that the\nrequired sacrifice of moral to political expediency shall be palliated,\nas much as the circumstances will admit, by the manner of carrying it\ninto execution. But the French legislators, in this respect, as in most\nothers, truly original, disdain all imitation, and are rarely guided by\nsuch confined motives. With them, private rights are frequently\nviolated, only to facilitate the means of public oppressions--and cruel\nand iniquitous decrees are rendered still more so by the mode of\nenforcing them.\nI have met with no person who could conceive the necessity of expelling\nthe female religious from their convents. It was, however, done, and\nthat with a mixture of meanness and barbarity which at once excites\ncontempt and detestation. The ostensible, reasons were, that these\ncommunities afforded an asylum to the superstitious, and that by their\nentire suppression, a sale of the houses would enable the nation to\nafford the religious a more liberal support than had been assigned them\nby the Constituent Assembly. But they are shallow politicians who expect\nto destroy superstition by persecuting those who practise it: and so far\nfrom adding, as the decree insinuates, to the pensions of the nuns, they\nhave now subjected them to an oath which, to those at least whose\nconsciences are timid, will act as a prohibition to their receiving what\nthey were before entitled to.\nThe real intention of the legislature in thus entirely dispersing the\nfemale religious, besides the general hatred of every thing connected\nwith religion, is, to possess itself of an additional resource in the\nbuildings and effects, and, as is imagined by some, to procure numerous\nand convenient state prisons. But, I believe, the latter is only an\naristocratic apprehension, suggested by the appropriation of the convents\nto this use in a few places, where the ancient prisons are full.--\nWhatever purpose it is intended to answer, it has been effected in a way\ndisgraceful to any national body, except such a body as the Convention;\nand, though it be easy to perceive the cruelty of such a measure, yet as,\nperhaps, its injustice may not strike you so forcibly as if you had had\nthe same opportunities of investigating it as I have, I will endeavour to\nexplain, as well as I can, the circumstances that render it so peculiarly\naggravated.\nI need not remind you, that no order is of very modern foundation, nor\nthat the present century has, in a great degree, exploded the fashion of\ncompounding for sins by endowing religious institutions. Thus,\nnecessarily, by the great change which has taken place in the expence of\nliving, many establishments that were poorly endowed must have become\nunable to support themselves, but for the efforts of those who were\nattached to them. It is true, that the rent of land has increased as its\nproduce became more valuable; but every one knows that the lands\ndependent on religious houses have always been let on such moderate\nterms, as by no means to bear a proportion to the necessities they were\nintended to supply; and as the monastic vows have long ceased to be the\nfrequent choice of the rich, little increase has been made to the\noriginal stock by the accession of new votaries:--yet, under all these\ndisadvantages, many societies have been able to rebuild their houses,\nembellish their churches, purchase plate, &c. &c. The love of their\norder, that spirit of oeconomy for which they are remarkable, and a\npersevering industry, had their usual effects, and not only banished\npoverty, but became a source of wealth. An indefatigable labour at such\nworks as could be profitably disposed of, the education of children, and\nthe admission of boarders, were the means of enriching a number of\nconvents, whose proper revenues would not have afforded them even a\nsubsistence.\nBut the fruits of active toil or voluntary privation, have been\nconfounded with those of expiatory bequest and mistaken devotion, and\nhave alike become the prey of a rapacious and unfeeling government. Many\ncommunities are driven from habitations built absolutely with the produce\nof their own labour. In some places they were refused even their beds\nand linen; and the stock of wood, corn, &c. provided out of the savings\nof their pensions, (understood to be at their own disposal,) have been\nseized, and sold, without making them the smallest compensation.\nThus deprived of every thing, they are sent into the world with a\nprohibition either to live several of them together, wear their habits,*\nor practise their religion; yet their pensions** are too small for them\nto live upon, except in society, or to pay the usual expence of boarding:\nmany of them have no other means of procuring secular dresses, and still\nmore will imagine themselves criminal in abstaining from the mode of\nworship they have been taught to think salutary.\n * Two religious, who boarded with a lady I had occasion to see\n sometimes, told me, that they had been strictly enjoined not to\n dress like each other in any way.\n ** The pensions are from about seventeen to twenty-five pounds\n sterling per annum.--At the time I am writing, the necessaries of\n life are increased in price nearly two-fifths of what they bore\n formerly, and are daily becoming dearer. The Convention are not\n always insensible to this--the pay of the foot soldier is more than\n doubled.\nIt is also to be remembered, that women of small fortune in France often\nembraced the monastic life as a frugal retirement, and, by sinking the\nwhole they were possessed of in this way, they expected to secure a\ncertain provision, and to place themselves beyond the reach of future\nvicissitudes: yet, though the sums paid on these occasions can be easily\nascertained, no indemnity has been made; and many will be obliged to\nviolate their principles, in order to receive a trifling pension, perhaps\nmuch less than the interest of their money would have produced without\nloss of the principal.\nBut the views of these legislating philosophers are too sublimely\nextensive to take in the wrongs or sufferings of contemporary\nindividuals; and not being able to disguise, even to themselves, that\nthey create much misery at present, they promise incalculable advantages\nto those who shall happen to be alive some centuries hence! Most of\nthese poor nuns are, however, of an age to preclude them from the hope of\nenjoying this Millennium; and they would have been content en attendant\nthese glorious times, not to be deprived of the necessaries of life, or\nmarked out as objects of persecution.\nThe private distresses occasioned by the dissolution of the convents are\nnot the only consequences to be regretted--for a time, at least, the loss\nmust certainly be a public one. There will now be no means of\ninstruction for females, nor any refuge for those who are without friends\nor relations: thousands of orphans must be thrown unprotected on the\nworld, and guardians, or single men, left with the care of children, have\nno way to dispose of them properly. I do not contend that the education\nof a convent is the best possible: yet are there many advantages\nattending it; and I believe it will readily be granted, that an education\nnot quite perfect is better than no education at all. It would not be\nvery difficult to prove, that the systems of education, both in England\nand France, are extremely defective; and if the characters of women are\ngenerally better formed in one than the other, it is not owing to the\nsuperiority of boarding-schools over convents, but to the difference of\nour national manners, which tend to produce qualities not necessary, or\nnot valued, in France.\nThe most distinguished female excellencies in England are an attachment\nto domestic life, an attention to its oeconomies, and a cultivated\nunderstanding. Here, any thing like house-wifery is not expected but\nfrom the lower classes, and reading or information is confined chiefly to\nprofessed wits. Yet the qualities so much esteemed in England are not\nthe effect of education: few domestic accomplishments, and little useful\nknowledge, are acquired at a boarding-school; but finally the national\ncharacter asserts its empire, and the female who has gone through a\ncourse of frivolities from six to sixteen, who has been taught that the\nfirst \"human principle\" should be to give an elegant tournure to her\nperson, after a few years' dissipation, becomes a good wife and mother,\nand a rational companion.\nIn France, young women are kept in great seclusion: religion and oeconomy\nform a principal part of conventual acquirements, and the natural vanity\nof the sex is left to develope itself without the aid of authority, or\ninstillation by precept--yet, when released from this sober tuition,\nmanners take the ascendant here as in England, and a woman commences at\nher marriage the aera of coquetry, idleness, freedom, and rouge.--We may\ntherefore, I think, venture to conclude, that the education of a\nboarding-school is better calculated for the rich, that of a convent for\nthe middle classes and the poor; and, consequently, that the suppression\nof this last in France will principally affect those to whom it was most\nbeneficial, and to whom the want of it will be most dangerous.\nA committee of wise men are now forming a plan of public instruction,\nwhich is to excel every thing ever adopted in any age or country; and we\nmay therefore hope that the defects which have hitherto prevailed, both\nin theirs and our own, will be remedied. All we have to apprehend is,\nthat, amidst so many wise heads, more than one wise plan may be produced,\nand a difficulty of choice keep the rising generation in a sort of\nabeyance, so that they must remain sterile, or may become vitiated, while\nit is determining in what manner they shall be cultivated.\nIt is almost a phrase to say, the resources of France are wonderful, and\nthis is no less true than generally admitted. Whatever be the want or\nloss, it is no sooner known than supplied, and the imagination of the\nlegislature seems to become fertile in proportion to the exigence of the\nmoment.--I was in some pain at the disgrace of Mirabeau, lest this new\nkind of retrospective judgement should depopulate the Pantheon of the few\ndivinities that remained; more especially when I considered that\nVoltaire, notwithstanding his merits as an enemy to revelation, had been\nalready accused of aristocracy, and even Rousseau himself might not be\nfound impeccable. His Contrat Social might not, perhaps, in the eyes of\na committee of philosophical Rhadmanthus's, atone for his occasional\nadmiration of christianity: and thus some crime, either of church or\nstate, disfranchise the whole race of immortals, and their fame scarcely\noutlast the dispute about their earthly remains.*\n * Alluding to the disputes between the Convention and the person who\n claimed the exclusive right to the remains of Rousseau.\nMy concern, on this account, was the more justifiable, because the great\nfallibility which prevailed among the patriots, and the very delicate\nstate of the reputation of those who retained their political existence,\nafforded no hope that they could ever fill the vacancies in the\nPantheon.--But my fears were very superfluous--France will never want\nsubjects for an apotheosis, and if one divinity be dethroned, \"another\nand another still succeeds,\" all equally worthy as long as they continue\nin fashion.--The phrenzy of despair has supplied a successor to Mirabeau,\nin Le Pelletier. [De St. Fargeau.] The latter had hitherto been little\nheard of, but his death offered an occasion for exciting the people too\nfavourable to be neglected: his patriotism and his virtues immediately\nincreased in a ratio to the use which might be made of them;* a dying\nspeech proper for the purpose was composed, and it was decreed\nunanimously, that he should be installed in all the rights, privileges,\nand immortalities of the degraded Riquetti.--\n * At the first intelligence of his death, a member of the\n Convention, who was with him, and had not yet had time to study a\n speech, confessed his last words to have been, \"Jai froid.\"--\"I am\n cold.\" This, however, would nave made no figure on the banners of a\n funeral procession; and Le Pelletier was made to die, like the hero\n of a tragedy, uttering blank verse.\nThe funeral that preceded these divine awards was a farce, which tended\nmore to provoke a massacre of the living, than to honour the dead; and\nthe Convention, who vowed to sacrifice their animosities on his tomb, do\nso little credit to the conciliating influence of St. Fargeau's virtues,\nthat they now dispute with more acrimony than ever.\nThe departments, who begin to be extremely submissive to Paris, thought\nit incumbent on them to imitate this ceremony; but as it was rather an\nact of fear than of patriotism, it was performed here with so much\noeconomy, and so little inclination, that the whole was cold and paltry.\n--An altar was erected on the great market-place, and so little were the\npeople affected by the catastrophe of a patriot whom they were informed\nhad sacrificed* his life in their cause, that the only part of the\nbusiness which seemed to interest them was the extravagant gestures of a\nwoman in a dirty white dress, hired to act the part of a \"pleureuse,\" or\nmourner, and whose sorrow appeared to divert them infinitely.--\n * There is every reason to believe that Le Pelletier was not singled\n out for his patriotism.--It is said, and with much appearance of\n probability, that he had promised PARIS, with whom he had been\n intimate, not to vote for the death of the King; and, on his\n breaking his word, PARIS, who seems to have not been perfectly in\n his senses, assassinated him.--PARIS had been in the Garde du Corps,\n and, like most of his brethren, was strongly attached to the King's\n person. Rage and despair prompted him to the commission of an act,\n which can never be excused, however the perpetrator may imagine\n himself the mere instrument of Divine vengeance.--Notwithstanding\n the most vigilant research, he escaped for some time, and wandered\n as far as Forges d'Eaux, a little town in Normandy. At the inn\n where he lodged, the extravagance of his manner giving suspicions\n that he was insane, the municipality were applied to, to secure him.\n An officer entered his room while he was in bed, and intimated the\n purpose he was come for. PARIS affected to comply, and, turning,\n drew a pistol from under the clothes, and shot himself.--Among the\n papers found upon him were some affecting lines, expressive of his\n contempt for life, and adding, that the influence of his example was\n not to be dreaded, since he left none behind him that deserved the\n name of Frenchmen!--_\"Qu'on n'inquiete personne! personne n'a ete\n mon complice dans la mort heureuse de Scelerat St. Fargeau. Si Je\n ne l'eusse pas rencontre sous ma main, Je purgeois la France du\n regicide, du parricide, du patricide D'Orleans. Qu'on n'inquiete\n personne. Tous les Francois sont des laches auxquelles Je dis--\n \"Peuple, dont les forfaits jettent partout l'effroi,\n \"Avec calme et plaisir J'abandonne la vie\n \"Ce n'est que par la mort qu'on peut fuir l'infamie,\n \"Qu'imprime sur nos fronts le sang de notre Roi.\"_\n \"Let no man be molested on my account: I had no accomplice in the\n fortunate death of the miscreant St. Fargeau. If he had not fallen\n in my way, I should have purged France of the regicide, parricide,\n patricide D'Orleans. Let no man be molested. All the French are\n cowards, to whom I say--'People, whose crimes inspire universal\n horror, I quit life with tranquility and pleasure. By death alone\n can we fly from that infamy which the blood of our King has marked\n upon our foreheads!'\"--This paper was entitled \"My Brevet of\n Honour.\"\nIt will ever be so where the people are not left to consult their own\nfeelings. The mandate that orders them to assemble may be obeyed, but\n\"that which passeth show\" is not to be enforced. It is a limit\nprescribed by Nature herself to authority, and such is the aversion of\nthe human mind from dictature and restraint, that here an official\nrejoicing is often more serious than these political exactions of regret\nlevied in favour of the dead.--Yours, &c. &c.\nThe partizans of the French in England alledge, that the revolution, by\ngiving them a government founded on principles of moderation and\nrectitude, will be advantageous to all Europe, and more especially to\nGreat Britain, which has so often suffered by wars, the fruit of their\nintrigues.--This reasoning would be unanswerable could the character of\nthe people be changed with the form of their government: but, I believe,\nwhoever examines its administration, whether as it relates to foreign\npowers or internal policy, will find that the same spirit of intrigue,\nfraud, deception, and want of faith, which dictated in the cabinet of\nMazarine or Louvois, has been transfused, with the addition of meanness\nand ignorance,* into a Constitutional Ministry, or the Republican\nExecutive Council.\n * The Executive Council is composed of men who, if ever they were\n well-intentioned, must be totally unfit for the government of an\n extensive republic. Monge, the Minister of the Marine, is a\n professor of geometry; Garat, Minister of Justice, a gazette writer;\n Le Brun, Minister of Foreign Affairs, ditto; and Pache, Minister of\n the Interior, a private tutor.--Whoever reads the debates of the\n Convention will find few indications of real talents, and much\n pedantry and ignorance. For example, Anacharsis Cloots, who is a\n member of the Committee of Public Instruction, and who one should,\n of course, expect not to be more ignorant than his colleagues, has\n lately advised them to distress the enemy by invading Scotland,\n which he calls the granary of England.\nFrance had not yet determined on the articles of her future political\ncreed, when agents were dispatched to make proselytes in England, and, in\nproportion as she assumed a more popular form of government, all the\nqualities which have ever marked her as the disturber of mankind seem to\nhave acquired new force. Every where the ambassadors of the republic are\naccused of attempts to excite revolt and discontent, and England* is now\nforced into a war because she could not be persuaded to an insurrection.\n * For some time previous to the war, all the French prints and even\n members of the Convention, in their debates, announced England to be\n on the point of an insurrection. The intrigues of Chauvelin, their\n ambassador, to verify this prediction, are well known. Brissot, Le\n Brun, &c. who have since been executed, were particularly charged by\n the adverse party with provoking the war with England. Robespierre,\n and those who succeeded, were not so desirous of involving us in a\n foreign war, and their humane efforts were directed merely to excite\n a civil one.--The third article of accusation against Rolland is,\n having sent twelve millions of livres to England, to assist in\n procuring a declaration of war.\nPerhaps it may be said, that the French have taken this part only for\ntheir own security, and to procure adherents to the common cause; but\nthis is all I contend for--that the politics of the old government\nactuate the new, and that they have not, in abolishing courts and\nroyalty, abolished the perfidious system of endeavouring to benefit\nthemselves, by creating distress and dissention among their neighbours.--\nLouvois supplied the Protestants in the Low Countries with money, while\nhe persecuted them in France. The agents of the republic, more\noeconomical, yet directed by the same motives, eke out corruption by\nprecepts of sedition, and arm the leaders of revolt with the rights of\nman; but, forgetting the maxim that charity should begin at home, in\ntheir zeal for the freedom of other countries, they leave no portion of\nit for their own!\nLouis the Fourteenth over-ran Holland and the Palatinate to plant the\nwhite flag, and lay the inhabitants under contribution--the republic send\nan army to plant the tree of liberty, levy a _don patriotique,_\n[Patriotic gift.] and place garrisons in the towns, in order to preserve\ntheir freedom.--Kings have violated treaties from the desire of conquest\n--these virtuous republicans do it from the desire of plunder; and,\nprevious to opening the Scheldt, the invasion of Holland, was proposed as\na means of paying the expences of the war. I have never heard that even\nthe most ambitious Potentates ever pretended to extend their subjugation\nbeyond the persons and property of the conquered; but these militant\ndogmatists claim an empire even over opinions, and insist that no people\ncan be free or happy unless they regulate their ideas of freedom and\nhappiness by the variable standard of the Jacobin club. Far from being\nof Hudibras's philosophy,* they seem to think the mind as tangible as the\nbody, and that, with the assistance of an army, they may as soon lay one\n\"by the heels\" as the other.\n * \"Quoth he, one half of man, his mind,\n \"Is, sui juris, unconfin'd,\n \"And ne'er can be laid by the heels,\n \"Whate'er the other moiety feels.\"\nNow this I conceive to be the worst of all tyrannies, nor have I seen it\nexceeded on the French theatre, though, within the last year, the\nimagination of their poets has been peculiarly ingenious and inventive on\nthis subject.--It is absurd to suppose this vain and overbearing\ndisposition will cease when the French government is settled. The\nintrigues of the popular party began in England the very moment they\nattained power, and long before there was any reason to suspect that the\nEnglish would deviate from their plan of neutrality. If, then, the\nFrench cannot restrain this mischievous spirit while their own affairs\nare sufficient to occupy their utmost attention, it is natural to\nconclude, that, should they once become established, leisure and peace\nwill make them dangerous to the tranquillity of all Europe. Other\ngovernments may be improved by time, but republics always degenerate; and\nif that which is in its original state of perfection exhibit already the\nmaturity of vice, one cannot, without being more credulous than\nreasonable, hope any thing better for the future than what we have\nexperienced from the past.--It is, indeed, unnecessary to detain you\nlonger on this subject. You must, ere now, be perfectly convinced how\nfar the revolutionary systems of France are favourable to the peace and\nhappiness of other countries. I will only add a few details which may\nassist you in judging of what advantage they have been to the French\nthemselves, and whether, in changing the form of their government, they\nhave amended its principles; or if, in \"conquering liberty,\" (as they\nexpress it,) they have really become free.\nThe situation of France has altered much within the last two months: the\nseat of power is less fluctuating and the exercise of it more absolute--\narbitrary measures are no longer incidental, but systematic--and a\nregular connection of dependent tyranny is established, beginning with\nthe Jacobin clubs, and ending with the committees of the sections. A\nsimple decree for instance, has put all the men in the republic,\n(unmarried and without children,) from eighteen to forty-five at the\nrequisition of the Minister of War. A levy of three hundred thousand is\nto take place immediately: each department is responsible for the whole\nof a certain number to the Convention, the districts are answerable for\ntheir quota to the departments, the municipalities to the district, and\nthe diligence of the whole is animated by itinerant members of the\nlegislature, entrusted with the disposal of an armed force. The latter\ncircumstance may seem to you incredible; yet is it nevertheless true,\nthat most of the departments are under the jurisdiction of these\nsovereigns, whose authority is nearly unlimited. We have, at this\nmoment, two Deputies in the town, who arrest and imprison at their\npleasure. One-and-twenty inhabitants of Amiens were seized a few nights\nago, without any specific charge having been exhibited against them, and\nare still in confinement. The gates of the town are shut, and no one is\npermitted to pass or repass without an order from the municipality; and\nthe observance of this is exacted even of those who reside in the\nsuburbs. Farmers and country people, who are on horseback, are obliged\nto have the features and complexion of their horses minuted on the\npassport with their own. Every person whom it is found convenient to\ncall suspicious, is deprived of his arms; and private houses are\ndisturbed during the night, (in opposition to a positive law,) under\npretext of searching for refractory priests.--These regulations are not\npeculiar to this department, and you must understand them as conveying a\ngeneral idea of what passes in every part of France.--I have yet to add,\nthat letters are opened with impunity--that immense sums of assignats are\ncreated at the will of the Convention--that no one is excused mounting\nguard in person--and that all housekeepers, and even lodgers, are\nburthened with the quartering of troops, sometimes as many as eight or\nten, for weeks together.\nYou may now, I think, form a tolerable idea of the liberty that has\naccrued to the French from the revolution, the dethronement of the King,\nand the establishment of a republic. But, though the French suffer this\ndespotism without daring to murmur openly, many a significant shrug and\ndoleful whisper pass in secret, and this political discontent has even\nits appropriate language, which, though not very explicit, is perfectly\nunderstood.--Thus when you hear one man say to another, _\"Ah, mon Dieu,\non est bien malheureux dans ce moment ici;\"_ or, _\"Nous sommes dans une\nposition tres critique--Je voudrois bien voir la fin de tout cela;\"_\n[\"God knows, we are very miserable at present--we are in a very critical\nsituation--I should like to see an end of all this.\"] you may be sure he\nlanguishes for the restoration of the monarchy, and hopes with equal\nfervor, that he may live to see the Convention hanged. In these sort of\nconferences, however, evaporates all their courage. They own their\ncountry is undone, that they are governed by a set of brigands, go home\nand hide any set of valuables they have not already secreted, and receive\nwith obsequious complaisance the next visite domiciliaire.\nThe mass of the people, with as little energy, have more obstinacy, and\nare, of course, not quite so tractable. But, though they grumble and\nprocrastinate, they do not resist; and their delays and demurs usually\nterminate in implicit submission.\nThe Deputy-commissioners, whom I have mentioned above, have been at\nAmiens some time, in order to promote the levying of recruits. On\nSundays and holidays they summoned the inhabitants to attend at the\ncathedral, where they harangued them on the subject, called for vengeance\non the coalesced despots, expatiated on the love of glory, and insisted\non the pleasure of dying for one's country: while the people listened\nwith vacant attention, amused themselves with the paintings, or adjourned\nin small committees to discuss the hardship of being obliged to fight\nwithout inclination.--Thus time elapsed, the military orations produced\nno effect, and no troops were raised: no one would enlist voluntarily,\nand all refused to settle it by lot, because, as they wisely observed,\nthe lot must fall on somebody. Yet, notwithstanding the objection, the\nmatter was at length decided by this last method. The decision had no\nsooner taken place, than another difficulty ensued--those who escaped\nacknowledged it was the best way that could be devised; but those who\nwere destined to the frontiers refused to go. Various altercations, and\nexcuses, and references, were the consequence; yet, after all this\nmurmuring and evasion, the presence of the Commissioners and a few\ndragoons have arranged the business very pacifically; many are already\ngone, and the rest will (if the dragoons continue here) soon follow.\nThis, I assure you, is a just statement of the account between the\nConvention and the People: every thing is effected by fear--nothing by\nattachment; and the one is obeyed only because the other want courage to\nresist.--Yours, &c.\nRouen, March 31, 1793.\nRouen, like most of the great towns in France, is what is called\ndecidedly aristocratic; that is, the rich are discontented because they\nare without security, and the poor because they want bread. But these\ncomplaints are not peculiar to large places; the causes of them equally\nexist in the smallest village, and the only difference which fixes the\nimputation of aristocracy on one more than the other, is, daring to\nmurmur, or submitting in silence.\nI must here remark to you, that the term aristocrate has much varied from\nits former signification. A year ago, aristocrate implied one who was an\nadvocate for the privileges of the nobility, and a partizan of the\nancient government--at present a man is an aristocrate for entertaining\nexactly the same principles which at that time constituted a patriot;\nand, I believe, the computation is moderate, when I say, that more than\nthree parts of the nation are aristocrates. The rich, who apprehend a\nviolation of their property, are aristocrates--the merchants, who regret\nthe stagnation of commerce, and distrust the credit of the assignats, are\naristocrates--the small retailers, who are pillaged for not selling\ncheaper than they buy, and who find these outrages rather encouraged than\nrepressed, are aristocrates--and even the poor, who murmur at the price\nof bread, and the numerous levies for the army, are, occasionally,\naristocrates.\nBesides all these, there are likewise various classes of moral\naristocrates--such as the humane, who are averse from massacres and\noppression--those who regret the loss of civil liberty--the devout, who\ntremble at the contempt for religion--the vain, who are mortified at the\nnational degradation--and authors, who sigh for the freedom of the\npress.--When you consider this multiplicity of symptomatic indications,\nyou will not be surprized that such numbers are pronounced in a state of\ndisease; but our republican physicians will soon generalize these various\nspecies of aristocracy under the single description of all who have any\nthing to lose, and every one will be deemed plethoric who is not in a\nconsumption. The people themselves who observe, though they do not\nreason, begin to have an idea that property exposes the safety of the\nowner and that the legislature is less inexorable when guilt is\nunproductive, than when the conviction of a criminal comprehends the\nforfeiture of an estate.--A poor tradesman was lamenting to me yesterday,\nthat he had neglected an offer of going to live in England; and when I\ntold him I thought he was very fortunate in having done so, as he would\nhave been declared an emigrant, he replied, laughing, _\"Moi emigre qui\nn'ai pas un sol:\"_ [\"I am emigrant, who am not worth a halfpenny!\"]--No,\nno; they don't make emigrants of those who are worth nothing. And this\nwas not said with any intended irreverence to the Convention, but with\nthe simplicity which really conceived the wealth of the emigrants to be\nthe cause of the severity exercised against them.\nThe commercial and political evils attending a vast circulation of\nassignats have been often discussed, but I have never yet known the\nmatter considered in what is, perhaps, its most serious point of view--I\nmean its influence on the habits and morals of the people. Wherever I\ngo, especially in large towns like this, the mischief is evident, and, I\nfear, irremediable. That oeconomy, which was one of the most valuable\ncharacteristics of the French, is now comparatively disregarded. The\npeople who receive what they earn in a currency they hold in contempt,\nare more anxious to spend than to save; and those who formerly hoarded\nsix liards or twelve sols pieces with great care, would think it folly to\nhoard an assignat, whatever its nominal value. Hence the lower class of\nfemales dissipate their wages on useless finery; men frequent\npublic-houses, and game for larger sums than before; little shopkeepers,\ninstead of amassing their profits, become more luxurious in their table:\npublic places are always full; and those who used, in a dress becoming\ntheir station, to occupy the \"parquet\" or \"parterre,\" now, decorated\nwith paste, pins, gauze, and galloon, fill the boxes:--and all this\ndestructive prodigality is excused to others and themselves _\"par ce que\nce n'est que du papier.\"_ [Because it is only paper.]--It is vain to\npersuade them to oeconomize what they think a few weeks may render\nvalueless; and such is the evil of a circulation so totally discredited,\nthat profusion assumes the merit of precaution, extravagance the plea of\nnecessity, and those who were not lavish by habit become so through\ntheir eagerness to part with their paper. The buried gold and silver\nwill again be brought forth, and the merchant and the politician forget\nthe mischief of the assignats. But what can compensate for the injury\ndone to the people? What is to restore their ancient frugality, or\nbanish their acquired wants? It is not to be expected that the return\nof specie will diminish the inclination for luxury, or that the human\nmind can be regulated by the national finance; on the contrary, it is\nrather to be feared, that habits of expence which owe their introduction\nto the paper will remain when the paper is annihilated; that, though\nmoney may become more scarce, the propensities of which it supplies the\nindulgence will not be less forcible, and that those who have no other\nresources for their accustomed gratifications will but too often find\none in the sacrifice of their integrity.--Thus, the corruption of\nmanners will be succeeded by the corruption of morals, and the\ndishonesty of one sex, with the licentiousness of the other, produce\nconsequences much worse than any imagined by the abstracted calculations\nof the politician, or the selfish ones of the merchant. Age will be\noften without solace, sickness without alleviation, and infancy without\nsupport; because some would not amass for themselves, nor others for\ntheir children, the profits of their labour in a representative sign of\nuncertain value.\nI do not pretend to assert that these are the natural effects of a paper\ncirculation--doubtless, when supported by high credit, and an extensive\ncommerce, it must have many advantages; but this was not the case in\nFrance--the measure was adopted in a moment of revolution, and when the\ncredit of the country, never very considerable, was precarious and\ndegraded--It did not flow from the exuberance of commerce, but the\nartifices of party--it never presumed, for a moment, on the confidence of\nthe people--its reception was forced, and its emission too profuse not to\nbe alarming.--I know it may be answered, that the assignats do not depend\nupon an imaginary appreciation, but really represent a large mass of\nnational wealth, particularly in the domains of the clergy: yet, perhaps,\nit is this very circumstance which has tended most to discredit them.\nHad their credit rested only on the solvency of the nation, though they\nhad not been greatly coveted, still they would have been less\ndistributed; people would not have apprehended their abolition on a\nchange of government, nor that the systems adopted by one party might be\nreversed by another. Indeed we may add, that an experiment of this kind\ndoes not begin auspiciously when grounded on confiscation and seizures,\nwhich it is probable more than half the French considered as sacrilege\nand robbery; nor could they be very anxious to possess a species of\nwealth which they made it a motive of conscience to hope would never be\nof any value.--But if the original creation of assignats were\nobjectionable, the subsequent creations cannot but augment the evil. I\nhave already described to you the effects visible at present, and those\nto be apprehended in future--others may result from the new inundation,\n[1200 millions--50 millions sterling.] which it is not possible to\nconjecture; but if the mischiefs should be real, in proportion as a part\nof the wealth which this paper is said to represent is imaginary, their\nextent cannot easily be exaggerated. Perhaps you will be of this\nopinion, when you recollect that one of the funds which form the security\nof this vast sum is the gratitude of the Flemings for their liberty; and\nif this reimbursement be to be made according to the specimen the French\narmy have experienced in their retreat, I doubt much of the convention\nwill be disposed to advance any farther claims on it; for, it seems, the\ninhabitants of the Low Countries have been so little sensible of the\nbenefits bestowed on them, that even the peasants seize on any weapons\nnearest hand, and drub and pursue the retrograding armies as they would\nwild beasts; and though, as Dumouriez observes in one of his dispatches,\nour revolution is intended to favour the country people, _\"c'est\ncependant les gens de campagne qui s'arment contre nous, et le tocsin\nsonne de toutes parts;\"_ [\"It is, however, the country people who take up\narms against us, and the alarm is sounded from all quarters.\"] so that\nthe French will, in fact, have created a public debt of so singular a\nnature, that every one will avoid as much as possible making any demand\nof the capital.\nI have already been more diffuse than I intended on the subject of\nfinance; but I beg you to observe, that I do not affect to calculate, or\nspeculate, and that I reason only from facts which are daily within my\nnotice, and which, as tending to operate on the morals of the people, are\nnaturally included in the plan I proposed to myself.\nI have been here but a few days, and intend returning to-morrow. I left\nMrs. D____ very little better, and the disaffection of Dumouriez, which I\njust now learn, may oblige us to remove to some place not on the route to\nParis.--Every one looks alert and important, and a physiognomist may\nperceive that regret is not the prevailing sentiment--\n \"We now begin to speak in tropes,\n \"And, by our fears, express our hopes.\"\nThe Jacobins are said to be apprehensive, which augurs well; for,\ncertainly, next to the happiness of good people, one desires the\npunishment of the bad.\nAmiens, April 7, 1793.\nIf the sentiments of the people towards their present government had been\nproblematical before, the visible effect of Dumouriez' conduct would\nafford an ample solution of the problem. That indifference about public\naffairs which the prospect of an established despotism had begun to\ncreate has vanished--all is hope and expectation--the doors of those who\nretail the newspapers are assailed by people too impatient to read them--\neach with his gazette in his hand listens eagerly to the verbal\ncirculation, and then holds a secret conference with his neighbour, and\ncalculates how long it may be before Dumouriez can reach Paris. A\nfortnight ago the name of Dumouriez was not uttered but in a tone of\nharshness and contempt, and, if ever it excited any thing like\ncomplacency, it was when he announced defeats and losses. Now he is\nspoken of with a significant modulation of voice, it is discovered that\nhe has great talents, and his popularity with the army is descanted upon\nwith a mysterious air of suppressed satisfaction.--Those who were\nextremely apprehensive lest part of the General's troops should be driven\nthis way by the successes of the enemy, seem to talk with perfect\ncomposure of their taking the same route to attack the capital; while\nothers, who would have been unwilling to receive either Dumouriez or his\narmy as peaceful fugitives, will be \"nothing loath\" to admit them as\nconquerors. From all I can learn, these dispositions are very general,\nand, indeed, the actual tyranny is so great, and the perspective so\nalarming, that any means of deliverance must be acceptable. But whatever\nmay be the event, though I cannot be personally interested, if I thought\nDumouriez really proposed to establish a good government, humanity would\nrender one anxious for his success; for it is not to be disguised, that\nFrance is at this moment (as the General himself expressed it) under the\njoint dominion of _\"imbecilles\"_ and _\"brigands.\"_ [Ideots and robbers.]\nIt is possible, that at this moment the whole army is disaffected, and\nthat the fortified towns are prepared to surrender. It is also certain,\nthat Brittany is in revolt, and that many other departments are little\nshort of it; yet you will not very easily conceive what may have occupied\nthe Convention during part of this important crisis--nothing less than\ninventing a dress for their Commissioners! But, as Sterne says, \"it is\nthe spirit of the nation;\" and I recollect no circumstance during the\nwhole progress of the revolution (however serious) that has not been\nmixed with frivolities of this kind.\nI know not what effect this new costume may produce on the rebels or the\nenemy, but I confess it appears to me more ludicrous than formidable,\nespecially when a representative happens to be of the shape and features\nof the one we have here. Saladin, Deputy for this department, and an\nadvocate of the town of Amiens, has already invested himself with this\narmour of inviolability; \"strange figure in such strange habiliments,\"\nthat one is tempted to forget that Baratraria and the government of\nSancho are the creation of fancy. Imagine to yourself a short fat man,\nof sallow complexion and small eyes, with a sash of white, red, and blue\nround his waist, a black belt with a sword suspended across his\nshoulders, and a round hat turned up before, with three feathers of the\nnational colours: \"even such a man\" is our representative, and exercises\na more despotic authority than most Princes in Europe.--He is accompanied\nby another Deputy, who was what is called Pere de la Oratoire before the\nrevolution--that is, in a station nearly approaching to that of an\nunder-master at our public schools; only that the seminaries to which\nthese were attached being very numerous, those employed in them were\nlittle considered. They wore the habit, and were subject to the same\nrestrictions, as the Clergy, but were at liberty to quit the profession\nand marry, if they chose.--I have been more particular in describing\nthis class of men, because they have every where taken an active and\nsuccessful part in perverting and misleading the people: they are in the\nclubs, or the municipalities, in the Convention, and in all elective\nadministrations, and have been in most places remarkable for their\nsedition and violence.\nSeveral reasons may be assigned for the influence and conduct of men\nwhose situation and habits, on a first view, seem to oppose both. In the\nfirst ardour of reform it was determined, that all the ancient modes of\neducation should be abolished; small temporary pensions were allotted to\nthe Professors of Colleges, and their admission to the exercise of\nsimilar functions in the intended new system was left to future decision.\nFrom this time the disbanded oratorians, who knew it would be vain to\nresist popular authority, endeavoured to share in it; or, at least, by\nbecoming zealous partizans of the revolution, to establish their claims\nto any offices or emoluments which might be substituted for those they\nhad been deprived of. They enrolled themselves with the Jacobins,\ncourted the populace, and, by the talent of pronouncing Roman names with\nemphasis, and the study of rhetorical attitudes, they became important to\nassociates who were ignorant, or necessary to those who were designing.\nThe little information generally possessed by the middle classes of life\nin France, is also another cause of the comparative importance of those\nwhose professions had, in this respect, raised them something above the\ncommon level. People of condition, liberally educated, have\nunfortunately abandoned public affairs for some time; so that the\nincapacity of some, and the pride or despondency of others, have, in a\nmanner, left the nation to the guidance of pedants, incendiaries, and\nadventurers. Perhaps also the animosity with which the description of\nmen I allude to pursued every thing attached to the ancient government,\nmay, in some degree, have proceeded from a desire of revenge and\nretaliation. They were not, it must be confessed, treated formerly with\nthe regard due to persons whose profession was in itself useful and\nrespectable; and the wounds of vanity are not easily cured, nor the\nvindictiveness of little minds easily satisfied.\nFrom the conduct and popular influence of these Peres de l'Oratoire, some\ntruths may be deduced not altogether useless even to a country not liable\nto such violent reforms. It affords an example of the danger arising\nfrom those sudden and arbitrary innovations, which, by depriving any part\nof the community of their usual means of living, and substituting no\nother, tempt them to indemnify themselves by preying, in different ways,\non their fellow-citizens.--The daring and ignorant often become\ndepredators of private property; while those who have more talents, and\nless courage, endeavour to succeed by the artifices which conciliate\npublic favour. I am not certain whether the latter are not to be most\ndreaded of the two, for those who make a trade of the confidence of the\npeople seldom fail to corrupt them--they find it more profitable to\nflatter their passions than to enlighten their understandings; and a\ndemagogue of this kind, who obtains an office by exciting one popular\ninsurrection, will make no scruple of maintaining himself in it by\nanother. An inferrence may likewise be drawn of the great necessity of\ncultivating such a degree of useful knowledge in the middle order of\nsociety, as may not only prevent their being deceived by interested\nadventurers themselves, but enable them to instruct the people in their\ntrue interests, and rescue them from becoming the instruments, and\nfinally the victims, of fraud and imposture.--The insult and oppression\nwhich the nobility frequently experience from those who have been\npromoted by the revolution, will, I trust, be a useful lesson in future\nto the great, who may be inclined to arrogate too much from adventitious\ndistinctions, to forget that the earth we tread upon may one day\noverwhelm us, and that the meanest of mankind may do us an injury which\nit is not in the power even of the most exalted to shield us from.\nThe inquisition begins to grow so strict, that I have thought it\nnecessary to-day to bury a translation of Burke.--In times of ignorance\nand barbarity, it was criminal to read the bible, and our English author\nis prohibited for a similar reason--that is, to conceal from the people\nthe errors of those who direct them: and, indeed, Mr. Burke has written\nsome truths, which it is of much more importance for the Convention to\nconceal, than it could be to the Catholic priests to monopolize the\ndivine writings.--As far as it was possible, Mr. Burke has shown himself\na prophet: if he has not been completely so, it was because he had a\nbenevolent heart, and is the native of a free country. By the one, he\nwas prevented from imagining the cruelties which the French have\ncommitted; by the other, the extreme despotism which they endure.\nBefore these halcyon days of freedom, the supremacy of Paris was little\nfelt in the provinces, except in dictating a new fashion in dress, an\nimprovement in the art of cookery, or the invention of a minuet. At\npresent our imitations of the capital are something more serious; and if\nour obedience be not quite so voluntary, it is much more implicit.\nInstead of receiving fashions from the Court, we take them now from the\n_dames des balles,_ [Market-women.] and the municipality; and it must be\nallowed, that the imaginations of our new sovereigns much exceed those of\nthe old in force and originality.\nThe mode of pillaging the shops, for instance, was first devised by the\nParisian ladies, and has lately been adopted with great success in the\ndepartments; the visite domiciliaire, also, which I look upon as a most\ningenious effort of fancy, is an emanation from the commune of Paris, and\nhas had an universal run.--But it would be vain to attempt enumerating\nall the obligations of this kind which we owe to the indulgence of that\nvirtuous city: our last importation, however, is of so singular a nature,\nthat, were we not daily assured all the liberty in the world centers in\nParis, I should be doubtful as to its tendency. It has lately been\ndecreed, that every house in the republic shall have fixed on the outside\nof the door, in legible characters, the name, age, birth-place, and\nprofession of its inhabitants. Not the poorest cottager, nor those who\nare too old or too young for action, nor even unmarried ladies, are\nexempt from thus proclaiming the abstract of their history to passers-by.\n--The reigning party judge very wisely, that all those who are not\nalready their enemies may become so, and that those who are unable to\ntake a part themselves may excite others: but, whatever may be the\nintention of this measure, it is impossible to conceive any thing which\ncould better serve the purposes of an arbitrary government; it places\nevery individual in the republic within the immediate reach of informers\nand spies--it points out those who are of an age to serve in the army--\nthose who have sought refuge in one department from the persecutions of\nanother--and, in short, whether a victim is pursued by the denunciation\nof private malice, or political suspicion, it renders escape almost\nimpracticable.\nWe have had two domiciliary visits within the last fortnight--one to\nsearch for arms, the other under pretext of ascertaining the number of\ntroops each house is capable of lodging. But this was only the pretext,\nbecause the municipalities always quarter troops as they think proper,\nwithout considering whether you have room or not; and the real object of\nthis inquisition was to observe if the inhabitants answered to the lists\nplaced on the doors.--Mrs. D____ was ill in bed, but you must not imagine\nsuch a circumstance deterred these gallant republicans from entering her\nroom with an armed force, to calculate how many soldiers might be lodged\nin the bedchamber of a sick female! The French, indeed, had never, in my\nremembrance, any pretensions to delicacy, or even decency, and they are\ncertainly not improved in these respects by the revolution.\nIt is curious in walking the streets, to observe the devices of the\nseveral classes of aristocracy; for it is not to be disguised, that since\nthe hope from Dumouriez has vanished, though the disgust of the people\nmay be increased, their terror is also greater than ever, and the\ndepartments near Paris have no resource but silent submission. Every\none, therefore, obeys the letter of the decrees with the diligence of\nfear, while they elude the spirit of them with all the ingenuity of\nhatred. The rich, for example, who cannot entirely divest themselves of\ntheir remaining hauteur, exhibit a sullen compliance on a small piece of\npaper, written in a small hand, and placed at the very extreme of the\nheight allowed by the law. Some fix their bills so as to be half covered\nby a shutter; others fasten them only with wafers, so that the wind\ndetaching one or two corners, makes it impossible to read the rest.*\n * This contrivance became so common, that an article was obliged to\n be added to the decree, importing, that whenever the papers were\n damaged or effaced by the weather, or deranged by the wind, the\n inhabitants should replace them, under a penalty.\nMany who have courts or passages to their houses, put their names on the\nhalf of a gate which they leave open, so that the writing is not\nperceptible but to those who enter. But those who are most afraid, or\nmost decidedly aristocrates, subjoin to their registers, \"All good\nrepublicans:\" or, _\"Vive la republique, une et indivisible.\"_ [\"The\nrepublic, one and indivisible for ever!\"] Some likewise, who are in\npublic offices, or shopkeepers who are very timid, and afraid of pillage,\nor are ripe for a counter-revolution, have a sheet half the size of the\ndoor, decorated with red caps, tri-coloured ribbons, and flaming\nsentences ending in \"Death or Liberty!\"\nIf, however, the French government confined itself to these petty acts of\ndespotism, I would endeavour to be reconciled to it; but I really begin\nto have serious apprehensions, not so much for our safety as our\ntranquillity, and if I considered only myself, I should not hesitate to\nreturn to England. Mrs. D____ is too ill to travel far at present, and\nher dread of crossing the sea makes her less disposed to think our\nsituation here hazardous or ineligible. Mr. D____, too, who, without\nbeing a republican or a partizan of the present system, has always been a\nfriend to the first revolution, is unwilling to believe the Convention so\nbad as there is every reason to suppose it. I therefore let my judgement\nyield to my friendship, and, as I cannot prevail on them to depart, the\ndanger which may attend our remaining is an additional reason for my not\nquitting them.\nThe national perfidy which has always distinguished France among the\nother countries of Europe, seems now not to be more a diplomatic\nprinciple, than a rule of domestic government. It is so extended and\ngeneralized, that an individual is as much liable to be deceived and\nbetrayed by confiding in a decree, as a foreign power would be by relying\non the faith of a treaty.--An hundred and twenty priests, above sixty\nyears of age, who had not taken the oaths, but who were allowed to remain\nby the same law that banished those who were younger, have been lately\narrested, and are confined together in a house which was once a college.\nThe people did not behold this act of cruelty with indifference, but,\nawed by an armed force, and the presence of the Commissioners of the\nConvention, they could only follow the priests to their prison with\nsilent regret and internal horror. They, however, venture even now to\nmark their attachment, by taking all opportunities of seeing them, and\nsupplying them with necessaries, which it is not very difficult to do, as\nthey are guarded by the Bourgeois, who are generally inclined to favour\nthem. I asked a woman to-day if she still contrived to have access to\nthe priests, and she replied, _\"Ah, oui, il y a encore de la facilite,\npar ce que l'on ne trouve pas des gardes ici qui ne sont pas pour eux.\"_*\n * \"Yes, yes, we still contive it, because there are no guards to be\n found here who don't befriend them.\"\nThus, even the most minute and best organized tyranny may be eluded; and,\nindeed, if all the agents of this government acted in the spirit of its\ndecrees, it would be insupportable even to a native of Turkey or Japan.\nBut if some have still a remnant of humanity left, there are a sufficient\nnumber who execute the laws as unfeelingly as they are conceived.\nWhen these poor priests were to be removed from their several houses, it\nwas found necessary to dislodge the Bishop of Amiens, who had for some\ntime occupied the place fixed on for their reception. The Bishop had\nnotice given him at twelve o'clock in the day to relinquish his lodging\nbefore evening; yet the Bishop of Amiens is a constitutional Prelate, and\nhad, before the revolution, the cure of a large parish at Paris; nor was\nit without much persuasion that he accepted the see of Amiens. In the\nsevere winter of 1789 he disposed of his plate and library, (the latter\nof which was said to be one of the best private collections in Paris,) to\npurchase bread for the poor. \"But Time hath a wallet on his back,\nwherein he puts alms for oblivion;\" and the charities of the Bishop could\nnot shield him from the contempt and insult which pursue his profession.\nI have been much distressed within the last few days on account of my\nfriend Madame de B____. I subjoining a translation of a letter I have\njust received from her, as it will convey to you hereafter a tolerable\nspecimen of French liberty.\n \"Maison de Arret, at ____.\n \"I did not write to you, my dear friend, at the time I promised, and\n you will perceive, by the date of this, that I have had too good an\n excuse for my negligence. I have been here almost a week, and my\n spirits are still so much disordered, that I can with difficulty\n recollect myself enough to relate the circumstances of our\n unfortunate situation; but as it is possible you might become\n acquainted with them by some other means, I rather determined to\n send you a few lines, than suffer you to be alarmed by false or\n exaggerated reports.\n \"About two o'clock on Monday morning last our servants were called\n up, and, on their opening the door, the house was immediately filled\n with armed men, some of whom began searching the rooms, while others\n came to our bedchamber, and informed us we were arrested by order of\n the department, and that we must rise and accompany them to prison.\n It is not easy to describe the effect of such a mandate on people\n who, having nothing to reproach themselves with, could not be\n prepared for it.--As soon as we were a little recovered from our\n first terrors, we endeavoured to obey, and begged they would indulge\n us by retiring a few moments till I had put my clothes on; but\n neither my embarrassment, nor the screams of the child--neither\n decency nor humanity, could prevail. They would not even permit my\n maid to enter the room; and, amidst this scene of disorder, I was\n obliged to dress myself and the terrified infant. When this\n unpleasant task was finished, a general examination of our house and\n papers took place, and lasted until six in the evening: nothing,\n however, tending in the remotest degree to criminate us was found,\n but we were nevertheless conducted to prison, and God knows how long\n we are likely to remain here. The denunciation against us being\n secret, and not being able to learn either our crime or our\n accusers, it is difficult for us to take any measures for our\n enlargement. We cannot defend ourselves against a charge of which\n we are ignorant, nor combat the validity of a witness, who is not\n only allowed to remain secret, but is paid perhaps for his\n information.*\n * At this time informers were paid from fifty to an hundred\n livres for each accusation.\n \"We most probably owe our misfortune to some discarded servant or\n personal enemy, for I believe you are convinced we have not merited\n it either by our discourse or our actions: if we had, the charge\n would have been specific; but we have reason to imagine it is\n nothing more than the indeterminate and general charge of being\n aristocrates. I did not see my mother or sister all the day we were\n arrested, nor till the evening of the next: the one was engaged\n perhaps with \"Rosine and the Angola\", who were indisposed, and the\n other would not forego her usual card-party. Many of our friends\n likewise have forborne to approach us, lest their apparent interest\n in our fate should involve themselves; and really the alarm is so\n general, that I can, without much effort, forgive them.\n \"You will be pleased to learn, that the greatest civilities I have\n received in this unpleasant situation, have been from some of your\n countrymen, who are our fellow-prisoners: they are only poor\n sailors, but they are truly kind and attentive, and do us various\n little services that render us more comfortable than we otherwise\n should be; for we have no servants here, having deemed it prudent to\n leave them to take care of our property. The second night we were\n here, these good creatures, who lodge in the next room, were rather\n merry, and awoke the child; but as they found, by its cries, that\n their gaiety had occasioned me some trouble, I have observed ever\n since that they walk softly, and avoid making the least noise, after\n the little prisoner is gone to rest. I believe they are pleased\n with me because I speak their language, and they are still more\n delighted with your young favourite, who is so well amused, that he\n begins to forget the gloom of the place, which at first terrified\n him extremely.\n \"One of our companions is a nonjuring priest, who has been\n imprisoned under circumstances which make me almost ashamed of my\n country.--After having escaped from a neighbouring department, he\n procured himself a lodging in this town, and for some time lived\n very peaceably, till a woman, who suspected his profession, became\n extremely importunate with him to confess her. The poor man, for\n several days, refused, telling her, that he did not consider himself\n as a priest, nor wished to be known as such, nor to infringe the law\n which excluded him. The woman, however, still continued to\n persecute him, alledging, that her conscience was distressed, and\n that her peace depended on her being able to confess \"in the right\n way.\" At length he suffered himself to be prevailed upon--the woman\n received an hundred livres for informing against him, and, perhaps,\n the priest will be condemned to the Guillotine.*\n * He was executed some time after.\n \"I will make no reflection on this act, nor on the system of paying\n informers--your heart will already have anticipated all I could say.\n I will only add, that if you determine to remain in France, you must\n observe a degree of circumspection which you may not hitherto have\n thought necessary. Do not depend on your innocence, nor even trust\n to common precautions--every day furnishes examples that both are\n unavailing.--Adieu.--My husband offers you his respects, and your\n little friend embraces you sincerely. As soon as any change in our\n favour takes place, I will communicate it to you; but you had better\n not venture to write--I entrust this to Louison's mother, who is\n going through Amiens, as it would be unsafe to send it by the post.\n --Again adieu.--Yours,\nIt is observable, that we examine less scrupulously the pretensions of a\nnation to any particular excellence, than we do those of an individual.\nThe reason of this is, probably, that our self-love is as much gratified\nby admitting the one, as in rejecting the other. When we allow the\nclaims of a whole people, we are flattered with the idea of being above\nnarrow prejudices, and of possessing an enlarged and liberal mind; but if\na single individual arrogate to himself any exclusive superiority, our\nown pride immediately becomes opposed to his, and we seem but to\nvindicate our judgement in degrading such presumption.\nI can conceive no other causes for our having so long acquiesced in the\nclaims of the French to pre-eminent good breeding, in an age when, I\nbelieve, no person acquainted with both nations can discover any thing to\njustify them. If indeed politeness consisted in the repetition of a\ncertain routine of phrases, unconnected with the mind or action, I might\nbe obliged to decide against our country; but while decency makes a part\nof good manners, or feeling is preferable to a mechanical jargon, I am\ninclined to think the English have a merit more than they have hitherto\nascribed to themselves. Do not suppose, however, that I am going to\ndescant on the old imputations of \"French flattery,\" and \"French\ninsincerity;\" for I am far from concluding that civil behaviour gives one\na right to expect kind offices, or that a man is false because he pays a\ncompliment, and refuses a service: I only wish to infer, that an\nimpertinence is not less an impertinence because it is accompanied by a\ncertain set of words, and that a people, who are indelicate to excess,\ncannot properly be denominated \"a polite people.\"\nA French man or woman, with no other apology than _\"permettez moi,\"_\n[\"Give me leave.\"] will take a book out of your hand, look over any thing\nyou are reading, and ask you a thousand questions relative to your most\nprivate concerns--they will enter your room, even your bedchamber,\nwithout knocking, place themselves between you and the fire, or take hold\nof your clothes to guess what they cost; and they deem these acts of\nrudeness sufficiently qualified by _\"Je demande bien de pardons.\"_ [\"I\nask you a thousand pardons.\"]--They are fully convinced that the English\nall eat with their knives, and I have often heard this discussed with\nmuch self-complacence by those who usually shared the labours of the\nrepast between a fork and their fingers. Our custom also of using\nwater-glasses after dinner is an object of particular censure; yet whoever\ndines at a French table must frequently observe, that many of the guests\nmight benefit by such ablutions, and their napkins always testify that\nsome previous application would be by no means superfluous. Nothing is\nmore common than to hear physical derangements, disorders, and their\nremedies, expatiated upon by the parties concerned amidst a room full of\npeople, and that with so much minuteness of description, that a\nforeigner, without being very fastidious, is on some occasions apt to\nfeel very unpleasant sympathies. There are scarcely any of the\nceremonies of a lady's toilette more a mystery to one sex than the other,\nand men and their wives, who scarcely eat at the same table, are in this\nrespect grossly familiar. The conversation in most societies partakes of\nthis indecency, and the manners of an English female are in danger of\nbecoming contaminated, while she is only endeavouring to suffer without\npain the customs of those she has been taught to consider as models of\npoliteness.\nWhether you examine the French in their houses or in public, you are\nevery where stricken with the same want of delicacy, propriety, and\ncleanliness. The streets are mostly so filthy, that it is perilous to\napproach the walls. The insides of the churches are often disgusting, in\nspite of the advertisements that are placed in them to request the\nforbearance of phthifical persons: the service does not prevent those who\nattend from going to and fro with the same irreverence as if the church\nwere empty; and, in the most solemn part of the mass, a woman is suffered\nto importune you for a liard, as the price of the chair you sit on. At\nthe theatres an actor or actress frequently coughs and expectorates on\nthe stage, in a manner one should think highly unpardonable before one's\nmost intimate friends in England, though this habit is very common to all\nthe French. The inns abound with filth of every kind, and though the\nowners of them are generally civil enough, their notions of what is\ndecent are so very different from ours, that an English traveller is not\nsoon reconciled to them. In short, it would be impossible to enumerate\nall that in my opinion excludes the French from the character of a\nwell-bred people.--Swift, who seems to have been gratified by the\ncontemplation of physical impurity, might have done the subject justice;\nbut I confess I am not displeased to feel that, after my long and\nfrequent residences in France, I am still unqualified. So little are\nthese people susceptible of delicacy, propriety, and decency, that they\ndo not even use the words in the sense we do, nor have they any others\nexpressive of the same meaning.\nBut if they be deficient in the external forms of politeness, they are\ninfinitely more so in that politeness which may be called mental. The\nsimple and unerring rule of never preferring one's self, is to them more\ndifficult of comprehension than the most difficult problem in Euclid: in\nsmall things as well as great, their own interest, their own\ngratification, is their leading principle; and the cold flexibility which\nenables them to clothe this selfish system in \"fair forms,\" is what they\ncall politeness.\nMy ideas on this subject are not recent, but they occurred to me with\nadditional force on the perusal of Mad. de B____'s letter. The behaviour\nof some of the poorest and least informed class of our countrymen forms a\nstriking contrast with that of the people who arrested her, and even her\nown friends: the unaffected attention of the one, and the brutality and\nneglect of the other, are, perhaps, more just examples of English and\nFrench manners than you may have hitherto imagined. I do not, however,\npretend to say that the latter are all gross and brutal, but I am myself\nconvinced that, generally speaking, they are an unfeeling people.\nI beg you to remember, that when I speak of the dispositions and\ncharacter of the French, my opinions are the result of general\nobservation, and are applicable to all ranks; but when my remarks are on\nhabits and manners, they describe only those classes which are properly\ncalled the nation. The higher noblesse, and those attached to courts, so\nnearly resemble each other in all countries, that they are necessarily\nexcepted in these delineations, which are intended to mark the\ndistinguishing features of a people at large: for, assuredly, when the\nFrench assert, and their neighbours repeat, that they are a polite\nnation, it is not meant that those who have important offices or\ndignified appellations are polite: they found their claims on their\nsuperiority as a people, and it is in this light I consider them. My\nexamples are chiefly drawn, not from the very inferior, nor from the most\neminent ranks; neither from the retailer of a shop, nor the claimant of a\n_tabouret,_* or _les grandes ou petites entrees;_ but from the gentry,\nthose of easy fortunes, merchants, &c.--in fact, from people of that\ndegree which it would be fair to cite as what may be called genteel\nsociety in England.\n * The tabouret was a stool allowed to the Ladies of the Court\n particularly distinguished by rank or favour, when in presence of\n the Royal Family.--\"Les entrees\" gave a familiar access to the King\n and Queen.\nThis cessation of intercourse with our country dispirits me, and, as it\nwill probably continue some time, I shall amuse myself by noting more\nparticularly the little occurrences which may not reach your public\nprints, but which tend more than great events to mark both the spirit of\nthe government and that of the people.--Perhaps you may be ignorant that\nthe prohibition of the English mails was not the consequence of a decree\nof the Convention, but a simple order of its commissioners; and I have\nsome reason to think that even they acted at the instigation of an\nindividual who harbours a mean and pitiful dislike to England and its\ninhabitants.--Yours, &c.\nNear six weeks ago a decree was passed by the Convention, obliging all\nstrangers, who had not purchased national property, or who did not\nexercise some profession, to give security to the amount of half their\nsupposed fortune, and under these conditions they were to receive a\ncertificate, allowing them to reside, and were promised the protection of\nthe laws. The administrators of the departments, who perceive that they\nbecome odious by executing the decrees of the Convention, begin to relax\nmuch of their diligence, and it is not till long after a law is\npromulgated, and their personal fear operates as a stimulant, that they\nseriously enforce obedience to these mandates. This morning, however, we\nwere summoned by the Committee of our section (or ward) in order to\ncomply with the terms of the decree, and had I been directed only by my\nown judgement, I should have given the preference to an immediate return\nto England; but Mrs. D____ is yet ill, and Mr. D____ is disposed to\ncontinue. In vain have I quoted \"how fickle France was branded 'midst\nthe nations of the earth for perfidy and breach of public faith;\" in vain\nhave I reasoned upon the injustice of a government that first allured\nstrangers to remain by insidious offers of protection, and now subjects\nthem to conditions which many may find it difficult to subscribe to: Mr.\nD____ wishes to see our situation in the most favourable point of view:\nhe argues upon the moral impossibility of our being liable to any\ninconvenience, and persists in believing that one government may act with\ntreachery towards another, yet, distinguishing between falsehood and\nmeanness, maintain its faith with individuals--in short, we have\nconcluded a sort of treaty, by which we are bound, under the forfeiture\nof a large sum, to behave peaceably and submit to the laws. The\ngovernment, in return, empowers us to reside, and promises protection and\nhospitality.\nIt is to be observed, that the spirit of this regulation depends upon\nthose it affects producing six witnesses of their _\"civisme;\"_* yet so\nlittle interest do the people take on these occasions, that our witnesses\nwere neighbours we had scarcely ever seen, and even one was a man who\nhappened to be casually passing by.\n * Though the meaning of this word is obvious, we have no one that is\n exactly synonymous to it. The Convention intend by it an attachment\n to their government: but the people do not trouble themselves about\n the meaning of words--they measure their unwilling obedience by the\n letter.\nThese Committees, which form the last link of a chain of despotism, are\ncomposed of low tradesmen and day-labourers, with an attorney, or some\nperson that can read and write, at their head, as President. Priests and\nnobles, with all that are related, or anywise attached, to them, are\nexcluded by the law; and it is understood that true sans-culottes only\nshould be admitted.\nWith all these precautions, the indifference and hatred of the people to\ntheir government are so general, that, perhaps, there are few places\nwhere this regulation is executed so as to answer the purposes of the\njealous tyranny that conceived it. The members of these Committees seem\nto exact no farther compliances than such as are absolutely necessary to\nthe mere form of the proceeding, and to secure themselves from the\nimputation of disobedience; and are very little concerned whether the\nreal design of the legislature be accomplished or not. This negligence,\nor ill-will, which prevails in various instances, tempers, in some\ndegree, the effect of that restless suspicion which is the usual\nconcomitant of an uncertain, but arbitrary, power. The affections or\nprejudices that surround a throne, by ensuring the safety of the Monarch,\nengage him to clemency, and the laws of a mild government are, for the\nmost part, enforced with exactness; but a new and precarious authority,\nwhich neither imposes on the understanding nor interests the heart, which\nis supported only by a palpable and unadorned tyranny, is in its nature\nsevere, and it becomes the common cause of the people to counteract the\nmeasures of a despotism which they are unable to resist.--This (as I have\nbefore had occasion to observe) renders the condition of the French less\ninsupportable, but it is by no means sufficient to banish the fears of a\nstranger who has been accustomed to look for security, not from a\nrelaxation or disregard of the laws, but from their efficacy; not from\nthe characters of those who execute them, but from the rectitude with\nwhich they are formed.--What would you think in England, if you were\nobliged to contemplate with dread the three branches of your legislature,\nand depend for the protection of your person and property on soldiers and\nconstables? Yet such is nearly the state we are in; and indeed a system\nof injustice and barbarism gains ground so fast, that almost any\napprehension is justified.--The Tribunal Revolutionnaire has already\ncondemned a servant maid for her political opinions; and one of the\nJudges of this tribunal lately introduced a man to the Jacobins, with\nhigh panegyrics, because, as he alledged, he had greatly contributed to\nthe condemnation of a criminal. The same Judge likewise apologized for\nhaving as yet sent but a small number to the Guillotine, and promises,\nthat, on the first appearance of a \"Brissotin\" before him, he will show\nhim no mercy.\nWhen the minister of public justice thus avows himself the agent of a\nparty, a government, however recent its formation, must be far advanced\nin depravity; and the corruption of those who are the interpreters of the\nlaw has usually been the last effort of expiring power.\nMy friends, Mons. And Mad. de B____, are released from their confinement;\nnot as you might expect, by proving their innocence, but by the efforts\nof an individual, who had more weight than their accuser: and, far from\nobtaining satisfaction for the injury they have received, they are\nobliged to accept as a favour the liberty they were deprived of by malice\nand injustice. They will, most probably, never be acquainted with the\nnature of the charges brought against them; and their accuser will escape\nwith impunity, and, perhaps, meet with reward.\nAll the French papers are filled with descriptions of the enthusiasm with\nwhich the young men \"start to arms\" [_Offian._] at the voice of their\ncountry; yet it is very certain, that this enthusiasm is of so subtle and\naerial a form as to be perceivable only to those who are interested in\ndiscovering it. In some places these enthusiastic warriors continue to\nhide themselves--from others they are escorted to the place of their\ndestination by nearly an equal number of dragoons; and no one, I believe,\nwho can procure money to pay a substitute, is disposed to go himself.\nThis is sufficiently proved by the sums demanded by those who engage as\nsubstitutes: last year from three to five hundred livres was given; at\npresent no one will take less than eight hundred or a thousand, besides\nbeing furnished with clothes, &c. The only real volunteers are the sons\nof aristocrates, and the relations of emigrants, who, sacrificing their\nprinciples to their fears, hope, by enlisting in the army, to protect\ntheir estates and families: those likewise who have lucrative\nemployments, and are afraid of losing them, affect great zeal, and expect\nto purchase impunity for civil peculation at home, by the military\nservices of their children abroad.\nThis, I assure you, is the real state of that enthusiasm which occasions\nsuch an expence of eloquence to our gazette-writers; but these fallacious\naccounts are not like the ephemeral deceits of your party prints in\nEngland, the effect of which is destroyed in a few hours by an opposite\nassertion. None here are bold enough to contradict what their sovereigns\nwould have believed; and a town or district, driven almost to revolt by\nthe present system of recruiting, consents very willingly to be described\nas marching to the frontiers with martial ardour, and burning to combat\nles esclaves des tyrans! By these artifices, one department is misled\nwith regard to the dispositions of another, and if they do not excite to\nemulation, they, at least, repress by fear; and, probably, many are\nreduced to submission, who would resist, were they not doubtful of the\nsupport and union of their neighbours. Every possible precaution is\ntaken to prevent any connections between the different departments--\npeople who are not known cannot obtain passports without the\nrecommendation of two housekeepers--you must give an account of the\nbusiness you go upon, of the carriage you mean to travel in, whether it\nhas two wheels or four: all of which must be specified in your passport:\nand you cannot send your baggage from one town to another without the\nrisk of having it searched. All these things are so disgusting and\ntroublesome, that I begin to be quite of a different opinion from Brutus,\nand should certainly prefer being a slave among a free people, than thus\nbe tormented with the recollection that I am a native of England in a\nland of slavery. Whatever liberty the French might have acquired by\ntheir first revolution, it is now much like Sir John Cutler's worsted\nstockings, so torn, and worn, and disguised by patchings and mendings,\nthat the original texture is not discoverable.--Yours, &c.\nWe have been three days without receiving newspapers; but we learn from\nthe reports of the courier, that the Brissotins are overthrown, that many\nof them have been arrested, and several escaped to raise adherents in the\ndepartments. I, however, doubt much if their success will be very\ngeneral: the people have little preference between Brissot and Marat,\nCondorcet and Robespierre, and are not greatly solicitous about the names\nor even principles of those who govern them--they are not yet accustomed\nto take that lively interest in public events which is the effect of a\npopular constitution. In England every thing is a subject of debate and\ncontest, but here they wait in silence the result of any political\nmeasure or party dispute; and, without entering into the merits of the\ncause, adopt whatever is successful. While the King was yet alive, the\nnews of Paris was eagerly sought after, and every disorder of the\nmetropolis created much alarm: but one would almost suppose that even\ncuriosity had ceased at his death, for I have observed no subsequent\nevent (except the defection of Dumouriez) make any very serious\nimpression. We hear, therefore, with great composure, the present\ntriumph of the more violent republicans, and suffer without impatience\nthis interregnum of news, which is to continue until the Convention shall\nhave determined in what manner the intelligence of their proceedings\nshall be related to the departments.\nThe great solicitude of the people is now rather about their physical\nexistence than their political one--provisions are become enormously\ndear, and bread very scarce: our servants often wait two hours at the\nbaker's, and then return without bread for breakfast. I hope, however,\nthe scarcity is rather artificial than real. It is generally supposed to\nbe occasioned by the unwillingness of the farmers to sell their corn for\npaper. Some measures have been adopted with an intention of remedying\nthis evil, though the origin of it is beyond the reach of decree. It\noriginates in that distrust of government which reconciles one part of\nthe community to starving the other, under the idea of self-preservation.\nWhile every individual persists in establishing it as a maxim, that any\nthing is better than assignats, we must expect that all things will be\ndifficult to procure, and will, of course, bear a high price. I fear,\nall the empyricism of the legislature cannot produce a nostrum for this\nwant of faith. Dragoons and penal laws only \"linger, and linger it out;\"\nthe disease is incurable.\nMy friends, Mons. and Mad. de B____, by way of consolation for their\nimprisonment, now find themselves on the list of emigrants, though they\nhave never been a single day absent from their own province, or from\nplaces of residence where they are well known. But that they may not\nmurmur at this injustice, the municipality have accompanied their names\nwith those of others who have not even been absent from the town, and of\none gentleman in particular, who I believe may have been seen on the\nramparts every day for these seven years.--This may appear to you only\nvery absurd, and you may imagine the consequences easily obviated; yet\nthese mistakes are the effect of private malice, and subject the persons\naffected by them to an infinity of expence and trouble. They are\nobliged, in order to avert the confiscation of their property, to appear,\nin every part of the republic where they have possessions, with\nattestations of their constant residence in France, and perhaps suffer a\nthousand mortifications from the official ignorance and brutality of the\npersons to whom they apply. No remedy lies against the authors of these\nvexations, and the sufferer who is prudent fears even to complain.\nI have, in a former letter, noticed the great number of beggars that\nswarm at Arras: they are not less numerous at Amiens, though of a\ndifferent description--they are neither so disgusting, nor so wretched,\nbut are much more importunate and insolent--they plead neither sickness\nnor infirmity, and are, for the most part, able and healthy. How so many\npeople should beg by profession in a large manufacturing town, it is\ndifficult to conceive; but, whatever may be the cause, I am tempted to\nbelieve the effect has some influence on the manners of the inhabitants\nof Amiens. I have seen no town in France so remarkable for a rude and\nunfeeling behaviour, and it is not fanciful to conjecture that the\nmultitude of poor may tend in part to occasion it. The constant view of\na sort of misery that excites little compassion, of an intrusive\nnecessity which one is more desirous to repulse than to relieve, cannot\nbut render the heart callous, and the manners harsh. The avarice of\ncommerce, which is here unaccompanied by its liberality, is glad to\nconfound real distress with voluntary and idle indigence, till, in time,\nan absence of feeling becomes part of the character; and the constant\nhabit of petulant refusals, or of acceding more from fatigue than\nbenevolence, has perhaps a similar effect on the voice, gesture, and\nexternal.\nThis place has been so often visited by those who describe better than\nmyself, that I have thought it unnecessary to mention public buildings,\nor any thing equally obvious to the traveller or the resident. The\nbeauty and elegance of the cathedral have been celebrated for ages, and I\nonly remind you of it to indulge my national vanity in the reflection\nthat one of the most splendid monuments of Gothic architecture in France\nis the work of our English ancestors. The edifice is in perfect\npreservation, and the hand of power has not yet ventured to appropriate\nthe plate or ornaments; but this forbearance will most probably give way\nto temptation and impunity. The Convention will respect ancient\nprejudices no longer than they suppose the people have courage to defend\nthem, and the latter seem so entirely subdued, that, however they may\nmurmur, I do not think any serious resistance is to be expected from\nthem, even in behalf of the relics of St. Firmin. [St. Firmin, the patron\nof Amiens, where he is, in many of the streets, represented with his head\nin his hand.]--The bust of Henry the Fourth, which was a present from the\nMonarch himself, is banished the town-house, where it was formerly\nplaced, though, I hope, some royalist has taken possession of it, and\ndeposited it in safety till better times. This once popular Prince is\nnow associated with Nero and Caligula, and it is \"leze nation\" to speak\nof him to a thorough republican.--I know not if the French had before the\nrevolution reached the acme of perfection, but they have certainly been\nretrograding very fast since. Every thing that used to create fondness\nand veneration is despised, and things are esteemed only in proportion as\nthey are worthless. Perhaps the bust of Robespierre may one day replace\nthat of Henry the Fourth, and, to speak in the style of an eastern\nepistle, \"what can I say more?\"\nShould you ever travel this way with Gray in your hand, you will look for\nthe Ursuline convent, and regret the paintings he mentions: but you may\nrecollect, for your consolation, that they are merely pretty, and\nremarkable only for being the work of one of the nuns.--Gray, who seems\nto have had that enthusiastic respect for religious orders common to\nyoung minds, admired them on this account; and numbers of English\ntravellers have, I dare say, prepossessed by such an authority,\nexperienced the same disappointment I myself felt on visiting the\nUrsuline church. Many of the chapels belonging to these communities were\nvery showy and much decorated with gilding and sculpture: some of them\nare sold for a mere trifle, but the greatest part are filled with corn\nand forage, and on the door is inscribed \"Magazin des armees.\" The\nchange is almost incredible to those who remember, that less than four\nyears ago the Catholic religion was strictly practised, and the violation\nof these sanctuaries deemed sacrilegious. Our great historian [Gibbon]\nmight well say \"the influence of superstition is fluctuating and\nprecarious;\" though, in the present instance, it has rather been\nrestrained than subdued; and the people, who have not been convinced, but\nintimidated, secretly lament these innovations, and perhaps reproach\nthemselves conscientiously with their submission.--Yours.\nMercier, in his Tableau de Paris, notices, on several occasions, the\nlittle public spirit existing among his countrymen--it is also\nobservable, that many of the laws and customs presume on this deficiency,\nand the name of republicans has by no means altered that cautious\ndisposition which makes the French consider either misfortunes or\nbenefits only as their personal interest is affected by them.--I am just\nreturned from a visit to Abbeville, where we were much alarmed on Sunday\nby a fire at the Paraclete convent. The tocsin rang great part of the\nday, and the principal street of the town was in danger of being\ndestroyed. In such circumstances, you will suppose, that people of all\nranks eagerly crouded to offer their service, and endeavour to stop the\nprogress of so terrible a calamity. By no means--the gates of the town\nwere shut to prevent its entire evacuation, many hid themselves in\ngarrets and cellars, and dragoons patrolled the streets, and even entered\nthe houses, to force the inhabitants to assist in procuring water; while\nthe consternation, usually the effect of such accidents, was only owing\nto the fear of being obliged to aid the sufferers.--This employment of\nmilitary coercion for what humanity alone should dictate, is not\nascribeable to the principles of the present government--it was the same\nbefore the revolution, (except that the agents of the ancient system were\nnot so brutal and despotic as the soldiers of the republic,) and\ncompulsion was always deemed necessary where there was no stimulant but\nthe general interest.\nIn England, at any alarm of the fort, all distinction of ranks is\nforgotten, and every one is solicitous to contribute as much as he is\nable to the safety of his fellow-citizens; and, so far from an armed\nforce being requisite to procure assistance, the greatest difficulty is\nto repress the too-officious zeal of the croud.--I do not pretend to\naccount for this national disparity, but I fear what a French gentleman\nonce said to me of the Parisians is applicable to the general character,\n_\"Ils sont tous egoistes,\"_ [\"They are all selfish!\"] and they would not\ndo a benevolent action at the risk of soiling a coat or tearing a ruffle.\nDistrust of the assignats, and scarcity of bread, have occasioned a law\nto oblige the farmers, in every part of the republic, to sell their corn\nat a certain price, infinitely lower than what they have exacted for some\nmonths past. The consequence of this was, that, on the succeeding market\ndays, no corn came to market, and detachments of dragoons are obliged to\nscour the country to preserve us from a famine. If it did not convey an\nidea both of the despotism and want with which the nation is afflicted,\none should be amused by the ludicrous figures of the farmers, who enter\nthe town preceded by soldiers, and reposing with doleful visages on their\nsacks of wheat. Sometimes you see a couple of dragoons leading in\ntriumph an old woman and an ass, who follow with lingering steps their\nmilitary conductors; and the very ass seems to sympathize with his\nmistress on the disaster of selling her corn at a reduced price, and for\npaper, when she had hoped to hoard it till a counter-revolution should\nbring back gold and silver.\nThe farmers are now, perhaps, the greatest aristocrates in the country;\nbut as both their patriotism and their aristocracy have been a mere\ncalculation of interest, the severity exercised on their avarice is not\nmuch to be regretted. The original fault is, however, in an usurped\ngovernment, which inspires no confidence, and which, to supply an\nadministration lavish beyond all example, has been obliged to issue such\nan immense quantity of paper as nearly destroys its credit. In\npolitical, as in moral, vices, the first always necessitates a second,\nand these must still be sustained by others; until, at length, the very\nsense of right and wrong becomes impaired, and the latter is not only\npreferred from habit, but from choice.\nThus the arbitrary emission of paper has been necessarily followed by\nstill more arbitrary decrees to support it. For instance--the people\nhave been obliged to sell their corn at a stated price, which has again\nbeen the source of various and general vexations. The farmers, irritated\nby this measure, concealed their grain, or sold it privately, rather than\nbring it to market.--Hence, some were supplied with bread, and others\nabsolutely in want of it. This was remedied by the interference of the\nmilitary, and a general search for corn has taken place in all houses\nwithout exception, in order to discover if any was secreted; even our\nbedchambers were examined on this occasion: but we begin to be so\naccustomed to the visite domiciliaire, that we find ourselves suddenly\nsurrounded by the Garde Nationale, without being greatly alarmed.--I know\nnot how your English patriots, who are so enamoured of French liberty,\nyet thunder with the whole force of their eloquence against the ingress\nof an exciseman to a tobacco warehouse, would reconcile this domestic\ninquisition; for the municipalities here violate your tranquillity in\nthis manner under any pretext they choose, and that too with an armed\ncortege sufficient to undertake the siege of your house in form.\nAbout fifteen departments are in insurrection, ostensibly in behalf of\nthe expelled Deputies; but I believe I am authorized in saying, it is by\nno means the desire of the people at large to interfere. All who are\ncapable of reflection consider the dispute merely as a family quarrel,\nand are not partial enough to either party to adopt its cause. The\ntropps they have already raised have been collected by the personal\ninterest of the members who contrived to escape, or by an attempt of a\nfew of the royalists to make one half of the faction subservient to the\ndestruction of the other. If you judge of the principles of the nation\nby the success of the Foederalists,* and the superiority of the\nConvention, you will be extremely deceived; for it is demonstrable, that\nneither the most zealous partizans of the ancient system, nor those of\nthe abolished constitution, have taken any share in the dispute; and the\ndepartments most notoriously aristocratic have all signified their\nadherence to the proceedings of the Assembly.\n * On the 31st of May and 2d of June, the Convention, who had been\n for some months struggling with the Jacobins and the municipality of\n Paris, was surrounded by an armed force: the most moderate of the\n Deputies (those distinguished by the name of Brissotins,) were\n either menaced into a compliance with the measures of the opposite\n faction, or arrested; others took flight, and, by representing the\n violence and slavery in which the majority of the Convention was\n holden, excited some of the departments to take arms in their\n favour.--This contest, during its short existence, was called the\n war of the Foederalists.--The result is well known.\nThose who would gladly take an active part in endeavouring to establish a\ngood government, are averse from risking their lives and properties in\nthe cause of Brissot or Condorcet.--At Amiens, where almost every\nindividual is an aristocrate, the fugitive Deputies could not procure the\nleast encouragement, but the town would have received Dumouriez, and\nproclaimed the King without opposition. But this schism in the\nlegislature is considered as a mere contest of banditti, about the\ndivision of spoil, not calculated to excite an interest in those they\nhave plundered and oppressed.\nThe royalists who have been so mistaken as to make any effort on this\noccasion, will, I fear, fall a sacrifice, having acted for the most part\nwithout union or concert; and their junction with the Deputies renders\nthem suspicious, if not odious, to their own party. The extreme\ndifficulty, likewise, of communication between the departments, and the\nstrict watch observed over all travellers, form another obstacle to the\nsuccess of any attempt at present; and, on the whole, the only hope of\ndeliverance for the French seems to rest upon the allied armies and the\ninsurgents of La Vendee.\nWhen I say this, I do not assert from prejudices, which often deceive,\nnor from conjecture, that is always fallible; but from unexceptionable\ninformation--from an intercourse with various ranks of people, and a\nminute observance of all. I have scarcely met with a single person who\ndoes not relate the progress of the insurgents in La Vendee with an air\nof satisfaction, or who does not appear to expect with impatience the\nsurrender of Conde: and even their language, perhaps unconsciously,\nbetrays their sentiments, for I remark, they do not, when they speak of\nany victory gained by the arms of the republic, say, Nous, or Notre\narmee, but, Les Francais, and, Les troupes de la republique;--and that\nalways in a tone as though they were speaking of an enemy.--Adieu.\nOur modern travellers are mostly either sentimental or philosophical, or\ncourtly or political; and I do not remember to have read any who describe\nthe manner of living among the gentry and middle ranks of life in France.\nI will, therefore, relieve your attention for a moment from our actual\ndistresses, and give you the picture of a day as usually passed by those\nwho have easy fortunes and no particular employment.--The social\nassemblage of a whole family in the morning, as in England, is not very\ncommon, for the French do not generally breakfast: when they do, it is\nwithout form, and on fruit, bread, wine, and water, or sometimes coffee;\nbut tea is scarcely ever used, except by the sick. The morning is\ntherefore passed with little intercourse, and in extreme dishabille. The\nmen loiter, fiddle, work tapestry, and sometimes read, in a robe de\nchambre, or a jacket and _\"pantalons;\"_ [Trowsers.] while the ladies,\nequipped only in a short manteau and petticoat, visit their birds, knit,\nor, more frequently, idle away the forenoon without doing any thing. It\nis not customary to walk or make visits before dinner, and if by chance\nany one calls, he is received in the bedchamber. At half past one or two\nthey dine, but without altering the negligence of their apparel, and the\nbusiness of the toilette does not begin till immediately after the\nrepast. About four, visits of ceremony begin, and may be made till six\nor seven according to the season; but those who intend passing an evening\nat any particular house, go before six, and the card parties generally\nfinish between eight and nine. People then adjourn to their supper\nengagements, which are more common than those for dinner, and are, for\nthe most part, in different places, and considered as a separate thing\nfrom the earlier amusements of the evening. They keep better hours than\nthe English, most families being in bed by half past ten. The theatres\nare also regulated by these sober habits, and the dramatic\nrepresentations are usually over by nine.\nA day passed in this manner is, as you may imagine, susceptible of much\nennui, and the French are accordingly more subject to it than\nto any other complaint, and hold it in greatest dread than either\nsickness or misfortune. They have no conception how one can remain two\nhours alone without being ennuye a la mort; and but few, comparatively\nspeaking, read for amusement: you may enter ten houses without seeing a\nbook; and it is not to be wondered at that people, who make a point of\nstaying at home all the morning, yet do not read, are embarrassed with\nthe disposition of so much time.--It is this that occasions such a\ngeneral fondness for domestic animals, and so many barbarous musicians,\nand male-workers of tapestry and tambour.\nI cannot but attribute this littleness and dislike of morning exercise to\nthe quantity of animal food the French eat at night, and to going to rest\nimmediately after it, in consequence of which their activity is checked\nby indigestions, and they feel heavy and uncomfortable for half the\nsucceeding day.--The French pique themselves on being a gayer nation than\nthe English; but they certainly must exclude their mornings from the\naccount, for the forlorn and neglected figure of a Frenchman till dinner\nis a very antidote to chearfulness, especially if contrasted with the\nanimation of our countrymen, whose forenoon is passed in riding or\nwalking, and who make themselves at least decent before they appear even\nin their own families.\nThe great difficulty the French have in finding amusement makes them\naverse from long residences in the country, and it is very uncommon for\nthose who can afford only one house not to prefer a town; but those whose\nfortune will admit of it, live about three months of the year in the\ncountry, and the rest in the neighbouring town. This, indeed, as they\nmanage it, is no very considerable expence, for the same furniture often\nserves for both habitations, and the one they quit being left empty,\nrequires no person to take charge of it, especially as house-breaking is\nvery uncommon in France; at least it was so before the revolution, when\nthe police was more strict, and the laws against robbers were more\nsevere.\nYou will say, I often describe the habits and manners of a nation so\nfrequently visited, as though I were writing from Kamschatka or Japan;\nyet it is certain, as I have remarked above, that those who are merely\nitinerant have not opportunities of observing the modes of familiar life\nso well as one who is stationary, and travellers are in general too much\noccupied by more important observations to enter into the minute and\ntrifling details which are the subject of my communications to you. But\nif your attention be sometimes fatigued by occurrences or relations too\nwell known, or of too little consequence to be interesting, I claim some\nmerit in never having once described the proportions of a building, nor\ngiven you the history of a town; and I might have contrived as well to\ntax your patience by an erudite description, as a superficial reflection,\nor a female remark. The truth is, my pen is generally guided by\ncircumstances as they rise, and my ideas have seldom any deeper origin\nthan the scene before me. I have no books here, and I am apt to think if\nprofessed travellers were deprived of this resource, many learned\netymologies and much profound compilation would be lost to the modern\nreader.\nThe insurgents of La Vendee continue to have frequent and decided\nsuccesses, but the insurrections in the other departments languish. The\navowed object of liberating the Convention is not calculated to draw\nadherents, and if any better purpose be intended, while a faction are the\npromoters of it, it will be regarded with too much suspicion to procure\nany effectual movement. Yet, however partial and unconnected this revolt\nmay be, it is an object of great jealousy and inquietude: all the\naddresses or petitions brought in favour of it are received with\ndisapprobation, and suppressed in the official bulletin of the\nlegislature; but those which express contrary sentiments are ordered to\nbe inserted with the usual terms of \"applaudi, adopte, et mention\nhonorable.\"--In this manner the army and the people, who derive their\nintelligence from these accounts (which are pasted up in the streets,)\nare kept in ignorance of the real state of distant provinces, and, what\nis still more important for the Convention, the communication of\nexamples, which they know so many are disposed to imitate, is retarded.\nThe people here are nearly in the same state they have been in for some\ntime--murmuring in secret, and submitting in public; expecting every\nthing from that energy in others which they have not themselves, and\naccumulating the discontents they are obliged to suppress. The\nConvention call them the brave republicans of Amiens; but if their\nbravery were as unequivocal as their aristocracy, they would soon be at\nthe gates of Paris. Even the first levies are not all departed for the\nfrontiers, and some who were prevailed on to go are already returned.--\nAll the necessaries of life are augmenting in price--the people complain,\npillage the shops and the markets one day, and want the next. Many of\nthe departments have opposed the recruiting much more decidedly than they\nhave ventured to do here; and it was not without inspiring terror by\nnumerous arrests, that the levies which were immediately necessary were\nprocured.--France offers no prospect but that of scarcity, disorder, and\noppression; and my friends begin to perceive that we have committed an\nimprudence in remaining so long. No passports can now be obtained, and\nwe must, as well as several very respectable families still here, abide\nthe event of the war.\nSome weeks have elapsed since I had letters from England, and those we\nreceive from the interior come open, or sealed with the seal of the\ndistrict. This is not peculiar to our letters, as being foreigners, but\nthe same unceremonious inspection is practised with the correspondence of\nthe French themselves. Thus, in this land of liberty, all epistolary\nintercourse has ceased, except for mere matters of business; and though\nin the declaration of the rights of man it be asserted, that every one is\nentitled to write or print his thoughts, yet it is certain no person can\nentrust a letter to the post, but at the risk of having it opened; nor\ncould Mr. Thomas Paine himself venture to express the slightest\ndisapprobation of the measures of government, without hazarding his\nfreedom, and, in the end, perhaps, his life. Even these papers, which I\nreserve only for your amusement, which contain only the opinions of an\nindividual, and which never have been communicated, I am obliged to\nconceal with the utmost circumspection; for should they happen to fall\ninto the hands of our domiciliary inquisitors, I should not, like your\nEnglish liberties, escape with the gentle correction of imprisonment, or\nthe pillory.--A man, who had murdered his wife, was lately condemned to\ntwenty years imprisonment only; but people are guillotined every day for\na simple discourse, or an inadvertent expression.--Yours.\nAmiens, July 5, 1793.\nIt will be some consolation to the French, if, from the wreck of their\ncivil liberty, they be able to preserve the mode of administering justice\nas established by the constitution of 1789. Were I not warranted by the\nbest information, I should not venture an opinion on the subject without\nmuch diffidence, but chance has afforded me opportunities that do not\noften occur to a stranger, and the new code appears to me, in many parts,\nsingularly excellent, both as to principle and practice.--Justice is here\ngratuitous--those who administer it are elected by the people--they\ndepend only on their salaries, and have no fees whatever. Reasonable\nallowances are made to witnesses both for time and expences at the public\ncharge--a loss is not doubled by the costs of a prosecution to recover\nit. In cases of robbery, where property found is detained for the sake\nof proof, it does not become the prey of official rapacity, but an\nabsolute restitution takes place.--The legislature has, in many respects,\ncopied the laws of England, but it has simplified the forms, and\nrectified those abuses which make our proceedings in some cases almost as\nformidable to the prosecutor as to the culprit. Having to compose an\nentire new system, and being unshackled by professional reverence for\nprecedents, they were at liberty to benefit by example, to reject those\nerrors which have been long sanctioned by their antiquity, and are still\npermitted to exist, through our dread of innovation. The French,\nhowever, made an attempt to improve on the trial by jury, which I think\nonly evinces that the institution as adopted in England is not to be\nexcelled. The decision is here given by ballot--unanimity is not\nrequired--and three white balls are sufficient to acquit the prisoner.\nThis deviation from our mode seems to give the rich an advantage over the\npoor. I fear, that, in the number of twelve men taken from any country,\nit may sometimes happen that three may be found corruptible: now the\nwealthy delinquent can avail himself of this human failing; but, \"through\ntatter'd robes small vices do appear,\" and the indigent sinner has less\nchance of escaping than another.\nIt is to be supposed, that, at this time, the vigour of the criminal laws\nis much relaxed, and their execution difficult. The army offers refuge\nand impunity to guilt of all kinds, and the magistrates themselves would\nbe apprehensive of pursuing an offender who was protected by the mob, or,\nwhich is the same thing, by the Jacobins.\nThe groundwork of much of the French civil jurisprudence is arbitration,\nparticularly in those trifling processes which originate in a spirit of\nlitigation; and it is not easy for a man here, however well disposed, to\nspend twenty pounds in a contest about as many pence, or to ruin himself\nin order to secure the possession of half an acre of land. In general,\nredress is easily obtained without unnecessary procrastination, and with\nlittle or no cost. Perhaps most legal codes may be simple and\nefficacious at their first institution, and the circumstance of their\nbeing encumbered with forms which render them complex and expensive, may\nbe the natural consequence of length of time and change of manners.\nLittleton might require no commentary in the reign of Henry II. and the\nmysterious fictions that constitute the science of modern judicature were\nperhaps familiar, and even necessary, to our ancestors. It is to be\nregretted that we cannot adapt our laws to the age in which we live, and\nassimilate them to our customs; but the tendency of our nature to\nextremes perpetuates evils, and makes both the wise and the timid enemies\nto reform. We fear, like John Calvin, to tear the habit while we are\nstripping off the superfluous decoration; and the example of this country\nwill probably long act as a discouragement to all change, either judicial\nor political. The very name of France will repress the desire of\ninnovation--we shall cling to abuses as though they were our support, and\nevery attempt to remedy them will become an objection of suspicion and\nterror.--Such are the advantages which mankind will derive from the\nFrench revolution.\nThe Jacobin constitution is now finished, and, as far as I am able to\njudge, it is what might be expected from such an origin: calculated to\nflatter the people with an imaginary sovereignty--to place the whole\npower of election in the class most easily misled--to exclude from the\nrepresentation those who have a natural interest in the welfare of the\ncountry, and to establish the reign of anarchy and intrigue.--Yet,\nhowever averse the greater number of the French may be from such a\nconstitution, no town or district has dared to reject it; and I remark,\nthat amongst those who have been foremost in offering their acceptation,\nare many of the places most notoriously aristocratic. I have enquired of\nsome of the inhabitants of these very zealous towns on what principle\nthey acted so much in opposition to their known sentiments: the reply is\nalways, that they fear the vengeance of the Jacobins, and that they are\nawed by military force. This reasoning is, of course, unanswerable; and\nwe learn, from the debates of the Convention, that the people have\nreceived the new constitution _\"avec la plus vive reconnoissance,\"_\n[\"With the most lively gratitude.\"] and that they have all sworn to die\nin its defence.--Yours, &c.\nThe return of this day cannot but suggest very melancholy reflections to\nall who are witnesses of the changes which a single year has produced.\nIn twelve months only the government of France has been overturned, her\ncommerce destroyed, the country depopulated to raise armies, and the\npeople deprived of bread to support them. A despotism more absolute than\nthat of Turkey is established, the manners of the nation are corrupted,\nand its moral character is disgraced in the eyes of all Europe. A\nbarbarous rage has laid waste the fairest monuments of art--whatever\ncould embellish society, or contribute to soften existence, has\ndisappeared under the reign of these modern Goths--even the necessaries\nof life are becoming rare and inadequate to the consumption--the rich are\nplundered and persecuted, yet the poor are in want--the national credit\nis in the last stage of debasement, yet an immense debt is created, and\ndaily accumulating; and apprehension, distrust, and misery, are almost\nuniversal.--All this is the work of a set of adventurers who are now\ndivided among themselves--who are accusing each other of those crimes\nwhich the world imputes to them all--and who, conscious they can no\nlonger deceive the nation, now govern with the fear and suspicion of\ntyrants. Every thing is sacrificed to the army and Paris, and the people\nare robbed of their subsistence to supply an iniquitous metropolis, and a\nmilitary force that awes and oppresses them.\nThe new constitution has been received here officially, but no one seems\nto take the least interest in it: it is regarded in just the same light\nas a new tax, or any other ministerial mandate, not sent to be discussed\nbut obeyed. The mode of proclaiming it conveyed a very just idea of its\norigin and tendency. It was placed on a cushion, supported by Jacobins\nin their red caps, and surrounded by dragoons. It seemed the image of\nAnarchy, guarded by Despotism.--In this manner they paraded the town, and\nthe \"sacred volume\" was then deposed on an altar erected on the Grande\nPlace.--The Garde Nationale, who were ordered to be under arms, attended,\nand the constitution was read. A few of the soldiers cried \"Vive la\nrepublique!\" and every one returned home with countenances in which\ndelight was by no means the prevailing expression.\nA trifling incident which I noticed on this occasion, will serve, among\nothers of the same kind that I could enumerate, to prove that even the\nvery lower class of the people begin to ridicule and despise their\nlegislators. While a municipal officer was very gravely reading the\nconstitution, an ass forced his way across the square, and placed himself\nnear the spot where the ceremony was performing: a boy, who was under our\nwindow, on observing it, cried out, \"Why don't they give him the\n_accolade fraternelle!\"_*\n * Fraternal embrace.--This is the reception given by the President\n to any one whom the Convention wish particularly to distinguish. On\n an occasion of the sort, the fraternal embrace was given to an old\n Negress.--The honours of the fitting are also daily accorded to\n deputations of fish-women, chimney-sweepers, children, and all whose\n missions are flattering. There is no homage so mean as not to\n gratify the pride of those to whom dominion is new; and these\n expressions are so often and so strangely applied, that it is not\n surprizing they are become the cant phrases of the mob.\n--\"Yes, (rejoined another,) and admit him _aux honneurs de la feance.\"_\n[To the honours of the fitting.] This disposition to jest with their\nmisfortunes is, however, not so common as it was formerly. A bon mot may\nalleviate the loss of a battle, and a lampoon on the court solace under\nthe burthen of a new impost; but the most thoughtless or improvident can\nfind nothing very facetious in the prospect of absolute want--and those\nwho have been used to laugh under a circumscription of their political\nliberty, feel very seriously the evil of a government which endows its\nmembers with unlimited power, and enables a Deputy, often the meanest and\nmost profligate character of his department, to imprison all who, from\ncaprice, interest, or vengeance, may have become the objects of his\npersecution.\nI know this will appear so monstrous to an Englishman, that, had I an\nopportunity of communicating such a circumstance before it were publicly\nauthenticated, you would suppose it impossible, and imagine I had been\nmistaken, or had written only from report; it is nevertheless true, that\nevery part of France is infested by these Commissioners, who dispose,\nwithout appeal, of the freedom and property of the whole department to\nwhich they are sent. It frequently happens, that men are delegated to\nplaces where they have resided, and thus have an opportunity of\ngratifying their personal malice on all who are so unfortunate as to be\nobnoxious to them. Imagine, for a moment, a village-attorney acting with\nuncontrouled authority over the country where he formerly exercised his\nprofession, and you will have some idea of what passes here, except that\nI hope no class of men in England are so bad as those which\ncompose the major part of the National Convention.--Yours, &c.\nThe events of Paris which are any way remarkable are so generally\ncirculated, that I do not often mention them, unless to mark their effect\non the provinces; but you will be so much misled by the public papers\nwith regard to the death of Marat, that I think it necessary to notice\nthe subject while it is yet recent in my memory. Were the clubs, the\nConvention, or the sections of Paris to be regarded as expressing the\nsense of the people, the assassination of this turbulent journalist must\nbe considered being the case, that the departments are for the most part,\nif not rejoiced, indifferent--and many of those who impute to him the\nhonour of martyrdom, or assist at his apotheosis, are much better\nsatisfied both with his christian and heathen glories, than they were\nwhile he was living to propagate anarchy and pillage. The reverence of\nthe Convention itself is a mere political pantomime. Within the last\ntwelve months nearly all the individuals who compose it have treated\nMarat with contempt; and I perfectly remember even Danton, one of the\nmembers of the Committee of Salut Publique, accusing him of being a\ncontre revolutionnaire.\nBut the people, to use a popular expression here, require to be\nelectrified.--St. Fargeau is almost forgotten, and Marat is to serve the\nsame purposes when dead, to which he contributed while living.--An\nextreme grossness and want of feeling form the characteristic feature of\nthe Parisians; they are ignorant, credulous, and material, and the\nConvention do not fail on all occasions to avail themselves of these\nqualities. The corpse of Marat decently enclosed in a coffin would have\nmade little impression, and it was not pity, but revenge, which was to be\nexcited. The disgusting object of a dead leper was therefore exposed to\nthe eyes of a metropolis calling itself the most refined and enlightened\nof all Europe--\n \"And what t'oblivion better were consign'd,\n Is hung on high to poison half mankind.\"\nI know not whether these lines are most applicable to the display of\nMarat's body, or the consecration of his fame, but both will be a lasting\nstigma on the manners and morals of Paris.\nIf the departments, however, take no interest in the loss of Marat, the\nyoung woman who assassinated him has created a very lively one. The\nslightest anecdotes concerning her are collected with avidity, and\nrepeated with admiration; and this is a still farther proof of what you\nhave heard me advance, that neither patriotism nor humanity has an\nabundant growth in this country. The French applaud an act in itself\nhorrid and unjustifiable, while they have scarcely any conception of the\nmotive, and such a sacrifice seems to them something supernatural.--The\nJacobins assert, that Charlotte Corday was an emissary of the allied\npowers, or, rather, of Mr. Pitt; and the Parisians have the complaisance\nto believe, that a young woman could devote herself to certain\ndestruction at the instigation of another, as though the same principles\nwhich would lead a person to undertake a diplomatic commission, would\ninduce her to meet death.\nI wrote some days ago to a lady of my acquaintance at Caen, to beg she\nwould procure me some information relative to this extraordinary female,\nand I subjoin an extract of her answer, which I have just received:\n\"Miss Corday was a native of this department, and had, from her earliest\nyears, been very carefully educated by an aunt who lives at Caen. Before\nshe was twenty she had decided on taking the veil, and her noviciate was\njust expired when the Constituent Assembly interdicted all religious vows\nfor the future: she then left the convent, and resided entirely with her\naunt. The beauty of her person, and particularly her mental\nacquisitions, which were superior to that of French women in general,\nrendered an object of much admiration. She spoke uncommonly well, and\nher discourse often turned on the ancients, and on such subjects as\nindicated that masculine turn of mind which has since proved so fatal to\nher. Perhaps her conversation was a little tinctured with that pedantry\nnot unjustly attributed to our sex when they have a little more knowledge\nthan usual, but, at the same time, not in such a degree as to render it\nunpleasant. She seldom gave any opinion on the revolution, but\nfrequently attended the municipalities to solicit the pensions of the\nexpelled religious, or on any other occasion where she could be useful to\nher friends. On the arrival of Petion, Barbaroux, and others of the\nBrissotin faction, she began to frequent the clubs, and to take a more\nlively interest in political affairs. Petion, and Barbaroux especially,\nseemed to be much respected by her. It was even said, she had a tender\npartiality for the latter; but this I believe is untrue.--I dined with\nher at her aunt's on the Sunday previous to her departure for Paris.\nNothing very remarkable appeared in her behaviour, except that she was\nmuch affected by a muster of the recruits who were to march against\nParis, and seemed to think many lives might be lost on the occasion,\nwithout obtaining any relief for the country.--On the Tuesday following\nshe left Caen, under pretext of visiting her father, who lives at Sens.\nHer aunt accompanied her to the gate of the town, and the separation was\nextremely sorrowful on both sides. The subsequent events are too well\nknown to need recital.\"\nOn her trial, and at her execution, Miss Corday was firm and modest;\nand I have been told, that in her last moments her whole figure was\ninteresting beyond description. She was tall, well formed, and\nbeautiful--her eyes, especially, were fine and expressive--even her dress\nwas not neglected, and a simple white dishabille added to the charms of\nthis self-devoted victim. On the whole, it is not possible to ascertain\nprecisely the motives which determined her to assassinate Marat. Her\nletter to Barbaroux expresses nothing but republican sentiments; yet it\nis difficult to conceive that a young woman, who had voluntarily embraced\nthe life of a cloister, could be really of this way of thinking.--I\ncannot but suppose her connection with the Deputies arose merely from an\nidea that they might be the instruments of restoring the abolished\ngovernment, and her profession of republican principles after she was\narrested might probably be with a view of saving Duperret, and others of\nthe party, who were still in the power of the Convention.--Her selection\nof Marat still remains to be accounted for. He was, indeed, the most\nviolent of the Jacobins, but not the most dangerous, and the death of\nseveral others might have been more serviceable to the cause. Marat was,\nhowever, the avowed persecutor of priests and religion, and if we\nattribute any influence to Miss Corday's former habits, we may suppose\nthem to have had some share in the choice of her victim. Her refusal of\nthe ministry of a constitutional priest at the scaffold strengthens this\nopinion. We pay a kind of involuntary tribute of admiration to such\nfirmness of mind in a young and beautiful woman; and I do not recollect\nthat history has transmitted any thing parallel to the heroism of\nCharlotte Corday. Love, revenge, and ambition, have often sacrificed\ntheir victims, and sustained the courage of their voluntaries under\npunishment; but a female, animated by no personal motives, sensible only\nto the misfortunes of her country, patriotic both from feeling and\nreflection, and sacrificing herself from principle, is singular in the\nannals of human nature.--Yet, after doing justice to such an instance of\nfortitude and philanthropic devotion, I cannot but sincerely lament the\nact to which it has given rise. At a time when so many spirits are\nirritated by despair and oppression, the example may be highly\npernicious, and a cause, however good, must always be injured by the use\nof such means in its support.--Nothing can sanctify an assassination; and\nwere not the French more vindictive than humane, the crimes of the\nrepublican party would find a momentary refuge in this injudicious effort\nto punish them.\nMy friend La Marquise de ____ has left Paris, and is now at Peronne,\nwhere she has engaged me to pass a few weeks with her; so that my next\nwill most probably be dated from thence.--Mr. D____ is endeavouring to\nget a passport for England. He begins to regret having remained here.\nHis temper, naturally impatient of restraint, accords but ill with the\nportion of liberty enjoyed by our republicans. Corporal privations and\nmental interdictions multiply so fast, that irritable people like\nhimself, and valetudinarians like Mrs. C____ and me, could not choose a\nworse residence; and, as we are now unanimous on the subject, I hope soon\nto leave the country.--There is, as you observe in your last, something\nof indolence as well as friendship in my having so long remained here;\nbut if actions were always analyzed so strictly, and we were not allowed\nto derive a little credit from our weaknesses, how many great characters\nwould be reduced to the common level. Voltaire introduced a sort of rage\nfor anecdotes, and for tracing all events to trifling causes, which has\ndone much more towards exploding the old-fashioned system or the dignity\nof human nature than the dry maxims of Rochefaucault, the sophisms of\nMandeville, or even the malicious wit of Swift. This is also another\neffect of the progress of philosophy; and this sort of moral Quixotism,\ncontinually in search of evil, and more gratified in discovering it than\npained by its existence, may be very philosophical; but it is at least\ngloomy and discouraging; and we may be permitted to doubt whether mankind\nbecome wiser or better by learning, that those who have been most\nremarkable either for wisdom or virtue were occasionally under the\ninfluence of the same follies and passions as other people.--Your\nuncharitable discernment, you see, has led me into a digression, and I\nhave, without intending it, connected the motives of my stay with\nreflections on Voltaire's General History, Barillon's Letters, and all\nthe secret biography of our modern libraries. This, you will say, is\nonly a chapter of a \"man's importance to himself;\" but public affairs are\nnow so confused and disgusting, that we are glad to encourage any train\nof ideas not associated with them.\nThe Commissioners I gave you some account of in a former letter are\ndeparted, and we have lately had Chabot, an Ex-capuchin, and a patriot of\nspecial note in the Convention, and one Dumont, an attorney of a\nneighbouring village. They are, like all the rest of these missionaries,\nentrusted with unlimited powers, and inspire apprehension and dismay\nwherever they approach.\nThe Garde Nationale of Amiens are not yet entirely subdued to the times,\nand Chabot gave some hints of a project to disarm them, and actually\nattempted to arrest some of their officers; but, apprized of his design,\nthey remained two nights under arms, and the Capuchin, who is not\nmartially inclined, was so alarmed at this indication of resistance,\nthat he has left the town with more haste than ceremony.--He had, in an\nharangue at the cathedral, inculcated some very edifying doctrines on the\ndivision of property and the right of pillage; and it is not improbable,\nhad he not withdrawn, but the Amienois would have ventured, on this\npretext, to arrest him. Some of them contrived, in spite of the centinel\nplaced at the lodging of these great men, to paste up on the door two\nfigures, with the names of Chabot and Dumont; in the \"fatal position of\nthe unfortunate brave;\" and though certain events in the lives of these\nDeputies may have rendered this perspective of their last moments not\nabsolutely a novelty, yet I do not recollect that Akenside, or any other\nauthor, has enumerated a gibbet amongst the objects, which, though not\nagreeable in themselves, may be reconciled to the mind by familiarity.\nI wish, therefore, our representatives may not, in return for this\nadmonitory portrait of their latter end, draw down some vengeance on the\ntown, not easily to be appeased. I am no astrologer, but in our\nsublunary world the conjunction of an attorney and a renegade monk cannot\npresent a fortunate aspect; and I am truly anxious to find myself once\nagain under the more benign influence of your English hemisphere.--Yours.\nPeronne, July 29, 1793.\nEvery attempt to obtain passports has been fruitless, and, with that sort\nof discontented resignation which is the effect of necessity, I now look\nupon myself as fixed here till the peace. I left Mr. and Mrs. D____\nyesterday morning, the disappointment operating upon them in full force.\nThe former takes longer walks than usual, breaks out in philippics\nagainst tyrannies of all kinds, and swears ten times a day that the\nFrench are the most noisy people upon earth--the latter is vexed, and,\nfor that reason, fancies she is ill, and calculates, with great\ningenuity, all the hazard and inconvenience we may be liable to by\nremaining here. I hope, on my return, to find them more reconciled.\nAt Villars de Bretonne, on my road hither, some people told me, with\ngreat gaiety, that the English had made a descent on the coast of\nPicardy. Such a report (for I did not suppose it possible) during the\nlast war would have made me tremble, but I heard this without alarm,\nhaving, in no instance, seen the people take that kind of interest in\npublic events which formerly made a residence in France unpleasant to an\nindividual of an hostile nation. It is not that they are become more\nliberal, or better informed--no change of this kind has been discovered\neven by the warmest advocates of the revolution; but they are more\nindifferent, and those who are not decidedly the enemies of the present\ngovernment, for the most part concern themselves as little about the\nevents of the war, as though it were carried on in the South Sea.\nI fear I should risk an imputation on my veracity, were I to describe the\nextreme ignorance and inattention of the French with respect to public\nmen and measures. They draw no conclusions from the past, form no\nconjectures for the future, and, after exclaiming \"Il ne peut pas durer\ncomme cela,\" they, with a resignation which is certainly neither pious\nnor philosophic, leave the rest to the agency of Providence.--Even those\nwho are more informed so bewilder themselves in the politics of Greece\nand Rome, that they do not perceive how little these are applicable to\ntheir own country. Indeed, it should seem that no modern age or people\nis worthy the knowledge of a Frenchman.--I have often remarked, in the\ncourse of our correspondence, how little they are acquainted with what\nregards England or the English; and scarcely a day passes that I have not\noccasion to make the same observation.\nMy conductor hither, who is a friend of Mad. de T____, and esteemed \"bien\ninstruit,\" was much surprized when I told him that the population and\nsize of London exceeded that of Paris--that we had good fruit, and better\nvegetables than were to be found in many parts of France. I saw that he\nsuspected my veracity, and there is always on these occasions such a\ndecided and impenetrable incredulity in a Frenchman as precludes all\nhopes of convincing him. He listens with a sort of self-sufficient\ncomplacence which tells you he does not consider your assertions as any\nthing more than the exaggerations of national vanity, but that his\npoliteness does not allow him to contradict you. I know nothing more\ndisgustingly impertinent than his ignorance, which intrenches itself\nbehind the forms of civility, and, affecting to decline controversy,\nassumes the merit of forbearance and moderation: yet this must have been\noften observed by every one who has lived much in French society: for the\nfirst emotion of a Frenchman, on hearing any thing which tends to place\nanother country on an equality with France, is doubt--this doubt is\ninstantly reinforced by vanity--and, in a few seconds, he is perfectly\nsatisfied that the thing is impossible.\nOne must be captious indeed to object to this, did it arise from that\npatriotic feeling so common in the English; but here it is all vanity,\ndownright vanity: a Frenchman must have his country and his mistress\nadmired, though he does not often care much for either one or the other.\nI have been in various parts of France in the most critical periods of\nthe revolution--I have conversed with people of all parties and of all\nranks--and I assert, that I have never yet met but with one man who had a\ngrain of real patriotism. If the Athenian law were adopted which doomed\nall to death who should be indifferent to the public welfare in a time of\ndanger, I fear there would be a woeful depopulation here, even among the\nloudest champions of democracy.\nIt is not thirty miles from Amiens to Peronne, yet a journey of thirty\nmiles is not now to be undertaken inconsiderately; the horses are so much\nworked, and so ill fed, that few perform such a distance without rest and\nmanagement. If you wish to take others, and continue your route, you\ncannot, or if you wait while your own horses are refreshed, as a reward\nfor your humanity you get starved yourself. Bread being very scarce, no\nfamily can get more than sufficient for its own consumption, and those\nwho travel without first supplying themselves, do it at the risk of\nfinding none on the road.\nPeronne is chiefly remarkable in history for never having been taken, and\nfor a tower where Louis XI. was confined for a short time, after being\noutwitted in a manner somewhat surprizing for a Monarch who piqued\nhimself on his talents for intrigue, by Charles le Temeraire, Duke of\nBurgundy. It modern reputation, arises from its election of the Abbe\nMaury for its representative, and for entertaining political principles\nevery way analogous to such a choice.\nI found the Marquise much altered in her person, and her health much\nimpaired, by the frequent alarms and continual apprehensions she had been\nsubject to at Paris. Fortunately she has no imputation against her but\nher rank and fortune, for she is utterly guiltless of all political\nopinions; so that I hope she will be suffered to knit stockings, tend her\nbirds and dogs, and read romances in peace.--Yours, &c. &c.\nAugust 1, 1793.\nWhen the creation of assignats was first proposed, much ingenuity was\nemployed in conjecturing, and much eloquence displayed in expatiating\nupon, the various evils that might result from them; yet the genius of\nparty, however usually successful in gloomy perspective, did not at that\ntime imagine half the inconvenience this measure was fraught with. It\nwas easy, indeed, to foresee, that an immense circulation of paper, like\nany other currency, must augment the price of every thing; but the\nexcessive discredit of the assignats, operating accessarily to their\nquantity, has produced a train of collateral effects of greater magnitude\nthan even those that were originally apprehended. Within the last twelve\nmonths the whole country are become monopolizers--the desire of realizing\nhas so possessed all degrees of people, that there is scarcely an article\nof consumption which is not bought up and secreted. One would really\nsuppose that nothing was perishable but the national credit--the\nnobleman, the merchant, the shopkeeper, all who have assignats, engage in\nthese speculations, and the necessities of our dissipated heirs do not\ndrive them to resources for obtaining money more whimsical than the\ncommerce now practised here to get rid of it. I know a beau who has\nconverted his _hypotheque_ [Mortgage.] on the national domains into train\noil, and a General who has given these \"airy nothings\" the substance and\nform of hemp and leather!*\n * In the late rage for monopolies in France, a person who had\n observed the vast daily consumption of onions, garlic, and\n eschalots, conceived the project of making the whole district of\n Amiens tributary for this indispensible article. In consequence, he\n attended several market-days, and purchased all that came in his\n way. The country people finding a ready sale for their onions,\n poured in from all quarters, and our projector found that, in\n proportion as he bought, the market became more profusely supplied,\n and that the commodity he had hoped to monopolize was inexhaustible.\nGoods purchased from such motives are not as you may conceive sold till\nthe temptation of an exorbitant profit seduces the proprietor to risk a\nmomentary possession of assignats, which are again disposed of in a\nsimilar way. Thus many necessaries of life are withdrawn from\ncirculation, and when a real scarcity ensues, they are produced to the\npeople, charged with all the accumulated gains of these intermediate\nbarters.\nThis illiberal and pernicious commerce, which avarice and fear have for\nsome time kept in great activity, has at length attracted the notice of\nthe Convention, and very severe laws are now enacted against monopolies\nof all kinds. The holder of any quantity of merchandize beyond what he\nmay be supposed to consume is obliged to declare it to his municipality,\nand to expose the articles he deals in in writing over his door. These\nclauses, as well as every other part of the decree, seem very wise and\nequitable; but I doubt if the severity of the punishment annexed to any\ntransgression of it will not operate so as to defeat the purposes\nintended to be produced. A false declaration is punishable by six years\nimprisonment, and an absolute non-compliance with death.--Blackstone\nremarks, that it is the certainty, not the severity, of punishment, which\nmakes laws efficacious; and this must ever be the case amongst an humane\npeople.--An inordinate desire of gain is not often considered by mankind\nas very criminal, and those who would willingly subject it to its\nadequate punishment of fine and confiscation, will hesitate to become the\nmeans of inflicting death on the offender, or of depriving him of his\nliberty. The Poets have, from time immemorial, claimed a kind of\nexclusive jurisdiction over the sin of avarice: but, unfortunately, minds\nonce steeled by this vice are not often sensible to the attacks of\nridicule; and I have never heard that any poet, from Plautus to Moliere,\nhas reformed a single miser. I am not, therefore, sorry that our\nlegislature has encroached on this branch of the poetical prerogative,\nand only wish that the mild regimen of the Muses had been succeeded by\nsomething less rigid than the prison or the guillotine. It is true,\nthat, in the present instance, it is not the ordinary and habitual\npractice of avarice that has called forth the severity of the laws, but a\nspecies so destructive and extensive in its consequences, that much may\nbe said in defence of any penalty short of death; and such is the general\ndistrust of the paper-money, that I really believe, had not some measure\nof the kind been adopted, no article susceptible of monopoly would have\nbeen left for consumption. There are, however, those who retort on the\ngovernment, and assert, that the origin of the evil is in the waste and\npeculation of its agents, which also make the immense emission of paper\nmore necessary; and they are right in the fact, though not in their\ndeduction, for as the evil does exist whatever may be the cause, it is\ncertainly wise to endeavour to remedy it.\nThe position of Valenciennes, which is supposed to be on the eve of a\nsurrender--the progress of the insurgents in La Vendee--the discontents\nin the South--and the charge of treachery against so many of the\nGenerals, and particularly Custine--all together seem to have agitated\nthe public extremely: yet it is rather the agitation of uncertainty than\nthat occasioned by any deep impression of hope or fear. The people wish\nto be relieved from their present situation, yet are without any\ndeterminate views for the future; and, indeed, in this part of the\ncountry, where they have neither leaders nor union, it would be very\ndifficult for them to take a more active part.\nThe party of the foederalists languish, merely because it is nothing more\nthan a party, and a party of which the heads excite neither interest nor\nesteem. I conclude you learn from the papers all the more important\nevents, and I confine myself, as usual, to such details as I think less\nlikely to reach you. The humanity of the English must often banish their\npolitical animosities when they read what passes here; and thousands of\nmy countrymen must at this moment lament with me the situation to which\nFrance is reduced by projects in which common sense can distinguish no\nmedium between wickedness and folly.\nAll apparent attachment to royalism is now cautiously avoided, but the\nroyalists do not diminish by persecution, and the industry with which\nthey propagate their opinions is nearly a match for all the force armee\nof the republicans.--It is not easy to print pamphlets or newspapers, but\nthere are certain shops which one would think were discovered by\ninstinct, where are sold a variety of mysterious emblems of royalty, such\nas fans that have no visible ornaments except landscapes, &c. but when\nopened by the initiated, present tolerable likenesses of the Royal\nFamily; snuff-boxes with secret lids, containing miniature busts of the\nlate King; and music so ingeniously printed, that what to the common eye\noffers only some popular air, when folded so as to join the heads and\ntails of the notes together, forms sentences of very treasonable import,\nand by no means flattering to the existing government--I have known these\ninterdicted trifles purchased at extravagant prices by the best-reputed\npatriots, and by officers who in public breathe nothing but unconquerable\ndemocracy, and detestation of Kings. Yet, though these things are\ncirculated with extreme caution, every body has something of the sort,\nand, as Charles Surface says, \"for my part, I don't see who is out of the\nsecret.\"\nThe belief in religious miracles is exploded, and it is only in political\nones that the faith of the people is allowed to exercise itself.--We have\nlately seen exhibited at the fairs and markets a calf, produced into the\nworld with the tri-coloured cockade on its head; and on the painted cloth\nthat announces the phoenomenon is the portrait of this natural\nrevolutionist, with a mayor and municipality in their official scarfs,\naddressing the four-footed patriot with great ceremony.\nWe set out early to-morrow-morning for Soissons, which is about twenty\nleagues from hence. Travelling is not very desirable in the present\ncircumstances, but Mad. de F____ has some affairs to settle there which\ncannot well be entrusted to a third person. The times, however, have a\nvery hostile appearance, and we intend, if possible, to be absent but\nthree days.--Yours.\nSoissons, August 4, 1793.\n\"And you may go by Beauvais if you will, for which reason many go by\nBeauvais;\" and the stranger who turns out of his road to go by Soissons,\nmust use the same reasoning, for the consciousness of having exercised\nhis free agency will be all his reward for visiting Soissons. This, by\nthe way; for my journey hither not being one of curiosity, I have no\nright to complain; yet somehow or other, by associating the idea of the\nfamous Vase, the ancient residence of the first French Kings, and other\ncircumstances as little connected as these I suppose with modern history,\nI had ranked Soissons in my imagination as one of the places I should see\nwith interest. I find it, however, only a dull, decent-looking town,\ntolerably large, but not very populous. In the new division of France it\nis the capital of the department De l'Aisne, and is of course the seat of\nthe administration.\nWe left Peronne early, and, being so fortunate as to encounter no\naccidental delays, we arrived within a league of Soissons early in the\nafternoon. Mad. de F____, recollecting an acquaintance who has a chateau\nnot far out of our road, determined to stop an hour or two; for, as she\nsaid, her friend was so \"fond of the country,\" she should be sure to find\nhim there. We did, indeed, find this Monsieur, who is so \"fond of the\ncountry,\" at home, extremely well powdered, dressed in a striped silk\ncoat, and engaged with a card party, on a warm afternoon on the third of\nAugust.--The chateau was situated as a French chateau usually is, so as\nto be benefited by all the noises and odours of the village--built with a\nlarge single front, and a number of windows so judiciously placed, that\nit must be impossible either to be cool in summer or warm in winter.\nWe walked out after taking some coffee, and I learned that this lover of\nthe country did not keep a single acre of land in his own hands, but that\nthe part immediately contiguous to the house was cultivated for a certain\nshare of the profit by a farmer who lives in a miserable looking place\nadjoining, and where I saw the operations of the dairy-maid carried on\namidst pigs, ducks, and turkeys, who seemed to have established a very\nfamiliar access.\nPrevious to our arrival at Soissons, the Marquise (who, though she does\nnot consider me as an aristocrate, knows I am by no means a republican,)\nbegged me to be cautious in expressing my sentiments, as the Comte de\n____, where we were going, had embraced the principles of the revolution\nvery warmly, and had been much blamed by his family on this account.\nMad. de F____ added, that she had not seen him for above a year, but that\nshe believed him still to be \"extremement patriote.\"\nWe reached Mons. de ____'s just as the family were set down to a very\nmoderate supper, and I observed that their plate had been replaced by\npewter. After the first salutations were over, it was soon visible that\nthe political notions of the count were much changed. He is a sensible\nreflecting man, and seems really to wish the good of his country. He\nthinks, with many others, that all the good effects which might have been\nobtained by the revolution will be lost through the contempt and hatred\nwhich the republican government has drawn upon it.\nMons. de ____ has two sons who have distinguished themselves very\nhonourably in the army, and he has himself made great pecuniary\nsacrifices; but this has not secured him from numerous domiciliary visits\nand vexations of all kinds. The whole family are at intervals a little\npensive, and Mons. de ____ told us, at a moment when the ladies were\nabsent, that the taking of Valenciennes had occasioned a violent\nfermentation at Paris, and that he had serious apprehensions for those\nwho have the misfortune to be distinguished by their rank, or obnoxious\nfrom their supposed principles--that he himself, and all who were\npresumed to have an attachment to the constitution of eighty-nine, were\nmuch more feared, and of course more suspected, than the original\naristocrates--and \"enfin\" that he had made up his mind a la Francaise to\nthe worst that could happen.\nI have just run over the papers of the day, and I perceive that the\ndebates of the Convention are filled with invectives against the English.\nA letter has been very opportunely found on the ramparts of Lisle, which\nis intended to persuade the people that the British government has\ndistributed money and phosphoric matches in every town in France--the one\nto provoke insurrection, the other to set fire to the corn.* You will\nconclude this letter to be a fabrication, and it is imagined and executed\nwith so little ingenuity, that I doubt whether it will impose on the most\nignorant of the people for a moment.\n * \"The National Convention, in the name of violated humanity,\n denounces to all the world, and to the people of England in\n particular, the base, perfidious, and wicked conduct of the British\n government, which does not hesitate to employ fire, poison,\n assassination, and every other crime, to procure the triumph of\n tyranny, and the destruction of the rights of man.\" (Decree, 1st\nThe Queen has been transferred to the Conciergerie, or common prison, and\na decree is passed for trying her; but perhaps at this moment (whatever\nmay be the result hereafter) they only hope her situation may operate as\na check upon the enemy; at least I have heard it doubted by many whether\nthey intend to proceed seriously on this trial so long threatened.--\nPerhaps I may have before noticed to you that the convention never seemed\ncapable of any thing great or uniform, and that all their proceedings\ntook a tinge from that frivolity and meanness which I am almost tempted\nto believe inherent in the French character. They have just now, amidst\na long string of decrees, the objects of which are of the first\nconsequence, inserted one for the destruction of all the royal tombs\nbefore the tenth of August, and another for reducing the expences of the\nKing's children, particularly their food, to bare necessaries. Had our\nEnglish revolutionists thus employed themselves, they might have expelled\nthe sculptured Monarchs from the Abbey, and waged a very successful war\non the admirers of Gothic antiquity; but neither the Stuarts, nor the\nCatholic religion, would have had much to fear from them.\nWe have been wandering about the town all day, and I have not remarked\nthat the successes of the enemy have occasioned any regret. When I was\nin France three years ago, you may recollect that my letters usually\ncontained some relation of our embarrassment and delays, owing to the\nfear and ignorance of the people. At one place they apprehended the\nintroduction of foreign troops--at another, that the Comte d'Artois was\nto burn all the corn. In short, the whole country teemed with plots and\ncounterplots, every one of which was more absurd and inexplicable than\nthose of Oates, with his whole tribe of Jesuits. At present, when a\npowerful army is invading the frontiers, and people have not in many\nplaces bread to eat, they seem to be very little solicitous about the\nformer, and as little disposed to blame the aristocrates for the latter.\nIt is really extraordinary, after all the pains that have been taken to\nexcite hatred and resentment against the English, that I have not heard\nof a single instance of their having been insulted or molested. Whatever\ninconveniencies they may have been subjected to, were acts of the\ngovernment, not of the people; and perhaps this is the first war between\nthe two nations in which the reverse has not been the case.\nI accompanied Mad. de ____ this afternoon to the house of a rich\nmerchant, where she had business, and who, she told me, had been a\nfurious patriot, but his ardour is now considerably abated. He had just\nreturned from the department, [Here used for the place where the public\nbusiness is transacted.] where his affairs had led him; and he assures\nus, that in general the agents of the republic were more inaccessible,\nmore insolent, corrupt, and ignorant, than any employed under the old\ngovernment. He demurred to paying Mad. de ____ a sum of money all in\n_assignats a face;_* and this famous patriot would readily have given me\nan hundred livres for a pound sterling.\n * _Assignats a face_--that is, with the King's effigy; at this time\n greatly preferred to those issued after his death.\nWe shall return to Peronne to-morrow, and I have availed myself of the\nhour between cards and supper, which is usually employed by the French in\nundressing, to scribble my remarks. In some families, I suppose, supping\nin dishabille is an arrangement of oeconomy, in others of ease; but I\nalways think it has the air of preparation for a very solid meal; and, in\neffect, supping is not a mere ceremony with either sex in this country.\nI learnt in conversation with M. de ____, whose sons were at Famars when\nthe camp was forced, that the carnage was terrible, and that the loss of\nthe French on this occasion amounted to several thousands. You will be\ninformed of this much more accurately in England, but you will scarcely\nimagine that no official account was ever published here, and that in\ngeneral the people are ignorant of the circumstance, and all the\ndisasters attending it. In England, you have opposition papers that\namply supply the omissions of the ministerial gazettes, and often dwell\nwith much complacence on the losses and defeats of their country; here\nnone will venture to publish the least event which they suppose the\ngovernment wish to keep concealed. I am told, a leading feature of\nrepublican governments is to be extremely jealous of the liberty of the\npress, and that of France is, in this respect, truly republican.--Adieu.\nPeronne, August, 1793.\nI have often regretted, my dear brother, that my letters have for some\ntime been rather intended to satisfy your curiosity than your affection.\nAt this moment I feel differently, and I rejoice that the inquietude and\ndanger of my situation will, probably, not come to your knowledge till I\nshall be no longer subject to them. I have been for several days unwell,\nand yet my body, valetudinarian as I am at best, is now the better part\nof me; for my mind has been so deranged by suspense and terror, that I\nexpect to recover my health long before I shall be able to tranquillize\nmy spirits.\nOn our return from Soissons I found, by the public prints, that a decree\nhad passed for arresting all natives of the countries with which France\nis at war, and who had not constantly resided there since 1789.--This\nintelligence, as you will conceive, sufficiently alarmed me, and I lost\nno time in consulting Mad. de ____'s friends on the subject, who were\ngenerally of opinion that the decree was merely a menace, and that it was\ntoo unjust to be put in execution. As some days elapsed and no steps\nwere taken in consequence, I began to think they were right, and my\nspirits were somewhat revived; when one evening, as I was preparing to go\nto bed, my maid suddenly entered the room, and, before she could give me\nany previous explanation, the apartment was filled with armed men. As\nsoon as I was collected enough to enquire the object of this unseasonable\nvisit, I learned that all this military apparel was to put the seals on\nmy papers, and convey my person to the Hotel de Ville!--I knew it would\nbe vain to remonstrated, and therefore made an effort to recover my\nspirits and submit. The business, however, was not yet terminated, my\npapers were to be sealed--and though they were not very voluminous, the\nprocess was more difficult than you would imagine, none of the company\nhaving been employed on affairs of the kind before. A debate ensued on\nthe manner in which it should be done, and, after a very tumultuous\ndiscussion, it was sagaciously concluded to seal up the doors and windows\nof all the apartments appropriated to my use. They then discovered that\nthey had no seal fit for the purpose, and a new consultation was holden\non the propriety of affixing a cypher which was offered them by one of\nthe Garde Nationale.\nThis weighty matter being at length decided, the doors of my bedchamber,\ndressing-room, and of the apartments with which they communicated, were\ncarefully fastened up, though not without an observation on my part that\nI was only a guest at Mad. de ____'s, and that an order to seize my\npapers or person was not a mandate for rendering a part of her home\nuseless. But there was no reasoning with ignorance and a score of\nbayonets, nor could I obtain permission even to take some linen out of my\ndrawers. On going down stairs, I found the court and avenues to the\ngarden amply guarded, and with this numerous escort, and accompanied by\nMad. de ____, I was conducted to the Hotel de Ville. I know not what\nresistance they might expect from a single female, but, to judge by their\nprecautions, they must have deemed the adventure a very perilous one.\nWhen we arrived at the Hotel de Ville, it was near eleven o'clock: the\nhall was crouded, and a young man, in a dirty linen jacket and trowsers\nand dirty linen, with the air of a Polisson and the countenance of an\nassassin, was haranguing with great vehemence against the English, who,\nhe asserted, were all agents of Pitt, (especially the women,) and were to\nset fire to the corn, and corrupt the garrisons of the fortified towns.--\nThe people listened to these terrible projects with a stupid sort of\nsurprize, and, for the most part, seemed either very careless or very\nincredulous. As soon as this inflammatory piece of eloquence was\nfinished, I was presented to the ill-looking orator, who, I learned, was\na representant du peuple. It was very easy to perceive that my spirits\nwere quite overpowered, and that I could with difficulty support myself;\nbut this did not prevent the representant du peuple from treating me with\nthat inconsiderable brutality which is commonly the effect of a sudden\naccession of power on narrow and vulgar minds. After a variety of\nimpertinent questions, menaces of a prison for myself, and exclamations\nof hatred and vengeance against my country, on producing some friends of\nMad. de ____, who were to be answerable for me, I was released, and\nreturned home more dead than alive.\nYou must not infer, from what I have related, that I was particularly\ndistinguished on this occasion, for though I have no acquaintance with\nthe English here, I understand they had all been treated much in the same\nmanner.--As soon as the representant had left the town, by dint of\nsolicitation we prevailed on the municipality to take the seal off the\nrooms, and content themselves with selecting and securing my papers,\nwhich was done yesterday by a commission, formally appointed for the\npurpose. I know not the quality of the good citizens to whom this\nimportant charge was entrusted, but I concluded from their costume that\nthey had been more usefully employed the preceding part of the day at the\nanvil and last. It is certain, however, they had undertaken a business\ngreatly beyond their powers. They indeed turned over all my trunks and\ndrawers, and dived to the bottom of water-jugs and flower-jars with great\nzeal, but neglected to search a large portfolio that lay on the table,\nprobably from not knowing the use of it; and my servant conveyed away\nsome letters, while I amused them with the sight of a blue-bottle fly\nthrough a microscope. They were at first much puzzled to know whether\nbooks and music were included under the article of papers, and were very\ndesirous of burning a history of France, because they discovered, by the\ntitle-plate, that it was \"about Kings;\" but the most difficult part of\nthis momentous transaction was taking an account of it in writing.\nHowever, as only one of the company could write, there was no disputing\nas to the scribe, though there was much about the manner of execution. I\ndid not see the composition, but I could hear that it stated \"comme\nquoi,\" they had found the seals unbroken, \"comme quoi,\" they had taken\nthem off, and divers \"as hows\" of the same kind. The whole being\nconcluded, and my papers deposited in a box, I was at length freed from\nmy guests, and left in possession of my apartments.\nIt is impossible to account for this treatment of the English by any mode\nof reasoning that does not exclude both justice and policy; and viewing\nit only as a symptom of that desperate wickedness which commits evil, not\nas a means, but an end, I am extremely alarmed for our situation. At\nthis moment the whole of French politics seems to center in an endeavour\nto render the English odious both as a nation and as individuals. The\nConvention, the clubs, and the streets of Paris, resound with low abuse\nof this tendency; and a motion was made in the former, by one Garnier, to\nprocure the assassination of Mr. Pitt. Couthon, a member of the Comite\nde Salut Publique, has proposed and carried a decree to declare him the\nenemy of mankind; and the citizens of Paris are stunned by the hawkers of\nMr. Pitt's plots with the Queen to \"starve all France,\" and \"massacre all\nthe patriots.\"--Amidst so many efforts* to provoke the destruction of the\nEnglish, it is wonderful, when we consider the sanguinary character which\nthe French people have lately evinced, that we are yet safe, and it is in\neffect only to be accounted for by their disinclination to take any part\nin the animosities of their government.\n * When our representative appeared at Abbeville with an intention of\n arresting the English and other foreigners, the people, to whom\n these missionaries with unlimited powers were yet new, took the\n alarm, and became very apprehensive that he was come likewise to\n disarm their Garde Nationale. The streets were crouded, the town\n house was beset, and Citizen Dumout found it necessary to quiet the\n town's people by the following proclamation. One part of his\n purpose, that of insuring his personal safety, was answered by it;\n but that of exciting the people against the English, failed--\n insomuch, that I was told even the lowest classes, so far from\n giving credit to the malignant calumnies propagated against the\n English, openly regretted their arrestation.\n \"Citizens,\n \"On my arrival amongst you, I little thought that malevolence would\n be so far successful as to alarm you on the motives of my visit.\n Could the aristocrates, then, flatter themselves with the hope of\n making you believe I had the intention of disarming you? Be deaf, I\n beseech you, to so absurd a calumny, and seize on those who\n propagate it. I came here to fraternize with you, and to assist you\n in getting rid of those malcontents and foreigners, who are striving\n to destroy the republic by the most infernal manoeuvres.--An\n horrible plot has been conceived. Our harvests are to be fired by\n means of phosphoric matches, and all the patriots assassinated.\n Women, priests, and foreigners, are the instruments employed by the\n coalesced despots, and by England above all, to accomplish these\n criminal designs.--A law of the first of this month orders the\n arrest of all foreigners born in the countries with which the\n republic is at war, and not settled in France before the month of\n July, 1789. In execution of this law I have required domiciliary\n visits to be made. I have urged the preservation of the public\n tranquillity. I have therefore done my duty, and only what all good\n citizens must approve.\"\nI have just received a few lines from Mrs. D____, written in French, and\nput in the post without sealing. I perceive, by the contents, though she\nenters into no details, that circumstances similar to those I have\ndescribed have likewise taken place at Amiens. In addition to my other\nanxieties, I have the prospect of a long separation from my friends; for\nthough I am not in confinement, I cannot, while the decree which arrested\nme remains in force, quit the town of Peronne. I have not often looked\nforward with so little hope, or so little certainty, and though a\nfirst-rate philosopher might make up his mind to a particular event, yet\nto be prepared for any thing, and all things, is a more difficult\nmatter.\nThe histories of Greece and Rome have long constituted the grand\nresources of French eloquence, and it is not till within a few days that\nan orator has discovered all this good learning to be of no use--not, as\nyou might imagine, because the moral character and political situation of\nthe French differ from those of the Greeks and Romans, but because they\nare superior to all the people who ever existed, and ought to be cited as\nmodels, instead of descending to become copyists. \"Therefore, continues\nthis Jacobin sage, (whose name is Henriot, and who is highly popular,)\nlet us burn all the libraries and all the antiquities, and have no guide\nbut ourselves--let us cut off the heads of all the Deputies who have not\nvoted according to our principles, banish or imprison all the gentry and\nthe clergy, and guillotine the Queen and General Custine!\"\nThese are the usual subjects of discussion at the clubs, and the\nConvention itself is not much more decent. I tremble when I recollect\nthat I am in a country where a member of the legislature proposes rewards\nfor assassination, and the leader of a society, that pretends to inform\nand instruct the people, argues in favour of burning all the books. The\nFrench are on the eve of exhibiting the singular spectacle of a nation\nenlightened by science, accustomed to the benefit of laws and the\nenjoyment of arts, suddenly becoming barbarous by system, and sinking\ninto ignorance from choice.--When the Goths shared the most curious\nantiques by weight, were they not more civilized than the Parisian of\n1793, who disturbs the ashes of Henry the Fourth, or destroys the\nmonument of Turenne, by a decree?--I have myself been forced to an act\nvery much in the spirit of the times, but I could not, without risking my\nown safety, do otherwise; and I sat up late last night for the purpose of\nburning Burke, which I had brought with me, but had fortunately so well\nconcealed, that it escaped the late inquisition. I indeed made this\nsacrifice to prudence with great unwillingness--every day, by confirming\nMr. Burke's assertions, or fulfilling his predictions, had so increased\nmy reverence for the work, that I regarded it as a kind of political\noracle. I did not, however, destroy it without an apologetic apostrophe\nto the author's benevolence, which I am sure would suffer, were he to be\nthe occasion, though involuntarily, of conducting a female to a prison or\nthe Guillotine.\n\"How chances mock, and changes fill the cup of alteration up with divers\nliquors.\"--On the same hearth, and in a mingled flame, was consumed the\nvery constitution of 1789, on which Mr. Burke's book was a censure, and\nwhich would now expose me to equal danger were it to be found in my\npossession. In collecting the ashes of these two compositions, the\ntendency of which is so different, (for such is the complexion of the\nmoment, that I would not have even the servant suspect I had been burning\na quantity of papers,) I could not but moralize on the mutability of\npopular opinion. Mr. Burke's Gallic adversaries are now most of them\nproscribed and anathematized more than himself. Perhaps another year may\nsee his bust erected on the piedestal which now supports that of Brutus\nor Le Pelletier.\nThe letters I have written to you since the communication was\ninterrupted, with some other papers that I am solicitous to preserve,\nI have hitherto always carried about me, and I know not if any danger,\nmerely probable, will induce me to part with them. You will not, I\nthink, suspect me of attaching any consequence to my scribblings from\nvanity; and if I run some personal risk in keeping them, it is because\nthe situation of this country is so singular, and the events which occur\nalmost daily so important, that the remarks of any one who is unlucky\nenough to be a spectator, may interest, without the advantage of literary\ntalents.--Yours.\nPeronne, August 24, 1793.\nI have been out to-day for the first time since the arrest of the\nEnglish, and, though I have few acquaintances here, my adventure at the\nHotel de Ville has gained me a sort of popularity. I was saluted by many\npeople I did not know, and overwhelmed with expressions of regret for\nwhat had happened, or congratulations on my having escaped so well.\nThe French are not commonly very much alive to the sufferings of others,\nand it is some mortification to my vanity that I cannot, but at the\nexpence of a reproaching conscience, ascribe the civilities I have\nexperienced on this occasion to my personal merit. It would doubtless\nhave been highly flattering to me to relate the tender and general\ninterest I had excited even among this cold-hearted people, who scarcely\nfeel for themselves: but the truth is, they are disposed to take the part\nof any one whom they think persecuted by their government; and their\nrepresentative, Dumont, is so much despised in his private character, and\ndetested in his public one, that it suffices to have been ill treated by\nhim, to ensure one a considerable portion of the public good will.\nThis disposition is not a little consolatory, at a time when the whole\nrage of an oligarchical tyranny, though impotent against the English as a\nnation, meanly exhausts itself on the few helpless individuals within its\npower. Embarrassments accumulate and if Mr. Pitt's agents did not most\nobligingly write letters, and these letters happen to be intercepted just\nwhen they are most necessary, the Comite de Salut Publique would be at a\nloss how to account for them.\nAssignats have fallen into a discredit beyond example, an hundred and\nthirty livres having been given for one Louis-d'or; and, as if this were\nnot the natural result of circumstances like the present, a\ncorrespondence between two Englishmen informs us, that it is the work of\nMr. Pitt, who, with an unparalleled ingenuity, has contrived to send\ncouriers to every town in France, to concert measures with the bankers\nfor this purpose. But if we may believe Barrere, one of the members of\nthe Committee, this atrocious policy of Mr. Pitt will not be unrevenged,\nfor another intercepted letter contains assurances that an hundred\nthousand men have taken up arms in England, and are preparing to march\nagainst the iniquitous metropolis that gives this obnoxious Minister\nshelter.\nMy situation is still the same--I have no hope of returning to Amiens,\nand have just reason to be apprehensive for my tranquillity here. I had\na long conversation this morning with two people whom Dumont has left\nhere to keep the town in order during his absence. The subject was to\nprevail on them to give me a permission to leave Peronne, but I could not\nsucceed. They were not, I believe, indisposed to gratify me, but were\nafraid of involving themselves. One of them expressed much partiality\nfor the English, but was very vehement in his disapprobation of their\nform of government, which he said was \"detestable.\" My cowardice did not\npermit me to argue much in its behalf, (for I look upon these people as\nmore dangerous than the spies of the old police,) and I only ventured to\nobserve, with great diffidence, that though the English government was\nmonarchical, yet the power of the Crown was very much limited; and that\nas the chief subjects of our complaints at present were not our\ninstitutions, but certain practical errors, they might be remedied\nwithout any violent or radical changes; and that our nobility were\nneither numerous nor privileged, and by no means obnoxious to the\nmajority of the people.--_\"Ah, vous avez donc de la noblesse blesse en\nAngleterre, ce sont peut-etre les milords,\"_ [\"What, you have nobility in\nEngland then? The milords, I suppose.\"] exclaimed our republican, and it\noperated on my whole system of defence like my uncle Toby's smoke-jack,\nfor there was certainly no discussing the English constitution with a\npolitical critic, who I found was ignorant even of the existence of a\nthird branch of it; yet this reformer of governments and abhorrer of\nKings has power delegated to him more extensive than those of an English\nSovereign, though I doubt if he can write his own language; and his moral\nreputation is still less in his favour than his ignorance--for, previous\nto the revolution, he was known only as a kind of swindler, and has more\nthan once been nearly convicted of forgery.--This is, however, the\ndescription of people now chiefly employed, for no honest man would\naccept of such commissions, nor perform the services annexed to them.\nBread continues very scarce, and the populace of Paris are, as usual,\nvery turbulent; so that the neighbouring departments are deprived of\ntheir subsistence to satisfy the wants of a metropolis that has no claim\nto an exemption from the general distress, but that which arises from the\nfears of the Convention. As far as I have opportunity of learning or\nobserving, this part of France is in that state of tranquillity which is\nnot the effect of content but supineness; the people do not love their\ngovernment, but they submit to it, and their utmost exertions amount only\nto a little occasional obstinacy, which a few dragoons always reduce to\ncompliance. We are sometimes alarmed by reports that parties of the\nenemy are approaching the town, when the gates are shut, and the great\nbell is toll'd; but I do not perceive that the people are violently\napprehensive about the matter. Their fears are, I believe, for the most\npart, rather personal than political--they do not dread submission to the\nAustrians, but military licentiousness.\nI have been reading this afternoon Lord Orrery's definition of the male\nCecisbeo, and it reminds me that I have not yet noticed to you a very\nimportant class of females in France, who may not improperly be\ndenominated female Cecisbeos. Under the old system, when the rank of a\nwoman of fashion had enabled her to preserve a degree of reputation and\ninfluence, in spite of the gallantries of her youth and the decline of\nher charms, she adopted the equivocal character I here allude to, and,\nrelinquishing the adorations claimed by beauty, and the respect due to\nage, charitably devoted herself to the instruction and advancement of\nsome young man of personal qualifications and uncertain fortune. She\npresented him to the world, panegyrized him into fashion, and insured his\nconsequence with one set of females, by hinting his successes with\nanother. By her exertions he was promoted in the army or distinguished\nat the levee, and a career begun under such auspices often terminated in\na brilliant establishment.--In the less elevated circle, a female\nCecisbeo is usually of a certain age, of an active disposition, and great\nvolubility, and her functions are more numerous and less dignified. Here\nthe grand objects are not to besiege Ministers, nor give a \"ton\" to the\nprotege at a fashionable ruelle, but to obtain for him the solid\nadvantages of what she calls _\"un bon parti.\"_ [A good match.] To this\nend she frequents the houses of widows and heiresses, vaunts the docility\nof his temper, and the greatness of his expectations, enlarges on the\nsolitude of widowhood, or the dependence and insignificance of a\nspinster; and these prefatory encomiums usually end in the concerted\nintroduction of the Platonic \"ami.\"\nBut besides these principal and important cares, a female Cecisbeo of the\nmiddle rank has various subordinate ones--such as buying linen, choosing\nthe colour of a coat, or the pattern of a waistcoat, with all the\nminutiae of the favourite's dress, in which she is always consulted at\nleast, if she has not the whole direction.\nIt is not only in the first or intermediate classes that these useful\nfemales abound, they are equally common in more humble situations, and\nonly differ in their employments, not in their principles. A woman in\nFrance, whatever be her condition, cannot be persuaded to resign her\ninfluence with her youth; and the bourgeoise who has no pretensions to\ncourt favour or the disposal of wealthy heiresses, attaches her eleve by\nknitting him stockings, forcing him with bons morceaux till he has an\nindigestion, and frequent regales of coffee and liqueur.\nYou must not conclude from all this that there is any gallantry implied,\nor any scandal excited--the return for all these services is only a\nlittle flattery, a philosophic endurance of the card-table, and some\nskill in the disorders of lap-dogs. I know there are in England, as well\nas in France, many notable females of a certain age, who delight in what\nthey call managing, and who are zealous in promoting, matches among the\nyoung people of their acquaintance; but for one that you meet with in\nEngland there are fifty here.\nI doubt much if, upon the whole, the morals of the English women are not\nsuperior to those of the French; but however the question may be decided\nas to morals, I believe their superiority in decency of manners is\nindisputable--and this superiority is, perhaps, more conspicuous in women\nof a certain age, than in the younger part of the sex. We have a sort of\nnational regard for propriety, which deters a female from lingering on\nthe confines of gallantry, when age has warned her to withdraw; and an\nold woman that should take a passionate and exclusive interest about a\nyoung man not related to her, would become at least an object of\nridicule, if not of censure:--yet in France nothing is more common; every\nold woman appropriates some youthful dangler, and, what is extraordinary,\nhis attentions are not distinguishable from those he would pay to a\nyounger object.--I should remark, however, as some apology for these\njuvenile gallants, that there are very few of what we call Tabbies in\nFrance; that is, females of severe principles and contracted features, in\nwhose apparel every pin has its destination with mathematical exactness,\nwho are the very watch-towers of a neighbourhood, and who give the alarm\non the first appearance of incipient frailty. Here, antique dowagers and\nfaded spinsters are all gay, laughing, rouged, and indulgent--so that\n'bating the subtraction of teeth and addition of wrinkles, the disparity\nbetween one score and four is not so great:\n \"Gay rainbow silks their mellow charms enfold,\n Nought of these beauties but themselves is old.\"\nI know if I venture to add a word in defence of Tabbyhood, I shall be\nengaged in a war with yourself and all our young acquaintance; yet in\nthis age, which so liberally \"softens, and blends, and weakens, and\ndilutes\" away all distinctions, I own I am not without some partiality\nfor strong lines of demarcation; and, perhaps, when fifty retrogrades\ninto fifteen, it makes a worse confusion in society than the toe of the\npeasant treading on the heel of the courtier.--But, adieu: I am not gay,\nthough I trifle. I have learnt something by my residence in France, and\ncan be, as you see, frivolous under circumstances that ought to make me\ngrave.--Yours.\nPeronne, August 29, 1793.\nThe political horizon of France threatens nothing but tempests. If we\nare still tranquil here, it is only because the storm is retarded, and,\nfar from deeming ourselves secure from its violence, we suffer in\napprehension almost as much as at other places is suffered in reality.\nAn hundred and fifty people have been arrested at Amiens in one night,\nand numbers of the gentry in the neighbouring towns have shared the same\nfate. This measure, which I understand is general throughout the\nrepublic, has occasioned great alarms, and is beheld by the mass of the\npeople themselves with regret. In some towns, the Bourgeois have\npetitions to the Representatives on mission in behalf of their gentry\nthus imprisoned: but, far from succeeding, all who have signed such\npetitions are menaced and intimidated, and the terror is so much\nincreased, that I doubt if even this slight effort will be repeated any\nwhere.\nThe levee en masse, or rising in a body, which has been for some time\ndecreed, has not yet taken place. There are very few, I believe, that\ncomprehend it, and fewer who are disposed to comply. Many consultations\nhave been holden, many plans proposed; but as the result of all these\nconsultations and plans is to send a certain number to the frontiers, the\nsuffrages have never been unanimous except in giving their negative.--\nLike Falstaff's troops, every one has some good cause of exemption; and\nif you were to attend a meeting where this affair is discussed, you would\nconclude the French to be more physically miserable than any people on\nthe glove. Youths, in apparent good health, have internal disorders, or\nconcealed infirmities--some are near-sighted--others epileptic--one is\nnervous, and cannot present a musquet--another is rheumatic, and cannot\ncarry it. In short, according to their account, they are a collection of\nthe lame, the halt, and the blind, and fitter to send to the hospital,\nthan to take the field. But, in spite of all these disorders and\nincapacities, a considerable levy must be made, and the dragoons will, I\ndare say, operate very wonderful cures.\nThe surrender of Dunkirk to the English is regarded as inevitable. I am\nnot politician enough to foresee the consequences of such an event, but\nthe hopes and anxieties of all parties seem directed thither, as if the\nfate of the war depended on it. As for my own wishes on the subject,\nthey are not national, and if I secretly invoke the God of Armies for the\nsuccess of my countrymen, it is because I think all that tends to destroy\nthe present French government may be beneficial to mankind. Indeed, the\nsuccesses of war can at no time gratify a thinking mind farther than as\nthey tend to the establishment of peace.\nAfter several days of a mockery which was called a trial, though the\nwitnesses were afraid to appear, or the Counsel to plead in his favour,\nCustine has suffered at the Guillotine. I can be no judge of his\nmilitary conduct, and Heaven alone can judge of his intentions. None of\nthe charges were, however, substantiated, and many of them were absurd or\nfrivolous. Most likely, he has been sacrificed to a cabal, and his\ndestruction makes a part of that system of policy, which, by agitating\nthe minds of the people with suspicions of universal treason and\nunfathomable plots, leaves them no resource but implicit submission to\ntheir popular leaders.\nThe death of Custine seems rather to have stimulated than appeased the\nbarbarity of the Parisian mob. At every defeat of their armies they call\nfor executions, and several of those on whom the lot has fallen to march\nagainst the enemy have stipulated, at the tribune of the Jacobins, for\nthe heads they exact as a condition of their departure,* or as the reward\nfor their labours. The laurel has no attraction for heroes like these,\nwho invest themselves with the baneful yew and inauspicious cypress, and\ngo to the field of honour with the dagger of the assassin yet\nensanguined.\n * Many insisted they would not depart until after the death of the\n Queen--some claimed the death of one General, some that of another,\n and all, the lives or banishment of the gentry and clergy.\n\"Fair steeds, gay shields, bright arms,\" [Spencer.] the fancy-created\ndeity, the wreath of fame, and all that poets have imagined to decorate\nthe horrors of war, are not necessary to tempt the gross barbarity of the\nParisian: he seeks not glory, but carnage--his incentive is the groans of\ndefenceless victims--he inlists under the standard of the Guillotine, and\nacknowledges the executioner for his tutelary Mars.\nIn remarking the difficulties that have occurred in carrying into\nexecution the levee en masse, I neglected to inform you that the prime\nmover of all these machinations is your omnipotent Mr. Pitt--it is he who\nhas fomented the perverseness of the towns, and alarmed the timidity of\nthe villages--he has persuaded some that it is not pleasant to leave\ntheir shops and families, and insinuated into the minds of others that\ndeath or wounds are not very desirable--he has, in fine, so effectually\nachieved his purpose, that the Convention issues decree after decree, the\nmembers harangue to little purpose, and the few recruits already levied,\nlike those raised in the spring, go from many places strongly escorted to\nthe army.--I wish I had more peaceful and more agreeable subjects for\nyour amusement, but they do not present themselves, and \"you must blame\nthe times, not me.\" I would wish to tell you that the legislature is\nhonest, that the Jacobins are humane, and the people patriots; but you\nknow I have no talent for fiction, and if I had, my situation is not\nfavourable to any effort of fancy.--Yours.\nPeronne, Sept. 7, 1793.\nThe successes of the enemy on all sides, the rebellion at Lyons and\nMarseilles, with the increasing force of the insurgents in La Vendee,\nhave revived our eagerness for news, and if the indifference of the\nFrench character exempt them from more patriotic sensations, it does not\nbanish curiosity; yet an eventful crisis, which in England would draw\npeople together, here keeps them apart. When an important piece of\nintelligence arrives, our provincial politicians shut themselves up with\ntheir gazettes, shun society, and endeavour to avoid giving an opinion\nuntil they are certain of the strength of a party, or the success of an\nattempt. In the present state of public affairs, you may therefore\nconceive we have very little communication--we express our sentiments\nmore by looks and gestures than words, and Lavater (admitting his system)\nwould be of more use to a stranger than Boyer or Chambaud. If the\nEnglish take Dunkirk, perhaps we may be a little more social and more\ndecided.\nMad. de ____ has a most extensive acquaintance, and, as we are situated\non one of the roads from Paris to the northern army, notwithstanding the\ncautious policy of the moment, we are tolerably well informed of what\npasses in most parts of France; and I cannot but be astonished, when I\ncombine all I hear, that the government is able to sustain itself. Want,\ndiscord, and rebellion, assail it within--defeats and losses from\nwithout. Perhaps the solution of this political problem can only be\nfound in the selfishness of the French character, and the want of\nconnection between the different departments. Thus one part of the\ncountry is subdued by means of another: the inhabitants of the South take\nup arms in defence of their freedom and their commerce, while those of\nthe North refuse to countenance or assist them, and wait in selfish\ntranquillity till the same oppression is extended to themselves. The\nmajority of the people have no point of union nor mode of communication,\nwhile the Jacobins, whose numbers are comparatively insignificant, are\nstrong, by means of their general correspondence, their common center at\nParis, and the exclusive direction of all the public prints. But,\nwhatever are the causes, it is certain that the government is at once\npowerful and detested--almost without apparent support, yet difficult to\noverthrow; and the submission of Rome to a dotard and a boy can no longer\nexcite the wonder of any one who reflects on what passes in France.\nAfter various decrees to effect the levee en masse, the Convention have\ndiscovered that this sublime and undefined project was not calculated for\nthe present exhausted state of martial ardour. They therefore no longer\npresume on any movement of enthusiasm, but have made a positive and\nspecific requisition of all the male inhabitants of France between\neighteen and twenty-five years of age. This, as might be expected, has\nbeen more effectual, because it interests those that are exempt to force\nthe compliance of those who are not. Our young men here were like\nchildren with a medicine--they proposed first one form of taking this\nmilitary potion, then another, and finding them all equally unpalatable,\nwould not, but for a little salutary force, have decided at all.\nA new law has been passed for arresting all the English who cannot\nproduce two witnesses of their civisme, and those whose conduct is thus\nguaranteed are to receive tickets of hospitality, which they are to wear\nas a protection. This decree has not yet been carried into effect at\nPeronne, nor am I much disturbed about it. Few of our countrymen will\nfind the matter very difficult to arrange, and I believe they have all a\nbetter protection in the disposition of the people towards them, than any\nthat can be assured them by decrees of the Convention.\nSept. 11. The news of Lord Hood's taking possession of Toulon, which the\ngovernment affected to discredit for some days, is now ascertained; and\nthe Convention, in a paroxism of rage, at once cowardly and unprincipled,\nhas decreed that all the English not resident in France before 1789,\nshall be imprisoned as hostages, and be answerable with their lives for\nthe conduct of their countrymen and of the Toulonese towards Bayle and\nBeauvais, two Deputies, said to be detained in the town at the time of\nits surrender. My first emotions of terror and indignation have\nsubsided, and I have, by packing up my clothes, disposing of my papers,\nand providing myself with money, prepared for the worst. My friends,\nindeed, persuade me, (as on a former occasion,) that the decree is too\natrocious to be put in execution; but my apprehensions are founded on a\nprinciple not likely to deceive me--namely, that those who have possessed\nthemselves of the French government are capable of any thing. I live in\nconstant fear, watching all day and listening all night, and never go to\nbed but with the expectation of being awakened, nor rise without a\npresentiment of misfortune.--I have not spirits nor composure to write,\nand shall discontinue my letters until I am relieved from suspense, if\nnor from uneasiness. I risk much by preserving these papers, and,\nperhaps, may never be able to add to them; but whatever I may be reserved\nfor, while I have a hope they may reach you they shall not be destroyed.\n--I bid you adieu in a state of mind which the circumstances I am under\nwill describe better than words.--Yours.\nMaison d'Arret, Arras, Oct. 15, 1793.\nDear Brother,\nThe fears of a timid mind usually magnify expected evil, and anticipated\nsuffering often diminishes the effect of an apprehended blow; yet my\nimagination had suggested less than I have experienced, nor do I find\nthat a preparatory state of anxiety has rendered affliction more\nsupportable. The last month of my life has been a compendium of misery;\nand my recollection, which on every other subject seems to fail me, is,\non this, but too faithful, and will enable me to relate events which will\ninterest you not only as they personally concern me, but as they present\na picture of the barbarity and despotism to which this whole country is\nsubject, and to which many thousands besides myself were at the same\ninstant victims.\nA few evenings after I concluded my last, the firing of cannon and\nringing the great bell announced the arrival of Dumont (still\nRepresentative en mission in our department). The town was immediately\nin alarm, all the gates were shut, and the avenues leading to the\nramparts guarded by dragoons. Our house being in a distant and\nunfrequented street, before we could learn the cause of all this\nconfusion, a party of the national guard, with a municipal officer at\ntheir head, arrived, to escort Mad. de ___ and myself to a church, where\nthe Representant was then examining the prisoners brought before him.\nAlmost as much astonished as terrified, we endeavoured to procure some\ninformation of our conductors, as to what was to be the result of this\nmeasure; but they knew nothing, and it was easy to perceive they thought\nthe office they were executing an unpleasant one. The streets we passed\nwere crouded with people, whose silent consternation and dismayed\ncountenances increased our forebodings, and depressed the little courage\nwe had yet preserved. The church at our arrival was nearly empty, and\nDumont preparing to depart, when the municipal officer introduced us to\nhim. As soon as he learned that Mad. de ____ was the sister of an\nemigrant, and myself a native of England, he told us we were to pass the\nnight in a church appointed for the purpose, and that on the morrow we\nshould be conveyed to Arras. For a moment all my faculties became\nsuspended, and it was only by an effort almost convulsive that I was able\nto ask how long it was probable we should be deprived of our liberty. He\nsaid he did not know--\"but that the raising of the siege of Dunkirk, and\nthe loss of six thousand troops which the French had taken prisoners,\nwould doubtless produce an insurrection in England, par consequent a\npeace, and our release from captivity!\"\nYou may be assured I felt no desire of freedom on such terms, and should\nhave heard this ignorant and malicious suggestion only with contempt, had\nnot the implication it conveyed that our detention would not terminate\nbut with the war overwhelmed every other idea. Mad. de ____ then\npetitioned that we might, on account of our health, (for we were both\nreally unwell,) be permitted to go home for the night, accompanied by\nguards if it were thought necessary. But the Representant was\ninexorable, and in a brutal and despotic tone ordered us away.--When we\nreached the church, which was to be our prison till morning, we found\nabout an hundred and fifty people, chiefly old men, women, and children,\ndispersed in melancholy groupes, lamenting their situation, and imparting\ntheir fears to each other. The gloom of the building was increased by\nthe darkness of the night; and the noise of the guard, may of whom were\nintoxicated, the odour of tobacco, and the heat of the place, rendered\nour situation almost insupportable. We soon discovered several of our\nacquaintance, but this association in distress was far from consolatory,\nand we passed the time in wandering about together, and consulting upon\nwhat would be of most use to us in our confinement. We had, indeed,\nlittle to hope for from the morrow, yet the hours dragged on heavily, and\nI know not if ever I beheld the return of light with more pleasure. I\nwas not without apprehension for our personal safety. I recollected the\nmassacres in churches at Paris, and the frequent propositions that had\nbeen made to exterminate the gentry and clergy. Mad. de ____ has since\nconfessed, that she had the same ideas.\nMorning at length came, and our servants were permitted to enter with\nbreakfast. They appeared sorrowful and terror-stricken, but offered with\ngreat willingness to accompany us whithersoever we should be sent. After\na melancholy sort of discussion, it was decided that we should take our\nfemmes de chambres, and that the others should remain for the safety of\nthe house, and to send us what we might have occasion for. This settled,\nthey returned with such directions as we were able to give them, (God\nknows, not very coherent ones,) to prepare for our journey: and as our\norders, however confused, were not very voluminous, they were soon\nexecuted, and before noon every thing was in readiness for our departure.\nThe people employed by our companions were equally diligent, and we might\nvery well have set out by one o'clock, had our case been at all\nconsidered; but, I know not why, instead of so providing that we might\nreach our destination in the course of the day, it seemed to have been\npurposely contrived that we should be all night on the road, though we\nhad already passed one night without rest, and were exhausted by watching\nand fatigue.\nIn this uncertain and unpleasant state we waited till near six o'clock;\na number of small covered waggons were then brought, accompanied by a\ndetachment of dragoons, who were to be our escort. Some time elapsed, as\nyou may suppose, before we could be all settled in the carriages and such\na cavalcade put in motion; but the concourse of people that filled the\nstreets, the appearance of the troops, and the tumult occasioned by so\nmany horses and carriages, overpowered my spirits, and I remember little\nof what passed till I found we were on the road to Arras. Mad. de ____'s\nmaid now informed us, that Dumont had arrived the evening before in\nextreme ill humour, summoned the municipality in haste, enquired how many\npeople they had arrested, and what denunciations they had yet to make.\nThe whole body corporate trembled, they had arrested no one, and, still\nworse, they had no one to accuse; and could only alledge in their behalf,\nthat the town was in the utmost tranquillity, and the people were so well\ndisposed, that all violence was unnecessary. The Representant became\nfurious, vociferated _tout grossierement a la Francaise,_ [In the vulgar\nFrench manner.] that he knew there were five thousand aristocrates in\nPeronne, and that if he had not at least five hundred brought him before\nmorning, he would declare the town in a state of rebellion.\nAlarmed by this menace, they began to arrest with all possible speed,\nand were more solicitous to procure their number than to make\ndiscriminations. Their diligence, however, was inadequate to appease the\ncholeric legislator, and the Mayor, municipal officers, and all the\nadministrators of the district, were in the morning sent to the Castle,\nwhence they are to be conveyed, with some of their own prisoners, to\nAmiens.\nBesides this intelligence, we learned that before our servants had\nfinished packing up our trunks, some Commissioners of the section arrived\nto put the seals on every thing belonging to us, and it was not without\nmuch altercation that they consented to our being furnished with\nnecessaries--that they had not only sealed up all the house, but had\nplaced guards there, each of whom Mad. de ____ is to pay, at the rate of\ntwo shillings a day.\nWe were too large a body to travel fast, and by the time we reached\nBapaume (though only fifteen miles) it was after twelve; it rained\ndreadfully, the night was extremely dark, the roads were bad, and the\nhorses tired; so that the officer who conducted us thought it would be\ndifficult to proceed before morning. We were therefore once more crouded\ninto a church, in our wet clothes, (for the covering of the waggon was\nnot thick enough to exclude the rain,) a few bundles of damp straw were\ndistributed, and we were then shut up to repose as well as we could. All\nmy melancholy apprehensions of the preceding night returned with\naccumulated force, especially as we were now in a place where we were\nunknown, and were guarded by some of the newly-raised dragoons, of whom\nwe all entertained very unfavourable suspicions.\nWe did not, as you may well imagine, attempt to sleep--a bed of wet straw\nlaid on the pavement of a church, filthy, as most French churches are,\nand the fear of being assassinated, resisted every effort of nature\nherself, and we were very glad when at the break of day we were summoned\nto continue our journey. About eleven we entered Arras: the streets were\nfilled by idle people, apprized of our arrival; but no one offered us any\ninsult, except some soldiers, (I believe, by their uniform, refugees from\nthe Netherlands,) who cried, \"a la Guillotine!--a la Guillotine!\"\nThe place to which we were ordered had been the house of an emigrant,\nnow converted into an house of detention, and which, though large, was\nexcessively full. The keeper, on our being delivered to him, declared he\nhad no room for us, and we remained with our baggage in the court-yard\nsome hours before he had, by dislodging and compressing the other\ninhabitants, contrived to place us. At last, when we were half dead with\ncold and fatigue, we were shown to our quarters. Those allotted for my\nfriend, myself, and our servants, was the corner of a garret without a\ncieling, cold enough in itself, but rendered much warmer than was\ndesirable by the effluvia of a score of living bodies, who did not seem\nto think the unpleasantness of their situation at all increased by dirt\nand offensive smells. Weary as we were, it was impossible to attempt\nreposing until a purification had been effected: we therefore set\nourselves to sprinkling vinegar and burning perfumes; and it was curious\nto observe that the people, (_all gens comme il faut_ [People of\nfashion.]) whom we found inhaling the atmosphere of a Caffrarian hut,\ndeclared their nerves were incommoded by the essence of roses and\nvinaigre des quatre voleurs.\nAs a part of the room was occupied by men, our next business was to\nseparate our corner by a curtain, which we had fortunately brought with\nour bedding; and this done, we spread our mattresses and lay down, while\nthe servants were employed in getting us tea. As soon as we were a\nlittle refreshed, and the room was quiet for the night, we made up our\nbeds as well as we could, and endeavoured to sleep. Mad. de ____ and the\ntwo maids soon forgot their cares; but, though worn out by fatigue, the\nagitation of my mind conquered the disposition of my body. I seemed to\nhave lost the very faculty of sleeping, and passed this night with almost\nas little repose as the two preceding ones. Before morning I discovered\nthat remaining so long in damp clothes, and the other circumstances of\nour journey, had given me cold, and that I had all the symptoms of a\nviolent fever.\nI leave you to conjecture, for it would be impossible to detail, all the\nmisery of illness in such a situation; and I will only add, that by the\ncare of Mad. de ____, whose health was happily less affected, and the\nattention of my maid, I was able to leave the room in about three weeks.\n--I must now secrete this for some days, but will hereafter resume my\nlittle narrative, and explain how I have ventured to write so much even\nin the very neighbourhood of the Guillotine.--Adieu.\nMaison d'Arret, Arras, Oct. 17, 1793.\nOn the night I concluded my last, a report that Commissioners were to\nvisit the house on the morrow obliged me to dispose of my papers beyond\nthe possibility of their being found. The alarm is now over, and I\nproceed.--After something more than three weeks indisposition, I began to\nwalk in the yard, and make acquaintance with our fellow-prisoners. Mad.\nde ____ had already discovered several that were known to her, and I now\nfound, with much regret, that many of my Arras friends were here also.\nHaving been arrested some days before us, they were rather more\nconveniently lodged, and taking the wretchedness of our garret into\nconsideration, it was agreed that Mad. de ____ should move to a room less\ncrouded than our own, and a dark closet that would just contain my\nmattresses was resigned to me. It is indeed a very sorry apartment, but\nas it promises me a refuge where I may sometimes read or write in peace,\nI have taken possession of it very thankfully. A lock on the door is not\nthe least of its recommendations, and by way of securing myself against\nall surprize, I have contrived an additional fastening by means of a\nlarge nail and the chain of a portmanteau--I have likewise, under pretext\nof keeping out the wind, papered over the cracks of the door, and\nprovided myself with a sand-bag, so that no one can perceive when I have\na light later than usual.--With these precautions, I can amuse myself by\nputting on paper any little occurrences that I think worth preserving,\nwithout much danger, and perhaps the details of a situation so new and so\nstrange may not be uninteresting to you.\nWe are now about three hundred in number of both sexes, and of all ages\nand conditions--ci-devant noblesse, parents, wives, sisters, and other\nrelations of emigrants--priests who have not taken the oaths, merchants\nand shopkeepers accused of monopoly, nuns, farmers that are said to have\nconcealed their corn, miserable women, with scarcely clothes to cover\nthem, for not going to the constitutional mass, and many only because\nthey happened to be at an inn, or on a visit from their own town, when a\ngeneral arrest took place of all who are what is called etrangers, that\nis to say, not foreigners only, but not inhabitants of the town where\nthey are found.--There are, besides, various descriptions of people sent\nhere on secret informations, and who do not themselves know the precise\nreason of their confinement. I imagine we are subject to nearly the same\nrules as the common prisons: no one is permitted to enter or speak to a\n\"detenu\" but at the gate, and in presence of the guard; and all letters,\nparcels, baskets, &c. are examined previous to their being either\nconveyed from hence or received. This, however, depends much on the\npolitical principles of those who happen to be on guard: an aristocrate\nor a constitutionalist will read a letter with his eyes half shut, and\ninspect bedding and trunks in a very summary way; while a thorough-paced\nrepublican spells every syllable of the longest epistle, and opens all\nthe roasted pigs or duck-pies before he allows their ingress.--None of\nthe servants are suffered to go out, so that those who have not friends\nin the town to procure them necessaries are obliged to depend entirely on\nthe keeper, and, of course, pay extravagantly dear for every thing; but\nwe are so much in the power of these people, that it is prudent to submit\nto such impositions without murmuring.\nI did not, during my illness, read the papers, and have to-day been\namusing myself with a large packet. General Houchard, I find, is\narrested, for not having, as they say he might have done, driven all the\nEnglish army into the sea, after raising the siege of Dunkirk; yet a few\nweeks ago their utmost hopes scarcely amounted to the relief of the town:\nbut their fears having subsided, they have now leisure to be jealous; and\nI know no situation so little to be envied under the present government\nas that of a successful General.--Among all their important avocations,\nthe Convention have found time to pass a decree for obliging women to\nwear the national cockade, under pain of imprisonment; and the\nmunicipality of the superb Paris have ordered that the King's family\nshall, in future, use pewter spoons and eat brown bread!\nI begin to be very uneasy about Mr. and Mrs. D____. I have written\nseveral times, and still receive no answer. I fear they are in a\nconfinement more severe than my own, or that our letters miscarry. A\nservant of Mad. de ____'s was here this morning, and no letters had come\nto Peronne, unless, as my friend endeavours to persuade me, the man would\nnot venture to give them in presence of the guard, who par excellence\nhappened to be a furious Jacobin.--We had the mortification of hearing\nthat a very elegant carriage of Mad. de ____'s has been put in\nrequisition, and taken to convey a tinman and two farriers who were going\nto Paris on a mission--that two of her farmer's best horses had been\nkilled by hard work in taking provisions to the army, and that they are\nnow cutting down the young wood on her estate to make pikes.--The seals\nare still on our effects, and the guard remains in possession, which has\nput us to the expence of buying a variety of articles we could not well\ndispense with: for, on examining the baggage after our arrival, we found\nit very much diminshed; and this has happened to almost all the people\nwho have been arrested. Our suspicions naturally fall on the dragoons,\nand it is not very surprizing that they should attempt to steal from\nthose whom they are certain would not dare to make any complaint.\nMany of our fellow-prisoners are embarrassed by their servants having\nquitted them.--One Collot d'Herbois, a member of the Commite de Salut\nPublic, has proposed to the Convention to collect all the gentry,\npriests, and suspected people, into different buildings, which should be\npreviously mined for the purpose, and, on the least appearance of\ninsurrection, to blow them up all together.--You may perhaps conclude,\nthat such a project was received with horror, and the adviser of it\ntreated as a monster. Our humane legislature, however, very coolly sent\nit to the committee to be discussed, without any regard to the terror and\napprehension which the bare idea of a similar proposal must inspire in\nthose who are the destined victims. I cannot myself believe that this\nabominable scheme is intended for execution, but it has nevertheless\ncreated much alarm in timid minds, and has occasioned in part the\ndefection of the servants I have just mentioned. Those who were\nsufficiently attached to their masters and mistresses to endure the\nconfinement and privations of a Maison d'Arret, tremble at the thoughts\nof being involved in the common ruin of a gunpowder explosion; and the\nmen seem to have less courage than the women, at least more of the latter\nhave consented to remain here.--It was atrocious to publish such a\nconception, though nothing perhaps was intended by it, as it may deprive\nmany people of faithful attendants at a time when they are most\nnecessary.\nWe have a tribunal revolutionnaire here, with its usual attendant the\nGuillotine, and executions are now become very frequent. I know not who\nare the sufferers, and avoid enquiring through fear of hearing the name\nof some acquaintance. As far as I can learn, the trials are but too\nsummary, and little other evidence is required than the fortune, rank,\nand connections of the accused. The Deputy who is Commissioner for this\ndepartment is one Le Bon, formerly a priest--and, I understand, of an\nimmoral and sanguinary character, and that it is he who chiefly directs\nthe verdicts of the juries according to his personal hatred or his\npersonal interest.--We have lately had a very melancholy instance of the\nterror created by this tribunal, as well as of the notions that prevail\nof its justice. A gentleman of Calais, who had an employ under the\ngovernment, was accused of some irregularity in his accounts, and, in\nconsequence, put under arrest. The affair became serious, and he was\nordered to prison, as a preliminary to his trial. When the officers\nentered his apartment to take him, regarding the judicial procedure as a\nmere form, and concluding it was determined to sacrifice him, he in a\nfrenzy of despair seized the dogs in the chimney, threw them at the\npeople, and, while they escaped to call for assistance, destroyed himself\nby cutting his arteries.--It has appeared, since the death of this\nunfortunate man, that the charge against him was groundless, and that he\nonly wanted time to arrange his papers, in order to exonerate himself\nentirely.\nWe are disturbed almost nightly by the arrival of fresh prisoners, and my\nfirst question of a morning is always _\"N'est il pas du monde entre la\nnuit?\"_--Angelique's usual reply is a groan, and _\"Ah, mon Dieu, oui;\"\n\"Une dixaine de pretres;\"_ or, _\"Une trentaine de nobles:\"_ [\"Did not some\npeople arrive in the night?\"]--\"Yes, God help us--half a score priests, or\ntwenty or thirty gentry.\" And I observe the depth of the groan is nearly\nin proportion to the quality of the person she commiserates. Thus, a\ngroan for a Comte, a Marquise, or a Priest, is much more audible than one\nfor a simple gentlewoman or a merchant; and the arrival of a Bishop\n(especially if not one of the constitutional clergy) is announced in a\nmore sorrowful key than either.\nWhile I was walking in the yard this morning, I was accosted by a\nfemale whom I immediately recollected to be Victoire, a very pretty\n_couturiere,_ [Sempstress.] who used to work for me when I was at\nPanthemont, and who made your last holland shirts. I was not a little\nsurprized to see her in such a situation, and took her aside to enquire\nher history. I found that her mother was dead, and that her brother\nhaving set up a little shop at St. Omer, had engaged her to go and live\nwith him. Being under five-and-twenty, the last requisition obliged him\nto depart for the army, and leave her to carry on the business alone.\nThree weeks after, she was arrested at midnight, put into a cart, and\nbrought hither. She had no time to take any precautions, and their\nlittle commerce, which was in haberdashery, as well as some work she had\nin hand, is abandoned to the mercy of the people that arrested her. She\nhas reason to suppose that her crime consists in not having frequented\nthe constitutional mass; and that her accuser is a member of one of the\ntown committees, who, since her brother's absence, has persecuted her\nwith dishonourable proposals, and, having been repulsed, has taken this\nmethod of revenging himself. Her conjecture is most probably right, as,\nsince her imprisonment, this man has been endeavouring to make a sort of\nbarter with her for her release.\nI am really concerned for this poor creature, who is at present a very\ngood girl, but if she remain here she will not only be deprived of her\nmeans of living, but perhaps her morals may be irremediably corrupted.\nShe is now lodged in a room with ten or dozen men, and the house is so\ncrouded that I doubt whether I have interest enough to procure her a more\ndecent apartment.\nWhat can this strange policy tend to, that thus exposes to ruin and want\na girl of one-and-twenty--not for any open violation of the law, but\nmerely for her religious opinions; and this, too, in a country which\nprofesses toleration as the basis of its government?\nMy friend, Mad. de ____ s'ennui terribly; she is not incapable of amusing\nherself, but is here deprived of the means. We have no corner we can\ncall our own to sit in, and no retreat when we wish to be out of a croud\nexcept my closet, where we can only see by candle-light. Besides, she\nregrets her employments, and projects for the winter. She had begun\npainting a St. Theresa, and translating an Italian romance, and had\nnearly completed the education of a dozen canary birds, who would in a\nmonth's time have accompanied the harp so delightfully, as to overpower\nthe sound of the instrument. I believe if we had a few more square\ninches of room, she would be tempted, if not to bring the whole chorus,\nat least to console herself with two particular favourites, distinguished\nby curious topknots, and rings about their necks.\nWith all these feminine propensities, she is very amiable, and her case\nis indeed singularly cruel and unjust.--Left, at an early age, under the\ncare of her brother, she was placed by him at Panthemont (where I first\nbecame acquainted with her) with an intention of having her persuaded to\ntake the veil; but finding her averse from a cloister, she remained as a\npensioner only, till a very advantageous marriage with the Marquis de\n____, who was old enough to be her father, procured her release. About\ntwo years ago he died, and left her a very considerable fortune, which\nthe revolution has reduced to nearly one-third of its former value. The\nComte de ____, her brother, was one of the original patriots, and\nembraced with great warmth the cause of the people; but having very\nnarrowly escaped the massacres of September, 1792, he immediately after\nemigrated.\nThus, my poor friend, immured by her brother till the age of twenty-two\nin a convent, then sacrificed three years to a husband of a disagreeable\ntemper and unsuitable age, is now deprived of the first liberty she ever\nenjoyed, and is made answerable for the conduct of a man over whom she\nhas no sort of influence. It is not, therefore, extraordinary that she\ncannot reconcile herself to her present situation, and I am really often\nmore concerned on her account than my own. Cut off from her usual\nresources, she has no amusement but wandering about the house; and if her\nother causes of uneasiness be not augmented, they are at least rendered\nmore intolerable by her inability to fill up her time.--This does not\narise from a deficiency of understanding, but from never having been\naccustomed to think. Her mind resembles a body that is weak, not by\nnature, but from want of exercise; and the number of years she has passed\nin a convent has given her that mixture of childishness and romance,\nwhich, my making frivolities necessary, renders the mind incapable of\nexertion or self-support.\nThe unfortunate Queen, after a trial of some days, during which she seems\nto have behaved with great dignity and fortitude, is no longer sensible\nof the regrets of her friends or the malice of her enemies. It is\nsingular, that I have not yet heard her death mentioned in the prison\n--every one looks grave and affects silence. I believe her death has not\noccasioned an effect so universal as that of the King, and whatever\npeople's opinions may be, they are afraid of expressing them: for it is\nsaid, though I know not with what truth, that we are surrounded by spies,\nand several who have the appearance of being prisoners like ourselves\nhave been pointed out to me as the objects of this suspicion.\nI do not pretend to undertake the defence of the Queen's imputed faults--\nyet I think there are some at least which one may be very fairly\npermitted to doubt. Compassion should not make me an advocate for guilt\n--but I may, without sacrificing morals to pity, venture to observe, that\nthe many scandalous histories circulated to her prejudice took their rise\nat the birth of the Dauphin,* which formed so insurmountable a bar to the\nviews of the Duke of Orleans.--\n * Nearly at the same time, and on the same occasion, there were\n literary partizans of the Duke of Orleans, who endeavoured to\n persuade the people that the man with the iron mask, who had so long\n excited curiosity and eluded conjecture, was the real son of Louis\n XIII.--and Louis XIV. in consequence, supposititious, and only the\n illegitimate offspring of Cardinal Mazarin and Anne of Austria--that\n the spirit of ambition and intrigue which characterized this\n Minister had suggested this substitution to the lawful heir, and\n that the fears of the Queen and confusion of the times had obliged\n her to acquiesce:\n \"Cette opinion ridicule, et dont les dates connues de l'histoire\n demontrent l'absurdite, avoit eu des partisans en France--elle\n tendoit a avilir la maison regnante, et a persuader au peuple que le\n trone n'appartient pas aux descendans de Louis XIV. prince\n furtivement sutstitue, mais a la posterite du second fils de Louis\n XIII. qui est la tige de la branche d'Orleans, et qui est reconnue\n comme descendant legitimement, et sans objection, du Roi Louis\n --Nouvelles Considerations sur la Masque de Fer, Memoirs de\n Richelieu.\n \"This ridiculous opinion, the absurdity of which is demonstrated by\n historical dates, had not been without its partizans in France.--It\n tended to degrade the reigning family, and to make the people\n believe that the throne did not of right belong to the descendants\n of Louis XIV. (a prince surreptitiously intruded) but to the\n posterity of the second son of Louis XIII. from whom is derived the\n branch of Orleans, and who was, without dispute, the legitimate and\n unobjectionable offspring of Louis XIII.\"\n --New Considerations on the Iron Mask.--Memoirs of the Duc de\n Richelieu.\nThe author of the above Memoirs adds, that after the taking of the\nBastille, new attempts were made to propagate this opinion, and that he\nhimself had refuted it to many people, by producing original letters and\npapers, sufficiently demonstrative of its absurdity.\n--He might hope, by popularity, to supersede the children of the Count\nd'Artois, who was hated; but an immediate heir to the Crown could be\nremoved only by throwing suspicions on his legitimacy. These\npretensions, it is true, were so absurd, and even incredible, that had\nthey been urged at the time, no inference in the Queen's favour would\nhave been admitted from them; but as the existence of such projects,\nhowever absurd and iniquitous, has since been demonstrated, one may now,\nwith great appearance of reason, allow them some weight in her\njustification.\nThe affair of the necklace was of infinite disservice to the Queen's\nreputation; yet it is remarkable, that the most furious of the Jacobins\nare silent on this head as far as it regarded her, and always mention the\nCardinal de Rohan in terms that suppose him to be the culpable party:\nbut, \"whatever her faults, her woes deserve compassion;\" and perhaps the\nmoralist, who is not too severe, may find some excuse for a Princess,\nwho, at the age of sixteen, possibly without one real friend or\ndisinterested adviser, became the unrestrained idol of the most\nlicentious Court in Europe. Even her enemies do not pretend that her\nfate was so much a merited punishment as a political measure: they\nalledge, that while her life was yet spared, the valour of their troops\nwas checked by the possibility of negotiation; and that being no more,\nneither the people nor armies expecting any thing but execration or\nrevenge, they will be more ready to proceed to the most desperate\nextremities.--This you will think a barbarous sort of policy, and\nconsidering it as national, it appears no less absurd than barbarous; but\nfor the Convention, whose views perhaps extend little farther than to\nsaving their heads, peculating, and receiving their eighteen livres a\nday, such measures, and such a principle of action, are neither unwise\nnor unaccountable: \"for the wisdom of civilized nations is not their\nwisdom, nor the ways of civilized people their ways.\"*--\n * I have been informed, by a gentleman who saw the Queen pass in her\n way to execution, that the short white bed gown and the cap which\n she wore were discoloured by smoke, and that her whole appearance\n seemed to have been intended, if possible, to degrade her in the\n eyes of the multitude. The benevolent mind will recollect with\n pleasure, that even the Queen's enemies allow her a fortitude and\n energy of character which must have counteracted this paltry malice,\n and rendered it incapable of producing any emotion but contempt. On\n her first being removed to the Conciergerie, she applied for some\n necessaries; but the humane municipality of Paris refused them,\n under pretext that the demand was contrary to the system of _la\n sainte elagite_--\"holy equality.\"\n--It was reported that the Queen was offered her life, and the liberty to\nretire to St. Cloud, her favourite residence, if she would engage the\nenemy to raise the siege of Maubeuge and withdraw; but that she refused\nto interfere.\nArras, 1793.\nFor some days previous to the battle by which Maubeuge was relieved, we\nhad very gloomy apprehensions, and had the French army been unsuccessful\nand forced to fall back, it is not improbable but the lives of those\ndetained in the _Maison d'Arret_ [House of detention.] might have been\nsacrificed under pretext of appeasing the people, and to give some credit\nto the suspicions so industriously inculcated that all their defeats are\noccasioned by internal enemies. My first care, as soon as I was able to\ngo down stairs, was to examine if the house offered any means of escape\nin case of danger, and I believe, if we could preserve our recollection,\nit might be practicable; but I can so little depend on my strength and\nspirits, should such a necessity occur, that perhaps the consolation of\nknowing I have a resource is the only benefit I should ever derive from\nit.\nI have this day made a discovery of a very unpleasant nature, which Mad.\nde ____ had hitherto cautiously concealed from me. All the English, and\nother foreigners placed under similar circumstances, are now, without\nexception, arrested, and the confiscation of their property is decreed.\nIt is uncertain if the law is to extend to wearing apparel, but I find\nthat on this ground the Committee of Peronne persist in refusing to take\nthe seals off my effects, or to permit my being supplied with any\nnecessaries whatsoever. In other places they have put two, four, and, I\nam told, even to the number of six guards, in houses belonging to the\nEnglish; and these guards, exclusive of being paid each two shillings per\nday, burn the wood, regale on the wine, and pillage in detail all they\ncan find, while the unfortunate owner is starving in a Maison d'Arret,\nand cannot obtain permission to withdraw a single article for his own\nuse.--The plea for this paltry measure is, that, according to the report\nof a deserter escaped from Toulon, Lord Hood has hanged one Beauvais, a\nmember of the Convention. I have no doubt but the report is false, and,\nmost likely, fabricated by the Comite de Salut Public, in order to\npalliate an act of injustice previously meditated.\nIt is needless to expatiate on the atrocity of making individuals, living\nhere under the faith of the nation, responsible for the events of the\nwar, and it is whispered that even the people are a little ashamed of it;\nyet the government are not satisfied with making us accountable for what\nreally does happen, but they attribute acts of cruelty to our countrymen,\nin order to excuse those they commit themselves, and retaliate imagined\ninjuries by substantial vengeance.--Legendre, a member of the Convention,\nhas proposed, with a most benevolent ingenuity, that the manes of the\naforesaid Beauvais should be appeased by exhibiting Mr. Luttrell in an\niron cage for a convenient time, and then hanging him.\nA gentleman from Amiens, lately arrested while happening to be here on\nbusiness, informs me, that Mr. Luttrell is now in the common gaol of that\nplace, lodged with three other persons in a miserable apartment, so\nsmall, that there is not room to pass between their beds. I understand\nhe was advised to petition Dumont for his removal to a Maison d'Arret,\nwhere he would have more external convenience; but he rejected this\ncounsel, no doubt from a disdain which did him honour, and preferred to\nsuffer all that the mean malice of these wretches would inflict, rather\nthan ask any accommodation as a favour.--The distinguishing Mr. Luttrell\nfrom any other English gentleman is as much a proof of ignorance as of\nbaseness; but in this, as in every thing else, the present French\ngovernment is still more wicked than absurd, and our ridicule is\nsuppressed by our detestation.\nMad. de ____'s _homme d'affaires_ [Agent] has been here to-day, but no\nnews from Amiens. I know not what to conjecture. My patience is almost\nexhausted, and my spirits are fatigued. Were I not just now relieved by\na distant prospect of some change for the better, my situation would be\ninsupportable.--\"Oh world! oh world! but that thy strange mutations make\nus wait thee, life would not yield to age.\" We should die before our\ntime, even of moral diseases, unaided by physical ones; but the\nuncertainty of human events, which is the \"worm i'the bud\" of happiness,\nis to the miserable a cheering and consolatory reflection. Thus have I\ndragged on for some weeks, postponing, as it were, my existence, without\nany resource, save the homely philosophy of _\"nous verrons demain.\"_\n[\"We shall see to-morrow.\"]\nAt length our hopes and expectations are become less general, and if we\ndo not obtain our liberty, we may be able at least to procure a more\neligible prison. I confess, the source of our hopes, and the protector\nwe have found, are not of a dignity to be ushered to your notice by\ncitations of blank verse, or scraps of sentiment; for though the top of\nthe ladder is not quite so high, the first rounds are as low as that of\nBen Bowling's.\nMad. de ____'s confidential servant, who came here to-day, has learned,\nby accident, that a man, who formerly worked with the Marquis's tailor,\nhaving (in consequence, I suppose of a political vocation,) quitted the\nselling of old clothes, in which he had acquired some eminence, has\nbecome a leading patriot, and is one of Le Bon's, the Representative's,\nprivy counsellors. Fleury has renewed his acquaintance with this man,\nhas consulted him upon our situation, and obtained a promise that he will\nuse his interest with Le Bon in our behalf. Under this splendid\npatronage, it is not unlikely but we may get an order to be transferred\nto Amiens, or, perhaps, procure our entire liberation. We have already\nwritten to Le Bon on the subject, and Fleury is to have a conference with\nour friend the tailor in a few days to learn the success of his\nmediation; so that, I trust, the business will not be long in suspense.\nWe have had a most indulgent guard to-day, who, by suffering the servant\nto enter a few paces within the gate, afforded us an opportunity of\nhearing this agreeable intelligence; as also, by way of episode, that\nboots being wanted for the cavalry, all the boots in the town were last\nnight put in requisition, and as Fleury was unluckily gone to bed before\nthe search was made at his inn, he found himself this morning very\nunceremoniously left bootless. He was once a famous patriot, and the\noracle of Mad. de ____'s household; but our confinement had already\nshaken his principles, and this seizure of his \"superb English boots\"\nhas, I believe, completed his defection.\nI have discontinued my journal for three days to attend my friend, Mad.\nde ____, who has been ill. Uneasiness, and want of air and exercise, had\nbrought on a little fever, which, by the usual mode of treatment in this\ncountry, has been considerably increased. Her disorder did not indeed\nmuch alarm me, but I cannot say as much of her medical assistants, and it\nseems to me to be almost supernatural that she has escaped the jeopardy\nof their prescriptions. In my own illness I had trusted to nature, and\nmy recollection of what had been ordered me on similar occasions; but for\nMad. de ____ I was less confident, and desirous of having better advice,\nbegged a physician might be immediately sent for. Had her disorder been\nan apoplexy, she must infallibly have died, for as no person, not even\nthe faculty, can enter, without an order from the municipal Divan, half a\nday elapsed before this order could be procured. At length the physician\nand surgeon arrived, and I know not why the learned professions should\nimpose on us more by one exterior than another; but I own, when I saw the\nphysician appear in a white camblet coat, lined with rose colour, and the\nsurgeon with dirty linen, and a gold button and loop to his hat, I began\nto tremble for my friend. My feminine prejudices did not, however, in\nthis instance, deceive me. After the usual questions, the patient was\ndeclared in a fever, and condemned to cathartics, bleeding, and \"bon\nbouillons;\" that is to say, greasy beef soup, in which there is never an\noeconomy of onions.--When they were departed, I could not help expressing\nmy surprize that people's lives should be entrusted to such hands,\nobserving, at the same time, to the Baron de L____, (who is lodged in the\nsame apartment with Mad. de ____,) that the French must never expect men,\nwhose education fitted them for the profession, would become physicians,\nwhile they continued to be paid at the rate of twenty-pence per visit.--\nYet, replied the Baron, if they make twenty visits a day, they gain forty\nlivres--_\"et c'est de quoi vivre.\"_ [It is a living.] It is undeniably\n_de quoi vivre,_ but as long as a mere subsistence is the only prospect\nof a physician, the French must be content to have their fevers cured by\n\"drastics, phlebotomy, and beef soup.\"\nThey tell me we have now more than five hundred detenus in this single\nhouse. How so many have been wedged in I can scarcely conceive, but it\nseems our keeper has the art of calculating with great nicety the space\nrequisite for a given number of bodies, and their being able to respire\nfreely is not his affair. Those who can afford it have their dinners,\nwith all the appurtenances, brought from the inns or traiteurs; and the\npoor cook, sleep, and eat, by scores, in the same room. I have persuaded\nmy friend to sup as I do, upon tea; but our associates, for the most\npart, finding it inconvenient to have suppers brought at night, and being\nunwilling to submit to the same privations, regale themselves with the\nremains of their dinner, re-cooked in their apartments, and thus go to\nsleep, amidst the fumes of _perdrix a l'onion, oeufs a la tripe,_\n[Partridge a l'onion--eggs a la tripe.] and all the produce of a French\nkitchen.\nIt is not, as you may imagine, the Bourgeois, and less distinguished\nprisoners only, who indulge in these highly-seasoned repasts, at the\nexpence of inhaling the savoury atmosphere they leave behind them: the\nbeaux and petites mistresses, among the ci-devant, have not less exigent\nappetites, nor more delicate nerves; and the ragout is produced at night,\nin spite of the odours and disorder that remain till the morrow.\nI conclude, notwithstanding your English prejudices, that there is\nnothing unwholesome in filth, for if it were otherwise, I cannot account\nfor our being alive. Five hundred bodies, in a state of coacervation,\nwithout even a preference for cleanliness, \"think of that Master Brook.\"\nAll the forenoon the court is a receptacle for cabbage leaves, fish\nscales, leeks, &c. &c.--and as a French chambermaid usually prefers the\ndirect road to circumambulation, the refuse of the kitchen is then washed\naway by plentiful inundations from the dressing-room--the passages are\nblockaded by foul plates, fragments, and bones; to which if you add the\nsmell exhaling from hoarded apples and gruyere cheese, you may form some\nnotion of the sufferings of those whose olfactory nerves are not robust.\nYet this is not all--nearly every female in the house, except myself, is\naccompanied even here by her lap-dog, who sleeps in her room, and, not\nunfrequently, on her bed; and these Lesbias and Lindamiras increase the\ninsalubrity of the air, and colonize one's stockings by sending forth\ndaily emigrations of fleas. For my own part, a few close November days\nwill make me as captious and splenetic as Matthew Bramble himself.\nNothing keeps me in tolerable good humour at present, but a clear frosty\nmorning, or a high wind.\nI thought, when I wrote the above, that the house was really so full as\nto be incapable of containing more; but I did not do justice to the\ntalents of our keeper. The last two nights have brought us an addition\nof several waggon loads of nuns, farmers, shopkeepers, &c. from the\nneighbouring towns, which he has still contrived to lodge, though much in\nthe way that he would pack goods in bales. Should another convoy arrive,\nit is certain that we must sleep perpendicularly, for even now, when the\nbeds are all arranged and occupied for the night, no one can make a\ndiagonal movement without disturbing his neighbour.--This very sociable\nmanner of sleeping is very far, I assure you, from promoting the harmony\nof the day; and I am frequently witness to the reproaches and\nrecriminations occasioned by nocturnal misdemeanours. Sometimes the\nlap-dog of one dowager is accused of hostilities against that of\nanother, and thereby producing a general chorus of the rest--then a\nfour-footed favourite strays from the bed of his mistress, and takes\npossession of a General's uniform--and there are female somnambules, who\nalarm the modesty of a pair of Bishops, and suspended officers, that,\nlike Richard, warring in their dreams, cry \"to arms,\" to the great\nannoyance of those who are more inclined to sleep in peace. But, I\nunderstand, the great disturbers of the room where Mad. de ____ sleeps\nare two chanoines, whose noses are so sonorous and so untuneable as to\nproduce a sort of duet absolutely incompatible with sleep; and one of\nthe company is often deputed to interrupt the serenade by manual\napplication _mais tout en badinant et avec politesse_ [But all in\npleasantry, and with politeness.] to the offending parties.\nAll this, my dear brother, is only ludicrous in the relation; yet for so\nmany people to be thus huddled together without distinction of age, sex,\nor condition, is truly miserable.--Mad. De ____ is still indisposed, and\nwhile she is thus suffocated by bad air, and distracted by the various\nnoises of the house, I see no prospect of her recovery.\nArras is the common prison of the department, and, besides, there are a\nnumber of other houses and convents in the town appropriated to the same\nuse, and all equally full. God knows when these iniquities are to\nterminate! So far from having any hopes at present, the rage for\narresting seems, I think, rather to increase than subside. It is\nsupposed there are now more than three hundred thousand people in France\nconfined under the simple imputation of being what is called \"gens\nsuspect:\" but as this generic term is new to you, I will, by way of\nexplanation, particularize the several species as classed by the\nConvention, and then described by Chaumette, solicitor for the City of\nParis;*--\n * Decree concerning suspected people:\n \"Art. I. Immediately after the promulgation of the present decree,\n all suspected persons that are found on the territory of the\n republic, and who are still at large, shall be put under arrest.\n \"II. Those are deemed suspicious, who by their connections, their\n conversation, or their writings, declare themselves partizans of\n tyranny or foederation, and enemies to liberty--Those who have not\n demonstrated their means of living or the performance of their civic\n duties, in the manner prescribed by the law of March last--Those\n who, having been suspended from public employments by the Convention\n or its Commissioners, are not reinstated therein--Those of the\n ci-devant noblesse, who have not invariably manifested their\n attachment to the revolution, and, in general, all the fathers,\n mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and agents of\n emigrants--All who have emigrated between the 1st of July, 1789,\n and 8th of April, 1792.\n \"III. The execution of the decree is confided to the Committee of\n Inspection. The individuals arrested shall be taken to the houses\n of confinement appointed for their reception. They are allowed to\n take with them such only of their effects as are strictly necessary,\n the guards set upon them shall be paid at their expence, and they\n shall be kept in confinement until the peace.--The Committees of\n Inspection shall, without delay, transmit to the Committee of\n General Safety an account of the persons arrested, with the motives\n of their arrest. [If this were observed (which I doubt much) it was\n but a mockery, few persons ever knew the precise reason of their\n confinement.]--The civil and criminal tribunals are empowered, when\n they deem it necessary, to detain and imprison, as suspected\n persons, those who being accused of crimes have nevertheless had no\n bill found against them, (lieu a accusation,) or who have even been\n tried and acquitted.\"\nIndications that may serve to distinguish suspicious persons, and those\nto whom it will be proper to refuse certificates of civism:\n \"I. Those who in popular assemblies check the ardour of the people\n by artful speeches, by violent exclamations or threats.\n \"II. Those who with more caution speak in a mysterious way of the\n public misfortunes, who appear to pity the lot of the people, and\n are ever ready to spread bad news with an affectation of concern.\n \"III. Those who adapt their conduct and language to the\n circumstances of the moment--who, in order to be taken for\n republicans, put on a studied austerity of manners, and exclaim with\n vehemence against the most trifling error in a patriot, but mollify\n when the crimes of an Aristocrate or a Moderee are the subject of\n complaint. [These trifling events were, being concerned in the\n massacres of September, 1792--public peculations--occasional, and\n even habitual robbery, forgeries, &c. &c. &c.--The second, fourth,\n fifth, sixth, and seventh classes, were particularly numerous,\n insomuch that I doubt whether they would not have included\n nineteen-twentieths of all the people in France who were honest\n or at all capable of reflection.]\n \"IV. Those who pity avaricious farmers and shopkeepers, against\n whom the laws have been necessarily directed.\n \"V. Those who with the words liberty, country, republic, &c.\n constantly in their mouths, hold intercourse with ci-devant Nobles,\n Contre-revolutionnaires, Priests, Aristocrates, Feuillans, &c. and\n take an interest in their concerns.\n \"VI. Those who not having borne an active part in the revolution,\n endeavour to excuse themselves by urging the regular payment of\n their taxes, their patriotic gifts, and their service in the Garde\n National by substitute or otherwise.\n \"VII. Those who received the republican constitution with coolness,\n or who intimated their pretended apprehensions for its establishment\n and duration.\n \"VIII. Those who, having done nothing against liberty, have done as\n little for it.\n \"IX. Those who do not frequent the assembly of their section, and\n offer, for excuse, that they are no orators, or have no time to\n spare from their own business.\n \"X. Those who speak with contempt of the constituted authorities,\n of the rigour of the laws, of the popular societies, and the\n defenders of liberty.\n \"XI. Those who have signed anti-revolutionary petitions, or any\n time frequented unpatriotic clubs, or were known as partizans of La\n Fayette, and accomplices in the affair of the Champ de Mars.\"\n--and it must be allowed by all who reside in France at this moment, and\nare capable of observing the various forms under which hatred for the\ngovernment shelters itself, that the latter is a chef d'oeuvre in its\nkind.\nNow, exclusive of the above legal and moral indications of people to be\nsuspected, there are also outward and visible signs which we are told\nfrom the tribune of the Convention, and the Jacobins, are not much less\ninfallible--such as _Gens a bas de soie rayes mouchetes--a chapeau rond--\nhabit carre--culotte pincee etroite--a bottes cirees--les muscadins--\nFreloquets--Robinets, &c._ [People that wear spotted or striped silk\nstockings--round hats--small coats--tight breeches--blacked boots--\nperfumes--coxcombs--sprigs of the law, &c.] The consequence of making\nthe cut of a man's coat, or the shape of his hat, a test of his political\nopinions, has been the transformation of the whole country into\nrepublicans, at least as far as depends on the costume; and where, as is\nnatural, there exists a consciousness of inveterate aristocracy, the\nexternal is more elaborately \"a la Jacobin.\" The equipment, indeed, of a\nFrench patriot of the latest date is as singular as his manners, and in\nboth he is highly distinguishable from the inhabitants of any other\ncountry: from those of civilized nations, because he is gross and\nferocious--from those of barbarous ones, because his grossness is often\naffected, and his ferocity a matter of principle and preference.\nA man who would not be reckoned suspect now arrays himself in a jacket\nand trowsers (a Carmagnole) of striped cotton or coarse cloth, a\nneckcloth of gaudy cotton, wadded like a horse-collar, and projecting\nconsiderably beyond his chin, a cap of red and blue cloth, embroidered in\nfront and made much in the form of that worn by the Pierrot of a\npantomime, with one, or sometimes a pair, of ear-rings, about the size of\na large curtain-ring! Finally, he crops his hair, and carefully\nencourages the growth of an enormous pair of whiskers, which he does not\nfail to perfume with volumes of tobacco smoke. He, however, who is\nambitious of still greater eminence, disdains these fopperies, and\naffects an appearance of filth and rags, which he dignifies with the\nappellation of stern republicanism and virtuous poverty; and thus, by\nmeans of a thread-bare coat out at elbows, wooden shoes, and a red\nwoollen cap, the rich hope to secure their wealth, and the covetous and\nintriguing to acquire lucrative employment.--Rolland, I think, was the\nfounder of these modern Franciscans, and with this miserable affectation\nhe machinated the death of the King, and, during some months, procured\nfor himself the exclusive direction of the government.\nAll these patriots by prescription and system have likewise a peculiar\nand appropriated dialect--they address every one by the title of Citizen,\nthee and thou indistinctly, and talk of nothing but the agents of Pitt\nand Cobourg, the coalesced tyrants, royal ogres, satellites of the\ndespots, automaton slaves, and anthropophagi; and if they revert to their\nown prosperous state, and this very happy country, it is, _un peuple\nlibre, en peuple heureux, and par excellence la terre de la liberte._\n[\"A free people--a happy people--and, above all others, the land of\nliberty.\"]--It is to be observed, that those with whom these pompous\nexpressions are most familiar, are officers employed in the war-like\nservice of mutilating the wooden saints in churches, and arresting old\nwomen whom they encounter without national cockades; or members of the\nmunicipalities, now reduced to execute the offices of constables, and\nwhose chief functions are to hunt out suspected people, or make\ndomiciliary visits in quest of concealed eggs and butter. But, above\nall, this democratic oratory is used by tailors, shoemakers, &c.* of the\nCommittees of Inspection, to whom the Representatives on mission have\ndelegated their unlimited powers, who arrest much on the principle of\nJack Cade, and with whom it is a crime to read and write, or to appear\ndecently dressed.\n * For some months the departments were infested by people of this\n description--corrupt, ignorant, and insolent. Their motives of\n arrest were usually the hope of plunder, or the desire of\n distressing those whom they had been used to look upon as their\n superiors.--At Arras it sufficed even to have disobliged the wives\n of these miscreants to become the object of persecution. In some\n places they arrested with the most barbarous caprice, even without\n the shadow of a reason. At Hesden, a small town in Artois, Dumont\n left the Mayor carte blanche, and in one night two hundred people\n were thrown into prison. Every where these low and obscure\n dominators reigned without controul, and so much were the people\n intimidated, that instead of daring to complain, they treated their\n new tyrants with the most servile adulation.--I have seen a\n ci-devant Comtesse coquetting with all her might a Jacobin tailor,\n and the richest merchants of a town soliciting very humbly the good\n offices of a dealer in old clothes.\nThese ridiculous accoutrements, and this magnificent phraseology, are in\nthemselves very harmless; but the ascendancy which such a class of people\nare taking has become a subject of just alarm.--The whole administration\nof the country is now in the hands of uninformed and necessitous\nprofligates, swindlers, men already condemned by the laws, and who, if\nthe revolution had not given them \"place and office,\" would have been at\nthe galleys, or in prison.*\n * One of the administrators of the department de la Somme (which,\n however, was more decently composed than many others,) was, before\n the revolution, convicted of house-breaking, and another of forgery;\n and it has since been proved on various occasions, particularly on\n the trial of the ninety-four Nantais, that the revolutionary\n Committees were, for the most part, composed of the very refuse of\n society--adventurers, thieves, and even assassins; and it would be\n difficult to imagine a crime that did not there find reward and\n protection.--In vain were the privileges of the nobility abolished,\n and religion proscribed. A new privileged order arose in the\n Jacobins, and guilt of every kind, without the semblance of\n penitence, found an asylum in these Committees, and an inviolability\n more sacred than that afforded by the demolished altars.\nTo these may be added a few men of weak character, and unsteady\nprinciples, who remain in office because they fear to resign; with a few,\nand but very few, ignorant fanatics, who really imagine they are free\nbecause they can molest and destroy with impunity all they have hitherto\nbeen taught to respect, and drink treble the quantity they did formerly.\nFor some days the guards have been so untractable, and the croud at the\ndoor has been so great, that Fleury was obliged to make various efforts\nbefore he could communicate the result of his negotiation. He has at\nlength found means to inform us, that his friend the tailor had exerted\nall his interest in our favour, but that Dumont and Le Bon (as often\nhappens between neighbouring potentates) are at war, and their enmity\nbeing in some degree subject to their mutual fears, neither will venture\nto liberate any prisoner arrested by the other, lest such a disposition\nto clemency should be seized on by his rival as a ground of accusation.*\n * But if they did not free the enemies of each other, they revenged\n themselves by throwing into prison all their mutual friends--for the\n temper of the times was such, that, though these Representatives\n were expressly invested with unlimited powers, they did not venture\n to set any one at liberty without a multitude of forms and a long\n attendance: on the contrary, they arrested without any form at all,\n and allowed their myrmidons to harrass and confine the persons and\n sequester the property of all whom they judged proper.--It seemed to\n have been an elementary principle with those employed by the\n government at this time, that they risked nothing in doing all the\n mischief they could, and that they erred only in not doing enough.\n--All, therefore, that can be obtained is, a promise to have us removed\nto Amiens in a short time; and I understand the detenus are there treated\nwith consideration, and that no tribunal revolutionnaire has yet been\nestablished.\nMy mind will be considerably more at ease if this removal can be\neffected. Perhaps we may not be in more real danger here than at any\nother place, but it is not realities that constitute the misery of life;\nand situated as we are, that imagination must be phlegmatic indeed, which\ndoes not create and exaggerate enough to prevent the possibility of\nease.--We are, as I before observed, placed as it were within the\njurisdiction of the guillotine; and I have learned \"a secret of our\nprison-house\" to-day which Mad. de ____ had hitherto concealed from me,\nand which has rendered me still more anxious to quit it. Several of our\nfellow prisoners, whom I supposed only transferred to other houses, have\nbeen taken away to undergo the ceremony of a trial, and from thence to\nthe scaffold. These judicial massacres are now become common, and the\nrepetition of them has destroyed at once the feeling of humanity and the\nsense of justice. Familiarized to executions, the thoughtless and\nsanguinary people behold with equal indifference the guilty or innocent\nvictim; and the Guillotine has not only ceased to be an object of horror,\nbut is become almost a source of amusement.\n * At Arras this horrid instrument of death was what they called en\n permanence, (stationary,) and so little regard was paid to the\n morals of the people, (I say the morals, because every thing which\n tends to destroy their humanity renders them vicious,) that it was\n often left from one execution to another with the ensanguined traces\n of the last victim but too evident.--Children were taught to amuse\n themselves by making models of the Guillotine, with which they\n destroyed flies, and even animals. On the Pontneuf, at Paris, a\n sort of puppet-show was exhibited daily, whose boast it was to give\n a very exact imitation of a guillotinage; and the burthen of a\n popular song current for some months was _\"Dansons la Guillotine.\"_\n --On the 21st of January, 1794, the anniversary of the King's death,\n the Convention were invited to celebrate it on the \"Place de la\n Revolution,\" where, during the ceremony, and in presence of the\n whole legislative body, several people were executed. It is true,\n Bourdon, one of the Deputies, complained of this indecency; but not\n so much on account of the circumstance itself, as because it gave\n some of the people an opportunity of telling him, in a sort of way\n he might probably deem prophetic, that one of the victims was a\n Representative of the People. The Convention pretended to order\n that some enquiry should be made why at such a moment such a place\n was chosen; but the enquiry came to nothing, and I have no doubt but\n the executions were purposely intended as analogous to the\n ceremony.--It was proved that Le Bon, on an occasion when he chose\n to be a spectator of some executions he had been the cause of,\n suspended the operation while he read the newspaper aloud, in order,\n as he said, that the aristocrates might go out of the world with the\n additional mortification of learning the success of the republican\n arms in their last moments.\n The People of Brest were suffered to behold, I had almost said to be\n amused with (for if those who order such spectacles are detestable,\n the people that permit them are not free from blame,) the sight of\n twenty-five heads ranged in a line, and still convulsed with the\n agonies of death.--The cant word for the Guillotine was \"our holy\n mother;\" and verdicts of condemnation were called prizes in the\n Sainte Lotterie--\"holy lottery.\"\nThe dark and ferocious character of Le Bon developes itself hourly: the\nwhole department trembles before him; and those who have least merited\npersecution are, with reason, the most apprehensive. The most cautious\nprudence of conduct, the most undeviating rectitude in those who are by\ntheir fortune or rank obnoxious to the tyrant, far from contributing to\ntheir security, only mark them out for a more early sacrifice. What is\nstill worse, these horrors are not likely to terminate, because he is\nallowed to pay out of the treasury of the department the mob that are\nemployed to popularize and applaud them.--I hope, in a few days, we shall\nreceive our permission to depart. My impatience is a malady, and, for\nnearly the first time in my life, I am sensible of ennui; not the ennui\noccasioned by want of amusement, but that which is the effect of unquiet\nexpectation, and which makes both the mind and body restless and\nincapable of attending to any thing. I am incessantly haunted by the\nidea that the companion of to-day may to-morrow expire under the\nGuillotine, that the common acts of social intercourse may be explained\ninto intimacy, intimacy into the participation of imputed treasons, and\nthe fate of those with whom we are associated become our own. It appears\nboth useless and cruel to have brought us here, nor do I yet know any\nreason why we were not all removed to Amiens, except it was to avoid\nexposing to the eyes of the people in the places through which we must\npass too large a number of victims at once.--The cause of our being\nremoved from Peronne is indeed avowed, as it is at present a rule not to\nconfine people at the place of their residence, lest they should have too\nmuch facility or communication with, or assistance from, their friends.*\n * In some departments the nobles and priests arrested were removed\n from ten to twenty leagues distant from their homes; and if they\n happened to have relations living at the places where they were\n confined, these last were forbidden to reside there, or even to\n travel that way.\nWe should doubtless have remained at Arras until some change in public\naffairs had procured our release, but for the fortunate discovery of the\nman I have mentioned; and the trifling favour of removal from one prison\nto another has been obtained only by certain arrangements which Fleury\nhas made with this subordinate agent of tyranny, and in which justice or\nconsideration for us had no share. Alas! are we not miserable? is not\nthe country miserable, when our only resource is in the vices of those\nwho govern?--It is uncertain when we shall be ordered from hence--it may\nhappen when we least expect it, even in the night, so that I shall not\nattempt to write again till we have changed our situation. The risk is\nat present too serious, and you must allow my desire of amusing you to\ngive way to my solicitude for my own preservation.\nBicetre at Amiens, Nov. 18, 1793.\n_Nous voila donc encore, logees a la nation;_ that is to say, the common\nprison of the department, amidst the thieves, vagabonds, maniacs, &c.\nconfined by the old police, and the gens suspects recently arrested by\nthe new.--I write from the end of a sort of elevated barn, sixty or\nseventy feet long, where the interstices of the tiles admit the wind from\nall quarters, and scarcely exclude the rain, and where an old screen and\nsome curtains only separate Mad. de ____, myself, and our servants, from\nsixty priests, most of them old, sick, and as wretched as men can be, who\nare pious and resigned. Yet even here I feel comparatively at ease, and\nan escape from the jurisdiction of Le Bon and his merciless tribunal\nseems cheaply purchased by the sacrifice of our personal convenience. I\ndo not pretend to philosophize or stoicize, or to any thing else which\nimplies a contempt of life--I have, on the contrary, a most unheroic\nsolicitude about my existence, and consider my removal to a place where I\nthink we are safe, as a very fortunate aera of our captivity.\nAfter many delays and disappointments, Fleury at length procured an\norder, signed by the Representative, for our being transferred to Amiens,\nunder the care of two _Gardes Nationalaux,_ and, of course, at our\nexpence.--Every thing in this country wears the aspect of despotism. At\ntwelve o'clock at night we were awakened by the officer on guard, and\ninformed we were to depart on the morrow; and, notwithstanding the\ndifficulty of procuring horses and carriages, it was specified, that if\nwe did not go on the day appointed, we were not to go at all. It was, or\ncourse, late before we could surmount the various obstacles to our\njourney, and procure two crazy cabriolets, and a cart for the guards,\nourselves, and baggage. The days being short, we were obliged to sleep\nat Dourlens; and, on our arrival at the castle, which is now, as it\nalways has been, a state-prison, we were told it was so full, that it was\nabsolutely impossible to lodge us, and that we had better apply to the\nGovernor, for permission to sleep at an inn. We then drove to the\nGovernor's* house, who received us very civilly, and with very little\npersuasion agreed to our request. At the best of the miserable inns in\nthe town we were informed they had no room, and that they could not\naccommodate us in any way whatever, except a sick officer then in the\nhouse would permit us to occupy one of two beds in his apartment.\n * The Commandant had been originally a private soldier in the\n regiment of Dillon.--I know not how he had obtained his advancement,\n but, however obtained, it proved fatal to him: he was, a very short\n time after I saw him, guillotined at Arras, for having borrowed\n money of a prisoner. His real crime was, probably, treating the\n prisoners in general with too much consideration and indulgence; and\n at this period every suspicion of the kind was fatal.\nIn England it would not be very decent to make such a request, or to\naccept such an accommodation. In France, neither the one nor the other\nis unusual, and we had suffered lately so many embarrassments of the\nkind, that we were, if not reconciled, at least inured to them. Before,\nhowever, we could determine, the gentleman had been informed of our\nsituation, and came to offer his services. You may judge of our surprize\nwhen we found in the stranger, who had his head bound up and his arm in a\nsling, General ____, a relation of Mad. de ____. We had now, therefore,\nless scruple in sharing his room, though we agreed, notwithstanding, only\nto repose a few hours in our clothes.\nAfter taking some tea, the remainder of the evening was dedicated to\nreciprocal conversation of all kinds; and our guards having acquaintance\nin the town, and knowing it was impossible for us to escape, even were we\nso inclined, very civilly left us to ourselves. We found the General had\nbeen wounded at Maubeuge, and was now absent on conge for the recovery of\nhis health. He talked of the present state of public affairs like a\nmilitary man who is attached to his profession, and who thinks it his\nduty to fight at all events, whatever the rights or merits of those that\nemploy him. He confessed, indeed, that they were repulsing their\nexternal enemies, only to confirm the power of those who were infinitely\nmore to be dreaded at home, and that the condition of a General was more\nto be commiserated at this time than any other: if he miscarry, disgrace\nand the Guillotine await him--if he be successful, he gains little\nhonour, becomes an object of jealousy, and assists in rivetting the\nchains of his country. He said, the armies were for the most part\nlicentious and insubordinate, but that the political discipline was\nterrible--the soldiers are allowed to drink, pillage, and insult their\nofficers with impunity, but all combinations are rigorously suppressed,\nthe slightest murmur against the Representative on mission is treason,\nand to disapprove of a decree of the convention, death--that every man of\nany note in the army is beset with spies, and if they leave the camp on\nany occasion, it is more necessary to be on their guard against these\nwretches than against an ambuscade of the enemy; and he related a\ncircumstance which happened to himself, as an example of what he\nmentioned, and which will give you a tolerable idea of the present system\nof government.--After the relief of Dunkirk, being quartered in the\nneighbourhood of St. Omer, he occasionally went to the town on his\nprivate concerns. One day, while he was waiting at the inn where he\nintended to dine, two young men accosted him, and after engaging him in a\ngeneral conversation for some time, began to talk with great freedom,\nthough with an affected caution of public men and measures, of the\nbanditti who governed, the tyranny that was exercised, and the supineness\nof the people: in short, of all those too poignant truths which\nconstitute the leze nation of the day. Mons. de ____ was not at first\nvery attentive, but finding their discourse become still more liberal, it\nexcited his suspicions, and casting his eyes on a glass opposite to where\nthey were conversing, he perceived a sort of intelligence between them,\nwhich immediately suggested to him the profession of his companions; and\ncalling to a couple of dragoons who had attended him, ordered them to\narrest the two gentlemen as artistocrates, and convey them without\nceremony to prison. They submitted, seemingly more surprized than\nalarmed, and in two hours the General received a note from a higher\npower, desiring him to set them at liberty, as they were agents of the\nrepublic.\nDuquesnoy, one of the Representatives now with the Northern army, is\nignorant and brutal in the extreme. He has made his brother (who, as\nwell as himself, used to retail hops in the streets of St. Pol,) a\nGeneral; and in order to deliver him from rivals and critics, he breaks,\nsuspends, arrests, and sends to the Guillotine every officer of any merit\nthat comes in his way. After the battle of Maubeuge, he arrested a\nGeneral Bardell, [The Generals Bardell and D'Avesnes, and several others,\nwere afterwards guillotined at Paris.] for accommodating a wounded\nprisoner of distinction (I think a relation of the Prince of Cobourg)\nwith a bed, and tore with his own hands the epaulette from the shoulders\nof those Generals whose divisions had not sustained the combat so well as\nthe others. His temper, naturally savage and choleric, is irritated to\nfury by the habit of drinking large quantities of strong liquors; and\nMad. de ___'s relation assured us, that he had himself seen him take the\nMayor of Avesnes (a venerable old man, who was presenting some petition\nto him that regarded the town,) by the hair and throw him on the ground,\nwith the gestures of an enraged cannibal. He also confined one of his\nown fellow deputies in the tower of Guise, upon a very frivolous pretext,\nand merely on his own authority. In fact, I scarcely remember half the\nhorrors told us of this man; and I shall only remind you, that he has an\nunlimited controul over the civil constitution of the Northern army, and\nover the whole department of the North.\nYou, I suppose, will be better informed of military events than we are,\nand I mention our friend's conjecture, that (besides an enormous number\nof killed) the wounded at Maubeuge amounted to twelve or fourteen\nthousand, only to remark the deception which is still practised on the\npeople; for no published account ever allowed the number to be more than\na few hundreds.--Besides these professional details, the General gave us\nsome very unpleasant family ones. On returning to his father's chateau,\nwhere he hoped to be taken care of while his wounds were curing, he found\nevery room in it under seals, three guards in possession, his two sisters\narrested at St. Omer, where they happened to be on a visit, and his\nfather and mother confined in separate houses of detention at Arras.\nAfter visiting them, and making some ineffectual applications for their\nrelief, he came to the neighbourhood of Dourlens, expecting to find an\nasylum with an uncle, who had hitherto escaped the general persecution of\nthe gentry. Here again his disappointment and chagrin were renewed: his\nuncle had been carried off to Amiens the morning of his arrival, and the\nhouse rendered inaccessible, by the usual affixture of seals, and an\nattendant pair of myrmidons to guard them from infraction. Thus excluded\nfrom all his family habitations, he had taken up his residence for a day\nor two at the inn where we met him, his intention being to return to\nArras.\nIn the morning we made our adieus and pursued our journey; but, tenacious\nof this comparative liberty and the enjoyment of pure air, we prevailed\non our conductors to let us dine on the road, so that we lingered with\nthe unwillingness of truant children, and did not reach Amiens until\ndark. When we arrived at the Hotel de Ville, one of the guards enquired\nhow we were to be disposed of. Unfortunately for us, Dumont happened to\nbe there himself, and on hearing we were sent from Arras by order of Le\nBon, declared most furiously (for our Representative is subject to choler\nsince his accession to greatness) that he would have no prisoners\nreceived from Arras, and that we should sleep at the Conciergerie, and be\nconveyed back again on the morrow. Terrified at this menace, we\npersuaded the guard to represent to Dumont that we had been sent to\nAmiens at our own instance, and that we had been originally arrested by\nhimself, and were therefore desirous of returning to the department where\nhe was on mission, and where we had more reason to expect justice than at\nArras. Mollified, perhaps, by this implied preference of his authority,\nhe consented that we should remain for the present at Amiens, and ordered\nus to be taken to the Bicetre. Whoever has been used to connect with the\nword Bicetre the idea of the prison so named at Paris, must recoil with\nhorror upon hearing they are destined to such a abode. Mad. de ___, yet\nweak from the remains of her illness, laid hold of me in a transport of\ngrief; but, far from being able to calm or console her, my thoughts were\nso bewildered that I did not, till we alighted at the gate, begin to be\nreally sensible of our situation. The night was dark and dreary, and our\nfirst entrance was into a kitchen, such as my imagination had pictured\nthe subterraneous one of the robbers in Gil Blas. Here we underwent the\nceremony of having our pocket-books searched for papers and letters, and\nour trunks rummaged for knives and fire-arms. This done, we were shown\nto the lodging I have described, and the poor priests, already\ninsufferably crouded, were obliged almost to join their beds in order to\nmake room for us.--I will not pain you by a recital of all the\nembarrassments and distresses we had to surmount before we could even\nrest ourselves. We were in want of every thing, and the rules of the\nprison such, that it was nearly impossible, for some time, to procure any\nthing: but the human mind is more flexible than we are often disposed to\nimagine it; and in two days we were able to see our situation in this\nbest point of view, (that is, as an escape from Arras,) and the affair of\nsubmitting our bodies to our minds must be atchieved by time.--We have\nnow been here a week. We have sounded the very depth of humiliation,\ntaken our daily allowance of bread with the rest of the prisoners, and\ncontracted a most friendly intimacy with the gaoler.\nI have discovered since our arrival, that the order for transferring us\nhither described me as a native of the Low Countries. I know not how\nthis happened, but my friend has insisted on my not rectifying the\nmistake, for as the French talk continually of re-conquering Brabant, she\npersuades herself such an event would procure me my liberty. I neither\ndesire the one nor expect the other; but, to indulge her, I speak no\nEnglish, and avoid two or three of my countrymen who I am told are here.\nThere have been also some English families who were lately removed, but\nthe French pronounce our names so strangely, that I have not been able to\nlearn who they were.\nNovember 19, 1793.\nThe English in general, especially of late years, have been taught to\nentertain very formidable notions of the Bastille and other state prisons\nof the ancient government, and they were, no doubt, horrid enough; yet I\nhave not hitherto been able to discover that those of the new republic\nare any way preferable. The only difference is, that the great number of\nprisoners which, for want of room, are obliged to be heaped together,\nmakes it impossible to exclude them as formerly from communication, and,\ninstead of being maintained at the public expence, they now, with great\ndifficulty, are able to procure wherewithal to eat at their own. Our\npresent habitation is an immense building, about a quarter of a mile from\nthe town, intended originally for the common gaol of the province. The\nsituation is damp and unwholesome, and the water so bad, that I should\nsuppose a long continuance here of such a number of prisoners must be\nproductive of endemical disorders. Every avenue to the house is guarded,\nand no one is permitted to stop and look up at the windows, under pain of\nbecoming a resident. We are strictly prohibited from all external\nintercourse, except by writing; and every scrap of paper, though but an\norder for a dinner, passes the inquisition of three different people\nbefore it reaches its destination, and, of course, many letters and notes\nare mislaid, and never sent at all.--There is no court or garden in which\nthe prisoners are allowed to walk, and the only exercise they can take is\nin damp passages, or a small yard, (perhaps thirty feet square,) which\noften smells so detestably, that the atmosphere of the house itself is\nless mephitic.\nOur fellow-captives are a motley collection of the victims of nature,\nof justice, and of tyranny--of lunatics who are insensible of their\nsituation, of thieves who deserve it, and of political criminals whose\nguilt is the accident of birth, the imputation of wealth, or the\nprofession of a clergyman. Among the latter is the Bishop of Amiens,\nwhom I recollect to have mentioned in a former letter. You will wonder\nwhy a constitutional Bishop, once popular with the democratic party,\nshould be thus treated. The real motive was, probably, to degrade in his\nperson a minister of religion--the ostensible one, a dispute with Dumont\nat the Jacobin club. As the times grew alarming, the Bishop, perhaps,\nthought it politic to appear at the club, and the Representative meeting\nhim there one evening, began to interrogate him very rudely with regard\nto his opinion of the marriage of priests. M. Dubois replied, that when\nit was officially incumbent on him to explain himself, he would do so,\nbut that he did not think the club a place for such discussions, or\nsomething to this purpose. _\"Tu prevariques donc!--Je t'arrete sur le\nchamp:\"_ [\"What, you prevaricate!--I arrest you instantly.\"] the Bishop\nwas accordingly arrested at the instant, and conducted to the Bicetre,\nwithout even being suffered to go home and furnish himself with\nnecessaries; and the seals being immediately put on his effects, he has\nnever been able to obtain a change of linen and clothes, or any thing\nelse--this too at a time when the pensions of the clergy are ill paid,\nand every article of clothing so dear as to be almost unpurchaseable by\nmoderate fortunes, and when those who might otherwise be disposed to aid\nor accommodate their friends, abandon them through fear of being\nimplicated in their misfortunes.\nBut the Bishop, yet in the vigour of life, is better capable of enduring\nthese hardships than most of the poor priests with whom he is associated:\nthe greater number of them are very old men, with venerable grey locks--\nand their tattered clerical habits, scanty meals, and wretched beds, give\nme many an heart-ache. God send the constant sight of so much misery may\nnot render me callous!--It is certain, there are people here, who,\nwhatever their feelings might have been on this occasion at first, seem\nnow little affected by it. Those who are too much familiarized with\nscenes of wretchedness, as well as those to whom they are unknown, are\nnot often very susceptible; and I am sometimes disposed to cavil with our\nnatures, that the sufferings which ought to excite our benevolence, and\nthe prosperity that enables us to relieve them, should ever have a\ncontrary effect. Yet this is so true, that I have scarcely ever observed\neven the poor considerate towards each other--and the rich, if they are\nfrequently charitable, are not always compassionate.*\n * Our situation at the Bicetre, though terrible for people unused to\n hardships or confinement, and in fact, wretched as personal\n inconvenience could make it, was yet Elysium, compared to the\n prisons of other departments. At St. Omer, the prisoners were\n frequently disturbed at midnight by the entrance of men into their\n apartments, who, with the detestable ensign of their order, (red\n caps,) and pipes in their mouths, came by way of frolic to search\n their pockets, trunks, &c.--At Montreuil, the Maisons d'Arret were\n under the direction of a Commissary, whose behaviour to the female\n prisoners was too atrocious for recital--two young women, in\n particular, who refused to purchase milder treatment, were locked up\n in a room for seventeen days.--Soon after I left Arras, every prison\n became a den of horror. The miserable inhabitants were subject to\n the agents of Le Bon, whose avarice, cruelty, and licentiousness,\n were beyond any thing a humane mind can imagine. Sometimes the\n houses were suddenly surrounded by an armed force, the prisoners\n turned out in the depth of winter for several hours into an open\n court, during the operation of robbing them of their pocket-books,\n buckles, ear-rings, or whatever article of value they had about\n them. At other times they were visited by the same military array,\n and deprived of their linen and clothes. Their wine and provisions\n were likewise taken from them in the same manner--wives were\n separated from their husbands, parents from their children, old men\n treated with the most savage barbarity, and young women with an\n indecency still more abominable. All communication, either by\n writing or otherwise, was often prohibited for many days together,\n and an order was once given to prevent even the entry of provisions,\n which was not revoked till the prisoners became absolutely\n distressed. At the Hotel Dieu they were forbidden to draw more than\n a single jug of water in twenty-four hours. At the Providence, the\n well was left three days without a cord, and when the unfortunate\n females confined there procured people to beg water of the\n neighbours, they were refused, \"because it was for prisoners, and if\n Le Bon heard of it he might be displeased!\" Windows were blocked\n up, not to prevent escape, but to exclude air; and when the general\n scarcity rendered it impossible for the prisoners to procure\n sufficient food for their support, their small portions were\n diminished at the gate, under pretext of searching for letters, &c.\n --People, respectable both for their rank and character, were\n employed to clean the prisons and privies, while their low and\n insolent tyrants looked on and insulted them. On an occasion when\n one of the Maisons d'Arrets was on fire, guards were planted round,\n with orders to fire upon those that should attempt to escape.--My\n memory has but too faithfully recorded these and still greater\n horrors; but curiosity would be gratified but too dearly by the\n relation. I added the above note some months after writing the\n letter to which it is annexed.\nBesides the gentry and clergy of this department, we have likewise for\ncompanions a number of inhabitants of Lisle, arrested under circumstances\nsingularly atrocious, even where atrocity is the characteristic of almost\nevery proceeding.--In the month of August a decree was passed to oblige\nall the nobility, clergy, and their servants, as well as all those\npersons who had been in the service of emigrants, to depart from Lisle in\neight-and-forty hours, and prohibiting their residence within twenty\nleagues from the frontiers. Thus banished from their own habitations,\nthey took refuge in different towns, at the prescribed distance; but,\nalmost as soon as they were arrived, and had been at the expence of\nsettling themselves, they were arrested as strangers,* and conducted to\nprison.\n * I have before, I believe, noticed that the term estranger at this\n time did not exclusively apply to foreigners, but to such as had\n come from one town to another, who were at inns or on a visit to\n their friends.\nIt will not be improper to notice here the conduct of the government\ntowards the towns that have been besieged. Thionville,* to whose gallant\ndefence in 1792 France owed the retreat of the Prussians and the safety\nof Paris, was afterwards continually reproached with aristocracy; and\nwhen the inhabitants sent a deputation to solicit an indemnity for the\ndamage the town had sustained during the bombardment a member of the\nConvention threatened them from the tribune with \"indemnities a coup de\nbaton!\" that is, in our vernacular tongue, with a good thrashing.\n * Wimpsen, who commanded there, and whose conduct at the time was\n enthusiastically admired, was driven, most probably by the\n ingratitude and ill treatment of the Convention, to head a party of\n the Foederalists.--These legislators perpetually boast of imitating\n and surpassing the Romans, and it is certain, that their ingratitude\n has made more than one Coriolanus. The difference is, that they are\n not jealous for the liberty of the country, but for their own\n personal safety.\nThe inhabitants of Lisle, who had been equally serviceable in stopping\nthe progress of the Austrians, for a long time petitioned without effect\nto obtain the sums already voted for their relief. The noblesse, and\nothers from thence who have been arrested, as soon as it was known that\nthey were Lillois, were treated with peculiar rigour;* and an _armee\nrevolutionnaire,_** with the Guillotine for a standard, has lately\nharrassed the town and environs of Lisle, as though it were a conquered\ncountry.\n * The Commandant of Lisle, on his arrival at the Bicetre, was\n stripped of a considerable sum of money, and a quantity of plate he\n had unluckily brought with him by way of security. Out of this he\n is to be supplied with fifty livres at a time in paper, which,\n according to the exchange and the price of every thing, is, I\n suppose, about half a guinea.\n ** The armee revolutionnaire was first raised by order of the\n Jacobins, for the purpose of searching the countries for provisions,\n and conducting them to Paris. Under this pretext, a levy was made\n of all the most desperate ruffians that could be collected together.\n They were divided into companies, each with its attendant\n Guillotine, and then distributed in the different departments:\n they had extraordinary pay, and seem to have been subject to no\n discipline. Many of them were distinguished by the representation\n of a Guillotine in miniature, and a head just severed, on their\n cartouch-boxes. It would be impossible to describe half the\n enormities committed by these banditti: wherever they went they were\n regarded as a scourge, and every heart shrunk at their approach.\n Lecointre, of Versailles, a member of the Convention, complained\n that a band of these wretches entered the house of a farmer, one of\n his tenants, by night, and, after binding the family hand and foot,\n and helping themselves to whatever they could find, they placed the\n farmer with his bare feet on the chaffing-dish of hot ashes, by way\n of forcing him to discover where he had secreted his plate and\n money, which having secured, they set all the vessels of liquor\n running, and then retired.\nYou are not to suppose this a robbery, and the actors common thieves; all\nwas in the usual form--\"au nom de la loi,\" and for the service of the\nrepublic; and I do not mention this instance as remarkable, otherwise\nthan as having been noticed in the Convention. A thousand events of this\nkind, even still more atrocious, have happened; but the sufferers who had\nnot the means of defence as well as of complaint, were obliged, through\npolicy, to be silent.\n--The garrison and national guard, indignant at the horrors they\ncommitted, obliged them to decamp. Even the people of Dunkirk, whose\nresistance to the English, while the French army was collecting together\nfor their relief, was perhaps of more consequence than ten victories,\nhave been since intimidated with Commissioners, and Tribunals, and\nGuillotines, as much as if they had been convicted of selling the town.\nIn short, under this philanthropic republic, persecution seems to be very\nexactly proportioned to the services rendered. A jealous and suspicious\ngovernment does not forget, that the same energy of character which has\nenabled a people to defend themselves against an external enemy, may also\nmake them less submissive to domestic oppression; and, far from repaying\nthem with the gratitude to which they have a claim, it treats them, on\nall occasions, as opponents, whom it both fears and hates.\nNov. 22. We have been walking in the yard to-day with General Laveneur,\nwho, for an act which in any other country would have gained him credit,\nis in this suspended from his command.--When Custine, a few weeks before\nhis death, left the army to visit some of the neighbouring towns, the\ncommand devolved on Laveneur, who received, along with other official\npapers, a list of countersigns, which, having probably been made some\ntime, and not altered conformably to the changes of the day, contained,\namong others, the words Condorcet--Constitution; and these were in their\nturn given out. On Custine's trial, this was made a part of his\naccusation. Laveneur, recollecting that the circumstance had happened in\nthe absence of Custine, thought it incumbent on him to take the blame, if\nthere were any, on himself, and wrote to Paris to explain the matter as\nit really stood; but his candour, without availing Custine, drew\npersecution on himself, and the only notice taken of his letter was an\norder to arrest him. After being dragged from one town to another, like\na criminal, and often lodged in dungeons and common prisons, he was at\nlength deposited here.\nI know not if the General's principles are republican, but he has a very\ndemocratic pair of whiskers, which he occasionally strokes, and seems to\ncherish with much affection. He is, however, a gentleman-like man, and\nexpresses such anxiety for the fate of his wife and children, who are now\nat Paris, that one cannot but be interested in his favour.--As the agents\nof the republic never err on the side of omission, they arrested Mons.\nLaveneur's aid-de-camp with him; and another officer of his acquaintance,\nwho was suspended, and living at Amiens, has shared the same fate, only\nfor endeavouring to procure him a trifling accommodation. This gentleman\ncalled on Dumont, to beg that General Laveneur's servant might be\npermitted to go in and out of the prison on his master's errands. After\nbreakfasting together, and conversing on very civil terms, Dumont told\nhim, that as he concerned himself so much in behalf of his friend, he\nwould send him to keep the latter company, and at the conclusion of his\nvisit he was sent prisoner to the Bicetre.\nPerhaps the greater part of between three and four hundred thousand\npeople, now imprisoned on suspicion, have been arrested for reasons as\nlittle substantial.\n--I begin to fear my health will not resist the hardship of a long\ncontinuance here. We have no fire-place, and are sometimes starved\nwith partial winds from the doors and roof; at others faint and heartsick\nwith the unhealthy air produced by so many living bodies. The water we\ndrink is not preferable to the air we breathe; the bread (which is now\nevery where scarce and bad) contains such a mixture of barley, rye,\ndamaged wheat, and trash of all kinds, that, far from being nourished by\nit, I lose both my strength and appetite daily.--Yet these are not the\nworst of our sufferings. Shut out from all society, victims of a\ndespotic and unprincipled government capable of every thing, and ignorant\nof the fate which may await us, we are occasionally oppressed by a\nthousand melancholy apprehensions. I might, indeed, have boasted of my\nfortitude, and have made myself an heroine on paper at as small an\nexpence of words as it has cost me to record my cowardice: but I am of an\nunlucky conformation, and think either too much or too little (I know not\nwhich) for a female philosopher; besides, philosophy is getting into such\nill repute, that not possessing the reality, the name of it is not worth\nassuming.\nA poor old priest told me just now, (while Angelique was mending his\nblack coat with white thread,) that they had left at the place where they\nwere last confined a large quantity of linen, and other necessaries; but,\nby the express orders of Dumont, they were not allowed to bring a single\narticle away with them. The keeper, too, it seems, was threatened with\ndismission, for supplying one of them with a shirt.--In England, where,\nI believe, you ally political expediency as much as you can with justice\nand humanity, these cruelties, at once little and refined, will appear\nincredible; and the French themselves, who are at least ashamed of, if\nthey are not pained by, them, are obliged to seek refuge in the fancied\npalliative of a \"state of revolution.\"--Yet, admitting the necessity of\nconfining the persons of these old men, there can be none for heaping\nthem together in filth and misery, and adding to the sufferings of years\nand infirmity by those of cold and want. If, indeed, a state of\nrevolution require such deeds, and imply an apology for them, I cannot\nbut wish the French had remained as they were, for I know of no political\nchanges that can compensate for turning a civilized nation into a people\nof savages. It is not surely the eating acorns or ragouts, a\nwell-powdered head, or one decorated with red feathers, that constitutes\nthe difference between barbarism and civilization; and, I fear, if the\nFrench proceed as they have begun, the advantage of morals will be\nconsiderably on the side of the unrefined savages.\nThe conversation of the prison has been much engaged by the fate of an\nEnglish gentleman, who lately destroyed himself in a Maison d'Arret at\nAmiens. His confinement had at first deeply affected his spirits, and\nhis melancholy increasing at the prospect of a long detention, terminated\nin deranging his mind, and occasioned this last act of despair.--I never\nhear of suicide without a compassion mingled with terror, for, perhaps,\nsimple pity is too light an emotion to be excited by an event which\nreminds us, that we are susceptible of a degree of misery too great to be\nborne--too strong for the efforts of instinct, reflection, and religion.\n--I could moralize on the necessity of habitual patience, and the benefit\nof preparing the mind for great evils by a philosophic endurance of\nlittle ones; but I am at the Bicetre--the winds whistle round me--I am\nbeset by petty distresses, and we do not expatiate to advantage on\nendurance while we have any thing to endure.--Seneca's contempt for the\nthings of this world was doubtless suggested in the palace of Nero. He\nwould not have treated the subject so well in disgrace and poverty. Do\nnot suppose I am affecting to be pleasant, for I write in the sober\nsadness of conviction, that human fortitude is often no better than a\npompous theory, founded on self-love and self-deception.\nI was surprized at meeting among our fellow-prisoners a number of Dutch\nofficers. I find they had been some time in the town on their parole,\nand were sent here by Dumont, for refusing to permit their men to work on\nthe fortifications.--The French government and its agents despise the\nlaws of war hitherto observed; they consider them as a sort of\naristocratie militaire, and they pretend, on the same principle, to be\nenfranchised from the law of nations.--An orator of the convention lately\nboasted, that he felt himself infinitely superior to the prejudices of\nGrotius, Puffendorff, and Vatel, which he calls \"l'aristocratie\ndiplomatique.\"--Such sublime spirits think, because they differ from the\nrest of mankind, that they surpass them. Like Icarus, they attempt to\nfly, and are perpetually struggling in the mire.--Plain common sense has\nlong pointed out a rule of action, from which all deviation is fatal,\nboth to nations and individuals. England, as well as France, has\nfurnished its examples; and the annals of genius in all countries are\nreplete with the miseries of eccentricity.--Whoever has followed the\ncourse of the French revolution, will, I believe, be convinced, that the\ngreatest evils attending on it have been occasioned by an affected\ncontempt for received maxims. A common banditti, acting only from the\ndesire of plunder, or men, erring only through ignorance, could not have\nsubjugated an whole people, had they not been assisted by narrow-minded\nphilosophers, who were eager to sacrifice their country to the vanity of\nmaking experiments, and were little solicitous whether their systems were\ngood or bad, provided they were celebrated as the authors of them. Yet,\nwhere are they now? Wandering, proscribed, and trembling at the fate of\ntheir followers and accomplices.--The Brissotins, sacrificed by a party\neven worse than themselves, have died without exciting either pity or\nadmiration. Their fall was considered as the natural consequence of\ntheir exaltation, and the courage with which they met death obtained no\ntribute but a cold and simple comment, undistinguished from the news of\nthe day, and ending with it.\nDecember.\nLast night, after we had been asleep about an hour, (for habit, that\n\"lulls the wet sea-boy on the high and giddy mast,\" has reconciled us to\nsleep even here,) we were alarmed by the trampling of feet, and sudden\nunlocking of our door. Our apprehensions gave us no time for conjecture\n--in a moment an ill-looking fellow entered the room with a lantern, two\nsoldiers holding drawn swords, and a large dog! The whole company walked\nas it were processionally to the end of the apartment, and, after\nobserving in silence the beds on each side, left us. It would not be\neasy to describe what we suffered at this moment: for my own part, I\nthought only of the massacres of September, and the frequent proposals at\nthe Jacobins and the Convention for dispatching the _\"gens suspect,\"_\nand really concluded I was going to terminate my existence\n_\"revolutionnairement.\"_ I do not now know the purport of these visits,\nbut I find they are not unusual, and most probably intended to alarm the\nprisoners.\nAfter many enquiries and messages, I have had the mortification of\nhearing that Mr. and Mrs. D____ were taken to Arras, and were there even\nbefore I left it. The letters sent to and from the different prisons are\nread by so many people, and pass through so many hands, that it is not\nsurprizing we have not heard from each other. As far as I can learn,\nthey had obtained leave, after their first arrest, to remove to a house\nin the vicinity of Dourlens for a few days, on account of Mrs. D____'s\nhealth, which had suffered by passing the summer in the town, and that at\nthe taking of Toulon they were again arrested while on a visit, and\nconveyed to a _Maison d'Arret_ at Arras. I am the more anxious for them,\nas it seems they were unprepared for such an event; and as the seals were\nput upon their effects, I fear they must be in want of every thing. I\nmight, perhaps, have succeeded in getting them removed here, but Fleury's\nArras friend, it seems, did not think, when the Convention had abolished\nevery other part of Christianity, that they intended still to exact a\npartial observance of the eighth article of the decalogue; and having, in\nthe sense of Antient Pistol, \"conveyed\" a little too notoriously, Le Bon\nhas, by way of securing him from notice or pursuit, sent him to the\nfrontiers in the capacity of Commissary.\nThe prison, considering how many French inhabitants it contains, is\ntolerably quiet--to say the truth, we are not very sociable, and still\nless gay. Common interest establishes a sort of intimacy between those\nof the same apartment; but the rest of the house pass each other, without\nfarther intercourse than silent though significant civility. Sometimes\nyou see a pair of unfortunate aristocrates talking politics at the end of\na passage, or on a landing-place; and here and there a bevy of females,\nen deshabille, recounting altogether the subject of their arrest. One's\near occasionally catches a few half-suppressed notes of a proscribed\naire, but the unhallowed sounds of the Carmagnole and Marseillois are\nnever heard, and would be thought more dissonant here than the war-whoop.\nIn fact, the only appearance of gaiety is among the ideots and lunatics.\n--_\"Je m'ennuye furieusement,\"_ is the general exclamation.--An Englishman\nconfined at the Bicetre would express himself more forcibly, but, it is\ncertain, the want of knowing how to employ themselves does not form a\nsmall part of the distresses of our fellow-prisoners; and when they tell\nus they are _\"ennuyes,\"_ they say, perhaps, nearly as much as they feel--\nfor, as far as I can observe, the loss of liberty has not the same effect\non a Frenchman as an Englishman. Whether this arises from political\ncauses, or the natural indifference of the French character, I am not\nqualified to determine; probably from both: yet when I observe this\nfacility of mind general, and by no means peculiar to the higher classes,\nI cannot myself but be of opinion, that it is more an effect of their\noriginal disposition than of their form of government; for though in\nEngland we were accustomed from our childhood to consider every man in\nFrance as liable to wake and find himself in the Bastille, or at Mont St.\nMichel, this formidable despotism existed more in theory than in\npractice; and if courtiers and men of letters were intimidated by it,\nthe mass of the people troubled themselves very little about Lettres de\nCachet. The revenge or suspicion of Ministers might sometimes pursue\nthose who aimed at their power, or assailed their reputation; but the\nlesser gentry, the merchants, or the shopkeepers, were very seldom\nvictims of arbitrary imprisonment--and I believe, amongst the evils which\nit was the object of the revolution to redress, this (except on the\nprinciple) was far from being of the first magnitude. I am not likely,\nunder my present circumstances, to be an advocate for the despotism of\nany form of government; and I only give it as a matter of opinion, that\nthe civil liberty of the French was not so often and generally violated,*\nas to influence their character in such a degree as to render them\ninsensible of its loss. At any rate, we must rank it among the\n_bizarreries_ [Unaccountable whimsical events.] of this world, that the\nFrench should have been prepared, by the theory of oppression under their\nold system, for enduring the practice of it under the new one; and that\nwhat during the monarchy was only possible to a few, is, under the\nrepublic, almost certain to all.\n * I remember in 1789, after the destruction of the Bastille, our\n compassionate countrymen were taught to believe that this tremendous\n prison was peopled with victims, and that even the dungeons were\n inhabited; yet the truth is, though it would not have told so\n pathetically, or have produced so much theatrical effect, there were\n only seven persons confined in the whole building, and certainly not\n one in the dungeons.\nAmiens, Providence, Dec. 10, 1793.\nWe have again, as you will perceive, changed our abode, and that too\nwithout expecting, and almost without desiring it. In my moments of\nsullenness and despondency, I was not very solicitous about the\nmodifications of our confinement, and little disposed to be better\nsatisfied with one prison than another: but, heroics apart, external\ncomforts are of some importance, and we have, in many respects, gained by\nour removal.\nOur present habitation is a spacious building, lately a convent, and\nthough now crouded with more prisoners by two or three hundred than it\nwill hold conveniently, yet we are better lodged than at the Bicetre, and\nwe have also a large garden, good water, and, what above all is\ndesirable, the liberty of delivering our letters or messages ourselves\n(in presence of the guard) to any one who will venture to approach us.\nMad. de ____ and myself have a small cell, where we have just room to\nplace our beds, but we have no fire-place, and the maids are obliged to\nsleep in an adjoining passage.\nA few evenings ago, while we were at the Bicetre, we were suddenly\ninformed by the keeper that Dumont had sent some soldiers with an order\nto convey us that night to the Providence. We were at first rather\nsurprized than pleased, and reluctantly gathered our baggage together\nwith as much expedition as we could, while the men who were to escort us\nwere exclaiming \"a la Francaise\" at the trifling delay this occasioned.\nWhen we had passed the gate, we found Fleury, with some porters, ready to\nreceive our beds, and overjoyed at having procured us a more decent\nprison, for, it seems, he could by no means reconcile himself to the name\nof Bicetre. We had about half a mile to walk, and on the road he\ncontrived to acquaint us with the means by which he had solicited this\nfavour of Dumont. After advising with all Mad. de ____'s friends who\nwere yet at liberty, and finding no one willing to make an effort in her\nbehalf, for fear of involving themselves, he discovered an old\nacquaintance in the \"femme de chambre\" of one of Fleury's mistresses.--\nThis, for one of Fleury's sagacity, was a spring to have set the whole\nConvention in a ferment; and in a few days he profited so well by this\nfemale patronage, as to obtain an order for transferring us hither. On\nour arrival, we were informed, as usual, that the house was already full,\nand that there was no possibility of admitting us. We however, set up\nall night in the keeper's room with some other people newly arrived like\nourselves, and in the morning, after a little disputing and a pretty\ngeneral derangement of the more ancient inhabitants, we were \"nichees,\"\nas I have described to you.\nWe have not yet quitted our room much, but I observe that every one\nappears more chearful, and more studied in their toilette, than at the\nBicetre, and I am willing to infer from thence that confinement here is\nless insupportable.--I have been employed two days in enlarging the notes\nI had made in our last prison, and in making them more legible, for I\nventured no farther than just to scribble with a pencil in a kind of\nshort-hand of my own invention, and not even that without a variety of\nprecautions. I shall be here less liable either to surprize or\nobservation, and as soon as I have secured what I have already noted,\n(which I intend to do to-night,) I shall continue my remarks in the usual\nform. You will find even more than my customary incorrectness and want\nof method since we left Peronne; but I shall not allow your competency as\na critic, until you have been a prisoner in the hands of French\nrepublicans.\nIt will not be improper to notice to you a very ingenious decree of\nGaston, (a member of the Convention,) who lately proposed to embark all\nthe English now in France at Brest, and then to sink the ships.--Perhaps\nthe Committee of Public Welfare are now in a sort of benevolent\nindecision, whether this, or Collot d'Herbois' gunpowder scheme, shall\nhave the preference. Legendre's iron cage and simple hanging will,\ndoubtless, be rejected, as too slow and formal. The mode of the day is\n\"les grandes mesures.\" If I be not seriously alarmed at these\npropositions, it is not that life is indifferent to me, or that I think\nthe government too humane to adopt them. My tranquillity arises from\nreflecting that such measures would be of no political use, and that we\nshall most likely be soon forgotten in the multitude of more important\nconcerns. Those, however, whom I endeavour to console by this reasoning,\ntell me it is nothing less than infallible, that the inutility of a crime\nis here no security against its perpetration, and that any project which\ntends to evil will sooner be remembered than one of humanity or justice.\n[End of Vol. I. The Printed Books]\n[Beginning of Volume II. Of The Printed Books]\nProvidence, Dec. 20, 1793.\n\"All places that are visited by the eye of Heaven, are to the wise man\nhappy havens.\" If Shakspeare's philosophy be orthodox, the French have,\nit must be confessed, many claims to the reputation of a wise people; and\nthough you know I always disputed their pretensions to general gaiety,\nyet I acknowledge that misfortune does not deprive them of the share they\npossess, and, if one may judge by appearances, they have at least the\nhabit, more than any other nation, of finding content under situations\nwith which it should seem incompatible. We are here between six and\nseven hundred, of all ages and of all ranks, taken from our homes, and\nfrom all that usually makes the comfort of life, and crowded together\nunder many of the inflictions that constitute its misery; yet, in the\nmidst of all this, we fiddle, dress, rhyme, and visit as ceremoniously as\nthough we had nothing to disturb us. Our beaux, after being correctly\nfrizz'd and powdered behind some door, compliment the belle just escaped\nfrom a toilet, performed amidst the apparatus of the kitchen; three or\nfour beds are piled one upon another to make room for as many\ncard-tables; and the wits of the prison, who are all the morning\nemployed in writing doleful placets to obtain their liberty, in the\nevening celebrate the loss of it in bout-rimees and acrostics.\nI saw an ass at the _Corps de Garde_ this morning laden with violins and\nmusic, and a female prisoner seldom arrives without her complement of\nbandboxes.--Embarrassed, stifled as we are by our numbers, it does not\nprevent a daily importation of lap-dogs, who form as consequential a part\nof the community in a prison, as in the most superb hotel. The faithful\nvalet, who has followed the fortunes of his master, does not so much\nshare his distresses as contribute to his pleasure by adorning his\nperson, or, rather, his head, for, excepting the article of\nhair-dressing, the beaux here are not elaborate. In short, there is an\nindifference, a frivolity, in the French character, which, in\ncircumstances like the present, appears unaccountable. But man is not\nalways consistent with himself, and there are occasions in which the\nFrench are nothing less than philosophers. Under all these externals of\nlevity, they are a very prudent people, and though they seem to bear\nwith infinite fortitude many of the evils of life, there are some in\nwhich their sensibility is not to be questioned. At the death of a\nrelation, or the loss of liberty, I have observed that a few hours\nsuffice, _pour prendre son parti;_ [To make up his mind.] but on any\noccasion where his fortune has suffered, the liveliest Frenchman is _au\ndesespoir_ for whole days. Whenever any thing is to be lost or gained,\nall his characteristic indifference vanishes, and his attention becomes\nmentally concentrated, without dissipating the habitual smile of his\ncountenance. He may sometimes be deceived through deficiency of\njudgment, but I believe not often by unguardedness; and, in a matter of\ninterest, a _petit maitre_ of five-and-twenty might _tout en badinage_\n[All in the way of pleasantry.] maintain his ground against a whole\nsynagogue.--This disposition is not remarkable only in affairs that may\nbe supposed to require it, but extends to the minutest objects; and the\nsame oeconomy which watches over the mass of a Frenchman's estate,\nguards with equal solicitude the menu property of a log of wood, or a\nhen's nest.\nThere is at this moment a general scarcity of provisions, and we who are\nconfined are, of course, particularly inconvenienced by it; we do not\neven get bread that is eatable, and it is curious to observe with what\ncircumspection every one talks of his resources. The possessor of a few\neggs takes care not to expose them to the eye of his neighbour; and a\nslice of white bread is a donation of so much consequence, that those who\nprocure any for themselves do not often put their friends to the pain\neither of accepting or refusing it.\nMad. de ____ has been unwell for some days, and I could not help giving a\nhint to a relation of her's whom we found here, and who has frequent\nsupplies of bread from the country, that the bread we eat was peculiarly\ninimical to her; but I gained only a look of repulsive apprehension, and\na cold remark that it was very difficult to get good bread--_\"et que\nc'etoit bien malheureux.\"_ [And that it certainly was very unfortunate.]\nI own this kind of selfishness is increased by a situation where our\nwants are numerous, and our enjoyments few; and the great distinctions of\nmeum and tuum, which at all times have occasioned so much bad fellowship\nin the world, are here perhaps more rigidly observed than any where else;\nyet, in my opinion, a close-hearted consideration has always formed an\nessential and a predominant quality in the French character.\nPeople here do not ruin themselves, as with us, by hospitality; and\nexamples of that thoughtless profusion which we censure and regret,\nwithout being able entirely to condemn, are very rare indeed. In France\nit is not uncommon to see a man apparently dissipated in his conduct, and\nlicentious in his morals, yet regular, even to parsimony, in his\npecuniary concerns.--He oeconomizes with his vices, and indulges in all\nthe excesses of fashionable life, with the same system of order that\naccumulates the fortune of a Dutch miser. Lord Chesterfield was\ndoubtless satisfied, that while his son remained in France, his precepts\nwould have all the benefit of living illustration; yet it is not certain\nthat this cautious and reflecting licentiousness has any merit over the\nmore imprudent irregularity of an English spendthrift: the one is,\nhowever, likely to be more durable than the other; and, in fact, the\ncharacter of an old libertine is more frequent in France than in England.\nIf oeconomy preside even over the vices of the rich and fashionable, you\nmay conclude that the habits of the middling ranks of people of small\nfortunes are still more scrupulously subjected to its influence. A\nFrench _menage_ [Household.] is a practical treatise on the art of\nsaving--a spirit of oeconomy pervades and directs every part of it, and\nthat so uniformly, so generally, and so consistently, as not to make the\nsame impression on a stranger as would a single instance where the whole\nwas not conducted on the same principle. A traveller is not so forcibly\nstricken by this part of the French character, because it is more real\nthan apparent, and does not seem the effect of reasoning or effort, which\nis never consequential, but rather that of inclination and the natural\ncourse of things.\nA degree of parsimony, which an Englishman, who does not affect the\nreputation of a Codrus, could not acquire without many self-combats,\nappears in a Frenchman a matter of preference and convenience, and till\none has lived long and familiarly in the country, one is apt to mistake\nprinciples for customs, and character for manners, and to attribute many\nthings to local which have their real source in moral causes.--The\ntraveller who sees nothing but gay furniture, and gay clothes, and\npartakes on invitation of splendid repasts, returns to England the\nenamoured panegyrist of French hospitality.--On a longer residence and\nmore domestic intercourse, all this is discoverable to be merely the\nsacrifice of parsimony to vanity--the solid comforts of life are unknown,\nand hospitality seldom extends beyond an occasional and ostentatious\nreception. The gilding, painting, glasses, and silk hangings of a French\napartment, are only a gay disguise; and a house, which to the eye may be\nattractive even to splendour, often has not one room that an Englishman\nwould find tolerably convenient. Every thing intended for use rather\nthan shew is scanty and sordid--all is _beau, magnifique, gentil,_ or\n_superb,_ [Fine magnificent, genteel, or superb.] and nothing\ncomfortable. The French have not the word, or its synonime, in their\nlanguage.\nIn France, clothes are almost as durable as furniture, and the gaiety\nwhich twenty or thirty years ago we were complaisant enough to admire is\nfar from being expensive. People are not more than five or six hours a\nday in their gala habits, and the whole of this period is judiciously\nchosen between the hours of repast, so that no risk in incurred by\naccidents at table. Then the caprices of fashion, which in England are\nso various and despotic, have here a more limited influence: the form of\na dress changes as long as the material is convertible, and when it has\noutlasted the possibility of adaptation to a reigning mode, it is not on\nthat account rejected, but is generally worn in some way or other till\nbanished by the more rational motive of its decay. All the expences of\ntea-visits, breakfast-loungings, and chance-dinners, are avoided--an\nevening visit is passed entirely at cards, a breakfast in form even for\nthe family is unusual, and there are very few houses where you could dine\nwithout being previously engaged. I am, indeed, certain, that (unless in\nlarge establishments) the calculation for diurnal supply is so exact,\nthat the intrusion of a stranger would be felt by the whole family. I\nmust, however, do them the justice to say, that on such occasions, and\nwhere they find the thing to be inevitable, they put the best face\npossible on it, and the guest is entertained, if not plentifully, and\nwith a very sincere welcome, at least with smiles and compliments. The\nFrench, indeed, allow, that they live less hospitably than the English:\nbut then they say they are not so rich; and it is true, property is not\nso general, nor so much diffused, as with us. This is, however, only\nrelative, and you will not suspect me of being so uncandid as to make\ncomparisons without allowing for every difference which is the effect of\nnecessity. All my remarks of this kind are made after an unprejudiced\ncomparison of the people of the same rank or fortune in the two\ncountries;--yet even the most liberal examination must end by concluding,\nthat the oeconomy of the French too nearly approaches to meanness, and\nthat their civility is ostentatious, perhaps often either interested, or\neven verbal.\nYou already exclaim, why, in the year 1793, you are characterizing a\nnation in the style of Salmon! and implying a panegyric on the moral of\nthe School for Scandal! I plead to the first part of the charge, and\nshall hereafter defend my opinion against the more polished writers who\nhave succeeded Salmon. For the moral of the School for Scandal, I have\nalways considered it as the seal of humanity on a comedy which would\notherwise be perfection.\nIt is not the oeconomy of the French that I am censuring, but their\nvanity, which, engrossing all their means of expence, prefers show to\naccommodation, and the parade of a sumptuous repast three or four times a\nyear to a plainer but more frequent hospitality.--I am far from being the\nadvocate of extravagance, or the enemy of domestic order; and the\nliberality which is circumscribed only by prudence shall not find in me a\ncensurer.\nMy ideas on the French character and manner of living may not be unuseful\nto such of my countrymen as come to France with the project of retrieving\ntheir affairs; for it is very necessary they should be informed, that it\nis not so much the difference in the price of things, which makes a\nresidence here oeconomical, as a conformity to the habits of the country;\nand if they were not deterred by a false shame from a temporary adoption\nof the same system in England, their object might often be obtained\nwithout leaving it. For this reason it may be remarked, that the English\nwho bring English servants, and persist in their English mode of living,\ndo not often derive very solid advantages from their exile, and their\nabode in France is rather a retreat from their creditors than the means\nof paying their debts.\nAdieu.--You will not be sorry that I have been able for a moment to\nforget our personal sufferings, and the miserable politics of the\ncountry. The details of the former are not pleasant, and the latter grow\nevery day more inexplicable.", "source_dataset": "gutenberg", "source_dataset_detailed": "gutenberg - A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Part II., 1793\n"}, {"source_document": "", "creation_year": 1807, "culture": " English\n", "content": "Produced by KD Weeks, Brian Coe and the Online Distributed\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive)\nThis version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects.\nItalics are delimited with the \u2018_\u2019 character as _italic_.\nFull page images have been moved slightly to the nearest paragraph\nbreak. They were not included in the pagination of the original.\nFootnotes have been moved to follow the paragraph in which they are\nreferenced.\nPlease see the transcriber\u2019s note at the end of this text for details\nregarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its\npreparation.\n ADVENTURES WITH THE CONNAUGHT\n[Illustration]\n LATE LIEUTENANT CONNAUGHT RANGERS\n FELLOW OF ALL SOULS' COLLEGE AND DEPUTY PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY IN\n THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD\n NEW EDITION, ILLUSTRATED\n WITH A PREFACE, NOTES, AND MAPS\nWhile engaged during the last ten years in the task of mastering the\noriginal authorities of the history of the Napoleonic wars, I have had\nto peruse many scores of diaries, autobiographies, and reminiscences of\nthe British military and naval officers who were engaged in the great\nstruggle. They vary, of course, in interest and importance, in literary\nvalue, and in the power of vivid presentation of events. But they have\nthis in common, that they are almost all very difficult to procure. Very\nfew of them have been reprinted; indeed, I believe that the books of\nLord Dundonald, Sir John Kincaid, Gleig, John Shipp, and Colonel Mercer\nare wellnigh the only ones which have passed through a second edition.\nYet there are many others which contain matter of the highest interest,\nnot only for the historical student but for every intelligent reader.\nFrom these I have made a selection of ten or a dozen which seem to me\nwell worth republishing.\nAmong these is the present volume\u2014the reminiscences of a subaltern of\nthe Connaught Rangers, the old 88th. William Grattan was one of the\nwell-known Dublin family of that name\u2014a first-cousin of Thomas Colley\nGrattan the novelist, and a distant kinsman of Henry Grattan the\nstatesman; he joined the regiment as ensign on July 6, 1809. He went out\nto the 1st Battalion, and reached it on the Caya late in 1809; he served\nwith it till the spring of 1813, when he went home on leave, having\nobtained his lieutenancy on April 12, 1812. Thus he was for more than\nfour years continuously with the colours, and saw Busaco, Fuentes\nd\u2019O\u00f1oro, El Bodon, the storms of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, Salamanca,\nand the disastrous retreat from Burgos. He was only off duty for a few\nweeks in 1812, in consequence of a wound received at Badajoz. In the\nranks of the 3rd Division\u2014the \u201cFighting Division\u201d as he is proud to call\nit\u2014he saw a greater portion of the war than most of his contemporaries,\nthough he missed Vittoria and the invasion of France which followed.\nGrattan as an author had two great merits. He had a very considerable\ntalent for describing battles--indeed some of his chapters would not\nhave disgraced the pen of William Napier. Of the many memoirs which I\nhave read, I think that his is on the whole the most graphic and\npicturesque in giving the details of actual conflict. His accounts of\nFuentes D\u2019O\u00f1oro, Salamanca, and above all of the storm and sack of\nCiudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, are admirable. The reader will find in them\nprecisely the touches that make the picture live. His second virtue is a\nlively sense of humour. The Connaught Rangers were the most Irish of all\nIrish regiments, and the \u201cboys that took the world _aisy_,\u201d as Grattan\ncalls them, were as strange a set to manage as ever tried an officer\u2019s\ntemper. \u201cI cannot bring myself to think them, as many did, a parcel of\ndevils,\u201d writes Grattan; \u201cneither will I by any manner of means try to\npass them off for so many saints\u201d (pp. 128\u2013129); but whether good or\nbad, they were always amusing. For the exploits of Ody Brophy and Dan\nCarsons, of Darby Rooney and Barney Mackguekin, I must refer the reader\nto the book itself. Their doings, as recorded by the much-tried\ncommander of their company, explain clearly enough Sir Thomas Picton\u2019s\naddiction to drum-head court-martials, and Lord Wellington\u2019s occasional\nbursts of plain and drastic language.[1] But no one with any sense of\nthe ludicrous can profess any very lasting feeling of indignation\nagainst these merry if unscrupulous rascals.\nFootnote 1:\n See, for example, his remarks on the 88th to Sir James M\u2019Grigor, on\n page 259 of the latter\u2019s autobiography.\nIt is clearly from the domestic annals of the 88th that Charles Lever\ndrew the greater part of the good stories which made the fortune of\n_Charles O\u2019Malley_. The reader will find many of the characters of that\nexcellent romance appearing as actual historical personages in Grattan,\nnotably the eccentric surgeon Maurice Quill, whose fame was so great\nthroughout the British army that the novelist did not even take the\ntrouble to change his name. His colleague Dr. O\u2019Reily was almost as\ngreat an original. Many of the humours of Mickey Free seem to be drawn\ndirectly from the doings of Grattan\u2019s servant Dan Carsons. Comparing the\n\u201creal thing\u201d with the work of fiction, one is driven to conclude that\nmuch of what was regarded as rollicking invention on Lever\u2019s part, was\nonly a photographic reproduction of anecdotes that he had heard from old\nsoldiers of the Connaught Rangers.\nMilitary diaries are often disappointing from one of two causes. Either\nthe author slips into second-hand and second-rate narratives of parts of\nthe campaign which he did not himself witness\u2014things which he had better\nhave left to the professed historian\u2014or he fails to give us those small\ntraits of the daily life of the regiment which are needed to make us\nrealise the actualities of war. Grattan sometimes falls into the\nfirst-named fault, but never into the latter. He seems to have had an\ninstinctive knowledge of what future generations would want to know\nconcerning the old Peninsular army\u2014its trials in the matter of pay,\nfood, and clothing, its shifts and devices, its views of life and death.\nIf any one wishes to know why Sir Thomas Picton was unpopular, or what\nthe private and the subaltern thought about Lord Wellington, they will\nfind what they seek in these pages. Nowhere else have I seen the\npsychology of the stormers of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz dealt with in\nsuch a convincing fashion; let the reader note in particular pages 144\u20135\nI have to confess that in various parts of this reprint I have used the\nEditor\u2019s license to delete a certain amount of the author\u2019s original\nmanuscript. Grattan had two besetting sins considered as a literary man.\nThe first was one to which I have already made allusion. Not\nunfrequently he quitted his autobiographical narrative, and inserted\nlong paragraphs concerning parts of the war of which he had no personal\nknowledge, _e.g._ about the movements of Hill\u2019s corps in Estremadura, or\nof the Spaniards in remote corners of the Peninsula. These, as is\nnatural, are often full of inaccuracies: sometimes (and this is a worse\nfault) they turn out to be taken almost _verbatim_ from formal\nhistories, such as those of Colonel Jones and Lord Londonderry. In one\nplace I found thirty lines which were practically identical with a\npassage in Napier. In all cases these relate to parts of the war which\ndid not come under Grattan\u2019s own eyes: I have therefore ventured to omit\nthem.\nGrattan\u2019s other weakness was a tendency to fly off at a tangent in the\nmiddle of a piece of interesting narrative, in order to controvert the\nstatements of writers with whom he disagreed. He had one special\nfoe\u2014Robinson, the biographer of Sir Thomas Picton, on whom he wasted\nmany an objurgatory paragraph. These small controversial points, on\nwhich he turns aside, break the thread of his discourse in the most\nhopeless fashion, and are now of little interest. I have often, though\nnot always, thought it well to leave out such divagations. At the end of\nthe work, in a similar fashion, a long criticism on a certain speech of\nthe Duke of Wellington in the House of Lords has been omitted. It deals\nwith the story of the long-delayed issue of the war-medal for the\nPeninsula. The whole point of Grattan\u2019s remarks (caustic but well\njustified in most respects) was removed when the medal was at last\nactually distributed, a few months after he had made his complaint.\nThe present volume stops short at the end of the Peninsular war.\nGrattan\u2019s pen travelled farther. Encouraged by the success of his first\nbook, he issued two supplementary volumes: these are of very inferior\ninterest, being mainly concerned with the doings of the 88th in their\nearly campaigns, before the author had joined them. There is much about\nBuenos Ayres, the Low Countries, and Talavera. The rest is composed of\namusing but very rambling reminiscences of garrison life in Canada in\n1814, and in France in 1815\u20131816, and of character sketches of some of\nGrattan\u2019s contemporaries, such as the unfortunate Simon Fairfield,\nconcerning whom the reader will find certain information on pages 130\u20131\nand 324 of this reprint. The whole of these two volumes consists of mere\n_disjecta membra_, much inferior in interest to the first two which the\nauthor had produced.\nGrattan\u2019s military service, which had begun in 1808, ended in 1817, in\nconsequence of the enormous reductions in the effective of the army\nwhich were carried out after the evacuation of France began. His name\nlast appears among combatant officers in the army list for March 1817,\nthe month in which the 88th was reduced from two battalions to one, and\nmany of its officers placed upon half pay. But he lived for thirty years\nlonger, frequently descending into print in the _United Service\nJournal_, to controvert those who seemed to him to undervalue the\nservices of the 88th or the old 3rd Division. In 1836 we find him\nresiding at New Abbey, Kilcullen, and issuing a _Vindication of the\nConnaught Rangers_, which seemed so convincing to the officers of his\nold regiment, that they presented him with a present of plate to the\nvalue of 200 guineas \u201cas a mark of their personal esteem and regard, and\nalso in token of their warm admiration of his triumphant vindication of\nhis gallant regiment from the attacks of the biographer [Robinson] of\nthe late Sir Thomas Picton.\u201d In 1847 he published the two volumes from\nwhich the present reprint is taken. In the following year he received\nhis long-deserved Peninsular Medal. His last appearance in print was the\npublication of the two supplementary volumes of _Anecdotes and\nReminiscences_, mentioned above, in the spring of 1853.\nOXFORD, _November 1902_.\nGrattan\u2019s Memoirs cannot be fully understood without a list of the\ncomrades whom he is perpetually mentioning in the narrative. I therefore\nappend the names of the officers of the 88th from the Army List of\n1809\u201310. I have added to each of those who were killed or wounded during\nthe war a note specifying the casualty. No less than 49 of the 103 names\nbear this addition!\n William Carr Beresford, Major-General, wounded at Salamanca, 22.7.12.\n Alexander Wallace. John Taylor.\n Richard Vandeleur, died at Campo Mayor, 5.11.09.\n Daniel Colquhun.\n John Silver, killed at Busaco, 27.9.10.\n R. Barclay M\u2018Pherson.\n Robert B. M\u2018Gregor.\n Campbell Callendar.\n John Dunne.\n William C. Seton.\n Barnaby Murphy, wounded at Badajoz, killed at Salamanca, 22.7.12.\n Charles John Peshall, wounded at Badajoz, 6.4.12.\n James P. Oates, wounded at Badajoz, 6.4.12.\n William Adair M\u2018Dougall.\n William Hogan, killed at Salamanca, 22.7.12.\n Charles Tryon.\n John Groffer.\n Christopher Irwine, killed at Fuentes d'O\u00f1oro, 5.5.11.\n Joseph Thomson, killed at Badajoz, 6.4.12.\n Richard R. Browne, wounded at Busaco, died at Pinhel, 1810.\n Peter Lindsay, killed at Badajoz, 6.4.12.\n H.G. Buller.\n Walter W. Adair, wounded at Salamanca, 22.7.12.\n Robert N. Nickle, wounded at Toulouse, 10.5.14.\n Henry M\u2018Dermott, wounded at Vittoria, 21.6.13; killed at Orthez,\n George Henry Dansey, wounded at Busaco, 27.9.10.\n J. Macdonald.\n Robert Christie.\n Duncan Robertson, Adj.\n George Bury.\n John Bower Lewis.\n Richard Bunworth.\n William Flack, wounded at Ciudad Rodrigo, 19.1.12.\n William Mackie.\n James Flood, wounded at Vittoria, 21.6.13.\n Richard Fitzpatrick, wounded at Vittoria 21.6.13; wounded at Orthez,\n Nathan Gregg.\n Henry Johnson, killed at Busaco, 27.9.10.\n John Smith, died at Salamanca, 1812.\n Thomas North, killed at Badajoz, 6.4.12.\n John D. Hopwood.\n Alexander Graham.\n John Armstrong, wounded at Rodrigo, 19.1.12; wounded at Badajoz,\n John Stewart, wounded at Fuentes, wounded at Badajoz.\n Robert Hackett, wounded at Fuentes, 5.5.11; died on return voyage.\n George F. Faris.\n Bartholomew Mahon.\n Timothy Richard James.\n William Nickle, wounded at Salamanca, 22.7.12.\n Isaac Walker.\n John Davern, wounded at Badajoz; wounded at Orthez, 27.2.14.\n David Weir.\n Ralph Mansfield, killed at Badajoz, 6.4.12.\n Pat. Heron Cockburn.\n Leigh Heppenstal, killed at Foz d'Aronce, 15.3.11.\n Edward Cotton, killed at Badajoz, 6.4.12.\n Frederick Meade, wounded at Salamanca, 22.7.12.\n Hercules Ellis.\n Samuel M\u2018Alpine, wounded at Fuentes, 5.5.11; killed at Badajoz, 6.4.12.\n George Johnson, wounded at Rodrigo, 19.1.12.\n William Hodder.\n William Whitelaw, wounded at Busaco, 27.9.10; killed at Badajoz,\n Peter Pegus.\n Thomas J. Lloyd.\n Jason Hassard.\n Geoffrey K. Power.\n Christian Hilliard.\n John Graham.\n Maurice O\u2018Connor.\n Thomas Leonard, killed at Busaco, 27.9.10.\n William Rutherford.\n Simon Fairfield.\n Parr Kingsmill, wounded at Salamanca, 22.7.12.\n William Kingsmill, wounded at Rodrigo, 19.1.12.\n Maurice Mahon.\n William Devereux Jackson.\n Joseph Owgan, wounded at Fuentes, 5.5.11.\n John Fairfield.\n William Grattan, wounded at Badajoz, 6.4.12; wounded at Salamanca,\n John Christian.\n John M\u2018Gregor, died on landing at Portsmouth, invalided 1812.\n George Hill.\nThe following additional officers joined the regiment, either as ensigns\nor by exchange as lieutenants and captains from other corps, between\n T. Moriarty, killed at Orthez, 27.2.14.\n John D\u2018Arcy.\n L. Beresford, killed at Ciudad Rodrigo, 19.1.12.\n Walter C. Poole, wounded at Orthez, 27.2.14.\n T. Rutledge, died at Lisan, 12.9.13.\n Richard Holland, wounded at Orthez, 27.2.14.\n James Mitchell, wounded at Orthez, 27.2.14.\n Charles G. Stewart, wounded at Orthez, 27.2.14.\n D. M\u2018Intosh, wounded at Orthez, 27.2.14.\n \u2014\u2014 Gardiner.\n Thomas Taylor.\n Charles Crawford Peshall.\n Samuel Fisher.\n Oliver Mills.\n Barnard Reynolds, killed at Orthez, 27.2.14.\n John Atkin.\n Albert W. Sanders, killed at Vittoria, 21.6.13.\n James M\u2018Clintock.\n George Bunbury.\n William Smith.\n James Wright.\n The Author leaves the depot at Chelmsford, and proceeds to Page 1\n join his regiment in Portugal\u2014The _Samaritan_\u2014Arrival at\n Lisbon\u2014Measures adopted by General Junot\u2014A night\u2019s\n rest\u2014Portuguese barbers\u2014Priest Fernando and Major\n Murphy\u2014March to Aldea Gallega\u2014First sight of the Connaught\n Rangers\n Headquarters of the 88th Regiment\u2014Its losses from Page 12\n sickness\u2014Unhealthy state of the country\u2014The British army\n leaves the Alemtejo\u2014General Picton takes the command of\n the 3rd Division\u2014Remarks on the general\u2019s conduct\u2014His\n apology to Colonel Wallace\u2014The Connaught boy and the goat\n Mass\u00e9na\u2019s invasion of Portugal\u2014Fall of Ciudad Rodrigo and Page 23\n Almeida\u2014Craufurd\u2019s fight on the Coa\u2014Anecdote of Colonel\n Charles Napier\u2014The British retire to the position of\n Busaco\n Battle of Busaco\u2014Daring advance of the French\u2014The Page 30\n achievements of the 88th\u2014Adventure of Captain\n Seton\u2014Alcoba\u00e7a\u2014Remarks on the battle\n Occupation of the Lines of Torres Vedras\u2014An army in Page 47\n motley\u2014An Irish interpreter\u2014Death of the Marquis de la\n Romana\u2014Retreat of Mass\u00e9na\u2019s army from Portugal\u2014Indulgence\n of Lord Wellington\u2014The amenities of a subaltern\u2019s\n existence\n Excesses and sufferings of the French during their Page 56\n retreat\u2014Combats of Foz d'Aronce and Sabugal\u2014Battle of\n Fuentes d'O\u00f1oro\u2014Sir E. Pakenham, Colonel Wallace, and the\n 88th Regiment\n State of the town of Fuentes d'O\u00f1oro after the battle\u2014The Page 70\n wounded\u2014Visit to an amputating hospital\u2014General Brennier\u2019s\n escape from Almeida\u2014Booty in the camp\n Guerilla warfare; its true character\u2014The 3rd Division Page 81\n marches for the Alemtejo\u2014Frenchmen and Irishmen on a\n march\u2014English regiments\u2014Colonel Wallace\u2014Severe\n drilling\u2014Maurice Quill and Dr. O\u2018Reily\u2014Taking a rise\n Second siege of Badajoz\u2014A _reconnoissance_\u2014Death of Captain Page 91\n Patten\u2014Attacks on Fort San Christoval\u2014Their failure\u2014Causes\n of their failure\u2014Gallant conduct of Ensign Dyas, 51st\n Regiment\u2014His promotion by the Duke of York\n We withdraw from Badajoz\u2014Dislike of the British soldier for Page 103\n siege-work\u2014Affair of El Bodon\u2014Gallant conduct of the 5th\n and 77th Regiments\u2014Narrow escape of the 88th from being\n made prisoners\u2014Picton\u2019s conduct on the retreat to Guinaldo\n Retreat of the French army\u2014Vultures on the field of Page 118\n battle\u2014The Light Division and private theatricals\u2014Major\n Leckie and the musician\u2014Privations\u2014The Connaught Rangers\n and the sheep\u2014Deficient kits\u2014Darby Rooney and General\n Mackinnon\n Officers and sergeants\u2014Fairfield and his bad Page 128\n habit\u2014Regimental mechanism\u2014Impolitic familiarity\u20143rd\n Division at the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo\u2014Lieutenant D\u2018Arcy\n and Ody Brophy\u2014The Irish pilot\n Spanish village accommodation\u2014The siege of Ciudad Page 139\n Rodrigo\u2014Picton\u2019s address to the Connaught Rangers in front\n of the breach\u2014Lieutenant William Mackie and the forlorn\n hope\n Storm of Ciudad Rodrigo\u2014Gallant conduct of three soldiers of Page 149\n the 88th\u2014Desperate struggle and capture of a gun\u2014Combat\n between Lieutenant Faris and the French grenadier\u2014A\n Connaught Ranger transformed into a sweep\u2014Anecdote of\n Captain Robert Hardyman of the 45th\u2014Death of General\n Mackinnon\u2014Plunder of Ciudad Rodrigo\u2014Excesses of the\n soldiers\n Results of the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo\u2014The town Page 167\n revisited\u2014Capture of deserters\u2014Sale of the plunder\u2014Army\n rests in cantonments\u2014An execution of deserters\u2014A pardon\n that came too late\n Preparations against Badajoz\u2014Description of this Page 175\n fortress\u2014Its investment\u2014Line of circumvallation formed in\n the night\u2014Sortie of the garrison repulsed\u2014Destructive fire\n of the besieged\u2014Dreadful explosion from a\n shell\u2014Indifference\u2014Deaths of Captain Mulcaster and Major\n Thompson\n State of the enemy\u2019s fort La Picurina from our fire\u2014Attempt Page 187\n to storm it\u2014Desperate defence of the garrison\u2014It is\n carried by assault\u2014Preparations for the grand\n attack\u2014Frightful difficulties of the enterprise\u2014The attack\n and defence\u2014Slaughter of the besiegers\u2014Badajoz taken\n The sacking of Badajoz\u2014Neglect of the wounded\u2014Spaniards and Page 207\n their plunderers\u2014Disgraceful occurrences\u2014Calamities of\n war\u2014The author\u2019s wound and uncomfortable couch\u2014Extent of\n plunder\u2014An auction in the field\u2014Neglect of the 88th by\n General Picton\n Departure from Badajoz\u2014The wounded left to the protection of Page 218\n Spanish soldiers\u2014Subsequently removed to Elvas\u2014The author\n leaves Elvas to join the army\u2014Spaniards and\n Portuguese\u2014Rodrigo revisited\u2014A Spanish ball\u2014Movements of\n Marshal Marmont\u2014Fall of the forts of Salamanca\u2014Amicable\n enemies\n State of the opposing armies previous to the battle of Page 232\n Salamanca\u2014Preliminary movements\u2014The Duke of Ragusa's false\n movement\u2014Pakenham engaged with the enemy\u2019s left\u2014Defeats\n the division under General Thomi\u00e8res\u2014Reinforced, they\n again advance to the attack\u2014Their destruction by a brigade\n of British cavalry\u2014The Portuguese repulsed\u2014Desperate\n exertions of the French\u2014Final charge of Clinton\u2019s\n division\u2014Complete defeat of the French army\n Importance of the battle of Salamanca\u2014Anecdotes of the Page 255\n 88th\u2014Gallantry of Captain Robert Nickle\u2014Pursuit of the\n defeated army of Marshal Marmont\u2014French infantry in square\n broken and destroyed by cavalry\u2014March on Madrid\u2014Frolics at\n St. Ildefonso\u2014Sudden attack of the French\n Lancers\u2014Disgraceful conduct of the Portuguese Dragoons\n The British army approach Madrid\u2014Enthusiastic Page 267\n welcome\u2014Preparations to carry by assault the fortress of\n La China\u2014It surrenders\u2014Description of Madrid\u2014The Puerto\n del Sol\u2014The Prado\u2014Unsociability of English\n officers\u2014Seizure of a Spanish priest\u2014Proved to be a spy in\n the service of the enemy\u2014His execution by the garrotte\n Arrests at Madrid\u2014Advantages of speaking French\u2014Seizure of Page 282\n Don Saturio de Padilla by the police\u2014The author effects\n his liberation\u2014A bull day at Madrid\u2014Private\n theatricals\u2014French and English soldiers\u2014Blowing up the\n Retiro\u2014Retreat from Madrid\u2014A pig hunt\n Sufferings of the army on the retreat\u2014Jokes of the Connaught Page 302\n Rangers\u2014Letter of Lord Wellington\u2014The junior\n officers\u2014Costume of the author during the retreat\u2014An\n unusual enjoyment\n End of the Burgos retreat\u2014Cantonments in Portugal\u2014Rest at Page 314\n last\u2014Shocking effects of excess in eating\u2014The\n neighbourhood of Moimento de Beira\u2014Wolves\u2014The author\n employed to cater for his regiment on St. Patrick\u2019s day\u2014Is\n attacked by wolves on his return\u2014Measure for measure\n Ordered home\u2014Priests carousing\u2014San Carlos gambling-house at Page 322\n Lisbon\u2014Cocking the card\u2014The author quits the\n Peninsula\u2014Adventures on the road\u2014The author\u2019s return to\n Ireland\n Breaking up of the British Peninsular army at the abdication Page 330\n of Napoleon\u2014Separation of the soldiers' wives\u2014The\n elopement\u2014Sad story of Thorp, the Drum-Major\u2014Conclusion\n LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n THE 88TH FOOT (CONNAUGHT RANGERS) _Frontispiece_\n MAP OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL _To face page_ 1\n SERGEANT AND PRIVATE IN WINTER MARCHING ORDER, 1813 \u201d \u201d 308\n[Illustration: MAP OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.]\nThe Author leaves the depot at Chelmsford, and proceeds to join his\n regiment in Portugal\u2014The _Samaritan_\u2014Arrival at Lisbon\u2014Measures\n adopted by General Junot\u2014A night\u2019s rest\u2014Portuguese barbers\u2014Priest\n Fernando and Major Murphy\u2014March to Aldea Gallega\u2014First sight of the\n Connaught Rangers.\nOn the 10th day of October 1809 I left the depot at Chelmsford, and\nproceeded to Portsmouth for the purpose of joining the first battalion\nof my regiment (the 88th) in Portugal.\nThe newspapers announced that a fleet of transport vessels would sail in\na few days from Portsmouth for Lisbon, and although I belonged to the\nsecond battalion, at that period stationed at Gibraltar, I waived all\nceremony, and without asking or obtaining leave from the general in\ncommand at Chelmsford (General Colburn), I took the first coach for\nLondon, where I arrived that evening, and the next day reached\nPortsmouth.\nI waited upon Colonel Barlow, who commanded at Hilsea, and from him\nreceived an order to be admitted on board a transport ship named the\n_Samaritan_. No questions were asked as to my qualification for this\nrequest, as it was much easier in those days to get out to Portugal than\nreturn from it. I then requested of the Colonel that he would give me an\norder for \u201cembarkation money,\u201d which I told him I understood was allowed\nto officers on going to Portugal. He laughed at the demand, and treated\nme with so little courtesy that I was glad to be rid of him.\nI have said the name of the ship in which I was to make my first voyage\nwas the _Samaritan_. So it was. But it most certainly could not be\nfairly called the _Good Samaritan_, for a more crazy old demirep of a\nship never floated on the water. She was one of those vessels sent out,\nwith many others at this period, to be ready to convey our army to\nEngland in the event of any disaster occurring to it. On board of her\nwere ten or a dozen officers, who, like myself, had seen little of the\nworld. We had no soldiers on board, and an inadequate ship\u2019s crew; but\nthose deficiencies were amply made up for by the abundance of rats which\ninfested the vessel, and which not only devoured a great portion of our\nsmall supply of provisions, but nearly ourselves into the bargain. One\nofficer, ill from sea-sickness, was well-nigh losing half of his nose,\nand another had the best part of his great toe eaten away. Providence,\nhowever, at length decreed that we should soon be rid of these torments,\nand on the 29th day of October the Rock of Lisbon presented itself to\nour view.\nIt is difficult to convey to the eye, much less to the imagination of\nthose who have not seen it, a more imposing or beautiful sight than\nLisbon presents when seen from the deck of a vessel entering the Tagus;\nits northern bank, upon which the city stands, sweeping with a gentle\ncurve along the extent of the city, shows to great advantage the vast\npile of buildings, including palaces, convents, and private dwellings,\nstanding like a huge amphitheatre before the view of the spectator; the\nsplendid gardens and orange groves, the former abounding with every\nspecies of botanical plant, while the latter, furnishing the eye with a\nmoving mass of gold, presents a _coup d'\u0153il_ which may be felt or\nconceived, but which cannot be described.\nOur vessel had scarcely reached the river when a pilot boat came\nalongside of us, and for the first time I had an opportunity of looking\nat the natives of Portugal. I confess I was inexpressibly disgusted; the\nsqualid appearance of those half-amphibious animals, their complexion,\ntheir famished looks, and their voracious entreaties for salt pork, gave\nme but a so-so opinion of the patriots I had heard of and read of with\nso much delight and enthusiasm. Their bare throats, not even with muscle\nto recommend them, their dark eyes portraying more of the assassin than\nthe patriot, and their teeth, white no doubt in comparison with their\ndark hides, was sufficient to stamp them in my eyes as the most\nill-looking set of cut-throats I had ever beheld. Their costume, too, is\nanything but striking, except strikingly ugly. Short _demi_ petticoat\ntrousers of white linen, a red sash, and their arms and legs naked, give\nthem the appearance of a race of bad bred North American Indians.\nOn landing at Lisbon, your foot once upon _terra firma_\u2014\n The gorgeous palaces\u2014\nand the fine gardens all vanish, not into _thin_ air, but into the most\ninfernal pestiferous atmosphere that ever unfortunate traveller was\ncompelled to inhale. Here is a hideous change from what the first view\nled you to expect. It is, indeed, \u201clove at first sight.\u201d\nYou are scarcely established in the first street, when you behold a\ngroup of wretches occupied in picking vermin from each other; while,\nsitting beside them, cross-legged, holding a distaff and spindle in her\nleft hand, and fanning her _fogareioro_ with her right, is a woman who\nsells chestnuts to any one whose stomach is strong enough to commence\nthe process of mastication in so filthy a neighbourhood.\nThe appearance of everything in Lisbon is so novel to an Englishman,\nthat he is at a loss what most to fix his attention upon. But the number\nof beggars and the packs of half-famished dogs which infest the streets\nare in themselves sufficient to afford food for the mind, if not for\neither the beggars or the dogs. The latter crowd the streets after\nnightfall and voraciously devour the filth which is indiscriminately\nthrown from the different windows, and it is a dangerous service to\nencounter a pack of those famished creatures.\n In every country there are customs known,\n Which they preserve exclusively their own;\n The Portuguese, by some odd whim infected,\n Have Cloacina\u2019s temple quite rejected.\nThe French general, Junot, whatever his other faults might be, did a\ngood thing in ridding Lisbon of this nuisance. On the fourth day after\nhis arrival he ordered all dogs found in the streets after nightfall to\nbe shot; and the proprietor of every door before which was found any\ndirt, after a certain hour in the morning, he caused to pay a fine\naccording to the quantity found in front of his premises. But Junot had\nbeen too long driven from Lisbon to have his orders respected at the\nperiod I write of, and we were in consequence subjected to the annoyance\nof being poisoned by the accumulated filth, or to the danger of being\ndevoured by the herds of dogs who seemed to consider these windfalls as\ntheir particular perquisite.\nThe beggars, offensive as they were, were less so than the dogs, because\nin Portugal, as in most countries professing the Roman Catholic\nreligion, the giving of alms is considered an imperative duty; and\naccording to their means, all persons supply the wants of the poor. From\nthe gates of the convents, and from the kitchens of the higher classes,\nfood is daily distributed to a vast number of mendicants, and those\npersons actually conceive they have a right to such donations; long\nhabit has in fact sanctioned this right, and secure of the means to\nsupport their existence, they flock daily to their respective stations,\nawaiting the summons which calls them to the portal to receive the\npittance intended for them. Thus it is that strangers suffer less\ninconvenience from this description of persons than they otherwise\nwould, for the laziness of these wretches is so great, that although\nthey will not hesitate to beg alms from a passing stranger, they will\nbarely move from their recumbent posture to receive it, much less offer\nthanks for it.\nSatisfied with my first evening\u2019s excursion, I returned to the hotel\nwhere we had bespoken our dinner and beds. The former was excellent;\ngood fish, for which Lisbon is proverbial, _rago\u00fbts_, and game, all well\nserved up, gave us a _go\u00fbt_ for our wine. We discussed the merits of\ndivers bottles, and it was late ere we retired to our chamber,\u2014I was\ngoing to say place of rest\u2014but never was word more misplaced, had I made\nuse of it. Since the hour of my recollection, up to the moment that I\nwrite these lines, I never passed such a night. From the time I lay\ndown, in hopes of rest, until the dawning of morning, I never, for five\nminutes at a time, closed my eyes. Bugs and fleas attacked me with a\nrelentless fury, and when I arose in the fair daylight, to consult my\nlooking-glass, I had scarcely a feature recognisable. I was not,\nhowever, singular, for all my companions had shared the same fate. But\nit was absolutely necessary, before we attempted to perambulate the\nstreets, that something should be done to render our appearance less\nhorrible. We accordingly summoned the landlord with the view of\nascertaining the name of some medical person who could administer to our\nwants; but he laughed at the idea of calling in surgical aid for so\ntrifling a matter, which he said, and I believe him, was an everyday\noccurrence at his hotel. He recommended to us a man, as he was pleased\nto say, \u201cwell skilled in such cases,\u201d and one who had made a comfortable\ncompetency by his close residence to the hotel we occupied. The person\nwho could have doubted the latter part of our host\u2019s harangue must have\nindeed been casuistical, because the number of patients which, to our\nown ears, not our sight, for sight we had none, fell to him in one\nnight, was a sufficient guarantee that his yearly practice must be\nsomething out of the common.\nThe person thus described, and almost as soon introduced, was no other\nthan the far-famed Joz\u00e9 Almeida Alcantaro de Castreballos, half-brother\nto the celebrated Louiranna well known in Lisbon. A man, who as he\nhimself jocosely said, had taken many a British officer by the nose. He\nwas, in fact, neither more nor less than a common barber, who gained a\nlivelihood by shaving, bleeding, and physicking his customers.\nThe Portuguese barbers are like those of other countries, great\nretailers of scandal, and amply stocked with a fund of amusing\nconversation. They know everything, or seem to know everything, which,\nto nine-tenths of those they meet, is the same thing! This fellow told\nus all the news of the day, and added to it a thousand inventions, which\nhis own fertile imagination supplied. He described the retreat of\nWellington from Talavera as one caused by the want of the Portuguese\narmy to co-operate with him: and if his account was to be given credit\nto, the whole world put together did not contain such an army as that of\nPortugal. He said that General Peacock, who commanded in Lisbon,\ninvented stories every day, and that no intelligence from the army ought\nto be considered sterling, except what emanated from his (the barber\u2019s)\nshop. But then, said he, shrugging up his shoulders, and in broken\nEnglish. \u201cIt is not one very uncommon ting, to see one Peacock spreading\na tail!\u201d He laughed at his pun, and so did we; but I have since heard\nthat the merit of it did not belong to him.\n\u201cBut, gentlemen,\u201d resumed the barber, \u201cI come here as a professional\nman, not as a wit, though for that matter I am as much one as the\nother\u2014but to the point, gentlemen! you seem to have suffered, and I am\nthe man, able, ready, and willing to serve you. Look here,\u201d said he,\nholding up a white jar, having a superscription on the outside to the\nfollowing effect: \u201c_bixas boas_\u201d (good leeches): \u201cI am none of your\nquacks, that come _unprepared_! I do not want to write a prescription\nthat will cost my customers a mint of money! Well did I know what you\nstood in need of when you sent for your humble servant. Within the last\nten days, that is to say, since the arrival of the fleet of transports\nfrom Portsmouth, I have given employment to one thousand leeches in this\nvery house. This hotel has made my fortune, and now, with the blessing\nof God and the Virgin Mary, I\u2019ll add to the number, already made use of,\none hundred more, on the faces of those to whom I have the honour of\naddressing myself.\u201d\nThere was so much truth and sound sense in what the barber said, that we\nall submitted to the operation of leeching, which was of material\nservice to us. Old Wright of the 28th, already, from a wound, blind of\none eye, now began to peep a little with the other, and it was amusing\nenough to those who could see it, to witness the coquetting between him\nand the barber. Indeed it would be difficult to say which of them was\nmost pleased\u2014he who received his sight, or he who was the means of\nrestoring it. Quantities of cloths, steeped in warm water, were applied\nto our faces, and the crimson hue with which every basin was tinctured\nshowed but too plainly that the \u201c_bixas boas_\u201d of the barber Joz\u00e9, were\nof the right sort. We kept our rooms the entire day, ate a moderate and\nlight dinner, and at an early hour retired to our chambers, not without\nsome misgivings of another night-attack. But the barber assured us there\nwas no danger; and whether it was that the vermin, which nearly devoured\nus on the preceding night, had gorged themselves, or that the\napplications which Joz\u00e9 Almeida had administered to our wounded faces\nwas of that nature to give them a nausea towards us, I know not, but, be\nthis as it may, we enjoyed, unmolested, a comfortable night\u2019s repose,\nand in the morning our features had resumed their original shape and\nappearance.\nWe were seated at breakfast when the barber again made his appearance.\nHe congratulated us upon our recovery, received his fee, which was\nextremely moderate, and took his leave. I have not since seen him, or is\nit likely I ever shall. In 1809 he was approximating to his sixtieth\nyear; now thirty-seven years added to sixty would make him rather an\nelderly person. However, should he be still alive, and able to fulfil\nthe functions of his calling as well as he did when I met with him, I\nrecommend him to all those who may visit Lisbon and require his aid; on\nthe other hand, should he be no longer in the land of the living, I have\npaid his memory a just tribute\u2014but not more than he deserved.\nAt twelve o\u2019clock I took a calash and reported myself to Major Murphy of\nthe 88th, who commanded at Belem. By him I was received with great\nkindness, and asked to dine with him at six o\u2019clock. I returned to our\nhotel, where I found my companions awaiting my arrival. Although not\nperfectly restored to their good looks, they agreed to accompany me in a\nstroll through the town, which was a different quarter from that we had\nbefore explored. It was more obscure, and overstocked with beggars of\nevery grade.\nAt six o\u2019clock I arrived at Major Murphy\u2019s quarters at Belem, where were\nseveral officers of the dep\u00f4t. Just as we were about to enter the\ndining-room a note was handed to Murphy from the celebrated priest\nFernando: he was an intimate friend of Murphy, and called the 88th his\nown regiment, because when that corps landed in Lisbon it was quartered\nin the convent of which Fernando was the head. Nothing could exceed his\nkindness and hospitality, and, being the principal of the Inquisition,\nhe was a man of great authority. His note was in these words:\u2014\n\u201cPriest Fernando will cum dis day in boat to dine with Mr. Major\nMurphy.\u201d\nHe was as good as his word, for the note had been scarcely read aloud by\nMurphy when Fernando made his appearance. He was a remarkably handsome\nman, about forty years of age; full of gaiety and spirits, a great\ntalker, a prodigious feeder, and a tremendous drinker. So soon as I was\nintroduced to him he took out a book from his pocket which he opened and\nhanded to me, requesting that I would write down my name in it. This\nbook contained the name of every officer in the first battalion, and\naccording as any died, or were either killed or wounded in action, it\nwas regularly noted after his name. His conduct was of the most\ndisinterested kind, and one of his first questions invariably was\u2014\u201cDid\nwe want money?\u201d It was late before we broke up, and next day an order\nwas issued, directing us to be in readiness to march to join the army on\nthe day but one following.\nIt did not require many hours' preparation to complete our arrangements,\nas there were several experienced officers to accompany the detachment,\nand they not only brought their own animals and provisions, but aided us\nby their advice in the purchase of ours. At the appointed hour all was\nin readiness, and the detachment, consisting of fifteen officers and two\nhundred and twenty men, composed of different regiments, marched from\nBelem, and embarked on the quay in boats which were prepared to carry us\nto Aldea Gallega. A short sail soon brought us across the Tagus, and\ntowards evening we disembarked and took up our quarters at Aldea for the\nnight. Our route, which was made by easy marches, was uninterrupted by\nany circumstance worthy of notice. We passed through the different towns\nof the Alemtejo, in each of which we were hospitably received by the\ninhabitants; not so on our arrival at Badajoz, the headquarters of Lord\nWellington. Nothing could exceed the dogged rudeness of the Spaniards;\nand it was with difficulty we could obtain anything even for money.\nCivility was not to be purchased on any terms, and one of the detachment\nwas killed in a fracas with some drunken muleteers. Next morning we left\nthis inhospitable town, and each party took their respective routes,\nwith the view of rejoining their regiments. Mine, the 88th, was\nstationed at Monforte, distant one march from Badajoz, and here, for the\nfirst time, I saw the \u201cConnaught Rangers.\u201d\nHeadquarters of the 88th Regiment\u2014Its losses from sickness\u2014Unhealthy\n state of the country\u2014The British army leaves the Alemtejo\u2014General\n Picton takes the command of the 3rd Division\u2014Remarks on the\n general\u2019s conduct\u2014His apology to Colonel Wallace\u2014The Connaught Boy\n and the goat.\nThe 88th at this period, although one of the strongest and most\neffective regiments in the army, did not count more than five hundred\nbayonets. The fatigues of the late campaign, and the unhealthiness and\ndebility of many of the soldiers in consequence, caused a material\ndiminution in our ranks; added to this, the country in the neighbourhood\nof the Guadiana was swampy and damp, and what between ague, dysentery,\nand fever, the hospitals were in a few weeks overstocked. Not less than\nten thousand were on the sick list, or about one-third of the entire\nforce, as borne on the muster-rolls; and there was a great paucity of\nmedical officers; many of those had been left at Talavera with the\nwounded, that were of necessity obliged to be abandoned, and others,\neither catching the contagion that raged throughout the country, or\ninfected by their close attendance in the hospitals, were lost to us.\nThe consequence was that the men and officers died daily by tens and\nfifteens, and this mortality was not confined to the old soldiers alone,\nfor the young militia men, who now joined the army from England,\nsuffered equally with those who were half starved on the retreat from\nTalavera, and during the occupation of the bridge of Arzobispo. For\nseveral days the rations of those soldiers consisted of half a pound of\nwheat, _in the grain_, a few ounces of flour twice in the week, and a\nquarter of a pound of goat\u2019s flesh; and regiments which a few weeks\nbefore were capable of exertions that were never equalled during the\nremainder of the Peninsular contest, were now unable to go through an\nordinary march.\nIt was not to be wondered at that men who had so suffered should be now\nattacked with disease when all excitement was over, and a reaction of\nthe system was the natural consequence; but the young men who joined\nfrom England at this period could not be so classed, and as it was\nmanifest that the air of the country was unwholesome, Lord Wellington\ndecided upon marching his army to the north-eastern frontier; yet before\nquitting the Alemtejo it was necessary that the safety of Seville should\nbe guaranteed by a sufficient Spanish force.\nEarly in December the army left the Alemtejo, and by the first week in\nJanuary the 3rd Division was distributed in the different villages in\nthe neighbourhood of Trancoso. The villages of Alverca and Frayadas,\ndistant about two miles from each other, were allotted for the 88th\nRegiment. Midway between the two was a plain of considerable extent, and\nupon this plain the regiment exercised every day for several hours.\nAt the end of six weeks Colonel Wallace had his battalion in the most\nperfect state of discipline that it is possible to conceive; the men\nleft in hospital were speedily joining the ranks, and the stragglers\nwhich were from necessity left behind in the north of Portugal were now\ncoming in fast to their different regiments. It may be remembered that\nthe troops commanded by Lord Beresford in the spring of 1809 suffered\ngreat fatigues in their advance through the province of Tras os Montes;\nthe 88th Regiment formed a portion of this force.\nThe best-regulated army during a campaign, even if carried on under the\nmost favourable circumstances, always becomes more or less relaxed in\nits discipline; and when it is considered that the wreck of the 88th\nRegiment, after its capture at Buenos Ayres, was made up by drafts from\nthe second battalion, that a few short months only were allowed it to\nrecruit and reorganise before it was again employed in Portugal, it may\nbe matter of regret, but certainly not of surprise, that it did not form\nan exception to the general rule.[2] Many stragglers were left behind.\nSome preferred remaining with the Portuguese, and never joined the army\nagain. Nevertheless, many of the good soldiers who had been worn down by\nfatigue and were obliged to make a short stay, soon rallied, followed\nthe track of their different regiments, and joined them by sixes and\nsevens. Others of a different stamp preferred remaining where they were,\nand continued under the hospitable roofs that had given them shelter,\nand made themselves useful to the inhabitants by assisting them to till\ntheir fields and gardens. Others, fatigued with the sameness of the\nscene, went through the country under pretence of seeking their\ndifferent regiments, and in many instances committed acts that were\ndisgraceful; and, strange to say, not the slightest effort was made to\nlook after those stragglers and collect them.\nFootnote 2:\n The Wellington despatches for the summer of 1809 contain two angry\n notes to Donkin, the brigadier commanding the 87th and 88th,\n concerning the vast number of men absent from the ranks.\n[Illustration:\n _Lieut. Gen. Sir T. Picton, G.C.B._\n London, Edward Arnold, 1902.\nSeveral of these men were shot by the peasants, while others were made\nprisoners and were marched by the militia of the country to the nearest\nBritish dep\u00f4t. There they were either flogged, hanged, or shot,\naccording to the nature of their different offences. Others were sent\nunder escorts to whatever corps they belonged. All this relaxation of\ndiscipline commenced, as we have shown, in the early part of 1809, while\nthe regiments of which those marauders formed a portion, between that\nperiod and the end of the year, had marched over hundreds of miles,\nfought a battle in the heart of Spain, occupied a line of posts on the\nGuadiana, and finally, after the lapse of ten months, took up new ground\non the north-eastern frontier of Portugal.\nIt was at this time, and when the 3rd Division were stationed as has\nbeen described, that General Picton joined the army. It would be\nimpossible to deny that a very strong dislike towards the General was\nprevalent. His conduct at the island of Trinidad,[3] while Governor of\nthat colony, and the torture inflicted, by his order, on Louise\nCalderon, a torture which, by the way, had been given up in our army as\nbeing worse than flogging, had impressed all ranks with an unfavourable\nopinion of the man. Besides this, the strong appeal made by Mr. Garrow,\nthe Attorney-General, to the jury by whom he was tried and found guilty,\nwas known to all, and a very general, and I do believe a very unjust\nclamour was raised against him. From what I have just written it will be\nseen in what sort of estimation General Picton was held, and as we of\nhis division had never seen him, his first appearance before his troops\nwas looked for with no little anxiety.\nFootnote 3:\n Sir Thomas Picton, while Governor of Trinidad, then recently conquered\n from Spain, had allowed torture to be used to extort confession from a\n woman accused of theft. This was, he supposed, legal because the\n island was still under Spanish law, which permitted the practice. His\n action led to the case of _Rex_ v. _Picton_, and brought immense odium\n upon his head. The torture was \u201cpicketing.\u201d\nOur wishes were soon gratified, for, in a few days after his arrival at\nTrancoso, a division order was issued stating that on a certain day,\nwhich was named, the division should be under arms and ready to receive\nthe General.\nPunctual to the appointed time, General Picton reached the ground,\naccompanied by his staff; every eye was turned towards him, and, as\nfirst impressions are generally very strong and very lasting, his\ndemeanour and appearance were closely observed. He looked to be a man\nbetween fifty and sixty, and I never saw a more perfect specimen of a\nsplendid-looking soldier. In vain did those who had set him down in\ntheir own minds as a cruel tyrant, seek to find out such a delineation\nin his countenance. No such marks were distinguishable; on the contrary,\nthere was a manly open frankness in his appearance that gave a flat\ncontradiction to the slander, and in truth Picton was _not_ a tyrant,\nnor did he ever act as such during the many years that he commanded the\n3rd Division.\nBut if his countenance did not depict him as cruel, there was a caustic\nseverity about it, and a certain curl of the lip that marked him as one\nwho rather despised than courted applause. \u201cThe stern countenance,\nrobust frame, caustic speech, and austere demeanour,\u201d told in legible\ncharacters that he was one not likely to say a thing and not do as he\nsaid. In a word, his appearance denoted him as a man of strong mind and\nstrong frame.\nThe division went through several evolutions, and performed them in a\nvery superior manner indeed; the line marching and the echelon\nmovements, for which the 88th, under Wallace, was so celebrated, seemed\nto surprise the General; he however said little. Once he turned to\nWallace and said, in rather a disagreeable tone, \u201cVery well, sir.\u201d The\nparade was about to be dismissed, and the General about to return to his\nquarters, when two marauders of the 88th were brought up in charge of a\ndetachment of Portuguese militia. They had stolen a goat on their march\nup to join their regiment. The complaint was at once made to Picton, who\nordered the men to be tried by a drum-head court-martial on the spot.\nThis was accordingly done; the men were found guilty, and flogged on the\nmoment in presence of the General.\nThis act was considered by all as not good taste in General Picton on\nhis first appearance amongst his troops; the offence committed by the\nsoldiers could have been as well punished in front of their own regiment\nas in the presence of the entire division; and, besides this, there was\nno necessity for the General\u2019s remaining to witness the punishment. This\nact on his part caused those who had formed a favourable opinion from\nhis appearance to waver, and the word \u201ctyrant\u201d was more than muttered by\nmany of the division.\nSo soon as the two soldiers were removed after having received the\nnumber of lashes it was thought necessary to inflict, the General\naddressed the brigade in language not of that bearing which an officer\nof his rank should use, for turning to the 88th he said, \u201cYou are not\nknown in the army by the name of 'Connaught Rangers,' but by the name of\nConnaught _footpads_!\u201d He also made some remarks on their country and\ntheir religion.\nLanguage like this was enough to exasperate the lowest soldier, equally\nwith the Colonel, who had done so much for the regiment during his\ncommand; and Colonel Wallace, directly the parade was over, waited on\nGeneral Mackinnon, who commanded the brigade, and requested that he\nwould go to General Picton, and intimate to him that he conceived the\nabusive language which he had made use of towards the 88th was not just\nto the corps, or to himself as commanding officer of it.\nMackinnon was a strict disciplinarian, but a man of an extremely mild\ntemper, and he felt greatly annoyed at what had taken place. He readily\ncomplied with Colonel Wallace\u2019s request, and received for answer from\nPicton, that he would remove those impressions when he again had an\nopportunity of assembling the division.\nA long period elapsed before the division was again brought together,\nand when it was Picton neglected, or perhaps forgot, to fulfil the\npromise he had made. Immediately after the parade Wallace reminded\nGeneral Mackinnon of what had before passed on the subject, and\nMackinnon, for the second time, waited on Picton. The latter requested\nthat Wallace should call upon him, which was immediately complied with,\nand then took place a memorable interview.\nWhen Wallace reached Picton\u2019s quarters he found the General alone; a\nlong conversation took place, which Colonel Wallace never repeated to\nme, nor was it necessary that he should, because my rank did not entitle\nme to such disclosure, but I have reason to think that it was very\nanimated, and what I am now about to write I have from under Colonel\n(now General) Wallace\u2019s own hand. It is as follows:\u2014\n\u201cAfter a conversation which it is here unnecessary to recapitulate,\nGeneral Picton paused for a little and said, 'Well, will you dine with\nme on \u2014\u2014?' I replied, 'Most certainly, General, I shall be happy to do\nso.' When I went to dinner on the day appointed, I found almost all the\nsuperior officers of Picton\u2019s division, and the troops quartered in the\nvicinity of Pinhel, assembled. General Picton then addressed himself to\nColonel Mackinnon, commanding the brigade, and said, 'I understand that\nColonel Wallace has taken offence at some observations made by me\nrelative to the corps he commands, when addressing the division. I am\nhappy to find that I have been misinformed as to their conduct for some\ntime past; and I feel it but justice to him and them, to say that I am\nsatisfied every attention has been paid to the conduct and appearance of\nthe corps. I certainly did hear, on my way up to the army, of\nirregularities that had been committed, but I am happy to say that I\nhave had every occasion to be satisfied with the general conduct of the\ncorps since my joining the division.' I made no reply, but bowed to the\nGeneral. Dinner was announced, and General Picton came up to me and\nasked me to sit beside him at dinner. There ought always to be a\ndeference given to a general of division by an officer inferior in rank,\nand under these circumstances I considered General Picton\u2019s conduct to\nhave been arranged in a very gentlemanlike and handsome manner. From\nthat period General Picton and myself were always on the best terms, and\nthough from prejudice he often signified that he suspected the\n_Connaught Boys_ were as ready for mischief as any of their neighbours,\nhe always spoke of them to me as good soldiers while I was with his\ndivision.\u201d\nThus ended the matter, and I never knew or heard that Picton ever again\nmade use of a harsh expression towards the regiment; indeed his\nbiographer says that he often gave them \u201cunqualified praise.\u201d Perhaps he\ndid, but for nearly four years that Picton commanded the 3rd Division,\nnot one officer of the 88th was ever promoted through his\nrecommendation, though it is well known in the army that many deserved\nit.\nShortly after this period a laughable circumstance took place between\nPicton and a soldier of the 88th, which put the General in great\ngood-humour, and he often repeated the story as a good joke. He was\nriding out one day, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, near the river Coa,\nwhen he saw, on the opposite bank of the river, a man of the Connaught\nRangers with a huge goat on his back.\nWe had received but scanty rations for some days previously, and such a\nwindfall as the old goat was not to be neglected. I am not prepared to\nstate whether it was the cries of the animal, or the stench of his\nhide\u2014for the wind was from that point\u2014attracted Picton to the spot;\nhowbeit, there he was.\nIt would be difficult to say, with truth, whether the General was most\nangry or hungry, but he seemed, in either case, resolved not only to\ncapture the goat, but also the \u201cboy.\u201d That he would have done the one or\nthe other, perhaps both, there can be little doubt, had it not been that\na stream, whose banks had been the theatre of other scenes of contest,\nseparated the parties. This stream was the Coa, and although its\ndifferent fordable points were well known to Picton, his _vis-a-vis_\nneighbour was by no means ignorant of some of the passes; and as the\nGeneral had not time to consult his chart, and find out the nearest\n\u201cford,\u201d nor inclination to plunge into the river, he made a furious, but\nquite an ineffectual, attack of words against the \u201cConnaught boy.\u201d\n\u201cPray, sir,\u201d said, or rather roared Picton, addressing the soldier,\n\u201cwhat have you got there?\u201d\n_Sol._ \u201cA thieving puckawn, sir.\u201d\n_Pic._ \u201cA _what_?\u201d\n_Sol._ \u201cA goat, sir. In Ireland we call a buck-goat a puckawn. I found\nthe poor baste sthraying, and he looks as if he was as hungry as\nmyself.\u201d\n_Pic._ \u201cWhat are you going to do with him, sir?\u201d\n_Sol._ \u201c_Do_ with him, is it? To bring him with me, to be sure! Do you\nthink I\u2019d lave him here to starve?\u201d\n_Pic._ \u201cAh! you villain, you are at your old tricks, are you? I know\nyou, though you don\u2019t think it!\u201d\n_Sol._ \u201cAnd I know you, sir, and the 'boys of Connaught' know you too,\nand I\u2019d be sorry to do anything that would be displaising to your\nhonour; and, sure, iv you\u2019d only let me, I\u2019d send your sarvent a leg iv\nhim to dhress for your dinner, for by my sowl your honour looks could\nand angry\u2014hungry I mane.\u201d\nHe then held up the old goat by the beard, and shook it at Captain\nTyler, the General\u2019s aide-de-camp, and taking it for granted that he had\nmade a peace-offering to the General, or, probably, not caring one straw\nwhether he had or not, went away with his burden, and was soon lost\nsight of amongst a grove of chestnut-trees.\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Picton, turning to Tyler, who was nearly convulsed with\nlaughter, \u201cthat fellow has some merit. What tact and what humour! He\nwould make a good outpost soldier, for he knows, not only how to forage,\nbut to take up a position that is unassailable.\u201d\n\u201cWhy yes, sir,\u201d said Tyler, \u201cwhen he held up the goat\u2019s head, he seemed\nto _beard_ us to our faces; and his promise of sending you a leg was a\ncapital ruse!\u201d\n\u201cIt was, faith,\u201d replied Picton, \u201cand if the fellow is found out, he\nwill, I suppose, endeavour to make _me_ the 'scape-goat'!\u201d\nThe General used often to tell this story as one of the best things of\nthe sort he had ever met with.\nIt is a remarkable circumstance that a few days before the battle of\nWaterloo, Picton met Wallace in London, when he spoke highly of the\nregiment, and said if it returned from America in time to join the army\nunder the Duke of Wellington (being then on their passage home), and if\nhe joined the army, the 88th would be one of the first regiments he\nwould ask for his division.\nMass\u00e9na\u2019s invasion of Portugal\u2014Fall of Ciudad Rodrigo and\n Almeida\u2014Craufurd\u2019s fight on the Coa\u2014Anecdote of Colonel Charles\n Napier\u2014The British retire to the position of Busaco.\nIn the month of January, 1810, Lord Wellington established his\nheadquarters at Viseu, in Upper Beira, and the different brigades of\ncavalry and infantry were quartered in the neighbouring villages.\nGeneral Hill was left with five thousand British, and about as many\nPortuguese, at Abrantes; and with his army posted as has been described,\nthe British General awaited the development of Mass\u00e9na\u2019s plan of\ninvasion. The amount of the French force at this period in the Peninsula\ncounted over three hundred and sixty thousand troops of all arms; but\nthe army commanded by Mass\u00e9na, and called \u201cthe army of Portugal,\u201d did\nnot amount to ninety thousand. The amount of the British and Portuguese\nforces has been already stated to be about fifty-five thousand men; and\nit will be recollected that of the Portuguese army scarcely one man in\none hundred had ever discharged a musket against an enemy. As to the\nBritish, when Lord Wellington moved his army from the Guadiana its\nnumbers counted about thirty thousand, but those under arms scarcely\nreckoned twenty thousand; the remainder were in hospital, and many of\nthose in the ranks were but ill able to carry their knapsacks and\nfirelocks, having not yet recovered from the effects of past illness.\nThe French preparations were so formidable, our own force so small, that\nin the British ranks it was generally believed that the entire army\nwould retreat on Lisbon when the French advanced, and embark there. The\nsame was asserted in England; the Portuguese dreaded it; the French army\nuniversally believed it, and the British ministers seem to have\nentertained the same opinion; for at this time an officer of engineers\narrived at Lisbon, whose instructions, received personally from Lord\nLiverpool, though unknown to Lord Wellington, commenced thus: \u201c_As it is\nprobable that the army will embark in September._\u201d\nFortunately for us, the French lingered long ere they began their\ninvasion. It was not till June 1810 that Ney began the siege of Ciudad\nRodrigo, while Mass\u00e9na still remained at Madrid. The garrison of the\nfortress amounted to about six thousand men, and was commanded by the\nSpanish general, Herrasti, an old and gallant man who had served his\ncountry with honour for more than half a century. The town was amply\nsupplied with artillery, provisions, and stores of all kinds; and the\nvigorous resistance which was expected was made by Herrasti and his\nbrave garrison.\nGeneral Robert Craufurd, with his superb division, occupied the line of\nthe Coa, while General Cole, with the 4th Division, and Picton with the\n3rd, were posted at Guarda and Pinhel; and these troops were directed to\nbe in readiness to render any support that could with safety be given to\nthe Spanish governor. That assistance could never be given, and Ciudad\nRodrigo fell, after sustaining a siege of upwards of a month. Its\ngallant defence reflected great credit on both the governor and\ngarrison, and the delay it caused the French army was of the greatest\nimportance to Lord Wellington\u2019s plan of resistance, because the heavy\nrains which were almost sure to fall in the autumn would greatly aid in\nthe defence of the country.\nAfter his capture of Rodrigo, Mass\u00e9na lost no time in laying siege to\nAlmeida, and it was hoped that this town, which was, though by no means\na model of perfection, a more regularly constructed fortress than Ciudad\nRodrigo, would hold out for at least as long. But here we were to be\nbitterly disappointed. On August 26, 1810, the bombardment began: in a\nshort time a great portion of the town was in flames, and it was found\nimpossible in the confusion that prevailed to put a stop to the\ncalamity. But this mattered little; no great damage had been done to the\nwalls, and the guns of the garrison replied with vigour. But at midnight\na terrible explosion was heard, the castle was rent into a thousand\npieces, and the entire town disappeared, as if swallowed by an\nearthquake. This tremendous crash was heard for a distance of many\nleagues. The main magazine had been blown up by a French shell, and the\nGovernor, Colonel Cox, was obliged to surrender next day.\nWhile these events were taking place, a variety of movements between our\nadvance and that of the enemy occurred. Upon one occasion a portion of\nthe 14th Dragoons came in contact with a body of the enemy\u2019s infantry,\nand their commanding officer, Colonel Talbot, fell in the midst of a\nsquare against which he made a gallant, but fruitless charge. But this\nwas of little import in comparison with what took place with the Light\nDivision, under Craufurd, on the banks of the Coa. His force consisted\nof four thousand infantry, a thousand cavalry, and a brigade of guns.\nThe force opposed to him was about six times his own number, but yet he,\nwith a hardihood bordering on rashness, held his post, and fought a very\ndangerous battle\u2014contrary to orders, I believe\u2014and lost upwards of three\nhundred men, with nearly thirty officers, and had it not been for the\nsuperior description of the troops he commanded, the division would have\nbeen destroyed to a man. The French, it is true lost three times the\nnumber Craufurd did; but what of that? Mass\u00e9na could have better spared\none thousand men than Wellington one hundred!\nIt has been said that Craufurd fully expected Picton would have joined\nhim with the 3rd Division, stationed at Pinhel. The division of Picton\nwere within hearing of the fire, but not a man was ordered to move to\nthe support of Craufurd. The wounded men and officers of the Light\nDivision came into Pinhel in the best manner they could, some on foot,\nothers on cars, and the 3rd Division were much excited at not being\nallowed to join their old companions.\nColonel Wallace held the 88th in readiness, as I believe did every other\nofficer commanding a battalion, and the division could have assembled\nand marched in ten minutes had any order been given to that effect.\nHowever, the Light Division, after performing more than could have been\nexpected, even from it, and doing so alone, without the aid which it\nlooked for, and which might have been afforded it, held their ground,\nand sustained no disaster, but on the contrary inflicted a severe loss\non the enemy, and covered itself with glory.\nCraufurd, after his gallant fight, lay, with his division, in the\ndifferent villages in our front, and a quiet calm succeeded the first\noutburst. There was an inactivity in the movements of the enemy,\nnotwithstanding that the soldiers had been supplied with bread for many\ndays; and a curious incident took place at the time that is worthy of\nmention. It shows the good terms upon which the British and French\nofficers stood in regard to each other.\nColonel Napier of the 50th Regiment, who had been badly wounded at\nCorunna, and who had been treated with much attention by Soult and Ney\nafter he was made prisoner at that battle, stopped at Pinhel. He was on\nhis _parole_, and when asked by some of our officers, whom he knew,\n\u201cwhere he was going?\u201d replied, \u201cI am going to pass some time with my\nfriend Marshal Ney!\u201d He did pass some time with him, and was an\neye-witness to all that went on in his camp; but where such confidence\nwas shown to any British officer, much less one of such high character\nand honour as Colonel Napier, it is needless to say that it was not\nforfeited.\nNapier, after having stayed with his friend Ney for some weeks,[4]\nreturned on his way to England, when _en passant_ he found the ridge of\nBusaco was about to be contested, and the gallant Colonel, although not\non duty, or in any way connected with the army, being in fact on his\n_parole_, wished to be a looker-on. It so happened that he was wounded,\nwhile standing near Lord Wellington. His name was returned, and the\nFrench official paper, the _Moniteur_, made some remarks upon the\nColonel breaking his _parole_. It was, however, soon explained by the\ngallant officer, and, in return, the Paris papers did not let pass an\noccasion which afforded them amusement, and they quaintly remarked \u201cthat\na man who was so fond of French fire, after what he had got of it\nbefore, ought to live in France!\u201d\nFootnote 4:\n This story is true; but the visit was only for one day (see _Charles\n Napier\u2019s Life_, i. 133).\nAfter a good deal of delay and vacillation, it appeared that Mass\u00e9na had\nat last seriously resolved on his enterprise. He had, under his\nimmediate command, nearly one hundred and twenty thousand bayonets and\nsabres, but from this force some deductions must be made, by which it\nwould appear that at the utmost he did not bring more than sixty\nthousand fighting men across the Coa. Finally he passed that river, and\nour army retired towards the banks of the Mondego, and Lord Wellington\nwas obliged to give battle. But this obligation did not emanate from\nhim\u2014quite the contrary.\nIt was necessary that he should do something, and the thing was forced\nupon him by the refractory spirit of the Portuguese councils. If then he\nwas to fight, for the first time, with an army of Portuguese to back\nhim, he judged that the ridge of Busaco was a good spot to try them, and\nhe accordingly resolved to take his stand there. This ridge of mountain\nextends for about eight miles, and near its termination, and on a high\npoint, stands a convent, inhabited by monks and friars. The face of the\nmountain is rugged, filled with dells and dykes, and the intervening\nspace between its base and the top is one mass of rock and heath.\nOn the 26th of September, all the different corps were placed in the\nstations they should occupy, and the entire ridge of Busaco was fully\nmanned; during the evening we could perceive the enemy occupying their\ndifferent stations in our front, and the light troops of both armies\nwere warmly engaged along the entire of the line.\nAt night we lay down to rest; each man, with his firelock in his grasp,\nremained at his post, anxiously waiting the arrival of the morrow, which\nwas destined to be the last that many amongst us were to behold. We had\nno fires, and the death-like stillness that reigned throughout our army\nwas only interrupted by the occasional challenge of an advanced sentry,\nor a random shot fired at some imaginary foe.\nThe night at length passed over, but long before the dawn of day the\nwarlike preparations of the enemy were to be heard. The trumpets sounded\nfor the horsemen to prepare for the fight, and the roll of the drums and\nshrill notes of the fife gave notice to the French infantry that the\nhour had arrived when its claim to be the best in Europe was to be\ndisputed.\nOn our side all was still as the grave. Lord Wellington lay amongst his\nsoldiers, under no other covering than his cloak, and as he passed\nthrough the ranks of the different battalions already formed, his\npresence and manner gave that confidence to his companions which had a\nmagical effect. All was now ready on our part; the men stood to their\narms; and as each soldier took his place in the line, his quiet\ndemeanour, and orderly, but determined appearance, was a strong contrast\nto the bustle and noise which prevailed amongst our opposite neighbours;\nbut those preparations were of short continuance, and some straggling\nshots along the brow of the mountain gave warning that we were about to\ncommence the battle of Busaco.[5]\nFootnote 5:\n For the better comprehension of the ensuing narrative of the doings of\n the 3rd Division at Busaco, it will be well to give its strength and\n organisation on that day. They were as follows:\u2014\n 1st Brigade, General Mackinnon.\n 1st Battalion 45th Foot: 74th Foot: 1st Battalion 88th Foot\n (Connaught Rangers).\n 2nd Brigade, General Lightburne.\n 2nd Battalion 5th Foot: 2nd Battalion 83rd Foot: 3 companies of\n 5th Battalion 60th Foot.\n Portuguese Brigade, Colonel Champlemond.\n 9th and 21st Regiments of the Line (each two Battalions).\nBattle of Busaco\u2014Daring advance of the French\u2014The achievements of the\n 88th\u2014Adventure of Captain Seton\u2014Alcoba\u00e7a\u2014Remarks on the battle.\nThis battle, fought upon the 27th September 1810, was one in which the\nlosses of the French, and of the British and Portuguese army, commanded\nby Lord Wellington, were not of that magnitude to give it a first-rate\nplace on the battle list;[6] this same battle of Busaco was,\nnevertheless, one of the most serious ever fought in the Peninsula, and\nfor this reason\u2014it was the first in which the Portuguese levies were\nbrought under fire, and upon their conduct in this, their maiden effort\nagainst their veteran opponents, depended the fate of Portugal, and the\nPeninsula also. Such being the case, it must ever be classed as a very\nimportant event, and one that should be recorded by the historian with\ngreat care and fidelity, yet, strange to say, there is not, that I have\nread, any faithful report of it in print. In vain do we turn even to\nColonel Napier\u2019s splendid history of the war in the Peninsula in\nexpectation of finding a correct account; no such account is there to be\nfound. In all, therefore, that I am going to relate as to the part which\nthe 3rd Division took in it, I shall keep as close as I possibly can to\nwhat I know to be the facts.\nFootnote 6:\n The loss of the French being 4486 killed, wounded, and prisoners,\n including five generals, viz. General Graindorge killed, Generals Foy,\n Maucune, and Merle wounded, and General Simon made prisoner, while\n that of the allied army was no more than 1143, amongst which number\n not one general officer had fallen; the total loss of the two armies,\n counting about one hundred thousand combatants, was under six\n thousand.\nOn the morning of the 27th the haze was so thick that little could be\nseen at any great distance, but the fire of the light troops along the\nface of the hill put it beyond doubt that a battle would take place.\nLord Wellington was close to the brigade of Lightburne, and from the\nbustle amongst his staff, it was manifest that the point held by\nPicton\u2019s division was about to be attacked. Two guns belonging to\nCaptain Lane\u2019s troop of artillery were ordered upon the left of the 88th\nRegiment, and immediately opened their fire, while the Portuguese\nbattery, under the German Major Arentschildt, passed at a trot towards\nthe Saint Antonio Pass, in front of the 74th British.\nA rolling fire of musketry, and some discharges of cannon, in the\ndirection of Saint Antonio, announced what was taking place in that\nquarter, and the face of the hill immediately in front of the brigade of\nLightburne, and to the left of the 88th Regiment, was beginning to show\nthat the efforts of the enemy were about to be directed against this\nportion of the ground held by the 3rd Division.\nThe fog cleared away, and a bright sun enabled us to see what was\npassing before us. A vast crowd of _tirailleurs_ were pressing onward\nwith great ardour, and their fire, as well as their numbers, was so\nsuperior to that of our advance, that some men of the brigade of\nLightburne, as also a few of the 88th Regiment, were killed while\nstanding in line; a colour-sergeant named Macnamara was shot through the\nhead close beside myself and Ensign Owgan. Colonel King, commanding the\n5th Regiment, which was one of those belonging to Lightburne\u2019s brigade,\noppressed by a desultory fire he was unable to reply to without\ndisturbing the formation of his battalion, brought his regiment a little\nout of its range, while Colonel Alexander Wallace, of the 88th, took a\nfile of men from each company of his regiment, and placing them under\nthe command of Captain George Bury and Lieutenant William Mackie,\nordered them to advance to the aid of our people, who were overmatched\nand roughly handled at the moment. Our artillery still continued to\ndischarge showers of grape and canister at half range, but the French\nlight troops, fighting at open distance, heeded it not, and continued to\nmultiply in great force. Nevertheless, in place of coming up direct in\nfront of the 88th, they edged off to their left, out of sight of that\ncorps, and far away from Lightburne\u2019s brigade, and from the nature of\nthe ground they could be neither seen nor their exact object defined; as\nthey went to their left, our advance inclined to the right, making a\ncorresponding movement; but though nothing certain could be known, as we\nsoon lost sight of both parties, the roll of musketry never ceased, and\nmany of Bury\u2019s and Mackie\u2019s men returned wounded. Those two officers\ngreatly distinguished themselves, and Bury, though badly wounded,\nrefused to quit the field. A soldier of Bury\u2019s company, of the name of\nPollard, was shot through the shoulder; but seeing his captain, though\nwounded, continue at the head of his men, he threw off his knapsack, and\nfought beside his officer; but this brave fellow\u2019s career of glory was\nshort, a bullet penetrated the plate of his cap, passed through his\nbrain, and he fell dead at Bury\u2019s feet. These were the sort of materials\nthe 88th were formed of, and these were the sort of men that were\nunnoticed by their General!\nLord Wellington was no longer to be seen, and Wallace and his regiment,\nstanding alone without orders, had to act for themselves. The Colonel\nsent his captain of Grenadiers (Dunne) to the right, where the rocks\nwere highest, to ascertain how matters stood, for he did not wish, at\nhis own peril, to quit the ground he had been ordered to occupy without\nsome strong reason for so doing. All this time the brigade of\nLightburne, as also the 88th, were standing at ordered arms.\nIn a few moments Dunne returned almost breathless; he said the rocks\nwere filling fast with Frenchmen, that a heavy column was coming up the\nhill beyond the rocks, and that the four companies of the 45th were\nabout to be attacked. Wallace asked if he thought half the 88th would be\nable to do the business. \u201cYou will want every man,\u201d was the reply.\nWallace, with a steady but cheerful countenance, turned to his men, and\nlooking them full in the face, said, \u201cNow, Connaught Rangers, mind what\nyou are going to do; pay attention to what I have so often told you, and\nwhen I bring you face to face with those French rascals, drive them down\nthe hill\u2014don\u2019t give the false touch, but push home to the muzzle! I have\nnothing more to say, and if I had it would be of no use, for in a\n_minit_ or two there\u2019ll be such an infernal noise about your ears that\nyou won\u2019t be able to hear yourselves.\u201d\nThis address went home to the hearts of us all, but there was no\ncheering; a steady but determined calm had taken the place of any\nlighter feeling, and it seemed as if the men had made up their minds to\ngo to their work unruffled and not too much excited.\nWallace then threw the battalion from line into column, right in front,\nand moved on our side of the rocky point at a quick pace; on reaching\nthe rocks, he soon found it manifest that Dunne\u2019s report was not\nexaggerated; a number of Frenchmen were in possession of this cluster,\nand so soon as we approached within range we were made to appreciate the\neffects of their fire, for our column was raked from front to rear. The\nmoment was critical, but Wallace, without being in the least taken\naback, filed out the Grenadiers and the first battalion-company,\ncommanded by Captains Dunne and Dansey, and ordered them to storm the\nrocks, while he took the fifth battalion-company, commanded by Captain\nOates, also out of the column, and ordered that officer to attack the\nrocks at the opposite side to that assailed by Dunne and Dansey. This\ndone, Wallace placed himself at the head of the remainder of the 88th,\nand pressed on to meet the French column.\nAt this moment the four companies of the 45th, commanded by Major\nGwynne, a little to the left of the 88th, and in front of that regiment,\ncommenced their fire, but it in no way arrested the advance of the\nFrench column, as it, with much order and regularity, mounted the hill,\nwhich at this point is rather flat. But here, again, another awkward\ncircumstance occurred. A battalion of the 8th Portuguese Infantry, under\nColonel Douglas, posted on a rising ground on our right, and a little in\nour rear, in place of advancing with us, opened a distant and\nill-directed fire, and one which would exactly cross the path of the\n88th, as that corps was moving onward to meet the French column, which\nconsisted of three splendid regiments, viz. the 2nd Light Infantry, the\n36th, and the 70th of the line. Wallace, seeing the loss and confusion\nthat would infallibly ensue, sent Lieutenant John Fitzpatrick, an\nofficer of tried gallantry, with orders to point out to this regiment\nthe error into which it had fallen; but Fitzpatrick had only time to\ntake off his hat, and call out \u201c_Vamos commarades_,\u201d when he received\ntwo bullets\u2014one from the Portuguese, which passed through his back, and\nthe other in his left leg from the French, which broke the bone, and\ncaused a severe fracture; yet this regiment continued to fire away,\nregardless of the consequences, and a battalion of militia, which was\nimmediately in rear of the 8th Portuguese, took to their heels the\nmoment the first volley was discharged by their own countrymen!\nWallace threw himself from his horse, and placing himself at the head of\nthe 45th and 88th, with Gwynne of the 45th on the one side of him, and\nCaptain Seton of the 88th on the other, ran forward at a charging pace\ninto the midst of the terrible flame in his front. All was now confusion\nand uproar, smoke, fire and bullets, officers and soldiers, French\ndrummers and French drums knocked down in every direction; British,\nFrench, and Portuguese mixed together; while in the midst of all was to\nbe seen Wallace, fighting\u2014like his ancestor of old\u2014at the head of his\ndevoted followers, and calling out to his soldiers to \u201cpress forward!\u201d\nNever was defeat more complete, and it was a proud moment for Wallace\nand Gwynne when they saw their gallant comrades breaking down and\ntrampling under their feet this splendid division composed of some of\nthe best troops the world could boast of. The leading regiment, the\n36th, one of Napoleon\u2019s favourite battalions, was nearly destroyed;\nupwards of two hundred soldiers and their old colonel, covered with\norders, lay dead in a small space, and the face of the hill was strewed\nwith dead and wounded, which showed evident marks of the rapid execution\ndone at this point; for Wallace never slackened his fire while a\nFrenchman was within his reach. He followed them down the edge of the\nhill, and then he formed his men in line, waiting for any orders he\nmight receive, or for any fresh body that might attack him. Our gallant\ncompanions, the 45th, had an equal share in the glory of this short but\nmurderous fight\u2014they suffered severely; and the 88th lost nine officers\nand one hundred and thirty-five men. The 8th Portuguese also suffered,\nbut in a less degree than the other two regiments, because their advance\nwas not so rapid, but that regiment never gave way nor was it ever\nbroken; indeed there was nothing to break it, because the French were\nall in front of the 45th and 88th, and if they had broken the Portuguese\nthey must have first broken the two British regiments, which it is well\nknown they did not! The regiment of militia in their rear ran away most\nmanfully; and if they were able to continue for any length of time the\npace at which they commenced their flight, they might, I should say,\nhave nearly reached Coimbra before all matters had been finally settled\nbetween us and the French. Two of their officers stood firm and reported\nthemselves in person to Wallace on the field of battle; so there could\nbe no mistake about them, no more than there was about the rest of their\nregiment.\nMeanwhile, Captains Dunne, Dansey, and Oates had a severe struggle with\nthe French troops that occupied the rocks. Dunne\u2019s sergeant (Brazil)\nkilled a Frenchman by a push of his halbert, who had nearly overpowered\nhis captain. Dansey was slightly wounded in four places, but it was said\nat the time that he killed three Frenchmen\u2014for he used a firelock. Oates\nsuffered less, as the men opposed to him were chiefly composed of those\nthat fled from Dunne and Dansey. Dunne\u2019s company of Grenadiers, which at\nthe onset counted about sixty, lost either two or three-and-thirty, and\nDansey\u2019s and Oates\u2019s companies also suffered, but not to the same\namount. The French troops that defended those rocks were composed of the\n4th Regiment and the Irish Brigade; several of the latter were left\nwounded in the rocks, but we could not discover one Irishman amongst\nthem.[7]\nFootnote 7:\n There is an error here. The Irish Brigade were not engaged; they were\n in reserve, in the 8th corps.\nLord Wellington, surrounded by his staff and some general officers, was\na close observer of this attack. He was standing on a rising ground in\nrear of the 88th Regiment, and so close to that corps that Colonel\nNapier of the 50th\u2014who was on leave of absence\u2014was wounded in the face\nby a musket shot quite close to Lord Wellington. His Lordship passed the\nwarmest encomiums on the troops engaged, and noticed the conduct of\nCaptain Dansey in his despatch. It has been said, and I believe truly,\nthat Marshal Beresford, who was colonel of the 88th, expressed some\nuneasiness when he saw his regiment about to plunge into this unequal\ncontest; but when they were mixed with Reynier\u2019s men and pushing them\ndown the hill, Lord Wellington, tapping him on the shoulder, said,\n\u201cWell, Beresford, look at them _now_!\u201d\nWhile these events which I have described were taking place, Picton in\nperson took the command against the other division of Reynier\u2019s corps\nand had a sharp dispute with it at the pass of Saint Antonio; but\nGeneral Mackinnon, who led on the troops, never allowed it to make any\nhead. A shower of balls from Arentschildt\u2019s battery deranged its\ndeployment, and a few volleys from the 74th British and the Portuguese\nbrigade of Champlemond totally routed this column before it reached the\ntop of the ridge. This attack was feeble in comparison with the one\ndirected against Wallace, and, besides, Picton\u2019s force was vastly\nsuperior to that commanded by Wallace, while the troops opposed to him\nwere little, if anything, more numerous. Picton had at this point five\ncompanies of the 45th under Major Smyth, all the light companies of the\n3rd Division, one company of the 60th Rifles, the 74th British and the\nPortuguese brigade of Champlemond, besides Arentschildt\u2019s battery of\nguns. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that Reynier made little\nor no impression on Picton\u2019s right.\nThe 5th Division, commanded by General Leith, was in movement towards\nthe contested point, and reached it in time either to take the fugitives\nin flank or to drive back any fresh body destined to support their\ndefeated comrades. It made great efforts to join Picton when he was\nattacked, but the advance was so rapid, the defeat so signal, and the\ndistance\u2014two miles across a rugged mountain\u2014so great, that Leith and his\ngallant division could only effect in part what they intended. The\narrival of this force was, however, fully appreciated; for although the\nbrigade of Lightburne, belonging to Picton\u2019s division, had not fired a\nshot or been at all molested, and although the 74th Regiment was nearly\nat liberty, still, had another attack with fresh troops been made, Leith\nmight have stood in Picton\u2019s shoes on the extreme right, while the\nlatter could in a short time concentrate all his battalions, and either\nfight beside Leith or turn with vigour against any effort that might be\nmade against his centre or left. But it would seem that no reserve was\nin hand\u2014at all events none was thrown into the fight; and Mass\u00e9na gave\nup without a second trial that in which he lost many men and much glory!\nWhile Picton, Mackinnon, Wallace and Champlemond, and Leith\u2019s division,\nwere occupied as I have described, the Light Division, under the gallant\nRobert Craufurd, maintained a severe struggle against a large proportion\nof Ney\u2019s corps. Those French troops were driven down the hill with great\nloss, and the general of brigade, Simon, who headed and led the attack,\nwas taken prisoner by the 52nd Regiment, and between two and three\nhundred unwounded men shared the fate of their general. The leading\nbrigade of Leith\u2019s division put to flight some of the enemy who kept a\nhold of a rocky point on Picton\u2019s right, and had Picton been aware of\ntheir being there he might have cut off their retreat, while Leith\nattacked them in front and flank; but their numbers were scanty, and\nthey might not have been aware of the fate of their companions,\notherwise they would in all probability have got out of Leith\u2019s clutches\nbefore his arrival, for their remaining in the rocks could be of no\npossible avail, and their force was too wreak to hazard any serious\nattack on Picton\u2019s right. Indeed, they were routed by a battalion or two\nof Leith\u2019s division; and the entire British loss at this point did not\ncount above forty or fifty. And thus ended a battle of which so many\naccounts have been given: all at variance with each other\u2014and none more\nso than what I have just written.\nIt has been said that Picton directed the attack of the 45th under Major\nGwynne, the 88th under Wallace, and the 8th Portuguese under Douglas.\nNot one syllable of this is true. The conception of this attack, its\nbrilliant execution, which ended in the total overthrow of Reynier\u2019s\ncolumn, all belong to Colonel Alexander Wallace of the 88th Regiment. At\nthe time it was made Generals Picton and Mackinnon had their hands full\nat the pass of Saint Antonio, and were, in effect, as distant from\nWallace as if they had been on the Rock of Lisbon; neither was General\nLightburne to be seen. The nearest officer of rank to Wallace was Lord\nWellington, who saw all that was passing and never interfered _pro_ or\n_con_, which is a tolerably strong proof that his lordship thought no\nalteration for the better could be made; and Wallace had scarcely\nreformed his line, a little in front and below the contested ground,\nwhen Lord Wellington, accompanied by Marshal Beresford and a number of\nother officers, galloped up, and passing round the left of our line,\nrode up to Wallace, and seizing him warmly by the hand, said\u2014\n\u201cWallace, I never witnessed a more gallant charge than that made just\nnow by your regiment!\u201d\nWallace took off his hat\u2014but his heart was too full to speak. It was a\nproud moment for him; his fondest hopes had been realised, and the\ntrouble he had taken to bring the 88th to the splendid state of\nperfection in which that corps then was, had been repaid in the space of\na few minutes by his gallant soldiers, many of whom shed tears of joy.\nMarshal Beresford addressed several of the soldiers by name who had\nserved under him when he commanded the regiment; and Picton, who at this\ntime came up, expressed his satisfaction. Lord Wellington then took\nleave of us; and Beresford, shaking the officers by the hand, rode away\nwith his lordship, accompanied by the officers about him. We were once\nmore left to ourselves; the arms were piled, the wounded of all nations\ncollected and carried to the rear, and in a short time the dead were\nleft without a stitch of clothes to cover their bodies. All firing had\nceased, except a few shots low down the hill on our right; and shortly\nafter the picquets were placed in front, a double allowance of spirits\nwas served out to Wallace\u2019s men.\nWe had now leisure to walk about and talk to each other on the events of\nthe morning, and look at the French soldiers in our front. They appeared\nas leisurely employed cooking their rations as if nothing serious had\noccurred to them, which caused much amusement to our men, some of whom\nremarked that they left a few behind them that had got a \u201cbellyful\u201d\nalready. The rocks which had been forced by the three companies of the\n88th presented a curious and melancholy sight; one side of their base\nstrewed with our brave fellows, almost all of them shot through the\nhead, while in many of the niches were to be seen dead Frenchmen, in the\nposition they had fought; while on the other side, and on the projecting\ncrags, lay numbers who, in an effort to escape the fury of our men, were\ndashed to pieces in their fall!\nDay at length began to close, and night found the two armies occupying\nthe ground they held on the preceding evening; our army, as then, in\nutter darkness, that of the enemy more brilliant than the preceding\nnight, which brought to our recollection the remark of a celebrated\ngeneral when he saw bonfires through France after a signal defeat which\nthe troops of that nation had sustained. \u201cGad!\u201d said the general, \u201cthose\nFrenchmen are like flint-stones\u2014the more you beat them the more fire\nthey make!\u201d\nCaptain Seton, Ensign Owgan, and myself, with one hundred of the\nConnaught Rangers, formed the picquet in advance of that regiment, and\nimmediately facing the outposts of the enemy in our front. The sentries\nof each, as is customary in civilised armies, although within half-shot\nrange of each other, never fired except upon occasions of necessity.\nTowards midnight Seton, a good and steady officer, went in front, for\nthe third time, to see that the sentinels which he himself had posted\nwere on the alert. He found all right; but upon his return to the main\nbody he missed his way, and happening in the dark to get too close to a\nFrench sharpshooter, he was immediately challenged, but not thinking it\nprudent to make any noise, in the shape of reply or otherwise, he held\nhis peace. Not so with the Frenchman, who uttered a loud cry to alarm\nhis companions, and discharged the contents of his musket at Seton; the\nball passed through his hat, but did no other injury, and he might have\nrejoiced at his escape had the matter ended here; but the cry of the\nsentinel and the discharge of his musket alarmed the others, and one\ngeneral volley from the line of outposts of both armies warned Seton\nthat his best and safest evolution would be to sprawl flat on his face\namongst the heath with which the hill was copiously garnished. He did\nso, and as soon as the tumult had in a great degree abated, he got up on\nhis hands and knees and essayed to gain the ground which no doubt he\nregretted he had ever quit. He was nearing the picquet fast, when the\nrustling in the heath, increased by the awkward position in which he\nmoved, put us on the _qui vive_. Owgan, who was a dead shot with a\nrifle, and who on this day carried one, called out, in a low but clear\ntone, \u201cI see you, and if you don\u2019t answer you\u2019ll be a dead man in a\nsecond\u201d; and he cocked his rifle, showing he meant to make good his\npromise.\nWhether it was that Seton knew the temperament of the last speaker, or\nwas flurried by the recollection of what he was near receiving from his\nobstinate taciturnity with the French soldier, is uncertain. But in this\ninstance he completely changed his plan of tactics, and replied in a low\nand scarcely audible tone, \u201cOwgan! don\u2019t fire\u2014it\u2019s me.\u201d So soon as he\nrecovered his natural and more comfortable position\u2014for he was still\n\u201call-fours\u201d\u2014we congratulated him on his lucky escape, and I placed my\ncanteen of brandy to his mouth; it did not require much pressing to\nprevail upon him to take a hearty swig, which indeed he stood much in\nneed of.\nThe night passed over without further adventure or annoyance, and in the\nmorning the picquets on both sides were relieved. The dead were buried\nwithout much ceremony, and the soldiers occupied themselves cleaning\ntheir arms, arranging their accoutrements, and cooking their rations.\nThe enemy showed no great disposition to renew his attack, and a few of\nus obtained leave to go down to the village of Busaco, in order to visit\nsome of our officers, who were so badly wounded as to forbid their being\nremoved further to the rear. Amongst the number was the gallant Major\nSilver of the 88th. He had been shot through the body, and though he did\nnot think himself in danger, as he suffered no pain, it was manifest to\nthe medical men he could not live many hours. He gave orders to his\nservant to leave him for a short time, and attend to his horses; the man\ndid so, but on his return in about a quarter of an hour he found poor\nSilver lying on his right side as if he was asleep\u2014but he was dead!\nSilver was one of the best soldiers in the army, and was thanked by\nColonel Donkin, who commanded the brigade at the battle of Talavera, for\nhis distinguished bravery in that action. He was laid in a deep grave in\nthe uniform he had fought and died in.\nThe day after the action some English troops passed through the town of\nAlcoba\u00e7a on their route to join the army; and this circumstance, coupled\nwith our victory, led the inhabitants to suppose they, as well as their\nproperty, were perfectly safe; and the idea of removing the one or the\nother never once occurred to them. Their surprise and confusion was in\nconsequence increased tenfold when they beheld our troops enter the\ntown. Alcoba\u00e7a was at that time a beautiful rich village,\nnotwithstanding that it supported a magnificent convent and several\nhundred priests and friars. Those gentlemen, although rigid in their\nmode of living at times, know as well as any other class of people _how_\nto live, and, having ample means of making out life at their disposal,\nit is not to be wondered at that the convent contained that which was\nfar from unacceptable to us, namely quantities of provisions.\nOn our arrival in the town the inhabitants, terrified at the possibility\nof being captured by the French, fled, leaving, in many instances, their\nhouses in such haste as not to allow themselves time to take away\nanything, not even their silver forks and spoons\u2014a luxury which almost\nthe poorest family in Portugal enjoys. These, and other articles,\noffered a strong temptation to our men to do that which they should not,\n_i.e._ possess themselves of whatever they found in those uninhabited\nmansions. Their doing so, to be sure, was a slight breach of discipline;\nbut it was argued by the \u201cfriends of the measure,\u201d that Lord Wellington\nhaving directed the country parts as well as the towns to be laid waste,\nin order to distress the enemy as much as possible, the Portuguese were\nhighly culpable in neither taking away their property nor destroying it.\nIt would be almost superfluous to add that an argument of so sound a\nnature, and delivered in the nick of time, had its due force; it in fact\nbore down all opposition, and those whose consciences at first felt\nanything like a _qualm_, in a little time became more at ease, so that\nby the time the houses had been about half-sacked, there was not one\nwho, so far from thinking it improper to do what he had done, would not\nhave considered himself much to blame had he pursued a different line of\nconduct.\nThe priests, more cautious, or perhaps better informed, removed their\nvaluables; but in all their hurry they did not forget that hospitality\nfor which they were proverbial. They left some of their brethren behind,\nwho had a dinner prepared for our officers, and when their longer stay\nwas useless to us, and might be attended with danger to themselves, they\nopened their different stores, and with a generous liberality invited us\nto take whatever we wished for. Poor men! Their doing so showed more\ntheir goodness of heart than their knowledge of the world. Had they been\na little longer acquainted with the lads that were now about to stand in\ntheir places, they would not have thought such _cong\u00e9_ necessary. As\nsoon as those good men left the dwelling in which they had passed so\nmany tranquil years, we began to avail ourselves of the permission\ngranted us, and which decency forbade our taking advantage of sooner.\nEvery nook was searched with anatomical precision; not even a corner\ncupboard was allowed to escape the scrutiny of the present inmates of\nthe convent, who certainly were as unlike the former in their demeanour\nas in their costume.\nIn taking a survey of the different commodities with which this place\nwas supplied, I had the good fortune or, as it afterwards turned out,\nthe _bad_ fortune, to stumble upon several firkins of Irish butter.\nUnquestionably I never felt happier, because it was a luxury I had not\ntasted for months; but my servant, by a good-natured officiousness, so\nloaded my poor, half-starved, jaded mule with, not only butter, but\neverything else he could lay his paw upon, that, unable to sustain the\nshameful burden which had been imposed upon him, he fell exhausted in\nendeavouring to scramble through a quagmire, and I lost not only the\ncargo with which he was laden, but the animal himself; however, I had\nthe consolation to know that few of the articles cost me anything, and\nhe himself was a sort of windfall, having been _found_ by my servant on\nthe retreat.\nThe army continued its march upon Torres Vedras with little interruption\nfrom the enemy, and early in October we occupied our entrenched camp.\nThis formidable position had its right at Alhandra on the Tagus; its\nleft rested on the part of the sea where the river Zizambre empties\nitself, and along its centre was a chain of redoubts armed with cannon\nof different calibre; between these forts was a double and, in some\ninstances, triple row of breastworks for the infantry, and the position\nmight be considered faultless.\nOn the night of the 29th the French army made that flank movement which\nobliged Lord Wellington to retire, and which is so well known as to\nrender any detail from me unnecessary; and on that night we took our\nleave of the mountain of Busaco, and commenced our march to the Lines of\nTorres Vedras.\nOccupation of the Lines of Torres Vedras\u2014An army in motley\u2014An Irish\n interpreter\u2014Death of the Marquis de la Romana\u2014Retreat of Mass\u00e9na\u2019s\n army from Portugal\u2014Indulgence of Lord Wellington\u2014The amenities of a\n subaltern\u2019s existence.\nThe astonishment of the French general was great when he beheld the\nreception prepared for him; and his friend the Duke d'Abrantes must have\nbeen lowered in his estimation not a little, because it is well known\nthat, contrary to the advice of several able officers, Mass\u00e9na was\noverruled by Junot, who assured him those heights could be easily\ncarried.\nAfter numerous _reconnoissances_, the French Marshal came to the\nresolution of renouncing any hope of success from an assault; and his\narmy formed a line blockade, with its right at Otta, its centre at\nAlenquer, and its left at Villa Franca. But it must have been a matter\nof deep regret to him to have learned, when too late, that by this\nuseless advance of his, he exposed upwards of three thousand of his\nwounded from the battle of Busaco, left at Coimbra, to be massacred by\nthe Portuguese militia and peasantry.\nFor the space of a month the French army remained inactive in their\nwretched cantonments, their supply of provisions growing every day more\nscanty; their horses, reduced to the necessity of subsisting on the vine\ntwigs, died by hundreds; and the soldiers, pining from disease, became\ndiscontented and discouraged. In consequence, the desertions increased\nwith their increasing wants, and it appeared very evident that matters\ncould not long continue in the state they had assumed at the beginning\nof November.\nAlthough our situation was, in every respect, better than that of the\nenemy, we were far from comfortable. Our huts, from want of any good\nmaterials to construct them, were but a weak defence against the heavy\nrains which fell at this time. We had no straw to serve for thatch, and\nthe heath which we were obliged to use as a substitute, though it looked\nwell enough when in full leaf and blossom, and was a delightful shelter\nin fine weather, became a wretched protection against the torrents that\nsoon after inundated us. The inside of our habitation presented an\nappearance as varied as it was uncomfortable; at one end might be seen a\ncouple of officers, with their cloaks thrown about them, snoring on a\ntruss of straw, while over their heads hung their blankets, which served\nas a kind of inner wall, and for a time stopped the flood that deluged\nthe parts of the hut not so defended; but this, by degrees, becoming\ncompletely saturated with rain, not only lost its original appearance,\nbut what was worse, its original usefulness; for the water, dripping\ndown from the edges, gradually made its way towards the centre of the\nblanket, and thus, by degrees, it assumed a shape not unlike the\nparachute of a balloon. Finally the whole, being overpowered with its\nown weight, and either giving way at the point or bottom, or breaking\nits hold from the twigs which feebly held it at top, overwhelmed those\nit was intended to protect, and in the space of a minute more\neffectually drenched them than the heaviest fall of rain would have\naccomplished in several hours. In another corner lay some one else, who,\nfor want of a better, substituted a sheet or an old tablecloth as a\ntemporary defence; but this was even more disastrous than the blanket,\nfor from the nature of its texture, and the imperfect manner in which it\nwas from necessity pitched, it made but a poor stand; it soon performed\nthe functions of a filtering machine, and with equal effect, though less\nforce, was to the full as unserviceable as the blanket. Others, more\nstout and convivial, sat up smoking cigars and drinking brandy punch,\nwaiting for the signal to proceed to our alarm-post, a duty which the\narmy performed every morning two hours before day. This was by no means\na pleasant task; scrambling up a hill of mud and standing shivering for\na couple of hours in the dark and wet was exceedingly uncomfortable, but\nI don\u2019t remember to have heard one single murmur; we all saw the\nnecessity of such a line of conduct, and we obeyed it with cheerfulness.\nOn the 14th of November Mass\u00e9na broke up his camp, and on that night his\narmy was in full march upon Santarem; ours made a corresponding\nmovement, and the headquarters were on the 18th established at Cartaxo.\nIt was the general opinion in the army that a battle in the\nneighbourhood of Santarem would be the result of those man\u0153uvres, and\nthis opinion was strengthened by Lord Wellington making a\n_reconnoissance_ on the 19th; but although those expectations were\ndisappointed, the situation of the troops was much improved, and their\ncomforts increased. Our division occupied the town of Torres Vedras,\nwhile the other corps were in the villages of Alenquer, Azambujo, and\nAlcoentre. The French army foraged the country between Santarem and the\nriver Zezere. Santarem was much strengthened, and the two armies were\nthus circumstanced at the end of November 1810.\nOur fatigues being for a time at an end, we occupied ourselves in such\npursuits as each of us fancied. We had no unnecessary drilling, nor were\nwe tormented with that greatest of all _bores_ to an officer at any\ntime, but particularly on service, uniformity of dress. The consequence\nwas that every duty was performed with cheerfulness; the army was in the\nhighest state of discipline; and those gentlemen who had, or fancied\nthey had, a taste for leading the fashion, had now a fine opportunity of\nbringing their talents into play.\nWith such latitude it is not to be wondered at that our appearance was\nnot _quite_ as uniform as some general officers would approve of; but\nLord Wellington was a most indulgent commander; he never harassed us\nwith reviews, or petty annoyances, which so far from promoting\ndiscipline, or doing good in any way, have a contrary effect. A\ncorporal\u2019s guard frequently did the duty at headquarters; and every\nofficer who chose to purchase a horse might ride on a march. Provided we\nbrought our men into the field well appointed, and with sixty rounds of\ngood ammunition each, he never looked to see whether their trousers were\nblack, blue, or grey; and as to ourselves, we might be rigged out in all\nthe colours of the rainbow if we fancied it. The consequence was, that\nscarcely any two officers were dressed alike! Some with grey braided\ncoats, others with brown; some again liked blue; while many from choice,\nor perhaps necessity, stuck to the \u201cold red rag.\u201d Overalls, of all\nthings, were in vogue, and the comical appearance of a number of\ninfantry officers loaded with leather bottoms to their pantaloons, and\nhuge chains suspended from the side buttons, like a parcel of troopers,\nwas amusing enough. Quantities of hair, a regular brutus, a pair of\nmustachios, and screw brass spurs, were essential to a first-rate\n_Count_, for so were our dandies designated. The \u201ccut-down\u201d hat, exactly\na span in height, was another _rage_; this burlesque on a _chapeau_ was\nusually out-topped by some extraordinary-looking feather; while, again,\nothers wore their hats without any feather at all\u2014and indeed this was\nthe most rational thing they did. In the paroxysm of a wish to be\nsingularly singular, a friend of mine shaved all the hair off the crown\nof his head, and _he_ was decidedly the most _outr\u00e9_-looking man amongst\nus, and consequently the happiest. I myself had a hankering to be a\n_Count_, and had I half as much money to spare as time, I should not\nhave been outdone by any man in the army, so I hit upon the expedient of\ncutting my hat down a couple of inches lower than any one else: _this_ I\nthought would be better than nothing. Lieutenant Heppenstal, of the 88th\nRegiment, was nearly falling a sacrifice to the richness of his dress.\nHe belonged to the light troops of our army at the battle of Busaco, and\nwas warmly engaged with the advance of the enemy. He was a man of the\nmost determined bravery and gigantic strength, and more than once became\npersonally engaged with the French riflemen. At one time, carried away\nby his daring impetuosity, he pursued his success so far as to be nearly\nmixed with the enemy; a number of Portuguese Ca\u00e7adores, coming up at\nthis moment, mistook him for a French general officer, and attempted to\nmake him a prisoner; a scuffle ensued, in which he lost the skirts of\nhis frockcoat; and it was not until an explanation took place that he\nwas enabled to join his regiment in this laughable trim\u2014his beautiful\ngold-tagged frock being converted into a regular spencer.\nPoor Heppenstal! It was his first appearance under fire, and it was not\ndifficult for those who witnessed his too gallant _d\u00e9but_ to foresee\nthat his career of glory would be short. He carried a rifle, and his\nunerring aim brought down many a man on the morning I am speaking of;\nbut he did not long survive the praises so justly bestowed on him, and\nit will soon be my painful duty to record his death.\nDress, however, with its attractions, by no means engrossed all our\nthoughts; some were fond of shooting, and those whose tastes lay that\nway had plenty of sport, as the country abounded in game; others took to\nhorse-racing, and here was a fine opportunity for the lovers of the turf\nand of dress to display their knowledge in both. Jockeys, adorned with\nall colours, were to be seen on the course, and the harlequin-like\nappearance of these equestrians was far from unpleasing. Some of the\nraces were admirably contested, and afforded us as much gratification as\nthose of Epsom and Doncaster do to the visitants of those receptacles of\nrank and fashion.\nWe had great inconvenience in making ourselves understood by our\nPortuguese allies, and a laughable circumstance of this sort took place\nbetween a friend of mine and a shoemaker, in the village of Rio Mayor.\nHe left his boots, his only pair, to be mended, and understood they were\nto be put in serviceable condition for a _crusado novo_, less than three\nshillings of our money. Next day, on entering the shop, the man made two\nor three efforts to make the officer comprehend how well the work had\nbeen done; but it was all to no purpose, for my friend, not\nunderstanding one word of what was said, conceived the fellow wanted to\nimpose a higher price upon him, and got into a violent rage. An Irish\nsoldier, belonging to the 88th Regiment, of the name of Larracy, a\nshoemaker, who had been working for the Portuguese, a common indulgence\nallowed to the tradesmen of the army, came up to his officer and thus\naccosted him.\n\u201cAh! your honour, I see you can\u2019t talk to him, but _lave_ him to me;\nI\u2019ve been working in his shop these three weeks, and, saving your\npresence, there isn\u2019t a bigger rascal in all Ireland; but I can _spake_\nas well as himself now, and I\u2019m up to his ways.\u201d\nLarracy thus became interpreter and _mediator_, and it would be\ndifficult to say in which character he best acquitted himself.\nPossessing no knowledge whatever of the language, notwithstanding his\nrepeated assurances that he could talk it _nately_, he brought that\nhappy talent for invention, for which the Irish most undeniably stand\nunrivalled, into play. Seizing one of the boots, he approached his\nemployer, and suiting the word to the action, addressed him in the\nfollowing words:\u2014\n\u201cSi, senhor! Quanto the munnee, for the solee, the heelee, and the\nnailee?\u201d\nThe astonishment portrayed in the countenance of the Portuguese baffles\nall description; he surveyed Larracy from head to foot, and with much\ngravity of manner replied, \u201c_En n\u00e0o entendo-o que v\u00f3s me\ndizeis._\u201d[8]\u2014\u201cAnd sure I\u2019m telling him so,\u201d rejoined Larracy. \u201cWhat does\nthe fellow say?\u201d demanded my friend. \u201cWhat does he say?\u2014What does he\nsay, is it? He says he put a fine pair of welts to your boots, sir (and\nit\u2019s true for him!); and that your honour will have to give him a dollar\n[_about two shillings more than was demanded by the Portuguese!_], but\njust only _lave_ him to me, and give _me_ the dollar, and if I don\u2019t\n_bate_ him down in the price, never believe a word that I\u2019ll tell your\nhonour again; and I\u2019ll carry home your boots for you, and bring you the\naccount in _rotation_ (by which he meant in writing), and the change of\nthe dollar.\u201d\u2014\u201cOh! never mind, you are an honest fellow, Larracy, and\nkeep the change for your trouble; but you may tell your employer it is\nthe last job he shall ever do for me.\u201d\u2014\u201cOch! sure I told your honour he\nwas a blackguard,\u201d grinned Larracy, escorting his officer to the door,\nand putting the dollar in his pocket.\nFootnote 8:\n \u201cI do not understand a word you are saying to me.\u201d\nWhile in the other parts of the Peninsula much activity prevailed, with\nus all was quiet; and although the season was advancing towards spring,\nthere was no appearance of our commencing the offensive, and conjectures\ninnumerable were the consequence. Promotion, that great planet whose\ninfluence more or less affected us all, was perpetually on the tapis.\nThere were some among us of a desponding cast; they would say, \u201cHave we\nnot lost Almeida, Rodrigo, and now, though last not least, Badajoz? And\nshould we be obliged to evacuate the Peninsula, good-bye to promotion.\u201d\nOthers there were who held a different opinion, and, resting their hopes\non some fortunate \u201cturn-up,\u201d expected ere long to have the enviable\ntitle of captain attached to their name. To this class I belonged, and\nas it was the most numerous in the army, it was in consequence the most\nclamorous on this head.\nThe life of a subaltern, in what Miss Mac-Tab would call a marching\nregiment, where many of us, and I myself for one, had little except our\npay, is a perpetual scene of irritating calculation from the 24th of one\nmonth to the 24th of the next. No matter under what circumstances, or in\nwhat quarter of the globe the subaltern is placed, his _first_ thought\npoints towards that powerful magnet the _twenty-fourth_\u2014his _next_ to\npromotion.\nThe 24th has scarcely passed when the same routine is pursued, every\nhour increasing in interest according to the immediate wants of the\ncalculator; and time rolls on, either rapidly or slowly, in the exact\nratio with the strength or weakness of his purse. The moment he receives\nhis pay he discharges his bills, and by the time he has got about\nhalf-way into the first week of the next month, he has little occasion\nfor a knowledge of Cocker to enable him to calculate his money.\nThe period generally reckoned on by a subaltern to get his company, in a\ngood fighting regiment\u2014that is to say, one that had the good luck to be\nin the thick and thin of what was going on, for all regiments fight\nalike for that matter\u2014was from five to six years. The \u201cextra shilling\u201d\nwas rarely heard of, and never thought of but with disgust.[9]\nFootnote 9:\n The extra shilling was given to lieutenants who had served in that\n rank seven years or more, and had not obtained a company.\nExcesses and sufferings of the French during their retreat\u2014Combats of\n Foz d'Aronce and Sabugal\u2014Battle of Fuentes d'O\u00f1oro\u2014Sir E. Pakenham,\n Colonel Wallace, and the 88th Regiment.\nThe retreat of the French army from Portugal commenced on the night of\nthe 5th of March 1811, and was marked by acts more suited to a horde of\nbarbarians than a European army. On the fact being ascertained at our\nheadquarters, we were put in their track, which, when once found, it\nwould have been a difficult matter to lose, the whole country through\nwhich they passed being a vast extent of burning ruins. Not a town, not\na village, and rarely a cottage escaped the general conflagration. The\nbeautiful town of Leyria was left a heap of ruins; Pombal shared the\nsame fate; and the magnificent convent of Alcoba\u00e7a was burned to the\nground. Two of the finest organs in Europe were destroyed by this wanton\nact; and a century will be insufficient to repair the evils which a few\nmonths inflicted on this unfortunate country.\nScenes of the most revolting nature were the natural attendants on such\na barbarous mode of warfare, and scarcely a league was traversed by our\narmy, in its advance, without our eyes being shocked by some frightful\nspectacle. The French army was doubtless much exasperated against the\nPortuguese nation, in consequence of the manner in which they destroyed\nwhat would have contributed to the comforts of men who had been\nhalf-starved for six months. And now, after so many privations, having a\nlong retreat before them, with a scanty allowance of provisions in their\nhaversacks, it is more to be lamented than wondered at, that the march\nof the French troops was accompanied by many circumstances which were\ndisgraceful to them.\nOn the 9th of March our advance-guard came up with the rear of the\nenemy, commanded by Marshal Ney, in the neighbourhood of Pombal. The\nLight Division was warmly engaged, and some charges of cavalry took\nplace on the high ground near the castle; but the infantry of our\ndivision (the 3rd) arrived too late to support the Light, and no\ndecisive result was the consequence. Mass\u00e9na continued his retreat that\nnight and next day; but on the 11th we found him posted on a rising\nground near the village of Redinha; our army formed in line on the\nplain, and an action of some consequence was expected; but the French\nmarshal was so pressed in front, while his left was vigorously attacked,\nthat it was not without sustaining a severe loss he effected his passage\nacross the river Redinha.\nOn the 15th we surprised their covering division while in the act of\ncooking near the village of Foz d'Aronce. They retreated in the greatest\nhurry, leaving several camp kettles full of meat behind them. As we\napproached the town, the road leading to it was covered with a number of\nhorses, mules, and asses, all maimed; but the most disgusting sight was\nabout fifty of the asses floundering in the mud, some with their throats\nhalf cut, while others were barbarously houghed or otherwise injured.\nWhat the object of this proceeding meant I never could guess; the poor\nbrutes could have been of no use to us, or indeed any one else, as I\nbelieve they were unable to have travelled another league. The meagre\nappearance of these creatures, with their backbones and hips protruding\nthrough their hides, and their mangled and bleeding throats, produced a\ngeneral feeling of disgust and commiseration.\nThe village of Foz d'Aronce was warmly contested, and more than once\ntaken and retaken. Night put a stop to this affair, in which we\nsustained a loss of about four hundred men. The enemy lost nearly a\nthousand _hors de combat_;[10] and, as usual, taking advantage of the\nnight, got off, and continued their retreat upon Guarda, having\ndestroyed the bridge on the river Ceira as they retired.\nFootnote 10:\n These figures are very wild. The English lost 4 officers and 60 men,\n the French 456 killed and wounded only, according to the official\n accounts.\nThe army did not lose any officer of rank in the affair of Foz d'Aronce,\nbut the service sustained a loss in Lieutenant Heppenstal\u2014a young man\nwho, had he lived, would have been an ornament to a profession for which\nNature seemed to have destined him. He was known to be one of the\nbravest men in the army, but on this occasion his usual spirits deserted\nhim. He moved along silent, inattentive, and abstracted\u2014a brisk firing\nin our front soon roused all his wonted energy, and he advanced with his\nmen apparently cheerful as ever; turning to a brother officer he said,\n\u201cYou will laugh at what I am going to say; you know I am not afraid to\ndie, but I have a certain feeling that my race is nearly run.\u201d\u2014\u201cYou\njest,\u201d said his friend. \u201cNo, I don\u2019t,\u201d was his reply; they shook hands,\nthe light troops advanced, and in a few minutes the brave Heppenstal was\na corpse. His presentiment was too just, and though I had heard of\ninstances of the kind before, this was the first that came under my\nimmediate observation. I ran up to the spot where he lay; he was\nbleeding profusely; his breast was penetrated by two bullets, and a\nthird passed through his forehead. His death was singular, and it\nappeared as if he was resolved to fulfil the destiny that he had marked\nout for himself. Our light troops were gradually retreating on their\nreinforcements, and were within a few paces of the columns of infantry;\nhis men repeatedly called out to him to retire with the rest, but he,\neither not hearing, or not attending to what they said, remained, with\nhis back against a pine-tree, dealing out death at every shot. Pressed\nas we were for time, we dug him a deep grave at the foot of the tree\nwhere he so gallantly lost his life, and we laid him in it without form\nor ceremony.\nNothing particular occurred after the action of Foz d'Aronce until our\narrival at Guarda. As usual, we met with groups of murdered peasantry\nand of French soldiers. At the entrance of a cave, amidst these rocky\nmountains, lay an old man, a woman, and two young men, all dead. This\ncave, no doubt, had served them as an asylum the preceding winter, and\nappearances warranted the supposition that these poor creatures, in a\nvain effort to save their little store of provisions, fell victims to\nthe ferocity of their murderers. The clothes of the two young peasants\nwere torn to atoms, and bore ample testimony that they did not lose\ntheir lives without a struggle to preserve them; the hands of one were\ndreadfully mangled, as if in a last effort to save his life he had\ngrasped the sword which ultimately despatched him. Beside him lay his\ncompanion, his brother perhaps, covered with wounds; and a little to the\nright was the old man. He lay on his back with his breast bare; two\nlarge gashes were over his heart, and the back part of his head was\nbeaten to pieces. Near him lay an old rusty bayonet fixed on a pole,\nwhich formerly served as a goad for oxen, and one of his hands grasped a\nbunch of hair, torn, no doubt, from the head of the assassin; the old\nwoman was in all probability strangled, as no wound appeared on her\nbody.\nAt some distance from this spot were two French soldiers belonging to\nthe 4th L\u00e9ger; their appearance was frightful. They had been wounded by\nour advance, and their companions either being too much occupied in\nproviding for their own safety to think of them, or their situation\nbeing too hopeless to entertain an idea of their surviving, they were\nabandoned to the fury of the peasants, who invariably dodged on the\nflanks or in the rear of our troops. These poor wretches were surrounded\nby half a dozen Portuguese, who, after having plundered them, were\ntaking that horrible vengeance too common during this contest. On the\napproach of our men they dispersed, but, as we passed on, we could\nperceive them returning like vultures that have been scared away from\ntheir prey for the moment, but who return to it again with redoubled\nvoraciousness. Both the Frenchmen were alive, and entreated us to put an\nend to their sufferings. I thought it would have been humane to do so,\nbut Napoleon and Jaffa flashed across me, and I turned away from the\nspot.[11]\nFootnote 11:\n The reference is to the discredited story that Napoleon poisoned all\n his non-transportable wounded at Jaffa, during his retreat to Egypt,\n in order to prevent them from being massacred by the Turks.\nOn the 30th of March General Picton arrived before Guarda. His approach\nto that town was not only unperceived, but seemed unexpected, having\nadvanced to within two gun-shots of the town without meeting a vedette.\nSuch conduct on the part of the French general was not only culpable in\nthe extreme, but showed the greatest presumption and confidence,\nbecause, had we a brigade of guns with us, and a few hundred cavalry,\nthe five thousand men that occupied Guarda would have been forced to lay\ndown their arms. Fortunately for them, we had neither the one nor the\nother; and instead of being in a condition to attack the town, we had\nthe mortification to witness the French getting out of it, bag and\nbaggage, as quick as they could. The scene of confusion that the streets\npresented was great; infantry, artillery, and baggage, men, women, and\nchildren, all mixed pell-mell together, hurrying to the high road\nleading to Sabugal. Our cavalry came up shortly after the enemy had\nevacuated the place, but too late to do much good. Some prisoners and\nbaggage and a few head of cattle were captured, and we took up our\nquarters in the town for the night.\nOn the 3rd of April we again, and for the last time in Portugal,\nencountered the enemy at Sabugal. The Light Division had a gallant\naffair with the corps of General Reynier, and though greatly\noutnumbered, they not only succeeded in forcing the position, but\ncaptured a howitzer and several prisoners. The 3rd Division soon after\nreached the ground, and its leading battalions, especially the 5th\nRegiment, had deployed, and having thrown in a heavy fire, were\nadvancing with the bayonet, when a violent hail-storm came on and\ncompletely hid the two armies from each other. Reynier hurried his\ndivisions off the field; and this unlooked-for event snatched a\nbrilliant exploit from us, as the total overthrow of this corps would\nhave been in all probability the result.\nThe French suffered severely, but they never fought better; so rapidly\ndid they fire that, instead of returning their ramrods, they stuck them\nin the ground for expedition, and continued to fight until overpowered\nby our men, who are certainly better at close fighting than long shot.\nThe enemy fought their howitzer well, and almost all the gunners lay\ndead about it. A young artillery officer was the first I took notice\nof\u2014his uniform was still on him, an unusual thing; he wore a blue\nfrock-coat; across his shoulder hung his cartouche-box; and the middle\nof his forehead was pierced by a musket ball. His features, which were\nbeautiful, showed, nevertheless, a painful distortion, and it was\nevident that the shock which deprived him of life, though momentary, was\none of excruciating agony. Beside him lay one of the gunners, whose\nappearance was altogether different from that of his officer. A round\nshot had taken off his thigh a few inches below the groin, and his\ndeath, though not as instantaneous, seemed to be void of pain. The bare\nstump exhibited a shocking sight\u2014the muscles, arteries, and flesh, all\nhanging in frightful confusion, presented the eye with a horrid sample\nof the effects of those means made use of by man for his own\ndestruction; the ramrod of the gun was near him; his back rested against\none of the wheels; and there was that placid look in his countenance\nwhich would lead you to think he had sat himself down to rest.\nThe wounded having been all removed, and the enemy continuing their\nretreat, we bivouacked on the ground they had occupied at the\ncommencement of the action, and the next day we went into cantonments.\nThe French recrossed the Agueda, and Portugal was, with the exception of\nAlmeida, freed from their presence, after they had occupied it for\nnearly eight months, and had inflicted on the inhabitants every misery\nit is possible to conceive.\nFour weeks had scarcely elapsed when we were again called into action.\nOn the 2nd of May Marshal Mass\u00e9na passed the river Agueda at Rodrigo,\nand moved upon Almeida in order to supply it with provisions. He had\nleft a garrison of three thousand men in that fortress, commanded by\nGeneral Brennier, in whom he placed much confidence. The French Marshal\nstationed his army on the river Azava, in the neighbourhood of Carpio,\nEspeja, and Gallegos; and next day (the 3rd) made a movement on Almeida.\nLord Wellington made a corresponding movement, and our army occupied a\nfine line of battle\u2014its right at Nava d'Aver, the centre at Fuentes\nd'O\u00f1oro, and the left resting on the ruins of the Fort de la Conception;\nin our front ran the little stream of O\u00f1oro. General Pack\u2019s brigade of\nPortuguese invested Almeida.\nWithout waiting to ascertain the strength or weakness of the position,\nMarshal Mass\u00e9na, with that impetuosity which had formerly characterised\nhim, ordered the village of Fuentes d'O\u00f1oro to be carried; and to make\nhis success certain the entire of the sixth corps was employed in the\nattack. The town was at this time occupied by some of our 1st Division,\nconsisting of the Highland regiments, supported by others of the line,\nand the light companies of the 1st and 3rd Divisions, commanded by Major\nDick of the 42nd Highlanders, and Colonel Williams of the 60th. The\nvillage was taken and retaken several times, and night found both armies\noccupying a part each.\nMass\u00e9na, perceiving that the obstacles opposed to his carrying this\npoint, which he considered the key of our position, were too great for\nhim to surmount, employed himself during the 4th of May in reconnoitring\nour line, and in making preparations for the battle which was to take\nplace the following day. On our side we were not inactive: the avenues\nleading to Pozobello and Fuentes were barricaded in the best manner the\nmoment would allow; temporary defences were constructed at the heads of\nthe different streets, and trenches dug here and there as a protection\nagainst the impetuous attacks expected from the cavalry of General\nMontbrun. We lay down to rest perfectly assured that every necessary\nprecaution had been taken by our General; and as to the result of the\nbattle, we looked upon that as certain, a series of engagements with the\nenemy having taught us to estimate our own prowess; and being a good\ndeal overcome with the heat of the weather, we lay down to rest and\nslept soundly.\nDay had scarcely dawned when the roar of artillery and musketry\nannounced the attack of Fuentes d'O\u00f1oro and Pozobello. Five thousand men\nfilled the latter village, and after a desperate conflict carried it\nwith the bayonet. General Montbrun, at the head of the French cavalry,\nvigorously attacked the right of our army; but he was received with much\nsteadiness by our 7th Division, which, though it fought in line,\nrepulsed the efforts made to break it, and drove back the cavalry in\nconfusion. The light troops, immediately in front of the 1st and 3rd\nDivisions, were in like manner charged by bodies of the enemy\u2019s horse,\nbut by man\u0153uvres well executed, in proper time, these attacks were\nrendered as fruitless as the main one against the right of our army. The\nofficer who commanded this advance,[12] either too much elated with his\nsuccess, or holding the efforts of the enemy in too light a point of\nview, unfortunately extended his men once more to the distance at which\nlight troops usually fight; the consequence was fatal. The enemy, though\ndefeated in his principal attack, was still powerful as a minor\nantagonist; and seeing the impossibility of success against the main\nbody, redoubled his efforts against those which were detached;\naccordingly he charged with impetuosity the troops most exposed, amongst\nwhom were those I have been describing. The bugle sounded to close, but\nwhether to the centre, right, or left, I know not; certain it is,\nhowever, that the men attempted to close to the right, when to the\ncentre would have been more desirable, and before they could complete\ntheir movement the French cavalry were _mixed with them_.\nFootnote 12:\n Colonel Hill of the Guards: he was taken prisoner.\nOur division was posted on the high ground just above this plain; a\nsmall rugged ravine separated us from our comrades; but although the\ndistance between us was short, we were, in effect, as far from them as\nif we were placed upon the Rock of Lisbon. We felt much for their\nsituation, but could not afford them the least assistance, and we saw\nthem rode down and cut to pieces without being able to rescue them, or\neven discharge one musket in their defence.\nOur heavy horse and the 16th Light Dragoons executed some brilliant\ncharges, in each of which they overthrew the French cavalry. An officer\nof our staff, who led on one of those attacks, unhorsed and made\nprisoner Colonel La Motte of the 15th French Chasseurs; but Don Julian\nSanchez, the Guerilla chief, impelled more by valour than prudence,\nattacked with his Guerillas a first-rate French regiment; the\nconsequence was the total overthrow of the Spanish hero; and as I\nbelieve this was the first attempt this species of troops ever made at a\nregular charge against a French regiment, so I hope, for their own\nsakes, it was their last.\nAll the avenues leading to the town of Fuentes d'O\u00f1oro were in a moment\nfilled with French troops; it was occupied by our 71st and 79th\nHighlanders, the 83rd, the light companies of the 1st and 3rd Divisions,\nand some German and Portuguese battalions, supported by the 24th, 45th,\n74th, and 88th British Regiments, and the 9th and 21st Portuguese.\nThe sixth corps, which formed the centre of the French army, advanced\nwith the characteristic impetuosity of their nation, and forcing down\nthe barriers, which we had hastily constructed as a temporary defence,\ncame rushing on, and, torrent-like, threatened to overwhelm all that\nopposed them. Every street, and every angle of a street, were the\ndifferent theatres for the combatants; inch by inch was gained and lost\nin turn. Whenever the enemy were forced back, fresh troops, and fresh\nenergy on the part of their officers, impelled them on again, and\ntowards mid-day the town presented a shocking sight; our Highlanders lay\ndead in heaps, while the other regiments, though less remarkable in\ndress, were scarcely so in the numbers of their slain. The French\nGrenadiers, with their immense caps and gaudy plumes, in piles of twenty\nand thirty together\u2014some dead, others wounded, with barely strength\nsufficient to move; their exhausted state, and the weight of their\ncumbrous appointments, making it impossible for them to crawl out of the\nrange of the dreadful fire of grape and round shot which the enemy\npoured into the town. Great numbers perished in this way, and many were\npressed to death in the streets.\nIt was now half-past twelve o\u2019clock, and although the French troops\nwhich formed this attack had been several times reinforced, ours never\nhad; nevertheless the town was still in dispute. Mass\u00e9na, aware of its\nimportance, and mortified at the pertinacity with which it was defended,\nordered a fresh column of the ninth corps to reinforce those already\nengaged. Such a series of attacks, constantly supported by fresh troops,\nrequired exertions more than human to withstand; every effort was made\nto sustain the post, but efforts, no matter how great, must have their\nlimits. Our soldiers had been engaged in this unequal contest for\nupwards of eight hours; the heat was moreover excessive, and their\nammunition was nearly expended. The Highlanders were driven to the\nchurchyard at the top of the village, and were fighting with the French\nGrenadiers across the tomb-stones and graves; while the ninth French\nLight Infantry had penetrated as far as the chapel, distant but a few\nyards from our line, and were preparing to _debouche_ upon our centre.\nWallace with his regiment, the 88th, was in reserve on the high ground\nwhich overlooked the churchyard, and he was attentively looking on at\nthe combat which raged below, when Sir Edward Pakenham galloped up to\nhim, and said, \u201cDo you see that, Wallace?\u201d\u2014\u201cI do,\u201d replied the Colonel,\n\u201cand I would rather drive the French out of the town than cover a\nretreat across the Coa.\u201d\u2014\u201cPerhaps,\u201d said Sir Edward, \u201chis lordship don\u2019t\nthink it tenable.\u201d Wallace answering said, \u201cI shall take it with my\nregiment, and keep it too.\u201d\u2014\u201cWill you?\u201d was the reply; \u201cI\u2019ll go and tell\nLord Wellington so; see, here he comes.\u201d In a moment or two Pakenham\nreturned at a gallop, and, waving his hat, called out, \u201cHe says you may\ngo\u2014come along, Wallace.\u201d\nAt this moment General Mackinnon came up, and placing himself beside\nWallace and Pakenham, led the attack of the 88th Regiment, which soon\nchanged the state of affairs. This battalion advanced with fixed\nbayonets in column of sections, left in front, in double quick time,\ntheir firelocks at the trail. As it passed down the road leading to the\nchapel, it was warmly cheered by the troops that lay at each side of the\nwall, but the soldiers made no reply to this greeting. They were placed\nin a situation of great distinction, and they felt it; they were going\nto fight, not only under the eye of their own army and general, but also\nin the view of every soldier in the French army; but although their\nfeelings were wrought up to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, not one\nhurrah responded to the shouts that welcomed their advance. There was no\nnoise or talking in the ranks; the men stepped together at a smart trot,\nas if on a parade, headed by their brave colonel.\nIt so happened that the command of the company which led this attack\ndevolved upon me. When we came within sight of the French 9th Regiment,\nwhich were drawn up at the corner of the chapel, waiting for us, I\nturned round to look at the men of my company; they gave me a cheer that\na lapse of many years has not made me forget, and I thought that that\nmoment was the proudest of my life. The soldiers did not look as men\nusually do going into close fight\u2014pale; the trot down the road had\nheightened their complexions, and they were the picture of everything\nthat a chosen body of troops ought to be.\nThe enemy were not idle spectators of this movement; they witnessed its\ncommencement, and the regularity with which the advance was conducted\nmade them fearful of the result. A battery of eight-pounders advanced at\na gallop to an olive-grove on the opposite bank of the river, hoping by\nthe effects of its fire to annihilate the 88th Regiment, or, at all\nevents, embarrass its movements as much as possible; but this battalion\ncontinued to press on, joined by its exhausted comrades, and the battery\ndid little execution.\nOn reaching the head of the village, the 88th Regiment was vigorously\nopposed by the French 9th Regiment, supported by some hundred of the\nImperial Guard, but it soon closed in with them, and, aided by the brave\nfellows that had so gallantly fought in the town all the morning, drove\nthe enemy through the different streets at the point of the bayonet, and\nat length forced them into the river that separated the two armies.\nSeveral of our men fell on the French side of the water. About one\nhundred and fifty of the grenadiers of the Guard, in their flight, ran\ndown a street that had been barricaded by us the day before, and which\nwas one of the few that escaped the fury of the morning\u2019s assault; but\ntheir disappointment was great, upon arriving at the bottom, to find\nthemselves shut in. Mistakes of this kind will sometimes occur, and when\nthey do, the result is easily imagined; troops advancing to assault a\ntown, uncertain of success, or flushed with victory, have no great time\nto deliberate as to what they will do; the thing is generally done in\nhalf the time the deliberation would occupy. In the present instance,\nevery man was put to death; but our soldiers, as soon as they had\nleisure, paid the enemy that respect which is due to brave men. This\npart of the attack was led by Lieutenant George Johnston, of the 88th\nRegiment.\nState of the town of Fuentes d'O\u00f1oro after the battle\u2014The wounded\u2014Visit\n to an amputating hospital\u2014General Brennier\u2019s escape from\n Almeida\u2014Booty in the camp.\nAs soon as the town of Fuentes d'O\u00f1oro was completely cleared of the\nenemy, we sheltered ourselves in the best manner we could behind the\nwalls, and at the angles of the different streets; but this was a task\nnot easy to be accomplished, the French batteries continuing to fire\nwith much effect. Nevertheless, Sir Edward Pakenham remained on\nhorseback, riding through the streets with that daring bravery for which\nhe was remarkable; if he stood still for a moment, the ground about him\nwas ploughed up with round shot.\nAbout this time Colonel Cameron, of the 79th Highlanders, fell, as did\nalso Captain Irwin of the 88th Regiment. The death of the latter officer\nwas singular. He had been many years in the army, but this was his first\nappearance in action. He was short-sighted, and the firing having in\nsome degree slackened, he was anxious to take a view of the scene that\nwas passing; he put his head above the wall behind which his men were\nstationed, but had scarcely placed his glass to his eye, when a bullet\nstruck him in the forehead\u2014he sprang from the earth and fell dead.\nGeneral Mackinnon and a group of mounted officers were behind the chapel\nwall, which was the highest point in the village, and consequently much\nexposed to the enemy\u2019s view. This ill-built wall was but a feeble\ndefence against round shot, and it was knocked down in several places,\nand some wide gaps were made in it. The general stood at one of these\nbreaches giving his directions; he attracted the enemy\u2019s notice, and\nthey redoubled their fire on this point. Salvos of artillery astounded\nour ears, at each of which some part of the old wall was knocked about\nus; at one of these discharges, five or six feet of it was beaten down,\nand several men were crushed. Colonel Wallace, of the 88th, was covered\nwith the rubbish, his hat was knocked off, and we thought he was killed,\nbut fortunately he escaped unhurt.\nBy two o\u2019clock the town was comparatively tranquil. The cannonading on\nthe right of the line had ceased, but the enemy continued to fire on the\ntown; this proceeding was attended with little loss to us, and was fatal\nto many of their wounded, who lay in a helpless state in the different\nstreets, and could not be moved from their situation without great peril\nto our men\u2014and they were torn to pieces by the shot of their own army.\nSeveral of these poor wretches were saved by the humane exertions of our\nsoldiers, but still it was not possible to attend to all, and,\nconsequently, the havoc made was great. Towards evening the firing\nceased altogether, and it was a gratifying sight to behold the soldiers\nof both armies, who but a few hours before were massacring each other,\nmutually assisting to remove the wounded to their respective sides of\nthe river. The town too, as was usual in such cases, was not passed\nunnoticed; it contained little, it is true, yet even that little was\nbetter than nothing; and it was laughable to see the scrupulous\nobservation of _etiquette_ practised by our men, when any windfall, such\nas a chest of bread or bacon, happened to fall to the lot of a group of\nindividuals in their foraging excursions. The following was the method\ntaken to divide the spoil, and as no national distinction was thought\nof, the French as well as the British shared in whatever was acquired.\nAn old experienced stager or two took upon themselves the responsibility\nof making a division of the plunder according to the number that were\npresent at the capture. This done, one of the party was placed with his\nback to the booty, when one of those who had partitioned it called out\nwith an audible voice, \u201cWho is to have this?\u201d at the same time pointing\nto the parcel about to be transferred, while he that was appealed to\nwithout hesitation particularised some one of the number, who\nimmediately seized on his portion, put it into his haversack, and\nproceeded in search of fresh adventures.\nWe had now leisure to walk through the town and observe the effects of\nthe morning\u2019s affray. The two armies lost about five thousand men, and\nas the chief of this loss was sustained by the troops engaged in the\ntown, the streets were much crowded with the dead and wounded. French\nand British lay in heaps together, and it would be difficult to say\nwhich were most numerous. Some of the houses were also crowded with dead\nFrenchmen, who either crawled there after being wounded, in order to\nescape the incessant fire which cleared the streets, or who, in a vain\neffort to save their lives, were overpowered by our men in their last\nplace of refuge; and several were thrust half-way up the large Spanish\nchimneys.\nGeneral Mackinnon, who directed the attack of the 88th Regiment, and\naccompanied it in its advance, ordered it to retire to the position it\nhad previously occupied, and as he was unwilling to attract the notice\nof the enemy too much, he desired that this operation should be\nperformed by companies. My company, or at least the one I commanded, was\nthe first to quit the town. As I approached the spot where Sir Edward\nPakenham was on horseback, he said, \u201cWhere are you going, sir?\u201d not at\nthe moment recognising the regiment. I told him that General Mackinnon\nhad desired me to retire, but of course if he wished me to stay I would.\n\u201cOh no,\u201d said he, \u201cthe 88th have done enough for this day; but the\nregiment that replaces you would do well to bring a keg of ammunition,\n_each man_, in addition to his sixty rounds, for, while I have life, the\ntown shall not be taken.\u201d He was in a violent perspiration and covered\nwith dust, his left hand bound round with his pocket-handkerchief as if\nhe had been wounded; he was ever in the hottest of the fire, and if the\nwhole fate of the battle depended upon his own personal exertions he\ncould not have fought with more devotion.\nLord Wellington caused the village of Fuentes d'O\u00f1oro to be occupied by\nfive thousand fresh troops. The Light Division was selected for this\nservice, and it passed us about five o\u2019clock on the evening of the 5th.\nGeneral Craufurd took the command of this post, and every precaution was\nresorted to to strengthen the town; temporary walls were thrown up at\nthe bottom of the streets, carts and doors were put into requisition to\nbarricade every pass, but, as it turned out, those observances were\nunnecessary, for Marshal Mass\u00e9na, giving up all idea of success,\ndeclined any further contest. Thus was the object of his movement\nfrustrated\u2014a battle lost, and Almeida left to its fate.\nOur wounded were removed to Villa Formosa, and Lord Wellington decided\nupon diminishing his front. By this movement we lost our communication\nwith Sabugal, but we effectually covered Almeida, and still possessed\nthe pass of Castello Bom. At half-past nine o\u2019clock at night, the\nregiments which had so bravely defended Fuentes d'O\u00f1oro passed us, as we\nwere about to lie down to rest; they were much fatigued, and we were\nstruck with their diminished appearance. The 79th Highlanders, in\nparticular, attracted our notice. We asked them what their loss had\nbeen; they said, thirteen officers, including their colonel, Cameron,\nand more than three hundred rank and file; and the soldiers were nearly\ncorrect in their estimate.[13]\nFootnote 13:\n The 79th, by the official return, lost 32 killed, 152 wounded, and 94\n missing\u2014a total of 278.\nThe next day, the 6th, we had no fighting; each army kept its position,\nand Villa Formosa continued to be the receptacle for the wounded. This\nvillage is beautifully situated on a craggy hill, at the foot of which\nruns the little stream of O\u00f1oro. Its healthful and tranquil situation,\nadded to its proximity to the scene of action, rendered it a most\ndesirable place for our wounded; the perfume of several groves of\nfruit-trees was a delightful contrast to the smell that was accumulating\non the plain below; and the change of scene, added to a strong desire to\nsee a brother officer, who had been wounded in the action of the 5th,\nled me thither.\nOn reaching the village, I had little difficulty in finding out the\nhospitals, as every house might be considered one, but it was some time\nbefore I discovered _that_ which I wished for. At last I found it. It\nconsisted of four rooms; in it were pent up twelve officers, all badly\nwounded. The largest room was twelve feet by eight, and this apartment\nhad for its occupants four officers. Next the door, on a bundle of\nstraw, lay two of the 79th Highlanders, one of them shot through the\nspine. He told me he had been wounded in the streets of Fuentes on the\n5th, and that although he had felt a good deal of pain before, he was\nnow perfectly easy and free from suffering. I was but ill skilled in\nsurgery, but, nevertheless, I disliked the account he gave of himself. I\npassed on to my friend; he was sitting on a table, his back resting\nagainst a wall. A musket-ball had penetrated his right breast, and\npassing through his lungs came out at his back, and he owed his life to\nthe great skill and attention of Doctors Stewart and Bell, of the 3rd\nDivision. The quantity of blood taken from him was astonishing; three,\nand sometimes four, times a day they would bleed him, and his recovery\nwas one of those extraordinary instances seldom witnessed. In an inner\nroom was a young officer shot through the head. His was a hopeless case.\nHe was quite delirious and obliged to be held down by two men; his\nstrength was astonishing, and more than once, while I remained, he\nsucceeded in escaping from the grasp of his attendants. The Scotch\nofficer\u2019s servant soon after came in, and, stooping down, inquired of\nhis master how he felt, but received no reply; he had half turned on his\nface; the man took hold of his master\u2019s hand, it was still warm, but the\npulse had ceased\u2014he was dead. The suddenness of this young man\u2019s death\nsensibly affected his companions; and I took leave of my friend and\ncompanion, Owgan, fully impressed with the idea that I should never see\nhim again.\nI was on my return to the army when my attention was arrested by an\nextraordinary degree of bustle, and a kind of half-stifled moaning, in\nthe yard of a _quinta_, or nobleman\u2019s house. I looked through the\ngrating, and saw about two hundred wounded soldiers waiting to have\ntheir limbs amputated, while others were arriving every moment. It would\nbe difficult to convey an idea of the frightful appearance of these men:\nthey had been wounded on the 5th, and this was the 7th; their limbs were\nswollen to an enormous size. Some were sitting upright against a wall,\nunder the shade of a number of chestnut-trees, and many of these were\nwounded in the head as well as limbs. The ghastly countenances of these\npoor fellows presented a dismal sight. The streams of gore, which had\ntrickled down their cheeks, were quite hardened with the sun, and gave\ntheir faces a glazed and copper-coloured hue; their eyes were sunk and\nfixed, and what between the effects of the sun, of exhaustion, and\ndespair, they resembled more a group of bronze figures than anything\nhuman\u2014there they sat, silent and statue-like, waiting for their turn to\nbe carried to the amputating tables. At the other side of the yard lay\nseveral whose state was too helpless for them to sit up; a feeble cry\nfrom them occasionally, to those who were passing, for a drink of water,\nwas all that we heard.\nA little farther on, in an inner court, were the surgeons. They were\nstripped to their shirts and bloody. Curiosity led me forward; a number\nof doors, placed on barrels, served as temporary tables, and on these\nlay the different subjects upon whom the surgeons were operating; to the\nright and left were arms and legs, flung here and there, without\ndistinction, and the ground was dyed with blood.\nDr. Bell was going to take off the thigh of a soldier of the 50th, and\nhe requested I would hold down the man for him. He was one of the\nbest-hearted men I ever met with, but, such is the force of habit, he\nseemed insensible to the scene that was passing around him, and with\nmuch composure was eating almonds out of his waistcoat-pockets, which he\noffered to share with me, but, if I got the universe for it, I could not\nhave swallowed a morsel of anything. The operation upon the man of the\n50th was the most shocking sight I ever witnessed; it lasted nearly half\nan hour, but his life was saved.\nTurning out of this place towards the street, I passed hastily on. Near\nthe gate an assistant-surgeon was taking off the leg of an old German\nsergeant of the 60th. The doctor was evidently a young practitioner, and\nBell, our staff-surgeon, took much trouble in instructing him. It is a\ntolerably general received opinion, that when the saw passes through the\nmarrow the patient suffers most pain; but such is not the case. The\nfirst cut and taking up the arteries is the worst. While the old German\nwas undergoing the operation, he seemed insensible of pain when the saw\nwas at work; now and then he would exclaim in broken English, as if\nwearied, \u201cOh! mine Got, is she off still?\u201d but he, as well as all those\nI noticed, felt much when the knife was first introduced, and all\nthought that red-hot iron was applied to them when the arteries were\ntaken up. The young doctor seemed much pleased when he had the sergeant\nfairly out of his hands, and it would be difficult to decide whether he\nor his patient was most happy; but, from everything I could observe, I\nwas of opinion that the doctor made his _d\u00e9but_ on the old German\u2019s\nstump. I offered up a few words\u2014prayers they could not be called\u2014that,\nif ever it fell to my lot to lose any of my members, the young fellow\nwho essayed on the sergeant should not be the person to operate on me.\nOutside of this place was an immense pit to receive the dead from the\ngeneral hospital, which was close by. Twelve or fifteen bodies were\nflung in at a time, and covered with a layer of earth, and so on, in\nsuccession, until the pit was filled. Flocks of vultures already began\nto hover over this spot, and Villa Formosa was now beginning to be as\ndisagreeable as it was the contrary a few days before. This was my first\nand last visit to an amputating hospital, and I advise young gentlemen,\nsuch as I was then, to avoid going near a place of the kind, unless\nobliged to do so\u2014mine was an accidental visit.\nMass\u00e9na, renouncing all hope of gaining any advantage by a fresh attack\nupon our position, recrossed the river Agueda with his army, and left\nthe governor of Almeida to shift for himself. On the 8th and 9th we\nheard several explosions in that direction, but although we guessed that\nthe governor was destroying some of the magazines previous to his\nsurrender, it never for a moment occurred to us that he meditated what\nhe afterwards executed with too much success. On the morning of the 11th\nwe heard, with the greatest astonishment, that the garrison, after\nhaving successfully passed through our lines that encompassed the place,\nhad escaped, with trifling loss, by the pass of San-Felices, and\nsucceeded in reaching the French lines on the Agueda. This was certainly\nthe most extraordinary event that took place during the campaign, and\nthe regiments that formed the blockade afforded amusement for several\ndays to our men; the soldiers used to say that the regiment nearest the\ntown _was asleep_, and that the others were _watching them_.\nThe command of the army of Portugal was now transferred to Marshal\nMarmont, Duke of Ragusa. Mass\u00e9na returned to France in ill-health and\nill-humour, in consequence of the bad success of his combinations since\nhis elevation to the command of this army, which, it was confidently\nstated, was to drive the English from the Peninsula. With the\nqualifications of our new antagonist we were unacquainted, except that\nhaving been for a considerable time aide-de-camp to the Emperor\nNapoleon, we looked upon him as something out of the common way\u2014a kind\nof _rara avis_. However, we found him out before we parted with him.\nFor six days we had not seen our baggage, and were in consequence\nwithout a change of linen. We lay among dirty straw for those six days.\nI had no nightcap, and my socks scarcely deserved the name. But this was\nnot all; those who had beards\u2014at this epoch I had not\u2014suffered them to\ngrow to a hideous length, and their faces were so altered as to be\nscarcely recognisable even by themselves. They might be compared to old\nMadame Rendau, who, not having consulted her glass since her husband\u2019s\ndeath, on seeing her own face in the mirror of another lady, exclaimed,\n\u201cWho is this?\u201d We all agreed that it would be delightful to bathe\nourselves in the river, and half a dozen of us walked out to the banks\nof the Dos Casas. Having washed ourselves, we had a hankering for clean\nlinen, and as none of us could be brought to the opinion of the\nIrishman, who said it was a charming thing when he _turned_ his shirt,\nwe proceeded to _wash_ ours, and as this was the first appearance of any\nof us in the character of a _blanchisseur_, we all acquitted ourselves\nbadly, but I worst of all. In an unguarded moment I flung my unfortunate\nshirt a little farther than the others did, and, not being quite as\nlight as the day it came out of the fold, it sank to the bottom, and I\nnever saw it afterwards. I soon discovered the cause of my mishap; a\nsmall whirlpool (which at the moment appeared in my eyes little inferior\nto Charybdis) carried it into its vortex, and left me shivering and\nshaking like a solitary heron watching for a fish by the bank of a\nriver. This accident, however, happened at rather a lucky time; our men\nhad ransacked the French knapsacks with tolerable effect, and as soon as\nmy mishap was known to the men of the company, I was not long wanting\nthe means to supply my loss. At another time this might not have been a\nmatter of easy accomplishment, because it is well known in the army that\nthe men in my regiment were never remarkable for carrying _too great a\nkit_.\nThe soldiers, as was their custom, made a display of the different\narticles they had picked up: some had watches, others rings, and almost\nall money. There cannot be a stronger contrast between the soldiers of\nany two nations than between those of France and England: the former,\ncautious, temperate, and frugal, ever with something valuable about him;\nthe latter the most unthinking, least cautious, and intemperate animal\nin existence, with seldom a farthing in his pocket, although his pay is\nthree times greater than the others. A French soldier was quite a prize\nto one of our fellows, and the produce of the plunder gained served him\nfor drink for a week, and sometimes for a fortnight!\nI knew a soldier once make a capture of _thirteen hundred dollars_,\nwhich having squandered, this same man, in less than a year afterwards,\nwas tried for his life for a highway robbery, and he would have been\nhanged had not a Portuguese woman proved an _alibi_ in his favour. The\nbooty taken by him (for I am convinced the woman swore falsely to save\nhis life) amounted to six vintems, or about _eightpence_ sterling! Under\nsimilar circumstances a French soldier would have hoarded up his\ntreasure, and, on his return home, dressed like a gentleman, and gone to\nall the dancing-houses in his neighbourhood.\nGuerilla warfare; its true character\u2014The 3rd Division marches for the\n Alemtejo\u2014Frenchmen and Irishmen on a march\u2014English regiments\u2014Colonel\n Wallace\u2014Severe drilling\u2014Maurice Quill and Doctor O\u2018Reily\u2014Taking a\n rise.\nWe occupied our old quarters at Nava d'Aver, and were well received by\nthe inhabitants, who preferred taking a quiet view of the combats of the\n3rd and 5th to taking a part in both or either; their plan of operations\nwas of a far different sort, and although unattended with any danger to\nthemselves, was fraught with the most disastrous consequences to their\nfoes, which is, no matter what may be urged against it, the very essence\nof the art of war.\nIt may, perhaps, be asked what their method was? or why I, a mere\nsubaltern, should take upon myself the censorship of the art of war? My\nanswer to the former shall be plain and I hope conclusive. To the\nlatter, that having served during part of the year 1809, the entire of\n1810\u201311\u201312, and part of 1813, in the 3rd Division (commonly designated\nthe \u201cfighting division\u201d) of the Peninsular army, and the division never\nhaving, during the period alluded to, squibbed off as much as one\ncartridge without my being in every place, I had opportunities of\ngaining, and I think I did gain, a little insight into military tactics.\nIf, however, the view I have taken of the subject upon which I am\nspeaking be an erroneous one, I fear my readers will come to the\nconclusion that I have lost some time which might have been better\nemployed\u2014or, to speak more plainly, that I have mistaken my profession.\nMarshal Saxe used to say that a mule which had made twenty campaigns\nunder C\u00e6sar would still be but a mule.\nI have digressed thus far before touching on a subject that, no doubt\n(although I have not seen any work of the kind), has been written upon,\nand upon which much diversity of opinion did exist at one time in\nEngland; whether it still exists or not I shall not pretend to say, not\nhaving been in the United Kingdom for some years; but certain it is that\na very general opinion was prevalent that the war in the Peninsula was\ncarried on, on the part of the peasantry, in a spirit bordering more on\na crusade than the ordinary exertions of a brave people struggling for\nliberty, and that those heroes fought more like a parcel of devils\nincarnate than mortal men. Indeed, the engravings struck off at Lisbon\nin commemoration of those days certainly represented them as a gigantic,\nferocious people, while the few British that were thrown into the\nbackground looked like so many dwarfs who were afraid to come to close\nquarters with the French. I have ever combated this mistaken opinion,\nnor does the recollection of the hundreds of those heroes that I have\nseen marched to the different dep\u00f4ts, handcuffed like a gang of\ncriminals, weaken the view I have taken of the _voluntary_ part the\nPeninsular people took in the contest. In a word, their plan was this:\u2014\nThe moment our troops had completely routed a body of the enemy\u2019s\ninfantry, strewing the ground with dead and wounded, disorganised a park\nof artillery, or unhorsed some squadrons of dragoons, _then_, and _then_\nonly, would these _gallant fellows_ sally forth from their lurking\nplaces, and (first taking the precaution to put a stop to any sort of\nparley from their unfortunate victims by knocking them on the head)\ncompletely rifle them of everything they possessed. On the contrary, if\nour troops met with any reverse, as in the case of Don Julian Sanchez\nand his ragged band, our allies would take advantage of every incident\nof ground, and make one of their rapid retrograde movements, sufficient\nto baffle the evolutions of the most redoubtable _leg\u00e8re_ regiments in\nthe French army. This I say is the true harassing system, and the one\nsuited to the genius of the Peninsular nations. It weakens your enemy,\nand is attended with no risk to yourselves or your friends, which is the\nsame thing; but in England many think that the Portuguese and Spaniards\ndid as much, if not more, during the Peninsular contest than the British\narmy.\nMatters remained tranquil in our neighbourhood after the battle of\nFuentes d'O\u00f1oro, and the retreat of the army of Portugal across the\nAgueda, and Lord Wellington employed himself in giving directions for\nthe repairs of the injury inflicted by Brennier upon Almeida previous to\nhis evacuation of that fortress. The troops had recovered from their\nfatigues and were fresh again and ready for anything, when accounts\nreached us from the Alemtejo that General Beresford was carrying on the\nsiege of Badajoz, in which operation he was likely to be disturbed by\nMarshal Soult, who was on his march from Seville. Our division broke up\nfrom its cantonments on the 16th of May, and Lord Wellington, who rode\nat a rapid pace, reached Elvas in three days. There he received the\nreport of the battle of Albuera.\nThe weather was fine and we continued our route without any forced\nmarches, taking the old beaten track through Castello Branco, Niza, and\nPortalegre. Our march was uninterrupted by any particular incident; we\nhad no enemy near us, and were therefore left to ourselves.\nThe French army have the character of being the best marchers in Europe,\nand I know from experience that no men, to use a phrase of the _Fancy_,\nunderstand better than they do how to \u201chit and get away\u201d; nevertheless I\nwould say, that an army composed exclusively of Irishmen would outmarch\nany French army as much as I know they would outfight them. The quality\nwhich carries a Frenchman through, and enables him to overcome obstacles\ntruly formidable in themselves, is his gaiety, and his facility of\naccommodating, not only his demeanour, but his _stomach_ also, to\ncircumstances as they require it. An Irishman is to the full as gay as a\nFrenchman; if he does not possess his _piquant_ wit\u2014and I don\u2019t say that\nhe does not\u2014he has in a paramount degree the rich humour of his own\ncountry, which is nowhere else to be found. He can live on as little\nnourishment as a Frenchman; give him his pipe of tobacco and he will\nmarch for two days without food and without _grumbling_; give him, in\naddition, a little spirits and a biscuit, and he will work for a week.\nThis will not be a task so easy of accomplishment to the English\nsoldier; early habits have given him a relish for good eating, and\nplenty of it too; if he has not a regular allowance of solid food, it is\ncertain he will not do his work well for any great length of time. But\nan Irish fellow has been accustomed all his life to be what an\nEnglishman would consider half-starved; therefore quantity or quality is\nno great consideration with him; his stomach is like a corner\ncupboard\u2014_you might throw anything into it_. Neither do you find\nelsewhere the lively thought, the cheerful song or pleasant story, to be\nmet _only_ in an Irish regiment. We had a few Englishmen in my corps,\nand I do not remember ever to have heard one of them attempt a joke. But\nthere are those who think an Irish regiment more difficult to manage\nthan that of any other nation. Never was there a more erroneous idea.\nThe English soldier is to the full as drunken as the Irish, and not half\nso pleasant in his liquor.\nThese opinions are, however, mere matter of fancy. Some of our best\nregiments were English, and one, to please me, decidedly the finest in\nthe Peninsular army, the 43rd, was principally composed of Englishmen.\nThen there was that first-rate battle regiment, the 45th, a parcel of\nNottingham weavers, whose sedentary habits would lead you to suppose\nthey could not be prime marchers; but the contrary was the fact, and\nthey marched to the full as well as my own corps, which were all Irish\nsave three or four. But if it come to a hard tug, and that we had\nneither rations nor shoes, then, indeed, the Connaught Rangers would be\nin their element, and outmarch almost any battalion in the service; and\nfor this plain reason, that scarcely one of them wore many pairs of\nshoes prior to the date of his enlistment, and as to the rations (the\nmost part of them at all events), a dozen times had been in all\nprobability the _outside_ of their acquaintance with such delicacies.\nBut the grand secret in a good marching, good fighting, or loyal\nregiment, one not given to a habit of deserting, is being _well\ncommanded_; because the finest body of men may be ruined, the efforts of\nthe bravest regiment paralysed, and the best disposed corps become\nmarauders and deserters, from having an inefficient man at their head.\nColonel Alexander Wallace, who commanded us for so many years, and under\nwhom the regiment repeatedly covered itself with glory, was the very\nchief we wanted. Although a Scotchman himself, he was intimately\nacquainted with the sort of men he had under him, and he dealt with them\nand addressed their feelings in a way that was peculiar to himself and\nsuited to them. In action he was the same as on parade, and in either\ncase he was as he should be. If we were placed (as we often were) in any\ncritical situation, he would explain to the soldiers what he expected\nthem to do; if in danger of being charged by cavalry he would say, \u201cMind\nthe square; you know I often told you that if ever you had to form it\nfrom line, in face of an enemy, you\u2019d be in a d\u2014--d ugly way, and have\nplenty of noise about you; mind the tellings off, and don\u2019t give the\n_false touch_ to your right or left hand man; for by G\u2014d, if you are\nonce broken, you\u2019ll be running here and there like a parcel of\n_frightened pullets_!\u201d But Colonel Wallace was out of his place as a\nmere commander of a regiment; he was eminently calculated to head a\ndivision, because he not only possessed that intrepidity of mind which\nwould brave any danger, but genius to discover the means of overcoming\nit. It was by his foresight that our brave companions, the 45th, were\nsustained in their unequal contest with Reynier\u2019s division at Busaco;\nand Lord Wellington, who saw and fully appreciated the man\u0153uvre, rode\nup to the 88th Regiment, and seizing Colonel Wallace by the hand, said:\n\u201cUpon my honour, Wallace, I never witnessed a more gallant charge than\nthat just now made by your regiment.\u201d The dead and wounded of the 2nd\nand 4th L\u00e9ger, the 15th and 36th (four French regiments which were\nopposed to the 88th singly), lay thick on the face of the hill, and\ntheir numbers gave ample testimony that we deserved the praises bestowed\nupon us by our General. The 45th also came in for their share of praise,\nand no battalion ever merited it better than they did;\u2014at one time they\nwere engaged with nearly ten times their own number.\nIt was the fashion with some to think that the 88th were a parcel of\nwild rattling rascals, ready for a row, but loosely officered. The\ndirect contrary was the fact. Perhaps in the whole British army there\nwas not one regiment so severely drilled. If a man coughed in the ranks,\nhe was punished; if the sling of the firelock, for an instant, left the\nhollow of the shoulder when it should not, he was punished; and if he\nmoved his knapsack when standing at ease, he was punished\u2014more or less\nof course, according to the offence. The consequence of this system,\nexclusively Colonel Wallace\u2019s, was that the men never had the appearance\nof being fatigued upon a march; and when they halted, you did not see\nthem thrusting their firelocks against their packs to support them. Poor\nBob Hardyman of the 45th said the reason the Connaught Rangers carried\ntheir packs better than any other regiment was \u201cthat they never had\nanything in them\u201d! and, to speak candidly, we never had more than was\nnecessary, and in truth it was very little that satisfied our fellows.\nAt drill our man\u0153uvres were chiefly confined to line marching,\nechelon movements, and formation of the square in every possible way;\nand in all these we excelled. Colonel Wallace was very unlike an old\nMajor who, having once got his battalion _into_ square, totally forgot\nhow to get it _out_ of it. Having tried several ways, each time more\neffectually clubbing the sections, he thus addressed his officers and\nsoldiers: \u201cGentlemen! I can clearly discern that there is a _something\nwanting_, and I strongly recommend you, when you reach your barracks, to\nperuse Dundas![14]\u2014Men, you may go home,\u201d and he thus dismissed them.\nFootnote 14:\n \u201cDundas\u201d is the famous drill-book of Sir David Dundas, who succeeded\n the Duke of York as Commander-in-Chief.\nI never remember our having as much as one adjutant\u2019s drill; all was\ndone by the commanding officer himself. Our adjutant was left ill at\nLisbon, and he that acted was more of a good penman (an essential point)\nthan a drill. I forget now how the circumstance of our having been sent\nan adjutant from the Guards occurred, but one of their sergeant-majors\ndid reach us in the capacity of adjutant. On his arrival at headquarters\nhe dined with the Colonel, who invited him to attend parade the next\nmorning. We were under arms at ten, and never once ordered arms until\ntwo! Not a man fell out of the ranks, not a man coughed, and not a man\nmoved his pack. When the drill was over, \u201cWell,\u201d said Colonel Wallace,\n\u201cwhat do you think of the state of the battalion?\u201d\u2014\u201cVery steady indeed,\nsir,\u201d replied the Guardsman. He left us that night, _and we never saw\nhim afterwards_.\nOn the 24th of May we reached Campo Mayor, and here I became acquainted\nwith Maurice Quill. It would be quite idle in me to attempt giving any\nvery detailed account of a character so well known; one who, whenever he\nopened his mouth, was sure to raise a laugh, and often before he had\ntime to speak; and he by whom I was introduced (Dr. O\u2018Reily) was little,\nif anything, inferior to Quill in either eccentricity or humour.\nThe first question Quill asked O\u2018Reily was, if we all slept soundly the\nnight Brennier got away from Almeida. O\u2018Reily replied, \u201cthat some of our\narmy certainly slept sounder than was desirable; but that in their\naffair at Albuera they did seem to have had their eyes perfectly open,\nnot only during the action, but after it.\u201d At this moment, a couple of\nhundred of those troops that had been broken by the Polish horse, having\nescaped from the enemy, passed us.\nDuring our conversation, O'Reily, as was customary with him, became\nquite abstracted, and apparently absorbed in his own reflections, and\nupon our turning round we discovered him in one of Mendoza\u2019s attitudes!\n\u201cWhat are you squaring at?\u201d demanded Maurice. \u201cMy good friend Quill,\u201d\nreplied O\u2018Reily, \u201cI have long felt the difficulty of coming to a\nsatisfactory conclusion as to the probability of science being\neventually able to overcome savage strength. There is much, sir, to be\nsaid on both sides of the question, and I have great doubts concerning\nthe battle about to be decided.\u201d\u2014\u201cWhat battle? why, sure, we are not\ngoing to fight another so soon?\u201d said Quill. \u201cThe fight to which I\nallude, sir,\u201d said O\u2018Reily, with Quixote-like gravity\u2014for he paused\nbetween every word\u2014\u201cis the one pending between Crib and the black man\nMolineux; it will be a contest of science against brute strength\u201d\u2014and he\nthrew himself into one of the finest defensive attitudes I ever saw;\n\u201cthere,\u201d said he, \u201cthere is the true science for you; nevertheless, it\nmight be overcome by savage strength, and there is the rub, sir. I have\ndevoted much time in endeavouring to come to a satisfactory conclusion\non this point, but hitherto without effect, so I must await the issue of\nthis fearful encounter; and, my dear Quill, having said so much on the\nsubject, allow me to wish you a very good morning.\u201d It was evident that,\nalthough Quill was no novice, O\u2018Reily had taken \u201ca rise out of him,\u201d and\nit afforded us matter of amusement for many a day after.\nWe remained in Campo Mayor until the 27th of May (in order to allow the\nstores and battering train from Elvas to arrive), on which day we passed\nthe Guadiana at a ford, distant from San Christoval about three\ncannon-shots; we received no interruption in our passage of the river,\nand the operation was performed without loss. The 28th, 29th, and 30th\nwere taken up in marking out our camp, and constructing huts; and as the\nweather was beautiful, and our camp abundantly supplied by the\npeasantry, we passed a very agreeable time of it.\nThe river ran within a few yards of us; its marshy banks being thickly\ncovered with plantations of olives, afforded a delightful shade to us\nwhen we either went to fish or bathe. Its breadth at this point might be\nabout sixty toises, and it is well stocked with fine mullet. We had\nseveral expert fishermen amongst us, and they contrived not only to\nsupply their own tables with fish, but also to increase the comforts of\ntheir friends.\nSecond siege of Badajoz\u2014A _reconnoissance_\u2014Death of Captain\n Patten\u2014Attacks on Fort San Christoval\u2014Their failure\u2014Causes of their\n failure\u2014Gallant conduct of Ensign Dyas, 51st Regiment\u2014His promotion\n by the Duke of York.\nBadajoz was laid siege to for the second time on the 30th of May 1811;\non that day the investment of the town on the left bank of the Guadiana\nwas completed, as was also that of the fort of San Christoval on the\nright bank; and the trenches before both were opened that night.\nThis was my first siege, and the novelty of the thing compensated me in\nsome degree for the sleepless nights I used to pass at its commencement;\nbut habit soon reconciled me, and I could sleep soundly in a battery for\na couple of hours at a time. Nothing astonished me so much as the noise\nmade by the engineers; I expected that their loud talking would bring\nthe enemy\u2019s attention towards the sound of our pick-axes, and that all\nthe cannon in the town would be turned against us\u2014and, in short, I\nthought every moment would be my last. I scarcely ventured to breathe\nuntil we had completed a respectable first parallel, and when it was\nfairly finished, just as morning began to dawn, I felt inexpressibly\nrelieved. The 7th Division was equally fortunate before San Christoval.\nAs soon as the enemy had a distinct view of what we had been doing, he\nopened a battery or two against us, with, however, but little effect,\nand I began to think a siege was not that tremendous thing I had been\ntaught to expect; but at this moment a thirty-two pound shot passed\nthrough a mound of earth in front of that part of the parallel in which\nI was standing (which was but imperfectly finished), and taking two poor\nfellows of the 83rd (who were carrying a hand-barrow) across their\nbellies, cut them in two, and whirled their remnants through the air. I\nhad never before so close a view of the execution a round shot was\ncapable of performing, and it was of essential service to me during this\nand my other sieges. It was full a week afterwards before I held myself\nas upright as before.\nBy ten o\u2019clock in the morning our line of batteries presented a very\ndisorganised appearance; sand-bags, gabions, and fascines knocked here\nand there; guns flung off their carriages, and carriages beaten down\nunder their guns. The boarded platforms of the batteries, damp with the\nblood of our artillery-men, or the headless trunks of our devoted\nengineers, bore testimony to the murderous fire opposed to us, but\nnevertheless everything went on with alacrity and spirit; the damage\ndone to the embrasures was speedily repaired, and many a fine fellow\nlost his life endeavouring to vie with the men of the Engineers in\nbraving dangers, unknown to any but those who have been placed in a\nsimilar situation.\nIt was on a morning such as I am talking of that Colonel Fletcher, chief\nofficer of Engineers, came into the battery where I was employed; he\nwished to observe some work that had been thrown up by the enemy near\nthe foot of the castle the preceding night. The battery was more than\nusually full of workmen repairing the effects of the morning\u2019s fire, and\nthe efforts of the enemy against this part of our works were excessively\nanimated. A number of men had fallen and were falling, but Colonel\nFletcher, apparently disregarding the circumstance, walked out to the\nright of the battery, and, taking his stand upon the level ground, put\nhis glass to his eye, and commenced his observations with much\ncomposure. Shot and shell flew thickly about him, and one of the former\ntore up the ground by his side and covered him with clay; but not in the\nleast regarding this, he remained steadily observing the enemy. When at\nlength he had satisfied himself, he quietly put up his glass, and\nturning to a man of my party who was sitting on the outside of an\nembrasure, pegging in a fascine, said, \u201cMy fine fellow, you are too much\nexposed; get inside the embrasure, and you will do your work nearly as\nwell.\u201d\u2014\u201cI\u2019m almost finished, Colonel,\u201d replied the soldier, \u201cand it\nisn\u2019t worth while to move now; those fellows can\u2019t hit me, for they\u2019ve\nbeen trying it these fifteen minutes.\u201d They were the last words he ever\nspoke! He had scarcely uttered the last syllable when a round shot cut\nhim in two, and knocked half of his body across the breech of the gun.\nThe name of this soldier was Edmund Man; he was an Englishman, although\nhe belonged to the 88th Regiment. When he fell, the French cannoniers,\nas was usual with them, set up a shout, denoting how well satisfied they\nwere with their practice!\nOne evening, while we were occupied in the usual way in the trenches, a\nnumber of us stood talking together; several shells fell in the works,\nand we were on the alert a good deal in order to escape from them. A\nshell on a fine night at a distance is a pretty sight enough, but I, for\none, never liked too near a view of it. We were on this night kept\ntolerably busy in avoiding those that fell amongst us; one, however,\ntook us by surprise, and before we could escape, fell in the middle of\nthe trench; every one made the best of his way to the nearest\n_traverse_, and the confusion was much increased by some of the sappers\npassing at the moment with a parcel of gabions on their backs. Colonel\nTrench of the 74th, in getting away, ran against one of these men, and\nnot only threw him down, but fell headlong over him, and sticking fast\nin one of the gabions was unable to move. As soon as the shell exploded,\nwe all sallied forth from our respective nooks, and relieved Colonel\nTrench from his awkward position. \u201cWell,\u201d said Colonel King, of the 5th,\n\u201cI often saw a _gabion_ in a _trench_, but this is the first time I ever\nsaw a _Trench_ in a _gabion_.\u201d Considering the time and place the pun\nwas not a bad one, and made us all laugh heartily, in which Colonel\nTrench good-humouredly joined.\nNot long after this a round shot carried away the arm of a soldier of\nthe 94th. Dr. O\u2018Reily of my corps, happening to be the nearest medical\nman, was awoke out of a sound sleep by his orderly sergeant, and having\nexamined the stump, amputated the fractured part. O\u2018Reily was one of the\nmost eccentric, and at the same time one of the pleasantest fellows in\nthe world. He delighted in saying extraordinary things in extraordinary\nplaces, and it was amusing to those who knew him well to see his\ncountenance after saying something out of the common way before a\nstranger. In the present instance, after having wrapped his boat-cloak\nabout him, and settled himself in the same position he had been in\nbefore he performed the operation on the 94th man, he, with the most\nprofound gravity of manner, asked the sergeant if he recollected the\nstate in which he had found him? \u201cIndeed, sir,\u201d replied the orderly with\na broad grin, \u201cyour honour was fast asleep, _snorin'_ mighty\nloud.\u201d\u2014\u201cWell then, sir, if you return here in five minutes, in all human\nprobability you will find me in precisely the same situation,\u201d and he\nimmediately fell asleep, or feigned to do so.\nOn the evening of the 5th I was sent in advance with a covering party of\nforty men; we were placed some distance in front of the works, and as\nusual received directions to beware of a surprise. Our batteries were\nall armed, and a sortie from the garrison was not improbable; the night\nwas unusually dark, and except an occasional shell from our mortars, the\nstriking of the clocks in the town, or the challenge of the French\nsentinels along the battlements of the castle, everything was still.\nA man of a fanciful disposition, or indeed of an ordinary way of\nthinking, is seldom placed in a situation more likely to cause him to\ngive free scope to his imagination than when lying before an enemy on a\ndark night; every sound, the very rustling of a leaf, gives him cause\nfor speculation; figures will appear, or seem to appear, in different\nshapes; sometimes the branch of a tree passes for a tremendous fellow\nwith extended arms, and the waving of a bush is mistaken for a party\ncrouching on their hands and knees.\nI don\u2019t know why it was, but I could not divest myself of the idea that\nan attack upon our lines was meditated. I cast a look at my men as they\nlay on the ground, and saw that each held his firelock in his grasp and\nwas as he should be; half an hour passed away in this manner, but no\nsound gave warning that my suspicions were well founded. The noise of\nthe workmen in the trenches lessened by degrees, and as the hour of\nmidnight approached there was, comparatively speaking, a death-like\nsilence. I went forward a short distance, but it was a short distance,\nfor in truth\u2014to say the least of it\u2014I was a little \u201chipped.\u201d I even\nwished the enemy would throw a shot or two against our works to give a\nfillip to my thoughts. Heavens! how I envied the soldiers, who slept\nlike so many _tops_ and snored so loud. I went forward again, but had\nnot proceeded more than about one hundred paces when I heard voices\nwhispering in my front, and upon observing more minutely in the\ndirection from whence the sounds proceeded, I saw distinctly two men.\nThe uniform of one was dark; the other wore a large cloak, and I could\nhear his sabre clinking by his side as he approached me.\nAt the instant I do not know _what_ sum I would have considered too\ngreat to have purchased my ransom and placed me once more at the head of\nmy men. I need scarcely say that I regretted the step I had taken, but\nit was too late. The figures continued to advance towards the spot where\nI was crouched, and were already within a few paces of me. I did not\nknow what to do; I dreaded remaining stationary, and I was ashamed to\nrun away\u2014there was not a moment to be lost, and I made up my mind to\nsell my life dearly. I sprang up with my drawn sabre in my hand, and\ncalled out as loud as I was able (and it was but a so-so effort), \u201cWho\ngoes there?\u201d My delight was great to find, in place of two Frenchmen\n(the advance, as I expected, of several hundred), Captain Patten of the\nEngineers attended by a sergeant of his corps; he held a dark lantern\nunder his cloak, and told me he had been on his way to reconnoitre the\nbreach in the castle wall, but that he thought it as well to return to\nthe first covering party he should meet with in order to get a file of\nmen which he proposed taking with him to within a short distance of the\nbreach. I was just then in that frame of mind from my own little\nadventure to approve highly of his precaution, and I gave him a couple\nof what our fellows (the Connaught Rangers) used to call lads _that\nweren\u2019t easy_, or, to speak without a metaphor, two fellows that would\nwalk into the mouth of a cannon if they were bid to do it.\nPrevious to this I had passed an uneasy night, but I was now filled with\nmuch anxiety for the fate of Captain Patten and my own two men. They had\nleft me about a quarter of an hour when a few musket-shots from the\nbastion nearest the breach announced that the _reconnaissance_ had not\nbeen made unnoticed by the enemy; and shortly after, the return of my\nsoldiers confirmed the fact.\nIt appeared that upon arriving within pistol-shot of the wall Captain\nPatten motioned to the men to lie down, while he crept forward to the\nbreach; he had succeeded in ascertaining its state, and was about to\nreturn to the soldiers, when some inequality in the ground caused him to\nstumble a little, and the noise attracted the notice of the nearest\nsentinel, whose fire gave the alarm to the others. One of their shots\nstruck Captain Patten in the back, a little below the shoulder, and he\nsurvived its effects but a few hours. Thus fell a fine young man, an\nornament to that branch of the service to which he belonged, and a\nbranch which in point of men of highly cultivated scientific\ninformation, as well as the most chivalrous bravery, may challenge the\nworld to show its superior.\nThe fire against the castle was continued on the following day, the 6th,\nwith much effect, and the batteries in front of San Christoval had not\nonly overcome the fire of that outwork, but towards midday the breach\nwas judged assailable. At nine o\u2019clock at night one hundred men of the\n7th Division, commanded by Major Macintosh of the 85th Regiment,\nadvanced to the assault; the forlorn hope, consisting of six volunteers,\nand led on by Ensign Joseph Dyas of the 51st Regiment, who solicited\nthis honour, headed the attack.\nThe troops advanced with much order, although opposed to a heavy fire.\nArrived upon the glacis, they speedily descended the ditch, and the\nforlorn hope, accompanied by an officer of Engineers, pressed on to the\nbreach. They had scarcely arrived at its foot when the officer of\nEngineers was mortally wounded, and Ensign Dyas was in consequence the\nonly person to direct the men at the breach; for the main body,\nincluding the commanding officer, attempted to mount what appeared to\nthem to be the breach, but what was in reality nothing more than an\nembrasure which had been a good deal injured by the fire of our\nbatteries. Some of the foremost succeeded in planting ladders against\nits rugged face, but their efforts were baffled by the exertions of the\nFrench engineers who, notwithstanding our fire of grape and musketry,\nhad contrived to clear away the rubbish from the base of the wall; and\nthe ladders were in consequence not of a sufficient length to enable the\nmen to make a lodgment. A quarter of an hour had now elapsed, during\nwhich time several fruitless attempts had been made to enter the fort;\nand Major Macintosh, with his few remaining men, succeeded with\ndifficulty in reaching their own lines, which they had left but a short\ntime before with feelings of a very different description. None of the\nparty could give any account of Ensign Dyas\u2014indeed, how could they? for\nthe storming party had never seen the forlorn hope from the moment they\ndescended the ditch! As is common in such cases, there were many who\nsaid they believed that he, individually, was the last living man in the\nditch, and it was a generally received opinion that Dyas had fallen.\nMajor Macintosh, in company with a few friends, was sitting in his tent\ntalking over the failure of the attack, and regretting, amongst others,\nthe loss of this officer, when to his amazement he entered the tent not\nonly alive but unhurt. This brave young fellow, after having lost the\ngreater part of his men, and finding himself unsupported by the storming\nparty, at length quitted the ditch, but not until he heard the enemy\nentering it by the sally-port.\nOn the 7th, 8th, and 9th the fire against San Christoval was continued\nwith increased vigour, and on the latter day it was resolved that the\nattack of it should be a second time made that night. A superior number\nof troops to those which failed on the 6th, but still _inferior_ to the\ngarrison of the fort, were selected for the attack, and the command\ngiven to Major Mac Geechy, an English officer in the service of\nPortugal, who volunteered this duty\u2014Dyas again leading the forlorn hope.\nAs before, the troops advanced under the fire of every gun that could be\nbrought to bear upon them, and with much spirit descended the ditch. A\nlittle disorder amongst the men who carried the ladders caused some\ndelay, but the detachment pressed on to the breach without waiting for\nthe reorganisation of the ladder men. The soldiers posted on the glacis,\nby their determined fire, notwithstanding their exposed situation,\nforced the enemy to waver, and if ever there was a chance of success, it\nwas at this moment. Dyas and his companions did as much as men could do,\nbut in vain. Their efforts were heroic, though unavailing; the spot was\nstrewed with the dead and dying; the breach was packed with Frenchmen,\nand the glacis and ditch covered with our dead and disabled soldiers.\nMajor Mac Geechy fell pierced with bullets, and almost all the party\nshared his fate. Ensign Dyas was struck by a pellet[15] in the forehead,\nand fell upon his face, but, undismayed by this, he sprang up and\nrallied his few remaining followers, but in vain. This heroic\nintrepidity deserved a better fate, but his efforts were paralysed by\nthe obstacles opposed to him, and Dyas was at length reluctantly obliged\nto abandon an enterprise, on the issue of which he had a second time\nchivalrously, though unsuccessfully, staked his life. As before, he was\nthe last to leave the ditch, and with much difficulty reached our lines.\nHis mode of escape was as curious as it was novel. One of the ladders\nthat could not be placed upright still hung from the glacis on the\npallisadoes; this he sprang up, and in an instant he was upon the\nglacis, where he flung himself upon his face. The Frenchmen upon the\nwalls, seeing him fall at the moment of their fire, shouted out \u201c_Il est\ntu\u00e9, en voila le dernier!_\u201d\nFootnote 15:\n A small bullet, larger than a swan drop. Four of them were enclosed\n in a piece of wood, three inches long, and at the top was placed the\n musket-ball. This shrapnel in miniature did considerable execution.\nDyas, perfectly collected, saw that his only chance of escape was by\nremaining quiet for a short time, which he did, and then seizing a\nfavourable moment when the garrison were thrown off their guard by the\nsilence that prevailed, he jumped up, and reached our batteries in\nsafety. He and _nineteen_ privates were all that escaped out of _two\nhundred_, which was the original strength of the storming party and\nforlorn hope.[16]\nFootnote 16:\n An exaggeration: 114 out of 200, not 180, were killed or wounded.\nIt may, perhaps, be asked by persons unacquainted with these details,\nwhat became of Ensign Dyas; and they no doubt will say what a lucky\nyoung man he was to gain promotion in so short a time; but such was not\nthe case, although he was duly recommended by Lord Wellington. This was\nno doubt an oversight, as it afterwards appeared, but the consequences\nhave been of material injury to Ensign, now Captain, Dyas. This officer,\nlike most brave men, was too modest to press his claim, and after having\nserved through the entire of the Peninsular war, and afterwards at the\nmemorable battle of Waterloo, he, in the year 1820\u2014_ten years after his\ngallant conduct_\u2014was, by _a mere chance_, promoted to a company, in\nconsequence of the representation of Colonel Gurwood (another, but more\nlucky, forlorn-hope man) to Sir Henry Torrens.\nColonel Gurwood was a perfect stranger (except by character) to Dyas,\nand was with his regiment, the 10th Hussars, at Hampton Court, where Sir\nHenry Torrens inspected the 51st Regiment. Colonel Ponsonby and Lord\nWiltshire (not one of whom Dyas had ever seen) also interested\nthemselves in his behalf; and immediately on Sir Henry Torrens arriving\nin London, he overhauled the documents connected with the affair of San\nChristoval, and finding all that had been reported to him to be\nperfectly correct, he drew the attention of His Royal Highness the Duke\nof York to the claims of Lieutenant Dyas.\nHis Royal Highness, with that consideration for which he was remarkable,\nimmediately caused Lieutenant Dyas to be gazetted to a company in the\n1st Ceylon Regiment.\nCaptain Dyas lost no time in waiting upon Sir Henry Torrens and His\nRoyal Highness the Duke of York. The Duke received him with his\naccustomed affability, and after regretting that his promotion had been\nso long overlooked, asked him what leave of absence he would require\nbefore he joined his regiment. Captain Dyas said, \u201cSix months, if His\nRoyal Highness did not think it too long.\u201d\u2014\u201cPerhaps,\u201d replied the Duke,\n\u201cyou would prefer two years.\u201d Captain Dyas was overpowered by this\nconsiderate condescension on the part of the Duke, and after having\nthanked him, took a respectful leave; but the number of campaigns he had\nserved in had materially injured his health, and he was obliged to\nretire on the half-pay of his company.\nWe withdraw from Badajoz\u2014Dislike of the British soldier for\n siege-work\u2014Affair of El Bodon\u2014Gallant conduct of the 5th and 77th\n Regiments\u2014Narrow escape of the 88th from being made\n prisoners\u2014Picton\u2019s conduct on the retreat of Guinaldo.\nAt eleven o\u2019clock at night, on the 9th of June 1811, the siege of\nBadajoz virtually ceased. From the moment the second attack against San\nChristoval was repulsed, Lord Wellington resolved to make the best of a\nbad business, and he converted the siege into a blockade. On the 10th,\nthe battering train and stores were removed from the trenches, and by\nthe 13th our works were clear. The town was closely blockaded until the\n17th, on which day we broke up from before the place, and crossing the\nGuadiana by the ford above San Christoval, reached the banks of the\nCaya, in the neighbourhood of Aronches, a little after noon.\nIt appeared from the different reports of our spies that the whole\ndisposable force, not only of Soult\u2019s army of the South, but also of\nthat of Portugal, were in march against us; and Lord Wellington\naccordingly took up a defensive position near Elvas, with his vanguard\nat Campo Mayor, consisting of the 3rd and 7th Divisions of infantry. The\nDukes of Dalmatia and Ragusa formed their junction at Badajoz on the\n28th, and the two Marshals dined there together on that day. Great\npraise was bestowed upon General Phillipon for his fine defence of the\nplace, and, as a matter of course, much bombastic stuff was trumpeted\nforth in the papers about the valour displayed by the Imperial soldiers\non the occasion. Our losses were rated at more than four times their\nreal amount; and though no blame was attached by the enemy to our\ntroops, the Engineers were attacked with a severity that I have reason\nto think was unjust. One writer speaking on the subject says:\u2014\n\u201cHad the Engineers followed the rules of fortification with as much\nability as his lordship displayed in the application of the principles\nof the higher branches of tactics, Badajoz would, no doubt, have\nsurrendered about the 14th or 15th of June. It scarcely would be\nbelieved, were it not expressly mentioned in the official reports, that\nin the beginning of the nineteenth century, troops should have been sent\nto the assault with ladders after the breach had been judged\npracticable.\u201d\nI shall leave it to the gentlemen of the Engineers to answer these\nremarks; but as far as I have been able to collect the facts, and I have\nreceived my information from good, I might say the best, authority, our\ndefeat before San Christoval arose from three causes: first, the want of\nknowledge displayed by the officer commanding the first attack of the\nreal situation of the breach, owing to the unfortunate circumstance of\nthe engineer being killed at the onset; secondly, the shortness of the\nladders, and the smallness of the storming party each night; and\nthirdly, the conduct of the men who were entrusted with the charge of\nthe ladders\u2014a foreign corps, it is true;[17] but why employ troops of\nthis description upon a service so desperate?\nFootnote 17:\n The battalion of Brunswick Oels, largely composed of German deserters\n from the French army.\nThere is no duty which a British soldier performs before an enemy that\nhe does with so much reluctance\u2014a retreat always excepted\u2014as working in\ntrenches. Although essentially necessary to the accomplishment of the\nmost gallant achievement a soldier can aspire to\u2014the storming a\nbreach\u2014it is an inglorious calling; one full of danger, attended with\ngreat labour, and, what is even worse, with a deal of annoyance; and for\nthis reason, that the soldiers are not only taken quite out of their\nnatural line of action, but they are, if not entirely, at least\npartially, commanded by officers, those of the Engineers, whose habits\nare totally different from what they have been accustomed to.\nNo two animals ever differed more completely in their propensities than\nthe British engineer and the British infantry soldier. The latter\ndelights in an open field, and a fair \u201cstand-up fight,\u201d where he meets\nhis man or men (for numbers, when it comes to a hand-to-hand business,\nare of little weight with the British soldier); if he falls there, he\ndoes so, in the opinion of his comrades, with credit to himself; but a\nlife lost in the trenches is looked upon as one thrown away and lost\ningloriously. The engineer, on the contrary, braves all the dangers of a\nsiege with a cheerful countenance; he even courts them, and no mole ever\ntook greater delight in burrowing through a sandhill than an engineer\ndoes in mining a covered way, or blowing up a counterscarp. Not so with\nthe infantry soldier, who is obliged to stand to be shot at, with a\npick-axe or shovel in his hand instead of his firelock and bayonet. If,\nthen, this is a trying situation, as it unquestionably is for a soldier,\nwhere death by round-shot and shell in the works is comparatively less\nthan it is at the moment of the assault of a breach, how much more care\nshould there be taken in the selection of the ladder men than appears to\nhave been the case at San Christoval?\nOn the 22nd of June, the two French Marshals moved a large body of\ntroops towards Elvas and Campo Mayor, in order to cover their\n_reconnoissance_ of our position. Our army at this time counted about\nsixty-six thousand men, of which number only six thousand were cavalry.\nThe combined French army exceeded us by about ten thousand, and in the\narm of horse they were upwards of three thousand our superiors.\nNotwithstanding this disproportion of force, Lord Wellington had made\nable dispositions to beat the French Marshals in detail, and there is\nlittle or no doubt but that he would have succeeded, had Marmont been\nacting in concert with a man as presumptuous as himself; but Soult was\ntoo good a judge not to see the sort of adversary he was opposed to, and\nit was not possible to entrap him. Albuera taught him a lesson.\nAfter the _reconnoissance_ of the 22nd, and after supplies had been\nthrown into Badajoz, the enemy took up the quarters he had occupied\nprevious to the junction of the armies of Portugal and the South\u2014the\narmy of Soult in the neighbourhood of Seville, that of Marmont at\nPlacentia. The 7th and 3rd Divisions of our army occupied Campo Mayor:\nand having got ourselves and our appointments into good order, we began\nto have all the annoyances of garrison duty, which was not lessened by\nthe presence of three or four general officers. The mounting of guard,\nthe salute, and all the minuti\u00e6 of our profession, were attended to with\na painful particularity; and poor old General Sontag was near falling a\nsacrifice to his zeal on this particular point of duty. This officer was\nby birth either a German or Prussian, I don\u2019t know which, but, from his\ncostume, I should myself say that he was a disciple of the Grand\nFrederick; he was a great Martinet, and had all the appearance of one\nbrought up in the school of that celebrated warrior, and might have\npassed, and deservedly so, for aught I know to the contrary, for one who\nhad served in the \u201cSeven Years' War.\u201d His dress was singular, though\nplain; he usually wore a cocked hat and jacket, tight blue pantaloons,\nand brown top hunting-boots.\nOne day, when it came to my tour of duty, General Sontag was the senior\nofficer on the parade. Mounted on a spirited horse, he took his station\nin front to receive the \u201csalute,\u201d when the band of my regiment, much\nmore celebrated for its harshness and noise than its sweetness, struck\nup as discordant a jumble of sounds as ever proceeded from the same\nnumber of wind instruments. The animal, a German horse, and no doubt\nwith a good ear for music, took fright, and standing upright on his\nhinder legs, commenced pawing and snorting in a manner that astounded\nevery one present, the old General alone excepted; he continued\nimmovably steady in his saddle, from which a less skilful or an\ninexperienced rider must inevitably have been flung, and sawed his\nhorse\u2019s mouth with such effect as to compel him to resume his former and\nmore natural position. But, unfortunately, at this moment the\ndrum-major, who justly estimated the cause of the refractory movements\nof the brute, made a flourish with his mace as a token for the\nband\u2014music I can\u2019t call it\u2014to desist, and so terrified the animal that\nhe made a sudden plunge to get away, but was so firmly held by the grip\nof his rider, that his feet came from under him, and both the General\nand his charger were prostrate on the ground in a second.\nIt was an alarming, as well as a ludicrous exhibition. For a moment the\nGeneral was unable to disentangle his foot from one of the stirrups, and\nwhen he got rid, after much exertion, of this encumbrance, he lost not\nonly his hat but his wig also; providentially he sustained no injury,\nand every one was glad of it. He was a man much esteemed in his brigade,\nand had, perhaps, the largest nose in the world! He was humorously\nstyled by some Marshal (Nez) Ney! His nose hung in two huge flaps under\nhis cheek-bone, and their colour and size were like two red mogul plums.\nJoe Kelly said that he would be a capital _gardener_, \u201cbecause he always\nhad his fruit under his eye\u201d!\nA few weeks terminated our sojourn here, and the day of our leaving it\nwas a delightful one to us all. We marched to the northern frontier,\nwhich we considered as our own natural element; for in Estremadura we\nwitnessed nothing but reverses, and our division had no opportunity of\nkeeping up its established name. The country between the river Coa and\nthe Agueda was filled with troops. The 3rd Division occupied Aldea de\nPonte, Albergaria, and the neighbouring villages. Gallegos, Espeja,\nCarpio, El Bodon, and Pastores, were likewise occupied; and Ciudad\nRodrigo might be said to be invested; the garrison were, at all events,\nmuch circumscribed in the extent of country for their foragers, but,\nnevertheless, they made some successful excursions to the nearest\nvillages, such as Pastores and El Bodon. The 11th Light Dragoons,\nstationed at the latter, were considerably annoyed by the nocturnal\nvisits of the garrison. A regiment of infantry was, therefore, thought\nnecessary to co-operate with the cavalry, and mine (the 88th) was the\none selected. General Picton, no matter what his other faults might be\n(and who is there amongst us without one?), knew well what he was about\nwhen he sent \u201cthe Rangers of Connaught\u201d to support the 11th; he was\naware that before many hours after their arrival in their quarters they\nwould be tolerably well acquainted with the resources of the country\nabout them; and that though now and then, perhaps, in a case of\nemergency, they might enlist an odd sheep or goat into their own corps,\nthey would not allow the French to do it. The General was right, and\nthought it better that a few sheep should be lost than an entire pen of\nthem carried off in triumph, and our dragoons (the worst of it!) bearded\nto the edge (almost) of their sabres.\nWe were not long unemployed. On the tenth night after our arrival the\nenemy made a formidable attack on our outposts at the village of\nPastores. The advanced sentry, Jack Walsh, passed the word to the next,\nwho communicated with the picket, and in an instant every man was on his\nlegs. Walsh waited quietly until the French officer who headed the\nadvance approached to within a few paces of where he was standing, when\nhe deliberately took aim at him, and shot him dead. The remainder\nretired for a moment, panic-struck, no doubt, at the fate of their\nleader; they, however, rallied\u2014for they were not only brave, but, what\nis almost as great a stimulus, hungry\u2014and they forced our advance to\ngive way; but Colonel Alexander Wallace, placing himself at the head of\nhis men, drove back this band of cormorants, and they never molested us\nafterwards.\nNotwithstanding that we were thus placed with respect to Rodrigo, the\narmy of Portugal maintained its position; the army of the North,\ncommanded by Count Dorsenne, remained in its cantonments on the Douro,\nand Rodrigo was thus abandoned to its own resources.\nLord Wellington was not an idle spectator of this supineness on the part\nof the two French generals. As early as the month of August he directed\nthat a large number of the tradesmen[18] of our army, with a proportion\nof officers, should be attached to the Engineers, in which branch we\nwere deficient in point of numbers; and these men in less than six weeks\ngained much useful information, and besides, made a quantity of fascines\nand gabions sufficient for the intended operations. By the 5th of\nSeptember the town of Ciudad Rodrigo was completely blockaded, and we\nwere employed in making arrangements for its siege when the two\ngenerals, Dorsenne and Marmont, made theirs to drive us back on\nPortugal.\nFootnote 18:\n _I.e._ the men who in civil life had been smiths, carpenters, joiners,\n etc.\nOn the 22nd of September they formed their junction at Tamames, which is\nabout three leagues distant from Rodrigo. Their united force amounted to\nsixty thousand men, including six thousand horse; ours to not quite\nfifty thousand, including the force necessary to observe the garrison.\nWe could not, therefore\u2014taking it for granted, as a matter of course,\nthat we wished to maintain the blockade\u2014have brought forty thousand\nbayonets and sabres into the field, with an inferiority, too, in cavalry\nof two thousand! This, in a country so well calculated for the\noperations of that arm, at once decided Lord Wellington, and he raised\nthe blockade on the 24th.\nEarly on the morning of the 25th the French army were in motion; the\ncavalry, under General Montbrun, supported by several battalions of\ninfantry, advanced upon the position held by our 3rd Division; but the\nover-zeal of Montbrun, and the impetuosity of his cavalry, would not\nallow them to keep pace with the infantry, who were in consequence\ncompletely distanced at the onset, and never regained their place during\nthe day.\nThe ground occupied by the 3rd Division was of considerable extent, and\nmight, to an ordinary observer, appear to be such as to place that corps\nin some peril of being defeated in detail: for instance, the 5th\nRegiment, supported by the 77th, two weak battalions, barely reckoning\nseven hundred men, were considerably to the left, and in advance of El\nBodon, and were distant upwards of one mile from the 45th, 74th, and\n88th; while the 83rd and 94th British, and the 9th and 21st Portuguese\nwere little, if anything, closer to those two battalions. Some squadrons\nof the 1st German Hussars and 11th Light Dragoons supported the advance,\nand a brigade of nine-pounders, drawn by mules, and served by Portuguese\ngunners, under the command of a German major, named Arentschildt,\ncrowned the causeway occupied by the 5th and 77th.\nThese dispositions were barely completed when Montbrun, at the head of\nhis veteran host, came thundering over the plain at a sweeping pace; ten\nof his squadrons dashed across the ravine that separated them from\nArentschildt\u2019s battery, which opened a frightful fire of grape and\ncanister at point blank distance. But although the havoc made by those\nguns was great, it in no way damped the ardour of the French horse; they\npanted for glory, and nothing of this kind could check their\nimpetuosity; once fairly over the ravine, they speedily mounted the face\nof the causeway, and desperately, but heroically, charged the battery.\nNothing could resist the torrent\u2014the battery was captured and the\ncannoniers massacred at their guns.\nIn an instant the 5th, commanded by the gallant Major Ridge, formed\nline, threw in an effective running fire, steadily ascended the height,\ncharged the astonished French Dragoons, and having repulsed and poured a\nvolley into the latter, as they rushed down the opposite face of the\nhill, recaptured the guns, with which, joined by the 77th, they\ndeliberately retired across the open plain after a long and determined\nstand against the enemy\u2019s cavalry and artillery, and only retreating\nwhen the approach of a strong body of French infantry rendered such a\nmovement imperative.\nFlushed with his first success, Montbrun, at the head of his victorious\nsquadrons, now thought to ride through the 5th and 77th, but this\nhandful of heroes threw themselves into square, and received the attack\nwith unflinching steadiness. Nothing but the greatest discipline, the\nmost undaunted bravery, and a firm reliance on their officers, could\nhave saved these devoted soldiers from total annihilation; they were\nattacked with a fury unexampled on three faces of the square. The French\nhorsemen rode upon their bayonets, but, unshaken by the desperate\nposition in which they were placed, they poured in their fire with such\nquickness and precision that the cavalry retired in disorder.\nWhile this was taking place on the left, the regiments of the right\nbrigade were posted on a height parallel to that occupied by the 5th and\n77th. We had a clear and painful view of all that was passing, and we\nshuddered for our companions; the glittering of the countless sabres\nthat were about to assail them, and the blaze of light which the\nreflection of the sun threw across the brazen helmets of the French\nhorsemen, might be likened to the flash of lightning that preceded the\nthunder of Arentschildt\u2019s artillery\u2014but we could do nothing. A few\nseconds passed away; we saw the smoke of the musketry\u2014it did not recede,\nand we were assured that the attack had failed; in a moment or two more\nwe could discern the brave 5th and 77th following their beaten\nadversaries, and a spontaneous shout of joy burst from the brigade. What\nwould we have given at that moment to have been near them? They were not\nonly our companions in arms, but our intimate friends (I mean the 5th,\nfor the 77th had but just joined the army, and were, comparatively,\nstrangers to us). But we were now menaced ourselves. From the great\nspace that intervened between the regiments that had been engaged and\nthose that had hitherto been unoccupied, it was not easy, taking into\naccount the mass of French cavalry that covered the plain, to reunite\nthe 3rd Division. Lord Wellington, it is true, was on the spot, but the\n_spot_ was a large one, with but few troops to cover it, and had the\nFrench cavalry done their duty on that day, I doubt much if the 3rd\nDivision would not have ceased to exist! Meanwhile the time was passing\naway without the enemy undertaking anything serious; but the 5th and\n77th, and the other troops under General Colville, seeing the danger of\ntheir position, and profiting by the inaction of the French troopers,\nwho seemed to be paralysed after their failure, made one of the most\nmemorable retreats on record, across the plain, surrounded by three\ntimes their own number of horse, and exposed to the fire of a battery of\neight-pounders. But the 45th, 74th, and 88th had not yet been able to\ndisentangle themselves from the rugged ground and vineyards to the rear\nof El Bodon, and their junction with the remainder of the division might\nbe said to be at this moment (three o\u2019clock) rather problematical,\nbecause the French Light Horse and Polish Lancers, not meeting with a\nforce of our cavalry sufficient to stop their progress, spread\nthemselves over the face of the country, capturing our baggage and\nstores, and threatening to prevent the junction of the right brigade\nwith the other two.\nWhile the French might be said to have the undisputed possession of the\nentire field of battle, over which they were pouring an immense mass of\ndragoons, followed by infantry and artillery, the regiments of our\ndivision which were in column continued their retrograde movement upon\nFuente-Guinaldo. The 45th and 74th had by this time cleared the rugged\nground and enclosures, and were in march to join the remainder of the\ncolumn; but the 88th were most unaccountably left in a vineyard, which\nwas enclosed by a loose stone wall. In the hurry of the moment they\nmight, and I believe would, have been forgotten, had not the soldiers,\nwho became impatient upon hearing the clashing of weapons outside the\nenclosure, burst down several openings in the wall, by which means they\nnot only saw the danger of the position in which their comrades were\nplaced, but also the hopelessness of their own, if they did not speedily\nbreak down the walls that incarcerated them; for our 1st Hussars and\n11th Light Dragoons were giving way before the overpowering weight of\nthe enemy\u2019s horse, while the bulk of the 3rd Division were marching in a\nline parallel to the enclosure occupied by the 88th; so it was manifest\nthat if this regiment did not at the instant break from its prison, a\nfew moments would have decided its fate, and left the 3rd Division\n_minus_ the Connaught Rangers.\nEach moment that we remained was of consequence, and the delay of five\nminutes would have been fatal; we were without orders, and were at a\nloss how to act; but nothing tends more to bring the energies of men\ninto action than their seeing clearly the danger that they are placed\nin, and the consciousness that their only means of escaping it depends\nupon their firm reliance on themselves. Some officers called out to have\nthe wall broken down, and in a second several openings were made in it.\nEvery officer made the greatest efforts to supply, by his own particular\ndispositions, such as were on the whole necessary; but an operation of\nso delicate a nature, made in the face of a powerful antagonist, could\nnot be performed with as much order and regularity as was desirable.\nFrom the great coolness of the men, and the intelligence and gallantry\nof the officers, the regiment was at last extricated from its dangerous\nposition, but it was far, very far, from being safe yet; and had the\nFrench dragoons, at the close of the day, shown the same determination\nthey did at its commencement, not one man of the 88th would have\nescaped.\nWe had scarcely cleared the enclosure when we witnessed a series of\npetty combats between our horse and that of the enemy, some of whom had\nposted themselves directly between us and our entrenched camp at\nFuente-Guinaldo. Immediately in our front, some of Lord Wellington\u2019s\nstaff were personally engaged with the French troopers; and one of them,\neither Captain Burgh or the young Prince of Orange, owed his life to the\nexcellence of his horse. Lieutenant King, of the 11th Dragoons, lost one\narm by a sabre cut; Prior, of the same regiment, had all his front teeth\nknocked out by a musket shot, and Mrs. Howley, the black cymbal-man\u2019s\nwife, of the 88th, was captured by a lancer. The fate of the officers I\nhave mentioned was deplored, but the loss of Mrs. Howley was a source of\ngrief to the entire division. The officers so maimed might be replaced\nby others, but perhaps in the entire army such another woman, take her\nfor all and all, as Mrs. Howley could not be found. The 88th at length\ntook its place in the column at quarter distance, and the 3rd Division\ncontinued its retrograde movement.\nMontbrun, at the head of fifteen squadrons of light horse, pressed\nclosely on our right flank, and made every demonstration of attacking us\nwith the view of engaging our attention until the arrival of his\ninfantry and artillery, of which latter only one battery was in the\nfield; but General Picton saw the critical situation in which he was\nplaced, and that nothing but the most rapid, and at the same time most\nregular, movement upon Guinaldo could save his division from being cut\noff to a man. For six miles across a perfect flat, without the slightest\nprotection from any incident of ground, without artillery, and I might\nsay without cavalry (for what were four or five squadrons to twenty or\nthirty?) did the 3rd Division continue its march. During the whole time\nthe enemy\u2019s cavalry never quitted them; a park of six guns advanced with\nthe cavalry, and taking the 3rd Division in flank and rear, poured in a\nfrightful fire of round-shot, grape, and canister. Many men fell in this\nway, and those whose wounds rendered them unable to march were obliged\nto be abandoned to the enemy.\nThis was a trying and pitiable situation for troops to be placed in, but\nit in no way shook the courage or confidence of the soldiers; so far\nfrom being dispirited or cast down, the men were cheerful and gay, the\nsoldiers of my corps (the 88th) telling their officers that if the\nFrench dared to charge, every officer should have a _nate_ horse to ride\nupon.\nGeneral Picton conducted himself with his accustomed coolness; he\nremained on the left flank of the column, and repeatedly cautioned the\ndifferent battalions to mind the quarter distance and the \u201ctellings\noff.\u201d \u201cYour safety,\u201d added he, \u201cmy credit, and the honour of the army,\nis at stake: all rests with you at this moment.\u201d We had reached to\nwithin a mile of our entrenched camp, when Montbrun, impatient lest we\nshould escape from his grasp, ordered his troopers to bring up their\nright shoulders and incline towards our column: the movement was not\nexactly bringing his squadrons into line, but it was the next thing to\nit, and at this time they were within half pistol-shot of us. Picton\ntook off his hat, and holding it over his eyes as a shade from the sun,\nlooked sternly, but anxiously at the French. The clatter of the horses\nand the clanking of the scabbards were so great when the right half\nsquadron moved up, that many thought it the forerunner of a general\ncharge; some mounted officer called out, \u201cHad we not better form\nsquare?\u201d\u2014\u201cNo,\u201d replied Picton; \u201cit is but a _ruse_ to frighten us, but\nit won\u2019t do.\u201d\nAt this moment a cloud of dust was discernible in the direction of\nGuinaldo; it was a cheering sight; it covered the 3rd Dragoon Guards,\nwho came up at a slinging trot to our relief. When this fine regiment\napproached to within a short distance of us they dismounted, tightened\ntheir girths, and prepared for battle; but the French horse slackened\ntheir pace, and in half an hour more we were safe within our lines. The\nLight Division, which were also critically circumstanced on this\nmemorable day, joined us in the morning, and thus the whole army was\nre-united.\nRetreat of the French army\u2014Vultures on the field of battle\u2014The Light\n Division and private theatricals\u2014Major Leckie and the\n musician\u2014Privations\u2014The Connaught Rangers and the sheep\u2014Deficient\n kits\u2014Darby Rooney and General Mackinnon.\nThe Duke of Ragusa and the Count Dorsenne employed themselves the whole\nof the day (the 26th of September) in reconnoitring the ground we\noccupied, and everything announced that a battle would be fought the\nnext day (which, had it taken place, would have been the anniversary of\nthe battle of Busaco, gained by us the preceding year), but Lord\nWellington observing a considerable body of troops moving upon his left,\napparently with the intention of turning it, withdrew from his\nentrenched camp in the course of the night to the neighbourhood of\nAlfayates, leaving the 4th Division, commanded by General Cole, at\nAldea-de-Ponte.\nAt break of day on the 27th the French army were in motion, but their\nsurprise seemed great on finding our lines unoccupied. Marmont pushed\nhis advance upon the village of Aldea-de-Ponte, and a gallant affair for\nour 4th Division took place there. The two regiments of Fusileers[19]\nparticularly distinguished themselves, and repulsed the enemy at the\npoint of the bayonet. Night put an end to this affair, which cost us a\ncouple of hundred men, and nearly double that number fell on the side of\nthe French.\nFootnote 19:\n The 7th and 23rd Royal Welsh.\nThe enemy being but ill supplied with provisions, and the country in\nwhich they now were (Portugal) being quite unsuited to their operations,\nas well as unable to supply their wants, the French Marshal, having\nprovisioned Rodrigo, which was the object sought for when he formed his\njunction with the army of the north, resolved upon retracing his steps,\nwhich he did on the following day, the 28th.\nLord Wellington issued a most flattering order to the troops engaged on\nthe 25th, and so delighted was he with the conduct of the 5th and 77th\nthat he held them up as an example to the army. On the 29th we went into\ncantonments, our division occupying Aldea-de-Ponte; and until our\narrival there, I had no idea the loss of men and horses on the 27th had\nbeen so great. The ground was thickly covered with both, and immense\nnumbers of vultures had already established themselves in the\nneighbourhood. These birds, the sure harbinger of a disputed field,\ncrowded around us in vast flocks: whether this was owing to the lateness\nof the season, or to a scantiness in the supply of their accustomed\nfood, I know not; but the voracity of these birds, and consequently\ntheir boldness, was beyond anything I had ever before witnessed. In many\ninstances they would throw off their ordinary wariness, and strut before\nthe carcase they were devouring, as if they supposed we were about to\ndispute their pretensions to it; but it is astonishing what birds of\nthis description will do when really pressed by hunger.\nFuente-Guinaldo was occupied by our Light Division, who made that town\nagreeable both to themselves and also to their brothers in arms, not\nonly by their hospitality, but by the attraction of their theatrical\nperformances, which were got up in a style quite astonishing,\nconsidering the place and the difficulties which they must have found in\nsupplying themselves with suitable costume; but the Light Division had\nan _esprit de corps_ among them, whether in the field or quarters, that\nmust be seen to be understood. Their _dramatis person\u00e6_ were admirable,\nand Captain Kent of the Rifles, by his great abilities, rendered every\nperformance in which he took a part doubly attractive. The 3rd Division,\nalthough unable to cope with the Light in this species of amusement, got\nup races, which, though inferior to those of the former year at Torres\nVedras, were far from bad; amongst the jockeys was one, an officer in\nthe Portuguese service, who, though an excellent horseman, was, without\nexception, the ugliest man in the division, or perhaps in the army.\nMajor Leckie of the 45th took the greatest dislike to him on this\naccount, and gave him the name of \u201cUgly Mug\u201d\u2014by which cognomen he was\nafter known.\nJust as the horses were about to start for a tolerably heavy stake, I\nwent up to Leckie, who was one of the most knowing men on our turf.\n\u201cWell, Leckie,\u201d said I, \u201cwho\u2019s the winning jockey to-day?\u201d\u2014\u201cWhy look,\u201d\nreplied he, \u201cI\u2019ve laid it on thick myself upon Wilde\u2019s horse,\nAlbuquerque, and tortured as I am with this infernal attack of gout (to\nwhich he was a great martyr), I have hobbled out to witness the race;\nbut, my dear fellow, I don\u2019t care one rush who wins, provided _Mug_\nloses.\u201d However, _Mug_ won his race easily, and poor Leckie went home\nquite out of sorts. Whether from the effect of his favourite horse\nlosing, or \u201cMug\u2019s\u201d winning, or that the exertion was too much for him, I\nknow not, but upon his return to Aldea-de-Ponte, he was seized with a\nviolent attack of gout; towards midnight he was a little more composed,\nand had just sunk into a gentle slumber, when he was awoke by a young\nEnsign who had lately joined, and who occupied an apartment in the house\nwhere Leckie was quartered. This officer played a little on the violin,\nand had a very good voice; he began to practise both, and commenced\nsinging the little air in _Paul and Virginia_ of\n Tell her I love her while the clouds drop rain,\n Or while there\u2019s water in the pathless main;\nbut whether from being imperfect in the song, or that those particular\nlines struck his fancy, he never got beyond them. Leckie became very\nfidgety\u2014every scrape of the violin touched his heart, but in a far\ndifferent manner from that in which it seemed to affect the performer; a\nquarter of an hour passed on, and the same lines were repeated; at last\nthe accompaniment grew fainter and fainter, until it died away\naltogether.\nLeckie became composed: \u201cWell!\u201d exclaimed he, \u201cthat young fellow is at\nrest for the night, and so I hope shall I be,\u201d and he was beginning to\nsettle himself in a more easy posture when the same sounds reassailed\nhim. This was too bad! He sprang out of bed, the perspiration rolling in\nlarge drops down his forehead; he rushed to the door of the Ensign\u2019s\napartment, which he forced at one push, and in a second was standing\nbefore the astonished musician in his shirt. The fatal words, \u201cTell her\nI love her,\u201d had just been uttered, and he was preparing to add, \u201cwhile\nthe clouds drop rain,\u201d when Leckie exclaimed, \u201cBy God, sir, I\u2019ll tell\nher anything you wish, if you\u2019ll only allow me to sleep for half an\nhour.\u201d It would be impossible to convey an idea of the confusion of the\nyoung man upon finding his commanding officer before him at such a time\nand upon such an occasion; he made a thousand apologies, and poor\nLeckie, who was one of the pleasantest fellows in the world, in spite of\nhis pain, could not avoid laughing at the occurrence, which amused him\nto the hour of his death.\nMatters being in the state I have described in the month of October\n1811, and as there was no likelihood of any active operations taking\nplace, we began to make ourselves as comfortable as the wretched village\nof Aldea-de-Ponte would admit of. Any person acquainted with a\nPortuguese cottage will readily acknowledge that a good chimney is not\nits forte; we therefore turned all the skill our masons possessed to the\nconstruction of fire-places that would not smoke, and it required all\ntheir knowledge in the arcana of their profession to succeed even in\npart. However, they did succeed, partially, I must admit; but it was\neasy to satisfy us, and we made up for the badness of our fire-places by\nstocking them abundantly with wood, of which article there was no\nlack,\u2014but we had barely sufficient straw to keep our horses and mules\nalive, much less afford ourselves a bed. In the entire village, I\nbelieve, there were not a dozen mattresses. Provisions were but ill\nsupplied us, and we were reduced to subsist upon half allowance of bad\nbiscuit. As to money, we had scarcely a sou; for although there was\nplenty of specie in Lisbon for our use, the want of animals to convey it\nto the army left us as ill off as if there had not been a dollar in the\nchest of the Paymaster-General. So that between smoky houses, no beds,\nlittle to eat, and less money, we were in anything but what might be\ntermed \u201cgood winter-quarters.\u201d\nThis state of privation was sadly annoying to the soldiers, and the men\nof my corps, or, as I am more in the habit of calling them, \u201cthe boys,\u201d\nwere much perplexed as to what they would do. Several desertions had\ntaken place in the army, but our fellows did not like that\nat-all-at-all. \u201cWhy, then, by my sowl,\u201d said Owen Mackguekin, of the\nGrenadiers, \u201cI think Misther Strahan, the commissary, is grately to\nblame to keep us poor boys without mate to ate, when those _pizanos_\nhave plenty of good sheep and goats; and sure if they\u2019d ate them\nthemselves, a man wouldn\u2019t say anything; but they\u2019ll neither ate them,\nnor give us lave to do so, and sure a\u2019tanny rate, _baccall\u00e2o_ and\n_azete_[20] is good enough for them.\u201d I need scarcely remark that an\nargument so full of sound sense was not likely to be thrown away upon\nthe hearers of Owen Mackguekin. From this moment our fellows determined\nto be their own commissaries.\nFootnote 20:\n Salt fish and vinegar.\nFor some weeks there had been a general defalcation amongst the\ndifferent neighbouring flocks, and the Portuguese shepherds, confounded\nto know what had become of them, armed themselves, and kept watch with a\ndegree of vigilance that they were heretofore unaccustomed to. Wolves,\nthey remarked, were not sufficiently numerous in that part of the\ncountry to effect such havoc, even in the depth of winter; but, said\nthey, it is impossible at this early stage of the season that it could\nbe them; and they were right, for it would be difficult to point out one\nregiment that did not take something in the shape of tithe from the\nsheep-holders.\nOne night in November, 1811, three of the \u201cboys\u201d walked out of their\nquarters with nothing at all\u2014but their bayonets; Mackguekin headed them.\nThe sheep-fold they assailed was defended by five armed Portuguese; but\nwhat did the \u201cboys\u201d care for that? After nearly sending the unfortunate\nmen to the other world, they very deliberately tied their arms and legs\ntogether \u201cto keep them aisy,\u201d as they afterwards said, and then\nperforming the same office to three sheep, they left their owners to\nlook after the remainder.\nAs may be supposed, this affair made a great noise. The Provost-Marshal\nwas directed to search, with the utmost care, the quarters and premises\nof all the regiments; but the fellow instinctively, I believe, turned\ntowards those of my corps; and here, I am sorry to confess, he found\nthat which he wanted, namely, the three sheep, part of them in a\ncamp-kettle on the fire, and the remainder in an outhouse. This was\nenough. The three men were identified by the Portuguese, tried, flogged,\nand had to pay for the sheep, which (the worst of it!) they had not the\npleasure of even tasting. But this example by no means put a stop to the\nevil. The sheep-folds were plundered, the shepherds pummelled, and our\nfellows flogged without mercy. General Picton at length issued orders,\ndirecting the rolls of the regiment to be called over by an officer of\neach company at different periods during the night, and by this measure\nthe evil was remedied. But we did not get credit for even this. That\npleasantest of all pleasant fellows, Bob Hardyman of the 45th, used to\nsay, in jest, that instead of the officers going round the quarters, we\nentrusted the duty to a sergeant; and, according to Bob\u2019s account, the\nmanner of his performing the duty was as follows:\u2014\nArrived at the door, he gave a gentle tap, when voices from within\ncalled out, \u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d\n_Ser._ \u201cIt\u2019s me, boys!\u201d\n_Sol._ \u201cAnd who are you?\u201d\n_Ser._ \u201cWhy then, blur 'an ouns, boys, don\u2019t yees know my voice?\u201d\n_Sol._ \u201cOch! and to be sure we do now.\u201d\n_Ser._ \u201cWell, boys, yees know what I\u2019me come about.\u201d\n_Sol._ \u201cSure we do, sergeant.\u201d\n_Ser._ \u201cWell, boys, are yees all within?\u201d\n_Sol._ \u201cWithin, is it! to be sure we are; why, where else would we be?\u201d\n_Ser._ \u201cThat\u2019s right, boys! but boys, take care, are yees all in bed?\u201d\n_Sol._ \u201cIn bed! sure we are, and all asleep too!!\u201d\n_Ser._ \u201cOch! that\u2019s right, honies, it\u2019s myself that\u2019s proud to find yees\ngrown so regular!\u201d\nAnd having thus performed his duty, he wished them good-night. But poor\nBob Hardyman was one of those sort of fellows that could say a thing\n(and make you laugh at it too, although at your own expense) that if\nanother person attempted, he would get his teeth knocked down his\nthroat; he verified a saying in his own county (Galway), that one man in\nthat country might steal a horse with impunity, when another darn\u2019t look\nover the hedge where he was grazing.\nAt Aldea-de-Ponte, the headquarters of our division, all was quiet; and\nalthough our allowance of provisions was scanty, and our supply of money\nscarcely sufficient to procure us salt and rice for our soup, the\ndivision, nevertheless, was in high order; we had a good deal of drill,\nand regular examinations of the men\u2019s kits\u2014a very necessary precaution\nwith all regiments, and with my corps as well as another. At an\ninspection of this kind by General Mackinnon he found fault\u2014and\ndeservedly so, I must confess\u2014with the scanty manner in which some of\nthe men of my company were supplied. The General was too much the\ngentleman to row, or call names, but it was clear from his manner that\nhe was far from satisfied with the wardrobe displayed by these fellows;\nindeed, if he was, it would have been easy to please him! At last coming\nto a \u201cboy\u201d of the name of Darby Rooney, whose knapsack was what a\nFrenchman would term _vide_, or, to speak more intelligibly, one that\ncontained nothing whatever but his watch-coat, a piece of pipe-clay and\nbutton-brush! he seemed thunderstruck, as well he might, for I believe\n\u201che ne\u2019er had looked upon its like before\u201d!\nWith more asperity of manner than I ever observed him to make use\nof, he asked \u201cDarby\u201d to whose squad he belonged. Darby Rooney\nunderstood about as much English as enabled him to get over a parade\ntolerably, but a conversation such as the General was about to hold\nwith him was beyond his capacity, and he began to feel a little\nconfused at the prospect of a _t\u00eate-\u00e0-t\u00eate_ with his General:\n\u201cSquidha\u2014squodha\u2014cad-dershe-vourneen?\u201d[21] said he, turning to the\norderly-sergeant, Pat Gafney, who did not himself speak the English\nlanguage quite as correctly as Lindley Murray. \u201cWhist, ye\nBostoon,\u201d[22] said Gafney, \u201cand don\u2019t make a baste of yourself\nbefore the General.\u201d\u2014\u201cWhy,\u201d said General Mackinnon, \u201cI believe he\ndon\u2019t understand me.\u201d\u2014\u201cNo, sir,\u201d replied Gafney, \u201che don\u2019t know what\nyour honour manes.\u201d\nFootnote 21:\n \u201cWhat does he say, honey?\u201d\nFootnote 22:\n \u201cHold your tongue, you booby.\u201d\nThe General passed on, taking it for granted that the man had never\nheard of a squad, and making some gentlemanlike observations on the\nutility of such partitions of a company, expressed himself satisfied\nwith the fine appearance of the regiment, and our inspection ended with\ncredit to us, this solitary instance excepted. This was, however,\nenough. Ill-nature and scandal seldom lack arguments. They are ever\nready to take a hint, and it is unnecessary that a report should be as\ntrue as the gospel to form a foundation for their belief of it. An hour\nhad not elapsed when the entire division were made acquainted (through\nsome of our friends!) with the story. Groups of officers might be seen\ntogether (God forgive them!) laughing at our expense. \u201cWell!\u201d cried one,\n\u201cdid you hear what happened with the Connaughts to-day?\u201d\u2014\u201cNo,\u201d replied a\nsecond, \u201cbut I\u2019ll bet twenty dollars I guess; another sheep or goat\nfound in their quarters?\u201d\u2014\u201cNo. But when General Mackinnon inspected them\njust now, there was not one man in the regiment who knew what a squad\nwas!\u201d\u2014\u201cI would have sworn it,\u201d replied a third. An old crone of a major\nnow joined the group, and shaking his head said, \u201cAh! they are a sad\nset!\u201d Poor idiot! The 88th was a more really _efficient_ regiment than\nalmost any _two_ corps in the 3rd Division.\nOfficers and sergeants\u2014Fairfield and his bad habit\u2014Regimental\n mechanism\u2014Impolitic familiarity\u20143rd Division at the siege of Ciudad\n Rodrigo\u2014Lieutenant D\u2018Arcy and Ody Brophy\u2014The Irish pilot.\nThe joke about Darby Rooney\u2019s wardrobe, and the conversation that took\nplace between him and General Mackinnon, was circulated throughout the\narmy, and I believe there was not one regiment unacquainted with the\ncircumstance; indeed, so general was its circulation, that it reached\nthe headquarters of Lord Wellington himself, and, if report spoke truly\n(which it doesn\u2019t always do), it caused his lordship to laugh heartily.\nI have myself\u2014before and since I wrote the story\u2014often been asked if it\nwas really a fact that we had no squads in the companies of my regiment,\nand I have invariably answered that we had not, and that every iota told\nby Bob Hardyman was true, for I think Bob\u2019s description of the Connaught\nRangers altogether too rich to be contradicted or even altered. But were\nI myself to give a \u201cfull and true account\u201d of the \u201cboys,\u201d I would set\nthem down as a parcel of lads that took the world easy\u2014or, as they\nthemselves would say, \u201caisy\u201d\u2014with a proper share of that nonchalance\nwhich is only to be acquired on service\u2014real service; but I cannot bring\nmyself to think them, as many did, a parcel of devils, neither will I by\nany manner of means try to pass them off for so many saints! But the\nfact is (and I have before said so) that there was not one regiment in\nthe Peninsular army more severely\u2014perhaps so severely\u2014drilled as mine\nwas; but I also say, without the slightest fear of contradiction, that\nthe officers never tormented themselves or their men with too much fuss.\nWe approached their quarters as seldom as we possibly could\u2014I mean as\nseldom as was necessary\u2014and thereby kept up that distance between\nofficers and privates so essential to discipline; this we considered the\nproper line of conduct to chalk out, and we ever acted up to it. We were\namused to see some regiments whose commanding officers obliged every\nsubaltern to parade his men at bedtime in their blankets!\u2014why, they\nlooked like so many hobgoblins! But if such an observance were necessary\nas far as concerned the soldiers, surely a sergeant ought to be able to\ndo this much.\nIf a selection of good sergeants and corporals be made by the officer at\nthe head of a regiment, and if that officer will only allow those\nindividuals to do their duty, there is not the least doubt but that they\nwill do it\u2014I peril myself upon the assertion, and I bet a sovereign that\nthe \u201cGuards\u201d agree with me. I well remember some regiments managed in\nthe opposite way during the Peninsular War. Those poor fellows were much\nto be pitied, for they were not only obliged to fag, but to dress also,\nwith as much scrupulous exactness as the time and place would admit of.\nWhat folly! But was Lord Wellington to blame for this? Unquestionably\nnot. He never troubled his head about such trifles, and had the\ncommanding officers of corps followed the example set them (of not\npaying too much respect to minuti\u00e6) by the Commander-in-Chief, the\nsituation of the junior officers in the army would have been far\ndifferent from what it was.\nAnother custom prevailed in many regiments, which was attempted to be\ngot up in mine, but we crushed it in its infancy; it was the sending a\nsurgeon or his assistant to ascertain the state of an officer\u2019s health,\nshould he think himself not well enough to attend an early drill.\nWe had in my old corps, amongst other \u201ccharacters,\u201d one that, at the\nperiod I am writing about, was well known in the army to be as jovial a\nfellow as ever put his foot under a mess-table. His name was Fairfield;\nand though there were few who could sing as good a song, there was not\nin the whole British army a worse duty officer. Indeed, it was next to\nimpossible to catch hold of him for any duty whatever; and so well known\nwas his dislike to all military etiquette, that the officer next to him\non the roster, the moment Fairfield\u2019s name appeared for guard-mounting\nor court-martial, considered himself as the person meant, and he was\nright nine times out of ten. The frequent absence of Fairfield from\ndrill, at a time too when the regiment was in expectation of being\ninspected by the general of division, obliged the officer commanding to\nsend the surgeon to ascertain the nature of his malady, which from its\nlong continuance (on occasions of duty!) strongly savoured of a chronic\ncomplaint. The doctor found the invalid traversing his chamber rather\nlightly clad for an indisposed person; he was singing one of Moore\u2019s\nmelodies, and accompanying himself with his violin, which instrument he\ntouched with great taste. The doctor told him the nature of his visit,\nand offered to feel his pulse, but Fairfield turned from him, repeating\nthe lines of Shakespeare, \u201cCanst thou minister,\u201d etc. etc. \u201cWell,\u201d\nreplied the surgeon, \u201cI am sorry for it, but I cannot avoid reporting\nyou fit for duty.\u201d\u2014\u201cI\u2019m sorry you cannot,\u201d rejoined Fairfield; \u201cbut my\ncomplaint is best known to myself! and I feel that were I to rise as\nearly as is necessary, I should be lost to the service in a month.\u201d\n\u201cWhy,\u201d said the doctor, \u201cMajor Thompson says you have been lost to it\never since he first knew you, and that is now something about six\nyears,\u201d and he took his leave for the purpose of making his report.\nThe Major\u2019s orderly was soon at Fairfield\u2019s quarters with a message to\nsay that his presence was required by his commanding officer. Fairfield\nwas immediately in attendance. \u201cMr. Fairfield,\u201d said the Major, \u201cyour\nconstant habit of being absent from early drill has obliged me to send\nthe surgeon to ascertain the state of your health, and he reports that\nyou are perfectly well, and I must say that your appearance is anything\nbut that of an invalid\u2014how is this?\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t mind him, sir,\u201d replied\nFairfield; \u201cI am, thank God! very well _now_, but when the bugle sounded\nthis morning at four o\u2019clock a cold shivering came over me\u2014I think it\nwas a touch of ague!\u2014and besides, Dr. Gregg is too short a time in the\nConnaught Rangers to know my _habit_.\u201d\u2014\u201cIs he?\u201d rejoined the old Major,\n\u201che must be d\u2014--d stupid then. But that is a charge you surely can\u2019t\nmake against me. I have been now about nineteen years in the regiment,\nduring six of which I have had the pleasure of knowing you, and you will\nallow me to tell you, that I am not only well acquainted with 'your\nhabit,' but to request you will, from this moment, _change it_\u201d\u2014and with\nthis gentle rebuke he good-humouredly dismissed him. He was an excellent\nduty officer ever after.\nA regiment is a piece of mechanism, and requires as much care as any\nother machine whose parts are obliged to act in unison to keep it going\nas it ought. If a screw or two be loose, a skilful hand will easily\nright them without injuring the machine; but if it falls into the hands\nof a self-sufficient ignorant bungler, it is sure to be injured, if not\ndestroyed altogether; and as certain as the daylight, if it is ever\nplaced in a situation where it must from necessity be allowed to act for\nitself\u2014where the main spring cannot control the lesser ones much less\nthe great body of the machine\u2014it will be worse than useless\u2014worse than a\nlog\u2014not only in the way, but not to be depended upon!\nIt must not, however, be supposed that these observations are meant to\nfavour a too little regard to that system of discipline which is so\nessential to be observed in the army, and without which any army\u2014but\nparticularly a British one\u2014would be inefficient. Extremes should be\navoided, and too much familiarity is as bad as too much severity. I once\nheard of a commanding officer of a first-rate regiment who was in the\nhabit of allowing the junior officers of his corps to make too free with\nhim; he at length found it necessary to send his adjutant to inquire the\nreason why a young ensign, who was in the habit of absenting himself\nfrom parade, did so on one of those days which was allotted as a\ngarrison parade? The adjutant informed the ensign that the colonel\nawaited his reply. \u201cShall I say you are unwell?\u201d demanded he. \u201cOh no,\u201d\nreplied the ensign, \u201cI\u2019ll settle the matter with the commanding officer\nmyself.\u201d The hour of dinner approached, yet no communication was\nreceived from the ensign. Passing from his quarters to the mess-room,\nthe commanding officer met the ensign, and was about to accost him when\nthe latter turned his head aside and declined recognising his colonel,\nwho, upon arriving at the mess-room, was so dejected as to attract the\nnotice of all the officers. Upon being asked why he was so out of\nspirits, the colonel, \u201cgood easy man,\u201d told a \u201cround unvarnished tale,\u201d\nand in conclusion added, \u201cI thought nothing of his not answering my\nmessage, but I cannot express how much I am hurt at the idea of his\ncutting me as he did when I wished to speak with him!\u201d This was _un peu\ntrop fort_; and had the regiment in question been much longer under the\ncommand of the good-natured personage I have described, there is little\ndoubt but that it would have become rather relaxed in its discipline.\nThe different movements amongst the contending armies in the end of 1811\ncaused it to be presumed that the campaign the following year would open\nwith much spirit; and so it did, although earlier than was anticipated.\nMarmont, thinking himself safe till the spring, had not only quartered\nhis army in very extensive cantonments, but also detached General\nMontbrun, with three divisions, to co-operate with Marshal Suchet in the\nkingdom of Valencia. Intimately acquainted with these details, Lord\nWellington redoubled his efforts in the arrangement of all that was\nnecessary to carry on the siege of Ciudad-Rodrigo with vigour. The 3rd\nDivision, which was one of those destined to take a part in the attack,\nbroke up from its cantonments on the morning of the 4th of January 1812.\nCarpio, Espeja, and Pastores were occupied by our troops, and the\ngreatest activity prevailed throughout every department, but more\nespecially in that of the Engineers. All the cars in the country were\nput into requisition for the purpose of conveying fascines, gabions, and\nthe different materials necessary to the Convent of La Caridad, distant\na league and half from Rodrigo. The guns were at Gallegos, and\neverything was in that state of preparation which announced that a\nvigorous attack was about to be made, in the depth of a severe winter,\nagainst a fortress that had withstood for twenty-five days all the\nefforts of Marshal Mass\u00e9na in the summer of 1810, when it was only\noccupied by a weak garrison of Spaniards. Yet, nevertheless, every one\nfelt confident, and the soldiers burned with impatience to wipe away the\nblot of the former year in the unfortunate siege of San Christoval and\nBadajoz.\nI have before mentioned that we had not an effective corps of\nengineers\u2014I mean in point of numbers. To remedy this defect a proportion\nof the most intelligent officers and soldiers of the infantry were\nselected during the autumn months and placed under the direction of\nColonel Fletcher, the Chief Engineer. They were soon taught how to make\nfascines and gabions, and what was of equal consequence\u2014how to use them.\nThey likewise learned the manner of working by sap, and by this means\nthat branch of our army, which was before the weakest, had now become\nvery efficient.\nThe morning of the 4th of January was dreadfully inauspicious. The order\nfor marching arrived at three o\u2019clock, and we were under arms at five.\nThe rain fell in torrents, and the village of Aldea-de-Ponte, which the\nbrigade of General Mackinnon occupied, was a sea of filth; the snow on\nthe surrounding hills drifted down with the flood and nearly choked up\nthe roads, and the appearance of the morning was anything but a\nfavourable omen for us, who had a march of nine leagues to make ere we\nreached the town of Robleda on the river Agueda, which was destined to\nbe our resting-place for the night.\nAt half-past six the brigade was in motion, and I scarcely remember a\nmore disagreeable day; the rain which had fallen in the morning was\nsucceeded by snow and sleet, and some soldiers, who sunk from cold and\nfatigue, fell down exhausted, soon became insensible, and perished; yet,\nstrange to say, an Irishwoman of my regiment was delivered of a child\nupon the road, and continued the march with her infant in her arms.\nNotwithstanding the severity of the day, it was impossible to avoid\noccasionally smiling at the _outr\u00e9_ appearance of some of the officers.\nThe total disregard which the Commander-in-Chief paid to uniformity of\ndress is well known, and there were many on this day who were obliged to\nacknowledge that they showed more taste than judgment in their\nselection. Captain Adair of my corps nearly fell a victim to the choice\nhe had made on this our first day of opening the campaign of 1812. He\nwore a pair of boots that fitted him with a degree of exactness that\nwould not disgrace a \u201cHoby\u201d; the heels were high and the toes sharply\npointed; his pantaloons were of blue web; his frock-coat and waistcoat\nwere tastefully and fashionably chosen, the former light blue richly\nfrogged with lace, the latter of green velvet with large silver Spanish\nbuttons; but he forgot the most essential part of all\u2014and that was his\nboat-cloak. For the first ten or twelve miles he rode, but the cold was\nso intense that he was obliged to dismount, and unquestionably his dress\nwas but ill calculated for walking. The rain with which his pantaloons\nwere saturated was by this time nearly frozen (for the day had begun to\nchange), and he became so dreadfully chafed that he was necessitated to\ngive up the march, and we left him at a village half way from Robleda,\nresembling more one of those which composed \u201cthe army of martyrs\u201d than\nthat commanded by Lord Wellington. I myself was nearly in as bad a\nstate, but being a few years younger, and more serviceably clad, I made\nan effort to get on.\nWe had by this time (eight o\u2019clock at night) proceeded a considerable\nway in the dark, and, as may be supposed, it was a difficult matter to\nkeep the men together as compactly as could be wished. Whenever an\nopportunity occurred a jaded soldier or two of my regiment used to look\nin on our Spanish friends, and if they found them at supper, they could\nnot bring themselves to refuse an offer to \u201ctake share of what was\ngoing,\u201d and, to say the truth, this was no more than might be expected\nfrom a set of fellows who belonged to a country so proverbial for its\nhospitality to strangers as theirs (Ireland) was! Besides this, the men\nof the Connaught Rangers had a way of making themselves \u201cat home\u201d that\nwas peculiar to them, and for which\u2014whatever else might be denied\nthem!\u2014they got full credit. Bob Hardyman used to say \u201cthey had a _taking\nway_ with them.\u201d\nPassing a hamlet a short distance from Robleda we saw a number of\nSpaniards, women as well as men, outside the door of a good-looking\nhouse; much altercation was apparently taking place; at length a soldier\n(named Ody Brophy) rushed out with half a flitch of bacon under his arm;\na scuffle ensued, and Lieutenant D\u2018Arcy, to whose company the soldier\nbelonged, ran up to inquire the cause of the outcry, but it was soon too\nmanifest to be misunderstood; the war-whoop was raised against our man,\nwho, on his part, as stoutly defended himself, not by words alone but by\nblows, which had nearly silenced his opponents, when he was seized by my\nfriend D\u2018Arcy. _Piccaroon_, _Ladrone_, and other opprobrious epithets\nwere poured with much volubility against him, but he, with the greatest\n_sang froid_, turned to his officer and said, \u201cBe aisy now, and don\u2019t be\nvexing yourself with them or the likes of them. Wasn\u2019t it for you I was\nmaking a bargain? and didn\u2019t I offer the value of it? Don\u2019t I see the\nway you\u2019re lost with the hunger, and the divil a bit iv rations you\u2019ll\nget ate to-night. Och! you cratur, iv your poor mother, that\u2019s dead! was\nto see you after such a condition, it\u2019s she that id be leev\u2019d iv herself\nfor letting you away from her at-all-at-all.\u201d\u2014\u201cWell,\u201d said D\u2018Arcy\n(softened, no doubt, and who would not at such a speech?), \u201cwhat did you\noffer for it?\u201d\u2014\u201cWhat did I offer for it, is it? Fait, then, I offered\nenough, but they made such a noise that I don\u2019t think they heard me,\nfor, upon my sowl, I hardly heard myself with the uproar they made; and\nsure I told them iv I hadn\u2019t money enough to pay for it (and it was true\nfor me I hadn\u2019t, unless I got it dog cheap!) you had; but they don\u2019t\nlike a bone in my skin, or in yours either, and that is the raison they\nare afther offinding me afther such a manner. And didn\u2019t one of the\nwomen get my left thumb into her mouth, and grunch it like a bit of\nmate? Look at it,\u201d said he in conclusion, at the same time thrusting his\nbleeding hand nearly into D\u2018Arcy\u2019s face, \u201cfait and iv your honour hadn\u2019t\ncome up, it\u2019s my belief she would have bit it clane off at the knuckle.\u201d\nThis speech, delivered with a rapidity and force that was sufficient to\noverwhelm the most practised rhetorician, carried away everything along\nwith it, like chaff before a whirlwind, and D\u2018Arcy made all matters\nsmooth by paying the price demanded (two dollars), and the piece of\nbacon was carried away by Ody, who was a townsman of D\u2018Arcy\u2019s, and who\nrepeatedly assured him \u201che would do more than that to sarve him.\u201d\nIt was impossible to avoid paying a tribute of praise to Ody Brophy for\nthe tact with which he avoided the storm with which he was threatened;\nand upon this occasion he proved himself as good a pilot as ever guided\na vessel, and to the full equal to one I once heard of in the harbour of\nCork. A captain of a man-of-war, newly appointed to a ship on the Irish\nstation, took the precaution, in \u201cbeating out\u201d of harbour, to apprise\nthe pilot that he was totally unacquainted with the coast, and therefore\nhe must rely on the pilot\u2019s local knowledge for the safety of his ship.\n\u201cYou are perfectly sure, pilot,\u201d said the captain, \u201cyou are well\nacquainted with the coast?\u201d\n\u201cDo I know my own name, sir.\u201d\n\u201cWell, mind, I warn you not to approach too near the shore.\u201d\n\u201cNow make yourself aisy, sir; in troth you may go to bed iv you plaise.\u201d\n\u201cThen shall we stand on?\u201d\n\u201cWhy\u2014what else would we do?\u201d\n\u201cYes, but there may be hidden dangers which you know nothing about.\u201d\n\u201cDangers! I\u2019d like to see the dangers dare hide themselves from\nMick\u2014sure, don\u2019t I tell you I know every rock on the coast\u201d (here the\nship strikes), \u201c_and that\u2019s one of 'em_.\u201d\nSpanish village accommodation\u2014The siege of Ciudad Rodrigo\u2014Picton\u2019s\n address to the Connaught Rangers in front of the breach\u2014Lieutenant\n William Mackie and the forlorn hope.\nThe brigade reached Robleda at nine o\u2019clock at night, and our quarters\nthere, which at any time would have been considered good, appeared to\nus, after our wretched billets at Aldea-de-Ponte, and the fatigue of a\nharassing march, sumptuous. The villages in Spain, like those of France,\nare well supplied with beds, and the house allotted to me, D\u2018Arcy, and\nCaptain Peshall, was far from deficient in those essentials. A loud\nknocking at the door of the cottage announced the arrival of Peshall,\nwho, like some others, had been \u201cthrown out\u201d on the march, and who\nsought for his billet in the best manner he could. He was a man who\nmight boast of as well-stocked a canteen as any other captain in the\narmy; and upon this occasion it made a proud display. The fireplace was\nabundantly supplied with wood, and at each side of the chimney there was\na profusion of that kind of furniture which I ever considered as\nindispensable to complete the garniture of a well-regulated cuisine, no\nmatter whether in a cottage or ch\u00e2teau\u2014I mean hams, sausages, and\nflitches of well-cured bacon.\nWhile I contemplated all the luxuries with which I was surrounded, I\nfelt exceedingly happy, and I am inclined to think that the evening of\nthe 4th of January 1812 was, if not one of the pleasantest of my life,\nunquestionably one of the most rational I ever passed. Our baggage had\nby this time arrived, and having got on dry clothes, we began to attack\nthe contents of Peshall\u2019s canteen, which was ever at the service of his\nfriends; it contained, among other good things, a Lamego ham, and a cold\nroast leg of mountain mutton, \u201cmorsels which may take rank,\nnotwithstanding their Spartan plainness, with the most disguised of\nforeign manufacture.\u201d It is scarcely necessary to add that we did ample\njustice to the viands placed before us, and having taken a sufficient\nlibation of brandy punch, in which the Spaniard joined us, we turned our\nthoughts to our beds.\nWe arose early the following morning, the 5th, and the brigade reached\nthe small village of Atalaya, distant three leagues from Rodrigo, a\nlittle before noon. That fortress was completely invested on the evening\nof the 7th, and dispositions were made to commence operations against it\non the night following.\nCiudad Rodrigo stands upon an eminence, on the right bank of the river\nAgueda, and is difficult of access; it had been, since its occupation by\nthe French, much strengthened by the construction of a redoubt on the\nhill above St. Francisco; some old convents in the suburbs were also\nturned into defences, and these places no longer presented their\noriginal peaceful appearance, but were, in fact, very respectable\noutworks, and tended much to our annoyance and loss at the commencement\nof the siege.\nTo be safe against a _coup-de-main_, Rodrigo would require a force of\nfrom five to six thousand troops, and its present garrison did not\nreckon anything like three thousand bayonets; it was therefore manifest\nthat, notwithstanding the unfavourable time of the year, it must fall if\nnot speedily succoured; yet it would seem that Marshal Marmont took no\nmeasures to make a diversion in its favour. Strongly impressed with this\nstate of the matter, our commander saw the advantage he would have over\nhis opponent, by acting with as little delay as possible. Protected by a\nstrong escort, Lord Wellington carefully reconnoitred the town on the\n8th; and shortly after dark, three hundred men of the Light Division,\nheaded by Colonel Colborne of the 52nd, were formed for the attack of\nSt. Francisco. They were followed by a working party, composed also of\nmen of the Light Division. The storming party, led on by Colonel\nColborne, advanced under cover of the night, and were not discovered\nuntil they had reached to within a few yards of the redoubt, and our\ntroops rushed on with such impetuosity that the outwork was carried, and\nthe soldiers that defended it put to the sword, before the garrison of\nRodrigo thought it in danger; and profiting by the panic with which the\nenemy were seized, Colonel Colborne caused the works of the redoubt to\nbe razed, completed the first parallel, and rendered our future\napproaches secure.\nThe duty in the trenches was carried on by the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and Light\nDivisions, each taking its separate tour every twenty-four hours. We had\nno tents or huts of any description, and the ground was covered with\nsnow, nevertheless the soldiers were cheerful, and everything went on\nwell. The fortified convents in the suburbs were respectively carried,\nand each sortie made by the garrison was immediately repulsed; in some\ninstances our men pursued them to the very _glacis_, and many a fine\nfellow, carried away by his enthusiasm, died at the muzzles of their\ncannon.\nEvery exertion was made to forward the work, so fully were all impressed\nwith its necessity; but notwithstanding the animated exertions of the\nengineers, and the ready co-operation of the infantry, their progress\nwas at times unavoidably slower than was anticipated. In some instances\nthe soil was so unfavourable, it was next to an impossibility to make\nhead against it; instead of clay or gravel, we frequently met with a\nvein of rock, and invariably when this occurred our losses were severe,\nfor the pick-axes, coming in contact with the stone, caused sparks to\nissue that plainly told the enemy where we were, and, as a matter of\ncourse, they redoubled their efforts on these points; nevertheless, on\nthe 14th, in the afternoon, we were enabled to open our fire from\ntwenty-two pieces of cannon, superior to those which armed our batteries\nat Badajoz the year before, inasmuch as the former guns were of brass,\nwhile those which we now used were of metal. On this night we\nestablished the second parallel, distant only one hundred and fifty\nyards from the body of the place.\n[Illustration: PLAN OF SIEGE OF CIUDAD RODRIGO. January 8\u201319, 1812.]\nOn the 15th the second parallel was in a forward state, and the approach\nby sap to the glacis was considerably advanced; the effect also of our\nfire was such as made us perceive a material alteration in the enemy\u2019s\nmode of replying to it; and it was apparent, that although but seven\ndays before the place, our labours were soon likely to be brought to a\ntermination. The cannonade of the enemy, however, if not as great as at\nfirst, was more effective, and our casualties more numerous, for their\nguns and mortars were directed with a scientific precision that did\ncredit to the men who served them. But every hour proved the visible\nsuperiority of our fire over that of the enemy, which at times seemed to\nbe altogether extinguished; and whenever it shone forth with anything\nlike brilliancy, it was but momentary, and might be well likened to some\nspark of combustible matter, issuing from the interior of a nearly\nconsumed ruin. Wherever danger was greatest, there were our engineers,\nand it was painful to see their devotedness; on horseback or on foot,\nunder cover or exposed to fire, was to them the same, and their example\nwas followed by the soldiers with an enthusiasm unequalled; in short, it\nwas plain that a few hours would suffice to decide the fate of Ciudad\nRodrigo. At this period (the 18th) the 4th Division occupied and\nperformed the duty in the trenches.\nEarly on the morning of the 19th, the 3rd Division (although not for\nduty that day) received orders to march to the Convent of La Caridad;\nand as Lord Wellington was not in the habit of giving us unnecessary\nmarches, we concluded that he intended us the honour of forming one of\nthe corps destined to carry the place. On our march we perceived our old\nfriends and companions, the Light Division, debouching from their\ncantonments, and the joy expressed by our men when they saw them is not\nto be described; we were long acquainted, and like horses accustomed to\nthe same harness, we pulled well together. At two o\u2019clock in the\nafternoon we left La Caridad, and, passing to the rear of the first\nparallel, formed in column about two gun-shots distant from the main\nbreach. The 4th Division still occupied the works, and it was the\ngeneral opinion that ours (the 3rd) were to be in reserve. The number of\nSpaniards, Portuguese, and soldiers' wives in the character of sutlers,\nwas immense, and the neighbourhood, which but a few days before was only\nan empty plain, now presented the appearance of a vast camp. Wretches of\nthe poorest description hovered round us, in hopes of getting a morsel\nof food, or of plundering some dead or wounded soldier: their cadaverous\ncountenances expressed a living picture of the greatest want; and it\nrequired all our precaution to prevent these miscreants from robbing us\nthe instant we turned our backs from our scanty store of baggage or\nprovisions.\nOur bivouac, as may be supposed, presented an animated appearance\u2014groups\nof soldiers cooking in one place; in another, some dozens collected\ntogether, listening to accounts brought from the works by some of their\ncompanions whom curiosity had led thither; others relating their past\nbattles to any of the young soldiers who had not as yet come\nhand-to-hand with a Frenchman; others dancing and singing; officers'\nservants preparing dinner for their masters; and officers themselves,\ndressed in whatever way best suited their taste or convenience, mixed\nwith the men, without any distinguishing mark of uniform to denote their\nrank. The only thing uniform to be discovered amongst a group of between\nfour and five thousand was good conduct and confidence in themselves and\ntheir general.\nIt was now five o\u2019clock in the afternoon, and darkness was approaching\nfast, yet no order had arrived intimating that we were to take a part in\nthe contest about to be decided. We were in this state of suspense when\nour attention was attracted by the sound of music; we all stood up, and\npressed forward to a ridge, a little in our front, and which separated\nus from the cause of our movement, but it would be impossible for me to\nconvey an adequate idea of our feelings when we beheld the 43rd\nRegiment, preceded by their band, going to storm the left breach; they\nwere in the highest spirits, but without the slightest appearance of\nlevity in their demeanour\u2014on the contrary, there was a cast of\ndetermined severity thrown over their countenances that expressed in\nlegible characters that they knew the sort of service they were about to\nperform, and had made up their minds to the issue. They had no\nknapsacks\u2014their firelocks were slung over their shoulders\u2014their\nshirt-collars were open, and there was an indescribable _something_\nabout them that at one and the same moment impressed the lookers-on with\nadmiration and awe. In passing us, each officer and soldier stepped out\nof the ranks for an instant, as he recognised a friend, to press his\nhand\u2014many for the last time; yet, notwithstanding this animating scene,\nthere was no shouting or huzzaing, no boisterous bravadoing, no\nunbecoming language; in short, every one seemed to be impressed with the\nseriousness of the affair entrusted to his charge, and any interchange\nof words was to this effect: \u201cWell, lads, mind what you\u2019re about\nto-night\u201d; or, \u201cWe\u2019ll meet in the town by and by\u201d; and other little\nfamiliar phrases, all expressive of confidence. The regiment at length\npassed us, and we stood gazing after it as long as the rear platoon\ncontinued in sight: the music grew fainter every moment, until at last\nit died away altogether; they had no drums, and there was a melting\nsweetness in the sounds that touched the heart.\nThe first syllable uttered after this scene was, \u201cAnd are we to be left\nbehind?\u201d The interrogatory was scarcely put, when the word \u201cStand to\nyour arms!\u201d answered it. The order was promptly obeyed, and a breathless\nsilence prevailed when our commanding officer, in a few words, announced\nto us that Lord Wellington had directed our division to carry the grand\nbreach. The soldiers listened to the communication with silent\nearnestness, and immediately began to disencumber themselves of their\nknapsacks, which were placed in order by companies and a guard set over\nthem. Each man then began to arrange himself for the combat in such\nmanner as his fancy or the moment would admit of\u2014some by lowering their\ncartridge-boxes, others by turning theirs to the front in order that\nthey might the more conveniently make use of them; others unclasping\ntheir stocks or opening their shirt-collars, and others oiling their\nbayonets; and more taking leave of their wives and children. This last\nwas an affecting sight, but not so much so as might be expected, because\nthe women, from long habit, were accustomed to scenes of danger, and the\norder for their husbands to march against the enemy was in their eyes\ntantamount to a victory; and as the soldier seldom returned without\nplunder of some sort, the painful suspense which his absence caused was\nmade up by the gaiety which his return was certain to be productive of;\nor if, unfortunately, he happened to fall, his place was sure to be\nsupplied by some one of the company to which he belonged, so that the\nwomen of our army had little cause of alarm on this head. The worst that\ncould happen to them was the chance of being in a state of widowhood for\na week.\nIt was by this time half-past six o\u2019clock, the evening was piercingly\ncold, and the frost was crisp on the grass; there was a keenness in the\nair that braced our nerves at least as high as _concert pitch_. We stood\nquietly to our arms, and told our companies off by files, sections, and\nsub-divisions; the sergeants called over the rolls\u2014not a man was absent.\nIt appears it was the wish of General Mackinnon to confer a mark of\ndistinction upon the 88th Regiment, and as it was one of the last acts\nof his life, I shall mention it. He sent for Major Thompson, who\ncommanded the battalion, and told him it was his wish to have the\nforlorn hope of the grand breach led on by a subaltern of the 88th\nRegiment, adding at the same time that, in the event of his surviving,\nhe should be recommended for a company. The Major acknowledged this mark\nof the General\u2019s favour, and left him folding up some letters he had\nbeen writing to his friends in England\u2014this was about twenty minutes\nbefore the attack of the breaches. Major Thompson, having called his\nofficers together, briefly told them the wishes of their General; he was\nabout to proceed, when Lieutenant William Mackie (_then senior\nLieutenant_) immediately stepped forward, and dropping his sword said,\n\u201cMajor Thompson, I am ready for that service.\u201d For once in his life poor\nold Thompson was affected\u2014Mackie was his own townsman, they had fought\ntogether for many years, and when he took hold of his hand and\npronounced the words, \u201cGod bless you, my boy,\u201d his eye filled, his lip\nquivered, and there was a faltering in his voice which was evidently\nperceptible to himself, for he instantly resumed his former composure,\ndrew himself up, and gave the word, \u201cGentlemen, fall in,\u201d and at this\nmoment Generals Picton and Mackinnon, accompanied by their respective\nstaffs, made their appearance amongst us.\nLong harangues are not necessary to British soldiers, and on this\noccasion but few words were made use of. Picton said something animating\nto the different regiments as he passed them, and those of my readers\nwho recollect his deliberate and strong utterance will say with me, that\nhis mode of speaking was indeed very impressive. The address to each was\nnearly the same, but that delivered by him to the 88th was so\ncharacteristic of the General, and so applicable to the men he spoke to,\nthat I shall give it word for word; it was this:\u2014\n\u201cRangers of Connaught! it is not my intention to expend any powder this\nevening. We\u2019ll do this business with the could iron.\u201d\nI before said the soldiers were silent\u2014so they were, but the man who\ncould be silent after such an address, made in such a way, and in such a\nplace, had better have stayed at home. It may be asked what did they do?\nWhy, what would they do, or would any one do, but give the loudest\nhurrah he was able.\nStorm of Ciudad Rodrigo\u2014Gallant conduct of three soldiers of the\n 88th\u2014Desperate struggle and capture of a gun\u2014Combat between\n Lieutenant Faris and the French grenadier\u2014A Connaught Ranger\n transformed into a sweep\u2014Anecdote of Captain Robert Hardyman of the\n 45th\u2014Death of General Mackinnon\u2014Plunder of Ciudad Rodrigo\u2014Excesses\n of the soldiers.\nThe burst of enthusiasm caused by Picton\u2019s address to the Connaught\nRangers had scarcely ceased, when the signal-gun announced that the\nattack was to commence. Generals Picton and Mackinnon dismounted from\ntheir horses, and placing themselves at the head of the right brigade,\nthe troops rapidly entered the trenches by sections right in front; the\nstorming party under the command of Major Russell Manners of the 74th\nheading it, while the forlorn hope, commanded by Lieutenant William\nMackie of the 88th, and composed of twenty volunteers from the Connaught\nRangers, led the van, followed closely by the 45th, 88th, and 74th\nBritish, and the 9th and 21st Portuguese; the 77th and 83rd British,\nbelonging to the left brigade, brought up the rear and completed the\ndispositions.\nWhile these arrangements were effecting opposite the grand breach, the\n5th and 94th, belonging to the left brigade of the 3rd Division, were\ndirected to clear the ramparts and Fausse Braye wall, and the 2nd\nRegiment of Portuguese Ca\u00e7adores, commanded by an Irish colonel of the\nname of O\u2018Toole, was to escalade the curtain to the left of the lesser\nbreach, which was attacked by the Light Division under the command of\nGeneral Robert Craufurd.\nIt wanted ten minutes to seven o\u2019clock when these dispositions were\ncompleted; the moon occasionally, as the clouds which overcast it passed\naway, shed a faint ray of light upon the battlements of the fortress,\nand presented to our view the glittering of the enemy\u2019s bayonets as\ntheir soldiers stood arrayed upon the ramparts and breach, awaiting our\nattack; yet, nevertheless, their batteries were silent, and might\nwarrant the supposition to an unobservant spectator that the defence\nwould be but feeble.\nThe two divisions got clear of the covered way at the same moment, and\neach advanced to the attack of their respective points with the utmost\nregularity. The obstacles which presented themselves to both were nearly\nthe same, but every difficulty, no matter how great, merged into\ninsignificance when placed in the scale of the prize about to be\ncontested. The soldiers were full of ardour, but altogether devoid of\nthat blustering and bravadoing which is truly unworthy of men at such a\nmoment; and it would be difficult to convey an adequate idea of the\nenthusiastic bravery which animated the troops. A cloud that had for\nsome time before obscured the moon, which was at its full, disappeared\naltogether, and the countenances of the soldiers were for the first\ntime, since Picton addressed them, visible\u2014they presented a material\nchange. In place of that joyous animation which his fervid and\nimpressive address called forth, a look of severity, bordering on\nferocity, had taken its place; and although ferocity is by no means one\nof the characteristics of the British soldier, there was, most\nunquestionably, a savage expression in the faces of the men that I had\nnever before witnessed. Such is the difference between the storm of a\nbreach and the fighting a pitched battle.\nOnce clear of the covered way, and fairly on the plain that separated it\nfrom the fortress, the enemy had a full view of all that was passing;\ntheir batteries, charged to the muzzle with case-shot, opened a\nmurderous fire upon the columns as they advanced, but nothing could\nshake the intrepid bravery of the troops. The Light Division soon\ndescended the ditch and gained, although not without a serious struggle,\nthe top of the narrow and difficult breach allotted to them; their\ngallant General, Robert Craufurd, fell at the head of the 43rd, and his\nsecond in command, General Vandeleur, was severely wounded, but there\nwere not wanting others to supply their place; yet these losses, trying\nas they were to the feelings of the soldiers, in no way damped their\nardour, and the brave Light Division carried the left breach at the\npoint of the bayonet. Once established upon the ramparts, they made all\nthe dispositions necessary to ensure their own conquest, as also to\nrender every assistance in their power to the 3rd Division in their\nattack. They cleared the rampart which separated the lesser from the\ngrand breach, and relieved Picton\u2019s division from any anxiety it might\nhave as to its safety on its left flank.\nThe right brigade, consisting of the 45th, 88th, and 74th, forming the\nvan of the 3rd Division, upon reaching the ditch, to its astonishment,\nfound Major Ridge and Colonel Campbell at the head of the 5th and 94th\nmounting the Fausse Braye wall. These two regiments, after having\nperformed their task of silencing the fire of the French troops upon the\nramparts, with a noble emulation resolved to precede their comrades in\nthe attack of the grand breach. Both parties greeted each other with a\ncheer, only to be understood by those who have been placed in a similar\nsituation; yet the enemy were in no way daunted by the shout raised by\nour soldiers\u2014they crowded the breach, and defended it with a bravery\nthat would have made any but troops accustomed to conquer, waver. But\nthe \u201cfighting division\u201d were not the men to be easily turned from their\npurpose; the breach was speedily mounted, yet, nevertheless, a serious\naffray took place ere it was gained. A considerable mass of infantry\ncrowned its summit, while in the rear and at each side were stationed\nmen, so placed that they could render every assistance to their comrades\nat the breach without any great risk to themselves; besides this, two\nguns of heavy calibre, separated from the breach by a ditch of\nconsiderable depth and width, enfiladed it, and as soon as the French\ninfantry were forced from the summit, these guns opened their fire on\nour troops.\nThe head of the column had scarcely gained the top, when a discharge of\ngrape cleared the ranks of the three leading battalions, and caused a\nmomentary wavering; at the same instant a frightful explosion near the\ngun to the left of the breach, which shook the bastion to its\nfoundation, completed the disorder. Mackinnon, at the head of his\nbrigade, was blown into the air. His aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Beresford\nof the 88th, shared the same fate, and every man on the breach at the\nmoment of the explosion perished. This was unavoidable, because those of\nthe advance, being either killed or wounded, were necessarily flung back\nupon the troops that followed close upon their footsteps, and there was\nnot a sufficient space for the men who were ready to sustain those\nplaced _hors de combat_ to rally. For an instant all was confusion; the\nblaze of light caused by the explosion resembled a huge meteor, and\npresented to our sight the havoc which the enemy\u2019s fire had caused in\nour ranks; while from afar the astonished Spaniard viewed for an\ninstant, with horror and dismay, the soldiers of the two nations\ngrappling with each other on the top of the rugged breach which trembled\nbeneath their feet, while the fire of the French artillery played upon\nour columns with irresistible fury, sweeping from the spot the living\nand the dead. Amongst the latter was Captain Robert Hardyman and\nLieutenant Pearse of the 45th, and many more whose names I cannot\nrecollect. Others were so stunned by the shock, or wounded by the stones\nwhich were hurled forth by the explosion, that they were insensible to\ntheir situation; of this number I was one, for being close to the\nmagazine when it blew up, I was quite overpowered, and I owed my life to\nthe Sergeant-Major of my regiment, Thorp, who saved me from being\ntrampled to death by our soldiers in their advance, ere I could recover\nstrength sufficient to move forward or protect myself.\nThe French, animated by this accidental success, hastened once more to\nthe breach which they had abandoned, but the leading regiments of\nPicton\u2019s division, which had been disorganised for the moment by the\nexplosion, rallied, and soon regained its summit, when another discharge\nfrom the two flank guns swept away the foremost of those battalions.\nThere was at this time but one officer alive upon the breach (Major\nThomson, of the 74th, acting engineer); he called out to those next to\nhim to seize the gun to the left, which had been so fatal to his\ncompanions\u2014but this was a desperate service. The gun was completely cut\noff from the breach by a deep trench, and soldiers, encumbered with\ntheir firelocks, could not pass it in sufficient time to anticipate the\nnext discharge\u2014yet to deliberate was certain death. The French\ncannoniers, five in number, stood to, and served their gun with as much\n_sang froid_ as if on a parade, and the light which their torches threw\nforth showed to our men the peril they would have to encounter if they\ndared to attack a gun so defended; but this was of no avail. Men going\nto storm a breach generally make up their minds that there is no great\nprobability of their ever returning from it to tell their adventures to\ntheir friends; and whether they die at the bottom or top of it, or at\nthe muzzle, or upon the breech of a cannon, is to them pretty nearly the\nsame!\nThe first who reached the top, after the last discharge, were three of\nthe 88th. Sergeant Pat Brazil\u2014the brave Brazil of the Grenadier company,\nwho saved his captain\u2019s life at Busaco\u2014called out to his two companions,\nSwan and Kelly, to unscrew their bayonets and follow him; the three men\npassed the trench in a moment, and engaged the French cannoniers hand to\nhand; a terrific but short combat was the consequence. Swan was the\nfirst, and was met by the two gunners on the right of the gun, but, no\nway daunted, he engaged them, and plunged his bayonet into the breast of\none; he was about to repeat the blow upon the other, but before he could\ndisentangle the weapon from his bleeding adversary, the second Frenchman\nclosed upon him, and by a _coup de sabre_ severed his left arm from his\nbody a little above the elbow; he fell from the shock, and was on the\neve of being massacred, when Kelly, after having scrambled under the\ngun, rushed onward to succour his comrade. He bayoneted two Frenchmen on\nthe spot, and at this instant Brazil came up; three of the five gunners\nlay lifeless, while Swan, resting against an ammunition chest, was\nbleeding to death. It was now equal numbers, two against two, but Brazil\nin his over-anxiety to engage was near losing his life at the onset; in\nmaking a lunge at the man next to him, his foot slipped upon the bloody\nplatform, and he fell forward against his antagonist, but as both rolled\nunder the gun, Brazil felt the socket of his bayonet strike hard against\nthe buttons of the Frenchman\u2019s coat. The remaining gunner, in attempting\nto escape under the carriage from Kelly, was killed by some soldiers of\nthe 5th, who just now reached the top of the breach, and seeing the\nserious dispute at the gun, pressed forward to the assistance of the\nthree men of the Connaught Rangers.\nWhile this was taking place on the left, the head of the column\nremounted the breach, and regardless of the cries of their wounded\ncompanions, whom they indiscriminately trampled to death, pressed\nforward in one irregular but heroic mass, and putting every man to death\nwho opposed their progress, forced the enemy from the ramparts at the\nbayonet\u2019s point. Yet the garrison still rallied, and defended the\nseveral streets with the most unflinching bravery; nor was it until the\nmusketry of the Light Division was heard in the direction of the Plaza\nMayor, that they gave up the contest! but from this moment all regular\nresistance ceased, and they fled in disorder to the Citadel. There were,\nnevertheless, several minor combats in the streets, and in many\ninstances the inhabitants fired from the windows, but whether their\nefforts were directed against us or the French is a point that I do not\nfeel myself competent to decide; be this as it may, many lives were lost\non both sides by this circumstance, for the Spaniards, firing without\nmuch attention to regularity, killed or wounded indiscriminately all who\ncame within their range.\nDuring a contest of such a nature, kept up in the night, as may be\nsupposed, much was of necessity left to the guidance of the subordinate\nofficers, if not to the soldiers themselves. Each affray in the streets\nwas conducted in the best manner the moment would admit of, and decided\nmore by personal valour than discipline, and in some instances officers\nas well as privates had to combat with the imperial troops. In one of\nthese encounters Lieutenant George Faris, of the 88th, by an accident so\nlikely to occur in an affair of this kind, separated a little too far\nfrom a dozen or so of his regiment, and found himself opposed to a\nFrench soldier who, apparently, was similarly placed. It was a curious\ncoincidence, and it would seem as if each felt that he individually was\nthe representative of the country to which he belonged; and had the fate\nof the two nations hung upon the issue of the combat I am about to\ndescribe, it could not have been more heroically contested. The\nFrenchman fired at and wounded Faris in the thigh, and made a desperate\npush with his bayonet at his body, but Faris parried the thrust, and the\nbayonet only lodged in his leg. He saw at a glance the peril of his\nsituation, and that nothing short of a miracle could save him; the odds\nagainst him were too great, and if he continued a scientific fight he\nmust inevitably be vanquished. He sprang forward, and, seizing hold of\nthe Frenchman by the collar, a struggle of a most nervous kind took\nplace; in their mutual efforts to gain an advantage they lost their\ncaps, and as they were men of nearly equal strength, it was doubtful\nwhat the issue would be. They were so entangled with each other their\nweapons were of no avail, but Faris at length disengaged himself from\nthe grasp which held him, and he was able to use his sabre; he pushed\nthe Frenchman from him, and ere he could recover himself he laid his\nhead open nearly to the chin. His sword-blade, a heavy, soft, ill-made\nPortuguese one, was doubled up with the force of the blow, and retained\nsome pieces of the skull and clotted hair! At this moment I reached the\nspot with about twenty men, composed of different regiments, all being\nby this time mixed _pell mell_ with each other. I ran up to Faris\u2014he was\nnearly exhausted, but he was safe. The French grenadier lay upon the\npavement, while Faris, though tottering from fatigue, held his sword\nfirmly in his grasp, and it was crimson to the hilt. The appearance of\nthe two combatants was frightful!\u2014one lying dead on the ground, the\nother faint from agitation and loss of blood; but the soldiers loudly\napplauded him, and the feeling uppermost with them was, that our man had\nthe best of it! It was a shocking sight, but it would be rather a\nhazardous experiment to begin moralising at such a moment and in such a\nplace.\nThose of the garrison who escaped death were made prisoners, and the\nnecessary guards being placed, and everything secured, the troops not\nselected for duty commenced a very diligent search for those articles\nwhich they most fancied, and which they considered themselves entitled\nto by \u201cright of conquest.\u201d I believe on a service such as the present,\nthere is a sort of tacit acknowledgment of this \u201cright\u201d; but be this as\nit may, a good deal of property most indubitably changed owners on the\nnight of the 19th of January 1812. The conduct of the soldiers, too,\nwithin the last hour, had undergone a complete change; before, it was\nall order and regularity, now it was nothing but licentiousness and\nconfusion\u2014subordination was at an end; plunder and blood was the order\nof the day, and many an officer on this night was compelled to show that\nhe carried a sabre.\nThe doors of the houses in a large Spanish town are remarkable for their\nstrength, and resemble those of a prison more than anything else; their\nlocks are of huge dimensions, and it is a most difficult task to force\nthem. The mode adopted by the men of my regiment (the 88th) in this\ndilemma was as effective as it was novel; the muzzles of a couple of\nmuskets were applied to each side of the keyhole, while a third soldier,\nfulfilling the functions of an officer, deliberately gave the word,\n\u201cmake ready\u201d\u2014\u201cpresent\u201d\u2014\u201cfire!\u201d and in an instant the ponderous lock gave\nway before the combined operations of the three individuals, and doors\nthat rarely opened to the knock of a stranger in Rodrigo, now flew off\ntheir hinges to receive the Rangers of Connaught.\nThe chapels and chandlers' houses were the first captured, in both of\nwhich was found a most essential ingredient in the shape of large wax\ncandles; these the soldiers lighted, and commenced their perambulations\nin search of plunder, and the glare of light which they threw across the\nfaces of the men, as they carried them through the streets, displayed\ntheir countenances, which were of that cast that might well terrify the\nunfortunate inhabitants. Many of the soldiers with their faces scorched\nby the explosion of the magazine at the grand breach; others with their\nlips blackened from biting off the ends of their cartridges, more\ncovered with blood, and all looking ferocious, presented a combination\nsufficient to appal the stoutest heart.\nScenes of the greatest outrage now took place, and it was pitiable to\nsee groups of the inhabitants half naked in the streets\u2014the females\nclinging to the officers for protection\u2014while their respective houses\nwere undergoing the strictest scrutiny. Some of the soldiers turned to\nthe wine and spirit houses, where, having drunk sufficiently, they again\nsallied out in quest of more plunder; others got so intoxicated that\nthey lay in a helpless state in different parts of the town, and lost\nwhat they had previously gained, either by the hands of any passing\nSpaniard, who could venture unobserved to stoop down, or by those of\ntheir own companions, who in their wandering surveys happened to\nrecognise a comrade lying with half a dozen silk gowns, or some such\nthing, wrapped about him. Others wished to attack the different stores,\nand as there is something marvellously attractive in the very name of a\nbrandy one, it is not to be wondered at that many of our heroes turned\nnot only their thoughts, but their steps also, in the direction in which\nthese houses lay; and from the unsparing hand with which they supplied\nthemselves, it might be imagined they intended to change their habits of\nlife and turn spirit-venders, and that too in the wholesale line!\nIt was astonishing to see with what rapidity and accuracy these fellows\ntraversed the different parts of the town, and found out the shops and\nstorehouses. A stranger would have supposed they were natives of the\nplace, and it was not until the following morning that I discovered the\ncause of what was to me before incomprehensible.\nIn all military movements in a country which an army is not thoroughly\nacquainted with, (and why not in a large town?) there are no more useful\nappendages than good guides. Lord Wellington was most particular on this\npoint, and had attached to his army a corps of this description. I\nsuppose it was this knowledge of tactics which suggested to the soldiers\nthe necessity of so wise a precaution; accordingly, every group of\nindividuals was preceded by a Spaniard, who, upon learning the species\nof plunder wished for by his employers, instantly conducted them to the\nmost favourable ground for their operations. By this means the houses\nwere unfurnished with less confusion than can be supposed; and had it\nnot been for the state of intoxication that some of the young\nsoldiers\u2014mere tyros in the art of sacking a town\u2014had indulged themselves\nin, it is inconceivable with what facility the city of Ciudad Rodrigo\nwould have been eased of its superfluities. And the _conducteur_ himself\nwas not always an idle spectator. Many of these fellows realised\nsomething considerable from their more wealthy neighbours, and being\nalso right well paid by the soldiers, who were liberal enough, they\nfound themselves in the morning in far better circumstances than they\nhad been the preceding night, so that all things considered, there were\nabout as many cheerful faces as sad ones. But although the inhabitants\nwere, by this sort of transfer, put more on an equality with each other,\nthe town itself was greatly impoverished. Many things of value were\ndestroyed, but in the hurry so natural to the occasion, many also\nescaped; besides, our men were as yet young hands in the arcana of\nplundering a town in that _au fait_ manner with which a French army\nwould have done a business of the sort: but they most unquestionably\nmade up for their want of tact by the great inclination they showed to\nprofit by any occasion that offered itself for their improvement.\nBy some mistake, a large spirit store situated in the Plaza Mayor took\nfire, and the flames spreading with incredible fury, despite of the\nexertions of the troops, the building was totally destroyed; but in this\ninstance, like many others which we are obliged to struggle against\nthrough life, there was a something that neutralised the disappointment\nwhich the loss of so much brandy occasioned the soldiers: the light\nwhich shone forth from the building was of material service to them,\ninasmuch as it tended to facilitate their movements in their excursions\nfor plunder; the heat also was far from disagreeable, for the night was\npiercingly cold, yet, nevertheless, the soldiers exerted themselves to\nthe utmost to put a stop to this calamity. General Picton was to be seen\nin the midst of them, encouraging them by his example and presence to\nmake still greater efforts; but all would not do, and floor after floor\nfell in, until at last it was nothing but a burning heap of ruins.\nSome houses were altogether saved from plunder by the interference of\nthe officers, for in several instances the women ran out into the\nstreets, and seizing hold of three or four of us, would force us away to\ntheir houses, and by this stroke of political hospitality saved their\nproperty. A good supper was then provided, and while all outside was\nnoise and pillage, affairs within went on agreeably enough. These\ninstances were, however, but few.\nIn the house where I and four other officers remained, we fared\nremarkably well, and were passing the night greatly to our satisfaction,\nwhen we were aroused by a noise like a crash of something heavy falling\nin the apartment above us. As may be supposed, we did not remain long\nwithout seeking to ascertain the cause of this disturbance; the whole\nparty sprang up at once\u2014the family of the house secreting themselves\nbehind the different pieces of furniture, while we, _sabre \u00e0 la main_,\nand some with lights, advanced towards the apartment from whence the\nnoise proceeded; but all was silent within. Captain Seton of my corps\nproposed that the door should be forced, but he had scarcely pronounced\nthe words, when a voice from within called out, not in Spanish or\nFrench, but in plain English, with a rich Irish brogue, \u201cOh, Jasus, is\nit you, Captain?\u201d On entering we found a man of the Connaught Rangers,\nbelonging to Seton\u2019s company, standing before us, so disfigured by soot\nand filth that it was impossible to recognise his uniform, much less his\nface\u2014his voice was the only thing recognisable about him, and that only\nto his Captain; and had it not been for that, he might have passed for\none just arrived from the infernal regions, and it may be questioned\nwhether or not the place he had quitted might not be so denominated. It\nappeared, from the account he gave of himself, that he had been upon a\nplundering excursion in one of the adjoining houses, the roof of which,\nlike most of those in Rodrigo, was flat; and wishing to have a distinct\nview of all that was passing in the streets, he took up his position\nupon the top of the house he had entered, and not paying due attention\nto where he put his foot, he contrived to get it into the chimney of the\nhouse we occupied, and, ere he could resume his centre of gravity, he\ntumbled headlong down the chimney and caused us all the uneasiness I\nhave been describing. His _tout ensemble_ was as extraordinary as his\nadventure. He had eighteen or twenty pairs of shoes round his waist, and\namongst other things a case of trepanning instruments, which he\nimmediately offered as a present to his Captain! Had the grate of this\nfireplace been what is called in England the \u201cRumford grate,\u201d this poor\nfellow must have been irretrievably lost to the service, because it is\nmanifest, encumbered as he was, he would have stuck fast, and must\ninevitably have been suffocated before assistance could be afforded him;\nbut, fortunately for him, the chimney was of sufficient dimensions to\nadmit an elephant to pass down it, and, in truth, one not so constructed\nwould have been altogether too confined for him.\nMorning at length began to dawn, and with it the horrors of the previous\nnight\u2019s assault were visible. The troops not on guard were directed to\nquit the town, but this was not a command they obeyed with the same\ncheerfulness or expedition which they evinced when ordered to enter it;\nin their eyes it had many attractions still, and, besides, the soldiers\nhad become so unwieldy from the immense burdens they carried, it was\nscarcely possible for many of them to stir, much less march. However, by\ndegrees the evacuation of the fortress took place, and towards noon it\nwas effected altogether.\nThe breaches presented a horrid spectacle. The one forced by the Light\nDivision was narrower than the other, and the dead, lying in a smaller\ncompass, looked more numerous than they really were. I walked along the\nramparts towards the grand breach, and was examining the effects our\nfire had produced on the different defences and the buildings in their\nimmediate vicinity, but I had not proceeded far when I was shocked at\nbeholding about a hundred and thirty or forty wounded Frenchmen, lying\nunder one of the bastions and some short distance up a narrow street\nadjoining it. I descended, and learned that these men had been\nperforming some particular duty in the magazine which blew up and killed\nGeneral Mackinnon and so many of the 3rd Division. These miserable\nbeings were so burnt that I fear, notwithstanding the considerate\nattention which was paid to them by our medical officers, none of their\nlives were preserved. Their uniforms were barely distinguishable, and\ntheir swollen heads and limbs gave them a gigantic appearance that was\ntruly terrific; added to this, the gunpowder had so blackened their\nfaces that they looked more like a number of huge negroes than soldiers\nof an European army. Many of our men hastened to the spot, and with that\ncompassion which truly brave men always feel, rendered them every\nassistance in their power; some were carried on doors, others in\nblankets, to the hospitals, and these poor creatures showed by their\ngestures, for they could not articulate, how truly they appreciated our\ntender care of them.\nAt length I reached the grand breach\u2014it was covered with many officers\nand soldiers; of the former, amongst others, was my old friend Hardyman\nof the 45th, and Lieutenant William Pearse of the same regiment; there\nwere also two of the 5th whose names I forget, and others whose faces\nwere familiar to me. Hardyman, the once cheerful, gay Bob Hardyman, lay\non his back; half of his head was carried away by one of those\ndischarges of grape from the flank guns at the breach which were so\ndestructive to us in our advance; his face was perfect, and even in\ndeath presented its wonted cheerfulness. Poor fellow! he died without\npain, and regretted by all who knew him; his gaiety of spirit never for\nan instant forsook him. Up to the moment of the assault he was the same\npleasant Bob Hardyman who delighted every one by his anecdotes, and none\nmore than my old corps, although many of his jokes were at our expense.\nWhen we were within a short distance of the breach, as we met, he\nstopped for an instant to shake hands. \u201cWhat\u2019s that you have hanging\nover your shoulder?\u201d said he, as he espied a canteen of rum which I\ncarried. \u201cA little rum, Bob,\u201d said I. \u201cWell,\u201d he replied, \u201cI\u2019ll change\nmy breath; and take my word for it, that in less than five minutes some\nof the 'subs' will be scratching a Captain\u2019s \u2014\u2014, for there will be wigs\non the green.\u201d He took a mouthful of rum, and taking me by the hand\nsqueezed it affectionately, and in ten minutes afterwards he was a\ncorpse!\nThe appearance of Pearse was quite different from his companion; ten or\na dozen grape-shot pierced his breast, and he lay, or rather sat, beside\nhis friend like one asleep, and his appearance was that of a man upwards\nof sixty, though his years did not number twenty-five. Hardyman was\nstripped to his trousers, but Pearse had his uniform on; his epaulettes\nalone had been plundered. I did not see the body of General Mackinnon,\nbut the place where he fell was easily distinguishable; the vast chasm\nwhich the spot presented resembled an excavation in the midst of a\nquarry. The limbs of those who lost their lives by that fatal explosion,\nthrown here and there, presented a melancholy picture of the remnants of\nthose brave men whose hearts but a few short hours before beat high in\nthe hope of conquest. It was that kind of scene which arrested the\nattention of the soldier, and riveted him to the spot; and there were\nfew who, even in the moment of exultation, did not feel deeply as they\nsurveyed the mangled remains of their comrades.\nI next turned to the captured gun, so chivalrously taken by the three\nmen of the 88th. The five cannoniers lying across the carriage, or\nbetween the spokes of the wheels, showed how bravely they had defended\nit; yet they lay like men whose death had not been caused by violence;\nthey were naked and bloodless, and the puncture of the bayonet left so\nsmall a mark over their hearts, it was discernible only to those who\nexamined the bodies closely.\nI turned away from the breach, and scrambled over its rugged face, and\nthe dead which covered it. On reaching the bivouac we had occupied the\npreceding evening, I learned, with surprise, that our women had been\nengaged in a contest, if not as dangerous as ours, at least one of no\ntrivial sort. The men left as a guard over the baggage, on hearing the\nfirst shot at the trenches, could not withstand the inclination they\nfelt to join their companions; and although this act was creditable to\nthe bravery of the individuals that composed the baggage-guard, it was\nnigh being fatal to those who survived, or, at least, to such as had\nanything to lose except their lives, for the wretches that infested our\ncamp attempted to plunder it of all that it possessed, but the women,\nwith a bravery that would not have disgraced those of ancient Rome,\ndefended the post with such valour that those miscreants were obliged to\ndesist, and our baggage was saved in consequence.\nWe were about to resume our arms when General Picton approached us. Some\nof the soldiers, who were more than usually elevated in spirits, on his\npassing them, called out, \u201cWell, General, we gave you a cheer last\nnight; it\u2019s your turn now!\u201d The General, smiling, took off his hat, and\nsaid, \u201cHere, then, you drunken set of brave rascals, hurrah! well soon\nbe at Badajoz!\u201d A shout of confidence followed; we slung our firelocks,\nthe bands played, and we commenced our march for the village of Atalaya\nin the highest spirits, and in a short time lost sight of a place the\ncapture of which appeared to us like a dream.\nResults of the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo\u2014The town revisited\u2014Capture of\n deserters\u2014Sale of the plunder\u2014Army rests in cantonments\u2014An execution\n of deserters\u2014A pardon that came too late.\nThe fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo fell on the eleventh day after its\ninvestment; and taking into account the season of the year, the\ndifficulty of the means to carry on the operations, and the masterly\nmanner in which Lord Wellington baffled the vigilance of the Duke of\nRagusa, the capture of Rodrigo must ever rank as one of the most\nfinished military exploits upon record, and a _chef d'\u0153uvre_ of the\nart of war. Our loss was equal to that of the enemy; it amounted to\nabout one thousand _hors de combat_, together with three generals; of\nthe garrison but seventeen hundred were made prisoners, the rest being\nput to the sword.\nSo soon as my regiment reached the village, I obtained leave to return\nto Rodrigo, for I was anxious to see in what situation the family were\nwith whom I, in common with my companions, had passed the preceding\nnight. Upon entering the town, I found all in confusion. The troops\nordered to occupy it were not any of those which had composed the\nstorming divisions; and although the task of digging graves, and\nclearing away the rubbish about the breaches, was not an agreeable one,\nthey nevertheless performed it with much cheerfulness; yet, in some\ninstances, the soldiers levied contributions upon the unfortunate\ninhabitants,\u2014light ones it is true, and for the reason that little\nremained with them to give, or, more properly speaking, withhold. But\nthe Provost-Marshal was so active in his vocation that this calamity was\nsoon put a stop to, and the miserable people, who were in many instances\nin a state of nudity, could without risk venture to send to their more\nfortunate neighbours for a supply of those articles of dress which\ndecency required. Upon reaching the house I had rested in the evening\nbefore, I was rejoiced to find it uninjured, and the poor people, upon\nonce more seeing me, almost suffocated me with their caresses, and their\nexpressions of gratitude knew no bounds for our having preserved their\nhouse from pillage.\nHaving satisfied myself that my _padrona_ and her daughters had escaped\nmolestation, I took my leave of them, and once more visited the large\nbreach. On my way thither I saw the French garrison preparing to march,\nunder an escort of Portuguese troops, to the fortress of Almeida; they\nwere a fine-looking body of men, and seemed right well pleased to get\noff so quietly; they counted about eighteen hundred, and were all that\nescaped unhurt of the garrison. At the breach there were still several\nwounded men, who had not been removed to the hospitals; amongst them was\na fellow of my own corps, of the name of Doogan; he was badly wounded in\nthe thigh, the bone of which was so shattered as to protrude through the\nskin. Near him lay a French soldier, shot through the body, quite\nfrantic from pain, and in the agonies of death. The moment Doogan\nobserved me, he called out most lustily, \u201cOch! for the love of Jasus,\nMr. Grattan, don\u2019t lave me here near this villain that\u2019s afther cursing\nme to no end.\u201d I observed to Doogan that the poor fellow was in a much\nworse state than even himself, and that I doubted whether he would be\nalive in five minutes. At this moment the eyes of the Frenchman met\nmine, \u201c_Oh! monsieur_,\u201d exclaimed he, \u201c_je meurs pour une goutte d\u2019eau!\nOh, mon Dieu! mon Dieu!_\u201d\u2014\u201cNow,\u201d ejaculated Doogan, addressing me, \u201cwill\nyou believe me (that never tould a lie in my life!) another time? Did\nyou hear him, then, how he got on with his _mon dew_?\u201d I caused Doogan\nto be carried to an hospital, but the French soldier died as we\nendeavoured to place him in a blanket.\nI quitted the breach, and took a parting glance at the town; the smell\nfrom the still burning houses, the groups of dead and wounded, and the\nbroken fragments of different weapons, marked strongly the character of\nthe preceding night\u2019s dispute; and even at this late hour, there were\nmany drunken marauders endeavouring to regain, by some fresh act of\natrocity, an equivalent for the plunder their brutal state of\nintoxication had caused them to lose by the hands of their own\ncompanions, who robbed indiscriminately man, woman, or child, friend or\nfoe, the dead or the dying! Then, again, were to be seen groups of\ndeserters from our army, who, having taken shelter in Rodrigo during the\nwinter, were now either dragged from their hiding-places by their\nmerciless comrades, or given up by the Spaniards, in whose houses they\nhad sought shelter, to the first officer or soldier who would be\ntroubled, at the moment, with the responsibility of taking charge of\nthem.\nIn the midst of a group of a dozen men, deserters from different\nregiments, stood two of the Connaught Rangers. No matter what their\nother faults might be, desertion was not a species of delinquency they\nwere addicted to; and as the fate of one of these men\u2014indeed both of\nthem, for that matter\u2014was a little tragical, I purpose giving it a nook\nin my adventures. The two culprits to whom I have made allusion were as\ndifferent in their characters as persons; one of them (Mangin) was a\nquiet well-disposed man, short in stature, a native of England, and, as\na matter of course, a heavy feeder, one that could but ill put up with\n\u201cshort allowance,\u201d and in consequence left the army when food became as\nscarce as it did in the winter of 1811. The other, a fellow of the name\nof Curtis, an Irishman, tall and lank, was, like the rest of the \u201cboys\u201d\nfrom that part of the world, mighty aisy about what he ate, provided he\ngot a reasonable supply of drink; but as neither the one nor the other\nwere \u201cconvenient\u201d during the period in question, they both left an\nadvanced post one fine night, and resolved to try the difference between\nthe French commissariat and ours. This was their justification of\nthemselves to me, and I believe, for I was not present at it, the\n_summum bonum_ upon which the basis of their defence at their trial\nrested. There were also six Germans of the 60th Rifles in the group, but\nthey seemed so unnerved by their unexpected capture that they were\nunable to say anything for themselves.\nTowards evening I reached the village which my regiment occupied. An\naltered scene presented itself. The soldiers busied in arranging their\ndifferent articles of plunder; many of them clad in the robes of some\npriest, while others wore gowns of the most costly silk or velvet;\nothers, again, nearly naked; some without pantaloons, having been\nplundered, while drunk, of so essential a part of their dress; but all,\nor almost all, were occupied in laying out for sale their different\narticles of plunder, in that order which was essential to their being\ndisposed of to the crowds of Spaniards which had already assembled to be\nthe purchasers; and if one could judge by their looks, they most\nunquestionably committed a breach in their creed by \u201ccoveting their\nneighbours' goods.\u201d And had the scene which now presented itself to our\nsight been one caused by an event the most joyous, much less by the\ncalamity that had befallen the unfortunate inhabitants of Rodrigo, to\nsay nothing of the human blood that had been spilt ere that event had\ntaken place, the scene could not have been more gay. Brawny-shouldered\nCastilians, carrying pig-skins of wine on their backs, which they sold\nto our soldiers for a trifling sum; bolero-dancers, rattling their\ncastanets like the clappers of so many mills; our fellows drinking like\nfishes, while their less fortunate companions at Rodrigo\u2014either hastily\nflung into an ill-formed grave, writhing under the knife of the surgeon,\nor in the agonies of death\u2014were unthought of, or unfelt for. _Sic\ntransit gloria mundi!_ The soldiers were allowed three days _cong\u00e9_ for\nthe disposal of their booty; but long before the time had expired, they\nhad scarcely a rag to dispose of, or a _real_ of the produce in their\npockets.\nA few days sufficed for the reorganisation of the soldiers after they\nhad disposed of their hard-earned plunder, and we were once more ready\nand willing for any fresh enterprise, no matter how difficult or\ndangerous. Badajoz was talked of, but nothing certain was known, and the\nquiet which reigned throughout all our cantonments was such as not to\nwarrant the least suspicion that any immediate attack against that\nfortress was contemplated by the Commander-in-Chief.\nOn the sixth day after our arrival at Atalaya, we were again in motion;\nthe village of Albergaria was allotted for our quarters, and a\ncourt-martial was ordered to assemble for the trial of the deserters\nfrom our army found in Rodrigo. The men of the 60th, and the two men of\nthe 88th (Mangin and Curtis) were amongst the number. The court held its\nsitting\u2014the prisoners were arraigned, found guilty, and sentenced to be\nshot! All were bad characters, save one, and that one was Mangin. He\nreceived testimonials from the Captain of his company (Captain\nSeton\u2014ever the soldier\u2019s friend) highly creditable to him, and Lord\nWellington, with his accustomed love of justice, resolved that his\npardon should be promulgated at the time of the reading the proceedings\nand sentence of the court-martial. Three days after the trial it was\nmade known to the prisoners, and the army generally, that they were to\ndie the following morning.\nAt eight o\u2019clock the division was under arms, and formed in a hollow\nsquare of small dimensions; in the centre of it was the Provost-Marshal,\naccompanied by his followers, with pick-axes, spades, shovels, and all\nthe necessary etceteras for marking out and forming the graves into\nwhich the unfortunate delinquents were to be deposited as soon as they\nreceived the last and most imposing of military honours\u2014that of being\nshot to death! In a few moments afterwards the rolling of muffled\ndrums\u2014the usual accompaniment of the death-march\u2014was heard, and the\nsoldiers who guarded the prisoners were soon in sight. The division\nobserved a death-like silence as the prisoners defiled round the inside\nof the square; every eye was turned towards them; but Mangin, from his\nwell-known good character, was an object of general solicitude. The\nsolitary sound of the muffled drums at last died away into silence; the\nguard drew up in the centre of the square, and the prisoners had, for\nthe last time, a view of their companions from whom they had deserted,\nand of their colours which they had forsaken; but if their countenances\nwere a just index of their minds, they seemed to repent greatly the act\nthey had committed! The three men of the 60th were in their shirts, as\nwas also Mangin of the 88th, but Curtis wore the \u201cold red rag,\u201d most\nlikely from necessity, having, in all human probability, _no shirt to\ndie in_\u2014a circumstance by no means rare with the soldiers of the\nPeninsular army.\nThe necessary preliminaries, such as reading the crime and finding the\nsentence, had finished, when the Adjutant-General announced the pardon\ngranted to Mangin, who was immediately conducted away, and placed at a\nshort distance in rear of the division; the rest staggered onward to the\nspot where their graves had been dug, and having been placed on their\nknees, their legs hanging over the edge of the grave, a bandage was tied\nover their eyes. The Provost-Marshal then, with a party of twenty\nmusketeers, their firelocks cocked, and at the recover, silently moved\nin front of the prisoners until he reached to within five paces of them,\nand then giving two motions of his hand\u2014the one to present, the other to\nfire\u2014the four men fell into the pit prepared to receive them. The three\nGermans were dead\u2014indeed they were nearly so before they were fired at!\nand if the state of their nerves was a criterion to go by, a\nmoderate-sized popgun would have been sufficiently destructive to have\nfinished their earthly career; but Curtis sprang up, and, with one of\nhis jaws shattered and hanging down upon his breast, presented a horrid\nspectacle. Every one seemed to be electrified, the Provost-Marshal\nexcepted; he, I suppose, was well accustomed to such sights, for,\nwithout any ceremony, he walked up to Curtis, and with the most perfect\ncomposure levelled a huge instrument (in size between a horse-pistol and\nblunderbuss) at his head, which blew it nearly off his shoulders, and he\nfell upon the bodies of the Germans without moving a muscle.\nThis ceremony over, the division defiled round the grave, and as each\ncompany passed it the word \u201ceyes right\u201d was given by the officer in\ncommand, by which means every man had a clear view of the corpses as\nthey lay in a heap. This is a good and wholesome practice, for nothing\nso much awakes in the mind of the soldier, endowed with proper feeling,\nthe dishonour of committing an action which is almost certain to bring\nhim to a disgraceful end, while it deters the bad man from doing that\nwhich will cost him all that he has to lose\u2014for such persons have no\ncharacter\u2014his life. It was ten o\u2019clock before the parade broke up, and\nwe returned to our quarters, leaving to the Provost-Marshal and his\nguard the task of filling up the grave. Several Portuguese peasants\ncrowded near the fatal spot, and so soon as all danger was passed, they\nflocked to witness the interment, making, all the time, divers appeals\nto the Virgin Mary; but whether these were intended for the preservation\nof the souls departed, or their own bodies corporate, I neither knew nor\ninquired.\nMangin, the man who had received his pardon, was still in a state of\nstupor. After the lapse of an hour or so his Captain went to see him;\nbut the shock he had received was too severe; he had not nerve to bear\nup against it; he replied in an incoherent manner, soon fell asleep, and\nawoke an idiot! Every effort that could be made by the medical men, and\nevery assurance of favour from his Captain, proved vain\u2014he became a\npalpable, irreclaimable idiot, and shortly afterwards died of\nconvulsions.\nPreparations against Badajoz\u2014Description of this fortress\u2014Its\n investment\u2014Line of circumvallation formed in the night\u2014Sortie of the\n garrison repulsed\u2014Destructive fire of the besieged\u2014Dreadful\n explosion from a shell\u2014Indifference\u2014Deaths of Captain Mulcaster,\n Majors Thompson and North.\nRodrigo having fallen, it was soon rumoured that we were to move off to\nthe south, to assault Badajoz. The soldiers were full of ardour; they\nanxiously counted the hours as they passed; and when at length, on the\n8th of March, the order arrived for the advance of the army to the\nAlemtejo, their joy was indescribable. Badajoz had ever been looked upon\nby them as unfriendly to our troops, and they contemplated with delight\nthe prospect of having it in their power to retaliate upon the\ninhabitants their treatment of our men. On the 9th, the army was in\nmovement; the Light Division opened the march, followed by the 3rd and\n4th; they crossed the Tagus by a bridge of boats, thrown over that river\nat Villa Velha, and pressed rapidly forward towards Elvas. One division\nof infantry and a brigade of cavalry remained on the Agueda. On the\n14th, the Light and 3rd Divisions were concentrated in the neighbourhood\nof Elvas; they were joined by the 4th Division on the following day,\nwhile the remainder of the army, under Hill and Graham, were pushed\nforward to Llerena, Merida, and Almendralejo, to observe the motions of\nSoult, who by this time was informed of the preparations, though not to\ntheir full extent, that had been formed against Badajoz.\nOn the 16th of March, everything being in readiness, a pontoon bridge\nwas thrown across the Guadiana; fifteen thousand men broke up from their\nbivouac at Elvas, and advanced towards the river; the enemy disputed the\nground, and here\u2014even here, with only a handful of cavalry opposed to\nus\u2014the French horsemen had actually the best of it, and kept us at bay\nduring a march of three hours. At length we gained the river\u2019s edge,\npassed the bridge, drove back the enemy\u2019s outposts, and completed the\ninvestment. The following day, the 17th, Lord Wellington, accompanied by\nhis engineers, carefully reconnoitred the place. The point of attack\nwhich his lordship decided upon, notwithstanding the advantages which\nwere on the side of the enemy, was quite at variance with that of the\npreceding year, so it must be naturally presumed that the former was\nfound to be faulty. Then the outworks were by no means so formidable as\nnow on the side about to be assailed, while on the San Christoval side,\nthe scene of the former attack, little progress had been made towards\nits amelioration.\nThe evening of the 17th of March had scarcely closed when three thousand\nmen broke ground before the fort of La Picurina, at the distance of one\nhundred and fifty yards. The night was unusually dark, the wind was\nhigh, and the rain fell in torrents\u2014all of which favoured the\nenterprise. The soldiers, accustomed to fatigues, and knowing by\nexperience, if for nothing but their own safety, the necessity of\ngetting on rapidly with their work, exerted themselves to their utmost,\nand when the grey dawn of morning made its appearance, the enemy beheld\nwith surprise, through the mist that surrounded them, the first parallel\nof our works completed, without their having anticipated it, or having\nthrown one shot in the direction of our workmen; but as the fog cleared\naway, it was too palpable to be misunderstood that, despite of the\nsagacity of General Count Phillipon and his devoted garrison, a line of\ncircumvallation had been cut close to one of the best of their outworks,\nwithout their having the remotest idea of the attempt. The different\nalarm-bells in the town rang a loud peal, and in less than half an hour\na tremendous cannonade was opened upon us from the guns of the fort as\nwell as the town itself. Some men were killed and several wounded, but\nexcepting this, no loss was sustained; the works were uninjured, their\nprogress unimpeded, and this, our first attempt, for the third time, was\ncrowned with that unlooked-for success which was a good omen for the\nfuture.\nThe entire of the 18th the rain continued to fall, and the trenches were\nalready nearly knee-deep with water, but by the great exertions of the\nengineers, and the persevering resolution of the soldiers, the works\nwere pushed on with extraordinary vigour, the earth not being as yet\nsufficiently saturated to lose its consistency. On the night of the 18th\nit rained still more heavily; nevertheless some guns were dragged\nthrough the slough by the soldiers, into the batteries marked out to act\nagainst La Picurina, and the following morning the works were in that\nforward state as to cause the French Governor much alarm for the fate of\nthis outwork. Towards mid-day on the 19th, a dense vapour, issuing from\nthe Guadiana and Rivillas, caused by the heavy rains that had fallen,\nmade Phillipon consider the moment a favourable one to make a rush into\nour works; he accordingly placed two thousand chosen troops at the\ndifferent gates and sally-ports with fixed bayonets, ready to storm the\nbatteries at a given signal. At this time our soldiers were working in\nthe trenches, nearly up to their hips in water; the covering party were\ntoo distant to afford immediate relief if required to do so, because\nthey were kept out of the wet ground as far as was consistent with the\nsafety of our lines; and the soldiers that composed the working party\nwere in a helpless and defenceless state, their arms and appointments\nbeing thrown aside.\nI happened to be in the works on this day, and having a little more\nexperience than the officer who commanded the party, I observed with\ndistrust the bustle which was apparent, not only in the fort of\nPicurina, but also along the ramparts of the town. Without waiting the\nformality of telling the commanding officer what I thought, I, on the\ninstant, ordered the men to throw by their spades and shovels, put on\ntheir appointments, and load their firelocks. This did not occupy more\nthan three minutes, and in a few seconds afterwards the entire trenches\nto our right were filled with Frenchmen, the workmen massacred, and the\nworks materially damaged; while at the same moment several hundred men\nattempted to throw themselves into the battery we occupied. But the\nworkmen were armed and ready to receive them; they had just been\nplaced\u2014I must say it, for it is the truth\u2014by me in a posture not only to\nsave their own lives, but the battery also. The Frenchmen advanced with\nthat impetuous burst so well known to those who have witnessed it, and\nso difficult to stand before by any. They had a double motive to urge\nthem on on this occasion: honour had a forcible auxiliary in the shape\nof a dollar, which they were to receive for every pick-axe or shovel\nthey carried out of our trenches; and, well as I know the French\ncharacter, it is difficult for me to say which of the two, honour or\navarice, most predominated upon the present occasion; I shall only say\nthat it is my firm conviction\u2014and I judge from the spirit of the\nattack\u2014that both had their share in stimulating those heroic and veteran\nplunderers to seek for a footing within our trenches, for I never saw a\nset of fellows that sought with greater avidity than they did the spades\nand shovels that were thrown aside by our men. Lieutenant D\u2018Arcy of the\n88th and Lieutenant White of the 45th pursued them almost to the glacis\nof the town; and had the movement been foreseen, there can be little\nhazard in saying that, with a sufficient supply of ladders at the\nmoment, the fort of Picurina could have been carried by the workmen\nalone, so great was their enthusiasm, with a less loss of lives than it\ncost us (after six days' labour) on the 25th!\n[Illustration: PLAN OF SIEGE OF BADAJOZ. March 16-April 6, 1812.]\nThe sortie had been well repulsed at this point, but higher up, on the\nright, we were not so fortunate; the workmen were surprised, and, in\naddition to the injury inflicted upon the works, a great loss of men and\nofficers was sustained before the covering party reached the spot.\nGeneral Picton soon after arrived in the battery where I was stationed,\nand seemed to be much alarmed for its safety, not knowing in the\nconfusion of the moment, which was great, that the enemy had attacked\nit, and had been driven back; but when he learned from me that the\nworkmen alone had achieved this act, he was lavish in his praise of\nthem, and spoke to myself in flattering terms\u2014for him; but there was an\nausterity of demeanour which, even while he gave praise\u2014a thing he\nseldom did to the Connaught Rangers at least!\u2014kept a fast hold of him,\nand the caustic sententiousness with which he spoke rather chilled than\nanimated. He was on foot, but his aide-de-camp, Captain Cuthbert of the\nFusiliers, was mounted, and while in the act of giving directions to\nsome of the troops (for by this time the whole of the besieging force,\nattracted by the cannonade, was in motion towards the works) he was\nstruck in the hip by a round shot, which killed his horse on the spot,\nleaving him dreadfully mangled and bleeding to death. This officer was a\nserious loss to Picton, and was much regretted by the division; he\npossessed all the requisites for a staff-officer, without that silly\narrogance\u2014the sure sign of an empty mind, as well as head\u2014which we\nsometimes meet with amongst the gentlemen who compose the _\u00e9tat major_\nof our army.\nWe lost in this affair about two hundred men, many of whom were cut down\nin the works, and several in the depots far in the rear, by a body of\nthe enemy\u2019s light cavalry that galloped out of the town at the moment\nthe sortie commenced. Absurd as this may read, it is nevertheless true:\nthe garrison of Badajoz, cooped up within its walls, without a foot of\nground that they could call their own beyond the glacis, and, in a\nmanner, begirt by an army of fifteen thousand men, were\u2014by their\nadmirable arrangement of their forces, or by the superlative neglect of\nour people, enabled to ride through our lines\u2014unopposed by a single\ndragoon!\u2014from right to left! Brilliant, however, as was this exploit, it\nwas of no such service to the garrison; their loss exceeded four hundred\nmen, and the capture of a few dozen spades and shovels but ill repaid\nthem for so great a sacrifice of lives, at any time valuable, but in\ntheir present position doubly so.\nThe sortie being at length repulsed, and order once more restored, the\nworks in the trenches were continued under a torrent of rain and fire of\nartillery. Lieutenant White of the 45th, who had been much distinguished\nin the batteries, was struck by a shell (without a fuse) on the head,\nwhich killed him on the spot; he was reading a book at the moment, and\nLieutenant Cotton of the 88th, who was sitting beside him, was so\ncovered with his blood, that it was thought at first he had been\nfrightfully wounded.\nUp to this time the fall of rain had been so violent as to threaten the\ntotal failure of the operation; it had never ceased since the 17th, and\nthe trenches were a perfect river. The soldiers were working up to their\nknees in water, and the fatigue and hardships they endured were great\nindeed, but there was no complaint\u2014not even a murmur to be heard! The\nnext day, the 22nd, the pontoon bridge over the Guadiana was carried\naway by the floods which the late rains had caused in the river, and the\nstream became so rapid that the flying bridges could not be made use of,\nand, in short, all supplies from the other side were cut off. In the\ntrenches matters were in as bad a state, for the earth no longer\nretained its consistency, and it was impossible to get it into any\nshape. On the 24th, however, the weather happily settled fine, and much\nprogress was made towards forwarding the works; but this and the\nfollowing day were perhaps two of the most dreadful recorded in the\nannals of sieges. The soldiers laboured with a degree of hardihood\nbordering on desperation, while the engineers braved every danger with\nas much composure as if they either set no value upon their lives, or\nthought their bodies impregnable to shot or shell. In proportion as our\nworks advanced, the enemy redoubled his fire, and the attempt made by us\nto drag the heavy guns through the mud, or to form magazines for the\ngunpowder, was almost certain death; but not content with the\ndestruction which his fire carried throughout our ranks, Phillipon\nbrought to his aid a battery from San Christoval, which he placed close\nto the edge of the river; the fire of this battery completely enfiladed\nour works, and rendered it difficult and hazardous for the workmen to\nkeep their ground.\nHalf a battalion was ordered down to the water\u2019s edge, and the effect of\ntheir fire against these guns was soon appreciated by the soldiers in\nthe batteries; the cannonade of the enemy lost its effect, their fire\nbecame irregular, their shot passed over our heads, and finally they\nwere compelled to limber up their park of artillery, and retrace their\nsteps, at a gallop, up the Christoval height. Nevertheless, this battery\ndid an incalculable hurt to us; many men were struck down by its fire,\nbut, above all, our engineers suffered the most. This was a loss that\ncould be but ill spared, for we were so scantily supplied with this\ndescription of force, that it was found necessary to substitute officers\nof the infantry to act as such during the siege. These officers were\nvery zealous in the performance of the dangerous duties they had to\nfulfil: some had a tolerable knowledge of the theory, but none, if I\nexcept Major Thomson of the 74th, and one or two that had served at\nRodrigo, knew anything of the practical part; they strove, however, by\ngreat intrepidity, to make up for their other defects; they exposed\nthemselves to every danger, with a bravery bordering on foolhardihood,\nand consequently, under such a fire as we were exposed to, scarcely one\nescaped death. Lieutenant Fairclough of the 5th, and Rammage of the\n74th, both acting engineers, were cut asunder by a round shot from the\nSan Christoval battery; others, whose names I forget, shared the same\nfate, and several were wounded.\nTowards three o\u2019clock in the afternoon our works had been materially\nadvanced, several small magazines were in progress, the batteries\ndestined to act against La Picurina were armed, and the losses which we\nsustained amongst our engineers repaired by the arrival of others to\nreplace their fallen companions. It was at this time, while I was\nseriously occupied with thirty men, in covering with boards and\nsand-bags a magazine which had been, with great labour, formed during\nthe forenoon, that a shell of huge dimensions exploded at the entrance\nof it. There were, at the moment, above a dozen or so of the Staff Corps\nand Engineers, with some of the line, placing a quantity of gunpowder in\nthe vault which had been prepared to receive it. The roof of the\nmagazine was, in defiance of the dreadful fire which was incessant upon\nthis point, crowned by a few soldiers of the party under my command;\nsome kegs of gunpowder, which were at the entrance of the cave,\nunfortunately blew up, destroying all at that side of the magazine, and\nhurling the planks which were but in part secured upon its top, together\nwith the men that were upon them, into the air: it caused us great loss\nof lives and labour, but fortunately the great store of powder which was\ninside escaped. The planks were shivered to pieces, and the brave\nfellows who occupied them either blown into atoms, or so dreadfully\nwounded as to cause their immediate death; some had their uniforms\nburned to a cinder, while others were coiled up in a heap, without the\nvestige of anything left to denote that they were human beings.\nAn 88th soldier, of the name of Cooney, barber to the company he\nbelonged to, escaped the effects of the explosion unhurt, except a\nslight scratch in the face, caused by a splinter from a rock that had\nbeen rent in pieces by the blowing up of the magazine; he was an old and\nugly man, but yet so vain of his personal appearance as to be nearly in\ndespair at the idea, as he said, \u201cof his good looks being spoiled.\u201d\nWhile he was in the midst of his lamentation, a round shot struck his\nhead and carried it off. In his coat pocket was found his soap and\nrazor, which were instantly drawn lots for, but to whose \u201clot\u201d they fell\nI know not.\nThe French cannoniers were loud in cheering when they discovered the\neffects of their fire upon Cooney\u2019s sconce; our men cheered in turn, and\ncontinued to crown the top of the already half-dismantled magazine, but\nas fast as they mounted it, they were swept off its face by the\noverwhelming fire from the town; yet notwithstanding the great loss of\nlives that had already taken place, and the almost certain death which\nawaited all who attempted to remain on the magazine, it was never for\nfive minutes unoccupied, and by four o\u2019clock in the afternoon it might\nbe said to be perfectly finished. Baffled in his endeavours to stop our\nprogress, Phillipon was determined to make it cost us as dear as he\ncould. Twelve additional guns were brought from the unemployed batteries\nand placed along the curtain _en barbette_. These, at half-range\ndistance, without the means on our side to reply to them, were fired\nwith a fearful precision; it was next to impossible to stand under it,\nbut the soldiers, on this day, surpassed all their former efforts. The\nfire of threescore pieces of artillery was employed in vain against\nthem; the works were repaired so soon as injured, and everything\nwarranted the opinion that, should the night prove fine, our batteries\nwould open the following day.\nCaptain Mulcaster, of the Engineers, by his heroic conduct, stimulated\nthe soldiers wonderfully; no danger could unnerve him, or prevent his\nexposing himself to the hottest of the French fire, and for a time he\nescaped unhurt, but at length, while standing on a rising ground, in\nfront of the battery No. 1, a twenty-four pound shot struck him in the\nneck, and carried away his head and part of his back and shoulders. The\nheadless trunk was knocked several yards from the spot, but was speedily\ncarried to the engineer camp by some of the brave men who, but a few\nshort moments before, looked upon what was now an inanimate lump of\nclay, with that admiration naturally inspired by one of the finest as\nwell as the most intrepid young men in the army; for he had endeared\nhimself to the soldiers as much by his kind manner to them as by his\ntotal disregard of danger to himself. It is well known that infantry\nsoldiers had a great dislike to being placed under the control of the\nengineer officers, who exacted, or at least they thought so, too much\nfrom them; but Captain Mulcaster had a manner, peculiar to himself, that\ngained him the goodwill of all.\nMajor Thompson of the 88th soon after fell. He was observing a party of\nthe enemy who were rowing a _bateau_ across the inundation of the\nRivillas with a reinforcement of men intended to succour the troops that\noccupied the ravelin of San Roque. This operation, although embracing\nbut a small portion of the garrison, was one of a very delicate nature,\ninasmuch as the distance between our works and the inundation was so\nshort as to enable us to command with musketry its entire span; but the\nGovernor, ever ready in strategy, provided against even this chance of\nhis plans for defence being marred. He caused to be constructed a large\n_bateau_, or, perhaps, more properly speaking, a raft. The side of it\nwhich faced our lines was raised by light poles to the height of four\nfeet, through which were intertwined wattles of osier; by this means, a\nsupport sufficiently strong, without being too cumbrous to impede the\nmovement of the raft, was completed, and the inside was carefully padded\nwith hay, or such light matter; it made a sufficient defence against\nmusketry without any danger of the machine\u2019s losing its centre of\ngravity. To stop as much as possible this operation, several hundred\nriflemen were placed in advance, and so soon as the machine was\ndiscovered in motion on the water, a heavy fire was opened; a\ncorresponding demonstration was made by the enemy, sustained by several\nbatteries, and those mutual efforts were always productive of a heavy\nloss of lives on both sides, but particularly on ours, because the\nenemy\u2019s line of musketry commanded us at a distance of three hundred and\nfifty yards, and up to this time we had not one gun to answer their\npowerful salvos.\nMajor Thompson, who was in command of the riflemen, was in conversation\nwith an aide-de-camp belonging to the staff of Marshal Beresford at the\nmoment he fell; a musket ball struck him in the right temple, and\npassing through the brain, killed him on the spot. He had been but just\n_gazetted_ to his majority, by purchase, and had served with the army\nfrom the campaign in Holland in 1794 to the moment of his death, without\never having been absent from his regiment in any of the battles in which\nit had been engaged, a few of which have been recorded by me. Captain\nSeton, an officer of precisely the same standing and services, succeeded\nhim in the command of the 88th, and led his regiment up the ladders on\nthe night of the storming of Badajoz, but he gained no promotion, except\nin his regular turn! and he was the _only_ commanding officer of a\nbattalion in the 3rd Division that did not get a brevet step.\nTowards evening the fire against La Picurina was so effective that Lord\nWellington resolved to storm it after dark.\nState of the enemy\u2019s fort La Picurina from our fire\u2014Attempt to storm\n it\u2014Desperate defence of the garrison\u2014It is carried by\n assault\u2014Preparations for the grand attack\u2014Frightful difficulties of\n the enterprise\u2014The attack and defence\u2014Slaughter of the\n besiegers\u2014Badajoz taken.\nAt about three o\u2019clock in the afternoon of the 25th of March, almost all\nthe batteries on the front of La Picurina were disorganised, its\npalisades beaten down, and the fort itself, having more the semblance of\na wreck than a fortification of any pretensions, presented to the eye\nnothing but a heap of ruins. But never was there a more fallacious\nappearance: the work, although dismantled of its cannon, its parapets\ncrumbling to pieces at each successive discharge from our guns, and its\ngarrison diminished, without a chance of being succoured, was still much\nmore formidable than appeared to the eye of a superficial observer. It\nhad yet many means of resistance at its disposal. The gorge, protected\nby three rows of palisades, was still unhurt; and although several feet\nof the scarp had been thrown down by the fire from our battering-park,\nit was, notwithstanding, of a height sufficient to inspire its garrison\nwith a well-grounded confidence as to the result of any effort of ours\nagainst it; it was defended by three hundred of the _\u00e9lite_ of\nPhillipon\u2019s force, under the command of a colonel of Soult\u2019s staff,\nnamed Gaspard Thiery, who volunteered his services on the occasion. On\nthis day a deserter came over to us from the fort, and gave an exact\naccount of how it was circumstanced.\nColonel Fletcher, the chief engineer, having carefully examined the\ndamage created by our fire, disregarding the perfect state of many of\nthe defences, and being well aware that expedition was of paramount\nimport to our final success, advised that the fort should be attacked\nafter nightfall.\nAt half-past seven o\u2019clock the storming party, consisting of fifteen\nofficers and five hundred privates, stood to their arms. General Kempt,\nwho commanded in the trenches, explained to them the duty they had to\nperform; he did so in his usual clear manner, and every one knew the\npart he was to fulfil. All now waited with anxiety for the expected\nsignal, which was to be the fire of one gun from No. 4 battery. The\nevening was settled and calm; no rain had fallen since the 23rd; the\nrustling of a leaf might be heard; and the silence of the moment was\nuninterrupted, except by the French sentinels, as they challenged while\npacing the battlements of the outwork; the answers of their comrades,\nalthough in a lower tone of voice, were distinguishable\u2014\u201c_Tout va bien\ndans le fort de la Pleuvina_\u201d was heard by the very men who only awaited\nthe signal from a gun to prove that the _r\u00e9ponse_, although true to the\nletter, might soon be falsified.\nThe great cathedral bell of the city at length tolled the hour of eight,\nand its last sounds had scarcely died away when the signal from the\nbattery summoned the men to their perilous task; the three detachments\nsprang out of the works at the same moment, and ran forwards to the\nglacis, but the great noise which the evolution unavoidably created gave\nwarning to the enemy, already on the alert, and a violent fire of\nmusketry opened upon the assailing columns. One hundred men fell before\nthey reached the outwork; but the rest, undismayed by the loss, and\nunshaken in their purpose, threw themselves into the ditch, or against\nthe palisades at the gorge. The sappers, armed with axes and crow-bars,\nattempted to cut away or force down this defence; but the palisades were\nof such thickness, and so firmly placed in the ground, that before any\nimpression could be made against even the front row, nearly all the men\nwho had crowded to this point were struck dead. Meanwhile, those in\ncharge of the ladders flung them into the ditch, and those below soon\nplaced them upright against the wall; but in some instances they were\nnot of a sufficient length to reach the top of the parapet. The time was\npassing rapidly, and had been awfully occupied by the enemy; while as\nyet our troops had not made any progress that could warrant a hope of\nsuccess. More than two-thirds of the officers and privates were killed\nor wounded; two out of the three that commanded detachments had fallen;\nand Major Shawe, of the 74th, was the only one unhurt. All his ladders\nwere too short; his men, either in the ditch or on the glacis, unable to\nadvance, unwilling to retire, and not knowing what to do, became\nbewildered. The French cheered vehemently, and each discharge swept away\nmany officers and privates.\nShawe\u2019s situation, which had always been one of peril, now became\ndesperate; he called out to his next senior officer (Captain Oates of\nthe 88th) and said, \u201cOates, what are we to do?\u201d but at the instant he\nwas struck in the neck by a bullet, and fell bathed in blood. It\nimmediately occurred to Oates, who now took the command, that although\nthe ladders were too short to mount the wall, they were long enough to\ngo across the ditch! He at once formed the desperate resolution of\nthrowing three of them over the fosse, by which a sort of bridge was\nconstructed; he led the way, followed by the few of his brave soldiers\nwho were unhurt, and, forcing their passage through an embrasure that\nhad been but bolstered up in the hurry of the moment, carried\u2014after a\nbrief, desperate, but decisive conflict\u2014the point allotted to him. Sixty\ngrenadiers of the Italian guard[23] were the first encountered by Oates\nand his party; they supplicated for mercy, but, either by accident or\ndesign, one of them discharged his firelock, and the ball struck Oates\nin the thigh; he fell, and his men, who had before been greatly excited,\nnow became furious when they beheld their commanding officer weltering\nin his blood. Every man of the Italian guard was put to death on the\nspot.\nFootnote 23:\n There were no troops of the Italian guard in this part of Spain,\n though there were some of the \u201c_Velites_\u201d in Catalonia. Italians there\n were, but only men incorporated in ordinary French line regiments.\nMeanwhile Captain Powis\u2019s detachment had made great progress, and\nfinally entered the fort by the salient angle. It has been said, and,\nfor aught I know to the contrary, with truth, that it was the first\nwhich established itself in the outwork; but this is of little import in\nthe detail, or to the reader. All the troops engaged acted with the same\nspirit and devotion, and each vied with his comrade to keep up the\ncharacter of the \u201cfighting division.\u201d Almost the entire of the privates\nand non-commissioned officers were killed or wounded; and of fifteen\nofficers, which constituted the number of those engaged, not one escaped\nunhurt! Of the garrison, but few escaped; the Commandant, and about\neighty, were made prisoners; the rest, in endeavouring to escape under\nthe guns of the fortress, or to shelter themselves in San Roque, were\neither bayoneted or drowned in the Rivillas; but this was not owing to\nany mismanagement on the part of Count Phillipon. He, with that thorough\nknowledge of his duty which marked his conduct throughout the siege,\nhad, early in the business, ordered a body of chosen troops to\n_d\u00e9bouche_ from San Roque, and to hold themselves in readiness to\nsustain the fort; but the movement was foreseen. A strong column, which\nhad been placed in reserve, under the command of Captain Lindsey of the\n88th, met this reinforcement at the moment they were about to sustain\ntheir defeated companions at La Picurina. Not expecting to be thus\nattacked, these troops became panic-struck, soon fled in disorder, and,\nrunning without heed in every direction, choked up the only passage of\nescape that was open for the fugitives from the outwork, and, by a\nwell-meant but ill-executed evolution, did more harm than good.\nSo soon as the result of this last effort to succour the fort was\napparent to Phillipon, he caused a violent cannonade to be opened\nagainst it, but it was not of long duration; and our engineers,\nprofiting by the quiet which reigned throughout the enemy\u2019s batteries,\npushed forward the second parallel with great success. A corps of\nsappers, under my command, were charged with the work of dismantling the\nfort, and before day we had nearly completed its destruction.\nThus terminated the siege and storming of La Picurina, after a lapse of\neight nights and nine days of unprecedented labour and peril. It might\nbe said that its capture opened to us the gates of Badajoz, or at all\nevents put the key of that fortress into our hands; it nevertheless cost\nus some trouble before we could make use of the key so gained. Never,\nfrom the commencement of the war until its termination, was there a more\ngallant exploit than the storming of this outwork.\nOn the 30th of March two breaching-batteries, armed with twenty-six guns\nof heavy calibre, and of the very best description, opened their fire to\nbatter down the face of the two bastions of Santa Maria and the\nTrinidad; and, notwithstanding every effort which the powerful resources\nof the enemy enabled him to command, it was abundantly manifest that a\nfew days would suffice to finish the labours of the army before Badajoz.\nThe breaching-batteries, which opened their fire on the 30th, were\neffective beyond our expectations against the works, and the sappers had\nmade considerable progress towards completing a good covered way for the\ntroops to _d\u00e9bouche_ from in their attack of the breaches. On the 25th\nthirty-two sappers were placed under my command, but on the night of the\n4th of April their numbers were reduced to seven. I lost some of the\nbravest men I ever commanded; but, considering the perils they\nencountered, it is only surprising how any escaped. We were frequently\nobliged to run the flying-sap so close to the battlements of the town\nthat the noise of the pick-axes was heard on the ramparts, and, upon\nsuch occasions, the party were almost invariably cut off to a man. But\nit was then that the courage of the brave fellows under my orders showed\nitself superior to any reverse, and what was wanted in force was made up\nby the most heroic bravery of individuals. There were three men of my\nown regiment, Williamson, Bray, and Macgowan, and I feel happy in being\nable to mention the names of those heroes. When a fire, so destructive\nas to sweep away all our gabions, took place, those men would run\nforward with a fresh supply, and, under a fire in which it was almost\nimpossible to live, place them in order for the rest of the party to\nshelter themselves, while they threw up a sufficiency of earth to render\nthem proof against musketry. This dangerous duty was carried on for\neleven successive nights, that is to say, from the 25th of March to the\n5th of April.\nOn this day the batteries of the enemy were nearly crippled, and their\nreplies to our fire scarcely audible; the spirits of the soldiers, which\nno fatigue could damp, rose to a frightful height\u2014I say frightful,\nbecause it was not of that sort which alone denoted exultation at the\nprospect of their achieving an exploit which was about to hold them up\nto the admiration of the world; there was a certain _something_ in their\nbearing that told plainly that they had suffered fatigues, which they\ndid not complain of, and had seen their comrades and officers slain\nwhile fighting beside them without repining, but that they smarted under\nthe one, and felt acutely for the other; they smothered both, so long as\ntheir minds and bodies were employed; now, however, that they had a\nmomentary license to _think_, every fine feeling vanished, and plunder\nand revenge took their place. Their labours, up to this period, although\nunremitting, and carried on with a cheerfulness that was astonishing,\nhardly promised the success which they looked for; and the change which\nthe last twenty-four hours had wrought in their favour, caused a\nmaterial alteration in their demeanour; they hailed the present prospect\nas the mariner does the disappearance of a heavy cloud after a storm,\nwhich discovers to his view the clear horizon. In a word, the capture of\nBadajoz had long been their idol. Many causes led to this wish on their\npart; the two previous unsuccessful sieges, and the failure of the\nattack against San Christoval in the latter; but, above all, the\nwell-known hostility of its inhabitants to the British army, and perhaps\nmight be added a desire for plunder, which the sacking of Rodrigo had\ngiven them a taste for. Badajoz was, therefore, denounced as a place to\nbe made an example of; and, most unquestionably, no city, Jerusalem\nexcepted, was ever more strictly visited to the letter than was this\nill-fated town.\nThe demeanour of the soldiers on this evening faithfully exemplified\nwhat I have just written: a quiet but desperate calm had taken the place\nof that gayness and buoyancy of spirits which they possessed so short a\ntime before, and nothing now was observable in their manner but a\ntiger-like expression of anxiety to seize upon their prey, which they\nconsidered as already within their grasp.\nTowards five o\u2019clock in the afternoon all doubts were at an end, in\nconsequence of some officers arriving in the camp from the trenches:\nthey reported that Lord Wellington had decided upon breaching the\ncurtain that connected the bastions of La Trinidad and Santa Maria, and\nas this operation would necessarily occupy several hours' fire, it was\nimpossible that the assault could take place before the following day,\nthe 6th, and the inactivity that reigned in the engineer camp, which\ncontained the scaling-ladders, was corroborative of the intelligence.\nFor once I saw the men dejected; yet it was not the dejection of fear,\nbut of disappointment. Some of the most impetuous broke out into violent\nand unbecoming language; others abused the engineers; and many threw the\nblame of the delay upon the generals who commanded in the trenches; but\nall, even the most turbulent, admitted that the delay must be necessary\nto our success, or Lord Wellington would not allow it.\nThe night at length passed over, and the dawn of morning ushered in a\nday pregnant with events that will be recorded in our history as amongst\nthe most brilliant that grace its annals. The batteries against the\ncurtain soon reduced it to a heap of ruins; and the certainty that the\ntrial would be made the same evening re-established good-humour amongst\nthe soldiers. It was known, early in the day, that the breaches were\nallotted to the Light and 4th Divisions; to the 5th, the task of\nescalading the town on the side of the St. Vincent bastion; and to\nPicton, with his invincible 3rd, to carry the castle by escalading its\nstupendous walls, upwards of thirty feet high. The Portuguese brigade,\nunder General Power, were to divert the enemy\u2019s attention on the side of\nSan Christoval; while three hundred men, taken from the guard in the\ntrenches, were to carry the outwork of San Roque.\nTo ensure the success of an enterprise upon which so much was at stake,\ntwenty thousand men were to be brought into action as I have described;\nby five o\u2019clock all the ladders were portioned out to those destined to\nmount them. The time fixed for the assemblage of the troops was eight;\nthat for the attack ten. The day passed over heavily, and hour after\nhour was counted, each succeeding one seeming to double the length of\nthe one that preceded it; but, true as the needle to the pole, the\nlong-expected moment arrived, and the clear but deep note of the town\nclock was now heard throughout our lines, as it tolled the hour of\neight, and ere its last vibration had ceased the vast mass of assailants\nwere in battle array. A thick and dusky vapour, issuing from the\nGuadiana and Rivillas, hung above the heads of the hostile forces, and\nhid alike, by its heavy veil, each from the view of its opponent; the\nbatteries on both sides were silent, as if they reserved their efforts\nfor the approaching struggle; and, except the gentle noise which the\nrippling of the Guadiana created, or the croaking of the countless frogs\nthat filled the marshes on each side of its banks, everything was as\nstill as if the night was to be one of quiet repose; and a passing\nstranger, unacquainted with the previous events, might easily have\nsupposed that our army were no otherwise occupied than in the ordinary\nroutine of an evening parade; but Phillipon, profiting by this\ncessation, retrenched and barricaded the breaches in a manner hereafter\nto be described.\nSo soon as each division had formed on its ground in open column of\ncompanies, the arms were piled, and the officers and soldiers either\nwalked about in groups of five or six together, or sat down under an\nolive-tree to observe, at their ease, the arrangements of the different\nbrigades which were to take a part in the contest. Then, again, might be\nseen some writing to their friends\u2014a hasty scroll, no doubt, and, in my\nopinion, an ill-timed one. It is a bad time, at the moment of entering a\nbreach, to write to a man\u2019s father or mother, much less his wife, to\ntell them so; and, besides, it has an unseasonable appearance in the\neyes of the soldiers, who are decidedly the most competent judges of\nwhat their officers should be, or, at least, what _they_ would _wish_\nthem to be, which is tantamount, at such a crisis.\nThere is a solemnity of feeling which accompanies the expectation of\nevery great event in our lives, and the man who can be altogether dead\nto such feeling is little, if anything, better than a brute. The present\nmoment was one that was well calculated to fill every bosom throughout\nthe army; for, mixed with expectation, hope, and suspense, it was\nrendered still more touching to the heart by the music of some of the\nregiments, which played at the head of each battalion as the soldiers\nsauntered about to beguile the last hour many of them were destined to\nlive. The band of my corps, the 88th, all Irish, played several airs\nwhich exclusively belong to their country, and it is impossible to\ndescribe the effect it had upon us all; such an air as \u201cSavourneen\nDeelish\u201d is sufficient, at any time, to inspire a feeling of melancholy,\nbut on an occasion like the present it acted powerfully on the feelings\nof the men: they thought of their distant homes, of their friends, and\nof bygone days. It was Easter Sunday, and the contrast which their\npresent position presented to what it would have been were they in their\nnative land afforded ample food for the occupation of their minds; but\nthey were not allowed time for much longer reflection. The approach of\nGeneral Kempt, accompanied by his staff, was the signal for the\nformation of the column of attack; and almost immediately the men were\nordered to stand to their arms. Little, if any, directions were given;\nindeed, they were unnecessary, because the men, from long service, were\nso conversant with the duty they had to perform, that it would have been\nbut a waste of words and time to say what was required of them.\nAll was now in readiness. It was twenty-five minutes past nine; the\nsoldiers, unencumbered with their knapsacks\u2014their stocks off\u2014their\nshirt-collars unbuttoned\u2014their trousers tucked up to the knee\u2014their\ntattered jackets, so worn out as to render the regiment they belonged to\nbarely recognisable\u2014their huge whiskers and bronzed faces, which several\nhard-fought campaigns had changed from their natural hue\u2014but, above all,\ntheir self-confidence, devoid of boast or bravado, gave them the\nappearance of what they in reality were\u2014an invincible host.\nThe division now moved forward in one solid mass\u2014the 45th leading,\nfollowed closely by the 88th and 74th; the brigade of Portuguese,\nconsisting of the 9th and 21st Regiments of the line, under Colonel de\nChamplemond, were next; while the 5th, 77th, 83rd, and 94th, under\nColonel Campbell, brought up the rear. Their advance was undisturbed\nuntil they reached the Rivillas; but at this spot some fire-balls, which\nthe enemy threw out, caused a great light, and the 3rd Division, four\nthousand strong, was to be seen from the ramparts of the castle. The\nsoldiers, finding they were discovered, raised a shout of defiance,\nwhich was responded to by the garrison, and in a moment afterwards every\ngun that could be brought to bear against them was in action; but, no\nway daunted by the havoc made in his ranks, Picton, who just then joined\nhis soldiers, forded the Rivillas, knee-deep, and soon gained the foot\nof the castle wall, and here he saw the work that was cut out for him,\nfor he no longer fought in darkness. The vast quantity of combustible\nmatter which out-topped this stupendous defence was in a blaze, and the\nflames which issued forth on every side lighted not only the ramparts\nand the ditch, but the plain that intervened between them and the\nRivillas. A host of veterans crowned the wall, all armed in a manner as\nimposing as novel; each man had beside him eight loaded firelocks; while\nat intervals, and proportionably distributed, were pikes of an enormous\nlength, with crooks attached to them, for the purpose of grappling with\nthe ladders. The top of the wall was covered with rocks of ponderous\nsize, only requiring a slight push to hurl them upon the heads of our\nsoldiers, and there was a sufficiency of hand-grenades and small shells\nat the disposal of the men that defended this point to have destroyed\nthe entire of the besieging army; while on the flanks of each curtain,\nbatteries, charged to the muzzle with grape and case shot, either swept\naway entire sections or disorganised the ladders as they were about to\nbe placed, and an incessant storm of musketry, at the distance of\nfifteen yards, completed the resources the enemy brought into play,\nwhich, as may be seen, were of vast formidableness.\nTo oppose this mass of warriors and heterogeneous congregation of\nmissiles Picton had nothing to depend upon for success but his tried and\ninvincible old soldiers\u2014he relied firmly upon their devoted courage, and\nhe was not disappointed. The terrible aspect of the rugged wall, thirty\nfeet in height, in no way intimidated them; and, under a frightful fire\nof small arms and artillery, the ponderous ladders were dragged into the\nditch and, with a degree of hardihood that augured well for the issue,\nwere planted against the lofty battlements that domineered above his\nsoldiers' heads: but this was only the commencement of one of the most\nterrific struggles recorded during this hard-fought night. Each ladder,\nso soon as placed upright, was speedily mounted and crowded from the top\nround to the bottom one; but those who escaped the pike-thrusts were\nshattered to atoms by the heavy cross-fire from the bastions, and the\nsoldiers who occupied them, impaled upon the bayonets of their comrades\nin the ditch, died at the foot of those ladders which they had carried\nsuch a distance and with so much labour.\nAn hour had now passed over. No impression had been made upon the\ncastle, and the affair began to have a very doubtful appearance, for\nalready well nigh half of the 3rd Division had been cut off. General\nKempt, commanding the right brigade, fell wounded, early in the night;\nand the 88th Regiment alone, the strongest in the division, lost more\nthan half their officers and men, while the other regiments were\nscarcely in a better condition. Picton, seeing the frightful situation\nin which he was placed, became uneasy; but the goodwill with which his\nbrave companions exposed and laid down their lives reassured him; he\ncalled out to his men\u2014told them they had never been defeated, and that\nnow was the moment to conquer or die. Picton, although not loved by his\nsoldiers, was respected by them; and his appeal, as well as his unshaken\nfront, did wonders in changing the desperate state of the division.\nMajor Ridge of the 5th, by his personal exertions, caused two ladders to\nbe placed upright, and he himself led the way to the top of one, while\nCanch, a Grenadier officer of the 5th, mounted the other. A few men at\nlast got footing on the top of the wall; at the same time Lieutenant\nWilliam Mackie of the 88th\u2014he who led the forlorn hope at Rodrigo\n(unnoticed!\u2014still a lieutenant!!)\u2014and Mr. Richard Martin (son of the\nmember for Galway, who acted as a volunteer with the 88th during the\nsiege) succeeding in mounting another. Mackie\u2014ever foremost in the\nfight\u2014soon established his men on the battlements, himself unhurt; but\nMartin fell desperately wounded. A general rush to the ladders now took\nplace, and the dead and wounded that lay in the ditch were\nindiscriminately trampled upon, for humanity was nowhere to be found. A\nfrightful butchery followed this success; and the shouts of our\nsoldiery, mingled with the cries of the Frenchmen, supplicating for\nmercy or in the agonies of death, were heard at a great distance. But\nfew prisoners were made; and the division occupied, with much\nregularity, the different points allotted to each regiment. Meanwhile\nthe ravelin of San Roque was carried by the gorge, by a detachment drawn\nfrom the trenches, under the command of Major Wilson of the 48th; and\nthe engineers were directed to blow up the dam and sluice that caused\nthe inundation of the Rivillas, by which means the passage of that river\nbetween La Picurina and the breaches could be more easily effected. One\nentire regiment of Germans, called the regiment of Hesse Darmstadt, that\ndefended the ravelin were put to death.\nWhile all this was taking place at the castle and San Roque, a fearful\nscene was acting at the breaches. The Light and 4th Divisions, ten\nthousand strong, advanced to the glacis undiscovered\u2014a general silence\npervading the whole, as the spirits of the men settled into that deep\nsobriety which denotes much determination of purpose; but at this spot\ntheir footsteps were heard, and, \u201cperhaps since the invention of\ngunpowder,\u201d[24] its effects were never more powerfully brought into\naction. In a moment the different materials which the enemy had arranged\nin the neighbourhood of the breaches were lighted up\u2014darkness was\nconverted into light\u2014torches blazed along the battlements\u2014and a\nspectator, at a short distance from the walls, could distinguish the\nfeatures of the contending parties. A battery of mortars, doubly loaded\nwith grenades, and a blaze of musketry, unlike anything hitherto\nwitnessed by the oldest soldier, opened a murderous fire against the two\ndivisions; but, unshaken by its effects, they pressed onward and jumped\ninto the ditch. The 4th Division, destined to carry the breach to the\nright, met with a frightful catastrophe at the onset. The leading\nplatoons, consisting of the fusilier brigade,[25] sprang into that part\nof the ditch that had been filled by the inundation of the Rivillas, and\nwere seen no more; but the bubbles that rose on the surface of the water\nwere a terrible assurance of the struggles which those devoted\nsoldiers\u2014the men of Albuera\u2014ineffectually made to extricate themselves\nfrom the deadly grasp of each other, and from so unworthy an end.\nFootnote 24:\n Colonel Jones\u2019s Sieges, i. p. 236.\nFootnote 25:\n 7th, 23rd, and 1st 48th.\nWarned by the fate of their companions, the remainder turned to the\nleft, and following the footsteps of the Light Division, pressed onwards\nin one mingled mass to the breaches of the curtain and La Trinidad.\nArrived here, they encountered a series of obstacles that it was\nimpossible to surmount, and which I find great difficulty in describing.\nPlanks, of a sufficient length and breadth to embrace the entire face of\nthe breaches, studded with spikes a foot long, were to be surmounted ere\nthey reached the top of the breach; yet some there were\u2014the brave\nColonel Macleod, of the 43rd, amongst the number\u2014who succeeded so far,\nbut on gaining the top, _chevaux de frise_, formed of long sword-blades\nfirmly fixed in the trunks of trees of a great size, and chained,\nboom-like, across the breach, were still to be passed; while at each\nside, and behind the _chevaux de frise_, trenches were cut, sufficiently\nextensive for the accommodation of three thousand men, who stood in an\namphitheatrical manner\u2014each tier above the other\u2014and armed with eight\nmuskets each, like their companions at the castle, awaited the attack so\nsoon as the planks on the face, and the _chevaux de frise_ on the top of\nthe breach were surmounted; but they might have waited until doomsday\nfor that event, because it was morally impossible.\nThe vast glare of light caused by the different explosions, and the fire\nof cannon and musketry, gave to the breaches the appearance of a volcano\nvomiting forth fire in the midst of the army: the ground shook\u2014meteors\nshone forth in every direction\u2014and when for a moment the roar of battle\nceased, it was succeeded by cries of agony, or the furious exultation of\nthe imperial soldiers. To stand before such a storm of fire, much less\nendeavour to overcome a barrier so impregnable, required men whose\nminds, as well as frames, were cast in a mould not human; but,\nnevertheless, so it was. The gallant Light and 4th Divisions boldly\nbraved every danger, and with a good will, rarely to be found, prolonged\na struggle, the very failure of which, taking into account the nature of\nthe obstacles opposed to them, and their immense losses, was sufficient\nto immortalise them. At length, after a dreadful sacrifice of lives\u2014all\nthe generals, and most of the colonels, being either killed or\nwounded\u2014they were driven from the breaches, while the Frenchmen,\nsecurely entrenched behind them, might be seen waving their caps in\ntoken of defiance. This was too galling for men who had never known\ndefeat\u2014and they ran back headlong to the attack, and destruction. But\nfor what end? To judge from the past, when their numbers were more\nnumerous, they had failed; they were now reduced to less than half,\nwhile the resources of the enemy were unimpaired, and the prospect\nbefore them was hideous. Again did they attempt to pass this terrible\ngulf of steel and flame\u2014and again were they driven back\u2014cut\ndown\u2014annihilated. Hundreds of brave soldiers lay in piles upon each\nother, weltering in blood, and trodden down by their own companions. The\n43rd left twenty-two officers and three hundred men on the breach; four\ncompanies of the 52nd were blown to atoms by an explosion; and the 95th,\nas indeed every other regiment engaged, suffered in proportion. Our\nbatteries, from whence a clear view of all that was passing could be\ndistinguished, maddened by the havoc at the breaches, poured in a\ntorrent of shot; and, in the excitement of the moment, killed friends as\nwell as foes. Finally, the remnant of the two divisions retired; and,\nwith a valour bordering upon desperation, prepared for a third trial;\nbut the success of Picton\u2019s attack was by this time whispered amongst\nthem, and the evacuation of the breaches soon after confirmed the\nrumour.\nWhile the attack of the castle and breaches was in progress, the 5th\nDivision, under General Leith, maintained a fierce and dangerous\nstruggle on the other side of the city beyond the Pardeleras fort; but\nthe resistance at those points was feeble, as compared with the other\ntwo. In some instances the French troops deserted the walls before they\nwere carried; and it is worthy of remark, that while the 38th Regiment\nwere mounting the ladders, the imperial soldiers were scrambling down\nthem at the reverse side\u2014in many instances treading upon the fingers of\nour own men! The few men of Leith\u2019s division, thus established on the\nramparts, boldly pressed on in the hope of causing a change in favour of\nthe men at the breaches; but the multitude that had fled before this\nhandful of troops became reassured when they beheld the scantiness of\ntheir numbers, and, returning to the fight, forced them up a street\nleading to the ramparts. Leith\u2019s men became panic-struck by this\nunexpected burst, and retraced their steps in confusion; many were\nkilled ere they reached the wall; and some, infected by the contagion of\nthe moment, jumped over the battlements, and were dashed to pieces in\ntheir fall. One, an officer, bearing the flag of his regiment, fearing\nit might be captured, flung himself from the wall, and falling into a\npart of the ditch that was filled with the slime of the river, escaped\nunhurt. At this critical moment General Walker reached the spot with a\nfresh body of troops, and driving back the French with ruinous disorder,\nestablished his men at this point; and from that moment the fate of\nBadajoz was sealed. The enemy fled in every direction towards the bridge\nleading to San Christoval; and the remnant of the ill-fated Light and\n4th Divisions with difficulty entered the town by the breaches, although\nunopposed.\nIt was now half-past two o\u2019clock in the morning, and the fighting had\ncontinued, without cessation, from ten the preceding night. More than\nthree hundred and fifty officers and four thousand men had fallen on our\nside; yet the enemy\u2019s loss was but small in proportion; because, with\nthe exception of the castle, where the 3rd Division got fairly amongst\nthem, the French, with that tact for which they are so remarkable, got\naway the moment they found themselves out-matched.\nShortly after the last attack at the breaches had failed, and long after\nthe castle had been carried (although it was not generally known at the\ntime), I was occupied, with Major Thomson of the 74th (acting engineer),\nin placing some casks of gunpowder under the dam of the Rivillas, in\nfront of San Roque; when, while leaning on his shoulder, I was struck by\na musket-bullet in the left breast; I staggered back, but did not fall,\nand Thomson, bandaging my breast and shoulder with his handkerchief,\ncaused me to be removed inside the ravelin; but the firing continued\nwith such violence upon this point, that it was long before I could\nventure out of it. At length, nearly exhausted from loss of blood, and\nfearing that I might be unable to reach the camp if I delayed much\nlonger, I quitted it, accompanied by two sappers of my own corps (Bray\nand Macgowan), who supported me as I walked towards the trenches. Bray\nwas wounded in the leg while he tried to cover me from the enemy\u2019s fire;\nbut this brave fellow soon recovered, and afterwards greatly\ndistinguished himself in the battle of the Pyrenees, by killing a French\ncolonel at the head of his battalion.\nBy this time the attack of Badajoz was, in effect, finished. Some\nirregular firing was still to be heard as the fugitives hurried from\nstreet to street towards the Roman bridge leading to San Christoval, but\nall resistance might be said to have ceased. An attempt to retake the\ncastle was made in vain; but the brave Colonel Ridge of the 5th, who had\nso distinguished himself, lost his life by almost one of the last shots\nthat was fired in this fruitless effort to recover a place which had\ncost the army the hearts' blood of the 3rd Division; and the dawn of the\nmorning of the 7th of April showed to the rest of the army, like a speck\nin the horizon, the shattered remnant of Picton\u2019s invincible soldiers,\nas they stood in a lone group upon the ramparts of a spot that, by its\nisolated situation, towering height, and vast strength, seemed not to\nappertain to the rest of the fortifications, and which the enemy, with\ntheir entire disposable force, were unable to take from the few brave\nmen who now stood triumphant upon its lofty battlements. Nevertheless,\ntriumphant and stern as was their attitude, it was not without its\nalloy, for more than five-sixths[26] of their officers and comrades\neither lay dead at their feet, or badly wounded in the ditch below them.\nAll their generals, Picton amongst the number, and almost all their\ncolonels, were either killed or wounded; and as they stood to receive\nthe praises of their commander, and the cheers of their equally brave\nbut unfortunate companions in arms, their diminished front and haggard\nappearance told, with terrible truth, the nature of the conflict in\nwhich they had been engaged.\nFootnote 26:\n An exaggeration: the 3rd Division lost about 1100 men out of 4300.\nEarly on the morning of the 7th of April, Phillipon and his garrison,\nwhich had taken refuge in San Christoval, hoisted the white flag in\ntoken of submission, and from that moment the beautiful and rich town of\nBadajoz became a scene of plunder and devastation.\nThe sacking of Badajoz\u2014Neglect of the wounded\u2014Spaniards and their\n plunderers\u2014Disgraceful occurrences\u2014Calamities of war\u2014The author\u2019s\n wound and uncomfortable couch\u2014Extent of plunder\u2014An auction in the\n field\u2014Neglect of the 88th by General Picton.\nBadajoz, one of the richest and most beautiful towns in the south of\nSpain, whose inhabitants had witnessed its siege in silent terror for\none-and-twenty days, and who had been shocked by the frightful massacre\nthat had just taken place at its walls, was now about to be plunged into\nall the horrors that are, unfortunately, unavoidable upon an enterprise\nsuch as a town taken by storm. Scarcely had Count Phillipon and his\ngarrison commenced their march towards Elvas, when the work of pillage\ncommenced. Some\u2014many indeed\u2014of the good soldiers turned to the ditch of\nthe castle and to the breaches to assist and carry off their wounded\ncompanions; but hundreds were neglected in the general and absorbing\nthirst for plunder.\nThe appearance of the castle was that of a vast wreck; the various\nladders lying shattered at the base of its walls, the broken piles of\narms, and the brave men that lay as they had fallen\u2014many holding their\nfirelocks in their grasp\u2014marked strongly the terrible contest in which\nthey had been engaged, and presented to the eye of a spectator ample\nfood for reflection. It was not possible to look at those brave men, all\nof them dead or frightfully maimed, without recollecting what they had\nbeen but a few short hours before; yet those feelings, fortunately\nperhaps, do not predominate with soldiers, and those sights, far from\nexciting reflections of a grave nature, more usually call forth some\njocular remark, such as \u201cthat he will have no further occasion to draw\nrations\u201d; or \u201cthat he has stuck his spoon in the wall and left off\nmessing\u201d\u2014such is the force of habit.\nAt the breaches, the Light and 4th Division soldiers lay in heaps upon\neach other\u2014a still warm group; and many of those veterans, from whom the\nvital spark had not yet fled, expired in the arms of the few of their\ncompanions who sought to remove them to a place better suited to their\nmiserable condition. But war, whatever its numerous attractions to a\nyoung mind may be, is but ill calculated to inspire it with those softer\nfeelings so essential to soothe us in the moment of our distress; it\nmust not, therefore, be wondered at that a wish for plunder and\nenjoyment took the place of humanity, and that hundreds of gallant men\nwere left to perish from neglect.\nBefore six o\u2019clock in the morning of the 7th of April, all organisation\namongst the assaulting columns had ceased, and a scene of plunder and\ncruelty, that it would be difficult to find a parallel for, took its\nplace. The army, so fine and effective on the preceding day, was now\ntransformed into a vast band of brigands, and the rich and beautiful\ncity of Badajoz presented the turbulent aspect that must result from the\nconcourse of numerous and warlike multitudes nearly strangers to each\nother, or known only by the name of the nation to which they belonged.\nThe horde of vagabonds\u2014Spaniards as well as Portuguese, women as well as\nmen\u2014that now eagerly sought for admission to plunder, nearly augmented\nthe number of brigands to what the assailing army had reckoned the night\nbefore; and it may be fairly said that twenty thousand people\u2014armed with\nfull powers to act as they thought fit, and all, or almost all, armed\nwith weapons which could be turned, at the pleasure or caprice of the\nbearer, for the purpose of enforcing any wish he sought to gratify\u2014were\nlet loose upon the ill-fated inhabitants of this devoted city. These\npeople were under no restraint, had no person to control them, and in a\nshort time got into such an awful state of intoxication that they lost\nall control over their own actions.\nIn the first burst, all the wine and spirit stores were forced open and\nransacked from top to bottom; and it required but a short time for the\nmen to get into that fearful state that was alike dangerous to\nall\u2014officers or soldiers, or the inhabitants of the city. Casks of the\nchoicest wines and brandy were dragged into the streets, and when the\nmen had drunk as much as they fancied, the heads of the vessels were\nstove in, or the casks otherwise so broken that the liquor ran about in\nstreams.\nIn the town were a number of animals that belonged to the garrison,\nseveral hundred sheep, numerous oxen, as likewise many horses; these\nwere amongst the first taken possession of; and the wealthy occupier of\nmany a house was glad to be allowed the employment of conducting them to\nour camp, as, by doing so, he got away from a place where his life was\nnot worth a minute\u2019s purchase. But terrible as was this scene, it was\nnot possible to avoid occasionally laughing, for the _conducteur_ was\ngenerally not only obliged to drive a herd of cattle, but also to carry\nthe bales of plunder taken by his employers\u2014perhaps from his own\nhouse\u2014and the stately gravity with which the Spaniard went through his\nwork, dressed in short breeches, frilled shirt, and a hat and plumes\nthat might vie with our eighth Henry, followed, as he was, by our\nragamuffin soldiers with fixed bayonets, presented a scene that would\npuzzle even Mr. Cruikshank himself to justly delineate. The plunder so\ncaptured was deposited in our camp, and placed under a guard chiefly\ncomposed of the soldiers' wives.\nThe shops were rifled, first by one group, who despoiled them of their\nmost costly articles, then by another, who thought themselves rich in\ncapturing what had been rejected by their predecessors; then another,\nand another still, until every vestige of property was swept away. A few\nhours was sufficient for this; night was fast drawing near, and then a\nscene took place that has seldom fallen to the lot of any writer to\ndescribe. Every insult, every infamy that human invention could torture\ninto practice was committed. The following day, the 8th of April, was\nalso a fearful one for the inhabitants; the soldiers became reckless,\nand drank to such an excess that no person\u2019s life, no matter of what\nrank, or station, or sex, was safe. If they entered a house that had not\nbeen emptied of all its furniture or wine, they proceeded to destroy it;\nor, if it happened to be empty, which was generally the case, they\ncommenced firing at the doors and windows, and not unfrequently at the\ninmates, or at each other! They would then sally forth into the streets,\nand fire at the different church-bells in the steeples, or the pigeons\nthat inhabited the old Moorish turrets of the castle\u2014even the owls were\nfrighted from this place of refuge, and, by their discordant screams,\nannounced to their hearers the great revolution that had taken place\nnear their once peaceful abodes. The soldiers then fired upon their own\ncomrades, and many men were killed, in endeavouring to carry away some\nspecies of plunder, by the hands of those who, but a few hours before,\nwould have risked their own lives to protect those they now so wantonly\nsported with: then would they turn upon the already too deeply injured\nfemales, and tear from them the trinkets that adorned their necks,\nfingers, or ears! and, finally, they would strip them of their wearing\napparel. Some 'tis said there were\u2014ruffians of the lowest grade, no\ndoubt\u2014who cut the ear-rings out of the ears of the females who bore\nthem.\nHundreds of those fellows took possession of the best warehouses, and\nfor a time fulfilled the functions of merchants; those, in their turn,\nwere ejected by a stronger party, who, after a fearful strife and loss\nof lives, displaced them, and occupied their position, and those again\nwere conquered by others, and others more powerful! and thus was Badajoz\ncircumstanced on the morning of the 8th of April 1812. It presented a\nfearful picture of the horrors that are inevitable upon a city carried\nby assault; and although it is painful to relate these disgraceful\nfacts, it is essential nevertheless. I feel as much pride as any man can\nfeel in having taken a part in actions that must ever shed lustre upon\nmy country; but no false feeling of delicacy shall ever prevent me from\nspeaking the truth\u2014no matter whether it touches the conduct of one man\nor ten thousand!\nTo put a stop to such a frightful scene, it was necessary to use some\nforbearance, as likewise a portion of severity. In the first instance,\nparties from those regiments that had least participated in the combat\nwere ordered into the town to collect the hordes of stragglers that\nfilled its streets with crimes too horrible to detail; but the evil had\nspread to such an extent that this measure was inadequate to the end\nproposed, and in many instances the parties so sent became infected by\nthe contagion, and in place of remedying the disorder, increased it, by\njoining once more in revels they had for a time quitted. At length a\nbrigade of troops was marched into the city, and were directed to stand\nby their arms while any of the marauders remained; the Provost Marshals\nattached to each division were directed to use that authority with which\nthey are of necessity invested. Gibbets and triangles were in\nconsequence erected, and many men were flogged, but, although the\ncontrary has been said, none were hanged\u2014yet hundreds deserved it.\nA few hours more were sufficient to purge the town of the infamous gang\nof robbers that still lurked about its streets, and those\nruffians\u2014chiefly Spaniards or Portuguese, not in any way attached to the\narmy\u2014were infinitely more dangerous than our fellows, bad as they were.\nMurder\u2014except indeed in a paroxysm of drunkenness, and in many cases, I\nregret to say, it did occur in this way\u2014never entered their thoughts,\nbut the miscreants here referred to would commit the foulest deed for\nless than a dollar.\nTowards evening tranquillity began to return, and, protected as they now\nwere by a body of troops untainted by the disease which had spread like\na contagion, the unfortunate inhabitants took advantage of the quiet\nthat reigned; yet it was a fearful quiet, and might be likened to a ship\nat sea, which, after having been plundered and dismasted by pirates, is\nleft floating on the ocean without a morsel of food to supply the wants\nof its crew, or a stitch of canvas to cover its naked masts; by degrees,\nhowever, some clothing, such as decency required, was procured for the\nfemales, by the return of their friends to the town; and many a father\nand mother rejoiced to find their children alive, although too often\nseriously and grossly injured. But there were also many who were denied\neven this sad consolation, for numbers of the townspeople had fallen in\nthe confusion that prevailed; some of our officers also were killed in\nthis way, and it has been said, I believe truly, that one, a colonel\ncommanding a regiment, lost his life by the hands of his own men.\nThe plunder with which our camp was now filled was so considerable, and\nof so varied a description, that numerous as were the purchasers, and\ndifferent their wants, they all had, nevertheless, an opportunity of\nsuiting themselves to their taste; still the auction had not commenced\nin form, although, like other markets, \u201csome private sales were\neffected.\u201d From the door of my tent I had a partial view of what was\ntaking place; but for the present I shall leave the _march\u00e9_, and\ndescribe how I myself was circumstanced from the period I reached my\ntent, wounded, on the morning of the 7th.\nThe two faithful soldiers, Bray and Macgowan, that conducted me there,\non entering, found my truss of straw, or bed, if the reader will so\nallow me to designate it, occupied by Mrs. Nelly Carsons, the wife of my\nbatman, who, I suppose, by the way of banishing care, had taken to\ndrinking divers potations of rum to such an excess that she lay down in\nmy bed, thinking, perhaps, that I was not likely again to be its\noccupant; or, more probably, not giving it a thought at all. Macgowan\nattempted to wake her, but in vain\u2014a battery of a dozen guns might have\nbeen fired close to her ear without danger of disturbing her repose!\n\u201cWhy then, sir,\u201d said he, \u201csure the bed\u2019s big enough for yees both, and\nshe\u2019ll keep you nate and warm, for, be the powers, you\u2019re kilt with the\ncold and the loss ov blood.\u201d I was in no mood to stand on ceremony, or,\nindeed, to stand at all. I allowed myself to be placed beside my\npartner, without any further persuasion; and the two soldiers left us to\nourselves and returned to the town. Weakness from loss of blood soon\ncaused me to fall asleep, but it was a sleep of short duration. I awoke,\nunable to move, and, in fact, lay like an infant. The fire of small\narms, the screams of the soldiers' wives, and the universal buzz\nthroughout the camp, acted powerfully upon my nervous and worn-out\nframe; but Somnus conquered Mars, for I soon fell into another doze, in\nwhich I might have remained very comfortable had not my companion awoke\nsooner than I wished; discharging a huge grunt, and putting her hand\nupon my leg, she exclaimed, \u201cArrah! Dan, jewel, what makes you so stiff\nthis morning?\u201d\nIt required but few words from me to undeceive her. Tea and chocolate\nwere soon in readiness, and having tasted some of the former, I sat up\nin my bed waiting the arrival of the first surgeon to dress my wound. My\nbatman, Dan Carsons, shortly afterwards made his appearance; he led up\nto the door of my tent three sheep, and had, moreover, a pig-skin of\nenormous size filled with right good wine which the Spaniards call _la\ntinta de la Mancha_: \u201cAnd sure,\u201d said he, \u201cI heard of your being kilt,\nand I brought you this (pointing to the pig-skin of wine), thinking what\na nate bolster it i\u2019d be for you while you slept at your aise,\u201d and,\nwithout waiting for my reply, he thrust the pig-skin under my head. \u201cAnd\nlook,\u201d said he, shewing me a spigot at the mouth of my bolster, \u201cwhen\nyou\u2019re thirsty at-all-at-all, you see nothing is more pleasant or aisy\nthan to clap this into your mouth, and sure won\u2019t it be mate and dhrink\nfor you too?\u201d\n\u201cOh, Jasus!\u201d responded Nelly, \u201che\u2019s kilt out and out; see, Dan, how the\nblood is in strames about the blankets.\u201d\n A little learning is a dangerous thing,\nso\u2014under certain circumstances\u2014is a little laughing! and Dan Carsons and\nhis wife made me laugh so immoderately, that a violent discharge of\nblood from my wound nearly put an end to my career in this world. Had it\nnot been for the arrival of Dr. Grant, the staff-surgeon of the\ndivision, who just now made his appearance, I doubt much if any of my\nreaders would ever have had the pleasure of reading these my\nreminiscences. But I must have done with myself, Dan Carsons, and his\nwife Nelly, and resume my narrative of the sale of the plunder with\nwhich our camp was, to use a mercantile phrase, glutted.\nEarly on the morning of the 9th of April a great concourse of Spaniards\nhad already thronged our lines; the neighbouring villages poured in\ntheir quota of persons seeking to be the purchasers of the booty\ncaptured by our men, and each succeeding hour increased the supply for\ntheir wants, numerous and varied as they were, and our camp presented\nthe appearance of a vast market. The scene after the taking of Rodrigo\nwas nothing in comparison to the present, because the resources of\nBadajoz might be said to be in the ratio of five to one as compared with\nher sister fortress, and, besides, our fellows were, in an equal\nproportion, more dexterous than they had been in their maiden effort to\nrelieve Rodrigo of its valuables. It may, therefore, be well supposed,\nand the reader may safely take my word for it, that the transfer of\nproperty was, on the present occasion, considerable. Some men realised\nupwards of one thousand dollars (about \u00a3250), others less, but all, or\nalmost all, gained handsomely by an enterprise in which they had\ndisplayed such unheard-of acts of devotion and bravery; and it is only\nto be lamented that they tarnished laurels so nobly won by traits of\nbarbarity for which it would be difficult to find a parallel in the\nannals of any army. The sale of the different commodities went on\nrapidly, notwithstanding we had no auctioneers; there was no \u201cking\u2019s\nduty,\u201d but, most undeniably, if the Spaniards paid no \u201cking\u2019s duty,\u201d\nthey paid the piper! While the divers articles were carried away by the\npurchasers, the wounded were removed to the hospitals and camp, and the\nlamentations of the women for their dead or wounded husbands made a\nstriking contrast to the scene of gaiety which almost everywhere\nprevailed.\nTowards the evening of the 9th our camp was nearly emptied of all its\nsaleable commodities, and the following morning was occupied in getting\nrid of the many Spaniards who still hovered about us, endeavouring to\nget a bargain of some of the unsold articles. By noon all traffic had\nceased, and the men began to arrange themselves for a fresh combat with\nMarshal Soult, who was advancing towards Badajoz. The appearance and\ndemeanour of the soldiery in no way warranted the idea that they had\nbeen occupied as they were for the last three weeks, but more especially\nfor the last three days. They were the same orderly set of men they had\nbeen before the attack on the town, and were just as eager to fight\nSoult as they were to storm Badajoz: the only change visible was their\n_thinned ranks_. In my regiment alone, out of seven hundred and fifty\nprivates, four hundred and thirty-four had fallen; and of the officers,\nwho at the commencement of the siege counted twenty-four, but five\nremained unhurt! Our total loss exceeded five thousand men; and although\nno officer of a higher rank than colonel was killed, it is a singular\ncircumstance that every general actively engaged was wounded on the\nnight of the assault. Picton, Colville, Kempt, Walker, and Bowes, who\nheaded the assaulting divisions and brigades, were every one of them\nhurt on that fatal 8th of April.[27]\nFootnote 27:\n Picton headed the 3rd Division; Kempt its 1st Brigade. Colville\n commanded the 4th Division; Bowes its 2nd Brigade. Walker the 2nd\n Brigade of the 5th Division. The total loss of the British during the\n siege was 72 officers and 963 men killed, and 306 officers and 3483\n men wounded. There were also 100 missing, mostly, it is believed, men\n whose bodies fell into the Guadiana or the Rivillas and were not\n found. This gives a total of 4924, so that Grattan\u2019s figure of \u201cover\n 5000\u201d is hardly exaggerated.\nDeparture from Badajoz\u2014The wounded left to the protection of Spanish\n soldiers\u2014Subsequently removed to Elvas\u2014The author leaves Elvas to\n join the army\u2014Spaniards and Portuguese\u2014Rodrigo revisited\u2014A Spanish\n ball\u2014Movements of Marshal Marmont\u2014Fall of the forts of\n Salamanca\u2014Amicable enemies.\nOn the 15th of April, 1812, the heroes of Badajoz took a last farewell\nof the scene of their glory and the graves of their fallen companions,\nand marched towards the banks of the Coa and Agueda, where, but a few\nmonths before, they had given proofs of their invincible valour. Indeed\nit might be said, without any great stretch of historical truth, that\nevery inch of ground upon which they trod was a silent evidence of their\nright to be its occupant\u2014so far, at least, as right of conquest goes.\nIll as I was, in common with many others, who, like myself, lay wounded,\nand were unable to accompany our friends, I arose from my truss of straw\nto take a parting look at the remnant of my regiment as it mustered on\nthe parade; but in place of upwards of seven hundred gallant soldiers,\nand four-and-twenty officers, of the former there were not three\nhundred, and of the latter but five! At any time, when in the full\nenjoyment of health and vigour, this sad diminution would have affected\nme; but in my then frame of mind it acted powerfully upon my nerves. I\nasked myself, where are the rest? I suppose I spoke louder than I\nintended; for my man, Dan Carsons, ran out of his tent to inquire \u201cwho I\nwas looking after?\u201d\u2014\u201cDan,\u201d replied, \u201cI am looking for the men that are\nabsent from parade; where are they?\u201d\u2014\u201cKilt, sir,\u201d replied Dan, \u201cand the\ngreater part of them buried at the fut of the ould castle forenent ye.\u201d\n\u201cTheir _bodies_ are there, Dan, but where are they themselves?\u201d \u201cOch,\nJasus!\u201d cried Dan to his wife, \u201che\u2019s out of his sinces! Nelly! run and\nfetch the pig-skin of wine; you know how it sarved him last night when\nhe was raving.\u201d Nelly brought the remnant of the Tinta de la Mancha, and\na few mouthfuls of it raised my spirits considerably, but the fever with\nwhich I was attacked was increasing rapidly.\nThe drums of the division beat a ruffle; the officers took their\nstations; the bands played; the soldiers cheered, and, in less than half\nan hour, the spot which, since the 17th of the preceding month, had been\na scene of the greatest excitement, was now a lone and deserted waste,\nhaving no other occupants than disabled or dying officers and soldiers,\nor the corpses of those who had fallen in the strife. The contrast was\nindeed great, and of that cast that made the most unreflecting think,\nand the reflecting feel. The sound of the drums died away; the division\nwas no longer visible, except by the glittering of their firelocks; at\nlength we lost sight of even this, and we were left alone, like so many\noutcasts, to make the best of our way to the hospitals in Badajoz.\nIt is a task of more difficulty than may appear to the reader to\ndescribe the feelings that a separation, such as I have told of, caused\nin our breasts. More than half of our old companions\u2014dear to us from the\nintimate terms upon which we had lived together, fought together, and, I\nmight say, died together, for three years\u2014were parted from us, most of\nthem for ever!\u2014the others gone to a distant part of the theatre of war,\nwhile we, enervated and worn down, either by loss of limb, or by loss of\nstrength and vigour, were left to seek shelter under the roofs of those\nvery people who had been so barbarously maltreated by our own soldiers.\nNevertheless every one betook himself to the method he thought best\nsuited to the occasion. Some caused themselves to be conveyed in\nwaggons; others rode on horseback; and many, from a disinclination to\nbear the jolting of the carts, or the uneasy posture of sitting astride\na horse, hobbled on towards the dismantled walls of the fortress. As we\ncontinued our walk, we met, at almost every step, heaps of newly\nturned-up earth, beneath which lay the bodies of some of our companions;\nand a little farther in advance was the olive-tree, at the foot of which\nso many officers of the 3rd Division had been buried. At length we\nreached the ravelin of San Roque.\nThe Talavera gate was opened for our admission; it was guarded by a few\nill-looking, ill-fed, and ill-appointed Spanish soldiers. As we entered,\neach man we passed saluted us with respect; but the contrast between\nthese men, who were now our protectors, and the soldiers we had but a\nshort time before commanded, was great indeed; and the circumstance,\ntrifling as it may appear, affected us proportionally. We walked on\ntowards our wretched billets, and as we passed through the streets that\nled to them, we saw nothing but the terrible traces of what had taken\nplace. Piles of dismantled furniture lay scattered here and there;\nhouses, disfigured by our batteries, in a ruined state; the streets\nunoccupied except by vagabonds of the lowest grade, who prowled about in\nsearch of plunder; while at the windows of some houses were to be seen a\nfew females in disordered dresses; but their appearance was of that\ncaste that served rather to increase the gloom which overhung the city.\nNevertheless, as the wounded men and officers passed, they waved their\nhandkerchiefs and saluted us with a _viva_; but it was pitiable to\nwitness the wretched state to which the unfortunate inhabitants had been\nreduced.\nUpon reaching the house allotted to me, I was met at the door by an old\nwoman who showed me my apartment. It was scantily garnished with\nfurniture, most of which was broken; the bed was on the tiles, but that\nwas rather an advantage than the contrary, because the heat was\nexcessive. I stood in no need of any refreshment; my man, Dan, having\nbeen so active during the _bouleversement_ that he supplied my cellar as\nwell as larder; and it was fortunate that he did so, for the inhabitants\nof the house, as I afterwards learned, were without a morsel of food or\na stitch of clothing, having been plundered of everything.\nI lay down upon my mattress, soon fell asleep, and in less than an hour\nawoke in a high fever. Dan wished that I should attack the pig-skin of\nthe Tinta de la Mancha, but I positively refused to do so: \u201cWhy then,\nsir,\u201d said he, \u201chasn\u2019t it been the making ov yee?\u201d\u2014\u201cYou mean the killing\nof me, Dan. Go and seek for a surgeon.\u201d He went, and soon returned with\na young man in the uniform of the staff surgeons of our army; but from\nhis youthful appearance, and the unworkmanlike manner he went about\ndressing my wound, I opine he was but an hospital mate. My man Dan was\ndecidedly of my opinion; for after the doctor had examined my breast,\nand applied some dressing to it, he was about to retire, when Dan said\nwith an air of authority, \u201cYou\u2019re not going to be afthur going without\nlooking at his hinder part?\u201d meaning my back. The doctor took the hint,\nand, turning me on my face, found a large piece of the cloth of my coat,\nwhich had been carried in by the ball, protruding through the wound. The\ndoctor looked confounded; Dan looked ferocious, and though he spoke with\nrespect to the medical man, I plainly saw the storm which was gathering.\nI feared that he was about to make use of the _fortiter in re_, in\npreference to the _suaviter in modo_; so I dismissed the doctor, upon an\nassurance that he would visit me the following morning.\nAfter a lapse of three days, all the wounded capable of being removed\nwere ordered to Elvas. Spring waggons, carts drawn by oxen, mules\nharnessed with pack-saddles, and in default of them, asses prepared in\nlike manner, were put in requisition for the purpose of freeing Badajoz\nof as many of the disabled men, who crowded the hospitals, as possible.\nI was among the number, but so ill was I as to have no recollection of\nhow I was transported, except that a waggon stopped at my door, and,\nafter some hours, I found myself in the streets of Elvas. From the\nwaggon I was placed in a car, and it was night before my man Dan, with\nall his tact, was enabled to procure me a billet. During a space of\nfifteen days I lay in a state of great pain, accompanied by fever, but\nafter that I soon recovered my strength, and being allowed the option of\neither joining the second battalion of my regiment, to which I then\nbelonged, quartered at home, or going back to the army, I preferred the\nlatter.\nMy friends, Darcy and Adair, were my companions on my route to the army;\nand, punctual at the appointed hour, we left Elvas at six o\u2019clock on the\nmorning of the 3rd of June, without any encumbrance, such as a\ndetachment to look after. We had no escort except our three servants,\nand Dan\u2019s wife Nelly; and it is needless to say that they were perfectly\ncompetent to take care of themselves, without causing us one moment\u2019s\nuneasiness, either on their account or our own; and never did any three\nofficers in the service of His Britannic Majesty, or in the service of\nany other sovereign, set out on a route to join their companions with a\nmore fervent intention of making the time pass as agreeably as possible.\nOur route towards Salamanca, near which city the army was stationed, lay\nthrough the old line of march, and we were obliged, unfortunately, once\nmore to encounter that place of dirt and wretchedness, Niza. No matter\nwhat change had taken place either amongst ourselves or the different\ntowns through which we passed, Niza was still the same; positively\ndirt\u2014comparatively dirt\u2014superlatively dirt!\u2014dirt! dirt! dirt! The\nditches were filled with reptiles, the houses with bugs and fleas, and\nAdair, who was already blind of one eye, had the other nearly darkened\nby the bite of a huge centipede. We poulticed his eye with rye bread and\ncold water, and in the morning carried him, with a _wry_ face, to his\nsaddle.\nOnce clear of Niza, we traversed the country towards the Spanish\nfrontier; at length we got clear of Portugal, and once more reached the\nvillage of Fuentes d'O\u00f1oro; every house, I might almost say every face,\nwas familiar to me. The heaps of embanked earth, which denoted the\nplaces where many of our old companions had been interred, were covered\nwith grass, which grew luxuriantly over the graves of the men who had\nonce stood there victorious, but who were now lifeless clay. We\ntraversed the churchyard where so many of the Imperial Guard and our\nHighlanders had fallen; and we marked well the street where three\nhundred of the former had been put to death by the 88th Regiment. Many\nof the doors still retained the marks of the contest; and the chimneys,\nup which the Guard had sought shelter, bore the traces of what had taken\nplace. The torn apertures in the large twigged chimneys, broken down by\nthe Guard in attempting to get up them, were in the same state we had\nleft them\u2014untouched, unmended. Even the children could trace with\naccuracy the footsteps of those fallen heroes.\nWe walked on to the chapel wall, where the 79th had suffered so\nseverely, and through which the French had forced their passage, under a\ntorrent of shot, against the bayonets of the brave Highlanders. The\nchapel door was riddled through and through with bullets, and the walls\nbore the marks of the round shot fired from the French batteries.\nSeveral mounds of earth, covered as they were with herbage, still\npointed out the grave of some one who had fallen; yet, to a passing\nstranger, the inequality of the ground would scarcely have been noticed,\nso little attention had been paid to the arrangement of the graves,\nwhich were dug in the hurry of the moment; but with us it was different.\nWe could point out every spot, and lay our finger on the place where a\ngrave ought to be found.\nIt so happened that the house I was quartered in for the night was one\nof those in which some of the Imperial Guard had sought shelter. I asked\nmy patron why he had not mended the broken chimney? His reply was, that\nhe preferred the inconvenience of the smoke which the aperture caused,\nfor the pleasure he derived from viewing the grave, as he termed it, of\nthe base French who had so scandalously ravaged his country. I cannot\nsay that I much admired his feeling.\nFrom Fuentes d'O\u00f1oro we reached Rodrigo, which we had left only five\nmonths before. The breaches were repaired, the trenches levelled, and\nwere it not for the different spots that had been assigned to many of\nour fallen companions, which we found untouched, there was no trace of\nthose works which had caused us so much time and labour to construct.\nBut those places, well known to us, brought back to our recollection the\nground upon which we had stood a short time before, under circumstances\nso different; and the change that had taken place during the short\ninterval\u2014the thousands that had fallen in the two sieges,\u2014and the\ndifference of our attitude as compared to what it was when we before\ntrod the spot we were then standing upon, afforded ample food for\nreflection. From the period of our investment of Rodrigo to the capture\nof Badajoz, that is to say, eighty-eight days, we lost in my regiment\nalone twenty-five officers and five hundred and fifty-six men; and it\ncannot be wondered at that we, who were alive and in health, should have\na feeling of regret for our less fortunate companions, as also a feeling\nof thankfulness for our own escape.\nThere may be some who will think that such ideas are out of place, but,\nin my opinion, they are not so. No truly brave man ever looked upon the\ngraves of his fallen companions without a feeling of regret. A man\nfalling in the heat of battle is quite a different thing, because\n_there_ all are alike, and subject to the same chance; and it is,\nmoreover, wrong to mourn over the death of a comrade while the strife is\ngoing on; but the strife once ended, then will the feelings be brought\ninto play, and the man who is incapable of a pang of regret for his\nfallen companion is unworthy of the name of a British soldier.\nMy man, Dan, had scarcely arranged my billet, ere I bent my steps to the\nhouse where I had slept on the night of the storming of the town. I had\nscarcely made my appearance at the portal, when the old lady to whom the\nhouse belonged recognised my voice. She ran forward to meet and welcome\nme; her daughters accompanied her, and it was in vain that I said I had\na billet in a distant part of the town. The excuse would not be taken,\nand I was forced, absolutely forced, to have my baggage conveyed to the\nhouse where I had so short a time before entered under far different\ncircumstances. The old lady asked how long I was to remain at Rodrigo. I\nreplied, for that night only. \u201c_J'en suis f\u00e2ch\u00e9_,\u201d she replied in\nFrench, which language she spoke tolerably well,\u2014\u201c_mais j\u2019essayerai de\nfaire votre s\u00e9jour ici plus agr\u00e9able qu\u2019elle ne l'\u00e9tait la derni\u00e8re\nfois_\u201d\u2014and she immediately sent an invitation to her friends to assemble\nat her house the same evening.\nProfiting by the confusion which of necessity took place in arrangements\nfor the _soir\u00e9e_, I left the house and took a survey of the town and\nbreaches. The houses which were destroyed in the Great Square, by the\nfire which had taken place on the night of the assault, as also those\nnear the breaches, remained in the same ruined state we had left them;\nbut excepting this, and a few gabions which out-topped the large breach,\nwhose reconstruction had not been quite completed, we could find nothing\nto denote the toil and labour we had sustained during our operations. An\nhour sufficed for me to make my \u201creminiscence\u201d of past events. It was\neight o\u2019clock before Darcy and Adair joined me, and when we reached my\nbillet, we found the saloon filled by a large and varied company.\nUpon entering the room, all eyes were turned towards us, for the good\nhostess had said a thousand kind things in my praise, and the height and\nimposing look of Darcy were in themselves sufficient to cause a _stare_;\nbut the elegance of Adair\u2019s manners, who had passed the greater part of\nhis life on the Continent\u2014his perfect knowledge of the Portuguese,\nSpanish, Italian, and French languages\u2014captivated all. And although he\nwas some fifteen or twenty years our senior, he decidedly bore away the\npalm; and in less than an hour after our _entr\u00e9_, he made, to my own\nknowledge, five conquests; while Darcy and myself could boast of but two\neach! I never felt so humiliated\u2014from that moment I resolved that if\never I had a son I would make him a linguist.\nThe ball was opened by Avandano de Alcantara, a young Portuguese\ncaptain, belonging to the garrison of Almeida, and Se\u00f1ora Dolores de\nInza, a Spanish lady, a relative of the Governor. The dance was the\nbolero, of which I had heard so much, but had never seen danced before.\nAll eyes were turned towards the spot which the youthful couple\noccupied. I was an attentive spectator. Avandano danced well, and kept\nhis elbows\u2014a material point by the way\u2014in that position which no bolero\ndancer should depart from (I obtained this information at Madrid), not\nto raise them higher than his ear; but he danced mechanically, like one\nthat had been taught, and had his lesson by rule more than by heart.\nAlthough he moved his arms with much grace, and kept the proper measure\nwith his feet, there was nothing inspiring in his mode of dance, or in\nthe manner he used his castanettes. His partner, on the contrary, had\nall the fire of the true Andalusian breed. Her movements, though not\nperhaps as correct as his, were spirited, and drew down thunders of\napplause from the spectators; and each plaudit, as was natural, caused\nher to increase her exertions. She danced beautifully, and every one\nexpressed by their approbation the gratification they felt by her\ndisplay; but the dance had scarcely ended when she fainted away, in\nconsequence, no doubt, of the exertions she had made. She soon\nrecovered, and would have once more joined the dance, had not her\nfriends dissuaded her from so foolish an act, and she was reluctantly\nobliged to be a spectator for the remainder of the night. Waltzing was\ncontinued to a late hour; but there was no lady hardy enough to attempt\nthe bolero after the success of Se\u00f1ora Dolores in this most difficult\nand graceful dance. The company at length retired to their different\nhomes; I bade an affectionate good-night to my hostess and her\ndaughters; and long before they were awake in the morning, I was several\nmiles on the road leading to Salamanca.\nOn the 17th, Darcy, Adair, and I rejoined the 88th and the 3rd Division\non the heights of San Christoval. We found that we were engaged in\n\u201ccovering\u201d the siege of the forts of Salamanca, which Marshal Marmont\nwas most anxious to disturb. On the 23rd of June he came up against us,\ntried our lines at several points, did not like the look of them, and\nafter some futile man\u0153uvring on both sides of the Tormes, fell back\nupon Huerta, where he remained until the 27th, and then retreated\ntowards the Douro.\nMeanwhile our bombardment of the Salamanca forts continued, and on the\n27th its effect was so powerful that one of the magazines in the\nprincipal fort blew up, and the fire communicating with a quantity of\nwood which had been incautiously placed near the magazine, the whole\nfort was soon one vast fire, and a general attack by our troops taking\nplace at the moment, completed the disorder which naturally prevailed.\nThe three forts were thus taken; our loss, which was estimated by the\nenemy at thirteen hundred, did not much exceed one-third of that number;\nand Salamanca was freed from the enemy.\nAs soon as the garrison of the forts were made prisoners, they were\nmarched through the streets leading from the outworks to that part of\nthe town that had been allotted for their reception; but it was painful\nto witness the degradation which these men were obliged to endure at the\nhands of the excited population. Women of the lowest grade insulted\nthem, and some there were base enough to spit in their faces; yet the\nFrench soldiers bore all these insults with composed\u2014I might say, with\ntruth,\u2014gentlemanly demeanour; but it is not possible for me to express\nthe disgust I felt at seeing brave men so treated by a base rabble who,\nbut a few hours before, were on the most friendly terms with these very\nmen. At one time, when I saw such an indignity as mud thrown at them,\nand a likelihood of something more serious taking place, I expressed\nmyself in strong terms against the ruffians who so acted; and whether it\nwas that I spoke Spanish well enough to be understood, or that I suited\nthe action to the word by knocking down two fellows who were the\nringleaders, I know not; but from that moment the prisoners were allowed\nto move on quietly.\nThus fell the forts of Salamanca. The news soon reached Marmont, and on\nthe 28th he retrograded towards the Douro, and on the following day\nrested at Alaejos. Lord Wellington followed the enemy\u2019s movement, who,\non the 2nd of July, passed the Douro at Tordesillas, which post was\nsufficiently formidable to embarrass a general who might be desirous of\nforcing it. The line of the Douro is unexceptionable; it possesses all\nthe requisites which a retreating army could wish for\u2014uneven banks,\nnarrow fords, and abundance of woods, sufficient to mask the operations\nof a large body of troops; and Marmont did all that a general could do\nto render any effort to force it more than hazardous.\nOn the evening of the 3rd, Picton\u2019s division was abreast of the ford of\nPollos; some cavalry tried the depth of the river, which was deemed\nfordable; but the attitude of the enemy on the opposite bank was so\nimposing that the idea of forcing the passage was given up. From the 3rd\nuntil the 12th of July the two armies remained in presence of each\nother, encamped on each side of a river which at times is a formidable\nsheet of water, but which was then little more than an insignificant\nstream. Nevertheless, although both armies kept their guards on their\nrespective sides of the water, and the movements of each were cautiously\nwatched, not one life was lost, nor one shot fired by either army.\nIndeed so different from hostility was the conduct of both nations, that\nthe French and British lived upon the most amicable terms. If we wanted\nwood for the construction of huts, our men were allowed to pass without\nmolestation to the French side of the river to cut it. Each day the\nsoldiers of both armies used to bathe together in the same stream, and\nan exchange of rations, such as biscuit and rum, between the French and\nour men was by no means uncommon. A stop was, however, soon to be put to\nthis friendly intercourse; and it having been known in both armies that\nsomething was about to be attempted by Marmont, on the evening of the\n12th of July, we shook hands with our _vis-\u00e0-vis_ neighbours and parted\nthe best friends.\nIt is a remarkable fact that the part of the river of which I am\nspeaking was occupied, on our side, by our 3rd Division, on the French\nside by the 7th Division. The French officers said to us on parting, \u201cWe\nhave met, and have been for some time friends. We are about to separate,\nand may meet as enemies. As 'friends' we received each other warmly\u2014as\n'enemies' we shall do the same.\u201d In ten days afterwards the British 3rd\nand the French 7th Divisions were opposed to each other at the battle of\nSalamanca\u2014and the 7th French were destroyed by the British 3rd. But I am\nnow about describing one of the most memorable battles ever fought by\nthe British army\u2014the battle of Salamanca.\nState of the opposing armies previous to the battle of\n Salamanca\u2014Preliminary movements\u2014The Duke of Ragusa\u2019s false\n movement\u2014Pakenham engaged with the enemy\u2019s left\u2014Defeats the division\n under General Thomi\u00e8res\u2014Reinforced, they again advance to the\n attack\u2014Their destruction by a brigade of British cavalry\u2014The\n Portuguese repulsed\u2014Desperate exertions of the French\u2014Final charge\n of Clinton\u2019s division\u2014Complete defeat of the French army.\nThe situation and position of the hostile armies have been described in\nthe last chapter; it left them on the banks of the Douro; and the\nprobability, nay the certainty, that a collision was about to take place\nbetween them was manifest to the lowest soldier of both.\nThe passage of the line of the Douro in presence of an army in a\ncondition for battle is difficult, and it requires much circumspection\non the part of the General to hazard it in the face of an enemy. Yet\nMarmont managed to cross. He employed the days of the 13th, 14th, 15th,\nand 16th of July in a series of evolutions we had hitherto been\nunaccustomed to witness; and, in fine, on the morning of the 17th, after\nhaving made a night-march of thirteen Spanish leagues, his army was over\nthe river, in battle array on the plain to the right of Nava del Rey,\nwhile the bulk of our army was in full movement upon Toro, distant\nseveral leagues from the 4th and Light Divisions and the two brigades of\nheavy horse. The village of Torrecilla de la Orden was in their front.\nMarmont, finding how well the passage of the Douro had been masked by\nhis night-march, and seeing the small number of troops that were at hand\nto oppose his movement, ordered his masses forward in the hope of\ncrushing them. The 4th and Light Divisions, covered by Bock\u2019s\ndragoons,[28] retired upon the rising ground behind the villages. At\nthis point various charges were made by the cavalry of both armies; and\nit was not until after a retreat of three hours, under a burning sun and\na torrent of shot, that the two divisions reached the heights of the\nGuarena. The soldiers, famishing with thirst, their tongues cleaving to\ntheir mouths, and fainting with fatigue, rushed headlong towards the\nriver; and before they had drank sufficiently to satisfy their burning\nthirst, the heights above them were crowned with forty pieces of cannon\nat half-range. Great was the confusion caused by the cannonade; and it\nwas not without suffering some loss that they effected their retreat to\nthe opposite bank. In less than an hour they joined the 1st and 3rd\nDivisions, and the entire continued the retrograde movement.\nFootnote 28:\n The 1st and 2nd Heavy Dragoons of the King\u2019s German Legion, lately\n arrived from England.\nThe French then advanced in two columns of twenty-five thousand men\neach; the intervening space between them might be reckoned at two miles.\nThe right wing was commanded by Clausel, the left by Marmont in person.\nClausel had scarcely arrived before the point occupied by the 4th\nDivision, when, seeing the smallness of their force, he conceived the\nidea of making a sudden rush, in the hope of cutting them off. His\ntroops had scarcely formed when he pushed onward at the head of two\ndivisions of infantry and the brigade of dragoons commanded by General\nCarri\u00e9; but Cole, placing himself at the head of the 27th and 40th\nRegiments, received him with steadiness, and drove the French infantry\nback in disorder. Meanwhile Carri\u00e9, seeing some open spaces in Cole\u2019s\nline, caused by their movement against Clausel\u2019s infantry, thought to\nprofit by this disorder, and galloping forward at the head of his\ntroopers, sabred many men; but at this moment the cavalry sent to\nsustain Cole met them, and after a severe but short conflict totally\noverthrew the brigade of Carri\u00e9, who was himself numbered amongst the\nprisoners.\nThe defeat of Clausel and Carri\u00e9 checked in a great degree the ardour of\nthe French Marshal. The following day he rested, and on the 19th threw\nback his right wing, and moving forward with the left of his army,\nmenaced the right of the British; but Lord Wellington, anticipating the\nmovement, was prepared for him, and offered battle on the plain of\nVelosa. This was refused on the part of the French General; and from\nthis until the 20th, the two armies man\u0153uvred within half cannon-shot\nof each other, the British retiring as it had advanced\u2014moving, not\ndirectly rearward, but rather in a line parallel with the march of the\nFrench. The columns were in movement in an open country, fairly in the\nview of each other, and their respective attitudes were of that novel\nsort that it would be difficult to find the like recorded in the history\nof any two armies. At times the French and British were within\nmusket-shot of each other, the soldiers of both in momentary expectation\nof being engaged, yet not one shot was fired by either.\nOn the 20th, the British army reached the strong position of San\nChristoval, on the right bank of the Tormes, distant a league from\nSalamanca, the French General likewise resting for the night upon the\nheights of Aldea Rubea, holding the ford of Alba on the Tormes. Towards\nmid-day on the 21st the French passed the river in two compact bodies,\nand, screened by the woody nature of the country, established themselves\nupon a new line of operations, threatening, in a manner, the\ncommunication of the British with Rodrigo. This man\u0153uvre\u2014a bold one\nit may well be called\u2014under the cannon of an army that had proffered\nbattle but a few days before on a plain of vast extent, was enough to\npuzzle a man less capable of command than he who was at the head of the\nallied army; but, unruffled in his temper by such vacillating conduct,\nand keeping a steady eye upon his opponent, the British General\ndiligently followed his track. He passed his army, the 3rd Division\nunder Pakenham excepted, across the Tormes, and taking hold of one of\ntwo isolated hills called Arapilles, he resolved to rest the right of\nhis army upon this point while his left leaned upon the Tormes river at\nSanta Martha, and, in the event of a battle taking place, to stand the\nissue on the ground I have described. The 3rd Division still held the\nposition of San Christoval on the right bank, but was in readiness to\npass over the river by the bridge of Salamanca, in the event of a battle\ntaking place. The British General thus threw down the gauntlet for the\nsecond time; and whether it was the impetuous spirit of the French\nsoldiers, or the temper of their leader, or both combined, that wrought\na change in either, it is not easy to say; but one thing is certain,\nthat from this moment Marmont made up his mind to try the issue of a\nbattle.\nIn front of the Arapilles hill, which was the _point d\u2019appui_ for our\nright, stood another, of the same name and greater altitude, distant\nfive hundred yards from the one we possessed. This mound commanded the\none occupied by us, and, after some severe contention, was finally held\nby the French; and it was evident from the earnest manner in which they\nsought to gain the possession of it, that it was destined to be the\nsupport of the left of their army, as the other was clearly marked out,\nby the previous events, to be intended for our right.\nAll doubts as to a battle not taking place were now hushed, and the\nsoldiers of both armies were aware that the result was to decide to whom\nMadrid belonged. The die was cast; neither were inclined to back out of\nit, or to gainsay what they had in a manner pledged themselves to\nfulfil; and the evening of the 21st July 1812 closed upon the heads of\nmany a soldier who was destined never to behold the setting of another\nsun. Nevertheless, the 3rd Division under Pakenham had not been\nrecalled; on the contrary, we were busy in throwing up breastworks, and\nby other means adding to the strength of the position we occupied. Our\ndivision, though encamped on a height of considerable altitude, had\nreceived strict orders to entrench themselves; the earth was thrown up,\nthe works were palisaded, and in fine they were so well secured that we\nhad no fear of an attack or surprise. It is this precaution that marks\nthe great general. Lord Wellington had no idea of being taken aback by\nany change in Marmont\u2019s plans during the night: on the contrary, he was\nconvinced that he was serious in his desire to give battle; but to guard\nagainst any and every chance was but right. Marmont might have again, on\nthe night of the 21st, passed the river, and brought his army in battle\narray before a handful of men, and cut them off piecemeal before his\nmovement could have been arrested by the British General. The thing was\nnot probable\u2014barely possible; but where possibilities, much less\nprobabilities, exist, it is essential that the mind of the commander\nshould be awake, and instead of brooding over what is likely to take\nplace the following day, look to what may take place in the night. It\nwas a remark of that eminent general, Kleber, that to be surprised was\nmuch more disgraceful than to be defeated: he said, \u201cthe bravest man may\nbe beaten; but whoever suffers himself to be surprised is unworthy of\nbeing an officer.\u201d\nThe evening of the 21st of July was calm, and appeared settled, but\npersons well versed in the symptoms of the horizon, which were\nunobserved by those intensely occupied with the anticipations of the\nevents which the morrow was to produce, pronounced that a hurricane was\nnot far distant. Pakenham\u2019s division was occupied, as I have before\nsaid, in entrenching itself, when about ten at night a torrent of rain\nfell in the trenches, and so completely filled them with water that the\nsoldiers were obliged to desist from their labour. Later in the night a\nstorm arose, and the wind howled in long and bitter gusts. This was\nsucceeded by peals of thunder and flashes of lightning, so loud and\nvivid that the horses of the cavalry, which were ready saddled, took\nalarm, and forcing the pickets which held them, ran away affrighted in\nevery direction. The thunder rolled in rattling peals, the lightning\ndarted through the black and almost suffocating atmosphere, and\npresented to the view of the soldiers of the two armies the horses as\nthey ran about from regiment to regiment, or allowed themselves to be\nled back to their bivouac by the troopers to whom they belonged. The\nvivid flashes of lightning, which seemed to rest upon the grass, for a\nfew moments wholly illuminated the plain, and the succeeding flashes\noccurred with such rapidity that a constant blaze filled the space\noccupied by both armies. It was long before the horses could be secured,\nand some in the confusion ran away amongst the enemy\u2019s line and were\nlost. By midnight the storm began to abate, and towards morning it was\nevidently going farther: the lightning flashed at a distance through the\nhorizon; the rain fell in torrents, and the soldiers of both armies were\ndrenched to the skin before the hurricane had abated. Towards five\no\u2019clock the storm was partially over, and by six the dusky vapour which\nhad before veiled the sun disappeared, and showed the two armies\nstanding in the array they had been placed the evening before. All\ndoubts were now set at rest as to which side of the river the battle\nwould be fought. The entire army of Marmont remained on the left bank,\nand Pakenham was ordered to move across the Tormes with the 3rd\nDivision, by the bridge of Salamanca, with as much speed as possible;\nbut it was one o\u2019clock before he reached the station allotted to him\u2014the\nextreme right of the British.\nAt half-past one o\u2019clock the two armies were within gunshot of each\nother. The British, placed as follows, awaited with calmness the orders\nof their General. We of the 3rd Division, under Pakenham, were on the\nright of the line, but hid by the heights in our front, and unseen by\nMarmont; two squadrons of the 14th Light Dragoons and a brigade of\nPortuguese horse, commanded by General D\u2018Urban, supported us. Next to\nthe 3rd Division stood the 5th, led on by Leith; next to the 5th, and at\nthe head of the village of Arapilles, were placed the 4th and 7th\nDivisions; beyond them, and a little in the rear, was the 6th Division,\nunder General Clinton; and to the left of all was the Light Division,\ncommanded by Colonel Barnard. The 1st Division, composed of the Guards\nand Germans, was in reserve; and the cavalry, under Sir Stapleton\nCotton, was behind the 3rd and 5th Divisions, ready to act as\ncircumstances might require. The guns attached to each brigade were up\nwith the infantry; the park in reserve was behind the cavalry of Cotton,\nwhile in the rear of all, and nearly _hors de combat_, might be seen the\nSpanish army, commanded by Don Carlos D\u2018Espa\u00f1a. Thus stood affairs, on\nthe side of the British, at half-past one o\u2019clock.\nThe French army, composed of eight divisions of infantry, amounting to\nforty-two thousand bayonets, four thousand cavalry, and seventy pieces\nof artillery, occupied a fine line of battle behind a ridge whose right,\nsupported by the Arapilles height held by them, overlooked the one upon\nwhich the left of our army rested. Their 5th Division occupied this\npoint; the 122nd Regiment, belonging to Bonnet\u2019s division, with a\nbrigade of guns, crowned the Arapilles; the 7th Division supported the\n122nd Regiment; the 2nd Division was in reserve behind the 7th; the 6th\nwere at the head of the wood, protected by twenty pieces of artillery;\nand Boyer\u2019s dragoons occupied the open space in front of the wood to the\nleft of all.\nThere was some irregularity in the arrangement of these troops, and the\nDuke of Ragusa essayed in person to remedy the evil. He marched with the\n3rd and 4th Divisions to the head of the wood occupied by Boyer, and it\nwas then he conceived the idea of extending his left, which afterwards\nproved so fatal to him. On our side all was arranged for defence; the\nbustle which was evident in the ranks of the enemy caused no change in\nour dispositions. Lord Wellington, having surveyed what was passing, and\njudging that something was meant by it, gave his glass to one of his\naide-de-camps, while he himself sat down to eat a few mouthfuls of cold\nbeef. He had scarcely commenced when his aide-de-camp said, \u201cThe enemy\nare in motion, my lord!\u201d\u2014\u201cVery well; observe what they are doing,\u201d was\nthe reply. A minute or so elapsed, when the aide-de-camp said, \u201cI think\nthey are extending to their left.\u201d\u2014\u201cThe devil they are!\u201d said his\nlordship, springing upon his feet,\u2014\u201cgive me the glass quickly.\u201d He took\nit, and for a short space continued observing the motions of the enemy\nwith earnest attention. \u201cCome!\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cI think this will do at\nlast; ride off instantly, and tell Clinton and Leith to return as\nrapidly as possible to their former ground.\u201d\nIn a moment afterwards Lord Wellington was on horseback, and all his\nstaff in motion. The soldiers stood to their arms\u2014the colours were\nuncased\u2014bayonets fixed\u2014the order to prime and load passed, and in five\nminutes after the false movement of Marmont was discovered, our army,\nwhich so short a time before stood on the defensive, was arrayed for the\nattack! It was twenty minutes past four when these dispositions were\ncompleted; and here it may not be amiss to tell the reader the nature of\nthe movement made by the French General, which so materially altered his\nposition, as likewise that of his antagonist\u2014and in doing so I shall be\nas brief as I can.\nIt has been already seen that both armies were so circumstanced as to\nalmost preclude the possibility of a battle not taking place. Marmont\ncoveted it\u2014Wellington did not seek to decline it\u2014both had the confidence\nof their soldiers\u2014and both, as to numbers, might be said to be on an\nequality. When I speak of \u201cnumbers\u201d I include the Portuguese troops.\nMilitary men know what was the _real_ value of these soldiers! At two\no\u2019clock in the afternoon Marmont was the aggressor; he held the higher\nhand; yet at four, in two short hours afterwards, the relative situation\nof both was altogether changed. The natural question will be\u2014How was\nthis? It occurred just as I am about to describe.\nThe two armies took their ground under the impression that the French\nwould attack, the British defend. All this was plain; but Marmont had no\nsooner mounted his horse and taken a survey of the field of battle than\nhe conceived the idea\u2014like Melas at Marengo\u2014of extending his line; by\nmarching his 7th Division to his left he might cause an alarm in the\nbreast of the British General for the safety of his communication with\nthe Rodrigo road, and in a manner circumvent his position. Lord\nWellington, at a glance, saw all that was passing in the mind of his\nantagonist\u2014he saw the error he had committed; and calculating that his\n3rd Division (distant but three-quarters of a league from the French\n4th) would reach them before the 7th French Division could retrace their\nsteps and be in a position fitted for fighting, he decided upon\nattacking the left, before this division, commanded by Thomi\u00e8res, could\nregain its ground, or at all events be in an efficient state to resist\nthe attack of his invincible Old Third. The result proved the soundness\nof the calculation, because, although Thomi\u00e8res got into his place in\nthe fight, he did so before his men had foreseen or expected it, and\ntheir total overthrow was in itself sufficient to cause the loss of this\ngreat battle.\nThe 3rd Division had but just resumed their arms when Lord Wellington,\nat the head of his staff, appeared amongst them. The officers had not\ntaken their places in the column, but were in a group together in front\nof it. As Lord Wellington rode up to Pakenham every eye was turned\ntowards him. He looked paler than usual, but notwithstanding the sudden\nchange he had just made in the disposition of his army, he was quite\nunruffled in his manner, and as calm as if the battle about to be fought\nwas nothing more than an ordinary assemblage of the troops for a\nfield-day. His words were few and his orders brief. Tapping Pakenham on\nthe shoulder, he said, \u201cEdward, move on with the 3rd Division\u2014take the\nheights in your front\u2014and drive everything before you,\u201d\u2014\u201cI will, my\nlord,\u201d was the laconic reply of the gallant Sir Edward.[29] Lord\nWellington galloped on to the next division, gave, I suppose, orders to\nthe same effect, and in less than half an hour the battle commenced.\nFootnote 29:\n Grattan evidently discredits Londonderry\u2019s story that when starting\n Pakenham cried to his brother-in-law, \u201cGive me one grasp of that\n conquering hand before I go\u201d\u2014a tale not much in consonance with the\n character of either of the two men.\nThe British divisions were scarcely in line when fifty pieces of\nartillery crowned the ridge occupied by the French. A heavy fire was\nsoon opened from this park at half range, and as the 4th and 5th\nDivisions advanced they were assailed by a very formidable fire; but as\nyet the French infantry, posted behind the ridge, were not visible.\nCole\u2019s troops advanced to the left of the Arapilles height, while Pack,\nwith his brigade of Portuguese, two thousand strong, pressed onward to\nattain it. The 5th Division, under Leith, advanced by the right of\nCole\u2019s troops; and at this moment the French 7th Division were seen\nhurrying back to occupy the ground they had so short a time before\nquitted, while the 3rd and 4th French Divisions were arranging\nthemselves to receive the attack of Cole and Leith.\nWhen all was in readiness Pakenham departed at the head of ten\nbattalions[30] and two brigades of guns, to force the left of the enemy.\nThree battalions, the 45th, 74th, and 88th, under Colonel Alexander\nWallace of the 88th, composed the first line; the 9th and 21st\nPortuguese of the line, under the Portuguese colonel, De Champlemond,\nformed the second line; while two battalions of the 5th, the 77th, 83rd,\nand 94th British, under the command of Colonel Campbell, were in\nreserve. Such was the disposition of the 3rd Division. In addition,\nGeneral D\u2018Urban, with six Portuguese squadrons, had orders to make head\nagainst Boyer\u2019s dragoons; and that the 3rd Division might not be\nmolested in its operation, Le Marchant\u2019s three regiments of heavy\ncavalry were placed in reserve in the rear of it. It now only remains to\nrelate what actually happened.\nFootnote 30:\n It should rather be _twelve_ battalions, as each Portuguese regiment\n was composed of two weak battalions.\nNo sooner was Pakenham in motion towards the heights than the ridge he\nwas about to assail was crowned with twenty pieces of cannon, while in\nthe rear of this battery was seen Thomi\u00e8res' division endeavouring to\nregain its place in the combat. A flat space, one thousand yards in\nbreadth, was to be crossed before Pakenham could reach the heights. The\nFrench batteries opened a heavy fire, while our two brigades of\nartillery, commanded by Captain Douglas, posted on a rising ground\nbehind the 3rd Division, replied to them with much warmth. Pakenham\u2019s\nmen might thus be said to be within two fires\u2014that of their own guns\nfiring over their heads, while the French balls passed through their\nranks, ploughing up the ground in every direction; but the veteran\ntroops which composed the 3rd Division were not to be shaken even by\nthis.\nWallace\u2019s three regiments advanced in open column until within two\nhundred and fifty yards of the ridge held by the French infantry.\nThomi\u00e8res' column, five thousand strong, had by this time reached their\nground, while in their front the face of the hill had been hastily\ngarnished with _tirailleurs_. All were impatient to engage, and the calm\nbut stern advance of Wallace\u2019s brigade was received with beating of\ndrums and loud cheers from the French, whose light troops, hoping to\ntake advantage of the time which the deploying from column into line\nwould take, ran down the face of the hill in a state of great\nexcitement; but Pakenham, who was naturally of a boiling spirit and\nhasty temper, was on this day perfectly cool. He told Wallace to form\nline from open column without halting, and thus the different companies,\nby throwing forward their right shoulders, were in line without the slow\nman\u0153uvre of a deployment. Astonished at the rapidity of the movement,\nthe French riflemen commenced an irregular and hurried fire, and even at\nthis early stage of the battle a looker-on could, from the difference in\nthe demeanour of the troops of the two nations, form a tolerably correct\nopinion of what would be the result.\nRegardless of the fire of the _tirailleurs_, and the showers of grape\nand canister, Pakenham, at the head of Wallace\u2019s brigade, continued to\npress onward; his centre suffered, but still advanced; his left and\nright being less oppressed by the weight of the fire, continued to\nadvance at a more rapid pace, and as his wings inclined forward and\noutstripped the centre, the brigade assumed the form of a crescent. The\nman\u0153uvre was a bold, as well as a novel one, and the appearance of\nthe brigade imposing and unique, because it so happened that all the\nBritish officers were in front of their men\u2014a rare occurrence. The\nFrench officers were also in front; but their relative duties were\nwidely different: the latter, encouraging their men into the heat of the\nbattle; the former keeping their devoted soldiers back!\u2014what a splendid\nnational contrast! Amongst the mounted officers were Sir Edward Pakenham\nand his staff, Wallace of the 88th, commanding the brigade, and his\ngallant aide-de-camp, Mackie (at last a Captain\u2014in his regular turn!),\nMajors Murphy and Seton of the 88th, Colonels Forbes and Greenwell of\nthe 45th, Colonel Trench of the 74th, and several others whose names I\ncannot now remember.\nIn spite of the fire of Thomi\u00e8res' _tirailleurs_, they continued at the\nhead of the right brigade, while the soldiers, with their firelocks on\nthe rest, followed close upon the heels of their officers, like troops\naccustomed to conquer. They speedily got footing upon the brow of the\nhill, but before they had time to take breath, the entire French\ndivision, with drums beating and uttering loud shouts, ran forward to\nmeet them, and belching forth a torrent of bullets from five thousand\nmuskets, brought down almost the entire of Wallace\u2019s first rank, and\nmore than half of his officers. The brigade staggered back from the\nforce of the shock, but before the smoke had altogether cleared away,\nWallace, looking full in the faces of his soldiers, pointed to the\nFrench column, and leading the shattered brigade up the hill, without a\nmoment\u2019s hesitation, brought them face to face before the French had\ntime to witness the terrible effect of their murderous fire.\nAstounded by the unshaken determination of Wallace\u2019s soldiers,\nThomi\u00e8res' division wavered; nevertheless they opened a heavy discharge\nof musketry, but it was unlike the former,\u2014it was irregular and\nill-directed, the men acted without concert or method, and many fired in\nthe air. At length their fire ceased altogether, and the three\nregiments, for the first time, cheered! The effect was electric;\nThomi\u00e8res' troops were seized with a panic, and as Wallace closed upon\nthem, his men could distinctly remark their bearing. Their mustachioed\nfaces, one and all, presented the same ghastly hue, a horrid family\nlikeness throughout; and as they stood to receive the shock they were\nabout to be assailed with, they reeled to and fro like men intoxicated.\nThe French officers did all that was possible, by voice, gesture, and\nexample, to rouse their men to a proper sense of their situation, but in\nvain. One, the colonel of the leading regiment (the 22nd), seizing a\nfirelock, and beckoning to his men to follow, ran forward a few paces\nand shot Major Murphy dead in front of the 88th. However, his career\nsoon closed: a bullet, the first that had been fired from our ranks,\npierced his head; he flung up his arms, fell forward, and expired.\nThe brigade, which till this time cheerfully bore up against the heavy\nfire they had been exposed to without returning a shot, were now\nimpatient, and the 88th greatly excited; for Murphy, dead and bleeding,\nwith one foot hanging in the stirrup-iron, was dragged by his affrighted\nhorse along the front of his regiment. The soldiers became exasperated,\nand asked to be let forward. Pakenham, seeing that the proper moment had\narrived, called out to Wallace \u201cto let them loose.\u201d The three regiments\nran onward, and the mighty phalanx, which but a moment before was so\nformidable, loosened and fell in pieces before fifteen hundred\ninvincible British soldiers fighting in a line of only two deep.\nWallace, seeing the terrible confusion that prevailed in the enemy\u2019s\ncolumn, pressed on with his brigade, calling to his soldiers \u201cto push on\nto the muzzle.\u201d A vast number were killed in this charge of bayonets,\nbut the men, wearied by their exertions, the intolerable heat of the\nweather, and famishing from thirst, were nearly run to a standstill.\nImmediately on our left, the 5th Division were discharging volleys\nagainst the French 4th; and Park\u2019s brigade could be seen mounting the\nArapilles height. But disregarding everything except the complete\ndestruction of the column before him, Pakenham followed it with the\nbrigade of Wallace, supported by the reserves of his division. The\nbattle at this point would have been decided on the moment, had the\nheavy horse, under Le Marchant, been near enough to sustain him. The\nconfusion of the enemy was so great, that they were mixed pell-mell\ntogether without any regard to order or regularity; and it was manifest\nthat nothing short of a miracle could save Thomi\u00e8res from total\ndestruction. Sir Edward continued to press on at the head of Wallace\u2019s\nbrigade, but the French outran him. Had Le Marchant been aware of this\nstate of the combat, or been near enough to profit by it, Pakenham would\nhave settled the business by six o\u2019clock instead of seven. An hour at\nany time, during a battle, is a serious lapse of time; but in this\naction every minute was of vital import. Day was rapidly drawing to a\nclose; the Tormes was close behind the army of Marmont; ruin stared him\nin the face; in a word, his left wing was doubled up\u2014lost; and Pakenham\ncould have turned to the support of the 4th and 5th Divisions had our\ncavalry been on the spot ready to back Wallace at the moment he broke\nThomi\u00e8res' column. This, beyond doubt, was the moment by which to\nprofit, that the enemy might not have time to recollect himself; but\nwhile Le Marchant was preparing to take a part in the combat, Thomi\u00e8res,\nwith admirable presence of mind, remedied the terrible confusion of his\ndivision, and calling up a fresh brigade to his support, once more led\nhis men into the fight, assumed the offensive,[31] and Pakenham was now\nabout to be assailed in turn. This was the most critical moment of the\nbattle at this point. Boyer\u2019s horsemen stood before us, inclining\ntowards our right, which was flanked by two squadrons of the 14th\nDragoons and two regiments of Portuguese cavalry; but we had little\ndependence on the Portuguese, and it behoved us to look to ourselves.\nFootnote 31:\n It was Maucune\u2019s division; Thomi\u00e8res had been killed by now, and his\n regiments entirely scattered.\nLed on by the ardour of conquest, we had followed the column until we at\nlength found ourselves in an open plain, intersected with cork-trees,\nopposed by a multitude who, reinforced, again rallied and turned upon us\nwith fury. Pakenham and Wallace rode along the line from wing to wing,\nalmost from rank to rank, and fulfilled the functions of adjutants, in\nassisting the officers to reorganise the tellings-off of their men for\nsquare. Meanwhile the first battalion of the 5th drove back some\nsquadrons of Boyer\u2019s dragoons; the other six regiments were fast\napproaching the point held by Wallace, but the attitude of the French\ncavalry in our front and upon our right flank caused some uneasiness.\nThe peals of musketry along the centre still continued without\nintermission; the smoke was so thick that nothing to our left was\ndistinguishable; some men of the 5th Division got intermingled with\nours; the dry grass was set on fire by the numerous cartridge-papers\nthat strewed the field of battle; the air was scorching; and the smoke,\nrolling onward in huge volumes, nearly suffocated us. A loud cheering\nwas heard in our rear; the brigade half turned round, supposing\nthemselves about to be attacked by the French cavalry. Wallace called\nout to his men to mind the tellings-off for square. A few seconds\npassed, the trampling of horses was heard, the smoke cleared away, and\nthe heavy brigade of Le Marchant[32] was seen coming forward in line at\na canter. \u201cOpen right and left\u201d was an order quickly obeyed; the line\nopened, the cavalry passed through the intervals, and, forming rapidly\nin our front, prepared for their work.\nFootnote 32:\n 5th Dragoon Guards and 3rd and 4th Dragoons.\nThe French column, which a moment before held so imposing an attitude,\nbecame startled at this unexpected sight. A victorious and\nhighly-excited infantry pressing close upon them, a splendid brigade of\nthree regiments of cavalry ready to burst through their ill-arranged and\nbeaten column, while no appearance of succour was at hand to protect\nthem, was enough to appal the boldest intrepidity. The plain was filled\nwith the vast multitude; retreat was impossible; and the troopers came\nstill pouring in to join their comrades, already prepared for the\nattack. Hastily, yet with much regularity, all things considered, they\nattempted to get into square; but Le Marchant\u2019s brigade galloped forward\nbefore the evolution was half completed. The column hesitated, wavered,\ntottered, and then stood still! The motion of the countless bayonets as\nthey clashed together might be likened to a forest about to be assailed\nby a tempest, whose first warnings announce the ravage it is about to\ninflict. Thomi\u00e8res' division[33] vomited forth a dreadful volley of fire\nas the horsemen thundered across the flat! Le Marchant was killed, and\nfell downright in the midst of the French bayonets; but his brigade\npierced through the vast mass, killing or trampling down all before\nthem. The conflict was severe, and the troopers fell thick and fast; but\ntheir long heavy swords cut through bone as well as flesh. The groans of\nthe dying, the cries of the wounded, the roar of the cannon, and the\npiteous moans of the mangled horses, as they ran away affrighted from\nthe terrible scene, or lay with shattered limbs, unable to move, in the\nmidst of the burning grass, was enough to unman men not placed as we\nwere; but upon us it had a different effect, and our cheers were heard\nfar from the spot where this fearful scene was acting.\nFootnote 33:\n It should rather be Maucune\u2019s.\nSuch as got away from the sabres of the horsemen sought safety amongst\nthe ranks of our infantry, and scrambling under the horses, ran to us\nfor protection\u2014like men who, having escaped the first shock of a wreck,\nwill cling to any broken spar, no matter how little to be depended upon.\nHundreds of beings, frightfully disfigured, in whom the human face and\nform were almost obliterated\u2014black with dust, worn down with fatigue,\nand covered with sabre-cuts and blood\u2014threw themselves amongst us for\nsafety. Not a man was bayoneted\u2014not one even molested or plundered; and\nthe invincible old 3rd Division on this day surpassed themselves, for\nthey not only defeated their terrible enemies in a fair stand-up fight,\nbut actually covered their retreat, and protected them at a moment when,\nwithout such aid, their total annihilation was certain. Under similar\ncircumstances would the French have acted so? I fear not. The men who\nmurdered Ponsonby at Waterloo, when he was alone and unprotected, would\nhave shown but little courtesy to the 3rd Division, placed in a similar\nway.\nNine pieces of artillery, two eagles, and five thousand prisoners were\ncaptured at this point; still the battle raged with unabated fury on our\nleft, immediately in front of the 5th Division. Leith fell wounded as he\nled on his men, but his division carried the point in dispute, and drove\nthe enemy before them up the hill.\nWhile those events were taking place on the right, the 4th Division,\nwhich formed the centre of the army, met with a serious opposition. The\nmore distant Arapilles, occupied by the French 122nd, whose numbers did\nnot count more than four hundred,[34] supported by a few pieces of\ncannon, was left to the Portuguese brigade of General Pack, amounting to\ntwo thousand bayonets. With fatal, though well-founded reliance\u2014their\nformer, conduct taken into the scale\u2014Cole\u2019s division advanced into the\nplain, confident that all was right with Pack\u2019s troops, and a terrible\nstruggle between them and Bonnet\u2019s corps took place. It was, however,\nbut of short duration. Bonnet\u2019s soldiers were driven back in confusion,\nand up to this moment all had gone on well. The three British divisions\nengaged overthrew every obstacle, and the battle might be said to be\nwon, had Pack\u2019s formidable brigade\u2014formidable in numbers at\nleast\u2014fulfilled their part; but these men totally failed in their effort\nto take the height occupied only by a few hundred Frenchmen, and thus\ngave the park of artillery that was posted with them full liberty to\nturn its efforts against the rear and flank of Cole\u2019s soldiers. Nothing\ncould be worse than the state in which the 4th Division was now placed;\nand the battle, which ought to have been, and had been in a manner, won,\nwas still in doubt.\nFootnote 34:\n This is unfair to the Portuguese; the 122nd had 1000 bayonets.\nBonnet, seeing the turn which Pack\u2019s failure had wrought in his favour,\nre-formed his men, and advanced against Cole, while the fire from the\nbattery and small arms on the Arapilles height completed the confusion.\nCole fell wounded; half of his division were cut off, the remainder in\nfull retreat; and Bonnet\u2019s troops, pressing on in a compact body, made\nit manifest that a material change had taken place in the battle, and\nthat ere it was gained some ugly uphill work was yet to be done.\nMarshal Beresford, who arrived at the moment, galloped up at the head of\na brigade of the 5th Division, which he took out of the second line, and\nfor a moment covered the retreat of Cole\u2019s troops; but this\nforce\u2014composed of Portuguese\u2014was insufficient to arrest the progress of\nthe enemy, who advanced in the full confidence of an assured victory;\nand at this critical moment Beresford was carried off the field wounded.\nBonnet\u2019s troops advanced, loudly cheering, while the entire of Cole\u2019s\ndivision and Spry\u2019s brigade of Portuguese were routed. Our centre was\nthus endangered. Boyer\u2019s dragoons, after the overthrow of the French\nleft, countermarched and moved rapidly to the support of Bonnet; they\nwere close in the track of his infantry; and the fate of the battle was\nstill uncertain. The fugitives of the 7th and 4th French Divisions ran\nto the succour of Bonnet, and by the time they had joined him his force\nhad indeed assumed a formidable aspect; and thus reinforced, it stood in\nan attitude far different from what it would have done had Pack\u2019s\nbrigade succeeded in its attack.\nLord Wellington, who saw what had taken place by the failure of Pack\u2019s\ntroops, ordered up the 6th Division to the support of the 4th; and the\nbattle, although it was half-past eight o\u2019clock at night, recommenced\nwith the same fury as at the onset.\nClinton\u2019s division, consisting of six thousand bayonets, rapidly\nadvanced to assert its place in the combat, and to relieve the 4th from\nthe awkward predicament in which it was placed; they essayed to gain\nwhat was lost by the failure of Pack\u2019s troops in their feeble effort to\nwrest the Arapilles height from a few brave Frenchmen; but they were\nreceived by Bonnet\u2019s troops at the point of the bayonet, and the fire\nopened against them seemed to be threefold more heavy than that\nsustained by the 3rd and 5th Divisions. It was nearly dark; and the\ngreat glare of light caused by the thunder of the artillery, the\ncontinued blaze of the musketry, and the burning grass, gave to the face\nof the hill a novel and terrific appearance: it was one vast sheet of\nflame, and Clinton\u2019s men looked as if they were attacking a burning\nmountain, the crater of which was defended by a barrier of shining\nsteel. But nothing could stop the intrepid valour of the 6th Division,\nas they advanced with a desperate resolution to carry the hill. The\ntroops posted on the face of it to arrest their advance were trampled\ndown and destroyed at the first charge, and each reserve sent forward to\nextricate them met with the same fate. Still Bonnet\u2019s reserves, having\nattained their place in the fight, and the fugitives from Thomi\u00e8res'\ndivision joining them at the moment, prolonged the battle until dark.\nThose men, besmeared with blood, dust, and clay, half naked, and some\ncarrying only broken weapons, fought with a fury not to be surpassed;\nbut their impetuosity was at length calmed by the bayonets of Clinton\u2019s\ntroops, and they no longer fought for victory but for safety. After a\nfrightful struggle, they were driven from their last hold in confusion;\nand a general and overwhelming charge, which the nature of the ground\nenabled Clinton to make, carried this ill-formed mass of desperate\nsoldiers before him, as a shattered wreck borne along by the force of\nsome mighty current.\nThe mingled mass of fugitives fled to the woods and to the river for\nsafety, and under cover of the night succeeded in gaining the pass of\nAlba over the Tormes. It was now ten o\u2019clock at night: the battle was\nended. At this point it had been confined to a small space, and the\nground, trampled and stained deep, gave ample evidence of the havoc that\nhad taken place. Lord Wellington, overcome as he was with fatigue,\nplaced himself at the head of the 1st and Light Divisions and a brigade\nof cavalry, and following closely the retreating footsteps of the enemy,\nwith those troops who had not fired a shot during the conflict, left the\nremnant of his victorious army to sleep upon the field of battle they\nhad so hardly won.[35]\nFootnote 35:\n The reader will note a considerable number of echoes from Napier in\n this interesting and well-written chapter. But the narrative differs\n in many points from that of Napier, especially as to the sequence of\n events in that part of the field where the 88th served\u2014notably as to\n the moment at which Le Marchant\u2019s dragoons charged. Grattan, being an\n eye-witness, is probably nearer the truth than Napier, who was on the\n other wing in the ranks of the Light Division. On the other hand, he\n makes some slips, especially in stating that Pakenham\u2019s _second_\n assault was made upon Thomi\u00e8res' division instead of Maucune\u2019s.\nImportance of the battle of Salamanca\u2014Anecdotes of the 88th\u2014Gallantry of\n Captain Robert Nickle\u2014Pursuit of the defeated army of Marshal\n Marmont\u2014French infantry in square broken and destroyed by\n cavalry\u2014March on Madrid\u2014Frolics at St. Ildefonso\u2014Sudden attack of\n the French Lancers\u2014Disgraceful conduct of the Portuguese Dragoons.\nNo battle since that of Marengo, in 1800, which opened the gates of\nVienna to the first Consul of France, had been fought whose consequences\nought to be more duly appreciated than the battle of Salamanca.\nHad that battle been lost, the disasters of the French army before\nMoscow would have been of little account in the scale of the south, and\nthe imperial eagles would have soared with the same splendour, from\nMadrid to Cadiz, or perhaps to Lisbon, as if no event of importance had\noccurred beyond the Vistula. Portugal would have been then open to\ninvasion\u2014the siege of Cadiz continued\u2014the lines of Lisbon once more\ninvested\u2014and what then?\u2014why, the probable withdrawal of the British army\nfrom the Peninsula. Portugal would be thus conquered\u2014Spain laid\nprostrate\u2014England in utter dismay\u2014and one hundred and fifty thousand\nveteran French troops marched across the Pyrenees to take a part in the\ncombats of Lutzen and Leipsic. These would have been the results of a\ndefeat at Salamanca; and who is the man bold enough to say what the\nresults in the north of Europe would have been, had such an augmentation\nof force\u2014which would have been certain\u2014joined Napoleon in the end of\n1812, or even in the spring of 1813? As it was, he gained the battle of\nLutzen with a \u201cgreen army.\u201d Had he been backed by one hundred and fifty\nthousand veteran troops from Spain, it requires no conjuror to tell what\nthe upshot would have been. These are the consequences which would have\nfollowed a defeat at Salamanca. The gaining that battle placed matters\non a different footing. Portugal had nothing to dread\u2014Soult was forced\nto raise the siege of Cadiz\u2014Madrid was evacuated, and Castille and\nAndalusia were freed from the presence of a French force; but, above\nall, no reinforcement of any account durst leave Spain to succour the\nFrench army in the north of Europe; and the European struggle was\nbrought to a favourable result, and England saved from invasion\u2014perhaps\nultimate conquest! But those services of the Peninsular army are\nforgotten, and unrewarded.\nAt ten o\u2019clock at night, Lord Wellington at the head of twelve thousand\ninfantry, and two thousand horsemen, was in pursuit of the routed and\ndiscomfited army of Marmont, while the bulk of his own soldiers lay on\nthe field of battle. The results of that battle were\u2014prisoners, one\nhundred and thirty officers, seven thousand five hundred men, two\neagles, and fourteen guns. The field of battle was heaped with the\nslain, and the total loss of the enemy may be estimated at seventeen\nthousand: it has been reckoned by some writers as exceeding twenty\nthousand; but I apprehend I am nearer the mark, and that seventeen\nthousand was the outside. The dead and wounded on the side of the\nBritish and Portuguese (for the Spanish army, commanded by Don Carlos de\nEspa\u00f1a, lost _four men_!) were nearly five thousand; but the greater\nnumber of the Portuguese either fell in their feeble attempt against the\nArapilles height, or by the shot that passed over the first line,\ncomposed of British, which fell at random amongst the Portuguese placed\nin the rear.\nThe troops that had gained the victory lay buried in sleep until two\no\u2019clock of the morning following, when the arrival of the mules carrying\nrum aroused them from their slumber, but the parties sent out in search\nof water had not yet reached the field. The soldiers, with parching\nlips, their tongues cleaving to their mouths from thirst, their limbs\nbenumbed with cold, and their bodies enfeebled by a long abstinence from\nfood, and the exertion of the former day, ran to the casks, and each man\ndrank a fearful quantity. This for a short time satisfied them, but a\nburning thirst followed this rash proceeding, and before any water\narrived, we were more in need of it than at the close of the battle.\nThe inhabitants of Salamanca, who had a clear view of what was passing,\nhastened to the spot, to afford all the relief in their power. Several\ncars, most of them loaded with provisions, reached the field of battle\nbefore morning; and it is but due to those people to state, that their\nattentions were unremitting, and of the most disinterested kind, for\nthey sought no emolument.\nThey brought fruit, and even quantities of water, well knowing how\ndistant the river was from us, and how scantily the countryside around\nwas provided with so necessary a relief to men who had not tasted a drop\nfor so many hours, under a burning sun, and oppressed with the fatigue\nthey had endured during the fight.\nDuring the battle there were many circumstances which, if related in\ntheir places, at the period they occurred, would have broken in upon the\nnarrative, but may be told with more propriety now.\nWhen the 3rd Division under Pakenham had crossed the flat, and were\nmoving against the crest of the hill occupied by Thomi\u00e8res'\n_tirailleurs_, a number of _Ca\u00e7adores_ commanded by Major Haddock were\nin advance of us. The moment the French fire opened, these troops, which\nhad been placed to cover our advance, lay down on their faces, not for\nthe purpose of taking aim with more accuracy, but in order to save their\nown sconces from the French fire. Haddock dismounted from his horse and\nbegan belabouring with the flat side of his sabre the dastardly troops\nhe had the misfortune to command, but in vain; all sense of shame had\nfled after the first discharge of grape and musketry, and poor Haddock\nmight as well have attempted to move the great cathedral of Salamanca as\nthe soldiers of his Majesty the King of Portugal.\nAt the time the Colonel of the 22nd French Regiment stepped out of the\nranks and shot Major Murphy dead at the head of his regiment, the 88th,\na number of officers were beside Murphy. It is not easy at such a moment\nto be certain who is the person singled out. The two officers who\ncarried the colours of the regiment, and who were immediately in the\nrear of the mounted officers, thought that the shot was intended for\neither of them. Lieutenant Moriarty, carrying the regimental flag,\ncalled out, \u201cThat fellow is aiming at me!\u201d\u2014\u201cI hope so,\u201d replied\nLieutenant D\u2018Arcy, who carried the other colour, with great coolness\u2014\u201cI\nhope so, for I thought he had _me_ covered.\u201d He was not much mistaken:\nthe ball that killed Murphy, after passing through him, struck the staff\nof the flag carried by D\u2018Arcy, and also carried away the button and part\nof the strap of his epaulette! This fact is not told as an extraordinary\noccurrence, that the ball which killed one man should strike the coat of\nhim who happened to stand in his rear, for such casualties were by no\nmeans uncommon with us; but I mention it as a strong proof of the great\ncoolness of the British line in their advance against the enemy\u2019s\ncolumn.\nWhen the cavalry of Le Marchant passed through Wallace\u2019s brigade, in\ntheir advance against Thomi\u00e8res' column, Captain William Mackie of the\n88th, the discountenanced leader of the forlorn hope at Rodrigo, who\nacted as aide-de-camp to Colonel Alexander Wallace, was missing. In the\nconfusion that prevailed it was thought he had fallen. No one could give\nany account of him; but in a short lapse of time, after the cavalry had\ncharged, he returned covered with dust and blood, his horse tottering\nfrom fatigue, and nothing left of his sabre\u2014but the hilt! He joined the\ncavalry so soon as the fighting amongst the infantry had ceased, and\nthose who knew the temperament of the man were not surprised at it:\nwherever glory and danger were to be met, there was Mackie to be found,\nand nothing\u2014not even the chilling slights he had experienced\u2014could damp\nhis daring spirit.\nAt the first dawn of the morning of the 23rd of July Lord Wellington\ncontinued the pursuit of the defeated army of Marmont. He placed himself\nat the head of the Light Division, which opened the march, followed by\nthe heavy German cavalry under General Bock, and Anson\u2019s brigade of\nlight horse. Those two superb brigades of dragoons had only joined the\narmy the night before. The 1st Division of infantry, composed of the\nGuards and German Legion, followed the cavalry, and Lord Wellington, at\nthe head of thirteen thousand men that had not pulled a trigger, or\nunsheathed a sabre in the battle, followed the enemy\u2019s track; but the\nretreat was so quick that Marmont\u2019s headquarters were thirty miles from\nSalamanca the day after the battle. Nevertheless, the corps that covered\nthe retreat, consisting of three battalions of infantry and five\nregiments of cavalry, were overtaken near the village of La Serna. The\ninfantry formed themselves into three squares, the cavalry were posted\non the flanks for its support, but the panic with which all were\ninfected by the defeat of the preceding day had taken such a fast hold\nof them, that the French horse in advance could not be prevailed upon to\nshow a front. This threw those that were at hand to support them into\ndisorder; confusion was communicated to the remainder, and the field of\nbattle was precipitately abandoned by the cavalry, who, in the most\nunaccountable manner, left their companions, the infantry, to their\nfate.\nThe cavalry having thus fled, Bock, with his German horse, galloped at\nthe squares, and breaking through, slew or took prisoners the entire;\nand the contest ended in one dreadful massacre of the French infantry.\nNevertheless, many of the troopers fell; for one regiment in particular,\nthe 105th French, bravely stood their ground, but the ponderous weight\nof the heavy cavalry broke down all resistance; and arms lopped off,\nheads cloven to the spine, or gashes across the breast and shoulders,\nshowed to those who afterwards passed the spot the fearful encounter\nthat had taken place; and from this moment nothing more of the army of\nPortugal was to be seen.\nThe overthrow of the rear-guard which covered the flight of the army of\nthe Duke of Ragusa, and the rapid manner in which Clausel made good his\nretreat from the heights of La Serna, where that army for the last time\nmade any show of a stand against the British troops that had defeated it\non the plains of Salamanca, finished the campaign, so far, at least, as\nregarded the army of Portugal.\nThe leading regiments followed the enemy\u2019s track as far as Flores de\nAvila, which town, distant ten leagues from Salamanca, had been\nevacuated by them two days after the battle. The cavalry and artillery\nof the northern army met them on their retreat near Arevalo; but\nnothing\u2014not even this reinforcement\u2014could inspire them with confidence;\nand the mass of fugitives hastily followed the road leading to\nValladolid. The good generalship displayed by Clausel, and the steady\nfront he showed when in the presence of a victorious army, raised him\nconsiderably, and justly so, in the estimation of his own troops; but\nall his skill would have been of no avail had the battle not been\nunavoidably prolonged until dark.\nThe march of the British army continued without interruption. Those\ndivisions which followed the enemy were enthusiastically welcomed as\nthey passed through the different towns and villages on the Valladolid\nroad; the inhabitants met us in vast numbers with a supply of wine,\nfruit, bread, and vegetables, which were all bought up by the soldiers.\nArrived at Valladolid, and finding himself as far as ever from being\nable to overtake the army of Marmont, Lord Wellington made a full stop.\nGiving the troops one day\u2019s rest for the purpose of allowing the\nstragglers to come up, he, on the 1st of August, turned off abruptly\ntowards the grand Madrid road; while Hill, with the second corps,\nreached Zafra.\nMarmont being thus disposed of for the present, and Lord Wellington\nhaving formed the resolution of marching to the Spanish capital, every\nroad leading to it was occupied, and thronged by cavalry, infantry, and\nartillery, baggage and commissariat mules, stores of all descriptions,\nthe reserve park guns, and the followers of the camp, such as sutlers,\nPortuguese servants, and women who followed the soldiers. These, when\nassembled together, formed one vast mass of between sixty thousand and\nseventy thousand souls. The sight was an imposing one; the weather was\nbeautifully fine, and the advance of the army as it moved onward towards\nthe capital was one scene of uninterrupted rejoicing. Never was the\ngeneral feeling in Spain so much in favour of the British nation, the\nBritish army, and the Hero who commanded it, as on the present occasion.\nThe news of the great victory gained by the British army only a few days\nbefore, under the walls of Salamanca, which was witnessed by thousands\nupon thousands of Spaniards, was spread afar; and the different routes\nwhich the army traversed were crowded almost to suffocation by the\nSpanish people, who vied with each other to gain a passing view of the\nmen who had so distinguished themselves, and to supply them with every\nassistance in their power. Every face was cheerful; and at the\ntermination of each day\u2019s march, our bivouacs, or the villages we\noccupied, were crowded with Spanish girls and young men, who either\nbrought wine, lemonade, or fruit; the evening was wound up by boleros\nand fandangos; and, in short, our march to Madrid more resembled a\ntriumphal procession\u2014which, in point of fact, it really was\u2014than the\nordinary advance of an army prepared for battle.\nMeanwhile King Joseph hastily endeavoured to make arrangements to stop\nthe torrent which threatened his capital. He had advanced upon Blasco\nSancho on the 25th of July; but there, hearing of the fate that had\nbefallen his favourite general at Salamanca, he retraced his steps, and\ngaining the passes of the Guadarama, retired towards the palace of the\nEscurial. He collected all the disposable force that could be taken from\nthe capital; but his army, chiefly composed of _Juramentados_ (Spaniards\nthat entered into King Joseph\u2019s service), counted not quite fifteen\nthousand bayonets and sabres\u2014a force as to number, without taking into\naccount its _morale_, not of that formidableness very likely to\ndisconcert the grand designs of Lord Wellington. In short, the army\ncontinued its march towards the Spanish capital without molestation. On\nthe 6th of August the headquarters were at Cuellar; on the 7th, at the\nancient town of Segovia, so celebrated in Spanish romance; and on the\n8th the divisions destined to march upon Madrid were concentrated at St.\nIldefonso.\nSt. Ildefonso is beautifully situated. The magnificent waterworks, the\nelegant taste with which the gardens and pleasure-grounds are laid out,\nand the vast concourse of people who thronged them on the day of our\narrival, gave to it the appearance, in our eyes at least, of the most\nenchanting spot on the face of the globe. At each of the principal\nwalks, bands of music played inspiring airs; and at half-past six in the\nevening the waterworks were in full play. These works, situated at the\nbase of a lofty blue mountain, cast up water to an immense height; and\none in particular seemed to us to be much superior to anything we\nafterwards witnessed at either Versailles or St. Cloud. To me it\ncertainly seems so; but I, in common with many others, may be wrong;\nfor, in truth, we were so charmed with the novelty of the scene we then\nwitnessed, and the vast contrast it presented to the scenes we had for\nsuch a length of time not only witnessed, but taken an active part in,\nthat all due allowance ought to be made\u2014if we are wrong\u2014for our\nprepossession in favour of this spot.\nAt eight o\u2019clock Lord Wellington, surrounded by a number of generals of\ndifferent nations, a splendid staff, and many grandees of Spain, entered\nthe gardens. All the bands, at one and the same moment, played \u201cSee the\nConquering Hero comes,\u201d the singers joined in chorus, and the vast\nmultitude rent the air with acclamations. The females, disregarding all\nform or etiquette, broke through the crowd to get a nearer view of his\nLordship, and many embraced him as he passed down the different alleys\nof the gardens. The groups of singers continued to sing; this was\nsucceeded by bolero-dancing, fandango-dancing, and waltzing; and all was\nwound up by one of the most intoxicating and delightful nights of\npleasure that we had ever witnessed, and, if I mistake not greatly, that\nwas ever acted on the same spot. It was late before we retired to\nrest\u2014and indeed we had need of repose: our minds as well as bodies\nrequired it; and when the shrill note of the bugle the following morning\n(for that matter it was the same morning) aroused us from our sleep, all\nthat had passed seemed but as a dream.\nThe causeway leading to Madrid is broad and well arranged; as we reached\neach league-stone we counted with anxiety the distance we had yet to\npace ere we arrived at the capital of Spain. The mountains which\noverhang the Guadarama passes are bold and lofty; these passes, easy of\ndefence, and requiring but a small force, were abandoned without a\nmusket-shot being fired for their protection; and, in fine, on the 11th,\nLord Wellington was near the village of Majadahonda, distant but one\nmarch from the capital. Thirty thousand infantry were encamped half a\nleague in its rear; the different brigades of horse and artillery\nattached to the infantry were at hand\u2014in short, all was in readiness;\nbut the advanced guard of cavalry, unfortunately entrusted to the\nbrigade of Portuguese of D\u2018Urban, was in front of all. Behind them, at\nthe distance of a mile, were the two regiments of heavy German horse,\nwhile the splendid troop of horse artillery, commanded by Captain\nMacdonald, was ready to support D\u2018Urban.\nThe greatest part of the day had passed over without any event taking\nplace between the advanced posts; some slight skirmishing between the\nenemy\u2019s lancers and D\u2018Urban\u2019s cavalry left matters as they were at the\ncommencement. The army was preparing its arrangements for the night\u2019s\nrepose and the march of the following day, when the thunder of\nMacdonald\u2019s artillery aroused us in an instant from our occupations. It\nwas soon manifest that the enemy\u2019s advance had attacked the Portuguese\ncavalry; and the vast cloud of dust that came rolling onward towards the\nvillage, where the German horse were placed in reserve, told but too\nplainly that the Portuguese were routed, and the Germans about to be cut\noff. The infantry betook themselves to their arms, and in a few moments\nthe entire were in readiness to march to the scene of action\u2014for so in\nfact it was. The Portuguese dragoons fled at the first onset, without\nwaiting to exchange one sabre-cut with the French; and so rapid was\ntheir flight\u2014for they rode through the village where the reserve of\nGermans were posted to support them\u2014that not more than half of the\nGermans were mounted. Many men thus fell before they could defend\nthemselves, and their Colonel was cut down while in the act of shaving\nhimself; but his brave soldiers, forming themselves together in the best\nmanner the time would admit of, closed with drawn sabres upon the French\nlancers, which turned the stream, broke the mad fury of the attack, and\ndrove back the lancers in confusion.\nUp to this time the combat was one scene of desperation. An irregular\nand furious crowd might be seen mixed together, fighting without order\nor regularity, and from the confusion that prevailed it was not possible\nto see distinctly to which side the victory belonged; but at a distance,\nfar from the scene of action, the burnished helmets of the Portuguese\ntroopers were distinguishable as they fled from the post they had\ndeserted, and from their brave companions, the Germans, whom they left\nto be massacred. The din of arms, the clashing of swords, and the\nthunder of the cannon, mingled with shouts from every side, completed\nthe confusion. In the hurry of the moment some tents belonging to the\n74th Regiment took fire, the flames soon communicated with those of the\nnext regiment, and the camp was enveloped with smoke; but this was soon\novercome; and by the time we approached near the point in dispute, the\nFrench cavalry had been driven off the field, but not before many of the\nGermans had fallen. Two guns of Macdonald\u2019s brigade had also been taken;\nand upon the whole, it was one of the most disgraceful and unlooked-for\nevents that had taken place during the campaign. To be beaten at any\ntime was bad enough, but to be beaten by a handful of lancers, on the\neve of our entering Madrid, almost in view of the city, was worse than\nall. But what caused our defeat\u2014our disgrace\u2014under the eyes of the\npeople of Madrid? The placing undue reliance on the Portuguese troops.\nThe British army approach Madrid\u2014Enthusiastic welcome\u2014Preparations to\n carry by assault the fortress of La China\u2014It surrenders\u2014Description\n of Madrid\u2014The Puerto del Sol\u2014The Prado\u2014Unsociability of English\n officers\u2014Seizure of a Spanish priest\u2014Proved to be a spy in the\n service of the enemy\u2014His execution by the garrotte.\nOrder having been at length restored, and the French pushed back again\nto their former ground, the German horse took the advance, and the night\npassed over quietly; but in the disgraceful encounter, which I have\nrelated in my last chapter, two guns of Macdonald\u2019s troop, which were\nupset during the clamour, fell for a time into the enemy\u2019s hands.\nAs we passed over the ground which had been the object of dispute the\npreceding evening, we beheld many of the brave Germans lying dead and\nnaked. Every wound was in the breast, and at the skirts of the village\nlay the two captured guns; their carriages were broken, and they could\nnot in consequence be removed; the French had set fire to the wheels,\nwhich were still smoking.\nIn less than two hours we reached the heights which command Madrid; the\nsoldiers ran forward to catch a glimpse of the countless steeples that\nwere distinguishable through the haze, and their joy was at its height\nwhen they beheld a city that had cost them so much toil and hard\nfighting to gain the possession of. Ten thousand voices, at one and the\nsame moment, vociferated \u201cMadrid! Madrid!\u201d The enthusiasm of the army\nwas still further increased by the thousands upon thousands of Spaniards\nthat came from the town to accompany us in our entry; for miles leading\nto the capital the roads were crowded, almost to suffocation, by people\nof all ranks, who seemed to be actuated by one simultaneous burst of\npatriotism, and it was with difficulty that the march was conducted with\nthat order which we were in the habit of observing. The nearer we\napproached the city the greater was the difficulty of getting on, for\nthe people forced themselves into the midst of our ranks, and joined\nhand in hand with the soldiers. Wine was offered and accepted, though\nnot to the extent the Spaniards wished, but the soldiers were too\nwell-disciplined, and felt too proud of the station they held in the\nestimation of the people, and in the estimation of themselves, to allow\nanything bordering on excess to follow the latitude they thus had. There\nwas nothing like intoxication, not the slightest irregularity, and the\nappearance of the officers, almost all of whom were mounted, and the\nrespect with which they were accosted by the soldiers when occasion\nrequired it, was so strongly contrasted with the loose discipline of the\nFrench army, to say nothing of the bands of half-naked creatures that\ncomposed the army of their own nation, that it may be fairly said no\ntroops ever entered any capital with all the requisites necessary to\nensure them a cordial as well as a respectful reception, as the British\narmy did on the present occasion.\nAt length we entered that part of the town near which the palace stands,\nbut the obstacles which impeded our march, great as they were before,\nnow became tenfold greater. Nothing could stop the populace, which at\nthis period nearly embraced all that Madrid contained, from mixing\nthemselves amongst us. The officers were nearly forced from their horses\nin the embraces of the females, and some there were who actually lost\ntheir seats, if not their hearts. Old or young, ugly or well-looking,\nshared the same fate; and one in particular, an old friend of my own,\nand a remarkably plain-looking personage, was nearly suffocated in the\nembraces of half a dozen fair Castilians. When he recovered himself and\nwas able to speak, he turned to me and said, \u201cHow infernally fond these\nMadrid women must be of kissing, when they have nearly hugged to death\nsuch an ill-looking fellow as me.\u201d I would mention his name, but as he\nis still alive he might not like the joke second-hand. We soon reached\nthe Convent of St. Domingo, near the Plaza Mayor, which was destined for\nour quarters, and for a time took leave of these people who had so\ncordially welcomed us to their capital. The soldiers, thus quartered,\nwere left to arrange their barracks; while the officers, who were\nbilleted in those parts of the city adjoining the barrack, proceeded to\noccupy the houses allotted to them, and to partake of the hospitality of\ntheir patrons.\nEvening had scarcely closed when every house was illuminated. The vast\nglare of light which the huge wax candles and torches, placed outside\neach balcony, threw out, so completely lighted the town, that night\nseemed to be converted into day, and the whole population of Madrid\nmight be said to fill the streets. Nothing could exceed the popular\nfeeling in favour of the British, and although the ancient palace of the\nRetiro was garrisoned by two thousand five hundred French troops, with a\npark of artillery at its disposal, sufficient to batter down the city,\nthe gaiety was continued as if no enemy was within several leagues of\nthe place. The illuminations lasted for three nights, during which not\nthe slightest irregularity or misunderstanding took place.\nOn the morning of the 13th of August, the General commanding the\nfortress of La China having refused to give it up, orders were given to\ncarry it by storm. The 3rd, or \u201cfighting division,\u201d as ours was called,\nwas selected by Lord Wellington for this duty. At eight o\u2019clock in the\nmorning all the ladders were in readiness, and the division, commanded\nby Sir Edward Pakenham, defiled under the walls of the botanic gardens.\nThe sappers had succeeded in opening several breaches in the wall, and\nthe fire of the riflemen in the interior of the gardens announced that\nthe attack of the outposts had commenced. One hundred thousand people of\nall ranks, ages, and sex crowded the streets, houses, and house-tops to\nwitness the contest. No sooner was the first gun fired, which was the\nsignal for attack, than an universal shout was raised by this vast\nmultitude of spectators, and it would be very difficult indeed, if not\nquite impossible, to describe this animated scene. The soldiers,\ninfected by the example thus set them, cheered in turn, and it was\nseveral minutes before any word of command could be heard from the\nBabel-like tumult that prevailed. Little or no orders were given\u2014they\nwere unnecessary. The men were directed to carry the fort at the\nbayonet\u2019s point, and this was all that was said or that was necessary to\nbe said. The troops were then put in motion, and this was the signal for\nanother burst of enthusiasm from the Spaniards, several of whom joined\nour ranks. The vivas now became so tremendous that nothing else could be\nheard, and the leading platoons had made some progress through the\nshrubberies before the order to halt was known; owing to this a few men\nwere killed and wounded, and those old and tried soldiers lost their\nlives or were disabled in a mere _bagatelle_, for the French general\ncommanding in the fort displayed the white flag in token of submission\nthe moment he saw the 3rd Division in movement towards the Retiro.\nThe fall of this place was of vast importance to us. In it was found a\nlarge supply of provisions, as well as one hundred and eighty-nine\npieces of cannon, including a complete battering train. There was\nlikewise a great quantity of powder and ball, and some clothing, as\nlikewise twenty thousand stand of arms. The garrison, consisting of\nthree thousand veteran soldiers, were made prisoners and sent to Lisbon,\nand the fort was converted into a state prison for disaffected or\nsuspected Spaniards.\nThus ended our operations for the present, and we had leisure to make\nour observations upon Madrid, and avail ourselves of the hospitality of\nsuch of our patrons as were disposed to show us attention.\nMadrid stands in a flat uninteresting country, devoid of scenery; fields\nof tillage encompass the city up to the mud wall that surrounds it, and\nthe rivulet that meanders round it is in summer so insignificant as to\nbe barely able to supply the few baths on its banks with a sufficiency\nof water; nevertheless this side of the town, which is next the Grand\nPark, and the regal cottage called Casa del Campo, is far from\nuninteresting, and as the Park, which abounds with game of all sorts,\nwas open to the British officers, we had abundance of sport when we\nwished to avail ourselves of it. The streets are wide, and the principal\nones, generally speaking, clean, but the part of the town possessing the\ngreatest interest is the great street called Puerto del Sol. Some\ncenturies ago it was the eastern gate of the town, but as the city\nbecame enlarged from time to time, it is now, like the University\nCollege of Dublin, in the heart of the metropolis, instead of at the\nverge of it. Half a dozen or so of the principal streets empty, in a\nmanner, their population into this gangway, where the Exchange is held,\nand all public business carried on, so that any one desirous of hearing\nthe news of the day, the price of the funds, or any other topic\ndiscussed, has but to station himself here and his curiosity will be\nsatisfied, as almost the entire of the population of Madrid pass and\nrepass under his eye during the day. Merchants, dealers, higglers,\ncharcoal venders, fellows with lemonade on their backs, girls with\npannellas of water incessantly crying out \u201c_Quien quiere agua?_\u201d all\ncongregate to this focus, where everything is to be known.\nNext to the Puerto del Sol must be placed the Prado or public walk,\nwhich is decidedly the most agreeable lounge that Madrid can boast of;\nbut as the promenade never commences before five in the evening, while,\non the contrary, the bustle of the Puerto lasts during the forenoon, it\nmust have from me the precedence though not the preference. By five\no\u2019clock, as I before said, the walk begins to be frequented, the great\nheat having by this time subsided, and the siesta over. At seven it is\ncrowded almost to suffocation, and groups of singers with guitars slung\nacross their shoulders enliven the scene. At each side of the walk are\ntables at which sit groups of people enjoying the scene, but you rarely\nsee men and women seated at the same table; indeed, it would seem as if\nthe men totally shunned the company of the fairer sex, and engrossed\nthemselves more with the news of the day than the gaiety of the Prado.\nMuch has been said of the jealousy of the Spaniards, and in England it\nis a generally received opinion that they are a jealous race, but I\nnever found them such\u2014quite the contrary. In Madrid a married woman may\ngo to any house she pleases, or where and with whom she wishes. They\nmight have been a different people when Spanish romances and Spanish\nplays\u2014old ones, I mean\u2014were written, but if the manners and habits of\nthe people were then truly narrated, I can with truth say that no nation\nin the world has undergone a more wholesome, thorough, and radical\nreform than Spain.\nIn some instances we experienced much hospitality from the people, but\nthose occurrences were rare; for the Spaniards are naturally a lofty and\ndistant people, and most unquestionably our officers did not endeavour\nby any act on their part to do away with this reserve, and in fact after\na sojourn of nearly three months in the Spanish capital they knew nearly\nas little of its inhabitants as they did of the citizens of Pekin. This\nis a fatal error, and I fear one that it will be difficult to\ncounteract, for it is not easy to correct national habits and national\nprejudices; but if the officers of the British army were to reflect upon\nthe effect their conduct must have on the people of a different nation,\nand if they could be made to understand how different, how far\ndifferent, their reception in foreign countries would be if they unbent\nthemselves a little, and conformed themselves to the modes of those\nnations amongst whom they were sent by their sovereign, they would at\nonce come to the resolution of changing their tone, and they would by so\ndoing get themselves not only respected and regarded, but the British\nnation as much beloved as it is respected.\nWhile we thus continued to pass our time in gaiety and idleness, other\ndivisions of the army had moved onwards towards Burgos, which was\nstrongly held by a chosen garrison under the command of an experienced\nand skilful general of the name of Dubreton. Meanwhile we continued at\nMadrid, and either enjoying the amusement of the theatres, the luxuries\nof the hotel called El Fuente d'Oro, the hospitality of the good\ncitizens, or the gay but noisy scenes at the Calle de Baimos, we passed\nour time as agreeably as men could do, considering the scanty amount of\npay which was issued to us; for from the difficulty of getting a supply\nof animals sufficient to bring up specie from Lisbon, where there was an\nabundance, the army was at this period five months in arrear of pay, and\nexcept for the commissaries and some paymasters who cashed our bills (at\nseven shillings the dollar!) many of us would have been in a sad plight.\nThose who were enabled to raise money at this enormous percentage got on\nwell enough, but others, who were limited in their resources, were\nobliged, per force, to be lookers-on at all that was passing.\nAn event was now about to take place that engrossed much of the\nconversation of all Madrid, and created amongst the army no little\ncuriosity. It was the condemnation to death, by the _garrotte_, of a\nSpanish priest named Diego Lopez. This ill-fated man, it appears, had\nbeen, for some time previously to his arrest, in the pay of King Joseph;\nhe acted as a spy, and gave circumstantial information of all that was\npassing in our army. Accurately acquainted with his proceedings, the\npolice agents narrowly watched his motions. For some days he had been\nmissing from his lodgings in the Calle de Barrio Nuevo. No inquiry was\nmade after him by the police, they being too conversant in their calling\nto raise any suspicion in his breast by a step that they knew would be\nabortive; but his return was eagerly looked for, carefully watched, and\nhis apprehension made more certain. At length he did return.\nIt was midnight when he reached the barrier at the Toledo gate, where a\npolice agent was stationed. He was asked but few questions and was\nallowed to pass, and mounted as he was on a jaded horse, fatigued by a\nlong journey, it was not difficult for the agent to keep near enough to\nhim to track him unobserved to his dwelling. The trampling of his horse\nwas soon recognised by an old woman who kept watch for his return. A\nlight was placed at the window as a beacon that all was safe within, and\nhe was about to dismount when he was seized by three police agents who\nhurried him away to the bureau of the director, while another entered\nhis house for the purpose of seizing his papers. He underwent an\nimmediate examination, but nothing could be elicited from him to\ncriminate himself, and no papers, excepting commonplace ones, were found\nat his lodgings. He was then stripped of his clothes, and another suit\ngiven him in their stead. Every part of his dress was examined, the\nlinings carefully parted, his clothes in fact cut into shreds, when at\nlast, after a scrutiny of an hour, was found, folded up in a button,\ncovered with cloth, which corresponded with the rest, a note from King\nJoseph to some person in Madrid, briefly detailing the information he\nhad received from Lopez, and asking his advice as to the plans to be\npursued.\nNo more was required, or indeed necessary, to confirm his guilt, and the\nnext day he was, by the orders of Don Carlos de Espa\u00f1a, Governor of\nMadrid, hurried before a military tribunal summoned together to try him.\nThe only evidence brought forward against him was the concealed note;\nand nothing could induce him to betray the name of his confederate. The\ntrial was, therefore, of but short duration, and when called upon by the\npresident to make his defence, he calmly stood forward, and looking his\njudges full in the face, prepared to address them.\nEvery eye was fixed upon him, and it would be difficult to look upon a\nman of a more imposing figure. In stature he was about five feet eleven\ninches, and his make was in proportion to his height; his lank black\nhair lay flat on his forehead, and hung behind over the cape of his coat\nin loose but neglected masses; his face bore the marks of care, and his\nfine dark eye was sunk and wan\u2014he was, in short, the outline of a once\nfine, but now broken-down man. Having wiped away the drops of sweat that\ncovered his forehead, caused by the heat of the weather, the crowded\nstate of the court, and, no doubt, the agitation of his mind, he spoke\nas follows:\u2014\n\u201cIt is now something more than two years since I first attached myself\nto the service of His Majesty King Joseph: during that period I have\nserved him faithfully, and with the utmost diligence. I have rendered\nhim some service, and he will be, I doubt not, sorry when he learns my\nfate. I have said that I served His Majesty faithfully: the expression\nis too weak\u2014I but _lived_ for him; and the only regret I feel in now\nlaying down my life, while endeavouring to promote his interests, is,\nthat I have not been able to succeed in this, my last mission, which is\nthe only one I ever failed in. Gentlemen, I have done.\u201d He then bowed to\nthe court, and resumed his former place.\nDuring the delivery of this short but impressive speech the court and\nspectators were silent. When it was concluded, a buzz of admiration and\npity burst forth from almost every person present, and there were many\nwho would, if they dared, have expressed their sentiments more fully,\nbut the strong guard which occupied the hall was sufficient to maintain\norder; and though no lives were lost, many arrests took place. When\norder was restored, the chief of police conducted the prisoner, under a\nstrong escort, back to his dungeon; and the court being cleared, the\npresident asked the opinion of the members as to the guilt of Lopez.\nThey were unanimous\u2014indeed there could be but one opinion, and by that\nhis life became the forfeit. The sentence pronounced against him was,\nthat he should suffer death by strangulation on the following day at two\no\u2019clock; and the Plaza Mayor, or Great Square, where a vast market is\ndaily held, was the spot decided upon as most fitting for the execution.\nIt was thought necessary to augment some of the British Guards in the\nneighbourhood of the Plaza; and the barrack occupied by the 88th being\nclose to it, I, as the next subaltern for duty, was ordered to repair\nthere to take charge of thirty soldiers, lest any rioting should take\nplace during the night. It was five o\u2019clock in the afternoon when I\nreached the square on my way to the barrack. It was already much crowded\nwith people of all classes; some led by curiosity to see if any, and\nwhat, preparations had been made towards erecting the platform upon\nwhich the _garrotte_ was to be fixed; others bargaining for and\ncheapening seats either at the windows of the shopkeepers, or on the\ntops of the market stalls; others calling out a sort of programme of the\noffences, etc., for which Lopez was to suffer; and, though last not\nleast in the list, a host of beggars, who assailed the bystanders with\nentreaties for charity _in the name of the soul about to depart_!\nThe arrival of several carts carrying planks for the formation of the\nplatform, the presence of a large body of police, and the appearance of\nthe workmen entering the square, dissipated anything like apprehension\nof a disappointment. This circumstance, or announcement, had an instant\nand powerful effect on the price of seats\u2014the same as the intelligence\nof a great victory would have on the funds in London. \u201cOmnium was above\npar,\u201d and \u201cmuch business was effected.\u201d Every person seemed pleased with\nthe bargain he had made, and I myself was among the number. I paid, by\nway of deposit, half a dollar to ensure my place, the remaining half to\nbe handed down the following morning. All being settled, so far as\nrelated to myself, I left the square to look after my guard. I found all\nquiet in the quarters of our barrack, and towards nightfall I again\nreturned to the Plaza. It was quite deserted except by the workmen, who\nwere busily employed in marking out and completing the rude platform for\nthe scaffold, in which they had made considerable progress. Its height\nfrom the ground was about four feet; the square or area was fourteen by\ntwenty; and from the quantity of materials, and their grossness, it\nmight be supposed that it was meant to sustain, at one and the same\nmoment, half the population of Madrid. But it yet wanted that terrible\ninstrument of death\u2014the iron clasp\u2014to complete its structure.\nIt was three o\u2019clock before I lay down to rest, but I slept little. The\ndin of hammers and the creaking of waggons put sleep out of the\nquestion. I took up a volume of Gil Blas and attempted to read and\nlaugh, but in vain: I could do neither the one nor the other\u2014the\n_garrotte_ was still in perspective, and nothing could banish it from my\nthoughts. At length the stillness which prevailed terribly told that all\nwas prepared, and I went once more to the spot. I found it deserted by\nthe workmen, who had done their part, and these preparations now wanted\nnothing to complete them but the presence of the man who was to die by\nthe pressure of the clasp, which hung from a beam of wood placed in the\ncentre of the platform.\nI have before described the height and dimensions of this platform; at\neach side of it was a flight of four steps\u2014one for the criminal, the\nother for the two executioners. In the centre was a beam, to which was\nattached a chair or stool; through the beam a clasp was introduced, and\nbehind was a screw, or sort of vice, which at one turn crushes the neck.\nHaving so far satisfied my curiosity, I once more returned to my post,\nand waited with impatience for the coming of the hour destined for the\narrival of the priest. So early as ten o\u2019clock the square was thronged\nwith Spanish troops, and the platform upon which the scaffold stood\nsurrounded by a strong guard. Vast multitudes already began to\ncongregate towards the spot, in order to take possession of the places\nthey had paid for, or to secure those which would give them an\nopportunity of witnessing the execution. All business was at a\nstandstill, and every idea, except that connected with the coming event,\nseemed to be extinct. By mid-day the square, the market-sheds in its\ncentre, and the houses which formed it, were filled nearly to\nsuffocation; and the other streets leading from the prison to the Plaza\nwere thronged with people of all ranks. At length the shouts raised in\nthe streets nearest the prison announced the removal of the criminal,\nand the huzzas from that quarter were rapidly taken up as they passed\nonward towards the square: they increased by degrees, and, like a vast\ntorrent which is formed by tributary streams, each stream contributed\nits quota to the current, until at length it reached the vast vortex,\nthe Plaza Mayor. At this place the shouts were so deafening that for\nsome minutes it was impossible to ask a question, much less hear one. At\nlength the head of the cavalcade was in sight, and a death-like silence\nfollowed the tumult that had preceded it. The soldiers stationed in the\nsquare, as also those that surrounded the platform, resumed their\nfirelocks; the words \u201cLas armas a l\u2019ombro\u201d was quickly obeyed, and the\nentire procession was soon within the precincts of the Plaza.\nThe convict, Lopez, dressed in black, with a loose cloak covering his\nshoulders, was on horseback, attended by two priests, also mounted, one\nat each side of him. He wore a hat of large dimensions turned up in the\nfront, and his demeanour was the same as at his trial\u2014firm, collected,\nand calm. Arrived at the foot of the scaffold he dismounted with ease,\nand throwing a rapid glance, first at the vast crowd and then at the\n_garrotte_ itself, he ascended the flight of steps leading to it. The\ntwo priests followed but did not speak to him, his wish being that they\nshould not. He then, without flurry or agitation, took off his hat and\ncloak, and handed them to the assistant executioner, to whom he said\nsomething. He wished to address the people, but was prevented by the\nofficer commanding the Spanish troops. He bowed obedience, and instantly\ntook his seat upon the stool under the clasp. His arms were then bound\nwith cords, and the iron collar passed through the stake and placed upon\nhis throat. This scene had a strong effect upon the multitude: the quiet\nbut determined self-possession of the man, his extraordinary resolution,\ndevoid of any bravado, was enough to check any indecent ebullition of\npatriotism; but the sight of that terrible collar seemed to awaken\nfeelings, and to call forth that sympathy which, a few moments before,\nwas nowhere to be found. Women who, to their shame be it told, waved\ntheir handkerchiefs with joy upon his arrival at the scaffold, now might\nbe seen covering their eyes to hide from their view the horrid sight, or\nto wipe away the tears that traced their cheeks.\nAll was now in readiness: the executioner stood behind, holding the\nscrew with both hands; at each side was a confessor, and behind one was\nthe assistant executioner, with a square piece of cloth in his hand; one\nof the priests read from a book, while the other held the hand of Lopez.\nThis ceremony occupied but a few moments; and when the priest had\nfinished reading he stooped down to kiss the cheek of the ill-fated\nLopez. He then closed the book; the man behind him threw the cloth over\nthe culprit\u2019s face; the executioner turned the screw\u2014and Lopez was dead!\nThe two priests hurried down the steps, and, in their confusion and\nfright, ran headlong under the horses of the cavalry which were posted\nround the scaffold. One of them, a corpulent man\u2014as indeed most priests\nare\u2014was dreadfully lacerated, but the other escaped uninjured.\nDuring the entire of this scene the vast crowd preserved the most\nprofound silence; but the sight they had just witnessed was succeeded by\nanother of a more disgusting nature. The assistant executioner removed\nthe cloth from the face of the dead man: it was perfectly black; the\neyeballs were forced from their sockets; the throat was pressed quite\nflat, and the mouth, with the tongue hanging down on the chin, was\ndragged under the right ear.\nThe troops then defiled out of the square, the multitude dispersed, and\nby six o\u2019clock in the evening not more than twenty persons were near the\nscaffold upon which the dead priest was still bound. The body was at\nlength put into a cart, the platform was removed, and the spot which so\nshort a time before was the theatre of this tragedy now bore no evidence\nof the horrid scene that had been acted upon it.\nArrests at Madrid\u2014Advantages of speaking French\u2014Seizure of Don Saturio\n de Padilla by the police\u2014The author effects his liberation\u2014A bull\n day at Madrid\u2014Private theatricals\u2014French and English\n soldiers\u2014Blowing up the Retiro\u2014Retreat from Madrid\u2014A pig hunt.\nThe execution of the priest Lopez, narrated in the last chapter, was\nfollowed by many arrests. In eight days no fewer than one hundred and\nforty-nine persons were thrown into prison; some on good grounds, others\non trivial circumstances, and many on the charge alone of having held\nemployment under the late government. The consequence of this ill-judged\nseverity was that all those who escaped arrest in the first burst of\ntyranny practised by the local authorities fled from Madrid, and\nscarcely a family was to be found who had not to lament the loss of some\nindividual belonging to it, either by flight or imprisonment. Had the\nsiege of Burgos been successful, and the French troops driven to\nPampeluna, which would have been the natural result, a tragical scene\nwould have been enacted, not only at Madrid, but throughout the whole of\nSpain. Yet all the time nothing but forgiveness for the past and\npromises for the future were to be heard of\u2014except the daily and nightly\nimprisonments that took place!\nTwo evenings after the execution of Lopez I met a number of Spaniards at\nthe house of my _padron_, Don Miguel de Inza, who had himself been an\nengineer in the employment of the late King Charles IV.; different\ntopics, as a matter of course, were discussed\u2014the sieges of Rodrigo and\nBadajoz, the battle of Salamanca, and the triumphant entry of our troops\ninto the capital of Spain. Most of the party seemed well inclined\ntowards us, and towards the king we proclaimed, Ferdinand VII.; but\nthere was little confidence amongst the party themselves, and there was\nsome who would, if they dared, have spoken in favour of the French.\nOne old Donna in particular was rather severe in her observations on the\ndress of the British officers, and remarked that not one in fifty of\nthem could speak French. Whether it was that she was piqued at my paying\nmuch attention to a lady who sat near her, or that she wished to display\nher wit at my expense, I being nearer to her than any other Englishman,\nI can\u2019t say, but she turned round and asked if I spoke the French\nlanguage. I replied that I understood it tolerably, but that I spoke it\nbut indifferently. \u201cI thought so,\u201d was her reply; \u201cI knew by that young\nfellow\u2019s appearance he was a booby (_sot_),\u201d said she, addressing one of\nher friends. This she spoke in the very worst French that ever came from\nthe mouth of a Bastan peasant. I was determined to have my revenge. I\nmustered up all my resolution, made a rapid _repasser_ of all I had ever\nlearned of French grammar, and took the first opportunity that presented\nitself to attack her. In a word, I completely out-talked her, out-spoke\nher, and out-crowed her in the estimation of her friends; and she who\nhad been so short a time before the \u201cleader of the opposition,\u201d was mum\nfor the remainder of the evening.\nHarmony was once more restored, and we were beginning to forget the\nbickerings that party feeling had introduced amongst us, when a violent\nknocking at the door from the street threw the company into\nconsternation and dismay. Every one looked confounded; some were for\nbarring the door, others wished to escape; but this was easier said than\ndone, for in front stood the police agents (for it was them and none\nother), and in the rear\u2014if rear it could be called\u2014was nothing but a\npile of buildings, to the full as lofty as the house we inhabited. \u201cWhat\nis to be done?\u201d was a demand much easier made than answered; though in\nfact the proper and only reply to be made was, \u201cOpen the door, and see\nwho the gentlemen are looking after.\u201d Several persons, who had nothing\nto dread, loudly called out for this proceeding, but it was far from\npalatable to the majority of the company. It was idle, however, to talk,\nand, in fine, the massive door was heard to creak on its rusty hinges.\nAt the same moment six ill-looking fellows entered the saloon, and\nhaving taken a hasty but scrutinising survey of the company, seized the\nson-in-law of my patron and rudely carried him away.\nSaturio de Padilla was the name of this gentleman, and his only crime\nwas that of holding the situation of Juiz de Fora, under the government\nof King Joseph. Nothing could be more unjust or impolitic than this\narrest: it was, however, idle to reason so with the police agents;\nSaturio was taken off to the Fort of La China and thrown into a dungeon,\nwithout bed or any other comfort which a gentleman of his rank might\nhave expected. At an early hour the following morning I was awoke by his\nfather-in-law, the venerable Don Miguel de Inza; he begged of me to\nallow my servant to convey some bedding to him, which I not only\nconsented to do, but, at the entreaties of his daughter, Donna Maria\nIgnatia de Inza (whose sister was married to Padilla, and who, by the\nway, was one of the most beautiful women in Madrid), went to the prison\nmyself. All entreaties to allow us to see the prisoner were in vain, and\nhad it not been for the kindness of Colonel Manners of the 74th, who was\nthe Governor of the Fort, we should not have been allowed to send even a\nchange of linen to this gentleman.\nA week passed away, and no tidings were heard of Padilla; and his\nfriends, fearing that he might be made away with, became extremely\nuneasy. Without mentioning my intention, I waited upon Colonel Manners,\nwho was much interested in his behalf when I told him the circumstances;\nand, owing to his intercession, I had the happiness of seeing my friend,\nDon Saturio, at liberty the day but one following. I need scarcely say\nthat this exploit of mine, for so my Spanish friends termed it, raised\nme considerably in the estimation of the ladies, and all of them, my old\nformidable antagonist not excepted, were lavish in their praises of my\nconduct. Nothing but balls, concerts, and parties to the theatre and the\nPrado were thought of, until the announcement in the newspapers, and the\nnever-ceasing cries of _affiche_ venders in the streets, that the\nbull-fights were to take place, put a stop to all thoughts on any other\nbut this, to a Spaniard at least, momentous affair.\nThis national amusement is of so old a standing, and has been so often\nrelated in novels and romances, that a description of it may, in the\npresent day, be thought ill-timed. The day\u2019s fighting which I witnessed\nwas considered specially good, and a tremendous day\u2019s sport it was. Nine\nbulls were killed, seven horses shared the same fate, and one of the\nfighters was dreadfully injured. More than twenty people were hurt by\nthe last bull, who leaped the barriers and got among the audience, but\nfortunately, and indeed miraculously, no person was killed. Thus the\n\u201ccasualties\u201d of the day may be summed up as follows:\u2014Killed, nine bulls,\nseven horses: total, sixteen; wounded, twenty-three men and women: grand\ntotal of killed and wounded, thirty-nine.\nThe bull-fights once over, the execution of the Priest Lopez forgotten,\nand the probability of our soon leaving Madrid taking place, were not\nthings to be passed over lightly by the ladies of that city; and no\nmatter what may be said or written of their being \u201ca grave people,\u201d I\nsaw, during my sojourn amongst them, no symptoms of \u201cgravity,\u201d except\nwhen they thought we were about to leave their capital. It was palpably\nevident that something should be done to drive away the gloom that had\nin a great measure already begun to take a fast hold of our friends; and\nthe officers of the Light Division, aided by some of the other regiments\nin the garrison, resolved to treat the inhabitants with a specimen of\ntheir dramatic powers. The play selected was the _Revenge_, and \u201cZanga\u201d\nwas well personated by Captain Kent of the Rifles; but whether it was\nthat the other characters were ill cast, or that the tragedy was too\ndull for the Spaniards to relish, it is a positive fact that, long\nbefore the second act was ended, the audience were heartily tired of the\nplay; and, notwithstanding the fine acting of Kent, the play would have\nnever been allowed to proceed had not the performers been British\nofficers, and the object the relief of the poor of the capital. The\n_Mayor of Garrett_ followed, and this amusing farce was a set-off\nagainst the _Revenge_, and put the audience quite at ease; for from the\nmoment \u201cZanga\u201d (or _El Preto_, as they styled him) appeared, there was\none universal buzz of disapprobation. It is not possible for me to say\nwhy they were so averse to the play; it might have been their dislike to\nthe Moors; but be this as it may, I would advise my friends in the army\nnever to try the same play before a Madrid audience\u2014that is, which is a\nhundred to one, should they ever have the same opportunity we had. This\nwas the first and last play ever attempted by us to be got up at Madrid.\nThe season was on the wane, summer was almost over, and it was well\nknown that Lord Wellington meditated an attack on the town of Burgos;\nnevertheless all was tranquillity and gaiety with the troops at Madrid,\nand many of the sick and wounded from Salamanca reached us. Amongst the\nnumber was my friend and companion, Frederick Meade of the 88th. He had\nbeen badly wounded in the action of the 22nd, and with his arm in a\nsling, his wounds still unhealed, and his frame worn down by fatigue and\nexhaustion, his commanding officer was surprised to see him again so\nsoon with his regiment; but various rumours were afloat as to the\nadvance of the Madrid army upon Burgos, and Meade was not the kind of\nperson likely to be absent from his corps when anything like active\nservice was to be performed by it. Endowed with qualities which few\nyoung men in the army could boast of, he soon made his way into the very\nbest society that the capital of Spain could be said to possess. A\nfinished gentleman in the fullest acceptation of the word; young,\nhandsome, speaking the Castilian language well, the French fluently, a\nfirst-rate musician, endowed by nature with a fine voice, which had been\nwell cultivated, it is not surprising that he soon became a general\nfavourite. In a word, wherever he went he was the magnet of attraction,\nand when we quitted Madrid it would have required a train of vehicles\nmuch more numerous than would have suited our order of march to convey\nthose ladies who were, and would like to be more closely, attached to\nhim. Poor fellow! he was greatly to blame, but it was not his fault; if\nthe ladies of Madrid liked his face, or his voice, how could he help\nthat? My man, Dan Carsons\u2014and here I must say a word of apology to my\nfriend Meade for coupling their names together\u2014told me when we were on\nthe eve of quitting Madrid, \u201cthat he (Carsons) didn\u2019t know how the devil\nhe could get away at-all-at-all, without taking three women, besides his\nwife Nelly with him.\u201d\nSo far all went on gaily at Madrid; but Lord Wellington was deeply\noccupied with matters of a different nature, although he joined in the\namusements that took place. The capture of Burgos was what he aimed at,\nand his stay at Madrid was but a cloak to cover his real intentions. On\nthe 1st of September he quitted the capital, and took upon himself the\ndirection of that part of the army which he had decided was to march\nupon Burgos. He crossed the Douro on the 6th, and arrived at Valladolid\non the same day, and from thence he followed the enemy on their retreat\nto Burgos. On the 16th he was, with a portion of his army, before that\nfortress, which he soon invested and laid siege to. The result of that\nsiege, its failure, and the circumstances which led to it, have nothing\nto do with my adventures; they are the property of Colonel Napier\u2014the\nonly writer that, I believe, can be held up as a standard to refer to on\nthe Peninsular War.\nI have to bring forward to the public eye, and the eye of posterity,\ntoo, the character of the Peninsular soldiers, whether they be shown up\nas men who were able to conquer the choicest legions of France, or as\nmen who would sell the most essential part of their dress for a glass of\nbrandy. No matter; they would have done both. Perfection is nowhere to\nbe found; and if the British soldier equalled the Frenchman in habits of\nsobriety and caution, there could be no possible comparison between\nthem; but the retreat from Madrid and Burgos, which I am about to\nrelate, will give the reader a clearer insight into what I have just now\nwritten: and I will here say, without the least fear of contradiction,\nthat the French soldier as far surpasses the British soldier in the\nessential qualities requisite for general operations, as the latter\nexcels the Frenchman in a pitched battle. Let two armies of the two\nnations be placed in circumstances the same, in advance or retreat. The\nsupply of provisions may be scanty or abundant\u2014no matter which; both\narmies, for argument sake, we will say, are placed in the same position\nas to food. It may be asked what, then, is the great difference between\nthe soldiers of two nations who have been opposed to each other for so\nmany campaigns, and who ought to have profited by the better system\nfollowed by either? It is this: the British soldier is not so moderate\nin his appetites as his neighbour, and he wants the head, which the\nother possesses, to control him. Give to a British regiment ten days',\nnay five days' bread at a time, and, as may be necessary, five days'\nrations of spirits; at the end of the second day\u2014not the fifth, to which\nperiod it ought to last\u2014what quantity will be forthcoming? Not one half\nounce of bread, or half pint of spirits\u2014half pint did I say! not one\nthimbleful, nay, less than that, not one drop! Should the ration be\nlimited to bread, and in all armies, even the most temperate, a large\nadvance of spirits ought to be avoided, the danger would be the same in\nany British army, because the soldiers would barter their bread for\nspirits or wine, and would become quite as inefficient, as if they had\nbeen supplied with both by our commissaries. Added to this, what means\nhad the soldiers of the Peninsular army to compete with the French in\ncelerity of cooking? None. The latter carried their cooking utensils on\ntheir backs, while the camp-kettles for our troops were often leagues\ndistant when the meat arrived. This was the state of our army when the\nretreat from Burgos on the one side, and Madrid on the other, commenced,\nand it will be seen in the following pages how that retreat was\nconducted, and how the subordinate officers of the army were blamed for\nnot performing a duty which was impossible; and for this reason was it\nimpossible, that the means did not rest with them. Our system was\naltogether faulty, and no exertions of the junior, or even senior,\nofficers could remedy it. Lord Wellington at length discovered this, and\nin his next campaign profited by the example which the enemy showed him,\nand which ought to have been followed long before.\nOn the 20th of October, 1812, the siege of Burgos was raised, and the\ntroops before it retired towards the Douro, while the portion of the\narmy which occupied Madrid made arrangements to join them when the\nproper time should arrive. Accordingly, the fort of La China was mined,\nthe battering train found there removed, and all the necessary\narrangements for retreat were completed. On the 31st of October the army\nquitted Madrid, and bivouacked in the Royal Park near the palace.\nThe conflagration of La China continued all night, and story after story\nfell in until it became a heap of ruins. The following day, the 1st of\nNovember, the advance of the French entered Madrid, and on that day our\narmy commenced its retreat upon Rodrigo and Portugal. On the side of\nBurgos matters were in the same state. The attack against the citadel,\nhaving failed, in default of means to carry it on, the army before it\nbroke up on the 20th of October, and by the admirable arrangements of\nLord Wellington, who took the command in person, gained two marches on\nthe enemy before he was aware of it. Nevertheless a vigorous pursuit\ntook place, and the Burgos army was closely pressed, until it reached\nthe heights of San Christoval, where it was joined by the troops that\nhad occupied Madrid.\nUp to this time no serious disaster had occurred, although from the\nheavy rains that had fallen, which rendered the roads nearly impassable,\nand the scanty supply of rations which the troops received, it was\nfeared that, if Soult pressed on vigorously, our army would shortly\nbecome much disorganised; but the Marshal took six days, that is to say,\nfrom the 10th to the 16th of November, to examine the ground occupied by\nthe British General. On the 14th, our army was in battle array close to\nthe spot where we had fought the battle of Salamanca the July before,\nbut Soult, although at the head of 90,000 soldiers, and two hundred\npieces of cannon, declined the offer, and confined his operations to the\nsending a brigade or two on the line of our communication with Rodrigo.\nOn the 17th, Lord Wellington commenced his march for the frontiers of\nPortugal, and from that moment he was closely pursued by Marshal Soult.\nThe rain fell in torrents, almost without any intermission; the roads\ncould no longer be so called, they were perfect quagmires; the small\nstreams became rivers, and the rivers were scarcely fordable at any\npoint. In some instances the soldiers were obliged to carry their\nammunition boxes strapped on their shoulders to preserve them, while\npassing a ford which on our advance was barely ankle deep. The baggage\nand camp-kettles had left us; the former we never saw until we reached\nRodrigo, and the latter rarely reached us until two o\u2019clock in the\nmorning, when the men, from fatigue, could make but little use of them.\nThe wretched cattle had to be slaughtered, as our rations seldom arrived\nat their destination before the camp-kettles, and when both arrived,\nthere was not one fire in our bivouac sufficient to boil a mess.\nOfficers as well as soldiers had no covering except the canopy of\nheaven; we had not one tent, and the army never slept in a village. We\nthus lay in the open country; our clothes saturated with rain, half the\nmen and officers without shoes, nothing to eat, or, at all events, no\nmeans of cooking it. What then could be much worse than the situation in\nwhich the army was placed? But this was not the worst, because, from the\nnature of the retreat, and the pursuit, neither the cavalry nor\nartillery horses could be supplied with forage. The retreat each day\ngenerally began at four in the morning, in the dead dark of night;\ntowards eight the army had gained perhaps six miles', perhaps not five,\nstart of the enemy. At ten they were at our heels. The rear, as a matter\nof necessity, for the preservation of the whole, was then obliged to\nface about and show a front, to enable the remainder to proceed on their\nretreat. The position taken up was, as a matter of course, according to\nthe urgency of the moment, sometimes in a vast tract of ploughed land,\nwhere the troops were drawn up ankle deep in mud. In this position,\nthose who were not fighting were obliged to remain, in their tattered\nuniforms, worn to rags after two years' service, scarcely a good pair of\nshoes or trousers on any, and the greater part without the former. The\nague had also attacked the bulk of the army, and as the soldiers picked\nup the acorns that fell from the oak trees (these, by the way, are the\nproperty of the pigs in Spain, but the pigs, fortunately for themselves,\nhad not yet appeared in the woods we now traversed), many were unable to\neat them, so much were they enfeebled by the disorder.\nYet under all these privations, the soldiers, at least the \u201cConnaught\nRangers,\u201d never lost their gaiety. Without shoes they fancied themselves\n\u201cat home,\u201d and there were few, I believe, who would not have wished\nthemselves there in reality. Without food they were nearly at home, and\nwithout a good coat to their backs equally so! My man, Dan Carsons, came\nup to me, and with a broad grin said, \u201cBy gor, Sir, this same place\u201d (at\nthe time we were, and had been for hours before, standing in a wet\nploughed field) \u201cputs me greatly in mind iv Madrid.\u201d\u2014\u201cOf Madrid! why,\nDan, no two places can be more unlike.\u201d\u2014\u201cBy Jasus, Sir, the\u2019re as like\nas two _paise_, only that we want the houses, and the fires, and the\nmate, and the dhrink, and the women! But, excepting that, don\u2019t the jaws\n_iv_ the boys with the ague, when they rattle so, put your honour\ngreatly in mind _iv_ the castonetts?\u201d Dan\u2019s joke was not quite so\npalatable as it might have proved at a more fitting opportunity, or in a\nmore fitting place, for at that moment I felt a queer sort of motion\nabout my own jaws, which in less than an hour proved itself to be a\nconfirmed attack of ague. On this night the rain never ceased; the\nrations could not be cooked, having arrived too late, and the army had\nno food except biscuit.\nWhat I have related took place on the 16th. The following day matters\nbecame worse, the rain continued to come down in torrents, and in the\npassage of one river, out of ten that we forded, a woman and three\nchildren were lost, as likewise some baggage mules, which the women of\nthe army, in defiance of the order against it, still contrived to\nsmuggle into the line of retreat. The rations arrived alive (I mean the\nmeat), as usual after midnight, but no kettles reached us for an hour\nafter the poor famished brutes had been knocked on the head. Each man\nobtained his portion of the quivering flesh, but before any fires could\nbe re-lighted, the order for march arrived, and the men received their\nmeat dripping with water, but little, if anything, warmer than when it\nwas delivered over to them by the butcher. The soldiers drenched with\nwet, greatly fatigued, nearly naked, and more than half asleep, were\nobliged either to throw away the meat, or put it with their biscuit into\ntheir haversacks, which from constant use, without any means of cleaning\nthem, more resembled a beggarman\u2019s wallet than any part of the\nappointments of a soldier. In a short time the wet meat completely\ndestroyed the bread, which became perfect paste, and the blood which\noozed from the undressed beef, little better than carrion, gave so bad a\ntaste to the bread that many could not eat it. Those who did were in\ngeneral attacked with violent pains in their bowels, and the want of\nsalt brought on dysentery. A number of cavalry and artillery horses died\non this night, and fatigue and sickness had already obliged several men\nand officers to remain behind, so that our ranks were now beginning to\nshow that we had commenced, in downright earnest, a most calamitous\nretreat.\nLord Wellington wished for a battle, if he could fight one on\nadvantageous terms, before his army became disorganised; but this was\nnot to the interest of the French army; and the Duke of Dalmatia, who\ncould at any time make choice of his own field from his vast superiority\nin horsemen, was too experienced a tactician to be led into so fatal an\nerror as that of fighting. Experience had shown him that a retreat, such\nas the one I am describing, would cost him little trouble to inflict as\ngreat a loss upon our army as if he gained the advantage in a battle,\nand that it would be a bloodless victory to him; whereas, if a general\naction took place, and the entire of the two armies were thrown into the\nfight, he could not expect to get off with a loss of less than six or\neight thousand men, with the chance, perhaps the probability, of being\ndefeated.\nNo Marshal in the French army knew the good and the bad qualities of the\nsoldiers he now followed better, few so well, as Soult. He had pursued\nthem to Corunna, and fought them at Albuera. Knowing then, as he did,\ntheir imperfection in retreat, and their superlative perfection in a\npitched battle, it would have been strange had he risked by a battle,\nwhat it was as clear as the noon-day he would gain without one, namely,\nthe loss to us of several thousand men and horses, who, if they did not\nfall into his hands, or die on the retreat, were sure to be lost to our\nranks in consequence of its effects. The game was in his hands, and if\nhe lost it by bad play, the fault would be his, and his only. He did not\ndo so, but played a safe game, and when battle was offered him near\nSalamanca, he _reneged_. He finessed well, and though he did not drive\nus before him at the point of the bayonet, his flank movement on the\nRodrigo line, by a side wipe, effected his purpose just as well for him.\nA circumstance occurred on this day that so strongly marks the\ndifference between the British soldiers and the soldiers of any other\nnation on such a retreat as we were engaged in, that I cannot avoid\nnoticing it. I have already said that we had no means of cooking our\nmeat, and that the soldiers and officers, for all shared the same\nprivations alike, carried their meat raw, or nearly raw; consequently it\nwas not an additional supply of \u201craw material\u201d that we so much needed as\nthe means of dressing what we had. Nevertheless, towards noon, while a\nportion of the army was engaged in a warm skirmish with the enemy\u2019s\nadvance, which lay through a vast forest of oak, some hundreds of swine,\nnearly in a wild state, were discovered feeding upon the acorns which\nhad fallen from the trees the autumn before. No flag of truce ever sent\nfrom the advance post of one army to the advance of another had a more\ndecisive effect. Our soldiers immediately opened a murderous fire upon\nthe pigs, who suffered severely on the occasion, being closely pursued\non the route, which they followed with that stupid\u2014and for them, on this\noccasion, fatal\u2014pertinacity which the pig tribe are so proverbial for,\nnamely, going to the rear when they ought to go straight forward. Had\nthis herd of swine deviated from the old beaten track of pigs in\ngeneral\u2014had they, in short, gone forward instead of rearward\u2014many\nvaluable lives, in the eyes of the owners at least, would have been\nsaved, because they would have soon reached the French advance, and our\nfellows, once more placed _vis \u00e0 vis_ with the riflemen of the _grande\nnation_, would have left off the pursuit\u2014if for nothing else _but to\nsave their bacon_! This _rencontre_, one of the most curious that came\nwithin my knowledge during my Peninsular campaigns, or indeed during my\nsojourn in this world, led to consequences the most comic as well as\ntragic. Colonel O\u2018Shea, who commanded the cavalry of the French advance\nordered to support the _tirailleurs_, was astounded when he saw the\ndirection which the British fire took. He could not be mistaken; the\nfire of the advance of his own soldiers had slackened\u2014ceased. It\nimmediately occurred to him that some corps must have got in rear of our\nadvance, and he galloped up to the _tirailleurs_ to ascertain the real\nstate of affairs. He was soon undeceived; but when he learned the cause\nof the retrograde movement on the part of our men, he could not\navoid\u2014and who could?\u2014laughing heartily.\nMeanwhile the discomfited and routed pigs fled, and soon got out of the\nclutches of the advanced guard. The bulk of the fugitives took the road\nto _their_ rights but here they were again _wrong_. Had those ill-fated\nanimals known anything of the \u201crules of the road,\u201d they would have kept\nto the _left_. On the right they were encountered by a nearly famished\nbrigade that had received no rations at all in the preceding twenty-four\nhours; and when they were, as has been seen, so roughly handled by men\nwhose haversacks were amply stocked with meat, what chance had they\u2014I\nask the question fearlessly\u2014of any mercy from a body of famished,\nferocious fellows? The question I have just put is easily answered. They\nhad none to expect, and none did they receive. Neither age nor sex was\nspared; and out of this fine herd of swine, scarcely one in one hundred\nescaped unhurt. No victory was ever more complete; and the grunting and\nsqueaking of the wounded pigs and hogs throughout the forest was a sad\ncontrast with the merriment of the soldiers, who toasted, on the points\nof their bayonets\u2014intended for other and more noble game\u2014the mangled\nfragments of their former companions.\nDay was drawing to its close, and the 3rd Division, commanded by Sir\nEdward Pakenham, was about to retire from the ground it had held during\nseveral hours in face of the enemy, when a warm fire of musketry on our\nleft led us to suppose we were outflanked. The officers of the staff\ngalloped in the direction from whence the firing proceeded. Sir Edward\ndid the same, but it was some time before they reached the scene of\naction. In the meantime the different regiments were so arranged as to\nbe ready either to advance or retreat, as circumstances might require;\nand the French corps in our front made demonstrations of a similar kind.\nIn this state of suspense we remained for nearly an hour, when at last\nSir Edward returned, with the news that the firing was caused by a fresh\nattack on the pigs that had escaped the first brunt of the attack\nagainst them. He ordered the different advance posts to be placed, which\nhe superintended in person; the soldiers then prepared to fell timber\nfor fires, and some ran to an uninhabited village\u2014they were all\nuninhabited on the line of our march for that matter\u2014for the purpose of\ngetting dry wood, that is to say, the doors and roofs of the houses, to\nenable us to light up the green timber, which was the only fuel we could\ncommand. The soldiers and officers of all ranks were nearly exhausted\nfrom cold and wet; and had the village in question belonged to the king\nof England, much less to a parcel of Spanish peasants, it would have\nshared the same fate as the one in question.\nThe party from the village soon arrived, some bringing doors, others\narticles of different kinds of household furniture, such as chairs,\ntables, and bedsteads; but nothing in the shape of food was to be found.\nNo doubt, had it been day, something might be got at, but warmth was\nwhat we stood in need of more than food. Several of us still carried the\nparboiled beef of the night before, and, when the fires were lighted, we\nmade a shift to roast it either on our swords, bayonets, or bits of\nsticks, which we formed into respectable skewers. This operation\nfinished, the fire around which each group sat or stood, in order of\ncompanies, their arms regularly piled behind them, was replenished with\ngreen and dry timber, according to our supply of each or both. The\nsoldiers then placed their knapsacks round the outer part of the circle,\nand, having given the best place to their officers inside the circle,\nall lay down together, or at their own choice, with their feet towards\nthe heat of the fire. Some arranged in this manner, others did not lie\ndown at all; and those who had captured a door, propped it up as a\ndefence against the rains and winds. There were others who got a blanket\nand fixed it with branches of trees and stones against some uneven spot,\nand lay down in the mud. It was, in fact, all mud and wet; and in\nwhatever manner we accommodated ourselves, according to circumstances,\nwhether walking, standing, or sleeping, it was of little difference. No\nmatter what _mood_ any of us might have been disposed to follow, the\n_imperative_ had the call; and, as has been seen, we could not _decline_\nit. _Verbum sat sapienti._\nThus ended the operations of this day; officers and soldiers were placed\nexactly, or nearly, as I have described. Many were so feeble as not to\nbe capable of the least exertion; others, on the contrary, were hale and\nstout, and I myself was amongst the number of the latter. I had lain\nsome time with my feet near the fire, but I dreaded an attack of ague,\nand I walked about to keep my body warm, which was but thinly clad. I\nhad not been long on my legs, and I was at the moment standing near the\nsmall tent where Sir Edward Pakenham lay in his wet clothes, when a rush\nof pigs\u2014the remnant, I suppose, of those that had escaped in the\nday\u2014disorganised several piles of arms. The soldiers stood up, and every\nman seized his firelock. A Portuguese regiment near us, thinking the\nenemy were at their heels, began to fire right and left, without knowing\nwhat they fired at. Sir Edward Pakenham ran out of his tent, and while\nin the act of mounting his horse and giving directions to his orderly\ndragoon, the man was shot dead by the side of the General. It required\nsome time before the confusion that prevailed could be remedied; but the\nsoldiers never for a moment lost their presence of mind, and the 3rd\nDivision was formed with astonishing celerity in battle array. The error\ninto which the Portuguese had fallen was with some difficulty remedied,\nand, except a few men who were wounded, nothing serious happened. The\npigs, who were the cause of all, escaped without any loss, but whether\nthey ever found their way back to their original owners I know not.\nTrifling as the affair was, with troops less accustomed and less ready\nto face an enemy than those that composed the 3rd Division, it might\nhave had a different result.\nThe march was continued the following morning. The troops commenced the\nretreat some hours before day. Towards ten o\u2019clock the enemy\u2019s advance\nwere at the heels of the rear-guard, which, as before, disputed the\nground. A rapid stream on the Rodrigo side of the village of San Munoz\nwas to be passed before the rear could be considered safe. Many\nregiments had already forded the river, but one entire brigade was\nmissing, and the haze was so great that it was difficult to distinguish\nany object clearly.\nPakenham\u2019s division was already on the left bank of the stream, while\nthe brigade of nine-pounders, commanded by that admirable officer,\nCaptain Douglas, opened its fire on the French advance. This, for a\nmoment, arrested their progress; but O\u2018Shea, at the head of fifteen\nhundred dragoons, passed between the French infantry and the river, and,\ndisregarding the fire of our artillery, overtook the brigade before it\nhad passed the ford. The confusion at this point was great; some men\nwere sabred; but the fire of Douglas\u2019s guns caused the French dragoons\nmany casualties, and they galloped back to their former ground. The\nsafety of the brigade which was missing was thus ensured; but Sir Edward\nPaget, who had gone in quest of it, and who knew nothing of what had\ntaken place at the river\u2019s edge, was taken prisoner by O\u2018Shea. We thus\nlost our second in command, as also many men; and the cavalry and\nartillery horses had become so enfeebled for want of forage, that it was\nmanifest our retreat, if vigorously followed by Soult, would, as a\nmatter of necessity, have been protected by the infantry alone; but\nSoult either could not or would not press us, and the remainder of the\nday passed over languidly.\nSufferings of the army on the retreat\u2014Jokes of the Connaught\n Rangers\u2014Letter of Lord Wellington\u2014The junior officers\u2014Costume of the\n author during the retreat\u2014An unusual enjoyment.\nNotwithstanding the attitude of Pakenham\u2019s troops, and the excellent\narrangement of the park of artillery under Douglas, the troopers of\nO\u2018Shea still menaced the ford. A brigade of French guns ascended the\nheights, and opened their fire upon the 3rd Division, but they were\nreplied to with vigour by Douglas, who on this day surpassed himself;\nand the decided superiority which his fire had over that of the enemy\nwas so palpable that, after a short trial, the French left the heights.\nDay was drawing to its close, and our march, as usual, commenced soon\nafter dark. The entire day had been one of drizzling wet, but, towards\nevening, the rain came down in torrents; the army had to march two\nleagues ere they reached the point marked out for them on the line of\nretreat, and it would be difficult to describe the wretched state of the\ntroops. The cavalry half dismounted; the artillery without the requisite\nnumber of horses to draw the ammunition-cars, much less the guns; the\ninfantry without shoes, or nearly so; and the roads, even in the broad\nday, nearly impassable, made the march of this night one of great loss.\nWhen a halt occurred, which was often unavoidable in consequence of the\nguide mistaking the way, or because of the narrowness of a part of the\nroad, or the difficulty of ascertaining the pass of a river, those in\nthe rear fell down asleep, and it was next to impossible to awaken them,\nso much were they exhausted; it then became incumbent on every man who\nwas awake to rouse those in his front, who impeded the line of march,\nnot only of the individual himself, but of the army in general.\nNevertheless, many were obliged to stay behind, and were abandoned to\ntheir fate. None but the stout and hale could bear up against the\ninclemency of the weather and the want of food; but the worst of all was\nthe wretched state of the horses of the cavalry and artillery. These\npoor animals, when they reached the place marked out for our resting for\nthe night, had not one morsel to eat, for it was absolutely impossible\nto forage for them at such an hour and under such circumstances, and the\nconsequence was that many died from cold and famine, either in the\nharness of the artillery or under the saddles of the dragoons.\nIt was nine o\u2019clock this night of the retreat before we reached the\nground where we were to rest, and we had scarcely lit our fires when the\nbullocks and kettles arrived. This circumstance\u2014a rare one\u2014put us in\ngood spirits, and by the time we had eaten our first meal that day we\nbecame more gay, and the \u201cboys\u201d of the 88th had their joke about the\nslaughter of the pigs by the 4th Division, of which I have made some\nslight mention in the last chapter. That I might have said more on the\nsubject I am aware, for it was a subject that much might be said upon;\nbut, had I done so, my readers, perhaps, would consider me a _bore_.\nHowever, the Connaught Rangers would have, and had, their joke at the\nexpense of the defunct pigs. Jack Richardson, of the light infantry\ncompany, said, \u201cThe poor craturs must be blind intirely when they run\ninto the mouth of the 4th Division.\u201d\u2014\u201cNo,\u201d replied my man, Dan Carsons,\n\u201cthey wern\u2019t blind all out, but perhaps they had a _stye in their eye_!\u201d\nThis sally of Dan was loudly applauded; and this kind of gaiety of\nspirit never forsook the men of the 88th under any circumstances. It was\nwell for themselves, and for the service also; for I believe no regiment\nin the Peninsula had more uphill work to contend against than the\nill-fated 88th. No matter!\u2014all that is past and gone now; and those who\nsurvive, and recollect the events that took place during their stay in\nthe 3rd Division, are now changing positions; they had uphill work\n_then_\u2014_now_ they are going down the hill. It is, nevertheless, a\ngalling reflection to those who bravely earned notice and promotion, to\nfind themselves passed over, while others, of regiments in the same\ndivision, and under the same General, and placed in circumstances the\nsame, and sometimes less hazardous, have been lauded and promoted, when\nwe of the 88th were not even noticed!\nBut I am digressing. After Carsons' pun we soon fell asleep, and were\nagain on our legs at four in the morning; but our appearance was greatly\nchanged for the worse: several soldiers had died during the night from\nexhaustion and cold, and those who had shoes on them were soon stripped\nof so essential a necessary; and many a young fellow was too happy to be\nallowed to stand in a \u201cdead man\u2019s shoes.\u201d Others were so crippled as to\nbe scarcely able to stand to their arms. Ague and dysentery had, more or\nless, affected us all; and the men\u2019s feet were so swollen that they\nthrew away their shoes in preference to wearing them.\nScarcely any provisions were to be found, but an abundance of wine could\nhave been easily procured from the different wine-caves in each village.\nThe troops, once let loose in this kind of way, could not be restrained,\nand all discipline would have been at an end; therefore, no one ought to\nbe surprised that Lord Wellington forbade the occupation of a town. He\ndid his part in the grand scale, but those who acted under him were\ndeficient in every way. Sometimes the troops were bivouacked in a muddy\nswamp, when dry ground, in comparison at least, was nigh. The\nconsequence of all this bungling was fatal: the troops became ill and\ninefficient; they became discontented; and, to wind up all, the junior\nofficers of the army were blamed for those things over which they had as\nmuch control as they had over the actions of the Dey of Algiers or the\nGreat Mogul. The officers divided the misery of the retreat with their\nmen, and it is well known that many of them had scarcely a covering to\ntheir backs. Scarcely a subaltern in the army had a dollar in his\npocket, the troops being four months in arrear of pay; but, even\nsupposing he had money in abundance, what use could he make of it? There\nwas nothing to be had for love or money\u2014we had no money, and few of us\nwere inclined to make love; but even if we were, there was no one (the\nworst of it) to make love to.\nSuch was the end of a campaign, the commencement of which augured the\nmost fortunate results. The men who composed this fine army\u2014which, at\nRodrigo, Badajoz, and Salamanca, carried all before them\u2014were now\ngreatly changed for the worse. Scarcely a man had shoes; not that they\nwere not amply supplied with them before the retreat commenced, but the\nstate of the roads, if roads they could be called, was such, that so\nsoon as a shoe fell off or stuck in the mud, in place of picking it up\nagain, the man who had thus lost one kicked its fellow-companion after\nit. Yet the infantry was efficient, and able to do any duty. No excesses\nwere committed, for Lord Wellington having taken the precaution of\nkeeping the army away from the different villages, no man had an\nopportunity of obtaining wine or spirits, and thus drunkenness and\ninsubordination were not added to the list of our misfortunes.\nBut the cavalry and artillery were in a wretched state indeed. The\nartillery of the 3rd, 6th, and 7th Divisions, the heavy cavalry,\ntogether with the 7th and 12th Light Dragoons, were nearly a wreck; and\nthe artillery of the 3rd Division lost seventy horses between Salamanca\nand Rodrigo. It was next to impossible that the artillery and cavalry\ncould have made, if vigorously pursued, three marches beyond the latter\nplace. What force, then, was to arrest the enemy in his pursuit?\u2014The\ninfantry, and the infantry alone; yet this main-prop of the army was, by\nmismanagement, left without the means of nourishment! Had not the\ninfantry, by their firmness in bearing up against all the evils they had\nto surmount\u2014such as bad clothing, no tents to shelter them from the\nheavy rains that fell, and no means of dressing their food\u2014presented the\nfront they did, the army must have been lost before it could have\nreached Gallegos; and, if equal zeal had been exhibited by the general\nofficers in providing for the wants of their troops, as was shown by the\nsubordinate officers in the maintenance of discipline amongst them, the\nwell-known letter of Lord Wellington would never have been written.[36]\nFootnote 36:\n Almost every officer of the Peninsular army who has written on the\n Burgos retreat, from William Napier downward, joins in the protest\n against Wellington\u2019s objurgatory general order against his regimental\n officers, published at the end of this retreat. Grattan\u2019s murmurs are\n but a sample of the rest.\nThe officers asked each other, and asked themselves, how or in what\nmanner they were to blame for the privations the army endured on the\nretreat? The answer uniformly was\u2014in no way whatever. The junior\nofficers had nothing to do with it at all. Their business was to keep\ntheir men together, and, if possible, to keep up with their men on the\nmarch, and this was the most difficult duty they had to perform; for\nmany, very many, of these officers were young lads, badly clothed, with\nscarcely a shoe or boot to their feet\u2014some attacked with dysentery,\nothers with ague, and more with a burning fever raging through their\nsystem, they had scarcely strength left to hobble on in company with\ntheir more hardy comrades, the soldiers. Nothing but a high sense of\nhonour could have borne them on; and there were many who would have\nremained behind, and run all risks as to the manner in which they would\nbe treated as prisoners, were it not for this feeling. The different\nbivouacs each morning presented a sad spectacle\u2014worn-out veterans, or\nyoung lads unable to move, were abandoned to their fate. Some were\nthrown across the backs of the commissariat mules, and conveyed to the\nrear; but this was rare, for the drivers were obliged to make all haste\nto reach their destination, and the frames of the men, worn down by\nsickness, unhealed wounds, or old ones breaking out afresh, were unable\nto bear the jolting of the mules, and these men generally preferred\ntaking their chance on the line of march to submitting to such an uneasy\nmode of conveyance.\nThus ended the year 1812, and thus ended our retreat upon Portugal. The\ndetails I have given of that retreat have not been the least\nexaggerated. It had, nevertheless, but little effect on my regiment, the\n88th, for we scarcely lost a man by fatigue or sickness. The \u201cboys of\nConnaught\u201d were not much put out of their way by the want of shoes, a\ngood coat to their backs, or a full allowance of rations: they took all\nthose wants _aisy_! In short, it was astonishing to see the effective\nstate of the regiment, as compared with others, when we reached our\ncantonments.\nSince I commenced these pages, I have endeavoured to impress my readers\nwith the idea\u2014and I hope I have succeeded\u2014that the 88th were none of\nthose humdrum set of fellows that ought to be classed with other\nregiments; they, in fact, had a way of their own! There are many who\nwill agree\u2014cordially on this point, at least\u2014with me; but their reading\nand mine of the text may be widely different, nevertheless.\nThe 88th was a regiment whose spirit it was scarcely possible to break,\nand the many curious incidents which occurred during this retreat\nafforded them ample food for that ready humour for which they were\nproverbial, and for which they got _full credit_; but, nevertheless,\nthey still are _in arrear_, and they owe a debt to themselves which they\nmust pay off\u2014no matter what the price may be. It was well for them that\nthey had food for their humour, for they had little for their stomachs;\nbut that did not cause them much uneasiness. The state in which some of\nthe officers were placed was quite pitiable. Many were obliged to throw\noff their boots, their feet having become so swollen that they could not\nbear them. Those so circumstanced were necessitated to look to the\nsoldiers for a new fit-out. But where could that be found? The men\nthemselves, not caring much whether they had or had not shoes, left\nthose they had worn in the muddy roads, and it would not be an easy\nmatter to find on this same retreat a second pair with any man. However,\nby hook or by crook, those who wanted shoes were supplied; yet, though\nthe soldiers might be termed the _shoemakers_ of their officers, they\nnever got the _upper_ hand of them!\n[Illustration:\n SERGEANT AND PRIVATE\n IN WINTER MARCHING ORDER 1813.\n London, Edward Arnold, 1902\nTo describe the state of the officers would be impossible; for myself, I\ncan truly say I was in rags. I wore a frock-coat, made out of a dress\nbelonging to a priest that was captured by my man Dan Carsons at\nBadajoz. I wore it during our sojourn at Madrid: it was lined with silk,\nand might be termed a good turn-out there; but, as it turned out on the\nretreat, it was the worst description of clothing I, or rather my man\nDan, could have pitched on. Every copse I passed, and they were many,\ntook a slice off my Madrid frock, and by the time I had undergone three\nmarches, it was reduced to a spencer! My feet never quitted the shoes in\nwhich they were placed, from the moment of the retreat until its close.\nI knew too well their value, and if I once got my feet out of them (no\neasy matter), I knew right well it would take some days to get them back\nagain, they were so swollen; and even if I were dead, much less\ncrippled, there were many to be found anxious to stand in my shoes\u2014to\nboot!\nThere were others, and many others, as badly off as I was. My friend\nMeade was obliged to leave his shoes behind him. He tried to walk\nbarefooted for a while, but it was impossible. The gravel so lacerated\nhis feet that he could not move, and he was obliged to make some shift\nto get a pair in place of those he had abandoned. Captain Graham of the\n21st Portuguese, a lieutenant in my regiment, was so worn out with\nfatigue, barebacked and barefooted, that, on one night of the retreat,\nhaving been fortunate enough to get a loaf of bread, he joined me and my\ncompanion Meade; but, so unable was he to eat of the food he brought to\nshare with us, that he fell down on the ground and never tasted a morsel\nof it. It is, therefore, tolerably clear to any man possessing common\nunderstanding, that the junior officers of the army, from the neglect of\ntheir superiors, were not in a state to do more than they did.\nThe retreat still continued, but the army was unmolested, and at length,\nafter an absence of so many days, we once more got sight of our baggage.\nThe poor animals that carried it were in a bad state; but they were even\nbetter than our cavalry or artillery horses. Of the former,\nthree-fourths of the men were dismounted; and the latter could, with\ndifficulty, show three horses, in place of eight, to a gun.\nOn this night, I think it was the 26th of November (that is to say, four\nweeks, less by two days, since we left Madrid), I enjoyed what I never\nexpected to see again\u2014a hearty meal. A knot of us got together under a\ntent belonging to Captain Robert Nickle, whose batman was one of the\nfirst to arrive with his baggage, and he kept open house for as many as\nthe tent could accommodate. In the centre was placed a huge pannella of\nchocolate, which was garnished by a couple of large loaves of Spanish\nbread. The contents of the pannella, as also the dimensions of the\nloaves, were soon altered in appearance, and so, indeed, were we. Our\nstomachs, which before were as lank as half-starved greyhounds, now\nbecame plump and full, and, moreover, some fragments were left even\nafter the servants were fed, and abundantly fed.\nA dog belonging to Nickle, that had been absent with the baggage, and\nwhich had been on as short rations as his master, also got a bellyful,\nand soon after came into the tent, but his owner was so changed in\nappearance and dress that the dog did not at first recognise him\u2014which\nproves the old adage to be correct that \u201ca man is sometimes so changed\nthat his own dog don\u2019t know him.\u201d\nThe army continued its retrograde movement unassailed, and by the 30th\nof November was established in its different stations; but here the real\neffects of the retreat began to be felt. The soldiers, while in action,\nor in a state of activity, had not time to get ill! So long as the mind\nand body are occupied, everything, in comparison, goes on well; but\nafter a storm a calm succeeds, and that calm is sometimes as bad, and\neven worse, than the storm that has preceded it. So it was in the\npresent instance. More than half the men were attacked with some\ncomplaint; but fever and dysentery, from overwork and bad treatment,\nwere most prevalent, and the number of bayonets which we counted at the\nconclusion of the retreat was considerably diminished before we were\nsettled in our winter quarters.\nMany men, whose frames were as robust as their minds were ardent, began\nto sink under the accumulation of the miseries they had endured during\nthe retreat. The continued and unsparing exposure of their bodies under\nsuch heavy rains as had fallen, and their being obliged to lie out,\nwithout any covering, for so many nights, during so inclement a season,\nnow began to be felt, and made visible ravages amongst our ranks. The\noldest and most hardy soldiers, as well as the youngest, sank alike\nunder diseases, and it was heart-breaking to see our ranks thinned, not\nonly of the hardy old stock, but of the promising young suckers also.\nBut so it was! The men died by tens\u2014twenties\u2014thirties\u2014and in the course\nof a short time every battalion was reduced to the half of its original\nstrength. In less than a month the hospitals were overstocked, and many\nofficers were taken ill. I, for once, was amongst the number on the\nsick-list. A bad ill-healed wound, which I received in the breast on the\nnight of the storming of Badajoz, now began to revisit me. A high fever\nwas the consequence, but I was at length relieved by the taking away of\nthree pieces from one of my ribs. The reader is not to suppose from this\nconfession that I was a married man at the time this operation was\nperformed; but I had, nevertheless, a \u201crib,\u201d though not a wife; and as\nto the \u201cpieces\u201d which I lost, it would be but a useless task to look\nafter them now.\nThe Sergeant-Majors wife, a fine, fat, well-looking woman, amongst many\nothers, was taken ill, and visited with a bad fever. She was the sister\nof my man, Dan Carsons, and had kept close with the regiment from the\ntime of its first landing in the Peninsula to the time I am now speaking\nof. She acted in many a useful capacity towards the officers. She\nsupplied us with wine and bread, and every other comfort she could\nafford us, and was, in fact, a necessary appendage to the officers, for\nshe was one of the best foragers I ever saw in the 88th regiment; and\nthe army knows\u2014the Peninsular army, I mean\u2014that we had some good ones.\nBut this poor woman lost two fine mules during our retrograde movement,\nas also the cargoes with which they were laden, amounting to a good\nround sum, which, at the lowest estimate, I must value to be worth three\nhundred dollars. This loss affected her. She had left no stone unturned\nto realise it, and this untoward event brought on a violent fit of\nillness. The fatigue she had undergone, no doubt, aided the cause of her\ndisorder; but, be this as it may, she became quite delirious. While in\nher bed she could not be made to understand that the army was not in\nfull retreat. \u201cWhere,\u201d she would exclaim, \u201care my mules?\u201d My man, Dan,\nwas in constant attendance upon his sister, and was, as a matter of\ncourse, continually intoxicated! If she got better, he would say that he\ntook a little dhrop \u201cmore than usual\u201d for joy; if she relapsed, he did\nthe same \u201cto dhrown grief.\u201d So that, between Dan\u2019s \u201cjoy\u201d and Dan\u2019s\n\u201cgrief,\u201d to say nothing of my own helpless state, I was anything but\nwell off.\nAt length the poor woman became quite insane, but she still looked up to\nDan as her sheet-anchor; nevertheless, Dan always paid her that respect\nwhich he conceived due to the wife of the Sergeant-Major, and always\ncalled her Misthress O\u2018Neil; she, on the contrary, forgetting the\nstation she held, always called her brother \u201cDan.\u201d \u201cOch, then,\u201d said\nshe, \u201cDan, what do the Frinch mane at all\u2014where do they mane to dhrive\nus to?\u2014an\u2019t my mules gone, and our baggage gone, and still we\u2019re on the\nrethrate? Haven\u2019t they taken all from us, even our necessaries?\u2014where do\nthey mane to send us to?\u201d\u2014\u201cBy gob! Misthress O\u2018Neil,\u201d replied Dan, with\na broad grin, \u201cI think they mane to _send us all to pot_!\u201d\nEnd of the Burgos retreat\u2014Cantonments in Portugal\u2014Rest at last\u2014Shocking\n effects of excess in eating\u2014The neighbourhood of Moimento de\n Beira\u2014Wolves\u2014The author employed to cater for his regiment on St.\n Patrick\u2019s day\u2014Is attacked by wolves on his return\u2014Measure for\n measure.\nDan Carsons' prognostication, which closed the last chapter, was not\nfulfilled, although a retreat on Portugal was necessary.\nOnce clear of the Spanish frontier we arrived, by easy marches, at the\ndifferent towns and villages appointed for our occupation, while the\nFrench army retraced their steps, and, it is to be presumed, followed\nthe course we had taken, though not exactly the same route.\nThe village of Leomil was the one allotted to the 88th, and was also the\nheadquarters of Sir John Keane (the General of brigade) and his staff.\nThis town, distant about five leagues from the city of Lamego, and two\nfrom Moimento de Beira, was by no means a bad resting-place for men who\nhad for so many days, and in such inclement weather, inhabited no town,\nor slept, if sleep it could be called, under any covering except their\ntattered uniforms; but the transition was too sudden, and it is not\ndifficult for the reader to see what the consequence was. An abundant\nsupply of money, a great plenty of wine, meat, and poultry were things\nnot to be lightly treated by a parcel of men in a state of nakedness and\nstarvation. In a word, all were bought up greedily, and as greedily\ndevoured. But the frames of the soldiers had undergone a great change;\ntheir stomachs were much weakened by the bad diet they had heretofore\ntasted, and the disordered state of their bowels was such, that in five\ncases out of six the soldiers were attacked with some complaint or\nother. The officers suffered little, because they had a greater command\nover themselves; but I knew an instance of a man of the company I\ncommanded (his name was Travers) eating, for one week, independent of\nhis rations, the head of an ox daily!\nReader, do not laugh at this. It is a true but melancholy picture, not a\nlaughable one, of what a half-starved man will do when opportunity\nfavours. The result, as might have been foreseen, was fatal. A violent\ninflammation of the bowels took place, and the poor fellow died in the\nmost excruciating agonies. No remedy of our doctors could relieve him;\nthey did all they could, but in vain.\nThe country in the neighbourhood of Leomil, and between that town and\nMoimento de Beira, is in the highest degree grand; it moreover abounded\nin game, and officers who were fond of their gun, or of coursing, had\nample opportunities of enjoying both. There was, however, one drawback,\nwhich was an unpleasant one, and that was the vast number of wolves that\ninfested the mountains. These fierce animals were so terrific when\npressed by hunger, that in one instance they seized the head of a sheep\nwhich was in a house, having made their way under the door. The owner,\nhearing the cries of the animal, rushed to its assistance, and, catching\nhold of the hind legs, dragged it back, but the head and a part of the\nneck were carried away by the wolves. Another instance of their ferocity\nsoon after occurred. A young child, who had wandered into the street of\na small village earlier than usual, was carried off and devoured by\nthese animals. But this in no way damped the ardour of our sportsmen.\nWith a double-barrelled gun on his shoulder no one feared danger, though\nhe might guard against it; and I never knew an instance of any one being\nattacked by a wolf, although we saw many in our sporting excursions.\nOur cantonments by this time, the first week in February, had undergone\nso great a change for the better, that they might be really termed\ncomfortable. From the time we were first settled in our present quarters\nwe established an evening club, which was superintended by Misthress\nO\u2018Neil, who was by this time re-established in health. We wished to have\na regular mess, but that was not possible, as the difficulty and expense\nof purchasing materials would have been too great; so we were\nnecessitated to content ourselves with our evening club, which was a\nsource of great amusement and conviviality. It brought us together each\nevening after our requisite duties to the soldiers had been gone\nthrough; and we had no sort of gambling: whist, our favourite game, was\nalways played at a low rate, and each night was wound up by a supper of\nsuch materials as could be procured. Our commanding officer, Major\nMacgregor, gave up his best room for our use, and, all things\nconsidered, our club was most comfortable, and tended to keep up that\nfeeling of harmony and action for which the \u201cConnaught Rangers\u201d were so\nremarkable during the Peninsular War. In 1809, after the battle of\nTalavera, the 88th, while quartered at Campo Mayor, established a mess.\nThis circumstance, trifling as it may appear, was nevertheless attended\nwith a good deal of trouble and a heavy expense. I do not remember that\nany other regiment in the army did the same. In 1812, after the battle\nof Salamanca, the 88th established a splendid mess, for which the\nofficers paid a high rate. During both these periods the 88th was\ncommanded by Colonel Alexander Wallace, whose name I have repeatedly\nmentioned in these pages for his distinguished conduct. Now the object\nof all this must be clear to any military man: it had but one object,\nand one only\u2014the keeping up a gentlemanly and social feeling amongst the\ncorps; and when, as has been seen, such feelings did exist, will any man\ngive credit to the calumnies that have been attempted to be fastened\nupon the \u201cConnaught Rangers\u201d by the biographer of the late Sir Thomas\nPicton?\nSir John Keane was to dine with the regiment on St. Patrick\u2019s day. Even\nat this early period I was their caterer, although in a far different\nway from that in which I am now employed: then I catered for their\nstomachs\u2014their _faim_; now I cater for their honour\u2014their _fame_! At an\nearly hour on the 15th of March, mounted on a good mule, with fifty\ndollars in my pocket, I left my regiment on the route to the city of\nVizeu, with a _carte blanche_ to do the best I could in the purchase of\nprovisions. I was followed by my man Dan, who had for his assistant, or\ncoadjutor, as he styled him, my batman, Jack Green, as handy a \u201cboy\u201d as\never \u201clisted\u201d in the ranks of the \u201cConnaught Rangers.\u201d The mule they\ntook charge of was little inferior to the one I rode, but their pace was\nof necessity slower, as he was encumbered not only with a pair of\npanniers, destined to carry the prog for our St. Patrick\u2019s dinner, but\nalso with the weight of Dan and Jack, who arranged themselves in the\nbest manner they could astride his back. Vizeu is five leagues from\nLeomil, but, as I knew the country tolerably well, I struck out of the\nhigh road, and, crossing the mountains, reached the town some hours\nbefore my servants.\nVizeu is a good town, one of the best in Portugal, and the shops are\nabundantly supplied with such commodities as would suit the taste of a\ngeneral buyer. Brazil sugar, nearly as white as snow, green tea at a\ncheap price, cloths of every description, and a rich assortment of\nBraganza shawls, so much prized in England, were severally named to us\nas we passed the different shops; but Dan, who was, or at least made\nhimself, spokesman on the occasion, shrugged up his shoulders and\nreplied to each, \u201cNo, se\u00f1or, me no care the chocolate, nor the suggera,\nnor the shawla; me care the pech\u00e9.\u201d\nWe soon reached the market-place. There I found an abundance of what I\nmost wished for\u2014fish. I purchased a number of fine mullet, some hens and\nfowls, and a variety of other matters which I thought requisite to\ngarnish our table the following day, and I despatched my two trusty\nservants on their route some hours before I departed myself.\nBeing mounted on a superb mule I did not mind much what road I took, but\nstruck across the mountains above Leomil, bordering on Moimento de\nBeira. Before I reached the passes I so well knew it became dark, and I\nlost my way. On reaching a small village I was informed by the peasants\nthat I was still two leagues from Leomil, had a bad and difficult\ncountry to traverse before I could reach the road, and that the\nmountains were infested with wolves. I was aware that the latter part of\ntheir report was but too true; and when they told me the name of their\nvillage, near which I had shot before, I was convinced that my knowledge\nof the country by night was not quite as perfect as in broad day. The\npeasants endeavoured to make me remain where I was for the night; but\nnotwithstanding their offers of hospitality, I preferred taking my\nchance with the wolves to the certainty of being half devoured by fleas,\na commodity with which, I well knew, their houses were amply stocked. I\ntherefore determined to proceed, as I was anxious to reach home; and I\nhad no great fear of an attack, as I was well mounted, with a case of\npistols in my holsters, and my sabre at my side. I left the reins loose\non the neck of my mule, who, with wonderful sagacity, made her way\nthrough the different passes. We had nearly reached the high road\nwithout meeting any obstacle, save the different glens we were obliged\nto pass, when all of a sudden the mule became alarmed, and bounding to\nthe right and left, made it difficult for me to keep my saddle. The\ndistant cry of wolves soon, however, explained the cause of her\nuneasiness; and although I pressed on at as rapid a pace as the nature\nof the country would admit of, I found that the pack were palpably\ngaining on me.\nI was within a few yards of the high road when three ringleaders of the\npack came close to me. Two of them attacked my mule behind, while the\nother made a spring at her throat, and the remainder were coming rapidly\ninto the field of battle, for so in fact it was. I discharged one of my\npistols at the foremost, but whether I wounded him or no I cannot say;\nfor, to speak candidly, I looked with more anxiety to secure a safe\nretreat than the honour of a splendid victory; and I can affirm, without\nthe slightest qualm of conscience, that mine on this night was never\nsurpassed\u2014in rapidity, at least\u2014in either ancient or modern times.\nMoreau was celebrated for his retreat through the Black\nForest\u2014Wellington for his to the lines of Torres Vedras\u2014but what was the\ndisparity of numbers in either case to what I had to contend against?\nNeither of those great men had more than three to one opposed to him,\nwhile I had\u2014if I may judge from the howling of the reserve, and the\ndaring of the advance\u2014fifteen to two! for my mule must have _her_ share\nin the exploit, because had it not been for her I firmly believe I\nshould have never had an opportunity of relating what took place on the\nnight I speak of. In a word, never was mortal man nearer being devoured.\nThe rest of the story is easily told. At length I reached the high road\nleading to Leomil. I gave my mule a touch of the rowels of my spurs,\nwhich might have been dispensed with, for she, poor thing, was to the\nfull as anxious as myself to quicken our pace. In less than half an hour\nI reached the headquarters of the \u201cConnaught Rangers,\u201d and no man, I\nwill venture to say, ever rejoined his corps with greater pleasure than\nI did mine on that occasion.\nThe hour for dinner at length arrived, and the dinner was a good one;\nand I say it was such, although I was the person who provided it. The\nfish was excellent, the fowl of the best quality, and to any one who has\never had the good fortune to taste a Lamego ham, it would be but\nsuperfluous to descant on the merits of so delicious a morsel. For the\nbeef and mutton I can\u2019t say much, but the wine was of the best quality.\nI had taken particular care on this essential point, and went to a\nconvent where my friend Graham, with his Portuguese regiment, were\nquartered, and, through his interest, prevailed on the priests to send\nus some of their own best. In saying this I need not say more in praise\nof the wine, as it is well known those gentlemen never kept, for their\nown use, one drop of any wine that was not of the best quality.\nThe dinner went off well, the attendance was good, and we were all as\nhappy as any corps could wish to be; but our doctor, O\u2018Reily, being a\nlittle \u201cBacchi plenus,\u201d mistook the veranda for the door, walked out of\nit and fell, uninjured, about fifteen feet! The spot in which he\nhappened to fall, fortunately, was a soft one, and he himself, being a\nlittle moist, escaped as by a miracle, without any mishap. Next morning\nI examined the spot, and was struck with astonishment at the exactness\nof the impression his features had left. Had he sat to have his likeness\ntaken, and undergone the troublesome process of having his face daubed\nover with paste, it could not have been more perfect, and thus in a\nsecond of time, without any trouble to himself, he performed what would\nhave cost him a full half-hour at least, with a great deal of annoyance\ninto the bargain, had he regularly allowed a sculptor to take his bust.\nHe had no doubt taken his wine without measure, and it is clear that the\nwine, or the effects of it, had taken his \u201cmeasure,\u201d and made him\n\u201cmeasure\u201d his length on the heap of mud upon which he fortunately fell,\nand it was in this instance \u201cmeasure for measure.\u201d\nMajor Macgregor, who commanded the 88th up to this period, now left us\non leave, and was succeeded in the command by one of the most\ngentlemanlike officers and best soldiers in the British army\u2014Captain\nRobert Nickle. Sir John Keane, as I have before said, commanded the\nbrigade, Sir Edward Pakenham the division; and from the period of our\narriving at our quarters at Leomil, until our leaving it on our advance\ntowards Vittoria, we had not one single syllable of annoyance with\neither our Brigadier or Major-General, nor do I believe we had as much\nas one court-martial in the battalion\u2014and this embraced a period of more\nthan six months.\nOrdered home\u2014Priests carousing\u2014San Carlos gambling-house at\n Lisbon\u2014Cocking the card\u2014The author quits the Peninsula\u2014Adventures on\n the road\u2014The author\u2019s return to Ireland.\nTo those who have never seen service, or been present with the\nPeninsular army for a series of years, it would be rather a difficult\ntask to make them comprehend the feelings of an officer upon active\nservice, when ordered home. There are many, no doubt, who would say it\nwas a lucky \u201cturn up\u201d; but there are many, I know, who would have a\ncontrary opinion. Years of hard fighting, fatigues, and privations, that\nwe now wonder at, had, nevertheless, a charm that, in one way or\nanother, bound us together, though it severed some; and, all things\nconsidered, I am of opinion that our days in the Peninsula were amongst\nthe happiest of our lives.\nIt was with feelings of regret that I was now on the eve of quitting the\nfirst battalion of the Connaught Rangers, but, before doing so, I\nresolved to spend a few days with my old friend and companion, Captain\nGraham. He was attached to the 21st Portuguese Regiment, quartered in a\nlarge convent half-way between Leomil and Lamosa; and here, for the\nfirst time, I had a full specimen of the manners and habits of the\npriesthood of Portugal. I had, it is true, met them occasionally before,\nand always found them pleasant, agreeable companions; but I had little\nidea of the depraved state they lived in until I became, in a manner, an\ninmate of the convent where my friend was quartered.\nDinner was about to be announced when some five or six priests entered,\neach carrying under his arm a small pig-skin of wine. They were all\nmerry, gay lads, and looked as if they had\u2014which I have no doubt\nof\u2014tasted the contents of their _fardeau_. All were agreeable men; they\ntalked upon all subjects; but the fair sex \u201chad the call.\u201d My friend\nasked where the others were who had promised to come. He was told they\nwere on duty; but what that \u201cduty\u201d was, I could not exactly define. Be\nthis as it may, dinner was scarcely over when three monks entered the\napartment. One, who seemed to be the provider, was loaded with an\nenormous pig-skin of wine, which he carried on his back; and, so soon as\nthe door was flung open, he, with some difficulty, placed it in a\ncorner, and then, with his two companions, joined our festive board.\nNow, at the time I am speaking of, I was a very young lad. I had,\nnevertheless, seen something of the world; I had mixed in society, high\nand low; I had read books\u2014some of them moral, some the contrary; but in\nall that I had ever seen, read, or heard of, I never could suppose that,\namongst any set of men\u2014much less priests\u2014so great a scene of\nblackguardism could be amalgamated together as I witnessed on this\nnight. Their songs and talk were as indecent as can be imagined. The\nfellows were so pleasant that, if you could forget they were priests, it\nwould have been well enough; but it is disgraceful to see men in this\ncalling adopt the manners and habits of the most profligate, by which\nmeans they not only disgrace themselves, but the religion they profess.\nI took leave of my old regiment, and, with two hundred and sixty-five\ndollars in my pocket, bent my way towards Lisbon. My old friend D\u2018Arcy\naccompanied me, and my man, Dan Carsons, took charge of our\nbaggage-mule, which carried our kits. This, indeed, was a sort of\nsinecure to him; for, to say the truth, we were not overstocked with\nmany extras. Little occurred worthy of notice until we reached Lisbon,\nand there we met with our companion, Simon Fairfield, so well known to\nthe army.[37] Maurice Quill was also there, and as they were both, like\nourselves, waiting for a passage home by the first fleet that was to\nleave the Tagus for England, we thought we could not do better than\n\u201cclub\u201d together.\nFootnote 37:\n Fairfield was better known in the army by his Christian name, and was\n almost invariably called \u201cSim,\u201d or, as Joe Kelly called him, \u201cSimmy.\u201d\n He ended very badly, in abject misery caused by his own vices and\n thriftlessness, without a coat to his back or a roof to his head.\nIt was a rare circumstance to meet two such characters, and our time\npassed away agreeably in learning those anecdotes which have been told\nof both. Much has been related of Quill, but Fairfield was immeasurably\nhis superior on some points. In the first place, he sang beautifully,\nwhile Maurice could not sing at all; and if Quill possessed that\nextraordinary humour, which it is so well known he did, poor Simon\nFairfield was an overmatch for him as a punster.\nOur stay in Lisbon was but short, as, in a few days after our arrival,\nthe fleet was in readiness to sail for Portsmouth. But, short as our\nsojourn was, it was of sufficient length to nearly empty our purses.\nThat sink of profligacy and nest of sharpers, the San Carlos\ngambling-house, was the constant resort of all the idlers in Lisbon;\nand, in a few days, I and my friends were completely eased of all our\nloose cash. But we had one resource left, in the shape of a horse each,\nwhich was the same thing as ready money, and we determined to try our\nluck once more at the gambling table. Accordingly, the horses were sent\nto the fair, were sold, and brought a \u201cfair\u201d price. Mine fetched one\nhundred and twenty-five dollars. Those belonging to Hill, D\u2018Arcy, and\nAdair, all of my corps, were also disposed of at a \u201cfair\u201d value. Poor\n\u201c_Fair_\u201dfield had no horse or mule. He had an old jackass\u2014his companion\nfor years\u2014which brought to the general fund only fifteen dollars. A sort\nof council of war was now held as to the line of operations we should\nfollow, and it was unanimously agreed that D\u2018Arcy, being a good judge of\nthe game, should be the purse-bearer, and play according to his own\njudgment to any amount he might think proper, for the profit or loss of\nthe entire party.\nMatters were so far arranged, and we were ready and panting with anxiety\nto have another trial with the bankers of the San Carlos tables, when\nHill, a young man of sound sense, hinted that, to prevent any mistake,\nand not to leave all on the \u201chazard of the die,\u201d we should deposit a\ncertain number of dollars each for the purchase of our sea-stock. This\nhint was so replete with _rationality_ that we all acquiesced, and\nfifteen dollars \u201c_par t\u00eate_\u201d was regularly pouched by Hill, who was\nunderstood to be our caterer. He laid in a capital stock of wine,\nbrandy, fowls, and meat\u2014and, so far, all went on right. The wine and\nbrandy he purchased from the far-famed Signor Cavizoli; but, if he paid\nhigh for them, they were of excellent quality.\nMeanwhile D\u2018Arcy, who conducted his department in the capacity of\nChancellor of the Exchequer, was regular in his attendance at the\ngaming-table. He marked with much circumspection the gains and losses of\nthe numbers on his cards, for and against the banker; but his caution\nwas of no avail. In the first night\u2019s play one hundred dollars had been\nscooped from him by the Portuguese banker, leaving a surplus of about\nseventy-five more at his disposal. As this was our last stake, and as\nthe fleet was to sail the following day (I wish it had sailed ten days\nsooner), we all went to San Carlos to witness the luck of D\u2018Arcy. Before\nhim lay seventy-five dollars, and before him sat the banker, ready and\nwilling to relieve him of their weight. For the first half-hour he\nplayed with some success, but afterwards the tide of luck was against\nhim. Not one of the party interfered _pro_ or _con_. Again he made a\nrally, and, like, a ship at sea who has weathered the storm and begins\nto right herself, he went on, as it were, sailing before the wind. But,\nin a moment of exultation, and having, as he thought, calculated to a\nnicety the certainty of success, he staked the entire of our\nstock-in-trade on the turn of the card. He was right\u2014the card turned up\nin his favour, and he was a winner of three hundred dollars and upwards.\nI looked on quietly, and expected to see him take the money or double\nthe card (which means \u201cdouble or quit\u201d), thereby insuring his stake at\nthe worst, or doubling it in the event of success. What, then, was our\nastonishment and dismay when we saw him \u201ccock\u201d the card, and heard him,\nin a loud tone, addressing the dealer of the pack in the single\nmonosyllable, \u201cCock.\u201d Now, the meaning of the word \u201ccock,\u201d and \u201ccocking\u201d\nthe card, that is to say, turning up one of the corners of it, implies\nthat you will have, if you gain, three times the stake on the table,\nbut, if you lose, you lose all. So it was with D\u2018Arcy; the wrong card\nturned up, and we, one and all, turned out, went home to our beds,\nsailed for Portsmouth next day, and I never wagered a shilling at a\ngaming-table since. Perhaps it was the best \u201cturn up\u201d I ever had.\nOur passage home was pleasant and short. No incident worth relating\noccurred; and, in twelve days after we left Lisbon, we found ourselves\noff Spithead. The number of Jews which crowded the vessel was\nastonishing. They all sought for gold, but amongst us it was a scarce\ncommodity. One solitary guinea was all I possessed, and I believe I\ncould say as much as any of my companions. For this guinea I received,\nfrom a Jew, thirty shillings; and it was then that I really began to\nlament the loss of my \u201cspecie\u201d in Lisbon. It was, however, of no use to\nrepine. We had, after a good deal of peril, arrived once more on our\nnative shore. We saw ourselves, on landing, hailed by our own people,\nand, though last, not least, had an order on the agent for seven months'\npay! We were all splendidly dressed, with braided coats, handsome forage\ncaps, rich velvet waistcoats, appended to which were a profusion of\nlarge silver Spanish buttons\u2014some wore gold ones\u2014and our pantaloons bore\nthe weight of as much embroidery as, poor Fairfield once said, would\nfurnish a good sideboard of plate! Thanks to the old German tailor in\nLisbon (I forget his name) for this. If he charged high, he gave\neverything of the best quality; but, as we landed, and saw the garrison\nof Portsmouth in their white breeches and black gaiters, and their\nofficers in red coats, long boots, and white shoulder belts, we must\nhave appeared to them, as they did to us, like men who formed a part of\nan army of different nations.\nWe took coach the morning after our landing for London. After a few days\nspent there in sight-seeing and amusements, I set out to visit my family\nin Ireland. I took my place on the top of the Liverpool coach, and, with\na light heart, viewed the beautiful country we passed over. The contrast\nit presented to that which I had but a few weeks before left was great\nindeed, and I felt a pride when I reflected that I, humble as I was, was\none of those who had fought and bled not only for my country\u2019s honour,\nbut my country\u2019s safety.\nMy servant, Dan Carsons, sat behind, and kept all the outside passengers\nnear him, either in astonishment at the tales he recounted as to what he\nhad seen, or in roars of laughter at some of his adventures, which he\ntold without any scrupulous qualms as to whether they were true or not.\nHe had made himself so agreeable to those behind that, at the first\nstage, where we changed horses, some of the front passengers requested\nhe would take his place with them; but there was no vacant seat, and no\none seemed disposed to resign his place, so I thought the best plan was\nfor me to go behind, which, I said, I preferred to the front; and my man\nDan was installed beside the driver. The laughter in front was, if\npossible, louder than it had been before in the rear, while Dan was\nrecounting his Peninsular reminiscences.\nWe reached Liverpool without any adventure, and next day sailed for\nDublin. In those days which I write of we did not use steam, and a\nthree-day passage from Liverpool to Dublin was quite a common thing, and\nit was the practice then to lay in a sea stock for a voyage of four or\nfive days. This was a matter of easy accomplishment, and, having laid in\na fair supply of edibles, etc., we set sail, and on the third day\narrived in Dublin. After remaining in the capital one day, I parted from\nmy old companion, D\u2018Arcy, and took the first coach for the Kildare road,\nwhile D\u2018Arcy brought himself to an anchor in the Ennis mail. Our leave\nof absence was for three months, and, before the expiration of that\ntime, the second battalion of the regiment was expected in Ireland, so\nwe did not calculate on a long separation, nor were we mistaken.\nIt would be tedious and uninteresting to give any minute detail of my\nreception amongst my family and friends. Those sort of adventures read\nwell in novels, but I do not think my readers will be displeased with me\nfor leaving them out. As a matter of course all my acquaintances got\nround me, and I had to recount all my four years' adventures in the\nPeninsula; and, while I was so employed in the drawing-room, my man Dan\nfulfilled his part in the kitchen, and, I have little doubt, did much\nmore justice to the matter than I did.\nWhen my leave expired, I took leave of my friends and joined the second\nbattalion, which was stationed at Fermoy. The army of the Peninsula had\nby this time, the spring of 1814, established itself within the French\nfrontier, and reinforcements were in readiness to be sent from Cork to\njoin their companions in the south of France, but, as will be seen in\nthe next chapter, there was no need of this augmentation of force.\nBreaking up of the British Peninsular army at the abdication of\n Napoleon\u2014Separation of the soldiers' wives\u2014The elopement\u2014Sad story\n of Thorp, the Drum-Major\u2014Conclusion.\nAfter six years of terrible war, the army of the Peninsula at length\nfound a stop put to its victorious career, and the inhabitants of the\ncity of Toulouse were the last who heard a hostile shot fired against\ntheir countrymen. From the commencement of this wonderful struggle, in\nAugust 1808, to April 1814, more battles had been fought (all of them\nwon) than England could boast of for nearly a century; and the\ntriumphant march of the army of Wellington was uninterrupted by one\ndefeat, until the subjection of their brave opponents was complete,\nwhich forbade further hostile advance upon the French territory.\nIt would be a work of supererogation to bring events before the reader\nwhich have been so often and so well told. Suffice it to say that upon\nthe news of the abdication of the Emperor Napoleon having reached the\nheadquarters of the Dukes of Dalmatia and Wellington, the armies of the\ndifferent nations which formed portions of those troops were so arranged\nas to be ready to return to their respective countries or destinations.\nThose of Spain returned to Spain, and those of Portugal returned to\nPortugal. The British infantry embarked at Bordeaux, some for America,\nsome for England; and the cavalry, marching through France, took\nshipping at Boulogne.\nThe separation of those troops from each other, after so long an\nintercourse, and an uninterrupted series of victories, was a trying\nmoment. There were, no doubt, many at least about to return to their\nnative country and to their friends; but they were also about to leave\nbehind them, probably for ever, those countries in which they had passed\nthe most eventful years of their lives, and to be separated from friends\nwhose claim to the title could not be doubted\u2014because such friendships\nas those I speak of were not formed by interested motives, and were\nconsequently the more sincere and lasting. They left also behind them\nthe bones of forty thousand of their companions who had fallen, either\nby disease or by the sword, in the tremendous but glorious contest they\nhad been all engaged in\u2014a contest which decided more than the fate of\nthe Peninsula, for the very _existence_ of England was the stake played\nfor, or rather fought for, in this terrible game; the loss of one single\npoint would not only have rendered the game desperate, but lost it\naltogether. The players on both sides were nearly equal in skill, and if\nWellington could not boast of the same evenness and perfection of some\nof the materials he had in hand, as compared with his opponents, he most\nundeniably held a few _trumps_ that always decided the game in his\nfavour. Sixty thousand Anglo-Portuguese, under their great leader,\naccomplished more on the southern frontier of France than did HALF A\nMILLION of the allies on the side of Germany.\nThese are heart-stirring facts, and the recollection of them, even after\nso long a lapse of time, causes the pulse to quicken, and the heart to\nbeat high; for it can never be too often repeated, or too well\nremembered, by those of the Peninsular army who are now living, that it\nwas the imperishable deeds of that army that saved their country.\nTheir great leader now left them; but he did not do so without his\nmarked expressions of what he thought of the past, and his promises for\nthe future. His General Order contained the following words:\u2014\n\u201cAlthough circumstances may alter the relations in which he has stood\ntowards them for some years, so much to his satisfaction, he assures\nthem he will never cease to feel the warmest interest in their welfare\nand honour, and that he will be at all times happy to be of any service\nto those to whose conduct, discipline, and gallantry their country is so\nmuch indebted.\u201d\nHow these promises have been kept is too well known, and it is difficult\nto say whether that he ever made them, or never kept them, is to be\nregretted most. However, the Duke of Wellington, no doubt, does not put\nthe same construction on his words, and on his acts, that others do; and\nit will be the task of the historian and posterity to deal with a matter\nwhich can be better judged of by unbiassed persons than by the parties\ninterested. That the Duke of Wellington is one of the most remarkable,\nand perhaps the greatest man of the present age, few will deny; but that\nhe has neglected the interests and feelings of his Peninsular army, as a\nbody, is beyond all question; and were he in his grave to-morrow,\nhundreds of voices, that are now silent, would echo what I write.\nAll the necessary preparations being made, the armies of the three\nnations parted, and proceeded on the different routes pointed out for\nthem to follow. The breaking up of this splendid army of veterans, that\nfor six years slept on the field of battle they had invariably won, was\na trying moment. Many a bronzed face, that had braved every danger\nunmoved, was now moistened with a tear; but the proud consciousness that\nso long as their country required their services, and that nothing, save\ndeath, had separated them, until at last they stood triumphant on the\nthreshold of the invaders' country, stifled every other feeling. In\nfine, the commands of the great man that had so often assembled them at\nhis beck, now separated them\u2014and for ever.\nSeveral of the most effective regiments were ordered to embark for\nCanada, and as the war between England and America was at its height,\nthe battalions destined for American service were restricted to a\ncertain number of soldiers' wives. The English, Irish, and Scotch were\nsent to England, and proper attention paid to their wants and comforts.\nThey had also on board the transports that were to convey them to\nEngland their own countrymen and their own countrywomen, amongst whom\nwere many personally known to them, who had served in the same brigade\nor division. But the poor faithful Spanish and Portuguese women,\nhundreds of whom had married or attached themselves to our soldiers, and\nwho had accompanied them through all their fatigues and dangers, were\nfrom stern necessity obliged to be abandoned to their fate. This was\nalso a trying moment; many of these poor creatures, the Portuguese in\nparticular, had lived with our men for years, and had borne them\nchildren. They were fond and attached beings, and had been useful in\nmany ways, and under many circumstances, not only to their husbands, but\nto the corps they belonged to generally. Some had amassed money (Heaven\nknows how!), but others were without a sixpence to support them on their\nlong journey to their own country, and most of them were nearly naked.\nThe prospect before them was hideous, and their lamentations were\nproportionate, for many, though they had a _country_ to return to, had\nneither friends to welcome them nor a home to shelter them; for in this\nwar of extermination, life, as well as property, was lost. The soldiers\nwere seven months in arrear of pay, and the officers were as badly off;\nnevertheless subscriptions were raised, and a fund, small no doubt in\nproportion to their wants, enabled relief to be portioned amongst all.\nThis partial and insufficient aid did not, nor could not, however,\nlessen the real bitterness of the scene, for many of those devoted\nbeings\u2014now outcasts, about to traverse hundreds of miles ere they\nreached their homes, if homes they found any\u2014had followed their husbands\nthrough the hottest of the battlefield; had staunched their wounds with\ntheir tattered garments, or moistened their parched lips, when without\nsuch care death would have been certain; they had, when such aid was not\nrequired, devoted days and nights in rendering those attentions which\nonly they who have witnessed them can justly appreciate. Yet these\nfaithful and heroic women were now, after those trials, to be seen\nstanding on the beach, while they witnessed with bursting hearts the\nfilling of those sails, and the crowding of those ships, that were to\nseparate them for ever from those to whom they had looked for protection\nand support.\nIn this list there was one female, a lady\u2014I call her so, for her rank\nand prospects entitled her to the appellation I have given her\u2014who was\nas much to be pitied as the rest, though her circumstances were widely\ndifferent. She was a beautiful woman, only daughter of the wealthy Juiz\nde Fora of Campo Mayor. During the autumn of 1809, when a portion of the\nPeninsular army, after the battle of Talavera, was quartered in that\ntown, this girl\u2014for so she was then\u2014fell in love with the Drum-Major of\nthe 88th Regiment. His name was Thorp. As in most cases of the sort,\nboth parties had made up their minds to the consequences. The girl was\ndetermined to elope with Thorp, and Thorp was equally resolved to carry\nher off; but this required measures as well as means. Touching the\nlatter Thorp was amply supplied, for he was pay-sergeant of a company,\nand, moreover, received constant remittances from his father, who was a\nman of respectability in Lancashire. In a word, Thorp was a gentleman,\nand lived and died a hero! As to the lady, her tale is easily told. Her\nfather, Se\u00f1or Jos\u00e9 Alfonzo Cherito, Juiz de Fora of Campo Mayor, was a\nman possessing large estates, and having but one child, and that child a\ndaughter, he naturally looked forward to a suitable match for her. Now,\nas poor Thorp could not boast of those qualities or attributes which the\nworthy Juiz de Fora had very naturally anticipated, when his daughter\nhad made up her mind to espouse Thorp, his rage and disappointment may\nbe easily imagined when he learned that she had left his _quinta_,\ntaking all her jewels with her. The regiment was to march the following\nmorning, and as all mode of conveyance in the shape of cars or mules,\nfor the wounded or sick, was under the \u201csurveillance\u201d of the worthy\nmagistrate, he apprehended no difficulty in tracing his runaway\ndaughter\u2014but he was mistaken. The cars were examined, the baggage-mules\nwere overhauled, the commissariat mules, carrying ammunition, biscuit,\nand rum, were looked at, but amongst all these no trace of the fugitive\ncould be found. What, then, was to be done? There was but one other\nchance of finding the girl, and this was a survey of the officers'\nhorses, as the officers rode at the head or in rear of the column; but\nthe Juiz de Fora, although a functionary of high note and high authority\nin his own calling, and amongst his own neighbours, did not much relish\nan inspection, though freely granted, which would place him amongst a\nthousand shining British bayonets. However, he did accept the\ninvitation, and was allowed to make the inspection\u2014but he discovered no\ntrace of his daughter.\n\u201cAre you satisfied?\u201d said the Colonel.\n\u201cI am satisfied that my daughter is not with your regiment, sir; yet I\nam anything but satisfied as to her fate!\u201d replied the old man.\nThe band played a quick march; Thorp, as Drum-Major, flourished his\ncane; the daughter of the Juiz de Fora, in her new and disguised\ncharacter of cymbal-boy, with her face blacked, and regimental jacket,\nbanged the Turkish cymbals, and Thorp, who as Drum-Major was destined to\nmake a noise in the world, was for obvious reasons silent on this\noccasion. The regiment reached Monte Forte the same day, and the _padre_\nof that town performed the marriage ceremony in due form.\nIn detailing the history of the elopement and marriage of Jacintha\nCherito with Drum-Major Thorp, I have given but a short outline of a\nvery romantic and, as it was nigh turning out, a tragical affair. But\nwere I to sit down quietly, and write of all the intrigues that were set\nin motion, or of all the attempts that were made to assassinate this\ngirl, and also her husband, what I could truly write would be fitting\nfor the pages of a romance. Thorp\u2019s history shall be told in a few\nwords. It was this:\u2014\nHe joined the 88th Regiment on its return from South America in 1807. He\nwas quite a lad, and being rather too young to be placed in the ranks,\nwas handed over to the Drum-Major. He soon became so great a proficient\nthat, on the regiment embarking for Portugal, at the end of 1808, he was\nraised to the rank of Drum-Major, in the room of his preceptor, who was\ninvalided. In those days our Drum-Majors wore hats pretty much the same\nas those now worn by Field-Marshals; indeed, the only difference between\nthem was that the hat then worn by the former was not only of a more\nimposing and capacious size, but more copiously garnished with white\nfeathers round the brim than those of the latter now are. The coat, too,\na weight in itself, from the quantity of silver lace with which it was\nbedizened, was an object sufficient to attract attention and respect\nfrom the multitude that witnessed the debarkation of the regiment at\nLisbon. In short, Thorp was mistaken by the Portuguese for a General\nOfficer, and some went so far as to guess at his being the Earl of\nMoira, who, it was rumoured at the time, was about to join the army.\nAbsurd as those opinions were\u2014and most absurd they assuredly were,\nbecause Thorp, neither in years nor appearance, resembled in the\nslightest degree the high personage he was mistaken for\u2014Thorp felt\ngratified\u2014and where is the Drum-Major that would not?\u2014at being taken for\na General Officer; and from that moment he made up his mind to pitch\ndrums, drummers, and drum-sticks, not only from his hands but his\nthoughts also, and fight his way to the honourable privilege of carrying\nthe pole of a colour in place of the mace of a Drum-Major.\nHis wish was soon gratified, for when his regiment, at Busaco, was\nrunning headlong with the bayonet against three of Reynier\u2019s splendid\nbattalions, Thorp, to the amazement of Colonel Wallace, was seen at the\nhead of the 88th, not with his \u201cmace of office\u201d in his hand, but with\nhis plumed hat, waving it high over his head, as he called out, \u201cThe\nConnaught Rangers for ever!\u201d During the action the Sergeant-Major had\nbeen killed while fighting beside Thorp, and Wallace, on the field of\nbattle, named him as Sergeant-Major, in place of the one he had lost.\nFrom this period up to the battle of Toulouse, Thorp was a distinguished\nman. Four times had he been wounded, but he was always up with his\nregiment in time for the next battle, often with his wounds unhealed. At\nthe battle of Orthes, his conduct was so remarkable that his name was\nforwarded for an ensigncy. Thorp knew this, and at Toulouse, the last\nbattle fought by the Peninsular army, he was resolved to prove that his\nrecommendation was deserved. In this action his bravery was not bravery\nalone\u2014it was rashness.\nSome companies of Picton\u2019s division had been repulsed in an attack at\nthe bridge-head, near the canal\u2014which attack it has been said, and in my\nopinion truly said, should never have been made\u2014when Thorp ran forward,\nand assisted in rallying the soldiers. The fire from the firearms and\nbatteries of the French was incessant, and many officers and soldiers\nhad fallen. There was one spot in particular that had been the scene of\nmuch slaughter to those who occupied it, and five officers, besides\nnumbers of soldiers, had been already struck down by cannon-shot, and\nothers wounded by musketry. Amongst the latter was Captain Robert\nNickle, one of the most distinguished officers in the army. While he was\nhobbling to the rear, he observed Thorp standing in the midst of those\nwho had fallen, the rest having been withdrawn out of fire from a\nposition that should never have been occupied. For in the front of the\nFrench battery, and running in a direct line from the canal to this\nposition, was a low narrow avenue or hedge, which ended within a few\nyards of where our people had formed after their repulse, and this\navenue served as a guide, or groove, for the enemy\u2019s range; they were\nnow, however, more or less, under cover. In a moment of excitement,\nThorp, with his cap in his hand, stood alone on this spot, saying, \u201cNow\nlet us see if they can hit _me_!\u201d Nickle, who was passing at the moment,\nsupported by two of his company\u2014for his arm was badly shattered\u2014called\nout to Thorp to leave the spot. \u201cOh, Captain Nickle,\u201d replied Thorp,\n\u201cthey can\u2019t hit _me_, I think.\u201d Those were the last words he ever\nuttered. A round shot struck his chest, and, cutting him in two, whirled\nhis remains in the air. Thus fell the gallant Thorp, and though his rank\nwas humble, his chivalrous deeds were those of a hero. The day after his\ndeath the English mail brought the _Gazette_ in which poor Thorp\u2019s name\nwas seen as promoted to an ensigncy in his old regiment; and though this\nannouncement came too late for him to know it, it was a great\nconsolation to his poor afflicted widow, and it was the means of\nreconciling her father to the choice she had made, and her return once\nmore to her home was made a scene of great rejoicing; but nothing more\nof her was ever heard by the regiment.\nThe war in the Peninsula was now ended, after having continued for\nnearly six years with various changes; and gloriously, in truth, was it\nended by the British General and his unconquerable army. \u201cThus the war\nterminated, and with it all remembrance of the veterans' services.\u201d And\nnow, reader, I am about to take leave of you, for the present at least.\nIn these \u201cAdventures\u201d I have told you many circumstances you never\nbefore heard of, and I hope I have not fatigued you, or trespassed too\nlong on your patience. I have, without being, I trust, too tedious, told\nyou of the wrongs my old corps has suffered. I have, without presuming\nto write a History of the Peninsular War, told you something of the\nservices performed by the Peninsular army; and I have drawn your\nattention to the scandalous manner in which the never-to-be-forgotten\nservices of that wonderful army were treated by the Government and by\nthe Duke of Wellington. I leave the continuation of the _Adventures of\nthe Connaught Rangers_ dependent on the favour of which you may think\nthe pages I have now presented to you deserving.\n _Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_.\nHyphenations occurring on line breaks are resolved by following the\npreponderant occurrence of the word elsewhere in the text. Several\ninconsistencies in punctuation in the front matter were resolved without\nnotice here.\nThe reference in the sole error corrected are to the page and line in\nthe original.\n 288.32 we were beginning [t]o forget Restored.\nEnd of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Adventures With the Connaught Rangers\n1809-1814, by William Grattan\n*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONNAUGHT RANGERS ***\n***** This file should be named 57936-0.txt or 57936-0.zip *****\nThis and all associated files of various formats will be found in:\nProduced by KD Weeks, Brian Coe and the Online Distributed\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive)\nUpdated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will\nbe renamed.\nCreating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright\nlaw means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,\nso the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United\nStates without permission and without paying copyright\nroyalties. 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Thus, we do not\nnecessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper\nedition.\nMost people start at our Web site which has the main PG search\nfacility: www.gutenberg.org\nThis Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,\nincluding how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary\nArchive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to\nsubscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.", "source_dataset": "gutenberg", "source_dataset_detailed": "gutenberg - Adventures With the Connaught Rangers 1809-1814\n"}, {"source_document": "", "creation_year": 1807, "culture": " English\n", "content": "Produced by Julia Miller and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive/American Libraries.)\nTranscriber\u2019s Note\nObvious typographical errors have been corrected. A list of corrections\nis found at the end of the text. Inconsistencies in spelling and\nhyphenation have been maintained. A list of inconsistently spelled\nand hyphenated words is found at the end of the text.\nText surrounded with = was originally printed in a black-letter typeface.\n _Harper\u2019s Stereotype Edition._\n HOUSEKEEPER\u2019S MANUAL.\n =Receipts for Cookery,=\n DIRECTIONS FOR CARVING.\n THE ART OF COMPOSING THE MOST SIMPLE AND MOST HIGHLY FINISHED\n BROTHS, GRAVIES, SOUPS, SAUCES, STORE SAUCES, AND FLAVOURING\n ESSENCES; PASTRY, PRESERVES, PUDDINGS, PICKLES, &c.\n A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF COOKERY\n FOR CATHOLIC FAMILIES.\n THE QUANTITY OF EACH ARTICLE IS ACCURATELY STATED BY WEIGHT AND\n MEASURE; BEING THE RESULT OF ACTUAL EXPERIMENTS\n INSTITUTED IN THE KITCHEN OF\n WILLIAM KITCHINER, M.D.\n ADAPTED TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC\n BY A MEDICAL GENTLEMAN.\n FROM THE LAST LONDON EDITION.\n _PRINTED BY J. & J. HARPER, 82 CLIFF-ST._\n SOLD BY COLLINS AND HANNAY, COLLINS AND CO., G. AND C. AND H. CARVILL,\n WILLIAM B. GILLEY, E. BLISS, O. A. ROORBACH, WHITE, GALLAHER, AND WHITE,\n C. S. FRANCIS, WILLIAM BURGESS, JR., AND N. B. HOLMES;--PHILADELPHIA,\n E. L. CAREY AND A. HART, AND JOHN GRIGG;--ALBANY, O. STEELE, AND W. C.\n LITTLE.\nSOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK, _ss._\nBE IT REMEMBERED, That on the 20th day of November, A. D. 1829, in the\nfifty-fourth year of the independence of the United States of America,\nJ. & J. HARPER, of the said district, have deposited in this office the\ntitle of a book, the right whereof they claim as Proprietors, in the\nwords following, to wit:\n\u201cThe Cook\u2019s Oracle, and Housekeeper\u2019s Manual, Containing Receipts for\nCookery, and Directions for Carving; also the Art of Composing the most\nsimple and most highly finished Broths, Gravies, Soups, Sauces, Store\nSauces, and Flavouring Essences; Pastry, Preserves, Puddings, Pickles,\n&c. With a Complete System of Cookery for Catholic Families. The\nQuantity of each Article is accurately stated by Weight and Measure;\nbeing the Result of Actual Experiments instituted in the Kitchen of\nWilliam Kitchiner, M.D. Adapted to the American Public by a Medical\nGentleman.\u201d\nIn conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, entitled \u201cAn\nAct for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of maps,\ncharts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during\nthe time therein mentioned.\u201d And also to an Act, entitled \u201cAn Act,\nsupplementary to an Act, entitled an Act for the encouragement of\nLearning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the\nauthors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein\nmentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing,\nengraving, and etching historical and other prints.\u201d\n FREDERICK I. BETTS,\n _Clerk of the Southern District of New-York._\nADVERTISEMENT.\nThe publishers have now the pleasure of presenting to the American\npublic, Dr. Kitchiner\u2019s justly celebrated work, entitled \u201cThe Cook\u2019s\nOracle, and Housekeeper\u2019s Manual,\u201d with numerous and valuable\nimprovements, by a medical gentleman of this city.\nThe work contains a store of valuable information, which, it is\nconfidently believed, will not only prove highly advantageous to young\nand inexperienced housekeepers, but also to more experienced matrons--to\nall, indeed, who are desirous of enjoying, in the highest degree, the\ngood things which Nature has so abundantly bestowed upon us.\nThe \u201cCook\u2019s Oracle\u201d has been adjudged, by connoisseurs in this country\nand in Great Britain, to contain the best possible instructions on the\nsubject of serving up, beautifully and economically, the productions of\nthe water, land, and air, in such a manner as to render them most\npleasant to the eye, and agreeable to the palate.\nNumerous notices, in commendation of the work, might be selected from\nrespectable European journals; but the mere fact, that within twelve\nyears, seventy thousand copies of it have been purchased by the English\npublic, is sufficient evidence of its reception and merits.\nNEW-YORK, _December, 1829_.\nPREFACE\nTO\nTHE SEVENTH EDITION.\nThe whole of this Work has, a _seventh time_, been carefully revised;\nbut this last time I have found little to add, and little to alter.\nI have bestowed as much attention on each of the 500 receipts as if the\nwhole merit of the book was to be estimated entirely by the accuracy of\nmy detail of one particular process.\nThe increasing demand for \u201c_The Cook\u2019s Oracle_,\u201d amounting in 1824 to\nthe extraordinary number of upwards of 45,000, has been stimulus enough\nto excite any man to submit to the most unremitting study; and the\nEditor has felt it as an imperative duty to exert himself to the utmost\nto render \u201c_The Cook\u2019s Oracle_\u201d a faithful narrative of all that is\nknown of the various subjects it professes to treat.\nPREFACE.\nAmong the multitudes of causes which concur to impair health and produce\ndisease, the most general is the improper quality of our food: this most\nfrequently arises from the injudicious manner in which it is prepared:\nyet strange, \u201cpassing strange,\u201d this is the only one for which a remedy\nhas not been sought; few persons bestow half so much attention on the\npreservation of their own health, as they daily devote to that of their\ndogs and horses.\nThe observations of the Guardians of Health respecting regimen, &c. have\nformed no more than a catalogue of those articles of food, which they\nhave considered most proper for particular constitutions.\nSome medical writers have, \u201cin good set terms,\u201d warned us against the\npernicious effects of improper diet; but not one has been so kind as to\ntake the trouble to direct us how to prepare food properly; excepting\nonly the contributions of Count Rumford, who says, in pages 16 and 70 of\nhis tenth Essay, \u201chowever low and vulgar this subject has hitherto\ngenerally been thought to be--_in what Art or Science could improvements\nbe made that would more powerfully contribute to increase the comforts\nand enjoyments of mankind? Would to God! that I could fix the public\nattention to this subject!_\u201d\nThe Editor has endeavoured to write the following receipts so plainly,\nthat they may be as easily understood in the kitchen as he trusts they\nwill be relished in the dining-room; and has been more ambitious to\npresent to the Public a Work which will contribute to the daily comfort\nof all, than to seem elaborately scientific.\nThe practical part of the philosophy of the kitchen is certainly not the\nmost agreeable; gastrology has to contend with its full share of those\ngreat impediments to all great improvements in scientific pursuits; the\nprejudices of the ignorant, and the misrepresentations of the envious.\nThe sagacity to comprehend and estimate the importance of any\nuncontemplated improvement, is confined to the very few on whom nature\nhas bestowed a sufficient degree of perfection of the sense which is to\nmeasure it;--the candour to make a fair report of it, is still more\nuncommon; and the kindness to encourage it cannot often be expected from\nthose whose most vital interest it is to prevent the developement of\nthat by which their own importance, perhaps their only means of\nexistence, may be for ever eclipsed: so, as Pope says, how many are\n \u201cCondemn\u2019d in business or in arts to drudge,\n Without a rival, or without a judge:\n All fear, none aid you, and few understand.\u201d\nImprovements in _Agriculture_ and the _Breed of Cattle_ have been\nencouraged by premiums. Those who have obtained them, have been hailed\nas benefactors to society! but _the Art of_ making use of these means of\n_ameliorating Life and supporting a healthful Existence_--COOKERY--has\nbeen neglected!!\nWhile the cultivators of the raw materials are distinguished and\nrewarded, the attempt to improve the processes, without which neither\nvegetable nor animal substances are fit for the food of man (astonishing\nto say), has been ridiculed, as unworthy the attention of a rational\nbeing!!\nThe most useful[vii-*] art--which the Editor has chosen to endeavour to\nillustrate, because nobody else has, and because he knew not how he\ncould employ some leisure hours more beneficially for mankind, than to\nteach them to combine the \u201c_utile_\u201d with the \u201c_dulce_,\u201d and to increase\ntheir pleasures, without impairing their health, or impoverishing their\nfortune, has been for many years his favourite employment; and \u201cTHE ART\nOF INVIGORATING AND PROLONGING LIFE BY FOOD, &C. &C.\u201d and this Work,\nhave insensibly become repositories for whatever observations he has\nmade which he thought would make us \u201cLIVE HAPPY, AND LIVE LONG!!!\u201d\nThe Editor has considered the ART OF COOKERY, not merely as a mechanical\noperation, fit only for working cooks, but as the _Analeptic part of the\nArt of Physic_.\n \u201cHow best the fickle fabric to support\n Of mortal man; in healthful body how\n A healthful mind the longest to maintain,\u201d\n (ARMSTRONG,)\nis an occupation neither unbecoming nor unworthy philosophers of the\nhighest class: such only can comprehend its importance; which amounts to\nno less, than not only the enjoyment of the present moment, but the more\nprecious advantage of improving and preserving _health_, and prolonging\n_life_, which depend on duly replenishing the daily waste of the human\nframe with materials pregnant with nutriment and easy of digestion.\nIf _medicine_ be ranked among those arts which dignify their professors,\n_cookery_ may lay claim to an equal, if not a superior, distinction; to\n_prevent_ diseases is surely a more advantageous art to mankind than to\n_cure_ them. \u201cPhysicians should be good cooks, at least in theory.\u201d--Dr.\nMANDEVILLE _on Hypochondriasis_, p. 316.\nThe learned Dr. ARBUTHNOT observes, in page 3 of the preface to his\n_Essay on Aliment_, that \u201cthe choice and measure of the materials of\nwhich our body is composed, what we take daily by _pounds_, is at least\nof as much importance as what we take seldom, and only by _grains_ and\nspoonfuls.\u201d\nThose in whom the organ of taste is obtuse, or who have been brought up\nin the happy habit of being content with humble fare, whose health is so\nfirm, that it needs no artificial adjustment; who, with the appetite of\na cormorant, have the digestion of an ostrich, and eagerly devour\nwhatever is set before them without asking any questions about what it\nis, or how it has been prepared--may perhaps imagine that the Editor has\nsometimes been rather over-much refining the business of the kitchen.\n \u201cWhere ignorance is bliss, \u2019tis folly to be wise.\u201d\nBut as few are so fortunate as to be trained up to understand how well\nit is worth their while to cultivate such habits of Spartan forbearance,\nwe cannot perform our duty in registering wholesome precepts, in a\nhigher degree, than by disarming luxury of its sting, and making the\nrefinements of Modern Cookery minister not merely to sensual\ngratification, but at the same time support the substantial excitement\nof \u201cmens sana in corpore sano.\u201d\n_Delicate and nervous invalids_, who have unfortunately a sensitive\npalate, and have been accustomed to a luxurious variety of savoury\nsauces, and highly seasoned viands; those who, from the infirmity of\nage, are become incapable of correcting habits created by absurd\nindulgence in youth, are entitled to some consideration; and, for their\nsake, the _Elements of Opsology_ are explained in the most intelligent\nmanner; and I have assisted the memory of young cooks, by annexing to\neach dish the various sauces which usually accompany it, referring to\ntheir numbers in the work.\nSome idle idiots have remarked to the Author, that \u201cthere were really so\nmany _references_ from one receipt to another, that it is exceedingly\ntroublesome indeed; they are directed sometimes to turn to half a dozen\nnumbers:\u201d this is quite true. If the Author had not adopted this plan of\n_reference_, his book, to be equally explicit, must have been ten times\nas big; his object has been to give as much information as possible in\nas few pages, and for as few pence, as possible.\nBy reducing culinary operations to something like a certainty,\n_invalids_ will no longer be entirely indebted to chance, whether they\nshall recover and live long, and comfortably, or speedily die of\nstarvation in the midst of plenty.\nThese rules and orders for the regulation of the business of the kitchen\nhave been extremely beneficial to the Editor\u2019s own health and comfort.\nHe hopes they will be equally so to others: they will help those who\nenjoy health to preserve it; teach those who have delicate and irritable\nstomachs how to keep them in good temper; and, with a little\ndiscretion, enable them to indulge occasionally, not only with impunity,\nbut with advantage, in all those alimentary pleasures which a rational\nepicure can desire.\nThere is no question more frequently asked, or which a medical man finds\nmore difficulty in answering, to the satisfaction of himself and his\npatient, than--_What do you wish me to eat?_\nThe most judicious choice of aliment will avail nothing, unless the\nculinary preparation of it be equally judicious. How often is the skill\nof a pains-taking physician counteracted by want of corresponding\nattention to the preparation of food; and the poor patient, instead of\nderiving nourishment, is distressed by indigestion!\nPARMENTIER, in his _Code Pharmaceutique_, has given a chapter on the\npreparation of food: some of the following receipts are offered as an\nhumble attempt to form a sort of _Appendix to the Pharmacop\u0153ia_, and\nlike pharmaceutic prescriptions, they are precisely adjusted by _weight_\nand _measure_. The author of a cookery book, first published in 1824,\nhas claimed this act of industry of mine as his own original invention;\nthe only notice I shall take of his pretensions is to say, that the\nfirst edition of \u201c_The Cook\u2019s Oracle_\u201d appeared in 1817.\nBy ordering such receipts of the _Cook\u2019s Oracle_ as appear adapted to\nthe case, the recovery of the patient and the credit of the physician,\nas far as relates to the administration of aliment, need no longer\ndepend on the discretion of the cook. For instance: _Mutton Broth_, No.\n490, or No. 564; _Toast and Water_, No. 463; _Water Gruel_, No. 572;\n_Beef Tea_, No. 563; and _Portable Soup_, No. 252. This concentrated\n_Essence of Meat_ will be found a great acquisition to the comfort of\nthe army, the navy, the traveller, and the invalid. By dissolving half\nan ounce of it in half a pint of hot water, you have in a few minutes\n_half a pint of good Broth for three halfpence_. The utility of such\naccurate and precise directions for preparing food, is to _travellers_\nincalculable; for, by translating the receipt, any person may prepare\nwhat is desired as perfectly as a good English cook.\nHe has also circumstantially detailed the easiest, least expensive, and\nmost salubrious methods of preparing those highly finished soups,\nsauces, rago\u00fbts, and _piquante_ relishes, which the most ingenious\n\u201cofficers of the mouth\u201d have invented for the amusement of thorough-bred\n\u201c_grands gourmands_.\u201d\nIt has been his aim to render food acceptable to the palate, without\nbeing expensive to the purse, or offensive to the stomach; nourishing\nwithout being inflammatory, and savoury without being surfeiting;\nconstantly endeavouring to hold the balance equal, between the agreeable\nand the wholesome, the epicure and the economist.\n_He has not presumed to recommend one receipt that has not been\npreviously and repeatedly proved in his own kitchen_, which has not been\napproved by the most accomplished cooks; and has, moreover, been eaten\nwith unanimous applause by _a Committee of Taste_, composed of some of\nthe most illustrious gastropholists of this luxurious metropolis.\nThe Editor has been materially assisted by Mr. Henry Osborne, the\nexcellent cook to the late Sir Joseph Banks; that worthy President of\nthe Royal Society was so sensible of the importance of the subject the\nEditor was investigating, that he sent his cook to assist him in his\narduous task; and many of the receipts in this edition are much improved\nby his suggestions and corrections. See No. 560.\n_This is the only English Cookery Book_ which has been written from the\nreal experiments of a _housekeeper_ for the benefit of _housekeepers_;\nwhich the reader will soon perceive by the minute attention that has\nbeen employed to elucidate and improve the _Art of Plain Cookery_;\ndetailing many particulars and precautions, which may at first appear\nfrivolous, but which experience will prove to be essential: to teach a\ncommon cook how to provide, and to prepare, common food so frugally, and\nso perfectly, that _the plain every-day family fare of the most\neconomical housekeeper_, may, with scarcely additional expense, or any\nadditional trouble, be _a satisfactory entertainment for an epicure or\nan invalid_.\nBy an attentive consideration of \u201c_the Rudiments of Cookery_,\u201d and the\nrespective receipts, the most _ignorant novice_ in the business of the\nkitchen, may work with the utmost facility and certainty of success, and\nsoon become _a good cook_.\nWill all the other books of cookery that ever were printed do this? To\ngive his readers an idea of the immense labour attendant upon this Work,\nit may be only necessary for the Author to state, that he has patiently\npioneered through more than _two hundred cookery books_ before he set\nabout recording these results of his own experiments! The table of _the\nmost economical family_ may, by the help of this book, be entertained\nwith as much elegance as that of _a sovereign prince_.\nLONDON, 1829.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[vii-*] \u201cThe only test of the utility of knowledge, is its promoting the\nhappiness of mankind.\u201d--_Dr. Stark on Diet_, p. 90.\nCONTENTS.\n Friendly Advice to Cooks 45\n RUDIMENTS OF COOKERY.\n APPENDIX.\n Pastry, Confectionery, Preserves, &c. 360\n Observations on Puddings and Pies 392\n Various useful Family Receipts 405\n Observations on Carving 409\nINTRODUCTION.\nThe following receipts are not a mere marrowless collection of shreds\nand patches, and cuttings and pastings, but a bon\u00e2 fide register of\npractical facts,--accumulated by a perseverance not to be subdued or\nevaporated by the igniferous terrors of a roasting fire in the\ndog-days,--in defiance of the odoriferous and calefacient repellents of\nroasting, boiling, frying, and broiling;--moreover, the author has\nsubmitted to a labour no preceding cookery-book-maker, perhaps, ever\nattempted to encounter,--having _eaten_ each receipt before he set it\ndown in his book.\nThey have all been heartily welcomed by a sufficiently well-educated\npalate, and a rather fastidious stomach:--perhaps this certificate of\nthe reception of the respective preparations, will partly apologize for\nthe book containing a smaller number of them than preceding writers on\nthis gratifying subject have transcribed--for the amusement of \u201cevery\nman\u2019s master,\u201d the STOMACH.[15-*]\nNumerous as are the receipts in former books, they vary little from each\nother, except in the name given to them; the processes of cookery are\nvery few: I have endeavoured to describe each, in so plain and\ncircumstantial a manner, as I hope will be easily understood, even by\nthe amateur, who is unacquainted with the practical part of culinary\nconcerns.\nOLD HOUSEKEEPERS may think I have been tediously minute on many points\nwhich may appear trifling: my predecessors seem to have considered the\nRUDIMENTS of COOKERY quite unworthy of attention. These little delicate\ndistinctions constitute all the difference between a common and an\nelegant table, and are not trifles to the YOUNG HOUSEKEEPERS who must\nlearn them either from the communication of others or blunder on till\ntheir own slowly accumulating and dear-bought experience teaches them.\nA wish to save time, trouble and money to inexperienced housekeepers and\ncooks, and to bring the enjoyments and indulgences of the opulent within\nreach of the middle ranks of society, were my motives for publishing\nthis book. I could accomplish it only by supposing the reader (when he\nfirst opens it) to be as ignorant of cookery as I was, when I first\nthought of writing on the subject.\nI have done my best to contribute to the comfort of my fellow-creatures:\nby a careful attention to the directions herein given, the most ignorant\nmay easily learn to prepare food, not only in an agreeable and\nwholesome, but in an elegant and economical manner.\nThis task seems to have been left for me; and I have endeavoured to\ncollect and communicate, in the clearest and most intelligible manner,\nthe whole of the heretofore abstruse mysteries of the culinary art,\nwhich are herein, I hope, so plainly developed, that the most\ninexperienced student in the occult art of cookery, may work from my\nreceipts with the utmost facility.\nI was perfectly aware of the extreme difficulty of teaching those who\nare entirely unacquainted with the subject, and of explaining my ideas\neffectually, by mere receipts, to those who never shook hands with a\nstewpan.\nIn my anxiety to be readily understood, I have been under the necessity\nof occasionally repeating the same directions in different parts of the\nbook; but I would rather be censured for repetition than for obscurity,\nand hope not to be accused of affectation, while my intention is\nperspicuity.\nOur neighbours of France are so justly famous for their skill in the\naffairs of the kitchen, that the adage says, \u201cAs many Frenchmen as many\ncooks:\u201d surrounded as they are by a profusion of the most delicious\nwines, and seducing _liqueurs_ offering every temptation to render\ndrunkenness delightful, yet a tippling Frenchman is a \u201c_rara avis_.\u201d\nThey know how so easily to keep life in sufficient repair by good\neating, that they require little or no screwing up with liquid stimuli.\nThis accounts for that \u201c_toujours gai_,\u201d and happy equilibrium of the\nanimal spirits which they enjoy with more regularity than any people:\ntheir elastic stomachs, unimpaired by spirituous liquors, digest\nvigorously the food they sagaciously prepare and render easily\nassimilable, by cooking it sufficiently,--wisely contriving to get half\nthe work of the stomach done by fire and water, till\n \u201cThe tender morsels on the palate melt,\n And all the force of cookery is felt.\u201d\nSee Nos. 5 and 238, &c.\nThe cardinal virtues of cookery, \u201cCLEANLINESS, FRUGALITY, NOURISHMENT,\nAND PALATABLENESS,\u201d preside over each preparation; for I have not\npresumed to insert a single composition, without previously obtaining\nthe \u201c_imprimatur_\u201d of an enlightened and indefatigable \u201cCOMMITTEE OF\nTASTE,\u201d (composed of thorough-bred GRANDS GOURMANDS of the first\nmagnitude,) whose cordial co-operation I cannot too highly praise; and\nhere do I most gratefully record the unremitting zeal they manifested\nduring their arduous progress of proving the respective recipes: they\nwere so truly philosophically and disinterestedly regardless of the wear\nand tear of teeth and stomach, that their labour appeared a pleasure to\nthem. Their laudable perseverance has enabled me to give the\ninexperienced amateur an unerring guide how to excite as much pleasure\nas possible on the palate, and occasion as little trouble as possible to\nthe principal viscera, and has hardly been exceeded by those determined\nspirits who lately in the Polar expedition braved the other extreme of\ntemperature, &c. in spite of whales, bears, icebergs, and starvation.\nEvery attention has been paid in directing the proportions of the\nfollowing compositions; not merely to make them inviting to the\nappetite, but agreeable and useful to the stomach--nourishing without\nbeing inflammatory, and savoury without being surfeiting.\nI have written for those who make nourishment the chief end of\neating,[17-*] and do not desire to provoke appetite beyond the powers\nand necessities of nature; proceeding, however, on the purest epicurean\nprinciples of indulging the palate as far as it can be done without\ninjury or offence to the stomach, and forbidding[18-*] nothing but what\nis absolutely unfriendly to health.\n ----\u201cThat which is not good, is not delicious\n To a well-govern\u2019d and wise appetite.\u201d--MILTON.\nThis is by no means so difficult a task as some gloomy philosophers\n(uninitiated in culinary science) have tried to make the world believe;\nwho seem to have delighted in persuading you, that every thing that is\nnice must be noxious, and that every thing that is nasty is wholesome.\n \u201cHow charming is divine philosophy?\n Not harsh, and crabbed, as dull fools suppose,\n But musical as is Apollo\u2019s lute,\n And a perpetual feast of nectar\u2019d sweets,\n Where no crude surfeit reigns.\u201d--MILTON.\nWorthy William Shakspeare declared he never found a philosopher who\ncould endure the toothache patiently:--the Editor protests that he has\nnot yet overtaken one who did not love a feast.\nThose _cynical_ slaves who are so silly as to suppose it unbecoming a\nwise man to indulge in the common comforts of life, should be answered\nin the words of the French philosopher. \u201cHey--what, do you philosophers\neat dainties?\u201d said a gay Marquess. \u201cDo you think,\u201d replied DESCARTES,\n\u201cthat God made good things only for fools?\u201d\nEvery individual, who is not perfectly imbecile and void of\nunderstanding, is an _epicure_ in his own way. The epicures in boiling\nof potatoes are innumerable. The perfection of all enjoyment depends on\nthe perfection of the faculties of the mind and body; therefore, the\ntemperate man is the greatest epicure, and the only true voluptuary.\nTHE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE have been highly appreciated and carefully\ncultivated in all countries and in all ages;[19-*] and in spite of all\nthe stoics, every one will allow they are the first and the last we\nenjoy, and those we taste the oftenest,--above a thousand times in a\nyear, every year of our lives!\nTHE STOMACH is the mainspring of our system. If it be not sufficiently\nwound up to warm the heart and support the circulation, the whole\nbusiness of life will, in proportion, be ineffectively performed: we can\nneither _think_ with precision, _walk_ with vigour, _sit down_ with\ncomfort, nor _sleep_ with tranquillity.\nThere would be no difficulty in proving that it influences (much more\nthan people in general imagine) all our actions: the destiny of nations\nhas often depended upon the more or less laborious digestion of a prime\nminister.[19-+] See a very curious anecdote in the memoirs of COUNT\nZINZENDORFF in Dodsley\u2019s Annual Register for 1762. 3d edition, p. 32.\nThe philosopher Pythagoras seems to have been extremely nice in eating;\namong his absolute injunctions to his disciples, he commands them to\n\u201cabstain from beans.\u201d\nThis ancient sage has been imitated by the learned who have discoursed\non this subject since, who are liberal of their negative, and niggardly\nof their positive precepts--in the ratio, that it is easier to tell you\nnot to do this, than to teach you how to do that.\nOur great English moralist Dr. S. JOHNSON, his biographer Boswell tells\nus, \u201cwas a man of very nice discernment in the science of cookery,\u201d and\ntalked of good eating with uncommon satisfaction. \u201cSome people,\u201d said\nhe, \u201chave a foolish way of not minding, or pretending not to mind, what\nthey eat; for my part, I mind my belly very studiously and very\ncarefully, and I look upon it that he who does not mind his belly, will\nhardly mind any thing else.\u201d\nThe Dr. might have said, _cannot_ mind any thing else. The energy of our\nBRAINS is sadly dependent on the behaviour of our BOWELS.[20-*] Those\nwho say, \u2019Tis no matter what we eat or what we drink, may as well say,\n\u2019Tis no matter whether we eat, or whether we drink.\nThe following anecdotes I copy from Boswell\u2019s life of Johnson.\n_Johnson._--\u201cI could write a better book of cookery than has ever yet\nbeen written; it should be a book on philosophical principles. I would\ntell what is the best butcher\u2019s meat, the proper seasons of different\nvegetables, and then, how to roast, and boil, and to compound.\u201d\n_Dilly._--\u201c_Mrs. Glasse\u2019s cookery_, which is the best, was written by\nDr. Hill.\u201d\n_Johnson._--\u201cWell, Sir--this shows how much better the subject of\ncookery[20-+] may be treated by a philosopher;[20-++] but you shall see\nwhat a book of cookery I shall make, and shall agree with Mr. Dilly for\nthe copyright.\u201d\n_Miss Seward._--\u201cThat would be Hercules with the distaff indeed!\u201d\n_Johnson._--\u201cNo, madam; women can spin very well, but they cannot make a\ngood book of cookery.\u201d See vol. iii. p. 311.\nMr. B. adds, \u201cI never knew a man who relished good eating more than he\ndid: when at table, he was totally absorbed in the business of the\nmoment: nor would he, unless in very high company, say one word, or even\npay the least attention to what was said by others, until he had\nsatisfied his appetite.\u201d\nThe peculiarities of his constitution were as great as those of his\ncharacter: luxury and intemperance are relative terms, depending on\nother circumstances than mere quantity and quality. Nature gave him an\nexcellent palate, and a craving appetite, and his intense application\nrendered large supplies of nourishment absolutely necessary to recruit\nhis exhausted spirits.\nThe fact is, this great man had found out that animal and intellectual\nvigour,[21-*] are much more entirely dependent upon each other than is\ncommonly understood; especially in those constitutions whose digestive\nand chylopoietic organs are capricious and easily put out of tune, or\nabsorb the \u201c_pabulum vit\u00e6_\u201d indolently and imperfectly: with such, it is\nonly now and then that the \u201c_sensorium commune_\u201d vibrates with the full\ntone of accurately considerative, or creative energy. \u201cHis favourite\ndainties were, a leg of pork boiled till it dropped from the bone, a\nveal-pie, with plums and sugar, or the outside cut of a salt buttock of\nbeef. With regard to _drink_, his liking was for the strongest, as it\nwas not the _flavour_, but the _effect_ that he desired.\u201d Mr. Smale\u2019s\nAccount of Dr. Johnson\u2019s Journey into Wales, 1816, p. 174.\nThus does the HEALTH always, and very often the LIFE of invalids, and\nthose who have weak and infirm STOMACHS, depend upon the care and skill\nof the COOK. Our forefathers were so sensible of this, that in days of\nyore no man of consequence thought of making a day\u2019s journey without\ntaking his \u201cMAGISTER COQUORUM\u201d with him.\nThe rarity of this talent in a high degree is so well understood, that\nbesides very considerable pecuniary compensation, his majesty\u2019s first\nand second cooks[22-*] are now esquires by their office. We have every\nreason to suppose they were persons of equal dignity heretofore.\nIn Dr. Pegge\u2019s \u201cForme of Cury,\u201d 8vo. London, 1780, we read, that when\nCardinal Otto, the Pope\u2019s legate, was at Oxford, A. D. 1248, his brother\nofficiated as \u201cMAGISTER COQUIN\u00c6.\u201d\nThis important post has always been held as a situation of high trust\nand confidence; and the \u201cMAGNUS COQUUS,\u201d Anglic\u00e8, the _Master\nKitchener_, has, time immemorial, been an officer of considerable\ndignity in the palaces of princes.\nThe cook in PLAUTUS (_pseudol_) is called \u201c_Hominum servatorem_,\u201d the\npreserver of mankind; and by MERCIER \u201c_un m\u00e9decin qui gu\u00e9rit\nradicalement deux maladies mortelles, la faim et la soif_.\u201d\nThe Norman conqueror WILLIAM bestowed several portions of land on these\nhighly-favoured domestics, the \u201cCOQUORUM PR\u00c6POSITUS,\u201d and \u201cCOQUUS\nREGIUS;\u201d a manor was bestowed on Robert Argyllon the \u201cGRAND QUEUX,\u201d to\nbe held by the following service. See that venerable record, the\ndoomsday book.\n\u201cRobert Argyllon holdeth one carucate of land in Addington in the county\nof Surrey, by the service of making one mess in an earthen pot in the\nkitchen of our Lord the KING, on the day of his coronation, called _De\nla Groute_,\u201d i. e. a kind of plum-porridge, or water-gruel with plums in\nit. This dish is still served up at the royal table at coronations, by\nthe Lord of the said manor of Addington.\nAt the coronation of King George IV., Court of Claims, July 12, 1820:\n\u201cThe petition of the Archbishop of CANTERBURY, which was presented by\nSir G. Nayler, claiming to perform the service of presenting a dish of\n_De la Groute_ to the King at the banquet, was considered by the Court,\nand decided to be allowed.\u201d\nA good dinner is one of the greatest enjoyments of human life; and\nas the practice of cookery is attended with so many discouraging\ndifficulties,[22-+] so many disgusting and disagreeable circumstances,\nand even dangers, we ought to have some regard for those who encounter\nthem to procure us pleasure, and to reward their attention by rendering\ntheir situation every way as comfortable and agreeable as we can. He who\npreaches _integrity_ to those in the kitchen, (see \u201c_Advice to Cooks_,\u201d)\nmay be permitted to recommend _liberality_ to those in the parlour; they\nare indeed the sources of each other. Depend upon it, \u201cTrue self-love\nand social are the same;\u201d \u201cDo as you would be done by:\u201d give those you\nare obliged to trust every inducement to be honest, and no temptation to\nplay tricks.\nWhen you consider that a good servant eats[23-*] no more than a bad one,\nhow much waste is occasioned by provisions being dressed in a slovenly\nand unskilful manner, and how much a good cook (to whom the conduct of\nthe kitchen is confided) can save you by careful management, no\nhousekeeper will hardly deem it an unwise speculation (it is certainly\nan amiable experiment), to invite the _honesty_ and _industry_ of\ndomestics, by setting them an example of _liberality_--at least, show\nthem, that \u201cAccording to their pains will be their gains.\u201d\nAvoid all approaches towards _familiarity_; which, to a proverb, is\naccompanied by _contempt_, and soon breaks the neck of obedience.\nA lady gave us the following account of the progress of a favourite.\n\u201cThe first year, she was an excellent servant; the second, a kind\nmistress; the third, an intolerable tyrant; at whose dismissal, every\ncreature about my house rejoiced heartily.\u201d\nHowever, servants are more likely to be praised into good conduct, than\nscolded out of bad. Always commend them when they do right. To cherish\nthe desire of pleasing in them, you must show them that you are\npleased:--\n \u201cBe to their faults a little blind,\n And to their virtues very kind.\u201d\nBy such conduct, ordinary servants may be converted into good ones: few\nare so hardened, as not to feel gratified when they are kindly and\nliberally treated.\nIt is a good maxim to select servants not younger than THIRTY:--_before_\nthat age, however comfortable you may endeavour to make them, their want\nof experience, and the _hope_ of something still _better_, prevents\ntheir being satisfied with their present state; _after_, they have had\nthe benefit of experience: if they are tolerably comfortable, they will\nendeavour to deserve the smiles of even a moderately kind master, for\n_fear_ they may change for the _worse_.\nLife may indeed be very fairly divided into the seasons of HOPE and\nFEAR. In YOUTH, _we hope every thing may be right_: in AGE, _we fear\nevery thing will be wrong_.\nDo not discharge a good servant for a slight offence:--\n \u201cBear and forbear, thus preached the stoic sages,\n And in two words, include the sense of pages.\u201d--POPE.\nHUMAN NATURE IS THE SAME IN ALL STATIONS: if you can convince your\nservants that you have a generous and considerate regard for their\nhealth and comfort, why should you imagine that they will be insensible\nto the good they receive?\nImpose no commands but what are reasonable, nor reprove but with justice\nand temper: the best way to ensure which is, never to lecture them till\nat least one day after they have offended you.\nIf they have any particular hardship to endure in your service, let them\nsee that you are concerned for the necessity of imposing it.\n_If they are sick_, remember you are their patron as well as their\nmaster: remit their labour, and give them all the assistance of food,\nphysic, and every comfort in your power. Tender assiduity about an\ninvalid is half a cure; it is a balsam to the mind, which has a most\npowerful effect on the body, soothes the sharpest pains, and strengthens\nbeyond the richest cordial.\nYe who think that to protect and encourage virtue is the best preventive\nfrom vice, reward your female servants liberally.\nCHARITY SHOULD BEGIN AT HOME. Prevention is preferable to cure--but I\nhave no objection to see your names ornamenting the lists of subscribers\nto foundling hospitals and female penitentiaries.[25-*] Gentle reader,\nfor a definition of the word \u201c_charity_,\u201d let me refer you to the 13th\nChapter of St. Paul\u2019s First Epistle to the Corinthians.\n\u201cTo say nothing of the deleterious vapours and pestilential exhalations\nof the charcoal, which soon undermine the health of the heartiest, the\nglare of a scorching fire, and the smoke so baneful to the eyes and the\ncomplexion, are continual and inevitable dangers: and a cook must live\nin the midst of them, as a soldier on the field of battle surrounded by\nbullets, and bombs, and CONGREVE\u2019S rockets; with this only difference,\nthat for the first, every day is a fighting day, that her warfare is\nalmost always without glory, and most praiseworthy achievements pass not\nonly without reward, but frequently without thanks: for the most\nconsummate cook is, alas! seldom noticed by the master, or heard of by\nthe guests; who, while they are eagerly devouring his turtle, and\ndrinking his wine, care very little who dressed the one, or sent the\nother.\u201d--_Almanach des Gourmands._\nThis observation applies especially to the SECOND COOK, or first kitchen\nmaid, in large families, who have by far the hardest place in the house,\nand are worse paid, and truly verify the old adage, \u201cthe more work, the\nless wages.\u201d If there is any thing right, the cook has the praise--when\nthere is any thing wrong, as surely the _kitchen maid_ has the blame. Be\nit known, then, to honest JOHN BULL, that this humble domestic is\nexpected by the cook to take the entire management of all ROASTS, BOILS,\nFISH, and VEGETABLES; i. e. the principal part of an Englishman\u2019s\ndinner.\nThe master, who wishes to enjoy the rare luxury of a table regularly\nwell served in the best style, must treat his cook as his friend--watch\nover her health[26-*] with the tenderest care, and especially be sure\nher taste does not suffer from her stomach being deranged by bilious\nattacks.\nBesides understanding the management of the spit, the stewpan, and the\nrolling-pin, a COMPLETE COOK must know how to go to market, write\nlegibly, and keep accounts accurately.\nIn well-regulated private families the most convenient custom seems to\nbe, that the cook keep a house-book, containing an account of the\nmiscellaneous articles she purchases; and the butcher\u2019s, baker\u2019s,\nbutterman\u2019s, green-grocer\u2019s, fishmonger\u2019s, milkman\u2019s, and washing bills\nare brought in every Monday; these it is the duty of the cook to\nexamine, before she presents them to her employer every Tuesday morning\nto be discharged.\nThe advantage of paying such bills weekly is incalculable: among others\nthe constant check it affords against any excess beyond the sum allotted\nfor defraying them, and the opportunity it gives of correcting increase\nof expense in one week by a prudent retrenchment in the next. \u201cIf you\nwould live _even_ with the world, calculate your expenses at _half_ your\nincome--if you would grow _rich_, at _one-third_.\u201d\nIt is an excellent plan to have a table of rules for regulating the\nordinary expenses of the family, in order to check any innovation or\nexcess which otherwise might be introduced unawares, and derange the\nproposed distribution of the annual revenue.\nTo understand the economy of household affairs is not only essential to\na woman\u2019s proper and pleasant performance of the duties of a wife and a\nmother, but is indispensable to the comfort, respectability, and general\nwelfare of all families, whatever be their circumstances.\nThe editor has employed some leisure hours in collecting practical hints\nfor instructing inexperienced housekeepers in the useful\n _Art of providing comfortably for a family;_\nwhich is displayed so plainly and so particularly, that a young lady\nmay learn the delectable arcana of domestic affairs, in as little time\nas is usually devoted to directing the position of her hands on a\n_piano-forte_, or of her feet in a _quadrille_--this will enable her to\nmake the cage of matrimony as comfortable as the net of courtship was\ncharming. For this purpose he has contrived a Housekeeper\u2019s Leger, a\nplain and easy plan of keeping accurate accounts of the expenses of\nhousekeeping, which, with only one hour\u2019s attention in a week, will\nenable you to balance all such accounts with the utmost exactness; an\nacceptable acquisition to all who admit that order and economy are the\nbasis of comfort and independence.\nIt is almost impossible for a cook in a large family, to attend to the\nbusiness of the kitchen with any certainty of perfection, if employed in\nother household concerns. It is a service of such importance, and so\ndifficult to perform even tolerably well, that it is sufficient to\nengross the entire attention of one person.\n\u201cIf we take a review of the qualifications which are indispensable in\nthat highly estimable domestic, a GOOD COOK, we shall find that very few\ndeserve that name.\u201d[27-*]\n\u201cThe majority of those who set up for professors of this art are of mean\nability, selfish, and pilfering every thing they can; others are\nindolent and insolent. Those who really understand their business (which\nare by far the smallest number), are too often either ridiculously\nsaucy, or insatiably thirsty; in a word, a good subject of this class is\na _rara avis_ indeed!\u201d\n\u201cGod sends meat,\u201d--who sends cooks?[28-*] the proverb has long saved us\nthe trouble of guessing. Vide _Almanach des Gourmands_, p. 83.\nOf what value then is not this book, which will render every person of\ncommon sense a good cook in as little time as it can be read through\nattentively!\nIf the masters and mistresses of families will sometimes condescend to\nmake an amusement of this art, they will escape numberless\ndisappointments, &c. which those who will not, must occasionally\ninevitably suffer, to the detriment of both their health and their\nfortune.\nI did not presume to offer any observations of my own, till I had read\nall that I could find written on the subject, and submitted (with no\nsmall pains) to a patient and attentive consideration of every preceding\nwork, relating to culinary concerns, that I could meet with.\nThese books vary very little from each other; except in the preface,\nthey are\n \u201cLike in all else as one egg to another.\u201d\n\u201c_Ab uno, disce omnes_,\u201d cutting and pasting have been much oftener\nemployed than the pen and ink: any one who has occasion to refer to two\nor three of them, will find the receipts almost always \u201c_verbatim et\nliteratim_;\u201d equally unintelligible to those who are ignorant, and\nuseless to those who are acquainted with the business of the kitchen.\nI have perused not fewer than 250 of these volumes.\nDuring the Herculean labour of my tedious progress through these books,\nfew of which afford the germ of a single idea, I have often wished that\nthe authors of them had been satisfied with giving us the results of\ntheir own practice and experience, instead of idly perpetuating the\nerrors, prejudices, and plagiarisms of their predecessors; the strange,\nand unaccountable, and uselessly extravagant farragoes and heterogeneous\ncompositions which fill their pages, are combinations no rational being\nwould ever think of either dressing or eating; and without ascertaining\nthe practicability of preparing the receipts, and their fitness for food\nwhen done, they should never have ventured to recommend them to others:\nthe reader of them will often put the same _qu\u00e6re_, as _Jeremy_, in\nCongreve\u2019s comedy of \u201c_Love for Love_,\u201d when _Valentine_ observes,\n\u201cThere\u2019s a page doubled down in Epictetus that is a feast for an\nemperor.--_Jer._ Was Epictetus a real cook, or did he only write\nreceipts?\u201d\nHalf of the modern cookery books are made up with pages cut out of\nobsolete works, such as the \u201cChoice Manual of Secrets,\u201d the \u201cTrue\nGentlewoman\u2019s Delight,\u201d &c. of as much use, in this age of refinement,\nas the following curious passage from \u201cThe Accomplished Lady\u2019s Rich\nCloset of Rarities, or Ingenious Gentlewoman\u2019s Delightful Companion,\u201d\n12mo. London, 1653, chapter 7, page 42; which I have inserted in a\nnote,[29-*] to give the reader a notion of the barbarous manners of the\n16th century, with the addition of the arts of the confectioner, the\nbrewer, the baker, the distiller, the gardener, the clear-starcher, and\nthe perfumer, and how to make pickles, puff paste, butter, blacking, &c.\ntogether with my _Lady Bountiful\u2019s_ sovereign remedy for an inward\nbruise, and other ever-failing nostrums,--_Dr. Killemquick\u2019s_\nwonder-working essence, and fallible elixir, which cures all manner of\nincurable maladies directly minute, _Mrs. Notable\u2019s_ instructions how to\nmake soft pomatum, that will soon make more hair grow upon thy head,\n\u201cthan Dobbin, thy thill-horse, hath upon his tail,\u201d and many others\nequally invaluable!!!--the proper appellation for which would be \u201ca\ndangerous budget of vulgar errors,\u201d concluding with a bundle of extracts\nfrom \u201cthe Gardener\u2019s Calendar,\u201d and \u201cthe Publican\u2019s Daily Companion.\u201d\nThomas Carter, in the preface to his \u201cCity and Country Cook,\u201d London,\n1738, says, \u201cWhat I have published is almost the only book, one or two\nexcepted, which of late years has come into the world, that has been the\nresult of the author\u2019s own practice and experience; for though very few\neminent practical cooks have ever cared to publish what they knew of the\nart, yet they have been prevailed on, for a small premium from a\nbookseller, to lend their names to performances in this art unworthy\ntheir owning.\u201d\nRobert May, in the introduction to his \u201cAccomplished Cook,\u201d 1665, says,\n\u201cTo all honest and well-intending persons of my profession, and others,\nthis book cannot but be acceptable, as it plainly and profitably\ndiscovers the mystery of the whole art; for which, though I may be\nenvied by some, that only value their private interests above posterity\nand the public good; yet (he adds), God and my own conscience would not\npermit me to bury these, my experiences, with my silver hairs in the\ngrave.\u201d\nThose high and mighty masters and mistresses of the alimentary art, who\ncall themselves \u201c_profess_\u201d cooks, are said to be very jealous and\nmysterious beings; and that if, in a long life of laborious stove-work,\nthey have found out a few useful secrets, they seldom impart to the\npublic the fruits of their experience; but sooner than divulge their\ndiscoveries for the benefit and comfort of their fellow-creatures, these\nsilly, selfish beings will rather run the risk of a reprimand from their\nemployers, and will sooner spoil a good dinner, than suffer their\nfellow-servants to see how they dress it!!!\nThe silly selfishness of short-sighted mortals, is never more extremely\nabsurd than in their unprofitable parsimony of what is of no use to\nthem, but would be of actual value to others, who, in return, would\nwillingly repay them tenfold. However, I hope I may be permitted to\nquote, in defence of these culinary professors, a couple of lines of a\nfavourite old song:\n \u201cIf you search the world round, each profession, you\u2019ll find,\n Hath some snug little secrets, which the Mystery[30-*] they call.\u201d\nMY RECEIPTS are the results of experiments carefully made, and\naccurately and circumstantially related;\nThe TIME requisite for dressing being stated;\nThe QUANTITIES of the various articles contained in each composition\nbeing carefully set down in NUMBER, WEIGHT, and MEASURE.\nThe WEIGHTS are _avoirdupois_; the MEASURE, _Lyne\u2019s_ graduated glass, i.\ne. a wine-pint divided into sixteen ounces, and the ounce into eight\ndrachms. By a _wine-glass_ is to be understood two ounces liquid\nmeasure; by a large or _table-spoonful_, half an ounce; by a small or\n_tea-spoonful_, a drachm, or half a quarter of an ounce, i. e. nearly\nequal to two drachms avoirdupois.\nAt some glass warehouses, you may get measures divided into tea and\ntable-spoons. No cook should be without one, who wishes to be regular in\nher business.\nThis precision has never before been attempted in cookery books, but I\nfound it indispensable from the impossibility of _guessing_ the\nquantities intended by such obscure expressions as have been usually\nemployed for this purpose in former works:--\nFor instance: a bit of this--a handful of that--a pinch of t\u2019other--do\n\u2019em over with an egg--and a sprinkle of salt--a dust of flour--a shake\nof pepper--a squeeze of lemon,--or a dash of vinegar, &c. are the\nconstant phrases. Season it to your palate, (meaning the cook\u2019s,) is\nanother form of speech: now, if she has any, (it is very unlikely that\nit is in unison with that of her employers,) by continually sipping\n_piquante_ relishes, it becomes blunted and insensible, and loses the\nfaculty of appreciating delicate flavours, so that every thing is done\nat random.\nThese culinary technicals are so very differently understood by the\nlearned who write them, and the unlearned who read them, and their\n\u201c_rule of thumb_\u201d is so extremely indefinite, that if the same dish be\ndressed by different persons, it will generally be so different, that\nnobody would imagine they had worked from the same directions, which\nwill assist a person who has not served a regular apprenticeship in the\nkitchen, no more than reading \u201cRobinson Crusoe\u201d would enable a sailor to\nsteer safely from England to India.[32-*]\nIt is astonishing how cheap _cookery books_ are held by practical cooks:\nwhen I applied to an experienced artist to recommend me some books that\nwould give me a notion of the rudiments of cookery, he replied, with a\nsmile, \u201cYou may read _Don Quixote_, or _Peregrine Pickle_, they are both\nvery good books.\u201d\nCareless expressions in cookery are the more surprising, as the\nconfectioner is regularly attentive, in the description of his\npreparations, to give the exact quantities, though his business,\ncompared to cookery, is as unimportant as the ornamental is inferior to\nthe useful.\nThe maker of blanc-mange, custards, &c. and the endless and useless\ncollection of puerile playthings for the palate (of first and second\nchildhood, for the vigour of manhood seeketh not to be sucking sugar, or\nsipping turtle), is scrupulously exact, even to a grain, in his\ningredients; while cooks are unintelligibly indefinite, although they\nare intrusted with the administration of our FOOD, upon the proper\nquality and preparation of which, all our powers of body and mind\ndepend; their energy being invariably in the ratio of the performance of\nthe restorative process, i. e. the quantity, quality, and perfect\ndigestion of what we eat and drink.\nUnless _the stomach_ be in good humour, every part of the machinery of\n_life_ must vibrate with languor: can we then be too attentive to its\nadjustment?!!\nCULINARY CURIOSITIES.\n The following specimen of the unaccountably whimsical harlequinade\n of foreign kitchens is from \u201cLa Chapelle\u201d Nouveau Cuisinier, Paris,\n \u201cA turkey,\u201d in the shape of \u201c_football_,\u201d or \u201c_a hedge-hog_.\u201d A\n \u201cshoulder of mutton,\u201d in the shape of a \u201c_bee-hive_.\u201d--\u201cEntr\u00e9e of\n pigeons,\u201d in the form of a \u201c_spider_,\u201d or _sun_-fashion, or \u201cin the\n form of a _frog_,\u201d or, in \u201cthe form of the _moon_.\u201d--Or, \u201cto make\n a pig taste like a wild boar;\u201d take _a living pig_, and _let him_\n swallow the following drink, viz. boil together in vinegar and\n water, some rosemary, thyme, sweet basil, bay leaves, and sage;\n when you have _let him_ swallow this, _immediately whip him to\n death_, and roast him forthwith. How \u201cto still a cocke for a weak\n bodie that is consumed,--take a red cocke that is not too olde, and\n beat him to death.\u201d--See THE BOOKE OF COOKRYE, very necessary for\n all such as delight therein. Gathered by A. W., 1591, p. 12. How to\n ROAST _a pound of_ BUTTER, curiously and well; and to _farce_ (the\n culinary technical for _to stuff_) a boiled leg of lamb with red\n herrings and garlic; with many other receipts of as high a relish,\n and of as easy digestion as the _devil\u2019s venison_, i. e. a roasted\n tiger stuffed with tenpenny nails, or the \u201c_Bonne Bouche_,\u201d the\n rareskin Rowskimowmowsky offered to Baron Munchausen, \u201ca fricassee\n of pistols, with gunpowder and alcohol sauce.\u201d--See the _Adventures\n of Baron Munchausen_, 12mo. 1792, p. 200; and _the horrible but\n authentic account of_ ARDESOIF, in MOUBRAY\u2019S _Treatise on Poultry_,\n But the most extraordinary of all the culinary receipts that have\n been under my eye, is the following diabolically cruel directions\n of Mizald, \u201c_how to roast and eat a goose alive_.\u201d \u201cTake a GOOSE or\n a DUCK, or some such _lively creature_, (but a goose is best of all\n for this purpose,) pull off all her feathers, only the head and\n neck must be spared: then make a fire round about her, not too\n close to her, that the smoke do not choke her, and that the fire\n may not burn her too soon; nor too far off, that she may not escape\n free: within the circle of the fire let there be set small cups and\n pots full of water, wherein salt and honey are mingled: and let\n there be set also chargers full of sodden apples, cut into small\n pieces in the dish. The goose must be all larded, and basted over\n with butter, to make her the more fit to be eaten, and may roast\n the better: put then fire about her, but do not make too much\n haste, when as you see her begin to roast; for by walking about,\n and flying here and there, being cooped in by the fire that stops\n her way out, the unwearied goose is kept in; she will fall to drink\n the water to quench her thirst and cool her heart, and all her\n body, and the apple-sauce will make her dung, and cleanse and empty\n her. And when she roasteth, and consumes inwardly, always wet her\n head and heart with a wet sponge; and when you see her giddy with\n running, and begin to stumble, her heart wants moisture, and she is\n roasted enough. Take her up, set her before your guests, and she\n will cry as you cut off any part from her, and will be almost eaten\n up before she be dead; it is mighty pleasant to behold!!\u201d--See\n WECKER\u2019S _Secrets of Nature_, in folio, London, 1660, p. 148.\n \u201cWe suppose Mr. Mizald stole this receipt from the kitchen of his\n infernal majesty; probably it might have been one of the dishes the\n devil ordered when he invited Nero and Caligula to a feast.\u201d--_A.\n This is also related in BAPTISTA PORTA\u2019S _Natural Magicke_, fol.\n 1658, p. 321. This very curious (but not scarce) book contains,\n among other strange tricks and fancies of \u201cthe Olden Time,\u201d\n directions, \u201c_how to_ ROAST _and_ BOIL _a fowl at the same time, so\n that one-half shall be_ ROASTED _and the other_ BOILED;\u201d and \u201c_if\n you have a lacke of cooks, how to persuade a goose to roast\n himselfe_!!\u201d--See a second act of the above tragedy in page 80 of\n the Gentleman\u2019s Magazine for January, 1809.\n Many articles were in vogue in the 14th century, which are now\n obsolete. We add the following specimens of the CULINARY AFFAIRS OF\n DAYS OF YORE.\n _Sauce for a goose, A.D. 1381._\n \u201cTake a faire panne, and set hit under the goose whill she rostes;\n and kepe clene the grese that droppes thereof, and put thereto a\n godele (good deal) of Wyn, and a litel vinegur, and verjus, and\n onyons mynced, or garlek; then take the gottes (gut) of the goose\n and slitte hom, and scrape hom clene in water and salt, and so wash\n hom, and hack hom small, then do all this togedur in a piffenet\n (pipkin), and do thereto raisinges of corance, and pouder of pepur\n and of ginger, and of canell and hole clowes and maces, and let hit\n boyle and serve hit forthe.\u201d\n \u201cThat unwieldy marine animal the PORPUS was dressed in a variety of\n modes, salted, roasted, stewed, &c. Our ancestors were not singular\n in their partiality to it; I find, from an ingenious friend of\n mine, that it is even now, A. D. 1790, sold in the markets of most\n towns in Portugal; the flesh of it is intolerably hard and\n rancid.\u201d--WARNER\u2019S _Antiq. Cul._ 4to. p. 15.\n \u201cThe SWAN[33-+] was also a dish of state, and in high fashion when\n the elegance of the feast was estimated by the magnitude of the\n articles of which it was composed; the number consumed at the Earl\n of Northumberland\u2019s table, A. D. 1512, amounted to\n twenty.\u201d--_Northumberland Household-book_, p. 108.\n \u201cThe CRANE was a darling dainty in _William the Conqueror\u2019s_ time,\n and so partial was that monarch to it, that when his prime\n favourite, William Fitz-Osborne, the steward of the household,\n served him with a crane scarcely half roasted, the king was so\n highly exasperated, that he lifted up his fist, and would have\n strucken him, had not _Eudo_ (appointed _Dapifer_ immediately\n after) warded off the blow.\u201d--WARNER\u2019S _Antiq. Cul._ p. 12.\n SEALS, CURLEWS, HERONS, BITTERNS, and the PEACOCK, that noble bird,\n \u201cthe food of lovers and the meat of lords,\u201d were also at this time\n in high fashion, when the baronial entertainments were\n characterized by a grandeur and pompous ceremonial, approaching\n nearly to the magnificence of royalty; there was scarcely any royal\n or noble feast without PECOKKES, which were stuffed with spices and\n sweet herbs, roasted and served up whole, and covered after\n dressing with the skin and feathers; the beak and comb gilt, and\n the tail spread, and some, instead of the feathers, covered it with\n leaf gold; it was a common dish on grand occasions, and continued\n to adorn the English table till the beginning of the seventeenth\n century.\n In Massinger\u2019s play of \u201cThe City Madam,\u201d Holdfast, exclaiming\n against city luxury, says, \u201cthree fat wethers bruised, to make\n sauce for a single peacock.\u201d\n This bird is one of those luxuries which were often sought, because\n they were seldom found: its scarcity and external appearance are\n its only recommendation; the meat of it is tough and tasteless.\n Another favourite dish at the tables of our forefathers, was a PIE\n of stupendous magnitude, out of which, on its being opened, a flock\n of living birds flew forth, to the no small surprise and amusement\n of the guests.\n \u201cFour-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie;\n When the pie was open\u2019d, the birds began to sing--\n Oh! what a dainty dish--\u2019t is fit for any king.\u201d\n This was a common joke at an old English feast. These _animated_\n pies were often introduced \u201cto set on,\u201d as Hamlet says, \u201ca quantity\n of barren spectators to laugh;\u201d there is an instance of a dwarf\n undergoing such an _incrustation_. About the year 1630, king\n Charles and his queen were entertained by the duke and dutchess of\n Buckingham, at Burleigh on the Hill, on which occasion JEFFERY\n HUDSON, _the dwarf_, was served up in a cold pie.--See WALPOLE\u2019S\n _Anecdotes of Painting_, vol. ii. p. 14.\n The BARON OF BEEF was another favourite and substantial support of\n old English hospitality.\n Among the most polished nations of the 15th and 16th centuries, the\n _powdered_ (salted) _horse_, seems to have been a dish in some\n esteem: _Grimalkin_ herself could not escape the undistinguishing\n fury of the cook. Don Anthony of Guevera, the chronicler to Charles\n V., gives the following account of a feast at which he was present.\n \u201cI will tell you no lye, I sawe such kindes of meates eaten, as are\n wont to be sene, but not eaten--_as a_ HORSE _roasted_--a CAT _in\n gely_--LYZARDS in hot brothe, FROGGES fried,\u201d &c.\n While we are thus considering the curious dishes of olden times, we\n will cursorily mention the _singular diet_ of two or three nations\n of antiquity, noticed by _Herodotus_, lib. iv. \u201cThe _Androphagi_\n (the cannibals of the ancient world) greedily devoured the\n carcasses of their fellow-creatures; while the inoffensive _Cabri_\n (a Scythian tribe) found both food and drink in the agreeable nut\n of the Pontic tree. The _Lotophagi_ lived entirely on the fruit of\n the _Lotus tree_. The savage _Troglodyte_ esteemed a _living\n serpent_ the most delicate of all morsels; while the capricious\n palate of the _Zyguntini_ preferred the _ape_ to every\n thing.\u201d--Vide WARNER\u2019S _Antiq. Cul._ p. 135.\n \u201cThe Romans, in the luxurious period of their empire, took five\n meals a day; a breakfast (_jentaculum_;) a dinner, which was a\n light meal without any formal preparation (_prandium_); a kind of\n _tea_, as we should call it, between dinner and supper (_merenda_);\n a supper (_c\u00e6na_), which was their great meal, and commonly\n consisted of two courses; the first of meats, the second, what we\n call a dessert; and a posset, or something delicious after supper\n (_commissatio_).\u201d--ADAM\u2019S _Rom. Antiq._ 2d edition, 8vo. 1792, p.\n \u201cThe Romans usually began their entertainments with eggs, and ended\n with fruits; hence, AB OVO USQUE AD MALA, from the beginning to the\n end of supper, _Horat. Sat._ i. 3. 6; _Cic. Fam._ ix. 20.\n \u201cThe dishes (_edulia_) held in the highest estimation by the Romans,\n are enumerated, _Gell._ vii. 16, _Macrob. Sat._ ii. 9, _Martial._ v.\n _Juvenal._ i. 143, first used by Hortensius, the orator, at a\n supper, which he gave when admitted into the college of priests,\n (_aditiali c\u00e6nd sacerdotii_,) Plin. x. 20, s. 23; a pheasant,\n (PHASIANA, _ex_ Phasi. _Colchidis fluvio_,) Martial. iii. 58, xiii.\n 72, Senec. ad Helv. 9, Petron. 79, Manil. v. 372; a bird called\n _Attagen_ vel-_ena_, from Ionia or Phrygia, _Horat. Epod._ ii. 54,\n _Martial._ xiii. iii. 61, a guinea-hen, (_avis Afra_, Horat. ib.\n _Gallina Numidica_ vel _Africana_, Juvenal, xi. 142, Martial, xiii.\n 73); a Melian crane; an Ambracian kid; nightingales, _luscini\u00e6_;\n thrushes, _turdi_; ducks, geese, &c. TOMACULUM, (\u1f01 \u03c4\u03b5\u03bc\u03bd\u03c9,) _vel_\n ISICIUM, (ab _inseco_;) sausages or puddings, _Juvenal._ x. 355.\n That the English reader may be enabled to form some idea of the\n heterogeneous messes with which the Roman palate was delighted, I\n introduce the following receipt from _Apicius_.\n \u201cTHICK SAUCE FOR A BOILED CHICKEN.--Put the following ingredients\n into a mortar: aniseed, dried mint, and lazar-root (similar to\n assaf\u0153tida), cover them with vinegar; add dates; pour in liquamen,\n oil, and a small quantity of mustard seeds; reduce all to a proper\n thickness with port wine warmed; and then pour this same over your\n chicken, which should previously be boiled in anise-seed water.\u201d\n _Liquamen_ and _Garum_ were synonymous terms for the same thing;\n the former adopted in the room of the latter, about the age of\n _Aurelian_. It was a liquid, and thus prepared: the _guts_ of large\n fish, and a variety of small fish, were put into a vessel and well\n salted, and exposed to the sun till they became putrid. A liquor\n was produced in a short time, which being strained off, was the\n _liquamen_.--Vide LISTER _in Apicium_, p. 16, notes.\n _Essence of anchovy_, as it is usually made for sale, when it has\n been opened about ten days, is not much unlike the Roman\n _liquamen_. See No. 433. Some suppose it was the same thing as the\n Russian _Caviar_, which is prepared from the roe of the sturgeon.\n The BLACK BROTH of _Laced\u00e6mon_ will long continue to excite the\n wonder of the philosopher, and the disgust of the epicure. What the\n ingredients of this sable composition were, we cannot exactly\n ascertain. _Jul. Pollux_ says, the Laced\u00e6monian black broth was\n _blood_, thickened in a certain way: Dr. LISTER (_in Apicium_)\n supposes it to have been _hog\u2019s blood_; if so, this celebrated\n Spartan dish bore no very distant resemblance to the\n _black-puddings_ of our days. It could not be a very _alluring_\n mess, since a citizen of _Sybaris_ having tasted it, declared it\n was no longer a matter of astonishment with him, why the _Spartans_\n were so fearless of death, since any one in his senses would much\n rather die, than exist on such execrable food.--Vide _Athen\u00e6um_,\n lib. iv. c. 3. When Dionysius the tyrant had tasted the _black\n broth_, he exclaimed against it as miserable stuff; the cook\n replied--\u201cIt was no wonder, for the sauce was wanting.\u201d \u201cWhat\n sauce?\u201d says Dionysius. The answer was,--\u201c_Labour and exercise,\n hunger and thirst, these are the sauces we Laced\u00e6monians use_,\u201d and\n they make the coarsest fare agreeable.--CICERO, 3 Tuscul.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[15-*] \u201cThe STOMACH is the grand organ of the human system, upon\nthe state of which all the powers and feelings of the individual\ndepend.\u201d--_See_ HUNTER\u2019S _Culina_, p. 13.\n\u201cThe faculty the stomach has of communicating the impressions made by\nthe various substances that are put into it, is such, that it seems more\nlike a nervous expansion of the brain, than a mere receptacle for\nfood.\u201d--Dr. WATERHOUSE\u2019S _Lecture on Health_, p. 4.\n[17-*] I wish most heartily that the restorative process was performed\nby us poor mortals in as easy and simple a manner as it is in \u201c_the\ncooking animals in the moon_,\u201d who \u201close no time at their meals; but\nopen their left side, and place the whole quantity at once in their\nstomachs, then shut it, till the same day in the next month, for they\nnever indulge themselves with food more than twelve times in a\nyear.\u201d--_See_ BARON MUNCHAUSEN\u2019S _Travels_, p. 188.\nPleasing the palate is the main end in most books of cookery, but _it is\nmy aim to blend the toothsome with the wholesome_; but, after all,\nhowever the hale gourmand may at first differ from me in opinion, the\nlatter is the chief concern; since if he be even so entirely devoted to\nthe pleasure of eating as to think of no other, still the care of his\nhealth becomes part of that; if he is sick he cannot relish his food.\n\u201cThe term _gourmand_, or EPICURE, has been strangely perverted; it has\nbeen conceived synonymous with a glutton, \u2018_n\u00e9 pour la digestion_,\u2019 who\nwill eat as long as he can sit, and drink longer than he can stand, nor\nleave his cup while he can lift it; or like the great eater of Kent whom\nFULLER places among his worthies, and tells us that he did eat with ease\n_thirty dozens of pigeons_ at one meal; at another, _fourscore rabbits_\nand _eighteen yards of black pudding_, London measure!--or a fastidious\nappetite, only to be excited by fantastic dainties, as the brains of\n_peacocks_ or _parrots_, the tongues of _thrushes_ or _nightingales_, or\nthe teats of a lactiferous _sow_.\n\u201cIn the acceptation which I give to the term EPICURE, it means only the\nperson who has good sense and good taste enough to wish to have his food\ncooked according to scientific principles; that is to say, so prepared\nthat the palate be not offended--that it be rendered easy of solution in\nthe stomach, and ultimately contribute to health; exciting him as an\nanimal to the vigorous enjoyment of those recreations and duties,\nphysical and intellectual, which constitute the happiness and dignity of\nhis nature.\u201d For this illustration I am indebted to my scientific friend\n_Apicius C\u00e6lius, Jun._, with whose erudite observations several pages of\nthis work are enriched, to which I have affixed the signature _A. C.,\nJun._\n[18-*] \u201cAlthough AIR is more immediately necessary to life than FOOD,\nthe knowledge of the latter seems of more importance; it admits\ncertainly of great variety, and a choice is more frequently in our\npower. A very spare and simple diet has commonly been recommended as\nmost conducive to health; but it would be more beneficial to mankind if\nwe could show them that a pleasant and varied diet was equally\nconsistent with health, as the very strict regimen of Arnard, or the\nmiller of Essex. These, and other abstemious people, who, having\nexperienced the greatest extremities of bad health, were driven to\ntemperance as their last resource, may run out in praises of a simple\ndiet; but the probability is, that nothing but the dread of former\nsufferings could have given them the resolution to persevere in so\nstrict a course of abstinence, which persons who are in health and have\nno such apprehension could not be induced to undertake, or, if they did,\nwould not long continue.\n\u201cIn all cases, great allowance must be made for the weakness of human\nnature: the desires and appetites of mankind must, to a certain degree,\nbe gratified, and the man who wishes to be most useful will imitate the\nindulgent parent, who, while he endeavours to promote the true interests\nof his children, allows them the full enjoyment of all those innocent\npleasures which they take delight in. If it could be pointed out to\nmankind that some articles used as food were hurtful, while others were\nin their nature innocent, and that the latter were numerous, various,\nand pleasant, they might, perhaps, be induced to forego those which were\nhurtful, and confine themselves to those which were innocent.\u201d--_See_\nDr. STARK\u2019S _Experiments on Diet_, pp. 89 and 90.\n[19-*] See a curious account in COURS GASTRONOMIQUE, p. 145, and in\nAnacharsis\u2019 Travels, Robinson, 1796, vol. ii. p. 58, and _Obs._ and note\nunder No. 493.\n[19-+] See the 2d, 3d, and 4th pages of Sir WM. TEMPLE\u2019S _Essay on the\nCure of the Gout by Moxa_.\n[20-*] \u201cHe that would have a _clear head_, must have a _clean\nstomach_.\u201d--Dr. CHEYNE _on Health_, 8vo. 1724, p. 34.\n\u201cIt is sufficiently manifest how much uncomfortable feelings of the\nbowels affect the nervous system, and how immediately and completely the\ngeneral disorder is relieved by an alvine evacuation.\u201d--p. 53.\n\u201cWe cannot reasonably expect tranquillity of the nervous system, while\nthere is disorder of the digestive organs. As we can perceive no\npermanent source of strength but from the digestion of our food, it\nbecomes important on this account that we should attend to its quantity,\nquality, and the periods of taking it, with a view to ensure its proper\ndigestion.\u201d--ABERNETHY\u2019S _Sur. Obs._ 8vo. 1817, p. 65.\n[20-+] \u201cIf science can really contribute to the happiness of mankind, it\nmust be in this department; the real comfort of the majority of men in\nthis country is sought for at their own fireside; how desirable does it\nthen become to give every inducement to be at home, by directing all the\nmeans of philosophy to increase domestic happiness!\u201d--SYLVESTER\u2019S\n_Philosophy of Domestic Economy_, 4to. 1819, p. 17.\n[20-++] The best books of cookery have been written by physicians.--Sir\nKENELME DIGBY--Sir THEODORE MAYERNE.--See the last quarter of page 304\nof vol. x. of the _Phil. Trans._ for 1675.--Professor BRADLEY--Dr.\nHILL--Dr. LE COINTE--Dr. HUNTER, &c.\n\u201cTo understand the THEORY OF COOKERY, we must attend to the action of\nheat upon the various constituents of alimentary substances as applied\ndirectly and indirectly through the medium of some fluid, in the former\nway as exemplified.\u201d In the processes of ROASTING and BOILING, the chief\nconstituents of animal substances undergo the following changes--the\n_fibrine_ is corrugated, the _albumen_ coagulated, the _gelatine_ and\n_osmazome_ rendered more soluble in water, the _fat_ liquefied, and the\n_water_ evaporated.\n\u201cIf the heat exceed a certain degree, the surface becomes first brown,\nand then scorched. In consequence of these changes, the muscular fibre\nbecomes opaque, shorter, firmer, and drier; the tendons less opaque,\nsofter, and gluey; the fat is either melted out, or rendered\nsemi-transparent. Animal fluids become more transparent: the albumen is\ncoagulated and separated, and they dissolve gelatine and osmazome.\n\u201cLastly, and what is the most important change, and the immediate object\nof all cookery, the meat loses the vapid nauseous smell and taste\npeculiar to its raw state, and it becomes savoury and grateful.\n\u201cHeat applied through the intervention of boiling oil, or melted fat, as\nin FRYING, produces nearly the same changes; as the heat is sufficient\nto evaporate the water, and to induce a degree of scorching.\n\u201cBut when water is the medium through which heat is applied--as in\nBOILING, STEWING, and BAKING, the effects are somewhat different, as the\nheat never exceeds 212\u00b0, which is not sufficient to commence the process\nof browning or decomposition, and the soluble constituents are removed\nby being dissolved in the water, forming soup or broth; or, if the\ndirect contact of the water be prevented, they are dissolved in the\njuices of the meat, and separate in the form of gravy.\u201d\nVide Supplement to _Encyclop. Brit. Edin._ vol. iv. p. 344, the article\n\u201cFOOD,\u201d to which we refer our reader as the most scientific paper on the\nsubject we have seen.\n[21-*] \u201cHealth, beauty, strength, and spirits, and I might add all the\nfaculties of the mind, depend upon the organs of the body; when these\nare in good order, the thinking part is most alert and active, the\ncontrary when they are disturbed or diseased.\u201d--Dr. CADOGAN _on Nursing\nChildren_, 8vo. 1757, p. 5.\n[22-*] \u201cWe have some good families in England of the name of _Cook_ or\n_Coke_. I know not what they may think; but they may depend upon it,\nthey all originally sprang from real and professional cooks; and they\nneed not be ashamed of their extraction, any more than the _Parkers,\nButlers, &c._\u201d--Dr. PEGGE\u2019S _Forme of Cury_, p. 162.\n[22-+] It is said, there are SEVEN _chances against even the most simple\ndish being presented to the mouth in absolute perfection_; for instance,\nA LEG OF MUTTON.\n1st.--The mutton must be _good_. 2d.--Must have been kept a _good_ time.\n3d.--Must be roasted at a _good_ fire. 4th.--By a _good_ cook. 5th.--Who\nmust be in _good_ temper. 6th.--With all this felicitous combination you\nmust have _good_ luck; and, 7th.--_Good_ appetite.--The meat, and the\nmouths which are to eat it, must be ready for action at the same moment.\n[23-*] To guard against \u201c_la gourmandise_\u201d of the second table, \u201cprovide\neach of your servants with a large pair of spectacles of the highest\nmagnifying power, and never permit them to sit down to any meal without\nwearing them; they are as necessary, and as useful in a kitchen as pots\nand kettles: they will make a _lark_ look as large as a FOWL, a _goose_\nas big as a SWAN, a leg of mutton as large as a hind quarter of beef; a\ntwopenny loaf as large as a quartern;\u201d and as philosophers assure you\nthat pain even is only imaginary, we may justly believe the same of\nhunger; and if a servant who eats no more than one pound of food,\nimagines, by the aid of these glasses, that he has eaten three pounds,\nhis hunger will be as fully satisfied--and the addition to your\noptician\u2019s account, will soon be overpaid by the subtraction from your\nbutcher\u2019s and baker\u2019s.\n[25-*] Much real reformation might be effected, and most grateful\nservices obtained, if families which consist wholly of females, would\ntake servants recommended from the MAGDALEN--PENITENTIARY--or\nGUARDIAN--who seek to be restored to virtuous society.\n\u201c_Female servants_ who pursue an honest course, have to travel, in their\npeculiar orbit, through a more powerfully resisting medium than perhaps\nany other class of people in civilized life; they should be treated with\nsomething like Christian kindness: for want of this, a fault which might\nat the time have been easily amended has become the source of\ninterminable sorrow.\u201d\n\u201cBy the clemency and benevolent interference of two mistresses known to\nthe writer, two servants have become happy wives, who, had they been in\nsome situations, would have been literally outcasts.\u201d\nA most laudable SOCIETY for the ENCOURAGEMENT of FEMALE SERVANTS, by a\ngratuitous registry, and by rewards, was instituted in 1813; plans of\nwhich may be had _gratis_ at the Society\u2019s House, No. 10, Hatton Garden.\nThe above is an extract from the REV. H. G. WATKINS\u2019S _Hints to Heads of\nFamilies_, a work well deserving the attentive consideration of\ninexperienced housekeepers.\n[26-*] The greatest care should be taken by the man of fashion, that his\ncook\u2019s health be preserved: one hundredth part of the attention usually\nbestowed on his dog, or his horse, will suffice to regulate her animal\nsystem.\n\u201cCleanliness, and a proper ventilation to carry off smoke and steam,\nshould be particularly attended to in the construction of a kitchen; the\ngrand scene of action, the fire-place, should be placed where it may\nreceive plenty of light; hitherto the contrary has prevailed, and the\npoor cook is continually basted with her own perspiration.\u201d--_A. C.,\nJun._\n\u201cThe most experienced artists in cookery cannot be certain of their work\nwithout tasting: they must be incessantly tasting. The spoon of a good\ncook is continually passing from the stewpan to his tongue; nothing but\nfrequent tasting his sauces, rago\u00fbts, &c. can discover to him what\nprogress they have made, or enable him to season a soup with any\ncertainty of success; his palate, therefore, must be in the highest\nstate of excitability, that the least fault may be perceived in an\ninstant.\n\u201cBut, alas! the constant empyreumatic fumes of the stoves, the necessity\nof frequent drinking, and often of bad beer, to moisten a parched\nthroat; in short, every thing around him conspires quickly to vitiate\nthe organs of taste; the palate becomes blunted; its quickness of\nfeeling and delicacy, on which the sensibility of the organs of taste\ndepends, grows daily more obtuse; and in a short time the gustatory\nnerve becomes quite unexcitable.\n\u201cIF YOU FIND YOUR COOK NEGLECT HIS BUSINESS--that his _rago\u00fbts_ are too\nhighly spiced or salted, and his cookery has too much of the \u2018_haut\ngo\u00fbt_,\u2019 you may be sure that _his index of taste_ wants regulating; his\npalate has lost its sensibility, and it is high time to call in the\nassistance of the apothecary.\n\u201c\u2018_Purger souvent_\u2019 is the grand maxim in all kitchens where _le Ma\u00eetre\nd\u2019H\u00f4tel_ has any regard for the reputation of his table. _Les Bons\nHommes de Bouche_ submit to the operation without a murmur; to bind\nothers, it should be made the first condition in hiring them. Those who\nrefuse, prove they were not born to become masters of their art; and\ntheir indifference to fame will rank them, as they deserve, among those\nslaves who pass their lives in as much obscurity as their own stewpans.\u201d\nTo the preceding observations from the \u201c_Almanach des Gourmands_,\u201d we\nmay add, that the _Mouthician_ will have a still better chance of\nsuccess, if he can prevail on his master to observe the same _r\u00e9gime_\nwhich he orders for his cook; or, instead of endeavouring to awaken an\nidle appetite by reading the index to a cookery book, or an additional\nuse of the pepper-box and salt-cellar, rather seek it from abstinence or\nexercise;--the philosophical _gourmand_ will consider that the edge of\nour appetite is generally keen, in proportion to the activity of our\nother habits; let him attentively peruse our \u201cPEPTIC PRECEPTS,\u201d &c.\nwhich briefly explain the art of refreshing the gustatory nerves, and of\ninvigorating the whole system. See in the following chapter on\nINVITATIONS TO DINNER--A recipe to make FORTY PERISTALTIC PERSUADERS.\n[27-*] \u201cShe must be quick and strong of sight; her hearing most acute,\nthat she may be sensible when the contents of her vessels bubble,\nalthough they be closely covered, and that she may be alarmed before the\npot boils over; her auditory nerve ought to discriminate (when several\nsaucepans are in operation at the same time) the simmering of one, the\nebullition of another, and the full-toned wabbling of a third.\n\u201cIt is imperiously requisite that her organ of smell be highly\nsusceptible of the various effluvia, that her nose may distinguish the\nperfection of aromatic ingredients, and that in animal substances it\nshall evince a suspicious accuracy between tenderness and putrefaction;\nabove all, her olfactories should be tremblingly alive to mustiness and\nempyreuma.\n\u201cIt is from the exquisite sensibility of her palate, that we admire and\njudge of the cook; from the alliance between the olfactory and sapid\norgans, it will be seen that their perfection is indispensable.\u201d--_A.\nC., Jun._\n[28-*] A facetious _gourmand_ suggests that the old story of \u201clighting a\ncandle to the devil,\u201d probably arose from this adage--and was an\noffering presented to his infernal majesty by some epicure who was in\nwant of a cook.\n[29-*] \u201cA gentlewoman being at table, abroad or at home, must observe to\nkeep her body straight, and lean not by any means with her elbows, nor\nby ravenous gesture discover a voracious appetite: talk not when you\nhave _meat_ in your _mouth_; and do not smack like _a pig_, nor venture\nto eat _spoonmeat_ so hot that the tears stand in your eyes, which is as\nunseemly as the _gentlewoman_ who pretended to have as little a\n_stomach_ as she had a _mouth_, and therefore would not swallow her\n_pease_ by spoonfuls; but took them one by one, and cut them in two\nbefore she would eat them. It is very uncomely to drink so large a\n_draught_ that your _breath_ is almost gone--and are forced to blow\nstrongly to recover yourself--throwing down your _liquor_ as into a\n_funnel_ is an action fitter for a juggler than a _gentlewoman_: thus\nmuch for your observations in general; if I am defective as to\nparticulars, your own _prudence, discretion, and curious observations_\nwill supply.\u201d\n\u201cIn CARVING at your own _table_, distribute the best pieces first, and\nit will appear very comely and decent to use a _fork_; so touch no piece\nof _meat_ without it.\u201d\n\u201c_Mem._ The English are indebted to TOM CORYAT for introducing THE FORK,\nfor which they called him _Furcifer_.\u201d--See his _Crudities_, vol. i. p.\n[30-*] \u201cAlmost all arts and sciences are more or less encumbered with\nvulgar errors and prejudices, which avarice and ignorance have\nunfortunately sufficient influence to preserve, by help (or hindrance)\nof mysterious, undefinable, and not seldom unintelligible, technical\nterms--Anglic\u00e8, nicknames--which, instead of enlightening the subject it\nis professedly pretended they were invented to illuminate, serve but to\nshroud it in almost impenetrable obscurity; and, in general, so\nextravagantly fond are the professors of an art of keeping up all the\npomp, circumstance, and mystery of it, and of preserving the accumulated\nprejudices of ages past undiminished, that one might fairly suppose\nthose who have had the courage and perseverance to overcome these\nobstacles, and penetrate the veil of science, were delighted with\nplacing difficulties in the way of those who may attempt to follow them,\non purpose to deter them from the pursuit, and that they cannot bear\nothers should climb the hill of knowledge by a readier road than they\nthemselves did: and such is _l\u2019esprit de corps_, that as their\npredecessors supported themselves by serving it out _gradatim et\nstillatim_, and retailing with a sparing hand the information they so\nhardly obtained, they find it convenient to follow their example: and,\nwilling to do as they have been done by, leave and bequeath the\ninheritance undiminished to those who may succeed them.\u201d--See p. 10 of\nDr. KITCHINER _on Telescopes_, 12mo. 1825, printed for Whittaker, Ave\nMaria Lane.\n[32-*] \u201cIn the present language of cookery, there has been a woful\ndeparture from the simplicity of our ancestors,--such a farrago of\nunappropriate and unmeaning terms, many corrupted from the French,\nothers disguised from the Italian, some misapplied from the German,\nwhile many are a disgrace to the English. What can any person suppose to\nbe the meaning of _a shoulder of lamb in epigram_, unless it were a poor\ndish, for a pennyless poet? _Aspect of fish_, would appear calculated\nfor an astrologer; and _shoulder of mutton surprised_, designed for a\nsheep-stealer.\u201d--_A. C., Jun._\n[33-*] See note to No. 59 how to plump the liver of a goose.\n[33-+] \u201cIt is a curious illustration of the _de gustibus non eat\ndisputandum_, that the ancients considered the _swan_ as a high\ndelicacy, and abstained from the flesh of the _goose_ as impure and\nindigestible.\u201d--MOUBRAY _on Poultry_, p. 36.\nINVITATIONS TO DINNER\nIn \u201cthe affairs of the mouth\u201d the strictest punctuality is\nindispensable; the GASTRONOMER ought to be as accurate an observer of\ntime, as the ASTRONOMER. The least delay produces fatal and irreparable\nmisfortunes.\nAlmost all other ceremonies and civil duties may be put off for several\nhours without much inconvenience, and all may be postponed without\nabsolute danger. A little delay may try the patience of those who are\nwaiting; but the act itself will be equally perfect and equally valid.\nProcrastination sometimes is rather advantageous than prejudicial. It\ngives time for reflection, and may prevent our taking a step which would\nhave made us miserable for life; the delay of a courier has prevented\nthe conclusion of a convention, the signing of which might have\noccasioned the ruin of a nation.\nIf, from affairs the most important, we descend to our pleasures and\namusements, we shall find new arguments in support of our assertions.\nThe putting off of a rendezvous, or a ball, &c. will make them the more\ndelightful. To _hope_ is to _enjoy_.\n \u201cMan never is, but always to be blest.\u201d\nThe anticipation of pleasure warms our imagination, and keeps those\nfeelings alive, which possession too often extinguishes.\n \u201c\u2019Tis _expectation_ only makes us blest;\n _Enjoyment_ disappoints us at the best.\u201d\nDr. Johnson has most sagaciously said; \u201cSuch is the state of life, that\nnone are happy, but by the anticipation of change: the change itself is\nnothing: when we have made it, the next wish is, immediately to change\nagain.\u201d\nHowever singular our assertions may have at first appeared to those who\nhave not considered the subject, we hope by this time we have made\nconverts of our readers, and convinced the \u201c_Amateurs de Bonne Ch\u00e8re_\u201d\nof the truth and importance of our remarks; and that they will remember,\nthat DINNER is the only act of the day which cannot be put off with\nimpunity, for even FIVE MINUTES.\nIn a well-regulated family, all the clocks and watches should agree; on\nthis depends the fate of the dinner; what would be agreeable to the\nstomach, and restorative to the system, if served at FIVE o\u2019clock, will\nbe uneatable and innutritive and indigestible at A QUARTER PAST.\nThe dining-room should be furnished with a good-going clock; the space\nover the kitchen fire-place with another, vibrating in unison with the\nformer, so placed, that the cook may keep one eye on the clock, and the\nother on the spit, &c. She will calculate to a minute the time required\nto roast a large capon or a little lark, and is equally attentive to the\ndegree of heat of her stove, and the time her sauce remains on it, when\nto withdraw the bakings from the oven, the roast from the spit, and the\nstew from the pan.\nWith all our love of punctuality, the first consideration must still be,\nthat the dinner \u201cbe well done, when \u2019t is done.\u201d\nIt is a common fault with cooks who are anxious about time, to overdress\nevery thing--the guests had better wait than the dinner--a little delay\nwill improve their appetite; but if the dinner waits for the guests, it\nwill be deteriorated every minute: the host who wishes to entertain his\nfriends with food perfectly well dressed, while he most earnestly\nendeavours to impress on their minds the importance of being punctual to\nthe appointed hour, will still allow his cook a quarter of an hour\u2019s\ngrace.\nThe old adage that \u201cthe eye is often bigger than the belly,\u201d is often\nverified by the ridiculous vanity of those who wish to make an\nappearance above their fortune. Nothing can be more ruinous to real\ncomfort than the too common custom of setting out a table, with a parade\nand a profusion, unsuited not only to the circumstances of the hosts,\nbut to the number of the guests; or more fatal to true hospitality, than\nthe multiplicity of dishes which luxury has made fashionable at the\ntables of the great, the wealthy, and the ostentatious, who are, often,\nneither great nor wealthy.\nSuch pompous preparation, instead of being a compliment to our guests,\nis nothing better than an indirect offence; it is a tacit insinuation,\nthat it is absolutely necessary to provide such delicacies to bribe the\ndepravity of their palates, when we desire the pleasure of their\ncompany; and that society now, must be purchased, at the same price\nSWIFT told POPE he was obliged to pay for it in Ireland. \u201cI should\nhardly prevail to find one visiter, if I were not able to hire him with\na bottle of wine.\u201d Vide Swift\u2019s letters to Pope, July 10th, 1732.\nWhen twice as much cooking is undertaken as there are servants, or\nconveniences in the kitchen to do it properly, dishes must be dressed\nlong before the dinner hour, and stand by spoiling--the poor cook loses\nher credit, and the poor guests get indigestions. Why prepare for eight\nor ten friends, more than sufficient for twenty or thirty visiters?\n\u201cEnough is as good as a feast,\u201d and a prudent provider, who sensibly\ntakes measure of the stomachic, instead of the SILLY ocular, appetite of\nhis guests, may entertain his friends, three times as often, and ten\ntimes as well.\nIt is your SENSELESS SECOND COURSES--ridiculous variety of WINES,\nLIQUEURS, ICES,[38-*] DESSERTS, &c.--which are served up merely to feed\nthe eye, or pamper palled appetite, that _overcome the stomach and\nparalyze digestion_, and seduce \u201cchildren of a larger growth\u201d to\nsacrifice the health and comfort of several days, for the baby-pleasure\nof tickling their tongue for a few minutes, with trifles and custards!!!\n\u201cINDIGESTION will sometimes overtake the most experienced epicure; when\nthe gustatory nerves are in good humour, hunger and savoury viands will\nsometimes seduce the tongue of a \u2018_grand gourmand_\u2019 to betray the\ninterests of his stomach in spite of his brains.\n\u201cOn such an unfortunate occasion, when the stomach sends forth\neructant[38-+] signals of distress, the _peristaltic persuaders_ are as\nagreeable and effectual assistance as can be offered; and for delicate\nconstitutions, and those that are impaired by age or intemperance, are a\nvaluable panacea.\n\u201cThey derive, and deserve this name, from the peculiar mildness of their\noperation. One or two very gently increase the action of the principal\nviscera, help them to do their work a little faster, and enable the\nstomach to serve with an ejectment whatever offends it, and move it into\nthe bowels.\n\u201cThus _indigestion_ is easily and speedily removed, _appetite_ restored,\nthe mouths of the absorbing vessels being cleansed, _nutrition_ is\nfacilitated, and _strength_ of body, and _energy_ of mind, are the happy\nresults.\u201d See \u201cPEPTIC PRECEPTS,\u201d from which we extract the following\nprescription--\nTo make FORTY PERISTALTIC PERSUADERS,\n Take\n Turkey rhubarb, finely pulverized, two drachms,\n Syrup (by weight), one drachm,\n Oil of carraway, ten drops (minims),\n Made into pills, each of which will contain _three grains of rhubarb_.\n\u201cThe DOSE OF THE PERSUADERS must be adapted to the constitutional\npeculiarity of the patient. When you wish to accelerate or augment the\nalvine exoneration, take two, three, or more, according to the effect\nyou desire to produce. _Two pills_ will do as much for one person, as\n_five or six_ will for another: they will generally very regularly\nperform what you wish to-day, without interfering with what you hope\nwill happen to-morrow; and are therefore as convenient an argument\nagainst constipation as any we are acquainted with.\n\u201cThe most convenient opportunity to introduce them to the stomach, is\nearly in the morning, when it is unoccupied, and has no particular\nbusiness of digestion, &c. to attend to--i. e. at least half an hour\nbefore breakfast. Physic must never interrupt the stomach, when it is\nbusy in digesting food.\n\u201cFrom two to four persuaders will generally produce one additional\nmotion, within twelve hours. They may be taken at any time by the most\ndelicate females, whose constitutions are so often distressed by\nconstipation, and destroyed by the drastic purgatives they take to\nrelieve it.\u201d\nThe cloth[39-*] should be laid in the parlour, and all the paraphernalia\nof the dinner-table completely arranged, at least half an hour before\ndinner-time.\nThe cook\u2019s labour will be lost, if the parlour-table be not ready for\naction, and the eaters ready for the eatables, which the least delay\nwill irreparably injure: therefore, the GOURMAND will be punctual for\nthe sake of gratifying his ruling passion; the INVALID, to avoid the\ndanger of encountering an _indigestion_ from eating ill-dressed food;\nand the RATIONAL EPICURE, who happily attends the banquet with \u201c_mens\nsana in corpore sano_,\u201d will keep the time not only for these strong\nreasons, but that he may not lose the advantage of being introduced to\nthe other guests. He considers not only what is on the table, but who\nare around it: his principal inducement to leave his own fireside, is\nthe charm of agreeable and instructive society, and the opportunity of\nmaking connexions, which may augment the interest and enjoyment of\nexistence.\nIt is the most pleasing part of the duty of the master of the feast\n(especially when the guests are not very numerous), to take advantage of\nthese moments to introduce them to one another, naming them individually\nin an audible voice, and adroitly laying hold of those ties of\nacquaintanceship or profession which may exist between them.\nThis will much augment the pleasures of the festive board, to which it\nis indeed as indispensable a prelude, as an overture is to an opera: and\nthe host will thus acquire an additional claim to the gratitude of his\nguests. We urge this point more strongly, because, from want of\nattention to it, we have seen more than once persons whom many kindred\nties would have drawn closely together, pass an entire day without\nopening their lips to each other, because they were mutually ignorant of\neach other\u2019s names, professions, and pursuits.\nTo put an end at once to all ceremony as to the order in which the\nguests are to sit, it will save much time and trouble, if the mistress\nof the mansion adopts the simple and elegant method of placing the name\nof each guest in the plate which is intended for him. This proceeding\nwill be of course the result of consideration, and the host will place\nthose together whom he thinks will harmonize best.\n_Le Journal des Dames_ informs us, that in several fashionable houses in\nParis, a new arrangement has been introduced in placing the company at a\ndinner-table.\n\u201cThe ladies first take their places, leaving intervals for the\ngentlemen; after being seated, each is desired to call on a gentleman to\nsit beside her; and thus the lady of the house is relieved from all\nembarrassment of _\u00e9tiquette_ as to rank and pretensions,\u201d &c.\nBut, without doubt, says the Journalist, this method has its\ninconveniences.\n\u201cIt may happen that a bashful beauty dare not name the object of her\nsecret wishes; and an acute observer may determine, from a single\nglance, that the _elected_ is not always the _chosen_.\u201d\nIf the party is large, the founders of the feast may sit in the middle\nof the table, instead of at each end, thus they will enjoy the pleasure\nof attending equally to all their friends; and being in some degree\nrelieved from the occupation of carving, will have an opportunity of\nadministering all those little attentions which contribute so much to\nthe comfort of their guests.\nIf the GUESTS have any respect for their HOST, or prefer a well-dressed\ndinner to one that is spoiled, instead of coming half an hour after,\nthey will take care to make their appearance a quarter of an hour before\nthe time appointed.\nThe operations of the cook are governed by the clock; the moment the\nroasts, &c. are ready, they must go to the table, if they are to be\neaten in perfection.\nAn invitation to come at FIVE o\u2019clock seems to be generally understood\nto mean _six_; FIVE PRECISELY, _half past five_; and NOT LATER THAN FIVE\n(so that dinner may be on the table within five minutes after, allowing\nthis for the variation of watches), FIVE O\u2019CLOCK EXACTLY.\nBe it known to all loyal subjects of the empire of good-living, that the\nCOMMITTEE OF TASTE have unanimously resolved, that \u201can invitation to\nETA. BETA. PI. must be in writing, and sent at least ten days before the\nbanquet; and must be answered in writing (as soon as possible after it\nis received), within twenty-four hours at least,\u201d especially if it be\nnot accepted: then, in addition to the usual complimentary expressions\nof thanks, &c. the best possible reasons must be assigned for the\nnon-acceptance, as a particular pre-engagement, or severe indisposition,\n&c. Before the bearer of it delivers it, he should ascertain if the\nperson it is directed to is at home; if he is not, when he will be; and\nif he is not in town, to bring the summons back.\nNothing can be more disobliging than a refusal which is not grounded on\nsome very strong and unavoidable cause,--except not coming at the\nappointed hour;--\u201caccording to the laws of conviviality, a certificate\nfrom a sheriff\u2019s officer, a doctor, or an undertaker, are the only pleas\nwhich are admissible. The duties which invitation imposes do not fall\nonly on the persons invited, but, like all other social duties, are\nreciprocal.\n\u201cAs he who has accepted an invitation cannot disengage himself from it;\nthe master of the feast cannot put off the entertainment on any pretence\nwhatever. Urgent business, sickness, not even death itself, can dispense\nwith the obligation which he is under of giving the entertainment for\nwhich he has sent out invitations, which have been accepted; for in the\nextreme cases of compulsory absence, or death, his place may be filled\nby his friend or executor.\u201d--_Vide le Manuel des Amphitryons_, 8vo.\n_Paris_, 1808; and _Cours Gastronomique_, 1809; to which the reader is\nreferred for farther instructions.\nIt is the least punishment that a blundering, ill-bred booby can\nreceive, who comes half an hour after the time he was bidden, to find\nthe soup removed, and the fish cold: moreover, for such an offence, let\nhim also be _mulcted_ in a pecuniary penalty, to be applied to the FUND\nFOR THE BENEFIT OF DECAYED COOKS. This is the least punishment that can\nbe inflicted on one whose silence, or violation of an engagement, tends\nto paralyze an entertainment, and to draw his friend into useless\nexpense.\nBOILEAU, the French satirist, has a shrewd observation on this subject.\n\u201cI have always been punctual at the hour of dinner,\u201d says the bard; \u201cfor\nI knew, that all those whom I kept waiting at that provoking interval,\nwould employ those unpleasant moments to sum up all my faults.--BOILEAU\nis indeed a man of genius, a very honest man; but that dilatory and\nprocrastinating way he has got into, would mar the virtues of an angel.\u201d\nThere are some who seldom keep an appointment: we can assure them they\nas seldom \u201c\u2019scape without whipping,\u201d and exciting those murmurs which\ninevitably proceed from the best-regulated stomachs, when they are\nempty, and impatient to be filled.\nThe most amiable animals when hungry become ill-tempered: our best\nfriends employ the time they are kept waiting, in recollecting and\nrepeating any real faults we have, and attributing to us a thousand\nimaginary ones.\nIll-bred beings, who indulge their own caprice, regardless how they\nwound the feelings of others, if they possess brilliant and useful\ntalents, may occasionally be endured as convenient tools; but deceive\nthemselves sadly, even though they possess all the wisdom, and all the\nwit in the world, if they fancy they can ever be esteemed as friends.\nWait for no one: as soon as the clock strikes, say grace, and begin the\nbusiness of the day,\n \u201cAnd good digestion wait on appetite,\n And health on both.\u201d\nMANNERS MAKE THE MAN.\nGood manners have often made the fortune of many, who have had nothing\nelse to recommend them:\nIll manners have as often marred the hope of those who have had every\nthing else to advance them.\nThese regulations may appear a little rigorous to those phlegmatic\nphilosophers,\n \u201cWho, past all pleasures, damn the joys of sense,\n With rev\u2019rend dulness and grave impotence,\u201d\nand are incapable of comprehending the importance (especially when many\nare invited) of a truly hospitable entertainment: but genuine\n_connoisseurs_ in the science of good cheer will vote us thanks for our\nendeavours to initiate well-disposed _amateurs_.\nCARVING.\nCeremony does not, in any thing, more commonly and completely triumph\nover comfort, than in the administration of \u201cthe honours of the table.\u201d\nThose who serve out the loaves and fishes seldom seem to understand that\nhe is the best carver who fills the plates of the greatest number of\nguests, in the least portion of time.\nTo effect this, fill the plates and send them round, instead of asking\neach individual if they choose soup, fish, &c. or what particular part\nthey prefer; for, as they cannot all be choosers, you will thus escape\nmaking any invidious distinctions.\nA dexterous CARVER[43-*] (especially if he be possessed with that\ndetermined enemy to ceremony and sauce, a keen appetite,) will help half\na dozen people in half the time one of your would-be-thought polite\nfolks wastes in making civil faces, &c. to a single guest.\nIt would save a great deal of time, &c. if POULTRY, especially large\nturkeys and geese, were sent to table ready cut up. (No. 530.*)\nFISH that is fried should be previously divided into such portions as\nare fit to help at table. (See No. 145.)\nA prudent carver will cut fair,[43-+] observe an equitable distribution\nof the dainties he is serving out, and regulate his helps, by the\nproportion which his dish bears to the number he has to divide it among,\ntaking into this reckoning the _quantum_ of appetite the several guests\nare presumed to possess.\n \u201cStudy their genius, caprices, _go\u00fbt_--\n They, in return, may haply study you:\n Some wish a pinion, some prefer a leg,\n Some for a merry-thought, or sidesbone beg,\n The wings of fowls, then slices of the round\n The trail of woodcock, of codfish the sound.\n Let strict impartiality preside,\n Nor freak, nor favour, nor affection guide.\u201d\n _From the_ BANQUET.\nThe guest who wishes to ensure a hearty welcome, and frequent invitation\nto the board of hospitality, may calculate that the \u201ceasier he is\npleased, the oftener he will be invited.\u201d Instead of unblushingly\ndemanding of the fair hostess that the prime \u201c_tit-bit_\u201d of every dish\nbe put on your plate, receive (if not with pleasure, or even content)\nwith the liveliest expressions of thankfulness whatever is presented to\nyou, and forget not to praise the cook, and the same shall be reckoned\nunto you even as the praise of the mistress.\nThe invalid or the epicure, when he dines out, to save trouble to his\nfriends, may carry with him a portable MAGAZINE OF TASTE. (See No. 462.)\n\u201cIf he does not like his fare, he may console himself with the\nreflection, that he need not expose his mouth to the like mortification\nagain: mercy to the feelings of the mistress of the mansion will forbid\nhis then appearing otherwise than absolutely delighted with it,\nnotwithstanding it may be his extreme antipathy.\u201d\n\u201cIf he likes it ever so little, he will find occasion to congratulate\nhimself on the advantage his digestive organs will derive from his\nmaking a moderate dinner, and consolation from contemplating the double\nrelish he is creating for the following meal, and anticipating the (to\nhim) rare and delicious zest of (that best sauce) good appetite, and an\nunrestrained indulgence of his gormandizing fancies at the chop-house he\nfrequents.\u201d\n\u201cNever intrust a _cook-teaser_ with the important office of CARVER, or\nplace him within reach of _a sauce-boat_. These chop-house cormorants,\nwho\n \u2018Critique your wine, and analyze your meat,\n Yet on plain pudding deign at home to eat,\u2019\nare, generally, tremendously officious in serving out the loaves and\nfishes of other people; for, under the notion of appearing exquisitely\namiable, and killingly agreeable to the guests, they are ever on the\nwatch to distribute themselves the dainties which it is the peculiar\npart of the master and mistress to serve out, and is to them the most\npleasant part of the business of the banquet: the pleasure of helping\ntheir friends is the gratification, which is their reward for the\ntrouble they have had in preparing the feast. Such gentry are the terror\nof all good housewives: to obtain their favourite cut they will so\nunmercifully mangle your joints, that a dainty dog would hardly get a\nmeal from them after; which, managed by the considerative hands of an\nold housekeeper, would furnish a decent dinner for a large\nfamily.\u201d--Vide \u201c_Almanach des Gourmands_.\u201d\nI once heard a gentle hint on this subject, given to a _blue-mould\nfancier_, who by looking too long at a Stilton cheese, was at last\ncompletely overcome, by his eye exciting his appetite, till it became\nquite ungovernable; and unconscious of every thing but the _mity_ object\nof his contemplation, he began to pick out, in no small portions, the\nprimest parts his eye could select from the centre of the cheese.\nThe good-natured founder of the feast, highly amused at the ecstasies\neach morsel created in its passage over the palate of the enraptured\n_gourmand_, thus encouraged the perseverance of his guest--\u201cCut away, my\ndear sir, cut away, use no ceremony, I pray: I hope you will pick out\nall the best of my cheese. _Don\u2019t you think_ that THE RIND _and the_\nROTTEN _will do very well for my wife and family!!_\u201d There is another\nset of terribly _free and easy_ folks, who are \u201cfond of taking\npossession of the throne of domestic comfort,\u201d and then, with all the\nimpudence imaginable, simper out to the ousted master of the family,\n\u201cDear me, I am afraid I have taken your place!\u201d\n_Half the trouble of_ WAITING AT TABLE _may be saved_ by giving each\nguest two plates, two knives and forks, two pieces of bread, a spoon, a\nwine-glass, and a tumbler, and placing the wines and sauces, and the\nMAGAZINE OF TASTE, (No. 462,) &c. as a _dormant_, in the centre of the\ntable; one neighbour may then help another.\nDinner-tables are seldom sufficiently lighted, or attended. An active\nwaiter will have enough to do to attend upon half a dozen active eaters.\nThere should be about half as many candles as there are guests, and\ntheir flame be about eighteen inches above the table. Our foolish\nmodern pompous candelabras seem intended to illuminate the ceiling,\nrather than to give light on the plates, &c.\nWax lights at dinner are much more elegant, and not so troublesome and\nso uncertain as lamps, nor so expensive; for to purchase a handsome lamp\nwill cost you more than will furnish you with wax candles for several\nyears.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[38-*] Swilling cold _soda water_ immediately after eating a hearty\ndinner, is another very unwholesome custom--take good ginger beer if you\nare thirsty, and don\u2019t like Sir John Barleycorn\u2019s cordial.\n[38-+] _Strong peppermint or ginger lozenges_ are an excellent help for\nthat flatulence with which some aged and dyspeptic people ate afflicted\nthree or four hours after dinner.\n[39-*] _Le Grand Sommelier_, or CHIEF BUTLER, in former times was\nexpected to be especially accomplished in the art of folding table\nlinen, so as to lay his napkins in different forms every day: these\ntransformations are particularly described in ROSE\u2019S Instructions for\nthe Officers of the Mouth, 1682, p. 111, &c. \u201cTo pleat a napkin in the\nform of a cockle-shell double\u201d--\u201cin the form of hen and\nchickens\u201d--\u201cshape of two capons in a pye\u201d--or \u201clike a dog with a collar\nabout his neck\u201d--and many others equally whimsical.\n[43-*] In days of yore \u201c_Le Grand Ecuyer Tranchant_,\u201d or the MASTER\nCARVER, was the next officer of the mouth in rank to the \u201c_Ma\u00eetre\nd\u2019H\u00f4tel_,\u201d and the technical terms of his art were as singular as any of\nthose which ornament \u201cGrose\u2019s Classical Slang Dictionary,\u201d or \u201cThe\nGipsies\u2019 Gibberish:\u201d the only one of these old phrases now in common use\nis, \u201ccut up the TURKEY:\u201d--we are no longer desired to \u201cdisfigure a\nPEACOCK\u201d--\u201cunbrace a DUCK\u201d--\u201cunlace a CONEY\u201d--\u201ctame a CRAB\u201d--\u201ctire an\nEGG\u201d--and \u201cspoil the HEN,\u201d &c.--See _Instructions for the Officers of\nthe Mouth_, by ROSE, 1682.\n[43-+] Those in the parlour should recollect the importance of setting a\ngood example to their friends at the second table. If they cut _bread_,\n_meat_, _cheese_, &c. FAIRLY, it will go twice as far as if they hack\nand mangle it, as if they had not half so much consideration for those\nin the kitchen as a good sportsman has for his dogs.\nFRIENDLY ADVICE TO COOKS,[46-*] AND OTHER SERVANTS\nOn your first coming into a family, lose no time in immediately getting\ninto the good graces of your fellow-servants, that you may learn from\nthem the customs of the kitchen, and the various rules and orders of the\nhouse.\nTake care to be on good terms with the servant who waits at table; make\nuse of him as your sentinel, to inform you how your work has pleased in\nthe parlour: by his report you may be enabled in some measure to rectify\nany mistake; but request the favour of an early interview with your\nmaster or mistress: depend as little as possible on second-hand\nopinions. Judge of your employers from YOUR OWN observations, and THEIR\nbehaviour to you, not from any idle reports from the other servants,\nwho, if your master or mistress inadvertently drop a word in your\npraise, will immediately take alarm, and fearing your being more in\nfavour than themselves, will seldom stick at trifles to prevent it, by\npretending to take a prodigious liking to you, and poisoning your mind\nin such a manner as to destroy all your confidence, &c. in your\nemployers; and if they do not immediately succeed in worrying you away,\nwill take care you have no comfort while you stay: be most cautious of\nthose who profess most: not only beware of believing such honey-tongued\nfolks, but beware as much of betraying your suspicions of them, for that\nwill set fire to the train at once, and of a doubtful friend make a\ndetermined enemy.\nIf you are a good cook, and strictly do your duty, you will soon become\na favourite domestic; but never boast of the approbation of your\nemployers; for, in proportion as they think you rise in their\nestimation, you will excite all the tricks, that envy, hatred, malice,\nand all uncharitableness can suggest to your fellow-servants; every one\nof whom, if less sober, honest, or industrious, or less favoured than\nyourself, will be your enemy.\nWhile we warn you against making others your enemies, take care that you\ndo not yourself become your own and greatest enemy. \u201cFavourites are\nnever in greater danger of falling, than when in the greatest favour,\u201d\nwhich often begets a careless inattention to the commands of their\nemployers, and insolent overbearance to their equals, a gradual neglect\nof duty, and a corresponding forfeiture of that regard which can only be\npreserved by the means which created it.\n \u201cThose arts by which at first you gain it,\n You still must practise to maintain it.\u201d\nIf your employers are so pleased with your conduct as to treat you as a\nfriend rather than a servant, do not let their kindness excite your\nself-conceit, so as to make you for a moment forget you are one.\nCondescension, even to a proverb, produces contempt in inconsiderate\nminds; and to such, the very means which benevolence takes to cherish\nattention to duty, becomes the cause of the evil it is intended to\nprevent.\nTo be an agreeable companion in the kitchen, without compromising your\nduty to your patrons in the parlour, requires no small portion of good\nsense and good nature: in a word, you must \u201cdo as you would be done by.\u201d\nACT FOR, AND SPEAK OF, EVERY BODY AS IF THEY WERE PRESENT.\nWe hope the culinary student who peruses these pages will be above\nadopting the common, mean, and ever unsuccessful way of \u201cholding with\nthe hare, and running with the hounds,\u201d of currying favour with\nfellow-servants by flattering them, and ridiculing the mistress when in\nthe kitchen, and then, prancing into the parlour and purring about her,\nand making opportunities to display all the little faults you can find\n(_or invent_) that will tell well against those in the kitchen; assuring\nthem, on your return, that they were _vraised_, for whatever you heard\nthem _blamed_, and so excite them to run more extremely into any little\nerror which you think will be most displeasing to their employers;\nwatching an opportunity to pour your poisonous lies into their\nunsuspecting ears, when there is no third person to bear witness of your\niniquity; making your victims believe, it is all out of your _sincere\nregard_ for them; assuring them (as Betty says in the man of the world,)\n\u201cThat indeed you are no busybody that loves fending nor proving, but\nhate all tittling and tattling, and gossiping and backbiting,\u201d &c. &c.\nDepend upon it, if you hear your fellow-servants speak disrespectfully\nof a master or a mistress with whom they have lived some time, it is a\nsure sign that they have some sinister scheme against yourself; if they\nhave not been well treated, why have they stayed?\n\u201cThere is nothing more detestable than defamation. I have no scruple to\nrank a slanderer with a murderer or an assassin. Those who assault the\nreputation of their benefactors, and \u2018rob you of that which nought\nenriches them,\u2019 would destroy your life, if they could do it with equal\nimpunity.\u201d\n\u201cIf you hope to gain the respect and esteem of others, and the\napprobation of your own heart, be respectful and faithful to your\nsuperiors, obliging and good-natured to your fellow-servants, and\ncharitable to all.\u201d You cannot be too careful to cultivate a meek and\ngentle disposition; you will find the benefit of it every day of your\nlife: to promote peace and harmony around you, will not only render you\na general favourite with your fellow-servants, but will make you happy\nin yourself.\n\u201cLet your _character_ be remarkable for industry and moderation; your\n_manners_ and deportment, for modesty and humility; your _dress_\ndistinguished for simplicity, frugality, and neatness. A dressy servant\nis a disgrace to a house, and renders her employers as ridiculous as she\ndoes herself. If you outshine your companions in finery, you will\ninevitably excite their envy, and make them your enemies.\u201d\n \u201cDo every thing at the proper time.\u201d\n \u201cKeep every thing in its proper place.\u201d\n \u201cUse every thing for its proper purpose.\u201d\nThe importance of these three rules must be evident, to all who will\nconsider how much easier it is to return any thing when done with to its\nproper place, than it is to find it when mislaid; and it is as easy to\nput things in one place as in another.\nKeep your kitchen and furniture as clean and neat as possible, which\nwill then be an ornament to it, a comfort to your fellow-servants, and\na credit to yourself. Moreover, good housewifery is the best\nrecommendation to a good husband, and engages men to honourable\nattachment to you; she who is a tidy servant gives promise of being a\ncareful wife.\n_Giving away Victuals._\nGiving away any thing without consent or privity of your master or\nmistress, is a liberty you must not take; charity and compassion for the\nwants of our fellow-creatures are very amiable virtues, but they are not\nto be indulged at the expense of your own honesty, and other people\u2019s\nproperty.\nWhen you find that there is any thing to spare, and that it is in danger\nof being spoiled by being kept too long, it is very commendable in you\nto ask leave to dispose of it while it is fit for Christians to eat: if\nsuch permission is refused, the sin does not lie at your door. But you\nmust on no account bestow the least morsel in contradiction to the will\nof those to whom it belongs.\n\u201cNever think any part of your business too trifling to be well done.\u201d\n\u201cEagerly embrace every opportunity of learning any thing which may be\nuseful to yourself, or of doing any thing which may benefit others.\u201d\nDo not throw yourself out of a good place for a slight affront. \u201cCome\nwhen you are called, and do what you are bid.\u201d Place yourself in your\nmistress\u2019s situation, and consider what you would expect from her, if\nshe were in yours; and serve, reverence, and obey her accordingly.\nAlthough there may be \u201cmore places than parish-churches,\u201d it is not very\neasy to find many more good ones.\n \u201cA rolling stone never gathers moss.\u201d\n \u201cHonesty is the best policy.\u201d\n \u201cA still tongue makes a wise head.\u201d\n_Saucy answers_ are highly aggravating, and answer no good purpose.\nLet your master or mistress scold ever so much, or be ever so\nunreasonable; as \u201ca soft answer turneth away wrath,\u201d \u201cso will SILENCE be\n_the best a servant can make_\u201d.\n_One rude answer_, extorted perhaps by harsh words, or unmerited\ncensure, has cost many a servant the loss of a good place, or the total\nforfeiture of a regard which had been growing for years.\n\u201cIf your employers are hasty, and have scolded without reason, bear it\npatiently; they will soon see their error, and not be happy till they\nmake you amends. Muttering on leaving the room, or slamming the door\nafter you, is as bad as an impertinent reply; it is, in fact, showing\nthat you would be impertinent if you dared.\u201d\n\u201cA faithful servant will not only never speak disrespectfully _to_ her\nemployers, but will not hear disrespectful words said _of_ them.\u201d\nApply direct to your employers, and beg of them to explain to you, as\nfully as possible, how they like their victuals dressed, whether much or\nlittle done.[50-*]\nOf what complexion they wish the ROASTS, of a gold colour, or well\nbrowned, and if they like them frothed?\nDo they like SOUPS and SAUCES thick or thin, or white or brown, clean or\nfull in the mouth? What accompaniments they are partial to?\nWhat flavours they fancy? especially of SPICE and HERBS:\n \u201cNamque coquus domini debet habere gulam.\u201d--MARTIAL.\nIt is impossible that the most accomplished cook can please their\npalates, till she has learned their particular taste: this, it will\nhardly be expected, she can hit exactly the first time; however, the\nhints we have here given, and in the 7th and 8th chapters of the\nRudiments of Cookery, will very much facilitate the ascertainment of\nthis main chance of getting into their favour.\nBe extremely cautious of seasoning high: leave it to the eaters to add\nthe piquante condiments, according to their own palate and fancy: for\nthis purpose, \u201cTHE MAGAZINE OF TASTE,\u201d or \u201c_Sauce-box_,\u201d (No. 462,) will\nbe found an invaluable acquisition; its contents will instantaneously\nproduce any flavour that may be desired.\n \u201cDe gustibus non est disputandum.\u201d\nTastes are as different as faces; and without a most attentive\nobservation of the directions given by her employers, the most\nexperienced cook will never be esteemed a profound palatician.\nIt will not go far to pacify the rage of a ravenous _gourmand_, who\nlikes his chops broiled brown, (and done enough, so that they can appear\nat table decently, and not blush when they are cut,) to be told that\nsome of the customers at Dolly\u2019s chop-house choose to have them only\nhalf-done, and that this is the best way of eating them.\nWe all think that is the best way which we relish best, and which agrees\nbest with our stomach: in this, reason and fashion, all-powerful as they\nare on most occasions, yield to the imperative caprice of the palate.\n_Chacun \u00e0 son go\u00fbt._\n \u201cTHE IRISHMAN loves _Usquebaugh_, the SCOT loves ale call\u2019d _Blue-cap_,\n The WELCHMAN he loves _toasted cheese_, and makes his mouth like a\n mouse-trap.\u201d\nOur ITALIAN neighbours regale themselves with _macaroni_ and _parmesan_,\nand eat some things which we call _carrion_.--Vide RAY\u2019S _Travels_, p.\nWhile the ENGLISHMAN boasts of his _roast beef, plum pudding, and\nporter_,\nThe FRENCHMAN feeds on his favourite _frog and soupe-maigre_,\nThe TARTAR feasts on _horse-flesh_,\nThe CHINAMAN on _dogs_,\nThe GREENLANDER preys on _garbage_ and _train oil_; and each \u201cblesses\nhis stars, and thinks it luxury.\u201d What at one time or place is\nconsidered as beautiful, fragrant, and savoury, at another is regarded\nas deformed and disgustful.[51-*]\n\u201cAsk _a toad_ what is beauty, the supremely beautiful, the \u03a4\u039f \u039a\u0391\u039b\u039f\u039d!\nHe will tell you it is _my wife_,--with two large eyes projecting out of\nher little head, a broad and flat neck, yellow belly, and dark brown\nback. With _a Guinea negro_, it is a greasy black skin, hollow eyes, and\na flat nose. Put the question to the _devil_, and he will tell you that\nBEAUTY is a pair of horns, four claws, and a tail.\u201d--VOLTAIRE\u2019S _Philos.\n\u201c_Asaf\u0153tida_ was called by the ancients \u2018FOOD FOR THE GODS.\u2019 The\nPersians, Indians, and other Eastern people, now eat it in sauces, and\ncall it by that name: the Germans call it _devil\u2019s dung_.\u201d--_Vide_ POMET\n_on Drugs_.\nGarlic and clove, or allspice, combined in certain proportions, produce\na flavour very similar to asaf\u0153tida.\nThe organ of taste is more rarely found in perfection, and is sooner\nspoiled by the operations of time, excessive use, &c. than either of our\nother senses.\nThere are as various degrees of sensibility of palate as there are of\ngradations of perfection in the eyes and ears of painters and musicians.\nAfter all the pains which the editor has taken to explain the harmony of\nsubtle relishes, unless nature has given the organ of taste in a due\ndegree, this book will, alas! no more make an OSBORNE,[52-*] than it\ncan a REYNOLDS, or an ARNE, or a SHIELD.\nWhere nature has been most bountiful of this faculty, its sensibility is\nso easily blunted by a variety of unavoidable circumstances, that the\ntongue is very seldom in the highest condition for appreciating delicate\nflavours, or accurately estimating the relative force of the various\nmaterials the cook employs in the composition of an harmonious relish.\nCooks express this refinement of combination by saying, a well-finished\n_rago\u00fbt_ \u201ctastes of every thing, and tastes of nothing:\u201d (this is\n\u201c_kitchen gibberish_\u201d for a sauce in which the component parts are well\nproportioned.)\nHowever delicately sensitive nature may have formed the organs of taste,\nit is only during those few happy moments that they are perfectly awake,\nand in perfect good humour, (alas! how very seldom they are,) that the\nmost accomplished and experienced cook has a chance of working with any\ndegree of certainty without the auxiliary tests of the balance and the\nmeasure: by the help of these, when you are once right, it is your own\nfault if you are ever otherwise.\nThe sense of taste depends much on the health of the individual, and is\nhardly ever for a single hour in the same state: such is the extremely\nintimate sympathy between the stomach and the tongue, that in proportion\nas the former is empty, the latter is acute and sensitive. This is the\ncause that \u201cgood appetite is the best sauce,\u201d and that the dish we find\nsavoury at _luncheon_, is insipid at _dinner_, and at _supper_ quite\ntasteless.\nTo taste any thing in perfection, the tongue must be moistened, or the\nsubstance applied to it contain moisture; the nervous papill\u00e6 which\nconstitute this sense are roused to still more lively sensibility by\nsalt, sugar, aromatics, &c.\nIf the palate becomes dull by repeated tasting, one of the best ways of\nrefreshing it, is to masticate an apple, or to wash your mouth well with\nmilk.\nThe incessant exercise of tasting, which a cook is obliged to submit to\nduring the education of her tongue, frequently impairs the very faculty\nshe is trying to improve. \u201c\u2019Tis true \u2019tis pity and pity \u2019tis,\u201d (says a\n_grand gourmand_) \u201c\u2019tis true, her too anxious perseverance to penetrate\nthe mysteries of palatics may diminish the _tact_, exhaust the power,\nand destroy the _index_, without which all her labour is in vain.\u201d\nTherefore, a sagacious cook, instead of idly and wantonly wasting the\nexcitability of her palate, on the sensibility of which her reputation\nand fortune depends, when she has ascertained the relative strength of\nthe flavour of the various ingredients she employs, will call in the\nbalance and the measure to do the ordinary business, and endeavour to\npreserve her organ of taste with the utmost care, that it may be a\nfaithful oracle to refer to on grand occasions, and new\ncompositions.[53-*] Of these an ingenious cook may form as endless a\nvariety, as a musician with his seven notes, or a painter with his\ncolours: read chapters 7 and 8 of the Rudiments of Cookery.\nReceive as the highest testimonies of your employers\u2019 regard whatever\nobservations they may make on your work: such admonitions are the most\n_unequivocal proofs_ of their desire to make you thoroughly understand\ntheir taste, and their wish to retain you in their service, or they\nwould not take the trouble to teach you.\nEnter into all their plans of economy,[53-+] and endeavour to make the\nmost of every thing, as well for your own honour as your master\u2019s\nprofit, and you will find that whatever care you take for his profit\nwill be for your own: take care that the meat which is to make its\nappearance again in the parlour is handsomely cut with a sharp knife,\nand put on a clean dish: take care of the _gravy_ (see No. 326) which is\nleft, it will save many pounds of meat in making sauce for _hashes_,\n_poultry_, and many little dishes.\nMANY THINGS MAY BE REDRESSED in a different form from that in which they\nwere first served, and improve the appearance of the table without\nincreasing the expense of it.\nCOLD FISH, soles, cod, whitings, smelts, &c. may be cut into bits, and\nput into escallop shells, with cold oyster, lobster, or shrimp sauce,\nand bread crumbled, and put into a Dutch oven, and browned like\nscalloped oysters. (No. 182.)\nThe best way TO WARM COLD MEAT is to sprinkle the joint over with a\nlittle salt, and put it in a DUTCH OVEN, at some distance before a\ngentle fire, that it may warm gradually; watch it carefully, and keep\nturning it till it is quite hot and brown: it will take from twenty\nminutes to three quarters of an hour, according to its thickness; serve\nit up with gravy: this is much better than hashing it, and by doing it\nnicely a cook will get great credit. POULTRY (No. 530*), FRIED FISH (see\nNo. 145), &c. may be redressed in this way.\nTake care of the _liquor_ you have boiled poultry or meat in; in five\nminutes you may make it into EXCELLENT SOUP. See _obs._ to Nos. 555 and\n229, No. 5, and the 7th chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery.\nNo good housewife has any pretensions to _rational economy_ who boils\nanimal food without converting the broth into some sort of soup.\nHowever highly the uninitiated in the mystery of soup-making may elevate\nthe external appendage of his olfactory organ at the mention of \u201cPOT\nLIQUOR,\u201d if he tastes No. 5, or 218, 555, &c. he will be as delighted\nwith it as a Frenchman is with \u201c_potage \u00e0 la Camarani_,\u201d of which it is\nsaid \u201ca single spoonful will lap the palate in Elysium; and while one\ndrop of it remains on the tongue, each other sense is eclipsed by the\nvoluptuous thrilling of the lingual nerves!!\u201d\nBROTH OF FRAGMENTS.--When you dress a large dinner, you may make good\nbroth, or portable soup (No. 252), at very small cost, by taking care of\nall the trimmings and parings of the meat, game, and poultry, you are\ngoing to use: wash them well, and put them into a stewpan, with as much\ncold water as will cover them; set your stewpan on a hot fire; when it\nboils, take off all the scum, and set it on again to simmer gently; put\nin two carrots, two turnips, a large onion, three blades of pounded\nmace, and a head of celery; some mushroom parings will be a great\naddition. Let it continue to simmer gently four or five hours; strain it\nthrough a sieve into a clean basin. This will save a great deal of\nexpense in buying gravy-meat.\nHave the DUST, &c. removed regularly once in a fortnight, and have your\nKITCHEN CHIMNEY swept once a month; many good dinners have been spoiled,\nand many houses burned down, by the soot falling: the best security\nagainst this, is for the cook to have a long birch-broom, and every\nmorning brush down all the soot within reach of it. Give notice to your\nemployers when the contents of your COAL-CELLAR are diminished to a\nchaldron.\nIt will be to little purpose to procure good provisions, unless you have\nproper utensils[55-*] to prepare them in: the most expert artist cannot\nperform his work in a perfect manner without proper instruments; you\ncannot have neat work without nice tools, nor can you dress victuals\nwell without an apparatus appropriate to the work required. See 1st page\nof chapter 7 of the Rudiments of Cookery.\nIn those houses where the cook enjoys the confidence of her employer so\nmuch as to be intrusted with the care of the store-room, which is not\nvery common, she will keep an exact account of every thing as it comes\nin, and insist upon the weight and price being fixed to every article\nshe purchases, and occasionally will (and it may not be amiss to\njocosely drop a hint to those who supply them that she does) _reweigh_\nthem, for her own satisfaction, as well as that of her employer, and\nwill not trust the key of this room to any one; she will also keep an\naccount of every thing she takes from it, and manage with as much\nconsideration and frugality as if it was her own property she was using,\nendeavouring to disprove the adage, that \u201cPLENTY makes _waste_,\u201d and\nremembering that \u201cwilful waste makes woful want.\u201d\nThe honesty of a cook must be above all suspicion: she must obtain, and\n(in spite of the numberless temptations, &c. that daily offer to bend\nher from it) preserve a character of spotless integrity and useful\nindustry,[55-+] remembering that it is the fair price of INDEPENDENCE,\nwhich all wish for, but none without it can hope for; only a fool or a\nmadman will be so silly or so crazy as to expect to reap where he has\nbeen too idle to sow.\nVery few modern-built town-houses have a proper place to preserve\nprovisions in. The best substitute is a HANGING SAFE, which you may\ncontrive to suspend in an airy situation; and when you order meat,\npoultry, or fish, tell the tradesman when you intend to dress it: he\nwill then have it in his power to serve you with provision that will do\nhim credit, which the finest meat, &c. in the world will never do,\nunless it has been kept a proper time to be ripe and tender.\nIf you have a well-ventilated larder in a shady, dry situation, you may\nmake still surer, by ordering in your meat and poultry such a time\nbefore you want it as will render it tender, which the finest meat\ncannot be, unless hung a proper time (see 2d chapter of the Rudiments of\nCookery), according to the season, and nature of the meat, &c.; but\nalways, as \u201c_les bons hommes de bouche de France_\u201d say, till _it is_\n\u201c_assez mortifi\u00e9e_.\u201d\nPermitting this process to proceed to a certain degree renders meat much\nmore easy of solution in the stomach, and for those whose digestive\nfaculties are delicate, it is of the utmost importance that it be\nattended to with the greatest nicety, for the most consummate skill in\nthe culinary preparation of it will not compensate for the want of\nattention to this. (Read _obs._ to No. 68.) Meat that is _thoroughly\nroasted_, or _boiled_, eats much shorter and tenderer, and is in\nproportion more digestible, than that which is _under_-done.\nYou will be enabled to manage much better if your employers will make\nout a BILL OF FARE FOR THE WEEK on the Saturday before: for example, for\na family of half a dozen--\n _Sunday_ Roast beef (No. 19), and my pudding (No. 554).\n _Monday_ Fowl (Nos. 16. 58), what was left of my pudding fried, and\n warmed in the Dutch oven.\n _Tuesday_ Calf\u2019s head (No. 10), apple-pie.\n _Wednesday_ Leg of mutton (No. 1), or (No. 23).\n _Thursday_ Do. broiled or hashed (No. 487), or (No. 484,) pancakes.\n _Friday_ Fish (No. 145), pudding (No. 554).\n _Saturday_ Fish, or eggs and bacon (No. 545).\nIt is an excellent plan to have certain things on certain days. When\nyour butcher or poulterer knows what you will want, he has a better\nchance of doing his best for you; and never think of ordering BEEF FOR\nROASTING except for Sunday.\nWhen the weather or season[56-*] is very unfavourable for keeping meat,\n&c. give him the choice of sending that which is in the best order for\ndressing; _i. e._ either ribs or sirloin of beef, or leg, loin, or neck\nof mutton, &c.\nMeat in which you can detect the slightest trace of putrescency, has\nreached its highest degree of tenderness, and should be dressed without\ndelay; but before this period, which in some kinds of meat is offensive,\nthe due degree of inteneration may be ascertained, by its yielding\nreadily to the pressure of the finger, and by its opposing little\nresistance to an attempt to bind the joint.\nAlthough we strongly recommend that animal food should be hung up in the\nopen air, till its fibres have lost some degree of their toughness; yet,\nlet us be clearly understood also to warn you, that if kept till it\nloses its natural sweetness, it is as detrimental to health, as it is\ndisagreeable to the smell and taste.\nIN VERY COLD WEATHER, bring your meat, poultry, &c. into the kitchen,\nearly in the morning, if you roast, boil, or stew it ever so gently and\never so long; if it be _frozen_, it will continue tough and unchewable.\nWithout very watchful attention to this, the most skilful cook in the\nworld will get no credit, be she ever so careful in the management of\nher spit or her stewpan.\nThe time meat should hang to be tender, depends on the heat and humidity\nof the air. If it is not kept long enough, it is hard and tough; if too\nlong, it loses its flavour. It should be hung where it will have a\nthorough air, and be dried with a cloth, night and morning, to keep it\nfrom damp and mustiness.\nBefore you dress it, wash it well; if it is roasting beef, _pare off the\noutside_.\nIf you fear meat,[57-*] &c. will not keep till the time it is wanted,\n_par_-roast or _par_-boil it; it will then keep a couple of days longer,\nwhen it may be dressed in the usual way, only it will be done in rather\nless time.\n\u201cIn Germany, the method of keeping flesh in summer is to steep it in\nRhenish wine with a little sea-salt; by which means it may be preserved\na whole season.\u201d--BOERHAAVE\u2019S Academical Lectures, translated by J.\nThe cook and the butcher as often lose their credit by meat being\ndressed too fresh, as the fishmonger does by fish that has been kept too\nlong.\nDr. Franklin in his philosophical experiments tells us, that if game or\npoultry be killed by ELECTRICITY it will become tender in the twinkling\nof an eye, and if it be dressed immediately, will be delicately tender.\nDuring the _sultry_ SUMMER MONTHS, it is almost impossible to procure\nmeat that is not either tough, or tainted. The former is as improper as\nthe latter for the unbraced stomachs of relaxed valetudinarians, for\nwhom, at this season, poultry, stews, &c., and vegetable soups, are the\nmost suitable food, when the digestive organs are debilitated by the\nextreme heat, and profuse perspiration requires an increase of liquid to\nrestore equilibrium in the constitution.\nI have taken much more pains than any of my predecessors, to teach the\nyoung cook how to perform, in the best manner, the common business of\nher profession. Being well grounded in the RUDIMENTS of COOKERY, she\nwill be able to execute the orders that are given her, with ease to\nherself, and satisfaction to her employers, and send up a delicious\ndinner, with half the usual expense and trouble.\nI have endeavoured to lessen the labour of those who wish to be\nthoroughly acquainted with their profession; and an attentive perusal of\nthe following pages will save them much of the irksome drudgery\nattending an apprenticeship at the stove: an ordeal so severe, that few\npass it without irreparable injury to their health;[58-*] and many lose\ntheir lives before they learn their business.\nTo encourage the best performance of the machinery of mastication, the\ncook must take care that her dinner is not only well cooked, but that\neach dish be sent to table with its proper accompaniments, in the\nneatest and most elegant manner.\nRemember, to excite the good opinion of the _eye_ is the first step\ntowards awakening the _appetite_.\nDecoration is much more rationally employed in rendering a wholesome,\nnutritious dish inviting, than in the elaborate embellishments which are\ncrowded about trifles and custards.\nEndeavour to avoid _over_-dressing roasts and boils, &c. and\n_over_-seasoning soups and sauces with salt, pepper, &c.; it is a fault\nwhich cannot be mended.\nIf your roasts, &c. are a little _under_-done, with the assistance of\nthe stewpan, the gridiron, or the Dutch oven, you may soon rectify the\nmistake made with the spit or the pot.\nIf _over_-done, the best juices of the meat are evaporated; it will\nserve merely to distend the stomach, and if the sensation of hunger be\nremoved, it is at the price of an indigestion.\nThe chief business of cookery is to render food easy of digestion, and\nto facilitate nutrition. This is most completely accomplished by plain\ncookery in perfection; i. e. neither _over_ nor _under_-done.\nWith all your care, you will not get much credit by cooking to\nperfection, if more than _one dish goes to table at a time_.\nTo be eaten in perfection, the interval between meat being taken out of\nthe stewpan and its being put into the mouth, must be as short as\npossible; but ceremony, that most formidable enemy to good cheer, too\noften decrees it otherwise, and the guests seldom get a bit of an\n\u201c_entremets_\u201d till it is half cold. (See No. 485.)\nSo much time is often lost in placing every thing in apple-pie order,\nthat long before dinner is announced, all becomes lukewarm; and to\ncomplete the mortification of the _grand gourmand_, his meat is put on a\nsheet of ice in the shape of a plate, which instantly converts the gravy\ninto jelly, and the fat into a something which puzzles his teeth and the\nroof of his mouth as much as if he had birdlime to masticate. A complete\n_meat-screen_ will answer the purpose of a _hot closet_, _plate-warmer_,\nIt will save you infinite trouble and anxiety, if you can prevail on\nyour employers to use the \u201cSAUCE-BOX,\u201d No. 462, hereinafter described in\nthe chapter of Sauces. With the help of this \u201cMAGAZINE OF TASTE,\u201d every\none in company may flavour their soup and sauce, and adjust the\nvibrations of their palate, exactly to their own fancy; but if the cook\ngive a decidedly predominant and _piquante go\u00fbt_ to a dish, to tickle\nthe tongues of two or three visiters, whose taste she knows, she may\nthereby make the dinner disgusting to all the other guests.\nNever undertake more work than you are quite certain you can do well. If\nyou are ordered to prepare a larger dinner than you think you can send\nup with ease and neatness, or to dress any dish that you are not\nacquainted with, rather than run any risk in spoiling any thing (by one\nfault you may perhaps lose all your credit), request your employers to\nlet you have some help. They may acquit you for pleading guilty of\ninability; but if you make an attempt, and fail, will vote it a capital\noffence.\nIf your mistress professes to understand cookery, your best way will be\nto follow her directions. If you wish to please her, let her have the\npraise of all that is right, and cheerfully bear the blame of any thing\nthat is wrong; only advise that all NEW DISHES may be first tried when\nthe family dine alone. When there is company, never attempt to dress any\nthing which you have not ascertained that you can do perfectly well.\nDo not trust any part of your work to others without carefully\noverlooking them: whatever faults they commit, you will be censured for.\nIf you have forgotten any article which is indispensable for the day\u2019s\ndinner, request your employers to send one of the other servants for it.\nThe cook must never quit her post till her work is entirely finished.\nIt requires the utmost skill and contrivance to have all things done as\nthey should be, and all done together, at that critical moment when the\ndinner-bell sounds \u201cto the banquet.\u201d\n \u201cA feast must be without a fault;\n And if \u2019t is not all right, \u2019t is naught.\u201d\nBut\n \u201cGood nature will some failings overlook,\n Forgive mischance, not errors of the cook;\n As, if no salt is thrown about the dish,\n Or nice crisp\u2019d parsley scatter\u2019d on the fish,\n Shall we in passion from our dinner fly,\n And hopes of pardon to the cook deny,\n For things which Mrs. GLASSE herself might oversee,\n And all mankind commit as well as she?\u201d\n Vide KING\u2019S _Art of Cookery_.\nSuch is the endless variety of culinary preparations, that it would be\nas vain and fruitless a search as that for the philosopher\u2019s stone, to\nexpect to find a cook who is quite perfect in all the operations of the\nspit, the stewpan, and the rolling-pin: you will as soon find a\nwatchmaker who can make, put together, and regulate every part of a\nwatch.\n\u201cThe universe cannot produce a cook who knows how to do every branch of\ncookery well, be his genius as great as possible.\u201d--Vide the _Cook\u2019s\nCookery_, 8vo. page 40.\nTHE BEST RULE FOR MARKETING is to _pay_ READY MONEY for every thing, and\nto deal with the most respectable tradesmen in your neighbourhood.\nIf you leave it to their integrity to supply you with a good article, at\nthe fair market price, you will be supplied with better provisions, and\nat as reasonable a rate as those bargain-hunters, who trot \u201caround,\naround, around about\u201d a market, till they are trapped to buy some\n_unchewable_ old poultry, _tough_ tup-mutton, _stringy_ cow beef, or\n_stale_ fish, at a very little less than the price of prime and proper\nfood. With _savings_ like these they toddle home in triumph, cackling\nall the way, like a goose that has got ankle-deep into good luck.\nAll the skill of the most accomplished cook will avail nothing, unless\nshe is furnished with PRIME PROVISIONS. The best way to procure these is\nto deal with shops of established character: you may appear to pay,\nperhaps, ten _per cent._ more than you would, were you to deal with\nthose who pretend to sell cheap, but you would be much more than in that\nproportion better served.\nEvery trade has its tricks and deceptions: those who follow them can\ndeceive you if they please; and they are too apt to do so, if you\nprovoke the exercise of their over-reaching talent.[61-*]\nChallenge them to a game at \u201c_Catch who can_,\u201d by entirely relying on\nyour own judgment; and you will soon find that nothing but very long\nexperience can make you equal to the combat of marketing to the utmost\nadvantage.\nBefore you go to market, look over your larder, and consider well what\nthings are wanting, especially on a Saturday. No well-regulated family\ncan suffer a disorderly caterer to be jumping in and out to the\nchandler\u2019s shop on a Sunday morning.\nGive your directions to your assistants, and begin your business early\nin the morning, or it will be impossible to have the dinner ready at the\ntime it is ordered.\nTo be half an hour after the time is such a frequent fault, that there\nis the more merit in being ready at the appointed hour. This is a\ndifficult task, and in the best-regulated family you can only be sure of\nyour time by proper arrangements.\nWith all our love of punctuality, we must not forget that the first\nconsideration must still be, that the dinner \u201cbe well done when \u2019t is\ndone.\u201d\nIf any accident occurs to any part of the dinner, or if you are likely\nto be prevented sending the soup, &c. to the table at the moment it is\nexpected, send up a message to your employers, stating the circumstance,\nand bespeak their patience for as many minutes as you think it will take\nto be ready. This is better than either keeping the company waiting\nwithout an apology, or dishing your dinner before it is done enough, or\nsending any thing to table which is disgusting to the stomachs of the\nguests at the first appearance of it.\nThose who desire regularity in the service of their table, should have a\nDIAL, of about twelve inches diameter, placed over the kitchen\nfireplace, carefully regulated to keep time exactly with the clock in\nthe hall or dining-parlour; with a frame on one side, containing A TASTE\nTABLE of the peculiarities of the master\u2019s palate, and the particular\nrules and orders of his kitchen; and, on the other side, of the REWARDS\ngiven to those who attend to them, and for long and faithful service.\nIn small families, where a dinner is seldom given, a great deal of\npreparation is required, and the preceding day must be devoted to the\nbusiness of the kitchen.\nOn these occasions a _char-woman_ is often employed to do the dirty\nwork. Ignorant persons often hinder you more than they help you. We\nadvise a cook to be hired to assist to dress the dinner: this would be\nvery little more expense, and the work got through with much more\ncomfort in the kitchen and credit to the parlour.\nWhen you have a very large entertainment to prepare, get your soups and\nsauces, forcemeats, &c. ready the day before, and read the 7th chapter\nof our _Rudiments of Cookery_. Many made dishes may also be prepared the\nday before they are to go to table; but do not dress them _quite enough_\nthe first day, that they may not be _over_-done by warming up again.\nPrepare every thing you can the day before the dinner, and order every\nthing else to be sent in early in the morning; if the tradesmen forget\nit, it will allow you time to send for it.\nThe pastry, jellies, &c. you may prepare while the broths are doing:\nthen truss your game and poultry, and shape your collops, cutlets, &c.,\nand trim them neatly; cut away all flaps and gristles, &c. Nothing\nshould appear on table but what has indisputable pretensions to be\neaten!\nPut your made dishes in plates, and arrange them upon the dresser in\nregular order. Next, see that your roasts and boils are all nicely\ntrimmed, trussed, &c. and quite ready for the spit or the pot.\nHave your vegetables neatly cut, pared, picked, and clean washed in the\ncolander: provide a tin dish, with partitions, to hold your fine herbs:\nonions and shallots, parsley, thyme, tarragon, chervil, and burnet,\nminced _very fine_; and lemon-peel grated, or cut thin, and chopped very\nsmall: pepper and salt ready mixed, and your spice-box and salt-cellar\nalways ready for action: that every thing you may want may be at hand\nfor your stove-work, and not be scampering about the kitchen in a\nwhirlpool of confusion, hunting after these trifles while the dinner is\nwaiting.\nIn one drawer under your SPICE-BOX keep ready ground, in well-stopped\nbottles, the several spices separate; and also that mixture of them\nwhich is called \u201c_rago\u00fbt powder_\u201d (No. 457 or No. 460): in another, keep\nyour dried and powdered sweet, savoury, and soup herbs, &c. and a set of\nweights and scales: you may have a third drawer, containing flavouring\nessences, &c. an invaluable auxiliary in finishing soups and sauces.\n(See the account of the \u201cMAGAZINE OF TASTE,\u201d or \u201cSAUCE-BOX,\u201d No. 462.)\nHave also ready some THICKENING, made of the best white flour sifted,\nmixed with soft water with a wooden spoon till it is the consistence of\nthick batter, a bottle of plain BROWNING (No. 322), some strained\nlemon-juice, and some good glaze, or PORTABLE soup (No. 252).\n\u201cNothing can be done in perfection which must be done in a hurry:\u201d[63-*]\ntherefore, if you wish the dinner to be sent up to please your master\nand mistress, and do credit to yourself, be punctual; take care that as\nsoon as the _clock strikes_, the _dinner-bell rings_: this shows the\nestablishment to be orderly, is extremely gratifying to the master and\nhis guests, and is most praiseworthy in the attendants.\nBut remember, you cannot obtain this desirable reputation without good\nmanagement in every respect. If you wish to ensure ease and independence\nin the latter part of your life, you must not be unwilling to pay the\nprice for which only they can be obtained, and earn them by a diligent\nand faithful[64-*] performance of the duties of your station in your\nyoung days, which, if you steadily persevere in, you may depend upon\nultimately receiving the reward your services deserve.\nAll duties are reciprocal: and if you hope to receive favour, endeavour\nto deserve it by showing yourself fond of obliging, and grateful when\nobliged; such behaviour will win regard, and maintain it: enforce what\nis right, and excuse what is wrong.\nQuiet, steady perseverance is the only spring which you can safely\ndepend upon for infallibly promoting your progress on the road to\nindependence.\nIf your employers do not immediately appear to be sensible of your\nendeavours to contribute your utmost to their comfort and interest, be\nnot easily discouraged. _Persevere_, and do all in your power to MAKE\nYOURSELF USEFUL.\nEndeavour to promote the comfort of every individual in the family; let\nit be manifest that you are desirous to do rather more than is required\nof you, than less than your duty: they merit little who perform merely\nwhat would be exacted. If you are desired to help in any business which\nmay not strictly belong to your department, undertake it cheerfully,\npatiently, and conscientiously.\nThe foregoing advice has been written with an honest desire to augment\nthe comfort of those in the kitchen, who will soon find that the\never-cheering reflection of having done their duty to the utmost of\ntheir ability, is in itself, with a Christian spirit, a never-failing\nsource of comfort in all circumstances and situations, and that\n \u201cVIRTUE IS ITS OWN REWARD.\u201d\nFOOTNOTES:\n[46-*] A chapter of advice to cooks will, we hope, be found as useful as\nit is original: all we have on this subject in the works of our\npredecessors, is the following; \u201cI shall strongly recommend to all cooks\nof either sex, to keep their stomachs free from strong liquors till\n_after_ dinner, and their noses from snuff.\u201d--_Vide_ CLERMONT\u2019S\n_Professed Cook_, p. 30, 8vo. London, 1776.\n[50-*] Meat that is not to be cut till it is _cold_, must be thoroughly\ndone, especially in summer.\n[51-*] See chapter XV. \u201c_Chaque Pays_, chaque _Coutume_.\u201d--_Cours\nGastronomique_, 8vo. 1809, p. 162.\n[52-*] Cook to Sir JOSEPH BANKS, Bart., late president of the Royal\nSociety.\n[53-*] \u201cThe diversities of taste are so many and so considerable, that\nit seemeth strange to see the matter treated of both by philosophers and\nphysicians with so much scantiness and defect: for the subject is not\nbarren, but yieldeth much and pleasant variety, and doth also appear to\nbe of great importance.\u201d--From Dr. GREW\u2019S _Anat. of Plants_, fol. 1682,\np. 286. The Dr. enumerates sixteen simple tastes: however, it is\ndifficult to define more than six.--1st. _Bitter_ as wormwood. 2d.\n_Sweet_ as sugar. 3d. _Sour_ as vinegar. 4th. _Salt_ as brine. 5th.\n_Cold_ as ice. 6th. _Hot_ as brandy. \u201c_Compound tastes_, innumerable,\nmay be formed by the combination of these simple tastes--as words are of\nletters.\u201d--See also _Phil. Trans._ vol. xv. p. 1025.\n[53-+] \u201cI am persuaded that no servant ever saved her master sixpence,\nbut she found it in the end in her pocket.\u201d--TRUSLER\u2019S _Domestic\nManagement_, p. 11.\n[55-*] \u201cA surgeon may as well attempt to make an incision with a pair of\nshears, or open a vein with an oyster-knife, as a cook pretend to dress\na dinner without proper tools.\u201d--VERRALL\u2019S _Cookery_, 8vo. 1759, p. 6.\n[55-+] Many COOKS miss excellent opportunities of making themselves\nindependent, by their idleness, in refusing any place, however\nprofitable, &c. if there is not a _kitchen maid_ kept to wait upon them.\nThere are many invalids who require a good cook, and as (after reading\nthis book they will understand how much) their comfort and effective\nexistence depends on their food being properly prepared, will willingly\npay handsome wages, (who would not rather pay the cook than the doctor?)\nbut have so little work in the kitchen that one person may do it all\nwith the utmost ease, without injury to her health; which is not the\ncase in a large family, where the poor cook is roasting and stewing all\nday, and is often deprived of her rest at night. No artists have greater\nneed to \u201c_make hay while the sun shines_,\u201d and timely provide for the\ninfirmities of age. Who will hire a superannuated servant? If she has\nsaved nothing to support herself, she must crawl to the workhouse.\nIt is melancholy to find, that, according to the authority of a certain\ngreat French author, \u201ccooks, half stewed and half roasted, when unable\nto work any longer, generally retire to some unknown corner, and die in\nforlornness and want.\u201d--BLACKWOOD\u2019S _Edin. Mag._ vol. vii. p. 668.\n[56-*] \u201cThe season of the year has considerable influence on the quality\nof butcher-meat; depending upon the more or less plentiful supply of\nfood, upon the periodical change which takes place in the body of the\nanimal, and upon temperature. The flesh of most full-grown quadrupeds is\nin highest season during the first months of winter, after having\nenjoyed the advantage of the abundance of fresh summer food. Its flavour\nthen begins to be injured by the turnips, &c. given as winter food; and\nin spring, it gets lean from deficiency of food. Although beef and\nmutton are never absolutely out of season, or not fit for the table,\nthey are best in November, December, and January. Pork is absolutely\nbad, except during the winter.\u201d--_Supplement to the Edin. Ency. Brit._\n[57-*] \u201cLARDERS, PANTRIES, and SAFES must be sheltered from the sun, and\notherwise removed from the heat; be dry, and, if possible, have a\ncurrent of dry, cool air continually passing through them.\n\u201cThe freezing temperature, i. e. _32 degrees of Fahrenheit_, is a\nperfect preservative from putrefaction: warm, moist, muggy weather is\nthe worst for keeping meat. The south wind is especially unfavourable,\nand lightning is quickly destructive; but the greatest enemy you have to\nencounter is the flesh-fly, which becomes troublesome about the month of\nMay, and continues so till towards Michaelmas.\u201d--For further _Obs._ on\nthis subject see \u201c_The Experienced Butcher_,\u201d page 160.\n[58-*] \u201cBuy it with health, strength, and resolution,\n And pay for it, a robust constitution.\u201d\n _Preface to the Cook\u2019s Cookery_, 1758.\nSee the preface to \u201c_The Cook\u2019s Cookery_,\u201d p. 9. This work, which is\nvery scarce, was, we believe, written to develope the mistakes in what\nhe calls \u201cThe Thousand Errors,\u201d i. e. \u201c_The Lady\u2019s Cookery_,\u201d i. e. Mrs.\nGlasse\u2019s, i. e. Sir John Hill\u2019s.\n[61-*] \u201cHe who will not be cheated _a little_, must be content to be\nabused _a great deal_: the first lesson in the art of _comfortable\neconomy_, is to learn to submit cheerfully to be imposed upon in due\nproportion to your situation and circumstances: if you do not, you will\ncontinually be in hot water.\n\u201cIf you think a tradesman has imposed upon you, never use a second word,\nif the first will not do, nor drop the least hint of an imposition. The\nonly method to induce him to make an abatement is the hope of future\nfavours. Pay the demand, and deal with the gentleman no more: but do not\nlet him see that you are displeased, or, as soon as you are out of\nsight, your reputation will suffer as much as your pocket\nhas.\u201d--TRUSLER\u2019S _Way to be Rich_, 8vo. 1776, p. 85.\n[63-*] Says TOM THRIFTY, \u201c_except catching of fleas_.\u201d See T. T.\u2019s\n_Essay on Early Rising_.\n[64-*] N.B. \u201cIf you will take half the pains to deserve the regard of\nyour master and mistress by being _a good and faithful servant_, you\ntake to be considered _a good fellow-servant_, so many of you would not,\nin the decline of life, be left destitute of those comforts which age\nrequires, nor have occasion to quote the saying that \u2018Service is no\ninheritance,\u2019 unless your own misconduct makes it so.\n\u201cThe idea of being called a tell-tale has occasioned many good servants\nto shut their eyes against the frauds of fellow-servants.\n\u201cIn the eye of the law, persons standing by and seeing a felony\ncommitted, which they could have prevented, are held equally guilty with\nthose committing it.\u201d--Dr. TRUSLER\u2019S _Domestic Management_, p. 12, and\n_Instructions to Servants_.\nTABLE OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.\nTo reduce our culinary operations to as exact a certainty as the nature\nof the processes would admit of, we have, wherever it was needful, given\nthe quantities of each article.\nThe weights are _avoirdupois_.\nThe measure, the graduated glass of the apothecaries. This appeared the\nmost accurate and convenient; _the pint_ being divided into sixteen\nounces, _the ounce_ into eight drachms. A middling-sized _tea-spoon_\nwill contain about a drachm; four such tea-spoons are equal to a\nmiddling-sized _table-spoon_, or half an ounce; four table-spoons to a\ncommon-sized _wine-glass_.\nThe specific gravities of the various substances being so extremely\ndifferent, we cannot offer any auxiliary standards[65-*] for the\nweights, which we earnestly recommend the cook to employ, if she wishes\nto gain credit for accuracy and uniformity in her business: these she\nwill find it necessary to have as small as the quarter of a drachm\navoirdupois, which is equal to nearly seven grains troy.\nGlass measures (divided into tea and table-spoons), containing from half\nan ounce to half a pint, may be procured; also, the double-headed pepper\nand spice boxes, with caps over the gratings. The superiority of these,\nby preserving the contents from the action of the air, must be\nsufficiently obvious to every one: the fine aromatic flavour of pepper\nis soon lost, from the bottles it is usually kept in not being well\nstopped. Peppers are seldom ground or pounded sufficiently fine. (See\nN.B. The trough nutmeg-graters are by far the best we have seen,\nespecially for those who wish to grate fine, and fast.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[65-*] A large table-spoonful of flour weighs about half an ounce.\nRUDIMENTS OF COOKERY.\nCHAPTER I.\nBOILING.[66-*]\nThis most simple of culinary processes is not often performed in\nperfection. It does not require quite so much nicety and attendance as\nroasting; to skim your pot well, and keep it really boiling (the slower\nthe better) all the while, to know how long is required for doing the\njoint, &c., and to take it up at the critical moment when it is done\nenough, comprehends almost the whole art and mystery. This, however,\ndemands a patient and perpetual vigilance, of which few persons are\ncapable.\nThe cook must take especial care that the water really boils all the\nwhile she is cooking, or she will be deceived in the time; and make up a\nsufficient fire (a frugal cook will manage with much less fire for\nboiling than she uses for roasting) at first, to last all the time,\nwithout much mending or stirring.\nWhen the pot is coming to a boil there will always, from the cleanest\nmeat and clearest water, rise a _scum_ to the top of it, proceeding\npartly from the water; this must be carefully taken off as soon as it\nrises.\nOn this depends the good appearance of all boiled things.\nWhen you have skimmed well, put in some cold water, which will throw up\nthe rest of the scum.\nThe oftener it is skimmed, and the cleaner the top of the water is kept,\nthe sweeter and the cleaner will be the meat.\nIf let alone, it soon boils down and sticks to the meat,[67-*] which,\ninstead of looking delicately white and nice, will have that coarse and\nfilthy appearance we have too often to complain of, and the butcher and\npoulterer be blamed for the carelessness of the cook in not skimming her\npot.\nMany put in _milk_, to make what they boil look white; but this does\nmore harm than good: others wrap it up in a cloth; but these are\nneedless precautions: if the scum be attentively removed, meat will have\na much more delicate colour and finer flavour than it has when muffled\nup. This may give rather more trouble, but those who wish to excel in\ntheir art must only consider how the processes of it can be most\nperfectly performed: a cook, who has a proper pride and pleasure in her\nbusiness, will make this her maxim on all occasions.\nIt is desirable that meat for boiling be of an equal thickness, or\nbefore thicker parts are done enough the thinner will be done too much.\nPut your meat into _cold_[67-+] water, in the proportion of about a\nquart of water to a pound of meat: it should be covered with water\nduring the whole of the process of boiling, but not drowned in it; the\nless water, provided the meat be covered with it, the more savoury will\nbe the meat, and the better will be the broth.\nThe water should be heated gradually, according to the thickness, &c. of\nthe article boiled. For instance, a leg of mutton of 10 pounds weight\n(No. 1,) should be placed over a moderate fire, which will gradually\nmake the water hot, without causing it to boil for about forty minutes;\nif the water boils much sooner, the meat will be hardened, and shrink up\nas if it was scorched: by keeping the water a certain time heating\nwithout boiling, the fibres of the meat are dilated, and it yields a\nquantity of scum, which must be taken off as soon as it rises.\n\u201c104. If a vessel containing water be placed over a steady fire, the\nwater will grow continually hotter till it reaches the limit of boiling,\nafter which the regular accessions of heat are wholly spent in\nconverting it into steam.\n\u201cWater remains at the same pitch of temperature, however fiercely it\nboils. The only difference is, that with a strong fire it sooner comes\nto boil, and more quickly boils away, and is converted into\nsteam.\u201d--BUCHANAN _on the Economy of Fuel_, 1810.\nThe editor placed a thermometer in water in that state which cooks call\ngentle simmering; the heat was 212\u00b0, i. e. the same degree as the\nstrongest boiling.\nTwo mutton chops were covered with cold water, and one boiled a gallop,\nand the other simmered very gently for three quarters of an hour: the\nchop which was slowly simmered was decidedly superior to that which was\nboiled; it was much tenderer, more juicy, and much higher flavoured. The\nliquor which boiled fast was in like proportion more savoury, and when\ncold had much more fat on its surface. This explains why quick boiling\nrenders meat hard, &c., because its juices are extracted in a greater\ndegree.\nReckon the time from its first coming to a boil.\nThe old rule of 15 minutes to a pound of meat, we think rather too\nlittle: the slower it boils, the tenderer, the plumper, and whiter it\nwill be.\nFor those who choose their food thoroughly cooked (which all will who\nhave any regard for their stomachs), twenty minutes to a pound for\nfresh, and rather more for salted meat, will not be found too much for\ngentle simmering by the side of the fire, allowing more or less time,\naccording to the thickness of the joint, and the coldness of the\nweather: to know the state of which, let a thermometer be placed in the\npantry; and when it falls below 40\u00b0, tell your cook to give rather more\ntime in both roasting and boiling, always remembering, the slower it\nboils the better.\nWithout some practice it is difficult to teach any art; and cooks seem\nto suppose they must be right, if they put meat into a pot, and set it\nover the fire for a certain time, making no allowance whether it simmers\nwithout a bubble or boils a gallop.\nFresh-killed meat will take much longer time boiling than that which has\nbeen kept till it is what the butchers call _ripe_, and longer in _cold_\nthan in _warm_ weather: if it be _frozen_, it must be thawed before\nboiling as before roasting; if it be fresh-killed, it will be tough and\nhard, if you stew it ever so long, and ever so gently. In cold weather,\nthe night before the day you dress it, bring it into a place of which\nthe temperature is not less than 45 degrees of Fahrenheit\u2019s thermometer.\nThe size of the boiling-pots should be adapted to what they are to\ncontain: the larger the saucepan the more room it takes upon the fire,\nand a larger quantity of water requires a proportionate increase of fire\nto boil it.\n A little pot\n Is soon hot.\nIn small families we recommend block tin saucepans, &c. as lightest and\nsafest. If proper care is taken of them, and they are well dried after\nthey are cleaned, they are by far the cheapest; the purchase of a new\ntin saucepan being little more than the expense of tinning a copper one.\nLet the covers of your boiling-pots fit close, not only to prevent\nunnecessary evaporation of the water, but to prevent the escape of the\nnutritive matter, which must then remain either in the meat or in the\nbroth; and the smoke is prevented from insinuating itself under the edge\nof the lid, and so giving the meat a bad taste. See observations on\nSaucepans, in chapter 7.\nIf you let meat or poultry remain in the water after it is done enough,\nit will become sodden, and lose its flavour.\nBeef and mutton a little _under_-done (especially very large joints,\nwhich will make the better hash or broil,) is not a great fault; by some\npeople it is preferred: but lamb, pork, and veal are uneatable if not\nthoroughly boiled; but do not _over_-do them.\nA trivet or fish-drainer put on the bottom of the boiling-pot, raising\nthe contents about an inch and a half from the bottom, will prevent that\nside of the meat which comes next the bottom from being done too much,\nand the lower part of the meat will be as delicately done as the other\npart; and this will enable you to take out the contents of the pot,\nwithout sticking a fork, &c. into it. If you have not a trivet, use four\nskewers, or a soup-plate laid the wrong side upwards.\nTake care of the liquor you have boiled poultry or meat in; in five\nminutes you may make it into excellent soup. (See obs. to No. 555 and\nThe good housewife never boils a joint without converting the broth into\nsome sort of soup (read No. 5, and chapter 7). If the liquor be too\nsalt, only use half the quantity, and the rest water. Wash salted meat\nwell with cold water before you put it into the boiler.\n_An estimation of the_ LOSS OF WEIGHT _which takes place in cooking\n animal food._--_From_ Mr. TILLOCH\u2019S _Philosophical Magazine._\n\u201cIt is well known, that in whatever way the flesh of animals is prepared\nfor food, a considerable diminution takes place in its weight. We do not\nrecollect, however, to have any where seen a statement of the loss which\nmeat sustains in the various culinary processes, although it is pretty\nobvious that a series of experiments on the subject would not be without\ntheir use in domestic economy.\n\u201cWe shall here give the result of a series of experiments which were\nactually made on this subject in a public establishment; premising that,\nas they were not undertaken from mere curiosity, but, on the contrary,\nto serve a purpose of practical utility, absolute accuracy was not\nattended to. Considering, however, the large quantities of provisions\nwhich were actually examined, it is presumed that the results may be\nsafely depended upon for any practical purpose. It would, no doubt, have\nbeen desirable to have known not only the whole diminution of weight,\nbut also the parts which were separated from the meat in the form of\naqueous vapour, jelly, fat, &c.; but the determination of these did not\nfall within the scope of the inquiry.\n 28 pieces of beef, weighing 280 0\n\u201cHence, the weight lost by beef in boiling was in this case about\n 19 pieces of beef, weighing 190 0\n\u201cThe weight lost by beef in roasting appears to be 32 per cent.\n 9 pieces of beef, weighing 90 0\n\u201cWeight lost by beef in baking 30 per cent.\n 27 legs of mutton, weighing 260 0\n Lost in boiling, and by having\n the shank-bone taken off 62 4\n\u201cThe shank-bones were estimated at 4 ounces each; therefore the loss by\nboiling was 55lbs. 8oz.\n\u201cThe loss of weight in legs of mutton in boiling is 21-1/3 per cent.\n 35 shoulders of mutton, weighing 350 0\n\u201cThe loss of weight in shoulders of mutton by roasting, is about 31-1/3\nper cent.\n 16 loins of mutton, weighing 141 0\n\u201cHence, loins of mutton lose by roasting about 35-1/2 per cent.\n 10 necks of mutton, weighing 100 0\n\u201cThe loss in necks of mutton by roasting is about 32-1/3 per cent.\n\u201cWe shall only draw two practical inferences from the foregoing\nstatement.--1st, In respect of economy, it is more profitable to boil\nmeat than to roast it. 2dly, Whether we roast or boil meat, it loses by\nbeing cooked from one-fifth to one-third of its whole weight.\u201d\nThe loss of roasting arises from the melting out of the fat, and\nevaporating the water; but the nutritious matters remain condensed in\nthe cooked solid.\nIn boiling, the loss arises partly from the fat melted out, but chiefly\nfrom _gelatine_ and _osmazome_ being extracted and dissolved by the\nwater in which the meat is boiled; there is, therefore, a real loss of\nnourishment, unless the broth be used; when this mode of cooking becomes\nthe most economical.[71-*]\n_The sauces usually sent to table with boiled meat, &c._\nThese are to be sent up in boats, and never poured over the meat, &c.\n Gravy for boiled meat (No. 327.)\n Parsley and butter (No. 261.)\n Liver and parsley (No. 287.)\nBAKING.\nThe following observations were written expressly for this work by Mr.\nTurner, English and French bread and biscuit baker.\n\u201cBaking is one of the cheapest and most convenient ways of dressing a\ndinner in small families; and, I may say, that the oven is often the\nonly kitchen a poor man has, if he wishes to enjoy a joint of meat at\nhome with his family.\n\u201cI don\u2019t mean to deny the superior excellence of roasting to baking; but\nsome joints, when baked, so nearly approach to the same when roasted,\nthat I have known them to be carried to the table, and eaten as such\nwith great satisfaction.\n\u201cLegs and loins of pork, legs of mutton, fillets of veal, and many other\njoints, will bake to great advantage, if the meat be good; I mean\nwell-fed, rather inclined to be fat: if the meat be poor, no baker can\ngive satisfaction.\n\u201cWhen baking a poor joint of meat, before it has been half baked I have\nseen it start from the bone, and shrivel up scarcely to be believed.\n\u201cBesides those joints above mentioned, I shall enumerate a few baked\ndishes which I can particularly recommend.\n\u201cA pig, when sent to the baker prepared for baking, should have its ears\nand tail covered with buttered paper properly fastened on, and a bit of\nbutter tied up in a piece of linen to baste the back with, otherwise it\nwill be apt to blister: with a proper share of attention from the baker,\nI consider this way equal to a roasted one.\n\u201cA goose prepared the same as for roasting, taking care to have it on a\nstand, and when half done to turn the other side upwards. A duck the\nsame.\n\u201cA buttock of beef the following way is particularly fine. After it has\nbeen in salt about a week, to be well washed, and put into a brown\nearthen pan with a pint of water; cover the pan tight with two or three\nthicknesses of cap or foolscap paper: never cover any thing that is to\nbe baked with brown paper, the pitch and tar that is in brown paper will\ngive the meat a smoky, bad taste: give it four or five hours in a\nmoderately heated oven.\n\u201cA ham (if not too old) put in soak for an hour, taken out and wiped, a\ncrust made sufficient to cover it all over, and baked in a moderately\nheated oven, cuts fuller of gravy, and of a finer flavour, than a boiled\none. I have been in the habit of baking small cod-fish, haddock, and\nmackerel, with a dust of flour, and some bits of butter put on them;\neels, when large and stuffed; herrings and sprats, in a brown pan, with\nvinegar and a little spice, and tied over with paper. A hare, prepared\nthe same as for roasting, with a few pieces of butter, and a little drop\nof milk put into the dish, and basted several times, will be found\nnearly equal to roasting; or cut it up, season it properly, put it into\na jar or pan, and cover it over and bake it in a moderate oven for about\nthree hours. In the same manner, I have been in the habit of baking legs\nand shins of beef, ox cheeks, &c. prepared with a seasoning of onions,\nturnips, &c.: they will take about four hours: let them stand till cold,\nto skim off the fat; then warm it up all together, or part, as you may\nwant it.\n\u201cAll these I have been in the habit of baking for the first families.\n\u201cThe time each of the above articles should take depends much upon the\nstate of the oven, and I do consider the baker a sufficient judge; if\nthey are sent to him in time, he must be very neglectful if they are not\nready at the time they are ordered.\u201d\nFor receipts for making bread, French rolls, muffins, crumpets, Sally\nLunn, &c., see the Appendix.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[66-*] \u201cThe process by which food is most commonly prepared for the\ntable, BOILING, is so familiar to every one, and its effects are so\nuniform, and apparently so simple, that few, I believe, have taken the\ntrouble to inquire _how_ or _in what manner_ those effects are produced;\nand whether any, and what improvements in that branch of cookery are\npossible. So little has this matter been an object of inquiry, that few,\nvery few indeed, I believe, among the _millions of persons_ who for so\nmany ages have been _daily_ employed in this process, have ever given\nthemselves the trouble to bestow one serious thought on the subject.\n\u201c_Boiling_ cannot be carried on without a very great expense of fuel;\nbut any boiling-hot liquid (by using proper means for confining the\nheat) may be kept _boiling-hot_ for any length of time almost without\nany expense of fuel at all.\n\u201c_The waste of fuel_ in culinary processes, which arises from making\nliquids boil _unnecessarily_, or when nothing more would be necessary\nthan to keep them _boiling-hot_, is enormous; I have not a doubt but\nthat much more than half the fuel used in all the kitchens, public and\nprivate, in the whole world, is wasted precisely in this manner.\n\u201cBut the evil does not stop here. This unscientific and slovenly manner\nof cooking renders the process much more laborious and troublesome than\notherwise it would be; and, (what by many will be considered of more\nimportance than either the waste of fuel or the increase of labour to\nthe cook) the food is rendered less savoury, and very probably less\nnourishing and less wholesome.\n\u201cIt is natural to suppose that many of the finer and more volatile\nparts of food (those which are best calculated to act on the organs\nof taste), must be carried off with the steam when the boiling is\nviolent.\u201d--_Count_ RUMFORD\u2019S 10th Essay, pp. 3, 6.\n[67-*] If, unfortunately, this should happen, the cook must carefully\ntake it off when she dishes up, either with a clean sponge or a\npaste-brush.\n[67-+] Cooks, however, as well as doctors, disagree; for some say, that\n\u201call sorts of fresh meat should be put in when the water boils.\u201d I\nprefer the above method for the reason given; gentle stewing renders\nmeat, &c. tender, and still leaves it sapid and nutritive.\n[71-*] The diminution of weight by boiling and roasting is not all lost,\nthe FAT SKIMMINGS and the DRIPPINGS, nicely clarified, will well supply\nthe place of lard and for frying. See No. 83, and the receipt for CHEAP\nSOUP (No. 229).\nCHAPTER II.\nROASTING.\nIn all studies, it is the best practice to begin with the plainest and\neasiest parts; and so on, by degrees, to such as are more difficult: we,\ntherefore, treated of plain boiling, and we now proceed to roasting: we\nshall then gradually unravel to our culinary students the art (and\n_mystery_, until developed in this work) of making, with the least\ntrouble and expense, the most highly finished soups, sauces, and\nmade-dishes.\nLet the young cook never forget that cleanliness is the chief cardinal\nvirtue of the kitchen; the first preparation for roasting is to take\ncare that the spit be properly cleaned with sand and water; nothing\nelse. When it has been well scoured with this, dry it with a clean\ncloth. If spits are wiped clean as soon as the meat is drawn from them,\nand while they are hot, a very little cleaning will be required. The\nless the spit is passed through the meat the better;[74-*] and, before\nyou spit it, joint it properly, especially necks and loins, that the\ncarver may separate them easily and neatly, and take especial care it be\nevenly balanced on the spit, that its motion may be regular, and the\nfire operate equally on each part of it; therefore, be provided with\nbalancing-skewers and cookholds, and see it is properly jointed.\nRoasting should be done by the radiant heat of a clear, glowing fire,\notherwise it is in fact _baked_: the machines the economical\ngrate-makers call ROASTERS, are, in plain English, ovens.\nCount Rumford was certainly an exact economist of fuel, when he\ncontrived these things; and those philosophers who try all questions\n\u201caccording to Cocker\u201d may vote for baked victuals; but the rational\nepicure, who has been accustomed to enjoy beef well roasted, will soon\nbe convinced that the poet who wrote our national ballad at the end of\nthis chapter, was not inspired by Sir Benjamin Thompson\u2019s cookery.\nAll your attention in roasting will be thrown away, if you do not take\ncare that your meat, especially beef, has been kept long enough to be\ntender. See \u201cADVICE TO COOKS,\u201d and obs. to No. 68.\nMake up the fire in time; let it be proportioned to the dinner to be\ndressed, and about three or four inches longer at each end than the\nthing to be roasted, or the ends of the meat cannot be done nice and\nbrown.\nA cook must be as particular to proportion her fire to the business she\nhas to do, as a chemist: the degree of heat most desirable for dressing\nthe different sorts of food ought to be attended to with the utmost\nprecision.\nThe fire that is but just sufficient to receive the noble sirloin (No.\n19), will parch up a lighter joint.\nFrom half an hour to an hour before you begin to roast, prepare the fire\nby putting a few coals on, which will be sufficiently lighted by the\ntime you wish to make use of your fire; between the bars, and on the\ntop, put small or large coals, according to the bulk of the joint, and\nthe time the fire is required to be strong; after which, throw the\ncinders (wetted) at the back.\nNever put meat down to a burned-up fire, if you can possibly avoid it;\nbut should the fire become fierce, place the spit at a considerable\ndistance, and allow a little more time.\nPreserve the fat,[75-*] by covering it with paper, for this purpose\ncalled \u201ckitchen-paper,\u201d and tie it on with fine twine; pins and skewers\ncan by no means be allowed; they are so many taps to let out the gravy:\nbesides, the paper often starts from them and catches fire, to the great\ninjury of the meat.\nIf the thing to be roasted be thin and tender, the fire should be little\nand brisk: when you have a large joint to roast, make up a sound, strong\nfire, equally good in every part of the grate, or your meat cannot be\nequally roasted, nor have that uniform colour which constitutes the\nbeauty of good roasting.\nGive the fire a good stirring before you lay the joint down; examine it\nfrom time to time while the spit is going round; keep it clear at the\nbottom, and take care there are no smoky coals in the front, which will\nspoil the look and taste of the meat, and hinder it from roasting\nevenly.\nWhen the joint to be roasted is thicker at one end than the other, place\nthe spit slanting, with the thickest part nearest the fire.\nDo not put meat too near the fire at first; the larger the joint, the\nfarther it must be kept from the fire: if once it gets scorched, the\noutside will become hard, and acquire a disagreeable, empyreumatic\ntaste; and the fire being prevented from penetrating into it, the meat\nwill appear done before it is little more than half-done, besides losing\nthe pale brown colour, which it is the beauty of roasted meat to have.\nFrom 14 to 10 inches is the usual distance at which meat is put from the\ngrate, when first put down. It is extremely difficult to offer any thing\nlike an accurate general rule for this, it depends so much upon the size\nof the fire, and of that of the thing to be roasted.\nTill some culinary philosopher shall invent a thermometer to ascertain\nthe heat of the fire, and a graduated spit-rack to regulate the distance\nfrom it, the process of roasting is attended by so many ever-varying\ncircumstances, that it must remain among those which can only be\nperformed well, by frequent practice and attentive observation.\nIf you wish your jack to go well, keep it as clean as possible, oil it,\nand then wipe it: if the oil is not wiped off again it will gather dust;\nto prevent this, as soon as you have done roasting, cover it up. Never\nleave the winders on while the jack is going round, unless you do it, as\nSwift says, \u201cthat it may fly off, and knock those troublesome servants\non the head who will be crowding round your kitchen fire.\u201d\nBe very careful to place the dripping-pan at such a distance from the\nfire as just to catch the drippings: if it is too near, the ashes will\nfall into it, and spoil the drippings[76-*] (which we shall hereafter\nshow will occasionally be found an excellent substitute for butter or\nlard). To clarify drippings, see (No. 83,) and pease and dripping soup\n(No. 229), savoury and salubrious, for only a penny per quart. If it is\ntoo far from the fire to catch them, you will not only lose your\ndrippings, but the meat will be blackened and spoiled by the f\u0153tid\nsmoke, which will arise when the fat falls on the live cinders.\nA large dripping-pan is convenient for several purposes. It should not\nbe less than 28 inches long and 20 inches wide, and have a covered well\non the side from the fire, to collect the drippings; this will preserve\nthem in the most delicate state: in a pan of the above size you may set\nfried fish, and various dishes, to keep hot.\nThis is one of Painter\u2019s and Hawke\u2019s contrivances, near Norfolk-street,\nStrand.\nThe time meat will take roasting will vary according to the time it has\nbeen kept, and the temperature of the weather; the same weight[77-*]\nwill be twenty minutes or half an hour longer in cold weather,[77-+]\nthan it will be in warm; and if fresh killed, than if it has been kept\ntill it is tender.\nA good meat-screen is a great saver of fuel. It should be on wheels,\nhave a flat top, and not be less than about three feet and a half wide,\nand with shelves in it, about one foot deep; it will then answer all the\npurposes of a large Dutch oven, plate-warmer, hot hearth, &c. Some are\nmade with a door behind: this is convenient, but the great heat they are\nexposed to soon shrinks the materials, and the currents of air through\nthe cracks cannot be prevented, so they are better without the door. We\nhave seen one, which had on the top of it a very convenient _hot\ncloset_, which is a great acquisition in kitchens, where the dinner\nwaits after it is dressed.\nEvery body knows the advantage of _slow boiling_. _Slow roasting_ is\nequally important.\nIt is difficult to give any specific rule for time; but if your fire is\nmade as before directed, your meat-screen sufficiently large to guard\nwhat you are dressing from currents of air, and the meat is not frosted,\nyou cannot do better than follow the old general rule of allowing rather\nmore than a quarter of an hour to the pound; a little more or less,\naccording to the temperature of the weather, in proportion as the piece\nis thick or thin, the strength of the fire, the nearness of the meat to\nit, and the frequency with which you baste it; the more it is basted the\nless time it will take, as it keeps the meat soft and mellow on the\noutside, and the fire acts with more force upon it.\nReckon the time, not to the hour when dinner is ordered, but to the\nmoment the roasts will be wanted. Supposing there are a dozen people to\nsip soup and eat fish first, you may allow them ten or fifteen minutes\nfor the former, and about as long for the latter, more or less,\naccording to the temptations the \u201cBON GOUT\u201d of these preceding courses\nhas to attract their attention.\nWhen the joint is half done, remove the spit and dripping-pan back, and\nstir up your fire thoroughly, that it may burn clear and bright for the\nbrowning; when the steam from the meat draws towards the fire,[78-*] it\nis a sign of its being done enough; but you will be the best judge of\nthat, from the time it has been down, the strength of the fire you have\nused, and the distance your spit has been from it.\nHalf an hour before your meat is done, make some gravy (_see Receipt_,\nNo. 326); and just before you take it up, put it nearer the fire to\nbrown it. If you wish to froth it, baste it, and dredge it with flour\ncarefully: you cannot do this delicately nice without a very good light.\nThe common fault seems to be using too much flour. The meat should have\na fine light varnish of froth, not the appearance of being covered with\na paste. Those who are particular about the froth use butter instead of\ndrippings; (see receipt to roast a turkey, No. 57)--\n \u201cAnd send up what you roast with relish-giving froth,\u201d\nsays Dr. King, and present such an agreeable appearance to the eye, that\nthe palate may be prepossessed in its favour at first sight; therefore,\nhave the whole course dished, before roasts are taken from the fire.\nA good cook is as anxiously attentive to the appearance and colour of\nher roasts, as a court beauty is to her complexion at a birthday ball.\nIf your meat does not brown so much, or so evenly as you wish, take two\nounces of Glaze, _i. e._ portable soup, put four table-spoonfuls of\nwater, and let it warm and dissolve gradually by the side of the fire.\nThis will be done in about a quarter of an hour; put it on the meat\nequally all over with a paste-brush the last thing before it goes to\ntable.\nThough roasting is one of the most common, and is generally considered\none of the most easy and simple processes of cookery, it requires more\nunremitting attention to perform it perfectly well than it does to make\nmost made-dishes.\nThat made-dishes are the most difficult preparations, deserves to be\nreckoned among the culinary vulgar errors; in plain roasting and boiling\nit is not easy to repair a mistake once made; and all the discretion and\nattention of a steady, careful cook, must be unremittingly upon the\nalert.[78-+]\nA diligent attention to time, the distance of the meat from, and\njudicious management of, the fire, and frequent bastings,[79-*] are all\nthe general rules we can prescribe. We shall deliver particular rules\nfor particular things, as the several articles occur, and do our utmost\nendeavours to instruct our reader as completely as words can describe\nthe process, and teach\n \u201cThe management of common things so well,\n That what was thought the meanest shall excel:\n That cook\u2019s to British palates most complete,\n Whose sav\u2019ry skill gives zest to common meat:\n For what are soups, your rago\u00fbts, and your sauce,\n Compared to the fare of OLD ENGLAND,\n And OLD ENGLISH ROAST BEEF!\u201d\n * TAKE NOTICE, _that the_ TIME _given in the following receipts is\n calculated for those who like meat thoroughly roasted._ (_See N.B.\n preceding No. 19._)\nSome good housewives order very large joints to be rather under-done, as\nthey then make a better hash or broil.\nTo make _gravy_ for roast, see No. 326.\nN.B. _Roasts_ must not be put on, till the _soup_ and _fish_ are taken\noff the table.\nDREDGINGS.\n 1. Flour mixed with grated bread.\n 2. Sweet herbs dried and powdered, and mixed with grated bread.\n 3. Lemon-peel dried and pounded, or orange-peel, mixed with flour.\n 4. Sugar finely powdered, and mixed with pounded cinnamon, and\n flour or grated bread.\n 5. Fennel-seeds, corianders, cinnamon, and sugar, finely beaten,\n and mixed with grated bread or flour.\n 6. For young pigs, grated bread or flour, mixed with beaten nutmeg,\n ginger, pepper, sugar, and yelks of eggs.\n 7. Sugar, bread, and salt, mixed.\nBASTINGS.\n 1. Fresh butter.\n 2. Clarified suet.\n 3. Minced sweet herbs, butter, and claret, especially for mutton\n and lamb.\n 4. Water and salt.\n 5. Cream and melted butter, especially for a flayed pig.\n 6. Yelks of eggs, grated biscuit, and juice of oranges.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[74-*] Small families have not always the convenience of roasting with a\nspit; a remark upon ROASTING BY A STRING is necessary. Let the cook,\n_before_ she puts her meat down to the fire, pass a strong skewer\nthrough _each end_ of the joint: by this means, when it is about\nhalf-done, she can with ease turn the bottom upwards; the gravy will\nthen flow to the part which has been uppermost, and the whole joint be\ndeliciously gravyful.\nA BOTTLE JACK, as it is termed by the furnishing ironmongers, is a\nvaluable instrument for roasting.\nA DUTCH OVEN is another very convenient utensil for roasting light\njoints, or warming them up.\n[75-*] If there is more FAT than you think will be eaten with the lean,\ntrim it off; it will make an excellent PUDDING (No. 551, or 554): or\nclarify it (No. 83).\n[76-*] This the good housewife will take up occasionally, and pass\nthrough a sieve into a stone pan; by leaving it all in the dripping-pan\nuntil the meat is taken up, it not only becomes very strong, but when\nthe meat is rich, and yields much of it, it is apt to be spilt in\nbasting. To CLARIFY DRIPPINGS, see No. 83.\n[77-*] _Insist upon the butcher fixing a_ TICKET _of the weight to each\njoint._\n[77-+] IF THE MEAT IS FROZEN, the usual practice is to put it into cold\nwater till it is thawed, then dry and roast it as usual; but we\nrecommend you to bring it into the kitchen the night before, or early in\nthe morning of the day you want to roast it, and the warm air will thaw\nit much better.\n[78-*] When the steam begins to arise, it is a proof that the whole\njoint is thoroughly saturated with heat; any unnecessary evaporation is\na waste of the best nourishment of the meat.\n[78-+] A celebrated French writer has given us the following\nobservations on roasting:--\n\u201cThe art of roasting victuals to the precise degree, is one of the most\ndifficult in this world; and _you may find half a thousand good cooks\nsooner than one perfect roaster_. (See \u2018_Almanach des Gourmands_,\u2019 vol.\ni. p. 37.) In the mansions of the opulent, they have, besides the master\nkitchener, a roaster, (perfectly independent of the former,) who is\nexclusively devoted to the spit.\n\u201cAll erudite _gourmands_ know that these two important functions cannot\nbe performed by one artist; it is quite impossible at the same time to\nsuperintend the operations of the spit and stewpan.\u201d--Further on, the\nsame author observes: \u201cNo certain rules can be given for roasting, the\nperfection of it depending on many circumstances which are continually\nchanging; the age and size (especially the thickness) of the pieces, the\nquality of the coals, the temperature of the atmosphere, the currents of\nair in the kitchen, the more or less attention of the roaster; and,\nlastly, the time of serving. Supposing the dinner ordered to be on table\nat a certain time, if the fish and soup are much liked, and detained\nlonger than the roaster has calculated; or, on the contrary, if they are\ndespatched sooner than is expected, the roasts will in one case be burnt\nup, in the other not done enough--two misfortunes equally to be\ndeplored. The first, however, is without a remedy; _five minutes on the\nspit, more or less, decides the goodness of this mode of cookery_. It is\nalmost impossible to seize the precise instant when it ought to be\neaten; which epicures in roasts express by saying, \u2018It is _done to a\nturn_.\u2019 So that there is no exaggeration in saying, the perfect roaster\nis even more rare than the professed cook.\n\u201cIn small families, where the cook is also the roaster, it is almost\nimpossible the roasts should be well done: the spit claims exclusive\nattention, and is an imperious mistress who demands the entire devotion\nof her slave. But how can this be, when the cook is obliged, at the same\ntime, to attend her fish and soup-kettles, and watch her stewpans and\nall their accompaniments?--it is morally and physically impossible: if\nshe gives that delicate and constant attention to the roasts which is\nindispensably requisite, the rest of the dinner must often be spoiled;\nand most cooks would rather lose their character as a roaster, than\nneglect the made-dishes and \u2018_entremets_,\u2019 &c., where they think they\ncan display their _culinary science_,--than sacrifice these to the\nroasts, the perfection of which will only prove their steady vigilance\nand patience.\u201d\n[79-*] Our ancestors were very particular in their BASTINGS and\nDREDGINGS, as will be seen by the following quotation from MAY\u2019S\n\u201c_Accomplished Cook_,\u201d London, 1665, p. 136. \u201cThe rarest ways of\ndressing of all manner of roast meats, either flesh or fowl, by sea or\nland, and divers ways of braiding or dredging meats to prevent the gravy\nfrom too much evaporating.\u201d\nCHAPTER III.\nFRYING.\nFrying is often a convenient mode of cookery; it may be performed by a\nfire which will not do for roasting or boiling; and by the introduction\nof the pan between the meat and the fire, things get more equally\ndressed.\nThe Dutch oven or bonnet is another very convenient utensil for small\nthings, and a very useful substitute for the jack, the gridiron, or\nfrying-pan.\nA frying-pan should be about four inches deep, with a perfectly flat and\nthick bottom, 12 inches long and 9 broad, with perpendicular sides, and\nmust be half filled with fat: good frying is, in fact, boiling in fat.\nTo make sure that the pan is quite clean, rub a little fat over it, and\nthen make it warm, and wipe it out with a clean cloth.\nBe very particular in frying, never to use any oil, butter, lard, or\ndrippings, but what is quite clean, fresh, and free from salt. Any thing\ndirty spoils the look; any thing bad-tasted or stale, spoils the\nflavour; and salt prevents its browning.\nFine olive oil is the most delicate for frying; but the best oil is\nexpensive, and bad oil spoils every thing that is dressed with it.\nFor general purposes, and especially for fish, clean fresh lard is not\nnear so expensive as oil or clarified butter, and does almost as well.\nButter often burns before you are aware of it; and what you fry will get\na dark and dirty appearance.\nCooks in large kitchens, where there is a great deal of frying, commonly\nuse mutton or beef suet clarified (see No. 84): if from the kidney, all\nthe better.\nDripping, if nicely clean and fresh, is almost as good as any thing; if\nnot clean, it may be easily clarified (see No. 83). Whatever fat you\nuse, after you have done frying, let it remain in the pan for a few\nminutes, and then pour it through a sieve into a clean basin; it will do\nthree or four times as well as it did at first, _i. e._ if it has not\nburned: but, _Mem._ the fat you have fried fish in must not be used for\nany other purpose.\nTo know when the fat is of a proper heat, according to what you are to\nfry, is the great secret in frying.\nTo fry fish, parsley, potatoes, or any thing that is watery, your fire\nmust be very clear, and the fat quite hot; which you may be pretty sure\nof, when it has done hissing, and is still. We cannot insist too\nstrongly on this point: if the fat is not very hot, you cannot fry fish\neither to a good colour, or firm and crisp.\nTo be quite certain, throw a little bit of bread into the pan; if it\nfries crisp, the fat is ready; if it burns the bread, it is too hot.\nThe fire under the pan must be clear and sharp, otherwise the fat is so\nlong before it becomes ready, and demands such attendance to prevent the\naccident of its catching fire,[81-*] that the patience of cooks is\nexhausted, and they frequently, from ignorance or impatience, throw in\nwhat they are going to fry before the fat is half hot enough. Whatever\nis so fried will be pale and sodden, and offend the palate and stomach\nnot less than the eye.\nHave a good light to fry by, that you may see when you have got the\nright colour: a lamp fixed on a stem, with a loaded foot, which has an\narm that lengthens out, and slides up and down like a reading\ncandlestick, is a most useful appendage to kitchen fireplaces, which are\nvery seldom light enough for the nicer operations of cookery.\nAfter all, if you do not thoroughly drain the fat from what you have\nfried, especially from those things that are full dressed in bread\ncrumbs,[82-*] or biscuit powder, &c., your cooking will do you no\ncredit.\nThe dryness of fish depends much upon its having been fried in fat of a\ndue degree of heat; it is then crisp and dry in a few minutes after it\nis taken out of the pan: when it is not, lay it on a soft cloth before\nthe fire, turning it occasionally, till it is. This will sometimes take\n15 minutes: therefore, always fry fish as long as this before you want\nthem, for fear you may find this necessary.\nTo fry fish, see receipt to fry soles, (No. 145) which is the only\ncircumstantial account of the process that has yet been printed. If the\ncook will study it with a little attention, she must soon become an\naccomplished frier.\nFrying, though one of the most common of culinary operations, is one\nthat is least commonly performed perfectly well.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[81-*] If this unfortunately happens, be not alarmed, but immediately\nwet a basket of ashes and throw them down the chimney, and wet a blanket\nand hold it close all round the fireplace; as soon as the current of air\nis stopped, the fire will be extinguished; with a CHARCOAL STOVE there\nis no danger, as the diameter of the pan exceeds that of the fire.\nCHAPTER IV.\nBROILING.\n \u201cAnd as now there is nought on the fire that is spoiling,\n We\u2019ll give you just two or three hints upon broiling;\n How oft you must turn a beefsteak, and how seldom\n A good mutton chop, for to have \u2019em both well done;\n And for skill in such cookery your credit \u2019t will fetch up,\n If your broils are well-seasoned with good mushroom catchup.\u201d\nCleanliness is extremely essential in this mode of cookery.\nKeep your gridiron quite clean between the bars, and bright on the top:\nwhen it is hot, wipe it well with a linen cloth: just before you use it,\nrub the bars with clean mutton-suet, to prevent the meat from being\nmarked by the gridiron.\nTake care to prepare your fire in time, so that it may burn quite clear:\na brisk and clear fire is indispensable, or you cannot give your meat\nthat browning which constitutes the perfection of this mode of cookery,\nand gives a relish to food it cannot receive any other way.\nThe chops or slices should be from half to three-quarters of an inch in\nthickness; if thicker, they will be done too much on the outside before\nthe inside is done enough.\nBe diligently attentive to watch the moment that any thing is done:\nnever hasten any thing that is broiling, lest you make smoke and spoil\nit.\nLet the bars of the gridiron be all hot through, but yet not burning hot\nupon the surface: this is the perfect and fine condition of the\ngridiron.\nAs the bars keep away as much heat as their breadth covers, it is\nabsolutely necessary they should be thoroughly hot before the thing to\nbe cooked be laid on them.\nThe bars of gridirons should be made concave, and terminate in a trough\nto catch the gravy and keep the fat from dropping into the fire and\nmaking a smoke, which will spoil the broil.\nUpright gridirons are the best, as they can be used at any fire without\nfear of smoke; and the gravy is preserved in the trough under them.\nN.B. Broils must be brought to table as hot as possible; set a dish to\nheat when you put your chops on the gridiron, from whence to the mouth\ntheir progress must be as quick as possible.\nWhen the fire is not clear, the business of the gridiron may be done by\nthe Dutch oven or bonnet.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[82-*] When you want a great many BREAD CRUMBS, divide your loaf (which\nshould be two days old) into three equal parts; take the middle or crumb\npiece, the top and bottom will do for table: _in the usual way of\ncutting, the crust is wasted_.\nOATMEAL is a very satisfactory, and an extremely economical substitute\nfor _bread crumbs_. See No. 145.\nCHAPTER V.\nVEGETABLES.\nThere is nothing in which the difference between an elegant and an\nordinary table is more seen than in the dressing of vegetables, more\nespecially greens. They may be equally as fine at first, at one place as\nat another; but their look and taste are afterward very different,\nentirely from the careless way in which they have been cooked.\nThey are in greatest perfection when in greatest plenty, _i. e._ when in\nfull season.\nBy season, I do not mean those early days, that luxury in the buyers,\nand avarice in the sellers, force the various vegetables; but that time\nof the year in which by nature and common culture, and the mere\noperation of the sun and climate, they are in most plenty and\nperfection.\nPotatoes and pease are seldom worth eating before midsummer; unripe\nvegetables are as insipid and unwholesome as unripe fruits.\nAs to the quality of vegetables, the middle size are preferred to the\nlargest or the smallest; they are more tender, juicy, and full of\nflavour, just before they are quite full-grown. Freshness is their chief\nvalue and excellence, and I should as soon think of roasting an animal\nalive, as of boiling a vegetable after it is dead.\nThe eye easily discovers if they have been kept too long; they soon lose\ntheir beauty in all respects.\nRoots, greens, salads, &c. and the various productions of the garden,\nwhen first gathered, are plump and firm, and have a fragrant freshness\nno art can give them again, when they have lost it by long keeping;\nthough it will refresh them a little to put them into cold spring water\nfor some time before they are dressed.\nTo boil them in soft water will preserve the colour best of such as are\ngreen; if you have only hard water, put to it a tea-spoonful of\n_carbonate of potash_.[84-*]\nTake care to wash and cleanse them thoroughly from dust, dirt, and\ninsects: this requires great attention. Pick off all the outside leaves,\ntrim them nicely, and, if not quite fresh gathered and have become\nflaccid, it is absolutely necessary to restore their crispness before\ncooking them, or they will be tough and unpleasant: lay them in a pan of\nclean water, with a handful of salt in it, for an hour before you dress\nthem.\n\u201cMost vegetables being more or less succulent, their full proportion of\nfluids is necessary for their retaining that state of crispness and\nplumpness which they have when growing. On being cut or gathered, the\nexhalation from their surface continues, while, from the open vessels of\nthe cut surface, there is often great exudation or evaporation; and thus\ntheir natural moisture is diminished, the tender leaves become flaccid,\nand the thicker masses or roots lose their plumpness. This is not only\nless pleasant to the eye, but is a real injury to the nutritious powers\nof the vegetable; for in this flaccid and shrivelled state its fibres\nare less easily divided in chewing, and the water which exists in\nvegetable substances, in the form of their respective natural juices, is\ndirectly nutritious. The first care in the preservation of succulent\nvegetables, therefore, is to prevent them from losing their natural\nmoisture.\u201d--_Suppl. to Edin. Encyclop._ vol. iv. p. 335.\nThey should always be boiled in a sauce-pan by themselves, and have\nplenty of water; if meat is boiled with them in the same pot, they will\nspoil the look and taste of each other.\nIf you wish to have vegetables delicately clean, put on your pot, make\nit boil, put a little salt in it, and skim it perfectly clean before you\nput in the greens, &c.; which should not be put in till the water boils\nbriskly: the quicker they boil, the greener they will be. When the\nvegetables sink, they are generally done enough, if the water has been\nkept constantly boiling. Take them up immediately, or they will lose\ntheir colour and goodness. Drain the water from them thoroughly before\nyou send them to table.\nThis branch of cookery requires the most vigilant attention.\nIf vegetables are a minute or two too long over the fire, they lose all\ntheir beauty and flavour.\nIf not thoroughly boiled tender, they are tremendously indigestible, and\nmuch more troublesome during their residence in the stomach, than\nunder-done meats.[85-*]\nTo preserve or give colour in cookery, many good dishes are spoiled; but\nthe rational epicure who makes nourishment the main end of eating, will\nbe content to sacrifice the shadow to enjoy the substance. Vide _Obs._\nOnce for all, take care your vegetables are fresh: for as the fishmonger\noften suffers for the sins of the cook, so the cook often gets\nundeservedly blamed instead of the green-grocer.\nVegetables, in this metropolis, are often kept so long, that no art can\nmake them either look or eat well.\nStrong-scented vegetables should be kept apart; leeks, or celery, laid\namong cauliflowers, &c. will quickly spoil them.\n\u201cSucculent vegetables are best preserved in a cool, shady, and damp\nplace.\n\u201cPotatoes, turnips, carrots, and similar roots, intended to be stored\nup, should never be cleaned from the earth adhering to them, till they\nare to be dressed.\n\u201cThey must be protected from the action of the air and frost, by laying\nthem in heaps, burying them in sand or earth, &c., or covering them with\nstraw or mats.\n\u201cThe action of frost destroys the life of the vegetable, and it speedily\nrots.\u201d--_Suppl. to Edin. Encyclop._ vol. iv. p. 335.\nMEM.--When vegetables are quite fresh gathered, they will not require so\nmuch boiling, by at least a third of the time, as when they have been\ngathered the usual time those are that are brought to public markets.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[84-*] Pe\u00e0rlash is a sub-carbonate, and will answer the purpose. It is a\ncommon article in the kitchen of the American housekeeper. A.\n[85-*] \u201cCAULIFLOWERS and other vegetables are often boiled only crisp to\npreserve their beauty. For the look alone they had better not be boiled\nat all, and almost as well for the use, as in this crude state they are\nscarcely digestible by the strongest stomach. On the other hand, when\nover-boiled, they become vapid, and in a state similar to decay, in\nwhich they afford no sweet purifying juices to the body, but load it\nwith a mass of mere feculent matter.\u201d--_Domestic Management_, 12mo.\nCHAPTER VI.\nFISH.\nThis department of the business of the kitchen requires considerable\nexperience, and depends more upon practice than any other. A very few\nmoments, more or less, will thoroughly spoil fish;[86-*] which, to be\neaten in perfection, must never be put on the table till the soup is\ntaken off.\nSo many circumstances operate on this occasion, that it is almost\nimpossible to write general rules.\nThere are decidedly different opinions, whether fish should be put into\ncold, tepid, or boiling water.\nWe believe, for some of the fame the Dutch cooks have acquired, they are\na little indebted to their situation affording them a plentiful supply\nof fresh fish for little more than the trouble of catching it; and that\nthe superior excellence of the fish in Holland, is because none are\nused, unless they are brought alive into the kitchen (mackerel excepted,\nwhich die the moment they are taken out of the water). The Dutch are as\nnice about this as Seneca says the Romans[86-+] were; who, complaining\nof the luxury of the times, says, \u201cThey are come to that daintiness,\nthat they will not eat a fish, unless upon the same day that it is\ntaken, that it may taste of the sea, as they express it.\u201d\nOn the Dutch flat coast, the fish are taken with nets: on our rocky\ncoast, they are mostly caught by bait and hook, which instantly kills\nthem. Fish are brought alive by land to the Dutch markets, in water\ncasks with air-holes in the top. Salmon, and other fish, are thus\npreserved in rivers, in a well-hole in the fishing-boat.\nAll kinds of fish are best some time before they begin to spawn; and are\nunfit for food for some time after they have spawned.\nFish, like animals, are fittest for the table when they are just full\ngrown; and what has been said in Chapter V. respecting vegetables,\napplies equally well to fish.\nThe most convenient utensil to boil fish in, is a turbot-kettle. This\nshould be 24 inches long, 22 wide, and 9 deep. It is an excellent vessel\nto boil a ham in, &c. &c.\nThe good folks of this metropolis are so often disappointed by having\nfish which has been kept too long, that they are apt to run into the\nother extreme, and suppose that fish will not dress well unless it is\nabsolutely alive. This is true of lobsters, &c. (No. 176), and may be of\nfresh-water fish, but certainly not of some sea-fish.\nSeveral respectable fishmongers and experienced cooks have assured the\neditor, that they are often in danger of losing their credit by fish too\nfresh, and especially turbot and cod, which, like meat, require a\ncertain time before they are in the best condition to be dressed. They\nrecommend them to be put into cold water, salted in proportion of about\na quarter of a pound of salt to a gallon of water. Sea-water is best to\nboil sea-fish in. It not only saves the expense of salt, but the flavour\nis better. Let them boil slowly till done; the sign of which is, that\nthe skin of the fish rises up, and the eyes turn white.\nIt is the business of the fishmonger to clean them, &c. but the careful\ncook will always wash them again.\nGarnish with slices of lemon, finely scraped horseradish, fried oysters\n(No. 183), smelts (No. 173), whitings (No. 153), or strips of soles, as\ndirected in No. 145.\nThe liver, roe, and chitterlings should be placed so that the carver may\nobserve them, and invite the guests to partake of them.\nN.B. FISH, like meat, requires more cooking in cold than in warm\nweather. If it becomes FROZEN,[88-*] it must be thawed by the means we\nhave directed for meat, in the 2d chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery.\n[Fish are plenty and good, and in great variety, in all the towns and\ncities on the extensive coast of the United States. Some of the interior\ntowns are also supplied with fish peculiar to the lakes and rivers of\nthis country. A.]\nFISH SAUCES.\nThe melted butter (No. 256) for fish, should be thick enough to adhere\nto the fish, and, therefore, must be of the thickness of light batter,\nas it is to be diluted with essence of anchovy (No. 433), soy (No. 436),\nmushroom catchup (No. 439). Cayenne (No. 404), or Chili vinegar (No.\n405), lemons or lemon-juice, or artificial lemon-juice, (see No. 407*),\n&c. which are expected at all well-served tables.\nCooks, who are jealous of the reputation of their taste, and\nhousekeepers who value their health, will prepare these articles at\nhome: there are quite as many reasons why they should, as there are for\nthe preference usually given to home-baked bread and home-brewed beer,\nN.B. The liver of the fish pounded and mixed with butter, with a little\nlemon-juice, &c. is an elegant and inoffensive relish to fish (see No.\n288). Mushroom sauce extempore (No. 307), or the soup of mock turtle\n(No. 247), will make an excellent fish sauce.\nOn the comparatively nutritive qualities of fish, see N.B. to No. 181.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[86-*] When the cook has large dinners to prepare, and the time of\nserving uncertain, she will get more credit by FRIED (see No. 145), or\nstewed (see No. 164), than by BOILED fish. It is also cheaper, and much\nsooner carved (see No. 145).\nMr. Ude, page 238 of his cookery, advises, \u201cIf you are obliged to wait\nafter the fish is done, do not let it remain in the water, but keep the\nwater boiling, and put the fish over it, and cover it with a damp cloth;\nwhen the dinner is called for, dip the fish again in the water, and\nserve it up.\u201d\nThe only circumstantial instructions yet printed for FRYING FISH, the\nreader will find in No. 145; if this be carefully and nicely attended\nto, you will have delicious food.\n[86-+] They had salt-water preserves for feeding different kinds of\nsea-fish; those in the ponds of Lucullus, at his death, sold for\n25,000_l._ sterling. The prolific power of fish is wonderful: the\nfollowing calculations are from Petit, Block, and Leuwenhoeck:--\n A salmon of 20 pounds weight contained 27,850\nSee _Cours Gastronomiques_, 18mo. 1806, p. 241.\n[88-*] Fish are very frequently sent home frozen by the fishmonger, to\nwhom an ice-house is now as necessary an appendage (to preserve fish,)\nas it is to a confectioner.\nCHAPTER VII.\nBROTHS AND SOUPS.\nThe cook must pay continual attention to the condition of her\nstew-pans[89-*] and soup-kettles, &c. which should be examined every\ntime they are used. The prudent housewife will carefully examine the\ncondition of them herself at least once a month. Their covers also must\nbe kept perfectly clean and well tinned, and the stew-pans not only on\nthe inside, but about a couple of inches on the outside: many mischiefs\narise from their getting out of repair; and if not kept nicely tinned,\nall your good work will be in vain; the broths and soups will look green\nand dirty, taste bitter and poisonous, and will be spoiled both for the\neye and palate, and your credit will be lost.\nThe health, and even life of the family, depends upon this, and the cook\nmay be sure her employers had rather pay the tinman\u2019s bill than the\ndoctor\u2019s; therefore, attention to this cannot fail to engage the regard\nof the mistress, between whom and the cook it will be my utmost\nendeavour to promote perfect harmony.\nIf a servant has the misfortune to scorch or blister the tinning of her\npan,[89-+] which will happen sometimes to the most careful cook, I\nadvise her, by all means, immediately to acquaint her employers, who\nwill thank her for candidly mentioning an accident; and censure her\ndeservedly if she conceal it.\nTake care to be properly provided with sieves and tammy cloths, spoons\nand ladles. Make it a rule without an exception, never to use them till\nthey are well cleaned and thoroughly dried, nor any stewpans, &c.\nwithout first washing them out with boiling water, and rubbing them well\nwith a dry cloth and a little bran, to clean them from grease, sand,\n&c., or any bad smell they may have got since they were last used: never\nneglect this.\nThough we do not suppose our cook to be such a naughty slut as to\nwilfully neglect her broth-pots, &c., yet we may recommend her to wash\nthem immediately, and take care they are thoroughly dried at the fire,\nbefore they are put by, and to keep them in a dry place, for damp will\nrust and destroy them very soon: attend to this the first moment you can\nspare after the dinner is sent up.\nNever put by any soup, gravy, &c. in metal utensils; in which never keep\nany thing longer than is absolutely necessary for the purposes of\ncookery; the acid, vegetables, fat, &c. employed in making soups, &c.\nare capable of dissolving such utensils; therefore stone or earthen\nvessels should be used for this purpose.\nStew-pans, soup-pots, and preserving pans, with thick and round bottoms\n(such as sauce-pans are made with), will wear twice as long, and are\ncleaned with half the trouble, as those whose sides are soldered to the\nbottom, of which sand and grease get into the joined part, and cookeys\nsay that it is next to an impossibility to dislodge it, even if their\nnails are as long as Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s. The Editor claims the credit bf\nhaving first suggested the importance of this construction of these\nutensils.\nTake care that the lids fit as close as possible, that the broth, soup,\nand sauces, &c. may not waste by evaporation. They are good for nothing,\nunless they fit tight enough to keep the steam in and the smoke out.\nStew-pans and sauce-pans should be always bright on the upper rim, where\nthe fire does not burn them; but to scour them all over is not only\ngiving the cook needless trouble, but wearing out the vessels. See\nobservations on sauce-pans in Chapter I.\nCultivate habits of regularity and cleanliness, &c. in all your\nbusiness, which you will then get through easily and comfortably. I do\nnot mean the restless spirit of _Molidusta_, \u201cthe _Tidy One_,\u201d who is\nanon, anon, Sir, frisking about in a whirlpool of bustle and confusion,\nand is always dirty, under pretence of being always cleaning.\nLean, juicy beef, mutton, or veal, form the basis of broth; procure\nthose pieces which afford the richest succulence, and as fresh killed as\npossible.[90-*]\nStale meat will make broth grouty and bad tasted, and fat meat is\nwasted. This only applies to those broths which are required to be\nperfectly clear: we shall show hereafter (in No. 229), that fat and\nclarified drippings may be so combined with vegetable mucilage, as to\nafford, at the small cost of one penny per quart, a nourishing and\npalatable soup, fully adequate to satisfy appetite and support strength:\nthis will open a new source to those benevolent housekeepers, who are\ndisposed to relieve the poor, will show the industrious classes how much\nthey have it in their power to assist themselves, and rescue them from\nbeing objects of charity dependent on the precarious bounty of others,\nby teaching them how they may obtain a cheap, abundant, salubrious, and\nagreeable aliment for themselves and families.\nThis soup has the advantage of being very easily and very soon made,\nwith no more fuel than is necessary to warm a room. Those who have not\ntasted it, cannot imagine what a salubrious, savoury, and satisfying\nmeal is produced by the judicious combination of cheap homely\ningredients.\nScotch barley broth (No. 204) will furnish a good dinner of soup and\nmeat for fivepence per head, pease soup (No. 221) will cost only\nsixpence per quart, ox-tail soup (No. 240) or the same portable soup\n(No. 252), for fivepence per quart, and (No. 224) an excellent gravy\nsoup for fourpence halfpenny per quart, duck-giblet soup (No. 244) for\nthreepence per quart, and fowls\u2019 head soup in the same manner for still\nless (No. 239), will give you a good and plentiful dinner for six people\nfor two shillings and twopence. See also shin of beef stewed (No. 493),\nand \u00e0-la-mode beef (No. 502).\nBROTH HERBS, SOUP ROOTS, AND SEASONINGS.\n Scotch barley (No. 204).\n Pearl barley.\n Flour.\n OATMEAL (No. 572).\n Bread.\n Raspings.\n Beans.\n Vermicelli.\n Macaroni (No. 513).\n Isinglass.\n Potato mucilage (No. 448).\n Champignons.\n Parsnips (No. 213).\n Carrots (No. 212).\n Beet-roots.\n Turnips (No. 208).\n Garlic.\n Shallots, (No. 402.)\n Onions.[91-+]\n Leeks.\n Cucumber.[92-*]\n Celery (No. 214).\n CELERY SEED.[92-+]\n Common thyme.[92-++]\n Lemon thyme.[92-++]\n Orange thyme.[92-++]\n Knotted marjorum[92-++] (No. 417).\n Winter savoury.[92-++]\n Bay leaves.\n Tomata.\n Tarragon (No. 396).\n Chervil.\n Burnet (No. 399).\n Nutmeg.[92-\u00a7]\n Mace.\n Black pepper.\n White pepper.\n Lemon-juice.[92-||]\n Seville orange-juice.[92-\u00b6]\n Essence of anchovy (No. 433).\nThe above materials, wine, and mushroom catchup (No. 439), combined in\nvarious proportions, will make an endless variety[93-*] of excellent\nbroths and soups, quite as pleasant to the palate, and as useful and\nagreeable to the stomach, as consuming pheasants and partridges, and the\nlong list of inflammatory, _piquante_, and rare and costly articles,\nrecommended by former cookery-book makers, whose elaborately compounded\nsoups are like their made dishes; in which, though variety is aimed at,\nevery thing has the same taste, and nothing its own.\nThe general fault of our soups seems to be the employment of an excess\nof spice, and too small a portion of roots and herbs.[93-+]\nBesides the ingredients I have enumerated, many culinary scribes\nindiscriminately cram into almost every dish (in such inordinate\nquantities, one would suppose they were working for the _asbestos_\npalate of an Indian fire-eater) anchovies, garlic,[93-++] bay-leaves,\nand that hot, fiery spice, _Cayenne_[93-\u00a7] pepper; this, which the\nFrench call (not undeservedly) _piment enrag\u00e9_ (No. 404), has, somehow\nor other, unaccountably acquired a character for being very wholesome;\nwhile the milder peppers and spices are cried down, as destroying the\nsensibility of the palate and stomach, &c., and being the source of a\nthousand mischiefs. We should just as soon recommend alcohol as being\nless intoxicating than wine.\nThe best thing that has been said in praise of peppers is, \u201cthat with\nall kinds of vegetables, as also with soups (especially vegetable soups)\nand fish, either black or Cayenne pepper may be taken freely: they are\nthe most useful stimulants to old stomachs, and often supersede the\ncravings for strong drinks; or diminish the quantity otherwise\nrequired.\u201d See Sir A. CARLISLE _on Old Age_, London, 1817. A certain\nportion of condiment is occasionally serviceable to excite and keep up\nthe languid action of feeble and advanced life: we must increase the\nstimulus of our aliment as the inirritability of our system increases.\nWe leave those who love these things to use them as they like; their\nflavours can be very extemporaneously produced by chilly-juice, or\nessence of Cayenne (No. 405), eschalot wine (No. 402), and essence of\nanchovy (No. 433).\nThere is no French dinner without soup, which is regarded as an\nindispensable _overture_; it is commonly followed by \u201c_le coup\nd\u2019Apr\u00e8s_,\u201d a glass of pure wine, which they consider so wholesome after\nsoup, that their proverb says, the physician thereby loses a fee.\nWhether the glass of wine be so much more advantageous for the patient\nthan it is for his doctor, we know not, but believe it an excellent plan\nto begin the banquet with a basin of good soup, which, by moderating the\nappetite for solid animal food, is certainly a salutiferous custom.\nBetween the _roasts_ and the _entremets_ they introduce \u201c_le coup du\nMilieu_\u201d or a small glass of _Jamaica rum_, or _essence of punch_ (see\nNo. 471), or CURACAO (No. 474).\nThe introduction of liqueurs is by no means a modern custom: our\nancestors were very fond of a highly spiced stimulus of this sort,\ncommonly called _Ipocrasse_, which generally made a part of the last\ncourse, or was taken immediately after dinner.\n_The crafte to make ypocras._\n\u201cTake a quarte of red wyne, an ounce of synamon, and halfe an ounce of\ngynger; a quarter of an ounce of greynes (probably of paradise) and long\npepper, and halfe a pounde of sugar; and brose (_bruise_) all this (_not\ntoo small_), and then put them in a bage (_bag_) of wullen clothe, made,\ntherefore, with the wynee; and lete it hange over a vessel, till the\nwynee be run thorowe.\u201d--_An extract from Arnold\u2019s Chronicle._\nIt is a custom which almost universally prevails in the northern parts\nof Europe, to present _a dram_ or glass of _liqueur_, before sitting\ndown to dinner: this answers the double purpose of a whet to the\nappetite, and an announcement that dinner is on the point of being\nserved up. Along with the dram, are presented on a waiter, little square\npieces of cheese, slices of cold tongue, dried tongue, and dried toast,\naccompanied with fresh _caviar_.\nWe again caution the cook to avoid over-seasoning, especially with\npredominant flavours, which, however agreeable they may be to some, are\nextremely disagreeable to others. See page 50.\nZest (No. 255), soy (No. 436), cavice, coratch, anchovy (No. 433), curry\npowder (No. 455), savoury rago\u00fbt powder (No. 457), soup herb powder (No.\n459 and 460), browning (No. 322), catchups (No. 432), pickle liquor,\nbeer, wine, and sweet herbs, and savoury spice (No. 460), are very\nconvenient auxiliaries to finish soups, &c.\nThe proportion of wine (formerly sack, then claret, now Madeira or port)\nshould not exceed a large wine-glassful to a quart of soup. This is as\nmuch as can be admitted, without the vinous flavour becoming remarkably\npredominant; though not only much larger quantities of wine (of which\nclaret is incomparably the best, because it contains less spirit and\nmore flavour, and English palates are less acquainted with it), but even\n_v\u00e9ritable eau de vie_ is ordered in many books, and used by many\n(especially tavern cooks). So much are their soups overloaded with\nrelish, that if you will eat enough of them they will certainly make you\ndrunk, if they don\u2019t make you sick: all this frequently arises from an\nold cook measuring the excitability of the eater\u2019s palates by his own,\nwhich may be so blunted by incessant tasting, that to awaken it,\nrequires wine instead of water, and Cayenne and garlic for black pepper\nand onion.\nOld cooks are as fond of _spice_, as children are of _sugar_, and season\nsoup, which is intended to constitute a principal part of a meal, as\nhighly as sauce, of which only a spoonful may be relish enough for a\nplate of insipid viands. (See _obs._ to No. 355.) However, we fancy\nthese large quantities of wine, &c. are oftener ordered in cookery books\nthan used in the kitchen: practical cooks have the health of their\nemployers too much at heart, and love \u201c_sauce \u00e0 la langue_\u201d too well to\noverwine their soup, &c.\nTruffles and morels[95-*] are also set down as a part of most receipts.\nThese, in their green state, have a very rich high flavour, and are\ndelicious additions to some dishes, or sent up as a stew by themselves\nwhen they are fresh and fine; but in this state they are not served up\nhalf a dozen times in a year at the first tables in the kingdom: when\ndried they become mere \u201c_chips in pottage_,\u201d and serve only to soak up\ngood gravy, from which they take more taste than they give.\nThe art of composing a rich soup is so to proportion the several\ningredients one to another, that no particular taste be stronger than\nthe rest, but to produce such a fine harmonious relish that the whole is\ndelightful. This requires that judicious combination of the materials\nwhich constitutes the \u201c_chef d\u2019\u0153uvre_\u201d of culinary science.\nIn the first place, take care that the roots and herbs be perfectly well\ncleaned; proportion the water to the quantity of meat and other\ningredients, generally a pound of meat to a quart of water for soups,\nand double that quantity for gravies. If they stew gently, little more\nwater need be put in at first than is expected at the end; for when the\npot is covered quite close, and the fire gentle, very little is wasted.\nGentle stewing is incomparably the best; the meat is more tender, and\nthe soup better flavoured.\nIt is of the first importance that the cover of a soup-kettle should fit\nvery close, or the broth will evaporate before you are aware of it. The\nmost essential parts are soon evaporated by quick boiling, without any\nbenefit, except to fatten the fortunate cook who inhales them. An\nevident proof that these exhalations[96-*] possess the most restorative\nqualities is, that THE COOK, who is in general the least eater, is, as\ngenerally, the _fattest_ person in the family, from continually being\nsurrounded by the quintessence of all the food she dresses; whereof she\nsends to HER MASTER only the fibres and calcinations, who is\nconsequently _thin_, _gouty_, and the victim of diseases arising from\ninsufficient nourishment.\nIt is not only the _fibres_ of the meat which nourish us, but the\n_juices_ they contain, and these are not only extracted but exhaled, if\nit be boiled fast in an open vessel. A succulent soup can never be made\nbut in a well-closed vessel, which preserves the nutritive parts by\npreventing their dissipation. This is a fact of which every intelligent\nperson will soon perceive the importance.\nPlace your soup-pot over a moderate fire, which will make the water hot\nwithout causing it to boil for at least half an hour; if the water boils\nimmediately, it will not penetrate the meat, and cleanse it from the\nclotted blood, and other matters which ought to go off in scum; the meat\nwill be hardened all over by violent heat; will shrink up as if it was\nscorched, and give hardly any gravy: on the contrary, by keeping the\nwater a certain time heating without boiling, the meat swells, becomes\ntender, its fibres are dilated, and it yields a quantity of _scum_,\nwhich must be taken off as soon as it appears.\nIt is not till after a good half hour\u2019s hot infusion that we may mend\nthe fire, and make the pot boil: still continue to remove _the scum_;\nand when no more appears, put in the vegetables, &c. and a little salt.\nThese will cause more _scum_ to rise, which must be taken off\nimmediately; then cover the pot very closely, and place it at a proper\ndistance from the fire, where it will boil very gently, and equally, and\nby no means fast.\nBy quick and strong boiling the volatile and finest parts of the\ningredients are evaporated, and fly off with the steam, and the coarser\nparts are rendered soluble; so you lose the good, and get the bad.\nSoups will generally take from _three_ to _six_ hours.\nPrepare your broths and soups the evening before you want them. This\nwill give you more time to attend to the rest of your dinner the next\nday; and when the soup is cold, the _fat_ may be much more easily and\ncompletely removed from the surface of it. When you decant it, take care\nnot to disturb the settlings at the bottom of the vessel, which are so\nfine that they will escape through a sieve, or even through a TAMIS,\nwhich is the best strainer, the soups appear smoother and finer, and it\nis much easier cleaned than any sieve. If you strain it while it is hot,\npass it through a clean tamis or napkin, previously soaked in cold\nwater; the coldness of this will coagulate the fat, and only suffer the\npure broth to pass through.\nThe full flavour of the ingredients can only be extracted by very long\nand slow simmering; during which take care to prevent evaporation, by\ncovering the pot as close as possible: the best stew-pot is a digester.\nClear soups must be perfectly transparent; thickened soups, about the\nconsistence of rich cream; and remember that thickened soups require\nnearly double the quantity of seasoning. The _piquance_ of spice, &c. is\nas much blunted by the flour and butter, as the spirit of rum is by the\naddition of sugar and acid: so they are less salubrious, without being\nmore savoury, from the additional quantity of spice, &c. that is\nsmuggled into the stomach.\nTo thicken and give body to soups and sauces, the following materials\nare used: they must be gradually mixed with the soup till thoroughly\nincorporated with it; and it should have at least half an hour\u2019s gentle\nsimmering after: if it is at all lumpy, pass it through a tamis or a\nfine sieve. Bread raspings, bread, isinglass, potato mucilage (No. 448),\nflour, or fat skimmings and flour (see No. 248), or flour and butter,\nbarley (see No. 204), rice, or oatmeal and water rubbed well together,\n(see No. 257, in which this subject is fully explained.)\nTo give that _glutinous_ quality so much admired in _mock turtle_, see\nNo. 198, and note under No. 247, No. 252, and N.B. to No. 481.\nTo their very rich gravies, &c. the French add the white meat of\npartridges, pigeons, or fowls, pounded to a pulp, and rubbed through a\nsieve. A piece of beef, which has been boiled to make broth, pounded in\nthe like manner with a bit of butter and flour, see _obs._ to No. 485*\nand No. 503, and gradually incorporated with the gravy or soup, will be\nfound a satisfactory substitute for these more expensive articles.\nMeat from which broth has been made (No. 185, and No. 252), and all its\njuice has been extracted, is then excellently well prepared for POTTING,\n(see No. 503), and is quite as good, or better, than that which has been\nbaked till it is dry;[98-*] indeed, if it be pounded, and seasoned in\nthe usual manner, it will be an elegant and savoury luncheon, or supper,\nand costs nothing but the trouble of preparing it, which is very little,\nand a relish is procured for sandwiches, &c. (No. 504) of what\nheretofore has been by the poorest housekeeper considered _the\nperquisite of the_ CAT.\nKeep some spare broth lest your soup-liquor waste in boiling, and get\ntoo thick, and for gravy for your made dishes, various sauces, &c.; for\nmany of which it is a much better basis than melted butter.\nThe soup of mock turtle, and the other thickened soups, (No. 247), will\nsupply you with a thick gravy sauce for _poultry_, _fish_, _rago\u00fbts_,\n&c.; and by a little management of this sort, you may generally contrive\nto have plenty of good gravies and good sauces with very little trouble\nor expense. See also _Portable Soup_ (No. 252).\nIf soup is too thin or too weak, take off the cover of your soup-pot,\nand let it boil till some of the watery part of it has evaporated, or\nelse add some of the thickening materials we have before mentioned; and\nhave at hand some plain browning: see No. 322, and the _obs._ thereon.\nThis simple preparation is much better than any of the compounds bearing\nthat name; as it colours sauce or soup without much interfering with its\nflavour, and is a much better way of colouring them than burning the\nsurface of the meat.\nWhen soups and gravies are kept from day to day, _in hot weather_, they\nshould be warmed up every day, and put into fresh-scalded tureens or\npans, and placed in a cool cellar; in temperate weather every other day\nmay be enough.\nWe hope we have now put the common cook into possession of the whole\n_arcana_ of soup-making, without much trouble to herself, or expense to\nher employers. It need not be said in future that an Englishman only\nknows how to make soup in his stomach, by swilling down a large quantity\nof ale or porter, to quench the thirst occasioned by the meat he eats.\nJOHN BULL may now make his soup \u201c_secund\u00f9m artem_,\u201d and save his\nprincipal viscera a great deal of trouble.\n\u2042 In the following receipts we have directed the spices[99-*] and\nflavouring to be added at the usual time; but it would greatly diminish\nthe expense, and improve the soups, if the agents employed to give them\na zest were not put in above fifteen minutes before the finish, and half\nthe quantity of spice, &c. would do. A strong heat soon dissipates the\nspirit of the wine, and evaporates the aroma and flavour of the spices\nand herbs, which are volatile in the heat of boiling water.\nIn ordering the proportions of meat, butter, wine, &c. the proper\nquantity is set down, and less will not do: we have carried economy\nquite as far as possible without \u201cspoiling the broth for a halfpenny\nworth of salt.\u201d\nI conclude these remarks with observing, that some persons imagine that\nsoup tends to relax the stomach. So far from being prejudicial, we\nconsider the moderate use of such liquid nourishment to be highly\nsalutary. Does not our food and drink, even though cold, become in a few\nminutes a kind of warm soup in the stomach? and therefore soup, if not\neaten too hot, or in too great a quantity, and of proper quality, is\nattended with great advantages, especially to those who drink but\nlittle.\nWarm fluids, in the form of soup, unite with our juices much sooner and\nbetter than those that are cold and raw: on this account, RESTORATIVE\nSOUP is the best food for those who are enfeebled by disease or\ndissipation, and for old people, whose teeth and digestive organs are\nimpaired.\n \u201cHalf subtilized to chyle, the liquid food\n Readiest obeys th\u2019 assimilating powers.\u201d\nAfter catching cold, in nervous headaches, cholics, indigestions, and\ndifferent kinds of cramp and spasms in the stomach, warm broth is of\nexcellent service.\nAfter intemperate feasting, to give the stomach a holyday for a day or\ntwo by a diet on mutton broth (No. 564, or No. 572), or vegetable soup\n(No. 218), &c. is the best way to restore its tone. \u201cThe stretching any\npower to its utmost extent weakens it. If the stomach be every day\nobliged to do as much as it can, it will every day be able to do less. A\nwise traveller will never force his horse to perform as much as he can\nin one day upon a long journey.\u201d--Father FEYJOO\u2019S _Rules_, p. 85.\nTo WARM SOUPS, &c. (No. 485.)\nN.B. With the PORTABLE SOUP (No. 252), a pint of broth may be made in\nfive minutes for threepence.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[89-*] We prefer the form of a stew-pan to the soup-pot; the former is\nmore convenient to skim: the most useful size is 12 inches diameter by 6\ninches deep: this we would have of silver, or iron, or copper, lined\n(not plated) with silver.\n[89-+] This may be always avoided by browning your meat in the\nfrying-pan; it is the browning of the meat that destroys the stew-pan.\n[90-*] In general, it has been considered the best economy to use the\ncheapest and most inferior meats for soup, &c., and to boil it down till\nit is entirely destroyed, and hardly worth putting into the hog-tub.\nThis is a false frugality: buy good pieces of meat, and only stew them\ntill they are done enough to be eaten.\n[91-*] MUSHROOM CATCHUP, made as No. 439, or No. 440, will answer all\nthe purposes of mushrooms in soup or sauce, and no store-room should be\nwithout a stock of it.\n[91-+] All cooks agree in this opinion,\n _No savoury dish without an_ ONION.\n_Sliced onions fried_, (see No. 299, and note under No. 517), with some\nbutter and flour, till they are browned (and rubbed through a sieve),\nare excellent to heighten the colour and flavour of brown soups and\nsauces, and form the basis of most of the relishes furnished by the\n\u201c_Restaurateurs_\u201d--as we guess from the odour which ascends from their\nkitchens, and salutes our olfactory nerves \u201c_en passant_.\u201d\nThe older and drier the onion, the stronger its flavour; and the cook\nwill regulate the quantity she uses accordingly.\n[92-*] Burnet has exactly the same flavour as cucumber. See Burnet\nvinegar (No. 399).\n[92-+] The concentration of flavour in CELERY and CRESS SEED is such,\nthat half a drachm of it (_finely pounded_), or double the quantity if\nnot ground or pounded, _costing only one-third of a farthing_, will\nimpregnate half a gallon of soup with almost as much relish as two or\nthree heads of the fresh vegetable, weighing seven ounces, and costing\n_twopence_. This valuable acquisition to the soup-pot deserves to be\nuniversally known. See also No. 409, essence of CELERY. This is the most\nfrugal relish we have to introduce to the economist: but that our\njudgment in palates may not be called in question by our fellow-mortals,\nwho, as the _Craniologists_ say, happen to have the _organ of taste_\nstronger than the _organ of accumulativeness_, we must confess, that,\nwith the flavour it does not impart the delicate sweetness, &c. of the\nfresh vegetable; and when used, a bit of sugar should accompany it.\n[92-++] See No. 419, No. 420, and No. 459. Fresh green BASIL is seldom\nto be procured. When dried, much of its fine flavour is lost, which is\nfully extracted by pouring wine on the fresh leaves (see No. 397).\nTo procure and preserve the flavour of SWEET AND SAVOURY HERBS, celery,\n&c. these must be dried, &c. at home (see No. 417* and No. 461).\n[92-\u00a7] See No. 421 and No. 457. Sir Hans Sloane, in the Phil. Trans.\nAbr. vol. xi. p. 667, says, \u201c_Pimento_, the spice of Jamaica, or\nALLSPICE, so called, from having a flavour composed as it were of\ncloves, cinnamon, nutmegs, and pepper, may deservedly be counted the\nbest and most temperate, mild, and innocent of common spices, almost all\nof which it far surpasses, by promoting the digestion of meat, and\nmoderately heating and strengthening the stomach, and doing those\nfriendly offices to the bowels, we generally expect from spices.\u201d We\nhave always been of the same opinion as Sir Hans, and believe the only\nreason why it is the least esteemed spice is, because it is the\ncheapest. \u201cWhat folks get easy they never enjoy.\u201d\n[92-||] If you have not fresh orange or lemon-juice, or Coxwell\u2019s\ncrystallized lemon acid, _the artificial lemon juice_ (No. 407) is a\ngood substitute for it.\n[92-\u00b6] The _juice_ of the SEVILLE ORANGE is to be preferred to that of\nthe LEMON, the flavour is finer, and the acid milder.\n[93-*] The erudite editor of the \u201c_Almanach des Gourmands_,\u201d vol. ii. p.\n30, tells us, that ten folio volumes would not contain the receipts of\nall the soups that have been invented in that grand school of good\neating,--the Parisian kitchen.\n[93-+] \u201c_Point de L\u00e9gumes_, _point de Cuisini\u00e8re_,\u201d is a favourite\nculinary adage of the French kitchen, and deserves to be so: a better\nsoup may be made with a couple of pounds of meat and plenty of\nvegetables, than our common cooks will make you with four times that\nquantity of meat; all for want of knowing the uses of soup roots, and\nsweet and savoury herbs.\n[93-++] Many a good dish is spoiled, by the cook not knowing the proper\nuse of this, which is to give a flavour, and not to be predominant over\nthe other ingredients: a morsel mashed with the point of a knife, and\nstirred in, is enough. See No. 402.\n[93-\u00a7] Foreigners have strange notions of English taste, on which one of\ntheir culinary professors has made the following comment: \u201cthe organ of\ntaste in these ISLANDERS is very different from _our delicate palates_;\nand sauce that would excoriate the palate of a Frenchman, would be\nhardly _piquante_ enough to make any impression on that of an\nEnglishman; thus they prefer port to claret,\u201d &c. As far as concerns our\ndrinking, we wish there was not quite so much truth in _Monsieur\u2019s_\nremarks, but the characteristic of the French and English kitchen is\n_sauce without substance_, and _substance without sauce_.\nTo make CAYENNE of English chillies, of infinitely finer flavour than\nthe Indian, see No. 404.\n[95-*] We tried to make catchup of these by treating them like mushrooms\n(No. 439), but did not succeed.\n[96-*] \u201cA poor man, being very hungry, staid so long in a cook\u2019s shop,\nwho was dishing up meat, that his stomach was satisfied with only the\nsmell thereof. The choleric cook demanded of him to pay for his\nbreakfast; the poor man denied having had any, and the controversy was\nreferred to the deciding of the next man that should pass by, who\nchanced to be the most notorious idiot in the whole city: he, on the\nrelation of the matter, determined that the poor man\u2019s money should be\nput between two empty dishes, and the cook should be recompensed with\nthe jingling of the poor man\u2019s money, as he was satisfied with the smell\nof the cook\u2019s meat.\u201d This is affirmed by credible writers as no fable,\nbut an undoubted truth.--FULLER\u2019S _Holy State_, lib. iii. c. 12, p. 20.\n[98-*] If the gravy be not completely drained from it, the article\npotted will very soon turn sour.\n[99-*] Economists recommend these to be pounded; they certainly go\nfarther, as they call it; but we think they go too far, for they go\nthrough the sieve, and make the soup grouty.\nCHAPTER VIII.\nGRAVIES AND SAUCES.\n \u201cThe spirit of each dish, and ZEST of all,\n Is what ingenious cooks the relish call;\n For though the market sends in loads of food,\n They are all tasteless, till that makes them good.\u201d\n KING\u2019S _Art of Cookery_.\n \u201c_Ex parvis componere magna._\u201d\nIt is of as much importance that the cook should know how to make a boat\nof good gravy for her poultry, &c. as that it should be sent up of\nproper complexion, and nicely frothed.\nIn this chapter, we shall endeavour to introduce to her all the\nmaterials[101-*] which give flavour in _sauce_, which is the _essence of\nsoup_, and intended to contain more relish in a _tea-spoonful_ than the\nformer does in a _table-spoonful_.\nWe hope to deserve as much praise from the _economist_ as we do from the\n_bon vivant_; as we have taken great pains to introduce to him the\nmethods of making substitutes for those ingredients, which are always\nexpensive, and often not to be had at all. Many of these cheap articles\nare as savoury and as salutary as the dearer ones, and those who have\nlarge families and limited incomes, will, no doubt, be glad to avail\nthemselves of them.\nThe reader may rest assured, that whether he consults this book to\ndiminish the expense or increase the pleasures of hospitality, he will\nfind all the information that was to be obtained up to 1826,\ncommunicated in the most unreserved and intelligible manner.\nA great deal of the elegance of cookery depends upon the accompaniments\nto each dish being appropriate and well adapted to it.\nWe can assure our readers, no attention has been wanting on our part to\nrender this department of the work worthy of their perusal; each receipt\nis the faithful narrative of actual and repeated experiments, and has\nreceived the most deliberate consideration before it was here presented\nto them. It is given in the most circumstantial manner, and not in the\ntechnical and mysterious language former writers on these subjects seem\nto have preferred; by which their directions are useless and\nunintelligible to all who have not regularly served an apprenticeship at\nthe stove.\nThus, instead of accurately enumerating the quantities, and explaining\nthe process of each composition, they order a ladleful of _stock_, a\npint of _consomm\u00e9_, and a spoonful of _cullis_; as if a private-family\ncook had always at hand a soup-kettle full of _stock_, a store of\n_consomm\u00e9_, and the larder of _Albion house_, and the _spoons_ and\n_pennyworths_ were the same in all ages.\nIt will be to very little purpose that I have taken so much pains to\nteach how to manage roasts and boils, if a cook cannot or will not make\nthe several sauces that are usually sent up with them.\nThe most homely fare may be made relishing, and the most excellent and\nindependent improved by a well-made sauce;[102-*] as the most perfect\npicture may, by being well varnished.\nWe have, therefore, endeavoured to give the plainest directions how to\nproduce, with the least trouble and expense[102-+] possible, all the\nvarious compositions the English kitchen affords; and hope to present\nsuch a wholesome and palatable variety as will suit all tastes and all\npockets, so that a cook may give satisfaction in all families. The more\ncombinations of this sort she is acquainted with, the better she will\ncomprehend the management of every one of them.\nWe have rejected some _outlandish farragoes_, from a conviction that\nthey were by no means adapted to an English palate. If they have been\nreceived into some English books, for the sake of swelling the volume,\nwe believe they will never be received by an Englishman\u2019s stomach,\nunless for the reason they were admitted into the cookery book, _i. e._\nbecause he has nothing else to put into it.\nHowever \u201c_les pompeuses bagatelles de la Cuisine Masqu\u00e9e_\u201d may tickle\nthe fancy of _demi-connoisseurs_, who, leaving the substance to pursue\nthe shadow, prefer wonderful and whimsical metamorphoses, and things\nextravagantly expensive to those which are intrinsically excellent; in\nwhose mouth mutton can hardly hope for a welcome, unless accompanied by\nvenison sauce; or a rabbit, any chance for a race down the red lane,\nwithout assuming the form of a frog or a spider; or pork, without being\neither \u201c_goosified_\u201d or \u201c_lambified_\u201d (see No. 51); and game and\npoultry in the shape of crawfish or hedgehogs; these travesties rather\nshow the patience than the science of the cook, and the bad taste of\nthose who prefer such baby-tricks to nourishing and substantial plain\ncookery.\nI could have made this the biggest book with half the trouble it has\ntaken me to make it the best: concentration and perspicuity have been my\naim.\nAs much pains have been taken in describing, in the most intelligible\nmanner, how to make, in the easiest, most agreeable, and economical way,\nthose common sauces that daily contribute to the comfort of the middle\nranks of society; as in directing the preparation of those extravagant\nand elaborate double relishes, the most ingenious and accomplished\n\u201c_officers of the mouth_\u201d have invented for the amusement of profound\npalaticians, and thorough-bred _grands gourmands_ of the first\nmagnitude: these we have so reduced the trouble and expense of making,\nas to bring them within the reach of moderate fortunes; still preserving\nall that is valuable of their taste and qualities; so ordering them,\nthat they may delight the palate, without disordering the stomach, by\nleaving out those inflammatory ingredients which are only fit for an\n\u201ciron throat and adamantine bowels,\u201d and those costly materials which no\nrational being would destroy, for the wanton purpose of merely giving a\nfine name to the compositions they enter into, to whose excellence they\ncontribute nothing else. For instance, consuming _two_ partridges to\nmake sauce for _one_: half a pint of game gravy (No. 329,) will be\ninfinitely more acceptable to the unsophisticated appetite of\nEnglishmen, for whose proper and rational recreation we sat down to\ncompose these receipts; whose approbation we have done our utmost to\ndeserve, by devoting much time to the business of the kitchen; and by\nrepeating the various processes that we thought admitted of the smallest\nimprovement.\nWe shall be fully gratified, if our book is not bought up with quite so\nmuch avidity by those high-bred epicures, who are unhappily so much more\nnice than wise, that they cannot eat any thing dressed by an English\ncook; and vote it barbarously unrefined and intolerably ungenteel, to\nendure the sight of the best bill of fare that can be contrived, if\nwritten in the vulgar tongue of old England.[103-*]\nLet your sauces each display a decided character; send up your plain\nsauces (oyster, lobster, &c.) as pure as possible: they should only\ntaste of the materials from which they take their name.\nThe imagination of most cooks is so incessantly on the hunt for a\nrelish, that they seem to think they cannot make sauce sufficiently\nsavoury without putting into it every thing that ever was eaten; and\nsupposing every addition must be an improvement, they frequently\noverpower the natural flavour of their PLAIN SAUCES, by overloading them\nwith salt and spices, &c.: but, remember, these will be deteriorated by\nany addition, save only just salt enough to awaken the palate. The lover\nof \u201c_piquance_\u201d and compound flavours, may have recourse to \u201c_the\nMagazine of Taste_,\u201d No. 462.\nOn the contrary, of COMPOUND SAUCES; the ingredients should be so nicely\nproportioned, that no one be predominant; so that from the equal union\nof the combined flavours such a fine mellow mixture is produced, whose\nvery novelty cannot fail of being acceptable to the persevering\n_gourmand_, if it has not pretensions to a permanent place at his table.\nAn ingenious _cook_ will form as endless a variety of these compositions\nas a _musician_ with his seven[104-*] notes, or a _painter_ with his\ncolours; no part of her business offers so fair and frequent an\nopportunity to display her abilities: SPICES, HERBS, &c. are often very\nabsurdly and injudiciously jumbled together.\nWhy have clove and allspice, or mace and nutmeg, in the same sauce; or\nmarjoram, thyme, and savoury; or onions, leeks, eschalots, and garlic?\none will very well supply the place of the other, and the frugal cook\nmay save something considerable by attending to this, to the advantage\nof her employers, and her own time and trouble. You might as well, to\nmake soup, order one quart of water from the _Thames_, another from the\n_New River_, a third from _Hampstead_, and a fourth from _Chelsea_, with\na certain portion of _spring_ and _rain_ water.\nIn many of our receipts we have fallen in with the fashion of ordering a\nmixture of spices, &c., which the above hint will enable the culinary\nstudent to correct.\n\u201cPHARMACY is now much more simple; COOKERY may be made so too. A\nprescription which is now compounded with five ingredients, had formerly\nfifty in it: people begin to understand that the materia medica is\nlittle more than a collection of evacuants and stimuli.\u201d--_Boswell\u2019s\nLife of Johnson._\nThe _rago\u00fbts of the last century_ had infinitely more ingredients than\nwe use now; the praise given to _Will. Rabisha_ for his Cookery, 12mo.\n \u201cTo fry and fricassee, his way\u2019s most neat,\n For he compounds a thousand sorts of meat.\u201d\nTo become a perfect mistress of the art of cleverly extracting and\ncombining flavours,[105-*] besides the gift of a good taste, requires\nall the experience and skill of the most accomplished professor, and,\nespecially, an intimate acquaintance with the palate she is working for.\nSend your sauces to table as hot as possible.\nNothing can be more unsightly than the surface of a sauce in a frozen\nstate, or garnished with grease on the top. The best way to get rid of\nthis, is to pass it through a tamis or napkin previously soaked in cold\nwater; the coldness of the napkin will coagulate the fat, and only\nsuffer the pure gravy to pass through: if any particles of fat remain,\ntake them off by applying filtering paper, as blotting paper is applied\nto writing.\nLet your sauces boil up after you put in wine, anchovy, or thickening,\nthat their flavours may be well blended with the other ingredients;[105-+]\nand keep in mind that the \u201c_chef-d\u2019\u0153uvre_\u201d of COOKERY is, to entertain\nthe mouth without offending the stomach.\nN.B. Although I have endeavoured to give the particular quantity of each\ningredient used in the following sauces, as they are generally made;\nstill the cook\u2019s judgment must direct her to lessen or increase either\nof the ingredients, according to the taste of those she works for, and\nwill always be on the alert to ascertain what are the favourite\n_accompaniments_ desired with each dish. See _Advice to Cooks_, page 50.\nWhen you open a bottle of _catchup_ (No. 439), _essence of anchovy_ (No.\n433), &c., throw away the old cork, and stop it closely with a new cork\nthat will fit it very tight. Use only the best superfine velvet\ntaper-corks.\nEconomy in corks is extremely unwise: in order to save a mere trifle in\nthe price of the cork, you run the risk of losing the valuable article\nit is intended to preserve.\nIt is a _vulgar error_ that a bottle must be well stopped, when the cork\nis forced down even with the mouth of it; it is rather a sign that the\ncork is too small, and it should be redrawn and a larger one put in.\n_To make bottle-cement._\nHalf a pound of black resin, same quantity of red sealing-wax, quarter\noz. bees\u2019 wax, melted in an earthen or iron pot; when it froths up,\nbefore all is melted and likely to boil over, stir it with a tallow\ncandle, which will settle the froth till all is melted and fit for use.\nRed wax, 10_d._ per lb. may be bought at Mr. Dew\u2019s Blackmore-street,\nClare-market.\nN.B. This cement is of very great use in preserving things that you wish\nto keep a long time, which without its help would soon spoil, from the\nclumsy and ineffectual manner in which the bottles are corked.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[101-*] See, in pages 91, 92, A CATALOGUE OF THE INGREDIENTS now used in\nsoups, sauces, &c.\n[102-*] \u201cIt is the duty of a good sauce,\u201d says the editor of the\n_Almanach des Gourmands_ (vol. v. page 6), \u201cto insinuate itself all\nround and about the maxillary gland, and imperceptibly awaken into\nactivity each ramification of the organs of taste: if not sufficiently\nsavoury, it cannot produce this effect, and if too _piquante_, it will\nparalyze, instead of exciting, those delicious titillations of tongue\nand vibrations of palate, that only the most accomplished philosophers\nof the mouth can produce on the highly-educated palates of thrice happy\n_grands gourmands_.\u201d\n[102-+] To save time and trouble is the most valuable frugality: and if\nthe mistress of a family will condescend to devote a little time to the\nprofitable and pleasant employment of preparing some of the STORE\nboth epicures and economists will avail themselves of the advantage now\ngiven them, of preparing at home.\nBy the help of these, many dishes may be dressed in half the usual time,\nand with half the trouble and expense, and flavoured and finished with\nmuch more certainty than by the common methods.\nA small portion of the time which young ladies sacrifice to torturing\nthe strings of their _piano-forte_, employed in obtaining domestic\naccomplishments, might not make them worse wives, or less agreeable\ncompanions to their husbands. This was the opinion 200 years ago.\n\u201cTo speak, then, of the knowledge which belongs unto our British\nhousewife, I hold the most principal to be a perfect skill in COOKERY:\nshe that is utterly ignorant therein, may not, by the lawes of strict\njustice, challenge the freedom of marriage, because indeede she can\nperform but half her vow: she may love and obey, but she cannot cherish\nand keepe her husband.\u201d--G. MARKHAM\u2019S _English Housewife_, 4to. 1637, p.\nWe hope our fair readers will forgive us, for telling them that economy\nin a wife, is the most certain charm to ensure the affection and\nindustry of a husband.\n[103-*] Though some of these people seem at last to have found out, that\nan Englishman\u2019s head may be as full of gravy as a Frenchman\u2019s, and\nwilling to give the preference to native talent, retain an Englishman or\nwoman as prime minister of their kitchen; still they seem ashamed to\nconfess it, and commonly insist as a \u201c_sine qu\u00e2 non_,\u201d that their\nEnglish domestics should understand the \u201c_parlez vous_;\u201d and\nnotwithstanding they are perfectly initiated in all the minuti\u00e6 of the\nphilosophy of the mouth, consider them uneligible, if they cannot\nscribble _a bill of fare in pretty good bad French_.\n[104-*] The principal agents now employed to flavour soups and sauces\nare, MUSHROOMS (No. 439), ONIONS (No. 420), ANCHOVY (No. 433),\nLEMON-JUICE and PEEL, or VINEGAR, WINE, (especially good CLARET), SWEET\nHERBS, and SAVOURY SPICES.--Nos. 420-422, and 457. 459, 460.\n[105-*] If your palate becomes dull by repeatedly tasting, the best way\nto refresh it is to wash your mouth well with milk.\n[105-+] Before you put eggs or cream into a sauce, have all your other\ningredients well boiled, and the sauce or soup of proper thickness;\nbecause neither eggs nor cream will contribute to thicken it.--After you\nhave put them in, do not set the stew-pan on the stove again, but hold\nit over the fire, and shake it round one way till the sauce is ready.\nCHAPTER IX.\nMADE DISHES.\nUnder this general head we range our receipts for HASHES, STEWS, and\nRAGOUTS,[106-*] &c. Of these there are a great multitude, affording the\ningenious cook an inexhaustible store of variety: in the French kitchen\nthey count upwards of 600, and are daily inventing new ones.\nWe have very few general observations to make, after what we have\nalready said in the two preceding chapters on _sauces_, _soups_, &c.,\nwhich apply to the present chapter, as they form the principal part of\nthe accompaniment of most of these dishes. In fact, MADE DISHES are\nnothing more than meat, poultry (No. 530), or fish (Nos. 146, 158, or\n164), stewed very gently till they are tender, with a thickened sauce\npoured over them.\nBe careful to trim off all the skin, gristle, &c. that will not be\neaten; and shape handsomely, and of even thickness, the various articles\nwhich compose your made dishes: this is sadly neglected by common cooks.\nOnly stew them till they are just tender, and do not stew them to rags;\ntherefore, what you prepare the day before it is to be eaten, do not\ndress quite enough the first day.\nWe have given receipts for the most easy and simple way to make HASHES,\n&c. Those who are well skilled in culinary arts can dress up things in\nthis way, so as to be as agreeable as they were the first time they were\ncooked. But hashing is a very bad mode of cookery: if meat has been done\nenough the first time it is dressed, a second dressing will divest it of\nall its nutritive juices; and if it can be smuggled into the stomach by\nbribing the palate with _piquante_ sauce, it is at the hazard of an\nindigestion, &c.\nI promise those who do me the honour to put my receipts into practice,\nthat they will find that the most nutritious and truly elegant dishes\nare neither the most difficult to dress, the most expensive, nor the\nmost indigestible. In these compositions experience will go far to\ndiminish expense: meat that is too old or too tough for roasting, &c.,\nmay by gentle stewing be rendered savoury and tender. If some of our\nreceipts do differ a little from those in former cookery books, let it\nbe remembered we have advanced nothing in this work that has not been\ntried, and experience has proved correct.\nN.B. See No. 483, an ingenious and economical system of FRENCH COOKERY,\nwritten at the request of the editor by an accomplished ENGLISH LADY,\nwhich will teach you how to supply your table with elegant little made\ndishes, &c. at as little expense as plain cookery.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[106-*] Sauce for rago\u00fbts, &c., should be thickened till it is of the\nconsistence of good rich cream, that it may adhere to whatever it is\npoured over. When you have a large dinner to dress, keep ready-mixed\nsome fine-sifted flour and water well rubbed together till quite smooth,\nand about as thick as butter. See No. 257.\nTHE\nCOOK\u2019S ORACLE.\nBOILING.\n[Read the first chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery.]\n_Leg of Mutton._--(No. 1.)\nCut off the shank bone, and trim the knuckle, put it into lukewarm water\nfor ten minutes, wash it clean, cover it with cold water, and let it\nsimmer _very gently_, and skim it carefully. A leg of nine pounds will\ntake two and a half or three hours, if you like it thoroughly done,\nespecially in very cold weather.\nFor the accompaniments, see the following receipt.\nN.B. The _tit-bits_ with an epicure are the \u201cknuckle,\u201d the kernel,\ncalled the \u201c_pope\u2019s eye_,\u201d and the \u201c_gentleman\u2019s_\u201d or \u201c_cramp bone_,\u201d\nor, as it is called in Kent, the \u201cCAW CAW,\u201d four of these and a bounder\nfurnish the little masters and mistresses of Kent with their most\nfavourite set of playthings.\nA leg of mutton stewed _very slowly_, as we have directed the beef to be\n(No. 493), will be as agreeable to an English appetite as the famous\n\u201c_gigot[108-*] de sept heures_\u201d of the French kitchen is to a Parisian\npalate.\nWhen mutton is very large, you may divide it, and _roast the fillet_, i.\ne. the large end, and _boil the knuckle end_; you may also cut some fine\ncutlets off the thick end of the leg, _and so have two or three good hot\ndinners_. See Mrs. MAKEITDO\u2019S receipt how to make a leg of mutton last a\nweek, in \u201c_the housekeeper\u2019s leger_,\u201d printed for Whittaker, Ave-Maria\nLane.\n_The liquor the mutton is boiled in_, you may convert into good soup in\nfive minutes, (see N.B. to No. 218,) and Scotch barley broth (No. 204).\nThus managed, a leg of mutton is a most economical joint.\n_Neck of Mutton._--(No. 2.)\nPut four or five pounds of the best end of a neck (that has been kept a\nfew days) into as much cold soft water as will cover it, and about two\ninches over; let it simmer very slowly for two hours: it will look most\ndelicate if you do not take off the skin till it has been boiled.\nFor sauce, that elegant and innocent relish, parsley and butter (No.\n261), or eschalot (No. 294 or 5), or caper sauce (No. 274), mock caper\nsauce (No. 275), and onion sauce (No. 298), turnips (No. 130), or\nspinage (No. 121), are the usual accompaniments to boiled mutton.\nA leg of five pounds should simmer very gently for about two hours, from\nthe time it is put on, in cold water. After the general rules for\nboiling, in the first chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery, we have\nnothing to add, only to send up with it spinage (No. 122), broccoli (No.\n126), cauliflower (No. 125), &c., and for sauce, No. 261.\nThis is expected to come to table looking delicately clean; and it is so\neasily discoloured, that you must be careful to have clean water, a\nclean vessel, and constantly catch the scum as soon and as long as it\nrises, and attend to the directions before given in the first chapter of\nthe Rudiments of Cookery. Send up bacon (No. 13), fried sausages (No.\n87), or pickled pork, greens, (No. 118 and following Nos.) and parsley\nand butter (No. 261), onion sauce (No. 298).\nN.B. For receipts to cook veal, see from No. 512 to No. 521.\n_Beef bouilli_,--(No. 5.)\nIn plain English, is understood to mean boiled beef; but its culinary\nacceptation, in the French kitchen, is fresh beef dressed without\nboiling, and only very gently simmered by a slow fire.\nCooks have seldom any notion, that good soup can be made without\ndestroying a great deal of meat; however, by a judicious regulation of\nthe fire, and a vigilant attendance on the soup-kettle, this may be\naccomplished. You shall have a tureen of such soup as will satisfy the\nmost fastidious palate, and the meat make its appearance at table, at\nthe same time, in possession of a full portion of nutritious\nsucculence.\nThis requires nothing more than to stew the meat very slowly (instead of\nkeeping the pot boiling a gallop, as common cooks too commonly do), and\nto take it up as soon as it is done enough. See \u201cSoup and bouilli\u201d (No.\n238), \u201cShin of beef stewed\u201d (No. 493), \u201cScotch barley broth\u201d (No. 204).\nMeat cooked in this manner affords much more nourishment than it does\ndressed in the common way, is easy of digestion in proportion as it is\ntender, and an invigorating, substantial diet, especially valuable to\nthe poor, whose laborious employments require support.\nIf they could get good eating put within their reach, they would often\ngo to the butcher\u2019s shop, when they now run to the public-house.\nAmong the variety of schemes that have been suggested for bettering the\ncondition of the poor, a more useful or extensive charity cannot be\ndevised, than that of instructing them in economical and comfortable\ncookery, except providing them with spectacles.\n\u201cThe poor in Scotland, and on the Continent, manage much better. Oatmeal\nporridge (Nos. 205 and 572) and milk, constitute the breakfast and\nsupper of those patterns of industry, frugality, and temperance, the\nScottish peasantry.\n\u201cWhen they can afford meat, they form with it a large quantity of barley\nbroth (No. 204), with a variety of vegetables, by boiling the whole a\nlong time, enough to serve the family for several days.\n\u201cWhen they cannot afford meat, they make broth of barley and other\nvegetables, with a lump of butter (see No. 229), all of which they boil\nfor many hours, and this with oat cakes forms their dinner.\u201d COCHRANE\u2019S\n_Seaman\u2019s Guide_, p. 34.\nThe cheapest method of making a nourishing soup is least known to those\nwho have most need of it. (See No. 229.)\nOur neighbours the French are so justly famous for their skill in the\naffairs of the kitchen, that the adage says, \u201cas many Frenchmen as many\ncooks:\u201d surrounded as they are by a profusion of the most delicious\nwines and most seducing _liqueurs_, offering every temptation and\nfacility to render drunkenness delightful: yet a tippling Frenchman is a\n\u201c_rara avis_;\u201d they know how so easily and completely to keep life in\nrepair by good eating, that they require little or no adjustment from\ndrinking.\nThis accounts for that \u201c_toujours gai_,\u201d and happy equilibrium of\nspirits, which they enjoy with more regularity than any people. Their\nstomach, being unimpaired by spirituous liquors, embrace and digest\nvigorously the food they sagaciously prepare for it, and render easily\nassimilable by cooking it sufficiently, wisely contriving to get the\ndifficult part of the work of the stomach done by fire and water.\n_To salt Meat._--(No. 6.)\nIn the _summer_ season, especially, meat is frequently spoiled by the\ncook forgetting to take out the kernels; one in the udder of a round of\nbeef, in the fat in the middle of the round, those about the thick end\nof the flank, &c.: if these are not taken out, all the salt in the world\nwill not keep the meat.\nThe art of salting meat is to rub in the salt thoroughly and evenly into\nevery part, and to fill all the holes full of salt where the kernels\nwere taken out, and where the butcher\u2019s skewers were.\nA round of beef of 25 pounds will take a pound and a half of salt to be\nrubbed in all at first, and requires to be turned and rubbed every day\nwith the brine; it will be ready for dressing in four or five\ndays,[111-*] if you do not wish it very salt.\nIn _summer_, the sooner meat is salted after it is killed the better;\nand care must be taken to defend it from the flies.\nIn _winter_, it will eat the shorter and tenderer, if kept a few days\n(according to the temperature of the weather) until its fibre has become\nshort and tender, as these changes do not take place after it has been\nacted upon by the salt.\nIn frosty weather, take care the meat is not frozen, and warm the salt\nin a frying-pan. The extremes of heat[111-+] and cold are equally\nunfavourable for the process of salting. In the former, the meat changes\nbefore the salt can affect it: in the latter, it is so hardened, and its\njuices are so congealed, that the salt cannot penetrate it.\nIf you wish it red, rub it first with saltpetre, in the proportion of\nhalf an ounce, and the like quantity of moist sugar, to a pound of\ncommon salt. (See Savoury salt beef, No. 496.)\nYou may impregnate meat with a very agreeable vegetable flavour, by\npounding some sweet herbs (No. 459,) and an onion with the salt. You may\nmake it still more relishing by adding a little ZEST (No. 255), or\n_savoury spice_ (No. 457).\n_To pickle Meat._\n\u201cSix pounds of salt, one pound of sugar, and four ounces of saltpetre,\nboiled with four gallons of water, skimmed, and allowed to cool, forms a\nvery strong pickle, which will preserve any meat completely immersed in\nit. To effect this, which is essential, either a heavy board or a flat\nstone must be laid upon the meat. The same pickle may be used\nrepeatedly, provided it be boiled up occasionally with additional salt\nto restore its strength, diminished by the combination of part of the\nsalt with the meat, and by the dilution of the pickle by the juices of\nthe meat extracted. By boiling, the albumen, which would cause the\npickle to spoil, is coagulated, and rises in the form of scum, which\nmust be carefully removed.\u201d--See _Supplement to Encyclop. Britan._ vol.\nMeat kept immersed in pickle gains weight. In one experiment by Messrs.\nDonkin and Gamble, there was a gain of three per cent., and in another\nof two and a half; but in the common way of salting, when the meat is\nnot immersed in pickle, there is a loss of about one pound, or one and a\nhalf, in sixteen. See Dr. Wilkinson\u2019s account of the preserving power of\nPYRO-LIGNEOUS ACID, &c. in the Philosophical Magazine for 1821, No. 273,\nAn H-bone of 10 or 12 pounds weight will require about three-quarters of\na pound of salt, and an ounce of moist sugar, to be well rubbed into it.\nIt will be ready in four or five days, if turned and rubbed every day.\nThe time meat requires salting depends upon the weight of it, and how\nmuch salt is used: and if it be rubbed in with a heavy hand, it will be\nready much sooner than if only lightly rubbed.\nN. B. Dry the salt, and rub it with the sugar in a mortar.\nPORK requires a longer time to cure (in proportion to its weight) than\nbeef. A leg of pork should be in salt eight or ten days; turn it and rub\nit every day.\nSalt meat should be well washed before it is boiled, especially if it\nhas been in salt long, that the liquor in which the meat is boiled, may\nnot be too salt to make soup of. (No. 218, &c. and No. 555.)\nIf it has been in salt a long time, and you fear that it will be too\nsalt, wash it well in cold water, and soak it in lukewarm water for a\ncouple of hours. If it is _very salt_, lay it in water the night before\nyou intend to dress it.\n_A Round of salted Beef._--(No. 7.)\nAs this is too large for a moderate family, we shall write directions\nfor the dressing half a round. Get the tongue side.\nSkewer it up tight and round, and tie a fillet of broad tape round it,\nto keep the skewers in their places.\nPut it into plenty of cold water, and carefully catch the scum as soon\nas it rises: let it boil till all the scum is removed, and then put the\nboiler on one side of the fire, to keep _simmering_ slowly till it is\ndone.\nHalf a round of 15lbs. will take about three hours: if it weighs more,\ngive it more time.\nWhen you take it up, if any stray scum, &c. sticks to it that has\nescaped the vigilance of your skimmer, wash it off with a paste-brush:\ngarnish the dishes with carrots and turnips. Send up carrots (No. 129),\nturnips (No. 130), and parsnips, or greens (No. 118), &c. on separate\ndishes. Pease pudding (No. 555), and MY PUDDING (No. 551), are all very\nproper accompaniments.\nN.B. The outside slices, which are generally too much salted and too\nmuch boiled, will make a very good relish as potted beef (No. 503). For\nusing up the remains of a joint of boiled beef, see also Bubble and\nSqueak (No. 505).\n_H-Bone of Beef_,--(No. 8.)\nIs to be managed in exactly the same manner as the round, but will be\nsooner boiled, as it is not so solid. An H-bone of 20lbs. will be done\nenough in about four hours; of 10lbs. in three hours, more or less, as\nthe weather is hotter or colder. Be sure the boiler is big enough to\nallow it plenty of water-room: let it be well covered with water: set\nthe pot on one side of the fire to boil gently: if it boils quick at\nfirst, no art can make it tender after. The slower it boils, the better\nit will look, and the tenderer it will be. The same accompanying\nvegetables as in the preceding receipt. Dress plenty of carrots, as cold\ncarrots are a general favourite with cold beef.\n_Mem._--Epicures say, that the _soft_, fat-like marrow, which lies on\nthe back, is delicious when hot, and the _hard_ fat about the upper\ncorner is best when cold.\nTo make PERFECTLY GOOD PEASE SOUP in _ten minutes_, of the liquor in\nwhich the beef has been boiled, see N.B. to No. 218.\n_Obs._--In \u201cMrs. Mason\u2019s Ladies\u2019 Assistant,\u201d this joint is called\nhaunch-bone; in \u201cHenderson\u2019s Cookery,\u201d edge-bone; in \u201cDomestic\nManagement,\u201d aitch-bone; in \u201cReynold\u2019s Cookery,\u201d ische-bone; in \u201cMrs.\nLydia Fisher\u2019s Prudent Housewife,\u201d ach-bone; in \u201cMrs. M\u2019Iver\u2019s Cookery,\u201d\nhook-bone. We have also seen it spelled each-bone and ridge-bone; and we\nhave also heard it called natch-bone.\nN.B. Read the note under No. 7; and to make perfectly good pease soup of\nthe pot-liquor, in ten minutes, see _Obs._ to No. 218, No. 229, and No.\n_Ribs of Beef salted and rolled._--(No. 9.)\nBriskets, and the various other pieces, are dressed in the same way.\n\u201cWow-wow\u201d sauce (No. 328,) is an agreeable companion.\n_Half a Calf\u2019s Head._--(No. 10.)\nCut it in two, and take out the brains: wash the head well in several\nwaters, and soak it in warm water for a quarter of an hour before you\ndress it. Put the head into a saucepan, with plenty of cold water: when\nit is coming to a boil, and the scum rises, carefully remove it.\nHalf a calf\u2019s head (without the skin) will take from an hour and a half\nto two hours and a quarter, according to its size; with the skin on,\nabout an hour longer. It must be _stewed very gently_ till it is tender:\nit is then extremely nutritive, and easy of digestion.\nPut eight or ten sage leaves (some cooks use parsley instead, or equal\nparts of each) into a small sauce-pan: boil them tender (about half an\nhour); then chop them very fine, and set them ready on a plate.\nWash the brains well in two waters; put them into a large basin of cold\nwater, with a little salt in it, and let them soak for an hour; then\npour away the cold, and cover them with hot water; and when you have\ncleaned and skinned them, put them into a stew-pan with plenty of cold\nwater: when it boils, take the scum off very carefully, and boil gently\nfor 10 or 15 minutes: now chop them (not very fine); put them into a\nsauce-pan with the sage leaves and a couple of table-spoonfuls of thin\nmelted butter, and a little salt (to this some cooks add a little\nlemon-juice), and stir them well together; and as soon as they are well\nwarmed (take care they don\u2019t burn), skin the tongue,[115-*] trim off\nthe roots, and put it in the middle of a dish, and the brains round it:\nor, chop the brains with an eschalot, a little parsley, and four\nhard-boiled eggs, and put them into a quarter of a pint of bechamel, or\nwhite sauce (No. 2 of 364). A calf\u2019s cheek is usually attended by a\npig\u2019s cheek, a knuckle of ham or bacon (No. 13, or No. 526), or pickled\npork (No. 11), and greens, broccoli, cauliflowers, or pease; and always\nby parsley and butter (see No. 261, No. 311, or No. 343).\nIf you like it full dressed, score it superficially, beat up the yelk of\nan egg, and rub it over the head with a feather; powder it with a\nseasoning of finely minced (or dried and powdered) winter savoury or\nlemon-thyme (or sage), parsley, pepper, and salt, and bread crumbs, and\ngive it a brown with a salamander, or in a tin Dutch oven: when it\nbegins to dry, sprinkle a little melted butter over it with a\npaste-brush.\nYou may garnish the dish with broiled rashers of bacon (No. 526 or 527).\n_Obs._--Calf\u2019s head is one of the most delicate and favourite dishes in\nthe list of boiled meats; but nothing is more insipid when cold, and\nnothing makes so nice a hash; therefore don\u2019t forget to save a quart of\nthe liquor it was boiled in to make sauce, &c. for the hash (see also\nNo. 520). Cut the head and tongue into slices, trim them neatly, and\nleave out the gristles and fat; and slice some of the bacon that was\ndressed to eat with the head, and warm them in the hash.\nTake the bones and the trimmings of the head, a bundle of sweet herbs,\nan onion, a roll of lemon-peel, and a blade of bruised mace: put these\ninto a sauce-pan with the quart of liquor you have saved, and let it\nboil gently for an hour; pour it through a sieve into a basin, wash out\nyour stew-pan, add a table-spoonful of flour to the brains and parsley\nand butter you have left, and pour it into the gravy you have made with\nthe bones and trimmings; let it boil up for ten minutes, and then strain\nit through a hair-sieve; season it with a table-spoonful of white wine,\nor of catchup (No. 439), or sauce superlative (No. 429): give it a boil\nup, skim it, and then put in the brains and the slices of head and\nbacon; as soon as they are thoroughly warm (it must not boil) the hash\nis ready. Some cooks egg, bread-crumb, and fry the finest pieces of the\nhead, and lay them round the hash.\nN.B. You may garnish the edges of the dish with slices of bacon toasted\nin a Dutch oven (see Nos. 526 and 527), slices of lemon and fried bread.\nTo make gravy for hashes, &c. see No. 360.\n_Pickled Pork_,--(No. 11.)\nTakes more time than any other meat. If you buy your pork ready salted,\nask how many days it has been in salt; if many, it will require to be\nsoaked in water for six hours before you dress it. When you cook it,\nwash and scrape it as clean as possible; when delicately dressed, it is\na favourite dish with almost every body. Take care it does not boil\nfast; if it does, the knuckle will break to pieces, before the thick\npart of the meat is warm through; a leg of seven pounds takes three\nhours and a half very slow simmering. Skim your pot very carefully, and\nwhen you take the meat out of the boiler, scrape it clean.\nSome sagacious cooks (who remember to how many more nature has given\neyes than she has given tongues and brains), when pork is boiled, score\nit in diamonds, and take out every other square; and thus present a\nretainer to the eye to plead for them to the palate; but this is\npleasing the eye at the expense of the palate. A leg of nice pork,\nnicely salted, and nicely boiled, is as nice a cold relish as cold ham;\nespecially if, instead of cutting into the middle when hot, and so\nletting out its juices, you cut it at the knuckle: slices broiled, as\nNo. 487, are a good luncheon, or supper. To make pease pudding, and\npease soup extempore, see N.B. to Nos. 218 and 555.\nMEM.--Some persons who sell pork ready salted have a silly trick of\ncutting the knuckle in two; we suppose that this is done to save their\nsalt; but it lets all the gravy out of the leg; and unless you boil your\npork merely for the sake of the pot-liquor, which in this case receives\nall the goodness and strength of the meat, friendly reader, your oracle\ncautions you to buy no leg of pork which is slit at the knuckle.\nIf pork is not done enough, nothing is more disagreeable; if too much,\nit not only loses its colour and flavour, but its substance becomes soft\nlike a jelly.\nIt must never appear at table without a good pease pudding (see No.\n555), and, if you please, parsnips (No. 128); they are an excellent\nvegetable, and deserve to be much more popular; or carrots (No. 129),\nturnips, and greens, or mashed potatoes, &c. (No. 106.)\n_Obs._--Remember not to forget the mustard-pot (No. 369, No. 370, and\n_Pettitoes, or Sucking-Pig\u2019s Feet._--(No. 12.)\nPut a thin slice of bacon at the bottom of a stew-pan with some broth, a\nblade of mace, a few pepper-corns, and a bit of thyme; boil the feet\ntill they are quite tender; this will take full twenty minutes; but the\nheart, liver, and lights will be done enough in ten, when they are to be\ntaken out, and minced fine.\nPut them all together into a stew-pan with some gravy; thicken it with a\nlittle butter rolled in flour; season it with a little pepper and salt,\nand set it over a gentle fire to simmer for five minutes, frequently\nshaking them about.\nWhile this is doing, have a thin slice of bread toasted very lightly;\ndivide it into sippets, and lay them round the dish: pour the mince and\nsauce into the middle of it, and split the feet, and lay them round it.\nN.B. Pettitoes are sometimes boiled and dipped in batter, and fried a\nlight brown.\n_Obs._--If you have no gravy, put into the water you stew the pettitoes\nin an onion, a sprig of lemon thyme, or sweet marjoram, with a blade of\nbruised mace, a few black peppers, and a large tea-spoonful of mushroom\ncatchup (No. 439), and you will have a very tolerable substitute for\ngravy. A bit of No. 252 will be a very great improvement to it.\nCover a pound of nice streaked bacon (as the Hampshire housewives say,\nthat \u201chas been starved one day, and fed another\u201d) with cold water, let\nit boil gently for three-quarters of an hour; take it up, scrape the\nunder-side well, and cut off the rind: grate a crust of bread not only\non the top, but all over it, as directed for the ham in the following\nreceipt, and put it before the fire for a few minutes: it must not be\nthere too long, or it will dry it and spoil it.\nTwo pounds will require about an hour and a half, according to its\nthickness; the hock or gammon being very thick, will take more.\n_Obs._--See Nos. 526 and 527: when only a little bacon is wanted, these\nare the best ways of dressing it.\nThe boiling of bacon is a very simple subject to comment, upon; but our\nmain object is to teach common cooks the art of dressing common food in\nthe best manner.\nBacon is sometimes as salt as salt can make it, therefore before it is\nboiled it must be soaked in warm water for an hour or two, changing the\nwater once; then pare off the rusty and smoked part, trim it nicely on\nthe under side, and scrape the rind as clean as possible.\nMEM.--Bacon is an extravagant article in housekeeping; there is often\ntwice as much dressed as need be: when it is sent to table as an\naccompaniment to boiled poultry or veal, a pound and a half is plenty\nfor a dozen people. A good German sausage is a very economical\nsubstitute for bacon; or fried pork sausages (No. 87).\nThough of the bacon kind, has been so altered and hardened in the\ncuring, that it requires still more care.\nHam is generally not half-soaked; as salt as brine, and hard as flint;\nand it would puzzle the stomach of an ostrich to digest it.\nMEM.--The salt, seasoning, and smoke, which preserve it before it is\neaten, prevent its solution after; and unless it be very long and very\ngently stewed, the strongest stomach will have a tough job to extract\nany nourishment from it. If it is a very dry Westphalia ham, it must be\nsoaked, according to its age and thickness, from 12 to 24 hours; for a\ngreen Yorkshire or Westmoreland ham, from four to eight hours will be\nsufficient. Lukewarm water will soften it much sooner than cold, when\nsufficiently soaked, trim it nicely on the underside, and pare off all\nthe rusty and smoked parts till it looks delicately clean.\n A ham weighed before it was soaked 13\nGive it plenty of water-room, and put it in while the water is cold; let\nit heat very gradually, and let it be on the fire an hour and a half\nbefore it comes to a boil; let it be well skimmed, and keep it simmering\nvery gently: a middling-sized ham of fifteen pounds will be done enough\nin about four or five hours, according to its thickness.\nIf not to be cut till cold, it will cut the shorter and tenderer for\nbeing boiled about half an hour longer. In a very small family, where a\nham will last a week or ten days, it is best economy not to cut it till\nit is cold, it will be infinitely more juicy.\nPull off the skin carefully, and preserve it as whole as possible; it\nwill form an excellent covering to keep the ham moist; when you have\nremoved the skin, rub some bread raspings through a hair-sieve, or grate\na crust of bread; put it into the perforated cover of the dredging-box,\nand shake it over it, or glaze it; trim the knuckle with a fringe of cut\nwriting-paper. You may garnish with spinage or turnips, &c.\n_Obs._ To pot ham (No. 509), is a much more useful and economical way of\ndisposing of the remains of the joint, than making essence of it (No.\n352). To make soup of the liquor it is boiled in, see N.B. to No. 555.\n_Tongue._--(No. 15.)\nA tongue is so hard, whether prepared by drying or pickling, that it\nrequires much more cooking than a ham; nothing of its weight takes so\nlong to dress it properly.\nA tongue that has been salted and dried should be put to soak (if it is\nold and very hard, 24 hours before it is wanted) in plenty of water; a\ngreen one fresh from the pickle requires soaking only a few hours: put\nyour tongue into plenty of cold water; let it be an hour gradually\nwarming; and give it from three and a half to four hours\u2019 very slow\nsimmering, according to the size, &c.\n_Obs._ When you choose a tongue, endeavour to learn how long it has been\ndried or pickled, pick out the plumpest, and that which has the\nsmoothest skin, which denotes its being young and tender.\nThe roots, &c. make an excellent relish potted, like No. 509, or pease\nsoup (No. 218).\nN.B. Our correspondent, who wished us, in this edition, to give a\nreceipt to roast a tongue, will find an answer in No. 82.\n_Turkeys, Capons, Fowls, Chickens, &c._--(No. 16.)\nAre all boiled exactly in the same manner, only allowing time, according\nto their size. For the stuffing, &c. (Nos. 374, 375, and 377), some of\nit made into balls, and boiled or fried, make a nice garnish, and are\nhandy to help; and you can then reserve some of the inside stuffing to\neat with the cold fowl, or enrich the hash (Nos. 530 and 533).\n A chicken will take about 20 minutes.\n A fine five-toed fowl or a capon, about an hour.\n A small turkey, an hour and a half.\n A large one, two hours or more.\nChickens or fowls should be killed at least one or two days before they\nare to be dressed.\nTurkeys (especially large ones) should not be dressed till they have\nbeen killed three or four days at least, in cold weather six or eight,\nor they will neither look white nor eat tender.[120-*]\nTurkeys, and large fowls, should have the strings or sinews of the\nthighs drawn out.\nTruss them with the legs outward, they are much easier carved.\nFowls for boiling should be chosen as white as possible; if their\ncomplexion is not so fair as you wish, veil them in No. 2 of No. 364;\nthose which have black legs should be roasted. The best use of the liver\nis to make sauce (No. 287).\nPoultry must be well washed in warm water; if very dirty from the\nsingeing, &c. rub them with a little white soap; but thoroughly rinse it\noff, before you put them into the pot.\nMake a good and clear fire; set on a clean pot, with pure and clean\nwater, enough to well cover the turkey, &c.; the slower it boils, the\nwhiter and plumper it will be. When there rises any scum, remove it; the\ncommon method of some (who are more nice than wise) is to wrap them up\nin a cloth, to prevent the scum attaching to them; which, if it does, by\nyour neglecting to skim the pot, there is no getting it off afterward,\nand the poulterer is blamed for the fault of the cook.\nIf there be water enough, and it is attentively skimmed, the fowl will\nboth look and eat much better this way than when it has been covered up\nin the cleanest cloth, and the colour and flavour of your poultry will\nbe preserved in the most delicate perfection.\n_Obs._ Turkey deserves to be accompanied by tongue (No. 15), or ham (No.\n14); if these are not come-at-able, don\u2019t forget pickled pork (No. 11),\nor bacon and greens (Nos. 83, 526, and 527), or pork sausages (No. 87),\nparsley and butter (No. 261); don\u2019t pour it over, but send it up in a\nboat; liver (No. 287), egg (No. 267), or oyster sauce (No. 278). To warm\ncold turkey, &c. see No. 533, and following.\nTo grill the gizzard and rump, No. 538. Save a quart of the liquor the\nturkey was boiled in; this, with the bones and trimmings, &c. will make\ngood gravy for a hash, &c.\n_Rabbits._--(No. 17.)\nTruss your rabbits short, lay them in a basin of warm water for ten\nminutes, then put them into plenty of water, and boil them about half an\nhour; if large ones, three quarters; if very old, an hour: smother them\nwith plenty of white onion sauce (No. 298), mince the liver, and lay it\nround the dish, or make liver sauce (No. 287), and send it up in a boat.\n_Obs._ Ask those you are going to make liver sauce for, if they like\nplain liver sauce, or liver and parsley, or liver and lemon sauce (Nos.\nN.B. It will save much trouble to the carver, if the rabbits be cut up\nin the kitchen into pieces fit to help at table, and the head divided,\none-half laid at each end, and slices of lemon and the liver, chopped\nvery finely, laid on the sides of the dish.\nAt all events, cut off the head before you send it to table, we hardly\nremember that the thing ever lived if we don\u2019t see the head, while it\nmay excite ugly ideas to see it cut up in an attitude imitative of life;\nbesides, for the preservation of the head, the poor animal sometimes\nsuffers a slower death.\nTake care to have fresh tripe; cleanse it well from the fat, and cut it\ninto pieces about two inches broad and four long; put it into a\nstew-pan, and cover it with milk and water, and let it boil gently till\nit is tender.\nIf the tripe has been prepared as it usually is at the tripe shops, it\nwill be enough in about an hour, (this depends upon how long it has been\npreviously boiled at the tripe shop); if entirely undressed, it will\nrequire two or three hours, according to the age and quality of it.\nMake some onion sauce in the same manner as you do for rabbits (No.\n298), or boil (slowly by themselves) some Spanish or the whitest common\nonions you can get; peel them before you boil them; when they are\ntender, which a middling-sized onion will be in about three-quarters of\nan hour, drain them in a hair-sieve, take off the top skins till they\nlook nice and white, and put them with the tripe into a tureen or\nsoup-dish, and take off the fat if any floats on the surface.\n_Obs._ Rashers of bacon (Nos. 526 and 527), or fried sausages (No. 87),\nare a very good accompaniment to boiled tripe, cow-heels (No. 198), or\ncalf\u2019s feet, see Mr. Mich. Kelly\u2019s sauce (No. 311*), or parsley and\nbutter (No. 261), or caper sauce (No. 274), with a little vinegar and\nmustard added to them, or salad mixture (No. 372 or 453).\nTripe holds the same rank among solids, that water-gruel does among\nsoups, and the former is desirable at dinner, when the latter is welcome\nat supper. Read No. 572.\nIn the hands of a skilful cook, will furnish several good meals; when\nboiled tender (No. 198), cut it into handsome pieces, egg and\nbread-crumb them, and fry them a light brown; lay them round a dish, and\nput in the middle of it sliced onions fried, or the accompaniments\nordered for tripe. The liquor they were boiled in will make soups (No.\nN.B. We give no receipts to boil venison, geese, ducks, pheasants,\nwoodcocks, and peacocks, &c. as our aim has been to make a useful book,\nnot a big one (see No. 82).\nFOOTNOTES:\n[108-*] The _gigot_ is the leg with part of the loin.\n[111-*] _If not to be cut till cold_, two days longer salting will not\nonly improve its flavour, but the meat will keep better.\n[111-+] In the West Indies they can scarcely cure beef with pickle, but\neasily preserve it by cutting it into thin slices and dipping them in\nsea-water, and then drying them quickly in the sun; to which they give\nthe name of _jerked beef_.--BROWNRIGG _on Salt_, 8vo. p. 762.\n[115-*] This, _salted_, makes a very pretty supper-dish.\n[120-*] BAKER, in his Chronicle, tells us the turkey did not reach\nEngland till A. D. 1524, about the 15th of Henry the 8th; he says,\n \u201c_Turkies_, carps, hoppes, piccarell, and beere,\n Came into England all in one year.\u201d\nROASTING.\n N.B.--_If the time we have allowed for roasting appears rather\n longer than what is stated in former works, we can only say, we\n have written from actual experiments, and that the difference may\n be accounted for, by common cooks generally being fond of too\n fierce a fire, and of putting things too near to it._\n _Our calculations are made for a temperature of about fifty degrees\n of Fahrenheit._\n SLOW ROASTING _is as advantageous to the tenderness and favour of\n meat as slow boiling, of which every body understands the\n importance. See the account of Count Rumford\u2019s shoulder of mutton._\n _The warmer the weather, and the staler killed the meat is, the\n less time it will require to roast it._\n _Meat that is very fat_, requires more time than we have stated.\n BEEF _is in proper season throughout the whole year._\n_Sirloin of Beef._--(No. 19.)\nThe noble sirloin[122-*] of about fifteen pounds (if much thicker, the\noutside will be done too much before the inside is enough), will require\nto be before the fire about three and a half or four hours; take care to\nspit it evenly, that it may not be heavier on one side than the other;\nput a little clean dripping into the dripping-pan, (tie a sheet of paper\nover it to preserve the fat,[123-*]) baste it well as soon as it is put\ndown, and every quarter of an hour all the time it is roasting, till the\nlast half hour; then take off the paper, and make some gravy for it (No.\n326); stir the fire and make it clear: to brown and froth it, sprinkle a\nlittle salt over it, baste it with butter, and dredge it with flour; let\nit go a few minutes longer, till the froth rises, take it up, put it on\nthe dish, &c.\nGarnish it with hillocks of horseradish, scraped as fine as possible\nwith a very sharp knife, (Nos. 458 and 399*). A Yorkshire pudding is an\nexcellent accompaniment (No. 595, or No. 554).\n_Obs._ The inside of the sirloin must never be cut[123-+] hot, but\nreserved entire for the hash, or a mock hare (No. 66*). (For various\nways of dressing the inside of the sirloin, No. 483; for the receipt to\nhash or broil beef, No. 484, and Nos. 486 and 487; and for other ways of\nemploying the remains of a joint of cold beef, Nos. 503, 4, 5, 6).\n_Ribs of Beef._--(No. 20).\nThe first three ribs, of fifteen or twenty pounds, will take three\nhours, or three and a half: the fourth and fifth ribs will lake as long,\nmanaged in the same way as the sirloin. Paper the fat, and the thin\npart, or it will be done too much, before the thick part is done enough.\nN.B. A pig-iron placed before it on the bars of the grate answers every\npurpose of keeping the thin part from being too much done.\n_Obs._ Many persons prefer the ribs to the sirloin.\n_Ribs of Beef boned and rolled._--(No. 21.)\nWhen you have kept two or three ribs of beef till quite tender, take out\nthe bones, and skewer it as round as possible (like a fillet of veal):\nbefore they roll it, some cooks egg it, and sprinkle it with veal\nstuffing (No. 374). As the meat is more in a solid mass, it will require\nmore time at the fire than in the preceding receipt; a piece of ten or\ntwelve pounds weight will not be well and thoroughly roasted in less\nthan four and a half or five hours.\nFor the first half hour, it should not be less than twelve inches from\nthe fire, that it may get gradually warm to the centre: the last half\nhour before it will be finished, sprinkle a little salt over it; and if\nyou wish to froth it, flour it, &c.\nAs beef requires a large, sound fire, mutton must have a brisk and sharp\none. If you wish to have mutton tender, it should be hung almost as long\nas it will keep;[124-+] and then good eight-tooth, _i. e._ four years\nold mutton, is as good eating as venison, if it is accompanied by Nos.\nThe leg, haunch, and saddle will be the better for being hung up in a\ncool airy place for four or five days at least; in temperate weather, a\nweek; in cold weather, ten days.\nIf you think your mutton will not be tender enough to do honour to the\nspit, dress it as a \u201c_gigot de sept heures_.\u201d See N.B. to No. 1 and No.\nOf eight pounds, will take about two hours: let it be well basted, and\nfrothed in the same manner as directed in No. 19. To hash mutton, No.\n484. To broil it, No. 487, &c.\n_A Chine or Saddle_,--(No. 26.)\n(_i. e._ the two loins) of ten or eleven pounds, two hours and a half:\nit is the business of the butcher to take off the skin and skewer it on\nagain, to defend the meat from extreme heat, and preserve its\nsucculence; if this is neglected, tie a sheet of paper over it (baste\nthe strings you tie it on with directly, or they will burn): about a\nquarter of an hour before you think it will be done, take off the skin\nor paper, that it may get a pale brown colour, then baste it and flour\nit lightly to froth it. We like No. 346 for sauce.\nN.B. Desire the butcher to cut off the flaps and the tail and chump end,\nand trim away every part that has not indisputable pretensions to be\neaten. This will reduce a saddle of eleven pounds weight to about six or\nseven pounds.\n_A Shoulder_,--(No. 27.)\nOf seven pounds, an hour and a half. Put the spit in close to the\nshank-bone, and run it along the blade-bone.\nN.B. The blade-bone is a favourite luncheon or supper relish, scored,\npeppered and salted, and broiled, or done in a Dutch oven.\nOf mutton, from an hour and a half to an hour and three quarters. The\nmost elegant way of carving this, is to cut it lengthwise, as you do a\nsaddle: read No. 26.\nN.B. Spit it on a skewer or lark spit, and tie that on the common spit,\nand do not spoil the meat by running the spit through the prime part of\nit.\nAbout the same time as a loin. It must be carefully jointed, or it is\nvery difficult to carve. The neck and breast are, in small families,\ncommonly roasted together; the cook will then crack the bones across the\nmiddle before they are put down to roast: if this is not done carefully,\nthey are very troublesome to carve. Tell the cook, when she takes it\nfrom the spit, to separate them before she sends them to table.\n_Obs._--If there is more fat than you think will be eaten with the lean,\ncut it off, and it will make an excellent suet pudding (No. 551, or No.\nN.B. The best way to spit this is to run iron skewers across it, and put\nthe spit between them.\n_A Breast_,--(No. 30.)\nAn hour and a quarter.\nTo grill a breast of mutton, see _Obs._ to No. 38.\n_A Haunch_,--(No. 31.)\n(_i. e._ the leg and part of the loin) of mutton: send up two\nsauce-boats with it; one of rich mutton gravy, made without spice or\nherbs (No. 347), and the other of sweet sauce (No. 346). It generally\nweighs about 15 pounds, and requires about three hours and a half to\nroast it.\n_Mutton, venison fashion._--(No. 32.)\nTake a neck of good four or five years old Southdown wether mutton, cut\nlong in the bones; let it hang (in temperate weather) at least a week:\ntwo days before you dress it, take allspice and black pepper, ground and\npounded fine, a quarter of an ounce each; rub them together, and then\nrub your mutton well with this mixture twice a day. When you dress it,\nwash off the spice with warm water, and roast in paste, as we have\nordered the haunch of venison. (No. 63).\n_Obs._--Persevering and ingenious epicures have invented many methods to\ngive mutton the flavour of venison. Some say that mutton, prepared as\nabove, may be mistaken for venison; others, that it is full as good. The\nrefined palate of a grand gourmand (in spite of the spice and wine the\nmeat has been fuddled and rubbed with) will perhaps still protest\nagainst \u201cWelch venison;\u201d and indeed we do not understand by what\nconjuration allspice and claret can communicate the flavour of venison\nto mutton. We confess our fears that the flavour of venison (especially\nof its fat) is inimitable; but believe you may procure prime\neight-toothed wether mutton, keep it the proper time, and send it to\ntable with the accompaniments (Nos. 346 and 347, &c.) usually given to\nvenison, and a rational epicure will eat it with as much satisfaction as\nhe would \u201cfeed on the king\u2019s fallow deer.\u201d\nVEAL requires particular care to roast it a nice brown. Let the fire be\nthe same as for beef; a sound large fire for a large joint, and a\nbrisker for a smaller; put it at some distance from the fire to soak\nthoroughly, and then draw it near to finish it brown.\nWhen first laid down, it is to be basted; baste it again occasionally.\nWhen the veal is on the dish, pour over it half a pint of melted butter\n(No. 256): if you have a little brown gravy by you, add that to the\nbutter (No. 326). With those joints which are not stuffed, send up\nforcemeat (No. 374, or No. 375) in balls, or rolled into sausages, as\ngarnish to the dish, or fried pork sausages (No. 87); bacon (No. 13, or\nNo. 526, or No. 527), and greens, are also always expected with veal.\n_Fillet of Veal_,--(No. 34.)\nOf from twelve to sixteen pounds, will require from four to five hours\nat a good fire; make some stuffing or forcemeat (No. 374 or 5), and put\nit in under the flap, that there may be some left to eat cold, or to\nseason a hash;[127-*] brown it, and pour good melted butter (No. 266)\nover it, as directed in No. 33.\nGarnish with thin slices of lemon and cakes or balls of stuffing, or No.\n374, or No. 375, or duck stuffing (No. 61), or fried pork sausages (No.\n87), curry sauce (No. 348), bacon (No. 13), and greens, &c.\nN.B. Potted veal (No. 533).\n_Obs._--A bit of the brown outside is a favourite with the epicure in\nroasts. The kidney, cut out, sliced, and broiled (No. 358), is a high\nrelish, which some _bons vivants_ are fond of.\nIs the best part of the calf, and will take about three hours roasting.\nPaper the kidney fat, and the back: some cooks send it up on a toast,\nwhich is eaten with the kidney and the fat of this part, which is as\ndelicate as any marrow. If there is more of it than you think will be\neaten with the veal, before you roast it cut it out; it will make an\nexcellent suet pudding: take care to have your fire long enough to brown\nthe ends; same accompaniments as No. 34.\n_A Shoulder_,--(No. 36.)\nFrom three hours to three hours and a half; stuff it with the forcemeat\nordered for the fillet of veal, in the under side, or balls made of No.\n_Neck, best end_,--(No. 37.)\nWill take two hours; same accompaniments as No. 34. The scrag part is\nbest made into a pie, or broth.\n_Breast_,--(No. 38.)\nFrom an hour and a half to two hours. Let the caul remain till it is\nalmost done, then take it off to brown it; baste, flour, and froth it.\n_Obs._--This makes a savoury relish for a luncheon or supper: or,\ninstead of roasting, boil it enough; put it in a cloth between two\npewter dishes, with a weight on the upper one, and let it remain so till\ncold; then pare and trim, egg, and crumb it, and broil, or warm it in a\nDutch oven; serve with it capers (No. 274), or wow wow sauce (No. 328).\nBreast of mutton may be dressed the same way.\n_Veal Sweetbread._--(No. 39.)\nTrim a fine sweetbread (it cannot be too fresh); parboil it for five\nminutes, and throw it into a basin of cold water. Roast it plain, or\nBeat up the yelk of an egg, and prepare some fine bread-crumbs: when the\nsweetbread is cold, dry it thoroughly in a cloth; run a lark-spit or a\nskewer through it, and tie it on the ordinary spit; egg it with a\npaste-brush; powder it well with bread-crumbs, and roast it.\nFor sauce, fried bread-crumbs round it, and melted butter, with a little\nmushroom catchup (No. 439), and lemon-juice (Nos. 307, 354, or 356), or\nserve them on buttered toast, garnished with egg sauce (No. 267), or\nwith gravy (No. 329).\n_Obs._--Instead of spitting them, you may put them into a tin Dutch\noven, or fry them (Nos. 88, 89, or 513).\nIs a delicate, and commonly considered tender meat; but those who talk\nof tender lamb, while they are thinking of the age of the animal, forget\nthat even a chicken must be kept a proper time after it has been killed,\nor it will be tough picking.\nWoful experience has warned us to beware of accepting an invitation to\ndinner on Easter Sunday, unless commanded by a thorough-bred _gourmand_;\nour _incisores_, _molares_, and _principal viscera_ have protested\nagainst the imprudence of encountering young, tough, stringy mutton,\nunder the _misnomen_ of grass lamb. The proper name for \u201cEaster grass\nlamb\u201d is \u201chay mutton.\u201d\nTo the usual accompaniments of roasted meat, green mint sauce (No. 303),\na salad (Nos. 372 and 138*), is commonly added; and some cooks, about\nfive minutes before it is done, sprinkle it with a little fresh gathered\nand finely minced parsley, or No. 318: lamb, and all young meats, ought\nto be thoroughly done; therefore do not take either lamb or veal off the\nspit till you see it drop white gravy.\nGrass lamb is in season from Easter to Michaelmas.\nHouse lamb from Christmas to Lady-day.\nSham lamb, see _Obs._ to following receipt.\nN.B. When green mint cannot be got, mint vinegar (No. 398) is an\nacceptable substitute for it; and crisp parsley (No. 318), on a side\nplate, is an admirable accompaniment.\n_Hind-Quarter_,--(No. 41).\nOf eight pounds, will take from an hour and three-quarters to two hours:\nbaste and froth it in the same way as directed in No. 19.\n_Obs._--A quarter of a porkling is sometimes skinned, cut, and dressed\nlamb-fashion, and sent up as a substitute for it. The leg and the loin\nof lamb, when little, should be roasted together; the former being lean,\nthe latter fat, and the gravy is better preserved.\n_Fore-Quarter_,--(No. 42.)\nOf ten pounds, about two hours.\nN.B. It is a pretty general custom, when you take off the shoulder from\nthe ribs, to squeeze a Seville orange over them, and sprinkle them with\na little pepper and salt.\n_Obs._--This may as well be done by the cook before it comes to table;\nsome people are not remarkably expert at dividing these joints nicely.\nOf five pounds, from an hour to an hour and a half.\n_Shoulder_,--(No. 44.)\nWith a quick fire, an hour.\nSee _Obs._ to No. 27.\nAbout an hour to an hour and a quarter: joint it nicely, crack the ribs\nacross, and divide them from the brisket after it is roasted.\nAn hour and a quarter.\nAn hour.\n_Breast_,--(No. 48.)\nThree-quarters of an hour.\nThe prime season for pork is from Michaelmas to March.\nTake particular care it be done enough: other meats under-done are\nunpleasant, but pork is absolutely uneatable; the sight of it is enough\nto appal the sharpest appetite, if its gravy has the least tint of\nredness.\nBe careful of the crackling; if this be not crisp, or if it be burned,\nyou will be scolded.\nFor sauces, No. 300, No. 304, and No. 342.\n_Obs._--Pease pudding (No. 555) is as good an accompaniment to roasted,\nas it is to boiled pork; and most palates are pleased with the savoury\npowder set down in No. 51, or bread-crumbs, mixed with sage and onion,\nminced very fine, or zest (No. 255) sprinkled over it.\nN.B. \u201cThe western pigs, from Berks, Oxford, and Bucks, possess a decided\nsuperiority over the eastern, of Essex, Sussex, and Norfolk; not to\nforget another qualification of the former, at which some readers may\nsmile, a thickness of the skin; whence the crackling of the roasted pork\nis a fine gelatinous substance, which may be easily masticated; while\nthe crackling of the thin-skinned breeds is roasted into good block tin,\nthe reduction of which would almost require teeth of iron.\u201d--MOUBRAY _on\nPoultry_, 1816, page 242.\nOf eight pounds, will require about three hours: score the skin across\nin narrow stripes (some score it in diamonds), about a quarter of an\ninch apart; stuff the knuckle with sage and onion, minced fine, and a\nlittle grated bread, seasoned with pepper, salt, and the yelk of an egg.\nSee Duck Stuffing, (No. 61.)\nDo not put it too near the fire: rub a little sweet oil on the skin with\na paste-brush, or a goose-feather: this makes the crackling crisper and\nbrowner than basting it with dripping; and it will be a better colour\nthan all the art of cookery can make it in any other way; and this is\nthe best way of preventing the skin from blistering, which is\nprincipally occasioned by its being put too near the fire.\n_Leg of Pork roasted without the Skin, commonly called_ MOCK\nParboil it; take off the skin, and then put it down to roast; baste it\nwith butter, and make a savoury powder of finely minced, or dried and\npowdered sage, ground black pepper, salt, and some bread-crumbs, rubbed\ntogether through a colander; you may add to this a little very finely\nminced onion: sprinkle it with this when it is almost roasted. Put half\na pint of made gravy into the dish, and goose stuffing (No. 378) under\nthe knuckle skin; or garnish the dish with balls of it fried or boiled.\n_The Griskin_,--(No. 52.)\nOf seven or eight pounds, may be dressed in the same manner. It will\ntake an hour and a half roasting.\n_A Bacon Spare-Rib_,--(No. 53.)\nUsually weighs about eight or nine pounds, and will take from two to\nthree hours to roast it thoroughly; not exactly according to its weight,\nbut the thickness of the meat upon it, which varies very much. Lay the\nthick end nearest to the fire.\nA proper bald spare-rib of eight pounds weight (so called because almost\nall the meat is pared off), with a steady fire, will be done in an hour\nand a quarter. There is so little meat on a bald spare-rib, that if you\nhave a large, fierce fire, it will be burned before it is warm through.\nJoint it nicely, and crack the ribs across as you do ribs of lamb.\nWhen you put it down to roast, dust on some flour, and baste it with a\nlittle butter; dry a dozen sage leaves, and rub them through a\nhair-sieve, and put them into the top of a pepper-box; and about a\nquarter of an hour before the meat is done, baste it with butter; dust\nthe pulverized sage, or the savoury powder in No. 51; or sprinkle with\nduck stuffing (No. 61).\n_Obs._--Make it a general rule never to pour gravy over any thing that\nis roasted; by so doing, the dredging, &c. is washed off, and it eats\ninsipid.\nSome people carve a spare-rib by cutting out in slices the thick part at\nthe bottom of the bones. When this meat is cut away, the bones may be\neasily separated, and are esteemed very sweet picking.\nApple sauce (No. 304), mashed potatoes (No. 106), and good mustard (No.\n370,) are indispensable.\nOf five pounds, must be kept at a good distance from the fire on account\nof the crackling, and will take about two hours; if very fat, half an\nhour longer.\nStuff it with duck stuffing (No. 378). Score the skin in stripes, about\na quarter of an inch apart, and rub it with salad oil, as directed in\nNo. 50. You may sprinkle over it some of the savoury powder recommended\nfor the mock goose (No. 51).\nIf parted down the back-bone so as to have but one side, a good fire\nwill roast it in two hours; if not parted, three hours.\nN.B. Chines are generally salted and boiled.\nIs in prime order for the spit when about three weeks old.\nIt loses part of its goodness every hour after it is killed; if not\nquite fresh, no art can make the crackling crisp.\nTo be in perfection, it should be killed in the morning to be eaten at\ndinner: it requires very careful roasting. A sucking-pig, like a young\nchild, must not be left for an instant.\nThe ends must have much more fire than the middle: for this purpose is\ncontrived an iron to hang before the middle part, called a pig-iron. If\nyou have not this, use a common flat iron, or keep the fire fiercest at\nthe two ends.\nFor the stuffing, take of the crumb of a stale loaf about five ounces;\nrub it through a colander; mince fine a handful of sage (_i. e._ about\ntwo ounces), and a large onion (about an ounce and a half[133-+]). Mix\nthese together with an egg, some pepper and salt, and a bit of butter as\nbig as an egg. Fill the belly of the pig with this, and sew it up: lay\nit to the fire, and baste it with salad oil till it is quite done. Do\nnot leave it a moment: it requires the most vigilant attendance.\nRoast it at a clear, brisk fire at some distance. To gain the praise of\nepicurean pig-eaters, the crackling must be nicely crisped and\ndelicately lightly browned, without being either blistered or burnt.\nA small, three weeks old pig will be done enough[133-++] in about an\nhour and a half.\nBefore you take it from the fire, cut off the head, and part that and\nthe body down the middle: chop the brains very fine, with some boiled\nsage leaves, and mix them with good veal gravy, made as directed in No.\n192, or beef gravy (No. 329), or what runs from the pig when you cut its\nhead off. Send up a tureenful of gravy (No. 329) besides. Currant sauce\nis still a favourite with some of the old school.\nLay your pig back to back in the dish, with one half of the head on each\nside, and the ears one at each end, which you must take care to make\nnice and crisp; or you will get scolded, and deservedly, as the silly\nfellow was who bought his wife a pig with only one ear.\nWhen you cut off the pettitoes, leave the skin long round the ends of\nthe legs. When you first lay the pig before the fire, rub it all over\nwith fresh butter or salad oil: ten minutes after, and the skin looks\ndry; dredge it well with flour all over, let it remain on an hour, then\nrub it off with a soft cloth.\nN. B. A pig is a very troublesome subject to roast; most persons have\nthem baked. Send a quarter of a pound of butter, and beg the baker to\nbaste it well.\n_Turkey, Turkey Poults, and other Poultry._--(No. 57.)\nA fowl and a turkey require the same management at the fire, only the\nlatter will take longer time.\nMany a Christmas dinner has been spoiled by the turkey having been hung\nup in a cold larder, and becoming thoroughly frozen; _Jack Frost_ has\nruined the reputation of many a turkey-roaster: therefore, in very cold\nweather, remember the note in the 5th page of the 3d chapter of the\nRudiments of Cookery.\nLet them be carefully picked, &c. and break the breast-bone (to make\nthem look plump), twist up a sheet of clean writing-paper, light it, and\nthoroughly singe the turkey all over, turning it about over the flame.\nTurkeys, fowls, and capons have a much better appearance, if, instead of\ntrussing them with the legs close together, and the feet cut off, the\nlegs are extended on each side of the bird, and the toes only cut off\nwith a skewer through each foot, to keep them at a proper distance.\nBe careful, when you draw it, to preserve the liver, and not to break\nthe gall-bag, as no washing will take off the bitter taste it gives,\nwhere it once touches.\nPrepare a nice, clear, brisk fire for it.\nMake stuffing according to No. 374, or 376; stuff it under the breast,\nwhere the craw was taken out, and make some into balls, and boil or fry\nthem, and lay them round the dish; they are handy to help, and you can\nthen reserve some of the inside stuffing to eat with the cold turkey, or\nto enrich a hash (No. 533).\nScore the gizzard, dip it into the yelk of an egg or melted butter, and\nsprinkle it with salt and a few grains of Cayenne; put it under one\npinion and the liver under the other; cover the liver with buttered\npaper, to prevent it from getting hardened or burnt.\nWhen you first put a turkey down to roast, dredge it with flour; then\nput about an ounce of butter into a basting-ladle, and as it melts,\nbaste the bird therewith.\nKeep it at a distance from the fire for the first half hour, that it may\nwarm gradually; then put it nearer, and when it is plumped up, and the\nsteam draws in towards the fire, it is nearly enough; then dredge it\nlightly with flour, and put a bit of butter into your basting-ladle, and\nas it melts, baste the turkey with it; this will raise a finer froth\nthan can be produced by using the fat out of the pan.\nA very large turkey will require about three hours to roast it\nthoroughly; a middling-sized one, of eight or ten pounds (which is far\nnicer eating than the very large one), about two hours; a small one may\nbe done in an hour and a half.\nTurkey poults are of various sizes, and will take about an hour and a\nhalf; they should be trussed, with their legs twisted under like a duck,\nand the head under the wing like a pheasant.\nFried pork sausages (No. 87) are a very savoury and favourite\naccompaniment to either roasted or boiled poultry. A turkey thus\ngarnished is called \u201can alderman in chains.\u201d\nSausage-meat is sometimes used as stuffing, instead of the ordinary\nforcemeat. (No. 376, &c.)\nMEM. If you wish a turkey, especially a very large one, to be tender,\nnever dress it till at least four or five days (in cold weather, eight\nor ten) after it has been killed. \u201cNo man who understands good living\nwill say, on such a day I will eat that turkey; but will hang it up by\nfour of the large tail-feathers, and when, on paying his morning visit\nto the larder, he finds it lying upon a cloth prepared to receive it\nwhen it falls, that day let it be cooked.\u201d\nHen turkeys are preferable to cocks for whiteness and tenderness, and\nthe small fleshy ones with black legs are most esteemed.\nSend up with them oyster (No. 278), egg (No. 267), bread (No. 221), and\nplenty of gravy sauce (No. 329). To hash turkey, No. 533.\nMEM. Some epicures are very fond of the gizzard and rump, peppered and\nsalted, and broiled. (See No. 538, \u201chow to dress a devil with _v\u00e9ritable\nsauce d\u2019enfer_!!\u201d)\n_Capons or Fowls_,--(No. 58.)\nMust be killed a couple of days in moderate, and more in cold weather,\nbefore they are dressed, or they will eat tough: a good criterion of the\nripeness of poultry for the spit, is the ease with which you can then\npull out the feathers; when a fowl is plucked, leave a few to help you\nto ascertain this.\nThey are managed exactly in the same manner, and sent up with the same\nsauces as a turkey, only they require proportionably less time at the\nfire.\nA full-grown five-toed fowl, about an hour and a quarter.\nA moderate-sized one, an hour.\nA chicken, from thirty to forty minutes.\nHere, also, pork sausages fried (No. 87) are in general a favourite\naccompaniment, or turkey stuffing; see forcemeats (Nos. 374, 5, 6, and\n7); put in plenty of it, so as to plump out the fowl, which must be tied\nclosely (both at the neck and rump), to keep in the stuffing.\nSome cooks put the liver of the fowl into this forcemeat, and others\nmince it and pound it, and rub it up with flour and melted butter (No.\nWhen the bird is stuffed and trussed, score the gizzard nicely, dip it\ninto melted butter, let it drain, and then season it with Cayenne and\nsalt; put it under one pinion, and the liver under the other; to prevent\ntheir getting hardened or scorched, cover them with double paper\nbuttered.\nTake care that your roasted poultry be well browned; it is as\nindispensable that roasted poultry should have a rich brown complexion,\nas boiled poultry should have a delicate white one.\n_Obs._ \u201cThe art of fattening poultry for the market is a considerable\nbranch of rural economy in some convenient situations, and consists in\nsupplying them with plenty of healthy food, and confining them; and\nducks and geese must be prevented from going into water, which prevents\nthem from becoming fat, and they also thereby acquire a rancid, fishy\ntaste. They are put into a dark place, and crammed with a paste made of\nbarley meal, mutton-suet, and some treacle or coarse sugar mixed with\nmilk, and are found to be completely ripe in a fortnight. If kept\nlonger, the fever that is induced by this continued state of repletion\nrenders them red and unsaleable, and frequently kills them.\u201d But\nexercise is as indispensable to the health of poultry as other\ncreatures; without it, the fat will be all accumulated in the cellular\nmembrane, instead of being dispersed through its system. See MOUBRAY\n_on breeding and fattening domestic Poultry_, 12mo. 1819.\nFowls which are fattened artificially are by some epicures preferred to\nthose called barn-door fowls; whom we have heard say, that they should\nas soon think of ordering a barn-door for dinner as a barn-door fowl.\nThe age of poultry makes all the difference: nothing is tenderer than a\nyoung chicken; few things are tougher than an old cock or hen, which is\nonly fit to make broth. The meridian of perfection of poultry is just\nbefore they have come to their full growth, before they have begun to\nharden.\nFor sauces, see No. 305, or liver and parsley, No. 287, and those\nordered in the last receipt. To hash it, No. 533.\nWhen a goose is well picked, singed, and cleaned, make the stuffing with\nabout two ounces of onion,[137-*] and half as much green sage, chop them\nvery fine, adding four ounces, _i. e._ about a large breakfast-cupful of\nstale bread-crumbs, a bit of butter about as big as a walnut, and a very\nlittle pepper and salt (to this some cooks add half the liver,[137-+]\nparboiling it first), the yelk of an egg or two, and incorporating the\nwhole well together, stuff the goose; do not quite fill it, but leave a\nlittle room for the stuffing to swell; spit it, tie it on the spit at\nboth ends, to prevent its swinging round, and to keep the stuffing from\ncoming out. From an hour and a half to an hour and three-quarters, will\nroast a fine full-grown goose. Send up gravy and apple sauce with it\nFor another stuffing for geese, see No. 378.\n_Obs._ \u201cGoose-feeding in the vicinity of the metropolis is so large a\nconcern, that one person annually feeds for market upwards of 5000.\u201d \u201cA\ngoose on a farm in Scotland, two years since, of the clearly ascertained\nage of 89 years, healthy and vigorous, was killed by a sow while sitting\nover her eggs; it was supposed she might have lived many years, and her\nfecundity appeared to be permanent. Other geese have been proved to\nreach the age of 70 years.\u201d MOUBRAY _on Poultry_, p. 40.\nIt appears in Dr. STARK\u2019S _Experiments on Diet_, p. 110, that \u201cwhen he\nfed upon roasted goose, he was more vigorous both in body and mind than\nwith any other diet.\u201d\nThe goose at Michaelmas is as famous in the mouths of the million, as\nthe minced-pie at Christmas; but for those who eat with delicacy, it is\nby that time too full-grown.\nThe true period when the goose is in its highest perfection, is when it\nhas just acquired its full growth, and not begun to harden. If the March\ngoose is insipid, the Michaelmas goose is rank; the fine time is between\nboth, from the second week in June to the first in September: the leg is\nnot the most tender part of a goose. See Mock Goose (No. 51).\n_Green Goose._--(No. 60.)\nGeese are called green till they are about four months old.\nThe only difference between roasting these and a full-grown goose,\nconsists in seasoning it with pepper and salt instead of sage and onion,\nand roasting it for forty or fifty minutes only.\n_Obs._ This is one of the least desirable of those insipid premature\nproductions, which are esteemed dainties.\nMind your duck is well cleaned, and wiped out with a clean cloth: for\nthe stuffing, take an ounce of onion and half an ounce of green sage;\nchop them very fine, and mix them with two ounces, _i. e._ about a\nbreakfast-cupful, of bread-crumbs, a bit of butter about as big as a\nwalnut, a very little black pepper and salt, (some obtuse palates may\nrequire warming with a little Cayenne, No. 404,) and the yelk of an egg\nto bind it; mix these thoroughly together, and put into the duck. For\nanother stuffing, see No. 378. From half to three-quarters of an hour\nwill be enough to roast it, according to the size: contrive to have the\nfeet delicately crisp, as some people are very fond of them; to do this\nnicely you must have a sharp fire. For sauce, green pease (No. 134),\nbonne bouche (No. 341), gravy sauce (No. 329), and sage and onion sauce\nTo hash or stew ducks, see No. 530.\nN.B. If you think the raw onion will make too strong an impression upon\nthe palate, parboil it. Read _Obs._ to No. 59.\nTo ensure ducks being tender, in moderate weather kill them a few days\nbefore you dress them.\n_Haunch of Venison._--(No. 63.)\nTo preserve the fat, make a paste of flour and water, as much as will\ncover the haunch; wipe it with a dry cloth in every part; rub a large\nsheet of paper all over with butter, and cover the venison with it; then\nroll out the paste about three-quarters of an inch thick; lay this all\nover the fat side, and cover it well with three or four sheets of strong\nwhite paper, and tie it securely on with packthread: have a strong,\nclose fire, and baste your venison as soon as you lay it down to roast\n(to prevent the paper and string from burning); it must be well basted\nall the time.\nA buck haunch generally weighs from 20 to 25 pounds; will take about\nfour hours and a half roasting in warm, and longer in cold weather: a\nhaunch of from 19 to 18 pounds will be done in about three or three and\na half.\nA quarter of an hour before it is done, the string must be cut, and the\npaste carefully taken off; now baste it with butter, dredge it lightly\nwith flour, and when the froth rises, and it has got a very light brown\ncolour, garnish the knuckle-bone with a ruffle of cut writing-paper, and\nsend it up, with good, strong (but unseasoned) gravy (No. 347) in one\nboat, and currant-jelly sauce in the other, or currant-jelly in a side\nplate (not melted): see for sauces, Nos. 344, 5, 6, and 7. MEM. \u201c_the\nalderman\u2019s walk_\u201d is the favourite part.\n_Obs._ Buck venison is in greatest perfection from midsummer to\nMichaelmas, and doe from November to January.\n_Neck and Shoulder of Venison_,--(No. 64.)\nAre to be managed in the same way as the haunch; only they do not\nrequire the coat or paste, and will not take so much time.\nThe best way to spit a neck is to put three skewers through it, and put\nthe spit between the skewers and the bones.\nLike a sucking-pig, should be dressed almost as soon as killed. When\nvery young, it is trussed, stuffed, and spitted the same way as a hare:\nbut they are better eating when of the size of a house lamb, and are\nthen roasted in quarters; the hind-quarter is most esteemed.\nThey must be put down to a very quick fire, and either basted all the\ntime they are roasting, or be covered with sheets of fat bacon; when\ndone, baste it with butter, and dredge it with a little salt and flour,\ntill you make a nice froth on it.\nN.B. We advise our friends to half roast a fawn as soon as they receive\nit, and then make a hash of it like No. 528.\nSend up venison sauce with it. See the preceding receipt, or No. 344,\nA young sucking-kid is very good eating; to have it in prime condition,\nthe dam should be kept up, and well fed, &c.\nRoast it like a fawn or hare.\n \u201c_Inter quadrupedes gloria prima lepus._\u201d--MARTIAL.\nThe first points of consideration are, how old is the hare? and how long\nhas it been killed? When young, it is easy of digestion, and very\nnourishing; when old, the contrary in every respect.\nTo ascertain the age, examine the first joint of the forefoot; you will\nfind a small knob, if it is a leveret, which disappears as it grows\nolder; then examine the ears, if they tear easily, it will eat tender;\nif they are tough, so will be the hare, which we advise you to make into\nsoup (No. 241), or stew or jug it (No. 523).\nWhen newly killed, the body is stiff; as it grows stale, it becomes\nlimp.\nAs soon as you receive a hare, take out the liver, parboil it, and keep\nit for the stuffing; some are very fond of it. Do not use it if it be\nnot quite fresh and good. Some mince it, and send it up as a garnish in\nlittle hillocks round the dish. Wipe the hare quite dry, rub the inside\nwith pepper, and hang it up in a dry, cool place.\nPaunch and skin[141-*] your hare, wash it, and lay it in a large pan of\ncold water four or five hours, changing the water two or three times;\nlay it in a clean cloth, and dry it well, then truss it.\nTo make the stuffing, see No. 379. Do not make it too thin; it should be\nof cohesive consistence: if it is not sufficiently stiff, it is good for\nnothing. Put this into the belly, and sew it up tight.\nCut the neck-skin to let the blood out, or it will never appear to be\ndone enough; spit it, and baste it with drippings,[141-+] (or the juices\nof the back will be dried up before the upper joints of the legs are\nhalf done,) till you think it is nearly done, which a middling-sized\nhare will be in about an hour and a quarter. When it is almost roasted\nenough, put a little bit of butter into your basting-ladle, and baste it\nwith this, and flour it, and froth it nicely.\nServe it with good gravy (No. 329, or No. 347), and currant-jelly. For\nanother stuffing, see receipt No. 379. Some cooks cut off the head and\ndivide it, and lay one half on each side the hare.\nCold roast hare will make excellent soup (No. 241), chopped to pieces,\nand stewed in three quarts of water for a couple of hours; the stuffing\nwill be a very agreeable substitute for sweet herbs and seasoning. See\nreceipt for hare soup (No. 241), hashed hare (No. 529), and mock hare,\nnext receipt.\n_Mock Hare._--(No. 66.*)\nCut out the fillet (_i. e._ the inside lean) of a sirloin of beef,\nleaving the fat to roast with the joint. Prepare some nice stuffing, as\ndirected for a hare in No. 66, or 379; put this on the beef, and roll it\nup with tape, put a skewer through it, and tie that on a spit.\n_Obs._ If the beef is of prime quality, has been kept till thoroughly\ntender, and you serve with it the accompaniments that usually attend\nroast hare (Nos. 329, 344, &c.), or stew it, and serve it with a rich\nthickened sauce garnished with forcemeat balls (No. 379), the most\nfastidious palate will have no reason to regret that the game season is\nover.\nTo make this into hare soup, see No. 241.\n_Rabbit._--(No. 67.)\nIf your fire is clear and sharp, thirty minutes will roast a young, and\nforty a full-grown rabbit.\nWhen you lay it down, baste it with butter, and dredge it lightly and\ncarefully with flour, that you may have it frothy, and of a fine light\nbrown. While the rabbit is roasting, boil its liver[142-*] with some\nparsley; when tender, chop them together, and put half the mixture into\nsome melted butter, reserving the other half for garnish, divided into\nlittle hillocks. Cut off the head, and lay half on each side of the\ndish.\n_Obs._ A fine, well-grown (but young) warren rabbit, kept some time\nafter it has been killed, and roasted with a stuffing in its belly, eats\nvery like a hare, to the nature of which it approaches. It is nice,\nnourishing food when young, but hard and unwholesome when old. For\n_Pheasant._--(No. 68.)\nRequires a smart fire, but not a fierce one. Thirty minutes will roast a\nyoung bird, and forty or fifty a full-grown pheasant. Pick and draw it,\ncut a slit in the back of the neck, and take out the craw, but don\u2019t cut\nthe head off; wipe the inside of the bird with a clean cloth, twist the\nlegs close to the body, leave the feet on, but cut the toes off; don\u2019t\nturn the head under the wing, but truss it like a fowl, it is much\neasier to carve; baste it, butter and froth it, and prepare sauce for it\n(Nos. 321 and 329). See the instructions in receipts to roast fowls and\nturkeys, Nos. 57 and 58.\n_Obs._ We believe the rarity of this bird is its best recommendation;\nand the character given it by an ingenious French author is just as good\nas it deserves. \u201cIts flesh is naturally tough, and owes all its\ntenderness and succulence to the long time it is kept before it is\ncooked;\u201d until it is \u201c_bien mortifi\u00e9e_,\u201d it is uneatable[142-+].\nTherefore, instead of \u201c_sus per col_,\u201d suspend it by one of the long\ntail-feathers, and the pheasant\u2019s falling from it is the criterion of\nits ripeness and readiness for the spit.\nOur president of the committee of taste (who is indefatigable in his\nendeavours to improve the health, as well as promote the enjoyment, of\nhis fellow-students in the school of good living, and to whom the\nepicure, the economist, and the valetudinarian are equally indebted for\nhis careful revision of this work, and especially for introducing that\nsalutary maxim into the kitchen, that \u201cthe salubrious is ever a superior\nconsideration to the savoury,\u201d and indeed, the rational epicure only\nrelishes the latter when entirely subordinate to the former), has\nsuggested to us, that the detachment of the feather cannot take place\nuntil the body of the bird has advanced more than one degree beyond the\nstate of wholesome _haut-go\u00fbt_, and become \u201c_trop mortifi\u00e9e_;\u201d and that\nto enjoy this game in perfection, you must have a brace of birds killed\nthe same day; these are to be put in suspense as above directed, and\nwhen one of them _drops_, the hour is come that the spit should be\nintroduced to his companion:--\n \u201c_Ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum._\u201d\n_Mock Pheasant._--(No. 69.)\nIf you have only one pheasant, and wish for a companion for it, get a\nfine young fowl, of as near as may be the same size as the bird to be\nmatched, and make game of it by trussing it like a pheasant, and\ndressing it according to the above directions. Few persons will discover\nthe pheasant from the fowl, especially if the latter has been kept four\nor five days.\nThe peculiar flavour of the pheasant (like that of other game) is\nprincipally acquired by long keeping.\n_Guinea and Pea Fowls_,--(No. 69*.)\nAre dressed in the same way as pheasants.\n_Partridges_,--(No. 70.)\nAre cleaned and trussed in the same manner as a pheasant (but the\nridiculous custom of tucking the legs into each other makes them very\ntroublesome to carve); the breast is so plump, it will require almost as\nmuch roasting; send up with them rich sauce (No. 321*), or bread sauce\n(No. 321), and good gravy (No. 329).\n\u2042 If you wish to preserve them longer than you think they will keep\ngood undressed, half roast them, they will then keep two or three days\nlonger; or make a pie of them.\n_Black Cock_ (No. 71), _Moor Game_ (No. 72), _and Grouse_, (No. 73.)\nAre all to be dressed like partridges; the black cock will take as much\nas a pheasant, and moor game and grouse as the partridge. Send up with\nthem currant-jelly and fried bread-crumbs (No. 320).\n_Wild Ducks._--(No. 74.)\nFor roasting a wild duck, you must have a clear, brisk fire, and a hot\nspit; it must be browned upon the outside, without being sodden within.\nTo have it well frothed and full of gravy is the nicety. Prepare the\nfire by stirring and raking it just before the bird is laid down, and\nfifteen or twenty minutes will do it in the fashionable way; but if you\nlike it a little more done, allow it a few minutes longer; if it is too\nmuch, it will lose its flavour.\nFor the sauce, see No. 338 and No. 62.\n_Widgeons and Teal_,--(No. 75.)\nAre dressed exactly as the wild duck; only that less time is requisite\nfor a widgeon, and still less for a teal.\n_Woodcock._--(No. 76.)\nWoodcocks should not be drawn, as the trail is by the lovers of \u201c_haut\ngo\u00fbt_\u201d considered a \u201c_bonne bouche_;\u201d truss their legs close to the\nbody, and run an iron skewer through each thigh, close to the body, and\ntie them on a small bird spit; put them to roast at a clear fire; cut as\nmany slices of bread as you have birds, toast or fry them a delicate\nbrown, and lay them in the dripping-pan under the birds to catch the\ntrail;[144-*] baste them with butter, and froth them with flour; lay\nthe toast on a hot dish, and the birds on the toast; pour some good beef\ngravy into the dish, and send some up in a boat, see _Obs._ to No. 329:\ntwenty or thirty minutes will roast them. Garnish with slices of lemon.\n_Obs._--Some epicures like this bird very much under-done, and direct\nthat a woodcock should be just introduced to the cook, for her to show\nit the fire, and then send it up to table.\n_Snipes_,--(No. 77.)\nDiffer little from woodcocks, unless in size; they are to be dressed in\nthe same way, but require about five minutes less time to roast them.\nFor sauce, see No. 338.\n_Pigeons._--(No. 78.)\nWhen the pigeons are ready for roasting, if you are desired to stuff\nthem, chop some green parsley very fine, the liver, and a bit of butter\ntogether, with a little pepper and salt, or with the stuffing ordered\nfor a fillet of veal (No. 374 or No. 375), and fill the belly of each\nbird with it. They will be done enough in about twenty or thirty\nminutes; send up parsley and butter (No. 261,) in the dish under them,\nand some in a boat, and garnish with crisp parsley (No. 318), or fried\nbread crumbs (No. 320), or bread sauce (No. 321), or gravy (No. 329).\n_Obs._--When pigeons are fresh they have their full relish; but it goes\nentirely off with a very little keeping; nor is it in any way so well\npreserved as by roasting them: when they are put into a pie they are\ngenerally baked to rags, and taste more of pepper and salt than of any\nthing else.\nA little melted butter may be put into the dish with them, and the gravy\nthat runs from them will mix with it into fine sauce. Pigeons are in the\ngreatest perfection from midsummer to Michaelmas; there is then the most\nplentiful and best food for them; and their finest growth is just when\nthey are full feathered. When they are in the pen-feathers, they are\nflabby; when they are full grown, and have flown some time, they are\ntough. Game and poultry are best when they have just done growing, _i.\ne._ as soon as nature has perfected her work.\nThis was the secret of Solomon, the famous pigeon-feeder of Turnham\nGreen, who is celebrated by the poet Gay, when he says,\n \u201cThat Turnham Green, which dainty pigeons fed,\n But feeds no more, for _Solomon_ is dead.\u201d\n_Larks and other small Birds._--(No. 80.)\nThese delicate little birds are in high season in November. When they\nare picked, gutted, and cleaned, truss them; brush them with the yelk of\nan egg, and then roll them in bread-crumbs: spit them on a lark-spit,\nand tie that on to a larger spit; ten or fifteen minutes at a quick fire\nwill do them enough; baste them with fresh butter while they are\nroasting, and sprinkle them with bread-crumbs till they are well covered\nwith them.\nFor the sauce, fry some grated bread in clarified butter, see No. 259,\nand set it to drain before the fire, that it may harden: serve the\ncrumbs under the larks when you dish them, and garnish them with slices\nof lemon.\n_Wheatears_,--(No. 81.)\nAre dressed in the same way as larks.\n_Lobster._--(No. 82.)\nSee receipt for boiling (No. 176).\nWe give no receipt for roasting lobster, tongue, &c. being of opinion\nwith Dr. King, who says,\n \u201cBy roasting that which our forefathers boiled,\n And boiling what they roasted, much is spoiled.\u201d\nFOOTNOTES:\n[122-*] This joint is said to owe its _name_ to king Charles the Second,\nwho, dining upon a loin of beef, and being particularly pleased with it,\nasked the name of the joint; said for its merit it should be _knighted_,\nand henceforth called _Sir-Loin_.\n[123-*] \u201cIn the present _fashion_ of FATTENING CATTLE, it is more\ndesirable to roast away the fat than to preserve it. If the honourable\nsocieties of agriculturists, at the time they consulted a learned\nprofessor about the composition of manures, had consulted some competent\nauthority on the nature of animal substances, the public might have\nescaped the overgrown corpulency of the animal flesh, which every where\nfills the markets.\u201d--_Domestic Management_, 12mo. 1813, p. 182.\n\u201cGame, and other wild animals proper for food, are of very superior\nqualities to the tame, from the total contrast of the circumstances\nattending them. They have a free range of exercise in the open air, and\nchoose their own food, the good effects of which are very evident in a\nshort, delicate texture of flesh, found only in them. Their juices and\nflavour are more pure, and their _fat_, when it is in any degree, as in\nvenison, and some other instances, differs as much from that of our\n_fatted_ animals, as silver and gold from the grosser metals. The\nsuperiority of WELCH MUTTON and SCOTCH BEEF is owing to a similar\ncause.\u201d--_Ibid._, p. 150.\nIf there is more FAT than you think will be eaten with the meat; cut it\noff; it will make an excellent PUDDING (No. 554); or clarify it, (No.\n84) and use it for frying: for those who like their meat done\nthoroughly, and use a moderate fire for roasting, the fat need not be\ncovered with paper.\n_If your beef is large_, and your family small, cut off the thin end and\nsalt it, and cut out and dress the fillet (_i. e._ commonly called the\ninside) next day as MOCK HARE (No. 66*): thus you get _three good hot\ndinners_. See also No. 483, on made dishes. For SAUCE _for cold beef_,\nsee No. 359, cucumber vinegar, No. 399, and horseradish vinegar, Nos.\n[123-+] \u201cThis joint is often spoiled for the next day\u2019s use, by an\ninjudicious mode of carving. If you object to the outside, take the\nbrown off, and help the next: by the cutting it only on one side, you\npreserve the gravy in the meat, and the goodly appearance also; by\ncutting it, on the contrary, down the middle of this joint, all the\ngravy runs out, it becomes dry, and exhibits a most unseemly aspect when\nbrought to table a second time.\u201d--From UDE\u2019S _Cookery_, 8vo. 1818, p.\n[124-*] DEAN SWIFT\u2019S _receipt to roast mutton_.\nTo GEMINIANI\u2019S beautiful air--\u201c_Gently touch the warbling lyre_.\u201d\n \u201cGently stir and blow the fire,\n Lay the mutton down to roast,\n Dress it quickly, I desire,\n In the dripping put a toast,\n That I hunger may remove;--\n Mutton is the meat I love.\n \u201cOn the dresser see it lie;\n Oh! the charming white and red!\n Finer meat ne\u2019er met the eye,\n On the sweetest grass it fed;\n Let the jack go swiftly round,\n Let me have it nicely brown\u2019d.\n \u201cOn the table spread the cloth,\n Let the knives be sharp and clean,\n Pickles get and salad both,\n Let them each be fresh and green.\n With small beer, good ale, and wine,\n O, ye gods! how I shall dine!\u201d\n[124-+] See the chapter of ADVICE TO COOKS.\n[125-*] _Common cooks very seldom brown the ends of necks and loins_; to\nhave this done nicely, let the fire be a few inches longer at each end\nthan the joint that is roasting, and occasionally place the spit\nslanting, so that each end may get sufficient fire; otherwise, after the\nmeat is done, you must take it up, and put the ends before the fire.\n[127-*] To MINCE or HASH VEAL see No. 511, or 511*, and to make a RAGOUT\nof cold veal, No. 512.\n[131-*] _Priscilla Haslehurst_, in her _Housekeeper\u2019s Instructor_, 8vo.\nSheffield, 1819, p. 19, gives us a receipt \u201cto goosify a shoulder of\nlamb.\u201d \u201cUn grand Cuisinier,\u201d informed me that \u201c_to lambify_\u201d the leg of\na porkling is a favourite metamorphosis in the French kitchen, when\nhouse lamb is very dear.\n[133-*] MONS. GRIMOD designates this \u201c_Animal modeste, ennemi du faste,\net le roi des animaux immondes_.\u201d Maitland, in p. 758, of vol. ii. of\nhis _History of London_, reckons that the number of _sucking-pigs_\nconsumed in the city of London in the year 1725, amounted to 52,000.\n[133-+] Some _delicately sensitive_ palates desire the cook to _parboil_\nthe sage and onions (before they are cut), to soften and take off the\nrawness of their flavour; the older and drier the onion, the stronger\nwill be its flavour; and the learned EVELYN orders these to be\n_edulcorated_ by gentle maceration.\n[133-++] An ancient culinary sage says, \u201cWhen you see a pig\u2019s eyes drop\nout, you may be satisfied he has had enough of the fire!\u201d This is no\ncriterion that the body of the pig is done enough, but arises merely\nfrom the briskness of the fire before the head of it.\n[137-*] If you think the flavour of raw onions too strong, cut them in\nslices, and lay them in cold water for a couple of hours, or add as much\napple or potato as you have of onion.\n[137-+] Although the whole is rather too luscious for the lingual nerves\nof the good folks of Great Britain, the livers of poultry are considered\na very high relish by our continental neighbours; and the following\ndirections how to procure them in perfection, we copy from the recipe of\n\u201c_un Vieil Amateur de Bonne Ch\u00e8re_.\u201d\n\u201cThe liver of a duck, or a goose, which has submitted to the rules and\norders that men of taste have invented for the amusement of his\nsebaceous glands, is a superlative exquisite to the palate of a Parisian\nepicure; but, alas! the poor goose, to produce this darling dainty, must\nendure sad torments. He must be crammed with meat, deprived of drink,\nand kept constantly before a hot fire: a miserable martyrdom indeed! and\nwould be truly intolerable if his reflections on the consequences of his\nsufferings did not afford him some consolation; but the glorious\nprospect of the delightful growth of his liver gives him courage and\nsupport; and when he thinks how speedily it will become almost as big as\nhis body, how high it will rank on the list of double relishes, and with\nwhat ecstasies it will be eaten by the fanciers \u201c_des Foies gras_,\u201d he\nsubmits to his destiny without a sigh. The famous _Strasburg pies_ are\nmade with livers thus prepared, and sell for an enormous price.\u201d\nHowever incredible this _ordonnance_ for the obesitation of a goose\u2019s\nliver may appear at first sight, will it not seem equally so to\nafter-ages, that in this enlightened country, in 1821, we encouraged a\nfolly as much greater, as its operation was more universal? Will it be\nbelieved, that it was then considered the _acme_ of perfection in beef\nand mutton, that it should be so _over_-fattened, that a poor man, to\nobtain one pound of meat that he could eat, must purchase another which\nhe could not, unless converted into a suet pudding: moreover, that the\nhighest premiums were annually awarded to those who produced sheep and\noxen in the most extreme stale of _morbid obesity_?!!\n ----\u201cexpensive plans\n For deluging of dripping-pans.\u201d\n[141-*] This, in culinary technicals, is called _casing_ it upon the\nsame principle that \u201ceating, drinking, and sleeping,\u201d are termed\n_non-naturals_.\n[141-+] Mrs. Charlotte Mason, in her \u201c_Complete System of Cookery_,\u201d\npage 283, says, she has \u201ctried all the different things recommended to\nbaste a hare with, and never found any thing so good as _small beer_;\u201d\nothers order _milk_; drippings we believe is better than any thing. To\nroast a hare nicely, so as to preserve the meat on the back, &c. juicy\nand nutritive, requires as much attention as a sucking-pig.\nInstead of washing, a \u201c_grand Cuisinier_\u201d says, it is much better to\nwipe a hare with a thin, dry cloth, as so much washing, or indeed\nwashing at all, takes away the flavour.\n[142-*] Liver sauce, Nos. 287 and 288.\n[142-+] \u201cThey are only fit to be eaten when the blood runs from the\nbill, which is commonly about 6 or 7 days after they have been killed,\notherwise it will have no more savour than a common fowl.\u201d--_Ude\u2019s\nCookery_, 8vo. 1819, page 216.\n\u201cGastronomers, who have any sort of aversion to a peculiar taste in\ngame, properly kept, had better abstain from this bird, since it is\nworse than a common fowl, if not waited for till it acquires the _fumet_\nit ought to have. Whole republics of maggots have often been found\nrioting under the wings of pheasants; but being _radically_ dispersed,\nand the birds properly washed with vinegar, every thing went right, and\nevery guest, unconscious of the culinary ablutions, enjoyed the\nexcellent flavour of the Phasian birds.\u201d--_Tabella Cibaria_, p. 55.\n[144-*] \u201cThis bird has so insinuated itself into the favour of _refined\ngourmands_, that they pay it the same honours as the grand Lama, making\na rago\u00fbt of its excrements, and devouring them with ecstasy.\u201d--Vide\n_Almanach des Gourmands_, vol. i. p. 56.\nThat exercise produces strength and firmness of fibre is excellently\nwell exemplified in the _woodcock_ and the _partridge_. The former flies\nmost--the latter walks; the wing of the woodcock is always very\ntough,--of the partridge very tender hence the old doggerel distich,--\n \u201cIf the _partridge_ had but the _woodcock\u2019s_ thigh,\n He\u2019d be the best bird that e\u2019er doth fly.\u201d\nThe _breast_ of all birds is the most juicy and nutritious part.\nFRYING.\n_To clarify Drippings._--(No. 83.)\nPUT your dripping into a clean sauce-pan over a stove or slow fire; when\nit is just going to boil, skim it well, let it boil, and then let it\nstand till it is a little cooled; then pour it through a sieve into a\npan.\n_Obs._--Well-cleansed drippings,[147-*] and the fat skimmings[147-+] of\nthe broth-pot, when fresh and sweet, will baste every thing as well as\nbutter, except game and poultry, and should supply the place of butter\nfor common fries, &c.; for which they are equal to lard, especially if\nyou repeat the clarifying twice over.\nN.B. If you keep it in a cool place, you may preserve it a fortnight in\nsummer, and longer in winter. When you have done frying, let the\ndripping stand a few minutes to settle, and then pour it through a sieve\ninto a clean basin or stone pan, and it will do a second and a third\ntime as well as it did the first; only the fat you have fried fish in\nmust not be used for any other purpose.\n_To clarify Suet to fry with._--(No. 84.)\nCut beef or mutton suet into thin slices, pick out all the veins and\nskins, &c., put it into a thick and well-tinned sauce-pan, and set it\nover a very slow stove, or in an oven, till it is melted; you must not\nhurry it; if not done very slowly it will acquire a burnt taste, which\nyou cannot get rid of; then strain it through a hair-sieve into a clean\nbrown pan: when quite cold, tie a paper over it, and keep it for use.\nHog\u2019s lard is prepared in the same way.\n_Obs._--The waste occasioned by the present absurd fashion of\nover-feeding cattle till the fat is nearly equal to the lean, may, by\ngood management, be in some measure prevented, by cutting off the\nsuperfluous part, and preparing it as above, or by making it into\npuddings; see Nos. 551 and 554, or soup, No. 229.\n_Steaks._--(No. 85.)\nCut the steaks rather thinner than for broiling. Put some butter, or No.\n83, into an iron frying-pan, and when it is hot, lay in the steaks, and\nkeep turning them till they are done enough. For sauce, see No. 356, and\nfor the accompaniments, No. 94.\n_Obs._ Unless the fire be prepared on purpose, we like this way of\ncooking them; the gravy is preserved, and the meat is more equally\ndressed, and more evenly browned; which makes it more relishing, and\ninvites the eye to encourage the appetite.\n_Beef-steaks and Onions._--(No. 86. See also No. 501.)\nFry the steaks according to the directions given in the preceding\nreceipt; and have ready for them some onions prepared as directed in No.\nFor stewed rump-steaks, see Nos. 500 and 501.\n_Sausages_,--(No. 87.)\nAre best when quite fresh made. Put a bit of butter, or dripping (No.\n83), into a clean frying-pan; as soon as it is melted (before it gets\nhot) put in the sausages, and shake the pan for a minute, and keep\nturning them (be careful not to break or prick them in so doing); fry\nthem over a very slow fire till they are nicely browned on all sides;\nwhen they are done, lay them on a hair-sieve, placed before the fire for\na couple of minutes to drain the fat from them. The secret of frying\nsausages is, to let them get hot very gradually; they then will not\nburst, if they are not stale.\nThe common practice to prevent their bursting, is to prick them with a\nfork; but this lets the gravy out.\nYou may froth them by rubbing them with cold fresh butter, and lightly\ndredge them with flour, and put them in a cheese-toaster or Dutch oven\nfor a minute.\nSome over-economical cooks insist that no butter or lard, &c. is\nrequired, their own fat being sufficient to fry them: we have tried it;\nthe sausages were partially scorched, and had that piebald appearance\nthat all fried things have when sufficient fat is not allowed.\n_Obs._ Poached eggs (No. 548), pease-pudding (No. 555), and mashed\npotatoes (No. 106) are agreeable accompaniments to sausages; and\nsausages are as welcome with boiled or roasted poultry or veal, or\nboiled tripe (No. 18); so are ready-dressed German sausages (see _Mem._\nto No. 13); and a convenient, easily digestible, and invigorating food\nfor the aged, and those whose teeth are defective; as is also No. 503.\nFor sauce No. 356; to make mustard, Nos. 369 and 370.\nN.B. Sausages, when finely chopped, are a delicate \u201c_bonne bouche_;\u201d and\nrequire very little assistance from the teeth to render them quite ready\nfor the stomach.\n_Sweetbreads full-dressed._--(No. 88.)\nParboil them, and let them get cold; then cut them in pieces, about\nthree-quarters of an inch thick; dip them in the yelk of an egg, then in\nfine bread-crumbs (some add spice, lemon-peel, and sweet herbs); put\nsome clean dripping (No. 83) into a frying-pan: when it boils, put in\nthe sweetbreads, and fry them a fine brown. For garnish, crisp parsley;\nand for sauce, mushroom catchup and melted butter, or anchovy sauce, or\nNos. 356, 343, or 343*, or bacon or ham, as Nos. 526 and 527.\n_Sweetbreads plain._--(No. 89.)\nParboil and slice them as before, dry them on a clean cloth, flour them,\nand fry them a delicate brown; take care to drain the fat well from\nthem, and garnish them with slices of lemon, and sprigs of chervil or\nparsley, or crisp parsley (No. 318). For sauce, No. 356, or No. 307, and\nslices of ham or bacon, as No. 526, or No. 527, or forcemeat balls made\nas Nos. 375 and 378.\n\u2042 Take care to have a fresh sweetbread; it spoils sooner than almost\nany thing, therefore should be parboiled as soon as it comes in. This is\ncalled blanching, or setting it; mutton kidneys (No. 95) are sometimes\nbroiled and sent up with sweetbreads.\n_Veal Cutlets._--(No. 90 and No. 521.)\nLet your cutlets be about half an inch thick; trim them, and flatten\nthem with a cleaver; you may fry them in fresh butter, or good drippings\n(No. 83); when brown on one side, turn them and do the other; if the\nfire is very fierce, they must change sides oftener. The time they will\ntake depends on the thickness of the cutlet and the heat of the fire;\nhalf an inch thick will take about fifteen minutes. Make some gravy, by\nputting the trimmings into a stew-pan with a little soft water, an\nonion, a roll of lemon-peel, a blade of mace, a sprig of thyme and\nparsley, and a bay leaf; stew over a slow fire an hour, then strain it;\nput an ounce of butter into a stew-pan; as soon as it is melted, mix\nwith it as much flour as will dry it up, stir it over the fire for a few\nminutes, then add the gravy by degrees till it is all mixed, boil it for\nfive minutes, and strain it through a tamis sieve, and put it to the\ncutlets; you may add some browning (No. 322), mushroom (No. 439), or\nwalnut catchup, or lemon pickle, &c.: see also sauces, Nos. 343 and 348.\n_Or_,\nCut the veal into pieces about as big as a crown-piece, beat them with a\ncleaver, dip them in eggs beat up with a little salt, and then in fine\nbread-crumbs; fry them a light brown in boiling lard; serve under them\nsome good gravy or mushroom sauce (No. 307), which may be made in five\nminutes. Garnish with slices of ham or rashers of bacon (Nos. 526 and\n527), or pork sausages (No. 87).\n_Obs._ Veal forcemeat or stuffing (Nos. 374, 375, and 378), pork\nsausages (No. 87), rashers of bacon (Nos. 526 and 527), are very\nrelishing accompaniments, fried and sent up in the form of balls or\ncakes, and laid round as a garnish.\n_Lamb, or Mutton Chops_,--(No. 92.)\nAre dressed in the same way, and garnished with crisp parsley (No. 318)\nand slices of lemon.\nIf they are bread-crumbed and covered with buttered writing-paper, and\nthen broiled, they are called \u201cmaintenon cutlets.\u201d\n_Pork Chops._--(No. 93.)\nCut the chops about half an inch thick; trim them neatly (few cooks have\nany idea how much credit they get by this); put a frying-pan on the\nfire, with a bit of butter; as soon as it is hot, put in your chops,\nturning them often till brown all over, they will be done enough in\nabout fifteen minutes; take one upon a plate and try it; if done,\nseason it with a little finely-minced onion, powdered sage, and pepper\nand salt. For gravy and sauce, see Nos. 300, 304, 341, and 356.\n_Obs._ A little powdered sage, &c. strewed over them, will give them a\nnice relish, or the savoury powder in No. 51, or forcemeat sausages like\nDo not have them cut too thick, about three chops to an inch and a\nquarter; trim them neatly, beat them flat, have ready some sweet herbs,\nor sage and onion chopped fine, put them in a stew-pan with a bit of\nbutter about as big as a walnut, let them have one fry, beat two eggs on\na plate with a little salt, add to them the herbs, mix it all well\ntogether, dip the chops in one at a time all over, and then with\nbread-crumbs fry them in hot lard or drippings till they are a light\nbrown.\n_Obs._ Veal, lamb, or mutton chops, are very good dressed in like\nmanner.\nTo fry fish, see No. 145.\nN.B. To fry eggs and omelets, and other things, see No. 545, and the\nFOOTNOTES:\n[147-*] MRS. MELROE, in her _Economical Cookery_, page 7, tells us, she\nhas ascertained from actual experiments, that \u201cthe _drippings_ of roast\nmeat, combined with wheat flour, oatmeal, barley, pease, or\npotato-starch, will make delicious soup, agreeable and savoury to the\npalate, and nutritive and serviceable to the stomach; and that while a\njoint is roasting, good soup may be made from the drippings of the FAT,\nwhich is the _essence of meat_, as seeds are of vegetables, and\nimpregnates SOUP _with the identical taste of meat_.\u201d\n\u201cWriters on cookery give strict directions to carefully _skim off the\nfat_, and in the next sentence order butter (a much more expensive\narticle) to be added: instead of this, when any fat appears at the top\nof your soup or stew, _do not skim it_ off, but unite it with the broth\nby means of the vegetable mucilages, flour, oatmeal, ground barley, or\npotato-starch; when suspended the soup is equally agreeable to the\npalate nutritive to the stomach,\u201d &c.\n\u201cCooks bestow a great deal of pains to make gravies; they stew and boil\nlean meat for hours, and, after all, their cookery tastes more of pepper\nand salt than any thing else. If they would add the bulk of a chesnut of\nsolid fat to a common-sized sauce-boatful of gravy, it will give it more\nsapidity than twenty hours\u2019 stewing lean meat would, unless a larger\nquantity was used than is warranted by the rules of frugality.\u201d See Nos.\n\u201cThe experiments of _Dr. Stark_ on the nourishing powers of different\nsubstances, go very far to prove that three ounces of the fat of boiled\nbeef are equal to a pound of the lean. _Dr. Pages_, the traveller,\nconfirms this opinion: \u2018Being obliged,\u2019 says he, \u2018during the journey\nfrom North to South America by land, to live solely on animal food, I\nexperienced the truth of what is observed by hunters, who live solely on\nanimal food, viz. that besides their receiving little nourishment from\nthe leaner parts of it, it soon becomes offensive to the taste; whereas\nthe fat is both more nutritive, and continues to be agreeable to the\npalate. To many stomachs fat is unpleasant and indigestible, especially\nwhen converted into oil by heat; this may be easily prevented, by the\nsimple process of combining the fat completely with water, by the\nintervention of vegetable mucilage, as in melting butter, by means of\nflour, the butter and water are united into a homogeneous fluid.\u2019\u201d--From\n_Practical Economy, by a Physician_. Callow, 1801.\n[147-+] See note at the foot of No. 201.\nBROILING.\n_Chops or Steaks._[151-*]--(No. 94.)\nTo stew them, see No. 500, ditto with onions, No. 501.\nThose who are nice about steaks, never attempt to have them, except in\nweather which permits the meat to be hung till it is tender, and give\nthe butcher some days\u2019 notice of their wish for them.\nIf, friendly reader, you wish to entertain your mouth with a superlative\nbeef-steak, you must have the inside of the sirloin cut into steaks. The\nnext best steaks are those cut from the middle of a rump, that has been\nkilled at least four days in moderate weather, and much longer in cold\nweather, when they can be cut about six inches long, four inches wide,\nand half an inch thick: do not beat them, which vulgar trick breaks the\ncells in which the gravy of the meat is contained, and it becomes dry\nand tasteless.\nN.B. If your butcher sends steaks which are not tender, we do not insist\nthat you should object to let him be beaten.\nDesire the butcher to cut them of even thickness; if he does not, divide\nthe thicker from the thinner pieces, and give them time accordingly.\nTake care to have a very clear, brisk fire; throw a little salt on it;\nmake the gridiron hot, and set it slanting, to prevent the fat from\ndropping into the fire, and making a smoke. It requires more practice\nand care than is generally supposed to do steaks to a nicety; and for\nwant of these little attentions, this very common dish, which every body\nis supposed capable of dressing, seldom comes to table in perfection.\nAsk those you cook for, if they like it under, or thoroughly done; and\nwhat accompaniments they like best; it is usual to put a table-spoonful\nof catchup (No. 439), or a little minced eschalot, or No. 402, into a\ndish before the fire; while you are broiling, turn the steak, &c. with a\npair of steak-tongs, it will be done in about ten or fifteen minutes;\nrub a bit of butter over it, and send it up garnished with pickles and\nfinely-scraped horse-radish. Nos. 135, 278, 299, 255, 402, 423, 439, and\n356, are the sauces usually composed for chops and steaks.\nN.B. Macbeth\u2019s receipt for beef-steaks is the best--\n ----\u201c_when \u2019t is done, \u2019t were well\n If \u2019t were done quickly._\u201d\n_Obs._ \u201c_Le v\u00e9ritable_ BIFTECK, _comme il se fait en Angleterre_,\u201d as\nMons. Beauvilliers calls (in his _l\u2019Art du Cuisinier_, tom. i. 8vo.\nParis, 1814, p. 122) what he says we call \u201c_romesteck_,\u201d is as highly\nesteemed by our French neighbours, as their \u201c_rago\u00fbts_\u201d are by our\ncountrymen, who\n Merely to taste their soups, and mushrooms know.\u201d\n KING\u2019S _Art of Cookery_, p. 79.\nThese lines were written before the establishment of Albion house,\nAldersgate Street, where every luxury that nature and art produce is\nserved of the primest quality, and in the most scientific manner, in a\nstyle of princely magnificence and perfect comfort: the wines, liqueurs,\n&c. are superlative, and every department of the business of the\nbanquet is conducted in the most liberal manner.\nThe French author whom we have before so often quoted, assures _les\namateurs de bonne ch\u00e8re_ on the other side of the water, it is well\nworth their while to cross the channel to taste this favourite English\ndish, which, when \u201c_mortifi\u00e9e \u00e0 son point_\u201d and well dressed, he says,\nis superior to most of the subtle double relishes of the Parisian\nkitchen. _Almanach des Gourmands_, vol. i. p. 27.\nBeef is justly accounted the most nutritious animal food, and is\nentitled to the same rank among solid, that brandy is among liquid\nstimuli.\nThe celebrated TRAINER, Sir Thomas Parkyns, of Bunny Park, Bart., in his\nbook on _Wrestling_, 4to. 3d edit. 1727, p. 10, &c., greatly prefers\nbeef-eaters to sheep-biters, as he called those who ate mutton.\nWhen Humphries the pugilist was trained by Ripsham, the keeper of\nIpswich jail, he was at first fed on beef, but got so much flesh, it was\nchanged for mutton, roasted or broiled: when broiled, great part of the\nnutritive juices of the meat is extracted.\nThe principles upon which training[153-*] is conducted, resolve\nthemselves into temperance without abstemiousness, and exercise without\nfatigue.\n_Kidneys._--(No. 95.)\nCut them through the long way, score them, sprinkle a little pepper and\nsalt on them, and run a wire skewer through them to keep them from\ncurling on the gridiron, so that they may be evenly broiled.\nBroil them over a very clear fire, turning them often till they are\ndone; they will take about ten or twelve minutes, if the fire is brisk:\nor fry them in butter, and make gravy for them in the pan (after you\nhave taken out the kidneys), by putting in a tea-spoonful of flour; as\nsoon as it looks brown, put in as much water as will make gravy; they\nwill take five minutes more to fry than to broil. For sauce, Nos. 318,\n_Obs._ Some cooks chop a few parsley-leaves very fine, and mix them with\na bit of fresh butter and a little pepper and salt, and put a little of\nthis mixture on each kidney.\n_A Fowl or Rabbit, &c._--(No. 97.)\nWe can only recommend this method of dressing when the fire is not good\nenough for roasting.\nPick and truss it the same as for boiling, cut it open down the back,\nwipe the inside clean with a cloth, season it with a little pepper and\nsalt, have a clear fire, and set the gridiron at a good distance over\nit, lay the chicken on with the inside towards the fire (you may egg it\nand strew some grated bread over it), and broil it till it is a fine\nbrown: take care the fleshy side is not burned. Lay it on a hot dish;\npickled mushrooms, or mushroom sauce (No. 305), thrown over it, or\nparsley and butter (No. 261), or melted butter flavoured with mushroom\ncatchup (No. 307).\nGarnish it with slices of lemon; and the liver and gizzard slit and\nnotched, seasoned with pepper and salt, and broiled nicely brown, with\nsome slices of lemon. For grill sauce, see No. 355.\nN.B. \u201cIt was a great mode, and taken up by the court party in Oliver\nCromwell\u2019s time, to roast half capons, pretending they had a more\nexquisite taste and nutriment than when dressed whole.\u201d See JOAN\nCROMWELL\u2019S _Kitchen_, London, 1664, page 39.\n_Pigeons_,--(No. 98.)\nTo be worth the trouble of picking, must be well grown, and well fed.\nClean them well, and pepper and salt them; broil them over a clear, slow\nfire; turn them often, and put a little butter on them: when they are\ndone, pour over them, either stewed (No. 305) or pickled mushrooms, or\ncatchup and melted butter (No. 307, or No. 348 or 355).\nGarnish with fried bread-crumbs or sippets (No. 319): or, when the\npigeons are trussed as for boiling, flat them with a cleaver, taking\ncare not to break the skin of the backs or breasts. Season them with\npepper and salt, a little bit of butter, and a tea-spoonful of water,\nand tie them close at both ends; so that when they are brought to table,\nthey bring their sauce with them. Egg and dredge them well with grated\nbread (mixed with spice and sweet herbs, if you please); then lay them\non the gridiron, and turn them frequently: if your fire is not very\nclear, lay them on a sheet of paper well buttered, to keep them from\ngetting smoked. They are much better broiled whole.\nThe same sauce as in the preceding receipt, or No. 343 or 348.\nVEAL CUTLETS (No. 521 and No. 90). PORK CHOPS (No. 93).\nFOOTNOTES:\n[151-*] The season for these is from the 29th of _September_ to the 25th\nof _March_; to ensure their being tender when out of season, STEW THEM\nas in receipt No. 500.\nTO WARM UP COLD RUMP-STEAKS.\nLay them in a stew-pan, with one large onion cut in quarters, six\nberries of allspice, the same of black pepper, cover the steaks with\nboiling water, let them stew gently one hour, thicken the liquor with\nflour and butter rubbed together on a plate; if a pint of gravy, about\none ounce of flour, and the like weight of butter, will do; put it into\nthe stew-pan, shake it well over the fire for five minutes, and it is\nready; lay the steaks and onions on a dish and pour the gravy through a\nsieve over them.\n[153-*] See \u201cTHE ART OF INVIGORATING AND PROLONGING LIFE,\u201d by the editor\nof \u201cTHE COOK\u2019S ORACLE.\u201d Published by G. B. Whittaker, No. 13, Ave-Maria\nLane.\nVEGETABLES.\n_Sixteen Ways of dressing Potatoes._[155-*]--(No. 102.)\nThe vegetable kingdom affords no food more wholesome, more easily\nprocured, easily prepared, or less expensive, than the potato: yet,\nalthough this most useful vegetable is dressed almost every day, in\nalmost every family, for one plate of potatoes that comes to table as it\nshould, ten are spoiled.\nBe careful in your choice of potatoes: no vegetable varies so much in\ncolour, size, shape, consistence, and flavour.\nThe reddish-coloured are better than the white, but the\nyellowish-looking ones are the best. Choose those of a moderate size,\nfree from blemishes, and fresh, and buy them in the mould. They must not\nbe wetted till they are cleaned to be cooked. Protect them from the air\nand frost, by laying them in heaps in a cellar, covering them with mats,\nor burying them in sand or in earth. The action of frost is most\ndestructive: if it be considerable, the life of the vegetable is\ndestroyed, and the potato speedily rots.\nWash them, but do not pare or cut them, unless they are very large. Fill\na sauce-pan half full of potatoes of equal size[155-+] (or make them so\nby dividing the larger ones), put to them as much cold water as will\ncover them about an inch: they are sooner boiled, and more savoury, than\nwhen drowned in water. Most boiled things are spoiled by having too\nlittle water, but potatoes are often spoiled by too much: they must\nmerely be covered, and a little allowed for waste in boiling, so that\nthey may be just covered at the finish.\nSet them on a moderate fire till they boil; then take them off, and put\nthem by the side of the fire to simmer slowly till they are soft enough\nto admit a fork (place no dependence on the usual test of their skins\u2019\ncracking, which, if they are boiled fast, will happen to some potatoes\nwhen they are not half done, and the insides quite hard). Then pour the\nwater off (if you let the potatoes remain in the water a moment after\nthey are done enough, they will become waxy and watery), uncover the\nsauce-pan, and set it at such a distance from the fire as will secure it\nfrom burning; their superfluous moisture will evaporate, and the\npotatoes will be perfectly dry and mealy.\nYou may afterward place a napkin, folded up to the size of the\nsauce-pan\u2019s diameter, over the potatoes, to keep them hot and mealy till\nwanted.\n_Obs._--This method of managing potatoes is in every respect equal to\nsteaming them; and they are dressed in half the time.\nThere is such an infinite variety of sorts and sizes of potatoes, that\nit is impossible to say how long they will take doing: the best way is\nto try them with a fork. Moderate-sized potatoes will generally be done\nenough in fifteen or twenty minutes. See _Obs._ to No. 106.\n_Cold Potatoes fried._--(No. 102*.)\nPut a bit of clean dripping into a frying-pan: when it is melted, slice\nin your potatoes with a little pepper and salt; put them on the fire;\nkeep stirring them: when they are quite hot, they are ready.\n_Obs._--This is a very good way of re-dressing potatoes, or see No. 106.\n_Potatoes boiled and broiled._--(No. 103.)\nDress your potatoes as before directed, and put them on a gridiron over\na very clear and brisk fire: turn them till they are brown all over, and\nsend them up dry, with melted butter in a cup.\n_Potatoes fried in Slices or Shavings._--(No. 104.)\nPeel large potatoes; slice them about a quarter of an inch thick, or cut\nthem in shavings round and round, as you would peel a lemon; dry them\nwell in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping. Take care that\nyour fat and frying-pan are quite clean; put it on a quick fire, watch\nit, and as soon as the lard boils, and is still, put in the slices of\npotato, and keep moving them till they are crisp. Take them up, and lay\nthem to drain on a sieve: send them up with a very little salt sprinkled\nover them.\n_Potatoes fried whole._--(No. 105.)\nWhen nearly boiled enough, as directed in No. 102, put them into a\nstew-pan with a bit of butter, or some nice clean beef-drippings; shake\nthem about often (for fear of burning them), till they are brown and\ncrisp; drain them from the fat.\n_Obs._--It will be an elegant improvement to the last three receipts,\nprevious to frying or broiling the potatoes, to flour them and dip them\nin the yelk of an egg, and then roll them in fine-sifted bread-crumbs;\nthey will then deserve to be called POTATOES FULL DRESSED.\n_Potatoes mashed._--(No. 106. See also No. 112.)\nWhen your potatoes are thoroughly boiled, drain them quite dry, pick out\nevery speck, &c., and while hot, rub them through a colander into a\nclean stew-pan. To a pound of potatoes put about half an ounce of\nbutter, and a table-spoonful of milk: do not make them too moist; mix\nthem well together.\n_Obs._--After Lady-day, when the potatoes are getting old and specky,\nand in frosty weather, this is the best way of dressing them. You may\nput them into shapes or small tea-cups; egg them with yelk of egg, and\nbrown them very slightly before a slow fire. See No. 108.\n_Potatoes mashed with Onions._--(No. 107.)\nPrepare some boiled onions by putting them through a sieve, and mix them\nwith potatoes. In proportioning the onions to the potatoes, you will be\nguided by your wish to have more or less of their flavour.\n_Obs._--See note under No. 555.\n_Potatoes escalloped._--(No. 108.)\nMash potatoes as directed in No. 106; then butter some nice clean\nscollop-shells, patty-pans, or tea-cups or saucers; put in your\npotatoes; make them smooth at the top; cross a knife over them; strew a\nfew fine bread-crumbs on them; sprinkle them with a paste-brush with a\nfew drops of melted butter, and then set them in a Dutch oven; when they\nare browned on the top, take them carefully out of the shells and brown\nthe other side.\n_Colcannon._--(No. 108*.)\nBoil potatoes and greens, or spinage, separately; mash the potatoes;\nsqueeze the greens dry; chop them quite fine, and mix them with the\npotatoes, with a little butter, pepper, and salt; put it into a mould,\nbuttering it well first; let it stand in a hot oven for ten minutes.\n_Potatoes roasted._--(No. 109.)\nWash and dry your potatoes (all of a size), and put them in a tin Dutch\noven, or cheese-toaster: take care not to put them too near the fire, or\nthey will get burned on the outside before they are warmed through.\nLarge potatoes will require two hours to roast them.\nN.B. To save time and trouble, some cooks half boil them first.\nThis is one of the best opportunities the BAKER has to rival the cook.\n_Potatoes roasted under Meat._--(No. 110.)\nHalf boil large potatoes, drain the water from them, and put them into\nan earthen dish, or small tin pan, under meat that is roasting, and\nbaste them with some of the dripping: when they are browned on one side,\nturn them and brown the other; send them up round the meat, or in a\nsmall dish.\n_Potato Balls._--(No. 111.)\nMix mashed potatoes with the yelk of an egg; roll them into balls; flour\nthem, or egg and bread-crumb them; and fry them in clean drippings, or\nbrown them in a Dutch oven.\n_Potato Balls Rago\u00fbt_,--(No. 112.)\nAre made by adding to a pound of potatoes a quarter of a pound of grated\nham, or some sweet herbs, or chopped parsley, an onion or eschalot,\nsalt, pepper, and a little grated nutmeg, or other spice, with the yelk\nof a couple of eggs: they are then to be dressed as No. 111.\n_Obs._--An agreeable vegetable relish, and a good supper-dish.\n_Potato Snow._--(No. 114.)\nThe potatoes must be free from spots, and the whitest you can pick out;\nput them on in cold water; when they begin to crack strain the water\nfrom them, and put them into a clean stew-pan by the side of the fire\ntill they are quite dry, and fall to pieces; rub them through a wire\nsieve on the dish they are to be sent up in, and do not disturb them\nafterward.\n_Potato Pie._--(No. 115.)\nPeel and slice your potatoes very thin into a pie-dish; between each\nlayer of potatoes put a little chopped onion (three-quarters of an ounce\nof onion is sufficient for a pound of potatoes); between each layer\nsprinkle a little pepper and salt; put in a little water, and cut about\ntwo ounces of fresh butter into little bits, and lay them on the top:\ncover it close with puff paste. It will take about an hour and a half to\nbake it.\nN.B. The yelks of four eggs (boiled hard) may be added; and when baked,\na table-spoonful of good mushroom catchup poured in through a funnel.\n_Obs._--Cauliflowers divided into mouthfuls, and button onions, seasoned\nwith curry powder, &c. make a favourite vegetable pie.\n_New Potatoes._--(No. 116.)\nThe best way to clean new potatoes is to rub them with a coarse cloth or\nflannel, a or scrubbing-brush, and proceed as in No. 102.\nN.B. New potatoes are poor, watery, and insipid, till they are full two\ninches in diameter: they are not worth the trouble of boiling before\nmidsummer day.\n_Obs._--Some cooks prepare sauces to pour over potatoes, made with\nbutter, salt, and pepper, or gravy, or melted butter and catchup; or\nstew the potatoes in ale, or water seasoned with pepper and salt; or\nbake them with herrings or sprats, mixed with layers of potatoes,\nseasoned with pepper, salt, sweet herbs, vinegar, and water; or cut\nmutton or beef into slices, and lay them in a stew-pan, and on them\npotatoes and spices, then another layer of the meat alternately, pouring\nin a little water, covering it up very close, and slewing slowly.\nPotato mucilage (a good substitute for arrow-root), No. 448.[159-*]\n_Jerusalem Artichokes_,--(No. 117.)\nAre boiled and dressed in the various ways we have just before directed\nfor potatoes.\nN.B. They should be covered with thick melted butter, or a nice white or\nbrown sauce.\n_Cabbage._--(No. 118.)\nPick cabbages very clean, and wash them thoroughly; then look them over\ncarefully again; quarter them if they are very large. Put them into a\nsauce-pan with plenty of boiling water; if any scum rises, take it off;\nput a large spoonful of salt into the sauce-pan, and boil them till the\nstalks feel tender. A young cabbage will take about twenty minutes or\nhalf an hour; when full grown, near an hour: see that they are well\ncovered with water all the time, and that no smoke or dirt arises from\nstirring the fire. With careful management, they will look as beautiful\nwhen dressed as they did when growing.\n_Obs._--Some cooks say, that it will much ameliorate the flavour of\nstrong old cabbages to boil them in two waters; _i. e._ when they are\nhalf done, to take them out, and put them directly into another\nsauce-pan of boiling water, instead of continuing them in the water into\nwhich they were first put.\n_Boiled Cabbage fried._--(No. 119.)\nSee receipt for Bubble and Squeak.\nAre boiled in the same manner; quarter them when you send them to table.\n_Sprouts and young Greens._--(No. 121.)\nThe receipt we have written for cabbages will answer as well for\nsprouts, only they will be boiled enough in fifteen or twenty minutes.\n_Spinage._--(No. 122.)\nSpinage should be picked a leaf at a time, and washed in three or four\nwaters; when perfectly clean, lay it on a sieve or colander, to drain\nthe water from it.\nPut a sauce-pan on the fire three parts filled with water, and large\nenough for the spinage to float in it; put a small handful of salt in\nit; let it boil; skim it, and then put in the spinage; make it boil as\nquick as possible till quite tender, pressing the spinage down\nfrequently that it may be done equally; it will be done enough in about\nten minutes, if boiled in plenty of water: if the spinage is a little\nold, give it a few minutes longer. When done, strain it on the back of a\nsieve; squeeze it dry with a plate, or between two trenchers; chop it\nfine, and put it into a stew-pan with a bit of butter and a little salt:\na little cream is a great improvement, or instead of either some rich\ngravy. Spread it in a dish, and score it into squares of proper size to\nhelp at table.\n_Obs._--Grated nutmeg, or mace, and a little lemon-juice, is a favourite\naddition with some cooks, and is added when you stir it up in the\nstew-pan with the butter garnished. Spinage is frequently served with\npoached eggs and fried bread.\n_Asparagus._--(No. 123.)\nSet a stew-pan with plenty of water in it on the fire; sprinkle a\nhandful of salt in it; let it boil, and skim it; then put in your\nasparagus, prepared thus: scrape all the stalks till they are perfectly\nclean; throw them into a pan of cold water as you scrape them; when they\nare all done, tie them up in little bundles, of about a quarter of a\nhundred each, with bass, if you can get it, or tape (string cuts them to\npieces); cut off the stalks at the bottom that they may be all of a\nlength, leaving only just enough to serve as a handle for the green\npart; when they are tender at the stalk, which will be in from twenty to\nthirty minutes, they are done enough. Great care must be taken to watch\nthe exact time of their becoming tender; take them up just at that\ninstant, and they will have their true flavour and colour: a minute or\ntwo more boiling destroys both.\nWhile the asparagus is boiling, toast a round of a quartern loaf, about\nhalf an inch thick; brown it delicately on both sides; dip it lightly in\nthe liquor the asparagus was boiled in, and lay it in the middle of a\ndish: melt some butter (No. 256); then lay in the asparagus upon the\ntoast, which must project beyond the asparagus, that the company may see\nthere is a toast.\nPour no butter over them, but send some up in a boat, or white sauce\nIs tied up in bundles, and dressed in the same way as asparagus.\n_Cauliflower._--(No. 125.)\nChoose those that are close and white, and of the middle size; trim off\nthe outside leaves; cut the stalk off flat at the bottom; let them lie\nin salt and water an hour before you boil them.\nPut them into boiling water with a handful of salt in it; skim it well,\nand let it boil slowly till done, which a small one will be in fifteen,\na large one in about twenty minutes; take it up the moment it is enough,\na minute or two longer boiling will spoil it.\nN.B. Cold cauliflowers and French beans, carrots and turnips, boiled so\nas to eat rather crisp, are sometimes dressed as a salad (No. 372 or\n_Broccoli._--(No. 126.)\nSet a pan of clean cold water on the table, and a saucepan on the fire\nwith plenty of water, and a handful of salt in it.\nBroccoli is prepared by stripping off all the side shoots, leaving the\ntop; peel off the skin of the stalk with a knife; cut it close off at\nthe bottom, and put it into the pan of cold water.\nWhen the water in the stew-pan boils, and the broccoli is ready, put it\nin; let it boil briskly till the stalks feel tender, from ten to twenty\nminutes; take it up with a slice, that you may not break it; let it\ndrain, and serve up.\nIf some of the heads of broccoli are much bigger than the others, put\nthem on to boil first, so that they may get all done together.\n_Obs._--It makes a nice supper-dish served upon a toast, like asparagus.\nIt is a very delicate vegetable, and you must take it up the moment it\nis done, and send it to table hot.\n_Red Beet-roots_,--(No. 127.)\nAre not so much used as they deserve; they are dressed in the same way\nas parsnips, only neither scraped nor cut till after they are boiled;\nthey will take from an hour and a half to three hours in boiling,\naccording to their size: to be sent to table with salt fish, boiled\nbeef, &c. When young, large, and juicy, it is a very good variety, an\nexcellent garnish, and easily converted into a very cheap and pleasant\npickle.\n_Parsnips_,--(No. 128.)\nAre to be cooked just in the same manner as carrots. They require more\nor less time according to their size; therefore match them in size: and\nyou must try them by thrusting a fork into them as they are in the\nwater; when that goes easily through, they are done enough. Boil them\nfrom an hour to two hours, according to their size and freshness.\n_Obs._ Parsnips are sometimes sent up mashed in the same way as turnips,\nand some cooks quarter them before they boil them.[163-*]\n_Carrots._--(No. 129.)\nLet them be well washed and brushed, not scraped. An hour is enough for\nyoung spring carrots; grown carrots must be cut in half, and will take\nfrom an hour and a half to two hours and a half. When done, rub off the\npeels with a clean coarse cloth, and slice them in two or four,\naccording to their size. The best way to try if they are done enough, is\nto pierce them with a fork.\n_Obs._ Many people are fond of cold carrot with cold beef; ask if you\nshall cook enough for some to be left to send up with the cold meat.\n_Turnips._--(No. 130.)\nPeel off half an inch of the stringy outside. Full-grown turnips will\ntake about an hour and a half gentle boiling; if you slice them, which\nmost people do, they will be done sooner; try them with a fork; when\ntender, take them up, and lay them on a sieve till the water is\nthoroughly drained from them. Send them up whole; do not slice them.\nN.B. To very young turnips leave about two inches of the green top. See\n_To mash Turnips._--(No. 131.)\nWhen they are boiled quite tender, squeeze them as dry as possible\nbetween two trenchers; put them into a saucepan; mash them with a wooden\nspoon, and rub them through a colander; add a little bit of butter;\nkeep stirring them till the butter is melted and well mixed with them,\nand they are ready for table.\n_Turnip-tops_,--(No. 132.)\nAre the shoots which grow out (in the spring) of the old turnip-roots.\nPut them into cold water an hour before they are to be dressed; the more\nwater they are boiled in, the better they will look; if boiled in a\nsmall quantity of water they will taste bitter: when the water boils,\nput in a small handful of salt, and then your vegetables; if fresh and\nyoung, they will be done in about twenty minutes; drain them on the back\nof a sieve.\n_French Beans._--(No. 133.)\nCut off the stalk end first, and then turn to the point and strip off\nthe strings. If not quite fresh, have a bowl of spring-water, with a\nlittle salt dissolved in it, standing before you, and as the beans are\ncleaned and stringed, throw them in. When all are done, put them on the\nfire in boiling water, with some salt in it; after they have boiled\nfifteen or twenty minutes, take one out and taste it; as soon as they\nare tender take them up; throw them into a colander or sieve to drain.\nTo send up the beans whole is much the best method when they are thus\nyoung, and their delicate flavour and colour are much better preserved.\nWhen a little more grown, they must be cut across in two after\nstringing; and for common tables they are split, and divided across; cut\nthem all the same length; but those who are nice never have them at such\na growth as to require splitting.\nWhen they are very large they look pretty cut into lozenges.\n_Obs._ See N.B. to No. 125.\nYoung green pease, well dressed, are among the most delicious delicacies\nof the vegetable kingdom. They must be young; it is equally\nindispensable that they be fresh gathered, and cooked as soon as they\nare shelled for they soon lose both their colour and sweetness.\nIf you wish to feast upon pease in perfection, you must have them\ngathered the same day they are dressed, and put on to boil within half\nan hour after they are shelled.\nPass them through a riddle, _i. e._ a coarse sieve, which is made for\nthe purpose of separating them. This precaution is necessary, for large\nand small pease cannot be boiled together, as the former will take more\ntime than the latter.\nFor a peck of pease, set on a sauce-pan with a gallon of water in it;\nwhen it boils, put in your pease, with a table-spoonful of salt; skim it\nwell, keep them boiling quick from twenty to thirty minutes, according\nto their age and size. The best way to judge of their being done enough,\nand indeed the only way to make sure of cooking them to, and not beyond,\nthe point of perfection, or, as pea-eaters say, of \u201cboiling them to a\nbubble,\u201d is to take them out with a spoon and taste them.\nWhen they are done enough, drain them on a hair-sieve. If you like them\nbuttered, put them into a pie-dish, divide some butter into small bits,\nand lay them on the pease; put another dish over them, and turn them\nover and over; this will melt the butter through them; but as all people\ndo not like buttered pease, you had better send them to table plain, as\nthey come out of the sauce-pan, with melted butter (No. 256) in a\nsauce-tureen. It is usual to boil some mint with the pease; but if you\nwish to garnish the pease with mint, boil a few sprigs in a sauce-pan by\nthemselves. See Sage and Onion Sauce (No. 300), and Pea Powder (No.\n458); to boil Bacon (No. 13), Slices of Ham and Bacon (No. 526), and\nRelishing Rashers of Bacon (No. 527).\nN.B. A peck of young pease will not yield more than enough for a couple\nof hearty pea-eaters; when the pods are full, it may serve for three.\nMEM. Never think of purchasing pease ready-shelled, for the cogent\nreasons assigned in the first part of this receipt.\n_Cucumbers stewed._--(No. 135.)\nPeel and cut cucumbers in quarters, take out the seeds, and lay them on\na cloth to drain off the water: when they are dry, flour and fry them in\nfresh butter; let the butter be quite hot before you put in the\ncucumbers; fry them till they are brown, then take them out with an\negg-slice, and lay them on a sieve to drain the fat from them (some\ncooks fry sliced onions, or some small button onions, with them, till\nthey are a delicate light-brown colour, drain them from the fat, and\nthen put them into a stew-pan with as much gravy as will cover them):\nstew slowly till they are tender; take out the cucumbers with a slice,\nthicken the gravy with flour and butter, give it a boil up, season it\nwith pepper and salt, and put in the cucumbers; as soon as they are\nwarm, they are ready.\nThe above, rubbed through a tamis, or fine sieve, will be entitled to be\ncalled \u201ccucumber sauce.\u201d See No. 399, Cucumber Vinegar. This is a very\nfavourite sauce with lamb or mutton-cutlets, stewed rump-steaks, &c.\n&c.: when made for the latter, a third part of sliced onion is sometimes\nfried with the cucumber.[166-*]\n_Artichokes._--(No. 136.)\nSoak them in cold water, wash them well, then put them into plenty of\nboiling water, with a handful of salt, and let them boil gently till\nthey are tender, which will take an hour and a half, or two hours: the\nsurest way to know when they are done enough, is to draw out a leaf;\ntrim them and drain them on a sieve; and send up melted butter with\nthem, which some put into small cups, so that each guest may have one.\n_Stewed Onions._--(No. 137.)\nThe large Portugal onions are the best: take off the top-coats of half a\ndozen of these (taking care not to cut off the tops or tails too near,\nor the onions will go to pieces), and put them into a stew-pan broad\nenough to hold them without laying them atop of one another, and just\ncover them with good broth.\nPut them over a slow fire, and let them simmer about two hours; when you\ndish them, turn them upside down, and pour the sauce over.\nYoung onions stewed, see No. 296.\nThose who desire to see this subject elaborately illustrated, we refer\nto \u201cEVELYN\u2019S _Acetaria_,\u201d a discourse of Sallets, a 12mo. of 240 pages.\nLondon, 1699.\nMr. E. gives us \u201can account of seventy-two herbs proper and fit to make\nsallet with;\u201d and a table of thirty-five, telling their seasons and\nproportions. \u201cIn the composure of a sallet, every plant should come in\nto bear its part, like the notes in music: thus the comical Master Cook\nintroduced by Damoxenus, when asked, \u2018what harmony there was in meats?\u2019\n\u2018the very same,\u2019 says he, \u2018as the 3d, 5th, and 8th have to one another\nin music: the main skill lies in this, not to mingle\u2019 (\u2018_sapores minim\u00e8\nconsentientes_\u2019). \u2018Tastes not well joined, inelegant,\u2019 as our Paradisian\nbard directs Eve, when dressing a sallet for her angelical guest, in\nMILTON\u2019S _Paradise Lost_.\u201d\nHe gives the following receipt for the oxoleon:--\n\u201cTake of clear and perfectly good oyl-olive three parts; of sharpest\nvinegar (sweetest of all condiments, for it incites appetite, and causes\nhunger, which is the best sauce), limon, or juice of orange, one part;\nand therein let steep some slices of horseradish, with a little salt.\nSome, in a separate vinegar, gently bruise a pod of Ginny pepper, and\nstrain it to the other; then add as much mustard as will lie upon a\nhalf-crown piece. Beat and mingle these well together with the yelk of\ntwo new-laid eggs boiled hard, and pour it over your sallet, stirring it\nwell together. The super-curious insist that the knife with which sallet\nherb is cut must be of silver. Some who are husbands of their oyl, pour\nat first the oyl alone, as more apt to communicate and diffuse its\nslipperiness, than when it is mingled and beaten with the acids, which\nthey pour on last of all; and it is incredible how small a quantity of\noyl thus applied is sufficient to imbue a very plentiful assembly of\nsallet herbs.\u201d\n_Obs._ Our own directions to prepare and dress salads will be found\nunder No. 372.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[155-*] \u201cNext to bread, there is no vegetable article, the preparation\nof which, as food, deserves to be more attended to, than the\npotato.\u201d--Sir JOHN SINCLAIR\u2019S _Code of Health_, vol. i. p. 354.\n\u201cBy the _analysis of potato_, it appears that 16 ounces contained 11-1/2\nounces of water, and the 4-1/2 ounces of solid parts remaining, afforded\nscarce a drachm of earth.\u201d--PARMENTIER\u2019S _Obs. on Nutritive Vegetables_,\n[155-+] Or the small ones will be done to pieces before the large ones\nare boiled enough.\n[159-*] Sweet potatoes, otherwise called Carolina potatoes, are the\nroots of the _Convolvulus batatas_, a plant peculiar to and principally\ncultivated in America. It delights in a warm climate, but is raised in\nConnecticut, New-York, and all the states of the Union south of\nNew-York. It is an excellent vegetable for the dinner-table, and is\nbrought on boiled. It has an advantage over common potatoes, as it may\nbe eaten cold; and it is sometimes cut into thin slices and brought to\nthe tea-table, as a delicate relish, owing to its agreeable nutritious\nsweetness. A.\n[163-*] After parsnips are boiled, they should be put into the\nfrying-pan and browned a little. Some people do not admire this\nvegetable, on account of its sickish sweetness. It is, however, a\nwholesome, cheap, and nourishing vegetable, best calculated for the\ntable in winter and spring. Its sweetness may be modified by mashing\nwith a few potatoes. A.\n[164-*] These, and all other fruits and vegetables, &c., by Mr. APPERT\u2019S\nplan, it is said, may be preserved for twelve months. See APPERT\u2019S\n_Book_, 12mo. 1812. We have eaten of several specimens of preserved\npease, which looked pretty enough,--but _flavour_ they had none at all.\n[166-*] Cucumbers may be cut into quarters and boiled like asparagus,\nand served up with toasted bread and melted butter. This is a most\ndelicate way of preparing cucumbers for the dinner-table, and they are a\nmost luscious article, and so rich and savoury that a small quantity\nwill suffice.\nThe ordinary method of cutting cucumbers into slices with raw onions,\nserved up in vinegar, and seasoned with salt and pepper, is most vulgar\nand most unwholesome. In their season they are cheap and plenty; and as\nthey are crude and unripe they require the stomach of an ostrich to\ndigest them. They cause much sickness in their season, creating\ncholeras, cramps, and dysenteries. If stewed or boiled as above\ndirected, they would be more nutritious and wholesome. A.\n_FISH._\nSee _Obs._ on Codfish after No. 149.\n_Turbot to boil._--(No. 140).\nThis excellent fish is in season the greatest part of the summer; when\ngood, it is at once firm and tender, and abounds with rich gelatinous\nnutriment.\nBeing drawn, and washed clean, if it be quite fresh, by rubbing it\nlightly with salt, and keeping it in a cold place, you may in moderate\nweather preserve it for a couple of days.[168-*]\nAn hour or two before you dress it, soak it in spring-water with some\nsalt in it, then score the skin across the thickest part of the back, to\nprevent its breaking on the breast, which will happen from the fish\nswelling, and cracking the skin, if this precaution be not used. Put a\nlarge handful of salt into a fish-kettle with cold water, lay your fish\non a fish-strainer, put it in, and when it is coming to a boil, skim it\nwell; then set the kettle on the side of the fire, to boil as gently as\npossible for about fifteen or twenty minutes (if it boils fast, the fish\nwill break to pieces); supposing it a middling-sized turbot, and to\nweigh eight or nine pounds.\nRub a little of the inside red coral spawn of the lobster through a hair\nsieve, without butter; and when the turbot is dished, sprinkle the spawn\nover it. Garnish the dish with sprigs of curled parsley, sliced lemon,\nand finely-scraped horseradish.\nIf you like to send it to table in full dress, surround it with\nnicely-fried smelts (No. 173), gudgeons are often used for this purpose,\nand may be bought very cheap when smelts are very dear; lay the largest\nopposite the broadest part of the turbot, so that they may form a\nwell-proportioned fringe for it; or oysters (No. 183*); or cut a sole in\nstrips, crossways, about the size of a smelt; fry them as directed in\nNo. 145, and lay them round. Send up lobster sauce (No. 284); two boats\nof it, if it is for a large party.\nN.B. Cold turbot, with No. 372 for sauce; or take off the fillets that\nare left as soon as the turbot returns from table, and they will make a\nside dish for your next dinner, warmed in No. 364--2.\n_Obs._ The thickest part is the favourite; and the carver of this fish\nmust remember to ask his friends if they are fin-fanciers. It will save\na troublesome job to the carver, if the cook, when the fish is boiled,\ncuts the spine-bone across the middle.\nIs dressed the same way as a turbot.\n_Soles to boil._--(No. 144.)\nA fine, fresh, thick sole is almost as good eating as a turbot.\nWash and clean it nicely; put it into a fish-kettle with a handful of\nsalt, and as much cold water as will cover it; set it on the side of the\nfire, take off the scum as it rises, and let it boil gently; about five\nminutes (according to its size) will be long enough, unless it be very\nlarge. Send it up on a fish-drainer, garnished with slices of lemon and\nsprigs of curled parsley, or nicely-fried smelts (No. 173), or oysters\n_Obs._ Slices of lemon are a universally acceptable garnish with either\nfried or broiled fish: a few sprigs of crisp parsley may be added, if\nyou wish to make it look very smart; and parsley, or fennel and butter,\nare excellent sauces (see Nos. 261 and 265), or chervil sauce (No. 264),\nanchovy (No. 270).\nN.B. Boiled soles are very good warmed up like eels, Wiggy\u2019s way (No.\n164), or covered with white sauce (No. 364--2; and see No. 158).\n_Soles, or other Fish, to fry._--(No. 145.)\nSoles are generally to be procured good from some part of the coast, as\nsome are going out of season, and some coming in, both at the same time;\na great many are brought in well-boats alive, that are caught off Dover\nand Folkstone, and some are brought from the same places by\nland-carriage. The finest soles are caught off Plymouth, near the\nEddystone, and all the way up the channel, and to Torbay; and frequently\nweigh eight or ten pounds per pair: they are generally brought by water\nto Portsmouth, and thence by land; but the greatest quantity are caught\noff Yarmouth and the Knole, and off the Forelands.\nBe sure they are quite fresh, or the cleverest cook cannot make them\neither look or eat well.\nAn hour before you intend to dress them, wash them thoroughly, and wrap\nthem in a clean cloth, to make them perfectly dry, or the bread-crumbs\nwill not stick to them.\nPrepare some bread-crumbs,[170-*] by rubbing some stale bread through a\ncolander; or, if you wish the fish to appear very delicate and\nhighly-finished, through a hair-sieve; or use biscuit powder.\nBeat the yelk and white of an egg well together, on a plate, with a\nfork; flour your fish, to absorb any moisture that may remain, and wipe\nit off with a clean cloth; dip them in the egg on both sides all over,\nor, what is better, egg them with a paste-brush; put the egg on in an\neven degree over the whole fish, or the bread-crumbs will not stick to\nit even, and the uneven part will burn to the pan. Strew the\nbread-crumbs all over the fish, so that they cover every part, take up\nthe fish by the head, and shake off the loose crumbs. The fish is now\nready for the frying-pan.\nPut a quart or more of fresh sweet olive-oil, or clarified butter (No.\n259), dripping (No. 83), lard,[170-+] or clarified drippings (No. 83);\nbe sure they are quite sweet and perfectly clean (the fat ought to cover\nthe fish): what we here order is for soles about ten inches long; if\nlarger, cut them into pieces the proper size to help at table; this will\nsave much time and trouble to the carver: when you send them to table,\nlay them in the same form they were before they were cut, and you may\nstrew a little curled parsley over them: they are much easier managed in\nthe frying-pan, and require less fat: fry the thick part a few minutes\nbefore you put in the thin, you can by this means only fry the thick\npart enough, without frying the thin too much. Very large soles should\nbe boiled (No. 144), or fried in fillets (No. 147). Soles cut in pieces,\ncrossways, about the size of a smelt, make a very pretty garnish for\nstewed fish and boiled fish.\nSet the frying-pan over a sharp and clear fire; watch it, skim it with\nan egg-slice, and when it boils,[170-++] _i. e._ when it has done\nbubbling, and the smoke just begins to rise from the surface, put in the\nfish: if the fat is not extremely hot, it is impossible to fry fish of a\ngood colour, or to keep them firm and crisp. (Read the 3d chapter of\nthe Rudiments of Cookery.)\nThe best way to ascertain the heat of the fat, is to try it with a bit\nof bread as big as a nut; if it is quite hot enough, the bread will\nbrown immediately. Put in the fish, and it will be crisp and brown on\nthe side next the fire, in about four or five minutes; to turn it, stick\na two-pronged fork near the head, and support the tail with a\nfish-slice, and fry the other side nearly the same length of time.\nFry one sole at a time, except the pan is very large, and you have\nplenty of fat.\nWhen the fish are fried, lay them on a soft cloth (old tablecloths are\nbest), near enough the fire to keep them warm; turn them every two or\nthree minutes, till they are quite dry on both sides; this common cooks\ncommonly neglect. It will take ten or fifteen minutes,[171-*] if the fat\nyou fried them in was not hot enough; when it is, they want very little\ndrying. When soles are fried, they will keep very good in a dry place\nfor three or four days; warm them by hanging them on the hooks in a\nDutch oven, letting them heat very gradually, by putting it some\ndistance from the fire for about twenty minutes, or in good gravy, as\n_Obs._ There are several general rules in this receipt which apply to\nall fried fish: we have been very particular and minute in our\ndirections; for, although a fried sole is so frequent and favourite a\ndish, it is very seldom brought to table in perfection.[171-+]\n_Soles to stew._--(No. 146.)\nThese are half fried, and then done the same as eels, Wiggy\u2019s way. See\n_Fillets of Soles, brown or white._--(No. 147.)\nTake off the fillets very nicely, trim them neatly, and press them dry\nbetween a soft cloth; egg, crumb, and fry them, &c. as directed in No.\n145, or boil them, and serve them with No. 364--2.\nN.B. This is one of the best ways of dressing very large soles. See also\nIs very good when in good season, but no fish so bad when it is\notherwise: those persons that like it firm and dry, should have it\ncrimped; but those that like it tender, should have it plain, and eat it\nnot earlier than the second day, and if cold weather, three or four days\nold it is better: it cannot be kept too long, if perfectly sweet. Young\nskate eats very fine crimped and fried. See No. 154.\n_Cod boiled._--(No. 149.)\nWash and clean the fish, and rub a little salt in the inside of it (if\nthe weather is very cold, a large cod is the better for being kept a\nday): put plenty of water in your fish-kettle, so that the fish may be\nwell covered; put in a large handful of salt; and when it is dissolved,\nput in your fish; a very small fish will require from fifteen to twenty\nminutes after the water boils, a large one about half an hour; drain it\non the fish-plate; dish it with a garnish of the roe, liver,\nchitterlings, &c. or large native oysters, fried a light brown (see No.\n183*), or smelts (No. 173), whitings (No. 153), the tail[172-+] of the\ncod cut in slices, or bits the size and shape of oysters, or split it,\nand fry it. Scolloped oysters (No. 182), oyster sauce (No. 278), slices\nof cod cut about half an inch thick, and fried as soles (No. 145), are\nvery nice.\nMEM.--The SOUNDS (the jelly parts about the jowl), the palate, and the\ntongue are esteemed exquisites by piscivorous epicures, whose longing\neyes will keep a sharp look-out for a share of their favourite \u201c_bonne\nbouche_:\u201d the carver\u2019s reputation depends much on his equitable\ndistribution of them.[173-*]\n_Salt Fish boiled._--(No. 150.)\nSalt fish requires soaking, according to the time it has been in salt;\ntrust not to those you buy it of, but taste a bit of one of the flakes;\nthat which is hard and dry requires two nights\u2019 soaking, changing the\nwater two or three times; the intermediate day, lay it on a stone floor:\nfor barrelled cod less time will do; and for the best Dogger-bank split\nfish, which has not been more than a fortnight or three weeks in salt,\nstill less will be needful.\nPut it into plenty of cold water, and let it simmer very gently till it\nis enough; if the water boils, the fish will be tough and\nthready.[173-+] For egg sauce, see No. 267; and to boil red beet-root,\nNo. 127; parsnips, No. 128; Carrots, No. 129. Garnish salt fish with the\nyelks of eggs cut into quarters.\n_Obs._--Our favourite vegetable accompaniment is a dish of equal parts\nof red beet-root and parsnips.\nN.B. Salted fish differs in quality quite as much as it does in price.\n_Slices of Cod boiled._--(No. 151.)\nHalf an hour before you dress them, put them into cold spring-water with\nsome salt in it.\nLay them at the bottom of a fish-kettle, with as much cold spring-water\nas will cover them, and some salt; set it on a quick fire, and when it\nboils, skim it, and set it on one side of the fire to boil very gently,\nfor about ten minutes, according to its size and thickness. Garnish with\nscraped horseradish, slices of lemon, and a slice of the liver on one\nside, and chitterling on the other. Oyster sauce (No. 278), and plain\nbutter.\n_Obs._--Slices of cod (especially the tail, split) are very good, fried\nlike soles (No. 145), or stewed in gravy like eels (No. 164, or No.\n_Fresh Sturgeon._--(No. 152.)\nThe best mode of dressing this, is to have it cut in thin slices like\nveal cutlets, and broiled, and rubbed over with a bit of butter and a\nlittle pepper, and served very hot, and eaten with a squeeze of\nlemon-juice. Great care, however, must be taken to cut off the skin\nbefore it is broiled, as the oil in the skin, if burned, imparts a\ndisgusting flavour to the fish. The flesh is very fine, and comes nearer\nto veal, perhaps, than even turtle.\nSturgeon is frequently plentiful and reasonable in the London shops. We\nprefer this mode of dressing it to the more savoury one of stewing it in\nrich gravy, like carp, &c. which overpowers the peculiar flavour of the\n_Whitings fried._--(No. 153.)\nSkin[174-++] them, preserve the liver (see No. 228), and fasten their\ntails to their mouths; dip them in egg, then in bread-crumbs, and fry\nthem in hot lard (read No. 145), or split them, and fry them like\nfillets of soles (No. 147).\nA three-quart stew-pan, half full of fat, is the best utensil to fry\nwhitings. They will be done enough in about five minutes; but it will\nsometimes require a quarter of an hour to drain the fat from them and\ndry them (if the fat you put them into was not hot enough), turning them\nnow and then with a fish-slice.\n_Obs._--When whitings are scarce, the fishmongers can skin and truss\nyoung codlings, so that you can hardly tell the difference, except that\na codling wears a beard, and a whiting does not: this distinguishing\nmark is sometimes cut off; however, if you turn up his jowl, you may see\nthe mark where the beard was, and thus discover whether he be a real\nwhiting, or a shaved codling.\n_Skate fried._--(No. 154.)\nAfter you have cleaned the fish, divide it into fillets; dry them on a\nclean cloth; beat the yelk and white of an egg thoroughly together, dip\nthe fish in this, and then in fine bread-crumbs; fry it in hot lard or\ndrippings till it is of a delicate brown colour; lay it on a hair-sieve\nto drain; garnish with crisp parsley (No. 318), and some like caper\nsauce, with an anchovy in it.\n_Plaice or Flounders, fried or boiled._--(No. 155.)\nFlounders are perhaps the most difficult fish to fry very nicely. Clean\nthem well, flour them, and wipe them with a dry cloth to absorb all the\nwater from them; flour or egg and bread-crumb them, &c. as directed in\n_To boil Flounders._\nWash and clean them well, cut the black side of them the same as you do\nturbot, then put them into a fish-kettle, with plenty of cold water and\na handful of salt; when they come to a boil, skim them clean, and let\nthem stand by the side of the fire for five minutes, and they are ready.\n_Obs._--Eaten with plain melted butter and a little salt, you have the\nsweet delicate flavour of the flounder, which is overpowered by any\nsauce.\nIs made with flounders, whitings, gudgeons, or eels. These must be\nquite fresh, and very nicely cleaned; for what they are boiled in, is\nthe sauce for them.\nWash, gut, and trim your fish, cut them into handsome pieces, and put\nthem into a stew-pan with just as much water as will cover them, with\nsome parsley, or parsley-roots sliced, an onion minced fine, and a\nlittle pepper and salt (to this some cooks add some scraped horseradish\nand a bay leaf); skim it carefully when it boils; when your fish is done\nenough (which it will be in a few minutes), send it up in a deep dish,\nlined with bread sippets, and some slices of bread and butter on a\nplate.\n_Obs._--Some cooks thicken the liquor the fish has been stewing in with\nflour and butter, and flavour it with white wine, lemon-juice, essence\nof anchovy, and catchup; and boil down two or three flounders, &c. to\nmake a fish broth to boil the other fish in, observing, that the broth\ncannot be good unless the fish are boiled too much.\n_Haddock boiled._--(No. 157.)\nWash it well, and put it on to boil, as directed in No. 149; a haddock\nof three pounds will take about ten minutes after the kettle boils.\nHaddocks, salted a day or two, are eaten with egg sauce, or cut in\nfillets, and fried. Or, if small, very well broiled, or baked, with a\npudding in their belly, and some good gravy.\n_Obs._ A piscivorous epicure protests that \u201cHaddock is the poorest fish\nthat swims, and has neither the delicacy of the whiting, nor the\njuicyness of the cod.\u201d[176-*]\n_Findhorn Haddocks._--(No. 157*.)\nLet the fish be well cleaned, and laid in salt for two hours; let the\nwater drain from them, and then wet them with the pyroligneous acid;\nthey may be split or not: they are then to be hung in a dry situation\nfor a day or two, or a week or two, if you please; when broiled, they\nhave all the flavour of the Findhorn haddock, and will keep sweet for a\nlong time.\nThe pyroligneous acid, applied in the same way to beef or mutton, gives\nthe fine smoke flavour, and may be kept for a considerable length of\ntime.\n_Scotch way of dressing haddocks._--A haddock is quite like a different\nfish in London and in Edinburgh, which arises chiefly from the manner\nin which they are treated: a haddock should never appear at table with\nits head and skin on. For boiling, they are all the better for lying a\nnight in salt; of course they do not take so long to boil without the\nskin, and require to be well skimmed to preserve the colour. After lying\nin salt for a night, if you hang them up for a day or two, they are very\ngood broiled and served with cold butter. For frying, they should be\nsplit and boned very carefully, and divided into convenient pieces, if\ntoo large to halve merely; egg and crumb them, and fry in a good deal of\nlard; they resemble soles when dressed in this manner. There is another\nvery delicate mode of dressing them; you split the fish, rub it well\nwith butter, and do it before the fire in a Dutch oven.\n_To stew Cod\u2019s Skull, Sole, Carp, Trout, Perch, Eel, or Flounder._--No.\nWhen the fish has been properly washed, lay it in a stew-pan, with half\na pint of claret or port wine, and a quart of good gravy (No. 329); a\nlarge onion, a dozen berries of black pepper, the same of allspice, and\na few cloves, or a bit of mace: cover the fish-kettle close, and let it\nstew gently for ten or twenty minutes, according to the thickness of the\nfish: take the fish up, lay it on a hot dish, cover it up, and thicken\nthe liquor it was stewed in with a little flour, and season it with\npepper, salt, essence of anchovy, mushroom catchup, and a little Chili\nvinegar; when it has boiled ten minutes, strain it through a tamis, and\npour it over the fish: if there is more sauce than the dish will hold,\nsend the rest up in a boat.\nThe river trout comes into season in April, and continues till July; it\nis a delicious fish; those caught near Uxbridge come to town quite\nalive.\nThe eels and perch from the same water are very fine.\n_Obs._--These fish are very nice plain boiled, with No. 261, or No. 264,\nfor sauce; some cooks dredge them with flour, and fry them a light brown\nbefore they put them on to stew, and stuff them with No. 374, or some of\nthe stuffings following.\n_To dress them maigre._\nPut the fish into a stew-pan, with a large onion, four cloves, fifteen\nberries of allspice, and the same of black pepper; just cover them with\nboiling water, set it where they will simmer gently for ten or twenty\nminutes, according to the size of the fish; strain off the liquor in\nanother stew-pan, leaving the fish to keep warm till the sauce is ready.\nRub together on a plate as much flour and butter as will make the sauce\nas thick as a double cream. Each pint of sauce season with a glass of\nwine, half as much mushroom catchup, a tea-spoonful of essence of\nanchovy, and a few grains of Cayenne; let it boil a few minutes, put the\nfish on a deep dish, strain the gravy over it; garnish it with sippets\nof bread toasted or fried (No. 319).\nN.B. The editor has paid particular attention to the above receipt, and\nalso to No. 224, which Catholics, and those whose religious tenets do\nnot allow them to eat meat on maigre days, will find a very satisfactory\nsubstitute for the meat gravy soup (No. 200).\nFor sauce for maigre dishes, see Nos. 225, 305, and 364--2.\n_Obs._ Mushroom catchup (No. 439) and onions (No. 402) supply the place\nof meat better than any thing; if you have not these, wine, spice (No.\n457), curry powder (No. 455), aromatic roots and herbs, anchovy and soy,\nor oyster catchup (No. 441), variously combined, and thickened with\nflour and butter, are convenient substitutes.\n_Maigre Fish Pies._\nSalt-fish pie. The thickest part must be chosen, and put in cold water\nto soak the night before wanted; then boil it well, take it up, take\naway the bones and skin, and if it is good fish it will be in fine\nlayers; set it on a fish-drainer to get cold: in the mean time, boil\nfour eggs hard, peel and slice them very thin, the same quantity of\nonion sliced thin; line the bottom of a pie-dish with fish forcemeat\n(No. 383), or a layer of potatoes sliced thin, then a layer of onions,\nthen of fish, and of eggs, and so on till the dish is full; season each\nlayer with a little pepper, then mix a tea-spoonful of made mustard, the\nsame of essence of anchovy, a little mushroom catchup, in a gill of\nwater, put it in the dish, then put on the top an ounce of fresh butter\nbroke in bits; cover it with puff paste, and bake it one hour.\nFresh cod may be done in the same way, by adding a little salt.\nAll fish for making pies, whether soles, flounders, herrings, salmon,\nlobster, eels, trout, tench, &c. should be dressed first; this is the\nmost economical way for Catholic families, as what is boiled one day\nwill make excellent pies or patties the next.\nIf you intend it for pies, take the skin off, and the bones out; lay\nyour salmon, soles, turbot, or codfish, in layers, and season each layer\nwith equal quantities of pepper, allspice, mace, and salt, till the dish\nis full. Save a little of the liquor that the fish was boiled in; set it\non the fire with the bones and skin of the fish, boil it a quarter of an\nhour, then strain it through a sieve, let it settle, and pour it in the\ndish; cover it with puff-paste; bake it about an hour and a quarter.\nShrimps, prawns, or oysters added, will improve the above; if for\npatties, they must be cut in small pieces, and dressed in a bechamel\nsauce (No. 364).\nCod-sounds for a pie should be soaked at least twenty-four hours, then\nwell washed, and put on a cloth to dry. Put in a stew-pan two ounces of\nfresh butter, with four ounces of sliced onions; fry them of a nice\nbrown, then put in a small table-spoonful of flour, and add half a pint\nof boiling water; when smooth, put in about ten cod-sounds, and season\nthem with a little pepper, a glass of white wine, a tea-spoonful of\nessence of anchovy, the juice of half a lemon; stir it well together,\nput it in a pie-dish, cover it with paste, and bake it one hour.\n_Perch, Roach, Dace, Gudgeons, &c. fried._--(No. 159.)\nWash the fish well, wipe them on a dry cloth, flour them lightly all\nover, and fry them ten minutes (No. 145) in hot lard or drippings; lay\nthem on a hair-sieve to drain; send them up on a hot dish, garnished\nwith sprigs of green parsley. Anchovy sauce, Nos. 270 and 433.\nClean them carefully, and put them in a fish-kettle, with as much cold\nspring-water as will cover them, with a handful of salt; set them on a\nquick fire till they boil; when they boil, set them on one side to boil\ngently for about ten minutes, according to their size.\n_Salmon, Herrings, Sprats, Mackerel, &c. pickled._--(No. 161.)\nCut the fish into proper pieces; do not take off the scales; make a\nbrine strong enough to bear an egg, in which boil the fish; it must be\nboiled in only just liquor enough to cover it; do not overboil it. When\nthe fish is boiled, lay it slantingly to drain off all the liquor; when\ncold, pack it close in the kits, and fill them up with equal parts of\nthe liquor the salmon was boiled in (having first well skimmed it), and\nbest vinegar (No. 24); let them rest for a day; fill up again, striking\nthe sides of the kit with a cooper\u2019s adze, until the kit will receive no\nmore; then head them down as close as possible.\n_Obs._ This is in the finest condition when fresh. Salmon is most\nplentiful about midsummer; the season for it is from February to\nSeptember. Some sprigs of fresh-gathered young fennel are the\naccompaniments.\nN.B. The three indispensable marks of the goodness of pickled salmon\nare, 1st, The brightness of the scales, and their sticking fast to the\nskin; 2dly, The firmness of the flesh; and, 3dly, Its fine, pale-red\nrose colour. Without these it is not fit to eat, and was either stale\nbefore it was pickled, or has been kept too long after.\nThe above was given us as the actual practice of those who pickle it for\nthe London market.\nN.B. Pickled salmon warmed by steam, or in its pickle liquor, is a\nfavourite dish at Newcastle.\n_Salmon[180-*] boiled._--(No. 162.)\nPut on a fish-kettle, with spring-water enough to well cover the salmon\nyou are going to dress, or the salmon will neither look nor taste well:\n(boil the liver in a separate saucepan.) When the water boils, put in a\nhandful of salt: take off the scum as soon as it rises; have the fish\nwell washed; put it in, and if it is thick, let it boil very gently.\nSalmon requires almost as much boiling as meat; about a quarter of an\nhour to a pound of fish: but practice only can perfect the cook in\ndressing salmon. A quarter of a salmon will take almost as long boiling\nas half a one: you must consider the thickness, not the weight: ten\npounds of fine full-grown salmon will be done in an hour and a quarter.\nLobster Sauce, No. 284.\n_Obs._ The thinnest part of the fish is the fattest; and if you have a\n\u201cgrand gourmand\u201d at table, ask him if he is for thick or thin.\nThe Thames salmon is preferred in the London market; and some epicures\npretend to be able to distinguish by the taste, in which reach of the\nriver it was caught!!!\nN.B. If you have any left, put it into a pie-dish, and cover it with an\nequal portion of vinegar and pump-water, and a little salt: it will be\nready in three days.\n_Fresh Salmon broiled._--(No. 163.)\nClean the salmon well, and cut it into slices about an inch and a half\nthick; dry it thoroughly in a clean cloth; rub it over with sweet oil,\nor thick melted butter, and sprinkle a little salt over it: put your\ngridiron over a clear fire, at some distance; when it is hot wipe it\nclean; rub it with sweet oil or lard; lay the salmon on, and when it is\ndone on one side, turn it gently and broil the other. Anchovy sauce, &c.\n_Obs._ An oven does them best.\n_Soles or Eels,[181-*] &c. &c. stewed_ Wiggy\u2019s _way._--(No. 164.)\nTake two pounds of fine silver[181-+] eels: the best are those that are\nrather more than a half-crown piece in circumference, quite fresh, full\nof life, and \u201cas brisk as an eel:\u201d such as have been kept out of water\ntill they can scarce stir, are good for nothing: gut them, rub them with\nsalt till the slime is cleaned from them, wash them in several different\nwaters, and divide them into pieces about four inches long.\nSome cooks, after skinning them, dredge them with a little flour, wipe\nthem dry, and then egg and crumb them, and fry them in drippings till\nthey are brown, and lay them to dry on a hair sieve.\nHave ready a quart of good beef gravy (No. 329); it must be cold when\nyou put the eels into it: set them on a slow fire to simmer very gently\nfor about a quarter of an hour, according to the size of the eels; watch\nthem, that they are not done too much; take them carefully out of the\nstew-pan with a fish-slice, so as not to tear their coats, and lay them\non a dish about two inches deep.\nOr, if for maigre days, when you have skinned your eels, throw the skins\ninto salt and water; wash them well; then put them into a stew-pan with\na quart of water, two onions, with two cloves stuck in each, and one\nblade of mace; let it boil twenty minutes, and strain it through a sieve\ninto a basin.\nMake the sauce about as thick as cream, by mixing a little flour with\nit; put in also two table-spoonfuls of port wine, and one of mushroom\ncatchup, or cavice: stir it into the sauce by degrees, give it a boil,\nand strain it to the fish through a sieve.\nN.B. If mushroom sauce (Nos. 225, 305, or 333), or white sauce (No.\n364--2), be used instead of beef gravy, this will be one of the most\nrelishing maigre dishes we know.\n_Obs._ To kill eels instantly, without the horrid torture of cutting and\nskinning them alive, pierce the spinal marrow, close to the back part of\nthe skull, with a sharp-pointed skewer: if this be done in the right\nplace, all motion will instantly cease. The humane executioner does\ncertain criminals the favour to hang them before he breaks them on the\nwheel.\n_To fry Eels._--(No. 165.)\nSkin and gut them, and wash them well in cold water, cut them in pieces\nfour inches long, season them with pepper and salt; beat an egg well on\na plate, dip them in the egg, and then in fine bread-crumbs; fry them in\nfresh, clean lard; drain them well from the fat; garnish with crisp\nparsley. For sauce, plain and melted butter, sharpened with lemon-juice,\nor parsley and butter.\n_Spitchocked Eels._--(No. 166.)\nThis the French cooks call the English way of dressing eels.\nTake two middling-sized silver eels, leave the skin on, scour them with\nsalt, and wash them, cut off the heads, slit them on the belly side,\nand take out the bones and guts, and wash and wipe them nicely; then cut\nthem into pieces about three inches long, and wipe them quite dry; put\ntwo ounces of butter into a stew-pan with a little minced parsley,\nthyme, sage, pepper, and salt, and a very little chopped eschalot; set\nthe stew-pan over the fire; when the butter is melted, stir the\ningredients together, and take it off the fire, mix the yelks of two\neggs with them, and dip the eel in, a piece at a time, and then roll\nthem in bread-crumbs, making as much stick to them as you can; then rub\nthe gridiron with a bit of suet, set it high over a very clear fire, and\nbroil your eels of a fine crisp brown. Dish them with crisp parsley, and\nsend up with plain butter in a boat, and anchovy and butter.\n_Obs._ We like them better with the skin off; it is very apt to offend\ndelicate stomachs.\n_Mackerel boiled._[183-*]--(No. 167.)\nThis fish loses its life as soon as it leaves the sea, and the fresher\nit is the better.\nWash and clean them thoroughly (the fishmongers seldom do this\nsufficiently), put them into cold water with a handful of salt in it;\nlet them rather simmer than boil; a small mackerel will be done enough\nin about a quarter of an hour; when the eye starts and the tail splits,\nthey are done; do not let them stand in the water a moment after; they\nare so delicate that the heat of the water will break them.\nThis fish, in London, is rarely fresh enough to appear at table in\nperfection; and either the mackerel is boiled too much, or the\nroe[183-+] too little. The best way is to open a slit opposite the\nmiddle of the roe, you can then clean it properly; this will allow the\nwater access, and the roe will then be done as soon as the fish, which\nit seldom is otherwise; some sagacious gourmands insist upon it they\nmust be taken out and boiled separately. For sauce, see Nos. 263, 265,\nand 266; and you may garnish them with pats of minced fennel.\nN.B. The common notion is, that mackerel are in best condition when\nfullest of roe; however, the fish at that time is only valuable for its\nroe, the meat of it has scarcely any flavour.\nMackerel generally make their appearance off the Land\u2019s End about the\nbeginning of April; and as the weather gets warm they gradually come\nround the coast, and generally arrive off Brighton about May, and\ncontinue for some months, until they begin to shoot their spawn.\nAfter they have let go their roes, they are called shotten mackerel, and\nare not worth catching; the roe, which was all that was good of them,\nbeing gone.\nIt is in the early season, when they have least roe, that the flesh of\nthis fish is in highest perfection. There is also an after-season, when\na few fine large mackerel are taken, (_i. e._ during the herring season,\nabout October,) which some piscivorous epicures are very partial to;\nthese fish having had time to fatten and recover their health, are full\nof high flavour, and their flesh is firm and juicy: they are commonly\ncalled silver mackerel, from their beautiful appearance, their colour\nbeing almost as bright when boiled as it was the moment they were\ncaught.\n_Mackerel broiled._--(No. 169.)\nClean a fine large mackerel, wipe it on a dry cloth, and cut a long slit\ndown the back; lay it on a clean gridiron, over a very clear, slow fire;\nwhen it is done on one side, turn it; be careful that it does not burn;\nsend it up with fennel sauce (No. 265); mix well together a little\nfinely minced fennel and parsley, seasoned with a little pepper and\nsalt, a bit of fresh butter, and when the mackerel are ready for the\ntable, put some of this into each fish.\n_Mackerel baked._[184-*]--(No. 170.)\nCut off their heads, open them, and take out the roes and clean them\nthoroughly; rub them on the inside with a little pepper and salt, put\nthe roes in again, season them (with a mixture of powdered allspice,\nblack pepper, and salt, well rubbed together), and lay them close in a\nbaking-pan, cover them with equal quantities of cold vinegar and water,\ntie them down with strong white paper doubled, and bake them for an\nhour in a slow oven. They will keep for a fortnight.\n_Pickled Mackerel, Herrings, or Sprats._--(No. 171.)\nProcure them as fresh as possible, split them, take off the heads, and\ntrim off the thin part of the belly, put them into salt and water for\none hour, drain and wipe your fish, and put them into jars or casks,\nwith the following preparation, which is enough for three dozen\nmackerel. Take salt and bay-salt, one pound each, saltpetre and\nlump-sugar, two ounces each; grind and pound the salt, &c. well\ntogether, put the fish into jars or casks, with a layer of the\npreparation at the bottom, then a layer of mackerel with the skin-side\ndownwards, so continue alternately till the cask or jar is full; press\nit down and cover it close. In about three months they will be fit for\nuse.\n_Sprats broiled._--(No. 170*--_Fried_, see No. 173.)\nIf you have not a sprat gridiron, get a piece of pointed iron wire as\nthick as packthread, and as long as your gridiron is broad; run this\nthrough the heads of your sprats, sprinkle a little flour and salt over\nthem, put your gridiron over a clear, quick fire, turn them in about a\ncouple of minutes; when the other side is brown, draw out the wire, and\nsend up the fish with melted butter in a cup.\n_Obs._ That sprats are young herrings, is evident by their anatomy, in\nwhich there is no perceptible difference. They appear very soon after\nthe herrings are gone, and seem to be the spawn just vivified.\n_Sprats stewed._--(No. 170**.)\nWash and dry your sprats, and lay them as level as you can in a\nstew-pan, and between every layer of sprats put three peppercorns, and\nas many allspice, with a few grains of salt; barely cover them with\nvinegar, and stew them one hour over a slow fire; they must not boil: a\nbay-leaf is sometimes added. Herrings or mackerel may be stewed the same\nway.\nTo fry sprats, see No. 173.\n_Herrings broiled._--(No. 171*.)\nWash them well, then dry them with a cloth, dust them with flour, and\nbroil them over a slow fire till they are well done. Send up melted\nbutter in a boat.\n_Obs._ For a particular account of herrings, see SOLAS DODD\u2019S _Natural\nHist. of Herrings_, in 178 pages, 8vo. 1752.\n_Red Herrings, and other dried Fish_,--(No. 172.)\n\u201cShould be cooked in the same manner as now practised by the poor in\nScotland. They soak them in water until they become pretty fresh; they\nare then hung up in the sun and wind, on a stick through their eyes, to\ndry; and then boiled or broiled. In this way they eat almost as well as\nif they were new caught.\u201d See the Hon. JOHN COCHRANE\u2019S _Seaman\u2019s Guide_,\n\u201cScotch haddocks should be soaked all night. You may boil or broil them;\nif you broil, split them in two.\n\u201cAll the different sorts of dried fish, except stock fish, are salted,\ndried in the sun in prepared kilns, or by the smoke of wood fires, and\nrequire to be softened and freshened, in proportion to their bulk,\nnature, or dryness; the very dry sort, as cod, whiting, &c. should be\nsteeped in lukewarm water, kept as near as possible to an equal degree\nof heat. The larger fish should be steeped twelve hours, the smaller\nabout two; after which they should be taken out and hung up by the tails\nuntil they are dressed. The reason for hanging them up is, that they\nsoften equally as in the steeping, without extracting too much of the\nrelish, which would render them insipid. When thus prepared, the small\nfish, as whiting, tusks, &c. should be floured and laid on the gridiron;\nand when a little hardened on one side, must be turned and basted with\nsweet oil upon a feather; and when basted on both sides, and well heated\nthrough, taken up. A clear charcoal fire is the best for cooking them,\nand the fish should be kept at a good distance, to broil gradually. When\nthey are done enough they will swell a little in the basting, and you\nmust not let them fall again. If boiled, as the larger fish generally\nare, they should be kept just simmering over an equal fire, in which way\nhalf an hour will do the largest fish, and five minutes the smallest.\n\u201cDried salmon, though a large fish, does not require more steeping than\na whiting; and when laid on the gridiron should be moderately peppered.\nTo herring and to all kinds of broiled salt fish, sweet oil is the best\nbasting.\u201d\nThe above is from MACDONALD\u2019S _London Family Cook_, 8vo. 1808, p. 139.\n_Obs._ Dr. Harte, in his Essay on Diet, 1633, fol. p. 91, protests, \u201ca\nred herring doth nourish little, and is hard of concoction, but very\ngood to make a cup of good drink relish well, and may be well called\n\u2018the drunkard\u2019s delight.\u2019\u201d\n_Smelts, Gudgeons, Sprats, or other small Fish, fried._--(No. 173.)\nClean and dry them thoroughly in a cloth, fry them plain, or beat an egg\non a plate, dip them in it, and then in very fine bread-crumbs that have\nbeen rubbed through a sieve; the smaller the fish, the finer should be\nthe bread-crumbs--biscuit powder is still better; fry them in plenty of\nclean lard or drippings; as soon as the lard boils and is still, put in\nthe fish; when they are delicately browned, they are done; this will\nhardly take two minutes. Drain them on a hair-sieve, placed before the\nfire, turning them till quite dry. _Obs._ Read No. 145.\n\u201cSmelts are allowed to be caught in the Thames, on the first of\nNovember, and continue till May. The Thames smelts are the best and\nsweetest, for two reasons; they are fresher and richer than any other\nyou can get: they catch them much more plentiful and larger in\nLancashire and Norfolk, but not so good: a great many are brought to\ntown from Norfolk, but barely come good, as they are a fish which should\nalways be eaten fresh; indeed, all river fish should be eaten fresh,\nexcept salmon, which, unless crimped, eats better the second or third\nday: but all Thames fish, particularly, should be eaten very fresh; no\nfish eats so bad kept.\u201d\n_Potted Prawns, Shrimps, or Cray-fish._--(No. 175.)\nBoil them in water with plenty of salt in it. When you have picked them,\npowder them with a little beaten mace, or grated nutmeg, or allspice,\nand pepper and salt; add a little cold butter, and pound all well\ntogether in a marble mortar till of the consistence of paste. Put it\ninto pots covered with clarified butter, and cover them over with wetted\nbladder.\nBuy these alive; the lobster merchants sometimes keep them till they are\nstarved, before they boil them; they are then watery, have not half\ntheir flavour, and like other persons that die of a consumption, have\nlost the calf of their legs.\nChoose those that (as an old cook says, are \u201cheavy and lively,\u201d and) are\nfull of motion, which is the index of their freshness.\nThose of the middle size are the best. Never take them when the shell is\nincrusted, which is a sign they are old. The male lobster is preferred\nto eat, and the female (on account of the eggs) to make sauce of. The\nhen lobster is distinguished by having a broader tail than the male, and\nless claws.\nSet on a pot, with water salted in the proportion of a table-spoonful of\nsalt to a quart of water; when the water boils, put it in, and keep it\nboiling briskly from half an hour to an hour, according to its size;\nwipe all the scum off it, and rub the shell with a very little butter or\nsweet oil; break off the great claws, crack them carefully in each\njoint, so that they may not be shattered, and yet come to pieces easily;\ncut the tail down the middle, and send up the body whole. For sauce, No.\n285. To pot lobster, No. 178.\n\u2042 These fish come in about April, and continue plentiful till the\noyster season returns; after that time they begin to spawn, and seldom\nopen solid.\nThe above observations apply to crabs, which should neither be too small\nnor too large. The best size are those which measure about eight inches\nacross the shoulders.\n\u2042 Crabs appear and disappear about the same time as lobsters. The cromer\ncrabs are most esteemed; but numbers are brought from the Isle of Wight.\n_Potted Lobster or Crab._[188-*]--(No. 178).\nThis must be made with fine hen lobsters, when full of spawn: boil them\nthoroughly (No. 176); when cold, pick out all the solid meat, and pound\nit in a mortar: it is usual to add, by degrees, (a very little)\nfinely-pounded mace, black or Cayenne pepper, salt, and, while pounding,\na little butter. When the whole is well mixed, and beat to the\nconsistence of paste, press it down hard in a preserving-pot, pour\nclarified butter over it, and cover it with wetted bladder.\n_Obs._--Some put lobster without pounding it, and only cut it or pull it\ninto such pieces as if it was prepared for sauce, and mince it with the\nspawn and soft parts and seasoning, and press it together as close as\npossible; in packing it, place the coral and spawn, &c. in layers, so\nthat it may look regular and handsome when cut out. If you intend it as\nstore (see N.B. to No. 284, to make sauce with), this is the best way to\ndo it; but if for sandwiches, &c. the first is the best, and will keep\nmuch longer.\nDressed or buttered lobsters and crabs, are favourite ornamental dishes\nwith those who deck their table merely to please the eye. Our apology\nfor not giving such receipts will be found in _Obs._ to No. 322.\nThe common[189-+] Colchester and Feversham oysters are brought to market\non the 5th of August; the Milton, or, as they are commonly called, the\nmelting natives,[189-++] do not come in till the beginning of October,\ncontinue in season till the 12th of May, and approach the meridian of\ntheir perfection about Christmas.\nSome piscivorous gourmands think that oysters are not best when quite\nfresh from their beds, and that their flavour is too brackish and harsh,\nand is much ameliorated by giving them a feed.\nTo FEED[189-\u00a7] oysters.--Cover them with clean water, with a pint of\nsalt to about two gallons (nothing else, no oatmeal, flour, nor any\nother trumpery); this will cleanse them from the mud and sand, &c. of\nthe bed; after they have lain in it twelve hours, change it for fresh\nsalt and water, and in twelve hours more they will be in prime order for\nthe mouth, and remain so two or three days: at the time of high water\nyou may see them open their shells, in expectation of receiving their\nusual food. This process of feeding oysters is only employed when a\ngreat many come up together.\nThe real Colchester, or Pyfleet barrelled oysters, that are packed at\nthe beds, are better without being put in water: they are carefully and\ntightly packed, and must not be disturbed till wanted for table. These,\nin moderate weather, will keep good for a week or ten days.\nIf an oyster opens his mouth in the barrel, he dies immediately.\nTo preserve the lives of barrelled oysters, put a heavy weight on the\nwooden top of the barrel, which is to be placed on the surface of the\noysters. This is to be effected by removing the first hoop; the staves\nwill then spread and stand erect, making a wide opening for the head of\nthe barrel to fall down closely on the remaining fish, keeping them\nclose together.\nMEM.--The oysters which are commonly sold as barrelled oysters, are\nmerely the smallest natives, selected from the stock, and put into the\ntub when ordered; and, instead of being of superior quality, are often\nvery inferior. To immature animals there is the same objection as to\nunripe vegetables.\n_Obs._--Common people are indifferent about the manner of opening\noysters, and the time of eating them after they are opened; nothing,\nhowever, is more important in the enlightened eyes of the experienced\noyster-eater.\nThose who wish to enjoy this delicious restorative in its utmost\nperfection, must eat it the moment it is opened, with its own gravy in\nthe under shell; if not eaten while absolutely alive, its flavour and\nspirit are lost.\nThe true lover of an oyster will have some regard for the feelings of\nhis little favourite, and will never abandon it to the mercy of a\nbungling operator, but will open it himself, and contrive to detach the\nfish from the shell so dexterously, that the oyster is hardly conscious\nhe has been ejected from his lodging, till he feels the teeth of the\npiscivorous gourmand tickling him to death.\nN.B. Fish is less nutritious than flesh: as a proof, when the trainer of\nNewmarket wishes to waste a jockey, he is not allowed meat, nor even\npudding, if fish can be had. The white kinds of fish, turbots, soles,\nwhiting, cod, haddock, flounders, smelts, &c. are less nutritious than\nthe oily, fat fish, such as eels, salmon, herrings, sprats, &c.: the\nlatter, however, are more difficult to digest, and often disturb weak\nstomachs, so that they are obliged to call in the assistance of Cayenne,\nCognac, &c.\nShell-fish have long held a high rank in the catalogue of easily\ndigestible and speedily restorative foods; of these the oyster certainly\ndeserves the best character, but we think it has acquired not a little\nmore reputation for these qualities than it deserves; a well-dressed\nchop[191-*] or steak, see No. 94, will invigorate the heart in a much\nhigher ratio; to recruit the animal spirits, and support strength, there\nis nothing equal to animal food; when kept till properly tender, none\nwill give so little trouble to the digestive organs, and so much\nsubstantial excitement to the constitution. See note under No. 185.\nSee Dr. WALLIS and Mr. TYSON\u2019S Papers on men\u2019s feeding on flesh, in\n_Phil. Trans._ vol. xxii. p. 769 to 774; and PORPHYRY on Abstinence from\nAnimal Food, translated by Thomas Taylor, 8vo. 1823.\nWe could easily say as much in praise of mutton as Mr. Ritson has\nagainst it, in his \u201c_Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food, as a Moral\nDuty_,\u201d 8vo. London, 1802, p. 102. He says, \u201cThe Pagan priests were the\nfirst eaters of animal food; it corrupted their taste, and so excited\nthem to gluttony, that when they had eaten the same thing repeatedly,\ntheir luxurious appetites called for variety. He who had devoured the\nsheep, longed to masticate the shepherd!!!\n\u201cNature seems to have provided other animals for the food of man, from\nthe astonishing increase of those which instinct points out to him as\npeculiarly desirable for that purpose. For instance; so quick is the\nproduce of pigeons, that, in the space of four years, 14,760 may come\nfrom a single pair; and in the like period, 1,274,840 from a couple of\nrabbits, this is nothing to the millions of eggs in the milt of a\ncodfish.\u201d\n_Scolloped Oysters._--(No. 182.) A good way to warm up any cold fish.\nStew the oysters slowly in their own liquor for two or three minutes,\ntake them out with a spoon, beard them, and skim the liquor, put a bit\nof butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, add as much fine\nbread-crumbs as will dry it up, then put to it the oyster liquor, and\ngive it a boil up, put the oysters into scollop-shells that you have\nbuttered, and strewed with bread-crumbs, then a layer of oysters, then\nof bread-crumbs, and then some more oysters; moisten it with the oyster\nliquor, cover them with bread-crumbs, put about half a dozen little\nbits of butter on the top of each, and brown them in a Dutch oven.\n_Obs._ Essence of anchovy, catchup, Cayenne, grated lemon-peel, mace,\nand other spices, &c. are added by those who prefer piquance to the\ngenuine flavour of the oyster.\nCold fish may be re-dressed the same way.\nN.B. Small scollop-shells, or saucers that hold about half a dozen\noysters, are the most convenient.\n_Stewed Oysters._--(No. 182*.)\nLarge oysters will do for stewing, and by some are preferred; but we\nlove the plump, juicy natives. Stew a couple of dozen of these in their\nown liquor; when they are coming to a boil, skim well, take them up and\nbeard them; strain the liquor through a tamis-sieve, and lay the oysters\non a dish. Put an ounce of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted,\nput to it as much flour as will dry it up, the liquor of the oysters,\nand three table-spoonfuls of milk or cream, and a little white pepper\nand salt; to this some cooks add a little catchup, or finely-chopped\nparsley, grated lemon-peel, and juice; let it boil up for a couple of\nminutes, till it is smooth, then take it off the fire, put in the\noysters, and let them get warm (they must not themselves be boiled, or\nthey will become hard); line the bottom and sides of a hash-dish with\nbread-sippets, and pour your oysters and sauce into it. See _Obs._ to\nreceipt No. 278.\n_Oysters fried._[192-*]--(No. 183.)\nThe largest and finest oysters are to be chosen for this purpose; simmer\nthem in their own liquor for a couple of minutes, take them out and lay\nthem on a cloth to drain, beard them and then flour them, egg and\nbread-crumb them, put them into boiling fat, and fry them a delicate\nbrown.\n_Obs._ An elegant garnish for made dishes, stewed rump-steaks, boiled or\nfried fish, &c.; but they are too hard and dry to be eaten.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[168-*] \u201cI have ascertained, by many years\u2019 observation, that a turbot\nkept two or three days is much better eating than a very fresh\none.\u201d--UDE\u2019S _Cookery_, p. 238.\n\u201cTURBOTS. The finest brought to the London market are caught off the\nDutch coast, or German Ocean, and are brought in well-boats alive. The\ncommencement of the season is generally about March and April, and\ncontinues all the summer. Turbots, like other fish, do not spawn all at\nthe same time; therefore, there is always good and bad nearly all the\nyear round. For this year or two past, there has been an immense\nquantity brought to London, from all parts, and of all qualities: a\ngreat many from a new fishery off Hartlepool, which are very\nhandsome-looking turbot, but by no means equal to what are caught off\nthe Dutch coast. Many excellent turbots are caught off Dover and\nDungeness; and a large quantity brought from Scotland, packed in ice,\nwhich are of a very inferior quality, and are generally to be bought for\nabout one-fourth the price of good turbots.\n\u201c_Brills_ are generally caught at the same place as turbots, and are\ngenerally of the same quality as the turbot, from the different parts.\u201d\n[170-*] A large pair of soles will take the fourth part of a quartern\nloaf, which now costs twopence halfpenny. OATMEAL is a good substitute\nfor bread-crumbs, and costs comparatively nothing!!\n[170-+] The FAT _will do two or three times_, if strained through a\nhair-sieve, and put by; if you do not find it enough, put a little fresh\nto it. Read No. 83, and the 3d chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery.\n[170-++] This requires a heat of upwards of 600 degrees of Fahrenheit\u2019s\nthermometer:--FRYING is, in fact, _boiling in fat_.\n[171-*] If you are in haste, lay the sole on a clean, soft cloth, cover\nit with it, and gently press it upon the fish, to suck up the fat from\nits surface.\n[171-+] The very indifferent manner in which the operation of frying\nfish is usually performed, we suppose, produced the following _jeu\nd\u2019esprit_, which appeared in _The Morning Chronicle_:--\n \u201cThe King\u2019s bench reports have cook\u2019d up an odd dish,\n An action for damages, _fry_ versus _fish_.\n But, sure, if for damages action could lie,\n It certainly must have been _fish_ against _fry_.\u201d\nThe author of _The Cook\u2019s Cookery_, 8vo. page 116, does not seem to\nthink this fish can be too fresh; for he commences his directions with,\n\u201c_If you can_, get a cod _hot_ out of the sea,\u201d &c.\n[172-*] The skate comes to the New-York market in the spring, but is not\nesteemed, as we have many better fish. The part about the flap or\nside-fin is best. A.\n[172-+] The TAIL is so much thinner than the thick part of the body,\nthat, if boiled together, the former will be boiled too much, before the\nlatter is done enough; therefore it should be dressed separate; and the\nbest way of cooking it is to fry it in slices or fillets. See No. 151.\n\u201c_Cod_ generally comes into good season in October, when, if the weather\nis cold, it eats as fine as at any time in the year; towards the latter\nend of January and February, and part of March, they are mostly poor;\nbut the latter end of March, April, and May, they are generally\nparticularly fine; having shot their spawn, they come in fine order.\n_The Dogger-bank cod_ are the most esteemed, as they generally cut in\nlarge, fine flakes; the north-country cod, which are caught off the\nOrkney Isles, are generally very stringy, or what is commonly called\n_woolly_, and sell at a very inferior price, but are caught in much\ngreater abundance than the Dogger cod. The cod are all caught with hook,\nand brought alive in well-boats to the London markets. The cod cured on\nthe Dogger-bank is remarkably fine, and seldom cured above two or three\nweeks before brought to market; the _barrel cod_ is commonly cured on\nthe coast of Scotland and Yorkshire. There is a great deal of inferior\ncured salt-fish brought from Newfoundland and Iceland.\n\u201cThe SKULL of a Dogger-bank cod is one of those concatenations of\n_tit-bits_ which some epicures are fond of, either baked or boiled: it\nis composed of lots of pretty playthings or such finery, but will not do\nfor those who want a good meal: it may be bought for about 2_s._: either\nboil it whole, or cut it into pieces, flour and dry them, and then egg\nand crumb, and fry them, or stew it (No. 158).\n\u201cThe TAIL of a cod cut in fillets or slices, and fried, makes a good\ndish, and is generally to be bought at a very reasonable rate; if\nboiled, it is soft and watery. _The skull and tail_ of a cod is a\nfavourite and excellent Scotch dish, stewed, and served up with anchovy\nor oyster sauce, with the liquor it is boiled in, in a tureen.\n\u201c_Ling_ is brought to the London market in the same manner as cod, but\nis very inferior to it, either fresh or salt.\u201d\n[173-*] There are several species of codfish sold alive in the New-York\nmarkets: of these, the common cod is the best, and is in season from\nNovember till spring. The price varies from three to six cents the\npound, as the market is well or scantily supplied. The head and\nshoulders of a large cod, boiled, is the best part to grace the\ndinner-table. It is full of rich gelatinous matter, which is savoury and\neasy of digestion. Cod\u2019s sounds and tongues are found on the stalls of\nthe fishmongers in the winter season. They are rich and nourishing, and\nmay be prepared to garnish the dish, or served up separately boiled. A.\n[173-+] \u201cIn the sea-port towns of the New-England states in North\nAmerica, it has been a custom, time immemorial, among people of fashion,\nto dine one day in the week (Saturday) on salt fish; and a long habit of\npreparing the same dish has, as might have been expected, led to very\nconsiderable improvements in the art of cooking it. I have often heard\nforeigners declare, that they never tasted salt fish dressed in such\nperfection: the secret of cooking it, is to keep it for several hours in\nwater that is _just scalding hot_, but which is never made actually to\nboil.\u201d--COUNT RUMFORD\u2019S _10th Essay_, p. 18.\n[174-*] That part of a cod which is near the tail, is considered, in\nAmerica, as the poorest part of the fish. A.\n[174-+] Sturgeons, though sea-fish, ascend the fresh water rivers, and\nin the Hudson are taken 80 miles above the salt water. They were\nformerly called Albany beef, having been in plenty and cheap in the\nmarket of that city. They are not, however, esteemed even there; and\nsince the running of the steamboats, and the quickness of their\npassages, all the valuable fish of the sea-coast are found in that\ninland city. A.\n[174-++] The French do not flay them, but split them, dip them in flour,\nand fry them in hot dripping.\n[175-*] One of my culinary counsellors says, the heading of this receipt\nshould be, \u201c_How to dress a good dish of fish while the cloth is\nlaying_.\u201d If the articles are ready, twelve minutes will do it, with\nvery little trouble or expense. For richer stewed fish, see No. 164.\n[176-*] Our experience goes to substantiate the same point. A.\n[179-*] The perch of New-York are a small fresh-water fish, and seldom\nboiled, being better calculated for frying or broiling, as a relish at\nbreakfast. A.\n[180-*] SALMON. The earliest that comes in season to the London market\nis brought from the Severn, and begins to come into season the beginning\nof November, but very few so early, perhaps not above one in fifty, as\nmany of them will not shoot their spawn till January, or after, and then\ncontinue in season till October, when they begin to get very thin and\npoor. The principal supply of salmon is from different parts of\nScotland, packed in ice, and brought by water: if the vessels have a\nfair wind, they will be in London in three days; but it frequently\nhappens that they are at sea perhaps a fortnight, when the greater part\nof the fish is perished, and has, for a year or two past, sold as low as\ntwopence per pound, and up to as much as eighteen pence per pound at the\nsame time, owing to its different degrees of goodness. This accounts for\nthe very low prices at which the itinerant fishmongers cry their\n\u201c_delicate_ salmon,\u201d \u201c_dainty fresh_ salmon,\u201d and \u201c_live_ cod,\u201d \u201c_new_\nmackerel,\u201d &c. &c.\n\u201cSalmon gwilts, or salmon peel, are the small salmon which run from\nabout five or six pounds to ten pounds, are very good fish, and make\nhandsome dishes of fish, sent to table crooked in the form of an S.\n\u201cBerwick trout are a distinct fish from the gwilts, and are caught in\nthe river Tweed, and dressed in the same manner as the gwilt.\n\u201cCalvered salmon is the salmon caught in the Thames, and cut into slices\nalive; and some few salmon are brought from Oxford to London alive, and\ncut. A few slices make a handsome, genteel dish, but it is generally\nvery expensive; sometimes 15_s._ per pound.\u201d\n[Fresh salmon comes to the New-York market from the eastern states, and\nmostly from Maine. It is also occasionally brought from the lakes and\nrivers of the northern part of New-York in winter. A.]\n[181-*] Small fish and fillets of whiting, turbots, brills, &c. and\nslices of cod, or the head or tail of it, are excellent dressed the same\nway.\n[181-+] The yellow eels taste muddy; the whiteness of the belly of the\nfish is not the only mark to know the best; the right colour of the back\nis a very bright coppery hue: the olive-coloured are inferior; and those\ntending to a green are worse.\n[183-*] There are several species of mackerel in their season in the\nNew-York market. That which arrives in the spring is most esteemed, and\nin greatest plenty. Spring mackerel is a migrating fish, and succeeds\nthe shad, or commences its run along the coast of New-Jersey and Long\nIsland, just before the shad disappears. It does not ascend the rivers,\nbut continues its course north-eastward in immense shoals, and is taken\nby the fishermen with the hook and line, while sailing in smacks along\nthe coast, from the mouth of the Delaware to Nova Scotia. These fish are\nkept in cars, and sold alive in the markets. They are mostly broiled,\nand brought to the breakfast-table. The larger ones sometimes grace the\ndining-table. They may be boiled, but are best when stuffed and baked in\nan oven. A.\n[183-+] The roe of the male fish is soft, like the brains of a calf;\nthat of the female is full of small eggs, and called hard roe.\n[184-*] Mackerel of large size may be stuffed like a fowl, leaving the\nhead on, and baked in an oven. A.\n[187-*] Lobsters are in great plenty and perfection in the New-York\nmarkets. They are taken in Long Island Sound, and along the rocky shores\nof Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. A.\n[188-*] Crabs are not esteemed as a delicacy by epicures unless they are\nsoft, when they are fried whole. In July and August they shed their\ncoats, and in this state may be cooked and eaten without being\nincommoded with their shells. A.\n[189-*] Oyster sauce, No. 278; preserved oysters, No. 280.\n[189-+] Those are called common oysters, which are picked up on the\nFrench coast, and laid in the Colchester beds.\nThese are never so fine and fat as the natives, and seldom recover the\nshock their feelings receive from being transported from their native\nplace: delicate little creatures, they are as exquisite in their own\ntaste as they are to the taste of others!\n[189-++] Oysters are thus called, that are born, as well as bred and\nfed, in this country, and are mostly spit in the Burnham and Mersey\nrivers: they do not come to their finest condition till they are near\nfour years old.\n[189-\u00a7] WILL RABISHA, in his receipt to \u201cbroil oysters,\u201d (see his\nCookery, page 144,) directs, that while they are undergoing this\noperation, they should be _fed_ with white wine and grated bread.\nIn BOYLE\u2019S Works, 4to. 1772, vol. ii. p. 450, there is a very curious\nchapter on the eating of oysters.\n[191-*] \u201cAnimal food being composed of the most nutritious parts of the\nfood on which the animal lived, and having already been digested by the\nproper organs of an animal, requires only solution and mixture; whereas\nvegetable food must be converted into a substance of an animal nature,\nby the proper action of our own viscera, and consequently requires more\nlabour of the stomach, and other digestive organs.\u201d--BURTON _on the\nNon-naturals_, page 213.\n[192-*] New-York and other places on the sea-coast of the United States,\nafford oysters in great plenty and perfection, and the various methods\nof preparing them are well known. A.\nBROTHS, GRAVIES, AND SOUPS.\nWash a leg or shin of beef very clean, crack the bone in two or three\nplaces (this you should desire the butcher to do for you), add thereto\nany trimmings you have of meat, game, or poultry (_i. e._ heads, necks,\ngizzards, feet, &c.), and cover them with cold water; watch and stir it\nup well from the bottom, and the moment it begins to simmer, skim it\ncarefully; your broth must be perfectly clear and limpid, on this\ndepends the goodness of the soups, sauces, and gravies, of which it is\nthe basis: then add some cold water to make the remaining scum rise, and\nskim it again; when the scum is done rising, and the surface of the\nbroth is quite clear, put in one moderate-sized carrot, a head of\ncelery, two turnips, and two onions, it should not have any taste of\nsweet herbs, spice, or garlic, &c.; either of these flavours can easily\nbe added immediately after, if desired, by Nos. 420, 421, 422, &c. cover\nit close, set it by the side of the fire, and let it simmer very gently\n(so as not to waste the broth) for four or five hours, or more,\naccording to the weight of the meat; strain it through a sieve into a\nclean and dry stone pan, and set it in the coldest place you have.\n_Obs._ This is the foundation for all sorts of soups and sauce, brown or\nwhite.\nStew no longer than the meat is thoroughly done to eat, and you will\nobtain excellent broth, without depriving the meat of its nutritious\nsucculence: to boil it to rags, as is the common practice, will not\nenrich your broths, but make them thick and grouty.\nThe meat,[193-+] when gently stewed for only four or five hours till it\nis just tender, remains abundantly sapid and nourishing, and will afford\na relishing and wholesome meal for half a dozen people; or make potted\nbeef (No. 503): or when you have strained off the broth, cover the meat\nagain with water, and let it go on boiling for four hours longer, and\nmake what some cooks call \u201csecond stock;\u201d it will produce some very good\nglaze, or portable soup; see No. 252, and the _Obs._ thereon.\nCover the bottom of a stew-pan that is well tinned and quite clean, with\na slice of good ham, or lean bacon, four or five pounds of gravy beef\ncut into half-pound pieces, a carrot, an onion with two cloves stuck in\nit, and a head of celery; put a pint of broth or water to it, cover it\nclose, and set it over a moderate fire till the water is reduced to as\nlittle as will just save the ingredients from burning; then turn it all\nabout, and let it brown slightly and equally all over; then put in three\nquarts of boiling water;[194-+] when it boils up, skim it carefully, and\nwipe off with a clean cloth what sticks round the edge and inside of the\nstew-pan, that your gravy may be delicately clean and clear. Set it by\nthe side of a fire, where it will stew gently (to keep it clear, and\nthat it may not be reduced too much) for about four hours: if it has not\nboiled too fast, there should be two quarts of good gravy; strain\nthrough a silk, or tamis-sieve; take very particular care to skim it\nwell, and set it in a cold place.\n_Strong savoury Gravy_ (No. 188), _alias \u201cBrown Sauce,\u201d alias_ \u201cGRAND\nESPAGNOL.\u201d\nTake a stew-pan that will hold four quarts, lay a slice or two of ham or\nbacon (about a quarter of an inch thick) at the bottom (undressed is the\nbest), and two pounds of beef or veal, a carrot, a large onion with four\ncloves stuck in it, one head of celery, a bundle of parsley,\nlemon-thyme, and savoury, about as big round as your little finger, when\ntied close, a few leaves of sweet basil (one bay-leaf, and an eschalot,\nif you like it), a piece of lemon-peel, and a dozen corns of\nallspice;[195-*] pour on this half a pint of water, cover it close, and\nlet it simmer gently on a slow fire for half an hour, in which time it\nwill be almost dry; watch it very carefully, and let it catch a nice\nbrown colour; turn the meat, &c. let it brown on all sides; add three\npints of boiling water,[195-+] and boil for a couple of hours. It is now\nrich gravy. To convert it into\n_Cullis, or thickened Gravy._--(No. 189.)\nTo a quart of gravy, put a table-spoonful of thickening (No. 257), or\nfrom one to two table-spoonfuls of flour, according to the thickness you\nwish the gravy to be, into a basin, with a ladleful of the gravy; stir\nit quick; add the rest by degrees, till it is all well mixed; then pour\nit back into a stew-pan, and leave it by the side of the fire to simmer\nfor half an hour longer, that the thickening may thoroughly incorporate\nwith the gravy, the stew-pan being only half covered, stirring it every\nnow and then; a sort of scum will gather on the top, which it is best\nnot to take off till you are ready to strain it through a tamis.[195-++]\nTake care it is neither of too pale nor too dark a colour; if it is not\nthick enough, let it stew longer, till it is reduced to the desired\nthickness; or add a bit of glaze, or portable soup to it, see No. 252:\nif it is too thick, you can easily thin it with a spoonful or two of\nwarm broth, or water. When your sauce is done, stir it in the basin you\nput it into once or twice, while it is cooling.\n_Veal Broth._--(No. 191.)\nA knuckle of veal is best; manage it as directed in the receipt for beef\nbroth (No. 185), only take care not to let it catch any colour, as this\nand the following and richer preparation of veal, are chiefly used for\nwhite soups, sauces, &c.\nTo make white sauce, see No. 364*.\n_Veal Gravy._--(No. 192.)\nAbout three pounds of the nut of the leg of veal, cut into half-pound\nslices, with a quarter of a pound of ham in small dice; proceed as\ndirected for the beef gravy (No. 186), but watch the time of putting in\nthe water; if this is poured in too soon, the gravy will not have its\ntrue flavour, if it be let alone till the meat sticks too much to the\npan, it will catch too brown a colour.\n_Knuckle of Veal, or Shin or Leg of Beef, Soup._--(No. 193.)\nA knuckle of veal of six pounds weight will make a large tureen of\nexcellent soup, and is thus easily prepared: cut half a pound of bacon\ninto slices about half an inch thick, lay it at the bottom of a\nsoup-kettle, or deep stew-pan, and on this place the knuckle of veal,\nhaving first chopped the bone in two or three places; furnish it with\ntwo carrots, two turnips, a head of celery, two large onions, with two\nor three cloves stuck in one of them, a dozen corns of black, and the\nsame of Jamaica pepper, and a good bundle of lemon-thyme, winter\nsavoury, and parsley. Just cover the meat with cold water, and set it\nover a quick fire till it boils; having skimmed it well, remove your\nsoup-kettle to the side of the fire; let it stew very gently till it is\nquite tender, _i. e._ about four hours; then take out the bacon and\nveal, strain the soup, and set it by in a cool place till you want it,\nwhen you must take off the fat from the surface of your liquor, and\ndecant it (keeping back the settlings at the bottom) into a clean pan.\nIf you like a thickened soup, put three table-spoonfuls of the fat you\nhave taken off the soup into a small stew-pan, and mix it with four\ntable-spoonfuls of flour, pour a ladleful of soup to it, and mix it with\nthe rest by degrees, and boil it up till it is smooth.\nCut the meat and gristle of the knuckle and the bacon into mouthfuls,\nand put them into the soup, and let them get warm.\n_Obs._ You may make this more savoury by adding catchup (No. 439), &c.\nShin of beef may be dressed in the same way; see Knuckle of Veal stewed\nwith Rice (No. 523).\n_Mutton Broth._--(No. 194.)\nTake two pounds of scrag of mutton; to take the blood out, put it into a\nstew-pan, and cover it with cold water; when the water becomes\nmilk-warm, pour it off; then put it in four or five pints of water, with\na tea-spoonful of salt, a table-spoonful of best grits, and an onion;\nset it on a slow fire, and when you have taken all the scum off, put in\ntwo or three turnips; let it simmer very slowly for two hours, and\nstrain it through a clean sieve.\nThis usual method of making mutton broth with the scrag, is by no means\nthe most economical method of obtaining it; for which see Nos. 490 and\n_Obs._ You may thicken broth by boiling with it a little oatmeal, rice,\nScotch or pearl barley; when you make it for a sick person, read the\n_Obs._ on Broths, &c. in the last page of the 7th chapter of the\nRudiments of Cookery, and No. 564.\n_Mock Mutton Broth, without Meat, in five minutes._--(No. 195.)\nBoil a few leaves of parsley with two tea-spoonfuls of mushroom catchup,\nin three-quarters of a pint of very thin gruel[197-*] (No. 572). Season\nwith a little salt.\n_Obs._ This is improved by a few drops of eschalot wine (No. 402), and\nthe same of essence of sweet herbs (No. 419). See also Portable Soup\n_The Queen\u2019s Morning \u201cBouillon de Sant\u00e9_,\u201d--(No. 196.)\nSir Kenelm Digby, in his \u201c_Closet of Cookery_,\u201d p. 149, London, 1669,\ninforms us, was made with \u201ca brawny hen, or young cock, a handful of\nparsley, one sprig of thyme, three of spearmint, a little balm, half a\ngreat onion, a little pepper and salt, and a clove, with as much water\nas will cover them; and this boiled to less than a pint for one good\nporringerful.\u201d\n_Ox-heel Jelly._--(No. 198.)\nSlit them in two, and take away the fat between the claws. The\nproportion of water to each heel is about a quart: let it simmer gently\nfor eight hours (keeping it clean skimmed); it will make a pint and a\nhalf of strong jelly, which is frequently used to make calves\u2019 feet\njelly (No. 481), or to add to mock turtle and other soups. See No. 240*.\nThis jelly evaporated, as directed in No. 252, will give about three\nounces and a half of strong glaze. An unboiled heel costs one shilling\nand threepence: so this glaze, which is very inferior in flavour to No.\n252, is quite as expensive as that is.\nN.B. To dress the heels, see No. 18.\n_Obs._ Get a heel that has only been scalded, not one of those usually\nsold at the tripe-shops, which have been boiled till almost all the\ngelatine is extracted.\n_Clear Gravy Soups._--(No. 200.)\nCut half a pound of ham into slices, and lay them at the bottom of a\nlarge stew-pan or stock-pot, with two or three pounds of lean beef, and\nas much veal; break the bones, and lay them on the meat; take off the\nouter skin of two large onions and two turnips; wash, clean, and cut\ninto pieces a couple of large carrots, and two heads of celery; and put\nin three cloves and a large blade of mace. Cover the stew-pan close, and\nset it over a smart fire. When the meat begins to stick to the bottom of\nthe stew-pan, turn it; and when there is a nice brown glaze at the\nbottom of the stew-pan, cover the meat with hot water: watch it, and\nwhen it is coming to boil put in half a pint of cold water; take off the\nscum; then put in half a pint more cold water, and skim it again, and\ncontinue to do so till no more scum rises. Now set it on one side of the\nfire to boil gently for about four hours; strain it through a clean\ntamis or napkin (do not squeeze it, or the soup will be thick) into a\nclean stone pan; let it remain till it is cold, and then remove all the\nfat. When you decant it, be careful not to disturb the settlings at the\nbottom of the pan.\nThe broth should be of a fine amber colour, and as clear as rock water.\nIf it is not quite so bright as you wish it, put it into a stew-pan;\nbreak two whites and shells of eggs into a basin; beat them well\ntogether; put them into the soup: set it on a quick fire, and stir it\nwith a whisk till it boils; then set it on one side of the fire to\nsettle for ten minutes; run it through a fine napkin into a basin, and\nit is ready.\nHowever, if your broth is carefully skimmed, &c. according to the\ndirections above given, it will be clear enough without clarifying;\nwhich process impairs the flavour of it in a higher proportion than it\nimproves its appearance.\n_Obs._--This is the basis of almost all gravy soups, which are called by\nthe name of the vegetables that are put into them.\nCarrots, turnips, onions, celery, and a few leaves of chervil, make what\nis called spring soup, or soup sant\u00e9; to this a pint of green pease, or\nasparagus pease, or French beans cut into pieces, or a cabbage lettuce,\nare an improvement.\nWith rice or Scotch barley, with macaroni or vermicelli, or celery, cut\ninto lengths, it will be the soup usually called by those names.\nOr turnips scooped round, or young onions, will give you a clear turnip\nor onion soup; and all these vegetables mixed together, soup GRESSI.\nThe gravy for all these soups may be produced _extempore_ with No. 252.\nThe roots and vegetables you use must be boiled first, or they will\nimpregnate the soup with too strong a flavour.\nThe seasoning for all these soups is the same, viz. salt and a very\nlittle Cayenne pepper.\nN.B. To make excellent vegetable gravy soup for 4-1/2_d._ a quart, see\n_Scotch Barley Broth_;--a good and substantial dinner for fivepence per\nWash three-quarters of a pound of Scotch barley in a little cold water;\nput it in a soup-pot with a shin or leg of beef, of about ten pounds\nweight, sawed into four pieces (tell the butcher to do this for you);\ncover it well with cold water; set it on the fire: when it boils skim it\nvery clean, and put in two onions of about three ounces weight each; set\nit by the side of the fire to simmer very gently about two hours; then\nskim all the fat clean off, and put in two heads of celery, and a large\nturnip cut into small squares; season it with salt, and let it boil an\nhour and a half longer, and it is ready: take out the meat (carefully\nwith a slice, and cover it up, and set it by the fire to keep warm), and\nskim the broth well before you put it in the tureen.\n 2 onions, of about 3 oz. weight each 0 0-1/2\nThus you get four quarts of good soup at 8_d._ per quart, besides\nanother quart to make sauce for the meat, in the following manner:\nPut a quart of the soup into a basin; put about an ounce of flour into a\nstew-pan, and pour the broth to it by degrees, stirring it well\ntogether; set it on the fire, and stir it till it boils; then (some put\nin a glass of port wine, or mushroom catchup, No. 439) let it boil up,\nand it is ready.\nPut the meat in a rago\u00fbt dish, and strain the sauce through a sieve\nover the meat; you may put to it some capers, or minced gherkins or\nwalnuts, &c.\nIf the beef has been stewed with proper care in a very gentle manner,\nand be taken up at \u201cthe critical moment when it is just tender,\u201d you\nwill obtain an excellent and savoury meal for eight people for\nfivepence; _i. e._ for only the cost of the glass of port wine.\nIf you use veal, cover the meat with No. 364--2.\n_Obs._--This is a most frugal, agreeable, and nutritive meal; it will\nneither lighten the purse, nor lie heavy on the stomach, and will\nfurnish a plentiful and pleasant soup and meat for eight persons. So you\nmay give a good dinner for 5_d._ per head!!! See also Nos. 229 and 239.\nN.B. If you will draw your purse-strings a little wider, and allow 1_d._\nper mouth more, prepare a pint of young onions as directed in No. 296,\nand garnish the dish with them, or some carrots or turnips cut into\nsquares; and for 6_d._ per head you will have as good a RAGOUT as \u201c_le\nCuisinier Imp\u00e9rial de France_\u201d can give you for as many shillings. Read\nYou may vary the flavour by adding a little curry powder (No. 455),\nrago\u00fbt (No. 457, &c.), or any of the store sauces and flavouring\nessences between Nos. 396 and 463; you may garnish the dish with split\npickled mangoes, walnuts, gherkins, onions, &c. See Wow wow Sauce, No.\nIf it is made the evening before the soup is wanted, and suffered to\nstand till it is cold, much fat[200-*] may be removed from the surface\nof the soup, which is, when clarified (No. 83), useful for all the\npurposes that drippings are applied to.\n_Scotch Soups._--(No. 205.)\nThe three following receipts are the contribution of a friend at\nEdinburgh.\n_Winter Hotch-potch._\nTake the best end of a neck or loin of mutton; cut it into neat chops;\ncut four carrots, and as many turnips into slices; put on four quarts of\nwater, with half the carrots and turnips, and a whole one of each, with\na pound of dried green pease, which must be put to soak the night\nbefore; let it boil two hours, then take out the whole carrot and\nturnip; bruise and return them; put in the meat, and the rest of the\ncarrot and turnip, some pepper and salt, and boil slowly three-quarters\nof an hour; a short time before serving, add an onion cut small and a\nhead of celery.\n_Cocky-leeky Soup._\nTake a scrag of mutton, or shank of veal, three quarts of water (or\nliquor in which meat has been boiled), and a good-sized fowl, with two\nor three leeks cut in pieces about an inch long, pepper and salt; boil\nslowly about an hour: then put in as many more leeks, and give it\nthree-quarters of an hour longer: this is very good, made of good\nbeef-stock, and leeks put in it twice.\n_Lamb Stove, or Lamb Stew._\nTake a lamb\u2019s head and lights; open the jaws of the head, and wash them\nthoroughly; put them in a pot with some beef-stock, made with three\nquarts of water, and two pounds of shin of beef, strained; boil very\nslowly for an hour; wash and string two or three good handfuls of\nspinach (or spinage); put it in twenty minutes before serving; add a\nlittle parsley, and one or two onions, a short time before it comes off\nthe fire; season with pepper and salt, and serve all together in a\ntureen.\n_Scotch Brose._--(No. 205*.)\n\u201cThis favourite Scotch dish is generally made with the liquor meat has\nbeen boiled in.\n\u201cPut half a pint of oatmeal into a porringer with a little salt, if\nthere be not enough in the broth, of which add as much as will mix it to\nthe consistence of hasty-pudding, or a little thicker; lastly, take a\nlittle of the fat that swims on the broth, and put it on the crowdie,\nand eat it in the same way as hasty-pudding.\u201d\n_Obs._--This Scotsman\u2019s dish is easily prepared at very little expense,\nand is pleasant-tasted and nutritious. To dress a haggies, see No. 488*,\nand Minced Collops, following it.\nN.B. For various methods of making and flavouring oatmeal gruel, see No.\n_Carrot Soup._--(No. 212.)\nScrape and wash half a dozen large carrots; peel off the red outside\n(which is the only part used for this soup); put it into a gallon\nstew-pan, with one head of celery, and an onion, cut into thin pieces;\ntake two quarts of beef, veal, or mutton broth, or if you have any cold\nroast-beef bones (or liquor, in which mutton or beef has been boiled),\nyou may make very good broth for this soup: when you have put the broth\nto the roots, cover the stew-pan close, and set it on a slow stove for\ntwo hours and a half, when the carrots will be soft enough (some cooks\nput in a tea-cupful of bread-crumbs); boil for two or three minutes; rub\nit through a tamis, or hair-sieve, with a wooden spoon, and add as much\nbroth as will make it a proper thickness, _i. e._ almost as thick as\npease soup: put it into a clean stew-pan; make it hot; season it with a\nlittle salt, and send it up with some toasted bread, cut into pieces\nhalf an inch square. Some put it into the soup; but the best way is to\nsend it up on a plate, as a side-dish.\n_Obs._ This is neither expensive nor troublesome to prepare. In the\nkitchens of some opulent epicures, to make this soup make a little\nstronger impression on the gustatory organs of \u201cgrands gourmands,\u201d the\ncelery and onions are sliced, and fried in butter of a light brown, the\nsoup is poured into the stew-pan to them, and all is boiled up together.\nBut this must be done very carefully with butter, or very nicely\nclarified fat; and the \u201cgrand cuisinier\u201d adds spices, &c. \u201c_ad\nlibitum_.\u201d\n_Turnip and Parsnip Soups_,--(No. 213.)\nAre made in the same manner as the carrot soup (No. 212.)\n_Celery Soup._--(No. 214.)\nSplit half a dozen heads of celery into slips about two inches long;\nwash them well; lay them on a hair-sieve to drain, and put them into\nthree quarts of No. 200 in a gallon soup-pot; set it by the side of the\nfire to stew very gently till the celery is tender (this will take about\nan hour). If any scum rises, take it off; season with a little salt.\n_Obs._ When celery cannot be procured, half a drachm of the seed,\npounded fine, which may be considered as the essence of celery (costs\nonly one-third of a farthing, and can be had at any season), put in a\nquarter of an hour before the soup is done, and a little sugar, will\ngive as much flavour to half a gallon of soup as two heads of celery\nweighing seven ounces, and costing 2_d._; or add a little essence of\ncelery, No. 409.\n_Green Pease Soup._--(No. 216.)\nA peck of pease will make you a good tureen of soup. In shelling them,\nput the old ones in one basin, and the young ones in another, and keep\nout a pint of them, and boil them separately to put into your soup when\nit is finished: put a large saucepan on the fire half full of water;\nwhen it boils, put the pease in, with a handful of salt; let them boil\ntill they are done enough, _i. e._ from twenty to thirty minutes,\naccording to their age and size; then drain them in a colander, and put\nthem into a clean gallon stew-pan, and three quarts of plain veal or\nmutton broth (drawn from meat without any spices or herbs, &c. which\nwould overpower the flavour of the soup); cover the stew-pan close, and\nset it over a slow fire to stew gently for an hour; add a tea-cupful of\nbread-crumbs, and then rub it through a tamis into another stew-pan;\nstir it with a wooden spoon, and if it is too thick, add a little more\nbroth: have ready boiled as for eating, a pint of young pease, and put\nthem into the soup; season with a little salt and sugar.\nN.B. Some cooks, while this soup is going on, slice a couple of\ncucumbers (as you would for eating); take out the seeds; lay them on a\ncloth to drain, and then flour them, and fry them a light brown in a\nlittle butter; put them into the soup the last thing before it goes to\ntable.\n_Obs._ If the soup is not green enough, pound a handful of pea-hulls or\nspinage, and squeeze the juice through a cloth into the soup: some\nleaves of mint may be added, if approved.\n_Plain green Pease Soup without Meat._--(No. 217.)\nTake a quart of green pease (keep out half a pint of the youngest; boil\nthem separately, and put them in the soup when it is finished); put them\non in boiling water; boil them tender, and then pour off the water, and\nset it by to make the soup with: put the pease into a mortar, and pound\nthem to a mash; then put them into two quarts of the water you boiled\nthe pease in; stir all well together; let it boil up for about five\nminutes, and then rub it through a hair-sieve or tamis. If the pease are\ngood, it will be as thick and fine a vegetable soup as need be sent to\ntable.\n_Pease Soup._--(No. 218.)\nThe common way of making pease soup[203-*] is--to a quart of split\npease put three quarts of cold soft water, not more, (or it will be what\n\u201cJack Ros-bif\u201d calls \u201csoup maigre,\u201d) notwithstanding Mother Glasse\norders a gallon (and her ladyship\u2019s directions have been copied by\nalmost every cookery-book maker who has strung receipts together since),\nwith half a pound of bacon (not very fat), or roast-beef bones, or four\nanchovies: or, instead of the water, three quarts of the liquor in which\nbeef, mutton, pork, or poultry has been boiled, tasting it first, to\nmake sure it is not too salt.[204-*]\nWash two heads of celery;[204-+] cut it, and put it in, with two onions\npeeled, and a sprig of savoury, or sweet marjoram, or lemon-thyme; set\nit on the trivet, and let it simmer very gently over a slow fire,\nstirring it every quarter of an hour (to keep the pease from sticking\nto, and burning at, the bottom of the soup-pot) till the pease are\ntender, which will be in about three hours. Some cooks now slice a head\nof celery, and half an ounce of onions, and fry them in a little butter,\nand put them into the soup till they are lightly browned; then work the\nwhole through a coarse hair-sieve, and then through a fine sieve, or\n(what is better) through a tamis, with the back of a wooden spoon: put\nit into a clean stew-pan, with half a tea-spoonful of ground black\npepper;[204-++] let it boil again for ten minutes, and if any fat\narises, skim it off.\nSend up on a plate, toasted bread cut into little pieces a quarter of an\ninch square, or cut a slice of bread (that has been baked two days) into\ndice, not more than half an inch square; put half a pound of perfectly\nclean drippings or lard into an iron frying-pan; when it is hot, fry the\nbread; take care and turn it about with a slice, or by shaking of the\npan as it is frying, that it may be on each side of a delicate light\nbrown, (No. 319;) take it up with a fish-slice, and lay it on a sheet of\npaper to drain the fat: be careful that this is done nicely: send these\nup in one side-dish, and dried and powdered mint or savoury, or sweet\nmarjoram, &c. in another.\nThose who are for a double relish, and are true lovers of \u201c_haut go\u00fbt_,\u201d\nmay have some bacon cut into small squares like the bread, and fried\ntill it is crisp, or some little lumps of boiled pickled pork; or put\ncucumber fried into this soup, as you have directions in No. 216.\n_Obs._ The most economical method of making pease soup, is to save the\nbones of a joint of roast beef, and put them into the liquor in which\nmutton, or beef, or pork, or poultry, has been boiled, and proceed as in\nthe above receipt. A hock, or shank-bone of ham, a ham-bone, the root of\na tongue, or a red or pickled herring, are favourite additions with some\ncooks; others send up rice or vermicelli with pease soup.[205-*]\nN.B. To make pease soup extempore, see No. 555.\nIf you wish to make soup the same day you boil meat or poultry, prepare\nthe pease the same as for pease pudding (No. 555), to which you may add\nan onion and a head of celery, when you rub the pease through the sieve;\ninstead of putting eggs and butter, add some of the liquor from the pot\nto make it a proper thickness; put it on to boil for five minutes, and\nit is ready.\n_Obs._ This latter is by far the easiest and the best way of making\npease soup.\nPease soup may be made savoury and agreeable to the palate, without any\nmeat, by incorporating two ounces of fresh and nicely-clarified beef,\nmutton, or pork drippings (see No. 83), with two ounces of oatmeal, and\nmixing this well into the gallon of soup, made as above directed: see\nalso No. 229.\n_Pease Soup and pickled Pork._--(No. 220.)\nA couple of pounds of the belly part of pickled pork will make very good\nbroth for pease soup, if the pork be not too salt; if it has been in\nsalt more than two days, it must be laid in water the night before it is\nused.\nPut on the ingredients mentioned in No. 218, in three quarts of water;\nboil gently for two hours, then put in the pork, and boil very gently\ntill it is done enough to eat; this will take about an hour and a half,\nor two hours longer, according to its thickness; when done, wash the\npork clean in hot water, send it up in a dish, or cut it into mouthfuls,\nand put it into the soup in the tureen, with the accompaniments ordered\n_Obs._ The meat being boiled no longer than to be done enough to be\neaten, you get excellent soup, without any expense of meat destroyed.\n\u201cIn Canada, the inhabitants live three-fourths of the year on pease\nsoup, prepared with salt pork, which is boiled till the fat is entirely\ndissolved among the soup, giving it a rich flavour.\u201d--The Hon. J.\nCOCHRANE\u2019S _Seaman\u2019s Guide_, 8vo. 1797, p. 31.\n_Plain Pease Soup._--(No. 221.)\nTo a quart of split pease, and two heads of celery, (and most cooks\nwould put a large onion,) put three quarts of broth or soft water; let\nthem simmer gently on a trivet over a slow fire for three hours,\nstirring up every quarter of an hour to prevent the pease burning at the\nbottom of the soup-kettle (if the water boils away, and the soup gets\ntoo thick, add some boiling water to it); when they are well softened,\nwork them through a coarse sieve, and then through a fine sieve or a\ntamis; wash out your stew-pan, and then return the soup into it, and\ngive it a boil up; take off any scum that comes up, and it is ready.\nPrepare fried bread, and dried mint, as directed in No. 218, and send\nthem up with it on two side dishes.\n_Obs._ This is an excellent family soup, produced with very little\ntrouble or expense.\nMost of the receipts for pease soup are crowded with ingredients which\nentirely overpower the flavour of the pease. See No. 555.\n_Asparagus Soup._--(No. 222.)\nThis is made with the points of asparagus, in the same manner as the\ngreen pease soup (No. 216 or 17) is with pease: let half the asparagus\nbe rubbed through a sieve, and the other cut in pieces about an inch\nlong, and boiled till done enough, and sent up in the soup: to make two\nquarts, there must be a pint of heads to thicken it, and half a pint cut\nin; take care to preserve these green and a little crisp. This soup is\nsometimes made by adding the asparagus heads to common pease soup.\n_Obs._ Some cooks fry half an ounce of onion in a little butter, and rub\nit through a sieve, and add it with the other ingredients; the _haut\ngo\u00fbt_ of the onion will entirely overcome the delicate flavour of the\nasparagus, and we protest against all such combinations.\n_Maigre, or Vegetable Gravy Soup._[207-*]--(No. 224.)\nPut into a gallon stew-pan three ounces of butter; set it over a slow\nfire; while it is melting, slice four ounces of onion; cut in small\npieces one turnip, one carrot, and a head of celery; put them in the\nstewpan, cover it close, let it fry till they are lightly browned; this\nwill take about twenty-five minutes: have ready, in a sauce-pan, a pint\nof pease, with four quarts of water; when the roots in the stew-pan are\nquite brown, and the pease come to a boil, put the pease and water to\nthem; put it on the fire; when it boils, skim it clean, and put in a\ncrust of bread about as big as the top of a twopenny loaf, twenty-four\nberries of allspice, the same of black pepper, and two blades of mace;\ncover it close, let it simmer gently for one hour and a half; then set\nit from the fire for ten minutes; then pour it off very gently (so as\nnot to disturb the sediment at the bottom of the stew-pan) into a large\nbasin; let it stand (about two hours) till it is quite clear: while this\nis doing, shred one large turnip, the red part of a large carrot, three\nounces of onion minced, and one large head of celery cut into small\nbits; put the turnips and carrots on the fire in cold water, let them\nboil five minutes, then drain them on a sieve, then pour off the soup\nclear into a stew-pan, put in the roots, put the soup on the fire, let\nit simmer gently till the herbs are tender (from thirty to forty\nminutes), season it with salt and a little Cayenne, and it is ready.\nYou may add a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup (No. 439).\n_Obs._ You will have three quarts of soup, as well coloured, and almost\nas well flavoured, as if made with gravy meat.\nN.B. To make this it requires nearly five hours. To fry the herbs\nrequires twenty-five minutes; to boil all together, one hour and a half;\nto settle, at the least, two hours; when clear, and put on the fire\nagain, half an hour more.\n_FISH SOUPS._--(No. 225.)\n_Eel Soup._\nTo make a tureenful, take a couple of middling-sized onions, cut them in\nhalf, and cross your knife over them two or three times; put two ounces\nof butter into a stew-pan when it is melted, put in the onions, stir\nthem about till they are lightly browned; cut into pieces three pounds\nof unskinned eels, put them into your stew-pan, and shake them over the\nfire for five minutes; then add three quarts of boiling water, and when\nthey come to a boil, take the scum off very clean; then put in a quarter\nof an ounce of the green leaves (not dried) of winter savoury, the same\nof lemon thyme, and twice the quantity of parsley, two drachms of\nallspice, the same of black pepper; cover it close, and let it boil\ngently for two hours; then strain it off, and skim it very clean. To\nthicken it, put three ounces of butter into a clean stew-pan; when it is\nmelted, stir in as much flour as will make it of a stiff paste, then add\nthe liquor by degrees; let it simmer for ten minutes, and pass it\nthrough a sieve; then put your soup on in a clean stew-pan, and have\nready some little square pieces of fish fried of a nice light brown,\neither eels, soles, plaice, or skate will do; the fried fish should be\nadded about ten minutes before the soup is served up. Forcemeat balls\n(Nos. 375, 378, &c.) are sometimes added.\n_Obs._ Excellent fish soups may be made with a cod\u2019s skull, or skate, or\nflounders, &c. boiled in no more water than will just cover them, and\nthe liquor thickened with oatmeal, &c.\n_Cheap Soups._--(No. 229.)\nAmong the variety of schemes that have been suggested for \u201cbettering the\ncondition of the poor,\u201d a more useful or extensive charity cannot be\ndevised, than that of instructing them in economical cookery: it is one\nof the most-important objects to which the attention of any real\nwell-wisher to the public interest can possibly be directed.\nThe best and cheapest method of making a nourishing soup, is least known\nto those who have most need of it; it will enable those who have small\nincomes and large families to make the most of the little they possess,\nwithout pinching their children of that wholesome nourishment which is\nnecessary for the purpose of rearing them up to maturity in health and\nstrength.\nThe labouring classes seldom purchase what are called the coarser pieces\nof meat, because they do not know how to dress them, but lay out their\nmoney in pieces for roasting, &c., of which the bones, &c. enhance the\nprice of the actual meat to nearly a shilling per pound, and the\ndiminution of weight by roasting amounts to 32 per cent. This, for the\nsake of saving time, trouble, and fire, is generally sent to an oven to\nbe baked; the nourishing parts are evaporated and dried up, its weight\nis diminished nearly one-third, and all that a poor man can afford to\npurchase with his week\u2019s earnings, perhaps does not half satisfy the\nappetites of himself and family for a couple of days.\nIf a hard-working man cannot get a comfortable meal at home, he soon\nfinds his way to the public-house, the poor wife contents herself with\ntea and bread and butter, and the children are half starved.\nDR. KITCHINER\u2019S receipt to make a cheap, nutritive, and palatable soup,\nfully adequate to satisfy appetite and support strength, will open a new\nsource to those benevolent housekeepers who are disposed to relieve the\npoor; will show the industrious classes how much they have it in their\npower to assist themselves; and rescue them from being dependent on the\nprecarious bounty of others, by teaching them how they may obtain an\nabundant, salubrious, and agreeable aliment for themselves and families,\nfor one penny per quart. See page 210.\nFor various economical soups, see Nos. 204, 239, 240, 224, 221, and\n_Obs._ to Nos. 244 and 252, and Nos. 493 and 502.\n_Obs._ Dripping intended for soup should be taken out of the pan almost\nas soon as it has dropped from the meat; if it is not quite clean,\nclarify it. See receipt, No. 83.\nDripping thus prepared is a very different thing from that which has\nremained in the dripping-pan all the time the meat has been roasting,\nand perhaps live coals have dropped into it.[209-*]\nDistributing soup does not answer half so well as teaching people how to\nmake it, and improve their comfort at home: the time lost in waiting at\nthe soup-house is seldom less than three hours; in which time, by any\nindustrious occupation, however poorly paid, they could earn more money\nthan the quart of soup is worth.\nDR. KITCHINER\u2019S _Receipt to make a Gallon of Barley Broth for a Groat_.\nSee also No. 204.\nPut four ounces of Scotch barley (previously washed in cold water), and\nfour ounces of sliced onions, into five quarts of water; boil gently for\none hour, and pour it into a pan; then put into the saucepan from one to\ntwo ounces of clean beef or mutton drippings, or melted suet, (to\nclarify these, see No. 83) or two or three ounces of fat bacon minced;\nwhen melted, stir into it four ounces of oatmeal; rub these together\ntill you make a paste (if this be properly managed, the whole of the fat\nwill combine with the barley broth, and not a particle appear on the\nsurface to offend the most delicate stomach); now add the barley broth,\nat first a spoonful at a time, then the rest by degrees, stirring it\nwell together till it boils. To season it, put a drachm of\nfinely-pounded celery, or cress-seed, or half a drachm of each, and a\nquarter of a drachm of finely-pounded Cayenne (No. 404), or a drachm and\na half of ground black pepper, or allspice, into a tea-cup, and mix it\nup with a little of the soup, and then pour it into the rest; stir it\nthoroughly together; let it simmer gently a quarter of an hour longer,\nseason it with salt, and it is ready.\nThe flavour may be varied by doubling the portion of onions, or adding a\nclove of garlic or eschalot, and leaving out the celery-seed (No. 572),\nor put in shredded roots as in No. 224; or, instead of oatmeal, thicken\nit with ground rice, or pease, &c., and make it savoury with fried\nonions.\nThis preparation, excellent as it is, would, without variety, soon\nbecome less agreeable.\nNothing so completely disarms poverty of its sting, as the means of\nrendering a scanty pittance capable of yielding a comfortable variety.\nChange of flavour is absolutely necessary, not merely as a matter of\npleasure and comfort, but of health; _toujours perdrix_ is a true\nproverb.\nThis soup will be much improved, if, instead of water, it be made with\nthe liquor meat has been boiled in; at tripe, cow-heel, and cook-shops,\nthis may be had for little or nothing.\nThis soup has the advantage of being very soon and easily made, with no\nmore fuel than is necessary to warm a room; those who have not tasted\nit, cannot imagine what a savoury and satisfying meal is produced by the\ncombination of these cheap and homely ingredients.\nIf the generally-received opinion be true, that animal and vegetable\nfoods afford nourishment in proportion to the quantity of oil, jelly,\nand mucilage, that can be extracted from them, this soup has strong\nclaims to the attention of rational economists.\n_Craw-fish Soup._--(No. 235.)\nThis soup is sometimes made with beef, or veal broth, or with fish, in\nthe following manner:\nTake flounders, eels, gudgeons, &c., and set them on to boil in cold\nwater; when it is pretty nigh boiling, skim it well; and to three quarts\nput in a couple of onions, and as many carrots cut to pieces, some\nparsley, a dozen berries of black and Jamaica pepper, and about half a\nhundred craw-fish; take off the small claws and shells of the tails;\npound them fine, and boil them with the broth about an hour; strain off,\nand break in some crusts of bread to thicken it, and, if you can get it,\nthe spawn of a lobster; pound it, and put it to the soup; let it simmer\nvery gently for a couple of minutes; put in your craw-fish to get hot,\nand the soup is ready.\n_Obs._--One of my predecessors recommends craw-fish pounded alive, to\nsweeten the sharpness of the blood. Vide CLERMONT\u2019S _Cookery_, p. 5,\nLondon, 1776.\n\u201c_Un des grands hommes de bouche de France_\u201d says, \u201c_Un bon coulis\nd\u2019ecrevisses est le paradis sur la terre, et digne de la table des\ndieux_; and of all the tribe of shell-fish, which our industry and our\nsensuality bring from the bottom of the sea, the river, or the pond, the\ncraw-fish is incomparably the most useful and the most delicious.\u201d\n_Lobster Soup._--(No. 237.)\nYou must have three fine lively[211-*] young hen lobsters, and boil\nthem, see No. 176; when cold, split the tails; take out the fish, crack\nthe claws, and cut the meat into mouthfuls: take out the coral, and soft\npart of the body; bruise part of the coral in a mortar; pick out the\nfish from the chines; beat part of it with the coral, and with this make\nforcemeat balls, finely-flavoured with mace or nutmeg, a little grated\nlemon-peel, anchovy, and Cayenne; pound these with the yelk of an egg.\nHave three quarts of veal broth; bruise the small legs and the chine,\nand put them into it, to boil for twenty minutes, then strain it; and\nthen to thicken it, take the live spawn and bruise it in a mortar with a\nlittle butter and flour; rub it through a sieve, and add it to the soup\nwith the meat of the lobsters, and the remaining coral; let it simmer\nvery gently for ten minutes; do not let it boil, or its fine red colour\nwill immediately fade; turn it into a tureen; add the juice of a good\nlemon, and a little essence of anchovy.\n_Soup and Bouilli._--(No. 238. See also No. 5.)\nThe best parts for this purpose are the leg or shin, or a piece of the\nmiddle of a brisket of beef, of about seven or eight pounds weight; lay\nit on a fish-drainer, or when you take it up put a slice under it, which\nwill enable you to place it on the dish entire; put it into a soup-pot\nor deep stew-pan, with cold water enough to cover it, and a quart over;\nset it on a quick fire to get the scum up, which remove as it rises;\nthen put in two carrots, two turnips, two leeks, or two large onions,\ntwo heads of celery, two or three cloves, and a fagot of parsley and\nsweet herbs; set the pot by the side of the fire to simmer very gently,\ntill the meat is just tender enough to eat: this will require about four\nor five hours.\nPut a large carrot, a turnip, a large onion, and a head or two of\ncelery, into the soup whole; take them out as soon as they are done\nenough; lay them on a dish till they are cold; then cut them into small\nsquares: when the beef is done, take it out carefully: to dish it up,\nsee No. 204, or No. 493: strain the soup through a hair-sieve into a\nclean stew-pan; take off the fat, and put the vegetables that are cut\ninto the soup, the flavour of which you may heighten by adding a\ntable-spoonful of mushroom catchup.\nIf a thickened soup is preferred, take four large table-spoonfuls of the\nclear fat from the top of the pot, and four spoonfuls of flour; mix it\nsmooth together; then by degrees stir it well into the soup, which\nsimmer for ten minutes longer at least; skim it well, and pass it\nthrough a tamis, or fine sieve, and add the vegetables and seasoning the\nsame as directed in the clear soup.\nKeep the beef hot, and send it up (as a remove to the soup) with\nfinely-chopped parsley sprinkled on the top, and a sauce-boat of No.\n_Ox-head Soup_,--(No. 239.)\nShould be prepared the day before it is to be eaten, as you cannot cut\nthe meat off the head into neat mouthfuls unless it is cold: therefore,\nthe day before you want this soup, put half an ox-cheek into a tub of\ncold water to soak for a couple of hours; then break the bones that have\nnot been broken at the butcher\u2019s, and wash it very well in warm water;\nput it into a pot, and cover it with cold water; when it boils, skim it\nvery clean, and then put in one head of celery, a couple of carrots, a\nturnip, two large onions, two dozen berries of black pepper, same of\nallspice, and a bundle of sweet herbs, such as marjoram, lemon-thyme,\nsavoury, and a handful of parsley; cover the soup-pot close, and set it\non a slow fire; take off the scum, which will rise when it is coming to\na boil, and set it by the fireside to stew very gently for about three\nhours; take out the head, lay it on a dish, pour the soup through a fine\nsieve into a stone-ware pan, and set it and the head by in a cool place\ntill the next day: then cut the meat into neat mouthfuls, skim and\nstrain off the broth, put two quarts of it and the meat into a clean\nstew-pan, let it simmer very gently for half an hour longer, and it is\nready. If you wish it thickened (which we do not recommend, for the\nreasons given in the 7th chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery), put two\nounces of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, throw in as much\nflour as will dry it up; when they are all well mixed together, and\nbrowned by degrees, pour to this your soup, and stir it well together;\nlet it simmer for half an hour longer; strain it through a hair-sieve\ninto a clean stew-pan, and put to it the meat of the head; let it stew\nhalf an hour longer, and season it with Cayenne pepper, salt, and a\nglass of good wine, or a table-spoonful of brandy. See Ox-cheek stewed,\n_Obs._--Those who wish this soup still more savoury, &c. for the means\nof making it so, we refer to No. 247.\nN.B. This is an excellent and economical soup. See also Nos. 204 and\nIf you serve it as soup for a dozen people, thicken one tureen, and send\nup the meat in that; and send up the other as a clear gravy soup, with\nsome of the carrots and turnips shredded, or cut into shapes.\n_Ox-tail Soup._--(No. 240.)\nThree tails, costing about 7_d._ each, will make a tureen of soup\n(desire the butcher to divide them at the joints); lay them to soak in\nwarm water, while you get ready the vegetables.\nPut into a gallon stew-pan eight cloves, two or three onions, half a\ndrachm of allspice, and the same of black pepper, and the tails;[214-*]\ncover them with cold water; skim it carefully, when and as long as you\nsee any scum rise; then cover the pot as close as possible, and set it\non the side of the fire to keep gently simmering till the meat becomes\ntender and will leave the bones easily, because it is to be eaten with a\nspoon, without the assistance of a knife or fork; see N.B. to No. 244;\nthis will require about two hours: mind it is not done too much: when\nperfectly tender, take out the meat and cut it off the bones, in neat\nmouthfuls; skim the broth, and strain it through a sieve; if you prefer\na thickened soup, put flour and butter, as directed in the preceding\nreceipt; or put two table-spoonfuls of the fat you have taken off the\nbroth into a clean stew-pan, with as much flour as will make it into a\npaste; set this over the fire, and stir them well together; then pour in\nthe broth by degrees, stirring it, and mixing it with the thickening;\nlet it simmer for another half hour, and when you have well skimmed it,\nand it is quite smooth, then strain it through a tamis into a clean\nstew-pan, put in the meat, with a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup\n(No. 439), a glass of wine, and season it with salt.\nFor increasing the _piquance_ of this soup, read No. 247.\n_Obs._--See N.B. to No. 244; if the meat is cut off the bones, you must\nhave three tails for a tureen, see N.B. to No. 244: some put an ox-cheek\nor tails in an earthen pan, with all the ingredients as above, and send\nthem to a slow oven for five or six hours.\nTo stew ox-tails, see No. 531.\n_Ox-heel Soup_,--(No. 240*.)\nMust be made the day before it is to be eaten. Procure an ox-heel\nundressed, or only scalded (not one that has been already boiled, as\nthey are at the tripe-shops, till almost all the gelatinous parts are\nextracted), and two that have been boiled as they usually are at the\ntripe-shops.\nCut the meat off the boiled heels into neat mouthfuls, and set it by on\na plate; put the trimmings and bones into a stew-pan, with three quarts\nof water, and the unboiled heel cut into quarters; furnish a stew-pan\nwith two onions, and two turnips pared and sliced; pare off the red part\nof a couple of large carrots, add a couple of eschalots cut in half, a\nbunch of savoury or lemon-thyme, and double the quantity of parsley; set\nthis over, or by the side of a slow, steady fire, and keep it closely\ncovered and simmering very gently (or the soup liquor will evaporate)\nfor at least seven hours: during which, take care to remove the fat and\nscum that will rise to the surface of the soup, which must be kept as\nclean as possible.\nNow strain the liquor through a sieve, and put two ounces of butter into\na clean stew-pan; when it is melted, stir into it as much flour as will\nmake it a stiff paste; add to it by degrees the soup liquor; give it a\nboil up; strain it through a sieve, and put in the peel of a lemon pared\nas thin as possible, and a couple of bay-leaves, and the meat of the\nboiled heels; let it go on simmering for half an hour longer, _i. e._\ntill the meat is tender. Put in the juice of a lemon, a glass of wine,\nand a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, and the soup is ready for the\ntureen.\n_Obs._ Those who are disposed to make this a more substantial dish, may\nintroduce a couple of sets of goose or duck giblets, or ox-tails, or a\npound of veal cutlets, cut into mouthfuls.\n_Hare, Rabbit, or Partridge Soup._--(No. 241.)\nAn old hare, or birds, when so tough as to defy the teeth in any other\nform, will make very good soup.\nCut off the legs and shoulders; divide the body crossways, and stew them\nvery gently in three quarts of water, with one carrot, about one ounce\nof onion, with four cloves, two blades of pounded mace, twenty-four\nblack peppers, and a bundle of sweet herbs, till the hare is tender\n(most cooks add to the above a couple of slices of ham or bacon, and a\nbay leaf, &c., but my palate and purse both plead against such\nextravagance; the hare makes sufficiently savoury soup without them):\nthe time this will take depends very much upon its age, and how long it\nhas been kept before it is dressed: as a general rule, about three\nhours: in the mean time, make a dozen and a half of nice forcemeat balls\n(as big as nutmegs) of No. 379; when the hare is quite tender, take the\nmeat off the back, and the upper joint of the legs; cut it into neat\nmouthfuls, and lay it aside; cut the rest of the meat off the legs,\nshoulders, &c., mince it and pound it in a mortar, with an ounce of\nbutter, and two or three table-spoonfuls of flour moistened with a\nlittle soup; rub this through a hair-sieve, and put it into the soup to\nthicken it; let it simmer slowly half an hour longer, skimming it well;\nput it through the tamis into the pan again; and put in the meat with a\nglass of claret or port wine, and a table-spoonful of currant jelly to\neach quart of soup; season it with salt, put in the forcemeat balls, and\nwhen all is well warmed, the soup is ready.\n_Obs._ Cold roast hare will make excellent soup. Chop it in pieces, and\nstew it in water (according to the quantity of hare) for about an hour,\nand manage it as in the above receipt: the stuffing of the hare will be\na substitute for sweet herbs and seasoning.\nN.B. This soup may be made with mock hare, see No. 66.\n_Game Soup._--(No. 242.)\nIn the game season, it is easy for a cook to give her master a very good\nsoup at a very little expense, by taking all the meat off the breasts of\nany cold birds which have been left the preceding day, and pounding it\nin a mortar, and beating to pieces the legs and bones, and boiling them\nin some broth for an hour. Boil six turnips; mash them, and strain them\nthrough a tamis-cloth with the meat that has been pounded in a mortar;\nstrain your broth, and put a little of it at a time into the tamis to\nhelp you to strain all of it through. Put your soup-kettle near the\nfire, but do not let it boil: when ready to dish your dinner, have six\nyelks of eggs mixed with half a pint of cream; strain through a sieve;\nput your soup on the fire, and as it is coming to boil, put in the eggs,\nand stir well with a wooden spoon: do not let it boil, or it will\ncurdle.\n_Goose or Duck Giblet Soup._[216-*]--(No. 244.)\nScald and pick very clean a couple sets of goose, or four of duck\ngiblets (the fresher the better); wash them well in warm water, in two\nor three waters; cut off the noses and split the heads; divide the\ngizzards and necks into mouthfuls. If the gizzards are not cut into\npieces before they are done enough, the rest of the meat, &c. will be\ndone too much; and knives and forks have no business in a soup-plate.\nCrack the bones of the legs, and put them into a stew-pan; cover them\nwith cold water: when they boil, take off the scum as it rises; then\nput in a bundle of herbs, such as lemon-thyme, winter savoury, or\nmarjoram, about three sprigs of each, and double the quantity of\nparsley, an onion, twenty berries of allspice, the same of black pepper;\ntie them all up in a muslin bag, and set them to stew very gently till\nthe gizzards are tender: this will take from an hour and a half to two\nhours, according to the size and age of the giblets: take them up with a\nskimmer, or a spoon full of holes, put them into the tureen, and cover\ndown close to keep warm till the soup is ready.\nTo thicken the soup. Melt an ounce and a half of butter in a clean\nstew-pan; stir in as much flour as will make it into a paste; then pour\nto it by degrees a ladleful of the giblet liquor; add the remainder by\ndegrees; let it boil about half an hour, stirring it all the while for\nfear it should burn; skim it, and strain it through a fine sieve into a\nbasin; wash out the stew-pan; then return the soup into it, and season\nit with a glass of wine, a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, and a\nlittle salt; let it have one boil up; and then put the giblets in to get\nhot, and the soup is ready.\n_Obs._ Thus managed, one set of goose, or two of duck giblets (which\nlatter may sometimes be had for 3_d._), will make a quart of healthful,\nnourishing soup: if you think the giblets alone will not make the gravy\nsavoury enough, add a pound of beef or mutton, or bone of a knuckle of\nveal, and heighten its \u201c_piquance_\u201d by adding a few leaves of sweet\nbasil, the juice of half a Seville orange or lemon, and half a glass of\nwine, and a little of No. 343* to each quart of soup.\nThose who are fond of forcemeat may slip the skin off the neck, and fill\nit with No. 378; tie up the other end tight; put it into the soup about\nhalf an hour before you take it up, or make some nice savoury balls of\nthe duck stuffing, No. 61.\n_Obs._ Bespeak the giblets a couple of days before you desire to have\nthem: this is a favourite soup when the giblets are done till nicely\ntender, but yet not overboiled. Giblets may be had from July to January;\nthe fresher they are the better.\nN.B. This is rather a family-dish than a company one; the bones cannot\nbe well picked without the help of alive pincers.\nSince Tom Coryat introduced forks, A. D. 1642, it has not been the\nfashion to put \u201cpickers and stealers\u201d into soup.\n_Mock Mock Turtle_,--(No. 245.)\n_As made by_ Elizabeth Lister (_late cook to Dr. Kitchiner_), _bread and\n biscuit baker, No. 6 Salcombe Place, York Terrace, Regent\u2019s Park._\n _Goes out to dress dinners on reasonable terms._\nLine the bottom of a stew-pan that will hold five pints, with an ounce\nof nice lean bacon or ham, a pound and a half of lean gravy beef, a\ncow-heel, the inner rind of a carrot, a sprig of lemons-thyme, winter\nsavoury, three times the quantity of parsley, a few green leaves of\nsweet basil,[218-*] and two eschalots; put in a large onion, with four\ncloves stuck in it, eighteen corns of allspice, the same of black\npepper; pour on these a quarter of a pint of cold water, cover the\nstew-pan, and set it on a slow fire, to boil gently for a quarter of an\nhour; then, for fear the meat should catch, take off the cover, and\nwatch it; and when it has got a good brown colour, fill up the stew-pan\nwith boiling water, and let it simmer very gently for two hours: if you\nwish to have the full benefit of the meat, only stew it till it is just\ntender, cut it into mouthfuls, and put it into the soup. To thicken it,\npour two or three table-spoonfuls of flour, a ladleful of the gravy, and\nstir it quick till it is well mixed; pour it back into the stew-pan\nwhere the gravy is, and let it simmer gently for half an hour longer;\nskim it, and then strain it through a tamis into the stew-pan: cut the\ncow-heel into pieces about an inch square, squeeze through a sieve the\njuice of a lemon, a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, a tea-spoonful\nof salt, half a tea-spoonful of ground black pepper, as much grated\nnutmeg as will lie on a sixpence, and a glass of Madeira or sherry wine;\nlet it all simmer together for five minutes longer.\nForcemeat or egg balls may be added if you please; you will find a\nreceipt for these, No. 380, &c.\n\u2042 A pound of veal cutlets, or the belly part of pickled pork, or nice\ndouble tripe cut into pieces about an inch square, and half an inch\nthick, and rounded and trimmed neatly from all skin, gristle, &c. and\nstewed till they are tender, will be a great addition.\n_Mock Turtle_,--(No. 247.)\nIs the \u201c_bonne bouche_\u201d which \u201cthe officers of the mouth\u201d of old\nEngland[219-*] prepare, when they choose to rival \u201c_les grands\ncuisiniers de France_\u201d in a \u201c_rago\u00fbt sans pareil_.\u201d\nThe following receipt is an attempt (and the committee of taste\npronounced it a successful one), to imitate the excellent and generally\napproved mock turtle made by Messrs. Birch, Cornhill.\nEndeavour to have the head and the broth ready for the soup,[219-+] the\nday before it is to be eaten.\nIt will take eight hours to prepare it properly.\n Cleaning and soaking the head 1\n Making the broth and finishing the soup 5\nGet a calf\u2019s head with the skin on (the fresher the better); take out\nthe brains, wash the head several times in cold water, let it soak for\nabout an hour in spring-water, then lay it in a stew-pan, and cover it\nwith cold water, and half a gallon over; as it becomes warm, a great\ndeal of scum will rise, which must be immediately removed; let it boil\ngently for one hour, take it up, and when almost cold, cut the head into\npieces about an inch and a half by an inch and a quarter, and the tongue\ninto mouthfuls, or rather make a side-dish of the tongue and brains, as\nin No. 10.\nWhen the head is taken out, put in the stock meat,[219-++] about five\npounds of knuckle of veal, and as much beef; add to the stock all the\ntrimmings and bones of the head, skim it well, and then cover it close,\nand let it boil five hours (reserve a couple of quarts of this to make\ngravy sauces, &c. see No. 307); then strain it off, and let it stand\ntill the next morning; then take off the fat, set a large stew-pan on\nthe fire with half a pound of good fresh butter, twelve ounces of onions\nsliced, and four ounces of green sage; chop it a little; let these fry\none hour; then rub in half a pound of flour, and by degrees add your\nbroth till it is the thickness of cream; season it with a quarter of an\nounce of ground allspice and half an ounce of black pepper ground very\nfine, salt to your taste, and the rind of one lemon peeled very thin;\nlet it simmer very gently for one hour and a half, then strain it\nthrough a hair-sieve; do not rub your soup to get it through the sieve,\nor it will make it grouty; if it does not run through easily, knock your\nwooden-spoon against the side of your sieve; put it in a clean stew-pan\nwith the head, and season it by adding to each gallon of soup half a\npint of wine; this should be Madeira, or, if you wish to darken the\ncolour of your soup, claret, and two table-spoonfuls of lemon-juice, see\nNo. 407*; let it simmer gently till the meat is tender; this may take\nfrom half an hour to an hour: take care it is not over-done; stir it\nfrequently to prevent the meat sticking to the bottom of the stew-pan,\nand when the meat is quite tender the soup is ready.\nA head weighing twenty pounds, and ten pounds of stock meat, will make\nten quarts of excellent soup, besides the two quarts of stock you have\nput by for made dishes, &c.\n_Obs._ If there is more meat on the head than you wish to put in the\nsoup, prepare it for a pie, and, with the addition of a calf\u2019s foot\nboiled tender, it will make an excellent rago\u00fbt pie; season it with\nzest, and a little minced onion, put in half a tea-cupful of stock,\ncover it with puff paste, and bake it one hour: when the soup comes from\ntable, if there is a deal of meat and no soup, put it into a pie-dish,\nseason it a little, and add some little stock to it; then cover it with\npaste, bake it one hour, and you have a good mock turtle pie.\nThis soup was eaten by the committee of taste with unanimous applause,\nand they pronounced it a very satisfactory substitute[220-*] for \u201cthe\nfar-fetch\u2019d and dear-bought\u201d turtle; which is entirely indebted for its\ntitle of \u201csovereign of savouriness,\u201d to the rich soup with which it is\nsurrounded.\nWithout its paraphernalia of subtle double relishes, a \u201cstarved turtle,\u201d\nhas not more intrinsic sapidity than a \u201cfatted calf.\u201d Friendly reader,\nit is really neither half so wholesome, nor half so toothsome. See\nEssence of Turtle, No. 343*, and _Obs._ to No. 493. To warm this soup,\nsee No. 485.\nTo season it, to each gallon of soup put two table-spoonfuls of\nlemon-juice, see No. 407*, same of mushroom catchup (No. 439), and one\nof essence of anchovy (No. 433), half a pint of wine (this should be\nMadeira, or, if you wish to darken the colour of your soup, claret), a\ntea-spoonful of curry powder (No. 455), or a quarter of a drachm of\nCayenne, and the peel of a lemon pared as thin as possible; let it\nsimmer five minutes more, take out the lemon-peel, and the soup is ready\nfor the tureen.\nWhile the soup is doing, prepare for each tureen a dozen and a half of\nmock turtle forcemeat balls (to make these, see No. 375 or No. 376, No.\n390 to No. 396); we prefer the stuffing ordered in No. 61, and a dozen\negg balls; and put them into the tureen. Brain balls, or cakes, are a\nvery elegant addition, and are made by boiling the brains for ten\nminutes, then putting them in cold water, and cutting them into pieces\nabout as big as a large nutmeg; take savoury, or lemon-thyme dried and\nfinely-powdered, nutmeg grated, and pepper and salt, and pound them all\ntogether; beat up an egg, dip the brains in it, and then roll them in\nthis mixture, and make as much of it as possible stick to them; dip them\nin the egg again, and then in finely-grated and sifted bread-crumbs; fry\nthem in hot fat, and send them up as a side-dish.\nA veal sweetbread, prepared as in No. 89, not too much done or it will\nbreak, cut into pieces the same size as you cut the calf\u2019s head, and put\nin the soup, just to get warm before it goes to table, is a superb\n\u201c_bonne bouche_;\u201d and pickled tongue, stewed till very tender, and cut\ninto mouthfuls, is a favourite addition. We order the meat to be cut\ninto mouthfuls, that it may be eaten with a spoon: the knife and fork\nhave no business in a soup-plate.\n\u2042 Some of our culinary contemporaries order the haut go\u00fbt of this (as\nabove directed, sufficiently relishing) soup to be combustibled and\nbedevilled with a copious addition of anchovies, mushrooms, truffles,\nmorelles, curry-powder, artichoke bottoms, salmon\u2019s head and liver, or\nthe soft part of oysters or lobsters, soles cut in mouthfuls, a bottle\nof Madeira, a pint of brandy, &c.; and to complete their surfeiting and\nburn-gullet olio, they put in such a tremendous quantity of Cayenne\npepper, that only a fire-proof palate, lined with asbestos, or indurated\nby Indian diet, can endure it. See note under No. 493.\nN.B. In helping this soup, the distributer of it should serve out the\nmeat, forcemeat, and gravy, in equal parts; however trifling or needless\nthis remark may appear, the writer has often suffered from the want of\nsuch a hint being given to the soup-server, who has sometimes sent a\nplate of mere gravy without meat, at others, of meat without gravy, and\nsometimes scarcely any thing but forcemeat balls.\n_Obs._ This is a delicious soup, within the reach of those who \u201ceat to\nlive;\u201d but if it had been composed expressly for those who only \u201clive to\neat,\u201d I do not know how it could have been made more agreeable: as it\nis, the lover of good eating will \u201cwish his throat a mile long, and\nevery inch of it palate.\u201d\nN.B. Cucumber in a side-plate is a laudable vegetable accompaniment.\n_English Turtle._--(No. 248.)\nSee No. 502. \u201cA-la-mode beef.\u201d\n_Curry, or Mullaga-tawny[222-*] Soup._--(No. 249.)\nCut four pounds of a breast of veal into pieces, about two inches by\none; put the trimmings into a stew-pan with two quarts of water, with\ntwelve corns of black pepper, and the same of allspice; when it boils,\nskim it clean, and let it boil an hour and a half, then strain it off;\nwhile it is boiling, fry of a nice brown in butter the bits of veal and\nfour onions; when they are done, put the broth to them; put it on the\nfire; when it boils, skim it clean; let it simmer half an hour; then\nmix two spoonfuls of curry, and the same of flour, with a little cold\nwater and a tea-spoonful of salt; add these to the soup, and simmer it\ngently till the veal is quite tender, and it is ready; or bone a couple\nof fowls or rabbits, and stew them in the manner directed above for the\nveal, and you may put in a bruised eschalot, and some mace and ginger,\ninstead of black pepper and allspice.\n_Obs._ Read No. 497.\nAs it is our wish that this work should be given to the public at the\nlowest possible price, the receipt for dressing a turtle is taken out,\nas a professed cook is always hired for the purpose of dressing it. The\nspace this long receipt occupied is now filled with directions for\nmaking useful pickles. See No. 462.\n_Portable[223-+] Soup, or Glaze._--(No. 252.)\nDesire the butcher to break the bones of a leg or a shin of beef, of ten\npounds weight (the fresher killed the better); put it into a soup-pot (a\ndigester[223-++] is the best utensil for this purpose) that will well\nhold it; just cover it with cold water, and set it on the fire to heat\ngradually till it nearly boils (this should be at least an hour); skim\nit attentively while any scum rises; pour in a little cold water, to\nthrow up the scum that may remain; let it come to a boil again, and\nagain skim it carefully: when no more scum rises, and the broth appears\nclear (put in neither roots, nor herbs, nor salt), let it boil for eight\nor ten hours, and then strain it through a hair-sieve into a brown stone\npan; set the broth where it will cool quickly; put the meat into a\nsieve, let it drain, make potted beef (No. 503), or it will be very\nacceptable to many poor families. Next day remove every particle of fat\nfrom the top of it, and pour it through a tamis, or fine sieve, as\nquietly as possible, into a stew-pan, taking care not to let any of the\nsettlings at the bottom of the stone pan go into the stew-pan, which\nshould be of thick copper, perfectly well tinned; add a quarter of an\nounce of whole black pepper to it; let it boil briskly, with the\nstew-pan uncovered, on a quick fire; if any scum rises, take it off with\na skimmer: when it begins to thicken, and is reduced to about a quart,\nput it into a smaller stew-pan; set it over a gentler fire, till it is\nreduced to the thickness of a very thick syrup; take care that it does\nnot burn, a moment\u2019s inattention now will lose you all your labour, and\nthe soup will be spoiled: take a little of it out in a spoon and let it\ncool; if it sets into a strong jelly, it is done enough; if it does not,\nboil it a little longer till it does; have ready some little pots, such\nas are used for potted meats, about an inch and a half deep, taking care\nthat they are quite dry; we recommend it to be kept in these pots, if it\nis for home consumption (the less it is reduced, the better is the\nflavour of the soup), if it be sufficiently concentrated to keep for six\nmonths; if you wish to preserve it longer, put it into such bladders as\nare used for German sausages, or if you prefer it in the form of cakes,\npour it into a dish about a quarter of an inch deep; when it is cold,\nturn it out and weigh the cake, and divide it with a paste-cutter into\npieces of half an ounce and an ounce each; place them in a warm room,\nand turn them frequently till they are thoroughly dried; this will take\na week or ten days; turn them twice a day; when well hardened, and kept\nin a dry place, they may be preserved for several years in any climate.\nThis extract of meat makes excellent \u201c_tablettes de Bouillon_,\u201d for\nthose who are obliged to endure long fasting.\nIf the surface becomes mouldy, wipe it with a little warm water; the\nmouldy taste does not penetrate the mass.\nIf, after several days\u2019 drying, it does not become so hard as you wish,\nput it into a bainmarie stew-pan, or milk-boiler, till it is evaporated\nto the consistence you wish; or, set the pots in a cool oven, or in a\ncheese-toaster, at a considerable distance from the fire: this is the\nonly safe way of reducing it very much, without the risk of its burning,\nand acquiring an extremely disagreeable, acrid flavour, &c.\n_Obs._ The uses of this concentrated essence of meat are numerous. It is\nequally economical and convenient for making extempore broths enumerated\nin the _Obs._ to No. 200, sauces and gravies for hashed or stewed meat,\ngame, or poultry, &c.\nYou may thicken it and flavour it as directed in No. 329; to make gravy,\nsauces, &c. take double the quantity ordered for broth.\nIf you have time and opportunity, as there is no seasoning in the soup,\neither of roots, herbs, or spice, boil an onion with or without a bit of\nparsley and sweet herbs, and a few corns of allspice, or other spice, in\nthe water you melt the soup in, which may be flavoured with mushroom\ncatchup (No. 439), or eschalot wine (No. 402), essence of sweet herbs\n(No. 417), savoury spice (No. 421, or No. 457), essence of celery (No.\n409), &c. or zest (No. 255); these may be combined in the proportions\nmost agreeable to the palate of the eater, and are as portable as\nportable soup, for a very small portion will flavour a pint.\nThe editor adds nothing to the solution of this soup, but a very little\nground black pepper and some salt.\nN.B. If you are a careful manager, you need not always purchase meat on\npurpose to make this; when you dress a large dinner, you can make glaze\nat very small cost, by taking care of the trimmings and parings of the\nmeat, game, and poultry, you use: wash them well, put them into a\nstew-pan, cover them with the liquor you have boiled meat in, and\nproceed as in the above receipt; and see _Obs._ on No. 185.\nMEM. This portable soup is a most convenient article in cookery;\nespecially in small families, where it will save a great deal of time\nand trouble. It is also economical, for no more will be melted than is\nwanted; so there is no waste.\nNine pounds of neck of beef, costing 2_s._ 7-1/2_d._ produced nine\nounces of very nice soup; the bones, when boiled, weighed ten ounces.\nHalf an ox-cheek, costing 1_s._ 9_d._ and weighing 14-3/4 pounds,\nproduced thirteen ounces; but not so firm or clear, and far inferior in\nflavour to that obtained from a shin of beef.\nA sheep\u2019s head, costing 9_d._, produced three ounces and a half.\nTwo pounds of lean meat, from the blade-bone of beef, produced hardly an\nounce.\nThe addition of an ounce of gum arabic, and two ounces of isinglass, to\nfour ounces of the extract from a leg of beef, considerably diminished\nthe consistence of the mass, without adding to its bulk.\nIt has been thought that the portable soup which is manufactured for\nsale, is partly made with ox-heels; but the experiment (No. 198) proves\nthis cannot be, as an ounce of the jelly from ox-heel costs 5_d._ For\nthe cheapest method of procuring a hard jelly, see N.B. to No. 481;\nnineteen bones, costing 4-1/2_d._ produced three ounces: almost as cheap\nas Salisbury glue.\nA knuckle of veal, weighing 4-3/4 pounds, and costing 2_s._ 4_d._\nproduced five ounces.\nA shin of beef, weighing nine pounds, and costing 1_s._ 10-1/2_d._\nproduced nine ounces of concentrated soup, sufficiently reduced to keep\nfor several months. After the boiling, the bones in this joint weighed\ntwo pounds and a quarter, and the meat two pounds and a quarter.\nThe result of these experiments is, that the product from legs and shins\nof beef was almost as large in quantity, and of much superior quality\nand flavour, as that obtained from any of the other materials; the\nflavour of the product from mutton, veal, &c. is comparatively insipid.\nAs it is difficult to obtain this ready-made of good quality, and we\ncould not find any proper and circumstantial directions for making it,\nwhich, on trial, answered the purpose, and it is really a great\nacquisition to the army and navy, to travellers, invalids, &c. the\neditor has bestowed some time, &c. in endeavouring to learn, and to\nteach, how it may be prepared in the easiest, most economical, and\nperfect manner.\nThe ordinary selling price is from 10_s._ to 12_s._, but you may make it\naccording to the above receipt for 3_s._ 6_d._ per pound, _i. e._ for\n2-1/2_d._ per ounce, which will make you a pint of broth.\nThose who do not regard the expense, and like the flavour, may add the\nlean of ham, in the proportion of a pound to eight pounds of leg of\nbeef.\nIt may also be flavoured, by adding to it, at the time you put the broth\ninto the smaller stew-pan, mushroom catchup, eschalot wine, essences of\nspice or herbs, &c.; we prefer it quite plain; it is then ready to be\nconverted, in an instant, into a basin of beef tea, for an invalid, and\nany flavour may be immediately communicated to it by the magazine of\ntaste (No. 462).\n_To clarify Broth or Gravy._--(No. 252*.)\nPut on the broth in a clean stew-pan; break the white and shell of an\negg, beat them together, put them into the broth, stir it with a whisk;\nwhen it has boiled a few minutes, strain it through a tamis or a napkin.\n_Obs._ A careful cook will seldom have occasion to clarify her broths,\n&c. if prepared according to the directions given in No. 200.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[193-*] In culinary technicals, is called FIRST STOCK, or long broth; in\nthe French kitchen, \u201c_le grand bouillon_.\u201d\n[193-+] A dog was fed on the richest broth, yet could not be kept alive;\nwhile another, which had only the meat boiled to a chip (and water),\nthrove very well. This shows the folly of attempting to nourish men by\nconcentrated soups, jellies, &c.--SINCLAIR, _Code of Health_, p. 356.\nIf this experiment be accurate, what becomes of the theoretic visions of\nthose who have written about nourishing broths, &c.? The best test of\nthe restorative quality of food, is a small quantity of it satisfying\nhunger, the strength of the pulse after it, and the length of time which\nelapses before appetite returns again. According to this rule, we give\nour verdict in favour of No. 19 or 24. See N.B. to No. 181.\nThis subject is fully discussed in _The Art of Invigorating and\nProlonging Life, by Diet_, &c. published by G. B. Whittaker, 13\nAve-Maria lane.\n[194-*] Called, in some cookery books, \u201cSECOND STOCK;\u201d in the French\nkitchen, \u201c_jus de b\u0153uf_.\u201d\n[194-+] A great deal of care is to be taken to watch the time of putting\nin the water: if it is poured in too soon, the gravy will not have its\ntrue flavour and colour: and if it be let alone till the meat sticks to\nthe pan, it will get a burnt taste.\n[195-*] Truffles, morells, and mushrooms, catchups and wines, &c. are\nadded by those who are for the extreme of _haut go\u00fbt_.\n[195-+] The general rule is to put in about a pint of water to a pound\nof meat, if it only simmers very gently.\n[195-++] A tamis is a worsted cloth, sold at the oil shops, made on\npurpose for straining sauces: the best way for using it is for two\npeople to twist it contrary ways. This is a better way of straining\nsauce than through a sieve, and refines it much more completely.\n[197-*] By this method, it is said, an ingenious cook long deceived a\nlarge family, who were all fond of weak mutton broth. Mushroom gravy, or\ncatchup (No. 439), approaches the nature and flavour of meat gravy, more\nthan any vegetable juice, and is the best substitute for it in maigre\nsoups and extempore sauces, that culinary chemistry has yet produced.\n[200-*] See \u201c_L\u2019Art de Cuisinier_,\u201d par A. Beauvillier, Paris, 1814, p.\n68. \u201cI have learned by experience, that of all the fats that are used\nfor frying, the _pot top_ which is taken from the surface of the broth\nand stock-pot is by far the best.\u201d\n[203-*] To make pease pottage, double the quantity. Those who often make\npease soup should have a mill, and grind the pease just before they\ndress them; a less quantity will suffice, and the soup will be much\nsooner made.\n[204-*] If the liquor is very salt, the pease will never boil tender.\nTherefore, when you make pease soup with the liquor in which salted pork\nor beef has been boiled, tie up the pease in a cloth, and boil them\nfirst for an hour in soft water.\n[204-+] Half a drachm of celery-seed, pounded fine, and put into the\nsoup a quarter of an hour before it is finished, will flavour three\nquarts.\n[204-++] Some put in dried mint rubbed to fine powder; but as every body\ndoes not like mint, it is best to send it up on a plate. See pease\npowder, No. 458, essence of celery, No. 409, and Nos. 457 and 459.\n[205-*] My witty predecessor, Dr. HUNTER (see _Culina_, page 97), says,\n\u201cIf a proper quantity of curry-powder (No. 455) be added to pease soup,\na good soup might be made, under the title of _curry pease soup_.\nHeliogabalus offered rewards for the discovery of a new dish, and the\nBritish Parliament have given notoriety to inventions of much less\nimportance than \u2018curry pease soup.\u2019\u201d\nN.B. Celery, or carrots, or turnips, shredded, or cut in squares (or\nScotch barley,--in the latter case the soup must be rather thinner), or\ncut into bits about an inch long, and boiled separately, and thrown into\nthe tureen when the soup is going to table, will give another agreeable\nvariety, and may be called _celery and pease soup_. Read _Obs._ to No.\n[207-*] The French call this \u201c_soup maigre_;\u201d the English acceptation of\nwhich is \u201c_poor and watery_,\u201d and does not at all accord with the\nFrench, which is, soups, &c. made without meat: thus, turtle, the\nrichest dish that comes to an English table (if dressed without meat\ngravy), is a maigre dish.\n[209-*] We copied the following receipt from _The Morning Post_, Jan.\nWINTER SOUP.--(No. 227.)\n 210 lbs of beef, fore-quarters,\n 90 lbs. of legs of beef,\n 3 bushels of best split pease,\n 1 bushel of flour,\n 12 bundles of leeks,\n 6 bundles of celery,\n 12 lbs. of salt,\n 11 lbs. of black pepper.\nThese good ingredients will make 1000 quarts of nourishing and agreeable\nsoup, at an expense (establishment avoided) of little less than\n2-1/2_d._ per quart.\nOf this, 2600 quarts a day have been delivered during the late inclement\nweather, and the cessation of ordinary employment, at two stations in\nthe parish of Bermondsey, at one penny per quart, by which 600 families\nhave been daily assisted, and it thankfully received. Such a nourishment\nand comfort could not have been provided by themselves separately for\nfourpence a quart, if at all, and reckoning little for their fire,\nnothing for their time.\n[214-*] Some lovers of _haut go\u00fbt_ fry the tails before they put them\ninto the soup-pot.\n[216-*] Fowls\u2019 or turkeys\u2019 heads make good and cheap soup in the same\nmanner.\n[218-*] To this fine aromatic herb, turtle soup is much indebted for its\nspicy flavour, and the high esteem it is held in by the good citizens of\nLondon, who, I believe, are pretty generally of the same opinion as Dr.\nSalmon. See his \u201c_Household Dictionary and Essay on Cookery_,\u201d 8vo.\nLondon, 1710, page 34, article \u2018Basil.\u2019 \u201cThis comforts the heart, expels\nmelancholy, and cleanses the lungs.\u201d See No. 307. \u201cThis plant gave the\npeculiar flavour to the _original Fetter-lane sausages_.\u201d--GRAY\u2019S\n_Supplement to the Pharmacop\u0153ia_, 8vo. 1821 p. 52.\n[219-*] \u201cTout le monde sait que tous les rago\u00fbts qui portent le nom de\nTORTUE, sont d\u2019origine Anglaise.\u201d--_Manuel des Amphitryons_, 8vo. 1808,\n[219-+] Those who do not like the trouble, &c. of making mock turtle,\nmay be supplied with it ready made, in high perfection, at BIRCH\u2019S, in\nCornhill. It is not poisoned with Cayenne pepper, which the turtle and\nmock turtle soup of most pastry cooks and tavern cooks is, and to that\ndegree, that it acts like a blister on the coats of the stomach. This\nprevents our mentioning any other maker of this soup, which is often\nmade with cow-heel, or the mere scalp of the calf\u2019s head, instead of the\nhead itself.\nThe following are Mr. Birch\u2019s directions for warming this soup:--Empty\nthe turtle into a broad earthen vessel, to keep cool: when wanted for\ntable, to two quarts of soup add one gill of boiling water or veal\nbroth, put it over a good, clear fire, keeping it gently stirred (that\nit may not burn); when it has boiled about three minutes, skim it, and\nput it in the tureen.\nN.B. The broth or water, and the wine, to be put into the stew-pan\nbefore you put in the turtle.\n[219-++] The reader may have remarked, that mock turtle and potted beef\nalways come in season together.\nSee _Obs._ to No. 503*. This gravy meat will make an excellent savoury\npotted relish, as it will be impregnated with the flavour of the herbs\nand spice that are boiled with it.\n[220-*] \u201cMany _gourmets_ and gastrologers prefer the copy to the\noriginal: we confess that when done as it ought to be, the mock turtle\nis exceedingly interesting.\u201d--_Tabella Cibaria_, 1820, p. 30.\n\u201cTurtles often become emaciated and sickly before they reach this country,\nin which case the soup would be incomparably improved by leaving out\nthe turtle, and substituting a good calf\u2019s head.\u201d--_Supplement to\nEncyc. Brit. Edinburgh_, vol. iv. p. 331.\n[Very fine fat turtles are brought to New-York from the West Indies;\nand, during the warm weather, kept in crawls till wanted: of these they\nmake soup, which surpasses any mock turtle ever made. A.]\n[222-*] _Mullaga-tawny_ signifies pepper water. The progress of\ninexperienced peripatetic palaticians has lately been arrested by these\noutlandish words being pasted on the windows of our coffee-houses. It\nhas, we believe, answered the \u201c_restaurateur\u2019s_\u201d purpose, and often\nexcited JOHN BULL to walk in and taste: the more familiar name of curry\nsoup would, perhaps, not have had sufficient of the charms of novelty to\nseduce him from his much-loved mock turtle.\nIt is a fashionable soup, and a great favourite with our East Indian\nfriends, and we give the best receipt we could procure for it.\n[223-*] \u201cThe usual allowance at a turtle feast is six pounds live weight\nper head: at the Spanish dinner, at the City of London Tavern, in\nAugust, 1808, 400 guests attended, and 2500 pounds of turtle were\nconsumed.\u201d--See BELL\u2019S _Weekly Messenger_ for August 7th, 1808.\n_Epicure_ QUIN used to say, it was \u201cnot safe to sit down to a turtle\nfeast at one of the City Halls, without a basket-hilted knife and fork.\u201d\nWe recommend our friends, before encountering such a temptation, to read\nour peptic precepts. Nothing is more difficult of digestion, or oftener\nrequires the aid of peristaltic persuaders, than the glutinous callipash\nwhich is considered the \u201c_bonne bouche_\u201d of this soup. Turtle is\ngenerally spoiled by being over-dressed.\n[In Philadelphia, an excellent turtle soup is made of a small native\ntortoise, called a _terrapin_, and the article _terrapin soup_. A.]\n[223-+] \u201cA pound of meat contains about an ounce of gelatinous matter;\nit thence follows, that 1500 pounds of the same meat, which is the whole\nweight of a bullock, would give only 94 pounds, which might be easily\ncontained in an earthen jar.\u201d--Dr. HUTTON\u2019S _Rational Recreations_, vol.\nIn what degree portable or other soup be nutritious, we know not, but\nrefer the reader to our note under No. 185.\n[223-++] This machine was invented by Dr. Denys Papin, F.R.S., about the\nyear 1631, as appears by his essay on \u201c_The New Digester, or Engine for\nSoftening Bones_;\u201d \u201cby the help of which (he says) the oldest and\nhardest cow-beef may be made as tender and as savoury as young and\nchoice meat.\u201d\nAlthough we have not yet found that they do what Dr. Papin says, \u201cmake\nold and tough meat young and tender,\u201d they are, however, excellent\nthings to make broths and soups in. Among a multitude of other admirable\nexcellencies obtainable by his digester, Dr. Papin, in his 9th chapter,\npage 54, on the profit that a good engine may come to, says, \u201cI have\nfound that an _old hat_, very bad and loosely made, having imbibed the\njelly of bones became very firm and stiff.\u201d\nGRAVIES AND SAUCES.\n_Melted Butter,_\nIs so simple and easy to prepare, that it is a matter of general\nsurprise, that what is done so often in every English kitchen, is so\nseldom done right: foreigners may well say, that although we have only\none sauce for vegetables, fish, flesh, fowl, &c. we hardly ever make\nthat good.\nIt is spoiled nine times out of ten, more from idleness than from\nignorance, and rather because the cook won\u2019t than because she can\u2019t do\nit; which can only be the case when housekeepers will not allow butter\nto do it with.\nGood melted butter cannot be made with mere flour and water; there must\nbe a full and proper proportion of butter. As it must be always on the\ntable, and is the foundation of almost all our English sauces, we have,\n Melted butter and oysters,\nI have tried every way of making it; and I trust, at last, that I have\nwritten a receipt, which, if the cook will carefully observe, she will\nconstantly succeed in giving satisfaction.\nIn the quantities of the various sauces I have ordered, I have had in\nview the providing for a family of half-a-dozen moderate people.\nNever pour sauce over meat, or even put it into the dish, however well\nmade, some of the company may have an antipathy to it; tastes are as\ndifferent as faces: moreover, if it is sent up separate in a boat, it\nwill keep hot longer, and what is left may be put by for another time,\nor used for another purpose.\n_Lastly._ Observe, that in ordering the proportions of meat, butter,\nwine, spice, &c. in the following receipts, the proper quantity is set\ndown, and that a less quantity will not do; and in some instances those\npalates which have been used to the extreme of _piquance_, will require\nadditional excitement.[228-*] If we have erred, it has been on the right\nside, from an anxious wish to combine economy with elegance, and the\nwholesome with the toothsome.\n_Melted Butter._\nKeep a pint stew-pan[228-+] for this purpose only.\nCut two ounces of butter into little bits, that it may melt more easily,\nand mix more readily; put it into the stew-pan with a large tea-spoonful\n(_i. e._ about three drachms) of flour, (some prefer arrow-root, or\npotato starch, No. 448), and two table-spoonfuls of milk.\nWhen thoroughly mixed, add six table-spoonfuls of water; hold it over\nthe fire, and shake it round every minute (all the while the same way),\ntill it just begins to simmer; then let it stand quietly and boil up. It\nshould be of the thickness of good cream.\nN.B. Two table-spoonfuls of No. 439, instead of the milk, will make as\ngood mushroom sauce as need be, and is a superlative accompaniment to\neither fish, flesh, or fowl.\n_Obs._ This is the best way of preparing melted butter; milk mixes with\nthe butter much more easily and more intimately than water alone can be\nmade to do. This is of proper thickness to be mixed at table with\nflavouring essences, anchovy, mushroom, or cavice, &c. If made merely\nto pour over vegetables, add a little more milk to it.\nN.B. If the butter oils, put a spoonful of cold water to it, and stir it\nwith a spoon; if it is very much oiled, it must be poured backwards and\nforwards from the stew-pan to the sauce-boat till it is right again.\nMEM. Melted butter made to be mixed with flavouring essences, catchups,\n&c. should be of the thickness of light batter, that it may adhere to\nthe fish, &c.\n_Thickening._--(No. 257.)\nClarified butter is best for this purpose; but if you have none ready,\nput some fresh butter into a stew-pan over a slow, clear fire; when it\nis melted, add fine flour sufficient to make it the thickness of paste;\nstir it well together with a wooden spoon for fifteen or twenty minutes,\ntill it is quite smooth, and the colour of a guinea: this must be done\nvery gradually and patiently; if you put it over too fierce a fire to\nhurry it, it will become bitter and empyreumatic: pour it into an\nearthen pan, and keep it for use. It will keep good a fortnight in\nsummer, and longer in winter.\nA large spoonful will generally be enough to thicken a quart of gravy.\n_Obs._ This, in the French kitchen, is called _roux_. Be particularly\nattentive in making it; if it gets any burnt smell or taste, it will\nspoil every thing it is put into, see _Obs._ to No. 322. When cold, it\nshould be thick enough to cut out with a knife, like a solid paste.\nIt is a very essential article in the kitchen, and is the basis of\nconsistency in most made-dishes, soups, sauces, and rago\u00fbts; if the\ngravies, &c. are too thin, add this thickening, more or less, according\nto the consistence you would wish them to have.\nMEM. In making thickening, the less butter, and the more flour you use,\nthe better; they must be thoroughly worked together, and the broth, or\nsoup, &c. you put them to, added by degrees: take especial care to\nincorporate them well together, or your sauces, &c. will taste floury,\nand have a disgusting, greasy appearance: therefore, after you have\nthickened your sauce, add to it some broth, or warm water, in the\nproportion of two table-spoonfuls to a pint, and set it by the side of\nthe fire, to raise any fat, &c. that is not thoroughly incorporated with\nthe gravy, which you must carefully remove as it comes to the top. This\nis called cleansing, or finishing the sauce.\n\u2042 Half an ounce of butter, and a table-spoonful of flour, are about the\nproportion for a pint of sauce to make it as thick as cream.\nN.B. The fat skimmings off the top of the broth pot are sometimes\nsubstituted for butter (see No. 240); some cooks merely thicken their\nsoups and sauces with flour, as we have directed in No. 245, or potato\nfarina, No. 448.\n_Clarified Butter._--(No. 259.)\nPut the butter in a nice, clean stew-pan, over a very clear, slow fire;\nwatch it, and when it is melted, carefully skim off the buttermilk, &c.\nwhich will swim on the top; let it stand a minute or two for the\nimpurities to sink to the bottom; then pour the clear butter through a\nsieve into a clean basin, leaving the sediment at the bottom of the\nstew-pan.\n_Obs._ Butter thus purified will be as sweet as marrow, a very useful\ncovering for potted meats, &c., and for frying fish equal to the finest\nFlorence oil; for which purpose it is commonly used by Catholics, and\nthose whose religious tenets will not allow them to eat viands fried in\nanimal oil.\n_Burnt Butter._--(No. 260.)\nPut two ounces of fresh butter into a small frying-pan; when it becomes\na dark brown colour, add to it a table-spoonful and a half of good\nvinegar, and a little pepper and salt.\n_Obs._ This is used as sauce for boiled fish, or poached eggs.\n_Oiled Butter._--(No. 260*.)\nPut two ounces of fresh butter into a saucepan; set it at a distance\nfrom the fire, so that it may melt gradually, till it comes to an oil;\nand pour it off quietly from the dregs.\n_Obs._ This will supply the place of olive oil; and by some is preferred\nto it either for salads or frying.\n_Parsley and Butter._--(No. 261.)\nWash some parsley very clean, and pick it carefully leaf by leaf; put a\ntea-spoonful of salt into half a pint of boiling water: boil the parsley\nabout ten minutes; drain it on a sieve; mince it quite fine, and then\nbruise it to a pulp.\nThe delicacy and excellence of this elegant and innocent relish depends\nupon the parsley being minced very fine: put it into a sauce-boat, and\nmix with it, by degrees, about half a pint of good melted butter (No.\n256); only do not put so much flour to it, as the parsley will add to\nits thickness: never pour parsley and butter over boiled things, but\nsend it up in a boat.\n_Obs._ In French cookery-books this is called \u201cmelted butter, English\nfashion;\u201d and, with the addition of a slice of lemon cut into dice, a\nlittle allspice and vinegar, \u201cDutch sauce.\u201d\nN.B. To preserve parsley through the winter: in May, June, or July, take\nfine fresh-gathered sprigs; pick, and wash them clean; set on a stew-pan\nhalf full of water; put a little salt in it; boil, and skim it clean,\nand then put in the parsley, and let it boil for a couple of minutes;\ntake it out, and lay it on a sieve before the fire, that it may be dried\nas quick as possible; put it by in a tin box, and keep it in a dry\nplace: when you want it, lay it in a basin, and cover it with warm water\na few minutes before you use it.\n_Gooseberry Sauce._--(No. 263.)\nTop and tail them close with a pair of scissors, and scald half a pint\nof green gooseberries; drain them on a hair-sieve, and put them into\nhalf a pint of melted butter, No. 256.\nSome add grated ginger and lemon-peel, and the French, minced fennel;\nothers send up the gooseberries whole or mashed, without any butter, &c.\n_Chervil, Basil, Tarragon, Burnet, Cress, and Butter._--(No. 264.)\nThis is the first time that chervil, which has so long been a favourite\nwith the sagacious French cook, has been introduced into an English\nbook. Its flavour is a strong concentration of the combined taste of\nparsley and fennel, but more aromatic and agreeable than either; and is\nan excellent sauce with boiled poultry or fish. Prepare it, &c. as we\nhave directed for parsley and butter, No. 261.\n_Fennel and Butter for Mackerel, &c._--(No. 265.)\nIs prepared in the same manner as we have just described in No. 261.\n_Obs._ For mackerel sauce, or boiled soles, &c., some people take equal\nparts of fennel and parsley; others add a sprig of mint, or a couple of\nyoung onions minced very fine.\n_Mackerel-roe Sauce._--(No. 266.)\nBoil the roes of mackerel (soft roes are best); bruise them with a spoon\nwith the yelk of an egg, beat up with a very little pepper and salt, and\nsome fennel and parsley boiled and chopped very fine, mixed with almost\nhalf a pint of thin melted butter. See No. 256.\nMushroom catchup, walnut pickle, or soy may be added.\n_Egg Sauce._--(No. 267.)\nThis agreeable accompaniment to roasted poultry, or salted fish, is made\nby putting three eggs into boiling water, and boiling them for about\ntwelve minutes, when they will be hard; put them into cold water till\nyou want them. This will make the yelks firmer, and prevent their\nsurface turning black, and you can cut them much neater: use only two of\nthe whites; cut the whites into small dice, the yelks into bits about a\nquarter of an inch square; put them into a sauce-boat; pour to them half\na pint of melted butter, and stir them together.\n_Obs._ The melted butter for egg sauce need not be made quite so thick\nas No. 256. If you are for superlative egg sauce, pound the yelks of a\ncouple of eggs, and rub them with the melted butter to thicken it.\nN.B. Some cooks garnish salt fish with hard-boiled eggs cut in half.\n_Plum-pudding Sauce._--(No. 269.)\nA glass of sherry, half a glass of brandy (or \u201ccherry-bounce\u201d), or\nCura\u00e7oa (No. 474), or essence of punch (Nos. 471 and 479), and two\ntea-spoonfuls of pounded lump sugar (a very little grated lemon-peel is\nsometimes added), in a quarter of a pint of thick melted butter: grate\nnutmeg on the top.\nSee Pudding Catchup, No. 446.\n_Anchovy Sauce._--(No. 270.)\nPound three anchovies in a mortar with a little bit of butter; rub it\nthrough a double hair-sieve with the back of a wooden spoon, and stir it\ninto almost half a pint of melted butter (No. 256); or stir in a\ntable-spoonful of essence of anchovy, No. 433. To the above, many cooks\nadd lemon-juice and Cayenne.\n_Obs._ Foreigners make this sauce with good brown sauce (No. 329), or\nwhite sauce (No. 364); instead of melted butter, add to it catchup, soy,\nand some of their flavoured vinegars, (as elder or tarragon), pepper and\nfine spice, sweet herbs, capers, eschalots, &c. They serve it with most\nroasted meats.\nN.B. Keep your anchovies well covered; first tie down your jar with\nbladder moistened with vinegar, and then wiped dry; tie leather over\nthat: when you open a jar, moisten the bladder, and it will come off\neasily; as soon as you have taken out the fish, replace the coverings;\nthe air soon rusts and spoils anchovies. See No. 433, &c.\n_Garlic Sauce._--(No. 272.)\nPound two cloves of garlic with a piece of fresh butter, about as big as\na nutmeg; rub it through a double hair-sieve, and stir it into half a\npint of melted butter, or beef gravy or make it with garlic vinegar,\n_Lemon Sauce._--(No. 273.)\nPare a lemon, and cut it into slices twice as thick as a half-crown\npiece; divide these into dice, and put them into a quarter of a pint of\nmelted butter, No. 256.\n_Obs._--Some cooks mince a bit of the lemon-peel (pared very thin) very\nfine, and add it to the above.\n_Caper Sauce._--(No. 274. See also No. 295.)\nTo make a quarter of a pint, take a table-spoonful of capers, and two\ntea-spoonfuls of vinegar.\nThe present fashion of cutting capers is to mince one-third of them very\nfine, and divide the others in half; put them into a quarter of a pint\nof melted butter, or good thickened gravy (No. 329); stir them the same\nway as you did the melted butter, or it will oil.\n_Obs._--Some boil, and mince fine a few leaves of parsley, or chervil,\nor tarragon, and add these to the sauce; others the juice of half a\nSeville orange, or lemon.\n_Mem._--Keep the caper bottle very closely corked, and do not use any of\nthe caper liquor: if the capers are not well covered with it, they will\nimmediately spoil; and it is an excellent ingredient in hashes, &c. The\nDutch use it as a fish sauce, mixing it with melted butter.\n_Mock Caper Sauce._--(No. 275, or No. 295.)\nCut some pickled green pease, French beans, gherkins, or nasturtiums,\ninto bits the size of capers; put them into half a pint of melted\nbutter, with two tea-spoonfuls of lemon-juice, or nice vinegar.\n_Oyster Sauce._--(No. 278.)\nChoose plump and juicy natives for this purpose: don\u2019t take them out of\ntheir shell till you put them into the stew-pan, see _Obs._ to No. 181.\nTo make good oyster sauce for half a dozen hearty fish-eaters, you\ncannot have less than three or four dozen oysters. Save their liquor;\nstrain it, and put it and them into a stew-pan: as soon as they boil,\nand the fish plump, take them off the fire, and pour the contents of the\nstew-pan into a sieve over a clean basin; wash the stew-pan out with hot\nwater, and put into it the strained liquor, with about an equal quantity\nof milk, and about two ounces and a half of butter, with which you have\nwell rubbed a large table-spoonful of flour; give it a boil up, and pour\nit through a sieve into a basin (that the sauce may be quite smooth),\nand then back again into the saucepan; now shave the oysters, and (if\nyou have the honour of making sauce for \u201ca committee of taste,\u201d take\naway the gristly part also) put in only the soft part of them: if they\nare very large, cut them in half, and set them by the fire to keep hot:\n\u201cif they boil after, they will become hard.\u201d\nIf you have not liquor enough, add a little melted butter, or cream (see\nNo. 388), or milk beat up with the yelk of an egg (this must not be put\nin till the sauce is done). Some barbarous cooks add pepper, or mace,\nthe juice or peel of a lemon, horseradish, essence of anchovy, Cayenne,\n&c.: plain sauces are only to taste of the ingredient from which they\nderive their name.\n_Obs._--It will very much heighten the flavour of this sauce to pound\nthe soft part of half a dozen (unboiled) oysters; rub it through a\nhair-sieve, and then stir it into the sauce: this essence of oyster (and\nfor some palates a few grains of Cayenne) is the only addition we\nrecommend. See No. 441.\n_Preserved Oysters._[234-*]--(No. 280.)\nOpen the oysters carefully, so as not to cut them except in dividing the\ngristle which attaches the shells; put them into a mortar, and when you\nhave got as many as you can conveniently pound at once, add about two\ndrachms of salt to a dozen oysters; pound them, and rub them through\nthe back of a hair-sieve, and put them into a mortar again, with as\nmuch flour (which has been previously thoroughly dried) as will make\nthem into a paste; roll it out several times, and, lastly, flour it, and\nroll it out the thickness of a half-crown, and divide it into pieces\nabout an inch square; lay them in a Dutch oven, where they will dry so\ngently as not to get burnt: turn them every half hour, and when they\nbegin to dry, crumble them; they will take about four hours to dry; then\npound them fine, sift them, and put them into bottles, and seal them\nover.\nN.B. Three dozen of natives required 7-1/2 ounces of dried flour to make\nthem into a paste, which then weighed 11 ounces; when dried and\npowdered, 6-1/4 ounces.\nTo make half a pint of sauce, put one ounce of butter into a stew-pan\nwith three drachms of oyster powder, and six table-spoonfuls of milk;\nset it on a slow fire; stir it till it boils, and season it with salt.\nThis powder, if made with plump, juicy natives, will abound with the\nflavour of the fish; and if closely corked, and kept in a dry place,\nwill remain good for some time.\n_Obs._--This extract is a welcome succedaneum while oysters are out of\nseason, and in such inland parts as seldom have any, is a valuable\naddition to the list of fish sauces: it is equally good with boiled\nfowl, or rump steak, and sprinkled on bread and butter makes a very good\nsandwich, and is especially worthy the notice of country housekeepers,\nand as a store sauce for the army and navy. See Anchovy Powder, No. 435.\n_Shrimp Sauce._--(No. 283.)\nShell a pint of shrimps; pick them clean, wash them, and put them into\nhalf a pint of good melted butter. A pint of unshelled shrimps is about\nenough for four persons.\n_Obs._--Some stew the heads and shells of the shrimps, (with or without\na blade of bruised mace,) for a quarter of an hour, and strain off the\nliquor to melt the butter with, and add a little lemon-juice, Cayenne,\nand essence of anchovy, or soy, cavice, &c.; but the flavour of the\nshrimp is so delicate, that it will be overcome by any such additions.\nMEM.--If your shrimps are not quite fresh, they will eat tough and\nthready, as other stale fish do. See _Obs._ to No. 140.\n_Lobster Sauce._--(No. 284.)\nChoose a fine spawny hen lobster;[236-*] be sure it is fresh, so get a\nlive one if you can, (one of my culinary predecessors says, \u201clet it be\nheavy and lively,\u201d) and boil it as No. 176; pick out the spawn and the\nred coral into a mortar, add to it half an ounce of butter, pound it\nquite smooth, and rub it through a hair-sieve with the back of a wooden\nspoon; cut the meat of the lobster into small squares, or pull it to\npieces with a fork; put the pounded spawn into as much melted butter\n(No. 256) as you think will do, and stir it together till it is\nthoroughly mixed; now put to it the meat of the lobster, and warm it on\nthe fire; take care it does not boil, which will spoil its complexion,\nand its brilliant red colour will immediately fade.\nThe above is a very easy and excellent manner of making this sauce.\nSome use strong beef or veal gravy instead of melted butter, adding\nanchovy, Cayenne, catchup, cavice, lemon-juice, or pickle, or wine, &c.\n_Obs._--Save a little of the inside red coral spawn, and rub it through\na sieve (without butter): it is a very ornamental garnish to sprinkle\nover fish; and if the skin is broken, (which will sometimes happen to\nthe most careful cook, when there is a large dinner to dress, and many\nother things to attend to,) you will find it a convenient and elegant\nveil, to conceal your misfortune from the prying eyes of piscivorous\n_gourmands_.\nN.B. Various methods have been tried to preserve lobsters, see No. 178,\nand lobster spawn, for a store sauce. The live spawn may be kept some\ntime in strong salt and water, or in an ice-house.\nThe following process might, perhaps, preserve it longer. Put it into a\nsaucepan of boiling water, with a large spoonful of salt in it, and let\nit boil quick for five minutes; then drain it on a hair-sieve; spread it\nout thin on a plate, and set it in a Dutch oven till it is thoroughly\ndried; grind it in a clean mill, and pack it closely in well-stopped\nbottles. See also Potted Lobsters, No. 178.\n_Sauce for Lobster, &c._--(No. 285. See also No. 372.)\nBruise the yelks of two hard-boiled eggs with the back of a wooden\nspoon, or rather pound them in a mortar, with a tea-spoonful of water,\nand the soft inside and the spawn of the lobster; rub them quite smooth,\nwith a tea-spoonful of made mustard, two table-spoonfuls of salad oil,\nand five of vinegar; season it with a very little Cayenne pepper, and\nsome salt.\n_Obs._--To this, elder or tarragon vinegar (No. 396), or anchovy essence\n(No. 433), is occasionally added.\n_Liver and Parsley Sauce_,--(No. 287.) _or Liver and Lemon Sauce._\nWash the liver (it must be perfectly fresh) of a fowl or rabbit, and\nboil it five minutes in five table-spoonfuls of water; chop it fine, or\npound or bruise it in a small quantity of the liquor it was boiled in,\nand rub it through a sieve: wash about one-third the bulk of parsley\nleaves, put them on to boil in a little boiling water, with a\ntea-spoonful of salt in it; lay it on a hair-sieve to drain, and mince\nit very fine; mix it with the liver, and put it into a quarter pint of\nmelted butter, and warm it up; do not let it boil. _Or_,\n_To make Lemon and Liver Sauce._\nPare off the rind of a lemon, or of a Seville orange, as thin as\npossible, so as not to cut off any of the white with it; now cut off all\nthe white, and cut the lemon into slices, about as thick as a couple of\nhalf-crowns; pick out the pips, and divide the slices into small\nsquares: add these, and a little of the peel minced very fine to the\nliver, prepared as directed above, and put them into the melted butter,\nand warm them together; but do not let them boil.\nN.B. The poulterers can always let you have fresh livers, if that of the\nfowl or rabbit is not good, or not large enough to make as much sauce as\nyou wish.\n_Obs._--Some cooks, instead of pounding, mince the liver very fine (with\nhalf as much bacon), and leave out the parsley; others add the juice of\nhalf a lemon, and some of the peel grated, or a tea-spoonful of tarragon\nor Chili vinegar, a table-spoonful of white wine, or a little beaten\nmace, or nutmeg, or allspice: if you wish it a little more lively on the\npalate, pound an eschalot, or a few leaves of tarragon or basil, with\nanchovy, or catchup, or Cayenne.\n_Liver Sauce for Fish._--(No. 288.)\nBoil the liver of the fish, and pound it in a mortar with a little\nflour; stir it into some broth, or some of the liquor the fish was\nboiled in, or melted butter, parsley, and a few grains of Cayenne, a\nlittle essence of anchovy (No. 433), or soy, or catchup (No. 439); give\nit a boil up, and rub it through a sieve: you may add a little\nlemon-juice, or lemon cut in dice.\n_Celery Sauce, white._--(No. 289.)\nPick and wash two heads of nice white celery; cut it into pieces about\nan inch long; stew it in a pint of water, and a tea-spoonful of salt,\ntill the celery is tender;[238-*] roll an ounce of butter with a\ntable-spoonful of flour; add this to half a pint of cream, and give it a\nboil up.\nN.B. See No. 409.\n_Celery Sauce Pur\u00e9e, for boiled Turkey, Veal, Fowls, &c._ (No. 290.)\nCut small half a dozen heads of nice white celery that is quite clean,\nand two onions sliced; put in a two-quart stew-pan, with a small lump of\nbutter; sweat them over a slow fire till quite tender, then put in two\nspoonfuls of flour, half a pint of water (or beef or veal broth), salt\nand pepper, and a little cream or milk; boil it a quarter of an hour,\nand pass through a fine hair-sieve with the back of a spoon.\nIf you wish for celery sauce when celery is not in season, a quarter of\na drachm of celery-seed, or a little essence of celery (No. 409), will\nimpregnate half a pint of sauce with a sufficient portion of the flavour\nof the vegetable.\nSee _Obs._ to No. 214.\n_Green or Sorrel Sauce._--(No. 291.)\nWash and clean a large ponnet of sorrel; put it into a stew-pan that\nwill just hold it, with a bit of butter the size of an egg; cover it\nclose, set it over a slow fire for a quarter of an hour, pass the sorrel\nwith the back of a wooden spoon through a hair-sieve, season with\npepper, salt, and a small pinch of powdered sugar, make it hot, and\nserve up under lamb, veal, sweetbreads, &c. &c. Cayenne, nutmeg, and\nlemon-juice are sometimes added.\n_Tomata, or Love-apple Sauce._--(No. 292. See also No. 443.)\nHave twelve or fifteen tomatas, ripe and red; take off the stalk; cut\nthem in half; squeeze them just enough to get all the water and seeds\nout; put them in a stew-pan with a capsicum, and two or three\ntable-spoonfuls of beef gravy; set them on a slow stove for an hour, or\ntill properly melted; then rub them through a tamis into a clean\nstew-pan, with a little white pepper and salt, and let them simmer\ntogether a few minutes.\n[_Love-apple Sauce according to Ude._\nMelt in a stew-pan a dozen or two of love-apples (which, before putting\nin the stew-pan, cut in two, and squeeze the juice and the seeds out);\nthen put two eschalots, one onion, with a few bits of ham, a clove, a\nlittle thyme, a bay-leaf, a few leaves of mace, and when melted, rub\nthem through a tamis. Mix a few spoonfuls of good Espagnole or Spanish\nsauce, and a little salt and pepper, with this pur\u00e9e. Boil it for twenty\nminutes, and serve up. A.]\n_Mock Tomata Sauce._--(No. 293.)\nThe only difference between this and genuine love-apple sauce, is the\nsubstituting the pulp of apple for that of tomata, colouring it with\nturmeric, and communicating an acid flavour to it by vinegar.\n_Eschalot Sauce._--(No. 294.)\nTake four eschalots, and make it in the same manner as garlic sauce (No.\nYou may make this sauce more extemporaneously by putting two\ntable-spoonfuls of eschalot wine (No. 403), and a sprinkling of pepper\nand salt, into (almost) half a pint of thick melted butter.\n_Obs._--This is an excellent sauce for chops or steaks; many are very\nfond of it with roasted or boiled meat, poultry, &c.\n_Eschalot Sauce for boiled Mutton._--(No. 295.)\nThis is a very frequent and satisfactory substitute for \u201ccaper sauce.\u201d\nMince four eschalots very fine, and put them into a small saucepan, with\nalmost half a pint of the liquor the mutton was boiled in: let them boil\nup for five minutes; then put in a table-spoonful of vinegar, a quarter\ntea-spoonful of pepper, a little salt, and a bit of butter (as big as a\nwalnut) rolled in flour; shake together till it boils. See (No. 402)\nEschalot Wine.\n_Obs._--We like a little lemon-peel with eschalot; the _haut go\u00fbt_ of\nthe latter is much ameliorated by the delicate _aroma_ of the former.\nSome cooks add a little finely-chopped parsley.\n_Young Onion Sauce._--(No. 296.)\nPeel a pint of button onions, and put them in water till you want to put\nthem on to boil; put them into a stew-pan, with a quart of cold water;\nlet them boil till tender; they will take (according to their size and\nage) from half an hour to an hour. You may put them into half a pint of\nNo. 307. See also No. 137.\n_Onion Sauce._--(No. 297.)\nThose who like the full flavour of onions only cut off the strings and\ntops (without peeling off any of the skins), put them into salt and\nwater, and let them lie an hour; then wash them, put them into a kettle\nwith plenty of water, and boil them till they are tender: now skin them,\npass them through a colander, and mix a little melted butter with them.\nN.B. Some mix the pulp of apples, or turnips, with the onions, others\nadd mustard to them.\n_White Onion Sauce._--(No. 298.)\nThe following is a more mild and delicate[240-*] preparation: Take half\na dozen of the largest and whitest onions (the Spanish are the mildest,\nbut these can only be had from August to December); peel them and cut\nthem in half, and lay them in a pan of spring-water for a quarter of an\nhour, and then boil for a quarter of an hour; and then, if you wish them\nto taste very mild, pour off that water, and cover them with fresh\nboiling water, and let them boil till they are tender, which will\nsometimes take three-quarters of an hour longer; drain them well on a\nhair-sieve; lay them on the chopping-board, and chop and bruise them;\nput them into a clean saucepan, with some butter and flour, half a\ntea-spoonful of salt, and some cream, or good milk; stir it till it\nboils; then rub the whole through a tamis, or sieve, adding cream or\nmilk, to make it the consistence you wish.\n_Obs._--This is the usual sauce for boiled rabbits, mutton, or tripe.\nThere must be plenty of it; the usual expression signifies as much, for\nwe say, smother them with it.\n_Brown Onion Sauces, or Onion Gravy._--(No. 299.)\nPeel and slice the onions (some put in an equal quantity of cucumber or\ncelery) into a quart stew-pan, with an ounce of butter; set it on a slow\nfire, and turn the onion about till it is very lightly browned; now\ngradually stir in half an ounce of flour; add a little broth, and a\nlittle pepper and salt; boil up for a few minutes; add a table-spoonful\nof claret, or port wine, and same of mushroom catchup, (you may sharpen\nit with a little lemon-juice or vinegar,) and rub it through a tamis or\nfine sieve.\nCurry powder (No. 348) will convert this into excellent curry sauce.\nN.B. If this sauce is for steaks, shred an ounce of onions, fry them a\nnice brown, and put them to the sauce you have rubbed through a tamis;\nor some very small, round, young silver button onions (see No. 296),\npeeled and boiled tender, and put in whole when your sauce is done, will\nbe an acceptable addition.\n_Obs._--If you have no broth, put in half a pint of water, and see No.\n252; just before you give it the last boil up, add to it another\ntable-spoonful of mushroom catchup, or the same quantity of port wine or\ngood ale.\nThe flavour of this sauce may be varied by adding tarragon or burnet\nvinegar (Nos. 396 and 399).\n_Sage and Onion, or Goose-stuffing Sauce._--(No. 300.)\nChop very fine an ounce of onion and half an ounce of green sage leaves;\nput them into a stew-pan with four spoonfuls of water; simmer gently for\nten minutes; then put in a tea-spoonful of pepper and salt, and one\nounce of fine bread-crumbs; mix well together; then pour to it a quarter\nof a pint of (broth, or gravy, or) melted butter, stir well together,\nand simmer it a few minutes longer.\n_Obs._ This is a very relishing sauce for roast pork, poultry, geese, or\nducks; or green pease on maigre days.\nSee also Bonne Bouche for the above, No. 341.\n_Green Mint Sauce._--(No. 303.)\nWash half a handful of nice, young, fresh-gathered green mint (to this\nsome add one-third the quantity of parsley); pick the leaves from the\nstalks, mince them very fine, and put them into a sauce-boat, with a\ntea-spoonful of moist sugar, and four table-spoonfuls of vinegar.\n_Obs._--This is the usual accompaniment to hot lamb; and an equally\nagreeable relish with cold lamb.\nIf green mint cannot be procured, this sauce may be made with mint\nvinegar (No. 398).\n_Apple Sauce._--(No. 304.)\nPare and core three good-sized baking apples; put them into a\nwell-tinned pint saucepan, with two table-spoonfuls of cold water; cover\nthe saucepan close, and set it on a trivet over a slow fire a couple of\nhours before dinner (some apples will take a long time stewing, others\nwill be ready in a quarter of an hour): when the apples are done enough,\npour off the water, let them stand a few minutes to get dry; then beat\nthem up with a fork, with a bit of butter about as big as a nutmeg, and\na tea-spoonful of powdered sugar.\nN.B. Some add lemon-peel, grated, or minced fine, or boil a bit with the\napples. Some are fond of apple sauce with cold pork: ask those you serve\nif they desire it.\n_Mushroom Sauce._--(No. 305.)\nPick and peel half a pint of mushrooms (the smaller the better); wash\nthem very clean, and put them into a saucepan, with half a pint of veal\ngravy or milk, a little pepper and salt, and an ounce of butter rubbed\nwith a table-spoonful of flour; stir them together, and set them over a\ngentle fire, to stew slowly till tender; skim and strain it.\n_Obs._--It will be a great improvement to this, and the two following\nsauces, to add to them the juice of half a dozen mushrooms, prepared the\nday before, by sprinkling them with salt, the same as when you make\ncatchup; or add a large spoonful of good double mushroom catchup (No.\nSee Quintessence of Mushrooms, No. 440.\nN.B. Much as we love the flavour of mushrooms, we must enter our protest\nagainst their being eaten in substance, when the morbid effects they\nproduce too often prove them worthy of the appellations Seneca gave\nthem, \u201cvoluptuous poison,\u201d \u201clethal luxury,\u201d &c.; and we caution those\nwho cannot refrain from indulging their palate with the seducing relish\nof this deceitful fungus, to masticate it diligently.\nWe do not believe that mushrooms are nutritive; every one knows they are\noften dangerously indigestible; therefore the rational epicure will be\ncontent with extracting the flavour from them, which is obtained in the\nutmost perfection by the process directed in No. 439.\n_Mushroom Sauce, brown._--(No. 306.)\nPut the mushrooms into half a pint of beef gravy (No. 186, or No. 329);\nthicken with flour and butter, and proceed as above.\n_Mushroom Sauce, extempore._--(No. 307.)\nProceed as directed in No. 256 to melt butter, only, instead of two\ntable-spoonfuls of milk, put in two of mushroom catchup (No. 439 or No.\n440); or add it to thickened broth, gravy, or mock turtle soup, &c. or\nput in No. 296.\n_Obs._ This is a welcome relish with fish, poultry, or chops and steaks,\n&c. A couple of quarts of good catchup (No. 439,) will make more good\nsauce than ten times its cost of meat, &c.\nWalnut catchup will give you another variety; and Ball\u2019s cavice, which\nis excellent.\n_Poor Man\u2019s Sauce._--(No. 310.)\nPick a handful of parsley leaves from the stalks, mince them very fine,\nstrew over a little salt; shred fine half a dozen young green onions,\nadd these to the parsley, and put them into a sauce-boat, with three\ntable-spoonfuls of oil, and five of vinegar; add some ground black\npepper and salt; stir together and send it up.\nPickled French beans or gherkins, cut fine, may be added, or a little\ngrated horseradish.\n_Obs._--This sauce is in much esteem in France, where people of taste,\nweary of rich dishes, to obtain the charm of variety, occasionally order\nthe fare of the peasant.\n_The Spaniard\u2019s Garlic Gravy._--(No. 311. See also No. 272.)\nSlice a pound and a half of veal or beef, pepper and salt it, lay it in\na stew-pan with a couple of carrots split, and four cloves of garlic\nsliced, a quarter pound of sliced ham, and a large spoonful of water;\nset the stew-pan over a gentle fire, and watch when the meat begins to\nstick to the pan; when it does, turn it, and let it be very well browned\n(but take care it is not at all burned); then dredge it with flour, and\npour in a quart of broth, a bunch of sweet herbs, a couple of cloves\nbruised, and slice in a lemon; set it on again, and let it simmer gently\nfor an hour and a half longer; then take off the fat, and strain the\ngravy from the ingredients, by pouring it through a napkin, straining,\nand pressing it very hard.\n_Obs._--This, it is said, was the secret of the old Spaniard, who kept\nthe house called by that name on Hampstead Heath.\nThose who love garlic, will find it an extremely rich relish.\n_Mr. Michael Kelly\u2019s[244-*] Sauce for boiled Tripe, Calf-head, or\nGarlic vinegar, a table-spoonful; of mustard, brown sugar, and black\npepper, a tea-spoonful each; stirred into half a pint of oiled melted\nbutter.\n_Mr. Kelly\u2019s Sauce piquante._\nPound a table-spoonful of capers, and one of minced parsley, as fine as\npossible; then add the yelks of three hard eggs, rub them well together\nwith a table-spoonful of mustard; bone six anchovies, and pound them,\nrub them through a hair-sieve, and mix with two table-spoonfuls of oil,\none of vinegar, one of eschalot ditto, and a few grains of Cayenne\npepper; rub all these well together in a mortar, till thoroughly\nincorporated; then stir them into half a pint of good gravy, or melted\nbutter, and put the whole through a sieve.\n_Fried Parsley._--(No. 317.)\nLet it be nicely picked and washed, then put into a cloth, and swung\nbackwards and forwards till it is perfectly dry; put it into a pan of\nhot fat, fry it quick, and have a slice ready to take it out the moment\nit is crisp (in another moment it will be spoiled); put it on a sieve,\nor coarse cloth, before the fire to drain.\n_Crisp Parsley._--(No. 318.)\nPick and wash young parsley, shake it in a dry cloth to drain the water\nfrom it; spread it on a sheet of clean paper in a Dutch oven before the\nfire, and turn it frequently until it is quite crisp. This is a much\nmore easy way of preparing it than frying it, which is not seldom ill\ndone.\n_Obs._ A very pretty garnish for lamb chops, fish, &c.\n_Fried Bread Sippets._--(No. 319.)\nCut a slice of bread about a quarter of an inch thick; divide it with a\nsharp knife into pieces two inches square; shape these into triangles or\ncrosses; put some very clean fat into an iron frying-pan: when it is\nhot, put in the sippets, and fry them a delicate light brown; take them\nup with a fish slice, and drain them well from fat, turning them\noccasionally; this will take a quarter of an hour. Keep the pan at such\na distance from the fire that the fat may be hot enough to brown without\nburning the bread; this is a requisite precaution in frying delicate\nthin things.\n_Obs._ These are a pretty garnish, and very welcome accompaniment and\nimprovement to the finest made dishes: they may also be sent up with\npease and other soups; but when intended for soups, the bread must be\ncut into bits, about half an inch square.\nN.B. If these are not done very delicately clean and dry, they are\nuneatable.\n_Fried Bread-crumbs._--(No. 320.)\nRub bread (which has been baked two days) through a wire sieve, or\ncolander; or you may rub them in a cloth till they are as fine as if\nthey had been grated and sifted; put them into a stew-pan, with a couple\nof ounces of butter; place it over a moderate fire, and stir them about\nwith a wooden spoon till they are the colour of a guinea; spread them on\na sieve, and let them stand ten minutes to drain, turning them\nfrequently.\n_Obs._ Fried crumbs are sent up with roasted sweetbreads, or larks,\npheasants, partridges, woodcocks, and grouse, or moor game; especially\nif they have been kept long enough,\n_Bread Sauce._--(No. 321.)\nPut a small tea-cupful of bread-crumbs into a stew-pan, pour on it as\nmuch milk as it will soak up, and a little more; or, instead of the\nmilk, take the giblets, head, neck, and legs, &c. of the poultry, &c.\nand stew them, and moisten the bread with this liquor; put it on the\nfire with a middling-sized onion, and a dozen berries of pepper or\nallspice, or a little mace; let it boil, then stir it well, and let it\nsimmer till it is quite stiff, and then put to it about two\ntable-spoonfuls of cream or melted butter, or a little good broth; take\nout the onion and pepper, and it is ready.\n_Obs._ This is an excellent accompaniment to game and poultry, &c., and\na good vehicle for receiving various flavours from the Magazine of Taste\n_Rice Sauce._--(No. 321*.)\nSteep a quarter of a pound of rice in a pint of milk, with onion,\npepper, &c. as in the last receipt; when the rice is quite tender (take\nout the spice), rub it through a sieve into a clean stew-pan: if too\nthick, put a little milk or cream to it.\n_Obs._ This is a very delicate white sauce; and at elegant tables is\nfrequently served instead of bread sauce.\n_Browning_,--(No. 322.)\nIs a convenient article to colour those soups or sauces of which it is\nsupposed their deep brown complexion denotes the strength and\nsavouriness of the composition.\nBurned sugar is also a favourite ingredient with the brewers, who use it\nunder the name of \u201cessentia bina\u201d to colour their beer: it is also\nemployed by the brandy-makers, in considerable quantity, to colour\nbrandy; to which, besides enriching its complexion, it gives that\nsweetish taste, and fulness in the mouth, which custom has taught brandy\ndrinkers to admire, and prefer to the finest Cognac in its genuine\nstate.\nWhen employed for culinary purposes, this is sometimes made with strong\ngravy, or walnut catchup. Those who like a _go\u00fbt_ of acid may add a\nlittle walnut pickle.\nIt will hardly be told from what is commonly called \u201cgenuine Japanese\nsoy\u201d[246-*] (for which it is a very good substitute). Burned treacle or\nsugar, the peels of walnut, Cayenne pepper, or capsicums, or Chilies,\nvinegar, garlic, and pickled herrings (especially the Dutch), Sardinias,\nor sprats, appear to be the bases of almost all the sauces which now (to\nuse the maker\u2019s phrase) stand unrivalled.\nAlthough indefatigable research and experiment have put us in possession\nof these compositions, it would not be quite fair to enrich the cook at\nthe expense of the oilman, &c.; we hope we have said enough on these\nsubjects to satisfy \u201cthe rational epicure.\u201d\nPut half a pound of pounded lump-sugar, and a table-spoonful of water,\ninto a clean iron saucepan, set it over a slow fire, and keep stirring\nit with a wooden spoon till it becomes a bright brown colour, and begins\nto smoke; then add to it an ounce of salt, and dilute it by degrees with\nwater, till it is the thickness of soy; let it boil, take off the scum,\nand strain the liquor into bottles, which must be well stopped: if you\nhave not any of this by you, and you wish to darken the colour of your\nsauces, pound a tea-spoonful of lump-sugar, and put it into an iron\nspoon, with as much water as will dissolve it; hold it over a quick fire\ntill it becomes of a very dark brown colour; mix it with the soup, &c.\nwhile it is hot.\n_Obs._ Most of the preparations under this title are a medley of burned\nbutter, spices, catchup, wine, &c. We recommend the rational epicure to\nbe content with the natural colour of soups and sauces, which, to a\nwell-educated palate, are much more agreeable, without any of these\nempyreumatic additions; however they may please the eye, they plague the\nstomach most grievously; so \u201copen your mouth and shut your eyes.\u201d\nFor the sake of producing a pretty colour, \u201ccheese,\u201d \u201cCayenne\u201d (No.\n404), \u201cessence of anchovy\u201d (No. 433), &c. are frequently adulterated\nwith a colouring matter containing red lead!! See ACCUM _on the\nAdulteration of Food_, 2d edit. 12mo. 1820.\nA scientific \u201c_homme de bouche de France_\u201d observes: \u201cThe generality of\ncooks calcine bones, till they are as black as a coal, and throw them\nhissing hot into the stew-pan, to give a brown colour to their broths.\nThese ingredients, under the appearance of a nourishing gravy, envelope\nour food with stimulating acid and corrosive poison.\n\u201cRoux, or thickening (No. 257), if not made very carefully, produces\nexactly the same effect; and the juices of beef or veal, burned over a\nhot fire, to give a rich colour to soup or sauces, grievously offend the\nstomach, and create the most distressing indigestions.\n\u201cThe judicious cook will refuse the help of these incendiary articles,\nwhich ignorance or quackery only employ; not only at the expense of the\ncredit of the cook, but the health of her employers.\u201d\nN.B. The best browning is good home-made glaze (No. 252), mushroom\ncatchup (No. 439), or claret, or port wine. See also No. 257; or cut\nmeat into slices, and broil them brown, and then stew them.\n_Gravy for roast Meat._--(No. 326.)\nMost joints will afford sufficient trimmings, &c. to make half a pint of\nplain gravy, which you may colour with a few drops of No. 322: for those\nthat do not, about half an hour before you think the meat will be done,\nmix a salt-spoonful of salt, with a full quarter pint of boiling water;\ndrop this by degrees on the brown parts of the joint; set a dish under\nto catch it (the meat will soon brown again); set it by; as it cools,\nthe fat will float on the surface; when the meat is ready, carefully\nremove the fat, and warm up the gravy, and pour it into the dish.\nThe common method is, when the meat is in the dish you intend to send it\nup in, to mix half a tea-spoonful of salt in a quarter pint of boiling\nwater, and to drop some of this over the corners and underside of the\nmeat, and to pour the rest through the hole the spit came out of: some\npierce the inferior parts of the joints with a sharp skewer.\nThe following receipt was given us by a very good cook: You may make\ngood browning for roast meat and poultry, by saving the brown bits of\nroast meat or broiled; cut them small, put them into a basin, cover them\nwith boiling water, and put them away till next day; then put it into a\nsaucepan, let it boil two or three minutes, strain it through a sieve\ninto a basin, and put it away for use. When you want gravy for roast\nmeat, put two table-spoonfuls into half a pint of boiling water with a\nlittle salt: if for roasted veal, put three table-spoonfuls into half a\npint of thin melted butter.\nN.B. The gravy which comes down in the dish, the cook (if she is a good\nhousewife) will preserve to enrich hashes or little made dishes, &c.\n_Obs._ Some culinary professors, who think nothing can be excellent that\nis not extravagant, call this \u201cScots\u2019 gravy;\u201d not, I believe, intending\nit, as it certainly is, a compliment to the laudable and rational\nfrugality of that intelligent and sober-minded people.\nN.B. This gravy should be brought to table in a sauce-boat; preserve\nthe intrinsic gravy which flows from the meat in the Argyll.\n_Gravy for boiled Meat_,--(No. 327.)\nMay be made with parings and trimmings; or pour from a quarter to half a\npint of the liquor in which the meat was boiled, into the dish with it,\nand pierce the inferior part of the joint with a sharp skewer.\n_Wow wow Sauce for stewed or bouilli Beef._--(No. 328.)\nChop some parsley-leaves very fine; quarter two or three pickled\ncucumbers, or walnuts, and divide them into small squares, and set them\nby ready: put into a saucepan a bit of butter as big as an egg; when it\nis melted, stir to it a table-spoonful of fine flour, and about half a\npint of the broth in which the beef was boiled; add a table-spoonful of\nvinegar, the like quantity of mushroom catchup, or port wine, or both,\nand a tea-spoonful of made mustard; let it simmer together till it is as\nthick as you wish it; put in the parsley and pickles to get warm, and\npour it over the beef; or rather send it up in a sauce-tureen.\n_Obs._ If you think the above not sufficiently _piquante_, add to it\nsome capers, or a minced eschalot, or one or two tea-spoonfuls of\neschalot wine (No. 402), or essence of anchovy, or basil (No. 397),\nelder, or tarragon (No. 396), or horseradish (No. 399*), or burnet\nvinegar; or strew over the meat carrots and turnips cut into dice,\nminced capers, walnuts, red cabbage, pickled cucumbers, or French beans,\n_Beef-gravy Sauce_--(No. 329), _or Brown Sauce for Rago\u00fbt, Game,\nPoultry, Fish, &c._\nIf you want gravy immediately, see No. 307, or No. 252. If you have time\nenough, furnish a thick and well-tinned stew-pan with a thin slice of\nfat ham or bacon, or an ounce of butter, and a middling-sized onion; on\nthis lay a pound of nice, juicy gravy beef, (as the object in making\ngravy is to extract the nutritious succulence of the meat, it must be\nbeaten to comminute the containing vessels, and scored to augment the\nsurface to the action of the water); cover the stew-pan, and set it on a\nslow fire; when the meat begins to brown, turn it about, and let it get\nslightly browned (but take care it is not at all burned): then pour in a\npint and a half of boiling water; set the pan on the fire; when it\nboils, carefully catch the scum, and then put in a crust of bread\ntoasted brown (don\u2019t burn it), a sprig of winter savoury, or\nlemon-thyme and parsley, a roll of thin-cut lemon-peel, a dozen berries\nof allspice, and a dozen of black pepper; cover the stew-pan close, let\nit stew very gently for about two hours, then strain it through a sieve\ninto a basin.\nIf you wish to thicken it, set a clean stew-pan over a slow fire, with\nabout an ounce of butter in it; when it is melted, dredge to it (by\ndegrees) as much flour as will dry it up, stirring them well together;\nwhen thoroughly mixed, pour in a little of the gravy; stir it well\ntogether, and add the remainder by degrees; set it over the fire, let it\nsimmer gently for fifteen or twenty minutes longer, and skim off the\nfat, &c. as it rises; when it is about as thick as cream, squeeze it\nthrough a tamis, or fine sieve, and you will have a fine, rich brown\nsauce, at a very moderate expense, and without much trouble.\n_Obs._ If you wish to make it still more relishing, if it is for\npoultry, you may pound the liver with a bit of butter, rub it through a\nsieve, and stir it into the sauce when you put in the thickening.\nFor a rago\u00fbt or game, add at the same time a table-spoonful of mushroom\ncatchup, or No. 343,[250-*] or No. 429, or a few drops of 422, the juice\nof half a lemon, and a roll of the rind pared thin, a table-spoonful of\nport, or other wine (claret is best), and a few grains of Cayenne\npepper; or use double the quantity of meat; or add a bit of glaze, or\nportable soup (No. 252), to it.\nYou may vary the flavour, by sometimes adding a little basil, or burnet\nwine (No. 397), tarragon vinegar (No. 396), or a wine-glass of\nquintessence of mushrooms (No. 450).\nSee the Magazine of Taste (No. 462).\nN.B. This is an excellent gravy; and at a large dinner, a pint of it\nshould be placed at each end of the table; you may make it equal to the\nmost costly _consomm\u00e9_ of the Parisian kitchen.\nThose families who are frequently in want of gravy, sauces, &c. (without\nplenty of which no cook can support the credit of her kitchen), should\nkeep a stock of portable soup or glaze (No. 252): this will make gravy\nimmediately.\n_Game Gravy._--(No. 337.)\nSee _Obs._ to No. 329.\n_Orange-gravy Sauce, for wild Ducks, Woodcocks, Snipes, Widgeon, and\nSet on a saucepan with half a pint of veal gravy (No. 192), add to it\nhalf a dozen leaves of basil, a small onion, and a roll of orange or\nlemon-peel, and let it boil up for a few minutes, and strain it off. Put\nto the clear gravy the juice of a Seville orange, or lemon, half a\ntea-spoonful of salt, the same of pepper, and a glass of red wine; send\nit up hot. Eschalot and Cayenne may be added.\n_Obs._--This is an excellent sauce for all kinds of wild water-fowl.\nThe common way of gashing the breast and squeezing in an orange, cools\nand hardens the flesh, and compels every one to eat duck that way: some\npeople like wild fowl very little done, and without any sauce.\nGravies should always be sent up in a covered boat: they keep hot\nlonger; and it leaves it to the choice of the company to partake of them\nor not,\n_Bonne Bouche for Goose, Duck, or roast Pork._--(No. 341.)\nMix a tea-spoonful of made mustard, a salt-spoonful of salt, and a few\ngrains of Cayenne, in a large wine-glassful of claret or port\nwine;[251-*] pour it into the goose by a slit in the apron just before\nserving up;[251-+] or, as all the company may not like it, stir it into\na quarter of a pint of thick melted butter, or thickened gravy, and send\nit up in a boat. See also Sage and Onion Sauce, No. 300. _Or_,\nA favourite relish for roast pork or geese, &c. is, two ounces of leaves\nof green sage, an ounce of fresh lemon-peel pared thin, same of salt,\nminced eschalot, and half a drachm of Cayenne pepper, ditto of citric\nacid, steeped for a fortnight in a pint of claret; shake it up well\nevery day; let it stand a day to settle, and decant the clear liquor;\nbottle it, and cork it close; a table-spoonful or more in a quarter pint\nof gravy, or melted butter.\n_Robert Sauce for roast Pork, or Geese, &c._--(No. 342.)\nPut an ounce of butter into a pint stew-pan: when it is melted, add to\nit half an ounce of onion minced very fine; turn it with a wooden spoon\ntill it takes a light brown colour; then stir in a table-spoonful of\nflour, a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup (with or without the like\nquantity of port wine), half a pint of broth or water, and a quarter of\na tea-spoonful of pepper, the same of salt; give them a boil; then add a\ntea-spoonful of mustard, and the juice of half a lemon, or one or two\ntea-spoonfuls of vinegar or basil (No. 397), or tarragon (No. 396), or\nburnet vinegar (No. 399).\n_Obs._--The French call this \u201cSAUCE ROBERT\u201d (from the name of the cook\nwho invented it), and are very fond of it with many things, which MARY\nSMITH, in the \u201c_Complete Housekeeper_,\u201d 8vo. 1772, p. 105, translates\nROE-BOAT-SAUCE. See _Obs._ to No. 529.\n_Turtle Sauce._--(No. 343.)\nPut into your stew-pan a pint of beef gravy thickened (No. 329); add to\nthis some of the following--essence of turtle, (No. 343*), or a\nwine-glassful of Madeira, the juice and peel of half a lemon, a few\nleaves of basil,[252-*] an eschalot quartered, a few grains of Cayenne\npepper, or curry powder, and a little essence of anchovy; let them\nsimmer together for five minutes, and strain through a tamis: you may\nintroduce a dozen turtle forcemeat balls. See receipt, No. 380, &c.\n_Obs._--This is the sauce for boiled or hashed calf\u2019s head, stewed veal,\nor any dish you dress turtle fashion.\nThe far-fetched and dear-bought turtle owes its high rank on the list of\nsavoury _bonne bouches_ to the relishing and _piquante_ sauce that is\nmade for it; without, it would be as insipid as any other fish is\nwithout sauce. See _Obs._ to No. 493.\n_Essence of Turtle._--(No. 343*.)\n Essence of anchovy (No. 433), one wine-glassful.\n Eschalot wine (No. 402), one and a half ditto.\n Basil wine (No. 397), four ditto.\n Mushroom catchup (No. 439), two ditto.\n Concrete lemon acid, one drachm, or some artificial lemon-juice\n Lemon-peel, very thinly pared, three-quarters of an ounce.\n Curry powder (No. 455), a quarter of an ounce.\nSteep for a week, to get the flavour of the lemon-peel, &c.\n_Obs._--This is very convenient to extemporaneously _turtlefy_ soup,\nsauce, or potted meats, rago\u00fbts, savoury patties, pies, &c. &c.\n_Wine Sauce for Venison or Hare._--(No. 344.)\nA quarter of a pint of claret or port wine, the same quantity of plain,\nunflavoured mutton gravy (No. 347), and a table-spoonful of currant\njelly: let it just boil up, and send it to table in a sauce-boat.\n_Sharp Sauce for Venison._--(No. 345.)\nPut into a silver, or very clean and well-tinned saucepan, half a pint\nof the best white wine vinegar, and a quarter of a pound of loaf-sugar\npounded: set it over the fire, and let it simmer gently; skim it\ncarefully; pour it through a tamis or fine sieve, and send it up in a\nbasin.\n_Obs._--Some people like this better than the sweet wine sauces.\n_Sweet Sauce for Venison or Hare._--(No. 346.)\nPut some currant-jelly into a stew-pan; when it is melted, pour it into\na sauce-boat.\nN.B. Many send it to table without melting. To make currant-jelly, see\nThis is a more salubrious relish than either spice or salt, when the\npalate protests against animal food unless its flavour be masked.\nCurrant-jelly is a good accompaniment to roasted or hashed meats.\n_Mutton Gravy for Venison or Hare._--(No. 347.)\nThe best gravy for venison is that made with the trimmings of the joint:\nif this is all used, and you have no undressed venison, cut a scrag of\nmutton in pieces; broil it a little brown; then put it into a clean\nstew-pan, with a quart of boiling water; cover it close, and let it\nsimmer gently for an hour: now uncover the stew-pan, and let it reduce\nto three-quarters of a pint; pour it through a hair-sieve; take the fat\noff, and send it up in a boat. It is only to be seasoned with a little\nsalt, that it may not overpower the natural flavour of the meat. You may\ncolour it with a very little of No. 322.\nN.B. Some prefer the unseasoned beef gravy, No. 186, which you may make\nin five minutes with No. 252.\nTHE QUEEN\u2019S GRAVY OF MUTTON, as made by her Majesty\u2019s \u201c_Escuyer de\nCuisine_,\u201d Monsieur La Montagne. \u201cRoast a juicy leg of mutton\nthree-quarters; then gash it in several places, and press out the juice\nby a screw-press.\u201d--From SIR KENELM DIGBY\u2019S _Cookery_, 18mo. London,\n_Curry Sauce_,--(No. 348.)\nIs made by stirring a sufficient quantity of curry stuff, (No. 455) into\ngravy or melted butter, or onion sauce (Nos. 297, 298), or onion gravy\nThe compositions of curry powder, and the palates of those who eat it,\nvary so much, that we cannot recommend any specific quantity. The cook\nmust add it by degrees, tasting as she proceeds, and take care not to\nput in too much.\n_Obs._--The curry powder (No. 455) approximates more nearly to the best\nIndian curry stuff, and is an agreeable and well-blended mixture of this\nclass of aromatics.\nN.B. To dress curries, see No. 497.\n_Essence of Ham._--(No. 351.)\nEssence of ham and of beef may be purchased at the eating-houses which\ncut up those joints; the former for half a crown or three shillings a\nquart: it is therefore a most economical relish for made-dishes, and to\ngive _piquance_ to sauces, &c.\n_Grill Sauce._--(No. 355.)\nTo half a pint of gravy (No. 329), add an ounce of fresh butter, and a\ntable-spoonful of flour, previously well rubbed together, the same of\nmushroom or walnut catchup, two tea-spoonfuls of lemon-juice, one of\nmade mustard, one of minced capers, half a one of black pepper, a\nquarter of a rind of a lemon grated very thin, a tea-spoonful of essence\nof anchovies, and a little eschalot wine (No. 402), or a very small\npiece of minced eschalot, and a little Chili vinegar (No. 405), or a few\ngrains of Cayenne; simmer together for a few minutes; pour a little of\nit over the grill, and send up the rest in a sauce-tureen. For anchovy\ntoasts, No. 573, or No. 538. _Or_,\n_Sauce \u00e0 la Tartare._\nPound in a mortar three hard yelks of eggs; put them into a basin, and\nadd half a table-spoonful of made mustard, and a little pepper and salt;\npour to it by degrees, stirring it fast all the while, about two\nwine-glassfuls of salad oil; stir it together till it comes to a good\nthickness.\nN.B. A little tarragon or chervil minced very fine, and a little\nvinegar, may be added; or some of the ingredients enumerated in No. 372.\n_Obs._--This from the French artist who wrote the receipt for dressing a\nturtle.\n_Mem._--These are _piquante_ relishes for anchovy toasts (No. 573, or\nNo. 538); for BROILED DEVILS, &c. \u201c_V\u00e9ritable sauce d\u2019enfer_,\u201d see No.\n538; and a refreshing excitement for those idle palates, who are as\nincessantly mumbling out \u201cpiquante, piquante,\u201d as parrots do \u201cpretty\nPoll, pretty Poll.\u201d\n \u201cFor palates grown callous almost to disease,\n Who peppers the highest is surest to please.\u201d\n GOLDSMITH.\n_Sauce for Steaks, or Chops, Cutlets, &c._--(No. 356. See also No. 331.)\nTake your chops out of the frying-pan; for a pound of meat keep a\ntable-spoonful of the fat in the pan, or put in about an ounce of\nbutter; put to it as much flour as will make it a paste; rub it well\ntogether over the fire till they are a little brown; then add as much\nboiling water as will reduce it to the thickness of good cream, and a\ntable-spoonful of mushroom or walnut catchup, or pickle, or browning\n(No. 322, or No. 449); let it boil together a few minutes, and pour it\nthrough a sieve to the steaks, &c.\n_Obs._--To the above is sometimes added a sliced onion, or a minced\neschalot, with a table-spoonful of port wine, or a little eschalot wine\n(Nos. 402, 423, or 135). Garnish with finely-scraped horseradish, or\npickled walnuts, gherkins, &c. Some beef-eaters like chopped eschalots\nin one saucer, and horseradish grated in vinegar, in another. Broiled\nmushrooms are favourite relishes to beef-steaks.\n_Sauce Piquante for cold Meat, Game, Poultry, Fish, &c. or\nSalads._--(No. 359. See also No. 372, and Cucumber Vinegar, Nos. 399 and\nPound in a mortar the yelks of two eggs that have been boiled hard (No.\n547), with a mustard-spoonful of made mustard, and a little pepper and\nsalt; add two table-spoonfuls of salad oil; mix well, and then add three\ntable-spoonfuls of vinegar; rub it up well till it is quite smooth, and\npass it through a tamis or sieve.\n_Obs._--To the above, some add an anchovy, or a table-spoonful of\nmushroom catchup, or walnut pickle, some finely-chopped parsley, grated\nhorseradish, or young onions minced, or burnet (No. 399), horseradish\n(No. 399*, or No. 402), or tarragon, or elder vinegar (No. 396), &c.,\nand Cayenne or minced pickles, capers, &c. This is a _piquante_ relish\nfor lobsters, crabs, cold fish, &c.\n_Sauce for Hashes of Mutton or Beef._--(No. 360. See also Nos. 451, 485,\nand to make Plain Hash, No. 486.)\nUnless you are quite sure you perfectly understand the palate of those\nyou are working for, show those who are to eat the hash this receipt,\nand beg of them to direct you how they wish it seasoned.\nHalf the number of the ingredients enumerated will be more than enough:\nbut as it is a receipt so often wanted we have given variety. See also\nTo prepare the meat, see No. 484.\nChop the bones and fragments of the joint, &c., and put them into a\nstew-pan; cover them with boiling water, six berries of black pepper,\nthe same of allspice, a small bundle of parsley, half a head of celery\ncut in pieces, and a small sprig of savoury, or lemon-thyme, or sweet\nmarjoram; cover up, and let it simmer gently for half an hour.\nSlice half an ounce of onion, and put it into a stew-pan with an ounce\nof butter; fry it over a sharp fire for about a couple of minutes, till\nit takes a little colour; then stir in as much flour as will make it a\nstiff paste, and by degrees mix with it the gravy you have made from the\nbones, &c.; let it boil very gently for about a quarter of an hour, till\nit is the consistence of cream; strain it through a tamis or sieve into\na basin; put it back into the stew-pan: to season it, see No. 451, or\ncut in a few pickled onions, or walnuts, or a couple of gherkins, and a\ntable-spoonful of mushroom catchup, or walnut or other pickle liquor; or\nsome capers, and caper liquor; or a table-spoonful of ale; or a little\neschalot, or tarragon vinegar; cover the bottom of the dish with sippets\nof bread (that they may become savoury reservoirs of gravy), which some\ntoast and cut into triangles. You may garnish it with fried bread\nsippets (No. 319).\nN.B. To hash meat in perfection, it should be laid in this gravy only\njust long enough to get properly warm through.\n_Obs._ If any of the gravy that was sent up with, or ran from the joint\nwhen it was roasted, be left, it will be a great improvement to the\nhash.\nIf you wish to make mock venison, instead of the onion, put in two or\nthree cloves, a table-spoonful of currant jelly, and the same quantity\nof claret or port wine, instead of the catchup.\nYou may make a curry hash by adding some of No. 455.\nN.B. A pint of No. 329 is an excellent gravy to warm up either meat or\npoultry.\n_Sauce for hashed or minced Veal._--(No. 361. See No. 511.)\nTake the bones of cold roast or boiled veal, dredge them well with\nflour, and put them into a stew-pan with a pint and a half of broth or\nwater, a small onion, a little grated or finely-minced lemon-peel, or\nthe peel of a quarter of a small lemon, pared as thin as possible, half\na tea-spoonful of salt, and a blade of pounded mace; to thicken it, rub\na table-spoonful of flour into half an ounce of butter; stir it into the\nbroth, and set it on the fire, and let it boil very gently for about\nhalf an hour; strain through a tamis or sieve, and it is ready to put to\nthe veal to warm up; which is to be done by placing the stew-pan by the\nside of the fire. Squeeze in half a lemon, and cover the bottom of the\ndish with toasted bread sippets cut into triangles, and garnish the dish\nwith slices of ham or bacon. See Nos. 526 and 527.\n_Bechamel, by English Cooks commonly called White Sauce._ (No. 364.)\nCut in square pieces, half an inch thick, two pounds of lean veal, half\na pound of lean ham; melt in a stew-pan two ounces of butter; when\nmelted, let the whole simmer until it is ready to catch at the bottom\n(it requires great attention, as, if it happen to catch at the bottom of\nthe stew-pan, it will spoil the look of your sauce); then add to it\nthree table-spoonfuls of flour; when well mixed, add to it three pints\nof broth or water (pour a little at a time, that the thickening be\nsmooth); stir it until it boil; put the stew-pan on the corner of the\nstove to boil gently for two hours; season it with four cloves, one\nonion, twelve pepper-corns, a blade of mace, a few mushrooms and a fagot\nmade of parsley, a sprig of thyme, and a bay-leaf. Let the sauce reduce\nto a quart, skim the fat off, and strain it through a tamis cloth.\nTo make a bechamel sauce, add to a quart of the above a pint of good\ncream; stir it until it is reduced to a good thickness; a few mushrooms\ngive a good flavour to that sauce; strain it through a tamis cloth.\n_Obs._ The above was given us by a French artist.\n_A more economical Method of making a Pint of White Sauce._--(No.\nPut equal parts of broth and milk into a stew-pan with an onion and a\nblade of mace; set it on the fire to boil ten minutes; have ready and\nrub together on a plate an ounce of flour and butter; put it into the\nstew-pan; stir it well till it boils up; then stand it near the fire or\nstove, stirring it every now and then till it becomes quite smooth; then\nstrain it through a sieve into a basin; put it back into the stew-pan;\nseason it with salt and the juice of a small lemon; beat up the yelks of\ntwo eggs well with about three table-spoonfuls of milk, strain it\nthrough a sieve into your sauce, stir it well and keep it near the fire,\nbut be sure and do not let it boil, for it will curdle.\n_Obs._ A convenient veil for boiled fowls, &c. whose complexions are not\ninviting.\n_Mem._ With the assistance of the Magazine of Taste (No. 462) you may\ngive this sauce a variety of flavours.\n_Obs._ Bechamel implies a thick white sauce, approaching to a batter,\nand takes its name from a wealthy French Marquis, _ma\u00eetre d\u2019h\u00f4tel de\nLouis XIV._, and famous for his patronage of \u201c_les Officiers de\nBouche_,\u201d who have immortalized him, by calling by his name this\ndelicate composition.\nMost of the French sauces take their name from the person whose palate\nthey first pleased, as \u201c_\u00e0 la Maintenon_;\u201d or from some famous cook who\ninvented them, as \u201cSauce Robert,\u201d \u201c_\u00e0 la Montizeur_,\u201d &c.\nWe have in the English kitchen, our \u201cArgyll\u201d for gravy, and the little\n\u201cSandwich,\u201d \u201c_monumentum \u00e6re perennius_.\u201d\n ----\u201cAnd thus MONTEITH\n Has, by one vessel, saved his name from death.\u201d\n KING\u2019S _Art of Cookery_.\n_Poivrade Sauce._--(No. 365.)\nThis, as its title tells us, is a sauce of French extraction. The\nfollowing receipt is from \u201c_La Cuisini\u00e8re Bourgeoise_,\u201d page 408.\n\u201cPut a bit of butter as big as an egg into a stew-pan with two or three\nbits of onion, carrot, and turnip, cut in slices, two eschalots, two\ncloves, a bay-leaf, thyme, and basil; keep turning them in the pan till\nthey get a little colour; shake in some flour, and add a glass of red\nwine, a glass of water, a spoonful of vinegar, and a little pepper and\nsalt; boil half an hour; skim and strain it.\u201d\n_Mustard in a minute._--(No. 369.)\nMix very gradually, and rub together in a mortar, an ounce of flour of\nmustard, with three table-spoonfuls of milk (cream is better), half a\ntea-spoonful of salt, and the same of sugar; rub them well together till\nquite smooth.\n_Obs._ Mustard made in this manner is not at all bitter, and is\ntherefore instantly ready for the table.\nN.B. It has been said that flour of mustard is sometimes adulterated\nwith common flour, &c. &c.\n_Mustard._--(No. 370.)\nMix (by degrees, by rubbing together in a mortar) the best Durham flour\nof mustard, with vinegar, white wine, or cold water, in which scraped\nhorseradish has been boiled; rub it well together for at least ten\nminutes, till it is perfectly smooth; it will keep in a stone jar\nclosely stopped, for a fortnight: only put as much into the mustard-pot\nas will be used in a day or two.\nThe ready-made mustard prepared at the oil shops is mixed with about\none-fourth part salt: this is done to preserve it, if it is to be kept\nlong; otherwise, by all means, omit it. The best way of eating salt is\nin substance.\n\u2042 See also recipe No. 427.\n_Obs._ Mustard is the best of all the stimulants that are employed to\ngive energy to the digestive organs. It was in high favour with our\nforefathers; in the _Northumberland Household Book_ for 1512, p. 18, is\nan order for an annual supply of 160 gallons of mustard.\nSome opulent epicures mix it with sherry or Madeira wine, or distilled\nor flavoured vinegar, instead of horseradish water.\nThe French flavour their mustard with Champaigne and other wines, or\nwith vinegar flavoured with capers, anchovies, tarragon, elder, basil,\nburnet, garlic, eschalot, or celery, see No. 395 to No. 402: warming it\nwith Cayenne, or the various spices; sweet, savoury, fine herbs,\ntruffles, catchup, &c. &c., and seem to consider mustard merely as a\nvehicle of flavours.\nN.B. In Mons. Maille et Aclocque\u2019s catalogue of Parisian \u201c_Bono Bons_,\u201d\nthere is a list of twenty-eight differently flavoured mustards.\nIs (\u201c_aliorum condimentorum condimentum_,\u201d as Plutarch calls it,) sauce\nfor sauce.\nCommon salt is more relishing than basket salt; it should be prepared\nfor the table by drying it in a Dutch oven before the fire; then put it\non a clean paper, and roll it with a rolling pin; if you pound it in a\nmortar till it is quite fine, it will look as well as basket salt.\nMalden salt is still more _piquante_.\n\u2042 Select for table-use the lumps of salt.\n_Obs._ Your salt-box must have a close cover, and be kept in a dry\nplace.\n_Salad mixture._--(No. 372. See also Nos. 138* and 453.)\nEndeavour to have your salad herbs as fresh as possible; if you suspect\nthey are not \u201cmorning gathered,\u201d they will be much refreshed by lying an\nhour or two in spring-water; then carefully wash and pick them, and trim\noff all the worm-eaten, slimy, cankered, dry leaves; and, after washing,\nlet them remain a while in the colander to drain: lastly, swing them\ngently in a clean napkin: when properly picked and cut, arrange them in\nthe salad dish, mix the sauce in a soup plate, and put it into an\ningredient bottle,[260-*] or pour it down the side of the salad dish,\nand don\u2019t stir it up till the mouths are ready for it.\nIf the herbs be young, fresh gathered, trimmed neatly, and drained dry,\nand the sauce-maker ponders patiently over the following directions, he\ncannot fail obtaining the fame of being a very accomplished\nsalad-dresser.\nBoil a couple of eggs for twelve minutes, and put them in a basin of\ncold water for a few minutes; the yelks must be quite cold and hard, or\nthey will not incorporate with the ingredients. Rub them through a\nsieve with a wooden spoon, and mix them with a table-spoonful of water,\nor fine double cream; then add two table-spoonfuls of oil or melted\nbutter; when these are well mixed, add, by degrees, a tea-spoonful of\nsalt, or powdered lump sugar, and the same of made mustard: when these\nare smoothly united, add very gradually three table-spoonfuls of\nvinegar; rub it with the other ingredients till thoroughly incorporated\nwith them; cut up the white of the egg, and garnish the top of the salad\nwith it. Let the sauce remain at the bottom of the bowl, and do not stir\nup the salad till it is to be eaten: we recommend the eaters to be\nmindful of the duty of mastication, without the due performance of\nwhich, all undressed vegetables are troublesome company for the\nprincipal viscera, and some are even dangerously indigestible.\n_Boiled Salad._\nThis is best compounded of boiled or baked onions (if Portugal the\nbetter), some baked beet-root, cauliflower, or broccoli, and boiled\ncelery and French beans, or any of these articles, with the common salad\ndressing; added to this, to give it an enticing appearance, and to give\nsome of the crispness and freshness so pleasant in salad, a small\nquantity of raw endive, or lettuce and chervil, or burnet, strewed on\nthe top: this is by far more wholesome than the raw salad, and is much\neaten when put on the table.\nN.B. The above sauce is equally good with cold meat, cold fish, or for\ncucumbers, celery, radishes, &c. and all the other vegetables that are\nsent to table undressed: to the above, a little minced onion is\ngenerally an acceptable addition.\n_Obs._ Salad is a very compound dish with our neighbours the French, who\nalways add to the mixture above, black pepper, and sometimes savoury\nspice.\nThe Italians mince the white meat of chickens into this sauce.\nThe Dutch, cold boiled turbot or lobster; or add to it a spoonful of\ngrated parmesan or old Cheshire cheese, or mince very fine a little\ntarragon, or chervil, burnet, or young onion, celery, or pickled\ngherkins, &c.\nJoan Cromwell\u2019s grand salad was composed of equal parts of almonds,\nraisins, capers, pickled cucumbers, shrimps, and boiled turnips.\nThis mixture is sometimes made with cream, oiled butter (see No. 260*),\nor some good jelly of meat (which many prefer to the finest Florence\noil), and flavoured with salad mixture (No. 453), basil (No. 397), or\ncress or celery vinegar (No. 397*), horseradish vinegar (No. 399*),\ncucumber vinegar (No. 399), and _Obs._ to No. 116 of the Appendix;\ntarragon, or elder vinegar, essence of celery (No. 409), walnut or lemon\npickle, or a slice of lemon cut into dice, and essence of anchovy (No.\n_Forcemeat Stuffings._--(No. 373.)\nForcemeat is now considered an indispensable accompaniment to most made\ndishes, and when composed with good taste, gives additional spirit and\nrelish to even that \u201csovereign of savouriness,\u201d turtle soup.\nIt is also sent up in patties, and for stuffing of veal, game, poultry,\nThe ingredients should be so proportioned, that no one flavour\npredominates.\nTo give the same stuffing for veal, hare, &c. argues a poverty of\ninvention; with a little contrivance, you may make as great a variety as\nyou have dishes.\nI have given receipts for some of the most favourite compositions, and a\ntable of materials, a glance at which will enable the ingenious cook to\nmake an infinite variety of combinations: the first column containing\nthe spirit, the second the substance of them.\nThe poignancy of forcemeat should be proportioned to the savouriness of\nthe viands, to which it is intended to give an additional zest. Some\ndishes require a very delicately flavoured forcemeat, for others, it\nmust be full and high seasoned. What would be _piquante_ in a turkey,\nwould be insipid with turtle.\nTastes are so different, and the praise the cook receives will depend so\nmuch on her pleasing the palate of those she works for, that all her\nsagacity must be on the alert, to produce the flavours to which her\nemployers are partial. See pages 45 and 46.\nMost people have an acquired and peculiar taste in stuffings, &c., and\nwhat exactly pleases one, seldom is precisely what another considers the\nmost agreeable: and after all the contrivance of a pains-taking\npalatician, to combine her \u201c_hauts go\u00fbts_\u201d in the most harmonious\nproportions,\n \u201cThe very dish one likes the best,\n Is acid, or insipid, to the rest.\u201d\nCustom is all in all in matters of taste: it is not that one person is\nnaturally fond of this or that, and another naturally averse to it; but\nthat one is used to it, and another is not.\nThe consistency of forcemeats is rather a difficult thing to manage;\nthey are almost always either too light or too heavy.\nTake care to pound it till perfectly smooth, and that all the\ningredients are thoroughly incorporated.\nForcemeat-balls must not be larger than a small nutmeg. If they are for\nbrown sauce, flour and fry them; if for white, put them into boiling\nwater, and boil them for three minutes: the latter are by far the most\ndelicate.\nN.B. If not of sufficient stiffness, it falls to pieces, and makes soup,\n&c. grouty and very unsightly.\nSweetbreads and tongues are the favourite materials for forcemeat.\nMATERIALS USED FOR FORCEMEAT, STUFFINGS, &C.\n SPIRIT.\n Common thyme. }\n Lemon-thyme. }\n Orange-thyme. }\n Sweet marjoram. }\n Winter savoury. } Fresh and green,\n Tarragon (No. 396). } powder (No. 461).\n Truffles and }\n Mushroom powder (No. 439).\n Leeks.\n Onions.\n Eschalot (No. 402).\n Garlic.\n Lemon-peel (see Nos. 407 and 408).\n Shrimps (No. 175)\n Prawns.\n Crabs.\n Lobsters (Nos. 176 and 178).\n Oysters.\n Anchovy (No. 433).\n Dressed TONGUE (see N.B. to No. 373).\n Ham.\n Bacon.\n Black or white pepper.\n Allspice.\n Mace.\n Cinnamon\n Ginger.\n Nutmegs.\n Cloves.\n Capers and pickles (minced or pounded)\n Savoury powder (No. 465).\n Soup herb powder (No. 467).\n Curry powder (No. 455).\n Cayenne (No. 404).\n SUBSTANCES.\n Flour.\n Crumbs of bread.\n Parsley (see N.B. to No. 261).\n Spinage.\n Boiled onion.\n Mashed potatoes (No. 106).\n Yelks of hard eggs (No. 574).\n Mutton.\n Beef.\n Veal suet,[263-*] or marrow.\n Calf\u2019s udder, or brains.\n Parboiled sweetbread.\n Veal, minced and pounded, and\n Potted meats, &c. (No. 503.)\nFor liquids, you have meat gravy, lemon-juice, syrup of lemons (Nos. 391\nand 477), essence of anchovy (No. 433), the various vegetable essences\n(No. 407), mushroom catchup (No. 439), and the whites and yelks of eggs,\nwines, and the essence of spices.\n_Stuffing for Veal, roast Turkey, Fowl, &c._--(No. 374.)\nMince a quarter of a pound of beef suet (beef marrow is better), the\nsame weight of bread-crumbs, two drachms of parsley-leaves, a drachm and\na half of sweet marjoram or lemon-thyme, and the same of grated\nlemon-peel and onion chopped as fine as possible, a little pepper and\nsalt; pound thoroughly together with the yelk and white of two eggs, and\nsecure it in the veal with a skewer, or sew it in with a bit of thread.\nMake some of it into balls or sausages; flour them, and boil, or fry\nthem, and send them up as a garnish, or in a side dish, with roast\npoultry, veal, or cutlets, &c.\nN.B. This is about the quantity for a turkey poult: a very large turkey\nwill take nearly twice as much. To the above may be added an ounce of\ndressed ham; or use equal parts of the above stuffing and pork sausage\nmeat (No. 87.) pounded well together.\n_Obs._ Good stuffing has always been considered a _chef-d\u2019\u0153uvre_ in\ncookery: it has given immortality to\n \u201cPoor _Roger Fowler_, who\u2019d a generous mind,\n Nor would submit to have his hand confin\u2019d,\n But aimed at all,--yet never could excel\n In any thing but _stuffing_ of his veal.\u201d\n KING\u2019S _Art of Cookery_, p. 113.\n_Veal Forcemeat._--(No. 375.)\nOf undressed lean veal (after you have scraped it quite fine, and free\nfrom skin and sinews), two ounces, the same quantity of beef or veal\nsuet, and the same of bread-crumbs; chop fine two drachms of parsley,\none of lemon-peel, one of sweet herbs, one of onion, and half a drachm\nof mace, or allspice, beaten to fine powder; pound all together in a\nmortar; break into it the yelk and white of an egg; rub it all up well\ntogether, and season it with a little pepper and salt.\n_Obs._--This may be made more savoury by the addition of cold boiled\npickled tongue, anchovy, eschalot, Cayenne or curry powder, &c.\n_Stuffing for Turkeys or Fowls, &c._--(No. 377.)\nTake the foregoing composition for the roast turkey, or add the soft\npart of a dozen oysters to it: an anchovy, or a little grated ham, or\ntongue, if you like it, is still more relishing. Fill the craw of the\nfowl, &c.; but do not cram it so as to disfigure its shape.\nPork sausage meat is sometimes used to stuff turkeys and fowls; or\nfried, and sent up as a garnish.\n_Goose or Duck Stuffing._--(No. 378.)\nChop very fine about two ounces of onion, of green sage-leaves about an\nounce (both unboiled), four ounces of bread-crumbs, a bit of butter\nabout as big as a walnut, &c., the yelk and white of an egg, and a\nlittle pepper and salt: some add to this a minced apple.\nFor another, see roasted goose and duck (Nos. 59 and 61), which latter\nwe like as forcemeat-balls for mock turtle; then add a little\nlemon-peel, and warm it with Cayenne.\n_Stuffing for Hare._--(No. 379.)\nTwo ounces of beef suet chopped fine; three ounces of fine bread-crumbs;\nparsley, a drachm; eschalot, half a drachm; a drachm of marjoram,\nlemon-thyme, or winter savoury; a drachm of grated lemon-peel, and the\nsame of pepper and salt: mix these with the white and yelk of an egg; do\nnot make it thin--it must be of cohesive consistence: if your stuffing\nis not stiff enough, it will be good for nothing: put it in the hare,\nand sew it up.\n\u2042 If the liver is quite sound, you may parboil it, and mince it very\nfine, and add it to the above.\n_Forcemeat-Balls for Turtle, Mock Turtle, or Made Dishes._ (No. 380. See\nalso No. 375.)\nPound some veal in a marble mortar; rub it through a sieve with as much\nof the udder as you have veal, or about a third of the quantity of\nbutter: put some bread-crumbs into a stew-pan, moisten them with milk,\nadd a little chopped parsley and eschalot, rub them well together in a\nmortar till they form a smooth paste; put it through a sieve, and, when\ncold, pound, and mix all together, with the yelks of three eggs boiled\nhard; season it with salt, pepper, and curry powder, or Cayenne; add to\nit the yelks of two raw eggs; rub it well together, and make small\nballs: ten minutes before your soup is ready, put them in.\n_Egg Balls._--(No. 381.)\nBoil four eggs for ten minutes, and put them into cold water; when they\nare quite cold, put the yelks into a mortar with the yelk of a raw egg,\na tea-spoonful of flour, same of chopped parsley, as much salt as will\nlie on a shilling, and a little black pepper, or Cayenne; rub them well\ntogether, roll them into small balls (as they swell in boiling); boil\nthem a couple of minutes.\n_Brain Balls._\nSee No. 247, or beat up the brains of a calf in the way we have above\ndirected the egg.\n_Curry Balls for Mock Turtle, Veal, Poultry, Made Dishes, &c._ (No.\nAre made with bread-crumbs, the yelk of an egg boiled hard, and a bit of\nfresh butter about half as big, beaten together in a mortar, and\nseasoned with curry powder (No. 455): make and prepare small balls, as\ndirected in No. 381.\n_Fish Forcemeat._--(No. 383.)\nTake two ounces of either turbot, sole, lobster, shrimps, or oysters;\nfree from skin, put it in a mortar with two ounces of fresh butter, one\nounce of bread-crumbs, the yelk of two eggs boiled-hard, and a little\neschalot, grated lemon-peel, and parsley, minced very fine; then pound\nit well till it is thoroughly mixed and quite smooth; season it with\nsalt and Cayenne to your taste; break in the yelk and white of one egg,\nrub it well together, and it is ready for use. Oysters parboiled and\nminced fine, and an anchovy, may be added.\n_Zest Balls._--(No. 386. See No. 255.)\nPrepared in the same way as No. 381.\n_Orange or Lemon-peel, to mix with Stuffing._--(No. 387.)\nPeel a Seville orange, or lemon, very thin, taking off only the fine\nyellow rind (without any of the white); pound it in a mortar with a bit\nof lump sugar; rub it well with the peel; by degrees add a little of the\nforcemeat it is to be mixed with: when it is well ground and blended\nwith this, mix it with the whole: there is no other way of incorporating\nit so well.\nForcemeats, &c. are frequently spoiled by the insufficient mixing of the\ningredients.\n_Clouted or Clotted Cream._--(No. 388.)\nThe milk which is put into the pans one morning stands till the next;\nthen set the pan on a hot hearth, or in a copper tray[267-*] half full\nof water; put this over a stove; in from ten to twenty minutes,\naccording to the quantity of the milk and the size of the pan, it will\nbe done enough; the sign of which is, that bladders rise on its surface;\nthis denotes that it is near boiling, which it must by no means do; and\nit must be instantly removed from the fire, and placed in the dairy till\nthe next morning, when the fine cream is thrown up, and is ready for the\ntable, or for butter, into which it is soon converted by stirring it\nwith the hand.\nN.B. This receipt we have not proved.\n_Raspberry Vinegar._--(No. 390.)\nThe best way to make this, is to pour three pints of the best white wine\nvinegar on a pint and a half of fresh-gathered red raspberries in a\nstone jar, or China bowl (neither glazed earthenware, nor any metallic\nvessel, must be used); the next day strain the liquor over a like\nquantity of fresh raspberries; and the day following do the same. Then\ndrain off the liquor without pressing, and pass it through a jelly bag\n(previously wetted with plain vinegar) into a stone jar, with a pound of\npounded lump sugar to each pint. When the sugar is dissolved, stir it\nup, cover down the jar, and set it in a saucepan of water, and keep it\nboiling for an hour, taking off the scum; add to each pint a glass of\nbrandy, and bottle it: mixed in about eight parts of water, it is a very\nrefreshing and delightful summer drink. An excellent cooling beverage to\nassuage thirst in ardent fevers, colds, and inflammatory complaints, &c.\nand is agreeable to most palates.\nN.B. We have not proved this receipt.\n_Syrup of Lemons._--(No. 391.)\nThe best season for lemons is from November to March. Put a pint of\nfresh lemon-juice to a pound and three-quarters of lump sugar; dissolve\nit by a gentle heat; skim it till the surface is quite clear; add an\nounce of thin-cut lemon-peel; let them simmer (very gently) together for\na few minutes, and run it through a flannel. When cold, bottle and cork\nit closely, and keep it in a cool place. _Or_,\nDissolve a quarter of an ounce (avoirdupois) of citric, _i. e._\ncrystallized lemon acid, in a pint of clarified syrup (No. 475); flavour\nit with the peel, with No. 408, or dissolve the acid in equal parts of\nsimple syrup (No. 475), and syrup of lemon-peel, as made No. 393.\n_The Justice\u2019s Orange Syrup for Punch or Puddings._--(No. 392.)\nSqueeze the oranges, and strain the juice from the pulp into a large\npot; boil it up with a pound and a half of fine sugar to each point of\njuice; skim it well; let it stand till cold; then bottle it, and cork it\nwell.\n_Obs._--This makes a fine, soft, mellow-flavoured punch; and, added to\nmelted butter, is a good relish to puddings.\n_Syrup of Orange or Lemon-peel._--(No. 393.)\nOf fresh outer rind of Seville orange or lemon-peel, three ounces,\napothecaries\u2019 weight; boiling water a pint and a half; infuse them for a\nnight in a close vessel; then strain the liquor: let it stand to settle;\nand having poured it off clear from the sediment, dissolve in it two\npounds of double-refined loaf sugar, and make it into a syrup with a\ngentle heat.\n_Obs._--In making this syrup, if the sugar be dissolved in the infusion\nwith as gentle a heat as possible, to prevent the exhalation of the\nvolatile parts of the peel, this syrup will possess a great share of the\nfine flavour of the orange, or lemon-peel.\n_Vinegar for Salads._--(No. 395.)\n\u201cTake of tarragon, savoury, chives, eschalots, three ounces each; a\nhandful of the tops of mint and balm, all dry and pounded; put into a\nwide-mouthed bottle, with a gallon of best vinegar; cork it close, set\nit in the sun, and in a fortnight strain off, and squeeze the herbs; let\nit stand a day to settle, and then strain it through a filtering bag.\u201d\nFrom PARMENTIER\u2019S _Art de faire les Vinaigres_, 8vo. 1805, p. 205.\n_Tarragon Vinegar._--(No. 396.)\nThis is a very agreeable addition to soups, salad sauce (No. 455), and\nto mix mustard (No. 370). Fill a wide-mouthed bottle with fresh-gathered\ntarragon-leaves, _i. e._ between midsummer and Michaelmas (which should\nbe gathered on a dry day, just before it flowers), and pick the leaves\noff the stalks, and dry them a little before the fire; cover them with\nthe best vinegar; let them steep fourteen days; then strain through a\nflannel jelly bag till it is fine; then pour it into half-pint bottles;\ncork them carefully, and keep them in a dry place.\n_Obs._ You may prepare elder-flowers and herbs in the same manner; elder\nand tarragon are those in most general use in this country.\nOur neighbours, the French, prepare vinegars flavoured with celery,\ncucumbers, capsicums, garlic, eschalot, onion, capers, chervil,\ncress-seed, burnet, truffles, Seville orange-peel, ginger, &c.; in\nshort, they impregnate them with almost every herb, fruit, flower, and\nspice, separately, and in innumerable combinations.\nMessrs. Maille et Aclocque, _Vinaigriers \u00e0 Paris_, sell sixty-five sorts\nof variously flavoured vinegar, and twenty-eight different sorts of\nmustard.\n_Basil Vinegar or Wine._--(No. 397.)\nSweet basil is in full perfection about the middle of August. Fill a\nwide-mouthed bottle with the fresh green leaves of basil (these give\nmuch finer and more flavour than the dried), and cover them with\nvinegar, or wine, and let them steep for ten days: if you wish a very\nstrong essence, strain the liquor, put it on some fresh leaves, and let\nthem steep fourteen days more.\n_Obs._ This is a very agreeable addition to sauces, soups, and to the\nmixture usually made for salads. See Nos. 372 and 453.\nIt is a secret the makers of mock turtle may thank us for telling; a\ntable-spoonful put in when the soup is finished will impregnate a tureen\nof soup with the basil and acid flavours, at very small cost, when fresh\nbasil and lemons are extravagantly dear.\nThe flavour of the other sweet and savoury herbs, celery, &c. may be\nprocured, and preserved in the same manner (No. 409, or No. 417), by\ninfusing them in wine or vinegar.\n_Cress Vinegar._--(No. 397*.)\nDry and pound half an ounce of cress-seed (such as is sown in the garden\nwith mustard), pour upon it a quart of the best vinegar, let it steep\nten days, shaking it up every day.\n_Obs._ This is very strongly flavoured with cress; and for salads and\ncold meats, &c. it is a great favourite with many: the quart of sauce\ncosts only a half-penny more than the vinegar.\nCelery vinegar is made in the same manner.\nThe crystal vinegar (No. 407*), which is, we believe, the pyroligneous\nacid, is the best for receiving flavours, having scarcely any of its\nown.\n_Green Mint Vinegar_,--(No. 398.)\nIs made precisely in the same manner, and with the same proportions as\n_Obs._--In the early season of housed lamb, green mint is sometimes not\nto be got; the above is then a welcome substitute.\n_Burnet or Cucumber Vinegar._--(No. 399.)\nThis is made in precisely the same manner as directed in No. 397. The\nflavour of burnet resembles cucumber so exactly, that when infused in\nvinegar, the nicest palate would pronounce it to be cucumber.\n_Obs._--This is a very favourite relish with cold meat, salads, &c.\nBurnet is in best season from midsummer to Michaelmas.\n_Horseradish Vinegar._--(No. 399*.)\nHorseradish is in highest perfection about November.\nPour a quart of best vinegar on three ounces of scraped horseradish, an\nounce of minced eschalot, and one drachm of Cayenne; let it stand a\nweek, and you will have an excellent relish for cold beef, salads, &c.\ncosting scarcely any thing.\nN.B. A portion of black pepper and mustard, celery or cress-seed, may be\nadded to the above.\n_Obs._--Horseradish powder (No. 458*).\n_Garlic Vinegar._--(No. 400.)\nGarlic is ready for this purpose from midsummer to Michaelmas.\nPeel and chop two ounces of garlic, pour on them a quart of white wine\nvinegar, stop the jar close, and let it steep ten days, shaking it well\nevery day; then pour off the clear liquor into small bottles.\n_Obs._--The cook must be careful not to use too much of this; a few\ndrops of it will give a pint of gravy a sufficient smack of the garlic,\nthe flavour of which, when slight and well blended, is one of the finest\nwe have; when used in excess, it is the most offensive.\nThe best way to use garlic, is to send up some of this vinegar in a\ncruet, and let the company flavour their own sauce as they like.\nN.B. The most elegant preparation of the onion tribe is the eschalot\nwine, No. 402.\n_Eschalot Vinegar_,--(No. 401.)\nIs made in the same manner, and the cook should never be without one of\nthese useful auxiliaries; they cost scarcely any thing but the little\ntrouble of making, and will save a great deal of trouble in flavouring\nsoups and sauces with a taste of onion.\nN.B. Eschalots are in high perfection during July, August, and\nSeptember.\n_Eschalot Wine._--(No. 402.)\nPeel, mince, and pound in a mortar, three ounces of eschalots, and\ninfuse them in a pint of sherry for ten days; then pour off the clear\nliquor on three ounces more eschalots, and let the wine stand on them\nten days longer.\n_Obs._--This is rather the most expensive, but infinitely the most\nelegant preparation of eschalot, and imparts the onion flavour to soups\nand sauces, for chops, steaks, or boiled meats, hashes, &c. more\nagreeably than any: it does not leave any unpleasant taste in the mouth,\nor to the breath; nor repeat, as almost all other preparations of\ngarlic, onion, &c. do.\nN.B. An ounce of scraped horseradish may be added to the above, and a\nlittle thin-cut lemon-peel, or a few drops of No. 408.\n_Camp Vinegar._--(No. 403.)\n Cayenne pepper, one drachm, avoirdupois weight.\n Soy, two table-spoonfuls.\n Walnut catchup, four ditto.\n Six anchovies chopped.\n A small clove of garlic, minced fine.\nSteep all for a month in a pint of the best vinegar, frequently shaking\nthe bottle: strain through a tamis, and keep it in small bottles, corked\nas tightly as possible.\n_Cayenne Pepper._--(No. 404.)\nMr. Accum has informed the public (see his book on Adulterations) that\nfrom some specimens that came direct to him from India, and others\nobtained from respectable oil shops in London, he has extracted lead!\n\u201cForeign Cayenne pepper is an indiscriminate mixture of the powder of\nthe dried pods of many species of capsicums, especially of the bird\npepper, which is the hottest of all. As it comes to us from the West\nIndies, it changes the infusion of turnsole to a beautiful green,\nprobably owing to the salt, which is always added to it, and the red\noxide of lead, with which it is said to be adulterated.\u201d DUNCAN\u2019S _New\nEdinburgh Dispensary_, 1819, Article _Capsicum_, p. 81.\nThe Indian Cayenne is prepared in a very careless manner, and often\nlooks as if the pods had lain till they were decayed, before they were\ndried: this accounts for the dirty brown appearance it commonly has. If\nproperly dried as soon as gathered, it will be of a clear red colour: to\ngive it the complexion of that made with good fresh-gathered capsicums\nor Chilies, some annatto, or other vegetable red colouring matter, is\npounded with it: this, Mr. A. assures us, is frequently adulterated with\nIndian red, _i. e._ \u201cred lead!\u201d\nWhen Cayenne is pounded, it is mixed with a considerable portion of\nsalt, to prevent its flying up and hurting the eyes: this might be\navoided by grinding it in a mill, which may easily be made close enough,\nespecially if it be passed through a second time, and then sifted\nthrough a fine drum-headed sieve, to produce as fine a powder as can be\nobtained by pounding; however, our English chilies may be pounded in a\ndeep mortar without any danger.\nThe flavour of the Chilies is very superior to that of the capsicums,\nand will be good in proportion as they are dried as soon as possible,\ntaking care they are not burned.\nTake away the stalks, and put the pods into a colander; set it before\nthe fire; they will take full twelve hours to dry, then put them into a\nmortar, with one-fourth their weight of salt, and pound them, and rub\nthem till they are fine as possible, and put them into a well-stopped\nbottle.\nN.B. We advise those who are fond of Cayenne not to think it too much\ntrouble to make it of English Chilies; there is no other way of being\nsure it is genuine, and they will obtain a pepper of much finer flavour,\nwithout half the heat of the foreign.\nA hundred large Chilies, costing only two shillings, will produce you\nabout two ounces of Cayenne, so it is as cheap as the commonest Cayenne.\nFour hundred Chilies, when the stems were taken off, weighed half a\npound; and when dried, produced a quarter of a pound of Cayenne pepper.\n_Essence of Cayenne._--(No. 405.)\nPut half an ounce of Cayenne pepper (No. 404) into half a pint of brandy\nor wine; let it steep for a fortnight, and then pour off the clear\nliquor.\nThis is nearly equal to fresh Chili juice.\n_Obs._--This or the Chili vinegar (No. 405*,) is extremely convenient\nfor the extempore seasoning and finishing of soups, sauces, &c., its\nflavour being instantly and equally diffused. Cayenne pepper varies so\nmuch in strength, that it is impossible to season soup any other way to\nthe precise point of _piquance_.\n_Chili Vinegar._--(No. 405*.)\nThis is commonly made with the foreign bird pepper; but you will obtain\na much finer flavour from infusing fifty fresh red English Chilies (cut\nin half, or pounded) in a pint of the best vinegar for a fortnight, or a\nquarter of an ounce of Cayenne pepper, No. 404.\n_Obs._--Many people cannot eat fish without the addition of an acid, and\nCayenne pepper: to such palates this will be an agreeable relish.\n_Chili, or Cayenne Wine._--(No. 406.)\nPound and steep fifty fresh red Chilies, or a quarter of an ounce of\nCayenne pepper, in half a pint of brandy, white wine, or claret, for\nfourteen days.\n_Obs._--This is a \u201c_bonne bouche_\u201d for the lovers of Cayenne, of which\nit takes up a larger proportion of its flavour than of its fire; which\nbeing instantly diffused, it is a very useful auxiliary to warm and\nfinish soups and sauces, &c.\n_Essence of Lemon-peel._--(No. 407.)\nWash and brush clean the lemons; let them get perfectly dry: take a lump\nof loaf sugar, and rub them till all the yellow rind is taken up by the\nsugar: scrape off the surface of the sugar into a preserving pot, and\npress it hard down; cover it very close, and it will keep for some\ntime.\nIn the same way you may get the essence of Seville orange-peel.\n_Obs._ This method of procuring and preserving the flavour of\nlemon-peel, by making an _oleo-saccharum_, is far superior to the common\npractice of paring off the rind, or grating it, and pounding, or mixing\nthat with sugar: by this process you obtain the whole of the fine,\nfragrant, essential oil, in which is contained the flavour.\n_Artificial Lemon-juice._--(No. 407*.)\nIf you add a drachm of lump sugar, pounded, and six drops of No. 408, to\nthree ounces of crystal vinegar, which is the name given to the\npyroligneous vinegar, you will have an excellent substitute for\nlemon-juice--for fish sauces and soups, and many other culinary\npurposes. The flavour of the lemon may also be communicated to the\nvinegar by infusing some lemon-peel in it.\nN.B. The pyroligneous vinegar is perfectly free from all flavour, save\nthat of the pure acid; therefore, it is a very valuable menstruum for\nreceiving impregnations from various flavouring materials.\nThe pyroligneous acid seems likely to produce quite a revolution in the\nprocess of curing hams, herrings, &c. &c. See TILLOCH\u2019S _Philosophical\n_Quintessence of Lemon-peel._--(No. 408.)\nBest oil of lemon, one drachm, strongest rectified spirit, two ounces,\nintroduced by degrees till the spirit kills, and completely mixes with\nthe oil. This elegant preparation possesses all the delightful fragrance\nand flavour of the freshest lemon-peel.\n_Obs._ A few drops on the sugar you make punch with will instantly\nimpregnate it with as much flavour as the troublesome and tedious method\nof grating the rind, or rubbing the sugar on it.\nIt will be found a superlative substitute for fresh lemon-peel for every\npurpose that it is used for: blanc mange, jellies, custards, ice, negus,\nlemonade, and pies and puddings, stuffings, soups, sauces, rago\u00fbts, &c.\nSee also No. 393.\n_Tincture of Lemon-peel._--(No. 408*.)\nA very easy and economical way of obtaining, and preserving the flavour\nof lemon-peel, is to fill a wide-mouthed pint bottle half full of\nbrandy, or proof spirit; and when you use a lemon, pare the rind off\nvery thin, and put it into the brandy, &c.: in a fortnight it will\nimpregnate the spirit with the flavour very strongly.\n_Essence of Celery._--(No. 409.)\n Brandy, or proof spirit, a quarter of a pint.\n Celery-seed bruised, half an ounce, avoirdupois weight.\nLet it steep for a fortnight.\n_Obs._--A few drops will immediately flavour a pint of broth, and are an\nexcellent addition to pease, and other soups, and the salad mixture of\noil, vinegar, &c. (No. 392.)\nN.B. To make celery sauce, see No. 289.\n_Aromatic Essence of Ginger._--(No. 411.)\nThree ounces of fresh-grated[275-*] ginger, and two ounces of thin-cut\nlemon-peel, into a quart of brandy, or proof spirit (apothecaries\u2019\nmeasure); let it stand for ten days, shaking it up each day.\n_Obs._--The proper title for this would be \u201ctincture of ginger:\u201d\nhowever, as it has obtained the name of \u201cessence,\u201d so let it be called.\nN.B. If ginger is taken to produce an immediate effect, to warm the\nstomach, or dispel flatulence, this is the best preparation.\n_Essence of Allspice for mulling of Wine._--(No. 412.)\nOil of pimento, a drachm, apothecaries\u2019 measure, strong spirit of wine,\ntwo ounces, mixed by degrees: a few drops will give the flavour of\nallspice to a pint of gravy, or mulled wine, or to make a bishop. Mulled\nwine made with Burgundy is called bishop; with old Rhenish wine,\ncardinal; and with Tokay, Pope. RITTER\u2019S _Weinlehres_, p. 200.\n_Tincture[275-+] of Allspice._--(No. 413.)\n Of allspice bruised, three ounces, apothecaries\u2019 weight.\n Brandy, a quart.\nLet it steep a fortnight, occasionally shaking it up; then pour off the\nclear liquor: it is a most grateful addition in all cases where allspice\nis used, for making a bishop, or to mulled wine extempore, or in\ngravies, &c., or to flavour and preserve potted meats (No. 503). See SIR\nHANS SLOANE\u2019S _Obs. on Allspice_, p. 96.\n_Tincture of Nutmeg._--(No. 413*.)\nIs made with the same proportions of nutmeg and brandy, as ordered for\nallspice. See _Obs._ to No. 415.\n_Essence of Clove and Mace._--(No. 414.)\n Strongest spirit of wine, two ounces, apothecaries\u2019 measure.\n Oil of nutmeg, or clove, or mace, a drachm, apothecaries\u2019 measure.\n_Tincture of Clove._--(No. 415.)\n Cloves bruised, three ounces, apothecaries\u2019 weight.\n Brandy, one quart.\nLet it steep ten days: strain it through a flannel sieve.\n_Obs._--Excellent to flavour \u201cbishop,\u201d or \u201cmulled wine.\u201d\n_Essence of Cinnamon._--(No. 416.)\n Strongest rectified spirit of wine, two ounces.\n Oil of Cinnamon, one drachm, apothecaries\u2019 measure.\n_Tincture of Cinnamon._--(No. 416*.)\nThis exhilarating cordial is made by pouring a bottle of genuine cognac\n(No. 471,) on three ounces of bruised cinnamon (cassia will not do).\nThis restorative was more in vogue formerly than it is now: a\ntea-spoonful of it, and a lump of sugar, in a glass of good sherry or\nMadeira, with the yelk of an egg beat up in it, was called \u201c_balsamum\nvit\u00e6_.\u201d\n \u201c_Cur moriatur homo, qui sumit de cinnamomo?_\u201d--\u201cCinnamon is verie\n comfortable to the stomacke, and the principall partes of the\n bodie.\u201d\n \u201c_Ventriculum, jecur, lienem, cerebrum, nervosque juvat et\n roborat._\u201d--\u201cI reckon it a great treasure for a student to have by\n him in his closet, to take now and then a spoonful.\u201d--COGAN\u2019S\n_Obs._--Two tea-spoonfuls in a wine-glass of water, are a present and\npleasant remedy in nervous languors, and in relaxations of the bowels:\nin the latter case, five drops of laudanum may be added to each dose.\n_Essence of Marjoram._--(No. 417.)\n Strongest rectified spirit, two ounces.\n Oil of origanum, one drachm, apothecaries\u2019 measure.\n_Vegetable Essences._--(No. 417*.)\nThe flavour of the various sweet and savoury herbs may be obtained by\ncombining their essential oils with rectified spirit of wine, in the\nproportion of one drachm of the former to two ounces of the latter, or\nby picking the leaves, and laying them for a couple of hours in a warm\nplace to dry, and then filling a large-mouthed bottle with them, and\npouring on them wine, brandy, proof spirit, or vinegar, and letting them\nsteep for fourteen days.\n_Soup-herb[277-*] Spirit._--(No. 420.)\n Of lemon-thyme,\n Winter savoury,\n Sweet marjoram,\n Sweet basil,--half an ounce of each.\n Lemon-peel grated, two drachms.\n Eschalots, the same.\n Celery-seed, a drachm, avoirdupois weight.\nPrepare them as directed in No. 461; and infuse them in a pint of\nbrandy, or proof spirit, for ten days: they may also be infused in wine\nor vinegar, but neither extract the flavour of the ingredients half so\nwell as the spirit.\n_Spirit of Savoury Spice._--(No. 421.)\n Black pepper, an ounce; allspice, half an ounce, pounded fine.\n Nutmeg grated, a quarter of an ounce, avoirdupois weight.\nInfuse in a pint of brandy, or proof spirit, for ten days; or, infuse\nthe ingredients enumerated in No. 457, in a quart of brandy, or proof\nspirit, for the like time.\n_Soup-herb and Savoury Spice Spirit._--(No. 422.)\nMix half a pint of soup-herb spirit with a quarter of a pint of spirit\nof savoury spice.\n_Obs._--These preparations are valuable auxiliaries to immediately\nheighten the flavour, and finish soups, sauces, rago\u00fbts, &c., will save\nmuch time and trouble to the cook, and keep for twenty years.\n_Relish for Chops, &c._--(No. 423.)\nPound fine an ounce of black pepper, and half an ounce of allspice, with\nan ounce of salt, and half an ounce of scraped horseradish, and the same\nof eschalots, peeled and quartered; put these ingredients into a pint of\nmushroom catchup, or walnut pickle, and let them steep for a fortnight,\nand then strain it.\n_Obs._--A tea-spoonful or two of this is generally an acceptable\naddition, mixed with the gravy usually sent up for chops and steaks (see\nNo. 356); or added to thick melted butter.\n_Fish Sauce._--(No. 425.)\nTwo wine-glasses of port, and two of walnut pickle, four of mushroom\ncatchup, half a dozen anchovies, pounded, the like number of eschalots\nsliced and pounded, a table-spoonful of soy, and half a drachm of\nCayenne pepper; let them simmer gently for ten minutes; strain it, and\nwhen cold, put it into bottles; well corked, and sealed over, it will\nkeep for a considerable time.\n_Obs._--This is commonly called Quin\u2019s sauce, and was given to me by a\nvery sagacious sauce-maker.\n_Keeping Mustard._--(No. 427.)\nDissolve three ounces of salt in a quart of boiling water, or rather\nvinegar, and pour it hot upon two ounces of scraped horseradish; closely\ncover down the jar, and let it stand twenty-four hours: strain, and mix\nit by degrees with the best Durham flour of mustard, beat well together\ntill quite smooth, and of the proper thickness; put into a wide-mouthed\nbottle, and stop it closely. For the various ways to flavour mustard,\nsee No. 370.\n_Sauce Superlative._[278-*]--(No. 429.)\n Claret, or port wine, and mushroom catchup (see No. 439), a pint of each.\n Half a pint of walnut or other pickle liquor.\n Pounded anchovies, four ounces.\n Fresh lemon-peel, pared very thin, an ounce.\n Peeled and sliced eschalots, the same.\n Scraped horseradish, ditto.\n Allspice, and\n Black pepper powdered, half an ounce each.\n Cayenne, one drachm, or curry-powder, three drachms.\n Celery-seed bruised, a drachm. All avoirdupois weight.\nPut these into a wide-mouthed bottle, stop it close, shake it up every\nday for a fortnight, and strain it (when some think it improved by the\naddition of a quarter of a pint of soy, or thick browning, see No. 322),\nand you will have a \u201cdelicious double relish.\u201d\n\u2042 This composition is one of the \u201cchefs d\u2019\u0153uvre\u201d of many experiments\nI have made, for the purpose of enabling the good housewives of Great\nBritain to prepare their own sauces: it is equally agreeable with fish,\ngame, poultry, or rago\u00fbts, &c., and as a fair lady may make it herself,\nits relish will be not a little augmented, by the certainty that all the\ningredients are good and wholesome.\n_Obs._--Under an infinity of circumstances, a cook may be in want of the\nsubstances necessary to make sauce: the above composition of the several\narticles from which the various gravies derive their flavour, will be\nfound a very admirable extemporaneous substitute. By mixing a large\ntable-spoonful with a quarter of a pint of thickened melted butter,\nbroth, or No. 252, five minutes will finish a boat of very relishing\nsauce, nearly equal to drawn gravy, and as likely to put your lingual\nnerves into good humour as any thing I know.\nTo make a boat of sauce for poultry, &c. put a piece of butter about as\nbig as an egg into a stew-pan, set it on the fire; when it is melted,\nput to it a table-spoonful of flour; stir it thoroughly together, and\nadd to it two table-spoonfuls of sauce, and by degrees about half a pint\nof broth, or boiling water, let it simmer gently over a slow fire for a\nfew minutes, skim it and strain it through a sieve, and it is ready.\n_Quintessence of Anchovy._--(No. 433.)\nThe goodness of this preparation depends almost entirely on having fine\nmellow fish, that have been in pickle long enough (_i. e._ about twelve\nmonths) to dissolve easily, yet are not at all rusty.\nChoose those that are in the state they come over in, not such as have\nbeen put into fresh pickle, mixed with red paint,[280-*] which some add\nto improve the complexion of the fish; it has been said, that others\nhave a trick of putting anchovy liquor on pickled sprats;[280-+] you\nwill easily discover this by washing one of them, and tasting the flesh\nof it, which in the fine anchovy is mellow, red, and high-flavoured, and\nthe bone moist and oily. Make only as much as will soon be used, the\nfresher it is the better.\nPut ten or twelve anchovies into a mortar, and pound them to a pulp; put\nthis into a very clean iron, or silver, or very well tinned saucepan;\nthen put a large table-spoonful of cold spring-water (we prefer good\nvinegar) into the mortar; shake it round, and pour it to the pounded\nanchovies, set them by the side of a slow fire, very frequently stirring\nthem together till they are melted, which they will be in the course of\nfive minutes. Now stir in a quarter of a drachm of good Cayenne pepper\n(No. 404). and let it remain by the side of the fire for a few minutes\nlonger; then, while it is warm, rub it through a hair-sieve,[280-++]\nwith the back of a wooden spoon.\nThe essence of anchovy, which is prepared for the committee of taste, is\nmade with double the above quantity of water, as they are of opinion\nthat it ought to be so thin as not to hang about the sides of the\nbottle; when it does, the large surface of it is soon acted upon by the\nair, and becomes rancid and spoils all the rest of it.\nA roll of thin-cut lemon-peel infused with the anchovy, imparts a fine,\nfresh, delicate, aromatic flavour, which is very grateful; this is only\nrecommended when you make sauce for immediate use; it will keep much\nbetter without: if you wish to acidulate it, instead of water make it\nwith artificial lemon-juice (No. 407*), or add a little of Coxwell\u2019s\nconcrete acid to it.\n_Obs._--The above is the proper way to perfectly dissolve\nanchovy,[281-*] and to incorporate it with the water; which, if\ncompletely saturated, will continue suspended.\nTo prevent the separation of essence of anchovy, and give it the\nappearance of being fully saturated with fish, various other expedients\nhave been tried, such as dissolving the fish in thin water gruel, or\nbarley-water, or thickening it with mucilage, flour, &c.: when any of\nthese things are added, it does not keep half so well as it does without\nthem; and to preserve it, they overload it with Cayenne pepper.\nMEM.--You cannot make essence of anchovy half so cheap as you can buy\nit. Thirty prime fish, weighing a pound and a quarter, and costing 4_s._\n6_d._, and two table-spoonfuls of water, made me only half a pint of\nessence; you may commonly buy that quantity ready-made for 2_s._, and we\nhave seen an advertisement offering it for sale as low as 2_s._ 6_d._\nper quart.\nIt must be kept very closely stopped; when you tap a bottle of sauce,\nthrow away the old perforated cork, and put in a new taper velvet cork;\nif the air gets to it, the fish takes the rust,[281-+] and it is spoiled\ndirectly.\nEssence of anchovy is sometimes coloured[281-++] with bole armeniac,\nVenice red, &c.; but all these additions deteriorate the flavour of the\nsauce, and the palate and stomach suffer for the gratification of the\neye, which, in culinary concerns, will never be indulged by the\nsagacious gourmand at the expense of these two _primum mobiles_ of his\npursuits.\n\u2042 Essence of anchovy is sometimes made with sherry or Madeira wine, or\ngood mushroom catchup (No. 439), instead of water. If you like the acid\nflavour, add a little citric acid, or dissolve them in good vinegar.\nN.B. This is infinitely the most convenient way of using anchovy, as\neach guest may mix sauce for himself, and make it strong or weak,\naccording to his own taste.\nIt is also much more economical, as plain melted butter (No. 256) serves\nfor other purposes at table.\n_Anchovy Paste, or le Beurre d\u2019Anchois._--(No. 434.)\nPound them in a mortar; then rub it through a fine sieve; pot it, cover\nit with clarified butter, and keep it in a cool place.\nN.B. If you have essence of anchovy, you may make anchovy paste\nextempore, by rubbing the essence with as much flour as will make a\npaste. _Mem._--This is merely mentioned as the means of making it\nimmediately; it will not keep.\n_Obs._--This is sometimes made stiffer and hotter by the addition of a\nlittle flour of mustard, a pickled walnut, spice (No. 460), curry powder\n(No. 455), or Cayenne; and it then becomes a rival to \u201c_la v\u00e9ritable\nsauce d\u2019enfer_\u201d (No. 528), or _p\u00e2t\u00e9 \u00e0 la diable_ for deviling biscuits\n(No. 574), grills (No. 538), &c. It is an excellent garnish for fish,\nput in pats round the edge of the dish, or will make anchovy toast (No.\n573), or devil a biscuit (No. 574), &c. in high style.\n_Anchovy Powder._--(No. 435.)\nPound the fish in a mortar, rub them through a sieve, and make them into\na paste with dried flour, roll it into thin cakes, and dry them in a\nDutch oven before a slow fire; pounded to a fine powder, and put into a\nwell-stopped bottle, it will keep for years; it is a very savoury\nrelish, sprinkled on bread and butter for a sandwich, &c. See Oyster\nPowder (No. 280).\n_Obs._--To this may be added a small portion of Cayenne pepper, grated\nlemon-peel, and citric acid.\n_Walnut Catchup._--(No. 438.)\nTake six half-sieves of green walnut-shells, put them into a tub, mix\nthem up well with common salt, (from two to three pounds,) let them\nstand for six days, frequently beating and mashing them; by this time\nthe shells become soft and pulpy; then by banking it up on one side of\nthe tub, and at the same time by raising the tub on that side, the\nliquor will drain clear off to the other; then take that liquor out: the\nmashing and banking-up may be repeated as often as liquor is found. The\nquantity will be about six quarts. When done, let it be simmered in an\niron boiler as long as any scum arises; then bruise a quarter of a pound\nof ginger, a quarter of a pound of allspice, two ounces of long pepper,\ntwo ounces of cloves, with the above ingredients; let it slowly boil for\nhalf an hour; when bottled, let an equal quantity of the spice go into\neach bottle; when corked, let the bottles be filled quite up: cork them\ntight, seal them over, and put them into a cool and dry place for one\nyear before they are used.\nN.B. For the above we are indebted to a respectable oilman, who has many\nyears proved the receipt.\n_Mushroom Catchup._--(No. 439.)\nIf you love good catchup, gentle reader, make it yourself,[283-*] after\nthe following directions, and you will have a delicious relish for\nmade-dishes, rago\u00fbts, soups, sauces, or hashes.\nMushroom gravy approaches the nature and flavour of meat gravy, more\nthan any vegetable juice, and is the superlative substitute for it: in\nmeagre soups and extempore gravies, the chemistry of the kitchen has yet\ncontrived to agreeably awaken the palate, and encourage the appetite.\nA couple of quarts of double catchup, made according to the following\nreceipt, will save you some score pounds of meat, besides a vast deal of\ntime and trouble; as it will furnish, in a few minutes, as good sauce as\ncan be made for either fish, flesh, or fowl. See No. 307.\nI believe the following is the best way of extracting and preparing the\nessence of mushrooms, so as to procure and preserve their flavour for a\nconsiderable length of time.\nLook out for mushrooms from the beginning of September.\nTake care they are the right sort, and fresh gathered. Full-grown flaps\nare to be preferred: put a layer of these at the bottom of a deep\nearthen pan, and sprinkle them with salt; then another layer of\nmushrooms, and some more salt on them; and so on alternately, salt and\nmushrooms: let them remain two or three hours, by which time the salt\nwill have penetrated the mushrooms, and rendered them easy to break;\nthen pound them in a mortar, or mash them well with your hands, and let\nthem remain for a couple of days, not longer, stirring them up and\nmashing them well each day; then pour them into a stone jar, and to each\nquart add an ounce and a half of whole black pepper, and half an ounce\nof allspice; stop the jar very close, and set it in a stew-pan of\nboiling water, and keep it boiling for two hours at least. Take out the\njar, and pour the juice clear from the settlings through a hair-sieve\n(without squeezing[284-*] the mushrooms) into a clean stew-pan; let it\nboil very gently for half an hour: those who are for superlative\ncatchup, will continue the boiling till the mushroom-juice is reduced to\nhalf the quantity; it may then be called double cat-sup or dog-sup.\nThere are several advantages attending this concentration; it will keep\nmuch better, and only half the quantity be required; so you can flavour\nsauce, &c. without thinning it: neither is this an extravagant way of\nmaking it, for merely the aqueous part is evaporated; skim it well, and\npour it into a clean dry jar, or jug; cover it close, and let it stand\nin a cool place till next day; then pour it off as gently as possible\n(so as not to disturb the settlings at the bottom of the jug,) through a\ntamis, or thick flannel bag, till it is perfectly clear; add a\ntable-spoonful of good brandy to each pint of catchup, and let it stand\nas before; a fresh sediment will be deposited, from which the catchup is\nto be quietly poured off, and bottled in pints or half pints (which have\nbeen washed with brandy or spirit): it is best to keep it in such\nquantities as are soon used.\nTake especial care that it is closely corked, and sealed down, or dipped\nin bottle cement.\nIf kept in a cool, dry place, it may be preserved for a long time; but\nif it be badly corked, and kept in a damp place, it will soon spoil.\nExamine it from time to time, by placing a strong light behind the neck\nof the bottle, and if any pellicle appears about it, boil it up again\nwith a few peppercorns.\nWe have ordered no more spice, &c. than is absolutely necessary to feed\nthe catchup, and keep it from fermenting, &c.\nThe compound, commonly called catchup, is generally an injudicious\ncombination of so many different tastes, that the flavour of the\nmushroom is overpowered by a farrago of garlic, eschalot, anchovy,\nmustard, horseradish, lemon-peel, beer, wine, spice, &c.\n_Obs._--A table-spoonful of double catchup will impregnate half a pint\nof sauce with the full flavour of mushroom, in much greater perfection\nthan either pickled or powder of mushrooms.\n_Quintessence of Mushrooms._--(No. 440.)\nThis delicate relish is made by sprinkling a little salt over either\nflap or button mushrooms; three hours after, mash them; next day, strain\noff the liquor that will flow from them; put it into a stew-pan, and\nboil it till it is reduced to half.\nIt will not keep long, but is preferable to any of the catchups, which,\nin order to preserve them, must have spice, &c., which overpowers the\nflavour of the mushrooms.\nAn artificial mushroom bed will supply this all the year round.\nTo make sauce with this, see No. 307.\n_Oyster Catchup._--(No. 441.)\nTake fine fresh Milton oysters; wash them in their own liquor; skim it;\npound them in a marble mortar; to a pint of oysters add a pint of\nsherry; boil them up, and add an ounce of salt, two drachms of pounded\nmace, and one of Cayenne; let it just boil up again; skim it, and rub it\nthrough a sieve, and when cold, bottle it, cork it well, and seal it\ndown.\n_Obs._--See also No. 280, and Obs. to No. 278.\nN.B. It is the best way to pound the salt and spices, &c. with the\noysters.\n_Obs._--This composition very agreeably heightens the flavour of white\nsauces, and white made-dishes; and if you add a glass of brandy to it,\nit will keep good for a considerable time longer than oysters are out of\nseason in England.\n_Cockle and Muscle Catchup_,--(No. 442.)\nMay be made by treating them in the same way as the oysters in the\npreceding receipt.\n_Pudding Catchup._--(No. 446.)\nHalf a pint of brandy, \u201cessence of punch\u201d (No. 479), or \u201cCura\u00e7oa\u201d (No.\n474), or \u201cNoyeau,\u201d a pint of sherry, an ounce of thin-pared lemon-peel,\nhalf an ounce of mace, and steep them for fourteen days, then strain it,\nand add a quarter of a pint of capillaire, or No. 476. This will keep\nfor years, and, mixed with melted butter, is a delicious relish to\npuddings and sweet dishes. See Pudding Sauce, No. 269, and the Justice\u2019s\nOrange Syrup, No. 392.\n_Potato[286-*] Starch._--(No. 448.)\nPeel and wash a pound of full-grown potatoes, grate them on a\nbread-grater into a deep dish, containing a quart of clear water; stir\nit well up, and then pour it through a hair-sieve, and leave it ten\nminutes to settle, till the water is quite clear: then pour off the\nwater, and put a quart of fresh water to it; stir it up, let it settle,\nand repeat this till the water is quite clear; you will at last find a\nfine white powder at the bottom of the vessel. (The criterion of this\nprocess being completed, is the purity of the water that comes from it\nafter stirring it up.) Lay this on a sheet of paper in a hair-sieve to\ndry, either in the sun or before the fire, and it is ready for use, and\nin a well-stopped bottle will keep good for many months.\nIf this be well made, half an ounce (_i. e._ a table-spoonful) of it\nmixed with two table-spoonfuls of cold water, and stirred into a soup or\nsauce, just before you take it up, will thicken a pint of it to the\nconsistence of cream.\n_Obs._--This preparation much resembles the \u201cIndian arrow root,\u201d and is\na good substitute for it; it gives a fulness on the palate to gravies\nand sauces at hardly any expense, and by some is used to thicken melted\nbutter instead of flour.\nAs it is perfectly tasteless, it will not alter the flavour of the most\ndelicate broth, &c.\n_Of the Flour of Potatoes._\n\u201cA patent has been recently obtained at Paris, a gold medal bestowed,\nand other honorary distinctions granted, for the discovery and practice,\non a large scale, of preparing from potatoes a fine flour; a sago, a\nflour equal to ground rice; and a semolina or paste, of which 1_lb._ is\nequal to 1-1/2_lbs._ of rice, 1-3/4_lbs._ of vermicelli, or, it is\nasserted, 8_lbs._ of raw potatoes.\n\u201cThese preparations are found valuable to mix with wheaten flour for\nbread, to make biscuits, pastry, pie-crusts, and for all soups, gruels,\nand panada.\n\u201cLarge engagements have been made for these preparations with the French\nmarine, and military and other hospitals, with the approbation of the\nfaculty.\n\u201cAn excellent bread, it is said, can be made of this flour, at half the\ncost of wheaten bread.\n\u201cHeat having been applied in these preparations, the articles will keep\nunchanged for years, and on board ship, to China and back; rats, mice,\nworms, and insects do not infect or destroy this flour.\n\u201cSimply mixed with cold water, they are in ten minutes fit for food,\nwhen fire and all other resource may be wanted; and twelve ounces are\nsufficient for a day\u2019s sustenance, in case of necessity.\n\u201cThe physicians and surgeons in the hospitals, in cases of great\ndebility of the stomach, have employed these preparations with\nadvantage.\n\u201cThe point of this discovery is, the cheapness of preparation, and the\nconversion of a surplus growth of potatoes into a keeping stock, in an\nelegant, portable, and salubrious form.\u201d\n_Salad or piquante Sauce for cold Meat, Fish, &c._--(No. 453.) See also\nPound together\n An ounce of scraped horseradish,\n Half an ounce of salt,\n A table-spoonful of made mustard, No. 370,\n Four drachms of minced eschalots, No. 409,\n Half a drachm of celery-seed, No. 409,\n And half ditto of Cayenne, No. 404,\nAdding gradually a pint of burnet (No. 399), or tarragon vinegar (No.\n396), and let it stand in a jar a week, and then pass it through a\nsieve.\n_Curry Powder._--(No. 455.)\nPut the following ingredients in a cool oven all night, and the next\nmorning pound them in a marble mortar, and rub them through a fine\nsieve.\n Coriander-seed, three ounces 3\n Black pepper, mustard, and ginger, one ounce of each 8\n Allspice and less cardamoms, half an ounce of each 5\n Cumin-seed, a quarter of an ounce 1\nThoroughly pound and mix together, and keep them in a well-stopped\nbottle.\nThose who are fond of curry sauces, may steep three ounces of the powder\nin a quart of vinegar or white wine for ten days, and will get a liquor\nimpregnated with all the flavour of the powder.\n_Obs._--This receipt was an attempt to imitate some of the best Indian\ncurry powder, selected for me by a friend at the India house: the\nflavour approximates to the Indian powder so exactly, the most profound\npalaticians have pronounced it a perfect copy of the original curry\nstuff.\nThe following remark was sent to the editor by an East Indian friend.\n\u201cThe ingredients which you have selected to form the curry powder, are\nthe same as are used in India, with this difference only, that some of\nthem are in a raw green state, and are mashed together, and afterward\ndried, powdered, and sifted.\u201d For Curry Sauce, see No. 348.\nN.B. Chickens, rabbits, sweetbreads, breasts of veal, veal cutlets,\nmutton, lamb, or pork chops, lobster, turbot, soles, eels, oysters, &c.\nare dressed curry fashion, see No. 497; or stew them in No. 329 or No.\n348, and flavour with No. 455.\n_Obs._--The common fault of curry powder is the too great proportion of\nCayenne (to the milder aromatics from which its agreeable flavour is\nderived), preventing a sufficient quantity of the curry powder being\nused.\n_Savoury rago\u00fbt Powder._--(No. 457.)\n Salt, an ounce,\n Mustard, half an ounce,\n Allspice,[288-*] a quarter of an ounce,\n Black pepper ground, and lemon-peel grated, or of No. 407, pounded\n and sifted fine, half an ounce each,\n Ginger, and\n Nutmeg grated, a quarter of an ounce each,\n Cayenne pepper, two drachms.\nPound them patiently, and pass them through a fine hair-sieve; bottle\nthem for use. The above articles will pound easier and finer, if they\nare dried first in a Dutch oven[288-+] before a very gentle fire, at a\ngood distance from it; if you give them much heat, the fine flavour of\nthem will be presently evaporated, and they will soon get a strong,\nrank, empyreumatic taste.\nN.B. Infused in a quart of vinegar or wine, they make a savoury relish\nfor soups, sauces, &c.\n_Obs._ The spices in a rago\u00fbt are indispensable to give it a flavour,\nbut not a predominant one; their presence should be rather supposed than\nperceived; they are the invisible spirit of good cookery: indeed, a cook\nwithout spice would be as much at a loss as a confectioner without\nsugar: a happy mixture of them, and proportion to each other and the\nother ingredients, is the \u201cchef-d\u2019\u0153uvre\u201d of a first-rate cook.\nThe art of combining spices, &c., which may be termed the \u201charmony of\nflavours,\u201d no one hitherto has attempted to teach: and \u201cthe rule of\nthumb\u201d is the only guide that experienced cooks have heretofore given\nfor the assistance of the novice in the (till now, in these pages\nexplained, and rendered, we hope, perfectly intelligible to the humblest\ncapacity) occult art of cookery. This is the first time receipts in\ncookery have been given accurately by weight or measure!!!\n(See _Obs._ on \u201cthe education of a cook\u2019s tongue,\u201d pages 52 and 53.)\n_Pease Powder._--(No. 458.)\nPound together in a marble mortar half an ounce each of dried mint and\nsage, a drachm of celery-seed, and a quarter of a drachm of Cayenne\npepper; rub them through a fine sieve. This gives a very savoury relish\nto pease soup, and to water gruel, which, by its help, if the eater of\nit has not the most lively imagination, he may fancy he is sipping good\npease soup.\n_Obs._--A drachm of allspice, or black pepper, may be pounded with the\nabove as an addition, or instead of, the Cayenne.\n_Horseradish Powder._--(No. 458*.)\nThe time to make this is during November and December; slice it the\nthickness of a shilling, and lay it to dry very gradually in a Dutch\noven (a strong heat soon evaporates its flavour); when dry enough, pound\nit and bottle it.\n_Obs._ See Horseradish Vinegar (No. 399*).\n_Soup-herb Powder, or Vegetable Relish._--(No. 459.)\n Dried parsley,\n Winter savoury,\n Sweet marjoram,\n Lemon-thyme, of each two ounces;\n Lemon-peel, cut very thin, and dried, and\n Sweet basil, an ounce of each.\n\u2042 Some add to the above bay-leaves and celery-seed, a drachm each.\nDry them in a warm, but not too hot Dutch oven: when quite dried, pound\nthem in a mortar, and pass them through a double hair-sieve; put them in\na bottle closely stopped, they will retain their fragrance and flavour\nfor several months.\nN.B. These herbs are in full perfection in July and August (see No.\n461*). An infusion of the above in vinegar or wine makes a good\nrelishing sauce, but the flavour is best when made with fresh-gathered\nherbs, as directed in No. 397.\n_Obs._ This composition of the fine aromatic herbs is an invaluable\nacquisition to the cook in those seasons or situations when fresh herbs\ncannot be had; and we prefer it to the rago\u00fbt powder, No. 457: it\nimpregnates sauce, soup, &c. with as much relish, and renders it\nagreeable to the palate, and refreshes the gustatory nerves, without so\nmuch risk of offending the stomach, &c.\n_Soup-herb and Savoury Powder, or Quintessence of Rago\u00fbt._--(No. 460.)\nTake three parts of soup-herb powder (No. 459) to one part of savoury\npowder, No. 457.\n_Obs._ This agreeable combination of the aromatic spices and herbs\nshould be kept ready prepared: it will save a great deal of time in\ncooking rago\u00fbts, stuffings, forcemeat-balls, soups, sauces, &c.; kept\ndry, and tightly corked down, its fragrance and strength may be\npreserved undiminished for some time.\nN.B. Three ounces of the above will impregnate a quart of vinegar or\nwine with a very agreeable relish.\n_To Dry sweet and savoury Herbs._--(No. 461.)\nFor the following accurate and valuable information, the reader is\nindebted to Mr. BUTLER, herbalist and seedsman (opposite Henrietta\nStreet), Covent Garden market.\n\u201cIt is very important to those who are not in the constant habit of\nattending the markets to know when the various seasons commence for\npurchasing sweet herbs.\n\u201cAll vegetables are in the highest state of perfection, and fullest of\njuice and flavour, just before they begin to flower: the first and last\ncrop have neither the fine flavour, nor the perfume of those which are\ngathered in the height of the season; that is, when the greater part of\nthe crop of each species is ripe.\n\u201cTake care they are gathered on a dry day, by which means they will have\na better colour when dried. Cleanse your herbs well from dirt and\ndust;[291-*] cut off the roots; separate the bunches into smaller ones,\nand dry them by the heat of a stove, or in a Dutch oven before a common\nfire, in such quantities at a time, that the process may be speedily\nfinished; _i. e._ \u2018Kill \u2019em quick,\u2019 says a great botanist; by this means\ntheir flavour will be best preserved: there can be no doubt of the\npropriety of drying herbs, &c. hastily by the aid of artificial heat,\nrather than by the heat of the sun. In the application of artificial\nheat, the only caution requisite is to avoid burning; and of this a\nsufficient test is afforded by the preservation of the colour.\u201d The\ncommon custom is, when they are perfectly dried to put them in bags, and\nlay them in a dry place; but the best way to preserve the flavour of\naromatic plants is to pick off the leaves as soon as they are dried, and\nto pound them, and put them through a hair-sieve, and keep them in\nwell-stopped bottles.[291-+] See No. 459.\n Basil is in the best state for drying from the middle of August, and\n three weeks after, see No. 397.\n Knotted marjoram, from the beginning of July, and during the same.\n Winter savoury, the latter end of July, and throughout August, see\n Summer savoury, the latter end of July, and throughout August.\n Thyme, lemon-thyme, orange-thyme,[291-++] during June and July.\n Mint, latter end of June, and during July, see No. 398.\n Sage, August and September.\n Tarragon, June, July, and August, see No. 396.\n Chervil, May, June, and July, see No. 264.\n Burnet, June, July, and August, see No. 399.\n Parsley, May, June, and July, see N.B. to No. 261.\n Fennel, May, June, and July.\n Elder flowers, May, June, and July.\n Orange flowers, May, June, and July.\nN.B. Herbs nicely dried are a very acceptable substitute when fresh ones\ncannot be got; but, however carefully dried, the flavour and fragrance\nof the fresh herbs are incomparably finer.\nTHE MAGAZINE OF TASTE.--(No. 462.)\nThis is a convenient auxiliary to the cook: it may be arranged as a\npyramidical _epergne_ for a dormant in the centre of the table, or as a\ntravelling store-chest.\nThe following sketch will enable any one to fit up an assortment of\nflavouring materials according to their own fancy and palate; and, we\npresume, will furnish sufficient variety for the amusement of the\ngustatory nerves of a thorough-bred _grand gourmand_ of the first\nmagnitude (if Cayenne and garlic have not completely consumed the\nsensibility of his palate), and consists of a \u201cSAUCE-BOX,\u201d containing\nfour eight-ounce bottles,[292-*] sixteen four ounce, and eight two-ounce\nbottles:--\n 1. Pickles.\n 2. Brandy.\n 5. Salad sauce (Nos. 372 and 453).\n 6. Pudding catchup (No. 446).\n 7. Sauce superlative, or double relish (No. 429).\n 8. Walnut pickle.\n 9. Mushroom catchup (No. 439).\n 10. Vinegar.\n 12. Mustard (see Nos. 370 and 427).\n 14. Curry powder (No. 455).\n 16. Lemon-juice.\n 17. Essence of anchovy (No. 433).\n 18. Pepper.\n 20. Soup-herb powder (No. 459).\n 21. Rago\u00fbt powder (No. 457).\n 22. Pease powder (No. 458).\n 24. Essence of celery (No. 409).\n 25. Sweet herbs (No. 419).\n 26. Lemon-peel (No. 408).\n 27. Eschalot wine (No. 402).\n 28. Powdered mint.\n_In a drawer under._\n Half a dozen one ounce bottles.\n Weights and scales.\n A graduated glass measure, divided into tea- and table-spoons.\n Corkscrew.\n Nutmeg-grater.\n Table and tea-spoon.\n Knife and fork.\n A steel, and a\n Small mortar.\nN.B. The portable magazine of taste, alluded to in page 44, may be\nfurnished with a four-ounce bottle for Cognac (No. 471), a ditto for\nCura\u00e7oa (No. 474), an ounce bottle for essence of anchovy (No. 433), and\none of like size for mushroom catchup.\n_Toast and Water._--(No. 463.)\nCut a crust of bread off a stale loaf, about twice the thickness toast\nis usually cut: toast it carefully until it be completely browned all\nover, but not at all blackened or burnt; pour as much boiling water as\nyou wish to make into drink, into the jug; put the toast into it, and\nlet it stand till it is quite cold: the fresher it is the better.\n_Obs._--A roll of thin fresh-cut lemon, or dried orange-peel, or some\ncurrant-jelly (No. 475*), apples sliced or roasted, &c. infused with the\nbread, are grateful additions. N.B. If the boiling water be poured on\nthe bread it will break it, and make the drink grouty.\nN.B. This is a refreshing summer drink; and when the proportion of the\nfluids is destroyed by profuse perspiration, may be drunk plentifully.\nLet a large jug be made early in the day, it will then become warmed by\nthe heat of the air, and may be drunk without danger; which water, cold\nas it comes from the well, cannot in hot weather. _Or_,\nTo make it more expeditiously, put the bread into a mug, and just cover\nit with boiling water; let it stand till cold, then fill it up with\ncold spring-water, and pour it through a fine sieve.\n_Obs._--The above is a pleasant and excellent beverage, grateful to the\nstomach, and deserves a constant place by the bed-side.\n_Cool Tankard, or Beer Cup._--(No. 464.)\nA quart of mild ale, a glass of white wine, one of brandy, one of\ncapillaire, the juice of a lemon, a roll of the peel pared thin, nutmeg\ngrated at the top (a sprig of borrage[294-*] or balm), and a bit of\ntoasted bread.\n_Cider Cup_,--(No. 465.)\nIs the same, only substituting cider for beer.\nKeep grated ginger and nutmeg with a little fine dried lemon-peel,\nrubbed together in a mortar.\nTo make a quart of flip:--Put the ale on the fire to warm, and beat up\nthree or four eggs, with four ounces of moist sugar, a tea-spoonful of\ngrated nutmeg or ginger, and a quartern of good old rum or brandy. When\nthe ale is near to boil, put it into one pitcher, and the rum and eggs,\n&c. into another; turn it from one pitcher to another till it is as\nsmooth as cream.\nN.B. This quantity I styled _one yard of flannel_.\n_Obs._--The above is set down in the words of the publican who gave us\nthe receipt.\n_Tewahdiddle._--(No. 467.)\nA pint of table beer (or ale, if you intend it for a supplement to your\n\u201cnight cap\u201d), a table-spoonful of brandy, and a tea-spoonful of brown\nsugar, or clarified syrup (No. 475); a little grated nutmeg or ginger\nmay be added, and a roll of very thin-cut lemon-peel.\n_Obs._--Before our readers make any remarks on this composition, we beg\nof them to taste it: if the materials are good, and their palate\nvibrates in unison with our own, they will find it one of the\npleasantest beverages they ever put to their lips; and, as Lord Ruthven\nsays, \u201cthis is a right gossip\u2019s cup that far exceeds all the ale that\never Mother Bunch made in her life-time.\u201d See his Lordship\u2019s\n_Experiments in Cookery_, &c. 18mo. London, 1654, p. 215.\n_Sir Fleetwood Shepherd\u2019s Sack Posset._--(No. 467*.)\n \u201cFrom famed Barbadoes, on the western main,\n Fetch sugar, ounces four--fetch sack from Spain,\n A pint,--and from the eastern Indian coast\n Nutmeg, the glory of our northern toast;\n O\u2019er flaming coals let them together heat,\n Till the all-conquering sack dissolve the sweet;\n O\u2019er such another fire put eggs just ten,\n New-born from tread of cock and rump of hen:\n Stir them with steady hand and conscience pricking\n To see the untimely end of ten fine chicken:\n From shining shelf take down the brazen skillet,--\n A quart of milk from gentle cow will fill it.\n When boiled and cold, put milk and sack to eggs,\n Unite them firmly like the triple league,\n And on the fire let them together dwell\n Till Miss sing twice--you must not kiss and tell--\n Each lad and lass take up a silver spoon,\n And fall on fiercely like a starved dragoon.\u201d\n_To bottle Beer._--(No. 468.)\nWhen the briskness and liveliness of malt liquors in the cask fail, and\nthey become dead and vapid, which they generally do soon after they are\ntilted; let them be bottled.\nBe careful to use clean and dried bottles; leave them unstopped for\ntwelve hours, and then cork them as closely as possible with good and\nsound new corks; put a bit of lump sugar as big as a nutmeg into each\nbottle: the beer will be ripe, _i. e._ fine and sparkling, in about four\nor five weeks: if the weather is cold, to put it up the day before it is\ndrunk, place it in a room where there is a fire.\nRemember there is a sediment, &c. at the bottom of the bottles, which\nyou must carefully avoid disturbing; so pour it off at once, leaving a\nwine-glassful at the bottom.\n\u2042 If beer becomes hard or stale, a few grains of carbonate of potash\nadded to it at the time it is drunk will correct it, and make draught\nbeer as brisk as bottled ale.\n_Rich Raspberry Wine or Brandy._--(No. 469.)\nBruise the finest ripe raspberries with the back of a spoon; strain them\nthrough a flannel bag into a stone jar, allowing a pound of fine\npowdered loaf sugar to each quart of juice; stir it well together, and\ncover it down; let it stand for three days, stirring it up each day;\npour off the clear, and put two quarts of sherry, or one of Cognac\nbrandy, to each quart of juice; bottle it off: it will be fit for the\nglass in a fortnight.\nN.B. Or make it with the jelly, No. 479.\n_Liqueurs._--(No. 471.)\nWe have very little to tell from our own experience, and refer our\nreader to \u201c_Nouvelle Chimie du Go\u00fbt et de l\u2019Odorat, ou l\u2019Art du\nDistillateur, du Confiseur, et du Parfumeur, mis \u00e0 la port\u00e9e de tout le\nMonde_.\u201d Paris, 2 tom. 8vo. 1819.\nNext to teaching how to make good things at home, is the information\nwhere those things may be procured ready made of the best quality.\nIt is in vain to attempt to imitate the best foreign liqueurs, unless we\ncan obtain the pure vinous spirit with which they are made.\nJohnson and Co., foreign liqueur and brandy merchants to his majesty and\nthe royal family, No. 2, Colonnade, Pall Mall, are justly famous for\nimporting of the best quality, and selling in a genuine state,\nseventy-one varieties of foreign liqueurs, &c.\n_Cura\u00e7oa._--(No. 474.)\nPut five ounces of thin-cut Seville orange-peel, that has been dried and\npounded, or, which is still better, of the fresh peel of a fresh\nshaddock, which may be bought at the orange and lemon shops in the\nbeginning of March, into a quart of the finest and cleanest rectified\nspirit; after it has been infused a fortnight, strain it, and add a\nquart of syrup (No. 475), and filter. See the following receipt:\n_To make a Quart of Cura\u00e7oa._\nTo a pint of the cleanest and strongest rectified spirit, add two\ndrachms and a half of the sweet oil of orange-peel; shake it up:\ndissolve a pound of good lump sugar in a pint of cold water; make this\ninto a clarified syrup (No. 475): which add to the spirit: shake it up,\nand let it stand till the following day: then line a funnel with a piece\nof muslin, and that with filtering-paper, and filter it two or three\ntimes till it is quite bright. This liqueur is an admirable cordial; and\na tea-spoonful in a tumbler of water is a very refreshing summer drink,\nand a great improvement to punch.\n_Clarified Syrup._--(No. 475.)\nBreak into bits two pounds (avoirdupois) of double refined lump sugar,\nand put it into a clean stew-pan (that is well tinned), with a pint of\ncold spring-water; when the sugar is dissolved, set it over a moderate\nfire: beat about half the white of an egg, put it to the sugar before it\ngets warm, and stir it well together. Watch it; and when it boils take\noff the scum; keep it boiling till no scum rises, and it is perfectly\nclear; then run it through a clean napkin: put it into a close stopped\nbottle; it will keep for months, and is an elegant article on the\nsideboard for sweetening.\n_Obs._--The proportion of sugar ordered in the above syrup is a quarter\npound more than that directed in the Pharmacop\u0153ia of the London College\nof Physicians. The quantity of sugar must be as much as the liquor is\ncapable of keeping dissolved when cold, or it will ferment, and quickly\nspoil: if kept in a temperate degree of heat, the above proportion of\nsugar may be considered the basis of all syrups.\n_Capillaire._--(No. 476.)\nTo a pint of clarified syrup add a wine-glass of Cura\u00e7oa (No. 474); or\ndissolve a drachm of oil of Neroli in two ounces of rectified spirit,\nand add a few drops of it to clarified syrup.\n_Lemonade in a Minute._--(No. 477.)\nPound a quarter of an ounce (avoirdupois) of citric, _i. e._\ncrystallized lemon acid,[297-*] with a few drops of quintessence of\nlemon-peel (No. 408), and mix it by degrees with a pint of clarified\nsyrup (No. 475), or capillaire.\nFor superlative syrup of lemons, see No. 391.\n_Obs._--The proportion of acid to the syrup, was that selected (from\nseveral specimens) by the committee of taste. We advise those who are\ndisposed to verify our receipt, to mix only three quarters of a pint of\nsyrup first, and add the other quarter if they find it too acid.\nIf you have none of No. 408, flavour your syrup with thin-cut\nlemon-peel, or use syrup of lemon-peel (No. 393).\nA table-spoonful of this in a pint of water will immediately produce a\nvery agreeable sherbet; the addition of rum or brandy will convert this\ninto\n_Punch directly._--(No. 478.)\n_Shrub, or Essence of Punch._--(No. 479.)\nBrandy or rum, flavoured with No. 477, will give you very good extempore\n\u201cessence of punch.\u201d\n_Obs._--The addition of a quart of Sherry or Madeira makes \u201cpunch\nroyal;\u201d if, instead of wine, the above quantity of water be added, it\nwill make \u201cpunch for chambermaids,\u201d according to SALMON\u2019S _Cookery_,\n8vo. London, 1710. See page 405; and No. 268 in NOTT\u2019S _Cook\u2019s\nDictionary_, 8vo. 1724.\n_White, Red, or Black Currant, Grape, Raspberry, &c.\nAre all made precisely in the same manner. When the fruit is full ripe,\ngather it on a dry day: as soon as it is nicely picked, put it into a\njar, and cover it down very close.\nSet the jar in a saucepan about three parts filled with cold water; put\nit on a gentle fire, and let it simmer for about half an hour. Take the\npan from the fire, and pour the contents of the jar into a jelly-bag:\npass the juice through a second time; do not squeeze the bag.\nTo each pint of juice add a pound and a half of very good lump sugar\npounded; when it is dissolved, put it into a preserving-pan; set it on\nthe fire, and boil gently; stirring and skimming it the whole time\n(about thirty or forty minutes), _i. e._ till no more scum rises, and it\nis perfectly clear and fine: pour it while warm into pots; and when\ncold, cover them with paper wetted in brandy.\nHalf a pint of this jelly, dissolved in a pint of brandy or vinegar,\nwill give you excellent currant or raspberry brandy or vinegar. To make\nsweet sauce, see No. 346.\n_Obs._--Jellies from other fruits are made in the same way, and cannot\nbe preserved in perfection without plenty of good sugar.\nThose who wish jelly to turn out very stiff, dissolve isinglass in a\nlittle water, strain through a sieve, and add it in the proportion of\nhalf an ounce to a pint of juice, and put it in with the sugar.\nThe best way is the cheapest. Jellies made with too small a proportion\nof sugar, require boiling so long; there is much more waste of juice and\nflavour by evaporation than the due quantity of sugar costs; and they\nneither look nor taste half so delicate, as when made with a proper\nproportion of sugar, and moderate boiling.\n_Mock Arrack._--(No. 480.)\nDissolve two scruples of flowers of benjamin in a quart of good rum, and\nit will immediately impart to it the inviting fragrance of \u201cVauxhall\nnectar.\u201d\n_Calves\u2019-Feet Jelly._--(No. 481.)\nTake four calves\u2019 feet (not those which are sold at tripe-shops, which\nhave been boiled till almost all the gelatine is extracted; but buy them\nat the butcher\u2019s), slit them in two, take away the fat from between the\nclaws, wash them well in lukewarm water; then put them in a large\nstew-pan, and cover them with water: when the liquor boils, skim it\nwell, and let it boil gently six or seven hours, that it may be reduced\nto about two quarts; then strain it through a sieve, and skim off all\nthe oily substance which is on the surface of the liquor.\nIf you are not in a hurry, it is better to boil the calves\u2019 feet the day\nbefore you make the jelly; as when the liquor is cold, the oily part\nbeing at the top, and the other being firm, with pieces of kitchen paper\napplied to it, you may remove every particle of the oily substance,\nwithout wasting any of the liquor.\nPut the liquor in a stew-pan to melt, with a pound of lump sugar, the\npeel of two lemons, the juice of six, six whites and shells of eggs beat\ntogether, and a bottle of sherry or Madeira; whisk the whole together\nuntil it is on the boil; then put it by the side of the stove, and let\nit simmer a quarter of an hour; strain it through a jelly-bag: what is\nstrained first must be poured into the bag again, until it is as bright\nand as clear as rock-water; then put the jelly in moulds, to be cold and\nfirm: if the weather is too warm, it requires some ice.\n_Obs._--When it is wished to be very stiff, half an ounce of isinglass\nmay be added when the wine is put in.\nIt may be flavoured by the juice of various fruits, and spices, &c. and\ncoloured with saffron, cochineal, red beet juice, spinage juice, claret,\n&c.; and it is sometimes made with cherry brandy, or noyeau rouge, or\nCura\u00e7oa (No. 474), or essence of punch (No. 479), instead of wine.\nN.B. Ten shank bones of mutton, which may be bought for 2-1/2_d._, will\ngive as much jelly as a calf\u2019s foot, which costs a shilling. See pages\n225, 226 of this work.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[228-*] This may be easily accomplished by the aid of that whip and\nspur, which students of long standing in the school of good living are\ngenerally so fond of enlivening their palates with, _i. e._ Cayenne and\ngarlic.\nParsley (No. 261), chervil (No. 264), celery (No. 289), cress (No.\n397*), tarragon (No. 396), burnet (No. 399), basil (No. 397), eschalot\n(Nos. 295 and 403), caper (Nos. 274 and 295), fennel (No. 265), liver\n(Nos. 287 and 288), curry (Nos. 348 and 455), egg, (No. 267,) mushroom\n(No. 403), anchovy (Nos. 270 and 433), rago\u00fbt (Nos. 421 and 457), shrimp\n(No. 283), bonne bouche (No. 341,) superlative (No. 429), and various\nflavouring essences. See from No. 396 to 463.\nAny of the above vegetables, &c. may be minced very finely, and sent to\ntable on a little plate, and those who like their flavour may mix them\nwith melted butter, &c. This is a hint for economists, which will save\nthem many pounds of butter, &c. See MEM. to No. 256.\n[228-+] A silver saucepan is infinitely the best: you may have one big\nenough to melt butter for a moderate family, for four or five pounds.\n[234-*] Oysters which come to the New-York market, are too large and\nfine to be mangled according to this receipt. They are generally cooked\nby being fried or stewed. When they are intended to be kept a length of\ntime, they are pickled in vinegar, with spices. A.\n[236-*] You must have a hen lobster, on account of the live spawn. Some\nfishmongers have a cruel custom of tearing this from the fish before\nthey are boiled. Lift up the tail of the lobster, and see that it has\nnot been robbed of its eggs: the goodness of your sauce depends upon its\nhaving a full share of the spawn in it, to which it owes not merely its\nbrilliant red colour, but the finest part of its flavour.\n[238-*] So much depends upon the age of the celery, that we cannot give\nany precise time for this, young, fresh-gathered celery will be done\nenough in three-quarters of an hour; old will sometimes take twice as\nlong.\n[240-*] If you wish to have them _very_ mild, cut them in quarters, boil\nthem for five minutes in plenty of water, and then drain them, and cook\nthem in fresh water.\n[244-*] Composer and Director of the Music of the Theatre Royal Drury\nLane, and the Italian Opera.\n[246-*] \u201cBy the best accounts I can find, soy is a preparation from the\nseeds of a species of the _Dolichos_, prepared by a fermentation of the\nfarina of this seed in a strong lixivium of common salt.\u201d--CULLEN\u2019S\n_Mat. Med._ vol. i. p. 430.\n[250-*] One of \u201c_les bonnes hommes de bouche de France_\u201d orders the\nfollowing addition for game gravy:--\u201cFor a pint, par-roast a partridge\nor a pigeon; cut off the meat of it, pound it in a mortar, and put it\ninto the stew-pan when you _thicken_ the sauce.\u201d We do not recommend\neither soup or sauce to be _thickened_, because it requires (to give it\nthe same quickness on the palate it had before it was thickened) double\nthe quantity of _piquante_ materials; which are thus smuggled down the\nred lane, without affording any amusement to the mouth, and at the risk\nof highly offending the stomach.\n[251-*] To this some add a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup (No. 439),\nand instead of the salt-spoonful of salt, a tea-spoonful of essence of\nanchovy (No. 433). If the above articles are rubbed together in a\nmortar, and put into a close-stopped bottle, they will keep for some\ntime.\n[251-+] Thus far the above is from Dr. HUNTER\u2019S \u201c_Culina_,\u201d who says it\nis a secret worth knowing: we agree with him, and so tell it here, with\na little addition, which we think renders it a still more gratifying\ncommunication.\n[252-*] See Basil Wine (No. 397).\n[260-*] These are sold at the glass-shops under the name of\nINCORPORATORS: we recommend the sauce to be mixed in these, and the\ncompany can then take it or leave it, as they like.\n[263-*] If you have no suet, the best substitute for it is about\none-third part the quantity of butter.\n[267-*] A _baine-marie_. See note to No. 485.\n[275-*] The fragrant _aroma_ of ginger is so extremely volatile, that it\nevaporates almost as soon as it is powdered; and the fine lemon-peel\n_go\u00fbt_ flies off presently.\n[275-+] Tinctures are much finer flavoured than essences.\n[277-*] For the season, &c. when these herbs, &c. come in perfection,\nand how to dry them, see No. 461.\n[278-*] We hope this title will not offend those who may quote against\nit the old adage, \u201cthat good appetite is the best sauce.\u201d--Allowing this\nto be generally true (which is a more candid confession than could be\nexpected from a cook), we dare say, the majority of our readers will\nvote with us, that there are many good things (fish especially) that\nwould be rather insipid without a little sauce of another kind.\n \u201cWherefore did Nature pour her bounties forth,\n With such a full and unwithdrawing hand,\n Covering the earth with odours, fruits, and flocks,\n Thronging the sea with spawn innumerable;\n But all to please and sate the curious taste?\u201d\n MILTON.\n[280-*] \u201cSeveral samples which we examined of this fish sauce, have been\nfound contaminated with lead.\u201d--See ACCUM _on Adulteration_, page 328.\n[280-+] They may do very well for common palates; but to imitate the\nfine flavour of the Gorgona fish, so as to impose upon a well-educated\n_gourmand_, still remains in the catalogue of the sauce-maker\u2019s\ndesiderata.\n[280-++] The economist may take the thick remains that wont pass through\nthe sieve, and pound it with some flour, and make anchovy paste, or\npowder. See Nos. 434 and 435.\n[281-*] Epicure QUIN used to say, \u201cOf all the banns of marriage I ever\nheard, none gave me half such pleasure as the union of delicate\nANN-CHOVY with good JOHN-DORY.\u201d\n[281-+] \u201cRust in anchovies, if I\u2019m not mistaken,\n Is as bad as rust in steel, or rust in bacon.\u201d\n YOUNG\u2019S _Epicure_, page 14.\n[281-++] If you are not contented with the natural colour, break some\nlobsters\u2019 eggs into it, and you will not only heighten the complexion of\nyour sauce, but improve its flavour. This is the only _rouge_ we can\nrecommend. See note to No. 284.\n[283-*] \u201cThe mushrooms employed for preparing ready-made catchup, are\ngenerally those which are in a putrefactive state. In a few days after\nthose _fungi_ have been gathered, they become the habitations of myriads\nof insects.\u201d--ACCUM _on Culinary Poisons_, 12mo. 1820, p. 350.\n[284-*] The squeezings are the perquisite of the cook, to make sauce for\nthe second table: do not deprive her of it; it is the most profitable\n_save-all_ you can give her, and will enable her to make up a good\nfamily dinner, with what would otherwise be wasted. After the mushrooms\nhave been squeezed, dry them in the Dutch oven, and make mushroom\npowder.\n[286-*] \u201cPotatoes, in whatever condition, whether spoiled by frost,\ngermination, &c., provided they are raw, constantly afford starch,\ndiffering only in quality, the round gray ones the most; a pound\nproducing about two ounces.\u201d--PARMENTIER _on Nutritive Vegetables_, 8vo.\n\u201c100lb. of potatoes yield 10lb. of starch.\u201d--S. GRAY\u2019S _Supplement to\nthe Pharmacop\u0153ia_, 8vo. 1821, p. 198.\n[288-*] If you like the flavour, and do not dislike the expense, instead\nof allspice, put in mace and cloves. The above is very similar to the\n_powder-fort_ used in King Richard the Second\u2019s kitchen, A. D. 1390. See\n\u201c_Pegge Forme of Cury_\u201d p. xxx.\n[288-+] The back part of these ovens is so much hotter than that which\nis next the fire, that to dry things equally, their situation must be\nfrequently changed, or those at the back of the oven will be done too\nmuch, before those in the front are done enough.\n[291-*] This is sadly neglected by those who dry herbs for sale. If you\nbuy them ready dried, before you pound them, cleanse them from dirt and\ndust by stripping the leaves from the stalks, and rub them between your\nhands over a hair-sieve; put them into the sieve, and shake them well,\nand the dust will go through.\n[291-+] The common custom is to put them into paper bags, and lay them\non a shelf in the kitchen, exposed to all the fumes, steam, and smoke,\n&c.: thus they soon lose their flavour.\n[291-++] A delicious herb, that deserves to be better known.\n[292-*] If the bottles are square, and marked to quarter ounces, as\nLYNE\u2019S graduated measures are, it will save trouble in compounding.\n[294-*] \u201cBORRAGE is one of the four _cordial_ flowers;\u201d it comforts the\nheart, cheers melancholy, and revives the fainting spirits, says SALMON,\nin the 45th page of his \u201c_Household Companion_\u201d London, 1710. And\nEVELYN, in page 13 of his _Acetaria_, says, \u201cThe sprigs in _wine_ are of\nknown virtue to revive the hypochondriac, and cheer the hard\nstudent.\u201d--Combined with the ingredients in the above receipt, we have\nfrequently observed it produce all the cardiac and exhilarating effects\nascribed to it.\n[297-*] Tartaric is only half the price of citric acid; but it is very\ninferior in flavour, &c.; and those who prepare this syrup for home\nconsumption, will always use the citric.\n[298-*] The native blackberry of this country makes a very fine jelly,\nand is medicinal in bowel complaints of children. A.\nMADE DISHES, &C.\n_Receipts for economical_ Made Dishes,_ written for the_ Cook\u2019s Oracle,\n_by an accomplished_ English Lady.--(No. 483.)\nThese experiments have arisen from my aversion to cold meat, and my\npreference for what are termed French dishes; with which, by a certain\nmanagement, I think I can furnish my table at far less expense than is\ngenerally incurred in getting up a plain dinner.\nGravy or soup meats I never buy; and yet am seldom without a good\nprovision of what is technically denominated stock.\nWhen, as it frequently happens, we have ham dressed; if the joint be\nabove the weight of seven pounds, I have it cut in half, and prepared in\nthe following manner: first, ensure that it has been properly soaked,\nscraped, and cleaned to a nicety; then put it into an earthen vessel, as\nnear its own size as possible, with just as much water as will cover it;\nto which add four onions, a clove of garlic, half a dozen eschalots, a\nbay-leaf, a bunch of sweet herbs, half a dozen cloves, a few peppercorns\nand allspice: this should be well closed, and kept simmering about three\nhours. It is then served with raspings or with glazing, the rind having\nfirst been taken off neatly. The liquor is strained, and kept till\npoultry of any sort, or meat, is boiled; when the liquor in which they\nhave been dressed should be added to it, and boiled down fast till\nreduced to about three pints; when cold, it will be a highly flavoured,\nwell-coloured jelly,[300-*] and ready for sauce for all kinds of rago\u00fbts\nand hashes, &c. &c.\nA fillet of veal I divide into three parts; the meat before it is\nskewered, will of itself indicate where the partition is natural, and\nwill pull asunder as you would quarter an orange; the largest piece\nshould be stuffed with No. 374 or No. 375, and rolled up, compactly\nskewered, &c., and makes a very pretty small fillet: the square flat\npiece will either cut into cutlets (No. 90, or No. 521), or slice for a\npie; and the thick piece must be well larded and dressed as a\nfricandeau; which I do in the following-manner: put the larded veal into\na stew-pan just big enough to contain it, with as much water as will\ncover it; when it has simmered till delicately white, and so tender as\nto be cut with a spoon, it must be taken out of the water and set apart;\nand it will be ready to serve up either with sorrel, tomata, mushrooms\n(No. 305, or No. 439), or some of the above-mentioned stock, the\nfricandeau being previously coloured with glazing; if with mushrooms,\nthey should be first parboiled in salt and vinegar, and water, which\ngives them flavour, and keeps them of a good colour.\nThe sirloin of beef I likewise divide into three parts; I first have it\nnicely boned.\nThe under part, or fillet, as the French call it, will dress (when cut\ninto slices) excellently, either as plain steaks (No. 94), curry (No.\n197), or it may be larded whole, and gently stewed in two quarts of\nwater (a bay-leaf, two onions, their skins roasted brown, four cloves,\nallspice, &c. &c.) till tender, when it should be taken out, drained\nquite dry, and put away; it is then ready to be used at any time in the\nfollowing manner: season and dredge it well, then put it into a stewpan\nin which a piece of butter has been previously fried to a fine froth;\nwhen the meat is sufficiently brown, take it out, and throw into the pan\nhalf a dozen middle-sized onions, to do a fine gold colour; that\naccomplished, (during which the dredger should be in constant use,) add\nhalf a pint of stock, and a tea-spoonful of tarragon vinegar (No. 396),\nand let the onions stew gently till nearly tender: the beef should then\nbe returned to the stew-pan, and the whole suffered to simmer till the\nmeat is warm through: care must be taken that the onions do not break,\nand they should be served round the beef with as much sauce as will look\ngraceful in the dish. The fillet is likewise very good without the fried\nonions; in that case you should chop and mix up together an eschalot,\nsome parsley, a few capers, and the yelk of a hard egg, and strew them\nlightly over the surface of the beef.\nThe fat end of the sirloin and bones should be put to simmer in the\nliquor in which the fillet was first stewed, and done till the beef\nlooks loose; it should then be put away into a deep vessel, and the soup\nstrained over it, which cooling with the fat upon the top (thereby\nexcluding the air), will keep as long as may be required: when the soup\nis to be used, the fat must be cleared from it; a carrot, parsnip, a\nhead of celery, a leek, and three turnips, cleaned and scalded, should\nbe added to it, and the whole suffered to simmer gently till the\nvegetables are quite done, when they must be strained from the liquor,\nand the soup served up with large square thick pieces of toasted bread.\nThose who like a plain bouilli warm the beef in the soup, and serve it\nup with the turnips and carrots which had been strained before from the\nsoup. A white cabbage quartered is no bad addition to the garnish of the\nbouilli, or to the flavour of the soup. If it is a dressed bouilli,\nsliced carrots and button onions should be stewed in thickened stock,\nand poured over the meat.\nA neck of mutton boned, sprinkled with dried sage, powdered fine, or\n(No. 378) seasoned, rolled, and roasted, is very good. The bones and\nscrag make excellent gravy stewed down, and if done very gently, the\nmeat is not bad eating. The same herbs should be put to it as to other\nstocks, with the addition of a carrot; this will make very good mutton\nbroth. In short, wherever there are bones or trimmings to be got out of\nany meat that is dressed in my kitchen, they are made to contribute\ntowards soup or gravy, or No. 252.\nInstead of roasting a hare, (which at best is but dry food), stew it, if\nyoung, plain; if an old one, lard it. The shoulders and legs should be\ntaken off, and the back cut into three pieces; these, with a bay-leaf,\nhalf a dozen eschalots, one onion pierced with four cloves, should be\nlaid with as much good vinegar as will cover them, for twenty-four\nhours, in a deep dish. In the mean time, the head, neck, ribs, liver,\nheart, &c. &c. should be browned in frothed butter well seasoned; add\nhalf a pound of lean bacon, cut into small pieces, a large bunch of\nherbs, a carrot, and a few allspice; simmer these in a quart of water\ntill it be reduced to about half the quantity, when it should be\nstrained, and those parts of the hare which have been infused in the\nvinegar, should (with the whole contents of the dish) be added to it,\nand stewed till quite done. Those who like onions may brown half a\ndozen, stew them in a part of the gravy, and dish them round the hare.\nWhen it comes from the table, supposing some to be left, the meat should\nbe taken from the bones, and with a few forcemeat balls, the remains of\nthe gravy, about a quarter of a pint of red wine, and a proportionable\nquantity of water, it will make a very pretty soup; to those who have no\nobjection to catchup (No. 439,) a spoonful in the original gravy is an\nimprovement, as indeed it is in every made dish, where the mushroom\nitself is not at command.\nEvery rago\u00fbt, in my opinion, should be dressed the day before it is\nwanted, that any fat which has escaped the skimming spoon, may with ease\nbe taken off when cold.\nCALF\u2019S HEAD.--Take the half of one, with the skin on; put it into a\nlarge stew-pan, with, as much water as will cover it, a knuckle of ham,\nand the usual accompaniments of onions, herbs, &c. &c., and let it\nsimmer till the flesh may be separated from the bone with a spoon; do\nso, and while still hot, cut it into as large a sized square as the\npiece will admit of; the trimmings and half the liquor put by in a\ntureen; to the remaining half add a gill of white wine, and reduce the\nwhole of that by quick boiling till it is again half consumed, when it\nshould be poured over the large square piece in an earthen vessel,\nsurrounded with mushrooms, white button onions, small pieces of pickled\npork, half an inch in breadth, and one and a half in length, and the\ntongue in slices, and simmered till the whole is fit to serve up; some\nbrowned forcemeat balls are a pretty addition. After this comes from the\ntable, the remains should be cut into small pieces, and mixed up with\nthe trimmings and liquor, which (with a little more wine), properly\nthickened, will make a very good mock turtle soup for a future occasion.\n_To hash Mutton, &c._--(No. 484.)\nCut the meat into slices, about the thickness of two shillings, trim off\nall the sinews, skin, gristle, &c.; put in nothing but what is to be\neaten, lay them on a plate, ready; prepare your sauce to warm it in, as\nreceipt (No. 360, or No. 451, or No. 486), put in the meat, and let it\nsimmer gently till it is thoroughly warm: do not let it boil, as that\nwill make the meat tough and hard,[303-*] and it will be, as Joan\nCromwell[303-+] has it, a harsh.\n_Obs._--Select for your hash those parts of the joint that are least\ndone.\nMEM.--Hashing is a mode of cookery by no means suited to delicate\nstomachs: unless the meat, &c. be considerably under-done the first\ntime, a second dressing must spoil it, for what is done enough the first\ntime, must be done too much the second.\n_To warm Hashes,[304-*] Made Dishes, Stews, Rago\u00fbts, Soups, &c._--(No.\nPut what you have left into a deep hash-dish or tureen; when you want\nit, set this in a stew-pan of boiling water: let it stand till the\ncontents are quite warm.\n_To hash Beef, &c._--(No. 486.)\nPut a pint and a half of broth, or water, with an ounce of No. 252, or a\nlarge table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, into a stew-pan with the gravy\nyou have saved that was left from the beef, and put in a quarter ounce\nof onion sliced very fine, and boil it about ten minutes; put a large\ntable-spoonful of flour into a basin, just wet it with a little water,\nmix it well together, and then stir it into the broth, and give it a\nboil for five or ten minutes; rub it through a sieve, and it is ready to\nreceive the beef, &c.; let it stand by the side of the fire till the\nmeat is warm.\nN.B. A tea-spoonful of parsley chopped as fine as possible and put in\nfive minutes before it is served up, is a great addition; others like\nhalf a wine-glass of port wine, and a dessert-spoonful of currant jelly.\nSee also No. 360, which will show you every variety of manner of making\nand flavouring the most highly finished hash sauce, and Nos. 484, 485,\n_Cold Meat broiled, with Poached Eggs._--(No. 487.)\nThe inside of a sirloin of beef is best for this dish, or a leg of\nmutton. Cut the slices of even and equal thickness, and broil and brown\nthem carefully and slightly over a clear smart fire, or in a Dutch oven;\ngive those slices most fire that are least done; lay them in a dish\nbefore the fire to keep hot, while you poach the eggs, as directed in\nNo. 546, and mashed potatoes (No. 106).\n_Obs._--This makes a savoury luncheon or supper, but is more relishing\nthan nourishing, unless the meat was under-done the first time it was\ndressed.\nNo. 307 for sauce, to which some add a few drops of eschalot wine or\nvinegar. See No. 402, or No. 439, or No. 359, warmed; or Grill Sauce\nMRS. PHILLIPS\u2019S _Irish Stew._--(No. 488.)\nTake five thick mutton chops, or two pounds off the neck or loin; two\npounds of potatoes; peel them, and cut them in halves; six onions, or\nhalf a pound of onions; peel and slice them also: first put a layer of\npotatoes at the bottom of your stew-pan, then a couple of chops and some\nof the onions; then again potatoes, and so on, till the pan is quite\nfull; a small spoonful of white pepper, and about one and a half of\nsalt, and three gills of broth or gravy, and two tea-spoonfuls of\nmushroom catchup; cover all very close in, so as to prevent the steam\nfrom getting out, and let them stew for an hour and a half on a very\nslow fire. A small slice of ham is a great addition to this dish. The\ncook will be the best judge when it is done, as a great deal depends on\nthe fire you have.\nN.B. Great care must be taken not to let it burn, and that it does not\ndo too fast.\n_To make an Irish Stew, or Hunter\u2019s Pie._\nTake part of a neck of mutton, cut it into chops, season it well, put it\ninto a stew-pan, let it brase for half an hour, take two dozen of\npotatoes, boil them, mash them, and season them, butter your mould, and\nline it with the potatoes, put in the mutton, bake it for half an hour,\nthen it will be done, cut a hole in the top, and add some good gravy to\nit.\nN.B. The above is the contribution of Mr. Morrison, of the Leinster\nhotel, Dublin.\n_A good Scotch Haggis._--(No. 488*.)\nMake the haggis-bag perfectly clean; parboil the draught; boil the liver\nvery well, so as it will grate; dry the meal before the fire; mince the\ndraught and a pretty large piece of beef very small; grate about half of\nthe liver; mince plenty of the suet and some onions small; mix all these\nmaterials very well together, with a handful or two of the dried meal;\nspread them on the table, and season them properly with salt and mixed\nspices; take any of the scraps of beef that are left from mincing, and\nsome of the water that boiled the draught, and make about a choppin (_i.\ne._ a quart) of good stock of it; then put all the haggis meat into the\nbag, and that broth in it; then sew up the bag; but be sure to put out\nall the wind before you sew it quite close. If you think the bag is\nthin, you may put it in a cloth. If it is a large haggis, it will take\nat least two hours boiling.\nN.B. The above we copied _verbatim_ from Mrs. MACIVER. a celebrated\nCaledonian professor of the culinary art, who taught, and published a\nbook of cookery, at Edinburgh, A. D. 1787.\n_Minced Collops._\n\u201cThis is a favourite Scotch dish; few families are without it: it keeps\nwell, and is always ready to make an extra dish.\n\u201cTake beef, and chop and mince it very small; to which add some salt and\npepper. Put this, in its raw state, into small jars, and pour on the top\nsome clarified butter. When intended for use, put the clarified butter\ninto a frying-pan, and slice some onions into the pan, and fry them. Add\na little water to it, and then put in the minced meat. Stew it well, and\nin a few minutes it will be fit to serve up.\u201d--The Hon. JOHN COCHRANE\u2019S\n_Seaman\u2019s Guide_, 8vo. 1797, page 42.\n_Haricot[306-*] Mutton._--(No. 489.)\nCut the best end of a neck or loin of mutton, that has been kept till\ntender, into chops of equal thickness, one rib to each (\u201c_les bons\nhommes de bouche de Paris_\u201d cut two chops to one bone, but it is more\nconvenient to help when there is only one; two at a time is too large a\ndose for John Bull), trim off some of the fat, and the lower end of the\nchine bone, and scrape it clean, and lay them in a stew-pan, with an\nounce of butter; set it over a smart fire; if your fire is not sharp,\nthe chops will be done before they are coloured: the intention of frying\nthem is merely to give them a very light browning.\nWhile the chops are browning, peel and boil a couple of dozen of young\nbutton onions in about three pints of water for about fifteen or twenty\nminutes, set them by, and pour off the liquor they were boiled in into\nthe stew-pan with the chops: if that is not sufficient to cover them,\nadd as much boiling water as will; remove the scum as it rises, and be\ncareful they are not stewed too fast or too much; so take out one of\nthem with a fish-slice, and try it: when they are tender, which will be\nin about an hour and a half, then pass the gravy through a sieve into a\nbasin, set it in the open air that it may get cold, you may then easily\nand completely skim off the fat; in the mean time set the meat and\nvegetables by the fire to keep hot, and pour some boiling water over the\nbutton onions to warm them. Have about six ounces of carrots, and eight\nounces of turnips, peeled and cut into slices, or shaped into balls\nabout as big as a nutmeg; boil the carrots about half an hour, the\nturnips about a quarter of an hour, and put them on a sieve to drain,\nand then put them round the dish, the last thing.\nThicken the gravy by putting an ounce of butter into a stew-pan; when it\nis melted, stir in as much flour as will stiffen it; pour the gravy to\nit by degrees, stir together till it boils; strain it through a fine\nsieve or tamis into a stew-pan, put in the carrots and turnips to get\nwarm, and let it simmer gently while you dish up the meat; lay the chops\nround a dish; put the vegetables in the middle, and pour the thickened\ngravy over. Some put in capers, &c. minced gherkins, &c.\n_Obs._--Rump-steaks, veal-cutlets, and beef-tails, make excellent dishes\ndressed in the like manner.\n_Mutton-Chops delicately stewed, and good Mutton Broth_,--(No. 490.)\nPut the chops into a stew-pan with cold water enough to cover them, and\nan onion: when it is coming to a boil, skim it, cover the pan close, and\nset it over a very slow fire till the chops are tender: if they have\nbeen kept a proper time, they will take about three quarters of an\nhour\u2019s very gentle simmering. Send up turnips with them (No. 130); they\nmay be boiled with the chops; skim well, and then send all up in a deep\ndish, with the broth they were stewed in.\nN. B. The broth will make an economist one, and the meat another,\nwholesome and comfortable meal.\n_Shoulder of Lamb grilled._--(No. 491.)\nBoil it; score it in checkers about an inch square, rub it over with the\nyelk of an egg, pepper and salt it, strew it with bread-crumbs and dried\nparsley, or sweet herbs, or No. 457, or No. 459, and _Carbonado_, _i.\ne._ grill, _i. e._ broil it over a clear fire, or put it in a Dutch\noven till it is a nice light brown; send up some gravy with it, or make\na sauce for it of flour and water well mixed together with an ounce of\nfresh butter, a table-spoonful of mushroom or walnut catchup, and the\njuice of half a lemon. See also grill sauce (No. 355).\nN.B. Breasts of lamb are often done in the same way, and with mushroom\nor mutton sauce (No. 307).\n_Lamb\u2019s Fry._--(No. 492.)\nFry it plain, or dip it in an egg well beaten on a plate, and strew some\nfine stale bread-crumbs over it; garnish with crisp parsley (No. 389).\nFor sauce, No. 355, or No. 356.\n_Shin of Beef[308-*] stewed._--(No. 493.)\nDesire the butcher to saw the bone into three or four pieces, put it\ninto a stew-pan, and just cover it with cold water; when it simmers,\nskim it clean; then put in a bundle of sweet herbs, a large onion, a\nhead of celery, a dozen berries of black pepper, and the same of\nallspice: stew very gently over a slow fire till the meat is tender;\nthis will take from about three hours and a half, to four and a half.\nTake three carrots, peel and cut them into small squares; peel and cut\nready in small squares a couple of turnips, with a couple of dozen of\nsmall young round silver button onions; boil them, till tender; the\nturnips and onions will be enough in about fifteen minutes; the carrots\nwill require about twice as long: drain them dry.\nWhen the beef is quite tender, take it out carefully with a slice, and\nput it on a dish while you thicken a pint and a half of the gravy: to do\nthis, mix three table-spoonfuls of flour with a tea-cupful of the beef\nliquor; to make soup of the rest of it, see No. 238; stir this\nthoroughly together till it boils, skim off the fat, strain it through a\nsieve, and put your vegetables in to warm; season with pepper, salt, and\na wine-glass of mushroom catchup (No. 439), or port wine, or both, and\npour it over the beef.\nSend up Wow-wow sauce (No. 328) in a boat.\nN.B. Or, instead of sending up the beef whole, cut the meat into\nhandsome pieces fit to help at table, and lay it in the middle of the\ndish, with the vegetables and sauce (which, if you flavour with No. 455,\nyou may call \u201cbeef curry\u201d) round it. A leg of mutton is excellent\ndressed in the same way; equal to \u201c_le gigot de sept heures_,\u201d so famous\nin the French kitchen.\n_Obs._--This stew has every claim to the attention of the rational\nepicure, being one of those in which \u201cfrugality,\u201d \u201cnourishment,\u201d and\n\u201cpalatableness,\u201d are most happily combined; and you get half a gallon of\nexcellent broth into the bargain.\nWe advise the mistress of the table to call it \u201crago\u00fbt beef:\u201d this will\nensure its being eaten with unanimous applause; the homely appellation\nof \u201cshin of beef stewed,\u201d is enough to give your genteel eater the\nlocked jaw.\n \u201cRemember, when the judgment\u2019s weak, the prejudice is strong.\u201d\nOur modern epicures resemble the ancient,[309-*] who thought the dearest\ndish must be the most delicious:\n ----\u201cAnd think all wisdom lies\n In being impertinently nice.\u201d\nThus, they reckon turtle and punch to be \u201csheventy-foive per shent\u201d more\ninviting than mock turtle and good malt liquor: however bad the former\nmay be, and however good the latter, we wish these folks could be made\nto understand, that the soup for each, and all the accompaniments, are\nprecisely the same: there is this only difference, the former is\ncommonly made with a \u201cstarved turtle\u201d (see Notes at the foot of page\n220), the latter with a \u201cfatted calf.\u201d See Nos. 247, 343, and 343*.\nThe scarcity of tolerably good cooks ceases to be surprising, when we\nreflect how much more astonishing is the ignorance of most of those who\nassume the character of scientific gourmands,[309-+] so extremely\nignorant of \u201cthe affairs of the mouth,\u201d they seem hardly to \u201cknow a\nsheep\u2019s head from a carrot;\u201d and their real pretensions to be profound\npalaticians, are as moderate as the wine-merchant\u2019s customer, whose\nsagacity in the selection of liquors was only so exquisite, that he knew\nthat Port wine was black, and that if he drank enough of it, it would\nmake him drunk.\n_Brisket of Beef stewed._--(No. 494.)\nThis is prepared in exactly the same way as \u201csoup and bouilli.\u201d See Nos.\n_Haricot of Beef._--(No. 495.)\nA stewed brisket cut in slices, and sent up with the same sauce of\nroots, &c., as we have directed for haricot of mutton (No. 489), is a\nmost excellent dish, of very moderate expense.\n_Savoury Salt Beef baked._--(No. 496.)\nThe tongue side of a round of beef is the best bit for this purpose: if\nit weighs fifteen pounds, let it hang two or three days; then take three\nounces of saltpetre, one ounce of coarse sugar, a quarter of an ounce\nof black pepper, and the same of allspice (some add a quarter of an\nounce of ginger, or No. 457), and some minced sweet and savoury herbs\n(No. 459), and three quarters of a pound of common salt; incorporate\nthese ingredients by pounding them together in a mortar; then take the\nbone out, and rub the meat well with the above mixture, turning it and\nrubbing it every day for a fortnight.\nWhen you dress it, put it into a pan with a quart of water; cover the\nmeat with about three pounds of mutton suet[310-*] shredded rather\nthick, and an onion or two minced small; cover the whole with a flour\ncrust to the top or brim of the pan, and let it be baked in a\nmoderate-heated oven for about six hours: (or, just cover it with water,\nand let it stew very gently for about five hours, and when you send it\nto table, cover the top of it with finely chopped parsley.) If the beef\nweighs more, put a proportional addition of all the ingredients.\nThe gravy you will find a strong _consomm\u00e9_, excellent for sauce or\nsoup; or making soy, or browning, see No. 322, and being impregnated\nwith salt, will keep several days.\nThis joint should not be cut till it is cold: and then, with a sharp\nknife, to prevent waste, and keep it even and comely to the eye.\n_Obs._--This is a most excellent way of preparing and dressing beef (No.\n503), and a savoury dish for sandwiches, &c. In moderate weather it will\nkeep good for a fortnight after it is dressed: it is one of the most\neconomical and elegant articles of ready-dressed keeping provisions;\ndeserving the particular attention of those families who frequently have\naccidental customers dropping in at luncheon or supper.\n_Curries._--(No. 497; see also No. 249.)\nCut fowls or rabbits into joints, and wash them clean: put two ounces of\nbutter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, put in the meat, and two\nmiddling-sized onions sliced, let them be over a smart fire till they\nare of a light brown, then put in half a pint of broth; let it simmer\ntwenty minutes.\nPut in a basin one or two table-spoonfuls of curry powder (No. 455), a\ntea-spoonful of flour, and a tea-spoonful of salt; mix it smooth with a\nlittle cold water, put it into the stew-pan, and shake it well about\ntill it boils: let it simmer twenty minutes longer; then take out the\nmeat, and rub the sauce through a tamis or sieve: add to it two table\nspoonfuls of cream or milk; give it a boil up; then pour it into a dish,\nlay the meat over it: send up the rice in a separate dish.\n_Obs._--Curry is made also with sweetbreads, breast of veal, veal\ncutlets, lamb, mutton or pork chops, lobster, turbot, soles, eels,\noysters, &c.: prepared as above, or enveloped in No. 348.\n_Obs._--This is a very savoury and economical dish, and a valuable\nvariety at a moderate table. See Wow-wow sauce (No. 328).\n_Stewed Rump-Steaks._--(No. 500.)\nThe steaks must be a little thicker than for broiling: let them be all\nthe same thickness, or some will be done too little, and others too\nmuch.\nPut an ounce of butter into a stew-pan, with two onions; when the butter\nis melted, lay in the rump-steaks, let them stand over a slow fire for\nfive minutes, then turn them and let the other side of them fry for five\nminutes longer. Have ready boiled a pint of button onions; they will\ntake from half an hour to an hour; put the liquor they were boiled in to\nthe steaks; if there is not enough of it to cover them, add broth or\nboiling water, to make up enough for that purpose, with a dozen corns of\nblack pepper, and a little salt, and let them simmer very gently for\nabout an hour and a half, and then strain off as much of the liquor\n(about a pint and a half) as you think will make the sauce.\nPut two ounces of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, stir in as\nmuch flour as will make it into a stiff paste; some add thereto a\ntable-spoonful of claret, or Port wine, the same of mushroom catchup\n(No. 439), half a tea-spoonful of salt, and a quarter of a tea-spoonful\nof ground black pepper: add the liquor by degrees; let it boil up for\nfifteen minutes; skim it, and strain it; serve up the steaks with the\nonions round the dish, and pour the gravy over.\nVeal-cutlets or mutton-chops may be done the same way, or as veal-olives\nThis is generally a second-course dish, and is usually made too rich,\nand only fit to re-excite an appetite already satiated. Our endeavour is\nto combine agreeable savouriness with substantial nourishment; those who\nwish to enrich our receipt, may easily add mushrooms, wine, anchovy,\nCayenne, bay-leaves, &c.\n_Obs._ Rump-steaks are in best condition from Michaelmas to lady-day. To\nensure their being tender, give the butcher three or four days\u2019 notice\nof your wish for them.\n_Broiled Rump-Steak with Onion Gravy._--(No. 501.) See also No. 299.\nPeel and slice two large onions, put them into a quart stew-pan, with\ntwo table-spoonfuls of water; cover the stew-pan close, and set it on a\nslow fire till the water has boiled away, and the onions have got a\nlittle browned; then add half a pint of good broth,[312-*] and boil the\nonions till they are tender; strain the broth from them, and chop them\nvery fine, and season it with mushroom catchup, pepper, and salt: put\nthe onion into it, and let it boil gently for five minutes; pour it into\nthe dish, and lay over it a broiled rump-steak. If instead of broth you\nuse good beef gravy, it will be superlative.\n\u2042 Stewed cucumber (No. 135) is another agreeable accompaniment to\nrump-steaks.\n_Alamode Beef, or Veal._--(No. 502.)\nIn the 180 volumes on Cookery, we patiently pioneered through, before\nwe encountered the tremendous labour and expense of proving the receipts\nof our predecessors, and set about recording these results of our own\nexperiments, we could not find one receipt that approximated to any\nthing like an accurate description of the way in which this excellent\ndish is actually dressed in the best alamode beef shops; from whence, of\ncourse, it was impossible to obtain any information: however, after all,\nthe whole of the secret seems to be the thickening of the gravy of beef\nthat has been very slowly[313-*] stewed, and flavouring it with\nbay-leaves and allspice.\nTake about eleven pounds of the mouse buttock, or clod of beef, or a\nblade-bone, or the sticking-piece, or the like weight of the breast of\nveal; cut it into pieces of three or four ounces each; put three or four\nounces of beef drippings, and mince a couple of large onions, and put\nthem into a large deep stew-pan; as soon as it is quite hot, flour the\nmeat, put it into the stew-pan, keep stirring it with a wooden spoon;\nwhen it has been on about ten minutes, dredge it with flour, and keep\ndoing so till you have stirred in as much as you think will thicken it;\nthen cover it with boiling water (it will take about a gallon), adding\nit by degrees, and stirring it together; skim it when it boils, and then\nput in one drachm of ground black pepper, two of allspice, and two\nbay-leaves; set the pan by the side of the fire, or at a distance over\nit, and let it stew very slowly for about three hours; when you find the\nmeat sufficiently tender, put it into a tureen, and it is ready for\ntable.\nIt is customary to send up with it a nice salad; see No. 372.\n\u2042 To the above many cooks add champignons; but as these are almost\nalways decayed, and often of deleterious quality, they are better left\nout, and indeed the bay-leaves deserve the same prohibition.\n_Obs._ Here is a savoury and substantial meal, almost as cheap as the\negg-broth of the miser, who fed his valet with the water in which his\negg was boiled, or as the \u201c_Potage \u00e0 la Pierre, \u00e0 la Soldat_,\u201d[313-+]\nmentioned by Giles Rose, in the 4th page of his dedication of the\n\u201cperfect school of instruction for the officers of the mouth,\u201d 18mo.\nLondon, 1682. \u201cTwo soldiers were minded to have a soup; the first of\nthem coming into a house, and asking for all things necessary for the\nmaking of one, was as soon told that he could have none of those things\nthere, whereupon he went away; the other, coming in with a stone in his\nknapsack, asked only for a pot to boil his stone in, that he might make\na dish of broth of it for his supper, which was quickly granted him;\nwhen the stone had boiled a little while, he asked for a small piece of\nmeat or bacon, and a few herbs and roots, &c. just merely to give it a\nbit of a flavour; till, by little and little, he got all things\nrequisite, and so made an excellent pottage of his stone.\u201d See _Obs._ to\n Onions, pepper, allspice, and bay-leaves 0 3\n_i. e._ sixpence per quart.\n_To pot Beef, Veal, Game, or Poultry, &c._--(No. 503.)\nTake three pounds of lean gravy beef, rub it well with an ounce of\nsaltpetre, and then a handful of common salt; let it lie in salt for a\ncouple of days, rubbing it well each day; then put it into an earthen\npan or stone jar that will just hold it; cover it with the skin and fat\nthat you cut off, and pour in half a pint of water; cover it close with\npaste, and set it in a very slow oven for about four hours; or prepare\nit as directed in No. 496.\nWhen it comes from the oven, drain the gravy from it into a basin; pick\nout the gristles and the skins; mince it fine; moisten it with a little\nof the gravy you poured from the meat, which is a very strong consomm\u00e9\n(but rather salt), and it will make excellent pease soup, or browning\n(see No. 322); pound the meat patiently and thoroughly in a mortar with\nsome fresh butter,[314-*] till it is a fine paste (to make potted meat\nsmooth there is nothing equal to plenty of elbow-grease); seasoning it\n(by degrees, as you are beating it,) with a little black pepper and\nallspice, or cloves pounded, or mace, or grated nutmeg.\nPut it in pots, press it down as close as possible, and cover it a\nquarter of an inch thick with clarified butter; to prepare which, see\nreceipt No. 259, and if you wish to preserve it a long time, over that\ntie a bladder. Keep it in a dry place.\n_Obs._ You may mince a little ham or bacon, or an anchovy, sweet or\nsavoury herbs, or an eschalot, and a little tarragon, chervil, or\nburnet, &c., and pound them with the meat, with a glass of wine, or some\nmustard, or forcemeat (No. 376, or Nos. 378 and 399*, &c.); if you wish\nto have it devilish savoury, add rago\u00fbt powder (No. 457), curry powder\n(No. 455), or zest (No. 255), and moisten it with mushroom catchup (No.\n439), or essence of anchovy (No. 433), or tincture of allspice (No.\n413), or essence of turtle (No. 343*), or, (No. 503*).\nIt is a very agreeable and economical way of using the remains of game\nor poultry, or a large joint of either roasted or boiled beef, veal,\nham, or tongue, &c. to mince it with some of the fat, (or moisten it\nwith a little butter, or No. 439, &c.) and beat it in a mortar with the\nseasoning, &c., as in the former receipt.\nWhen either the teeth or stomach are extremely feeble, especial care\nmust be taken to keep meat till it is tender before it is cooked; or\ncall in the aid of those excellent helps to bad teeth, the pestle and\n542, and especially 503. Or dress in the usual way whatever is best\nliked, mince it, put it into a mortar, and pound it with a little broth\nor melted butter, vegetable, herb, spice, zest (No. 255), &c. according\nto the taste, &c. of the eater. The business of the stomach is thus very\nmaterially facilitated.\n\u201cFlesh in small quantities, bruised to a pulp, may be very\nadvantageously used in fevers attended with debility.\u201d--DARWIN\u2019S\n_Zoonomia_, vol. ii. p. 400.\n\u201cMincing or pounding meat saveth the grinding of the teeth; and\ntherefore (no doubt) is more nourishing, especially in age, or to them\nthat have weak teeth; but butter is not proper for weak bodies, and\ntherefore moisten it in pounding with a little claret wine, and a very\nlittle cinnamon or nutmeg.\u201d--Lord BACON; _Natural History_, Century 1.\n_Obs._--Meat that has been boiled down for gravies, &c. see Nos. 185\nand 252, (which has heretofore been considered the perquisite of the\ncat) and is completely drained of all its succulence, beat in a mortar\nwith salt and a little ground black pepper and allspice, as directed in\nthe foregoing receipt, and it will make as good potted beef as meat that\nhas been baked till its moisture is entirely extracted, which it must\nbe, or it will not keep two days.\nMEM.--Meat that has not been previously salted, will not keep so long as\nthat which has.\n_Sandwiches_,--(No. 504.)\nProperly prepared, are an elegant and convenient luncheon or supper, but\nhave got out of fashion, from the bad manner in which they are commonly\nmade: to cut the bread neatly with a sharp knife seems to be considered\nthe only essential, and the lining is composed of any offal odds and\nends, that cannot be sent to table in any other form.\nWhatever is used must be carefully trimmed from every bit of skin,\ngristle, &c. and nothing introduced but what you are absolutely certain\nwill be acceptable to the mouth.\nMATERIALS FOR MAKING SANDWICHES.\n Cold meat, or poultry.\n Potted ditto (No. 503).\n Savoury ditto (No. 496).\n Potted lobster (No. 178), or shrimp (No. 175).\n Potted cheese (No. 542).\n Ditto, or grated tongue.\n Potted, or grated ham (No. 509).\n Anchovy (Nos. 434 and 435).\n German sausage\n Cold pork ditto (No. 87).\n Hard eggs, pounded with a little butter and cheese.\n Grated ham, or beef.\n Various forcemeats, &c. (No. 373), &c.\n Curry-powder, zest, mustard, pepper, and salt are added occasionally.\n_Meat Cakes._--(No. 504*.)\nIf you have any cold meat, game, or poultry (if under-done, all the\nbetter), mince it fine, with a little fat bacon or ham, or an anchovy;\nseason it with a little pepper and salt; mix well, and make it into\nsmall cakes three inches long, half as wide, and half an inch thick: fry\nthese a light brown, and serve them with good gravy, or put it into a\nmould and boil or bake it.\nN.B. Bread-crumbs, hard yelks of eggs, onions, sweet herbs, savoury\nspices, zest, or curry-powder, or any of the forcemeats. See Nos. 373 to\nFish cakes for maigre days, may be made in like manner.\n_Bubble and Squeak, or fried Beef or Mutton and Cabbage._--(No. 505.)\n \u201cWhen \u2019midst the frying pan, in accents savage,\n The beef, so surly, quarrels with the cabbage.\u201d\nFor this, as for a hash, select those parts of the joint that have been\nleast done; it is generally made with slices of cold boiled salted-beef,\nsprinkled with a little pepper, and just lightly browned with a bit of\nbutter in a frying-pan: if it is fried too much it will be hard.\nBoil a cabbage, squeeze it quite dry, and chop it small; take the beef\nout of the frying-pan, and lay the cabbage in it; sprinkle a little\npepper and salt over it; keep the pan moving over the fire for a few\nminutes; lay the cabbage in the middle of a dish, and the meat round it.\nFor sauce, see No. 356, or No. 328.\n_Hashed Beef, and roast Beef bones boiled._--(No. 506.)\nTo hash beef, see receipt, Nos. 484, 5, 6, and Nos. 360, 484, and 486.\nThe best part to hash is the fillet or inside of the sirloin, and the\ngood housewife will always endeavour to preserve it entire for this\npurpose. See _Obs._ to No. 19, and mock hare, No. 66*.\nRoast beef bones furnish a very relishing luncheon or supper, prepared\nin the following manner, with poached eggs (No. 546), or fried eggs (No.\n545), or mashed potatoes (No. 106), as accompaniments.\nDivide the bones, leaving good pickings of meat on each; score them in\nsquares, pour a little melted butter on them, and sprinkle them with\npepper and salt: put them in a dish; set them in a Dutch oven for half\nor three quarters of an hour, according to the thickness of the meat;\nkeep turning them till they are quite hot and brown; or broil them on\nthe gridiron. Brown them, but don\u2019t burn them black. For sauce, Nos.\n_Ox-Cheek stewed._--(No. 507.)\nPrepare this the day before it is to be eaten; clean it, and put it into\nsoft water just warm; let it lie three or four hours, then put it into\ncold water, and let it soak all night; next day wipe it clean, put it\ninto a stew-pan, and just cover it with water; skim it well when it is\ncoming to a boil, then put two whole onions, stick two or three cloves\ninto each, three turnips quartered, a couple of carrots sliced, two\nbay-leaves, and twenty-four corns of allspice, a head of celery, and a\nbundle of sweet herbs, pepper, and salt; to these, those who are for a\n\u201chaut go\u00fbt\u201d may add Cayenne and garlic, in such proportions as the\npalate that requires them may desire.\nLet it stew gently till perfectly tender, _i. e._ about three hours;\nthen take out the cheek, divide it into handsome pieces, fit to help at\ntable; skim, and strain the gravy; melt an ounce and a half of butter in\na stew-pan; stir into it as much flour as it will take up; mix with it\nby degrees a pint and a half of the gravy; add to it a table-spoonful of\nbasil, tarragon, or elder vinegar, or the like quantity of mushroom or\nwalnut catchup, or cavice, or port wine, and give it a boil.\nServe up in a soup or rago\u00fbt-dish; or make it into barley broth, No.\n_Obs._--This is a very economical, nourishing, and savoury meal. See\nox-cheek soup, No. 239, and calf\u2019s head hashed, No. 520.\n_Ox-Tails stewed._--(No. 508.)\nDivide them into joints; wash them; parboil them; set them on to stew in\njust water enough to cover them,--and dress them in the same manner as\nwe have directed in No. 531, Stewed Giblets, for which they are an\nexcellent substitute.\nN.B.--See Ox-Tail Soup, No. 240.\n_Potted Ham, or Tongue._--(No. 509.)\nCut a pound of the lean of cold boiled Ham or Tongue, and pound it in a\nmortar with a quarter of a pound of the fat, or with fresh butter (in\nthe proportion of about two ounces to a pound), till it is a fine paste\n(some season it by degrees with a little pounded mace or allspice): put\nit close down in pots for that purpose, and cover it with Clarified\nButter, No. 259, a quarter of an inch thick; let it stand one night in a\ncool place. Send it up in the pot, or cut out in thin slices. See _Obs._\n_Hashed Veal._--(No. 511.)\nPrepare it as directed in No. 484; and to make sauce to warm Veal, see\n_Hashed or minced Veal._--(No. 511*.)\nTo make a hash[318-*] cut the meat into slices;--to prepare minced veal,\nmince it as fine as possible (do not chop it); put it into a stew-pan\nwith a few spoonfuls of veal or mutton broth, or make some with the\nbones and trimmings, as ordered for veal cutlets (see No. 80, or No.\n361), a little lemon-peel minced fine, a spoonful of milk or cream;\nthicken with butter and flour, and season it with salt, a table-spoonful\nof lemon pickle, or Basil wine, No. 397, &c., or a pinch of curry\npowder.\n\u2042 If you have no cream, beat up the yelks of a couple of eggs with a\nlittle milk: line the dish with sippets of lightly toasted bread.\n_Obs._--Minced veal makes a very pretty dish put into scollop shells,\nand bread crumbed over, and sprinkled with a little butter, and browned\nin a Dutch oven, or a cheese-toaster.\n_To make an excellent Rago\u00fbt of Cold Veal._--(No. 512.)\nEither a neck, loin, or fillet of veal, will furnish this excellent\nrago\u00fbt with a very little expense or trouble.\nCut the veal into handsome cutlets; put a piece of butter or clean\ndripping into a frying-pan; as soon as it is hot, flour and fry the veal\nof a light brown: take it out, and if you have no gravy ready, make some\nas directed in the note to No. 517; or put a pint of boiling water into\nthe frying-pan, give it a boil up for a minute, and strain it into a\nbasin while you make some thickening in the following manner: put about\nan ounce of butter into a stew-pan; as soon as it melts, mix with it as\nmuch flour as will dry it up; stir it over the fire for a few minutes,\nand gradually add to it the gravy you made in the frying-pan; let them\nsimmer together for ten minutes (till thoroughly incorporated); season\nit with pepper, salt, a little mace, and a wine-glassful of mushroom\ncatchup or wine; strain it through a tamis to the meat, and stew very\ngently till the meat is thoroughly warmed. If you have any ready-boiled\nbacon, cut it in slices, and put it in to warm with the meat, or No. 526\nVeal cutlets, see No. 90, &c.\n_Breast of Veal stewed._--(No. 515.)\nA breast of veal stewed till quite tender, and smothered with onion\nsauce, is an excellent dish; or in the gravy ordered in the note to No.\n_Breast of Veal Rago\u00fbt._--(No. 517.)\nTake off the under bone, and cut the breast in half lengthways; divide\nit into pieces, about four inches long, by two inches wide, _i. e._ in\nhandsome pieces, not too large to help at once: put about two ounces of\nbutter into a frying-pan, and fry the veal till it is a light\nbrown,[320-*] then put it into a stew-pan with veal broth, or as much\nboiling water as will cover it, a bundle of sweet marjoram, common or\nlemon-thyme, and parsley, with four cloves, or a couple of blades of\npounded mace, three young onions, or one old one, a roll of lemon-peel,\na dozen corns of allspice bruised, and a tea-spoonful of salt; cover it\nclose, and let it all simmer very gently till the veal is tender, _i.\ne._ for about an hour and a half, if it is very thick, two hours; then\nstrain off as much (about a quart) of the gravy, as you think you will\nwant, into a basin; set the stew-pan, with the meat, &c. in it by the\nfire to keep hot. To thicken the gravy you have taken out, put an ounce\nand a half of butter into a clean stew-pan; when it is melted, stir in\nas much flour as it will take; add the gravy by degrees; season it with\nsalt; let it boil ten minutes; skim it well, and season it with two\ntable-spoonfuls of white wine, one of mushroom catchup, and same of\nlemon-juice; give it a boil up, and it is ready: now put the veal into a\nrago\u00fbt dish, and strain the gravy through a fine sieve to it. _Or_,\nBy keeping the meat whole, you will better preserve the succulence of\nit.\nPut the veal into a stew-pan, with two ounces of butter and two whole\nonions (such as weigh about two ounces each); put it on the fire, and\nfry it about five minutes; then cover it with boiling water; when it\nboils, skim it; then put in two small blades of mace, a dozen blades of\nallspice, the same of black pepper; cover it close, and let it simmer\ngently for an hour and a half; then strain as much of the gravy as you\nthink you will want into a basin; put the stew-pan by the fire to keep\nhot. To thicken it, put an ounce and a half of butter into a clean\nstew-pan: when it is melted, stir in as much flour as it will take; add\nthe gravy by degrees; season it with salt, and when it boils it is\nready. Put the veal on a dish, and strain the gravy through a fine sieve\nover it.\n_Obs._--Forcemeat balls, see No. 375, &c.; truffles, morells, mushrooms,\nand curry powder, &c. are sometimes added; and rashers of bacon or ham,\nNos. 526 and 527, or fried pork sausages, No. 83.\nN.B. These are nice dishes in the pease season.\n_Scotch Collops._--(No. 517*.)\nThe veal must be cut the same as for cutlets, in pieces about as big as\na crown-piece; flour them well, and fry them of a light brown in fresh\nbutter; lay them in a stew-pan; dredge them over with flour, and then\nput in as much boiling water as will well cover the veal; pour this in\nby degrees, shaking the stew-pan, and set it on the fire; when it comes\nto a boil, take off the scum, put in one onion, a blade of mace, and let\nit simmer very gently for three quarters of an hour; lay them on a dish,\nand pour the gravy through a sieve over them.\nN.B. Lemon-juice and peel, wine, catchup, &c., are sometimes added; add\ncurry powder, No. 455, and you have curry collops.\n_Veal Olives._--(No. 518.)\nCut half a dozen slices off a fillet of veal, half an inch thick, and as\nlong and square as you can; flat them with a chopper, and rub them over\nwith an egg that has been beat on a plate; cut some fat bacon as thin as\npossible, the same size as the veal; lay it on the veal, and rub it with\na little of the egg; make a little veal forcemeat, see receipt, No. 375,\nand spread it very thin over the bacon; roll up the olives tight, rub\nthem with the egg, and then roll them in fine bread-crumbs; put them on\na lark-spit, and roast them at a brisk fire: they will take three\nquarters of an hour.\nRump-steaks are sometimes dressed this way.\nMushroom sauce, brown (Nos. 305 or 306), or beef gravy (No. 329). Vide\nchapter on sauces, &c.\n_Cold Calf\u2019s Head hashed._--(No. 519.)\nSee _Obs._ to boiled calf\u2019s head, No. 10.\n_Calf\u2019s Head hashed, or Rago\u00fbt._--(No. 520.) See No. 247.\nWash a calf\u2019s head, which, to make this dish in the best style, should\nhave the skin on, and boil it, see No. 10; boil one half all but enough,\nso that it may be soon quite done when put into the hash to warm, the\nother quite tender: from this half take out the bones: score it\nsuperficially; beat up an egg; put it over the head with a paste-brush,\nand strew over it a little grated bread and lemon-peel, and thyme and\nparsley, chopped very fine, or in powder, then bread-crumbs, and put it\nin the Dutch oven to brown.\nCut the other half-head into handsome slices, and put it into a stew-pan\nwith a quart of gravy (No. 329), or turtle sauce (No. 343), with\nforcemeat balls (Nos. 376, 380), egg-balls, a wine-glass of white wine,\nand some catchup, &c.; put in the meat; let it warm together, and skim\noff the fat.\nPeel the tongue, and send it up with the brains round it as a side dish,\nas directed in No. 10; or beat them up in a basin with a spoonful of\nflour, two eggs, some grated lemon-peel, thyme, parsley, and a few\nleaves of very finely-minced sage; rub them well together in a mortar,\nwith pepper, salt, and a scrape of nutmeg; fry them (in little cakes) a\nvery light brown; dish up the hash with the half-head you browned in the\nmiddle; and garnish with crisp, or curled rashers of bacon, fried bread\nsippets (Nos. 319, 526, and 527), and the brain cakes.\nN.B. It is by far the best way to make a side dish of the tongue and\nbrains, if you do send up a piece of bacon as a companion for it, or\ngarnish the tongue and brains with the rashers of bacon and the\nforcemeat balls, both of which are much better kept dry than when\nimmersed in the gravy of the rago\u00fbt.\n_Obs._--In order to make what common cooks, who merely cook for the eye,\ncall a fine, large, handsome dishful, they put in not only the eatable\nparts, but all the knots of gristle, and lumps of fat, offal, &c.; and\nwhen the grand gourmand fancies he is helped as plentifully as he could\nwish, he often finds one solitary morsel of meat among a large lot of\nlumps of gristle, fat, &c.\nWe have seen a very elegant dish of the scalp only, sent to table rolled\nup; it looks like a sucking pig.\n_Veal Cutlets broiled plain, or full-dressed._--(No. 521.)\nDivide the best end of a neck of veal into cutlets, one rib to each;\nbroil them plain, or make some fine bread-crumbs; mince a little\nparsley, and a very little eschalot, as small as possible; put it into a\nclean stew-pan, with two ounces of butter, and fry it for a minute; then\nput on a plate the yelks of a couple of eggs; mix the herbs, &c. with\nit, and season it with pepper and salt: dip the cutlets into this\nmixture, and then into the bread; lay them on a gridiron over a clear\nslow fire, till they are nicely browned on both sides; they will take\nabout an hour: send up with them a few slices of ham or bacon fried, or\ndone in the Dutch oven. See Nos. 526 and 527, and half a pint of No.\n_Knuckle of Veal, to rago\u00fbt._--(No. 522.)\nCut a knuckle of veal into slices about half an inch thick; pepper,\nsalt, and flour them; fry them a light brown; put the trimmings into a\nstew-pan, with the bone broke in several places; an onion sliced, a head\nof celery, a bunch of sweet herbs, and two blades of bruised mace: pour\nin warm water enough to cover them about an inch; cover the pot close,\nand let it stew very gently for a couple of hours; strain it, and then\nthicken it with flour and butter; put in a spoonful of catchup, a glass\nof wine, and juice of half a lemon; give it a boil up, and strain into a\nclean stew-pan; put in the meat, make it hot, and serve up.\n_Obs._--If celery is not to be had, use a carrot instead or flavour it\nwith celery-seed, or No. 409.\n_Knuckle of Veal stewed with Rice._--(No. 523.)\nAs boiled knuckle of veal cold is not a very favourite relish with the\ngenerality, cut off some steaks from it, which you may dress as in the\nforegoing receipt, or No. 521, and leave the knuckle no larger than will\nbe eaten the day it is dressed. Break the shank-bone, wash it clean, and\nput it in a large stew-pan with two quarts of water, an onion, two\nblades of mace, and a tea-spoonful of salt: set it on a quick fire; when\nit boils, take off all the scum.\nWash and pick a quarter of a pound of rice; put it into the stew-pan\nwith the meat, and let it stew very gently for about two hours: put the\nmeat, &c. in a deep dish, and the rice round it.\nSend up bacon with it, parsnips, or greens, and finely minced parsley\nand butter, No. 261.\nMR. GAY\u2019S _Receipt to stew a Knuckle of Veal._--(No. 524.)\n Take a knuckle of veal;\n You may buy it or steal;\n In a few pieces cut it,\n In a stewing-pan put it;\n Salt, pepper, and mace,\n Must season this knuckle,\n Then, what\u2019s joined to a place[323-*]\n With other herbs muckle;\n That which kill\u2019d King Will,[324-*]\n And what never stands still[324-+]\n Some sprigs of that bed,[324-++]\n Where children are bred.\n Which much you will mend, if\n Both spinach and endive,\n And lettuce and beet,\n With marigold meet.\n Put no water at all,\n For it maketh things small,\n Which lest it should happen,\n A close cover clap on;\n Put this pot of Wood\u2019s metal[324-\u00a7]\n In a boiling hot kettle;\n And there let it be,\n (Mark the doctrine I teach,)\n About, let me see,\n Thrice as long as you preach.[324-||]\n So skimming the fat off,\n Say grace with your hat off,\n O! then with what rapture\n Will it fill Dean and Chapter!\n_Slices of Ham or Bacon._--(No. 526.)\nHam, or bacon, may be fried, or broiled on a gridiron over a clear fire,\nor toasted with a fork: take care to slice it of the same thickness in\nevery part.\nIf you wish it curled, cut it in slices about two inches long (if\nlonger, the outside will be done too much before the inside is done\nenough); roll it up, and put a little wooden skewer through it: put it\nin a cheese-toaster, or Dutch oven, for eight or ten minutes, turning it\nas it gets crisp.\nThis is considered the handsomest way of dressing bacon; but we like it\nbest uncurled, because it is crisper, and more equally done.\n_Obs._--Slices of ham or bacon should not be more than half a quarter of\nan inch thick, and will eat much more mellow if soaked in hot water for\na quarter of an hour, and then dried in a cloth before they are broiled,\n_Relishing Rashers of Bacon._--(No. 527.)\nIf you have any cold bacon, you may make a very nice dish of it by\ncutting it into slices about a quarter of an inch thick; grate some\ncrust of bread, as directed for ham (see No. 14), and powder them well\nwith it on both sides; lay the rashers in a cheese-toaster, they will be\nbrowned on one side in about three minutes, turn them and do the other.\n_Obs._--These are a delicious accompaniment to poached or fried Eggs:\nthe bacon having been boiled[325-*] first, is tender and mellow. They\nare an excellent garnish round veal cutlets, or sweet-breads, or\ncalf\u2019s-head hash, or green pease, or beans, &c.\n_Hashed Venison._--(No. 528.)\nIf you have enough of its own gravy left, it is preferable to any to\nwarm it up in: if not, take some of the mutton gravy (No. 347), or the\nbones and trimmings of the joint (after you have cut off all the\nhandsome slices you can to make the hash); put these into some water,\nand stew them gently for an hour; then put some butter into a stew-pan;\nwhen melted, put to it as much flour as will dry up the butter, and stir\nit well together; add to it by degrees the gravy you have been making of\nthe trimmings, and some red currant jelly; give it a boil up; skim it;\nstrain it through a sieve, and it is ready to receive the venison: put\nit in, and let it just get warm: if you let it boil, it will make the\nmeat hard.\n_Hashed Hare._--(No. 529.)\nCut up the hare into pieces fit to help at table, and divide the joints\nof the legs and shoulders, and set them by ready.\nPut the trimmings and gravy you have left, with half a pint of water\n(there should be a pint of liquor), and a table-spoonful of currant\njelly, into a clean stew-pan, and let it boil gently for a quarter of an\nhour: then strain it through a sieve into a basin, and pour it back into\nthe stew-pan; now flour the hare, put it into the gravy, and let it\nsimmer very gently till the hare is warm (about twenty minutes); cut the\nstuffing into slices, and put it into the hash to get warm, about five\nminutes before you serve it; divide the head, and lay one half on each\nside the dish.\nFor hare soup, see No. 241, mock hare, No. 66.*\n_Jugged Hare._--(No. 529*.)\nWash it very nicely; cut it up into pieces proper to help at table, and\nput them into a jugging-pot, or into a stone jar,[325-+] just\nsufficiently large to hold it well; put in some sweet herbs, a roll or\ntwo of rind of a lemon, or a Seville orange, and a fine large onion with\nfive cloves stuck in it,--and if you wish to preserve the flavour of the\nhare, a quarter of a pint of water; if you are for a _rago\u00fbt_, a quarter\nof a pint of claret, or port wine, and the juice of a Seville orange, or\nlemon: tie the jar down closely with a bladder, so that no steam can\nescape; put a little hay in the bottom of the saucepan, in which place\nthe jar, and pour in water till it reaches within four inches of the top\nof the jar; let the water boil for about three hours, according to the\nage and size of the hare (take care it is not over-done, which is the\ngeneral fault in all made dishes, especially this), keeping it boiling\nall the time, and fill up the pot as it boils away. When quite tender,\nstrain off the gravy clear from fat; thicken it with flour, and give it\na boil up: lay the hare in a soup-dish, and pour the gravy to it.\n_Obs._--You may make a pudding the same as for roast hare (see No. 397),\nand boil it in a cloth; and when you dish up your hare, cut it in\nslices, or make forcemeat balls of it, for garnish.\nFor sauce, No. 346. _Or_,\nA much easier and quicker, and more certain way of proceeding, is the\nfollowing:\nPrepare the hare the same as for jugging; put it into a stew-pan with a\nfew sweet herbs, half a dozen cloves, the same of allspice and black\npepper, two large onions, and a roll of lemon-peel: cover it with water;\nwhen it boils, skim it clean, and let it simmer gently till tender\n(about two hours); then take it up with a slice, and set it by the fire\nto keep hot while you thicken the gravy; take three ounces of butter,\nand some flour; rub together; put in the gravy; stir it well, and let it\nboil about ten minutes; strain it through a sieve over the hare, and it\nis ready.\n_Dressed Ducks, or Geese hashed._--(No. 530.)\nCut an onion into small dice; put it into a stew-pan with a bit of\nbutter; fry it, but do not let it get any colour; put as much boiling\nwater into the stew-pan as will make sauce for the hash; thicken it with\na little flour; cut up the duck, and put it into the sauce to warm; do\nnot let it boil; season it with pepper and salt, and catchup.\nN.B. The legs of geese, &c. broiled, and laid on a bed of apple sauce,\nare sent up for luncheon or supper. _Or_,\nDivide the duck into joints; lay it by ready; put the trimmings and\nstuffing into a stew-pan, with a pint and a half of broth or water; let\nit boil half an hour, and then rub it through a sieve; put half an ounce\nof butter into a stew-pan; as it melts, mix a table-spoonful of flour\nwith it; stir it over the fire a few minutes, then mix the gravy with it\nby degrees; as soon as it boils, take off the scum, and strain through a\nsieve into a stew-pan; put in the duck, and let it stew very gently for\nten or fifteen minutes, if the duck is rather under-roasted: if there is\nany fat, skim it off: line the dish you serve it up in with sippets of\nbread either fried or toasted.\n_Rago\u00fbts of Poultry, Game, Pigeons, Rabbits, &c._--(No. 530*.)\nHalf roast it, then stew it whole, or divide it into joints and pieces\nproper to help at table, and put it into a stew-pan, with a pint and a\nhalf of broth, or as much water, with any trimmings or parings of meat\nyou have, one large onion with cloves stuck in it, twelve berries of\nallspice, the same of black pepper, and a roll of lemon-peel; when it\nboils, skim it very clean; let it simmer very gently for about an hour\nand a quarter, if a duck or fowl--longer if a larger bird; then strain\noff the liquor, and leave the ducks by the fire to keep hot; skim the\nfat off; put into a clean stew-pan two ounces of butter; when it is hot\nstir in as much flour as will make it of a stiff paste; add the liquor\nby degrees; let it boil up; put in a glass of port wine, and a little\nlemon-juice, and simmer it ten minutes; put the ducks, &c. into the\ndish, and strain the sauce through a fine sieve over them.\nGarnish with sippets of toasted, or fried bread, No. 319.\n_Obs._--If the poultry is only half roasted, and stewed only till just\nnicely tender, this will be an acceptable _bonne bouche_ to those who\nare fond of made dishes. The flavour may be varied by adding catchup,\ncurry powder, or any of the flavoured vinegars.\nThis is an easily prepared side dish, especially when you have a large\ndinner to dress; and coming to table ready carved saves a deal of time\nand trouble; it is therefore an excellent way of serving poultry, &c.\nfor a large party. _Or_,\nRoast or boil the poultry in the usual way; then cut it up, and pour\nover it a sufficient quantity of No. 305, or No. 329, or No. 364, or No.\n_Stewed Giblets._--(No. 531.)\nClean two sets of giblets (see receipt for giblet soup, No. 244); put\nthem into a saucepan, just cover them with cold water, and set them on\nthe fire; when they boil, take off the scum, and put in an onion, three\ncloves, or two blades of mace, a few berries of black pepper, the same\nof allspice, and half a tea-spoonful of salt; cover the stew-pan close,\nand let it simmer very gently till the giblets are quite tender: this\nwill take from one hour and a half to two and a half, according to the\nage of the giblets; the pinions will be done first, and must then be\ntaken out, and put in again to warm when the gizzards are done: watch\nthem that they do not get too much done: take them out and thicken the\nsauce with flour and butter; let it boil half an hour, or till there is\njust enough to eat with the giblets, and then strain it through a tamis\ninto a clean stew-pan; cut the giblets into mouthfuls; put them into the\nsauce with the juice of half a lemon, a table-spoonful of mushroom\ncatchup; pour the whole into a soup-dish, with sippets of bread at the\nbottom.\n_Obs._--Ox-tails prepared in the same way are excellent eating.\n_Hashed Poultry, Game, or Rabbit._--(No. 533.)\nCut them into joints, put the trimmings into a stew-pan with a quart of\nthe broth they were boiled in, and a large onion cut in four; let it\nboil half an hour; strain it through a sieve: then put two\ntable-spoonfuls of flour in a basin, and mix it well by degrees with the\nhot broth; set it on the fire to boil up, then strain it through a fine\nsieve: wash out the stew-pan, lay the poultry in it, and pour the gravy\non it (through a sieve); set it by the side of the fire to simmer very\ngently (it must not boil) for fifteen minutes; five minutes before you\nserve it up, cut the stuffing in slices, and put it in to warm, then\ntake it out, and lay it round the edge of the dish, and put the poultry\nin the middle; carefully skim the fat off the gravy, then shake it round\nwell in the stew-pan, and pour it to the hash.\nN.B. You may garnish the dish with bread sippets lightly toasted.\n_Pulled Turkey, Fowl, or Chicken._--(No. 534.)\nSkin a cold chicken, fowl, or turkey; take off the fillets from the\nbreasts, and put them into a stew-pan with the rest of the white meat\nand wings, side-bones, and merry-thought, with a pint of broth, a large\nblade of mace pounded, an eschalot minced fine, the juice of half a\nlemon, and a roll of the peel, some salt, and a few grains of Cayenne;\nthicken it with flour and butter, and let it simmer for two or three\nminutes, till the meat is warm. In the mean time score the legs and\nrump, powder them with pepper and salt, broil them nicely brown, and lay\nthem on, or round your pulled chicken.\n_Obs._--Three table-spoonfuls of good cream, or the yelks of as many\neggs, will be a great improvement to it.\n_To dress Dressed Turkey, Goose, Fowl, Duck, Pigeon, or Rabbit._--(No.\nCut them in quarters, beat up an egg or two (according to the quantity\nyou dress) with a little grated nutmeg, and pepper and salt, some\nparsley minced fine, and a few crumbs of bread; mix these well together,\nand cover the fowl, &c. with this batter; broil them, or put them in a\nDutch oven, or have ready some dripping hot in a pan, in which fry them\na light brown colour; thicken a little gravy with some flour, put a\nlarge spoonful of catchup to it, lay the fry in a dish, and pour the\nsauce round it. You may garnish with slices of lemon and toasted bread.\nSee No. 355.\nThe gizzard and rump, or legs, &c. of a dressed turkey, capon, or goose,\nor mutton or veal kidney, scored, peppered, salted, and broiled, sent up\nfor a relish, being made very hot, has obtained the name of a \u201cdevil.\u201d\n_Obs._--This is sometimes surrounded with No. 356, or a sauce of thick\nmelted butter or gravy, flavoured with catchup (No. 439), essence of\nanchovy, or No. 434, eschalot wine (No. 402), curry stuff. (No. 455,\n&c.) See turtle sauce (No. 343), or grill sauce (No. 355), which, as the\npalates of the present day are adjusted, will perhaps please _grands\ngourmands_ as well as \u201c_v\u00e9ritable sauce d\u2019Enfer_.\u201d--Vide _School for the\nOfficers of the Mouth_, p. 368, 18mo. London, 1682.\n \u201cEvery man must have experienced, that when he has got deep into\n his third bottle, his palate acquires a degree of torpidity, and\n his stomach is seized with a certain craving, which seem to demand\n a stimulant to the powers of both. The provocatives used on such\n occasions, an ungrateful world has combined to term devils.\n \u201cThe _diables au feu d\u2019enfer_, or dry devils, are usually composed\n of the broiled legs and gizzards of poultry, fish-bones, or\n biscuits; and, if pungency alone can justify their appellation,\n never was title better deserved, for they are usually prepared\n without any other intention than to make them \u2018hot as their native\n element,\u2019 and any one who can swallow them without tears in his\n eyes, need be under no apprehension of the pains of futurity. It\n is true, they answer the purpose of exciting thirst; but they\n excoriate the palate, vitiate its nicer powers of discrimination,\n and pall the relish for the high flavour of good wine: in short, no\n man should venture upon them whose throat is not paved with mosaic,\n unless they be seasoned by a cook who can poise the pepper-box with\n as even a hand as a judge should the scales of justice.\n \u201cIt would be an insult to the understanding of our readers, to\n suppose them ignorant of the usual mode of treating common devils;\n but we shall make no apology for giving the most minute\n instructions for the preparation of a gentler stimulant, which,\n besides, possesses this advantage--that it may be all done at the\n table, either by yourself, or at least under your own immediate\n inspection.\n \u201cMix equal parts of fine salt, Cayenne pepper, and curry powder,\n with double the quantity of powder of truffles: dissect, _secundum\n artem_, a brace of woodcocks rather under-roasted, split the heads,\n subdivide the wings, &c. &c. and powder the whole gently over with\n the mixture; crush the trail and brains along with the yelk of a\n hard-boiled egg, a small portion of pounded mace, the grated peel\n of half a lemon, and half a spoonful of soy, until the ingredients\n be brought to the consistence of a fine paste: then add a\n table-spoonful of catchup, a full wine-glass of Madeira, and the\n juice of two Seville oranges: throw this sauce, along with the\n birds, into a silver stew-dish, to be heated with spirits of wine:\n cover close up, light the lamp, and keep gently simmering, and\n occasionally stirring, until the flesh has imbibed the greater part\n of the liquid. When you have reason to suppose it is completely\n saturated, pour in a small quantity of salad oil, stir all once\n more well together, \u2018put out the light, and then!\u2019--serve it round\n instantly; for it is scarcely necessary to say, that a devil should\n not only be hot in itself, but eaten hot.\n \u201cThere is, however, one precaution to be used in eating it, to\n which we most earnestly recommend the most particular attention;\n and for want of which, more than one accident has occurred. It is\n not, as some people might suppose, to avoid eating too much of it\n (for that your neighbours will take good care to prevent); but it\n is this: in order to pick the bones, you must necessarily take some\n portion of it with your fingers; and, as they thereby become\n impregnated with its flavour, if you afterward chance to let them\n touch your tongue, you will infallibly lick them to the bone, if\n you do not swallow them entire.\u201d--See page 124, &c. of the\n entertaining \u201c_Essays on Good Living_.\u201d\n_Crusts of Bread for Cheese, &c._--(No. 538.)\nIt is not uncommon to see both in private families and at taverns a loaf\nentirely spoiled, by furious epicures paring off the crust to eat with\ncheese: to supply this, and to eat with soups, &c. pull lightly into\nsmall pieces the crumb of a new loaf; put them on a tin plate, or in a\nbaking dish; set it in a tolerably brisk oven till they are crisp, and\nnicely browned, or do them in a Dutch oven.\n_Toast and Cheese._--(No. 539.)\n \u201cHappy the man that has each fortune tried,\n To whom she much has giv\u2019n, and much denied;\n With abstinence all delicates he sees,\n And can regale himself on toast and cheese.\u201d\n KING\u2019S _Art of Cookery_.\nCut a slice of bread about half an inch thick; pare off the crust, and\ntoast it very slightly on one side so as just to brown it, without\nmaking it hard or burning it.\nCut a slice of cheese (good fat mellow Cheshire cheese, or double\nGloster, is better than poor, thin, single Gloster) a quarter of an\ninch thick, not so big as the bread by half an inch on each side: pare\noff the rind, cut out all the specks and rotten parts,[331-*] and lay it\non the toasted bread in a cheese-toaster; carefully watch it that it\ndoes not burn, and stir it with a spoon to prevent a pellicle forming on\nthe surface. Have ready good mustard, pepper and salt.\nIf you observe the directions here given, the cheese will eat mellow,\nand will be uniformly done, and the bread crisp and soft, and will well\ndeserve its ancient appellation of a \u201crare bit.\u201d\n_Obs._--One would think nothing could be easier than to prepare a Welsh\nrabbit; yet, not only in private families, but at taverns, it is very\nseldom sent to table in perfection. We have attempted to account for\nthis in the last paragraph of _Obs._ to No. 493.\n_Toasted Cheese_, No. 2.--(No. 540.)\nWe have nothing to add to the directions given for toasting the cheese\nin the last receipt, except that in sending it up, it will save much\ntime in portioning it out at table, if you have half a dozen small\nsilver or tin pans to fit into the cheese-toaster, and do the cheese in\nthese: each person may then be helped to a separate pan, and it will\nkeep the cheese much hotter than the usual way of eating it on a cold\nplate.\nMEM. Send up with it as many cobblers[331-+] as you have pans of cheese.\n_Obs._--Ceremony seldom triumphs more completely over comfort than in\nthe serving out of this dish; which, to be presented to the palate in\nperfection, it is imperatively indispensable that it be introduced to\nthe mouth as soon as it appears on the table.\n_Buttered Toast and Cheese._--(No. 541.)\nPrepare a round of toast; butter it; grate over it good Cheshire cheese\nabout half the thickness of the toast, and give it a brown.\n_Pounded Cheese._--(No. 542.)\nCut a pound of good mellow Chedder, Cheshire, or North Wiltshire cheese\ninto thin bits; add to it two, and if the cheese is dry, three ounces\nof fresh butter; pound, and rub them well together in a mortar till it\nis quite smooth.\n_Obs._--When cheese is dry, and for those whose digestion is feeble,\nthis is the best way of eating it; and spread on bread, it makes an\nexcellent luncheon or supper.\nN.B. The _piquance_ of this is sometimes increased by pounding with it\ncurry powder (No. 455), ground spice, black pepper, cayenne, and a\nlittle made mustard; and some moisten it with a glass of sherry. If\npressed down hard in a jar, and covered with clarified butter, it will\nkeep for several days in cool weather.\n_Macaroni._--(No. 543.) _See Macaroni Pudding for the Boiling of it._\nThe usual mode of dressing it in this country is by adding a white\nsauce, and parmesan or Cheshire cheese, and burning it; but this makes a\ndish which is proverbially unwholesome: its bad qualities arise from the\noiled and burnt cheese, and the half-dressed flour and butter put into\nthe white sauce.\nMacaroni plain boiled, and some rich stock or portable soup added to it\nquite hot, will be found a delicious dish and very wholesome. Or, boil\nmacaroni as directed in the receipt for the pudding, and serve it quite\nhot in a deep tureen, and let each guest add grated parmesan and cold\nbutter, or oiled butter served hot, and it is excellent; this is the\nmost common Italian mode of dressing it. Macaroni with cream, sugar, and\ncinnamon, or a little varicelli added to the cream, makes a very nice\nsweet dish.\n_English way of dressing Macaroni._\nPut a quarter of a pound of riband macaroni into a stew-pan, with a pint\nof boiling milk, or broth, or water; let it boil gently till it is\ntender, this will take about a quarter of an hour; then put in an ounce\nof grated cheese, and a tea-spoonful of salt; mix it well together, and\nput it on a dish, and stew over it two ounces of grated Parmesan or\nCheshire cheese, and give it a light brown in a Dutch oven. Or put all\nthe cheese into the macaroni, and put bread-crumbs over the top.\nMacaroni is very good put into a thick sauce with some shreds of dressed\nham, or in a curry sauce. Riband macaroni is best for these dishes, and\nshould not be done so much.\n_Macaroni Pudding._\nOne of the most excellent preparations of macaroni is the Timbale de\nMacaroni. Simmer half a pound of macaroni in plenty of water, and a\ntable-spoonful of salt, till it is tender; but take care not to have it\ntoo soft; though tender, it should be firm, and the form entirely\npreserved, and no part beginning to melt (this caution will serve for\nthe preparation of all macaroni). Strain the water from it; beat up five\nyelks and the white of two eggs; take half a pint of the best cream, and\nthe breast of a fowl, and some thin slices of ham. Mince the breast of\nthe fowl with the ham; add them with from two to three table-spoonfuls\nof finely-grated parmesan cheese, and season with pepper and salt. Mix\nall these with the macaroni, and put into a pudding-mould well buttered,\nand then let it steam in a stew-pan of boiling water for about an hour,\nand serve quite hot, with rich gravy (as in Omelette). See No. 543*.\n_Obs._--This, we have been informed, is considered by a grand gourmand\nas the most important recipe which was added to the collection of his\ncook during a gastronomic tour through Europe; it is not an uncommon\nmode of preparing macaroni on the continent.\n_Omelettes and various ways of dressing Eggs._--(No. 543*.)\nThere is no dish which in this country may be considered as coming under\nthe denomination of a made dish of the second order, which is so\ngenerally eaten, if good, as an omelette; and no one is so often badly\ndressed: it is a very faithful assistant in the construction of a\ndinner.\nWhen you are taken by surprise, and wish to make an appearance beyond\nwhat is provided for the every-day dinner, a little portable soup melted\ndown, and some zest (No. 255), and a few vegetables, will make a good\nbroth; a pot of the stewed veal of Morrison\u2019s, warmed up; an omelette;\nand some apple or lemon fritters, can all be got ready at ten minutes\u2019\nnotice, and with the original foundation of a leg of mutton, or a piece\nof beef, will make up a very good dinner when company unexpectedly\narrives, in the country.\nThe great merit of an omelette is, that it should not be greasy, burnt,\nnor too much done: if too much of the white of the eggs is left in, no\nart can prevent its being hard, if it is done: to dress the omelette,\nthe fire should not be too hot, as it is an object to have the whole\nsubstance heated, without much browning the outside.\nOne of the great errors in cooking an omelette is, that it is too thin;\nconsequently, instead of feeling full and moist in the mouth, the\nsubstance presented is little better than a piece of fried leather: to\nget the omelette thick is one of the great objects. With respect to the\nflavours to be introduced, these are infinite; that which is most\ncommon, however, is the best, viz. finely chopped parsley, and chives or\nonions, or eschalots: however, one made of a mixture of tarragon,\nchervil, and parsley, is a very delicate variety, omitting or adding the\nonion or chives. Of the meat flavours, the veal kidney is the most\ndelicate, and is the most admired by our neighbours the French: this\nshould be cut in dice, and should be dressed (boiled) before it is\nadded; in the same manner, ham and anchovies, shred small, or tongue,\nwill make a very delicately flavoured dish.\nThe objection to an omelette is, that it is too rich, which makes it\nadvisable to eat but a small quantity. An addition of some finely mashed\npotatoes, about two table-spoonfuls, to an omelette of six eggs, will\nmuch lighten it.\nOmelettes are often served with rich gravy; but, as a general principle,\nno substance which has been fried should be served in gravy, but\naccompanied by it, or what ought to eat dry and crisp, becomes soddened\nand flat.\nIn the compounding the gravy, great care should be taken that the\nflavour does not overcome that of the omelette, a thing too little\nattended to: a fine gravy, with a flavouring of sweet herbs and onions,\nwe think the best; some add a few drops of tarragon vinegar; but this is\nto be done only with great care: gravies to Omelettes are in general\nthickened: this should never be done with flour; potato starch, or arrow\nroot, is the best.\nOmelettes should be fried in a small frying-pan made for that purpose,\nwith a small quantity of butter. The omelette\u2019s great merit is to be\nthick, so as not to taste of the outside; therefore use only half the\nnumber of whites that you do yelks of eggs: every care must be taken in\nfrying, even at the risk of not having it quite set in the middle: an\nomelette, which has so much vogue abroad, is here, in general, a thin\ndoubled-up piece of leather, and harder than soft leather sometimes. The\nfact is, that as much care must be bestowed on the frying, as should be\ntaken in poaching an egg. A salamander is necessary to those who will\nhave the top brown; but the kitchen shovel may be substituted for it.\nThe following receipt is the basis of all omelettes, of which you may\nmake an endless variety, by taking, instead of the parsley and eschalot,\na portion of sweet herbs, or any of the articles enumerated in the\ntable of materials used for making forcemeats, see No. 373; or any of\nthe forcemeats between Nos. 373 and 386.\nOmelettes are called by the name of what is added to flavour them: a ham\nor tongue omelette; an anchovy, or veal kidney omelette, &c.: these are\nprepared exactly in the same way as in the first receipt, leaving out\nthe parsley and eschalot, and mincing the ham or kidney very fine, &c.,\nand adding that in the place of them, and then pour over them all sorts\nof thickened gravies, sauces, &c.\n_Receipt for the common Omelette._\nFive or six eggs will make a good-sized omelette; break them into a\nbasin, and beat them well with a fork; and add a salt-spoonful of salt;\nhave ready chopped two drachms of onion, or three drachms of parsley, a\ngood clove of eschalot minced very fine; beat it well up with the eggs;\nthen take four ounces of fresh butter, and break half of it into little\nbits, and put it into the omelette, and the other half into a very clean\nfrying-pan; when it is melted, pour in the omelette, and stir it with a\nspoon till it begins to set, then turn it up all round the edges, and\nwhen it is of a nice brown it is done: the safest way to take it out is\nto put a plate on the omelette, and turn the pan upside-down: serve it\non a hot dish; it should never be done till just wanted. If maigre,\ngrated cheese, shrimps, or oysters. If oysters, boil them four minutes,\nand take away the beard and gristly part; they may either be put in\nwhole, or cut in bits. _Or_,\nTake eggs ready boiled hard, and either fry them whole, or cut them in\nhalf; when they are boiled (they will take five minutes), let them lie\nin cold water till you want to use them; then roll them lightly with\nyour hand on a table, and they will peel without breaking; put them on a\ncloth to dry, and dredge them lightly with flour; beat two eggs in a\nbasin, dip the eggs in, one at a time, and then roll them in fine\nbread-crumbs, or in duck (No. 378) or veal stuffing (No. 374); set them\naway ready for frying; fry them in hot oil or clarified butter, serve\nthem up with mushroom sauce, or any other thickened sauce you please;\ncrisp parsley is a pretty garnish. _Or_,\nDo not boil the eggs till wanted; boil them ten minutes, peel them as\nabove, cut them in half, put them on a dish, and have ready a sauce made\nof two ounces of butter and flour well rubbed together on a plate, and\nput it in a stew-pan with three quarters of a pint of good milk; set it\non the fire, and stir it till it boils; if it is not quite smooth,\nstrain it through a sieve, chop some parsley and a clove of eschalot as\nfine as possible, and put in your sauce: season it with salt to your\ntaste: a little mace and lemon-peel boiled with the sauce, will improve\nit: if you like it still richer, you may add a little cream, or the\nyelks of two eggs, beat up with two table-spoonfuls of milk, and stir it\nin the last thing: do not let it boil after; place the half eggs on a\ndish with the yelks upward, and pour the sauce over them.\nN.B. Any cold fish cut in pieces may be warmed in the above sauce for a\nsent dinner. _Or_,\nSlice very thin two onions weighing about two ounces each; put them into\na stew-pan with three ounces of butter; keep them covered till they are\njust done; stir them every now and then, and when they are of a nice\nbrown, stir in as much flour as will make them of a stiff paste; then by\ndegrees add as much water or milk as will make it the thickness of good\ncream; season it with, pepper and salt to your taste; have ready boiled\nhard four or five eggs--you may either shred them, or cut them in halves\nor quarters; then put them in the sauce: when they are hot they are\nready: garnish them with sippets of bread.\nOr, have ready a plain omelette, cut into bits, and put them into the\nsauce.\nOr, cut off a little bit of one end of the eggs, so that they may stand\nup; and take out the yelks whole of some of them, and cut the whites in\nhalf, or in quarters.\n_Obs._--This is called in the Parisian kitchen, \u201ceggs \u00e0 la trip, with a\nroux.\u201d\n_Marrow-Bones._--(No. 544.)\nSaw the bones even, so that they will stand steady; put a piece of paste\ninto the ends: set them upright in a saucepan, and boil till they are\ndone enough: a beef marrow-bone will require from an hour and a half to\ntwo hours; serve fresh-toasted bread with them.\n_Eggs fried with Bacon._--(No. 545.)\nLay some slices of fine streaked bacon (not more than a quarter of an\ninch thick) in a clean dish, and toast them before the fire in a\ncheese-toaster, turning them when the upper side is browned; first ask\nthose who are to eat the bacon, if they wish it much or little done, _i.\ne._ curled and crisped, see No. 526, or mellow and soft (No. 527): if\nthe latter, parboil it first.\nWell-cleansed (see No. 83) dripping, or lard, or fresh butter, are the\nbest fats for frying eggs.\nBe sure the frying-pan is quite clean; when the fat is hot, break two or\nthree eggs into it; do not turn them, but, while they are frying, keep\npouring some of the fat over them with a spoon; when the yelk just\nbegins to look white, which it will in about a couple of minutes, they\nare done enough; the white must not lose its transparency, but the yelk\nbe seen blushing through it: if they are done nicely, they will look as\nwhite and delicate as if they had been poached; take them up with a tin\nslice, drain the fat from them, trim them neatly, and send them up with\nthe bacon round them.\n_Rago\u00fbt of Eggs and Bacon._--(No. 545*.)\nBoil half a dozen eggs for ten minutes; throw them into cold water; peel\nthem and cut them into halves; pound the yelks in a marble mortar, with\nabout an equal quantity of the white meat of dressed fowl, or veal, a\nlittle chopped parsley, an anchovy, an eschalot, a quarter of an ounce\nof butter, a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, a little Cayenne, some\nbread-crumbs, and a very little beaten mace, or allspice; incorporate\nthem well together, and fill the halves of the whites with this mixture;\ndo them over with the yelk of an egg, and brown them in a Dutch oven,\nand serve them on relishing rashers of bacon or ham, see No. 527.\nFor sauce, melted butter, flavoured to the fancy of the eaters, with\nmushroom catchup, anchovy, curry-powder (No. 455), or zest (No. 255).\n_To poach Eggs._--(No. 546.)\nThe cook who wishes to display her skill in poaching, must endeavour to\nprocure eggs that have been laid a couple of days--those that are quite\nnew-laid are so milky that, take all the care you can, your cooking of\nthem will seldom procure you the praise of being a prime poacher; you\nmust have fresh eggs, or it is equally impossible.\nThe beauty of a poached egg is for the yelk to be seen blushing through\nthe white, which should only be just sufficiently hardened, to form a\ntransparent veil for the egg.\nHave some boiling water[337-*] in a tea-kettle; pass as much of it\nthrough a clean cloth as will half fill a stew-pan; break the egg into a\ncup, and when the water boils, remove the stew-pan from the stove, and\ngently slip the egg into it; it must stand till the white is set; then\nput it over a very moderate fire, and as soon as the water boils, the\negg is ready; take it up with a slice, and neatly round off the ragged\nedges of the white; send them up on bread toasted on one side\nonly,[338-*] with or without butter; or without a toast, garnished with\nstreaked bacon (Nos. 526 or 527), nicely fried, or as done in No. 545,\nor slices of broiled beef or mutton (No. 487), anchovies (Nos. 434 and\n435), pork sausages (No. 87), or spinage (No. 122).\n_Obs._--The bread should be a little larger than the egg, and about a\nquarter of an inch thick; only just give it a yellow colour: if you\ntoast it brown, it will get a bitter flavour; or moisten it by pouring a\nlittle hot water upon it: some sprinkle it with a few drops of vinegar,\nor of essence of anchovy (No. 433).\n_To boil Eggs to eat in the Shell, or for Salads._--(No. 547.)\nThe fresher laid the better: put them into boiling water; if you like\nthe white just set,[338-+] about two minutes boiling is enough; a\nnew-laid egg will take a little more; if you wish the yelk to be set, it\nwill take three, and to boil it hard for a salad, ten minutes. See No.\n_Obs._--A new-laid egg will require boiling longer than a stale one, by\nhalf a minute.\nTin machines for boiling eggs on the breakfast table are sold by the\nironmongers, which perform the process very regularly: in four minutes\nthe white is just set.\nN.B. \u201cEggs may be preserved for twelve months, in a sweet and palatable\nstate for eating in the shell, or using for salads, by boiling them for\none minute; and when wanted for use let them be boiled in the usual\nmanner: the white may be a little tougher than a new-laid egg, but the\nyelk will show no difference.\u201d--See HUNTER\u2019S _Culina_, page 257.\n_Eggs poached with Sauce of minced Ham._--(No. 548.)\nPoach the eggs as before directed, and take two or three slices of\nboiled ham; mince it fine with a gherkin, a morsel of onion, a little\nparsley, and pepper and salt; stew all together a quarter of an hour;\nserve up your sauce about half boiling; put the eggs in a dish, squeeze\nover the juice of half a Seville orange, or lemon, and pour the sauce\nover them.\n_Fried Eggs and minced Ham or Bacon._--(No. 549.)\nChoose some very fine bacon streaked with a good deal of lean; cut this\ninto very thin slices, and afterward into small square pieces; throw\nthem into a stew-pan, and set it over a gentle fire, that they may lose\nsome of their fat. When as much as will freely come is thus melted from\nthem, lay them on a warm dish. Put into a stew-pan a ladle-full of\nmelted bacon or lard; set it on a stove; put in about a dozen of the\nsmall pieces of bacon, then stoop the stew-pan and break in an egg.\nManage this carefully, and the egg will presently be done: it will be\nvery round, and the little dice of bacon will stick to it all over, so\nthat it will make a very pretty appearance. Take care the yelks do not\nharden; when the egg is thus done, lay it carefully in a warm dish, and\ndo the others.\n\u2042 They reckon 685 ways of dressing eggs in the French kitchen: we hope\nour half dozen receipts give sufficient variety for the English kitchen.\n\u201cThe Jesuit that came from China, A.D. 1664, told Mr. Waller, that to a\ndrachm of tea they put a pint of water, and frequently take the yelks\nof two new-laid eggs, and beat them up with as much fine sugar as is\nsufficient for the tea, and stir all well together. He also informed\nhim, that we let the hot water remain too long soaking upon the tea,\nwhich makes it extract into itself the earthy parts of the herb; the\nwater must remain upon it no longer than while you can say the\n\u2018_Miserere_\u2019 psalm very leisurely; you have then only the spiritual part\nof the tea, the proportion of which to the water must be about a drachm\nto a pint.\u201d--Sir KENELM DIGBY\u2019S _Cookery_, London, 1669, page 176.\n_Obs._--The addition of an egg makes the \u201c_Chinese Soup_,\u201d a more\nnutritious and substantial meal for a traveller.\nCoffee, as used on the Continent, serves the double purpose of an\nagreeable tonic, and an exhilarating beverage, without the unpleasant\neffects of wine.\nCoffee, as drunk in England, debilitates the stomach, and produces a\nslight nausea. In France and in Italy it is made strong from the best\ncoffee, and is poured out hot and transparent.\nIn England it is usually made from bad coffee, served out tepid and\nmuddy, and drowned in a deluge of water, and sometimes deserves the\ntitle given it in \u201cthe Petition against Coffee,\u201d 4to. 1674, page 4, \u201ca\nbase, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking puddle water.\u201d\nTo make Coffee fit for use, you must employ the German filter,--pay at\nleast 4_s._ the pound for it,--and take at least an ounce for two\nbreakfast-cups.\nNo coffee will bear drinking with what is called milk in London.\nLondon people should either take their coffee pure, or put a couple of\ntea-spoonfuls of cream to each cup.\nN.B. The above is a contribution from an intelligent traveller, who has\npassed some years on the Continent.\n_Suet Pudding, Wiggy\u2019s way._--(No. 551.)\nSuet, a quarter of a pound; flour, three table-spoonfuls; eggs, two;\nand a little grated ginger; milk, half a pint. Mince the suet as fine as\npossible, roll it with the rolling-pin so as to mix it well with the\nflour; beat up the eggs, mix them with the milk, and then mix all\ntogether; wet your cloth well in boiling water, flour it, tie it loose,\nput it into boiling water, and boil it an hour and a quarter.\nMrs. Glasse has it, \u201cwhen you have made your water boil, then put your\npudding into your pot.\u201d\n_Yorkshire Pudding under roast Meat, the Gipsies\u2019 way._--(No. 552.)\nThis pudding is an especially excellent accompaniment to a sir-loin of\nbeef,--loin of veal,--or any fat and juicy joint.\nSix table-spoonfuls of flour, three eggs, a tea-spoonful of salt, and a\npint of milk, so as to make a middling stiff batter, a little stiffer\nthan you would for pancakes; beat it up well, and take care it is not\nlumpy; put a dish under the meat, and let the drippings drop into it\ntill it is quite hot and well greased; then pour in the batter;--when\nthe upper surface is brown and set, turn it, that both sides may be\nbrown alike: if you wish it to cut firm, and the pudding an inch thick,\nit will take two hours at a good fire.\nN.B. The true Yorkshire pudding is about half an inch thick when done;\nbut it is the fashion in London to make them full twice that thickness.\n_Plum Pudding._--(No. 553.)\nSuet, chopped fine, six ounces; Malaga raisins, stoned, six ounces;\ncurrants, nicely washed and picked, eight ounces; bread-crumbs, three\nounces; flour, three ounces; eggs, three; sixth of a nutmeg; small blade\nof mace; same quantity of cinnamon, pounded as fine as possible; half a\ntea-spoonful of salt; half a pint of milk, or rather less; sugar, four\nounces: to which may be added, candied lemon, one ounce; citron, half an\nounce. Beat the eggs and spice well together; mix the milk with them by\ndegrees, then the rest of the ingredients; dip a fine close linen cloth\ninto boiling water, and put it in a hair-sieve; flour it a little, and\ntie it up close; put it into a saucepan containing six quarts of boiling\nwater: keep a kettle of boiling water along side of it, and fill up your\npot as it wastes; be sure to keep it boiling six hours at least.\n_My Pudding._--(No. 554.)\nBeat up the yelks and whites of three eggs; strain them through a sieve\n(to keep out the treddles), and gradually add to them about a quarter of\na pint of milk,--stir these well together; rub together in a mortar two\nounces of moist sugar, and as much grated nutmeg as will lie on a\nsixpence,--stir these into the eggs and milk; then put in four ounces of\nflour, and beat it into a smooth batter; by degrees stir into it seven\nounces of suet (minced as fine as possible), and three ounces of\nbread-crumbs; mix all thoroughly together at least half an hour before\nyou put the pudding into the pot; put it into an earthenware\npudding-mould that you have well buttered; tie a pudding-cloth over it\nvery tight; put it into boiling water, and boil it three hours.\nPut one good plum into it, and Moost-Aye says, you may then tell the\neconomist that you have made a good plum pudding--without plums: this\nwould be what schoolboys call \u201cmile-stone pudding,\u201d _i. e._ \u201ca mile\nbetween one plum and another.\u201d\nN.B. Half a pound of Muscatel raisins cut in half, and added to the\nabove, will make a most admirable plum pudding: a little grated\nlemon-peel may be added.\n_Obs._--If the water ceases to boil, the pudding will become heavy, and\nbe spoiled; if properly managed, this and the following will be as fine\npuddings of the kind as art can produce.\nPuddings are best when mixed an hour or two before they are boiled; the\ningredients by that means amalgamate, and the whole becomes richer and\nfuller of flavour, especially if the various articles be thoroughly well\nstirred together.\nA table-spoonful of treacle will give it a rich brown colour. See\npudding sauce, No. 269, and pudding catchup, No. 446.\nN.B. This pudding may be baked in an oven, or under meat, the same as\nYorkshire pudding (No. 552); make it the same, only add half a pint of\nmilk more: should it be above an inch and a quarter in thickness, it\nwill take full two hours: it requires careful watching, for if the top\ngets burned, an empyreumatic flavour will pervade the whole of the\npudding. Or, butter some tin mince-pie patty-pans, or saucers, and fill\nthem with pudding, and set them in a Dutch oven; they will take about an\nhour.\n_Maigre Plum Pudding._\nSimmer half a pint of milk with two blades of mace, and a roll of\nlemon-peel, for ten minutes; then strain it into a basin; set it away to\nget cold: in the mean time beat three eggs in a basin with three ounces\nof loaf-sugar, and the third of a nutmeg: then add three ounces of\nflour; beat it well together, and add the milk by degrees: then put in\nthree ounces of fresh butter broken into small pieces, and three ounces\nof bread-crumbs; three ounces of currants washed and picked clean, three\nounces of raisins stoned and chopped: stir it all well together. Butter\na mould; put it in, and tie a cloth tight over it. Boil it two hours and\na half. Serve it up with melted butter, two table-spoonfuls of brandy,\nand a little loaf-sugar.\n_A Fat Pudding._\nBreak five eggs in a basin; beat them up with a tea-spoonful of sugar\nand a table-spoonful of flour; beat it quite smooth; then put to it a\npound of raisins, and a pound of suet; it must not be chopped very fine;\nbutter a mould well; put in the pudding; tie a cloth over it tight, and\nboil it five hours.\nN.B. This is very rich, and is commonly called a marrow pudding.\n_Pease Pudding._--(No. 555.)\nPut a quart of split pease into a clean cloth; do not tie them up too\nclose, but leave a little room for them to swell; put them on in cold\nwater, to boil slowly till they are tender: if they are good pease they\nwill be boiled enough in about two hours and a half; rub them through a\nsieve into a deep dish, adding[343-*] to them an egg or two, an ounce of\nbutter, and some pepper and salt; beat them well together for about ten\nminutes, when these ingredients are well incorporated together; then\nflour the cloth well, put the pudding in, and tie it up as tight as\npossible, and boil it an hour longer. It is as good with boiled beef as\nit is with boiled pork; and why not with roasted pork?\n_Obs._--This is a very good accompaniment to cold pork or cold beef.\nN.B. Stir this pudding into two quarts of the liquor meat or poultry has\nbeen boiled in; give it a boil up, and in five minutes it will make\nexcellent extempore pease soup, especially if the pudding has been\nboiled in the same pot as the meat (see No. 218, &c.) Season it with\npease powder, No. 458.\n_Plain Bread Pudding._--(No. 556.)\nMake five ounces of bread-crumbs; put them in a basin; pour three\nquarters of a pint of boiling milk over them; put a plate over the top\nto keep in the steam; let it stand twenty minutes, then beat it up quite\nsmooth with two ounces of sugar and a salt-spoonful of nutmeg. Break\nfour eggs on a plate, leaving out one white; beat them well, and add\nthem to the pudding. Stir it all well together, and put it in a mould\nthat has been well buttered and floured; tie a cloth over it, and boil\nit one hour.\n_Bread and butter Pudding._--(No. 557.)\nYou must have a dish that will hold a quart: wash and pick two ounces of\ncurrants; strew a few at the bottom of the dish; cut about four layers\nof very thin bread and butter, and between each layer of bread and\nbutter strew some currants; then break four eggs in a basin, leaving out\none white; beat them well, and add four ounces of sugar and a drachm of\nnutmeg; stir it well together with a pint of new milk; pour it over\nabout ten minutes before you put it in the oven; it will take three\nquarters of an hour to bake.\n_Pancakes and Fritters._--(No. 558.)\nBreak three eggs in a basin; beat them up with a little nutmeg and salt;\nthen put to them four ounces and a half of flour, and a little milk;\nbeat it of a smooth batter; then add by degrees as much milk as will\nmake it of the thickness of good cream: the frying-pan must be about the\nsize of a pudding plate, and very clean, or they will stick; make it\nhot, and to each pancake put in a bit of butter about as big as a\nwalnut: when it is melted, pour in the batter to cover the bottom of the\npan; make them the thickness of half a crown; fry them of a light brown\non both sides.\nThe above will do for apple fritters, by adding one spoonful more of\nflour; peel your apples, and cut them in thick slices; take out the\ncore, dip them in the batter, and fry them in hot lard; put them on a\nsieve to drain; dish them neatly, and grate some loaf-sugar over them.\n_Tansy Pancakes._\nThe batter for the preceding may be made into tansy pancakes by cutting\nfine a handful of young green tansy, and beating it into the batter. It\ngives the cakes a pleasant aromatic flavour, and an agreeable, mild\nbitter taste. A.\nThe following receipts are from Mr. Henry Osborne, cook to Sir Joseph\nBanks, the late president of the Royal Society:\n _Soho Square, April 20, 1820._\n Sir,--I send you herewith the last part of the Cook\u2019s Oracle. I\n have attentively looked over each receipt, and hope they are now\n correct, and easy to be understood. If you think any need further\n explanation, Sir Joseph has desired me to wait on you again. I also\n send the receipts for my ten puddings, and my method of using\n spring fruit and gourds.\n I am, Sir,\n Your humble servant,\n HENRY OSBORNE.\n_Boston Apple Pudding._\nPeel one dozen and a half of good apples; take out the cores, cut them\nsmall, put into a stew-pan that will just hold them, with a little\nwater, a little cinnamon, two cloves, and the peel of a lemon; stew over\na slow fire till quite soft, then sweeten with moist sugar, and pass it\nthrough a hair sieve; add to it the yelks of four eggs and one white, a\nquarter of a pound of good butter, half a nutmeg, the peel of a lemon\ngrated, and the juice of one lemon: beat all well together; line the\ninside of a pie-dish with good puff paste; put in the pudding, and bake\nhalf an hour.\n_Spring Fruit Pudding._\nPeel, and well wash four dozen sticks of rhubarb: put into a stew-pan\nwith the pudding a lemon, a little cinnamon, and as much moist sugar as\nwill make it quite sweet; set it over a fire, and reduce it to a\nmarmalade; pass through a hair-sieve, and proceed as directed for the\nBoston pudding, leaving out the lemon-juice, as the rhubarb will be\nfound sufficiently acid of itself.\n_Nottingham Pudding._\nPeel six good apples; take out the core with the point of a small knife,\nor an apple corer, if you have one; but be sure to leave the apples\nwhole; fill up where you took the core from with sugar; place them in a\npie-dish, and pour over them a nice light batter, prepared as for batter\npudding, and bake an hour in a moderate oven.\n_Butter Pudding._\nTake six ounces of fine flour, a little salt, and three eggs; beat up\nwell with a little milk, added by degrees till the batter is quite\nsmooth; make it the thickness of cream; put into a buttered pie-dish,\nand bake three quarters of an hour; or into a buttered and floured\nbasin, tied over tight with a cloth: boil one and a half hour, or two\nhours.\n_Newmarket Pudding._\nPut on to boil a pint of good milk, with half a lemon-peel, a little\ncinnamon, and a bay-leaf; boil gently for five or ten minutes; sweeten\nwith loaf sugar; break the yelks of five, and the whites of three eggs,\ninto a basin; beat them well, and add the milk: beat all well together,\nand strain through a fine hair-sieve, or tamis: have some bread and\nbutter cut very thin; lay a layer of it in a pie-dish, and then a layer\nof currants, and so on till the dish is nearly full; then pour the\ncustard over it, and bake half an hour.\n_Newcastle, or Cabinet Pudding._\nButter a half melon mould, or quart basin, and stick all round with\ndried cherries, or fine raisins, and fill up with bread and butter, &c.\nas in the above; and steam it an hour and a half.\n_Vermicelli Pudding._\nBoil a pint of milk, with lemon-peel and cinnamon; sweeten with\nloaf-sugar; strain through a sieve, and add a quarter of a pound of\nvermicelli; boil ten minutes; then put in the yelks of five, and the\nwhites of three eggs; mix well together, and steam it one hour and a\nquarter: the same may be baked half an hour.\n_Bread Pudding._\nMake a pint of bread-crumbs; put them in a stew-pan with as much milk as\nwill cover them, the peel of a lemon, a little nutmeg grated, and a\nsmall piece of cinnamon; boil about ten minutes; sweeten with powdered\nloaf-sugar; take out the cinnamon, and put in four eggs; beat all well\ntogether, and bake half an hour, or boil rather more than an hour.\n_Custard Pudding._\nBoil a pint of milk, and a quarter of a pint of good cream; thicken with\nflour and water made perfectly smooth, till it is stiff enough to bear\nan egg on it; break in the yelks of five eggs; sweeten with powdered\nloaf-sugar; grate in a little nutmeg and the peel of a lemon: add half a\nglass of good brandy; then whip the whites of the five eggs till quite\nstiff, and mix gently all together: line a pie-dish with good puff\npaste, and bake half an hour.\nN.B. Ground rice, potato flour, panada, and all puddings made from\npowders, are, or may be, prepared in the same way.\n_Boiled Custards._\nPut a quart of new milk into a stew-pan, with the peel of a lemon cut\nvery thin, a little grated nutmeg, a bay or laurel-leaf, and a small\nstick of cinnamon; set it over a quick fire, but be careful it does not\nboil over: when it boils, set it beside the fire, and simmer ten\nminutes; break the yelks of eight, and the whites of four eggs into a\nbasin; beat them well; then pour in the milk a little at a time,\nstirring it as quick as possible to prevent the eggs curdling; set it on\nthe fire again, and stir it well with a wooden spoon; let it have just\none boil; pass it through a tamis, or fine sieve: when cold, add a\nlittle brandy, or white wine, as may be most agreeable to the eater\u2019s\npalate. Serve up in glasses, or cups.\nCustards for baking are prepared as above, passed through a fine sieve;\nput them into cups; grate a little nutmeg over each: bake them about 15\nor 20 minutes.\nTO DRESS SPRING FRUIT.\n_Spring Fruit Soup._\nPeel and well wash four dozen sticks of rhubarb; blanch it in water\nthree or four minutes; drain it on a sieve, and put it into a stew-pan,\nwith two onions sliced, a carrot, an ounce of lean ham, and a good bit\nof butter; let it stew gently over a slow fire till tender; then put in\ntwo quarts of good _consomm\u00e9_, to which add two or three ounces of\nbread-crumbs; boil about fifteen minutes; skim off all the fat; season\nwith salt and Cayenne pepper; pass it through a tamis, and serve up with\nfried bread.\n_Spring Fruit Pudding._\nClean as above three or four dozen sticks of rhubarb; put it in a\nstew-pan, with the peel of a lemon, a bit of cinnamon, two cloves, and\nas much moist sugar as will sweeten it; set it over a fire, and reduce\nit to a marmalade; pass it through a hair-sieve; then add the peel of a\nlemon, and half a nutmeg grated, a quarter of a pound of good butter,\nand the yelks of four eggs and one white, and mix all well together;\nline a pie-dish, that will just contain it, with good puff paste; put\nthe mixture in, and bake it half an hour.\n_Spring Fruit--A Mock Gooseberry Sauce for Mackerel, &c._\nMake a marmalade of three dozen sticks of rhubarb, sweetened with moist\nsugar; pass it through a hair-sieve, and serve up in a sauce-boat.\n_Spring Fruit Tart._\nPrepare rhubarb as above: cut it into small pieces into a tart-dish;\nsweeten with loaf-sugar pounded; cover it with a good short crust paste;\nsift a little sugar over the top, and bake half an hour in a rather hot\noven: serve up cold.\n_Spring Cream, or mock Gooseberry Fool._\nPrepare a marmalade as directed for the pudding: to which add a pint of\ngood thick cream; serve up in glasses, or in a deep dish. If wanted in a\nshape, dissolve two ounces of isinglass in a little water; strain it\nthrough a tamis, and when nearly cold put it to the cream; pour it into\na jelly mould, and when set, turn out into a dish, and serve up plain.\n_Spring Fruit Sherbet._\nBoil six or eight sticks of rhubarb (quite clean) ten minutes in a quart\nof water; strain the liquor through a tamis into a jug, with the peel of\na lemon cut very thin, and two table-spoonfuls of clarified sugar; let\nit stand five or six hours, and it is fit to drink.\n_Gourds_ (now called _vegetable Marrow_) _stewed._\nTake off all the skin of six or eight gourds, put them into a stew-pan,\nwith water, salt, lemon-juice, and a bit of butter, or fat bacon, and\nlet them stew gently till quite tender, and serve up with a rich Dutch\nsauce, or any other sauce you please that is _piquante_.\n_Gourd Soup_,\nShould be made of full-grown gourds, but not those that have hard skins;\nslice three or four, and put them in a stew-pan, with two or three\nonions, and a good bit of butter; set them over a slow fire till quite\ntender (be careful not to let them burn); then add two ounces of crust\nof bread, and two quarts of good _consomm\u00e9_; season with salt and\nCayenne pepper: boil ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour; skim off all\nthe fat, and pass it through a tamis; then make it quite hot, and serve\nup with fried bread.\n_Fried Gourds._\nCut five or six gourds in quarters; take off the skin and pulp; stew\nthem in the same manner as for table: when done, drain them quite dry;\nbeat up an egg, and dip the gourds in it, and cover them well over with\nbread-crumbs; make some hog\u2019s-lard hot, and fry them a nice light\ncolour; throw a little salt and pepper over them, and serve up quite\ndry.\n_Another Way._\nTake six or eight small gourds, as near of a size as possible; slice\nthem with a cucumber-slice; dry them in a cloth, and then fry them in\nvery hot lard; throw over a little pepper and salt, and serve up on a\nnapkin. Great attention is requisite to do these well; if the fat is\nquite hot they are done in a minute, and will soon spoil; if not hot\nenough, they will eat greasy and tough.\n_To make Beef, Mutton, or Veal Tea._--(No. 563.)\nCut a pound of lean gravy meat into thin slices; put it into a quart and\nhalf a pint of cold water; set it over a very gentle fire, where it will\nbecome gradually warm; when the scum rises, let it continue simmering\ngently for about an hour; then strain it through a fine sieve or a\nnapkin; let it stand ten minutes to settle, and then pour off the clear\ntea.\nN.B. An onion, and a few grains of black pepper, are sometimes added.\nIf the meat is boiled till it is thoroughly tender, you may mince it and\npound it as directed in No. 503, and make potted beef.\nTo make half a pint of beef tea in five minutes for three halfpence, see\n_Mutton Broth for the Sick._--(No. 564.)\nHave a pound and a half of a neck or loin of mutton; take off the skin\nand the fat, and put it into a saucepan; cover it with cold water, (it\nwill take about a quart to a pound of meat,) let it simmer very gently,\nand skim it well; cover it up, and set it over a moderate fire, where it\nmay stand gently stewing for about an hour; then strain it off. It\nshould be allowed to become cold, when all the greasy particles will\nfloat on the surface, and becoming hard, can be easily taken off, and\nthe settlings will remain at the bottom.\nSee also Nos. 490 and 252.\nN.B. We direct the meat to be done no more than just sufficiently to be\neaten; so a sick man may have plenty of good broth for nothing; as by\nthis manner of producing it, the meat furnishes also a good family meal.\n_Obs._--This is an inoffensive nourishment for sick persons, and the\nonly mutton broth that should be given to convalescents, whose\nconstitutions require replenishing with restorative aliment of easy\ndigestion. The common way of making it with roots, onions, sweet herbs,\n&c. &c. is too strong for weak stomachs. Plain broth will agree with a\ndelicate stomach, when the least addition of other ingredients would\nimmediately offend it.\nFor the various ways of flavouring broth, see No. 527.\nFew know how much good may be done by such broth, taken in sufficient\nquantity at the beginning and decline of bowel complaints and fevers;\nhalf a pint taken at a time. See the last two pages of the 7th chapter\nof the Rudiments of Cookery.\nTake a couple of ounces of pearl barley, wash it clean with cold water,\nput it into half a pint of boiling water, and let it boil for five\nminutes; pour off this water, and add to it two quarts of boiling water:\nboil it to two pints, and strain it.\nThe above is simple barley water. To a quart of this is frequently added\n Two ounces of figs, sliced;\n The same of raisins, stoned;\n Half an ounce of liquorice, sliced and bruised;\n And a pint of water.\nBoil it till it is reduced to a quart, and strain.\n_Obs._--These drinks are intended to assuage thirst in ardent fevers\nand inflammatory disorders, for which plenty of mild diluting liquor is\none of the principal remedies: and if not suggested by the medical\nattendant, is frequently demanded by honest instinct, in terms too plain\nto be misunderstood: the stomach sympathizes with every fibre of the\nhuman frame, and no part of it can be distressed without in some degree\noffending the stomach: therefore it is of the utmost importance to sooth\nthis grand organ, by rendering every thing we offer to it as elegant and\nagreeable as the nature of the case will admit of: the barley drink\nprepared according to the second receipt, will be received with pleasure\nby the most delicate palate.\nMake a pint of milk boil; put to it a glass or two of white wine; put it\non the fire till it just boils again; then set it on one side till the\ncurd has settled; pour off the clear whey, and sweeten it as you like.\nCider is often substituted for wine, or half the quantity of vinegar\nthat we have ordered wine.\n_Obs._--When there is no fire in the sick room, this may be put hot into\na bottle, and laid between the bed and mattress; it will keep warm\nseveral hours.\n_Toothache and anti-rheumatic Embrocation._--(No. 567.)\nIn no branch of the practice of physic is there more dangerous quackery,\nthan in the dental department.\nTo all people the toothache is an intolerable torment; not even a\nphilosopher can endure it patiently; what an overcoming agony then must\nit be to a grand gourmand! besides the mortification of being deprived\nof the means of enjoying that consolation which he looks to as the grand\nsolace for all sublunary cares.\nWhen this affliction befalls him, we recommend the following specific\nfor it;--\n \u211e Sal volatile, three parts.\n Laudanum, one part.\nMix, and rub the part affected frequently, or if the tooth which aches\nbe hollow, drop some of this on a bit of cotton, and put it into the\ntooth. For a general faceache, or sore throat, moisten a bit of flannel\nwith it, and put it at night to the part affected.\n_Stomachic Tincture_--(No. 569.)--is\n Peruvian bark, bruised, one ounce and a half.\n Orange-peel, do. one ounce.\n Brandy, or proof spirit, one pint.\nLet these ingredients steep for ten days, shaking the bottle every day;\nlet it remain quiet two days, and then decant the clear liquor.\nDose--a tea-spoonful in a wineglass of water, twice a day, when you feel\nlanguid, _i. e._ when the stomach is empty, about an hour before dinner,\nand in the evening.\nThis agreeable aromatic tonic is an effective help to concoction; and we\nare under personal obligations to it, for frequently restoring our\nstomach to good temper, and procuring us good appetite and good\ndigestion.\nIn low nervous affections arising from a languid circulation, and when\nthe stomach is in a state of debility from age, intemperance, or other\ncauses, this is a most acceptable restorative.\nN.B. Tea made with dried and bruised Seville orange-peel, in the same\nway as common tea, and drank with milk and sugar, has been taken by\nnervous and dyspeptic persons with great benefit.\nSucking a bit of dried orange-peel about an hour before dinner, when the\nstomach is empty, is very grateful and strengthening to it.\n_Paregoric Elixir._--(No. 570.)\nA drachm of purified opium, same of flowers of benjamin, same of oil of\naniseed, camphor, two scruples; steep all in a pint of brandy or proof\nspirit; let it stand ten days, occasionally shaking it up: strain.\nA tea-spoonful in half a pint of White wine whey (No. 562), tewahdiddle\n(No. 467), or gruel (No. 572), taken the last thing at night, is an\nagreeable and effectual medicine for coughs and colds. It is also\nexcellent for children who have the hooping-cough, in doses of from five\nto twenty drops in a little water, or on a little bit of sugar.\n_Dr. Kitchiner\u2019s Receipt to make Gruel._--(No. 572.)\nAsk those who are to eat it, if they like it thick or thin; if the\nlatter, mix well together by degrees, in a pint basin, one\ntable-spoonful of oatmeal, with three of cold water; if the former, use\ntwo spoonfuls.\nHave ready in a stew-pan, a pint of boiling water or milk; pour this by\ndegrees to the oatmeal you have mixed; return it into the stew-pan; set\nit on the fire, and let it boil for five minutes; stirring it all the\ntime to prevent the oatmeal from burning at the bottom of the stew-pan;\nskim and strain it through a hair-sieve.\n2d. To convert this into caudle, add a little ale, wine, or brandy, with\nsugar; and if the bowels are disordered, a little nutmeg or ginger,\ngrated.\n_Obs._ Gruel may be made with broth (No. 490, or No. 252, or No. 564),\ninstead of water; (to make _crowdie_, see No. 205*); and may be\nflavoured with sweet herbs, soup roots, and savoury spices, by boiling\nthem for a few minutes in the water you are going to make the gruel\nwith; or zest (No. 255), pease powder (No. 458), or dried mint, mushroom\ncatchup (No. 409); or a few grains of curry powder (No. 455); or savoury\nrago\u00fbt powder (No. 457); or Cayenne (No. 404); or celery-seed bruised,\nor soup herb powder (No. 459); or an onion minced very fine and bruised\nin with the oatmeal; or a little eschalot wine (No. 402); or essence of\nPlain gruel, such as is directed in the first part of this receipt, is\none of the best breakfasts and suppers that we can recommend to the\nrational epicure; is the most comforting soother of an irritable stomach\nthat we know; and particularly acceptable to it after a hard day\u2019s work\nof intemperate feasting: when the addition of half an ounce of butter,\nand a tea-spoonful of Epsom salt, will give it an aperient quality,\nwhich will assist the principal viscera to get rid of their burden.\n\u201cWater gruel,\u201d says Tryon in his _Obs. on Health_, 16mo. 1688, p. 42, is\n\u201cthe king of spoon meats,\u201d and \u201cthe queen of soups,\u201d and gratifies\nnature beyond all others.\nIn the \u201cArt of Thriving,\u201d 1697, p. 8, are directions for preparing\nfourscore noble and wholesome dishes, upon most of which a man may live\nexcellently well for two-pence a day; the author\u2019s Obs. on water gruel\nis, that \u201cessence of oatmeal makes a noble and exhilarating meal!\u201d\nDr. Franklin\u2019s favourite breakfast was a good basin of warm gruel, in\nwhich there was a small slice of butter, with toasted bread and nutmeg;\nthe expense of this he reckoned at three halfpence.\n_Scotch Burgoo._--(No. 572*.)\n\u201cThis humble dish of our northern brethren forms no contemptible article\nof food. It possesses the grand qualities of salubrity, pleasantness,\nand cheapness. It is, in fact, a sort of oatmeal hasty pudding without\nmilk; much used by those patterns of combined industry, frugality, and\ntemperance, the Scottish peasantry; and this, among other examples of\nthe economical Scotch, is well worthy of being occasionally adopted by\nall who have large families and small incomes.\u201d\nIt is made in the following easy and expeditious manner:--\n\u201cTo a quart of oatmeal add gradually two quarts of water, so that the\nwhole may smoothly mix: then stirring it continually over the fire, boil\nit together for a quarter of an hour; after which, take it up, and stir\nin a little salt and butter, with or without pepper. This quantity will\nserve a family of five or six persons for a moderate meal.\u201d--Oddy\u2019s\nFamily Receipt Book, p. 204.\n_Anchovy Toast._--(No. 573.)\nBone and wash the anchovies, pound them in a mortar with a little fresh\nbutter; rub them through a sieve, and spread them on a toast, see Nos.\n_Obs._ You may add, while pounding the anchovies, a little made mustard\nand curry powder (No. 455) or a few grains of Cayenne, or a little mace\nor other spice. It may be made still more savoury, by frying the toast\nin clarified butter.\n_Deviled Biscuit_,--(No. 574.)\nIs the above composition spread on a biscuit warmed before the fire in a\nDutch oven, with a sufficient quantity of salt and savoury spice (No.\n457), zest (No. 255), curry powder (No. 455), or Cayenne pepper\nsprinkled over it.\n_Obs._ This _ne plus ultra_ of high spiced relishes, and No. 538,\nfrequently make their appearance at tavern dinners, when the votaries of\nBacchus are determined to vie with each other in sacrificing to the\njolly god.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[300-*] This may be still longer preserved by the process directed in\n[303-*] Hashes and meats dressed a second time, should only simmer\ngently till just warm through; it is supposed they have been done very\nnearly, if not quite enough, already; select those parts of the joint\nthat have been least done.\nIn making a hash from a leg of mutton, do not destroy the marrow-bone to\nhelp the gravy of your hash, to which it will make no perceptible\naddition; but saw it in two, twist writing-paper round the ends, and\nsend it up on a plate as a side dish, garnished with sprigs of parsley:\nif it is a roast leg, preserve the end bone, and send it up between the\nmarrow-bones. This is a very pretty luncheon, or supper dish.\n[303-+] See \u201c_The Court and Kitchen of_ ELIZABETH, commonly called _Joan\nCromwell_,\u201d 16mo. London, 1664, page 106.\n[304-*] The \u201c_bain-marie_,\u201d or water-bath (see note to No. 529*), is the\nbest utensil to warm up made dishes, and things that have been already\nsufficiently dressed, as it neither consumes the sauce, nor hardens the\nmeat. If you have not a water-bath a Dutch oven will sometimes supply\nthe place of it.\n\u201c_Bain-marie_ is a flat vessel containing boiling water; you put all\nyour stew-pans into the water, and keep that water always very hot, but\nit must not boil: the effect of this _bain-marie_ is to keep every thing\nwarm without altering either the quantity or the quality, particularly\nthe quality. When I had the honour of serving a nobleman, who kept a\nvery extensive hunting establishment, and the hour of dinner was\nconsequently uncertain, I was in the habit of using _bain-marie_, as a\ncertain means of preserving the flavour of all my dishes. If you keep\nyour sauce, or broth, or soup, by the fireside, the soup reduces, and\nbecomes too strong, and the sauce thickens as well as reduces. This is\nthe best way of warming turtle, or mock turtle soup, as the thick part\nis always at the bottom, and this method prevents it from burning, and\nkeeps it always good.\u201d--UDE\u2019S _Cookery_, page 18.\n[306-*] Probably a contraction of \u201c_haut rago\u00fbt_.\u201d\n[308-*] The proverb says, \u201c_Of all the fowls of the air_, commend me to\nthe shin of beef; for there\u2019s marrow for the master, meat for the\nmistress, gristles for the servants, and bones for the dogs.\u201d\n[309-*] The remotest parts of the world were visited, and earth, air,\nand ocean ransacked, to furnish the complicated delicacies of a Roman\nsupper.\n\u201c_Suidas_ tells us, that _Pityllus_, who had a _hot_ tongue and a _cold_\nstomach, in order to gratify the latter without offending the former,\nmade a sheath for his tongue, so that he could swallow his pottage\nscalding hot; yea, I myself have known a Shropshire gentleman of the\nlike quality!!\u201d--See Dr. MOFFAT _on Food_, 4to. 1655.\n\u201cIn the refined extravagance of the tables of the great, where the\nculinary arts are pushed to excess, luxury becomes false to itself, and\nthings are valued, not as they are nutritious, or agreeable to the\nappetite, but in proportion as they are rare, out of season, or\ncostly.\u201d--CADOGAN _on Gout_, 8vo. 1771, p. 48.\n[309-+] \u201cCookery is an art, appreciated by only a very few individuals,\nand which requires, in addition to a most studious and diligent\napplication, no small share of intellect, and the strictest sobriety and\npunctuality.\u201d--Preface to UDE\u2019S _Cookery_, p. 6.\n[310-*] This suet is not to be wasted: when it comes from the oven, take\nout the beef, and strain the contents of the pan through a sieve; let it\nstand till it is cold; then clarify the fat as directed in No. 83, and\nit will do for frying, &c.\n[312-*] If you have no broth, put in half a pint of water, thicken it as\nin the above receipt, and just before you give it the last boil up, add\nto it a large spoonful of mushroom catchup, and, if you like, the same\nquantity of port wine.\n[313-*] \u201cIt must be allowed to muse gently for several hours,\ninaccessible to the ambient air, and on the even and persevering heat of\ncharcoal in the furnace or stove. After having lulled itself in its own\nexudations, and the dissolution of its auxiliaries, it may appear at\ntable with a powerful claim to approbation.\u201d--_Tabella Cibaria_, p. 47.\n[313-+] \u201c\u2018_C\u2019est la soupe_,\u2019 says one of the best of proverbs, \u2018_qui\nfait le soldat_.\u2019 \u2018It is the soup that makes the soldier.\u2019 Excellent as\nour troops are in the field, there cannot be a more unquestionable fact,\nthan their immense inferiority to the French in the business of cookery.\nThe English soldier lays his piece of ration beef at once on the coals,\nby which means the one and the better half is lost, and the other burned\nto a cinder. Whereas, six French troopers fling their messes into the\nsame pot, and extract a delicious soup, ten times more nutritious than\nthe simple _r\u00f4ti_ could ever be.\u201d--BLACKWOOD\u2019S _Edinburgh Magazine_,\nvol. vii. p. 668.\n[314-*] The less gravy or butter, and the more beating, the better will\nbe your potted beef, if you wish it to keep: if for immediate eating,\nyou may put in a larger proportion of gravy or butter, as the meat will\npound easier and look and taste more mellow.\n[318-*] See receipt to hash mutton, Nos. 360 and 361, and No. 484.\n[320-*] Some cooks make the gravy, &c. in the following manner:--Slice a\nlarge onion; fry it brown; drain all fat from it, and put it into a\nstew-pan with a bunch of sweet herbs, a couple of dozen berries of\nallspice, same of black pepper, three blades of mace, and a pint and a\nhalf of water; cover down close, and boil gently, for half an hour; then\nstrain it through a sieve over the veal, and let it simmer gently for\nabout three hours: about half an hour before it is done, mix two\ntable-spoonfuls of flour in a tea-cupful of cold water; mix some of the\ngravy with it, and then put it into the stew-pan.\nN.B. Three pints of full-grown green pease are sometimes added when the\nveal is put in.\n[323-*] Vulgo, _salary_.\n[324-*] Supposed sorrel.\n[324-+] This is by Dr. BENTLEY thought to be time, or thyme.\n[324-++] Parsley. Vide CHAMBERLAYNE.\n[324-\u00a7] Of this composition, see the works of the copper-farthing dean.\n[324-||] Which we suppose to be near four hours.\n[325-*] To boil bacon, see No. 13.\n[325-+] Meat dressed by the heat of boiling water, without being\nimmediately exposed to it, is a mode of cookery that deserves to be more\ngenerally employed: it becomes delicately tender, without being\nover-done, and the whole of the nourishment and gravy is preserved.\nThis, in chemical technicals, is called _balneum maris_, a water-bath;\nin culinary, _bain-marie_; which A. CHAPELLE, in his \u201c_Modern Cook_,\u201d\n8vo. page 25, London, 1744, translates \u201cMary\u2019s bath.\u201d See note to No.\nMARY SMITH, in her \u201c_Complete Housekeeper_,\u201d 1772, 8vo. pages 105 and\n247, translates \u201c_Sauce Robert_,\u201d ROE-BOAT-SAUCE; an \u201c_omelette_,\u201d a\nHAMLET; and gives you a receipt how to make \u201c_Soupe \u00e0 la_ RAIN!\u201d\n[331-*] Rotten cheese toasted is the _ne plus ultra_ of _haut go\u00fbt_, and\nonly eatable by the thorough-bred _gourmand_ in the most inverted state\nof his jaded appetite.\n[331-+] The nursery name for bread toasted on one side only.\n[337-*] Straining the water is an indispensable precaution, unless you\nuse spring-water.\n[338-*] \u201cA couple of poached eggs, with a few fine, dry, fried collops\nof pure bacon, are not bad for breakfast, or to begin a meal,\u201d says Sir\nKENELM DIGBY, M.D. in his _Closet of Cookery_, London, 1669, page 167.\n[338-+] \u201cThe lightest mode of preparing eggs for the table, is to boil\nthem only as long as is necessary to coagulate slightly the greater part\nof the white, without depriving the yelk of its fluidity.\u201d--Dr.\nPEARSON\u2019S _Mat. Alim._ 8vo. 1808, p. 36.\n[339-*] VARIOUS WAYS OF MAKING TEA.\n\u201cThe _Japanese_ reduce their tea to a fine powder by pounding it; they\nput certain portions of this into a tea-cup, pour boiling water upon it,\nstir it up, and drink it as soon as it is cool enough.\u201d\n\u201cDUBUISSON\u2019S MANNER OF MAKING TEA.\n\u201cPut the tea into a kettle with cold water; cover it close, set it on\nthe fire, and make it all but boil; when you see a sort of white scum on\nthe surface, take it from the fire; when the leaves sink it is ready.\u201d\n\u201cThe night before you wish to have tea ready for drinking, pour on it as\nmuch cold water as you wish to make tea; next morning pour off the clear\nliquor, and when you wish to drink it, make it warm.\u201d\nThe above are from \u201c_L\u2019Art du Limonadier_\u201d _de_ DUBUISSON, Paris, p.\n\u201cA great saving may be made by making a tincture of tea, thus: pour\nboiling water upon it, and let it stand twenty minutes, putting into\neach cup no more than is necessary to fill it about one-third full: fill\neach cup up with hot water from an urn or kettle; thus the tea will be\nalways hot and equally strong to the end, and one tea-spoonful will be\nfound enough for three cups for each person: according to the present\nmode of making it, three times the quantity is often used.\u201d--See Dr.\nTRUSLER\u2019S _Way to be Rich and Respectable_, 8vo. 1796, page 27.\n[Tea should only be made as an infusion,--that is, pouring boiling hot\nwater upon it, and letting it stand a few minutes to draw. A.]\n[340-*] See Dr. Houghton on Coffee, in vol. xxi. of the _Phil. Trans._\npage 311.\n[The best of coffee is imported into this country, and can be had cheap\nand good. A.]\n[343-*] To increase the bulk and diminish the expense of this pudding,\nthe economical housekeeper, who has a large family to feed, may now add\ntwo pounds of potatoes that have been boiled and well mashed. To many\nthis mixture is more agreeable than pease pudding alone. See also No.\n[350-*] Ground barley, or barley-meal, is sold in this city; with which\nbarley-water gruel or a panada may be readily made, for the sick, or for\nsoups. A.\nMARKETING TABLES,\n_Showing the seasons when_ MEAT, POULTRY, _and_ VEGETABLES, _are_ BEST\n_and_ CHEAPEST.\nMEAT.\nThe Nos. refer to the receipts for dressing.\nIn the foregoing table, we have given the proportions of _bone_ to\n_meat_,--the former not being weighed till cooked, by which, of course,\nits weight was considerably diminished.\nThese proportions differ in almost every animal,--and from the different\nmanner in which they are cut.\nThose who pay the highest, do not always pay the _dearest_ price. In\nfact, the best meat is the _cheapest_; and those who treat a tradesman\nliberally, have a much better chance of being well served, than those\nwho are for ever bargaining for the market penny. In dividing the\njoints, there is always an opportunity of apportioning the bones, fat,\nflaps, &c., so as to make up a variation of much more than a penny per\npound in most pieces; and a butcher will be happy to give the turn of\nhis knife in favour of that customer who cheerfully pays the fair price\nof the article he purchases:--have those who are unwilling to do so any\nreason to complain?--have they not invited such conduct?\nThe _quality_ of butcher\u2019s meat, varies quite as much as the _price_ of\nit, according to its age, how it has been fed, and especially how it has\nbeen treated the week before it has been killed.\nThe following statements were sent to us by a very respectable\ntradesman:--\nBeef is _best_ and _cheapest_ from Michaelmas to Midsummer. The price,\nper pound, now varies from 4_d._ to 1_s._\nVeal is _best_ from March to July. The price varies according to the\nseason and the supply; and the quality differs so much, that the same\njoints now sell from 5_d_. to 11_d._ per pound.\nMutton is _best_ from Christmas to Midsummer; the difference in price\nbetween the worst and the best, is now from 5_d._ to 9_d._ per pound.\nGrass lamb is _best_ from Easter to June; house lamb from Christmas to\nJune.\nPOULTRY.\n | _Poultry._ |_Come into | _Continue._ | _Cheapest._ |\n |Poulards, with |March |Till June | December. |\n |Capons |{Largest at |Ditto |{October and |\n |Green Geese |March |Till September | do. |\n |Wild ducks |September |Till ditto |{but the flights|\n |Wild pigeons |March |Till September | August. |\n |Wild do. |June |Till February | November. |\nCocks\u2019 combs, fat livers, eggs, &c. are _dearest_ in April and May, and\n_cheapest_ in August.\nFowls\u2019 heads may be had three for a penny; a dozen will make a very good\npie or _soup_, like No. 244.\nTurkey heads, about a penny each.\nDuck giblets, about three half-pence a set; four sets will make a\n_tureen of good soup for sixpence_. See No. 244.\n_Obs._--Poultry is in greatest perfection when in greatest plenty.\nThe _price of it_ varies as much as the size and quality of it, and the\nsupply at market, and the demand for it.\nIt is generally _dearest_ from March to July, when the town is fullest;\nand _cheapest_ about September, when the game season commences, and the\nweather being colder, allows of its being brought from more distant\nparts, and the town becoming thin, there is less demand for it.\nThe above information will, we trust, be very acceptable to economical\nfamilies, who, from hearing the very high price poultry sometimes costs,\nare deterred from ever inquiring about it. In the cheap seasons, we have\nnoted, it is sometimes as cheap as butcher\u2019s meat.\nVEGETABLES.\nThe public are frequently, from want of regular information when the\nproper seasons arrive for vegetables, put to much inconvenience in\nattending the markets, taking unnecessary inquiries, &c.\nThe following list, it is presumed, will afford much useful information\nto the reader:--\n |_Names of Vegetables._ | _Earliest | _Earliest | _When |\n |Artichokes (No. 136) | |July on to October |September. |\n |Ditto Jerusalem | |From Sept. to June {|Nov. Dec. & |\n |Angelica stalks, } | {|Middle of May, and }|June. |\n |Asparagus (No. 123) |{Begin. of |Mid. of April, May,}|June and |\n |Beans, French, or} |{Early in | End of June, or }|August. |\n |Cauliflowers (No. 125) | |Beginning of June |July & Aug. |\n |Celery (No. 289) | |Ditto September |November. |\n |Cucumbers (No. 135) |March |Beginning of July |Aug. & Sep. |\n |Eschalots, for keeping} | {|August, and through |Sep. & two |\n |Onions, for keeping | {|Aug. Sep. and |October and |\n |Parsley (No. 261) | {|Feb. and through |February & |\n |Pease (No. 134) |Beg. or }|June, July, and |August, and |\n |Potatoes (No. 102, &c.) |March }|May, and through |June, |\n |Radishes |Begin. of }|End of March, and |June. |\n |Ditto, black, Spanish | {|August, and |September. |\n |Savoury cabbage | {|September, and |November. |\n |Spinage, spring | {|March, April, and |June & July. |\n |Ditto, tops (No. 132) | {|March, April, and |April and |\n |Ditto, for salad | |April and May |June and |\nAPPENDIX;\nCOMPRISING\nDIRECTIONS FOR MAKING\nPASTRY, PRESERVES, BREAD, PUDDINGS, PICKLES, &c. &c.\n_Puff Paste._--(No. 1.)\nTo a pound and a quarter of sifted flour rub gently in with the hand\nhalf a pound of fresh butter; mix up with half a pint of spring water;\nknead it well, and set it by for a quarter of an hour; then roll it out\nthin, lay on it, in small pieces, three quarters of a pound more of\nbutter, throw on it a little flour, double it up in folds, and roll it\nout thin three times, and set it by for an hour in a cold place.\n_Paste for Meat or Savoury Pies._--(No. 2.)\nSift two pounds of fine flour to one and a half of good salt butter,\nbreak it into small pieces, and wash it well in cold water; rub gently\ntogether the butter and flour, and mix it up with the yelk of three\neggs, beat together with a spoon; and nearly a pint of spring-water;\nroll it out, and double it in folds three times, and it is ready.\n_Tart Paste for Family Pies._--(No. 3.)\nRub in with the hand half a pound of butter into one pound and a quarter\nof flour, mix it with half a pint of water, and knead it well.\n_Sweet, or short and crisped Tart Paste._--(No. 4.)\nTo one pound and a quarter of fine flour add ten ounces of fresh butter,\nthe yelks of two eggs beat, and three ounces of sifted loaf sugar; mix\nup together with half a pint of new milk, and knead it well. See No. 30.\nN.B. This crust is frequently iced.\n_Raised Pies._--(No. 5.)\nPut two pounds and a half of flour on the pasteboard; and put on the\nfire, in a saucepan, three quarters of a pint of water, and half a pound\nof good lard; when the water boils, make a hole in the middle of the\nflour, pour in the water and lard by degrees, gently mixing the flour\nwith it with a spoon; and when it is well mixed, then knead it with your\nhands till it becomes stiff: dredge a little flour to prevent its\nsticking to the board, or you cannot make it look smooth: do not roll it\nwith the rolling-pin, but roll it with your hands, about the thickness\nof a quart pot; cut it into six pieces, leaving a little for the covers;\nput one hand in the middle, and keep the other close on the outside till\nyou have worked it either in an oval or a round shape: have your meat\nready cut, and seasoned with pepper and salt: if pork, cut in small\nslices; the griskin is the best for pasties: if you use mutton, cut it\nin very neat cutlets, and put them in the pies as you make them; roll\nout the covers with the rolling-pin just the size of the pie, wet it\nround the edge, put it on the pie, and press it together with your thumb\nand finger, and then cut it all round with a pair of scissors quite\neven, and pinch them inside and out, and bake them an hour and a half.\n_Paste for boiled Puddings._--(No. 6.)\nPick and chop very fine half a pound of beef suet, add to it one pound\nand a quarter of flour, and a little salt: mix it with half a pint of\nmilk or water, and beat it well with the rolling-pin, to incorporate the\nsuet with the flour.\n_Paste for stringing Tartlets, &c._--(No. 7.)\nMix with your hands a quarter of a pound of flour, an ounce of fresh\nbutter, and a little cold water; rub it well between the board and your\nhand till it begins to string; cut it into small pieces, roll it out,\nand draw it into fine strings, lay them across your tartlets in any\ndevice you please, and bake them immediately.\n_Paste for Croquants or Cut Pastry._--(No. 8.)\nTo half a pound of fine flour put a quarter of a pound of sifted loaf\nsugar; mix it well together with yelks of eggs till of a good\nstiffness.\n_Venison Pasty._--(No. 9.)\nTake a neck, shoulder, or breast of venison, that has not hung too long;\nbone them, trim off all the skin, and cut it into pieces two inches\nsquare, and put them into a stew-pan, with three gills of Port wine, two\nonions, or a few eschalots sliced; some pepper, salt, three blades of\nmace, about a dozen allspice, and enough veal broth to cover it; put it\nover a slow fire, and let it stew till three parts done; put the\ntrimmings into another saucepan, cover it with water, and set it on a\nfire. Take out the pieces you intend for the pasty, and put them into a\ndeep dish with a little of their liquor, and set it by to cool; then add\nthe remainder of the liquor to the bones and trimmings, and boil it till\nthe pasty is ready; then cover the pasty with paste made like No. 5;\nornament the top, and bake it for two hours in a slow oven; and before\nit is sent to table, pour in a sauce made with the gravy the venison was\nstewed in, strained and skimmed free from fat; some pepper, salt, half a\ngill of Port, the juice of half a lemon, and a little flour and butter\nto thicken it.\n_Mutton or Veal Pie._--(No. 10.)\nCut into chops, and trim neatly, and cut away the greatest part of the\nfat of a loin, or best end of a neck of mutton (the former the best),\nseason them, and lay them in a pie dish, with a little water and half a\ngill of mushroom catchup (chopped onion and potatoes, if approved);\ncover it with paste (No. 2), bake it two hours; when done, lift up the\ncrust from the dish with a knife, pour out all the gravy, let it stand,\nand skim it clean; add, if wanted, some more seasoning; make it boil,\nand pour it into the pie.\nVeal pie may be made of the brisket part of the breast; but must be\nparboiled first.\n_Hare Pie._--(No. 11.)\nTake the hare skinned and washed, cut it into pieces, and parboil it for\ntwo minutes to cleanse it; wash it well, and put it in a stew-pot with\nsix eschalots chopped, a gill of Port wine, a small quantity of thyme,\nsavoury, sweet marjoram, and parsley, tied in a bunch, four cloves, and\nhalf a dozen allspice; cover it with veal broth, and stew it till half\ndone; pick out the prime pieces, such as the back, legs, &c. (leaving\nthe remainder to stew till the goodness is quite extracted); take the\nparts preserved, and fill them into a dish with some water, and cover it\nwith paste as No. 2; bake it an hour; strain the gravy from the\ntrimmings, thicken it a little, and throw in half a gill of Port, the\njuice of half a lemon, and pour it into the pie boiling hot; line the\nbottom of the dish with Hare stuffing (No. 379), or make it into\nforcemeat balls.\nPies of game and wild fowl are made in like manner; and as the following\nreceipt for Pigeon pie.\n_Savoury Pies, Pasties, and Patties._--(No. 12.)\nThe _piquance_ of pies may be regulated _ad libitum_, by sprinkling the\narticles with zest (No. 255), curry powder (No. 455, and see Nos. 457\nand 459), or by covering the bottom of the dish with any of the\nforcemeats enumerated in Nos. 373 to 385, and making it into balls; lay\none ring of these, and another of hard-boiled eggs cut in halves, round\nthe top of the pie; and instead of putting in water, put strong gravy.\nAfter the pies are baked, pour in through a funnel any of the various\ngravies, sauces, &c.: truffles, mushrooms, wine, spices, pickles, &c.\nare also added. See also Nos. 396 to 402.\nMEM. These are dishes contrived rather to excite appetite than to\nsatisfy it. Putting meat or poultry into a pie is certainly the very\nworst way of cooking it; it is often baked to rags; and very rarely\nindeed does a savoury pie come to table that deserves to be introduced\nto the stomach.\n_Pigeon or Lark Pie._--(No. 13.)\nTruss half a dozen fine large pigeons as for stewing, season them with\npepper and salt; lay at the bottom of the dish a rump-steak of about a\npound weight, cut into pieces and trimmed neatly, seasoned, and beat out\nwith a chopper: on it lay the pigeons, the yelks of three eggs boiled\nhard, and a gill of broth or water, and over these a layer of steaks;\nwet the edge of the dish, and cover it over with puff paste (No. 1), or\nthe paste as directed for seasoned pies (No. 2); wash it over with yelk\nof egg, and ornament it with leaves of paste and the feet of the\npigeons; bake it an hour and a half in a moderate-heated oven: before it\nis sent to table make an aperture in the top, and pour in some good\ngravy quite hot.\n_Giblet Pie._--(No. 14.)\nClean well, and half stew two or three sets of goose giblets: cut the\nlegs in two, the wing and neck into three, and the gizzard into four\npieces; preserve the liquor, and set the giblets by till cold,\notherwise the heat of the giblets will spoil the paste you cover the pie\nwith: then season the whole with black pepper and salt, and put them\ninto a deep dish; cover it with paste as directed in No. 2, rub it over\nwith yelk of egg, ornament and bake it an hour and a half in a moderate\noven: in the meantime take the liquor the giblets were stewed in, skim\nit free from fat, put it over a fire in a clean stew-pan, thicken it a\nlittle with flour and butter, or flour and water, season it with pepper\nand salt, and the juice of half a lemon; add a few drops of browning,\nstrain it through a fine sieve, and when you take the pie from the oven,\npour some of this into it through a funnel. Some lay in the bottom of\nthe dish a moderately thick rump-steak: if you have any cold game or\npoultry, cut it in pieces, and add it to the above.\n_Rump-Steak Pie._--(No. 15.)\nCut three pounds of rump-steak (that has been kept till tender) into\npieces half as big as your hand, trim off all the skin, sinews, and\nevery part which has not indisputable pretensions to be eaten, and beat\nthem with a chopper: chop very fine half a dozen eschalots, and add them\nto half an ounce of pepper and salt mixed; strew some of the mixture at\nthe bottom of the dish, then a layer of steak, then some more of the\nmixture, and so on till the dish is full; add half a gill of mushroom\ncatchup, and the same quantity of gravy, or red wine; cover it as in the\npreceding receipt, and bake it two hours.\nN.B. Large oysters, parboiled, bearded, and laid alternately with the\nsteaks, their liquor reduced and substituted instead of the catchup and\nwine, will be a variety.\n_Chicken Pie._--(No. 16.)\nParboil, and then cut up neatly two young chickens; dry them; set them\nover a slow fire for a few minutes; have ready some veal stuffing or\nforcemeat (No. 374 or No. 375), lay it at the bottom of the dish, and\nplace in the chickens upon it, and with it some pieces of dressed ham;\ncover it with paste (No. 1). Bake it from an hour and a half to two\nhours; when sent to table, add some good gravy, well seasoned, and not\ntoo thick.\nDuck pie is made in like manner, only substituting the duck stuffing\n(No. 378), instead of the veal.\nN.B. The above may be put into a raised French crust (see No. 18) and\nbaked; when done, take off the top, and put a rago\u00fbt of sweetbread to\nthe chickens.\n_Rabbit Pie._--(No. 17.)\nMade in the same way; but make a forcemeat to cover the bottom of the\ndish, by pounding a quarter of a pound of boiled bacon with the livers\nof the rabbits; some pepper and salt, some pounded mace, some chopped\nparsley, and an eschalot, thoroughly beaten together; and you may lay\nsome thin slices of ready-dressed ham or bacon on the top of your\nrabbits. \u201cThis pie will ask two hours baking,\u201d says Mrs. Mary\nTillinghast, in page 29 of her 12mo. vol. of rare receipts, 1678.\n_Raised French Pie._--(No. 18.)\nMake about two pounds of flour into a paste, as directed (No. 5); knead\nit well, and into the shape of a ball; press your thumb into the centre,\nand work it by degrees into any shape (oval or round is the most\ngeneral), till about five inches high; put it on a sheet of paper, and\nfill it with coarse flour or bran; roll out a covering for it about the\nsame thickness as the sides; cement its sides with the yelk of egg; cut\nthe edges quite even, and pinch it round with the finger and thumb, yelk\nof egg it over with a paste-brush, and ornament it in any way fancy may\ndirect, with the same kind of paste. Bake it of a fine brown colour, in\na slow oven; and when done, cut out the top, remove the flour or bran,\nbrush it quite clean, and fill it up with a fricassee of chicken,\nrabbit, or any other _entr\u00e9e_ most convenient. Send it to table with a\nnapkin under.\n_Raised Ham Pie._--(No. 19.)\nSoak a small ham four or five hours; wash and scrape it well; cut off\nthe knuckle, and boil it for half an hour; then take it up and trim it\nvery neatly; take off the rind and put it into an oval stew-pan, with a\npint of Madeira or sherry, and enough veal stock to cover it. Let it\nstew for two hours, or till three parts done; take it out and set it in\na cold place; then raise a crust as in the foregoing receipt, large\nenough to receive it; put in the ham, and round it the veal forcemeat;\ncover and ornament; it will take about an hour and a half to bake in a\nslow oven: when done, take off the cover, glaze the top, and pour round\nthe following sauce, viz. take the liquor the ham was stewed in; skim it\nfree from fat; thicken with a little flour and butter mixed together; a\nfew drops of browning, and some Cayenne pepper.\nP.S. The above is, I think, a good way of dressing a small ham, and has\na good effect cold for a supper.\n_Veal and Ham Pie._--(No. 20.)\nTake two pounds of veal cutlet, cut them in middling-sized pieces,\nseason with pepper and a very little salt; likewise one of raw or\ndressed ham cut in slices, lay it alternately in the dish, and put some\nforced or sausage meat (No. 374, or No. 375) at the top, with some\nstewed button mushrooms, and the yelks of three eggs boiled hard, and a\ngill of water; then proceed as with rump-steak pie.\nN.B. The best end of a neck is the fine part for a pie, cut into chops,\nand the chine bone taken away.\n_Raised Pork Pie._--(No. 21.)\nMake a raised crust, of a good size, with paste (as directed in No. 5),\nabout four inches high; take the rind and chine bone from a loin of\npork, cut it into chops, beat them with a chopper, season them with\npepper and salt, and fill your pie; put on the top and close it, and\npinch it round the edge; rub it over with yelk of egg, and bake it two\nhours with a paper over it, to prevent the crust from burning. When\ndone, pour in some good gravy, with a little ready-mixed mustard (if\napproved).\nN.B. As the above is generally eaten cold, it is an excellent repast for\na journey, and will keep for several days.\nTake eels about half a pound each; skin, wash, and trim off the fin with\na pair of scissors, cut them into pieces three inches long, season them\nwith pepper and salt, and fill your dish, leaving out the heads and\ntails. Add a gill of water or veal broth, cover it with paste (No. 2),\nrub it over with a paste-brush dipped in yelk of egg, ornament it with\nsome of the same paste, bake it an hour; and when done, make a hole in\nthe centre, and pour in the following sauce through a funnel: the\ntrimmings boiled in half a pint of veal stock, seasoned with pepper and\nsalt, a table-spoonful of lemon-juice, and thickened with flour and\nwater, strained through a fine sieve: add it boiling hot.\n_Raised Lamb Pies._--(No. 23.)\nBone a loin of lamb, cut into cutlets, trim them very nicely, and lay\nthem in the bottom of a stew or frying-pan, with an ounce of butter, a\ntea-spoonful of lemon-juice, and some pepper and salt: put them over a\nfire, and turn them and put them to cool; then raise four or five small\npies with paste (as No. 6), about the size of a tea-cup; put some veal\nforcemeat at the bottom, and the cutlets upon it; roll out the top an\neighth of an inch thick, close and pinch the edges, bake them half an\nhour, and when done take off the top, and pour in some good brown sauce.\n_Beef-Steak Pudding._--(No. 24.)\nGet rump-steaks, not too thick, beat them with a chopper, cut them into\npieces about half the size of your hand, and trim off all the skin,\nsinews, &c.; have ready an onion peeled and chopped fine, likewise some\npotatoes peeled and cut into slices a quarter of an inch thick; rub the\ninside of a basin or an oval plain mould with butter, sheet it with\npaste as directed for boiled puddings (No. 7); season the steaks with\npepper, salt, and a little grated nutmeg; put in a layer of steak, then\nanother of potatoes, and so on till it is full, occasionally throwing in\npart of the chopped onion; add to it half a gill of mushroom catchup, a\ntable-spoonful of lemon-pickle, and half a gill of water or veal broth;\nroll out a top, and close it well to prevent the water getting in; rinse\na clean cloth in hot water, sprinkle a little flour over it, and tie up\nthe pudding; have ready a large pot of water boiling, put it in, and\nboil it two hours and a half; take it up, remove the cloth, turn it\ndownwards in a deep dish, and when wanted take away the basin or mould.\n_Vol au Vent._--(No. 25.)\nRoll off tart paste (No. 3) till about the eighth of an inch thick:\nthen, with a tin cutter made for that purpose (about the size of the\nbottom of the dish you intend sending to table), cut out the shape, and\nlay it on a baking-plate, with paper; rub it over with yelk of egg; roll\nout good puff paste (No. 1) an inch thick, stamp it with the same\ncutter, and lay it on the tart paste; then take a cutter two sizes\nsmaller, and press it in the centre nearly through the puff paste; rub\nthe top with yelk of egg, and bake it in a quick oven about twenty\nminutes, of a light brown colour: when done, take out the paste inside\nthe centre mark, preserving the top, put it on a dish in a warm place,\nand when wanted, fill it with a white fricassee of chicken, rabbit,\nrago\u00fbt of sweetbread, or any other _entr\u00e9e_ you wish.\n_Oyster Patties._--(No. 26.)\nRoll out puff paste a quarter of an inch thick, cut it into squares with\na knife, sheet eight or ten patty pans, put upon each a bit of bread the\nsize of half a walnut; roll out another layer of paste of the same\nthickness, cut it as above, wet the edge of the bottom paste, and put on\nthe top, pare them round to the pan, and notch them about a dozen times\nwith the back of the knife, rub them lightly with yelk of egg, bake them\nin a hot oven about a quarter of an hour: when done, take a thin slice\noff the top, then, with a small knife or spoon, take out the bread and\nthe inside paste, leaving the outside quite entire; then parboil two\ndozen of large oysters, strain them from their liquor, wash, beard, and\ncut them into four, put them into a stew-pan with an ounce of butter\nrolled in flour, half a gill of good cream, a little grated lemon-peel,\nthe oyster liquor, free from sediment, reduced by boiling to one half,\nsome Cayenne pepper, salt, and a tea-spoonful of lemon-juice; stir it\nover a fire five minutes, and fill the patties.\n_Lobster Patties._--(No. 27.)\nPrepare the patties as in the last receipt. Take a hen lobster already\nboiled; pick the meat from the tail and claws, and chop it fine; put it\ninto a stew-pan, with a little of the inside spawn pounded in a mortar\ntill quite smooth, an ounce of fresh butter, half a gill of cream, and\nhalf a gill of veal consomm\u00e9, Cayenne pepper, and salt, a tea-spoonful\nof essence of anchovy, the same of lemon-juice, and a table-spoonful of\nflour and water: stew it five minutes.\n_Veal and Ham Patties._--(No. 28.)\nChop about six ounces of ready-dressed lean veal, and three ounces of\nham very small; put it into a stew-pan with an ounce of butter rolled\ninto flour, half a gill of cream; half a gill of veal stock; a little\ngrated nutmeg and lemon-peel, some Cayenne pepper and salt, a spoonful\nof essence of ham and lemon-juice, and stir it over the fire some time,\ntaking care it does not burn.\n_Chicken and Ham Patties._--(No. 29.)\nUse the white meat from the breast of chickens or fowls, and proceed as\nin the last receipt.\n_Ripe Fruit Tarts._--(No. 30.)\nGooseberries, damsons, morrello cherries, currants mixed with\nraspberries, plums, green gages, white plums, &c. should be quite fresh\npicked, and washed: lay them in the dish with the centre highest, and\nabout a quarter of a pound of moist or loaf sugar pounded to a quart of\nfruit (but if quite ripe they will not require so much); add a little\nwater; rub the edges of the dish with yelk of egg; cover it with tart\npaste (No. 4), about half an inch thick; press your thumb round the rim,\nand close it well; pare it round with a knife; make a hole in the sides\nbelow the rim; bake it in a moderate-heated oven; and ten minutes before\nit is done, take it out and ice it, and return it to the oven to dry.\n_Icing for Fruit Tarts, Puffs, or Pastry._--(No. 31.)\nBeat up in a half-pint mug the white of two eggs to a solid froth; lay\nsome on the middle of the pie with a paste-brush; sift over plenty of\npounded sugar, and press it down with the hand; wash out the brush, and\nsplash by degrees with water till the sugar is dissolved, and put it in\nthe oven for ten minutes, and serve it up cold.\n_Apple Pie._--(No. 32.)\nTake eight russetings, or lemon pippin apples; pare, core, and cut not\nsmaller than quarters; place them as close as possible together into a\npie-dish, with four cloves; rub together in a mortar some lemon-peel,\nwith four ounces of good moist sugar, and, if agreeable, add some quince\njam; cover it with puff paste; bake it an hour and a quarter. (Generally\neaten warm.)\n_Apple Tart creamed._--(No. 33.)\nUse green codlings, in preference to any other apple, and proceed as in\nthe last receipt. When the pie is done, cut out the whole of the centre,\nleaving the edges; when cold, pour on the apple some rich boiled\ncustard, and place round it some small leaves of puff paste of a light\ncolour.\n_Tartlets, such as are made at the Pastry Cooks._--(No. 34.)\nRoll out puff paste (No. 1,) of a quarter of an inch thick, cut it into\npieces, and sheet pans about the size of a crown piece, pare them round\nwith a knife, and put a small quantity of apricot, damson, raspberry,\nstrawberry, apple, marmalade, or any other kind of jam (No. 92), in the\ncentre; take paste (No. 7), and string them crossways; bake them from\nsix to ten minutes in a quick oven: they should be of a very light brown\ncolour.\n_French Tart of preserved Fruit._--(No. 35.)\nCover a flat dish, or tourte pan, with tart paste (No. 4), about an\neighth of an inch thick; roll out puff paste (No. 1), half an inch\nthick, and cut it out in strips an inch wide; wet the tart paste, and\nlay it neatly round the pan by way of a rim; fill the centre with jam or\nmarmalade of any kind, ornament it with small leaves of puff paste, bake\nit half an hour, and send it to table cold.\nN.B. The above may be filled before the puff paste is laid on, neatly\nstrung with paste, as No. 7, and the rim put over after.\n_Obs._--The most general way of sending tourtes to table, is with a\ncroquante of paste (No. 86), or a caramel of spun sugar (No. 85), put\nover after it is baked.\n_Small Puffs of preserved Fruit._--(No. 36.)\nRoll out, a quarter of an inch thick, good puff paste (No. 1), and cut\nit into pieces four inches square; lay a small quantity of any kind of\njam on each, double them over, and cut them into square, triangle, or,\nwith a tin cutter, half moons; lay them with paper on a baking-plate;\nice them (as at No. 31), bake them about twenty minutes, taking care not\nto colour the icing.\n_Cranberry Tart._--(No. 37.)\nTake Swedish, American, or Russian cranberries, pick and wash them in\nseveral waters, put them into a dish, with the juice of half a lemon, a\nquarter of a pound of moist or pounded loaf sugar, to a quart of\ncranberries. Cover it with puff (No. 1) or tart paste (No. 4), and bake\nit three quarters of an hour; if tart paste is used, draw it from the\noven five minutes before it is done, and ice it as No. 31, return it to\nthe oven, and send it to table cold.\n_Mince Pies._--(No. 38.)\nSheet with tart paste (No. 4), half a dozen of tin pans of any size you\nplease; fill them with mince meat (No. 39), and cover with puff paste, a\nquarter of an inch thick; trim round the edges with a knife, make an\naperture at the top with a fork, bake them in a moderate-heated oven,\nand send them to table hot, first removing the tin.\nN.B. Some throw a little sifted loaf sugar over.\n_Mince Meat._--(No. 39.)\nTwo pounds of beef suet, picked and chopped fine; two pounds of apple,\npared, cored, and minced; three pounds of currants, washed and picked;\none pound of raisins, stoned and chopped fine; one pound of good moist\nsugar; half a pound of citron, cut into thin slices; one pound of\ncandied lemon and orange-peel, cut as ditto; two pounds of ready-dressed\nroast beef, free from skin and gristle, and chopped fine; two nutmegs,\ngrated; one ounce of salt, one of ground ginger, half an ounce of\ncoriander seeds, half an ounce of allspice, half an ounce of cloves, all\nground fine; the juice of six lemons, and their rinds grated; half a\npint of brandy, and a pint of sweet wine. Mix the suet, apples,\ncurrants, meat-plums, and sweetmeats, well together in a large pan, and\nstrew in the spice by degrees; mix the sugar, lemon-juice, wine, and\nbrandy, and pour it to the other ingredients, and stir it well together;\nset it by in close-covered pans in a cold place: when wanted, stir it up\nfrom the bottom, and add half a glass of brandy to the quantity you\nrequire.\nN.B. The same weight of tripe is frequently substituted for the meat,\nand sometimes the yelks of eggs boiled hard.\n_Obs._--The lean side of a buttock, thoroughly roasted, is generally\nchosen for mince meat.\n_Cheesecakes._--(No. 40.)\nPut two quarts of new milk into a stew-pan, set it near the fire, and\nstir in two table-spoonfuls of rennet: let it stand till it is set (this\nwill take about an hour); break it well with your hand, and let it\nremain half an hour longer; then pour off the whey, and put the curd\ninto a colander to drain; when quite dry, put it in a mortar, and pound\nit quite smooth; then add four ounces of sugar, pounded and sifted, and\nthree ounces of fresh butter; oil it first by putting it in a little\npotting-pot, and setting it near the fire; stir it all well together:\nbeat the yelks of four eggs in a basin, with a little nutmeg grated,\nlemon-peel, and a glass of brandy; add this to the curd, with two ounces\nof currants, washed and picked; stir it all well together; have your\ntins ready lined with puff paste (No. 1), about a quarter of an inch\nthick, notch them all round the edge, and fill each with the curd. Bake\nthem twenty minutes.\nWhen you have company, and want a variety, you can make a mould of curd\nand cream, by putting the curd in a mould full of holes, instead of the\ncolander: let it stand for six hours, then turn it out very carefully on\na dish, and pour over it half a pint of good cream sweetened with loaf\nsugar, and a little nutmeg. What there is left, if set in a cool place,\nwill make excellent cheesecakes the next day.\n_Lemon Cheesecakes._--(No. 41.)\nGrate the rind of three, and take the juice of two lemons, and mix them\nwith three sponge biscuits, six ounces of fresh butter, four ounces of\nsifted sugar, a little grated nutmeg and pounded cinnamon, half a gill\nof cream, and three eggs well beaten; work them with the hand, and fill\nthe pans, which must be sheeted as in the last receipt with puff paste,\nand lay two or three slices of candied lemon-peel, cut thin, upon the\ntop.\n_Orange Cheesecakes._--(No. 42.)\nTo be made in the same way, omitting the lemons, and using oranges\ninstead.\n_Almond Cheesecakes._--(No. 43.)\nBlanch six ounces of sweet, and half an ounce of bitter almonds; let\nthem lie half an hour in a drying stove, or before the fire; pound them\nvery fine in a mortar, with two table-spoonfuls of rose or orange-flower\nwater, to prevent them from oiling; set into a stew-pan half a pound of\nfresh butter; set it in a warm place, and cream it very smooth with the\nhand, and add it to the almonds, with six ounces of sifted loaf sugar, a\nlittle grated lemon-peel, some good cream, and four eggs; rub all well\ntogether with the pestle; cover a patty-pan with puff paste; fill in the\nmixture; ornament it with slices of candied lemon-peel and almonds\nsplit, and bake it half an hour in a brisk oven.\n_Mille Feuilles, or a Pyramid of Paste._--(No. 44.)\nRoll out puff paste (No. 1,) half an inch thick; cut out with a cutter\nmade for the purpose, in the shape of an oval, octagon, square, diamond,\nor any other form, (and to be got of most tinmen,) observing to let the\nfirst piece be as large as the bottom of the dish you intend sending it\nto table on: the second piece a size smaller, and so on in proportion,\ntill the last is about the size of a shilling; lay them with paper on a\nbaking-plate, yelk of egg the top, and bake them of a light brown\ncolour: take them from the paper, and when cold put the largest size in\nthe dish, then a layer of apricot jam; then the next size, a layer of\nraspberry jam, and so on, varying the jam between each layer of paste to\nthe top, on which place a bunch of dried fruit, and spin a caramel (No.\n85) of sugar over it.\n_Brunswick Tourte._--(No. 45.)\nMake a crust as for vol au vent (No. 25); pare and core with a scoop\neight or ten golden pippins; put them into a stew-pan, with a gill of\nsweet wine, and four ounces of sifted loaf sugar, a bit of lemon-peel, a\nsmall stick of cinnamon, and a blade of mace; stew them over a slow fire\ntill the apples are tender; set them by: when cold, place them in the\npaste, and pour round them some good custard (No. 53).\n_Blancmange._--(No. 46.)\nBoil for a few minutes a pint and a half of new milk, with an ounce of\npicked isinglass (if in summer, one ounce and a quarter), the rind of\nhalf a lemon, peeled very thin, a little cinnamon, and a blade of mace,\nand two and a half ounces of lump sugar: blanch and pound eight or ten\nbitter, and half an ounce of sweet almonds very fine, with a spoonful of\nrose water, and mix them with the milk; strain it through a lawn sieve\nor napkin into a basin, with half a pint of good cream. Let it stand\nhalf an hour; pour it into another basin, leaving the sediment at the\nbottom, and when nearly cold fill it into moulds: when wanted, put your\nfinger round the mould; pull out the blancmange; set it in the centre of\na dish, and garnish with slices of orange.\nN.B. About half a gill of noyeau may be substituted for the almonds.\n_Orange Jelly._--(No. 47.)\nBoil in a pint of water one ounce and a quarter of picked isinglass, the\nrind of an orange cut thin, a stick of cinnamon, a few corianders, and\nthree ounces of loaf-sugar, till the isinglass is dissolved; then\nsqueeze two Seville oranges or lemons, and enough China oranges to make\na pint of juice: mix all together, and strain it through a tamis or lawn\nsieve into a basin; set it in a cold place for half an hour; pour it\ninto another basin free from sediment; and when it begins to congeal,\nfill your mould: when wanted, dip the mould into lukewarm water; turn it\nout on a dish, and garnish with orange or lemon cut in slices, and\nplaced round.\nN.B. A few grains of saffron put in the water will add much to its\nappearance.\n_Italian Cream._--(No. 48.)\nRub on a lump of sugar the rind of a lemon, and scrape it off with a\nknife into a deep dish or china bowl, and add half a gill of brandy, two\nounces and a half of sifted sugar, the juice of a lemon, and a pint of\ndouble cream, and beat it up well with a clean whisk; in the meantime,\nboil an ounce of isinglass in a gill of water till quite dissolved;\nstrain it to the other ingredients; beat it some time, and fill your\nmould; and when cold and set well, dish it as in the foregoing receipt.\nN.B. The above may be flavoured with any kind of liqueur, raspberry,\nstrawberry, or other fruits, coloured with prepared cochineal, and named\nto correspond with the flavour given.\n_Trifle._--(No. 49.)\nMix in a large bowl a quarter of a pound of sifted sugar, the juice of a\nlemon, some of the peel grated fine, half a gill of brandy, and ditto of\nLisbon or sweet wine, and a pint and a half of good cream; whisk the\nwhole well, and take off the froth as it rises with a skimmer, and put\nit on a sieve; continue to whisk it till you have enough of the whip;\nset it in a cold place to drain three or four hours; then lay in a deep\ndish six or eight sponge biscuits, a quarter of a pound of ratafia, two\nounces of Jordan almonds blanched and split, some grated nutmeg and\nlemon-peel, currant jelly and raspberry jam, half a pint of sweet wine,\nand a little brandy; when the cakes have absorbed the liquor, pour over\nabout a pint of custard, made rather thicker than for apple pie; and,\nwhen wanted, lay on lightly plenty of the whip, and throw over a few\nnonpareil comfits.\n_Whip Syllabub._--(No. 50.)\nMake a whip as in the last receipt; mix with a pint of cream, half a\npint of sweet wine, a glass of brandy, the juice of a lemon, grated\nnutmeg, six ounces of sifted loaf sugar: nearly fill the custard-glasses\nwith the mixture, and lay on with a spoon some of the whip.\n_Chantilly Basket._--(No. 51.)\nDip into sugar boiled to a caramel (See No. 85) small ratafias, stick\nthem on a dish in what form you please, then take ratafias one size\nlarger, and having dipped them into the sugar, build them together till\nabout four or five inches high; make a rim of York drops or drageas of\ngum paste, likewise a handful of sugar or ratafia, and set it over the\nbasket; line the inside with wafer-paper, and a short time before it is\nwanted, fill it with a mixture the same as for trifle, and upon that\nplenty of good whip.\n_Baked Custard._--(No. 52.)\nBoil in a pint of milk, a few coriander seeds, a little cinnamon and\nlemon-peel; sweeten with four ounces of loaf sugar, and mix with it a\npint of cold milk; beat well eight eggs for ten minutes, and add the\nother ingredients; pour it from one pan into another six or eight times,\nstrain it through a sieve, and let it stand some time; skim off the\nfroth from the top, fill it in earthen cups, and bake them immediately\nin a hot oven, give them a good colour; about ten minutes will do them.\n_Boiled Custard._--(No. 53.)\nBoil in a pint of milk, five minutes, lemon-peel, corianders, and\ncinnamon, a small quantity of each, half a dozen of bitter almonds,\nblanched and pounded, and four ounces of loaf sugar: mix it with a pint\nof cream, the yelks of ten eggs, and the whites of six, well beaten;\npass it through a hair-sieve, stir it with a whisk over a slow fire till\nit begins to thicken, remove it from the fire, and continue to stir it\ntill nearly cold; add two table-spoonfuls of brandy, fill the cups or\nglasses, and grate nutmeg over.\n_Almond Custards._--(No. 54.)\nBlanch and pound fine, with half a gill of rose water, six ounces of\nsweet, and half an ounce of bitter almonds; boil a pint of milk as No.\n52; sweeten it with two ounces and a half of sugar; rub the almonds\nthrough a fine sieve, with a pint of cream; strain the milk to the yelks\nof eight eggs, and the whites of three well-beaten; stir it over a fire\ntill it is of a good thickness; take it off the fire, and stir it till\nnearly cold, to prevent its curdling.\nN.B. The above may be baked in cups, or in a dish, with a rim of puff\npaste put round.\n_Twelfth Cake._--(No. 55.)\nTwo pounds of sifted flour, two pounds of sifted loaf sugar, two pounds\nof butter, eighteen eggs, four pounds of currants, one half pound of\nalmonds blanched and chopped, one half pound of citron, one pound of\ncandied orange and lemon-peel cut into thin slices, a large nutmeg\ngrated, half an ounce of ground allspice; ground cinnamon, mace, ginger,\nand corianders, a quarter of an ounce of each, and a gill of brandy.\nPut the butter into a stew-pan, in a warm place, and work it into a\nsmooth cream with the hand, and mix it with the sugar and spice in a pan\n(or on your paste board) for some time; then break in the eggs by\ndegrees, and beat it at least twenty minutes; stir in the brandy, and\nthen the flour, and work it a little; add the fruit, sweetmeats, and\nalmonds, and mix all together lightly; have ready a hoop cased with\npaper, on a baking-plate; put in the mixture, smooth it on the top with\nyour hand, dipped in milk; put the plate on another, with sawdust\nbetween, to prevent the bottom from colouring too much: bake it in a\nslow oven[376-*] four hours or more, and when nearly cold, ice it with\nThis mixture would make a handsome cake, full twelve or fourteen inches\nover.\n_Obs._--If made in cold weather, the eggs should be broken into a pan,\nand set into another filled with hot water; likewise the fruit,\nsweetmeats, and almonds, laid in a warm place, otherwise it may chill\nthe butter, and cause the cake to be heavy.\n_Bride, or Wedding Cake._--(No. 56.)\nThe only difference usually made in these cakes is, the addition of one\npound of raisins, stoned and mixed with the other fruit.\n_Plain Pound Cake._--(No. 57.)\nCream, as in No. 55, one pound of butter, and work it well together with\none pound of sifted sugar till quite smooth; beat up nine eggs, and put\nthem by degrees to the butter, and beat them for twenty minutes; mix in\nlightly one pound of flour; put the whole into a hoop, cased with paper,\non a baking-plate, and bake it about one hour in a moderate oven.\nAn ounce of caraway-seeds added to the above, will make what is termed a\nrich seed cake.\n_Plum Pound Cake._--(No. 58.)\nMake a cake as No. 57, and when you have beaten it, mix in lightly half\na pound of currants, two ounces of orange, and two ounces of candied\nlemon-peel cut small, and half a nutmeg grated.\n_Common Seed Cake._--(No. 59.)\nSift two and a half pounds of flour, with half a pound of good Lisbon or\nloaf sugar, pounded into a pan or bowl; make a cavity in the centre, and\npour in half a pint of lukewarm milk, and a table-spoonful of thick\nyest; mix the milk and yest with enough flour to make it as thick as\ncream (this is called setting a sponge); set it by in a warm place for\none hour; in the meantime, melt to an oil half a pound of fresh butter,\nand add it to the other ingredients, with one ounce of caraway-seeds,\nand enough of milk to make it of a middling stiffness; line a hoop with\npaper, well rubbed over with butter; put in the mixture; set it some\ntime to prove in a stove, or before the fire, and bake it on a plate\nabout an hour, in rather a hot oven; when done, rub the top over with a\npaste-brush dipped in milk.\n_Rich Yest Cake._--(No. 60.)\nSet a sponge as in the foregoing receipt, with the same proportions of\nflour, sugar, milk, and yest: when it has lain some time, mix it with\nthree quarters of a pound of butter oiled, one pound and a quarter of\ncurrants, half a pound of candied lemon and orange-peel cut fine, grated\nnutmeg, ground allspice and cinnamon, a quarter of an ounce of each:\ncase a hoop as stated No. 59, bake it in a good-heated oven one hour and\na half.\nN.B. It may be iced with No. 84, and ornamented as a twelfth cake.\n_Queen, or Heart Cakes._--(No. 61.)\nOne pound of sifted sugar, one pound of butter, eight eggs, one pound\nand a quarter of flour, two ounces of currants, and half a nutmeg\ngrated.\nCream the butter as at No. 55, and mix it well with the sugar and spice,\nthen put in half the eggs and beat it ten minutes, add the remainder of\nthe eggs, and work it ten minutes longer, stir in the flour lightly, and\nthe currants afterward, then take small tin pans of any shape (hearts\nthe most usual), rub the inside of each with butter, fill and bake them\na few minutes in a hot oven, on a sheet of matted wire, or on a\nbaking-plate; when done, remove them as early as possible from the pans.\n_Queen\u2019s Drops._--(No. 62.)\nLeave out four ounces of flour from the last receipt, and add two ounces\nmore of currants, and two ounces of candied peel cut small; work it the\nsame as in the last receipt, and when ready put the measure into a\nbiscuit-funnel,[378-*] and lay them out in drops about the size of half\na crown, on white paper; bake them in a hot oven, and, when nearly cold,\ntake them from the paper.\n_Shrewsbury Cakes._--(No. 63.)\nRub well together one pound of pounded sugar, one pound of fresh butter,\nand one pound and a half of sifted flour, mix it into a paste, with\nhalf a gill of milk or cream, and one egg, let it lie half an hour, roll\nit out thin, cut it out into small cakes with a tin cutter, about three\ninches over, and bake them on a clean baking-plate in a moderate oven.\n_Banbury Cakes._--(No. 64.)\nSet a sponge with two table-spoonfuls of thick yest, a gill of warm\nmilk, and a pound of flour; when it has worked a little, mix with it\nhalf a pound of currants, washed and picked, half a pound of candied\norange and lemon peel cut small, one ounce of spice, such as ground\ncinnamon, allspice, ginger, and grated nutmeg: mix the whole together\nwith half a pound of honey; roll out puff paste (No. 1,) a quarter of an\ninch thick, cut it into rounds with a cutter, about four inches over,\nlay on each with a spoon a small quantity of the mixture; close it round\nwith the fingers in the form of an oval; place the join underneath;\npress it flat with the hand; sift sugar over it, and bake them on a\nplate a quarter of an hour, in a moderate oven, and of a light colour.\n_Bath Buns._--(No. 65.)\nRub together with the hand one pound of fine flour, and half a pound of\nbutter; beat six eggs, and add them to the flour, &c. with a\ntable-spoonful of good yest; mix them all together, with about half a\ntea-cupful of milk; set it in a warm place for an hour, then mix in six\nounces of sifted sugar, and a few caraway seeds; mould them into buns\nwith a table-spoon, on a clean baking-plate; throw six or eight caraway\ncomfits on each, and bake them in a hot oven about ten minutes. This\nquantity should make about eighteen.\n_Sponge Biscuits._--(No. 66.)\nBreak into a round-bottomed preserving-pan[379-*] nine good-sized eggs,\nwith one pound of sifted loaf sugar, and some grated lemon-peel; set the\npan over a very slow fire, and whisk it till quite warm (but not too hot\nto set the eggs); remove the pan from the fire, and whisk it till cold,\nwhich may be a quarter of an hour; then stir in the flour lightly with a\nspattle; previous to which, prepare the sponge frame as follows:--Wipe\nthem well out with a clean cloth, rub the insides with a brush dipped in\nbutter, which has been clarified, and sift loaf sugar over; fill the\nframes with the mixture; throw pounded sugar over; bake them five\nminutes in a brisk oven: when done, take them from the frames, and lay\nthem on a sieve.\n_Savoy Cake, or Sponge Cake in a Mould._--(No. 67.)\nTake nine eggs, their weight of sugar, and six of flour, some grated\nlemon, or a few drops of essence of lemon, and half a gill of\norange-flower water, work them as in the last receipt; put in the\norange-flower water when you take it from the fire; be very careful the\nmould is quite dry; rub it all over the inside with butter; put some\npounded sugar round the mould upon the butter, and shake it well to get\nit out of the crevices: tie a slip of paper round the mould; fill it\nthree parts full with the mixture, and bake it one hour in a slack oven;\nwhen done, let it stand for a few minutes, and take it from the mould,\nwhich may be done by shaking it a little.\n_Biscuit Drops._--(No. 68.)\nBeat well together in a pan one pound of sifted sugar with eight eggs\nfor twenty minutes; then add a quarter of an ounce of caraway seeds, and\none pound and a quarter of flour: lay wafer-paper on a baking-plate, put\nthe mixture into a biscuit-funnel, and drop it out on the paper about\nthe size of half a crown; sift sugar over, and bake them in a hot oven.\n_Savoy Biscuits._--(No. 69.)\nTo be made as drop biscuits, omitting the caraways, and quarter of a\npound of flour: put it into the biscuit-funnel, and lay it out about the\nlength and size of your finger, on common shop paper; strew sugar over,\nand bake them in a hot oven; when cold, wet the backs of the paper with\na paste-brush and water: when they have lain some time, take them\ncarefully off, and place them back to back.\n_Italian Macaroons._--(No. 70.)\nTake one pound of Valentia or Jordan almonds, blanched, pound them quite\nfine with the whites of four eggs; add two pounds and a half of sifted\nloaf sugar, and rub them well together with the pestle; put in by\ndegrees about ten or eleven more whites, working them well as you put\nthem in; but the best criterion to go by in trying their lightness is\nto bake one or two, and if you find them heavy, put one or two more\nwhites; put the mixture into a biscuit-funnel, and lay them out on\nwafer-paper, in pieces about the size of a small walnut, having ready\nabout two ounces of blanched and dry almonds cut into slips, put three\nor four pieces on each, and bake them on wires, or a baking-plate, in a\nslow oven.\n_Obs._--Almonds should be blanched and dried gradually two or three days\nbefore they are used, by which means they will work much better, and\nwhere large quantities are used, it is advised to grind them in a mill\nprovided for that purpose.\n_Ratafia Cakes._--(No. 71.)\nTo half a pound of blanched bitter, and half a pound of sweet, almonds,\nput the whites of four eggs; beat them quite fine in a mortar, and stir\nin two pounds and a quarter of loaf sugar, pounded and sifted; rub them\nwell together with the whites (by degrees) of nine eggs (try their\nlightness as in the last receipt); lay them out from the biscuit-funnel\non cartridge-paper, in drops about the size of a shilling, and bake them\nin a middling-heated oven, of a light brown colour, and take them from\nthe papers as soon as cold.\nN.B. A smaller pipe must be used in the funnel than for other articles.\n_Almond Sponge Cake._--(No. 72.)\nPound in a mortar one pound of blanched almonds quite fine, with the\nwhites of three eggs; then put in one pound of sifted loaf sugar, some\ngrated lemon-peel, and the yelks of fifteen eggs--work them well\ntogether: beat up to a solid froth the whites of twelve eggs, and stir\nthem into the other ingredients with a quarter of a pound of sifted dry\nflour: prepare a mould as at No. 67; put in the mixture, and bake it an\nhour in a slow oven: take it carefully from the mould, and set it on a\nsieve.\n_Ratafia Cake._--(No. 73.)\nTo be made as above, omitting a quarter of a pound of sweet, and\nsubstituting a quarter of a pound of bitter almonds.\n_Diet Bread Cake._--(No. 74.)\nBoil, in half a pint of water, one pound and a half of lump sugar; have\nready one pint of eggs, three parts yelks, in a pan; pour in the sugar,\nand whisk it quick till cold, or about a quarter of an hour; then stir\nin two pounds of sifted flour; case the inside of square tins with white\npaper; fill them three parts full; sift a little sugar over, and bake it\nin a warm oven, and while hot remove them from the moulds.\n_Orange Gingerbread._--(No. 75.)\nSift two pounds and a quarter of fine flour, and add to it a pound and\nthree quarters of treacle, six ounces of candied orange-peel cut small,\nthree quarters of a pound of moist sugar, one ounce of ground ginger,\nand one ounce of allspice: melt to an oil three quarters of a pound of\nbutter; mix the whole well together, and lay it by for twelve hours;\nroll it out with as little flour as possible, about half an inch thick;\ncut it into pieces three inches long and two wide; mark them in the form\nof checkers with the back of a knife; put them on a baking-plate about a\nquarter of an inch apart; rub them over with a brush dipped into the\nyelk of an egg beat up with a tea-cupful of milk; bake it in a cool oven\nabout a quarter of an hour: when done, wash them slightly over again,\ndivide the pieces with a knife (as in baking they will run together).\n_Gingerbread Nuts._--(No. 76.)\nTo two pounds of sifted flour, put two pounds of treacle, three quarters\nof a pound of moist sugar, half a pound of candied orange-peel cut\nsmall, one ounce and a half of ground ginger, one ounce of ground\ncaraways, and three quarters of a pound of butter oiled: mix all well\ntogether, and set it by some time; then roll it out in pieces about the\nsize of a small walnut; lay them in rows on a baking-plate; dress them\nflat with the hand, and bake them in a slow oven about ten minutes.\n_Plain Buns._--(No. 77.)\nTo four pounds of sifted flour put one pound of good moist sugar; make a\ncavity in the centre, and stir in a gill of good yest, a pint of\nlukewarm milk, with enough of the flour to make it the thickness of\ncream; cover it over, and let it lie two hours; then melt to an oil (but\nnot hot) one pound of butter, stir it into the other ingredients, with\nenough warm milk to make it a soft paste; throw a little flour over, and\nlet them lie an hour; have ready a baking-platter rubbed over with\nbutter; mould with the hand the dough into buns, about the size of a\nlarge egg; lay them in rows full three inches apart; set them in a warm\nplace for half an hour, or till they have risen to double their size;\nbake them in a hot oven of a good colour, and wash them over with a\nbrush dipped into milk when drawn from the oven.\n_Cross Buns._--(No. 78.)\nTo the above mixture put one ounce and a half of ground allspice,\ncinnamon, and mace, mixed; and when half proved, press the form of a\ncross with a tin mould (made for the purpose) in the centre, and proceed\nas above.\n_Seed Buns._--(No. 79.)\nTake two pounds of plain bun dough (No. 77), and mix in one ounce of\ncaraway seeds; butter the insides of small tart-pans; mould the dough\ninto buns, and put one in each pan; set them to rise in a warm place;\nand when sufficiently proved, ice them with the white of an egg beat to\na froth, and laid on with a paste-brush; some pounded sugar upon that,\nand dissolve it with water splashed from the brush: bake them in a warm\noven about ten minutes.\n_Plum Buns._--(No. 80.)\nTo two pounds of No. 77 mixture, put half a pound of currants, a quarter\nof a pound of candied orange-peel cut into small pieces, half a nutmeg\ngrated, half an ounce of mixed spice, such as allspice, cinnamon, &c.:\nmould them into buns; jag them round the edge with a knife, and proceed\nas with plain buns, No. 77.\n_Orgeat._--(No. 81.)\nPound very fine one pound of Jordan, and one ounce of bitter, almonds,\nin a marble mortar, with half a gill of orange-flower water to keep them\nfrom oiling; then mix with them one pint of rose and one pint of\nspring-water; rub it through a tamis cloth or lawn sieve, till the\nalmonds are quite dry, which will reduce the quantity to about a quart:\nhave ready three pints of clarified sugar or water, and boil it to a\ncrack (which may be known by dipping your fingers into the sugar, and\nthen into cold water; and if you find the sugar to crack in moving your\nfinger, it has boiled enough); put in the almonds; boil it one minute,\nand when cold put it into small bottles close corked; a table-spoonful\nof which will be sufficient for a tumbler of water: shake the bottle\nbefore using.\n_Obs._--If the orgeat is for present use, the almonds may be pounded as\nabove, and mixed with one quart of water, one quart of milk, a pint of\ncapillaire or clarified sugar, rubbed through a tamis or fine sieve, and\nput into decanters for use.\n_Baked Pears._--(No. 82.)\nTake twelve large baking pears; pare and cut them into halves, leaving\nthe stem about half an inch long; take out the core with the point of a\nknife, and place them close together in a block-tin saucepan, the inside\nof which is quite bright, with the cover to fit quite close; put to them\nthe rind of a lemon cut thin, with half its juice, a small stick of\ncinnamon, and twenty grains of allspice; cover them with spring-water,\nand allow one pound of loaf-sugar to a pint and a half of water: cover\nthem up close, and bake them for six hours in a very slow oven: they\nwill be quite tender, and of a bright colour.\n_Obs._--Prepared cochineal is generally used for colouring the pears;\nbut if the above is strictly attended to, it will be found to answer\nbest.\n_To dry Apples._--(No. 83.)\nTake biffins, or orange or lemon-pippins; the former are the best;\nchoose the clearest rinds, and without any blemishes; lay them on clean\nstraw on a baking-wire; cover them well with more straw; set them into a\nslow oven; let them remain for four or five hours; draw them out and rub\nthem in your hands, and press them very gently, otherwise you will burst\nthe skins; return them into the oven for about an hour; press them\nagain; when cold, if they look dry, rub them over with a little\nclarified sugar.\n_Obs._--By being put into the oven four or five times, pressing them\nbetween each time, they may be brought as flat, and eat as well, as the\ndried biffins from Norfolk.\n_Icing, for Twelfth or Bride Cake._--(No. 84.)\nTake one pound of double-refined sugar, pounded and sifted through a\nlawn sieve; put into a pan quite free from grease; break in the whites\nof six eggs, and as much powder blue as will lie on a sixpence; beat it\nwell with a spattle for ten minutes; then squeeze in the juice of a\nlemon, and beat it till it becomes thick and transparent. Set the cake\nyou intend to ice in an oven or warm place five minutes; then spread\nover the top and sides with the mixture as smooth as possible. If for a\nwedding-cake only, plain ice it; if for a twelfth cake, ornament it with\ngum paste, or fancy articles of any description.\n_Obs._--A good twelfth cake, not baked too much, and kept in a cool dry\nplace, will retain its moisture and eat well, if twelve months old.\n_To boil Sugar to Caramel._--(No. 85.)\nBreak into a small copper or brass pan one pound of refined sugar; put\nin a gill of spring-water; set it on a fire; when it boils skim it quite\nclean, and let it boil quick, till it comes to the degree called crack;\nwhich may be known by dipping a tea-spoon or skewer into the sugar, and\nletting it drop to the bottom of a pan of cold water; and if it remains\nhard, it has attained that degree: squeeze in the juice of half a lemon,\nand let it remain one minute longer on the fire; then set the pan into\nanother of cold water: have ready moulds of any shape; rub them over\nwith sweet oil; dip a spoon or fork into the sugar, and throw it over\nthe mould in fine threads, till it is quite covered: make a small handle\nof caramel, or stick on two or three small gum paste rings, by way of\nornament, and place it over small pastry of any description.\n_A Croquante of Paste._--(No. 86.)\nRoll out paste, as No. 8, about the eighth of an inch thick; rub over a\nplain mould with a little fresh butter; lay on the paste very even, and\nequally thin on both sides; pare it round the rim; then with a small\npenknife cut out small pieces, as fancy may direct, such as diamonds,\nstars, circles, sprigs, &c.; or use a small tin cutter of any shape: let\nit lie to dry some time, and bake it a few minutes in a slack oven, of a\nlight colour: remove it from the mould, and place it over a tart, or any\nother dish of small pastry.\n_Derby or Short Cakes._--(No. 87.)\nRub in with the hand one pound of butter into two pounds of sifted\nflour; put one pound of currants, one pound of good moist sugar, and one\negg; mix all together with half a pint of milk: roll it out thin, and\ncut them into round cakes with a cutter; lay them on a clean\nbaking-plate, and put them into a middling-heated oven for about five\nminutes.\n_Egg and Ham Patties._--(No. 88.)\nCut a slice of bread two inches thick, from the most solid part of a\nstale quartern loaf: have ready a tin round cutter, two inches diameter;\ncut out four or five pieces, then take a cutter two sizes smaller, press\nit nearly through the larger pieces, then remove with a small knife the\nbread from the inner circle: have ready a large stew-pan full of boiling\nlard; fry them of a light-brown colour, drain them dry with a clean\ncloth, and set them by till wanted; then take half a pound of lean ham,\nmince it small; add to it a gill of good brown sauce; stir it over the\nfire a few minutes, and put a small quantity of Cayenne pepper and\nlemon-juice: fill the shapes with the mixture, and lay a poached egg\n(No. 546) upon each.\n_Damson, or other Plum Cheese._--(No. 89.)\nTake damsons that have been preserved without sugar; pass them through a\nsieve, to take out the skins and stones. To every pound of pulp of fruit\nput half a pound of loaf sugar, broke small; boil them together till it\nbecomes quite stiff; pour it into four common-sized dinner plates,\nrubbed with a little sweet oil; put it into a warm place to dry, and\nwhen quite firm, take it from the plate, and cut it into any shape you\nchoose.\nN.B. Damson cheese is generally used in desserts.\n_Barley Sugar._--(No. 90.)\nClarify, as No. 475, three pounds of refined sugar; boil it to the\ndegree of _cracked_ (which may be ascertained by dipping a spoon into\nthe sugar, and then instantly into cold water, and if it appears\nbrittle, it is boiled enough); squeeze in a small tea-spoonful of the\njuice, and four drops of essence of lemon, and let it boil up once or\ntwice, and set it by a few minutes: have ready a marble slab, or smooth\nstone, rubbed over with sweet oil; pour over the sugar; cut it into long\nstripes with a large pair of scissors; twist it a little, and when cold,\nkeep it from the air in tin boxes or canisters.\n_N.B._ A few drops of essence of ginger, instead of lemon, will make\nwhat is called ginger barley sugar.\n_Barley Sugar Drops._--(No. 91.)\nTo be made as the last receipt. Have ready, by the time the sugar is\nboiled sufficiently, a large sheet of paper, with a smooth layer of\nsifted loaf sugar on it; put the boiled sugar into a ladle that has a\nfine lip; pour it out, in drops not larger than a shilling, on to the\nsifted sugar; when cold, fold them up separately in white paper.\nN.B. Some use an oiled marble slab instead of the sifted sugar.\n_Raspberry Jam._--(No. 92.)\nRub fresh-gathered raspberries, taken on a dry day, through a wicker\nsieve; to one pint of the pulp put one pound of loaf sugar, broke small;\nput it into a preserving-pan over a brisk fire; when it begins to boil,\nskim it well, and stir it twenty minutes; put into small pots; cut white\npaper to the size of the top of the pot; dip them in brandy, and put\nthem over the jam when cold, with a double paper tied over the pot.\nStrawberry jam is made the same way, and the scarlets are most proper\nfor that purpose.\n_Apricot, or any Plum Jam._--(No. 93.)\nAfter taking away the stones from the apricots, and cutting out any\nblemishes they may have; put them over a slow fire, in a clean stew-pan,\nwith half a pint of water; when scalded, rub them through a hair-sieve:\nto every pound of pulp put one pound of sifted loaf-sugar; put it into a\npreserving-pan over a brisk fire, and when it boils skim it well, and\nthrow in the kernels of the apricots, and half an ounce of bitter\nalmonds, blanched; boil it a quarter of an hour fast, and stirring it\nall the time; remove it from the fire, and fill it into pots, and cover\nthem as at No. 92.\nN.B. Green gages or plums may be done in the same way, omitting the\nkernels or almonds.\n_Lemon Chips._--(No. 94.)\nTake large smooth-rinded Malaga lemons; race or cut off their peel into\nchips with a small knife (this will require some practice to do it\nproperly); throw them into salt and water till next day; have ready a\npan of boiling water, throw them in and boil them tender. Drain them\nwell: after having lain some time in water to cool, put them in an\nearthen pan, pour over enough boiling clarified sugar to cover them, and\nthen let them lie two days; then strain the syrup, put more sugar, and\nreduce it by boiling till the syrup is quite thick; put in the chips,\nand simmer them a few minutes, and set them by for two days: repeat it\nonce more; let them be two days longer, and they will be fit to candy,\nwhich must be done as follows: take four pints of clarified sugar,\nwhich will be sufficient for six pounds of chips, boil it to the degree\nof _blown_ (which may be known by dipping the skimmer into the sugar,\nand blowing strongly through the holes of it; if little bladders appear,\nit has attained that degree); and when the chips are thoroughly drained\nand wiped on a clean cloth, put them into the syrup, stirring them about\nwith the skimmer till you see the sugar become white; then take them out\nwith two forks; shake them lightly into a wire sieve, and set them into\na stove, or in a warm place to dry.\nN.B. Orange chips are done in the same way.\n_Dried Cherries._--(No. 95.)\nTake large Kentish cherries, not too ripe; pick off the stalks, and take\nout the stones with a quill, cut nearly as for a pen: to three pounds of\nwhich take three pounds or pints of clarified sugar--(see No. 475,) boil\nit to the degree of blown (for which see last receipt); put in the\ncherries, give them a boil, and set them by in an earthen pan till the\nnext day; then strain the syrup, add more sugar, and boil it of a good\nconsistence; put the cherries in, and boil them five minutes, and set\nthem by another day: repeat the boiling two more days, and when wanted,\ndrain them some time, and lay them on wire sieves to dry in a stove, or\nnearly cold oven.\n_Green Gages preserved in Syrup._--(No. 96.)\nTake the gages when nearly ripe; cut the stalks about half an inch from\nthe fruit; put them into cold water, with a lump of alum about the size\nof a walnut; and set them on a slow fire till they come to a simmer:\ntake them from the fire, and put them into cold water; drain, and pack\nthem close into a preserving-pan; pour over them enough clarified sugar\nto cover them; simmer them two or three minutes; set them by in an\nearthen pan till next day, when drain the gages, and boil the syrup with\nmore sugar, till quite thick; put in the gages, and simmer them three\nminutes more, and repeat it for two days; then boil clarified sugar to a\nblow, as at No. 94, place the gages into glasses, and pour the syrup\nover, and, when cold, tie over a bladder, and upon that a leather; and\nshould you want any for drying, drain and dry them on a wire sieve in a\nstove or slow oven.\nApricots or egg plums may be done in the same way.\n_To preserve Ginger._--(No. 97.)\nTake green ginger, pare it neatly with a sharp knife; throw it into a\npan of cold water as it is pared, to keep it white; when you have\nsufficient, boil it till tender, changing the water three times; each\ntime put it into cold water to take out the heat or spirit of the\nginger; when tender, throw it into cold water: for seven pounds of\nginger, clarify eight pounds of refined sugar, see No. 475; when cold,\ndrain the ginger, and put it in an earthen pan, with enough of the\nsugar, cold, to cover it, and let it stand two days; then pour the syrup\nfrom the ginger to the remainder of the sugar; boil it some time, and\nwhen cold, pour it on the ginger again, and set it by three days at\nleast. Then take the syrup from the ginger; boil it, and put it hot over\nthe ginger; proceed in this way till you find the sugar has entered the\nginger, boiling the syrup, and skimming off the scum that rises each\ntime, until the syrup becomes rich as well as the ginger.\n_Obs._--If you put the syrup on hot at first, or if too rich, the ginger\nwill shrink, and not take the sugar.\nN.B. When green ginger is not to be procured, take large races of\nJamaica ginger boiled several times in water till tender, pare neatly,\nand proceed as above.\n_To preserve Cucumbers._--(No. 98.)\nTake large and fresh-gathered cucumbers; split them down and take out\nall the seeds; lay them in salt and water that will bear an egg, three\ndays; set them on a fire with cold water, and a small lump of alum, and\nboil them a few minutes, or till tender; drain them, and pour on them a\nthin syrup; let them lie two days; boil the syrup again, and put it over\nthe cucumbers; repeat it twice more; then have ready some fresh\nclarified sugar, boiled to a blow (see No. 94); put in the cucumbers,\nand simmer it five minutes; set it by till next day; boil the syrup and\ncucumbers again, and set them in glasses for use.\n_Preserved Fruit, without Sugar._--(No. 99.)\nTake damsons when not too ripe; pick off the stalks, and put them into\nwide-mouthed glass bottles, taking care not to put in any but what are\nwhole, and without blemish; shake them well down (otherwise the bottles\nwill not be half full when done); stop the bottles with new soft corks,\nnot too tight; set them into a very slow oven (nearly cold) four or five\nhours; the slower they are done the better; when they begin to shrink\nin the bottles, it is a sure sign that the fruit is thoroughly warm:\ntake them out, and before they are cold, drive in the corks quite tight;\nset them in a bottle-rack or basket, with the mouth downwards, and they\nwill keep good several years.\nGreen gooseberries, morello cherries, currants, green gages, or bullace,\nmay be done the same way.\n_Obs._--If the corks are good, and fit well, there will be no occasion\nfor cementing them; but should bungs be used, it will be necessary.\nPut a quartern of flour into a large basin, with two tea-spoonfuls of\nsalt; make a hole in the middle; then put in a basin four\ntable-spoonfuls, of good yest; stir in a pint of milk, lukewarm; put it\nin the hole of the flour; stir it just to make it of a thin batter; then\nstrew a little flour over the top; then set it on one side of the fire,\nand cover it over: let it stand till the next morning; then make it into\ndough; add half a pint more of warm milk; knead it for ten minutes, and\nthen set it in a warm place by the fire for one hour and a half; then\nknead it again, and it is ready either for loaves or bricks: bake them\nfrom one hour and a half to two hours, according to the size.\n_French Bread and Rolls._--(No. 100*.)\nTake a pint and a half of milk; make it quite warm; half a pint of\nsmall-beer yest; add sufficient flour to make it as thick as batter; put\nit into a pan; cover it over, and keep it warm: when it has risen as\nhigh as it will, add a quarter of a pint of warm water, and half an\nounce of salt,--mix them well together;--rub into a little flour two\nounces of butter; then make your dough, not quite so stiff as for your\nbread; let it stand for three quarters of an hour, and it will be ready\nto make into rolls, &c.: let them stand till they have risen, and bake\nthem in a quick oven.\nSALLY LUNN.--_Tea Cakes._--(No. 101.)\nTake one pint of milk quite warm, a quarter of a pint of thick\nsmall-beer yest; put them into a pan with flour sufficient to make it as\nthick as batter,--cover it over, and let it stand till it has risen as\nhigh as it will, _i. e._ about two hours: add two ounces of lump sugar,\ndissolved in a quarter of a pint of warm milk,[391-*] a quarter of a\npound of butter rubbed into your flour very fine; then make your dough\nthe same as for French rolls, &c.; and let it stand half an hour; then\nmake up your cakes, and put them on tins: when they have stood to rise,\nbake them in a quick oven.\nCare should be taken never to put your yest to water or milk too hot, or\ntoo cold, as either extreme will destroy the fermentation. In summer it\nshould be lukewarm, in winter a little warmer, and in very cold weather,\nwarmer still.\nWhen it has first risen, if you are not prepared, it will not hurt to\nstand an hour.\n_Muffins._--(No. 102.)\nTake one pint of milk quite warm, and a quarter of a pint of thick\nsmall-beer yest; strain them into a pan, and add sufficient flour to\nmake it like a batter; cover it over, and let it stand in a warm place\nuntil it has risen; then add a quarter of a pint of warm milk, and one\nounce of butter rubbed in some flour quite fine; mix them well together:\nthen add sufficient flour to make it into dough, cover it over, and let\nit stand half an hour; then work it up again, and break it into small\npieces: roll them up quite round, and cover them over for a quarter of\nan hour; then bake them.\n_Crumpets._--(No. 103.)\nThe same: instead of making the mixture into dough, add only sufficient\nflour to make a thick batter, and when it has stood a quarter of an hour\nit will be ready to bake.\nMuffins and crumpets bake best on a stove with an iron plate fixed on\nthe top; but they will also bake in a frying-pan, taking care the fire\nis not too fierce, and turning them when lightly browned.\n_Yorkshire Cakes._--(No. 104.)\nTake a pint and a half of milk quite warm, and a quarter of a pint of\nthick small-beer yest; mix them well together in a pan with sufficient\nflour to make a thick batter; let it stand in a warm place covered over\nuntil it has risen as high as it will; rub six ounces of butter into\nsome flour till it is quite fine; then break three eggs into your pan\nwith the flour and butter; mix them well together; then add sufficient\nflour to make it into a dough, and let it stand a quarter of an hour;\nthen work it up-again, and break it into pieces about the size of an\negg, or larger, as you may fancy; roll them round and smooth with your\nhand, and put them on tins, and let them stand covered over with a light\npiece of flannel.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[376-*] The goodness of a cake or biscuit depends much on its being well\nbaked; great attention should be paid to the different degrees of heat\nof the oven: be sure to have it of a good sound heat at first, when,\nafter its being well cleaned out, may be baked such articles as require\na hot oven, after which such as are directed to be baked in a\nwell-heated or moderate oven; and, lastly, those in a slow soaking or\ncool one. With a little care the above degrees may soon be known.\nIn making butter cakes, such as Nos. 55, 57, or 61, too much attention\ncannot be paid to have the butter well creamed; for should it be made\ntoo warm, it would, cause the mixture to be the same, and when put to\nbake, the fruit, sweetmeats, &c. would, in that event, fall to the\nbottom.\nYest cakes should be well proved before put into the oven, as they will\nprove but little afterward.\nIn making biscuits and cakes where butter is not used, the different\nutensils should be kept free from all kinds of grease, or it is next to\nimpossible to have good ones.\nIn buttering the insides of cake-moulds, the butter should be nicely\nclarified, and when nearly cold, laid on quite smooth, with a small\nbrush kept for that purpose.\nSugar and flour should be quite dry, and a drum sieve is recommended for\nthe sugar. The old way of beating the yelks and whites of eggs separate\n(except in very few cases), is not only useless, but a waste of time.\nThey should be well incorporated with the other ingredients, and, in\nsome instances, they cannot be beaten too much.\n[378-*] Take fine brown Holland, and make a bag in the form of a cone,\nabout five inches over at the top. Cut a small hole at the bottom, and\ntie in a small pipe of a tapering form, about two inches long; and the\nbore must be large or small, according to the size of the biscuits or\ncakes to be made. When the various mixtures are put in, lay the pipe\nclose to the paper, and press it out in rows.\nSome use a bullock\u2019s bladder for the purpose.\n[379-*] A wide-mouthed earthen pan, made quite hot in the oven, or on a\nfire, will be a good substitute.\n[391-*] If you do not mind the expense, the cake will be much lighter\nif, instead of the milk, you put four eggs.\nOBSERVATIONS ON PUDDINGS AND PIES.\nThe quality of the various articles employed in the composition of\npuddings and pies varies so much, that two puddings, made exactly\naccording to the same receipt, will be so different[392-*] one would\nhardly suppose they were made by the same person, and certainly not with\nprecisely the same quantities of the (apparently) same ingredients.\nFlour fresh ground, pure new milk, fresh laid eggs, fresh butter, fresh\nsuet, &c. will make a very different composition, than when kept till\neach article is half spoiled.\nPlum puddings, when boiled, if hung up in a cool place in the cloth they\nare boiled in, will keep good some months; when wanted, take them out of\nthe cloth, and put them into a clean cloth, and as soon as warmed\nthrough, they are ready.\nMEM.--In composing these receipts, the quantities of eggs, butter, &c.\nare considerably less than are ordered in other cookery books; but quite\nsufficient for the purpose of making the puddings light and\nwholesome;--we have diminished the expense, without impoverishing the\npreparations; and the rational epicure will be as well pleased with them\nas the rational economist.\nMilk, in its genuine state, varies considerably in the quantity of cream\nit will throw up, depending on the material with which the cow is fed.\nThe cow that gives the most milk does not always produce the most cream,\nwhich varies fifteen or twenty per cent.\nEggs vary considerably in size; in the following receipts we mean the\nfull-sized hen\u2019s egg; if you have only pullet\u2019s eggs, use two for one.\nBreak eggs one by one into a basin, and not all into the bowl together;\nbecause then, if you meet with a bad one, that will spoil all the rest:\nstrain them through a sieve to take out the treddles.\nN.B. To preserve eggs for twelve months, see N.B. to No. 547. Snow, and\nsmall beer, have been recommended by some economists as admirable\nsubstitutes for eggs; they will no more answer this purpose than as\nsubstitutes for sugar or brandy.\nFlour, according to that champion against adulteration, Mr. Accum,\nvaries in quality as much as any thing.\nButter also varies much in quality. Salt butter may be washed from the\nsalt, and then it will make very good pastry.\nLard varies extremely from the time it is kept, &c. When you purchase\nit, have the bladder cut, and ascertain that it be sweet and good.\nSuet. Beef is the best, then mutton and veal; when this is used in very\nhot weather, while you chop it, dredge it lightly with a little flour.\nBeef-marrow is excellent for most of the purposes for which suet is\nemployed.\nDrippings, especially from beef, when very clean and nice, are\nfrequently used for kitchen crusts and pies, and for such purposes are a\nsatisfactory substitute for butter, lard, &c. To clean and preserve\ndrippings, see No. 83.\nCurrants, previous to putting them into the pudding, should be plumped:\nthis is done by pouring some boiling water upon them: wash them well,\nand then lay them on a sieve or cloth before the fire, pick them clean\nfrom the stones;--this not only makes them look better, but cleanses\nthem from all dirt.\nRaisins, figs, dried cherries, candied orange and lemon-peel, citron,\nand preserves of all kinds, fresh fruits, gooseberries, currants, plums,\ndamsons, &c. are added to batter and suet puddings, or enclosed in the\ncrust ordered for apple dumplings, and make all the various puddings\ncalled by those names.\nBatter puddings must be quite smooth and free from lumps; to ensure\nthis, first mix the flour with a little milk, add the remainder by\ndegrees, and then the other ingredients.\nIf it is a plain pudding, put it through a hair-sieve; this will take\nout all lumps effectually.\nBatter puddings should be tied up tight: if boiled in a mould, butter it\nfirst; if baked, also butter the pan.\nBe sure the water boils before you put in the pudding; set your stew-pan\non a trivet over the fire, and keep it steadily boiling all the\ntime;--if set upon the fire, the pudding often burns.\nBe scrupulously careful that your pudding-cloth is perfectly sweet and\nclean; wash it without any soap, unless very greasy; then rinse it\nthoroughly in clean water after. Immediately before you use it, dip it\nin boiling water; squeeze it dry, and dredge it with flour.\nIf your fire is very fierce, mind and stir the puddings every now and\nthen to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan; if in a\nmould, this care is not so much required, but keep plenty of water in\nthe saucepan.\nWhen puddings are boiled in a cloth, it should be just dipped in a basin\nof cold water, before you untie the pudding-cloth, as that will prevent\nit from sticking; but when boiled in a mould, if it is well buttered,\nthey will turn out without. Custard or bread puddings require to stand\nfive minutes before they are turned out. They should always be boiled in\na mould or cups.\nKeep your paste-board, rolling-pin, cutters, and tins very clean: the\nleast dust on the tins and cutters, or the least hard paste on the\nrolling-pin, will spoil the whole of your labour.\nThings used for pastry or cakes should not be used for any other\npurpose; be very careful that your flour is dried at the fire before you\nuse it, for puff paste or cakes; if damp it will make them heavy.\nIn using butter for puff paste, you should take the greatest care to\npreviously work it well on the paste-board or slab, to get out all the\nwater and buttermilk, which very often remains in; when you have worked\nit well with a clean knife, dab it over with a soft cloth, and it is\nthen ready to lay on your paste; do not make your paste over stiff\nbefore you put in your butter.\nFor those who do not understand making puff paste, it is by far the best\nway to work the butter in at two separate times, divide it in half, and\nbreak the half in little bits, and cover your paste all over: dredge it\nlightly with flour, then fold it over each side and ends, roll it out\nquite thin, and then put in the rest of the butter, fold it, and roll it\nagain. Remember always to roll puff paste from you. The best made paste,\nif not properly baked, will not do the cook any credit.\nThose who use iron ovens do not always succeed in baking puff paste,\nfruit pies, &c. Puff paste is often spoiled by baking it after fruit\npies, in an iron oven. This may be easily avoided, by putting two or\nthree bricks that are quite even into the oven before it is first set to\nget hot. This will not only prevent the syrup from boiling put of the\npies, but also prevent a very disagreeable smell in the kitchen and\nhouse, and almost answers the same purpose as a brick oven.\n_College Puddings._--(No. 105.)\nBeat four eggs, yelks and whites together, in a quart basin, with two\nounces of flour, half a nutmeg, a little ginger, and three ounces of\nsugar; pounded loaf sugar is best. Beat it into a smooth batter; then\nadd six ounces of suet, chopped fine, six of currants, well washed and\npicked; mix it all well together; a glass of brandy or white wine will\nimprove it. These puddings are generally fried in butter or lard; but\nthey are much nicer baked in an oven in patty-pans; twenty minutes will\nbake them: if fried, fry them till they are of a nice light brown, and\nwhen fried, roll them in a little flour. You may add one ounce of orange\nor citron, minced very fine; when you bake them, add one more egg, or\ntwo spoonfuls of milk. Serve them up with white wine sauce.\n_Rice Puddings baked, or boiled._--(No. 106.)\nWash in cold water and pick very clean six ounces of rice, put it in a\nquart stew-pan three parts filled with cold water, set it on the fire,\nand let it boil five minutes; pour away the water, and put in one quart\nof milk, a roll of lemon peel, and a bit of cinnamon; let it boil gently\ntill the rice is quite tender; it will take at least one hour and a\nquarter; be careful to stir it every five minutes; take it off the fire,\nand stir in an ounce and a half of fresh butter, and beat up three eggs\non a plate, a salt-spoonful of nutmeg, two ounces of sugar; put it into\nthe pudding, and stir it till it is quite smooth; line a pie-dish big\nenough to hold it with puff paste, notch it round the edge, put in your\npudding, and bake it three quarters of an hour: this will be a nice firm\npudding.\nIf you like it to eat more like custard, add one more egg, and half a\npint more milk; it will be better a little thinner when boiled; one hour\nwill boil it. If you like it in little puddings, butter small tea-cups,\nand either bake or boil them, half an hour will do either: you may vary\nthe pudding by putting in candied lemon or orange-peel, minced very\nfine, or dried cherries, or three ounces of currants, or raisins, or\napples minced fine.\nIf the puddings are baked or boiled, serve them with white-wine sauce,\nor butter and sugar.\n_Ground Rice Pudding._--(No. 107.)\nPut four ounces of ground rice into a stew-pan, and by degrees stir in a\npint and a half of milk; set it on the fire, with a roll of lemon and a\nbit of cinnamon; keep stirring it till it boils; beat it to a smooth\nbatter; then set it on the trivet, where it will simmer gently for a\nquarter of an hour; then beat three eggs on a plate, stir them into the\npudding with two ounces of sugar and two drachms of nutmeg, take out the\nlemon-peel and cinnamon, stir it all well together, line a pie-dish with\nthin puff paste (No. 1 of receipts for pastry), big enough to hold it,\nor butter the dish well, and bake it half an hour; if boiled, it will\ntake one hour in a mould well buttered; three ounces of currants may be\nadded.\n_Rice Snow Balls._--(No. 108.)\nWash and pick half a pound of rice very clean, put it on in a saucepan\nwith plenty of water; when it boils let it boil ten minutes, drain it on\na sieve till it is quite dry, and then pare six apples, weighing two\nounces and a half each. Divide the rice into six parcels, in separate\ncloths, put one apple in each, tie it loose, and boil it one hour; serve\nit with sugar and butter, or wine sauce.\n_Rice Blancmange._--(No. 109.)\nPut a tea-cupful of whole rice into the least water possible, till it\nalmost bursts; then add half a pint of good milk or thin cream, and boil\nit till it is quite a mash, stirring it the whole time it is on the\nfire, that it may not burn; dip a shape in cold water, and do not dry\nit; put in the rice, and let it stand until quite cold, when it will\ncome easily out of the shape. This dish is much approved of; it is eaten\nwith cream or custard, and preserved fruits; raspberries are best. It\nshould be made the day before it is wanted, that it may get firm.\nThis blancmange will eat much nicer, flavoured with spices, lemon-peel,\n&c., and sweetened with a little loaf sugar, add it with the milk, and\ntake out the lemon-peel before you put in the mould.\n_Save-all Pudding._--(No. 110.)\nPut any scraps of bread into a clean saucepan; to about a pound, put a\npint of milk; set it on the trivet till it boils; beat it up quite\nsmooth; then break in three eggs, three ounces of sugar, with a little\nnutmeg, ginger, or allspice, and stir it all well together. Butter a\ndish big enough to hold it, put in the pudding, and have ready two\nounces of suet chopped very fine, strew it over the top of the pudding,\nand bake it three quarters of an hour; four ounces of currants will\nmake it much better.\n_Batter Pudding, baked or boiled._--(No. 111.)\nBreak three eggs in a basin with as much salt as will lie on a sixpence;\nbeat them well together, and then add four ounces of flour; beat it into\na smooth batter, and by degrees add half a pint of milk: have your\nsaucepan ready boiling, and butter an earthen mould well, put the\npudding in, and tie it tight over with a pudding-cloth, and boil it one\nhour and a quarter. Or, put it in a dish that you have well buttered,\nand bake it three quarters of an hour.\nCurrants washed and picked clean, or raisins stoned, are good in this\npudding, and it is then called a black cap: or, add loaf sugar, and a\nlittle nutmeg and ginger without the fruit,--it is very good that way;\nserve it with wine sauce.\n_Apple Pudding boiled._--(No. 112.)\nChop four ounces of beef suet very fine, or two ounces of butter, lard,\nor dripping; but the suet makes the best and lightest crust; put it on\nthe paste-board, with eight ounces of flour, and a salt-spoonful of\nsalt, mix it well together with your hands, and then put it all of a\nheap, and make a hole in the middle; break one egg in it, stir it well\ntogether with your finger, and by degrees infuse as much water as will\nmake it of a stiff paste: roll it out two or three times, with the\nrolling-pin, and then roll it large enough to receive thirteen ounces of\napples. It will look neater if boiled in a basin, well buttered, than\nwhen boiled in a pudding-cloth, well floured; boil it an hour and three\nquarters: but the surest way is to stew the apples first in a stew-pan,\nwith a wine-glassful of water, and then one hour will boil it. Some\npeople like it flavoured with cloves and lemon-peel, and sweeten it with\ntwo ounces of sugar.\nGooseberries, currants, raspberries, and cherries, damsons, and various\nplums and fruits, are made into puddings with the same crust directed\nfor apple puddings.\n_Apple Dumplings._--(No. 113.)\nMake paste the same as for apple pudding, divide it into as many pieces\nas you want dumplings, peel the apples and core them, then roll out your\npaste large enough, and put in the apples; close it all round, and tie\nthem in pudding-cloths very tight; one hour will boil them: and when you\ntake them up, just dip them in cold water, and put them in a cup the\nsize of the dumpling while you untie them, and they will turn out\nwithout breaking.\n_Suet Pudding or Dumplings._--(No. 114.)\nChop six ounces of suet very fine: put it in a basin with six ounces of\nflour, two ounces of bread-crumbs, and a tea-spoonful of salt; stir it\nall well together: beat two eggs on a plate, add to them six\ntable-spoonfuls of milk, put it by degrees into the basin, and stir it\nall well together; divide it into six dumplings, and tie them separate,\npreviously dredging the cloth lightly with flour. Boil them one hour.\nThis is very good the next day fried in a little butter. The above will\nmake a good pudding, boiled in an earthenware mould, with the addition\nof one more egg, a little more milk, and two ounces of suet. Boil it two\nhours.\nN.B. The most economical way of making suet dumplings, is to boil them\nwithout a cloth in a pot with beef or mutton; no eggs are then wanted,\nand the dumplings are quite as light without: roll them in flour before\nyou put them into the pot; add six ounces of currants, washed and\npicked, and you have currant pudding: or divided into six parts, currant\ndumplings; a little sugar will improve them.\n_Cottage Potato Pudding or Cake._--(No. 115.)\nPeel, boil, and mash, a couple of pounds of potatoes: beat them up into\na smooth batter, with about three quarters of a pint of milk, two ounces\nof moist sugar, and two or three beaten eggs. Bake it about three\nquarters of an hour. Three ounces of currants or raisins may be added.\nLeave out the milk, and add three ounces of butter,--it will make a very\nnice cake.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[392-*] An old gentlewoman, who lived almost entirely on puddings, told\nus, it was a long time before she could get them made uniformly good,\ntill she made the following rule:--\u201cIf the pudding was good, she let the\ncook have the remainder of it; if it was not, she gave it to her\nlapdog;\u201d but as soon as this resolution was known, poor little Bow-wow\nseldom got the sweet treat after.\nOBSERVATIONS ON PICKLES.\nWe are not fond of pickles: these sponges of vinegar are often very\nindigestible, especially in the crisp state in which they are most\nadmired. The Indian fashion of pounding pickles is an excellent one: we\nrecommend those who have any regard for their stomach, yet still wish to\nindulge their tongue, instead of eating pickles, which are really\nmerely vehicles for taking a certain portion of vinegar and spice, &c.\nto use the flavoured vinegars; such as burnet (No. 399), horseradish\n403, 405*, 453, 457), &c.; by combinations of these, a relish may easily\nbe composed, exactly in harmony with the palate of the eater.\nThe pickle made to preserve cucumbers, &c. is generally so strongly\nimpregnated with garlic, mustard, and spice, &c. that the original\nflavour of the vegetables is quite overpowered; and if the eater shuts\nhis eyes, his lingual nerves will be puzzled to inform him whether he is\nmunching an onion or a cucumber, &c., and nothing can be more absurd,\nthan to pickle plums, peaches, apricots, currants, grapes, &c.\nThe strongest vinegar must be used for pickling: it must not be boiled\nor the strength of the vinegar and spices will be evaporated. By\nparboiling the pickles in brine, they will be ready in much less time\nthan they are when done in the usual manner, of soaking them in cold\nsalt and water for six or eight days. When taken out of the hot brine,\nlet them get cold and quite dry before you put them into the pickle.\nTo assist the preservation of pickles, a portion of salt is added; and\nfor the same purpose, and to give flavour, long pepper, black pepper,\nallspice, ginger, cloves, mace, garlic, eschalots, mustard, horseradish,\nand capsicum.\nThe following is the best method of preparing the pickle, as cheap as\nany, and requires less care than any other way.\nBruise in a mortar four ounces of the above spices; put them into a\nstone jar with a quart of the strongest vinegar, stop the jar closely\nwith a bung, cover that with a bladder soaked with pickle, set it on a\ntrivet by the side of the fire for three days, well shaking it up at\nleast three times in the day; the pickle should be at least three inches\nabove the pickles. The jar being well closed, and the infusion being\nmade with a mild heat, there is no loss by evaporation.\nTo enable the articles pickled more easily and speedily to imbibe the\nflavour of the pickle they are immersed in, previously to pouring it on\nthem, run a larding-pin through them in several places.\nThe spices, &c. commonly used, are those mentioned in the receipt for\npickling walnuts; which is also an excellent savoury sauce for cold\nmeats.\nThe flavour may be varied _ad infinitum_ by adding celery, cress-seed,\nor curry powder (No. 455), or by taking for the liquor any of the\nflavoured vinegars, &c. we have enumerated above, and see the receipts\nbetween Nos. 395 and 421.\nPickles should be kept in a dry place, in unglazed earthenware, or\nglass jars, which are preferable, as you can, without opening them,\nobserve whether they want filling up: they must be very carefully\nstopped with well-fitted bungs, and tied over as closely as possible\nwith a bladder wetted with the pickle; and if to be preserved a long\ntime, after that is dry, it must be dipped in bottle-cement; see page\nWhen the pickles are all used, boil up the liquor with a little fresh\nspice.\nTo walnut liquor may be added a few anchovies and eschalots: let it\nstand till it is quite clear, and bottle it: thus you may furnish your\ntable with an excellent savoury keeping sauce for hashes, made dishes,\nfish, &c. at very small cost; see No. 439.\nJars should not be more than three parts filled with the articles\npickled, which should be covered with pickle at least two inches above\ntheir surface; the liquor wastes, and all of the articles pickled, that\nare not covered, are soon spoiled.\nWhen they have been done about a week, open the jars, and fill them up\nwith pickle.\nTie a wooden spoon, full of holes, round each jar to take them out with.\nIf you wish to have gherkins, &c. very green, this may be easily\naccomplished by keeping them in vinegar, sufficiently hot, till they\nbecome so.\nIf you wish cauliflowers, onions, &c. to be white, use distilled vinegar\nfor them.\nTo entirely prevent the mischief arising from the action of the acid\nupon the metallic utensils usually employed to prepare pickles, the\nwhole of the process is directed to be performed in unglazed stone jars.\nN.B. The maxim of \u201copen your mouth, and shut your eyes,\u201d cannot be\nbetter applied than to pickles; and the only direction we have to record\nfor the improvement of their complexion, is the joke of Dr. Goldsmith,\n\u201cIf their colour does not please you, send \u2019em to Hammersmith, that\u2019s\nthe way to Turnham Green.\u201d\nCommencing the list with walnuts, I must take this opportunity of\nimpressing the necessity of being strictly particular in watching the\ndue season; for of all the variety of articles in this department to\nfurnish the well-regulated store-room, nothing is so precarious, for\nfrequently after the first week that walnuts come in season, they become\nhard and shelled, particularly if the season is a very hot one;\ntherefore let the prudent housekeeper consider it indispensably\nnecessary they should be purchased as soon as they first appear at\nmarket; should they cost a trifle more, that is nothing compared to the\ndisappointment of finding, six months hence, when you go to your\npickle-jar, expecting a fine relish for your chops, &c. to find the nuts\nincased in a shell, which defies both teeth and steel.\nNasturtiums are to be had by the middle of July.\nGarlic, from Midsummer to Michaelmas.\nEschalots, ditto.\nOnions, the various kinds for pickling, are to be had, by the middle of\nJuly, and for a month after.\nGherkins are to be had by the middle of July, and for a month after.\nCucumbers are to be had by the middle of July, and for a month after.\nMelons and mangoes are to be had by the middle of July, and for a month\nafter.\nCapsicums, green, red, and yellow, the end of July, and following month.\nChilies, the end of July, and following month. See Nos. 404 and 405*,\nand No. 406.\nLove apples, or tomatas, end of July, and throughout August. See No.\nCauliflower, for pickling, July and August.\nArtichokes, for pickling, July and August.\nJerusalem artichokes, for pickling, July and August, and for three\nmonths after.\nRadish pods, for pickling, July.\nFrench beans, for pickling, July.\nMushrooms, for pickling and catchup, September. See No. 439.\nRed cabbage, August.\nWhite cabbage, September and October.\nSamphire, August.\nHorseradish, November and December.\n_Walnuts._--(No. 116.)\nMake a brine of salt and water, in the proportion of a quarter of a\npound of salt to a quart of water; put the walnuts into this to soak for\na week; or if you wish to soften them so that they may be soon ready for\neating, run a larding-pin through them in half a dozen places--this will\nallow the pickle to penetrate, and they will be much softer, and of\nbetter flavour, and ready much sooner than if not perforated: put them\ninto a stew-pan with such brine, and give them a gentle simmer; put them\non a sieve to drain; then lay them on a fish plate, and let them stand\nin the air till they turn black--this may take a couple of days; put\nthem into glass, or unglazed stone jars; fill these about three parts\nwith the walnuts, and fill them up with the following pickle.\nTo each quart of the strongest vinegar put two ounces of black pepper,\none of ginger, same of eschalots, same of salt, half an ounce of\nallspice, and half a drachm of Cayenne. Put these into a stone jar;\ncover it with a bladder, wetted with pickle, tie over that some leather,\nand set the jar on a trivet by the side of the fire for three days,\nshaking it up three times a day, and then pour it while hot to the\nwalnuts, and cover them down with bladder wetted with the pickle,\nleather, &c.\n_Gherkins._--(No. 117.)\nGet those of about four inches long, and an inch in diameter, the crude\nhalf-grown little gherkins usually pickled are good for nothing. Put\nthem into (unglazed) stone pans; cover them with a brine of salt and\nwater, made with a quarter of a pound of salt to a quart of water; cover\nthem down; set them on the earth before the fire for two or three days\ntill they begin to turn yellow; then put away the water, and cover them\nwith hot vinegar; set them again before the fire; keep them hot till\nthey become green (this will take eight or ten days); then pour off the\nvinegar, having ready to cover them a pickle of fresh vinegar, &c., the\nsame as directed in the preceding receipt for walnuts (leaving out the\neschalots); cover them with a bung, bladder, and leather. Read the\nobservations on pickles, p. 487.\n_Obs._--The vinegar the gherkins were greened in will make excellent\nsalad sauce, or for cold meats. It is, in fact, superlative cucumber\nvinegar.\n_French Beans--Nasturtiums, &c._--(No. 118.)\nWhen young, and most other small green vegetables, may be pickled the\nsame way as gherkins.\n_Beet Roots._--(No. 119.)\nBoil gently till they are full three parts done (this will take from an\nhour and a half to two and a half); then take them out, and when a\nlittle cooled, peel them, and cut them in slices about half an inch\nthick. Have ready a pickle for it, made by adding to each a quart of\nvinegar an ounce of ground black pepper, half an ounce of ginger\npounded, same of salt, and of horseradish cut in thin slices; and you\nmay warm it, if you like, with a few capsicums, or a little Cayenne;\nput these ingredients into a jar; stop it close, and let them steep\nthree days on a trivet by the side of the fire; then, when cold, pour\nthe clear liquor on the beet-root, which have previously arranged in a\njar.\n_Red Cabbage._--(No. 120.)\nGet a fine purple cabbage, take off the outside leaves, quarter it, take\nout the stalk, shred the leaves into a colander, sprinkle them with\nsalt, let them remain till the morrow, drain them dry, put them into a\njar, and cover them with the pickle for beet roots.\nThe small round silver button onions, about as big as a nutmeg, make a\nvery nice pickle. Take off their top coats, have ready a stew-pan, three\nparts filled with boiling water, into which put as many onions as will\ncover the top: as soon as they look clear, immediately take them up with\na spoon full of holes, and lay them on a cloth three times folded, and\ncover them with another till you have ready as many as you wish: when\nthey are quite dry, put them into jars, and cover them with hot pickle,\nmade by infusing an ounce of horseradish, same of allspice, and same of\nblack pepper, and same of salt, in a quart of best white-wine vinegar,\nin a stone jar, on a trivet by the side of the fire for three days,\nkeeping it well closed; when cold, bung them down tight, and cover them\nwith bladder wetted with the pickle and leather.\n_Cauliflowers or Broccoli._--(No. 122.)\nChoose those that are hard, yet sufficiently ripe, cut away the leaves\nand stalks.\nSet on a stew-pan half full of water, salted in proportion of a quarter\nof a pound of salt to a quart of water; throw in the cauliflower, and\nlet it heat gradually; when it boils take it up with a spoon full of\nholes, and spread them on a cloth to dry before the fire, for\ntwenty-four hours at least; when quite dry, put them, piece by piece,\ninto jars or glass tie-overs, and cover them with the pickle we have\ndirected for beet roots, or make a pickle by infusing three ounces of\nthe curry powder (No. 455) for three days in a quart of vinegar by the\nside of the fire.\nNasturtiums are excellent prepared as above.\n_Indian or mixed Pickles--Mango or Piccalilli._--(No. 123.)\nThe flavouring ingredients of Indian pickles are a compound of curry\npowder, with a large proportion of mustard and garlic.\nThe following will be found something like the real mango pickle,\nespecially if the garlic be used plentifully. To each gallon of the\nstrongest vinegar put four ounces of curry powder (No. 455), same of\nflour of mustard (some rub these together, with half a pint of salad\noil), three of ginger bruised, and two of turmeric, half a pound (when\nskinned) of eschalots slightly baked in a Dutch oven, two ounces of\ngarlic prepared in like manner, a quarter of a pound of salt, and two\ndrachms of Cayenne pepper.\nPut these ingredients into a stone jar; cover it with a bladder wetted\nwith the pickle, and set it on a trivet by the side of the fire during\nthree days, shaking it up three times a day; it will then be ready to\nreceive gherkins, sliced cucumbers, sliced onions, button onions,\ncauliflowers, celery, broccoli, French beans, nasturtiums, capsicums,\nand small green melons. The latter must be slit in the middle\nsufficiently to admit a marrow-spoon, with which take out all the seeds;\nthen parboil the melons in a brine that will bear an egg; dry them, and\nfill them with mustard-seed, and two cloves of garlic, and bind the\nmelon round with packthread.\nLarge cucumbers may be prepared in like manner.\nGreen peaches make the best imitation of the Indian mango.\nThe other articles are to be separately parboiled (excepting the\ncapsicums) in a brine of salt and water strong enough to bear an egg;\ntaken out and drained, and spread out, and thoroughly dried in the sun,\non a stove, or before a fire, for a couple of days, and then put into\nthe pickle.\nAny thing may be put into this pickle, except red cabbage and walnuts.\nIt will keep several years.\n_Obs._--To the Indian mango pickle is added a considerable quantity of\nmustard-seed oil, which would also be an excellent warm ingredient in\nour salad sauces.\nHOUSEKEEPERS\u2019 MANUAL.\nVARIOUS USEFUL FAMILY RECEIPTS.\n_To prevent Beer becoming Flat after it is drawn._\nPut a piece of toasted bread into it, and it will preserve the spirit\nfor twelve hours after, in a very considerable degree.\n_To clean Plate._\n_First._--Take care that your plate is quite free from grease.\n_Second._--Take some whitening mixed with water, and a sponge, rub it\nwell on the plate, which will take the tarnish off; if it is very bad,\nrepeat the whitening and water several times, making use of a brush, not\ntoo hard, to clean the intricate parts.\n_Third._--Take some rouge-powder, mix it with water to about the\nthickness of cream, and with a small piece of leather (which should be\nkept for that purpose only) apply the rouge, which, with the addition of\na little \u201cElbow Grease,\u201d will, in a short time, produce a most beautiful\npolish.\nN.B.--The rouge-powder may be had at all the silversmiths and jewellers.\n_Obs._--The above is the actual manner in which silversmiths clean their\nplate, and was given to me by a respectable tradesman.\n_The common Method of cleaning Plate._\nFirst wash it well with soap and warm water; when perfectly dry, mix\ntogether a little whitening and sweet oil, so as to make a soft paste;\nthen take a piece of flannel, rub it on the plate; then with a leather,\nand plenty of dry whitening, rub it clean off again; then, with a clean\nleather and a brush, finish it.\n_Varnish for Oil Paintings._\nAccording to the number of your pictures, take the whites of the same\nnumber of eggs, and an equal number of pieces of sugar candy, the size\nof a hazel nut, dissolved, and mix it with a tea-spoonful of brandy;\nbeat the whites of your eggs to a froth, and let it settle; take the\nclear, put it to your brandy and sugar, mix them well together, and\nvarnish over your pictures with it.\nThis is much better than any other varnish, as it is easily washed off\nwhen your pictures want cleaning again.\n_Method of cleaning Paper-Hangings._\nCut into eight half quarters a quartern loaf, two days old; it must\nneither be newer nor staler. With one of these pieces, after having\nblown off all the dust from the paper to be cleaned, by the means of a\ngood pair of bellows, begin at the top of the room, holding the crust in\nthe hand, and wiping lightly downward with the crumb, about half a yard\nat each stroke, till the upper part of the hangings is completely\ncleaned all round. Then go round again, with the like sweeping stroke\ndownwards, always commencing each successive course a little higher than\nthe upper stroke had extended, till the bottom be finished. This\noperation, if carefully performed, will frequently make very old paper\nlook almost equal to new.\nGreat caution must be used not by any means to rub the paper hard, nor\nto attempt cleaning it the cross, or horizontal way. The dirty part of\nthe bread, too, must be each time cut away, and the pieces renewed as\nsoon as it may become necessary.\n_To make_ WOODEN _Stairs have the appearance of_ STONE.\nPaint the stairs, step by step, with white paint, mixed with strong\ndrying oil. Strew it thick with silver sand.\nIt ought to be thoroughly dry next morning, when the loose sand is to be\nswept off. The painting and sanding is to be repeated, and when dry, the\nsurface is to be done over with pipe-clay, whiting, and water; which may\nbe boiled in an old saucepan, and laid on with a bit of flannel, not too\nthick, otherwise it will be apt to scale off.\nA penny cake of pipe-clay, which must be scraped, is the common\nproportion to half a lump of whiting.\nThe pipe-clay and whiting is generally; applied once a week, but that\nmight be done only as occasion requires.\n_French Polish._\nTake a quarter of an ounce of gum sandarac and a quarter of an ounce of\ngum mastic; pick the dirt and black lumps out very carefully, and pound\nthem in a mortar quite fine; put them into a bottle, and add to them a\nquartern (old measure) of strong spirit of wine; cork it down and put it\nin a warm place; shake it frequently till the gum is entirely dissolved,\nwhich will be in about twenty-four hours.\nBefore using it, be careful to ascertain that no _grease_ is on the\nfurniture, as _grease_ would prevent its receiving the polish. If the\nfurniture has been previously cleaned with bees\u2019-wax or oil, it must be\ngot off by scraping, which is the best way, but difficult to those who\ndo not perfectly understand it, because if you are not very careful, you\nmay scratch the surface, and create more expense than a workman would\ncharge to do it properly at first. Or it may be done by scouring well\nwith sand and water, and afterward rubbed quite smooth with fine glass\npaper, being careful to do it with the grain of the wood. To apply the\npolish, you must have a piece of list or cloth twisted, and tied round\nquite tight, and left even at one end, which should be covered with a\npiece of fine linen cloth; then pour a little of the polish on the\nfurniture, and rub it well all over till it is worked into the grain of\nthe wood, and begins to look quite smooth; then take a soft fine cloth,\nor what is better, an old silk handkerchief, and keep rubbing lightly\nuntil the polish is complete, which will take two or three hours. It\nwill greatly help the polish if it is done near a fire.\nIf it does not look so smooth and clear as it should, a little sweet oil\nrubbed lightly over, and cleaned off directly, will greatly heighten it.\nIf any part of the furniture has carving about it, where it will be\nimpossible to polish, it must be done with mastic varnish, and a camel\u2019s\nhair brush, after the rest is finished.\nWhen the polish begins to look dull, it may be recovered with a little\nspirit of wine.\n_Polish for Dining Tables_,\nIs to rub them with cold-drawn linseed oil, thus:--put a little in the\nmiddle of a table, and then with a piece of linen (never use woollen)\ncloth rub it well all over the table; then take another piece of linen,\nand rub it for ten minutes, then rub it till quite dry with another\ncloth. This must be done every day for several months, when you will\nfind your mahogany acquire a permanent and beautiful lustre,\nunattainable by any other means, and equal to the finest French polish;\nand if the table is covered with the tablecloth only, the hottest dishes\nwill make no impression upon it: and when once this polish is produced,\nit will only require dry rubbing with a linen cloth for about ten\nminutes twice in a week, to preserve it in the highest perfection; which\nnever fails to please your employers; and remember, that to please\nothers is always the surest way to profit yourself.\nIf the appearance must be more immediately produced, take some FURNITURE\nPASTE.\n_To prevent disagreeable Smells from Sinks, &c._\nThe disgustful effluvia arising from cabbage-water, and the various\nungrateful odours which arise from the sink of kitchens, drains, &c.,\nare not only an unnecessary nuisance to the good folks of the second\ntable, but we believe such miasm is not an uncommon cause of putrid\nfevers, &c. &c.\nIt cannot be too generally known, that a cheap and simple apparatus has\nbeen contrived for carrying off the waste water, &c. from sinks, which\nat the same time effectually prevents any air returning back from\nthence, or from any drain connected therewith. This is known by the name\nof Stink Trap, and costs about five shillings.\nNo kitchen sink should be without it.\n_To prevent Moths._\nIn the month of April beat your fur garments well with a small cane or\nelastic stick, then lap them up in linen without pressing the fur too\nhard, and put between the folds some camphor in small lumps; then put\nyour furs in this state in boxes well closed.\nWhen the furs are wanted for use, beat them well as before, and expose\nthem for twenty-four hours to the air, which will take away the smell of\nthe camphor.\nIf the fur has long hair, as bear or fox, add to the camphor an equal\nquantity of black pepper in powder.\n_Paste._\nTo make common paste, mix one table-spoonful of flour with one of cold\nwater, stir it well together, and add two more table-spoonfuls of water;\nset it over the fire and give it a boil, stirring it all the time, or it\nwill burn at the bottom of the saucepan.\nOBSERVATIONS ON CARVING.\n \u201c\u2018Have you learned to carve?\u2019 for it is ridiculous not to carve\n well.\n \u201cA man who tells you gravely that he cannot carve, may as well tell\n you that he cannot feed himself; it is both as necessary and as\n easy.\u201d--Lord CHESTERFIELD\u2019S _211th Letter_.\nNext to giving a good dinner, is treating our friends with hospitality\nand attention, and this attention is what young people have to learn.\nExperience will teach them in time, but till they acquire it, they will\nappear ungraceful and awkward.\nAlthough the _art of carving_ is one of the most necessary\naccomplishments of a gentleman, it is little known but to those who have\nlong been accustomed to it; a more useful or acceptable present cannot\nbe offered to the public than to lay before them a book calculated to\nteach the rising generation how to acquit themselves amiably in this\nmaterial part of the duties of the table.\nYoung people seldom study this branch of the philosophy of the banquet,\nbeyond the suggestion of their own whims and caprices; and cut up things\nnot only carelessly, but wastefully, until they learn the pleasure of\npaying butchers\u2019 and poulterers\u2019 bills on their own account.\nYoung housekeepers, unaccustomed to carving, will, with the help of the\nfollowing instructions, soon be enabled to carve with ease and elegance;\ntaking care also to observe, as occasion may offer, the manner in which\na skilful operator sets about his task, when a joint or fowl is placed\nbefore him.\nIt has been said, that you may judge of a person\u2019s character by his\nhandwriting; you may judge of his conscience by his carving.\nFair carving is much more estimable evidence of good nature than fair\nwriting: let me see how a gentleman carves at another person\u2019s table,\nespecially how he helps himself, and I will presently tell you how far\nhe is of Pope\u2019s opinion, that\n \u201cTrue self-love and social are the same.\u201d\nThe selfish appetites never exhibit themselves in a more unmasked and\nmore disgusting manner than in the use they excite a man to make of his\nknife and fork in carving for himself, especially when not at his own\ncost.\nSome keen observer of human nature has said, \u201cWould you know a man\u2019s\nreal disposition, ask him to dinner, and give him plenty to drink.\u201d\n\u201cThe Oracle\u201d says, \u201cinvite the gentleman to dinner, certainly, and set\nhim to carving.\u201d The gentleman who wishes to ensure a hearty welcome,\nand frequent invitations to the board of hospitality, may calculate with\nCockerial correctness, that \u201cthe easier he appears to be pleased, the\noftener he will be invited.\u201d Instead of unblushingly demanding of the\nfair hostess, that the prime \u201ctit-bit of every dish be put on his plate,\nhe must receive, (if not with pleasure or even content,) with the\nliveliest expressions of thankfulness, whatever is presented to him; and\nlet him not forget to praise the cook (no matter whether he be pleased\nwith her performance or not), and the same shall be reckoned unto him\neven as praise to the mistress.\u201d\n\u201cIf he does not like his fare, he may console himself with the\nreflection, that he need not expose his mouth to the like mortification\nagain. Mercy to the feelings of the mistress of the mansion, will forbid\nhis then appearing otherwise than absolutely delighted with it,\nnotwithstanding it may be his extreme antipathy. If he like it ever so\nlittle, he will find occasion to congratulate himself on the advantage\nhis digestive organs will derive from his making a moderate dinner; and\nconsolation from contemplating the double relish he is creating for the\nfollowing meal, and anticipating the rare and delicious zest of (that\nbest sauce) good appetite, and an unrestrained indulgence of his\ngourmandizing fancies at the chop-house he frequents.\u201d\nThe following extract from that rare book, GILES ROSE\u2019S _School for the\nOfficers of the Mouth_, 16mo. 1684, shows that the art of carving was a\nmuch more elaborate affair formerly than it is at present.\nLE GRAND ESCUVER TRANCHANT, _or the Great Master Carver_. \u201cThe exercise\nof a master carver is more noble and commendable, it may be, than every\none will imagine; for suppose that life to be the foundation of all that\nis done in the world, this life is not to be sustained without\nmaintaining our natural heat by eating and drinking.\u201d\nNever trust a cook teaser with the important office of carver, or place\nhim within reach of any principal dish. I shall never forget the\nfollowing exhibition of a selfish spoiled child: the first dish that\nMaster Johnny mangled, was three mackerel; he cut off the upper side of\neach fish: next came a couple of fowls; in taking off the wings of\nwhich the young gentleman so hideously hacked and miserably mangled\nevery other part, that when they were brought for luncheon the following\nday, they appeared as if just removed from a conclave of dainty cats,\nrather than having been carved by a rational creature. When the master\nof the family, who was extremely near-sighted, sat down to his nooning,\nin expectation of enjoying the agreeable amusement of having a\n \u201cNice bit of chicken\n For his own private picking,\u201d\nno sooner had he put on his specs, and begun to focus his fowl, than he\nsuddenly started up, rang for the cook, and after having vociferated at\nher carelessness, and lectured her for being so extremely perfunctory\nand disorderly in not keeping the cat out of the cupboard, till his\nappetite for scolding was pretty well satisfied, he paused for her\napology: the guardian genius of the pantry, to his extreme astonishment,\ninformed him, that his suspicions concerning the hideous appearance\nwhich had so shocked him, was erroneous: such unsightly havoc was not\noccasioned by the epicurism of a _four_-legged brute, and that the fowls\nwere exactly in the same state they came from the table, and that young\nMaster Johnny had cut them up himself.\nThose in the parlour should recollect the importance of setting a good\nexample to their friends at the second table. If they cut bread, meat,\ncheese, &c. fairly, it will go twice as far as if hacked and mangled by\nsome sensualists, who appear to have less consideration for their\ndomestics than a good sportsman for his dogs.\nA prudent carver will distribute the dainties he is serving out in equal\ndivision, and regulate his helps by the proportion his dish bears to the\nnumber it is to be divided among, and considering the quantum of\nappetite the several guests are presumed to possess.\nIf you have a bird, or other delicacy at table, which cannot be\napportioned out to all as you wish, when cut up, let it be handed round\nby a servant; modesty will then prompt the guests to take but a small\nportion, and such as perhaps could not be offered to them without\ndisrespect.\nThose chop-house cormorants who\n \u201cCritique your wine, and analyze your meat,\n Yet on plain pudding deign at home to eat,\u201d\nare generally tremendously officious in serving out the loaves and\nfishes of other people; for, under the notion of appearing exquisitely\namiable, and killingly agreeable to the guests, they are ever on the\nwatch to distribute themselves the dainties[412-*] which it is the\npeculiar part of the master and mistress to serve out, and is to them\nthe most pleasant part of the business of the banquet; the pleasure of\nhelping their friends is the gratification which is their reward for the\ntrouble they have had in preparing the feast: such gentry are the terror\nof all good housewives; to obtain their favourite cut they will so\nunmercifully mangle your joints, that a lady\u2019s dainty lapdog would\nhardly get a meal from them afterward; but which, if managed by the\nconsiderative hands of an old housekeeper, would furnish a decent dinner\nfor a large family.\nThe man of manners picks not the best, but rather takes the worst out of\nthe dish, and gets of every thing (unless it be forced upon him) always\nthe most indifferent fare by this civility, the best remains for others;\nwhich being a compliment to all that are present, every body will be\npleased with it; the more they love themselves, the more they are forced\nto approve of his behaviour, and gratitude stepping in, they are\nobliged, almost whether they will or not, to think favourably of him.\nAfter this manner it is that the well-bred man insinuates himself in the\nesteem of all the companies he comes in; and if he gets nothing else by\nit, the pleasure he receives in reflecting on the applause which he\nknows is secretly given him, is to a proud man more than equivalent for\nhis former self-denial, and overpays self-love, with interest, the loss\nit sustained in his complaisance to others.\nIf there are seven or eight apples, or peaches, among people of\nceremony, that are pretty nearly equal, he who is prevailed on to choose\nfirst, will take that which, if there be any considerable difference, a\nchild would know to be the worst.\nThis he does to insinuate, that he looks upon those he is with to be of\nsuperior merit; and that there is not one whom he does not love better\nthan himself. Custom and general practice make this modish deceit\nfamiliar to us, without being shocked at the absurdity of it.\n\u201cIf people had been used to speak from the sincerity of their hearts,\nand act according to the natural sentiments they felt within, till they\nwere three or four and forty, it would be impossible for them to assist\nat this comedy of manners without either loud laughter or indigestion;\nand yet it is certain, that such a behaviour makes us more tolerable to\none another, than we could be otherwise.\u201d\nThe master or mistress of the table should appear to continue eating as\nlong as any of the company; and should, accordingly, help themselves in\na way that will enable them to give this specimen of good manners\nwithout being particularly observed.\n\u201cIt belongs to the master and mistress, and to no one else, to desire\ntheir guests to eat, and, indeed, carving belongs to nobody but the\nmaster and mistress, and those whom they think fit to desire, who are to\ndeliver what they cut to the master or mistress, to be by them\ndistributed at their pleasure.\u201d\nA seat should be placed for the carver sufficiently elevated to give him\na command of the table, as the act of rising to perform this duty is\nconsidered ungraceful.\nThe carving-knife should be light and sharp; and it should be firmly\ngrasped; although in using it, strength is not as essential as skill,\nparticularly if the butcher has properly divided the bones of such\njoints as the neck, loin, and breast of veal or of mutton.\nThe dish should not be far from the carver; for when it is too distant,\nby occasioning the arms to be too much extended, it gives an awkward\nappearance to the person, and renders the task more difficult.\nIn carving fish, care should be taken not to break the flakes, and this\nis best avoided by the use of a fish trowel, which not being sharp,\ndivides it better than a steel knife. Examine this little drawing, and\nyou will see how a cod\u2019s head and shoulders should be carved. The head\nand shoulders of a cod contain the richest and best part of this\nexcellent fish.\n[Illustration: _Fig. 1._]\nThe first piece may be taken off in the direction of _a b_, by putting\nin the trowel at the back or thick part of the fish, and the rest in\nsuccessive order. A small part of the sound should be given with each\nslice, and will be found close to the back-bone, by raising the thin\nflap _d_. It is known by being darker coloured and more transparent than\nthe other parts of the fish. Almost every part of a cod\u2019s head is\nconsidered good; the palate, the tongue, the jelly, and firm parts, _e\ne_, upon and immediately around the jaw and bones of the head, are\nconsidered as delicate eating by many persons.\n[Illustration: _Fig. 2._]\nA boiled fowl has the legs bent inward (see _fig. 2_), and fastened to\nthe sides by a skewer, which is removed before the fowl is sent to\ntable. A roasted fowl should not have any part of the legs cut off, as\nin the boiled fowl; but after they have been properly scraped and\nwashed, they are drawn together at the very extremity of the breast. A\nboiled and a roasted fowl are each carved in the same manner. The wings\nare taken off in the direction of _a_ to _b_ (_fig. 2_). Your knife must\ndivide the joint, but afterward you have only to take firm hold of the\npinion with your fork, draw the wings towards the legs, and you will\nfind that the muscles separate better than if you cut them with your\nknife. Slip your knife between the leg and the body, and cut to the\nbone, then with the fork turn the leg back, and, if the fowl be not a\nvery old one, the joints will give way.\n[Illustration: _Fig. 3._]\nAfter the four quarters are thus removed, enter the knife at the breast,\nin the direction _c d_ (_fig. 3_), and you will separate the\nmerrythought from the breast-bone; and by placing your knife under it,\nlift it up, pressing it backward on the dish, and you will easily remove\nthat bone. The collar-bones, _e e_, lie on each side the merrythought,\nand are to be lifted up at the broad end, by the knife, and forced\ntowards the breast-bone, till the part which is fastened to it breaks\noff. The breast is next to be separated from the carcass, by cutting\nthrough the ribs on each side, from one end of the fowl to the other.\nThe back is then laid upward, and the knife passed firmly across it,\nnear the middle, while the fork lifts up the other end. The side bone\nare lastly to be separated; to do which turn the back from you, and on\neach side the back-bone, in the direction of _g g_ (_fig. 4_), you will\nfind a joint, which you must separate, and the cutting up of the fowl\nwill be complete.\n[Illustration: _Fig. 4._]\nDucks and partridges are to be cut up in the same manner; in the latter,\nhowever, the merrythought is seldom separated from the breast, unless\nthe birds are very large.\nTurkeys and geese have slices cut on each side of the breast-bone, and\nby beginning to cut from the wing upwards to the breast-bone, many more\nslices may be obtained than if you cut from the breast-bone to the\nwings, although I do not think the slices are quite as handsome as if\ncut in the latter method.\n[Illustration: _Fig. 6._]\nPigeons (see _fig. 6_) are either cut from the neck to _a_, which is the\nfairest way, or from _b_ to _c_, which is now the most fashionable mode;\nand the lower part is esteemed the best.\n[Illustration: _Fig. 7._]\nThere are two ways of carving a hare. When it is young, the knife may be\nentered near the shoulder at a (see _fig. 7_), and cut down to _b_, on\neach side of the backbone; and thus the hare will be divided into three\nparts. The back is to be again divided into four parts, where the dotted\nlines are in the cut: these and the legs are considered the best parts,\nthough the shoulders are preferred by some, and are to be taken off in\nthe direction of _c d e_. The pieces should be laid neatly on the\nplates, as they are separated, and each plate served with stuffing and\ngravy. When the hare is old, it is better not to attempt the division\ndown the back, which would require much strength; but the legs should be\nseparated from the body at _f_, and then the meat cut off from each\nside, and divided into moderate sized pieces. If the brains and ears are\nrequired, cut off the head, and put your knife between the upper and\nlower jaw, and divide them, which will enable you to lay the upper jaw\nflat on the dish: then force the point of your knife into the centre,\nand having cut the head into two parts, distribute the brains with the\nears to those who like them.\nRabbits are carved in the same manner as a hare, except that the back is\ndivided only into two pieces, which, with the legs, are considered the\nmost delicate parts.\n[Illustration: _Fig. 8._]\nA ham is generally cut in the direction of _a_ to _b_, (_fig. 8_) down\nto the bone, and through the prime part of the ham. Another way is to\ncut a small hole at _c_, and to enlarge it by cutting circular pieces\nout of it; this method brings you to the best part of the ham directly,\nand has an advantage over the other in keeping in the gravy.\n[Illustration: _Fig. 9._]\nA leg of mutton is more easily carved than any other joint, but\nnevertheless there is a mode of doing it neatly, which should be\nobserved. The first slice should be taken out at _a_ (_fig. 9_), between\nthe knuckle _b_ and the thick end; and the second and subsequent slices\nshould be cut in this direction, until you are stopped by the cramp-bone\nat _c_; then turn it up, and take the remaining slices from the back, in\na longitudinal direction. When the leg is rather lean, help some fat\nfrom the broad end with each slice. The best and most juicy slices are\ntoward the broad end: but some persons prefer the knuckle: and where\neconomy is an object, the knuckle should always be eaten when the joint\nis hot, as it becomes very dry when cold. If the joint is to be brought\nagain to table, it has a much neater and more respectable appearance if\nit be helped, altogether, from the knuckle end, when it is hot. This\ndirection may appear trifling; but a good economist knows the importance\nof carving, when the circumstances of a family require that a joint be\nbrought a second time to table.\n[Illustration: _Fig. 10._]\nA haunch of venison (_fig. 10_) should be cut down to the bone in the\ndirection of the line _a b c_, by which means the gravy is allowed to\nflow out: then the carver, turning the broad end of the haunch toward\nhim, should cut in deep from _b_ to _d_. He then cuts thin slices in the\nsame direction, taking care to give to each person whom he helps a due\nproportion of fat, which is, by lovers of venison, highly prized: there\nis generally more of this delicacy on the left side of _b d_ than on the\nother side.\nA haunch of mutton is carved in the same manner as venison.\n[Illustration: _Fig. 11._]\nA saddle of mutton (_fig. 11_) is cut from the tail to the end on each\nside the back-bone, in the direction of the lines _a b_, continuing\ndownward to the edge _c_, until it become too fat. The slices should be\ncut thin, and if the joint be a large one, they may be divided into two\nparts. The fat will be found on the sides.\nA sucking pig is cut up before it is sent to table. The ribs may be\ndivided into two parts as well as the joints. The ribs are considered\nthe finest part, and the neck end under the shoulder. Part of the\nkidneys should be added to each helping.\nA shoulder of mutton, if properly roasted, is supposed to yield many\nchoice pieces, but this depends very much upon the carver. The first cut\nshould be in the direction _c b_ (_fig. 12_); and, after taking a few\nslices on each side of the gap which follows the first cut, some good\nslices may be obtained on each side of the ridge of the shoulder blade,\nin the direction _c d_. When the party is numerous, slices may be taken\nfrom the under side; and it is on this side, under the edge _e_, that\nthe fat is found.[419-*]\n[Illustration: _Fig. 12._]\n_Buttock of Beef_\nIs always boiled, and requires no print to point out how it should be\ncarved. A thick slice should be cut off all round the buttock, that your\nfriends may be helped to the juicy and prime part of it. The outside\nthus cut off, thin slices may then be cut from the top; but as it is a\ndish that is frequently brought to table cold a second day, it should\nalways be cut handsome and even. When a slice all round would be\nconsidered too much, the half, or a third, may be given with a thin\nslice of fat. On one side there is a part whiter than ordinary, by some\ncalled the white muscle. In some places, a buttock is generally divided,\nand this white part sold separate, as a delicacy; but it is by no means\nso, the meat being coarse and dry; whereas the darker-coloured parts,\nthough apparently of a coarser grain, are of a looser texture, more\ntender, fuller of gravy, and better flavoured; and men of distinguishing\npalates ever prefer them.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[412-*] He who greedily grapples for the prime parts, exhibits\nindubitable evidence that he came for that purpose.\n[419-*] Another way of carving a shoulder of mutton, and one which many\npersons prefer, is in slices from the knuckle to the broad end of the\nshoulder beginning on the outside. See the lines _f_ and _g_.\n Receipts; those in the column, under the word Page, to where the\n Receipts are to be found; and those preceded by Ap., to the\n Receipts in the Appendix.\n Accum on Adulterations, quoted, note to 433 280\n A-la-mode beef, or veal, or English turtle, 502 312\n Apicius, his sauce for boiled chicken 35\n Appert, his art of preserving vegetables, note 164\n Arbuthnot, Dr., quoted, Preface viii.\n ---- what the outside slices are good for, N. B. to 7 ib.\n ---- Macbeth\u2019s receipt, and le v\u00e9ritable _bif-teck_ de\n ---- broth for glaze, or portable soup or sauce, 252 223\n ---- Hunter\u2019s savoury, baked or stewed, 496 ib.\n Birch, his excellent mock turtle, note under 247 219\n Brandy, how to obtain genuine Cognac 296\n Brains are sadly dependent on the bowels 20\n BROILING, see the 4th chapter of Rudiments of Cookery 82\n BROTH, see the 7th chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery 89\n Browning, to colour soup and sauce, &c. 322 246\n Burnet vinegar has the same taste as cucumber, 399 270\n Butler\u2019s directions for drying herbs, 461 290\n Butler, Obs. on the business of a note 39\n ---- boiled and fried, or bubble and squeak, 119. 505 160. 316\n Calf, a fatted, preferred to a starved turtle, 247 221\n Chicken. See Fowl.\n ---- shaved, and sold for whitings, Obs. to 153 175\n Cold meat, to broil with poached eggs, 487 304\n ---- a frequent cause of adulteration, 322 247\n ---- ditto, when they have a very large dinner 62\n Cooks, cause of the scarcity of good ones 310\n ---- a manor given to one by William the Conqueror 22\n ---- Obs. concerning their health, note 26\n Cooking animals, dine only once a month, note 17\n Cookery, Descartes\u2019s observations on 19\n ---- theory of the processes of, from the Encyclop\u00e6dia Brit.\n Coquus Magnus, or Master Kitchener 22\n ---- ditto, pounded alive, recommended by Mons. Clermont, 235 ib.\n Dinner, seven chances against its being properly dressed, note 22\n ---- hints for preparing a large, p. 62, 63; a good one for\n ---- importance of punctuality, the only act which cannot be\n ---- rules for behaviour at, from the Accomplished Lady\u2019s\n ---- punishment for not being punctual at 42\n Eggs, to preserve for twelve months, see N.B. to 547 338\n ---- various ways of dressing egg and ham patties (Ap. 88.) 386\n Epicure, the editor\u2019s definition of note 17\n Economy, the first rule of comfortable, note 61\n Fish, see the 6th chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery 86\n ---- balls, for mock turtle and made dishes, 380 ib.\n Fowls, to boil one half and roast the other at the same time 33\n Flavour, agents employed to soups and sauces, note under 104\n Fruit, to preserve, without sugar (Ap. 99.) 390\n Game, to render immediately ripe for roasting 58\n Goose, Dr. Stark says is the most nutritive food 138\n ---- to persuade one to roast himself! 1 ib.\n ---- how the liver is fattened for the Strasburg pies. In note\n Gourmandize, to guard against, note 24\n GRAVY, read the 8th chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery 100\n Green gages, preserved in syrup (Ap. 96.) 388\n Gruel, water, various ways of making and flavouring, 572 352\n Haricot of mutton, lamb, veal, or beef, 489 306\n Hill, Dr., author of Mrs. Glasse\u2019s Cookery 20\n Hanger, Col., quoted, his hints for guarding against \u201cla\n Hudson, the dwarf, served up in a pie 34\n KAY, Mr., of Albion House, wines, &c., Obs. to 94 243\n KELLY\u2019S sauce for calf head or cow heel, 311 244\n Kitchen fire place, best ornaments for 64\n LIFE, THE ART OF INVIGORATING AND PROLONGING vii.\n Lister, Mrs., leg of beef soup. See shin of beef soup.\n Made dishes, Obs. on. See 9th chapter of Rudiments of Cookery 106\n Mandeville, Dr., quoted, Preface viii.\n Melroe, Mrs., her Econom. Cookery, quoted, note to 83 147\n Mulled wine, aromatic, essence for, 412 275\n Manners, barbarous, of the sixteenth century 29\n Meat, how long it must hang to be tender 57\n ---- killing it by electricity makes it tender immediately 58\n Oysters, how to feed and preserve their lives, and how to tickle\n ---- certainly not so nutritive as supposed, N.B. to 181 190\n ---- native, those that are born and bred in the Burnham rivers,\n ---- ditto, his receipts for puddings, &c., 560 345\n Oatmeal, a substitute for bread crumbs, note 82\n Paste for croquants, or cut pastry (Ap. 8.) 361\n ---- ---- how to make for half the usual expense, note to 555 ib.\n ---- criterion of its being \u201c_assez mortifi\u00e9e_,\u201d Obs. on 68 142\n Pork, the season for it, and the accompaniments, &c., 49 130\n ---- to lambify the leg of a porkling, see note to 51 ib.\n ---- how to score after you have boiled it, 11 ib.\n ---- ---- to convert into pease soup in five minutes, N.B.\n ---- ---- veal, game, &c., why in season at the same time as\n Poultry, to render immediately ripe for roasting 58\n ---- bread and butter, boiled and baked, 557 344\n Purger souvent les Cuisiniers (de la n\u00e9cessit\u00e9) 26\n Politeness, ancient rules for, note 29\n Pie, Jeffery Hudson served up in one 34\n Provisions, how to procure the best, 61. 357\n ---- ditto, Obs. on Ann Chovy\u2019s marriage, in note to 433 281\n Rhubarb, various ways of dressing 347\n ROASTING, see the 2d chapter of Rudiments of Cookery 74\n Salads, Evelyn\u2019s directions about, 138 and 372 166. 260\n SAUCE, before you make, read the 8th chapter of the Rudiments of\n ---- M. Kelly\u2019s, for calf\u2019s head or cow heel, 311* 244\n ---- ditto, and liver, or parsley and liver sauce, 287 237\n Soup herb powder, or vegetable relish, 459 289\n Small puffs of preserved fruit, (Ap. 36.) 370\n Stomach, an Englishman\u2019s cooking kettle, Dr. Hunter\u2019s Obs. on;\n ---- Dr. Cheyne\u2019s Obs. on; Abernethy\u2019s ditto 20\n Spring fruit, various ways of dressing 347\n Servants, Rev. Wm. Watkins\u2019 excellent institution for the\n Soups, under the name of the article they are made of.\n Sweet, or short and crisp tart paste (Ap. 4.) 360\n Taste, the Committee of, Preface xi.\n ---- what the roots are good for, Obs. to 15 ib.\n ---- Birch\u2019s ditto, excellent note to 247 ib.\n ---- 2500 pounds of, eaten at one dinner, note to 250 223\n ---- excellent hot rago\u00fbt of cold veal, 512 319\n Vegetables, Obs. on. See the 5th chapter of the Rudiments of\n ---- sweet and savoury herbs, spices, &c., Obs. to 396 269\n Watkins, the Rev. G., his hints to heads of families 25\n ---- has the same honours paid to it as the Grand Lama, note\n Weights and measures for cookery, table of 64\n Weight, the diminution that takes place in cooking 70\nTHE END\nTranscriber\u2019s Note\nThe following typographical errors were corrected.\nPage Error\n viii DR. MANDEVILLE changed to Dr. MANDEVILLE\n x avail nothing. changed to avail nothing,\n xiii Confectionary, changed to Confectionery\n 17 PALATEABLENESS changed to PALATABLENESS\n 18 appetite.\u201d--MILTON changed to appetite.\u201d--MILTON.\n 18 noxious, [text missing] every changed to noxious, and that every\n based on comparison with a different edition of the book\n 31 \u201cFor instance: changed to For instance:\n 32 shoulder of mutton,\u201d changed to \u201cshoulder of mutton,\u201d\n 33 BOILED; changed to BOILED;\u201d\n Fn. 15-* WATERHOUSE\u2019 changed to WATERHOUSE\u2019S\n Fn. 17-* A. C., _Jun._ changed to _A. C., Jun._\n Fn. 20-* DR. CHEYNE changed to Dr. CHEYNE\n FN. 30-* l\u2019esprit du corps changed to l\u2019esprit de corps\n 48 your enemies.\u2019 changed to your enemies.\u201d\n 56 head.(No. changed to head (No.\n 62 DIAL (all caps) changed to DIAL (small caps)\n Fn. 55-* tools. changed to tools.\u201d\n 77 made wtih changed to made with\n 82 And as now changed to \u201cAnd as now\n 85 vigilant attention changed to vigilant attention.\n 94 eshallot changed to eschalot\n 96 is delightful changed to is delightful.\n 98 made (No. 185* changed to made (No. 185\n Fn. 92-\u00b6 acid milder changed to acid milder.\n Fn. 93-\u00a7 _Monsieur\u2019s_ remarks changed to _Monsieur\u2019s_ remarks,\n 104 eshalots, changed to eschalots,\n 109 eshalot changed to eschalot\n 114 table-spoonsful changed to table-spoonfuls\n 118 Grimmed for table changed to Trimmed for table\n 126 quarter changed to quarter.\n Fn. 123-* _Ibid_ changed to _Ibid._\n 154 No. 521 and No. 91 changed to No. 521 and No. 90\n 157 escaloped. changed to escalloped.\n 179 beshamell changed to bechamel\n 191 note under No. 185* changed to note under No. 185\n Fn. 168-* same uality changed to same quality\n 195 beef broth (No. 185*) changed to beef broth (No. 185)\n 195 see No. 364* changed to see No. 364\n 201 put in at changed to put in it\n 204 into this soup. changed to into this soup,\n Fn. 193-[+] \u201c_The Art of_ changed to _The Art of_\n Fn. 219-* The footnote marker was missing from the footnote and was\n Fn. 223-[+] note under No. 185* changed to note under No. 185\n 240 with the onions changed to with the onions,\n 249 beef,(as changed to beef, (as\n 257 NB. To hash changed to N.B. To hash\n 257 _minced Veal_ changed to _minced Veal._\n 258 _White Sauce._ changed to _White Sauce._--\n 262 to the rest\u201d changed to to the rest.\u201d\n 281 red, &c; changed to red, &c.;\n 292 tea and changed to tea- and\n 293 into a mug. changed to into a mug,\n 295 bottled ale changed to bottled ale.\n Fn. 278-* which is changed to (which is\n 304 beef, &c; changed to beef, &c.;\n 307 _Mutton Broth_, changed to _Mutton Broth_,--\n 309 foot of page 266 changed to foot of page 220\n 315 see Nos. 185* changed to see Nos. 185\n 316 the cabbage.\u2019 changed to the cabbage.\u201d\n 320 wide, _i e._ changed to wide, _i. e._\n 325 beans, &c changed to beans, &c.\n 334 accompanied by it. changed to accompanied by it,\n 341 _Gipsies\u2019 way._ changed to _Gipsies\u2019 way._--\n 347 for bakingare changed to for baking are\n 353 Obs. on Health changed to _Obs. on Health_\n Fn. 304-* note to No. 529 changed to note to No. 529*\n Fn. 314-* mellow changed to mellow.\n Fn. 338-[+] The night before changed to \u201cThe night before\n 356 Do do. changed to Do. do. (line below Roasted (No. 35).)\n 356 Broiled. (No. 521). changed to Broiled (No. 521).\n 358 Wooodcock changed to Woodcock\n 359 Feb. & Mar changed to Feb. & Mar. (Broccoli line)\n 361 _Cut Pastry_ changed to _Cut Pastry._\n 411 private picking, changed to private picking,\u201d\n 414 _fig 3_ changed to _fig. 3_\n 415 cutting up of of changed to cutting up of\n 418 The rips may changed to The ribs may\n 421 Under Barley, the second and third lines had missing text.\n It was filled in based on the recipe numbers and confirmed\n with another edition of the book.\n 423 tail filletted changed to tail filleted\n 424 Eschalot sauce changed to Eschalot sauce,\n 425 Sept Heur s changed to Sept Heures\n 425 note 24 changed to note 23\n 427 note 92 changed to note 91\n 430 Spinnage, changed to Spinage,\n 431 Birch s changed to Birch\u2019s\nThe following words were inconsistently spelled and hyphenated:\n A-la-mode / Alamode\n back-bone / backbone\n baine-marie / bainmarie / bain-marie\n bay-leaf / bay leaf\n beef-steak / beefsteak\n bif-teck / bifteck\n blanc-mange / blancmange\n chef-d\u2019\u0153uvre / chef d\u2019\u0153uvre\n cod-fish / codfish\n craw-fish / crawfish\n Craw-fish / Crawfish\n fire-place / fireplace\n Espagnole / Espagnol\n Gourmandise / Gourmandize\n hair-sieve / hair sieve\n half-pence / halfpence\n half-penny / halfpenny\n horse-radish / horseradish\n lemon-peel / lemon peel\n mean time / meantime\n merry-thought / merrythought\n morels / morells / morelles\n obs. / Obs. / _obs._ / _Obs._ (in-paragraph references)\n _Obs._ / _Obs._-- (beginning of paragraph)\n over-boiled / overboiled\n paste-board / pasteboard\n pepper-corns / peppercorns\n pyroligneous / pyro-ligneous\n re-dressed / redressed\n sauce-pan / saucepan\n sauce-pans / saucepans\n scallop / scollop\n scalloped / scolloped\n secund\u00f9m / secundum\n sir-loin / sirloin\n spare-rib / sparerib\n stew-pan / stewpan\n stew-pans / stewpans\n sweet-breads / sweetbreads\n two-pence / twopence\n under-side / underside\n wine-glass / wineglass\nOther inconsistencies:\nThe position of punctuation relative to close parentheses is not\nconsistent. In some cases, it is inside the parentheses (i.e. ;) or ,))\nand in other cases it is outside the parentheses (i.e., ); or ),). This\ninconsistency has been maintained.\nThe position of the * and . in recipe numbers with * is inconsistent.\nThere is no fig. 5 in the section on carving.\nOther changes:\nThe marketing tables for meat (pp. 355 and 356), poultry (pp. 357 and\n358), and vegetables (pp. 358 and 359) were originally split into two\npages because of their length. 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T. Erskine, &c.\nSecond Edition.\n_Plus je vis l'Etranger plus j'aimai ma Patrie._\n--Du Belloy.\nLondon: Printed for T. N. Longman, Paternoster Row. 1797.\nPRELIMINARY REMARKS BY THE EDITOR.\nThe following Letters were submitted to my inspection and judgement by\nthe Author, of whose principles and abilities I had reason to entertain a\nvery high opinion. How far my judgement has been exercised to advantage\nin enforcing the propriety of introducing them to the public, that public\nmust decide. To me, I confess, it appeared, that a series of important\nfacts, tending to throw a strong light on the internal state of France,\nduring the most important period of the Revolution, could neither prove\nuninteresting to the general reader, nor indifferent to the future\nhistorian of that momentous epoch; and I conceived, that the opposite and\njudicious reflections of a well-formed and well-cultivated mind,\nnaturally arising out of events within the immediate scope of its own\nobservation, could not in the smallest degree diminish the interest\nwhich, in my apprehension, they are calculated to excite. My advice upon\nthis occasion was farther influenced by another consideration. Having\ntraced, with minute attention, the progress of the revolution, and the\nconduct of its advocates, I had remarked the extreme affiduity employed\n(as well by translations of the most violent productions of the Gallic\npress, as by original compositions,) to introduce and propagate, in\nforeign countries, those pernicious principles which have already sapped\nthe foundation of social order, destroyed the happiness of millions, and\nspread desolation and ruin over the finest country in Europe. I had\nparticularly observed the incredible efforts exerted in England, and, I\nam sorry to say, with too much success, for the base purpose of giving a\nfalse colour to every action of the persons exercising the powers of\ngovernment in France; and I had marked, with indignation, the atrocious\nattempt to strip vice of its deformity, to dress crime in the garb of\nvirtue, to decorate slavery with the symbols of freedom, and give to\nfolly the attributes of wisdom. I had seen, with extreme concern, men,\nwhom the lenity, mistaken lenity, I must call it, of our government had\nrescued from punishment, if not from ruin, busily engaged in this\nscandalous traffic, and, availing themselves of their extensive\nconnections to diffuse, by an infinite variety of channels, the poison of\ndemocracy over their native land. In short, I had seen the British\npress, the grand palladium of British liberty, devoted to the cause of\nGallic licentiousness, that mortal enemy of all freedom, and even the\npure stream of British criticism diverted from its natural course, and\npolluted by the pestilential vapours of Gallic republicanism. I\ntherefore deemed it essential, by an exhibition of well-authenticated\nfacts, to correct, as far as might be, the evil effects of\nmisrepresentation and error, and to defend the empire of truth, which had\nbeen assailed by a host of foes.\nMy opinion of the principles on which the present system of government in\nFrance was founded, and the war to which those principles gave rise, have\nbeen long since submitted to the public. Subsequent events, far from\ninvalidating, have strongly confirmed it. In all the public declarations\nof the Directory, in their domestic polity, in their conduct to foreign\npowers, I plainly trace the prevalence of the same principles, the same\ncontempt for the rights and happiness of the people, the same spirit of\naggression and aggrandizement, the same eagerness to overturn the\nexisting institutions of neighbouring states, and the same desire to\npromote \"the universal revolution of Europe,\" which marked the conduct of\nBRISSOT, LE BRUN, DESMOULINS, ROBESPIERRE, and their disciples. Indeed,\nwhat stronger instance need be adduced of the continued prevalence of\nthese principles, than the promotion to the supreme rank in the state, of\ntwo men who took an active part in the most atrocious proceedings of the\nConvention at the close of 1792, and at the commencement of the following\nyear?\nIn all the various constitutions which have been successively adopted\nin that devoted country, the welfare of the people has been wholly\ndisregarded, and while they have been amused with the shadow of liberty,\nthey have been cruelly despoiled of the substance. Even on the\nestablishment of the present constitution, the one which bore the nearest\nresemblance to a rational system, the freedom of election, which had been\nfrequently proclaimed as the very corner-stone of liberty, was shamefully\nviolated by the legislative body, who, in their eagerness to perpetuate\ntheir own power, did not scruple to destroy the principle on which it was\nfounded. Nor is this the only violation of their own principles. A\nFrench writer has aptly observed, that \"En revolution comme en morale, ce\nn'est que le premier pas qui coute:\" thus the executive, in imitation of\nthe legislative body, seem disposed to render their power perpetual. For\nthough it be expressly declared by the 137th article of the 6th title of\ntheir present constitutional code, that the \"Directory shall be partially\nrenewed by the election of a new member every year,\" no step towards such\nelection has been taken, although the time prescribed by the law is\nelapsed.--In a private letter from Paris now before me, written within\nthese few days, is the following observation on this very circumstance:\n\"The constitution has received another blow. The month of Vendemiaire is\npast, and our Directors still remain the same. Hence we begin to drop\nthe appalation of Directory, and substitute that of the Cinqvir, who are\nmore to be dreaded for their power, and more to be detested for their\ncrimes, than the Decemvir of ancient Rome.\" The same letter also\ncontains a brief abstract of the state of the metropolis of the French\nrepublic, which is wonderfully characteristic of the attention of the\ngovernment to the welfare and happiness of its inhabitants!\n\"The reign of misery and of crime seems to be perpetuated in this\ndistracted capital: suicides, pillage, and assassinations, are daily\ncommitted, and are still suffered to pass unnoticed. But what renders\nour situation still more deplorable, is the existence of an innumerable\nband of spies, who infest all public places, and all private societies.\nMore than a hundred thousand of these men are registered on the books of\nthe modern SARTINE; and as the population of Paris, at most, does not\nexceed six hundred thousand souls, we are sure to find in six individuals\none spy. This consideration makes me shudder, and, accordingly, all\nconfidence, and all the sweets of social intercourse, are banished from\namong us. People salute each other, look at each other, betray mutual\nsuspicions, observe a profound silence, and part. This, in few words, is\nan exact description of our modern republican parties. It is said, that\npoverty has compelled many respectable persons, and even state-creditors,\nto enlist under the standard of COCHON, (the Police Minister,) because\nsuch is the honourable conduct of our sovereigns, that they pay their\nspies in specie--and their soldiers, and the creditors of the state, in\npaper.--Such is the morality, such the justice, such are the republican\nvirtues, so loudly vaunted by our good and dearest friends, our\npensioners--the Gazetteers of England and Germany!\"\nThere is not a single abuse, which the modern reformers reprobated so\nloudly under the ancient system, that is not magnified, in an infinite\ndegree, under the present establishment. For one Lettre de Cachet issued\nduring the mild reign of LOUIS the Sixteenth, a thousand Mandats d'Arret\nhave been granted by the tyrannical demagogues of the revolution; for one\nBastile which existed under the Monarchy, a thousand Maisons de Detention\nhave been established by the Republic. In short, crimes of every\ndenomination, and acts of tyranny and injustice, of every kind, have\nmultiplied, since the abolition of royalty, in a proportion which sets\nall the powers of calculation at defiance.\nIt is scarcely possible to notice the present situation of France,\nwithout adverting to the circumstances of the WAR, and to the attempt now\nmaking, through the medium of negotiation, to bring it to a speedy\nconclusion. Since the publication of my Letter to a Noble Earl, now\ndestined to chew the cud of disappointment in the vale of obscurity, I\nhave been astonished to hear the same assertions advance, by the members\nand advocates of that party whose merit is said to consist in the\nviolence of their opposition to the measures of government, on the origin\nof the war, which had experienced the most ample confutation, without the\nassistance of any additional reason, and without the smallest attempt to\nexpose the invalidity of those proofs which, in my conception, amounted\nnearly to mathematical demonstration, and which I had dared them, in\nterms the most pointed, to invalidate. The question of aggression before\nstood on such high ground, that I had not the presumption to suppose it\ncould derive an accession of strength from any arguments which I could\nsupply; but I was confident, that the authentic documents which I offered\nto the public would remove every intervening object that tended to\nobstruct the fight of inattentive observers, and reflect on it such an\nadditional light as would flash instant conviction on the minds of all.\nIt seems, I have been deceived; but I must be permitted to suggest, that\nmen who persist in the renewal of assertions, without a single effort to\ncontrovert the proofs which have been adduced to demonstrate their\nfallacy, cannot have for their object the establishment of truth--which\nought, exclusively, to influence the conduct of public characters,\nwhether writers or orators.\nWith regard to the negotiation, I can derive not the smallest hopes of\nsuccess from a contemplation of the past conduct, or of the present\nprinciples, of the government of France. When I compare the projects of\naggrandizement openly avowed by the French rulers, previous to the\ndeclaration of war against this country, with the exorbitant pretensions\nadvanced in the arrogant reply of the Executive Directory to the note\npresented by the British Envoy at Basil in the month of February, 1796,\nand with the more recent observations contained in their official note of\nthe 19th of September last, I cannot think it probable that they will\naccede to any terms of peace that are compatible with the interest and\nsafety of the Allies. Their object is not so much the establishment as\nthe extension of their republic.\nAs to the danger to be incurred by a treaty of peace with the republic of\nFrance, though it has been considerably diminished by the events of the\nwar, it is still unquestionably great. This danger principally arises\nfrom a pertinacious adherence, on the part of the Directory, to those\nvery principles which were adopted by the original promoters of the\nabolition of Monarchy in France. No greater proof of such adherence need\nbe required than their refusal to repeal those obnoxious decrees (passed\nin the months of November and December, 1792,) which created so general\nand so just an alarm throughout Europe, and which excited the reprobation\neven of that party in England, which was willing to admit the equivocal\ninterpretation given to them by the Executive Council of the day. I\nproved, in the Letter to a Noble Earl before alluded to, from the very\ntestimony of the members of that Council themselves, as exhibited in\ntheir official instructions to one of their confidential agents, that the\ninterpretation which they had assigned to those decrees, in their\ncommunications with the British Ministry, was a base interpretation, and\nthat they really intended to enforce the decrees, to the utmost extent of\ntheir possible operation, and, by a literal construction thereof, to\nencourage rebellion in every state, within the reach of their arms or\ntheir principles. Nor have the present government merely forborne to\nrepeal those destructive laws--they have imitated the conduct of their\npredecessors, have actually put them in execution wherever they had the\nability to do so, and have, in all respects, as far as related to those\ndecrees, adopted the precise spirit and principles of the faction which\ndeclared war against England. Let any man read the instructions of the\nExecutive Council to PUBLICOLA CHAUSSARD, their Commissary in the\nNetherlands, in 1792 and 1793, and an account of the proceedings in the\nLow Countries consequent thereon, and then examine the conduct of the\nrepublican General, BOUNAPARTE, in Italy--who must necessarily act from\nthe instructions of the Executive Directory----and he will be compelled\nto acknowledge the justice of my remark, and to admit that the latter\nactuated by the same pernicious desire to overturn the settled order of\nsociety, which invariably marked the conduct of the former.\n\"It is an acknowledged fact, that every revolution requires a provisional\npower to regulate its disorganizing movements, and to direct the\nmethodical demolition of every part of the ancient social constitution.--\nSuch ought to be the revolutionary power.\n\"To whom can such power belong, but to the French, in those countries\ninto which they may carry their arms? Can they with safety suffer it to\nbe exercised by any other persons? It becomes the French republic, then,\nto assume this kind of guardianship over the people whom she awakens to\nLiberty!*\"\n * _Considerations Generales fur l'Esprit et les Principes du Decret\n du 15 Decembre_.\nSuch were the Lacedaemonian principles avowed by the French government in\n1792, and such is the Lacedaimonian policy* pursued by the French\ngovernment in 1796! It cannot then, I conceive, be contended, that a\ntreaty with a government still professing principles which have been\nrepeatedly proved to be subversive of all social order, which have been\nacknowledged by their parents to have for their object the methodical\ndemolition of existing constitutions, can be concluded without danger or\nrisk. That danger, I admit, is greatly diminished, because the power\nwhich was destined to carry into execution those gigantic projects which\nconstituted its object, has, by the operations of the war, been\nconsiderably curtailed. They well may exist in equal force, but the\nability is no longer the same.\nMACHIAVEL justly observes, that it was the narrow policy of the\nLacedaemonians always to destroy the ancient constitution, and establish\ntheir own form of government, in the counties and cities which they\nsubdued.\nBut though I maintain the existence of danger in a Treaty with the\nRepublic of France, unless she previously repeal the decrees to which I\nhave adverted, and abrogate the acts to which they have given birth, I by\nno means contend that it exists in such a degree as to justify a\ndetermination, on the part of the British government, to make its removal\nthe sine qua non of negotiation, or peace. Greatly as I admire the\nbrilliant endowments of Mr. BURKE, and highly as I respect and esteem him\nfor the manly and decisive part which he has taken, in opposition to the\ndestructive anarchy of republican France, and in defence of the\nconstitutional freedom of Britain; I cannot either agree with him on this\npoint, or concur with him in the idea that the restoration of the\nMonarchy of France was ever the object of the war. That the British\nMinisters ardently desired that event, and were earnest in their\nendeavours to promote it, is certain; not because it was the object of\nthe war, but because they considered it as the best means of promoting\nthe object of the war, which was, and is, the establishment of the safety\nand tranquillity of Europe, on a solid and permanent basis. If that\nobject can be attained, and the republic exist, there is nothing in the\npast conduct and professions of the British Ministers, that can interpose\nan obstacle to the conclusion of peace. Indeed, in my apprehension, it\nwould be highly impolitic in any Minister, at the commencement of a war,\nto advance any specific object, that attainment of which should be\ndeclared to be the sine qua non of peace. If mortals could arrogate to\nthemselves the attributes of the Deity, if they could direct the course\nof events, and controul the chances of war, such conduct would be\njustifiable; but on no other principle, I think, can its defence be\nundertaken. It is, I grant, much to be lamented, that the protection\noffered to the friends of monarchy in France, by the declaration of the\n29th of October, 1793, could not be rendered effectual: as far as the\noffer went it was certainly obligatory on the party who made it; but it\nwas merely conditional--restricted, as all similar offers necessarily\nmust be, by the ability to fulfil the obligation incurred.\nIn paying this tribute to truth, it is not my intention to retract, in\nthe smallest degree, the opinion I have ever professed, that the\nrestoration of the ancient monarchy of France would be the best possible\nmeans not only of securing the different states of Europe from the\ndangers of republican anarchy, but of promoting the real interests,\nwelfare, and happiness of the French people themselves. The reasons on\nwhich this opinion is founded I have long since explained; and the\nintelligence which I have since received from France, at different times,\nhas convinced me that a very great proportion of her inhabitants concur\nin the sentiment.\nThe miseries resulting from the establishment of a republican system of\ngovernment have been severely felt, and deeply deplored; and I am fully\npersuaded, that the subjects and tributaries of France will cordially\nsubscribe to the following observation on republican freedom, advanced by\na writer who had deeply studied the genius of republics: _\"Di tutte le\nfervitu dure, quella e durissima, che ti sottomette ad una republica;\nl'una, perche e la piu durabile, e manco si puo sperarne d'ufare: L'altra\nperche il fine della republica e enervare ed indebolire, debolire, per\naccrescere il corpo suo, tutti gli altri corpi._*\"\nJOHN GIFFORD. London, Nov. 12, 1796.\n * _Discorsi di Nicoli Machiavelli,_ Lib. ii. p. 88.\nP.S. Since I wrote the preceding remarks, I have been given to\nunderstand, that by a decree, subsequent to the completion of the\nconstitutional code, the first partial renewal of the Executive Directory\nwas deferred till the month of March, 1979; and that, therefore, in this\ninstance, the present Directory cannot be accused of having violated the\nconstitution. But the guilt is only to be transferred from the Directory\nto the Convention, who passed that decree, as well as some others, in\ncontradiction to a positive constitutional law.-----Indeed, the Directory\nthemselves betrayed no greater delicacy with regard to the observance of\nthe constitution, or M. BARRAS would never have taken his seat among\nthem; for the constitution expressly says, (and this positive provision\nwas not even modified by any subsequent mandate of the Convention,) that\nno man shall be elected a member of the Directory who has not completed\nhis fortieth year--whereas it is notorious that Barras had not this\nrequisite qualification, having been born in the year 1758!\nI avail myself of the opportunity afforded me by the publication of a\nSecond Edition to notice some insinuations which have been thrown out,\ntending to question the authenticity of the work. The motives which have\ninduced the author to withhold from these Letters the sanction of her\nname, relate not to herself, but to some friends still remaining in\nFrance, whose safety she justly conceives might be affected by the\ndisclosure. Acceding to the force and propriety of these motives, yet\naware of the suspicions to which a recital of important facts, by an\nanonymous writer, would naturally be exposed, and sensible, also, that a\ncertain description of critics would gladly avail themselves of any\nopportunity for discouraging the circulation of a work which contained\nprinciples hostile to their own; I determined to prefix my name to the\npublication. By so doing, I conceived that I stood pledged for its\nauthenticity; and the matter has certainly been put in a proper light by\nan able and respectable critic, who has observed that \"Mr. GIFFORD stands\nbetween the writer and the public,\" and that \"his name and character are\nthe guarantees for the authenticity of the Letters.\"\nThis is precisely the situation in which I meant to place myself--\nprecisely the pledge which I meant to give. The Letters are exactly what\nthey profess to be; the production of a Lady's pen, and written in the\nvery situations which they describe.--The public can have no grounds for\nsuspecting my veracity on a point in which I can have no possible\ninterest in deceiving them; and those who know me will do me the justice\nto acknowledge, that I have a mind superior to the arts of deception, and\nthat I am incapable of sanctioning an imposition, for any purpose, or\nfrom any motives whatever. Thus much I deemed it necessary to say, as\nwell from a regard for my own character, and from a due attention to the\npublic, as from a wish to prevent the circulation of the work from being\nsubjected to the impediments arising from the prevalence of a groundless\nsuspicion.\nI naturally expected, that some of the preceding remarks would excite the\nresentment and draw down the vengeance of those persons to whom they\nevidently applied. The contents of every publication are certainly a\nfair subject for criticism; and to the fair comments of real critics,\nhowever repugnant to the sentiments I entertain, or the doctrine I seek\nto inculcate, I shall ever submit without murmur or reproach. But, when\nmen, assuming that respectable office, openly violate all the duties\nattached to it, and, sinking the critic in the partizan, make a wanton\nattack on my veracity, it becomes proper to repel the injurious\nimputation; and the same spirit which dictates submission to the candid\naward of an impartial judge, prescribes indignation and scorn at the\ncowardly attacks of a secret assassin.\nRESIDENCE IN FRANCE\nDEDICATION\nTo The RIGHT HON. EDMUND BURKE.\nSIR,\nIt is with extreme diffidence that I offer the following pages to Your\nnotice; yet as they describe circumstances which more than justify Your\nown prophetic reflections, and are submitted to the public eye from no\nother motive than a love of truth and my country, I may, perhaps, be\nexcused for presuming them to be not altogether unworthy of such a\ndistinction.\nWhile Your puny opponents, if opponents they may be called, are either\nsunk into oblivion, or remembered only as associated with the degrading\ncause they attempted to support, every true friend of mankind,\nanticipating the judgement of posterity, views with esteem and veneration\nthe unvarying Moralist, the profound Politician, the indefatigable\nServant of the Public, and the warm Promoter of his country's happiness.\nTo this universal testimony of the great and good, permit me, Sir, to\njoin my humble tribute; being, with the utmost respect,\nSIR,\nYour obedient Servant, THE AUTHOR. Sept. 12, 1796.\nPREFACE\nAfter having, more than once, in the following Letters, expressed\nopinions decidedly unfavourable to female authorship, when not justified\nby superior talents, I may, by now producing them to the public, subject\nmyself to the imputation either of vanity or inconsistency; and I\nacknowledge that a great share of candour and indulgence must be\npossessed by readers who attend to the apologies usually made on such\noccasions: yet I may with the strictest truth alledge, that I should\nnever have ventured to offer any production of mine to the world, had I\nnot conceived it possible that information and reflections collected and\nmade on the spot, during a period when France exhibited a state, of which\nthere is no example in the annals of mankind, might gratify curiosity\nwithout the aid of literary embellishment; and an adherence to truth, I\nflattered myself, might, on a subject of this nature, be more acceptable\nthan brilliancy of thought, or elegance of language. The eruption of a\nvolcano may be more scientifically described and accounted for by the\nphilosopher; but the relation of the illiterate peasant who beheld it,\nand suffered from its effects, may not be less interesting to the common\nhearer.\nAbove all, I was actuated by the desire of conveying to my countrymen a\njust idea of that revolution which they have been incited to imitate, and\nof that government by which it has been proposed to model our own.\nSince these pages were written, the Convention has nominally been\ndissolved, and a new constitution and government have succeeded, but no\nreal change of principle or actors has taken place; and the system, of\nwhich I have endeavoured to trace the progress, must still be considered\nas existing, with no other variations than such as have been necessarily\nproduced by the difference of time and circumstances. The people grew\ntired of massacres en masse, and executions en detail: even the national\nfickleness operated in favour of humanity; and it was also discovered,\nthat however a spirit of royalism might be subdued to temporary inaction,\nit was not to be eradicated, and that the sufferings of its martyrs only\ntended to propagate and confirm it. Hence the scaffolds flow less\nfrequently with blood, and the barbarous prudence of CAMILLE DESMOULINS'\nguillotine economique has been adopted. But exaction and oppression are\nstill practised in every shape, and justice is not less violated, nor is\nproperty more secure, than when the former was administered by\nrevolutionary tribunals, and the latter was at the disposition of\nrevolutionary armies.\nThe error of supposing that the various parties which have usurped the\ngovernment of France have differed essentially from each other is pretty\ngeneral; and it is common enough to hear the revolutionary tyranny\nexclusively associated with the person of ROBESPIERRE, and the\nthirty-first of May, 1793, considered as the epoch of its introduction.\nYet whoever examines attentively the situation and politics of France,\nfrom the subversion of the Monarchy, will be convinced that all the\nprinciples of this monstrous government were established during the\nadministration of the Brissotins, and that the factions which succeeded,\nfrom Danton and Robespierre to Sieyes and Barras, have only developed\nthem, and reduced them to practice. The revolution of the thirty-first\nof May, 1793, was not a contest for system but for power--that of July\nthe twenty-eighth, 1794, (9th Thermidor,) was merely a struggle which of\ntwo parties should sacrifice the other--that of October the fifth, 1795,\n(13th Vendemiaire,) a war of the government against the people. But in\nall these convulsions, the primitive doctrines of tyranny and injustice\nwere watched like the sacred fire, and have never for a moment been\nsuffered to languish.\nIt may appear incredible to those who have not personally witnessed this\nphoenomenon, that a government detested and despised by an immense\nmajority of the nation, should have been able not only to resist the\nefforts of so many powers combined against it, but even to proceed from\ndefence to conquest, and to mingle surprize and terror with those\nsentiments of contempt and abhorrence which it originally excited.\nThat wisdom or talents are not the sources of this success, may be\ndeduced from the situation of France itself. The armies of the republic\nhave, indeed, invaded the territories of its enemies, but the desolation\nof their own country seems to increase with every triumph--the genius of\nthe French government appears powerful only in destruction, and inventive\nonly in oppression--and, while it is endowed with the faculty of\nspreading universal ruin, it is incapable of promoting the happiness of\nthe smallest district under its protection. The unrestrained pillage of\nthe conquered countries has not saved France from multiplied\nbankruptcies, nor her state-creditors from dying through want; and\nthe French, in the midst of their external prosperity, are often\ndistinguished from the people whom their armies have been subjugated,\nonly by a superior degree of wretchedness, and a more irregular\ndespotism.\nWith a power excessive and unlimited, and surpassing what has hitherto\nbeen possessed by any Sovereign, it would be difficult to prove that\nthese democratic despots have effected any thing either useful or\nbeneficent. Whatever has the appearance of being so will be found, on\nexamination, to have for its object some purpose of individual interest\nor personal vanity. They manage the armies, they embellish Paris, they\npurchase the friendship of some states and the neutrality of others; but\nif there be any real patriots in France, how little do they appreciate\nthese useless triumphs, these pilfered museums, and these fallacious\nnegotiations, when they behold the population of their country\ndiminished, its commerce annihilated, its wealth dissipated, its morals\ncorrupted, and its liberty destroyed--\n \"Thus, on deceitful Aetna's Flow'ry side\n Unfading verdure glads the roving eye,\n While secret flames with unextinguish'd rage\n Insatiate on her wafted entrails prey,\n And melt her treach'rous beauties into ruin.\"\nThose efforts which the partizans of republicanism admire, and which even\nwell-disposed persons regard as prodigies, are the simple and natural\nresult of an unprincipled despotism, acting upon, and disposing of, all\nthe resources of a rich, populous, and enslaved nation. _\"Il devient aise\nd'etre habile lorsqu'on s'est delivre des scrupules et des loix, de tout\nhonneur et de toute justice, des droits de ses semblables, et des devoirs\nde l'autorite--a ce degre d'independence la plupart des obstacles qui\nmodifient l'activite humaine disparaissent; l'on parait avoir du talent\nlorsqu'on n'a que de l'impudence, et l'abus de la force passe pour\nenergie._*\"\n * \"Exertions of ability become easy, when men have released\n themselves from the scruples of conscience, the restraints of law,\n the ties of honour, the bonds of justice, the claims of their fellow\n creatures, and obedience to their superiors:--at this point of\n independence, most of the obstacles which modify human activity\n disappear; impudence is mistaken for talents; and the abuse of power\n passes for energy.\"\nThe operations of all other governments must, in a great measure, be\nrestrained by the will of the people, and by established laws; with them,\nphysical and political force are necessarily separate considerations:\nthey have not only to calculate what can be borne, but what will be\nsubmitted to; and perhaps France is the first country that has been\ncompelled to an exertion of its whole strength, without regard to any\nobstacle, natural, moral, or divine. It is for want of sufficiently\ninvestigating and allowing for this moral and political latitudinarianism\nof our enemies, that we are apt to be too precipitate in censuring the\nconduct of the war; and, in our estimation of what has been done, we pay\ntoo little regard to the principles by which we have been directed. An\nhonest man could scarcely imagine the means we have had to oppose, and an\nEnglishman still less conceive that they would have been submitted to:\nfor the same reason that the Romans had no law against parricide, till\nexperience had evinced the possibility of the crime.\nIn a war like the present, advantage is not altogether to be appreciated\nby military superiority. If, as there is just ground for believing, our\nexternal hostilities have averted an internal revolution, what we have\nescaped is of infinitely more importance to us than what we could\nacquire. Commerce and conquest, compared to this, are secondary objects;\nand the preservation of our liberties and our constitution\nis a more solid blessing than the commerce of both the Indies, or the\nconquest of nations.\nShould the following pages contribute to impress this salutary truth on\nmy countrymen, my utmost ambition will be gratified; persuaded, that a\nsense of the miseries they have avoided, and of the happiness they enjoy,\nwill be their best incentive, whether they may have to oppose the arms of\nthe enemy in a continuance of the war, or their more dangerous\nmachinations on the restoration of peace.\nI cannot conclude without noticing my obligations to the Gentleman whose\nname is prefixed to these volumes; and I think it at the same time\nincumbent on me to avow, that, in having assisted the author, he must not\nbe considered as sanctioning the literary imperfections of the work.\nWhen the subject was first mentioned to him, he did me the justice of\nsupposing, that I was not likely to have written any thing, the general\ntendency of which he might disapprove; and when, on perusing the\nmanuscript, he found it contain sentiments dissimilar to his own, he was\ntoo liberal to require a sacrifice of them as the condition of his\nservices.--I confess that previous to my arrival in France in 1792, I\nentertained opinions somewhat more favourable to the principle of the\nrevolution than those which I was led to adopt at a subsequent period.\nAccustomed to regard with great justice the British constitution as the\nstandard of known political excellence, I hardly conceived it possible\nthat freedom or happiness could exist under any other: and I am not\nsingular in having suffered this prepossession to invalidate even the\nevidence of my senses. I was, therefore, naturally partial to whatever\nprofessed to approach the object of my veneration. I forgot that\ngovernments are not to be founded on imitations or theories, and that\nthey are perfect only as adapted to the genius, manners, and disposition\nof the people who are subject to them. Experience and maturer judgement\nhave corrected my error, and I am perfectly convinced, that the old\nmonarchical constitution of France, with very slight meliorations, was\nevery way better calculated for the national character than a more\npopular form of government.\nA critic, though not very severe, will discover many faults of style,\neven where the matter may not be exceptionable. Besides my other\ndeficiencies, the habit of writing is not easily supplied, and, as I\ndespaired of attaining excellence, and was not solicitous about degrees\nof mediocrity, I determined on conveying to the public such information\nas I was possessed of, without alteration or ornament. Most of these\nLetters were written exactly in the situation they describe, and remain\nin their original state; the rest were arranged according as\nopportunities were favourable, from notes and diaries kept when \"the\ntimes were hot and feverish,\" and when it would have been dangerous to\nattempt more method. I forbear to describe how they were concealed\neither in France or at my departure, because I might give rise to the\npersecution and oppression of others. But, that I may not attribute to\nmyself courage which I do not possess, nor create doubts of my veracity,\nI must observe, that I seldom ventured to write till I was assured of\nsome certain means of conveying my papers to a person who could safely\ndispose of them.\nAs a considerable period has elapsed since my return, it may not be\nimproper to add, that I took some steps for the publication of these\nLetters so early as July, 1795. Certain difficulties, however, arising,\nof which I was not aware, I relinquished my design, and should not have\nbeen tempted to resume it, but for the kindness of the Gentleman whose\nname appears as the Editor.\nA RESIDENCE IN FRANCE.\nI am every day more confirmed in the opinion I communicated to you on my\narrival, that the first ardour of the revolution is abated.--The bridal\ndays are indeed past, and I think I perceive something like indifference\napproaching. Perhaps the French themselves are not sensible of this\nchange; but I who have been absent two years, and have made as it were a\nsudden transition from enthusiasm to coldness, without passing through\nthe intermediate gradations, am forcibly struck with it. When I was here\nin 1790, parties could be scarcely said to exist--the popular triumph was\ntoo complete and too recent for intolerance and persecution, and the\nNoblesse and Clergy either submitted in silence, or appeared to rejoice\nin their own defeat. In fact, it was the confusion of a decisive\nconquest--the victors and the vanquished were mingled together; and the\none had not leisure to exercise cruelty, nor the other to meditate\nrevenge. Politics had not yet divided society; nor the weakness and\npride of the great, with the malice and insolence of the little, thinned\nthe public places. The politics of the women went no farther than a few\ncouplets in praise of liberty, and the patriotism of the men was confined\nto an habit de garde nationale, the device of a button, or a nocturnal\nrevel, which they called mounting guard.--Money was yet plenty, at least\nsilver, (for the gold had already begun to disappear,) commerce in its\nusual train, and, in short, to one who observes no deeper than myself,\nevery thing seemed gay and flourishing--the people were persuaded they\nwere happier; and, amidst such an appearance of content, one must have\nbeen a cold politician to have examined too strictly into the future.\nBut all this, my good brother, is in a great measure subsided; and the\ndisparity is so evident, that I almost imagine myself one of the seven\nsleepers--and, like them too, the coin I offer is become rare, and\nregarded more as medals than money. The playful distinctions of\nAristocrate and Democrate are degenerated into the opprobium and\nbitterness of Party--political dissensions pervade and chill the common\nintercourse of life--the people are become gross and arbitrary, and the\nhigher classes (from a pride which those who consider the frailty of\nhuman nature will allow for) desert the public amusements, where they\ncannot appear but at the risk of being the marked objects of insult.--The\npolitics of the women are no longer innoxious--their political principles\nform the leading trait of their characters; and as you know we are often\napt to supply by zeal what we want in power, the ladies are far from\nbeing the most tolerant partizans on either side.--The national uniform,\nwhich contributed so much to the success of the revolution, and\nstimulated the patriotism of the young men, is become general; and the\ntask of mounting guard, to which it subjects the wearer, is now a serious\nand troublesome duty.--To finish my observations, and my contrast, no\nSpecie whatever is to be seen; and the people, if they still idolize\ntheir new form of government, do it at present with great sobriety--the\nVive la nation! seems now rather the effect of habit than of feeling; and\none seldom hears any thing like the spontaneous and enthusiastic sounds I\nformerly remarked.\nI have not yet been here long enough to discover the causes of this\nchange; perhaps they may lie too deep for such an observer as myself: but\nif (as the causes of important effects sometimes do) they lie on the\nsurface, they will be less liable to escape me, than an observer of more\npretentions. Whatever my remarks are, I will not fail to communicate\nthem--the employment will at least be agreeable to me, though the result\nshould not be satisfactory to you; and as I shall never venture on any\nreflection, without relating the occurrence that gave rise to it, your\nown judgement will enable you to correct the errors of mine.\nI was present yesterday at a funeral service, performed in honour of\nGeneral Dillon. This kind of service is common in Catholic countries,\nand consists in erecting a cenotaph, ornamented with numerous lights,\nflowers, crosses, &c. The church is hung with black, and the mass is\nperformed the same as if the body were present. On account of General\nDillon's profession, the mass yesterday was a military one. It must\nalways, I imagine, sound strange to the ears of a Protestant, to hear\nnothing but theatrical music on these occasions, and indeed I could never\nreconcile myself to it; for if we allow any effect to music at all, the\ntrain of thought which should inspire us with respect for the dead, and\nreflections on mortality, is not likely to be produced by the strains in\nwhich Dido bewails Eneas, or in which Armida assails the virtue of\nRinaldo.--I fear, that in general the air of an opera reminds the belle\nof the Theatre where she heard it--and, by a natural transition, of the\nbeau who attended her, and the dress of herself and her neighbours. I\nconfess, this was nearly my own case yesterday, on hearing an air from\n\"Sargines;\" and had not the funeral oration reminded me, I should have\nforgotten the unfortunate event we were celebrating, and which, for some\ndays before, when undistracted by this pious ceremony, I had dwelt on\nwith pity and horror.*--\n * At the first skirmish between the French and Austrians near Lisle,\n a general panic seized the former, and they retreated in disorder to\n Lisle, crying _\"Sauve qui peut, & nous fomnes (sic) trahis.\"_--\"Let\n every one shift for himself--we are betrayed.\" The General, after\n in vain endeavouring to rally them, was massacred at his return on\n the great square.--My pen faulters, and refuses to describe the\n barbarities committed on the lifeless hero. Let it suffice, perhaps\n more than suffice, to say, that his mutilated remains were thrown on\n a fire, which these savages danced round, with yells expressive of\n their execrable festivity. A young Englishman, who was so\n unfortunate as to be near the spot, was compelled to join in this\n outrage to humanity.--The same day a gentleman, the intimate friend\n of our acquaintance, Mad. _____, was walking (unconscious what had\n happened) without the gate which leads to Douay, and was met by the\n flying ruffians on their return; immediately on seeing him they\n shouted, _\"Voila encore un Aristocrate!\"_ and massacred him on the\n spot.\n--Independent of any regret for the fate of Dillon, who is said to have\nbeen a brave and good officer, I am sorry that the first event of this\nwar should be marked by cruelty and licentiousness.--Military discipline\nhas been much relaxed since the revolution, and from the length of time\nsince the French have been engaged in a land war, many of the troops must\nbe without that kind of courage which is the effect of habit. The\ndanger, therefore, of suffering them to alledge that they are betrayed,\nwhenever they do not choose to fight, and to excuse their own cowardice\nby ascribing treachery to their leaders, is incalculable.--Above all,\nevery infraction of the laws in a country just supposing itself become\nfree, cannot be too severely repressed. The National Assembly have done\nall that humanity could suggest--they have ordered the punishment of the\nassassins, and have pensioned and adopted the General's children. The\norator expatiated both on the horror of the act and its consequences, as\nI should have thought, with some ingenuity, had I not been assured by a\nbrother orator that the whole was \"execrable.\" But I frequently remark,\nthat though a Frenchman may suppose the merit of his countrymen to be\ncollectively superior to that of the whole world, he seldom allows any\nindividual of them to have so large a portion as himself.--Adieu: I have\nalready written enough to convince you I have neither acquired the\nGallomania, nor forgotten my friends in England; and I conclude with a\nwish _a propos_ to my subject--that they may long enjoy the rational\nliberty they possess and so well deserve.--Yours.\nYou, my dear _____, who live in a land of pounds, shillings, and pence,\ncan scarcely form an idea of our embarrassments through the want of them.\n'Tis true, these are petty evils; but when you consider that they happen\nevery day, and every hour, and that, if they are not very serious, they\nare very frequent, you will rejoice in the splendour of your national\ncredit, which procures you all the accommodation of paper currency,\nwithout diminishing the circulation of specie. Our only currency here\nconsists of assignats of 5 livres, 50, 100, 200, and upwards: therefore\nin making purchases, you must accommodate your wants to the value of your\nassignat, or you must owe the shopkeeper, or the shopkeeper must owe you;\nand, in short, as an old woman assured me to-day, \"C'est de quoi faire\nperdre la tete,\" and, if it lasted long, it would be the death of her.\nWithin these few days, however, the municipalities have attempted to\nremedy the inconvenience, by creating small paper of five, ten, fifteen,\nand twenty sols, which they give in exchange for assignats of five\nlivres; but the number they are allowed to issue is limited, and the\ndemand for them so great, that the accommodation is inadequate to the\ndifficulty of procuring it. On the days on which this paper (which is\ncalled billets de confiance) is issued, the Hotel de Ville is besieged by\na host of women collected from all parts of the district--Peasants, small\nshopkeepers, fervant maids, and though last, not least formidable--\nfishwomen. They usually take their stand two or three hours before the\ntime of delivery, and the interval is employed in discussing the news,\nand execrating paper money. But when once the door is opened, a scene\ntakes place which bids defiance to language, and calls for the pencil of\na Hogarth. Babel was, I dare say, comparatively to this, a place of\nretreat and silence. Clamours, revilings, contentions, tearing of hair,\nand breaking of heads, generally conclude the business; and, after the\nloss of half a day's time, some part of their clothes, and the expence of\na few bruises, the combatants retire with small bills to the value of\nfive, or perhaps ten livres, as the whole resource to carry on their\nlittle commerce for the ensuing week. I doubt not but the paper may have\nhad some share in alienating the minds of the people from the revolution.\nWhenever I want to purchase any thing, the vender usually answers my\nquestion by another, and with a rueful kind of tone inquires, \"En papier,\nmadame?\"--and the bargain concludes with a melancholy reflection on the\nhardness of the times.\nThe decrees relative to the priests have likewise occasioned much\ndissension; and it seems to me impolitic thus to have made religion the\nstandard of party. The high mass, which is celebrated by a priest who\nhas taken the oaths, is frequented by a numerous, but, it must be\nconfessed, an ill-drest and ill-scented congregation; while the low mass,\nwhich is later, and which is allowed the nonjuring clergy, has a gayer\naudience, but is much less crouded.--By the way, I believe many who\nformerly did not much disturb themselves about religious tenets, have\nbecome rigid Papists since an adherence to the holy see has become a\ncriterion of political opinion. But if these separatists are bigoted and\nobstinate, the conventionalists on their side are ignorant and\nintolerant.\nI enquired my way to-day to the Rue de l'Hopital. The woman I spoke to\nasked me, in a menacing tone, what I wanted there. I replied, which was\ntrue, that I merely wanted to pass through the street as my nearest way\nhome; upon which she lowered her voice, and conducted me very civilly.--I\nmentioned the circumstance on my return, and found that the nuns of the\nhospital had their mass performed by a priest who had not taken the\noaths, and that those who were suspected of going to attend it were\ninsulted, and sometimes ill treated. A poor woman, some little time ago,\nwho conceived perhaps that her salvation might depend on exercising her\nreligion in the way she had been accustomed to, persisted in going, and\nwas used by the populace with such a mixture of barbarity and indecency,\nthat her life was despaired of. Yet this is the age and the country of\nPhilosophers.--Perhaps you will begin to think Swift's sages, who only\namused themselves with endeavouring to propagate sheep without wool, not\nso contemptible. I am almost convinced myself, that when a man once\npiques himself on being a philosopher, if he does no mischief you ought\nto be satisfied with him.\nWe passed last Sunday with Mr. de ____'s tenants in the country. Nothing\ncan equal the avidity of these people for news. We sat down after dinner\nunder some trees in the village, and Mr. de _____ began reading the\nGazette to the farmers who were about us. In a few minutes every thing\nthat could hear (for I leave understanding the pedantry of a French\nnewspaper out of the question) were his auditors. A party at quoits in\none field, and a dancing party in another, quitted their amusements, and\nlistened with undivided attention. I believe in general the farmers are\nthe people most contented with the revolution, and indeed they have\nreason to be so; for at present they refuse to sell their corn unless for\nmoney, while they pay their rent in assignats; and farms being for the\nmost part on leases, the objections of the landlord to this kind of\npayment are of no avail. Great encouragement is likewise held out to\nthem to purchase national property, which I am informed they do to an\nextent that may for some time be injurious to agriculture; for in their\neagerness to acquire land, the deprive themselves of cultivating it.\nThey do not, like our crusading ancestors, \"sell the pasture to buy the\nhorse,\" but the horse to buy the pasture; so that we may expect to see in\nmany places large farms in the hands of those who are obliged to neglect\nthem.\nA great change has happened within the last year, with regard to landed\nproperty--so much has been sold, that many farmers have had the\nopportunity of becoming proprietors. The rage of emigration, which the\napproach of war, pride, timidity, and vanity are daily increasing, has\noccasioned many of the Noblesse to sell their estates, which, with those\nof the Crown and the Clergy, form a large mass of property, thrown as it\nwere into general circulation. This may in future be beneficial to the\ncountry, but the present generation will perhaps have to purchase (and\nnot cheaply) advantages they cannot enjoy. A philanthropist may not\nthink of this with regret; and yet I know not why one race is preferable\nto another, or why an evil should be endured by those who exist now, in\norder that those who succeed may be free from it.--I would willingly\nplant a million of acorns, that another age might be supplied with oaks;\nbut I confess, I do not think it quite so pleasant for us to want bread,\nin order that our descendants may have a superfluity.\nI am half ashamed of these selfish arguments; but really I have been led\nto them through mere apprehension of what I fear the people may have yet\nto endure, in consequence of the revolution.\nI have frequently observed how little taste the French have for the\ncountry, and I believe all my companions, except Mr. de _____, who took\n(as one always does) an interest in surveying his property, were heartily\nennuyes with our little excursion.--Mad. De _____, on her arrival, took\nher post by the farmer's fire-side, and was out of humour the whole day,\ninasmuch as our fare was homely, and there was nothing but rustics to see\nor be seen by. That a plain dinner should be a serious affair, you may\nnot wonder; but the last cause of distress, perhaps you will not conclude\nquite so natural at her years. All that can be said about it is, that\nshe is a French woman, who rouges, and wears lilac ribbons, at\nseventy-four. I hope, in my zeal to obey you, my reflections will not\nbe too voluminous.--For the present I will be warned by my conscience,\nand add only, that I am, Yours.\nYou observe, with some surprize, that I make no mention of the Jacobins--\nthe fact is, that until now I have heard very little about them. Your\nEnglish partizans of the revolution have, by publishing their\ncorrespondence with these societies, attributed a consequence to them\ninfinitely beyond what they have had pretensions to:--a prophet, it is\nsaid, is not honoured in his own country--I am sure a Jacobin is not.\nIn provincial towns these clubs are generally composed of a few of the\nlowest tradesmen, who have so disinterested a patriotism, as to bestow\nmore attention on the state than on their own shops; and as a man may be\nan excellent patriot without the aristocratic talents of reading and\nwriting, they usually provide a secretary or president, who can supply\nthese deficiencies--a country attorney, a _Pere de l'oratoire,_ or a\ndisbanded capuchin, is in most places the candidate for this office.\nThe clubs often assemble only to read the newspapers; but where they\nare sufficiently in force, they make motions for \"fetes,\" censure the\nmunicipalities, and endeavour to influence the elections of the members\nwho compose them.--That of Paris is supposed to consist of about six\nthousand members; but I am told their number and influence are daily\nincreasing, and that the National Assembly is more subservient to them\nthan it is willing to acknowledge--yet, I believe, the people at large\nare equally adverse to the Jacobins, who are said to entertain the\nchimerical project of forming a republic, and to the Aristocrates, who\nwish to restore the ancient government. The party in opposition to both\nthese, who are called the Feuillans,* have the real voice of the people\nwith them, and knowing this, they employ less art than their opponents,\nhave no point of union, and perhaps may finally be undermined by\nintrigue, or even subdued by violence.\n *They derive this appellation, as the Jacobins do theirs, from the\n convent at which they hold their meetings.\nYou seem not to comprehend why I include vanity among the causes of\nemigration, and yet I assure you it has had no small share in many of\nthem. The gentry of the provinces, by thus imitating the higher\nnoblesse, imagine they have formed a kind of a common cause, which may\nhereafter tend to equalize the difference of ranks, and associate them\nwith those they have been accustomed to look up to as their superiors.\nIt is a kind of ton among the women, particularly to talk of their\nemigrated relations, with an accent more expressive of pride than regret,\nand which seems to lay claim to distinction rather than pity.\nI must now leave you to contemplate the boasted misfortunes of these\nbelles, that I may join the card party which forms their alleviation.--\nAdieu.\nYou have doubtless learned from the public papers the late outrage of the\nJacobins, in order to force the King to consent to the formation of an\narmy at Paris, and to sign the decree for banishing the nonjuring Clergy.\nThe newspapers will describe to you the procession of the Sans-Culottes,\nthe indecency of their banners, and the disorders which were the result--\nbut it is impossible for either them or me to convey an idea of the\ngeneral indignation excited by these atrocities. Every well-meaning\nperson is grieved for the present, and apprehensive for the future:\nand I am not without hope, that this open avowal of the designs of the\nJacobins, will unite the Constitutionalists and Aristocrates, and that\nthey will join their efforts in defence of the Crown, as the only means\nof saving both from being overwhelmed by a faction, who are now become\ntoo daring to be despised. Many of the municipalities and departments\nare preparing to address they King, on the fortitude he displayed in this\nhour of insult and peril.--I know not why, but the people have been\ntaught to entertain a mean opinion of his personal courage; and the late\nviolence will at least have the good effect of undeceiving them. It is\ncertain, that he behaved on this occasion with the utmost coolness; and\nthe Garde Nationale, whose hand he placed on his heart, attested that it\nhad no unusual palpitation.\nThat the King should be unwilling to sanction the raising an army under\nthe immediate auspice of the avowed enemies of himself, and of the\nconstitution he has sworn to protect, cannot be much wondered at; and\nthose who know the Catholic religion, and consider that this Prince is\ndevout, and that he has reason to suspect the fidelity of all who\napproach him, will wonder still less that he refuses to banish a class of\nmen, whose influence is extensive, and whose interest it is to preserve\ntheir attachment to him.\nThese events have thrown a gloom over private societies; and public\namusements, as I observed in a former letter, are little frequented; so\nthat, on the whole, time passes heavily with a people who, generally\nspeaking, have few resources in themselves. Before the revolution,\nFrance was at this season a scene of much gaiety. Every village had\nalternately a sort of Fete, which nearly answers to our Wake--but with\nthis difference, that it was numerously attended by all ranks, and the\namusement was dancing, instead of wrestling and drinking. Several small\nfields, or different parts of a large one, were provided with music,\ndistinguished by flags, and appropriated to the several classes of\ndancers--one for the peasants, another for the bourgeois, and a third for\nthe higher orders. The young people danced beneath the ardour of a July\nsun, while the old looked on and regaled themselves with beer, cyder, and\ngingerbread. I was always much pleased with this village festivity: it\ngratified my mind more than select and expensive amusements, because it\nwas general, and within the power of all who chose to partake of it; and\nthe little distinction of rank which was preserved, far from diminishing\nthe pleasure of any, added, I am certain, to the freedom of all. By\nmixing with those only of her own class, the Paysanne* was spared the\ntemptation of envying the pink ribbons of the Bourgeoise, who in her turn\nwas not disturbed by an immediate rivalship with the sash and plumes of\nthe provincial belle. But this custom is now much on the decline. The\nyoung women avoid occasions where an inebriated soldier may offer himself\nas her partner in the dance, and her refusal be attended with insult to\nherself, and danger to those who protect her; and as this licence is\nnearly as offensive to the decent Bourgeoise as to the female of higher\ncondition, this sort of fete will most probably be entirely abandoned.\n *The head-dress of the French _Paysanne_ is uniformly a small cap,\n without ribbon or ornament of any kind, except in that part of\n Normandy which is called the _Pays de Caux,_ where the Paysannes\n wear a particular kind of head dress, ornamented with silver.\nThe people here all dance much better than those of the same rank in\nEngland; but this national accomplishment is not instinctive: for though\nfew of the laborious class have been taught to read, there are scarcely\nany so poor as not to bestow three livres for a quarter's instruction\nfrom a dancing master; and with this three months' noviciate they become\nqualified to dance through the rest of their lives.\nThe rage for emigration, and the approach of the Austrians, have\noccasioned many restrictions on travelling, especially near the seacoast\nof frontiers. No person can pass through a town without a passport from\nthe municipality he resides in, specifying his age, the place of his\nbirth, his destination, the height of his person, and the features of his\nface. The Marquis de C____ entered the town yesterday, and at the gate\npresented his passport as usual; the guard looked at the passport, and in\na high tone demanded his name, whence he came, and where he was going.\nM. de C____ referred him to the passport, and suspecting the man could\nnot read, persisted in refusing to give a verbal account of himself, but\nwith much civility pressed the perusal of the passport; adding, that if\nit was informal, Monsieur might write to the municipality that granted\nit. The man, however, did not approve of the jest, and took the Marquis\nbefore the municipality, who sentenced him to a month's imprisonment for\nhis pleasantry.\nThe French are becoming very grave, and a bon-mot will not now, as\nformerly, save a man's life.--I do not remember to have seen in any\nEnglish print an anecdote on this subject, which at once marks the levity\nof the Parisians, and the wit and presence of mind of the Abbe Maury.--At\nthe beginning of the revolution, when the people were very much incensed\nagainst the Abbe, he was one day, on quitting the Assembly, surrounded by\nan enraged mob, who seized on him, and were hurrying him away to\nexecution, amidst the universal cry of _a la lanterne! a la lanterne!_\nThe Abbe, with much coolness and good humour, turned to those nearest him,\n_\"Eh bien mes amis et quand je serois a la lanterne, en verriez vous plus\nclair?\"_ Those who held him were disarmed, the bon-mot flew through the\ncroud, and the Abbe escaped while they were applauding it.--I have\nnothing to offer after this trait which is worthy of succeeding it, but\nwill add that I am always Yours.\nOur revolution aera has passed tranquilly in the provinces, and with less\nturbulence at Paris than was expected. I consign to the Gazette-writers\nthose long descriptions that describe nothing, and leave the mind as\nunsatisfied as the eye. I content myself with observing only, that the\nceremony here was gay, impressive, and animating. I indeed have often\nremarked, that the works of nature are better described than those of\nart. The scenes of nature, though varied, are uniform; while the\nproductions of art are subject to the caprices of whim, and the\nvicissitudes of taste. A rock, a wood, or a valley, however the scenery\nmay be diversified, always conveys a perfect and distinct image to the\nmind; but a temple, an altar, a palace, or a pavilion, requires a detail,\nminute even to tediousness, and which, after all, gives but an imperfect\nnotion of the object. I have as often read descriptions of the Vatican,\nas of the Bay of Naples; yet I recollect little of the former, while the\nlatter seems almost familiar to me.--Many are strongly impressed with the\nscenery of Milton's Paradise, who have but confused ideas of the\nsplendour of Pandemonium. The descriptions, however, are equally minute,\nand the poetry of both is beautiful.\nBut to return to this country, which is not absolutely a Paradise, and I\nhope will not become a Pandemonium--the ceremony I have been alluding to,\nthough really interesting, is by no means to be considered as a proof\nthat the ardour for liberty increases: on the contrary, in proportion as\nthese fetes become more frequent, the enthusiasm which they excite seems\nto diminish. \"For ever mark, Lucilius, when Love begins to sicken and\ndecline, it useth an enforced ceremony.\" When there were no\nfoederations, the people were more united. The planting trees of liberty\nseems to have damped the spirit of freedom; and since there has been a\ndecree for wearing the national colours, they are more the marks of\nobedience than proofs of affection.--I cannot pretend to decide whether\nthe leaders of the people find their followers less warm than they were,\nand think it necessary to stimulate them by these shows, or whether the\nshows themselves, by too frequent repetition, have rendered the people\nindifferent about the objects of them.--Perhaps both these suppositions\nare true. The French are volatile and material; they are not very\ncapable of attachment to principles. External objects are requisite for\nthem, even in a slight degree; and the momentary enthusiasm that is\nobtained by affecting their senses subsides with the conclusion of a\nfavourite air, or the end of a gaudy procession.\nThe Jacobin party are daily gaining ground; and since they have forced a\nministry of their own on the King, their triumph has become still more\ninsolent and decisive.--A storm is said to be hovering over us, which I\nthink of with dread, and cannot communicate with safety--\"Heaven square\nthe trial of those who are implicated, to their proportioned strength!\"--\nAdieu.\nAugust 4, 1792.\nI must repeat to you, that I have no talent for description; and, having\nseldom been able to profit by the descriptions of others, I am modest\nenough not willingly to attempt one myself. But, as you observe, the\nceremony of a foederation, though familiar to me, is not so to my English\nfriends; I therefore obey your commands, though certain of not succeeding\nso as to gratify your curiosity in the manner you too partially expect.\nThe temple where the ceremony was performed, was erected in an open\nspace, well chosen both for convenience and effect. In a large circle on\nthis spot, twelve posts, between fifty and sixty feet high, were placed\nat equal distances, except one larger, opening in front by way of\nentrance. On each alternate post were fastened ivy, laurel, &c. so as to\nform a thick body which entirely hid the support. These greens were then\nshorn (in the manner you see in old fashioned gardens) into the form of\nDoric columns, of dimensions proportioned to their height. The\nintervening posts were covered with white cloth, which was so\nartificially folded, as exactly to resemble fluted pillars--from the\nbases of which ascended spiral wreaths of flowers. The whole was\nconnected at top by a bold festoon of foliage, and the capital of each\ncolumn was surmounted by a vase of white lilies. In the middle of this\ntemple was placed an altar, hung round with lilies, and on it was deposed\nthe book of the constitution. The approach to the altar was by a large\nflight of steps, covered with beautiful tapestry.\nAll this having been arranged and decorated, (a work of several days,)\nthe important aera was ushered in by the firing of cannon, ringing of\nbells, and an appearance of bustle and hilarity not to be seen on any\nother occasion. About ten, the members of the district, the\nmunicipality, and the judges in their habits of ceremony, met at the\ngreat church, and from thence proceeded to the altar of liberty. The\ntroops of the line, the Garde Nationale of the town, and of all the\nsurrounding communes, then arrived, with each their respective music and\ncolours, which (reserving one only of the latter to distinguish them in\nthe ranks) they planted round the altar. This done, they retired, and\nforming a circle round the temple, left a large intermediate space free.\nA mass was then celebrated with the most perfect order and decency, and\nat the conclusion were read the rights of man and the constitution. The\ntroops, Garde Nationale, &c. were then addressed by their respective\nofficers, the oath to be faithful to the nation, the law, and the King,\nwas administered: every sword was drawn, and every hat waved in the air;\nwhile all the bands of music joined in the favorite strain of ca ira.--\nThis was followed by crowning, with the civic wreaths hung round the\naltar, a number of people, who during the year had been instrumental in\nsaving the lives of their fellow-citizens that had been endangered by\ndrowning or other accidents. This honorary reward was accompanied by a\npecuniary one, and a fraternal embrace from all the constituted bodies.\nBut this was not the gravest part of the ceremony. The magistrates,\nhowever upright, were not all graceful, and the people, though they\nunderstood the value of the money, did not that of the civic wreaths, or\nthe embraces; they therefore looked vacant enough during this part of the\nbusiness, and grinned most facetiously when they began to examine the\nappearance of each other in their oaken crowns, and, I dare say, thought\nthe whole comical enough.--This is one trait of national pedantry.\nBecause the Romans awarded a civic wreath for an act of humanity, the\nFrench have adopted the custom; and decorate thus a soldier or a sailor,\nwho never heard of the Romans in his life, except in extracts from the\nNew Testament at mass.\nBut to return to our fete, of which I have only to add, that the\nmagistrates departed in the order they observed in coming, and the troops\nand Garde Nationale filed off with their hats in the air, and with\nuniversal acclamations, to the sound of ca ira.--Things of this kind are\nnot susceptible of description. The detail may be uninteresting, while\nthe general effect may have been impressive. The spirit of the scene I\nhave been endeavouring to recall seems to have evaporated under my pen;\nyet to the spectator it was gay, elegant, and imposing. The day was\nfine, a brilliant sun glittered on the banners, and a gentle breeze gave\nthem motion; while the satisfied countenances of the people added spirit\nand animation to the whole.\nI must remark to you, that devots, and determined aristocrates, ever\nattend on these occasions. The piety of the one is shocked at a mass by\na priest who has taken the oaths, and the pride of the other is not yet\nreconciled to confusion of ranks and popular festivities. I asked a\nwoman who brings us fruit every day, why she had not come on the\nfourteenth as usual. She told me she did not come to the town, _\"a cause\nde la foederation\"--\"Vous etes aristocrate donc?\"--\"Ah, mon Dieu non--ce\nn'est pas que je suis aristocrate, ou democrate, mais que je suis\nChretienne._*\"\n *\"On account of the foederation.\"--\"You are an aristocrate then, I\n suppose?\"--\"Lord, no! It is not because I am an aristocrate, or a\n democrate, but because I am a Christian.\"\nThis is an instance, among many others I could produce, that our\nlegislators have been wrong, in connecting any change of the national\nreligion with the revolution. I am every day convinced, that this and\nthe assignats are the great causes of the alienation visible in many who\nwere once the warmest patriots.--Adieu: do not envy us our fetes and\nceremonies, while you enjoy a constitution which requires no oath to make\nyou cherish it: and a national liberty, which is felt and valued without\nthe aid of extrinsic decoration.--Yours.\nAugust 15.\nThe consternation and horror of which I have been partaker, will more\nthan apologize for my silence. It is impossible for any one, however\nunconnected with the country, not to feel an interest in its present\ncalamities, and to regret them. I have little courage to write even now,\nand you must pardon me if my letter should bear marks of the general\ndepression. All but the faction are grieved and indignant at the King's\ndeposition; but this grief is without energy, and this indignation\nsilent. The partizans of the old government, and the friends of the new,\nare equally enraged; but they have no union, are suspicious of each\nother, and are sinking under the stupor of despair, when they should be\npreparing for revenge.--It would not be easy to describe our situation\nduring the last week. The ineffectual efforts of La Fayette, and the\nviolences occasioned by them, had prepared us for something still more\nserious. On the ninth, we had a letter from one of the representatives\nfor this department, strongly expressive of his apprehensions for the\nmorrow, but promising to write if he survived it. The day, on which we\nexpected news, came, but no post, no papers, no diligence, nor any means\nof information. The succeeding night we sat up, expecting letters by the\npost: still, however, none arrived; and the courier only passed hastily\nthrough, giving no detail, but that Paris was _a feu et a sang_.*\n * All fire and slaughter.\nAt length, after passing two days and nights in this dreadful suspence,\nwe received certain intelligence which even exceeded our fears.--It is\nneedless to repeat the horrors that have been perpetrated. The accounts\nmust, ere now, have reached you. Our representative, as he seemed to\nexpect, was so ill treated as to be unable to write: he was one of those\nwho had voted the approval of La Fayette's conduct--all of whom were\neither massacred, wounded, or intimidated; and, by this means, a majority\nwas procured to vote the deposition of the King. The party allow, by\ntheir own accounts, eight thousand persons to have perished on this\noccasion; but the number is supposed to be much more considerable. No\npapers are published at present except those whose editors, being members\nof the Assembly, and either agents or instigators of the massacres, are,\nof course, interested in concealing or palliating them.---Mr. De _____\nhas just now taken up one of these atrocious journals, and exclaims, with\ntears starting from his eyes, _\"On a abattu la statue d'Henri quatre!*\"_\n *\"They have destroyed the statue of Henry the Fourth.\"\nThe sacking of Rome by the Goths offers no picture equal to the\nlicentiousness and barbarity committed in a country which calls itself\nthe most enlightened in Europe.--But, instead of recording these horrors,\nI will fill up my paper with the Choeur Bearnais.\n \"Un troubadour Bearnais,\n \"Le yeux inoudes de larmes,\n \"A ses montagnards\n \"Chantoit ce refrein source d'alarmes--\n \"Louis le fils d'Henri\n \"Est prisonnier dans Paris!\n \"Il a tremble pour les jours\n \"De sa compagne cherie\n \"Qui n'a troube de secours\n \"Que dans sa propre energie;\n \"Elle suit le fils d'Henri\n \"Dans les prisons de Paris.\n \"Quel crime ont ils donc commis\n \"Pour etre enchaines de meme?\n \"Du peuple ils sont les amis,\n \"Le peuple veut il qu'on l'aime,\n \"Quand il met le fils d'Henri\n \"Dans les prisons de Paris?\n \"Le Dauphin, ce fils cheri,\n \"Qui seul fait notre esperance,\n \"De pleurs sera donc nourri;\n \"Les Berceaux qu'on donne en France\n \"Aux enfans de notre Henri\n \"Sont les prisons de Paris.\n \"Il a vu couler le sang\n \"De ce garde fidele,\n \"Qui vient d'offrir en mourant\n \"Aux Francais un beau modele;\n Mais Louis le fils d'Henri\n \"Est prisonnier dans Paris.\n \"Il n'est si triste appareil\n \"Qui du respect nous degage,\n \"Les feux ardens du Soleil\n \"Savent percer le nuage:\n \"Le prisonnier de Paris\n \"Est toujours le fils d'Henri.\n \"Francais, trop ingrats Francais\n \"Rendez le Roi a sa compagne;\n \"C'est le bien du Bearnais,\n \"C'est l'enfant de la Montagne:\n \"Le bonheur qu' avoit Henri\n \"Nous l'affarons a Louis.\n \"Chez vouz l'homme a de ses droits\n \"Recouvre le noble usage,\n \"Et vous opprimez vos rois,\n \"Ah! quel injuste partage!\n \"Le peuple est libre, et Louis\n \"Est prisonnier dans Paris.\n \"Au pied de ce monument\n \"Ou le bon Henri respire\n \"Pourquoi l'airain foudroyant?\n \"Ah l'on veut qu' Henri conspire\n \"Lui meme contre son fils\n \"Dans les prisons de Paris.\"_\nIt was published some time ago in a periodical work, (written with great\nspirit and talents,) called \"The Acts of the Apostles,\" and, I believe,\nhas not yet appeared in England. The situation of the King gives a\npeculiar interest to these stanzas, which, merely as a poetical\ncomposition, are very beautiful. I have often attempted to translate\nthem, but have always found it impossible to preserve the effect and\nsimplicity of the original. They are set to a little plaintive air, very\nhappily characteristic of the words.\nPerhaps I shall not write to you again from hence, as we depart for\nA_____ on Tuesday next. A change of scene will dissipate a little the\nseriousness we have contracted during the late events. If I were\ndetermined to indulge grief or melancholy, I would never remove from the\nspot where I had formed the resolution. Man is a proud animal even when\noppressed by misfortune. He seeks for his tranquility in reason and\nreflection; whereas, a post-chaise and four, or even a hard-trotting\nhorse, is worth all the philosophy in the world.--But, if, as I observed\nbefore, a man be determined to resist consolation, he cannot do better\nthan stay at home, and reason and phosophize.\nAdieu:--the situation of my friends in this country makes me think of\nEngland with pleasure and respect; and I shall conclude with a very\nhomely couplet, which, after all the fashionable liberality of modern\ntravellers, contains a great deal of truth:\n \"Amongst mankind\n \"We ne'er shall find\n \"The worth we left at home.\"\nYours, &c.\nThe hour is past, in which, if the King's friends had exerted themselves,\nthey might have procured a movement in his favour. The people were at\nfirst amazed, then grieved; but the national philosophy already begins to\noperate, and they will sink into indifference, till again awakened by\nsome new calamity. The leaders of the faction do not, however, entirely\ndepend either on the supineness of their adversaries, or the submission\nof the people. Money is distributed amongst the idle and indigent, and\nagents are nightly employed in the public houses to comment on\nnewspapers, written for the purpose to blacken the King and exalt the\npatriotism of the party who have dethroned him. Much use has likewise\nbeen made of the advances of the Prussians towards Champagne, and the\nusual mummery of ceremony has not been wanting. Robespierre, in a burst\nof extemporary energy, previously studied, has declared the country in\ndanger. The declaration has been echoed by all the departments, and\nproclaimed to the people with much solemnity. We were not behind hand in\nthe ceremonial of the business, though, somehow, the effect was not so\nserious and imposing as one could have wished on such an occasion. A\nsmart flag, with the words \"Citizens, the country is in danger,\" was\nprepared; the judges and the municipality were in their costume, the\ntroops and Garde Nationale under arms, and an orator, surrounded by his\ncortege, harangued in the principal parts of the town on the text of the\nbanner which waved before him.\nAll this was very well; but, unfortunately, in order to distinguish the\norator amidst the croud, it was determined he should harangue on\nhorseback. Now here arose a difficulty which all the ardour of\npatriotism was not able to surmount. The French are in general but\nindifferent equestrians; and it so happened that, in our municipality,\nthose who could speak could not ride, and those who could ride could not\nspeak. At length, however, after much debating, it was determined that\narms should yield to the gown, or rather, the horse to the orator--with\nthis precaution, that the monture should be properly secured, by an\nattendant to hold the bridle. Under this safeguard, the rhetorician\nissued forth, and the first part of the speech was performed without\naccident; but when, by way of relieving the declaimer, the whole military\nband began to flourish ca ira, the horse, even more patriotic than his\nrider, curvetted and twisted with so much animation, that however the\nspectators might be delighted, the orator was far from participating in\ntheir satisfaction. After all this, the speech was to be finished, and\nthe silence of the music did not immediately tranquillize the animal.\nThe orator's eye wandered from the paper that contained his speech, with\nwistful glances toward the mane; the fervor of his indignation against\nthe Austrians was frequently calmed by the involuntary strikings he was\nobliged to submit to; and at the very crisis of the emphatic declaration,\nhe seemed much less occupied by his country's danger than his own. The\npeople, who were highly amused, I dare say, conceived the whole ceremony\nto be a rejoicing, and at every repetition that the country was in\ndanger, joined with great glee in the chorus of _ca ira_.*\n *The oration consisted of several parts, each ending with a kind of\n burden of _\"Citoyens, la patri est en danger;\"_ and the arrangers of\n the ceremony had not selected appropriate music: so that the band,\n who had been accustomed to play nothing else on public occasions,\n struck up _ca ira_ at every declaration that the country was in\n danger!\nMany of the spectators, I believe, had for some time been convinced of\nthe danger that threatened the country, and did not suppose it much\nincreased by the events of the war; others were pleased with a show,\nwithout troubling themselves about the occasion of it; and the mass,\nexcept when rouzed to attention by their favourite air, or the\nexhibitions of the equestrian orator, looked on with vacant stupidity.\n--This tremendous flag is now suspended from a window of the Hotel de\nVille, where it is to remain until the inscription it wears shall no\nlonger be true; and I heartily wish, the distresses of the country may\nnot be more durable than the texture on which they are proclaimed.\nOur journey is fixed for to-morrow, and all the morning has been passed\nin attendance for our passports.--This affair is not so quickly\ndispatched as you may imagine. The French are, indeed, said to be a very\nlively people, but we mistake their volubility for vivacity; for in their\npublic offices, their shops, and in any transaction of business, no\npeople on earth can be more tedious--they are slow, irregular, and\nloquacious; and a retail English Quaker, with all his formalities, would\ndispose of half his stock in less time than you can purchase a three sols\nstamp from a brisk French Commis. You may therefore conceive, that this\nofficial portraiture of so many females was a work of time, and not very\npleasant to the originals. The delicacy of an Englishman may be shocked\nat the idea of examining and registering a lady's features one after\nanother, like the articles of a bill of lading; but the cold and\nsystematic gallantry of a Frenchman is not so scrupulous.--The officer,\nhowever, who is employed for this purpose here, is civil, and I suspected\nthe infinity of my nose, and the acuteness of Mad. de ____'s chin, might\nhave disconcerted him; but he extricated himself very decently. My nose\nis enrolled in the order of aquilines, and the old lady's chin pared off\nto a _\"menton un peu pointu.\"_--[\"A longish chin.\"]\nThe carriages are ordered for seven to-morrow. Recollect, that seven\nfemales, with all their appointments, are to occupy them, and then\ncalculate the hour I shall begin increasing my distance from England and\nmy friends. I shall not do it without regret; yet perhaps you will be\nless inclined to pity me than the unfortunate wights who are to escort\nus. A journey of an hundred miles, with French horses, French carriages,\nFrench harness, and such an unreasonable female charge, is, I confess, in\ngreat humility, not to be ventured on without a most determined\npatience.--I shall write to you on our arrival at Arras; and am, till\nthen, at all times, and in all places, Yours.\nHesdin.\nWe arrived here last night, notwithstanding the difficulties of our first\nsetting out, in tolerable time; but I have gained so little in point of\nrepose, that I might as well have continued my journey. We are lodged at\nan inn which, though large and the best in the town, is so disgustingly\nfilthy, that I could not determine to undress myself, and am now up and\nscribbling, till my companions shall be ready. Our embarkation will, I\nforesee, be a work of time and labour; for my friend, Mad. de ____,\nbesides the usual attendants on a French woman, a femme de chambre and a\nlap-dog, travels with several cages of canary-birds, some pots of curious\nexotics, and a favourite cat; all of which must be disposed of so as to\nproduce no interstine commotions during the journey. Now if you consider\nthe nature of these fellow-travellers, you will allow it not so easy a\nmatter as may at first be supposed, especially as their fair mistress\nwill not allow any of them to be placed in any other carriage than her\nown.--A fray happened yesterday between the cat and the dog, during which\nthe birds were overset, and the plants broken. Poor M. de ____, with a\nsort of rueful good nature, separated the combatants, restored order, and\nwas obliged to purchase peace by charging himself with the care of the\naggressor.\nI should not have dwelt so long on these trifling occurrences, but that\nthey are characteristic. In England, this passion for animals is chiefly\nconfined to old maids, but here it is general. Almost every woman,\nhowever numerous her family, has a nursery of birds, an angola, and two\nor three lap-dogs, who share her cares with her husband and children.\nThe dogs have all romantic names, and are enquired after with so much\nsolicitude when they do not make one in a visit, that it was some time\nbefore I discovered that Nina and Rosine were not the young ladies of the\nfamily. I do not remember to have seen any husband, however master of\nhis house in other respects, daring enough to displace a favourite\nanimal, even though it occupied the only vacant fauteuil.\nThe entrance into Artois from Picardy, though confounded by the new\ndivision, is sufficiently marked by a higher cultivation, and a more\nfertile soil. The whole country we have passed is agreeable, but\nuniform; the roads are good, and planted on each side with trees, mostly\nelms, except here and there some rows of poplar or apple. The land is\nall open, and sown in divisions of corn, carrots, potatoes, tobacco, and\npoppies of which last they make a coarse kind of oil for the use of\npainters. The country is entirely flat, and the view every where bounded\nby woods interspersed with villages, whose little spires peeping through\nthe trees have a very pleasing effect.\nThe people of Artois are said to be highly superstitious, and we have\nalready passed a number of small chapels and crosses, erected by the road\nside, and surrounded by tufts of trees. These are the inventions of a\nmistaken piety; yet they are not entirely without their use, and I cannot\nhelp regarding them with more complacence than a rigid Protestant might\nthink allowable. The weary traveller here finds shelter from a mid-day\nsun, and solaces his mind while he reposes his body. The glittering\nequipage rolls by--he recalls the painful steps he has past, anticipates\nthose which yet remain, and perhaps is tempted to repine; but when he\nturns his eye on the cross of Him who has promised a recompence to the\nsufferers of this world, he checks the sigh of envy, forgets the luxury\nwhich excited it, and pursues his way with resignation. The Protestant\nreligion proscribes, and the character of the English renders\nunnecessary, these sensible objects of devotion; but I have always been\nof opinion, that the levity of the French in general would make them\nincapable of persevering in a form of worship equally abstracted and\nrational. The Spaniards, and even the Italians, might abolish their\ncrosses and images, and yet preserve their Christianity; but if the\nFrench ceased to be bigots, they would become atheists.\nThis is a small fortified town, though not of strength to offer any\nresistance to artillery. Its proximity to the frontier, and the dread of\nthe Austrians, make the inhabitants very patriotic. We were surrounded\nby a great croud of people on our arrival, who had some suspicion that we\nwere emigrating; however, as soon as our passports were examined and\ndeclared legal, they retired very peaceably.\nThe approach of the enemy keeps up the spirit of the people, and,\nnotwithstanding their dissatisfaction at the late events, they have not\nyet felt the change of their government sufficiently to desire the\ninvasion of an Austrian army.--Every village, every cottage, hailed us\nwith the cry of Vive la nation! The cabaret invites you to drink beer a\nla nation, and offers you lodging a la nation--the chandler's shop sells\nyou snuff and hair powder a la nation--and there are even patriotic\nbarbers whose signs inform you, that you may be shaved and have your\nteeth drawn a la nation! These are acts of patriotism one cannot\nreasonably object to; but the frequent and tedious examination of one's\npassports by people who can't read, is not quite so inoffensive, and I\nsometimes lose my patience. A very vigilant _Garde Nationale_ yesterday,\nafter spelling my passport over for ten minutes, objected that it was not\na good one. I maintained that it was; and feeling a momentary importance\nat the recollection of my country, added, in an assuring tone, _\"Et\nd'ailleurs je suis Anglaise et par consequent libre d'aller ou bon me\nsemble._*\" The man stared, but admitted my argument, and we passed on.\n *\"Besides, I am a native of England, and, consequently, have a right\n to go where I please.\"\nMy room door is half open, and gives me a prospect into that of Mad. de\nL____, which is on the opposite side of the passage. She has not yet put\non her cap, but her grey hair is profusely powdered; and, with no other\ngarments than a short under petticoat and a corset, she stands for the\nedification of all who pass, putting on her rouge with a stick and a\nbundle of cotton tied to the end of it.--All travellers agree in\ndescribing great indelicacy to the French women; yet I have seen no\naccounts which exaggerate it, and scarce any that have not been more\nfavourable than a strict adherence to truth might justify. This\ninattractive part of the female national character is not confined to the\nlower or middling classes of life; and an English woman is as likely to\nbe put to the blush in the boudoir of a Marquise, as in the shop of the\nGrisette, which serves also for her dressing-room.\nIf I am not too idle, or too much amused, you will soon be informed of my\narrival at Arras; but though I should neglect to write, be persuaded I\nshall never cease to be, with affection and esteem, Yours, &c.\nArras, August, 1792.\nThe appearance of Arras is not busy in proportion to its population,\nbecause its population is not equal to its extent; and as it is a large,\nwithout being a commercial, town, it rather offers a view of the tranquil\nenjoyment of wealth, than of the bustle and activity by which it is\nprocured. The streets are mostly narrow and ill paved, and the shops\nlook heavy and mean; but the hotels, which chiefly occupy the low town,\nare large and numerous. What is called la Petite Place, is really very\nlarge, and small only in comparison with the great one, which, I believe,\nis the largest in France. It is, indeed, an immense quadrangle--the\nhouses are in the Spanish form, and it has an arcade all round it. The\nSpaniards, by whom it was built, forgot, probably, that this kind of\nshelter would not be so desirable here as in their own climate. The\nmanufacture of tapestry, which a single line of Shakespeare has\nimmortalized, and associated with the mirthful image of his fat Knight,\nhas fallen into decay. The manufacturers of linen and woollen are but\ninconsiderable; and one, which existed till lately, of a very durable\nporcelain, is totally neglected. The principal article of commerce is\nlace, which is made here in great quantities. The people of all ages,\nfrom five years old to seventy, are employed in this delicate fabrick.\nIn fine weather you will see whole streets lined with females, each with\nher cushion on her lap. The people of Arras are uncommonly dirty, and\nthe lacemakers do not in this matter differ from their fellow-citizens;\nyet at the door of a house, which, but for the surrounding ones, you\nwould suppose the common receptacle of all the filth in the vicinage, is\noften seated a female artizan, whose fingers are forming a point of\nunblemished whiteness. It is inconceivable how fast the bobbins move\nunder their hands; and they seem to bestow so little attention on their\nwork, that it looks more like the amusement of idleness than an effort of\nindustry. I am no judge of the arguments of philosophers and politicians\nfor and against the use of luxury in a state; but if it be allowable at\nall, much may be said in favour of this pleasing article of it. Children\nmay be taught to make it at a very early age, and they can work at home\nunder the inspection of their parents, which is certainly preferable to\ncrouding them together in manufactories, where their health is injured,\nand their morals are corrupted.\nBy requiring no more implements than about five shillings will purchase,\na lacemaker is not dependent on the shopkeeper, nor the head of a\nmanufactory. All who choose to work have it in their own power, and can\ndispose of the produce of their labour, without being at the mercy of an\navaricious employer; for though a tolerable good workwoman can gain a\ndecent livelihood by selling to the shops, yet the profit of the retailer\nis so great, that if he rejected a piece of lace, or refused to give a\nreasonable price for it, a certain sale would be found with the\nindividual consumer: and it is a proof of the independence of this\nemploy, that no one will at present dispose of their work for paper, and\nit still continues to be paid for in money. Another argument in favour\nof encouraging lace-making is, that it cannot be usurped by men: you may\nhave men-milliners, men-mantuamakers, and even ladies' valets, but you\ncannot well fashion the clumsy and inflexible fingers of man to\nlace-making. We import great quantities of lace from this country, yet\nI imagine we might, by attention, be enabled to supply other countries,\ninstead of purchasing abroad ourselves. The art of spinning is daily\nimproving in England; and if thread sufficiently fine can be\nmanufactured, there is no reason why we should not equal our neighbours\nin the beauty of this article. The hands of English women are more\ndelicate than those of the French; and our climate is much the same as\nthat of Brussels, Arras, Lisle, &c. where the finest lace is made.\nThe population of Arras is estimated at about twenty-five thousand souls,\nthough many people tell me it is greater. It has, however, been lately\nmuch thinned by emigration, suppression of convents, and the decline of\ntrade, occasioned by the absence of so many rich inhabitants.--The\nJacobins are here become very formidable: they have taken possession of a\nchurch for their meetings, and, from being the ridicule, are become the\nterror of all moderate people.\nYesterday was appointed for taking the new oath of liberty and equality.\nI did not see the ceremony, as the town was in much confusion, and it was\ndeemed unsafe to be from home. I understand it was attended only by the\nvery refuse of the people, and that, as a gallanterie analogue, the\nPresident of the department gave his arm to Madame Duchene, who sells\napples in a cellar, and is Presidente of the Jacobin club. It is,\nhowever, reported to-day, that she is in disgrace with the society for\nher condescension; and her parading the town with a man of forty thousand\nlivres a year is thought to be too great a compliment to the aristocracy\nof riches; so that Mons. Le President's political gallantry has availed\nhim nothing. He has debased and made himself the ridicule of the\nAristocrates and Constitutionalists, without paying his court, as he\nintended, to the popular faction. I would always wish it to happen so to\nthose who offer up incense to the mob. As human beings, as one's fellow\ncreatures, the poor and uninformed have a claim to our affection and\nbenevolence, but when they become legislators, they are absurd and\ncontemptible tyrants.--_A propos_--we were obliged to acknowledge this new\nsovereignty by illuminating the house on the occasion; and this was not\nordered by nocturnal vociferation as in England, but by a regular command\nfrom an officer deputed for that purpose.\nI am concerned to see the people accustomed to take a number of\nincompatible oaths with indifference: it neither will nor can come to any\ngood; and I am ready to exclaim with Juliet--\"Swear not at all.\" Or, if\nye must swear, quarrel not with the Pope, that your consciences may at\nleast be relieved by dispensations and indulgences.\nTo-morrow we go to Lisle, notwithstanding the report that it has already\nbeen summoned to surrender. You will scarcely suppose it possible, yet\nwe find it difficult to learn the certainty of this, at the distance of\nonly thirty miles: but communication is much less frequent and easy here\nthan in England. I am not one of those \"unfortunate women who delight in\nwar;\" and, perhaps, the sight of this place, so famous for its\nfortifications, will not be very amusing to me, nor furnish much matter\nof communication for my friends; but I shall write, if it be only to\nassure you that I am not made prize of by the Austrians. Yours, &c.\nLisle, August, 1792.\nYou restless islanders, who are continually racking imagination to\nperfect the art of moving from one place to another, and who can drop\nasleep in a carriage and wake at an hundred mile distance, have no notion\nof all the difficulties of a day's journey here. In the first place, all\nthe horses of private persons have been taken for the use of the army,\nand those for hire are constantly employed in going to the camp--hence,\nthere is a difficulty in procuring horses. Then a French carriage is\nnever in order, and in France a job is not to be done just when you want\nit--so that there is often a difficulty in finding vehicles. Then there\nis the difficulty of passports, and the difficulty of gates, if you want\nto depart early. Then the difficulties of patching harness on the road,\nand, above all, the inflexible _sang froid_ of drivers. All these things\nconsidered, you will not wonder that we came here a day after we\nintended, and arrived at night, when we ought to have arrived at noon.\n--The carriage wanted a trifling repair, and we could get neither\npassports nor horses. The horses were gone to the army--the municipality\nto the club--and the blacksmith was employed at the barracks in making a\npatriotic harangue to the soldiers.--But we at length surmounted all\nthese obstacles, and reached this place last night.\nThe road between Arras and Lisle is equally rich with that we before\npassed, but is much more diversified. The plain of Lens is not such a\nscene of fertility, that one forgets it has once been that of war and\ncarnage. We endeavoured to learn in the town whereabouts the column was\nerected that commemmorates that famous battle, [1648.] but no one seemed\nto know any thing of the matter. One who, we flattered ourselves, looked\nmore intelligent than the rest, and whom we supposed might be an\nattorney, upon being asked for this spot,--(where, added Mr. de ____, by\nway of assisting his memory, _\"le Prince de Conde s'est battu si bien,\"_)\n--replied, _\"Pour la bataille je n'en sais rien, mais pour le Prince de\nConde il y a deja quelque tems qu'il est emigre--on le dit a Coblentz.\"_*\nAfter this we thought it in vain to make any farther enquiry, and\ncontinued our walk about the town.\n *\"Where the Prince of Conde fought so gallantly.\"--\"As to the battle\n I know nothing about the matter; but for the Prince of Conde he\n emigrated some time since--they say he is at Coblentz.\"\nMr. P____, who, according to French custom, had not breakfasted, took a\nfancy to stop at a baker's shop and buy a roll. The man bestowed so much\nmore civility on us than our two sols were worth, that I observed, on\nquitting the shop, I was sure he must be an Aristocrate. Mr. P____, who\nis a warm Constitutionalist, disputed the justice of my inference, and we\nagreed to return, and learn the baker's political principles. After\nasking for more rolls, we accosted him with the usual phrase, \"Et vous,\nMonsieur, vous etes bon patriote?\"--_\"Ah, mon Dieu, oui,_ (replied he,)\n_il faut bien l'etre a present.\"_*\n *\"And you, Sir, are without doubt, a good patriot?\"--\"Oh Lord, Sir,\n yes; one's obliged to be so, now-a-days.\"\nMr. P____ admitted the man's tone of voice and countenance as good\nevidence, and acknowledged I was right.--It is certain that the French\nhave taken it into their heads, that coarseness of manners is a necessary\nconsequence of liberty, and that there is a kind of leze nation in being\ntoo civil; so that, in general, I think I can discover the principles of\nshopkeepers, even without the indications of a melancholy mien at the\nassignats, or lamentations on the times.\nThe new doctrine of primeval equality has already made some progress. At\na small inn at Carvin, where, upon the assurance that they had every\nthing in the world, we stopped to dine, on my observing they had laid\nmore covers than were necessary, the woman answered, \"Et les domestiques,\nne dinent ils pas?\"--\"And, pray, are the servants to have no dinner?\"\nWe told her not with us, and the plates were taken away; but we heard her\nmuttering in the kitchen, that she believed we were aristocrates going to\nemigrate. She might imagine also that we were difficult to satisfy, for\nwe found it impossible to dine, and left the house hungry,\nnotwithstanding there was \"every thing in the world\" in it.\nOn the road between Carvin and Lisle we saw Dumouriez, who is going to\ntake the command of the army, and has now been visiting the camp of\nMaulde. He appears to be under the middle size, about fifty years of\nage, with a brown complexion, dark eyes, and an animated countenance. He\nwas not originally distinguished either by birth or fortune, and has\narrived at his present situation by a concurrence of fortuitous\ncircumstances, by great and various talents, much address, and a spirit\nof intrigue. He is now supported by the prevailing party; and, I\nconfess, I could not regard with much complacence a man, whom the\nmachinations of the Jacobins had forced into the ministry, and whose\nhypocritical and affected resignation has contributed to deceive the\npeople, and ruin the King.\nLisle has all the air of a great town, and the mixture of commercial\nindustry and military occupation gives it a very gay and populous\nappearance. The Lillois are highly patriotic, highly incensed against\nthe Austrians, and regard the approaching siege with more contempt than\napprehension. I asked the servant who was making my bed this morning,\nhow far the enemy was off. _\"Une lieue et demie, ou deux lieues, a moins\nqu'ils ne soient plus avances depuis hier,\"_* repled she, with the utmost\nindifference.--I own, I did not much approve of such a vicinage, and a\nview of the fortifications (which did not make the less impression,\nbecause I did not understand them,) was absolutely necessary to raise my\ndrooping courage.\n *\"A league and a half, or two leagues; unless, indeed, they have\n advanced since yesterday.\"\nThis morning was dedicated to visiting the churches, citadel, and\nCollisee (a place of amusement in the manner of our Vauxhall); but all\nthese things have been so often described by much abler pens, that I\ncannot modestly pretend to add any thing on the subject.\nIn the evening we were at the theatre, which is large and handsome; and\nthe constant residence of a numerous garrison enables it to entertain a\nvery good set of performers:--their operas in particular are extremely\nwell got up. I saw Zemire et Azor given better than at Drury Lane.--In\nthe farce, which was called Le Francois a Londres, was introduced a\ncharacter they called that of an Englishman, (Jack Roastbeef,) who pays\nhis addresses to a nobleman's daughter, in a box coate, a large hat\nslouched over his eyes, and an oaken trowel in his hand--in short, the\nwhole figure exactly resembling that of a watchman. His conversation is\ngross and sarcastic, interlarded with oaths, or relieved by fits of\nsullen taciturnity--such a lover as one may suppose, though rich, and the\nchoice of the lady's father, makes no impression; and the author has\nflattered the national vanity by making the heroine give the preference\nto a French marquis. Now there is no doubt but nine-tenths of the\naudience thought this a good portraiture of the English character, and\nenjoyed it with all the satisfaction of conscious superiority.--The\nignorance that prevails with regard to our manners and customs, among a\npeople so near us, is surprizing. It is true, that the noblesse who have\nvisited England with proper recommendations, and have been introduced to\nthe best society, do us justice: the men of letters also, who, from party\nmotives, extol every thing English, have done us perhaps more than\njustice. But I speak of the French in general; not the lower classes\nonly, but the gentry of the provinces, and even those who in other\nrespects have pretensions to information. The fact is, living in England\nis expensive: a Frenchman, whose income here supports him as a gentleman,\ngoes over and finds all his habits of oeconomy insufficient to keep him\nfrom exceeding the limits he had prescribed to himself. His decent\nlodging alone costs him a great part of his revenue, and obliges him to\nbe strictly parsimonious of the rest. This drives him to associate\nchiefly with his own countrymen, to dine at obscure coffee-houses, and\npay his court to opera-dancers. He sees, indeed, our theatres, our\npublic walks, the outside of our palaces, and the inside of churches: but\nthis gives him no idea of the manners of the people in superior life, or\neven of easy fortune. Thus he goes home, and asserts to his untravelled\ncountrymen, that our King and nobility are ill lodged, our churches mean,\nand that the English are barbarians, who dine without soup, use no\nnapkin, and eat with their knives.--I have heard a gentleman of some\nrespectability here observe, that our usual dinner was an immense joint\nof meat half drest, and a dish of vegetables scarcely drest at all.--Upon\nquestioning him, I discovered he had lodged in St. Martin's Lane, had\nlikewise boarded at a country attorney's of the lowest class, and dined\nat an ordinary at Margate.\nSome few weeks ago the Marquis de P____ set out from Paris in the\ndiligence, and accompanied by his servant, with a design of emigrating.\nTheir only fellow-traveller was an Englishman, whom they frequently\naddressed, and endeavoured to enter into conversation with; but he either\nremained silent, or gave them to understand he was entirely ignorant of\nthe language. Under this persuasion the Marquis and his valet freely\ndiscussed their affairs, arranged their plan of emigration, and\nexpressed, with little ceremony, their political opinions.--At the end of\ntheir journey they were denounced by their companion, and conducted to\nprison. The magistrate who took the information mentioned the\ncircumstance when I happened to be present. Indignant at such an act in\nan Englishman, I enquired his name. You will judge of my surprize, when\nhe assured me it was the English Ambassador. I observed to him, that it\nwas not common for our Ambassadors to travel in stage-coaches: this, he\nsaid, he knew; but that having reason to suspect the Marquis, Monsieur\nl'Ambassadeur had had the goodness to have him watched, and had taken\nthis journey on purpose to detect him. It was not without much\nreasoning, and the evidence of a lady who had been in England long enough\nto know the impossibility of such a thing, that I would justify Lord\nG____ from this piece of complaisance to the Jacobins, and convince the\nworthy magistrate he had been imposed upon: yet this man is the Professor\nof Eloquence at a college, is the oracle of the Jacobin society; and may\nperhaps become a member of the Convention. This seems so almost\nincredibly absurd, that I should fear to repeat it, were it not known to\nmany besides myself; but I think I may venture to pronounce, from my own\nobservation, and that of others, whose judgement, and occasions of\nexercising it, give weight to their opinions, that the generality of the\nFrench who have read a little are mere pedants, nearly unacquainted with\nmodern nations, their commercial and political relation, their internal\nlaws, characters, or manners. Their studies are chiefly confined to\nRollin and Plutarch, the deistical works of Voltaire, and the visionary\npolitics of Jean Jaques. Hence they amuse their hearers with allusions\nto Caesar and Lycurgus, the Rubicon, and Thermopylae. Hence they pretend\nto be too enlightened for belief, and despise all governments not founded\non the Contrat Social, or the Profession de Foi.--They are an age removed\nfrom the useful literature and general information of the middle classes\nin their own country--they talk familiarly of Sparta and Lacedemon, and\nhave about the same idea of Russia as they have of Caffraria. Yours.\nLisle.\n\"Married to another, and that before those shoes were old with which she\nfollowed my poor father to the grave.\"--There is scarcely any\ncircumstance, or situation, in which, if one's memory were good, one\nshould not be mentally quoting Shakespeare. I have just now been\nwhispering the above, as I passed the altar of liberty, which still\nremains on the Grande Place. But \"a month, a little month,\" ago, on this\naltar the French swore to maintain the constitution, and to be faithful\nto the law and the King; yet this constitution is no more, the laws are\nviolated, the King is dethroned, and the altar is now only a monument of\nlevity and perjury, which they have not feeling enough to remove.\nThe Austrians are daily expected to besiege this place, and they may\ndestroy, but they will not take it. I do not, as you may suppose,\nventure to speak so decisively in a military point of view--I know as\nlittle as possible of the excellencies of Vauban, or the adequacy of the\ngarrison; but I draw my inference from the spirit of enthusiasm which\nprevails among the inhabitants of every class--every individual seems to\npartake of it: the streets resound with patriotic acclamations, patriotic\nsongs, war, and defiance.--Nothing can be more animating than the\ntheatre. Every allusion to the Austrians, every song or sentence,\nexpressive of determined resistance, is followed by bursts of assent,\neasily distinguishable not to be the effort of party, but the sentiment\nof the people in general. There are, doubtless, here, as in all other\nplaces, party dissensions; but the threatened siege seems at least to\nhave united all for their common defence: they know that a bomb makes no\ndistinction between Feuillans, Jacobins, or Aristocrates, and neither are\nso anxious to destroy the other, when it is only to be done at such a\nrisk to themselves. I am even willing to hope that something better than\nmere selfishness has a share in their uniting to preserve one of the\nfinest, and, in every sense, one of the most interesting, towns in\nFrance.\nLisle, Saturday.\nWe are just on our departure for Arras, where, I fear, we shall scarcely\narrive before the gates are shut. We have been detained here much beyond\nour time, by a circumstance infinitely shocking, though, in fact, not\nproperly a subject of regret. One of the assassins of General Dillon was\nthis morning guillotined before the hotel where we are lodged.--I did\nnot, as you will conclude, see the operation; but the mere circumstance\nof knowing the moment it was performed, and being so near it, has much\nunhinged me. The man, however, deserved his fate, and such an example\nwas particularly necessary at this time, when we are without a\ngovernment, and the laws are relaxed. The mere privation of life is,\nperhaps, more quickly effected by this instrument than by any other\nmeans; but when we recollect that the preparation for, and apprehension\nof, death, constitute its greatest terrors; that a human hand must give\nmotion to the Guillotine as well as to the axe; and that either accustoms\na people, already sanguinary, to the sight of blood, I think little is\ngained by the invention. It was imagined by a Mons. Guillotin, a\nphysician of Paris, and member of the Constituent Assembly. The original\ndesign seems not so much to spare pain to the criminal, as obloquy to the\nexecutioner. I, however, perceive little difference between a man's\ndirecting a Guillotine, or tying a rope; and I believe the people are of\nthe same opinion. They will never see any thing but a _bourreau_\n[executioner] in the man whose province it is to execute the sentence of\nthe laws, whatever name he may be called by, or whatever instrument he\nmay make use of.--I have concluded this letter with a very unpleasant\nsubject, but my pen is guided by circumstances, and I do not invent, but\ncommunicate.--Adieu. Yours, &c.\nArras, September 1, 1792.\nHad I been accompanied by an antiquary this morning, his sensibility\nwould have been severely exercised; for even I, whose respect for\nantiquity is not scientific, could not help lamenting the modern rage for\ndevastation which has seized the French. They are removing all \"the\ntime-honoured figures\" of the cathedral, and painting its massive\nsupporters in the style of a ball-room. The elaborate uncouthness of\nancient sculpture is not, indeed, very beautiful; yet I have often\nfancied there was something more simply pathetic in the aukward effigy of\nan hero kneeling amidst his trophies, or a regal pair with their\nsupplicating hands and surrounding offspring, than in the graceful\nfigures and poetic allegories of the modern artist. The humble intreaty\nto the reader to \"praye for the soule of the departed,\" is not very\nelegant--yet it is better calculated to recall the wanderings of\nmorality, than the flattering epitaph, a Fame hovering in the air, or the\nsuspended wreath of the remunerating angel.--But I moralize in vain--the\nrage of these new Goths is inexorable: they seem solicitous to destroy\nevery vestige of civilization, lest the people should remember they have\nnot always been barbarians.\nAfter obtaining an order from the municipality, we went to see the\ngardens and palace of the Bishop, who has emigrated. The garden has\nnothing very remarkable, but is large and well laid out, according to the\nold style. It forms a very agreeable walk, and, when the Bishop possest\nit, was open for the enjoyment of the inhabitants, but it is now shut up\nand in disorder. The house is plain, and substantially furnished, and\nexhibits no appearance of unbecoming luxury. The whole is now the\nproperty of the nation, and will soon be disposed of.--I could not help\nfeeling a sensation of melancholy as we walked over the apartments.\nEvery thing is marked in an inventory, just as left; and an air of\narrangement and residence leads one to reflect, that the owner did not\nimagine at his departure he was quitting it perhaps for ever. I am not\npartial to the original emigrants, yet much may be said for the Bishop of\nArras. He was pursued by ingratitude, and marked for persecution. The\nRobespierres were young men whom he had taken from a mean state, had\neducated, and patronized. The revolution gave them an opportunity of\ndisplaying their talents, and their talents procured them popularity.\nThey became enemies to the clergy, because their patron was a Bishop; and\nendeavoured to render their benefactor odious, because the world could\nnot forget, nor they forgive, how much they were indebted to him.--Vice\nis not often passive; nor is there often a medium between gratitude for\nbenefits, and hatred to the author of them. A little mind is hurt by the\nremembrance of obligation--begins by forgetting, and, not uncommonly,\nends by persecuting.\nWe dined and passed the afternoon from home to-day. After dinner our\nhostess, as usual, proposed cards; and, as usual in French societies,\nevery one assented: we waited, however, some time, and no cards came--\ntill, at length, conversation-parties were formed, and they were no\nlonger thought of. I have since learned, from one of the young women of\nthe house, that the butler and two footmen had all betaken themselves to\nclubs and Guinguettes,* and the cards, counters, &c. could not be\nobtained.\n * Small public houses in the vicinity of large towns, where the\n common people go on Sundays and festivals to dance and make merry.\nThis is another evil arising from the circumstances of the times. All\npeople of property have begun to bury their money and plate, and as the\nservants are often unavoidably privy to it, they are become idle and\nimpertinent--they make a kind of commutation of diligence for fidelity,\nand imagine that the observance of the one exempts them from the\nnecessity of the other. The clubs are a constant receptacle for\nidleness; and servants who think proper to frequent them do it with very\nlittle ceremony, knowing that few whom they serve would be imprudent\nenough to discharge them for their patriotism in attending a Jacobin\nsociety. Even servants who are not converts to the new principle cannot\nresist the temptation of abusing a little the power which they acquire\nfrom a knowledge of family affairs. Perhaps the effect of the revolution\nhas not, on the whole, been favourable to the morals of the lower class\nof people; but this shall be the subject of discussion at some future\nperiod, when I shall have had farther opportunities of judging.\nWe yesterday visited the Oratoire, a seminary for education, which is now\nsuppressed. The building is immense, and admirably calculated for the\npurpose, but is already in a state of dilapidation; so that, I fear, by\nthe time the legislature has determined what system of instruction shall\nbe substituted for that which has been abolished, the children (as the\nFrench are fond of examples from the ancients) will take their lessons,\nlike the Greeks, in the open air; and, in the mean while, become expert\nin lying and thieving, like the Spartans.\nThe Superior of the house is an immoderate revolutionist, speaks English\nvery well, and is a great admirer of our party writers. In his room I\nobserved a vast quantity of English books, and on his chimney stood what\nhe called a patriotic clock, the dial of which was placed between two\npyramids, on which were inscribed the names of republican authors, and on\nthe top of one was that of our countryman, Mr. Thomas Paine--whom, by the\nway, I understand you intended to exhibit in a much more conspicuous and\nless tranquil situation. I assure you, though you are ungrateful on your\nside of the water, he is in high repute here--his works are translated--\nall the Jacobins who can read quote, and all who can't, admire him; and\npossibly, at the very moment you are sentencing him to an installment in\nthe pillory, we may be awarding him a triumph.--Perhaps we are both\nright. He deserves the pillory, from you for having endeavoured to\ndestroy a good constitution--and the French may with equal reason grant\nhim a triumph, as their constitution is likely to be so bad, that even\nMr. Thomas Paine's writings may make it better!\nOur house is situated within view of a very pleasant public walk, where I\nam daily amused with a sight of the recruits at their exercise. This is\nnot quite so regular a business as the drill in the Park. The exercise\nis often interrupted by disputes between the officer and his eleves--some\nare for turning to the right, others to the left, and the matter is not\nunfrequently adjusted by each going the way that seemeth best unto\nhimself. The author of the _\"Actes des Apotres\"_ [The Acts of the\nApostles] cites a Colonel who reprimanded one of his corps for walking\nill--_\"Eh Dicentre,_ (replied the man,) _comment veux tu que je marche\nbien quand tu as fait mes souliers trop etroits.\"_* but this is no longer\na pleasantry--such circumstances are very common. A Colonel may often be\ntailor to his own regiment, and a Captain operated on the heads of his\nwhole company, in his civil capacity, before he commands them in his\nmilitary one.\n *\"And how the deuce can you expect me to march well, when you have\n made my shoes too tight?\"\nThe walks I have just mentioned have been extremely beautiful, but a\ngreat part of the trees have been cut down, and the ornamental parts\ndestroyed, since the revolution--I know not why, as they were open to the\npoor as well as the rich, and were a great embellishment to the low town.\nYou may think it strange that I should be continually dating some\ndestruction from the aera of the revolution--that I speak of every thing\ndemolished, and of nothing replaced. But it is not my fault--\"If freedom\ngrows destructive, I must paint it:\" though I should tell you, that in\nmany streets where convents have been sold, houses are building with the\nmaterials on the same site.--This is, however, not a work of the nation,\nbut of individuals, who have made their purchases cheap, and are\nhastening to change the form of their property, lest some new revolution\nshould deprive them of it.--Yours, &c.\nArras, September.\nNothing more powerfully excites the attention of a stranger on his first\narrival, than the number and wretchedness of the poor at Arras. In all\nplaces poverty claims compulsion, but here compassion is accompanied by\nhorror--one dares not contemplate the object one commiserates, and\ncharity relieves with an averted eye. Perhaps with Him, who regards\nequally the forlorn beggar stretched on the threshold, consumed by filth\nand disease, and the blooming beauty who avoids while she succours him,\nthe offering of humanity scarcely expiates the involuntary disgust; yet\nsuch is the weakness of our nature, that there exists a degree of misery\nagainst which one's senses are not proof, and benevolence itself revolts\nat the appearance of the poor of Arras.--These are not the cold and\nfastidious reflections of an unfeeling mind--they are not made without\npain: nor have I often felt the want of riches and consequence so much as\nin my incapacity to promote some means of permanent and substantial\nremedy for the evils I have been describing. I have frequently enquired\nthe cause of this singular misery, but can only learn that it always has\nbeen so. I fear it is, that the poor are without energy, and the rich\nwithout generosity. The decay of manufactures since the last century\nmust have reduced many families to indigence. These have been able to\nsubsist on the refuse of luxury, but, too supine for exertion, they have\nsought for nothing more; while the great, discharging their consciences\nwith the superfluity of what administered to their pride, fostered the\nevil, instead of endeavouring to remedy it. But the benevolence of the\nFrench is not often active, nor extensive; it is more frequently a\nreligious duty than a sentiment. They content themselves with affording\na mere existence to wretchedness; and are almost strangers to those\nenlightened and generous efforts which act beyond the moment, and seek\nnot only to relieve poverty, but to banish it. Thus, through the frigid\nand indolent charity of the rich, the misery which was at first\naccidental is perpetuated, beggary and idleness become habitual, and are\ntransmitted, like more fortunate inheritances, from one generation to\nanother.--This is not a mere conjecture--I have listened to the histories\nof many of these unhappy outcasts, who were more than thirty years old,\nand they have all told me, they were born in the state in which I beheld\nthem, and that they did not remember to have heard that their parents\nwere in any other. The National Assembly profess to effectuate an entire\nregeneration of the country, and to eradicate all evils, moral, physical,\nand political. I heartily wish the numerous and miserable poor, with\nwhich Arras abounds, may become one of the first objects of reform; and\nthat a nation which boasts itself the most polished, the most powerful,\nand the most philosophic in the world, may not offer to the view so many\nobjects shocking to humanity.\nThe citadel of Arras is very strong, and, as I am told, the chef d'oeuvre\nof Vauban; but placed with so little judgement, that the military call it\n_la belle inutile_ [the useless beauty]. It is now uninhabited, and\nwears an appearance of desolation--the commandant and all the officers of\nthe ancient government having been forced to abandon it; their houses\nalso are much damaged, and the gardens entirely destroyed.--I never heard\nthat this popular commotion had any other motive than the general war of\nthe new doctrines on the old.\nI am sorry to see that most of the volunteers who go to join the army are\neither old men or boys, tempted by extraordinary pay and scarcity of\nemploy. A cobler who has been used to rear canary-birds for Mad. de\n____, brought us this morning all the birds he was possessed of, and told\nus he was going to-morrow to the frontiers. We asked him why, at his\nage, he should think of joining the army. He said, he had already\nserved, and that there were a few months unexpired of the time that would\nentitle him to his pension.--\"Yes; but in the mean while you may get\nkilled; and then of what service will your claim to a pension be?\"--\n_\"N'ayez pas peur, Madame--Je me menagerai bien--on ne se bat pas pour ces\ngueux la comme pour son Roi.\"_*\n * \"No fear of that, Madam--I'll take good care of myself: a man does\n not fight for such beggarly rascals as these as he would for his\nM. de ____ is just returned from the camp of Maulde, where he has been to\nsee his son. He says, there is great disorder and want of discipline,\nand that by some means or other the common soldiers abound more in money,\nand game higher, than their officers. There are two young women,\ninhabitants of the town of St. Amand, who go constantly out on all\nskirmishing parties, exercise daily with the men, and have killed several\nof the enemy. They are both pretty--one only sixteen, the other a year\nor two older. Mr. de ____ saw them as they were just returning from a\nreconnoitring party. Perhaps I ought to have been ashamed after this\nrecital to decline an invitation from Mr. de R___'s son to dine with him\nat the camp; but I cannot but feel that I am an extreme coward, and that\nI should eat with no appetite in sight of an Austrian army. The very\nidea of these modern Camillas terrifies me--their creation seems an error\nof nature.*\n * Their name was Fernig; they were natives of St. Amand, and of no\n remarkable origin. They followed Dumouriez into Flanders, where\n they signalized themselves greatly, and became Aides-de-Camp to that\n General. At the time of his defection, one of them was shot by a\n soldier, whose regiment she was endeavouring to gain over. Their\n house having been razed by the Austrians at the beginning of the\n war, was rebuilt at the expence of the nation; but, upon their\n participation in Dumouriez' treachery, a second decree of the\n Assembly again levelled it with the ground.\nOur host, whose politeness is indefatigable, accompanied us a few days\nago to St. Eloy, a large and magnificent abbey, about six miles from\nArras. It is built on a terrace, which commands the surrounding country\nas far as Douay; and I think I counted an hundred and fifty steps from\nthe house to the bottom of the garden, which is on a level with the road.\nThe cloisters are paved with marble, and the church neat and beautiful\nbeyond description. The iron work of the choir imitates flowers and\nfoliage with so much taste and delicacy, that (but for the colour) one\nwould rather suppose it to be soil, than any durable material.--The monks\nstill remain, and although the decree has passed for their suppression,\nthey cannot suppose it will take place. They are mostly old men, and,\nthough I am no friend to these institutions, they were so polite and\nhospitable that I could not help wishing they were permitted, according\nto the design of the first Assembly, to die in their habitations--\nespecially as the situation of St. Eloy renders the building useless for\nany other purpose.--A friend of Mr. de ____ has a charming country-house\nnear the abbey, which he has been obliged to deny himself the enjoyment\nof, during the greatest part of the summer; for whenever the family\nreturn to Arras, their persons and their carriage are searched at the\ngate, as strictly as though they were smugglers just arrived from the\ncoast, under the pretence that they may assist the religious of St. Eloy\nin securing some of their property, previous to the final seizure.\nI observe, in walking the streets here, that the common people still\nretain much of the Spanish cast of features: the women are remarkably\nplain, and appear still more so by wearing faals. The faal is about two\nells of black silk or stuff, which is hung, without taste or form, on the\nhead, and is extremely unbecoming: but it is worn only by the lower\nclass, or by the aged and devotees.\nI am a very voluminous correspondent, but if I tire you, it is a proper\npunishment for your insincerity in desiring me to continue so. I have\nheard of a governor of one of our West India islands who was universally\ndetested by its inhabitants, but who, on going to England, found no\ndifficulty in procuring addresses expressive of approbation and esteem.\nThe consequence was, he came back and continued governor for life.--Do\nyou make the application of my anecdote, and I shall persevere in\nscribbling.--Every Yours.\nArras.\nIt is not fashionable at present to frequent any public place; but as we\nare strangers, and of no party, we often pass our evenings at the\ntheatre. I am fond of it--not so much on account of the representation,\nas of the opportunity which it affords for observing the dispositions of\nthe people, and the bias intended to be given them. The stage is now\nbecome a kind of political school, where the people are taught hatred to\nKings, Nobility, and Clergy, according as the persecution of the moment\nrequires; and, I think, one may often judge from new pieces the meditated\nsacrifice. A year ago, all the sad catalogue of human errors were\npersonified in Counts and Marquisses; they were not represented as\nindividuals whom wealth and power had made something too proud, and much\ntoo luxurious, but as an order of monsters, whose existence,\nindependently of their characters, was a crime, and whose hereditary\npossessions alone implied a guilt, not to be expiated but by the\nforfeiture of them. This, you will say, was not very judicious; and that\nby establishing a sort of incompatibility of virtue with titular\ndistinctions, the odium was transferred from the living to the dead--from\nthose who possessed these distinctions to those who instituted them.\nBut, unfortunately, the French were disposed to find their noblesse\nculpable, and to reject every thing which tended to excuse or favour\nthem. The hauteur of the noblesse acted as a fatal equivalent to every\nother crime; and many, who did not credit other imputations, rejoiced in\nthe humiliation of their pride. The people, the rich merchants, and even\nthe lesser gentry, all eagerly concurred in the destruction of an order\nthat had disdained or excluded them; and, perhaps, of all the innovations\nwhich have taken place, the abolition of rank has excited the least\ninterest.\nIt is now less necessary to blacken the noblesse, and the compositions of\nthe day are directed against the Throne, the Clergy, and Monastic Orders.\nAll the tyrants of past ages are brought from the shelves of faction and\npedantry, and assimilated to the mild and circumscribed monarchs of\nmodern Europe. The doctrine of popular sovereignty is artfully\ninstilled, and the people are stimulated to exert a power which they must\nimplicitly delegate to those who have duped and misled them. The frenzy\nof a mob is represented as the sublimest effort of patriotism; and\nambition and revenge, usurping the title of national justice, immolate\ntheir victims with applause. The tendency of such pieces is too obvious;\nand they may, perhaps, succeed in familiarizing the minds of the people\nto events which, a few months ago, would have filled them with horror.\nThere are also numerous theatrical exhibitions, preparatory to the\nremoval of the nuns from their convents, and to the banishment of the\npriests. Ancient prejudices are not yet obliterated, and I believe some\npains have been taken to justify these persecutions by calumny. The\nhistory of our dissolution of the monasteries has been ransacked for\nscandal, and the bigotry and biases of all countries are reduced into\nabstracts, and exposed on the stage. The most implacable revenge, the\nmost refined malice, the extremes of avarice and cruelty, are wrought\ninto tragedies, and displayed as acting under the mask of religion and\nthe impunity of a cloister; while operas and farces, with ridicule still\nmore successful, exhibit convents as the abode of licentiousness,\nintrigue, and superstition.\nThese efforts have been sufficiently successful--not from the merit of\nthe pieces, but from the novelty of the subject. The people in general\nwere strangers to the interior of convents: they beheld them with that\nkind of respect which is usually produced in uninformed minds by mystery\nand prohibition. Even the monastic habit was sacred from dramatic uses;\nso that a representation of cloisters, monks, and nuns, their costumes\nand manners, never fails to attract the multitude.--But the same cause\nwhich renders them curious, makes them credulous. Those who have seen no\nfarther than the Grille, and those who have been educated in convents,\nare equally unqualified to judge of the lives of the religious; and their\nminds, having no internal conviction or knowledge of the truth, easily\nbecome the converts of slander and falsehood.\nI cannot help thinking, that there is something mean and cruel in this\nprocedure. If policy demand the sacrifice, it does not require that the\nvictims should be rendered odious; and if it be necessary to dispossess\nthem of their habitations, they ought not, at the moment they are thrown\nupon the world, to be painted as monsters unworthy of its pity or\nprotection. It is the cowardice of the assassin, who murders before he\ndares to rob.\nThis custom of making public amusements subservient to party, has, I\ndoubt not, much contributed to the destruction of all against whom it has\nbeen employed; and theatrical calumny seems to be always the harbinger of\napproaching ruin to its object; yet this is not the greatest evil which\nmay arise from these insidious politics--they are equally unfavourable\nboth to the morals and taste of the people; the first are injured beyond\ncalculation, and the latter corrupted beyond amendment. The orders of\nsociety, which formerly inspired respect or veneration, are now debased\nand exploded; and mankind, once taught to see nothing but vice and\nhypocrisy in those whom they had been accustomed to regard as models of\nvirtue, are easily led to doubt the very existence of virtue itself: they\nknow not where to turn for either instruction or example; no prospect is\noffered to them but the dreary and uncomfortable view of general\ndepravity; and the individual is no longer encouraged to struggle with\nvicious propensities, when he concludes them irresistibly inherent in his\nnature. Perhaps it was not possible to imagine principles at once so\nseductive and ruinous as those now disseminated. How are the morals of\nthe people to resist a doctrine which teaches them that the rich only can\nbe criminal, and that poverty is a substitute for virtue--that wealth is\nholden by the sufferance of those who do not possess it--and that he who\nis the frequenter of a club, or the applauder of a party, is exempt from\nthe duties of his station, and has a right to insult and oppress his\nfellow citizens? All the weaknesses of humanity are flattered and called\nto the aid of this pernicious system of revolutionary ethics; and if\nFrance yet continue in a state of civilization, it is because Providence\nhas not yet abandoned her to the influence of such a system.\nTaste is, I repeat it, as little a gainer by the revolution as morals.\nThe pieces which were best calculated to form and refine the minds of the\npeople, all abound with maxims of loyalty, with respect for religion, and\nthe subordinations of civil society. These are all prohibited; and are\nreplaced by fustian declamations, tending to promote anarchy and discord\n--by vulgar and immoral farces, and insidious and flattering panegyrics\non the vices of low life. No drama can succeed that is not supported by\nthe faction; and this support is to be procured only by vilifying the\nThrone, the Clergy, and Noblesse. This is a succedaneum for literary\nmerit, and those who disapprove are menaced into silence; while the\nmultitude, who do not judge but imitate, applaud with their leaders--and\nthus all their ideas become vitiated, and imbibe the corruption of their\nfavourite amusement.\nI have dwelt on this subject longer than I intended; but as I would not\nbe supposed prejudiced nor precipitate in my assertions, I will, by the\nfirst occasion, send you some of the most popular farces and tragedies:\nyou may then decide yourself upon the tendency; and, by comparing the\ndispositions of the French before, and within, the last two years, you\nmay also determine whether or not my conclusions are warranted by fact.\nAdieu.--Yours.\nArras.\nOur countrymen who visit France for the first time--their imaginations\nfilled with the epithets which the vanity of one nation has appropriated,\nand the indulgence of the other sanctioned--are astonished to find this\n\"land of elegance,\" this refined people, extremely inferior to the\nEnglish in all the arts that minister to the comfort and accommodation of\nlife. They are surprized to feel themselves starved by the intrusion of\nall the winds of heaven, or smothered by volumes of smoke--that no lock\nwill either open or shut--that the drawers are all immoveable--and that\nneither chairs nor tables can be preserved in equilibrium. In vain do\nthey inquire for a thousand conveniences which to them seem\nindispensible; they are not to be procured, or even their use is unknown:\ntill at length, after a residence in a score of houses, in all of which\nthey observe the same deficiencies, they begin to grow sceptical, to\ndoubt the pretended superiority of France, and, perhaps for the first\ntime, do justice to their own unassuming country. It must however, be\nconfessed, that if the chimnies smoke, they are usually surrounded by\nmarble--that the unstable chair is often covered with silk--and that if a\nroom be cold, it is plentifully decked with gilding, pictures, and\nglasses.--In short, a French house is generally more showy than\nconvenient, and seldom conveys that idea of domestic comfort which\nconstitutes the luxury of an Englishman.\nI observe, that the most prevailing ornaments here are family portraits:\nalmost every dwelling, even among the lower kind of tradesmen, is peopled\nwith these ensigns of vanity; and the painters employed on these\noccasions, however deficient in other requisites of their art, seem to\nhave an unfortunate knack at preserving likenesses. Heads powdered even\nwhiter than the originals, laced waistcoats, enormous lappets, and\ncountenances all ingeniously disposed so as to smile at each other,\nencumber the wainscot, and distress the unlucky visitor, who is obliged\nto bear testimony to the resemblance. When one sees whole rooms filled\nwith these figures, one cannot help reflecting on the goodness of\nProvidence, which thus distributes self-love, in proportion as it denies\nthose gifts that excite the admiration of others.\nYou must not understand what I have said on the furniture of French\nhouses as applying to those of the nobility or people of extraordinary\nfortunes, because they are enabled to add the conveniences of other\ncountries to the luxuries of their own. Yet even these, in my opinion,\nhave not the uniform elegance of an English habitation: there is always\nsome disparity between the workmanship and the materials--some mixture of\nsplendour and clumsiness, and a want of what the painters call keeping;\nbut the houses of the gentry, the lesser noblesse, and merchants, are,\nfor the most part, as I have described---abounding in silk, marble,\nglasses, and pictures; but ill finished, dirty, and deficient in articles\nof real use.--I should, however, notice, that genteel people are cleaner\nhere than in the interior parts of the kingdom. The floors are in\ngeneral of oak, or sometimes of brick; but they are always rubbed bright,\nand have not that filthy appearance which so often disgusts one in French\nhouses.\nThe heads of the lower classes of people are much disturbed by these new\nprinciples of universal equality. We enquired of a man we saw near a\ncoach this morning if it was hired. \"Monsieur--(quoth he--then checking\nhimself suddenly,)--no, I forgot, I ought not to say Monsieur, for they\ntell me I am equal to any body in the world: yet, after all, I know not\nwell if this may be true; and as I have drunk out all I am worth, I\nbelieve I had better go home and begin work again to-morrow.\" This new\ndisciple of equality had, indeed, all the appearance of having sacrificed\nto the success of the cause, and was then recovering from a dream of\ngreatness which he told us had lasted two days.\nSince the day of taking the new oath we have met many equally elevated,\nthough less civil. Some are undoubtedly paid, but others will distress\ntheir families for weeks by this celebration of their new discoveries,\nand must, after all, like our intoxicated philosopher, be obliged to\nreturn \"to work again to-morrow.\"\nI must now bid you adieu--and, in doing so, naturally turn my thoughts to\nthat country where the rights of the people consist not of sterile and\nmetaphysic declarations, but of real defence and protection. May they\nfor ever remain uninterrupted by the devastating chimeras of their\nneighbours; and if they seek reform, may it be moderate and permanent,\nacceded to reason, and not extorted by violence!--Yours, &c.\nSeptember 2, 1792.\nWe were so much alarmed at the theatre on Thursday, that I believe we\nshall not venture again to amuse ourselves at the risk of a similar\noccurrence. About the middle of the piece, a violent outcry began from\nall parts of the house, and seemed to be directed against our box; and I\nperceived Madame Duchene, the Presidente of the Jacobins, heading the\nlegions of Paradise with peculiar animation. You may imagine we were not\na little terrified. I anxiously examined the dress of myself and my\ncompanions, and observing nothing that could offend the affected\nsimplicity of the times, prepared to quit the house. A friendly voice,\nhowever, exerting itself above the clamour, informed us that the\noffensive objects were a cloak and a shawl which hung over the front of\nthe box.--You will scarcely suppose such grossness possible among a\ncivilized people; but the fact is, our friends are of the proscribed\nclass, and we were insulted because in their society.--I have before\nnoticed, that the guards which were stationed in the theatre before the\nrevolution are now removed, and a municipal officer, made conspicuous by\nhis scarf, is placed in the middle front box, and, in case of any tumult,\nis empowered to call in the military to his assistance.\nWe have this morning been visiting two objects, which exhibit this\ncountry in very different points of view--as the seat of wealth, and the\nabode of poverty. The first is the abbey of St. Vaast, a most superb\npile, now inhabited by monks of various orders, but who are preparing to\nquit it, in obedience to the late decrees. Nothing impresses one with a\nstronger idea of the influence of the Clergy, than these splendid\nedifices. We see them reared amidst the solitude of deserts, and in the\ngaiety and misery of cities; and while they cheer the one and embellish\nthe other, they exhibit, in both, monuments of indefatigable labour and\nimmense wealth.--The facade of St. Vaast is simple and striking, and the\ncloisters and every other part of the building are extremely handsome.\nThe library is supposed to be the finest in France, except the King's,\nbut is now under the seal of the nation. A young monk, who was our\nCicerone, told us he was sorry it was not in his power to show it. _\"Et\nnous, Monsieur, nous sommes faches aussi.\"_--[\"And we are not less sorry\nthan yourself, Sir.\"]\nThus, with the aid of significant looks, and gestures of disapprobation,\nan exchange of sentiments took place, without a single expression of\ntreasonable import: both parties understood perfectly well, that in\nregretting that the library was inaccessible, each included all the\ncircumstances which attended it.--A new church was building in a style\nworthy of the convent--I think, near four hundred feet long; but it was\ndiscontinued at the suppression of the religious orders, and will now, of\ncourse, never be finished.\nFrom this abode of learned case and pious indolence Mr. de ____ conducted\nus to the Mont de Piete, a national institution for lending money to the\npoor on pledges, (at a moderate interest,) which, if not redeemed within\na year, are sold by auction, and the overplus, if there remain any, after\ndeducting the interest, is given to the owner of the pledge. Thousands\nof small packets are deposited here, which, to the eye of affluence,\nmight seem the very refuse of beggary itself.--I could not reflect\nwithout an heart-ache, on the distress of the individual, thus driven to\nrelinquish his last covering, braving cold to satisfy hunger, and\naccumulating wretchedness by momentary relief. I saw, in a lower room,\ngroupes of unfortunate beings, depriving themselves of different parts of\ntheir apparel, and watching with solicitude the arbitrary valuations;\nothers exchanging some article of necessity for one of a still greater--\nsome in a state of intoxication, uttering execrations of despair; and all\nexhibiting a picture of human nature depraved and miserable.--While I was\nviewing this scene, I recalled the magnificent building we had just left,\nand my first emotions were those of regret and censure. When we only\nfeel, and have not leisure to reflect, we are indignant that vast sums\nshould be expended on sumptuous edifices, and that the poor should live\nin vice and want; yet the erection of St. Vaast must have maintained\ngreat numbers of industrious hands; and perhaps the revenues of the abbey\nmay not, under its new possessors, be so well employed. When the\nofferings and the tributes to religion are the support of the industrious\npoor, it is their best appropriation; and he who gives labour for a day,\nis a more useful benefactor than he who maintains in idleness for two.\n--I could not help wishing that the poor might no longer be tempted by\nthe facility of a resource, which perhaps, in most instances, only\nincreases their distress.--It is an injudicious expedient to palliate an\nevil, which great national works, and the encouragement of industry and\nmanufactures, might eradicate.*\n * In times of public commotion people frequently send their valuable\n effects to the Mont de Piete, not only as being secure by its\n strength, but as it is respected by the people, who are interested\n in its preservation.\n--With these reflections I concluded mental peace with the monks of St.\nVaast, and would, had it depended upon me, have readily comprized the\nfinishing their great church in the treaty.\nThe Primary Assemblies have already taken place in this department. We\nhappened to enter a church while the young Robespierre was haranguing to\nan audience, very little respectable either in numbers or appearance.\nThey were, however, sufficiently unanimous, and made up in noisy applause\nwhat they wanted in other respects. If the electors and elected of other\ndepartments be of the same complexion with those of Arras, the new\nAssembly will not, in any respect, be preferable to the old one. I have\nreproached many of the people of this place, who, from their education\nand property, have a right to take an interest in the public affairs,\nwith thus suffering themselves to be represented by the most desperate\nand worthless individuals of the town. Their defence is, that they are\ninsulted and overpowered if they attend the popular meetings, and by\nelecting _\"les gueux et les scelerats pour deputes,\"_* they send them to\nParis, and secure their own local tranquillity.\n * The scrubs and scoundrels for deputies.\n--The first of these assertions is but too true, yet I cannot but think\nthe second a very dangerous experiment. They remove these turbulent and\nneedy adventurers from the direction of a club to that of government, and\nprocure a partial relief by contributing to the general ruin.\nParis is said to be in extreme fermentation, and we are in some anxiety\nfor our friend M. P____, who was to go there from Montmorency last week.\nI shall not close my letter till I have heard from him.\nSeptember 4.\nI resume my pen after a sleepless night, and with an oppression of mind\nnot to be described. Paris is the scene of proscription and massacres.\nThe prisoners, the clergy, the noblesse, all that are supposed inimical\nto public faction, or the objects of private revenge, are sacrificed\nwithout mercy. We are here in the utmost terror and consternation--we\nknow not the end nor the extent of these horrors, and every one is\nanxious for himself or his friends. Our society consists mostly of\nfemales, and we do not venture out, but hover together like the fowls of\nheaven, when warned by a vague yet instinctive dread of the approaching\nstorm. We tremble at the sound of voices in the street, and cry, with\nthe agitation of Macbeth, \"there's knocking at the gate.\" I do not\nindeed envy, but I most sincerely regret, the peace and safety of\nEngland.--I have no courage to add more, but will enclose a hasty\ntranslation of the letter we received from M. P____, by last night's\npost. Humanity cannot comment upon it without shuddering.--Ever Yours,\n\"Rue St. Honore, Sept. 2, 1792.\n\"In a moment like this, I should be easily excused a breach of promise in\nnot writing; yet when I recollect the apprehension which the kindness of\nmy amiable friends will feel on my account, I determine, even amidst the\ndanger and desolation that surround me, to relieve them.--Would to Heaven\nI had nothing more alarming to communicate than my own situation! I may\nindeed suffer by accident; but thousands of wretched victims are at this\nmoment marked for sacrifice, and are massacred with an execrable\nimitation of rule and order: a ferocious and cruel multitude, headed by\nchosen assassins, are attacking the prisons, forcing the houses of the\nnoblesse and priests, and, after a horrid mockery of judicial\ncondemnation, execute them on the spot. The tocsin is rung, alarm guns\nare fired, the streets resound with fearful shrieks, and an undefinable\nsensation of terror seizes on one's heart. I feel that I have committed\nan imprudence in venturing to Paris; but the barriers are now shut, and I\nmust abide the event. I know not to what these proscriptions tend, or if\nall who are not their advocates are to be their victims; but an\nungovernable rage animates the people: many of them have papers in their\nhands that seem to direct them to their objects, to whom they hurry in\ncrouds with an eager and savage fury.--I have just been obliged to quit\nmy pen. A cart had stopped near my lodgings, and my ears were assailed\nby the groans of anguish, and the shouts of frantic exultation.\nUncertain whether to descend or remain, I, after a moment's deliberation,\nconcluded it would be better to have shown myself than to have appeared\nto avoid it, in case the people should enter the house, and therefore\nwent down with the best show of courage I could assume.--I will draw a\nveil over the scene that presented itself--nature revolts, and my fair\nfriends would shudder at the detail. Suffice it to say, that I saw cars,\nloaded with the dead and dying, and driven by their yet ensanguined\nmurderers; one of whom, in a tone of exultation, cried, 'Here is a\nglorious day for France!' I endeavoured to assent, though with a\nfaultering voice, and, as soon as they were passed escaped to my room.\nYou may imagine I shall not easily recover the shock I received.--At this\nmoment they say, the enemy are retreating from Verdun. At any other time\nthis would have been desirable, but at present one knows not what to wish\nfor. Most probably, the report is only spread with the humane hope of\nappeasing the mob. They have already twice attacked the Temple; and I\ntremble lest this asylum of fallen majesty should ere morning, be\nviolated.\n\"Adieu--I know not if the courier will be permitted to depart; but, as I\nbelieve the streets are not more unsafe than the houses, I shall make an\nattempt to send this. I will write again in a few days. If to-morrow\nshould prove calm, I shall be engaged in enquiring after the fate of my\nfriends.--I beg my respects to Mons. And Mad. de ____; and entreat you\nall to be as tranquil as such circumstances will permit.--You may be\ncertain of hearing any news that can give you pleasure immediately. I\nhave the honour to be,\" &c. &c.\nArras, September, 1792.\nYou will in future, I believe, find me but a dull correspondent. The\nnatural timidity of my disposition, added to the dread which a native of\nEngland has of any violation of domestic security, renders me unfit for\nthe scenes I am engaged in. I am become stupid and melancholy, and my\nletters will partake of the oppression of my mind.\nAt Paris, the massacres at the prisons are now over, but those in the\nstreets and in private houses still continue. Scarcely a post arrives\nthat does not inform M. de ____ of some friend or acquaintance being\nsacrificed. Heaven knows where this is to end!\nWe had, for two days, notice that, pursuant to a decree of the Assembly,\ncommissioners were expected here at night, and that the tocsin would be\nrung for every body to deliver up their arms. We did not dare go to bed\non either of these nights, but merely lay down in our robes de chambre,\nwithout attempting to sleep. This dreaded business is, however, past.\nParties of the Jacobins paraded the streets yesterday morning, and\ndisarmed all they thought proper. I observed they had lists in their\nhands, and only went to such houses as have an external appearance of\nproperty. Mr. de ____, who has been in the service thirty years,\ndelivered his arms to a boy, who behaved to him with the utmost\ninsolence, whilst we sat trembling and almost senseless with fear the\nwhole time they remained in the house; and could I give you an idea of\ntheir appearance, you would think my terror very justifiable. It is,\nindeed, strange and alarming, that all who have property should be\ndeprived of the means of defending either that or their lives, at a\nmoment when Paris is giving an example of tumult and assassination to\nevery other part of the kingdom. Knowing no good reason for such\nprocedure, it is very natural to suspect a bad one.--I think, on many\naccounts, we are more exposed here than at ____, and as soon as we can\nprocure horses we shall depart.--The following is the translation of our\nlast letter from Mr. P____.\n\"I promised my kind friends to write as soon as I should have any thing\nsatisfactory to communicate: but, alas! I have no hope of being the\nharbinger of any thing but circumstances of a very different tendency.\nI can only give you details of the horrors I have already generally\ndescribed. Carnage has not yet ceased; and is only become more cool and\nmore discriminating. All the mild characteristics annihilated; and a\nfrantic cruelty, which is dignified with the name of patriotism, has\nusurped ever faculty, and banished both reason and mercy.\n\"Mons. ____, whom I have hitherto known by reputation, as an upright, and\neven humane man, had a brother shut up, with a number of other priests,\nat the Carmes; and, by his situation and connections, he has such\ninfluence as might, if exerted, have preserved the latter. The\nunfortunate brother knowing this, found means, while hourly expecting his\nfate, to convey a note to Mr. ____, begging he would immediately release,\nand procure him an asylum. The messenger returned with an answer, that\nMons. ____ had no relations in the enemies of his country!\n\"A few hours after, the massacres at the Carmes took place.--One Panis,*\nwho is in the Comite de Surveillance, had, a few days previous to these\ndreadful events, become, I know not on what occasion, the depositary of a\nlarge sum of money belonging to a gentleman of his section.\n * Panis has since figured on various occasions. He is a member of\n the Convention, and was openly accused of having been an accomplice\n in the robbery of the Garde Meuble.\n\"A secret and frivolous denunciation was made the pretext for throwing\nthe owner of the money into prison, where he remained till September,\nwhen his friends, recollecting his danger, flew to the Committee and\napplied for his discharge. Unfortunately, the only member of the\nCommittee present was Panis. He promised to take measures for an\nimmediate release.--Perhaps he kept his word, but the release was cruel\nand final--the prison was attacked, and the victim heard of no more.--You\nwill not be surprized at such occurrences when I tell you that G____,*\nwhom you must remember to have heard of as a Jacobin at ____, is\nPresident of the Committee above mentioned--yes, an assassin is now the\nprotector of the public safety, and the commune of Paris the patron of a\ncriminal who has merited the gibbet.\n * G____ was afterwards elected (doubtless by a recommendation of the\n Jacobins) Deputy for the department of Finisterre, to which he was\n sent Commissioner by the Convention. On account of some\n unwarrantable proceedings, and of some words that escaped him, which\n gave rise to a suspicion that he was privy to the robbery of the\n Garde Meuble, he was arrested by the municipality of Quimper\n Corentin, of which place he is a native. The Jacobins applied for\n his discharge, and for the punishment of the municipality; but the\n Convention, who at that time rarely took any decisive measures,\n ordered G____ to be liberated, but evaded the other part of the\n petition which tended to revenge him. The affair of the Garde\n Meuble, was, however, again brought forward; but, most probably,\n many of the members had reasons for not discussing too nearly the\n accusation against G____; and those who were not interested in\n suppressing it, were too weak or too timid to pursue it farther.\n\"--I know not if we are yet arrived at the climax of woe and iniquity,\nbut Brissot, Condorcet, Rolland, &c. and all those whose principles you\nhave reprobated as violent and dangerous, will now form the moderate side\nof the Assembly. Perhaps even those who are now the party most dreaded,\nmay one day give place to yet more desperate leaders, and become in their\nturn our best alternative. What will then be the situation of France?\nWho can reflect without trembling at the prospect?--It is not yet safe to\nwalk the streets decently dressed; and I have been obliged to supply\nmyself with trowsers, a jacket, coloured neckcloths, and coarse linen,\nwhich I take care to soil before I venture out.\n\"The Agrarian law is now the moral of Paris, and I had nearly lost my\nlife yesterday by tearing a placard written in support of it. I did it\nimprudently, not supposing I was observed; and had not some people, known\nas Jacobins, come up and interfered in my behalf, the consequence might\nhave been fatal.--It would be difficult, and even impossible, to attempt\na description of the manners of the people of Paris at this moment: the\nlicentiousness common to great cities is decency compared with what\nprevails in this; it has features of a peculiar and striking description,\nand the general expression is that of a monstrous union of opposite\nvices. Alternately dissolute and cruel, gay and vindictive, the Parisian\nvaunts amidst debauchery the triumph of assassination, and enlivens his\nmidnight orgies by recounting the sufferings of the massacred\naristocrates: women, whose profession it is to please, assume the _bonnet\nrouge_ [red cap], and affect, as a means of seduction, an intrepid and\nferocious courage.--I cannot yet learn if Mons. S____'s sister be alive;\nher situation about the Queen makes it too doubtful; but endeavour to\ngive him hope--many may have escaped whose fears still detain them in\nconcealment. People of the first rank now inhabit garrets and cellars,\nand those who appear are disguised beyond recollection; so that I do not\ndespair of the safety of some, who are now thought to have perished.--\nI am, as you may suppose, in haste to leave this place, and I hope to\nreturn to Montmorency tomorrow; but every body is soliciting passports.\nThe Hotel de Ville is besieged, and I have already attended two days\nwithout success.--I beg my respectful homage to Monsieur and Madame de\n____; and I have the honour to be, with esteem, the affectionate servant\nof my friends in general.\nYou will read M. L____'s letter with all the grief and indignation we\nhave already felt, and I will make no comment on it, but to give you a\nslight sketch of the history of Guermeur, whom he mentions as being\nPresident of the Committee of Surveillance.--In the absence of a man,\nwhom he called his friend, he seduced his wife, and eloped with her: the\nhusband overtook them, and fell in the dispute which insued; when\nGuermeur, to avoid being taken by the officers of justice, abandoned his\ncompanion to her fate, and escaped alone. After a variety of adventures,\nhe at length enlisted himself as a grenadier in the regiment of Dillon.\nWith much assurance, and talents cultivated above the situation in which\nhe appeared, he became popular amongst his fellow-soldiers, and the\nmilitary impunity, which is one effect of the revolution, cast a veil\nover his former guilt, or rather indeed enabled him to defy the\npunishment annexed to it. When the regiment was quartered at ____, he\nfrequented and harangued at the Jacobin club, perverted the minds of the\nsoldiers by seditious addresses, till at length he was deemed qualified\nto quit the character of a subordinate incendiary, and figure amongst the\nassassins at Paris. He had hitherto, I believe, acted without pay, for\nhe was deeply in debt, and without money or clothes; but a few days\nprevious to the tenth of August, a leader of the Jacobins supplied him\nwith both, paid his debts, procured his discharge, and sent him to Paris.\nWhat intermediate gradations he may have passed through, I know not; but\nit is not difficult to imagine the services that have advanced him to his\npresent situation.--It would be unsafe to risk this letter by the post,\nand I close it hastily to avail myself of a present conveyance.--I\nremain, Yours, &c.\nArras, September 14, 1792.\nThe camp of Maulde is broken up, and we deferred our journey, that we\nmight pass a day at Douay with M. de ____'s son. The road within some\nmiles of that place is covered with corn and forage, the immediate\nenvirons are begun to be inundated, and every thing wears the appearance\nof impending hostility. The town is so full of troops, that without the\ninterest of our military friends we should scarcely have procured a\nlodging. All was bustle and confusion, the enemy are very near, and the\nFrench are preparing to form a camp under the walls. Amidst all this, we\nfound it difficult to satisfy our curiosity in viewing the churches and\npictures: some of the former are shut, and the latter concealed; we\ntherefore contented ourselves with seeing the principal ones.\nThe town-house is a very handsome building, where the Parliament was\nholden previous to the revolution, and where all the business of the\ndepartment of the North is now transacted.--In the council-chamber, which\nis very elegantly carved, was also a picture of the present King. They\nwere, at the very moment of our entrance, in the act of displacing it.\nWe asked the reason, and were told it was to be cut in pieces, and\nportions sent to the different popular societies.--I know not if our\nfeatures betrayed the indignation we feared to express, but the man who\nseemed to have directed this disposal of the portrait, told us we were\nnot English if we saw it with regret. I was not much delighted with such\na compliment to our country, and was glad to escape without farther\ncomment.\nThe manners of the people seem every where much changed, and are becoming\ngross and inhuman. While we were walking on the ramparts, I happened to\nhave occasion to take down an address, and with the paper and pencil in\nmy hand turned out of the direct path to observe a chapel on one side of\nit. In a moment I was alarmed by the cries of my companions, and beheld\nthe musquet of the centinel pointed at me, and M. de ____ expostulating\nwith him. I am not certain if he supposed I was taking a plan of the\nfortifications, and meant really more than a threat; but I was\nsufficiently frightened, and shall not again approach a town wall with\npencils and paper.\nM. de ____ is one of the only six officers of his regiment who have not\nemigrated. With an indignation heated by the works of modern\nphilosophers into an enthusiastic love of republican governments, and\nirritated by the contempt and opposition he has met with from those of\nthis own class who entertain different principles, he is now become\nalmost a fanatic. What at first was only a political opinion is now a\nreligious tenet; and the moderate sectary has acquired the obstinacy of a\nmartyr, and, perhaps, the spirit of persecution. At the beginning of the\nrevolution, the necessity of deciding, a youthful ardour for liberty, and\nthe desire of preserving his fortune, probably determined him to become a\npatriot; and pride and resentment have given stability to notions which\nmight otherwise have fluctuated with circumstances, or yielded to time.\nThis is but too general the case: the friends of rational reform, and the\nsupporters of the ancient monarchy, have too deeply offended each other\nfor pardon or confidence; and the country perhaps will be sacrificed by\nthe mutual desertions of those most concerned in its preservation.\nActuated only by selfishness and revenge, each party willingly consents\nto the ruin of its opponents. The Clergy, already divided among\nthemselves, are abandoned by the Noblesse--the Noblesse are persecuted by\nthe commercial interest--and, in short, the only union is amongst the\nJacobins; that is, amongst a few weak persons who are deceived, and a\nbanditti who betray and profit by their \"patriotism.\"\nI was led to these reflections by my conversation with Mr. de L____ and\nhis companions. I believe they do not approve of the present extremes,\nyet they expressed themselves with the utmost virulence against the\naristocrates, and would hear neither of reconcilement nor palliation. On\nthe other hand, these dispositions were not altogether unprovoked--the\nyoung men had been persecuted by their relations, and banished the\nsociety of their acquaintance; and their political opinions had acted as\nan universal proscription. There were even some against whom the doors\nof the parental habitation were shut.--These party violences are\nterrible; and I was happy to perceive that the reciprocal claims of duty\nand affection were not diminished by them, either in M. de ____, or his\nson. He, however, at first refused to come to A____, because he\nsuspected the patriotism of our society. I pleaded, as an inducement,\nthe beauty of Mad. G____, but he told me she was an aristocrate. It was\nat length, however, determined, that he should dine with us last Sunday,\nand that all visitors should be excluded. He was prevented coming by\nbeing ordered out with a party the day we left him; and he has written to\nus in high spirits, to say, that, besides fulfilling his object, he had\nreturned with fifty prisoners.\nWe had a very narrow escape in coming home--the Hulans were at the\nvillage of ____, an hour after we passed through it, and treated the poor\ninhabitants, as they usually do, with great inhumanity.--Nothing has\nalienated the minds of the people so much as the cruelties of these\ntroops--they plunder and ill treat all they encounter; and their avarice\nis even less insatiable than their barbarity. How hard is it, that the\nambition of the Chiefs, and the wickedness of faction, should thus fall\nupon the innocent cottager, who perhaps is equally a stranger to the\nnames of the one, and the principles of the other!\nThe public papers will now inform you, that the French are at liberty to\nobtain a divorce on almost any pretext, or even on no pretext at all,\nexcept what many may think a very good one--mutual agreement. A lady of\nour acquaintance here is become a republican in consequence of the\ndecree, and probably will very soon avail herself of it; but this\nconduct, I conceive, will not be very general.\nMuch has been said of the gallantry of the French ladies, and not\nentirely without reason; yet, though sometimes inconstant wives, they\nare, for the most part, faithful friends--they sacrifice the husband\nwithout forsaking him, and their common interest is always promoted with\nas much zeal as the most inviolable attachment could inspire. Mad. de\nC____, whom we often meet in company, is the wife of an emigrant, and is\nsaid not to be absolutely disconsolate at his absence; yet she is\nindefatigable in her efforts to supply him with money: she even risks her\nsafety by her solicitude, and has just now prevailed on her favourite\nadmirer to hasten his departure for the frontiers, in order to convey a\nsum she has with much difficulty been raising. Such instances are, I\nbelieve, not very rare; and as a Frenchman usually prefers his interest\nto every thing else, and is not quite so unaccommodating as an\nEnglishman, an amicable arrangement takes place, and one seldom hears of\na separation.\nThe inhabitants of Arras, with all their patriotism, are extremely averse\nfrom the assignats; and it is with great reluctance that they consent to\nreceive them at two-thirds of their nominal value. This discredit of the\npaper money has been now two months at a stand, and its rise or fall will\nbe determined by the success of the campaign.--I bid you adieu for the\nlast time from hence. We have already exceeded the proposed length of\nour visit, and shall set out for St. Omer to-morrow.--Yours.\nSt. Omer, September, 1792.\nI am confined to my room by a slight indisposition, and, instead of\naccompanying my friends, have taken up my pen to inform you that we are\nthus far safe on our journey.--Do not, because you are surrounded by a\nprotecting element, smile at the idea of travelling forty or fifty miles\nin safety. The light troops of the Austrian army penetrate so far, that\nnone of the roads on the frontier are entirely free from danger. My\nfemale companions were alarmed the whole day--the young for their\nbaggage, and the old for themselves.\nThe country between this and Arras has the appearance of a garden\ncultivated for the common use of its inhabitants, and has all the\nfertility and beauty of which a flat surface is susceptible. Bethune and\nAire I should suppose strongly fortified. I did not fail, in passing\nthrough the former, to recollect with veneration the faithful minister of\nHenry the Fourth. The misfortunes of the descendant of Henry, whom\nSully* loved, and the state of the kingdom he so much cherished, made a\nstronger impression on me than usual, and I mingled with the tribute of\nrespect a sentiment of indignation.\n * Maximilien de Bethune, Duc de Sully.\nWhat perverse and malignant influence can have excited the people either\nto incur or to suffer their present situation? Were we not well\nacquainted with the arts of factions, the activity of bad men, and the\neffect of their union, I should be almost tempted to believe this change\nin the French supernatural. Less than three years ago, the name of Henri\nQuatre was not uttered without enthusiasm. The piece that transmitted\nthe slightest anecdotes of his life was certain of success--the air that\ncelebrated him was listened to with delight--and the decorations of\nbeauty, when associated with the idea of this gallant Monarch, became\nmore irresistible.*\n * At this time it was the prevailing fashion to call any new\n inventions of female dress after his name, and to decorate the\n ornamental parts of furniture with his resemblance.\nYet Henry the Fourth is now a tyrant--his pictures and statues are\ndestroyed, and his memory is execrated!--Those who have reduced the\nFrench to this are, doubtless, base and designing intriguers; yet I\ncannot acquit the people, who are thus wrought on, of unfeelingness and\nlevity.--England has had its revolutions; but the names of Henry the\nFifth and Elizabeth were still revered: and the regal monuments, which\nstill exist, after all the vicissitudes of our political principles,\nattest the mildness of the English republicans.\nThe last days of our stay at Arras were embittered by the distress of our\nneighbour and acquaintance, Madame de B____. She has lost two sons under\ncircumstances so affecting, that I think you will be interested in the\nrelation.--The two young men were in the army, and quartered at\nPerpignan, at a time when some effort of counter-revolution was said to\nbe intended. One of them was arrested as being concerned, and the other\nsurrendered himself prisoner to accompany his brother.--When the High\nCourt at Orleans was instituted for trying state-prisoners, those of\nPerpignan were ordered to be conducted there, and the two B____'s,\nchained together, were taken with the rest. On their arrival at Orleans,\ntheir gaoler had mislaid the key that unlocked their fetters, and, not\nfinding it immediately, the young men produced one, which answered the\npurpose, and released themselves. The gaoler looked at them with\nsurprize, and asked why, with such a means in their power, they had not\nescaped in the night, or on the road. They replied, because they were\nnot culpable, and had no reason for avoiding a trial that would manifest\ntheir innocence. Their heroism was fatal. They were brought, by a\ndecree of the Convention, from Orleans to Versailles, (on their way to\nParis,) where they were met by the mob, and massacred.\nTheir unfortunate mother is yet ignorant of their fate; but we left her\nin a state little preferable to that which will be the effect of\ncertainty. She saw the decree for transporting the prisoners from\nOrleans, and all accounts of the result have been carefully concealed\nfrom her; yet her anxious and enquiring looks at all who approach her,\nindicate but too well her suspicion of the truth.--Mons. de ____'s\nsituation is indescribable. Informed of the death of his sons, he is yet\nobliged to conceal his sufferings, and wear an appearance of tranquillity\nin the presence of his wife. Sometimes he escapes, when unable to\ncontain his emotions any longer, and remains at M. de ____'s till he\nrecovers himself. He takes no notice of the subject of his grief, and we\nrespect it too much to attempt to console him. The last time I asked him\nafter Madame de ____, he told me her spirits were something better, and,\nadded he, in a voice almost suffocated, \"She is amusing herself with\nworking neckcloths for her sons!\"--When you reflect that the massacres at\nParis took place on the second and third of September, and that the\ndecree was passed to bring the prisoners from Orleans (where they were in\nsafety) on the tenth, I can say nothing that will add to the horror of\nthis transaction, or to your detestation of its cause. Sixty-two, mostly\npeople of high rank, fell victims to this barbarous policy: they were\nbrought in a fort of covered waggons, and were murdered in heaps without\nbeing taken out.*\n * Perhaps the reader will be pleased at a discovery, which it would\n have been unsafe to mention when made, or in the course of this\n correspondence. The two young men here alluded to arrived at\n Versailles, chained together, with their fellow-prisoners.\n Surprize, perhaps admiration, had diverted the gaoler's attention\n from demanding the key that opened their padlock, and it was still\n in their possession. On entering Versailles, and observing the\n crowd preparing to attack them, they divested themselves of their\n fetters, and of every other incumbrance. In a few moments their\n carriages were surrounded, their companions at one end were already\n murdered, and themselves slightly wounded; but the confusion\n increasing, they darted amidst the croud, and were in a moment\n undistinguishable. They were afterwards taken under the protection\n of an humane magistrate, who concealed them for some time, and they\n are now in perfect security. They were the only two of the whole\n number that escaped.\nSeptember, 1792.\nWe passed a country so barren and uninteresting yesterday, that even a\nprofessional traveller could not have made a single page of it. It was,\nin every thing, a perfect contrast to the rich plains of Artois--\nunfertile, neglected vallies and hills, miserable farms, still more\nmiserable cottages, and scarcely any appearance of population. The only\nplace where we could refresh the horses was a small house, over the door\nof which was the pompous designation of Hotel d'Angleterre. I know not\nif this be intended as a ridicule on our country, or as an attraction to\nour countrymen, but I, however, found something besides the appellation\nwhich reminded me of England, and which one does not often find in houses\nof a better outside; for though the rooms were small, and only two in\nnumber, they were very clean, and the hostess was neat and civil. The\nHotel d'Angleterre, indeed, was not luxuriously supplied, and the whole\nof our repast was eggs and tea, which we had brought with us.--In the\nnext room to that we occupied were two prisoners chained, whom the\nofficers were conveying to Arras, for the purpose of better security.\nThe secret history of this business is worth relating, as it marks the\ncharacter of the moment, and the ascendancy which the Jacobins are daily\nacquiring.\nThese men were apprehended as smugglers, under circumstances of peculiar\natrocity, and committed to the gaol at ____. A few days after, a young\ngirl, of bad character, who has much influence at the club, made a\nmotion, that the people, in a body, should demand the release of the\nprisoners. The motion was carried, and the Hotel de Ville assailed by a\nformidable troop of sailors, fish-women, &c.--The municipality refused to\ncomply, the Garde Nationale was called out, and, on the mob persisting,\nfired over their heads, wounded a few, and the rest dispersed of\nthemselves.--Now you must understand, the latent motive of all this was\ntwo thousand livres promised to one of the Jacobin leaders, if he\nsucceeded in procuring the men their liberty.--I do not advance this\nmerely on conjecture. The fact is well known to the municipality; and\nthe decent part of it would willingly have expelled this man, who is one\nof their members, but that they found themselves too weak to engage in a\nserious quarrel with the Jacobins.--One cannot reflect, without\napprehension, that any society should exist which can oppose the\nexecution of the laws with impunity, or that a people, who are little\nsensible of realities, should be thus abused by names. They suffer, with\nunfeeling patience, a thousand enormities--yet blindly risk their\nliberties and lives to promote the designs of an adventurer, because he\nharangues at a club, and calls himself a patriot.--I have just received\nadvice that my friends have left Lausanne, and are on their way to Paris.\nOur first plan of passing the winter there will be imprudent, if not\nimpracticable, and we have concluded to take a house for the winter six\nmonths at Amiens, Chantilly, or some place which has the reputation of\nbeing quiet. I have already ordered enquiries to be made, and shall set\nout with Mrs. ____ in a day or two for Amiens. I may, perhaps, not write\ntill our return; but shall not cease to be, with great truth.--Yours, &c.\nAmiens, 1792.\nThe departement de la Somme has the reputation of being a little\naristocratic. I know not how far this be merited, but the people are\ncertainly not enthusiasts. The villages we passed on our road hither\nwere very different from those on the frontiers--we were hailed by no\npopular sounds, no cries of Vive la nation! except from here and there\nsome ragged boy in a red cap, who, from habit, associated this salutation\nwith the appearance of a carriage. In every place where there are half a\ndozen houses is planted an unthriving tree of liberty, which seems to\nwither under the baneful influence of the _bonnet rouge_. [The red cap.]\nThis Jacobin attribute is made of materials to resist the weather, and\nmay last some time; but the trees of liberty, being planted unseasonably,\nare already dead. I hope this will not prove emblematic, and that the\npower of the Jacobins may not outlive the freedom of the people.\nThe Convention begin their labours under disagreeable auspices. A\ngeneral terror seems to have seized on the Parisians, the roads are\ncovered with carriages, and the inns filled with travellers. A new\nregulation has just taken place, apparently intended to check this\nrestless spirit. At Abbeville, though we arrived late and were fatigued,\nwe were taken to the municipality, our passports collated with our\npersons, and at the inn we were obliged to insert in a book our names,\nthe place of our birth, from whence we came, and where we were going.\nThis, you will say, has more the features of a mature Inquisition, than a\nnew-born Republic; but the French have different notions of liberty from\nyours, and take these things very quietly.--At Flixecourt we eat out of\npewter spoons, and the people told us, with much inquietude, that they\nhad sold their plate, in expectation of a decree of the Convention to\ntake it from them. This decree, however, has not passed, but the alarm\nis universal, and does not imply any great confidence in the new\ngovernment.\nI have had much difficulty in executing my commission, and have at last\nfixed upon a house, of which I fear my friends will not approve; but the\npanic which depopulates Paris, the bombardment of Lisle, and the\ntranquillity which has hitherto prevailed here, has filled the town, and\nrendered every kind of habitation scarce, and extravagantly dear: for you\nmust remark, that though the Amienois are all aristocrates, yet when an\nintimidated sufferer of the same party flies from Paris, and seeks an\nasylum amongst them, they calculate with much exactitude what they\nsuppose necessity may compel him to give, and will not take a livre\nless.--The rent of houses and lodgings, like the national funds, rises\nand falls with the public distresses, and, like them, is an object of\nspeculation: several persons to whom we were addressed were extremely\nindifferent about letting their houses, alledging as a reason, that if\nthe disorders of Paris should increase, they had no doubt of letting them\nto much greater advantage.\nWe were at the theatre last night--it was opened for the first time since\nFrance has been declared a republic, and the Jacobins vociferated loudly\nto have the fleur de lys, ad other regal emblems, effaced. Obedience was\nno sooner promised to this command, than it was succeeded by another not\nquite so easily complied with--they insisted on having the Marsellois\nHymn sung. In vain did the manager, with a ludicrous sort of terror,\ndeclare, that there were none of his company who had any voice, or who\nknew either the words of the music of the hymn in question. _\"C'est egal,\nil faut chanter,\"_ [\"No matter for that, they must sing.\"] resounded from\nall the patriots in the house. At last, finding the thing impossible,\nthey agreed to a compromise; and one of the actors promised to sing it on\nthe morrow, as well as the trifling impediment of having no voice would\npermit him.--You think your galleries despotic when they call for an\nepilogue that is forgotten, and the actress who should speak it is\nundrest; or when they insist upon enlivening the last acts of Jane Shore\nwith Roast Beef! What would you think if they would not dispense with a\nhornpipe on the tight-rope by Mrs. Webb? Yet, bating the danger, I\nassure you, the audience of Amiens was equally unreasonable. But liberty\nat present seems to be in an undefined state; and until our rulers shall\nhave determined what it is, the matter will continue to be settled as it\nis now--by each man usurping as large a portion of tyranny as his\nsituation will admit of. He who submits without repining to his\ndistrict, to his municipality, or even to the club, domineers at the\ntheatre, or exercises in the street a manual censure on aristocratic\napparel.*\n *It was common at this time to insult women in the streets if\n dressed too well, or in colours the people chose to call\n aristocratic. I was myself nearly thrown down for having on a straw\n bonnet with green ribbons.\nOur embarrassment for small change is renewed: many of the communes who\nhad issued bills of five, ten, and fifteen sols, repayable in assignats,\nare become bankrupts, which circumstance has thrown such a discredit on\nall this kind of nominal money, that the bills of one town will not pass\nat another. The original creation of these bills was so limited, that no\ntown had half the number requisite for the circulation of its\nneighbourhood; and this decrease, with the distrust that arises from the\noccasion of it, greatly adds to the general inconvenience.\nThe retreat of the Prussian army excites more surprize than interest, and\nthe people talk of it with as much indifference as they would of an event\nthat had happened beyond the Ganges. The siege of Lisle takes off all\nattention from the relief of Thionville--not on account of its\nimportance, but on account of its novelty.--I remain, Yours, &c.\nAbbeville, September, 1792.\nWe left Amiens early yesterday morning, but were so much delayed by the\nnumber of volunteers on the road, that it was late before we reached\nAbbeville. I was at first somewhat alarmed at finding ourselves\nsurrounded by so formidable a cortege; they however only exacted a\ndeclaration of our political principles, and we purchased our safety by a\nfew smiles, and exclamations of vive la nation! There were some hundreds\nof these recruits much under twenty; but the poor fellows, exhilarated by\ntheir new uniform and large pay, were going gaily to decide their fate by\nthat hazard which puts youth and age on a level, and scatters with\nindiscriminating hand the cypress and the laurel.\nAt Abbeville all the former precautions were renewed--we underwent\nanother solemn identification of our persons at the Hotel de Ville, and\nan abstract of our history was again enregistered at the inn. One would\nreally suppose that the town was under apprehensions of a siege, or, at\nleast, of the plague. My \"paper face\" was examined as suspiciously as\nthough I had had the appearance of a travestied Achilles; and M____'s,\nwhich has as little expression as a Chinese painting, was elaborately\nscrutinized by a Dogberry in spectacles, who, perhaps, fancied she had\nthe features of a female Machiavel. All this was done with an air of\nimportance sufficiently ludicrous, when contrasted with the object; but\nwe met with no incivility, and had nothing to complain of but a little\nadditional fatigue, and the delay of our dinner.\nWe stopped to change horses at Bernay, and I soon perceived our landlady\nwas a very ardent patriot. In a room, to which we waded at great risk of\nour clothes, was a representation of the siege of the Bastille, and\nprints of half a dozen American Generals, headed by Mr. Thomas Paine. On\ndescending, we found out hostess exhibiting a still more forcible picture\nof curiosity than Shakspeare's blacksmith. The half-demolished repast\nwas cooling on the table, whilst our postilion retailed the Gazette, and\nthe pigs and ducks were amicably grazing together on whatever the kitchen\nproduced. The affairs of the Prussians and Austrians were discussed with\nentire unanimity, but when these politicians, as is often the case, came\nto adjust their own particular account, the conference was much less\nharmonious. The postilion offered a ten sols billet, which the landlady\nrefused: one persisted in its validity, the other in rejecting it--till,\nat last, the patriotism of neither could endure this proof, and peace was\nconcluded by a joint execration of those who invented this fichu papier--\n\"Sorry paper.\"\nAt ____ we met our friend, Mad. de ____, with part of her family and an\nimmense quantity of baggage. I was both surprized and alarmed at such an\napparition, and found, on enquiry, that they thought themselves unsafe at\nArras, and were going to reside near M. de ____'s estate, where they were\nbetter known. I really began to doubt the prudence of our establishing\nourselves here for the winter. Every one who has it in his power\nendeavours to emigrate, even those who till now have been zealous\nsupporters of the revolution.--Distrust and apprehension seem to have\ntaken possession of every mind. Those who are in towns fly to the\ncountry, while the inhabitant of the isolated chateau takes refuge in the\nneighbouring town. Flocks of both aristocrates and patriots are\ntrembling and fluttering at the foreboding storm, yet prefer to abide its\nfury, rather than seek shelter and defence together. I, however, flatter\nmyself, that the new government will not justify this fear; and as I am\ncertain my friends will not return to England at this season, I shall not\nendeavour to intimidate or discourage them from their present\narrangement. We shall, at least, be enabled to form some idea of a\nrepublican constitution, and I do not, on reflection, conceive that any\npossible harm can happen to us.\nOctober, 1792.\nI shall not date from this place again, intending to quit it as soon as\npossible. It is disturbed by the crouds from the camps, which are broken\nup, and the soldiers are extremely brutal and insolent. So much are the\npeople already familiarized with the unnatural depravity of manners that\nbegins to prevail, that the wife of the Colonel of a battalion now here\nwalks the streets in a red cap, with pistols at her girdle, boasting of\nthe numbers she has destroyed at the massacres in August and September.\nThe Convention talk of the King's trial as a decided measure; yet no one\nseems to admit even the possibility that such an act can be ever\nintended. A few believe him culpable, many think him misled, and many\nacquit him totally: but all agree, that any violation of his person would\nbe an atrocity disgraceful to the nation at large.--The fate of Princes\nis often disastrous in proportion to their virtues. The vanity,\nselfishness, and bigotry of Louis the Fourteenth were flattered while he\nlived, and procured him the appellation of Great after his death. The\ngreatest military talents that France has given birth to seemed created\nto earn laurels, not for themselves, but for the brow of that\nvain-glorious Monarch. Industry and Science toiled but for his\ngratification, and Genius, forgetting its dignity, willingly received\nfrom his award the same it has since bestowed.\nLouis the Fifteenth, who corrupted the people by his example, and ruined\nthem by his expence, knew no diminution of the loyalty, whatever he might\nof the affection, of his people, and ended his days in the practice of\nthe same vices, and surrounded by the same luxury, in which he had passed\nthem.\nLouis the Sixteenth, to whom scarcely his enemies ascribe any vices, for\nits outrages against whom faction finds no excuse but in the facility of\nhis nature--whose devotion is at once exemplary and tolerant--who, in an\nage of licentiousness, is remarkable for the simplicity of his manners--\nwhose amusements were liberal or inoffensive--and whose concessions to\nhis people form a striking contrast with the exactions of his\npredecessors.--Yes, the Monarch I have been describing, and, I think, not\npartially, has been overwhelmed with sorrow and indignities--his person\nhas been degraded, that he might be despoiled of his crown, and perhaps\nthe sacrifice of his crown may be followed by that of his life. When we\nthus see the punishment of guilt accumulated on the head of him who has\nnot participated in it, and vice triumph in the security that should seem\nthe lot of innocence, we can only adduce new motives to fortify ourselves\nin this great truth of our religion--that the chastisement of the one,\nand reward of the other, must be looked for beyond the inflictions or\nenjoyments of our present existence.\nI do not often moralize on paper, but there are moments when one derives\none's best consolation from so moralizing; and this easy and simple\njustification of Providence, which refers all that appears inconsistent\nhere to the retribution of a future state, is pointed out less as the\nduty than the happiness of mankind. This single argument of religion\nsolves every difficulty, and leaves the mind in fortitude and peace;\nwhilst the pride of sceptical philosophy traces whole volumes, only to\nestablish the doubts, and nourish the despair, of its disciples.\nAdieu. I cannot conclude better than with these reflections, at a time\nwhen disbelief is something too fashionable even amongst our\ncountrymen.--Yours, &c.\nAmiens, October, 1792.\nI arrived here the day on which a ball was given to celebrate the return\nof the volunteers who had gone to the assistance of Lisle.*\n *The bombardment of Lisle commenced on the twenty-ninth of\n September, at three o'clock in the afternoon, and continued, almost\n without interruption, until the sixth of October. Many of the\n public buildings, and whole quarters of the town, were so much\n damaged or destroyed, that the situation of the streets were\n scarcely distinguishable. The houses which the fire obliged their\n inhabitants to abandon, were pillaged by barbarians, more merciless\n than the Austrians themselves. Yet, amidst these accumulated\n horrors, the Lillois not only preserved their courage, but their\n presence of mind: the rich incited and encouraged the poor; those\n who were unable to assist with their labour, rewarded with their\n wealth: the men were employed in endeavouring to extinguish the fire\n of the buildings, or in preserving their effects; while women and\n children snatched the opportunity of extinguishing the fuzes of the\n bombs as soon as they fell, at which they became very daring and\n dexterous. During the whole of this dreadful period, not one\n murmur, not one proposition to surrender, was heard from any party.\n --The Convention decreed, amidst the wildest enthusiasm of applause,\n that Lisle had deserved well of the country.\n --Forty-two thousand five hundred balls were fired, and the damages\n were estimated at forty millions of livres.\nThe French, indeed, never refuse to rejoice when they are ordered; but as\nthese festivities are not spontaneous effusions, but official ordinances,\nand regulated with the same method as a tax or recruitment, they are of\ncourse languid and uninteresting. The whole of their hilarity seems to\nconsist in the movement of the dance, in which they are by not means\nanimated; and I have seen, even among the common people, a cotillion\nperformed as gravely and as mechanically as the ceremonies of a Chinese\ncourt.--I have always thought, with Sterne, that we were mistaken in\nsupposing the French a gay nation. It is true, they laugh much, have\ngreat gesticulation, and are extravagantly fond of dancing: but the laugh\nis the effect of habit, and not of a risible sensation; the gesture is\nnot the agitation of the mind operating upon the body, but constitutional\nvolatility; and their love of dancing is merely the effect of a happy\nclimate, (which, though mild, does not enervate,) and that love of action\nwhich usually accompanies mental vacancy, when it is not counteracted by\nheat, or other physical causes.\nI know such an opinion, if publicly avowed, would be combated as false\nand singular; yet I appeal to those who have at all studied the French\ncharacter, not as travellers, but by a residence amongst them, for the\nsupport of my opinion. Every one who understands the language, and has\nmixed much in society, must have made the same observations.--See two\nFrenchmen at a distance, and the vehemence of their action, and the\nexpression of their features, shall make you conclude they are discussing\nsome subject, which not only interests, but delights them. Enquire, and\nyou will find they were talking of the weather, or the price of a\nwaistcoat!--In England you would be tempted to call in a peace-officer at\nthe loud tone and menacing attitudes with which two people here very\namicably adjust a bargain for five livres.--In short, we mistake that for\na mental quality which, in fact, is but a corporeal one; and, though the\nFrench may have many good and agreeable points of character, I do not\ninclude gaiety among the number.\nI doubt very much of my friends will approve of their habitation. I\nconfess I am by no means satisfied with it myself; and, with regard to\npecuniary consideration, my engagement is not an advantageous one.\n--Madame Dorval, of whom I have taken the house, is a character very\ncommon in France, and over which I was little calculated to have the\nascendant. Officiously polite in her manners, and inflexibly attentive\nto her interest, she seemingly acquiesces in every thing you propose.\nYou would even fancy she was solicitous to serve you; yet, after a\nthousand gracious sentiments, and as many implied eulogiums on her\nliberality and generosity, you find her return, with unrelenting\nperseverance, to some paltry proposition, by which she is to gain a few\nlivres; and all this so civilly, so sentimentally, and so determinedly,\nthat you find yourself obliged to yield, and are duped without being\ndeceived.\nThe lower class have here, as well as on your side of the water, the\ncustom of attributing to Ministers and Governments some connection with,\nor controul over, the operations of nature. I remarked to a woman who\nbrings me fruit, that the grapes were bad and dear this year--_\"Ah! mon\nDieu, oui, ils ne murrissent pas. Il me semble que tout va mal depuis\nqu'on a invente la nation.\"_ [\"Ah! Lord, they don't ripen now.--For my\npart, I think nothing has gone well since the nation was first\ninvented.\"]\nI cannot, like the imitators of Sterne, translate a chapter of sentiment\nfrom every incident that occurs, or from every physiognomy I encounter;\nyet, in circumstances like the present, the mind, not usually observing,\nis tempted to comment.--I was in a milliner's shop to-day, and took\nnotice on my entering, that its mistress was, whilst at her work,\nlearning the _Marseillois_ Hymn. [A patriotic air, at this time highly\npopular.] Before I had concluded my purchase, an officer came in to\nprepare her for the reception of four volunteers, whom she was to lodge\nthe two ensuing nights. She assented, indeed, very graciously, (for a\nFrench woman never loses the command of her features,) but a moment\nafter, the Marseillois, which lay on the counter, was thrown aside in a\npet, and I dare say she will not resume her patriotic taste, nor be\nreconciled to the revolution, until some days after the volunteers shall\nhave changed their quarters.\nThis quartering of troops in private houses appears to me the most\ngrievous and impolitic of all taxes; it adds embarrassment to expence,\ninvades domestic comfort, and conveys such an idea of military\nsubjection, that I wonder any people ever submits to it, or any\ngovernment ever ventures to impose it.\nI know not if the English are conscious of their own importance at this\nmoment, but it is certain they are the centre of the hopes and fears of\nall parties, I might say of all Europe. The aristocrates wait with\nanxiety and solicitude a declaration of war, whilst their opponents\nregard such an event as pregnant with distress, and even as the signal of\ntheir ruin. The body of the people of both parties are averse from\nincreasing the number of their enemies; but as the Convention may be\ndirected by other motives than the public wish, it is impossible to form\nany conclusion on the subject. I am, of course, desirous of peace, and\nshould be so from selfishness, if I were not from philanthropy, as a\ncessation of it at this time would disconcert all our plans, and oblige\nus to seek refuge at ____, which has just all that is necessary for our\nhappiness, except what is most desirable--a mild and dry atmosphere.--\nYours, &c.\nAmiens, November, 1792.\nThe arrival of my friends has occasioned a short suspension of my\ncorrespondence: but though I have been negligent, I assure you, my dear\nbrother, I have not been forgetful; and this temporary preference of the\nties of friendship to those of nature, will be excused, when you consider\nour long separation.\nMy intimacy with Mrs. D____ began when I first came to this country, and\nat every subsequent visit to the continent it has been renewed and\nincreased into that rational kind of attachment, which your sex seldom\nallow in ours, though you yourselves do not abound in examples of it.\nMrs. D____ is one of those characters which are oftener loved than\nadmired--more agreeable than handsome--good-natured, humane, and\nunassuming--and with no mental pretensions beyond common sense tolerably\nwell cultivated. The shades of this portraiture are an extreme of\ndelicacy, bordering on fastidiousness--a trifle of hauteur, not in\nmanners, but disposition--and, perhaps, a tincture of affectation. These\nfoibles are, however, in a great degree, constitutional: she is more an\ninvalid than myself; and ill health naturally increases irritability, and\nrenders the mind less disposed to bear with inconveniencies; we avoid\ncompany at first, through a sense of our infirmities, till this timidity\nbecomes habitual, and settles almost into aversion.--The valetudinarian,\nwho is obliged to fly the world, in time fancies herself above it, and\nends by supposing there is some superiority in differing from other\npeople. Mr. D____ is one of the best men existing--well bred and well\ninformed; yet, without its appearing to the common observer, he is of a\nvery singular and original turn of mind. He is most exceedingly nervous,\nand this effect of his physical construction has rendered him so\nsusceptible, that he is continually agitated and hurt by circumstances\nwhich others pass by unnoticed. In other respects he is a great lover of\nexercise, fond of domestic life, reads much, and has an aversion from\nbustle of all kind.\nThe banishment of the Priests, which in many instances was attended with\ncircumstances of peculiar atrocity, has not yet produced those effects\nwhich were expected from it, and which the promoters of the measure\nemployed as a pretext for its adoption. There are indeed now no masses\nsaid but by the Constitutional Clergy; but as the people are usually as\ningenious in evading laws as legislators are in forming them, many\npersons, instead of attending the churches, which they think profaned by\npriests who have taken the oaths, flock to church-yards, chapels, or\nother places, once appropriated to religious worship, but in disuse since\nthe revolution, and of course not violated by constitutional masses. The\ncemetery of St. Denis, at Amiens, though large, is on Sundays and\nholidays so crouded, that it is almost difficult to enter it. Here the\ndevotees flock in all weathers, say their mass, and return with the\ndouble satisfaction of having preserved their allegiance to the Pope, and\nrisked persecution in a cause they deem meritorious. To say truth, it is\nnot very surprizing that numbers should be prejudiced against the\nconstitutional clergy. Many of them are, I doubt not, liberal and\nwell-meaning men, who have preferred peace and submission to theological\nwarfare, and who might not think themselves justified in opposing their\nopinion to a national decision: yet are there also many of profligate\nlives, who were never educated for the profession, and whom the\ncircumstances of the times have tempted to embrace it as a trade, which\noffered subsistence without labour, and influence without wealth, and\nwhich at once supplied a veil for licentiousness, and the means of\npractising it. Such pastors, it must be confessed, have little claim to\nthe confidence or respect of the people; and that there are such, I do\nnot assert, but on the most credible information. I will only cite two\ninstances out of many within my own knowledge.\nP____n, bishop of St. Omer, was originally a priest of Arras, of vicious\ncharacter, and many of his ordinations have been such as might be\nexpected from such a patron.--A man of Arras, who was only known for his\nvicious pursuits, and who had the reputation of having accelerated the\ndeath of his wife by ill treatment, applied to P____n to marry him a\nsecond time. The good Bishop, preferring the interest of his friend to\nthe salvation of his flock, advised him to relinquish the project of\ntaking a wife, and offered to give him a cure. The proposal was accepted\non the spot, and this pious associate of the Reverend P____n was\nimmediately invested with the direction of the consciences, and the care\nof the morals, of an extensive parish.\nActs of this nature, it is to be imagined, were pursued by censure and\nridicule; but the latter was not often more successful than on the\nfollowing occasion:--Two young men, whose persons were unknown to the\nbishop, one day procured an audience, and requested he would recommend\nthem to some employment that would procure them the means of subsistence.\nThis was just a time when the numerous vacancies that had taken place\nwere not yet supplied, and many livings were unfilled for want of\ncandidates. The Bishop, who was unwilling that the nonjuring priests\nshould have the triumph of seeing their benefices remain vacant, fell\ninto the snare, and proposed their taking orders. The young men\nexpressed their joy at the offer; but, after looking confusedly on each\nother, with some difficulty and diffidence, confessed their lives had\nbeen such as to preclude them from the profession, which, but for this\nimpediment, would have satisfied them beyond their hopes. The Bishop\nvery complaisantly endeavoured to obviate thesse objections, while they\ncontinued to accuse themselves of all the sins in the decalogue; but the\nPrelate at length observing he had ordained many worse, the young men\nsmiled contemptuously, and, turning on their heels, replied, that if\npriests were made of worse men than they had described themselves to be,\nthey begged to be excused from associating with such company.\nDumouriez, Custine, Biron, Dillon, &c. are doing wonders, in spite of the\nseason; but the laurel is an ever-green, and these heroes gather it\nequally among the snows of the Alps, and the fogs of Belgium. If we may\ncredit the French papers too, what they call the cause of liberty is not\nless successfully propagated by the pen than the sword. England is said\nto be on the eve of a revolution, and all its inhabitants, except the\nKing and Mr. Pitt, become Jacobins. If I did not believe \"the wish was\nfather to the thought,\" I should read these assertions with much\ninquietude, as I have not yet discovered the excellencies of a republican\nform of government sufficiently to make me wish it substituted for our\nown.--It should seem that the Temple of Liberty, as well as the Temple of\nVirtue, is placed on an ascent, and that as many inflexions and\nretrogradations occur in endeavouring to attain it. In the ardour of\nreaching these difficult acclivities, a fall sometimes leaves us lower\nthan the situation we first set out from; or, to speak without a figure,\nso much power is exercised by our leaders, and so much submission exacted\nfrom the people, that the French are in danger of becoming habituated to\na despotism which almost sanctifies the errors of their ancient monarchy,\nwhile they suppose themselves in the pursuit of a degree of freedom more\nsublime and more absolute than has been enjoyed by any other nation.--\nAttempts at political as well as moral perfection, when carried beyond\nthe limits compatible with a social state, or the weakness of our\nnatures, are likely to end in a depravity which moderate governments and\nrational ethics would have prevented.\nThe debates of the Convention are violent and acrimonious. Robespierre\nhas been accused of aspiring to the Dictatorship, and his defence was by\nno means calculated to exonerate him from the charge. All the chiefs\nreproach each other with being the authors of the late massacres, and\neach succeeds better in fixing the imputation on his neighbour, than in\nremoving it from himself. General reprobation, personal invectives, and\nlong speeches, are not wanting; but every thing which tends to\nexamination and enquiry is treated with much more delicacy and composure:\nso that I fear these first legislators of the republic must, for the\npresent, be content with the reputation they have assigned each other,\nand rank amongst those who have all the guilt, but want the courage, of\nassassins.\nI subjoin an extract from a newspaper, which has lately appeared.*\n *Extract from _The Courier de l'Egalite,_ November, 1792:\n \"There are discontented people who still venture to obtrude their\n sentiments on the public. One of them, in a public print, thus\n expresses himself--\n 'I assert, that the newspapers are sold and devoted to falsehood.\n At this price they purchase the liberty of appearing; and the\n exclusive privilege they enjoy, as well as the contradictory and\n lying assertions they all contain, prove the truth of what I\n advance. They are all preachers of liberty, yet never was liberty\n so shamefully outraged--of respect for property, and property was at\n no time so little held sacred--of personal security, yet when were\n there committed so many massacres? and, at the very moment I am\n writing, new ones are premeditated. They call vehemently for\n submission, and obedience to the laws, but the laws had never less\n influence; and while our compliance with such as we are even\n ignorant of is exacted, it is accounted a crime to execute those in\n force. Every municipality has its own arbitrary code--every\n battalion, every private soldier, exercises a sovereignty, a most\n absolute despotism; and yet the Gazettes do not cease to boast the\n excellence of such a government. They have, one and all, attributed\n the massacres of the tenth of August and the second of September,\n and the days following each, to a popular fermentation. The\n monsters! they have been careful not to tell us, that each of these\n horrid scenes (at the prisons, at La Force, at the Abbaye, &c. &c.)\n was presided by municipal officers in their scarfs, who pointed out\n the victims, and gave the signal for the assassination. It was\n (continue the Journals) the error of an irritated people--and yet\n their magistrates were at the head of it: it was a momentary error;\n yet this error of a moment continued during six whole days of the\n coolest reflection--it was only at the close of the seventh that\n Petion made his appearance, and affected to persuade the people to\n desist. The assassins left off only from fatigue, and at this\n moment they are preparing to begin again. The Journals do not tell\n us that the chief of these _Scelerats_ [We have no term in the\n English language that conveys an adequate meaning for this word--it\n seems to express the extreme of human wickedness and atrocity.]\n employed subordinate assassins, whom they caused to be clandestinely\n murdered in their turn, as though they hoped to destroy the proof of\n their crime, and escape the vengeance that awaits them. But the\n people themselves were accomplices in the deed, for the Garde\n Nationale gave their assistance,'\" &c. &c.\nIn spite of the murder of so many journalists, and the destruction of the\nprinting-offices, it treats the September business so freely, that the\neditor will doubtless soon be silenced. Admitting these accusations to\nbe unfounded, what ideas must the people have of their magistrates, when\nthey are credited? It is the prepossession of the hearer that gives\nauthenticity to fiction; and such atrocities would neither be imputed to,\nnor believed of, men not already bad.--Yours, &c.\nDecember, 1792.\nDear Brother,\nAll the public prints still continue strongly to insinuate, that England\nis prepared for an insurrection, and Scotland already in actual\nrebellion: but I know the character of our countrymen too well to be\npersuaded that they have adopted new principles as easily as they would\nadopt a new mode, or that the visionary anarchists of the French\ngovernment can have made many proselytes among an humane and rational\npeople. For many years we were content to let France remain the\narbitress of the lighter departments of taste: lately she has ceded this\nprovince to us, and England has dictated with uncontested superiority.\nThis I cannot think very strange; for the eye in time becomes fatigued by\nelaborate finery, and requires only the introduction of simple elegance\nto be attracted by it. But if, while we export fashions to this country,\nwe should receive in exchange her republican systems, it would be a\nstrange revolution indeed; and I think, in such a commerce, we should be\nfar from finding the balance in our favour. I have, in fact, little\nsolicitude about these diurnal falsehoods, though I am not altogether\nfree from alarm as to their tendency. I cannot help suspecting it is to\ninfluence the people to a belief that such dispositions exist in England\nas preclude the danger of a war, in case it should be thought necessary\nto sacrifice the King.\nI am more confirmed in this opinion, from the recent discovery, with the\ncircumstances attending it, of a secret iron chest at the Tuilleries.\nThe man who had been employed to construct this recess, informs the\nminister, Rolland; who, instead of communicating the matter to the\nConvention, as it was very natural he should do on an occasion of so much\nimportance, and requiring it to be opened in the presence of proper\nwitnesses, goes privately himself, takes the papers found into his own\npossession, and then makes an application for a committee to examine\nthem. Under these suspicious and mysterious appearances, we are told\nthat many letters, &c. are found, which inculpate the King; and perhaps\nthe fate of this unfortunate Monarch is to be decided by evidence not\nadmissible with justice in the case of the obscurest malefactor. Yet\nRolland is the hero of a party who call him, par excellence, the virtuous\nRolland! Perhaps you will think, with me, that this epithet is\nmisapplied to a man who has risen, from an obscure situation to that of\nfirst Minister, without being possessed of talents of that brilliant or\nprominent class which sometimes force themselves into notice, without the\naid of wealth or the support of patronage.\nRolland was inspector of manufactories in this place, and afterwards at\nLyons; and I do not go too far in advancing, that a man of very rigid\nvirtue could not, from such a station, have attained so suddenly the one\nhe now possesses. Virtue is of an unvarying and inflexible nature: it\ndisdains as much to be the flatterer of mobs, as the adulator of Princes:\nyet how often must he, who rises so far above his equals, have stooped\nbelow them? How often must he have sacrificed both his reason and his\nprinciples? How often have yielded to the little, and opposed the great,\nnot from conviction, but interest? For in this the meanest of mankind\nresemble the most exalted; he bestows not his confidence on him who\nresists his will, nor subscribes to the advancement of one whom he does\nnot hope to influence.--I may almost venture to add, that more\ndissimulation, meaner concessions, and more tortuous policy, are\nrequisite to become the idol of the people, than are practised to acquire\nand preserve the favour of the most potent Monarch in Europe. The\nFrench, however, do not argue in this manner, and Rolland is at present\nvery popular, and his popularity is said to be greatly supported by the\nliterary talents of his wife.\nI know not if you rightly understand these party distinctions among a set\nof men whom you must regard as united in the common cause of establishing\na republic in France, but you have sometimes had occasion to remark in\nEngland, that many may amicably concur in the accomplishment of a work,\nwho differ extremely about the participation of its advantages; and this\nis already the case with the Convention. Those who at present possess\nall the power, and are infinitely the strongest, are wits, moralists, and\nphilosophers by profession, having Brissot, Rolland, Petion, Concorcet,\n&c. at their head; their opponents are adventurers of a more desperate\ncast, who make up by violence what they want in numbers, and are led by\nRobespierre, Danton, Chabot, &c. &c. The only distinction of these\nparties is, I believe, that the first are vain and systematical\nhypocrites, who have originally corrupted the minds of the people by\nvisionary and insidious doctrines, and now maintain their superiority by\nartifice and intrigue: their opponents, equally wicked, and more daring,\njustify that turpitude which the others seek to disguise, and appear\nalmost as bad as they are. The credulous people are duped by both; while\nthe cunning of the one, and the vehemence of the other, alternately\nprevail.--But something too much of politics, as my design is in general\nrather to mark their effect on the people, than to enter on more\nimmediate discussions.\nHaving been at the Criminal Tribunal to-day, I now recollect that I have\nnever yet described to you the costume of the French Judges.--Perhaps\nwhen I have before had occasion to speak of it, your imagination may have\nglided to Westminster Hall, and depicted to you the scarlet robes and\nvoluminous wigs of its respectable magistrates: but if you would form an\nidea of a magistrate here, you must bring your mind to the abstraction of\nCrambo, and figure to yourself a Judge without either gown, wig, or any\nof those venerable appendages. Nothing indeed can be more becoming or\ngallant, than this judicial accoutrement--it is black, with a silk cloak\nof the same colour, in the Spanish form, and a round hat, turned up\nbefore, with a large plume of black feathers. This, when the magistrate\nhappens to be young, has a very theatrical and romantic appearance; but\nwhen it is worn by a figure a little Esopian, or with a large bushy\nperriwig, as I have sometimes seen it, the effect is still less awful;\nand a stranger, on seeing such an apparition in the street, is tempted to\nsuppose it a period of jubilee, and that the inhabitants are in\nmasquerade.\nIt is now the custom for all people to address each other by the\nappellation of Citizen; and whether you are a citizen or not--whether you\ninhabit Paris, or are a native of Peru--still it is an indication of\naristocracy, either to exact, or to use, any other title. This is all\ncongruous with the system of the day: the abuses are real, the reform is\nimaginary. The people are flattered with sounds, while they are losing\nin essentials. And the permission to apply the appellation of Citizen to\nits members, is but a poor compensation for the despotism of a department\nor a municipality.\nIn vain are the people flattered with a chimerical equality--it cannot\nexist in a civilized state, and if it could exist any where, it would not\nbe in France. The French are habituated to subordination--they naturally\nlook up to something superior--and when one class is degraded, it is only\nto give place to another.\n--The pride of the noblesse is succeeded by the pride of the merchant--\nthe influence of wealth is again realized by cheap purchases of the\nnational domains--the abandoned abbey becomes the delight of the opulent\ntrader, and replaces the demolished chateau of the feudal institution.\nFull of the importance which the commercial interest is to acquire under\na republic, the wealthy man of business is easily reconciled to the\noppression of the superior classes, and enjoys, with great dignity, his\nnew elevation. The counting-house of a manufacturer of woollen cloth is\nas inaccessible as the boudoir of a Marquis; while the flowered brocade\ngown and well-powdered curls of the former offer a much more imposing\nexterior than the chintz robe de chambre and dishevelled locks of the\nmore affable man of fashion.\nI have read, in some French author, a maxim to this effect:--\"Act with\nyour friends as though they should one day be your enemies;\" and the\nexisting government seems amply to have profited by the admonition of\ntheir country-man: for notwithstanding they affirm, that all France\nsupports, and all England admires them, this does not prevent their\nexercising a most vigilant inquisition over the inhabitants of both\ncountries.--It is already sagaciously hinted, that Mr. Thomas Paine may\nbe a spy, and every householder who receives a lodger or visitor, and\nevery proprietor who lets a house, is obliged to register the names of\nthose he entertains, or who are his tenants, and to become responsible\nfor their conduct. This is done at the municipality, and all who thus\nventure to change their residence, of whatever age, sex, or condition,\nmust present themselves, and submit to an examination. The power of the\nmunicipalities is indeed very great; and as they are chiefly selected\nfrom the lower class of shop-keepers, you may conclude that their\nauthority is not exercised with much politeness or moderation.\nThe timid or indolent inhabitant of London, whose head has been filled\nwith the Bastilles and police of the ancient government, and who would as\nsoon have ventured to Constantinople as to Paris, reads, in the debates\nof the Convention, that France is now the freeest country in the world,\nand that strangers from all corners of it flock to offer their adorations\nin this new Temple of Liberty. Allured by these descriptions, he\nresolves on the journey, willing, for once in his life, to enjoy a taste\nof the blessing in sublimate, which he now learns has hitherto been\nallowed him only in the gross element.--He experiences a thousand\nimpositions on landing with his baggage at Calais, but he submits to them\nwithout murmuring, because his countrymen at Dover had, on his\nembarkation, already kindly initiated him into this science of taxing the\ninquisitive spirit of travellers. After inscribing his name, and\nrewarding the custom-house officers for rummaging his portmanteau, he\ndetermines to amuse himself with a walk about the town. The first\ncentinel he encounters stops him, because he has no cockade: he purchases\none at the next shop, (paying according to the exigency of the case,) and\nis suffered to pass on. When he has settled his bill at the Auberge \"a\nl'Angloise,\" and emagines he has nothing to do but to pursue his journey,\nhe finds he has yet to procure himself a passport. He waits an hour and\nan half for an officer, who at length appears, and with a rule in one\nhand, and a pen in the other, begins to measure the height, and take an\ninventory of the features of the astonished stranger. By the time this\nceremony is finished, the gates are shut, and he can proceed no farther,\ntill the morrow. He departs early, and is awakened twice on the road to\nBoulogne to produce his passport: still, however, he keeps his temper,\nconcluding, that the new light has not yet made its way to the frontiers,\nand that these troublesome precautions may be necessary near a port. He\ncontinues his route, and, by degrees, becomes habituated to this regimen\nof liberty; till, perhaps, on the second day, the validity of his\npassport is disputed, the municipality who granted it have the reputation\nof aristocracy, or the whole is informal, and he must be content to wait\nwhile a messenger is dispatched to have it rectified, and the officers\nestablish the severity of their patriotism at the expence of the\nstranger.\nOur traveller, at length, permitted to depart, feels his patience\nwonderfully diminished, execrates the regulations of the coast, and the\nignorance of small towns, and determines to stop a few days and observe\nthe progress of freedom at Ameins. Being a large commercial place, he\nhere expects to behold all the happy effects of the new constitution; he\ncongratulates himself on travelling at a period when he can procure\ninformation, and discuss his political opinions, unannoyed by fears of\nstate prisons, and spies of the police. His landlord, however, acquaints\nhim, that his appearance at the Town House cannot be dispensed with--he\nattends three or four different hours of appointment, and is each time\nsent away, (after waiting half an hour with the valets de ville in the\nantichamber,) and told that the municipal officers are engaged. As an\nEnglishman, he has little relish for these subordinate sovereigns, and\ndifficult audiences--he hints at the next coffee-house that he had\nimagined a stranger might have rested two days in a free country, without\nbeing measured, and questioned, and without detailing his history, as\nthough he were suspected of desertion; and ventures on some implied\ncomparison between the ancient \"Monsieur le Commandant,\" and the modern\n\"Citoyen Maire.\"--To his utter astonishment he finds, that though there\nare no longer emissaries of the police, there are Jacobin informers; his\ndiscourse is reported to the municipality, his business in the town\nbecomes the subject of conjecture, he is concluded to be _\"un homme sans\naveu,\"_ [One that can't give a good account of himself.] and arrested as\n\"suspect;\" and it is not without the interference of the people to whom\nhe may have been recommended at Paris, that he is released, and enabled\nto continue his journey.\nAt Paris he lives in perpetual alarm. One night he is disturbed by a\nvisite domiciliaire, another by a riot--one day the people are in\ninsurrection for bread, and the next murdering each other at a public\nfestival; and our country-man, even after making every allowance for the\nconfusion of a recent change, thinks himself very fortunate if he reaches\nEngland in safety, and will, for the rest of his life, be satisfied with\nsuch a degree of liberty as is secured to him by the constitution of his\nown country.\nYou see I have no design of tempting you to pay us a visit; and, to speak\nthe truth, I think those who are in England will show their wisdom by\nremaining there. Nothing but the state of Mrs. D____'s health, and her\ndread of the sea at this time of the year, detains us; for every day\nsubtracts from my courage, and adds to my apprehensions.\n--Yours, &c.", "source_dataset": "gutenberg", "source_dataset_detailed": "gutenberg - A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Part I. 1792\n"}, {"source_document": "", "creation_year": 1807, "culture": " English\n", "content": "Produced by Mary Munarin and David Widger\nA RESIDENCE IN FRANCE,\nDURING THE YEARS\nDESCRIBED IN A SERIES OF LETTERS\nFROM AN ENGLISH LADY;\nWith General And Incidental Remarks\nOn The French Character And Manners.\nPrepared for the Press\nBy John Gifford, Esq.\nAuthor of the History of France, Letter to Lord\nLauderdale, Letter to the Hon. T. Erskine, &c.\nSecond Edition.\n_Plus je vis l'Etranger plus j'aimai ma Patrie._\n--Du Belloy.\nLondon: Printed for T. N. Longman, Paternoster Row. 1797.\nPRELIMINARY REMARKS BY THE EDITOR.\nThe following Letters were submitted to my inspection and judgement by\nthe Author, of whose principles and abilities I had reason to entertain a\nvery high opinion. How far my judgement has been exercised to advantage\nin enforcing the propriety of introducing them to the public, that public\nmust decide. To me, I confess, it appeared, that a series of important\nfacts, tending to throw a strong light on the internal state of France,\nduring the most important period of the Revolution, could neither prove\nuninteresting to the general reader, nor indifferent to the future\nhistorian of that momentous epoch; and I conceived, that the opposite and\njudicious reflections of a well-formed and well-cultivated mind,\nnaturally arising out of events within the immediate scope of its own\nobservation, could not in the smallest degree diminish the interest\nwhich, in my apprehension, they are calculated to excite. My advice upon\nthis occasion was farther influenced by another consideration. Having\ntraced, with minute attention, the progress of the revolution, and the\nconduct of its advocates, I had remarked the extreme affiduity employed\n(as well by translations of the most violent productions of the Gallic\npress, as by original compositions,) to introduce and propagate, in\nforeign countries, those pernicious principles which have already sapped\nthe foundation of social order, destroyed the happiness of millions, and\nspread desolation and ruin over the finest country in Europe. I had\nparticularly observed the incredible efforts exerted in England, and, I\nam sorry to say, with too much success, for the base purpose of giving a\nfalse colour to every action of the persons exercising the powers of\ngovernment in France; and I had marked, with indignation, the atrocious\nattempt to strip vice of its deformity, to dress crime in the garb of\nvirtue, to decorate slavery with the symbols of freedom, and give to\nfolly the attributes of wisdom. I had seen, with extreme concern, men,\nwhom the lenity, mistaken lenity, I must call it, of our government had\nrescued from punishment, if not from ruin, busily engaged in this\nscandalous traffic, and, availing themselves of their extensive\nconnections to diffuse, by an infinite variety of channels, the poison of\ndemocracy over their native land. In short, I had seen the British\npress, the grand palladium of British liberty, devoted to the cause of\nGallic licentiousness, that mortal enemy of all freedom, and even the\npure stream of British criticism diverted from its natural course, and\npolluted by the pestilential vapours of Gallic republicanism. I\ntherefore deemed it essential, by an exhibition of well-authenticated\nfacts, to correct, as far as might be, the evil effects of\nmisrepresentation and error, and to defend the empire of truth, which had\nbeen assailed by a host of foes.\nMy opinion of the principles on which the present system of government in\nFrance was founded, and the war to which those principles gave rise, have\nbeen long since submitted to the public. Subsequent events, far from\ninvalidating, have strongly confirmed it. In all the public declarations\nof the Directory, in their domestic polity, in their conduct to foreign\npowers, I plainly trace the prevalence of the same principles, the same\ncontempt for the rights and happiness of the people, the same spirit of\naggression and aggrandizement, the same eagerness to overturn the\nexisting institutions of neighbouring states, and the same desire to\npromote \"the universal revolution of Europe,\" which marked the conduct of\nBRISSOT, LE BRUN, DESMOULINS, ROBESPIERRE, and their disciples. Indeed,\nwhat stronger instance need be adduced of the continued prevalence of\nthese principles, than the promotion to the supreme rank in the state, of\ntwo men who took an active part in the most atrocious proceedings of the\nConvention at the close of 1792, and at the commencement of the following\nyear?\nIn all the various constitutions which have been successively adopted\nin that devoted country, the welfare of the people has been wholly\ndisregarded, and while they have been amused with the shadow of liberty,\nthey have been cruelly despoiled of the substance. Even on the\nestablishment of the present constitution, the one which bore the nearest\nresemblance to a rational system, the freedom of election, which had been\nfrequently proclaimed as the very corner-stone of liberty, was shamefully\nviolated by the legislative body, who, in their eagerness to perpetuate\ntheir own power, did not scruple to destroy the principle on which it was\nfounded. Nor is this the only violation of their own principles. A\nFrench writer has aptly observed, that \"En revolution comme en morale, ce\nn'est que le premier pas qui coute:\" thus the executive, in imitation of\nthe legislative body, seem disposed to render their power perpetual. For\nthough it be expressly declared by the 137th article of the 6th title of\ntheir present constitutional code, that the \"Directory shall be partially\nrenewed by the election of a new member every year,\" no step towards such\nelection has been taken, although the time prescribed by the law is\nelapsed.--In a private letter from Paris now before me, written within\nthese few days, is the following observation on this very circumstance:\n\"The constitution has received another blow. The month of Vendemiaire is\npast, and our Directors still remain the same. Hence we begin to drop\nthe appalation of Directory, and substitute that of the Cinqvir, who are\nmore to be dreaded for their power, and more to be detested for their\ncrimes, than the Decemvir of ancient Rome.\" The same letter also\ncontains a brief abstract of the state of the metropolis of the French\nrepublic, which is wonderfully characteristic of the attention of the\ngovernment to the welfare and happiness of its inhabitants!\n\"The reign of misery and of crime seems to be perpetuated in this\ndistracted capital: suicides, pillage, and assassinations, are daily\ncommitted, and are still suffered to pass unnoticed. But what renders\nour situation still more deplorable, is the existence of an innumerable\nband of spies, who infest all public places, and all private societies.\nMore than a hundred thousand of these men are registered on the books of\nthe modern SARTINE; and as the population of Paris, at most, does not\nexceed six hundred thousand souls, we are sure to find in six individuals\none spy. This consideration makes me shudder, and, accordingly, all\nconfidence, and all the sweets of social intercourse, are banished from\namong us. People salute each other, look at each other, betray mutual\nsuspicions, observe a profound silence, and part. This, in few words, is\nan exact description of our modern republican parties. It is said, that\npoverty has compelled many respectable persons, and even state-creditors,\nto enlist under the standard of COCHON, (the Police Minister,) because\nsuch is the honourable conduct of our sovereigns, that they pay their\nspies in specie--and their soldiers, and the creditors of the state, in\npaper.--Such is the morality, such the justice, such are the republican\nvirtues, so loudly vaunted by our good and dearest friends, our\npensioners--the Gazetteers of England and Germany!\"\nThere is not a single abuse, which the modern reformers reprobated so\nloudly under the ancient system, that is not magnified, in an infinite\ndegree, under the present establishment. For one Lettre de Cachet issued\nduring the mild reign of LOUIS the Sixteenth, a thousand Mandats d'Arret\nhave been granted by the tyrannical demagogues of the revolution; for one\nBastile which existed under the Monarchy, a thousand Maisons de Detention\nhave been established by the Republic. In short, crimes of every\ndenomination, and acts of tyranny and injustice, of every kind, have\nmultiplied, since the abolition of royalty, in a proportion which sets\nall the powers of calculation at defiance.\nIt is scarcely possible to notice the present situation of France,\nwithout adverting to the circumstances of the WAR, and to the attempt now\nmaking, through the medium of negotiation, to bring it to a speedy\nconclusion. Since the publication of my Letter to a Noble Earl, now\ndestined to chew the cud of disappointment in the vale of obscurity, I\nhave been astonished to hear the same assertions advance, by the members\nand advocates of that party whose merit is said to consist in the\nviolence of their opposition to the measures of government, on the origin\nof the war, which had experienced the most ample confutation, without the\nassistance of any additional reason, and without the smallest attempt to\nexpose the invalidity of those proofs which, in my conception, amounted\nnearly to mathematical demonstration, and which I had dared them, in\nterms the most pointed, to invalidate. The question of aggression before\nstood on such high ground, that I had not the presumption to suppose it\ncould derive an accession of strength from any arguments which I could\nsupply; but I was confident, that the authentic documents which I offered\nto the public would remove every intervening object that tended to\nobstruct the fight of inattentive observers, and reflect on it such an\nadditional light as would flash instant conviction on the minds of all.\nIt seems, I have been deceived; but I must be permitted to suggest, that\nmen who persist in the renewal of assertions, without a single effort to\ncontrovert the proofs which have been adduced to demonstrate their\nfallacy, cannot have for their object the establishment of truth--which\nought, exclusively, to influence the conduct of public characters,\nwhether writers or orators.\nWith regard to the negotiation, I can derive not the smallest hopes of\nsuccess from a contemplation of the past conduct, or of the present\nprinciples, of the government of France. When I compare the projects of\naggrandizement openly avowed by the French rulers, previous to the\ndeclaration of war against this country, with the exorbitant pretensions\nadvanced in the arrogant reply of the Executive Directory to the note\npresented by the British Envoy at Basil in the month of February, 1796,\nand with the more recent observations contained in their official note of\nthe 19th of September last, I cannot think it probable that they will\naccede to any terms of peace that are compatible with the interest and\nsafety of the Allies. Their object is not so much the establishment as\nthe extension of their republic.\nAs to the danger to be incurred by a treaty of peace with the republic of\nFrance, though it has been considerably diminished by the events of the\nwar, it is still unquestionably great. This danger principally arises\nfrom a pertinacious adherence, on the part of the Directory, to those\nvery principles which were adopted by the original promoters of the\nabolition of Monarchy in France. No greater proof of such adherence need\nbe required than their refusal to repeal those obnoxious decrees (passed\nin the months of November and December, 1792,) which created so general\nand so just an alarm throughout Europe, and which excited the reprobation\neven of that party in England, which was willing to admit the equivocal\ninterpretation given to them by the Executive Council of the day. I\nproved, in the Letter to a Noble Earl before alluded to, from the very\ntestimony of the members of that Council themselves, as exhibited in\ntheir official instructions to one of their confidential agents, that the\ninterpretation which they had assigned to those decrees, in their\ncommunications with the British Ministry, was a base interpretation, and\nthat they really intended to enforce the decrees, to the utmost extent of\ntheir possible operation, and, by a literal construction thereof, to\nencourage rebellion in every state, within the reach of their arms or\ntheir principles. Nor have the present government merely forborne to\nrepeal those destructive laws--they have imitated the conduct of their\npredecessors, have actually put them in execution wherever they had the\nability to do so, and have, in all respects, as far as related to those\ndecrees, adopted the precise spirit and principles of the faction which\ndeclared war against England. Let any man read the instructions of the\nExecutive Council to PUBLICOLA CHAUSSARD, their Commissary in the\nNetherlands, in 1792 and 1793, and an account of the proceedings in the\nLow Countries consequent thereon, and then examine the conduct of the\nrepublican General, BOUNAPARTE, in Italy--who must necessarily act from\nthe instructions of the Executive Directory----and he will be compelled\nto acknowledge the justice of my remark, and to admit that the latter\nactuated by the same pernicious desire to overturn the settled order of\nsociety, which invariably marked the conduct of the former.\n\"It is an acknowledged fact, that every revolution requires a provisional\npower to regulate its disorganizing movements, and to direct the\nmethodical demolition of every part of the ancient social constitution.--\nSuch ought to be the revolutionary power.\n\"To whom can such power belong, but to the French, in those countries\ninto which they may carry their arms? Can they with safety suffer it to\nbe exercised by any other persons? It becomes the French republic, then,\nto assume this kind of guardianship over the people whom she awakens to\nLiberty!*\"\n * _Considerations Generales fur l'Esprit et les Principes du Decret\n du 15 Decembre_.\nSuch were the Lacedaemonian principles avowed by the French government in\n1792, and such is the Lacedaimonian policy* pursued by the French\ngovernment in 1796! It cannot then, I conceive, be contended, that a\ntreaty with a government still professing principles which have been\nrepeatedly proved to be subversive of all social order, which have been\nacknowledged by their parents to have for their object the methodical\ndemolition of existing constitutions, can be concluded without danger or\nrisk. That danger, I admit, is greatly diminished, because the power\nwhich was destined to carry into execution those gigantic projects which\nconstituted its object, has, by the operations of the war, been\nconsiderably curtailed. They well may exist in equal force, but the\nability is no longer the same.\nMACHIAVEL justly observes, that it was the narrow policy of the\nLacedaemonians always to destroy the ancient constitution, and establish\ntheir own form of government, in the counties and cities which they\nsubdued.\nBut though I maintain the existence of danger in a Treaty with the\nRepublic of France, unless she previously repeal the decrees to which I\nhave adverted, and abrogate the acts to which they have given birth, I by\nno means contend that it exists in such a degree as to justify a\ndetermination, on the part of the British government, to make its removal\nthe sine qua non of negotiation, or peace. Greatly as I admire the\nbrilliant endowments of Mr. BURKE, and highly as I respect and esteem him\nfor the manly and decisive part which he has taken, in opposition to the\ndestructive anarchy of republican France, and in defence of the\nconstitutional freedom of Britain; I cannot either agree with him on this\npoint, or concur with him in the idea that the restoration of the\nMonarchy of France was ever the object of the war. That the British\nMinisters ardently desired that event, and were earnest in their\nendeavours to promote it, is certain; not because it was the object of\nthe war, but because they considered it as the best means of promoting\nthe object of the war, which was, and is, the establishment of the safety\nand tranquillity of Europe, on a solid and permanent basis. If that\nobject can be attained, and the republic exist, there is nothing in the\npast conduct and professions of the British Ministers, that can interpose\nan obstacle to the conclusion of peace. Indeed, in my apprehension, it\nwould be highly impolitic in any Minister, at the commencement of a war,\nto advance any specific object, that attainment of which should be\ndeclared to be the sine qua non of peace. If mortals could arrogate to\nthemselves the attributes of the Deity, if they could direct the course\nof events, and controul the chances of war, such conduct would be\njustifiable; but on no other principle, I think, can its defence be\nundertaken. It is, I grant, much to be lamented, that the protection\noffered to the friends of monarchy in France, by the declaration of the\n29th of October, 1793, could not be rendered effectual: as far as the\noffer went it was certainly obligatory on the party who made it; but it\nwas merely conditional--restricted, as all similar offers necessarily\nmust be, by the ability to fulfil the obligation incurred.\nIn paying this tribute to truth, it is not my intention to retract, in\nthe smallest degree, the opinion I have ever professed, that the\nrestoration of the ancient monarchy of France would be the best possible\nmeans not only of securing the different states of Europe from the\ndangers of republican anarchy, but of promoting the real interests,\nwelfare, and happiness of the French people themselves. The reasons on\nwhich this opinion is founded I have long since explained; and the\nintelligence which I have since received from France, at different times,\nhas convinced me that a very great proportion of her inhabitants concur\nin the sentiment.\nThe miseries resulting from the establishment of a republican system of\ngovernment have been severely felt, and deeply deplored; and I am fully\npersuaded, that the subjects and tributaries of France will cordially\nsubscribe to the following observation on republican freedom, advanced by\na writer who had deeply studied the genius of republics: _\"Di tutte le\nfervitu dure, quella e durissima, che ti sottomette ad una republica;\nl'una, perche e la piu durabile, e manco si puo sperarne d'ufare: L'altra\nperche il fine della republica e enervare ed indebolire, debolire, per\naccrescere il corpo suo, tutti gli altri corpi._*\"\nJOHN GIFFORD. London, Nov. 12, 1796.\n * _Discorsi di Nicoli Machiavelli,_ Lib. ii. p. 88.\nP.S. Since I wrote the preceding remarks, I have been given to\nunderstand, that by a decree, subsequent to the completion of the\nconstitutional code, the first partial renewal of the Executive Directory\nwas deferred till the month of March, 1979; and that, therefore, in this\ninstance, the present Directory cannot be accused of having violated the\nconstitution. But the guilt is only to be transferred from the Directory\nto the Convention, who passed that decree, as well as some others, in\ncontradiction to a positive constitutional law.-----Indeed, the Directory\nthemselves betrayed no greater delicacy with regard to the observance of\nthe constitution, or M. BARRAS would never have taken his seat among\nthem; for the constitution expressly says, (and this positive provision\nwas not even modified by any subsequent mandate of the Convention,) that\nno man shall be elected a member of the Directory who has not completed\nhis fortieth year--whereas it is notorious that Barras had not this\nrequisite qualification, having been born in the year 1758!\nI avail myself of the opportunity afforded me by the publication of a\nSecond Edition to notice some insinuations which have been thrown out,\ntending to question the authenticity of the work. The motives which have\ninduced the author to withhold from these Letters the sanction of her\nname, relate not to herself, but to some friends still remaining in\nFrance, whose safety she justly conceives might be affected by the\ndisclosure. Acceding to the force and propriety of these motives, yet\naware of the suspicions to which a recital of important facts, by an\nanonymous writer, would naturally be exposed, and sensible, also, that a\ncertain description of critics would gladly avail themselves of any\nopportunity for discouraging the circulation of a work which contained\nprinciples hostile to their own; I determined to prefix my name to the\npublication. By so doing, I conceived that I stood pledged for its\nauthenticity; and the matter has certainly been put in a proper light by\nan able and respectable critic, who has observed that \"Mr. GIFFORD stands\nbetween the writer and the public,\" and that \"his name and character are\nthe guarantees for the authenticity of the Letters.\"\nThis is precisely the situation in which I meant to place myself--\nprecisely the pledge which I meant to give. The Letters are exactly what\nthey profess to be; the production of a Lady's pen, and written in the\nvery situations which they describe.--The public can have no grounds for\nsuspecting my veracity on a point in which I can have no possible\ninterest in deceiving them; and those who know me will do me the justice\nto acknowledge, that I have a mind superior to the arts of deception, and\nthat I am incapable of sanctioning an imposition, for any purpose, or\nfrom any motives whatever. Thus much I deemed it necessary to say, as\nwell from a regard for my own character, and from a due attention to the\npublic, as from a wish to prevent the circulation of the work from being\nsubjected to the impediments arising from the prevalence of a groundless\nsuspicion.\nI naturally expected, that some of the preceding remarks would excite the\nresentment and draw down the vengeance of those persons to whom they\nevidently applied. The contents of every publication are certainly a\nfair subject for criticism; and to the fair comments of real critics,\nhowever repugnant to the sentiments I entertain, or the doctrine I seek\nto inculcate, I shall ever submit without murmur or reproach. But, when\nmen, assuming that respectable office, openly violate all the duties\nattached to it, and, sinking the critic in the partizan, make a wanton\nattack on my veracity, it becomes proper to repel the injurious\nimputation; and the same spirit which dictates submission to the candid\naward of an impartial judge, prescribes indignation and scorn at the\ncowardly attacks of a secret assassin.\nRESIDENCE IN FRANCE\nDEDICATION\nTo The RIGHT HON. EDMUND BURKE.\nSIR,\nIt is with extreme diffidence that I offer the following pages to Your\nnotice; yet as they describe circumstances which more than justify Your\nown prophetic reflections, and are submitted to the public eye from no\nother motive than a love of truth and my country, I may, perhaps, be\nexcused for presuming them to be not altogether unworthy of such a\ndistinction.\nWhile Your puny opponents, if opponents they may be called, are either\nsunk into oblivion, or remembered only as associated with the degrading\ncause they attempted to support, every true friend of mankind,\nanticipating the judgement of posterity, views with esteem and veneration\nthe unvarying Moralist, the profound Politician, the indefatigable\nServant of the Public, and the warm Promoter of his country's happiness.\nTo this universal testimony of the great and good, permit me, Sir, to\njoin my humble tribute; being, with the utmost respect,\nSIR,\nYour obedient Servant, THE AUTHOR. Sept. 12, 1796.\nPREFACE\nAfter having, more than once, in the following Letters, expressed\nopinions decidedly unfavourable to female authorship, when not justified\nby superior talents, I may, by now producing them to the public, subject\nmyself to the imputation either of vanity or inconsistency; and I\nacknowledge that a great share of candour and indulgence must be\npossessed by readers who attend to the apologies usually made on such\noccasions: yet I may with the strictest truth alledge, that I should\nnever have ventured to offer any production of mine to the world, had I\nnot conceived it possible that information and reflections collected and\nmade on the spot, during a period when France exhibited a state, of which\nthere is no example in the annals of mankind, might gratify curiosity\nwithout the aid of literary embellishment; and an adherence to truth, I\nflattered myself, might, on a subject of this nature, be more acceptable\nthan brilliancy of thought, or elegance of language. The eruption of a\nvolcano may be more scientifically described and accounted for by the\nphilosopher; but the relation of the illiterate peasant who beheld it,\nand suffered from its effects, may not be less interesting to the common\nhearer.\nAbove all, I was actuated by the desire of conveying to my countrymen a\njust idea of that revolution which they have been incited to imitate, and\nof that government by which it has been proposed to model our own.\nSince these pages were written, the Convention has nominally been\ndissolved, and a new constitution and government have succeeded, but no\nreal change of principle or actors has taken place; and the system, of\nwhich I have endeavoured to trace the progress, must still be considered\nas existing, with no other variations than such as have been necessarily\nproduced by the difference of time and circumstances. The people grew\ntired of massacres en masse, and executions en detail: even the national\nfickleness operated in favour of humanity; and it was also discovered,\nthat however a spirit of royalism might be subdued to temporary inaction,\nit was not to be eradicated, and that the sufferings of its martyrs only\ntended to propagate and confirm it. Hence the scaffolds flow less\nfrequently with blood, and the barbarous prudence of CAMILLE DESMOULINS'\nguillotine economique has been adopted. But exaction and oppression are\nstill practised in every shape, and justice is not less violated, nor is\nproperty more secure, than when the former was administered by\nrevolutionary tribunals, and the latter was at the disposition of\nrevolutionary armies.\nThe error of supposing that the various parties which have usurped the\ngovernment of France have differed essentially from each other is pretty\ngeneral; and it is common enough to hear the revolutionary tyranny\nexclusively associated with the person of ROBESPIERRE, and the\nthirty-first of May, 1793, considered as the epoch of its introduction.\nYet whoever examines attentively the situation and politics of France,\nfrom the subversion of the Monarchy, will be convinced that all the\nprinciples of this monstrous government were established during the\nadministration of the Brissotins, and that the factions which succeeded,\nfrom Danton and Robespierre to Sieyes and Barras, have only developed\nthem, and reduced them to practice. The revolution of the thirty-first\nof May, 1793, was not a contest for system but for power--that of July\nthe twenty-eighth, 1794, (9th Thermidor,) was merely a struggle which of\ntwo parties should sacrifice the other--that of October the fifth, 1795,\n(13th Vendemiaire,) a war of the government against the people. But in\nall these convulsions, the primitive doctrines of tyranny and injustice\nwere watched like the sacred fire, and have never for a moment been\nsuffered to languish.\nIt may appear incredible to those who have not personally witnessed this\nphoenomenon, that a government detested and despised by an immense\nmajority of the nation, should have been able not only to resist the\nefforts of so many powers combined against it, but even to proceed from\ndefence to conquest, and to mingle surprize and terror with those\nsentiments of contempt and abhorrence which it originally excited.\nThat wisdom or talents are not the sources of this success, may be\ndeduced from the situation of France itself. The armies of the republic\nhave, indeed, invaded the territories of its enemies, but the desolation\nof their own country seems to increase with every triumph--the genius of\nthe French government appears powerful only in destruction, and inventive\nonly in oppression--and, while it is endowed with the faculty of\nspreading universal ruin, it is incapable of promoting the happiness of\nthe smallest district under its protection. The unrestrained pillage of\nthe conquered countries has not saved France from multiplied\nbankruptcies, nor her state-creditors from dying through want; and\nthe French, in the midst of their external prosperity, are often\ndistinguished from the people whom their armies have been subjugated,\nonly by a superior degree of wretchedness, and a more irregular\ndespotism.\nWith a power excessive and unlimited, and surpassing what has hitherto\nbeen possessed by any Sovereign, it would be difficult to prove that\nthese democratic despots have effected any thing either useful or\nbeneficent. Whatever has the appearance of being so will be found, on\nexamination, to have for its object some purpose of individual interest\nor personal vanity. They manage the armies, they embellish Paris, they\npurchase the friendship of some states and the neutrality of others; but\nif there be any real patriots in France, how little do they appreciate\nthese useless triumphs, these pilfered museums, and these fallacious\nnegotiations, when they behold the population of their country\ndiminished, its commerce annihilated, its wealth dissipated, its morals\ncorrupted, and its liberty destroyed--\n \"Thus, on deceitful Aetna's Flow'ry side\n Unfading verdure glads the roving eye,\n While secret flames with unextinguish'd rage\n Insatiate on her wafted entrails prey,\n And melt her treach'rous beauties into ruin.\"\nThose efforts which the partizans of republicanism admire, and which even\nwell-disposed persons regard as prodigies, are the simple and natural\nresult of an unprincipled despotism, acting upon, and disposing of, all\nthe resources of a rich, populous, and enslaved nation. _\"Il devient aise\nd'etre habile lorsqu'on s'est delivre des scrupules et des loix, de tout\nhonneur et de toute justice, des droits de ses semblables, et des devoirs\nde l'autorite--a ce degre d'independence la plupart des obstacles qui\nmodifient l'activite humaine disparaissent; l'on parait avoir du talent\nlorsqu'on n'a que de l'impudence, et l'abus de la force passe pour\nenergie._*\"\n * \"Exertions of ability become easy, when men have released\n themselves from the scruples of conscience, the restraints of law,\n the ties of honour, the bonds of justice, the claims of their fellow\n creatures, and obedience to their superiors:--at this point of\n independence, most of the obstacles which modify human activity\n disappear; impudence is mistaken for talents; and the abuse of power\n passes for energy.\"\nThe operations of all other governments must, in a great measure, be\nrestrained by the will of the people, and by established laws; with them,\nphysical and political force are necessarily separate considerations:\nthey have not only to calculate what can be borne, but what will be\nsubmitted to; and perhaps France is the first country that has been\ncompelled to an exertion of its whole strength, without regard to any\nobstacle, natural, moral, or divine. It is for want of sufficiently\ninvestigating and allowing for this moral and political latitudinarianism\nof our enemies, that we are apt to be too precipitate in censuring the\nconduct of the war; and, in our estimation of what has been done, we pay\ntoo little regard to the principles by which we have been directed. An\nhonest man could scarcely imagine the means we have had to oppose, and an\nEnglishman still less conceive that they would have been submitted to:\nfor the same reason that the Romans had no law against parricide, till\nexperience had evinced the possibility of the crime.\nIn a war like the present, advantage is not altogether to be appreciated\nby military superiority. If, as there is just ground for believing, our\nexternal hostilities have averted an internal revolution, what we have\nescaped is of infinitely more importance to us than what we could\nacquire. Commerce and conquest, compared to this, are secondary objects;\nand the preservation of our liberties and our constitution\nis a more solid blessing than the commerce of both the Indies, or the\nconquest of nations.\nShould the following pages contribute to impress this salutary truth on\nmy countrymen, my utmost ambition will be gratified; persuaded, that a\nsense of the miseries they have avoided, and of the happiness they enjoy,\nwill be their best incentive, whether they may have to oppose the arms of\nthe enemy in a continuance of the war, or their more dangerous\nmachinations on the restoration of peace.\nI cannot conclude without noticing my obligations to the Gentleman whose\nname is prefixed to these volumes; and I think it at the same time\nincumbent on me to avow, that, in having assisted the author, he must not\nbe considered as sanctioning the literary imperfections of the work.\nWhen the subject was first mentioned to him, he did me the justice of\nsupposing, that I was not likely to have written any thing, the general\ntendency of which he might disapprove; and when, on perusing the\nmanuscript, he found it contain sentiments dissimilar to his own, he was\ntoo liberal to require a sacrifice of them as the condition of his\nservices.--I confess that previous to my arrival in France in 1792, I\nentertained opinions somewhat more favourable to the principle of the\nrevolution than those which I was led to adopt at a subsequent period.\nAccustomed to regard with great justice the British constitution as the\nstandard of known political excellence, I hardly conceived it possible\nthat freedom or happiness could exist under any other: and I am not\nsingular in having suffered this prepossession to invalidate even the\nevidence of my senses. I was, therefore, naturally partial to whatever\nprofessed to approach the object of my veneration. I forgot that\ngovernments are not to be founded on imitations or theories, and that\nthey are perfect only as adapted to the genius, manners, and disposition\nof the people who are subject to them. Experience and maturer judgement\nhave corrected my error, and I am perfectly convinced, that the old\nmonarchical constitution of France, with very slight meliorations, was\nevery way better calculated for the national character than a more\npopular form of government.\nA critic, though not very severe, will discover many faults of style,\neven where the matter may not be exceptionable. Besides my other\ndeficiencies, the habit of writing is not easily supplied, and, as I\ndespaired of attaining excellence, and was not solicitous about degrees\nof mediocrity, I determined on conveying to the public such information\nas I was possessed of, without alteration or ornament. Most of these\nLetters were written exactly in the situation they describe, and remain\nin their original state; the rest were arranged according as\nopportunities were favourable, from notes and diaries kept when \"the\ntimes were hot and feverish,\" and when it would have been dangerous to\nattempt more method. I forbear to describe how they were concealed\neither in France or at my departure, because I might give rise to the\npersecution and oppression of others. But, that I may not attribute to\nmyself courage which I do not possess, nor create doubts of my veracity,\nI must observe, that I seldom ventured to write till I was assured of\nsome certain means of conveying my papers to a person who could safely\ndispose of them.\nAs a considerable period has elapsed since my return, it may not be\nimproper to add, that I took some steps for the publication of these\nLetters so early as July, 1795. Certain difficulties, however, arising,\nof which I was not aware, I relinquished my design, and should not have\nbeen tempted to resume it, but for the kindness of the Gentleman whose\nname appears as the Editor.\nA RESIDENCE IN FRANCE.\nI am every day more confirmed in the opinion I communicated to you on my\narrival, that the first ardour of the revolution is abated.--The bridal\ndays are indeed past, and I think I perceive something like indifference\napproaching. Perhaps the French themselves are not sensible of this\nchange; but I who have been absent two years, and have made as it were a\nsudden transition from enthusiasm to coldness, without passing through\nthe intermediate gradations, am forcibly struck with it. When I was here\nin 1790, parties could be scarcely said to exist--the popular triumph was\ntoo complete and too recent for intolerance and persecution, and the\nNoblesse and Clergy either submitted in silence, or appeared to rejoice\nin their own defeat. In fact, it was the confusion of a decisive\nconquest--the victors and the vanquished were mingled together; and the\none had not leisure to exercise cruelty, nor the other to meditate\nrevenge. Politics had not yet divided society; nor the weakness and\npride of the great, with the malice and insolence of the little, thinned\nthe public places. The politics of the women went no farther than a few\ncouplets in praise of liberty, and the patriotism of the men was confined\nto an habit de garde nationale, the device of a button, or a nocturnal\nrevel, which they called mounting guard.--Money was yet plenty, at least\nsilver, (for the gold had already begun to disappear,) commerce in its\nusual train, and, in short, to one who observes no deeper than myself,\nevery thing seemed gay and flourishing--the people were persuaded they\nwere happier; and, amidst such an appearance of content, one must have\nbeen a cold politician to have examined too strictly into the future.\nBut all this, my good brother, is in a great measure subsided; and the\ndisparity is so evident, that I almost imagine myself one of the seven\nsleepers--and, like them too, the coin I offer is become rare, and\nregarded more as medals than money. The playful distinctions of\nAristocrate and Democrate are degenerated into the opprobium and\nbitterness of Party--political dissensions pervade and chill the common\nintercourse of life--the people are become gross and arbitrary, and the\nhigher classes (from a pride which those who consider the frailty of\nhuman nature will allow for) desert the public amusements, where they\ncannot appear but at the risk of being the marked objects of insult.--The\npolitics of the women are no longer innoxious--their political principles\nform the leading trait of their characters; and as you know we are often\napt to supply by zeal what we want in power, the ladies are far from\nbeing the most tolerant partizans on either side.--The national uniform,\nwhich contributed so much to the success of the revolution, and\nstimulated the patriotism of the young men, is become general; and the\ntask of mounting guard, to which it subjects the wearer, is now a serious\nand troublesome duty.--To finish my observations, and my contrast, no\nSpecie whatever is to be seen; and the people, if they still idolize\ntheir new form of government, do it at present with great sobriety--the\nVive la nation! seems now rather the effect of habit than of feeling; and\none seldom hears any thing like the spontaneous and enthusiastic sounds I\nformerly remarked.\nI have not yet been here long enough to discover the causes of this\nchange; perhaps they may lie too deep for such an observer as myself: but\nif (as the causes of important effects sometimes do) they lie on the\nsurface, they will be less liable to escape me, than an observer of more\npretentions. Whatever my remarks are, I will not fail to communicate\nthem--the employment will at least be agreeable to me, though the result\nshould not be satisfactory to you; and as I shall never venture on any\nreflection, without relating the occurrence that gave rise to it, your\nown judgement will enable you to correct the errors of mine.\nI was present yesterday at a funeral service, performed in honour of\nGeneral Dillon. This kind of service is common in Catholic countries,\nand consists in erecting a cenotaph, ornamented with numerous lights,\nflowers, crosses, &c. The church is hung with black, and the mass is\nperformed the same as if the body were present. On account of General\nDillon's profession, the mass yesterday was a military one. It must\nalways, I imagine, sound strange to the ears of a Protestant, to hear\nnothing but theatrical music on these occasions, and indeed I could never\nreconcile myself to it; for if we allow any effect to music at all, the\ntrain of thought which should inspire us with respect for the dead, and\nreflections on mortality, is not likely to be produced by the strains in\nwhich Dido bewails Eneas, or in which Armida assails the virtue of\nRinaldo.--I fear, that in general the air of an opera reminds the belle\nof the Theatre where she heard it--and, by a natural transition, of the\nbeau who attended her, and the dress of herself and her neighbours. I\nconfess, this was nearly my own case yesterday, on hearing an air from\n\"Sargines;\" and had not the funeral oration reminded me, I should have\nforgotten the unfortunate event we were celebrating, and which, for some\ndays before, when undistracted by this pious ceremony, I had dwelt on\nwith pity and horror.*--\n * At the first skirmish between the French and Austrians near Lisle,\n a general panic seized the former, and they retreated in disorder to\n Lisle, crying _\"Sauve qui peut, & nous fomnes (sic) trahis.\"_--\"Let\n every one shift for himself--we are betrayed.\" The General, after\n in vain endeavouring to rally them, was massacred at his return on\n the great square.--My pen faulters, and refuses to describe the\n barbarities committed on the lifeless hero. Let it suffice, perhaps\n more than suffice, to say, that his mutilated remains were thrown on\n a fire, which these savages danced round, with yells expressive of\n their execrable festivity. A young Englishman, who was so\n unfortunate as to be near the spot, was compelled to join in this\n outrage to humanity.--The same day a gentleman, the intimate friend\n of our acquaintance, Mad. _____, was walking (unconscious what had\n happened) without the gate which leads to Douay, and was met by the\n flying ruffians on their return; immediately on seeing him they\n shouted, _\"Voila encore un Aristocrate!\"_ and massacred him on the\n spot.\n--Independent of any regret for the fate of Dillon, who is said to have\nbeen a brave and good officer, I am sorry that the first event of this\nwar should be marked by cruelty and licentiousness.--Military discipline\nhas been much relaxed since the revolution, and from the length of time\nsince the French have been engaged in a land war, many of the troops must\nbe without that kind of courage which is the effect of habit. The\ndanger, therefore, of suffering them to alledge that they are betrayed,\nwhenever they do not choose to fight, and to excuse their own cowardice\nby ascribing treachery to their leaders, is incalculable.--Above all,\nevery infraction of the laws in a country just supposing itself become\nfree, cannot be too severely repressed. The National Assembly have done\nall that humanity could suggest--they have ordered the punishment of the\nassassins, and have pensioned and adopted the General's children. The\norator expatiated both on the horror of the act and its consequences, as\nI should have thought, with some ingenuity, had I not been assured by a\nbrother orator that the whole was \"execrable.\" But I frequently remark,\nthat though a Frenchman may suppose the merit of his countrymen to be\ncollectively superior to that of the whole world, he seldom allows any\nindividual of them to have so large a portion as himself.--Adieu: I have\nalready written enough to convince you I have neither acquired the\nGallomania, nor forgotten my friends in England; and I conclude with a\nwish _a propos_ to my subject--that they may long enjoy the rational\nliberty they possess and so well deserve.--Yours.\nYou, my dear _____, who live in a land of pounds, shillings, and pence,\ncan scarcely form an idea of our embarrassments through the want of them.\n'Tis true, these are petty evils; but when you consider that they happen\nevery day, and every hour, and that, if they are not very serious, they\nare very frequent, you will rejoice in the splendour of your national\ncredit, which procures you all the accommodation of paper currency,\nwithout diminishing the circulation of specie. Our only currency here\nconsists of assignats of 5 livres, 50, 100, 200, and upwards: therefore\nin making purchases, you must accommodate your wants to the value of your\nassignat, or you must owe the shopkeeper, or the shopkeeper must owe you;\nand, in short, as an old woman assured me to-day, \"C'est de quoi faire\nperdre la tete,\" and, if it lasted long, it would be the death of her.\nWithin these few days, however, the municipalities have attempted to\nremedy the inconvenience, by creating small paper of five, ten, fifteen,\nand twenty sols, which they give in exchange for assignats of five\nlivres; but the number they are allowed to issue is limited, and the\ndemand for them so great, that the accommodation is inadequate to the\ndifficulty of procuring it. On the days on which this paper (which is\ncalled billets de confiance) is issued, the Hotel de Ville is besieged by\na host of women collected from all parts of the district--Peasants, small\nshopkeepers, fervant maids, and though last, not least formidable--\nfishwomen. They usually take their stand two or three hours before the\ntime of delivery, and the interval is employed in discussing the news,\nand execrating paper money. But when once the door is opened, a scene\ntakes place which bids defiance to language, and calls for the pencil of\na Hogarth. Babel was, I dare say, comparatively to this, a place of\nretreat and silence. Clamours, revilings, contentions, tearing of hair,\nand breaking of heads, generally conclude the business; and, after the\nloss of half a day's time, some part of their clothes, and the expence of\na few bruises, the combatants retire with small bills to the value of\nfive, or perhaps ten livres, as the whole resource to carry on their\nlittle commerce for the ensuing week. I doubt not but the paper may have\nhad some share in alienating the minds of the people from the revolution.\nWhenever I want to purchase any thing, the vender usually answers my\nquestion by another, and with a rueful kind of tone inquires, \"En papier,\nmadame?\"--and the bargain concludes with a melancholy reflection on the\nhardness of the times.\nThe decrees relative to the priests have likewise occasioned much\ndissension; and it seems to me impolitic thus to have made religion the\nstandard of party. The high mass, which is celebrated by a priest who\nhas taken the oaths, is frequented by a numerous, but, it must be\nconfessed, an ill-drest and ill-scented congregation; while the low mass,\nwhich is later, and which is allowed the nonjuring clergy, has a gayer\naudience, but is much less crouded.--By the way, I believe many who\nformerly did not much disturb themselves about religious tenets, have\nbecome rigid Papists since an adherence to the holy see has become a\ncriterion of political opinion. But if these separatists are bigoted and\nobstinate, the conventionalists on their side are ignorant and\nintolerant.\nI enquired my way to-day to the Rue de l'Hopital. The woman I spoke to\nasked me, in a menacing tone, what I wanted there. I replied, which was\ntrue, that I merely wanted to pass through the street as my nearest way\nhome; upon which she lowered her voice, and conducted me very civilly.--I\nmentioned the circumstance on my return, and found that the nuns of the\nhospital had their mass performed by a priest who had not taken the\noaths, and that those who were suspected of going to attend it were\ninsulted, and sometimes ill treated. A poor woman, some little time ago,\nwho conceived perhaps that her salvation might depend on exercising her\nreligion in the way she had been accustomed to, persisted in going, and\nwas used by the populace with such a mixture of barbarity and indecency,\nthat her life was despaired of. Yet this is the age and the country of\nPhilosophers.--Perhaps you will begin to think Swift's sages, who only\namused themselves with endeavouring to propagate sheep without wool, not\nso contemptible. I am almost convinced myself, that when a man once\npiques himself on being a philosopher, if he does no mischief you ought\nto be satisfied with him.\nWe passed last Sunday with Mr. de ____'s tenants in the country. Nothing\ncan equal the avidity of these people for news. We sat down after dinner\nunder some trees in the village, and Mr. de _____ began reading the\nGazette to the farmers who were about us. In a few minutes every thing\nthat could hear (for I leave understanding the pedantry of a French\nnewspaper out of the question) were his auditors. A party at quoits in\none field, and a dancing party in another, quitted their amusements, and\nlistened with undivided attention. I believe in general the farmers are\nthe people most contented with the revolution, and indeed they have\nreason to be so; for at present they refuse to sell their corn unless for\nmoney, while they pay their rent in assignats; and farms being for the\nmost part on leases, the objections of the landlord to this kind of\npayment are of no avail. Great encouragement is likewise held out to\nthem to purchase national property, which I am informed they do to an\nextent that may for some time be injurious to agriculture; for in their\neagerness to acquire land, the deprive themselves of cultivating it.\nThey do not, like our crusading ancestors, \"sell the pasture to buy the\nhorse,\" but the horse to buy the pasture; so that we may expect to see in\nmany places large farms in the hands of those who are obliged to neglect\nthem.\nA great change has happened within the last year, with regard to landed\nproperty--so much has been sold, that many farmers have had the\nopportunity of becoming proprietors. The rage of emigration, which the\napproach of war, pride, timidity, and vanity are daily increasing, has\noccasioned many of the Noblesse to sell their estates, which, with those\nof the Crown and the Clergy, form a large mass of property, thrown as it\nwere into general circulation. This may in future be beneficial to the\ncountry, but the present generation will perhaps have to purchase (and\nnot cheaply) advantages they cannot enjoy. A philanthropist may not\nthink of this with regret; and yet I know not why one race is preferable\nto another, or why an evil should be endured by those who exist now, in\norder that those who succeed may be free from it.--I would willingly\nplant a million of acorns, that another age might be supplied with oaks;\nbut I confess, I do not think it quite so pleasant for us to want bread,\nin order that our descendants may have a superfluity.\nI am half ashamed of these selfish arguments; but really I have been led\nto them through mere apprehension of what I fear the people may have yet\nto endure, in consequence of the revolution.\nI have frequently observed how little taste the French have for the\ncountry, and I believe all my companions, except Mr. de _____, who took\n(as one always does) an interest in surveying his property, were heartily\nennuyes with our little excursion.--Mad. De _____, on her arrival, took\nher post by the farmer's fire-side, and was out of humour the whole day,\ninasmuch as our fare was homely, and there was nothing but rustics to see\nor be seen by. That a plain dinner should be a serious affair, you may\nnot wonder; but the last cause of distress, perhaps you will not conclude\nquite so natural at her years. All that can be said about it is, that\nshe is a French woman, who rouges, and wears lilac ribbons, at\nseventy-four. I hope, in my zeal to obey you, my reflections will not\nbe too voluminous.--For the present I will be warned by my conscience,\nand add only, that I am, Yours.\nYou observe, with some surprize, that I make no mention of the Jacobins--\nthe fact is, that until now I have heard very little about them. Your\nEnglish partizans of the revolution have, by publishing their\ncorrespondence with these societies, attributed a consequence to them\ninfinitely beyond what they have had pretensions to:--a prophet, it is\nsaid, is not honoured in his own country--I am sure a Jacobin is not.\nIn provincial towns these clubs are generally composed of a few of the\nlowest tradesmen, who have so disinterested a patriotism, as to bestow\nmore attention on the state than on their own shops; and as a man may be\nan excellent patriot without the aristocratic talents of reading and\nwriting, they usually provide a secretary or president, who can supply\nthese deficiencies--a country attorney, a _Pere de l'oratoire,_ or a\ndisbanded capuchin, is in most places the candidate for this office.\nThe clubs often assemble only to read the newspapers; but where they\nare sufficiently in force, they make motions for \"fetes,\" censure the\nmunicipalities, and endeavour to influence the elections of the members\nwho compose them.--That of Paris is supposed to consist of about six\nthousand members; but I am told their number and influence are daily\nincreasing, and that the National Assembly is more subservient to them\nthan it is willing to acknowledge--yet, I believe, the people at large\nare equally adverse to the Jacobins, who are said to entertain the\nchimerical project of forming a republic, and to the Aristocrates, who\nwish to restore the ancient government. The party in opposition to both\nthese, who are called the Feuillans,* have the real voice of the people\nwith them, and knowing this, they employ less art than their opponents,\nhave no point of union, and perhaps may finally be undermined by\nintrigue, or even subdued by violence.\n *They derive this appellation, as the Jacobins do theirs, from the\n convent at which they hold their meetings.\nYou seem not to comprehend why I include vanity among the causes of\nemigration, and yet I assure you it has had no small share in many of\nthem. The gentry of the provinces, by thus imitating the higher\nnoblesse, imagine they have formed a kind of a common cause, which may\nhereafter tend to equalize the difference of ranks, and associate them\nwith those they have been accustomed to look up to as their superiors.\nIt is a kind of ton among the women, particularly to talk of their\nemigrated relations, with an accent more expressive of pride than regret,\nand which seems to lay claim to distinction rather than pity.\nI must now leave you to contemplate the boasted misfortunes of these\nbelles, that I may join the card party which forms their alleviation.--\nAdieu.\nYou have doubtless learned from the public papers the late outrage of the\nJacobins, in order to force the King to consent to the formation of an\narmy at Paris, and to sign the decree for banishing the nonjuring Clergy.\nThe newspapers will describe to you the procession of the Sans-Culottes,\nthe indecency of their banners, and the disorders which were the result--\nbut it is impossible for either them or me to convey an idea of the\ngeneral indignation excited by these atrocities. Every well-meaning\nperson is grieved for the present, and apprehensive for the future:\nand I am not without hope, that this open avowal of the designs of the\nJacobins, will unite the Constitutionalists and Aristocrates, and that\nthey will join their efforts in defence of the Crown, as the only means\nof saving both from being overwhelmed by a faction, who are now become\ntoo daring to be despised. Many of the municipalities and departments\nare preparing to address they King, on the fortitude he displayed in this\nhour of insult and peril.--I know not why, but the people have been\ntaught to entertain a mean opinion of his personal courage; and the late\nviolence will at least have the good effect of undeceiving them. It is\ncertain, that he behaved on this occasion with the utmost coolness; and\nthe Garde Nationale, whose hand he placed on his heart, attested that it\nhad no unusual palpitation.\nThat the King should be unwilling to sanction the raising an army under\nthe immediate auspice of the avowed enemies of himself, and of the\nconstitution he has sworn to protect, cannot be much wondered at; and\nthose who know the Catholic religion, and consider that this Prince is\ndevout, and that he has reason to suspect the fidelity of all who\napproach him, will wonder still less that he refuses to banish a class of\nmen, whose influence is extensive, and whose interest it is to preserve\ntheir attachment to him.\nThese events have thrown a gloom over private societies; and public\namusements, as I observed in a former letter, are little frequented; so\nthat, on the whole, time passes heavily with a people who, generally\nspeaking, have few resources in themselves. Before the revolution,\nFrance was at this season a scene of much gaiety. Every village had\nalternately a sort of Fete, which nearly answers to our Wake--but with\nthis difference, that it was numerously attended by all ranks, and the\namusement was dancing, instead of wrestling and drinking. Several small\nfields, or different parts of a large one, were provided with music,\ndistinguished by flags, and appropriated to the several classes of\ndancers--one for the peasants, another for the bourgeois, and a third for\nthe higher orders. The young people danced beneath the ardour of a July\nsun, while the old looked on and regaled themselves with beer, cyder, and\ngingerbread. I was always much pleased with this village festivity: it\ngratified my mind more than select and expensive amusements, because it\nwas general, and within the power of all who chose to partake of it; and\nthe little distinction of rank which was preserved, far from diminishing\nthe pleasure of any, added, I am certain, to the freedom of all. By\nmixing with those only of her own class, the Paysanne* was spared the\ntemptation of envying the pink ribbons of the Bourgeoise, who in her turn\nwas not disturbed by an immediate rivalship with the sash and plumes of\nthe provincial belle. But this custom is now much on the decline. The\nyoung women avoid occasions where an inebriated soldier may offer himself\nas her partner in the dance, and her refusal be attended with insult to\nherself, and danger to those who protect her; and as this licence is\nnearly as offensive to the decent Bourgeoise as to the female of higher\ncondition, this sort of fete will most probably be entirely abandoned.\n *The head-dress of the French _Paysanne_ is uniformly a small cap,\n without ribbon or ornament of any kind, except in that part of\n Normandy which is called the _Pays de Caux,_ where the Paysannes\n wear a particular kind of head dress, ornamented with silver.\nThe people here all dance much better than those of the same rank in\nEngland; but this national accomplishment is not instinctive: for though\nfew of the laborious class have been taught to read, there are scarcely\nany so poor as not to bestow three livres for a quarter's instruction\nfrom a dancing master; and with this three months' noviciate they become\nqualified to dance through the rest of their lives.\nThe rage for emigration, and the approach of the Austrians, have\noccasioned many restrictions on travelling, especially near the seacoast\nof frontiers. No person can pass through a town without a passport from\nthe municipality he resides in, specifying his age, the place of his\nbirth, his destination, the height of his person, and the features of his\nface. The Marquis de C____ entered the town yesterday, and at the gate\npresented his passport as usual; the guard looked at the passport, and in\na high tone demanded his name, whence he came, and where he was going.\nM. de C____ referred him to the passport, and suspecting the man could\nnot read, persisted in refusing to give a verbal account of himself, but\nwith much civility pressed the perusal of the passport; adding, that if\nit was informal, Monsieur might write to the municipality that granted\nit. The man, however, did not approve of the jest, and took the Marquis\nbefore the municipality, who sentenced him to a month's imprisonment for\nhis pleasantry.\nThe French are becoming very grave, and a bon-mot will not now, as\nformerly, save a man's life.--I do not remember to have seen in any\nEnglish print an anecdote on this subject, which at once marks the levity\nof the Parisians, and the wit and presence of mind of the Abbe Maury.--At\nthe beginning of the revolution, when the people were very much incensed\nagainst the Abbe, he was one day, on quitting the Assembly, surrounded by\nan enraged mob, who seized on him, and were hurrying him away to\nexecution, amidst the universal cry of _a la lanterne! a la lanterne!_\nThe Abbe, with much coolness and good humour, turned to those nearest him,\n_\"Eh bien mes amis et quand je serois a la lanterne, en verriez vous plus\nclair?\"_ Those who held him were disarmed, the bon-mot flew through the\ncroud, and the Abbe escaped while they were applauding it.--I have\nnothing to offer after this trait which is worthy of succeeding it, but\nwill add that I am always Yours.\nOur revolution aera has passed tranquilly in the provinces, and with less\nturbulence at Paris than was expected. I consign to the Gazette-writers\nthose long descriptions that describe nothing, and leave the mind as\nunsatisfied as the eye. I content myself with observing only, that the\nceremony here was gay, impressive, and animating. I indeed have often\nremarked, that the works of nature are better described than those of\nart. The scenes of nature, though varied, are uniform; while the\nproductions of art are subject to the caprices of whim, and the\nvicissitudes of taste. A rock, a wood, or a valley, however the scenery\nmay be diversified, always conveys a perfect and distinct image to the\nmind; but a temple, an altar, a palace, or a pavilion, requires a detail,\nminute even to tediousness, and which, after all, gives but an imperfect\nnotion of the object. I have as often read descriptions of the Vatican,\nas of the Bay of Naples; yet I recollect little of the former, while the\nlatter seems almost familiar to me.--Many are strongly impressed with the\nscenery of Milton's Paradise, who have but confused ideas of the\nsplendour of Pandemonium. The descriptions, however, are equally minute,\nand the poetry of both is beautiful.\nBut to return to this country, which is not absolutely a Paradise, and I\nhope will not become a Pandemonium--the ceremony I have been alluding to,\nthough really interesting, is by no means to be considered as a proof\nthat the ardour for liberty increases: on the contrary, in proportion as\nthese fetes become more frequent, the enthusiasm which they excite seems\nto diminish. \"For ever mark, Lucilius, when Love begins to sicken and\ndecline, it useth an enforced ceremony.\" When there were no\nfoederations, the people were more united. The planting trees of liberty\nseems to have damped the spirit of freedom; and since there has been a\ndecree for wearing the national colours, they are more the marks of\nobedience than proofs of affection.--I cannot pretend to decide whether\nthe leaders of the people find their followers less warm than they were,\nand think it necessary to stimulate them by these shows, or whether the\nshows themselves, by too frequent repetition, have rendered the people\nindifferent about the objects of them.--Perhaps both these suppositions\nare true. The French are volatile and material; they are not very\ncapable of attachment to principles. External objects are requisite for\nthem, even in a slight degree; and the momentary enthusiasm that is\nobtained by affecting their senses subsides with the conclusion of a\nfavourite air, or the end of a gaudy procession.\nThe Jacobin party are daily gaining ground; and since they have forced a\nministry of their own on the King, their triumph has become still more\ninsolent and decisive.--A storm is said to be hovering over us, which I\nthink of with dread, and cannot communicate with safety--\"Heaven square\nthe trial of those who are implicated, to their proportioned strength!\"--\nAdieu.\nAugust 4, 1792.\nI must repeat to you, that I have no talent for description; and, having\nseldom been able to profit by the descriptions of others, I am modest\nenough not willingly to attempt one myself. But, as you observe, the\nceremony of a foederation, though familiar to me, is not so to my English\nfriends; I therefore obey your commands, though certain of not succeeding\nso as to gratify your curiosity in the manner you too partially expect.\nThe temple where the ceremony was performed, was erected in an open\nspace, well chosen both for convenience and effect. In a large circle on\nthis spot, twelve posts, between fifty and sixty feet high, were placed\nat equal distances, except one larger, opening in front by way of\nentrance. On each alternate post were fastened ivy, laurel, &c. so as to\nform a thick body which entirely hid the support. These greens were then\nshorn (in the manner you see in old fashioned gardens) into the form of\nDoric columns, of dimensions proportioned to their height. The\nintervening posts were covered with white cloth, which was so\nartificially folded, as exactly to resemble fluted pillars--from the\nbases of which ascended spiral wreaths of flowers. The whole was\nconnected at top by a bold festoon of foliage, and the capital of each\ncolumn was surmounted by a vase of white lilies. In the middle of this\ntemple was placed an altar, hung round with lilies, and on it was deposed\nthe book of the constitution. The approach to the altar was by a large\nflight of steps, covered with beautiful tapestry.\nAll this having been arranged and decorated, (a work of several days,)\nthe important aera was ushered in by the firing of cannon, ringing of\nbells, and an appearance of bustle and hilarity not to be seen on any\nother occasion. About ten, the members of the district, the\nmunicipality, and the judges in their habits of ceremony, met at the\ngreat church, and from thence proceeded to the altar of liberty. The\ntroops of the line, the Garde Nationale of the town, and of all the\nsurrounding communes, then arrived, with each their respective music and\ncolours, which (reserving one only of the latter to distinguish them in\nthe ranks) they planted round the altar. This done, they retired, and\nforming a circle round the temple, left a large intermediate space free.\nA mass was then celebrated with the most perfect order and decency, and\nat the conclusion were read the rights of man and the constitution. The\ntroops, Garde Nationale, &c. were then addressed by their respective\nofficers, the oath to be faithful to the nation, the law, and the King,\nwas administered: every sword was drawn, and every hat waved in the air;\nwhile all the bands of music joined in the favorite strain of ca ira.--\nThis was followed by crowning, with the civic wreaths hung round the\naltar, a number of people, who during the year had been instrumental in\nsaving the lives of their fellow-citizens that had been endangered by\ndrowning or other accidents. This honorary reward was accompanied by a\npecuniary one, and a fraternal embrace from all the constituted bodies.\nBut this was not the gravest part of the ceremony. The magistrates,\nhowever upright, were not all graceful, and the people, though they\nunderstood the value of the money, did not that of the civic wreaths, or\nthe embraces; they therefore looked vacant enough during this part of the\nbusiness, and grinned most facetiously when they began to examine the\nappearance of each other in their oaken crowns, and, I dare say, thought\nthe whole comical enough.--This is one trait of national pedantry.\nBecause the Romans awarded a civic wreath for an act of humanity, the\nFrench have adopted the custom; and decorate thus a soldier or a sailor,\nwho never heard of the Romans in his life, except in extracts from the\nNew Testament at mass.\nBut to return to our fete, of which I have only to add, that the\nmagistrates departed in the order they observed in coming, and the troops\nand Garde Nationale filed off with their hats in the air, and with\nuniversal acclamations, to the sound of ca ira.--Things of this kind are\nnot susceptible of description. The detail may be uninteresting, while\nthe general effect may have been impressive. The spirit of the scene I\nhave been endeavouring to recall seems to have evaporated under my pen;\nyet to the spectator it was gay, elegant, and imposing. The day was\nfine, a brilliant sun glittered on the banners, and a gentle breeze gave\nthem motion; while the satisfied countenances of the people added spirit\nand animation to the whole.\nI must remark to you, that devots, and determined aristocrates, ever\nattend on these occasions. The piety of the one is shocked at a mass by\na priest who has taken the oaths, and the pride of the other is not yet\nreconciled to confusion of ranks and popular festivities. I asked a\nwoman who brings us fruit every day, why she had not come on the\nfourteenth as usual. She told me she did not come to the town, _\"a cause\nde la foederation\"--\"Vous etes aristocrate donc?\"--\"Ah, mon Dieu non--ce\nn'est pas que je suis aristocrate, ou democrate, mais que je suis\nChretienne._*\"\n *\"On account of the foederation.\"--\"You are an aristocrate then, I\n suppose?\"--\"Lord, no! It is not because I am an aristocrate, or a\n democrate, but because I am a Christian.\"\nThis is an instance, among many others I could produce, that our\nlegislators have been wrong, in connecting any change of the national\nreligion with the revolution. I am every day convinced, that this and\nthe assignats are the great causes of the alienation visible in many who\nwere once the warmest patriots.--Adieu: do not envy us our fetes and\nceremonies, while you enjoy a constitution which requires no oath to make\nyou cherish it: and a national liberty, which is felt and valued without\nthe aid of extrinsic decoration.--Yours.\nAugust 15.\nThe consternation and horror of which I have been partaker, will more\nthan apologize for my silence. It is impossible for any one, however\nunconnected with the country, not to feel an interest in its present\ncalamities, and to regret them. I have little courage to write even now,\nand you must pardon me if my letter should bear marks of the general\ndepression. All but the faction are grieved and indignant at the King's\ndeposition; but this grief is without energy, and this indignation\nsilent. The partizans of the old government, and the friends of the new,\nare equally enraged; but they have no union, are suspicious of each\nother, and are sinking under the stupor of despair, when they should be\npreparing for revenge.--It would not be easy to describe our situation\nduring the last week. The ineffectual efforts of La Fayette, and the\nviolences occasioned by them, had prepared us for something still more\nserious. On the ninth, we had a letter from one of the representatives\nfor this department, strongly expressive of his apprehensions for the\nmorrow, but promising to write if he survived it. The day, on which we\nexpected news, came, but no post, no papers, no diligence, nor any means\nof information. The succeeding night we sat up, expecting letters by the\npost: still, however, none arrived; and the courier only passed hastily\nthrough, giving no detail, but that Paris was _a feu et a sang_.*\n * All fire and slaughter.\nAt length, after passing two days and nights in this dreadful suspence,\nwe received certain intelligence which even exceeded our fears.--It is\nneedless to repeat the horrors that have been perpetrated. The accounts\nmust, ere now, have reached you. Our representative, as he seemed to\nexpect, was so ill treated as to be unable to write: he was one of those\nwho had voted the approval of La Fayette's conduct--all of whom were\neither massacred, wounded, or intimidated; and, by this means, a majority\nwas procured to vote the deposition of the King. The party allow, by\ntheir own accounts, eight thousand persons to have perished on this\noccasion; but the number is supposed to be much more considerable. No\npapers are published at present except those whose editors, being members\nof the Assembly, and either agents or instigators of the massacres, are,\nof course, interested in concealing or palliating them.---Mr. De _____\nhas just now taken up one of these atrocious journals, and exclaims, with\ntears starting from his eyes, _\"On a abattu la statue d'Henri quatre!*\"_\n *\"They have destroyed the statue of Henry the Fourth.\"\nThe sacking of Rome by the Goths offers no picture equal to the\nlicentiousness and barbarity committed in a country which calls itself\nthe most enlightened in Europe.--But, instead of recording these horrors,\nI will fill up my paper with the Choeur Bearnais.\n \"Un troubadour Bearnais,\n \"Le yeux inoudes de larmes,\n \"A ses montagnards\n \"Chantoit ce refrein source d'alarmes--\n \"Louis le fils d'Henri\n \"Est prisonnier dans Paris!\n \"Il a tremble pour les jours\n \"De sa compagne cherie\n \"Qui n'a troube de secours\n \"Que dans sa propre energie;\n \"Elle suit le fils d'Henri\n \"Dans les prisons de Paris.\n \"Quel crime ont ils donc commis\n \"Pour etre enchaines de meme?\n \"Du peuple ils sont les amis,\n \"Le peuple veut il qu'on l'aime,\n \"Quand il met le fils d'Henri\n \"Dans les prisons de Paris?\n \"Le Dauphin, ce fils cheri,\n \"Qui seul fait notre esperance,\n \"De pleurs sera donc nourri;\n \"Les Berceaux qu'on donne en France\n \"Aux enfans de notre Henri\n \"Sont les prisons de Paris.\n \"Il a vu couler le sang\n \"De ce garde fidele,\n \"Qui vient d'offrir en mourant\n \"Aux Francais un beau modele;\n Mais Louis le fils d'Henri\n \"Est prisonnier dans Paris.\n \"Il n'est si triste appareil\n \"Qui du respect nous degage,\n \"Les feux ardens du Soleil\n \"Savent percer le nuage:\n \"Le prisonnier de Paris\n \"Est toujours le fils d'Henri.\n \"Francais, trop ingrats Francais\n \"Rendez le Roi a sa compagne;\n \"C'est le bien du Bearnais,\n \"C'est l'enfant de la Montagne:\n \"Le bonheur qu' avoit Henri\n \"Nous l'affarons a Louis.\n \"Chez vouz l'homme a de ses droits\n \"Recouvre le noble usage,\n \"Et vous opprimez vos rois,\n \"Ah! quel injuste partage!\n \"Le peuple est libre, et Louis\n \"Est prisonnier dans Paris.\n \"Au pied de ce monument\n \"Ou le bon Henri respire\n \"Pourquoi l'airain foudroyant?\n \"Ah l'on veut qu' Henri conspire\n \"Lui meme contre son fils\n \"Dans les prisons de Paris.\"_\nIt was published some time ago in a periodical work, (written with great\nspirit and talents,) called \"The Acts of the Apostles,\" and, I believe,\nhas not yet appeared in England. The situation of the King gives a\npeculiar interest to these stanzas, which, merely as a poetical\ncomposition, are very beautiful. I have often attempted to translate\nthem, but have always found it impossible to preserve the effect and\nsimplicity of the original. They are set to a little plaintive air, very\nhappily characteristic of the words.\nPerhaps I shall not write to you again from hence, as we depart for\nA_____ on Tuesday next. A change of scene will dissipate a little the\nseriousness we have contracted during the late events. If I were\ndetermined to indulge grief or melancholy, I would never remove from the\nspot where I had formed the resolution. Man is a proud animal even when\noppressed by misfortune. He seeks for his tranquility in reason and\nreflection; whereas, a post-chaise and four, or even a hard-trotting\nhorse, is worth all the philosophy in the world.--But, if, as I observed\nbefore, a man be determined to resist consolation, he cannot do better\nthan stay at home, and reason and phosophize.\nAdieu:--the situation of my friends in this country makes me think of\nEngland with pleasure and respect; and I shall conclude with a very\nhomely couplet, which, after all the fashionable liberality of modern\ntravellers, contains a great deal of truth:\n \"Amongst mankind\n \"We ne'er shall find\n \"The worth we left at home.\"\nYours, &c.\nThe hour is past, in which, if the King's friends had exerted themselves,\nthey might have procured a movement in his favour. The people were at\nfirst amazed, then grieved; but the national philosophy already begins to\noperate, and they will sink into indifference, till again awakened by\nsome new calamity. The leaders of the faction do not, however, entirely\ndepend either on the supineness of their adversaries, or the submission\nof the people. Money is distributed amongst the idle and indigent, and\nagents are nightly employed in the public houses to comment on\nnewspapers, written for the purpose to blacken the King and exalt the\npatriotism of the party who have dethroned him. Much use has likewise\nbeen made of the advances of the Prussians towards Champagne, and the\nusual mummery of ceremony has not been wanting. Robespierre, in a burst\nof extemporary energy, previously studied, has declared the country in\ndanger. The declaration has been echoed by all the departments, and\nproclaimed to the people with much solemnity. We were not behind hand in\nthe ceremonial of the business, though, somehow, the effect was not so\nserious and imposing as one could have wished on such an occasion. A\nsmart flag, with the words \"Citizens, the country is in danger,\" was\nprepared; the judges and the municipality were in their costume, the\ntroops and Garde Nationale under arms, and an orator, surrounded by his\ncortege, harangued in the principal parts of the town on the text of the\nbanner which waved before him.\nAll this was very well; but, unfortunately, in order to distinguish the\norator amidst the croud, it was determined he should harangue on\nhorseback. Now here arose a difficulty which all the ardour of\npatriotism was not able to surmount. The French are in general but\nindifferent equestrians; and it so happened that, in our municipality,\nthose who could speak could not ride, and those who could ride could not\nspeak. At length, however, after much debating, it was determined that\narms should yield to the gown, or rather, the horse to the orator--with\nthis precaution, that the monture should be properly secured, by an\nattendant to hold the bridle. Under this safeguard, the rhetorician\nissued forth, and the first part of the speech was performed without\naccident; but when, by way of relieving the declaimer, the whole military\nband began to flourish ca ira, the horse, even more patriotic than his\nrider, curvetted and twisted with so much animation, that however the\nspectators might be delighted, the orator was far from participating in\ntheir satisfaction. After all this, the speech was to be finished, and\nthe silence of the music did not immediately tranquillize the animal.\nThe orator's eye wandered from the paper that contained his speech, with\nwistful glances toward the mane; the fervor of his indignation against\nthe Austrians was frequently calmed by the involuntary strikings he was\nobliged to submit to; and at the very crisis of the emphatic declaration,\nhe seemed much less occupied by his country's danger than his own. The\npeople, who were highly amused, I dare say, conceived the whole ceremony\nto be a rejoicing, and at every repetition that the country was in\ndanger, joined with great glee in the chorus of _ca ira_.*\n *The oration consisted of several parts, each ending with a kind of\n burden of _\"Citoyens, la patri est en danger;\"_ and the arrangers of\n the ceremony had not selected appropriate music: so that the band,\n who had been accustomed to play nothing else on public occasions,\n struck up _ca ira_ at every declaration that the country was in\n danger!\nMany of the spectators, I believe, had for some time been convinced of\nthe danger that threatened the country, and did not suppose it much\nincreased by the events of the war; others were pleased with a show,\nwithout troubling themselves about the occasion of it; and the mass,\nexcept when rouzed to attention by their favourite air, or the\nexhibitions of the equestrian orator, looked on with vacant stupidity.\n--This tremendous flag is now suspended from a window of the Hotel de\nVille, where it is to remain until the inscription it wears shall no\nlonger be true; and I heartily wish, the distresses of the country may\nnot be more durable than the texture on which they are proclaimed.\nOur journey is fixed for to-morrow, and all the morning has been passed\nin attendance for our passports.--This affair is not so quickly\ndispatched as you may imagine. The French are, indeed, said to be a very\nlively people, but we mistake their volubility for vivacity; for in their\npublic offices, their shops, and in any transaction of business, no\npeople on earth can be more tedious--they are slow, irregular, and\nloquacious; and a retail English Quaker, with all his formalities, would\ndispose of half his stock in less time than you can purchase a three sols\nstamp from a brisk French Commis. You may therefore conceive, that this\nofficial portraiture of so many females was a work of time, and not very\npleasant to the originals. The delicacy of an Englishman may be shocked\nat the idea of examining and registering a lady's features one after\nanother, like the articles of a bill of lading; but the cold and\nsystematic gallantry of a Frenchman is not so scrupulous.--The officer,\nhowever, who is employed for this purpose here, is civil, and I suspected\nthe infinity of my nose, and the acuteness of Mad. de ____'s chin, might\nhave disconcerted him; but he extricated himself very decently. My nose\nis enrolled in the order of aquilines, and the old lady's chin pared off\nto a _\"menton un peu pointu.\"_--[A longish chin.]\nThe carriages are ordered for seven to-morrow. Recollect, that seven\nfemales, with all their appointments, are to occupy them, and then\ncalculate the hour I shall begin increasing my distance from England and\nmy friends. I shall not do it without regret; yet perhaps you will be\nless inclined to pity me than the unfortunate wights who are to escort\nus. A journey of an hundred miles, with French horses, French carriages,\nFrench harness, and such an unreasonable female charge, is, I confess, in\ngreat humility, not to be ventured on without a most determined\npatience.--I shall write to you on our arrival at Arras; and am, till\nthen, at all times, and in all places, Yours.\nHesdin.\nWe arrived here last night, notwithstanding the difficulties of our first\nsetting out, in tolerable time; but I have gained so little in point of\nrepose, that I might as well have continued my journey. We are lodged at\nan inn which, though large and the best in the town, is so disgustingly\nfilthy, that I could not determine to undress myself, and am now up and\nscribbling, till my companions shall be ready. Our embarkation will, I\nforesee, be a work of time and labour; for my friend, Mad. de ____,\nbesides the usual attendants on a French woman, a femme de chambre and a\nlap-dog, travels with several cages of canary-birds, some pots of curious\nexotics, and a favourite cat; all of which must be disposed of so as to\nproduce no interstine commotions during the journey. Now if you consider\nthe nature of these fellow-travellers, you will allow it not so easy a\nmatter as may at first be supposed, especially as their fair mistress\nwill not allow any of them to be placed in any other carriage than her\nown.--A fray happened yesterday between the cat and the dog, during which\nthe birds were overset, and the plants broken. Poor M. de ____, with a\nsort of rueful good nature, separated the combatants, restored order, and\nwas obliged to purchase peace by charging himself with the care of the\naggressor.\nI should not have dwelt so long on these trifling occurrences, but that\nthey are characteristic. In England, this passion for animals is chiefly\nconfined to old maids, but here it is general. Almost every woman,\nhowever numerous her family, has a nursery of birds, an angola, and two\nor three lap-dogs, who share her cares with her husband and children.\nThe dogs have all romantic names, and are enquired after with so much\nsolicitude when they do not make one in a visit, that it was some time\nbefore I discovered that Nina and Rosine were not the young ladies of the\nfamily. I do not remember to have seen any husband, however master of\nhis house in other respects, daring enough to displace a favourite\nanimal, even though it occupied the only vacant fauteuil.\nThe entrance into Artois from Picardy, though confounded by the new\ndivision, is sufficiently marked by a higher cultivation, and a more\nfertile soil. The whole country we have passed is agreeable, but\nuniform; the roads are good, and planted on each side with trees, mostly\nelms, except here and there some rows of poplar or apple. The land is\nall open, and sown in divisions of corn, carrots, potatoes, tobacco, and\npoppies of which last they make a coarse kind of oil for the use of\npainters. The country is entirely flat, and the view every where bounded\nby woods interspersed with villages, whose little spires peeping through\nthe trees have a very pleasing effect.\nThe people of Artois are said to be highly superstitious, and we have\nalready passed a number of small chapels and crosses, erected by the road\nside, and surrounded by tufts of trees. These are the inventions of a\nmistaken piety; yet they are not entirely without their use, and I cannot\nhelp regarding them with more complacence than a rigid Protestant might\nthink allowable. The weary traveller here finds shelter from a mid-day\nsun, and solaces his mind while he reposes his body. The glittering\nequipage rolls by--he recalls the painful steps he has past, anticipates\nthose which yet remain, and perhaps is tempted to repine; but when he\nturns his eye on the cross of Him who has promised a recompence to the\nsufferers of this world, he checks the sigh of envy, forgets the luxury\nwhich excited it, and pursues his way with resignation. The Protestant\nreligion proscribes, and the character of the English renders\nunnecessary, these sensible objects of devotion; but I have always been\nof opinion, that the levity of the French in general would make them\nincapable of persevering in a form of worship equally abstracted and\nrational. The Spaniards, and even the Italians, might abolish their\ncrosses and images, and yet preserve their Christianity; but if the\nFrench ceased to be bigots, they would become atheists.\nThis is a small fortified town, though not of strength to offer any\nresistance to artillery. Its proximity to the frontier, and the dread of\nthe Austrians, make the inhabitants very patriotic. We were surrounded\nby a great croud of people on our arrival, who had some suspicion that we\nwere emigrating; however, as soon as our passports were examined and\ndeclared legal, they retired very peaceably.\nThe approach of the enemy keeps up the spirit of the people, and,\nnotwithstanding their dissatisfaction at the late events, they have not\nyet felt the change of their government sufficiently to desire the\ninvasion of an Austrian army.--Every village, every cottage, hailed us\nwith the cry of Vive la nation! The cabaret invites you to drink beer a\nla nation, and offers you lodging a la nation--the chandler's shop sells\nyou snuff and hair powder a la nation--and there are even patriotic\nbarbers whose signs inform you, that you may be shaved and have your\nteeth drawn a la nation! These are acts of patriotism one cannot\nreasonably object to; but the frequent and tedious examination of one's\npassports by people who can't read, is not quite so inoffensive, and I\nsometimes lose my patience. A very vigilant _Garde Nationale_ yesterday,\nafter spelling my passport over for ten minutes, objected that it was not\na good one. I maintained that it was; and feeling a momentary importance\nat the recollection of my country, added, in an assuring tone, _\"Et\nd'ailleurs je suis Anglaise et par consequent libre d'aller ou bon me\nsemble._*\" The man stared, but admitted my argument, and we passed on.\n *\"Besides, I am a native of England, and, consequently, have a right\n to go where I please.\"\nMy room door is half open, and gives me a prospect into that of Mad. de\nL____, which is on the opposite side of the passage. She has not yet put\non her cap, but her grey hair is profusely powdered; and, with no other\ngarments than a short under petticoat and a corset, she stands for the\nedification of all who pass, putting on her rouge with a stick and a\nbundle of cotton tied to the end of it.--All travellers agree in\ndescribing great indelicacy to the French women; yet I have seen no\naccounts which exaggerate it, and scarce any that have not been more\nfavourable than a strict adherence to truth might justify. This\ninattractive part of the female national character is not confined to the\nlower or middling classes of life; and an English woman is as likely to\nbe put to the blush in the boudoir of a Marquise, as in the shop of the\nGrisette, which serves also for her dressing-room.\nIf I am not too idle, or too much amused, you will soon be informed of my\narrival at Arras; but though I should neglect to write, be persuaded I\nshall never cease to be, with affection and esteem, Yours, &c.\nArras, August, 1792.\nThe appearance of Arras is not busy in proportion to its population,\nbecause its population is not equal to its extent; and as it is a large,\nwithout being a commercial, town, it rather offers a view of the tranquil\nenjoyment of wealth, than of the bustle and activity by which it is\nprocured. The streets are mostly narrow and ill paved, and the shops\nlook heavy and mean; but the hotels, which chiefly occupy the low town,\nare large and numerous. What is called la Petite Place, is really very\nlarge, and small only in comparison with the great one, which, I believe,\nis the largest in France. It is, indeed, an immense quadrangle--the\nhouses are in the Spanish form, and it has an arcade all round it. The\nSpaniards, by whom it was built, forgot, probably, that this kind of\nshelter would not be so desirable here as in their own climate. The\nmanufacture of tapestry, which a single line of Shakespeare has\nimmortalized, and associated with the mirthful image of his fat Knight,\nhas fallen into decay. The manufacturers of linen and woollen are but\ninconsiderable; and one, which existed till lately, of a very durable\nporcelain, is totally neglected. The principal article of commerce is\nlace, which is made here in great quantities. The people of all ages,\nfrom five years old to seventy, are employed in this delicate fabrick.\nIn fine weather you will see whole streets lined with females, each with\nher cushion on her lap. The people of Arras are uncommonly dirty, and\nthe lacemakers do not in this matter differ from their fellow-citizens;\nyet at the door of a house, which, but for the surrounding ones, you\nwould suppose the common receptacle of all the filth in the vicinage, is\noften seated a female artizan, whose fingers are forming a point of\nunblemished whiteness. It is inconceivable how fast the bobbins move\nunder their hands; and they seem to bestow so little attention on their\nwork, that it looks more like the amusement of idleness than an effort of\nindustry. I am no judge of the arguments of philosophers and politicians\nfor and against the use of luxury in a state; but if it be allowable at\nall, much may be said in favour of this pleasing article of it. Children\nmay be taught to make it at a very early age, and they can work at home\nunder the inspection of their parents, which is certainly preferable to\ncrouding them together in manufactories, where their health is injured,\nand their morals are corrupted.\nBy requiring no more implements than about five shillings will purchase,\na lacemaker is not dependent on the shopkeeper, nor the head of a\nmanufactory. All who choose to work have it in their own power, and can\ndispose of the produce of their labour, without being at the mercy of an\navaricious employer; for though a tolerable good workwoman can gain a\ndecent livelihood by selling to the shops, yet the profit of the retailer\nis so great, that if he rejected a piece of lace, or refused to give a\nreasonable price for it, a certain sale would be found with the\nindividual consumer: and it is a proof of the independence of this\nemploy, that no one will at present dispose of their work for paper, and\nit still continues to be paid for in money. Another argument in favour\nof encouraging lace-making is, that it cannot be usurped by men: you may\nhave men-milliners, men-mantuamakers, and even ladies' valets, but you\ncannot well fashion the clumsy and inflexible fingers of man to\nlace-making. We import great quantities of lace from this country, yet\nI imagine we might, by attention, be enabled to supply other countries,\ninstead of purchasing abroad ourselves. The art of spinning is daily\nimproving in England; and if thread sufficiently fine can be\nmanufactured, there is no reason why we should not equal our neighbours\nin the beauty of this article. The hands of English women are more\ndelicate than those of the French; and our climate is much the same as\nthat of Brussels, Arras, Lisle, &c. where the finest lace is made.\nThe population of Arras is estimated at about twenty-five thousand souls,\nthough many people tell me it is greater. It has, however, been lately\nmuch thinned by emigration, suppression of convents, and the decline of\ntrade, occasioned by the absence of so many rich inhabitants.--The\nJacobins are here become very formidable: they have taken possession of a\nchurch for their meetings, and, from being the ridicule, are become the\nterror of all moderate people.\nYesterday was appointed for taking the new oath of liberty and equality.\nI did not see the ceremony, as the town was in much confusion, and it was\ndeemed unsafe to be from home. I understand it was attended only by the\nvery refuse of the people, and that, as a gallanterie analogue, the\nPresident of the department gave his arm to Madame Duchene, who sells\napples in a cellar, and is Presidente of the Jacobin club. It is,\nhowever, reported to-day, that she is in disgrace with the society for\nher condescension; and her parading the town with a man of forty thousand\nlivres a year is thought to be too great a compliment to the aristocracy\nof riches; so that Mons. Le President's political gallantry has availed\nhim nothing. He has debased and made himself the ridicule of the\nAristocrates and Constitutionalists, without paying his court, as he\nintended, to the popular faction. I would always wish it to happen so to\nthose who offer up incense to the mob. As human beings, as one's fellow\ncreatures, the poor and uninformed have a claim to our affection and\nbenevolence, but when they become legislators, they are absurd and\ncontemptible tyrants.--_A propos_--we were obliged to acknowledge this new\nsovereignty by illuminating the house on the occasion; and this was not\nordered by nocturnal vociferation as in England, but by a regular command\nfrom an officer deputed for that purpose.\nI am concerned to see the people accustomed to take a number of\nincompatible oaths with indifference: it neither will nor can come to any\ngood; and I am ready to exclaim with Juliet--\"Swear not at all.\" Or, if\nye must swear, quarrel not with the Pope, that your consciences may at\nleast be relieved by dispensations and indulgences.\nTo-morrow we go to Lisle, notwithstanding the report that it has already\nbeen summoned to surrender. You will scarcely suppose it possible, yet\nwe find it difficult to learn the certainty of this, at the distance of\nonly thirty miles: but communication is much less frequent and easy here\nthan in England. I am not one of those \"unfortunate women who delight in\nwar;\" and, perhaps, the sight of this place, so famous for its\nfortifications, will not be very amusing to me, nor furnish much matter\nof communication for my friends; but I shall write, if it be only to\nassure you that I am not made prize of by the Austrians. Yours, &c.\nLisle, August, 1792.\nYou restless islanders, who are continually racking imagination to\nperfect the art of moving from one place to another, and who can drop\nasleep in a carriage and wake at an hundred mile distance, have no notion\nof all the difficulties of a day's journey here. In the first place, all\nthe horses of private persons have been taken for the use of the army,\nand those for hire are constantly employed in going to the camp--hence,\nthere is a difficulty in procuring horses. Then a French carriage is\nnever in order, and in France a job is not to be done just when you want\nit--so that there is often a difficulty in finding vehicles. Then there\nis the difficulty of passports, and the difficulty of gates, if you want\nto depart early. Then the difficulties of patching harness on the road,\nand, above all, the inflexible _sang froid_ of drivers. All these things\nconsidered, you will not wonder that we came here a day after we\nintended, and arrived at night, when we ought to have arrived at noon.\n--The carriage wanted a trifling repair, and we could get neither\npassports nor horses. The horses were gone to the army--the municipality\nto the club--and the blacksmith was employed at the barracks in making a\npatriotic harangue to the soldiers.--But we at length surmounted all\nthese obstacles, and reached this place last night.\nThe road between Arras and Lisle is equally rich with that we before\npassed, but is much more diversified. The plain of Lens is not such a\nscene of fertility, that one forgets it has once been that of war and\ncarnage. We endeavoured to learn in the town whereabouts the column was\nerected that commemmorates that famous battle, [1648.] but no one seemed\nto know any thing of the matter. One who, we flattered ourselves, looked\nmore intelligent than the rest, and whom we supposed might be an\nattorney, upon being asked for this spot,--(where, added Mr. de ____, by\nway of assisting his memory, _\"le Prince de Conde s'est battu si bien,\"_)\n--replied, _\"Pour la bataille je n'en sais rien, mais pour le Prince de\nConde il y a deja quelque tems qu'il est emigre--on le dit a Coblentz.\"_*\nAfter this we thought it in vain to make any farther enquiry, and\ncontinued our walk about the town.\n *\"Where the Prince of Conde fought so gallantly.\"--\"As to the battle\n I know nothing about the matter; but for the Prince of Conde he\n emigrated some time since--they say he is at Coblentz.\"\nMr. P____, who, according to French custom, had not breakfasted, took a\nfancy to stop at a baker's shop and buy a roll. The man bestowed so much\nmore civility on us than our two sols were worth, that I observed, on\nquitting the shop, I was sure he must be an Aristocrate. Mr. P____, who\nis a warm Constitutionalist, disputed the justice of my inference, and we\nagreed to return, and learn the baker's political principles. After\nasking for more rolls, we accosted him with the usual phrase, \"Et vous,\nMonsieur, vous etes bon patriote?\"--_\"Ah, mon Dieu, oui,_ (replied he,)\n_il faut bien l'etre a present.\"_*\n *\"And you, Sir, are without doubt, a good patriot?\"--\"Oh Lord, Sir,\n yes; one's obliged to be so, now-a-days.\"\nMr. P____ admitted the man's tone of voice and countenance as good\nevidence, and acknowledged I was right.--It is certain that the French\nhave taken it into their heads, that coarseness of manners is a necessary\nconsequence of liberty, and that there is a kind of leze nation in being\ntoo civil; so that, in general, I think I can discover the principles of\nshopkeepers, even without the indications of a melancholy mien at the\nassignats, or lamentations on the times.\nThe new doctrine of primeval equality has already made some progress. At\na small inn at Carvin, where, upon the assurance that they had every\nthing in the world, we stopped to dine, on my observing they had laid\nmore covers than were necessary, the woman answered, \"Et les domestiques,\nne dinent ils pas?\"--\"And, pray, are the servants to have no dinner?\"\nWe told her not with us, and the plates were taken away; but we heard her\nmuttering in the kitchen, that she believed we were aristocrates going to\nemigrate. She might imagine also that we were difficult to satisfy, for\nwe found it impossible to dine, and left the house hungry,\nnotwithstanding there was \"every thing in the world\" in it.\nOn the road between Carvin and Lisle we saw Dumouriez, who is going to\ntake the command of the army, and has now been visiting the camp of\nMaulde. He appears to be under the middle size, about fifty years of\nage, with a brown complexion, dark eyes, and an animated countenance. He\nwas not originally distinguished either by birth or fortune, and has\narrived at his present situation by a concurrence of fortuitous\ncircumstances, by great and various talents, much address, and a spirit\nof intrigue. He is now supported by the prevailing party; and, I\nconfess, I could not regard with much complacence a man, whom the\nmachinations of the Jacobins had forced into the ministry, and whose\nhypocritical and affected resignation has contributed to deceive the\npeople, and ruin the King.\nLisle has all the air of a great town, and the mixture of commercial\nindustry and military occupation gives it a very gay and populous\nappearance. The Lillois are highly patriotic, highly incensed against\nthe Austrians, and regard the approaching siege with more contempt than\napprehension. I asked the servant who was making my bed this morning,\nhow far the enemy was off. _\"Une lieue et demie, ou deux lieues, a moins\nqu'ils ne soient plus avances depuis hier,\"_* repled she, with the utmost\nindifference.--I own, I did not much approve of such a vicinage, and a\nview of the fortifications (which did not make the less impression,\nbecause I did not understand them,) was absolutely necessary to raise my\ndrooping courage.\n *\"A league and a half, or two leagues; unless, indeed, they have\n advanced since yesterday.\"\nThis morning was dedicated to visiting the churches, citadel, and\nCollisee (a place of amusement in the manner of our Vauxhall); but all\nthese things have been so often described by much abler pens, that I\ncannot modestly pretend to add any thing on the subject.\nIn the evening we were at the theatre, which is large and handsome; and\nthe constant residence of a numerous garrison enables it to entertain a\nvery good set of performers:--their operas in particular are extremely\nwell got up. I saw Zemire et Azor given better than at Drury Lane.--In\nthe farce, which was called Le Francois a Londres, was introduced a\ncharacter they called that of an Englishman, (Jack Roastbeef,) who pays\nhis addresses to a nobleman's daughter, in a box coate, a large hat\nslouched over his eyes, and an oaken trowel in his hand--in short, the\nwhole figure exactly resembling that of a watchman. His conversation is\ngross and sarcastic, interlarded with oaths, or relieved by fits of\nsullen taciturnity--such a lover as one may suppose, though rich, and the\nchoice of the lady's father, makes no impression; and the author has\nflattered the national vanity by making the heroine give the preference\nto a French marquis. Now there is no doubt but nine-tenths of the\naudience thought this a good portraiture of the English character, and\nenjoyed it with all the satisfaction of conscious superiority.--The\nignorance that prevails with regard to our manners and customs, among a\npeople so near us, is surprizing. It is true, that the noblesse who have\nvisited England with proper recommendations, and have been introduced to\nthe best society, do us justice: the men of letters also, who, from party\nmotives, extol every thing English, have done us perhaps more than\njustice. But I speak of the French in general; not the lower classes\nonly, but the gentry of the provinces, and even those who in other\nrespects have pretensions to information. The fact is, living in England\nis expensive: a Frenchman, whose income here supports him as a gentleman,\ngoes over and finds all his habits of oeconomy insufficient to keep him\nfrom exceeding the limits he had prescribed to himself. His decent\nlodging alone costs him a great part of his revenue, and obliges him to\nbe strictly parsimonious of the rest. This drives him to associate\nchiefly with his own countrymen, to dine at obscure coffee-houses, and\npay his court to opera-dancers. He sees, indeed, our theatres, our\npublic walks, the outside of our palaces, and the inside of churches: but\nthis gives him no idea of the manners of the people in superior life, or\neven of easy fortune. Thus he goes home, and asserts to his untravelled\ncountrymen, that our King and nobility are ill lodged, our churches mean,\nand that the English are barbarians, who dine without soup, use no\nnapkin, and eat with their knives.--I have heard a gentleman of some\nrespectability here observe, that our usual dinner was an immense joint\nof meat half drest, and a dish of vegetables scarcely drest at all.--Upon\nquestioning him, I discovered he had lodged in St. Martin's Lane, had\nlikewise boarded at a country attorney's of the lowest class, and dined\nat an ordinary at Margate.\nSome few weeks ago the Marquis de P____ set out from Paris in the\ndiligence, and accompanied by his servant, with a design of emigrating.\nTheir only fellow-traveller was an Englishman, whom they frequently\naddressed, and endeavoured to enter into conversation with; but he either\nremained silent, or gave them to understand he was entirely ignorant of\nthe language. Under this persuasion the Marquis and his valet freely\ndiscussed their affairs, arranged their plan of emigration, and\nexpressed, with little ceremony, their political opinions.--At the end of\ntheir journey they were denounced by their companion, and conducted to\nprison. The magistrate who took the information mentioned the\ncircumstance when I happened to be present. Indignant at such an act in\nan Englishman, I enquired his name. You will judge of my surprize, when\nhe assured me it was the English Ambassador. I observed to him, that it\nwas not common for our Ambassadors to travel in stage-coaches: this, he\nsaid, he knew; but that having reason to suspect the Marquis, Monsieur\nl'Ambassadeur had had the goodness to have him watched, and had taken\nthis journey on purpose to detect him. It was not without much\nreasoning, and the evidence of a lady who had been in England long enough\nto know the impossibility of such a thing, that I would justify Lord\nG____ from this piece of complaisance to the Jacobins, and convince the\nworthy magistrate he had been imposed upon: yet this man is the Professor\nof Eloquence at a college, is the oracle of the Jacobin society; and may\nperhaps become a member of the Convention. This seems so almost\nincredibly absurd, that I should fear to repeat it, were it not known to\nmany besides myself; but I think I may venture to pronounce, from my own\nobservation, and that of others, whose judgement, and occasions of\nexercising it, give weight to their opinions, that the generality of the\nFrench who have read a little are mere pedants, nearly unacquainted with\nmodern nations, their commercial and political relation, their internal\nlaws, characters, or manners. Their studies are chiefly confined to\nRollin and Plutarch, the deistical works of Voltaire, and the visionary\npolitics of Jean Jaques. Hence they amuse their hearers with allusions\nto Caesar and Lycurgus, the Rubicon, and Thermopylae. Hence they pretend\nto be too enlightened for belief, and despise all governments not founded\non the Contrat Social, or the Profession de Foi.--They are an age removed\nfrom the useful literature and general information of the middle classes\nin their own country--they talk familiarly of Sparta and Lacedemon, and\nhave about the same idea of Russia as they have of Caffraria. Yours.\nLisle.\n\"Married to another, and that before those shoes were old with which she\nfollowed my poor father to the grave.\"--There is scarcely any\ncircumstance, or situation, in which, if one's memory were good, one\nshould not be mentally quoting Shakespeare. I have just now been\nwhispering the above, as I passed the altar of liberty, which still\nremains on the Grande Place. But \"a month, a little month,\" ago, on this\naltar the French swore to maintain the constitution, and to be faithful\nto the law and the King; yet this constitution is no more, the laws are\nviolated, the King is dethroned, and the altar is now only a monument of\nlevity and perjury, which they have not feeling enough to remove.\nThe Austrians are daily expected to besiege this place, and they may\ndestroy, but they will not take it. I do not, as you may suppose,\nventure to speak so decisively in a military point of view--I know as\nlittle as possible of the excellencies of Vauban, or the adequacy of the\ngarrison; but I draw my inference from the spirit of enthusiasm which\nprevails among the inhabitants of every class--every individual seems to\npartake of it: the streets resound with patriotic acclamations, patriotic\nsongs, war, and defiance.--Nothing can be more animating than the\ntheatre. Every allusion to the Austrians, every song or sentence,\nexpressive of determined resistance, is followed by bursts of assent,\neasily distinguishable not to be the effort of party, but the sentiment\nof the people in general. There are, doubtless, here, as in all other\nplaces, party dissensions; but the threatened siege seems at least to\nhave united all for their common defence: they know that a bomb makes no\ndistinction between Feuillans, Jacobins, or Aristocrates, and neither are\nso anxious to destroy the other, when it is only to be done at such a\nrisk to themselves. I am even willing to hope that something better than\nmere selfishness has a share in their uniting to preserve one of the\nfinest, and, in every sense, one of the most interesting, towns in\nFrance.\nLisle, Saturday.\nWe are just on our departure for Arras, where, I fear, we shall scarcely\narrive before the gates are shut. We have been detained here much beyond\nour time, by a circumstance infinitely shocking, though, in fact, not\nproperly a subject of regret. One of the assassins of General Dillon was\nthis morning guillotined before the hotel where we are lodged.--I did\nnot, as you will conclude, see the operation; but the mere circumstance\nof knowing the moment it was performed, and being so near it, has much\nunhinged me. The man, however, deserved his fate, and such an example\nwas particularly necessary at this time, when we are without a\ngovernment, and the laws are relaxed. The mere privation of life is,\nperhaps, more quickly effected by this instrument than by any other\nmeans; but when we recollect that the preparation for, and apprehension\nof, death, constitute its greatest terrors; that a human hand must give\nmotion to the Guillotine as well as to the axe; and that either accustoms\na people, already sanguinary, to the sight of blood, I think little is\ngained by the invention. It was imagined by a Mons. Guillotin, a\nphysician of Paris, and member of the Constituent Assembly. The original\ndesign seems not so much to spare pain to the criminal, as obloquy to the\nexecutioner. I, however, perceive little difference between a man's\ndirecting a Guillotine, or tying a rope; and I believe the people are of\nthe same opinion. They will never see any thing but a _bourreau_\n[executioner] in the man whose province it is to execute the sentence of\nthe laws, whatever name he may be called by, or whatever instrument he\nmay make use of.--I have concluded this letter with a very unpleasant\nsubject, but my pen is guided by circumstances, and I do not invent, but\ncommunicate.--Adieu. Yours, &c.\nArras, September 1, 1792.\nHad I been accompanied by an antiquary this morning, his sensibility\nwould have been severely exercised; for even I, whose respect for\nantiquity is not scientific, could not help lamenting the modern rage for\ndevastation which has seized the French. They are removing all \"the\ntime-honoured figures\" of the cathedral, and painting its massive\nsupporters in the style of a ball-room. The elaborate uncouthness of\nancient sculpture is not, indeed, very beautiful; yet I have often\nfancied there was something more simply pathetic in the aukward effigy of\nan hero kneeling amidst his trophies, or a regal pair with their\nsupplicating hands and surrounding offspring, than in the graceful\nfigures and poetic allegories of the modern artist. The humble intreaty\nto the reader to \"praye for the soule of the departed,\" is not very\nelegant--yet it is better calculated to recall the wanderings of\nmorality, than the flattering epitaph, a Fame hovering in the air, or the\nsuspended wreath of the remunerating angel.--But I moralize in vain--the\nrage of these new Goths is inexorable: they seem solicitous to destroy\nevery vestige of civilization, lest the people should remember they have\nnot always been barbarians.\nAfter obtaining an order from the municipality, we went to see the\ngardens and palace of the Bishop, who has emigrated. The garden has\nnothing very remarkable, but is large and well laid out, according to the\nold style. It forms a very agreeable walk, and, when the Bishop possest\nit, was open for the enjoyment of the inhabitants, but it is now shut up\nand in disorder. The house is plain, and substantially furnished, and\nexhibits no appearance of unbecoming luxury. The whole is now the\nproperty of the nation, and will soon be disposed of.--I could not help\nfeeling a sensation of melancholy as we walked over the apartments.\nEvery thing is marked in an inventory, just as left; and an air of\narrangement and residence leads one to reflect, that the owner did not\nimagine at his departure he was quitting it perhaps for ever. I am not\npartial to the original emigrants, yet much may be said for the Bishop of\nArras. He was pursued by ingratitude, and marked for persecution. The\nRobespierres were young men whom he had taken from a mean state, had\neducated, and patronized. The revolution gave them an opportunity of\ndisplaying their talents, and their talents procured them popularity.\nThey became enemies to the clergy, because their patron was a Bishop; and\nendeavoured to render their benefactor odious, because the world could\nnot forget, nor they forgive, how much they were indebted to him.--Vice\nis not often passive; nor is there often a medium between gratitude for\nbenefits, and hatred to the author of them. A little mind is hurt by the\nremembrance of obligation--begins by forgetting, and, not uncommonly,\nends by persecuting.\nWe dined and passed the afternoon from home to-day. After dinner our\nhostess, as usual, proposed cards; and, as usual in French societies,\nevery one assented: we waited, however, some time, and no cards came--\ntill, at length, conversation-parties were formed, and they were no\nlonger thought of. I have since learned, from one of the young women of\nthe house, that the butler and two footmen had all betaken themselves to\nclubs and Guinguettes,* and the cards, counters, &c. could not be\nobtained.\n * Small public houses in the vicinity of large towns, where the\n common people go on Sundays and festivals to dance and make merry.\nThis is another evil arising from the circumstances of the times. All\npeople of property have begun to bury their money and plate, and as the\nservants are often unavoidably privy to it, they are become idle and\nimpertinent--they make a kind of commutation of diligence for fidelity,\nand imagine that the observance of the one exempts them from the\nnecessity of the other. The clubs are a constant receptacle for\nidleness; and servants who think proper to frequent them do it with very\nlittle ceremony, knowing that few whom they serve would be imprudent\nenough to discharge them for their patriotism in attending a Jacobin\nsociety. Even servants who are not converts to the new principle cannot\nresist the temptation of abusing a little the power which they acquire\nfrom a knowledge of family affairs. Perhaps the effect of the revolution\nhas not, on the whole, been favourable to the morals of the lower class\nof people; but this shall be the subject of discussion at some future\nperiod, when I shall have had farther opportunities of judging.\nWe yesterday visited the Oratoire, a seminary for education, which is now\nsuppressed. The building is immense, and admirably calculated for the\npurpose, but is already in a state of dilapidation; so that, I fear, by\nthe time the legislature has determined what system of instruction shall\nbe substituted for that which has been abolished, the children (as the\nFrench are fond of examples from the ancients) will take their lessons,\nlike the Greeks, in the open air; and, in the mean while, become expert\nin lying and thieving, like the Spartans.\nThe Superior of the house is an immoderate revolutionist, speaks English\nvery well, and is a great admirer of our party writers. In his room I\nobserved a vast quantity of English books, and on his chimney stood what\nhe called a patriotic clock, the dial of which was placed between two\npyramids, on which were inscribed the names of republican authors, and on\nthe top of one was that of our countryman, Mr. Thomas Paine--whom, by the\nway, I understand you intended to exhibit in a much more conspicuous and\nless tranquil situation. I assure you, though you are ungrateful on your\nside of the water, he is in high repute here--his works are translated--\nall the Jacobins who can read quote, and all who can't, admire him; and\npossibly, at the very moment you are sentencing him to an installment in\nthe pillory, we may be awarding him a triumph.--Perhaps we are both\nright. He deserves the pillory, from you for having endeavoured to\ndestroy a good constitution--and the French may with equal reason grant\nhim a triumph, as their constitution is likely to be so bad, that even\nMr. Thomas Paine's writings may make it better!\nOur house is situated within view of a very pleasant public walk, where I\nam daily amused with a sight of the recruits at their exercise. This is\nnot quite so regular a business as the drill in the Park. The exercise\nis often interrupted by disputes between the officer and his eleves--some\nare for turning to the right, others to the left, and the matter is not\nunfrequently adjusted by each going the way that seemeth best unto\nhimself. The author of the _\"Actes des Apotres\"_ [The Acts of the\nApostles] cites a Colonel who reprimanded one of his corps for walking\nill--_\"Eh Dicentre,_ (replied the man,) _comment veux tu que je marche\nbien quand tu as fait mes souliers trop etroits.\"_* but this is no longer\na pleasantry--such circumstances are very common. A Colonel may often be\ntailor to his own regiment, and a Captain operated on the heads of his\nwhole company, in his civil capacity, before he commands them in his\nmilitary one.\n *\"And how the deuce can you expect me to march well, when you have\n made my shoes too tight?\"\nThe walks I have just mentioned have been extremely beautiful, but a\ngreat part of the trees have been cut down, and the ornamental parts\ndestroyed, since the revolution--I know not why, as they were open to the\npoor as well as the rich, and were a great embellishment to the low town.\nYou may think it strange that I should be continually dating some\ndestruction from the aera of the revolution--that I speak of every thing\ndemolished, and of nothing replaced. But it is not my fault--\"If freedom\ngrows destructive, I must paint it:\" though I should tell you, that in\nmany streets where convents have been sold, houses are building with the\nmaterials on the same site.--This is, however, not a work of the nation,\nbut of individuals, who have made their purchases cheap, and are\nhastening to change the form of their property, lest some new revolution\nshould deprive them of it.--Yours, &c.\nArras, September.\nNothing more powerfully excites the attention of a stranger on his first\narrival, than the number and wretchedness of the poor at Arras. In all\nplaces poverty claims compulsion, but here compassion is accompanied by\nhorror--one dares not contemplate the object one commiserates, and\ncharity relieves with an averted eye. Perhaps with Him, who regards\nequally the forlorn beggar stretched on the threshold, consumed by filth\nand disease, and the blooming beauty who avoids while she succours him,\nthe offering of humanity scarcely expiates the involuntary disgust; yet\nsuch is the weakness of our nature, that there exists a degree of misery\nagainst which one's senses are not proof, and benevolence itself revolts\nat the appearance of the poor of Arras.--These are not the cold and\nfastidious reflections of an unfeeling mind--they are not made without\npain: nor have I often felt the want of riches and consequence so much as\nin my incapacity to promote some means of permanent and substantial\nremedy for the evils I have been describing. I have frequently enquired\nthe cause of this singular misery, but can only learn that it always has\nbeen so. I fear it is, that the poor are without energy, and the rich\nwithout generosity. The decay of manufactures since the last century\nmust have reduced many families to indigence. These have been able to\nsubsist on the refuse of luxury, but, too supine for exertion, they have\nsought for nothing more; while the great, discharging their consciences\nwith the superfluity of what administered to their pride, fostered the\nevil, instead of endeavouring to remedy it. But the benevolence of the\nFrench is not often active, nor extensive; it is more frequently a\nreligious duty than a sentiment. They content themselves with affording\na mere existence to wretchedness; and are almost strangers to those\nenlightened and generous efforts which act beyond the moment, and seek\nnot only to relieve poverty, but to banish it. Thus, through the frigid\nand indolent charity of the rich, the misery which was at first\naccidental is perpetuated, beggary and idleness become habitual, and are\ntransmitted, like more fortunate inheritances, from one generation to\nanother.--This is not a mere conjecture--I have listened to the histories\nof many of these unhappy outcasts, who were more than thirty years old,\nand they have all told me, they were born in the state in which I beheld\nthem, and that they did not remember to have heard that their parents\nwere in any other. The National Assembly profess to effectuate an entire\nregeneration of the country, and to eradicate all evils, moral, physical,\nand political. I heartily wish the numerous and miserable poor, with\nwhich Arras abounds, may become one of the first objects of reform; and\nthat a nation which boasts itself the most polished, the most powerful,\nand the most philosophic in the world, may not offer to the view so many\nobjects shocking to humanity.\nThe citadel of Arras is very strong, and, as I am told, the chef d'oeuvre\nof Vauban; but placed with so little judgement, that the military call it\n_la belle inutile_ [the useless beauty]. It is now uninhabited, and\nwears an appearance of desolation--the commandant and all the officers of\nthe ancient government having been forced to abandon it; their houses\nalso are much damaged, and the gardens entirely destroyed.--I never heard\nthat this popular commotion had any other motive than the general war of\nthe new doctrines on the old.\nI am sorry to see that most of the volunteers who go to join the army are\neither old men or boys, tempted by extraordinary pay and scarcity of\nemploy. A cobler who has been used to rear canary-birds for Mad. de\n____, brought us this morning all the birds he was possessed of, and told\nus he was going to-morrow to the frontiers. We asked him why, at his\nage, he should think of joining the army. He said, he had already\nserved, and that there were a few months unexpired of the time that would\nentitle him to his pension.--\"Yes; but in the mean while you may get\nkilled; and then of what service will your claim to a pension be?\"--\n_\"N'ayez pas peur, Madame--Je me menagerai bien--on ne se bat pas pour ces\ngueux la comme pour son Roi.\"_*\n * \"No fear of that, Madam--I'll take good care of myself: a man does\n not fight for such beggarly rascals as these as he would for his\nM. de ____ is just returned from the camp of Maulde, where he has been to\nsee his son. He says, there is great disorder and want of discipline,\nand that by some means or other the common soldiers abound more in money,\nand game higher, than their officers. There are two young women,\ninhabitants of the town of St. Amand, who go constantly out on all\nskirmishing parties, exercise daily with the men, and have killed several\nof the enemy. They are both pretty--one only sixteen, the other a year\nor two older. Mr. de ____ saw them as they were just returning from a\nreconnoitring party. Perhaps I ought to have been ashamed after this\nrecital to decline an invitation from Mr. de R___'s son to dine with him\nat the camp; but I cannot but feel that I am an extreme coward, and that\nI should eat with no appetite in sight of an Austrian army. The very\nidea of these modern Camillas terrifies me--their creation seems an error\nof nature.*\n * Their name was Fernig; they were natives of St. Amand, and of no\n remarkable origin. They followed Dumouriez into Flanders, where\n they signalized themselves greatly, and became Aides-de-Camp to that\n General. At the time of his defection, one of them was shot by a\n soldier, whose regiment she was endeavouring to gain over. Their\n house having been razed by the Austrians at the beginning of the\n war, was rebuilt at the expence of the nation; but, upon their\n participation in Dumouriez' treachery, a second decree of the\n Assembly again levelled it with the ground.\nOur host, whose politeness is indefatigable, accompanied us a few days\nago to St. Eloy, a large and magnificent abbey, about six miles from\nArras. It is built on a terrace, which commands the surrounding country\nas far as Douay; and I think I counted an hundred and fifty steps from\nthe house to the bottom of the garden, which is on a level with the road.\nThe cloisters are paved with marble, and the church neat and beautiful\nbeyond description. The iron work of the choir imitates flowers and\nfoliage with so much taste and delicacy, that (but for the colour) one\nwould rather suppose it to be soil, than any durable material.--The monks\nstill remain, and although the decree has passed for their suppression,\nthey cannot suppose it will take place. They are mostly old men, and,\nthough I am no friend to these institutions, they were so polite and\nhospitable that I could not help wishing they were permitted, according\nto the design of the first Assembly, to die in their habitations--\nespecially as the situation of St. Eloy renders the building useless for\nany other purpose.--A friend of Mr. de ____ has a charming country-house\nnear the abbey, which he has been obliged to deny himself the enjoyment\nof, during the greatest part of the summer; for whenever the family\nreturn to Arras, their persons and their carriage are searched at the\ngate, as strictly as though they were smugglers just arrived from the\ncoast, under the pretence that they may assist the religious of St. Eloy\nin securing some of their property, previous to the final seizure.\nI observe, in walking the streets here, that the common people still\nretain much of the Spanish cast of features: the women are remarkably\nplain, and appear still more so by wearing faals. The faal is about two\nells of black silk or stuff, which is hung, without taste or form, on the\nhead, and is extremely unbecoming: but it is worn only by the lower\nclass, or by the aged and devotees.\nI am a very voluminous correspondent, but if I tire you, it is a proper\npunishment for your insincerity in desiring me to continue so. I have\nheard of a governor of one of our West India islands who was universally\ndetested by its inhabitants, but who, on going to England, found no\ndifficulty in procuring addresses expressive of approbation and esteem.\nThe consequence was, he came back and continued governor for life.--Do\nyou make the application of my anecdote, and I shall persevere in\nscribbling.--Every Yours.\nArras.\nIt is not fashionable at present to frequent any public place; but as we\nare strangers, and of no party, we often pass our evenings at the\ntheatre. I am fond of it--not so much on account of the representation,\nas of the opportunity which it affords for observing the dispositions of\nthe people, and the bias intended to be given them. The stage is now\nbecome a kind of political school, where the people are taught hatred to\nKings, Nobility, and Clergy, according as the persecution of the moment\nrequires; and, I think, one may often judge from new pieces the meditated\nsacrifice. A year ago, all the sad catalogue of human errors were\npersonified in Counts and Marquisses; they were not represented as\nindividuals whom wealth and power had made something too proud, and much\ntoo luxurious, but as an order of monsters, whose existence,\nindependently of their characters, was a crime, and whose hereditary\npossessions alone implied a guilt, not to be expiated but by the\nforfeiture of them. This, you will say, was not very judicious; and that\nby establishing a sort of incompatibility of virtue with titular\ndistinctions, the odium was transferred from the living to the dead--from\nthose who possessed these distinctions to those who instituted them.\nBut, unfortunately, the French were disposed to find their noblesse\nculpable, and to reject every thing which tended to excuse or favour\nthem. The hauteur of the noblesse acted as a fatal equivalent to every\nother crime; and many, who did not credit other imputations, rejoiced in\nthe humiliation of their pride. The people, the rich merchants, and even\nthe lesser gentry, all eagerly concurred in the destruction of an order\nthat had disdained or excluded them; and, perhaps, of all the innovations\nwhich have taken place, the abolition of rank has excited the least\ninterest.\nIt is now less necessary to blacken the noblesse, and the compositions of\nthe day are directed against the Throne, the Clergy, and Monastic Orders.\nAll the tyrants of past ages are brought from the shelves of faction and\npedantry, and assimilated to the mild and circumscribed monarchs of\nmodern Europe. The doctrine of popular sovereignty is artfully\ninstilled, and the people are stimulated to exert a power which they must\nimplicitly delegate to those who have duped and misled them. The frenzy\nof a mob is represented as the sublimest effort of patriotism; and\nambition and revenge, usurping the title of national justice, immolate\ntheir victims with applause. The tendency of such pieces is too obvious;\nand they may, perhaps, succeed in familiarizing the minds of the people\nto events which, a few months ago, would have filled them with horror.\nThere are also numerous theatrical exhibitions, preparatory to the\nremoval of the nuns from their convents, and to the banishment of the\npriests. Ancient prejudices are not yet obliterated, and I believe some\npains have been taken to justify these persecutions by calumny. The\nhistory of our dissolution of the monasteries has been ransacked for\nscandal, and the bigotry and biases of all countries are reduced into\nabstracts, and exposed on the stage. The most implacable revenge, the\nmost refined malice, the extremes of avarice and cruelty, are wrought\ninto tragedies, and displayed as acting under the mask of religion and\nthe impunity of a cloister; while operas and farces, with ridicule still\nmore successful, exhibit convents as the abode of licentiousness,\nintrigue, and superstition.\nThese efforts have been sufficiently successful--not from the merit of\nthe pieces, but from the novelty of the subject. The people in general\nwere strangers to the interior of convents: they beheld them with that\nkind of respect which is usually produced in uninformed minds by mystery\nand prohibition. Even the monastic habit was sacred from dramatic uses;\nso that a representation of cloisters, monks, and nuns, their costumes\nand manners, never fails to attract the multitude.--But the same cause\nwhich renders them curious, makes them credulous. Those who have seen no\nfarther than the Grille, and those who have been educated in convents,\nare equally unqualified to judge of the lives of the religious; and their\nminds, having no internal conviction or knowledge of the truth, easily\nbecome the converts of slander and falsehood.\nI cannot help thinking, that there is something mean and cruel in this\nprocedure. If policy demand the sacrifice, it does not require that the\nvictims should be rendered odious; and if it be necessary to dispossess\nthem of their habitations, they ought not, at the moment they are thrown\nupon the world, to be painted as monsters unworthy of its pity or\nprotection. It is the cowardice of the assassin, who murders before he\ndares to rob.\nThis custom of making public amusements subservient to party, has, I\ndoubt not, much contributed to the destruction of all against whom it has\nbeen employed; and theatrical calumny seems to be always the harbinger of\napproaching ruin to its object; yet this is not the greatest evil which\nmay arise from these insidious politics--they are equally unfavourable\nboth to the morals and taste of the people; the first are injured beyond\ncalculation, and the latter corrupted beyond amendment. The orders of\nsociety, which formerly inspired respect or veneration, are now debased\nand exploded; and mankind, once taught to see nothing but vice and\nhypocrisy in those whom they had been accustomed to regard as models of\nvirtue, are easily led to doubt the very existence of virtue itself: they\nknow not where to turn for either instruction or example; no prospect is\noffered to them but the dreary and uncomfortable view of general\ndepravity; and the individual is no longer encouraged to struggle with\nvicious propensities, when he concludes them irresistibly inherent in his\nnature. Perhaps it was not possible to imagine principles at once so\nseductive and ruinous as those now disseminated. How are the morals of\nthe people to resist a doctrine which teaches them that the rich only can\nbe criminal, and that poverty is a substitute for virtue--that wealth is\nholden by the sufferance of those who do not possess it--and that he who\nis the frequenter of a club, or the applauder of a party, is exempt from\nthe duties of his station, and has a right to insult and oppress his\nfellow citizens? All the weaknesses of humanity are flattered and called\nto the aid of this pernicious system of revolutionary ethics; and if\nFrance yet continue in a state of civilization, it is because Providence\nhas not yet abandoned her to the influence of such a system.\nTaste is, I repeat it, as little a gainer by the revolution as morals.\nThe pieces which were best calculated to form and refine the minds of the\npeople, all abound with maxims of loyalty, with respect for religion, and\nthe subordinations of civil society. These are all prohibited; and are\nreplaced by fustian declamations, tending to promote anarchy and discord\n--by vulgar and immoral farces, and insidious and flattering panegyrics\non the vices of low life. No drama can succeed that is not supported by\nthe faction; and this support is to be procured only by vilifying the\nThrone, the Clergy, and Noblesse. This is a succedaneum for literary\nmerit, and those who disapprove are menaced into silence; while the\nmultitude, who do not judge but imitate, applaud with their leaders--and\nthus all their ideas become vitiated, and imbibe the corruption of their\nfavourite amusement.\nI have dwelt on this subject longer than I intended; but as I would not\nbe supposed prejudiced nor precipitate in my assertions, I will, by the\nfirst occasion, send you some of the most popular farces and tragedies:\nyou may then decide yourself upon the tendency; and, by comparing the\ndispositions of the French before, and within, the last two years, you\nmay also determine whether or not my conclusions are warranted by fact.\nAdieu.--Yours.\nArras.\nOur countrymen who visit France for the first time--their imaginations\nfilled with the epithets which the vanity of one nation has appropriated,\nand the indulgence of the other sanctioned--are astonished to find this\n\"land of elegance,\" this refined people, extremely inferior to the\nEnglish in all the arts that minister to the comfort and accommodation of\nlife. They are surprized to feel themselves starved by the intrusion of\nall the winds of heaven, or smothered by volumes of smoke--that no lock\nwill either open or shut--that the drawers are all immoveable--and that\nneither chairs nor tables can be preserved in equilibrium. In vain do\nthey inquire for a thousand conveniences which to them seem\nindispensible; they are not to be procured, or even their use is unknown:\ntill at length, after a residence in a score of houses, in all of which\nthey observe the same deficiencies, they begin to grow sceptical, to\ndoubt the pretended superiority of France, and, perhaps for the first\ntime, do justice to their own unassuming country. It must however, be\nconfessed, that if the chimnies smoke, they are usually surrounded by\nmarble--that the unstable chair is often covered with silk--and that if a\nroom be cold, it is plentifully decked with gilding, pictures, and\nglasses.--In short, a French house is generally more showy than\nconvenient, and seldom conveys that idea of domestic comfort which\nconstitutes the luxury of an Englishman.\nI observe, that the most prevailing ornaments here are family portraits:\nalmost every dwelling, even among the lower kind of tradesmen, is peopled\nwith these ensigns of vanity; and the painters employed on these\noccasions, however deficient in other requisites of their art, seem to\nhave an unfortunate knack at preserving likenesses. Heads powdered even\nwhiter than the originals, laced waistcoats, enormous lappets, and\ncountenances all ingeniously disposed so as to smile at each other,\nencumber the wainscot, and distress the unlucky visitor, who is obliged\nto bear testimony to the resemblance. When one sees whole rooms filled\nwith these figures, one cannot help reflecting on the goodness of\nProvidence, which thus distributes self-love, in proportion as it denies\nthose gifts that excite the admiration of others.\nYou must not understand what I have said on the furniture of French\nhouses as applying to those of the nobility or people of extraordinary\nfortunes, because they are enabled to add the conveniences of other\ncountries to the luxuries of their own. Yet even these, in my opinion,\nhave not the uniform elegance of an English habitation: there is always\nsome disparity between the workmanship and the materials--some mixture of\nsplendour and clumsiness, and a want of what the painters call keeping;\nbut the houses of the gentry, the lesser noblesse, and merchants, are,\nfor the most part, as I have described---abounding in silk, marble,\nglasses, and pictures; but ill finished, dirty, and deficient in articles\nof real use.--I should, however, notice, that genteel people are cleaner\nhere than in the interior parts of the kingdom. The floors are in\ngeneral of oak, or sometimes of brick; but they are always rubbed bright,\nand have not that filthy appearance which so often disgusts one in French\nhouses.\nThe heads of the lower classes of people are much disturbed by these new\nprinciples of universal equality. We enquired of a man we saw near a\ncoach this morning if it was hired. \"Monsieur--(quoth he--then checking\nhimself suddenly,)--no, I forgot, I ought not to say Monsieur, for they\ntell me I am equal to any body in the world: yet, after all, I know not\nwell if this may be true; and as I have drunk out all I am worth, I\nbelieve I had better go home and begin work again to-morrow.\" This new\ndisciple of equality had, indeed, all the appearance of having sacrificed\nto the success of the cause, and was then recovering from a dream of\ngreatness which he told us had lasted two days.\nSince the day of taking the new oath we have met many equally elevated,\nthough less civil. Some are undoubtedly paid, but others will distress\ntheir families for weeks by this celebration of their new discoveries,\nand must, after all, like our intoxicated philosopher, be obliged to\nreturn \"to work again to-morrow.\"\nI must now bid you adieu--and, in doing so, naturally turn my thoughts to\nthat country where the rights of the people consist not of sterile and\nmetaphysic declarations, but of real defence and protection. May they\nfor ever remain uninterrupted by the devastating chimeras of their\nneighbours; and if they seek reform, may it be moderate and permanent,\nacceded to reason, and not extorted by violence!--Yours, &c.\nSeptember 2, 1792.\nWe were so much alarmed at the theatre on Thursday, that I believe we\nshall not venture again to amuse ourselves at the risk of a similar\noccurrence. About the middle of the piece, a violent outcry began from\nall parts of the house, and seemed to be directed against our box; and I\nperceived Madame Duchene, the Presidente of the Jacobins, heading the\nlegions of Paradise with peculiar animation. You may imagine we were not\na little terrified. I anxiously examined the dress of myself and my\ncompanions, and observing nothing that could offend the affected\nsimplicity of the times, prepared to quit the house. A friendly voice,\nhowever, exerting itself above the clamour, informed us that the\noffensive objects were a cloak and a shawl which hung over the front of\nthe box.--You will scarcely suppose such grossness possible among a\ncivilized people; but the fact is, our friends are of the proscribed\nclass, and we were insulted because in their society.--I have before\nnoticed, that the guards which were stationed in the theatre before the\nrevolution are now removed, and a municipal officer, made conspicuous by\nhis scarf, is placed in the middle front box, and, in case of any tumult,\nis empowered to call in the military to his assistance.\nWe have this morning been visiting two objects, which exhibit this\ncountry in very different points of view--as the seat of wealth, and the\nabode of poverty. The first is the abbey of St. Vaast, a most superb\npile, now inhabited by monks of various orders, but who are preparing to\nquit it, in obedience to the late decrees. Nothing impresses one with a\nstronger idea of the influence of the Clergy, than these splendid\nedifices. We see them reared amidst the solitude of deserts, and in the\ngaiety and misery of cities; and while they cheer the one and embellish\nthe other, they exhibit, in both, monuments of indefatigable labour and\nimmense wealth.--The facade of St. Vaast is simple and striking, and the\ncloisters and every other part of the building are extremely handsome.\nThe library is supposed to be the finest in France, except the King's,\nbut is now under the seal of the nation. A young monk, who was our\nCicerone, told us he was sorry it was not in his power to show it. _\"Et\nnous, Monsieur, nous sommes faches aussi.\"_--[\"And we are not less sorry\nthan yourself, Sir.\"]\nThus, with the aid of significant looks, and gestures of disapprobation,\nan exchange of sentiments took place, without a single expression of\ntreasonable import: both parties understood perfectly well, that in\nregretting that the library was inaccessible, each included all the\ncircumstances which attended it.--A new church was building in a style\nworthy of the convent--I think, near four hundred feet long; but it was\ndiscontinued at the suppression of the religious orders, and will now, of\ncourse, never be finished.\nFrom this abode of learned case and pious indolence Mr. de ____ conducted\nus to the Mont de Piete, a national institution for lending money to the\npoor on pledges, (at a moderate interest,) which, if not redeemed within\na year, are sold by auction, and the overplus, if there remain any, after\ndeducting the interest, is given to the owner of the pledge. Thousands\nof small packets are deposited here, which, to the eye of affluence,\nmight seem the very refuse of beggary itself.--I could not reflect\nwithout an heart-ache, on the distress of the individual, thus driven to\nrelinquish his last covering, braving cold to satisfy hunger, and\naccumulating wretchedness by momentary relief. I saw, in a lower room,\ngroupes of unfortunate beings, depriving themselves of different parts of\ntheir apparel, and watching with solicitude the arbitrary valuations;\nothers exchanging some article of necessity for one of a still greater--\nsome in a state of intoxication, uttering execrations of despair; and all\nexhibiting a picture of human nature depraved and miserable.--While I was\nviewing this scene, I recalled the magnificent building we had just left,\nand my first emotions were those of regret and censure. When we only\nfeel, and have not leisure to reflect, we are indignant that vast sums\nshould be expended on sumptuous edifices, and that the poor should live\nin vice and want; yet the erection of St. Vaast must have maintained\ngreat numbers of industrious hands; and perhaps the revenues of the abbey\nmay not, under its new possessors, be so well employed. When the\nofferings and the tributes to religion are the support of the industrious\npoor, it is their best appropriation; and he who gives labour for a day,\nis a more useful benefactor than he who maintains in idleness for two.\n--I could not help wishing that the poor might no longer be tempted by\nthe facility of a resource, which perhaps, in most instances, only\nincreases their distress.--It is an injudicious expedient to palliate an\nevil, which great national works, and the encouragement of industry and\nmanufactures, might eradicate.*\n * In times of public commotion people frequently send their valuable\n effects to the Mont de Piete, not only as being secure by its\n strength, but as it is respected by the people, who are interested\n in its preservation.\n--With these reflections I concluded mental peace with the monks of St.\nVaast, and would, had it depended upon me, have readily comprized the\nfinishing their great church in the treaty.\nThe Primary Assemblies have already taken place in this department. We\nhappened to enter a church while the young Robespierre was haranguing to\nan audience, very little respectable either in numbers or appearance.\nThey were, however, sufficiently unanimous, and made up in noisy applause\nwhat they wanted in other respects. If the electors and elected of other\ndepartments be of the same complexion with those of Arras, the new\nAssembly will not, in any respect, be preferable to the old one. I have\nreproached many of the people of this place, who, from their education\nand property, have a right to take an interest in the public affairs,\nwith thus suffering themselves to be represented by the most desperate\nand worthless individuals of the town. Their defence is, that they are\ninsulted and overpowered if they attend the popular meetings, and by\nelecting _\"les gueux et les scelerats pour deputes,\"_* they send them to\nParis, and secure their own local tranquillity.\n * The scrubs and scoundrels for deputies.\n--The first of these assertions is but too true, yet I cannot but think\nthe second a very dangerous experiment. They remove these turbulent and\nneedy adventurers from the direction of a club to that of government, and\nprocure a partial relief by contributing to the general ruin.\nParis is said to be in extreme fermentation, and we are in some anxiety\nfor our friend M. P____, who was to go there from Montmorency last week.\nI shall not close my letter till I have heard from him.\nSeptember 4.\nI resume my pen after a sleepless night, and with an oppression of mind\nnot to be described. Paris is the scene of proscription and massacres.\nThe prisoners, the clergy, the noblesse, all that are supposed inimical\nto public faction, or the objects of private revenge, are sacrificed\nwithout mercy. We are here in the utmost terror and consternation--we\nknow not the end nor the extent of these horrors, and every one is\nanxious for himself or his friends. Our society consists mostly of\nfemales, and we do not venture out, but hover together like the fowls of\nheaven, when warned by a vague yet instinctive dread of the approaching\nstorm. We tremble at the sound of voices in the street, and cry, with\nthe agitation of Macbeth, \"there's knocking at the gate.\" I do not\nindeed envy, but I most sincerely regret, the peace and safety of\nEngland.--I have no courage to add more, but will enclose a hasty\ntranslation of the letter we received from M. P____, by last night's\npost. Humanity cannot comment upon it without shuddering.--Ever Yours,\n\"Rue St. Honore, Sept. 2, 1792.\n\"In a moment like this, I should be easily excused a breach of promise in\nnot writing; yet when I recollect the apprehension which the kindness of\nmy amiable friends will feel on my account, I determine, even amidst the\ndanger and desolation that surround me, to relieve them.--Would to Heaven\nI had nothing more alarming to communicate than my own situation! I may\nindeed suffer by accident; but thousands of wretched victims are at this\nmoment marked for sacrifice, and are massacred with an execrable\nimitation of rule and order: a ferocious and cruel multitude, headed by\nchosen assassins, are attacking the prisons, forcing the houses of the\nnoblesse and priests, and, after a horrid mockery of judicial\ncondemnation, execute them on the spot. The tocsin is rung, alarm guns\nare fired, the streets resound with fearful shrieks, and an undefinable\nsensation of terror seizes on one's heart. I feel that I have committed\nan imprudence in venturing to Paris; but the barriers are now shut, and I\nmust abide the event. I know not to what these proscriptions tend, or if\nall who are not their advocates are to be their victims; but an\nungovernable rage animates the people: many of them have papers in their\nhands that seem to direct them to their objects, to whom they hurry in\ncrouds with an eager and savage fury.--I have just been obliged to quit\nmy pen. A cart had stopped near my lodgings, and my ears were assailed\nby the groans of anguish, and the shouts of frantic exultation.\nUncertain whether to descend or remain, I, after a moment's deliberation,\nconcluded it would be better to have shown myself than to have appeared\nto avoid it, in case the people should enter the house, and therefore\nwent down with the best show of courage I could assume.--I will draw a\nveil over the scene that presented itself--nature revolts, and my fair\nfriends would shudder at the detail. Suffice it to say, that I saw cars,\nloaded with the dead and dying, and driven by their yet ensanguined\nmurderers; one of whom, in a tone of exultation, cried, 'Here is a\nglorious day for France!' I endeavoured to assent, though with a\nfaultering voice, and, as soon as they were passed escaped to my room.\nYou may imagine I shall not easily recover the shock I received.--At this\nmoment they say, the enemy are retreating from Verdun. At any other time\nthis would have been desirable, but at present one knows not what to wish\nfor. Most probably, the report is only spread with the humane hope of\nappeasing the mob. They have already twice attacked the Temple; and I\ntremble lest this asylum of fallen majesty should ere morning, be\nviolated.\n\"Adieu--I know not if the courier will be permitted to depart; but, as I\nbelieve the streets are not more unsafe than the houses, I shall make an\nattempt to send this. I will write again in a few days. If to-morrow\nshould prove calm, I shall be engaged in enquiring after the fate of my\nfriends.--I beg my respects to Mons. And Mad. de ____; and entreat you\nall to be as tranquil as such circumstances will permit.--You may be\ncertain of hearing any news that can give you pleasure immediately. I\nhave the honour to be,\" &c. &c.\nArras, September, 1792.\nYou will in future, I believe, find me but a dull correspondent. The\nnatural timidity of my disposition, added to the dread which a native of\nEngland has of any violation of domestic security, renders me unfit for\nthe scenes I am engaged in. I am become stupid and melancholy, and my\nletters will partake of the oppression of my mind.\nAt Paris, the massacres at the prisons are now over, but those in the\nstreets and in private houses still continue. Scarcely a post arrives\nthat does not inform M. de ____ of some friend or acquaintance being\nsacrificed. Heaven knows where this is to end!\nWe had, for two days, notice that, pursuant to a decree of the Assembly,\ncommissioners were expected here at night, and that the tocsin would be\nrung for every body to deliver up their arms. We did not dare go to bed\non either of these nights, but merely lay down in our robes de chambre,\nwithout attempting to sleep. This dreaded business is, however, past.\nParties of the Jacobins paraded the streets yesterday morning, and\ndisarmed all they thought proper. I observed they had lists in their\nhands, and only went to such houses as have an external appearance of\nproperty. Mr. de ____, who has been in the service thirty years,\ndelivered his arms to a boy, who behaved to him with the utmost\ninsolence, whilst we sat trembling and almost senseless with fear the\nwhole time they remained in the house; and could I give you an idea of\ntheir appearance, you would think my terror very justifiable. It is,\nindeed, strange and alarming, that all who have property should be\ndeprived of the means of defending either that or their lives, at a\nmoment when Paris is giving an example of tumult and assassination to\nevery other part of the kingdom. Knowing no good reason for such\nprocedure, it is very natural to suspect a bad one.--I think, on many\naccounts, we are more exposed here than at ____, and as soon as we can\nprocure horses we shall depart.--The following is the translation of our\nlast letter from Mr. P____.\n\"I promised my kind friends to write as soon as I should have any thing\nsatisfactory to communicate: but, alas! I have no hope of being the\nharbinger of any thing but circumstances of a very different tendency.\nI can only give you details of the horrors I have already generally\ndescribed. Carnage has not yet ceased; and is only become more cool and\nmore discriminating. All the mild characteristics annihilated; and a\nfrantic cruelty, which is dignified with the name of patriotism, has\nusurped ever faculty, and banished both reason and mercy.\n\"Mons. ____, whom I have hitherto known by reputation, as an upright, and\neven humane man, had a brother shut up, with a number of other priests,\nat the Carmes; and, by his situation and connections, he has such\ninfluence as might, if exerted, have preserved the latter. The\nunfortunate brother knowing this, found means, while hourly expecting his\nfate, to convey a note to Mr. ____, begging he would immediately release,\nand procure him an asylum. The messenger returned with an answer, that\nMons. ____ had no relations in the enemies of his country!\n\"A few hours after, the massacres at the Carmes took place.--One Panis,*\nwho is in the Comite de Surveillance, had, a few days previous to these\ndreadful events, become, I know not on what occasion, the depositary of a\nlarge sum of money belonging to a gentleman of his section.\n * Panis has since figured on various occasions. He is a member of\n the Convention, and was openly accused of having been an accomplice\n in the robbery of the Garde Meuble.\n\"A secret and frivolous denunciation was made the pretext for throwing\nthe owner of the money into prison, where he remained till September,\nwhen his friends, recollecting his danger, flew to the Committee and\napplied for his discharge. Unfortunately, the only member of the\nCommittee present was Panis. He promised to take measures for an\nimmediate release.--Perhaps he kept his word, but the release was cruel\nand final--the prison was attacked, and the victim heard of no more.--You\nwill not be surprized at such occurrences when I tell you that G____,*\nwhom you must remember to have heard of as a Jacobin at ____, is\nPresident of the Committee above mentioned--yes, an assassin is now the\nprotector of the public safety, and the commune of Paris the patron of a\ncriminal who has merited the gibbet.\n * G____ was afterwards elected (doubtless by a recommendation of the\n Jacobins) Deputy for the department of Finisterre, to which he was\n sent Commissioner by the Convention. On account of some\n unwarrantable proceedings, and of some words that escaped him, which\n gave rise to a suspicion that he was privy to the robbery of the\n Garde Meuble, he was arrested by the municipality of Quimper\n Corentin, of which place he is a native. The Jacobins applied for\n his discharge, and for the punishment of the municipality; but the\n Convention, who at that time rarely took any decisive measures,\n ordered G____ to be liberated, but evaded the other part of the\n petition which tended to revenge him. The affair of the Garde\n Meuble, was, however, again brought forward; but, most probably,\n many of the members had reasons for not discussing too nearly the\n accusation against G____; and those who were not interested in\n suppressing it, were too weak or too timid to pursue it farther.\n\"--I know not if we are yet arrived at the climax of woe and iniquity,\nbut Brissot, Condorcet, Rolland, &c. and all those whose principles you\nhave reprobated as violent and dangerous, will now form the moderate side\nof the Assembly. Perhaps even those who are now the party most dreaded,\nmay one day give place to yet more desperate leaders, and become in their\nturn our best alternative. What will then be the situation of France?\nWho can reflect without trembling at the prospect?--It is not yet safe to\nwalk the streets decently dressed; and I have been obliged to supply\nmyself with trowsers, a jacket, coloured neckcloths, and coarse linen,\nwhich I take care to soil before I venture out.\n\"The Agrarian law is now the moral of Paris, and I had nearly lost my\nlife yesterday by tearing a placard written in support of it. I did it\nimprudently, not supposing I was observed; and had not some people, known\nas Jacobins, come up and interfered in my behalf, the consequence might\nhave been fatal.--It would be difficult, and even impossible, to attempt\na description of the manners of the people of Paris at this moment: the\nlicentiousness common to great cities is decency compared with what\nprevails in this; it has features of a peculiar and striking description,\nand the general expression is that of a monstrous union of opposite\nvices. Alternately dissolute and cruel, gay and vindictive, the Parisian\nvaunts amidst debauchery the triumph of assassination, and enlivens his\nmidnight orgies by recounting the sufferings of the massacred\naristocrates: women, whose profession it is to please, assume the _bonnet\nrouge_ [red cap], and affect, as a means of seduction, an intrepid and\nferocious courage.--I cannot yet learn if Mons. S____'s sister be alive;\nher situation about the Queen makes it too doubtful; but endeavour to\ngive him hope--many may have escaped whose fears still detain them in\nconcealment. People of the first rank now inhabit garrets and cellars,\nand those who appear are disguised beyond recollection; so that I do not\ndespair of the safety of some, who are now thought to have perished.--\nI am, as you may suppose, in haste to leave this place, and I hope to\nreturn to Montmorency tomorrow; but every body is soliciting passports.\nThe Hotel de Ville is besieged, and I have already attended two days\nwithout success.--I beg my respectful homage to Monsieur and Madame de\n____; and I have the honour to be, with esteem, the affectionate servant\nof my friends in general.\nYou will read M. L____'s letter with all the grief and indignation we\nhave already felt, and I will make no comment on it, but to give you a\nslight sketch of the history of Guermeur, whom he mentions as being\nPresident of the Committee of Surveillance.--In the absence of a man,\nwhom he called his friend, he seduced his wife, and eloped with her: the\nhusband overtook them, and fell in the dispute which insued; when\nGuermeur, to avoid being taken by the officers of justice, abandoned his\ncompanion to her fate, and escaped alone. After a variety of adventures,\nhe at length enlisted himself as a grenadier in the regiment of Dillon.\nWith much assurance, and talents cultivated above the situation in which\nhe appeared, he became popular amongst his fellow-soldiers, and the\nmilitary impunity, which is one effect of the revolution, cast a veil\nover his former guilt, or rather indeed enabled him to defy the\npunishment annexed to it. When the regiment was quartered at ____, he\nfrequented and harangued at the Jacobin club, perverted the minds of the\nsoldiers by seditious addresses, till at length he was deemed qualified\nto quit the character of a subordinate incendiary, and figure amongst the\nassassins at Paris. He had hitherto, I believe, acted without pay, for\nhe was deeply in debt, and without money or clothes; but a few days\nprevious to the tenth of August, a leader of the Jacobins supplied him\nwith both, paid his debts, procured his discharge, and sent him to Paris.\nWhat intermediate gradations he may have passed through, I know not; but\nit is not difficult to imagine the services that have advanced him to his\npresent situation.--It would be unsafe to risk this letter by the post,\nand I close it hastily to avail myself of a present conveyance.--I\nremain, Yours, &c.\nArras, September 14, 1792.\nThe camp of Maulde is broken up, and we deferred our journey, that we\nmight pass a day at Douay with M. de ____'s son. The road within some\nmiles of that place is covered with corn and forage, the immediate\nenvirons are begun to be inundated, and every thing wears the appearance\nof impending hostility. The town is so full of troops, that without the\ninterest of our military friends we should scarcely have procured a\nlodging. All was bustle and confusion, the enemy are very near, and the\nFrench are preparing to form a camp under the walls. Amidst all this, we\nfound it difficult to satisfy our curiosity in viewing the churches and\npictures: some of the former are shut, and the latter concealed; we\ntherefore contented ourselves with seeing the principal ones.\nThe town-house is a very handsome building, where the Parliament was\nholden previous to the revolution, and where all the business of the\ndepartment of the North is now transacted.--In the council-chamber, which\nis very elegantly carved, was also a picture of the present King. They\nwere, at the very moment of our entrance, in the act of displacing it.\nWe asked the reason, and were told it was to be cut in pieces, and\nportions sent to the different popular societies.--I know not if our\nfeatures betrayed the indignation we feared to express, but the man who\nseemed to have directed this disposal of the portrait, told us we were\nnot English if we saw it with regret. I was not much delighted with such\na compliment to our country, and was glad to escape without farther\ncomment.\nThe manners of the people seem every where much changed, and are becoming\ngross and inhuman. While we were walking on the ramparts, I happened to\nhave occasion to take down an address, and with the paper and pencil in\nmy hand turned out of the direct path to observe a chapel on one side of\nit. In a moment I was alarmed by the cries of my companions, and beheld\nthe musquet of the centinel pointed at me, and M. de ____ expostulating\nwith him. I am not certain if he supposed I was taking a plan of the\nfortifications, and meant really more than a threat; but I was\nsufficiently frightened, and shall not again approach a town wall with\npencils and paper.\nM. de ____ is one of the only six officers of his regiment who have not\nemigrated. With an indignation heated by the works of modern\nphilosophers into an enthusiastic love of republican governments, and\nirritated by the contempt and opposition he has met with from those of\nthis own class who entertain different principles, he is now become\nalmost a fanatic. What at first was only a political opinion is now a\nreligious tenet; and the moderate sectary has acquired the obstinacy of a\nmartyr, and, perhaps, the spirit of persecution. At the beginning of the\nrevolution, the necessity of deciding, a youthful ardour for liberty, and\nthe desire of preserving his fortune, probably determined him to become a\npatriot; and pride and resentment have given stability to notions which\nmight otherwise have fluctuated with circumstances, or yielded to time.\nThis is but too general the case: the friends of rational reform, and the\nsupporters of the ancient monarchy, have too deeply offended each other\nfor pardon or confidence; and the country perhaps will be sacrificed by\nthe mutual desertions of those most concerned in its preservation.\nActuated only by selfishness and revenge, each party willingly consents\nto the ruin of its opponents. The Clergy, already divided among\nthemselves, are abandoned by the Noblesse--the Noblesse are persecuted by\nthe commercial interest--and, in short, the only union is amongst the\nJacobins; that is, amongst a few weak persons who are deceived, and a\nbanditti who betray and profit by their \"patriotism.\"\nI was led to these reflections by my conversation with Mr. de L____ and\nhis companions. I believe they do not approve of the present extremes,\nyet they expressed themselves with the utmost virulence against the\naristocrates, and would hear neither of reconcilement nor palliation. On\nthe other hand, these dispositions were not altogether unprovoked--the\nyoung men had been persecuted by their relations, and banished the\nsociety of their acquaintance; and their political opinions had acted as\nan universal proscription. There were even some against whom the doors\nof the parental habitation were shut.--These party violences are\nterrible; and I was happy to perceive that the reciprocal claims of duty\nand affection were not diminished by them, either in M. de ____, or his\nson. He, however, at first refused to come to A____, because he\nsuspected the patriotism of our society. I pleaded, as an inducement,\nthe beauty of Mad. G____, but he told me she was an aristocrate. It was\nat length, however, determined, that he should dine with us last Sunday,\nand that all visitors should be excluded. He was prevented coming by\nbeing ordered out with a party the day we left him; and he has written to\nus in high spirits, to say, that, besides fulfilling his object, he had\nreturned with fifty prisoners.\nWe had a very narrow escape in coming home--the Hulans were at the\nvillage of ____, an hour after we passed through it, and treated the poor\ninhabitants, as they usually do, with great inhumanity.--Nothing has\nalienated the minds of the people so much as the cruelties of these\ntroops--they plunder and ill treat all they encounter; and their avarice\nis even less insatiable than their barbarity. How hard is it, that the\nambition of the Chiefs, and the wickedness of faction, should thus fall\nupon the innocent cottager, who perhaps is equally a stranger to the\nnames of the one, and the principles of the other!\nThe public papers will now inform you, that the French are at liberty to\nobtain a divorce on almost any pretext, or even on no pretext at all,\nexcept what many may think a very good one--mutual agreement. A lady of\nour acquaintance here is become a republican in consequence of the\ndecree, and probably will very soon avail herself of it; but this\nconduct, I conceive, will not be very general.\nMuch has been said of the gallantry of the French ladies, and not\nentirely without reason; yet, though sometimes inconstant wives, they\nare, for the most part, faithful friends--they sacrifice the husband\nwithout forsaking him, and their common interest is always promoted with\nas much zeal as the most inviolable attachment could inspire. Mad. de\nC____, whom we often meet in company, is the wife of an emigrant, and is\nsaid not to be absolutely disconsolate at his absence; yet she is\nindefatigable in her efforts to supply him with money: she even risks her\nsafety by her solicitude, and has just now prevailed on her favourite\nadmirer to hasten his departure for the frontiers, in order to convey a\nsum she has with much difficulty been raising. Such instances are, I\nbelieve, not very rare; and as a Frenchman usually prefers his interest\nto every thing else, and is not quite so unaccommodating as an\nEnglishman, an amicable arrangement takes place, and one seldom hears of\na separation.\nThe inhabitants of Arras, with all their patriotism, are extremely averse\nfrom the assignats; and it is with great reluctance that they consent to\nreceive them at two-thirds of their nominal value. This discredit of the\npaper money has been now two months at a stand, and its rise or fall will\nbe determined by the success of the campaign.--I bid you adieu for the\nlast time from hence. We have already exceeded the proposed length of\nour visit, and shall set out for St. Omer to-morrow.--Yours.\nSt. Omer, September, 1792.\nI am confined to my room by a slight indisposition, and, instead of\naccompanying my friends, have taken up my pen to inform you that we are\nthus far safe on our journey.--Do not, because you are surrounded by a\nprotecting element, smile at the idea of travelling forty or fifty miles\nin safety. The light troops of the Austrian army penetrate so far, that\nnone of the roads on the frontier are entirely free from danger. My\nfemale companions were alarmed the whole day--the young for their\nbaggage, and the old for themselves.\nThe country between this and Arras has the appearance of a garden\ncultivated for the common use of its inhabitants, and has all the\nfertility and beauty of which a flat surface is susceptible. Bethune and\nAire I should suppose strongly fortified. I did not fail, in passing\nthrough the former, to recollect with veneration the faithful minister of\nHenry the Fourth. The misfortunes of the descendant of Henry, whom\nSully* loved, and the state of the kingdom he so much cherished, made a\nstronger impression on me than usual, and I mingled with the tribute of\nrespect a sentiment of indignation.\n * Maximilien de Bethune, Duc de Sully.\nWhat perverse and malignant influence can have excited the people either\nto incur or to suffer their present situation? Were we not well\nacquainted with the arts of factions, the activity of bad men, and the\neffect of their union, I should be almost tempted to believe this change\nin the French supernatural. Less than three years ago, the name of Henri\nQuatre was not uttered without enthusiasm. The piece that transmitted\nthe slightest anecdotes of his life was certain of success--the air that\ncelebrated him was listened to with delight--and the decorations of\nbeauty, when associated with the idea of this gallant Monarch, became\nmore irresistible.*\n * At this time it was the prevailing fashion to call any new\n inventions of female dress after his name, and to decorate the\n ornamental parts of furniture with his resemblance.\nYet Henry the Fourth is now a tyrant--his pictures and statues are\ndestroyed, and his memory is execrated!--Those who have reduced the\nFrench to this are, doubtless, base and designing intriguers; yet I\ncannot acquit the people, who are thus wrought on, of unfeelingness and\nlevity.--England has had its revolutions; but the names of Henry the\nFifth and Elizabeth were still revered: and the regal monuments, which\nstill exist, after all the vicissitudes of our political principles,\nattest the mildness of the English republicans.\nThe last days of our stay at Arras were embittered by the distress of our\nneighbour and acquaintance, Madame de B____. She has lost two sons under\ncircumstances so affecting, that I think you will be interested in the\nrelation.--The two young men were in the army, and quartered at\nPerpignan, at a time when some effort of counter-revolution was said to\nbe intended. One of them was arrested as being concerned, and the other\nsurrendered himself prisoner to accompany his brother.--When the High\nCourt at Orleans was instituted for trying state-prisoners, those of\nPerpignan were ordered to be conducted there, and the two B____'s,\nchained together, were taken with the rest. On their arrival at Orleans,\ntheir gaoler had mislaid the key that unlocked their fetters, and, not\nfinding it immediately, the young men produced one, which answered the\npurpose, and released themselves. The gaoler looked at them with\nsurprize, and asked why, with such a means in their power, they had not\nescaped in the night, or on the road. They replied, because they were\nnot culpable, and had no reason for avoiding a trial that would manifest\ntheir innocence. Their heroism was fatal. They were brought, by a\ndecree of the Convention, from Orleans to Versailles, (on their way to\nParis,) where they were met by the mob, and massacred.\nTheir unfortunate mother is yet ignorant of their fate; but we left her\nin a state little preferable to that which will be the effect of\ncertainty. She saw the decree for transporting the prisoners from\nOrleans, and all accounts of the result have been carefully concealed\nfrom her; yet her anxious and enquiring looks at all who approach her,\nindicate but too well her suspicion of the truth.--Mons. de ____'s\nsituation is indescribable. Informed of the death of his sons, he is yet\nobliged to conceal his sufferings, and wear an appearance of tranquillity\nin the presence of his wife. Sometimes he escapes, when unable to\ncontain his emotions any longer, and remains at M. de ____'s till he\nrecovers himself. He takes no notice of the subject of his grief, and we\nrespect it too much to attempt to console him. The last time I asked him\nafter Madame de ____, he told me her spirits were something better, and,\nadded he, in a voice almost suffocated, \"She is amusing herself with\nworking neckcloths for her sons!\"--When you reflect that the massacres at\nParis took place on the second and third of September, and that the\ndecree was passed to bring the prisoners from Orleans (where they were in\nsafety) on the tenth, I can say nothing that will add to the horror of\nthis transaction, or to your detestation of its cause. Sixty-two, mostly\npeople of high rank, fell victims to this barbarous policy: they were\nbrought in a fort of covered waggons, and were murdered in heaps without\nbeing taken out.*\n * Perhaps the reader will be pleased at a discovery, which it would\n have been unsafe to mention when made, or in the course of this\n correspondence. The two young men here alluded to arrived at\n Versailles, chained together, with their fellow-prisoners.\n Surprize, perhaps admiration, had diverted the gaoler's attention\n from demanding the key that opened their padlock, and it was still\n in their possession. On entering Versailles, and observing the\n crowd preparing to attack them, they divested themselves of their\n fetters, and of every other incumbrance. In a few moments their\n carriages were surrounded, their companions at one end were already\n murdered, and themselves slightly wounded; but the confusion\n increasing, they darted amidst the croud, and were in a moment\n undistinguishable. They were afterwards taken under the protection\n of an humane magistrate, who concealed them for some time, and they\n are now in perfect security. They were the only two of the whole\n number that escaped.\nSeptember, 1792.\nWe passed a country so barren and uninteresting yesterday, that even a\nprofessional traveller could not have made a single page of it. It was,\nin every thing, a perfect contrast to the rich plains of Artois--\nunfertile, neglected vallies and hills, miserable farms, still more\nmiserable cottages, and scarcely any appearance of population. The only\nplace where we could refresh the horses was a small house, over the door\nof which was the pompous designation of Hotel d'Angleterre. I know not\nif this be intended as a ridicule on our country, or as an attraction to\nour countrymen, but I, however, found something besides the appellation\nwhich reminded me of England, and which one does not often find in houses\nof a better outside; for though the rooms were small, and only two in\nnumber, they were very clean, and the hostess was neat and civil. The\nHotel d'Angleterre, indeed, was not luxuriously supplied, and the whole\nof our repast was eggs and tea, which we had brought with us.--In the\nnext room to that we occupied were two prisoners chained, whom the\nofficers were conveying to Arras, for the purpose of better security.\nThe secret history of this business is worth relating, as it marks the\ncharacter of the moment, and the ascendancy which the Jacobins are daily\nacquiring.\nThese men were apprehended as smugglers, under circumstances of peculiar\natrocity, and committed to the gaol at ____. A few days after, a young\ngirl, of bad character, who has much influence at the club, made a\nmotion, that the people, in a body, should demand the release of the\nprisoners. The motion was carried, and the Hotel de Ville assailed by a\nformidable troop of sailors, fish-women, &c.--The municipality refused to\ncomply, the Garde Nationale was called out, and, on the mob persisting,\nfired over their heads, wounded a few, and the rest dispersed of\nthemselves.--Now you must understand, the latent motive of all this was\ntwo thousand livres promised to one of the Jacobin leaders, if he\nsucceeded in procuring the men their liberty.--I do not advance this\nmerely on conjecture. The fact is well known to the municipality; and\nthe decent part of it would willingly have expelled this man, who is one\nof their members, but that they found themselves too weak to engage in a\nserious quarrel with the Jacobins.--One cannot reflect, without\napprehension, that any society should exist which can oppose the\nexecution of the laws with impunity, or that a people, who are little\nsensible of realities, should be thus abused by names. They suffer, with\nunfeeling patience, a thousand enormities--yet blindly risk their\nliberties and lives to promote the designs of an adventurer, because he\nharangues at a club, and calls himself a patriot.--I have just received\nadvice that my friends have left Lausanne, and are on their way to Paris.\nOur first plan of passing the winter there will be imprudent, if not\nimpracticable, and we have concluded to take a house for the winter six\nmonths at Amiens, Chantilly, or some place which has the reputation of\nbeing quiet. I have already ordered enquiries to be made, and shall set\nout with Mrs. ____ in a day or two for Amiens. I may, perhaps, not write\ntill our return; but shall not cease to be, with great truth.--Yours, &c.\nAmiens, 1792.\nThe departement de la Somme has the reputation of being a little\naristocratic. I know not how far this be merited, but the people are\ncertainly not enthusiasts. The villages we passed on our road hither\nwere very different from those on the frontiers--we were hailed by no\npopular sounds, no cries of Vive la nation! except from here and there\nsome ragged boy in a red cap, who, from habit, associated this salutation\nwith the appearance of a carriage. In every place where there are half a\ndozen houses is planted an unthriving tree of liberty, which seems to\nwither under the baneful influence of the _bonnet rouge_. [The red cap.]\nThis Jacobin attribute is made of materials to resist the weather, and\nmay last some time; but the trees of liberty, being planted unseasonably,\nare already dead. I hope this will not prove emblematic, and that the\npower of the Jacobins may not outlive the freedom of the people.\nThe Convention begin their labours under disagreeable auspices. A\ngeneral terror seems to have seized on the Parisians, the roads are\ncovered with carriages, and the inns filled with travellers. A new\nregulation has just taken place, apparently intended to check this\nrestless spirit. At Abbeville, though we arrived late and were fatigued,\nwe were taken to the municipality, our passports collated with our\npersons, and at the inn we were obliged to insert in a book our names,\nthe place of our birth, from whence we came, and where we were going.\nThis, you will say, has more the features of a mature Inquisition, than a\nnew-born Republic; but the French have different notions of liberty from\nyours, and take these things very quietly.--At Flixecourt we eat out of\npewter spoons, and the people told us, with much inquietude, that they\nhad sold their plate, in expectation of a decree of the Convention to\ntake it from them. This decree, however, has not passed, but the alarm\nis universal, and does not imply any great confidence in the new\ngovernment.\nI have had much difficulty in executing my commission, and have at last\nfixed upon a house, of which I fear my friends will not approve; but the\npanic which depopulates Paris, the bombardment of Lisle, and the\ntranquillity which has hitherto prevailed here, has filled the town, and\nrendered every kind of habitation scarce, and extravagantly dear: for you\nmust remark, that though the Amienois are all aristocrates, yet when an\nintimidated sufferer of the same party flies from Paris, and seeks an\nasylum amongst them, they calculate with much exactitude what they\nsuppose necessity may compel him to give, and will not take a livre\nless.--The rent of houses and lodgings, like the national funds, rises\nand falls with the public distresses, and, like them, is an object of\nspeculation: several persons to whom we were addressed were extremely\nindifferent about letting their houses, alledging as a reason, that if\nthe disorders of Paris should increase, they had no doubt of letting them\nto much greater advantage.\nWe were at the theatre last night--it was opened for the first time since\nFrance has been declared a republic, and the Jacobins vociferated loudly\nto have the fleur de lys, ad other regal emblems, effaced. Obedience was\nno sooner promised to this command, than it was succeeded by another not\nquite so easily complied with--they insisted on having the Marsellois\nHymn sung. In vain did the manager, with a ludicrous sort of terror,\ndeclare, that there were none of his company who had any voice, or who\nknew either the words of the music of the hymn in question. _\"C'est egal,\nil faut chanter,\"_ [\"No matter for that, they must sing.\"] resounded from\nall the patriots in the house. At last, finding the thing impossible,\nthey agreed to a compromise; and one of the actors promised to sing it on\nthe morrow, as well as the trifling impediment of having no voice would\npermit him.--You think your galleries despotic when they call for an\nepilogue that is forgotten, and the actress who should speak it is\nundrest; or when they insist upon enlivening the last acts of Jane Shore\nwith Roast Beef! What would you think if they would not dispense with a\nhornpipe on the tight-rope by Mrs. Webb? Yet, bating the danger, I\nassure you, the audience of Amiens was equally unreasonable. But liberty\nat present seems to be in an undefined state; and until our rulers shall\nhave determined what it is, the matter will continue to be settled as it\nis now--by each man usurping as large a portion of tyranny as his\nsituation will admit of. He who submits without repining to his\ndistrict, to his municipality, or even to the club, domineers at the\ntheatre, or exercises in the street a manual censure on aristocratic\napparel.*\n *It was common at this time to insult women in the streets if\n dressed too well, or in colours the people chose to call\n aristocratic. I was myself nearly thrown down for having on a straw\n bonnet with green ribbons.\nOur embarrassment for small change is renewed: many of the communes who\nhad issued bills of five, ten, and fifteen sols, repayable in assignats,\nare become bankrupts, which circumstance has thrown such a discredit on\nall this kind of nominal money, that the bills of one town will not pass\nat another. The original creation of these bills was so limited, that no\ntown had half the number requisite for the circulation of its\nneighbourhood; and this decrease, with the distrust that arises from the\noccasion of it, greatly adds to the general inconvenience.\nThe retreat of the Prussian army excites more surprize than interest, and\nthe people talk of it with as much indifference as they would of an event\nthat had happened beyond the Ganges. The siege of Lisle takes off all\nattention from the relief of Thionville--not on account of its\nimportance, but on account of its novelty.--I remain, Yours, &c.\nAbbeville, September, 1792.\nWe left Amiens early yesterday morning, but were so much delayed by the\nnumber of volunteers on the road, that it was late before we reached\nAbbeville. I was at first somewhat alarmed at finding ourselves\nsurrounded by so formidable a cortege; they however only exacted a\ndeclaration of our political principles, and we purchased our safety by a\nfew smiles, and exclamations of vive la nation! There were some hundreds\nof these recruits much under twenty; but the poor fellows, exhilarated by\ntheir new uniform and large pay, were going gaily to decide their fate by\nthat hazard which puts youth and age on a level, and scatters with\nindiscriminating hand the cypress and the laurel.\nAt Abbeville all the former precautions were renewed--we underwent\nanother solemn identification of our persons at the Hotel de Ville, and\nan abstract of our history was again enregistered at the inn. One would\nreally suppose that the town was under apprehensions of a siege, or, at\nleast, of the plague. My \"paper face\" was examined as suspiciously as\nthough I had had the appearance of a travestied Achilles; and M____'s,\nwhich has as little expression as a Chinese painting, was elaborately\nscrutinized by a Dogberry in spectacles, who, perhaps, fancied she had\nthe features of a female Machiavel. All this was done with an air of\nimportance sufficiently ludicrous, when contrasted with the object; but\nwe met with no incivility, and had nothing to complain of but a little\nadditional fatigue, and the delay of our dinner.\nWe stopped to change horses at Bernay, and I soon perceived our landlady\nwas a very ardent patriot. In a room, to which we waded at great risk of\nour clothes, was a representation of the siege of the Bastille, and\nprints of half a dozen American Generals, headed by Mr. Thomas Paine. On\ndescending, we found out hostess exhibiting a still more forcible picture\nof curiosity than Shakspeare's blacksmith. The half-demolished repast\nwas cooling on the table, whilst our postilion retailed the Gazette, and\nthe pigs and ducks were amicably grazing together on whatever the kitchen\nproduced. The affairs of the Prussians and Austrians were discussed with\nentire unanimity, but when these politicians, as is often the case, came\nto adjust their own particular account, the conference was much less\nharmonious. The postilion offered a ten sols billet, which the landlady\nrefused: one persisted in its validity, the other in rejecting it--till,\nat last, the patriotism of neither could endure this proof, and peace was\nconcluded by a joint execration of those who invented this fichu papier--\n\"Sorry paper.\"\nAt ____ we met our friend, Mad. de ____, with part of her family and an\nimmense quantity of baggage. I was both surprized and alarmed at such an\napparition, and found, on enquiry, that they thought themselves unsafe at\nArras, and were going to reside near M. de ____'s estate, where they were\nbetter known. I really began to doubt the prudence of our establishing\nourselves here for the winter. Every one who has it in his power\nendeavours to emigrate, even those who till now have been zealous\nsupporters of the revolution.--Distrust and apprehension seem to have\ntaken possession of every mind. Those who are in towns fly to the\ncountry, while the inhabitant of the isolated chateau takes refuge in the\nneighbouring town. Flocks of both aristocrates and patriots are\ntrembling and fluttering at the foreboding storm, yet prefer to abide its\nfury, rather than seek shelter and defence together. I, however, flatter\nmyself, that the new government will not justify this fear; and as I am\ncertain my friends will not return to England at this season, I shall not\nendeavour to intimidate or discourage them from their present\narrangement. We shall, at least, be enabled to form some idea of a\nrepublican constitution, and I do not, on reflection, conceive that any\npossible harm can happen to us.\nOctober, 1792.\nI shall not date from this place again, intending to quit it as soon as\npossible. It is disturbed by the crouds from the camps, which are broken\nup, and the soldiers are extremely brutal and insolent. So much are the\npeople already familiarized with the unnatural depravity of manners that\nbegins to prevail, that the wife of the Colonel of a battalion now here\nwalks the streets in a red cap, with pistols at her girdle, boasting of\nthe numbers she has destroyed at the massacres in August and September.\nThe Convention talk of the King's trial as a decided measure; yet no one\nseems to admit even the possibility that such an act can be ever\nintended. A few believe him culpable, many think him misled, and many\nacquit him totally: but all agree, that any violation of his person would\nbe an atrocity disgraceful to the nation at large.--The fate of Princes\nis often disastrous in proportion to their virtues. The vanity,\nselfishness, and bigotry of Louis the Fourteenth were flattered while he\nlived, and procured him the appellation of Great after his death. The\ngreatest military talents that France has given birth to seemed created\nto earn laurels, not for themselves, but for the brow of that\nvain-glorious Monarch. Industry and Science toiled but for his\ngratification, and Genius, forgetting its dignity, willingly received\nfrom his award the same it has since bestowed.\nLouis the Fifteenth, who corrupted the people by his example, and ruined\nthem by his expence, knew no diminution of the loyalty, whatever he might\nof the affection, of his people, and ended his days in the practice of\nthe same vices, and surrounded by the same luxury, in which he had passed\nthem.\nLouis the Sixteenth, to whom scarcely his enemies ascribe any vices, for\nits outrages against whom faction finds no excuse but in the facility of\nhis nature--whose devotion is at once exemplary and tolerant--who, in an\nage of licentiousness, is remarkable for the simplicity of his manners--\nwhose amusements were liberal or inoffensive--and whose concessions to\nhis people form a striking contrast with the exactions of his\npredecessors.--Yes, the Monarch I have been describing, and, I think, not\npartially, has been overwhelmed with sorrow and indignities--his person\nhas been degraded, that he might be despoiled of his crown, and perhaps\nthe sacrifice of his crown may be followed by that of his life. When we\nthus see the punishment of guilt accumulated on the head of him who has\nnot participated in it, and vice triumph in the security that should seem\nthe lot of innocence, we can only adduce new motives to fortify ourselves\nin this great truth of our religion--that the chastisement of the one,\nand reward of the other, must be looked for beyond the inflictions or\nenjoyments of our present existence.\nI do not often moralize on paper, but there are moments when one derives\none's best consolation from so moralizing; and this easy and simple\njustification of Providence, which refers all that appears inconsistent\nhere to the retribution of a future state, is pointed out less as the\nduty than the happiness of mankind. This single argument of religion\nsolves every difficulty, and leaves the mind in fortitude and peace;\nwhilst the pride of sceptical philosophy traces whole volumes, only to\nestablish the doubts, and nourish the despair, of its disciples.\nAdieu. I cannot conclude better than with these reflections, at a time\nwhen disbelief is something too fashionable even amongst our\ncountrymen.--Yours, &c.\nAmiens, October, 1792.\nI arrived here the day on which a ball was given to celebrate the return\nof the volunteers who had gone to the assistance of Lisle.*\n *The bombardment of Lisle commenced on the twenty-ninth of\n September, at three o'clock in the afternoon, and continued, almost\n without interruption, until the sixth of October. Many of the\n public buildings, and whole quarters of the town, were so much\n damaged or destroyed, that the situation of the streets were\n scarcely distinguishable. The houses which the fire obliged their\n inhabitants to abandon, were pillaged by barbarians, more merciless\n than the Austrians themselves. Yet, amidst these accumulated\n horrors, the Lillois not only preserved their courage, but their\n presence of mind: the rich incited and encouraged the poor; those\n who were unable to assist with their labour, rewarded with their\n wealth: the men were employed in endeavouring to extinguish the fire\n of the buildings, or in preserving their effects; while women and\n children snatched the opportunity of extinguishing the fuzes of the\n bombs as soon as they fell, at which they became very daring and\n dexterous. During the whole of this dreadful period, not one\n murmur, not one proposition to surrender, was heard from any party.\n --The Convention decreed, amidst the wildest enthusiasm of applause,\n that Lisle had deserved well of the country.\n --Forty-two thousand five hundred balls were fired, and the damages\n were estimated at forty millions of livres.\nThe French, indeed, never refuse to rejoice when they are ordered; but as\nthese festivities are not spontaneous effusions, but official ordinances,\nand regulated with the same method as a tax or recruitment, they are of\ncourse languid and uninteresting. The whole of their hilarity seems to\nconsist in the movement of the dance, in which they are by not means\nanimated; and I have seen, even among the common people, a cotillion\nperformed as gravely and as mechanically as the ceremonies of a Chinese\ncourt.--I have always thought, with Sterne, that we were mistaken in\nsupposing the French a gay nation. It is true, they laugh much, have\ngreat gesticulation, and are extravagantly fond of dancing: but the laugh\nis the effect of habit, and not of a risible sensation; the gesture is\nnot the agitation of the mind operating upon the body, but constitutional\nvolatility; and their love of dancing is merely the effect of a happy\nclimate, (which, though mild, does not enervate,) and that love of action\nwhich usually accompanies mental vacancy, when it is not counteracted by\nheat, or other physical causes.\nI know such an opinion, if publicly avowed, would be combated as false\nand singular; yet I appeal to those who have at all studied the French\ncharacter, not as travellers, but by a residence amongst them, for the\nsupport of my opinion. Every one who understands the language, and has\nmixed much in society, must have made the same observations.--See two\nFrenchmen at a distance, and the vehemence of their action, and the\nexpression of their features, shall make you conclude they are discussing\nsome subject, which not only interests, but delights them. Enquire, and\nyou will find they were talking of the weather, or the price of a\nwaistcoat!--In England you would be tempted to call in a peace-officer at\nthe loud tone and menacing attitudes with which two people here very\namicably adjust a bargain for five livres.--In short, we mistake that for\na mental quality which, in fact, is but a corporeal one; and, though the\nFrench may have many good and agreeable points of character, I do not\ninclude gaiety among the number.\nI doubt very much of my friends will approve of their habitation. I\nconfess I am by no means satisfied with it myself; and, with regard to\npecuniary consideration, my engagement is not an advantageous one.\n--Madame Dorval, of whom I have taken the house, is a character very\ncommon in France, and over which I was little calculated to have the\nascendant. Officiously polite in her manners, and inflexibly attentive\nto her interest, she seemingly acquiesces in every thing you propose.\nYou would even fancy she was solicitous to serve you; yet, after a\nthousand gracious sentiments, and as many implied eulogiums on her\nliberality and generosity, you find her return, with unrelenting\nperseverance, to some paltry proposition, by which she is to gain a few\nlivres; and all this so civilly, so sentimentally, and so determinedly,\nthat you find yourself obliged to yield, and are duped without being\ndeceived.\nThe lower class have here, as well as on your side of the water, the\ncustom of attributing to Ministers and Governments some connection with,\nor controul over, the operations of nature. I remarked to a woman who\nbrings me fruit, that the grapes were bad and dear this year--_\"Ah! mon\nDieu, oui, ils ne murrissent pas. Il me semble que tout va mal depuis\nqu'on a invente la nation.\"_ [\"Ah! Lord, they don't ripen now.--For my\npart, I think nothing has gone well since the nation was first\ninvented.\"]\nI cannot, like the imitators of Sterne, translate a chapter of sentiment\nfrom every incident that occurs, or from every physiognomy I encounter;\nyet, in circumstances like the present, the mind, not usually observing,\nis tempted to comment.--I was in a milliner's shop to-day, and took\nnotice on my entering, that its mistress was, whilst at her work,\nlearning the _Marseillois_ Hymn. [A patriotic air, at this time highly\npopular.] Before I had concluded my purchase, an officer came in to\nprepare her for the reception of four volunteers, whom she was to lodge\nthe two ensuing nights. She assented, indeed, very graciously, (for a\nFrench woman never loses the command of her features,) but a moment\nafter, the Marseillois, which lay on the counter, was thrown aside in a\npet, and I dare say she will not resume her patriotic taste, nor be\nreconciled to the revolution, until some days after the volunteers shall\nhave changed their quarters.\nThis quartering of troops in private houses appears to me the most\ngrievous and impolitic of all taxes; it adds embarrassment to expence,\ninvades domestic comfort, and conveys such an idea of military\nsubjection, that I wonder any people ever submits to it, or any\ngovernment ever ventures to impose it.\nI know not if the English are conscious of their own importance at this\nmoment, but it is certain they are the centre of the hopes and fears of\nall parties, I might say of all Europe. The aristocrates wait with\nanxiety and solicitude a declaration of war, whilst their opponents\nregard such an event as pregnant with distress, and even as the signal of\ntheir ruin. The body of the people of both parties are averse from\nincreasing the number of their enemies; but as the Convention may be\ndirected by other motives than the public wish, it is impossible to form\nany conclusion on the subject. I am, of course, desirous of peace, and\nshould be so from selfishness, if I were not from philanthropy, as a\ncessation of it at this time would disconcert all our plans, and oblige\nus to seek refuge at ____, which has just all that is necessary for our\nhappiness, except what is most desirable--a mild and dry atmosphere.--\nYours, &c.\nAmiens, November, 1792.\nThe arrival of my friends has occasioned a short suspension of my\ncorrespondence: but though I have been negligent, I assure you, my dear\nbrother, I have not been forgetful; and this temporary preference of the\nties of friendship to those of nature, will be excused, when you consider\nour long separation.\nMy intimacy with Mrs. D____ began when I first came to this country, and\nat every subsequent visit to the continent it has been renewed and\nincreased into that rational kind of attachment, which your sex seldom\nallow in ours, though you yourselves do not abound in examples of it.\nMrs. D____ is one of those characters which are oftener loved than\nadmired--more agreeable than handsome--good-natured, humane, and\nunassuming--and with no mental pretensions beyond common sense tolerably\nwell cultivated. The shades of this portraiture are an extreme of\ndelicacy, bordering on fastidiousness--a trifle of hauteur, not in\nmanners, but disposition--and, perhaps, a tincture of affectation. These\nfoibles are, however, in a great degree, constitutional: she is more an\ninvalid than myself; and ill health naturally increases irritability, and\nrenders the mind less disposed to bear with inconveniencies; we avoid\ncompany at first, through a sense of our infirmities, till this timidity\nbecomes habitual, and settles almost into aversion.--The valetudinarian,\nwho is obliged to fly the world, in time fancies herself above it, and\nends by supposing there is some superiority in differing from other\npeople. Mr. D____ is one of the best men existing--well bred and well\ninformed; yet, without its appearing to the common observer, he is of a\nvery singular and original turn of mind. He is most exceedingly nervous,\nand this effect of his physical construction has rendered him so\nsusceptible, that he is continually agitated and hurt by circumstances\nwhich others pass by unnoticed. In other respects he is a great lover of\nexercise, fond of domestic life, reads much, and has an aversion from\nbustle of all kind.\nThe banishment of the Priests, which in many instances was attended with\ncircumstances of peculiar atrocity, has not yet produced those effects\nwhich were expected from it, and which the promoters of the measure\nemployed as a pretext for its adoption. There are indeed now no masses\nsaid but by the Constitutional Clergy; but as the people are usually as\ningenious in evading laws as legislators are in forming them, many\npersons, instead of attending the churches, which they think profaned by\npriests who have taken the oaths, flock to church-yards, chapels, or\nother places, once appropriated to religious worship, but in disuse since\nthe revolution, and of course not violated by constitutional masses. The\ncemetery of St. Denis, at Amiens, though large, is on Sundays and\nholidays so crouded, that it is almost difficult to enter it. Here the\ndevotees flock in all weathers, say their mass, and return with the\ndouble satisfaction of having preserved their allegiance to the Pope, and\nrisked persecution in a cause they deem meritorious. To say truth, it is\nnot very surprizing that numbers should be prejudiced against the\nconstitutional clergy. Many of them are, I doubt not, liberal and\nwell-meaning men, who have preferred peace and submission to theological\nwarfare, and who might not think themselves justified in opposing their\nopinion to a national decision: yet are there also many of profligate\nlives, who were never educated for the profession, and whom the\ncircumstances of the times have tempted to embrace it as a trade, which\noffered subsistence without labour, and influence without wealth, and\nwhich at once supplied a veil for licentiousness, and the means of\npractising it. Such pastors, it must be confessed, have little claim to\nthe confidence or respect of the people; and that there are such, I do\nnot assert, but on the most credible information. I will only cite two\ninstances out of many within my own knowledge.\nP____n, bishop of St. Omer, was originally a priest of Arras, of vicious\ncharacter, and many of his ordinations have been such as might be\nexpected from such a patron.--A man of Arras, who was only known for his\nvicious pursuits, and who had the reputation of having accelerated the\ndeath of his wife by ill treatment, applied to P____n to marry him a\nsecond time. The good Bishop, preferring the interest of his friend to\nthe salvation of his flock, advised him to relinquish the project of\ntaking a wife, and offered to give him a cure. The proposal was accepted\non the spot, and this pious associate of the Reverend P____n was\nimmediately invested with the direction of the consciences, and the care\nof the morals, of an extensive parish.\nActs of this nature, it is to be imagined, were pursued by censure and\nridicule; but the latter was not often more successful than on the\nfollowing occasion:--Two young men, whose persons were unknown to the\nbishop, one day procured an audience, and requested he would recommend\nthem to some employment that would procure them the means of subsistence.\nThis was just a time when the numerous vacancies that had taken place\nwere not yet supplied, and many livings were unfilled for want of\ncandidates. The Bishop, who was unwilling that the nonjuring priests\nshould have the triumph of seeing their benefices remain vacant, fell\ninto the snare, and proposed their taking orders. The young men\nexpressed their joy at the offer; but, after looking confusedly on each\nother, with some difficulty and diffidence, confessed their lives had\nbeen such as to preclude them from the profession, which, but for this\nimpediment, would have satisfied them beyond their hopes. The Bishop\nvery complaisantly endeavoured to obviate thesse objections, while they\ncontinued to accuse themselves of all the sins in the decalogue; but the\nPrelate at length observing he had ordained many worse, the young men\nsmiled contemptuously, and, turning on their heels, replied, that if\npriests were made of worse men than they had described themselves to be,\nthey begged to be excused from associating with such company.\nDumouriez, Custine, Biron, Dillon, &c. are doing wonders, in spite of the\nseason; but the laurel is an ever-green, and these heroes gather it\nequally among the snows of the Alps, and the fogs of Belgium. If we may\ncredit the French papers too, what they call the cause of liberty is not\nless successfully propagated by the pen than the sword. England is said\nto be on the eve of a revolution, and all its inhabitants, except the\nKing and Mr. Pitt, become Jacobins. If I did not believe \"the wish was\nfather to the thought,\" I should read these assertions with much\ninquietude, as I have not yet discovered the excellencies of a republican\nform of government sufficiently to make me wish it substituted for our\nown.--It should seem that the Temple of Liberty, as well as the Temple of\nVirtue, is placed on an ascent, and that as many inflexions and\nretrogradations occur in endeavouring to attain it. In the ardour of\nreaching these difficult acclivities, a fall sometimes leaves us lower\nthan the situation we first set out from; or, to speak without a figure,\nso much power is exercised by our leaders, and so much submission exacted\nfrom the people, that the French are in danger of becoming habituated to\na despotism which almost sanctifies the errors of their ancient monarchy,\nwhile they suppose themselves in the pursuit of a degree of freedom more\nsublime and more absolute than has been enjoyed by any other nation.--\nAttempts at political as well as moral perfection, when carried beyond\nthe limits compatible with a social state, or the weakness of our\nnatures, are likely to end in a depravity which moderate governments and\nrational ethics would have prevented.\nThe debates of the Convention are violent and acrimonious. Robespierre\nhas been accused of aspiring to the Dictatorship, and his defence was by\nno means calculated to exonerate him from the charge. All the chiefs\nreproach each other with being the authors of the late massacres, and\neach succeeds better in fixing the imputation on his neighbour, than in\nremoving it from himself. General reprobation, personal invectives, and\nlong speeches, are not wanting; but every thing which tends to\nexamination and enquiry is treated with much more delicacy and composure:\nso that I fear these first legislators of the republic must, for the\npresent, be content with the reputation they have assigned each other,\nand rank amongst those who have all the guilt, but want the courage, of\nassassins.\nI subjoin an extract from a newspaper, which has lately appeared.*\n *Extract from _The Courier de l'Egalite,_ November, 1792:\n \"There are discontented people who still venture to obtrude their\n sentiments on the public. One of them, in a public print, thus\n expresses himself--\n 'I assert, that the newspapers are sold and devoted to falsehood.\n At this price they purchase the liberty of appearing; and the\n exclusive privilege they enjoy, as well as the contradictory and\n lying assertions they all contain, prove the truth of what I\n advance. They are all preachers of liberty, yet never was liberty\n so shamefully outraged--of respect for property, and property was at\n no time so little held sacred--of personal security, yet when were\n there committed so many massacres? and, at the very moment I am\n writing, new ones are premeditated. They call vehemently for\n submission, and obedience to the laws, but the laws had never less\n influence; and while our compliance with such as we are even\n ignorant of is exacted, it is accounted a crime to execute those in\n force. Every municipality has its own arbitrary code--every\n battalion, every private soldier, exercises a sovereignty, a most\n absolute despotism; and yet the Gazettes do not cease to boast the\n excellence of such a government. They have, one and all, attributed\n the massacres of the tenth of August and the second of September,\n and the days following each, to a popular fermentation. The\n monsters! they have been careful not to tell us, that each of these\n horrid scenes (at the prisons, at La Force, at the Abbaye, &c. &c.)\n was presided by municipal officers in their scarfs, who pointed out\n the victims, and gave the signal for the assassination. It was\n (continue the Journals) the error of an irritated people--and yet\n their magistrates were at the head of it: it was a momentary error;\n yet this error of a moment continued during six whole days of the\n coolest reflection--it was only at the close of the seventh that\n Petion made his appearance, and affected to persuade the people to\n desist. The assassins left off only from fatigue, and at this\n moment they are preparing to begin again. The Journals do not tell\n us that the chief of these _Scelerats_ [We have no term in the\n English language that conveys an adequate meaning for this word--it\n seems to express the extreme of human wickedness and atrocity.]\n employed subordinate assassins, whom they caused to be clandestinely\n murdered in their turn, as though they hoped to destroy the proof of\n their crime, and escape the vengeance that awaits them. But the\n people themselves were accomplices in the deed, for the Garde\n Nationale gave their assistance,'\" &c. &c.\nIn spite of the murder of so many journalists, and the destruction of the\nprinting-offices, it treats the September business so freely, that the\neditor will doubtless soon be silenced. Admitting these accusations to\nbe unfounded, what ideas must the people have of their magistrates, when\nthey are credited? It is the prepossession of the hearer that gives\nauthenticity to fiction; and such atrocities would neither be imputed to,\nnor believed of, men not already bad.--Yours, &c.\nDecember, 1792.\nDear Brother,\nAll the public prints still continue strongly to insinuate, that England\nis prepared for an insurrection, and Scotland already in actual\nrebellion: but I know the character of our countrymen too well to be\npersuaded that they have adopted new principles as easily as they would\nadopt a new mode, or that the visionary anarchists of the French\ngovernment can have made many proselytes among an humane and rational\npeople. For many years we were content to let France remain the\narbitress of the lighter departments of taste: lately she has ceded this\nprovince to us, and England has dictated with uncontested superiority.\nThis I cannot think very strange; for the eye in time becomes fatigued by\nelaborate finery, and requires only the introduction of simple elegance\nto be attracted by it. But if, while we export fashions to this country,\nwe should receive in exchange her republican systems, it would be a\nstrange revolution indeed; and I think, in such a commerce, we should be\nfar from finding the balance in our favour. I have, in fact, little\nsolicitude about these diurnal falsehoods, though I am not altogether\nfree from alarm as to their tendency. I cannot help suspecting it is to\ninfluence the people to a belief that such dispositions exist in England\nas preclude the danger of a war, in case it should be thought necessary\nto sacrifice the King.\nI am more confirmed in this opinion, from the recent discovery, with the\ncircumstances attending it, of a secret iron chest at the Tuilleries.\nThe man who had been employed to construct this recess, informs the\nminister, Rolland; who, instead of communicating the matter to the\nConvention, as it was very natural he should do on an occasion of so much\nimportance, and requiring it to be opened in the presence of proper\nwitnesses, goes privately himself, takes the papers found into his own\npossession, and then makes an application for a committee to examine\nthem. Under these suspicious and mysterious appearances, we are told\nthat many letters, &c. are found, which inculpate the King; and perhaps\nthe fate of this unfortunate Monarch is to be decided by evidence not\nadmissible with justice in the case of the obscurest malefactor. Yet\nRolland is the hero of a party who call him, par excellence, the virtuous\nRolland! Perhaps you will think, with me, that this epithet is\nmisapplied to a man who has risen, from an obscure situation to that of\nfirst Minister, without being possessed of talents of that brilliant or\nprominent class which sometimes force themselves into notice, without the\naid of wealth or the support of patronage.\nRolland was inspector of manufactories in this place, and afterwards at\nLyons; and I do not go too far in advancing, that a man of very rigid\nvirtue could not, from such a station, have attained so suddenly the one\nhe now possesses. Virtue is of an unvarying and inflexible nature: it\ndisdains as much to be the flatterer of mobs, as the adulator of Princes:\nyet how often must he, who rises so far above his equals, have stooped\nbelow them? How often must he have sacrificed both his reason and his\nprinciples? How often have yielded to the little, and opposed the great,\nnot from conviction, but interest? For in this the meanest of mankind\nresemble the most exalted; he bestows not his confidence on him who\nresists his will, nor subscribes to the advancement of one whom he does\nnot hope to influence.--I may almost venture to add, that more\ndissimulation, meaner concessions, and more tortuous policy, are\nrequisite to become the idol of the people, than are practised to acquire\nand preserve the favour of the most potent Monarch in Europe. The\nFrench, however, do not argue in this manner, and Rolland is at present\nvery popular, and his popularity is said to be greatly supported by the\nliterary talents of his wife.\nI know not if you rightly understand these party distinctions among a set\nof men whom you must regard as united in the common cause of establishing\na republic in France, but you have sometimes had occasion to remark in\nEngland, that many may amicably concur in the accomplishment of a work,\nwho differ extremely about the participation of its advantages; and this\nis already the case with the Convention. Those who at present possess\nall the power, and are infinitely the strongest, are wits, moralists, and\nphilosophers by profession, having Brissot, Rolland, Petion, Concorcet,\n&c. at their head; their opponents are adventurers of a more desperate\ncast, who make up by violence what they want in numbers, and are led by\nRobespierre, Danton, Chabot, &c. &c. The only distinction of these\nparties is, I believe, that the first are vain and systematical\nhypocrites, who have originally corrupted the minds of the people by\nvisionary and insidious doctrines, and now maintain their superiority by\nartifice and intrigue: their opponents, equally wicked, and more daring,\njustify that turpitude which the others seek to disguise, and appear\nalmost as bad as they are. The credulous people are duped by both; while\nthe cunning of the one, and the vehemence of the other, alternately\nprevail.--But something too much of politics, as my design is in general\nrather to mark their effect on the people, than to enter on more\nimmediate discussions.\nHaving been at the Criminal Tribunal to-day, I now recollect that I have\nnever yet described to you the costume of the French Judges.--Perhaps\nwhen I have before had occasion to speak of it, your imagination may have\nglided to Westminster Hall, and depicted to you the scarlet robes and\nvoluminous wigs of its respectable magistrates: but if you would form an\nidea of a magistrate here, you must bring your mind to the abstraction of\nCrambo, and figure to yourself a Judge without either gown, wig, or any\nof those venerable appendages. Nothing indeed can be more becoming or\ngallant, than this judicial accoutrement--it is black, with a silk cloak\nof the same colour, in the Spanish form, and a round hat, turned up\nbefore, with a large plume of black feathers. This, when the magistrate\nhappens to be young, has a very theatrical and romantic appearance; but\nwhen it is worn by a figure a little Esopian, or with a large bushy\nperriwig, as I have sometimes seen it, the effect is still less awful;\nand a stranger, on seeing such an apparition in the street, is tempted to\nsuppose it a period of jubilee, and that the inhabitants are in\nmasquerade.\nIt is now the custom for all people to address each other by the\nappellation of Citizen; and whether you are a citizen or not--whether you\ninhabit Paris, or are a native of Peru--still it is an indication of\naristocracy, either to exact, or to use, any other title. This is all\ncongruous with the system of the day: the abuses are real, the reform is\nimaginary. The people are flattered with sounds, while they are losing\nin essentials. And the permission to apply the appellation of Citizen to\nits members, is but a poor compensation for the despotism of a department\nor a municipality.\nIn vain are the people flattered with a chimerical equality--it cannot\nexist in a civilized state, and if it could exist any where, it would not\nbe in France. The French are habituated to subordination--they naturally\nlook up to something superior--and when one class is degraded, it is only\nto give place to another.\n--The pride of the noblesse is succeeded by the pride of the merchant--\nthe influence of wealth is again realized by cheap purchases of the\nnational domains--the abandoned abbey becomes the delight of the opulent\ntrader, and replaces the demolished chateau of the feudal institution.\nFull of the importance which the commercial interest is to acquire under\na republic, the wealthy man of business is easily reconciled to the\noppression of the superior classes, and enjoys, with great dignity, his\nnew elevation. The counting-house of a manufacturer of woollen cloth is\nas inaccessible as the boudoir of a Marquis; while the flowered brocade\ngown and well-powdered curls of the former offer a much more imposing\nexterior than the chintz robe de chambre and dishevelled locks of the\nmore affable man of fashion.\nI have read, in some French author, a maxim to this effect:--\"Act with\nyour friends as though they should one day be your enemies;\" and the\nexisting government seems amply to have profited by the admonition of\ntheir country-man: for notwithstanding they affirm, that all France\nsupports, and all England admires them, this does not prevent their\nexercising a most vigilant inquisition over the inhabitants of both\ncountries.--It is already sagaciously hinted, that Mr. Thomas Paine may\nbe a spy, and every householder who receives a lodger or visitor, and\nevery proprietor who lets a house, is obliged to register the names of\nthose he entertains, or who are his tenants, and to become responsible\nfor their conduct. This is done at the municipality, and all who thus\nventure to change their residence, of whatever age, sex, or condition,\nmust present themselves, and submit to an examination. The power of the\nmunicipalities is indeed very great; and as they are chiefly selected\nfrom the lower class of shop-keepers, you may conclude that their\nauthority is not exercised with much politeness or moderation.\nThe timid or indolent inhabitant of London, whose head has been filled\nwith the Bastilles and police of the ancient government, and who would as\nsoon have ventured to Constantinople as to Paris, reads, in the debates\nof the Convention, that France is now the freeest country in the world,\nand that strangers from all corners of it flock to offer their adorations\nin this new Temple of Liberty. Allured by these descriptions, he\nresolves on the journey, willing, for once in his life, to enjoy a taste\nof the blessing in sublimate, which he now learns has hitherto been\nallowed him only in the gross element.--He experiences a thousand\nimpositions on landing with his baggage at Calais, but he submits to them\nwithout murmuring, because his countrymen at Dover had, on his\nembarkation, already kindly initiated him into this science of taxing the\ninquisitive spirit of travellers. After inscribing his name, and\nrewarding the custom-house officers for rummaging his portmanteau, he\ndetermines to amuse himself with a walk about the town. The first\ncentinel he encounters stops him, because he has no cockade: he purchases\none at the next shop, (paying according to the exigency of the case,) and\nis suffered to pass on. When he has settled his bill at the Auberge \"a\nl'Angloise,\" and emagines he has nothing to do but to pursue his journey,\nhe finds he has yet to procure himself a passport. He waits an hour and\nan half for an officer, who at length appears, and with a rule in one\nhand, and a pen in the other, begins to measure the height, and take an\ninventory of the features of the astonished stranger. By the time this\nceremony is finished, the gates are shut, and he can proceed no farther,\ntill the morrow. He departs early, and is awakened twice on the road to\nBoulogne to produce his passport: still, however, he keeps his temper,\nconcluding, that the new light has not yet made its way to the frontiers,\nand that these troublesome precautions may be necessary near a port. He\ncontinues his route, and, by degrees, becomes habituated to this regimen\nof liberty; till, perhaps, on the second day, the validity of his\npassport is disputed, the municipality who granted it have the reputation\nof aristocracy, or the whole is informal, and he must be content to wait\nwhile a messenger is dispatched to have it rectified, and the officers\nestablish the severity of their patriotism at the expence of the\nstranger.\nOur traveller, at length, permitted to depart, feels his patience\nwonderfully diminished, execrates the regulations of the coast, and the\nignorance of small towns, and determines to stop a few days and observe\nthe progress of freedom at Ameins. Being a large commercial place, he\nhere expects to behold all the happy effects of the new constitution; he\ncongratulates himself on travelling at a period when he can procure\ninformation, and discuss his political opinions, unannoyed by fears of\nstate prisons, and spies of the police. His landlord, however, acquaints\nhim, that his appearance at the Town House cannot be dispensed with--he\nattends three or four different hours of appointment, and is each time\nsent away, (after waiting half an hour with the valets de ville in the\nantichamber,) and told that the municipal officers are engaged. As an\nEnglishman, he has little relish for these subordinate sovereigns, and\ndifficult audiences--he hints at the next coffee-house that he had\nimagined a stranger might have rested two days in a free country, without\nbeing measured, and questioned, and without detailing his history, as\nthough he were suspected of desertion; and ventures on some implied\ncomparison between the ancient \"Monsieur le Commandant,\" and the modern\n\"Citoyen Maire.\"--To his utter astonishment he finds, that though there\nare no longer emissaries of the police, there are Jacobin informers; his\ndiscourse is reported to the municipality, his business in the town\nbecomes the subject of conjecture, he is concluded to be _\"un homme sans\naveu,\"_ [One that can't give a good account of himself.] and arrested as\n\"suspect;\" and it is not without the interference of the people to whom\nhe may have been recommended at Paris, that he is released, and enabled\nto continue his journey.\nAt Paris he lives in perpetual alarm. One night he is disturbed by a\nvisite domiciliaire, another by a riot--one day the people are in\ninsurrection for bread, and the next murdering each other at a public\nfestival; and our country-man, even after making every allowance for the\nconfusion of a recent change, thinks himself very fortunate if he reaches\nEngland in safety, and will, for the rest of his life, be satisfied with\nsuch a degree of liberty as is secured to him by the constitution of his\nown country.\nYou see I have no design of tempting you to pay us a visit; and, to speak\nthe truth, I think those who are in England will show their wisdom by\nremaining there. Nothing but the state of Mrs. D____'s health, and her\ndread of the sea at this time of the year, detains us; for every day\nsubtracts from my courage, and adds to my apprehensions.\n--Yours, &c.\nAmiens, January, 1793.\nVanity, I believe, my dear brother, is not so innoxious a quality as we\nare desirous of supposing. As it is the most general of all human\nfailings, so is it regarded with the most indulgence: a latent\nconsciousness averts the censure of the weak; and the wise, who flatter\nthemselves with being exempt from it, plead in its favour, by ranking it\nas a foible too light for serious condemnation, or too inoffensive for\npunishment. Yet, if vanity be not an actual vice, it is certainly a\npotential one--it often leads us to seek reputation rather than virtue,\nto substitute appearances for realities, and to prefer the eulogiums of\nthe world to the approbation of our own minds. When it takes possession\nof an uninformed or an ill-constituted mind, it becomes the source of a\nthousand errors, and a thousand absurdities. Hence, youth seeks a\npreeminence in vice, and age in folly; hence, many boast of errors they\nwould not commit, or claim distinction by investing themselves with an\nimputation of excess in some popular absurdity--duels are courted by the\ndaring, and vaunted by the coward--he who trembles at the idea of death\nand a future state when alone, proclaims himself an atheist or a\nfree-thinker in public--the water-drinker, who suffers the penitence of\na week for a supernumerary glass, recounts the wonders of his\nintemperance--and he who does not mount the gentlest animal without\ntrepidation, plumes himself on breaking down horses, and his perils in\nthe chace. In short, whatever order of mankind we contemplate, we shall\nperceive that the portion of vanity allotted us by nature, when it is\nnot corrected by a sound judgement, and rendered subservient to useful\npurposes, is sure either to degrade or mislead us.\nI was led into this train of reflection by the conduct of our\nAnglo-Gallican legislator, Mr. Thomas Paine. He has lately composed a\nspeech, which was translated and read in his presence, (doubtless to his\ngreat satisfaction,) in which he insists with much vehemence on the\nnecessity of trying the King; and he even, with little credit to his\nhumanity, gives intimations of presumed guilt. Yet I do not suspect Mr.\nPaine to be of a cruel or unmerciful nature; and, most probably, vanity\nalone has instigated him to a proceeding which, one would wish to\nbelieve, his heart disapproves. Tired of the part he was playing, and\nwhich, it must be confessed, was not calculated to flatter the censurer\nof Kings and the reformer of constitutions, he determined to sit no\nlonger for whole hours in colloquy with his interpreter, or in mute\ncontemplation, like the Chancellor in the Critic; and the speech to\nwhich I have alluded was composed. Knowing that lenient opinions would\nmeet no applause from the tribunes, he inlists himself on the side of\nseverity, accuses all the Princes in the world as the accomplices of\nLouis the Sixteenth, expresses his desire for an universal revolution,\nand, after previously assuring the Convention the King is guilty,\nrecommends that they may instantly proceed to his trial. But, after all\nthis tremendous eloquence, perhaps Mr. Paine had no malice in his heart:\nhe may only be solicitous to preserve his reputation from decay, and to\nindulge his self-importance by assisting at the trial of a Monarch whom\nhe may not wish to suffer.--I think, therefore, I am not wrong in\nasserting, that Vanity is a very mischievous counsellor.\nThe little distresses I formerly complained of, as arising from the paper\ncurrency, are nearly removed by a plentiful emission of small assignats,\nand we have now pompous assignments on the national domains for ten sols:\nwe have, likewise, pieces coined from the church bells in circulation,\nbut most of these disappear as soon as issued. You would scarcely\nimagine that this copper is deemed worthy to be hoarded; yet such is the\npeople's aversion from the paper, and such their mistrust of the\ngovernment, that not an housewife will part with one of these pieces\nwhile she has an assignat in her possession; and those who are rich\nenough to keep a few livres by them, amass and bury this copper treasure\nwith the utmost solicitude and secresy.\nA tolerably accurate scale of the national confidence might be made, by\nmarking the progress of these suspicious interments. Under the first\nAssembly, people began to hide their gold; during the reign of the second\nthey took the same affectionate care of their silver; and, since the\nmeeting of the Convention, they seem equally anxious to hide any metal\nthey can get. If one were to describe the present age, one might, as far\nas regards France, call it, both literally and metaphorically, the Iron\nAge; for it is certain, the character of the times would justify the\nmetaphoric application, and the disappearance of every other metal the\nliteral one. As the French are fond of classic examples, I shall not be\nsurprized to see an iron coinage, in imitation of Sparta, though they\nseem in the way of having one reason less for such a measure than the\nSpartans had, for they are already in a state to defy corruption; and if\nthey were not, I think a war with England would secure the purity of\ntheir morals from being endangered by too much commercial intercourse.\nI cannot be displeased with the civil things you say of my letters, nor\nat your valuing them so much as to preserve them; though, I assure you,\nthis fraternal gallantry is not necessary, on the account you intimate,\nnor will our countrymen suffer, in my opinion, by any comparisons I can\nmake here. Your ideas of French gallantry are, indeed, very erroneous--\nit may differ in the manner from that practised in England, but is far\nfrom having any claim to superiority. Perhaps I cannot define the\npretensions of the two nations in this respect better than by saying,\nthat the gallantry of an Englishman is a sentiment--that of a Frenchman a\nsystem. The first, if a lady happen to be old or plain, or indifferent\nto him, is apt to limit his attentions to respect, or utility--now the\nlatter never troubles himself with these distinctions: he is repulsed by\nno extremity of years, nor deformity of feature; he adores, with equal\nardour, both young and old, nor is either often shocked by his visible\npreference of the other. I have seen a youthful beau kiss, with perfect\ndevotion, a ball of cotton dropped from the hand of a lady who was\nknitting stockings for her grand-children. Another pays his court to a\nbelle in her climacteric, by bringing _gimblettes_ [A sort of\ngingerbread.] to the favourite lap-dog, or attending, with great\nassiduity, the egresses and regresses of her angola, who paces slowly out\nof the room ten times in an hour, while the door is held open by the\ncomplaisant Frenchman with a most respectful gravity.\nThus, you see, France is to the old what a masquerade is to the ugly\n--the one confounds the disparity of age as the other does that of\nperson; but indiscriminate adoration is no compliment to youth, nor is a\nmask any privilege to beauty. We may therefore conclude, that though\nFrance may be the Elysium of old women, England is that of the young.\nWhen I first came into this country, it reminded me of an island I had\nread of in the Arabian Tales, where the ladies were not deemed in their\nbloom till they verged towards seventy; and I conceived the project of\ninviting all the belles, who had been half a century out of fashion in\nEngland, to cross the Channel, and begin a new career of admiration!--\nYours, &c.\nAmiens, 1793.\nDear Brother,\nI have thought it hitherto a self evident proposition--that of all the\nprinciples which can be inculcated in the human mind, that of liberty is\nleast susceptible of propagation by force. Yet a Council of Philosophers\n(disciples of Rousseau and Voltaire) have sent forth Dumouriez, at the\nhead of an hundred thousand men, to instruct the people of Flanders in\nthe doctrine of freedom. Such a missionary is indeed invincible, and the\ndefenceless towns of the Low Countries have been converted and pillaged\n[By the civil agents of the executive power.] by a benevolent crusade of\nthe philanthropic assertors of the rights of man. These warlike\nPropagandistes, however, do not always convince without experiencing\nresistance, and ignorance sometimes opposes, with great obstinacy, the\nprogress of truth. The logic of Dumouriez did not enforce conviction at\nGemappe, but at the expence of fifteen thousand of his own army, and,\ndoubtless, a proportionate number of the unconverted.\nHere let me forbear every expression tending to levity: the heart recoils\nat such a slaughter of human victims; and, if a momentary smile be\nexcited by these Quixotisms, it is checked by horror at their\nconsequences!--Humanity will lament such destruction; but it will\nlikewise be indignant to learn, that, in the official account of this\nbattle, the killed were estimated at three hundred, and the wounded at\nsix!--But, if the people be sacrificed, they are not deceived. The\ndisabled sufferers, who are returning to their homes in different parts\nof the republic, betray the turpitude of the government, and expose the\nfallacy of these bloodless victories of the gazettes. The pedants of the\nConvention are not unlearned in the history of the Praetorian Bands and\nthe omnipotence of armies; and an offensive war is undertaken to give\noccupation to the soldiers, whose inactivity might produce reflection, or\nwhose discontent might prove fatal to the new order of things.--Attempts\nare made to divert the public mind from the real misery experienced at\nhome, by relations of useless conquests abroad; the substantial losses,\nwhich are the price of these imaginary benefits, are palliated or\nconcealed; and the circumstances of an engagement is known but by\nindividual communication, and when subsequent events have nearly effaced\nthe remembrance of it.--By these artifices, and from motives at least not\nbetter, and, perhaps, worse than those I have mentioned, will population\nbe diminished, and agriculture impeded: France will be involved in\npresent distress, and consigned to future want; and the deluded people be\npunished in the miseries of their own country, because their unprincipled\nrulers have judged it expedient to carry war and devastation into\nanother.\nOne of the distinguishing features in the French character is _sang froid_\n--scarcely a day passes that it does not force itself on one's\nobservation. It is not confined to the thinking part of the people, who\nknow that passion and irritability avail nothing; nor to those who, not\nthinking at all, are, of course, not moved by any thing: but is equally\npossessed by every rank and condition, whether you class them by their\nmental endowments, or their temporal possessions. They not only (as, it\nmust be confessed, is too commonly the case in all countries,) bear the\ncalamities of their friends with great philosophy, but are nearly as\nreasonable under the pressure of their own. The grief of a Frenchman,\nat least, partakes of his imputed national complaisance, and, far from\nintruding itself on society, is always ready to accept of consolation,\nand join in amusement. If you say your wife or relations are dead, they\nreplay coldly, _\"Il faut se consoler:\"_ or if they visit you in an\nillness, _\"Il faut prendre patience.\"_ Or tell them you are ruined, and\ntheir features then become something more attenuated, the shoulders\nsomething more elevated, and a more commiserating tone confesses, _\"C'est\nbien mal beureux--Mai enfin que voulez vous?\"_ [\"It's unlucky, but what\ncan be said in such cases?\"] and in the same instant they ill recount\nsome good fortune at a card party, or expatiate on the excellence of a\nragout.--Yet, to do them justice, they only offer for your comfort the\nsame arguments they would have found efficacious in promoting their own.\nThis disposition, which preserves the tranquillity of the rich, indurates\nthe sense of wretchedness in the poor; it supplies the place of fortitude\nin the one, and that of patience in the other; and, while it enables both\nto endure their own particular distresses, it makes them submit quietly\nto a weight and excess of public evils, which any nation but their own\nwould sink under, or resist. Amongst shopkeepers, servants, &c. without\nincurring personal odium, it has the effect of what would be deemed in\nEngland impenetrable assurance. It forces pertinaceously an article not\nwanted, and preserves the inflexibility of the features at a detected\nimposition: it inspires servants with arguments in defence of every\nmisdemeanour in the whole domestic catalogue; it renders them insensible\neither of their negligences or the consequences of them; and endows them\nwith a happy facility of contradicting with the most obsequious\npoliteness.\nA gentleman of our acquaintances dined at a table d'Hote, where the\ncompany were annoyed by a very uncommon and offensive smell. On cutting\nup a fowl, they discovered the smell to have been occasioned by its being\ndressed with out any other preparation than that of depluming. They\nimmediately sent for the host, and told him, that the fowl had been\ndressed without having been drawn: but, far from appearing disconcerted,\nas one might expect, he only replied, _\"Cela se pourroit bien,\nMonsieur.\"_ [\"'Tis very possible, Sir.\"] Now an English Boniface, even\nthough he had already made his fortune, would have been mortified at such\nan incident, and all his eloquence would scarcely have produced an\nunfaultering apology.\nWhether this national indifference originate in a physical or a moral\ncause, from an obtuseness in their corporeal formation or a perfection in\ntheir intellectual one, I do not pretend to decide; but whatever be the\ncause, the effect is enjoyed with great modesty. So little do the French\npique themselves on this valuable stoicism, that they acknowledge being\nmore subject to that human weakness called feeling, than any other people\nin the world. All their writers abound in pathetic exclamations,\nsentimental phrases, and allusions to \"la sensibilite Francaise,\" as\nthough they imagined it proverbial. You can scarcely hold a conversation\nwith a Frenchman without hearing him detail, with an expression of\nfeature not always analogous, many very affecting sentences. He is\n_desole, desespere, or afflige_--he has _le coeur trop sensible, le coeur\nserre, or le coeur navre;_ [Afflicted--in despair--too feeling a heart--\nhis heart is wrung or wounded.] and the well-placing of these dolorous\nassertions depends rather upon the judgement and eloquence of the\nspeaker, than the seriousness of the case which gives rise to them. For\ninstance, the despair and desolation of him who has lost his money, and\nof him whose head is ill drest, are of different degrees, but the\nexpressions are usually the same. The debates of the Convention, the\ndebates of the Jacobins, and all the public prints, are fraught with\nproofs of this appropriated susceptibility, and it is often attributed to\npersons and occasions where we should not much expect to find it. A\nquarrel between the legislators as to who was most concerned in promoting\nthe massacres of September, is reconciled with a \"sweet and enthusiastic\nexcess of fraternal tenderness.\" When the clubs dispute on the\nexpediency of an insurrection, or the necessity of a more frequent\nemployment of the guillotine, the debate terminates by overflowing of\nsensibility from all the members who have engaged in it!\nAt the assassinations in one of the prisons, when all the other miserable\nvictims had perished, the mob discovered one Jonneau, a member of the\nAssembly, who had been confined for kicking another member named\nGrangeneuve.* As the massacrers probably had no orders on the subject,\nhe was brought forth, from amidst heaps of murdered companions, and a\nmessenger dispatched to the Assembly, (which during these scenes met as\nusual,) to enquire if they acknowledged Jonneau as a member. A decree\nwas passed in the affirmative, and Jonneau brought by the assassins, with\nthe decree fastened on his breast, in triumph to his colleagues, who, we\nare told, at this instance of respect for themselves, shed tears of\ntenderness and admiration at the conduct of monsters, the sight of whom\nshould seem revolting to human nature.\n * When the massacres began, the wife and friends of Jonneau\n petitioned Grangeneuve on their knees to consent to his enlargement;\n but Grangeneuve was implacable, and Jonneau continued in prison till\n released by the means above mentioned. It is observable, that at\n this dreadful moment the utmost strictness was observed, and every\n form literally enforced in granting the discharge of a prisoner. A\n suspension of all laws, human and divine, was allowed to the\n assassins, while those only that secured them their victims were\n rigidly adhered to.\nPerhaps the real sang froid I have before noticed, and these pretensions\nto sensibility, are a natural consequence one or the other. It is the\nhistory of the beast's confession--we have only to be particularly\ndeficient in any quality, to make us solicitous for the reputation of it;\nand after a long habit of deceiving others we finish by deceiving\nourselves. He who feels no compassion for the distresses of his\nneighbour, knows that such indifference is not very estimable; he\ntherefore studies to disguise the coldness of his heart by the\nexaggeration of his language, and supplies, by an affected excess of\nsentiment, the total absence of it.--The gods have not (as you know) made\nme poetical, nor do I often tax your patience with a simile, but I think\nthis French sensibility is to genuine feeling, what their paste is to the\ndiamond--it gratifies the vanity of the wearer, and deceives the eye of\nthe superficial observer, but is of little use or value, and when tried\nby the fire of adversity quickly disappears.\nYou are not much obliged to me for this long letter, as I own I have\nscribbled rather for my own amusement than with a view to yours.--\nContrary to our expectation, the trial of the King has begun; and, though\nI cannot properly be said to have any real interest in the affairs of\nthis country, I take a very sincere one in the fate of its unfortunate\nMonarch--indeed our whole house has worn an appearance of dejection since\nthe commencement of the business. Most people seem to expect it will\nterminate favourably, and, I believe, there are few who do not wish it.\nEven the Convention seem at present disposed to be merciful; and as they\njudge now, so may they be judged hereafter!\n--Yours.\nAmiens, January 1793.\nI do all possible justice to the liberality of my countrymen, who are\nbecome such passionate admirers of the French; and I cannot but lament\ntheir having been so unfortunate in the choice of the aera from whence\nthey date this new friendship. It is, however, a proof, that their\nregards are not much the effect of that kind of vanity which esteems\nobjects in proportion as they are esteemed by the rest of the world; and\nthe sincerity of an attachment cannot be better evinced than by its\nsurviving irretrievable disgrace and universal abhorrence. Many will\nswell the triumph of a hero, or add a trophy to his tomb; but he who\nexhibits himself with a culprit at the gallows, or decorates the gibbet\nwith a wreath, is a friend indeed.\nIf ever the character of a people were repugnant to amity, or inimical to\nconnection, it is that of the French for the last three years.--*\n * The editor of the _Courier de l'Egalite,_ a most decided patriot,\n thus expresses himself on the injuries and insults received by the\n King from the Parisians, and their municipality, previous to his\n trial:\n \"I know that Louis is guilty--but are we to double his punishment\n before it is pronounced by the law? Indeed one is tempted to say\n that, instead of being guided by the humanity and philosophy which\n dictated the revolution, we have taken lessons of barbarity from the\n most ferocious savages! Let us be virtuous if we would be\n republicans; if we go on as we do, we never shall, and must have\n recourse to a despot: for of two evils it is better to choose the\n least.\"\nThe editor, whose opinion of the present politics is thus expressed, is\nso truly a revolutionist, and so confidential a patriot, that, in August\nlast, when almost all the journalists were murdered, his paper was the\nonly one that, for some time, was allowed to reach the departments.\nIn this short space they have formed a compendium of all the vices which\nhave marked as many preceding ages:--the cruelty and treachery of the\nleague--the sedition, levity, and intrigue of the _Fronde_ [A name given\nto the party in opposition to the court during Cardinal Mazarin's\nministry.--See the origin of it in the Memoirs of that period.] with the\nlicentiousness and political corruption of more modern epochs. Whether\nyou examine the conduct of the nation at large, or that of its chiefs and\nleaders, your feelings revolt at the one, and your integrity despises the\nother. You see the idols erected by Folly, degraded by Caprice;--the\nauthority obtained by Intrigue, bartered by Profligacy;--and the perfidy\nand corruption of one side so balanced by the barbarity and levity of the\nother, that the mind, unable to decide on the preference of contending\nvices, is obliged to find repose, though with regret and disgust, in\nacknowledging the general depravity.\nLa Fayette, without very extraordinary pretensions, became the hero of\nthe revolution. He dictated laws in the Assembly, and prescribed oaths\nto the Garde Nationale--and, more than once, insulted, by the triumph of\nostentatious popularity, the humiliation and distress of a persecuted\nSovereign. Yet when La Fayette made an effort to maintain the\nconstitution to which he owed his fame and influence, he was abandoned\nwith the same levity with which he had been adopted, and sunk, in an\ninstant, from a dictator to a fugitive!\nNeckar was an idol of another description. He had already departed for\nhis own country, when he was hurried back precipitately, amidst universal\nacclamations. All were full of projects either of honour or recompence--\none was for decreeing him a statue, another proposed him a pension, and a\nthird hailed him the father of the country. But Mr. Neckar knew the\nFrench character, and very wisely declined these pompous offers; for\nbefore he could have received the first quarter of his pension, or the\nstatue could have been modelled, he was glad to escape, probably not\nwithout some apprehensions for his head!\nThe reign of Mirabeau was something longer. He lived with popularity,\nwas fortunate enough to die before his reputation was exhausted, was\ndeposited in the Pantheon, apotheosised in form, and his bust placed as a\ncompanion to that of Brutus, the tutelary genius of the Assembly.--Here,\none might have expected, he would have been quit for this world at least;\nbut the fame of a patriot is not secured by his death, nor can the gods\nof the French be called immortal: the deification of Mirabeau is\nsuspended, his memory put in sequestration, and a committee appointed to\nenquire, whether a profligate, expensive, and necessitous character was\nlikely to be corruptible. The Convention, too, seem highly indignant\nthat a man, remarkable only for vice and atrocity, should make no\nconscience of betraying those who were as bad as himself; and that, after\nhaving prostituted his talents from the moment he was conscious of them,\nhe should not, when associated with such immaculate colleagues, become\npure and disinterested. It is very probable that Mirabeau, whose only\naim was power, might rather be willing to share it with the King, as\nMinister, than with so many competitors, and only as Prime Speechmaker to\nthe Assembly: and as he had no reason for suspecting the patriotism of\nothers to be more inflexible than his own, he might think it not\nimpolitic to anticipate a little the common course of things, and betray\nhis companions, before they had time to stipulate for felling him. He\nmight, too, think himself more justified in disposing of them in the\ngross, because he did not thereby deprive them of their right of\nbargaining for themselves, and for each other in detail.--*\n * La Porte, Steward of the Household, in a letter to Duquesnoy, [Not\n the brutal Dusquenoy hereafter mentioned.] dated February, 1791,\n informs him that Barrere, Chairman of the Committee of Domains, is\n in the best disposition possible.--A letter of Talon, (then\n minister,) with remarks in the margin by the King, says, that\n \"Sixteen of the most violent members on the patriotic side may be\n brought over to the court, and that the expence will not exceed two\n millions of livres: that fifteen thousand will be sufficient for the\n first payment; and only a Yes or No from his Majesty will fix these\n members in his interest, and direct their future conduct.\"--It\n likewise observes, that these two millions will cost the King\n nothing, as the affair is already arranged with the\n Liquidator-General.\nExtract of a letter from Chambonas to the King, dated June 18, 1792:\n \"I inform your Majesty, that my agents are now in motion. I have\n just been converting an evil spirit. I cannot hope that I have made\n him good, but I believe I have neutralized him.--To-night we shall\n make a strong effort to gain Santerre, (Commandant of the Garde\n Nationale,) and I have ordered myself to be awakened to hear the\n result. I shall take care to humour the different interests as well\n as I can.--The Secretary of the Cordeliers club is now secured.--All\n these people are to be bought, but not one of them can be hired.--I\n have had with me one Mollet a physician. Perhaps your Majesty may\n have heard of him. He is an outrageous Jacobin, and very difficult,\n for he will receive nothing. He insists, previous to coming to any\n definitive treaty, on being named Physician to the Army. I have\n promised him, on condition that Paris is kept quiet for fifteen\n days. He is now gone to exert himself in our favour. He has great\n credit at the Caffe de Procope, where all the journalists and\n 'enragis' of the Fauxbourg St. Germain assemble. I hope he will\n keep his word.--The orator of the people, the noted Le Maire, a\n clerk at the Post-office, has promised tranquility for a week, and\n he is to be rewarded.\n \"A new Gladiator has appeared lately on the scene, one Ronedie\n Breton, arrived from England. He has already been exciting the\n whole quarter of the Poisonnerie in favour of the Jacobins, but I\n shall have him laid siege to.--Petion is to come to-morrow for\n fifteen thousand livres, [This sum was probably only to propitiate\n the Mayor; and if Chambonas, as he proposed, refused farther\n payment, we may account for Petion's subsequent conduct.] on account\n of thirty thousand per month which he received under the\n administration of Dumouriez, for the secret service of the police.--\n I know not in virtue of what law this was done, and it will be the\n last he shall receive from me. Your Majesty will, I doubt not,\n understand me, and approve of what I suggest.\n (Signed) \"Chambonas.\"\n Extract from the Papers found at the Thuilleries.\n It is impossible to warrant the authenticity of these Papers; on\n their credibility, however, rests the whole proof of the most\n weighty charges brought against the King. So that it must be\n admitted, that either all the first patriots of the revolution, and\n many of those still in repute, are corrupt, or that the King was\n condemned on forged evidence.\nThe King might also be solicitous to purchase safety and peace at any\nrate; and it is unfortunate for himself and the country that he had not\nrecourse to the only effectual means till it was too late. But all this\nrests on no better evidence than the papers found at the Thuilleries; and\nas something of this kind was necessary to nourish the exhausted fury of\nthe populace, I can easily conceive that it was thought more prudent to\nsacrifice the dead, than the living; and the fame of Mirabeau being less\nvaluable than the safety of those who survived him, there would be no\ngreat harm in attributing to him what he was very likely to have done.--\nThe corruption of a notorious courtier would have made no impression: the\nKing had already been overwhelmed with such accusations, and they had\nlost their effect: but to have seduced the virtuous Mirabeau, the very\nConfucius of the revolution, was a kind of profanation of the holy fire,\nwell calculated to revive the languid rage, and extinguish the small\nremains of humanity yet left among the people.\nIt is sufficiently remarkable, that notwithstanding the court must have\nseen the necessity of gaining over the party now in power, no vestige of\nany attempt of this kind has been discovered; and every criminating\nnegotiation is ascribed to the dead, the absent, or the insignificant. I\ndo not, however, presume to decide in a case so very delicate; their\npanegyrists in England may adjust the claims of Mirabeau's integrity, and\nthat of his accusers, at their leisure.\nAnother patriot of \"distinguished note,\" and more peculiarly interesting\nto our countrymen, because he has laboured much for their conversion, is\nTalleyrand, Bishop of Autun.--He was in England some time as\nPlenipotentiary from the Jacobins, charged with establishing treaties\nbetween the clubs, publishing seditious manifestoes, contracting friendly\nalliances with discontented scribblers, and gaining over neutral or\nhostile newspapers.--But, besides his political and ecclesiastical\noccupations, and that of writing letters to the Constitutional Society,\nit seems this industrious Prelate had likewise a correspondence with the\nAgents of the Court, which, though he was too modest to surcharge his\nfame by publishing it, was, nevertheless, very profitable.\nI am sorry his friends in England are mostly averse from episcopacy,\notherwise they might have provided for him, as I imagine he will have no\nobjection to relinquish his claims on the see of Autun. He is not under\naccusation, and, were he to return, he would not find the laws quite so\nceremonious here as in England. After labouring with impunity for months\ntogether to promote an insurrection with you, a small private barter of\nhis talents would here cost him his head; and I appeal to the Bishop's\nfriends in England, whether there can be a proper degree of freedom in a\ncountry where a man is refused the privilege of disposing of himself to\nthe best advantage.\nTo the eternal obloquy of France, I must conclude, in the list of those\nonce popular, the ci-devant Duke of Orleans. But it was an unnatural\npopularity, unaided by a single talent, or a single virtue, supported\nonly by the venal efforts of those who were almost his equals in vice,\nthough not in wealth, and who found a grateful exercise for their\nabilities in at once profiting by the weak ambition of a bad man, and\ncorrupting the public morals in his favour. The unrighteous compact is\nnow dissolved; those whom he ruined himself to bribe have already\nforsaken him, and perhaps may endeavour to palliate the disgrace of\nhaving been called his friends, by becoming his persecutors.--Thus, many\nof the primitive patriots are dead, or fugitives, or abandoned, or\ntreacherous; and I am not without fear lest the new race should prove as\nevanescent as the old.\nThe virtuous Rolland,* whose first resignation was so instrumental in\ndethroning the King, has now been obliged to resign a second time,\ncharged with want of capacity, and suspected of malversation; and this\nvirtue, which was so irreproachable, which it would have been so\ndangerous to dispute while it served the purposes of party, is become\nhypocrisy, and Rolland will be fortunate if he return to obscurity with\nonly the loss of his gains and his reputation.\n * In the beginning of December, the Council-General of the\n municipality of Paris opened a register, and appointed a Committee\n to receive all accusations and complaints whatever against Rolland,\n who, in return, summoned them to deliver in their accounts to him as\n Minister of the interior, and accused them, at the same time, of the\n most scandalous peculations.\nThe credit of Brissot and the Philosophers is declining fast--the clubs\nare unpropitious, and no party long survives this formidable omen; so\nthat, like Macbeth, they will have waded from one crime to another, only\nto obtain a short-lived dominion, at the expence of eternal infamy, and\nan unlamented fall.\nDumouriez is still a successful General, but he is denounced by one\nfaction, insulted by another, insidiously praised by a third, and, if he\nshould persevere in serving them, he has more disinterested rectitude\nthan I suspect him of, or than they merit. This is another of that\nJacobin ministry which proved so fatal to the King; and it is evident\nthat, had he been permitted to entertain the same opinion of all these\npeople as they now profess to have of each other, he would have been\nstill living, and secure on his throne.\nAfter so many mutual infidelities, it might be expected that one party\nwould grow indifferent, and the other suspicious; but the French never\ndespair: new hordes of patriots prepare to possess themselves of the\nplaces they are forcing the old ones to abandon, and the people, eager\nfor change, are ready to receive them with the momentary and fallacious\nenthusiasm which ever precedes disgrace; while those who are thus\nintriguing for power and influence, are, perhaps, secretly devising how\nit may be made most subservient to their personal advantage.\nYet, perhaps, these amiable levities may not be displeasing to the\nConstitutional Society and the revolutionists of England; and, as the\nvery faults of our friends are often endearing to us, they may extend\ntheir indulgence to the \"humane\" and \"liberal\" precepts of the Jacobins,\nand the massacres of September.--To confess the truth, I am not a little\nashamed for my country when I see addresses from England to a Convention,\nthe members of which have just been accusing each other of assassination\nand robbery, or, in the ardour of a debate, threatening, cuffing, and\nknocking each other down. Exclusive of their moral character, considered\nonly as it appears from their reciprocal criminations, they have so\nlittle pretension to dignity, or even decency, that it seems a mockery to\naddress them as the political representatives of a powerful nation\ndeliberating upon important affairs.\nIf a bearer of one of these congratulatory compliments were not apprized\nof the forms of the House, he would be rather astonished, at his\nintroduction, to see one member in a menacing attitude, and another\ndenying his veracity in terms perfectly explicit, though not very civil.\nPerhaps, in two minutes, the partizans of each opponent all rise and\nclamour, as if preparing for a combat--the President puts on his hat as\nthe signal of a storm--the subordinate disputants are appeased--and the\nrevilings of the principal ones renewed; till, after torrents of indecent\nlanguage, the quarrel is terminated by a fraternal embrace.*--I think,\nafter such a scene, an addresser must feel a little humiliated, and would\nreturn without finding his pride greatly increased by his mission.\n * I do not make any assertions of this nature from conjecture or\n partial evidence. The journals of the time attest that the scenes I\n describe occur almost in every debate.--As a proof, I subjoin some\n extracts taken nearly at hazard:\n \"January 7th, Convention Nationale, Presidence de Treilhard.--The\n debate was opened by an address from the department of Finisterre,\n expressing their wishes, and adding, that these were likewise the\n wishes of the nation at large--that Marat, Robespierre, Bazire,\n Chabot, Merlin, Danton, and their accomplices, might be expelled the\n Convention as caballers and intriguers paid by the tyrants at war\n with France.\"\n The account of this debate is thus continued--\"The almost daily\n troubles which arise in the Convention were on the point of being\n renewed, when a member, a friend to order, spoke as follows, and, it\n is remarked, was quietly listened to:\n \"'Citizens,\n \"'If three months of uninterrupted silence has given me any claim to\n your attention, I now ask it in the name of our afflicted country.\n Were I to continue silent any longer, I should render myself as\n culpable as those who never hold their tongues. I see we are all\n sensible of the painfulness of our situation. Every day\n dissatisfied with ourselves, we come to the debate with the\n intention of doing something, and every day we return without having\n done any thing. The people expect from us wise laws, and not storms\n and tumults. How are we to make these wise laws, and keep\n twenty-five millions of people quiet, when we, who are only seven\n hundred and fifty individuals, give an example of perpetual riot and\n disorder? What signifies our preaching the unity and indivisibility\n of the republic, when we cannot maintain peace and union amongst\n ourselves? What good can we expect to do amidst such scandalous\n disturbances, and while we spend our time in attending to\n informations, accusations, and inculpations, for the most part\n utterly unfounded? For my part, I see but one means of attaining\n any thing like dignity and tranquillity, and that is, by submitting\n ourselves to coercive regulations.'\"\n Here follow some proposals, tending to establish a little decency in\n their proceedings for the future; but the account from whence this\n extract is taken proceeds to remark, that this invitation to peace\n was no sooner finished, than a new scene of disturbance took place,\n to the great loss of their time, and the scandal of all good\n citizens. One should imagine, that if ever the Convention could\n think it necessary to assume an appearance of dignity, or at least\n of seriousness and order, it would be in giving their judgement\n relative to the King. Yet, in determining how a series of questions\n should be discussed, on the arrangement of which his fate seems much\n to have depended, the solemnity of the occasion appears to have had\n no weight. It was proposed to begin by that of the appeal to the\n people. This was so violently combated, that the Convention would\n hear neither party, and were a long time without debating at all.\n Petion mounted the tribune, and attempted to restore order; but the\n noise was too great for him to be heard. He at length, however,\n obtained silence enough to make a motion. Again the murmurs\n recommenced. Rabaud de St. Etienne made another attempt, but was\n equally unsuccessful. Those that were of an opposite opinion\n refused to hear him, and both parties rose up and rushed together to\n the middle of the Hall. The most dreadful tumult took place, and\n the President, with great difficulty, procured a calm. Again the\n storm began, and a member told them, that if they voted in the\n affirmative, those on the left side (Robespierre, &c.) would not\n wait the result, but have the King assassinated. \"Yes! Yes!\n (resounded from all parts) the Scelerats of Paris will murder him!\"\n --Another violent disorder ensuing, it was thought no decree could\n be passed, and, at length, amidst this scene of riot and confusion,\n the order of questions was arranged, and in such a manner as to\n decide the fate of the King.--It was determined, that the question\n of his guilt should precede that of the appeal to the people. Had\n the order of the questions been changed, the King might have been\n saved, for many would have voted for the appeal in the first\n instance who did not dare do it when they found the majority\n resolved to pronounce him guilty.\nIt is very remarkable, that, on the same day on which the friends of\nliberty and equality of Manchester signalized themselves by a most\npatriotic compliment to the Convention, beginning with _\"Francais, vous\netes libres,\"_ [\"Frenchmen, you are free.\"] they were, at that very\nmoment, employed in discussing a petition from numbers of Parisians who\nhad been thrown into prison without knowing either their crime or their\naccusers, and were still detained under the same arbitrary\ncircumstances.--The law of the constitution is, that every person\narrested shall be interrogated within twenty-four hours; but as these\nimprisonments were the work of the republican Ministers, the Convention\nseemed to think it indelicate to interpose, and these citizens of a\ncountry whose freedom is so much envied by the Manchester Society, will\nmost likely remain in durance as long as their confinement shall be\nconvenient to those who have placed them there.--A short time after,\nVillette, who is a news-writer and deputy, was cited to appear before the\nmunicipality of Paris, under the charge of having inserted in his paper\n\"equivocal phrases and anti-civic expressions, tending to diminish the\nconfidence due to the municipality.\"--Villette, as being a member of the\nConvention, obtained redress; but had he been only a journalist, the\nliberty of the press would not have rescued him.--On the same day,\ncomplaint was made in the Assembly, that one man had been arrested\ninstead of another, and confined for some weeks, and it was agreed\nunanimously, (a thing that does not often occur,) that the powers\nexercised by the Committee of Inspection [Surveillance.--See Debates,\nDecember.] were incompatible with liberty.\nThe patriots of Belfast were not more fortunate in the adaption of their\ncivilities--they addressed the Convention, in a strain of great piety, to\ncongratulate them on the success of their arms in the \"cause of civil and\nreligious liberty.\"*\n * At this time the municipalities were empowered to search all\n houses by night or day; but their visites domiciliaires, as they are\n called, being made chiefly in the night, a decree has since ordained\n that they shall take place only during the day. Perhaps an\n Englishman may think the latter quite sufficient, considering that\n France is the freeest country in the world, and, above all, a\n republic.\nThe harangue was interrupted by the _mal-a-propos_ entrance of two\ndeputies, who complained of having been beaten, almost hanged, and half\ndrowned, by the people of Chartres, for belonging, as they were told, to\nan assembly of atheistical persecutors of religion; and this Convention,\nwhom the Society of Belfast admire for propagating \"religious liberty\" in\nother countries, were in a few days humbly petitioned, from various\ndepartments, not to destroy it in their own. I cannot, indeed, suppose\nthey have really such a design; but the contempt with which they treat\nreligion has occasioned an alarm, and given the French an idea of their\npiety very different from that so kindly conceived by the patriots of\nBelfast.\nI entrust this to our friend Mrs. ____, who is leaving France in a few\ndays; and as we are now on the eve of a war, it will be the last letter\nyou will receive, except a few lines occasionally on our private affairs,\nor to inform you of my health. As we cannot, in the state Mrs. D____ is\nin, think of returning to England at present, we must trust ourselves to\nthe hospitality of the French for at least a few weeks, and I certainly\nwill not abuse it, by sending any remarks on their political affairs out\nof the country. But as I know you interest yourself much in the subject,\nand read with partiality my attempts to amuse you, I will continue to\nthrow my observations on paper as regularly as I have been accustomed to\ndo, and I hope, ere long, to be the bearer of the packets myself. I here\nalso renew my injunction, that no part of my correspondence that relates\nto French politics be communicated to any one, not even my mother. What\nI have written has been merely to gratify your own curiosity, and I\nshould be extremely mortified if my opinions were repeated even in the\nlittle circle of our private acquaintance. I deem myself perfectly\njustifiable in imparting my reflections to you, but I have a sort of\ndelicacy that revolts at the thought of being, in the remotest degree,\naccessary to conveying intelligence from a country in which I reside,\nand which is so peculiarly situated as France is at this moment. My\nfeelings, my humanity, are averse from those who govern, but I should\nregret to be the means of injuring them. You cannot mistake my\nintentions, and I conclude by seriously reminding you of the promise I\nexacted previous to any political discussion.--Adieu.\nAmiens, February 15, 1793.\nI did not, as I promised, write immediately on my return from Chantilly;\nthe person by whom I intended to send my letter having already set out\nfor England, and the rule I have observed for the last three months of\nentrusting nothing to the post but what relates to our family affairs,\nis now more than ever necessary. I have before requested, and I must now\ninsist, that you make no allusion to any political matter whatever, nor\neven mention the name of any political person. Do not imagine that you\nare qualified to judge of what is prudent, or what may be written with\nsafety--I repeat, no one in England can form an idea of the suspicion\nthat pervades every part of the French government.\nI cannot venture to answer decisively your question respecting the King--\nindeed the subject is so painful to me, that I have hitherto avoided\nreverting to it. There certainly was, as you observe, some sudden\nalteration in the dispositions of the Assembly between the end of the\ntrial and the final judgement. The causes were most probably various,\nand must be sought for in the worst vices of our nature--cruelty,\navarice, and cowardice. Many, I doubt not, were guided only by the\nnatural malignity of their hearts; many acted from fear, and expected to\npurchase impunity for former compliances with the court by this popular\nexpiation; a large number are also supposed to have been paid by the Duke\nof Orleans--whether for the gratification of malice or ambition, time\nmust develope.--But, whatever were the motives, the result was an\niniquitous combination of the worst of a set of men, before selected from\nall that was bad in the nation, to profane the name of justice--to\nsacrifice an unfortunate, but not a guilty Prince--and to fix an\nindelible stain on the country.\nAmong those who gave their opinion at large, you will observe Paine: and,\nas I intimated in a former letter, it seems he was at that time rather\nallured by the vanity of making a speech that should be applauded, than\nby any real desire of injuring the King. Such vanity, however, is not\npardonable: a man has a right to ruin himself, or to make himself\nridiculous; but when his vanity becomes baneful to others, as it has all\nthe effect, so does it merit the punishment, of vice.\nOf all the rest, Condorcet has most powerfully disgusted me. The avowed\nwickedness of Thuriot or Marat inspires one with horror; but this cold\nphilosophic hypocrite excites contempt as well as detestation. He seems\nto have wavered between a desire to preserve the reputation of humanity,\nwhich he has affected, and that of gratifying the real depravity of his\nmind. Would one have expected, that a speech full of benevolent systems,\nmild sentiments, and aversion from the effusion of human blood, was to\nend in a vote for, and recommendation of, the immediate execution of his\nsovereign?--But such a conduct is worthy of him, who has repaid the\nbenefits of his patron and friend [The Duke de la Rochefaucault.] by a\npersecution which ended in his murder.\nYou will have seen, that the King made some trifling requests to be\ngranted after his decease, and that the Convention ordered him to be\ntold, that the nation, \"always great, always just,\" accorded them in\npart. Yet this just and magnanimous people refused him a preparation of\nonly three days, and allowed him but a few hours--suffered his remains to\nbe treated with the most scandalous indecency--and debated seriously,\nwhether or no the Queen should receive some little tokens of affection he\nhad left for her.\nThe King's enemies had so far succeeded in depreciating his personal\ncourage, that even his friends were apprehensive he might not sustain his\nlast moments with dignity. The event proves how much injustice has been\ndone him in this respect, as well as in many others. His behaviour was\nthat of a man who derived his fortitude from religion--it was that of\npious resignation, not ostentatious courage; it was marked by none of\nthose instances of levity and indifference which, at such a time, are\nrather symptoms of distraction than resolution; he exhibited the\ncomposure of an innocent mind, and the seriousness that became the\noccasion; he seemed to be occupied in preparing for death, but not to\nfear it.--I doubt not but the time will come, when those who have\nsacrificed him may envy the last moments of Louis the Sixteenth!\nThat the King was not guilty of the principal charges brought against\nhim, has been proved indubitably--not altogether by the assertions of\nthose who favour him, but by the confession of his enemies. He was, for\nexample, accused of planning the insurrection of the tenth of August; yet\nnot a day passes that both parties in the Convention are not disputing\nthe priority of their efforts to dethrone him, and to erect a republic;\nand they date their machinations long before the period on which they\nattribute the first aggression to the King.--Mr. Sourdat, and several\nother writers, have very ably demonstrated the falsehood of these\ncharges; but the circulation of such pamphlets was dangerous--of course,\nsecret and limited; while those which tended to deceive and prejudice the\npeople were dispersed with profusion, at the expence of the government.*\n * Postscript of the Courier de l'Egalite, Sept. 29:\n \"The present minister (Rolland) takes every possible means in his\n power to enlighten and inform the people in whatever concerns their\n real interests. For this purpose he has caused to be printed and\n distributed, in abundance, the accounts and papers relative to the\n events of the tenth of August. We have yet at our office a small\n number of these publications, which we have distributed to our\n subscribers, and we still give them to any of our fellow-citizens\n who have opportunities of circulating them.\"\nI have seen one of these written in coarse language, and replete with\nvulgar abuse, purposely calculated for the lower classes in the country,\nwho are more open to gross impositions than those of the same rank in\ntowns; yet I have no doubt, in my own mind, that all these artifices\nwould have proved unavailing, had the decision been left to the nation at\nlarge: but they were intimidated, if not convinced; and the mandate of\nthe Convention, which forbids this sovereign people to exercise their\njudgement, was obeyed with as much submission, and perhaps more\nreluctance, than an edict of Louis the fourteenth.*\n * The King appealed, by his counsel, to the People; but the\n convention, by a decree, declared his appeal of no validity, and\n forbade all persons to pay attention to it, under the severest\n penalties.\nThe French seem to have no energy but to destroy, and to resist nothing\nbut gentleness or infancy. They bend under a firm or oppressive\nadministration, but become restless and turbulent under a mild Prince or\na minority.\nThe fate of this unfortunate Monarch has made me reflect, with great\nseriousness, on the conduct of our opposition-writers in England. The\nliterary banditti who now govern France began their operations by\nridiculing the King's private character--from ridicule they proceeded to\ncalumny, and from calumny to treason; and perhaps the first libel that\ndegraded him in the eyes of his subjects opened the path from the palace\nto the scaffold.--I do not mean to attribute the same pernicious\nintentions to the authors on your side the Channel, as I believe them,\nfor the most part, to be only mercenary, and that they would write\npanegyrics as soon as satires, were they equally profitable. I know too,\nthat there is no danger of their producing revolutions in England--we do\nnot suffer our principles to be corrupted by a man because he has the art\nof rhyming nothings into consequence, nor suffer another to overturn the\ngovernment because he is an orator. Yet, though these men may not be\nvery mischievous, they are very reprehensible; and, in a moment like the\npresent, contempt and neglect should supply the place of that punishment\nagainst which our liberty of the press secures them.\nIt is not for a person no better informed than myself to pronounce on\nsystems of government--still less do I affect to have more enlarged\nnotions than the generality of mankind; but I may, without risking those\nimputations, venture to say, I have no childish or irrational deference\nfor the persons of Kings. I know they are not, by nature, better than\nother men, and a neglected or vicious education may often render them\nworse. This does not, however, make me less respect the office. I\nrespect it as the means chosen by the people to preserve internal peace\nand order--to banish corruption and petty tyrants [\"And fly from petty\ntyrants to the throne.\"--Goldsmith]--and give vigour to the execution of\nthe laws.\nRegarded in this point of view, I cannot but lament the mode which has\nlately prevailed of endeavouring to alienate the consideration due to our\nKing's public character, by personal ridicule. If an individual were\nattacked in this manner, his house beset with spies, his conversation\nwith his family listened to, and the most trifling actions of his life\nrecorded, it would be deemed unfair and illiberal, and he who should\npractice such meanness would be thought worthy of no punishment more\nrespectful than what might be inflicted by an oaken censor, or an\nadmonitory heel.--But it will be said, a King is not an individual, and\nthat such a habit, or such an amusement, is beneath the dignity of his\ncharacter. Yet would it be but consistent in those who labour to prove,\nby the public acts of Kings, that they are less than men, not to exact,\nthat, in their private lives, they should be more.--The great prototype\nof modern satyrists, Junius, does not allow that any credit should be\ngiven a Monarch for his domestic virtues; is he then to be reduced to an\nindividual, only to scrutinize his foibles, and is his station to serve\nonly as the medium of their publicity? Are these literary miners to\npenetrate the recesses of private life, only to bring to light the dross?\nDo they analyse only to discover poisons? Such employments may be\ncongenial to their natures, but have little claim to public remuneration.\nThe merit of a detractor is not much superior to that of a flatterer; nor\nis a Prince more likely to be amended by imputed follies, than by\nundeserved panegyrics. If any man wished to represent his King\nadvantageously, it could not be done better than by remarking, that,\nafter all the watchings of assiduous necessity, and the laborious\nresearches of interested curiosity, it appears, that his private life\naffords no other subjects of ridicule than, that he is temperate,\ndomestic, and oeconomical, and, as is natural to an active mind, wishes\nto be informed of whatever happens not to be familiar to him. It were to\nbe desired that some of these accusations were applicable to those who\nare so much scandalized at them: but they are not littlenesses--the\nlittleness is in him who condescends to report them; and I have often\nwondered that men of genius should make a traffic of gleaning from the\nrefuse of anti-chambers, and retailing the anecdotes of pages and\nfootmen!\nYou will perceive the kind of publications I allude to; and I hope the\nsituation of France, and the fate of its Monarch, may suggest to the\nauthors a more worthy employ of their talents, than that of degrading the\nexecutive power in the eyes of the people.\nAmiens, Feb. 25, 1793.\nI told you, I believe, in a former letter, that the people of Amiens were\nall aristocrates: they have, nevertheless, two extremely popular\nqualifications--I mean filth and incivility. I am, however, far from\nimputing either of them to the revolution. This grossness of behavior\nhas long existed under the palliating description of _\"la franchise\nPicarde,\"_ [\"Picardy frankness.\"] and the floors and stairs of many\nhouses will attest their preeminence in filth to be of a date much\nanterior to the revolution.--If you purchase to the amount of an hundred\nlivres, there are many shopkeepers who will not send your purchases home;\nand if the articles they show you do not answer your purpose, they are\nmostly sullen, and often rude. No appearance of fatigue or infirmity\nsuggests to them the idea of offering you a seat; they contradict you\nwith impertinence, address you with freedom, and conclude with cheating\nyou if they can. It was certainly on this account that Sterne would not\nagree to die at the inn at Amiens. He might, with equal justice, have\nobjected to any other house; and I am sure if he thought them an\nunpleasant people to die amongst, he would have found them still worse to\nlive with.--My observation as to the civility of aristocrates does not\nhold good here--indeed I only meant that those who ever had any, and were\naristocrates, still preserved it.\nAmiens has always been a commercial town, inhabited by very few of the\nhigher noblesse; and the mere gentry of a French province are not very\nmuch calculated to give a tone of softness and respect to those who\nimitate them. You may, perhaps, be surprized that I should express\nmyself with little consideration for a class which, in England, is so\nhighly respectable: there gentlemen of merely independent circumstances\nare not often distinguishable in their manners from those of superior\nfortune or rank. But, in France, it is different: the inferior noblesse\nare stiff, ceremonious, and ostentatious; while the higher ranks were\nalways polite to strangers, and affable to their dependents. When you\nvisit some of the former, you go through as many ceremonies as though you\nwere to be invested with an order, and rise up and sit down so many\ntimes, that you return more fatigued than you would from a cricket match;\nwhile with the latter you are just as much at your ease as is consistent\nwith good breeding and propriety, and a whole circle is never put in\ncommotion at the entrance and exit of every individual who makes part of\nit. Any one not prepared for these formalities, and who, for the first\ntime, saw an assembly of twenty people all rising from their seats at the\nentrance of a single beau, would suppose they were preparing for a dance,\nand that the new comer was a musician. For my part I always find it an\noeconomy of strength (when the locality makes it practicable) to take\npossession of a window, and continue standing in readiness until the hour\nof visiting is over, and calm is established by the arrangement of the\ncard tables.--The revolution has not annihilated the difference of rank;\nthough it has effected the abolition of titles; and I counsel all who\nhave remains of the gout or inflexible joints, not to frequent the houses\nof ladies whose husbands have been ennobled only by their offices, of\nthose whose genealogies are modern, or of the collaterals of ancient\nfamilies, whose claims are so far removed as to be doubtful. The society\nof all these is very exigent, and to be avoided by the infirm or\nindolent.\nI send you with this a little collection of airs which I think you will\nfind very agreeable. The French music has not, perhaps, all the\nreputation it is entitled to. Rousseau has declared it to be nothing but\ndoleful psalmodies; Gray calls a French concert \"Une tintamarre de\ndiable:\" and the prejudices inspired by these great names are not easily\nobliterated. We submit our judgement to theirs, even when our taste is\nrefractory.--The French composers seem to excel in marches, in lively\nairs that abound in striking passages calculated for the popular taste,\nand yet more particularly in those simple melodies they call romances:\nthey are often in a very charming and singular style, without being\neither so delicate or affecting as the Italian. They have an expression\nof plaintive tenderness, which makes one tranquil rather than melancholy;\nand which, though it be more soothing than interesting, is very\ndelightful.--Yours, &c.\nAmiens, 1793.\nI have been to-day to take a last view of the convents: they are now\nadvertised for sale, and will probably soon be demolished. You know my\nopinion is not, on the whole, favourable to these institutions, and that\nI thought the decree which extinguishes them, but which secured to the\nreligious already profest the undisturbed possession of their habitations\nduring life, was both politic and humane. Yet I could not see the\npresent state of these buildings without pain--they are now inhabited by\nvolunteers, who are passing a novitiate of intemperance and idleness,\nprevious to their reception in the army; and those who recollect the\npeace and order that once reigned within the walls of a monastery, cannot\nbut be stricken with the contrast. I felt both for the expelled and\npresent possessors, and, perhaps, gave a mental preference to the\nsuperstition which founded such establishments, over the persecution that\ndestroys them.\nThe resigned and pious votaries, who once supposed themselves secure from\nall the vicissitudes of fortune, and whose union seemed dissoluble only\nby the common lot of mortality, are now many of them dispersed,\nwandering, friendless, and miserable. The religion which they cherished\nas a comfort, and practised as a duty, is now pursued as a crime; and it\nis not yet certain that they will not have to choose between an\nabjuration of their principles, and the relinquishment of the means of\nexistence.--The military occupiers offered nothing very alleviating to\nsuch unpleasant reflections; and I beheld with as much regret the\ncollection of these scattered individuals, as the separation of those\nwhose habitations they fill. They are most of them extremely young,\ntaken from villages and the service of agriculture, and are going to risk\ntheir lives in a cause detested perhaps by more than three parts of the\nnation, and only to secure impunity to its oppressors.\nIt has usually been a maxim in all civilized states, that when the\ngeneral welfare necessitates some act of partial injustice, it shall be\ndone with the utmost consideration for the sufferer, and that the\nrequired sacrifice of moral to political expediency shall be palliated,\nas much as the circumstances will admit, by the manner of carrying it\ninto execution. But the French legislators, in this respect, as in most\nothers, truly original, disdain all imitation, and are rarely guided by\nsuch confined motives. With them, private rights are frequently\nviolated, only to facilitate the means of public oppressions--and cruel\nand iniquitous decrees are rendered still more so by the mode of\nenforcing them.\nI have met with no person who could conceive the necessity of expelling\nthe female religious from their convents. It was, however, done, and\nthat with a mixture of meanness and barbarity which at once excites\ncontempt and detestation. The ostensible, reasons were, that these\ncommunities afforded an asylum to the superstitious, and that by their\nentire suppression, a sale of the houses would enable the nation to\nafford the religious a more liberal support than had been assigned them\nby the Constituent Assembly. But they are shallow politicians who expect\nto destroy superstition by persecuting those who practise it: and so far\nfrom adding, as the decree insinuates, to the pensions of the nuns, they\nhave now subjected them to an oath which, to those at least whose\nconsciences are timid, will act as a prohibition to their receiving what\nthey were before entitled to.\nThe real intention of the legislature in thus entirely dispersing the\nfemale religious, besides the general hatred of every thing connected\nwith religion, is, to possess itself of an additional resource in the\nbuildings and effects, and, as is imagined by some, to procure numerous\nand convenient state prisons. But, I believe, the latter is only an\naristocratic apprehension, suggested by the appropriation of the convents\nto this use in a few places, where the ancient prisons are full.--\nWhatever purpose it is intended to answer, it has been effected in a way\ndisgraceful to any national body, except such a body as the Convention;\nand, though it be easy to perceive the cruelty of such a measure, yet as,\nperhaps, its injustice may not strike you so forcibly as if you had had\nthe same opportunities of investigating it as I have, I will endeavour to\nexplain, as well as I can, the circumstances that render it so peculiarly\naggravated.\nI need not remind you, that no order is of very modern foundation, nor\nthat the present century has, in a great degree, exploded the fashion of\ncompounding for sins by endowing religious institutions. Thus,\nnecessarily, by the great change which has taken place in the expence of\nliving, many establishments that were poorly endowed must have become\nunable to support themselves, but for the efforts of those who were\nattached to them. It is true, that the rent of land has increased as its\nproduce became more valuable; but every one knows that the lands\ndependent on religious houses have always been let on such moderate\nterms, as by no means to bear a proportion to the necessities they were\nintended to supply; and as the monastic vows have long ceased to be the\nfrequent choice of the rich, little increase has been made to the\noriginal stock by the accession of new votaries:--yet, under all these\ndisadvantages, many societies have been able to rebuild their houses,\nembellish their churches, purchase plate, &c. &c. The love of their\norder, that spirit of oeconomy for which they are remarkable, and a\npersevering industry, had their usual effects, and not only banished\npoverty, but became a source of wealth. An indefatigable labour at such\nworks as could be profitably disposed of, the education of children, and\nthe admission of boarders, were the means of enriching a number of\nconvents, whose proper revenues would not have afforded them even a\nsubsistence.\nBut the fruits of active toil or voluntary privation, have been\nconfounded with those of expiatory bequest and mistaken devotion, and\nhave alike become the prey of a rapacious and unfeeling government. Many\ncommunities are driven from habitations built absolutely with the produce\nof their own labour. In some places they were refused even their beds\nand linen; and the stock of wood, corn, &c. provided out of the savings\nof their pensions, (understood to be at their own disposal,) have been\nseized, and sold, without making them the smallest compensation.\nThus deprived of every thing, they are sent into the world with a\nprohibition either to live several of them together, wear their habits,*\nor practise their religion; yet their pensions** are too small for them\nto live upon, except in society, or to pay the usual expence of boarding:\nmany of them have no other means of procuring secular dresses, and still\nmore will imagine themselves criminal in abstaining from the mode of\nworship they have been taught to think salutary.\n * Two religious, who boarded with a lady I had occasion to see\n sometimes, told me, that they had been strictly enjoined not to\n dress like each other in any way.\n ** The pensions are from about seventeen to twenty-five pounds\n sterling per annum.--At the time I am writing, the necessaries of\n life are increased in price nearly two-fifths of what they bore\n formerly, and are daily becoming dearer. The Convention are not\n always insensible to this--the pay of the foot soldier is more than\n doubled.\nIt is also to be remembered, that women of small fortune in France often\nembraced the monastic life as a frugal retirement, and, by sinking the\nwhole they were possessed of in this way, they expected to secure a\ncertain provision, and to place themselves beyond the reach of future\nvicissitudes: yet, though the sums paid on these occasions can be easily\nascertained, no indemnity has been made; and many will be obliged to\nviolate their principles, in order to receive a trifling pension, perhaps\nmuch less than the interest of their money would have produced without\nloss of the principal.\nBut the views of these legislating philosophers are too sublimely\nextensive to take in the wrongs or sufferings of contemporary\nindividuals; and not being able to disguise, even to themselves, that\nthey create much misery at present, they promise incalculable advantages\nto those who shall happen to be alive some centuries hence! Most of\nthese poor nuns are, however, of an age to preclude them from the hope of\nenjoying this Millennium; and they would have been content en attendant\nthese glorious times, not to be deprived of the necessaries of life, or\nmarked out as objects of persecution.\nThe private distresses occasioned by the dissolution of the convents are\nnot the only consequences to be regretted--for a time, at least, the loss\nmust certainly be a public one. There will now be no means of\ninstruction for females, nor any refuge for those who are without friends\nor relations: thousands of orphans must be thrown unprotected on the\nworld, and guardians, or single men, left with the care of children, have\nno way to dispose of them properly. I do not contend that the education\nof a convent is the best possible: yet are there many advantages\nattending it; and I believe it will readily be granted, that an education\nnot quite perfect is better than no education at all. It would not be\nvery difficult to prove, that the systems of education, both in England\nand France, are extremely defective; and if the characters of women are\ngenerally better formed in one than the other, it is not owing to the\nsuperiority of boarding-schools over convents, but to the difference of\nour national manners, which tend to produce qualities not necessary, or\nnot valued, in France.\nThe most distinguished female excellencies in England are an attachment\nto domestic life, an attention to its oeconomies, and a cultivated\nunderstanding. Here, any thing like house-wifery is not expected but\nfrom the lower classes, and reading or information is confined chiefly to\nprofessed wits. Yet the qualities so much esteemed in England are not\nthe effect of education: few domestic accomplishments, and little useful\nknowledge, are acquired at a boarding-school; but finally the national\ncharacter asserts its empire, and the female who has gone through a\ncourse of frivolities from six to sixteen, who has been taught that the\nfirst \"human principle\" should be to give an elegant tournure to her\nperson, after a few years' dissipation, becomes a good wife and mother,\nand a rational companion.\nIn France, young women are kept in great seclusion: religion and oeconomy\nform a principal part of conventual acquirements, and the natural vanity\nof the sex is left to develope itself without the aid of authority, or\ninstillation by precept--yet, when released from this sober tuition,\nmanners take the ascendant here as in England, and a woman commences at\nher marriage the aera of coquetry, idleness, freedom, and rouge.--We may\ntherefore, I think, venture to conclude, that the education of a\nboarding-school is better calculated for the rich, that of a convent for\nthe middle classes and the poor; and, consequently, that the suppression\nof this last in France will principally affect those to whom it was most\nbeneficial, and to whom the want of it will be most dangerous.\nA committee of wise men are now forming a plan of public instruction,\nwhich is to excel every thing ever adopted in any age or country; and we\nmay therefore hope that the defects which have hitherto prevailed, both\nin theirs and our own, will be remedied. All we have to apprehend is,\nthat, amidst so many wise heads, more than one wise plan may be produced,\nand a difficulty of choice keep the rising generation in a sort of\nabeyance, so that they must remain sterile, or may become vitiated, while\nit is determining in what manner they shall be cultivated.\nIt is almost a phrase to say, the resources of France are wonderful, and\nthis is no less true than generally admitted. Whatever be the want or\nloss, it is no sooner known than supplied, and the imagination of the\nlegislature seems to become fertile in proportion to the exigence of the\nmoment.--I was in some pain at the disgrace of Mirabeau, lest this new\nkind of retrospective judgement should depopulate the Pantheon of the few\ndivinities that remained; more especially when I considered that\nVoltaire, notwithstanding his merits as an enemy to revelation, had been\nalready accused of aristocracy, and even Rousseau himself might not be\nfound impeccable. His Contrat Social might not, perhaps, in the eyes of\na committee of philosophical Rhadmanthus's, atone for his occasional\nadmiration of christianity: and thus some crime, either of church or\nstate, disfranchise the whole race of immortals, and their fame scarcely\noutlast the dispute about their earthly remains.*\n * Alluding to the disputes between the Convention and the person who\n claimed the exclusive right to the remains of Rousseau.\nMy concern, on this account, was the more justifiable, because the great\nfallibility which prevailed among the patriots, and the very delicate\nstate of the reputation of those who retained their political existence,\nafforded no hope that they could ever fill the vacancies in the\nPantheon.--But my fears were very superfluous--France will never want\nsubjects for an apotheosis, and if one divinity be dethroned, \"another\nand another still succeeds,\" all equally worthy as long as they continue\nin fashion.--The phrenzy of despair has supplied a successor to Mirabeau,\nin Le Pelletier. [De St. Fargeau.] The latter had hitherto been little\nheard of, but his death offered an occasion for exciting the people too\nfavourable to be neglected: his patriotism and his virtues immediately\nincreased in a ratio to the use which might be made of them;* a dying\nspeech proper for the purpose was composed, and it was decreed\nunanimously, that he should be installed in all the rights, privileges,\nand immortalities of the degraded Riquetti.--\n * At the first intelligence of his death, a member of the\n Convention, who was with him, and had not yet had time to study a\n speech, confessed his last words to have been, \"Jai froid.\"--\"I am\n cold.\" This, however, would nave made no figure on the banners of a\n funeral procession; and Le Pelletier was made to die, like the hero\n of a tragedy, uttering blank verse.\nThe funeral that preceded these divine awards was a farce, which tended\nmore to provoke a massacre of the living, than to honour the dead; and\nthe Convention, who vowed to sacrifice their animosities on his tomb, do\nso little credit to the conciliating influence of St. Fargeau's virtues,\nthat they now dispute with more acrimony than ever.\nThe departments, who begin to be extremely submissive to Paris, thought\nit incumbent on them to imitate this ceremony; but as it was rather an\nact of fear than of patriotism, it was performed here with so much\noeconomy, and so little inclination, that the whole was cold and paltry.\n--An altar was erected on the great market-place, and so little were the\npeople affected by the catastrophe of a patriot whom they were informed\nhad sacrificed* his life in their cause, that the only part of the\nbusiness which seemed to interest them was the extravagant gestures of a\nwoman in a dirty white dress, hired to act the part of a \"pleureuse,\" or\nmourner, and whose sorrow appeared to divert them infinitely.--\n * There is every reason to believe that Le Pelletier was not singled\n out for his patriotism.--It is said, and with much appearance of\n probability, that he had promised PARIS, with whom he had been\n intimate, not to vote for the death of the King; and, on his\n breaking his word, PARIS, who seems to have not been perfectly in\n his senses, assassinated him.--PARIS had been in the Garde du Corps,\n and, like most of his brethren, was strongly attached to the King's\n person. Rage and despair prompted him to the commission of an act,\n which can never be excused, however the perpetrator may imagine\n himself the mere instrument of Divine vengeance.--Notwithstanding\n the most vigilant research, he escaped for some time, and wandered\n as far as Forges d'Eaux, a little town in Normandy. At the inn\n where he lodged, the extravagance of his manner giving suspicions\n that he was insane, the municipality were applied to, to secure him.\n An officer entered his room while he was in bed, and intimated the\n purpose he was come for. PARIS affected to comply, and, turning,\n drew a pistol from under the clothes, and shot himself.--Among the\n papers found upon him were some affecting lines, expressive of his\n contempt for life, and adding, that the influence of his example was\n not to be dreaded, since he left none behind him that deserved the\n name of Frenchmen!--_\"Qu'on n'inquiete personne! personne n'a ete\n mon complice dans la mort heureuse de Scelerat St. Fargeau. Si Je\n ne l'eusse pas rencontre sous ma main, Je purgeois la France du\n regicide, du parricide, du patricide D'Orleans. Qu'on n'inquiete\n personne. Tous les Francois sont des laches auxquelles Je dis--\n \"Peuple, dont les forfaits jettent partout l'effroi,\n \"Avec calme et plaisir J'abandonne la vie\n \"Ce n'est que par la mort qu'on peut fuir l'infamie,\n \"Qu'imprime sur nos fronts le sang de notre Roi.\"_\n \"Let no man be molested on my account: I had no accomplice in the\n fortunate death of the miscreant St. Fargeau. If he had not fallen\n in my way, I should have purged France of the regicide, parricide,\n patricide D'Orleans. Let no man be molested. All the French are\n cowards, to whom I say--'People, whose crimes inspire universal\n horror, I quit life with tranquility and pleasure. By death alone\n can we fly from that infamy which the blood of our King has marked\n upon our foreheads!'\"--This paper was entitled \"My Brevet of\n Honour.\"\nIt will ever be so where the people are not left to consult their own\nfeelings. The mandate that orders them to assemble may be obeyed, but\n\"that which passeth show\" is not to be enforced. It is a limit\nprescribed by Nature herself to authority, and such is the aversion of\nthe human mind from dictature and restraint, that here an official\nrejoicing is often more serious than these political exactions of regret\nlevied in favour of the dead.--Yours, &c. &c.\nThe partizans of the French in England alledge, that the revolution, by\ngiving them a government founded on principles of moderation and\nrectitude, will be advantageous to all Europe, and more especially to\nGreat Britain, which has so often suffered by wars, the fruit of their\nintrigues.--This reasoning would be unanswerable could the character of\nthe people be changed with the form of their government: but, I believe,\nwhoever examines its administration, whether as it relates to foreign\npowers or internal policy, will find that the same spirit of intrigue,\nfraud, deception, and want of faith, which dictated in the cabinet of\nMazarine or Louvois, has been transfused, with the addition of meanness\nand ignorance,* into a Constitutional Ministry, or the Republican\nExecutive Council.\n * The Executive Council is composed of men who, if ever they were\n well-intentioned, must be totally unfit for the government of an\n extensive republic. Monge, the Minister of the Marine, is a\n professor of geometry; Garat, Minister of Justice, a gazette writer;\n Le Brun, Minister of Foreign Affairs, ditto; and Pache, Minister of\n the Interior, a private tutor.--Whoever reads the debates of the\n Convention will find few indications of real talents, and much\n pedantry and ignorance. For example, Anacharsis Cloots, who is a\n member of the Committee of Public Instruction, and who one should,\n of course, expect not to be more ignorant than his colleagues, has\n lately advised them to distress the enemy by invading Scotland,\n which he calls the granary of England.\nFrance had not yet determined on the articles of her future political\ncreed, when agents were dispatched to make proselytes in England, and, in\nproportion as she assumed a more popular form of government, all the\nqualities which have ever marked her as the disturber of mankind seem to\nhave acquired new force. Every where the ambassadors of the republic are\naccused of attempts to excite revolt and discontent, and England* is now\nforced into a war because she could not be persuaded to an insurrection.\n * For some time previous to the war, all the French prints and even\n members of the Convention, in their debates, announced England to be\n on the point of an insurrection. The intrigues of Chauvelin, their\n ambassador, to verify this prediction, are well known. Brissot, Le\n Brun, &c. who have since been executed, were particularly charged by\n the adverse party with provoking the war with England. Robespierre,\n and those who succeeded, were not so desirous of involving us in a\n foreign war, and their humane efforts were directed merely to excite\n a civil one.--The third article of accusation against Rolland is,\n having sent twelve millions of livres to England, to assist in\n procuring a declaration of war.\nPerhaps it may be said, that the French have taken this part only for\ntheir own security, and to procure adherents to the common cause; but\nthis is all I contend for--that the politics of the old government\nactuate the new, and that they have not, in abolishing courts and\nroyalty, abolished the perfidious system of endeavouring to benefit\nthemselves, by creating distress and dissention among their neighbours.--\nLouvois supplied the Protestants in the Low Countries with money, while\nhe persecuted them in France. The agents of the republic, more\noeconomical, yet directed by the same motives, eke out corruption by\nprecepts of sedition, and arm the leaders of revolt with the rights of\nman; but, forgetting the maxim that charity should begin at home, in\ntheir zeal for the freedom of other countries, they leave no portion of\nit for their own!\nLouis the Fourteenth over-ran Holland and the Palatinate to plant the\nwhite flag, and lay the inhabitants under contribution--the republic send\nan army to plant the tree of liberty, levy a _don patriotique,_\n[Patriotic gift.] and place garrisons in the towns, in order to preserve\ntheir freedom.--Kings have violated treaties from the desire of conquest\n--these virtuous republicans do it from the desire of plunder; and,\nprevious to opening the Scheldt, the invasion of Holland, was proposed as\na means of paying the expences of the war. I have never heard that even\nthe most ambitious Potentates ever pretended to extend their subjugation\nbeyond the persons and property of the conquered; but these militant\ndogmatists claim an empire even over opinions, and insist that no people\ncan be free or happy unless they regulate their ideas of freedom and\nhappiness by the variable standard of the Jacobin club. Far from being\nof Hudibras's philosophy,* they seem to think the mind as tangible as the\nbody, and that, with the assistance of an army, they may as soon lay one\n\"by the heels\" as the other.\n * \"Quoth he, one half of man, his mind,\n \"Is, sui juris, unconfin'd,\n \"And ne'er can be laid by the heels,\n \"Whate'er the other moiety feels.\"\nNow this I conceive to be the worst of all tyrannies, nor have I seen it\nexceeded on the French theatre, though, within the last year, the\nimagination of their poets has been peculiarly ingenious and inventive on\nthis subject.--It is absurd to suppose this vain and overbearing\ndisposition will cease when the French government is settled. The\nintrigues of the popular party began in England the very moment they\nattained power, and long before there was any reason to suspect that the\nEnglish would deviate from their plan of neutrality. If, then, the\nFrench cannot restrain this mischievous spirit while their own affairs\nare sufficient to occupy their utmost attention, it is natural to\nconclude, that, should they once become established, leisure and peace\nwill make them dangerous to the tranquillity of all Europe. Other\ngovernments may be improved by time, but republics always degenerate; and\nif that which is in its original state of perfection exhibit already the\nmaturity of vice, one cannot, without being more credulous than\nreasonable, hope any thing better for the future than what we have\nexperienced from the past.--It is, indeed, unnecessary to detain you\nlonger on this subject. You must, ere now, be perfectly convinced how\nfar the revolutionary systems of France are favourable to the peace and\nhappiness of other countries. I will only add a few details which may\nassist you in judging of what advantage they have been to the French\nthemselves, and whether, in changing the form of their government, they\nhave amended its principles; or if, in \"conquering liberty,\" (as they\nexpress it,) they have really become free.\nThe situation of France has altered much within the last two months: the\nseat of power is less fluctuating and the exercise of it more absolute--\narbitrary measures are no longer incidental, but systematic--and a\nregular connection of dependent tyranny is established, beginning with\nthe Jacobin clubs, and ending with the committees of the sections. A\nsimple decree for instance, has put all the men in the republic,\n(unmarried and without children,) from eighteen to forty-five at the\nrequisition of the Minister of War. A levy of three hundred thousand is\nto take place immediately: each department is responsible for the whole\nof a certain number to the Convention, the districts are answerable for\ntheir quota to the departments, the municipalities to the district, and\nthe diligence of the whole is animated by itinerant members of the\nlegislature, entrusted with the disposal of an armed force. The latter\ncircumstance may seem to you incredible; yet is it nevertheless true,\nthat most of the departments are under the jurisdiction of these\nsovereigns, whose authority is nearly unlimited. We have, at this\nmoment, two Deputies in the town, who arrest and imprison at their\npleasure. One-and-twenty inhabitants of Amiens were seized a few nights\nago, without any specific charge having been exhibited against them, and\nare still in confinement. The gates of the town are shut, and no one is\npermitted to pass or repass without an order from the municipality; and\nthe observance of this is exacted even of those who reside in the\nsuburbs. Farmers and country people, who are on horseback, are obliged\nto have the features and complexion of their horses minuted on the\npassport with their own. Every person whom it is found convenient to\ncall suspicious, is deprived of his arms; and private houses are\ndisturbed during the night, (in opposition to a positive law,) under\npretext of searching for refractory priests.--These regulations are not\npeculiar to this department, and you must understand them as conveying a\ngeneral idea of what passes in every part of France.--I have yet to add,\nthat letters are opened with impunity--that immense sums of assignats are\ncreated at the will of the Convention--that no one is excused mounting\nguard in person--and that all housekeepers, and even lodgers, are\nburthened with the quartering of troops, sometimes as many as eight or\nten, for weeks together.\nYou may now, I think, form a tolerable idea of the liberty that has\naccrued to the French from the revolution, the dethronement of the King,\nand the establishment of a republic. But, though the French suffer this\ndespotism without daring to murmur openly, many a significant shrug and\ndoleful whisper pass in secret, and this political discontent has even\nits appropriate language, which, though not very explicit, is perfectly\nunderstood.--Thus when you hear one man say to another, _\"Ah, mon Dieu,\non est bien malheureux dans ce moment ici;\"_ or, _\"Nous sommes dans une\nposition tres critique--Je voudrois bien voir la fin de tout cela;\"_\n[\"God knows, we are very miserable at present--we are in a very critical\nsituation--I should like to see an end of all this.\"] you may be sure he\nlanguishes for the restoration of the monarchy, and hopes with equal\nfervor, that he may live to see the Convention hanged. In these sort of\nconferences, however, evaporates all their courage. They own their\ncountry is undone, that they are governed by a set of brigands, go home\nand hide any set of valuables they have not already secreted, and receive\nwith obsequious complaisance the next visite domiciliaire.\nThe mass of the people, with as little energy, have more obstinacy, and\nare, of course, not quite so tractable. But, though they grumble and\nprocrastinate, they do not resist; and their delays and demurs usually\nterminate in implicit submission.\nThe Deputy-commissioners, whom I have mentioned above, have been at\nAmiens some time, in order to promote the levying of recruits. On\nSundays and holidays they summoned the inhabitants to attend at the\ncathedral, where they harangued them on the subject, called for vengeance\non the coalesced despots, expatiated on the love of glory, and insisted\non the pleasure of dying for one's country: while the people listened\nwith vacant attention, amused themselves with the paintings, or adjourned\nin small committees to discuss the hardship of being obliged to fight\nwithout inclination.--Thus time elapsed, the military orations produced\nno effect, and no troops were raised: no one would enlist voluntarily,\nand all refused to settle it by lot, because, as they wisely observed,\nthe lot must fall on somebody. Yet, notwithstanding the objection, the\nmatter was at length decided by this last method. The decision had no\nsooner taken place, than another difficulty ensued--those who escaped\nacknowledged it was the best way that could be devised; but those who\nwere destined to the frontiers refused to go. Various altercations, and\nexcuses, and references, were the consequence; yet, after all this\nmurmuring and evasion, the presence of the Commissioners and a few\ndragoons have arranged the business very pacifically; many are already\ngone, and the rest will (if the dragoons continue here) soon follow.\nThis, I assure you, is a just statement of the account between the\nConvention and the People: every thing is effected by fear--nothing by\nattachment; and the one is obeyed only because the other want courage to\nresist.--Yours, &c.\nRouen, March 31, 1793.\nRouen, like most of the great towns in France, is what is called\ndecidedly aristocratic; that is, the rich are discontented because they\nare without security, and the poor because they want bread. But these\ncomplaints are not peculiar to large places; the causes of them equally\nexist in the smallest village, and the only difference which fixes the\nimputation of aristocracy on one more than the other, is, daring to\nmurmur, or submitting in silence.\nI must here remark to you, that the term aristocrate has much varied from\nits former signification. A year ago, aristocrate implied one who was an\nadvocate for the privileges of the nobility, and a partizan of the\nancient government--at present a man is an aristocrate for entertaining\nexactly the same principles which at that time constituted a patriot;\nand, I believe, the computation is moderate, when I say, that more than\nthree parts of the nation are aristocrates. The rich, who apprehend a\nviolation of their property, are aristocrates--the merchants, who regret\nthe stagnation of commerce, and distrust the credit of the assignats, are\naristocrates--the small retailers, who are pillaged for not selling\ncheaper than they buy, and who find these outrages rather encouraged than\nrepressed, are aristocrates--and even the poor, who murmur at the price\nof bread, and the numerous levies for the army, are, occasionally,\naristocrates.\nBesides all these, there are likewise various classes of moral\naristocrates--such as the humane, who are averse from massacres and\noppression--those who regret the loss of civil liberty--the devout, who\ntremble at the contempt for religion--the vain, who are mortified at the\nnational degradation--and authors, who sigh for the freedom of the\npress.--When you consider this multiplicity of symptomatic indications,\nyou will not be surprized that such numbers are pronounced in a state of\ndisease; but our republican physicians will soon generalize these various\nspecies of aristocracy under the single description of all who have any\nthing to lose, and every one will be deemed plethoric who is not in a\nconsumption. The people themselves who observe, though they do not\nreason, begin to have an idea that property exposes the safety of the\nowner and that the legislature is less inexorable when guilt is\nunproductive, than when the conviction of a criminal comprehends the\nforfeiture of an estate.--A poor tradesman was lamenting to me yesterday,\nthat he had neglected an offer of going to live in England; and when I\ntold him I thought he was very fortunate in having done so, as he would\nhave been declared an emigrant, he replied, laughing, _\"Moi emigre qui\nn'ai pas un sol:\"_ [\"I am emigrant, who am not worth a halfpenny!\"]--No,\nno; they don't make emigrants of those who are worth nothing. And this\nwas not said with any intended irreverence to the Convention, but with\nthe simplicity which really conceived the wealth of the emigrants to be\nthe cause of the severity exercised against them.\nThe commercial and political evils attending a vast circulation of\nassignats have been often discussed, but I have never yet known the\nmatter considered in what is, perhaps, its most serious point of view--I\nmean its influence on the habits and morals of the people. Wherever I\ngo, especially in large towns like this, the mischief is evident, and, I\nfear, irremediable. That oeconomy, which was one of the most valuable\ncharacteristics of the French, is now comparatively disregarded. The\npeople who receive what they earn in a currency they hold in contempt,\nare more anxious to spend than to save; and those who formerly hoarded\nsix liards or twelve sols pieces with great care, would think it folly to\nhoard an assignat, whatever its nominal value. Hence the lower class of\nfemales dissipate their wages on useless finery; men frequent\npublic-houses, and game for larger sums than before; little shopkeepers,\ninstead of amassing their profits, become more luxurious in their table:\npublic places are always full; and those who used, in a dress becoming\ntheir station, to occupy the \"parquet\" or \"parterre,\" now, decorated\nwith paste, pins, gauze, and galloon, fill the boxes:--and all this\ndestructive prodigality is excused to others and themselves _\"par ce que\nce n'est que du papier.\"_ [Because it is only paper.]--It is vain to\npersuade them to oeconomize what they think a few weeks may render\nvalueless; and such is the evil of a circulation so totally discredited,\nthat profusion assumes the merit of precaution, extravagance the plea of\nnecessity, and those who were not lavish by habit become so through\ntheir eagerness to part with their paper. The buried gold and silver\nwill again be brought forth, and the merchant and the politician forget\nthe mischief of the assignats. But what can compensate for the injury\ndone to the people? What is to restore their ancient frugality, or\nbanish their acquired wants? It is not to be expected that the return\nof specie will diminish the inclination for luxury, or that the human\nmind can be regulated by the national finance; on the contrary, it is\nrather to be feared, that habits of expence which owe their introduction\nto the paper will remain when the paper is annihilated; that, though\nmoney may become more scarce, the propensities of which it supplies the\nindulgence will not be less forcible, and that those who have no other\nresources for their accustomed gratifications will but too often find\none in the sacrifice of their integrity.--Thus, the corruption of\nmanners will be succeeded by the corruption of morals, and the\ndishonesty of one sex, with the licentiousness of the other, produce\nconsequences much worse than any imagined by the abstracted calculations\nof the politician, or the selfish ones of the merchant. Age will be\noften without solace, sickness without alleviation, and infancy without\nsupport; because some would not amass for themselves, nor others for\ntheir children, the profits of their labour in a representative sign of\nuncertain value.\nI do not pretend to assert that these are the natural effects of a paper\ncirculation--doubtless, when supported by high credit, and an extensive\ncommerce, it must have many advantages; but this was not the case in\nFrance--the measure was adopted in a moment of revolution, and when the\ncredit of the country, never very considerable, was precarious and\ndegraded--It did not flow from the exuberance of commerce, but the\nartifices of party--it never presumed, for a moment, on the confidence of\nthe people--its reception was forced, and its emission too profuse not to\nbe alarming.--I know it may be answered, that the assignats do not depend\nupon an imaginary appreciation, but really represent a large mass of\nnational wealth, particularly in the domains of the clergy: yet, perhaps,\nit is this very circumstance which has tended most to discredit them.\nHad their credit rested only on the solvency of the nation, though they\nhad not been greatly coveted, still they would have been less\ndistributed; people would not have apprehended their abolition on a\nchange of government, nor that the systems adopted by one party might be\nreversed by another. Indeed we may add, that an experiment of this kind\ndoes not begin auspiciously when grounded on confiscation and seizures,\nwhich it is probable more than half the French considered as sacrilege\nand robbery; nor could they be very anxious to possess a species of\nwealth which they made it a motive of conscience to hope would never be\nof any value.--But if the original creation of assignats were\nobjectionable, the subsequent creations cannot but augment the evil. I\nhave already described to you the effects visible at present, and those\nto be apprehended in future--others may result from the new inundation,\n[1200 millions--50 millions sterling.] which it is not possible to\nconjecture; but if the mischiefs should be real, in proportion as a part\nof the wealth which this paper is said to represent is imaginary, their\nextent cannot easily be exaggerated. Perhaps you will be of this\nopinion, when you recollect that one of the funds which form the security\nof this vast sum is the gratitude of the Flemings for their liberty; and\nif this reimbursement be to be made according to the specimen the French\narmy have experienced in their retreat, I doubt much of the convention\nwill be disposed to advance any farther claims on it; for, it seems, the\ninhabitants of the Low Countries have been so little sensible of the\nbenefits bestowed on them, that even the peasants seize on any weapons\nnearest hand, and drub and pursue the retrograding armies as they would\nwild beasts; and though, as Dumouriez observes in one of his dispatches,\nour revolution is intended to favour the country people, _\"c'est\ncependant les gens de campagne qui s'arment contre nous, et le tocsin\nsonne de toutes parts;\"_ [\"It is, however, the country people who take up\narms against us, and the alarm is sounded from all quarters.\"] so that\nthe French will, in fact, have created a public debt of so singular a\nnature, that every one will avoid as much as possible making any demand\nof the capital.\nI have already been more diffuse than I intended on the subject of\nfinance; but I beg you to observe, that I do not affect to calculate, or\nspeculate, and that I reason only from facts which are daily within my\nnotice, and which, as tending to operate on the morals of the people, are\nnaturally included in the plan I proposed to myself.\nI have been here but a few days, and intend returning to-morrow. I left\nMrs. D____ very little better, and the disaffection of Dumouriez, which I\njust now learn, may oblige us to remove to some place not on the route to\nParis.--Every one looks alert and important, and a physiognomist may\nperceive that regret is not the prevailing sentiment--\n \"We now begin to speak in tropes,\n \"And, by our fears, express our hopes.\"\nThe Jacobins are said to be apprehensive, which augurs well; for,\ncertainly, next to the happiness of good people, one desires the\npunishment of the bad.\nAmiens, April 7, 1793.\nIf the sentiments of the people towards their present government had been\nproblematical before, the visible effect of Dumouriez' conduct would\nafford an ample solution of the problem. That indifference about public\naffairs which the prospect of an established despotism had begun to\ncreate has vanished--all is hope and expectation--the doors of those who\nretail the newspapers are assailed by people too impatient to read them--\neach with his gazette in his hand listens eagerly to the verbal\ncirculation, and then holds a secret conference with his neighbour, and\ncalculates how long it may be before Dumouriez can reach Paris. A\nfortnight ago the name of Dumouriez was not uttered but in a tone of\nharshness and contempt, and, if ever it excited any thing like\ncomplacency, it was when he announced defeats and losses. Now he is\nspoken of with a significant modulation of voice, it is discovered that\nhe has great talents, and his popularity with the army is descanted upon\nwith a mysterious air of suppressed satisfaction.--Those who were\nextremely apprehensive lest part of the General's troops should be driven\nthis way by the successes of the enemy, seem to talk with perfect\ncomposure of their taking the same route to attack the capital; while\nothers, who would have been unwilling to receive either Dumouriez or his\narmy as peaceful fugitives, will be \"nothing loath\" to admit them as\nconquerors. From all I can learn, these dispositions are very general,\nand, indeed, the actual tyranny is so great, and the perspective so\nalarming, that any means of deliverance must be acceptable. But whatever\nmay be the event, though I cannot be personally interested, if I thought\nDumouriez really proposed to establish a good government, humanity would\nrender one anxious for his success; for it is not to be disguised, that\nFrance is at this moment (as the General himself expressed it) under the\njoint dominion of _\"imbecilles\"_ and _\"brigands.\"_ [Ideots and robbers.]\nIt is possible, that at this moment the whole army is disaffected, and\nthat the fortified towns are prepared to surrender. It is also certain,\nthat Brittany is in revolt, and that many other departments are little\nshort of it; yet you will not very easily conceive what may have occupied\nthe Convention during part of this important crisis--nothing less than\ninventing a dress for their Commissioners! But, as Sterne says, \"it is\nthe spirit of the nation;\" and I recollect no circumstance during the\nwhole progress of the revolution (however serious) that has not been\nmixed with frivolities of this kind.\nI know not what effect this new costume may produce on the rebels or the\nenemy, but I confess it appears to me more ludicrous than formidable,\nespecially when a representative happens to be of the shape and features\nof the one we have here. Saladin, Deputy for this department, and an\nadvocate of the town of Amiens, has already invested himself with this\narmour of inviolability; \"strange figure in such strange habiliments,\"\nthat one is tempted to forget that Baratraria and the government of\nSancho are the creation of fancy. Imagine to yourself a short fat man,\nof sallow complexion and small eyes, with a sash of white, red, and blue\nround his waist, a black belt with a sword suspended across his\nshoulders, and a round hat turned up before, with three feathers of the\nnational colours: \"even such a man\" is our representative, and exercises\na more despotic authority than most Princes in Europe.--He is accompanied\nby another Deputy, who was what is called Pere de la Oratoire before the\nrevolution--that is, in a station nearly approaching to that of an\nunder-master at our public schools; only that the seminaries to which\nthese were attached being very numerous, those employed in them were\nlittle considered. They wore the habit, and were subject to the same\nrestrictions, as the Clergy, but were at liberty to quit the profession\nand marry, if they chose.--I have been more particular in describing\nthis class of men, because they have every where taken an active and\nsuccessful part in perverting and misleading the people: they are in the\nclubs, or the municipalities, in the Convention, and in all elective\nadministrations, and have been in most places remarkable for their\nsedition and violence.\nSeveral reasons may be assigned for the influence and conduct of men\nwhose situation and habits, on a first view, seem to oppose both. In the\nfirst ardour of reform it was determined, that all the ancient modes of\neducation should be abolished; small temporary pensions were allotted to\nthe Professors of Colleges, and their admission to the exercise of\nsimilar functions in the intended new system was left to future decision.\nFrom this time the disbanded oratorians, who knew it would be vain to\nresist popular authority, endeavoured to share in it; or, at least, by\nbecoming zealous partizans of the revolution, to establish their claims\nto any offices or emoluments which might be substituted for those they\nhad been deprived of. They enrolled themselves with the Jacobins,\ncourted the populace, and, by the talent of pronouncing Roman names with\nemphasis, and the study of rhetorical attitudes, they became important to\nassociates who were ignorant, or necessary to those who were designing.\nThe little information generally possessed by the middle classes of life\nin France, is also another cause of the comparative importance of those\nwhose professions had, in this respect, raised them something above the\ncommon level. People of condition, liberally educated, have\nunfortunately abandoned public affairs for some time; so that the\nincapacity of some, and the pride or despondency of others, have, in a\nmanner, left the nation to the guidance of pedants, incendiaries, and\nadventurers. Perhaps also the animosity with which the description of\nmen I allude to pursued every thing attached to the ancient government,\nmay, in some degree, have proceeded from a desire of revenge and\nretaliation. They were not, it must be confessed, treated formerly with\nthe regard due to persons whose profession was in itself useful and\nrespectable; and the wounds of vanity are not easily cured, nor the\nvindictiveness of little minds easily satisfied.\nFrom the conduct and popular influence of these Peres de l'Oratoire, some\ntruths may be deduced not altogether useless even to a country not liable\nto such violent reforms. It affords an example of the danger arising\nfrom those sudden and arbitrary innovations, which, by depriving any part\nof the community of their usual means of living, and substituting no\nother, tempt them to indemnify themselves by preying, in different ways,\non their fellow-citizens.--The daring and ignorant often become\ndepredators of private property; while those who have more talents, and\nless courage, endeavour to succeed by the artifices which conciliate\npublic favour. I am not certain whether the latter are not to be most\ndreaded of the two, for those who make a trade of the confidence of the\npeople seldom fail to corrupt them--they find it more profitable to\nflatter their passions than to enlighten their understandings; and a\ndemagogue of this kind, who obtains an office by exciting one popular\ninsurrection, will make no scruple of maintaining himself in it by\nanother. An inferrence may likewise be drawn of the great necessity of\ncultivating such a degree of useful knowledge in the middle order of\nsociety, as may not only prevent their being deceived by interested\nadventurers themselves, but enable them to instruct the people in their\ntrue interests, and rescue them from becoming the instruments, and\nfinally the victims, of fraud and imposture.--The insult and oppression\nwhich the nobility frequently experience from those who have been\npromoted by the revolution, will, I trust, be a useful lesson in future\nto the great, who may be inclined to arrogate too much from adventitious\ndistinctions, to forget that the earth we tread upon may one day\noverwhelm us, and that the meanest of mankind may do us an injury which\nit is not in the power even of the most exalted to shield us from.\nThe inquisition begins to grow so strict, that I have thought it\nnecessary to-day to bury a translation of Burke.--In times of ignorance\nand barbarity, it was criminal to read the bible, and our English author\nis prohibited for a similar reason--that is, to conceal from the people\nthe errors of those who direct them: and, indeed, Mr. Burke has written\nsome truths, which it is of much more importance for the Convention to\nconceal, than it could be to the Catholic priests to monopolize the\ndivine writings.--As far as it was possible, Mr. Burke has shown himself\na prophet: if he has not been completely so, it was because he had a\nbenevolent heart, and is the native of a free country. By the one, he\nwas prevented from imagining the cruelties which the French have\ncommitted; by the other, the extreme despotism which they endure.\nBefore these halcyon days of freedom, the supremacy of Paris was little\nfelt in the provinces, except in dictating a new fashion in dress, an\nimprovement in the art of cookery, or the invention of a minuet. At\npresent our imitations of the capital are something more serious; and if\nour obedience be not quite so voluntary, it is much more implicit.\nInstead of receiving fashions from the Court, we take them now from the\n_dames des balles,_ [Market-women.] and the municipality; and it must be\nallowed, that the imaginations of our new sovereigns much exceed those of\nthe old in force and originality.\nThe mode of pillaging the shops, for instance, was first devised by the\nParisian ladies, and has lately been adopted with great success in the\ndepartments; the visite domiciliaire, also, which I look upon as a most\ningenious effort of fancy, is an emanation from the commune of Paris, and\nhas had an universal run.--But it would be vain to attempt enumerating\nall the obligations of this kind which we owe to the indulgence of that\nvirtuous city: our last importation, however, is of so singular a nature,\nthat, were we not daily assured all the liberty in the world centers in\nParis, I should be doubtful as to its tendency. It has lately been\ndecreed, that every house in the republic shall have fixed on the outside\nof the door, in legible characters, the name, age, birth-place, and\nprofession of its inhabitants. Not the poorest cottager, nor those who\nare too old or too young for action, nor even unmarried ladies, are\nexempt from thus proclaiming the abstract of their history to passers-by.\n--The reigning party judge very wisely, that all those who are not\nalready their enemies may become so, and that those who are unable to\ntake a part themselves may excite others: but, whatever may be the\nintention of this measure, it is impossible to conceive any thing which\ncould better serve the purposes of an arbitrary government; it places\nevery individual in the republic within the immediate reach of informers\nand spies--it points out those who are of an age to serve in the army--\nthose who have sought refuge in one department from the persecutions of\nanother--and, in short, whether a victim is pursued by the denunciation\nof private malice, or political suspicion, it renders escape almost\nimpracticable.\nWe have had two domiciliary visits within the last fortnight--one to\nsearch for arms, the other under pretext of ascertaining the number of\ntroops each house is capable of lodging. But this was only the pretext,\nbecause the municipalities always quarter troops as they think proper,\nwithout considering whether you have room or not; and the real object of\nthis inquisition was to observe if the inhabitants answered to the lists\nplaced on the doors.--Mrs. D____ was ill in bed, but you must not imagine\nsuch a circumstance deterred these gallant republicans from entering her\nroom with an armed force, to calculate how many soldiers might be lodged\nin the bedchamber of a sick female! The French, indeed, had never, in my\nremembrance, any pretensions to delicacy, or even decency, and they are\ncertainly not improved in these respects by the revolution.\nIt is curious in walking the streets, to observe the devices of the\nseveral classes of aristocracy; for it is not to be disguised, that since\nthe hope from Dumouriez has vanished, though the disgust of the people\nmay be increased, their terror is also greater than ever, and the\ndepartments near Paris have no resource but silent submission. Every\none, therefore, obeys the letter of the decrees with the diligence of\nfear, while they elude the spirit of them with all the ingenuity of\nhatred. The rich, for example, who cannot entirely divest themselves of\ntheir remaining hauteur, exhibit a sullen compliance on a small piece of\npaper, written in a small hand, and placed at the very extreme of the\nheight allowed by the law. Some fix their bills so as to be half covered\nby a shutter; others fasten them only with wafers, so that the wind\ndetaching one or two corners, makes it impossible to read the rest.*\n * This contrivance became so common, that an article was obliged to\n be added to the decree, importing, that whenever the papers were\n damaged or effaced by the weather, or deranged by the wind, the\n inhabitants should replace them, under a penalty.\nMany who have courts or passages to their houses, put their names on the\nhalf of a gate which they leave open, so that the writing is not\nperceptible but to those who enter. But those who are most afraid, or\nmost decidedly aristocrates, subjoin to their registers, \"All good\nrepublicans:\" or, _\"Vive la republique, une et indivisible.\"_ [\"The\nrepublic, one and indivisible for ever!\"] Some likewise, who are in\npublic offices, or shopkeepers who are very timid, and afraid of pillage,\nor are ripe for a counter-revolution, have a sheet half the size of the\ndoor, decorated with red caps, tri-coloured ribbons, and flaming\nsentences ending in \"Death or Liberty!\"\nIf, however, the French government confined itself to these petty acts of\ndespotism, I would endeavour to be reconciled to it; but I really begin\nto have serious apprehensions, not so much for our safety as our\ntranquillity, and if I considered only myself, I should not hesitate to\nreturn to England. Mrs. D____ is too ill to travel far at present, and\nher dread of crossing the sea makes her less disposed to think our\nsituation here hazardous or ineligible. Mr. D____, too, who, without\nbeing a republican or a partizan of the present system, has always been a\nfriend to the first revolution, is unwilling to believe the Convention so\nbad as there is every reason to suppose it. I therefore let my judgement\nyield to my friendship, and, as I cannot prevail on them to depart, the\ndanger which may attend our remaining is an additional reason for my not\nquitting them.\nThe national perfidy which has always distinguished France among the\nother countries of Europe, seems now not to be more a diplomatic\nprinciple, than a rule of domestic government. It is so extended and\ngeneralized, that an individual is as much liable to be deceived and\nbetrayed by confiding in a decree, as a foreign power would be by relying\non the faith of a treaty.--An hundred and twenty priests, above sixty\nyears of age, who had not taken the oaths, but who were allowed to remain\nby the same law that banished those who were younger, have been lately\narrested, and are confined together in a house which was once a college.\nThe people did not behold this act of cruelty with indifference, but,\nawed by an armed force, and the presence of the Commissioners of the\nConvention, they could only follow the priests to their prison with\nsilent regret and internal horror. They, however, venture even now to\nmark their attachment, by taking all opportunities of seeing them, and\nsupplying them with necessaries, which it is not very difficult to do, as\nthey are guarded by the Bourgeois, who are generally inclined to favour\nthem. I asked a woman to-day if she still contrived to have access to\nthe priests, and she replied, _\"Ah, oui, il y a encore de la facilite,\npar ce que l'on ne trouve pas des gardes ici qui ne sont pas pour eux.\"_*\n * \"Yes, yes, we still contive it, because there are no guards to be\n found here who don't befriend them.\"\nThus, even the most minute and best organized tyranny may be eluded; and,\nindeed, if all the agents of this government acted in the spirit of its\ndecrees, it would be insupportable even to a native of Turkey or Japan.\nBut if some have still a remnant of humanity left, there are a sufficient\nnumber who execute the laws as unfeelingly as they are conceived.\nWhen these poor priests were to be removed from their several houses, it\nwas found necessary to dislodge the Bishop of Amiens, who had for some\ntime occupied the place fixed on for their reception. The Bishop had\nnotice given him at twelve o'clock in the day to relinquish his lodging\nbefore evening; yet the Bishop of Amiens is a constitutional Prelate, and\nhad, before the revolution, the cure of a large parish at Paris; nor was\nit without much persuasion that he accepted the see of Amiens. In the\nsevere winter of 1789 he disposed of his plate and library, (the latter\nof which was said to be one of the best private collections in Paris,) to\npurchase bread for the poor. \"But Time hath a wallet on his back,\nwherein he puts alms for oblivion;\" and the charities of the Bishop could\nnot shield him from the contempt and insult which pursue his profession.\nI have been much distressed within the last few days on account of my\nfriend Madame de B____. I subjoining a translation of a letter I have\njust received from her, as it will convey to you hereafter a tolerable\nspecimen of French liberty.\n \"Maison de Arret, at ____.\n \"I did not write to you, my dear friend, at the time I promised, and\n you will perceive, by the date of this, that I have had too good an\n excuse for my negligence. I have been here almost a week, and my\n spirits are still so much disordered, that I can with difficulty\n recollect myself enough to relate the circumstances of our\n unfortunate situation; but as it is possible you might become\n acquainted with them by some other means, I rather determined to\n send you a few lines, than suffer you to be alarmed by false or\n exaggerated reports.\n \"About two o'clock on Monday morning last our servants were called\n up, and, on their opening the door, the house was immediately filled\n with armed men, some of whom began searching the rooms, while others\n came to our bedchamber, and informed us we were arrested by order of\n the department, and that we must rise and accompany them to prison.\n It is not easy to describe the effect of such a mandate on people\n who, having nothing to reproach themselves with, could not be\n prepared for it.--As soon as we were a little recovered from our\n first terrors, we endeavoured to obey, and begged they would indulge\n us by retiring a few moments till I had put my clothes on; but\n neither my embarrassment, nor the screams of the child--neither\n decency nor humanity, could prevail. They would not even permit my\n maid to enter the room; and, amidst this scene of disorder, I was\n obliged to dress myself and the terrified infant. When this\n unpleasant task was finished, a general examination of our house and\n papers took place, and lasted until six in the evening: nothing,\n however, tending in the remotest degree to criminate us was found,\n but we were nevertheless conducted to prison, and God knows how long\n we are likely to remain here. The denunciation against us being\n secret, and not being able to learn either our crime or our\n accusers, it is difficult for us to take any measures for our\n enlargement. We cannot defend ourselves against a charge of which\n we are ignorant, nor combat the validity of a witness, who is not\n only allowed to remain secret, but is paid perhaps for his\n information.*\n * At this time informers were paid from fifty to an hundred\n livres for each accusation.\n \"We most probably owe our misfortune to some discarded servant or\n personal enemy, for I believe you are convinced we have not merited\n it either by our discourse or our actions: if we had, the charge\n would have been specific; but we have reason to imagine it is\n nothing more than the indeterminate and general charge of being\n aristocrates. I did not see my mother or sister all the day we were\n arrested, nor till the evening of the next: the one was engaged\n perhaps with \"Rosine and the Angola\", who were indisposed, and the\n other would not forego her usual card-party. Many of our friends\n likewise have forborne to approach us, lest their apparent interest\n in our fate should involve themselves; and really the alarm is so\n general, that I can, without much effort, forgive them.\n \"You will be pleased to learn, that the greatest civilities I have\n received in this unpleasant situation, have been from some of your\n countrymen, who are our fellow-prisoners: they are only poor\n sailors, but they are truly kind and attentive, and do us various\n little services that render us more comfortable than we otherwise\n should be; for we have no servants here, having deemed it prudent to\n leave them to take care of our property. The second night we were\n here, these good creatures, who lodge in the next room, were rather\n merry, and awoke the child; but as they found, by its cries, that\n their gaiety had occasioned me some trouble, I have observed ever\n since that they walk softly, and avoid making the least noise, after\n the little prisoner is gone to rest. I believe they are pleased\n with me because I speak their language, and they are still more\n delighted with your young favourite, who is so well amused, that he\n begins to forget the gloom of the place, which at first terrified\n him extremely.\n \"One of our companions is a nonjuring priest, who has been\n imprisoned under circumstances which make me almost ashamed of my\n country.--After having escaped from a neighbouring department, he\n procured himself a lodging in this town, and for some time lived\n very peaceably, till a woman, who suspected his profession, became\n extremely importunate with him to confess her. The poor man, for\n several days, refused, telling her, that he did not consider himself\n as a priest, nor wished to be known as such, nor to infringe the law\n which excluded him. The woman, however, still continued to\n persecute him, alledging, that her conscience was distressed, and\n that her peace depended on her being able to confess \"in the right\n way.\" At length he suffered himself to be prevailed upon--the woman\n received an hundred livres for informing against him, and, perhaps,\n the priest will be condemned to the Guillotine.*\n * He was executed some time after.\n \"I will make no reflection on this act, nor on the system of paying\n informers--your heart will already have anticipated all I could say.\n I will only add, that if you determine to remain in France, you must\n observe a degree of circumspection which you may not hitherto have\n thought necessary. Do not depend on your innocence, nor even trust\n to common precautions--every day furnishes examples that both are\n unavailing.--Adieu.--My husband offers you his respects, and your\n little friend embraces you sincerely. As soon as any change in our\n favour takes place, I will communicate it to you; but you had better\n not venture to write--I entrust this to Louison's mother, who is\n going through Amiens, as it would be unsafe to send it by the post.\n --Again adieu.--Yours,\nIt is observable, that we examine less scrupulously the pretensions of a\nnation to any particular excellence, than we do those of an individual.\nThe reason of this is, probably, that our self-love is as much gratified\nby admitting the one, as in rejecting the other. When we allow the\nclaims of a whole people, we are flattered with the idea of being above\nnarrow prejudices, and of possessing an enlarged and liberal mind; but if\na single individual arrogate to himself any exclusive superiority, our\nown pride immediately becomes opposed to his, and we seem but to\nvindicate our judgement in degrading such presumption.\nI can conceive no other causes for our having so long acquiesced in the\nclaims of the French to pre-eminent good breeding, in an age when, I\nbelieve, no person acquainted with both nations can discover any thing to\njustify them. If indeed politeness consisted in the repetition of a\ncertain routine of phrases, unconnected with the mind or action, I might\nbe obliged to decide against our country; but while decency makes a part\nof good manners, or feeling is preferable to a mechanical jargon, I am\ninclined to think the English have a merit more than they have hitherto\nascribed to themselves. Do not suppose, however, that I am going to\ndescant on the old imputations of \"French flattery,\" and \"French\ninsincerity;\" for I am far from concluding that civil behaviour gives one\na right to expect kind offices, or that a man is false because he pays a\ncompliment, and refuses a service: I only wish to infer, that an\nimpertinence is not less an impertinence because it is accompanied by a\ncertain set of words, and that a people, who are indelicate to excess,\ncannot properly be denominated \"a polite people.\"\nA French man or woman, with no other apology than _\"permettez moi,\"_\n[\"Give me leave.\"] will take a book out of your hand, look over any thing\nyou are reading, and ask you a thousand questions relative to your most\nprivate concerns--they will enter your room, even your bedchamber,\nwithout knocking, place themselves between you and the fire, or take hold\nof your clothes to guess what they cost; and they deem these acts of\nrudeness sufficiently qualified by _\"Je demande bien de pardons.\"_ [\"I\nask you a thousand pardons.\"]--They are fully convinced that the English\nall eat with their knives, and I have often heard this discussed with\nmuch self-complacence by those who usually shared the labours of the\nrepast between a fork and their fingers. Our custom also of using\nwater-glasses after dinner is an object of particular censure; yet whoever\ndines at a French table must frequently observe, that many of the guests\nmight benefit by such ablutions, and their napkins always testify that\nsome previous application would be by no means superfluous. Nothing is\nmore common than to hear physical derangements, disorders, and their\nremedies, expatiated upon by the parties concerned amidst a room full of\npeople, and that with so much minuteness of description, that a\nforeigner, without being very fastidious, is on some occasions apt to\nfeel very unpleasant sympathies. There are scarcely any of the\nceremonies of a lady's toilette more a mystery to one sex than the other,\nand men and their wives, who scarcely eat at the same table, are in this\nrespect grossly familiar. The conversation in most societies partakes of\nthis indecency, and the manners of an English female are in danger of\nbecoming contaminated, while she is only endeavouring to suffer without\npain the customs of those she has been taught to consider as models of\npoliteness.\nWhether you examine the French in their houses or in public, you are\nevery where stricken with the same want of delicacy, propriety, and\ncleanliness. The streets are mostly so filthy, that it is perilous to\napproach the walls. The insides of the churches are often disgusting, in\nspite of the advertisements that are placed in them to request the\nforbearance of phthifical persons: the service does not prevent those who\nattend from going to and fro with the same irreverence as if the church\nwere empty; and, in the most solemn part of the mass, a woman is suffered\nto importune you for a liard, as the price of the chair you sit on. At\nthe theatres an actor or actress frequently coughs and expectorates on\nthe stage, in a manner one should think highly unpardonable before one's\nmost intimate friends in England, though this habit is very common to all\nthe French. The inns abound with filth of every kind, and though the\nowners of them are generally civil enough, their notions of what is\ndecent are so very different from ours, that an English traveller is not\nsoon reconciled to them. In short, it would be impossible to enumerate\nall that in my opinion excludes the French from the character of a\nwell-bred people.--Swift, who seems to have been gratified by the\ncontemplation of physical impurity, might have done the subject justice;\nbut I confess I am not displeased to feel that, after my long and\nfrequent residences in France, I am still unqualified. So little are\nthese people susceptible of delicacy, propriety, and decency, that they\ndo not even use the words in the sense we do, nor have they any others\nexpressive of the same meaning.\nBut if they be deficient in the external forms of politeness, they are\ninfinitely more so in that politeness which may be called mental. The\nsimple and unerring rule of never preferring one's self, is to them more\ndifficult of comprehension than the most difficult problem in Euclid: in\nsmall things as well as great, their own interest, their own\ngratification, is their leading principle; and the cold flexibility which\nenables them to clothe this selfish system in \"fair forms,\" is what they\ncall politeness.\nMy ideas on this subject are not recent, but they occurred to me with\nadditional force on the perusal of Mad. de B____'s letter. The behaviour\nof some of the poorest and least informed class of our countrymen forms a\nstriking contrast with that of the people who arrested her, and even her\nown friends: the unaffected attention of the one, and the brutality and\nneglect of the other, are, perhaps, more just examples of English and\nFrench manners than you may have hitherto imagined. I do not, however,\npretend to say that the latter are all gross and brutal, but I am myself\nconvinced that, generally speaking, they are an unfeeling people.\nI beg you to remember, that when I speak of the dispositions and\ncharacter of the French, my opinions are the result of general\nobservation, and are applicable to all ranks; but when my remarks are on\nhabits and manners, they describe only those classes which are properly\ncalled the nation. The higher noblesse, and those attached to courts, so\nnearly resemble each other in all countries, that they are necessarily\nexcepted in these delineations, which are intended to mark the\ndistinguishing features of a people at large: for, assuredly, when the\nFrench assert, and their neighbours repeat, that they are a polite\nnation, it is not meant that those who have important offices or\ndignified appellations are polite: they found their claims on their\nsuperiority as a people, and it is in this light I consider them. My\nexamples are chiefly drawn, not from the very inferior, nor from the most\neminent ranks; neither from the retailer of a shop, nor the claimant of a\n_tabouret,_* or _les grandes ou petites entrees;_ but from the gentry,\nthose of easy fortunes, merchants, &c.--in fact, from people of that\ndegree which it would be fair to cite as what may be called genteel\nsociety in England.\n * The tabouret was a stool allowed to the Ladies of the Court\n particularly distinguished by rank or favour, when in presence of\n the Royal Family.--\"Les entrees\" gave a familiar access to the King\n and Queen.\nThis cessation of intercourse with our country dispirits me, and, as it\nwill probably continue some time, I shall amuse myself by noting more\nparticularly the little occurrences which may not reach your public\nprints, but which tend more than great events to mark both the spirit of\nthe government and that of the people.--Perhaps you may be ignorant that\nthe prohibition of the English mails was not the consequence of a decree\nof the Convention, but a simple order of its commissioners; and I have\nsome reason to think that even they acted at the instigation of an\nindividual who harbours a mean and pitiful dislike to England and its\ninhabitants.--Yours, &c.\nNear six weeks ago a decree was passed by the Convention, obliging all\nstrangers, who had not purchased national property, or who did not\nexercise some profession, to give security to the amount of half their\nsupposed fortune, and under these conditions they were to receive a\ncertificate, allowing them to reside, and were promised the protection of\nthe laws. The administrators of the departments, who perceive that they\nbecome odious by executing the decrees of the Convention, begin to relax\nmuch of their diligence, and it is not till long after a law is\npromulgated, and their personal fear operates as a stimulant, that they\nseriously enforce obedience to these mandates. This morning, however, we\nwere summoned by the Committee of our section (or ward) in order to\ncomply with the terms of the decree, and had I been directed only by my\nown judgement, I should have given the preference to an immediate return\nto England; but Mrs. D____ is yet ill, and Mr. D____ is disposed to\ncontinue. In vain have I quoted \"how fickle France was branded 'midst\nthe nations of the earth for perfidy and breach of public faith;\" in vain\nhave I reasoned upon the injustice of a government that first allured\nstrangers to remain by insidious offers of protection, and now subjects\nthem to conditions which many may find it difficult to subscribe to: Mr.\nD____ wishes to see our situation in the most favourable point of view:\nhe argues upon the moral impossibility of our being liable to any\ninconvenience, and persists in believing that one government may act with\ntreachery towards another, yet, distinguishing between falsehood and\nmeanness, maintain its faith with individuals--in short, we have\nconcluded a sort of treaty, by which we are bound, under the forfeiture\nof a large sum, to behave peaceably and submit to the laws. The\ngovernment, in return, empowers us to reside, and promises protection and\nhospitality.\nIt is to be observed, that the spirit of this regulation depends upon\nthose it affects producing six witnesses of their _\"civisme;\"_* yet so\nlittle interest do the people take on these occasions, that our witnesses\nwere neighbours we had scarcely ever seen, and even one was a man who\nhappened to be casually passing by.\n * Though the meaning of this word is obvious, we have no one that is\n exactly synonymous to it. The Convention intend by it an attachment\n to their government: but the people do not trouble themselves about\n the meaning of words--they measure their unwilling obedience by the\n letter.\nThese Committees, which form the last link of a chain of despotism, are\ncomposed of low tradesmen and day-labourers, with an attorney, or some\nperson that can read and write, at their head, as President. Priests and\nnobles, with all that are related, or anywise attached, to them, are\nexcluded by the law; and it is understood that true sans-culottes only\nshould be admitted.\nWith all these precautions, the indifference and hatred of the people to\ntheir government are so general, that, perhaps, there are few places\nwhere this regulation is executed so as to answer the purposes of the\njealous tyranny that conceived it. The members of these Committees seem\nto exact no farther compliances than such as are absolutely necessary to\nthe mere form of the proceeding, and to secure themselves from the\nimputation of disobedience; and are very little concerned whether the\nreal design of the legislature be accomplished or not. This negligence,\nor ill-will, which prevails in various instances, tempers, in some\ndegree, the effect of that restless suspicion which is the usual\nconcomitant of an uncertain, but arbitrary, power. The affections or\nprejudices that surround a throne, by ensuring the safety of the Monarch,\nengage him to clemency, and the laws of a mild government are, for the\nmost part, enforced with exactness; but a new and precarious authority,\nwhich neither imposes on the understanding nor interests the heart, which\nis supported only by a palpable and unadorned tyranny, is in its nature\nsevere, and it becomes the common cause of the people to counteract the\nmeasures of a despotism which they are unable to resist.--This (as I have\nbefore had occasion to observe) renders the condition of the French less\ninsupportable, but it is by no means sufficient to banish the fears of a\nstranger who has been accustomed to look for security, not from a\nrelaxation or disregard of the laws, but from their efficacy; not from\nthe characters of those who execute them, but from the rectitude with\nwhich they are formed.--What would you think in England, if you were\nobliged to contemplate with dread the three branches of your legislature,\nand depend for the protection of your person and property on soldiers and\nconstables? Yet such is nearly the state we are in; and indeed a system\nof injustice and barbarism gains ground so fast, that almost any\napprehension is justified.--The Tribunal Revolutionnaire has already\ncondemned a servant maid for her political opinions; and one of the\nJudges of this tribunal lately introduced a man to the Jacobins, with\nhigh panegyrics, because, as he alledged, he had greatly contributed to\nthe condemnation of a criminal. The same Judge likewise apologized for\nhaving as yet sent but a small number to the Guillotine, and promises,\nthat, on the first appearance of a \"Brissotin\" before him, he will show\nhim no mercy.\nWhen the minister of public justice thus avows himself the agent of a\nparty, a government, however recent its formation, must be far advanced\nin depravity; and the corruption of those who are the interpreters of the\nlaw has usually been the last effort of expiring power.\nMy friends, Mons. And Mad. de B____, are released from their confinement;\nnot as you might expect, by proving their innocence, but by the efforts\nof an individual, who had more weight than their accuser: and, far from\nobtaining satisfaction for the injury they have received, they are\nobliged to accept as a favour the liberty they were deprived of by malice\nand injustice. They will, most probably, never be acquainted with the\nnature of the charges brought against them; and their accuser will escape\nwith impunity, and, perhaps, meet with reward.\nAll the French papers are filled with descriptions of the enthusiasm with\nwhich the young men \"start to arms\" [_Offian._] at the voice of their\ncountry; yet it is very certain, that this enthusiasm is of so subtle and\naerial a form as to be perceivable only to those who are interested in\ndiscovering it. In some places these enthusiastic warriors continue to\nhide themselves--from others they are escorted to the place of their\ndestination by nearly an equal number of dragoons; and no one, I believe,\nwho can procure money to pay a substitute, is disposed to go himself.\nThis is sufficiently proved by the sums demanded by those who engage as\nsubstitutes: last year from three to five hundred livres was given; at\npresent no one will take less than eight hundred or a thousand, besides\nbeing furnished with clothes, &c. The only real volunteers are the sons\nof aristocrates, and the relations of emigrants, who, sacrificing their\nprinciples to their fears, hope, by enlisting in the army, to protect\ntheir estates and families: those likewise who have lucrative\nemployments, and are afraid of losing them, affect great zeal, and expect\nto purchase impunity for civil peculation at home, by the military\nservices of their children abroad.\nThis, I assure you, is the real state of that enthusiasm which occasions\nsuch an expence of eloquence to our gazette-writers; but these fallacious\naccounts are not like the ephemeral deceits of your party prints in\nEngland, the effect of which is destroyed in a few hours by an opposite\nassertion. None here are bold enough to contradict what their sovereigns\nwould have believed; and a town or district, driven almost to revolt by\nthe present system of recruiting, consents very willingly to be described\nas marching to the frontiers with martial ardour, and burning to combat\nles esclaves des tyrans! By these artifices, one department is misled\nwith regard to the dispositions of another, and if they do not excite to\nemulation, they, at least, repress by fear; and, probably, many are\nreduced to submission, who would resist, were they not doubtful of the\nsupport and union of their neighbours. Every possible precaution is\ntaken to prevent any connections between the different departments--\npeople who are not known cannot obtain passports without the\nrecommendation of two housekeepers--you must give an account of the\nbusiness you go upon, of the carriage you mean to travel in, whether it\nhas two wheels or four: all of which must be specified in your passport:\nand you cannot send your baggage from one town to another without the\nrisk of having it searched. All these things are so disgusting and\ntroublesome, that I begin to be quite of a different opinion from Brutus,\nand should certainly prefer being a slave among a free people, than thus\nbe tormented with the recollection that I am a native of England in a\nland of slavery. Whatever liberty the French might have acquired by\ntheir first revolution, it is now much like Sir John Cutler's worsted\nstockings, so torn, and worn, and disguised by patchings and mendings,\nthat the original texture is not discoverable.--Yours, &c.\nWe have been three days without receiving newspapers; but we learn from\nthe reports of the courier, that the Brissotins are overthrown, that many\nof them have been arrested, and several escaped to raise adherents in the\ndepartments. I, however, doubt much if their success will be very\ngeneral: the people have little preference between Brissot and Marat,\nCondorcet and Robespierre, and are not greatly solicitous about the names\nor even principles of those who govern them--they are not yet accustomed\nto take that lively interest in public events which is the effect of a\npopular constitution. In England every thing is a subject of debate and\ncontest, but here they wait in silence the result of any political\nmeasure or party dispute; and, without entering into the merits of the\ncause, adopt whatever is successful. While the King was yet alive, the\nnews of Paris was eagerly sought after, and every disorder of the\nmetropolis created much alarm: but one would almost suppose that even\ncuriosity had ceased at his death, for I have observed no subsequent\nevent (except the defection of Dumouriez) make any very serious\nimpression. We hear, therefore, with great composure, the present\ntriumph of the more violent republicans, and suffer without impatience\nthis interregnum of news, which is to continue until the Convention shall\nhave determined in what manner the intelligence of their proceedings\nshall be related to the departments.\nThe great solicitude of the people is now rather about their physical\nexistence than their political one--provisions are become enormously\ndear, and bread very scarce: our servants often wait two hours at the\nbaker's, and then return without bread for breakfast. I hope, however,\nthe scarcity is rather artificial than real. It is generally supposed to\nbe occasioned by the unwillingness of the farmers to sell their corn for\npaper. Some measures have been adopted with an intention of remedying\nthis evil, though the origin of it is beyond the reach of decree. It\noriginates in that distrust of government which reconciles one part of\nthe community to starving the other, under the idea of self-preservation.\nWhile every individual persists in establishing it as a maxim, that any\nthing is better than assignats, we must expect that all things will be\ndifficult to procure, and will, of course, bear a high price. I fear,\nall the empyricism of the legislature cannot produce a nostrum for this\nwant of faith. Dragoons and penal laws only \"linger, and linger it out;\"\nthe disease is incurable.\nMy friends, Mons. and Mad. de B____, by way of consolation for their\nimprisonment, now find themselves on the list of emigrants, though they\nhave never been a single day absent from their own province, or from\nplaces of residence where they are well known. But that they may not\nmurmur at this injustice, the municipality have accompanied their names\nwith those of others who have not even been absent from the town, and of\none gentleman in particular, who I believe may have been seen on the\nramparts every day for these seven years.--This may appear to you only\nvery absurd, and you may imagine the consequences easily obviated; yet\nthese mistakes are the effect of private malice, and subject the persons\naffected by them to an infinity of expence and trouble. They are\nobliged, in order to avert the confiscation of their property, to appear,\nin every part of the republic where they have possessions, with\nattestations of their constant residence in France, and perhaps suffer a\nthousand mortifications from the official ignorance and brutality of the\npersons to whom they apply. No remedy lies against the authors of these\nvexations, and the sufferer who is prudent fears even to complain.\nI have, in a former letter, noticed the great number of beggars that\nswarm at Arras: they are not less numerous at Amiens, though of a\ndifferent description--they are neither so disgusting, nor so wretched,\nbut are much more importunate and insolent--they plead neither sickness\nnor infirmity, and are, for the most part, able and healthy. How so many\npeople should beg by profession in a large manufacturing town, it is\ndifficult to conceive; but, whatever may be the cause, I am tempted to\nbelieve the effect has some influence on the manners of the inhabitants\nof Amiens. I have seen no town in France so remarkable for a rude and\nunfeeling behaviour, and it is not fanciful to conjecture that the\nmultitude of poor may tend in part to occasion it. The constant view of\na sort of misery that excites little compassion, of an intrusive\nnecessity which one is more desirous to repulse than to relieve, cannot\nbut render the heart callous, and the manners harsh. The avarice of\ncommerce, which is here unaccompanied by its liberality, is glad to\nconfound real distress with voluntary and idle indigence, till, in time,\nan absence of feeling becomes part of the character; and the constant\nhabit of petulant refusals, or of acceding more from fatigue than\nbenevolence, has perhaps a similar effect on the voice, gesture, and\nexternal.\nThis place has been so often visited by those who describe better than\nmyself, that I have thought it unnecessary to mention public buildings,\nor any thing equally obvious to the traveller or the resident. The\nbeauty and elegance of the cathedral have been celebrated for ages, and I\nonly remind you of it to indulge my national vanity in the reflection\nthat one of the most splendid monuments of Gothic architecture in France\nis the work of our English ancestors. The edifice is in perfect\npreservation, and the hand of power has not yet ventured to appropriate\nthe plate or ornaments; but this forbearance will most probably give way\nto temptation and impunity. The Convention will respect ancient\nprejudices no longer than they suppose the people have courage to defend\nthem, and the latter seem so entirely subdued, that, however they may\nmurmur, I do not think any serious resistance is to be expected from\nthem, even in behalf of the relics of St. Firmin. [St. Firmin, the patron\nof Amiens, where he is, in many of the streets, represented with his head\nin his hand.]--The bust of Henry the Fourth, which was a present from the\nMonarch himself, is banished the town-house, where it was formerly\nplaced, though, I hope, some royalist has taken possession of it, and\ndeposited it in safety till better times. This once popular Prince is\nnow associated with Nero and Caligula, and it is \"leze nation\" to speak\nof him to a thorough republican.--I know not if the French had before the\nrevolution reached the acme of perfection, but they have certainly been\nretrograding very fast since. Every thing that used to create fondness\nand veneration is despised, and things are esteemed only in proportion as\nthey are worthless. Perhaps the bust of Robespierre may one day replace\nthat of Henry the Fourth, and, to speak in the style of an eastern\nepistle, \"what can I say more?\"\nShould you ever travel this way with Gray in your hand, you will look for\nthe Ursuline convent, and regret the paintings he mentions: but you may\nrecollect, for your consolation, that they are merely pretty, and\nremarkable only for being the work of one of the nuns.--Gray, who seems\nto have had that enthusiastic respect for religious orders common to\nyoung minds, admired them on this account; and numbers of English\ntravellers have, I dare say, prepossessed by such an authority,\nexperienced the same disappointment I myself felt on visiting the\nUrsuline church. Many of the chapels belonging to these communities were\nvery showy and much decorated with gilding and sculpture: some of them\nare sold for a mere trifle, but the greatest part are filled with corn\nand forage, and on the door is inscribed \"Magazin des armees.\" The\nchange is almost incredible to those who remember, that less than four\nyears ago the Catholic religion was strictly practised, and the violation\nof these sanctuaries deemed sacrilegious. Our great historian [Gibbon]\nmight well say \"the influence of superstition is fluctuating and\nprecarious;\" though, in the present instance, it has rather been\nrestrained than subdued; and the people, who have not been convinced, but\nintimidated, secretly lament these innovations, and perhaps reproach\nthemselves conscientiously with their submission.--Yours.\nMercier, in his Tableau de Paris, notices, on several occasions, the\nlittle public spirit existing among his countrymen--it is also\nobservable, that many of the laws and customs presume on this deficiency,\nand the name of republicans has by no means altered that cautious\ndisposition which makes the French consider either misfortunes or\nbenefits only as their personal interest is affected by them.--I am just\nreturned from a visit to Abbeville, where we were much alarmed on Sunday\nby a fire at the Paraclete convent. The tocsin rang great part of the\nday, and the principal street of the town was in danger of being\ndestroyed. In such circumstances, you will suppose, that people of all\nranks eagerly crouded to offer their service, and endeavour to stop the\nprogress of so terrible a calamity. By no means--the gates of the town\nwere shut to prevent its entire evacuation, many hid themselves in\ngarrets and cellars, and dragoons patrolled the streets, and even entered\nthe houses, to force the inhabitants to assist in procuring water; while\nthe consternation, usually the effect of such accidents, was only owing\nto the fear of being obliged to aid the sufferers.--This employment of\nmilitary coercion for what humanity alone should dictate, is not\nascribeable to the principles of the present government--it was the same\nbefore the revolution, (except that the agents of the ancient system were\nnot so brutal and despotic as the soldiers of the republic,) and\ncompulsion was always deemed necessary where there was no stimulant but\nthe general interest.\nIn England, at any alarm of the fort, all distinction of ranks is\nforgotten, and every one is solicitous to contribute as much as he is\nable to the safety of his fellow-citizens; and, so far from an armed\nforce being requisite to procure assistance, the greatest difficulty is\nto repress the too-officious zeal of the croud.--I do not pretend to\naccount for this national disparity, but I fear what a French gentleman\nonce said to me of the Parisians is applicable to the general character,\n_\"Ils sont tous egoistes,\"_ [\"They are all selfish!\"] and they would not\ndo a benevolent action at the risk of soiling a coat or tearing a ruffle.\nDistrust of the assignats, and scarcity of bread, have occasioned a law\nto oblige the farmers, in every part of the republic, to sell their corn\nat a certain price, infinitely lower than what they have exacted for some\nmonths past. The consequence of this was, that, on the succeeding market\ndays, no corn came to market, and detachments of dragoons are obliged to\nscour the country to preserve us from a famine. If it did not convey an\nidea both of the despotism and want with which the nation is afflicted,\none should be amused by the ludicrous figures of the farmers, who enter\nthe town preceded by soldiers, and reposing with doleful visages on their\nsacks of wheat. Sometimes you see a couple of dragoons leading in\ntriumph an old woman and an ass, who follow with lingering steps their\nmilitary conductors; and the very ass seems to sympathize with his\nmistress on the disaster of selling her corn at a reduced price, and for\npaper, when she had hoped to hoard it till a counter-revolution should\nbring back gold and silver.\nThe farmers are now, perhaps, the greatest aristocrates in the country;\nbut as both their patriotism and their aristocracy have been a mere\ncalculation of interest, the severity exercised on their avarice is not\nmuch to be regretted. The original fault is, however, in an usurped\ngovernment, which inspires no confidence, and which, to supply an\nadministration lavish beyond all example, has been obliged to issue such\nan immense quantity of paper as nearly destroys its credit. In\npolitical, as in moral, vices, the first always necessitates a second,\nand these must still be sustained by others; until, at length, the very\nsense of right and wrong becomes impaired, and the latter is not only\npreferred from habit, but from choice.\nThus the arbitrary emission of paper has been necessarily followed by\nstill more arbitrary decrees to support it. For instance--the people\nhave been obliged to sell their corn at a stated price, which has again\nbeen the source of various and general vexations. The farmers, irritated\nby this measure, concealed their grain, or sold it privately, rather than\nbring it to market.--Hence, some were supplied with bread, and others\nabsolutely in want of it. This was remedied by the interference of the\nmilitary, and a general search for corn has taken place in all houses\nwithout exception, in order to discover if any was secreted; even our\nbedchambers were examined on this occasion: but we begin to be so\naccustomed to the visite domiciliaire, that we find ourselves suddenly\nsurrounded by the Garde Nationale, without being greatly alarmed.--I know\nnot how your English patriots, who are so enamoured of French liberty,\nyet thunder with the whole force of their eloquence against the ingress\nof an exciseman to a tobacco warehouse, would reconcile this domestic\ninquisition; for the municipalities here violate your tranquillity in\nthis manner under any pretext they choose, and that too with an armed\ncortege sufficient to undertake the siege of your house in form.\nAbout fifteen departments are in insurrection, ostensibly in behalf of\nthe expelled Deputies; but I believe I am authorized in saying, it is by\nno means the desire of the people at large to interfere. All who are\ncapable of reflection consider the dispute merely as a family quarrel,\nand are not partial enough to either party to adopt its cause. The\ntropps they have already raised have been collected by the personal\ninterest of the members who contrived to escape, or by an attempt of a\nfew of the royalists to make one half of the faction subservient to the\ndestruction of the other. If you judge of the principles of the nation\nby the success of the Foederalists,* and the superiority of the\nConvention, you will be extremely deceived; for it is demonstrable, that\nneither the most zealous partizans of the ancient system, nor those of\nthe abolished constitution, have taken any share in the dispute; and the\ndepartments most notoriously aristocratic have all signified their\nadherence to the proceedings of the Assembly.\n * On the 31st of May and 2d of June, the Convention, who had been\n for some months struggling with the Jacobins and the municipality of\n Paris, was surrounded by an armed force: the most moderate of the\n Deputies (those distinguished by the name of Brissotins,) were\n either menaced into a compliance with the measures of the opposite\n faction, or arrested; others took flight, and, by representing the\n violence and slavery in which the majority of the Convention was\n holden, excited some of the departments to take arms in their\n favour.--This contest, during its short existence, was called the\n war of the Foederalists.--The result is well known.\nThose who would gladly take an active part in endeavouring to establish a\ngood government, are averse from risking their lives and properties in\nthe cause of Brissot or Condorcet.--At Amiens, where almost every\nindividual is an aristocrate, the fugitive Deputies could not procure the\nleast encouragement, but the town would have received Dumouriez, and\nproclaimed the King without opposition. But this schism in the\nlegislature is considered as a mere contest of banditti, about the\ndivision of spoil, not calculated to excite an interest in those they\nhave plundered and oppressed.\nThe royalists who have been so mistaken as to make any effort on this\noccasion, will, I fear, fall a sacrifice, having acted for the most part\nwithout union or concert; and their junction with the Deputies renders\nthem suspicious, if not odious, to their own party. The extreme\ndifficulty, likewise, of communication between the departments, and the\nstrict watch observed over all travellers, form another obstacle to the\nsuccess of any attempt at present; and, on the whole, the only hope of\ndeliverance for the French seems to rest upon the allied armies and the\ninsurgents of La Vendee.\nWhen I say this, I do not assert from prejudices, which often deceive,\nnor from conjecture, that is always fallible; but from unexceptionable\ninformation--from an intercourse with various ranks of people, and a\nminute observance of all. I have scarcely met with a single person who\ndoes not relate the progress of the insurgents in La Vendee with an air\nof satisfaction, or who does not appear to expect with impatience the\nsurrender of Conde: and even their language, perhaps unconsciously,\nbetrays their sentiments, for I remark, they do not, when they speak of\nany victory gained by the arms of the republic, say, Nous, or Notre\narmee, but, Les Francais, and, Les troupes de la republique;--and that\nalways in a tone as though they were speaking of an enemy.--Adieu.\nOur modern travellers are mostly either sentimental or philosophical, or\ncourtly or political; and I do not remember to have read any who describe\nthe manner of living among the gentry and middle ranks of life in France.\nI will, therefore, relieve your attention for a moment from our actual\ndistresses, and give you the picture of a day as usually passed by those\nwho have easy fortunes and no particular employment.--The social\nassemblage of a whole family in the morning, as in England, is not very\ncommon, for the French do not generally breakfast: when they do, it is\nwithout form, and on fruit, bread, wine, and water, or sometimes coffee;\nbut tea is scarcely ever used, except by the sick. The morning is\ntherefore passed with little intercourse, and in extreme dishabille. The\nmen loiter, fiddle, work tapestry, and sometimes read, in a robe de\nchambre, or a jacket and _\"pantalons;\"_ [Trowsers.] while the ladies,\nequipped only in a short manteau and petticoat, visit their birds, knit,\nor, more frequently, idle away the forenoon without doing any thing. It\nis not customary to walk or make visits before dinner, and if by chance\nany one calls, he is received in the bedchamber. At half past one or two\nthey dine, but without altering the negligence of their apparel, and the\nbusiness of the toilette does not begin till immediately after the\nrepast. About four, visits of ceremony begin, and may be made till six\nor seven according to the season; but those who intend passing an evening\nat any particular house, go before six, and the card parties generally\nfinish between eight and nine. People then adjourn to their supper\nengagements, which are more common than those for dinner, and are, for\nthe most part, in different places, and considered as a separate thing\nfrom the earlier amusements of the evening. They keep better hours than\nthe English, most families being in bed by half past ten. The theatres\nare also regulated by these sober habits, and the dramatic\nrepresentations are usually over by nine.\nA day passed in this manner is, as you may imagine, susceptible of much\nennui, and the French are accordingly more subject to it than\nto any other complaint, and hold it in greatest dread than either\nsickness or misfortune. They have no conception how one can remain two\nhours alone without being ennuye a la mort; and but few, comparatively\nspeaking, read for amusement: you may enter ten houses without seeing a\nbook; and it is not to be wondered at that people, who make a point of\nstaying at home all the morning, yet do not read, are embarrassed with\nthe disposition of so much time.--It is this that occasions such a\ngeneral fondness for domestic animals, and so many barbarous musicians,\nand male-workers of tapestry and tambour.\nI cannot but attribute this littleness and dislike of morning exercise to\nthe quantity of animal food the French eat at night, and to going to rest\nimmediately after it, in consequence of which their activity is checked\nby indigestions, and they feel heavy and uncomfortable for half the\nsucceeding day.--The French pique themselves on being a gayer nation than\nthe English; but they certainly must exclude their mornings from the\naccount, for the forlorn and neglected figure of a Frenchman till dinner\nis a very antidote to chearfulness, especially if contrasted with the\nanimation of our countrymen, whose forenoon is passed in riding or\nwalking, and who make themselves at least decent before they appear even\nin their own families.\nThe great difficulty the French have in finding amusement makes them\naverse from long residences in the country, and it is very uncommon for\nthose who can afford only one house not to prefer a town; but those whose\nfortune will admit of it, live about three months of the year in the\ncountry, and the rest in the neighbouring town. This, indeed, as they\nmanage it, is no very considerable expence, for the same furniture often\nserves for both habitations, and the one they quit being left empty,\nrequires no person to take charge of it, especially as house-breaking is\nvery uncommon in France; at least it was so before the revolution, when\nthe police was more strict, and the laws against robbers were more\nsevere.\nYou will say, I often describe the habits and manners of a nation so\nfrequently visited, as though I were writing from Kamschatka or Japan;\nyet it is certain, as I have remarked above, that those who are merely\nitinerant have not opportunities of observing the modes of familiar life\nso well as one who is stationary, and travellers are in general too much\noccupied by more important observations to enter into the minute and\ntrifling details which are the subject of my communications to you. But\nif your attention be sometimes fatigued by occurrences or relations too\nwell known, or of too little consequence to be interesting, I claim some\nmerit in never having once described the proportions of a building, nor\ngiven you the history of a town; and I might have contrived as well to\ntax your patience by an erudite description, as a superficial reflection,\nor a female remark. The truth is, my pen is generally guided by\ncircumstances as they rise, and my ideas have seldom any deeper origin\nthan the scene before me. I have no books here, and I am apt to think if\nprofessed travellers were deprived of this resource, many learned\netymologies and much profound compilation would be lost to the modern\nreader.\nThe insurgents of La Vendee continue to have frequent and decided\nsuccesses, but the insurrections in the other departments languish. The\navowed object of liberating the Convention is not calculated to draw\nadherents, and if any better purpose be intended, while a faction are the\npromoters of it, it will be regarded with too much suspicion to procure\nany effectual movement. Yet, however partial and unconnected this revolt\nmay be, it is an object of great jealousy and inquietude: all the\naddresses or petitions brought in favour of it are received with\ndisapprobation, and suppressed in the official bulletin of the\nlegislature; but those which express contrary sentiments are ordered to\nbe inserted with the usual terms of \"applaudi, adopte, et mention\nhonorable.\"--In this manner the army and the people, who derive their\nintelligence from these accounts (which are pasted up in the streets,)\nare kept in ignorance of the real state of distant provinces, and, what\nis still more important for the Convention, the communication of\nexamples, which they know so many are disposed to imitate, is retarded.\nThe people here are nearly in the same state they have been in for some\ntime--murmuring in secret, and submitting in public; expecting every\nthing from that energy in others which they have not themselves, and\naccumulating the discontents they are obliged to suppress. The\nConvention call them the brave republicans of Amiens; but if their\nbravery were as unequivocal as their aristocracy, they would soon be at\nthe gates of Paris. Even the first levies are not all departed for the\nfrontiers, and some who were prevailed on to go are already returned.--\nAll the necessaries of life are augmenting in price--the people complain,\npillage the shops and the markets one day, and want the next. Many of\nthe departments have opposed the recruiting much more decidedly than they\nhave ventured to do here; and it was not without inspiring terror by\nnumerous arrests, that the levies which were immediately necessary were\nprocured.--France offers no prospect but that of scarcity, disorder, and\noppression; and my friends begin to perceive that we have committed an\nimprudence in remaining so long. No passports can now be obtained, and\nwe must, as well as several very respectable families still here, abide\nthe event of the war.\nSome weeks have elapsed since I had letters from England, and those we\nreceive from the interior come open, or sealed with the seal of the\ndistrict. This is not peculiar to our letters, as being foreigners, but\nthe same unceremonious inspection is practised with the correspondence of\nthe French themselves. Thus, in this land of liberty, all epistolary\nintercourse has ceased, except for mere matters of business; and though\nin the declaration of the rights of man it be asserted, that every one is\nentitled to write or print his thoughts, yet it is certain no person can\nentrust a letter to the post, but at the risk of having it opened; nor\ncould Mr. Thomas Paine himself venture to express the slightest\ndisapprobation of the measures of government, without hazarding his\nfreedom, and, in the end, perhaps, his life. Even these papers, which I\nreserve only for your amusement, which contain only the opinions of an\nindividual, and which never have been communicated, I am obliged to\nconceal with the utmost circumspection; for should they happen to fall\ninto the hands of our domiciliary inquisitors, I should not, like your\nEnglish liberties, escape with the gentle correction of imprisonment, or\nthe pillory.--A man, who had murdered his wife, was lately condemned to\ntwenty years imprisonment only; but people are guillotined every day for\na simple discourse, or an inadvertent expression.--Yours.\nAmiens, July 5, 1793.\nIt will be some consolation to the French, if, from the wreck of their\ncivil liberty, they be able to preserve the mode of administering justice\nas established by the constitution of 1789. Were I not warranted by the\nbest information, I should not venture an opinion on the subject without\nmuch diffidence, but chance has afforded me opportunities that do not\noften occur to a stranger, and the new code appears to me, in many parts,\nsingularly excellent, both as to principle and practice.--Justice is here\ngratuitous--those who administer it are elected by the people--they\ndepend only on their salaries, and have no fees whatever. Reasonable\nallowances are made to witnesses both for time and expences at the public\ncharge--a loss is not doubled by the costs of a prosecution to recover\nit. In cases of robbery, where property found is detained for the sake\nof proof, it does not become the prey of official rapacity, but an\nabsolute restitution takes place.--The legislature has, in many respects,\ncopied the laws of England, but it has simplified the forms, and\nrectified those abuses which make our proceedings in some cases almost as\nformidable to the prosecutor as to the culprit. Having to compose an\nentire new system, and being unshackled by professional reverence for\nprecedents, they were at liberty to benefit by example, to reject those\nerrors which have been long sanctioned by their antiquity, and are still\npermitted to exist, through our dread of innovation. The French,\nhowever, made an attempt to improve on the trial by jury, which I think\nonly evinces that the institution as adopted in England is not to be\nexcelled. The decision is here given by ballot--unanimity is not\nrequired--and three white balls are sufficient to acquit the prisoner.\nThis deviation from our mode seems to give the rich an advantage over the\npoor. I fear, that, in the number of twelve men taken from any country,\nit may sometimes happen that three may be found corruptible: now the\nwealthy delinquent can avail himself of this human failing; but, \"through\ntatter'd robes small vices do appear,\" and the indigent sinner has less\nchance of escaping than another.\nIt is to be supposed, that, at this time, the vigour of the criminal laws\nis much relaxed, and their execution difficult. The army offers refuge\nand impunity to guilt of all kinds, and the magistrates themselves would\nbe apprehensive of pursuing an offender who was protected by the mob, or,\nwhich is the same thing, by the Jacobins.\nThe groundwork of much of the French civil jurisprudence is arbitration,\nparticularly in those trifling processes which originate in a spirit of\nlitigation; and it is not easy for a man here, however well disposed, to\nspend twenty pounds in a contest about as many pence, or to ruin himself\nin order to secure the possession of half an acre of land. In general,\nredress is easily obtained without unnecessary procrastination, and with\nlittle or no cost. Perhaps most legal codes may be simple and\nefficacious at their first institution, and the circumstance of their\nbeing encumbered with forms which render them complex and expensive, may\nbe the natural consequence of length of time and change of manners.\nLittleton might require no commentary in the reign of Henry II. and the\nmysterious fictions that constitute the science of modern judicature were\nperhaps familiar, and even necessary, to our ancestors. It is to be\nregretted that we cannot adapt our laws to the age in which we live, and\nassimilate them to our customs; but the tendency of our nature to\nextremes perpetuates evils, and makes both the wise and the timid enemies\nto reform. We fear, like John Calvin, to tear the habit while we are\nstripping off the superfluous decoration; and the example of this country\nwill probably long act as a discouragement to all change, either judicial\nor political. The very name of France will repress the desire of\ninnovation--we shall cling to abuses as though they were our support, and\nevery attempt to remedy them will become an objection of suspicion and\nterror.--Such are the advantages which mankind will derive from the\nFrench revolution.\nThe Jacobin constitution is now finished, and, as far as I am able to\njudge, it is what might be expected from such an origin: calculated to\nflatter the people with an imaginary sovereignty--to place the whole\npower of election in the class most easily misled--to exclude from the\nrepresentation those who have a natural interest in the welfare of the\ncountry, and to establish the reign of anarchy and intrigue.--Yet,\nhowever averse the greater number of the French may be from such a\nconstitution, no town or district has dared to reject it; and I remark,\nthat amongst those who have been foremost in offering their acceptation,\nare many of the places most notoriously aristocratic. I have enquired of\nsome of the inhabitants of these very zealous towns on what principle\nthey acted so much in opposition to their known sentiments: the reply is\nalways, that they fear the vengeance of the Jacobins, and that they are\nawed by military force. This reasoning is, of course, unanswerable; and\nwe learn, from the debates of the Convention, that the people have\nreceived the new constitution _\"avec la plus vive reconnoissance,\"_\n[\"With the most lively gratitude.\"] and that they have all sworn to die\nin its defence.--Yours, &c.\nThe return of this day cannot but suggest very melancholy reflections to\nall who are witnesses of the changes which a single year has produced.\nIn twelve months only the government of France has been overturned, her\ncommerce destroyed, the country depopulated to raise armies, and the\npeople deprived of bread to support them. A despotism more absolute than\nthat of Turkey is established, the manners of the nation are corrupted,\nand its moral character is disgraced in the eyes of all Europe. A\nbarbarous rage has laid waste the fairest monuments of art--whatever\ncould embellish society, or contribute to soften existence, has\ndisappeared under the reign of these modern Goths--even the necessaries\nof life are becoming rare and inadequate to the consumption--the rich are\nplundered and persecuted, yet the poor are in want--the national credit\nis in the last stage of debasement, yet an immense debt is created, and\ndaily accumulating; and apprehension, distrust, and misery, are almost\nuniversal.--All this is the work of a set of adventurers who are now\ndivided among themselves--who are accusing each other of those crimes\nwhich the world imputes to them all--and who, conscious they can no\nlonger deceive the nation, now govern with the fear and suspicion of\ntyrants. Every thing is sacrificed to the army and Paris, and the people\nare robbed of their subsistence to supply an iniquitous metropolis, and a\nmilitary force that awes and oppresses them.\nThe new constitution has been received here officially, but no one seems\nto take the least interest in it: it is regarded in just the same light\nas a new tax, or any other ministerial mandate, not sent to be discussed\nbut obeyed. The mode of proclaiming it conveyed a very just idea of its\norigin and tendency. It was placed on a cushion, supported by Jacobins\nin their red caps, and surrounded by dragoons. It seemed the image of\nAnarchy, guarded by Despotism.--In this manner they paraded the town, and\nthe \"sacred volume\" was then deposed on an altar erected on the Grande\nPlace.--The Garde Nationale, who were ordered to be under arms, attended,\nand the constitution was read. A few of the soldiers cried \"Vive la\nrepublique!\" and every one returned home with countenances in which\ndelight was by no means the prevailing expression.\nA trifling incident which I noticed on this occasion, will serve, among\nothers of the same kind that I could enumerate, to prove that even the\nvery lower class of the people begin to ridicule and despise their\nlegislators. While a municipal officer was very gravely reading the\nconstitution, an ass forced his way across the square, and placed himself\nnear the spot where the ceremony was performing: a boy, who was under our\nwindow, on observing it, cried out, \"Why don't they give him the\n_accolade fraternelle!\"_*\n * Fraternal embrace.--This is the reception given by the President\n to any one whom the Convention wish particularly to distinguish. On\n an occasion of the sort, the fraternal embrace was given to an old\n Negress.--The honours of the fitting are also daily accorded to\n deputations of fish-women, chimney-sweepers, children, and all whose\n missions are flattering. There is no homage so mean as not to\n gratify the pride of those to whom dominion is new; and these\n expressions are so often and so strangely applied, that it is not\n surprizing they are become the cant phrases of the mob.\n--\"Yes, (rejoined another,) and admit him _aux honneurs de la feance.\"_\n[To the honours of the fitting.] This disposition to jest with their\nmisfortunes is, however, not so common as it was formerly. A bon mot may\nalleviate the loss of a battle, and a lampoon on the court solace under\nthe burthen of a new impost; but the most thoughtless or improvident can\nfind nothing very facetious in the prospect of absolute want--and those\nwho have been used to laugh under a circumscription of their political\nliberty, feel very seriously the evil of a government which endows its\nmembers with unlimited power, and enables a Deputy, often the meanest and\nmost profligate character of his department, to imprison all who, from\ncaprice, interest, or vengeance, may have become the objects of his\npersecution.\nI know this will appear so monstrous to an Englishman, that, had I an\nopportunity of communicating such a circumstance before it were publicly\nauthenticated, you would suppose it impossible, and imagine I had been\nmistaken, or had written only from report; it is nevertheless true, that\nevery part of France is infested by these Commissioners, who dispose,\nwithout appeal, of the freedom and property of the whole department to\nwhich they are sent. It frequently happens, that men are delegated to\nplaces where they have resided, and thus have an opportunity of\ngratifying their personal malice on all who are so unfortunate as to be\nobnoxious to them. Imagine, for a moment, a village-attorney acting with\nuncontrouled authority over the country where he formerly exercised his\nprofession, and you will have some idea of what passes here, except that\nI hope no class of men in England are so bad as those which\ncompose the major part of the National Convention.--Yours, &c.\nThe events of Paris which are any way remarkable are so generally\ncirculated, that I do not often mention them, unless to mark their effect\non the provinces; but you will be so much misled by the public papers\nwith regard to the death of Marat, that I think it necessary to notice\nthe subject while it is yet recent in my memory. Were the clubs, the\nConvention, or the sections of Paris to be regarded as expressing the\nsense of the people, the assassination of this turbulent journalist must\nbe considered being the case, that the departments are for the most part,\nif not rejoiced, indifferent--and many of those who impute to him the\nhonour of martyrdom, or assist at his apotheosis, are much better\nsatisfied both with his christian and heathen glories, than they were\nwhile he was living to propagate anarchy and pillage. The reverence of\nthe Convention itself is a mere political pantomime. Within the last\ntwelve months nearly all the individuals who compose it have treated\nMarat with contempt; and I perfectly remember even Danton, one of the\nmembers of the Committee of Salut Publique, accusing him of being a\ncontre revolutionnaire.\nBut the people, to use a popular expression here, require to be\nelectrified.--St. Fargeau is almost forgotten, and Marat is to serve the\nsame purposes when dead, to which he contributed while living.--An\nextreme grossness and want of feeling form the characteristic feature of\nthe Parisians; they are ignorant, credulous, and material, and the\nConvention do not fail on all occasions to avail themselves of these\nqualities. The corpse of Marat decently enclosed in a coffin would have\nmade little impression, and it was not pity, but revenge, which was to be\nexcited. The disgusting object of a dead leper was therefore exposed to\nthe eyes of a metropolis calling itself the most refined and enlightened\nof all Europe--\n \"And what t'oblivion better were consign'd,\n Is hung on high to poison half mankind.\"\nI know not whether these lines are most applicable to the display of\nMarat's body, or the consecration of his fame, but both will be a lasting\nstigma on the manners and morals of Paris.\nIf the departments, however, take no interest in the loss of Marat, the\nyoung woman who assassinated him has created a very lively one. The\nslightest anecdotes concerning her are collected with avidity, and\nrepeated with admiration; and this is a still farther proof of what you\nhave heard me advance, that neither patriotism nor humanity has an\nabundant growth in this country. The French applaud an act in itself\nhorrid and unjustifiable, while they have scarcely any conception of the\nmotive, and such a sacrifice seems to them something supernatural.--The\nJacobins assert, that Charlotte Corday was an emissary of the allied\npowers, or, rather, of Mr. Pitt; and the Parisians have the complaisance\nto believe, that a young woman could devote herself to certain\ndestruction at the instigation of another, as though the same principles\nwhich would lead a person to undertake a diplomatic commission, would\ninduce her to meet death.\nI wrote some days ago to a lady of my acquaintance at Caen, to beg she\nwould procure me some information relative to this extraordinary female,\nand I subjoin an extract of her answer, which I have just received:\n\"Miss Corday was a native of this department, and had, from her earliest\nyears, been very carefully educated by an aunt who lives at Caen. Before\nshe was twenty she had decided on taking the veil, and her noviciate was\njust expired when the Constituent Assembly interdicted all religious vows\nfor the future: she then left the convent, and resided entirely with her\naunt. The beauty of her person, and particularly her mental\nacquisitions, which were superior to that of French women in general,\nrendered an object of much admiration. She spoke uncommonly well, and\nher discourse often turned on the ancients, and on such subjects as\nindicated that masculine turn of mind which has since proved so fatal to\nher. Perhaps her conversation was a little tinctured with that pedantry\nnot unjustly attributed to our sex when they have a little more knowledge\nthan usual, but, at the same time, not in such a degree as to render it\nunpleasant. She seldom gave any opinion on the revolution, but\nfrequently attended the municipalities to solicit the pensions of the\nexpelled religious, or on any other occasion where she could be useful to\nher friends. On the arrival of Petion, Barbaroux, and others of the\nBrissotin faction, she began to frequent the clubs, and to take a more\nlively interest in political affairs. Petion, and Barbaroux especially,\nseemed to be much respected by her. It was even said, she had a tender\npartiality for the latter; but this I believe is untrue.--I dined with\nher at her aunt's on the Sunday previous to her departure for Paris.\nNothing very remarkable appeared in her behaviour, except that she was\nmuch affected by a muster of the recruits who were to march against\nParis, and seemed to think many lives might be lost on the occasion,\nwithout obtaining any relief for the country.--On the Tuesday following\nshe left Caen, under pretext of visiting her father, who lives at Sens.\nHer aunt accompanied her to the gate of the town, and the separation was\nextremely sorrowful on both sides. The subsequent events are too well\nknown to need recital.\"\nOn her trial, and at her execution, Miss Corday was firm and modest;\nand I have been told, that in her last moments her whole figure was\ninteresting beyond description. She was tall, well formed, and\nbeautiful--her eyes, especially, were fine and expressive--even her dress\nwas not neglected, and a simple white dishabille added to the charms of\nthis self-devoted victim. On the whole, it is not possible to ascertain\nprecisely the motives which determined her to assassinate Marat. Her\nletter to Barbaroux expresses nothing but republican sentiments; yet it\nis difficult to conceive that a young woman, who had voluntarily embraced\nthe life of a cloister, could be really of this way of thinking.--I\ncannot but suppose her connection with the Deputies arose merely from an\nidea that they might be the instruments of restoring the abolished\ngovernment, and her profession of republican principles after she was\narrested might probably be with a view of saving Duperret, and others of\nthe party, who were still in the power of the Convention.--Her selection\nof Marat still remains to be accounted for. He was, indeed, the most\nviolent of the Jacobins, but not the most dangerous, and the death of\nseveral others might have been more serviceable to the cause. Marat was,\nhowever, the avowed persecutor of priests and religion, and if we\nattribute any influence to Miss Corday's former habits, we may suppose\nthem to have had some share in the choice of her victim. Her refusal of\nthe ministry of a constitutional priest at the scaffold strengthens this\nopinion. We pay a kind of involuntary tribute of admiration to such\nfirmness of mind in a young and beautiful woman; and I do not recollect\nthat history has transmitted any thing parallel to the heroism of\nCharlotte Corday. Love, revenge, and ambition, have often sacrificed\ntheir victims, and sustained the courage of their voluntaries under\npunishment; but a female, animated by no personal motives, sensible only\nto the misfortunes of her country, patriotic both from feeling and\nreflection, and sacrificing herself from principle, is singular in the\nannals of human nature.--Yet, after doing justice to such an instance of\nfortitude and philanthropic devotion, I cannot but sincerely lament the\nact to which it has given rise. At a time when so many spirits are\nirritated by despair and oppression, the example may be highly\npernicious, and a cause, however good, must always be injured by the use\nof such means in its support.--Nothing can sanctify an assassination; and\nwere not the French more vindictive than humane, the crimes of the\nrepublican party would find a momentary refuge in this injudicious effort\nto punish them.\nMy friend La Marquise de ____ has left Paris, and is now at Peronne,\nwhere she has engaged me to pass a few weeks with her; so that my next\nwill most probably be dated from thence.--Mr. D____ is endeavouring to\nget a passport for England. He begins to regret having remained here.\nHis temper, naturally impatient of restraint, accords but ill with the\nportion of liberty enjoyed by our republicans. Corporal privations and\nmental interdictions multiply so fast, that irritable people like\nhimself, and valetudinarians like Mrs. C____ and me, could not choose a\nworse residence; and, as we are now unanimous on the subject, I hope soon\nto leave the country.--There is, as you observe in your last, something\nof indolence as well as friendship in my having so long remained here;\nbut if actions were always analyzed so strictly, and we were not allowed\nto derive a little credit from our weaknesses, how many great characters\nwould be reduced to the common level. Voltaire introduced a sort of rage\nfor anecdotes, and for tracing all events to trifling causes, which has\ndone much more towards exploding the old-fashioned system or the dignity\nof human nature than the dry maxims of Rochefaucault, the sophisms of\nMandeville, or even the malicious wit of Swift. This is also another\neffect of the progress of philosophy; and this sort of moral Quixotism,\ncontinually in search of evil, and more gratified in discovering it than\npained by its existence, may be very philosophical; but it is at least\ngloomy and discouraging; and we may be permitted to doubt whether mankind\nbecome wiser or better by learning, that those who have been most\nremarkable either for wisdom or virtue were occasionally under the\ninfluence of the same follies and passions as other people.--Your\nuncharitable discernment, you see, has led me into a digression, and I\nhave, without intending it, connected the motives of my stay with\nreflections on Voltaire's General History, Barillon's Letters, and all\nthe secret biography of our modern libraries. This, you will say, is\nonly a chapter of a \"man's importance to himself;\" but public affairs are\nnow so confused and disgusting, that we are glad to encourage any train\nof ideas not associated with them.\nThe Commissioners I gave you some account of in a former letter are\ndeparted, and we have lately had Chabot, an Ex-capuchin, and a patriot of\nspecial note in the Convention, and one Dumont, an attorney of a\nneighbouring village. They are, like all the rest of these missionaries,\nentrusted with unlimited powers, and inspire apprehension and dismay\nwherever they approach.\nThe Garde Nationale of Amiens are not yet entirely subdued to the times,\nand Chabot gave some hints of a project to disarm them, and actually\nattempted to arrest some of their officers; but, apprized of his design,\nthey remained two nights under arms, and the Capuchin, who is not\nmartially inclined, was so alarmed at this indication of resistance,\nthat he has left the town with more haste than ceremony.--He had, in an\nharangue at the cathedral, inculcated some very edifying doctrines on the\ndivision of property and the right of pillage; and it is not improbable,\nhad he not withdrawn, but the Amienois would have ventured, on this\npretext, to arrest him. Some of them contrived, in spite of the centinel\nplaced at the lodging of these great men, to paste up on the door two\nfigures, with the names of Chabot and Dumont; in the \"fatal position of\nthe unfortunate brave;\" and though certain events in the lives of these\nDeputies may have rendered this perspective of their last moments not\nabsolutely a novelty, yet I do not recollect that Akenside, or any other\nauthor, has enumerated a gibbet amongst the objects, which, though not\nagreeable in themselves, may be reconciled to the mind by familiarity.\nI wish, therefore, our representatives may not, in return for this\nadmonitory portrait of their latter end, draw down some vengeance on the\ntown, not easily to be appeased. I am no astrologer, but in our\nsublunary world the conjunction of an attorney and a renegade monk cannot\npresent a fortunate aspect; and I am truly anxious to find myself once\nagain under the more benign influence of your English hemisphere.--Yours.\nPeronne, July 29, 1793.\nEvery attempt to obtain passports has been fruitless, and, with that sort\nof discontented resignation which is the effect of necessity, I now look\nupon myself as fixed here till the peace. I left Mr. and Mrs. D____\nyesterday morning, the disappointment operating upon them in full force.\nThe former takes longer walks than usual, breaks out in philippics\nagainst tyrannies of all kinds, and swears ten times a day that the\nFrench are the most noisy people upon earth--the latter is vexed, and,\nfor that reason, fancies she is ill, and calculates, with great\ningenuity, all the hazard and inconvenience we may be liable to by\nremaining here. I hope, on my return, to find them more reconciled.\nAt Villars de Bretonne, on my road hither, some people told me, with\ngreat gaiety, that the English had made a descent on the coast of\nPicardy. Such a report (for I did not suppose it possible) during the\nlast war would have made me tremble, but I heard this without alarm,\nhaving, in no instance, seen the people take that kind of interest in\npublic events which formerly made a residence in France unpleasant to an\nindividual of an hostile nation. It is not that they are become more\nliberal, or better informed--no change of this kind has been discovered\neven by the warmest advocates of the revolution; but they are more\nindifferent, and those who are not decidedly the enemies of the present\ngovernment, for the most part concern themselves as little about the\nevents of the war, as though it were carried on in the South Sea.\nI fear I should risk an imputation on my veracity, were I to describe the\nextreme ignorance and inattention of the French with respect to public\nmen and measures. They draw no conclusions from the past, form no\nconjectures for the future, and, after exclaiming \"Il ne peut pas durer\ncomme cela,\" they, with a resignation which is certainly neither pious\nnor philosophic, leave the rest to the agency of Providence.--Even those\nwho are more informed so bewilder themselves in the politics of Greece\nand Rome, that they do not perceive how little these are applicable to\ntheir own country. Indeed, it should seem that no modern age or people\nis worthy the knowledge of a Frenchman.--I have often remarked, in the\ncourse of our correspondence, how little they are acquainted with what\nregards England or the English; and scarcely a day passes that I have not\noccasion to make the same observation.\nMy conductor hither, who is a friend of Mad. de T____, and esteemed \"bien\ninstruit,\" was much surprized when I told him that the population and\nsize of London exceeded that of Paris--that we had good fruit, and better\nvegetables than were to be found in many parts of France. I saw that he\nsuspected my veracity, and there is always on these occasions such a\ndecided and impenetrable incredulity in a Frenchman as precludes all\nhopes of convincing him. He listens with a sort of self-sufficient\ncomplacence which tells you he does not consider your assertions as any\nthing more than the exaggerations of national vanity, but that his\npoliteness does not allow him to contradict you. I know nothing more\ndisgustingly impertinent than his ignorance, which intrenches itself\nbehind the forms of civility, and, affecting to decline controversy,\nassumes the merit of forbearance and moderation: yet this must have been\noften observed by every one who has lived much in French society: for the\nfirst emotion of a Frenchman, on hearing any thing which tends to place\nanother country on an equality with France, is doubt--this doubt is\ninstantly reinforced by vanity--and, in a few seconds, he is perfectly\nsatisfied that the thing is impossible.\nOne must be captious indeed to object to this, did it arise from that\npatriotic feeling so common in the English; but here it is all vanity,\ndownright vanity: a Frenchman must have his country and his mistress\nadmired, though he does not often care much for either one or the other.\nI have been in various parts of France in the most critical periods of\nthe revolution--I have conversed with people of all parties and of all\nranks--and I assert, that I have never yet met but with one man who had a\ngrain of real patriotism. If the Athenian law were adopted which doomed\nall to death who should be indifferent to the public welfare in a time of\ndanger, I fear there would be a woeful depopulation here, even among the\nloudest champions of democracy.\nIt is not thirty miles from Amiens to Peronne, yet a journey of thirty\nmiles is not now to be undertaken inconsiderately; the horses are so much\nworked, and so ill fed, that few perform such a distance without rest and\nmanagement. If you wish to take others, and continue your route, you\ncannot, or if you wait while your own horses are refreshed, as a reward\nfor your humanity you get starved yourself. Bread being very scarce, no\nfamily can get more than sufficient for its own consumption, and those\nwho travel without first supplying themselves, do it at the risk of\nfinding none on the road.\nPeronne is chiefly remarkable in history for never having been taken, and\nfor a tower where Louis XI. was confined for a short time, after being\noutwitted in a manner somewhat surprizing for a Monarch who piqued\nhimself on his talents for intrigue, by Charles le Temeraire, Duke of\nBurgundy. It modern reputation, arises from its election of the Abbe\nMaury for its representative, and for entertaining political principles\nevery way analogous to such a choice.\nI found the Marquise much altered in her person, and her health much\nimpaired, by the frequent alarms and continual apprehensions she had been\nsubject to at Paris. Fortunately she has no imputation against her but\nher rank and fortune, for she is utterly guiltless of all political\nopinions; so that I hope she will be suffered to knit stockings, tend her\nbirds and dogs, and read romances in peace.--Yours, &c. &c.\nAugust 1, 1793.\nWhen the creation of assignats was first proposed, much ingenuity was\nemployed in conjecturing, and much eloquence displayed in expatiating\nupon, the various evils that might result from them; yet the genius of\nparty, however usually successful in gloomy perspective, did not at that\ntime imagine half the inconvenience this measure was fraught with. It\nwas easy, indeed, to foresee, that an immense circulation of paper, like\nany other currency, must augment the price of every thing; but the\nexcessive discredit of the assignats, operating accessarily to their\nquantity, has produced a train of collateral effects of greater magnitude\nthan even those that were originally apprehended. Within the last twelve\nmonths the whole country are become monopolizers--the desire of realizing\nhas so possessed all degrees of people, that there is scarcely an article\nof consumption which is not bought up and secreted. One would really\nsuppose that nothing was perishable but the national credit--the\nnobleman, the merchant, the shopkeeper, all who have assignats, engage in\nthese speculations, and the necessities of our dissipated heirs do not\ndrive them to resources for obtaining money more whimsical than the\ncommerce now practised here to get rid of it. I know a beau who has\nconverted his _hypotheque_ [Mortgage.] on the national domains into train\noil, and a General who has given these \"airy nothings\" the substance and\nform of hemp and leather!*\n * In the late rage for monopolies in France, a person who had\n observed the vast daily consumption of onions, garlic, and\n eschalots, conceived the project of making the whole district of\n Amiens tributary for this indispensible article. In consequence, he\n attended several market-days, and purchased all that came in his\n way. The country people finding a ready sale for their onions,\n poured in from all quarters, and our projector found that, in\n proportion as he bought, the market became more profusely supplied,\n and that the commodity he had hoped to monopolize was inexhaustible.\nGoods purchased from such motives are not as you may conceive sold till\nthe temptation of an exorbitant profit seduces the proprietor to risk a\nmomentary possession of assignats, which are again disposed of in a\nsimilar way. Thus many necessaries of life are withdrawn from\ncirculation, and when a real scarcity ensues, they are produced to the\npeople, charged with all the accumulated gains of these intermediate\nbarters.\nThis illiberal and pernicious commerce, which avarice and fear have for\nsome time kept in great activity, has at length attracted the notice of\nthe Convention, and very severe laws are now enacted against monopolies\nof all kinds. The holder of any quantity of merchandize beyond what he\nmay be supposed to consume is obliged to declare it to his municipality,\nand to expose the articles he deals in in writing over his door. These\nclauses, as well as every other part of the decree, seem very wise and\nequitable; but I doubt if the severity of the punishment annexed to any\ntransgression of it will not operate so as to defeat the purposes\nintended to be produced. A false declaration is punishable by six years\nimprisonment, and an absolute non-compliance with death.--Blackstone\nremarks, that it is the certainty, not the severity, of punishment, which\nmakes laws efficacious; and this must ever be the case amongst an humane\npeople.--An inordinate desire of gain is not often considered by mankind\nas very criminal, and those who would willingly subject it to its\nadequate punishment of fine and confiscation, will hesitate to become the\nmeans of inflicting death on the offender, or of depriving him of his\nliberty. The Poets have, from time immemorial, claimed a kind of\nexclusive jurisdiction over the sin of avarice: but, unfortunately, minds\nonce steeled by this vice are not often sensible to the attacks of\nridicule; and I have never heard that any poet, from Plautus to Moliere,\nhas reformed a single miser. I am not, therefore, sorry that our\nlegislature has encroached on this branch of the poetical prerogative,\nand only wish that the mild regimen of the Muses had been succeeded by\nsomething less rigid than the prison or the guillotine. It is true,\nthat, in the present instance, it is not the ordinary and habitual\npractice of avarice that has called forth the severity of the laws, but a\nspecies so destructive and extensive in its consequences, that much may\nbe said in defence of any penalty short of death; and such is the general\ndistrust of the paper-money, that I really believe, had not some measure\nof the kind been adopted, no article susceptible of monopoly would have\nbeen left for consumption. There are, however, those who retort on the\ngovernment, and assert, that the origin of the evil is in the waste and\npeculation of its agents, which also make the immense emission of paper\nmore necessary; and they are right in the fact, though not in their\ndeduction, for as the evil does exist whatever may be the cause, it is\ncertainly wise to endeavour to remedy it.\nThe position of Valenciennes, which is supposed to be on the eve of a\nsurrender--the progress of the insurgents in La Vendee--the discontents\nin the South--and the charge of treachery against so many of the\nGenerals, and particularly Custine--all together seem to have agitated\nthe public extremely: yet it is rather the agitation of uncertainty than\nthat occasioned by any deep impression of hope or fear. The people wish\nto be relieved from their present situation, yet are without any\ndeterminate views for the future; and, indeed, in this part of the\ncountry, where they have neither leaders nor union, it would be very\ndifficult for them to take a more active part.\nThe party of the foederalists languish, merely because it is nothing more\nthan a party, and a party of which the heads excite neither interest nor\nesteem. I conclude you learn from the papers all the more important\nevents, and I confine myself, as usual, to such details as I think less\nlikely to reach you. The humanity of the English must often banish their\npolitical animosities when they read what passes here; and thousands of\nmy countrymen must at this moment lament with me the situation to which\nFrance is reduced by projects in which common sense can distinguish no\nmedium between wickedness and folly.\nAll apparent attachment to royalism is now cautiously avoided, but the\nroyalists do not diminish by persecution, and the industry with which\nthey propagate their opinions is nearly a match for all the force armee\nof the republicans.--It is not easy to print pamphlets or newspapers, but\nthere are certain shops which one would think were discovered by\ninstinct, where are sold a variety of mysterious emblems of royalty, such\nas fans that have no visible ornaments except landscapes, &c. but when\nopened by the initiated, present tolerable likenesses of the Royal\nFamily; snuff-boxes with secret lids, containing miniature busts of the\nlate King; and music so ingeniously printed, that what to the common eye\noffers only some popular air, when folded so as to join the heads and\ntails of the notes together, forms sentences of very treasonable import,\nand by no means flattering to the existing government--I have known these\ninterdicted trifles purchased at extravagant prices by the best-reputed\npatriots, and by officers who in public breathe nothing but unconquerable\ndemocracy, and detestation of Kings. Yet, though these things are\ncirculated with extreme caution, every body has something of the sort,\nand, as Charles Surface says, \"for my part, I don't see who is out of the\nsecret.\"\nThe belief in religious miracles is exploded, and it is only in political\nones that the faith of the people is allowed to exercise itself.--We have\nlately seen exhibited at the fairs and markets a calf, produced into the\nworld with the tri-coloured cockade on its head; and on the painted cloth\nthat announces the phoenomenon is the portrait of this natural\nrevolutionist, with a mayor and municipality in their official scarfs,\naddressing the four-footed patriot with great ceremony.\nWe set out early to-morrow-morning for Soissons, which is about twenty\nleagues from hence. Travelling is not very desirable in the present\ncircumstances, but Mad. de F____ has some affairs to settle there which\ncannot well be entrusted to a third person. The times, however, have a\nvery hostile appearance, and we intend, if possible, to be absent but\nthree days.--Yours.\nSoissons, August 4, 1793.\n\"And you may go by Beauvais if you will, for which reason many go by\nBeauvais;\" and the stranger who turns out of his road to go by Soissons,\nmust use the same reasoning, for the consciousness of having exercised\nhis free agency will be all his reward for visiting Soissons. This, by\nthe way; for my journey hither not being one of curiosity, I have no\nright to complain; yet somehow or other, by associating the idea of the\nfamous Vase, the ancient residence of the first French Kings, and other\ncircumstances as little connected as these I suppose with modern history,\nI had ranked Soissons in my imagination as one of the places I should see\nwith interest. I find it, however, only a dull, decent-looking town,\ntolerably large, but not very populous. In the new division of France it\nis the capital of the department De l'Aisne, and is of course the seat of\nthe administration.\nWe left Peronne early, and, being so fortunate as to encounter no\naccidental delays, we arrived within a league of Soissons early in the\nafternoon. Mad. de F____, recollecting an acquaintance who has a chateau\nnot far out of our road, determined to stop an hour or two; for, as she\nsaid, her friend was so \"fond of the country,\" she should be sure to find\nhim there. We did, indeed, find this Monsieur, who is so \"fond of the\ncountry,\" at home, extremely well powdered, dressed in a striped silk\ncoat, and engaged with a card party, on a warm afternoon on the third of\nAugust.--The chateau was situated as a French chateau usually is, so as\nto be benefited by all the noises and odours of the village--built with a\nlarge single front, and a number of windows so judiciously placed, that\nit must be impossible either to be cool in summer or warm in winter.\nWe walked out after taking some coffee, and I learned that this lover of\nthe country did not keep a single acre of land in his own hands, but that\nthe part immediately contiguous to the house was cultivated for a certain\nshare of the profit by a farmer who lives in a miserable looking place\nadjoining, and where I saw the operations of the dairy-maid carried on\namidst pigs, ducks, and turkeys, who seemed to have established a very\nfamiliar access.\nPrevious to our arrival at Soissons, the Marquise (who, though she does\nnot consider me as an aristocrate, knows I am by no means a republican,)\nbegged me to be cautious in expressing my sentiments, as the Comte de\n____, where we were going, had embraced the principles of the revolution\nvery warmly, and had been much blamed by his family on this account.\nMad. de F____ added, that she had not seen him for above a year, but that\nshe believed him still to be \"extremement patriote.\"\nWe reached Mons. de ____'s just as the family were set down to a very\nmoderate supper, and I observed that their plate had been replaced by\npewter. After the first salutations were over, it was soon visible that\nthe political notions of the count were much changed. He is a sensible\nreflecting man, and seems really to wish the good of his country. He\nthinks, with many others, that all the good effects which might have been\nobtained by the revolution will be lost through the contempt and hatred\nwhich the republican government has drawn upon it.\nMons. de ____ has two sons who have distinguished themselves very\nhonourably in the army, and he has himself made great pecuniary\nsacrifices; but this has not secured him from numerous domiciliary visits\nand vexations of all kinds. The whole family are at intervals a little\npensive, and Mons. de ____ told us, at a moment when the ladies were\nabsent, that the taking of Valenciennes had occasioned a violent\nfermentation at Paris, and that he had serious apprehensions for those\nwho have the misfortune to be distinguished by their rank, or obnoxious\nfrom their supposed principles--that he himself, and all who were\npresumed to have an attachment to the constitution of eighty-nine, were\nmuch more feared, and of course more suspected, than the original\naristocrates--and \"enfin\" that he had made up his mind a la Francaise to\nthe worst that could happen.\nI have just run over the papers of the day, and I perceive that the\ndebates of the Convention are filled with invectives against the English.\nA letter has been very opportunely found on the ramparts of Lisle, which\nis intended to persuade the people that the British government has\ndistributed money and phosphoric matches in every town in France--the one\nto provoke insurrection, the other to set fire to the corn.* You will\nconclude this letter to be a fabrication, and it is imagined and executed\nwith so little ingenuity, that I doubt whether it will impose on the most\nignorant of the people for a moment.\n * \"The National Convention, in the name of violated humanity,\n denounces to all the world, and to the people of England in\n particular, the base, perfidious, and wicked conduct of the British\n government, which does not hesitate to employ fire, poison,\n assassination, and every other crime, to procure the triumph of\n tyranny, and the destruction of the rights of man.\" (Decree, 1st\nThe Queen has been transferred to the Conciergerie, or common prison, and\na decree is passed for trying her; but perhaps at this moment (whatever\nmay be the result hereafter) they only hope her situation may operate as\na check upon the enemy; at least I have heard it doubted by many whether\nthey intend to proceed seriously on this trial so long threatened.--\nPerhaps I may have before noticed to you that the convention never seemed\ncapable of any thing great or uniform, and that all their proceedings\ntook a tinge from that frivolity and meanness which I am almost tempted\nto believe inherent in the French character. They have just now, amidst\na long string of decrees, the objects of which are of the first\nconsequence, inserted one for the destruction of all the royal tombs\nbefore the tenth of August, and another for reducing the expences of the\nKing's children, particularly their food, to bare necessaries. Had our\nEnglish revolutionists thus employed themselves, they might have expelled\nthe sculptured Monarchs from the Abbey, and waged a very successful war\non the admirers of Gothic antiquity; but neither the Stuarts, nor the\nCatholic religion, would have had much to fear from them.\nWe have been wandering about the town all day, and I have not remarked\nthat the successes of the enemy have occasioned any regret. When I was\nin France three years ago, you may recollect that my letters usually\ncontained some relation of our embarrassment and delays, owing to the\nfear and ignorance of the people. At one place they apprehended the\nintroduction of foreign troops--at another, that the Comte d'Artois was\nto burn all the corn. In short, the whole country teemed with plots and\ncounterplots, every one of which was more absurd and inexplicable than\nthose of Oates, with his whole tribe of Jesuits. At present, when a\npowerful army is invading the frontiers, and people have not in many\nplaces bread to eat, they seem to be very little solicitous about the\nformer, and as little disposed to blame the aristocrates for the latter.\nIt is really extraordinary, after all the pains that have been taken to\nexcite hatred and resentment against the English, that I have not heard\nof a single instance of their having been insulted or molested. Whatever\ninconveniencies they may have been subjected to, were acts of the\ngovernment, not of the people; and perhaps this is the first war between\nthe two nations in which the reverse has not been the case.\nI accompanied Mad. de ____ this afternoon to the house of a rich\nmerchant, where she had business, and who, she told me, had been a\nfurious patriot, but his ardour is now considerably abated. He had just\nreturned from the department, [Here used for the place where the public\nbusiness is transacted.] where his affairs had led him; and he assures\nus, that in general the agents of the republic were more inaccessible,\nmore insolent, corrupt, and ignorant, than any employed under the old\ngovernment. He demurred to paying Mad. de ____ a sum of money all in\n_assignats a face;_* and this famous patriot would readily have given me\nan hundred livres for a pound sterling.\n * _Assignats a face_--that is, with the King's effigy; at this time\n greatly preferred to those issued after his death.\nWe shall return to Peronne to-morrow, and I have availed myself of the\nhour between cards and supper, which is usually employed by the French in\nundressing, to scribble my remarks. In some families, I suppose, supping\nin dishabille is an arrangement of oeconomy, in others of ease; but I\nalways think it has the air of preparation for a very solid meal; and, in\neffect, supping is not a mere ceremony with either sex in this country.\nI learnt in conversation with M. de ____, whose sons were at Famars when\nthe camp was forced, that the carnage was terrible, and that the loss of\nthe French on this occasion amounted to several thousands. You will be\ninformed of this much more accurately in England, but you will scarcely\nimagine that no official account was ever published here, and that in\ngeneral the people are ignorant of the circumstance, and all the\ndisasters attending it. In England, you have opposition papers that\namply supply the omissions of the ministerial gazettes, and often dwell\nwith much complacence on the losses and defeats of their country; here\nnone will venture to publish the least event which they suppose the\ngovernment wish to keep concealed. I am told, a leading feature of\nrepublican governments is to be extremely jealous of the liberty of the\npress, and that of France is, in this respect, truly republican.--Adieu.\nPeronne, August, 1793.\nI have often regretted, my dear brother, that my letters have for some\ntime been rather intended to satisfy your curiosity than your affection.\nAt this moment I feel differently, and I rejoice that the inquietude and\ndanger of my situation will, probably, not come to your knowledge till I\nshall be no longer subject to them. I have been for several days unwell,\nand yet my body, valetudinarian as I am at best, is now the better part\nof me; for my mind has been so deranged by suspense and terror, that I\nexpect to recover my health long before I shall be able to tranquillize\nmy spirits.\nOn our return from Soissons I found, by the public prints, that a decree\nhad passed for arresting all natives of the countries with which France\nis at war, and who had not constantly resided there since 1789.--This\nintelligence, as you will conceive, sufficiently alarmed me, and I lost\nno time in consulting Mad. de ____'s friends on the subject, who were\ngenerally of opinion that the decree was merely a menace, and that it was\ntoo unjust to be put in execution. As some days elapsed and no steps\nwere taken in consequence, I began to think they were right, and my\nspirits were somewhat revived; when one evening, as I was preparing to go\nto bed, my maid suddenly entered the room, and, before she could give me\nany previous explanation, the apartment was filled with armed men. As\nsoon as I was collected enough to enquire the object of this unseasonable\nvisit, I learned that all this military apparel was to put the seals on\nmy papers, and convey my person to the Hotel de Ville!--I knew it would\nbe vain to remonstrated, and therefore made an effort to recover my\nspirits and submit. The business, however, was not yet terminated, my\npapers were to be sealed--and though they were not very voluminous, the\nprocess was more difficult than you would imagine, none of the company\nhaving been employed on affairs of the kind before. A debate ensued on\nthe manner in which it should be done, and, after a very tumultuous\ndiscussion, it was sagaciously concluded to seal up the doors and windows\nof all the apartments appropriated to my use. They then discovered that\nthey had no seal fit for the purpose, and a new consultation was holden\non the propriety of affixing a cypher which was offered them by one of\nthe Garde Nationale.\nThis weighty matter being at length decided, the doors of my bedchamber,\ndressing-room, and of the apartments with which they communicated, were\ncarefully fastened up, though not without an observation on my part that\nI was only a guest at Mad. de ____'s, and that an order to seize my\npapers or person was not a mandate for rendering a part of her home\nuseless. But there was no reasoning with ignorance and a score of\nbayonets, nor could I obtain permission even to take some linen out of my\ndrawers. On going down stairs, I found the court and avenues to the\ngarden amply guarded, and with this numerous escort, and accompanied by\nMad. de ____, I was conducted to the Hotel de Ville. I know not what\nresistance they might expect from a single female, but, to judge by their\nprecautions, they must have deemed the adventure a very perilous one.\nWhen we arrived at the Hotel de Ville, it was near eleven o'clock: the\nhall was crouded, and a young man, in a dirty linen jacket and trowsers\nand dirty linen, with the air of a Polisson and the countenance of an\nassassin, was haranguing with great vehemence against the English, who,\nhe asserted, were all agents of Pitt, (especially the women,) and were to\nset fire to the corn, and corrupt the garrisons of the fortified towns.--\nThe people listened to these terrible projects with a stupid sort of\nsurprize, and, for the most part, seemed either very careless or very\nincredulous. As soon as this inflammatory piece of eloquence was\nfinished, I was presented to the ill-looking orator, who, I learned, was\na representant du peuple. It was very easy to perceive that my spirits\nwere quite overpowered, and that I could with difficulty support myself;\nbut this did not prevent the representant du peuple from treating me with\nthat inconsiderable brutality which is commonly the effect of a sudden\naccession of power on narrow and vulgar minds. After a variety of\nimpertinent questions, menaces of a prison for myself, and exclamations\nof hatred and vengeance against my country, on producing some friends of\nMad. de ____, who were to be answerable for me, I was released, and\nreturned home more dead than alive.\nYou must not infer, from what I have related, that I was particularly\ndistinguished on this occasion, for though I have no acquaintance with\nthe English here, I understand they had all been treated much in the same\nmanner.--As soon as the representant had left the town, by dint of\nsolicitation we prevailed on the municipality to take the seal off the\nrooms, and content themselves with selecting and securing my papers,\nwhich was done yesterday by a commission, formally appointed for the\npurpose. I know not the quality of the good citizens to whom this\nimportant charge was entrusted, but I concluded from their costume that\nthey had been more usefully employed the preceding part of the day at the\nanvil and last. It is certain, however, they had undertaken a business\ngreatly beyond their powers. They indeed turned over all my trunks and\ndrawers, and dived to the bottom of water-jugs and flower-jars with great\nzeal, but neglected to search a large portfolio that lay on the table,\nprobably from not knowing the use of it; and my servant conveyed away\nsome letters, while I amused them with the sight of a blue-bottle fly\nthrough a microscope. They were at first much puzzled to know whether\nbooks and music were included under the article of papers, and were very\ndesirous of burning a history of France, because they discovered, by the\ntitle-plate, that it was \"about Kings;\" but the most difficult part of\nthis momentous transaction was taking an account of it in writing.\nHowever, as only one of the company could write, there was no disputing\nas to the scribe, though there was much about the manner of execution. I\ndid not see the composition, but I could hear that it stated \"comme\nquoi,\" they had found the seals unbroken, \"comme quoi,\" they had taken\nthem off, and divers \"as hows\" of the same kind. The whole being\nconcluded, and my papers deposited in a box, I was at length freed from\nmy guests, and left in possession of my apartments.\nIt is impossible to account for this treatment of the English by any mode\nof reasoning that does not exclude both justice and policy; and viewing\nit only as a symptom of that desperate wickedness which commits evil, not\nas a means, but an end, I am extremely alarmed for our situation. At\nthis moment the whole of French politics seems to center in an endeavour\nto render the English odious both as a nation and as individuals. The\nConvention, the clubs, and the streets of Paris, resound with low abuse\nof this tendency; and a motion was made in the former, by one Garnier, to\nprocure the assassination of Mr. Pitt. Couthon, a member of the Comite\nde Salut Publique, has proposed and carried a decree to declare him the\nenemy of mankind; and the citizens of Paris are stunned by the hawkers of\nMr. Pitt's plots with the Queen to \"starve all France,\" and \"massacre all\nthe patriots.\"--Amidst so many efforts* to provoke the destruction of the\nEnglish, it is wonderful, when we consider the sanguinary character which\nthe French people have lately evinced, that we are yet safe, and it is in\neffect only to be accounted for by their disinclination to take any part\nin the animosities of their government.\n * When our representative appeared at Abbeville with an intention of\n arresting the English and other foreigners, the people, to whom\n these missionaries with unlimited powers were yet new, took the\n alarm, and became very apprehensive that he was come likewise to\n disarm their Garde Nationale. The streets were crouded, the town\n house was beset, and Citizen Dumout found it necessary to quiet the\n town's people by the following proclamation. One part of his\n purpose, that of insuring his personal safety, was answered by it;\n but that of exciting the people against the English, failed--\n insomuch, that I was told even the lowest classes, so far from\n giving credit to the malignant calumnies propagated against the\n English, openly regretted their arrestation.\n \"Citizens,\n \"On my arrival amongst you, I little thought that malevolence would\n be so far successful as to alarm you on the motives of my visit.\n Could the aristocrates, then, flatter themselves with the hope of\n making you believe I had the intention of disarming you? Be deaf, I\n beseech you, to so absurd a calumny, and seize on those who\n propagate it. I came here to fraternize with you, and to assist you\n in getting rid of those malcontents and foreigners, who are striving\n to destroy the republic by the most infernal manoeuvres.--An\n horrible plot has been conceived. Our harvests are to be fired by\n means of phosphoric matches, and all the patriots assassinated.\n Women, priests, and foreigners, are the instruments employed by the\n coalesced despots, and by England above all, to accomplish these\n criminal designs.--A law of the first of this month orders the\n arrest of all foreigners born in the countries with which the\n republic is at war, and not settled in France before the month of\n July, 1789. In execution of this law I have required domiciliary\n visits to be made. I have urged the preservation of the public\n tranquillity. I have therefore done my duty, and only what all good\n citizens must approve.\"\nI have just received a few lines from Mrs. D____, written in French, and\nput in the post without sealing. I perceive, by the contents, though she\nenters into no details, that circumstances similar to those I have\ndescribed have likewise taken place at Amiens. In addition to my other\nanxieties, I have the prospect of a long separation from my friends; for\nthough I am not in confinement, I cannot, while the decree which arrested\nme remains in force, quit the town of Peronne. I have not often looked\nforward with so little hope, or so little certainty, and though a\nfirst-rate philosopher might make up his mind to a particular event, yet\nto be prepared for any thing, and all things, is a more difficult\nmatter.\nThe histories of Greece and Rome have long constituted the grand\nresources of French eloquence, and it is not till within a few days that\nan orator has discovered all this good learning to be of no use--not, as\nyou might imagine, because the moral character and political situation of\nthe French differ from those of the Greeks and Romans, but because they\nare superior to all the people who ever existed, and ought to be cited as\nmodels, instead of descending to become copyists. \"Therefore, continues\nthis Jacobin sage, (whose name is Henriot, and who is highly popular,)\nlet us burn all the libraries and all the antiquities, and have no guide\nbut ourselves--let us cut off the heads of all the Deputies who have not\nvoted according to our principles, banish or imprison all the gentry and\nthe clergy, and guillotine the Queen and General Custine!\"\nThese are the usual subjects of discussion at the clubs, and the\nConvention itself is not much more decent. I tremble when I recollect\nthat I am in a country where a member of the legislature proposes rewards\nfor assassination, and the leader of a society, that pretends to inform\nand instruct the people, argues in favour of burning all the books. The\nFrench are on the eve of exhibiting the singular spectacle of a nation\nenlightened by science, accustomed to the benefit of laws and the\nenjoyment of arts, suddenly becoming barbarous by system, and sinking\ninto ignorance from choice.--When the Goths shared the most curious\nantiques by weight, were they not more civilized than the Parisian of\n1793, who disturbs the ashes of Henry the Fourth, or destroys the\nmonument of Turenne, by a decree?--I have myself been forced to an act\nvery much in the spirit of the times, but I could not, without risking my\nown safety, do otherwise; and I sat up late last night for the purpose of\nburning Burke, which I had brought with me, but had fortunately so well\nconcealed, that it escaped the late inquisition. I indeed made this\nsacrifice to prudence with great unwillingness--every day, by confirming\nMr. Burke's assertions, or fulfilling his predictions, had so increased\nmy reverence for the work, that I regarded it as a kind of political\noracle. I did not, however, destroy it without an apologetic apostrophe\nto the author's benevolence, which I am sure would suffer, were he to be\nthe occasion, though involuntarily, of conducting a female to a prison or\nthe Guillotine.\n\"How chances mock, and changes fill the cup of alteration up with divers\nliquors.\"--On the same hearth, and in a mingled flame, was consumed the\nvery constitution of 1789, on which Mr. Burke's book was a censure, and\nwhich would now expose me to equal danger were it to be found in my\npossession. In collecting the ashes of these two compositions, the\ntendency of which is so different, (for such is the complexion of the\nmoment, that I would not have even the servant suspect I had been burning\na quantity of papers,) I could not but moralize on the mutability of\npopular opinion. Mr. Burke's Gallic adversaries are now most of them\nproscribed and anathematized more than himself. Perhaps another year may\nsee his bust erected on the piedestal which now supports that of Brutus\nor Le Pelletier.\nThe letters I have written to you since the communication was\ninterrupted, with some other papers that I am solicitous to preserve,\nI have hitherto always carried about me, and I know not if any danger,\nmerely probable, will induce me to part with them. You will not, I\nthink, suspect me of attaching any consequence to my scribblings from\nvanity; and if I run some personal risk in keeping them, it is because\nthe situation of this country is so singular, and the events which occur\nalmost daily so important, that the remarks of any one who is unlucky\nenough to be a spectator, may interest, without the advantage of literary\ntalents.--Yours.\nPeronne, August 24, 1793.\nI have been out to-day for the first time since the arrest of the\nEnglish, and, though I have few acquaintances here, my adventure at the\nHotel de Ville has gained me a sort of popularity. I was saluted by many\npeople I did not know, and overwhelmed with expressions of regret for\nwhat had happened, or congratulations on my having escaped so well.\nThe French are not commonly very much alive to the sufferings of others,\nand it is some mortification to my vanity that I cannot, but at the\nexpence of a reproaching conscience, ascribe the civilities I have\nexperienced on this occasion to my personal merit. It would doubtless\nhave been highly flattering to me to relate the tender and general\ninterest I had excited even among this cold-hearted people, who scarcely\nfeel for themselves: but the truth is, they are disposed to take the part\nof any one whom they think persecuted by their government; and their\nrepresentative, Dumont, is so much despised in his private character, and\ndetested in his public one, that it suffices to have been ill treated by\nhim, to ensure one a considerable portion of the public good will.\nThis disposition is not a little consolatory, at a time when the whole\nrage of an oligarchical tyranny, though impotent against the English as a\nnation, meanly exhausts itself on the few helpless individuals within its\npower. Embarrassments accumulate and if Mr. Pitt's agents did not most\nobligingly write letters, and these letters happen to be intercepted just\nwhen they are most necessary, the Comite de Salut Publique would be at a\nloss how to account for them.\nAssignats have fallen into a discredit beyond example, an hundred and\nthirty livres having been given for one Louis-d'or; and, as if this were\nnot the natural result of circumstances like the present, a\ncorrespondence between two Englishmen informs us, that it is the work of\nMr. Pitt, who, with an unparalleled ingenuity, has contrived to send\ncouriers to every town in France, to concert measures with the bankers\nfor this purpose. But if we may believe Barrere, one of the members of\nthe Committee, this atrocious policy of Mr. Pitt will not be unrevenged,\nfor another intercepted letter contains assurances that an hundred\nthousand men have taken up arms in England, and are preparing to march\nagainst the iniquitous metropolis that gives this obnoxious Minister\nshelter.\nMy situation is still the same--I have no hope of returning to Amiens,\nand have just reason to be apprehensive for my tranquillity here. I had\na long conversation this morning with two people whom Dumont has left\nhere to keep the town in order during his absence. The subject was to\nprevail on them to give me a permission to leave Peronne, but I could not\nsucceed. They were not, I believe, indisposed to gratify me, but were\nafraid of involving themselves. One of them expressed much partiality\nfor the English, but was very vehement in his disapprobation of their\nform of government, which he said was \"detestable.\" My cowardice did not\npermit me to argue much in its behalf, (for I look upon these people as\nmore dangerous than the spies of the old police,) and I only ventured to\nobserve, with great diffidence, that though the English government was\nmonarchical, yet the power of the Crown was very much limited; and that\nas the chief subjects of our complaints at present were not our\ninstitutions, but certain practical errors, they might be remedied\nwithout any violent or radical changes; and that our nobility were\nneither numerous nor privileged, and by no means obnoxious to the\nmajority of the people.--_\"Ah, vous avez donc de la noblesse blesse en\nAngleterre, ce sont peut-etre les milords,\"_ [\"What, you have nobility in\nEngland then? The milords, I suppose.\"] exclaimed our republican, and it\noperated on my whole system of defence like my uncle Toby's smoke-jack,\nfor there was certainly no discussing the English constitution with a\npolitical critic, who I found was ignorant even of the existence of a\nthird branch of it; yet this reformer of governments and abhorrer of\nKings has power delegated to him more extensive than those of an English\nSovereign, though I doubt if he can write his own language; and his moral\nreputation is still less in his favour than his ignorance--for, previous\nto the revolution, he was known only as a kind of swindler, and has more\nthan once been nearly convicted of forgery.--This is, however, the\ndescription of people now chiefly employed, for no honest man would\naccept of such commissions, nor perform the services annexed to them.\nBread continues very scarce, and the populace of Paris are, as usual,\nvery turbulent; so that the neighbouring departments are deprived of\ntheir subsistence to satisfy the wants of a metropolis that has no claim\nto an exemption from the general distress, but that which arises from the\nfears of the Convention. As far as I have opportunity of learning or\nobserving, this part of France is in that state of tranquillity which is\nnot the effect of content but supineness; the people do not love their\ngovernment, but they submit to it, and their utmost exertions amount only\nto a little occasional obstinacy, which a few dragoons always reduce to\ncompliance. We are sometimes alarmed by reports that parties of the\nenemy are approaching the town, when the gates are shut, and the great\nbell is toll'd; but I do not perceive that the people are violently\napprehensive about the matter. Their fears are, I believe, for the most\npart, rather personal than political--they do not dread submission to the\nAustrians, but military licentiousness.\nI have been reading this afternoon Lord Orrery's definition of the male\nCecisbeo, and it reminds me that I have not yet noticed to you a very\nimportant class of females in France, who may not improperly be\ndenominated female Cecisbeos. Under the old system, when the rank of a\nwoman of fashion had enabled her to preserve a degree of reputation and\ninfluence, in spite of the gallantries of her youth and the decline of\nher charms, she adopted the equivocal character I here allude to, and,\nrelinquishing the adorations claimed by beauty, and the respect due to\nage, charitably devoted herself to the instruction and advancement of\nsome young man of personal qualifications and uncertain fortune. She\npresented him to the world, panegyrized him into fashion, and insured his\nconsequence with one set of females, by hinting his successes with\nanother. By her exertions he was promoted in the army or distinguished\nat the levee, and a career begun under such auspices often terminated in\na brilliant establishment.--In the less elevated circle, a female\nCecisbeo is usually of a certain age, of an active disposition, and great\nvolubility, and her functions are more numerous and less dignified. Here\nthe grand objects are not to besiege Ministers, nor give a \"ton\" to the\nprotege at a fashionable ruelle, but to obtain for him the solid\nadvantages of what she calls _\"un bon parti.\"_ [A good match.] To this\nend she frequents the houses of widows and heiresses, vaunts the docility\nof his temper, and the greatness of his expectations, enlarges on the\nsolitude of widowhood, or the dependence and insignificance of a\nspinster; and these prefatory encomiums usually end in the concerted\nintroduction of the Platonic \"ami.\"\nBut besides these principal and important cares, a female Cecisbeo of the\nmiddle rank has various subordinate ones--such as buying linen, choosing\nthe colour of a coat, or the pattern of a waistcoat, with all the\nminutiae of the favourite's dress, in which she is always consulted at\nleast, if she has not the whole direction.\nIt is not only in the first or intermediate classes that these useful\nfemales abound, they are equally common in more humble situations, and\nonly differ in their employments, not in their principles. A woman in\nFrance, whatever be her condition, cannot be persuaded to resign her\ninfluence with her youth; and the bourgeoise who has no pretensions to\ncourt favour or the disposal of wealthy heiresses, attaches her eleve by\nknitting him stockings, forcing him with bons morceaux till he has an\nindigestion, and frequent regales of coffee and liqueur.\nYou must not conclude from all this that there is any gallantry implied,\nor any scandal excited--the return for all these services is only a\nlittle flattery, a philosophic endurance of the card-table, and some\nskill in the disorders of lap-dogs. I know there are in England, as well\nas in France, many notable females of a certain age, who delight in what\nthey call managing, and who are zealous in promoting, matches among the\nyoung people of their acquaintance; but for one that you meet with in\nEngland there are fifty here.\nI doubt much if, upon the whole, the morals of the English women are not\nsuperior to those of the French; but however the question may be decided\nas to morals, I believe their superiority in decency of manners is\nindisputable--and this superiority is, perhaps, more conspicuous in women\nof a certain age, than in the younger part of the sex. We have a sort of\nnational regard for propriety, which deters a female from lingering on\nthe confines of gallantry, when age has warned her to withdraw; and an\nold woman that should take a passionate and exclusive interest about a\nyoung man not related to her, would become at least an object of\nridicule, if not of censure:--yet in France nothing is more common; every\nold woman appropriates some youthful dangler, and, what is extraordinary,\nhis attentions are not distinguishable from those he would pay to a\nyounger object.--I should remark, however, as some apology for these\njuvenile gallants, that there are very few of what we call Tabbies in\nFrance; that is, females of severe principles and contracted features, in\nwhose apparel every pin has its destination with mathematical exactness,\nwho are the very watch-towers of a neighbourhood, and who give the alarm\non the first appearance of incipient frailty. Here, antique dowagers and\nfaded spinsters are all gay, laughing, rouged, and indulgent--so that\n'bating the subtraction of teeth and addition of wrinkles, the disparity\nbetween one score and four is not so great:\n \"Gay rainbow silks their mellow charms enfold,\n Nought of these beauties but themselves is old.\"\nI know if I venture to add a word in defence of Tabbyhood, I shall be\nengaged in a war with yourself and all our young acquaintance; yet in\nthis age, which so liberally \"softens, and blends, and weakens, and\ndilutes\" away all distinctions, I own I am not without some partiality\nfor strong lines of demarcation; and, perhaps, when fifty retrogrades\ninto fifteen, it makes a worse confusion in society than the toe of the\npeasant treading on the heel of the courtier.--But, adieu: I am not gay,\nthough I trifle. I have learnt something by my residence in France, and\ncan be, as you see, frivolous under circumstances that ought to make me\ngrave.--Yours.\nPeronne, August 29, 1793.\nThe political horizon of France threatens nothing but tempests. If we\nare still tranquil here, it is only because the storm is retarded, and,\nfar from deeming ourselves secure from its violence, we suffer in\napprehension almost as much as at other places is suffered in reality.\nAn hundred and fifty people have been arrested at Amiens in one night,\nand numbers of the gentry in the neighbouring towns have shared the same\nfate. This measure, which I understand is general throughout the\nrepublic, has occasioned great alarms, and is beheld by the mass of the\npeople themselves with regret. In some towns, the Bourgeois have\npetitions to the Representatives on mission in behalf of their gentry\nthus imprisoned: but, far from succeeding, all who have signed such\npetitions are menaced and intimidated, and the terror is so much\nincreased, that I doubt if even this slight effort will be repeated any\nwhere.\nThe levee en masse, or rising in a body, which has been for some time\ndecreed, has not yet taken place. There are very few, I believe, that\ncomprehend it, and fewer who are disposed to comply. Many consultations\nhave been holden, many plans proposed; but as the result of all these\nconsultations and plans is to send a certain number to the frontiers, the\nsuffrages have never been unanimous except in giving their negative.--\nLike Falstaff's troops, every one has some good cause of exemption; and\nif you were to attend a meeting where this affair is discussed, you would\nconclude the French to be more physically miserable than any people on\nthe glove. Youths, in apparent good health, have internal disorders, or\nconcealed infirmities--some are near-sighted--others epileptic--one is\nnervous, and cannot present a musquet--another is rheumatic, and cannot\ncarry it. In short, according to their account, they are a collection of\nthe lame, the halt, and the blind, and fitter to send to the hospital,\nthan to take the field. But, in spite of all these disorders and\nincapacities, a considerable levy must be made, and the dragoons will, I\ndare say, operate very wonderful cures.\nThe surrender of Dunkirk to the English is regarded as inevitable. I am\nnot politician enough to foresee the consequences of such an event, but\nthe hopes and anxieties of all parties seem directed thither, as if the\nfate of the war depended on it. As for my own wishes on the subject,\nthey are not national, and if I secretly invoke the God of Armies for the\nsuccess of my countrymen, it is because I think all that tends to destroy\nthe present French government may be beneficial to mankind. Indeed, the\nsuccesses of war can at no time gratify a thinking mind farther than as\nthey tend to the establishment of peace.\nAfter several days of a mockery which was called a trial, though the\nwitnesses were afraid to appear, or the Counsel to plead in his favour,\nCustine has suffered at the Guillotine. I can be no judge of his\nmilitary conduct, and Heaven alone can judge of his intentions. None of\nthe charges were, however, substantiated, and many of them were absurd or\nfrivolous. Most likely, he has been sacrificed to a cabal, and his\ndestruction makes a part of that system of policy, which, by agitating\nthe minds of the people with suspicions of universal treason and\nunfathomable plots, leaves them no resource but implicit submission to\ntheir popular leaders.\nThe death of Custine seems rather to have stimulated than appeased the\nbarbarity of the Parisian mob. At every defeat of their armies they call\nfor executions, and several of those on whom the lot has fallen to march\nagainst the enemy have stipulated, at the tribune of the Jacobins, for\nthe heads they exact as a condition of their departure,* or as the reward\nfor their labours. The laurel has no attraction for heroes like these,\nwho invest themselves with the baneful yew and inauspicious cypress, and\ngo to the field of honour with the dagger of the assassin yet\nensanguined.\n * Many insisted they would not depart until after the death of the\n Queen--some claimed the death of one General, some that of another,\n and all, the lives or banishment of the gentry and clergy.\n\"Fair steeds, gay shields, bright arms,\" [Spencer.] the fancy-created\ndeity, the wreath of fame, and all that poets have imagined to decorate\nthe horrors of war, are not necessary to tempt the gross barbarity of the\nParisian: he seeks not glory, but carnage--his incentive is the groans of\ndefenceless victims--he inlists under the standard of the Guillotine, and\nacknowledges the executioner for his tutelary Mars.\nIn remarking the difficulties that have occurred in carrying into\nexecution the levee en masse, I neglected to inform you that the prime\nmover of all these machinations is your omnipotent Mr. Pitt--it is he who\nhas fomented the perverseness of the towns, and alarmed the timidity of\nthe villages--he has persuaded some that it is not pleasant to leave\ntheir shops and families, and insinuated into the minds of others that\ndeath or wounds are not very desirable--he has, in fine, so effectually\nachieved his purpose, that the Convention issues decree after decree, the\nmembers harangue to little purpose, and the few recruits already levied,\nlike those raised in the spring, go from many places strongly escorted to\nthe army.--I wish I had more peaceful and more agreeable subjects for\nyour amusement, but they do not present themselves, and \"you must blame\nthe times, not me.\" I would wish to tell you that the legislature is\nhonest, that the Jacobins are humane, and the people patriots; but you\nknow I have no talent for fiction, and if I had, my situation is not\nfavourable to any effort of fancy.--Yours.\nPeronne, Sept. 7, 1793.\nThe successes of the enemy on all sides, the rebellion at Lyons and\nMarseilles, with the increasing force of the insurgents in La Vendee,\nhave revived our eagerness for news, and if the indifference of the\nFrench character exempt them from more patriotic sensations, it does not\nbanish curiosity; yet an eventful crisis, which in England would draw\npeople together, here keeps them apart. When an important piece of\nintelligence arrives, our provincial politicians shut themselves up with\ntheir gazettes, shun society, and endeavour to avoid giving an opinion\nuntil they are certain of the strength of a party, or the success of an\nattempt. In the present state of public affairs, you may therefore\nconceive we have very little communication--we express our sentiments\nmore by looks and gestures than words, and Lavater (admitting his system)\nwould be of more use to a stranger than Boyer or Chambaud. If the\nEnglish take Dunkirk, perhaps we may be a little more social and more\ndecided.\nMad. de ____ has a most extensive acquaintance, and, as we are situated\non one of the roads from Paris to the northern army, notwithstanding the\ncautious policy of the moment, we are tolerably well informed of what\npasses in most parts of France; and I cannot but be astonished, when I\ncombine all I hear, that the government is able to sustain itself. Want,\ndiscord, and rebellion, assail it within--defeats and losses from\nwithout. Perhaps the solution of this political problem can only be\nfound in the selfishness of the French character, and the want of\nconnection between the different departments. Thus one part of the\ncountry is subdued by means of another: the inhabitants of the South take\nup arms in defence of their freedom and their commerce, while those of\nthe North refuse to countenance or assist them, and wait in selfish\ntranquillity till the same oppression is extended to themselves. The\nmajority of the people have no point of union nor mode of communication,\nwhile the Jacobins, whose numbers are comparatively insignificant, are\nstrong, by means of their general correspondence, their common center at\nParis, and the exclusive direction of all the public prints. But,\nwhatever are the causes, it is certain that the government is at once\npowerful and detested--almost without apparent support, yet difficult to\noverthrow; and the submission of Rome to a dotard and a boy can no longer\nexcite the wonder of any one who reflects on what passes in France.\nAfter various decrees to effect the levee en masse, the Convention have\ndiscovered that this sublime and undefined project was not calculated for\nthe present exhausted state of martial ardour. They therefore no longer\npresume on any movement of enthusiasm, but have made a positive and\nspecific requisition of all the male inhabitants of France between\neighteen and twenty-five years of age. This, as might be expected, has\nbeen more effectual, because it interests those that are exempt to force\nthe compliance of those who are not. Our young men here were like\nchildren with a medicine--they proposed first one form of taking this\nmilitary potion, then another, and finding them all equally unpalatable,\nwould not, but for a little salutary force, have decided at all.\nA new law has been passed for arresting all the English who cannot\nproduce two witnesses of their civisme, and those whose conduct is thus\nguaranteed are to receive tickets of hospitality, which they are to wear\nas a protection. This decree has not yet been carried into effect at\nPeronne, nor am I much disturbed about it. Few of our countrymen will\nfind the matter very difficult to arrange, and I believe they have all a\nbetter protection in the disposition of the people towards them, than any\nthat can be assured them by decrees of the Convention.\nSept. 11. The news of Lord Hood's taking possession of Toulon, which the\ngovernment affected to discredit for some days, is now ascertained; and\nthe Convention, in a paroxism of rage, at once cowardly and unprincipled,\nhas decreed that all the English not resident in France before 1789,\nshall be imprisoned as hostages, and be answerable with their lives for\nthe conduct of their countrymen and of the Toulonese towards Bayle and\nBeauvais, two Deputies, said to be detained in the town at the time of\nits surrender. My first emotions of terror and indignation have\nsubsided, and I have, by packing up my clothes, disposing of my papers,\nand providing myself with money, prepared for the worst. My friends,\nindeed, persuade me, (as on a former occasion,) that the decree is too\natrocious to be put in execution; but my apprehensions are founded on a\nprinciple not likely to deceive me--namely, that those who have possessed\nthemselves of the French government are capable of any thing. I live in\nconstant fear, watching all day and listening all night, and never go to\nbed but with the expectation of being awakened, nor rise without a\npresentiment of misfortune.--I have not spirits nor composure to write,\nand shall discontinue my letters until I am relieved from suspense, if\nnor from uneasiness. I risk much by preserving these papers, and,\nperhaps, may never be able to add to them; but whatever I may be reserved\nfor, while I have a hope they may reach you they shall not be destroyed.\n--I bid you adieu in a state of mind which the circumstances I am under\nwill describe better than words.--Yours.\nMaison d'Arret, Arras, Oct. 15, 1793.\nDear Brother,\nThe fears of a timid mind usually magnify expected evil, and anticipated\nsuffering often diminishes the effect of an apprehended blow; yet my\nimagination had suggested less than I have experienced, nor do I find\nthat a preparatory state of anxiety has rendered affliction more\nsupportable. The last month of my life has been a compendium of misery;\nand my recollection, which on every other subject seems to fail me, is,\non this, but too faithful, and will enable me to relate events which will\ninterest you not only as they personally concern me, but as they present\na picture of the barbarity and despotism to which this whole country is\nsubject, and to which many thousands besides myself were at the same\ninstant victims.\nA few evenings after I concluded my last, the firing of cannon and\nringing the great bell announced the arrival of Dumont (still\nRepresentative en mission in our department). The town was immediately\nin alarm, all the gates were shut, and the avenues leading to the\nramparts guarded by dragoons. Our house being in a distant and\nunfrequented street, before we could learn the cause of all this\nconfusion, a party of the national guard, with a municipal officer at\ntheir head, arrived, to escort Mad. de ___ and myself to a church, where\nthe Representant was then examining the prisoners brought before him.\nAlmost as much astonished as terrified, we endeavoured to procure some\ninformation of our conductors, as to what was to be the result of this\nmeasure; but they knew nothing, and it was easy to perceive they thought\nthe office they were executing an unpleasant one. The streets we passed\nwere crouded with people, whose silent consternation and dismayed\ncountenances increased our forebodings, and depressed the little courage\nwe had yet preserved. The church at our arrival was nearly empty, and\nDumont preparing to depart, when the municipal officer introduced us to\nhim. As soon as he learned that Mad. de ____ was the sister of an\nemigrant, and myself a native of England, he told us we were to pass the\nnight in a church appointed for the purpose, and that on the morrow we\nshould be conveyed to Arras. For a moment all my faculties became\nsuspended, and it was only by an effort almost convulsive that I was able\nto ask how long it was probable we should be deprived of our liberty. He\nsaid he did not know--\"but that the raising of the siege of Dunkirk, and\nthe loss of six thousand troops which the French had taken prisoners,\nwould doubtless produce an insurrection in England, par consequent a\npeace, and our release from captivity!\"\nYou may be assured I felt no desire of freedom on such terms, and should\nhave heard this ignorant and malicious suggestion only with contempt, had\nnot the implication it conveyed that our detention would not terminate\nbut with the war overwhelmed every other idea. Mad. de ____ then\npetitioned that we might, on account of our health, (for we were both\nreally unwell,) be permitted to go home for the night, accompanied by\nguards if it were thought necessary. But the Representant was\ninexorable, and in a brutal and despotic tone ordered us away.--When we\nreached the church, which was to be our prison till morning, we found\nabout an hundred and fifty people, chiefly old men, women, and children,\ndispersed in melancholy groupes, lamenting their situation, and imparting\ntheir fears to each other. The gloom of the building was increased by\nthe darkness of the night; and the noise of the guard, may of whom were\nintoxicated, the odour of tobacco, and the heat of the place, rendered\nour situation almost insupportable. We soon discovered several of our\nacquaintance, but this association in distress was far from consolatory,\nand we passed the time in wandering about together, and consulting upon\nwhat would be of most use to us in our confinement. We had, indeed,\nlittle to hope for from the morrow, yet the hours dragged on heavily, and\nI know not if ever I beheld the return of light with more pleasure. I\nwas not without apprehension for our personal safety. I recollected the\nmassacres in churches at Paris, and the frequent propositions that had\nbeen made to exterminate the gentry and clergy. Mad. de ____ has since\nconfessed, that she had the same ideas.\nMorning at length came, and our servants were permitted to enter with\nbreakfast. They appeared sorrowful and terror-stricken, but offered with\ngreat willingness to accompany us whithersoever we should be sent. After\na melancholy sort of discussion, it was decided that we should take our\nfemmes de chambres, and that the others should remain for the safety of\nthe house, and to send us what we might have occasion for. This settled,\nthey returned with such directions as we were able to give them, (God\nknows, not very coherent ones,) to prepare for our journey: and as our\norders, however confused, were not very voluminous, they were soon\nexecuted, and before noon every thing was in readiness for our departure.\nThe people employed by our companions were equally diligent, and we might\nvery well have set out by one o'clock, had our case been at all\nconsidered; but, I know not why, instead of so providing that we might\nreach our destination in the course of the day, it seemed to have been\npurposely contrived that we should be all night on the road, though we\nhad already passed one night without rest, and were exhausted by watching\nand fatigue.\nIn this uncertain and unpleasant state we waited till near six o'clock;\na number of small covered waggons were then brought, accompanied by a\ndetachment of dragoons, who were to be our escort. Some time elapsed, as\nyou may suppose, before we could be all settled in the carriages and such\na cavalcade put in motion; but the concourse of people that filled the\nstreets, the appearance of the troops, and the tumult occasioned by so\nmany horses and carriages, overpowered my spirits, and I remember little\nof what passed till I found we were on the road to Arras. Mad. de ____'s\nmaid now informed us, that Dumont had arrived the evening before in\nextreme ill humour, summoned the municipality in haste, enquired how many\npeople they had arrested, and what denunciations they had yet to make.\nThe whole body corporate trembled, they had arrested no one, and, still\nworse, they had no one to accuse; and could only alledge in their behalf,\nthat the town was in the utmost tranquillity, and the people were so well\ndisposed, that all violence was unnecessary. The Representant became\nfurious, vociferated _tout grossierement a la Francaise,_ [In the vulgar\nFrench manner.] that he knew there were five thousand aristocrates in\nPeronne, and that if he had not at least five hundred brought him before\nmorning, he would declare the town in a state of rebellion.\nAlarmed by this menace, they began to arrest with all possible speed,\nand were more solicitous to procure their number than to make\ndiscriminations. Their diligence, however, was inadequate to appease the\ncholeric legislator, and the Mayor, municipal officers, and all the\nadministrators of the district, were in the morning sent to the Castle,\nwhence they are to be conveyed, with some of their own prisoners, to\nAmiens.\nBesides this intelligence, we learned that before our servants had\nfinished packing up our trunks, some Commissioners of the section arrived\nto put the seals on every thing belonging to us, and it was not without\nmuch altercation that they consented to our being furnished with\nnecessaries--that they had not only sealed up all the house, but had\nplaced guards there, each of whom Mad. de ____ is to pay, at the rate of\ntwo shillings a day.\nWe were too large a body to travel fast, and by the time we reached\nBapaume (though only fifteen miles) it was after twelve; it rained\ndreadfully, the night was extremely dark, the roads were bad, and the\nhorses tired; so that the officer who conducted us thought it would be\ndifficult to proceed before morning. We were therefore once more crouded\ninto a church, in our wet clothes, (for the covering of the waggon was\nnot thick enough to exclude the rain,) a few bundles of damp straw were\ndistributed, and we were then shut up to repose as well as we could. All\nmy melancholy apprehensions of the preceding night returned with\naccumulated force, especially as we were now in a place where we were\nunknown, and were guarded by some of the newly-raised dragoons, of whom\nwe all entertained very unfavourable suspicions.\nWe did not, as you may well imagine, attempt to sleep--a bed of wet straw\nlaid on the pavement of a church, filthy, as most French churches are,\nand the fear of being assassinated, resisted every effort of nature\nherself, and we were very glad when at the break of day we were summoned\nto continue our journey. About eleven we entered Arras: the streets were\nfilled by idle people, apprized of our arrival; but no one offered us any\ninsult, except some soldiers, (I believe, by their uniform, refugees from\nthe Netherlands,) who cried, \"a la Guillotine!--a la Guillotine!\"\nThe place to which we were ordered had been the house of an emigrant,\nnow converted into an house of detention, and which, though large, was\nexcessively full. The keeper, on our being delivered to him, declared he\nhad no room for us, and we remained with our baggage in the court-yard\nsome hours before he had, by dislodging and compressing the other\ninhabitants, contrived to place us. At last, when we were half dead with\ncold and fatigue, we were shown to our quarters. Those allotted for my\nfriend, myself, and our servants, was the corner of a garret without a\ncieling, cold enough in itself, but rendered much warmer than was\ndesirable by the effluvia of a score of living bodies, who did not seem\nto think the unpleasantness of their situation at all increased by dirt\nand offensive smells. Weary as we were, it was impossible to attempt\nreposing until a purification had been effected: we therefore set\nourselves to sprinkling vinegar and burning perfumes; and it was curious\nto observe that the people, (_all gens comme il faut_ [People of\nfashion.]) whom we found inhaling the atmosphere of a Caffrarian hut,\ndeclared their nerves were incommoded by the essence of roses and\nvinaigre des quatre voleurs.\nAs a part of the room was occupied by men, our next business was to\nseparate our corner by a curtain, which we had fortunately brought with\nour bedding; and this done, we spread our mattresses and lay down, while\nthe servants were employed in getting us tea. As soon as we were a\nlittle refreshed, and the room was quiet for the night, we made up our\nbeds as well as we could, and endeavoured to sleep. Mad. de ____ and the\ntwo maids soon forgot their cares; but, though worn out by fatigue, the\nagitation of my mind conquered the disposition of my body. I seemed to\nhave lost the very faculty of sleeping, and passed this night with almost\nas little repose as the two preceding ones. Before morning I discovered\nthat remaining so long in damp clothes, and the other circumstances of\nour journey, had given me cold, and that I had all the symptoms of a\nviolent fever.\nI leave you to conjecture, for it would be impossible to detail, all the\nmisery of illness in such a situation; and I will only add, that by the\ncare of Mad. de ____, whose health was happily less affected, and the\nattention of my maid, I was able to leave the room in about three weeks.\n--I must now secrete this for some days, but will hereafter resume my\nlittle narrative, and explain how I have ventured to write so much even\nin the very neighbourhood of the Guillotine.--Adieu.\nMaison d'Arret, Arras, Oct. 17, 1793.\nOn the night I concluded my last, a report that Commissioners were to\nvisit the house on the morrow obliged me to dispose of my papers beyond\nthe possibility of their being found. The alarm is now over, and I\nproceed.--After something more than three weeks indisposition, I began to\nwalk in the yard, and make acquaintance with our fellow-prisoners. Mad.\nde ____ had already discovered several that were known to her, and I now\nfound, with much regret, that many of my Arras friends were here also.\nHaving been arrested some days before us, they were rather more\nconveniently lodged, and taking the wretchedness of our garret into\nconsideration, it was agreed that Mad. de ____ should move to a room less\ncrouded than our own, and a dark closet that would just contain my\nmattresses was resigned to me. It is indeed a very sorry apartment, but\nas it promises me a refuge where I may sometimes read or write in peace,\nI have taken possession of it very thankfully. A lock on the door is not\nthe least of its recommendations, and by way of securing myself against\nall surprize, I have contrived an additional fastening by means of a\nlarge nail and the chain of a portmanteau--I have likewise, under pretext\nof keeping out the wind, papered over the cracks of the door, and\nprovided myself with a sand-bag, so that no one can perceive when I have\na light later than usual.--With these precautions, I can amuse myself by\nputting on paper any little occurrences that I think worth preserving,\nwithout much danger, and perhaps the details of a situation so new and so\nstrange may not be uninteresting to you.\nWe are now about three hundred in number of both sexes, and of all ages\nand conditions--ci-devant noblesse, parents, wives, sisters, and other\nrelations of emigrants--priests who have not taken the oaths, merchants\nand shopkeepers accused of monopoly, nuns, farmers that are said to have\nconcealed their corn, miserable women, with scarcely clothes to cover\nthem, for not going to the constitutional mass, and many only because\nthey happened to be at an inn, or on a visit from their own town, when a\ngeneral arrest took place of all who are what is called etrangers, that\nis to say, not foreigners only, but not inhabitants of the town where\nthey are found.--There are, besides, various descriptions of people sent\nhere on secret informations, and who do not themselves know the precise\nreason of their confinement. I imagine we are subject to nearly the same\nrules as the common prisons: no one is permitted to enter or speak to a\n\"detenu\" but at the gate, and in presence of the guard; and all letters,\nparcels, baskets, &c. are examined previous to their being either\nconveyed from hence or received. This, however, depends much on the\npolitical principles of those who happen to be on guard: an aristocrate\nor a constitutionalist will read a letter with his eyes half shut, and\ninspect bedding and trunks in a very summary way; while a thorough-paced\nrepublican spells every syllable of the longest epistle, and opens all\nthe roasted pigs or duck-pies before he allows their ingress.--None of\nthe servants are suffered to go out, so that those who have not friends\nin the town to procure them necessaries are obliged to depend entirely on\nthe keeper, and, of course, pay extravagantly dear for every thing; but\nwe are so much in the power of these people, that it is prudent to submit\nto such impositions without murmuring.\nI did not, during my illness, read the papers, and have to-day been\namusing myself with a large packet. General Houchard, I find, is\narrested, for not having, as they say he might have done, driven all the\nEnglish army into the sea, after raising the siege of Dunkirk; yet a few\nweeks ago their utmost hopes scarcely amounted to the relief of the town:\nbut their fears having subsided, they have now leisure to be jealous; and\nI know no situation so little to be envied under the present government\nas that of a successful General.--Among all their important avocations,\nthe Convention have found time to pass a decree for obliging women to\nwear the national cockade, under pain of imprisonment; and the\nmunicipality of the superb Paris have ordered that the King's family\nshall, in future, use pewter spoons and eat brown bread!\nI begin to be very uneasy about Mr. and Mrs. D____. I have written\nseveral times, and still receive no answer. I fear they are in a\nconfinement more severe than my own, or that our letters miscarry. A\nservant of Mad. de ____'s was here this morning, and no letters had come\nto Peronne, unless, as my friend endeavours to persuade me, the man would\nnot venture to give them in presence of the guard, who par excellence\nhappened to be a furious Jacobin.--We had the mortification of hearing\nthat a very elegant carriage of Mad. de ____'s has been put in\nrequisition, and taken to convey a tinman and two farriers who were going\nto Paris on a mission--that two of her farmer's best horses had been\nkilled by hard work in taking provisions to the army, and that they are\nnow cutting down the young wood on her estate to make pikes.--The seals\nare still on our effects, and the guard remains in possession, which has\nput us to the expence of buying a variety of articles we could not well\ndispense with: for, on examining the baggage after our arrival, we found\nit very much diminshed; and this has happened to almost all the people\nwho have been arrested. Our suspicions naturally fall on the dragoons,\nand it is not very surprizing that they should attempt to steal from\nthose whom they are certain would not dare to make any complaint.\nMany of our fellow-prisoners are embarrassed by their servants having\nquitted them.--One Collot d'Herbois, a member of the Commite de Salut\nPublic, has proposed to the Convention to collect all the gentry,\npriests, and suspected people, into different buildings, which should be\npreviously mined for the purpose, and, on the least appearance of\ninsurrection, to blow them up all together.--You may perhaps conclude,\nthat such a project was received with horror, and the adviser of it\ntreated as a monster. Our humane legislature, however, very coolly sent\nit to the committee to be discussed, without any regard to the terror and\napprehension which the bare idea of a similar proposal must inspire in\nthose who are the destined victims. I cannot myself believe that this\nabominable scheme is intended for execution, but it has nevertheless\ncreated much alarm in timid minds, and has occasioned in part the\ndefection of the servants I have just mentioned. Those who were\nsufficiently attached to their masters and mistresses to endure the\nconfinement and privations of a Maison d'Arret, tremble at the thoughts\nof being involved in the common ruin of a gunpowder explosion; and the\nmen seem to have less courage than the women, at least more of the latter\nhave consented to remain here.--It was atrocious to publish such a\nconception, though nothing perhaps was intended by it, as it may deprive\nmany people of faithful attendants at a time when they are most\nnecessary.\nWe have a tribunal revolutionnaire here, with its usual attendant the\nGuillotine, and executions are now become very frequent. I know not who\nare the sufferers, and avoid enquiring through fear of hearing the name\nof some acquaintance. As far as I can learn, the trials are but too\nsummary, and little other evidence is required than the fortune, rank,\nand connections of the accused. The Deputy who is Commissioner for this\ndepartment is one Le Bon, formerly a priest--and, I understand, of an\nimmoral and sanguinary character, and that it is he who chiefly directs\nthe verdicts of the juries according to his personal hatred or his\npersonal interest.--We have lately had a very melancholy instance of the\nterror created by this tribunal, as well as of the notions that prevail\nof its justice. A gentleman of Calais, who had an employ under the\ngovernment, was accused of some irregularity in his accounts, and, in\nconsequence, put under arrest. The affair became serious, and he was\nordered to prison, as a preliminary to his trial. When the officers\nentered his apartment to take him, regarding the judicial procedure as a\nmere form, and concluding it was determined to sacrifice him, he in a\nfrenzy of despair seized the dogs in the chimney, threw them at the\npeople, and, while they escaped to call for assistance, destroyed himself\nby cutting his arteries.--It has appeared, since the death of this\nunfortunate man, that the charge against him was groundless, and that he\nonly wanted time to arrange his papers, in order to exonerate himself\nentirely.\nWe are disturbed almost nightly by the arrival of fresh prisoners, and my\nfirst question of a morning is always _\"N'est il pas du monde entre la\nnuit?\"_--Angelique's usual reply is a groan, and _\"Ah, mon Dieu, oui;\"\n\"Une dixaine de pretres;\"_ or, _\"Une trentaine de nobles:\"_ [\"Did not some\npeople arrive in the night?\"]--\"Yes, God help us--half a score priests, or\ntwenty or thirty gentry.\" And I observe the depth of the groan is nearly\nin proportion to the quality of the person she commiserates. Thus, a\ngroan for a Comte, a Marquise, or a Priest, is much more audible than one\nfor a simple gentlewoman or a merchant; and the arrival of a Bishop\n(especially if not one of the constitutional clergy) is announced in a\nmore sorrowful key than either.\nWhile I was walking in the yard this morning, I was accosted by a\nfemale whom I immediately recollected to be Victoire, a very pretty\n_couturiere,_ [Sempstress.] who used to work for me when I was at\nPanthemont, and who made your last holland shirts. I was not a little\nsurprized to see her in such a situation, and took her aside to enquire\nher history. I found that her mother was dead, and that her brother\nhaving set up a little shop at St. Omer, had engaged her to go and live\nwith him. Being under five-and-twenty, the last requisition obliged him\nto depart for the army, and leave her to carry on the business alone.\nThree weeks after, she was arrested at midnight, put into a cart, and\nbrought hither. She had no time to take any precautions, and their\nlittle commerce, which was in haberdashery, as well as some work she had\nin hand, is abandoned to the mercy of the people that arrested her. She\nhas reason to suppose that her crime consists in not having frequented\nthe constitutional mass; and that her accuser is a member of one of the\ntown committees, who, since her brother's absence, has persecuted her\nwith dishonourable proposals, and, having been repulsed, has taken this\nmethod of revenging himself. Her conjecture is most probably right, as,\nsince her imprisonment, this man has been endeavouring to make a sort of\nbarter with her for her release.\nI am really concerned for this poor creature, who is at present a very\ngood girl, but if she remain here she will not only be deprived of her\nmeans of living, but perhaps her morals may be irremediably corrupted.\nShe is now lodged in a room with ten or dozen men, and the house is so\ncrouded that I doubt whether I have interest enough to procure her a more\ndecent apartment.\nWhat can this strange policy tend to, that thus exposes to ruin and want\na girl of one-and-twenty--not for any open violation of the law, but\nmerely for her religious opinions; and this, too, in a country which\nprofesses toleration as the basis of its government?\nMy friend, Mad. de ____ s'ennui terribly; she is not incapable of amusing\nherself, but is here deprived of the means. We have no corner we can\ncall our own to sit in, and no retreat when we wish to be out of a croud\nexcept my closet, where we can only see by candle-light. Besides, she\nregrets her employments, and projects for the winter. She had begun\npainting a St. Theresa, and translating an Italian romance, and had\nnearly completed the education of a dozen canary birds, who would in a\nmonth's time have accompanied the harp so delightfully, as to overpower\nthe sound of the instrument. I believe if we had a few more square\ninches of room, she would be tempted, if not to bring the whole chorus,\nat least to console herself with two particular favourites, distinguished\nby curious topknots, and rings about their necks.\nWith all these feminine propensities, she is very amiable, and her case\nis indeed singularly cruel and unjust.--Left, at an early age, under the\ncare of her brother, she was placed by him at Panthemont (where I first\nbecame acquainted with her) with an intention of having her persuaded to\ntake the veil; but finding her averse from a cloister, she remained as a\npensioner only, till a very advantageous marriage with the Marquis de\n____, who was old enough to be her father, procured her release. About\ntwo years ago he died, and left her a very considerable fortune, which\nthe revolution has reduced to nearly one-third of its former value. The\nComte de ____, her brother, was one of the original patriots, and\nembraced with great warmth the cause of the people; but having very\nnarrowly escaped the massacres of September, 1792, he immediately after\nemigrated.\nThus, my poor friend, immured by her brother till the age of twenty-two\nin a convent, then sacrificed three years to a husband of a disagreeable\ntemper and unsuitable age, is now deprived of the first liberty she ever\nenjoyed, and is made answerable for the conduct of a man over whom she\nhas no sort of influence. It is not, therefore, extraordinary that she\ncannot reconcile herself to her present situation, and I am really often\nmore concerned on her account than my own. Cut off from her usual\nresources, she has no amusement but wandering about the house; and if her\nother causes of uneasiness be not augmented, they are at least rendered\nmore intolerable by her inability to fill up her time.--This does not\narise from a deficiency of understanding, but from never having been\naccustomed to think. Her mind resembles a body that is weak, not by\nnature, but from want of exercise; and the number of years she has passed\nin a convent has given her that mixture of childishness and romance,\nwhich, my making frivolities necessary, renders the mind incapable of\nexertion or self-support.\nThe unfortunate Queen, after a trial of some days, during which she seems\nto have behaved with great dignity and fortitude, is no longer sensible\nof the regrets of her friends or the malice of her enemies. It is\nsingular, that I have not yet heard her death mentioned in the prison\n--every one looks grave and affects silence. I believe her death has not\noccasioned an effect so universal as that of the King, and whatever\npeople's opinions may be, they are afraid of expressing them: for it is\nsaid, though I know not with what truth, that we are surrounded by spies,\nand several who have the appearance of being prisoners like ourselves\nhave been pointed out to me as the objects of this suspicion.\nI do not pretend to undertake the defence of the Queen's imputed faults--\nyet I think there are some at least which one may be very fairly\npermitted to doubt. Compassion should not make me an advocate for guilt\n--but I may, without sacrificing morals to pity, venture to observe, that\nthe many scandalous histories circulated to her prejudice took their rise\nat the birth of the Dauphin,* which formed so insurmountable a bar to the\nviews of the Duke of Orleans.--\n * Nearly at the same time, and on the same occasion, there were\n literary partizans of the Duke of Orleans, who endeavoured to\n persuade the people that the man with the iron mask, who had so long\n excited curiosity and eluded conjecture, was the real son of Louis\n XIII.--and Louis XIV. in consequence, supposititious, and only the\n illegitimate offspring of Cardinal Mazarin and Anne of Austria--that\n the spirit of ambition and intrigue which characterized this\n Minister had suggested this substitution to the lawful heir, and\n that the fears of the Queen and confusion of the times had obliged\n her to acquiesce:\n \"Cette opinion ridicule, et dont les dates connues de l'histoire\n demontrent l'absurdite, avoit eu des partisans en France--elle\n tendoit a avilir la maison regnante, et a persuader au peuple que le\n trone n'appartient pas aux descendans de Louis XIV. prince\n furtivement sutstitue, mais a la posterite du second fils de Louis\n XIII. qui est la tige de la branche d'Orleans, et qui est reconnue\n comme descendant legitimement, et sans objection, du Roi Louis\n --Nouvelles Considerations sur la Masque de Fer, Memoirs de\n Richelieu.\n \"This ridiculous opinion, the absurdity of which is demonstrated by\n historical dates, had not been without its partizans in France.--It\n tended to degrade the reigning family, and to make the people\n believe that the throne did not of right belong to the descendants\n of Louis XIV. (a prince surreptitiously intruded) but to the\n posterity of the second son of Louis XIII. from whom is derived the\n branch of Orleans, and who was, without dispute, the legitimate and\n unobjectionable offspring of Louis XIII.\"\n --New Considerations on the Iron Mask.--Memoirs of the Duc de\n Richelieu.\nThe author of the above Memoirs adds, that after the taking of the\nBastille, new attempts were made to propagate this opinion, and that he\nhimself had refuted it to many people, by producing original letters and\npapers, sufficiently demonstrative of its absurdity.\n--He might hope, by popularity, to supersede the children of the Count\nd'Artois, who was hated; but an immediate heir to the Crown could be\nremoved only by throwing suspicions on his legitimacy. These\npretensions, it is true, were so absurd, and even incredible, that had\nthey been urged at the time, no inference in the Queen's favour would\nhave been admitted from them; but as the existence of such projects,\nhowever absurd and iniquitous, has since been demonstrated, one may now,\nwith great appearance of reason, allow them some weight in her\njustification.\nThe affair of the necklace was of infinite disservice to the Queen's\nreputation; yet it is remarkable, that the most furious of the Jacobins\nare silent on this head as far as it regarded her, and always mention the\nCardinal de Rohan in terms that suppose him to be the culpable party:\nbut, \"whatever her faults, her woes deserve compassion;\" and perhaps the\nmoralist, who is not too severe, may find some excuse for a Princess,\nwho, at the age of sixteen, possibly without one real friend or\ndisinterested adviser, became the unrestrained idol of the most\nlicentious Court in Europe. Even her enemies do not pretend that her\nfate was so much a merited punishment as a political measure: they\nalledge, that while her life was yet spared, the valour of their troops\nwas checked by the possibility of negotiation; and that being no more,\nneither the people nor armies expecting any thing but execration or\nrevenge, they will be more ready to proceed to the most desperate\nextremities.--This you will think a barbarous sort of policy, and\nconsidering it as national, it appears no less absurd than barbarous; but\nfor the Convention, whose views perhaps extend little farther than to\nsaving their heads, peculating, and receiving their eighteen livres a\nday, such measures, and such a principle of action, are neither unwise\nnor unaccountable: \"for the wisdom of civilized nations is not their\nwisdom, nor the ways of civilized people their ways.\"*--\n * I have been informed, by a gentleman who saw the Queen pass in her\n way to execution, that the short white bed gown and the cap which\n she wore were discoloured by smoke, and that her whole appearance\n seemed to have been intended, if possible, to degrade her in the\n eyes of the multitude. The benevolent mind will recollect with\n pleasure, that even the Queen's enemies allow her a fortitude and\n energy of character which must have counteracted this paltry malice,\n and rendered it incapable of producing any emotion but contempt. On\n her first being removed to the Conciergerie, she applied for some\n necessaries; but the humane municipality of Paris refused them,\n under pretext that the demand was contrary to the system of _la\n sainte elagite_--\"holy equality.\"\n--It was reported that the Queen was offered her life, and the liberty to\nretire to St. Cloud, her favourite residence, if she would engage the\nenemy to raise the siege of Maubeuge and withdraw; but that she refused\nto interfere.\nArras, 1793.\nFor some days previous to the battle by which Maubeuge was relieved, we\nhad very gloomy apprehensions, and had the French army been unsuccessful\nand forced to fall back, it is not improbable but the lives of those\ndetained in the _Maison d'Arret_ [House of detention.] might have been\nsacrificed under pretext of appeasing the people, and to give some credit\nto the suspicions so industriously inculcated that all their defeats are\noccasioned by internal enemies. My first care, as soon as I was able to\ngo down stairs, was to examine if the house offered any means of escape\nin case of danger, and I believe, if we could preserve our recollection,\nit might be practicable; but I can so little depend on my strength and\nspirits, should such a necessity occur, that perhaps the consolation of\nknowing I have a resource is the only benefit I should ever derive from\nit.\nI have this day made a discovery of a very unpleasant nature, which Mad.\nde ____ had hitherto cautiously concealed from me. All the English, and\nother foreigners placed under similar circumstances, are now, without\nexception, arrested, and the confiscation of their property is decreed.\nIt is uncertain if the law is to extend to wearing apparel, but I find\nthat on this ground the Committee of Peronne persist in refusing to take\nthe seals off my effects, or to permit my being supplied with any\nnecessaries whatsoever. In other places they have put two, four, and, I\nam told, even to the number of six guards, in houses belonging to the\nEnglish; and these guards, exclusive of being paid each two shillings per\nday, burn the wood, regale on the wine, and pillage in detail all they\ncan find, while the unfortunate owner is starving in a Maison d'Arret,\nand cannot obtain permission to withdraw a single article for his own\nuse.--The plea for this paltry measure is, that, according to the report\nof a deserter escaped from Toulon, Lord Hood has hanged one Beauvais, a\nmember of the Convention. I have no doubt but the report is false, and,\nmost likely, fabricated by the Comite de Salut Public, in order to\npalliate an act of injustice previously meditated.\nIt is needless to expatiate on the atrocity of making individuals, living\nhere under the faith of the nation, responsible for the events of the\nwar, and it is whispered that even the people are a little ashamed of it;\nyet the government are not satisfied with making us accountable for what\nreally does happen, but they attribute acts of cruelty to our countrymen,\nin order to excuse those they commit themselves, and retaliate imagined\ninjuries by substantial vengeance.--Legendre, a member of the Convention,\nhas proposed, with a most benevolent ingenuity, that the manes of the\naforesaid Beauvais should be appeased by exhibiting Mr. Luttrell in an\niron cage for a convenient time, and then hanging him.\nA gentleman from Amiens, lately arrested while happening to be here on\nbusiness, informs me, that Mr. Luttrell is now in the common gaol of that\nplace, lodged with three other persons in a miserable apartment, so\nsmall, that there is not room to pass between their beds. I understand\nhe was advised to petition Dumont for his removal to a Maison d'Arret,\nwhere he would have more external convenience; but he rejected this\ncounsel, no doubt from a disdain which did him honour, and preferred to\nsuffer all that the mean malice of these wretches would inflict, rather\nthan ask any accommodation as a favour.--The distinguishing Mr. Luttrell\nfrom any other English gentleman is as much a proof of ignorance as of\nbaseness; but in this, as in every thing else, the present French\ngovernment is still more wicked than absurd, and our ridicule is\nsuppressed by our detestation.\nMad. de ____'s _homme d'affaires_ [Agent] has been here to-day, but no\nnews from Amiens. I know not what to conjecture. My patience is almost\nexhausted, and my spirits are fatigued. Were I not just now relieved by\na distant prospect of some change for the better, my situation would be\ninsupportable.--\"Oh world! oh world! but that thy strange mutations make\nus wait thee, life would not yield to age.\" We should die before our\ntime, even of moral diseases, unaided by physical ones; but the\nuncertainty of human events, which is the \"worm i'the bud\" of happiness,\nis to the miserable a cheering and consolatory reflection. Thus have I\ndragged on for some weeks, postponing, as it were, my existence, without\nany resource, save the homely philosophy of _\"nous verrons demain.\"_\n[\"We shall see to-morrow.\"]\nAt length our hopes and expectations are become less general, and if we\ndo not obtain our liberty, we may be able at least to procure a more\neligible prison. I confess, the source of our hopes, and the protector\nwe have found, are not of a dignity to be ushered to your notice by\ncitations of blank verse, or scraps of sentiment; for though the top of\nthe ladder is not quite so high, the first rounds are as low as that of\nBen Bowling's.\nMad. de ____'s confidential servant, who came here to-day, has learned,\nby accident, that a man, who formerly worked with the Marquis's tailor,\nhaving (in consequence, I suppose of a political vocation,) quitted the\nselling of old clothes, in which he had acquired some eminence, has\nbecome a leading patriot, and is one of Le Bon's, the Representative's,\nprivy counsellors. Fleury has renewed his acquaintance with this man,\nhas consulted him upon our situation, and obtained a promise that he will\nuse his interest with Le Bon in our behalf. Under this splendid\npatronage, it is not unlikely but we may get an order to be transferred\nto Amiens, or, perhaps, procure our entire liberation. We have already\nwritten to Le Bon on the subject, and Fleury is to have a conference with\nour friend the tailor in a few days to learn the success of his\nmediation; so that, I trust, the business will not be long in suspense.\nWe have had a most indulgent guard to-day, who, by suffering the servant\nto enter a few paces within the gate, afforded us an opportunity of\nhearing this agreeable intelligence; as also, by way of episode, that\nboots being wanted for the cavalry, all the boots in the town were last\nnight put in requisition, and as Fleury was unluckily gone to bed before\nthe search was made at his inn, he found himself this morning very\nunceremoniously left bootless. He was once a famous patriot, and the\noracle of Mad. de ____'s household; but our confinement had already\nshaken his principles, and this seizure of his \"superb English boots\"\nhas, I believe, completed his defection.\nI have discontinued my journal for three days to attend my friend, Mad.\nde ____, who has been ill. Uneasiness, and want of air and exercise, had\nbrought on a little fever, which, by the usual mode of treatment in this\ncountry, has been considerably increased. Her disorder did not indeed\nmuch alarm me, but I cannot say as much of her medical assistants, and it\nseems to me to be almost supernatural that she has escaped the jeopardy\nof their prescriptions. In my own illness I had trusted to nature, and\nmy recollection of what had been ordered me on similar occasions; but for\nMad. de ____ I was less confident, and desirous of having better advice,\nbegged a physician might be immediately sent for. Had her disorder been\nan apoplexy, she must infallibly have died, for as no person, not even\nthe faculty, can enter, without an order from the municipal Divan, half a\nday elapsed before this order could be procured. At length the physician\nand surgeon arrived, and I know not why the learned professions should\nimpose on us more by one exterior than another; but I own, when I saw the\nphysician appear in a white camblet coat, lined with rose colour, and the\nsurgeon with dirty linen, and a gold button and loop to his hat, I began\nto tremble for my friend. My feminine prejudices did not, however, in\nthis instance, deceive me. After the usual questions, the patient was\ndeclared in a fever, and condemned to cathartics, bleeding, and \"bon\nbouillons;\" that is to say, greasy beef soup, in which there is never an\noeconomy of onions.--When they were departed, I could not help expressing\nmy surprize that people's lives should be entrusted to such hands,\nobserving, at the same time, to the Baron de L____, (who is lodged in the\nsame apartment with Mad. de ____,) that the French must never expect men,\nwhose education fitted them for the profession, would become physicians,\nwhile they continued to be paid at the rate of twenty-pence per visit.--\nYet, replied the Baron, if they make twenty visits a day, they gain forty\nlivres--_\"et c'est de quoi vivre.\"_ [It is a living.] It is undeniably\n_de quoi vivre,_ but as long as a mere subsistence is the only prospect\nof a physician, the French must be content to have their fevers cured by\n\"drastics, phlebotomy, and beef soup.\"\nThey tell me we have now more than five hundred detenus in this single\nhouse. How so many have been wedged in I can scarcely conceive, but it\nseems our keeper has the art of calculating with great nicety the space\nrequisite for a given number of bodies, and their being able to respire\nfreely is not his affair. Those who can afford it have their dinners,\nwith all the appurtenances, brought from the inns or traiteurs; and the\npoor cook, sleep, and eat, by scores, in the same room. I have persuaded\nmy friend to sup as I do, upon tea; but our associates, for the most\npart, finding it inconvenient to have suppers brought at night, and being\nunwilling to submit to the same privations, regale themselves with the\nremains of their dinner, re-cooked in their apartments, and thus go to\nsleep, amidst the fumes of _perdrix a l'onion, oeufs a la tripe,_\n[Partridge a l'onion--eggs a la tripe.] and all the produce of a French\nkitchen.\nIt is not, as you may imagine, the Bourgeois, and less distinguished\nprisoners only, who indulge in these highly-seasoned repasts, at the\nexpence of inhaling the savoury atmosphere they leave behind them: the\nbeaux and petites mistresses, among the ci-devant, have not less exigent\nappetites, nor more delicate nerves; and the ragout is produced at night,\nin spite of the odours and disorder that remain till the morrow.\nI conclude, notwithstanding your English prejudices, that there is\nnothing unwholesome in filth, for if it were otherwise, I cannot account\nfor our being alive. Five hundred bodies, in a state of coacervation,\nwithout even a preference for cleanliness, \"think of that Master Brook.\"\nAll the forenoon the court is a receptacle for cabbage leaves, fish\nscales, leeks, &c. &c.--and as a French chambermaid usually prefers the\ndirect road to circumambulation, the refuse of the kitchen is then washed\naway by plentiful inundations from the dressing-room--the passages are\nblockaded by foul plates, fragments, and bones; to which if you add the\nsmell exhaling from hoarded apples and gruyere cheese, you may form some\nnotion of the sufferings of those whose olfactory nerves are not robust.\nYet this is not all--nearly every female in the house, except myself, is\naccompanied even here by her lap-dog, who sleeps in her room, and, not\nunfrequently, on her bed; and these Lesbias and Lindamiras increase the\ninsalubrity of the air, and colonize one's stockings by sending forth\ndaily emigrations of fleas. For my own part, a few close November days\nwill make me as captious and splenetic as Matthew Bramble himself.\nNothing keeps me in tolerable good humour at present, but a clear frosty\nmorning, or a high wind.\nI thought, when I wrote the above, that the house was really so full as\nto be incapable of containing more; but I did not do justice to the\ntalents of our keeper. The last two nights have brought us an addition\nof several waggon loads of nuns, farmers, shopkeepers, &c. from the\nneighbouring towns, which he has still contrived to lodge, though much in\nthe way that he would pack goods in bales. Should another convoy arrive,\nit is certain that we must sleep perpendicularly, for even now, when the\nbeds are all arranged and occupied for the night, no one can make a\ndiagonal movement without disturbing his neighbour.--This very sociable\nmanner of sleeping is very far, I assure you, from promoting the harmony\nof the day; and I am frequently witness to the reproaches and\nrecriminations occasioned by nocturnal misdemeanours. Sometimes the\nlap-dog of one dowager is accused of hostilities against that of\nanother, and thereby producing a general chorus of the rest--then a\nfour-footed favourite strays from the bed of his mistress, and takes\npossession of a General's uniform--and there are female somnambules, who\nalarm the modesty of a pair of Bishops, and suspended officers, that,\nlike Richard, warring in their dreams, cry \"to arms,\" to the great\nannoyance of those who are more inclined to sleep in peace. But, I\nunderstand, the great disturbers of the room where Mad. de ____ sleeps\nare two chanoines, whose noses are so sonorous and so untuneable as to\nproduce a sort of duet absolutely incompatible with sleep; and one of\nthe company is often deputed to interrupt the serenade by manual\napplication _mais tout en badinant et avec politesse_ [But all in\npleasantry, and with politeness.] to the offending parties.\nAll this, my dear brother, is only ludicrous in the relation; yet for so\nmany people to be thus huddled together without distinction of age, sex,\nor condition, is truly miserable.--Mad. De ____ is still indisposed, and\nwhile she is thus suffocated by bad air, and distracted by the various\nnoises of the house, I see no prospect of her recovery.\nArras is the common prison of the department, and, besides, there are a\nnumber of other houses and convents in the town appropriated to the same\nuse, and all equally full. God knows when these iniquities are to\nterminate! So far from having any hopes at present, the rage for\narresting seems, I think, rather to increase than subside. It is\nsupposed there are now more than three hundred thousand people in France\nconfined under the simple imputation of being what is called \"gens\nsuspect:\" but as this generic term is new to you, I will, by way of\nexplanation, particularize the several species as classed by the\nConvention, and then described by Chaumette, solicitor for the City of\nParis;*--\n * Decree concerning suspected people:\n \"Art. I. Immediately after the promulgation of the present decree,\n all suspected persons that are found on the territory of the\n republic, and who are still at large, shall be put under arrest.\n \"II. Those are deemed suspicious, who by their connections, their\n conversation, or their writings, declare themselves partizans of\n tyranny or foederation, and enemies to liberty--Those who have not\n demonstrated their means of living or the performance of their civic\n duties, in the manner prescribed by the law of March last--Those\n who, having been suspended from public employments by the Convention\n or its Commissioners, are not reinstated therein--Those of the\n ci-devant noblesse, who have not invariably manifested their\n attachment to the revolution, and, in general, all the fathers,\n mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and agents of\n emigrants--All who have emigrated between the 1st of July, 1789,\n and 8th of April, 1792.\n \"III. The execution of the decree is confided to the Committee of\n Inspection. The individuals arrested shall be taken to the houses\n of confinement appointed for their reception. They are allowed to\n take with them such only of their effects as are strictly necessary,\n the guards set upon them shall be paid at their expence, and they\n shall be kept in confinement until the peace.--The Committees of\n Inspection shall, without delay, transmit to the Committee of\n General Safety an account of the persons arrested, with the motives\n of their arrest. [If this were observed (which I doubt much) it was\n but a mockery, few persons ever knew the precise reason of their\n confinement.]--The civil and criminal tribunals are empowered, when\n they deem it necessary, to detain and imprison, as suspected\n persons, those who being accused of crimes have nevertheless had no\n bill found against them, (lieu a accusation,) or who have even been\n tried and acquitted.\"\nIndications that may serve to distinguish suspicious persons, and those\nto whom it will be proper to refuse certificates of civism:\n \"I. Those who in popular assemblies check the ardour of the people\n by artful speeches, by violent exclamations or threats.\n \"II. Those who with more caution speak in a mysterious way of the\n public misfortunes, who appear to pity the lot of the people, and\n are ever ready to spread bad news with an affectation of concern.\n \"III. Those who adapt their conduct and language to the\n circumstances of the moment--who, in order to be taken for\n republicans, put on a studied austerity of manners, and exclaim with\n vehemence against the most trifling error in a patriot, but mollify\n when the crimes of an Aristocrate or a Moderee are the subject of\n complaint. [These trifling events were, being concerned in the\n massacres of September, 1792--public peculations--occasional, and\n even habitual robbery, forgeries, &c. &c. &c.--The second, fourth,\n fifth, sixth, and seventh classes, were particularly numerous,\n insomuch that I doubt whether they would not have included\n nineteen-twentieths of all the people in France who were honest\n or at all capable of reflection.]\n \"IV. Those who pity avaricious farmers and shopkeepers, against\n whom the laws have been necessarily directed.\n \"V. Those who with the words liberty, country, republic, &c.\n constantly in their mouths, hold intercourse with ci-devant Nobles,\n Contre-revolutionnaires, Priests, Aristocrates, Feuillans, &c. and\n take an interest in their concerns.\n \"VI. Those who not having borne an active part in the revolution,\n endeavour to excuse themselves by urging the regular payment of\n their taxes, their patriotic gifts, and their service in the Garde\n National by substitute or otherwise.\n \"VII. Those who received the republican constitution with coolness,\n or who intimated their pretended apprehensions for its establishment\n and duration.\n \"VIII. Those who, having done nothing against liberty, have done as\n little for it.\n \"IX. Those who do not frequent the assembly of their section, and\n offer, for excuse, that they are no orators, or have no time to\n spare from their own business.\n \"X. Those who speak with contempt of the constituted authorities,\n of the rigour of the laws, of the popular societies, and the\n defenders of liberty.\n \"XI. Those who have signed anti-revolutionary petitions, or any\n time frequented unpatriotic clubs, or were known as partizans of La\n Fayette, and accomplices in the affair of the Champ de Mars.\"\n--and it must be allowed by all who reside in France at this moment, and\nare capable of observing the various forms under which hatred for the\ngovernment shelters itself, that the latter is a chef d'oeuvre in its\nkind.\nNow, exclusive of the above legal and moral indications of people to be\nsuspected, there are also outward and visible signs which we are told\nfrom the tribune of the Convention, and the Jacobins, are not much less\ninfallible--such as _Gens a bas de soie rayes mouchetes--a chapeau rond--\nhabit carre--culotte pincee etroite--a bottes cirees--les muscadins--\nFreloquets--Robinets, &c._ [People that wear spotted or striped silk\nstockings--round hats--small coats--tight breeches--blacked boots--\nperfumes--coxcombs--sprigs of the law, &c.] The consequence of making\nthe cut of a man's coat, or the shape of his hat, a test of his political\nopinions, has been the transformation of the whole country into\nrepublicans, at least as far as depends on the costume; and where, as is\nnatural, there exists a consciousness of inveterate aristocracy, the\nexternal is more elaborately \"a la Jacobin.\" The equipment, indeed, of a\nFrench patriot of the latest date is as singular as his manners, and in\nboth he is highly distinguishable from the inhabitants of any other\ncountry: from those of civilized nations, because he is gross and\nferocious--from those of barbarous ones, because his grossness is often\naffected, and his ferocity a matter of principle and preference.\nA man who would not be reckoned suspect now arrays himself in a jacket\nand trowsers (a Carmagnole) of striped cotton or coarse cloth, a\nneckcloth of gaudy cotton, wadded like a horse-collar, and projecting\nconsiderably beyond his chin, a cap of red and blue cloth, embroidered in\nfront and made much in the form of that worn by the Pierrot of a\npantomime, with one, or sometimes a pair, of ear-rings, about the size of\na large curtain-ring! Finally, he crops his hair, and carefully\nencourages the growth of an enormous pair of whiskers, which he does not\nfail to perfume with volumes of tobacco smoke. He, however, who is\nambitious of still greater eminence, disdains these fopperies, and\naffects an appearance of filth and rags, which he dignifies with the\nappellation of stern republicanism and virtuous poverty; and thus, by\nmeans of a thread-bare coat out at elbows, wooden shoes, and a red\nwoollen cap, the rich hope to secure their wealth, and the covetous and\nintriguing to acquire lucrative employment.--Rolland, I think, was the\nfounder of these modern Franciscans, and with this miserable affectation\nhe machinated the death of the King, and, during some months, procured\nfor himself the exclusive direction of the government.\nAll these patriots by prescription and system have likewise a peculiar\nand appropriated dialect--they address every one by the title of Citizen,\nthee and thou indistinctly, and talk of nothing but the agents of Pitt\nand Cobourg, the coalesced tyrants, royal ogres, satellites of the\ndespots, automaton slaves, and anthropophagi; and if they revert to their\nown prosperous state, and this very happy country, it is, _un peuple\nlibre, en peuple heureux, and par excellence la terre de la liberte._\n[\"A free people--a happy people--and, above all others, the land of\nliberty.\"]--It is to be observed, that those with whom these pompous\nexpressions are most familiar, are officers employed in the war-like\nservice of mutilating the wooden saints in churches, and arresting old\nwomen whom they encounter without national cockades; or members of the\nmunicipalities, now reduced to execute the offices of constables, and\nwhose chief functions are to hunt out suspected people, or make\ndomiciliary visits in quest of concealed eggs and butter. But, above\nall, this democratic oratory is used by tailors, shoemakers, &c.* of the\nCommittees of Inspection, to whom the Representatives on mission have\ndelegated their unlimited powers, who arrest much on the principle of\nJack Cade, and with whom it is a crime to read and write, or to appear\ndecently dressed.\n * For some months the departments were infested by people of this\n description--corrupt, ignorant, and insolent. Their motives of\n arrest were usually the hope of plunder, or the desire of\n distressing those whom they had been used to look upon as their\n superiors.--At Arras it sufficed even to have disobliged the wives\n of these miscreants to become the object of persecution. In some\n places they arrested with the most barbarous caprice, even without\n the shadow of a reason. At Hesden, a small town in Artois, Dumont\n left the Mayor carte blanche, and in one night two hundred people\n were thrown into prison. Every where these low and obscure\n dominators reigned without controul, and so much were the people\n intimidated, that instead of daring to complain, they treated their\n new tyrants with the most servile adulation.--I have seen a\n ci-devant Comtesse coquetting with all her might a Jacobin tailor,\n and the richest merchants of a town soliciting very humbly the good\n offices of a dealer in old clothes.\nThese ridiculous accoutrements, and this magnificent phraseology, are in\nthemselves very harmless; but the ascendancy which such a class of people\nare taking has become a subject of just alarm.--The whole administration\nof the country is now in the hands of uninformed and necessitous\nprofligates, swindlers, men already condemned by the laws, and who, if\nthe revolution had not given them \"place and office,\" would have been at\nthe galleys, or in prison.*\n * One of the administrators of the department de la Somme (which,\n however, was more decently composed than many others,) was, before\n the revolution, convicted of house-breaking, and another of forgery;\n and it has since been proved on various occasions, particularly on\n the trial of the ninety-four Nantais, that the revolutionary\n Committees were, for the most part, composed of the very refuse of\n society--adventurers, thieves, and even assassins; and it would be\n difficult to imagine a crime that did not there find reward and\n protection.--In vain were the privileges of the nobility abolished,\n and religion proscribed. A new privileged order arose in the\n Jacobins, and guilt of every kind, without the semblance of\n penitence, found an asylum in these Committees, and an inviolability\n more sacred than that afforded by the demolished altars.\nTo these may be added a few men of weak character, and unsteady\nprinciples, who remain in office because they fear to resign; with a few,\nand but very few, ignorant fanatics, who really imagine they are free\nbecause they can molest and destroy with impunity all they have hitherto\nbeen taught to respect, and drink treble the quantity they did formerly.\nFor some days the guards have been so untractable, and the croud at the\ndoor has been so great, that Fleury was obliged to make various efforts\nbefore he could communicate the result of his negotiation. He has at\nlength found means to inform us, that his friend the tailor had exerted\nall his interest in our favour, but that Dumont and Le Bon (as often\nhappens between neighbouring potentates) are at war, and their enmity\nbeing in some degree subject to their mutual fears, neither will venture\nto liberate any prisoner arrested by the other, lest such a disposition\nto clemency should be seized on by his rival as a ground of accusation.*\n * But if they did not free the enemies of each other, they revenged\n themselves by throwing into prison all their mutual friends--for the\n temper of the times was such, that, though these Representatives\n were expressly invested with unlimited powers, they did not venture\n to set any one at liberty without a multitude of forms and a long\n attendance: on the contrary, they arrested without any form at all,\n and allowed their myrmidons to harrass and confine the persons and\n sequester the property of all whom they judged proper.--It seemed to\n have been an elementary principle with those employed by the\n government at this time, that they risked nothing in doing all the\n mischief they could, and that they erred only in not doing enough.\n--All, therefore, that can be obtained is, a promise to have us removed\nto Amiens in a short time; and I understand the detenus are there treated\nwith consideration, and that no tribunal revolutionnaire has yet been\nestablished.\nMy mind will be considerably more at ease if this removal can be\neffected. Perhaps we may not be in more real danger here than at any\nother place, but it is not realities that constitute the misery of life;\nand situated as we are, that imagination must be phlegmatic indeed, which\ndoes not create and exaggerate enough to prevent the possibility of\nease.--We are, as I before observed, placed as it were within the\njurisdiction of the guillotine; and I have learned \"a secret of our\nprison-house\" to-day which Mad. de ____ had hitherto concealed from me,\nand which has rendered me still more anxious to quit it. Several of our\nfellow prisoners, whom I supposed only transferred to other houses, have\nbeen taken away to undergo the ceremony of a trial, and from thence to\nthe scaffold. These judicial massacres are now become common, and the\nrepetition of them has destroyed at once the feeling of humanity and the\nsense of justice. Familiarized to executions, the thoughtless and\nsanguinary people behold with equal indifference the guilty or innocent\nvictim; and the Guillotine has not only ceased to be an object of horror,\nbut is become almost a source of amusement.\n * At Arras this horrid instrument of death was what they called en\n permanence, (stationary,) and so little regard was paid to the\n morals of the people, (I say the morals, because every thing which\n tends to destroy their humanity renders them vicious,) that it was\n often left from one execution to another with the ensanguined traces\n of the last victim but too evident.--Children were taught to amuse\n themselves by making models of the Guillotine, with which they\n destroyed flies, and even animals. On the Pontneuf, at Paris, a\n sort of puppet-show was exhibited daily, whose boast it was to give\n a very exact imitation of a guillotinage; and the burthen of a\n popular song current for some months was _\"Dansons la Guillotine.\"_\n --On the 21st of January, 1794, the anniversary of the King's death,\n the Convention were invited to celebrate it on the \"Place de la\n Revolution,\" where, during the ceremony, and in presence of the\n whole legislative body, several people were executed. It is true,\n Bourdon, one of the Deputies, complained of this indecency; but not\n so much on account of the circumstance itself, as because it gave\n some of the people an opportunity of telling him, in a sort of way\n he might probably deem prophetic, that one of the victims was a\n Representative of the People. The Convention pretended to order\n that some enquiry should be made why at such a moment such a place\n was chosen; but the enquiry came to nothing, and I have no doubt but\n the executions were purposely intended as analogous to the\n ceremony.--It was proved that Le Bon, on an occasion when he chose\n to be a spectator of some executions he had been the cause of,\n suspended the operation while he read the newspaper aloud, in order,\n as he said, that the aristocrates might go out of the world with the\n additional mortification of learning the success of the republican\n arms in their last moments.\n The People of Brest were suffered to behold, I had almost said to be\n amused with (for if those who order such spectacles are detestable,\n the people that permit them are not free from blame,) the sight of\n twenty-five heads ranged in a line, and still convulsed with the\n agonies of death.--The cant word for the Guillotine was \"our holy\n mother;\" and verdicts of condemnation were called prizes in the\n Sainte Lotterie--\"holy lottery.\"\nThe dark and ferocious character of Le Bon developes itself hourly: the\nwhole department trembles before him; and those who have least merited\npersecution are, with reason, the most apprehensive. The most cautious\nprudence of conduct, the most undeviating rectitude in those who are by\ntheir fortune or rank obnoxious to the tyrant, far from contributing to\ntheir security, only mark them out for a more early sacrifice. What is\nstill worse, these horrors are not likely to terminate, because he is\nallowed to pay out of the treasury of the department the mob that are\nemployed to popularize and applaud them.--I hope, in a few days, we shall\nreceive our permission to depart. My impatience is a malady, and, for\nnearly the first time in my life, I am sensible of ennui; not the ennui\noccasioned by want of amusement, but that which is the effect of unquiet\nexpectation, and which makes both the mind and body restless and\nincapable of attending to any thing. I am incessantly haunted by the\nidea that the companion of to-day may to-morrow expire under the\nGuillotine, that the common acts of social intercourse may be explained\ninto intimacy, intimacy into the participation of imputed treasons, and\nthe fate of those with whom we are associated become our own. It appears\nboth useless and cruel to have brought us here, nor do I yet know any\nreason why we were not all removed to Amiens, except it was to avoid\nexposing to the eyes of the people in the places through which we must\npass too large a number of victims at once.--The cause of our being\nremoved from Peronne is indeed avowed, as it is at present a rule not to\nconfine people at the place of their residence, lest they should have too\nmuch facility or communication with, or assistance from, their friends.*\n * In some departments the nobles and priests arrested were removed\n from ten to twenty leagues distant from their homes; and if they\n happened to have relations living at the places where they were\n confined, these last were forbidden to reside there, or even to\n travel that way.\nWe should doubtless have remained at Arras until some change in public\naffairs had procured our release, but for the fortunate discovery of the\nman I have mentioned; and the trifling favour of removal from one prison\nto another has been obtained only by certain arrangements which Fleury\nhas made with this subordinate agent of tyranny, and in which justice or\nconsideration for us had no share. Alas! are we not miserable? is not\nthe country miserable, when our only resource is in the vices of those\nwho govern?--It is uncertain when we shall be ordered from hence--it may\nhappen when we least expect it, even in the night, so that I shall not\nattempt to write again till we have changed our situation. The risk is\nat present too serious, and you must allow my desire of amusing you to\ngive way to my solicitude for my own preservation.\nBicetre at Amiens, Nov. 18, 1793.\n_Nous voila donc encore, logees a la nation;_ that is to say, the common\nprison of the department, amidst the thieves, vagabonds, maniacs, &c.\nconfined by the old police, and the gens suspects recently arrested by\nthe new.--I write from the end of a sort of elevated barn, sixty or\nseventy feet long, where the interstices of the tiles admit the wind from\nall quarters, and scarcely exclude the rain, and where an old screen and\nsome curtains only separate Mad. de ____, myself, and our servants, from\nsixty priests, most of them old, sick, and as wretched as men can be, who\nare pious and resigned. Yet even here I feel comparatively at ease, and\nan escape from the jurisdiction of Le Bon and his merciless tribunal\nseems cheaply purchased by the sacrifice of our personal convenience. I\ndo not pretend to philosophize or stoicize, or to any thing else which\nimplies a contempt of life--I have, on the contrary, a most unheroic\nsolicitude about my existence, and consider my removal to a place where I\nthink we are safe, as a very fortunate aera of our captivity.\nAfter many delays and disappointments, Fleury at length procured an\norder, signed by the Representative, for our being transferred to Amiens,\nunder the care of two _Gardes Nationalaux,_ and, of course, at our\nexpence.--Every thing in this country wears the aspect of despotism. At\ntwelve o'clock at night we were awakened by the officer on guard, and\ninformed we were to depart on the morrow; and, notwithstanding the\ndifficulty of procuring horses and carriages, it was specified, that if\nwe did not go on the day appointed, we were not to go at all. It was, or\ncourse, late before we could surmount the various obstacles to our\njourney, and procure two crazy cabriolets, and a cart for the guards,\nourselves, and baggage. The days being short, we were obliged to sleep\nat Dourlens; and, on our arrival at the castle, which is now, as it\nalways has been, a state-prison, we were told it was so full, that it was\nabsolutely impossible to lodge us, and that we had better apply to the\nGovernor, for permission to sleep at an inn. We then drove to the\nGovernor's* house, who received us very civilly, and with very little\npersuasion agreed to our request. At the best of the miserable inns in\nthe town we were informed they had no room, and that they could not\naccommodate us in any way whatever, except a sick officer then in the\nhouse would permit us to occupy one of two beds in his apartment.\n * The Commandant had been originally a private soldier in the\n regiment of Dillon.--I know not how he had obtained his advancement,\n but, however obtained, it proved fatal to him: he was, a very short\n time after I saw him, guillotined at Arras, for having borrowed\n money of a prisoner. His real crime was, probably, treating the\n prisoners in general with too much consideration and indulgence; and\n at this period every suspicion of the kind was fatal.\nIn England it would not be very decent to make such a request, or to\naccept such an accommodation. In France, neither the one nor the other\nis unusual, and we had suffered lately so many embarrassments of the\nkind, that we were, if not reconciled, at least inured to them. Before,\nhowever, we could determine, the gentleman had been informed of our\nsituation, and came to offer his services. You may judge of our surprize\nwhen we found in the stranger, who had his head bound up and his arm in a\nsling, General ____, a relation of Mad. de ____. We had now, therefore,\nless scruple in sharing his room, though we agreed, notwithstanding, only\nto repose a few hours in our clothes.\nAfter taking some tea, the remainder of the evening was dedicated to\nreciprocal conversation of all kinds; and our guards having acquaintance\nin the town, and knowing it was impossible for us to escape, even were we\nso inclined, very civilly left us to ourselves. We found the General had\nbeen wounded at Maubeuge, and was now absent on conge for the recovery of\nhis health. He talked of the present state of public affairs like a\nmilitary man who is attached to his profession, and who thinks it his\nduty to fight at all events, whatever the rights or merits of those that\nemploy him. He confessed, indeed, that they were repulsing their\nexternal enemies, only to confirm the power of those who were infinitely\nmore to be dreaded at home, and that the condition of a General was more\nto be commiserated at this time than any other: if he miscarry, disgrace\nand the Guillotine await him--if he be successful, he gains little\nhonour, becomes an object of jealousy, and assists in rivetting the\nchains of his country. He said, the armies were for the most part\nlicentious and insubordinate, but that the political discipline was\nterrible--the soldiers are allowed to drink, pillage, and insult their\nofficers with impunity, but all combinations are rigorously suppressed,\nthe slightest murmur against the Representative on mission is treason,\nand to disapprove of a decree of the convention, death--that every man of\nany note in the army is beset with spies, and if they leave the camp on\nany occasion, it is more necessary to be on their guard against these\nwretches than against an ambuscade of the enemy; and he related a\ncircumstance which happened to himself, as an example of what he\nmentioned, and which will give you a tolerable idea of the present system\nof government.--After the relief of Dunkirk, being quartered in the\nneighbourhood of St. Omer, he occasionally went to the town on his\nprivate concerns. One day, while he was waiting at the inn where he\nintended to dine, two young men accosted him, and after engaging him in a\ngeneral conversation for some time, began to talk with great freedom,\nthough with an affected caution of public men and measures, of the\nbanditti who governed, the tyranny that was exercised, and the supineness\nof the people: in short, of all those too poignant truths which\nconstitute the leze nation of the day. Mons. de ____ was not at first\nvery attentive, but finding their discourse become still more liberal, it\nexcited his suspicions, and casting his eyes on a glass opposite to where\nthey were conversing, he perceived a sort of intelligence between them,\nwhich immediately suggested to him the profession of his companions; and\ncalling to a couple of dragoons who had attended him, ordered them to\narrest the two gentlemen as artistocrates, and convey them without\nceremony to prison. They submitted, seemingly more surprized than\nalarmed, and in two hours the General received a note from a higher\npower, desiring him to set them at liberty, as they were agents of the\nrepublic.\nDuquesnoy, one of the Representatives now with the Northern army, is\nignorant and brutal in the extreme. He has made his brother (who, as\nwell as himself, used to retail hops in the streets of St. Pol,) a\nGeneral; and in order to deliver him from rivals and critics, he breaks,\nsuspends, arrests, and sends to the Guillotine every officer of any merit\nthat comes in his way. After the battle of Maubeuge, he arrested a\nGeneral Bardell, [The Generals Bardell and D'Avesnes, and several others,\nwere afterwards guillotined at Paris.] for accommodating a wounded\nprisoner of distinction (I think a relation of the Prince of Cobourg)\nwith a bed, and tore with his own hands the epaulette from the shoulders\nof those Generals whose divisions had not sustained the combat so well as\nthe others. His temper, naturally savage and choleric, is irritated to\nfury by the habit of drinking large quantities of strong liquors; and\nMad. de ___'s relation assured us, that he had himself seen him take the\nMayor of Avesnes (a venerable old man, who was presenting some petition\nto him that regarded the town,) by the hair and throw him on the ground,\nwith the gestures of an enraged cannibal. He also confined one of his\nown fellow deputies in the tower of Guise, upon a very frivolous pretext,\nand merely on his own authority. In fact, I scarcely remember half the\nhorrors told us of this man; and I shall only remind you, that he has an\nunlimited controul over the civil constitution of the Northern army, and\nover the whole department of the North.\nYou, I suppose, will be better informed of military events than we are,\nand I mention our friend's conjecture, that (besides an enormous number\nof killed) the wounded at Maubeuge amounted to twelve or fourteen\nthousand, only to remark the deception which is still practised on the\npeople; for no published account ever allowed the number to be more than\na few hundreds.--Besides these professional details, the General gave us\nsome very unpleasant family ones. On returning to his father's chateau,\nwhere he hoped to be taken care of while his wounds were curing, he found\nevery room in it under seals, three guards in possession, his two sisters\narrested at St. Omer, where they happened to be on a visit, and his\nfather and mother confined in separate houses of detention at Arras.\nAfter visiting them, and making some ineffectual applications for their\nrelief, he came to the neighbourhood of Dourlens, expecting to find an\nasylum with an uncle, who had hitherto escaped the general persecution of\nthe gentry. Here again his disappointment and chagrin were renewed: his\nuncle had been carried off to Amiens the morning of his arrival, and the\nhouse rendered inaccessible, by the usual affixture of seals, and an\nattendant pair of myrmidons to guard them from infraction. Thus excluded\nfrom all his family habitations, he had taken up his residence for a day\nor two at the inn where we met him, his intention being to return to\nArras.\nIn the morning we made our adieus and pursued our journey; but, tenacious\nof this comparative liberty and the enjoyment of pure air, we prevailed\non our conductors to let us dine on the road, so that we lingered with\nthe unwillingness of truant children, and did not reach Amiens until\ndark. When we arrived at the Hotel de Ville, one of the guards enquired\nhow we were to be disposed of. Unfortunately for us, Dumont happened to\nbe there himself, and on hearing we were sent from Arras by order of Le\nBon, declared most furiously (for our Representative is subject to choler\nsince his accession to greatness) that he would have no prisoners\nreceived from Arras, and that we should sleep at the Conciergerie, and be\nconveyed back again on the morrow. Terrified at this menace, we\npersuaded the guard to represent to Dumont that we had been sent to\nAmiens at our own instance, and that we had been originally arrested by\nhimself, and were therefore desirous of returning to the department where\nhe was on mission, and where we had more reason to expect justice than at\nArras. Mollified, perhaps, by this implied preference of his authority,\nhe consented that we should remain for the present at Amiens, and ordered\nus to be taken to the Bicetre. Whoever has been used to connect with the\nword Bicetre the idea of the prison so named at Paris, must recoil with\nhorror upon hearing they are destined to such a abode. Mad. de ___, yet\nweak from the remains of her illness, laid hold of me in a transport of\ngrief; but, far from being able to calm or console her, my thoughts were\nso bewildered that I did not, till we alighted at the gate, begin to be\nreally sensible of our situation. The night was dark and dreary, and our\nfirst entrance was into a kitchen, such as my imagination had pictured\nthe subterraneous one of the robbers in Gil Blas. Here we underwent the\nceremony of having our pocket-books searched for papers and letters, and\nour trunks rummaged for knives and fire-arms. This done, we were shown\nto the lodging I have described, and the poor priests, already\ninsufferably crouded, were obliged almost to join their beds in order to\nmake room for us.--I will not pain you by a recital of all the\nembarrassments and distresses we had to surmount before we could even\nrest ourselves. We were in want of every thing, and the rules of the\nprison such, that it was nearly impossible, for some time, to procure any\nthing: but the human mind is more flexible than we are often disposed to\nimagine it; and in two days we were able to see our situation in this\nbest point of view, (that is, as an escape from Arras,) and the affair of\nsubmitting our bodies to our minds must be atchieved by time.--We have\nnow been here a week. We have sounded the very depth of humiliation,\ntaken our daily allowance of bread with the rest of the prisoners, and\ncontracted a most friendly intimacy with the gaoler.\nI have discovered since our arrival, that the order for transferring us\nhither described me as a native of the Low Countries. I know not how\nthis happened, but my friend has insisted on my not rectifying the\nmistake, for as the French talk continually of re-conquering Brabant, she\npersuades herself such an event would procure me my liberty. I neither\ndesire the one nor expect the other; but, to indulge her, I speak no\nEnglish, and avoid two or three of my countrymen who I am told are here.\nThere have been also some English families who were lately removed, but\nthe French pronounce our names so strangely, that I have not been able to\nlearn who they were.\nNovember 19, 1793.\nThe English in general, especially of late years, have been taught to\nentertain very formidable notions of the Bastille and other state prisons\nof the ancient government, and they were, no doubt, horrid enough; yet I\nhave not hitherto been able to discover that those of the new republic\nare any way preferable. The only difference is, that the great number of\nprisoners which, for want of room, are obliged to be heaped together,\nmakes it impossible to exclude them as formerly from communication, and,\ninstead of being maintained at the public expence, they now, with great\ndifficulty, are able to procure wherewithal to eat at their own. Our\npresent habitation is an immense building, about a quarter of a mile from\nthe town, intended originally for the common gaol of the province. The\nsituation is damp and unwholesome, and the water so bad, that I should\nsuppose a long continuance here of such a number of prisoners must be\nproductive of endemical disorders. Every avenue to the house is guarded,\nand no one is permitted to stop and look up at the windows, under pain of\nbecoming a resident. We are strictly prohibited from all external\nintercourse, except by writing; and every scrap of paper, though but an\norder for a dinner, passes the inquisition of three different people\nbefore it reaches its destination, and, of course, many letters and notes\nare mislaid, and never sent at all.--There is no court or garden in which\nthe prisoners are allowed to walk, and the only exercise they can take is\nin damp passages, or a small yard, (perhaps thirty feet square,) which\noften smells so detestably, that the atmosphere of the house itself is\nless mephitic.\nOur fellow-captives are a motley collection of the victims of nature,\nof justice, and of tyranny--of lunatics who are insensible of their\nsituation, of thieves who deserve it, and of political criminals whose\nguilt is the accident of birth, the imputation of wealth, or the\nprofession of a clergyman. Among the latter is the Bishop of Amiens,\nwhom I recollect to have mentioned in a former letter. You will wonder\nwhy a constitutional Bishop, once popular with the democratic party,\nshould be thus treated. The real motive was, probably, to degrade in his\nperson a minister of religion--the ostensible one, a dispute with Dumont\nat the Jacobin club. As the times grew alarming, the Bishop, perhaps,\nthought it politic to appear at the club, and the Representative meeting\nhim there one evening, began to interrogate him very rudely with regard\nto his opinion of the marriage of priests. M. Dubois replied, that when\nit was officially incumbent on him to explain himself, he would do so,\nbut that he did not think the club a place for such discussions, or\nsomething to this purpose. _\"Tu prevariques donc!--Je t'arrete sur le\nchamp:\"_ [\"What, you prevaricate!--I arrest you instantly.\"] the Bishop\nwas accordingly arrested at the instant, and conducted to the Bicetre,\nwithout even being suffered to go home and furnish himself with\nnecessaries; and the seals being immediately put on his effects, he has\nnever been able to obtain a change of linen and clothes, or any thing\nelse--this too at a time when the pensions of the clergy are ill paid,\nand every article of clothing so dear as to be almost unpurchaseable by\nmoderate fortunes, and when those who might otherwise be disposed to aid\nor accommodate their friends, abandon them through fear of being\nimplicated in their misfortunes.\nBut the Bishop, yet in the vigour of life, is better capable of enduring\nthese hardships than most of the poor priests with whom he is associated:\nthe greater number of them are very old men, with venerable grey locks--\nand their tattered clerical habits, scanty meals, and wretched beds, give\nme many an heart-ache. God send the constant sight of so much misery may\nnot render me callous!--It is certain, there are people here, who,\nwhatever their feelings might have been on this occasion at first, seem\nnow little affected by it. Those who are too much familiarized with\nscenes of wretchedness, as well as those to whom they are unknown, are\nnot often very susceptible; and I am sometimes disposed to cavil with our\nnatures, that the sufferings which ought to excite our benevolence, and\nthe prosperity that enables us to relieve them, should ever have a\ncontrary effect. Yet this is so true, that I have scarcely ever observed\neven the poor considerate towards each other--and the rich, if they are\nfrequently charitable, are not always compassionate.*\n * Our situation at the Bicetre, though terrible for people unused to\n hardships or confinement, and in fact, wretched as personal\n inconvenience could make it, was yet Elysium, compared to the\n prisons of other departments. At St. Omer, the prisoners were\n frequently disturbed at midnight by the entrance of men into their\n apartments, who, with the detestable ensign of their order, (red\n caps,) and pipes in their mouths, came by way of frolic to search\n their pockets, trunks, &c.--At Montreuil, the Maisons d'Arret were\n under the direction of a Commissary, whose behaviour to the female\n prisoners was too atrocious for recital--two young women, in\n particular, who refused to purchase milder treatment, were locked up\n in a room for seventeen days.--Soon after I left Arras, every prison\n became a den of horror. The miserable inhabitants were subject to\n the agents of Le Bon, whose avarice, cruelty, and licentiousness,\n were beyond any thing a humane mind can imagine. Sometimes the\n houses were suddenly surrounded by an armed force, the prisoners\n turned out in the depth of winter for several hours into an open\n court, during the operation of robbing them of their pocket-books,\n buckles, ear-rings, or whatever article of value they had about\n them. At other times they were visited by the same military array,\n and deprived of their linen and clothes. Their wine and provisions\n were likewise taken from them in the same manner--wives were\n separated from their husbands, parents from their children, old men\n treated with the most savage barbarity, and young women with an\n indecency still more abominable. All communication, either by\n writing or otherwise, was often prohibited for many days together,\n and an order was once given to prevent even the entry of provisions,\n which was not revoked till the prisoners became absolutely\n distressed. At the Hotel Dieu they were forbidden to draw more than\n a single jug of water in twenty-four hours. At the Providence, the\n well was left three days without a cord, and when the unfortunate\n females confined there procured people to beg water of the\n neighbours, they were refused, \"because it was for prisoners, and if\n Le Bon heard of it he might be displeased!\" Windows were blocked\n up, not to prevent escape, but to exclude air; and when the general\n scarcity rendered it impossible for the prisoners to procure\n sufficient food for their support, their small portions were\n diminished at the gate, under pretext of searching for letters, &c.\n --People, respectable both for their rank and character, were\n employed to clean the prisons and privies, while their low and\n insolent tyrants looked on and insulted them. On an occasion when\n one of the Maisons d'Arrets was on fire, guards were planted round,\n with orders to fire upon those that should attempt to escape.--My\n memory has but too faithfully recorded these and still greater\n horrors; but curiosity would be gratified but too dearly by the\n relation. I added the above note some months after writing the\n letter to which it is annexed.\nBesides the gentry and clergy of this department, we have likewise for\ncompanions a number of inhabitants of Lisle, arrested under circumstances\nsingularly atrocious, even where atrocity is the characteristic of almost\nevery proceeding.--In the month of August a decree was passed to oblige\nall the nobility, clergy, and their servants, as well as all those\npersons who had been in the service of emigrants, to depart from Lisle in\neight-and-forty hours, and prohibiting their residence within twenty\nleagues from the frontiers. Thus banished from their own habitations,\nthey took refuge in different towns, at the prescribed distance; but,\nalmost as soon as they were arrived, and had been at the expence of\nsettling themselves, they were arrested as strangers,* and conducted to\nprison.\n * I have before, I believe, noticed that the term estranger at this\n time did not exclusively apply to foreigners, but to such as had\n come from one town to another, who were at inns or on a visit to\n their friends.\nIt will not be improper to notice here the conduct of the government\ntowards the towns that have been besieged. Thionville,* to whose gallant\ndefence in 1792 France owed the retreat of the Prussians and the safety\nof Paris, was afterwards continually reproached with aristocracy; and\nwhen the inhabitants sent a deputation to solicit an indemnity for the\ndamage the town had sustained during the bombardment a member of the\nConvention threatened them from the tribune with \"indemnities a coup de\nbaton!\" that is, in our vernacular tongue, with a good thrashing.\n * Wimpsen, who commanded there, and whose conduct at the time was\n enthusiastically admired, was driven, most probably by the\n ingratitude and ill treatment of the Convention, to head a party of\n the Foederalists.--These legislators perpetually boast of imitating\n and surpassing the Romans, and it is certain, that their ingratitude\n has made more than one Coriolanus. The difference is, that they are\n not jealous for the liberty of the country, but for their own\n personal safety.\nThe inhabitants of Lisle, who had been equally serviceable in stopping\nthe progress of the Austrians, for a long time petitioned without effect\nto obtain the sums already voted for their relief. The noblesse, and\nothers from thence who have been arrested, as soon as it was known that\nthey were Lillois, were treated with peculiar rigour;* and an _armee\nrevolutionnaire,_** with the Guillotine for a standard, has lately\nharrassed the town and environs of Lisle, as though it were a conquered\ncountry.\n * The Commandant of Lisle, on his arrival at the Bicetre, was\n stripped of a considerable sum of money, and a quantity of plate he\n had unluckily brought with him by way of security. Out of this he\n is to be supplied with fifty livres at a time in paper, which,\n according to the exchange and the price of every thing, is, I\n suppose, about half a guinea.\n ** The armee revolutionnaire was first raised by order of the\n Jacobins, for the purpose of searching the countries for provisions,\n and conducting them to Paris. Under this pretext, a levy was made\n of all the most desperate ruffians that could be collected together.\n They were divided into companies, each with its attendant\n Guillotine, and then distributed in the different departments:\n they had extraordinary pay, and seem to have been subject to no\n discipline. Many of them were distinguished by the representation\n of a Guillotine in miniature, and a head just severed, on their\n cartouch-boxes. It would be impossible to describe half the\n enormities committed by these banditti: wherever they went they were\n regarded as a scourge, and every heart shrunk at their approach.\n Lecointre, of Versailles, a member of the Convention, complained\n that a band of these wretches entered the house of a farmer, one of\n his tenants, by night, and, after binding the family hand and foot,\n and helping themselves to whatever they could find, they placed the\n farmer with his bare feet on the chaffing-dish of hot ashes, by way\n of forcing him to discover where he had secreted his plate and\n money, which having secured, they set all the vessels of liquor\n running, and then retired.\nYou are not to suppose this a robbery, and the actors common thieves; all\nwas in the usual form--\"au nom de la loi,\" and for the service of the\nrepublic; and I do not mention this instance as remarkable, otherwise\nthan as having been noticed in the Convention. A thousand events of this\nkind, even still more atrocious, have happened; but the sufferers who had\nnot the means of defence as well as of complaint, were obliged, through\npolicy, to be silent.\n--The garrison and national guard, indignant at the horrors they\ncommitted, obliged them to decamp. Even the people of Dunkirk, whose\nresistance to the English, while the French army was collecting together\nfor their relief, was perhaps of more consequence than ten victories,\nhave been since intimidated with Commissioners, and Tribunals, and\nGuillotines, as much as if they had been convicted of selling the town.\nIn short, under this philanthropic republic, persecution seems to be very\nexactly proportioned to the services rendered. A jealous and suspicious\ngovernment does not forget, that the same energy of character which has\nenabled a people to defend themselves against an external enemy, may also\nmake them less submissive to domestic oppression; and, far from repaying\nthem with the gratitude to which they have a claim, it treats them, on\nall occasions, as opponents, whom it both fears and hates.\nNov. 22. We have been walking in the yard to-day with General Laveneur,\nwho, for an act which in any other country would have gained him credit,\nis in this suspended from his command.--When Custine, a few weeks before\nhis death, left the army to visit some of the neighbouring towns, the\ncommand devolved on Laveneur, who received, along with other official\npapers, a list of countersigns, which, having probably been made some\ntime, and not altered conformably to the changes of the day, contained,\namong others, the words Condorcet--Constitution; and these were in their\nturn given out. On Custine's trial, this was made a part of his\naccusation. Laveneur, recollecting that the circumstance had happened in\nthe absence of Custine, thought it incumbent on him to take the blame, if\nthere were any, on himself, and wrote to Paris to explain the matter as\nit really stood; but his candour, without availing Custine, drew\npersecution on himself, and the only notice taken of his letter was an\norder to arrest him. After being dragged from one town to another, like\na criminal, and often lodged in dungeons and common prisons, he was at\nlength deposited here.\nI know not if the General's principles are republican, but he has a very\ndemocratic pair of whiskers, which he occasionally strokes, and seems to\ncherish with much affection. He is, however, a gentleman-like man, and\nexpresses such anxiety for the fate of his wife and children, who are now\nat Paris, that one cannot but be interested in his favour.--As the agents\nof the republic never err on the side of omission, they arrested Mons.\nLaveneur's aid-de-camp with him; and another officer of his acquaintance,\nwho was suspended, and living at Amiens, has shared the same fate, only\nfor endeavouring to procure him a trifling accommodation. This gentleman\ncalled on Dumont, to beg that General Laveneur's servant might be\npermitted to go in and out of the prison on his master's errands. After\nbreakfasting together, and conversing on very civil terms, Dumont told\nhim, that as he concerned himself so much in behalf of his friend, he\nwould send him to keep the latter company, and at the conclusion of his\nvisit he was sent prisoner to the Bicetre.\nPerhaps the greater part of between three and four hundred thousand\npeople, now imprisoned on suspicion, have been arrested for reasons as\nlittle substantial.\n--I begin to fear my health will not resist the hardship of a long\ncontinuance here. We have no fire-place, and are sometimes starved\nwith partial winds from the doors and roof; at others faint and heartsick\nwith the unhealthy air produced by so many living bodies. The water we\ndrink is not preferable to the air we breathe; the bread (which is now\nevery where scarce and bad) contains such a mixture of barley, rye,\ndamaged wheat, and trash of all kinds, that, far from being nourished by\nit, I lose both my strength and appetite daily.--Yet these are not the\nworst of our sufferings. Shut out from all society, victims of a\ndespotic and unprincipled government capable of every thing, and ignorant\nof the fate which may await us, we are occasionally oppressed by a\nthousand melancholy apprehensions. I might, indeed, have boasted of my\nfortitude, and have made myself an heroine on paper at as small an\nexpence of words as it has cost me to record my cowardice: but I am of an\nunlucky conformation, and think either too much or too little (I know not\nwhich) for a female philosopher; besides, philosophy is getting into such\nill repute, that not possessing the reality, the name of it is not worth\nassuming.\nA poor old priest told me just now, (while Angelique was mending his\nblack coat with white thread,) that they had left at the place where they\nwere last confined a large quantity of linen, and other necessaries; but,\nby the express orders of Dumont, they were not allowed to bring a single\narticle away with them. The keeper, too, it seems, was threatened with\ndismission, for supplying one of them with a shirt.--In England, where,\nI believe, you ally political expediency as much as you can with justice\nand humanity, these cruelties, at once little and refined, will appear\nincredible; and the French themselves, who are at least ashamed of, if\nthey are not pained by, them, are obliged to seek refuge in the fancied\npalliative of a \"state of revolution.\"--Yet, admitting the necessity of\nconfining the persons of these old men, there can be none for heaping\nthem together in filth and misery, and adding to the sufferings of years\nand infirmity by those of cold and want. If, indeed, a state of\nrevolution require such deeds, and imply an apology for them, I cannot\nbut wish the French had remained as they were, for I know of no political\nchanges that can compensate for turning a civilized nation into a people\nof savages. It is not surely the eating acorns or ragouts, a\nwell-powdered head, or one decorated with red feathers, that constitutes\nthe difference between barbarism and civilization; and, I fear, if the\nFrench proceed as they have begun, the advantage of morals will be\nconsiderably on the side of the unrefined savages.\nThe conversation of the prison has been much engaged by the fate of an\nEnglish gentleman, who lately destroyed himself in a Maison d'Arret at\nAmiens. His confinement had at first deeply affected his spirits, and\nhis melancholy increasing at the prospect of a long detention, terminated\nin deranging his mind, and occasioned this last act of despair.--I never\nhear of suicide without a compassion mingled with terror, for, perhaps,\nsimple pity is too light an emotion to be excited by an event which\nreminds us, that we are susceptible of a degree of misery too great to be\nborne--too strong for the efforts of instinct, reflection, and religion.\n--I could moralize on the necessity of habitual patience, and the benefit\nof preparing the mind for great evils by a philosophic endurance of\nlittle ones; but I am at the Bicetre--the winds whistle round me--I am\nbeset by petty distresses, and we do not expatiate to advantage on\nendurance while we have any thing to endure.--Seneca's contempt for the\nthings of this world was doubtless suggested in the palace of Nero. He\nwould not have treated the subject so well in disgrace and poverty. Do\nnot suppose I am affecting to be pleasant, for I write in the sober\nsadness of conviction, that human fortitude is often no better than a\npompous theory, founded on self-love and self-deception.\nI was surprized at meeting among our fellow-prisoners a number of Dutch\nofficers. I find they had been some time in the town on their parole,\nand were sent here by Dumont, for refusing to permit their men to work on\nthe fortifications.--The French government and its agents despise the\nlaws of war hitherto observed; they consider them as a sort of\naristocratie militaire, and they pretend, on the same principle, to be\nenfranchised from the law of nations.--An orator of the convention lately\nboasted, that he felt himself infinitely superior to the prejudices of\nGrotius, Puffendorff, and Vatel, which he calls \"l'aristocratie\ndiplomatique.\"--Such sublime spirits think, because they differ from the\nrest of mankind, that they surpass them. Like Icarus, they attempt to\nfly, and are perpetually struggling in the mire.--Plain common sense has\nlong pointed out a rule of action, from which all deviation is fatal,\nboth to nations and individuals. England, as well as France, has\nfurnished its examples; and the annals of genius in all countries are\nreplete with the miseries of eccentricity.--Whoever has followed the\ncourse of the French revolution, will, I believe, be convinced, that the\ngreatest evils attending on it have been occasioned by an affected\ncontempt for received maxims. A common banditti, acting only from the\ndesire of plunder, or men, erring only through ignorance, could not have\nsubjugated an whole people, had they not been assisted by narrow-minded\nphilosophers, who were eager to sacrifice their country to the vanity of\nmaking experiments, and were little solicitous whether their systems were\ngood or bad, provided they were celebrated as the authors of them. Yet,\nwhere are they now? Wandering, proscribed, and trembling at the fate of\ntheir followers and accomplices.--The Brissotins, sacrificed by a party\neven worse than themselves, have died without exciting either pity or\nadmiration. Their fall was considered as the natural consequence of\ntheir exaltation, and the courage with which they met death obtained no\ntribute but a cold and simple comment, undistinguished from the news of\nthe day, and ending with it.\nDecember.\nLast night, after we had been asleep about an hour, (for habit, that\n\"lulls the wet sea-boy on the high and giddy mast,\" has reconciled us to\nsleep even here,) we were alarmed by the trampling of feet, and sudden\nunlocking of our door. Our apprehensions gave us no time for conjecture\n--in a moment an ill-looking fellow entered the room with a lantern, two\nsoldiers holding drawn swords, and a large dog! The whole company walked\nas it were processionally to the end of the apartment, and, after\nobserving in silence the beds on each side, left us. It would not be\neasy to describe what we suffered at this moment: for my own part, I\nthought only of the massacres of September, and the frequent proposals at\nthe Jacobins and the Convention for dispatching the _\"gens suspect,\"_\nand really concluded I was going to terminate my existence\n_\"revolutionnairement.\"_ I do not now know the purport of these visits,\nbut I find they are not unusual, and most probably intended to alarm the\nprisoners.\nAfter many enquiries and messages, I have had the mortification of\nhearing that Mr. and Mrs. D____ were taken to Arras, and were there even\nbefore I left it. The letters sent to and from the different prisons are\nread by so many people, and pass through so many hands, that it is not\nsurprizing we have not heard from each other. As far as I can learn,\nthey had obtained leave, after their first arrest, to remove to a house\nin the vicinity of Dourlens for a few days, on account of Mrs. D____'s\nhealth, which had suffered by passing the summer in the town, and that at\nthe taking of Toulon they were again arrested while on a visit, and\nconveyed to a _Maison d'Arret_ at Arras. I am the more anxious for them,\nas it seems they were unprepared for such an event; and as the seals were\nput upon their effects, I fear they must be in want of every thing. I\nmight, perhaps, have succeeded in getting them removed here, but Fleury's\nArras friend, it seems, did not think, when the Convention had abolished\nevery other part of Christianity, that they intended still to exact a\npartial observance of the eighth article of the decalogue; and having, in\nthe sense of Antient Pistol, \"conveyed\" a little too notoriously, Le Bon\nhas, by way of securing him from notice or pursuit, sent him to the\nfrontiers in the capacity of Commissary.\nThe prison, considering how many French inhabitants it contains, is\ntolerably quiet--to say the truth, we are not very sociable, and still\nless gay. Common interest establishes a sort of intimacy between those\nof the same apartment; but the rest of the house pass each other, without\nfarther intercourse than silent though significant civility. Sometimes\nyou see a pair of unfortunate aristocrates talking politics at the end of\na passage, or on a landing-place; and here and there a bevy of females,\nen deshabille, recounting altogether the subject of their arrest. One's\near occasionally catches a few half-suppressed notes of a proscribed\naire, but the unhallowed sounds of the Carmagnole and Marseillois are\nnever heard, and would be thought more dissonant here than the war-whoop.\nIn fact, the only appearance of gaiety is among the ideots and lunatics.\n--_\"Je m'ennuye furieusement,\"_ is the general exclamation.--An Englishman\nconfined at the Bicetre would express himself more forcibly, but, it is\ncertain, the want of knowing how to employ themselves does not form a\nsmall part of the distresses of our fellow-prisoners; and when they tell\nus they are _\"ennuyes,\"_ they say, perhaps, nearly as much as they feel--\nfor, as far as I can observe, the loss of liberty has not the same effect\non a Frenchman as an Englishman. Whether this arises from political\ncauses, or the natural indifference of the French character, I am not\nqualified to determine; probably from both: yet when I observe this\nfacility of mind general, and by no means peculiar to the higher classes,\nI cannot myself but be of opinion, that it is more an effect of their\noriginal disposition than of their form of government; for though in\nEngland we were accustomed from our childhood to consider every man in\nFrance as liable to wake and find himself in the Bastille, or at Mont St.\nMichel, this formidable despotism existed more in theory than in\npractice; and if courtiers and men of letters were intimidated by it,\nthe mass of the people troubled themselves very little about Lettres de\nCachet. The revenge or suspicion of Ministers might sometimes pursue\nthose who aimed at their power, or assailed their reputation; but the\nlesser gentry, the merchants, or the shopkeepers, were very seldom\nvictims of arbitrary imprisonment--and I believe, amongst the evils which\nit was the object of the revolution to redress, this (except on the\nprinciple) was far from being of the first magnitude. I am not likely,\nunder my present circumstances, to be an advocate for the despotism of\nany form of government; and I only give it as a matter of opinion, that\nthe civil liberty of the French was not so often and generally violated,*\nas to influence their character in such a degree as to render them\ninsensible of its loss. At any rate, we must rank it among the\n_bizarreries_ [Unaccountable whimsical events.] of this world, that the\nFrench should have been prepared, by the theory of oppression under their\nold system, for enduring the practice of it under the new one; and that\nwhat during the monarchy was only possible to a few, is, under the\nrepublic, almost certain to all.\n * I remember in 1789, after the destruction of the Bastille, our\n compassionate countrymen were taught to believe that this tremendous\n prison was peopled with victims, and that even the dungeons were\n inhabited; yet the truth is, though it would not have told so\n pathetically, or have produced so much theatrical effect, there were\n only seven persons confined in the whole building, and certainly not\n one in the dungeons.\nAmiens, Providence, Dec. 10, 1793.\nWe have again, as you will perceive, changed our abode, and that too\nwithout expecting, and almost without desiring it. In my moments of\nsullenness and despondency, I was not very solicitous about the\nmodifications of our confinement, and little disposed to be better\nsatisfied with one prison than another: but, heroics apart, external\ncomforts are of some importance, and we have, in many respects, gained by\nour removal.\nOur present habitation is a spacious building, lately a convent, and\nthough now crouded with more prisoners by two or three hundred than it\nwill hold conveniently, yet we are better lodged than at the Bicetre, and\nwe have also a large garden, good water, and, what above all is\ndesirable, the liberty of delivering our letters or messages ourselves\n(in presence of the guard) to any one who will venture to approach us.\nMad. de ____ and myself have a small cell, where we have just room to\nplace our beds, but we have no fire-place, and the maids are obliged to\nsleep in an adjoining passage.\nA few evenings ago, while we were at the Bicetre, we were suddenly\ninformed by the keeper that Dumont had sent some soldiers with an order\nto convey us that night to the Providence. We were at first rather\nsurprized than pleased, and reluctantly gathered our baggage together\nwith as much expedition as we could, while the men who were to escort us\nwere exclaiming \"a la Francaise\" at the trifling delay this occasioned.\nWhen we had passed the gate, we found Fleury, with some porters, ready to\nreceive our beds, and overjoyed at having procured us a more decent\nprison, for, it seems, he could by no means reconcile himself to the name\nof Bicetre. We had about half a mile to walk, and on the road he\ncontrived to acquaint us with the means by which he had solicited this\nfavour of Dumont. After advising with all Mad. de ____'s friends who\nwere yet at liberty, and finding no one willing to make an effort in her\nbehalf, for fear of involving themselves, he discovered an old\nacquaintance in the \"femme de chambre\" of one of Fleury's mistresses.--\nThis, for one of Fleury's sagacity, was a spring to have set the whole\nConvention in a ferment; and in a few days he profited so well by this\nfemale patronage, as to obtain an order for transferring us hither. On\nour arrival, we were informed, as usual, that the house was already full,\nand that there was no possibility of admitting us. We however, set up\nall night in the keeper's room with some other people newly arrived like\nourselves, and in the morning, after a little disputing and a pretty\ngeneral derangement of the more ancient inhabitants, we were \"nichees,\"\nas I have described to you.\nWe have not yet quitted our room much, but I observe that every one\nappears more chearful, and more studied in their toilette, than at the\nBicetre, and I am willing to infer from thence that confinement here is\nless insupportable.--I have been employed two days in enlarging the notes\nI had made in our last prison, and in making them more legible, for I\nventured no farther than just to scribble with a pencil in a kind of\nshort-hand of my own invention, and not even that without a variety of\nprecautions. I shall be here less liable either to surprize or\nobservation, and as soon as I have secured what I have already noted,\n(which I intend to do to-night,) I shall continue my remarks in the usual\nform. You will find even more than my customary incorrectness and want\nof method since we left Peronne; but I shall not allow your competency as\na critic, until you have been a prisoner in the hands of French\nrepublicans.\nIt will not be improper to notice to you a very ingenious decree of\nGaston, (a member of the Convention,) who lately proposed to embark all\nthe English now in France at Brest, and then to sink the ships.--Perhaps\nthe Committee of Public Welfare are now in a sort of benevolent\nindecision, whether this, or Collot d'Herbois' gunpowder scheme, shall\nhave the preference. Legendre's iron cage and simple hanging will,\ndoubtless, be rejected, as too slow and formal. The mode of the day is\n\"les grandes mesures.\" If I be not seriously alarmed at these\npropositions, it is not that life is indifferent to me, or that I think\nthe government too humane to adopt them. My tranquillity arises from\nreflecting that such measures would be of no political use, and that we\nshall most likely be soon forgotten in the multitude of more important\nconcerns. Those, however, whom I endeavour to console by this reasoning,\ntell me it is nothing less than infallible, that the inutility of a crime\nis here no security against its perpetration, and that any project which\ntends to evil will sooner be remembered than one of humanity or justice.\n[End of Vol. I. The Printed Books]\n[Beginning of Volume II. Of The Printed Books]\nProvidence, Dec. 20, 1793.\n\"All places that are visited by the eye of Heaven, are to the wise man\nhappy havens.\" If Shakspeare's philosophy be orthodox, the French have,\nit must be confessed, many claims to the reputation of a wise people; and\nthough you know I always disputed their pretensions to general gaiety,\nyet I acknowledge that misfortune does not deprive them of the share they\npossess, and, if one may judge by appearances, they have at least the\nhabit, more than any other nation, of finding content under situations\nwith which it should seem incompatible. We are here between six and\nseven hundred, of all ages and of all ranks, taken from our homes, and\nfrom all that usually makes the comfort of life, and crowded together\nunder many of the inflictions that constitute its misery; yet, in the\nmidst of all this, we fiddle, dress, rhyme, and visit as ceremoniously as\nthough we had nothing to disturb us. Our beaux, after being correctly\nfrizz'd and powdered behind some door, compliment the belle just escaped\nfrom a toilet, performed amidst the apparatus of the kitchen; three or\nfour beds are piled one upon another to make room for as many\ncard-tables; and the wits of the prison, who are all the morning\nemployed in writing doleful placets to obtain their liberty, in the\nevening celebrate the loss of it in bout-rimees and acrostics.\nI saw an ass at the _Corps de Garde_ this morning laden with violins and\nmusic, and a female prisoner seldom arrives without her complement of\nbandboxes.--Embarrassed, stifled as we are by our numbers, it does not\nprevent a daily importation of lap-dogs, who form as consequential a part\nof the community in a prison, as in the most superb hotel. The faithful\nvalet, who has followed the fortunes of his master, does not so much\nshare his distresses as contribute to his pleasure by adorning his\nperson, or, rather, his head, for, excepting the article of\nhair-dressing, the beaux here are not elaborate. In short, there is an\nindifference, a frivolity, in the French character, which, in\ncircumstances like the present, appears unaccountable. But man is not\nalways consistent with himself, and there are occasions in which the\nFrench are nothing less than philosophers. Under all these externals of\nlevity, they are a very prudent people, and though they seem to bear\nwith infinite fortitude many of the evils of life, there are some in\nwhich their sensibility is not to be questioned. At the death of a\nrelation, or the loss of liberty, I have observed that a few hours\nsuffice, _pour prendre son parti;_ [To make up his mind.] but on any\noccasion where his fortune has suffered, the liveliest Frenchman is _au\ndesespoir_ for whole days. Whenever any thing is to be lost or gained,\nall his characteristic indifference vanishes, and his attention becomes\nmentally concentrated, without dissipating the habitual smile of his\ncountenance. He may sometimes be deceived through deficiency of\njudgment, but I believe not often by unguardedness; and, in a matter of\ninterest, a _petit maitre_ of five-and-twenty might _tout en badinage_\n[All in the way of pleasantry.] maintain his ground against a whole\nsynagogue.--This disposition is not remarkable only in affairs that may\nbe supposed to require it, but extends to the minutest objects; and the\nsame oeconomy which watches over the mass of a Frenchman's estate,\nguards with equal solicitude the menu property of a log of wood, or a\nhen's nest.\nThere is at this moment a general scarcity of provisions, and we who are\nconfined are, of course, particularly inconvenienced by it; we do not\neven get bread that is eatable, and it is curious to observe with what\ncircumspection every one talks of his resources. The possessor of a few\neggs takes care not to expose them to the eye of his neighbour; and a\nslice of white bread is a donation of so much consequence, that those who\nprocure any for themselves do not often put their friends to the pain\neither of accepting or refusing it.\nMad. de ____ has been unwell for some days, and I could not help giving a\nhint to a relation of her's whom we found here, and who has frequent\nsupplies of bread from the country, that the bread we eat was peculiarly\ninimical to her; but I gained only a look of repulsive apprehension, and\na cold remark that it was very difficult to get good bread--_\"et que\nc'etoit bien malheureux.\"_ [And that it certainly was very unfortunate.]\nI own this kind of selfishness is increased by a situation where our\nwants are numerous, and our enjoyments few; and the great distinctions of\nmeum and tuum, which at all times have occasioned so much bad fellowship\nin the world, are here perhaps more rigidly observed than any where else;\nyet, in my opinion, a close-hearted consideration has always formed an\nessential and a predominant quality in the French character.\nPeople here do not ruin themselves, as with us, by hospitality; and\nexamples of that thoughtless profusion which we censure and regret,\nwithout being able entirely to condemn, are very rare indeed. In France\nit is not uncommon to see a man apparently dissipated in his conduct, and\nlicentious in his morals, yet regular, even to parsimony, in his\npecuniary concerns.--He oeconomizes with his vices, and indulges in all\nthe excesses of fashionable life, with the same system of order that\naccumulates the fortune of a Dutch miser. Lord Chesterfield was\ndoubtless satisfied, that while his son remained in France, his precepts\nwould have all the benefit of living illustration; yet it is not certain\nthat this cautious and reflecting licentiousness has any merit over the\nmore imprudent irregularity of an English spendthrift: the one is,\nhowever, likely to be more durable than the other; and, in fact, the\ncharacter of an old libertine is more frequent in France than in England.\nIf oeconomy preside even over the vices of the rich and fashionable, you\nmay conclude that the habits of the middling ranks of people of small\nfortunes are still more scrupulously subjected to its influence. A\nFrench _menage_ [Household.] is a practical treatise on the art of\nsaving--a spirit of oeconomy pervades and directs every part of it, and\nthat so uniformly, so generally, and so consistently, as not to make the\nsame impression on a stranger as would a single instance where the whole\nwas not conducted on the same principle. A traveller is not so forcibly\nstricken by this part of the French character, because it is more real\nthan apparent, and does not seem the effect of reasoning or effort, which\nis never consequential, but rather that of inclination and the natural\ncourse of things.\nA degree of parsimony, which an Englishman, who does not affect the\nreputation of a Codrus, could not acquire without many self-combats,\nappears in a Frenchman a matter of preference and convenience, and till\none has lived long and familiarly in the country, one is apt to mistake\nprinciples for customs, and character for manners, and to attribute many\nthings to local which have their real source in moral causes.--The\ntraveller who sees nothing but gay furniture, and gay clothes, and\npartakes on invitation of splendid repasts, returns to England the\nenamoured panegyrist of French hospitality.--On a longer residence and\nmore domestic intercourse, all this is discoverable to be merely the\nsacrifice of parsimony to vanity--the solid comforts of life are unknown,\nand hospitality seldom extends beyond an occasional and ostentatious\nreception. The gilding, painting, glasses, and silk hangings of a French\napartment, are only a gay disguise; and a house, which to the eye may be\nattractive even to splendour, often has not one room that an Englishman\nwould find tolerably convenient. Every thing intended for use rather\nthan shew is scanty and sordid--all is _beau, magnifique, gentil,_ or\n_superb,_ [Fine magnificent, genteel, or superb.] and nothing\ncomfortable. The French have not the word, or its synonime, in their\nlanguage.\nIn France, clothes are almost as durable as furniture, and the gaiety\nwhich twenty or thirty years ago we were complaisant enough to admire is\nfar from being expensive. People are not more than five or six hours a\nday in their gala habits, and the whole of this period is judiciously\nchosen between the hours of repast, so that no risk in incurred by\naccidents at table. Then the caprices of fashion, which in England are\nso various and despotic, have here a more limited influence: the form of\na dress changes as long as the material is convertible, and when it has\noutlasted the possibility of adaptation to a reigning mode, it is not on\nthat account rejected, but is generally worn in some way or other till\nbanished by the more rational motive of its decay. All the expences of\ntea-visits, breakfast-loungings, and chance-dinners, are avoided--an\nevening visit is passed entirely at cards, a breakfast in form even for\nthe family is unusual, and there are very few houses where you could dine\nwithout being previously engaged. I am, indeed, certain, that (unless in\nlarge establishments) the calculation for diurnal supply is so exact,\nthat the intrusion of a stranger would be felt by the whole family. I\nmust, however, do them the justice to say, that on such occasions, and\nwhere they find the thing to be inevitable, they put the best face\npossible on it, and the guest is entertained, if not plentifully, and\nwith a very sincere welcome, at least with smiles and compliments. The\nFrench, indeed, allow, that they live less hospitably than the English:\nbut then they say they are not so rich; and it is true, property is not\nso general, nor so much diffused, as with us. This is, however, only\nrelative, and you will not suspect me of being so uncandid as to make\ncomparisons without allowing for every difference which is the effect of\nnecessity. All my remarks of this kind are made after an unprejudiced\ncomparison of the people of the same rank or fortune in the two\ncountries;--yet even the most liberal examination must end by concluding,\nthat the oeconomy of the French too nearly approaches to meanness, and\nthat their civility is ostentatious, perhaps often either interested, or\neven verbal.\nYou already exclaim, why, in the year 1793, you are characterizing a\nnation in the style of Salmon! and implying a panegyric on the moral of\nthe School for Scandal! I plead to the first part of the charge, and\nshall hereafter defend my opinion against the more polished writers who\nhave succeeded Salmon. For the moral of the School for Scandal, I have\nalways considered it as the seal of humanity on a comedy which would\notherwise be perfection.\nIt is not the oeconomy of the French that I am censuring, but their\nvanity, which, engrossing all their means of expence, prefers show to\naccommodation, and the parade of a sumptuous repast three or four times a\nyear to a plainer but more frequent hospitality.--I am far from being the\nadvocate of extravagance, or the enemy of domestic order; and the\nliberality which is circumscribed only by prudence shall not find in me a\ncensurer.\nMy ideas on the French character and manner of living may not be unuseful\nto such of my countrymen as come to France with the project of retrieving\ntheir affairs; for it is very necessary they should be informed, that it\nis not so much the difference in the price of things, which makes a\nresidence here oeconomical, as a conformity to the habits of the country;\nand if they were not deterred by a false shame from a temporary adoption\nof the same system in England, their object might often be obtained\nwithout leaving it. For this reason it may be remarked, that the English\nwho bring English servants, and persist in their English mode of living,\ndo not often derive very solid advantages from their exile, and their\nabode in France is rather a retreat from their creditors than the means\nof paying their debts.\nAdieu.--You will not be sorry that I have been able for a moment to\nforget our personal sufferings, and the miserable politics of the\ncountry. The details of the former are not pleasant, and the latter grow\nevery day more inexplicable.\nA RESIDENCE IN FRANCE\nJanuary 6, 1794.\nIf I had undertaken to follow the French revolution through all its\nabsurdities and iniquities, my indolence would long since have taken the\nalarm, and I should have relinquished a task become too difficult and too\nlaborious. Events are now too numerous and too complicated to be\ndescribed by occasional remarks; and a narrator of no more pretensions\nthan myself may be allowed to shrink from an abundance of matter which\nwill hereafter perplex the choice and excite the wonder of the\nhistorian.--Removed from the great scene of intrigues, we are little\nacquainted with them--we begin to suffer almost before we begin to\nconjecture, and our solicitude to examine causes is lost in the rapidity\nwith which we feel their effects.\nAmidst the more mischievous changes of a philosophic revolution, you will\nhave learned from the newspapers, that the French have adopted a new aera\nand a new calendar, the one dating from the foundation of their republic,\nand other descriptive of the climate of Paris, and the productions of the\nFrench territory. I doubt, however, if these new almanack-makers will\ncreate so much confusion as might be supposed, or as they may desire, for\nI do not find as yet that their system has made its way beyond the public\noffices, and the country people are particularly refractory, for they\npersist in holding their fairs, markets, &c. as usual, without any regard\nto the hallowed decade of their legislators. As it is to be presumed\nthat the French do not wish to relinquish all commercial intercourse with\nother nations, they mean possibly to tack the republican calendar to the\nrights of man, and send their armies to propagate them together;\notherwise the correspondence of a Frenchman will be as difficult to\ninterpret with mercantile exactness as the characters of the Chinese.\nThe vanity of these philosophers would, doubtless, be gratified by\nforcing the rest of Europe and the civilized world to adopt their useless\nand chimerical innovations, and they might think it a triumph to see the\ninhabitant of the Hebrides date _\"Vendemiaire,\"_ [Alluding to the\nvintage.] or the parched West-Indian _\"Nivose;\"_ but vanity is not on\nthis, as it is on many other occasions, the leading principle.--It was\nhoped that a new arrangement of the year, and a different nomenclature of\nthe months, so as to banish all the commemorations of Christianity, might\nprepare the way for abolishing religion itself, and, if it were possible\nto impose the use of the new calendar so far as to exclude the old one,\nthis might certainly assist their more serious atheistical operations;\nbut as the success of such an introduction might depend on the will of\nthe people, and is not within the competence of the bayonet, the old year\nwill maintain its ground, and these pedantic triflers find that they have\nlaboured to no more extensive a purpose, than to furnish a date to the\nnewspapers, or to their own decrees, which no one will take the pains to\nunderstand.\nMankind are in general more attached to customs than principles. The\nuseful despotism of Peter, which subdued so many of the prejudices of his\ncountrymen, could not achieve the curtailment of their beards; and you\nmust not imagine that, with all the endurance of the French, these\ncontinual attempts at innovation pass without murmurs: partial revolts\nhappen very frequently; but, as they are the spontaneous effect of\npersonal suffering, not of political manoeuvre, they are without concert\nor union, of course easily quelled, and only serve to strengthen the\ngovernment.--The people of Amiens have lately, in one of these sudden\neffusions of discontent, burnt the tree of liberty, and even the\nrepresentative, Dumont, has been menaced; but these are only the blows of\na coward who is alarmed at his own temerity, and dreads the chastisement\nof it.*\n * The whole town of Bedouin, in the south of France, was burnt\n pursuant to a decree of the convention, to expiate the imprudence of\n some of its inhabitants in having cut down a dead tree of liberty.\n Above sixty people were guillotined as accomplices, and their bodies\n thrown into pits, dug by order of the representative, Magnet, (then\n on mission,) before their death. These executions were succeeded by\n a conflagration of all the houses, and the imprisonment or\n dispersion of their possessors. It is likewise worthy of remark,\n that many of these last were obliged, by express order of Maignet,\n to be spectators of the murder of their friends and relations.\nThis crime in the revolutionary code is of a very serious nature; and\nhowever trifling it may appear to you, it depends only on the will of\nDumont to sacrifice many lives on the occasion. But Dumont, though\nerected by circumstances into a tyrant, is not sanguinary--he is by\nnature and education passionate and gross, and in other times might only\nhave been a good natured Polisson. Hitherto he has contented himself\nwith alarming, and making people tired of their lives, but I do not\nbelieve he has been the direct or intentional cause of anyone's death.\nHe has so often been the hero of my adventures, that I mention him\nfamiliarly to you, without reflecting, that though the delegate of more\nthan monarchical power here, he is too insignificant of himself to be\nknown in England. But the history of Dumont is that of two-thirds of the\nConvention. He was originally clerk to an attorney at Abbeville, and\nafterwards set up for himself in a neighbouring village. His youth\nhaving been marked by some digressions from the \"'haviour of reputation,\"\nhis profession was far from affording him a subsistence; and the\nrevolution, which seems to have called forth all that was turbulent,\nunprincipled, or necessitous in the country, naturally found a partizan\nin an attorney without practice.--At the election of 1792, when the\nKing's fall and the domination of the Jacobins had spread so general a\nterror that no man of character could be prevailed upon to be a candidate\nfor a public situation, Dumont availed himself of this timidity and\nsupineness in those who ought to have become the representatives of the\npeople; and, by a talent for intrigue, and a coarse facility of\nphrase-making, (for he has no pretensions to eloquence,) prevailed on\nthe mob to elect him. His local knowledge, active disposition, and\nsubservient industry, render him an useful kind of drudge to any\nprevailing party, and, since the overthrow of the Brissotines, he has\nbeen entrusted with the government of this and some of the neighbouring\ndepartments. He professes himself a zealous republican, and an apostle\nof the doctrine of universal equality, yet unites in his person all the\nattributes of despotism, and lives with more luxury and expence than\nmost of the _ci-devant_ gentry. His former habitation at Oisemont is not\nmuch better than a good barn; but patriotism is more profitable here\nthan in England, and he has lately purchased a large mansion belonging\nto an emigrant.\n * \"Britain no longer pays her patriots with her spoils:\" and perhaps\n it is matter of congratulation to a country, when the profession of\n patriotism is not lucrative. Many agreeable inferences may be made\n from it--the sentiment may have become too general for reward,\n Ministers too virtuous to fear, or even the people too enlightened\n to be deceived.\n--His mode of travelling, which used at best to be in the _coche d'eau_\n[Passage-boat.] or the diligence, is now in a coach and four, very\nfrequently accompanied by a led horse, and a party of dragoons. I fear\nsome of your patriots behold this with envy, and it is not to be wondered\nat that they should wish to see a similar revolution in England. What a\nseducing prospect for the assertors of liberty, to have the power of\nimprisoning and guillotining all their countrymen! What halcyon days,\nwhen the aristocratic palaces* shall be purified by solacing the fatigues\nof republican virtue, and the levellers of all distinction travel with\nfour horses and a military escort!--But, as Robespierre observes, you are\ntwo centuries behind the French in patriotism and information; and I\ndoubt if English republicanism will ever go beyond a dinner, and toasting\nthe manes of Hampden and Sydney. I would, therefore, seriously advise\nany of my compatriots who may be enamoured of a government founded on the\nrights of man, to quit an ungrateful country which seems so little\ndisposed to reward their labours, and enjoy the supreme delight of men a\nsysteme, that of seeing their theories in action.\n * Many of the emigrants' houses were bought by members of the\n Convention, or people in office. At Paris, crouds of inferior\n clerks, who could not purchase, found means to get lodged in the\n most superb national edifices: Monceaux was the villa of\n Robespierre--St. Just occasionally amused himself at Raincy--Couthon\n succeed the Comte d'Artois at Bagatelle-and Vliatte, a juryman of\n the Revolutionary Tribunal, was lodged at the pavillion of Flora, in\n the Tuilleries, which he seems to have occupied as a sort of Maitre\n d'Hotel to the Comite de Salut Public.\n_A propos_--a decree of the Convention has lately passed to secure the\nperson of Mr. Thomas Paine, and place seals on his papers. I hope,\nhowever, as he has been installed in all the rights of a French citizen,\nin addition to his representative inviolability, that nothing more than a\ntemporary retreat is intended for him. Perhaps even his personal\nsufferings may prove a benefit to mankind. He may, like Raleigh, \"in his\nprison hours enrich the world,\" and add new proselytes to the cause of\nfreedom. Besides, human evils are often only blessings in a questionable\nform--Mr. Paine's persecutions in England made him a legislator in\nFrance. Who knows but his persecutions in France may lead to some new\nadvancement, or at least add another line to the already crouded\ntitle-pages that announce his literary and political distinctions!\n--Yours.\nJanuary, 1794.\nThe total suppression of all religious worship in this country is an\nevent of too singular and important a nature not to have been commented\nupon largely by the English papers; but, though I have little new to add\non the subject, my own reflections have been too much occupied in\nconsequence for me to pass it over in silence.\nI am yet in the first emotions of wonder: the vast edifice which had been\nraised by the blended efforts of religion and superstition, which had\nbeen consecrated by time, endeared by national taste, and become\nnecessary by habit, has now disappeared, and scarcely left a vestige of\nits ruins. To those who revert only to the genius of the Catholic\nreligion, and to former periods of the history of France, this event must\nseem incredible; and nothing but constant opportunities of marking its\ngradual approach can reconcile it to probability. The pious christian\nand the insidious philosopher have equally contributed to the general\neffect, though with very different intentions: the one, consulting only\nhis reason, wished to establish a pure and simple mode of worship, which,\ndivested of the allurements of splendid processions and imposing\nceremonies, should teach the people their duty, without captivating their\nsenses; the other, better acquainted with French character, knew how\nlittle these views were compatible with it, and hoped, under the specious\npretext of banishing the too numerous ornaments of the Catholic practice,\nto shake the foundations of Christianity itself. Thus united in their\nefforts, though dissimilar in their motives, all parties were eager at\nthe beginning of the revolution for a reform in the Church: the wealth of\nthe Clergy, the monastic establishments, the supernumerary saints, were\ndevoted and attacked without pity, and without regret; and, in the zeal\nand hurry of innovation, the decisive measure, which reduced\necclesiastics to small pensions dependent on the state, was carried,\nbefore those who really meant well were aware of its consequences. The\nnext step was, to make the receiving these pensions subject to an oath,\nwhich the selfish philosopher, who can coldly calculate on, and triumph\nin, the weakness of human nature, foresaw would be a brand of discord,\ncertain to destroy the sole force which the Clergy yet possessed--their\nunion, and the public opinion.\nUnfortunately, these views were not disappointed: conviction, interest,\nor fear, prevailed on many to take the oath; while doubt, worldly\nimprovidence, or a scrupulous piety, deterred others. A schism took\nplace between the jurors and nonjurors--the people became equally\ndivided, and adhered either to the one or the other, as their habits or\nprepossessions directed them. Neither party, as it may be imagined,\ncould see themselves deprived of any portion of the public esteem,\nwithout concern, perhaps without rancour; and their mutual animosity, far\nfrom gaining proselytes to either, contributed only to the immediate\ndegradation and future ruin of both. Those, however, who had not taken\nthe prescribed oath, were in general more popular than what were called\nthe constitutionalists, and the influence they were supposed to exert in\nalienating the minds of their followers from the new form of government,\nsupplied the republican party with a pretext for proposing their\nbanishment.*\n *The King's exertion of the power vested in him by the constitution,\n by putting a temporary negative on this decree, it is well known,\n was one of the pretexts for dethroning him.\nAt the King's deposition this decree took place, and such of the\nnonjuring priests as were not massacred in the prisons, or escaped the\nsearch, were to be embarked for Guiana. The wiser and better part of\nthose whose compliances entitled them to remain, were, I believe, far\nfrom considering this persecution of their opponents as a triumph--to\nthose who did, it was of short duration. The Convention, which had\nhitherto attempted to disguise its hatred of the profession by censure\nand abuse of a part of its members, began now to ridicule the profession\nitself: some represented it as useless--others as pernicious and\nirreconcileable with political freedom; and a discourse* was printed,\nunder the sanction of the Assembly, to prove, that the only feasible\nrepublic must be supported by pure atheism.\n * Extracts from the Report of Anacharsis Cloots, member of the\n Committee of Public Instruction, printed by order of the National\n Convention:\n \"Our _Sans-culottes_ want no other sermon but the rights of man, no\n other doctrine but the constitutional precepts and practice, nor any\n other church than where the section or the club hold their meetings,\n \"The propagation of the rights of man ought to be presented to the\n astonished world pure and without stain. It is not by offering\n strange gods to our neighbours that we shall operate their\n conversion. We can never raise them from their abject state by\n erecting one altar in opposition to another. A trifling heresy is\n infinitely more revolting than having no religion at all. Nature,\n like the sun, diffuses her light without the assistance of priests\n and vestals. While we were constitutional heretics, we maintained\n an army of an hundred thousand priests, who waged war equally with\n the Pope and the disciples of Calvin. We crushed the old priesthood\n by means of the new, and while we compelled every sect to contribute\n to the payment of a pretended national religion, we became at once\n the abhorrence of all the Catholics and Protestants in Europe. The\n repulsion of our religious belief counteracted the attraction of our\n political principles.--But truth is at length triumphant, and all\n the ill-intentioned shall no more be able to detach our neighbours\n from the dominion of the rights of man, under pretext of a religious\n dominion which no longer exists.--The purpose of religion is no how\n so well answered as by presenting carte blanche to the abused world.\n Every one will then be at liberty to form his spiritual regimen to\n his own taste, till in the end the invincible ascendant of reason\n shall teach him that the Supreme Being, the Eternal Being, is no\n other than Nature uncreated and uncreatable; and that the only\n Providence is the association of mankind in freedom and equality!--\n This sovereign providence affords comfort to the afflicted, rewards\n the good, and punishes the wicked. It exercises no unjust\n partialities, like the providence of knaves and fools. Man, when\n free, wants no other divinity than himself. This god will not cost\n us a single farthing, not a single tear, nor a drop of blood. From\n the summit of our mountain he hath promulgated his laws, traced in\n evident characters on the tables of nature. From the East to the\n West they will be understood without the aid of interpreters,\n comments, or miracles. Every other ritual will be torn in pieces at\n the appearance of that of reason. Reason dethrones both the Kings\n of the earth, and the Kings of heaven.--No monarch above, if we wish\n to preserve our republic below.\n \"Volumes have been written to determine whether or no a republic of\n Atheists could exist. I maintain that every other republic is a\n chimera. If you once admit the existence of a heavenly Sovereign,\n you introduce the wooden horse within your walls!--What you adore by\n day will be your destruction at night.\n \"A people of theists necessarily become revelationists, that is to\n say, slaves of priests, who are but religious go-betweens, and\n physicians of damned souls.\n \"If I were a scoundrel, I should make a point of exclaiming against\n atheism, for a religious mask is very convenient to a traitor.\n \"The intolerance of truth will one day proscribe the very name of\n temple 'fanum,' the etymology of fanaticism.\n \"We shall instantly see the monarchy of heaven condemned in its turn\n by the revolutionary tribunal of victorious Reason; for Truth,\n exalted on the throne of Nature, is sovereignly intolerant.\n \"The republic of the rights of man is, properly speaking, neither\n theistical nor atheistical--it is nihilistical.\"\nMany of the most eminent conforming Prelates and Clergy were arrested,\nand even individuals, who had the reputation of being particularly\ndevout, were marked as objects of persecution. A new calendar was\ndevised, which excluded the ancient festivals, and limited public worship\nto the decade, or tenth day, and all observance of the Sabbath was\ninterdicted. The prisons were crouded with sufferers in the cause of\nreligion, and all who had not the zeal or the courage of martyrs,\nabstained from manifesting any attachment to the Christian faith.\nWhile this consternation was yet recent, the Deputies on mission in the\ndepartments shut up the churches entirely: the refuse of low clubs were\npaid and encouraged to break the windows and destroy the monuments; and\nthese outrages, which, it was previously concerted, should at first\nassume the appearance of popular tumult, were soon regulated and directed\nby the mandates of the Convention themselves. The churches were again\nopened, an atheistic ritual, and licentious homilies,* were substituted\nfor the proscribed service--and an absurd and ludicrous imitation of the\nGreek mythology was exhibited, under the title of the Religion of\nReason.--\n * I have read a discourse pronounced in a church at Paris, on the\n decade, so indecent and profane, that the most humble audience of a\n country-puppet show in England would not have tolerated it.\nOn the principal church of every town was inscribed, \"The Temple of\nReason;\" and a tutelary goddess was installed with a ceremony equally\npedantic, ridiculous, and profane.*\n * At Havre, the goddess of Reason was drawn on a car by four\n cart-horses, and as it was judged necessary, to prevent accidents,\n that the horses should be conducted by those they were accustomed\n to, the carters were likewise put in requisition and furnished with\n cuirasses a l'antique from the theatre. The men, it seems, being\n neither martial nor learned, were not au fait at this equipment,\n and concluding it was only a waistcoat of ceremony, invested\n themselves with the front behind, and the back part laced before,\n to the great amusement of the few who were sensible of the mistake.\nYet the philosophers did not on this occasion disdain those adventitious\naids, the use of which they had so much declaimed against while they were\nthe auxiliaries of Christianity.*\n * Mr. Gibbon reproaches the Christians with their adoption of the\n allurements of the Greek mythology.--The Catholics have been more\n hostilely despoiled by their modern persecutors, and may retort that\n the religion of reason is a more gross appeal to the senses than the\n darkest ages of superstition would have ventured on.\nMusic, processions, and decorations, which had been banished from the\nancient worship, were introduced in the new one, and the philosophical\nreformer, even in the very attempt to establish a religion purely\nmetaphysical, found himself obliged to inculcate it by a gross and\nmaterial idolatry.*--\n * The French do not yet annex any other idea to the religion of\n reason than that of the female who performs the part of the goddess.\nThus, by submitting his abstractions to the genius of the people, and the\nimperfections of our nature, perhaps the best apology was offered for the\nerrors of that worship which had been proscribed, persecuted, and\nridiculed.\nPrevious to the tenth day, on which a celebration of this kind was to\ntake place, a Deputy arrived, accompanied by the female goddess:* that\nis, (if the town itself did not produce one for the purpose,) a Roman\ndress of white satin was hired from the theatre, with which she was\ninvested--her head covered with a red cap, ornamented with oak leaves--\none arm was reclined on a plough, the other grasped a spear--and her feet\nwere supported by a globe, and environed by mutilated emblems of\nseodality. [It is not possible to explain this costume as appropriate.]\n * The females who personated the new divinity were usually selected\n from amongst those who \"might make sectaries of whom they bid but\n follow,\" but who were more conspicuous for beauty than any other\n celestial attribute.--The itinerant goddess of the principal towns\n in the department de la Somme was the mistress of one Taillefer, a\n republican General, brother to the Deputy of the same name.--I know\n not, in this military government, whether the General's services on\n the occasion were included in his other appointments. At Amiens, he\n not only provided the deity, but commanded the detachment that\n secured her a submissive adoration.\nThus equipped, the divinity and her appendages were borne on the\nshoulders of Jacobins \"en bonnet rouge,\" and escorted by the National\nGuard, Mayor, Judges, and all the constituted authorities, who, whether\ndiverted or indignant, were obliged to preserve a respectful gravity of\nexterior. When the whole cavalcade arrived at the place appointed, the\ngoddess was placed on an altar erected for the occasion, from whence she\nharangued the people, who, in return, proffered their adoration, and sung\nthe Carmagnole, and other republican hymns of the same kind. They then\nproceeded in the same order to the principal church, in the choir of\nwhich the same ceremonies were renewed: a priest was procured to abjure\nhis faith and avow the whole of Christianity an imposture;* and the\nfestival concluded with the burning of prayer-books, saints,\nconfessionals, and every thing appropriated to the use of public\nworship.**--\n *It must be observed, in justice to the French Clergy, that it was\n seldom possible to procure any who would consent to this infamy. In\n such cases, the part was exhibited by a man hired and dressed for\n the purpose.--The end of degrading the profession in the eyes of the\n people was equally answered.\n ** In many places, valuable paintings and statues were burnt or\n disfigured. The communion cups, and other church plate, were, after\n being exorcised in Jacobin revels, sent to the Convention, and the\n gold and silver, (as the author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman\n Empire invidiously expresses himself,) the pearls and jewels, were\n wickedly converted to the service of mankind; as if any thing whose\n value is merely fictitious, could render more service to mankind\n than when dedicated to an use which is equally the solace of the\n rich and the poor--which gratifies the eye without exciting\n cupidity, soothes the bed of sickness, and heals the wounds of\n conscience. Yet I am no advocate for the profuse decorations of\n Catholic churches; and if I seem to plead in their behalf, it is\n that I recollect no instance where the depredators of them have\n appropriated the spoil to more laudable purposes.\nThe greater part of the attendants looked on in silent terror and\nastonishment; whilst others, intoxicated, or probably paid to act this\nscandalous farce, danced round the flames with an appearance of frantic\nand savage mirth.--It is not to be forgotten, that representatives of the\npeople often presided as the high priests of these rites; and their\nofficial dispatches to the convention, in which these ceremonies were\nminutely described, were always heard with bursts of applause, and\nsanctioned by decrees of insertion in the bulletin.*\n * A kind of official newspaper distributed periodically at the\n expence of Government in large towns, and pasted up in public\n places--it contained such news as the convention chose to impart,\n which was given with the exact measure of truth or falsehood that\n suited the purpose of the day.\nI have now conducted you to the period in which I am contemplating France\nin possession of all the advantages which a total dereliction of\nreligious establishments can bestow--at that consummation to which the\nlabours of modern philosophers have so long tended.\nYe Shaftesburys, Bolingbrokes, Voltaires, and must I add the name of\nGibbon,* behold yourselves inscribed on the registers of fame with a\nLaplanche, a Chenier, an Andre Dumont, or a Fouche!**--\n * The elegant satirist of Christianity will smile at the presumption\n of so humble a censurer.--It is certain, the misapplication only of\n such splendid talents could embolden me to mention the name of the\n possessor with diminished respect.\n ** These are names too contemptible for notice, but for the mischief\n to which they were instrumental--they were among the first and most\n remarkable persecutors of religion.\nDo not blush at the association; your views have been the same; and the\nsubtle underminer of man's best comfort in the principles of his\nreligion, is even more criminal than him who prohibits the external\nexercise of it. Ridicule of the sacred writings is more dangerous than\nburning them, and a sneer at the miracles of the gospel more mischievous\nthan disfiguring the statues of the evangelists; and it must be confessed\nthat these Anti-christian Iconoclasts themselves might probably have been\ncontent to \"believe and say their prayers,\" had not the intolerance of\nphilosophy made them atheists and persecutors.--The coarse legend of\n\"death is the sleep of eternity,\"* is only a compendium of the fine-drawn\ntheories of the more elaborate materialist, and the depositaries of the\ndead will not corrupt more by the exhibition of this desolating standard,\nthan the libraries of the living by the volumes which hold out the same\noblivion to vice, and discouragement to virtue.--\n * Posts, bearing the inscription \"la mort est un sommeil eternel,\"\n were erected in many public burying-grounds.--No other ceremony is\n observed with the dead than enclosing the body in some rough boards,\n and sending it off by a couple of porters, (in their usual garb,)\n attended by a municipal officer. The latter inscribes on a register\n the name of the deceased, who is thrown into a grave generally\n prepared for half a score, and the whole business is finished.\nThe great experiment of governing a civilized people without religion\nwill now be made; and should the morals, the manners, or happiness of the\nFrench, be improved by it, the sectaries of modern philosophy may\ntriumph. Should it happen otherwise, the Christian will have an\nadditional motive for cherishing his faith: but even the afflictions of\nhumanity will not, I fear, produce either regret or conviction in his\nadversary; for the prejudices of philosophers and systemists are\nincorrigible.*\n * _\"Ce ne sont point les philosophes qui connoissent le mieux les\n hommes. Ils ne les voient qu'a travers les prejuges, et je ne fache\n aucun etat ou l'on en ait tant.\"_--J. J. Rousseau. [\"It is not among\n philosophers that we are to look for the most perfect knowledge of\n human nature.--They view it only through the prejudices of\n philosophy, and I know of no profession where prejudices are more\n abundant.\"]\nProvidence, Jan. 29.\nWe are now quite domesticated here, though in a very miserable way,\nwithout fire, and with our mattresses, on the boards; but we nevertheless\nadopt the spirit of the country, and a total absence of comfort does not\nprevent us from amusing ourselves. My friend knits, and draws landscapes\non the backs of cards; and I have established a correspondence with an\nold bookseller, who sends me treatises of chemistry and fortifications,\ninstead of poetry and memoirs. I endeavoured at first to borrow books of\nour companions, but this resource was soon exhausted, and the whole\nprison supplied little more than a novel of Florian's, _Le Voyage du jeune\nAnarcharsis,_ and some of the philosophical romances of Voltaire.--They\nsay it ennuyes them to read; and I observe, that those who read at all,\ntake their books into the garden, and prefer the most crowded walks.\nThese studious persons, who seem to surpass Crambe himself in the faculty\nof abstraction, smile and bow at every comma, without any appearance of\nderangement from such frequent interruptions.\nTime passes sorrowly, rather than slowly; and my thoughts, without being\namused, are employed. The novelty of our situation, the past, the\nfuture, all offer so many subjects of reflection, that my mind has more\noccasion for repose than amusement. My only external resource is\nconversing with our fellow-prisoners, and learning the causes of their\ndetention. These relations furnish me with a sort of \"abstract of the\ntimes,\" and mark the character of the government better than\ncircumstances of more apparent consequence; for what are battles, sieges,\nand political machinations, but as they ultimately affect the happiness\nof society? And when I learn that the lives, the liberty, and property\nof no class are secure from violation, it is not necessary one should be\nat Paris to form an opinion of this period of the revolution, and of\nthose who conduct it.\nThe persecution which has hitherto been chiefly directed against the\nNoblesse, has now a little subsided, and seems turned against religion\nand commerce. People are daily arrested for assisting at private masses,\nconcealing images, or even for being possessors of religious books.\nMerchants are sent here as monopolizers, and retailers, under various\npretexts, in order to give the committees an opportunity of pillaging\ntheir shops. It is not uncommon to see people of the town who are our\nguards one day, become our fellow-prisoners the next; and a few weeks\nsince, the son of an old gentleman who has been some time here, after\nbeing on guard the whole day, instead of being relieved at the usual\nhour, was joined by his wife and children, under the escort of a couple\nof dragoons, who delivered the whole family into the custody of our\nkeeper; and this appears to have happened without any other motive than\nhis having presented a petition to Dumont in behalf of his father.\nAn old man was lately taken from his house in the night, and brought\nhere, because he was said to have worn the cross of St. Louis.--The fact\nis, however, that he never did wear this obnoxious distinction; and\nthough his daughter has proved this incontrovertibly to Dumont, she\ncannot obtain his liberty: and the poor young woman, after making two or\nthree fruitless journeys to Paris, is obliged to content herself with\nseeing her father occasionally at the gate.\nThe refectory of the convent is inhabited by hospital nuns. Many of the\nhospitals in France had a sort of religious order annexed to them, whose\nbusiness it was to attend the sick; and habit, perhaps too the\nassociation of the offices of humanity with the duties of religion, had\nmade them so useful in their profession, that they were suffered to\nremain, even after the abolition of the regular monasteries. But the\ndevastating torrent of the revolution at length reached them: they were\naccused of bestowing a more tender solicitude on their aristocratic\npatients than on the wounded volunteers and republicans; and, upon these\ncurious charges, they have been heaped into carts, without a single\nnecessary, almost without covering, sent from one department to another,\nand distributed in different prisons, where they are perishing with cold,\nsickness, and want! Some people are here only because they happened to\nbe accidentally at a house when the owner was arrested;* and we have one\nfamily who were taken at dinner, with their guests, and the plate they\nwere using!\n * It was not uncommon for a mandate of arrest to direct the taking\n \"Citizen Such-a-one, and all persons found in his house.\"\nA grand-daughter of the celebrated De Witt, who resided thirty leagues\nfrom hence, was arrested in the night, put in an open cart, without any\nregard to her age, her sex, or her infirmities, though the rain fell in\ntorrents; and, after sleeping on straw in different prisons on the road,\nwas deposited here. As a Fleming, the law places her in the same\npredicament with a very pretty young woman who has lived some months at\nAmiens; but Dumont, who is at once the maker, the interpreter, and\nexecutor of the laws, has exempted the latter from the general\nproscription, and appears daily with her in public; whereas poor Madame\nDe Witt is excluded from such indulgence, being above seventy years old--\nand is accused, moreover, of having been most exemplarily charitable,\nand, what is still worse, very religious.--I have given these instances\nnot as any way remarkable, and only that you may form some idea of the\npretexts which have served to cover France with prisons, and to conduct\nso many of its inhabitants to the scaffold.\nIt is impossible to reflect on a country in such a situation, without\nabhorring the authors of it, and dreading the propagation of their\ndoctrines. I hope they neither have imitators nor admirers in England;\nyet the convention in their debates, the Jacobins, and all the French\nnewspapers, seem so sanguine in their expectation, and so positive in\ntheir assertions of an English revolution, that I occasionally, and in\nspite of myself, feel a vague but serious solicitude, which I should not\nhave supposed the apprehension of any political evil could inspre. I\nknow the good sense and information of my countrymen offer a powerful\nresource against the love of change and metaphysical subtilties; but, it\nis certain, the French government have much depended on the spirit of\nparty, and the zeal of their propagandistes. They talk of a British\nconvention, of a conventional army, and, in short, all France seem\nprepared to see their neighbours involved in the same disastrous system\nwith themselves. The people are not a little supported in this error by\nthe extracts that are given them from your orators in the House of\nCommons, which teem with nothing but complaints against the oppression of\ntheir own country, and enthusiastic admiration of French liberty. We\nread and wonder--collate the Bill of Rights with the Code\nRevolutionnaire, and again fear what we cannot give credit to.\nSince the reports I allude to have gained ground, I have been forcibly\nstricken by a difference in the character of the two nations. At the\nprospect of a revolution, all the French who could conveniently leave the\ncountry, fled; and those that remained (except adventurers and the\nbanditti that were their accomplices) studiously avoided taking any part.\nBut so little are our countrymen affected with this selfish apathy, that\nI am told there is scarcely one here who, amidst all his present\nsufferings, does not seem to regret his absence from England, more on\naccount of not being able to oppose this threatened attack on our\nconstitution, than for any personal motive.--The example before them\nmust, doubtless, tend to increase this sentiment of genuine patriotism;\nfor whoever came to France with but a single grain of it in his\ncomposition, must return with more than enough to constitute an hundred\npatriots, whose hatred of despotism is only a principle, and who have\nnever felt its effects.--Adieu.\nFebruary 2, 1794.\nThe factions which have chosen to give France the appellation of a\nrepublic, seem to have judged, and with some reason, that though it might\nanswer their purpose to amuse the people with specious theories of\nfreedom, their habits and ideas were far from requiring that these fine\nschemes should be carried into practice. I know of no example equal to\nthe submission of the French at this moment; and if \"departed spirits\nwere permitted to review the world,\" the shades of Richelieu or Louvois\nmight hover with envy round the Committee of Public Welfare, and regret\nthe undaring moderation of their own politics.\nHow shall I explain to an Englishman the doctrine of universal\nrequisition? I rejoice that you can imagine nothing like it.--After\nestablishing, as a general principle, that the whole country is at the\ndisposal of government, succeeding decrees have made specific claims on\nalmost every body, and every thing. The tailors, shoemakers,* bakers,\nsmiths, sadlers, and many other trades, are all in requisition--carts,\nhorses, and carriages of every kind, are in requisition--the stables and\ncellars are put in requisition for the extraction of saltpetre, and the\nhouses to lodge soldiers, or to be converted into prisons.\n * In order to prevent frauds, the shoemakers were obliged to make\n only square-toed shoes, and every person not in the army was\n forbidden to wear them of this form. Indeed, people of any\n pretentions to patriotism (that is to say, who were much afraid) did\n not venture to wear any thing but wooden shoes; as it had been\n declared anti-civique, if not suspicious, to walk in leather.\n--Sometimes shopkeepers are forbidden to sell their cloth, nails, wine,\nbread, meat, &c. There are instances where whole towns have been kept\nwithout the necessaries of life for several days together, in consequence\nof these interdictions; and I have known it proclaimed by beat of drum,\nthat whoever possessed two uniforms, two hats, or two pair of shoes,\nshould relinquish one for the use of the army! Yet with all these\nefforts of despotism, the republican troops are in many respects ill\nsupplied, the produce being too often converted to the use of the agents\nof government, who are all Jacobins, and whose peculations are suffered\nwith impunity, because they are too necessary, or perhaps too formidable\nfor punishment.\nThese proceedings, which are not the less mischievous for being absurd,\nmust end in a total destruction of commerce: the merchant will not import\nwhat he may be obliged to sell exclusively to government at an arbitrary\nand inadequate valuation.--Those who are not imprisoned, and have it in\ntheir power, are for the most part retired from business, or at least\navoid all foreign speculations; so that France may in a few months depend\nonly on her internal resources. The same measures which ruin one class,\nserve as a pretext to oppress and levy contributions on the rest.--In\norder to make this right of seizure still more productive, almost every\nvillage has its spies, and the domiciliary visits are become so frequent,\nthat a man is less secure in his own house, than in a desert amidst\nArabs. On these occasions, a band of Jacobins, with a municipal officer\nat their head, enter sans ceremonie, over-run your apartments, and if\nthey find a few pounds of sugar, soap, or any other article which they\nchoose to judge more than sufficient for immediate consumption, they take\npossession of the whole as a monopoly, which they claim for the use of\nthe republic, and the terrified owner, far from expostulating, thinks\nhimself happy if he escapes so well.--But this is mere vulgar tyranny:\na less powerful despotism might invade the security of social life, and\nbanish its comforts. We are prone to suffer, and it requires often\nlittle more than the will to do evil to give us a command over the\nhappiness of others. The Convention are more original, and, not\nsatisfied with having reduced the people to the most abject slavery,\nthey exact a semblance of content, and dictate at stated periods the\nchastisement which awaits those who refuse to smile.\nThe splendid ceremonies at Paris, which pass for popular rejoicings,\nmerit that appellation less than an auto de fe. Every movement is\npreviously regulated by a Commissioner appointed for the purpose,\n(to whom en passant these fetes are very lucrative jobs,) a plan of the\nwhole is distributed, in which is prescribed with great exactness, that\nat such and such parts the people are to \"melt into tears,\" at others\nthey are to be seized with a holy enthusiasm, and at the conclusion of\nthe whole they are to rend the air with the cry of \"Vive la Convention!\"\n--These celebrations are always attended by a military force, sufficient\nto ensure their observance, besides a plentiful mixture of spies to\nnotice refractory countenances or faint acclamations.\nThe departments which cannot imitate the magnificence of Paris, are\nobliged, nevertheless, to manifest their satisfaction. At every occasion\non which a rejoicing is ordered, the same kind of discipline is\npreserved; and the aristocrats, whose fears in general overcome their\nprinciples, are often not the least zealous attendants.\nAt the retaking of Toulon, when abandoned by our countrymen, the National\nGuards were every where assembled to participate in the festivity, under\na menace of three days imprisonment. Those persons who did not\nilluminate their houses were to be considered as suspicious, and treated\nas such: yet, even with all these precautions, I am informed the business\nwas universally cold, and the balls thinly attended, except by\naristocrats and relations of emigrants, who, in some places, with a\nbaseness not excused even by their terrors, exhibited themselves as a\npublic spectacle, and sang the defeats of that country which was armed in\ntheir defence.\nI must here remark to you a circumstance which does still less honour to\nthe French character; and which you will be unwilling to believe. In\nseveral towns the officers and others, under whose care the English were\nplaced during their confinement, were desirous sometimes on account of\nthe peculiar hardship of their situation as foreigners, to grant them\nlittle indulgences, and even more liberty than to the French prisoners;\nand in this they were justified on several considerations, as well as\nthat of humanity.--They knew an Englishman could not escape, whatever\nfacility might be given him, without being immediately retaken; and that\nif his imprisonment were made severe, he had fewer external resources and\nalleviations than the natives of the country: but these favourable\ndispositions were of no avail--for whenever any of our countrymen\nobtained an accommodation, the jealousy of the French took umbrage, and\nthey were obliged to relinquish it, or hazard the drawing embarrassment\non the individual who had served them.\nYou are to notice, that the people in general, far from being averse to\nseeing the English treated with a comparative indulgence, were even\npleased at it; and the invidious comparisons and complaints which\nprevented it, proceeded from the gentry, from the families of those who\nhad found refuge in England, and who were involved in the common\npersecution.--I have, more than once, been reproached by a female\naristocrat with the ill success of the English army; and many, with whom\nI formerly lived on terms of intimacy, would refuse me now the most\ntrifling service.--I have heard of a lady, whose husband and brother are\nboth in London, who amuses herself in teaching a bird to repeat abuse of\nthe English.\nIt has been said, that the day a man becomes a slave, he loses half his\nvirtue; and if this be true as to personal slavery, judging from the\nexamples before me, I conclude it equally so of political bondage.--The\nextreme despotism of the government seems to have confounded every\nprinciple of right and wrong, every distinction of honour and dishonour\nand the individual, of whatever class, alive only to the sense of\npersonal danger, embraces without reluctance meanness or disgrace, if it\ninsure his safety.--A tailor or shoemaker, whose reputation perhaps is\ntoo bad to gain him a livelihood by any trade but that of a patriot,\nshall be besieged by the flatteries of people of rank, and have levees as\nnumerous as Choiseul or Calonne in their meridian of power.\nWhen a Deputy of the Convention is sent to a town on mission, sadness\ntakes possession of every heart, and gaiety of every countenance. He is\nbeset with adulatory petitions, and propitiating gifts; the Noblesse who\nhave escaped confinement form a sort of court about his person; and\nthrice happy is the owner of that habitation at which he condescends to\nreside.--*\n * When a Deputy arrives, the gentry of the town contend with jealous\n rivalship for the honour of lodging him; and the most eloquent\n eulogist of republican simplicity in the Convention does not fail to\n prefer a large house and a good table, even though the unhallowed\n property of an aristocrat.--It is to be observed, that these\n Missionaries travel in a very patriarchal style, accompanied by\n their wives, children, and a numerous train of followers, who are\n not delicate in availing themselves of this hospitality, and are\n sometimes accused of carrying off the linen, or any thing else\n portable--even the most decent behave on these occasions as though\n they were at an inn.\n--A Representative of gallantry has no reason to envy either the\nauthority of the Grand Signor, or the licence of his seraglio--he is\narbiter of the fate of every woman that pleases him; and, it is supposed,\nthat many a fair captive has owed her liberty to her charms, and that the\nphilosophy of a French husband has sometimes opened the doors of his\nprison.\nDumont, who is married, and has besides the countenance of a white Negro,\nnever visits us without occasioning a general commotion amongst all the\nfemales, especially those who are young and pretty. As soon as it is\nknown that he is expected, the toilettes are all in activity, a\nrenovation of rouge and an adjustment of curls take place, and, though\nperformed with more haste, not with less solicitude, than the preparatory\nsplendour of a first introduction.--When the great man arrives, he finds\nthe court by which he enters crowded by these formidable prisoners, and\neach with a petition in her hand endeavours, with the insidious coquetry\nof plaintive smiles and judicious tears, that brighten the eye without\nderanging the features, to attract his notice and conciliate his favour.\nHappy those who obtain a promise, a look of complacence, or even of\ncuriosity!--But the attention of this apostle of republicanism is not\noften bestowed, except on high rank, or beauty; and a woman who is old,\nor ill dressed, that ventures to approach him, is usually repulsed with\nvulgar brutality--while the very sight of a male suppliant renders him\nfurious. The first half hour he walks about, surrounded by his fair\ncortege, and is tolerably civil; but at length, fatigued, I suppose by\ncontinual importunity, he loses his temper, departs, and throws all the\npetitions he has received unopened into the fire.\nAdieu--the subject is too humiliating to dwell on. I feel for myself, I\nfeel for human nature, when I see the fastidiousness of wealth, the more\nliberal pride of birth, and the yet more allowable pretensions of beauty,\ndegraded into the most abject submission to such a being as Dumont. Are\nour principles every where the mere children of circumstance, or is it in\nthis country only that nothing is stable? For my own part I love\ninflexibility of character; and pride, even when ill founded, seems more\nrespectable while it sustains itself, than concessions which, refused to\nthe suggestions of reason, are yielded to the dictates of fear.--Yours.\nFebruary 12, 1794.\nI was too much occupied by my personal distresses to make any remarks on\nthe revolutionary government at the time of its adoption. The text of\nthis political phoenomenon must be well known in England--I shall,\ntherefore, confine myself to giving you a general idea of its spirit and\ntendency,--It is, compared to regular government, what force is to\nmechanism, or the usual and peaceful operations of nature to the ravages\nof a storm--it substitutes violence for conciliation, and sweeps with\nprecipitate fury all that opposes its devastating progress. It refers\nevery thing to a single principle, which is in itself not susceptible of\ndefinition, and, like all undefined power, is continually vibrating\nbetween despotism and anarchy. It is the execrable shape of Milton's\nDeath, \"which shape hath none,\" and which can be described only by its\neffects.--For instance, the revolutionary tribunal condemns without\nevidence, the revolutionary committees imprison without a charge, and\nwhatever assumes the title of revolutionary is exonerated from all\nsubjection to humanity, decency, reason, or justice.--Drowning the\ninsurgents, their wives and children, by boatloads, is called, in the\ndispatch to the Convention, a revolutionary measure--*\n * The detail of the horrors committed in La Vendee and at Nantes\n were not at this time fully known. Carrier had, however,\n acknowledged, in a report read to the Convention, that a boat-load\n of refractory priests had been drowned, and children of twelve years\n old condemned by a military commission! One Fabre Marat, a\n republican General, wrote, about the same period, I think from\n Angers, that the Guillotine was too slow, and powder scarce, so that\n it was concluded more expedient to drown the rebels, which he calls\n a patriotic baptism!--The following is a copy of a letter addressed\n to the Mayor of Paris by a Commissary of the Government:\n\"You will give us pleasure by transmitting the details of your fete at\nParis last decade, with the hymns that were sung. Here we all cried\n_\"Vive la Republique!\"_ as we ever do, when our holy mother Guillotine\nis at work. Within these three days she has shaved eleven priests, one\n_ci-devant_ noble, a nun, a general, and a superb Englishman, six feet\nhigh, and as he was too tall by a head, we have put that into the sack! \nAt the same time eight hundred rebels were shot at the Pont du Ce, and\ntheir carcases thrown into the Loire!--I understand the army is on the\ntrack of the runaways. All we overtake we shoot on the spot, and in\nsuch numbers that the ways are heaped with them!\"\n--At Lyons, it is revolutionary to chain three hundred victims together\nbefore the mouths of loaded cannon, and massacre those who escape the\ndischarge with clubs and bayonets;* and at Paris, revolutionary juries\nguillotine all who come before them.--**\n * The Convention formally voted their approbation of this measure,\n and Collot d'Herbois, in a report on the subject, makes a kind of\n apostrophical panegyric on the humanity of his colleagues. \"Which\n of you, Citizens, (says he,) would not have fired the cannon? Which\n of you would not joyfully have destroyed all these traitors at a\n ** About this time a woman who sold newspapers, and the printer of\n them, were guillotined for paragraphs deemed incivique.\n--Yet this government is not more terrible than it is minutely vexations.\nOne's property is as little secure as one's existence. Revolutionary\ncommittees every where sequestrate in the gross, in order to plunder in\ndetail.*\n * The revolutionary committees, when they arrested any one,\n pretended to affix seals in form. The seal was often, however, no\n other than the private one of some individual employed--sometimes\n only a button or a halfpenny, which was broken as often as the\n Committee wanted access to the wine or other effects. Camille\n Desmoulins, in an address to Freron, his fellow-deputy, describes\n with some humour the mode of proceeding of these revolutionary\n pilferers:\n_\"Avant hier, deux Commissaires de la section de Mutius Scaevola, montent\nchez lui--ils trouvent dans la bibliotheque des livres de droit; et\nnon-obstant le decret qui porte qu'on ne touchera point Domat ni a Charles\nDumoulin, bien qu'ils traitent de matieres feodales, ils sont main basse\nsur la moitie de la bibliotheque, et chargent deux Chrocheteurs des\nlivres paternels. Ils trouvent une pendule, don't la pointe de Paiguille\netoit, comme la plupart des pointes d'aiguilles, terminee en trefle: il\nleur semble que cette pointe a quelque chose d'approchant d'une fleur de\nlys; et non-obstant le decret qui ordonne de respecter les monumens des\narts, il confisquent la pendule.--Notez bien qu'il y avoit a cote une\nmalle sur laquelle etoit l'adresse fleurdelisee du marchand.--Ici il n'y\navoit pas moyen de aier que ce fut une belle et bonne fleur de lys; mais\ncomme la malle ne valoit pas un corset, les Commissaires se contentent de\nrayer les lys, au lieu que la malheureuse pendule, qui vaut bien 1200\nlivres, est, malgre son trefle, emportee par eux-memes, qui ne se fioient\npas aux Chrocheteurs d'un poid si precieux--et ce, en vertu du droit que\nBarrere a appelle si heureusement le droit de prehension, quoique le\ndecret s'opposat, dans l'espece, a l'application de ce droit.--Enfin,\nnotre decemvirat sectionnaire, qui se mettoit ainsi au-dessus des\ndecrets, trouve le brevet de pension de mon beau-pere, qui, comme tous\nles brevets de pension, n'etant pas de nature a etre porte sur le grand\nlivre de la republique, etoit demeure dans le porte-feuille, et qui,\ncomme tous les brevets de pension possibles, commencoit par ce protocole;\nLouis, &c. Ciel! s'ecrient les Commissaires, le nom du tyran!--Et apres\navoir retrouve leur haleine, suffoquee d'abord par l'indignation, ils\nmettent en poche le brevet de pension, c'est a dire 1000 livres de rente,\net emportent la marmite. Autre crime, le Citoyen Duplessis, qui etoit\npremier commis des finances, sous Clugny, avoit conserve, comme c'etoit\nl'usage, la cachet du controle general d'alors--un vieux porte-feuille de\ncommis, qui etoit au rebut, ouble au dessus d'une armoire, dans un tas de\npoussiere, et auquel il n'avoit pas touche ne meme pense depuis dix ans\npeutetre, et sur le quel on parvint a decouvrir l'empreinte de quelques\nfleurs de lys, sous deux doigts de crasse, acheva de completer la preuve\nque le Citoyen Duplessis etoit suspect--et la voila, lui, enferme jusqu'a\nla paix, et le scelle mis sur toutes les portes de cette campagne, ou, tu\nte souviens, mon cher Freroa--que, decretes tous deux de prise de corps,\napres le massacre du Champ de Mars, nous trouvions un asyle que le tyran\nn'osoit violer.\"_\n\"The day before yesterday, two Commissaries belonging to the section of\nMutius Scaevola, entered my father-in-law's apartments; they found some\nlaw-books in the library, and, notwithstanding the decree which exempts\nfrom seizure the works of Domat and Charles Dumouin, (although they treat\nof feudal matters,) they proceeded to lay violent hands on one half of\nthe collection, and loaded two porters with paternal spoils. The next\nobject that attracted their attention was a clock, the hand of which,\nlike the hands of most other clocks, terminated in a point, in the form\nof a trefoil, which seemed to them to bear some resemblance to a fleur de\nlys; and, notwithstanding the decree which ordains that the monuments of\nthe arts shall be respected, they immediately passed sentence of\nconfiscation on the clock. I should observe to you, that hard by lay a\nportmanteau, having on it the maker's address, encircled with lilies.--\nHere there was no disputing the fact, but as the trunk was not worth five\nlivres, the Commissaries contented themselves with erasing the lilies;\nbut the unfortunate clock, being worth twelve hundred, was,\nnotwithstanding its trefoil, carried off by themselves, for they would\nnot trust the porters with so precious a load.--And all this was done in\nvirtue of the law, which Barrere aptly denominated the law of prehension,\nand which, according to the terms of the decree itself, was not\napplicable to the case in question.\n\"At length our sectionary decemvirs, who thus placed themselves above the\nlaw, discovered the grant of my father-in-law's pension, which, like all\nsimilar grants, being excluded from the privilege of inscription on the\ngreat register of public debts, had been left in his port-folio; and\nwhich began, as all such grants necessarily must, with the words, Louis,\n&c. \"Heaven!\" exclaimed the Commissaries, \"here is the very name of the\ntyrant!\" And, as soon as they recovered their breaths, which had been\nnearly stopped by the violence of the indignation, they coolly pocketed\nthe grant, that is to say, an annuity of one thousand livres, and sent\noff the porridge-pot. Nor did these constitute all the crimes of Citizen\nDuplessis, who, having served as first clerk of the revenue board under\nClugny, had, as was usual, kept the official seal of that day. An old\nport-folio, which had been thrown aside, and long forgotten, under a\nwardrobe, where it was buried in dust, and had, in all probability, not\nbeen touched for ten years, but, which with much difficulty, was\ndiscovered to bear the impression of a fleur de lys, completed the proof\nthat Citizen Duplessis was a suspicious character. And now behold him\nshut up in a prison until peace shall be concluded, and the seals put\nupon all the doors of that country seat, where, you may remember, my dear\nFreron, that at the time when warrants were issued for apprehending us\nboth, after the massacre in the Champ de Mars, we found an asylum which\nthe tyrant did not dare to violate.\"\n--In a word, you must generally understand, that the revolutionary system\nsupersedes law, religion, and morality; and that it invests the\nCommittees of Public Welfare and General Safety, their agents, the\nJacobin clubs, and subsidiary banditti, with the disposal of the whole\ncountry and its inhabitants.\nThis gloomy aera of the revolution has its frivolities as well as the\nless disastrous periods, and the barbarism of the moment is rendered\nadditionally disgusting by a mixture of levity and pedantry.--It is a\nfashion for people at present to abandon their baptismal and family\nnames, and to assume that of some Greek or Roman, which the debates of\nthe Convention have made familiar.--France swarms with Gracchus's and\nPublicolas, who by imaginary assimilations of acts, which a change of\nmanners has rendered different, fancy themselves more than equal to their\nprototypes.*\n * The vicissitudes of the revolution, and the vengeance of party,\n have brought half the sages of Greece, and patriots of Rome, to the\n Guillotine or the pillory. The Newgate Calendar of Paris contains\n as many illustrious names as the index to Plutarch's Lives; and I\n believe there are now many Brutus's and Gracchus's in durance vile,\n besides a Mutius Scaevola condemned to twenty years imprisonment for\n an unskilful theft.--A man of Amiens, whose name is Le Roy,\n signified to the public, through the channel of a newspaper, that he\n had adopted that of Republic.\n--A man who solicits to be the executioner of his own brother ycleps\nhimself Brutus, and a zealous preacher of the right of universal pillage\ncites the Agrarian law, and signs himself Lycurgus. Some of the Deputies\nhave discovered, that the French mode of dressing is not characteristic\nof republicanism, and a project is now in agitation to drill the whole\ncountry into the use of a Roman costume.--You may perhaps suspect, that\nthe Romans had at least more bodily sedateness than their imitators, and\nthat the shrugs, jerks, and carracoles of a French petit maitre, however\nrepublicanized, will not assort with the grave drapery of the toga. But\non your side of the water you have a habit of reasoning and deliberating\n--here they have that of talking and obeying.\nOur whole community are in despair to-day. Dumont has been here, and\nthose who accosted him, as well as those who only ventured to interpret\nhis looks, all agree in their reports that he is in a \"bad humour.\"--The\nbrightest eyes in France have supplicated in vain--not one grace of any\nsort has been accorded--and we begin to cherish even our present\nsituation, in the apprehension that it may become worse.--Alas! you know\nnot of what evil portent is the \"bad humour\" of a Representant. We are\nhalf of us now, like the Persian Lord, feeling if our heads are still on\nour shoulders.--I could add much to the conclusion of one of my last\nletters. Surely this incessant solicitude for mere existence debilitates\nthe mind, and impairs even its passive faculty of suffering. We intrigue\nfor the favour of the keeper, smile complacently at the gross\npleasantries of a Jacobin, and tremble at the frown of a Dumont.--I am\nashamed to be the chronicler of such humiliation: but, \"tush, Hal; men,\nmortal men!\" I can add no better apology, and quit you to moralize on\nit.--Yours.\n[No date given.]\nWere I a mere spectator, without fear for myself or compassion for\nothers, the situation of this country would be sufficiently amusing. The\neffects produced (many perhaps unavoidably) by a state of revolution--the\nstrange remedies devised to obviate them--the alternate neglect and\nseverity with which the laws are executed--the mixture of want and\nprofusion that distinguish the lower classes of people--and the distress\nand humiliation of the higher; all offer scenes so new and unaccountable,\nas not to be imagined by a person who has lived only under a regular\ngovernment, where the limits of authority are defined, the necessaries of\nlife plentiful, and the people rational and subordinate. The\nconsequences of a general spirit of monopoly, which I formerly described,\nhave lately been so oppressive, that the Convention thought it necessary\nto interfere, and in so extraordinary a way, that I doubt if (as usual)\n\"the distemper of their remedies\" will not make us regret the original\ndisease. Almost every article, by having passed through a variety of\nhands, had become enormously dear; which, operating with a real scarcity\nof many things, occasioned by the war, had excited universal murmurings\nand inquietude. The Convention, who know the real source of the evil\n(the discredit of assignats) to be unattainable, and who are more\nsolicitous to divert the clamours of the people, than to supply their\nwants, have adopted a measure which, according to the present\nappearances, will ruin one half of the nation, and starve the other. A\nmaximum, or highest price, beyond which nothing is to be sold, is now\npromulgated under very severe penalties for all who shall infringe it.\nSuch a regulation as this, must, in its nature, be highly complex, and,\nby way of simplifying it, the price of every kind of merchandise is fixed\nat a third above what it bore in 1791: but as no distinction is made\nbetween the produce of the country, and articles imported--between the\nsmall retailer, who has purchased perhaps at double the rate he is\nallowed to sell at, and the wholesale speculator, this very\nsimplification renders the whole absurd and inexecutable.--The result was\nsuch as might have been expected; previous to the day on which the decree\nwas to take place, shopkeepers secreted as many of their goods as they\ncould; and, when the day arrived, the people laid siege to them in\ncrowds, some buying at the maximum, others less ceremonious, and in a few\nhours little remained in the shop beyond the fixtures. The farmers have\nsince brought neither butter nor eggs to market, the butchers refuse to\nkill as usual, and, in short, nothing is to be purchased openly. The\ncountry people, instead of selling provisions publicly, take them to\nprivate houses; and, in addition to the former exorbitant prices, we are\ntaxed for the risk that is incurred by evading the law. A dozen of eggs,\nor a leg of mutton, are now conveyed from house to house with as much\nmystery, as a case of fire-arms, or a treasonable correspondence; the\nwhole republic is in a sort of training like the Spartan youth; and we\nare obliged to have recourse to dexterity and intrigue to procure us a\ndinner.\nOur legislators, aware of what they term the \"aristocratie marchande,\"--\nthat is to say, that tradesmen would naturally shut up their shops when\nnothing was to be gained--provided, by a clause in the above law, that no\none should do this in less time than a year; but as the injunction only\nobliged them to keep the shops open, and not to have goods to sell, every\ndemand is at first always answered in the negative, till a sort of\nintelligence becomes established betwixt the buyer and seller, when the\nformer, if he may be trusted, is informed in a low key, that certain\narticles may be had, but not au maximum.--Thus even the rich cannot\nobtain the necessaries of life without difficulty and submitting to\nimposition--and the decent poor, who will not pillage nor intimidate the\ntradesmen, are more embarrassed than ever.\nThe above species of contraband commerce is carried on, indeed, with\ngreat circumspection, and no avowed hostilities are attempted in the\ntowns. The great war of the maximum was waged with the farmers and\nhiglers, as soon as it was discovered that they took their commodities\nprivily to such people as they knew would buy at any price, rather than\nnot be supplied. In consequence, the guards were ordered to stop all\nrefractory butter-women at the gates, and conduct them to the town-house,\nwhere their merchandize was distributed, without pity or appeal, au\nmaximum, to those of the populace who could clamour loudest.\nThese proceedings alarmed the peasants, and our markets became deserted.\nNew stratagems, on one side, new attacks on the other. The servants were\nforced to supply themselves at private rendezvous in the night, until\nsome were fined, and others arrested; and the searching all comers from\nthe country became more intolerable than the vexations of the ancient\nGabelle.--Detachments of dragoons are sent to scour the farm-yards,\narrest the farmers, and bring off in triumph whatever the restive\nhousewives have amassed, to be more profitably disposed of.\nIn this situation we remain, and I suppose shall remain, while the law of\nthe maximum continues in force. The principle of it was certainly good,\nbut it is found impossible to reduce it to practice so equitably as to\naffect all alike: and as laws which are not executed are for the most\npart rather pernicious than nugatory, informations, arrests, imposition,\nand scarcity are the only ends which this measure seems to have answered.\nThe houses of detention, before insupportable, are now yet more crouded\nwith farmers and shopkeepers suspected of opposing the law.--Many of the\nformer are so ignorant, as not to conceive that any circumstances ought\nto deprive them of the right to sell the produce of their farms at the\nhighest price they can get, and regard the maximum much in the same light\nas they would a law to authorize robbing or housebreaking: as for the\nlatter, they are chiefly small dealers, who bought dearer than they have\nsold, and are now imprisoned for not selling articles which they have not\ngot. An informer by trade, or a personal enemy, lodges an accusation\nagainst a particular tradesman for concealing goods, or not selling au\nmaximum; and whether the accusation be true or false, if the accused is\nnot in office, or a Jacobin, he has very little chance of escaping\nimprisonment.--It is certain, that if the persecution of these classes of\npeople continue, and commerce (already nearly annihilated by the war) be\nthus shackled, an absolute want of various articles of primary\nconsumption must ensue; but if Paris and the armies can be supplied, the\nstarving the departments will be a mere pleasurable experiment to their\nhumane representatives!\nThe freedom of the press is so perfectly well regulated, that it is not\nsurprizing we are indulged with the permission of seeing the public\npapers: yet this indulgence is often, I assure you, a source of much\nperplexity to me--our more intimate associates know that I am a native of\nEngland, and as often as any debates of our House of Commons are\npublished, they apply to me for explanations which it is not always in my\npower to give them. I have in vain endeavoured to make them comprehend\nthe nature of an opposition from system, so that when they see any thing\nadvanced by a member exactly the reverse of truth, they are wondering how\nhe can be so ill informed, and never suspect him of saying what he does\nnot believe himself. It must be confessed, however, that our extracts\nfrom the English papers often form so complete a contrast with facts,\nthat a foreigner unacquainted with the tactics of professional\npatriotism, may very naturally read them with some surprize. A noble\nPeer, for example, (whose wisdom is not to be disputed, since the Abbe\nMably calls him the English Socrates,*) asserts that the French troops\nare the best clothed in Europe; yet letters, of nearly the same date with\nthe Earl's speech, from two Generals and a Deputy at the head of\ndifferent armies intreat a supply of covering for their denudated\nlegions, and add, that they are obliged to march in wooden shoes!**\n * It is surely a reflection on the English discernment not to have\n adopted this happy appellation, in which, however, as well as in\n many other parts of \"the rights of Man and the Citizen,\" the Abbe\n seems to have consulted his own zeal, rather than the noble Peer's\n modesty.\n ** If the French troops are now better clothed, it is the effect of\n requisitions and pre-emptions, which have ruined the manufacturers.\n --Patriots of the North, would you wish to see our soldiers clothed\n by the same means?\n--On another occasion, your British Sage describes, with great eloquence,\nthe enthusiasm with which the youth of France \"start to arms at the call\nof the Convention;\" while the peaceful citizen anticipates, with equal\neagerness, the less glorious injunction to extract saltpetre.--The\nrevolts, and the coercion, necessary to enforce the departure of the\nfirst levies (however fear, shame, and discipline, may have since made\nthem soldiers, though not republicans) might have corrected the ardour of\nthe orator's inventive talents; and the zeal of the French in\nmanufacturing salpetre, has been of so slow a growth, that any reference\nto it is peculiarly unlucky. For several months the Convention has\nrecommended, invited, intreated, and ordered the whole country to occupy\nthemselves in the process necessary for obtaining nitre; but the\nrepublican enthusiasm was so tardy, that scarcely an ounce appeared, till\na long list of sound penal laws, with fines and imprisonments in every\nline, roused the public spirit more effectually.*\n * Two years imprisonment was the punishment assigned to a Citizen\n who should be found to obstruct in any way the fabricating\n saltpetre. If you had a house that was adjudged to contain the\n materials required, and expostulated against pulling it down, the\n penalty was incurred.--I believe something of this kind existed\n under the old government, the abuses of which are the only parts the\n republic seems to have preserved.\n--Another cause also has much favoured the extension of this manufacture:\nthe necessity of procuring gunpowder at any rate has secured an exemption\nfrom serving in the army to those who shall be employed in making it.--*\n * Many, under this pretext, even procured their discharge from the\n army; and it was eventually found requisite to stop this commutation\n of service by a decree.\n--On this account vast numbers of young men, whose martial propensities\nare not too vehement for calculation, considering the extraction of\nsaltpetre as more safe than the use of it, have seriously devoted\nthemselves to the business. Thus, between fear of the Convention and of\nthe enemy, has been produced that enthusiasm which seems so grateful to\nLord S____. Yet, if the French are struck by the dissimilitude of facts\nwith the language of your English patriots, there are other circumstances\nwhich appear still more unaccountable to them. I acknowledge the word\npatriotism is not perfectly understood any where in France, nor do my\nprison-associates abound in it; but still they find it difficult to\nreconcile the love of their country, so exclusively boasted by certain\nsenators, with their eulogiums on a government, and on men who avow an\nimplacable hatred to it, and are the professed agents of its future\ndestruction. The Houses of Lords and Commons resound with panegyrics on\nFrance; the Convention with _\"delenda est Carthate\"--\"ces vils\nInsulaires\"--\"de peuple marchand, boutiquier\"--\"ces laches Anglois\"--_ &c.\n&c. (\"Carthage must be destroyed\"--\"those vile Islanders\"--\"that nation\nof shopkeepers\"--\"those cowardly Englishmen\"--&c.)\nThe efforts of the English patriots overtly tend to the consolidation of\nthe French republic, while the demagogues of France are yet more\nstrenuous for the abolition of monarchy in England. The virtues of\ncertain people called Muir and Palmer,* are at once the theme of Mr. Fox\nand Robespierre,** of Mr. Grey and Barrere,***, of Collot d'Herbois****\nand Mr. Sheridan; and their fate is lamented as much at the Jacobins as\nat St. Stephen's.*****\n * If I have not mentioned these gentlemen with the respect due to\n their celebrity, their friends must pardon me. To say truth, I did\n not at this time think of them with much complacence, as I had heard\n of them only from the Jacobins, by whom they were represented as the\n leaders of a Convention, which was to arm ninety thousand men, for\n the establishment of a system similar to that existing in France.\n **The French were so much misled by the eloquence of these gentlemen\n in their favour, that they were all exhibited on the stage in red\n caps and cropped heads, welcoming the arrival of their Gallic\n friends in England, and triumphing in the overthrow of the British\n constitution, and the dethronement of the King.\n *** If we may credit the assertions of Barrere, the friendship of\n the Committee of Public Welfare was not merely verbal. He says, the\n secret register of the Committee furnishes proofs of their having\n sent three frigates to intercept these distinguished victims, whom\n their ungrateful country had so ignominiously banished.\n **** This humane and ingenious gentleman, by profession a player, is\n known likewise as the author of several farces and vaudevilles, and\n of the executions at Lyons.--It is asserted, that many of the\n inhabitants of this unfortunate city expiated under the Guillotine\n the crime of having formerly hissed Collot's successful attempts on\n the stage.\n ***** The printing of a particular speech was interdicted on account\n of its containing allusions to certain circumstances, the knowledge\n of which might be of disservice to their unfortunate friends during\n their trial.\n--The conduct of Mr. Pitt is not more acrimoniously discussed at the\nPalais National than by a part of his colleagues; and the censure of the\nBritish government, which is now the order of the day at the Jacobins, is\nnearly the echo of your parliamentary debates.*\n * Allowing for the difference of education in the orators, a\n journeyman shoemaker was, I think, as eloquent, and not more\n abusive, than the facetious _ci-devant_ protege of Lord T____d.\n--All this, however, does not appear to me out of the natural order of\nthings; it is the sorry history of opposition for a century and an half,\nand our political rectitude, I fear, is not increasing: but the French,\nwho are in their way the most corrupt people in Europe, have not\nhitherto, from the nature of their government, been familiar with this\nparticular mode of provoking corruption, nor are they at present likely\nto become so. Indeed, I must here observe, that your English Jacobins,\nif they are wise, should not attempt to introduce the revolutionary\nsystem; for though the total possession of such a government is very\nalluring, yet the prudence, which looks to futurity, and the incertitude\nof sublunary events, must acknowledge it is \"Caesar or nothing;\" and that\nit offers no resource in case of those segregations, which the jealousy\nof power, or the appropriation of spoil, may occasion, even amongst the\nmost virtuous associates.--The eloquence of a discontented orator is here\nsilenced, not by a pension, but by a mandat d'arret; and the obstinate\npatriotism, which with you could not be softened with less than a\nparticipation of authority, is more cheaply secured by the Guillotine. A\nmenace is more efficacious than a bribe, and in this respect I agree with\nMr. Thomas Paine,* that a republic is undoubtedly more oeconomical than a\nmonarchy; besides, that being conducted on such principles, it has the\nadvantage of simplifying the science of government, as it consults\nneither the interests nor weaknesses of mankind; and, disdaining to\nadminister either to avarice or vanity, subdues its enemies by the sole\ninfluence of terror.--*\n * This gentleman's fate is truly to be pitied. After rejecting, as\n his friends assert, two hundred a year from the English Ministry, he\n is obliged now to be silent gratis, with the additional desagrement\n of occupying a corner in the Luxembourg.\n--Adieu!--Heaven knows how often I may have to repeat the word thus\nunmeaningly. I sit here, like Pope's bard \"lulled by soft zephyrs\nthrough the broken pane,\" and scribbling high-sounding phrases of\nmonarchy, patriotism, and republics, while I forget the humbler subject\nof our wants and embarrassments. We can scarcely procure either bread,\nmeat, or any thing else: the house is crouded by an importation of\nprisoners from Abbeville, and we are more strictly guarded than ever. My\nfriend ennuyes as usual, and I grow impatient, not having sang froid\nenough for a true French ennuie in a situation that would tempt one to\nhang one's self.\nMarch, 1794.\nThe aspect of the times promises no change in our favour; on the\ncontrary, every day seems to bring its attendant evil. The gentry who\nhad escaped the comprehensive decree against suspected people, are now\nswept away in this and the three neighbouring departments by a private\norder of the representatives, St. Just, Lebas, and Dumont.*\n * The order was to arrest, without exception, all the ci-devant\n Noblessse, men, women, and children, in the departments of the\n Somme, North, and Pas de Calais, and to exclude them rigourously\n from all external communication--(mettre au secret).\n--A severer regimen is to be adopted in the prisons, and husbands are\nalready separated from their wives, and fathers from their daughters, for\nthe purpose, as it is alledged, of preserving good morals. Both this\nplace and the Bicetre being too full to admit of more inhabitants, two\nlarge buildings in the town are now appropriated to the male prisoners.--\nMy friends continue at Arras, and, I fear, in extreme distress. I\nunderstand they have been plundered of what things they had with them,\nand the little supply I was able to send them was intercepted by some of\nthe harpies of the prisons. Mrs. D____'s health has not been able to\nsustain these accumulated misfortunes, and she is at present at the\nhospital. All this is far from enlivening, even had I a larger share of\nthe national philosophy; and did I not oftener make what I observe, than\nwhat I suffer, the subject of my letters, I should tax your patience as\nmuch by repetition, as I may by dullness.\nWhen I enumerated in my last letters a few of the obligations the French\nhave to their friends in England, I ought also to have observed, with how\nlittle gratitude they behave to those who are here. Without mentioning\nMr. Thomas Paine, whose persecution will doubtless be recorded by abler\npens, nothing, I assure you, can be more unpleasant than the situation of\none of these Anglo-Gallican patriots. The republicans, supposing that an\nEnglishman who affects a partiality for them can be only a spy, execute\nall the laws, which concern foreigners, upon him with additional rigour;*\nand when an English Jacobin arrives in prison, far from meeting with\nconsolation or sympathy, his distresses are beheld with triumph, and his\nperson avoided with abhorrence. They talk much here of a gentleman, of\nvery democratic principles, who left the prison before I came. It seems,\nthat, notwithstanding Dumont condescended to visit at his house, and was\non terms of intimacy with him, he was arrested, and not distinguished\nfrom the rest of his countrymen, except by being more harshly treated.\nThe case of this unfortunate gentleman was rendered peculiarly amusing to\nhis companions, and mortifying to himself, by his having a very pretty\nmistress, who had sufficient influence over Dumont to obtain any thing\nbut the liberation of her protector. The Deputy was on this head\ninflexible; doubtless, as a proof of his impartial observance of the\nlaws, and to show that, like the just man in Horace, he despised the\nclamour of the vulgar, who did not scruple to hint, that the crime of our\ncountryman was rather of a moral than a political nature--that he was\nunaccommodating, and recalcitrant--addicted to suspicions and jealousies,\nwhich it was thought charitable to cure him of, by a little wholesome\nseclusion. In fact, the summary of this gentleman's history is not\ncalculated to tempt his fellow societists on your side of the water to\nimitate his example.--After taking refuge in France from the tyranny and\ndisappointments he experienced in England, and purchasing a large\nnational property to secure himself the rights of a citizen, he is\nawakened from his dream of freedom, to find himself lodged in a prison,\nhis estate under sequestration, and his mistress in requisition.--Let us\nleave this Coriolanus among the Volscians--it is a persecution to make\nconverts, rather than martyrs, and\n _\"Quand le malheur ne seroit bon,\n \"Qu'a mettre un sot a la raison,\n \"Toujours seroit-ce a juste cause\n \"Qu'on le dit bon a quelque chose.\"_*\n * If calamity were only good to restore a fool to his senses, still\n we might justly say, \"that it was good for some thing.\"\nYours, &c.\nOf what strange influence is this word revolution, that it should thus,\nlike a talisman of romance, keep inchained, as it were, the reasoning\nfaculties of twenty millions of people! France is at this moment looking\nfor the decision of its fate in the quarrels of two miserable clubs,\ncomposed of individuals who are either despised or detested. The\nmunicipality of Paris favours the Cordeliers, the Convention the\nJacobins; and it is easy to perceive, that in this cafe the auxiliaries\nare principals, and must shortly come to such an open rupture, as will\nend in the destruction of either one or the other. The world would be\nuninhabitable, could the combinations of the wicked be permanent; and it\nis fortunate for the tranquil and upright part of mankind, that the\nattainment of the purposes for which such combinations are formed, is\nusually the signal of their dissolution.\nThe municipality of Paris had been the iniquitous drudges of the Jacobin\nparty in the legislative assembly--they were made the instruments of\nmassacring the prisoners,* of dethroning and executing the king,** and\nsuccessively of destroying the Brissotine faction,*** filling the prisons\nwith all who were obnoxious to the republicans,**** and of involving a\nrepentant nation in the irremidiable guilt of the Queen's death.--*****\n * It is well known that the assassins were hired and paid by the\n municipality, and that some of the members presided at these horrors\n in their scarfs of office.\n ** The whole of what is called the revolution of the 10th of August\n may very justly be ascribed to the municipality of Paris--I mean the\n active part of it. The planning and political part has been so\n often disputed by different members of the Convention, that it is\n not easy to decide on any thing, except that the very terms of these\n disputes fully evince, that the people at large, and more\n particularly the departments, were both innocent, and, until it took\n place, ignorant of an event which has plunged the country into so\n many crimes and calamities.\n *** A former imprisonment of Hebert formed a principal charge\n against the Brissotines, and, indeed, the one that was most insisted\n on at their trial, if we except that of having precipitated France\n into a war with England.--It must be difficult for the English\n Jacobins to decide on this occasion between the virtues of their\n dead friends and those of their living ones.\n **** The famous definition of suspected persons originated with the\n municipality of Paris.\n ***** It is certain that those who, deceived by the calumnies of\n faction, permitted, if not assented to, the King's death, at this\n time regretted it; and I believe I have before observed, that one of\n the reasons urged in support of the expediency of putting the Queen\n to death, was, that it would make the army and people decisive, by\n banishing all hope of peace or accommodation. See the _Moniteur_ of\n that time, which, as I have elsewhere observed, may be always\n considered as official.\n--These services being too great for adequate reward, were not rewarded\nat all; and the municipality, tired of the odium of crime, without the\nparticipation of power, has seized on its portion of tyranny; while the\nconvention, at once jealous and timid, exasperated and doubtful, yet\nmenaces with the trepidation of a rival, rather than with the security of\na conqueror.\nHebert, the Deputy-solicitor for the commune of Paris, appears on this\noccasion as the opponent of the whole legislature; and all the\ntemporizing eloquence of Barrere, and the mysterious phraseology of\nRobespierre, are employed to decry his morals, and to reproach the\nministers with the sums which have been the price of his labours.--*\n * Five thousand pounds, two thousand pounds, and other considerable\n sums, were paid to Hebert for supplying the army with his paper,\n called \"La Pere Duchene.\" Let whoever has read one of them,\n conceive the nature of a government to which such support was\n necessary, which supposed its interests promoted by a total\n extinction of morals, decency, and religion. I could almost wish,\n for the sake of exhibiting vice under its most odious colours, that\n my sex and my country permitted me to quote one.\n--Virtuous republicans! the morals of Hebert were pure when he outraged\nhumanity in his accusations of the Queen--they were pure when he\nprostrated the stupid multitude at the feet of a Goddess of Reason;* they\nwere pure while his execrable paper served to corrupt the army, and to\neradicate every principle which yet distinguished the French as a\ncivilized people.\n * Madame Momoro, the unfortunate woman who exposed herself in this\n pageant, was guillotined as an accomplice of Hebert, together with\n the wives of Hebert and Camille Desmoulins.\n--Yet, atrocious as his crimes are, they form half the Magna Charta of\nthe republic,* and the authority of the Convention is still supported by\nthem.\n * What are the death of the King, and the murders of August and\n September, 1792, but the Magna Charta of the republicans?\n--It is his person, not his guilt, that is proscribed; and if the one be\nthreatened with the scaffold, the fruits of the other are held sacred.\nHe will fall a sacrifice--not to offended religion or morality, but to\nthe fears and resentment of his accomplices!\nAmidst the dissentions of two parties, between which neither reason nor\nhumanity can discover a preference, a third seems to have formed itself,\nequally inimical to, and hated by both. At the head of it are Danton,\nCamille Desmoulins, Philipeaux, &c.--I own I have no better opinion of\nthe integrity of these, than of the rest; but they profess themselves the\nadvocates of a system of mildness and moderation, and, situated as this\ncountry is at present, even the affectation of virtue is captivating.--\nAs far as they dare, the people are partial to them: bending beneath the\nweight of a sanguinary and turbulent despotism, if they sigh not for\nfreedom, they do for repose; and the harassed mind, bereft of its own\nenergy, looks up with indolent hope for relief from a change of factions.\nThey forget that Danton is actuated by ambitious jealousy, that Camille\nDesmoulins is hacknied in the atrocities of the revolution, and that\ntheir partizans are adventurers, with neither honour nor morals. Yet,\nafter all, if they will destroy a few of the guillotines, open our\nbastilles, and give us at least the security of servitude, we shall be\ncontent to leave these retrospections to posterity, and be thankful that\nin this our day the wicked sometimes perceive it their interest to do\ngood.\nIn this state of seclusion, when I remark to you the temper of the public\nat any important crisis, you are, perhaps, curious to know my sources of\nintelligence; but such details are unnecessary. I might, indeed, write\nyou a manuel des prisons, and, like Trenck or Latude, by a vain display\nof ingenuity, deprive some future victim of a resource. It is enough,\nthat Providence itself seems to aid our invention, when its object is to\nelude tyranny; besides that a constant accession of prisoners from all\nparts, who are too numerous to be kept separate, necessarily circulates\namong us whatever passes in the world.\nThe Convention has lately made a sort of _pas retrogade_ [Retrogade\nmovement.] in the doctrine of holy equality, by decreeing, that every\nofficer who has a command shall be able to read and write, though it\ncannot be denied that their reasons for this lese democratie are of some\nweight. All gentlemen, or, as it is expressed here, noblesse, have been\nrecalled from the army, and replaced by officers chosen by the soldiers\nthemselves, [Under the rank of field-officers.] whose affections are\noften conciliated by qualities not essentially military, though sometimes\nprofessional. A buffoon, or a pot-companion, is, of course, often more\npopular than a disciplinarian; and the brightest talents lose their\ninfluence when put in competition with a head that can bear a greater\nnumber of bottles.*\n * Hence it happened, that a post was sometimes confided to one who\n could not read the parole and countersign; expeditions failed,\n because commanding officers mistook on the map a river for a road,\n or woods for mountains; and the most secret orders were betrayed\n through the inability of those to whom they were entrusted to read\n them.\n--Yet this reading and writing are a sort of aristocratic distinctions,\nand not among the primeval rights of man; so that it is possible your\nEnglish patriots will not approve of any regulations founded on them.\nBut this is not the only point on which there is an apparent discordance\nbetween them and their friends here--the severity of Messrs. Muir and\nPalmer's sentence is pathetically lamented in the House of Commons, while\nthe Tribunal Revolutionnaire (in obedience to private orders) is\npetitioning, that any disrespect towards the convention shall be punished\nwith death. In England, it is asserted, that the people have a right to\ndecide on the continuation of the war--here it is proposed to declare\nsuspicious, and treat accordingly, all who shall dare talk of peace.--Mr.\nFox and Robespierre must settle these trifling variations at the general\ncongress of republicans, when the latter shall (as they profess) have\ndethroned all the potentates in Europe!\nDo you not read of cart-loads of patriotic gifts,* bales of lint and\nbandages, and stockings, knit by the hands of fair citizens, for the use\nof the soldiers?\n * A sum of money was at this time publicly offered to the Convention\n for defraying the expences and repairs of the guillotine.--I know\n not if it were intended patriotically or correctionally; but the\n legislative delicacy was hurt, and the bearer of the gift ordered\n for examination to the Committee of General Safety, who most\n probably sent him to expiate either his patriotism or his pleasantry\n in a prison.\n--Do you not read, and call me calumniator, and ask if these are proofs\nthat there is no public spirit in France? Yes, the public spirit of an\neastern tributary, who offers, with apprehensive devotion, a part of the\nwealth which he fears the hand of despotism may ravish entirely.--The\nwives and daughters of husbands and fathers, who are pining in arbitrary\nconfinement, are employed in these feeble efforts, to deprecate the\nmalice of their persecutors; and these voluntary tributes are but too\noften proportioned, not to the abilities, but the miseries of the donor.*\n * A lady, confined in one of the state prisons, made an offering,\n through the hands of a Deputy, of ten thousand livres; but the\n Convention observed, that this could not properly be deemed a gift--\n for, as she was doubtless a suspicious person, all she had belonged\n of right to the republic:\n _\"Elle doit etre a moi, dit il, et la raison,\n \"C'est que je m'appelle Lion\n \"A cela l'on n'a rien a dire.\"_\n Sometimes these _dons patriotiques_ were collected by a band of\n Jacobins, at others regularly assessed by a Representative on\n mission; but on all occasions the aristocrats were most assiduous\n and most liberal:\n \"Urg'd by th' imperious soldier's fierce command,\n \"The groaning Greeks break up their golden caverns,\n \"The accumulated wealth of toiling ages;\n \"That wealth, too sacred for their country's use;\n \"That wealth, too pleasing to be lost for freedom,\n \"That wealth, which, granted to their weeping Prince,\n \"Had rang'd embattled nations at their gates.\"\n Or, what is still better, have relieved the exigencies of the state,\n without offering a pretext for the horrors of a revolution.--O\n selfish luxury, impolitic avarice, how are ye punished? robbed of\n your enjoyments and your wealth--glad even to commute both for a\n painful existence!\n--The most splendid sacrifices that fill the bulletin of the Convention,\nand claim an honourable mention in their registers, are made by the\nenemies of the republican government--by those who have already been the\nobjects of persecution, or are fearful of becoming such.--Ah, your prison\nand guillotine are able financiers: they raise, feed, and clothe an army,\nin less time than you can procure a tardy vote from the most complaisant\nHouse of Commons!--Your, &c.\nAfter some days of agitation and suspense, we learn that the popularity\nof Robespierre is victorious, and that Hebert and his partizans are\narrested. Were the intrinsic claims of either party considered, without\nregard to the circumstances of the moment, it might seem strange I should\nexpress myself as though the result of a contest between such men could\nexcite a general interest: yet a people sadly skilled in the gradations\nof evil, and inured to a choice only of what is bad, learn to prefer\ncomparatively, with no other view than that of adopting what may be least\ninjurious to themselves; and the merit of the object is out of the\nquestion. Hence it is, that the public wish was in favour of\nRobespierre; for, besides that his cautious character has given him an\nadvantage over the undisguised profligacy of Hebert, it is conjectured by\nmany, that the more merciful politics professed by Camille Desmoulins,\nare secretly suggested, or, at least assented to, by the former.*\n * This was the opinion of many.--The Convention and the Jacobins had\n taken alarm at a paper called \"The Old Cordelier,\" written by\n Camille Desmoulins, apparently with a view to introduce a milder\n system of government. The author had been censured at the one,\n expelled the other, and defended by Robespierre, who seems not to\n have abandoned him until he found the Convention resolved to persist\n in the sanguinary plan they had adopted. Robespierre afterwards\n sacrificed his friends to retrieve his influence; but could his\n views have been answered by humane measures, as certainly as by\n cruel ones, I think he would have preferred the first; for I repeat,\n that the Convention at large were averse from any thing like reason\n or justice, and Robespierre more than once risked his popularity by\n professions of moderation.--The most eloquent speech I have seen of\n his was previous to the death of Danton, and it seems evidently\n intended to sound the principles of his colleagues as to a change of\n system.--Camille Desmoulins has excited some interest, and has been\n deemed a kind of martyr to humanity. Perhaps nothing marks the\n horrors of the time more than such a partiality.--Camille\n Desmoulins, under an appearance of simplicity, was an adventurer,\n whose pen had been employed to mislead the people from the beginning\n of the revolution. He had been very active on the 10th of August;\n and even in the papers which have given him a comparative\n reputation, he is the panegyrist of Marat, and recommends \"une\n Guillotine economique;\" that is, a discrimination in favour of\n himself and his party, who now began to fear they might themselves\n be sacrificed by the Convention and deserted by Robespierre--after\n being the accomplices and tools of both.\nThe vicissitudes of the revolution have hitherto offered nothing but a\nchange of vices and of parties; nor can I regard this defeat of the\nmunicipality of Paris as any thing more: the event is, however,\nimportant, and will probably have great influence on the future.\nAfter having so long authorized, and profited by, the crimes of those\nthey have now sacrificed, the Convention are willing to have it supposed\nthey were themselves held in subjection by Hebert and the other\nrepresentatives of the Parisian mob.--Admitting this to be true, having\nregained their independence, we ought naturally to expect a more rational\nand humane system will take place; but this is a mere hope, and the\npresent occurrences are far from justifying it. We hear much of the\nguilt of the fallen party, and little of remedying its effects--much of\npunishment, and little of reform; and the people are excited to\nvengeance, without being permitted to claim redress. In the meanwhile,\nfearful of trusting to the cold preference which they owe to a superior\nabhorrence of their adversaries, the Convention have ordered their\ncolleagues on mission to glean the few arms still remaining in the hands\nof the National Guard, and to arrest all who may be suspected of\nconnection with the adverse party.--Dumont has performed this service\nhere very diligently; and, by way of supererogation, has sent the\nCommandant of Amiens to the Bicetre, his wife, who was ill, to the\nhospital, and two young children to this place.\nAs usual, these proceedings excite secret murmurs, but are nevertheless\nyielded to with perfect submission.\nOne can never, on these occasions, cease admiring the endurance of the\nFrench character. In other countries, at every change of party, the\npeople are flattered with the prospect of advantage, or conciliated by\nindulgences; but here they gain nothing by change, except an accumulation\nof oppression--and the success of a new party is always the harbinger of\nsome new tyranny. While the fall of Hebert is proclaimed as the triumph\nof freedom, all the citizens are disarmed by way of collateral security;\nand at the instant he is accused by the Convention of atheism and\nimmorality,* a militant police is sent forth to devastate the churches,\nand punish those who are detected in observing the Sabbath--_\"mais plutot\nsouffrir que mourir, c'est la devise des Francois.\"_ [\"To suffer rather\nthan die is the motto of Frenchmen.\"]\n * It is remarkable, that the persecution of religion was never more\n violent than at the time when the Convention were anathematizing\n Hebert and his party for athiesm.\n--Brissot and his companions died singing a paraphrase of my quotation:\n _\"Plutot la mort que l'esclavage,\n \"C'est la devise des Francois.\"_\n [\"Death before slavery, is the Frenchman's motto.\"]\n--Let those who reflect on what France has submitted to under them and\ntheir successors decide, whether the original be not more apposite.\nI hope the act of accusation against Chabot has been published in\nEngland, for the benefit of your English patriots: I do not mean by way\nof warning, but example. It appears, that the said Chabot, and four or\nfive of his colleagues in the Convention, had been bribed to serve a\nstock-jobbing business at a stipulated sum,* and that the money was to be\ndivided amongst them.\n * Chabot, Fabre d'Eglantine, (author of \"l'Intrigue Epistolaire,\"\n and several other admired dramatic pieces,) Delaunay d'Angers,\n Julien de Toulouse, and Bazire, were bribed to procure the passing\n certain decrees, tending to enrich particular people, by defrauding\n the East India Company.--Delaunay and Julien (both re-elected into\n the present Assembly) escaped by flight, the rest were guillotined.\n --It is probable, that these little peculations might have passed\n unnoticed in patriots of such note, but that the intrigues and\n popular character of Chabot made it necessary to dispose of him, and\n his accomplices suffered to give a countenance to the measure.\n--Chabot, with great reason, insisted on his claim to an extra share, on\naccount, as he expressed it, of having the reputation of one of the first\npatriots in Europe. Now this I look upon to be a very useful hint, as it\ntends to establish a tariff of reputations, rather than of talents. In\nEngland, you distinguish too much in favour of the latter; and, in a\nquestion of purchase, a Minister often prefers a \"commodity\" of\nrhetoricians, to one of \"good names.\"--I confess, I am of Chabot's\nopinion; and think a vote from a member who has some reputation for\nhonesty, ought to be better paid for than the eloquence which, weakened\nby the vices of the orator, ceases to persuade. How it is that the\npatriotic harangues at St. Stephen's serve only to amuse the auditors,\nwho identify the sentiments they express as little with the speaker, as\nthey would those of Cato's soliloquy with the actor who personates the\ncharacter for the night? I fear the people reason like Chabot, and are\n\"fools to fame.\" Perhaps it is fortunate for England, that those whose\ntalents and principles would make them most dangerous, are become least\nso, because both are counteracted by the public contempt. Ought it not\nto humble the pride, and correct the errors, which too often accompany\ngreat genius, that the meanest capacity can distinguish between talents\nand virtue; and that even in the moment our wonder is excited by the one,\na sort of intrinsic preference is given to the other?--Yours, &c.\nProvidence, April 15, 1794.\n\"The friendship of bad men turns to fear:\" and in this single phrase of\nour popular bard is comprized the history of all the parties who have\nsucceeded each other during the revolution.--Danton has been sacrificed\nto Robespierre's jealousy,* and Camille Desmoulins to support his\npopularity;** and both, after sharing in the crimes, and contributing to\nthe punishment, of Hebert and his associates, have followed them to the\nsame scaffold.\n * The ferocious courage of Danton had, on the 10th of August, the 2d\n of September, the 31st of May, and other occasions, been the ductile\n instrument of Robespierre; but, in the course of their iniquitous\n connection, it should seem, they had committed themselves too much\n to each other. Danton had betrayed a desire of more exclusively\n profiting by his crimes; and Robespierre's views been equally\n ambitious, though less daring, their mutual jealousies had risen to\n a height which rendered the sacrifice of one party necessary--and\n Robespierre had the address to secure himself, by striking the first\n blow. They had supped in the country, and returned together to\n Paris, on the night Danton was arrested; and, it may be supposed,\n that in this interview, which was intended to produce a\n reconciliation, they had been convinced that neither was to be\n trusted by the other.\n ** There can be no doubt but Robespierre had encouraged Camille\n Desmoulins to publish his paper, intitled \"The Old Cordelier,\" in\n which some translations from Tacitus, descriptive of every kind of\n tyranny, were applied to the times, and a change of system\n indirectly proposed. The publication became highly popular, except\n with the Convention and the Jacobins; these, however, it was\n requisite for Robespierre to conciliate; and Camille Desmoulins was\n sacrificed, to prove that he did not favour the obnoxious moderation\n of his friend.\nI know not if one's heart gain any thing by this habitual contemplation\nof successive victims, who ought not to inspire pity, and whom justice\nand humanity forbid one to regret.--How many parties have fallen, who\nseem to have laboured only to transmit a dear-bought tyranny, which they\nhad not time to enjoy themselves, to their successors: The French\nrevolutionists may, indeed, adopt the motto of Virgil's Bees, \"Not for\nourselves, but for you.\" The monstrous powers claimed for the Convention\nby the Brissotines,* with the hope of exclusively exercising them, were\nfatal to themselves--the party that overthrew the Brissotines in its turn\nbecame insignificant--and a small number of them only, under the\ndescription of Committees of Public Welfare and General Safety, gradually\nusurped the whole authority.\n * The victorious Brissotines, after the 10th of August, availing\n themselves of the stupor of one part of the people, and the\n fanaticism of the other, required that the new Convention might be\n entrusted with unlimited powers. Not a thousandth portion of those\n who elected the members, perhaps, comprehended the dreadful extent\n of such a demand, as absurd as it has proved fatal.--_\"Tout pouvoir\n sans bornes ne fauroit etre legitime, parce qu'il n'a jamais pu\n avoir d'origine legitime, car nous ne pouvons pas donner a un autre\n plus de pouvoir sur nous que nous n'en avons nous-memes\"_\n [Montesquieu.]:--that is, the power which we accord to others, or\n which we have over ourselves, cannot exceed the bounds prescribed by\n the immutable laws of truth and justice. The united voice of the\n whole French nation could not bestow on their representatives a\n right to murder or oppress one innocent man.\n--Even of these, several have already perished; and in the hands of\nRobespierre, and half a dozen others of equal talents and equal atrocity,\nbut less cunning, center at present all the fruits of so many miseries,\nand so many crimes.\nIn all these conflicts of party, the victory seems hitherto to have\nremained with the most artful, rather than the most able; and it is under\nthe former title that Robespierre, and his colleagues in the Committee of\nPublic Welfare, are now left inheritors of a power more despotic than\nthat exercised in Japan.--Robespierre is certainly not deficient in\nabilities, but they are not great in proportion to the influence they\nhave acquired him. They may, perhaps, be more properly called singular\nthan great, and consist in the art of appropriating to his own advantage\nboth the events of chance and the labours of others, and of captivating\nthe people by an exterior of severe virtue, which a cold heart enables\nhim to assume, and which a profligacy, not the effect of strong passions,\nbut of system, is easily subjected to. He is not eloquent, nor are his\nspeeches, as compositions,* equal to those of Collot d'Herbais, Barrere,\nor Billaud Varennes; but, by contriving to reserve himself for\nextraordinary occasions, such as announcing plots, victories, and systems\nof government, he is heard with an interest which finally becomes\ntransferred from his subject to himself.**\n * The most celebrated members of the Convention are only readers of\n speeches, composed with great labour, either by themselves or\n others; and I think it is distinguishable, that many are\n manufactured by the same hand. The style and spirit of Lindet,\n Barrere, and Carnot, seem to be in common.\n ** The following passages, from a speech of Dubois Crance, who may\n be supposed a competent judge, at once furnish an idea of\n Robespierre's oratory, exhibit a leading feature in his character,\n and expose some of the arts by which the revolutionary despotism was\n maintained:\n _\"Rapportant tout a lui seul, jusqu'a la patrie, il n'en parla\n jamais que pour s'en designer comme l'unique defenseur: otez de ses\n longs discours tout ce qui n'a rapport qu'a son personnel, vous n'y\n trouverez plus que de seches applications de prinipes connus, et\n surtout de phrases preparees pour amener encore son eloge. Vous\n l'avez juge timide, parce que son imagination, que l'on croyait\n ardente, qui n'etait que feroce, parassait exagerer souvent les maux\n de son pays. C'etait une jonglerie: il ne croyait ni aux\n conspirations don't il faisait tant d'etalage, ni aux poignards\n aux-quels il feignoit de sse devouer; mais il vouloit que les\n citoyens fusssent constamment en defiance l'un de l'autre,\" &c._\n \"Affecting to consider all things, even the fate of the country, as\n depending on himself alone, he never spoke of it but with a view to\n point himself out its principal defender.--If you take away from his\n long harangues all that regards him personally, you will find only\n dry applications of familiar principles, and, above all, those\n studied turns, which were artfully prepared to introduce his own\n eternal panegyric.--You supposed him timid because his imagination\n (which was not merely ardent, as was supposed, but ferocious) seemed\n often to exaggerate the misfortunes of his country.--This was a mere\n trick: he believed neither in the conspiracies he made so great a\n parade of, nor in the poignards to which he pretended to devote\n himself as a victim.--His real design was to infuse into the minds\n of all men an unceasing diffidence of each other.\"\nOne cannot study the characters of these men, and the revolution, without\nwonder; and, after an hour of such scribbling, I wake to the scene around\nme, and my wonder is not a little increased, at the idea that the fate of\nsuch an individual as myself should be at all dependent on either.--My\nfriend Mad. de ____ is ill,* and taken to the hospital, so that having no\nlonger the care of dissipating her ennui, I am at full liberty to indulge\nmy own.\n * I have generally made use of the titles and distinctions by which\n the people I mention were known before the revolution; for, besides\n that I found it difficult to habituate my pen to the republican\n system of levelling, the person to whom these letters were addressed\n would not have known who was meant by the new appellations. It is,\n however, to be observed, that, except in private aristocratic\n intercourse, the word Citizen was in general use; and that those who\n had titles relinquished them and assumed their family names.\n--Yet I know not how it is, but, as I have before observed to you, I do\nnot ennuye--my mind is constantly occupied, though my heart is vacant--\ncuriosity serves instead of interest, and I really find it sufficiently\namusing to conjecture how long my head may remain on my shoulders.--You\nwill, I dare say, agree with me that any doubts on such a subject are\nvery well calculated to remove the tranquil sort of indifference which\nproduces ennui; though, to judge by the greater part of my\nfellow-prisoners, one would not think so.--There is something surely in\nthe character of the French, which makes them differ both in prosperity\nand adversity from other people. Here are many amongst us who see\nlittle more in the loss of their liberty than a privation of their usual\namusements; and I have known some who had the good fortune to obtain\ntheir release at noon, exhibit themselves at the theatre at night.--God\nknows how such minds are constituted: for my part, when some consolatory\nillusion restores me to freedom, I associate with it no idea of positive\npleasure, but long for a sort of intermediate state, which may repose my\nharassed faculties, and in which mere comfort and security are portrayed\nas luxuries. After being so long deprived of the decent accommodations\nof life, secluded from the intercourse which constitutes its best\nenjoyments, trembling for my own fate, and hourly lamenting that of my\nfriends, the very thoughts of tumult or gaiety seem oppressive, and the\ndesire of peace, for the moment, banishes every other. One must have no\nheart, after so many sufferings, not to prefer the castle of Indolence\nto the palace of Armida.\nThe coarse organs of an Argus at the door, who is all day employed in\ncalling to my high-born companions by the republican appellations of\n_\"Citoyen,\"_ and _\"Citoyenne,\"_ has just interrupted me by a summons to\nreceive a letter from my unfortunate friends at Arras.--It was given me\nopen;* of course they say nothing of their situation, though I have\nreason to believe it is dreadful.\n * The opening of letters was now so generally avowed, that people\n who corresponded on business, and were desirous their letters should\n be delivered, put them in the post without sealing; otherwise they\n were often torn in opening, thrown aside, or detained, to save the\n trouble of perusing.\n--They have now written to me for assistance, which I have not the means\nof affording them. Every thing I have is under sequestration; and the\ndifficulty which attends the negociating any drafts drawn upon England,\nhas made it nearly impossible to procure money in the usual way, even if\nI were not confined. The friendship of Mad. de ____ will be little\navailable to me. Her extensive fortune, before frittered to mere\ncompetency by the extortions of the revolution, now scarcely supplies her\nown wants; and her tenants humanely take the opportunity of her present\ndistress to avoid paying their rent.*\n * In some instances servants or tenants have been known to seize on\n portions of land for their own use--in others the country\n municipalities exacted as the price of a certificate of civism,\n (without which no release from prison could be obtained,) such\n leases, lands, or privileges, as they thought the embarrassments of\n their landlords would induce them to grant. Almost every where the\n houses of persons arrested were pilfered either by their own\n servants or the agents of the republic. I have known an elegant\n house put in requisition to erect blacksmiths' forges in for the use\n of the army, and another filled with tailors employed in making\n soldiers' clothes.--Houses were likewise not unfrequently abandoned\n by the servants through fear of sharing the fate of their masters,\n and sometimes exposed equally by the arrest of those who had been\n left in charge, in order to extort discoveries of plate, money, &c.\n the concealment of which they might be supposed privy to.\n--So that I have no resource, either for myself or Mrs. D____, but the\nsale of a few trinkets, which I had fortunately secreted on my first\narrest. How are we to exist, and what an existence to be solicitous\nabout! In gayer moments, and, perhaps, a little tinctured by romantic\nrefinement, I have thought Dr. Johnson made poverty too exclusively the\nsubject of compassion: indeed I believe he used to say, it was the only\nevil he really felt for. This, to one who has known only mental\nsuffering, appears the notion of a coarse mind; but I doubt whether, the\nfirst time we are alarmed by the fear of want, the dread of dependence\ndoes not render us in part his converts. The opinion of our English sage\nis more natural than we may at first imagine; or why is it that we are\naffected by the simple distresses of Jane Shore, beyond those of any\nother heroine?--Yours.\nOur abode becomes daily more crouded; and I observe, that the greater\npart of those now arrested are farmers. This appears strange enough,\nwhen we consider how much the revolutionary persecution has hitherto\nspared this class of people; and you will naturally enquire why it has at\nlength reached them.\nIt has been often observed, that the two extremes of society are nearly\nthe same in all countries; the great resemble each other from education,\nthe little from nature. Comparisons, therefore, of morals and manners\nshould be drawn from the intervening classes; yet from this comparison\nalso I believe we must exclude farmers, who are every where the same, and\nwho seem always more marked by professional similitude than national\ndistinction.\nThe French farmer exhibits the same acuteness in all that regards his own\ninterest, and the same stupidity on most other occasions, as the mere\nEnglish one; and the same objects which enlarge the understanding and\ndilate the heart of other people, seem to have a contrary effect on both.\nThey contemplate the objects of nature as the stock-jobber does the\nvicissitudes of the public funds: \"the dews of heaven,\" and the\nenlivening orb by which they are dispelled, are to the farmer only\nobjects of avaricious speculation; and the scarcity, which is partially\nprofitable, is but too often more welcome than a general abundance.--They\nconsider nothing beyond the limits of their own farms, except for the\npurpose of making envious comparisons with those of their neighbours; and\nbeing fed and clothed almost without intermediate commerce, they have\nlittle necessity for communication, and are nearly as isolated a part of\nsociety as sailors themselves.\nThe French revolutionists have not been unobserving of these\ncircumstances, nor scrupulous of profiting by them: they knew they might\nhave discussed for ever their metaphysical definitions of the rights of\nman, without reaching the comprehension, or exciting the interest, of the\ncountry people; but that if they would not understand the propagation of\nthe rights of man, they would very easily comprehend an abolition of the\nrights of their landlords. Accordingly, the first principle of liberty\nthey were taught from the new code was, that they had a right to assemble\nin arms, to force the surrender of title-deeds; and their first\nrevolutionary notions of equality and property seem to have been\nmanifested by the burning of chateaux, and refusing to pay their rents.\nThey were permitted to intimidate their landlords, in order to force them\nto emigration, and either to sell their estates at a low price, or leave\nthem to the mercy of the tenants.\nAt a time when the necessities of the state had been great enough to be\nmade the pretext of a dreadful revolution, they were not only almost\nexempt from contributing to its relief, but were enriched by the common\ndistress; and while the rest of their countrymen beheld with unavailing\nregret their property gradually replaced by scraps of paper, the peasants\nbecame insolent and daring by impunity, refused to sell but for specie,\nand were daily amassing wealth. It is not therefore to be wondered at,\nthat they were partial to the new order of things. The prisons might\nhave overflowed or been thinned by the miseries of those with whom they\nhad been crowded--the Revolutionary Tribunal might have sacrificed half\nFrance, and these selfish citizens, I fear, would have beheld it\ntranquilly, had not the requisition forced their labourers to the army,\nand the \"maximum\" lowered the price of their corn. The exigency of the\nwar, and an internal scarcity, having rendered these measures necessary,\nand it being found impossible to persuade the farmers into a peaceful\ncompliance with them, the government has had recourse to its usual\nsummary mode of expostulation--a prison or the Guillotine.*\n * The avarice of the farmers was doubtless to be condemned, but the\n cruel despotism of the government almost weakened our sense of\n rectitude; for by confounding error with guilt, and guilt with\n innocence, they habituated us to indiscriminate pity, and obliged us\n to transfer our hatred of a crime to those who in punishing it,\n observed neither mercy nor justice. A farmer was guillotined,\n because some blades of corn appeared growing in one of his ponds;\n from which circumstance it was inferred, he had thrown in a large\n quantity, in order to promote a scarcity--though it was\n substantially proved on his trial, that at the preceding harvest the\n grain of an adjoining field had been got in during a high wind, and\n that in all probability some scattered ears which reached the water\n had produced what was deemed sufficient testimony to convict him.--\n Another underwent the same punishment for pursuing his usual course\n of tillage, and sowing part of his ground with lucerne, instead of\n employing the whole for wheat; and every where these people became\n the objects of persecution, both in their persons and property.\n \"Almost all our considerable farmers have been thrown into prison;\n the consequence is, that their capital is eat up, their stock gone\n to ruin, and our lands have lost the almost incalculable effect of\n their industry. In La Vendee six million acres of land lie\n uncultivated, and five hundred thousand oxen have been turned\n astray, without shelter and without an owner.\"\n Speech of Dubois Crance, Sept. 22, 1794.\n--Amazed to find themselves the objects of a tyranny they had hitherto\ncontributed to support, and sharing the misfortune of their Lords and\nClergy, these ignorant and mistaken people wander up and down with a\nvacant sort of ruefulness, which seems to bespeak that they are far from\ncomprehending or being satisfied with this new specimen of\nrepublicanism.--It has been a fatality attending the French through the\nwhole revolution, that the different classes have too readily facilitated\nthe sacrifice of each other; and the Nobility, the Clergy, the Merchant,\nand the Farmer, have the mortification of experiencing, that their\nselfish and illiberal policy has answered no purpose but to involve all\nin one common ruin.\nAngelique has contrived to-day to negotiate the sale of some bracelets,\nwhich a lady, with whom I was acquainted previous to our detention, has\nvery obligingly given almost half their value for, though not without\nmany injunctions to secresy, and as many implied panegyrics on her\nbenevolence, in risking the odium of affording assistance to a foreigner.\nWe are, I assure you, under the necessity of being oeconomists, where the\nmost abundant wealth could not render us externally comfortable: and the\nlittle we procure, by a clandestine disposal of my unnecessary trinkets,\nis considerably diminished,* by arbitrary impositions of the guard and\nthe poor,** and a voluntary tax from the misery that surrounds us.\n * I am aware of Mr. Burke's pleasantry on the expression of very\n little, being greatly diminished; but my exchequer at this time was\n as well calculated to prove the infinite divisibility of matter, as\n that of the Welch principality.\n ** The guards of the republican Bastilles were paid by the prisoners\n they contained; and, in many places, the tax for this purpose was\n levied with indecent rigour. It might indeed be supposed, that\n people already in prison could have little to apprehend from an\n inability or unwillingness to submit to such an imposition; yet\n those who refused were menaced with a dungeon; and I was informed,\n from undoubted authority, of two instances of the sort among the\n English--the one a young woman, the other a person with a large\n family of children, who were on the point of suffering this\n treatment, but that the humanity of some of their companions\n interfered and paid the sum exacted of them. The tax for supporting\n the imprisoned poor was more willingly complied with, though not\n less iniquitous in its principle; numbers of inoffensive and\n industrious people were taken from their homes on account of their\n religion, or other frivolous pretexts, and not having the\n wherewithal to maintain themselves in confinement, instead of being\n kept by the republic, were supported by their fellow-prisoners, in\n consequence of a decree to that purpose. Families who inherited\n nothing from their noble ancestors but their names, were dragged\n from obscurity only to become objects of persecution; and one in\n particular, consisting of nine persons, who lived in extreme\n indigence, but were notwithstanding of the proscribed class; the\n sons were brought wounded from the army and lodged with the father,\n mother, and five younger children in a prison, where they had\n scarcely food to support, or clothing to cover them.\n I take this opportunity of doing justice to the Comte d'Artois,\n whose youthful errors did not extinguish his benevolence--the\n unfortunate people in question having enjoyed a pension from him\n until the revolution deprived them of it.\nOur male companions are for the most part transferred to other prisons,\nand among the number are two young Englishmen, with whom I used sometimes\nto converse in French, without acknowledging our compatriotism. They\nhave told me, that when the decree for arresting the English was received\nat Amiens, they happened to be on a visit, a few miles from the town; and\nhaving notice that a party of horse were on the road to take them,\nwilling to gain time at least, they escaped by another route, and got\nhome. The republican constables, for I can call the military employed in\nthe interior by no better appellation, finding their prey had taken\nflight, adopted the impartial justice of the men of Charles Town,* and\ncarried off the old couple (both above seventy) at whose house they had\nbeen.\n * \"But they maturely having weigh'd\n \"They had no more but him o'th'trade,\n \"Resolved to spare him, yet to do\n \"The Indian Hoghan-Moghan too\n \"Impartial justice--in his stead did\n \"Hang an old weaver that was bed-rid.\"\nThe good man, who was probably not versed in the etiquette of the\nrevolution, conceived nothing of the matter, and when at the end of their\njourney they were deposited at the Bicetre, his head was so totally\nderanged, that he imagined himself still in his own house, and continued\nfor some days addressing all the prisoners as though they were his\nguests--at one moment congratulating them on their arrival, the next\napologizing for want of room and accommodation.--The evasion of the young\nmen, as you will conclude, availed them nothing, except a delay of their\ncaptivity for a few hours.\nA report has circulated amongst us to-day, that all who are not detained\non specific charges are soon to be liberated. This is eagerly believed\nby the new-comers, and those who are not the \"pale converts of\nexperience.\" I am myself so far from crediting it, that I dread lest it\nshould be the harbinger of some new evil, for I know not whether it be\nfrom the effect of chance, or a refinement in atrocity, but I have\ngenerally found every measure which tended to make our situation more\nmiserable preceded by these flattering rumours.\nYou would smile to see with what anxious credulity intelligence of this\nsort is propagated: we stop each other on the stairs and listen while our\npalled dinner, just arrived from the traiteur, is cooling; and the bucket\nof the draw-well hangs suspended while a history is finished, of which\nthe relator knows as little as the hearer, and which, after all, proves\nto have originated in some ambiguous phrase of our keeper, uttered in a\ngood-humoured paroxysm while receiving a douceur.\nWe occasionally lose some of our associates, who, having obtained their\ndischarge, _depart a la Francaise,_ forget their suffering, and praise the\nclemency of Dumont, and the virtue of the Convention; while those who\nremain still unconverted amuse themselves in conjecturing the channel\nthrough which such favours were solicited, and alleging reasons why such\npreferences were partial and unjust.\nDumont visits us, as usual, receives an hundred or two of petitions,\nwhich he does not deign to read, and reserves his indulgence for those\nwho have the means of assailing him through the smiles of a favourite\nmistress, or propitiating him by more substantial advantages.--Many of\nthe emigrants' wives have procured their liberty by being divorced, and\nin this there is nothing blameable, for I imagine the greater number\nconsider it only as a temporary expedient, indifferent in itself, and\nwhich they are justified in having recourse to for the protection of\ntheir persons and property. But these domestic alienations are not\nconfined to those who once moved in the higher orders of society--the\nmonthly registers announce almost as many divorces as marriages, and the\nfacility of separation has rendered the one little more than a licentious\ncompact, which the other is considered as a means of dissolving. The\neffect of the revolution has in this, as in many other cases, been to\nmake the little emulate the vices of the great, and to introduce a more\ngross and destructive policy among the people at large, than existed in\nthe narrow circle of courtiers, imitators of the Regent, or Louis the\nfifteenth. Immorality, now consecrated as a principle, is far more\npernicious than when, though practised, it was condemned, and, though\nsuffered, not sanctioned.\nYou must forgive me if I ennuye you a little sententiously--I was more\npartial to the lower ranks of life in France, than to those who were\ndeemed their superiors; and I cannot help beholding with indignant regret\nthe last asylums of national morals thus invaded by the general\ncorruption.--I believe no one will dispute that the revolution has\nrendered the people more vicious; and, without considering the matter\neither in a moral or religious point of view, it is impossible to assert\nthat they are not less happy. How many times, when I was at liberty,\nhave I heard the old wish for an accession of years, or envy those yet\ntoo young to be sensible of \"the miseries of a revolution!\"--Were the\nvanity of the self-sufficient philosopher susceptible of remorse, would\nhe not, when he beholds this country, lament his presumption, in\nsupposing he had a right to cancel the wisdom of past ages; or that the\nhappiness of mankind might be promoted by the destruction of their\nmorals, and the depravation of their social affections?--Yours, &c.\nFor some years previous to the revolution, there were several points in\nwhich the French ascribed to themselves a superiority not very distant\nfrom perfection. Amongst these were philosophy, politeness, the\nrefinements of society, and, above all, the art of living.--I have\nsometimes, as you know, been inclined to dispute these claims; yet, if it\nbe true that in our sublunary career perfection is not stationary, and\nthat, having reached the apex of the pyramid on one side, we must\nnecessarily descend on the other, I might, on this ground, allow such\npretensions to be more reasonable than I then thought them. Whatever\nprogress might have been attained in these respects, or however near our\nneighbours might have approached to one extreme, it is but too certain\nthey are now rapidly declining to the other. This boasted philosophy is\nbecome a horrid compound of all that is offensive to Heaven, and\ndisgraceful to man--this politeness, a ferocious incivility--and this\nsocial elegance and exclusive science in the enjoyment of life, are now\nreduced to suspicious intercourse, and the want of common necessaries.\nIf the national vanity only were wounded, perhaps I might smile, though I\nhope I should not triumph; but when I see so much misery accompany so\nprofound a degradation, my heart does not accord with my language, if I\nseem to do either one or the other.\nI should ineffectually attempt to describe the circumstances and\nsituation which have given rise to these reflections. Imagine to\nyourself whatever tyranny can inflict, or human nature submit to--\nwhatever can be the result of unrestrained wickedness and unresisting\ndespair--all that can scourge or disgrace a people--and you may form some\nidea of the actual state of this country: but do not search your books\nfor comparisons, or expect to find in the proscriptions and\nextravagancies of former periods any examples by which to judge the\npresent.--Tiberius and Nero are on the road to oblivion, and the subjects\nof the Lama may boast comparative pretensions to rank as a free and\nenlightened nation.\nThe frantic ebullitions of the revolutionary government are now as it\nwere subsided, and instead of appearing the temporary resources of\n\"despotism in distress,\" [Burke.] have assumed the form of a permanent\nand regular system. The agitation occasioned by so many unexampled\nscenes is succeeded by an habitual terror, and this depressing sentiment\nhas so pervaded all ranks, that it would be difficult to find an\nindividual, however obscure or inoffensive, who deems his property, or\neven his existence, secure only for a moment. The sound of a bell or a\nknocker at the close of the evening is the signal of dismay. The\ninhabitants of the house regard each other with looks of fearful\ninterrogation--all the precautions hitherto taken appear insufficient--\nevery one recollects something yet to be secreted--a prayer-book, an\nunburied silver spoon, or a few assignats \"a face royale,\" are hastily\nscrambled together, and if the visit prove nothing more than an amicable\ndomiciliary one, in search of arms and corn, it forms matter of\ncongratulation for a week after. Yet such is the submission of the\npeople to a government they abhor, that it is scarcely thought requisite\nnow to arrest any person formally: those whom it is intended to secure\noften receive nothing more than a written mandate* to betake themselves\nto a certain prison, and such unpleasant rendezvous are attended with\nmore punctuality than the most ceremonious visit, or the most gallant\nassignation.\n * These rescripts were usually couched in the following terms:--\n \"Citizen, you are desired to betake yourself immediately to ------,\n (naming the prison,) under pain of being conveyed there by an armed\n force in case of delay.\"\n--A few necessaries are hastily packed together, the adieus are made,\nand, after a walk to their prison, they lay their beds down in the corner\nallotted, just as if it were a thing of course.\nIt was a general observation with travellers, that the roads in France\nwere solitary, and had rather the deserted appearance of the route of a\ncaravan, than of the communications between different parts of a rich and\npopulous kingdom. This, however, is no longer true, and, as far as I can\nlearn, they are now sufficiently crowded--not, indeed, by curious\nitinerants, parties of pleasure, or commercial industry, but by Deputies\nof the Convention,* agents of subsistence,** committee men, Jacobin\nmissionaries,*** troops posting from places where insurrection is just\nquelled to where it has just begun, besides the great and never-failing\nsource of activity, that of conveying suspected people from their homes\nto prison, and from one prison to another.--\n * Every department was infested by one, two, or more of these\n strolling Deputies; and, it must be confessed, the constant tendency\n of the people to revolt in many places afforded them sufficient\n employment. Sometimes they acted as legislators, making laws on the\n spot--sometimes, both as judges and constables--or, if occasion\n required, they amused themselves in assisting the executioner.--The\n migrations of obscure men, armed with unlimited powers, and whose\n persons were unknown, was a strong temptation to imposture, and in\n several places adventurers were detected assuming the character of\n Deputies, for various purposes of fraud and depredation.--The\n following instance may appear ludicrous, but I shall be excused\n mentioning it, as it is a fact on record, and conveys an idea of\n what the people supposed a Deputy might do, consistent with the\n \"dignity\" of his executive functions.\n An itinerant of this sort, whose object seems to have been no more\n than to procure a daily maintenance, arriving hungry in a village,\n entered the first farm-house that presented itself, and immediately\n put a pig in requisition, ordered it to be killed, and some sausages\n to be made, with all speed. In the meanwhile our mock-legislator,\n who seems to have acted his part perfectly well, talked of liberty,\n l'amour de la Patrie, of Pitt and the coalesced tyrants, of\n arresting suspicious people and rewarding patriots; so that the\n whole village thought themselves highly fortunate in the presence of\n a Deputy who did no worse than harangue and put their pork in\n requisiton.--Unfortunately, however, before the repast of sausages\n could be prepared, a hue and cry reached the place, that this\n gracious Representant was an impostor! He was bereft of his\n dignities, conveyed to prison, and afterwards tried by the Tribunal\n Revolutionnaire at Paris; but his Counsel, by insisting on the\n mildness with which he had \"borne his faculties,\" contrived to get\n his punishment mitigated to a short imprisonment.--Another suffered\n death on a somewhat similar account; or, as the sentence expressed\n it, for degrading the character of a National Representative.--Just\n Heaven! for degrading the character of a National Representative!!!\n --and this too after the return of Carrier from Nantes, and the\n publication of Collot d'Herbois' massacres at Lyons!\n **The agents employed by government in the purchase of subsistence\n amounted, by official confession, to ten thousand. In all parts\n they were to be seen, rivalling each other, and creating scarcity\n and famine, by requisitions and exactions, which they did not\n convert to the profit of the republic, but to their own.--These\n privileged locusts, besides what they seized upon, occasioned a\n total stagnation of commerce, by laying embargoes on what they did\n not want; so that it frequently occurred that an unfortunate\n tradesman might have half the articles in his shop under requisition\n for a month together, and sometimes under different requisitions\n from deputies, commissaries of war, and agents of subsistence, all\n at once; nor could any thing be disposed of till such claims were\n satisfied or relinquished.\n *** Jacobin missionaries were sent from Paris, and other great\n towns, to keep up the spirits of the people, to explain the benefits\n of the revolution, (which, indeed, were not very apparent,) and to\n maintain the connection between the provincial and metropolitan\n societies.--I remember the Deputies on mission at Perpignan writing\n to the Club at Paris for a reinforcement of civic apostles, _\"pour\n evangeliser les habitans et les mettre dans la voie de salut\"_--(\"to\n convert the inhabitants, and put them in the road to salvation\").\n--These movements are almost entirely confined to the official travellers\nof the republic; for, besides the scarcity of horses, the increase of\nexpence, and the diminution of means, few people are willing to incur the\nsuspicion or hazard* attendant on quitting their homes, and every\npossible obstacle is thrown in the way of a too general intercourse\nbetween the inhabitants of large towns.\n * There were moments when an application for a passport was certain\n of being followed by a mandat d'arret--(a writ of arrest). The\n applicant was examined minutely as to the business he was going\n upon, the persons he was to transact it with, and whether the\n journey was to be performed on horseback or in a carriage, and any\n signs of impatience or distaste at those democratic ceremonies were\n sufficient to constitute _\"un homme suspect\"_--(\"a suspicious\n person\"), or at least one _\"soupconne d'etre suspect,\"_ that is, a man\n suspected of being suspicious. In either case it was usually deemed\n expedient to prevent the dissemination of his supposed principles,\n by laying an embargo on his person.--I knew a man under persecution\n six months together, for having gone from one department to another\n to see his family.\nThe committee of Public Welfare is making rapid advances to an absolute\nconcentration of the supreme power, and the convention, while they are\nthe instruments of oppressing the whole country, are themselves become\ninsignificant, and, perhaps, less secure than those over whom they\ntyrannize. They cease to debate, or even to speak; but if a member of\nthe Committee ascends the tribune, they overwhelm him with applauses\nbefore they know what he has to say, and then pass all the decrees\npresented to them more implicitly than the most obsequious Parliament\never enregistered an arrete of the Court; happy if, by way of\ncompensation, they attract a smile from Barrere, or escape the ominous\nglances of Robespierre.*\n * When a member of the committee looked inauspiciously at a\n subordinate accomplice, the latter scarce ventured to approach his\n home for some time.--Legendre, who has since boasted so continually\n about his courage, is said to have kept his bed, and Bourdon de\n l'Oise, to have lost his senses for a considerable time, from\n frights, the consequence of such menaces.\nHaving so far described the situation of public affairs, I proceed as\nusual, and for which I have the example of Pope, who never quits a\nsubject without introducing himself, to some notice of my own. It is not\nonly bad in itself, but worse in perspective than ever: yet I learn not\nto murmur, and derive patience from the certainty, that almost every part\nof France is more oppressed and wretched than we are.--Yours, etc.\nThe individual sufferings of the French may perhaps yet admit of\nincrease; but their humiliation as a people can go no farther; and if it\nwere not certain that the acts of the government are congenial to its\nprinciples, one might suppose this tyranny rather a moral experiment on\nthe extent of human endurance, than a political system.\nEither the vanity or cowardice of Robespierre is continually suggesting\nto him plots for his assassination; and on pretexts, at once absurd and\natrocious, a whole family, with near seventy other innocent people as\naccomplices, have been sentenced to death by a formal decree of the\nconvention.\nOne might be inclined to pity a people obliged to suppress their\nindignation on such an event, but the mind revolts when addresses are\npresented from all quarters to congratulate this monster's pretended\nescape, and to solicit a farther sacrifice of victims to his revenge.--\nThe assassins of Henry the Fourth had all the benefit of the laws, and\nsuffered only after a legal condemnation; yet the unfortunate Cecilia\nRenaud, though evidently in a state of mental derangement, was hurried to\nthe scaffold without a hearing, for the vague utterance of a truth, to\nwhich every heart in France, not lost to humanity, must assent. Brooding\nover the miseries of her country, till her imagination became heated and\ndisordered, this young woman seems to have conceived some hopeless plan\nof redress from expostulation with Robespierre, whom she regarded as a\nprincipal in all the evils she deplored. The difficulty of obtaining an\naudience of him irritated her to make some comparison between an\nhereditary sovereign and a republican despot; and she avowed, that, in\ndesiring to see Robespierre, she was actuated only by a curiosity to\n\"contemplate the features of a tyrant.\"--On being examined by the\nCommittee, she still persisted that her design was \"seulement pour voir\ncomment etoit fait un tyrant;\" and no instrument nor possible means of\ndestruction was found upon her to justify a charge of any thing more than\nthe wild and enthusiastic attachment to royalism, which she did not\nattempt to disguise. The influence of a feminine propensity, which often\nsurvives even the wreck of reason and beauty, had induced her to dress\nwith peculiar neatness, when she went in search of Robespierre; and, from\nthe complexion of the times, supposing it very probable a visit of this\nnature might end in imprisonment and death, she had also provided herself\nwith a change of clothes to wear in her last moments.\nSuch an attention in a beautiful girl of eighteen was not very unnatural;\nyet the mean and cruel wretches who were her judges, had the littleness\nto endeavour at mortifying, by divesting her of her ornaments, and\ncovering her with the most loathsome rags. But a mind tortured to\nmadness by the sufferings of her country, was not likely to be shaken by\nsuch puerile malice; and, when interrogated under this disguise, she\nstill preserved the same firmness, mingled with contempt, which she had\ndisplayed when first apprehended. No accusation, nor even implication,\nof any person could be drawn from her, and her only confession was that\nof a passionate loyalty: yet an universal conspiracy was nevertheless\ndecreed by the Convention to exist, and Miss Renaud, with sixty-nine\nothers,* were sentenced to the guillotine, without farther trial than\nmerely calling over their names.\n * It is worthy of remark, that the sixty-nine people executed as\n accomplices of Miss Renaud, except her father, mother, and aunt,\n were totally unconnected with her, or with each other, and had been\n collected from different prisons, between which no communication\n could have subsisted.\n--They were conducted to the scaffold in a sort of red frocks, intended,\nas was alleged, to mark them as assassins--but, in reality, to prevent\nthe crowd from distinguishing or receiving any impression from the number\nof young and interesting females who were comprised in this dreadful\nslaughter.--They met death with a courage which seemed almost to\ndisappoint the malice of their tyrants, who, in an original excess of\nbarbarity, are said to have lamented that their power of inflicting could\nnot reach those mental faculties which enabled their victims to suffer\nwith fortitude.*\n * Fouquier Tinville, public accuser of the Revolutionary Tribunal,\n enraged at the courage with which his victims submitted to their\n fate, had formed the design of having them bled previous to their\n execution; hoping by this means to weaken their spirits, and that\n they might, by a pusillanimous behaviour in their last moments,\n appear less interesting to the people.\nSuch are the horrors now common to almost every part of France: the\nprisons are daily thinned by the ravages of the executioner, and again\nrepeopled by inhabitants destined to the fate of their predecessors. A\ngloomy reserve, and a sort of uncertain foreboding, have taken possession\nof every body--no one ventures to communicate his thoughts, even to his\nnearest friend--relations avoid each other--and the whole social system\nseems on the point of being dissolved. Those who have yet preserved\ntheir freedom take the longest circuit, rather than pass a republican\nBastille; or, if obliged by necessity to approach one, it is with\ndowncast or averted looks, which bespeak their dread of incurring the\nsuspicion of humanity.\nI say little of my own feelings; they are not of a nature to be relieved\nby pathetic expressions: \"I am e'en sick at heart.\" For some time I have\nstruggled both against my own evils, and the share I take in the general\ncalamity, but my mortal part gives way, and I can no longer resist the\ndespondency which at times depresses me, and which indeed, more than the\ndanger attending it, has occasioned my abandoning my pen for the last\nmonth.--Several circumstances have occurred within these few days, to add\nto the uneasiness of our situation, and my own apprehensions. Le Bon,*\nwhose cruelties at Arras seem to have endeared him to his colleagues in\nthe Convention, has had his powers extended to this department, and Andre\nDumont is recalled; so that we are hourly menaced with the presence of a\nmonster, compared to whom our own representative is amiable.--\n * I have already noticed the cruel and ferocious temper of Le Bon,\n and the massacres of his tribunals are already well known. I will\n only add some circumstances which not only may be considered as\n characteristic of this tyrant, but of the times--and I fear I may\n add of the people, who suffered and even applauded them. They are\n selected from many others not susceptible of being described in\n language fit for an English reader.\n As he was one day enjoying his customary amusement of superintending\n an execution, where several had already suffered, one of the victims\n having, from a very natural emotion, averted his eyes while he\n placed his body in the posture required, the executioner perceived\n it, and going to the sack which contained the heads of those just\n sacrificed, took one out, and with the most horrible imprecations\n obliged the unhappy wretch to kiss it: yet Le Bon not only\n permitted, but sanctioned this, by dining daily with the hangman.\n He was afterwards reproached with this familiarity in the\n Convention, but defended himself by saying, \"A similar act of\n Lequinio's was inserted by your orders in the bulletin with\n 'honourable mention;' and your decrees have invariably consecrated\n the principles on which I acted.\" They all felt for a moment the\n dominion of conscience, and were silent.--On another occasion he\n suspended an execution, while the savages he kept in pay threw dirt\n on the prisoners, and even got on the scaffold and insulted them\n previous to their suffering.\n When any of his colleagues passed through Arras, he always proposed\n their joining with him in a _\"partie de Guillotine,\"_ and the\n executions were perpetrated on a small square at Arras, rather than\n the great one, that he, his wife, and relations might more\n commodiously enjoy the spectacle from the balcony of the theatre,\n where they took their coffee, attended by a band of music, which\n played while this human butchery lasted.\n The following circumstance, though something less horrid, yet\n sufficiently so to excite the indignation of feeling people,\n happened to some friends of my own.--They had been brought with many\n others from a distant town in open carts to Arras, and, worn out\n with fatigue, were going to be deposited in the prison to which they\n were destined. At the moment of their arrival several persons were\n on the point of being executed. Le Bon, presiding as usual at the\n spectacle, observed the cavalcade passing, and ordered it to stop,\n that the prisoners might likewise be witnesses. He was, of course,\n obeyed; and my terrified friends and their companions were obliged\n not only to appear attentive to the scene before them, but to join\n in the cry of _\"Vive la Republique!\"_ at the severing of each head.--\n One of them, a young lady, did not recover the shock she received\n for months.\n The Convention, the Committees, all France, were well acquainted\n with the conduct of Le Bon. He himself began to fear he might have\n exceeded the limits of his commission; and, upon communicating some\n scruples of this kind to his employers, received the following\n letters, which, though they do not exculpate him, certainly render\n the Committee of Public Welfare more criminal than himself.\n \"Citizen,\n \"The Committee of Public Welfare approve the measures you have\n adopted, at the same time that they judge the warrant you solicit\n unnecessary--such measures being not only allowable, but enjoined by\n the very nature of your mission. No consideration ought to stand in\n the way of your revolutionary progress--give free scope therefore to\n your energy; the powers you are invested with are unlimited, and\n whatever you may deem conducive to the public good, you are free,\n you are even called upon by duty, to carry into execution without\n delay.--We here transmit you an order of the Committee, by which\n your powers are extended to the neighbouring departments. Armed\n with such means, and with your energy, you will go on to confound\n the enemies of the republic, with the very schemes they have\n projected for its destruction.\n \"Carnot.\n \"Barrere.\n \"R. Lindet.\"\n Extract from another letter, signed Billaud Varenne, Carnot,\n Barrere.\n \"There is no commutation for offences against a republic. Death\n alone can expiate them!--Pursue the traitors with fire and sword,\n and continue to march with courage in the revolutionary track you\n have described.\"\n--Merciful Heaven! are there yet positive distinctions betwixt bad and\nworse that we thus regret a Dumont, and deem ourselves fortunate in being\nat the mercy of a tyrant who is only brutal and profligate? But so it\nis; and Dumont himself, fearful that he has not exercised his mission\nwith sufficient severity, has ordered every kind of indulgence to cease,\nthe prisons to be more strictly guarded, and, if possible, more crowded;\nand he is now gone to Paris, trembling lest he should be accused of\njustice or moderation!\nThe pretended plots for assassinating Robespierre are, as usual,\nattributed to Mr. Pitt; and a decree has just passed, that no quarter\nshall be given to English prisoners. I know not what such inhuman\npolitics tend to, but my contempt, and the conscious pride of national\nsuperiority; certain, that when Providence sees fit to vindicate itself,\nby bestowing victory on our countrymen, the most welcome\n \"Laurels that adorn their brows\n \"Will be from living, not dead boughs.\"\nThe recollection of England, and its generous inhabitants, has animated\nme with pleasure; yet I must for the present quit this agreeable\ncontemplation, to take precautions which remind me that I am separated\nfrom both, and in a land of despotism and misery!\n--Yours affectionately.\nThe immorality of Hebert, and the base compliances of the Convention, for\nsome months turned the churches into \"temples of reason.\"--The ambition,\nperhaps the vanity, of Robespierre, has now permitted them to be\ndedicated to the \"Supreme Being,\" and the people, under such auspices,\nare to be conducted from atheism to deism. Desirous of distinguishing\nhis presidency, and of exhibiting himself in a conspicuous and\ninteresting light, Robespierre, on the last decade, appeared as the hero\nof a ceremony which we are told is to restore morals, destroy all the\nmischiefs introduced by the abolition of religion, and finally to defeat\nthe machinations of Mr. Pitt. A gay and splendid festival has been\nexhibited at Paris, and imitated in the provinces: flags of the\nrepublican colours, branches of trees, and wreaths of flowers, were\nordered to be suspended from the houses--every countenance was to wear\nthe prescribed smile, and the whole country, forgetting the pressure of\nsorrow and famine, was to rejoice. A sort of monster was prepared,\nwhich, by some unaccountable ingenuity, at once represented Atheism and\nthe English, Cobourg and the Austrians--in short, all the enemies of the\nConvention.--This external phantom, being burned with proper form,\ndiscovered a statue, which was understood to be that of Liberty, and the\ninauguration of this divinity, with placing the busts of Chalier* and\nMarat in the temple of the Supreme Being, by way of attendant saints,\nconcluded the ceremony.--\n * Chalier had been sent from the municipality of Paris after the\n dethronement of the King, to revolutionize the people of Lyons, and\n to excite a massacre. In consequence, the first days of September\n presented the same scenes at Lyons as were presented in the capital.\n For near a year he continued to scourge this unfortunate city, by\n urging the lower classes of people to murder and pillage; till, at\n the insurrection which took place in the spring of 1793, he was\n arrested by the insurgents, tried, and sentenced to the guillotine.\n --The Convention, however, whose calendar of saints is as\n extraordinary as their criminal code, chose to beatify Chalier,\n while they executed Malesherbes; and, accordingly, decreed him a\n lodging in the Pantheon, pensioning his mistress, and set up his\n bust in their own Hall as an associate for Brutus, whom, by the way,\n one should not have expected to find in such company.\nThe good citizens of the republic, not to be behind hand with their\nrepresentatives, placed Chalier in the cathedrals, in their\npublic-houses, on fans and snuff-boxes--in short, wherever they thought\nhis appearance would proclaim their patriotism.--I can only exclaim as\nPoultier, a deputy, did, on a similar occasion--\"Francais, Francais,\nserez vous toujours Francais?\"--(Frenchmen, Frenchmen, will you never\ncease to be Frenchmen?)\n--But the mandates for such celebrations reach not the heart: flowers\nwere gathered, and flags planted, with the scrupulous exactitude of\nfear;* yet all was cold and heavy, and a discerning government must have\nread in this anxious and literal obedience the indication of terror and\nhatred.\n * I have more than once had occasion to remark the singularity of\n popular festivities solemnized on the part of the people with no\n other intention but that of exact obedience to the edicts of\n government. This is so generally understood, that Richard, a deputy\n on mission at Lyons, writes to the Convention, as a circumstance\n extraordinary, and worthy of remark, that, at the repeal of a decree\n which was to have razed their city to the ground, a rejoicing took\n place, _\"dirigee et executee par le peuple, les autorites\n constitutees n'ayant fait en quelque sorte qu'y assister,\"_--\n (directed and executed by the people, the constituted authorities\n having merely assisted at the ceremony).\n--Even the prisons were insultingly decorated with the mockery of\ncolours, which, we are told, are the emblems of freedom; and those whose\nrelations have expired on the scaffold, or who are pining in dungeons for\nhaving heard a mass, were obliged to listen with apparent admiration to a\ndiscourse on the charms of religious liberty.--The people, who, for the\nmost part, took little interest in the rest of this pantomime, and\ninsensible of the national disgrace it implied, beheld with stupid\nsatisfaction* the inscription on the temple of reason replaced by a\nlegend, signifying that, in this age of science and information, the\nFrench find it necessary to declare their acknowledgment of a God, and\ntheir belief in the immortality of the soul.\n * Much has been said of the partial ignorance of the unfortunate\n inhabitants of La Vendee, and divers republican scribblers attribute\n their attachment to religion and monarchy to that cause: yet at\n Havre, a sea-port, where, from commercial communication, I should\n suppose the people as informed and civilized as in any other part of\n France, the ears of piety and decency were assailed, during the\n celebration above-mentioned, by the acclamations of, _\"Vive le Pere\n Eternel!\"--\"Vive l'etre Supreme!\"_--(I entreat that I may not be\n suspected of levity when I translate this; in English it would be\n \"God Almighty for ever! The Supreme Being for ever!\")\n--At Avignon the public understanding seems to have been equally\nenlightened, if we may judge from the report of a Paris missionary, who\nwrites in these terms:--\"The celebration in honour of the Supreme Being\nwas performed here yesterday with all possible pomp: all our\ncountry-folks were present, and unspeakably content that there was still\na God--What a fine decree (cried they all) is this!\"\nMy last letter was a record of the most odious barbarities--to-day I am\ndescribing a festival. At one period I have to remark the destruction of\nthe saints--at another the adoration of Marat. One half of the newspaper\nis filled with a list of names of the guillotined, and the other with\nthat of places of amusement; and every thing now more than ever marks\nthat detestable association of cruelty and levity, of impiety and\nabsurdity, which has uniformly characterized the French revolution. It\nis become a crime to feel, and a mode to affect a brutality incapable of\nfeeling--the persecution of Christianity has made atheism a boast, and\nthe danger of respecting traditional virtues has hurried the weak and\ntimid into the apotheosis of the most abominable vices. Conscious that\nthey are no longer animated by enthusiasm,* the Parisians hope to imitate\nit by savage fury or ferocious mirth--their patriotism is signalized only\nby their zeal to destroy, and their attachment to their government only\nby applauding its cruelties.--If Robespierre, St. Just, Collot d'Herbois,\nand the Convention as their instruments, desolate and massacre half\nFrance, we may lament, but we can scarcely wonder at it. How should a\nset of base and needy adventurers refrain from an abuse of power more\nunlimited than that of the most despotic monarch; or how distinguish the\ngeneral abhorrence, amid addresses of adulation, which Louis the\nFourteenth would have blushed to appropriate?*\n * Louis the Fourteenth, aguerri (steeled) as he was by sixty years\n of adulation and prosperity, had yet modesty sufficient to reject a\n \"dose of incense which he thought too strong.\" (See D'Alembert's\n Apology for Clermont Tonnerre.) Republicanism, it should seem, has\n not diminished the national compliasance for men in power, thought\n it has lessened the modesty of those who exercise it.--If Louis the\n Fourteenth repressed the zeal of the academicians, the Convention\n publish, without scruple, addresses more hyperbolical than the\n praises that monarch refused.--Letters are addressed to Robespierre\n under the appellation of the Messiah, sent by the almighty for the\n reform of all things! He is the apostle of one, and the tutelar\n deity of another. He is by turns the representative of the virtues\n individually, and a compendium of them altogether: and this monster,\n whose features are the counterpart of his soul, find republican\n parasites who congratulate themselves on resembling him.\nThe bulletins of the Convention announce, that the whole republic is in a\nsort of revolutionary transport at the escape of Robespierre and his\ncolleague, Collot d'Herbois, from assassination; and that we may not\nsuppose the legislators at large deficient in sensibility, we learn also\nthat they not only shed their grateful tears on this affecting occasion,\nbut have settled a pension on the man who was instrumental in rescuing\nthe benign Collot.\nThe members of the Committee are not, however, the exclusive objects of\npublic adoration--the whole Convention are at times incensed in a style\ntruly oriental; and if this be sometimes done with more zeal than\njudgment, it does not appear to be less acceptable on that account. A\npetition from an incarcerated poet assimilates the mountain of the\nJacobins to that of Parnassus--a state-creditor importunes for a small\npayment from the Gods of Olympus--and congratulations on the abolition of\nChristianity are offered to the legislators of Mount Sinai! Every\ninstance of baseness calls forth an eulogium on their magnanimity. A\nscore of orators harangue them daily on their courage, while they are\nover-awed by despots as mean as themselves and whom they continue to\nreinstal at the stated period with clamorous approbation. They\nproscribe, devastate, burn, and massacre--and permit themselves to be\naddressed by the title of \"Fathers of their Country!\"\nAll this would be inexplicable, if we did not contemplate in the French a\nnation where every faculty is absorbed by a terror which involves a\nthousand contradictions. The rich now seek protection by becoming\nmembers of clubs,* and are happy if, after various mortifications, they\nare finally admitted by the mob who compose them; while families, that\nheretofore piqued themselves on a voluminous and illustrious genealogy,**\neagerly endeavour to prove they have no claim to either.\n * _Le diplome de Jacobin etait une espece d'amulette, dont les\n inities etaient jaloux, et qui frappoit de prestiges ceux qui ne\n l'etaient pas_--\"The Jacobin diploma was a kind of amulet, which the\n initiated were jealous of preserving, and which struck as it were\n with witchcraft, those who were not of the number.\"\n Rapport de Courtois sur les Papiers de Robespierre.\n ** Besides those who, being really noble, were anxious to procure\n certificates of sans-cullotism, many who had assumed such honours\n without pretensions now relinquished them, except indeed some few,\n whose vanity even surmounted their fears. But an express law\n included all these seceders in the general proscription; alledging,\n with a candour not usual, that those who assumed rank were, in fact,\n more criminal than such as were guilty of being born to it.\n --Places and employments, which are in most countries the objects of\n intrigue and ambition, are here refused or relinquished with such\n perfect sincerity, that a decree became requisite to oblige every\n one, under pain of durance, to preserve the station to which his ill\n stars, mistaken politics, or affectation of patriotism, had called\n him. Were it not for this law, such is the dreadful responsibility\n and danger attending offices under the government, that even low and\n ignorant people, who have got possession of them merely for support,\n would prefer their original poverty to emoluments which are\n perpetually liable to the commutation of the guillotine.--Some\n members of a neighbouring district told me to-day, when I asked them\n if they came to release any of our fellow-prisoners, that so far\n from it, they had not only brought more, but were not certain twelve\n hours together of not being brought themselves.\nThe visionary equality of metaphysical impostors is become a substantial\none--not constituted by abundance and freedom, but by want and\noppression. The disparities of nature are not repaired, but its whole\nsurface is levelled by a storm. The rich are become poor, but the poor\nstill remain so; and both are conducted indiscriminately to the scaffold.\nThe prisons of the former government were \"petty to the ends\" of this.\nConvents, colleges, palaces, and every building which could any how be\nadapted to such a purpose, have been filled with people deemed\nsuspicious;* and a plan of destruction seems resolved on, more certain\nand more execrable than even the general massacre of September 1792.\n * Now multiplied to more than four hundred thousand!--The prisons of\n Paris and the environs were supposed to contain twenty-seven\n thousand. The public papers stated but about seven thousand,\n because they included the official returns of Paris only.\n--Agents of the police are, under some pretended accusation, sent to the\ndifferent prisons; and, from lists previously furnished them, make daily\ninformation of plots and conspiracies, which they alledge to be carrying\non by the persons confined. This charge and this evidence suffice: the\nprisoners are sent to the tribunal, their names read over, and they are\nconveyed by cart's-full to the republican butchery. Many whom I have\nknown, and been in habits of intimacy with, have perished in this manner;\nand the expectation of Le Bon,* with our numbers which make us of too\nmuch consequence to be forgotten, all contribute to depress and alarm me.\n * Le Bon had at this period sent for lists of the prisoners in the\n department of the Somme--which lists are said to have been since\n found, and many of the names in them marked for destruction.\n--Even the levity of the French character yields to this terrible\ndespotism, and nothing is observed but weariness, silence, and sorrow:--\n_\"O triste loisir, poids affreux du tems.\"_ [St. Lambert.] The season\nreturns with the year, but not to us--the sun shines, but to add to our\nmiseries that of insupportable heat--and the vicissitudes of nature only\nawaken our regret that we cannot enjoy them--\n \"Now gentle gales o'er all the vallies play,\n \"Breathe on each flow'r, and bear their sweets away.\"\nYet what are fresh air and green fields to us, who are immured amidst a\nthousand ill scents, and have no prospect but filth and stone walls? It\nis difficult to describe how much the mind is depressed by this state of\npassive suffering. In common evils, the necessity of action half\nrelieves them, as a vessel may reach her port by the agitation of a\nstorm; but this stagnant listless existence is terrible.\nThose most to be envied here are the victims of their religious opinions.\nThe nuns, who are more distressed than any of us,* employ themselves\npatiently, and seem to look beyond this world; whilst the once gay deist\nwanders about with a volume of philosophy in his hand, unable to endure\nthe present, and dreading still more the future.\n * These poor women, deprived of the little which the rapacity of the\n Convention had left them, by it subordinate agents, were in want of\n every thing; and though in most prisons they were employed for the\n republican armies, they could scarcely procure more than bread and\n water. Yet this was not all: they were objects of the meanest and\n most cruel persecution.--I knew one who was put in a dungeon, up to\n her waist in putrid water, for twelve hours altogether, without\n losing her resolution or serenity.\nI have already written you a long letter, and bid you adieu with the\nreluctance which precedes an uncertain separation. Uneasiness, ill\nhealth, and confinement, besides the danger I am exposed to, render my\nlife at present more precarious than \"the ordinary of nature's tenures.\"\n--God knows when I may address you again!--My friend Mad. de ____ is\nreturned from the hospital, and I yield to her fears by ceasing to write,\nthough I am nevertheless determined not to part with what I have hitherto\npreserved; being convinced, that if evil be intended us, it will be as\nsoon without a pretext as with one.--Adieu.\nProvidence, Aug. 11, 1794.\nI have for some days contemplated the fall of Robespierre and his\nadherents, only as one of those dispensations of Providence, which were\ngradually to pursue all who had engaged in the French revolution. The\nlate change of parties has, however, taken a turn I did not expect; and,\ncontrary to what has hitherto occurred, there is a manifest disposition\nin the people to avail themselves of the weakness which is necessarily\noccasioned by the contentions of their governors.\nWhen the news of this extraordinary event first became public, it was\never where received with great gravity--I might say, coldness.--Not a\ncomment was uttered, nor a glance of approbation seen. Things might be\nyet in equilibrium, and popular commotions are always uncertain.\nPrudence was, therefore, deemed, indispensable; and, until the contest\nwas finally decided, no one ventured to give an opinion; and many, to be\ncertain of guarding against verbal indiscretion, abstained from all\nintercourse whatever.\nBy degrees, the execution of Robespierre and above an hundred of his\npartizans, convinced even the most timid; the murmurs of suppressed\ndiscontent began to be heard; and all thought they might now with safety\nrelieve their fears and their sufferings, by execrating the memory of the\ndeparted tyrants. The prisons, which had hitherto been avoided as\nendangering all who approached them, were soon visited with less\napprehension; and friendship or affection, no longer exanimate by terror,\nsolicited, though still with trepidation, the release of those for whom\nthey were interested. Some of our associates have already left us in\nconsequence of such intercessions, and we all hope that the tide of\nopinion, now avowedly inimical to the detestable system to which we are\nvictims, will enforce a general liberation.--We are guarded but slightly;\nand I think I perceive in the behaviour of the Jacobin Commissaries\nsomething of civility and respect not usual.\nThus an event, which I beheld merely as the justice which one set of\nbanditti were made the instruments of exercising upon another, may\nfinally tend to introduce a more humane system of government; or, at\nleast, suspend proscription and massacre, and give this harassed country\na little repose.\nI am in arrears with my epistolary chronicle, and the hope of so\ndesirable a change will now give me courage to resume it from the\nconclusion of my last. To-morrow shall be dedicated to this purpose.--\nYours.\nAugust 12.\nMy letters, previous to the time when I judged it necessary to desist\nfrom writing, will have given you some faint sketch of the situation of\nthe country, and the sufferings of its inhabitants--I say a faint sketch,\nbecause a thousand horrors and iniquities, which are now daily\ndisclosing, were then confined to the scenes where they were perpetrated;\nand we knew little more of them than what we collected from the reports\nof the Convention, where they excited a laugh as pleasantries, or\napplause as acts of patriotism.\nFrance had become one vast prison, executions were daily multiplied, and\na minute and comprehensive oppression seemed to have placed the lives,\nliberty, and fortune of all within the grasp of the single Committee.\nDespair itself was subdued, and the people were gradually sinking into a\ngloomy and stupid obedience.\n * The words despotism and tyranny are sufficiently expressive of the\n nature of the government to which they are applied; yet still they\n are words rendered familiar to us only by history, and convey no\n precise idea, except that of a bad political system. The condition\n of the French at this time, besides its wretchedness, had something\n so strange, so original in it, that even those who beheld it with\n attention must be content to wonder, without pretending to offer any\n description as adequate.\n--The following extract from a speech of Bailleul, a member of the\nConvention, exhibits a picture nearer the original than I have yet seen--\n _\"La terreur dominait tous les esprits, comprimait tous les couers--\n elle etait la force du gouvernement, et ce gouvernement etait tel,\n que les nombreux habitans d'un vaste territoire semblaient avoir\n perdu les qualites qui distinguent l'homme de l'animal domestique:\n ils semblaient meme n'avoir de vie que ce que le gouvernement\n voulait bien leur en accorder.--Le moi humain n'existoit plus;\n chaque individu n'etait qu'une machine, allant, venant, pensant ou\n ne pensant pas, felon que la tyrannie le pressait ou l'animait.\"_\n Discours de Bailleul, 19 March 1795.\n \"The minds of all were subdued by terror, and every heart was\n compressed beneath its influence.--In this consisted the strength of\n the government; and that government was such, that the immense\n population of a vast territory, seemed to have lost all the\n qualities which distinguish man from the animals attached to him.--\n They appeared to exhibit no signs of life but such as their rulers\n condescended to permit--the very sense of existence seemed doubtful\n or extinct, and each individual was reduced to a mere machine, going\n or coming, thinking or not thinking, according as the impulse of\n tyranny gave him force or animation.\"\nOn the twenty-second of Prairial, (June 10,) a law, consisting of a\nvariety of articles for the regulation of the Revolutionary Tribunal, was\nintroduced to the convention by Couthon, a member of the government; and,\nas usual adopted with very little previous discussion.--Though there was\nno clause of this act but ought to have given the alarm to humanity,\n\"knocked at the heart, and bid it not be quiet;\" yet the whole appeared\nperfectly unexceptionable to the Assembly in general: till, on farther\nexamination, they found it contained an implied repeal of the law\nhitherto observed, according to which, no representative could be\narrested without a preliminary decree for that purpose.--This discovery\nawakened their suspicions, and the next day Bourdon de l'Oise, a man of\nunsteady principles, (even as a revolutionist,) was spirited up to demand\nan explicit renunciation of any power in the Committee to attack the\nlegislative inviolability except in the accustomed forms.--The clauses\nwhich elected a jury of murderers, that bereft all but guilt of hope, and\noffered no prospect to innocence but death, were passed with no other\ncomment than the usual one of applause.*--\n * The baseness, cruelty, and cowardice of the Convention are neither\n to be denied, nor palliated. For several months they not only\n passed decrees of proscription and murder which might reach every\n individual in France except themselves, but they even sacrificed\n numbers of their own body; and if, instead of proposing an article\n affecting the whole Convention, the Committee had demanded the heads\n of as many Deputies as they had occasion for by name, I am persuaded\n they would have met no resistance.--This single example of\n opposition only renders the convention still more an object of\n abhorrence, because it marks that they could subdue their\n pusillanimity when their own safety was menaced, and that their\n previous acquiescence was voluntary.\n--This, and this only, by involving their personal safety, excited their\ncourage through their fears.--Merlin de Douay, originally a worthless\ncharacter, and become yet more so by way of obviating the imputation of\nbribery from the court, seconded Bourdon's motion, and the obnoxious\narticle was repealed instantaneously.\nThis first and only instance of opposition was highly displeasing to the\nCommittee, and, on the twenty-fourth, Robespierre, Barrere, Couthon, and\nBillaud, animadverted with such severity on the promoters of it, that the\nterrified Bourdon* declared, the repeal he had solicited was unnecessary,\nand that he believed the Committee were destined to be the saviours of\nthe country; while Merlin de Douay disclaimed all share in the business--\nand, in fine, it was determined, that the law of the twenty-second of\nPrairial should remain as first presented to the Convention, and that the\nqualification of the succeeding day was void.\n * It was on this occasion that the \"intrepid\" Bourdon kept his bed a\n whole month with fear.\nSo dangerous an infringement on the privileges of the representative\nbody, dwelt on minds insensible to every other consideration; the\nprincipal members caballed secretly on the perils by which they were\nsurrounded; and the sullen concord which now marked their deliberations,\nwas beheld by the Committee rather as the prelude to revolt, than the\nindication of continued obedience. In the mean while it was openly\nproposed to concentrate still more the functions of government. The\ncirculation of newspapers was insinuated to be useless; and Robespierre\ngave some hints of suppressing all but one, which should be under\nparticular and official controul.*\n * This intended restriction was unnecessary; for the newspapers were\n all, not indeed paid by government, but so much subject to the\n censure of the guillotine, that they had become, under an \"unlimited\n freedom of the press,\" more cautious and insipid than the gazettes\n of the proscribed court. Poor Duplain, editor of the \"Petit\n Courier,\" and subsequently of the \"Echo,\" whom I remember one of the\n first partizans of the revolution, narrowly escaped the massacre of\n August 1792, and was afterwards guillotined for publishing the\n surrender of Landrecy three days before it was announced officially.\nA rumour prevailed, that the refractory members who had excited the late\nrebellion were to be sacrificed, a general purification of the Assembly\nto take place, and that the committee and a few select adherents were to\nbe invested with the whole national authority. Lists of proscription\nwere said to be made; and one of them was secretly communicated as having\nbeen found among the papers of a juryman of the Revolutionary Tribunal\nlately arrested.--These apprehensions left the members implicated no\nalternative but to anticipate hostilities, or fall a sacrifice; for they\nknew the instant of attack would be that of destruction, and that the\npeople were too indifferent to take any part in the contest.\nThings were in this state, when two circumstances of a very different\nnature assisted in promoting the final explosion, which so much\nastonished, not only the rest of Europe, but France itself.\nIt is rare that a number of men, however well meaning, perfectly agree in\nthe exercise of power; and the combinations of the selfish and wicked\nmust be peculiarly subject to discord and dissolution. The Committee of\nPublic Welfare, while it enslaved the convention and the people, was torn\nby feuds, and undermined by the jealousies of its members. Robespierre,\nCouthon, and St. Just, were opposed by Collot and Billaud Varennes; while\nBarrere endeavoured to deceive both parties; and Carnot, Lindet, the two\nPrieurs, and St. Andre, laboured in the cause of the common tyranny, in\nthe hope of still dividing it with the conquerors.\nFor some months this enmity was restrained, by the necessity of\npreserving appearances, and conciliated, by a general agreement in the\nprinciples of administration, till Robespierre, relying on his superior\npopularity, began to take an ascendant, which alarmed such of his\ncolleagues as were not his partisans, both for their power and their\nsafety. Animosities daily increased, and their debates at length became\nso violent and noisy, that it was found necessary to remove the business\nof the Committee to an upper room, lest people passing under the windows\nshould overhear these scandalous scenes. Every means were taken to keep\nthese disputes a profound secret--the revilings which accompanied their\nprivate conferences were turned into smooth panegyrics of each other when\nthey ascended the tribune, and their unanimity was a favourite theme in\nall their reports to the Convention.*\n * So late as on the seventh of Thermidor, (25th July,) Barrere made\n a pompous eulogium on the virtues of Robespierre; and, in a long\n account of the state of the country, he acknowledges \"some little\n clouds hang over the political horizon, but they will soon be\n dispersed, by the union which subsists in the Committees;--above\n all, by a more speedy trial and execution of revolutionary\n criminals.\" It is difficult to imagine what new means of dispatch\n this airy barbarian had contrived, for in the six weeks preceding\n this harangue, twelve hundred and fifty had been guillotined in\n Paris only.\nThe impatience of Robespierre to be released from associates whose views\ntoo much resembled his own to leave him an undivided authority, at length\novercame his prudence; and, after absenting himself for six weeks from\nthe Committee, on the 8th of Thermidor, (26th July,) he threw off the\nmask, and in a speech full of mystery and implications, but containing no\ndirect charges, proclaimed the divisions which existed in the\ngovernment.--On the same evening he repeated this harangue at the\nJacobins, while St. Just, by his orders, menaced the obnoxious part of\nthe Committee with a formal denunciation to the Convention.--From this\nmoment Billaud Varennes and Collot d'Herbois concluded their destruction\nto be certain. In vain they soothed, expostulated with, and endeavoured\nto mollify St. Just, so as to avert an open rupture. The latter, who\nprobably knew it was not Robespierre's intention to accede to any\narrangement, left them to make his report.\nOn the morning of the ninth the Convention met, and with internal dread\nand affected composure proceeded to their ordinary business.--St. Just\nthen ascended the tribune, and the curiosity or indecision of the greater\nnumber permitted him to expatiate at large on the intrigues and guilt of\nevery kind which he imputed to a \"part\" of the Committee.--At the\nconclusion of this speech, Tallien, one of the devoted members, and\nBillaud Varennes, the leader of the rival party, opened the trenches, by\nsome severe remarks on the oration of St. Just, and the conduct of those\nwith whom he was leagued. This attack encouraged others: the whole\nConvention joined in accusing Robespierre of tyranny; and Barrere, who\nperceived the business now deciding, ranged himself on the side of the\nstrongest, though the remaining members of the Committee still appeared\nto preserve their neutrality. Robespierre was, for the first time,\nrefused a hearing, yet, the influence he so lately possessed still seemed\nto protect him. The Assembly launched decrees against various of his\nsubordinate agents, without daring to proceed against himself; and had\nnot the indignant fury with which he was seized, at the desertion of\nthose by whom he had been most flattered, urged him to call for arrest\nand death, it is probable the whole would have ended in the punishment of\nhis enemies, and a greater accession of power to himself.\nBut at this crisis all Robespierre's circumspection abandoned him.\nHaving provoked the decree for arresting his person, instead of\nsubmitting to it until his party should be able to rally, he resisted;\nand by so doing gave the Convention a pretext for putting him out of the\nlaw; or, in other words, to destroy him, without the delay or hazard of a\nprevious trial.\nHaving been rescued from the Gens d'Armes, and taken in triumph to the\nmunicipality, the news spread, the Jacobins assembled, and Henriot, the\ncommander of the National Guard, (who had likewise been arrested, and\nagain set at liberty by force,) all prepared to act in his defence. But\nwhile they should have secured the Convention, they employed themselves\nat the Hotel de Ville in passing frivolous resolutions; and Henriot, with\nall the cannoneers decidedly in his favour, exhibited an useless\ndefiance, by stalking before the windows of the Committee of General\nSafety, when he should have been engaged in arresting its members.\nAll these imprudences gave the Convention time to proclaim that\nRobespierre, the municipality, and their adherents, were decreed out of\nthe protection of the laws, and in circumstances of this nature such a\nstep has usually been decisive--for however odious a government, if it\ndoes but seem to act on a presumption of its own strength, it has always\nan advantage over its enemies; and the timid, the doubtful, or\nindifferent, for the most part, determine in favour of whatever wears the\nappearance of established authority. The people, indeed, remained\nperfectly neuter; but the Jacobins, the Committees of the Sections, and\ntheir dependents, might have composed a force more than sufficient to\noppose the few guards which surrounded the National Palace, had not the\npublication of this summary outlawry at once paralyzed all their hopes\nand efforts.--They had seen multitudes hurried to the Guillotine, because\nthey were \"hors de la loi;\" and this impression now operated so forcibly,\nthat the cannoneers, the national guard, and those who before were most\ndevoted to the cause, laid down their arms, and precipitately abandoned\ntheir chiefs to the fate which awaited them. Robespierre was taken at\nthe Hotel de Ville, after being severely wounded in the face; his brother\nbroke his thigh, in attempting to escape from a window; Henriot was\ndragged from concealment, deprived of an eye; and Couthon, whom nature\nhad before rendered a cripple, now exhibited a most hideous spectacle,\nfrom an ineffectual effort to shoot himself.--Their wounds were dressed\nto prolong their suffering, and their sentence being contained in the\ndecree that outlawed them, their persons were identified by the same\ntribunal which had been the instrument of their crimes.\n--On the night of the tenth they were conveyed to the scaffold, amidst\nthe insults and execrations of a mob, which a few hours before beheld\nthem with trembling and adoration.--Lebas, also a member of the\nconvention, and a principal agent of Robespierre, fell by his own hand;\nand Couthon, St. Just, and seventeen others, suffered with the two\nRobespierres.--The municipality of Paris, &c. to the number of\nseventy-two, were guillotined the succeeding day, and about twelve\nmore the day after.\nThe fate of these men may be ranked as one of the most dreadful of those\nexamples which history vainly transmits to discourage the pursuits of\nambition. The tyrant who perishes amidst the imposing fallaciousness of\nmilitary glory, mingles admiration with abhorrence, and rescues his\nmemory from contempt, if not from hatred. Even he who expiates his\ncrimes on the scaffold, if he die with fortitude, becomes the object of\ninvoluntary compassion, and the award of justice is not often rendered\nmore terrible by popular outrage. But the fall of Robespierre and his\naccomplices was accompanied by every circumstance that could add\npoignancy to suffering, or dread to death. The ambitious spirit which\nhad impelled them to tyrannize over a submissive and defenceless people,\nabandoned them in their last moments. Depressed by anguish, exhausted by\nfatigue, and without courage, religion, or virtue, to support them, they\nwere dragged through the savage multitude, wounded and helpless, to\nreceive that stroke, from which even the pious and the brave sometimes\nshrink with dismay.\nRobespierre possessed neither the talents nor merits of Nicolas Riezi;\nbut they are both conspicuous instances of the mutability of popular\nsupport, and there is a striking similitude in the last events of their\nhistory. They both degraded their ambition by cowardice--they were both\ndeserted by the populace, whom they began by flattering, and ended by\noppressing; and the death of both was painful and ignominious--borne\nwithout dignity, and embittered by reproach and insult.*\n * Robespierre lay for some hours in one of the committee-rooms,\n writhing with the pain of his wound, and abandoned to despair; while\n many of his colleagues, perhaps those who had been the particular\n agents and applauders of his crimes, passed and repassed him,\n glorying and jesting at his sufferings. The reader may compare the\n death of Robespierre with that of Rienzi; but if the people of Rome\n revenged the tyranny of the Tribune, they were neither so mean nor\n so ferocious as the Parisians.\nYou will perceive by this summary that the overthrow of Robespierre was\nchiefly occasioned by the rivalship of his colleagues in the Committee,\nassisted by the fears of the Convention at large for themselves.--Another\ncircumstance, at which I have already hinted, as having some share in\nthis event, shall be the subject of my next letter.\nProvidence, Aug. 13, 1794.\n_Amour, tu perdis Troye_ [Love! thou occasionedst the destruction of\nTroy.]:--yet, among the various mischiefs ascribed to the influence of\nthis capricious Sovereign, amidst the wrecks of sieges, and the slaughter\nof battles, perhaps we may not unjustly record in his praise, that he was\ninstrumental to the solace of humanity, by contributing to the overthrow\nof Robespierre. It is at least pleasing to turn from the general horrors\nof the revolution, and suppose, for a moment, that the social affections\nwere not yet entirely banished, and that gallantry still retained some\nempire, when every other vestige of civilization was almost annihilated.\nAfter such an exordium, I feel a little ashamed of my hero, and could\nwish, for the credit of my tale, it were not more necessary to invoke the\nhistoric muse of Fielding, than that of Homer or Tasso; but imperious\nTruth obliges me to confess, that Tallien, who is to be the subject of\nthis letter, was first introduced to celebrity by circumstances not\nfavourable for the comment of my poetical text.\nAt the beginning of the revolution he was known only as an eminent orator\nen plain vent; that is, as a preacher of sedition to the mob, whom he\nused to harangue with great applause at the Palais Royal. Having no\nprofession or means of subsistence, he, as Dr. Johnson observes of one of\nour poets, necessarily became an author. He was, however, no farther\nentitled to this appellation, than as a periodical scribbler in the cause\nof insurrection; but in this he was so successful, that it recommended\nhim to the care of Petion and the municipality, to whom his talents and\nprinciples were so acceptable, that they made him Secretary to the\nCommittee.\nOn the second and third of September 1792, he superintended the massacre\nof the prisons, and is alledged to have paid the assassins according to\nthe number of victims they dispatched with great regularity; and he\nhimself seems to have little to say in his defence, except that he acted\nofficially. Yet even the imputation of such a claim could not be\noverlooked by the citizens of Paris; and at the election of the\nConvention he was distinguished by being chosen one of their\nrepresentatives.\nIt is needless to describe his political career in the Assembly otherwise\nthan by adding, that when the revolutionary furor was at its acme, he was\ndeemed by the Committee of Public Welfare worthy of an important mission\nin the South. The people of Bourdeaux were, accordingly, for some time\nharassed by the usual effects of these visitations--imprisonments and the\nGuillotine; and Tallien, though eclipsed by Maignet and Carrier, was by\nno means deficient in the patriotic energies of the day.\nI think I must before have mentioned to you a Madame de Fontenay, the\nwife of an emigrant, whom I occasionally saw at Mad. de C____'s. I then\nremarked her for the uncommon attraction of her features, and the\nelegance of her person; but was so much disgusted at a tendency to\nrepublicanism I observed in her, and which, in a young woman, I thought\nunbecoming, that I did not promote the acquaintance, and our different\npursuits soon separated us entirely. Since this period I have learned,\nthat her conduct became exceedingly imprudent, or at least suspicious,\nand that at the general persecution, finding her republicanism would not\nprotect her, she fled to Bourdeaux, with the hope of being able to\nproceed to Spain. Here, however, being a Spaniard by birth, and the wife\nof an emigrant, she was arrested and thrown into prison, where she\nremained till the arrival of Tallien on his mission.\nThe miscellaneous occupations of a deputy-errant, naturally include an\nintroduction to the female prisoners; and Tallien's presence afforded\nMad. de Fontenay an occasion of pleading her cause with all the success\nwhich such a pleader might, in other times, be supposed to obtain from a\njudge of Tallien's age. The effect of the scenes Tallien had been an\nactor in, was counteracted by youth, and his heart was not yet\nindifferent to the charms of beauty--Mad. de Fontenay was released by the\ncaptivation of her liberator, and a reciprocal attachment ensued.\nWe must not, however, conclude, all this merely a business of romance.\nMad. de Fontenay was rich, and had connexions in Spain, which might\nhereafter procure an asylum, when a regicide may with difficulty find\none: and on the part of the lady, though Tallien's person is agreeable, a\ndesire of protecting herself and her fortune might be allowed to have\nsome influence.\nFrom this time the revolutionist is said to have given way: Bourdeaux\nbecame the Capua of Tallien; and its inhabitants were, perhaps, indebted\nfor a more moderate exercise of his power, to the smiles of Mad. de\nFontenay.--From hanging loose on society, he had now the prospect of\nmarrying a wife with a large fortune; and Tallien very wisely considered,\nthat having something at stake, a sort of comparative reputation among\nthe higher class of people at Bourdeaux, might be of more importance to\nhim in future, than all the applause the Convention could bestow on a\nliberal use of the Guillotine.--The relaxed system which was the\nconsequence of such policy, soon reached the Committee of Public Welfare,\nto whom it was highly displeasing, and Tallien was recalled.\nA youth of the name of Julien, particularly in the confidence of\nRobespierre, was then sent to Bourdeaux, not officially as his successor,\nbut as a spy, to collect information concerning him, as well as to watch\nthe operations of other missionaries, and prevent their imitating\nTallien's schemes of personal advantage, at the expence of scandalizing\nthe republic by an appearance of lenity.--The disastrous state of Lyons,\nthe persecutions of Carrier, the conflagrations of Maignet, and the\ncrimes of various other Deputies, had obliterated the minor\nrevolutionisms of Tallien:* The citizens of Bourdeaux spoke of him\nwithout horror, which in these times was equal to eulogium; and Julien\ntransmitted such accounts of his conduct to Robespierre,** as were\nequally alarming to the jealousy of his spirit, and repugnant to the\ncruelty of his principles.\n * It was Tallien's boast to have guillotined only aristocrats, and\n of this part of his merit I am willing to leave him in possession.\n At Toulon he was charged with the punishment of those who had given\n up the town to the English; but finding, as he alledged, nearly all\n the inhabitants involved, he selected about two hundred of the\n richest, and that the horrid business might wear an appearance of\n regularity, the patriots, that is, the most notorious Jacobins, were\n ordered to give their opinion on the guilt of these victims, who\n were brought out into an open field for that purpose. With such\n judges the sentence was soon passed, and a fusillade took place on\n the spot.--It was on this occasion that Tallien made particular\n boast of his humanity; and in the same publication where he relates\n the circumstance, he exposes the \"atrocious conduct\" of the English\n at the surrender of Toulon. The cruelty of these barbarians not\n being sufficiently gratified by dispatching the patriots the\n shortest way, they hung up many of them by their chins on hooks at\n the shambles, and left them to die at their leisure.--See\n \"Mitraillades, Fusillades,\" a recriminating pamphlet, addressed by\n Tallien to Collot d'Herbois.--The title alludes to Collot's exploits\n at Lyons.\n ** It is not out of the usual course of things that Tallien's\n moderation at Bourdeaux might have been profitable; and the wife or\n mistress of a Deputy was, on such occasions, a useful medium,\n through which the grateful offerings of a rich and favoured\n aristocrat might be conveyed, without committing the legislative\n reputation.--The following passage from Julien's correspondence with\n Robespierre seems to allude to some little arrangements of this\n nature:\n \"I think it my duty to transmit you an extract from a letter of\n Tallien's, [Which had been intercepted.] to the National Club.--It\n coincides with the departure of La Fontenay, whom the Committee of\n General Safety have doubtless had arrested. I find some very\n curious political details regarding her; and Bourdeaux seems to have\n been, until this moment, a labyrinth of intrigue and peculation.\"\nIt appears from Robespierre's papers, that not only Tallien, but\nLegendre, Bourdon de l'Oise, Thuriot, and others, were incessantly\nwatched by the spies of the Committee. The profession must have improved\nwonderfully under the auspices of the republic, for I doubt if _Mons. le\nNoir's Mouchards_ [The spies of the old police, so called in derision.--\nBrissot, in this act of accusation, is described as having been an agent\nof the Police under the monarchy.--I cannot decide on the certainty of\nthis, or whether his occupation was immediately that of a spy, but I have\nrespectable authority for saying, that antecedent to the revolution, his\ncharacter was very slightly estimated, and himself considered as \"hanging\nloose on society.\"] were as able as Robespierre's.--The reader may judge\nfrom the following specimens:\n \"The 6th instant, the deputy Thuriot, on quitting the Convention,\n went to No. 35, Rue Jaques, section of the Pantheon, to the house of\n a pocket-book maker, where he staid talking with a female about ten\n minutes. He then went to No. 1220, Rue Fosse St. Bernard, section\n of the Sans-Culottes, and dined there at a quarter past two. At a\n quarter past seven he left the last place, and meeting a citizen on\n the Quay de l'Ecole, section of the Museum, near le Cafe Manoury,\n they went in there together, and drank a bottle of beer. From\n thence he proceeded to la Maison Memblee de la Providence, No. 16,\n Rue d'Orleans Honore, section de la Halle au Bled, whence, after\n staying about five-and-twenty minutes, he came out with a citoyenne,\n who had on a puce Levite, a great bordered shawl of Japan cotton,\n and on her head a white handkerchief, made to look like a cap. They\n went together to No. 163, Place Egalite, where after stopping an\n instant, they took a turn in the galleries, and then returned to\n sup.--They went in at half past nine, and were still there at eleven\n o'clock, when we came away, not being certain if they would come out\n again.\n \"Bourdon de l'Oise, on entering the Assembly, shook hands with four\n or five Deputies. He was observed to gape while good news was\n announcing.\"\nTallien was already popular among the Jacobins of Paris; and his\nconnexion with a beautiful woman, who might enable him to keep a domestic\nestablishment, and to display any wealth he had acquired, without\nendangering his reputation, was a circumstance not to be overlooked; for\nRobespierre well knew the efficacy of female intrigue, and dinners,* in\ngaining partizans among the subordinate members of the Convention.\n * Whoever reads attentively, and in detail, the debates of the\n Convention, will observe the influence and envy created by a\n superior style of living in any particular member. His dress, his\n lodging, or dinners, are a perpetual subject of malignant reproach.\n --This is not to be wondered at, when we consider the description of\n men the Convention is composed of;--men who, never having been\n accustomed to the elegancies of life, behold with a grudging eye the\n gay apparel or luxurious table of a colleague, who arrived at Paris\n with no other treasure but his patriotism, and has no ostensible\n means beyond his eighteen livres a day, now increased to thirty-six.\nMad. de Fontenay, was, therefore, on her arrival at Paris, whither she\nhad followed Tallien, (probably in order to procure a divorce and marry\nhim,) arrested, and conveyed to prison.\nAn injury of this kind was not to be forgiven; and Robespierre seems to\nhave acted on the presumption that it could not. He beset Tallien with\nspies, menaced him in the Convention, and made Mad. de Fontenay an offer\nof liberty, if she would produce a substantial charge against him, which\nhe imagined her knowledge of his conduct at Bourdeaux might furnish her\ngrounds for doing. A refusal must doubtless have irritated the tyrant;\nand Tallien had every reason to fear she would soon be included in one of\nthe lists of victims who were daily sacrificed as conspirators in the\nprisons. He was himself in continual expectation of being arrested; and\nit was generally believed Robespierre would soon openly accuse him.--Thus\nsituated, he eagerly embraced the opportunity which the schism in the\nCommittee presented of attacking his adversary, and we certainly must\nallow him the merit of being the first who dared to move for the arrest\nof Robespierre.--I need not add, that la belle was one of the first whose\nprison doors were opened; and I understand that, being divorced from\nMons. de Fontenay, she is either married, or on the point of being so, to\nTallien.\nThis conclusion spoils my story as a moral one; and had I been the\ndisposer of events, the Septembriser, the regicide, and the cold assassin\nof the Toulonais, should have found other rewards than affluence, and a\nwife who might represent one of Mahomet's Houris. Yet, surely, \"the time\nwill come, though it come ne'er so slowly,\" when Heaven shall separate\nguilt from prosperity, and when Tallien and his accomplices shall be\nremembered only as monuments of eternal justice. For the lady, her\nfaults are amply punished in the disgrace of such an alliance--\n \"A cut-purse of the empire and the rule;\n \"____ a King of shreds and patches.\"\nProvidence, Aug. 14, 1794.\nThe thirty members whom Robespierre intended to sacrifice, might perhaps\nhave formed some design of resisting, but it appears evident that the\nConvention in general acted without plan, union, or confidence.*--\n * The base and selfish timidity of the Convention is strongly\n evinced by their suffering fifty innocent people to be guillotined\n on the very ninth of Thermidor, for a pretended conspiracy in the\n prison of St. Lazare.--A single word from any member might at this\n crisis have suspended the execution of the sentence, but that word\n no one had the courage or the humanity to utter.\n--Tallien and Billaud were rendered desperate by their situation, and it\nis likely that, when they ventured to attack Robespierre, they did not\nthemselves expect to be successful--it was the consternation of the\nlatter which encouraged them to persist, and the Assembly to support\nthem:\n \"There is a tide in the affairs of men,\n \"Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.\"\nAnd to have been lucky enough to seize on this crisis, is, doubtless, the\nwhole merit of the convention. There has, it is true, been many\nallusions to the dagger of Brutus, and several Deputies are said to have\nconceived very heroic projects for the destruction of the tyrant; but as\nhe was dead before these projects were brought to light, we cannot justly\nascribe any effect to them.\nThe remains of the Brissotin faction, still at liberty, from whom some\nexertions might have been expected, were cautiously inactive; and those\nwho had been most in the habit of appreciating themselves for their\nvalour, were now conspicuous only for that discretion which Falstaff\ncalls the better part of it.--Dubois Crance, who had been at the expence\nof buying a Spanish poniard at St. Malo, for the purpose of assassinating\nRobespierre, seems to have been calmed by the journey, and to have\nfinally recovered his temper, before he reached the Convention.--Merlin\nde Thionville, Merlin de Douay, and others of equal note, were among the\n\"passive valiant;\" and Bourdon de l'Oise had already experienced such\ndisastrous effects from inconsiderate exhibitions of courage, that he now\nrestrained his ardour till the victory should be determined. Even\nLegendre, who is occasionally the Brutus, the Curtius, and all the\npatriots whose names he has been able to learn, confined his prowess to\nan assault on the club-room of the Jacobins, when it was empty, and\ncarrying off the key, which no one disputed with him, so that he can at\nmost claim an ovation. It is, in short, remarkable, that all the members\nwho at present affect to be most vehement against Robespierre's\nprinciples, [And where was the all-politic Sieyes?--At home, writing his\nown eulogium.] were the least active in attacking his person; and it is\nindisputable, that to Tallien, Billaud, Louchet, Elie Lacoste, Collot\nd'Herbois, and a few of the more violent Jacobins, were due those first\nefforts which determined his fall.--Had Robespierre, instead of a\nquerelous harangue, addressed the convention in his usual tone of\nauthority, and ended by moving for a decree against a few only of those\nobnoxious to him, the rest might have been glad to compound for their own\nsafety, by abandoning a cause no longer personal: but his impolicy, not\nhis wickedness, hastened his fate; and it is so far fortunate for France,\nthat it has at least suspended the system of government which is ascribed\nto him.\nThe first days of victory were passed in receiving congratulations, and\ntaking precautions; and though men do not often adapt their claims to\ntheir merits, yet the members of the Convention seemed in general to be\nconscious that none amongst them had very decided pretensions to the\nspoils of the vanquished.--Of twelve, which originally composed the\nCommittee of Public Welfare, seven only remained; yet no one ventured to\nsuggest a completion of the number, till Barrere, after previously\ninsinuating how adequate he and his colleagues were to the task of\n\"saving the country,\" proposed, in his flippant way, and merely as a\nmatter of form, that certain persons whom he recommended, should fill up\nthe vacancies in the government.\nThis modest Carmagnole* was received with great coolness; the late\nimplicit acquiescence was changed to demur, and an adjournment\nunanimously called for.\n * A ludicrous appellation, which Barrere used to give to his reports\n in the presence of those who were in the secret of his Charlatanry.\n The air of \"La Carmagnole\" was originally composed when the town of\n that name was taken by Prince Eugene, and was adapted to the\n indecent words now sung by the French after the 10th of August 1792.\n--Such unusual temerity susprised and alarmed the remains of the\nCommittee, and Billaud Varennes sternly reminded the Convention of the\nabject state they were so lately released from. This produced retort and\nreplication, and the partners of Robespierre's enormities, who had hoped\nto be the tranquil inheritors of his power, found, that in destroying a\nrival, they had raised themselves masters.\nThe Assembly persisted in not adopting the members offered to be imposed\nupon them; but, as it was easier to reject than to choose, the Committee\nwere ordered to present a new plan for this part of the executive branch,\nand the election of those to be entrusted with it was postponed for\nfarther consideration.\nHaving now felt their strength, they next proceeded to renew a part of\nthe committee of General Safety, several of its members being inculpated\nas partizans of Robespierre, and though this Committee had become\nentirely subordinate to that of Public Welfare, yet its functions were\ntoo important for it to be neglected, more especially as they comprised a\nvery favourite branch of the republican government, that of issuing writs\nof arrest at pleasure.--The law of the twenty-second of Prairial is also\nrepealed, but the Revolutionary Tribunal is preserved, and the necessity\nof suspending the old jury, as being the creatures of Robespierre, has\nnot prevented the tender solicitude of the Convention for a renovated\nactivity in the establishment itself.\nThis assumption of power has become every day more confirmed, and the\naddresses which are received by the Assembly, though yet in a strain of\ngross adulation,* express such an abhorrence of the late system, as must\nsuffice to convince them the people are not disposed to see such a system\ncontinued.\n * A collection of addresses, presented to the Convention at various\n periods, might form a curious history of the progress of despotism.\n These effusions of zeal were not, however, all in the \"sublime\"\n style: the legislative dignity sometimes condescended to unbend\n itself, and listen to metrical compositions, enlivened by the\n accompaniment of fiddles; but the manly and ferocious Danton, to\n whom such sprightly interruptions were not congenial, proposed a\n decree, that the citizens should, in future, express their\n adorations in plain prose, and without any musical accessories.\nBillaud Varennes, Collot, and other members of the old Committee, view\nthese innovations with sullen acquiescence; but Barrere, whose frivolous\nand facile spirit is incapable of consistency, even in wickedness,\nperseveres and flourishes at the tribune as gaily as ever.--Unabashed by\ndetection, insensible to contempt, he details his epigrams and antitheses\nagainst Catilines and Cromwells with as much self-sufficiency as when, in\nthe same tinsel eloquence, he promulgated the murderous edicts of\nRobespierre.\nMany of the prisoners at Paris continue daily to obtain their release,\nand, by the exertions of his personal enemies, particularly of our\nquondam sovereign, Andre Dumont, (now a member of the Committee of\nGeneral Safety,) an examination into the atrocities committed by Le Bon\nis decreed.--But, amidst these appearances of justice, a versatility of\nprinciple, or rather an evident tendency to the decried system, is\nperceptible. Upon the slightest allusion to the revolutionary\ngovernment, the whole Convention rise in a mass to vociferate their\nadherence to it:* the tribunal, which was its offspring and support, is\nanxiously reinstalled; and the low insolence with which Barrere announces\ntheir victories in the Netherlands, is, as usual, loudly applauded.\n * The most moderate, as well as the most violent, were always united\n on the subject of this irrational tyranny.--_\"Toujours en menageant,\n comme la prunelle de ses yeux, le gouvernement revolutionnaire.\"_--\n \"Careful always of the revolutionary government, as of the apple of\n their eye.\" _Fragment pour servir a l'Hist. de la Convention, par\n J. J. Dussault_.\nThe brothers of Cecile Renaud, who were sent for by Robespierre from the\narmy to Paris, in order to follow her to the scaffold, did not arrive\nuntil their persecutor was no more, and a change of government was\navowed. They have presented themselves at the bar of the Convention, to\nentreat a revisal of their father's sentence, and some compensation for\nhis property, so unjustly confiscated.--You will, perhaps, imagine, that,\nat the name of these unfortunate young men, every heart anticipated a\nconsent to their claims, even before the mind could examine the justice\nof them, and that one of those bursts of sensibility for which this\nlegislature is so remarkable instantaneously accorded the petition.\nAlas! this was not an occasion to excite the enthusiasm of the\nConvention: Coupilleau de Fontenay, one of the \"mild and moderate party\",\nrepulsed the petitioners with harshness, and their claim was silenced by\na call for the order of the day. The poor Renauds were afterwards coldly\nreferred to the Committee of Relief, for a pittance, by way of charity,\ninstead of the property they have a right to, and which they have been\ndeprived of, by the base compliance of the Convention with the caprice of\na monster.\nSuch relapses and aberrations are not consolatory, but the times and\ncircumstances seem to oppose them--the whole fabric of despotism is\nshaken, and we have reason to hope the efforts of tyranny will be\ncounteracted by its weakness.\nWe do not yet derive any advantage from the early maturity of the\nharvest, and it is still with difficulty we obtain a limited portion of\nbad bread. Severe decrees are enacted to defeat the avarice of the\nfarmers, and prevent monopolies of the new corn; but these people are\ninvulnerable: they have already been at issue with the system of terror--\nand it was found necessary, even before the death of Robespierre, to\nrelease them from prison, or risk the destruction of the harvest for want\nof hands to get it in. It is now discovered, that natural causes, and\nthe selfishness of individuals, are adequate to the creation of a\ntemporary scarcity; yet when this happened under the King, it was always\nascribed to the machinations of government.--How have the people been\ndeceived, irritated, and driven to rebellion, by a degree of want, less,\nmuch less, insupportable than that they are obliged to suffer at present,\nwithout daring even to complain!\nI have now been in confinement almost twelve months, and my health is\nconsiderably impaired. The weather is oppressively warm, and we have no\nshade in the garden but under a mulberry-tree, which is so surrounded by\nfilth, that it is not approachable. I am, however, told, that in a few\ndays, on account of my indisposition, I shall be permitted to go home,\nthough with a proviso of being guarded at my own expence.--My friends are\nstill at Arras; and if this indulgence be extended to Mad. de la F____,\nshe will accompany me. Personal accommodation, and an opportunity of\nrestoring my health, render this desirable; but I associate no idea of\nfreedom with my residence in this country. The boundary may be extended,\nbut it is still a prison.--Yours.\nProvidence, Aug. 15, 1794.\nTo-morrow I expect to quit this place, and have been wandering over it\nfor the last time. You will imagine I can have no attachment to it: yet\na retrospect of my sensations when I first arrived, of all I have\nexperienced, and still more of what I have apprehended since that period,\nmakes me look forward to my departure with a satisfaction that I might\nalmost call melancholy. This cell, where I have shivered through the\nwinter--the long passages, which I have so often traversed in bitter\nrumination--the garden, where I have painfully breathed a purer air, at\nthe risk of sinking beneath the fervid rays of an unmitigated sun, are\nnot scenes to excite regret; but when I think that I am still subject to\nthe tyranny which has so long condemned me to them, this reflection, with\na sentiment perhaps of national pride, which is wounded by accepting as a\nfavour what I have been unjustly deprived of, renders me composed, if not\nindifferent, at the prospect of my release.\nThis dreary epoch of my life has not been without its alleviations. I\nhave found a chearful companion in Mad. de M____, who, at sixty, was\nbrought here, because she happened to be the daughter of Count L____, who\nhas been dead these thirty years!--The graces and silver accents of\nMadame de B____, might have assisted in beguiling severer captivity; and\nthe Countess de C____, and her charming daughters (the eldest of whom is\nnot to be described in the common place of panegyric), who, though they\nhave borne their own afflictions with dignity, have been sensible to the\nmisfortunes of others, and whom I must, in justice, except from all the\nimputations of meanness or levity, which I have sometimes had occasion to\nnotice in those who, like themselves, were objects of republican\npersecution, have essentially contributed to diminish the horrors of\nconfinement.--I reckon it likewise among my satisfactions, that, with the\nexception of the Marechalle de Biron,* and General O'Moran, none of our\nfellow-prisoners have suffered on the scaffold.--\n * The Marechalle de Biron, a very old and infirm woman, was taken\n from hence to the Luxembourg at Paris, where her daughter-in-law,\n the Duchess, was also confined. A cart arriving at that prison to\n convey a number of victims to the tribunal, the list, in the coarse\n dialect of republicanism, contained the name of la femme Biron. \"But\n there are two of them,\" said the keeper. \"Then bring them both.\"--\n The aged Marechalle, who was at supper, finished her meal while the\n rest were preparing, then took up her book of devotion, and departed\n chearfully.--The next day both mother and daughter were guillotined.\n--Dumont has, indeed, virtually occasioned the death of several; in\nparticular the Duc du Chatelet, the Comte de Bethune, Mons. de\nMancheville, &c.--and it is no merit in him that Mr. Luttrell, with a\npoor nun of the name of Pitt,* whom he took from hence to Paris, as a\ncapture which might give him importance, were not massacred either by the\nmob or the tribunal.\n * This poor woman, whose intellects, as I am informed, appeared in a\n state of derangement, was taken from a convent at Abbeville, and\n brought to the Providence, as a relation of Mr. Pitt, though I\n believe she has no pretensions to that honour. But the name of Pitt\n gave her importance; she was sent to Paris under a military escort,\n and Dumont announced the arrival of this miserable victim with all\n the airs of a conqueror. I have been since told, she was lodged at\n St. Pelagie, where she suffered innumerable hardships, and did not\n recover her liberty for many months after the fall of Robespierre.\n--If the persecution of this department has not been sanguinary,* it\nshould be remembered, that it has been covered with prisons; and that the\nextreme submission of its inhabitants would scarcely have furnished the\nmost merciless tyrant with a pretext for a severer regimen.--\n * There were some priests guillotined at Amiens, but the\n circumstance was concealed from me for some months after it\n happened.\n--Dumont, I know, expects to establish a reputation by not having\nguillotined as an amusement, and hopes that he may here find a retreat\nwhen his revolutionary labours shall be finished.\nThe Convention have not yet chosen the members who are to form the new\nCommittee. They were yesterday solemnly employed in receiving the\nAmerican Ambassador; likewise a brass medal of the tyrant Louis the\nFourteenth, and some marvellous information about the unfortunate\nPrincess' having dressed herself in mourning at the death of Robespierre.\nThese legislators remind me of one of Swift's female attendants, who, in\nspite of the literary taste he endeavoured to inspire her with, never\ncould be divested of her original housewifely propensities, but would\nquit the most curious anecdote, as he expresses it, \"to go seek an old\nrag in a closet.\" Their projects for the revival of their navy seldom go\nfarther than a transposal in the stripes of the flag, and their vengeance\nagainst regal anthropophagi, and proud islanders, is infallibly diverted\nby a denunciation of an aristocratic quartrain, or some new mode, whose\ngeneral adoption renders it suspected as the badge of a party.--If,\naccording to Cardinal de Retz' opinion, elaborate attention to trifles\ndenote a little mind, these are true Lilliputian sages.--Yours, &c.\nAugust, 1794.\nI did not leave the Providence until some days after the date of my last:\nthere were so many precautions to be taken, and so many formalities to be\nobserved--such references from the municipality to the district, and from\nthe district to the Revolutionary Committee, that it is evident\nRobespierre's death has not banished the usual apprehension of danger\nfrom the minds of those who became responsible for acts of justice or\nhumanity. At length, after procuring a house-keeper to answer with his\nlife and property for our re-appearance, and for our attempting nothing\nagainst the \"unity and indivisibility\" of the republic, we bade (I hope)\na long adieu to our prison.\nMadame de ____ is to remain with me till her house can be repaired; for\nit has been in requisition so often, that there is now, we are told,\nscarcely a bed left, or a room habitable. We have an old man placed with\nus by way of a guard, but he is civil, and is not intended to be a\nrestraint upon us. In fact, he has a son, a member of the Jacobin club,\nand this opportunity is taken to compliment him, by taxing us with the\nmaintenance of his father. It does not prevent us from seeing our\nacquaintance, and we might, I suppose, go out, though we have not yet\nventured.\nThe politics of the Convention are fluctuating and versatile, as will\never be the case where men are impelled by necessity to act in opposition\nto their principles. In their eagerness to attribute all the past\nexcesses to Robespierre, they have, unawares, involved themselves in the\nobligation of not continuing the same system. They doubtless expected,\nby the fall of the tyrant, to become his successors; but the people,\nweary of being dupes, and of hearing that tyrants were fallen, without\nfeeling any diminution of tyranny, have every where manifested a temper,\nwhich the Convention, in the present relaxed state of its power, is\nfearful of making experiments upon. Hence, great numbers of prisoners\nare liberated, those that remain are treated more indulgently, and the\nfury of revolutionary despotism is in general abated.\nThe Deputies who most readily assent to these changes have assumed the\nappellation of Moderates; (Heaven knows how much they are indebted to\ncomparison;) and the popularity they have acquired has both offended and\nalarmed the more inflexible Jacobins. A motion has just been made by one\nLouchet, that a list of all persons lately enlarged should be printed,\nwith the names of those Deputies who solicited in their favour, annexed;\nand that such aristocrats as were thus discovered to have regained their\nliberty, should be re-imprisoned.--The decree passed, but was so ill\nreceived by the people, that it was judged prudent to repeal it the next\nday.\nThis circumstance seems to be the signal of dissention between the\nAssembly and the Club: the former, apprehensive of revolting the public\nopinion on the one hand, and desirous of conciliating the Jacobins on the\nother, waver between indulgence and severity; but it is easy to discover,\nthat their variance with the Jacobins is more a matter of expediency than\nprinciple, and that, were it not for other considerations, they would not\nsuffer the imprisonment of a few thousand harmless people to interrupt\nthe amity which has so long subsisted between themselves and their\nancient allies.--It is written, \"from their works you shall know them;\"\nand reasoning from this tenet, which is our best authority, (for who can\nboast a science in the human heart?) I am justified in my opinion, and I\nknow it to be that of many persons more competent to decide than myself.\nIf I could have had doubts on the subject, the occurrences of the last\nfew days would have amply satisfied them.\nHowever rejoiced the nation at large might be at the overthrow of\nRobespierre, no one was deceived as to the motives which actuated his\ncolleagues in the Committee. Every day produced new indications not only\nof their general concurrence in the enormities of the government, but of\ntheir own personal guilt. The Convention, though it could not be\ninsensible of this, was willing, with a complaisant prudence, to avoid\nthe scandal of a public discussion, which must irritate the Jacobins, and\nexpose its own weakness by a retrospect of the crimes it had applauded\nand supported. Laurent Lecointre,* alone, and apparently unconnected\nwith party, has had the courage to exhibit an accusation against Billaud,\nCollot, Barrere, and those of Robespierre's accomplices who were members\nof the Committee of General Safety. He gave notice of his design on the\neleventh of Fructidor (28th of August).\n * Lecointre is a linen-draper at Versailles, an original\n revolutionist, and I believe of more decent character than most\n included in that description. If we could be persuaded that there\n were any real fanatics in the Convention, I should give Lecointre\n the credit of being among the number. He seems, at least, to have\n some material circumstances in his favour--such as possessing the\n means of living; of not having, in appearance, enriched himself by\n the revolution; and, of being the only member who, after a score of\n decrees to that purpose, has ventured to produce an account of his\n fortune to the public.\n--It was received everywhere but in the Convention with applause; and the\npublic was flattered with the hope that justice would attain another\nfaction of its oppressors. On the succeeding day, Lecointre appeared at\nthe tribune to read his charges. They conveyed, even to the most\nprejudiced mind, an entire conviction, that the members he accused were\nsole authors of a part, and accomplices in all the crimes which had\ndesolated their country. Each charge was supported by material proof,\nwhich he deposited for the information of his colleagues. But this was\nunnecessary--his colleagues had no desire to be convinced; and, after\noverpowering him with ridicule and insult, they declared, without\nentering into any discussion, that they rejected the charges with\nindignation, and that the members implicated had uniformly acted\naccording to their [own] wishes, and those of the nation.\nAs soon as this result was known in Paris, the people became enraged and\ndisgusted, the public walks resounded with murmurs, the fermentation grew\ngeneral, and some menaces were uttered of forcing the Convention to give\nLecointre a more respectful hearing.--Intimidated by such unequivocal\nproofs of disapprobation, when the Assembly met on the thirteenth, it was\ndecreed, after much opposition from Tallien, that Lecointre should be\nallowed to reproduce his charges, and that they should be solemnly\nexamined.\nAfter all this, Lecointre, whose figure is almost ludicrous, and who is\nno orator, was to repeat a voluminous denunciation, amidst the clamour,\nabuse, chicane, and derision of the whole Convention. But there are\noccasions when the keenest ridicule is pointless; when the mind, armed by\ntruth and elevated by humanity, rejects its insidious efforts--and,\nabsorbed by more laudable feelings, despises even the smile of contempt.\nThe justice of Lecointre's cause supplied his want of external\nadvantages: and his arguments were so clear and so unanswerable, that the\nplain diction in which they were conveyed was more impressive than the\nmost finished eloquence; and neither the malice nor sarcasms of his\nenemies had any effect but on those who were interested in silencing or\nconfounding him. Yet, in proportion as the force of Lecointre's\ndenunciation became evident, the Assembly appeared anxious to suppress\nit; and, after some hours' scandalous debate, during which it was\nfrequently asserted that these charges could not be encouraged without\ncriminating the entire legislative body, they decreed the whole to be\nfalse and defamatory.\nThe accused members defended themselves with the assurance of delinquents\ntried by their avowed accomplices, and who are previously certain of\nfavour and acquittal; while Lecointre's conduct in the business seems to\nhave been that of a man determined to persevere in an act of duty, which\nhe has little reason to hope will be successful.*\n * It is said, that, at the conclusion of this disgraceful business,\n the members of the convention crouded about the delinquents with\n their habitual servility, and appeared gratified that their services\n on the occasion had given them a claim to notice and familiarity.\nThough the galleries of the Convention were more than usually furnished\non the day with applauders, yet this decision has been universally ill\nreceived. The time is passed when the voice of reason could be silenced\nby decrees. The stupendous tyranny of the government, though not\nmeliorated in principle, is relaxed in practice; and this vote, far from\noperating in favour of the culprits, has only served to excite the public\nindignation, and to render them more odious. Those who cannot judge of\nthe logical precision of Lecointre's arguments, or the justness of his\ninferences, can feel that his charges are merited. Every heart, every\ntongue, acknowledges the guilt of those he has attacked. They are\ncertain France has been the prey of numberless atrocities--they are\ncertain, that these were perpetrated by order of the committee; that\neleven members composed it; and that Robespierre and his associates being\nbut three, did not constitute a majority.\nThese facts are now commented on with as much freedom as can be expected\namong a people whose imaginations are yet haunted by revolutionary\ntribunals and Bastilles, and the conclusions are not favourable to the\nConvention. The national discontent is, however, suspended by the\nhostilities between the legislature and the Jacobin club: the latter\nstill persists in demanding the revolutionary system in its primitive\nseverity, while the former are restrained from compliance, not only by\nthe odium it must draw on them, but from a certainty that it cannot be\nsupported but through the agency of the popular societies, who would thus\nagain become their dictators. I believe it is not unlikely that the\npeople and the Convention are both endeavouring to make instruments of\neach other to destroy the common enemy; for the little popularity the\nConvention enjoy is doubtless owing to a superior hatred of the Jacobins:\nand the moderation which the former affect towards the people, is equally\ninfluenced by a view of forming a powerful balance against these\nobnoxious societies.--While a sort of necessity for this temporizing\ncontinues, we shall go on very tranquilly, and it is become a mode to say\nthe Convention is \"adorable.\"\nTallien, who has been wrestling with his ill fame for a transient\npopularity, has thought it advisable to revive the public attention by\nthe farce of Pisistratus--at least, an attempt to assassinate him, in\nwhich there seems to have been more eclat than danger, has given rise to\nsuch an opinion. Bulletins of his health are delivered every day in form\nto the Convention, and some of the provincial clubs have sent\ncongratulations on his escape. But the sneers of the incredulous, and\nperhaps an internal admonition of the ridicule and disgrace attendant on\nthe worship of an idol whose reputation is so unpropitious, have much\nrepressed the customary ardour, and will, I think, prevent these\n\"hair-breadth 'scapes\" from continuing fashionable.--Yours, &c.\n[No Date Given]\nWhen I describe the French as a people bending meekly beneath the most\nabsurd and cruel oppression, transmitted from one set of tyrants to\nanother, without personal security, without commerce--menaced by famine,\nand desolated by a government whose ordinary resources are pillage and\nmurder; you may perhaps read with some surprize the progress and\nsuccesses of their armies. But, divest yourself of the notions you may\nhave imbibed from interested misrepresentations--forget the revolutionary\ncommon-place of \"enthusiams\", \"soldiers of freedom,\" and \"defenders of\ntheir country\"--examine the French armies as acting under the motives\nwhich usually influence such bodies, and I am inclined to believe you\nwill see nothing very wonderful or supernatural in their victories.\nThe greater part of the French troops are now composed of young men taken\nindiscriminately from all classes, and forced into the service by the\nfirst requisition. They arrive at the army ill-disposed, or at best\nindifferent, for it must not be forgotten, that all who could be\nprevailed on to go voluntarily had departed before recourse was had to\nthe measure of a general levy. They are then distributed into different\ncorps, so that no local connections remain: the natives of the North are\nmingled with those of the South, and all provincial combinations are\ninterdicted.\nIt is well known that the military branch of espionage is as extended as\nthe civil, and the certainty of this destroys confidence, and leaves even\nthe unwilling soldier no resource but to go through his professional duty\nwith as much zeal as though it were his choice. On the one hand, the\ndiscipline is severe--on the other, licentiousness is permitted beyond\nall example; and, half-terrified, half-seduced, principles the most\ninimical, and morals the least corrupt, become habituated to fear nothing\nbut the government, and to relish a life of military indulgence.--The\narmies were some time since ill clothed, and often ill fed; but the\nrequisitions, which are the scourge of the country, supply them, for the\nmoment, with profusion: the manufacturers, the shops, and the private\nindividual, are robbed to keep them in good humour--the best wines, the\nbest clothes, the prime of every thing, is destined to their use; and\nmen, who before laboured hard to procure a scanty subsistence, now revel\nin luxury and comparative idleness.\nThe rapid promotion acquired in the French army is likewise another cause\nof its adherence to the government. Every one is eager to be advanced;\nfor, by means of requisitions, pillage and perquisites, the most trifling\ncommand is very lucrative.--Vast sums of money are expended in supplying\nthe camps with newspapers written nearly for that purpose, and no others\nare permitted to be publicly circulated.--When troops are quartered in a\ntown, instead of that cold reception which it is usual to accord such\ninmates, the system of terror acts as an excellent Marechal de Logis, and\nprocures them, if not a cordial, at least a substantial one; and it is\nindubitable, that they are no where so well entertained as at the houses\nof professed aristocrats. The officers and men live in a familiarity\nhighly gratifying to the latter; and, indeed, neither are distinguishable\nby their language, manners, or appearance. There is, properly speaking,\nno subordination except in the field, and a soldier has only to avoid\npolitics, and cry \"Vive la Convention!\" to secure plenary indulgence on\nall other occasions.--Many who entered the army with regret, continue\nthere willingly for the sake of a maintenance; besides that a decree\nexists, which subjects the parents of those who return, to heavy\npunishments. In a word, whatever can operate on the fears, or interests,\nor passions, is employed to preserve the allegiance of the armies to the\ngovernment, and attach them to their profession.\nI am far from intending to detract from the national bravery--the annals\nof the French Monarchy abound with the most splendid instances of it--I\nonly wish you to understand, what I am fully convinced of myself, that\nliberty and republicanism have no share in the present successes. The\nbattle of Gemappe was gained when the Brissotin faction had enthroned\nitself on the ruins of a constitution, which the armies were said to\nadore with enthusiasm: by what sudden inspiration were their affections\ntransferred to another form of government? or will any one pretend that\nthey really understood the democratic Machiavelism which they were to\npropagate in Brabant? At the battle of Maubeuge, France was in the first\nparoxysm of revolutionary terror--at that of Fleurus, she had become a\nscene of carnage and proscription, at once the most wretched and the most\ndetestable of nations, the sport and the prey of despots so contemptible,\nthat neither the excess of their crimes, nor the sufferings they\ninflicted, could efface the ridicule which was incurred by a submission\nto them. Were the French then fighting for liberty, or did they only\nmove on professionally, with the enemy in front, the Guillotine in the\nrear, and the intermediate space filled up with the licentiousness of a\ncamp?--If the name alone of liberty suffices to animate the French troops\nto conquest, and they could imagine it was enjoyed under Brissot or\nRobespierre, this is at least a proof that they are rather amateurs than\nconnoisseurs; and I see no reason why the same impulse might not be given\nto an army of Janizaries, or the the legions of Tippoo Saib.\nAfter all, it may be permitted to doubt, whether the sort of enthusiasm\nso liberally ascribed to the French, would really contribute more to\ntheir successes, than the thoughtless courage I am willing to allow\nthem.--It is, I believe, the opinion of military men, that the best\nsoldiers are those who are most disposed to act mechanically; and we are\ncertain that the most brilliant victories have been obtained where this\nardour, said to be produced by the new doctrines, could have had no\ninfluence.--The heroes of Pavia, of Narva, or those who administered to\nthe vain-glory of Louis the Fourteenth, by ravaging the Palatinate, we\nmay suppose little acquainted with it. The fate of battles frequently\ndepends on causes which the General, the Statesman, or the Philosopher,\nare equally unable to decide upon; and the laurel, \"meed of mighty\nconquerors,\" seems oftener to fall at the caprice of the wind, than to be\ngathered. It is sometimes the lot of the ablest tactician, at others of\nthe most voluminous muster-roll; but, I believe, there are few examples\nwhere these political elevations have had an effect, when unaccompanied\nby advantages of situation, superior skill, or superior numbers.--_\"La\nplupart des gens de guerre_ (says Fontenelle) _sont leur metier avec\nbeaucoup de courage. Il en est peu qui y pensent; leurs bras agissent\naussi vigoureusement que l'on veut, leurs tetes se reposent, et ne\nprennent presque part a rieu\"_*--\n * \"Military men in general do their duty with much courage, but few\n make it a subject of reflection. With all the bodily activity that\n can be expected of them, their minds remain at rest, and partake but\n little of the business they are engaged in.\"\n--If this can be applied with truth to any armies, it must be to those of\nFrance. We have seen them successively and implicitly adopting all the\nnew constitutions and strange gods which faction and extravagance could\ndevise--we have seen them alternately the dupes and slaves of all\nparties: at one period abandoning their King and their religion: at\nanother adulating Robespierre, and deifying Marat.--These, I confess are\ndispositions to make good soldiers, but convey to me no idea of\nenthusiasts or republicans.\nThe bulletin of the Convention is periodically furnished with splendid\nfeats of heroism performed by individuals of their armies, and I have no\ndoubt but some of them are true. There are, however, many which have\nbeen very peaceably culled from old memoirs, and that so unskilfully,\nthat the hero of the present year loses a leg or an arm in the same\nexploit, and uttering the self-same sentences, as one who lived two\ncenturies ago. There is likewise a sort of jobbing in the edifying\nscenes which occasionally occur in the Convention--if a soldier happen to\nbe wounded who has relationship, acquaintance, or connexion, with a\nDeputy, a tale of extraordinary valour and extraordinary devotion to the\ncause is invented or adopted; the invalid is presented in form at the bar\nof the Assembly, receives the fraternal embrace and the promise of a\npension, and the feats of the hero, along with the munificence of the\nConvention, are ordered to circulate in the next bulletin. Yet many of\nthe deeds recorded very deservedly in these annals of glory, have been\nperformed by men who abhor republican principles, and lament the\ndisasters their partizans have occasioned. I have known even notorious\naristocrats introduced to the Convention as martyrs to liberty, and who\nhave, in fact, behaved as gallantly as though they had been so.--These\nare paradoxes which a military man may easily reconcile.\nIndependently of the various secondary causes that contribute to the\nsuccess of the French armies, there is one which those persons who wish\nto exalt every thing they denominate republican seem to exclude--I mean,\nthe immense advantage they possess in point of numbers. There has\nscarcely been an engagement of importance, in which the French have not\nprofited by this in a very extraordinary degree.*\n * This has been confessed to me by many republicans themselves; and\n a disproportion of two or three to one must add considerably to\n republican enthusiasm.\n--Whenever a point is to be gained, the sacrifice of men is not a matter\nof hesitation. One body is dispatched after another; and fresh troops\nthus succeeding to oppose those of the enemy already harassed, we must\nnot wonder that the event has so often proved favourable to them.\nA republican, who passes for highly informed, once defended this mode of\nwarfare by observing, that in the course of several campaigns more troops\nperished by sickness than the sword. If then an object could be attained\nby such means, so much time was saved, and the loss eventually the same:\nbut the Generals of other countries dare not risk such philosophical\ncalculations, and would be accountable to the laws of humanity for their\ndestructive conquests.\nWhen you estimate the numbers that compose the French armies, you are not\nto consider them as an undisciplined multitude, whose sole force is in\ntheir numbers. From the beginning of the revolution, many of them have\nbeen exercised in the National Guard; and though they might not make a\nfigure on the parade at Potsdam, their inferiority is not so great as to\nrender the German exactitude a counterbalance for the substantial\ninequality of numbers. Yet, powerfully as these considerations favour\nthe military triumphs of France, there is a period when we may expect\nboth cause and effect will terminate. That period may still be far\nremoved, but whenever the assignats* become totally discredited, and it\nshall be found requisite to economize in the war department, adieu la\ngloire, a bas les armes, and perhaps bon soir la republique; for I do not\nreckon it possible, that armies so constituted can ever be persuaded to\nsubject themselves to the restraints and privations which must be\nindispensible, as soon as the government ceases to have the disposal of\nan unlimited fund.\n * The mandats were, in fact, but a continuation of the assignats,\n under another name. The last decree for the emission of assignats,\n limited the quantity circulated to forty milliards, which taken at\n par, is only about sixteen hundred millions of pounds sterling!\nWhat I have hitherto written you will understand as applicable only to\nthe troops employed on the frontiers. There are some of another\ndescription, more cherished and not less serviceable, who act as a sort\nof police militant and errant, and defend the republic against her\ninternal enemies--the republicans. Almost every town of importance is\noccasionally infested by these servile instruments of despotism, who are\nmaintained in insolent profusion, to overawe those whom misery and famine\nmight tempt to revolt. When a government, after imprisoning some hundred\nthousands of the most distinguished in every class of life, and disarming\nall the rest, is yet obliged to employ such a force for its protection,\nwe may justifiably conclude, it does not presume on the attachment of the\npeople. It is not impossible that the agents of different descriptions,\ndestined to the service of conciliating the interior to republicanism,\nmight alone form an army equal to that of the Allies; but this is a task,\nwhere the numbers employed only serve to render it more difficult. They,\nhowever, procure submission, if they do not create affection; and the\nConvention is not delicate.\nAmiens, Sept. 30, 1794.\nThe domestic politics of France are replete with novelties: the\nConvention is at war with the Jacobins--and the people, even to the most\ndecided aristocrats, have become partizans of the Convention.--My last\nletters have explained the origin of these phaenomena, and I will now add\na few words on their progress.\nYou have seen that, at the fall of Robespierre, the revolutionary\ngovernment had reached the very summit of despotism, and that the\nConvention found themselves under the necessity of appearing to be\ndirected by a new impulse, or of acknowledging their participation in the\ncrimes they affected to deplore.--In consequence, almost without the\ndirect repeal of any law, (except some which affected their own\nsecurity,) a more moderate system has been gradually adopted, or, to\nspeak more correctly, the revolutionary one is suffered to relax. The\nJacobins behold these popular measures with extreme jealousy, as a means\nwhich may in time render the legislature independent of them; and it is\ncertainly not the least of their discontents, that, after all their\nlabours in the common cause, they find themselves excluded both from\npower and emoluments. Accustomed to carry every thing by violence, and\nmore ferocious than politic, they have, by insisting on the\nreincarceration of suspected people, attached a numerous party to the\nConvention, which is thus warned that its own safety depends on\nrepressing the influence of clubs, which not only loudly demand that the\nprisons may be again filled, but frequently debate on the project of\ntransporting all the \"enemies of the republic\" together.\nThe liberty of the press, also, is a theme of discord not less important\nthan the emancipation of aristocrats. The Jacobins are decidedly adverse\nto it; and it is a sort of revolutionary solecism, that those who boast\nof having been the original destroyers of despotism, are now the\nadvocates of arbitrary imprisonment, and restraints on the freedom of the\npress. The Convention itself is divided on the latter subject; and,\nafter a revolution of five years, founded on the doctrine of the rights\nof man, it has become matter of dispute--whether so principal an article\nof them ought really to exist or not. They seem, indeed, willing to\nallow it, provided restrictions can be devised which may prevent calumny\nfrom reaching their own persons; but as that cannot easily be atchieved,\nthey not only contend against the liberty of the press in practice, but\nhave hitherto refused to sanction it by decree, even as a principle.\nIt is perhaps reluctantly that the Convention opposes these powerful and\nextended combinations which have so long been its support, and it may\ndread the consequences of being left without the means of overawing or\ninfluencing the people; but the example of the Brissotins, who, by\nattempting to profit by the services of the Jacobins, without submitting\nto their domination, fell a sacrifice, has warned their survivors of the\ndanger of employing such instruments. It is evident that the clubs will\nnot act subordinately, and that they must either be subdued to\ninsignificance, or regain their authority entirely; and as neither the\npeople nor Convention are disposed to acquiesce in the latter, they are\npoliticly joining their efforts to accelerate the former.\nYet, notwithstanding these reciprocal cajoleries, the return of justice\nis slow and mutable; an instinctive or habitual preference of evil\nappears at times to direct the Convention, even in opposition to their\nown interests. They have as yet done little towards repairing the\ncalamities of which they are the authors; and we welcome the little they\nhave done, not for its intrinsic value, but as we do the first spring\nflowers--which, though of no great sweetness or beauty, we consider as\npledges that the storms of winter are over, and that a milder season is\napproaching.--It is true, the revolutionary Committees are diminished in\nnumber, the prisons are disencumbered, and a man is not liable to be\narrested because a Jacobin suspects his features: yet there is a wide\ndifference between such toleration and freedom and security; and it is a\ncircumstance not favourable to those who look beyond the moment, that the\ntyrannical laws which authorized all the late enormities are still\nunrepealed. The Revolutionary Tribunal continues to sentence people to\ndeath, on pretexts as frivolous as those which were employed in the time\nof Robespierre; they have only the advantage of being tried more\nformally, and of forfeiting their lives upon proof, instead of without\nit, for actions that a strictly administered justice would not punish by\na month's imprisonment.*\n * For instance, a young monk, for writing fanatic letters, and\n signing resolutions in favour of foederalism--a hosier, for\n facilitating the return of an emigrant--a man of ninety, for\n speaking against the revolution, and discrediting the assignats--a\n contractor, for embezzling forage--people of various descriptions,\n for obstructing the recruitment, or insulting the tree of liberty.\n These, and many similar condemnations, will be found in the\n proceedings of the Revolutionary Tribunal, long after the death of\n Robespierre, and when justice and humanity were said to be restored.\nA ceremony has lately taken place, the object of which was to deposit the\nashes of Marat in the Pantheon, and to dislodge the bust of Mirabeau--\nwho, notwithstanding two years notice to quit this mansion of\nimmortality, still remained there. The ashes of Marat being escorted to\nthe Convention by a detachment of Jacobins, and the President having\nproperly descanted on the virtues which once animated the said ashes,\nthey were conveyed to the place destined for their reception; and the\nexcommunicated Mirabeau being delivered over to the secular arm of a\nbeadle, these remains of the divine Marat were placed among the rest of\nthe republican deities. To have obliged the Convention in a body to\nattend and consecrate the crimes of this monster, though it could not\ndegrade them, was a momentary triumph for the Jacobins, nor could the\nroyalists behold without satisfaction the same men deploring the death of\nMarat, who, a month before, had celebrated the fall of Louis the\nSixteenth! To have been so deplored, and so celebrated, are, methinks,\nthe very extremes of infamy and glory.\nI must explain to you, that the Jacobins have lately been composed of two\nparties--the avowed adherents of Collot, Billaud, &c. and the concealed\nremains of those attached to Robespierre; but party has now given way to\nprinciple, a circumstance not usual; and the whole club of Paris, with\nseveral of the affiliated ones, join in censuring the innovating\ntendencies of the Convention.--It is curious to read the debates of the\nparent society, which pass in afflicting details of the persecutions\nexperienced by the patriots on the parts of the moderates and\naristocrats, who, they assert, are become so daring as even to call in\nquestion the purity of the immortal Marat. You will suppose, of course,\nthat this cruel persecution is nothing more than an interdiction to\npersecute others; and their notions of patriotism and moderation may be\nconceived by their having just expelled Tallien and Freron as moderates.*\n * Freron endeavoured, on this occasion, to disculpate himself from\n the charge of \"moderantisme,\" by alledging he had opposed\n Lecointre's denunciation of Barrere, &c.--and certainly one who\n piques himself on being the pupil of the divine Marat, was worthy of\n remaining in the fraternity from which he was now expelled.--Freron\n is a veteran journalist of the revolution, of better talents, though\n not of better fame, than the generality of his contemporaries: or,\n rather, his early efforts in exciting the people to rebellion\n entitle him to a preeminence of infamy.\nAmiens, October 4, 1794.\nWe have had our guard withdrawn for some days; and I am just now returned\nfrom Peronne, where we had been in order to see the seals taken off the\npapers, &c. which I left there last year. I am much struck with the\nalteration observable in people's countenances. Every person I meet\nseems to have contracted a sort of revolutionary aspect: many walk with\ntheir heads down, and with half-shut eyes measure the whole length of a\nstreet, as though they were still intent on avoiding greetings from the\nsuspicious; some look grave and sorrow-worn; some apprehensive, as if in\nhourly expectation of a _mandat d'arret;_ and others absolutely ferocious,\nfrom a habit of affecting the barbarity of the times.\nTheir language is nearly as much changed as their appearance--the\nrevolutionary jargon is universal, and the most distinguished aristocrats\nconverse in the style of Barrere's reports. The common people are not\nless proficients in this fashionable dialect, than their superiors; and,\nas far as I can judge, are become so from similar motives. While I was\nwaiting this morning at a shop-door, I listened to a beggar who was\ncheapening a slice of pumpkin, and on some disagreement about the price,\nthe beggar told the old _revendeuse_ [Market-woman.] that she was\n_\"gangrenee d'aristocratie.\"_ [\"Eat up with aristocracy.\"] _\"Je vous en\ndefie,\"_ [\"I defy you.\"] retorted the pumpkin-merchant; but turning pale\nas she spoke, _\"Mon civisme est a toute epreuve, mais prenez donc ta\ncitrouille,\"_ [\"My civism is unquestionable; but here take your pumpkin.\"]\ntake it then.\" _\"Ah, te voila bonne republicaine,_ [\"Ah! Now I see you\nare a good republican.\"] says the beggar, carrying off her bargain; while\nthe old woman muttered, _\"Oui, oui, l'on a beau etre republicaine tandis\nqu'on n'a pas de pain a manger.\"_ [\"Yes, in troth, it's a fine thing to\nbe a republican, and have no bread to eat.\"]\nI hear little of the positive merits of the convention, but the hope is\ngeneral that they will soon suppress the Jacobin clubs; yet their attacks\ncontinue so cold and cautious, that their intentions are at least\ndoubtful: they know the voice of the nation at large would be in favour\nof such a measure, and they might, if sincere, act more decisively,\nwithout risk to themselves.--The truth is, they would willingly proscribe\nthe persons of the Jacobins, while they cling to their principles, and\nstill hesitate whether they shall confide in a people whose resentment\nthey have so much deserved, and have so much reason to dread. Conscious\nguilt appears to shackle all their proceedings, and though the punishment\nof some subordinate agents cannot, in the present state of things, be\ndispensed with, yet the Assembly unveil the register of their crimes very\nreluctantly, as if each member expected to see his own name inscribed on\nit. Thus, even delinquents, who would otherwise be sacrificed\nvoluntarily to public justice, are in a manner protected by delays and\nchicane, because an investigation might implicate the Convention as the\nexample and authoriser of their enormities.--Fouquier Tinville devoted a\nthousand innocent people to death in less time than it has already taken\nto bring him to a trial, where he will benefit by all those judicial\nforms which he has so often refused to others. This man, who is much the\nsubject of conversation at present, was Public Accuser to the\nRevolutionary Tribunal--an office which, at best, in this instance, only\nserved to give an air of regularity to assassination: but, by a sort of\ngenius in turpitude, he contrived to render it odious beyond its original\nperversion, in giving to the most elaborate and revolting cruelties a\nturn of spontaneous pleasantry, or legal procedure.--The prisoners were\ninsulted with sarcasms, intimidated by threats, and still oftener\nsilenced by arbitrary declarations, that they were not entitled to speak;\nand those who were taken to the scaffold, after no other ceremony than\ncalling over their names, had less reason to complain, than if they had\npreviously been exposed to the barbarities of such trials.--Yet this\nwretch might, for a time at least, have escaped punishment, had he not,\nin defending himself, criminated the remains of the Committee, whom it\nwas intended to screen. When he appeared at the bar of the Convention,\nevery word he uttered seemed to fill its members with alarm, and he was\nordered away before he could finish his declaration. It must be\nacknowledged, that, however he may be condemned by justice and humanity,\nnothing could legally attach to him: he was only the agent of the\nConvention, and the utmost horrors of the Tribunal were not merely\nsanctioned, but enjoined by specific decrees.\nI have been told by a gentleman who was at school with Fouquier, and has\nhad frequent occasions of observing him at different periods since, that\nhe always appeared to him to be a man of mild manners, and by no means\nlikely to become the instrument of these atrocities; but a strong\naddiction to gaming having involved him in embarrassments, he was induced\nto accept the office of Public Accuser to the Tribunal, and was\nprogressively led on from administering to the iniquity of his employers,\nto find a gratification in it himself.\nI have often thought, that the habit of watching with selfish avidity for\nthose turns of fortune which enrich one individual by the misery of\nanother, must imperceptibly tend to harden the heart. How can the\ngamester, accustomed both to suffer and inflict ruin with indifference,\npreserve that benevolent frame of mind, which, in the ordinary and less\ncensurable pursuits of common life, is but too prone to become impaired,\nand to leave humanity more a duty than a feeling?\nThe conduct of Fouquier Tinville has led me to some reflections on a\nsubject which I know the French consider as matter of triumph, and as a\npeculiar advantage which their national character enjoys over the\nEnglish--I mean that smoothness of manner and guardedness of expression\nwhich they call \"aimable,\" and which they have the faculty of attaining\nand preserving distinctly from a correspondent temper of the mind. It\naccompanies them through the most irritating vicissitudes, and enables\nthem to deceive, even without deceit: for though this suavity is\nhabitual, of course frequently undesigning, the stranger is nevertheless\nthrown off his guard by it, and tempted to place confidence, or expect\nservices, which a less conciliating deportment would not have been\nsuggested. A Frenchman may be an unkind husband, a severe parent, or an\narrogant master, yet never contract his features, or asperate his voice,\nand for this reason is, in the national sense, \"un homme bien doux.\" His\nheart may become corrupt, his principles immoral, and his disposition\nferocious--yet he shall still retain his equability of tone and\ncomplacent phraseology, and be \"un homme bien aimable.\"\nThe revolution has tended much to develope this peculiarity of the French\ncharacter, and has, by various examples in public life, confirmed the\nopinions I had formed from previous observation. Fouquier Tinville, as I\nhave already noticed, was a man of gentle exterior.--Couthon, the\nexecrable associate of Robespierre, was mildness itself--Robespierre's\nharangues are in a style of distinguished sensibility--and even Carrier,\nthe destroyer of thirty thousand Nantais, is attested by his\nfellow-students to have been of an amiable disposition. I know a man of\nmost insinuating address, who has been the means of conducting his own\nbrother to the Guillotine; and another nearly as prepossessing, who,\nwithout losing his courteous demeanor, was, during the late\nrevolutionary excesses, the intimate of an executioner.\n *It would be too voluminous to enumerate all the contrasts of\n manners and character exhibited during the French revolution--The\n philosophic Condorcet, pursuing with malignancy his patron, the Duc\n de la Rochefoucault, and hesitating with atrocious mildness on the\n sentence of the King--The massacres of the prisons connived at by\n the gentle Petion--Collot d'Herbois dispatching, by one discharge of\n cannon, three hundred people together, \"to spare his sensibility\"\n the talk of executions in detail--And St. Just, the deviser of a\n thousand enormities, when he left the Committee, after his last\n interview, with the project of sending them all to the Guillotine,\n telling them, in a tone of tender reproach, like a lover of romance,\n \"Vous avez fletri mon coeur, je vais l'ouvrir a la Convention.\"--\n Madame Roland, in spite of the tenderness of her sex, could coldly\n reason on the expediency of a civil war, which she acknowledged\n might become necessary to establish the republic. Let those who\n disapprove this censure of a female, whom it is a sort of mode to\n lament, recollect that Madame Roland was the victim of a celebrity\n she had acquired in assisting the efforts of faction to dethrone the\n King--that her literary bureau was dedicated to the purpose of\n exasperating the people against him--and that she was considerably\n instrumental to the events which occasioned his death. If her\n talents and accomplishments make her an object of regret, it was to\n the unnatural misapplication of those talents and accomplishments in\n the service of party, that she owed her fate. Her own opinion was,\n that thousands might justifiably be devoted to the establishment of\n a favourite system; or, to speak truly, to the aggrandisement of\n those who were its partizans. The same selfish principle actuated\n an opposite faction, and she became the sacrifice.--\"Oh even-handed\n justice!\"\nI do not pretend to decide whether the English are virtually more gentle\nin their nature than the French; but I am persuaded this douceur, on\nwhich the latter pride themselves, affords no proof of the contrary. An\nEnglishman is seldom out of humour, without proclaiming it to all the\nworld; and the most forcible motives of interest, or expediency, cannot\nalways prevail on him to assume a more engaging external than that which\ndelineates his feelings.\nIf he has a matter to refuse, he usually begins by fortifying himself\nwith a little ruggedness of manner, by way of prefacing a denial he might\notherwise not have resolution to persevere in. \"The hows and whens of\nlife\" corrugate his features, and disharmonize his periods; contradiction\nsours, and passion ruffles him--and, in short, an Englishman displeased,\nfrom whatever cause, is neither \"un homme bien doux,\" nor \"un homme bien\naimable;\" but such as nature has made him, subject to infirmities and\nsorrows, and unable to disguise the one, or appear indifferent to the\nother. Our country, like every other, has doubtless produced too many\nexamples of human depravity; but I scarcely recollect any, where a\nferocious disposition was not accompanied by corresponding manners--or\nwhere men, who would plunder or massacre, affected to retain at the same\ntime habits of softness, and a conciliating physiognomy.\nWe are, I think, on the whole, authorized to conclude, that, in\ndetermining the claims to national superiority, the boasted and unvarying\ncontroul which the French exercise over their features and accents, is\nnot a merit; nor those indications of what passes within, to which the\nEnglish are subject, an imperfection. If the French sometimes supply\ntheir want of kindness, or render disappointment less acute at the\nmoment, by a sterile complacency, the English harshness is often only the\nalloy to an efficient benevolence, and a sympathizing mind. In France\nthey have no humourists who seem impelled by their nature to do good, in\nspite of their temperament--nor have we in England many people who are\ncold and unfeeling, yet systematically aimable: but I must still persist\nin not thinking it a defect that we are too impetuous, or perhaps too\ningenuous, to unite contradictions.\nThere is a cause, that doubtless has its effects in representing the\nEnglish disadvantageously, and which I have never heard properly allowed\nfor. The liberty of the press, and the great interest taken by all ranks\nof people in public affairs, have occasioned a more numerous circulation\nof periodical prints of every kind in England, than in any other country\nin Europe. Now, as it is impossible to fill them constantly with\npolitics, and as the taste of different readers must be consulted, every\nbarbarous adventure, suicide, murder, robbery, domestic fracas, assaults,\nand batteries of the lower orders, with the duels and divorces of the\nhigher, are all chronicled in various publications, disseminated over\nEurope, and convey an idea that we are a very miserable, ferocious, and\ndissolute nation. The foreign gazettes being chiefly appropriated to\npublic affairs, seldom record either the vices, the crimes, or\nmisfortunes of individuals; so that they are thereby at least prevented\nfrom fixing an unfavourable judgement on the national character.\nMercier observes, that the number of suicides committed in Paris was\nsupposed to exceed greatly that of similar disasters in London; and that\nmurders in France were always accompanied by circumstances of peculiar\nhorror, though policy and custom had rendered the publication of such\nevents less general than with us.--Our divorces, at which the Gallic\npurity of manners used to be so much scandalized, are, no doubt, to be\nregretted; but that such separations were not then allowed, or desired in\nFrance, may perhaps be attributed, at least as justly, to the\ncomplaisance of husbands, as to the discretion of wives, or the national\nmorality.*\n * At present, in the monthly statement, the number of divorces in\n France, is often nearly equal to that of the marriages.\nI should reproach myself if I could feel impartial when I contemplate the\nEnglish character; yet I certainly endeavour to write as though I were\nso. If I have erred, it has been rather in allowing too much to received\nopinions on the subject of this country, than in suffering my affections\nto make me unjust; for though I am far from affecting the fashion of the\nday, which censures all prejudices as illiberal, except those in\ndisfavour of our own country, yet I am warranted, I hope, in saying, that\nhowever partial I may appear to England, I have not been so at the\nexpence of truth.--Yours, &c.\nOctober 6, 1794.\nThe sufferings of individuals have often been the means of destroying or\nreforming the most powerful tyrannies; reason has been convinced by\nargument, and passion appealed to by declamation in vain--when some\nunvarnished tale, or simple exposure of facts, has at once rouzed the\nfeelings, and conquered the supineness of an oppressed people.\nThe revolutionary government, in spite of the clamorous and weekly\nswearings of the Convention to perpetuate it, has received a check from\nan event of this nature, which I trust it will never recover.--By an\norder of the Revolutionary Committee of Nantes, in November 1793, all\nprisoners accused of political crimes were to be transferred to Paris,\nwhere the tribunal being more immediately under the direction of\ngovernment, there would be no chance of their acquittal. In consequence\nof this order, an hundred and thirty-two inhabitants of Nantes, arrested\non the usual pretexts of foederalism, or as suspected, or being\nMuscadins, were, some months after, conducted to Paris. Forty of the\nnumber died through the hardships and ill treatment they encountered on\nthe way, the rest remained in prison until after the death of\nRobespierre.\nThe evidence produced on their trial, which lately took place, has\nrevealed but too circumstantially all the horrors of the revolutionary\nsystem. Destruction in every form, most shocking to morals or humanity,\nhas depopulated the countries of the Loire; and republican Pizarro's and\nAlmagro's seem to have rivalled each other in the invention and\nperpetration of crimes.\nWhen the prisons of Nantes overflowed, many hundreds of their miserable\ninhabitants had been conducted by night, and chained together, to the\nriver side; where, being first stripped of their clothes, they were\ncrouded into vessels with false bottoms, constructed for the purpose, and\nsunk.*--\n * Though the horror excited by such atrocious details must be\n serviceable to humanity, I am constrained by decency to spare the\n reader a part of them. Let the imagination, however repugnant,\n pause for a moment over these scenes--Five, eight hundred people of\n different sexes, ages, and conditions, are taken from their prisons,\n in the dreary months of December and January, and conducted, during\n the silence of the night, to the banks of the Loire. The agents of\n the Republic there despoil them of their clothes, and force them,\n shivering and defenceless, to enter the machines prepared for their\n destruction--they are chained down, to prevent their escape by\n swimming, and then the bottom is detached for the upper part, and\n sunk.--On some occasions the miserable victims contrived to loose\n themselves, and clinging to the boards near them, shrieked in the\n agonies of despair and death, \"O save us! it is not even now too\n late: in mercy save us!\" But they appealed to wretches to whom\n mercy was a stranger; and, being cut away from their hold by strokes\n of the sabre, perished with their companions. That nothing might be\n wanting to these outrages against nature, they were escribed as\n jests, and called \"Noyades, water parties,\" and \"civic baptisms\"!\n Carrier, a Deputy of the Convention, used to dine and make parties\n of pleasure, accompanied by music and every species of gross luxury,\n on board the barges appropriated to these execrable purposes.\n--At one time, six hundred children appear to have been destroyed in this\nmanner;--young people of different sexes were tied in pairs and thrown\ninto the river;--thousands were shot in the high roads and in the fields;\nand vast numbers were guillotined, without a trial!*\n * Six young women, (the _Mesdemoiselles la Meterie,_) in particular,\n sisters, and all under four-and-twenty, were ordered to the\n Guillotine together: the youngest died instantly of fear, the rest\n were executed successively.--A child eleven years old, who had\n previously told the executioner, with affecting simplicity, that he\n hoped he would not hurt him much, received three strokes of the\n Guillotine before his head was severed from his body.\n--Two thousand died, in less than two months, of a pestilence, occasioned\nby this carnage: the air became infected, and the waters of the Loire\nempoisoned, by dead bodies; and those whom tyranny yet spared, perished\nby the elements which nature intended for their support.*\n * Vast sums were exacted from the Nantais for purifying the air, and\n taking precautions against epidemical disorders.\nBut I will not dwell on horrors, which, if not already known to all\nEurope, I should be unequal to describe: suffice it to say, that whatever\ncould disgrace or afflict mankind, whatever could add disgust to\ndetestation, and render cruelty, if possible, less odious than the\ncircumstances by which it was accompanied, has been exhibited in this\nunfortunate city.--Both the accused and their witnesses were at first\ntimid through apprehension, but by degrees the monstrous mysteries of the\ngovernment were laid open, and it appeared, beyond denial or palliation,\nthat these enormities were either devised, assisted, or connived at, by\nDeputies of the Convention, celebrated for their ardent republicanism and\nrevolutionary zeal.--The danger of confiding unlimited power to such men\nas composed the majority of the Assembly, was now displayed in a manner\nthat penetrated the dullest imagination, and the coldest heart; and it\nwas found, that, armed with decrees, aided by revolutionary committees,\nrevolutionary troops, and revolutionary vehicles of destruction,*\nmissionaries selected by choice from the whole representation, had, in\nthe city of Nantes alone, and under the mask of enthusiastic patriotism,\nsacrificed thirty thousand people!\n * A company was formed of all the ruffians that could be collected\n together. They were styled the Company of Marat, and were specially\n empowered to arrest whomsoever they chose, and to enter houses by\n night or day--in fine, to proscribe and pillage at their pleasure.\nFacts like these require no comment. The nation may be intimidated, and\nhabits of obedience, or despair of redress, prolong its submission; but\nit can no longer be deceived: and patriotism, revolutionary liberty, and\nphilosophy, are for ever associated with the drowning machines of\nCarrier, and the precepts and calculations of a Herault de Sechelles,* or\na Lequinio.**--\n * Herault de Sechelles was distinguished by birth, talents, and\n fortune, above most of his colleagues in the Convention; yet we find\n him in correspondence with Carrier, applauding his enormities, and\n advising him how to continue them with effect.--Herault was of a\n noble family, and had been a president in the Parliament of Paris.\n He was one of Robespierre's Committee of Public Welfare, and being\n in some way implicated in a charge of treachery brought against\n Simon, another Deputy, was guillotined at the same time with Danton.\n ** Lequinio is a philosopher by profession, who has endeavoured to\n enlighten his countrymen by a publication entitled \"_Les Prejuges\n Detruits,_\" and since by proving it advantageous to make no prisoners\n of war.\n--The ninety Nantais, against whom there existed no serious charge, and\nwho had already suffered more than death, were acquitted. Yet, though\nthe people were gratified by this verdict, and the general indignation\nappeased by an immediate arrest of those who had been most notoriously\nactive in these dreadful operations, a deep and salutary impression\nremains, and we may hope it will be found impracticable either to renew\nthe same scenes, or for the Convention to shelter (as they seemed\ndisposed to do) the principal criminals, who are members of their own\nbody. Yet, how are these delinquents to be brought to condemnation?\nThey all acted under competent authority, and their dispatches to the\nConvention, which sufficiently indicated their proceedings, were always\nsanctioned by circulation, and applauded, according to the excess of\ntheir flagitiousness.\nIt is worthy of remark, that Nantes, the principal theatre of these\npersecutions and murders, had been early distinguished by the attachment\nof its inhabitants to the revolution; insomuch, that, at the memorable\nepoch when the short-sighted policy of the Court excluded the Constituent\nAssembly from their Hall at Versailles, and they took refuge in the Jeu\nde Paume, with a resolution fatal to their country, never to separate\nuntil they had obtained their purposes, an express was sent to Nantes, as\nthe place they should make choice of, if any violence obliged them to\nquit the neighbourhood of Paris.\nBut it was not only by its principles that Nantes had signalized itself;\nat every period of the war, it had contributed largely both in men and\nmoney, and its riches and commerce still rendered it one of the most\nimportant towns of the republic.--What has been its reward?--Barbarous\nenvoys from the Convention, sent expressly to level the aristocracy of\nwealth, to crush its mercantile spirit, and decimate its inhabitants.*--\n * When Nantes was reduced almost to a state of famine by the\n destruction of commerce, and the supplies drawn for the maintenance\n of the armies, Commissioners were sent to Paris, to solicit a supply\n of provisions. They applied to Carrier, as being best acquainted\n with their distress, and were answered in this language:--_\"Demandez,\n pour Nantes! je solliciterai qu'on porte le fer et la flamme dans\n cette abominable ville. Vous etes tous des coquins, des contre-\n revolutionnaires, des brigands, des scelerats, je ferai nommer une\n commission par la Convention Nationale.--J'irai moi meme a la tete\n de cette commission.--Scelerats, je serai rouler les tetes dans\n Nantes--je regenererai Nantes.\"_--\"Is it for Nantes that you\n petition? I'll exert my influence to have fire and sword carried\n into that abominable city. You are all scoundrels, counter-\n revolutionists, thieves, miscreants.--I'll have a commission\n appointed by the Convention, and go myself at the head of it.--\n Villains, I'll set your heads a rolling about Nantes--I'll\n regenerate Nantes.\"\n Report of the Commission of Twenty-one, on the conduct of Carrier.\n--Terrible lesson for those discontented and mistaken people, who,\nenriched by commerce, are not content with freedom and independence, but\nseek for visionary benefits, by becoming the partizans of innovation, or\nthe tools of faction!*\n * The disasters of Nantes ought not to be lost to the republicans of\n Birmingham, Manchester, and other great commercial towns, where \"men\n fall out they know not why;\" and where their increasing wealth and\n prosperity are the best eulogiums on the constitution they attempt\n to undermine.\nI have hitherto said little of La Vendee; but the fate of Nantes is so\nnearly connected with it, that I shall make it the subject of my next\nletter.\n[No Date or Place Given.]\nIt appears, that the greater part of the inhabitants of Poitou, Anjou,\nand the Southern divisions of Brittany, now distinguished by the general\nappellation of the people of La Vendee, (though they include those of\nseveral other departments,) never either comprehended or adopted the\nprinciples of the French revolution. Many different causes contributed\nto increase their original aversion from the new system, and to give\ntheir resistance that consistency, which has since become so formidable.\nA partiality for their ancient customs, an attachment to their Noblesse,\nand a deference for their Priests, are said to characterize the brave\nand simple natives of La Vendee. Hence republican writers, with\nself-complacent decision, always treat this war as the effect of\nignorance, slavery, and superstition.\nThe modern reformist, who calls the labourer from the plough, and the\nartizan from the loom, to make them statesmen or philosophers, and who\nhas invaded the abodes of contented industry with the rights of man, that\nour fields may be cultivated, and our garments wove, by metaphysicians,\nwill readily assent to this opinion.--Yet a more enlightened and liberal\nphilosophy may be tempted to examine how far the Vendeans have really\nmerited the contempt and persecution of which they have been the objects.\nBy the confession of the republicans themselves, they are religious,\nhospitable, and frugal, humane and merciful towards their enemies, and\neasily persuaded to whatever is just and reasonable.\nI do not pretend to combat the narrow prejudices of those who suppose the\nworth or happiness of mankind compatible but with one set of opinions;\nand who, confounding the adventitious with the essential, appreciate only\nbook learning: but surely, qualities which imply a knowledge of what is\ndue both to God and man, and information sufficient to yield to what is\nright or rational, are not descriptive of barbarians; or at least, we may\nsay with Phyrrhus, \"there is nothing barbarous in their discipline.\"*\n *\"The husbandmen of this country are in general men of simple\n manners, naturally well inclined, or at least not addicted to\n serious vices.\" Lequinio, Guerre de La Vendee.\n Dubois de Crance, speaking of the inhabitants of La Vendee, says,\n \"They are the most hospitable people I ever saw, and always disposed\n to listen to what is just and reasonable, if proffered with mildness\n and humanity.\"\n \"This unpolished people, whom, however, it is much less difficult to\n persuade than to fight.\" Lequinio, G. de La V.\n \"They affected towards our prisoners a deceitful humanity,\n neglecting no means to draw them over to their own party, and often\n sending them back to us with only a simple prohibition to bear arms\n against the King or religion.\"\n Report of Richard and Choudieu.\n The ignorant Vendeans then could give lessons of policy and\n humanity, which the \"enlightened\" republicans were not capable of\n profiting by.\n--Their adherence to their ancient institutions, and attachment to their\nGentry and Clergy, when the former were abolished and the latter\nproscribed, might warrant a presumption that they were happy under the\none, and kindly treated by the other: for though individuals may\nsometimes persevere in affections or habits from which they derive\nneither felicity nor advantage, whole bodies of men can scarcely be\nsupposed eager to risk their lives in defence of privileges that have\noppressed them, or of a religion from which they draw no consolation.\nBut whatever the cause, the new doctrines, both civil and religious, were\nreceived in La Vendee with a disgust, which was not only expressed by\nmurmurs, but occasionally by little revolts, by disobedience to the\nconstitutional authorities, and a rejection of the constitutional clergy.\nSome time previous to the deposition of the King, Commissioners were sent\nto suppress these disorders; and though I doubt not but all possible\nmeans were taken to conciliate, I can easily believe, that neither the\nKing nor his Ministers might be desirous of subduing by force a people\nwho erred only from piety or loyalty. What effect this system of\nindulgence might have produced cannot now be decided; because the\nsubsequent overthrow of the monarchy, and the massacre or banishment of\nthe priests, must have totally alienated their minds, and precluded all\nhope of reconcilement.--Disaffection, therefore, continued to increase,\nand the Brissotines are suspected of having rather fostered than\nrepressed these intestine commotions,* for the same purpose which induced\nthem to provoke the war with England, and to extend that of the\nContinent.\n * Le Brun, one of the Brissotin Ministers, concealed the progress of\n this war for six months before he thought fit to report it to the\n Convention.\n--It is impossible to assign a good motive to any act of this literary\nintriguer.\n--Perhaps, while they determined to establish their faction by \"braving\nall Europe,\" they might think it equally politic to perplex and overawe\nParis by a near and dangerous enemy, which would render their continuance\nin power necessary, or whom they might join, if expelled from it.*\n * This last reason might afterwards have given way to their\n apprehensions, and the Brissotins have preferred the creation of new\n civil wars, to a confidence in the royalists. These men, who\n condemned the King for a supposed intention of defending an\n authority transmitted to him through whole ages, and recently\n sanctioned by the voice of the people, did not scruple to excite a\n civil war in defence of their six months' sovereignty over a\n republic, proclaimed by a ferocious comedian, and certainly without\n the assent of the nation. Had the ill-fated Monarch dared thus to\n trifle with the lives of his subjects, he might have saved France\n and himself from ruin.\nWhen men gratify their ambition by means so sanguinary and atrocious as\nthose resorted to by the Brissotines, we are authorized in concluding\nthey will not be more scrupulous in the use or preservation of power,\nthan they were in attaining it; and we can have no doubt but that the\nfomenting or suppressing the progress of civil discord, was, with them,\na mere question of expediency.\nThe decree which took place in March, 1793, for raising three hundred\nthousand men in the departments, changed the partial insurrections of La\nVendee to an open and connected rebellion; and every where the young\npeople refused going, and joined in preference the standard of revolt.\nIn the beginning of the summer, the brigands* (as they were called) grew\nso numerous, that the government, now in the hands of Robespierre and his\nparty, began to take serious measures to combat them.\n * Robbers--_banditti_--The name was first given, probably, to the\n insurgents of La Vendee, in order to insinuate a belief that the\n disorders were but of a slight and predatory nature.\n--One body of troops were dispatched after another, who were all\nsuccessively defeated, and every where fled before the royalists.\nIt is not unusual in political concerns to attribute to deep-laid plans\nand abstruse combinations, effects which are the natural result of\nprivate passions and isolated interests. Robespierre is said to have\npromoted both the destruction of the republican armies and those of La\nVendee, in order to reduce the national population. That he was capable\nof imagining such a project is probable--yet we need not, in tracing the\nconduct of the war, look farther than to the character of the agents who\nwere, almost necessarily, employed in it. Nearly every officer qualified\nfor the command of an army, had either emigrated, or was on service at\nthe frontiers; and the task of reducing by violence a people who resisted\nonly because they deemed themselves injured, and who, even in the\nestimation of the republicans, could only be mistaken, was naturally\navoided by all men who were not mere adventurers. It might likewise be\nthe policy of the government to prefer the services of those, who, having\nneither reputation nor property, would be more dependent, and whom,\nwhether they became dangerous by their successes or defeats, it would be\neasy to sacrifice.\nEither, then, from necessity or choice, the republican armies in La\nVendee were conducted by dissolute and rapacious wretches, at all times\nmore eager to pillage than fight, and who were engaged in securing their\nplunder, when they should have been in pursuit of the enemy. On every\noccasion they seemed to retreat, that their ill success might afford them\na pretext for declaring that the next town or village was confederated\nwith the insurgents, and for delivering it up, in consequence, to murder\nand rapine. Such of the soldiers as could fill their pocket-books with\nassignats, left their less successful companions, and retired as invalids\nto the hospitals: the battalions of Paris (and particularly \"the\nconquerors of the Bastille\") had such ardour for pillage, that every\nperson possessed of property was, in their sense, an aristocrat, whom it\nwas lawful to despoil.*\n * _\"Le pillage a ete porte a son comble--les militaires au lieu de\n songer a ce qu'ils avoient a faire, n'ont pense qu'a remplir leurs\n sacs, et a voir se perpetuer une guerre aussi avantageuse a leur\n interet--beaucoup de simples soldats ont acquis cinquante mille\n francs et plus; on en a vu couverts de bijoux, et faisant dans tous\n les genres des depenses d'une produgaloite, monstreuse.\"\n Lequinio, Guerre de la Vendee._\n \"The most unbridled pillage prevailed--officers, instead of\n attending to their duty, thought only of filling their portmanteaus,\n and of the means to perpetuate a war they found so profitable.--Many\n private soldiers made fifty thousand livres, and they have been seen\n loaded with trinkets, and exercising the most abominable\n prodigalities of every kind.\"\n Lequinio, War of La Vendee.\n \"The conquerors of the Bastille had unluckily a most unbridled\n ardour for pillage--one would have supposed they had come for the\n express purpose of plunder, rather than fighting. The stage coaches\n for Paris were entirely loaded with their booty.\"\n Report of Benaben, Commissioner of the Department of Maine and\n Loire.\n--The carriages of the army were entirely appropriated to the conveyance\nof their booty; till, at last, the administrators of some departments\nwere under the necessity of forbidding such incumbrances: but the\nofficers, with whom restrictions of this sort were unavailing, put all\nthe horses and waggons of the country in requisition for similar\npurposes, while they relaxed themselves from the serious business of the\nwar, (which indeed was nearly confined to burning, plundering, and\nmassacring the defenceless inhabitants,) by a numerous retinue of\nmistresses and musicians.\nIt is not surprizing that generals and troops of this description were\nconstantly defeated; and their reiterated disasters might probably have\nfirst suggested the idea of totally exterminating a people it was found\nso difficult to subdue, and so impracticable to conciliate.--On the first\nof October 1793, Barrere, after inveighing against the excessive\npopulation of La Vendee, which he termed \"frightful,\" proposed to the\nConvention to proclaim by a decree, that the war of La Vendee \"should be\nterminated\" by the twentieth of the same month. The Convention, with\nbarbarous folly, obeyed; and the enlightened Parisians, accustomed to\nthink with contempt on the ignorance of the Vendeans, believed that a\nwar, which had baffled the efforts of government for so many months, was\nto end on a precise day--which Barrere had fixed with as much assurance\nas though he had only been ordering a fete.\nBut the Convention and the government understood this decree in a very\ndifferent sense from the good people of Paris. The war was, indeed, to\nbe ended; not by the usual mode of combating armies, but by a total\nextinction of all the inhabitants of the country, both innocent and\nguilty--and Merlin de Thionville, with other members, so perfectly\ncomprehended this detestable project, that they already began to devise\nschemes for repeopling La Vendee, when its miserable natives should be\ndestroyed.*\n * It is for the credit of humanity to believe, that the decree was\n not understood according to its real intention; but the nation has\n to choose between the imputation of cruelty, stupidity, or slavery--\n for they either approved the sense of the decree, believed what was\n not possible, or were obliged to put on an appearance of both, in\n spite of their senses and their feelings. A proclamation, in\n consequence, to the army, is more explicit--\"All the brigands of La\n Vendee must be exterminated before the end of October.\"\nFrom this time, the representatives on mission, commissaries of war,\nofficers, soldiers, and agents of every kind, vied with each other in the\nmost abominable outrages. Carrier superintended the fusillades and\nnoyades at Nantes, while Lequinio dispatched with his own hands a part of\nthe prisoners taken at La Fontenay, and projected the destruction of the\nrest.--After the evacuation of Mans by the insurgents, women were brought\nby twenties and thirties, and shot before the house where the deputies\nTureau and Bourbotte had taken up their residence; and it appears to have\nbeen considered as a compliment to these republican Molochs, to surround\ntheir habitation with mountains of the dead. A compliment of the like\nnature was paid to the representative Prieur de la Marne,* by a\nvolunteer, who having learned that his own brother was taken amongst the\nenemy, requested, by way of recommending himself to notice, a formal\npermission to be his executioner.--The Roman stoicism of Prieur accepted\nthe implied homage, and granted the request!!\n * This representative, who was also a member of the Committee of\n Public Welfare, was not only the Brutus, but the Antony of La\n Vendee; for we learn from the report of Benaben, that his stern\n virtues were accompanied, through the whole of his mission in this\n afflicted country, by a cortege of thirty strolling fiddlers!\nFourteen hundred prisoners, who had surrendered at Savenay, among whom\nwere many women and children, were shot, by order of the deputy\nFrancastel, who, together with Hentz, Richard, Choudieu, Carpentier, and\nothers of their colleagues, set an example of rapine and cruelty, but too\nzealously imitated by their subordinate agents. In some places, the\ninhabitants, without distinction of age or sex, were put indiscriminately\nto the sword; in others, they were forced to carry the pillage collected\nfrom their own dwellings, which, after being thus stripped, were\nconsigned to the flames.*\n * \"This conflagration accomplished, they had no sooner arrived in\n the midst of our army, than the volunteers, in imitation of their\n commanders, seized what little they had preserved, and massacred\n them.--But this is not all: a whole municipality, in their scarfs of\n office, were sacrificed; and at a little village, inhabited by about\n fifty good patriots, who had been uniform in their resistance of the\n insurgents, news is brought that their brother soldiers are coming\n to assist them, and to revenge the wrongs they have suffered. A\n friendly repast is provided, the military arrive, embrace their\n ill-fated hosts, and devour what they have provided; which is no\n sooner done, than they drive all these poor people into the\n churchyard, and stab them one after another.\"\n Report of Faure, Vice-President of a Military Commission at\n Fontenay.\n--The heads of the prisoners served occasionally as marks for the\nofficers to shoot at for trifling wagers, and the soldiers, who imitated\nthese heinous examples, used to conduct whole hundreds to the place of\nexecution, singing _\"allons enfans de la patrie.\"_*\n * Woe to those who were unable to walk, for, under pretext that\n carriages could not be found to convey them, they were shot without\n hesitation!--Benaben.\nThe insurgents had lost Cholet, Chatillon, Mortagne, &c. Yet, far from\nbeing vanquished by the day appointed, they had crossed the Loire in\ngreat force, and, having traversed Brittany, were preparing to make an\nattack on Granville. But this did not prevent Barrere from announcing to\nthe convention, that La Vendee was no more, and the galleries echoed with\napplauses, when they were told that the highways were impassable, from\nthe numbers of the dead, and that a considerable part of France was one\nvast cemetery. This intelligence also tranquillized the paternal\nsolicitude of the legislature, and, for many months, while the system of\ndepopulation was pursued with the most barbarous fury, it was not\npermissible even to suspect that the war was yet unextinguished.\nIt is only since the trial of the Nantais, that the state of La Vendee\nhas again become a subject of discussion: truth has now forced its way,\nand we learn, that, whatever may be the strength of these unhappy people,\ntheir minds, embittered by suffering, and animated by revenge, are still\nless than ever disposed to submit to the republican government. The\ndesign of total extirpation, once so much insisted on, is at present said\nto be relinquished, and a plan of instruction and conversion is to be\nsubstituted for bayonets and conflagrations. The revolted countries are\nto be enlightened by the doctrines of liberty, fanaticism is to be\nexposed, and a love of the republic to succeed the prejudices in favour\nof Kings and Nobles.--To promote these objects, is, undoubtedly, the real\ninterest of the Convention; but a moralist, who observes through another\nmedium, may compare with regret and indignation the instructors with the\npeople they are to illumine, and the advantages of philosophy over\nignorance.\nLequinio, one of the most determined reformers of the barbarism of La\nVendee, proposes two methods: the first is, a general massacre of all the\nnatives--and the only objection it seems susceptible of in his opinion\nis, their numbers; but as he thinks on this account it may be attended\nwith difficulty, he is for establishing a sort of perpetual mission of\nRepresentatives, who, by the influence of good living and a company of\nfiddlers and singers, are to restore the whole country to peace.*--\n *\"The only difficulty that presents itself is, to determine whether\n recourse shall be had to the alternative of indulgence, or if it\n will not be more advantageous to persist in the plan of total\n destruction.\n \"If the people that still remain were not more than thirty or forty\n thousand, the shortest way would doubtless be, to cut all their\n throats (egorger), agreeably to my first opinion; but the population\n is immense, amounting still to four hundred thousand souls.--If\n there were no hope of succeeding by any other methods, certainly it\n were better to kill all (egorger), even were there five hundred\n thousand.\n \"But what are we to understand by measures of rigour? Is there no\n distinction to be made between rigorous and barbarous measures? The\n utmost severity is justified on the plea of the general good, but\n nothing can justify barbarity. If the welfare of France\n necessitated the sacrifice of the four hundred thousand inhabitants\n of La Vendee, and the countries in rebellion adjoining, they ought\n to be sacrificed: but, even in this case, there would be no excuse\n for those atrocities which revolt nature, which are an outrage to\n social order, and repugnant equally to feeling (sentiment) and\n reason; and in cutting off so many entire generations for the good\n of the country, we ought not to suffer the use of barbarous means in\n a single instance.\n \"Now the most effectual way to arrive at this end (converting the\n people), would be by joyous and fraternal missions, frank and\n familiar harangues, civic repasts, and, above all, dancing.\n \"I could wish, too, that during their circuits in these countries,\n the Representatives were always attended by musicians. The expence\n would be trifling, compared with the good effect; if, as I am\n strongly persuaded, we could thus succeed in giving a turn to the\n public mind, and close the bleeding arteries of these fertile and\n unhappy provinces.\"\n Lequinio, Guerre de La Vendee.\n And this people, who were either to have their throats cut, or be\n republicanized by means of singing, dancing, and revolutionary Pans\n and Silenus's, already beheld their property devastated by pillage\n or conflagration, and were in danger of a pestilence from the\n unburied bodies of their families.--Let the reader, who has seen\n Lequinio's pamphlet, compare his account of the sufferings of the\n Vendeans, and his project for conciliating them. They convey a\n strong idea of the levity of the national character; but, in this\n instance, I must suppose, that nature would be superior to local\n influence; and I doubt if Lequinio's jocund philosophy will ever\n succeed in attaching the Vendeans to the republic.\n--Camille Desmouins, a republican reformer, nearly as sanguinary, though\nnot more liberal, thought the guillotine disgraced by such ignorant prey,\nand that it were better to hunt them down like wild beasts; or, if made\nprisoners, to exchange them against the cattle of their country!--The\neminently informed Herault de Sechelles was the patron and confidant of\nthe exterminating reforms of Carrier; and Carnot, when the mode of\nreforming by noyades and fusillades was debated at the Committee, pleaded\nthe cause of Carrier, whom he describes as a good, nay, an excellent\npatriot.--Merlin de Thionville, whose philosophy is of a more martial\ncast, was desirous that the natives of La Vendee should be completely\nannihilated, in order to furnish in their territory and habitations a\nrecompence for the armies.--Almost every member of the Convention has\nindividually avowed principles, or committed acts, from which common\nturpitude would recoil, and, as a legislative body, their whole code has\nbeen one unvarying subversion of morals and humanity. Such are the men\nwho value themselves on possessing all the advantages the Vendeans are\npretended to be in want of.--We will now examine what disciples they have\nproduced, and the benefits which have been derived from their\ninstructions.\nEvery part of France remarkable for an early proselytism to the\nrevolutionary doctrines has been the theatre of crimes unparalleled in\nthe annals of human nature. Those who have most boasted their contempt\nfor religious superstition have been degraded by an idolatry as gross as\nany ever practiced on the Nile; and the most enthusiastic republicans\nhave, without daring to murmur, submitted for two years successively to a\nhorde of cruel and immoral tyrants.--A pretended enfranchisement from\npolitical and ecclesiastical slavery has been the signal of the lowest\ndebasement, and the most cruel profligacy: the very Catechumens of\nfreedom and philosophy have, while yet in their first rudiments,\ndistinguished themselves as proficients in the arts of oppression and\nservility, of intolerance and licentiousness.--Paris, the rendezvous of\nall the persecuted patriots and philosophers in Europe, the centre of the\nrevolutionary system, whose inhabitants were illumined by the first rays\nof modern republicanism, and who claim a sort of property in the rights\nof man, as being the original inventors, may fairly be quoted as an\nexample of the benefits that would accrue from a farther dissemination of\nthe new tenets.\nWithout reverting to the events of August and September, 1792, presided\nby the founders of liberty, and executed by their too apt sectaries, it\nis notorious that the legions of Paris, sent to chastise the\nunenlightened Vendeans, were the most cruel and rapacious banditti that\never were let loose to afflict the world. Yet, while they exercised this\nsavage oppression in the countries near the Loire, their fellow-citizens\non the banks of the Seine crouched at the frown of paltry tyrants, and\nwere unresistingly dragged to dungeons, or butchered by hundreds on the\nscaffold.--At Marseilles, Lyons, Bourdeaux, Arras, wherever these baleful\nprinciples have made converts, they have made criminals and victims; and\nthose who have been most eager in imbibing or propagating them have, by a\nnatural and just retribution, been the first sacrificed. The new\ndiscoveries in politics have produced some in ethics not less novel, and\nuntil the adoption of revolutionary doctrines, the extent of human\nsubmission or human depravity was fortunately unknown.\nIn this source of guilt and misery the people of La Vendee are now to be\ninstructed--that people, who are acknowledged to be hospitable, humane,\nand laborious, and whose ideas of freedom may be better estimated by\ntheir resistance to a despotism which the rest of France has sunk under,\nthan by the jargon of pretended reformers.--I could wish, that not only\nthe peasants of La Vendee, but those of all other countries, might for\never remain strangers to such pernicious knowledge. It is sufficient for\nthis useful class of men to be taught the simple precepts of religion and\nmorality, and those who would teach them more, are not their benefactors.\nOur age is, indeed, a literary age, and such pursuits are both liberal\nand laudable in the rich and idle; but why should volumes of politics or\nphilosophy be mutilated and frittered into pamphlets, to inspire a\ndisgust for labour, and a taste for study or pleasure, in those to whom\nsuch disgusts or inclinations are fatal. The spirit of one author is\nextracted, and the beauties of another are selected, only to bewilder the\nunderstanding, and engross the time, of those who might be more\nprofitably employed.\nI know I may be censured as illiberal; but I have, during my abode in\nthis country, sufficiently witnessed the disastrous effects of corrupting\na people through their amusements or curiosity, and of making men neglect\ntheir useful callings to become patriots and philosophers.*--\n *This right of directing public affairs, and neglecting their own,\n we may suppose essential to republicans of the lower orders, since\n we find the following sentence of transportation in the registers of\n a popular commission:\n \"Bergeron, a dealer in skins--suspected--having done nothing in\n favour of the revolution--extremely selfish (egoiste,) and blaming\n the Sans-Culottes for neglecting their callings, that they may\n attend only to public concerns.\"--Signed by the members of the\n Commission and the two Committees.\n--_\"Il est dangereux d'apprendre au peuple a raisonner: il ne faut pas\nl'eclairer trop, parce qu'il n'est pas possible de l'eclairer assez.\"_\n[\"It is dangerous to teach the people to reason--they should not be too\nmuch enlightened, because it is not possible to enlighten them\nsufficiently.\"]--When the enthusiasm of Rousseau's genius was thus\nusefully submitted to his good sense and knowledge of mankind, he little\nexpected every hamlet in France would be inundated with scraps of the\ncontrat social, and thousands of inoffensive peasants massacred for not\nunderstanding the Profession de Foi.\nThe arguments of mistaken philanthropists or designing politicians may\ndivert the order of things, but they cannot change our nature--they may\ncreate an universal taste for literature, but they will never unite it\nwith habits of industry; and until they prove how men are to live without\nlabour, they have no right to banish the chearful vacuity which usually\naccompanies it, by substituting reflections to make it irksome, and\npropensities with which it is incompatible.\nThe situation of France has amply demonstrated the folly of attempting to\nmake a whole people reasoners and politicians--there seems to be no\nmedium; and as it is impossible to make a nation of sages, you let loose\na horde of savages: for the philosophy which teaches a contempt for\naccustomed restraints, is not difficult to propagate; but that superior\nkind, which enables men to supply them, by subduing the passions that\nrender restraints necessary, is of slow progress, and never can be\ngeneral.\nI have made the war of La Vendee more a subject of reflection than\nnarrative, and have purposely avoided military details, which would be\nnot only uninteresting, but disgusting. You would learn no more from\nthese desultory hostilities, than that the defeats of the republican\narmies were, if possible, more sanguinary than their victories; that the\nroyalists, who began the war with humanity, were at length irritated to\nreprisals; and that more than two hundred thousand lives have already\nbeen sacrificed in the contest, yet undecided.\nAmiens, Oct. 24, 1794.\nRevolutions, like every thing else in France, are a mode, and the\nConvention already commemorate four since 1789: that of July 1789, which\nrendered the monarchical power nugatory; that of August the 10th, 1792,\nwhich subverted it; the expulsion of the Brissotins, in May 1793; and the\ndeath of Robespierre, in July 1794.\nThe people, accustomed, from their earliest knowledge, to respect the\nperson and authority of the King, felt that the events of the two first\nepochs, which disgraced the one and annihilated the other, were violent\nand important revolutions; and, as language which expresses the public\nsentiment is readily adopted, it soon became usual to speak of these\nevents as the revolutions of July and August.\nThe thirty-first of May has always been viewed in a very different light,\nfor it was not easy to make the people at large comprehend how the\nsuccession of Robespierre and Danton to Brissot and Roland could be\nconsidered as a revolution, more especially as it appeared evident that\nthe principles of one party actuated the government of the other. Every\ntown had its many-headed monster to represent the defeat of the\nFoederalists, and its mountain to proclaim the triumph of their enemies\nthe Mountaineers; but these political hieroglyphics were little\nunderstood, and the merits of the factions they alluded to little\ndistinguished--so that the revolution of the thirty-first of May was\nrather a party aera, than a popular one.\nThe fall of Robespierre would have made as little impression as that of\nthe Girondists, if some melioration of the revolutionary system had not\nsucceeded it; and it is in fact only since the public voice, and the\ninterest of the Convention, have occasioned a change approaching to\nreform, that the death of Robespierre is really considered as a benefit.\nBut what was in itself no more than a warfare of factions, may now, if\nestimated by its consequences, be pronounced a revolution of infinite\nimportance. The Jacobins, whom their declining power only rendered more\ninsolent and daring, have at length obliged the Convention to take\ndecided measures against them, and they are now subject to such\nregulations as must effectually diminish their influence, and, in the\nend, dissolve their whole combination. They can no longer correspond as\nsocieties, and the mischievous union which constituted their chief force,\ncan scarcely be supported for any time under the present restrictions.*\n * \"All affiliations, aggregations, and foederations, as well as\n correspondences carried on collectively between societies, under\n whatever denomination they may exist, are henceforth prohibited, as\n being subversive of government, and contrary to the unity of the\n republic.\n \"Those persons who sign as presidents or secretaries, petitions or\n addresses in a collective form, shall be arrested and confined as\n suspicious, &c. &c.--Whoever offends in any shape against the\n present law, will incur the same penalty.\"\n The whole of the decree is in the same spirit. The immediate and\n avowed pretext for this measure was, that the popular societies, who\n have of late only sent petitions disagreeable to the Convention, did\n not express the sense of the people. Yet the deposition of the\n King, and the establishment of the republic, had no other sanction\n than the adherence of these clubs, who are now allowed not to be the\n nation, and whose very existence as then constituted is declared to\n be subversive of government.\nIt is not improbable, that the Convention, by suffering the clubs still\nto exist, after reducing them to nullity, may hope to preserve the\ninstitution as a future resource against the people, while it represses\ntheir immediate efforts against itself. The Brissotins would have\nattempted a similar policy, but they had nothing to oppose to the\nJacobins, except their personal influence. Brissot and Roland took part\nwith the clubs, as they approved the massacres of August and September,\njust as far as it answered their purpose; and when they were abandoned by\nthe one, and the other were found to incur an unprofitable odium, they\nacted the part which Tallien and Freron act now under the same\ncircumstances, and would willingly have promoted the destruction of a\npower which had become inimical to them.*--\n * Brissot and Roland were more pernicious as Jacobins than the most\n furious of their successors. If they did not in person excite the\n people to the commission of crimes, they corrupted them, and made\n them fit instruments for the crimes of others. Brissot might affect\n to condemn the massacres of September in the gross, but he is known\n to have enquired with eager impatience, and in a tone which implied\n he had reasons for expecting it, whether De Morande, an enemy he\n wished to be released from, was among the murdered.\n--Their imitators, without possessing more honesty, either political or\nmoral, are more fortunate; and not only Tallien and Freron, who since\ntheir expulsion from the Jacobins have become their most active enemies,\nare now in a manner popular, but even the whole Convention is much less\ndetested than it was before.\nIt is the singular felicity of the Assembly to derive a sort of\npopularity from the very excesses it has occasioned or sanctioned, and\nwhich, it was natural to suppose, would have consigned it for ever to\nvengeance or obloquy; but the past sufferings of the people have taught\nthem to be moderate in their expectations; and the name of their\nrepresentation has been so connected with tyranny of every sort, that it\nappears an extraordinary forbearance when the usual operations of\nguillotines and mandates of arrest are suspended.\nThus, though the Convention have not in effect repaired a thousandth part\nof their own acts of injustice, or done any good except from necessity,\nthey are overwhelmed with applauding addresses, and affectionate\ninjunctions not to quit their post. What is still more wonderful, many\nof these are sincere; and Tallien, Freron, Legendre, &c. with all their\nrevolutionary enormities on their heads, are now the heroes of the\nreviving aristocrats.\nSituated as things are at present, there is much sound policy in\nflattering the Convention into a proper use of their power, rather than\nmaking a convulsive effort to deprive them of it. The Jacobins would\ndoubtless avail themselves of such a movement; and this is so much\napprehended, that it has given rise to a general though tacit agreement\nto foment the divisions between the Legislature and the Clubs, and to\nsupport the first, at least until it shall have destroyed the latter.\nThe late decrees, which obstruct the intercourse and affiliation of\npopular societies, may be regarded as an event not only beneficial to\nthis country, but to the world in general; because it is confessed, that\nthese combinations, by means of which the French monarchy was subverted,\nand the King brought to the scaffold, are only reconcileable with a\nbarbarous and anarchical government.\nThe Convention are now much occupied on two affairs, which call forth all\ntheir \"natural propensities,\" and afford a farther confirmation of this\nfact--that their feelings and principles are always instinctively at war\nwith justice, however they may find it expedient to affect a regard for\nit--_C'est la chatte metamorphosee en femme_ [The cat turned into a\nwoman.]--\n _\"En vain de son train ordinaire\"\n \"On la veut desaccoutumer,\n \"Quelque chose qu'on puisse faire\n \"On ne fauroit la reformer.\"_\nThe Deputies who were imprisoned as accomplices of the Girondists, and on\nother different pretexts, have petitioned either to be brought to trial\nor released; and the abominable conduct of Carrier at Nantes is so fully\nsubstantiated, that the whole country is impatient to have some steps\ntaken towards bringing him to punishment: yet the Convention are averse\nfrom both these measures--they procrastinate and elude the demand of\ntheir seventy-two colleagues, who were arrested without a specific\ncharge; while they almost protect Carrier, and declare, that in cases\nwhich tend to deprive a Representative of his liberty, it is better to\nreflect thirty times than once. This is curious doctrine with men who\nhave sent so many people arbitrarily to the scaffold, and who now detain\nseventy-two Deputies in confinement, they know not why.\nThe ashes of Rousseau have recently been deposited with the same\nceremonies, and in the same place, as those of Marat. We should feel for\nsuch a degradation of genius, had not the talents of Rousseau been\nfrequently misapplied; and it is their misapplication which has levelled\nhim to an association with Marat. Rousseau might be really a fanatic,\nand, though eccentric, honest; yet his power of adorning impracticable\nsystems, it must be acknowledged, has been more mischievous to society\nthan a thousand such gross impostors as Marat.\nI have learned since my return from the Providence, the death of Madame\nElizabeth. I was ill when it happened, and my friends took some pains to\nconceal an event which they knew would affect me. In tracing the motives\nof the government for this horrid action, it may perhaps be sufficiently\naccounted for in the known piety and virtues of this Princess; but\nreasons of another kind have been suggested to me, and which, in all\nlikelihood, contributed to hasten it. She was the only person of the\nroyal family of an age competent for political transactions who had not\nemigrated, and her character extorted respect even from her enemies. [The\nPrince of Conti was too insignificant to be an object of jealousy in this\nway.] She must therefore, of course, since the death of the Queen, have\nbeen an object of jealousy to all parties. Robespierre might fear that\nshe would be led to consent to some arrangement with a rival faction for\nplacing the King on the throne--the Convention were under similar\napprehensions with regard to him; so that the fate of this illustrious\nsufferer was probably gratifying to every part of the republicans.\nI find, on reading her trial, (if so it may be called,) a repetition of\none of the principal charges against the Queen--that of trampling on the\nnational colours at Versailles, during an entertainment given to some\nnewly-arrived troops. Yet I have been assured by two gentlemen,\nperfectly informed on the subject, and who were totally unacquainted with\neach other, that this circumstance, which has been so usefully enlarged\nupon, is false,* and that the whole calumny originated in the jealousy of\na part of the national guard who had not been invited.\n * This infamous calumny (originally fabricated by Lecointre the\n linen draper, then an officer of the National Guard, now a member of\n the council of 500) was amply confuted by M. Mounier, who was\n President of the States-General at the time, in a publication\n intitled \"_Expose de ma Conduite,_\" which appeared soon after the\n event--in the autumn of 1789.--Editor.\nBut this, as well as the taking of the Bastille, and other revolutionary\nfalsehoods, will, I trust, be elucidated. The people are now undeceived\nonly by their calamities--the time may come, when it will be safe to\nproduce their conviction by truth. Heroes of the fourteenth of July, and\npatriots of the tenth of August, how will ye shrink from it!--Yours, &c.\nAmiens, Nov. 2, 1794.\nEvery post now brings me letters from England; but I perceive, by the\nsuppressed congratulations of my friends, that, though they rejoice to\nfind I am still alive, they are far from thinking me in a state of\nsecurity. You, my dear Brother, must more particularly have lamented the\ntedious confinement I have endured, and the inconveniencies to which I\nhave been subjected; I am, however, persuaded that you would not wish me\nto have been exempt from a persecution in which all the natives of\nEngland, who are not a disgrace to their country, as well as some that\nare so, have shared. Such an exemption would now be deemed a reproach;\nfor, though it must be confessed that few of us have been voluntary\nsufferers, we still claim the honour of martyrdom, and are not very\ntolerant towards those who, exposed by their situation, may be supposed\nto have owed their protection to their principles.\nThere are, indeed, many known revolutionists and republicans, who, from\nparty disputes, personal jealousies, or from being comprised in some\ngeneral measure, have undergone a short imprisonment; and these men now\nwish to be confounded with their companions who are of a different\ndescription. But such persons are carefully distinguished;* and the\naristocrats have, in their turn, a catalogue of suspicious people--that\nis, of people suspected of not having been suspicious.\n * Mr. Thomas Paine, for instance, notwithstanding his sufferings, is\n still thought more worthy of a seat in the Convention or the\n Jacobins, than of an apartment in the Luxembourg.--Indeed I have\n generally remarked, that the French of all parties hold an English\n republican in peculiar abhorrence.\nIt is now the fashion to talk of a sojourn in a maison d'arret with\ntriumph; and the more decent people, who from prudence or fear had been\nforced to seek refuge in the Jacobin clubs, are now solicitous to\nproclaim their real motives. The red cap no longer \"rears its hideous\nfront\" by day, but is modestly converted into a night-cap; and the bearer\nof a diplome de Jacobin, instead of swinging along, to the annoyance of\nall the passengers he meets, paces soberly with a diminished height, and\nan air not unlike what in England we call sneaking. The bonnet rouge\nbegins likewise to be effaced from flags at the doors; and, as though\nthis emblem of liberty were a very bad neighbour to property, its\nrelegation seems to encourage the re-appearance of silver forks and\nspoons, which are gradually drawn forth from their hiding-places, and\nresume their stations at table. The Jacobins represent themselves as\nbeing under the most cruel oppression, declare that the members of the\nConvention are aristocrats and royalists, and lament bitterly, that,\ninstead of fish-women, or female patriots of republican external, the\ngalleries are filled with auditors in flounces and anti-civic top-knots,\nfemmes a fontanges.\nThese imputations and grievances of the Jacobins are not altogether\nwithout foundation. People in general are strongly impressed with an\nidea that the Assembly are veering towards royalism; and it is equally\ntrue, that the speeches of Tallien and Freron are occasionally heard and\napplauded by fair elegantes, who, two years ago, would have recoiled at\nthe name of either. It is not that their former deeds are forgotten, but\nthe French are grown wise by suffering; and it is politic, when bad men\nact well, whatever the motive, to give them credit for it, as nothing is\nso likely to make them persevere, as the hope that their reputation is\nyet retrievable. On this principle the aristocrats are the eulogists of\nTallien, while the Jacobins remind him hourly of the massacres of the\npriests, and his official conduct as Secretary to the municipality or\nParis.*\n * Tallien was Seecretary to the Commune of Paris in 1792, and on the\n thirty-first of August he appeared at the bar of the Legislative\n Assembly with an address, in which he told them \"he had caused the\n refractory priests to be arrested and confined, and that in a few\n days the Land of Liberty should be freed of them.\"--The massacres of\n the prisons began two days after!\nAs soon as a Representative is convicted of harbouring an opinion\nunfavourable to pillage or murder, he is immediately declared an\naristocrat; or, if the Convention happen for a moment to be influenced by\nreason or justice, the hopes and fears of both parties are awakened by\nsuspicions that the members are converts to royalism.--For my own part,\nI believe they are and will be just what their personal security and\npersonal interest may suggest, though it is but a sorry sort of panegyric\non republican ethics to conclude, that every one who manifests the least\nsymptom of probity or decency, must of course be a royalist or an\naristocrat.\nNotwithstanding the harmony which appears to subsist between the\nConvention and the people, the former is much less popular in detail than\nin the gross. Almost every member who has been on mission, is accused of\ndilapidations and cruelties so heinous, that, if they had not been\ncommitted by Representans du Peuple, the criminal courts would find no\ndifficulty in deciding upon them.--But as theft or murder does not\ndeprive a member of his privileges, complaints of this nature are only\ncognizable by the Assembly, which, being yet in its first days of\nregeneration, is rather scrupulous of defending such amusements overtly.\nAlarmed, however, at the number, and averse from the precedent of these\ndenunciations, it has now passed a variety of decrees, which are termed a\nguarantee of the national representation, and which in fact guarantee it\nso effectually, that a Deputy may do any thing in future with impunity,\nprovided it does not affect his colleagues. There are now so many forms,\nreports, and examinations, that several months may be employed before the\nperson of a delinquent, however notorious his guilt, can be secured. The\nexistence of a fellow-creature should, doubtless, be attacked with\ncaution; for, though he may have forfeited his claims on our esteem, and\neven our pity, religion has preserved him others, of which he should not\nbe deprived.--But when we recollect that all these merciful ceremonies\nare in favour of a Carrier or a Le Bon, and that the King, Madame\nElizabeth, and thousands of innocent people, were hurried to execution,\nwithout being allowed the consolations of piety or affection, which only\na mockery of justice might have afforded them; when, even now, priests\nare guillotined for celebrating masses in private, and thoughtless people\nfor speaking disrespectfully of the Convention--the heart is at variance\nwith religion and principle, and we regret that mercy is to be the\nexclusive portion of those who were never accessible to its dictates.*\n * The denunciation being first presented to the Assembly, they are\n to decide whether it shall be received. If they determine in the\n affirmative, it is sent to the three Committees of Legislation,\n Public Welfare, and General Safety, to report whether there may be\n room for farther examination. In that case, a commission of\n twenty-one members is appointed to receive the proofs of the accuser,\n and the defence of the accused. These Commissioners, after as long a\n delay as they may think fit to interpose, make known their opinion;\n and if it be against the accused, the Convention proceed to\n determine finally whether the matter shall be referred to the\n ordinary tribunal. All this time the culprit is at large, or, at\n worst, and merely for the form, carelessly guarded at his own\n dwelling.\nI would not \"pick bad from bad,\" but it irks one's spirit to see these\nmiscreants making \"assurance doubly sure,\" and providing for their own\nsafety with such solicitude, after sacrificing, without remorse, whatever\nwas most interesting or respectable in the country.--Yours, &c.\nBasse-ville, Arras, Nov. 6, 1794.\nSince my own liberation, I have been incessantly employed in endeavouring\nto procure the return of my friends to Amiens; who, though released from\nprison some time, could not obtain passports to quit Arras. After\nnumerous difficulties and vexations, we have at length succeeded, and I\nam now here to accompany them home.\nI found Mr. and Mrs. D____ much altered by the hardships they have\nundergone: Mrs. D____, in particular, has been confined some months in a\nnoisome prison called the Providence, originally intended as a house of\ncorrection, and in which, though built to contain an hundred and fifty\npersons, were crouded near five hundred females, chiefly ladies of Arras\nand the environs.--The superintendance of this miserable place was\nentrusted to a couple of vulgar and vicious women, who, having\ndistinguished themselves as patriots from the beginning of the\nrevolution, were now rewarded by Le Bon with an office as profitable\nas it was congenial to their natures.\nI know not whether it is to be imputed to the national character, or to\nthat of the French republicans only, but the cruelties which have been\ncommitted are usually so mixed with licentiousness, as to preclude\ndescription. I have already noticed the conduct of Le Bon, and it must\nsuffice to say, his agents were worthy of him, and that the female\nprisoners suffered every thing which brutality, rapaciousness, and\nindecency, could inflict. Mr. D____ was, in the mean time, transferred\nfrom prison to prison--the distress of separation was augmented by their\nmutual apprehensions and pecuniary embarrassments--and I much fear, the\nhealth and spirits of both are irretrievably injured.\nI regret my impatience in coming here, rather than waiting the arrival of\nmy friends at home; for the changes I observe, and the recollections they\ngive birth to, oppress my heart, and render the place hateful to me.--All\nthe families I knew are diminished by executions, and their property is\nconfiscated--those whom I left in elegant hotels are now in obscure\nlodgings, subsisting upon the superfluities of better days--and the\nsorrows of the widows and orphans are increased by penury; while the\nConvention, which affects to condemn the crimes of Le Bon, is profiting\nby the spoils of his victims.\nI am the more deeply impressed by these circumstances, because, when I\nwas here in 1792, several who have thus fallen, though they had nothing\nto reproach themselves with, were yet so much intimidated as to propose\nemigrating; and I then was of opinion, that such a step would be\nimpolitic and unnecessary. I hope and believe this opinion did not\ninfluence them, but I lament having given it, for the event has proved\nthat a great part of the emigrants are justifiable. It always appeared\nto me so serious and great an evil to abandon one's country, that when I\nhave seen it done with indifference or levity, I may perhaps have\nsometimes transferred to the measure itself a sentiment of\ndisapprobation, excited originally by the manner of its adoption. When I\nsaw people expatiate with calmness, and heard them speak of it as a means\nof distinguishing themselves, I did not sufficiently allow for the\ntendency of the French to make the best of every thing, or the influence\nof vanity on men who allow it to make part of the national\ncharacteristic: and surely, if ever vanity were laudable, that of marking\na detestation for revolutionary principles, and an attachment to loyalty\nand religion, may justly be considered so. Many whom I then accused of\nbeing too lightly affected by the prospect of exile, might be animated by\nthe hope of personally contributing to the establishment of peace and\norder, and rescuing their country from the banditti who were oppressing\nit; and it is not surprising that such objects should dazzle the\nimagination and deceive the judgment in the choice of measures by which\nthey were to be obtained.\nThe number of emigrants from fashion or caprice is probably not great;\nand whom shall we now dare to include under this description, when the\nhumble artizan, the laborious peasant, and the village priest, have\nensanguined the scaffold destined for the prince or the prelate?--But if\nthe emigrants be justifiable, the refugees are yet more so.\nBy Emigrants, I mean all who, without being immediately in danger, left\ntheir country through apprehension of the future--from attachment to the\npersons of the Princes, or to join companions in the army whom they might\ndeem it a disgrace to abandon.--Those whom I think may with truth be\nstyled Refugees, are the Nobility and Priests who fled when the people,\nirritated by the literary terrorists of the day, the Brissots, Rolands,\nCamille Desmoulins, &c. were burning their chateaux and proscribing their\npersons, and in whom expatriation cannot properly be deemed the effect of\nchoice. These, wherever they have sought an asylum, are entitled to our\nrespect and sympathy.\nYet, I repeat, we are not authorized to discriminate. There is no\nreasoning coldly on the subject. The most cautious prudence, the most\nliberal sacrifices, and the meanest condescensions, have not insured the\nlives and fortunes of those who ventured to remain; and I know not that\nthe absent require any other apology than the desolation of the country\nthey have quitted. Had my friends who have been slaughtered by Le Bon's\ntribunal persisted in endeavouring to escape, they might have lived, and\ntheir families, though despoiled by the rapacity of the government, have\nbeen comparatively happy.*\n * The first horrors of the revolution are well known, and I have\n seen no accounts which exaggerate them. The niece of a lady of my\n acquaintance, a young woman only seventeen, escaped from her\n country-house (whilst already in flames) with her infant at her\n breast, and literally without clothes to cover her. In this state\n she wandered a whole night, and when she at length reached a place\n where she procured assistance, was so exhausted that her life was in\n danger.--Another lady, whom I knew, was wounded in the arm by some\n peasants assembled to force from her the writings of her husband's\n estates. Even after this they still remained in France, submitted\n with cheerfulness to all the demands of patriotic gifts, forced\n loans, requisitions and impositions of every kind; yet her husband\n was nevertheless guillotined, and the whole of their immense\n property confiscated.\nRetrospections, like these, obliterate many of my former notions on the\nsubject of the Emigrants; and if I yet condemn emigration, it is only as\na general measure, impolitic, and inadequate to the purposes for which it\nwas undertaken. But errors of judgment, in circumstances so\nunprecedented, cannot be censured consistently with candour, through we\nmay venture to mark them as a discouragement to imitation; for if any\nnation should yet be menaced by the revolutionary scourge, let it beware\nof seeking external redress by a temporary abandonment of its interests\nto the madness of systemists, or the rapine of needy adventurers. We\nmust, we ought to, lament the fate of the many gallant men who have\nfallen, and the calamities of those who survive; but what in them has\nbeen a mistaken policy, will become guilt in those who, on a similar\noccasion, shall not be warned by their example. I am concerned when I\nhear these unhappy fugitives are any where objects of suspicion or\npersecution, as it is not likely that those who really emigrated from\nprinciple can merit such treatment: and I doubt not, that most of the\ninstances of treachery or misconduct ascribed to the Emigrants originated\nin republican emissaries, who have assumed that character for the double\npurpose of discrediting it, and of exercising their trade as spies.\nThe common people here, who were retained by Le Bon for several months to\nattend and applaud his executions, are still dissolute and ferocious, and\nopenly regret the loss of their pay, and the disuse of the guillotine.\n--I came to Arras in mourning, which I have worn since the receipt of\nyour first letter, but was informed by the lady with whom my friends\nlodge, that I must not attempt to walk the streets in black, for that it\nwas customary to insult those who did so, on a supposition that they were\nrelated to some persons who had been executed; I therefore borrowed a\nwhite undress, and stole out by night to visit my unfortunate\nacquaintance, as I found it was also dangerous to be seen entering houses\nknown to contain the remains of those families which had been dismembered\nby Le Bon's cruelties.\nWe return to Amiens to-morrow, though you must not imagine so formidable\na person as myself is permitted to wander about the republic without due\nprecaution; and I had much difficulty in being allowed to come, even\nattended by a guard, who has put me to a considerable expence; but the\nman is civil, and as he has business of his own to transact in the town,\nhe is no embarrassment to me.\nAmiens, Nov. 26, 1794.\nThe Constituent Assembly, the Legislative Assembly, and the National\nConvention, all seem to have acted from a persuasion, that their sole\nduty as revolutionists was comprised in the destruction of whatever\nexisted under the monarchy. If an institution were discovered to have\nthe slightest defect in principle, or to have degenerated a little in\npractice, their first step was to abolish it entirely, and leave the\nreplacing it for the present to chance, and for the future to their\nsuccessors. In return for the many new words which they have introduced\ninto the French language, they have expunged that of reform; and the\nhavock and devastation, which a Mahometan conqueror might have performed\nas successfully, are as yet the only effects of philosophy and\nrepublicanism.\nThis system of ignorance and violence seems to have persecuted with\npeculiar hostility all the ancient establishments for education; and the\nsame plan of suppressing daily what they have neither leisure nor\nabilities to supply, which I remarked to you two years ago, has directed\nthe Convention ever since. It is true, the interval has produced much\ndissertation, and engendered many projects; but those who were so\nunanimous in rejecting, were extremely discordant in adopting, and their\nown disputes and indecision might have convinced them of their\npresumption in condemning what they now found it so difficult to excel.\nSome decided in favour of public schools, after the example of Sparta--\nthis was objected to by others, because, said they, if you have public\nschools you must have edifices, and governors, and professors, who will,\nto a certainty, be aristocrats, or become so; and, in short, this will\nonly be a revival of the colleges of the old government--A third party\nproposed private seminaries, or that people might be at liberty to\neducate their children in the way they thought best; but this, it was\ndeclared, would have a still greater tendency to aristocracy; for the\nrich, being better able to pay than the poor, would engross all the\nlearning to themselves. The Jacobins were of opinion, that there should\nbe no schools, either public or private, but that the children should\nmerely be taken to hear the debates of the Clubs, where they would\nacquire all the knowledge necessary for republicans; and a few spirits of\na yet sublimer cast were adverse both to schools or clubs, and\nrecommended, that the rising generation should \"study the great book of\nNature alone.\" It is, however, at length concluded, that there shall be\na certain number of public establishments, and that people shall even be\nallowed to have their children instructed at home, under the inspection\nof the constituted authorities, who are to prevent the instillation of\naristocratic principles.*\n * We may judge of the competency of many of these people to be\n official censors of education by the following specimens from a\n report of Gregoire's. Since the rage for destruction has a little\n subsided, circular letters have been sent to the administrators of\n the departments, districts, &c. enquiring what antiquities, or other\n objects of curiosity, remain in their neighbourhood.--\"From one,\n (says Gregoire,) we are informed, that they are possessed of nothing\n in this way except four vases, which, as they have been told, are of\n porphyry. From a second we learn, that, not having either forge or\n manufactory in the neighbourhood, no monument of the arts is to be\n found there: and a third announces, that the completion of its\n library cataloges has been retarded, because the person employed at\n them ne fait pas la diplomatique!\"--(\"does not understand the\n science of diplomacy.\")\nThe difficulty as to the mode in which children were to be taught being\ngot over, another remained, not less liable to dispute--which was, the\nchoice of what they were to learn. Almost every member had a favourite\narticle---music, physic, prophylactics, geography, geometry, astronomy,\narithmetic, natural history, and botany, were all pronounced to be\nrequisites in an eleemosynary system of education, specified to be\nchiefly intended for the country people; but as this debate regarded only\nthe primary schools for children in their earliest years, and as one man\nfor a stipend of twelve hundred livres a year, was to do it all, a\ncompromise became necessary, and it has been agreed for the present, that\ninfants of six years shall be taught only reading, writing, gymnastics,\ngeometry, geography, natural philosophy, and history of all free nations,\nand that of all the tyrants, the rights of man, and the patriotic songs.\n--Yet, after these years of consideration, and days of debate, the\nAssembly has done no more than a parish-clerk, or an old woman with a\nprimer, and \"a twig whilom of small regard to see,\" would do better\nwithout its interference.\nThe students of a more advanced age are still to be disposed of, and the\ntask of devising an institution will not be easy; because, perhaps a\nCollot d'Herbois or a Duhem is not satisfied with the system which\nperfectioned the genius of Montesquieu or Descartes. Change, not\nimprovement, is the object--whatever bears a resemblance to the past must\nbe proscribed; and while other people study to simplify modes of\ninstruction, the French legislature is intent on rendering them as\ndifficult and complex as possible; and at the moment they decree that the\nwhole country shall become learned, they make it an unfathomable science\nto teach urchins of half a dozen years old their letters.\nForeigners, indeed, who judge only from the public prints, may suppose\nthe French far advanced towards becoming the most erudite nation in\nEurope: unfortunately, all these schools, primary, and secondary, and\ncentrical, and divergent, and normal,* exist as yet but in the\nrepertories of the Convention, and perhaps may not add \"a local\nhabitation\" to their names, till the present race** shall be unfit to\nreap the benefit of them.\n * _Les Ecoles Normales_ were schools where masters were to be\n instructed in the art of teaching. Certain deputies objected to\n them, as being of feudal institution, supposing that Normale had\n some reference to Normandy.\n ** This was a mistake, for the French seem to have adopted the\n maxim, \"that man is never too old to learn;\" and, accordingly, at\n the opening of the Normal schools, the celebrated Bougainville, now\n eighty years of age, became a pupil. This Normal project was,\n however, soon relinquished--for by that fatality which has hitherto\n attended all the republican institutions, it was found to have\n become a mere nursery for aristocrats.\nBut this revolutionary barbarism, not content with stopping the progress\nof the rising generation, has ravaged without mercy the monuments of\ndeparted genius, and persecuted with senseless despotism those who were\ncapable of replacing them. Pictures have been defaced, statues\nmutilated, and libraries burnt, because they reminded the people of their\nKings or their religion; while artists, and men of science or literature,\nwere wasting their valuable hours in prison, or expiring on the\nscaffold.--The moral and gentle Florian died of vexation. A life of\nabstraction and utility could not save the celebrated chymist, Lavoisier,\nfrom the Guillotine. La Harpe languished in confinement, probably, that\nhe might not eclipse Chenier, who writes tragedies himself; and every\nauthor that refused to degrade his talents by the adulation of tyranny\nhas been proscribed and persecuted. Palissot,* at sixty years old, was\ndestined to expiate in a prison a satire upon Rousseau, written when he\nwas only twenty, and escaped, not by the interposition of justice, but by\nthe efficacity of a bon mot.\n * Palissot was author of \"The Philosophers,\" a comedy, written\n thirty years ago, to ridicule Rousseau. He wrote to the\n municipality, acknowledged his own error, and the merits of\n Rousseau; yet, says he, if Rousseau were a god, you ought not to\n sacrifice human victims to him.--The expression, which in French is\n well tuned, pleased the municipality, and Palissot, I believe, was\n not afterwards molested.\n--A similar fate would have been awarded Dorat, [Author of \"Les Malheurs\nde l'Inconstance,\" and other novels.] for styling himself Chevalier in\nthe title-pages of his novels, had he not commuted his punishment for\nbase eulogiums on the Convention, and with the same pen, which has been\nthe delight of the French boudoir, celebrated Carrier's murders on the\nLoire under the appellation of \"baptemes civiques.\" Every province in\nFrance, we are informed by the eloquent pedantry of Gregoire, exhibits\ntraces of these modern Huns, which, though now exclusively attributed to\nthe agents of Robespierre and Mr. Pitt,* it is very certain were\nauthorized by the decrees of the Convention, and executed under the\nsanction of Deputies on mission, or their subordinates.\n * _\"Soyez sur que ces destructions se sont pour la plupart a\n l'instigation de nos ennemis--quel triomphe pour l'Anglais si il eul\n pu ecraser notre commerce par l'aneantissement des arts dont la\n culture enrichit le sien.\"_--\"Rest assured that these demolitions\n were, for the most part, effected at the instigation of our enemies\n --what a triumph would it have been for the English, if they had\n succeeded in crushing our commerce by the annihilation of the arts,\n the culture of which enriched their own.\"\n--If the principal monuments of art be yet preserved to gratify the\nnational taste or vanity, it is owing to the courage and devotion of\nindividuals, who obeyed with a protecting dilatoriness the destructive\nmandates of government.\nAt some places, orangeries were sold by the foot for fire-wood, because,\nas it was alledged, that republicans had more occasion for apples and\npotatoes than oranges.--At Mousseaux, the seals were put on the\nhot-houses, and all the plants nearly destroyed. Valuable remains of\nsculpture were condemned for a crest, a fleur de lys, or a coronet\nattached to them; and the deities of the Heathen mythology were made war\nupon by the ignorance of the republican executioners, who could not\ndistinguish them from emblems of feodality.*\n * At Anet, a bronze stag, placed as a fountain in a large piece of\n water, was on the point of being demolished, because stags are\n beasts of chace, and hunting is a feodal privilege, and stags of\n course emblems of feodality.--It was with some difficulty preserved\n by an amateur, who insisted, that stags of bronze were not included\n in the decree.--By a decree of the Convention, which I have formerly\n mentioned, all emblems of royalty or feodality were to be demolished\n by a particular day; and as the law made no distinction, it could\n not be expected that municipalities, &c. often ignorant or timid,\n should either venture or desire to spare what in the eyes of the\n connoisseur might be precious.\n \"At St. Dennis, (says the virtuoso Gregoire,) where the National\n Club justly struck at the tyrants even in their tombs, that of\n Turenne ought to have been spared; yet strokes of the sword are\n still visible on it.\"--He likewise complains, that at the Botanic\n Garden the bust of Linnaeus had been destroyed, on a presumption of\n its being that of Charles the Ninth; and if it had been that of\n Charles the Ninth, it is not easy to discern how the cause of\n liberty was served by its mutilation.--The artist or moralist\n contemplates with equal profit or curiosity the features of Pliny or\n Commodus; and History and Science will appreciate Linnaeus and\n Charles the Ninth, without regarding whether their resemblances\n occupy a palace, or are scattered in fragments by republican\n ignorance.--Long after the death of Robespierre, the people of\n Amiens humbly petitioned the Convention, that their cathedral,\n perhaps the most beautiful Gothic edifice in Europe, might be\n preserved; and to avoid giving offence by the mention of churches or\n cathedrals, they called it a Basilique.--But it is unnecessary to\n adduce any farther proof, that the spirit of what is now called\n Vandalism originated in the Convention. Every one in France must\n recollect, that, when dispatches from all corners announced these\n ravages, they were heard with as much applause, as though they had\n related so many victories gained over the enemy.\n--Quantities of curious medals have been melted down for the trifling\nvalue of the metal; and at Abbeville, a silver St. George, of uncommon\nworkmanship, and which Mr. Garrick is said to have desired to purchase at\na very high price, was condemned to the crucible--\n _\"----Sur tant de tresors\n \"Antiques monumens respectes jusqu'alors,\n \"Par la destruction signalant leur puissance,\n \"Las barbares etendirent leur stupide vengeance.\"\n \"La Religion,\"_ Racine.\nYet the people in office who operated these mischiefs were all appointed\nby the delegates of the Assembly; for the first towns of the republic\nwere not trusted even with the choice of a constable. Instead,\ntherefore, of feeling either surprise or regret at this devastation, we\nought rather to rejoice that it has extended no farther; for such agents,\narmed with such decrees, might have reduced France to the primitive state\nof ancient Gaul. Several valuable paintings are said to have been\nconveyed to England, and it will be curious if the barbarism of France in\nthe eighteenth century should restore to us what we, with a fanaticism\nand ignorance at least more prudent than theirs, sold them in the\nseventeenth. The zealots of the Barebones' Parliament are, however, more\nrespectable than the atheistical Vandals of the Convention; and, besides\nthe benefit of our example, the interval of a century and an half, with\nthe boast of a philosophy and a degree of illumination exceeding that of\nany other people, have rendered the errors of the French at once more\nunpardonable and more ridiculous; for, in assimilating their past\npresentations to their present conduct and situation, we do not always\nfind it possible to regret without a mixture of contempt.\nAmiens, Nov. 29, 1794.\nThe selfish policy of the Convention in affecting to respect and preserve\nthe Jacobin societies, while it deprived them of all power, and help up\nthe individuals who composed them to abhorrence, could neither satisfy\nnor deceive men versed in revolutionary expedients, and more accustomed\nto dictate laws than to submit to them.*\n * The Jacobins were at this time headed by Billaud Varenne, Collot,\n Thuriot, &c.--veterans, who were not likely to be deceived by\n temporizing.\nSupported by all the force of government, and intrinsically formidable by\ntheir union, the Clubs had long existed in defiance of public\nreprobation, and for some time they had braved not only the people, but\nthe government itself. The instant they were disabled from corresponding\nand communicating in that privileged sort of way which rendered them so\nconspicuous, they felt their weakness; and their desultory and\nunconnected efforts to regain their influence only served to complete its\nannihilation. While they pretended obedience to the regulations to which\nthe Convention had subjected them, they intrigued to promote a revolt,\nand were strenuously exerting themselves to gain partizans among the idle\nand dissolute, who, having subsisted for months as members of\nrevolutionary committees, and in other revolutionary offices, were\nnaturally averse from a more moderate government. The numbers of these\nwere far from inconsiderable: and, when it is recollected that this\ndescription of people only had been allowed to retain their arms, while\nall who had any thing to defend were deprived of them, we cannot wonder\nif the Jacobins entertained hopes of success.\nThe Convention, aware of these attempts, now employed against its ancient\naccomplices the same arts that had proved so fatal to all those whom it\nhad considered as its enemies. A correspondence was \"opportunely\"\nintercepted between the Jacobins and the Emigrants in Switzerland, while\nemissaries insinuated themselves into the Clubs, for the purpose of\nexciting desperate motions; or, dispersed in public places, contrived, by\nassuming the Jacobin costume, to throw on the faction the odium of those\nseditious exclamations which they were employed to vociferate.\nThere is little doubt that the designs of the Jacobins were nearly such\nas have been imputed to them. They had, however, become more politic\nthan to act thus openly, without being prepared to repel their enemies,\nor to support their friends; and there is every appearance that the Swiss\nplots, and the insurrections of the _Palais Egalite,_ were the devices of\nthe government, to give a pretext for shutting up the Club altogether,\nand to avert the real dangers with which it was menaced, by spreading an\nalarm of fictitious ones. A few idle people assembled (probably on\npurpose) about the _Palais Egalite,_ and the place where the Jacobins held\ntheir meetings, and the exclamation of \"Down with the Convention!\" served\nas the signal for hostilities. The aristocrats joined the partizans of\nthe Convention, the Jacobins were attacked in their hall, and an affray\nensued, in which several persons on each side were wounded. Both parties\naccused each other of being the aggressor, and a report of the business\nwas made to the Assembly; but the Assembly had already decided--and, on\nthe ninth of November, while the Jacobins were endeavouring to raise the\nstorm by a recapitulation of the rights of man, a decree was passed,\nprohibiting their debates, and ordering the national seal to be put on\ntheir doors and papers. The society were not in force to make\nresistance, and the decree was carried into execution as quietly as\nthough it had been levelled against the hotel of some devoted aristocrat.\nWhen the news of this event reached the departments, it occasioned an\nuniversal rejoicing--not such a rejoicing as is ordered for the successes\nof the French arms, (which always seems to be a matter of great\nindifference,) but a chearfulness of heart and of countenance; and many\npersons whom I do not remember to have ever seen in the least degree\nmoved by political events, appeared sincerely delighted at this--\n \"And those smile now, who never smil'd before,\n \"And those who always smil'd, now smile the more.\"\n Parnell's Claudian.\nThe armies might proceed to Vienna, pillage the Escurial, or subjugate\nall Europe, and I am convinced no emotion of pleasure would be excited\nequal to that manifested at the downfall of the Jacobins of Paris.\nSince this disgrace of the parent society, the Clubs in the departments\nhave, for the most part, dissolved themselves, or dwindled into peaceable\nassemblies to hear the news read, and applaud the convention.--The few\nJacobin emblems which were yet remaining have totally disappeared, and no\nvestige of Jacobinism is left, but the graves of its victims, and the\ndesolation of the country.\nThe profligate, the turbulent, the idle, and needy, of various countries\nin Europe, have been tempted by the successes of the French Jacobins to\nendeavour to establish similar institutions; but the same successes have\noperated as a warning to people of a different description, and the fall\nof these societies has drawn two confessions from their original\npartizans, which ought never to be forgotten--namely, that they were\nformed for the purpose of subverting the monarchy, and that their\nexistence is incompatible with regular government of any kind.--\"While\nthe monarchy still existed, (says the most philosophic Lequinio, with\nwhose scheme of reforming La Vendee you are already acquainted,) it was\npolitic and necessary to encourage popular societies, as the most\nefficacious means of operating its destruction; but now we have effected\na revolution, and have only to consolidate it by mild and philosophic\nlaws, these societies are dangerous, because they can produce only\nconfusion and disorder.\"--This is also the language of Brissot, who\nadmires the Jacobins from their origin till the end of 1792, but after\nthat period he admits they were only the instruments of faction, and\ndestructive of all property and order.*\n * The period of the Jacobin annals so much admired by Brissot,\n comprises the dethronement of the King, the massacres of the\n prisons, the banishment of the priests, &c. That which he\n reprobates begins precisely at the period when the Jacobins disputed\n the claims of himself and his party to the exclusive direction of\n the government.--See Brissot's Address to his Constituents.\n--We learn therefore, not from the abuses alone, but from the praises\nbestowed on the Jacobins, how much such combinations are to be dreaded.\nTheir merit, it appears, consisted in the subversion of the monarchical\ngovernment, and their crime in ceasing to be useful as agents of tyranny,\nthe moment they ceased to be principals.\nI am still sceptical as to the conversion of the Assembly, and little\ndisposed to expect good from it; yet whatever it may attempt in future,\nor however its real principles may take an ascendant, this fortunate\nconcurrence of personal interests, coalition of aristocrats and\ndemocrats, and political rivalry, have likewise secured France from a\nreturn of that excess of despotism which could have been exercised only\nby such means. It is true, the spirit of the nation is so much\ndepressed, that an effort to revive these Clubs might meet no resistance;\nbut the ridicule and opprobrium to which they have latterly been subject,\nand finally the manner of their being sacrificed by that very Convention,\nof which they were the sole creators and support, will, I think, cool the\nzeal, and diminish the numbers of their partizans too much for them ever\nagain to become formidable.\nThe conduct of Carrier has been examined according to the new forms, and\nhe is now on his trial--though not till the delays of the Convention had\ngiven rise to a general suspicion that they intended either to exonerate\nor afford him an opportunity of escaping; and the people were at last so\nhighly exasperated, that six thousand troops were added to the military\nforce of Paris, and an insurrection was seriously apprehended. This\nstimulated the diligence, or relaxed the indulgence, of the commission\nappointed to make the report on Carrier's conduct; and it being decided\nthat there was room for accusation, the Assembly confirmed the decision,\nand he was ordered into custody, to be tried along with the Revolutionary\nCommittee of Nantes which had been the instrument of his crimes.\nIt is a circumstance worth noting, that most of the Deputies who\nexplained the motives on which they thought Carrier guilty, were silent\non the subject of his drowning, shooting, and guillotining so many\nthousands of innocent people, and only declared him guilty, as having\nbeen wanting in respect towards Trehouard, one of his colleagues, and of\ninjuring the republican cause by his atrocities.\nThe fate of this monster exhibits a practical exposition of the enormous\nabsurdity of such a government. He is himself tried for the exercise of\na power declared to be unbounded when entrusted to him. The men tried\nwith him as his accomplices were obliged by the laws to obey him; and the\nacts of which they are all accused were known, applauded, and held out\nfor imitation, by the Convention, who now declare those very acts to be\ncriminal!--There is certainly no way of reconciling justice but by\npunishing both chiefs and subordinates, and the hour for this will yet\ncome.--Adieu.\nAmiens. [No date given.]\nI do not yet venture to correspond with my Paris friends by the post, but\nwhenever the opportunity of private conveyance occurs, I receive long and\ncircumstantial letters, as well as packets, of all the publications most\nread, and the theatrical pieces most applauded. I have lately drudged\nthrough great numbers of these last, and bestowed on them an attention\nthey did not in themselves deserve, because I considered it as one means\nof judging both of the spirit of the government and the morals of the\npeople.\nThe dramas produced at the beginning of the revolution were in general\ncalculated to corrupt the national taste and morals, and many of them\nwere written with skill enough to answer the purpose for which they were\nintended; but those that have appeared during the last two years, are so\nstupid and so depraved, that the circumstance of their being tolerated\neven for a moment implies an extinction both of taste and of morals.*\n * _\"Dans l'espace d'un an ils ont failli detruire le produit de\n plusieurs siecles de civilization.\"_--(\"In the space of a year they\n nearly destroyed the fruits of several ages of civilization.\")\nThe principal cause of this is the despotism of the government in making\nthe stage a mere political engine, and suffering the performance of such\npieces only as a man of honesty or genius would not submit to write.*\n * The tragedy of Brutus was interdicted on account of these two\n lines:\n _\"Arreter un romain sur de simple soupcons,\n \"C'est agir en tyrans, nous qui les punissons.\"_\n That of Mahomet for the following:\n _\"Exterminez, grands dieux, de la terre ou nous sommes\n \"Quiconque avec plaisir repand le sang des hommes.\"_\n It is to be remarked, that the last lines are only a simple axiom of\n humanity, and could not have been considered as implying a censure\n on any government except that of the French republic.\n--Hence a croud of scribblers, without shame or talents, have become the\nexclusive directors of public amusements, and, as far as the noise of a\ntheatre constitutes success, are perhaps more successful than ever was\nRacine or Moliere. Immorality and dulness have an infallible resource\nagainst public disapprobation in the abuse of monarchy and religion, or a\nniche for Mr. Pitt; and an indignant or impatient audience, losing their\nother feelings in their fears, are glad to purchase the reputation of\npatriotism by applauding trash they find it difficult to endure. The\ntheatres swarm with spies, and to censure a revolutionary piece, however\ndetestable even as a composition, is dangerous, and few have courage to\nbe the critics of an author who is patronized by the superintendants of\nthe guillotine, or who may retaliate a comment on his poetry by the\nsignificant prose of a mandat d'arret.\nMen of literature, therefore, have wisely preferred the conservation of\ntheir freedom to the vindication of their taste, and have deemed it\nbetter to applaud at the Theatre de la Republique, than lodge at St.\nLazare or Duplessis.--Thus political slavery has assisted moral\ndepravation: the writer who is the advocate of despotism, may be dull and\nlicentious by privilege, and is alone exempt from the laws of Parnassus\nand of decency.--One Sylvan Marechal, author of a work he calls\nphilosophie, has written a sort of farce, which has been performed very\ngenerally, where all the Kings in Europe are brought together as so many\nmonsters; and when the King of France is enquired after as not being\namong them, a Frenchman answers,--\"Oh, he is not here--we have\nguillotined him--we have cut off his head according to law.\"--In one\npiece, the hero is a felon escaped from the galleys, and is represented\nas a patriot of the most sublime principles; in another, he is the\nvirtuous conductor of a gang of banditti; and the principal character in\na third, is a ploughman turned deist and politician.\nYet, while these malevolent and mercenary scribblers are ransacking past\nages for the crimes of Kings or the abuses of religion, and imputing to\nboth many that never existed, they forget that neither their books nor\ntheir imagination are able to furnish scenes of guilt and misery equal to\nthose which have been presented daily by republicans and philosophers.\nWhat horror can their mock-tragedies excite in those who have\ncontemplated the Place de la Revolution? or who can smile at a farce in\nridicule of monarchy, that beholds the Convention, and knows the\ncharacters of the men who compose it?--But in most of these wretched\nproductions the absurdity is luckily not less conspicuous than the\nimmoral intention: their Princes, their Priests, their Nobles, are all\ntyrannical, vicious, and miserable; yet the common people, living under\nthese same vicious tyrants, are described as models of virtue,\nhospitality, and happiness. If, then, the auditors of such edifying\ndramas were in the habit of reasoning, they might very justly conclude,\nthat the ignorance which republicanism is to banish is desirable, and\nthat the diffusion of riches with which they have been flattered, will\nonly increase their vices, and subtract from their felicity.\nThere are, however, some patriotic spirits, who, not insensible to this\ndegeneracy of the French theatre, and lamenting the evil, have lately\nexercised much ingenuity in developing the cause. They have at length\ndiscovered, that all the republican tragedies, flat farces, and heavy\ncomedies, are attributable to Mr. Pitt, who has thought proper to corrupt\nthe authors, with a view to deprave the public taste. There is,\ncertainly, no combating this charge; for as, according to the assertions\nof the Convention, Mr. Pitt has succeeded in bribing nearly every other\ndescription of men in the republic, we may suppose the consciences of\nsuch scribblers not less flexible. Mr. Pitt, indeed, stands accused,\nsometimes in conjunction with the Prince of Cobourg, and sometimes on his\nown account, of successively corrupting the officers of the fleet and\narmy, all the bankers and all the farmers, the priests who say masses,\nand the people who attend them, the chiefs of the aristocrats, and the\nleaders of the Jacobins. The bakers who refuse to bake when they have no\nflour, and the populace who murmur when they have no bread, besides the\nmerchants and shopkeepers who prefer coin to assignats, are notoriously\npensioned by him: and even a part of the Representatives, and all the\nfrail beauties, are said to be enlisted in his service.--These\nmultifarious charges will be found on the journals of the Assembly, and\nwe must of course infer, that Mr. Pitt is the ablest statesman, or the\nFrench the most corrupt nation, existing.\nBut it is not only Barrere and his colleagues who suppose the whole\ncountry bribeable--the notion is common to the French in general; and\nvanity adding to the omnipotence of gold, whenever they speak of a battle\nlost, or a town taken, they conclude it impossible to have occurred but\nthrough the venal treachery of their officers.--The English, I have\nobserved, always judge differently, and would not think the national\nhonour sustained by a supposition that their commanders were vulnerable\nonly in the hand. If a general or an admiral happen to be unfortunate,\nit would be with the utmost reluctance that we should think of\nattributing his mischance to a cause so degrading; yet whoever has been\nused to French society will acknowledge, that the first suggestion on\nsuch events is _\"nos officiers ont ete gagnes,\"_ [Our officers were\nbought.] or _\"sans la trahison ce ne seroit pas arrive.\"_ [This could not\nhave happened without treachery.]--Pope's hyperbole of\n \"Just half the land would buy, and half be sold,\"\nis more than applicable here; for if we may credit the French themselves,\nthe buyers are by no means so well proportioned to the sellers.\nAs I have no new political intelligence to comment upon, I shall finish\nmy letter with a domestic adventure of the morning.--Our house was\nyesterday assigned as the quarters of some officers, who, with part of a\nregiment, were passing this way to join the Northern army. As they spent\nthe evening out, we saw nothing of them, but finding one was a Colonel,\nand the other a Captain, though we knew what republican colonels and\ncaptains might be, we thought it civil, or rather necessary, to send them\nan invitation to breakfast. We therefore ordered some milk coffee early,\n(for Frenchmen seldom take tea,) and were all assembled before the usual\ntime to receive our military guests. As they did not, however, appear,\nwe were ringing to enquire for them, when Mr. D____ entered from his\nmorning walk, and desired us to be at ease on their account, for that in\npassing the kitchen, he had perceived the Captain fraternizing over some\nonions, bread, and beer, with our man; while the Colonel was in close\nconference with the cook, and watching a pan of soup, which was warming\nfor his breakfast. We have learned since, that these heroes were very\nwilling to accept of any thing the servants offered them, but could not\nbe prevailed upon to approach us; though, you are to understand, this was\nnot occasioned either by timidity or incivility, but by mere ignorance.\n--Mr. D____ says, the Marquise and I have not divested ourselves of\naristocratic associations with our ideas of the military, and that our\ndeshabilles this morning were unusually coquetish. Our projects of\nconquest were, however, all frustrated by the unlucky intervention of\nBernardine's _soupe aux choux,_ [Cabbage-soup.] and Eustace's regale of\ncheese and onions.\n \"And with such beaux 'tis vain to be a belle.\"\nYours, &c.\nAmiens, Dec. 10, 1794.\nYour American friend passed through here yesterday, and delivered me the\ntwo parcels. As marks of your attention, they were very acceptable; but\non any other account, I assure you, I should have preferred a present of\na few pecks of wheat to all your fineries.\nI have been used to conclude, when I saw such strange and unaccountable\nabsurdities given in the French papers as extracts from the debates in\neither of your Houses of Parliament, that they were probably fabricated\nhere to serve the designs of the reigning factions: yet I perceive, by\nsome old papers which came with the muslins, that there are really\nmembers so ill-informed or so unprincipled, as to use the language\nattributed to them, and who assert that the French are attached to their\ngovernment, and call France \"a land of republicans.\"\nWhen it is said that a people are republicans, we must suppose they are\neither partial to republicanism as a system, or that they prefer it in\npractice. A little retrospection, perhaps, will determine both these\npoints better than the eloquence of your orators.\nA few men, of philosophic or restless minds, have, in various ages and\ncountries, endeavoured to enlighten or disturb the world by examinations\nand disputes on forms of government; yet the best heads and the best\nhearts have remained divided on the subject, and I never heard that any\nwriter was able to produce more than a partial conviction, even in the\nmost limited circle. Whence, then, did it happen in France, where\ninformation was avowedly confined, and where such discussions could not\nhave been general, that the people became suddenly inspired with this\npolitical sagacity, which made them in one day the judges and converts of\na system they could scarcely have known before, even by name?--At the\ndeposition of the King, the French, (speaking at large,) had as\nperspicuous a notion of republics, as they may be supposed to have of\nmathematics, and would have understood Euclid's Elements as well as the\nSocial Contract. Yet an assemblage of the worst and most daring men from\nevery faction, elected amidst massacres and proscription, the moment they\nare collected together, declare, on the proposal of Collot d'Herbois, a\nprofligate strolling player, that France shall be a republic.--Admitting\nthat the French were desirous of altering their form of government, I\nbelieve no one will venture to say such an inclination was ever\nmanifested, or that the Convention were elected in a manner to render\nthem competent to such a decision. They were not the choice of the\npeople, but chiefly emissaries imposed on the departments by the Jacobins\nand the municipality of Paris; and let those who are not acquainted with\nthe means by which the elections were obtained, examine the composition\nof the Assembly itself, and then decide whether any people being free\ncould have selected such men as Petion, Tallien, Robespierre, Brissot,\nCarrier, Taillefer, &c. &c. from the whole nation to be their\nRepresentatives.--There must, in all large associations, be a mixture of\ngood and bad; but when it is incontrovertible that the principal members\nof the Convention are monsters, who, we hope, are not to be paralleled--\nthat the rest are inferior rather in talents than wickedness, or cowards\nand ideots, who have supported and applauded crimes they only wanted\nopportunity to commit--it is not possible to conceive, that any people in\nthe world could make a similar choice. Yet if the French were absolutely\nunbiassed, and of their own free will made this collection, who would,\nafter such an example, be the advocates of general suffrage and popular\nrepresentation?--But, I repeat, the people were not free. They were not,\nindeed, influenced by bribes--they were intimidated by the horrors of the\nmoment; and along with the regulations for the new elections, were every\nwhere circulated details of the assassinations of August and September.*\n * The influence of the municipality of Paris on the new elections is\n well known. The following letter will show what instruments were\n employed, and the description of Representatives likely to be chosen\n under such auspices.\n \"Circular letter, written by the Committee of Inspection of the\n municipality of Paris to all the departments of the republic, dated\n the third of September, the second day of the massacres:\n \"The municipality of Paris is impatient to inform their brethren of\n the departments, that a part of the ferocious conspirators detained\n in the prisons have been put to death by the people: an act of\n justice which appeared to them indispensable, to restrain by terror\n those legions of traitors whom they must have left behind when they\n departed for the army. There is no doubt but the whole nation,\n after such multiplied treasons, will hasten to adopt the same\n salutary measure!\"--Signed by the Commune of Paris and the Minister\n of Justice.\n Who, after this mandate, would venture to oppose a member\n recommended by the Commune of Paris?\n--The French, then, neither chose the republican form of government,\nnor the men who adopted it; and are, therefore, not republicans on\nprinciple.--Let us now consider whether, not being republicans on\nprinciple, experience may have rendered them such.\nThe first effects of the new system were an universal consternation,\nthe disappearance of all the specie, an extravagant rise in the price of\nprovisions, and many indications of scarcity. The scandalous quarrels of\nthe legislature shocked the national vanity, by making France the\nridicule of all Europe, until ridicule was suppressed by detestation at\nthe subsequent murder of the King. This was followed by the efforts of\none faction to strengthen itself against another, by means of a general\nwar--the leaders of the former presuming, that they alone were capable of\nconducting it.\nTo the miseries of war were added revolutionary tribunals, revolutionary\narmies and committees, forced loans, requisitions, maximums, and every\nspecies of tyranny and iniquity man could devise or suffer; or, to use\nthe expression of Rewbell, [One of the Directory in 1796.] \"France was in\nmourning and desolation; all her families plunged in despair; her whole\nsurface covered with Bastilles, and the republican government become so\nodious, that the most wretched slave, bending beneath the weight of his\nchains, would have refused to live under it!\"\nSuch were the means by which France was converted into a land of\nrepublicans, and such the government to which your patriots assert the\nFrench people were attached: yet so little was this attachment\nappreciated here, that the mere institutions for watching and suppressing\ndisaffection amount, by the confession of Cambon, the financier, to\ntwenty-four millions six hundred and thirty-one thousand pounds sterling\na year!\nTo suppose, then, that the French are devoted to a system which has\nserved as a pretext for so many crimes, and has been the cause of so many\ncalamities, is to conclude them a nation of philosophers, who are able to\nendure, yet incapable of reasoning; and who suffer evils of every kind in\ndefence of a principle with which they can be little acquainted, and\nwhich, in practice, they have known only by the destruction it has\noccasioned.\nYou may, perhaps, have been persuaded, that the people submit patiently\nnow, for the sake of an advantage in perspective; but it is not in the\ndisposition of unenlightened men (and the mass of a people must\nnecessarily be so) to give up the present for the future. The individual\nmay sometimes atchieve this painful conquest over himself, and submit to\nevil, on a calculation of future retribution, but the multitude will ever\nprefer the good most immediately attainable, if not under the influence\nof that terror which supersedes every other consideration. Recollect,\nthen, the counsel of the first historian of our age, and \"suspend your\nbelief of whatever deviates from the laws of nature and the character of\nman;\" and when you are told the French are attached to a government which\noppresses them, or to principles of which they are ignorant, suppose\ntheir adoption of the one, and their submission to the other, are the\nresult of fear, and that those who make these assertions to the contrary,\nare either interested or misinformed.\nExcuse me if I have devoted a few pages to a subject which with you is\nobsolete. I am indignant at the perusal of such falsehoods; and though I\nfeel for the humiliation of great talents, I feel still more for the\ndisgrace such an abuse of them brings on our country.\nIt is not inapposite to mention a circumstance which happened to a friend\nof Mr. D____'s, some little time since, at Paris. He was passing through\nFrance, in his way from Italy, at the time of the general arrest, and was\ndetained there till the other day. As soon as he was released from\nprison, he applied in person to a member of the Convention, to learn when\nhe might hope to return to England. The Deputy replied, _\"Ma soi je n'en\nsais rien_ [Faith I can't tell you.]--If your Messieurs (naming some\nmembers in the opposition) had succeeded in promoting a revolution, you\nwould not have been in your cage so long--_mais pour le coup il faut\nattendre.\"_ [But now you must have patience.] It is not probable the\nmembers he named could have such designs, but Dumont once held the same\nlanguage to me; and it is mortifying to hear these miscreants suppose,\nthat factious or ambitious men, because they chance to possess talents,\ncan make revolutions in England as they have done in France.\nIn the papers which gave rise to these reflections, I observe that some\nof your manufacturing towns are discontented, and attribute the\nstagnation of their commerce to the war; but it is not unlikely, that the\nstagnation and failures complained of might have taken place, though the\nwar had not happened.--When I came here in 1792, every shop and warehouse\nwere over-stocked with English goods. I could purchase any article of\nour manufacture at nearly the retail price of London; and some I sent for\nfrom Paris, in the beginning of 1793, notwithstanding the reports of war,\nwere very little advanced. Soon after the conclusion of the commercial\ntreaty, every thing English became fashionable; and so many people had\nspeculated in consequence, that similar speculations took place in\nEngland. But France was glutted before the war; and all speculations\nentered into on a presumption of a demand equal to that of the first\nyears of the treaty, must have failed in a certain degree, though the two\ncountries had remained at peace.--Even after a two years cessation of\ndirect intercourse, British manufactures are every where to be procured,\nwhich is a sufficient proof that either the country was previously over\nsupplied, or that they are still imported through neutral or indirect\nchannels. Both these suppositions preclude the likelihood that the war\nhas so great a share in relaxing the activity of your commerce, as is\npretended.\nBut whatever may be the effect of the war, there is no prospect of peace,\nuntil the efforts of England, or the total ruin of the French finances,*\nshall open the way for it.\n * By a report of Cambon's at this time, it appears the expences of\n France in 1792 were eighteen millions sterling--in 1793, near ninety\n millions--and, in the spring of 1794, twelve and a half millions per\n month!--The church bells, we learn from the same authority, cost in\n coinage, and the purchase of copper to mix with the metal, five or\n six millions of livres more than they produced as money. The church\n plate, which was brought to the bar of the Convention with such\n eclat, and represented as an inexhaustible resource, amounted to\n scarcely a million sterling: for as the offering was every where\n involuntary, and promoted by its agents for the purposes of pillage,\n part was secreted, a still greater part stolen, and, as the\n conveyance to Paris was a sort of job, the expences often exceeded\n the worth--a patine, a censor, and a small chalice, were sent to the\n Convention, perhaps an hundred leagues, by a couple of Jacobin\n Commissioners in a coach and four, with a military escort. Thus,\n the prejudices of the people were outraged, and their property\n wasted, without any benefit, even to those who suggested the\n measure.\n--The Convention, indeed, have partly relinquished their project of\ndestroying all the Kings of the earth, and forcing all the people to be\nfree. But, though their schemes of reformation have failed, they still\nadhere to those of extirpation; and the most moderate members talk\noccasionally of \"vile islanders,\" and \"sailing up the Thames.\"*--\n * The Jacobins and the Moderates, who could agree in nothing else,\n were here perfectly in unison; so that on the same day we see the\n usual invectives of Barrere succeeded by menaces equally ridiculous\n from Pelet and Tallien--\n _\"La seule chose dont nous devons nous occuper est d'ecraser ce\n gouvernement infame.\"_\n Discours de Pelet, 14 Nov.\n \"The destruction of that infamous government is the only thing that\n ought to engage our attention.\"\n Pelet's Speech, 14 Nov. 1794.\n _\"Aujourdhui que la France peut en se debarrassant d'une partie de\n ses ennemis reporter la gloire de ses armes sur les bordes de la\n Tamise, et ecraser le gouvernement Anglais.\"\n Discours de Tallien._\n \"France, having now the opportunity of lessening the number of her\n enemies, may carry the glory of her arms to the banks of the Thames,\n and crush the English government.\"\n Tallien's Speech.\n _\"Que le gouvernement prenne des mesures sages pour faire une paix\n honorable avec quelques uns de nos ennemis, et a l'aide des\n vaisseaux Hollandais et Espagnols, portons nous ensuite avec vigueur\n sur les bordes de la Tamise, et detruisons la nouvelle Carthage.\"\n Discours de Tallien, 14 Nov._\n \"Let the government but adopt wise measures for making an honorable\n peace with a part of our enemies, and with the aid of the Dutch and\n Spanish navies, let us repair to the banks of the Thames, and\n destroy the modern Carthage.\"\n Tallien's Speech, 14 Nov. 1794.\nNo one is here ignorant of the source of Tallien's predilection for\nSpain, and we may suppose the intrigue at this time far advanced.\nProbably the charms of his wife (the daughter of Mons. Cabarrus, a French\nspeculator, formerly much encouraged by the Spanish government,\nafterwards disgraced and imprisoned, but now liberated) might not be the\nonly means employed to procure his conversion.\n--Tallien, Clauzel, and those who have newly assumed the character of\nrational and decent people, still use the low and atrocious language of\nBrissot, on the day he made his declaration of war; and perhaps hope, by\nexciting a national spirit of vengeance against Great Britain, to secure\ntheir lives and their pay, when they shall have been forced to make peace\non the Continent: for, be certain, the motives of these men are never to\nbe sought for in any great political object, but merely in expedients to\npreserve their persons and their plunder.\nThose who judge of the Convention by their daily harangues, and the\njustice, virtue, or talents which they ascribe to themselves, must\nbelieve them to be greatly regenerated: yet such is the dearth both of\nabilities and of worth of any kind, that Andre Dumont has been\nsuccessively President of the Assembly, Member of the Committee of\nGeneral Safety, and is now in that of Public Welfare.--Adieu.\nAmiens, Dec. 16, 1794.\nThe seventy-three Deputies who have been so long confined are now\nliberated, and have resumed their seats. Jealousy and fear for some time\nrendered the Convention averse from the adoption of this measure; but the\npublic opinion was so determined in favour of it, that farther resistance\nmight not have been prudent. The satisfaction created by this event is\ngeneral, though the same sentiment is the result of various conclusions,\nwhich, however, all tend to one object--the re-establishment of monarchy.\nThe idea most prevalent is, that these deputies, when arrested, were\nroyalists.*\n * This opinion prevailed in many places where the proscribed\n deputies took refuge. \"The Normans (says Louvet) deceived by the\n imputations in the newspapers, assisted us, under the idea that we\n were royalists: but abandoned us when they found themselves\n mistaken.\" In the same manner, on the appearance of these Deputies\n in other departments, armies were collecting very fast, but\n dispersed when they perceived these men were actuated only by\n personal fear or personal ambition, and that no one talked of\n restoring the monarchy.\n--By some it is thought, persecution may have converted them; but the\nreflecting part of the nation look on the greater number as adherents of\nthe Girondists, whom the fortunate violence of Robespierre excluded from\nparticipating in many of the past crimes of their colleagues, and who\nhave, in that alone, a reason for not becoming accomplices in those which\nmay be attempted in future.\nIt is astonishing to see with what facility people daily take on trust\nthings which they have it in their power to ascertain. The seventy-three\nowe a great part of the interest they have excited to a persuasion of\ntheir having voted either for a mild sentence on the King, or an appeal\nto the nation: yet this is so far from being true, that many of them were\nunfavourable to him on every question. But supposing it to have been\notherwise, their merit is in reality little enhanced: they all voted him\nguilty, without examining whether he was so or not; and in affecting\nmercy while they refused justice, they only aimed at conciliating their\npresent views with their future safety.\nThe whole claim of this party, who are now the Moderates of the\nConvention, is reducible to their having opposed the commission of crimes\nwhich were intended to serve their adversaries, rather than themselves.\nTo effect the dethronement of the King, and the destruction of those\nobnoxious to them, they approved of popular insurrections; but expected\nthat the people whom they had rendered proficients in cruelty, should\nbecome gentle and obedient when urged to resist their own authority; yet\nthey now come forth as victims of their patriotism, and call the heads of\nthe faction who are fallen--martyrs to liberty! But if they are victims,\nit is to their folly or wickedness in becoming members of such an\nassembly; and if their chiefs were martyrs, it was to the principles they\ninculcated.\nThe trial of the Brissotins was justice, compared with that of the King.\nIf the former were condemned without proof, their partizans should\nremember, that the revolutionary jury pretended to be influenced by the\nsame moral evidence they had themselves urged as the ground on which they\ncondemned the King; and if the people beheld with applause or\nindifference the execution of their once-popular idols, they only put in\npractice the barbarous lessons which those idols had taught them;--they\nwere forbidden to lament the fate of their Sovereign, and they rejoiced\nin that of Brissot and his confederates.--These men, then, only found the\njust retribution of their own guilt; and though it may be politic to\nforget that their survivors were also their accomplices, they are not\nobjects of esteem--and the contemporary popularity, which a long\nseclusion has obtained for them, will vanish, if their future conduct\nshould be directed by their original principles.*\n * Louvet's pamphlet had not at this time appeared, and the\n subsequent events proved, that the interest taken in these Deputies\n was founded on a supposition they had changed their principles; for\n before the close of the Convention they were as much objects of\n hatred and contempt as their colleagues.\nSome of these Deputies were the hirelings of the Duke of Orleans, and\nmost of them are individuals of no better reputation than the rest of the\nAssembly. Lanjuinais has the merit of having acted with great courage in\ndefence of himself and his party on the thirty-first of May 1792; but the\nfollowing anecdote, recited by Gregoire* in the Convention a few days ago\nwill sufficiently explain both his character and Gregoire's, who are now,\nhowever, looked up to as royalists, and as men comparatively honest.\n * Gregoire is one of the constitutional Clergy, and, from the habit\n of comparing bad with worse, is more esteemed than many of his\n colleagues; yet, in his report on the progress of Vandalism, he\n expresses himself with sanguinary indecency--\"They have torn (says\n he) the prints which represented the execution of Charles the first,\n because there were coats of arms on them. Ah, would to god we could\n behold, engraved in the same manner, the heads of all Kings, done\n from nature! We might then reconcile ourselves to seeing a\n ridiculous embellishment of heraldry accompany them.\"\n--\"When I first arrived at Versailles, (says Gregoire,) as member of the\nConstituent Assembly, (in 1789,) I met with Lanjuinais, and we took an\noath in concert to dethrone the King and abolish Nobility.\" Now, this\nwas before the alledged provocations of the King and Nobility--before the\nconstitution was framed--before the flight of the royal family to\nVarennes--and before the war. But almost daily confessions of this sort\nescape, which at once justify the King, and establish the infamy of the\nrevolutionists.\nThese are circumstances not to be forgotten, did not the sad science of\ndiscriminating the shades of wickedness, in which (as I have before\nnoticed) the French have been rendered such adepts, oblige them at\npresent to fix their hopes--not according to the degree of merit, but by\nthat of guilt. They are reduced to distinguish between those who\nsanction murders, and those who perpetrated them--between the sacrificer\nof one thousand victims, and that of ten--between those who assassinate,\nand those who only reward the assassin.*\n * Tallien is supposed, as agent of the municipality of paris, to\n have paid a million and a half of livres to the Septembrisers or\n assassins of the prisons! I know not whether the sum was in\n assignats or specie.--If in the former, it was, according to the\n exchange then, about two and thirty thousand pounds sterling: but if\n estimated in proportion to what might be purchased with it, near\n fifty thousand. Tallien has never denied the payment of the money--\n we may, therefore, conclude the charge to be true.\n--Before the revolution, they would not have known how to select, where\nall were objects of abhorrence; but now the most ignorant are casuists in\nthe gradations of turpitude, and prefer Tallien to Le Bon, and the Abbe\nSieyes to Barrere.\nThe crimes of Carrier have been terminated, not punished, by death. He\nmet his fate with a courage which, when the effect of innocence, is\nglorious to the sufferer, and consoling to humanity; but a career like\nhis, so ended, was only the confirmation of a brutal and ferocious mind.*\n * When Carrier was arrested, he attempted to shoot himself, and, on\n being prevented by the Gens-d'armes, he told them there were members\n of the Convention who would not forgive their having prevented his\n purpose--implying, that they apprehended the discoveries he might\n make on his trial. While he was dressing himself, (for they took\n him in bed,) he added, \"_Les Scelerats!_ (Meaning his more\n particular accomplices, who, he was told, had voted against him,)\n they deserved that I should be as dastardly as themselves.\" He\n rested his defence entirely on the decrees of the Convention.\n--Of thirty who were tried with him as his agents, and convicted of\nassisting at the drownings, shootings, &c. two only were executed, the\nrest were acquitted; because, though the facts were proved, the moral\nlatitude of the Revolutionary Jury* did not find the guilt of the\nintention--that is, the culprits were indisputably the murderers of\nseveral thousand people, but, according to the words of the verdict, they\ndid not act with a counter-revolutionary intention.\n * An English reader may be deceived by the name of Jury. The\n Revolutionary Jury was not only instituted, but even appointed by\n the Convention.--The following is a literal translation of some of\n the verdicts given on this occasion:\n \"That O'Sulivan is author and accomplice of several noyades\n (drownings) and unheard-of cruelties towards the victims delivered\n to the waves.\n \"That Lefevre is proved to have ordered and caused to be executed a\n noyade of men, women, and children, and to have committed various\n arbitrary acts.\n \"That General Heron is proved to have assassinated children, and\n worn publicly in his hat the ear of a man he had murdered. That he\n also killed two children who were peaceably watching sheep.\n \"That Bachelier is author and accomplice of the operations at\n Nantes, in signing arbitrary mandates of arrest, imposing vexatious\n taxes, and taking for himself plate, &c. found at the houses of\n citizens arrested on suspicion.\n \"That Joly is guilty, &c. in executing the arbitrary orders of the\n Revolutionary Committee, of tying together the victims destined to\n be drowned or shot.\"\n There are thirty-one articles conceived nearly in the same terms,\n and which conclude thus--\"All convicted as above, but not having\n acted with criminal or counter-revolutionary intentions, the\n Tribunal acquits and sets them at liberty.\"\n All France was indignant at those verdicts, and the people of Paris\n were so enraged, that the Convention ordered the acquitted culprits\n to be arrested again, perhaps rather for protection than punishment.\n They were sent from Paris, and I never heard the result; but I have\n seen the name of General Heron as being at large.\nThe Convention were certainly desirous that the atrocities of these men\n(all zealous republicans) should be forgotten; for, independently of the\ndisgrace which their trial has brought on the cause, the sacrifice of\nsuch agents might create a dangerous timidity in future, and deprive the\ngovernment of valuable partizans, who would fear to be the instruments of\ncrimes for which, after such a precedent, they might become responsible.\nBut the evil, which was unavoidable, has been palliated by the tenderness\nor gratitude of a jury chosen by the Convention, who, by sacrificing two\nonly of this mass of monsters, and protecting the rest, hope to\nconsecrate the useful principle of indulgence for every act, whatever its\nenormity, which has been the consequence of zeal or obedience to the\ngovernment.\nIt is among the dreadful singularities of the revolution, that the\ngreatest crimes which have been committed were all in strict observance\nof the laws. Hence the Convention are perpetually embarrassed by\ninterest or shame, when it becomes necessary to punish them. We have\nonly to compare the conduct of Carrier, le Bon, Maignet, &c. with the\ndecrees under which they acted, to be convinced that their chief guilt\nlies in having been capable of obeying: and the convention, coldly\nissuing forth their rescripts of extermination and conflagration, will\nnot, in the opinion of the moralist, be favorably distinguished from\nthose who carried these mandates into execution.\nDecember 24, 1794.\nI am now at a village a few miles from Amiens, where, upon giving\nsecurity in the usual form, we have been permitted to come for a few days\non a visit to some relations of my friend Mad. de ____. On our arrival,\nwe found the lady of the house in a nankeen pierrot, knitting grey thread\nstockings for herself, and the gentleman in a thick woollen jacket and\npantaloons, at work in the fields, and really labouring as hard as his\nmen.--They hope, by thus taking up the occupation and assuming the\nappearance of farmers, to escape farther persecution; and this policy may\nbe available to those who have little to lose: but property is now a more\ndangerous distinction than birth, and whoever possesses it, will always\nbe considered as the enemies of the republic, and treated accordingly.\nWe have been so much confined the last twelve months, that we were glad\nto ride yesterday in spite of the cold; and our hosts having procured\nasses for the females of the party, accompanied us themselves on foot.--\nDuring our ramble, we entered into conversation with two old men and a\nboy, who were at work in an open field near the road. They told us, they\nhad not strength to labour, because they had not their usual quantity of\nbread--that their good lady, whose chateau we saw at a distance, had been\nguillotined, or else they should have wanted for nothing--_\"Et ste pauvre\nJavotte la n'auroit pas travaille quant elle est qualsiment prete a\nmourir.\"_ [\"And our poor Javotte there would not have had to work when she\nis almost in her grave.\"]--_\"Mon dieu,\"_ (says one of the old men, who had\nnot yet spoke,) _\"Je donnerais bien ma portion de sa terre pour la ravoir\nnotre bonne dame.\"_ [\"God knows, I would willingly give up my share of\nher estate to have our good lady amongst us again.\"]--_\"Ah pour ca oui,\"_\n(returned the other,) _\"mais j'crois que nous n'aurons ni l'une l'autre,\nvoila ste maudite nation qui s'empare de tout.\"_ [\"Ah truly, but I fancy\nwe shall have neither one nor the other, for this cursed nation gets hold\nof every thing.\"]\nWhile they were going on in this style, a berline and four cabriolets,\nwith three-coloured flags at the windows, and a whole troop of national\nguard, passed along the road. _\"Vive la Republique!\"_--\"Vive la Nation!\"\ncried our peasants, in an instant; and as soon as the cavalcade was out\nof sight, _\"Voyez ste gueusaille la, quel train, c'est vraiment quelque\ndepute de la Convention--ces brigands la, ils ne manquent de rien, ils\nvivent comme des rois, et nous autres nous sommes cent sois plus\nmiserables que jamais.\"_ [\"See there what a figure they make, those\nbeggarly fellows--it's some deputy of the convention I take it. The\nthieves want for nothing, they live like so many kings, and we are all a\nhundred times worse off than ever.\"]--_\"Tais toi, tais tois,\"_ [\"Be quiet,\nI tell you.\"] (says the old man, who seemed the least garrulous of the\ntwo.)--_\"Ne crains rien,_ [\"Never fear.\"] (replied the first,) _c'est de\nbraves gens;_ these ladies and gentlemen I'm sure are good people; they\nhave not the look of patriots.\"--And with this compliment to ourselves,\nand the externals of patriotism, we took our leave of them.\nI found, however, by this little conversation, that some of the peasants\nstill believe they are to have the lands of the gentry divided amongst\nthem, according to a decree for that purpose. The lady, whom they\nlamented, and whose estate they expected to share, was the Marquise de\nB____, who had really left the country before the revolution, and had\ngone to drink some of the German mineral waters, but not returning within\nthe time afterwards prescribed, was declared an emigrant. By means of a\nfriend, she got an application made to Chabot, (then in high popularity,)\nwho for an hundred thousand livres procured a passport from the Executive\nCouncil to enter France. Upon the faith of this she ventured to return,\nand was in consequence, notwithstanding her passport, executed as an\nemigrant.\nMrs. D____, who is not yet well enough for such an expedition, and is,\nbesides, unaccustomed to our montures, remained at home. We found she\nhad been much alarmed during our absence, every house in the village\nhaving been searched, by order of the district, for corn, and two of the\nhorses taken to the next post to convey the retinue of the Deputy we had\nseen in the morning. Every thing, however, was tranquil on our arrival,\nand rejoicing it was no worse, though Mons. ____ seemed to be under great\napprehension for his horses, we sat down to what in France is called a\nlate dinner.\nOur host's brother, who left the army at the general exclusion of the\nNoblesse, and was in confinement at the Luxembourg until after the death\nof Robespierre, is a professed wit, writes couplets to popular airs, and\nhas dramatized one of Plutarch's Lives. While we were at the desert, he\namused us with some of his compositions in prison, such as an epigram on\nthe Guillotine, half a dozen calembours on the bad fare at the _Gamelle,_\n[Mess.] and an ode on the republican victory at Fleurus--the last written\nunder the hourly expectation of being sent off with the next _fournee_\n(batch) of pretended conspirators, yet breathing the most ardent\nattachment to the convention, and terminated by a full sounding line\nabout tyrants and liberty.--This may appear strange, but the Poets were,\nfor the most part, in durance, and the Muses must sing, though in a cage:\nhope and fear too both inspire prescriptively, and freedom might be\nobtained or death averted by these effusions of a devotion so profound as\nnot to be alienated by the sufferings of imprisonment, or the menace of\ndestruction. Whole volumes of little jeux d'esprit, written under these\ncircumstances, might be collected from the different prisons; and, I\nbelieve, it is only in France that such a collection could have been\nfurnished.*\n * Many of these poetical trifles have been published--some written\n even the night before their authors were executed. There are\n several of great poetical merit, and, when considered relatively,\n are wonderful.--Among the various poets imprisoned, was one we\n should scarcely have expected--Rouget Delille, author of the\n Marseillois Hymn, who, while his muse was rouzing the citizens from\n one end of the republic to the other to arm against tyrants, was\n himself languishing obscurely a victim to the worst of all\n tyrannies.\nMr. D____, though he writes and speaks French admirably, does not love\nFrench verses; and I found he could not depend on the government of his\nfeatures, while a French poet was reciting his own, but kept his eyes\nfixed on a dried apple, which he pared very curiously, and when that was\natchieved, betook himself to breaking pralines, and extracting the\nalmonds with equal application. We, however, complimented Monsieur's\npoetry; and when we had taken our coffee, and the servants were entirely\nwithdrawn, he read us some trifles more agreeable to our principles, if\nnot to our taste, and in which the Convention was treated with more\nsincerity than complaisance. It seems the poet's zeal for the republic\nhad vanished at his departure from the Luxembourg, and that his wrath\nagainst coalesced despots, and his passion for liberty, had entirely\nevaporated. In the evening we played a party of reversi with republican\ncards,* and heard the children sing \"Mourrons pour la Patrie.\"\n * The four Kings are replaced by four Genii, the Queens by four\n sorts of liberty, and the Knaves by four descriptions of equality.\n--After these civic amusements, we closed our chairs round the fire,\nconjecturing how long the republic might last, or whether we should all\npass another twelve months in prison, and, agreeing that both our fate\nand that of the republic were very precarious, adjourned to rest.\nWhile I was undressing, I observed Angelique looked extremely\ndiscontented, and on my enquiring what was the matter, she answered,\n_\"C'est que je m'ennuie beaucoup ici,\"_ [\"I am quite tired of this\nplace.\"] \"Mademoiselle,\" (for no state or calling is here exempt from this\npolite sensation.) \"And why, pray?\"--_\"Ah quelle triste societe, tout le\nmonde est d'un patriotisme insoutenable, la maison est remplie d'images\nrepublicaines, des Marat, des Voltaire, des Pelletier, que sais-moi? et\nvoila jusqu'au garcon de l'ecurie qui me traite de citoyenne.\"_ [\"Oh,\nthey are a sad set--every body is so insufferably patriotic. The house\nis full from top to bottom of republican images, Marats, and Voltaires,\nand Pelletiers, and I don't know who--and I am called Citizen even by the\nstable boy.\"] I did not think it right to satisfy her as to the real\nprinciples of our friends, and went to bed ruminating on the improvements\nwhich the revolution must have occasioned in the art of dissimulation.\nTerror has drilled people of the most opposite sentiments into such an\nuniformity of manner and expression, that an aristocrat who is ruined and\npersecuted by the government is not distinguishable from the Jacobin who\nhas made his fortune under it.\nIn the morning Angelique's countenance was brightened, and I found she\nhad slept in the same room with Madame's _femme de chambre,_ when an\nexplanation of their political creeds had taken place, so that she now\nassured me Mad. Augustine was _\"fort honnete dans le fond,\"_ [A very good\ngirl at heart.] though she was obliged to affect republicanism.--\"All the\nworld's a stage,\" says our great dramatic moralist. France is certainly\nso at present, and we are not only necessitated to act a part, but a\nsorry one too; for we have no choice but to exhibit in farce, or suffer\nin tragedy.--Yours, &c.\nDecember 27, 1794.\nI took the opportunity of my being here to go about four leagues farther\nto see an old convent acquaintance lately come to this part of the\ncountry, and whom I have not met since I was at Orleans in 1789.\nThe time has been when I should have thought such a history as this\nlady's a romance, but tales of woe are now become familiar to us, and, if\nthey create sympathy, they no longer excite surprize, and we hear of them\nas the natural effects of the revolution.\nMadame de St. E__m__d is the daughter of a gentleman whose fortune was\ninadequate both to his rank and manner of living, and he gladly embraced\nthe offer of Monsieur de St. E__m__d to marry her at sixteen, and to\nrelinquish the fortune allotted her to her two younger sisters. Monsieur\nde St. E__m__d, being a dissipated man, soon grew weary of any sort of\ndomestic life, and placing his wife with her father, in less than a year\nafter their marriage departed for Italy.--Madame de St. E__m__d, thus\nleft in a situation both delicate and dangerous for a young and pretty\nwoman, became unfortunately attached to a gentleman who was her distant\nrelation: yet, far from adopting the immoral principles not unjustly\nascribed to your country, she conducted herself with a prudence and\nreserve, which even in France made her an object of general respect.\nAbout three years after her husband's departure the revolution took\nplace, and not returning, he was of course put on the list of emigrants.\nIn 1792, when the law passed which sanctioned and facilitated divorces,\nher friends all earnestly persuaded her to avail herself of it, but she\ncould not be prevailed upon to consider the step as justifiable; for\nthough Monsieur de St. E__m__d neglected her, he had, in other respects,\ntreated her with generosity and kindness. She, therefore, persisted in\nher refusal, and her lover, in despair, joined the republican army.\nAt the general arrest of the Noblesse, Madame de St. E__m__d and her\nsisters were confined in the town where they resided, but their father\nwas sent to Paris; and a letter from one of his female relations, who had\nemigrated, being found among his papers, he was executed without being\nable to see or write to his children. Madame de St. E__m__d's husband had\nreturned about the same time to France, in the disguise of a post-boy,\nwas discovered, and shared the same fate. These events reached her love,\nstill at the army, but it was impossible for him to quit his post, and in\na few days after, being mortally wounded, he died,* recommending Eugenie\nde St. E__m__d to the protection of his father.--\n * This young man, who died gallantly fighting in the cause of the\n republic, was no republican: but this does not render the murder of\n his father, a deaf [There were people both deaf and dumb in the\n prisons as conspirators.] and inoffensive man, less abominable.--The\n case of General Moreau's father, though somewhat similar, is yet\n more characteristic of the revolution. Mons. Moreau was persuaded,\n by a man who had some interest in the business, to pay a debt which\n he owed an emigrant, to an individual, instead of paying it, as the\n law directed, to the use of the republic. The same man afterwards\n denounced him, and he was thrown into prison. At nine o'clock on\n the night preceding his trial, his act of accusation was brought\n him, and before he had time to sketch out a few lines for his\n defence, the light by which he wrote was taken away. In the morning\n he was tried, the man who had informed against him sitting as one of\n his judges, and he was condemned and executed the very day on which\n his son took the Fort de l'Ecluse!--Mons. Moreau had four sons,\n besides the General in the army, and two daughters, all left\n destitute by the confiscation of his property.\n--A brother officer, who engaged to execute this commission, wrote\nimmediately to the old man, to inform him of his loss, and of his son's\nlast request. It was too late, the father having been arrested on\nsuspicion, and afterwards guillotined, with many other persons, for a\npretended conspiracy in prison, the very day on which his son had fallen\nin the performance of an act of uncommon bravery.\nWere I writing from imagination, I should add, that Madame de St. E__m__d\nhad been unable to sustain the shock of these repeated calamities, and\nthat her life or understanding had been the sacrifice. It were, indeed,\nhappy for the sufferer, if our days were always terminated when they\nbecame embittered, or that we lost the sense of sorrow by its excess: but\nit is not so--we continue to exist when we have lost the desire of\nexistence, and to reason when feeling and reason constitute our torments.\nMadame de St. E__m__d then lives, but lives in affliction; and having\ncollected the wreck of her personal property, which some friends had\nconcealed, she left the part of France she formerly inhabited, and is now\nwith an aunt in this neighbourhood, watching the decay of her eldest\nsister, and educating the youngest.\nClementine was consumptive when they were first arrested, and vexation,\nwith ill-treatment in the prison, have so established her disorder, that\nshe is now past relief. She is yet scarcely eighteen, and one of the\nmost lovely young women I ever saw. Grief and sickness have ravaged her\nfeatures; but they are still so perfect, that fancy, associating their\npast bloom with their present languor, supplies perhaps as much to the\nmind as is lost by the eye. She suffers without complaining, and mourns\nwithout ostentation; and hears her father spoken of with such solemn\nsilent floods of tears, that she looks like the original of Dryden's\nbeautiful portrait of the weeping Sigismunda.\nThe letter which condemned the father of these ladies, was not, it seems,\nwritten to himself, but to a brother, lately dead, whose executor he was,\nand of whose papers he thus became possessed. On this ground their\nfriends engaged them to petition the Assembly for a revision of the\nsentence, and the restoration of their property, which was in consequence\nforfeited.\nThe daily professions of the Convention, in favour of justice and\nhumanity, and the return of the seventy-three imprisoned Deputies, had\nsoothed these poor young women with the hopes of regaining their paternal\ninheritance, so iniquitously confiscated. A petition was, therefore,\nforwarded to Paris about a fortnight ago; and the day before, the\nfollowing decree was issued, which has silenced their claims for ever:\n\"La Convention Nationale declare qu'elle n'admettra aucune demande en\nrevision des jugemens criminels portant confiscation de biens rendus et\nexecutes pendant la revolution.\"*\n * \"The National Convention hereby declares that it will admit no\n petitions for the revisal of such criminal sentences, attended with\n confiscation of property, as have been passed and executed since the\n revolution.\"\n Yet these revolutionists, who would hear nothing of repairing their\n own injustice, had occasionally been annulling sentences past half a\n century ago, and the more recent one of the Chevalier La Barre. But\n their own executions and confiscations for an adherence to religion\n were to be held sacred.--I shall be excused for introducing here a\n few words respecting the affair of La Barre, which has been a\n favourite topic with popular writers of a certain description. The\n severity of the punishment must, doubtless, be considered as\n disgraceful to those who advised as well as to those who sanctioned\n it: but we must not infer from hence that he merited no punishment\n at all; and perhaps degradation, some scandalous and public\n correction, with a few years solitary confinement, might have\n answered every purpose intended.\n La Barre was a young etourdi, under twenty, but of lively talents,\n which, unfortunately for him, had taken a very perverse turn. The\n misdemeanour commonly imputed to him and his associates was, that\n they had mutilated a Christ which stood on the Pont-neuf at\n Abbeville: but La Barre had accustomed himself to take all\n opportunities of insulting, with the most wanton malignity, these\n pious representations, and especially in the presence of people,\n with whom his particular connections led him to associate, and whose\n profession could not allow them entirely to overlook such affronts\n on what was deemed an appendage to the established religion of the\n country.\n The people of Abbeville manifested their sense of the business when\n d'Etalonde, La Barre's intimate friend, who had saved himself by\n flight, returned, after a long exile, under favour of the\n revolution. He was received in the neighbourhood with the most\n mortifying indifference.\n The decree of the Convention too, by which the memory of this\n imprudent young man was re-established, when promulgated, created\n about as much interest as any other law which did not immediately\n affect the property or awaken the apprehensions of the hearers.\nMadame de St. E__m__d told me her whole fortune was now reduced to a few\nLouis, and about six or seven thousand livres in diamonds; that she was\nunwilling to burden her aunt, who was not rich, and intended to make some\nadvantage of her musical talents, which are indeed considerable. But I\ncould not, without anguish, hear an elegant young woman, with a heart\nhalf broken, propose to get her living by teaching music.--I know not\nthat I ever passed a more melancholy day. In the afternoon we walked up\nand down the path of the village church-yard. The church was shut up,\nthe roof in part untiled, the windows were broken, and the wooden crosses\nthat religion or tenderness had erected to commemorate the dead, broken\nand scattered about. Two labourers, and a black-smith in his working\ngarb, came while we were there, and threw a sort of uncouth wooden coffin\nhastily into a hole dug for the purpose, which they then covered and left\nwithout farther ceremony. Yet this was the body of a lady regretted by a\nlarge family, who were thus obliged to conquer both their affection and\ntheir prejudices, and inter her according to the republican mode.*\n * The relations or friends of the dead were prohibited, under severe\n penalties, from following their remains to the grave.\nI thought, while we traversed the walk, and beheld this scene, that every\nthing about me bore the marks of the revolution. The melancholy objects\nI held on my arm, and the feeble steps of Clementine, whom we could\nscarcely support, aided the impression; and I fear that, for the moment,\nI questioned the justice of Heaven, in permitting such a scourge to be\nlet loose upon its works.\nI quitted Madame de St. E__m__d this morning with reluctance, for we\nshall not meet again till I am entirely at liberty. The village\nmunicipality where she now resides, are quiet and civil, and her\nmisfortunes make her fearful of attracting the notice of the people in\nauthority of a large place, so that she cannot venture to Amiens.--You\nmust observe, that any person who has suffered is an object of particular\nsuspicion, and that to have had a father or a husband executed, and to be\nreduced to beggary, are titles to farther persecution.--The politics of\nthe day are, it is true, something less ferocious than they were: but\nconfidence is not to be restored by an essay in the Orateur du Peuple,*\nor an equivocal harangue from the tribune; and I perceive every where,\nthat those who have been most injured, are most timid.\n * _\"L'Orateur du Peuple,\"_ was a periodical paper published by\n Freron, many numbers of which were written with great spirit.--\n Freron was at this time supposed to have become a royalist, and his\n paper, which was comparatively favourable to the aristocrats, was\n read with great eagerness.\n The following extract from the registers of one of the popular\n commissions will prove, that the fears of those who had already\n suffered by the revolution were well founded:\n \"A. Sourdeville, and A. N. E. Sourdeville, sisters of an emigrant\n Noble, daughters of a Count, aristocrats, and having had their\n father and brother guillotined.\n \"M. J. Sourdeville, mother of an emigrant, an aristocrat, and her\n husband and son having been guillotined.\n \"Jean Marie Defille--very suspicious--a partizan of the Abbe Arnoud\n and La Fayette, has had a brother guillotined, and always shewn\n himself indifferent about the public welfare.\"\n The commissions declare that the above are condemned to banishment.\nI did not reach this place till after the family had dined, and taking my\nsoup and a dish of coffee, have escaped, under pretext of the headache,\nto my own room. I left our poet far gone in a classical description of a\nsort of Roman dresses, the drawings of which he had seen exhibited at the\nLyceum, as models of an intended national equipment for the French\ncitizens of both sexes; and my visit to Madame de St. E__m__d had\nincapacitated me for discussing revolutionary draperies.\nIn England, this is the season of festivity to the little, and\nbeneficence in the great; but here, the sterile genius of atheism has\nsuppressed the sounds of mirth, and closed the hands of charity--no\nseason is consecrated either to the one or the other; and the once-varied\nyear is but an uniform round of gloom and selfishness. The philosopher\nmay treat with contempt the notion of periodical benevolence, and assert\nthat we should not wait to be reminded by religion or the calendar, in\norder to contribute to the relief of our fellow creatures: yet there are\npeople who are influenced by custom and duty, that are not always awake\nto compassion; and indolence or avarice may yield a too ready obedience\nto prohibitions which favour both. The poor are certainly no gainers by\nthe substitution of philosophy for religion; and many of those who are\nforbidden to celebrate Christmas or Easter by a mass, will forget to do\nit by a donation. For my own part, I think it an advantage that any\nperiod of the year is more particularly signalized by charity; and I\nrejoice when I hear of the annual gifts of meat or firing of such, or\nsuch a great personage--and I never enquire whether they might still\ncontinue their munificence if Christianity were abolished.--Adieu.\nAmiens, Jan. 23, 1795.\nNothing proves more that the French republican government was originally\nfounded on principles of despotism and injustice, than the weakness and\nanarchy which seem to accompany every deviation from these principles.\nIt is strong to destroy and weak to protect: because, deriving its\nsupport from the power of the bad and the submission of the timid, it is\ndeserted or opposed by the former when it ceases to plunder or oppress--\nwhile the fears and habits of the latter still prevail, and render them\nas unwilling to defend a better system as they have been to resist the\nworst possible.\nThe reforms that have taken place since the death of Robespierre, though\nnot sufficient for the demands of justice, are yet enough to relax the\nstrength of the government; and the Jacobins, though excluded from\nauthority, yet influence by the turbulence of their chiefs in the\nConvention, and the recollection of their past tyranny--against the\nreturn of which the fluctuating politics of the Assembly offer no\nsecurity. The Committees of Public Welfare and General Safety (whose\nmembers were intended, according to the original institution, to be\nremoved monthly) were, under Robespierre, perpetual; and the union they\npreserved in certain points, however unfavourable to liberty, gave a\nvigour to the government, of which from its conformation it should appear\nto have been incapable. It is now discovered, that an undefined power,\nnot subject to the restriction of fixed laws, cannot remain long in the\nsame hands without producing tyranny. A fourth part of the Members of\nthese Committees are, therefore, now changed every month; but this\nregulation, more advantageous to the Convention than the people, keeps\nalive animosities, stimulates ambition, and retains the country in\nanxiety and suspense; for no one can guess this month what system may be\nadopted the next--and the admission of two or three new Jacobin members\nwould be sufficient to excite an universal alarm.\nWe watch these renewals with a solicitude inconceivable to those who\nstudy politics as they do a new opera, and have nothing to apprehend from\nthe personal characters of Ministers; and our hopes and fears vary\naccording as the members elected are Moderates, Doubtfuls, or decided\nMountaineers.*\n * For instance, Carnot, whose talents in the military department\n obliged the Convention (even if they had not been so disposed) to\n forget his compliances with Robespierre, his friendship for Barrere\n and Collot, and his eulogiums on Carrier.\n--This mixture of principles, which intrigue, intimidation, or\nexpediency, occasions in the Committees, is felt daily; and if the\nlanguor and versatility of the government be not more apparent, it is\nthat habits of submission still continue, and that the force of terror\noperates in the branches, though the main spring be relaxed. Were armies\nto be raised, or means devised to pay them now, it could not be done;\nthough, being once put in motion, they continue to act, and the\nrequisitions still in a certain degree supply them.\nThe Convention, while they have lost much of their real power, have also\nbecome more externally contemptible than ever. When they were overawed\nby the imposing tone of their Committees, they were tolerably decent; but\nas this restraint has worn off, the scandalous tumult of their debates\nincreases, and they exhibit whatever you can imagine of an assemblage of\nmen, most of whom are probably unacquainted with those salutary forms\nwhich correct the passions, and soften the intercourse of polished\nsociety. They question each other's veracity with a frankness truly\ndemocratic, and come fraternally to \"Touchstone's seventh remove\" at\nonce, without passing any of the intermediate progressions. It was but\nlately that one Gaston advanced with a stick in full assembly to thresh\nLegendre; and Cambon and Duhem are sometimes obliged to be holden by the\narms and legs, to prevent their falling on Tallien and Freron. I\ndescribed scenes of this nature to you at the opening of the Convention;\nbut I assure you, the silent meditations of the members under Robespierre\nhave extremely improved them in that species of eloquence, which is not\nsusceptible of translation or transcription. We may conclude, that these\nlicences are inherent to a perfect democracy; for the greater the number\nof representatives, and the nearer they approach to the mass of the\npeople, the less they will be influenced by aristocratic ceremonials. We\nhave, however, no interest in disputing the right of the Convention to\nuse violence and lavish abuse amongst themselves; for, perhaps, these\nscenes form the only part of their journals which does not record or\napplaud some real mischief.\nThe French, who are obliged to celebrate so many aeras of revolution, who\nhave demolished Bastilles and destroyed tyrants, seem at this moment to\nbe in a political infancy, struggling against despotism, and emerging\nfrom ignorance and barbarity. A person unacquainted with the promoters\nand objects of the revolution, might be apt to enquire for what it had\nbeen undertaken, or what had been gained by it, when all the manufactured\neloquence of Tallien is vainly exerted to obtain some limitation of\narbitrary imprisonment--when Freron harangues with equal labour and as\nlittle success in behalf of the liberty of the press; while Gregoire\npleads for freedom of worship, Echasseriaux for that of commerce, and all\nthe sections of Paris for that of election.*\n * It is to be observed, that in these orations all the decrees\n passed by the Convention for the destruction of commerce and\n religion, are ascribed to the influence of Mr. Pitt.--\"La libertedes\n cultes existe en Turquie, elle n'existe point en France. Le peuple\n y est prive d'un droit donc on jouit dans les etats despotiques\n memes, sous les regences de Maroc et d'Algers. Si cet etat de\n choses doit perseverer, ne parlons plus de l'inquisition, nous en\n avons perdu le droit, car la liberte des cultes n'est que dans les\n decrets, et la persecution tiraille toute la France.\n \"Cette impression intolerante aurait elle ete (suggeree) par le\n cabinet de St. James?\"\n \"In Turkey the liberty of worship is admitted, though it does not\n exist in France. Here the people are deprived of a right common to\n the most despotic governments, not even excepting those of Algiers\n and Morocco.--If things are to continue in this state, let us say no\n more about the Inquisition, we have no right, for religious liberty\n is to be found only in our decrees, while, in truth, the whole\n country is exposed to persecution.\n \"May not these intolerant notions have been suggested by the Cabinet\n of St. James?\"\n Gregoire's Report on the Liberty of Worship.\n--Thus, after so many years of suffering, and such a waste of whatever is\nmost valuable, the civil, religious, and political privileges of this\ncountry depend on a vote of the Convention.\nThe speech of Gregoire, which tended to restore the Catholic worship, was\nvery ill received by his colleagues, but every where else it is read with\navidity and applause; for, exclusive of its merit as a composition, the\nsubject is of general interest, and there are few who do not wish to have\nthe present puerile imitations of Paganism replaced by Christianity. The\nAssembly listened to this tolerating oration with impatience, passed to\nthe order of the day, and called loudly for Decades, with celebrations in\nhonour of \"the liberty of the world, posterity, stoicism, the republic,\nand the hatred of tyrants!\" But the people, who understand nothing of\nthis new worship, languish after the saints of their ancestors, and think\nSt. Francois d'Assise, or St. Francois de Sales, at least as likely to\nafford them spiritual consolation, as Carmagnoles, political homilies, or\npasteboard goddesses of liberty.\nThe failure of Gregoire is far from operating as a discouragement to this\nmode of thinking; for such has been the intolerance of the last year,\nthat his having even ventured to suggest a declaration in favour of free\nworship, is deemed a sort of triumph to the pious which has revived their\nhopes. Nothing is talked of but the restoration of churches, and\nreinstalment of priests--the shops are already open on the Decade, and\nthe decrees of the Convention, which make a principal part of the\nrepublican service, are now read only to a few idle children or bare\nwalls. [When the bell toll'd on the Decade, the people used to say it was\nfor La messe du Diable--The Devil's mass.]--My maid told me this morning,\nas a secret of too much importance for her to retain, that she had the\npromise of being introduced to a good priest, (un bon pretre, for so the\npeople entitle those who have never conformed,) to receive her confession\nat Easter; and the fetes of the new calendar are now jested on publicly\nwith very little reverence.\nThe Convention have very lately decreed themselves an increase of pay,\nfrom eighteen to thirty-six livres. This, according to the comparative\nvalue of assignats, is very trifling: but the people, who have so long\nbeen flattered with the ideas of partition and equality, and are now\nstarving, consider it as a great deal, and much discontent is excited,\nwhich however evaporates, as usual, in the national talent for bon mots.\nThe augmentation, though an object of popular jealousy, is most likely\nvalued by the leading members only as it procures them an ostensible\nmeans of living; for all who have been on missions, or had any share in\nthe government, have, like Falstaff, \"hid their honour in their\nnecessities,\" and have now resources they desire to profit by, but cannot\ndecently avow.\nThe Jacobin party have in general opposed this additional eighteen\nlivres, with the hope of casting an odium on their adversaries; but the\npeople, though they murmur, still prefer the Moderates, even at the\nexpence of paying the difference. The policy of some Deputies who have\nacquired too much, or the malice of others who have acquired nothing, has\nfrequently proposed, that every member of the Convention should publish\nan account of his fortune before and since the revolution. An\nenthusiastic and acclamatory decree of assent has always insued; but\nsomehow prudence has hitherto cooled this warmth before the subsequent\ndebate, and the resolution has never yet been carried into effect.\nThe crimes of Maignet, though they appear to occasion but little regret\nin his colleagues, have been the source of considerable embarrassment to\nthem. When he was on mission in the department of Vaucluse, besides\nnumberless other enormities, he caused the whole town of Bedouin to be\nburnt, a part of its inhabitants to be guillotined, and the rest\ndispersed, because the tree of liberty was cut down one dark night, while\nthey were asleep.*\n * Maignet's order for the burning of Bedouin begins thus: \"Liberte,\n egalite, au nom du peuple Francais!\" He then states the offence of\n the inhabitants in suffering the tree of liberty to be cut down,\n institutes a commission for trying them, and proceeds--\"It is hereby\n ordered, that as soon as the principal criminals are executed, the\n national agent shall notify to the remaining inhabitants not\n confined, that they are enjoined to evacuate their dwellings, and\n take out their effects in twenty-four hours; at the expiration of\n which he is to commit the town to the flames, and leave no vestige\n of a building standing. Farther, it is forbidden to erect any\n building on the spot in future, or to cultivate the soil.\"\n \"Done at Avignon, the 17th Floreal.\"\n The decree of the Convention to the same effect passed about the 1st\n of Floreal. Merlin de Douai, (Minister of Justice in 1796,)\n Legendre, and Bourdon de l'Oise, were the zealous defenders of\n Maignet on this occasion.\n--Since the Assembly have thought it expedient to disavow these\nrevolutionary measures, the conduct of Maignet has been denounced, and\nthe accusations against him sent to a commission to be examined. For a\nlong time no report was made, till the impatience of Rovere, who is\nMaignet's personal enemy, rendered a publication of the result\ndispensable. They declared they found no room for censure or farther\nproceedings. This decision was at first strongly reprobated by the\nModerates; but as it was proved, in the course of the debate, that\nMaignet was authorized, by an express decree of the Convention, to burn\nBedouin, and guillotine its inhabitants, all parties soon agreed to\nconsign the whole to oblivion.\nOur clothes, &c. are at length entirely released from sequestration, and\nthe seals taken off. We are indebted for this act of justice to the\nintrigues of Tallien, whose belle Espagnole is considerably interested.\nTallien's good fortune is so much envied, that some of the members were\nlittle enough to move, that the property of the Spanish Bank of St.\nCharles (in which Madame T----'s is included) should be excepted from the\ndecree in favour of foreigners. The Convention were weak enough to\naccede; but the exception will, doubtless, be over-ruled.\nThe weather is severe beyond what it has been in my remembrance. The\nthermometer was this morning at fourteen and a half. It is, besides,\npotentially cold, and every particle of air is like a dart.--I suppose\nyou contrive to keep yourselves warm in England, though it is not\npossible to do so here. The houses are neither furnished nor put\ntogether for the climate, and we are fanned by these congealing winds, as\nthough the apertures which admit them were designed to alleviate the\nardours of an Italian sun.\nThe satin hangings of my room, framed on canvas, wave with the gales\nlodged behind them every second. A pair of \"silver cupids, nicely poised\non their brands,\" support a wood fire, which it is an occupation to keep\nfrom extinguishing; and all the illusion of a gay orange-grove pourtrayed\non the tapestry at my feet, is dissipated by a villainous chasm of about\nhalf an inch between the floor and the skirting-boards. Then we have so\nmany corresponding windows, supernumerary doors, \"and passages that lead\nto nothing,\" that all our English ingenuity in comfortable arrangement is\nbaffled.--When the cold first became so insupportable, we attempted to\nlive entirely in the eating-room, which is warmed by a poele, or German\nstove, but the kind of heat it emits is so depressive and relaxing to\nthose who are not inured to it, that we are again returned to our large\nchimney and wood-fire.--The French depend more on the warmth of their\nclothing, than the comfort of their houses. They are all wadded and\nfurred as though they were going on a sledge party, and the men, in this\nrespect, are more delicate than the ladies: but whether it be the\nconsequence of these precautions, or from any other cause, I observe they\nare, in general, without excepting even the natives of the Southern\nprovinces, less sensible of cold than the English.\nAmiens, Jan. 30, 1795.\nDelacroix, author of _\"Les Constitutions Politiques de l'Europe,\"_ [The\nPolitical Constitutions of Europe.] has lately published a work much\nread, and which has excited the displeasure of the Assembly so highly,\nthat the writer, by way of preliminary criticism, has been arrested. The\nbook is intitled _\"Le Spectateur Francais pendant la Revolution.\"_ [The\nFrench Spectator during the Revolution.] It contains many truths, and\nsome speculations very unfavourable both to republicanism and its\nfounders. It ventures to doubt the free acceptance of the democratic\nconstitution, proposes indirectly the restoration of the monarchy, and\ndilates with great composure on a plan for transporting to America all\nthe Deputies who voted for the King's death. The popularity of the work,\nstill more than its principles, has contributed to exasperate the\nAssembly; and serious apprehensions are entertained for the fate of\nDelacroix, who is ordered for trial to the Revolutionary Tribunal.\nIt would astonish a superficial observer to see with what avidity all\nforbidden doctrines are read. Under the Church and Monarchy, a deistical\nor republican author might sometimes acquire proselytes, or become the\nfavourite amusement of fashionable or literary people; but the\ncirculation of such works could be only partial, and amongst a particular\nclass of readers: whereas the treason of the day, which comprises\nwhatever favours Kings or religion, is understood by the meanest\nindividual, and the temptation to these prohibited enjoyments is assisted\nboth by affection and prejudice.--An almanack, with a pleasantry on the\nConvention, or a couplet in behalf of royalism, is handed mysteriously\nthrough half a town, and a _brochure_ [A pamphlet.] of higher\npretensions, though on the same principles, is the very bonne bouche of\nour political _gourmands_. [Gluttons.]\nThere is, in fact, no liberty of the press. It is permitted to write\nagainst Barrere or the Jacobins, because they are no longer in power; but\na single word of disrespect towards the Convention is more certain of\nbeing followed by a Lettre de Cachet, than a volume of satire on any of\nLouis the Fourteenth's ministers would have been formerly. The only\nperiod in which a real freedom of the press has existed in France were\nthose years of the late King's reign immediately preceding the\nrevolution; and either through the contempt, supineness, or worse\nmotives, of those who should have checked it, it existed in too great a\ndegree: so that deists and republicans were permitted to corrupt the\npeople, and undermine the government without restraint.*\n * It is well known that Calonne encouraged libels on the Queen, to\n obtain credit for his zeal in suppressing them; and the culpable\n vanity of Necker made made him but too willing to raise his own\n reputation on the wreck of that of an unsuspecting and unfortunate\n Monarch.\nAfter the fourteenth of July 1789, political literature became more\nsubject to mobs and the lanterne, than ever it had been to Ministers and\nBastilles; and at the tenth of August 1792, every vestige of the liberty\nof the press disappeared.*--\n * \"What impartial man among us must not be forced to acknowledge,\n that since the revolution it has become dangerous for any one, I\n will not say to attack the government, but to emit opinions contrary\n to those which the government has adopted.\"\n Discours de Jean Bon St. Andre sur la Liberte de la Presse, 30th\n A law was passed on the first of May, 1795, a short time after this\n letter was written, making it transportation to vilify the National\n Representation, either by words or writing; and if the offence were\n committed publicly, or among a certain number of people, it became\n capital.\n--Under the Brissotins it was fatal to write, and hazardous to read, any\nwork which tended to exculpate the King, or to censure his despotism, and\nthe massacres that accompanied and followed it.*--\n * I appeal for the confirmation of this to every person who resided\n in France at that period.\n--During the time of Robespierre the same system was only transmitted to\nother hands, and would still prevail under the Moderates, if their\ntyranny were not circumscribed by their weakness. It was some time\nbefore I ventured to receive Freron's Orateur du Peuple by the post.\nEven pamphlets written with the greatest caution are not to be procured\nwithout difficulty in the country; and this is not to be wondered at when\nwe recollect how many people have lost their lives through a subscription\nto a newspaper, or the possession of some work, which, when they\npurchased it, was not interdicted.\nAs the government has lately assumed a more civilized cast, it was\nexpected that the anniversary of the King's death would not have been\ncelebrated. The Convention, however, determined otherwise; and their\nmusical band was ordered to attend as usual on occasions of festivity.\nThe leader of the band had perhaps sense and decency enough to suppose,\nthat if such an event could possibly be justified, it never could be a\nsubject of rejoicing, and therefore made choice of melodies rather tender\nthan gay. But this Lydian mood, far from having the mollifying effect\nattributed to it by Scriblerus, threw several Deputies into a rage; and\nthe conductor was reprimanded for daring to insult the ears of the\nlegislature with strains which seemed to lament the tyrant. The\naffrighted musician begged to be heard in his defence; and declaring he\nonly meant, by the adoption of these gentle airs, to express the\ntranquillity and happiness enjoyed under the republican constitution,\nstruck off Ca Ira.\nWhen the ceremony was over, one Brival proposed, that the young King\nshould be put to death; observing that instead of the many useless crimes\nwhich had been committed, this ought to have had the preference. The\nmotion was not seconded; but the Convention, in order to defeat the\npurposes of the royalists, who, they say, increase in number, have\nordered the Committees to consider of some way of sending this poor child\nout of the country.\nWhen I reflect on the event which these men have so indecently\ncommemorated, and the horrors which succeeded it, I feel something more\nthan a detestation for republicanism. The undefined notions of liberty\nimbibed from poets and historians, fade away--my reverence for names long\nconsecrated in our annals abates--and the sole object of my political\nattachment is the English constitution, as tried by time and undeformed\nby the experiments of visionaries and impostors. I begin to doubt either\nthe sense or honesty of most of those men who are celebrated as the\npromoters of changes of government which have chiefly been adopted rather\nwith a view to indulge a favourite theory, than to relieve a people from\nany acknowledged oppression. A wise or good man would distrust his\njudgment on a subject so momentous, and perhaps the best of such\nreformers were but enthusiasts. Shaftesbury calls enthusiasm an honest\npassion; yet we have seen it is a very dangerous one: and we may perhaps\nlearn, from the example of France, not to venerate principles which we do\nnot admire in practice.*\n * I do not imply that the French Revolution was the work of\n enthusiasts, but that the enthusiasm of Rousseau produced a horde of\n Brissots, Marats, Robespierres, &c. who speculated on the\n affectation of it. The Abbe Sieyes, whose views were directed to a\n change of Monarchs, not a dissolution of the monarchy, and who in\n promoting a revolution did not mean to found a republic, has\n ventured to doubt both the political genius of Rousseau, and the\n honesty of his sectaries. These truths from the Abbe are not the\n less so for our knowing they would not be avowed if it answered his\n purpose to conceal them.--_\"Helas! un ecrivain justement celebre qui\n seroit mort de douleur s'il avoit connu ses disciples; un philosophe\n aussi parfait de sentiment que foible de vues, n'a-t-il pas dans ses\n pages eloquentes, riches en detail, pauvre au fond, confondu\n lui-meme les principes de l'art social avec les commencemens de la\n societe humaine? Que dire si l'on voyait dans un autre genre de\n mechaniques, entreprendre le radoub ou la construction d'un vaisseau\n de ligne avec la seule theorie, avec les seules resources des\n Sauvages dans la construction de leurs Pirogues!\"_--\"Alas! has not a\n justly-celebrated writer, who would have died with grief, could he\n have known what disciples he was destined to have;--a philosopher as\n perfect in sentiment as feeble in his views,--confounded, in his\n eloquent pages--pages which are as rich in matter as poor in\n substance--the principles of the social system with the commencement\n of human society? What should we say to a mechanic of a different\n description, who should undertake the repair or construction of a\n ship of the line, without any practical knowledge of the art, on\n mere theory, and with no other resources than those which the savage\n employs in the construction of his canoe?\"\nWhat had France, already possessed of a constitution capable of rendering\nher prosperous and happy, to do with the adoration of Rousseau's\nspeculative systems? Or why are the English encouraged in a traditional\nrespect for the manes of republicans, whom, if living, we might not\nimprobably consider as factious and turbulent fanatics?*\n * The prejudices of my countrymen on this subject are respectable,\n and I know I shall be deemed guilty of a species of political\n sacrilege. I attack not the tombs of the dead, but the want of\n consideration for the living; and let not those who admire\n republican principles in their closets, think themselves competent\n to censure the opinions of one who has been watching their effects\n amidst the disasters of a revolution.\nOur slumbers have for some time been patriotically disturbed by the\ndanger of Holland; and the taking of the Maestricht nearly caused me a\njaundice: but the French have taught us philosophy--and their conquests\nappear to afford them so little pleasure, that we ourselves hear of them\nwith less pain. The Convention were indeed, at first, greatly elated by\nthe dispatches from Amsterdam, and imagined they were on the eve of\ndictating to all Europe: the churches were ordered to toll their only\nbell, and the gasconades of the bulletin were uncommonly pompous--but the\nnovelty of the event has now subsided, and the conquest of Holland\nexcites less interest than the thaw. Public spirit is absorbed by\nprivate necessities or afflictions; people who cannot procure bread or\nfiring, even though they have money to purchase it, are little gratified\nby reading that a pair of their Deputies lodged in the Stadtholder's\npalace; and the triumphs of the republic offer no consolation to the\nfamilies which it has pillaged or dismembered.\nThe mind, narrowed and occupied by the little cares of hunting out the\nnecessaries of life, and evading the restraints of a jealous government,\nis not susceptible of that lively concern in distant and general events\nwhich is the effect of ease and security; and all the recent victories\nhave not been able to sooth the discontents of the Parisians, who are\nobliged to shiver whole hours at the door of a baker, to buy, at an\nextravagant price, a trifling portion of bread.\n * \"Chacun se concentre aujourdhui dans sa famille et calcule ses\n resources.\"--\"The attention of every one now is confined to his\n family, and to the calculation of his resources.\"\n Discours de Lindet.\n \"Accable du soin d'etre, et du travail de vivre.\"--\"Overwhelmed with\n the care of existence, and the labour of living.\"\n St. Lambert\n--The impression of these successes is, I am persuaded, also diminished\nby considerations to which the philosopher of the day would allow no\ninfluence; yet by their assimilation with the Deputies and Generals whose\nnames are so obscure as to escape the memory, they cease to inspire that\nmixed sentiment which is the result of national pride and personal\naffection. The name of a General or an Admiral serves as the epitome of\nan historical relation, and suffices to recall all his glories, and all\nhis services; but this sort of enthusiasm is entirely repelled by an\naccount that the citizens Gillet and Jourbert, two representatives heard\nof almost for the first time, have taken possession of Amsterdam.\nI enquired of a man who was sawing wood for us this morning, what the\nbells clattered for last night. _\"L'on m'a dit_ (answered he) _que c'est\npour quelque ville que quelque general de la republique a prise. Ah! ca\nnous avancera beaucoup; la paix et du pain, je crois, sera mieux notre\naffaire que toutes ces conquetes.\"_ [\"They say its for some town or\nother, that some general or other has taken.--Ah! we shall get a vast\ndeal by that--a peace and bread, I think, would answer our purpose better\nthan all these victories.\"] I told him he ought to speak with more\ncaution. _\"Mourir pour mourir,_ [One death's as good as another.] (says\nhe, half gaily,) one may as well die by the Guillotine as be starved. My\nfamily have had no bread these two days, and because I went to a\nneighbouring village to buy a little corn, the peasants, who are jealous\nthat the town's people already get too much of the farmers, beat me so\nthat I am scarce able to work.\"*--\n * _\"L'interet et la criminelle avarice ont fomente et entretenu des\n germes de division entre les citoyens des villes et ceux des\n campagnes, entre les cultivateurs, les artisans et les commercans,\n entre les citoyens des departements et districts, et meme des\n communes voisines. On a voulu s'isoler de toutes parts.\"\n Discours de Lindet._\n \"Self-interest and a criminal avarice have fomented and kept alive\n the seeds of division between the inhabitants of the towns and those\n of the country, between the farmer, the mechanic, and the trader--\n the like has happened between adjoining towns and districts--an\n universal selfishness, in short, has prevailed.\"\n Lindet's Speech.\n This picture, drawn by a Jacobin Deputy, is not flattering to\n republican fraternization.\n--It is true, the wants of the lower classes are afflicting. The whole\ntown has, for some weeks, been reduced to a nominal half pound of bread a\nday for each person--I say nominal, for it has repeatedly happened, that\nnone has been distributed for three days together, and the quantity\ndiminished to four ounces; whereas the poor, who are used to eat little\nelse, consume each, in ordinary times, two pounds daily, on the lowest\ncalculation.\nWe have had here a brutal vulgar-looking Deputy, one Florent-Guyot, who\nhas harangued upon the virtues of patience, and the magnanimity of\nsuffering hunger for the good of the republic. This doctrine has,\nhowever, made few converts; though we learn, from a letter of\nFlorent-Guyot's to the Assembly, that the Amienois are excellent\npatriots, and that they starve with the best grace possible.\nYou are to understand, that the Representatives on mission, who describe\nthe inhabitants of all the towns they visit as glowing with\nrepublicanism, have, besides the service of the common cause, views of\ntheir own, and are often enabled by these fictions to administer both to\ntheir interest and their vanity. They ingratiate themselves with the\naristocrats, who are pleased at the imputation of principles which may\nsecure them from persecution--they see their names recorded on the\njournals; and, finally, by ascribing these civic dispositions to the\npower of their own eloquence, they obtain the renewal of an itinerant\ndelegation--which, it may be presumed, is very profitable.\nBeauvais, March 13, 1795.\nI have often, in the course of these letters, experienced how difficult\nit is to describe the political situation of a country governed by no\nfixed principles, and subject to all the fluctuations which are produced\nby the interests and passions of individuals and of parties. In such a\nstate conclusions are necessarily drawn from daily events, minute facts,\nand an attentive observation of the opinions and dispositions of the\npeople, which, though they leave a perfect impression on the mind of the\nwriter, are not easily conveyed to that of the reader. They are like\ncolours, the various shades of which, though discriminated by the eye,\ncannot be described but in general terms.\nSince I last wrote, the government has considerably improved in decency\nand moderation; and though the French enjoy as little freedom as their\nalmost sole Allies, the Algerines, yet their terror begins to wear off--\nand, temporizing with a despotism they want energy to destroy, they\nrejoice in the suspension of oppressions which a day or an hour may\nrenew. No one pretends to have any faith in the Convention; but we are\ntranquil, if not secure--and, though subject to a thousand arbitrary\ndetails, incompatible with a good government, the political system is\ndoubtless meliorated. Justice and the voice of the people have been\nattended to in the arrest of Collot, Barrere, and Billaud, though many\nare of opinion that their punishment will extend no farther; for a trial,\nparticularly that of Barrere, who is in the secret of all factions, would\nexpose so many revolutionary mysteries and patriotic reputations, that\nthere are few members of the Convention who will not wish it evaded; they\nprobably expect, that the seclusion, for some months, of the persons of\nthe delinquents will appease the public vengeance, and that this affair\nmay be forgotten in the bustle of more recent events.--If there had been\nany doubt of the crimes of these men, the publication of Robespierre's\npapers would have removed them; and, exclusive of their value when\nconsidered as a history of the times, these papers form one of the most\ncurious and humiliating monuments of human debasement, and human\ndepravity, extant.*\n * The Report of Courtois on Robespierre's papers, though very able,\n is an instance of the pedantry I have often remarked as so peculiar\n to the French, even when they are not deficient in talents. It\n seems to be an abstract of all the learning, ancient and modern,\n that Courtois was possessed of. I have the book before me, and have\n selected the following list of persons and allusions; many of which\n are indeed of so little use or ornament to their stations in this\n speech, that one would have thought even a republican requisition\n could not have brought them there:\n \"Sampson, Dalila, Philip, Athens, Sylla, the Greeks and Romans,\n Brutus, Lycurgus, Persepolis, Sparta, Pulcheria, Cataline, Dagon,\n Anicius, Nero, Babel, Tiberius, Caligula, Augustus, Antony, Lepidus,\n the Manicheans, Bayle and Galileo, Anitus, Socrates, Demosthenes,\n Eschinus, Marius, Busiris, Diogenes, Caesar, Cromwell, Constantine,\n the Labarum, Domitius, Machiavel, Thraseas, Cicero, Cato,\n Aristophanes, Riscius, Sophocles, Euripides, Tacitus, Sydney,\n Wisnou, Possidonius, Julian, Argus, Pompey, the Teutates, Gainas,\n Areadius, Sinon, Asmodeus, Salamanders, Anicetus, Atreus, Thyestus,\n Cesonius, Barca and Oreb, Omar and the Koran, Ptolomy Philadelphus,\n Arimanes, Gengis, Themuginus, Tigellinus, Adrean, Cacus, the Fates,\n Minos and Rhadamanthus,\" &c. &c.\n Rapport de Courtois su les Papiers de Robespierre.\nAfter several skirmishes between the Jacobins and Muscadins, the bust of\nMarat has been expelled from the theatres and public places of Paris, and\nthe Convention have ratified this popular judgment, by removing him also\nfrom their Hall and the Pantheon. But reflecting on the frailty of our\nnature, and the levity of their countrymen, in order to obviate the\ndisorders these premature beatifications give rise to, they have decreed\nthat no patriot shall in future by Pantheonized until ten years after his\ndeath. This is no long period; yet revolutionary reputations have\nhitherto scarcely survived as many months, and the puerile enthusiasm\nwhich is adopted, not felt, has been usually succeeded by a violence and\nrevenge equally irrational.\nIt has lately been discovered that Condorcet is dead, and that he\nperished in a manner singularly awful. Travelling under a mean\nappearance, he stopped at a public house to refresh himself, and was\narrested in consequence of having no passport. He told the people who\nexamined him he was a servant, but a Horace, which they found about him,\nleading to a suspicion that he was of a superior rank, they determined to\ntake him to the next town. Though already exhausted, he was obliged to\nwalk some miles farther, and, on his arrival, he was deposited in a\nprison, where he was forgotten, and starved to death.\nThus, perhaps at the moment the French were apotheosing an obscure\ndemagogue, the celebrated Condorcet expired, through the neglect of a\ngaoler; and now, the coarse and ferocious Marat, and the more refined,\nyet more pernicious, philosopher, are both involved in one common\nobloquy.\nWhat a theme for the moralist!--Perhaps the gaoler, whose brutal\ncarelessness terminated the days of Condorcet, extinguished his own\nhumanity in the torrent of that revolution of which Condorcet himself was\none of the authors; and perhaps the death of a sovereign, whom Condorcet\nassisted in bringing to the scaffold, might have been this man's first\nlesson in cruelty, and have taught him to set little value on the lives\nof the rest of mankind.--The French, though they do not analyse\nseriously, speak of this event as a just retribution, which will be\nfollowed by others of a similar nature. _\"Quelle mort,\"_ [\"What an end.\"]\nsays one--_\"Elle est affreuse,_ (says another,) _mais il etoit cause que\nbien d'autres ont peri aussi.\"_--_\"Ils periront tous, et tant mieux,\"_\n[\"'Twas dreadful--but how many people have perished by his means.\"--\n\"They'll all share the same fate, and so much the better.\"] reply twenty\nvoices; and this is the only epitaph on Condorcet.\nThe pretended revolution of the thirty-first of May, 1792, which has\noccasioned so much bloodshed, and which I remember it dangerous not to\nhallow, though you did not understand why, is now formally erased from\namong the festivals of the republic; but this is only the triumph of\nparty, and a signal that the remains of the Brissotines are gaining\nground.\nA more conspicuous and a more popular victory has been obtained by the\nroyalists, in the trial and acquittal of Delacroix. The jury had been\nchanged after the affair of Carrier, and were now better composed; though\nthe escape of Delacroix is more properly to be attributed to the\nintimidating favour of the people. The verdict was received with shouts\nof applause, repeated with transport, and Delacroix, who had so\npatriotically projected to purify the Convention, by sending more than\nhalf its members to America, was borne home on the shoulders of an\nexulting populace.\nAgain the extinction of the war in La Vendee is officially announced; and\nit is certain that the chiefs are now in treaty with government. Such a\npeace only implies, that the country is exhausted, for it suffices to\nhave read the treatment of these unhappy people to know that a\nreconciliation can neither be sincere nor permanent. But whatever may be\nthe eventual effect of this negotiation, it has been, for the present,\nthe means of wresting some unwilling concessions from the Assembly in\nfavour of a free exercise of religion. No arrangement could ever be\nproposed to the Vendeans, which did not include a toleration of\nChristianity; and to refuse that to patriots and republicans, which was\ngranted to rebels and royalists, was deemed at this time neither\nreasonable nor politic. A decree is therefore passed, authorizing\npeople, if they can overcome all the annexed obstacles, to worship God in\nthey way they have been accustomed to.\nThe public hitherto, far from being assured or encouraged by this decree,\nappear to have become more timid and suspicious; for it is conceived in\nso narrow and paltry a spirit, and expressed in such malignant and\nillusive terms, that it can hardly be said to intend an indulgence. Of\ntwelve articles of an act said to be concessive, eight are prohibitory\nand restrictive; and a municipal officer, or any other person \"in place\nor office,\" may controul at his pleasure all religious celebrations. The\ncathedrals and parish churches yet standing were seized on by the\ngovernment at the introduction of the Goddesses of Reason, and the decree\nexpressly declares that they shall not be restored or appropriated to\ntheir original uses. Individuals, who have purchased chapels or\nchurches, hesitate to sell or let them, lest they should, on a change of\npolitics, be persecuted as the abettors of fanaticism; so that the\nlong-desired restoration of the Catholic worship makes but very slow\nprogress.*--\n * This decree prohibits any parish, community, or body of people\n collectively, from hiring or purchasing a church, or maintaining a\n clergyman: it also forbids ringing a bell, or giving any other\n public notice of Divine Service, or even distinguishing any building\n by external signs of its being dedicated to religion.\n--A few people, whose zeal overpowers their discretion, have ventured to\nhave masses at their own houses, but they are thinly attended; and on\nasking any one if they have yet been to this sort of conventicle, the\nreply is, _\"On new sait pas trop ce que le decret veut dire; il faut voir\ncomment cela tournera.\"_ [\"One cannot rightly comprehend the decree--it\nwill be best to wait and see how things go.\"] Such a distrust is indeed\nvery natural; for there are two subjects on which an inveterate hatred is\napparent, and which are equally obnoxious to all systems and all parties\nin the Assembly--I mean Christianity and Great Britain. Every day\nproduces harangues against the latter; and Boissy d'Anglas has solemnly\nproclaimed, as the directing principle of the government, that the only\nnegociation for peace shall be a new boundary described by the Northern\nconquests of the republic; and this modest diplomatic is supported by\narguments to prove, that the commerce of England cannot be ruined on any\nother terms.*\n * \"How (exclaims the sagacious Bourdon de l'Oise) can you hope to\n ruin England, if you do not keep possession of the three great\n rivers.\" (The Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt.)\nThe debates of the Convention increase in variety and amusement. Besides\nthe manual exercises of the members, the accusations and retorts of\nunguarded choler, disclose to us many curious truths which a politic\nunanimity might conceal. Saladin, who was a stipendiary of the Duke of\nOrleans, and whose reputation would not grace any other assembly, is\ntransformed into a Moderate, and talks of virtue and crime; while Andre\nDumont, to the great admiration of his private biographists, has been\nsigning a peace with the Duke of Tuscany.--Our republican statesmen\nrequire to be viewed in perspective: they appear to no advantage in the\nforeground. Dumont would have made \"a good pantler, he would have\nchipp'd bread well;\" or, like Scrub, he might have \"drawn warrants, or\ndrawn beer,\"--but I should doubt if, in a transaction of this nature, the\nDukedom of Tuscany was ever before so assorted; and if the Duke were\nobliged to make this peace, he may well say, \"necessity doth make us herd\nwith strange companions.\"\nNotwithstanding the Convention still detests Christianity, utters\nanathemas against England, and exhibits daily scenes of indecent\ndiscussion and reviling, it is doubtless become more moderate on the\nwhole; and though this moderation be not equal to the people's wishes, it\nis more than sufficient to exasperate the Jacobins, who call the\nConvention the Senate of Coblentz, and are perpetually endeavouring to\nexcite commotions. The belief is, indeed, general, that the Assembly\ncontains a strong party of royalists; yet, though this may be true in a\ndegree, I fear the impulse which has been given by the public opinion, is\nmistaken for a tendency in the Convention itself. But however, this may\nbe, neither the imputations of the Jacobins, nor the hopes of the people,\nhave been able to oppose the progress of a sentiment which, operating on\na character like that of the French, is more fatal to a popular body than\neven hatred or contempt. The long duration of this disastrous\nlegislature has excited an universal weariness; the guilt of particular\nmembers is now less discussed than the insignificance of the whole\nassemblage; and the epithets corrupt, worn out, hackneyed, and\neverlasting, [Tare, use, banal, and eternel.] have almost superseded\nthose of rogues and villains.\nThe law of the maximum has been repealed some time, and we now procure\nnecessaries with much greater facility; but the assignats, no longer\nsupported by violence, are rapidly diminishing in credit--so that every\nthing is dear in proportion. We, who are more than indemnified by the\nrise of exchange in our favour, are not affected by these progressive\naugmentations in the price of provisions. It would, however, be\nerroneous and unfeeling to judge of the situation of the French\nthemselves from such a calculation.\nPeople who have let their estates on leases, or have annuities on the\nHotel de Ville, &c. receive assignats at par, and the wages of the\nlabouring poor are still comparatively low. What was five years ago a\nhandsome fortune, now barely supplies a decent maintenance; and smaller\nincomes, which were competencies at that period, are now almost\ninsufficient for existence. A workman, who formerly earned twenty-five\nsols a day, has at present three livres; and you give a sempstress thirty\nsols, instead of ten: yet meat, which was only five or six sols when\nwages was twenty-five, is now from fifty sols to three livres the pound,\nand every other article in the same or a higher proportion. Thus, a\nman's daily wages, instead of purchasing four or five pounds of meat, as\nthey would have done before the revolution, now only purchase one.\nIt grieves me to see people whom I have known at their ease, obliged to\nrelinquish, in the decline of life, comforts to which they were\naccustomed at a time when youth rendered indulgence less necessary; yet\nevery day points to the necessity of additional oeconomy, and some little\nconvenience or enjoyment is retrenched--and to those who are not above\nacknowledging how much we are the creatures of habit, a dish of coffee,\nor a glass of liqueur, &c. will not seem such trifling privations. It is\ntrue, these are, strictly speaking, luxuries; so too are most things by\ncomparison--\n \"O reason not the need: our basest beggars\n \"Are in the poorest thing superfluous:\n \"Allow not nature more than nature needs,\n \"Man's life is cheap as beast's.\"\nIf the wants of one class were relieved by these deductions from the\nenjoyments of another, it might form a sufficient consolation; but the\nsame causes which have banished the splendor of wealth and the comforts\nof mediocrity, deprive the poor of bread and raiment, and enforced\nparsimony is not more generally conspicuous than wretchedness.\nThe frugal tables of those who were once rich, have been accompanied by\nrelative and similar changes among the lower classes; and the suppression\nof gilt equipages is so far from diminishing the number of wooden shoes,\nthat for one pair of sabots which were seen formerly, there are now ten.\nThe only Lucullus's of the day are a swarm of adventurers who have\nescaped from prisons, or abandoned gaming-houses, to raise fortunes by\nspeculating in the various modes of acquiring wealth which the revolution\nhas engendered.--These, together with the numberless agents of government\nenriched by more direct pillage, live in coarse luxury, and dissipate\nwith careless profusion those riches which their original situations and\nhabits have disqualified them from converting to a better use.\nAlthough the circumstances of the times have necessitated a good deal of\ndomestic oeconomy among people who live on their fortunes, they have\nlately assumed a gayer style of dress, and are less averse from\nfrequenting public amusements. For three years past, (and very\nnaturally,) the gentry have openly murmured at the revolution; and they\nnow, either convinced of the impolicy of such conduct, terrified by their\npast sufferings, or, above all, desirous of proclaiming their triumph\nover the Jacobins, are every where reviving the national taste for modes\nand finery. The attempt to reconcile these gaieties with prudence, has\nintroduced some contrasts in apparel whimsical enough, though our French\nbelles adopt them with much gravity.\nIn consequence of the disorders in the South of France, and the\ninterruption of commerce by sea, soap is not only dear, but sometimes\ndifficult to purchase at any rate. We have ourselves paid equal to five\nlivres a pound in money. Hence we have white wigs* and grey stockings,\nmedallions and gold chains with coloured handkerchiefs and discoloured\ntuckers, and chemises de Sappho, which are often worn till they rather\nremind one of the pious Queen Isabel, than the Greek poetess.\n * Vilate, in his pamphlet on the secret causes of the revolution of\n the ninth Thermidor, relates the following anecdote of the origin of\n the peruques blondes. \"The caprice of a revolutionary female who,\n on the fete in celebration of the Supreme Being, covered her own\n dark hair with a tete of a lighter colour, having excited the\n jealousy of La Demahe, one of Barrere's mistresses, she took\n occasion to complain to him of this coquettry, by which she thought\n her own charms eclipsed. Barrere instantly sent for Payen, the\n national agent, and informed him that a new counter-revolutionary\n sect had started up, and that its partizans distinguished themselves\n by wearing wigs made of light hair cut from the heads of the\n guillotined aristocrats. He therefore enjoined Payen to make a\n speech at the municipality, and to thunder against this new mode.\n The mandate was, of course, obeyed; and the women of rank, who had\n never before heard of these wigs, were both surprized and alarmed at\n an imputation so dangerous. Barrere is said to have been highly\n amused at having thus solemnly stopped the progress of a fashion,\n only becuase it displeased one of his female favourites.--I\n perfectly remember Payen's oration against this coeffure, and every\n woman in Paris who had light hair, was, I doubt not, intimidated.\"\n This pleasantry of Barrere's proves with what inhuman levity the\n government sported with the feelings of the people. At the fall of\n Robespierre, the peruque blonde, no longer subject to the empire of\n Barrere's favourites, became a reigning mode.\n--Madame Tallien, who is supposed occasionally to dictate decrees to the\nConvention, presides with a more avowed and certain sway over the realms\nof fashion; and the Turkish draperies that may float very gracefully on a\nform like hers, are imitated by rotund sesquipedal Fatimas, who make one\nregret even the tight lacings and unnatural diminishings of our\ngrandmothers.\nI came to Beauvais a fortnight ago with the Marquise. Her long\nconfinement has totally ruined her health, and I much fear she will not\nrecover. She has an aunt lives here, and we flattered ourselves she\nmight benefit by change of air--but, on the contrary, she seems worse,\nand we propose to return in the course of a week to Amiens.\nI had a good deal of altercation with the municipality about obtaining a\npassport; and when they at last consented, they gave me to understand I\nwas still a prisoner in the eye of the law, and that I was indebted to\nthem for all the freedom I enjoyed. This is but too true; for the decree\nconstituting the English hostages for the Deputies at Toulon has never\nbeen repealed--\n \"Ah, what avails it that from slavery far,\n \"I drew the breath of life in English air?\"\nYet is it a consolation, that the title by which I was made an object of\nmean vengeance is the one I most value.*\n * An English gentleman, who was asked by a republican Commissary,\n employed in examining the prisons, why he was there, replied,\n \"Because I have not the misfortune to be a Frenchman!\"\nThis is a large manufacturing town, and the capital of the department of\nl'Oise. Its manufactories now owe their chief activity to the\nrequisitions for supplying cloth to the armies. Such commerce is by no\nmeans courted; and if people were permitted, as they are in most\ncountries, to trade or let it alone, it would soon decline.--The choir of\nthe cathedral is extremely beautiful, and has luckily escaped republican\ndevastation, though there seems to exist no hope that it will be again\nrestored to the use of public worship. Your books will inform you, that\nBeauvais was besieged in 1472 by the Duke of Burgundy, with eighty\nthousand men, and that he failed in the attempt. Its modern history is\nnot so fortunate. It was for some time harassed by a revolutionary army,\nwhose exactions and disorders being opposed by the inhabitants, a decree\nof the Convention declared the town in a state of rebellion; and this\nban, which operates like the Papal excommunications three centuries ago,\nand authorizes tyranny of all kinds, was not removed until long after the\ndeath of Robespierre.--Such a specimen of republican government has made\nthe people cautious, and abundant in the exteriors of patriotism. Where\nthey are sure of their company, they express themselves without reserve,\nboth on the subject of their legislators and the miseries of the country;\nbut intercourse is considerably more timid here than at Amiens.\nTwo gentlemen dined with us yesterday, whom I know to be zealous\nroyalists, and, as they are acquainted, I made no scruple of producing an\nengraving which commemorates mysteriously the death of the King, and\nwhich I had just received from Paris by a private conveyance. They\nlooked alarmed, and affected not to understand it; and, perceiving I had\ndone wrong, I replaced the print without farther explanation: but they\nboth called this evening, and reproached me separately for thus exposing\ntheir sentiments to each other.--This is a trifling incident, yet perhaps\nit may partly explain the great aenigma why no effectual resistance is\nmade to a government which is secretly detested. It has been the policy\nof all the revolutionists, from the Lameths and La Fayette down to\nBrissot and Robespierre, to destroy the confidence of society; and the\ncalamities of last year, now aiding the system of spies and informers,\noccasion an apprehension and distrust which impede union, and check every\nenterprize that might tend to restore the freedom of the country.--Yours,\nAmiens, April 12, 1795.\nInstead of commenting on the late disorders at Paris, I subjoin the\ntranslation of a letter just received by Mrs. D-------- from a friend,\nwhose information, we have reason to believe, is as exact as can possibly\nbe obtained in the chaos of little intrigues which now comprise the whole\nscience of French politics.\n\"Paris, April 9.\n\"Though I know, my good friend, you are sufficiently versed in the\ntechnicals of our revolution not to form an opinion of occurrences from\nthe language in which they are officially described, yet I cannot resist\nthe favourable opportunity of Mad. --------'s return, to communicate such\nexplanations of the late events as their very ambiguous appearance may\nrender necessary even to you.\n\"I must begin by informing you, that the proposed decree of the\nConvention to dissolve themselves and call a new Assembly, was a mere\ncoquettry. Harassed by the struggles of the Jacobins, and alarmed at\nthe symptoms of public weariness and disgust, which became every day more\nvisible, they hoped this feint might operate on the fears of the people\nof Paris, and animate them to a more decided support against the efforts\nof the common enemy, as well as tend to reconcile them to a farther\nendurance of a representation from which they did not disguise their\nwishes to be released. An opportunity was therefore seized on, or\ncreated, when our allowance of bread had become unusually short, and the\nJacobins unusually turbulent, to bring forward this project of renovating\nthe legislature. But in politics, as well as love, such experiments are\ndangerous. Far from being received with regret, the proposition excited\nuniversal transport; and it required all the diligence of the agents of\ngovernment to insinuate effectually, that if Paris were abandoned by the\nConvention at this juncture, it would not only become a prey to famine,\nbut the Jacobins would avail themselves of the momentary disorder to\nregain their power, and renew their past atrocities.\n\"A conviction that we in reality derive our scanty supplies from\nexertions which would not be made, were they not necessary to restrain\nthe popular ill humour, added to an habitual apprehension of the Clubs,*\nassisted this manoeuvre; and a few of the sections were, in consequence,\nprevailed on to address our Representatives, and to request they would\nremain at their post.--\n * Paris had been long almost entirely dependent on the government\n for subsistence, so that an insurrection could always be procured by\n withholding the usual supply. The departments were pillaged by\n requisitions, and enormous sums sent to the neutral countries to\n purchase provisions, that the capital might be maintained in\n dependence and good humour. The provisions obtained by these means\n were distributed to the shopkeepers, who had instructions to retail\n them to the idle and disorderly, at about a twentieth part of the\n original cost, and no one could profit by this regulation, without\n first receiving a ticket from the Committee of his section.\n It was lately asserted in the Convention, and not disavowed, that if\n the government persisted in this sort of traffic, the annual loss\n attending the article of corn alone would amount to fifty millions\n sterling. The reduction of the sum in question into English money\n is made on a presumption that the French government did not mean\n (were it to be avoided) to commit an act of bankruptcy, and redeem\n their paper at less than par. Reckoning, however, at the real value\n of assignats when the calculation was made, and they were then worth\n perhaps a fifth of their nominal value, the government was actually\n at the expence of ten millions sterling a year, for supplying Paris\n with a very scanty portion of bread! The sum must appear enormous,\n but the peculation under such a government must be incalculable; and\n when it is recollected that all neutral ships bringing cargoes for\n the republic must have been insured at an immense premium, or\n perhaps eventually purchased by the French, and that very few could\n reach their destination, we may conclude that such as did arrive\n cost an immoderate sum.\n--\"The insurrection that immediately succeeded was at first the effect of\na similar scheme, and it ended in a party contention, in which the\npeople, as usual, were neuter.\n\"The examination into the conduct of Barrere, Collot, &c. had been\ndelayed until it seemed rather a measure destined to protect than to\nbring them to punishment; and the impatience which was every where\nexpressed on the subject, sufficiently indicated the necessity, or at\nleast the prudence, of hastening their trial. Such a process could not\nbe ventured on but at the risk of involving the whole Convention in a\nlabyrinth of crimes, inconsistencies, and ridicule, and the delinquents\nalready began to exonerate themselves by appealing to the vote of solemn\napprobation passed in their favour three months after the death of\nRobespierre had restored the Assembly to entire freedom.\n\"The only means of extrication from this dilemma, appeared to be that of\nfinding some pretext to satisfy the public vengeance, without hazarding\nthe scandal of a judicial exposure. Such a pretext it was not difficult\nto give rise to: a diminished portion of bread never fails to produce\ntumultuous assemblages, that are easily directed, though not easily\nsuppressed; and crouds of this description, agitated by real misery, were\nexcited (as we have every reason to suppose) by hired emissaries to\nassail the Convention with disorderly clamours for bread. This being\nattributed to the friends of the culprits, decrees were opportunely\nintroduced and passed for transporting them untried out of the republic,\nand for arresting most of the principal Jacobin members as their\npartizans.\n\"The subsequent disturbances were less artificial; for the Jacobins, thus\nrendered desperate, attempted resistance; but, as they were unsuccessful,\ntheir efforts only served their adversaries as an excuse for arresting\nseveral of the party who had escaped the former decrees.\n\"Nothing, I assure you, can with less truth be denominated popular\nmovements, than many of these scenes, which have, notwithstanding,\npowerfully influenced the fate of our country. A revolt, or\ninsurrection, is often only an affair of intrigue and arrangement; and\nthe desultory violences of the suburbs of St. Antoine, or of the market\nwomen, are regulated by the same Committee and cabals that direct our\ncampaigns and treaties. The common distresses of the people are\ncontinually drawing them together; and, when thus collected, their\ncredulity renders them the ready instruments of any prevailing faction.\n\"Our recent disorders afforded a striking proof of this. I was myself\nthe Cicerone of a country friend on the day the Convention was first\nassailed. The numbers who crouded into the hall were at first\nconsiderable, yet they exhibited no signs of hostility, and it was\nevident they were brought there for some purpose of which they were\nthemselves ignorant. When asked their intentions, they vociferated 'Du\npain! Du pain!'--Bread, Bread; and, after occupying the seats of the\nDeputies for a short time, quietly withdrew.\n\"That this insurrection was originally factitious, and devised for the\npurpose I have mentioned, is farther corroborated by the sudden\nappearance of Pichegru and other officers, who seemed brought expressly\nto protect the departure of the obnoxious trio, in case it should be\nopposed either by their friends or enemies. It is likewise to be\nremarked, that Barrere and the rest were stopped at the gates of Paris by\nthe same mob who were alledged to have risen in their favour, and who,\ninstead of endeavouring to rescue them, brought them back to the\nCommittee of General Safety, on a supposition that they had escaped from\nprison.--The members of the moderate party, who were detained in some of\nthe sections, sustained no ill treatment whatever, and were released on\nbeing claimed by their colleagues, which could scarcely have happened,\nhad the mob been under the direction of the Jacobins, or excited by\nthem.--In short, the whole business proved that the populace were mere\nagents, guided by no impulse of their own, except hunger, and who, when\nleft to themselves, rather impeded than promoted the designs of both\nfactions.\n\"You must have been surprized to see among the list of members arrested,\nthe name of Laurent Lecointre; but he could never be pardoned for having\nreduced the Convention to the embarrassing necessity of prosecuting\nRobespierre's associates, and he is now secured, lest his restless\nQuixotism should remind the public, that the pretended punishment of\nthese criminals is in fact only a scandalous impunity.\n\"We are at present calm, but our distress for bread is intolerable, and\nthe people occasionally assail the pastry-cooks' shops; which act of\nhostility is called, with more pleasantry than truth or feeling, _'La\nguerre du pain bis contre la brioche.'_ [The war of brown bread against\ncakes.]--God knows, it is not the quality of bread, but the scarcity of\nit which excites these discontents.\n\"The new arithmetic* is more followed, and more interesting, than ever,\nthough our hopes are all vague, and we neither guess how or by whom they\nare to be fulfilled.\n * This was a mysterious way of expressing that the royalists were\n still gaining ground. It alluded to a custom which then prevailed,\n of people asking each other in the street, and sometimes even\n assailing the Deputies, with the question of \"How much is eight and\n a half and eight and a half?\"--By which was understood Louis the\n Seventeenth.\n\"I have done every thing that depends on me to obtain your passports\nwithout success, and I still advise you to come to Paris and solicit them\nin person. Your departure, in happier times, would be a subject of\nregret, at present I shall both envy and congratulate you when you are\nenabled to quit a country which promises so little security or\nsatisfaction.\n\"We receive, at this moment, the two loaves. My sister joins me in\nacknowledgments, and expresses her fears that you must suffer by your\nkindness, though it is truly acceptable--for I have been several days\nunder arms, and have had no time to make my usual excursions in search of\nbread.\n\"Yours, &c.\"\nThe proposed dissolution of the Assembly alluded to in the beginning of\nMons. --------'s letter, occasioned here a more general rejoicing than\neven the fall of the Jacobin club, and, not being influenced by the\nmotives suggested to the Parisians, we were sincerely disappointed when\nwe found the measure postponed. The morning this news arrived, we walked\nabout the town till dinner, and in every street people were collected in\ngroupes, and engaged in eager discussion. An acquaintance whom we\nhappened to meet, instead of the usual salutations, exclaimed \"_Nous\nviola quittes, ils s'en vont les brigands_\" [\"At length we are quit of\nthem--the rogues are going about their business.\"]; and I observed several\nrecontres of this sort, where people skipped and caracoled, as though\nunable to contain their satisfaction. Nothing was talked of but _Le\nPetit_ [An endearing appellation given to the young King by those who\nwould not venture to mention his name.], and the new elections; and I\nremarked with pleasure, that every one agreed in the total exclusion of\nall the present Deputies.\nTwo mornings after we had been indulging in these agreeable visions, we\nlearned that the Convention, purely from a patriotic desire of serving\ntheir country, had determined not to quit their post. We were at this\ntime in extreme want of bread, the distribution not exceeding a quarter\nof a pound per day; and numbers who are at their ease in other respects,\ncould not obtain any. This, operating perhaps with the latent ill humour\noccasioned by so unwelcome a declaration of perseverance on the part of\ntheir Representatives, occasioned a violent ferment among the people, and\non the second of this month they were in open revolt; the magazine of\ncorn for the use of the army was besieged, the national colours were\ninsulted, and Blaux, a Deputy who is here on mission, was dragged from\nthe Hotel de Ville, and obliged by the enraged populace to cry \"Vive le\nRoi!\" These disorders continued till the next day, but were at length\nappeased by a small distribution of flour from the magazine.\nIn the debates of the Convention the whole is ascribed to the Jacobins,\nthough it is well known they have no influence here; and I wish you to\nattend to this circumstance more particularly, as it proves what\nartifices are used to conceal the real sentiments of the people.\nI, and every inhabitant of Amiens, can attest that this revolt, which was\ndeclared in the Assembly to have been instigated by the partizans of the\nJacobins, was, as far as it had any decided political character, an\neffervescence of royalism.\nAt Rouen, Abbeville, and other places, the trees of liberty, (or, rather,\nthe trees of the republic,) have been cut down, the tri-coloured flag\ntorn, and the cry of \"Vive le Roi!\" was for some time predominant; yet\nthe same misrepresentation was had recourse to, and all these places were\nasserted to have espoused the cause of that party to which they are most\nrepugnant.\nI acknowledge that the chief source of these useless excesses is famine,\nand that it is for the most part the lower classes only who promote them;\nbut the same cause and the same description of people were made the\ninstruments for bringing about the revolution, and the poor seek now, as\nthey did in 1789, a remedy for their accumulated sufferings in a change\nof government. The mass of mankind are ever more readily deluded by hope\nthan benefited by experience; and the French, being taught by the\nrevolutionists to look for that relief from changes of government which\nsuch changes cannot afford, now expect that the restoration of the\nmonarchy will produce plenty, as they were before persuaded that the\nfirst efforts to subvert it would banish want.\nWe are now tolerably quiet, and should seriously think of going to Paris,\nwere we not apprehensive that some attempt from the Jacobins to rescue\ntheir chiefs, may create new disturbances. The late affair appears to\nhave been only a retaliation of the thirty-first of May, 1792; and the\nremains of the Girondists have now proscribed the leaders of the\nMountaineers, much in the same way as they were then proscribed\nthemselves.--Yours.\nAmiens, May 9, 1795.\nWhilst all Europe is probably watching with solicitude the progress of\nthe French arms, and the variations of their government, the French\nthemselves, almost indifferent to war and politics, think only of\naverting the horrors of famine. The important news of the day is the\nportion of bread which is to be distributed; and the siege of Mentz,\nor the treaty with the King of Prussia, are almost forgotten, amidst\nenquiries about the arrival of corn, and anxiety for the approach of\nharvest. The same paper that announces the surrender of towns, and the\nsuccess of battles, tells us that the poor die in the streets of Paris,\nor are driven to commit suicide, through want. We have no longer to\ncontend with avaricious speculations, but a real scarcity; and\ndetachments of the National Guard, reinforced by cannon, often search the\nadjacent villages several days successively without finding a single\nseptier of corn. The farmers who have yet been able to conceal any,\nrefuse to dispose of it for assignats; and the poor, who have neither\nplate nor money, exchange their best clothes or linen for a loaf, or a\nsmall quantity of flour. Our gates are sometimes assailed by twenty or\nthirty people, not to beg money, but bread; and I am frequently accosted\nin the street by women of decent appearance, who, when I offer them\nassignats, refuse them, saying, \"We have enough of this sorry paper--it\nis bread we want.\"--If you are asked to dine, you take your bread with\nyou; and you travel as though you were going a voyage--for there are not\nmany inns on the road where you can expect to find bread, or indeed\nprovisions of any kind.\nHaving procured a few six-livre pieces, we were enabled to purchase a\nsmall supply of corn, though by no means enough for our consumption, so\nthat we are obliged to oeconomise very rigidly. Mr. D-------- and the\nservants eat bread made with three-parts bran to one of flour. The\nlittle provision we possess is, however, a great embarrassment to us, for\nwe are not only subject to domiciliary visits, but continually liable to\nbe pillaged by the starving poor around us; and we are often under the\nnecessity of passing several meals without bread, because we dare not\nsend the wheat to be ground, nor bake except at night. While the last\noperation is performing, the doors are carefully shut, the bell rings in\nvain, and no guest is admitted till every vestige of it is removed.--All\nthe breweries have seals put upon the doors, and severe penal laws are\nissued against converting barley to any other purpose than the making of\nbread. If what is allowed us were composed only of barley, or any other\nwholesome grain, we should not repine; but the distribution at present is\na mixture of grown wheat, peas, rye, &c. which has scarcely the\nresemblance of bread.\nI was asked to-day, by some women who had just received their portion,\nand in an accent of rage and despair that alarmed me, whether I thought\nsuch food fit for a human creature.--We cannot alleviate this misery, and\nare impatient to escape from the sight of it. If we can obtain passports\nto go from hence to Paris, we hope there to get a final release, and a\npermission to return to England.\nMy friend Madame de la F-------- has left us, and I fear is only gone\nhome to die. Her health was perfectly good when we were first arrested,\nthough vexation, more than confinement, has contributed to undermine it.\nThe revolution had, in various ways, diminished her property; but this\nshe would have endured with patience, had not the law of successions\ninvolved her in difficulties which appeared every day more interminable,\nand perplexed her mind by the prospect of a life of litigation and\nuncertainty. By this law, all inheritances, donations, or bequests,\nsince the fourteenth of July 1789, are annulled and subjected to a\ngeneral partition among the nearest relatives. In consequence, a large\nestate of the Marquise's, as well as another already sold, are to be\naccounted for, and divided between a variety of claimants. Two of the\nnumber being emigrants, the republic is also to share; and as the live\nstock, furniture, farming utensils, and arrears, are included in this\nabsurd and iniquitous regulation, the confusion and embarrassment which\nit has occasioned are indescribable.\nThough an unlucky combination of circumstances has rendered such a law\nparticularly oppressive to Madame de la F--------, she is only one of an\ninfinite number who are affected by it, and many of whom may perhaps be\nstill greater sufferers than herself. The Constituent Assembly had\nattempted to form a code that might counteract the spirit of legal\ndisputation, for which the French are so remarkable; but this single\ndecree will give birth to more processes than all the _pandects, canons,_\nand _droits feodaux,_ accumulated since the days of Charlemagne; and I\ndoubt, though one half the nation were lawyers, whether they might not\nfind sufficient employment in demalgamating the property of the other\nhalf.\nThis mode of partition, in itself ill calculated for a rich and\ncommercial people, and better adapted to the republic of St. Marino than\nto that of France, was introduced under pretext of favouring the system\nof equality; and its transition from absurdity to injustice, by giving it\na retroactive effect, was promoted to accommodate the \"virtuous\" Herault\nde Sechelles, who acquired a considerable addition of fortune by it. The\nConvention are daily beset with petitions from all parts on this subject;\nbut their followers and themselves being somewhat in the style of\nFalstaff's regiment--\"younger sons of younger brothers,\" they seem\ndetermined, as they usually are, to square their notions of justice by\nwhat is most conducive to their own interest.\nAn apprehension of some attempt from the Jacobins, and the discontents\nwhich the scarcity of bread give rise to among the people, have produced\na private order from the Committees of government for arming and\nre-organizing the National Guard.*\n * Though I have often had occasion to use the term National Guard,\n it is to be understood only as citizens armed for some temporary\n purpose, whose arms were taken from them as soon as that service was\n performed. The _Garde Nationale,_ as a regular institution, had\n been in a great measure suppressed since the summer of 1793, and\n those who composed it gradually disarmed. The usual service of\n mounting guard was still continued, but the citizens, with very few\n exceptions, were armed only with pikes, and even those were not\n entrusted to their own care, each delivering up his arms when he\n retired more exactly than if it were an article of capitulation with\n a successful enemy.\n--I remember, in 1789 and 1790, when this popular militia was first\ninstituted, every one, either from policy or inclination, appeared eager\nto promote it; and nothing was discussed but military fetes, balls,\nexercise, and uniforms. These patriotic levities have now entirely\nvanished, and the business proceeds with languor and difficulty. One\ndreads the present expence, another future persecution, and all are\nsolicitous to find cause for exemption.\nThis reluctance, though perhaps to be regretted, is in a great measure\njustifiable. Where the lives and fortunes of a whole nation are\ndependent on the changes of party, obscurity becomes the surest\nprotection, and those who are zealous now, may be the first sacrifices\nhereafter. Nor is it encouraging to arm for the defence of the\nConvention, which is despised, or to oppose the violence of a populace,\nwho, however misguided, are more objects of compassion than of\npunishment.\nFouquier Tinville, with sixteen revolutionary Judges and Jurymen, have\nbeen tried and executed, at the moment when the instigators of their\ncrimes, Billaud-Varennes, Collot, &c. were sentenced by the Convention to\na banishment, which is probably the object of their wishes. This\nTinville and his accomplices, who condemned thousands with such ferocious\ngaiety, beheld the approach of death themselves with a mixture of rage\nand terror, that even cowardice and guilt do not always exhibit. It\nseems an awful dispensation of Providence, that they who were inhuman\nenough to wish to deprive their victims of the courage which enabled them\nto submit to their fate with resignation, should in their last moments\nwant that courage, and die despairing, furious, and uttering\nimprecations, which were returned by the enraged multitude.*\n--Yours, &c.\n * Some of the Jurymen were in the habit of taking caricatures of the\n prisoners while they condemned them. Among the papers of the\n Revolutionary Tribunal were found blank sentences, which were\n occasionally sent to the Committee of Public Safety, to be filled up\n with the names of those intended to be sacrificed.--The name of one\n of the Jurymen executed on this occasion was Leroi, but being a very\n ardent republican, he had changed it for that of Citizen Tenth of\n August.\nAmiens, May 26, 1795.\nOur journey to Paris has been postponed by the insurrection which\noccurred on the first and second of Prairial, (20th and 21st of May,) and\nwhich was not like that of Germinal, fabricated--but a real and violent\nattempt of the Jacobins to regain their power. Of this event it is to be\nremarked, that the people of Paris were at first merely spectators, and\nthat the Convention were at length defended by the very classes which\nthey have so long oppressed under the denomination of aristocrats. For\nseveral hours the Assembly was surrounded, and in the power of its\nenemies; the head of Ferraud, a deputy, was borne in triumph to the\nhall;* and but for the impolitic precipitation of the Jacobins, the\npresent government might have been destroyed.\n * The head of Ferraud was placed on a pole, and, after being paraded\n about the Hall, stationed opposite the President. It is impossible\n to execrate sufficiently this savage triumph; but similar scenes had\n been applauded on the fourteenth of July and the fifth and sixth of\n October 1789; and the Parisians had learned, from the example of the\n Convention themselves, that to rejoice in the daily sacrifice of\n fifty or sixty people, was an act of patriotism. As to the epithets\n of Coquin, Scelerats, Voleurs, &c. which were now bestowed on the\n Assembly, they were only what the members were in the constant habit\n of applying to each other.\n The assassin of Ferraud being afterwards taken and sentenced to the\n Guillotine, was rescued by the mob at the place of execution, and\n the inhabitants of the Fauxbourg St. Antoine were in revolt for two\n days on this occasion, nor would they give him up until abandoned by\n the cannoneers of their party.--It is singular, and does no honour\n to the revolutionary school, or the people of Paris, that Madame\n Elizabeth, Malsherbes, Cecile Renaud, and thousands of others,\n should perish innocently, and that the only effort of this kind\n should be exerted in favour of a murderer who deserved even a worse\n death.\nThe contest began, as usual, by an assemblage of females, who forced\nthemselves into the national palace, and loudly clamoured for immediate\nsupplies of bread. They then proceeded to reproach the Convention with\nhaving robbed them of their liberty, plundered the public treasure, and\nfinally reduced the country to a state of famine.*\n * People.--_\"Nous vous demandons ce que vous avez fait de nos\n tresors et de notre liberte?\"_--\"We want to know what you have done\n with our treasure and our liberty?\"\n President.--_\"Citoyens, vous etes dans le sein de la Convention\n Nationale.\"_--\"Citizens, I must remind you that you are in the\n presence of the National Convention.\"\n People.--_\"Du pain, du pain, Coquin--Qu'as tu fait de notre argent?\n Pas tant de belles phrases, mais du pain, du pain, il n'y a point\n ici de conspirateurs--nous demandons du pain parceque nous avons\n saim.\"_--\"Bread, bread, rogue!--what have you done with our money?--\n Fine speeches won't do--'tis bread we want.--There are no\n conspirators among us--we only ask for bread, because we are\n hungry.\"\n See Debates of the Convention.\n--It was not easy either to produce bread, or refute these charges, and\nthe Deputies of the moderate party remained silent and overpowered, while\nthe Jacobins encouraged the mob, and began to head them openly. The\nParisians, however interested in the result of this struggle, appeared to\nbehold it with indifference, or at least with inactivity. Ferraud had\nalready been massacred in endeavouring to repel the croud, and the\nConvention was abandoned to outrage and insult; yet no effectual attempt\nhad been made in their defence, until the Deputies of the Mountain\nprematurely avowed their designs, and moved for a repeal of all the\ndoctrines since the death of Robespierre--for the reincarceration of\nsuspected persons--and, in fine, for an absolute revival of the whole\nrevolutionary system.\nThe avowal of these projects created an immediate alarm among those on\nwhom the massacre of Ferraud, and the dangers to which the Assembly was\nexposed, had made no impression. The dismay became general; and in a few\nhours the aristocrats themselves collected together a force sufficient to\nliberate the Assembly,* and wrest the government from the hands of the\nJacobins.--\n * This is stated as a ground of reproach by the Jacobins, and is\n admitted by the Convention. Andre Dumont, who had taken so active a\n part in supporting Robespierre's government, was yet on this\n occasion defended and protected the whole day by a young man whose\n father had been guillotined.\n--This defeat ended in the arrest of all who had taken a part against the\nnow triumphant majority; and there are, I believe, near fifty of them in\ncustody, besides numbers who contrived to escape.*\n * Among those implicated in this attempt to revive the revolutionary\n government was Carnot, and the decree of arrest would have been\n carried against him, had it not been suggested that his talents were\n necessary in the military department. All that remained of\n Robespierre's Committees, Jean Bon St. Andre, Robert Lindet, and\n Prieur, were arrested. Carnot alone was excepted; and it was not\n disguised that his utility, more than any supposed integrity,\n procured him the exemption.\nThat the efforts of this more sanguinary faction have been checked, is\ndoubtless a temporary advantage; yet those who calculate beyond the\nmoment see only the perpetuation of anarchy, in a habit of expelling one\npart of the legislature to secure the government of the other; nor can it\nbe denied, that the freedom of the representative body has been as much\nviolated by the Moderates in the recent transactions, as by the Jacobins\non the thirty-first of May 1793. The Deputies of the Mountain have been\nproscribed and imprisoned, rather as partizans than criminals; and it is\nthe opinion of many, that these measures, which deprive the Convention of\nsuch a portion of its members, attach as much illegality to the\nproceedings of the rest, as the former violences of Robespierre and his\nfaction.*\n * The decrees passed by the Jacobin members during their few hours\n triumph cannot be defended; but the whole Convention had long\n acquiesced in them, and the precise time when they were to cease was\n certainly a matter of opinion. The greater part of these members\n were accused of no active violence, nor could they have been\n arrested on any principles but that of being rivals to a faction\n stronger than themselves.\n--It is true, the reigning party may plead in their justification that\nthey only inflict what they would themselves have suffered, had the\nJacobins prevailed; and this is an additional proof of the weakness and\ninstability of a form of government which is incapable of resisting\nopposition, and which knows no medium between yielding to its\nadversaries, and destroying them.\nIn a well organized constitution, it is supposed that a liberal spirit of\nparty is salutary. Here they dispute the alternatives of power and\nemolument, or prisons and guillotines; and the sole result to the people\nis the certainty of being sacrificed to the fears, and plundered by the\nrapacity of either faction which may chance to acquire the superiority.--\nHad the government any permanent or inherent strength, a party watching\nits errors, and eager to attack them, might, in time, by these perpetual\ncollisions, give birth to some principles of liberty and order. But, as\nI have often had occasion to notice, this species of republicanism is in\nitself so weak, that it cannot exist except by a constant recurrence to\nthe very despotism it professes to exclude. Hence it is jealous and\nsuspicious, and all opposition to it is fatal; so that, to use an\nargument somewhat similar to Hume's on the liberty of the press in\nrepublics, the French possess a sort of freedom which does not admit of\nenjoyment; and, in order to boast that they have a popular constitution,\nare obliged to support every kind of tyranny.*\n * Hume observes, that absolute monarchies and republics nearly\n approach; for the excess of liberty in the latter renders such\n restraints necessary as to make them in practice resemble the\n former.\nThe provinces take much less interest in this event, than in one of a\nmore general and personal effect, though not apparently of equal\nimportance. A very few weeks ago, the Convention asseverated, in the\nusual acclamatory style, that they would never even listen to a proposal\nfor diminishing the value, or stopping the currency, of any description\nof assignats. Their oaths are not, indeed, in great repute, yet many\npeople were so far deceived, as to imagine that at least the credit of\nthe paper would not be formally destroyed by those who had forced its\ncirculation. All of a sudden, and without any previous notice, a decree\nwas issued to suppress the corsets, (or assignats of five livres,)\nbearing the King's image;* and as these were very numerous, and chiefly\nin the hands of the lower order of people, the consternation produced by\nthis measure was serious and unusual.--\n * The opinion that prevailed at this time that a restoration of the\n monarchy was intended by the Convention, had rendered every one\n solicitous to amass assignats issued during the late King's reign.\n Royal assignats of five livres were exchanged for six, seven, and\n eight livres of the republican paper.\n--There cannot be a stronger proof of the tyranny of the government, or\nof the national propensity to submission, than the circumstance of making\nit penal to refuse one day, what, by the same authority, is rendered\nvalueless the next--and that notwithstanding this, the remaining\nassignats are still received under all the probability of their\nexperiencing a similar fate.\nParis now offers an interval of tranquillity which we mean to avail\nourselves of, and shall, in a day or two, leave this place with the hope\nof procuring passports for England. The Convention affect great\nmoderation and gratitude for their late rescue; and the people, persuaded\nin general that the victorious party are royalists, wait with impatience\nsome important change, and expect, if not an immediate restoration of the\nmonarchy, at least a free election of new Representatives, which must\ninfallibly lead to it. With this hope, which is the first that has long\npresented itself to this harassed country, I shall probably bid it adieu;\nbut a visit to the metropolis will be too interesting for me to conclude\nthese papers, without giving you the result of my observations.\n--Yours. &c.\nParis, June 3, 1795.\nWe arrived here early on Saturday, and as no stranger coming to Paris,\nwhether a native of France, or a foreigner, is suffered to remain longer\nthan three days without a particular permission, our first care was to\npresent ourselves to the Committee of the section where we lodge, and, on\ngiving proper security for our good conduct, we have had this permission\nextended to a Decade.\nI approached Paris with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension, as\nthough I expected the scenes which had passed in it, and the moral\nchanges it had undergone, would be every where visible; but the gloomy\nideas produced by a visit to this metropolis, are rather the effect of\nmental association than external objects. Palaces and public buildings\nstill remain; but we recollect that they are become the prisons of\nmisfortune, or the rewards of baseness. We see the same hotels, but\ntheir owners are wandering over the world, or have expired on the\nscaffold. Public places are not less numerous, nor less frequented; but,\nfar from inspiring gaiety, we behold them with regret and disgust, as\nproofs of the national levity and want of feeling.\nI could almost wish, for the credit of the French character, to have\nfound some indications that the past was not so soon consigned to\noblivion. It is true, the reign of Robespierre and his sanguinary\ntribunal are execrated in studied phrases; yet is it enough to adopt\nhumanity as a mode, to sing the _Revel du Peuple_ in preference to the\n_Marseillois,_ or to go to a theatre with a well-powdered head, instead\nof cropped locks a la Jacobin? But the people forget, that while they\npermitted, and even applauded, the past horrors, they were also accessary\nto them, and if they rejoice at their termination, their sensibility does\nnot extend to compunction; they cast their sorrows away, and think it\nsufficient to exhibit their reformation in dressing and dancing--\n \"Yet hearts refin'd their sadden'd tint retain,\n \"The sigh is pleasure, and the jest is pain.\"\nFrench refinements are not, however, of this poetical kind.*\n * This too great facility of the Parisians has been commented upon\n by an anonymous writer in the following terms:\n \"At Paris, where more than fifty victims were dragged daily to the\n scaffold, the theatres never failed to overflow, and that on the\n Place de la Revolution was not the least frequented. The public, in\n their way every evening to the Champs Ellisees, continued\n uninterruptedly to cross the stream of blood that deluged this fatal\n spot with the most dreadful indifference; and now, though these days\n of horror are scarcely passed over our heads, one would suppose them\n ages removed--so little are we sensible that we are dancing, as it\n were, on a platform of dead bodies. Well may we say, respecting\n those events which have not reached ourselves--\n _'Le malheur Qui n'est plus, n'a jamais existe.'_\n But if we desire earnestly that the same misfortunes should not\n return, we must keep them always present in our recollection.\"\nThe practice of the government appears to depart every day more widely\nfrom its professions; and the moderate harangues of the tribune are often\nsucceeded by measures as arbitrary as those which are said to be\nexploded.--Perhaps the Convention begin to perceive their mistake in\nsupposing that they can maintain a government against the inclination of\nthe people, without the aid of tyranny. They expected at the same time\nthat they decried Robespierre, to retain all the power he possessed.\nHence, their assumed principles and their conduct are generally at\nvariance; and, divided between despotism and weakness, they arrest the\nprinters of pamphlets and newspapers one day, and are obliged to liberate\nthem the next.--They exclaim publicly against the system of terror, yet\nsecretly court the assistance of its agents.--They affect to respect the\nliberty of the press, yet every new publication has to defend itself\nagainst the whole force of the government, if it happen to censure a\nsingle member of the reigning party.--Thus, the _Memoirs of Dumouriez_\nhad circulated nearly through all Europe, yet it was not without much\nrisk, and after a long warfare, that they were printed in France.*\n *On this subject the government appears sometimes to have adopted\n the maxim--that prevention is better than punishment; for, in\n several instances, they seized on manuscripts, and laid embargoes on\n the printers' presses, where they only suspected that a work which\n they might disapprove was intended to be published.\nI know not if it be attributable to these political inconsistencies that\nthe calm which has succeeded the late disorders is little more than\nexternal. The minds of the people are uncommonly agitated, and every one\nexpresses either hope or apprehension of some impending event. The\nroyalists, amidst their ostensible persecutions, are particularly elated;\nand I have been told, that many conspicuous revolutionists already talk\nof emigration.\nI am just returned from a day's ramble, during which I have met with\nvarious subjects of unpleasant meditation. About dinner-time I called on\nan old Chevalier de St. Louis and his lady, who live in the Fauxbourg\nSt. Germain. When I knew them formerly, they had a handsome annuity on\nthe Hotel de Ville, and were in possession of all the comforts necessary\nto their declining years. To-day the door was opened by a girl of dirty\nappearance, the house looked miserable, the furniture worn, and I found\nthe old couple over a slender meal of soup maigre and eggs, without wine\nor bread. Our revolutionary adventures, as is usual on all meetings of\nthis kind, were soon communicated; and I learned, that almost before they\nknew what was passing around them, Monsieur du G--------'s forty years'\nservice, and his croix, had rendered him suspected, and that he and his\nwife were taken from their beds at midnight and carried to prison. Here\nthey consumed their stock of ready money, while a guard, placed in their\nhouse, pillaged what was moveable, and spoiled what could not be\npillaged. Soon after the ninth of Thermidor they were released, but they\nreturned to bare walls, and their annuity, being paid in assignats, now\nscarcely affords them a subsistence.--Monsieur du G-------- is near\nseventy, and Madame is become helpless from a nervous complaint, the\neffect of fear and confinement; and if this depreciation of the paper\nshould continue, these poor people may probably die of absolute want.\nI dined with a relation of the Marquise's, and in the afternoon we called\nby appointment on a person who is employed by the Committee of National\nDomains, and who has long promised my friend to facilitate the adjustment\nof some of the various claims which the government has on her property.\nThis man was originally a valet to the brother of the Marquise: at the\nrevolution he set up a shop, became a bankrupt, and a furious Jacobin,\nand, in the end, a member of a Revolutionary Committee. In the last\ncapacity he found means to enrich himself, and intimidate his creditors\nso as to obtain a discharge of his debts, without the trouble of paying\nthem.*\n * \"It was common for men in debt to procure themselves to be made\n members of a revolutionary committee, and then force their creditors\n to give them a receipt in full, under the fear of being imprisoned.\"\n I am myself acquainted with an old lady, who was confined four\n months, for having asked one of these patriots for three hundred\n livres which he owed her.\n--Since the dissolution of the Committees, he has contrived to obtain the\nsituation I have mentioned, and now occupies superb apartments in an\nhotel, amply furnished with the proofs of his official dexterity, and the\nperquisites of patriotism.\nThe humiliating vicissitudes occasioned by the revolution induced Madame\nde la F-------- to apply to this democratic _parvenu,_ [Upstart.] whose\noffice at present gives him the power, and whose former obligations to\nher family (by whom he was brought up) she hoped would add the\ndisposition, to serve her.--The gratitude she expected has, however,\nended only in delays and disappointments, and the sole object of my\ncommission was to get some papers which she had entrusted to him out of\nhis possession.\nWhen we enquired if the Citizen was at home, a servant, not in livery,\ninformed us Monsieur was dressing, but that if we would walk in, he would\nlet Monsieur know we were there. We passed through a dining parlour,\nwhere we saw the remains of a dessert, coffee, &c. and were assailed by\nthe odours of a plentiful repast. As we entered the saloon, we heard the\nservant call at the door of an adjoining parlour, _\"Monsieur, voici deux\nCitoyennes et un Citoyen qui vous demandent.\"_ [\"Sir, here are two female\ncitizens and one male citizen enquiring for you.\"] When Monsieur\nappeared, he apologized with an air of graciousness for the impossibility\nhe had been under of getting my friend's affairs arranged--protested he\nwas _accable_ [Oppressed..]--that he had scarcely an instant at his own\ndisposal--that _enfin_ the responsibility of people in office was so\nterrible, and the fatigue so _assommante,_ [Overpowering.] that nothing\nbut the purest _civism,_ and a heart _penetre de l'amour de la patrie,_\n[Penetrated with the love of his country.] could enable him to persevere\nin the task imposed on him. As for the papers we required, he would\nendeavour to find them, though his cabinet was really so filled with\npetitions and certificates of all sorts, _que des malheureux lui avoient\naddresses,_ [Addressed to him by unfortunate people.] that it would not\nbe very easy to find them at present; and, with this answer, which we\nshould have smiled at from M. de Choiseul or Sartine, we were obliged to\nbe satisfied. We then talked of the news of the day, and he lamented\nthat the aristocrats were still restless and increasing in number, and\nthat notwithstanding the efforts of the Convention to diffuse a spirit of\nphilosophy, it was too evident there was yet much fanaticism among the\npeople.\nAs we rose to depart, Madame entered, dressed for visiting, and decorated\nwith bracelets on her wrists and above her elbows, medallions on her\nwaists and neck, and, indeed, finery wherever it could possibly be\nbestowed. We observed her primitive condition of a waiting-woman still\noperated, and that far from affecting the language of her husband, she\nretained a great deference for rank, and was solicitous to insinuate that\nshe was secretly of a superior way of thinking. As we left the room\ntogether, she made advances to an acquaintance with my companions (who\nwere people of condition); and having occasion to speak to a person at\nthe door, as she uttered the word _Citoyen_ she looked at us with an\nexpression which she intended should imply the contempt and reluctance\nwith which she made use of it.\nI have in general remarked, that the republicans are either of the\nspecies I have just been describing, waiters, jockies, gamblers,\nbankrupts, and low scribblers, living in great splendour, or men taken\nfrom laborious professions, more sincere in their principles, more\nignorant and brutal--and who dissipate what they have gained in gross\nluxury, because they have been told that elegance and delicacy are worthy\nonly of Sybarites, and that the Greeks and Romans despised both. These\npatriots are not, however, so uninformed, nor so disinterested, as to\nsuppose they are to serve their country without serving themselves; and\nthey perfectly understand, that the rich are their legal patrimony, and\nthat it is enjoined them by their mission to pillage royalists and\naristocrats.*\n--Yours.\n * Garat observes, it was a maxim of Danton, _\"Que ceux qui fesaient\n les affaires de la republique devaient aussi faireles leurs,\"_ that\n who undertook the care of the republic should also take care of\n themselves. This tenet, however, seems common to the friends of\n both.\nParis, June 6, 1795.\nI had scarcely concluded my last, when I received advice of the death of\nMadame de la F--------; and though I have, almost from the time we\nquitted the Providence, thought she was declining, and that such an event\nwas probable, it has, nevertheless, both shocked and grieved me.\nExclusively of her many good and engaging qualities, which were\nreasonable objects of attachment, Madame de la F-------- was endeared to\nme by those habits of intimacy that often supply the want of merit, and\nmake us adhere to our early friendships, even when not sanctioned by our\nmaturer judgment. Madame de la F-------- never became entirely divested\nof the effects of a convent education; but if she retained a love of\ntrifling amusements, and a sort of infantine gaiety, she likewise\ncontinued pious, charitable, and strictly attentive not only to the\nduties, but to the decorum, essential in the female character and merits\nof this sort are, I believe, now more rare than those in which she might\nbe deemed deficient.\nI was speaking of her this morning to a lady of our acquaintance, who\nacquiesced in my friendly eulogiums, but added, in a tone of superiority,\n_\"C'etoit pourtant une petite femme bien minutieuse_--she always put me\nout of patience with her birds and her flowers, her levees of poor\npeople, and her persevering industry in frivolous projects.\" My friend\nwas, indeed, the most feminine creature in the world, and this is a\nflippant literary lady, who talks in raptures of the Greeks and Romans,\ncalls Rousseau familiarly Jean Jaques, frisks through the whole circle of\nscience at the Lyceum, and has an utter contempt both for personal\nneatness and domestic oeconomy. How would Madame de Sevigne wonder,\ncould she behold one of these modern belles esprits, with which her\ncountry, as well as England, abounds? In our zeal for reforming the\nirregular orthography and housewifely penmanship of the last century, we\nare all become readers, and authors, and critics. I do not assert, that\nthe female mind is too much cultivated, but that it is too generally so;\nand that we encourage a taste for attainments not always compatible with\nthe duties and occupations of domestic life. No age has, I believe,\nproduced so many literary ladies as the present;* yet I cannot learn that\nwe are at all improved in morals, or that domestic happiness is more\nuniversal than when, instead of writing sonnets to dew-drops or\ndaisies,** we copied prayers and recipes, in spelling similar to that of\nStowe or Hollingshed.\n * Let me not be supposed to undervalue the female authors of the\n present day. There are some who, uniting great talents with\n personal worth, are justly entitled to our respect and admiration.\n The authoress of \"Cecilia,\" or the Miss Lees, cannot be confounded\n with the proprietors of all the Castles, Forests, Groves, Woods,\n Cottages, and Caverns, which are so alluring in the catalogue of a\n circulating library.\n ** Mrs. Smith's beautiful Sonnets have produced sonnetteers for\n every object in nature, visible or invisible; and her elegant\n translations of Petrarch have procured the Italian bard many an\n English dress that he would have been ashamed to appear in.\n--We seem industrious to make every branch of education a vehicle for\ninspiring a premature taste for literary amusements; and our old\nfashioned moral adages in writing-books are replaced by scraps from\n\"Elegant Extracts,\" while print-work and embroidery represent scenes from\npoems or novels. I allow, that the subjects formerly pourtrayed by the\nneedle were not pictoresque, yet, the tendency considered, young ladies\nmight as well employ their silk or pencils in exhibiting Daniel in the\nlions' den, or Joseph and his brethren, as Sterne's Maria, or Charlotte\nand Werter.\nYou will forgive this digression, which I have been led into on hearing\nthe character of Madame de la F-------- depreciated, because she was only\ngentle and amiable, and did not read Plutarch, nor hold literary\nassemblies. It is, in truth, a little amende I owe her memory, for I may\nmyself have sometimes estimated her too lightly, and concluded my own\npursuits more rational than hers, when possibly they were only different.\nHer death has left an impression on my mind, which the turbulence of\nParis is not calculated to soothe; but the short time we have to stay,\nand the number of people I must see, oblige me to conquer both my regret\nand my indolence, and to pass a great part of the day in running from\nplace to place.\nI have been employed all this morning in executing some female\ncommissions, which, of course, led me to milliners, mantua-makers, &c.\nThese people now recommend fashions by saying one thing is invented by\nTallien's wife, and another by Merlin de Thionville, or some other\nDeputy's mistress; and the genius of these elegantes has contrived, by a\nmode of dressing the hair which lengthens the neck, and by robes with an\ninch of waist, to give their countrywomen an appearance not much unlike\nthat of a Bar Gander.\nI saw yesterday a relation of Madame de la F--------, who is in the army,\nand whom I formerly mentioned as having met when we passed through\nDourlens. He was for some months suspended, and in confinement, but is\nnow restored to his rank, and ordered on service. He asked me if I ever\nintended to visit France again. I told him I had so little reason to be\nsatisfied with my treatment, that I did not imagine I should.--\"Yes,\n(returned he,) but if the republic should conquer Italy, and bring all\nits treasures to Paris, as has lately been suggested in the Convention,\nwe shall tempt you to return, in spite of yourself.\"*\n *The project of pillaging Italy of its most valuable works of art\n was suggested by the philosophic Abbe Gregoire, a constitutional\n Bishop, as early as September 1794, because, as he alledged, the\n chefs d'ouvres of the Greek republic ought not to embellish a\n country of slaves.\n--I told him, I neither doubted their intending such a scheme, nor the\npossibility of its success, though it was not altogether worthy of\nphilosophers and republicans to wage war for Venus's and Appollos, and to\nsacrifice the lives of one part of their fellow-citizens, that the rest\nmight be amused with pictures and statues.--\"That's not our affair (says\nMonsieur de --------). Soldiers do not reason. And if the Convention\nshould have a fancy to pillage the Emperor of China's palace, I see no\nremedy but to set sail with the first fair wind,\"--\"I wish, (said his\nsister, who was the only person present,) instead of being under such\norders, you had escaped from the service.\" \"Yes, (returned the General\nquickly,) and wander about Europe like Dumouriez, suspected and despised\nby all parties.\" I observed, Dumouriez was an adventurer, and that on\nmany accounts it was necessary to guard against him. He said, he did not\ndispute the necessity or even the justice of the conduct observed towards\nhim, but that nevertheless I might be assured it had operated as an\neffectual check to those who might, otherwise, have been tempted to\nfollow Dumouriez's example; \"And we have now (added he, in a tone between\ngaiety and despair,) no alternative but obedience or the guillotine.\"--I\nhave transcribed the substance of this conversation, as it confirms what\nI have frequently been told, that the fate of Dumouriez, however merited,\nis one great cause why no desertion of importance has since taken place.\nI was just now interrupted by a noise and shouting near my window, and\ncould plainly distinguish the words Scipio and Solon uttered in a tone of\ntaunt and reproach. Not immediately comprehending how Solon or Scipio\ncould be introduced in a fray at Paris, I dispatched Angelique to make\nenquiry; and at her return I learned that a croud of boys were following\na shoemaker of the neighbourhood, who, while he was member of a\nrevolutionary Committee, had chosen to unite in his person the glories of\nboth Rome and Greece, of the sword and gown, and had taken unto himself\nthe name of Scipio Solon. A decree of the Convention some weeks since\nenjoined all such heroes and sages to resume their original appellations,\nand forbade any person, however ardent his patriotism, to distinguish\nhimself by the name of Brutus, Timoleon, or any other but that which he\nderived from his Christian parents. The people, it seems, are not so\nobedient to the decree as those whom it more immediately concerns; and as\nthe above-mentioned Scipio Solon had been detected in various larcenies,\nhe is not allowed to quit his shop without being reproached with his\nthefts, and his Greek and Roman appellations.\nParis, June 8, 1795.\nYesterday being Sunday, and to-day the Decade, we have had two holidays\nsuccessively, though, since the people have been more at liberty to\nmanifest their opinions, they give a decided preference to the Christian\nfestival over that of the republic.*\n * This was only at Paris, where the people, from their number, are\n less manageable, and of course more courageous. In the departments,\n the same cautious timidity prevailed, and appeared likely to\n continue.\n--They observe the former from inclination, and the latter from\nnecessity; so that between the performance of their religious duties, and\nthe sacrifice to their political fears, a larger portion of time will be\ndeducted from industry than was gained by the suppression of the Saints'\ndays. The Parisians, however, seem to acquiesce very readily in this\ncompromise, and the philosophers of the Convention, who have so often\ndeclaimed against the idleness occasioned by the numerous fetes of the\nold calendar, obstinately persist in the adoption of a new one, which\nincreases the evil they pretend to remedy.\nIf the people are to be taken from their labour for such a number of\ndays, it might as well be in the name of St. Genevieve or St. Denis, as\nof the Decade, and the Saints'-days have at least this advantage, that\nthe forenoons are passed in churches; whereas the republican festivals,\ndedicated one to love, another to stoicism, and so forth, not conveying\nany very determinate idea, are interpreted to mean only an obligation to\ndo nothing, or to pass some supernumerary hours at the cabaret.\n[Alehouse.]\nI noticed with extreme pleasure yesterday, that as many of the places of\npublic worship as are permitted to be open were much crouded, and that\nreligion appears to have survived the loss of those exterior allurements\nwhich might be supposed to have rendered it peculiarly attractive to the\nParisians. The churches at present, far from being splendid, are not\neven decent, the walls and windows still bear traces of the Goths (or, if\nyou will, the philosophers,) and in some places service is celebrated\namidst piles of farage, sacks, casks, or lumber appertaining to the\ngovernment--who, though they have by their own confession the disposal of\nhalf the metropolis, choose the churches in preference for such\npurposes.*\n * It has frequently been asserted in the Convention, that by\n emigrations, banishments, and executions, half Paris had become the\n property of the public.\n--Yet these unseemly and desolate appearances do not prevent the\nattendance of congregations more numerous, and, I think, more fervent,\nthan were usual when the altars shone with the offerings of wealth, and\nthe walls were covered with the more interesting decorations of pictures\nand tapestry.\nThis it is not difficult to account for. Many who used to perform these\nreligious duties with negligence, or indifference, are now become pious,\nand even enthusiastic--and this not from hypocrisy or political\ncontradiction, but from a real sense of the evils of irreligion, produced\nby the examples and conduct of those in whom such a tendency has been\nmost remarkable.--It must, indeed, be acknowledged, that did Christianity\nrequire an advocate, a more powerful one need not be found, than in a\nretrospect of the crimes and sufferings of the French since its\nabolition.\nThose who have made fortunes by the revolution (for very few have been\nable to preserve them) now begin to exhibit equipages; and they hope to\nrender the people blind to this departure from their visionary systems of\nequality, by foregoing the use of arms and liveries--as if the real\ndifference between the rich and the poor was not constituted rather by\nessential accommodation, than extrinsic embellishments, which perhaps do\nnot gratify the eyes of the possessor a second time, and are, probably of\nall branches of luxury, the most useful. The livery of servants can be\nof very little importance, whether morally or politically considered--it\nis the act of maintaining men in idleness, who might be more profitably\nemployed, that makes the keeping a great number exceptionable; nor is a\nman more degraded by going behind a carriage with a hat and feather, than\nwith a bonnet de police, or a plain beaver; but he eats just as much, and\nearns just as little, equipped as a Carmagnole, as though glittering in\nthe most superb gala suit.*\n * In their zeal to imitate the Roman republicans, the French seem to\n forget that a political consideration very different from the love\n of simplicity, or an idea of the dignity of man, made the Romans\n averse from distinguishing their slaves by any external indication.\n They were so numerous that it was thought impolitic to furnish them\n with such means of knowing their own strength in case of a revolt.\nThe marks of service cannot be more degrading than service itself; and it\nis the mere chicane of philosophy to extend reform only to cuffs and\ncollars, while we do not dispense with the services annexed to them. A\nvalet who walks the street in his powdering jacket, disdains a livery as\nmuch as the fiercest republican, and with as much reason--for there is no\nmore difference between domestic occupation performed in one coat or\nanother, than there is between the party-coloured habit and the jacket.\nIf the luxury of carriages be an evil, it must be because the horses\nemployed in them consume the produce of land which might be more\nbeneficially cultivated: but the gilding, fringe, salamanders, and lions,\nin all their heraldic positions, afford an easy livelihood to\nmanufacturers and artisans, who might not be capable of more laborious\noccupations.\nI believe it will generally be found, that most of the republican reforms\nare of this description--calculated only to impose on the people, and\ndisguising, by frivolous prohibitions, their real inutility. The\naffectation of simplicity in a nation already familiarized with luxury,\nonly tends to divert the wealth of the rich to purposes which render it\nmore destructive. Vanity and ostentation, when they are excluded from\none means of gratification, will always seek another; and those who,\nhaving the means, cannot distinguish themselves by ostensible splendour,\nwill often do so by domestic profusion.*\n * \"Sectaries (says Walpole in his Anecdotes of Painting, speaking of\n the republicans under Cromwell) have no ostensible enjoyments; their\n pleasures are private, comfortable and gross. The arts of civilized\n society are not calculated for men who mean to rise on the ruins of\n established order.\" Judging by comparison, I am persuaded these\n observations are yet more applicable to the political, than the\n religious opinions of the English republicans of that period; for,\n in these respects, there is no difference between them and the\n French of the present day, though there is a wide one between an\n Anabaptist and the disciples of Boulanger and Voltaire.\n--Nor can it well be disputed, that a gross luxury is more pernicious\nthan an elegant one; for the former consumes the necessaries of life\nwantonly, while the latter maintains numerous hands in rendering things\nvaluable by the workmanship which are little so in themselves.\nEvery one who has been a reflecting spectator of the revolution will\nacknowledge the justice of these observations. The agents and retainers\nof government are the general monopolizers of the markets, and these men,\nwho are enriched by peculation, and are on all occasions retailing the\ncant phrases of the Convention, on the _purete des moeurs republicains,\net la luxe de la ci-devant Noblesse,_ [The purity of republican manners,\nand the luxury of the ci-devant Noblesse.] exhibit scandalous exceptions\nto the national habits of oeconomy, at a time too when others more\ndeserving are often compelled to sacrifice even their essential\naccommodations to a more rigid compliance with them.*\n * Lindet, in a report on the situation of the republic, declares,\n that since the revolution the consumption of wines and every article\n of luxury has been such, that very little has been left for\n exportation. I have selected the following specimens of republican\n manners, from many others equally authentic, as they may be of some\n utility to those who would wish to estimate what the French have\n gained in this respect by a change of government.\n \"In the name of the French people the Representatives sent to\n Commune Affranchie (Lyons) to promote the felicity of its\n inhabitants, order the Committee of Sequestration to send them\n immediately two hundred bottles of the best wine that can be\n procured, also five hundred bottles of claret, of prime quality, for\n their own table. For this purpose the commission are authorized to\n take of the sequestration, wherever the above wine can be found.\n Done at Commune Affranchie, thirteenth Nivose, second year.\n (Signed) \"Albitte,\n \"Fouche,\n \"Deputies of the National Convention.\"\n Extract of a denunciation of Citizen Boismartin against Citizen\n Laplanche, member of the National Convention:\n \"The twenty-fourth of Brumaire, in the second year of the republic,\n the Administrators of the district of St. Lo gave orders to the\n municipality over which I at that time presided, to lodge the\n Representative of the people, Laplanche, and General Siphert, in the\n house of Citizen Lemonnier, who was then under arrest at Thorigni.\n In introducing one of the founders of the republic, and a French\n General, into this hospitable mansion, we thought to put the\n property of our fellow-citizen under the safeguard of all the\n virtues; but, alas, how were we mistaken! They had no sooner\n entered the house, than the provisions of every sort, the linen,\n clothes, furniture, trinkets, books, plate, carriages, and even\n title-deeds, all disappeared; and, as if they purposely insulted our\n wretchedness, while we were reduced to the sad necessity of\n distributing with a parsimonious hand a few ounces of black bread to\n our fellow-citizens, the best bread, pillaged from Citizen\n Lemonnier, was lavished by buckets full to the horses of General\n Siphert, and the Representative Laplanche.--The Citizen Lemonnier,\n who is seventy years of age, having now recovered his liberty, which\n he never deserved to lose, finds himself so entirely despoiled, that\n he is at present obliged to live at an inn; and, of property to the\n amount of sixty thousand livres, he has nothing left but a single\n spoon, which he took with him when carried to one of the Bastilles\n in the department de la Manche.\"\n The chief defence of Laplanche consisted in allegations that the\n said Citizen Lemonnier was rich, and a royalist, and that he had\n found emblems of royalism and fanaticism about the house.\nAt the house of one of our common friends, I met --------, and so little\ndid I imagine that he had escaped all the revolutionary perils to which\nhe had been exposed, that I could almost have supposed myself in the\nregions of the dead, or that he had been permitted to quit them, for his\nbeing alive scarcely seemed less miraculous or incredible. As I had not\nseen him since 1792, he gave me a very interesting detail of his\nadventures, and his testimony corroborates the opinion generally\nentertained by those who knew the late King, that he had much personal\ncourage, and that he lost his crown and his life by political indecision,\nand an humane, but ill-judged, unwillingness to reduce his enemies by\nforce. He assured me, the Queen might have been conveyed out of France\nprevious to the tenth of August, if she would have agreed to leave the\nKing and her children behind; that she had twice consulted him on the\nsubject; but, persisting in her resolution not to depart unaccompanied by\nher family, nothing practicable could be devised, and she determined to\nshare their fate.*\n * The gentleman here alluded to has great talents, and is\n particularly well acquainted with some of the most obscure and\n disastrous periods of the French revolution. I have reason to\n believe, whenever it is consistent with his own safety, he will, by\n a genuine relation, expose many of the popular falsehoods by which\n the public have been misled.\nThis, as well as many other instances of tenderness and heroism, which\ndistinguished the Queen under her misfortunes, accord but ill with the\nvices imputed to her; and were not such imputations encouraged to serve\nthe cause of faction, rather than that of morality, these inconsistencies\nwould have been interpreted in her favour, and candour have palliated or\nforgotten the levities of her youth, and remembered only the sorrows and\nthe virtues by which they were succeeded.\nI had, in compliance with your request on my first arrival in France,\nmade a collection of prints of all the most conspicuous actors in the\nrevolution; but as they could not be secreted so easily as other papers,\nmy fears overcame my desire of obliging you, and I destroyed them\nsuccessively, as the originals became proscribed or were sacrificed.\nDesirous of repairing my loss, I persuaded some friends to accompany me\nto a shop, kept by a man of whom they frequently purchased, and whom, as\nhis principles were known to them, I might safely ask for the articles I\nwanted. He shook his head, while he ran over my list, and then told me,\nthat having preferred his safety to his property, he had disposed of his\nprints in the same way I had disposed of mine. \"At the accession of a\nnew party, (continued he,) I always prepare for a domiciliary visit,\nclear my windows and shelves of the exploded heads, and replace them by\nthose of their rivals. Nay, I assure you, since the revolution, our\ntrade is become as precarious as that of a gamester. The\nConstitutionalists, indeed, held out pretty well, but then I was half\nruined by the fall of the Brissotins; and, before I could retrieve a\nlittle by the Hebertists and Dantonists, the too were out of fashion.\"--\n\"Well, but the Robespierrians--you must have gained by them?\"--\"Why,\ntrue; Robespierre and Marat, and Chalier, answered well enough, because\nthe royalists generally placed them in their houses to give themselves an\nair of patriotism, yet they are gone after the rest.--Here, however,\n(says he, taking down an engraving of the Abbe Sieyes,) is a piece of\nmerchandize that I have kept through all parties, religions, and\nconstitutions--_et le voila encore a la mode,_ [\"And now you see him in\nfashion again.\"] mounted on the wrecks, and supported by the remnants of\nboth his friends and enemies. _Ah! c'est un fin matois.\"_ [\"Ah! He's a\nknowing one.\"]\nThis conversation passed in a gay tone, though the man added, very\nseriously, that the instability of popular factions, and their\nintolerance towards each other, had obliged him to destroy to the amount\nof some thousand livres, and that he intended, if affairs did not change,\nto quit business.\nOf all the prints I enquired for, I only got Barrere, Sieyes, and a few\nothers of less note. Your last commissions I have executed more\nsuccessfully, for though the necessaries of life are almost\nunpurchaseable, articles of taste, books, perfumery, &c. are cheaper than\never. This is unfortunately the reverse of what ought to be the case,\nbut the augmentation in the price of provisions is to be accounted for in\nvarious ways, and that things of the description I allude to do not bear\na price in proportion is doubtless to be attributed to the present\npoverty of those who used to be the purchasers of them; while the people\nwho are become rich under the new government are of a description to seek\nfor more substantial luxuries than books and essences.--I should however\nobserve, that the venders of any thing not perishable, and who are not\nforced to sell for their daily subsistence, are solicitous to evade every\ndemand for any article which is to be paid for in assignats.\nI was looking at some trinkets in a shop at the Palais Royal, and on my\nasking the mistress of it if the ornaments were silver, she smiled\nsignificantly, and replied, she had nothing silver nor gold in the shop,\nbut if I chose to purchase _en espece,_ she would show me whatever I\ndesired: _\"Mais pour le papier nous n'en avons que trop.\"_ [\"In coin, but\nfor paper we have already too much of it.\"]\nMany of the old shops are nearly empty, and the little trade which yet\nexists is carried on by a sort of adventurers who, without being bred to\nany one trade, set up half a dozen, and perhaps disappear three months\nafterwards. They are, I believe, chiefly men who have speculated on the\nassignats, and as soon as they have turned their capital in a mercantile\nway a short time, become apprehensive of the paper, realize it, and\nretire; or, becoming bankrupts by some unlucky monopoly, begin a new\ncareer of patriotism.\nThere is, properly speaking, no money in circulation, yet a vast quantity\nis bought and sold. Annuitants, possessors of moderate landed property,\n&c., finding it impossible to subsist on their incomes, are forced to\nhave recourse to the little specie they have reserved, and exchange it\nfor paper. Immense sums in coin are purchased by the government, to make\ngood the balance of their trade with the neutral countries for\nprovisions, so that I should suppose, if this continue a few months, very\nlittle will be left in the country.\nOne might be tempted to fancy there is something in the atmosphere of\nParis which adapts the minds of its inhabitants to their political\nsituation. They talk of the day appointed for a revolt a fortnight\nbefore, as though it were a fete, and the most timid begin to be inured\nto a state of agitation and apprehension, and to consider it as a natural\nvicissitude that their lives should be endangered periodically.\nA commission has been employed for some time in devising another new\nconstitution, which is to be proposed to the Assembly on the thirteenth\nof this month; and on that day, it is said, an effort is to be made by\nthe royalists. They are certainly very numerous, and the interest taken\nin the young King is universal. In vain have the journalists been\nforbidden to cherish these sentiments, by publishing details concerning\nhim: whatever escapes the walls of his prison is circulated in impatient\nwhispers, and requires neither printing nor gazettes a la main to give it\npublicity.*\n * Under the monarchy people disseminated anecdotes or intelligence\n which they did not think it safe to print, by means of these written\n gazettes.--I doubt if any one would venture to have recourse to them\n at present.\n--The child is reported to be ill, and in a kind of stupefaction, so as\nto sit whole days without speaking or moving: this is not natural at his\nage, and must be the consequence of neglect, or barbarous treatment.\nThe Committees of Government, and indeed most of the Convention who have\noccasionally appeared to give tacit indications of favouring the\nroyalists, in order to secure their support against the Jacobins, having\nnow crushed the latter, begin to be seriously alarmed at the projects of\nthe former.--Sevestre, in the name of the Committee of Public Safety,\nhas announced that a formidable insurrection may be expected on the\ntwenty-fifth of Prairial, (thirteenth June,) the Deputies on mission are\nordered to return, and the Assembly propose to die under the ruins of the\nrepublic. They have, notwithstanding, judged it expedient to fortify\nthese heroic dispositions by the aid of a military force, and a large\nnumber of regular troops are in Paris and the environs. We shall\ncertainly depart before this menacing epoch: the application for our\npassports was made on our first arrival, and Citizen Liebault, Principal\nof the Office for Foreign Affairs, who is really very civil, has promised\nthem in a day or two.\nOur journey here was, in fact, unnecessary; but we have few republican\nacquaintance, and those who are called aristocrats do not execute\ncommission of this kind zealously, nor without some apprehensions of\ncommitting themselves.--You will wonder that I find time to write to you,\nnor do I pretend to assume much merit from it. We have not often courage\nto frequent public places in the evening, and, when we do, I continually\ndread some unlucky accident: either a riot between the Terrorists and\nMuscadins, within, or a military investment without. The last time we\nwere at the theatre, a French gentleman, who was our escort, entered into\na trifling altercation with a rude vulgar-looking man, in the box, who\nseemed to speak in a very authoritative tone, and I know not how the\nmatter might have ended, had not a friend in the next box silenced our\ncompanion, by conveying a penciled card, which informed him the person he\nwas disputing with was a Deputy of the Convention. We took an early\nopportunity of retreating, not perfectly at ease about the consequences\nwhich might ensue from Mr. -------- having ventured to differ in opinion\nfrom a Member of the Republican Legislature. Since that time we have\npassed our evenings in private societies, or at home; and while Mr.\nD-------- devours new pamphlets, and Mrs. D-------- and the lady we lodge\nwith recount their mutual sufferings at Arras and St. Pelagie, I take the\nopportunity of writing.\n--Adieu.\nParis, June 12, 1795.\nThe hopes and fears, plots and counterplots, of both royalists and\nrepublicans, are now suspended by the death of the young King. This\nevent was announced on Tuesday last, and since that time the minds and\nconversation of the public have been entirely occupied by it. Latent\nsuspicion, and regret unwillingly suppressed, are every where visible;\nand, in the fond interest taken in this child's life, it seems to be\nforgotten that it is the lot of man \"to pass through nature to eternity,\"\nand that it was possible for him to die without being sacrificed by human\nmalice.\nAll that has been said and written on original equality has not yet\npersuaded the people that the fate of Kings is regulated only by the\nordinary dispensations of Providence; and they seem to persist in\nbelieving, that royalty, if it has not a more fortunate pre-eminence, is\nat least distinguished by an unusual portion of calamities.\nWhen we recollect the various and absurd stories which have been\npropagated and believed at the death of Monarchs or their offspring,\nwithout even a single ground either political or physical to justify\nthem, we cannot now wonder, when so many circumstances of every kind tend\nto excite suspicion, that the public opinion should be influenced, and\nattribute the death of the King to poison. The child is allowed to have\nbeen of a lively disposition, and, even long after his seclusion from his\nfamily, to have frequently amused himself by singing at the window of his\nprison, until the interest he was observed to create in those who\nlistened under it, occasioned an order to prevent him. It is therefore\nextraordinary, that he should lately have appeared in a state of\nstupefaction, which is by no means a symptom of the disorder he is\nalledged to have died of, but a very common one of opiates improperly\nadministered.*\n * In order to account in some way for the state in which the young\n King had lately appeared, it was reported that he had been in the\n habit of drinking strong liquors to excess. Admitting this to be\n true, they must have been furnished for him, for he could have no\n means of procuring them.--It is not inapposite to record, that on a\n petition being formerly presented to the legislature from the\n Jacobin societies, praying that the \"son of the tyrant\" might be put\n to death, an honourable mention in the national bulletin was\n unanimously decreed!!!\nThough this presumption, if supported by the evidence of external\nappearances, may seem but of little weight; when combined with others, of\na moral and political nature, it becomes of considerable importance. The\npeople, long amused by a supposed design of the Convention to place the\nDauphin on the throne, were now become impatient to see their wishes\nrealized; or, they hoped that a renewal of the representative body,\nwhich, if conducted with freedom, must infallibly lead to the\naccomplishment of this object, would at least deliver them from an\nAssembly which they considered as exhausted in talents and degraded in\nreputation.--These dispositions were not attempted to be concealed; they\nwere manifested on all occasions: and a general and successful effort in\nfavour of the Royal Prisoner was expected to take place on the\nthirteenth.*\n * That there were such designs, and such expectations on the part of\n the people, is indubitable. The following extract, written and\n signed by one of the editors of the _Moniteur,_ is sufficiently\n expressive of the temper of the public at this period; and I must\n observe here, that the _Moniteur_ is to be considered as nearly\n equivalent to an official paper, and is always supposed to express\n the sense of government, by whom it is supported and paid, whatever\n party or system may happen to prevail:\n _\"Les esperances les plus folles se manifestent de toutes parts.--\n C'est a qui jettera plus promptement le masque--on dirait, a lire\n les ecrits qui paraissent, a entendre les conversations des gens qui\n se croient dans les confidences, que c'en est fait de la republique:\n la Convention, secondee, poussee meme par le zele et l'energie des\n bons citoyens a remporte une grande victoire sur les Terroristes,\n sur les successeurs de Robespierre, il semble qu'elle n'ait plus\n qu'a proclamer la royaute. Ce qui donne lieu a toutes les\n conjectures plus ou moins absurdes aux quelles chacun se livre,\n c'est l'approche du 25 Prairial.\"_ (13th June, the day on which the\n new constitution was to be presented).\n \"The most extravagant hopes, and a general impatience to throw off\n the mask are manifested on all sides.--To witness the publications\n that appear, and to hear what is said by those who believe\n themselves in the secret, one would suppose that it was all over\n with the republic.--The Convention seconded, impelled even, by the\n good citizens, has gained a victory over the Terrorists and the\n successors of Robespierre, and now it should seem that nothing\n remained to be done by to proclaim royalty--what particularly gives\n rise to these absurdities, which exist more or less in the minds of\n all, is the approach of the 25th Prairial.\"\nPerhaps the majority of the Convention, under the hope of securing\nimpunity for their past crimes, might have yielded to the popular\nimpulse; but the government is no longer in the hands of those men who,\nhaving shared the power of Robespierre before they succeeded him, might,\nas Rabaut St. Etienne expressed himself, \"be wearied of their portion of\ntyranny.\"*\n * -\"Je suis las de la portion de tyrannie que j'exerce.\"---\"I am\n weary of the portion of tyranny which I exercise.\"\n--The remains of the Brissotins, with their newly-acquired authority,\nhave vanity, interest, and revenge, to satiate; and there is no reason to\nsuppose that a crime, which should favour these views, would, in their\nestimation, be considered otherwise than venial. To these are added\nSieyes, Louvet, &c. men not only eager to retain their power, but known\nto have been of the Orleans faction, and who, if they are royalists, are\nnot loyalists, and the last persons to whose care a son of Louis the\nSixteenth ought to have been intrusted.\nAt this crisis, then, when the Convention could no longer temporize with\nthe expectations it raised--when the government was divided between one\nparty who had deposed the King to gratify their own ambition, and another\nwho had lent their assistance in order to facilitate the pretensions of\nan usurper--and when the hopes of the country were anxiously fixed on\nhim, died Louis the Seventeenth. At an age which, in common life, is\nperhaps the only portion of our existence unalloyed by misery, this\ninnocent child had suffered more than is often the lot of extended years\nand mature guilt. He lived to see his father sent to the scaffold--to be\ntorn from his mother and family--to drudge in the service of brutality\nand insolence--and to want those cares and necessaries which are not\nrefused even to the infant mendicant, whose wretchedness contributes to\nthe support of his parents.*\n * It is unnecessary to remind the reader, that the Dauphin had been\n under the care of one Simon, a shoemaker, who employed him to clean\n his (Simon's) shoes, and in any other drudgery of which his close\n confinement admitted.\n--When his death was announced to the Convention, Sevestre, the reporter,\nacknowledged that Dessault, the surgeon, had some time since declared the\ncase to be dangerous; yet, notwithstanding policy as well as humanity\nrequired that every appearance of mystery and harshness should, on such\nan occasion, be avoided, the poor child continued to be secluded with the\nsame barbarous jealousy--nor was the Princess, his sister, whose evidence\non the subject would have been so conclusive, ever suffered to approach\nhim.\nNo report of Dessault's opinion had till now been made public; and\nDessault himself, who was an honest man, died of an inflammatory disorder\nfour days before the Dauphin.--It is possible, he might have expressed\nhimself too freely, respecting his patient, to those who employed him--\nhis future discretion might be doubted--or, perhaps, he was only called\nin at first, that his character might give a sanction to the future\noperations of those who were more confided in. But whether this event is\nto be ascribed to natural causes, or to that of opiates, the times and\ncircumstances render it peculiarly liable to suspicions, and the\nreputation of those who are involved, is not calculated to repel them.\nIndeed, so conscious are the advocates of government, that the imputation\ncannot be obviated by pleading the integrity of the parties, that they\nseem to rest their sole defence on the inutility of a murder, which only\ntransfers whatever rights the House of Bourbon may be supposed to\npossess, from one branch of it to another. Yet those who make use of\nthis argument are well aware of its fallaciousness: the shades of\npolitical opinion in France are extremely diversified, and a considerable\npart of the Royalists are also Constitutionalists, whom it will require\ntime and necessity to reconcile to the emigrant Princes. But the young\nKing had neither enemies nor errors--and his claims would have united the\nefforts and affections of all parties, from the friends of the monarchy,\nas it existed under Louis the Fourteenth, down to the converted\nRepublican, who compromises with his principles, and stipulates for the\ntitle of Perpetual President.\nThat the removal of this child has been fortunate for those who govern,\nis proved by the effect: insurrections are no longer talked of, the\nroyalists are confounded, the point of interest is no more, and a sort of\ndespondency and confusion prevails, which is highly favourable to a\ncontinuance of the present system.--There is no doubt, but that when\nmen's minds become more settled, the advantage of having a Prince who is\ncapable of acting, and whose success will not be accompanied by a long\nminority, will conciliate all the reflecting part of the constitutional\nroyalists, in spite of their political objections. But the people who\nare more under the influence of their feelings, and yield less to\nexpediency, may not, till urged by distress and anarchy, be brought to\ntake the same interest in the absent claimant of the throne, that they\ndid in their infant Prince.\nIt is to be regretted, that an habitual and unconquerable deference for\nthe law which excludes females from the Crown of France, should have\nsurvived monarchy itself; otherwise the tender compassion excited by the\nyouth, beauty and sufferings of the Princess, might yet have been the\nmeans of procuring peace to this distracted country. But the French\nadmire, lament, and leave her to her fate--\n \"O, shame of Gallia, in one sullen tower\n \"She wets with royal tears her daily cell;\n \"She finds keen anguish every rose devour,\n \"They spring, they bloom, then bid the world farewell.\n \"Illustrious mourner! will no gallant mind\n \"The cause of love, the cause of justice own?\n \"Such claims! such charms! And is no life resign'd\n \"To see them sparkle from their parent throne?\"\nHow inconsistent do we often become through prejudices! The French are\nat this moment governed by adventurers and courtezans--by whatever is\nbase, degraded, or mean, in both sexes; yet, perhaps, would they blush to\nsee enrolled among their Sovereigns an innocent and beautiful Princess,\nthe descendant of Henry the Fourth.\nNothing since our arrival at Paris has seemed more strange than the\neagerness with which every one recounts some atrocity, either committed\nor suffered by his fellow-citizens; and all seem to conclude, that the\nguilt or shame of these scenes is so divided by being general, that no\nshare of either attaches to any individual. They are never tired of the\ndetails of popular or judicial massacres; and so zealous are they to do\nthe honours of the place, that I might, but for disinclination on my\npart, pass half my time in visiting the spots where they were\nperpetrated. It was but to-day I was requested to go and examine a kind\nof sewer, lately described by Louvet, in the Convention, where the blood\nof those who suffered at the Guillotine was daily carried in buckets, by\nmen employed for the purpose.*\n * \"At the gate of St. Antoine an immense aqueduct had been\n constructed for the purpose of carrying off the blood that was shed\n at the executions, and every day four men were employed in taking it\n up in buckets, and conveying it to this horrid reservoir of\n butchery.\"\n--These barbarous propensities have long been the theme of French\nsatyrists; and though I do not pretend to infer that they are national,\nyet certainly the revolution has produced instances of ferocity not to be\nparalleled in any country that ever had been civilized, and still less in\none that had not.*\n * It would be too shocking, both to decency and humanity, to recite\n the more serious enormities alluded to; and I only add, to those I\n have formerly mentioned, a few examples which particularly describe\n the manners of the revolution.--\n At Metz, the heads of the guillotined were placed on the tops of\n their own houses. The Guillotine was stationary, fronting the\n Town-house, for months; and whoever was observed to pass it with\n looks of disapprobation, was marked as an object of suspicion. A\n popular Commission, instituted for receiving the revolutionary tax\n at this place, held their meetings in a room hung with stripes of\n red and black, lighted only with sepulchral lamps; and on the desk\n was placed a small Guillotine, surrounded by daggers and swords. In\n this vault, and amidst this gloomy apparatus, the inhabitants of\n Metz brought their patriotic gifts, (that is, the arbitrary and\n exorbitant contributions to which they were condemned,) and laid\n them on the altar of the Guillotine, like the sacrifice of fear to\n the infernal deities; and, that the keeping of the whole business\n might be preserved, the receipts were signed with red ink, avowedly\n intended as expressive of the reigning system.\n At Cahors, the deputy, Taillefer, after making a triumphal entry\n with several waggons full of people whom he had arrested, ordered a\n Guillotine to be erected in the square, and some of the prisoners to\n be brought forth and decorated in a mock costume representing Kings,\n Queens, and Nobility. He then obliged them successively to pay\n homage to the Guillotine, as though it had been a throne, the\n executioner manoeuvring the instrument all the while, and exciting\n the people to call for the heads of those who were forced to act in\n this horrid farce. The attempt, however, did not succeed, and the\n spectators retired in silent indignation.\n At Laval, the head of Laroche, a deputy of the Constituent Assembly,\n was exhibited (by order of Lavallee, a deputy there on mission) on\n the house inhabited by his wife.--At Auch, in the department of\n Gers, d'Artigoyte, another deputy, obliged some of the people under\n arrest to eat out of a manger.--Borie used to amuse himself, and the\n inhabitants of Nismes, by dancing what he called a farandole round\n the Guillotine in his legislative costume.--The representative\n Lejeune solaced his leisure hours in beheading animals with a\n miniature Guillotine, the expence of which he had placed to the\n account of the nation; and so much was he delighted with it, that\n the poultry served at his table were submitted to its operation, as\n well as the fruits at his dessert! (Debates, June 1.)\n But it would be tedious and disgusting to describe all the _menus\n plaisirs_ of these founders of the French republic. Let it suffice\n to say, that they comprised whatever is ludicrous, sanguinary, and\n licentious, and that such examples were but too successful in\n procuring imitators. At Tours, even the women wore Guillotines in\n their ears, and it was not unusual for people to seal their letters\n with a similar representation!\nWe have been once at the theatre since the King's death, and the stanza\nof the _Reveil du Peuple,_ [The rousing of the people.] which contains a\ncompliment to the Convention, was hissed pretty generally, while those\nexpressing an abhorrence of Jacobinism were sung with enthusiasm. But\nthe sincerity of these musical politics is not always to be relied on: a\npopular air is caught and echoed with avidity; and whether the words be\n_\"Peuple Francais, peuple de Freres,\"_ [\"Brethren.\"]--or _\"Dansons la\nGuillotine,\"_ the expression with which it is sung is not very different.\nHow often have the theatres resounded with _\"Dieu de clemence et de\njustice.\"_ [\"God of mercy and justice.\"] and _\"Liberte, Liberte,\ncherie!\"_ [\"Liberty, beloved Liberty!\"] while the instrument of death was\nin a state of unceasing activity--and when the auditors, who joined in\nthese invocations to Liberty, returned to their homes trembling, lest\nthey should be arrested in the street, or find a mandate or guard at\ntheir own houses.*\n * An acquaintance of mine told me, that he was one evening in\n company at Dijon, where, after singing hymns to liberty in the most\n energetic style, all the party were arrested, and betook themselves\n as tranquilly to prison, as though the name of liberty had been\n unknown to them. The municipality of Dijon commonly issued their\n writs of arrest in this form--\"Such and such a person shall be\n arrested, and his wife, if he has one!\"\n--At present, however, the Parisians really sing the _Reveil_ from\nprinciple, and I doubt if even a new and more agreeable air in the\nJacobin interest would be able to supplant it.\nWe have had our permission to remain here extended to another Decade; but\nMr. D------, who declares, ten times in an hour, that the French are the\nstrangest people on earth, besides being the most barbarous and the most\nfrivolous, is impatient to be gone; and as we now have our passports, I\nbelieve we shall depart the middle of next week.\n--Yours.\nParis, June 15, 1795.\nI am now, after a residence of more than three years, amidst the chaos of\na revolution, on the eve of my departure from France. Yet, while I\njoyfully prepare to revisit my own country, my mind involuntarily traces\nthe rapid succession of calamities which have filled this period, and\ndwells with painful contemplation on those changes in the morals and\ncondition of the French people that seem hitherto to be the only fruits\nwhich they have produced. In this recurrence to the past, and estimation\nof the present, however we may regret the persecution of wealth, the\ndestruction of commerce, and the general oppression, the most important\nand irretrievable mischief of the revolution is, doubtless, the\ncorruption of manners introduced among the middle and lower classes of\nthe people.\nThe labouring poor of France have often been described as frugal,\nthoughtless, and happy, earning, indeed, but little, yet spending still\nless, and in general able to procure such a subsistence as their habits\nand climate rendered agreeable and sufficient.*\n * Mr. Young seems to have been persuaded, that the common people of\n France worked harder, and were worse fed, than those of the same\n description in England. Yet, as far as I have had opportunity of\n observing, and from the information I have been able to procure, I\n cannot help supposing that this gentleman has drawn his inference\n partially, and that he has often compared some particular case of\n distress, with the general situation of the peasantry in the rich\n counties, which are the scene of his experiments. The peasantry of\n many distant parts of England fare as coarsely, and labour harder,\n than was common in France; and taking their habits of frugality,\n their disposition to be satisfied, and their climate into the\n account, the situation of the French perhaps was preferable.\n Mr. Young's Tour has been quoted very triumphantly by a Noble Lord,\n particularly a passage which laments and ascribes to political\n causes the appearance of premature old age, observable in French\n women of the lower classes. Yet, for the satisfaction of his\n Lordship's benevolence and gallantry, I can assure him, that the\n female peasants in France have not more laborious occupations than\n those of England, but they wear no stays, and expose themselves to\n all weathers without hats; in consequence, lose their shape, tan\n their complexions, and harden their features so as to look much\n older than they really are.--Mr. Young's book is translated into\n French, and I have too high an opinion both of his principles and\n his talents to doubt that he must regret the ill effects it may have\n had in France, and the use that has been made of it in England.\n--They are now become idle, profuse, and gloomy; their poverty is\nembittered by fanciful claims to riches and a taste for expence. They\nwork with despair and unwillingness, because they can no longer live by\ntheir labour; and, alternately the victims of intemperance or want, they\nare often to be found in a state of intoxication, when they have not been\nable to satisfy their hunger--for, as bread cannot always be purchased\nwith paper, they procure a temporary support, at the expence of their\nhealth and morals, in the destructive substitute of strong liquors.\nThose of the next class, such as working tradesmen, artizans, and\ndomestic servants, though less wretched, are far more dissolute; and it\nis not uncommon in great towns to see men of this description unite the\nferociousness of savages with all the vices of systematic profligacy.\nThe original principles of the revolution, of themselves, naturally\ntended to produce such a depravation; but the suspension of religious\nworship, the conduct of the Deputies on mission, and the universal\nimmorality of the existing government, must have considerably hastened\nit. When the people were forbidden the exercise of their religion,\nthough they did not cease to be attached to it, yet they lost the good\neffects which even external forms alone are calculated to produce; and\nwhile deism and atheism failed in perverting their faith, they were but\ntoo successful in corrupting their morals.\nAs in all countries the restraints which religion imposes are more\nreadily submitted to by the inferior ranks of life, it is these which\nmust be most affected by its abolition; and we cannot wonder, that when\nmen have been once accustomed to neglect the duty they consider as most\nessential, they should in time become capable of violating every other:\nfor, however it may be among the learned, _qui s'aveuglent a force de\nlumiere,_ [Who blind themselves by excess of light. Destouchet.] with\nthe ignorant the transition from religious indifference to actual vice is\nrapid and certain.\nThe Missionaries of the Convention, who for two years extended their\ndestructive depredations over the departments, were every where guilty of\nthe most odious excesses, and those least culpable offered examples of\nlicentiousness and intemperance with which, till then, the people had\nnever been familiar.*\n * \"When the Convention was elected, (says Durand Maillane, see\n Report of the Committee of Legislation, 13th Prairial, 1st June,)\n the choice fell upon men who abused the name of patriot, and adopted\n it as a cloak for their vices.--Vainly do we inculcate justice, and\n expect the Tribunals will bring thieves and assassins to punishment,\n if we do not punish those amongst ourselves.--Vainly shall we talk\n of republican manners and democratic government, while our\n representatives carry into the departments examples of despotism and\n corruption.\"\n The conduct of these civilized banditti has been sufficiently\n described. Allard, Lacoste, Mallarme, Milhaud, Laplanche,\n Monestier, Guyardin, Sergent, and many others, were not only\n ferocious and extravagant, but known to have been guilty of the\n meanest thefts. Javoques is alledged to have sacrificed two hundred\n people of Montibrison, and to have stolen a vast quantity of their\n effects. It was common for him to say, that he acknowledged as true\n patriots those only who, like himself, _\"etaient capables de boire\n une verre de sang,\"_--(\"were capable of drinking a glass of blood.\")\n D'Artigoyte distinguished himself by such scandalous violations of\n morals and decency, that they are not fit to be recited. He often\n obliged married women, by menaces, to bring their daughters to the\n Jacobin clubs, for the purpose of insulting them with the grossest\n obscenities.--Having a project of getting up a play for his\n amusement, he caused it to be declared, that those who had any\n talents for acting, and did not present themselves, should be\n imprisoned as suspects. And it is notorious, that this same Deputy\n once insulted all the women present at the theatre, and, after using\n the most obscene language for some time, concluded by stripping\n himself entirely in presence of the spectators.\n Report of the Committee of Legislation, 13th Prairial (1st of\n Lacoste and Baudet, when they were on mission at Strasburgh, lived\n in daily riot and intoxication with the members of the Revolutionary\n Tribunal, who, after qualifying themselves in these orgies,\n proceeded to condemn all the prisoners brought before them.--During\n the debate following the above quoted report, Dentzel accused\n Lacoste, among other larcenies, of having purloined some shirts\n belonging to himself; and addressing Lacoste, who was present in the\n Assembly, with true democratic frankness, adds, _\"Je suis sur qu'il\n en a une sur le corps.\"_--(\"I am certain he has one of them on at\n this moment.\") Debate, 1st of June.\n The following is a translation of a letter from Piorry,\n Representative of the People, to the popular society of Poitiers:--\n \"My honest and determined _Sans Culottes,_ as you seemed to desire a\n Deputy amongst you who has never deviated from the right principles,\n that is to say, a true Mountaineeer, I fulfil your wishes in sending\n you the Citizen Ingrand.--Remember, honest and determined _Sans\n Culottes,_ that with the sanction of the patriot Ingrand, you may do\n every thing, obtain every thing, destroy every thing--imprison all,\n try all, transport all, or guillotine all. Don't spare him a\n moment; and thus, through his means, all may tremble, every thing be\n swept away, and, finally, be re-established in lasting order.\n The gentleman who translated the above for me, subjoined, that he\n had omitted various oaths too bad for translation.--This Piorry\n always attended the executions, and as fast as a head fell, used to\n wave his hat in the air, and cry, _\"Vive la Republique!\"_\n Such are the founders of the French Republic, and such the means by\n which it has been supported!\n--It may be admitted, that the lives of the higher Noblesse were not\nalways edifying; but if their dissipation was public, their vices were\nless so, and the scenes of both were for the most part confined to Paris.\nWhat they did not practise themselves, they at least did not discourage\nin others; and though they might be too indolent to endeavour at\npreserving the morals of their dependents, they knew their own interest\ntoo well to assist in depraving them.\nBut the Representatives, and their agents, are not to be considered\nmerely as individuals who have corrupted only by example;--they were\narmed with unlimited authority, and made proselytes through fear, where\nthey failed to produce them from inclination. A contempt for religion or\ndecency has been considered as the test of an attachment to the\ngovernment; and a gross infraction of any moral or social duty as a proof\nof civism, and a victory over prejudice. Whoever dreaded an arrest, or\ncourted an office, affected profaneness and profligacy--and, doubtless,\nmany who at first assumed an appearance of vice from timidity, in the end\ncontracted a preference for it. I myself know instances of several who\nbegan by deploring that they were no longer able to practise the duties\nof their religion, and ended by ridiculing or fearing them. Industrious\nmechanics, who used to go regularly to mass, and bestow their weekly\n_liard_ on the poor, after a month's revolutionising, in the suite of a\nDeputy, have danced round the flames which consumed the sacred writings,\nand become as licentious and dishonest as their leader.\nThe general principles of the Convention have been adapted to sanction\nand accelerate the labours of their itinerant colleagues. The sentences\nof felons were often reversed, in consideration of their \"patriotism\"--\nwomen of scandalous lives have been pensioned, and complimented publicly\n--and various decrees passed, all tending to promote a national\ndissoluteness of manners.*\n * Among others, a decree which gave all illegitimate children a\n claim to an equal participation in the property of the father to\n whom they should (at the discretion of the mother) be attributed.\n--The evil propensities of our nature, which penal laws and moralists\nvainly contend against, were fostered by praise, and stimulated by\nreward--all the established distinctions of right and wrong confounded--\nand a system of revolutionary ethics adopted, not less incompatible with\nthe happiness of mankind than revolutionary politics.\nThus, all the purposes for which this general demoralization was\npromoted, being at length attained, those who were rich having been\npillaged, those who were feared massacred, and a croud of needy and\ndesperate adventurers attached to the fate of the revolution, the\nexpediency of a reform has lately been suggested. But the mischief is\nalready irreparable. Whatever was good in the national character is\nvitiated; and I do not scruple to assert, that the revolution has both\ndestroyed the morals of the people, and rendered their condition less\nhappy*--that they are not only removed to a greater distance from the\npossession of rational liberty, but are become more unfit for it than\never.\n * It has been asserted, with a view to serve the purposes of party,\n that the condition of the lower classes in France was mended by the\n revolution. If those who advance this were not either partial or\n ill-informed, they would observe that the largesses of the\n Convention are always intended to palliate some misery, the\n consequence of the revolution, and not to banish what is said to\n have existed before. For the most part, these philanthropic\n projects are never carried into effect, and when they are, it is to\n answer political purposes.--For instance, many idle people are kept\n in pay to applaud at the debates and executions, and assignats are\n distributed to those who have sons serving in the army. The\n tendency of both these donations needs no comment. The last, which\n is the most specious, only affords a means of temporary profusion to\n people whose children are no incumbrance to them, while such as have\n numerous and helpless families, are left without assistance. Even\n the poorest people now regard the national paper with contempt; and,\n persuaded it must soon be of no value, they eagerly squander\n whatever they receive, without care for the future.\nAs I have frequently, in the course of these letters, had occasion to\nquote from the debates of the Convention, and other recent publications,\nI ought to observe that the French language, like every thing else in the\ncountry, has been a subject of innovation--new words have been invented,\nthe meaning of old ones has been changed, and a sort of jargon,\ncompounded of the appropriate terms of various arts and sciences,\nintroduced, which habit alone can render intelligible. There is scarcely\na report read in the Convention that does not exhibit every possible\nexample of the Bathos, together with more conceits than are to be found\nin a writer of the sixteenth century; and I doubt whether any of their\nprojects of legislation or finance would be understood by Montesquieu or\nColbert.\nBut the style most difficult to be comprehended by foreigners, is that\nof the newspapers; for the dread of offending government so entirely\npossesses the imagination of those who compose such publications, that it\nis not often easy to distinguish a victory from a defeat, by the language\nin which it is conveyed. The common news of the day is worded as\ncautiously as though it were to be the subject of judicial disquisition;\nand the real tendency of an article is sometimes so much at variance with\nits comment, that the whole, to a cursory peruser, may seem destitute of\nany meaning at all. Time, however, has produced a sort of intelligence\nbetween news-writers and their readers--and rejoicings, lamentations,\npraise, or censure, are, on particular occasions, understood to convey\nthe reverse of what they express.\nThe affected moderation of the government, and the ascendency which some\nof the Brissotin party are beginning to take in it, seem to flatter the\npublic with the hope of peace. They forget that these men were the\nauthors of the war, and that a few months imprisonment has neither\nexpiated their crimes, nor subdued their ambition. It is the great\nadvantage of the Brissotins, that the revolutionary tyranny which they\nhad contributed to establish, was wrested from them before it had taken\nits full effect; but those who appreciate their original claims, without\nregard to their sufferings under the persecution of a party, are disposed\nto expect they will not be less tenacious of power, nor less arbitrary in\nthe exercise of it than any of the intervening factions. The present\ngovernment is composed of such discordant elements, that their very union\nbetrays that they are in fact actuated by no principle, except the\ngeneral one of retaining their authority. Lanjuinais, Louvet, Saladin,\nDanou, &c. are now leagued with Tallien, Freron, Dubois de Crance, and\neven Carnot.\nAt the head of this motley assemblage of Brissotins, Orleanists, and\nRobespierrians, is Sieyes--who, with perhaps less honesty, though more\ncunning, than either, despises and dupes them all. At a moment when the\nConvention had fallen into increased contempt, and when the public\naffairs could no longer be conducted by fabricators of reports and\nframers of decrees, the talents of this sinister politician became\nnecessary; yet he enjoys neither the confidence of his colleagues nor\nthat of the people--the vanity and duplicity of his conduct disgust and\nalarm the first, while his reputation of partizan of the Duke of Orleans\nis a reason for suspicion in the latter. But if Sieyes has never been\nable to conciliate esteem, nor attain popularity, he has at length\npossessed himself of power, and will not easily be induced to relinquish\nit.--Many are of opinion, that he is secretly machinating for the son of\nhis former patron; but whether he means to govern in the name of the Duke\nof Orleans, or in that of the republic, it is certain, had the French any\nliberty to lose, it never could have found a more subtle and dangerous\nenemy.*\n * The Abbe, in his _\"notices sur la Vie de Sieyes,\"_ declares that\n his contempt and detestation of the colleagues \"with whom his\n unfortunate stars had connected him,\" were so great, that he\n determined, from his first arrival at the Convention, to take no\n part in public affairs. As these were his original sentiments of\n the Assembly, perhaps he may hereafter explain by which of their\n operations his esteem was so much reconciled, that he has\n condescended to become their leader.\nParis may, without exaggeration, be described as in a state of famine.\nThe markets are scantily supplied, and bread, except the little\ndistributed by order of the government, not to be obtained: yet the\ninhabitants, for the most part, are not turbulent--they have learned too\nlate, that revolutions are not the source of plenty, and, though they\nmurmur and execrate their rulers, they abstain from violence, and seem\nrather inclined to yield to despair, than to seek revenge. This is one\nproof, among a variety of others, that the despotism under which the\nFrench have groaned for the last three years, has much subdued the\nvivacity and impatience of the national character; for I know of no\nperiod in their history, when such a combination of personal suffering\nand political discontent, as exists at present, would not have produced\nsome serious convulsion.\nAmiens, June 18, 1795.\nWe returned hither yesterday, and on Friday we are to proceed to Havre,\naccompanied by an order from the Committee of Public Welfare, stating\nthat several English families, and ourselves among the number, have been\nfor some time a burthen on the generosity of the republic, and that for\nthis reason we are permitted to embark as soon as we can find the means.\nThis is neither true, nor very gallant; but we are too happy in quitting\nthe republic, to cavil about terms, and would not exchange our\npauper-like passports for a consignment of all the national domains.\nI have been busy to-day in collecting and disposing of my papers, and\nthough I have taken infinite pains to conceal them, their bulk is so\nconsiderable, that the conveyance must be attended with risk. While I\nwas thus employed, the casual perusal of some passages in my letters and\nnotes has led me to consider how much my ideas of the French character\nand manners differ from those to be found in the generality of modern\ntravels. My opinions are not of importance enough to require a defence;\nand a consciousness of not having deviated from truth makes me still more\naverse from an apology. Yet as I have in several instances varied from\nauthorities highly respectable, it may not be improper to endeavour to\naccount for what has almost the appearance of presumption.\nIf you examine most of the publications describing foreign countries, you\nwill find them generally written by authors travelling either with the\neclat of birth and riches, or, professionally, as men of science or\nletters. They scarcely remain in any place longer than suffices to view\nthe churches, and to deliver their letters of recommendation; or, if\ntheir stay be protracted at some capital town, it is only to be feted\nfrom one house to another, among that class of people who are every where\nalike. As soon as they appear in society, their reputation as authors\nsets all the national and personal vanity in it afloat. One is polite,\nfor the honour of his country--another is brilliant, to recommend\nhimself; and the traveller cannot ask a question, the answer to which is\nnot intended for an honourable insertion in his repertory of future fame.\nIn this manner an author is passed from the literati and fashionable\npeople of one metropolis to those of the next. He goes post through\nsmall towns and villages, seldom mixes with every-day life, and must in a\ngreat degree depend for information on partial enquiries. He sees, as it\nwere, only the two extremes of human condition--the splendour of the\nrich, and the misery of the poor; but the manners of the intermediate\nclasses, which are less obtrusive, are not within the notice of a\ntemporary resident.\nIt is not therefore extraordinary, that I, who have been domesticated\nsome years in France, who have lived among its inhabitants without\npretensions, and seen them without disguise, should not think them quite\nso polite, elegant, gay, or susceptible, as they endeavour to appear to\nthe visitant of the day. Where objects of curiosity only are to be\ndescribed, I know that a vast number may be viewed in a very rapid\nprogress; yet national character, I repeat, cannot be properly estimated\nbut by means of long and familiar intercourse. A person who is every\nwhere a stranger, must see things in their best dress; being the object\nof attention, he is naturally disposed to be pleased, and many\ncircumstances both physical and moral are passed over as novelties in\nthis transient communication, which might, on repetition, be found\ninconvenient or disgusting. When we are stationary, and surrounded by\nour connections, we are apt to be difficult and splenetic; but a literary\ntraveller never thinks of inconvenience, and still less of being out of\nhumour--curiosity reconciles him to the one, and his fame so smooths all\nhis intercourse, that he has no plea for the other.\nIt is probably for these reasons that we have so many panegyrists of our\nGallic neighbours, and there is withal a certain fashion of liberality\nthat has lately prevailed, by which we think ourselves bound to do them\nmore than justice, because they [are] our political enemies. For my own\npart, I confess I have merely endeavoured to be impartial, and have not\nscrupled to give a preference to my own country where I believed it was\ndue. I make no pretensions to that sort of cosmopolitanism which is\nwithout partialities, and affects to consider the Chicktaw or the Tartars\nof Thibet, with the same regard as a fellow-countryman. Such universal\nphilanthropists, I have often suspected, are people of very cold hearts,\nwho fancy they love the whole world, because they are incapable of loving\nany thing in it, and live in a state of \"moral vagabondage,\" (as it is\nhappily termed by Gregoire,) in order to be exempted from the ties of a\nsettled residence. _\"Le cosmopolytisme de systeme et de fait n'est qu'un\nvagabondage physique ou moral: nous devons un amour de preference a la\nsociete politique dont nous sommes membres.\"_ [\"Cosmopolytism, either in\ntheory or in practice, is no better than a moral or physical vagrancy:\nthe political society of which we are members, is entitled to a\npreference in our affections.\"]\nLet it not be imagined, that, in drawing comparisons between France and\nEngland, I have been influenced by personal suffering or personal\nresentment. My opinions on the French characters and manners were formed\nbefore the revolution, when, though my judgment might be deficient, my\nheart was warm, and my mind unprejudiced; yet whatever credit may be\nallowed to my general opinions, those which particularly apply to the\npresent situation and temper of the French will probably be disputed.\nWhen I describe the immense majority of the nation as royalists, hating\ntheir government, and at once indignant and submissive, those who have\nnot studied the French character, and the progress of the revolution, may\nsuspect my veracity. I can only appeal to facts. It is not a new event\nin history for the many to be subdued by the few, and this seems to be\nthe only instance in which such a possibility has been doubted.*\n * It is admitted by Brissot, who is in this case competent\n authority, that about twenty factious adventurers had oppressed the\n Convention and the whole country. A more impartial calculator would\n have been less moderate in the number, but the fact is the same; and\n it would be difficult to fix the period when this oppression ceased.\n--The well-meaning of all classes in France are weak, because they are\ndivided; while the small, but desperate factions that oppress them, are\nstrong in their union, and in the possession of all the resources of the\ncountry.\nUnder these circumstances, no successful effort can be made; and I have\ncollected from various sources, that the general idea of the French at\npresent is, to wait till the new constitution appears, and to accept it,\nthough it should be even more anarchical and tyrannic than the last.\nThey then hope that the Convention will resign their power without\nviolence, that a new election of representatives will take place, and\nthat those representatives, who they intend shall be men of honesty and\nproperty, will restore them to the blessings of a moderate and permanent\ngovernment.\n--Yours.\nHavre, June 22, 1795.\nWe are now in hourly expectation of sailing for England: we have agreed\nwith the Captain of a neutral vessel, and are only waiting for a\npropitious wind. This good ally of the French seems to be perfectly\nsensible of the value of a conveyance out of the republic, and\naccordingly we are to pay him about ten times more for our passage than\nhe would have asked formerly. We chose this port in preference to Calais\nor Boulogne, because I wished to see my friend Madame de ------ at Rouen,\nand leave Angelique with her relations, who live there.\nI walked this morning to the harbour, and seeing some flat-bottomed boats\nconstructing, asked a French gentleman who accompanied me, perhaps a\nlittle triumphantly, if they were intended for a descent on the English\ncoast. He replied, with great composure, that government might deem it\nexpedient (though without any views of succeeding) to sacrifice ten or\ntwenty thousand men in the attempt.--It is no wonder that governments,\naccountable for the lives and treasure they risk, are scarcely equal to a\nconflict sustained by such power, and conducted on such principles.--But\nI am wearied and disgusted with the contemplation of this despotism, and\nI return to my country deeply and gratefully impressed with a sense of\nthe blessings we enjoy in a free and happy constitution.\nFINIS.", "source_dataset": "gutenberg", "source_dataset_detailed": "gutenberg - A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Complete\n"}, {"source_document": "", "creation_year": 1807, "culture": " English\n", "content": "Produced by Julia Miller, Thiers Halliwell and the Online\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)\nTranscriber's notes:\nIn this plain text version, bold script is denoted by =equals signs= and\nitalic script by _underscores_. Text that was originally rendered in\nsmall capitals now appears in full capitals.\nNo attempt has been made to standardise the numerous inconsistencies\nthroughout the text with respect to punctuation, [e.g. (No. 490,)/(No.\n490.)/(No. 490)/(No. 490).], spelling, case and hyphenation [e.g. P.\n36/p. 88, DR. MOFFETT/Dr. MUFFETT, Colton/Coulton, toothach/toothache,\nHead-Ach/Head-ach/Head-ache, nightmare/Night-Mare/night-mare,\nmouthsful/mouthfuls, scum/skum, table-spoonful/tablespooonful,\nCuracoa/Cura\u00e7oa, and others]. These and various archaic spellings all\nremain as in the original. The transcription also replicates the\noriginal text in its use of upper case, lower case, small capitals, and\nitalics.\nOn the other hand, several errors, omissions and uncertainties were\ncorrected after referring to the subsequent edition (3rd) of the book\nfor clarification: for example, missing characters resulting from\nincomplete scan images; missing quotation marks; a missing value for\n'Port' in the table on page 138; and a three-paragraph apparent\n'blockquote' on page 141 (actually a partial footnote that had become\nseparated from its preceding paragraphs on page 139), is now reunited\nwith the rest of the footnote. A few incorrect page references have been\nrectified.\nThe incorrect sequencing of the index replicates that in the original\npublication. In that era the letters i and j were interchangeable, and\nwords beginning with these letters are grouped together in the index.\nThe words and abbreviations Ditto, ditto, Do., do., are used\ninconsistently in the index.\nNumbered items (sometimes asterisked) of the style (No. 463*) are\nreferences to the 3rd edition of \"The Cook's Oracle\" as mentioned at the\ntop of the page that follows the Contents list.\nThe footnotes, which are numerous and sometimes lengthy, have been\nrelocated to the end of the e-book. A few of the original\ncross-references pointed to the _page_ on which the relevant footnote\nwas located rather than to the footnote itself. As the footnotes are no\nlonger on those pages, readers of this plain text version might have\ndifficulty following such cross-references. On page 17, reference to a\nreference (as used elsewhere in the text).\n OF INVIGORATING AND PROLONGING\n FOOD, CLOTHES, AIR, EXERCISE, WINE, SLEEP, &c.\n _AGREEABLE AND EFFECTUAL METHODS_\n TO PREVENT AND RELIEVE\n _REGULATE AND STRENGTHEN THE ACTION_\n Suaviter in modo, sed fortiter in re.\n THE AUTHOR OF \"THE COOK'S ORACLE,\"\n PRINTED FOR HURST, ROBINSON, AND CO.\n AND A. CONSTABLE AND CO., EDINBURGH.\n ART OF MANAGING THOSE TEMPERAMENTS,\n IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.\nCONTENTS.\n ART OF INVIGORATING LIFE 1\n Reducing Corpulence 50\n THE NUMBERS _affixed to the various Articles of Food, &c.\n are those referred to in the_ THIRD EDITION _of_\n RECEIPTS FOR PLAIN COOKERY\n MOST ECONOMICAL PLAN FOR PRIVATE FAMILIES:\n THE ART OF COMPOSING THE MOST SIMPLE, AND\n Broths, Gravies, Soups, Sauces, Store Sauces,\n AND FLAVOURING ESSENCES:\n _The Quantity of each Article is_\n ACCURATELY STATED BY WEIGHT AND MEASURE;\n _THE WHOLE BEING THE RESULT OF_\n THE KITCHEN OF A PHYSICIAN.\n WHICH IS ALMOST ENTIRELY RE-WRITTEN.\n PRINTED FOR A. CONSTABLE & Co. EDINBURGH;\n AND HURST, ROBINSON, & Co. CHEAPSIDE.\n _And sold also by all Booksellers in Town and Country._\n INVIGORATING AND PROLONGING\n \"The choice and measure of the materials of which our Body is\n composed,--and what we take daily by POUNDS,--is at least of as much\n importance as what we take seldom, and only by _Grains_ and\n _Spoonsful_.\"--DR. ARBUTHNOT on _Aliment_, pref. p. iii.\nThe Editor of the following pages had originally an extremely Delicate\nConstitution;--and at an early period devoted himself to the study of\nPhysic, with the hope--of learning how to make the most of his small\nstock of Health.\nThe System he adopted, succeeded, and he is arrived at his forty-third\nyear, in tolerable good Health; and this without any uncomfortable\nabstinence:--his maxim has ever been, \"_dum Vivimus, Vivamus_.\"\nHe does not mean the Aguish existence of the votary of Fashion--whose\nBody is burning from voluptuous intemperance to-day, and freezing in\nmiserable collapse to-morrow--not extravagantly consuming in a Day, the\nanimal spirits which Nature intended for the animation of a Week--but\nkeeping the expense of the machinery of Life within the income of\nHealth,--which the Constitution can regularly and comfortably supply.\nThis is the grand \"arcanum duplicatum\" for \"Living all the days of your\nLife.\"\nThe Art of Invigorating the Health, and improving the Strength of Man,\nhas hitherto only been considered for the purpose of training[1] him for\nAthletic Exercises--but I have often thought that a similar plan might\nbe adopted with considerable advantage, to animate and strengthen\nenfeebled Constitutions--prevent Gout--reduce Corpulency--cure Nervous\nand Chronic Weakness--Hypochondriac and Bilious Disorders, &c.--_to\nincrease the Enjoyment, and prolong the duration of Feeble Life_--for\nwhich _Medicine_, unassisted by DIET AND REGIMEN,--affords but very\ntrifling and temporary help.\nThe universal desire of repairing, perfecting, and prolonging Life, has\ninduced many ingenious men to try innumerable experiments on almost all\nthe products of the Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral kingdoms, with the\nhope of discovering Agents, that will not merely increase or diminish\nthe force or frequency of the Pulse; but with an ardour as romantic as\nthe search after the Philosopher's Stone, they have vainly hoped, that\n_Panaceas_ might be found possessing the power of curing \"all the evils\nthat flesh is heir to.\"\nThis is evident enough to all who have examined the early\nPharmacop\u0153ias, which are full of heterogeneous compounds, the\ninventions of interested, and the imaginations of ignorant men.\nThe liberal and enlightened Physicians of the last and present century\nhave gradually expunged most of these, and made the science of Medicine\nsufficiently intelligible to those whose business it is to learn it--if\nMedicine be entirely divested of its Mystery, its power over the Mind,\nwhich in most cases forms its main strength, will no longer exist.\nIt was a favourite remark of the celebrated Dr. John Brown[2], that \"if\na student in Physic employed seven years in storing his memory with the\naccepted, but,--unfortunately, in nine cases out of ten,--imaginary\npowers of Medicine, he would, if he did not possess very extraordinary\nsagacity, lose a much longer time in discovering the multiform delusions\nhis medical oracles had imposed upon him--before he ascertains that,\nwith the exception of _Mercury_ for the Lues,--_Bark_ for\nIntermittents,--and _Sulphur_ for Psora--the _Materia Medica_ does not\nfurnish many Specifics--and may be almost reduced to Evacuants and\nStimuli:\"--However, these, skilfully administered, afford all the\nassistance to Nature, that can be obtained from Art!\nLet not the uninitiated in Medical Mysteries imagine for a moment, that\nthe Editor desires to depreciate their Importance--but observe once for\nall--that he has only one reason for writing this Book--which is, to\nwarn you against the ordinary causes of Disorder--and to teach you the\neasiest and most salutary method of preventing or subduing it, and of\nrecovering and preserving Health and Strength, when, in spite of all\nyour prudence, you are overtaken by sickness, and have no Medical Friend\nready to defend you.\nExperience has so long proved the actual importance of TRAINING--that\nPugilists will not willingly engage without such preparation.\nThe principal rules for which are,--to go to Bed early--to Rise\nearly--to take as much _Exercise_ as you can in the open air, without\nfatigue--to _Eat and Drink_ moderately of plain nourishing Food--and\nespecially,--to keep _the Mind_ diverted[3], and in as easy and cheerful\na state as possible.\nSomewhat such a system is followed at the fashionable watering\nplaces--and great would be the improvement of Health that would result\nfrom it,--if it was not continually counteracted, by visits to the Ball\nRoom[4] and the Card Table.\nA residence in the Country will avail little, if you carry with you\nthere, the irregular habits, and late hours of fashionable Life.\nDo not expect much benefit from mere change of _Air_--the purest breezes\nof the country will produce very little effect, unless accompanied by\nplenty of regular _Exercise_[5]--_Temperance_--and, above all,\n_Tranquillity of Mind_.--See _Obs. on_ \"AIR\" and \"EXERCISE.\"\nThe following is a brief sketch of the usual METHOD OF TRAINING PERSONS\nFOR ATHLETIC EXERCISES.\nThe Alimentary Canal[6] is cleansed by an Emetic, and then two or three\nThey are directed to eat Beef and Mutton[7]--rather _under_, than\n_over_-done, and without either Seasoning or Sauce--_Broils_, (No. 94),\nare preferred to either _Roasts_ (No. 19), or _Boils_--and stale Bread\nor Biscuit.\nNeither\nVeal--Lamb--Pork--Fish--Milk--Butter--Cheese--Puddings--Pastry--or\nVegetables, are allowed.\nBeef and Mutton only (fresh, not salted) are ordered;--but we believe\nthis restriction is seldom entirely submitted to.\nNothing tends more to renovate the Constitution, than a temporary\nretirement to the Country.\nThe necessity of breathing a pure Air, and the strictest Temperance, are\nuniformly and absolutely insisted upon by all Trainers;--the striking\nadvantages resulting therefrom, we have heard as universally\nacknowledged by those who have been trained.\n_Mild Home-brewed Ale_ is recommended for Drink--about three pints per\nday--taken with Breakfast and Dinner, and a little at Supper--not in\nlarge draughts--but by mouthfuls, alternately with your food.\n_Stale Beer_ often disturbs delicate Bowels--if your Palate warns you\nthat Malt Liquor is inclined to be hard, neutralize it with a little\n_Carbonate of Potash_;--that good sound Beer, which is neither nauseous\nfrom its newness, nor noxious from its staleness, is in unison with the\nanimating diet of Animal Food, which we are recommending as the most\neffective antidote to debility, &c. experience has sufficiently\nproved.--There can be no doubt, that the combination of the tonic power\nof the Hop, and the nourishment of the Malt, is much more invigorating\nthan any simple vinous spirit,--but the difficulty of obtaining it good,\nready brewed--and the trouble of Brewing is so great--that happy are\nthose who are contented with Good Toast and Water (No. 463*), as a\ndiluent to solid food--and a few glasses of wine as a finishing \"_Bonne\nBouche_.\"\nThose who do not like Beer--are allowed Wine and Water--Red wine is\npreferred to White, and _not more_ than half a pint, (_i. e._ eight\nounces), or four common sized wine glasses, after Dinner--none after\nSupper--nor any Spirits, however diluted.\nEight hours' _Sleep_ are necessary--but this is generally left to the\nprevious habits of the Person; those who take active Exercise, require\nadequate Rest.\nBREAKFAST[8] upon meat at eight o'clock--DINNER at two--SUPPER is not\nadvised, but they may have a little bit of cold meat about eight\no'clock, and take a walk after, between it and ten, when they go to\nBed.\n_The Time requisite to screw a Man up to his fullest Strength_, depends\nupon his previous habits and Age. In the Vigour of Life, between 20 and\n35, a Month or two is generally sufficient:--more or less, according as\nhe is older, and as his previous Habits have been in opposition to the\nabove system.\nBy this mode of proceeding for two or three months--the Constitution of\nthe human frame is greatly improved, and the Courage proportionately\nincreased,--a person who was breathless, and panting on the least\nexertion--and had a certain share of those Nervous and Bilious\nComplaints, which are occasionally the companions of all who reside in\ngreat Cities--becomes enabled to run with ease and fleetness.\nThe Restorative Process having proceeded with healthful\nregularity--every part of the Constitution is effectively invigorated--a\nMan feels so conscious of the actual augmentation of all his powers,\nboth Bodily and Mental, that he will undertake with alacrity--a task\nwhich before he shrunk from encountering.\nThe clearness of THE COMPLEXION is considered the _best criterion of a\nMan's being in good condition_--to which we add the appearance of the\nUNDER-LIP--which is plump and rosy, in proportion to the healthy\nplethora of the constitution:--this is a much more certain symptom of\nvigorous Health than any indication you can form from the appearance of\nthe Tongue--or the PULSE, which is another very uncertain and deceiving\ndifferent persons, but in the same person in different circumstances and\npositions;--in some Irritable Constitutions _the vibration of the Heart\nvaries almost as often as it Beats_--when we walk--stand--sit--or lie\ndown--early in the morning--late in the evening--elated with good\nnews--depressed by bad, &c.--when the Stomach is empty--after taking\nfood--after a full meal of Nutritive food--after a spare one of _Maigre\nmaterials_. Moreover, it is impossible to ascertain the degree of\ndeviation from Health by feeling a Pulse--unless we are well acquainted\nwith the peculiarity of it, when the patient is in Health.\nThe Editor has now arrived at the most difficult part of his work, and\nneeds all the assistance that Training can give, to excite him to\nproceed with any hope of developing the subject, with that perspicuity\nand effect--which it deserves, and he desires to give it.\nThe _Food_--_Clothes_--_Fire_--_Air_--_Exercise_--_Sleep_--_Wine_, &c.\nwhich may be most advisable for invigorating the Health of one\nindividual--may be by no means the best adapted to produce a like good\neffect with another;--at the time of Life most people arrive at, before\nthey think about these things--they are often become the slaves of\nhabits which have grown with their growth, and strengthened with their\nstrength--and the utmost that can be done after our 40th year, is to\nendeavour very gradually to correct them.\nbeware of suddenly abandoning established Customs, (especially of\ndiminishing the warmth of their Clothing, or the nutritive quality of\nwhat they Eat and Drink), which, by long usage, often become as\nindispensable, as a Mathematical Valetudinarian reckoned his Flannel\nWaistcoat was--\"in the _ratio_ that my _Body_ would be uncomfortable\nwithout my _Skin_--would my _Skin_ be, without my _Flannel Waistcoat_.\"\nWe recommend those who are in search of Health and Strength, to read\nthe remarks which are classed under the titles\nWINE,--SIESTA,--CLOTHES,--\"AIR\"--\"FIRE\"--SLEEP--PEPTIC PRECEPTS, &c.\nWith the greatest deference, we submit the following sketch, to be\nvariously modified by the Medical Adviser--according to the season of\nthe Year--the Age--Constitution--and previous habits of the\nPatient,--the purpose it is intended to accomplish--or the Disorder it\nis intended to prevent or cure.\nThe first thing to be done, is to put the Principal Viscera into a\ncondition to absorb the _pabulum vit\u00e6_, we put into the Stomach--as\nmuch depends on the state of the Organs of Digestion[9] as on the\nquality of our Diet:--therefore commence with taking, early in the\nmorning, fasting, about half an hour before Breakfast, about two drams\nof _Epsom Salts_ (_i. e._ as much as will move the Bowels twice, not\nThe following day, go into a _Tepid Bath_, heated to about 95 degrees of\n_Fahrenheit_.\nThe Third day, take another dose of Salts--keeping to a light diet of\nFish--Broths, &c. (Nos. 490, 563, 564, and 572). During the next week,\nfar--any person may proceed without any difficulty,--and great benefit\nwill he derive therefrom, if he cannot pursue the following part of the\nSystem:--\nRISE early--if the Weather permits, amuse yourself with Exercise in the\nopen air for some time before BREAKFAST--the material for which, I leave\nentirely to the previous habit of the Individual.\nSuch is the sensibility of the Stomach, when recruited by a good night's\nrest, that of all alterations in Diet, it will be most disappointed at\nany change of this Meal--either of the time it is taken--or of the\nquantity, or quality of it--so much so, that the functions of a delicate\nStomach will be frequently deranged throughout the whole Day after.\nof the latter may be made for two-pence halfpenny, as easily as a Basin\nof Gruel.\nThe interval between _Breakfast_ and _Eleven_ o'clock, is the best time\nfor Intellectual business--then _Exercise_ again till about\n_Twelve_--when probably the Appetite will be craving for a LUNCHEON,\nwhich may consist of a bit of roasted Poultry,--a basin of good Beef\nTea, or Eggs poached, (No. 546), or boiled in the Shell, (No. 547), Fish\nplainly dressed, (No. 144, or 145, &c.), or a Sandwich (No. 504),--stale\nBread--and half a pint of good Home-brewed Beer--or Toast and Water,\nits measure of Wine, of which Port is preferred.\nThe solidity of the LUNCHEON should be proportionate to the time it is\nintended to enable you to wait for your Dinner, and the activity of the\nExercise you take in the mean-time.\nTake Exercise and Amusement as much as is convenient in the open air\nagain, till past Four--then rest, and prepare for DINNER at\n_Five_--which should be confined to One Dish, of roasted Beef (No. 19),\nor Mutton (No. 23), five days in the week--boiled meat one--and roasted\nPoultry one--with a portion of sufficiently boiled ripe\nVegetables--mashed Potatoes are preferred, see (No. 106), and the other\nfourteen ways of dressing this useful root.\nThe same restrictions from other articles of Food[10], as we have\nalready mentioned in the plan for Training--_i. e._ if the person\ntrained--has not arrived at that time of Life, when habit has become so\nstrong--that to deprive him of those accustomed Indulgencies, &c. by\nwhich his health has hitherto been supported--would be as barbarous--as\nto take away Crutches from the Lame.\nDRINK at Dinner, a pint of home-brewed Beer, or Toast and Water (No.\n463*), with one-third or one-fourth part Wine, and a few glasses of Wine\nafter--the less, the better--but take as much as custom has made\nnecessary to excite that degree of circulation in your system, without\nwhich, you are uncomfortable. Read _Obs. on_ \"WINE.\"\nAFTER DINNER sit quiet for a couple of hours--the _Semi-Siesta_ is a\npleasant position--_i. e._ the Feet on a stool about eight inches\nhigh,--or if your Exercise has fatigued you, lie down, and indulge in\nHorizontal Refreshment[11]:--this you may sometimes do with advantage\nbefore Dinner, if you have taken more Exercise than usual, and you feel\ntired:--when the Body is fatigued, the Stomach, by sympathy, will, in\nproportion, be incapable of doing its business of Digestion.\nAT SEVEN, a little Tea, or warmed Milk with a very little Rum, a bit of\nSugar, and a little Nutmeg in it--after which, Exercise and Amusement\nagain, if convenient, in the open air.\nFor SUPPER, a Biscuit, or a Sandwich, (No. 504), or a bit of cold Fowl,\n&c. and a glass of Beer, or Wine, and Toast and Water (No. 463*),--and\noccasionally (No. 572), _i. e. as light a Supper as possible_--the\nsooner after _Ten_ you retire to rest, the better.\n_For those who Dine very late_--the best Supper is Gruel (No. 572), or a\nlittle Bread and Cheese, or Pounded Cheese (No. 542), and a glass of\nBeer--but if You have had an early, or a _Ban Yan Dinner_--or Instinct\nsuggests that the exhaustion, from extraordinary exertion, requires more\nrestorative materials,--furnish your Stomach with a Chop or a Chicken,\n&c. or some of the easily digestible and nutritive materials referred\nmuch diffusible stimulus as will animate the Circulation, and ensure the\ninfluence of \"Nature's sweet restorer, Balmy Sleep,\"--the soundness of\nwhich,--depends entirely on the Stomach being in good temper, and the\nHeart supporting the circulation with Salutary Vigour. See the _Art of\nFor the Diet to be confined to Beef and Mutton, is a sufficient\nabridgment of the amusements of the Mouth--it is a barbarous\nmortification, to insist on these being always cooked the same way[12],\nand we advise an occasional indulgence in the whole range of plain\nCookery, from (No. 1) to (No. 98).\n_Broils_ (No. 94) are ordered in the plan for Training, probably,\nbecause the most convenient manner of obtaining the desired portion\n_Hot_,--(Food is then most easy of Digestion--_before the process of\nDigestion can commence, it must take the temperature of the\nStomach_--which, when in a languid state, has no superfluous Heat to\nspare--) but as the Lean part is often scorched and dried, and the Fat\nbecomes empyreumatic, from being in immediate contact with the Fire--a\nslice of well roasted Ribs (No. 20),--or Sir Loin of Beef (No. 19), or a\nLeg, Neck, Loin, or Saddle of Mutton (No. 23, or 26, or 31), must be\ninfinitely more succulent and nutritive--whether this be rather _over_,\nor _under_-done, the previous habits of the Eater must determine--the\nMedium, between _over_ and _under_-dressing--is in general most\nAgreeable, and certainly most Wholesome.\nThat _Meat_ which is considerably _under_-done, contains more Nutriment\nthan that which is _over_-done, is true enough;--that which is _not done\nat all_, contains a great deal more--but, in the ratio that it is\n_Raw_[13], so is it unfortunately difficult of digestion, as\nexperiments.\nOUR FOOD MUST BE DONE--_either by our Cook,--or by our Stomach_,--before\nDigestion can take place--(see 1st page of _Obs._ on _Siesta_); surely\nno man in his senses, would willingly be so wanting in consideration of\nthe comfort, &c. of his Stomach, as to give it the needless trouble of\nCooking and Digesting also--and waste its valuable energies in work\nwhich a Spit or a Stewpan can do better.\nThoroughly dressed BEEF (No. 19), or MUTTON (No. 23), is incomparably\nthe most animating Food we can furnish our Stomachs with, and sound\nHOME-BREWED BEER, the most invigorating Drink--It is indeed, Gentle\nReader, notwithstanding a foolish fashion has banished the natural\nbeverage of Great Britain--as extremely ungenteel.--\n \"Your Wine tippling, Dram sipping fellows retreat,\n But your Beer-drinking Briton can never be beat.\"\n_The best Tests of the Restorative qualities of Food_--are a small\nquantity of it satisfying Hunger,--the strength of the Pulse after\nit,--and the length of Time which elapses before Appetite returns\nagain:--according to these Rules, the Editor's own experience gives a\ndecided verdict in favour of Roasted or Broiled Beef (No. 19 or 94), or\nMutton (No. 26 or 23), as most nutritive,--then Game and Poultry, of\nwhich the meat is Brown, (No. 59, or 61, or 74), next Veal and Lamb and\nPoultry, of which the meat is White--the Fat kinds of Fish,\nEels--Salmon--Herrings, &c. and least nutritive, the white kinds of\nFish--such as Whiting, Cod, Soles, Haddocks, &c. For further\ninformation, see _Oysters_, (No. 181).\nThe celebrated Trainer, Sir Thomas Parkyns, &c., \"greatly preferred\nBEEF-EATERS--to _Sheep-biters_, as they called those who ate Mutton.\"\nBy DR. STARK'S _very curious Experiments on Diet_, p. 110, it appears,\nthat \"when he fed upon _Roasted Goose_, he was much more vigorous both\nin Body and Mind, than with any other food.\"\nThat _Fish_ is less nutritive than FLESH--the speedy return of Hunger\nafter a dinner of Fish is sufficient proof--when a Trainer at\nNewmarket[14] wishes _to waste a Jockey_--he is not allowed _Pudding_,\nif Fish can be had.\nCrabs,--Lobsters (No. 176), Prawns, &c. unless thoroughly boiled, (which\nthose sold ready boiled seldom are), are tremendously indigestible.\n_Shell Fish_ have long held a high rank in the catalogue of easily\ndigestible and speedily restorative Foods:--of these _Oysters_ (No.\n181), certainly deserve the best character; but we think that they, as\nwell as _Eggs_,--_Gelatinous Substances_,--_Rich Broths_[15], &c. have\nacquired not a little more reputation for these qualities than they\ndeserve.\nOYSTERS are often cold and uncomfortable to Dyspeptic Stomachs--unless\nwarmed with a certain quantity of Pepper, and good White Wine.\n_To recruit the Animal Spirits, and produce Strength_, there is nothing\nlike BEEF and MUTTON--moreover, when kept till properly tender, none\nwill give less trouble to the Digestive organs--and more substantial\nexcitement to the Constitution.\nThe Editor has dined for some years principally upon plainly roasted or\nboiled Beef and Mutton, and has often observed, that if he changes it\nfor any other Food for several days together--that he suffers a\ndiminution of strength, &c. and is disposed on such days to drink an\nHowever, the fitness of various Foods, and Drinks--and the quantity of\nNutriment which they afford--depends very much upon how they are\nprepared, and as much on the inclination and abilities of the concoctive\nfaculties, which have the task of converting them into Chyle.\nIt is quite as absurd, to suppose, that one kind of Diet, &c. is\nequally adapted to every kind of Constitution--as that one Remedy will\ncure all Diseases.\n_To produce the highest degree of Health and Strength_--we must supply\nthe Stomach with not merely that material which contains the greatest\nquantity of Nourishment--but in making our reckoning, must take into the\naccount, the degree in which it is adapted to the habits and powers of\nthe Organ which is to digest it--the Arms of a Giant are of little use\nin the Hands of a Dwarf.\n_The Plan we have proposed, was calculated for Midsummer-day_,--when\nplenty of hard Exercise in the open Air will soon create an Appetite for\nthe substantial Diet we have recommended--it is taken for granted, that\na Person has the opportunity of devoting a couple of months to the\nre-establishment of his Health--and that during that time, he will be\ncontent to consider himself in the same state as any other Animal out of\ncondition--and disposed to submit cheerfully to such a modification of\nthe rules recommended, as his Medical Adviser may deem most convenient\nto the circumstances of the Case, and the Age, the Constitution, and\nprevious habits of the Patient, &c. &c.\n_Every part of this system must be observed in proportion_--and EXERCISE\nincreased in the same degree, that NOURISHMENT is introduced to the\nConstitution.\n_The best General Rule for Diet_ that I can write, is to Eat and Drink\nonly of such Foods--at such times,--and in such quantities--as\nExperience has convinced you, agree with your Constitution--and\nabsolutely to avoid all other.\nA very different Regimen must be observed by those who live a Life with\nLabour--or Exercise--or of Indolence,--and at the different Periods of\nLife.\nHUMAN LIFE may be divided into _Three Stages_.\nThe FIRST, _The period of Preparation_ from our birth, till about our\n21st year, when the Body has generally attained the _acm\u00e9_ of\nexpansion:--till then, a continual and copious supply of Chyle is\nnecessary, not only to keep our machinery in repair, but to furnish\nmaterial for the increase of it.\nThe SECOND from 21 to 42, _The period of Active Usefulness_; during\nwhich, nothing more is wanted, than to restore the daily waste,\noccasioned by the actions of the Vital and Animal Functions.\nThe THIRD, _The period of Decline_: this comes on and proceeds with more\nor less celerity, according to the original strength of the\nConstitution, and the Economy[16] with which it has been managed during\nthe second period. (Age is a relative term,--one man is as old at 40 as\nanother is at 60): but after 42, the most vigorous become gradually more\npassive[17]--and after 63, pretty nearly quite so.\nSIR WILLIAM JONES'S ANDROMETER.\n 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |--Ideas received through the Senses.\n |_______________________|--Natural History and Experiments.\n 10 |_______________________|--Dancing, Music, Drawing, Exercises.\n |_______________________|--Compositions in Verse and Prose.\n |_______________________|--Compositions in his own Language.\n |_______________________|--Speeches at the Bar, or in Parliament.\n |_______________________|--Historical Studies continued.\n |_______________________|--Philosophy resumed at leisure.\n 35 |_______________________|--Exertions in State and Parliament.\n |_______________________| }Continuation of former Pursuits.\n 65 |_______________________|--Consciousness of a Virtuous Life.\n |_______________________| }_Perfection of Earthly Happiness_.\n_The most common cause of Dyspeptic Disorders_, which are so prevalent\nat the commencement of the Third Period of Life--is an increasing\nindolence, inducing us to diminish the degree of the active Exercise we\nhave been in the habit of taking--without in a corresponding degree\ndiminishing the quantity of our Food--on the contrary, people seem to\nexpect the Stomach to grow stronger and to work harder as it gets Older,\nand to almost entirely support the Circulation without the help of\nExercise.--\nAs the activity of our existence--and the accommodating powers of the\nStomach, &c. diminish--in like degree--must we lessen the quantity--and\nbe careful of the quality of our Food, eat oftener and less at a\ntime--or Indigestion--and the multitude of Disorders of which it is the\nfruitful parent, will soon destroy us.\nThe System of CORNARO has been oftener quoted, than understood--most\npeople imagine, it was one of rigid Abstinence and comfortless\nSelf-denial--but this was not the case:--his Code of Longevity consisted\nin steadily obeying the suggestions of Instinct--and Economizing his\nVitality, and living under his income of Health,--carefully regulating\nhis temper--and cultivating cheerful habits.\nTHE FOLLOWING IS A COMPENDIUM OF HIS PLAN--_in his own words_.\nHe tells us that _when Fourscore_\n\"I am used to take in all twelve ounces of solid nourishment, such as\nMeat, and the yolk of an Egg, &c. and fourteen ounces of drink:--I eat\nBread, Soup, New-laid Eggs, Veal, Kid, Mutton, Partridge, Pullets,\nPigeons, &c. and some Sea and River Fish.\n\"I made choice of such Wines and Meats as agreed with my Constitution,\nand declined all other diet--and proportioned the quantity thereof to\nthe strength of my Stomach, and abridged my Food--as my years increased.\n\"Every one is the best judge of the food which is most agreeable to his\nown Stomach,--it is next to impossible, to judge what is best for\nanother;--the Constitutions of men are as different from each other as\ntheir complexions.\"--p. 36.\n\"1st. Take care of the quality.\n\"2dly. Of the quantity--so as to eat and drink nothing that offends the\nStomach, nor any more than you can easily digest: your experience ought\nto be your guide in these two principles when you arrive at _Forty_: by\nthat time you ought to know that you are in the midst of your life;\nthanks to the goodness of your Constitution which has carried you so\nfar: but that when you are arrived to this period, you go down the hill\napace--and it is necessary for you to change your course of life,\nespecially with regard to the quantity and quality of your diet--because\nit is on that, the health and length of our days do radically depend.\nLastly; if the former part of our lives has been altogether sensual--the\nlatter ought to be rational and regular; order being necessary for the\npreservation of all things, especially the life of man.--Longevity\ncannot be attained without continence and sobriety[18].\"\n \"At _thirty_ Man suspects himself a Fool,\n Knows it at _forty_, and reforms his plan.\"\nBy the small quantity of Food, and great proportion of his Meat to his\nDrink, this noble Venetian, at the age of _forty_, freed himself, by the\nadvice of his Physicians, from several grievous disorders contracted by\nintemperance, and lived in health of body, and great cheerfulness of\nmind, to above an hundred.--Briefly, the secret of his Longevity seems\nto have been, a gradually increasing Temperance \"in omnibus\"--and\nprobably, after a certain time of Life, abstinence from the \"opus\nmagnum.\"\nThe source of physical and moral Health, Happiness, and Longevity,--\n \"Reason's whole pleasure, all the Joys of Sense\n Lie in three words, Health, peace, and competence.\n But Health consists in temperance alone;\n And Peace, oh Virtue! Peace is all thy own.\"\n POPE.\n_Intensive Life_, can only be purchased at the price of _Extensive_.\nIf you force the Heart to gallop as fast during the second, as it does\nduring the first stage of life--and make the steady fire of 42, to blaze\nas brightly as the flame of 21,--it will very soon be burnt out.\nThose who cannot be content to submit to that diminution of action\nordained by nature, against which there is no appeal,--as it is the\nabsolute covenant, by the most attentive and implicit observance of\nwhich we can only hope to hold our lease of life comfortably,--will soon\nbring to the diminished energy of the Second Stage of Life--the\nParalysis of the Third.\nFrom 40 to 60, a witty French author tells us, is \"_La belle saison[19]\npour la Gourmandise_;\"--for the artificial pleasures of the Palate, it\nmay be, and the _Bon Vivant_ cultivates them as the means of prolonging\nthe vigour of Youth--and procrastinating the approach of Age.\nRestoration may certainly be considerably facilitated, by preparing and\ndressing food so as to render it easily soluble--if the secret of\nRejuvenization be ever discovered; it will be found in the Kitchen.\nVery soon after we pass the _Meridian of Life_, (which, according to\nthose who train men for athletic exercises, and to Dr. Jameson,[20] is\nour 28th, and to Dr. Cheyne, about our 35th year,) the elasticity of the\nAnimal System imperceptibly diminishes,--our Senses become less\nsusceptible, and are every hour getting the worse for wear, however\nSelf-Love, assisted by your Hair-dresser, and Tailor, &c. may endeavour\nto persuade you to the contrary.\nDigestion and Sleep are less perfect--the restorative process more and\nmore fails to keep pace with the consuming process--the body is\ninsufficiently repaired, more easily deranged, and with more difficulty\nbrought into adjustment again; till at length the vital power being\ndiminished, and the organs deteriorated,--Nourishment can neither be\nreceived, or prepared and diffused through the constitution--and\nConsumption so much exceeds Renovation, that decay rapidly closes the\nscene of Life.\nOne may form some Idea of _the Self-consumption of the human body_, by\nreflecting that the pulsation of the Heart, and the motion of the Blood\nconnected with it, takes place 100,000 times every day; _i. e._ on an\naverage\n the pulse[21] beats 70 times in a minute,\n multiplied by 60 minutes in an hour,\nWhat Machine, of the most adamantine material, will not soon be the\nworse for wear, from such incessant vibration--especially if the\nMainsprings of it are not preserved in a state of due regulation?\nThe generative faculties, which are the last that Nature finishes--are\nthe first that fail.--Economy in the exercise of them--especially before\nand after the second period of Life--is the grand precept for the\nrestoration and accumulation of Strength, the preservation of Health,\nand the prolongation of Life;--we are vigorous, in proportion to the\nperfection of the performance of the Restorative process, _i. e._ as we\nEat hearty, and Sleep soundly--as our Body loses the power of renovating\nitself, in like ratio, fails its faculty of creating--what may be a\nsalutary subduction of the superfluous health of the Second--during the\nThird period of life, will be a destructive sacrifice of the strength of\nboth the Mind and the Body.--See also the 9th chapter of the _First_\nEdition of WILLICH _on Diet_. 8vo. 1799.\nThe next organical defect, (we perceive too plainly for our self-love to\nmistake it,) is manifested by THE EYE[22]. To read a small print--you\nmust remove it from the Eye further than you have been accustomed to\ndo--and place it in a better light.\nThe FALSETTO Voice now begins to fail, and THE EAR loses some of its\nquickness--several extraordinary Musicians have been able till then, if\na handful of the keys of a Harpsichord were put down so as to produce\nthe most irrelative combinations--to name each half note without a\nmistake.--When I mentioned this to that excellent Organ Player, Mr.\nCharles Wesley, he said, \"At the age of twenty, I could do it\nmyself--but I can't now.\" He was then in his 55th year.\nAbout the same time, the Palate is no longer contented with being\nemployed as a mere shovel to the Stomach,--and as it finds its master\nbecomes every day more difficult to please--learns to be a more watchful\nPurveyor.\nAfter 40,--the strongest People begin to talk about being _Bilious_, or\n_Nervous_, &c. &c. and the Stomach will no longer do its duty\nproperly--unless the Food offered to it is perfectly agreeable to\nit--when offended, _Indigestion_ brings with it, all that melancholy\ndepression of the Animal Spirits, which disables a Man from either\nthinking with precision, or acting with vigour--during the distressing\nsuspension of the restorative process--arise all those miseries of Mind\nand Body, which drive Fools to get drunk, and make Madmen commit\nsuicide:--without due attention to Diet, &c. the Third period of Life is\nlittle better than a Chronic Disease.\nAs our assimilating powers become enfeebled, we must endeavour to\nentertain them with food so prepared, as to give them the least\ntrouble, and the most nourishment[23].\nIn the proportion that our Food is restorative, and properly\ndigested--our bodies are preserved in Health and Strength--and all our\nfaculties continue vigorous and perfect.\nIf it is unwholesome, ill-prepared, and indigestible--the Body\nlanguishes, and is exhausted even in its youth--its strength and\nfaculties daily decrease, and it sinks beneath the weight of the painful\nsensations attendant on a state of Decay.\nWould to Heaven that a Cook could help our Stomachs, as much as an\nOptician can our Eyes: our Existence would be as much more perfect than\nit now is, as our Sight is superior to our other Senses.\n\"The vigour of the Mind decays with that of the Body--and not only\nHumour and Invention, but even Judgment and Resolution, change and\nlanguish, with ill constitution of Body and of Health.\"--Sir WILLIAM\nTEMPLE.\nThe following account of the successful REDUCTION OF CORPULENCE AND\nIMPROVEMENT OF HEALTH, the Editor can vouch for being a faithful\nstatement of Facts.\n MY DEAR SIR,\nIn consequence of the Conversation I had with you, upon the advantages I\nhad derived from Exercise and attention to Diet in the reduction of\nWeight, and your desire that I should communicate as far as I recollect\nthem, the particulars of my Case; I have great pleasure in forwarding to\nyou the following Statement.\nI measure in height six Feet and half an Inch,--possess a sound\nConstitution and considerable activity.--At _the age of_ _Thirty_ I\nweighed about 18 Stone--two years afterwards I had reached the great\nweight of nineteen Stone, in perfect Health, always sleeping well and\nenjoying good Appetite and Spirits--soon after, however, I began to\nexperience the usual attendants on fullness of Habit, a disinclination\nto rise in the morning from drowsiness, heaviness about the Forehead\nafter I had risen, and a disposition to Giddiness;--I was also attacked\nby a complaint in one of my Eyes, the Symptoms of which it is\nunnecessary to describe, but it proved to be occasioned by fullness of\nblood, as it was removed by cupping in the temple. I lost four ounces of\nblood from the temple; and thinking that the loss of a little more might\nbe advantageous, I had eight ounces taken from the back; and in order to\nprevent the necessity, as far as possible, of future bleeding, I\nresolved to reduce the system--by increasing my Exercise and diminishing\nmy Diet.\nI therefore took an early opportunity of seeing Mr. Jackson, (whose\nrespectability and skill as a teacher of sparring is universally\nacknowledged,) and after some Conversation with him, determined upon\nacting under his Advice.\nI accordingly commenced _Sparring_, having provided myself with flannel\nDresses, which I always used, being extremely careful on changing them\nto avoid the risk of cold, and I recollect no instance in which I was\nnot successful.\nI also had recourse to _Riding_ Schools, riding without stirrups, so as\nto have the advantage of the most powerful exercise the Horse could\ngive;--these exercises I took in the morning in the proportion probably\nof sparring twice a week, and riding three or four times.\nFrequently at night I resumed my Exercise,--_Walking_ and sometimes\n_Running_, generally performing about five miles an hour, till I again\nproduced perspiration; every other Opportunity I could resort to of\nbodily exercise I also availed myself of.\nIn respect to diet, I had accustomed myself to Suppers and drinking\nexcellent Table Beer in large quantities, and for probably ten Years,\nhad indulged myself with Brandy and Water after Supper:--this practice I\nentirely discontinued, substituting Toast and Water with my Dinner, and\nTea and a good allowance of Toast for Supper, always avoiding copious\nDraughts.\nI left off drinking malt Liquor as a habit, and indeed, very seldom\ndrank it at all.--I took somewhat less meat at Dinner, avoiding Pies and\nPuddings as much as possible, but always took three or four Glasses of\nPort after dinner.\nDuring the time I was under this training, I took the opinion of an\neminent Physician upon the subject, who entirely approved of my Plan,\nand recommended the occasional use of Aperient medicine, but which I\nseldom resorted to.\n_The Result of all this, was a reduction of my Weight of upwards of\nthree Stone_, or about Forty-five Pounds, _in about six or seven\nmonths_.--I found my activity very much increased, and my wind\nexcellent, but, I think, my Strength not quite so great, though I did\nnot experience any material Reduction of it: my Health was perfect\nthroughout.\nI then relaxed my System a little, and have up to the present time,\nbeing a period of ten Years, avoided the necessity of bleeding, and have\nenjoyed an almost uninterrupted continuance of good Health, although my\nWeight has gradually increased; sometimes, however, fluctuating between\n7 or 8 Pounds and a Stone, according to my means of Exercise,--always\nincreasing in Winter, and losing in Summer;--and at this moment (January\n29th, 1821,) I am about a Stone more than I ought to be, having\nascertained, that my best bodily Strength, is at sixteen Stone and a\nhalf.\nWhen the object is _to Reduce Weight_, rest and moderate Food will\nalways sufficiently restore the exhaustion arising from Exercise;--if\nan additional quantity of Food and nourishing Liquors be resorted to,\nthe Body will in general be restored to the weight it was before the\nExercise.\nI have sometimes lost from ten ounces to a Pound in weight by an Hour's\nsparring. If the object be not to reduce the weight, the Food may safely\nbe proportioned to the Exercise.\nYou will readily perceive, that the plan I adopted, ought only to be\nresorted to by Persons of sound Constitution and of athletic bodily\nFrame,--it would be absurd to lay down a general rule for the adoption\nof all fat men.\nI think, with all lusty men, the drinking of malt Liquor of any kind is\ninjurious,--Meat taken more than once a day is liable to the same\nObjection. I still persevere in the disuse of malt Liquors and Spirits,\nand Suppers, seldom taking more than four Glasses of Wine as a\nhabit,--although I do not now deem it necessary to make myself so far\nthe Slave of habit, as to refuse the Pleasures of the Table when they\noffer.\n I am, dear Sir,\n Yours very truly,\nThe following are the most interesting Facts in Dr. Bryan Robinson's\nEssay on the Food and Discharges of the Human Body, 8vo. 1748, which has\nbecome scarce.\n\"I am now, in _May_ 1747, in the 68th year of my age. The length of my\nBody is 63 Inches: I am of a sanguine but not robust constitution--and\nam at present neither lean nor fat. In the year 1721 the Morning weight\nof my body without Clothes, was about 131 Avoirdupois pounds, the daily\nweight of my food at a medium was about 85 Avoirdupois ounces, and the\nproportion of my Drink to my Meat, I judge was at that time about\n\"At the latter end of _May_ 1744, my weight was above 164 pounds, and\nthe proportion of my Drink to my Meat was considerably greater than\nbefore, and had been so for some time. I was then seized with a\nParalytic disorder, which obliged me to make an alteration in my diet.\nIn order to settle the proportion of my Drink to my Meat, I considered\nwhat others have said concerning this proportion.\n\"According to _Sanctorius_, though he reckons it a disproportion, the\ndrink to the meat in his time, was about 10 to 3 in temperate bodies.\n CORNARO'S drink to his Meat, was as 7 to 6.\n Dr. LINING'S, at a medium 11 to 3.\n And my drink to my meat 5 to 2.\n A mean taken from all these makes the\n Drink to the Meat--about 2 to 1.\n B. ROBINSON _on Food and Discharges_, p. 34.\n\"At the age of 64, by lessening my food, and increasing the proportion\nof my meat to my drink, _i. e._ by lessening my drink about a third\npart, (_i. e._ to 20 ounces) and my meat about a sixth, (_i. e._ 38\nounces) of what they were in 1721, I have freed myself for these two\nyears past from the returns of a _Sore throat_ and\n_Diarrh\u0153a_,--Disorders I often had, though they were but slight, and\nnever confined me. I have been much more costive than I was before, when\nI lived more fully, and took more Exercise, and have greatly, for my\nage, recovered the paralytic weakness I was seized with three years ago.\n\"Hence we gather, that good and constant Health consists in a just\nquantity of food; and a just proportion of the meat to the drink: and\nthat to be freed from chronical disorders contracted by\nIntemperance--the quantity of food ought to be lessened; and the\nproportion of the meat to the drink increased--more or less, according\nto the greatness of the disorders, p. 61.\n\"I commonly ate four ounces of Bread and Butter, and drank half a pound\nof a very weak infusion of Green Tea for _Breakfast_. For _Dinner_ I\ntook two ounces of Bread, and the rest Flesh-meat,--Beef, Mutton, Pork,\nVeal, Hare, Rabbit, Goose, Turkey, Fowl tame and wild, and Fish. I\ngenerally chose the strongest meats as fittest, since they agreed well\nwith my stomach, to keep up the power of my body under this great\ndiminution of my food; I seldom took any _Garden stuff_--finding that it\ncommonly lessened perspiration and _increased my weight_.--I drank four\nounces of water with my meat and a pound of Claret after I had done\neating. At night I ate nothing, but drank 12 ounces of water with a pipe\nof Tobacco, p. 63.\n\"There is but one Weight, under which a grown body can enjoy the best\nand most uninterrupted Health. p. 91. That Weight is such as enables the\nHeart to supply the several parts of the body with just quantities of\nBlood. p. 100.\n\"The weight under which an Animal has the greatest strength and\nactivity--which I shall call its _Athletic weight_,--is that weight\nunder which the Heart--and the proportion of the weight of the Heart to\nthe weight of the body are greatest: the strength of the Muscles is\nmeasured by the strength of the Heart, p. 117.\n\"If the weight of the body of an Animal be greater than its _Athletic\nWeight_, it may be reduced to that weight by evacuations, dry food and\nexercise. These lessen the weight of the Body, by wasting its fat, and\nlessening its Liver; and they increase the weight of the Heart, by\nincreasing the quantity and motion of the blood. Thus a game Cock in ten\ndays is reduced to his athletic weight, and prepared for fighting.\n\"If the Food, which with Evacuations and Exercise, reduced the Cock to\nhis athletic weight in ten days, be continued any longer, the Cock will\nnot have that strength and activity which he had before under his\nathletic weight; which may be owing to the loss of weight going on after\nhe arrives at his athletic weight.\n\"It is known by experiment, that a Cock cannot stand above 24 hours at\nhis athletic weight, and that a Cock has changed very much for the worse\nin 12 hours.\n\"When a Cock is at the top of his condition, that is, when he is at his\nathletic weight, his Head is of a glowing red colour, his Neck thick,\nand his Thigh thick and firm;--the day after his complexion is less\nglowing, his Neck thinner, and his Thigh softer;--and the third day his\nThigh will be very soft and flaccid. p. 119.\n\"If the increase of weight in a small compass of time, rise to above a\ncertain quantity, it will cause disorders.\n\"I can bear an increase of above a pound and a half in one day, and an\nincrease of three or four pounds in six or seven days, without being\ndisordered; but think I should suffer from an increase of five or six\npounds in that time.\n\"An increase of weight may be carried off by lessening the Food,--or by\nincreasing the Discharges.--The discharges may be increased either by\nexercise, or by evacuations procured by art.\n\"By lessening the daily quantity of my food to 23 ounces, I have lost 26\nounces;--by fasting a whole day, I lost 48 ounces, having gained 27 the\nday before.\n\"Mr. Rye was a strong, well set, corpulent man, of a sanguine\ncomplexion; by a brisk walk for one hour before breakfast he threw off,\nby insensible perspiration, one pound of increased weight; by a walk of\nthree hours, he threw off two pounds of increased weight. The best way\nto take off an increase of weight which threatens a distemper, is either\nby fasting or exercise. p. 84.\n\"The mean loss of weight by several grown bodies caused by a purging\nmedicine composed of a drachm of _Jalap_ and ten grains of _Calomel_,\nwas about 2-3/4 Avoirdupois pounds; and the mean quantity of Liquor,\ndrank during the time of Purging, was about double the loss of\nWeight.\"--ROBINSON _on the Animal Economy_, p. 458.\n\"I have lost, by a spontaneous _Diarrh\u0153a_, two pounds in twenty-four\nhours; and Mr. Rye lost twice that quantity in the same time.\"--_On the\nFood and Discharges of Human Bodies_, by B. ROBINSON, p. 84.\n\"Most _Chronic Diseases_--arise from too much _Food_ and too little\n_Exercise_,--both of which lessen the weight of the Heart and the\nquantity of Blood;--the first by causing fatness; the second by a\ndiminution of the blood's motion.\n\"Hence, when the LIVER is grown too large by Intemperance and\nInactivity, it may be lessened and brought to a healthful magnitude by\nTemperance and Exercise.--It may be emptied other ways by art; but\nnothing can prevent its filling again, and consequently secure good and\nconstant Health--but an exact Diet and Exercise. Purging and Vomiting\nmay lessen the Liver, and reduce it to its just magnitude;--but these\nevacuations cannot prevent its increasing again, so long as persons\nlive too fully, and use too little exercise--and can only be done by\nlessening the Food and increasing the Exercise.\"\n\"Much sleep, much food, and little exercise, are the principal things\nwhich make animals grow fat. If the Body, on account of Age or other\nInfirmities, cannot use sufficient Exercise, and takes much the same\nquantity of Sleep, its weight must be lessened by lessening the Food,\nwhich may be done by lessening the Drink, without making any change in\nthe Meat; as I have proved myself by experience.\"--p. 90.\nOn this subject, see also--Dr. STARK on _Diet_, and SANCTORIUS'\n_Medecina Statica_. Dr. HEMING on _Corpulency_.--Mr. WADD on\n_Corpulency_.--Dr. ARBUTHNOT on _Aliment_.\nSLEEP.\n \"When tired with vain rotations of the Day,\n Sleep winds us up for the succeeding dawn.\"\n YOUNG.\nHealth may be as much injured by interrupted and _insufficient Sleep_,\nas by luxurious indulgence.\nValetudinarians who regularly retire to rest, and arise at certain\nhours, are unable, without injurious violence to their feelings--to\nresist the inclination to do so.\n \"Pliant Nature more or less demands\n As Custom forms her; and _all sudden change\n She hates_, of Habit even from _bad_ to _good_.\n If faults in Life--or new emergencies\n From Habits[24] urge you by _long time_ confirm'd,\n Slow must the change arrive, and stage by stage,\n Slow as the stealing progress of the Year.\"\n ARMSTRONG'S _Art of Preserving Health_.\nHow important it is, then, to cultivate good and convenient\nHabits:--_Custom_ will soon render the most rigid rules, not only easy,\nbut agreeable.--\n \"The Strong, by bad habits, grow weaker, we know;\n And by good ones, the Weak will grow stronger also.\"\nThe Debilitated require much more rest than the Robust:--nothing is so\nrestorative to the nerves, as sound, and uninterrupted Sleep, which is\nthe chief source of both Bodily and Mental Strength.\nThe Studious need a full portion of Sleep, which seems to be as\nnecessary nutriment to the Brain, as Food is to the Stomach.\nOur Strength and Spirits are infinitely more exhausted by the exercise\nof our Mental, than by the labour of our Corporeal faculties--let any\nperson try the effect of _Intense Application_ for a few hours--He will\nsoon find how much his Body is fatigued thereby, although He has not\nstirred from the Chair He sat on.\nThose who are candidates for Health--must be as circumspect in the task\nthey set their mind,--as in the exercise they give to their Body.\nDr. ARMSTRONG, the Poet of Health, observes,\n \"'Tis _the great Art of_ LIFE to manage well\n The restless Mind.\"\nThe grand secret seems to be, to contrive that the exercise of the Body,\nand that of the Mind, may serve as relaxations to each other.\nOver Exertion, or Anxiety of Mind, disturbs Digestion infinitely more\nthan any fatigue of Body--the Brain demands a much more abundant supply\nof the Animal Spirits, than is required for the excitement of mere Legs\nand Arms.\n \"'Tis the Sword that wears out the Scabbard.\"\nOf the two ways of fertilizing the Brain--by Sleep, or by Spirituous\nStimulus--(for some write best in the Morning, others when wound up with\nWine, after Dinner or Supper:) the former is much less expensive--and\nless injurious to the constitution than either Port, or Brandy, whose\naid it is said that some of our best Authors have been indebted to, for\ntheir most brilliant productions.\nCalling one day on a literary friend, we found him reclining on a\nSofa--on expressing our concern to find him indisposed, he said, \"No, I\nwas only _hatching_,--I have been writing till I was quite tired--my\npaper must go to Press to day--so I was taking my usual restorative--_A\nNap_--which if it only lasts five minutes, so refreshes my Mind--that\nmy Pen goes to work again spontaneously.\"\nIs it not better _Economy of Time_, to go to sleep for half an\nhour,--than to go on noodling all day in a nerveless and\nsemi-superannuated state--if not asleep, certainly not effectively\nAwake--for any purpose requiring the Energy of either the Body, or the\nMind.\n\"_A Forty Winks Nap_,\" in an horizontal posture, is the best preparative\nfor any extraordinary exertion of either.\nThose who possess, and employ the powers of the Mind most--seldom attain\nthe greatest Age[25]:--see BRUNAUD _de L'Hygiene des Gens de Lettres,\nParis_, 8vo. 1819:--the Envy their Talent excites,--the Disappointment\nthey often meet with in their expectations of receiving the utmost\nattention and respect, (which the world has seldom the gratitude to pay\nthem while they live,) keep them in a perpetual state of irritation and\ndisquiet--which frets them prematurely to their Grave[26].\n_To rest a whole Day_--under great fatigue of either Body or Mind, is\noccasionally extremely beneficial--it is impossible to regulate Sleep by\nthe hour;--when the Mind and the Body have received all the refreshment\nwhich Sleep can give, people cannot lie in Bed, and till then, they\nshould not Rise[27].\n \"Preach not me your musty Rules\n Ye Drones, that mould in idle cell;\n The Heart is wiser than the Schools,\n The Senses always reason well.\"\n COMUS.\nOur Philosophical Poet here gives the best practical maxim on the\nsubject for Valetudinarians--who, by following his advice, may render\ntheir Existence, instead of a dull unvaried round of joyless, useless\nself-denial,--a circle of agreeable sensation;--for instance, go not to\nyour Bed till You are tired of sitting up--then remain in an Horizontal\nposture,--till You long to change it for a Vertical: thus, by a little\nmanagement, the inevitable business of Life may be converted into a\nsource of continual Enjoyment.\nAll-healing Sleep soon neutralizes the corroding caustic of Care--and\nblunts even the barbed arrows of the marble-hearted Fiend, Ingratitude.\nWhen the Pulse is almost paralysed by Anxiety,--half an hour's repose,\nwill cheer the circulation, restore tranquillity to the perturbed\nspirit--and dissipate those heavy clouds of _Ennui_, which sometimes\nthreaten to eclipse the brightest Minds, and best Hearts.--Child of Woe,\nlay thy Head on thy pillow, (instead of thy Mouth to the bottle,) and\nbless me for directing Thee to the true source of Lethe--and most\nsovereign _Nepenth\u00e9_ for the Sorrows of Human Life.\nThe Time requisite to restore the waste occasioned by the action of the\nDay--depends on the activity of the habits, and on the Health of the\nIndividual,--in general it cannot be less than Seven--and need not be\nmore than Nine hours[28].\nInvalids will derive much benefit from indulging in the _Siesta_\nwhenever they feel languid.\nA Sailor will tell you, that a Seaman can sleep as much in five hours,\nas a Landsman can in ten.\nWhether rising very early lengthens Life we know not,--but think that\nsitting up very late shortens it,--and recommend you to rise by eight,\nand retire to rest by eleven; your feelings will bear out the adage,\nthat \"_one_ Hour's rest before midnight, is worth _two_ after.\"\nWhen OLD PEOPLE have been examined with a view to ascertain the causes\nof their Longevity, they have uniformly agreed in one thing only,--that\nthey ALL _went to Bed early, and rose early_.\n \"Early to bed, and early to rise,\n Will make you healthy, wealthy, and wise.\"\nDr. FRANKLIN published an ingenious Essay on the advantage of early\nrising--He called it \"_an Economical Project_,\" and calculated, that the\nsaving that might be made in the City of Paris, _by using Sunshine\ninstead of Candles_--at no less than \u00a34,000,000 Sterling.\nIf the Delicate, and the nervous, the very Young, or the very Old--sit\nup beyond their usual hour, they feel the want of artificial aid, to\nraise their spirits to what is no more than the ordinary pitch of those\nwho are in the vigour of their Life--and must fly from the festive\nboard--or purchase a few hours of hilarity at the heavy price of\nHead-Ach and Dyspepsia for many days after; and a terrible exasperation\nof any Chronic Complaint they are afflicted with.\nWhen the Body and Mind are both craving repose--to force their action,\nby the spur of spirituous stimulus, is the most extravagant waste of the\n\"VIS VIT\u00c6,\" that Fashion ever invented to consume her foolish\nVotaries--for Fools they certainly are, who mortgage the comfort of a\nWeek, for the conviviality of an Hour--with the certainty of their term\nof Life being speedily foreclosed by Gout, Palsy, &c.\nAmong the most distressing miseries of this \"Elysium of Bricks and\nMortar,\" may be reckoned how rarely we enjoy \"the sweets of a Slumber\nunbroke.\"\nSound passes through the thin PARTY WALLS of modern Houses, (_which of\nthe first rate, at the_ FIRE PLACE, _are only four inches in\nthickness_;) with most unfortunate facility; this is really an evil of\nthe first magnitude,--if You are so unlucky as to have for next door\nneighbours--fashionable folks who turn night into day, or such as\ndelight in the sublime Economy of Cindersaving, or Cobweb catching,--it\nis in vain to seek repose, before the former has indulged in the\nEvening's recreation of raking out the Fire, and has played with the\nPoker till it has made all the red coals black; or, after _Molidusta_,\nthe Tidy One, has awoke the Morn--with \"the Broom, the bonny, bonny\nBroom.\"\nA determined Dusthunter, or Cindersaver, murders its neighbour's\nsleep--with as little mercy, as Macbeth did Malcolm's--and bangs doors,\nand rattles Window shutters, till the \"Earth trembles, and Air is\naghast!\"\nAll attempts to conciliate a Savage who is in this fancy--will be labour\nin vain--the arrangement of its fire[29] is equally the occupation of\nthe morning, and the amusement of the evening; the preservation of a\nCinder and the destruction of a Cobweb, are the main business of its\nexistence:--the best advice we can give you, gentle Reader--is to send\nit this little Book--and beseech it to place the following pages\nopposite to its Optic nerves some morning--after you have diverted it\nfrom Sleep every half hour during the preceding Night[30].\nCounsellor SCRIBBLEFAST, a Special Pleader, who lived on a ground-floor\nin the Temple--about the time that Sergeant PONDER who dwelt on the\nfirst floor, retired to rest, began to practise his Violoncello, _\"And\nhis loud voice in Thunder spoke.\"_--The Student above--by way of giving\nhim a gentle hint, struck up _\"Gently strike the warbling Lyre,\"_ and\nWill. Harmony's favourite Hornpipes of _\"Dont Ye,\"_ and _\"Pray be\nQuiet:\"_ however, the _dolce_ and _pianissimo_ of poor PONDER produced\nno diminution of the _prestissimo_ and _fortissimo_ of the indefatigable\nSCRIBBLEFAST.\nPONDER, prayed \"silence in the Court,\" and complained in most pathetic\nterms--but, alas! his \"_lowly suit and plaintive ditty_\" made not the\nleast impression on him who was beneath him.--He at length procured a\nset of Skettles, and as soon as his musical neighbour had done fiddling,\nhe began _con strepito_, and bowled away merrily till the morning\ndawned.--The enraged Musician did not wait long after daylight, to put\nin his plea against such proceedings, and received in reply, that such\nexercise had been ordered by a Physician, as the properest Paregoric,\nafter being disturbed by the thorough Bass of the Big Fiddle below--this\nsoon convinced the tormentor of Catgut, who dwelt on the Ground-Floor,\nthat He could not annoy his superior with Impunity, and produced silence\non both sides.\nPeople are very unwisely inconsiderate how much it is their own\nInterest to attend to the comforts of their Neighbours, for which we\nhave a divine command \"to love our neighbour as ourself.\" \"_Sic utere\ntuo, ut alienum non l\u00e6das_,\" is the maxim of our English law.\nInterrupting one's Sleep is as prejudicial to Health, as any of the\nnuisances Blackstone enumerates as actionable.\nThe majority of the _Dogs_,--_Parrots_,--_Piano-Fortes_, &c. in this\nMetropolis, are _Actionable Nuisances_!!!\nHowever inferior in rank and fortune, &c. your next door neighbour may\nbe--there are moments when He may render you the most valuable\nservice.--\"A Lion owed his life to the exertions of a Mouse.\"\nThose who have not the power to please--should have the discretion not\nto offend;--the most humble may have opportunities to return a Kindness,\nor resent an Insult.\nIt is Madness to wantonly annoy any one.\nThere is plenty of Time for the performance of all offensively noisy\noperations, between 10 in the Morning and 10 at Night--during which the\nindustrious Housemaid may indulge her Arms in their full swing--and\nwhile she polishes her black-leaded grate to the lustre which is so\nlovely in the eyes of \"_the Tidy_,\" the TAT-TOO her brush strikes up\nagainst its sides may be performed without distressing the irritable\nears of her Nervous Neighbours--to whom _undisturbed Repose is the most\nVital Nourishment_.\n_Little Sweep Soot Ho_ is another dreadful disturber.--The shrill\nscreaming of these poor boys, \"making night hideous,\" (indeed at any\ntime) at five or six o'clock in cold dark weather, is a most barbarous\ncustom, and frequently disturbs a whole street before they rouse the\ndrowsy sluggard who sent for him--his _Row dy Dow_ when he reaches the\ntop of the Chimney, and his progress down again, awaken the soundest\nsleepers, who often wish, that, instead of the Chimney,--he was smiting\nthe skull of the Barbarian who set the poor Child to work at such an\nunseasonable hour.\nThe Editor's feelings are tremblingly alive on this subject.\n \"Finis coronat opus.\"\nHowever soundly he has slept during the early part of the night--if the\nfinishing Nap in the morning is interrupted from continuing to its\nnatural termination--his whole System is shook by it, and all that sleep\nhas before done for him, is undone in an instant;--he gets up distracted\nand languid, and the only part of his head that is of any use to him, is\nthe hole between his Nose and Chin.\nThe firm Health of those who live in the Country, arises not merely from\nbreathing a purer Air,--but from quiet and regular habits, especially\nthe enjoyment of plenty of undisturbed Repose,--this enables them to\ntake Exercise, which gives them an Appetite, and by taking their food at\nless distant and more equally divided intervals--they receive a more\nregular supply of that salutary nourishment, which is necessary to\nrestore the wear of the system, and support it in an uniform state of\nexcitement,--equally exempt from the languor of inanition, and the\nfever of repletion.\nThus, the Animal Functions are performed with a perfection and\nregularity, the tranquillity of which, in the incessantly irregular\nhabits of a Town-life, is continually interrupted,--some ridiculous\nAnxiety or other consumes the Animal Spirits, and the important process\nof Restoration is imperfectly performed.\n_Dyspeptic and Nervous disorders_, and an inferior degree of both\nextensive and intensive Life[31] are the inevitable consequence, and are\nthe lowest price for (what are called) _the Pleasures of Fashionable\nSociety_.\nDr. Cadogan has told us (very truly) that Chronic diseases, (and we may\nadd, most of those equivocal Disorders, which are continually teasing\npeople, but are too insignificant to induce them to institute a medical\nprocess to remove them,) are caused by Indolence--Intemperance--and\nVexation.\nIt is the fashion to refer all these Disorders to Debility--but Debility\nis no more than the effect of Indolence, Intemperance, and Vexation--the\ntwo first are under our own immediate control--and Temperance, Industry,\nand Activity, are the best remedies to prevent, or remove the Debility\nwhich reduces our means of resisting the third.\nDuring _the Summer_ of Life[32], _i. e._ the second period of it, (see\npage 34,) while we hope that every thing may come right, the Heart\nbounds with vigour, and the Vital flame burns too brightly to be much,\nor long subdued by vexation.\nThis originally least cause, soon becomes the greatest, and in _the\nAutumn_ of our existence, when Experience has dissipated the theatric\nillusion with which Hope varnished the expectations of our earlier days,\nwe begin to fear that every thing will go wrong.\n \"The whips and scorns of Time,\n The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,\n The pangs of despis'd Love, the Law's delay,\n The insolence of office, and the spurns\n That patient merit of the unworthy takes.\"\nThe insatiable ruling passions of the second and third periods of\nLife,--Ambition and Avarice,--the loss of our first and best friends,\nour Parents,--regret for the past, and anxiety about the future, prevent\nthe enjoyment of the present,--and are _the cause of those Nervous and\nBilious Disorders_, which attack most of us at the commencement of the\nthird period of Life--these _precursors of Palsy and Gout_, may\ngenerally be traced to Disappointments and Anxiety of mind[33]; and\nPeople need not groan about the Insanities and Absurdities of others--it\nis surely quite sufficient to suffer for our own, of which most of us\nhave plenty--we ought to endeavour to convert those of others, into\ncauses of comfort and consolation, instead of fretting about them--if\nyou receive rudeness in return for civility--and ingratitude for\nkindness, it may move your Pity--but should never excite your\nAnger--instead of murmuring at Heaven for having created such Crazy\nCreatures! be fervently thankful that you are not equally inconsistent\nand ridiculous--and Pray, that your own Mind, may not be afflicted with\nthe like aberrations.\n_Indigestion_[34], is the chief cause of perturbed Sleep, and often\nexcites the imaginary presence of that troublesome Bedfellow _the\nSome cannot Sleep if they eat any Supper--and certainly the lighter this\nmeal is, the better--Others, need not put on their Night cap, if they\ndo not first bribe their Stomachs to good behaviour by a certain\nquantity of Bread and Cheese and Beer, &c. &c., and go to Bed almost\nimmediately after.\nAs to the wholesomeness of _a Solid Supper, per se_, we do not think it\nadvisable,--but habit may have made it indispensable, and we know it is\noften the most comfortable Meal among the middle ranks of Society, who\nhave as large a share of Health as any.\nWe caution _Bad sleepers_ to beware how they indulge in the habit of\nexciting sleep, by taking any of the preparations of _Opium_--they are\nall injurious to the Stomach--and often inconvenient in their effects\nupon the Bowels:--\n\"REPOSE _by small fatigue is earned_, and Weariness can snore upon the\nflint, when nesty Sloth, finds a down pillow hard.\"\nAs there can be no good _Digestion_ without diligent _Mastication_,--so\nthere can be no sound _Sleep_, without sufficient _Exercise_.\n_The most inoffensive and agreeable Anodyne_ is to drink some good White\nWine, or Mulled Wine, by way of a supplement to your Night cap.--One\nglass, taken when in Bed, immediately before lying down, is as effective\nas two or three if you sit up any time after.--(See _Tewahdiddle_, No.\nMany people, if awoke during their first sleep, are unsettled all that\nnight--and uncomfortable and nervous the following day.--The first sleep\nof those who eat Suppers, commonly terminates when the food passes from\nthe Stomach.--Invalids then awake, and sometimes remain so, in a\nFeverish state,--the Stomach feeling discontented from being unoccupied,\nand having nothing to play with:--a small crust of Bread, or a bit of\nBiscuit well chewed, accompanied or not, as Experience and Instinct will\nsuggest, with a few mouthsful of Mutton or Beef Broth (No. 564), or\nToast and Water (No. 463*), or single Grog[35], (_i. e._ one Brandy to\nnine Waters), will often restore its tranquillity, and catch Sleep\nagain, which nothing invites so irresistibly, as introducing something\nto the Stomach,--that will entertain it, without fatiguing it.\nWe have heard persons say they have been much distressed by an\nintemperate craving for Food when they awoke out of their first sleep,\nand have not got to sleep soundly again after--and risen in the morning\nas tired as when they went to bed at night--but without any appetite for\nBreakfast--such will derive great benefit from the foregoing Advice.\n_A Broth_ (No. 564), _or Gruel_ (No. 572) _Supper_, is perhaps the best\nfor the Dyspeptic,--and those who have eaten and drank plentifully at\nDinner.\nTHE BED ROOM should be in the quietest situation possible, as it were\n\"_the Temple of Silence_,\"--and, if possible, not less than 16 feet\nsquare--the height of this Apartment, _in which we pass almost half of\nour Time_, is in modern houses absurdly abridged, to increase that of\nthe Drawing Room, which is often not occupied once in a month:--instead\nof living in the pleasant part of the House, where they might enjoy\nLight and Air, how often we find people squeezing themselves into \"a\nnice snug Parlour,\" where Apollo cannot spy.\nWe do not recommend either _Curtains_ or _Tester_, &c. to the BED,\nespecially during the Summer;--by the help of these, those who might\nhave the benefit of the free circulation of air in a large Room, very\ningeniously contrive to reduce it to a small Closet:--_Chimney-Boards_\nand _Window-Curtains_ are also inadmissible in a Bed Room; but\nValetudinarians who are easily awoke, or very susceptible of Cold, will\ndo wisely to avail themselves of well made _Double[36] Windows and\nDoors_, these exclude both Noise and Cold in a very considerable degree.\n_The best Bed_ is a well stuffed and well curled _Horsehair Mattress_,\nsix inches thick at the Head, gradually diminishing to three at Feet,\non this another Mattress five or six inches in thickness: these should\nbe unpicked and exposed to the air, once every Year. An elastic\nHorsehair mattress, is incomparably the most pleasant, as well as the\nmost wholesome Bed.\n_Bed Rooms_ should be thoroughly ventilated by leaving both the Window\nand the Door open every day when the weather is not cold or damp--during\nwhich the Bed should remain unmade, and the Clothes be taken off and\nspread out for an hour, at least, before the Bed is made again.\n_In very Hot Weather_, the temperature becomes considerably cooler every\nminute after ten o'clock--between eight o'clock and twelve, the\nThermometer often falls in Sultry weather--from ten to twenty\ndegrees--and those who can sit up till twelve o'clock, will have the\nadvantage of sleeping in an Atmosphere many degrees cooler, than those\nwho go to bed at ten:--this is extremely important to Nervous\nInvalids--who however extremely they may suffer from heat, we cannot\nadvise to sleep with the smallest part of the window open during the\nnight--in such sultry days, the _Siesta_ (see page 94,) will not only be\na great support against the heat, but will help You to sit up to enjoy\nthe advantage above stated.\n_A Fire in the Bed Room_, is sometimes indispensable--but not as usually\nmade--it is commonly lighted only just before bed-time, and prevents\nSleep by the noise it makes, and the unaccustomed stimulus of its light.\nChimneys frequently smoke when a fire is first lighted, particularly in\nsnowy and frosty weather; and an Invalid has to encounter not only the\ndamp and cold of the Room--but has his Lungs irritated with the\nsulphureous puffs from the fresh lighted Fire.\nA Fire should be lighted about three or four hours before, and so\nmanaged that it may burn entirely out half an hour before you go to\nBed--then the air of the room will be comfortably warmed--and certainly\nmore fit to receive an Invalid who has been sitting all day in a parlour\nas hot as an Oven,--than a damp chamber, that is as cold as a Well.\nTHE SIESTA.\nThe Power of _Position_ and _Temperature_ to alleviate the Paroxysms of\nmany Chronic Disorders, has not received the consideration it\ndeserves--a little attention to the variations of the Pulse, will soon\npoint out the effect they produce on the Circulation, &c.--_extremes of\nHeat and Cold_, with respect to Food, Drink, and Air, are equally to be\nguarded against.\n_Old and Cold Stomachs_--The Gouty--and those whose Digestive Faculties\nare Feeble--should never have any thing _Cold_[37], or _Old_, put into\nthem--especially in Cold Weather.\n_Food must take the temperature of our Stomach_, (which is probably not\nless than 120,) _before Digestion can commence_.\nWhen the Stomach is feeble, _Cold Food_ frequently produces\nFlatulence--Palpitation of the Heart, &c.--and all the other troublesome\naccompaniments of Indigestion.--The immediate remedy for these is Hot\nBrandy and Water, and the horizontal Posture.\n_Dyspeptic Invalids_ will find 75 a good temperature for their drink at\nDinner, and 120 for Tea, &c.\nPersons who are in a state of Debility from Age,--or other causes,--will\nderive much benefit from laying down, and seeking Repose whenever they\nfeel fatigued, especially during (the first half-hour at least of) the\nbusiness of Digestion--and will receive almost as much refreshment from\nhalf an hour's Sleep--as from Half a Pint of Wine.\n_The Restorative influence of the recumbent Posture_, cannot be\nconceived--the increased energy it gives to the circulation, and to the\norgans of Digestion, can only be understood by those Invalids who have\nexperienced the comforts of it.\n_The Siesta_ is not only advisable, but indispensable to those whose\noccupations oblige them to keep late hours.\nACTORS especially, whose profession is, of all others, the most\nfatiguing--and requires both the Mind and the Body to be in the most\nintense exertion between 10 and 12 o'clock at Night,--should avail\nthemselves of the _Siesta_--which is the true source of Energy--half an\nhour's repose in the horizontal posture, is a most beneficial\nRestorative.\n_Good Beef Tea_[38], (No. 563), with a little bit of slightly toasted\nBread taken about nine o'clock--is a comforting restorative, which will\nsupport You through exertions that, without such assistance, are\nexhausting--and you go to bed fatigued--get up fevered, &c.\nWhen Performers feel _Nervous, &c._--and fear the circulation is below\n_Par_,--and too languid to afford the due excitement, half an hour\nbefore they sing, &c.--they will do wisely, to wind up their System,\nwith a little \"_Balsamum Vit\u00e6_.\"--See \"PEPTIC PRECEPTS.\"--Or tune their\nthroats to the pitch of healthy vibration with a small glass of\nWine, or other stimulus.--\nTo \"Wet your Whistle,\" is occasionally, as absolutely necessary, as \"to\nrosin the Bow of a Violin.\"--See \"Observations on Vocal Music,\" prefixed\nto the Opera of _Ivanhoe_.\nACTORS and SINGERS are continually assailed by a variety of\ncircumstances extremely unfavourable to Health--especially from sitting\nup late at night--to counteract which, we recommend _the Siesta_, and\nplenty of Exercise in a pure Air.\nWhen they feel _Nervous_--_Bilious, &c. i. e._ that their whole System\nis so deranged by fatigue and anxiety, that they cannot proceed\neffectively and comfortably,--they must give their Throats two or three\ndays' rest--cleanse the Alimentary Canal with Peristaltic\nStrong PEPPERMINT LOZENGES, made by SMITH, Fell Street, Wood Street,\nCheapside, are very convenient portable Carminatives:--as soon as they\nare dissolved, their influence is felt from the beginning to the end of\nthe Alimentary Canal--they dissipate Flatulence so immediately, that\nthey well deserve the name of _Vegetable Ether_; and are recommended to\nSINGERS and PUBLIC SPEAKERS--as giving effective excitement to the\nOrgans of Voice--as a support against the distressing effects of Fasting\ntoo long--and to give energy to the Stomach between Meals.\nTHE POWER OF THE VOICE depends upon the vigorous state of the\ncirculation supplying the Organs of Voice, with energy to execute the\nintentions of the Singer or Speaker--without which--the most accurate\nEar and experienced Throat, will sometimes fail in producing the exact\nquality and quantity of Tone they intend.\nThat the VOICE is sometimes _too Flat_, or _too Sharp, &c._ is not a\nmatter of astonishment--to those who really understand how arduous a\ntask Singers have sometimes to perform;--it would only be wonderful if\nit was not--how is the Throat exempted from those collapses which\noccasionally render imperfect the action of every other fibre and\nfunction of our Body?\nThe _Dyspeptic_, who Tries the effect of Recumbency after Eating,--will\nsoon be convinced that _Tristram Shandy_ was right enough, when he said,\nthat \"both pain, and pleasure, are best supported in an horizontal\nposture.\"\n\"If after Dinner the Poppies of repletion shed their influence on thy\nEyelids--indulge thou kind Nature's hint.\"--\"A quiet slumber in a\ncomfortable warm room, favoureth the operation of Digestion--and thou\nshalt rise, refreshed, and ready for the amusements of the Evening.\"\nThe _Semi-Siesta_ is a pleasant position--(_i. e._ putting up the feet\non a stool about eight inches high;) but catching a nap in a Chair is\nadvisable only as a substitute when the Horizontal posture is not\nconvenient--when you can, lie down on a Sofa--loosen all ligatures--and\ngive your Bowels fair play.\nThese opinions,--which are the results of Personal experience--are\nexactly in unison with those of the following Medical Professors.\n\"From Eating comes Sleep--from Sleep Digestion.\"--SANCTORIUS, Sec. iv.\n\"Perhaps one of the uses of Sleep, and of the horizontal posture during\nthat period--may be to facilitate the introduction of Chyle into the\nBlood.\"--CRUICKSHANK _on the Absorbents_, p. 95.\n\"The Brute Creation invariably lay down and enjoy a state of rest, the\nmoment their stomachs are filled. People who are feeble, digest their\nDinner best, if they lie down and sleep as most Animals do, when their\nstomachs are full.\"--DARWIN'S _Zoonomia_, vol. iv. p. 137.\n\"Dr. HARWOOD, Professor of Anatomy at Cambridge, took two pointers who\nwere equally hungry, and fed them equally well,--_one_ he suffered to\nfollow the promptings of Instinct--curled himself round till he was\ncomfortable--and went to sleep, as animals generally do after\neating--the _other_ was kept for about two hours in constant exercise.\nOn his return home--the two Dogs were killed.--In the Stomach of the\n_one_ who had been quiet and asleep, all the food was digested; in the\nStomach of _the other_, that process was hardly begun.\"\n\"Quiet of Body and Mind for two hours after Dinner, is certainly useful\nto the Studious, the Delicate, and the Invalid.\"--ADAIR _on Diet_, p.\n\"After Dinner, rest for three hours.\"--ABERNETHY'S _Surgical Obs_. 8vo.\n\"After Dinner sit a while.\"--_Eng. Prov._\n\"If you have a strong propensity to Sleep after Dinner--indulge it, the\nprocess of Digestion goes on much better during Sleep, and I have always\nfound an irresistible propensity to it--whenever Dyspeptic symptoms were\nconsiderable.\"--WALLER _on Incubus_, 1816, p. 109.\n\"Aged Men--and weake bodies, a short _Sleepe_ after Dinner doth help to\nnourish.\"--LORD BACON'S _Nat. Hist. Cent._ I. 57.\nCLOTHES.\nOf all the Customs of Clothing, the most extremely absurd is the usual\narrangement of _Bed Clothes_, which in order as the chambermaid fancies\nto make the Bed look pretty in the Day time--are left long at the head,\nthat they may cover the Pillows; when they are turned down, You have an\nintolerable load on your Lungs, and that part of the Body which is most\nexposed during the day--is smothered at night--with double the quantity\nof Clothes that any other part has.\nSleep is prevented by an unpleasant degree of either Heat or Cold; and\nin this ever-varying climate, where often \"in one monstrous day all\nseasons mix,\" delicate Thermometrical persons will derive much comfort\nfrom keeping a Counterpane in reserve for an additional covering _in\nvery Cold Weather:_ when some extra clothing is as needful by Night,--as\na great coat is by Day.\nA Gentleman who has a mind to carry the adjustment of his Clothes to a\nnicety--may have the shelves of his Wardrobe numbered 30, 40, 50, 60,\n&c. and according to the degree of Cold pointed to by his\nFahrenheit[40], he may wear a corresponding defence against it:--This\nmode of adjusting Dress according to the vicissitudes of the weather,\n&c. is as rational as the ordinary practice of regulating it by the\nAlmanack, or the Fashion, which in this uncertain Climate and capricious\nAge--will as often lead us wrong, as right.\nLeave off your Winter Clothes late in the Spring;--put them on early in\nthe Autumn. By wearing your Winter Clothes during the first half dozen\nwarm days--You get some fine perspirations--which are highly salutary in\nremoving obstructions in the cutaneous pores, &c.\n_Delicate and Dyspeptic persons are often distressed by changing their\nDress_,--which must be as uniform as possible,--in thickness--in\nquality--and in form,--especially (Flannel, or indeed) whatever is worn\nnext to the Skin.\nThe change of a thick Waistcoat for a thin one--or a long one for a\nshorter one--not putting on Winter garments soon enough, or leaving them\noff too soon,--will often excite a violent disorder in the Lungs--or\nBowels, &c. and exasperate any constitutional complaint.\nThose who wear _Flannel Waistcoats_, are recommended to have their new\nones about the middle of November, with sleeves to them coming down to\nthe wrist--the shortening these sleeves in the warm weather, is as\neffective an antidote against extreme Heat--as lengthening them, and\nclosing the Cuff of the Coat, is against intense Cold.\nOur COAT[41] should be made so large--that when buttoned we may be as\neasy as when it is unbuttoned, so that without any unpleasant increase\nof pressure on the Chest, &c. we can wear it closely buttoned up to the\nChin--the power of doing this is a convenient provision against the\nsudden alternations from heat to cold--buttoning up this outer garment,\nwill protect the delicate from many mischiefs which so often arise in\nthis inconstant climate from the want of such a defence; and the\nadditional warmth it produces will often cure slight Colds, &c.\nAnother way of accumulating Caloric, is to have two sets of button holes\nto the CUFF of the Coat, (especially of your Great Coat,) one of which\nwill bring it quite close round the wrist.\nWhen the Circulation is languid, and your _Feet are Cold_--wear worsted\nStockings, have your Shoes well warmed--and when you take them from the\nFire--put your Slippers[42] to it--that they may be warm and comfortable\nfor you on your return home.\n_In Wet Weather_ wear Shoes with double upper-leathers--- two thin\nleathers will keep you much drier than one thick one, and are more\npliable--the Currier's Dubbing is the best nourisher of Leather--and\nrenders it as soft as satin, and impervious to Water.\nThe mean temperature of England is about 50 degrees of Fahrenheit--it\nsometimes rises 25 degrees above this, in the height of Summer,--falls\nabout as much below, in the depth of Winter--and in Summer frequently\nvaries from 20 to 30 degrees between Mid-day and Midnight.\n_The restoration, and the preservation of the Health, especially of\nthose who have passed their_ FORTIETH _Year_,--depends upon minute and\nunremitting attentions to Food,--Clothes,--Exercise, &c. which taken\nsingly may appear trifling--but combined, are of infinite importance.\n\"_If you are careful of it, Glass will last as long as Iron._\" By a\nregular observance of a few salutary precepts, a delicate Constitution\nwill last as long, and afford its Proprietor as many Amusements, as a\nStrong Body,--whose Mind takes but little care of it.\nInvalids are advised to put on a Great Coat when they go out, and the\ntemperature of the external air is not higher than 40. Some susceptible\nConstitutions require this additional clothing when the Thermometer\nfalls below 50; especially at the commencement of the Cold weather.\nA GREAT COAT must be kept in a Room where there is a Fire,--if it has\nbeen hung up in a cold damp Hall, as it often is, it will contribute\nabout as much to your Calorification,--as if You wrapped a Wet Blanket\nabout You.\n_Clothes_ should be warm enough to defend us from Cold[43],--and\nlarge[44] enough to let every movement be made with as much ease when\nthey are on,--as when they are off.\nThose whose employments are sedentary,--especially hard Students--who\noften neglect taking sufficient Exercise[45], suffer extremely from the\npressure of tight _Waistbands_--_Garters, &c._ which are the cause of\nmany of the mischiefs that arise from long sitting--during which they\nshould be loosened.\n_Braces_ have been generally considered a great improvement in modern\ndress--because they render the pressure of the Waistband unnecessary,\nwhich when extremely close is certainly prejudicial--but we have always\nthought they have produced more inconvenience than they have\nremoved--for if the inferior Viscera get thereby more freedom of\naction--the superior suffer for it--and, moreover, _Ruptures_ are much\nmore frequent--the Girdle which formerly prevented them being\nremoved,--and, instead of that useful and partial horizontal pressure,\nin spite of the elastic springs which have been attached to the Braces,\nthe whole body is grievously oppressed by the Vertical Bands.\nThe best material for Breeches, is the elastic worsted stocking stuff.\n_Tight Stays_--and _Braces_--obstruct the circulation of the Blood, &c.\nare the cause of many Chronic Complaints, and often create Organic\nDiseases[46].\nFIRE.\nAs we advance in Age--the force of the circulation being lessened, the\nwarmth of our Clothes and our coverings at night should be gradually\nincreased. \"After the age of 35, it may be better to exceed, rather than\nbe deficient in clothing.\"--ADAIR'S _Cautions_, p. 390.\nCold often kills the infirm and the aged, and is the proximate cause of\nmost Palsies;--it is extremely desirable that Bed and Sitting Rooms for\nWinter occupation, should have a Southern aspect--when the Thermometer\nis below 30, the proper place for people beyond 60, is their own\nFire-side:--many of the disorders and Deaths of persons at this period\nof Life--originate from irregularity in Diet, Temperature, &c. by Dining\nout, and frisking about, joining in Christmas Gambols, &c. in Cold\nweather.\n_The Art of making a room comfortably warm_, does not consist merely in\nmaking a very large Fire in it--but depends as much on the keeping of\ncold air out--this is best done by _Double Windows_, see page 91, and\ndouble Doors,--at least take care that your Sashes fit close,--that the\nbeads of the window frames are tight--stop the aperture between the\nskirting boards and the floor with putty--and list the Doors.\nWe suppose it almost needless to say that every room in the house should\nbe thoroughly ventilated[47] by a current of fresh Air--at least once\nevery day, when the weather is not very damp--or cold. By making a Fire\naccordingly--this may be done almost every Day in the Year.\nIf You leave the Door open for _Five_ minutes--it will let in more cold\nair than your Fire can make warm in _Fifteen_--therefore, initiate your\nDomestics in these first principles of the _Economy of Caloric_,--and\nwhen the Weather is cold, caution them to keep Doors shut.\nA regular Temperature may be preserved by a simple contrivance attached\nto a Thermometer, which will open an aperture to admit the external\nair--when the apartment is heated above the degree desired (_i. e._\nabout 60 for common constitutions,) and exclude it when it falls below\nit.\nA Room, which is in constant occupation all day--may be occasionally\n_pumped_ by moving the door backward and forward for several minutes.\nWe do not advise Invalids to indulge themselves in heating their rooms\nto a higher temperature[48] than from 60 to 65.--Those who have resided\nthe best part of their Life in warm climates--will like the latter best.\nWhile we recommend the Aged and Infirm to be kept comfortably warm--they\nmust at the same time cautiously avoid excess of heat.\nWhen the Thermometer tells them that the external air is under\n60,--whether it be in July, or in January,--those who are susceptible of\nCold, must tell their Servants to keep a small fire--especially if the\nWeather be at the same time damp.\nThose who, from caprice, or parsimony,--instead of obeying this\ncomfortable and salutary precept, sit shivering and murmuring, and\nrefuse to employ the Coal-merchant, as a substitute for the Sun--may\nsoon spend in Physic, more than they have saved in Fuel.\nBy raising the temperature of my Room to about 65, taking a full dose of\nEpsom Salts, and a Broth Diet, and retiring to rest an hour sooner than\nusual, I have often very speedily got rid of _Colds_, &c.\nThe following _Plan of Lighting and managing a Fire_, has been attended\nwith great comfort and convenience to myself, (particularly at the\nbeginning and the end of winter, when a very small fire is sufficient),\nand I think considerable saving of coals.\nFill your Grate with fresh coals quite up to the upper bar but one, then\nlay in your faggot of wood in the usual manner, rather collected in a\nmass, than scattered, that a body of concentrated heat may be produced\nas soon as possible; over the faggot place the cinders of the preceding\nday--piled up as high as the grate will admit, and placed loosely in\nrather large fragments--in order that the draft may be free--a bit or\ntwo of fresh coal may be added to the cinders when once they are\nlighted, but no small coal must be thrown on at first, for the reason\nabove stated:--when all is prepared, light the wood, when the cinders\nbecoming in a short time thoroughly ignited--the gas rising from the\ncoals below, which will now be effected by the heat, will take fire as\nit passes through them, leaving a very small portion of smoke to go up\nthe Chimney.\nThe advantage of this mode of lighting a fire is, that small coal is\nbetter suited to the purpose than large--except a few pieces in front to\nkeep the small from falling out of the Grate--it may be kept in reserve,\nto be put on afterwards if wanted. I have frequently known my fire\nlighted at 8 o'clock in the morning, continue burning till 11 at night,\nwithout any thing being done to it: when apparently quite out, on being\nstirred, you have in a few minutes a glowing fire: it will sometimes be\nnecessary to loosen, or stir slightly the upper part of the fire if it\nbegins to cake--but the lower part must not be touched, otherwise it\nwill burn away too soon.\nAIR.\nMany Invalids are hurried into their Grave--by the indiscreet kindness\nof their friends forcing them from the comforts of Home--for the sake of\nAir more abounding with _Oxygen, i. e._ the vivifying part of the\natmosphere:--that great benefit is received from what is _called_ change\nof air is true enough--it is seldom considered that there is also a\nchange in most of the other circumstances of the patient--many, of\ninfinitely more importance, than that which derives all the credit of\nthe Cure.\nFor instance, if a person living in a confined part of the\nCity--neglecting exercise, harassed all day by the anxieties of\nBusiness, and sitting up late at Night, &c. be removed to the\ntranquillity of rural scenes, which invite him to be almost constantly\ntaking Exercise in the open Air, and retiring to rest at an early\nhour--and thus, instead of being surrounded by irritations unfavourable\nto Health, enjoying all the \"_jucunda oblivia vit\u00e6_\" which are\nfavourable to it--such a Change will often do wonders, and sufficiently\naccount for the miraculous cures attributed to--_Change of Air_.\nChemical Philosophers assert indeed--that a Gallon of the unsavoury Gas\nfrom Garlick Hill, gives as high a proportion of _Oxygen_, as the like\nquantity of the ethereal element of Primrose Hill:--this seems\nincredible, and must arise either from the imperfection of the\n_Eudiometer_ giving erroneous results, or from the air being\nimpregnated with matter unfriendly to Health, which the instruments\nemployed to analyze it, have not the power of denoting:--let any one\nthread the mazes of a crowded city, and walk for the same space of time\nin a pleasant Country--the animal spirits will soon testify, which is\nthe most exhilarating.\nHowever, people certainly do live long, and enjoy Health, in situations\napparently very unfavourable to Animal Life.\nOur Omniscient Creator has given to our Lungs, the same faculty of\nextracting nutriment from various kinds of Air--as the Stomach has from\nvarious kinds of Aliment:--the Poor man who feeds on the coarsest food,\nis supported by it in as sound Health, as the Rich man who fares\nsumptuously every day.\nWell then, in nine cases out of ten, to change the Atmosphere we have\nbeen long accustomed to, is as unadvisable as a change in the Food we\nhave been used to--unless other circumstances make it so, than the mere\nchange of Place.\nThe Opulent Invalid who has been long indulged with a Home arranged to\nhis humour--must beware (especially during any exacerbation of his\ninfirmity) of leaving it--it would be almost as desperate a procedure as\nto eject an Oyster from his Shells.\nEXERCISE.\n \"By ceaseless action, all that is subsists,\n Constant rotation of the unwearied wheel\n That nature rides upon, maintains her health,\n Her beauty, her fertility. She dreads an instant's pause,\n And lives but while she moves.\"--COWPER'S _Task_.\n \"The wise, for Health on EXERCISE depend;\n God never made his work for Man to mend.\"\nThe more luxuriously you live, the more Exercise[49] you require,--the\n\"_Bon Vivant_\" may depend upon the truth of the advice which Sir Charles\nScarborough gave to the Duchess of Portsmouth, \"You must Eat less,--or\ntake more Exercise[50]--or take Physic,--or be Sick.\"\nExercise is the grand power to promote the Circulation through the\ncapillary vessels, by which the constitution is preserved from\nobstructions,--Appetite increased, and Digestion improved in all its\nstages,--the due distribution of nourishment, invigorates the Nervous\nSystem, gives firmness and elasticity to the Muscles, and strength to\nevery part of the System.\nExercise, to have its full effect, must be continued till we feel a\nsensible degree of _Perspiration_,--(which is the _Panacea for the\nprevention of Corpulence_)--see page 50--and should, at least once\na-day, proceed to the borders of fatigue, but never pass them,--or we\nshall be weakened instead of strengthened.\nHealth depends upon perpetual Secretion and Absorption, and Exercise\nonly can produce this.\nAfter Exercise, take care to get cool gradually--when your Head\nperspires, rub it, and your Face, &c. dry with a cloth:--this is better\nfor the Hair than the best \"Bear's Grease,\" and will beautify the\nComplexion beyond \"_La Cosm\u00e9tique Royale_,\" or all the Red and White\nOlympian Dew that was ever imported.\nOne of the most important precepts for the preservation of Health, is to\ntake care of _the Skin_[51].\nIn Winter, the surface of the Body, the Feet, &c. should be washed twice\nor thrice a Week, with water of the temperature of about 98, and wiped\nevery Day with a wet towel;--_a Tepid Bath_ of the like temperature once\na fortnight will also conduce much to both health and comfort. Some\nadvise that the surface of the Body be wiped every morning with a wet\nsponge, and rubbed dry after, with not too fine a cloth.\nWINE.\n \"Le Vin est l'un des produits de la nature les plus difficiles \u00e0\n juger et \u00e0 bien choisir: et les plus habiles gourmets sont souvent\n mis en d\u00e9faut.\"--_Manuel du Sommelier_, Paris, 1817, p. 1.\nWine, especially Port, is generally twice spoiled--before it is\nconsidered fit to be drank!!!\nThe _Wine-Maker_ spoils it first, by over-loading it with _Brandy_ to\nmake it keep.--\nThe _Wine-Drinker_ keeps it till time has not only dissipated the\nsuperabundant spirit,--but even until the acetous fermentation begins to\nbe evident,--this, it is the taste now to call \"_Flavour_,\"--and Wine is\nnot liked, till it has lost so much of its exhilarating power, that you\nmay drink a Pint of it, before receiving that degree of\nexcitement,--which the Wine-drinker requires to make him Happy. We mean\na legal PINT containing 16 ounces.\nThe measure of a BOTTLE OF WINE ought to be as definitive, as that of a\nPOT OF PORTER:--is it not astonishing that the Legislature have not\nordered _a Standard and Stamped Quart_, for the Wine-merchant--as they\nhave a Pot for the Publican?\nThis would be equally as desirable to the respectable Wine-merchant,--as\nto the Public.\nIt would protect the former against the injurious competition of those\nwho at present, by vending Wine in Bottles of inferior dimension, impose\non the unwary purchaser under pretence of selling at a lower than the\nMarket price.\n The purchaser of a Dozen Bottles of Wine expects to receive Three\n Gallons of Wine.\n _Proportions of the Wine Gallon, according to the last\n London Pharmacop\u0153ia_:--\n Gallon. Pints. Fluid Ounces. Drachms. Minims or Drops.\n There are 32 ounces in a legal wine quart.\n Multiply by 12 quarts in three gallons.\n Measure the number of ounces your bottle holds--divide 384 by it,\n and the quotient will give you the number of such bottles required\n to contain three gallons of wine.\n Some Bottles do not contain more than 26 ounces.\n 26) 384 (14 Bottles, 1 Pint, and a Quarter.\n Multiply 26, _i. e._ the number of ounces\n Ought to hold 384 the number of ounces in\n Divide by the number } 32) 72 (2 Quarts and half a Pint\n of ounces in a Quart,} 64 short of measure.\n So, instead of THREE GALLONS--you have only _Two Gallons, one Quart,\n and a Pint and a half_.\n_The Quantity a Bottle will contain_, may easily be accurately\nascertained, by LYNES'S _graduated Glass measure_, which holds half a\npint, and is divided into ounces, &c.--_it is a convenient vessel to\nmix_ GROG _in_.\nA PIPE OF PORT contains, on the average, 138 Gallons, of which three\nmust be allowed for Lees, &c.--This is enough for waste, if the Wine has\nbeen properly fined, and steadily bottled.\n A BUTT OF SHERRY contains 130 gallons.\n Hogshead of CLARET, 55 ditto.\nIt is convenient for small Families to have part of their Wine in _Pint\nBottles_.\nThat Wine is much best when quite fresh opened, is a fact it is needless\nto observe,--half a Pint of Wine (_i. e._ 8 ounces, _i. e._ 4 ordinary\nwine-glasses) is as much as most people (who have not spoiled their\nstomachs by intemperance) require.\nThe Rage for Superannuated Wine,--is one of the most _ridiculous Vulgar\nErrors of Modern Epicurism_,--\"the Bee's Wing,\" \"thick Crust[52] on the\nBottle,\" \"loss of strength, &c.\" which Wine-fanciers consider the Beauty\nof their tawny favourite, \"fine Old Port,\"--are forbidding\nmanifestations of decomposition, and the departure of some of the best\nqualities of the Wine.\nThe Age[53] of maturity for exportation from Oporto, is said to be the\nsecond year after the Vintage, (probably sometimes not quite so long.)\nOur Wine-merchants keep it in Wood from two to six years longer,\naccording to its original strength, &c.--surely this must be long enough\nto do all that can be done by keeping it--what crude Wine it must be to\nrequire even this time to ameliorate it--the necessity for which, must\narise either from some error in the original manufacture,--or a false\ntaste, which does not relish it, till Time has changed its original\ncharacteristics.\n_Ordinary Port_ is a very uncleansed, fretful Wine--and experienced\njudges have assured us, that _the Best Port_ is rather impoverished than\nimproved, by being kept in Bottle longer than Two[54] Years, _i. e._\nsupposing it to have been previously from two to four years in the Cask\nin this Country,--observing, that all that the outrageous advocates for\n\"_vin pass\u00e9_\"--really know about it, is, that SHERRY _is Yellow_,--and\nPORT _is Black_,--and that if they drink enough of either of them,--it\nwill make them Drunk.\nWHITE WINES, especially _Sherry_ and _Madeira_, being more perfectly\nfermented, and thoroughly fined before they are bottled--if kept in a\ncellar of uniform temperature, are not so rapidly deteriorated by Age.\n_The Temperature of a Good Cellar_ is nearly the same throughout the\nyear. _Double Doors_ help to preserve this. It must be dry, and be kept\nas clean as possible.\n_The Art of preserving Wines_, is to keep them from fretting, which is\ndone by keeping them in the same degree of heat, and careful\nCorking[55]. \"If persons wish to preserve the fine flavour of their\nWines, they ought _on no account_ to permit any Bacon, Cheese, Onions,\nPotatoes, or Cider, in their wine-cellars. Or, if there be any\ndisagreeable stench in the Cellar, the wine will indubitably imbibe it;\nconsequently, instead of being fragrant and charming to the nose and\npalate, it will be extremely disagreeable.\"--CARNELL _on Wine Making_,\n8vo. 1814, p. 124. See also _Manuel du Sommelier, par A. Jullien_,\nParis, 1817.\nThat MADEIRA (if properly matured before) improves in quality by being\ncarried to the _East Indies_ and back, by which Voyage it loses from 8\nto 10 Gallons,--or to the _West_, by which about 5 are\nwasted[56],--however these round-about man\u0153uvres may tickle the fancy\nof those folks who cannot relish any thing that is not far-fetched,\ndear-bought, and hard to be had, and to whom rarity is the \"_sine qua\nnon_\" of recommendation--it is one of those inconvenient prejudices,\nfrom which common sense preserve us!\nThe Vulgar objection to _New Wine_--(by which we mean Wine that has been\nmaturing in Wood two years in Portugal--two in England--and in Bottle\nmore than twelve months), is, that its exhilarating qualities are too\nabundant, and intoxicate in too small a dose--those \"_Bons Vivants_,\" to\nwhom \"the Bottle, the Sun of the table,\" and who are not in the habit\nof crying to go home to Bed while they can see it shining,--require\nWines weaker than those which are usually imported from Spain and\nPortugal,--however PORT and SHERRY may be easily reduced to the standard\ndesired by the long-sitter,--\"_paululum aceti acetosi_,\" will give the\nAcid Go\u00fbt,--\"_aqua pura_\" will subdue their Spirit \"_ad libitum_,\"--and\nproduce _an imitation of the flavour acquired by Age, extempore_--and\nYou can thus very easily make fine fruity nutritious new Wine,--as\nLight,--and as Old[57],--and as Poor, as you please--and fit it exactly\nto your customer's palate, whether \"_Massa drinky for Drinky,--or drinky\nfor Drunky Massa._\"\n_To ameliorate very new, or very old Wine_--mix a bottle of the one with\na bottle of the other--or to a bottle of very old Port add a glass or\ntwo of good new Claret--to very new, a glass of Sherry.\nOf all our Senses,--_the Taste_, especially for Liquids, is the most\nsophisticated Slave of Habit--\"De gustibus, non est disputandum.\"\nThe Astringent matter, and Alcohol--which render PORT WINE the prop of\nan Englishman's Heart--are intolerable to the palate of an Italian, or\nFrenchman.--But a Stomach which has been accustomed to be wound up by\nthe double stimulus of Astringents, and Alcohol also,--will not be\ncontent with the latter only,--especially if that be in less\nquantity--as it is in the _Italian and French Wines_; which, therefore,\nfor the generality of Englishmen, are insufficiently excitant.\nHe who has been in the habit of drinking PORTER at Dinner,--and PORT\nafter--will feel uncomfortable with _Home-brewed Ale_, and _Claret_.\nMr. ACCUM, the chemist, analyzed for the Editor, some PORT and SHERRY of\nthe finest quality--the PORT[58] yielded 20 per cent--and the SHERRY\n19-25 per cent, of ALCOHOL of 825 specific gravity--_i. e._ the\nstrongest Spirit of Wine that can be drawn, full double the strength of\nBRANDY, which seldom has 40 per Cent, and common GIN[59] not more than\nSome people have a notion that if they go to the Docks, they can\npurchase a Pipe of Wine for twenty pounds less, than they must pay to a\nregular Wine Merchant--and, moreover, have it _neat as imported_--as if\nall Wines of the same _Name_, were of the same Quality.\nPORT _varies at Oporto in quality and price as much as_ PORTER _does in\nLondon_--it is needless to say how difficult it is to obtain the best\nBeer at any price--it is quite as difficult to obtain the best Port Wine\nat Oporto, where the very superior wine is all bought up at a\nproportionately high price by the agents for the London Wine Merchants.\nBRANDIES and WINES _vary in quality quite as much as they do in Price_:\nnot less than twenty pounds per Pipe in the country where they are made.\nThe only way to obtain genuine wholesome liquor, is to apply to a\nrespectable Wine Merchant--and beg of him to send you the best wine at\nthe regular market price.\nIf you are particular about the Quality of what you buy--the less You\nask about the price of it the better--if you are not, bargain as hard\nas you please.\nThe Editor buys his _Wines_ of Messrs. DANVERS and CLARKE, No. 122,\nUpper Thames Street; his _Brandy and Liqueurs_[60] of Messrs. JOHNSON,\nin Pall Mall; and his _Spirits_, &c. of Mr. RICKARDS, Piccadilly.\n_A Moral and Physical Thermometer; or, a Scale of the Progress of\nTemperance and Intemperance, by_ J. C. LETTSOM, M. D.\nLIQUORS, _with their_ EFFECTS, _in their usual Order_.\n 40-|-| Cyder and Perry. } { Cheerfulness,\n 40-|-|Flip and Shrub. }{Swearing. }{Jaundice. }{Hospital.\n |-|{Bitters infused}{Obscenity. }{Pains in the Limbs,}{Poor-house.\n 50-|-|{Usquebaugh. }{Swindling. }{ the Palms of the }{\n |-|{Hystericwater. }{ }{ Hands, and Soles }{Jail.\n |-|{Gin, Anniseed, }{Perjury. }{Dropsy. }{Whipping.\n 60-|-|{Rum, and }{Burglary. }{Melancholy. }{The Hulks.\n_Those who drink Wine[61], &c. for the purpose it was given_, as a\nCordial, to cheer the Circulation, when it falters from Fatigue, Age, or\nprofuse Evacuations of any kind, \"for the Stomach's sake,\" as St. Paul\nrecommends it, and for our \"often infirmities\" as a medicine--will\nunderstand, that of all the ways of saving, to run any risk of buying\ninferior Wine, is the most ridiculously unwise Economy.\nTo _Ice Wine_ is another very unprofitable and inconvenient custom--and\nnot only deteriorates its flavour, but by rendering it dull in the\nmouth--people are induced to drink too much, as they are deprived of the\nadvantage of knowing when they have got enough--for as soon as the Wine\nbecomes warm in their Stomachs,--the dose they have taken merely to\nexhilarate them--makes them drunk.\n_The true Economy of Drinking_,--is to excite as much Exhilaration as\nmay be,--with as little Wine.\nWe deprecate the custom of _sitting for Hours after Dinner, and keeping\nthe Stomach in an incessant state of irritation by sipping\nWine,--nothing can be more prejudicial to Digestion_[62]--it is much\nbetter to mix Food and Drink--and to take them by alternate\nmouthsful.--See page 11.\nOur \"VINUM BRITANNICUM\"--good Home-brewed Beer--which has been very\ndeservedly called \"_Liquid Bread_,\" is preferable to any other Beverage\nduring Dinner or Supper--or _Port_ or _Sherry_ diluted with about three\nor four times their quantity of Toast and Water--(No. 463*): undiluted,\nthese Wines are too strong to be drank during Dinner,--they act so\npowerfully on the feelings of the Stomach, that they dull the desire for\nsolid Food, by producing the sensation of Restoration,--and the System,\ninstead of receiving material to repair and strengthen it,--is merely\nstimulated during the action of the Vinous spirit.\nHowever, the dull stimulus of Distention, is insufficient for some\ndelicate Stomachs, which do absolutely require to be screwed up with a\ncertain quantity of diffusible Stimulus[63],--without which, they cannot\nproceed effectively to the business of Digestion,--or indeed any other\nbusiness--we do not recommend such, especially if they have passed the\nMeridian of Life, to attempt to entirely wean themselves of it--but\nadvise them, _immediately after Dinner_, to drink as much as is\nnecessary to excite that degree of action in their System, without which\nthey are uncomfortable, and then to stop.--See Observations on\n_Siesta_.\nNow-a-days, _Babies_ are brought to table after Dinner by Children of\nlarger growth--to drink Wine,--which has as bad an effect on their\ntender susceptible stomachs, as the like quantity of ALCOHOL would\nproduce upon an Adult.\nWine has been called \"the Milk of Old Age,\" so \"Milk is the Wine of\nYouth.\" As Dr. Johnson observed, it is much easier to be abstinent than\nto be temperate--and no man should habitually take Wine as Food till he\nis past 30 years of age[64] at least;--happy is He who preserves this\nbest of Cordials in reserve, and only takes it to support his Mind and\nHeart when distressed by anxiety and fatigue. That which may be a\nneedful stimulus at 40 or 50, will inflame the Passions into madness at\n20 or 30--and at an earlier period is absolute Poison.\nAmong other _innumerable Advantages which the Water-drinker enjoys_,\nremember he saves at least FIFTY GUINEAS per annum--which the Beer and\nWine drinker wastes--as much to the detriment of his health, as the\ndiminution of his Finances: moreover, nothing deteriorates the sense of\nTaste so soon as strong liquors--the _Water-drinker_ enjoys an exquisite\nsensibility of Palate, and relish for plain food, that a Wine-drinker\nhas no idea of.\nSome people make it a rule to drink a certain number of Glasses of Wine\nduring and after dinner, whether they are dry, or languid, or not--this\nis as ridiculous as it would be to eat a certain number of Mutton Chops\nwhether you are hungry or not. The effect produced by Wine is seldom the\nsame, even in the same person--and depends on the state of the animal\nspirits at the time--whether the stomach be full or empty, &c.\nThe more simply Life is supported, and the less Stimulus we use, the\nbetter--and Happy are the Young and Healthy who are wise enough to be\nconvinced that Water is the best drink, and Salt the best sauce.\nBut in Invalids past the Meridian of Life, we believe as much mischief\nis going on when our Pulse hobbles along as if the Heart was too tired\nto carry on the Circulation, as can possibly be done to the constitution\nby taking such a portion of Wine as will remove the collapse--and excite\nthe mainspring of Life to vibrate with healthful vigour.\nThe following is the Editor's plan of taking liquid food at\nDinner,--when he cannot get Good Beer:--he has two wine glasses of\nSherry, or one of Whiskey[65], or Brandy, (No. 471), and three-fourths\nof a pint of good Toast and Water, (No. 463), (which when Dyspeptic he\nhas warmed to about Summer Heat, _i. e._ 75 of Fahrenheit,) and puts a\nwine-glass of Sherry, or half a glass of Whiskey, &c. into half a pint\nof the water, and the other glass of Sherry, or half glass of Whiskey,\n&c. into the remaining quarter pint--thus increasing the strength of the\nliquid towards the conclusion of Dinner, after which he drinks from two\nto four glasses of Port or Sherry--as Instinct suggests the state of the\ncirculation requires--if it be very languid, a _Liqueur_ glass of\nJOHNSON'S[66] _Witte Cura\u00e7oa_[67] is occasionally recommended as a\nrenovating _Bonne Bouche_--about a quarter of an hour after dinner, he\nlies down on a Sofa, and sleeps for about half an hour--this has been\nhis custom for the last twenty years--half an hour's horizontal posture\nis more restorative to him--than if he had sat up and drank three or\nfour more glasses of wine.\nAs to _the Wholesomeness of various Wines_[68],--that depends on the\nintegrity and skill of the Wine-maker,--and upon the peculiar state of\nthe stomach of the Wine-drinker:--when my Stomach is not in Good\nTemper,--it generally desires to have _Red Wine_,--but when in best\nHealth,--nothing affronts it more than to put _Port_ into it--and one of\nthe first symptoms of its coming into adjustment, is a wish for _White\nWine_.\nOne of the chief causes of that derangement of the Stomach, which\ndelicate and aged persons so constantly complain of after _Dining\nout_--is the drinking of Wines, &c. which they are unused to.\n_White_, deserve to be preferred to _Red Wines_,--because the latter\nbeing harder pressed, and subjected to a stronger fermentation to\nextract the colouring matter from the husks of the Grape, are more\nloaded with feculence.\nOf RED WINES, _Claret_ is the best; and it is to be lamented, that the\nDuty imposed upon it is so great, that to moderate fortunes it amounts\nto a prohibition--when we make this observation, we do not mean to\nimpeach the prudence which has induced those who no doubt best\nunderstand the subject,--to determine that political necessity\nimperatively decrees that the delightful and salubrious wines of\nFrance--must be taxed twice as high as the coarse unwholesome wines of\nPortugal.\nOf the _White_ Wines, we believe that _Sherry_ is the most easy--and\n_Madeira_ the most difficult to obtain genuine--most of the SWEET Wines\nare as artificially compounded, as the Beers of this country; the\naddition of Capillaire to Port wine, makes what is commonly called\n_Tent_. _Mountain, Calcavella, &c._ are made up in the same manner.\nFor further Illustrations of this subject, see ACCUM _on Adulterations_,\n2d Edition, 12mo. 1820.\n_An Inquiry into the Effects of Fermented Liquors, by a Water-drinker_,\nSANDFORD'S _Remarks on Wine_. Worcester, 1799.\nLETTSOM, _on the Effects of Hard Drinking_.\nTROTTER, _on Drunkenness_, 1804.\nACCUM'S _Art of making English Wine_, 1820.\nCARNELL, _on Family Wine Making_, 1814.\nACCUM, _on Brewing_, 1820.\nRAWLINSON, _on Brewing in Small Quantities_,--printed for Johnson, 1807,\nprice 1s.; _and Home Brewed Ale_, printed for Robinson, 1804, price 2s.\n_Facts Proving Water the best Beverage._ Printed by Smeeton, in St.\nMartin's Lane.\n_Manuel de Sommelier, par_ A. JULLIEN, Paris, 1817.\nPEPTIC PRECEPTS.\n \"Suaviter in modo, sed fortiter in re.\"\nNot one Constitution in a thousand, is so happily constructed or is\nconstantly in such perfect adjustment, that the operations of the\nAbdominal Viscera (on which every other movement of the system depends)\nproceed with healthful regularity.\nThe following hints will point out to the Reader, how to employ Art to\nafford that assistance to Nature, which in Indisposition and Age, is so\noften required, and will teach him to counteract in the most prompt and\nagreeable manner--the effects of those accidental deviations from strict\nTemperance,--which sometimes overcome the most abstemious\nphilosopher--when the seducing charms of Conviviality tempt him to\nforego the prudent maxims of his cooler moments.\nThey will help those who have delicate Constitutions, to obtain their\nfair share of Health and Strength,--and instruct the Weak, so to\neconomize the powers they have, that they may enjoy Life as well as the\nStrong.\nTo humour that desire for the marvellous, which is so universal in\nmedical (as well as in other) matters,--the makers of _Aperient Pills_\ngenerally select the most DRASTIC PURGATIVES, which operating\nconsiderably in a dose of a few grains, excite admiration in the\nPatient, and faith in their powers, in proportion as a small dose\nproduces a great effect,--who seldom considers how irritating such\nmaterials must be,--and consequently how injurious to a Stomach in a\nstate of Debility, and perhaps deranged by indulging Appetite beyond the\nbounds of moderation.\nINDIGESTION will sometimes overtake the most experienced Epicure;--when\nthe gustatory nerves are in good humour, Hunger and Savoury Viands will\nsometimes seduce the Tongue of a \"_Grand Gourmand_\" to betray the\ninterest of his Stomach[69] in spite of his Brains.\nOn such an unfortunate occasion,--whether the intestinal commotion be\nexcited by having eaten too much, or too strong food--lie down--have\nyour Tea early after Dinner--and drink it warm.\nThis is a hint to help the Invalid, whose digestion is so delicate, that\nit is sometimes disordered by a Meal of the strictest Temperance. If the\nanxiety, &c. about the Stomach does not speedily abate, apply the\n\"_Stomach Warmer_.\" This valuable companion to Aged and Gouty Subjects,\nmay be procured at No. 58, Haymarket.\nA certain degree of Heat is absolutely necessary to excite and support a\nregular process of Digestion;--when the Circulation is languid, and the\nfood difficult of solution, in Aged persons and Invalids,--_External\nHeat_ will considerably assist Concoction, and the application of this\ncalifacient concave will enable the Digestive organs to overcome\nrefractory materials,--and convert them into laudable Chyle.\nUnless the Constitution is so confoundedly debilitated, that the\nCirculation cannot run alone--_Abstinence_[70] is the\neasiest--cheapest--and best cure for the disorders which arise from\n_Indigestion_ or _Intemperance_. I do not mean what Celsus calls the\nfirst degree of it, \"when the sick man takes nothing,\" but the second,\n\"when he takes nothing but what he ought.\"\nThe Chylopoietic organs are uncomfortable when entirely\nunoccupied,--when the Stomach is too tired to work, and too weak to be\nemployed on actual service,--it desires something to be introduced to\nit, that will entertain it till it recovers its energy.\nAfter INTEMPERATE FEASTING one day, let the food of the following day be\nLiquid, or of such materials as are easy of solution.\nVarious expedients have been recommended for preventing and relieving\nthe disorders arising from too copious libations of \"the Regal purple\nStream.\"\nWhen a good fellow has been sacrificing rather too liberally at the\nshrine of the Jolly God, the best remedy to help the Stomach to get rid\nof its burthen, is to take for Supper some GRUEL, (No. 572, _see\nin it; or two or three _Peristaltic Persuaders_,--which some\nGastropholists take as a provocative to appetite, about an hour before\nDinner.\nSome persons take as a \"_sequitur_\" a drachm of _Carbonate of Soda_.\nOthers a teaspoonful of _Calcined Magnesia_:--when immediate relief is\nrequired, never administer this uncertain medicine, which, if the\nStomach has no Acid ready to dissolve it,--will remain inert; it must be\ntaken, only when _Heart-burn_ and symptoms of Acidity are manifest.\nAs a _Finale_ to the day of the Feast, or the _Overture_ of the day\nafter, take (No. 481*,) or two drachms of _Epsom Salt_ in half a pint of\n_Beef Tea_,--or some _Tincture of Rhubarb_ in hot water,--the first\nthing to be done, is to endeavour to get rid of the offending material.\nA Breakfast of _Beef Tea_[71] (No. 563,) is an excellent\nRestorative;--when _the Languor following Hard Drinking_ is very\ndistressing, indulge in the horizontal posture; (see _Siesta_, p. 94;)\nnothing relieves it so effectually, or so soon cheers the Circulation,\nand sets all right;--get an early Luncheon of restorative Broth or\nSoup.\nHARD DRINKING _is doubly debilitating, when pursued beyond the usual\nhour of retiring to Rest._\nThose devotees to the Bottle, who never suffer the orgies of Bacchus to\nencroach on the time which Nature demands for Sleep,--escape with\nimpunity, many of the evils which soon--and irreparably--impair the\nHealth of the Midnight reveller.\nA facetious observer of the inordinate degree in which some people will\nindulge their Palate, to the gratification of which they sacrifice all\ntheir other senses,--recommends such to have their Soup seasoned with a\ntasteless purgative, as the Food of insane persons sometimes is, and so\nprepare their bowels for the hard work they are going to give them!!\nTo let the Stomach have a holiday occasionally--_i. e._ a Liquid diet,\nof Broth and Vegetable Soup, is one of the most agreeable and most\nwholesome ways of restoring its Tone.\n_If your Appetite[72] be languid_, take additional Exercise in a pure\nopen Air,--or Dine half an hour later than usual, and so give time for\nthe Gastric Juices to assemble in full force;--or dine upon Fish--or\n_Chinese Soup_, _i. e._ Tea.\nIf these simple means are ineffectual,--the next step, is to produce\nenergetic vibration in the Alimentary tube, without exciting inordinate\naction, or debilitating depletion; and to empty the Bowels, without\nirritating them.\nSometimes _when the languor occasioned by Dyspepsia, &c. is extreme_,\nthe Torpor of the System becomes so tremendous--that no Stimulus will\nhelp it, and the Heart feels as if it was tired of beating--a moderate\ndose of a quickly operating Aperient, _i. e._ half an ounce of Tincture\nof Rhubarb, and two drachms of Epsom Salts in a tumbler of hot\nwater--will speedily restore its wonted energy.\nTHE STOMACH is the centre of Sympathy;--if the most minute fibre of the\nhuman frame be hurt, intelligence of the injury instantaneously\narrives;--and the Stomach is disturbed, in proportion to the importance\nof the Member, and the degree in which it is offended.\nIf either the Body or the Mind be fatigued,--the Stomach invariably\nsympathizes;--if the most robust do any thing too much, the Stomach is\nsoon affronted,--and does too little:--unless this mainspring of Health\nbe in perfect adjustment, the machinery of life will vibrate with\nlanguor;--especially those parts which are naturally weak, or have been\ninjured by Accidents, &c. Constipation is increased in costive\nhabits--and Diarrh\u0153a in such as are subject thereto--and all Chronic\ncomplaints are exasperated, especially in persons past the age of 35\nyears.\nOf the various helps to Science, none perhaps more rapidly facilitate\nthe acquirement of knowledge, than analogical reasoning; or illustrating\nan Art we are ignorant of, by one we are acquainted with.\nTHE HUMAN FRAME may be compared to a Watch, of which the Heart is the\nMainspring--the Stomach the regulator,--and what we put into it, the Key\nby which the machine is wound up;--_according to the\nquantity,--quality,--and proper digestion of what we Eat[73] and Drink,\nwill be the pace of_ _the Pulse, and the action of the System in\ngeneral_:--when we observe a due proportion between the quantum of\nExercise and that of Excitement, all goes well.--If the machine be\ndisordered, the same expedients are employed for its re-adjustment, as\nare used by the Watch-maker; it must be carefully cleaned, and\njudiciously oiled.\nEating _Salads_ after Dinner,--and chilling the Stomach, and checking\nthe process of digestion by swilling cold _Soda Water_--we hold to be\nother Vulgar Errors.\nIt is your superfluous SECOND COURSES,--and ridiculous variety of\nWines,--Liqueurs,--Ices, Desserts, &c.--which (are served up more to\ngratify the pride of the Host, than the appetite of the Guests that)\n_overcome the Stomach, and paralyze Digestion_, and seduce \"Children of\nlarger Growth\" to sacrifice the health and comfort of several days--for\nthe Baby-pleasure of tickling their tongue for a few minutes, with\nTrifles and Custards!!\nMost of those who have written on what--by a strange perversion of\nlanguage--are most non-naturally termed the non-naturals,--have merely\nlaid before the Public a nonsensical register of the peculiarities of\ntheir own Palate, and the idiosyncracies of their own Constitution[74].\nSome omnivorous Cormorants have such an ever-craving Appetite, that they\nare raging with hunger as soon as they open their Eyes,--and bolt half a\ndozen hard Eggs before they are well awake;--Others are so perfectly\nrestored by that \"chief nourisher in Life's feast,\" Balmy Sleep, that\nthey do not think about Eating,--till they have been up and actively\nemployed for several hours.\nThe strong Food, which the strong action of strong bodies\nrequires--would soon destroy weak ones,--if the latter attempt to follow\nthe example of the former,--instead of feeling invigorated, their\nStomachs will be as oppressed, as a Porter is with a load that is too\nheavy for him,--and, under the idea of swallowing what are called\nstrengthening nourishing things,--will very soon make themselves ready\nfor the Undertaker.\nSome people seem to think, that the more plentifully they stuff\nthemselves, the better they must thrive, and the stronger they must\ngrow.\nIt is not the quantity that we swallow,--but that which is properly\ndigested, which nourishes us.\nA Moderate Meal well digested, renders the body vigorous,--glutting it\nwith superfluity, (which is only turned into excrement instead of\naliment, and if not speedily evacuated,) not only oppresses the System,\nbut produces all sorts of Disorders.\nSome are continually inviting _Indigestion_,--by eating _Water-cresses_,\nor other undressed Vegetables[75], \"to sweeten their Blood,\"--or\n_Oysters_ \"to enrich it.\"--Others fancy their Dinner cannot digest till\nthey have closed the orifice of their Stomachs with a certain portion of\n_Cheese_,--if the preceding Dinner has been a light one, a little bit of\nCheese after it may not do much harm, but its character for encouraging\nconcoction is undeserved,--there is not a more absurd Vulgar Error, than\nthe often quoted proverb, that\n \"Cheese is a surly Elf,\n Digesting all things, but itself.\"\nA Third never eats Goose, &c. without remembering that _Brandy_ or\n_Cayenne_ is the Latin for it.\nA much less portion of Stimulus is necessary after a hearty meal of\ncalifactive materials, such as good Beef or Mutton--than after a\n_maigre_ Dinner of Fish, &c.\nAnother _Vulgar Error_ in the school of Good Living, is, that \"_Good\neating_ requires _Good drinking_.\"--_Good_ eating generally implies\n_high_ seasoned Viands,--the savoury Herbs, and stimulating Spices with\nwhich these _Haut-Gouts_ are sprinkled and stuffed, &c. are sufficient\nto encourage the digestive faculties to work \"_con amore_\" without any\n\"_douceur_\" of Vinous irrigation,--but many persons make it a rule,\nafter eating Pig, &c. to take a glass of _Liqueur_, or _Eau de Vie_,\n&c.--or, as when used in this manner, it would be as properly called,\n\"_eau de mort_.\"\nINDIGESTION, or, to use the term of the day, A BILIOUS ATTACK,--_as\noften arises from over-exertion, or_ ANXIETY OF MIND,--as from\nrefractory Food; it frequently produces FLATULENCE[76], and flatulence\nproduces _Palpitation of the Heart_; which is most difficult to stop,\nwhen it comes on about an hour or two after a Meal;--the Stomach seems\nincapable of proceeding in its business, from being over-distended with\nwind, which pressing on the Heart and larger vessels, obstructs the\nCirculation:--as soon as this flatulence is dispelled, all goes well\nagain:--inflating the Lungs to the utmost, _i. e._ taking in as much\nbreath as you can, and holding it as long as you can, will sometimes act\nas a counterbalance, and produce relief.\nThis is the first thing to do when this distressing Spasm attacks\nyou,--if it is not immediately checked; take a strong _Peppermint_, or\n_Ginger Lozenge_, (see page 99,) sit,--or if possible lie down and\nloosen all ligatures; the horizontal posture and perfect quiet are grand\nPanaceas in this disorder;--if these do not soon settle it, drink some\nstimulus: sometimes a teacupful of _Hot water_, with a teaspoonful of\ncommon salt in it, will suffice,--or a couple of glasses of _Wine_,--or\none of _Brandy_ in one of hot water: either of these will generally soon\nrestore sufficient energy to the Stomach, to enable it to expel the\nenemy that offends it, and set the circulation to work freely again.--If\nthese means are not immediately efficacious, take half an ounce of\n_Tincture of Rhubarb_ in a quarter pint of hot water,--or three or four\n_Peristaltic Persuaders_, with half a pint of hot water.\nIf this complaint comes on when the Bowels are costive,--they must be\nput into motion as speedily as possible, by some of the means\nrecommended in the following pages.\nIt will sometimes come on during the collapsed state of the system,\nfrom FASTING TOO LONG.\n_Those who take no Food between an early_ BREAKFAST--_and a late_\nDINNER,--for fear, as they term it, of spoiling the latter\nmeal,--generally complain of _Flatulence_,--_Languor_, _Lowness of\nSpirits_, &c. (and those who are troubled by a _Cough_, have often a\nparoxysm of it,) for the hour or more before Dinner;--and _Heartburn_,\n&c. after it:--the former arising from fasting too long, the latter from\nindulging an Appetite so over excited, that a Baron of Beef, a Pail of\nPort Wine, and a Tubful of Tea, will hardly satisfy it.\nThe languor of _Inanition_, and the fever of _Repletion_, may be easily\navoided by eating a LUNCHEON,--solid and nutritive, in proportion as the\nDINNER is protracted, and the activity of the Exercise to be taken in\nthe mean-time.\nThe oftener you eat, the less ought to be eaten at a time; and the less\nyou eat at a time, the oftener you ought to eat:--_a weak_ _Stomach_\nhas a much better chance of digesting two light meals, than one heavy\none.\nThe Stomach should be allowed time to empty itself, before we fill it\nagain.\nThere is not only a considerable difference in the digestibility of\nvarious Foods,--but also of the time required by different Stomachs to\ndigest them--the sign of which, is the return of Appetite.\nThe digestion of Aliment is perfect, and quickly performed, in\nproportion to the keenness of our Appetite at the time of taking\nit--more or less perfect Mastication--and the vigorous state of the\norgans of Digestion,--as a general rule, _the interval of Fasting_\nshould seldom be less than three, nor more than five\nhours[77],--Digestion being generally completed within that time.\nThe Fashion of A.D. 1820 has introduced a much longer fast (\"a windy\nrecreation,\" as father Paul assures the lay brother) than even the\nelasticity of robust Health can endure, without distressing the\nadjustment of the System,--and creating such an over-excited appetite,\nthat the Stomach does not feel it has had enough,--till it finds that it\nhas been crammed too much[78].\n \"When Hunger[79] calls, obey, nor often wait\n Till hunger sharpen to corrosive pain;\n For the keen appetite will feast beyond\n What nature well can bear.\"\nThis important truth--we would most strongly press on the consideration\nof Those who attend our COURTS OF LAW, and PARLIAMENT.\nMany industrious Professional men, in order to add a few pounds to their\nIncome--in a few years are quite worn out--from their digestive\nfaculties being continually disordered and fretted for want of _regular_\nsupplies of _Food_; and sufficient _Sleep_.\nAn Egg boiled in the shell for five minutes, or _Les Tablettes de\nBouillon_ (No. 252), and a bit of Bread, is a convenient provision\nagainst the former--_the Siesta_ (see page 94) is the best Antidote for\nthe latter.\nThe sensation of _Hunger_ arises from the Gastric juices acting upon the\ncoats of the Stomach--how injurious it must be to fast so long, that by\nneglecting to supply it with some alimentary substance which this fluid\nwas formed to dissolve,--the Stomach becomes in danger of being digested\nitself!!!\nThose who feel a gnawing, as they call it, in their Stomach, should not\nwait till the stated hour of dinner, but eat a little forthwith, that\nthe Stomach may have something to work upon.\nBy _too long Fasting_, Wind accumulates in the Stomach, especially of\nthose who have passed the meridian of Life--and produces a distressing\nFlatulence--Languor--Faintness--Giddiness--Palpitation of the Heart, &c.\nIf the Morning has been occupied by anxiety in Business,--or the Mind or\nBody is fatigued by over-exertion--these symptoms will sometimes come\non about an hour or two before the usual time of Dining,--well\nmasticating a bit of Biscuit, and letting a strong Peppermint Lozenge\n(see page 99) dissolve in the mouth as soon as you feel the first\nsymptoms of Flatulence,--will often pacify the Stomach, and prevent the\nincrease of these complaints.\nDR. WHYTT, whose observations on _Nervous Disorders_, (like this work),\nare valuable, inasmuch as they are the authentic narrative of his own\nExperience--says, page 344, \"When my Stomach has been weak, after I have\nbeen indisposed, I have often found myself much better for a glass of\nClaret and a bit of bread, an hour or more before Dinner, and I have\nordered it in the same way to others, and again in the evening, an hour\nor more before Supper, with advantage.\"\nThere is no doubt of the propriety of DR. W.'s prescription, the\nEditor's own feelings bear witness to it. For those who are just\nrecovering from Diseases which have left them in a state of great\nDebility, a glass of Wine and a bit of Bread,--or a cup of good _Beef\nTea_, (see page 96) are perhaps as good TONICS as any,--they not only\nremove Languor, but at the same time furnish Nutriment.\nWe have known weak Stomachs, when kept fasting beyond the time they\nexpected,--become so exhausted--they would refuse to receive any solid\nFood,--until restored to good temper,--and wound up by some Wine, or\nother stimulus--as Instinct proposed.\nFeeble Persons, who are subject to such sudden attacks, should always\ntravel armed with a _Pocket Pistol_ charged with a couple of glasses of\nWhite Wine, or, \"_Veritable Eau de Vie_,\"--a Biscuit, and some strong\nPeppermint or Ginger Lozenges, or see \"_Tablettes de Bouillon_\" (No.\n252):--when their Stomach is uneasy from emptiness, &c. these crutches\nwill support the Circulation,--and considerably diminish, and sometimes\nentirely prevent the distressing effects which Invalids suffer from too\nlong a Fast[80].\nWhat a contrast there is between the materials of the morning meal A.D.\n1550, when Queen Elizabeth's Maids of Honour began the day with a _Round\nof Beef_,--or a _Red Herring_, and a _flaggon of Ale_--and in 1821, when\nthe Sportsman, and even the day-Labourer, breakfast on what Cooks call\n\"_Chinese Soup_,\" i. e. Tea.\nSWIFT has jocosely observed, such is the extent of modern Epicurism,\nthat \"_the World[81] must be encompassed--before a Washerwoman can sit\ndown to Breakfast_,\" _i. e._ by a voyage to the East for Tea, and to the\nWest for Sugar.\nIn THE NORTHUMBERLAND HOUSEHOLD BOOK for 1512, we are informed that \"_a\nThousand Pounds_ was the sum annually expended in Housekeeping,--this\n_maintained_ 166 _Persons_,--and the Wheat was then 5_s._ 8_d._ per\nquarter.\n\"The Family rose at six in the morning,--my Lord and my Lady had set on\ntheir Table for BREAKFAST, _at Seven o'clock_ in the morning,\n A quart of Beer,\n A quart of Wine,\n Two pieces of Salt Fish,\n Half a dozen Red Herrings,\n Four White ones, and\n A Dish of Sprats!!!\n\"_They_ DINED _at Ten_--SUPPED _at Four_ in the afternoon,--The Gates\nwere all shut at nine, and no further ingress or egress permitted.\"--See\npages 314 and 318.\n \"The Gentleman who dines the latest\n Is, in our Street, esteemed the greatest:\n But surely greater than them all,\n Is he who never Dines[82] at all.\"\n DINNERS at _Night_,\n AND\n SUPPERS in the _Morning_,\nA few Cautionary Hints to Modern Fashionables.--\n \"The Ancients did delight, forsooth,\n To sport in allegoric Truth;\n Apollo, as we long have read since,\n Was God of Music, and of Med'cines.\n _In Prose_, APOLLO is the Sun,\n And when he has his course begun,\n The allegory then implies\n 'Tis Time for wise men to arise;\n For ancient sages all commend\n The morning, as the Muses friend;\n But modern Wits are seldom able\n To sift the moral of this fable;--\n But give to Sleep's oblivious power\n The treasures of the morning hour,\n And leave reluctant, and with Pain,\n With feeble nerve, and muddy Brain,\n Their favorite couches late at noon,\n And quit them then perhaps too soon,\n Mistaking by a sunblind sight\n The Night for Day--and Day for Night.\n Quitting their healthful guide Apollo,\n What fatal follies do they follow!\n _Dinners_ at night--and in the Morn\n _Suppers_, serv'd up as if in scorn\n Of Nature's wholesome regulations,\n Both in their Viands and Potations.\n Besides, Apollo is M. D.\n As all Mythologists agree,\n And skill'd in Herbs and all their virtues,\n As well as Ayton is, or Curtis.\n No doubt his excellence would stoop\n To dictate a Receipt for _Soup_,\n Show as much skill in dressing _Salad_,\n As in composing of a _Ballad_,\n 'Twixt Health and Riot draw a line,\n And teach us How--and When--to dine.\n The Stomach, that great Organ, soon,\n If overcharg'd, is out of tune,\n Blown up with Wind that sore annoys\n The Ear with most unhallow'd noise!!\n Now all these Sorrows and Diseases\n A man may fly from if he pleases;\n For rising early will restore\n His powers to what they were before,\n Teach him to Dine at Nature's call,\n And to Sup lightly, if at all;\n Teach him each morning to preserve\n The active brain, and steady nerve;\n Provide him with a share of Health\n For the pursuit of fame, or wealth;\n And leave the folly of _Night Dinners_\n To Fools and Dandies, and Old Sinners!!!\"\nThat distressing interruption of the Circulation, which is called\n\"NIGHTMARE,\" \"Globus Hystericus,\" \"Spasms,\" \"Cramp,\" or \"Gout,\" in the\nStomach, with which few who have passed the Meridian of Life[83], are so\nfortunate as not to be too well acquainted, we believe to arise from the\nsame causes--which in the day produce Palpitation of the Heart.\nThe Editor is now in his forty-third year, and has been from his youth\noccasionally afflicted with both these disorders; sometimes without\nbeing able to imagine what has produced them:--sometimes he has not been\nattacked with either of these complaints for many months; they have then\nseized him for a week or more,--and as unaccountably ceased.\nTHE NIGHTMARE has generally come on about three o'clock in the\nmorning,--at the termination of the first, or rather at the commencement\nof the second sleep;--quite as often when he has taken only a liquid or\nvery light supper,--as when he has eaten some solid food, and gone to\nbed soon after;--and most frequently after he has Dined[84] out: not\nfrom the quantity, but the quality of the food and drink he has taken,\nthe change of the time of taking it. The fatigue attending his\nperformance of Amphytrion at his own table, has also occasionally\nproduced it.\nIt appears to be occasioned by want of Action in the System, being\ngenerally preceded by Languor--(which, if not removed, may proceed to\nproduce--_Palsy_--or _Death_,) caused either by depression of the power\nof the Heart by anxiety,--obstruction of the peristaltic motion by the\noppression of indigestible matter,--or interruption of the performance\nof the Restorative Process.\nIt is certainly not to be prevented by Abstinence, for during the time\nthat the Editor was trying the effect of a spare diet, he was most\nfrequently afflicted with it.--See _Obs._ on SLEEP, &c. It is only to be\nrelieved by Stimulants, and in an extreme case--by quickly acting\nAperients, &c. See following pages.\nSome persons are peculiarly subject to it when they lie on their\nback,--others if on their left side:--when the Editor has any\ndisposition to this malady, it is certainly exasperated if he lays upon\nhis right side,--especially during the first part of the Night,--it is a\ngood Custom to lay one half of the Night on one side, and the other half\non the other.\nWhen this appalling pause of the Circulation takes place--he wakes, with\nthe idea that another minute of such suspended action will terminate\nhis Existence:--his first recourse is to force the action of the Lungs\nby breathing as quick and as deep as possible.--He feels very\nlanguid,--and to prevent a return of the fit, drinks a couple of glasses\nof _White Wine_,--or half a wine-glass of _Brandy_, in a wine-glass of\n_Peppermint Water_.\nSometimes the Disorder does not terminate with one paroxysm, but recurs\nas soon as Sleep returns:--when this is the case, get half a tumbler of\nHot Water, add to it a wine-glass of _Peppermint Water_, and half that\nquantity of _Tincture of Rhubarb_, or fifty drops of _Sal Volatile_, or\nboth.\nThe symptom of security from a repetition of the Fit, is a vermicular\nsensation, betokening that the peristaltic motion, and the Circulation\nis restored to its regular pace again.\nHis belief that many sudden and unaccountable Deaths in the night have\narisen from Invalids not knowing how to manage this Disorder, induces\nthe Editor to relate his own personal experience concerning it--and the\nRemedies which he has found effectual to remove it.\n \"Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco.\"\nThe case is very similar to what Dr. WHYTT relates of himself, in his\n_Observations on Nervous, Hysteric, and Hypochondriac Disorders_, 8vo.\n1767[85]; by which, Dr. CULLEN, in p. 10 of his _Clinical Lectures_,\nsays, \"he has done more than all his predecessors.\"\nMr. WALLER has written a very sensible Essay on the _Nightmare_--those\nwho are much afflicted with it, cannot lay out 3_s._ 6_d._ better, than\nin buying his book--12mo. 1816. He says, \"it most frequently proceeds\nfrom acidity in the Stomach, and recommends _Carbonate of Soda_, to be\ntaken in the Beer you Drink at dinner.\" He tells us \"he derived his\ninformation, as to the cause, and cure of this distressing disorder,\nfrom a personal acquaintance with it for many years.\"\nHow devoutly it is to be wished that all Authors would follow good old\nSYDENHAM and Mr. WALLER'S example,--and give us a register of the\nprogress of those chronic complaints which they have themselves been\nafflicted with, and the regimen, &c. which they have found most\neffectual to alleviate and cure them;--and, instead of what they\nthink,--write only what they know,--as the pains-taking\nSANCTORIUS--SPALLANZANI--BRYAN ROBINSON,--and the persevering and\nminutely accurately observing Dr. STARK have in their _Dietetical\nExperiments_.\nDr. WHYTT has immortalized himself by the candid relation of his own\ninfirmities, and his circumstantial account of the Regimen, &c. which\nenabled him to bear up against them,--which forms the most valuable\ncollection of observations on _Nervous Complaints_, that experience and\nliberality have yet presented to the public.\n_One page of_ PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, _is worth folios of theoretic\nFancies_,--_or Clinical Cases_, which can only be illuminated by the\ntwilight of conjecture:--they may be faithful narratives of the accounts\ngiven by Patients, yet, as these are very often imposed upon by their\nimagination attributing effects to very different causes than those\nwhich produce them, they are often very inaccurate deductions.\nTHE DELICATE AND THE NERVOUS, will derive the greatest advantage from\nkeeping _a Register of their Health_,--they should note, and avoid\nwhatever disagrees with them,--and endeavour to ascertain, what kind and\nquantity of Food--Exercise--Occupation and Pleasures, &c. are most\nagreeable to their constitution, and take them at those regular periods\nwhich appear most convenient to them. However this advice may excite\nthe smiles of those who are swelling \"in all the pride of superfluous\nHealth,\" such methodical movements will considerably improve the\nenjoyment, and prolong the life of the Valetudinary and the Aged: for\nwhom, Instinct is the best Guide in the choice of Aliment.\nNone but the most obstinately ignorant Visionary, would dream of laying\ndown absolute Rules[86] for governing the caprice and whims of the\ninfirm Stomachs of Crazy Valetudinarians. Codes of Dietetics[87] are\nalmost useless,--the suggestions of Reason are often in direct\nopposition to the desires of Appetite.\nIn most matters regarding the adjustment of that supreme organ of\nexistence,--the STOMACH,--\"honest Instinct[88] comes a\nVolunteer.\"--_Ventriloquism_ seldom falls to make out a fair title, to\nbe called \"unerring.\" A due respect to the suggestions of Instinct,\nevery Invalid will find highly advantageous,--natural longing has\nfrequently pointed out Food--by which _Acute Diseases_ have been cured,\nwhen the most consummate medical skill was at fault, and Life at its\nlowest ebb.\nIt is needless to insist upon the importance of Diet and Regimen in\n_Chronic Disorders_.\nBe content with ONE[89] Dish,--from want of submission to this salutary\nrule of Temperance--as many men dig their Grave with their _Teeth_, as\nwith the _Tankard_;--DRUNKENNESS is deplorably destructive, but her\ndemurer sister GLUTTONY destroys an hundred to her one.\n_Instinct_ speaks pretty plainly to those whose instruments of Digestion\nare in a delicate state--and is an infinitely surer guide than any\nDietetic rules that can be contrived.\nThat the Food which we fancy most--generally sits easiest on the\nStomach--is a fact which the experience of almost every individual can\nconfirm.\nThe functions of Digestion go on merrily when exercised by Aliment which\nthe Stomach asks for--they often labour in vain when we eat merely\nbecause it is the usual hour of Dining--or out of necessity, to amuse\nthe Gastric juices, and \"lull the grinding stomach's hungry rage.\"\nTo affirm that any thing is wholesome, or unwholesome,--without\nconsidering the subject in all the circumstances to which it bears\nrelation, and the unaccountable peculiarities of different\nConstitutions,--is, with submission, talking nonsense.\nLet every Man consult his Stomach;--to eat and drink such things--and in\nsuch quantities--as agree with that perfectly well, is wholesome for\nhim, whilst they continue to do so[90]:--that which satisfies and\nrefreshes us, and causes no uneasiness after, may safely be taken in\nmoderation--whenever the Appetite is keen--whether it be at Dinner or\nSupper.\nWhat we have been longest used to, is most likely to agree with us\nbest.\nThe wholesomeness, &c. of all Food, depends very much on the quality of\nit--and the way in which it is cooked.\nThose who are poor in Health, must live as they can;--certainly the less\nStimulus any of us use the better, provided it be sufficient to properly\ncarry on the Circulation:--I sometimes hold it lawful to excite Appetite\nwhen it is feeble by Age, or debilitated by Indisposition.\nThose Stimuli which excite the circulation at the least expense of\nnervous irritation--and afford the greatest quantity of nutriment, must\nbe most acceptable to the Stomach, when it demands restorative diet.\nA healthful impetus may be given to the System by a well seasoned\n_Soup_, or a restorative _Ragout_, at half the expense to the machinery\nof Life, than by the use of those Spirituous Stimuli--which fan a\nfeverish fire--exciting action without supplying the expenditure of the\nprinciple producing it--and merely quicken the circulation for a few\nminutes, without contributing any material to feed the Lamp of\nLife--which, if it be originally or organically defective--or is\nimpaired by Time or Disease--will sometimes not burn brightly, unless it\nbe supplied with the best oil, and trimmed in the most skilful manner.\nGood _Mock Turtle_, see (No. 246, or 247*,) will agree with weak\nstomachs surprisingly well; so will that made by BIRCH _in Cornhill_,\nand by KAY _at Albion House_, Aldersgate Street.--This excellent Soup,\nis frequently ordered for Dyspeptic patients, by the senior Physician to\none of the largest hospitals in this Metropolis: as a man of science and\ntalent, certainly in as high estimation as any of his cotemporaries.\nOx-tail Soup (No. 240,) Giblet Soup (No. 244,) and (No. 87,) and (No.\n89,) (No. 489,) and (No. 503,) are very agreeable extempore\nRestoratives,--so easy of digestion, that they are a sinecure to the\nStomach, and give very little trouble to the chylopoietic organs--those\nwhose Teeth are defective--and those whose Circulation is below\n_par_,--will find them acceptable Foods.\n\"_Experto crede_,\"--the reader will remember _Baglivi's_ chapter \"_de\nIdolis Medicorum_,\" wherein he tells us, that \"Physicians always\nprescribe to others, what they like themselves.\" The learned MANDEVILLE\nhas favoured us with five pages on the incomparably invigorating virtues\nof _Stock Fish_!! a kind of Cod which is dried without being salted. See\npages 316, &c. of his _Treatise on Hypochondriasis_.\nThe best Answers, to all inquiries about _The Wholesomes_, are the\nfollowing Questions;--\"Do you like it?\" \"Does it agree with you?\"--\"then\neat in moderation, and you cannot do very wrong.\"\nThose who have long lived luxuriously, to be sufficiently nourished,\nmust be regularly supplied with Food that is nutritive, and Drink that\nis stimulating[91],--_Spice and_ _Wine_, are as needful to the \"BON\nVIVANT\" of a certain Age--as its _Mother's Milk_, is to a NEW-BORN\nBABE.\nThe decrease of the energy of Life arises from the decrease of the\naction of the organs of the Body--especially those of Digestion,--which\nin early life is so intense and perfect, that a Child, after its common\nunexcitant meal of Bread and Milk, is as hilarious and frolicsome as an\nAdult person is after a certain quantity of Roast Beef and Port.\nThe infirm stomachs of Invalids, require a little indulgence[92]--like\nother bad instruments, they often want oiling, and screwing, and winding\nup and adjusting with the utmost care, to keep them in tolerable\norder;--and will receive the most salutary Stimulus, from now and then\nmaking a full meal of a favourite dish. This is not a singular notion of\nmy own, though it may not exactly agree with the fastidious fancy of\n_Dr. Sangrado's_ disciples,--that Starvation and Phlebotomy, are\nSovereign Remedies for all Disorders.\nThose philanthropic Physicians, Dr. Diet,--Dr. Quiet,--and Dr.\nMerryman,--hold the same doctrine as the _Magnus Coquus_--_i. e._ the\nAuthor of \"the Cook's Oracle,\" to whose culinary skill we have been so\nrepeatedly indebted in the composition of this work.\nAs excessive Eating and Drinking is certainly the most frequent cause of\nthe disorders of the Rich,--so privation is the common source of\ncomplaints among the Poor;--the cause of the one, is the cure of the\nother--but where one of the latter dies of Want, how many thousands of\nthe former are destroyed by Indigestion!\nIf strong Spices and savoury Herbs excite appetite--they (in an\nincreased ratio,) accelerate the action of the Bowels--and hurry the\nfood through the alimentary canal, too rapidly to allow the Absorbents\nto do their work properly.\n_Salt_ is the most salubrious and easily obtainable relish which Nature\nhas given us to give sapidity to other substances; and has this\nadvantage over all other Sauces, that if taken to excess--it carries its\nremedy with it in its Aperient quality.\nWe suspect that most mischief is done by the immoderate and constant use\nof the _Common Condiments_.--We have seen some puritanical folks, who\nare for ever boasting that _They never touch_ MADE DISHES, &c. (one\nwould suppose they had the _Tongue of Pityllus_[93],) so be-devil every\nmorsel they put into their Mouth--with PEPPER, and MUSTARD, &c. that\nthey made their common food ten times more _piquante_--than the\nburn-gullet _Bonne Bouche_ of an eastern Nabob, or _a Broiled Devil_,\nenveloped in \"veritable Sauce d'Enfer.\"--See (No. 355 and 538).\nWe do not condemn the moderate use of Spices, but the constant and\nexcessive abuse of them,--by which the papillary nerves of the tongue\nbecome so blunted, that in a little time they lose all relish for useful\nnourishing food, and the Epicure is punished with all the sufferings of\nincessant and incurable Indigestion,--perturbed Sleep--and the horrors\nof the Night-Mare, &c. &c.--However, enough has been written by a\nthousand cautionists, to convince any rational creature of the advantage\nresulting to both the Body and the Mind from a simple and frugal\nfare:--the great secret of Health and Longevity is to keep up the\nsensibility of the Stomach.\nNo Regimen[94] can be contrived that will suit every body.\n \"Try all the bounties of this fertile Globe,\n There is not such a salutary Food\n As suits with every Stomach.\"\n Dr. ARMSTRONG'S _Art of Preserving\n Health_, book ii. line 120.\n\"I knew a black servant of Mr. Pitt, an Indian Merchant in America, who\nwas fond of SOUP _made of_ RATTLE SNAKES,--in which the Head, without\nany regard to the Poison, was boiled along with the rest of the\nanimal.\"--Dr. G. FORDYCE, _on Digestion_, &c. 8vo. 1791, p. 119.\nNo food is so delicious that it pleases all palates,--nothing can be\nmore correct than the old adage, \"one man's meat is another man's\npoison.\"\nIt would be as difficult for a Laplander, or an earth-eating Ottomaque,\nto convince our good citizens that Train Oil, and gutter-mud, is a more\nelegant relish than their favourite Turtle--as for the former to fancy\nthat Kay or Birch's Soup can be as agreeable as the Grease and Garbage\nwhich custom has taught them to think delicious.\n \"Man differs more from Man\n Than Man from Beast.\"--COLMAN.\n_Celsus_[95] very sensibly says, that \"a healthy man, under his own\ngovernment, ought not to tie himself up by strict rules,--nor to abstain\nfrom any sort of food; that he ought sometimes to fast, and sometimes to\nfeast.\" _Sanis, sunt omnia Sana._\nWhen the Stomach sends forth eructant signals of distress, for help\nagainst Indigestion, the _Peristaltic Persuaders_ (see the end of this\nEssay) are as agreeable and effectual assistance as can be offered; and\nfor delicate Constitutions, and those that are impaired by Age or\nIntemperance, are a valuable Panacea.\nThey derive, and deserve this name, from the peculiar mildness of their\noperation[96]. One or two very gently increase the action of the\nprincipal viscera, help them to do their work a little faster,--and\nenable the Stomach to serve with an ejectment whatever offends it,--and\nmove it into the Bowels.\nThus _Indigestion_ is easily and speedily removed,--_Appetite_\nrestored,--(the mouths of the absorbing vessels being cleansed)\n_Nutrition_ is facilitated,--and _Strength_ of Body, and _Energy_ of\nMind[97], are the happy results.\nIf an immediate operation be desired, take some _Tincture of\nRhubarb_--as a _Pill_ is the most gentle and gradually operating form\nfor a drug--a _Tincture_ in which it is as it were ready digested, is\nthe most immediate in its action.\nTO MAKE TINCTURE OF RHUBARB.--Steep three ounces of the best Rhubarb\n(pounded) and half an ounce of Carraway Seeds, (pounded) in a bottle of\nBrandy, for ten days. A table-spoonful in a wine-glass of hot water will\ngenerally be enough.\n_Compound Tincture of Senna_, has been recommended, especially to those\nwho have accustomed themselves to the use of spirituous Liquors and high\nliving. Several similar preparations are sold under the name of _Daffy's\nElixir_--or as much EPSOM SALT, in half a pint of _hot_ water, as\nexperience has informed you, will produce one motion,--a Tea-spoonful\n(_i. e._ from one to two drachms) will generally do this--especially if\nit be taken in the morning, fasting, _i. e._ at least half an hour\nbefore Breakfast.\n_The best way of covering the taste of_ SALT, is to put a lump of\n_Sugar_ and a bit of thin-cut _Lemon Peel_[98] into the hot water, for a\nfew minutes before you stir the Salt into it,--to which you may add a\nfew grains of grated _Ginger_.\nEPSOM SALT is _a very speedy laxative_, often operating within an\nhour,--does the business required of it with great regularity,--and is\nmore uniform in what it does,--and when it does it,--than any\nAperient;--ten minutes after you have taken it, encourage its operation\nby drinking half a pint, or more, of warm water--weak Broth--Tea--thin\nGruel (No. 572), with some salt and butter in it--or _Soda Water_ (No.\n\"_Nil tam ad sanitatem, et longevitatem conducit, quam crebr\u00e6 et\ndomestic\u00e6 purgationes._\"--LORD BACON.--_i. e._ \"Nothing contributes so\nmuch to preserve Health, and prolong Life, as frequently cleansing the\nalimentary canal with gentle laxatives.\"\nWe perfectly agree with Lord Bacon, and believe that in nine cases out\nof ten, for which TONIC MEDICINES are administered, _Peristaltic\nPersuaders_ will not only much more certainly improve Appetite,--but\ninvigorate the Constitution; by facilitating the absorption of\nnutriment,--which, in aged and debilitated people, is often prevented by\nthe mouths of the vessels being half closed by the accumulation of\nviscid mucus, &c.\nAPERIENT MEDICINE does enough, if it increases the customary\nEvacuation,--and does too much,--if it does more,--than excite one\nadditional motion.\nBowels which are forced into double action to-day--must, consequently,\nbe costive to-morrow, and Constipation will be caused by the remedy you\nhave recourse to to remove it,--this has given rise to a _Vulgar\nError_,--that the use of even the mildest Laxative is followed by\nCostiveness.\n_Rhubarb_ is particularly under this prejudice,--because it has been\nmore frequently employed as a domestic remedy,--and unadvisedly\nadministered in either too little, or too large a Dose. It has, however,\nbeen recommended by a Physician of acknowledged Ability, and extensive\nExperience.\n\"If the Bowels are constipated, they should be kept regular by a Pill of\nRhubarb of five grains every morning.\"--PEMBERTON _on the Abdominal\nViscera_, p. 113.\nPeople are often needlessly uneasy about the Action of their Bowels.--If\ntheir general Health is good, and they have neither Head-ach nor other\nderanged sensations, and they live temperately, during the second period\nof Life, whether they have two motions in one day, or one in two days,\nperhaps is not of much consequence;--however, that the Alvine\nExoneration should take place regularly is certainly most\ndesirable;--especially after _Thirty-Five_ years of age[99], when the\nelasticity of the machinery of Life begins to diminish.\n_To acquire a Habit of Regularity_, Mr. LOCKE, who was a Physician as\nwell as a Philosopher, advises that \"if any person, as soon as he has\nbreakfasted, would presently solicit nature, so as to obtain a stool, he\nmight in time, by a constant application, bring it to be habitual.\" He\nsays \"I have known none who have been steady in the prosecution of this\nplan, who did not in a few months obtain the desired success.\"--_On\nEducation_, p. 23, &c.\n\"It is well known that the alvine evacuation is periodical, and\nsubjected to the power of habit; if the regular call is not obeyed, the\nnecessity for the evacuation passes away; and the call being again and\nagain neglected, habitual costiveness is the consequence.\"--HAMILTON _on\nPurgatives_, p. 72.\nIt will facilitate the acquirement of this salutary evacuation,--to take\nat night--such a dose of an Aperient medicine, as Experience has pointed\nout, as just sufficient to assist nature to produce a Motion in the\nMorning.\nHABITUAL COSTIVENESS is not curable by Drugs alone,--and is most\nagreeably corrected by _Diet and Regimen_, those most important, and\nonly effectual, although much neglected (because little understood)\nmeans of permanently alleviating _Chronic Complaints_, for which\n \"Coquina est optima Medicina.\"\nStrong Constitutions are generally _Costive_[100],--that perfect and\nvigorous action of the absorbents, which is the cause of their strength,\nis also the cause of their Constipation:--\n \"Oportet sanorum, sedes esse figuratas.\"\nThis ought to make them content,--but the Constipated are for ever\nmurmuring about a habit--which, if managed with moderate care,--is the\nfundamental basis of Health and Long Life. A little attention to Regimen\nwill generally prevent it--a simple Laxative will suffice to remove\nit--and neither will be often necessary, for those who observe a\ndeobstruent Diet--take proper Exercise in a pure Air--sufficient liquid\nFood--and eat freely of Butter, Salt, and Sugar.\nThe peculiarity of most Constitutions is so convenient, that almost all\nCostive persons--by attending to the effects which various things\nproduce upon their Bowels--may find, in their usual Food and Drink, the\nmeans of persuading their sluggish Viscera to vibrate with healthful\ncelerity.\nA SUPPER or BREAKFAST of thin Gruel, (No. 572,) with plenty of Butter\nand Salt in it,--ripe Fruits, particularly _Grapes_[101],--Oranges,--\nStrawberries,--Raspberries,--Mulberries,--Marmalade,--Honey,--\nTreacle,--roasted Apples,--stewed Prunes,--Figs,--Raisins,--\nTamarinds,--French Plumbs, &c.;--will almost always produce the desired\neffect.\nTwo or three strong _Cinnamon or Ginger Lozenges_, (see page 234,)\ngradually dissolved in the mouth when the Stomach is empty, will act as\nan Aperient on many persons.\nSALAD OIL is a very pleasant _Peristaltic Persuader_:--by the following\nmeans it may be introduced (as a supper) to the most delicate\nStomach,--without any offence to the most fastidious Palate.\nPut a table-spoonful of Sherry into a wine-glass--on this a\ntable-spoonful of Olive Oil--on this another table-spoonful of\nSherry--or rub together a table-spoonful or two of Oil, with the yolk of\nan Egg boiled hard, (No. 547,) add a little Vinegar and Salt to it, and\neat it at Supper as a Sauce to a Salad (No. 138*) of Mustard and\nCresses,--or Lettuce,--Radishes,--Button Onions,--Celery,--Cucumber,\n&c.;--or cold boiled Asparagus,--Brocoli,--Cauliflower,--Carrot,--or\nTurnip,--Kidney or French Beans,--or Pease;--or Pickled Salmon, (No.\n161,) Lobster, (No. 176,) Shrimps, Herrings, Sprats, (No. 170**,) or\nMackarel, (No. 168,) or as a Sauce to cold Meat, &c.\nYou may give it an infinite variety of agreeable flavours; the\ningredients to produce which are enumerated in (No. 372) of \"THE COOK'S\nORACLE.\"\nHypochondriac people are fond of taking Medicine at certain times, the\nspring and fall,--at the full or the new Moon, &c. whether they want it\nor not.--For those in Health to attempt to improve it by taking Physic,\nis absurd indeed. Remember the epitaph on the Italian Count--\n Wished to be better--\n Took Physic--and died.\"\nHypochondriasis--Spleen--Vapours--the Blue Devils--the Bile--Nervous\nDebility, &c. are but so many different names for those Disorders which\narise either from CHRONIC WEAKNESS of the Constitution--or an\ninconsiderate management of it.--A man who has a strong stamina will\nbear irregularities with impunity--which will soon destroy a more\ndelicate frame.\nWe do not laugh at the melancholy of the Hypochondriac,--or consider his\nComplaints as merely the hallucinations of _un Malade Imaginaire_; but\ntrace the cause of them to either some Indigestion interrupting the\nfunctions of the Alimentary Canal--which a gentle Aperient would\nimmediately remove--or the ineffective performance of the Restorative\nProcess--insufficiently nutritive Diet--or depression of the vital and\nanimal functions from anxiety or over-exertion of either the Mind or the\nBody:--which nothing but Rest and nutritive Food can repair.\nThe Editor of this little treatise has had from his Youth to bear up\nagainst an highly irritable nervous system,--the means he has found\nuseful to manage and support it, he is now recording for the benefit of\nother Nervous Invalids.\nWe advise our Friends--never to call in even the gentle aid of\nPeristaltic Persuaders,--but when Instinct absolutely insists upon\nit--some of the Indications of which are, \"A disagreeable taste in the\nMouth--Eructations--Want of Appetite--Sensations of distention in the\nStomach and Bowels--Pains in the Stomach or\nHead--Vertigo--Feverishness--Restlessness--Peevishness,\" &c.--but these\nwill often disappear by taking a liquid meal, instead of a solid one, or\nusing more exercise, will often answer the purpose.--Mr. Jones very\nsensibly observes, \"if people will by no means rest from constantly\ntampering with laxatives, instead of using exercise, the habit of using\nthe _Lavement_ every evening cannot be so destructive, as it irritates\nonly _twelve inches_ of intestine, and spares raking down the other\n_thirty-nine feet_.\"--_See Med. Vul. Errors_, p. 44.\nRELAXED BOWELS[102] are often extremely unmanageable, and difficult to\nregulate--and are the principal cause of that _Chronic Weakness_ which\nis so generally complained of, and of many other distressing Nervous\nDisorders.\nIf the Bowels are unfaithful to the Stomach, and, instead of playing\nfair,--let go their hold of the \"Pabulum Vit\u00e6,\" before the Absorbents\nhave properly performed the process which that grand organ has prepared\nfor them--Nutrition will be deficient; and Flatulence, &c. &c.\nGiddiness,--Spasms,--Head-ache,--and Back-ache,--and what are called\n_Bilious and Nervous_ Disorders,--and all the Diseases incident to\nDebility, will attack you on the slightest cause.\nThose who are afflicted with a relaxation of the Bowels, are advised to\na _Dry diet_, rather than a _Liquid one_, and must submit to a Regimen\ndiametrically contrary to that we have recommended to cure Constipation.\n\"Since I lessened my Drink I have been much more costive than I was\nbefore, and have for two years past freed myself from a Diarrh\u0153a.\nCostiveness generally attends dry food in other animals as well as\nmen.\"--B. ROBINSON, _on Food and Discharges_, p. 82 and 64.\nLive principally upon Animal Food sufficiently cooked, and Stale Bread,\nor biscuit;--instead of Malt liquor (unless it be very mild and good\nHomebrewed Beer, which is the best of all Beverages) drink Beef-Tea,\n(No. 563), or well made Toast and Water[103] (No. 463*), with about\none-fourth part of Wine, and a little Sugar and grated Nutmeg or Ginger\nin it;--if the Stomach be troubled with Acidity, or great Flatulence,\none-eighth part of Brandy may agree with it better:--_whatever You eat\nand drink should be Warmed_.--See page 94 on _Siesta_, and page 158.\nBe watchful of the effects of the Food which you take,--avoid whatever\nappears to irritate, and _eat only that which experience has proved\nacceptable_.\nIRRITABLE BOWELS are excited to inconveniently increased action by any\nthing that the Stomach has either not the ability, or the inclination,\nto prepare for them,--and _Diarrh\u0153a_ is the consequence.\nThe easiest and most effectual method of restoring tranquillity in the\nBowels--is to be content with a light diet of Gruel, Broth, or Fish, &c.\ntill the return of a keen Appetite assures you, that the Stomach has\nrecovered its powers, and being ready for action, requires its usual\nsupply of solid food.\n_When the Bowels get a trick of emptying themselves too often_,--a\nteaspoonful of Compound Powder of Chalk in your Tea,--or a wine-glassful\nof the following mixture, taken twice or thrice a day, will generally\ncure them of it very speedily:--\n \u211e Chalk mixture, six ounces.\n Tincture of Cinnamon (No. 416*), one ditto.\n Opiate Confection, one drachm.\n Mixed together.\nIf Diarrh\u0153a continues obstinate, more powerful Astringents[104] may\nbe necessary.\nTINCTURE OF CINNAMON (No. 416*) is one of the best cordial tonics--see\nOPIUM LOZENGES, containing a quarter of a grain each, and strongly\nflavoured with Oil of Peppermint, are recommended to those who are\ntroubled with relaxed Bowels.\nSTRONG PEPPERMINT LOZENGES are the most convenient portable\ncarminative:--as soon as they are dissolved, their influence is felt\nfrom the beginning, to the end of the Alimentary Canal;--they dissipate\nflatulence so immediately, that they well deserve the name of _Vegetable\n\u00c6ther_; and are recommended to SINGERS[105] AND PUBLIC SPEAKERS, as\ngiving effective excitement to the organs of the Voice,--as a support\nagainst the distressing effects of fasting too long--and to give energy\nto the Stomach between meals.\nN.B. _Sixty different sorts of Lozenges_, are made in the most\nsuperlative manner, by Mr. Smith, Fell Street, Wood Street, Cheapside.\nHis _Rose Jujubes_--are a very elegant preparation, which those who have\nnot a remarkably Sweet Breath, are recommended to take the last thing at\nnight, and the first in the morning--the breath smells faintest when the\nStomach is emptiest.\nHis _Mellifluous Aromatics_ are so delicately flavoured, they moisten\nthe mouth and throat without cloying the Palate, Stomach, &c., which is\nmore than can be said of most Lozenges.\n _To make_ FORTY PERISTALTIC PERSUADERS.\n Take,\n Turkey Rhubarb, finely pulverized, two drachms.\n Syrup (by weight) one drachm.\n Oil of Carraway, ten drops (minums).\n Made into Pills, each of which will contain _Three\n Grains of Rhubarb_.\nTHE DOSE OF THE PERSUADERS must be adapted to the constitutional\npeculiarity of the Patient:--when you wish to accelerate or augment the\nAlvine Exoneration--take two, three, or more, according to the effect\nyou desire to produce--_two Pills_ will do as much for one person as\n_five_ or _six_ will for another; they generally will very regularly\nperform what you wish to-day,--without interfering with what you hope\nwill happen to-morrow;--and are, therefore, as convenient an argument\nagainst Constipation as any we are acquainted with.\n_The most convenient opportunity to introduce them to the Stomach_--is\nearly in the Morning, when it is unoccupied,--and has no particular\nbusiness to attend to, _i. e._ at least half an hour before Breakfast.\n_Physic_ should never interrupt the Stomach, when it is engaged in\ndigesting _Food_--perhaps the best time to take it, is when you awake\nout of your first Sleep--or as soon as you awake in the morning.\nMoreover, such is the increased sensibility of some Stomachs at that\ntime, that half the quantity of Medicine will suffice.\nFrom _two to four Persuaders_ will generally produce one additional\nmotion within twelve hours.\nThey may be taken at any time--by the most DELICATE FEMALES, whose\nConstitutions are so often distressed by Constipation[106], and\ndestroyed by the drastic purgatives they take to relieve it. See also\npage 224.\nTheir agreeable flavour recommends them as the most convenient aperient\nfor CHILDREN, whose indispositions most frequently arise from\nobstructions in the Bowels;--it is not always a very easy task to\nprevail upon a spoiled Child to take Physic;--therefore--we have made\nour Pill to taste exactly like Gingerbread.\nFor INFANTS, too young to swallow a Pill, pound it, and mix it with\nCurrant Jelly, Honey, or Treacle.\nON THE FIRST ATTACK OF DISEASE--it may generally be disarmed by\ndischarging the contents of the Bowels:--IN EVERY DISORDER[107] the main\npoint is carefully to watch, and constantly to keep up the activity of\nthe Alimentary Canal--for want of due attention to this, MILLIONS\n(especially of _Children_) HAVE DIED OF MEDICABLE DISORDERS!!\nFOR BILIOUS OR LIVER[108] COMPLAINTS, (which are now the fashionable\nnames for all those deranged sensations of the Abdominal Viscera--which\nas often arise from the want, as from the excess of Bile--and perhaps\nmost frequently from _Indigestion_)--and for expelling WORMS[109], for\nwhich it is the fashion to administer _Mercury_[110] (which, because it\nis the only remedy for one Disease, people suppose must be a _panacea_\nfor every disorder) and other drastic mineral medicines, which are\nawfully uncertain both in their strength and in their operation.\nIf, instead of two or three times a week tormenting your Bowels with\n_Corrosive Cathartics_,--_Hydragogues_,--_Phlegmagogues_, &c., you take\none or two gentle PERSUADERS, twice or thrice a day;--they will excite a\ngradual and regularly increased action of the Viscera--restore the tone\nof the Alimentary tube--and speedily and effectually cure the disorder,\nwithout injuring the Constitution.\nThere is not a more universal or more mischievous _Vulgar Error_, than\nthe notion, that Physic is efficacious, in proportion as it is extremely\ndisagreeable to take, and frightfully violent in its operation,--unless\na medicine actually produces more Distress in the System, than the\nDisorder it is administered to remove--in fact, if the Remedy be not\nworse than the Disease, the million have no faith in it--and are not\nsatisfied that they can be perfectly cured if they escape\nPhlebotomy,--unless put to extreme pain, and plentifully supplied with\nBlack Doses, and drastic Drugs;--they have the best opinion of that\nDoctor who most furiously\n \"_Vomits_--_Purges_--_Blisters_--_Bleeds_, and _Sweats 'em_.\"\nTo perfectly content them that you have most profoundly considered their\ncase, you must to such Prescription--add a Proscription of every thing\nthey appear particularly partial to!!!\nPeople who in all other respects appear to be very rational--and are apt\nto try other questions by the rules of Common Sense, in matters relating\nto their Health, surrender their understanding to the fashion of the\nDay,--and in the present Century, on all occasions take _Calomel_ as\ncoolly as in the last, their Grandfathers inundated their poor Stomachs\nwith _Tar-Water_.\nTONIC TINCTURE, (No. 569) is\n Peruvian Bark, bruised, one ounce and a half.\n Orange Peel, do. one ounce.\n Brandy, or Proof Spirit, one pint.\nLet these ingredients steep for ten days, shaking the bottle every\nday--let it remain quiet two days--and then decant the clear liquor.\nDose--one teaspoonful in a wineglass of water, twice a day, when you\nfeel languid, _i. e._ when the Stomach is empty, about an hour before\nDinner, and in the Evening. Twenty grains of the Powder of Bark may be\nadded to it occasionally.\nTo this agreeable Aromatic Tonic we are under personal obligations, for\nfrequently putting our Stomach into good temper, and procuring us good\nAppetite and good Digestion.\nIn low Nervous affections, arising from a languid Circulation--and, when\nthe Stomach is in a state of shabby debility from age--intemperance, or\nother causes--this is a most acceptable restorative.\nN.B. TEA made with dried and bruised _Seville Orange Peel_, (in the same\nmanner as common Tea,) and drank with milk and sugar, has been taken for\nBreakfast by _Nervous_ and _Dyspeptic_ persons with great benefit.\nCHEWING a bit of _Orange Peel_ twice a day when the Stomach is empty,\nwill be found very grateful, and strengthening to it.--\nSTOMACHIC TINCTURES.\nTwo ounces of CASCARILLA Bark (bruised)--or dried ORANGE PEEL,--or\nCOLOMBA ROOT--infused for a fortnight in a pint of Brandy, will give you\nthe Tinctures called by those names.\nDose--one or two teaspoonsful in a wine-glass of water.\nTINCTURE OF CINNAMON, (No. 416*).\nThis excellent Cordial is made by pouring a bottle of genuine Cogniac\n(No. 471) on three ounces of bruised Cinnamon (Cassia will not do). This\ncordial restorative was more in vogue formerly, than it is now;--a\nteaspoonful of it, and a lump of Sugar, in a glass of good Sherry or\nMadeira, with the yolk of an Egg beat up in it--was called \"_Balsamum\nVit\u00e6_.\"\n \"_Cur moriatur homo, qui sumit de Cinnamomo?_\"--\"Cinnamon is verie\n comfortable to the Stomacke, and the principall partes of the\n bodie.\"\n \"_Ventriculum, Jecur, Lienem Cerebrum, nervosque juvant et\n roborat._\"--\"I reckon it a great treasure for a student to have by\n him, in his closet, to take now and then a spoonfull.\"--COGAN'S\n_Obs._--Two teaspoonsful in a wineglass of water--are a present and\npleasant remedy in Nervous Languors--and in relaxations of the\nBowels--in the latter case five drops of Laudanum may be added to each\ndose.\nSODA WATER, (No. 481*.)\nThe best way of producing agreeable _Pneumatic Punch_, as a learned\nChemist has called this refreshing refrigerant, is to fill two half-pint\nTumblers half full of Water,--stir into one 30 grains of _Carbonate of\nPotash_,--into the other 25 grains of _Citric[111] Acid_, (both being\npreviously finely pounded,)--when the powders are perfectly\ndissolved--pour the contents of one tumbler into the other--and\nsparkling Soda Water is instantaneously produced.\nTo make DOUBLE SODA WATER, use double the quantity of the Powder.\n_Single Soda Water_ is a delightful drink in sultry weather--and may be\nvery agreeably flavoured by dissolving a little Raspberry or Red Currant\nJelly in the Water, (before you add the Carbonate of Potash to it), or a\nlittle Tincture of Ginger, (No. 411,)--or Syrup of Ginger, (No.\n394,)--or Syrup of Lemon Peel, (No. 393,)--or infuse a roll of fresh and\nthin-cut Lemon Peel, and a bit of Sugar in the water--or rub down a few\ndrops of (No. 408,) with a bit of Lump Sugar, with or without a little\ngrated Ginger;--a glass of Sherry or a tablespoonful of Brandy is\nsometimes added.\nThe addition of a teaspoonful of the TONIC TINCTURE (No. 569,) will give\nyou a very refreshing Stomachic--and ten drops of _Tinct. Ferri\nMuriati_ put into the water in which you dissolve the Citric Acid--a\nfine effervescing Chalybeate.\n_The day after a Feast_, if you feel fevered and heated, you cannot do\nbetter than drink a half-pint glass or two of _Single Soda Water_\nbetween Breakfast and Dinner.\nDOUBLE SODA WATER (especially if made with tepid water) is an excellent\nauxiliary to accelerate the operation of Aperient Medicine--and, if\ntaken in the Morning fasting, will sometimes move the Bowels without\nfurther assistance.\nIf some good _Cogniac_ or Essence of Ginger (No. 411) be added to it, it\nis one of the best helps to set the Stomach to work--and remove the\ndistressing languor which sometimes follows hard drinking.\nESSENCE OF GINGER, (No. 411).\nThe fragrant _aroma_ of Ginger is so extremely volatile, that it\nevaporates almost as soon as it is pounded--the fine Lemon peel _go\u00fbt_\nflies off presently.\nIf Ginger is taken to produce an immediate effect--to warm the\nStomach--dispel Flatulence, &c., or as an addition to Aperient\nMedicine--the following is the best preparation of it:--\nSteep three ounces of _fresh grated_ Ginger, and one ounce of fresh\nLemon Peel, (cut thin) in a quart of Brandy--or Proof Spirit, for ten\ndays, shaking it up each day.\nN.B. TINCTURE OF ALLSPICE, which is sometimes called _Essence of\nBishop_, for making _Mulled Wine_, _&c._ extempore, is prepared in the\nsame manner.\nGRUEL, (No. 252).\n1st. Ask those who are to eat it, if they like it _THICK_ or _thin_; if\nthe latter, mix well together by degrees, in a pint basin, _one_\ntablespoonful of Oatmeal with three of cold water;--if the former, _two_\nspoonsful.\nHave ready, in a Stewpan, a pint of boiling water or milk--pour this by\ndegrees to the Oatmeal you have mixed--return it into the Stewpan--set\nit on the fire--and let it boil for five minutes--stirring it all the\ntime to prevent the Oatmeal from burning at the bottom of the\nStewpan--skim--and strain it through a Hair Sieve.\n2d. To convert this into CAUDLE--add a little Ale--Wine--or Brandy--with\nSugar--and _if the Bowels are disordered_, a little Nutmeg or Ginger\ngrated.\nGruel may be made with Broth[112] (No. 490,) or (No. 252,) or (No. 564,)\ninstead of Water--(to make _Crowdie_, see No. 205*,)--and may be\nflavoured with _Sweet Herbs_--_Soup Roots_ and _Savoury Spices_--by\nboiling them for a few minutes in the water you are going to make the\nGruel with--or ZEST (No. 255)--Pea Powder (No. 458)--or dried\nMint--Mushroom Catsup (No. 439)--or a few grains of Curry Powder (No.\n455)--or Savoury Ragout Powder (No. 457)--or Cayenne (No. 404)--or\nCelery Seed bruised--or Soup Herb Powder (No. 459)--or an Onion minced\nvery fine and bruised in with the Oatmeal--or a little Eschalot Wine\n(No. 402)--or Essence of Celery (No. 409)--or (No. 413)--(No. 417)--or\nPLAIN GRUEL, such as is directed in the first part of this Recipe, is\none of the best Breakfasts and Suppers that we can recommend to the\nrational Epicure;--is the most comforting soother of an irritable\nStomach that we know--and particularly acceptable to it _after a hard\nday's work of Intemperate Feasting_--when the addition of half an ounce\nof Butter, and a teaspoonful of Epsom Salt will give it an aperient\nquality, which will assist the principal Viscera to get rid of their\nburden.\n\"_Water Gruel_\" (says Tryon in his Obs. on Health, 16mo. 1688, p. 42,)\nis \"the KING _of Spoon Meats_,\" and \"the QUEEN _of Soups_,\" and\ngratifies nature beyond all others.\nIn the \"_Art of Thriving_,\" 1697, p. 8, are directions for preparing\nFourscore Noble and Wholesome Dishes, upon most of which _a Man may live\nexcellent well for Twopence a_ _day_: the author's _Obs._ on _Water\nGruel_ is, that \"ESSENCE OF OATMEAL\" makes \"_a noble and exhilarating\nmeal_!\"\nDr. FRANKLIN'S favourite Breakfast was a good basin of warm Gruel, in\nwhich there was a small slice of Butter with Toasted Bread and\nNutmeg--the expense of this, he reckoned at three half-pence.\n\"Mastication is a very necessary Preparation of solid Aliment, without\nwhich there can be no good Digestion.\"--The above are the first lines in\nARBUTHNOT'S _Essay on Aliment_.\nThis first act of the important process of Digestion, is most perfectly\nperformed, when the flavour, &c. of our Food is agreeable to our\nTaste;--we naturally detain upon our Palate those things which please\nit,--and the Meat we relish most, is consequently most broken down by\nchewing, and most intimately incorporated with the Saliva--this is the\nreason why what we desire most, we digest best.\nHere, is a sufficient answer, to the Folios which have sprung from the\nPens of cynical and senseless Scribblers--on whom Nature not having\nbestowed a Palate, they have proscribed those pleasures they had not\nSense[113] to taste, or comprehend the wise purposes for which they were\ngiven to us, and\n \"Compound for Sins they are inclin'd to,\n By damning those they have no mind to.\"\nHow large a share of the business of Digestion is managed by\nMastication, has been shown by the experiments of _Spallanzani_[114].\nTo Chew long, and leisurely, is the only way to extract the essence of\nour food--to enjoy the taste of it, and to render it easily convertible\ninto laudable Chyle, by the facility it gives to the gastric juices to\ndissolve it without trouble.\nThe pleasure of the _Palate_, and the health of the _Stomach_, are\nequally promoted by this salutary habit, which all should be taught to\nacquire in their infancy.\nThe more tender meat is, the more we may eat of it.--That which is most\ndifficult to Chew, is of course most difficult to Digest.\nFrom 30 to 40 (according to the tenderness of the meat) has been\ncalculated as the mean number of Munches, that solid meat requires, to\nprepare it for its journey down _the Red Lane_; less will be sufficient\nfor tender, delicate, and easily digestible white meats.\nThe sagacious _Gourmand_, will calculate this precisely,--and not waste\nhis precious moments in useless Jaw-work, or invite an Indigestion by\nneglecting _Mastication_.\nI cannot give any positive rules for this, it depends on the state of\nthe Teeth[115]; every one, especially _the Dyspeptic_, ought to\nascertain the condition of these useful working tools; and to use them\nwith proportionate diligence, is an indispensable exercise which every\nrational Epicure will most cheerfully perform, who has any regard for\nthe welfare of his Stomach[116].\nIt has been recommended, that those whose Teeth are defective, should\nmince their meat--this will certainly save trouble to both Teeth and\nStomach--nevertheless, it is advisable, let the meat be minced ever so\nfine, to endeavour to mumble it into a pulp before it be introduced to\nthe Stomach--on account of the advantage derived from its admixture with\nthe SALIVA.\n\"By experiment, I determined the quantity of _Saliva_ secreted in half\nan hour, to be _whilst the parts were at rest_, four drachms,--whilst\n_eating_, five ounces four drachms.\"--STARK _on Diet_, p. 99.\nMASTICATION is the source of all good Digestion;--_with its assistance_,\nalmost any thing may be put into any stomach with impunity:--_without\nit_, Digestion is always difficult, and often impossible: and be it\nalways remembered, it is not merely what we eat, but what we digest\nwell, that nourishes us.\nThe sagacious _Gourmand_ is ever mindful of his motto--\n \"Masticate, Denticate, Chump, Grind, and Swallow.\"\nThe four first acts, he knows he must perform properly,--before he dare\nattempt the fifth.\nThose who cannot enjoy a savoury morsel on account of their Teeth, or\nrather on account of the want of them, we refer to the note at the foot\nof p. 260, and also have the pleasure to inform them, that PATENT\nMASTICATORS are made by PALMER, _Cutler, in St. James's Street_.\nTo those who may inadvertently exercise their Masticative faculties on\nunworthy materials--or longer on worthy ones than nature finds\nconvenient, we recommend \"Peristaltic Persuaders.\" See page 235.\nWhen either the _Teeth_ or _Stomach_ are extremely feeble, especial\ncare must be taken _to keep Meat till it is tender_--before it is\ncooked--and call in the aid of the _Pestle_ and _Mortar_.--And see Nos.\nespecially 503. Or dress in the usual way whatever is best liked--mince\nit--put it into a Mortar--and pound it with a little Broth or melted\nButter,--Vegetable,--Herb,--Spice,--Zest, No. 255, &c.--according to the\ntaste, &c. of the Eater.--The business of the Stomach is thus very\nmaterially facilitated.\n\"Mincing or Pounding Meat--saveth the grinding of the Teeth; and\ntherefore (no doubt) is more nourishing, especially in Age,--or to them\nthat have weak teeth; but Butter is not proper for weak bodies,--and\ntherefore, moisten it in pounding with a little Claret Wine, and a very\nlittle Cinnamon or Nutmeg.\"--LORD BACON'S _Natural History_, Century\nThis is important Advice for those who are afflicted with \"_Tic\nDouloureux_,\"--the paroxysm of which is generally provoked by the\nexercise of Eating,--and the Editor has known that dreadful disorder\ncured by the Patient frequently taking food thus prepared in small\nportions, instead of a regular meal.\nThe TEETH should be cleaned after every meal with a \"TOOTH PRESERVER,\"\n(_i. e._ a very soft brush,) and then rinsed with _tepid_ water--_never\nneglect this at night_;--nothing destroys the Teeth so fast as suffering\nfood to stick between them--those who observe this rule, will seldom\nhave any occasion for _Dentifrices_--_Essences of Ivory_--_Indurating\nLiquid Enamels_, _&c._\nBut it is the rage just now with some Dentists, to recommend Brushes so\nhard, that they fetch Blood like a Lancet wherever they touch; and\ninstead of \"_Teeth Preservers_,\" these should rather be termed \"_Gum\nBleeders_.\"\nNot even a Philosopher can endure the TOOTHACH patiently--what an\novercoming agony then it must be to a _Grand Gourmand_!--depriving him\nof the means of enjoying an amusement which to him is the grand solace\nfor all sublunary cares.--To alleviate, and indeed generally to cure\nthis intolerable pain--we recommend\n _Toothache and Anti-rheumatic Embrocation_, (No. 567.)\n Sal Volatile--three parts.\n Laudanum--one part.\nMix and rub the part in pain therewith frequently. If the Tooth which\naches is hollow, drop some of this on a bit of cotton, and put it into\nthe Tooth,--if the pain does not abate within an hour--take out the\ncotton, and put another piece in--changing it every hour four or five\ntimes, till the pain ceases.\nIn a general Face-ach, or sore Throat--moisten a piece of flannel with\nit and put it to the part affected,--rub any part afflicted with\nRheumatism night and morning, and in the middle of the day. I have\nfrequently cured old and inveterate Rheumatic affections with this\nLiniment.\n Actors, Hints to, concerning their Health, 96\n Stale ditto, how to make fresh, 11\n Abstinence, cheapest Cure for Intemperance, 159\n Athletic weight, what, 59\n Air, on the change of, 8\n Do. Note at foot of 66\n Stagnant, Dr. Struve's Obs. on, 114\n General Obs. on change of, &c., 119\n not always advisable 121\n Animal Food, 10\n Alcohol, proportion of, in Wines, Brandy, Gin, &c., 138\n Dr. Philips's Obs. on 145\n Arbuthnot, Dr., quoted, 1, 19\n Obs. on Mastication 250\n Anxiety of Mind, Evils arising from, 85 to 87\n Do. Sir John Sinclair on, Note to, 86\n Do. Sir Thomas Barnard, do., 86\n Do. Dr. Colton, do., 86\n Appetite, to refresh, 163\n Three Sorts of, in Note to, 163\n Varieties of, 169\n Montaigne's Obs. on, 200\n Aperients, what the best, 215\n what they ought to do, 219\n Lord Bacon's Obs, 219\n Dr. Hamilton's do., 221\n best time to introduce them to the Stomach, 235\n for Children, 237\n Astringents, 232\n Bacon, Lord, his Obs. on Aperients, 219\n on Food for those whose Teeth are defective, 263\n Barclay, Captain, quoted, 3, 7\n his Diet during his extraordinary walk, 13\n Balsamum Vit\u00e6, 97\n Brown, Dr., his Obs. on the Materia Medica, &c., 5\n Bath, tepid, 126\n Brain, the two ways of fertilizing, 68\n Bed Room, 90\n Curtains, 91\n Bed, best, 91\n ventilated, 92\n Do. in hot weather, 92\n Ditto, ditto, in cold weather, 104\n eaters preferred to Sheep-biters, 29\n a good Tonic, 182\n on the digestibility of, 177\n Obs. on, by Bryan Robinson. By the Editor. By Mr. Astley Cooper,\n Breakfast, 20\n Do. of Beef Tea recommended after hard drinking, 161\n of Queen Elizabeth, A.D. 1550, 184\n of a Washerwoman in A.D. 1821, 184\n Bread, Liquid, 144\n Crust of, wonderful virtues of, 169\n Broils, 26\n Broths, in what degree nutritive, 30\n excellent Mutton, 254\n Breath, _Rose Jujubes_ for those who have not a remarkable sweet,\n Blumenbach on the Pulse, 45\n Bowels, constipated, how to regulate, 220\n Braces, 111\n Bons Vivants, hint to, 122\n Brandy, how much it wastes in keeping, 135\n where to buy it, 141\n Bilious Attack, 172\n Disorders, 238\n Bishop, Essence of, 248\n Bouillon, Tablettes de, 179\n Do. how to make, 251\n Cadogan, Dr., Address to him quoted, 169\n Calcavella Wine, 154\n Calomel, 242\n Cellar, the temperature of a good, 133\n on the management of, 134\n Cheyne, Dr., quoted, 87, 216\n Corpulency, to reduce, 29, 50, 64\n Authors who have written thereon, 64\n by walking, 62\n by fasting, 62\n by purging, 62\n Panacea for, 125\n Customs, 17\n Dr. Armstrong's Obs. on. Struve's do., 65\n Colton, his Obs. on Intemperance, 34\n Cornaro, a compendium of his system in his own words, 38\n liked New Wine, 136\n Cold Food and Drink, bad for the Dyspeptic and Gouty, 94\n Cold, the frequent cause of Palsy, 113\n an easy way to get rid of one, 117\n Chronic Disorders, common cause of, 63\n importance of Regimen in, 202\n Cooper, Mr. Astley, quoted 177\n Condiments, the excessive use of common, 210\n Chimney Sweeping, 81\n Clothes, 103\n how to adjust them to a nicety, 104\n Disorders arising from change of, 106\n J. Stewart's Obs. on, 106\n tight and thin very injurious, 110\n Great one, where to keep, 110\n Corks, Obs. on, 134\n Cosmetic, 125\n Crowdie, 250\n Cura\u00e7oa, 141\n how to make, 150\n Cucumber, how to eat, 171\n Claret, 153\n Cheese, 171\n Chyle, Dr. Moore's Obs. on the, 212\n Sir John Sinclair's do., 213\n Cinnamon Lozenges, aperient, 224\n Tincture, 233\n Cramp in the Stomach, remedy for, 189\n Costiveness, habitual, how to cure, 222\n Do. by a Supper or Breakfast, 224\n Do. by Grapes, 224\n Do. fresh or dried Fruits, 224\n Do. Cinnamon or Ginger Lozenges, 224\n Darwin, Dr., quoted, 178\n Diet, a general rule for, 33\n The proportion of Meat to Drink, 57\n Facts relative to, 213\n Death, sudden in the night, a common cause of, 193\n Digestibility of various Foods, 176\n Digestion, the process of, how long about, 176\n Spallanzani's Obs. thereon, 176\n when it goes on merrily, 203\n how exquisitely perfect in Children, 208\n Dinner, 21 to 24\n best time for, 179\n Dr. Cogan's Obs. on, 183\n Mr. Warner's do., 183\n in the Northumberland Household Book for A.D. 1512, 184\n Hour of in 1821, Verses on, 186\n at Night, and Supper in the Morning, 186\n bad effects from, 191\n Doors, double, 91\n Dyspeptic Disorders, the common cause of, 38\n Persons should have warm Food, 94 & 95\n when extreme, remedy for, 164\n Drinkers, three sorts of, 141\n Thermometer for, 142\n Hints for hard, 162\n Drinking, the Economy of, 144\n Diarrh\u0153a, 228\n Rules for those subject to, 230\n Eating, good, 172\n Ear, instance of a fine one, 47\n Edmonds, Mr. the Dentist 260\n Eggs, how nutritive, 30\n Ennui, remedy for, 73\n Exercise, the indispensable importance of, 8\n Mr. Abernethy on, 9\n Dr. Cheyne, 9\n must be increased, &c., 33\n Neglect of, the great cause of Indigestion, 38\n Obs. on the importance of, 122\n Do. by Cowper, 122\n Do. by Armstrong, 122\n Do. by Dr. Cadogan, 123\n Do. Sir Chas. Scarborough, 123\n English Melodies, 233\n Epicurism, Dr. Swift's Obs. on, 185\n Eudiometer, 120\n Economy of Drinking, 144\n Epsom Salt, 217\n the most agreeable way to take it, 218\n Essence of Meat, how to obtain, 251\n Fat, what makes animals, 64\n Fasting a day, effect of, 62\n too long, the bad effects of, and how to avoid them, 175, 180,\n Feasting, intemperate, to remove the disorders arising from, 160\n Falconer, Dr. quoted, 25\n Fish not so nutritive as Flesh, 29 and 30\n Forty-Winks, a nap of, 23\n Forty, a Man at, 199\n Food, what easiest of Digestion, 26\n Test of the relative restorative powers of Meat, Poultry, and\n Gelatinous, 30\n what most invigorating, 31, 32\n the Editor's own experience, 31\n how important to Health, &c., 49\n for those whose Teeth are defective, 263\n Flannel Waistcoats, 106\n Franklin, Dr. his Economical Project, 75\n Fashionable Society, disorders of, 83\n Fitzgerald, Mr. quoted, 84\n Flatulence, the common cause of,\n and how to prevent and remove it, 99, 172, and 175\n Feet, when cold, 108\n should be kept very clean, 126\n Fire, on the management of a, 113\n plan of lighting, 117\n Garters, 111\n Goose roasted, how invigorating, 29\n the Latin for it, 171\n Grog, the strength of, 89\n Gruel, various ways of making and flavouring, 248\n Tryon's Obs. on, 255\n Gin, proportion of Spirit in, 139\n Ginger Lozenges, 173\n Aperient, 224\n Ginger, Tincture of, how to make,\n preferable and more convenient than the powder, 247\n Gourmand's motto, 262\n Gum-bleeders, 264\n Hatching, 68\n Health, Happiness, and Longevity, Pope's recipe for, 42\n Heat, external, promotes Digestion, 158 and 159\n Heartburn, remedy for, 161\n Heart, palpitation of, 173\n Horizontal Refreshment, 23\n Heberden, Dr. his Obs. on Regimen, 198\n Hunter, J. on digestibility of dressed and raw Meats, 27\n Hunger, 180\n Heidelburgh Tun, 131\n Hours, early one's, how Healthful, 74\n late, the bane of the delicate and nervous, 75\n Huffeland quoted, 126\n Jackson, Mr. teacher of Sparring, 51\n Jameson, Dr. quoted, 35\n Ice after Dinner, 167\n Jones, Sir William, his Andrometer, 36\n Jellies, in what degree nutritive, 30\n Jockey, to waste one, 29\n Inebriation, how to relieve the indispositions arising from, 160\n when doubly debilitating, 162\n Indigestion, 48\n common cause of, 38\n how to relieve, 157\n Do. when extreme, 164\n often caused by Anxiety of Mind, 172\n Daubenton recommends Ipecacuanha for, 189\n Ivanhoe, the preface to it quoted, 98\n Johnson, his Cura\u00e7oa, 98, 141\n Irish Whiskey, 149\n Intemperance, how to cure the Chronic complaints occasioned by it,\n Instinct, the best guide in the choice of Aliment, 198\n Dr. Heberden's Obs. on, 198\n Mr. Abernethy, do., 198\n from Domestic Management, 199\n from Evylyn, 200\n from Young, 200\n from Montaigne, 200\n from Dr. W. Hunter, 200\n from J. Hunter, 201\n from Dr. Armstrong, 201\n from Dr. Smith, 201\n from Dr. Adair, 201\n from Dr. Withers, 202\n from Dr. Sydenham, 202\n from Spectator, 202\n from Dr. Mandeville, 203\n Kitchiner, Dr. quoted, 47\n Life, how to live all the Days of, 2 and 42\n the Meridian of, 17, 43\n divided into Three Stages, 33 and 34\n calculation showing the rate of Self-Consumption, 44\n Do. of the expectations of, at various ages, 45\n Do. note at foot of p., 83\n what the great Art of, 67\n Literary men, not long-lived, 69\n a country, 82\n Lavement, 228\n Lettsom, Dr. his moral and physical Thermometer, 142\n Lemon Peel, how to make Quintessence of, 218\n Lip, under, plump and rosy, the most certain criterion of Health,\n Liver, how to render Healthful, 63\n Complaints, 239\n Liver, Mr. Carlisle's Observations on, 239\n Lobsters, 30\n Locke, Mr. quoted, 221\n Liquid Bread, 144\n Longings, especially in Acute Diseases, 202\n Withers' Obs. on, 202\n LOZENGES, 60 sorts made by Mr. Smith,\n Fell Street, Wood Street, Cheapside, 234\n Magnesia, an uncertain Medicine, 161\n Mastication, how important to Digestion, 88\n Dr. Arbuthnot Obs. on, 256\n Spallanzani ditto, 258\n calculation of the mean number of Munches requisite, 259\n Masticators, patent, where to buy, 262\n Mathematical Valetudinarian, a calculation of, 18\n Mattress, of Horse-hair, 91\n Matrimony, 70\n best ages for, 70\n Meat _under_-done, 27\n thoroughly done most digestible, 27\n Essence of, 251\n Minced, recommended by Lord Bacon, 263\n Mercury, Obs. on, 240\n Measure, Lyne's glass, 129\n Madeira, 134\n Mind, how important tranquillity of, 9\n the vigour of, decays with that of the Body, 50\n exertion of, more exhausting than that of the Body, 66, 67, and 87\n Anxiety of, paralyses Digestion, 67\n Anxiety of, a common cause of Indigestion, 172\n Mellifluous Aromatics, 234\n Digestibility of, 177\n Chops, delicately stewed, 254\n Broth, excellent, 254\n Midnight, one hour's rest before, worth two after, 74\n Mock Turtle recommended, 206\n Birch's ditto, 206\n Kay's ditto, 206\n Mountain Wine, 154\n Mulled Wine, to make extempore, 248\n Nap of 40 winks, 69\n Noisy Neighbours, hints to, 76 to 82\n Actionable Nuisances, 80\n Nervous Disorders, 83\n Dr. Whytt's Obs. on, 181\n people should keep a register of their Health, 197\n Nightmare, chief cause of, 87\n Obs. on, 189 and following pages.\n the Editor's case of, 190\n Dr. Whytt's case of, 194\n Mr. Waller's Essay on, 195\n Northumberland Household Book, 185\n Oysters, 30\n not so nutritive as supposed, 30, 171\n Opium, Obs. on, 88\n Lozenges, 233\n Orange Peel, for nervous people, 243\n Palpitation of the Heart, the cause and cure of, 173\n Do. oftener arises from Indigestion, than from Organic Disease,\n Pocket Pistol, how to charge a, 182\n Parkins, Sir Thomas, preferred Beef-Eaters to Sheep-Biters, 91\n Parliament, hints to Members of, 179\n Portable Soup, 249\n Party-Walls, their thinness, 76\n Peppermint Lozenges, 99, 173, 233\n Peptic Precepts, 156\n Prawns, 30\n Perspiration, the panacea for Corpulence, 125\n Scale of its pace at various ages, 45\n when languid, 73\n Peck, Mr., his Geographie de la Gourmandise, 185\n Piano-Fortes, 80\n Position, the influence of, in alleviating Disease, 97\n Port, the contents of a Pipe of, 130\n how to purchase, 140\n Purgatives, bad effects of violent, 157\n Peristaltic Persuaders, 215, 219\n how to make, 235\n for Children, 237\n Pills, the advantages of, 216\n Ragout, a restorative, when advisable, 204\n Regimen, Dr. Heberden's Obs. on, 198\n Dr. Armstrong's Do., 213\n Dr. Arbuthnot's Do., 215\n importance in chronic Complaints, 202\n Restorative, Extempore, 206\n Ratcliffe, Dr., quoted, 172\n Riding, useful to reduce Corpulence, 52\n Robinson, Dr. Bryan, extract from his Essay on Food and Discharges,\n his own regimen, 58\n Rhubarb, tincture of, to make, 217\n Rhubarb Pill, recommended by Dr. Pemberton, 220\n Rheumatism, remedy for, 265\n Ruptures, 112\n Relaxed Bowels, 228\n Cheyne on, 229\n Salad Oil, remedy for Constipation, 225\n Salt, the best Sauce, 210\n Sanctorius, the proportion of his Meat to his Drink, 57\n Sauces recommended by Dr. Moffet, 208\n Siesta, the, 68\n recommended, 94\n Do. by Sanctorius, 101\n Do. Cruickshank, 101\n Do. Dr. Darwin, 102\n Do. Dr. Harwood, 102\n Do. Mr. Abernethy, 102\n Do. Eng. Proverb, 103\n Do. Lord Bacon, 103\n Semi-Siesta, 23, 101\n Senna, tincture of, 217\n Second Courses, Obs. on, 167\n Scribblefast, Counsellor, his case, 78\n Shell Fish, 30\n Scudamore, Dr., quoted, 177\n Struve, Dr., Obs. on the importance of, 71\n time required to, 73\n Dr. Cheyne's remark on, note to, 87\n Exercise, the best source of it, 88\n other means of inviting it, 88\n Senses, few people have one perfect, 257\n Mr. Stewart's division of, into noxious and innocent, 257\n Supper, 24\n the best for those who dine late, 24\n Do. for those who dine early, 24\n Obs. on its influence on Sleep, 87\n Obs. on a solid one, 88\n Supper, best for the Dyspeptic, 90\n in the Morning, 186\n Singers, hints respecting their Health, 96\n Stark, his experiments on Diet, 29\n Obs. on the Saliva, 261\n Sparring, the exercise of recommended, 52\n weight reduced during an hour, 55\n Salads, 167\n Soup, how to season, 163\n Mock Turtle, 206\n of Rattle Snakes, 214\n Portable, to make, 249\n Sun-shine preferred by Dr. Franklin to Candle-light, 75\n Stock Fish, recommended by Dr. Mandeville, 207\n Sherry, the contents of a Butt of, 130\n analysed for the Editor, 138\n Scotch and Irish Whiskey, 149\n Soda Water, various ways of making, 245\n Stomach Warmers, where to be had, 158\n how much it will hold, note under, 158\n must occasionally have a Holiday, 163\n centre of Sympathy, 165\n Wind in the, 173\n put out of temper by fasting too long, 182\n Dr. Hunter says, tells the Head what it wants, 200\n let it have what it asks for, 203\n Dr. Whytt's Obs. on how much its disposition, &c. varies, 204\n of Invalids require screwing up, 208\n Cheyne's Obs. on the importance of a clean one, 216\n Stomachic Tinctures, 244\n Spice and Wine, 207\n Spasms in Stomach, how to manage, 173, 189\n Smith, Mr., his 60 sorts of Lozenges, 234\n Stewart, John, the traveller, his Obs. on Clothes, 106\n Do. on the Senses, 257\n Spallanzani quoted, 258\n Sweet Wines, 154\n Tar Water, 242\n Temperature, to preserve that of a room regular, 115\n best for sitting rooms, 116\n the influence of in alleviating Disease, 94\n the mean of England, 108\n Observations, &c., 113\n Thermometers, where to be placed, 105\n Tent Wine, 154\n Training, Captain Barclay's Obs. on, 3\n Do. quoted, 7\n principal rules for, 7\n Diet ordered, 10\n time required to screw a Man up to his fullest strength, 14\n Criterions of Good Condition, 15\n first preparation for, 18\n on the mode of Cookery, &c. most invigorating, 25\n Food must be taken warm, 26\n Do., and thoroughly done, 27\n John Hunter's Obs. on Do., 27\n Spallanzani, experiment to prove it, 27\n diet in wasting a Jockey, 29\n Teeth, to take care of, 260\n the value of, 261\n Food for those whose Teeth are defective, 263\n Preservers, 264\n Ache, remedy for, 265\n Tic Douloureux, 264\n Tewahdiddle, 89\n Tongue of Pityllus, 210\n Time, the Economy of, 69\n Tonic Medicines, 182, 219\n Tincture, 242\n Toast and Water, to make, 230\n Tablettes de Bouillon, how to make, 251\n Thriving, the art of, quoted, 255\n Valetudinarians, maxim for, from Comus, 72\n Vegetables, undressed, 171\n Voice, when the falsetto begins to fail, 47\n what the power of depends upon, 99\n Ventriloquism, 173, 200\n Vinum Britannicum, 144\n Wadd on Corpulency, 29\n Waistbands, 111\n Walking, how it reduces weight, 62\n Water-Cresses, 171\n Water-drinking, the advantages of, 147\n Weather, wet, 108\n Wesley, Mr. Chas., his extraordinary Ear, 47\n Windows, Double, 91\n Curtains, 91\n ounces in a Quart of, 128\n how to measure the contents of a bottle of, 128, 129\n Port, how old it ought to be, 132\n the art of preserving, 133\n White, why preferable to Red, 133, 153\n when to bottle, 133\n New, objection to, 135\n Do. to make old, 136\n Cornaro, Obs. on old, 136\n proportion of Alcohol in, 138\n Do. to Brandy, 138\n recommended by St. Paul, 143\n Iceing Wine, 143\n no man must drink it habitually before 30, 147\n Do. Dr. Trotter's Obs. on, 147\n silly rule of some people about drinking, 148\n the relative wholesomeness of, 151\n only three sorts of Wine, note under, 151\n three sorts of drinkers, 141\n Sweet Wines, Tent, &c., how made, 154\n Vinum Britannicum, 144\n Writers on, a list of, 154\n Whiskey, 149\n Wind in the Stomach, 173\n Whytt, Dr., quoted, 181\n his case of night-mare, 194\n Wholesomes, the, 207\n Worms, remedies for, 240\n Young, his Obs. on Sleep, 65\nTHE END.\nJ. MOYES, GREVILLE STREET, LONDON.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[1] The advantages of the training system are not confined to\npedestrians and pugilists alone--they extend to every man; and were\ntraining generally introduced instead of medicines, as an expedient for\nthe prevention and cure of diseases, its beneficial consequences would\npromote his happiness and prolong his life. \"Our Health, Vigour, and\nActivity, must depend upon regimen and exercise; or, in other words,\nupon the observance of those rules which constitute the theory of the\ntraining process.\"--CAPT. BARCLAY _on Training_, p. 239.\n\"It has been made a question, whether Training produces a _lasting_, or\nonly a _temporary_ effect on the constitution? It is undeniable, that if\na man be brought to a better condition; if corpulency, and the\nimpurities of his body disappear; and if his wind and strength be\nimproved by any process whatever, his good state of health will\ncontinue, until some derangement of his frame shall take place from\naccidental or natural causes. If he shall relapse into intemperance, or\nneglect the means of preserving his health, either by omitting to take\nthe necessary exercise, or by indulging in debilitating propensities, he\nmust expect such encroachments to be made on his constitution, as must\nsoon unhinge his system. But if he shall observe a different plan--the\nbeneficial effects of the training process will remain until the gradual\ndecay of his natural functions shall, in mature old age, intimate the\napproach of his dissolution.\"--CAPT. BARCLAY _on Training_, p. 240.\n[2] See the 338th aphorism in COULTON'S _Lacon_. 1820. 5th Edition.\n[3] \"Besides his usual or regular Exercise, a person under training\nought to employ himself, in the intervals, in every kind of exertion\nwhich tends to activity, such as cricket, bowls, throwing quoits, &c.\nthat during the whole day, both body and mind may be constantly\noccupied.\"--CAPT. BARCLAY _on Training_, p. 231.\n\"The nature of the disposition of the person trained should also be\nknown, that every cause of irritation may be avoided; for, as it\nrequires great patience and perseverance to undergo training, every\nexpedient to soothe and encourage the mind should be adopted.\"--CAPT.\nBARCLAY _on Training_, p. 237.\n[4] Forty years ago, Balls, &c. used to begin in the Evening, _i. e._ at\nseven, and end at Night, _i. e._ twelve; now it is _extremely ungenteel_\nto begin before Midnight, or finish till the Morning.\n[5] \"The Studious, the Contemplative, the Valetudinary, and those of\nweak nerves--if they aim at Health and Long Life, must make Exercise in\na good air, a part of their Religion.\"--CHEYNE _on Long Life_, p. 98.\n\"Whenever circumstances would permit, I have recommended patients to\ntake as much exercise as they could, short of producing fatigue; to live\nmuch in the open air; and, if possible, not to suffer their minds to be\nagitated by anxiety or fatigued by exertion.\"--p. 90.\n\"I do not allow the state of the weather to be urged as an objection to\nthe prosecution of measures so essential to Health, since it is in the\npower of every one to protect themselves from cold by clothing, and the\nexercise may be taken in a chamber with the windows thrown open, by\nactively walking backwards and forwards, as sailors do on\nship-board.\"--p. 93. See ABERNETHY'S _Surgical Observations_. 1817.\n[6] One of the invariable consequences of training is to increase the\nsolidity, and diminish the frequency of the alvine exoneration, and\npersons become costive as they improve in condition:--if this\ndisposition takes place to an inconvenient degree,--see _Peptic\n[7] \"Animal Food being composed of the most nutritious parts of the food\non which the animal lived, and having been already digested by the\nproper organs of an animal--requires only solution and mixture--whereas\nvegetable food must be converted into a substance of an animal nature by\nthe proper action of our own viscera, and consequently requires more\nlabour of the stomach, and other digestive organs.\"--BURTON _on the\nNon-Naturals_, p. 213.\n[8] The following was the Food taken by Capt. Barclay in his most\nextraordinary walk of 1000 miles in 1000 successive hours, June 1, 1809.\n\"He _Breakfasted_ after returning from his walk, at five in the morning.\nHe ate a roasted Fowl, and drank a pint of strong Ale, and then took two\ncups of Tea with Bread and Butter.\n\"He _Lunched_ at twelve; the one day on Beef Steaks, and the other on\nMutton Chops, of which he ate a considerable quantity.\n\"He _Dined_ at six, either on Roast Beef, or Mutton Chops. His drink was\nPorter, and two or three glasses of wine.\n\"He _Supped_ at eleven, on a cold fowl. He ate such vegetables as were\nin season; and the quantity of Animal food he took daily, was from five\nto six pounds.\"--See _Pedestrianism_, p. 6.\n\"_His style of Walking is_ to bend forward the body, and to throw its\nweight on the knees. His step is short, and his feet are raised only a\nfew inches from the ground. Any person who will try this plan, will find\nthat his pace will be quickened, at the same time he will walk with more\nease to himself, and be better able to endure the fatigue of a long\njourney, than by walking in a posture perfectly erect, which throws too\nmuch of the weight of the body on the ankle-joints. He always uses\nthick-soled shoes, and lamb's wool stockings. It is a good rule to shift\nthe stockings frequently during the performance of a long distance; but\nit is indispensably requisite to have shoes with thick soles, and so\nlarge, that all unnecessary pressure on the feet may be avoided.\"--p.\n[9] \"According to the force of the Chylopoetic Organs, a larger or less\nquantity of Chyle may be abstracted from the same quantity of\nFood.\"--ARBUTHNOT _on Aliment_, p. 24.\n[10] \"Nothing comes to perfection under a stated period of growth; and\ntill it attains this, it will, of course, afford inferior nutriment.\nBeef and Mutton are much easier of digestion, and more nutritious, than\nVeal or Lamb. If the flesh of Mutton and Lamb, Beef and Veal, are\ncompared, they will be found of a different texture, the two young meats\nof a more stringy indivisible nature than the others, which makes them\nharder of digestion.\"--_Domestic Management_, 12mo. 1813. p. 151.\n[11] \"_A 40 Winks Nap_,\" in an Horizontal posture, is the most reviving\npreparative for any great exertion of either the Mind or the Body;--to\nwhich it is as proper an _Overture_ as it is a _Finale_.--See _Siesta_,\n[12] \"Few persons, even in the best health, can, without disgust, bear\nto be confined to a peculiar food, or way of living, for any length of\ntime, (which is a strong argument that variety of food is natural to\nmankind); and if so,--the debilitated stomachs of Valetudinarians cannot\nbe expected to be less fastidious.\"--FALCONER _on Diet_, p. 8.\n[13] \"It appears from my experiments, that _boiled_, and _roasted_, and\neven _putrid_ meat, is easier of digestion than _raw_.\"--See J. HUNTER\n_on the Animal Economy_, p. 220.\n[14] \"Newmarket affords abundant proofs, how much may be done by\ntraining; Jockies sometimes reduce themselves a Stone and a half in a\nweek.\"--WADD _on Corpulency_, 8vo. 1816.--p. 35.\n[15] \"A Dog was fed on the _Richest Broth_, yet could not be kept alive;\nwhile another, which had only the _Meat boiled to a Chip_, (and water),\nthrove very well. This shows the folly of attempting to nourish Men by\nconcentrated Soups, Jellies, &c.\"--SINCLAIR'S _Code of Health_.\nIf this experiment be accurate--what becomes of the theoretic visions of\nthose who have written about Strengthening Jellies, Nourishing Broths,\n[16] \"The excesses of our Youth, are drafts upon our old Age, payable\nwith interest, about twenty years after date.\"--COLTON'S _Lacon_. 5th\n The Teeth are renewed at the 7th year.\n The vigour of growth at four times seven 28.\n The greatest vigour of Body and Mind at five times seven 35.\n The commencement of decay at six times seven 42.\n General Decay, and decrease of energy, at seven times seven 49.\n And the grand climacteric of the Ancients at nine times seven 63.\nDr. JAMESON _on the Changes of the Human Body_, p. 31.\n[18] \"Cornaro found that as the powers of his stomach declined with the\npowers of Life in general, that it was necessary that he should diminish\nthe quantity of his food; and by so doing, he retained to the last the\nfeelings of Health.\"--ABERNETHY'S _Surg. Obs._ p. 71.\n[19] And for Culinary Operators from 25 to 40. Before the former, they\ncan hardly accumulate sufficient experience; and after the latter, they\nevery day lose a portion of their \"_bon go\u00fbt_\" and activity.\n[20] See his sensible Essay on the Changes of the Human Body at\ndifferent Ages. 8vo. 1811.--p. 89.\n \"The Pulse in the new-born Infant, while\n placidly sleeping, is about 140 in a minute.\n Towards the end of the first Year 124\n Towards the end of the second Year 110\n Towards the end of the third and fourth Years 96\n When the first Teeth drop out 86\n BLUMENBACH'S _Physiology_, p. 40.\nThe expectations of Life are thus calculated by De Moivre--Subtract the\nage of the person from 86, half the remainder will be the expectation of\nthat Life.\n[22] See the history of a case of Spectacles, &c. in page 61 of Dr.\nKITCHINER'S _Practical Observations on Telescopes, Opera Glasses,\n&c._--Third Edition.\n[23] \"In proportion as the powers of the Stomach are weak, so ought we\nto diminish the quantity of our food, and take care that it be as\nnutritive, and as easy of digestion as possible.\"--ABERNETHY'S _Surgical\nObservations_, p. 67.\n[24] \"Nothing is a greater Enemy to feeble life, than laying aside old\nhabits--or leaving a climate, or place, to which one has been long\naccustomed: the irritation occasioned by such changes is highly\nprejudicial.\n\"Even pernicious habits, insalubrious air, &c. must be abandoned with\ngreat caution--or we shall thereby hasten the end of our\nPatient.\"--STRUVE'S _Asthenology_, p. 398.\n[25] \"Those who have lived longest, have been persons without either\nAvarice or Ambition, enjoying that tranquillity of Soul, which is the\nsource of the happiness and health of our early days--and strangers to\nthose torments of mind which usually accompany more advanced years, and\nby which the Body is wasted and consumed.\"--_Code of Health_, vol. i. p.\n\"In the return made by Dr. ROBERTSON, (and published by Sir JOHN\nSINCLAIR, in the 164th page of the second volume of the Appendix to his\nCode of Health,) from Greenwich Hospital, of 2410 In-Pensioners,\nninety-six--_i. e._ about one-twenty-fifth are beyond eighty--thirteen\nbeyond ninety--and one beyond one hundred. They almost all used\n_Tobacco_--and most of them acknowledged the habit of _Drinking_ freely.\nSome of them had _no teeth_ for twenty years--and fourteen only had good\nones--one who was one hundred and thirteen years old, had lost all his\nTeeth upwards of thirty years.\n\"The organ of _Vision_ was impaired in about one-half--that of _Hearing_\nin only one-fifth: this may be accounted for--the _Eye_ is a more\ndelicate organ than the _Ear_--and the least deterioration of its action\nis more immediately observed.--Of the _ninety-six_ they almost all had\nbeen married, and _four_ of them after eighty years of age--only nine\nwere Batchelors--this is a strong argument in favour of Matrimony.\n\"_The Best Ages for Marriage_, all other circumstances being favourable,\nare between the eighteenth and twenty-fifth year for Females, and\nbetween the twenty-fifth and thirty-sixth for Males. The body is then in\nthe most complete state to propagate a healthy Offspring--the Ages when\nthe prolific powers begin to cease in both sexes will nearly\ncorrespond--and the probable expectation of Life will be sufficiently\nlong, for parents to provide for their children.\"--JAMESON _on the Human\n[26] \"Regular and sufficient Sleep, serves on the one hand, for\nrepairing the lost powers, and on the other, for lessening consumption,\nby lessening vital activity. Hence the lives of people who are exposed\nto the most debilitating fatigue, are prolonged to a considerable age,\nwhen they enjoy Sleep in its fullest extent.\"--STRUVE'S _Asthenology_,\n[27] \"It is a perfect barbarism to awake any one, when Sleep, that \"balm\nof hurt minds,\" is exerting its benign influence, and the worn body is\nreceiving its most cheering restorative.\"--_Hints for the Preservation\nof Health_, 12mo.\n[28] In high Health seven or eight hours will complete this refreshment,\nand hence arises the false inference drawn from an observation probably\njust, that long-lived persons are always early risers: not that early\nrising makes them long-lived, but that people in the highest vigour of\nHealth are naturally early risers--- because they sleep more soundly,\nand all that repose can do for them, is done in less time, than with\nthose who sleep less soundly. A disposition to lie in Bed beyond the\nusual hour, generally arises from some derangement of the Digestive\nOrgans.--_Hints for the Preservation of Health_, p. 32.\n[29] The best Fire-feeder is a pair of Steak Tongs.\n[30] The method taken to tame unruly Colts, &c. is to walk them about\nthe whole of the night previous to attempting to break them:--want of\nSleep speedily subdues the spirit of the wildest, and the strength of\nthe strongest creatures, and renders savage animals tame and tractable.\n[31] In Vienna, Berlin, Paris, and London, the twentieth or twenty-third\nperson dies annually; while, in the Country around them, the proportion\nis only one in thirty or forty; in remote country villages, from one in\nforty to one in fifty--the smallest degree of human mortality on record\nis one in sixty.\n \"When warm with Hope, in Life's aspiring morn,\n The Tints of Fancy every scene adorn,\n The glowing landscape charms the poet's view,\n And Youth believes the fairy prospect true.\n But soon, Experience proves his Eye betray'd,\n And all the picture darkens into shade.\"\n FITZGERALD.\n _Beautifully Set to Music by_ SHIELD,\n _and printed in his Cento._\n[33] \"Above all,--it is of essential importance to Health, to preserve\nthe tranquillity of the mind,--and not to sink under the disappointments\nof life, to which all, but particularly the old, are frequently\nexposed.--Nothing ought to disturb the mind of an individual who is\nconscious of having done all the good in his power.\"--SINCLAIR'S _Code\nof Health_, p. 459.\n\"Nothing hurts more the nervous System, and particularly the concoctive\npowers, than fear, grief, or anxiety.\"--WHYTT on _Nerves_, p. 349.\n\"I shall add to my list, as _the eighth deadly sin_, that of ANXIETY OF\nMIND; and resolve not to be pining and miserable, when I ought to be\ngrateful and happy.\"--Sir THOMAS BARNARD, Bt. _on the Comforts of Old\n\"Anguish of mind has driven thousands to suicide; anguish of body, none.\n\"This proves that the health of the Mind, is of far more consequence to\nour happiness than the health of the Body;--both are deserving of much\nmore attention than either of them receive.\"--COULTON'S _Lacon_. 1820,\n[34] \"Sleep is _sound_--_sweet_--and _refreshing_, according as the\nalimentary organs are _easy_, _quiet_, and _clean_.\"--CHEYNE _on Long\n[35] \"The _Grog_ on board a ship is generally one Spirit and three\nwaters--this is too strong.\"--See the Hon. JOHN COCHRANE'S _Seaman's\n[36] If they are not extremely well made, by a superior workman--and of\nseasoned Wood,--they are of little or no use.\n[37] \"_Cold_ Drink is an enemy to Concoction, and the parent of\nCrudities.\"--_Essay on Warm Beer_, 8vo. p. 15.\n[38] To make BEEF TEA.--Cut a pound of lean gravy Meat into thin\nslices,--put it into a quart and half a pint of cold water, set it over\na gentle fire where it will become gradually warm--when the scum rises\ncatch it, cover the saucepan close, and let it continue boiling for\nabout two hours,--skim the fat off, strain it through a sieve or napkin,\nskim it again--let it stand ten minutes to settle, and then pour off the\nclear Tea.\nTo make half a pint of _Beef Tea_ in five minutes for three halfpence,\nsee (No. 252),--and to make good _Mutton Broth_ for nothing, (No. 490),\nof _the third Edition_ of the \"COOK'S ORACLE.\"\nN.B. An Onion, and a few grains of Black Pepper, are sometimes added. If\nthe meat is boiled till it is thoroughly tender, mince it, and pound it\nas directed in (No. 503) OF THE COOK'S ORACLE, and you may have a dish\nof _Potted Beef_ for the trouble of making it.\n[39] Brandy and _Liqueur_ Merchant, No. 2, Colonnade, Pall Mall.\n[40] Thermometers intended to give the temperature of Rooms, should be\nso placed as to be equally removed from the radiant heat of the\nFire--and from currents of Air from the Door.\nOut of Doors they should be in a northern situation, sheltered from\nSunshine, or reflected Heat, &c.\n[41] The following _Observations_ on Clothing, are copied from the life\nof John Stewart, the Traveller, printed for Egerton, 1813, p. 9.--\"I\nclothed myself at all times very warm, and by buttoning and unbuttoning\nI could accommodate to the sudden change of climate and season, and\npreserved thereby that equilibre of the secretions and excrements on\nwhich Health and Life depends; for clothing forms a factitious heat, as\na substitute to the muscular heat, declining with age or sickness; on\nwhich action of heat vitality and all the other functions of vital\norganism depend.\"\n[42] THE BEST SLIPPERS are a pair of old shoes--_the worst_, those of\nplaited cloth--which make the feet tender--and are a hotter covering for\nthem in the House--than you give them when you go out.\n[43] \"Only Fools and Beggars suffer from Cold, the latter not being able\nto procure sufficient clothes, the former not having the sense to wear\nthem.\"--BOERHAAVE.\n[44] \"Narrow sleeves are a very great check on the muscular exercise of\nthe Arms--the Waistcoat, in its present fashionable form, may be very\nproperly termed a strait one. The Waistcoat should be long enough to\ncover the breeches two or three inches all round. The wrists and knees,\nbut more particularly the latter, are braced with ligatures, or tight\nbuttoning; and the Legs, which require the utmost freedom of motion, are\nsecured into leathern cases or Boots--though the wearer perhaps is never\nmounted on Horseback.\n\"To complete the whole, as the _Head_ is confined by a tight Hat, but\nrarely suited to its natural shape, so in regard to shoes the shape of\nthe foot and the easy expansion of the Toes are never consulted--but the\nshape regulated by the fashion of the Day, however tight and\nuncomfortable.\"--SINCLAIR'S _Code of Health_, 4th Edit. p. 357.\n[45] \"Those who do not take a sufficient quantity of EXERCISE--soon\nsuffer from a number of Disorders,--want of Appetite--want of\nSleep--flatulence, &c. &c. Obstruction--relaxation of the Bowels--and\nall the diversified symptoms of Nervous Complaints. Men of Letters\nsuffer much, and from neglecting to take Exercise, are often the most\nunhealthy of human beings--even that Temperance by which many of them\nare distinguished, is no effectual remedy against the mischiefs of a\nsedentary life, which can only be counteracted by a proper quantity of\nExercise and Air.\"\n[46] \"Stays and stiff Jackets are most pernicious; they disfigure the\nbeautiful and upright shape of a Woman, and injure the Breast and\nBowels; obstruct the breathing and digestion; hurt the breast and\nnipples so much that many Mothers have been prevented by their use from\nsuckling their Children; many hence get Cancers, and at last lose both\nHealth and Life--for they render the delivery of Women very difficult\nand dangerous both to Mother and Child.\"--_From_ DR. FAUST'S _Catechism\nof Health_, 12mo. p. 39. Edinburgh, 1797.\n[47] \"Stagnant air becomes corrupted in the same manner as stagnant\nwater,--opening windows and making currents of air, are the best means\nof purifying it.\"--STRUVE'S _Asthenology_, p. 348.\n[48] \"The natural heat of the Human Body is 98 of Fahrenheit's\nThermometer--any temperature applied to it lower than 98, gives a\nsensation of Cold, but if the temperature applied is not below 62, the\nsensation of cold will not continue long, but be soon changed to a\nsensation of heat, and in this climate, Air, &c. applied to the living\nman, does not diminish the temperature of his Body, unless the\ntemperature of it be below 62; if it is above that, it increases\nit.\"--CULLEN'S _First Lines_, vol. i. p. 130.\n[49] \"The Cordials, Volatiles, Bracers, Strengtheners, &c. given by\ncommon practitioners, may keep up an increased circulation for a few\nhours, but their action soon subsides.\n_\"The Circulation of the Blood can only be properly carried on through\nthe medium of Exercise or labour._--See page 38.\n\"Art cannot come up to Nature in this most salutary of all her\noperations. That sprightly Vigour, and alacrity of Health, which we\nenjoy in an active course of Life--that Zest in appetite, and\nrefreshment after eating, which sated Luxury seeks in vain from art, is\nowing wholly to new blood made every day from fresh food, prepared and\ndistributed by the joint action of all the parts of the Body.\"--CADOGAN\n_on Gout_, p. 34.\n[50] \"There is no rule more essential to those who are advanced in Life,\nthan never to give way to a remission of Exercise. By degrees the demand\nfor exercise may shrink, in extreme old age, to little more than a bare\nquit-rent; but that quit-rent must be paid, since life is held by the\ntenure.\n\"Whoever examines the accounts handed down to us of the Longest Livers,\nwill generally find, that to the very last they used some exercise, as\nwalking a certain distance every day, &c. This is mentioned as something\nsurprising in them, considering their great age; whereas the truth is,\nthat their living to such an age, without some such exercise, would have\nbeen the wonder. Exercise keeps off obstructions, which are the\nprincipal sources of diseases, and ultimately of death. Motion then is\nthe tenure of life; and old people who humour or indulge an inclination\nto sloth and inactivity, (which is too apt to grow upon them on the\nleast encouragement), act as unwisely as the poor traveller, who,\nbewildered in trackless snow, and surprised by a chilling frost, instead\nof resisting the temptation to sleep, suffers it to steal upon him,\nthough he knows, that, by its fatal blandishments, he can never expect\nto wake again, but must inevitably perish.\"--_Institutes of Health_, p.\n[51] \"The most ignorant person knows, that proper care of the skin is\nindispensably necessary for the well-being of horses, &c.\n\"The Groom often denies himself rest, that he may dress and curry his\nhorses sufficiently; it is, therefore, wonderful, that the enlightened\npeople of these days should neglect the care of their own skin so much,\nthat I think I may, without exaggeration, assert, that _among the\ngreater part of men,--the Pores of the Skin are half closed and unfit\nfor use_.\"--From p. 235 of HUFFELAND'S _Art of Prolonging Life_,--which\npersons of all ages may peruse with much advantage.\n[52] A _thick Crust_ is not always the consequence of the Wine having\nbeen very long time in the Bottle--but is rather a sign that it was too\nlittle time in the Cask, or has been kept in a very cold cellar.\n[53] \"Had the man that first filled the _Heidelburgh Tun_, been placed\nas sentinel to see that no other Wine was put into it, I believe that he\nwould have found it much better at 25 or 30 years old, than at 100 or\n150, had he lived so long--retained his senses, and been permitted now\nand then to taste it--a privilege with which the natives are seldom\nindulged.\n\"To give a great price for Wine, and keep it till it begins to perish,\nis a great pity.\" I cannot believe that very aged Wine, when bordering\non Acid, is wholesome, though some Wine-drinkers seem to prefer it in\nthat state. \"Respecting _Port Wine_, there is a great fuss made by some\nabout its _age_, and the _crust_ on the bottle; as if the age and crust\non the bottle constituted the quality of the Wine.\" \"Such _crusty_\ngentlemen shall not select Wine for me.\"--YOUNG'S _Epicure_, 8vo. 1815,\n[54] \"Wines bottled in good order, may be fit to drink in six months,\n(especially if bottled in October), but they are not in perfection\nbefore twelve. From that to two years they may continue so; but it would\nbe improper to keep them longer.\"--_Edinburgh Encyclop. Britan._ vol.\nxviii. p. 72, Article _Wine_.\n[55] \"Cork the bottles very closely with good Cork, and lay them on\ntheir sides, that the Cork may not dry and facilitate the access of the\nair. For the greater safety, the Cork may be covered with a coating of\ncerement applied by means of a Brush, or the neck of the bottle may be\nimmersed in a mixture of melted wax, rosin, or pitch.\"--ACCUM _on making\n[56] A PUNCHEON OF BRANDY containing 130 Gallons, after remaining in\nCask in a Merchant's Cellar for three years, lost two Gallons in\nmeasure, and ten Gallons in strength. The stronger the Spirit, the\nsooner it evaporates.\nThe London Dock Company are not answerable for any decrease of quantity\nin a PIPE OF WINE left under their care, provided it does not exceed one\nGallon for each year--which it is supposed to waste in that time.\n[57] CORNARO complains that _old_ Wine was very disagreeable to his\nStomach, and _new_ wine very grateful; his dose was fourteen ounces,\n(_i. e._ seven wine-glasses) per day.\n[58] \"Fermented liquors furnish very different proportions of\nAlcohol--and it has been sometimes supposed that it does not pre-exist\nto the amount in which it is obtained by distillation; but some\nexperiments I made upon the subject in 1811 and 1813, and which are\nprinted in the _Phil. Trans._ for three years, tend to show that it is a\nreal educt, and not formed by the action of heat upon the elements\nexisting in the fermented liquor. The following table exhibits the\nproportion of Alcohol by measure, existing in one hundred pints of\nWine.\"--BRANDE'S _Manual of Chemistry_, 8vo. 1819, p. 400.\n Madeira 24 per cent Alcohol.\n[59] \"It would save many lives if Gin, &c. was not allowed to be sold\nuntil reduced to one third the strength of Proof Spirit. People do not\nat first drink from any liking or desire, but being cold, or faint with\nhunger or fatigue, they find immediate comfort and refreshment from the\nuse of Spirits--and as they can purchase a dram with less money than\nthey can cover their back, or fill their belly, so they gratify the\nstrongest and least expensive appetite--and insensibly become\ndrunkards.\"\n\"Ardent Spirits are not only eminently destructive to the Body, but are\nthe most powerful incentives to Vice of every kind; Drunkenness\nengenders all other Crimes. Does the Robber pause in his Trade? Does the\nMurderer hesitate?--they are presently wound up at the Gin shop. Has the\nSeducer tried his arts in vain? The Brothel is more indebted to this\nsource, than to all the other lures to Seduction.\"--From _Hints for the\nPreservation of Health_.--CALLOW, 1813, 12mo. p. 2.\n\"There are _Three sorts of Drinkers_: one drinks to satisfy Nature, and\nto support his Body, and requires it as necessary to his Being.\n\"Another drinks a _degree_ beyond this, and takes a larger dose to\nexhilarate and cheer his mind, and help him to sleep--these two are\nlawful drinkers.\n\"A third drinks neither for the good of the Body or the Mind, but to\nstupify and drown both.\"--MAYNWARINGE _on Health, &c._ 12mo. 1683, p.\n[60] JOHNSON'S WITTE CURA\u00c7OA takes precedence of all the _Liqueurs_ we\nhave ever tasted.\n[61] \"The _Blood_ of the _Grape_ appeareth to be Blood, in it is Life,\nit is from the _Vine_, and that the Plant of life; and that the\ndifference between this Plant, and the Tree of Life in Paradise, were\nbut _magis_ and _minus_, is not so improbable as to be rejected by any,\nfor they will be both granted Plants of Life, and they very much respond\nin their nature as well as Appellation. What the fruit was that sprang\nfrom that in Paradise, is not as yet known, or not so perfectly\nunderstood as that of the Vine, the nature of which is so lively as that\n_Galen_ will affirm it to augment radical heat, which is the way to live\nfor ever.\"--See Dr. WHITAKER _on the Blood of the Grape_, 16mo. 1654, p.\n[62] In our PEPTIC PRECEPTS, we have pointed out the most convenient\nways of counteracting the dilapidating effects of excessive vinous\nirrigation, which is doubly debilitating,--when you suffer the\nfascinations of the festive Bowl to seduce You to sacrifice to Bacchus,\nthose hours which are due to the drowsy God of Night.\n[63] \"More or less _Alcohol_ is necessary to support the usual vigour of\nthe greater number of people even in Health--nothing therefore can be\nmore injudicious than wholly to deprive them of this support when they\nare weakened by disease--Dyspeptics who have been accustomed to its use,\ncannot be deprived of it--a very moderate use of Wine can hardly be said\nto be injurious: we see those who use it in this way, live as long, and\nenjoy as good health, as those who wholly abstain from it.\"--Dr. PHILIP,\n_on Indigestion_, 8vo. 1821, pp. 139 and 144.\n[64] \"No man in health can need Wine till he arrives at 40: he may then\nbegin with two glasses in the day: at 50 he may add two more.\"--See\nTROTTER _on Drunkenness_, 1804, p. 151.\n[65] _Scotch or Irish_ WHISKEY is an infinitely purer spirit than\n_English_ GIN--which is an uncertain compound of various Essential Oils,\n[66] Brandy and _Liqueur_ Merchant, No. 2, Colonnade, Pall Mall.\n[67] TO MAKE A QUART OF CURA\u00c7OA.--To a pint of the cleanest and\nstrongest _Rectified Spirit_, (sold by Rickards, Piccadilly,) add two\ndrachms and a half of the _Sweet Oil of Orange Peel_, (sold by Stewart,\nNo. 11, Old Broad Street, near the Bank,) shake it up,--dissolve a pound\nof good Lump Sugar in a pint of cold water, make this into a Clarified\nSyrup, (No. 475), which add to the Spirit, shake it up, and let it stand\ntill the following day--then line a funnel with a piece of muslin, and\nthat with filtering paper, and filter it two or three times till it is\nquite bright;--or dissolve a drachm and a half of Carbonate of Potash in\nabout a quarter pint of the Liqueur by rubbing it together in a\nmortar--adding it to the Liqueur, and shaking it well up--then\nincorporate a like quantity of pounded Alum in another quarter pint of\nthe Liqueur--and return it to the Liqueur, shake it well up--and in a\nlittle time it will become fine. This Liqueur is an admirable\ncordial--and a tea-spoonful in a Tumbler of water, is a very refreshing\nSummer drink, and a great improvement to PUNCH.\n_Obs._ We do not offer this Receipt as a Rival to Mr. Johnson's\nCura\u00e7oa--it is only proposed as an humble substitute for that\nincomparable Liqueur.\n[68] \"Il y a pour le Gourmet plus de soixante sortes de vins;--il n'y en\na que trois pour le Chimiste;--savoir, les vins mousseux, les vins\nfaits, les vins sucr\u00e9s. Le sucre existe tout form\u00e9 par la nature dans\nles raisins m\u00fbrs de tous les pays; sa proportion fait la principale\ndiff\u00e9rence des vins; c'est le sucre seul qui \u00e9tablit la fermentation\nvineuse: si l'on enferme le vin avant qu'elle soit termin\u00e9e, le gaz, qui\n\u00e9tait sur le point de s'\u00e9chapper, reste dans la liqueur, et le vin est\nmousseux. _Ce gaz est de l'acide carbonique_, le m\u00eame air qui fait\nmousser le cidre, la bi\u00e8re, l'hydromel, et les eaux min\u00e9rales de Seltz,\nde Chateldon. Il est dangereux \u00e0 respirer en quantit\u00e9, puisqu'il\nasphyxie les animaux; mais il est tr\u00e8s-salubre \u00e0 boire ainsi combin\u00e9.\nSi, au contraire, la fermentation est termin\u00e9e, le sucre s'est chang\u00e9\ndans le vin, en _eau de vie_, qui tient en dissolution le tartre, le\nprincipe colorant, et le principe extractif du raisin. Voil\u00e0, ce qui\nconstitue les vins faits; ils ne moussent plus, et ils sont plus ou\nmoins g\u00e9n\u00e9reux suivant les proportions de leurs principes.\n\"Enfin, quand le sucre naturel au raisin est trop abondant pour\nfermenter en totalit\u00e9, une portion reste dans la liqueur sous forme de\nSirop, et constitue les vins sucr\u00e9s d'Espagne, de Constance, etc.--La\ndiff\u00e9rence de saveur d\u00e9pend d'un ar\u00f4me particulier, propre au raisin de\nchaque climat.\"--_Cours Gastronomique_, 8vo. 1809. p. 289.\n[69] \"The human Stomach is capable, in the adult, of containing about\nthree quarts of water.\"--BLUMENBACH'S _Physiology_, p. 145.\n[70] \"By adopting an abstinent plan of diet, even to a degree that\nproduces a sensation of want in the System, we do that which is most\nlikely to create appetite and increase the powers of\ndigestion.\"--ABERNETHY'S _Surg. Obs._ 68.\n[71] To make BEEF or MUTTON TEA.--Cut a pound of lean gravy-meat into\nthin slices--put it into a quart and half a pint of cold water--set it\nover a gentle fire where it will become gradually warm--when the skum\nrises catch it, cover the Saucepan close, and let it continue boiling\nfor about two hours--skim the fat off, strain it through a sieve or a\nnapkin--skim it again--let it stand ten minutes to settle, and then pour\noff the clear Tea. To make _half a pint_ of BEEF TEA _in five minutes\nfor three half-pence_, see No. 252; and to make good _Mutton Broth for\nNothing_, No. 490.\nN.B.--An Onion, and a few grains of Black Pepper, &c. are sometimes\nadded. If the Meat is boiled till it is thoroughly tender, mince it and\npound it as directed in No. 503 of the COOK'S ORACLE--and you may have a\ndish of POTTED BEEF for the trouble of making it.\n[72] \"Il y a trois sortes d'app\u00e9tits; celui que l'on \u00e9prouve \u00e0 je\u00fbn;\nsensation imp\u00e9rieuse qui ne chicane point sur le mets, et qui vous fait\nvenir l'eau \u00e0 la bouche, \u00e0 l'aspect d'un bon rago\u00fbt. Je le compare au\nd\u00e9sir imp\u00e9tueux d'un jeune homme qui voit sourire la beaut\u00e9 qu'il\naime.--_Le second_ app\u00e9tit est celui que l'on ressent lorsque, s'\u00e9tant\nmis \u00e0 table sans faim, on a d\u00e9j\u00e0 go\u00fbt\u00e9 d'un plat succulent, et qui a\nconsacr\u00e9 le proverbe, _l'app\u00e9tit vient en mangeant_. Je l'assimile \u00e0\nl'\u00e9tat d'un mari dont le c\u0153ur ti\u00e8de s'\u00e9chauffe aux premi\u00e8res caresses\nde sa femme.--_Le troisi\u00e8me_ app\u00e9tit est celui qu'excite un mets\nd\u00e9licieux qui para\u00eet \u00e0 la fin d'un repas, lorsque, l'estomac satisfait,\nl'homme sobre allait quitter la table sans regret. Celui-l\u00e0 trouve son\nembl\u00e8me dans les feux du libertinage, qui quoique illusoires, font\nna\u00eetre cependant quelques plaisirs r\u00e9els. La connaissance de cette\nm\u00e9taphysique de l'app\u00e9tit doit guider le Cuisinier habile dans la\ncomposition du premier, du second et du troisi\u00e8me service.\"--_Cours\nGastronomique_, p. 64.\n[73] \"It is but INCREASING or _diminishing_ the velocity of certain\nfluids in the animal machine,--to elate the Soul with the gayest\nhopes,--or to sink her into the deepest despair; to depress the HERO\ninto a _Coward_--or advance the _Coward_ into a HERO.\"--FITZOSBORNE'S\n_Letters_, 1. viii.\n \"SALT, PEPPER, and MUSTARD, ay, VINEGAR too,\n Are quite as unwholesome as CURRY I vow,\n All lovers of Goose, Duck, or Pig, he'll engage,\n That eat it with Onion, Salt, Pepper or Sage,\n Will find ill effects from 't,\" and therefore no doubt\n Their prudence should tell them,--best eat it without!\n But, alas! these are subjects on which there's no reas'ning,\n For you'll still eat your Goose, Duck, or Pig, with its seas'ning;\n And what is far worse--notwithstanding his huffing,\n You'll make for your Hare and your Veal a good stuffing:\n And I fear, if a Leg of good Mutton you boil\n With Sauce of vile Capers, that Mutton you'll spoil;\n And tho', as you think, to procure good Digestion,\n A mouthful of Cheese is the best thing in question:\n \"In _Gath_ do not tell, nor in _Askalon_ blab it,\n You're strictly forbidden to eat a _Welsh Rabbit_.\"\n And _Bread_, \"the main staff of our life,\" some will call\n No more nor no less,--than \"the worst thing of all.\"--\nSee THE LADY'S _Address to Willy Cadogan in his Kitchen_, 4to. 1771.\nSome Minute Philosopher has published an 8vo. pamphlet of 56 pages! on\nthe omnipotent \"_virtues of a Crust of Bread eaten early in the morning\nfasting!!_\" We have no doubt it is an admirable Specific for that\ngrievous disorder of the Stomach called Hunger.\n[75] Are very crude indigestible materials for a weak Stomach, unless\nwarmed by (No. 372);--with the assistance of which, and plenty of\nPepper, you may eat even _Cucumber_ with impunity.\n[76] DR. RADCLIFFE, who succeeded better by speaking plainly to his\nPatients, than some of his successors have by the most subtle\nPoliteness,--when asked what _was the best Remedy for Wind in the\nStomach_, replied, \"That which will expel it quickest\"--inquiring of the\nVentose subject whether the Wind passed _per Ascensum_, _vel per\nDescensum_, observing,--that the former is the most aggravated state of\n_Ventriloquism_, the latter a sign that the Bowels are recovering their\nHealthful Tone.\n[77] \"My Stomach digests food so slowly, that I cannot study for five or\nsix hours after a very sparing dinner.\"--SPALLANZANI _on Digestion,\n\"If the quantity of Food be given, its Quality will cause a difference\nin the time of digesting; for instance, slimy and viscid meats are\nlonger in digesting in the Stomach than meats of a contrary nature; the\nflesh of some young animals is not so soon digested as the flesh of the\nsame animals arrived at their full growth; thus _Veal_ and _Lamb_ are\nnot so soon digested as _Beef_ and _Mutton_.\n\"A man who took a vomit every second night for some months, observed,\nthat when he had taken CHICKEN for Dinner, he always threw it up\nundigested, but never threw up any of his Food undigested when he made\nhis Dinner of _Beef_ or _Mutton_.\"--BRYAN ROBINSON _on the Food and\nDischarges of Human Bodies_, 1748, p. 95.\nBeef and Mutton seem to give less trouble to the Editor's Stomach than\nany kind of Poultry.\nThe following is copied from Dr. Scudamore on Gout, 2d Edition, p. 509,\nbeing some of the Experiments related by Mr. Astley Cooper in his\nlecture delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons in 1814, which have\nonly been published in Dr. S.'s book, who informs us, they were\nperformed upon Dogs, with a view to ascertain the comparative solvent\npower of the gastric juice upon different articles of food.\n \"_Experiment 5._\n Food. Form. Quantity. Animal killed. Loss by\n \"_Experiment 6._\n Food. Form. Quantity. Animal killed. Loss by\n \"_Experiment 9._\n[78] \"Those who have _weak stomachs_, will be better able to digest\ntheir food, if they take their meals at _regular hours_; because they\nhave both the stimulus of the aliment they take, and the periodical\nhabit to assist digestion.\"--DARWIN'S _Zoonomia_, vol. i. p. 454.\n\"We often tease and disorder our Stomachs by fasting for too long a\nperiod, and when we have thus brought on what I may call a discontented\nstate of the organ, unfitting it for its office, we set to a meal, and\nfill it to its utmost, regardless of its powers or its\nfeelings.\"--ABERNETHY'S _Surg. Obs._ p. 70.\n[79] \"A Philosopher being asked what was _the best time to dine_,\nanswered,--For a Rich man, when he could get a Stomach;--for a Poor man,\nwhen he could get Meat.\"\n[80] \"When four hours be past, after Breakfast, a man may safely taste\nhis Dinner,--the most convenient time for dinner, is about _eleven of\nthe clocke_ before noone,--in 1570, this was the usual time of serving\nit in the University of Oxford,--elsewhere about noone,--it commonly\nconsisted of boyled biefe, with pottage, bread and beere, and no\nmore,--the quantity of _biefe_ was in value an _halfe-penny_ for each\nmouth,--they supped at five of the clocke in the Afternoon.\"--_Vide_\nCOGAN'S _Haven of Health_, 1584, p. 187.\n_Early_ hours were as _Genteel_ in Dr. Cogan's time, as _late_ ones are\n\"Perhaps none of our Old English customs have undergone so thorough a\nchange, as the hours of rising,--taking refreshment--the number of meals\nper day--and the time of retiring to rest.\n\"The stately dames of Edward IV.'s Court, rose with the Lark,\ndespatched their dinner at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and shortly\nafter eight were wrapt in slumber.--How would these reasonable people\n(reasonable at least in this respect) be astonished could they but be\nwitnesses to the present distribution of time among the Children of\nFashion!--Would they not call the perverse conduct of those who _rise_\nat one or two, _dine_ at eight,--and retire to bed when the morning is\nunfolding all its glories, and nature putting on her most pleasing\naspect,--absolute insanity!!\"--WARNER'S _Antiq. Cul._ p. 134.\n\"The modern hours of eating are got to an excess that is perfectly\nridiculous. Now, what do people get by this? If they make Dinner their\nprincipal Meal, and do not wish to pall their appetite by eating before\nit--they injure their health. Then in Winter they have two hours of\ncandlelight before Dinner, and in Summer they are at table during the\npleasantest part of the Day; and all this, to get a LONG MORNING,--_for\nIdle People, to whom one would suppose the shortest morning would seem\ntoo Long_.\"--PYE'S _Sketches_, 12mo. 1797, p. 174.\n[81] Mr. Peck, Grocer, &c., No. 175, Strand, has printed a very\ningenious chart of the \"_Geographie de la Gourmandise_.\"--\"A Map of the\nfour quarters of the World, intended to show the different parts from\nwhence all the articles in his catalogue are imported.\"--See also \"CARTE\nGASTRONOMIQUE DE LA FRANCE,\" prefixed to that entertaining work, \"COURS\nGASTRONOMIQUE,\" 8vo. 1809.\n[82] \"A Wag, on being told it was the fashion to dine later and later\nevery day, said, He supposed it would end at last in not dining till\n_to-morrow_!!\"\n[83] \"It is at the _commencement of Decline_, _i. e._ about our 40th\nyear, that the Stomach begins to require peculiar care and precaution.\nPeople who have been subject to Indigestions before, have them then more\nfrequent and more violent; and those who have never been so afflicted,\nbegin to suffer them from slight causes: a want of attention to which\ntoo frequently leads to the destruction of the best constitutions,\nespecially of the studious, who neglect to take due exercise. The remedy\nproposed is Ipecacuanha, in a dose that will not occasion any nausea;\nbut enough to excite such an increased action of the vermicular movement\nof the stomach, that the phlegm may be separated and expelled from that\norgan.\n\"The effects of it surpassed his most sanguine hopes: by the use of it,\nnotwithstanding he had naturally a delicate constitution, he weathered\nthe storms of the Revolution,\" &c., and lived to be 84.\nThe above is an extract from Dr. BUCHAN'S translation of Mr. DAUBENTON'S\n_Observations on Indigestion_. This treatise brought Ipecacuanha\nLozenges into fashion, as the most easy and agreeable manner of taking\nit: they contain about one-sixth of a grain, and are prepared and sold\nby SAVORY and MOORE, Chemists, in Bond Street.\n[84] Delicate people, who are accustomed to dine at a certain hour, on\ncertain food, &c., are generally deranged as often as they dine out, and\nchange the hour, &c.\nThe Editor has a patient who never Dines out without suffering severely\nfor several days after--not from over-eating or drinking, &c., but from\nthe change of Diet, and the time of taking it. His habit is to make a\nhearty meal off one dish at Five o'clock, and drink with it some good\nheartening home-brewed Beer, and two or three glasses of Wine--that has\nnot been kept till it has lost its best qualities.\n[85] Dr. W. says: \"When the Stomach is in a sound state, and Digestion\nis properly performed, the spirits are good, and the Body is light and\neasy; but when that organ is out of order, a languor, debility,\ndiscontent, melancholy watchfulness, or troublesome dreams, the\nnightmare, &c. are the consequences. I have often been seized with a\nslight _Incubus_, attended with a faintness, as if the circulation was a\ngood deal obstructed, before I was fully asleep, which has made me get\nup suddenly: while I lay awake I felt nothing of these symptoms, except\nsome degree of uneasiness about my stomach; but when I was just about to\nfall asleep, they began to return again.\" \"In this way I have gone on\nfor two or three hours or more, in the beginning of the night. At last,\nI found that a dram of _Brandy_, after the first attack, kept me easy\nthe whole night,\" p. 312.\n\"When affected with uneasy sensation from wind, I have not only been\nsensible of a general debility and flatness of spirits, but the\nunexpected opening of a door, or any such trifling unforeseen accident,\nhas instantly occasioned an odd sensation about my heart, extending\nitself to my head and arms, &c. At other times, when my stomach is in a\nfirmer state, I have no such feeling: at least, in a very small degree,\nfrom causes which might be thought more apt to produce them. Fainting,\nTremors, Palpitations of the Heart, convulsive motions, and all those\ndisorders which are called nervous, &c. &c. are often owing more to the\ninfirm state of the first passages, than to any fault either in the\nBrain or Heart,\" p. 132, &c.\nDr. Whytt died A.D. 1766, in his 52d year.\n[86] \"Physicians appear to be too strict and particular in their rules\nof diet and regimen; too anxious attention to those rules hath often\nhurt those who were well, and added unnecessarily to the distresses of\nthe sick.--Whether meat should be boiled or roasted, or dressed in any\nother plain way, and what sort of vegetables should be eaten with it, I\nnever yet met with any person of common sense (except in an acute\nillness) whom I did not think much fitter to choose for himself, than I\nwas to determine for him.\"--DR. HEBERDEN _on Diet_.\n\"When the Stomach is weak, it seems particularly necessary that our food\nshould be nutritive and easy of digestion.\n\"I may further observe, that its qualities should be adapted to the\nfeelings of the stomach.\n\"In proof of this proposition, numerous instances might be mentioned of\napparently unfit substances agreeing with the Stomach, being digested\nand even quieting an irritable state of the stomach, merely because they\nwere suitable to its feelings. Instances might also be mentioned of\nchanges in Diet producing a tranquil and healthy state of stomach in\ncases where medicines had been tried in vain.\"--ABERNETHY, _Surg. Obs._\n[87] \"_A Fool_, or a PHYSICIAN _at Forty_, is an adage containing more\ntruth than is commonly believed.--He who has not by that time learned to\nobserve the causes of self-disorder--shows little signs of wisdom; and\nHe who has carefully noted the things which create disorder in himself,\nmust by his own experience possess much knowledge, that a Physician at a\npop visit ought not to pretend to.\"--_Domestic Management_, 1813, p.\nxxxvi.\n[88] \"GRILLUS, who, according to the doctrine of _Transmigration_, (as\n_Plutarch_ tells us) had, in his turn, been a BEAST, discourses how much\nbetter he fed and lived then, than when he was turned to MAN again, as\nknowing then what food was best and most proper for him, which\n_Sarcophagists_ (flesh-eaters) in all this time were yet to\nseek.\"--EVYLYN'S _Acetana_, 12mo. 1699, p. 86.\n \"Instinct than Reason makes more wholesome Meals.\"--YOUNG.\n\"My Appetite is in several things of itself happily enough accommodated\nto the health of my Stomach; whatever I take against my liking does me\nharm; but nothing hurts me that I eat with appetite and delight.\"--_Vide\nhonest_ MONTAIGNE'S _Essay on Experience_, book iii. chap. xiii.\n\"The Stomach gives information when the supplies have been expended, and\nrepresents with great exactness the quantity and quality of whatever is\nwanted in the present state of the machine, and, in proportion as it\nmeets with neglect, rises in its demand, and urges its petition with a\nlouder voice.\"--DR. WM. HUNTER'S _Introductory Lecture_, 4to. p. 81.\n\"Take Food in proportion to the quantity of nourishment contained in it,\nof which the Stomach appears from Instinct to be capable of\njudging.\"--J. HUNTER _on the Animal Economy_, 4to. p. 221.\n \"Prompted by Instinct's never erring power,\n Each creature knows its proper aliment,\n Directed, bounded by this power within,\n Their cravings are well aimed; Voluptuous Man,\n Is by superior faculties misled;\n Misled from pleasure--even in quest of Joy.\"\n ARMSTRONG'S _Art of Preserving Health_.\n\"Our stomach is, in general, a pretty good Judge of what is best for\nit,--thousands have perished for being inattentive to its calls--for one\nwho has implicitly obeyed them.\"--DR. SMITH'S _Guide in Sickness_, 8vo.\n\"In every case wherein we wish to preserve strength, (as in most\nchronical complaints) we should be extremely cautious in prescribing a\nrigid regimen,--especially if it is intended to be long\ncontinued.\"--\"Things disagreeable to the palate, seldom digest well, or\ncontribute to the nourishment of the Body.\"--FALCONER _on Diet_, pp. 7,\nand 8.\n\"What is most grateful to the Palate, sits most easy on the\nStomach.\"--ADAIR _on Diet_, p. 28.\n\"LONGINGS directed by the pure guidance of INSTINCT, and not arising\nmerely from opinion, may not only be satisfied with Impunity, but\ngenerally be indulged in with advantage.\"--WITHERS _on the Abuse of\nMedicine_, 8vo. p. 233.\n[89] \"As to the quality of food, although whatever is easy of digestion,\nsingly considered, deserves the preference, yet regard must be had to\nthe palate and to the appetite, because it is frequently found, that\nwhat the Stomach earnestly covets, though of difficult digestion, does\nnevertheless digest better than what is esteemed of easier digestion if\nthe Stomach nauseates it: I am of opinion the patient ought to eat only\nof _one dish_ at a meal.\"--SYDENHAM _on Gout_.\n\"Every Animal but Man keeps to _one dish_--Herbs are the food of this\nspecies--Fish of that--and Flesh of a third.\"--SPECTATOR, No. 95.\n\"Be content with _one dish_ at a meal, in the choice of that consult\nyour palate.\"--MANDEVILLE _on Hypochondriasis_, p. 316.\n[90] \"It is surprising how much the condition and disposition of the\nStomach and Intestines will vary in the same person at different\ntimes.\"--WHYTT _on the Nerves_; p. 127.\n[91] \"Many people, to be sufficiently nourished, must be supplied with\nfood exceedingly stimulating.\"--STRUVE'S _Asthenology_, 8vo. 1801, p.\n[92] \"Whosoever dreameth that no _Sick_ Man should be allured to meat,\nby delightful and pleasant Sauces, seemeth as froward and fantastical as\nHe that would never whet his knife.\n\"Why hath nature brought forth such variety of Herbs, Roots, Spices, &c.\nfit for nothing but Sauces, &c. but that by them, the Sick should be\nallured to feed.\n\"Abstinence is as dangerous, as Fulness and Satiety is\ninconvenient.\"--DR. MOFFETT _on Foods_, 12mo. 1746, p. 343.\n[93] \"This gentleman had so cold a Stomach, (saith _Suidas_,) that he\nmade a sheath for his Tongue, that he might swallow down his Pottage\nscalding hot; yea, I myself have known a Shropshire Gentleman of the\nlike quality.\"--Dr. MUFFETT _on Food_, 4to. 1655, p. 287.\n[94] \"The Chyle appears to be of the same nature, from whatever aliment\nit has been extracted; if the medical people in different countries were\nquestioned, each would probably approve of the diet used in their\nown--and would find plausible arguments to prove its superiority, with\nnumerous and admirable examples among their countrymen in support of\ntheir theory.\n\"An Englishman would probably be of opinion that wheat-bread, and a\nlarge portion of animal food, gives the strongest and most substantial\nnourishment.\n\"An Irishman, or a Scotsman, would probably maintain that a small\nportion of animal food,--with plenty of potatoes and oatmeal, is far\nbetter adapted to form a vigorous and hardy race. The Laplanders live\nalmost entirely upon Animal food--the Hindoos, Gentoos, &c. never taste\nany thing but Vegetables.\"--MOORE'S _Mat. Med._ p. 70.\n\"In the course of a few years, the produce of several acres of land, a\nnumber of large oxen, and many tuns of liquor, are consumed by one\nindividual; whilst he continues nearly the same, whether he drinks the\npure stream, or beverage the most skilfully compounded; whether he feeds\non a variety of articles produced from the animal and vegetable kingdom,\nor confines himself to one particular substance; and whether his food is\nprepared in the most simple manner, or by the most refined and\nartificial modes that luxury has invented.\"--_Code of Health_, vol. i.\n_Facts relative to Diet._--\"Dr. B. Franklin, of Philadelphia, informed\nme that he himself, when a journeyman printer, lived a fortnight on\nbread and water, at the rate of ten pennyworth of bread per week, and\nthat he found himself stout and hearty with this diet.\"\n\"By Sir John Pringle I was told that he knew a lady now 90 years of age,\nwho eat only the pure fat of meat.\"\n\"Dr. Cirelli says, that the Neapolitan Physicians frequently allow their\npatients in fevers, nothing but water for forty days together.\"--Dr.\nSTARK, _on Diet, &c._ 4to. 1788, p. 92, a work well worth the purchase\nof any person curious upon this subject. As is also Dr. BRYAN ROBINSON,\non _Food and Discharges of Human Bodies_.\n[95] \"A constant adherence to one sort of Diet, may have bad effects on\nany Constitution. Nature has provided a great Variety of Nourishment for\nHuman Creatures, and furnished us with Appetites to desire, and Organs\nto digest them.\n\"An unerring Regularity is almost impracticable, and the swerving from\nit, when it has grown habitual, dangerous; for every unusual thing in a\nhuman body becomes a stimulus, as Wine or Flesh Meat to one not used to\nthem; therefore _Celsus's_ Rule, with proper moral restrictions, is a\ngood one.\"--ARBUTHNOT _on Aliment_, pp. 218 and 219.\n[96] A PILL is the mildest form of administering Medicine, because of\nits gradual solution in the Stomach, and the same quantity of the same\nmaterial, taken in a draught, produces a very different effect.\n[97] \"He that would have _a clear Head_, must have _a clean\nStomach_.\"--CHEYNE _on Health_, p. 34.\n[98] _Quintessence of Lemon Peel_, (No. 418).--Best oil of Lemon, one\ndrachm,--strongest rectified Spirit, two ounces, introduced by degrees,\ntill the spirit kills and completely mixes with the oil. This elegant\nand useful preparation, possesses all the delightful fragrance and\nflavour of the freshest Lemon Peel--for which you will find it a\nsatisfactory substitute. A few drops on the Sugar you make Punch with,\nwill instantly impregnate it with as much flavour as the troublesome and\ntedious method of rubbing the sugar on the rind.\n[99] \"I have observed that in mature Age, and in the decline of Life,\nsymptoms which are attributed to previous irregularities, to\nidiosyncracy, to hereditary disposition, to disease, and to approaching\nold age, frequently arise from Constipation of the Bowels.\"--HAMILTON\n_on Purgative Medicines_, 1806, p. 7.\n[100] \"_Astriction of the Belly_ is commonly a sign of strong\nChylopoetick Organs.\"--ARBUTHNOT _on Aliment_, p. 24.\n[101] Beautiful and full ripe Hot-house Grapes may be procured in the\ngreatest perfection at the Fruit Shops in Covent Garden, almost all the\nyear round--and the Editor has frequently given them to delicate women,\nwho have been afflicted with feverish complaints, to the quantity of a\nPound per day, with the most satisfactory effect--they were extremely\ngrateful in cooling their parched mouths, and at once most agreeably and\neffectually supplied the place of both Saline Draughts and Aperient\nMedicine.\n[102] \"People who have Relaxed Bowels have seldom strong thoughts or\nstrong bodies.\"--LOCKE _on Education_, sec. 23.\n\"The cure for relaxed _Nerves_ (the source of all chronic disorders)\nmust necessarily begin at the Stomach. He who attempts to cure a Nervous\ndistemper without _firm Bowels_--labours in vain; for it is impossible\nthat the Constitution of those who have _Slippery Bowels_--should ever\nbe braced.\"--CHEYNE _on Long Life_, p. 107.\n[103] \"To make TOAST AND WATER.--Cut a bit of the upper crust of Bread,\nabout twice the thickness Toast is usually cut--toast it carefully, till\nit be completely browned all over, but not at all blackened or burnt:\nput this into a jug, and pour upon it as much boiling water as you wish\nto make into drink--cover the jug--let it stand till cold. The fresher\nmade--the better. _Obs._--A roll of fresh thin cut Lemon Peel or dried\nOrange Peel, infused with the Bread, is a grateful addition, and makes a\nvery refreshing Summer drink--and when the proportion of the fluids is\ndestroyed by profuse perspiration, may be drank plentifully. Let a large\njug be made early in the day, it will then become warm by the heat of\nthe Air, and may be drank freely with impunity; cold Water fresh drawn\nfrom a well cannot without danger.\"\n[104] Dr. Pemberton recommends the following Bolus:--\n \u211e Kino. pulv. \u2108j.\n Confect. Opiat. gr. xii.\n Misc. Fiat bolus, ter quotidie sumendus.\nSee his _Observations on the Diseases of the Abdominal Viscera_, 8vo.\n[105] Here followed, in the first Edition, some _Observations on\nSinging_. See page 98 of this book--But most of them are taken out, and\nwill shortly be published by Messrs. Hurst and Robinson, No. 90,\nCheapside, as part of the Prefatory matter of \"THE ENGLISH MELODIES,\"\nselected by the Author of this work, from the Library of Wm. Kitchiner,\nM. D.\n[106] \"A knowledge how to regulate the alvine evacuation, constitutes\nmuch of the prophylactic part of Medicine; hence, how necessary it is to\nadvise those who either wish to preserve good Health, or are in quest of\nthe lost treasure, to attend to this circumstance.\"--HAMILTON _on\nPurgatives_, p. 7.\n\"How much it behoves those who have the charge of young people,\nparticularly of the female sex, to impress them with the propriety, nay\nwith the absolute necessity of attention to the regular state of the\nBowels; and to put it in their power, by the use of proper means, to\nguard against constipation; and at the same time to watch over them,\nlest, through indolence, they neglect a circumstance which, promoting in\nthe gay season of youth, the enjoyment of health and happiness, opposes\na sure barrier against the inroads of chlorosis, &c., always a\ndistressing, and sometimes a fatal complaint.\"--_Ibid._ p. 76.\n[107] \"There are three things which I consider as necessary to the cure\nof disorder.\n\"_1st_, That the Stomach should thoroughly digest all the food that is\nput into it.\n\"The patient perceiving the necessity of obtaining this end, becomes\nattentive to his Diet, and observes the effect which the quantity and\nquality of his food and medicines have upon his feelings, and the\napparent powers of his Stomach.\n\"_2dly_, That the residue of the food should be daily discharged from\nthe Bowels: here, too, the patient, apprised of the design, notes what\nkind and dose of purgative medicine best effect the intention, and\nwhether it answers better if taken at once, or at intervals.\n\"_3dly_, That the secretion of Bile should be right, both with respect\nto quantity and quality. In cases wherein the secretion of Bile has been\nfor a long time deficient or faulty, I recommend unirritating and\nundebilitating doses of Mercury, (_i. e._ pil. hydrarg.) to be taken\nevery second or third night till the stools become of the wet rhubarb\ncolour.\"--P. 90.\n\"Any kind of Brown, which dilution will not convert into yellow, I\nshould consider as unhealthy.\"--P. 36.\nSee MR. ABERNETHY'S _Surgical Observations_.\n[108] \"A popular hypothesis is now very prevalent, which attributes\nnearly all Diseases to a disturbed state of THE LIVER--for which,\nMercurial drugs are lavished almost indiscriminately. The folly of\nexpecting to repel this, or any other opinion which is favourable to the\nnatural indolence of mankind, is obvious, especially when it is at the\nsame time upholden by the empirical interests of greedy\nindividuals.\"--A. CARLISLE _on Old Age_, 2d edit. p. 88.\n[109] \"It is a dubious question, whether WORMS or the _Violent\nPurgatives_ which are forced into the human Stomach, by the decisive\nenergy of medical logic, to destroy and expel them, have been most\ndestructive to the human species.\"--WITHERS _on the Abuse of Medicine_,\n[110] \"MERCURY and ANTIMONY, elaborated into Poisons by Chemistry--i. e.\n_Calomel_, _Emetic Tartar_, _James's Powders_, &c. have torn many a\nStomach into rags, so that it could never bear common food\nafter.\"--CADOGAN _on Gout_, 8vo. 1771, p. 79.\n[111] The flavour of _Coxwell's Citric Acid_ is much more agreeable than\nthe _Tartaric_, which, being cheaper, is sometimes substituted for it.\n[112] PORTABLE SOUP, _or_ GLAZE.--(No. 252.)--Desire the Butcher to\nbreak the bones of a Leg or a Shin of Beef, of 10 pounds weight (the\nfresher killed the better), put it into a Soup-pot (a DIGESTER is the\nbest utensil for this purpose) that will well hold it; just cover it\nwith cold water, and set it on the fire to heat gradually till it nearly\nboils, (this should be at least an hour);--skim it attentively while any\nscum rises,--pour in a little cold water, to throw up the scum that may\nremain,--let it come to a boil again, and again skim it carefully: when\nno more scum rises, and the broth appears clear, (put in neither Roots\nnor Herbs nor Salt,) let it boil for eight or ten hours, and then strain\nit through a hair sieve into a brown stone pan; set the Broth where it\nwill cool quickly; put the meat into a sieve, let it drain, make Potted\nBeef (No. 503),--or it will be very acceptable to many poor families.\nNext day remove every particle of _Fat_ from the top of it, and pour it\nthrough a Tammis or fine sieve as quietly as possible into a Stewpan,\ntaking care not to let any of the settlings at the bottom of the stone\npan go into the Stewpan, which should be of thick Copper, perfectly well\ntinned; add a quarter of an ounce of whole Black Pepper to it, let it\nboil briskly, with the stewpan uncovered, on a quick fire: if any scum\nrises, take it off with a skimmer; when it begins to thicken, and is\nreduced to about a quart, put it into a smaller stewpan; set it over a\ngentler fire, till it is reduced to the thickness of a very thick Syrup;\ntake care that it does not burn,--_a moment's inattention now will lose\nyou all your labour, and the soup will be spoiled_:--take a little of it\nout in a spoon and let it cool; if it sets into strong Jelly, it is done\nenough;--if it does not, boil it a little longer, till it does;--have\nready some little pots, such as are used for Potted Meats, about an inch\nand a half deep, taking care that they are quite dry;--we recommend it\nto be kept in these pots, if it is for home consumption--(_the less it\nis reduced, the better is the flavour of the Soup_)--if it be\nsufficiently concentrated to keep for six months;--if you wish to\npreserve it longer, put it into such bladders as are used for German\nSausages,--or if you prefer it in the form of Cakes, pour it into a dish\nabout a quarter of an inch deep; when it is cold, turn it out and weigh\nthe Cake, and divide it with a paste-cutter into pieces of half an ounce\nand an ounce each; place them in a warm room, and turn them frequently\ntill they are thoroughly dried;--this will take a week or ten days; turn\nthem twice a day;--when well hardened, if kept in a dry place, they may\nbe preserved for several years in any climate.\nThis extract of Meat makes excellent \"_Tablettes de Bouillon_,\" for\nthose who are obliged to endure long fasting.\n_Obs._--The uses of this concentrated _Essence of Meat_ are numerous. It\nis equally economical and convenient for making _extempore_ Broths,\nSauces and Gravies for Hashed or Stewed Meat, Game, or Poultry, &c.\nYou may thicken it and flavour it as directed in (No. 329);--to make\n_Gravy_, Sauces, &c. take double the quantity ordered for _Broth_.\nIf you have time and opportunity, as there is no seasoning in the Soup,\neither of Roots, Herbs, or Spice, boil an Onion with or without a bit of\nParsley, and Sweet Herbs, and a few corns of Allspice, or other Spice,\nin the water you melt the Soup in, which may be flavoured with Mushroom\nCatsup (No. 439),--or Eschalot Wine (No. 402),--Essence of Sweet Herbs\n(No. 417),--Savoury Spice (Nos. 421, or 457),--Essence of Celery (No.\n409), &c. or Zest (No. 255);--these may be combined in the proportions\nmost agreeable to the palate of the Eater--and are as portable as\nPortable Soup, for a very small portion will flavour a Pint.\nThe Editor adds nothing to the solution of this Soup, but a very little\nground Black Pepper and some Salt.\n_Mem._ THIS PORTABLE SOUP is a most convenient article in\nCookery--especially in _Small Families_, where it will save a great deal\nof time and trouble. It is also _Economical_, for no more will be melted\nthan is wanted--so there is no waste.\nSHIN OF BEEF, weighing nine pounds, and costing 1_s._ 10-1/2_d._\nproduced nine ounces of concentrated Soup, sufficiently reduced to keep\nfor several months. After the boiling, the Bones in this joint weighed\ntwo pounds and a quarter, and the Meat two pounds and a quarter.\nAs it is difficult to obtain this ready-made of good quality--and we\ncould not find any proper and circumstantial directions for making it,\nwhich on trial answered the purpose,--and it is really a great\nacquisition to the Army and Navy--to Travellers, Invalids, &c.--the\nEditor has bestowed some time, &c. in endeavouring to learn--and to\nteach how it may be prepared in the easiest,--most economical and\nperfect manner.\nThe ordinary selling price is from 10_s._ to 12_s._--but you may make it\naccording to the above Receipt for 3_s._ 6_d._ per Pound--_i. e._ for\n2-1/2_d._ per Ounce, which will make you a Pint of Broth.\nThose who do not regard the expense, and like the flavour, may add the\nlean of Ham, in the proportion of a pound to eight pounds of Leg of\nBeef.\nIt may also be flavoured, by adding to it, at the time you put the Broth\ninto the smaller Stewpan, Mushroom Catsup, Shallot Wine, Essences of\nSpice or Herbs, &c.;--we prefer it quite plain--it is then ready to be\nconverted in an instant into a basin of Beef Tea for an Invalid, and any\nflavour may be immediately communicated to it by the Magazine of Taste\n_Mutton Chops delicately Stewed, and good Mutton Broth._--(No.\n490.)--Put a Pound of Chops into a stewpan with cold water enough to\ncover them, and half a pint over, and an Onion,--when it is coming to a\nboil, skim it, cover the pan close, and set it _over a very slow Fire_\ntill the Chops are tender,--if they have been kept a proper time, they\nwill take about three quarters of an hour's _very gentle simmering_.\nSend up Turnips with them, (No. 130), they may be boiled with the chops,\nskim well, and then send all up in a deep dish, with the Broth they were\nstewed in.\nN.B. _The Broth_ will make an Economist one,--and _the Meat_ another\nwholesome and comfortable meal.\n[113] Men are but rarely \"framed so in the prodigality of Nature,\" as to\nhave all their Senses in perfection--very few have a single one, that\napproximates within many degrees of it--the Eye of Raphael, the Ear of\nHandel, the Palate of Apicius--or the sensitive touch of the blind Girl,\nwho could _feel Colours_--are pancratic faculties which are seldom\nproduced.\nThe following division of the Senses is so excellent, that I copy it\nfrom the scarce Book referred to below:--\n\"I distinguish the SIX SENSES by the character of noxious and innocent.\nThe first three, _Thinking_--_Seeing_--and _Hearing_--are the innocent.\nThe last three, _Feeling_--_Tasting_--and _Smelling_--the noxious.\n\"I pursue Happiness, or systematic pleasurable sensation, in the\ncultivation of the first class--and in the control of the latter.\"--See\nthe LIFE OF JOHN STEWART THE TRAVELLER, p. 12.\n[114] \"I took two pieces of Mutton, each weighing 45 grains, and having\n_chewed_ one as much as I used to chew my food--enclosed them in two\nseparate spheres--and swallowed them at the same time--these tubes were\nvoided at the same time--of the masticated meat there remained only 4\ngrains--of the other there were 18 left.\"\n\"_The necessity of Mastication_ is sufficiently known--there is perhaps\nno person who has not, some time or other, suffered from Indigestion,\nfor want of having chewed his food properly. The reason is obvious. Not\nto mention the saliva which moistens the food, and predisposes it to be\ndissolved, it cannot be doubted, that when it is reduced to pieces by\nthe action of the Teeth, the gastric fluid penetrates, and attacking it\nat more points, dissolves it more speedily than when it was whole. This\nis true of menstrua in general, which always dissolve bodies sooner when\nthey have been previously broken to pieces. This is also the reason why,\nin other experiments, masticated bread and _dressed_ flesh were more\nreadily dissolved than unchewed bread and _raw_ flesh. The boiling had\nmade it tenderer, and consequently disposed it to allow ingress to the\ngastric fluid.\"--SPALLANZANI _on Digestion_, vol. i. p. 277.\n[115] In no branch of the practice of Physic, is there more _Dangerous\nQuackery_, than in this department--the only means we can furnish our\nfriends with to avoid this--is to recommend them to apply to a\nscientific Dentist of acknowledged integrity and experience.--Our own\nMouth is under considerable obligations to Mr. EDMONDS, of Conduit\nStreet, Hanover Square.\n[116] \"Slave-dealers are well acquainted with the characteristic signs\nof perfect Health--any defect of which much diminishes the value of a\nSlave. The want of _a Tooth_ makes a Slave worth two Dollars\nless.\"--FINKE'S _Medical Geography_, vol. i. p. 449.\nEnd of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Art of Invigorating and Prolonging\nLife, by William Kitchiner\n*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INVIGORATING AND PROLONGING LIFE ***\n***** This file should be named 40891-0.txt or 40891-0.zip *****\nThis and all associated files of various formats will be found in:\nProduced by Julia Miller, Thiers Halliwell and the Online\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)\nUpdated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions\nwill be renamed.\nCreating the works from public domain print editions means that no\none owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation\n(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without\npermission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm\nconcept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared\nwith anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project\nGutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.\nProject Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed\neditions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.\nunless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily\nkeep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.\nMost people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:\n www.gutenberg.org\nThis Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,\nincluding how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary\nArchive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to\nsubscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.", "source_dataset": "gutenberg", "source_dataset_detailed": "gutenberg - The Art of Invigorating and Prolonging Life\n"}, {"created_timestamp": "01-05-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5156", "content": "Title: From John Adams to John Thornton Kirkland, 5 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Kirkland, John Thornton\nDear Sir\nQuincy 5 Jan 1807\nUpon the recommendation of General Washington Gen Hamilton and General Pinckney I appointed your brother George an officer in the American army in which he served from its creation to its dissolution in that division of it which was under the general superintendance of Gen Hamilton and the immediate command of Col Smith. When he left the army in 1799 I well remember that several letters or certificates were shewn to me, one I believe from Gen Hamilton and another from Gen North expressing in very handsome terms their approbation of his conduct\u2014One from Col Smith under whose more immediate command and inspection he had served, expressing in very strong terms his approbation of Kirklands activity vigilance diligence discipline & skill as an officer during the whole of the service I am Sir with great regard / your humble Servant\nJ. A", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-08-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5157", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Benjamin Waterhouse, 8 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Waterhouse, Benjamin\nDear Sir\nQuincy January 8. 1807\nI received your favour of the Second of this month, yesterday. I dont do not understand your reason for calling our Forefathers Brownists. I Should call them rather, Robinsonians. But that our Forefathers resided twelve years at Leyden, and that they Worshipped in the Building, where I attended divine Service for Several months, I have no more doubt than I have of the Existence of a University at Leyden. Mr John Luzac, one of the most learned and virtuous Men in Europe, his Father and Unkle, both of them above seventy years of Age, informed me, of this fact. This whole Family were as perfectly informed in the History of that Country as any Man in the United Provinces. Mr John Luzac who first procured me a Sight of that Church and who has Since been Professor of Faderlandsche Historie, in the University, assured me that this was the Place assigned for public Worship to those English Emigrants. Dr McLane and Mr Dumas never doubted it. In my first Memorial to their High Mightinesses, I asserted that our forefathers had resided twelve years at Leyden, and although that Memorial was a Subject of Animadversion in all the Seven United Provinces, no denial of this fact nor any insinuation of the Uncertainty of it, ever appeared. The Building itself had the Appearances of Antiquity, enough and more than enough to make the fact probable.\nI have no more doubt of the Fact than I have that I attended Dr Macclaines Church at the Hague.\nDr Homes is rendering very grateful and usefull service to his Country by his indefatigable Researches into its antiquities. I wish him all the Success and Encouragement he can desire. But our Country, to its disgrace is disposed to encourage a thousand foolish republications from Europe rather than one usefull Work of their own Growth. In short our Litterature, as well as our Commerce and our Politicks are monopolized by European Capitalists and our People will have it So. I am Sir, with much Esteem / yours\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-10-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5158", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Samuel Foxcroft, 10 January 1807\nFrom: Foxcroft, Samuel\nTo: Adams, John\nSir,\nI herewith send you Asmall book, which having your Name in it I suppose it to be yours. and that I borrowd it when we ware at Colledg together) tho I have littile or no rememberance of it. Why it was not then returnd, or why it has not since been returned before now, I can give but poor too poor an account, I but can say Im not sesibel there has ben any frautilant aim or design.\u2014in the matter.\u2014hope you Excellency will for give the neglect and pass it over with candour. As an atonement for my misconduct I send you the book accompanying it; which please to accept. I can only subscribe your Excellency sincere / friend / And steady avocate in these shaking times.\nS.Saml L FoxcroftIf your Excellency shoud happen to find me out, & shoud entertain the condesenting thot of honouring me with a fue lines; I wish to have your thots respecting the tendency and probable issue of the present State of our publick affairs. Will it end in Monarchy or Antnarchy? Will the Federal Union long continnu; or terminate in two or more general goveraments? with the reasons for or Against either. Will Apresent separation of the District of Main be for its interist; or of much advantage to the northern States by givving them additional weight in Congress.\n by reason of great dimness of Sight I have wrote by the Aborrowed hand of A Female domestick.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-21-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5161", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Benjamin Waterhouse, 21 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Waterhouse, Benjamin\nDear Sir\nQuincy Jan. 21. 1807\nRobinson was not only a Man of Sense and learning but Piety and Virtue but of a Catholic tolerant Spirit and remarkable humanity. He resembled the two shepards one of whom was settled at Charleston and the other at Cambridge. Neither of the three were for renouncing Communion with the Church of England Brown was for excommunicating all, who differed from him in his most rigid notions. It is greatly to be regretted that Robinson did not live to come over, for he probably would have had influence enough to have restrained the early Emigrants from many Extravagancies which have diminished the reverence due to their general Character.\nI congratulate you on the Amusement and Instruction you have found in the sermons of Dr Isaac Barrow. His Character and Writings are too much neglected. In Science and Learning he has had very few equals in England. He was the Predecessor, of Sir Isaac Newton in the Professorship of Mathematicks and natural Phylosophy, and contributed largely as I conjecture to the formation of that mighty genius both in Science and Litterature.\u2014I am not very largely read in English Sermons. Dr Tillotson Dr Sam. Clark, Atterbury Houdley Dr Shirlock, Dr Sacker South Swift, Sterne and Blair, I occasionally read in Part. But I cannot think any of them deserve to be read more than Barrow. The English Divines who have ever read him call him a Quarry both of Sentiment and Expression. I have somewhere read that the Earl of Chatham was a constant Reader and great Admirer of him, as the greatest Magazine of nervous Expressions in the English Language. I bought his Works in England and have read the sermons you enumerate and admire them as you do. But you know the Taste of this Age both in Europe and America. The nice palates of our modern Men of Letters, must have polished Periods and fashionable Words. A few Words out of date and Sentences not fashioned upon the model of Hume Robinson Johnson Gibbon or Burke or Junius, will give them such disgust that they will throw away the most sterling Wisdom to take up Reviews Magazines Maria Williams and Dr Aikin.\nWere I a Professor of oratory at Harvard Colledge I would give a Lecture at least if not a Course of Lectures upon Dr Barrow.\nI suppose all Attempts however, to bring him into fashion would be abortive. The Bent of the Reviews &c in England and Scotland is to run down out of sight all the old Writers. I see they are now endeavouring to cry down Mr Lock. His Ideas of Liberty and Tolleration are not enough sublimated for them. They are more tender of Tom. Paine\u2014Locks Essay on Tolleration Human Understanding however I still think one of the greatest Works of modern times or ancient times. But alass! of what value is the opinion of\nJ. Adams?", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5162", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Benjamin Rush, 23 January 1807\nFrom: Rush, Benjamin\nTo: Adams, John\nMy dear friend\nPhiladelphia Jany 23rd. 1807.\nI have been waiting like Horace\u2019s Clown till the Stream of my business should so far lessen that I could pass over it, in order to acknowledge the receipt of your interesting letter upon the Subject of the perfectibility of human nature, but as that Stream, from adventitious currents pouring into it, rather encreases, than lessens, I have seized a few moments merely to testify my gratitude for that letter, and to assure you that I subscribe to every sentiment contained in it. By renouncing the Bible, philosophers swing from their moorings upon all moral Subjects. Our Saviour in speaking of it calls it \u201cTruth,\u201d in the Abstract. It is the only correct map of the human heart that ever has been published. It contains a faithful representation of all its follies, Vices & Crimes. All Systems of Religion, morals, and Government not founded upon it, must perish, and how consoling the thot!\u2014it will not only survive the wreck of those Systems, but the World itself. \u201cThe Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.\u201d\u2014\nOur Citizens are now gazing at the storm that has lately risen in the western states. General Eaton who lately passed this city, on his Way to Washington, has mentioned several details of Col Burr\u2019s propositions to him not published in any of the newspapers. Among Others, he said in A large Dining Company, that he asked Burr what he intended to do After establishing the independance of the Western states\u2014\u201cturn Congress out of doors. replied the Colonel\u2014and hang Tom Jefferson.\u201d This declaration General Eaton added was extorted, by his having made Burr believe he favoured his Views, and was disposed to take a part of in his enterprises.\u2014\nAll my family join in love to you & yours with Dear Sir, your grateful & Affectionate / friend\nBenjn: Rush", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-29-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5164", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Fran\u00e7ois Adriaan Van der Kemp, 29 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Van der Kemp, Fran\u00e7ois Adriaan\nDear Van Der Kemp\nQuincy January 29 1807\nUpon my Word and honour, if I know myself, and for any Thing I know to the contrary, I am Alive, and wide awake, and in as good health as usual, and have been So for Several years past, excepting now and then Such a Cold as that which you cured with a Bottle of Old Hoch and a pound or two of Veal Cutletts for Supper three Evenings Successively.\nPray tell me.\u2014Is it actionable or indictable to Say or to write of a Man that he is dead?\u2014Perhaps the Defendant would call for Evidence that it would be any damage to Such a Plantiff to be dead. How then could I make this out? Besides before the Action Should come to Tryal it is very probable that nature will do the Work, and then for any thing I know, he might give the Truth in Evidence in Justification, and a democratic Jury might not make the metaphisical distinction between the time past and the present, and might by their Verdict declare that the Thing is true enough.\nPray tell me again:\u2014Is it an affront, to Say or write that a Man is dead who is not? And ought I to call the Defamer or Libeller to an Account? This it Seems to me would be to give the Slanderer an Opportunity of proving the truth of the fact, excepting a trifling Anacronism.\nBut to be Serious, it has been a kind of fashion to kill great Men. Franklin was put to death, half a dozen times and many others among the rest our amiable and excellent Governor was lately Slain by Such a report, and he had Several droll Conversations about it, with Strangers at the Taverns. But I am not, never was and never Shall be a great Man and therefore I can conceive no Motive that any Man could have to lay me low before my time. He could not expect to gratify my Ennemies, because they all know they have nothing to fear from me. They could not think of grieving or afflicting my friends for they all know they have nothing to hope from me. I conclude therefore that the report must have been owing to Some Accident and no design.\nBut to be more Serious Still. There are indubitable Marks in your Letter of an affection for me, which have tenderly touched me. I wish I were worthy of So much and So Sincere friendship as I believe yours to be.\nYou mention the late Pensionary De Gyzelaer, but I cannot be Sure whether this Signifies that he is physically or only politically dead.\u2014I have So lively an impression on my Mind of that Sensible and Manly Character, that I Should cordially grieve at his death. I hope he Still lives and will yet be active and usefull in restoring the lost Liberties of Nations.\nYour Letter is the first Intimation I have had of the melancholly Situation of our Friend Mr John Luzac. I feel for him, and every one of my Family will Sympathize with you and me upon this occasion. My Wife, My Daughter and my two Sons all knew him and revered him. He is a large Portion of the Salt of the Earth, and if it were not for a few Such Lotts, it seems to me, the whole Sodom must soon be burn\u2019d up.\nWith Sincere Esteem and Regard, I am / Dear Sir yours\n P.S. I cannot recollect that I have acknowledged the Receipt of your favour of the first of November last, which came to my hands in due Season.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-02-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5166", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Benjamin Rush, 2 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Rush, Benjamin\nMy Dear Doctor\nQuincy Feb. 2. 1807\nYou make me very happy when you Say, that you agree with me upon the Subject of the Perfectibility of Man. Let every Man endeavor to amend and improve one and We Shall find ourselves in the right Road to all the Perfection We are capable of: but this rule Should by no means exclude our utmost exertions to amend and improve others, and in every Way and by all means in our Power to ameliorate the Lot of Humanity. Invent new Medicines construct new Machines write new books, build better Houses and Ships, institute better Governments, discountenance false Religions, propagate the only true one, diminish the Vises and encrease the Virtues of all Men and Women, whenever We can. You have done a great deal, and I very little in this Way. I Sometimes wish that I had never been concerned in any public Business. I might then have been Sure that I had done no harm. One of the Popes ordered an Inscription upon his Monument, which would Suit me very well. Hic Situs est Adrian qui nihil Sibi in Vit\u00e2 infelicius duxit, quam quod imperavit.\nI beg that you would not Spare a moment of your time or one of your thoughts from your Business, on Account of my Letters. If I had any useful Employment I Should not write them, But as Voltaire Says, \u201cIl est plus difficile de S\u2019amuser, que de S\u2019enrichir\u201d You can grow rich and do good, easier than I can avoid Ennui. I dont know but I Shall take your Advice and write my own, worthless Life, merely to keep myself out of Idleness. If my generous fellow Citizens the wisest, and best People under heaven, you know, had discarded me from all public Employment, while I could have Spoken So as to be understood at the Bar, by the Court and Jury I would have thanked them. But they wore me out, with hard Service and then turned me adrift like an old Dray Horse. But I have read Dr Isaac Barrow upon Contentment and Patience, and have learned of him to despize my Despizers. Stop! Is there not too much pride in this last Sentiment? I know not, but I believe Dr Barrow will bear me out in it.\nThe Bible contains the most profound Philosophy, the most perfect Morality, and the most refined Policy, that ever was conceived upon Earth. It is the most Republican Book in the World, and therefore I will still revere it. The Curses against Fornication and Adultery and the prohibition of every Wanton glance or libinous ogle at a Woman, I believe to be the only System that ever did or ever will preserve a Republick in the World. There is a Paradox for you. But if I dont make it out, you may Say if you please that I am an Enthusiast. I Say then that national Morality never was and never can be preserved, without the Utmost purity and Chastity in Women: and without national Morality a Republican Government cannot be maintained. Therefore My Dear Fellow Citizens of America, you must ask leave of your Wives and Daughters, to preserve your Republick. I believe I Shall write a Book upon this Topick before I die and if I could articulate a Word I dont know but I would go into the Pulpit and preach upon it. I Should be very learned: ransack Greece and Rome and Judea, and France and England & Holland &c.\nWhat Shall I Say of the Democratical Vice President and the Federal would be President Burr. Although I never thought So highly of his natural Talents or his acquired Attainments, as many of both Parties have represented them, I never believed him to be a Fool. But he must be an Idiot or a Lunatick if he has really planned and Attempted to execute Such a Project as is imputed to him. It is even more Senseless and extravagant than Miranda\u2019s. It is utterly incredible that any foreign Power, Should have instigated him. It is utterly incredible that without foreign Aid he Should have thought that the transalleganian People would revolt with him; or even if they Should revolt, that he and they could maintain themselves against the United States, who could So easily block up the Mississippi. Any Man who has read the circular Letters to their Constitutents from Members of the House of Representatives in Congress from Some of the Southern States, while I was President, must be convinced that there were many Among them who had no more regard to Truth than the Devil. At present I Suspect that this Lying Spirit has been at Work concerning Burr and that Mr Jefferson has been too hasty in his Message in which he has denounced him by Name and pronounced him guilty. But if his guilt is as clear as the Noon day Sun, the first Magistrate ought not to have pronounced it so before a Jury had tryed him. Wilkinsons Conduct, as it is represented is equally unjustifiable. But W. Shall hear more about it. The whole Thing is a kind of Waterspout a terrible Whirlpool, threatening to ingulph every Thing. But it may be as the Fable says that Single Bullet Shot through it, will quell it all at once to the level of the Sea\nEatons relation is very strange. The President takes no Notice of it. Is Burr So Shallow as Soberly to confide Such a Secret to him? But why is he called General Eaton? Our Laws forbid any Commission to be taken under a foreign Power. He had no Commission from the President. He was only appointed by the Ex Bashaw. He had no more Authority than Mr Deane had when he entered into a Contract with Du Coudray and his hundred officers, and assumed the Powers of a Plenipotentiary. You and I have Seen enough of Adventurers to be put upon our guard. I of all Men in the World would be the farthest from injuring Eaton. I have every motive in the World to wish that his reward may be equal to his merit, but reports are current, which Suggest to me the propriety of Suspending Judgment. I mention this to you in perfect Confidence, but with great reluctance. I hope all will turn out better than my fears. The hint may be of use to you\u2014It cannot now be long before an Ecclairiessement must take place and We Shall know better what to think of Burr and his designs. I am dear Sir with Usual Compliments yours\nJ. Adams,", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-08-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5168", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Abel Sawyer, 8 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Sawyer, Abel\nSir.\nQuincy February 8th: 1807.\nMr: Samuel Adams was called a Maltster because he kept a Malt-house; but he was a Gentleman of liberal Education; a Legislator and a Magistrate. He was the father of the late Governor Adams and the Son of John Adams, a Merchant in Boston, who was brother of my Grandfather.\nMrs: Elizabeth Adams, Widow of the late Governor Adams still lives in Boston. The Governor left but one child, a daughter, married to Mr: Wells of Boston. Governor Adams had one sister married to a Mr: Allen, who left one son a very respectable man at Worcester. These are all the descendants that I know of the Mr: Samuel Adams you mention. If you write to Madam Elizabeth Adams in Boston, relict of the late Governor Adams she will receive your letter, without doubt, and give you all the information you desire.\nI am, Sir, your most obedt Servt", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-13-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5169", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Thomas Foxcroft, 13 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Foxcroft, Thomas\nDear Sir\nQuincy Feb 13, 1807.\nBenjamin Beale Esq. our representative, brought me last night from the General Court, a packet containing two books and a letter. But the letter was dated from no place, and I could not decypher the signature. He thought the name of the Member who gave it to him was Foxcroft, which suggested to me the suspicion that it was came from you. There is not in my memory the faintest trace of the old book which it seems I must have owned fifty five years ago. My name, which is written in it, in several places, is in a better hand than ever I wrote in my life. One or two of the names may have been from my hand. The other, which is a handsome volume and a famous work is a valuable present, for which you have my hearty thanks.\nYou lead me, Sir, into deep waters, in which, a hundred to one, I shall be drowned. I have no desire to be considered a prophet of ill. The Prophet or the Enthusiast, who as we read in the wars of the Jews cryed woe! woe! woe! to Jerusalem, was obliged at last to cry woe! to myself.\nBut to be candid with you, I think the tendency of the present state of our public affairs is to foreign war and domestic confusion. In what it will end I believe no human sagacity can foresee. We must leave it with submission to Providence. There will be no Monarchy in America, I believe, while you and I live unless Napoleon should make Aaron Burr a King over us, which I do not believe he is either able or willing to accomplish or even to attempt. The Federal Union too I believe will last longer than we shall live. Nor do I believe we shall be reduced to absolute Anarchy. We are at present as near it as we shall approach. We may descend a little lower towards it before the tide turns, but not a great deal. My reason for these opinions is, some remaining confidence in the sense and virtue of the people. Very much diminished, however, I confess it is.\nI am very clear in my opinion that a present separation of the District of Maine is not for its interest, and that it would be no advantage to the Northern States and give them no aditional weight in Congress. According to the present appearances, the votes of Maine in both houses of Congress would be a dead weight in the scale of Virginia. A Separation might be some advantage to the rest of Massachusetts, for at present the votes of Maine turn the scale of the politicks of the State a wrong way.\nAfter all: this Country is rising with astonishing rapidity in population and oppulence, and proportionally sinking in Luxury, Sloth and Vice; what Revolutions, what Wars, foreign or civil, what forms of government, or what divisions these causes may produce in one hundred, fifty, or even in twenty years, I leave to that wisdom, which is alone competent to foresee and determine. If we imitate the vices and follies of all the Nations, who have gone before us, we have no right nor reason to expect or hope to be exempted from such calamities as they brought upon themselves.\nI thank you, Sir, for the friendly expressions in your letter. An acquaintance of fifty five years is not common in this world; but when it has been without enmity it is always an attachment of esteem and affection. I heartily wish you may live to see better times and more pleasing prospects, not only in our own country but among all the human race.\nJ. A.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-18-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5170", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Joseph C. Foxcroft, 18 February 1807\nFrom: Foxcroft, Joseph C.\nTo: Adams, John\nMay it please your Excellency,\nBoston Feb 18. 1807.\nThe package I had the honor of forwarding to you was from my honored Father Samuel Foxcroft of New Gloucester.\u2014He has had the misfortune to lose his sight one year ago, be reason of an inflamation in the Same his eyes; And by reason of his never having made use of glasses, & his whole time having been spent in reading & writing; the loss has been very sensibly felt by him.\u2014He did not know of your book\u2019s being in his possession \u2019till very lately, and he did not feel easy without returning it.\u2014The other \u201cFleming on the fulfiling of the Scripture\u201d he wished you to accept as a token of his veneration for your caracter & person. My hond. Father is very feeble & ematiated, and therefore I presume a diffidence, least you might think, his troubling you was too much of a presumption, he withheld his name.\u2014He enjoys religion, and that\u2019s his full, & only comfort.\u2014With the highest respect and veneration I am your Excellencys / Obt. Servt.\nJoseph C. Foxcroft", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-09-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5171", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, 9 March 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Warren, Mercy Otis\nMy Answer to Mrs Warrens Question Shall be as prompt and frank as hers can be to mine Napoleones Maker alone can tell all that he was made for, And it would take a Sheet of Paper for me to explain all that I think he was made for. But in general Napoleone was made I will not say made but permitted for a Cat with o\u2019 nine tails, to inflict ten thousand Lashes on the back of Europe, as a divine Punishment Vengeance for the Atheism Infidelity, Fornications Adulteries Incests, and Sodomies as well as their Briberies, Robberies Thefts, Gamblings, Intrigues and fraudulent Swindlings and speculations of her Inhabitants: and if We are far enough advanced in the career, and certainly We have very rapidly advanced a great Way very rapidly, to whip Us, for the Same Crimes, and after he has answered the Ends he was made or permitted for, to be thrown into the fire. Now I think I have merited the Answer from Mrs Warren which she has promised me to the Question What was Napoleone made for.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-15-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5172", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Fran\u00e7ois Adriaan Van der Kemp, 15 March 1807\nFrom: Van der Kemp, Fran\u00e7ois Adriaan\nTo: Adams, John\nDear Sir!\nOldenbarneveld 15 March. 1807.\nAs your Letter of the 29 of Jan\u2014afforded me a Sensible pleasure, I will procure meself another in writing you again. God be praised, that your health is unimpaired\u2014it must continue so man\u00ff da\u00ffs, if the warm wishes of your Relatives and friends obtain their accomplishments\u2014our own interests\u2014m\u00ff Dear Sir! prompts this wish.\nI spent this winter ver\u00ff agreabl\u00ff\u2014partl\u00ff with m\u00ff old Classick friends whom I have given a heart\u00ff welcome\u2014while the prospect on a Suppl\u00ff of modern literature, give a new value to their visit\u2014a part of my time I employ\u2019d in Crescimbeni\u2019s ist: della volg. Po\u00ebs: a part\u2014in examining and excerping Venema\u2019s Ecclesiastical hist\u2014of the O & N. Testament\u20147 vol. in 4o. the best work I ever read upon that subject\u2014in an\u00ff Language\u2014with regard\u2014to candour\u2014impartiality and critical judgment\u2014his stile alone is not engaging\u2014I am sorr\u00ff that he did not continued it farther than the 16 Centur\u00ff\u2014I have known that amiable old man, being above 80 when he published this work\u2014then yet in the full vigour of bod\u00ff and mind\u2014a man of an open\u2014benevolent character\u2014of amiable manners\u2014of eminent learning\u2014of exemplar\u00ff piety\u2014the protector of learning\u2014the friend of youth\u2014the Patron of tolerance without any mixture of morose austerity against Litterar\u00ff opponents or Theological Antagonists\u2014\u201cand yet a Calvinist Clerg\u00ffman. I know not, if I noticed in my last, that I have this winter too reviewed m\u00ff Achaick Sketch, and, as I flatter meself improved it throughout, b\u00ff which you will see, that I did not loiter awa\u00ff the winter-months in Idleness; ere long\u2014the Labour of my hands must recommence.\nIn my Lett. of Nov. which you mention\u2014I requested, that you would\u2014at leisure\u2014communicate to me\u2014some particular notes of mr J: Otis\u2014upon whom you bestowed such a high encomium\u2014He can not have been an ordinar\u00ff man. I renew that request.\nIt must be in your power\u2014to elucidate the transactions with Beaumarchais\u2014if propriet\u00ff can allow the communication. To me it appears\u2014if Turreau\u2019s statement is true\u2014exact\u2014that Beaumarchais\u2014claim is good\u2014but then remains the odious hypothesis, to which a Frenchman without a blush gives an origine, that the Cabinet of Versailles, acted a vile part, and laid the American Congress under obligation of a million\u2014which it had not received\u2014for which it was charged, as having been benefitted b\u00ff a generous don gratuit\u2014which however was employd for Special Political purposes of the corrupting Vergennes\u2014perhaps, to bribe some of its own members\u2014to prop the French Interests\u2014or is there a more innocent Solution of this Problem?\nHow fortunatel\u00ff is it for the Cabinet of St James, in having\u2014just in time\u2014reconciled herself with America\u2014Now our President had procured a fresh suppl\u00ff of gunboats! this is quite another policy\u2014as your standing armies\u2014and navies! might I not give a hint\u2014that, in a case of a new broil\u2014a few of these amphibious\u2014I suppose with trifling additional expenses, the\u00ff might be enabled to act as well on land as in open Sea\u2014stationed on Oneida Lake\u2014near my farm is a small snug harbour\u2014black creek\u2014to conceal them\u2014might\u2014unexpectedly descend in Lake Ontario and La\u00ff Canada under contributions. It might be a good proviso in our Legislature\u2019s address\u2014to pra\u00ff the President\u2014to manage our national affairs\u2014after his own wa\u00ff\u2014for another term\u2014provided\u2014we may get our share in the cursed gunboats\u2014\nI have perused Selfridge\u2019s trial\u2014I cannot say, that I like the man\u2014I pity the rash bo\u00ff, and curse the old formal villain\u2014the original cause of this unhapp\u00ff affra\u00ff\u2014I have been pleased\u2014generall\u00ff\u2014with the defence of Gore and Dexter\u2014it was well managed\u2014Judge Parker\u2019s charge appeared to me candid\u2014impartial\u2014but I waded with disgust through Sullivan\u2019s plea\u2014Had he pleaded weakl\u00ff in the prosecution he might have pleaded\u2014In cirem Hortensius dicere non didicet\u2014but here he betrays a weakness of malice\u2014me thinks\u2014he lost even the dignity of a Public prosecutor of public wrongs out of sight\u2014and\u2014Selfridge fate might have been more precarious, If John Luzac had been his prosecutor.\nI have at length been compelled to accept the fellowship of the Philad: Society\u2014you know\u2014I declined it in 1805\u2014but Mifflin was vexed\u2014in 1806 a bylaw\u2014of pa\u00ffing annually 2 Dols\u2014was limited to residents of Philadelphia\u2014by another bylaw\u2014it was left to the option of foreign members\u2014to pa\u00ff the Don gratuit for the Diploma\u2014Mifflin had not delivered my Lett. nor returned the Diploma\u2014and insisted now upon my final resolve\u2014He shares too much in my esteem to hurt his feelings\u2014and I wrote him\u2014to accept it\u2014and pa\u00ff my mine ten Dols\u2014This last I did contre coeur\u2014but I could not condescend to accept this boon; Thus by the grace of God\u2014and the means of a too partial Mifflin\u2014your frend is become Member of the American Philosophical Societ\u00ff.\nWhat awful lesson would be renewed for mankind, if examples could make a deeper impression\u2014than we thus far have experienced\u2014if the slaves of the modern Sennacherib fell the sacrifices of the Hun and Plica Polonica before they touched the borders of Russia! we know not the ways of Providence\u2014but\u2014if it is compatible with unerring goodness and wisdom\u2014I ardently pra\u00ff\u2014that the gigantic power of that daring insolent horse ma\u00ff be crushed. You can not doubt of my Sincerity what would save us from his grasp\u2014in our distracted situation\u2014if he succeeded in conquering great-Brittain\u2014That\u2014and the Almighty\u2019s protection are our only bulwarks\u2014\nRecommending meself in your kind frendship\u2014I renew my Sincere assurance of the highest respect and consideration\u2014with which I remain / Dear Sir! / your most obliged and affectionate / frend!\nFr. Adr. vanderkemp", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5173", "content": "Title: From John Adams to James Perkins, 17 March 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Perkins, James,Perkins, Thomas\nGentlemen\nQuincy March. 17, 1807\nI received last evening your favour of the 13th of this month, enclosing a letter to me, from Mr. Thomas Theodore Cremere of Rotterdam. This gentleman is altogether a Stranger to me, but as he appears to have been a confidential friend of Mr. John Luzac of Leyden, who, in my opinion has not left his equal in Virtue and Learning united in all Europe, this circumstance alone is sufficient to induce me to acknowledge him my friend.\nThe letter is manifestly the composition of a gentleman conversant in many of the languages of Europe, & frequently writing in all of them. Such a person frequently substitutes a French or Dutch for an English one, & sometimes & English word for a Dutch or French. Such is the word Tresspass in this letter to signify Death or Desease; it is manifest he had in his mind the French word \u201cTrepas.\u201d Many other words in this letter denote the imperfect knowledge of the language in which he wrote: but notwithstanding all this, there is solid sense, & masculine expression in the letter which would do honour to any American or Englishman. My advice therefore is to publish the letter literature as it is; but subjoining a few notes, explanatory of the words & correcting the spelling spelling\u2014\nI am, Gentlemen your obliged, humble Servant\u2014\nJ. A.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "04-03-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5174", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Benjamin Rush, 3 April 1807\nFrom: Rush, Benjamin\nTo: Adams, John\nMy venerable & dear friend,\nPhiladelphia April 3. 1807.\nThe difficult and complicated labors of my professorship consisting of teaching, examining, reviewing theses &c &c being now nearly over, I sit down with great pleasure to pay my epistolary debts. You are my largest, and most lenient Creditor. The first dividend of my time of Course is due to you.\nI concur with you in your reflections upon the Western insurrection, but not altogether in your opinion of Col: Burr\u2019s Objects.\u2014\u201cPrudence in enterprizes and even common business (& a guilty conscience, fully long ago remarked) in his Character of Count Byron) are generally incompatible.\u201d Burrs plans have been directed like Doctor\u2019s prescriptions by pro re nata circumstances. I will give you a Specimen of them. He applied indirectly to governor McKean for the chief Justiceship of Pennsylvania, just before he set of for Kentucky last year. Success here, was as improbable, as revolutionizing the Western States. \u201cTo be unfortunate (says Richlieu) is to be imprudent.\u201d The history of Col: Burrs pursuits verifies this remark.\u2014He was for failed in 1 in obtaining a foreign embassy the first year he took his seat in the senate. 2 in being supplanting Mr Jefferson. 3 in obtaining the government of new york. 4. in being his Western enterprises, & 5 in being Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. There is often something said, or done by men in their youth, that marks their destiny in life.\u2014I attended the Commencement at Princeton at which Mr Burr took his degree. He was then between 16 & 17 years of Age. He spoke an elegant Oration, and with great Spirit upon \u201cBuilding\u2013Castles in the Air\u201d in which he exposed the its folly in literary, political and military pursuits:\u2014These Anecdotes are between ourselves.\nPoor Pennsylvania is still upon her broadside. Our Governor Who is now the only Anchor of our State, is in bad health, and upon the eve of being impeached. If\u2013not removed by the former death, from office, he will probably be dismissed by the Senate. The lower house of our legislature is under the influence of the his enemies of the governor. The Senate, though less unfriendly to him, will not it is thought dare to acquit him.\nA few Weeks ago your Grand Son left a letter at my house from his father in which he recommends his Son to my good Offices. I have in vain attempted to find him out. If he is still in our city (which from the tenor of his fathers letter I am disposed to believe is the case) I wish he may be directed to call upon me. My table and fire Side shall be to him like the table and fireside of his grandfather. My Wife and Children will all unite with me in shewing our thier Gratitude and Affection to his family by civilities to him.\nWith respectful regard to Mrs Adams and all your family in which my dear Mrs: Rush (who is now at Work by my side) joins, I am / Dear Sir your Obliged friend an / humble Servt.\nBenjm: Rush", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "04-12-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5175", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Benjamin Rush, 12 April 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Rush, Benjamin\nDear Sir\nQuincy April 12, 1807\nYour favour of the 3d is received; I am willing to allow you Philosophers your opinion of the universal gravitation of matter, if you will allow mine that there is in some souls a principle of absolute levity that buoys them irresistibly into the Clouds. Whether you call it etherial spirit or inflammable air it has an uncontroulable tendency to ascend & has no capacity to ascertain the height at which it aims or the means by which it is to rise. This I take to be precisely the genius of Burr, Miranda and Hamilton, among a thousand others of less or more note. These creatures have no prudence. If a man is once so disarranged in his intellect, as to deliberate upon a project of ascending to the seven stars, it is natural enough that he should first attempt to seize the two horns of the new moon and make her his first stage.\nBurr\u2019s project of making himself V. P. of the U. S. to a reasonable Man would have appeared an high degree of extravagance for there were ten thousand men in the U. S. who were as well qualified for it and had merited it by much greater sacrifices, sufferings and services. Yet in this he succeeded. Buoyed up by the flattery of the Presbyterians in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pensylvania and all the Southern States from the veneration in which they held his father and grandfather, the factions of Clintons and Livingstons alternately employed him as their instrument, till the Virginians conceived the project of engaging him to corrupt the state of New York from the Federal interest. In this they and he succeeded, but all the rest of his Projects have been chimerical and without success. What could have inspired Burr with hopes of being an Ambassador, a Chief Justice of Pensylvania or a Governour of New York, or Vice President of the United States.\nOmnia Numina absunt, si absit Prudentia. Prudence is the first of Virtues and the root of all others. Without prudence there may be abstinence but not Temperance; there may be rashness but not fortitude; there may be insensibility or obstinacy but not patience.\nWithout Prudence to weigh and deliberate on the nature and consequences of an enterprize, and to consider his means and his end, a man, who engages in it commits himself to chance, and not seldom when a thousand Chances are against him to one in his favour.\nI pity my old friend McKean; like many others of our antideluvian patriarks, he was carried away into error by the French Revolution, and delivered himself in the hands of a party with whom he could never cordially cooperate. In the time of Robbespiere and his bloodiest cruelties, I dined once in company with McKean Gallatin and Burr, and they were all very loud in praise of Robespiere \u201cHe was honest and the Saviour of France.\u201d Some of the Company presumed to censure their patriot and hero, and all three of these gentlemen cried out \u201cRobespiere\u2019s Crime is his honesty.\u201d \u201cHow many instances do we see every day which prove that honesty is not the best policy.\u201d They have all of them tried a different policy, but I believe they will all come to a bad end, and find at last that honesty would have been a better policy.\nI now come to a mystery in your letter. I have but four Grandsons; two of whom are boys under seven years of age, & have been at my house and in Boston all winter; they are the children of my son John; the two others are sons of my daughter Smith; the youngest of whom, whose name is John is now with me and has not been in Philadelphia since last May. The eldest is William, now to my great grief in Trinidad. No letter therefore can have been left at your house from any grandson of mine. I cannot unriddle this mystery but by supposing that some adventurer has forged a letter: but for what end I know not. I thank you with all my heart for your kind intentions towards my supposed Grandson.\nPensylvania can fall down on one broadside and then roll over to the other broadside, and then turn keel upwards, and then right herself up again. She is a Ship however, so violently addicted to pitching and rolling, that I should not wonder if she dismasted herself. To quit the figure and speak plain English I have long thought that the first serious civil war in America will commence in Pensylvania. The two nations of Irish and Germans, who compose the principal part of the people, are so entirely governed by their passions, that it will be impossible to keep them steady in any just system of policy. They will one day repent in sackcloth the ascendency they have given to the Transalleganian and Southern Atlantic States, and so will New York. But so contagious is folly that we in the Mass. are running the same course. I do not believe, however, that Sullivan, if he should be chosen, will harmonize long with his party, not half so long as McKean has. He is in heart and in head as no more of a Democrat than McKean. I have known him not much less than forty years. He has never been a steady nor a correct man. But he is not malevolent enough for his party, nor ignorant enough. His general aim has been to be of the strongest side, and consequently has often offended both parties at times.\nI should be glad to receive your explication of the strange story of my Grandson. You do not say that the letter was from Col. Smith? What can the secret be?\nMy family reciprocate the friendly sentiments of yours & none of them more heartily than\nJ. A.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "04-22-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5176", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Benjamin Rush, 22 April 1807\nFrom: Rush, Benjamin\nTo: Adams, John\nDear Sir\nPhiladelphia April 22nd: 1807\nI enclose you the letter I mentioned in my last, from the person whom I supposed to be your son in law. The letter from his son has been mislaid. I have neither friend, nor Correspondent in new york of the name of Wm Smith except your son in law, and having never before seen his hand writing, and supposing he had dropt Ste his middle name of Stephens, I had no doubt of the letter coming from him. From this statement of facts, you will perceive the whole Affair is as much a mystery to me, as it has been to you. I have heard of letters being directed by mistake to persons for whom they were not intended. Perhaps this may explain the Case in Question.\nYour remarks upon the Character of three Gentlemen mentioned in your last letter I believe to be just. They were all visionary in their principles and projects. The two Americans attempted to rise by in the same manner kind of Vehicle, but by by different kinds of Gas\u2014the one was the result of federal\u2014the other of democratic putrefaction. They both looked forward to a civil war to place them in the situation to which they aspired. One of them acknowledged it the evening before he fell,\u2014the other certainly attempted it. Of this, two letters from my son John who now commands a Gunboat at new Orleans have furnished me with the most satisfactory\u2014(tho\u2019 not legal) evidence. His Object was not Mexico\u2014but Louissiana where my son informs Us two thirds of the inhabitants were in favor of his revolutionary enterprize. You have mentioned in your letter the true Cause of his Success when he became V. President of the UStates.\nGovr: McKean is better. The Assembly have postponed the vote for impeaching him, till the next session of the Legislature which will not take place Until After another election. I despair of a Change for the better in the legislature. The tories & federalists in our city governs the choice of persons to represent it state object to a Union with the Quids, and while this the case the enemies of our Governor will continue to pursue him and probably with Success. You have aptly compared our state to a ship in a storm. From my view I have taken of our situation, I see no prospect of a Change for the better in our Affairs. Do you not sometimes imprecate the same evils Upon the day on which you became a politician, that Job did upon the day of his birth? How many of Us have reason to cry out in reviewing our revolutionary services to our country\u2014with C\u00e6sar\u2019s parrot\u2014\u201cwe have lost our labor\u201d! Shakespear makes Lord westmorland wish for one ten thousand of those brave men that did no work on the day before the battle of Agincourt. In looking back upon the years of our Revolution, I often wish for those ten thousand hours that did no work I wasted in public pursuits, and that I now see did no permanent work for my family nor my Country. Such is the delight I now take in my professional studies, and that I daily regret that ever I was seduced from them for to build for a moment to assist in an enterprize such as the late Catharine of Russia accomplished at Petersburgh\u2014I mean building \u201ca palace of Ice.\u201d Vanity of vanities\u2014all is Vanity. \u201cWe I came into the world crying, we I lived complaining, and we I died disappointed.\u201d should be the epitaph inscribed upon the tombstone of every politician. Say\u2014ye departed spirits of Pitt\u2014and Fox is not this true?\u2014\nWe have lately graduated 32 young Doctors. I send you herewith One of their inaugural dissertations in which you will find I hope some entertainment.\nwith respects and love as usual to all your family in which all mine Unite, I am / Dear Sir your grateful & affectionate friend\nBenjn. Rush\nPS: Since writing the Above I have been told at the post office, that postage is charged upon all packets sent to you. Is it so? Until I hear from you again I shall withhold the inaugural dissertation.\u2014", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "04-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5177", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Fran\u00e7ois Adriaan Van der Kemp, 23 April 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Van der Kemp, Fran\u00e7ois Adriaan\nDr Sir\nQuincy April 23. 1807\nyou have Spent your Winter with delight as well as Industry. My Moments have neither produced pleasure or improvements to be compared to yours. I am obliged to be very \u0153conomical of my sight. Though I can See very well, with Glasses, or without them My Eyes cannot bear fatigue as they did when they were young. you have Sett me a Task that will infallibly make me blind before it will be finished.\nMr James Otis was a great Schollar, a great Philosopher a great Mathematician, a great Lawyer, a great Politician who possessed the most commanding oratorical Powers of any Man I ever knew. He was the first assertor at the Bar in the Legislature and in Print of the Rights of the Colonies against the unjust unconstitutional and illegal Claims of the British Parliament. He conducted the Town of Boston which was the great Wheel on which the Politicks of the Massachusetts Bay and the whole Continent turned from the year 1760 to the year 1770, during which ten years the Principles of the Revolution were introduced, propagated and established through the Colonies; with a Wisdom, Caution and Fortitude that no other Man possessed. He ruined his Health and injured his Fortune by his Exertions, and at last loss his Reason. Heaven in compassion to him, I hope Struck him dead with a Flash of Lightning, and though his Body did not ascend like the Prophet in Car of fire, He went to Heaven in as short a time and with as much Ease. Justice has never been done him in American History and never will be done him.\nMy Knowledge of Beaumarchais\u2019s Claim is not such as can be admitted in Testimony, as it is only from Hearsay. And the Persons from whom I heard it are all dead. But how came Beaumarchais possessed of Millions of Money? A poor Advocate and Comedian, he never was worth an hundredth Part of the Money. No Such Company as Roderique Hortales & Co ever existed. No Such Persons were ever known. It was all a political Intrique to disguise, the real fact. The Money was an Absolutle And free Gift from the King. This is my Opinion founded on the Declaration of Mr. Arthur Lee to whom the original Communication of the Kings design was first communicated by Beaumarchais himself. I could write a sheet full of Conjectures and probabilities but I hate to think upon the subject. If Congress would make a free Gift of the Money to the King of France Louis 16 I mean or his Child, I should rejoice in it but neither Beaumarchais, Bonaparte or Talleyrande have any right to it more than you have. John Wilks and another Gentleman were present when the offer was made to Arthur Lee.\nYour Remarks upon Selfridges Tryal are very natural. I never Saw the Faces of the rash Man or the rash Boy. It is astonishing that the long continued Libels and Slanders of the old one, have not produced more tragical Effects, long ago. A persevering Course of malicious falshoods for more than twenty Years, have scarcely left an honest Man in the State unslandered. The Cause was a very critical and nice one, and was I believe decided according to Justice as well as Law. If Luzac had been his Prosecutor!!!\u2014I can proceed no farther!\nAlass! Luzac! Alass Leyden! You had not heard the horrid News. I withheld it from you as long as I could, well knowing that your Grief was would last as long as your Life. I received the inclosed Letter from Mr Cremer, who is an entire Stranger to me, and it has been inserted in the Anthology. I pray you to return them to me as Soon as possible. I can Say nothing that will alleviate your Feelings or my own. Luzac has not left upon Earth a worthier Man. The last Winter has removed an amazing Number of my old Friends and Acquaintances, but not one has affected me So much as this. Why is my Life protracted, when So many younger and more Usefull are taken Away?\nI intended to say Something about Gun Boats, but I can add nothing after the Story of Leyden, but that I feel the more attached to you for this very misfortune.\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "05-02-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5179", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Nathaniel Lord, 2 May 1807\nFrom: Lord, Nathaniel\nTo: Adams, John\nSir,\nIpswich, May 2, 1807.\nBe pleased to accept from an obscure individual a copy of a work, which after much care and labor he has prepared for the public, under an impression that it would be agreeable to the sons of science in general, and in particular that those more immediately interested would find their curiosity more peculiarly gratified.\nGive me leave to trouble you with an inquiry, whether you can give me the genealogy or family connexion of the several persons on the catalogue by the name of Adams.\nWith the sincerest wishes for your health and happiness, I have the honor to be, / Sir, / your obedient servant,\nNathaniel Lord 3d.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "05-06-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5181", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Nathaniel Lord, 6 May 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Lord, Nathaniel\nSir,\nQuincy May 6th: 1807\nBe pleased to accept of thanks for your favour of the second of this month, and for your Alphabetical Catalogue of the Sons of Harvard inclosed with it, which I think is convenient and usefull and will be a gratification to numbers of the most respectable people in the Country.\nYou ask me whether I can give you the Family connections and genealogy of the several Persons on the Catalogue by the Name of Adams. This I believe is not in the Power of any man living. It has been a prolific Race: and the Tradition is that an old gentleman came over to this Country with Eight Sons, one of whom returned to England and the others remained, settled and left Families in New England. To trace the Families of all these and their Intermarriages males & females with other families would be an endless task, and I presume at this day wholly impracticable. There is a Gentleman of Medfield Elijah Adams Esqr., who has taken more pains and obtained more information than any other upon this subject. He can give you much more information, than I can who am very little of a Genealogist.\u2014\nOf a few of the Names in the Catalogue, the most nearly related to me, I can give you some particulars\u2014\nJoseph who graduated in 1710 and was Minister of Newington in New Hampshire was my Fathers Brother, son of Joseph of Braintree my Grand Father, who was the son of Joseph my Great Grand Father also of Braintree.\nSamuel 1740 was the son of Samuel of Boston, the son of John of Boston, the son of my Great Grand Father Joseph of Braintree.\nJoseph 1745 was the son of my Uncle Joseph of Newington\u2014\nEbenezer 1747 another son of my Uncle Joseph.\nAmos 1752 Minister of Roxbury Brother of Elijah Adams Esqr. of Medfield John\nJohn 1755 the Son of John the Son of Joseph the Son of Joseph all of Braintree\u2014\nZabdiel 1759 Minister of Lunenburg the son of Ebenezer son of Joseph my Grand father\u2014\nJohn Quincy 1787 Charles 1789 Thomas Boylston 1790 my Sons\u2014\nZabdiel Boylston 1791 Son of Zabdiel Minister of Lunenburg.\nI passed over Jedediah 1733 Minister of Stoughton, who was the son of Peter the son of Joseph, my Great Grand Father all of Braintree. I also passed over John 1745 who I believe was a Brother of Governor Adams and a Physician.\nAs a spesimen of the Genial & Social warmth, as well as multiplicity of the Breed I will mention to you that my Grand father in his will mentions ten Children five sons& five daughters, every one of whom was married and had children, except one Daughter married to Nathan Webb, Minister of Uxbridge who died without Issue.\nI am sir, your obliged humble Servant\nJ. A.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "05-21-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5186", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Benjamin Rush, 21 May 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Rush, Benjamin\nDear Sir\nQuincy May 21 1807\nI return you, the Letter of Edward Smith. Time may or may not unriddle this whimsical Mystery. It might however in the mean time to put Us on our guard against Intrigues.\nMy not preserving a Copy of my Letter to Dr Nathan Webb (for he was a Physician) is no Wonder: for I never kept a Copy of any Letter, till I became a Member of Congress in 1774. The observation of your Son Richard is very Shrewd, and unfortunately for me very just. There are the Same marks of haste and the Same heedless inattention to Style which have characterized all my Writings to this day.\nI have always laughed at the Affectation of representing American Independence as a novel Idea, as a modern discovery, as a late Invention. The Idea of it, as a possible Thing, as a probable Event, nay as a necessary and unavoidable Measure, in case Great Britain should observe an unconstitutional Authority over Us, has been familiar to Americans from the first settlement of the Country: And was as well understood by Governor Winthrop in 1675 as by Governor Sam. Adams when he told you that Independence had been the first Wish of his heart for Seven years. I Suppose he dated from 1768, when the Board of Commissioners arrived and landed in Boston under the Protection of Nine Ships of War and four thousand regular Troops.\nA Couplet has been repeated with rapture as long as I can remember which was imputed to Dean Berkley. The first line I have forgot: but the last was \u201cAnd Empire Rises where the Sun descends.\u201d This was public many Years before my Letter of Oct. 1755 to Doctor Webb.\nIn 1760 Coll Josiah Quincy the Grandfather of Josiah Quincy now a member of Congress from Boston, read to me a Letter he had then just received from London from a Mr Turner I believe, one of the first mercantile Houses in London; congratuting him on the Surrender of Montreal to General Amherst and the final Conquest of Canada \u201cas a great Event for America not only by insuring her Tranquility and repose, but as facilitating and Advancing your (Coll Quincys) Countries rise to independence and Empire.\u201d\nWithin the course of the year before the Meeting of Congress in 1774 on a Journey to Some of our Circuit Courts in Massachusetts, I Stopped one night at a Tavern in Shrewsbury about forty miles from Boston: and as I was cold and wett I Sat down at a good fire in the Bar room to dry my great Coat and Saddlebags; till a fire could be made in my Chamber. There presently came in, one after another half a dozen or half a score Substantial Yeoman of the Neighbourhood, who, Sitting down to the fire after lighting their Pipes, began a lively conversation upon Politicks. As I believed I was unknown to all of them, I Sat in total Silence to hear them. One Said \u201cThe People of Boston are distracted.\u201d Another Answered No wonder the People of Boston are distracted, oppression will make wise Men mad. A third said, what would you Say, if a Fellow Should come to your house and tell you he was come to take a List of your Cattle that Parliament might tax you for them at So much a head? And how Should you feel if he Should go and break open your barn, to take down your Oxen Cows horses and Sheep? What would I Say? replied the first. I would knock him in the head. Well, Said a fourth, if Parliament can take away Mr Hancocks Wharf and Mr Rows Wharf they can take away your Barn and my House. After much more reasoning in this Style, a fifth who had as yet been Silent, broke out \u201cWell it is high time for Us to rebel. We must rebel, some time or others and We had better rebel, now than at any time to come. If we put it off for ten or twenty years, and let them go on as they have begun, they will get a Strong Party among Us, and plague Us a great deal more than they can now. As yet they have but a Small Party on their side.\u201d I was disgusted, with his Word \u201crebel,\u201d because I was determined never to rebel, as much as I was to resist rebellion against the fundamental principles of the Constitution whenever british generals or governors begin it. I mention this Anecdote to Shew that the Idea of Independence was familiar even among the common People much earlier than Some Persons pretend. I have heard Some Gentlemen of Education Say that the first Idea of Independence was Suggested to them by the Pamphlet Common Sense, and others that they were first converted by it to that Doctrine: but these were men of very little Conversation with the World and Men of very narrow views and very little reflection.\nYour Ennemies are only your would be, rivals. They can never hurt you. Envy is a foul Fiend, that is only to be defyed. You read Sully. His Memoirs are a pretty specimen. Every honest virtuous and able Man that ever existed, from Abel down to Dr Rush, has had this Enemy to combat, through Life. \u201cEnvy does merit as its shade pursues.\u201d Sir you need not fear the charge of Vanity. Vanity is really what the French call it, Amour propre, Self Love, and it is an universal Passion. All Men have it in an equal degree. Honest Men do not always disguise it. Knaves often do, if not always. When you see or hear a Man pique himself on his Modesty, you many depend upon it he is as vain a fellow as lives, and very probably a great Villain. I would advise you to communicate freely all the Compliments you have had or may receive from Europe. Defy the foul Fiend. Do not infer from this that I think there is no Such thing as Modesty or Decency. On the contrary it is the duty of every Man to respect the Self love of every other Man, and not to disgust him by any ostentatious displays of his own. But in your case, Surrounded as you are by jealous Competitors, always intriguing to depress you, it is your right and your Duty to mortify their invidious impertinence by a free communication of all your Trophies to your Friends, without any injunctions of Secrecy.\nI have not Seen this Pamphlet, entitled The dangers of the Country\u2014but my Mind is chiefly impressed with a Sense of the Dangers of our Country and all other Countries, of France as well as England. of all Countries there is none more to be pitied than France. England in my Opinion is in a Less dangerous Situation than her Rival.\nThe ominous dissolutions of Morality both in Theory and Practice throughout the civilized World, threatens dangers and Calamities of a novel Species, beyond all Calculation; because there is no Precedent or Example in History which can show Us the Consequences of it. Perhaps you may Say Tyre and Sidon, Sodom and Gomorra, are examples in Point. But we have no Relations of their rize progress or decline. You may Say the old World, when it repented God that he had made Man, when it grieved him in his heart that, he had made So vile a Creature, is a Case in point. I know not what to Say in answer to this, only that the Same Authority We have for the fact, assures Us that the World shall never be again drowned. I am my / dear Sir yours\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "05-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5187", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Benjamin Rush, 23 May 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Rush, Benjamin\nDr Sir\nQuincy May 23d. 1807\nI received at an Exhibition of Musick in our polite Village of Mount Woollaston, on thursday, your Letter relative to Mr Loude, and sent it immediately to Dr Tufts by his Lady, that the Young Gentlemans Friends might be informed of his Situation. I lament the untimely decline of a Youth, although I never Saw him, who has been represented to me, as one who injured his health by too intense an application to Study. I never heard his Name, but once when my Brother Cranch mentioned him to me, before he embarked on his Voyage.\nAnd now I have mentioned my Brother Cranch, a Gentleman of fourscore, whose Memory is better than mine, I will relate to you a conversation with him last Evening. I asked him if he recollected the first line of a Couplet, whose Second Line was \u201cAnd Empire rises where the Sun descends.\u201d He paused a Moment and Said\nThe Eastern Nations Sink; their glory ends\nAnd Empire rises where the Sun descends.\nI asked him if Deane Bercley was the Author of them. He answered No. The Tradition was, as he had heard it, for Sixty Years, that these Lines were inscribed, or rather drilled into a Rock on the Shore of Monument Bay in our old Colony of Plymouth, and were Supposed to have been written and engraved there by Some of the first Emigrants from Leyden who landed at Plymouth. However this may be, I may add my Testimony to Mr Cranch\u2019s that I have heard these verses for more than Sixty years.\nI conjecture that Berkley became connected with them in my head by Some report that the Bishop had copied them into some publication. There is nothing in my little reading, more ancient in my Memory than the Observation that Arts Sciences and Empire had travelled Westward: and in Conversation it was always added, Since I was a Child that this next Leap would be over the Atlantick into America.\nThe Claim of the 1776 Men of to the honour of first conceiving the Idea of American Independence, or of first inventing the project, of it, is as ridiculous as that of Dr Priestly, to the discovery of the Perfectibility of Man.\nI hereby disclaim all Pretensions to it, because it was much more ancient than my Nativity. Your Friend\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "06-08-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5188", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Rachel Cunningham, 8 June 1807\nFrom: Cunningham, Rachel\nTo: Adams, John\nSir\ntho a stranger I take the Liberty of addressing you on a subject that very much Interests me, & I hope will you\u2014I have become acquainted with a Miss Francis Adams the Daughter of Mr. Jno. Adams, who Married a Sister of Ebenz. Oliver Esqr. of Boston\u2014Dr. Rand\u2014married (I believe) another Sister\u2014this Dear Girl, is Young, & Beautiful\u2014& a Relation of your own\u2014She had a Brother who made a very foolish connection in New York\u2014& with whom Francis, lived till Death\u2014deprived her of Him & another Brother\u2014within a short, period of time\u2014when Jno. Died she was left at the Mercy of His Widow\u2014who resides with her Mother, a Dutch, Woman &, Francis finding she must assist Herself\u2014went with a fortitude, and Magnanimity, that does her Honor, & learn\u2019d the Mantuamaking business at which She has worked ever since, in a few of the best Families in N.Y. She Boards with a distant Relation of mine\u2014the Daughter of a Respectable Mercht. She has a Sister\u2014Shame on her\u2014that is Married to a Wholesale Iron Monger in New-York; with which Sister she cannot live, with any kind of pleasure\u2014\nI have taken particular pains, to ascertain whether Frances, is in any way unworthy the notice of Her Relations\u2014& the Scrutiny, turns out to her advantage\u2014I love her, as my Daughter\u2014if her friends dont wish to protect her\u2014under their own Roof\u2014 Surely You, can make Interest\u2014with them to allow her enough to make her Independent of Mantuamaking\u2014she is an Elegant Girl that would Grace any circle, however brilliant\u2014\nI need not observe; to a Man of the World as you are, the Danger She runs\u2014alone, and unprotected\u2014Just grown up\u2014with Beauty, & every thing that can make her a Desirable object to the Unprincipled\u2014 of your Sex\u2014want of fortune will be a bar to her Marrying\u2014& the situation She is in precludes her from any hope of matching with her eaquals, shall I make any further appology, for giving you this trouble? no\u2014I will not pay so poor a compliment to your feelings\u2014She does not know of this application, her proud spirit, would revolt at it\u2014I beg a speedy answer\u2014I am at present on a Visit\u2014at the Seat of Govn. Morris Esqr. where I shall remain a fortnight\u2014She was unwell\u2014& I have had her with me, till she was quite recovered I Saw her Safe home yesterday\u2014& return\u2019d in the Ev\u2019ning\u2014\nI am Sir with the / Greatest, Respect\u2014 / Your Humbl. Servt.\nRachel CunninghamP. S. I dont wish that this application Should be made known to any one but her Relations\u2014no one here knows that She is obliged to get her living I carefully hid, that\u2014as I all along\u2014hoped, this Letter would effect, her Employment from that Slav has a Mother .", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "06-09-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5189", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Benjamin Rush, 9 June 1807\nFrom: Rush, Benjamin\nTo: Adams, John\nMy dear friend\nPhiladelphia June 9th: 1807.\nPermit me to trouble you with the delivery of the enclosed letter to Dr Tufts. It contains an Account of the death of his patient Mr: Land, and a small sum of money to be sent by the Doctor to Mr: Land\u2019s parents in new Hamshire.\nI sent you Mr Stevens\u2019s pamphflet \u201con the dangers of the Country\u201d a few days ago. I beg your Acceptance of it.\nSince the date of my last letter I have been made very happy by the sight a Visit from my two daughters with the husband of One of them (Mr Cuthbert) and thier four Children, making with a niece of Mr Cuthbert\u2019s and their Servants, an Addition of ten to my family. The Scene of joy produced by this event marks an era in the lives of my dear Mrs Rush and myself. They purpose to remain with us Until the latter end of this month. My daughter Manners has refuted by her chearful deportment all the gloomy fears I had entertained of her Destiny in marriage: Her husband is every thing the most indulgent parents could wish a husband to be for an only and favorite daughter.\u2014She expects to sail for England with him in the Course of the present year.\nExpect a longer letter from me Shortly. In the mean while be assured of the respect and Affection of your sincere and Obliged friend\nBenjn: Rush", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "06-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5190", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Benjamin Rush, 23 June 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Rush, Benjamin\nDear Sir\nQuincy June 23. 1807\nI have received your favour of the ninth of this Month, and conveyed to Dr Tufts your Letter to him, who desireses me to express to you the high sense he has of your Benevolence And Humanity to Mr John Loude. The Doctor will write you, as soon as he can find means of conveying to the Parents of that unfortunate youth the money you enclosed. What Shall We Say, my Friend? A pious and virtuous youth, Struggling from his Cradle with Poverty, impressed with an unquenchable Thirst of Knowledge, and through every difficulty forcing his Way to universal Love and Esteem wherever he, went, cutt off in his Career and thrown into the Grave, like an Useless or a noxious Weed, when Such Men as you and I can recollect in Abundance, live to three score years and ten and even fourscore and fourscore and ten.? This Child neither was guilty of Perjury to the Gods, nor Impiety to his Parents, nor Treason against his Country, nor Murder of his fellows, nor any of those Crimes, which ancient and Modern Phylosophers and Legislators have taught Us to believe the most calculated to drawn down divine Vengeance. He had no guilt directly nor indirectly in the Slave Trade. He was neither principal nor Accessory, neither Aider Abetter or Accomplice in depriving any human Being of his Liberty, Life or Property. We must not ascribe his Misfortunes and Death, Vindict\u00e6 Divin\u00e6. We must have recourse to our good Religion for the solution of the difficulty, for there only We shall find it.\nFrom Reflections like those the Transition is easy to \u201cThe Dangers of the Country,\u201d a Pamphlet for which I thank you and which I have read with great Pleasure and much Advantage. It abounds with Observations of the greatest importance and with Information much of which was new to me.\nI was provoked, to hear it lately mentioned with a certain Slight, and charged with declamation. The Allusion might be to his reflections on the Slave Trade: and although there is not a Word that he Says upon that Subject which I did not read with delight, I must acknowledge that I cannot concur in his Conclusions. That the Calamities of Europe, are a punishment for her Vices I have not doubt. But She has Sinned against the whole Decalogue and the Crimes of Sodom might be assigned as the procuring Cause of the Anger of heaven as well as the Slave Trade. We are too much byassed by our Self Love and our private Interests And affections as well as by our peculiar turn of thinking; and our Information is too contracted for Us to be competent Judges of the designs of Providence in the distribution of good and Evil, Rewards and Punishments to Nations or Individuals in this World. I could adduce Facts and Arguments, in a particular Case, to prove the Interposition of Providence to punish the Enemies of one Man, as plausible as those of Mr Stevens to Shew that Bonaparte has been raised up to Scourge the Trades in Slaves. I ought not to introduce my Essay without Something like a Preface.\nThe Saying of Vitellius that \u201cthe Body of a dead Ennemy always Smells well\u201d was always as abhorrent to my moral Sentiments as the Expression was loathsome to my Senses. I have often heard Dr Franklin Say that \u201cone of the Pleasures of old Age was to outlive ones Ennemies.\u201d This Sentiment also never failed to disgust and Shock me. Possibly I might think there was more Inhumanity and Indelicacy in it, than he felt or intended. But I have never allowed myself to rejoice in the Death of Ennemies, and I know not that I ever heard of the death of any Enemy without pain. If this could have been a Source of pleasure to me, I Should have had a Surfeit of it. You will not Suspect that I am weak or presumptuous enough to believe or even to conjecture that Providence has ever Specially interposed to vindicate me or to discountenance my Ennemies. The Thought Strikes me with horror. Yet for what I know there may have been Fanaticks in the World, who would have flattered themselves that they were Favourites\nSoon after I took my Seat, in the Chair of the Senate as Vice President of the United States, a certain Edward Church, who made himself my Enemy for no reason that I know of, unless it were because his Brother Benjamin was accused of Treason, published a Scandalous & Scurrilous Libel against me in Verse, for which Washington ought to have punished him: but instead of frowning upon him he appointed him Consul at Lisbon, where his Conduct was So bad that the Government complained against him, and he was removed and became a Vagabond. A certain Loyd was then at New York and was employed as I was informed to write Libells against me in the Newspapers. But he found So little Encouragement that he returned to England where I soon heard that he was imprisoned in the Kings Bench and Sett in the Pillory for Libells against the government. Greenleaf too a Printer of a Jacobin Paper in New York, who filled his Columns for years with libellous Paragraphs against me, was at length carried off by the yellow Fever. In Philadelphia, a certain Peter Marcou, a drunken Poet, discarded by his Father from all the Apartments in his House but his Kitchen, who was frequently Seen drunk and asleep in the Streets, was hired from time to time, with Potts of Strong Beer, by Andrew Brown, to Step aside into a Closet in his House and write virulent Libells against me, for the Philadelphia Gazette. It was not long before this insolent Sott, drank himself into his Grave. Andrew Brown himself when he first opened his printing Office came out to Bush Hill, in the most cringing manner to beg of me the Loan of Tom Paines Rights of Man, the two first Copies of which were received by me from Brand Hollis and Billy Franklin. He not only kept my Pamphlet, which he Solemnly promised to return, but immediately commenced in his Newspaper the most vilainous Course of Lies against me that his own Ingenuity added to that of the Toper Marcou could invent. Pickering who had him in his Power took him in hand, and brought him to the most abject Submission and the most Solemn Promises of Amendment. But he could not long refrain from abusing me, till his House was burnt and his Wife and Children in it, and himself Scortched to Such a degree that he died in a few days. This looks the most like the Vindicta divina, for Some Crime or other. Benjamin Beach too, in his Aurora, in revenge for Washingtons neglect of his Father and his Family was converted from a zealous Federalist to an abandoned Jacobin And became of course one of the most malicious Libellers of me. But the yellow Fever arrested him in his detestable Career, and Sent him to his Grandfather from whom he inherited a dirty, envious, jealous and revengfull Spight against me, for no other cause, under heaven than because I was too honest a Man to favour or connive at his Selfish Schemes of Ambition and Avarice. Next to him I will mention John Fenno the younger, who after his Fathers death, threw himself into the Arms of an English Faction, and with the utmost ingratitude to me, not only published his own Abuses but the Libells of Macdonald the British Commissioner, and Some of his Tools Such as Will. Smith and others. Well! what became of John Fenno junior? Why the yellow Fever Soon disposed of him. Cobbet too, from being a prodigious Admirer of me became a Libbeller not only of you but of me. And of me for no other reason but because I would not involve my Country in a foreign and civil War, merely to make Alexander Hamilton, Commander in Chief of an Army of fifty thousand Men. This compleated Cobbets ruin in America, where he had once a Prospect of making a fortune. Alexander Callender, for that I belive was his name, though he assumed that of Stephens Thompson Mason, his great Patron and Protector, to disguise his real name and Character: for I presume he was the Rascal who fled from a criminal prosecution in Scotland, and left his Bail in the Lurch. This Fellow who knew nothing of me, was bribed to publish the most infamous Calumnies against me. His Fate is well known. Discarded by the Party who had bribed him, he became as arrant a Libeller of them, and was evidently preparing to become the Instrument of his CoPatriot, his Brother Scotchman Alexander Hamilton, in order to procure him to be elected President of the United states. This Miscreant, after Spending half his time in the lowest Intoxication in the Streets and in the vilest places, after getting his head broken and Suffering every Insult was found drowned in the Sea or a River whether he dropped in a fit or was plunged in by an Enemy. Thus ended Callender, and his Name Sake & Countryman Alexander Hamilton came to an end not much more to be envied. Of all the Libellers of me this was the most unprovoked, the most ungrateful and the most unprincipled. Under the most Specious the appearances and Professions, of the most cordial respectful and Affectionate Attachment to me, and after having received a thousand favours and obligations from me, I have, now Evidence enough that he had concealed the most insidious Schemes and plotts to undermine my reputation and deprive me of the favour of the Public. Finding he could not Succeed in this, he took Advantage of a moment of fermentation wickedly excited by himself and his fellow Conspirators, to come out with the most false malicious and revengefull Libell that ever was written. To this he had no Provocation but because I would make Peace with France, and could not in conscience make him Commander in Chief of an Army of fifty thousand Men. But this Caitiff too came to a bad End. Fifteen years of continual Slanders against Burr, great numbers of which I heard myself, provoked a Call to the Field of Honor as they call it, and Sent him, pardoned I hope in his last moments, to his long home by a Pistol Bullet through his Spine.\nBurr, I never considered as my personal Enemy. He would not have been my political Enemy, if Wash Hamilton would have permitted Washington to allow me to nominate him to the Senate as a Brigadier in the Army. But Burr must and would be Something, and flectere Sine queo Superos Accharonta movebo, was as excusable a Maxim in him, as it was in Hamilton, McKean, Fred. Muhlenbourg, Tenche Coxe, and fifty more that I could name in one breath. Burr became my political Enemy and Jeffersons political Friend, not from any affection to him or disaffection to me, but merely to make Way for himself to mount the Ladder of Ambition. The most efficatious Enemy and Friend to be Sure he was. By intriguing with Clintons and Livingstons against Hamilton he turned the State of New York and consequently the Ballance of the Continent. But what has been Burrs reward? It is doubtful whether Hamilton Andrew Brown, or Alexander Callender, are So Signal Monuments of divine Vengeance and whether their destiny is not to be preferred to his. At the same time that I Say this, I am not insensible of the Possibility that he may yet be President of the United States.\nI could Swell this Catalogue to a much greater Length, by enumerating Instances of Individuals and Parties who have been marked with signal Misfortunes after having been guilty of Injustice and Baseness to me. But these are enough. If I could take pleasure in the death or Calamities of my Enemies, I might have a Surfeit of it. But I have not a disposition So vindictive: and if I had I would, exert all my Philosophy and Summon all my Religion to Subdue and Suppress it.\nNow let me ask you have I not proved that Providence has frowned upon my Ennemies by Facts as certain and Arguments as conclusive as those by which Mr Stevens attempts to prove the Calamities of Europe to be punishments for her sins against Affrica.\nGeneral Inferences Should never be drawn from Single Facts, or even from Several Instances, especially in contemplating the inscrutable and incomprehensible Councils of Providence. I Should rejoice in the Prospect of the Abolition of the Slave Trade as Sincerely as any Man: But, I am apprehensive, if England Suppresses their share of it, Napoleons at the head of France Spain and Holland will not only monopolize it, but extend it Still more.\nI am, Affectionately yours\nJ Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "06-25-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5191", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Benjamin Rush, 25 June 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Rush, Benjamin\nDear Sir\nQuincy June 25. 1807\nJohn Bunjan, if he had written my last Letter to you would have called it an history of Gods Judgments against Lyars and Libellers. Such indeed it seems to be. A great Number of others might have been added, and two or three at least ought to have been.\nPhillip Freneau is one of the Number: but I know not in what Light to consider him. A Libeller, he certainly was not only against me but against the whole Administration of the Government at that time. But he Seems to have been an Instrument in the hands of others, and not well Satisfied with his Employment or his Employers. He has retired for many years into total obscurity certainly neglected by the Party which Seduced him and I hope repenting of his Wickedness If this is the Case he ought to be forgiven by all whom he has injured or offended, as he certainly has been long since, by me.\nA certain Man named Wood, undertook to write and print an History of my Administration in two Octavo Volumes. To be Sure it was a Mass of Lyes from the first Page to the last. This Man has Suffered a most righteous Punishment.\u2013and such a Punishment as would gratify my revenge if I had any, more than the calcining of Andrew Brown or the Pistol Shot of Alexander Hamilton: I mean a Conviction of the Falshood of his own story, a Confession that he received his Materials from Duane, and an Acknowledgment in Print that Some of them were false, and that no dependence could be had on any of them. The Expense of this Publication was wholly lost. By whom the loss was borne I know not. In this Instance I had compleat Satisfaction, Repenting Nineveh was Spared, though and my resentment compleatly disarmed, though Some invisible Prophet or other no doubt must have fretted.\nI will close the Catalogue for the present, with an Example of a Man who I believe has justly acquired the honourable Distinction of being the greatest Lyar of the Age. I am convinced he has written and printed more Lies than any Man in America at least. For Eighteen or Nineteen years this Man, hardened in impudence, has distinguished me with a course of his Calumnies. But what has been his reward? I really know not a Single Man of good Character who does not hold him in Abhorrence, And many if not all the most Sensible Men of his own Party, cannot conceal their Contempt of him. He has received every Insult, in the Streets, and his unconquerable Propensity to Slander, and his impudent refusal to give reasonable Satisfaction, got him posted as a Lyar and a Coward. Not having spirit to resent this himself, he is said to have encouraged his son to attack Selfridge on Change who shot him upon the Spot. It gives me pain to write this. But it ought to be considered by the Slanderer as a terrible Rebuke and Chastisement of his long continued and aggravated Guilt.\nDennison has got his quietus: Duane and Cheetham have theirs to come, and they certainly will come.\nA certain John Williams who assumed the Name of Anthony Pasquin fled from the Laugh and the Wrath of England, and coming to Boston became the Editor of the Democrat and afterwards of the Chronicle. He was Soon Seized with the epidemical Distempter, among Libellers, an Ambition of the honour of venting Billingsgate against me! But even the Democratick Party, disgusted with his Vileness compelled their own Newspapers to discard him. What is become of him I know not. Gifford and Erskine had Stigmatized him to such a degree that I believe his Capacity to do mischief is at an End.\nI might have mentioned another, a David Williams, who as he told me had been on very intimate Terms with Dr Franklin in London. He came to See me in Grosvenor Square, but Dr Price put me on my guard against him. He had been a Priest of the Church of England, but was unfrocked, if not excommunicated for his Vices and Crimes and then became an Infidell filling his Writings with Contempt of the Christian Religion. In a Pamphlet of real Taste and Merit which he called Advice to a young Prince, he gave me a Stab behind my Back with his Italian Stilletto. He went to France and was praised by Madam Roland, but he was not a Man to Succeed any where and I Suppose made the French as weary of him as they were of Tom Pain. I could forgive these Williams\u2019s, profligate as they were to the rest of the World, for all the Injury they did me for a smattering at least which they possessed of Classical Taste and Learning.\nThe Rear of this black Host, Shall be brought up by Tom Pain, you know that I made the motion for his Appointment by Congress to be Secretary to the Committee of foreign affairs, and carried it in opposition to Dr Witherspoon who gave him publickly what has since been found to be his true Character, though at that time wholly unknown to me. His Gratitude to me, for thus laying the foundation of his fortune, has been like all his moral sentiments, and Conduct through Life.\nImmediately after the Publication of my \u201cThoughts: on Government\u201d in 1776, since known as my Letter to Mr Wythe, Tom came to my Chambers at Mrs Yards, to rebuke me for my Pamphlet, and es especially for recommending too two Assemblies in the Legislature, and more pointedly Still for Advising to a Negative on the Laws in the Executive Authority. I vindicated my opinions, in cool good humour with very Solid Reasons, and then began to laugh at him, in the same Straine of Pleasantry upon his ridiculous plan of Government in his Pamphlet called \u201ccommon sense\u201d. You remember his Project was that, afterwards adopted by Mr Turgot, of all Authority in one Center, a Single Representatives assembly.\u2014I went farther, and laughing in his face, asked him how he could be Such a Pharasaical Hypocrite as to employ his thoughts through one other third Part of his Pamphlet, to prove from the Old Testiment that Monarchy was unlawful and Solemnly prohibited by the Law of God. When he certainly must have Sense enough to know that there was nothing like it in the Bible.\u2014Upon this he laughed out, and Said that he did not believe in the Bible: and added these memorable Words \u201cI have had thoughts of publishing my Sentiments upon Religion: but upon the whole I have concluded to postpone that Subject to the latter part of Life.\u201d\u2014 In some of his late Libells upon me, Pain alluded to this Conversation, and Said that he had long suspected me, because I had found fault with his Sentiments against Monarchy, in his Pamphlet common Sense. The Provocation, however, that excited his Motive and Revenge against me, was this. He went to England in 1787 I believe and carried with him a Copy of the new Constitution of the United States. He appeared to be very proud of it; and I was frequently disgusted with his Boasts to Stockdale and De Brett that he was the author of it. De Brett published it, from a Copy furnished him as he said by the author of it. Pain told me that it was taken from a Draught of his, which he gave to Governor Morris.\u2014I thought it would be no recommendation of it in England to have it pass for a Production of Tom Paine, a Tale which I did not believe. Pain however called several times to see me, and was invited to dine. His Conversation always disgusting was one day, uncommonly vain, rude, and arrogant at Table, and in some dispute about Government he talked so much like a Villain and a Blackhead as to excite me to wrath, and I called him, not jocularly, but bona fid\u00ea and in sober earnest \u201cA Fool,\u201d Although, \u201cA Fool\u201d he certainly was and ever has been. I must confess, that to call him so to his Face in my own house and at my own Table, was such a violation of his Rights and my Duties, of Hospitality, that I would very readily ask his Pardon, even at this day if his pardon was worth having. Although he expressed no Anger at the time he came no more to my house and I have never seen him since. He reserved his Resentment for many years, and at last poured it out in Libells. As far as I am concerned I am ready to ballance the account by setting my calling him a Fool against all the Injuries his Libells have done me.\nBut this is a Libeller whose guilt is of a deeper crimson, than all the others. He has libelled, besides all the Souvereigns of the Earth the Souvereign of the Universe, and to him I leave his Punishment or his Pardon.\nI have given you a Scroul of Wretches more worthy to be immortalised in Infamy by a Dunciad than all the Heroes of Popes exquisite Satyr: but if I had the Wit, and Talents of the great Poet, I would employ them to better purpose than by Writing such a Book.\nI am affectionately yours\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "07-09-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5192", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Benjamin Rush, 9 July 1807\nFrom: Rush, Benjamin\nTo: Adams, John\nMy dear friend,\nPhiladelphia July 9th: 1807.\nI once met Alexander Cruden the Author of the Concordance of the Scriptures at Charles Dilly\u2019s. He was then about 70 years of Age. The only thing he said while I was in his Company made an impression upon my mind which the lapse of near 40 years has not worn away. It was this. \u201cGod punishes some Crimes in this world to teach us there is a Providence, and permits Others to escape with impunity, to teach us there is a future judgment\u201d Your two last letters contain some very striking proofs of the truth of the former part of Mr Crudens proposition. Your Case has been somewhat singular, and widely different from mine. My enemies have generally been prosperous in the World. The men physicians who by their publications, and desertion of our city in the year 1793, and laid the foundation of All the Controversies which took place at that time upon the treatment and origin of the yellow fever, and of the greatest part of its mortality, have ever since, been the favorites of the public,\u2014and the more so, for the injuries they did to me,\u2014for no punishment in the loss of reputation and business has been thought too great for the man who has blasted the Character and depreciated the property of Philadelphia by asserting it to be the birth place of the yellow fever.\u2014I mention this fact without complaining of it. Retribution may even yet reach them in this World. If it do not, I am sure it will in the World to come.\nIn one of your former letters you spoke in high terms of Prudence. I neglected to reply to your encomiums upon it. General Lee used to call it \u201ca rascally Virtue.\u201d It certainly has more Counterfits than any Other Virtue, and when real, it partakes very much of a selfish nature. It was this virtue that protected the property and lives of most of the Tories during the American Revolution. It never atchieved any thing great in human Affairs. Luther\u2014Harvey\u2014and many Other Authors of new Opinions and discourses were devoid of it, so were the Adamses & Hancock who gave the signals for war in the year 1775. In private life what is commonly called prudence is little else than a System of selflove. A patient of mine once named me (without my knowledge) with two other persons, one of whom was his brother, as Executors of his will. Knowing his brother to be a notorious rogue, and wishing not to Act as an executor myself, I called upon my third Colleague and urged him instantly to take Charge in a legal way of all the property of our deceased friend. He said he could not do this without offending our friend\u2019s brother. I asked him if he did not believe he would apply all our friends property to his own Use? he said yes\u2014but that he could not act as I advised, without a Quarrel with him\u2014and \u201cthat he never had a dispute with any man in his life.\u201d Foreseeing the loss of our friends property, I qualified as an Executor, and thereby rescued the all his estate of our friend from the hands of his brother except 300 Dollars which he collected and appropriated to his own use. By this acting in this manner I paid my friends debts, & saved a hansome sum for his only Child, and that I might not incur even a suspicion of acting from interested motives, I gave all my Commissions on the Cash I received or expended to my brother executor who refused to concur with me in offending our friends brother. The result of this Conduct was, a not a Quarrel with the fellow for (for he was below a resentful reply) but the most intemperate Abuse from him, and a threat to expose me in the newspapers for an Attack upon his honor & Character. My Colleague in the mean while kept up a friendly intercourse with him, and thereby retained the character of a prudent peaceable man.\u2014\nDuring the Revolutionary War while I had charge of the military hospitals, most of the surgeons & physicians connected with me complained of the ignorance, negligence & above all of the gross and extensive speculations in hospital Stores (while the sick suffered from the Want of them) of the Director General of the hospital establishment. To obviate these evils I became the organ of their complaints to Congress, by whom they were referred to General Washington who 18 months Afterwards ordered him before a Court martial. The officers of that Court were changed in several instances. The Director dined occasionally with several of them at the tables of General Officers during his tryal. None of the young men who had complained of him appeared against him,\u2014but some of them appeared in his favor. They all got Credit for their prudence. John Brown Cutting\u2019s evidence overset mine, and the Director was acquitted,\u2014nor was this all,\u2014General Washington Afterwards gave him a Certificate for integrity, and good Conduct during the time he directed the Affairs of the hospital. He admitted that there had been disorders in them, but ascribed them to the deranged & confused state of the Army, and to difficulties which arose from the nature of the War. By this Certificate, he prudently avoided offending the Director, and a Quarrel with his two Brothers in law who then possessed an unbounded influence over the Councils of Congress. The business ended in my being obliged to resign my Commission, and leaving the Army with the Character of a n am factious ambitious\u2014imprudent man who wished only to occupy the place of the Director General of the hospitals.\nAfter the above detail, you will not wonder at my coldness and indifference to public Affairs.\nWhile I have thus exposed the Counterfits of prudence, far be from me to deny the reality, and excellency of that Virtue. Its existence is admitted, & its Advantages are extolled admitted described by St Paul. My worthy friend Bishop White has proved by his Conduct that this life that prudence can exist with firmness and integrity in the highest degree. In the Cause of truth and humanity like it may be said of him what the good Regent of Scotland the Earl of Murray said of John Knox at his over his grave. \u201cThere lies a man who never feared the face of man.\u201d I have often known the Bishop say and do offensive, but just things, and yet still retain his friends & Character. Such men are as rare as great Generals & statesmen.\nAlas!\u2014The events at Norfolk!\u2014Where\u2014where\u2014will they end?\u2014\nCol: Burr retains in his Confinement, his usual good Spirits.\u2014He is a nondescript in the history of human nature. Should he be acquitted\u2014you say he may yet be President of the United States.\u2014It is possible. Some worse men hold high Appointments in every part of our Country.\nMy Daughters with their suit left us last week, and under distressing Apprehensions of being long\u2014long seperated from us not only by distance, but by a war between our respective Countries.\u2014\nAdieu! with love & respect as usual in which Mrs Rush & all my young folks join, I am Dr Sir your Affectionate / & obliged friend\nBenjn: Rush\nPS: It I have accidentally discovered the Wm Smith who recommended his son to me from New York. It is a Scotch Clergyman who came recommended to me above 20 years ago & who has lately given up a Charge in Connecticut and opened a School in New York.\u2014", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "07-11-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5193", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, 11 July 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Warren, Mercy Otis\nDear Madam\nQuincy July 11. 1807\nAs it is neither consistent with my Principles, Disposition or habits, upon any misunderstanding with an ancient Friend, to conceive Resentment and hostility to be changed into an Enemy, I shall still continue my old Style of address to Mrs. Warren.\nI have read much if not all your history of the Rise Progress and termination of the American Revolution.\nI am not about to write a review of it. If I were to do this under an oath to tell the Truth, the whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth, the Commentary would certainly be at least twice as voluminous as the Text. But as in those Passages which relate personally to me, there are several Mistakes. I propose at my Leisure to point out some of them to you, in the spirit of Friendship, that you may have an opportunity, in the same spirit to correct them for any future Edition of the Work, if you are convinced of the inaccuracy of the Passages and judge it necessary or expedient to make any Alteration. I shall observe no order in selecting the Passages, but take them up as they occur by Accident.\nIn the 392. Page of the third Volume, you say that Mr \u201cMr. Adams\u2014his Passions and Prejudices were sometimes too strong for his Judgement.\u201d Sagacity and Judgment.\u201d I will not, I cannot say that this is not true. But I can and will say with the Utmost sincerity, that I am not conscious of having ever in my life taken one public Step or performed one public Act from Passion or Prejudice, or from any other Motive than the Public Good. If I had acted from Passion or Prejudice, from Interest, Ambition or Avarice the Public Affairs of this Country would have been in a much less prosperous Condition than they are and my private fortune both in rank and Property much more enviable than it is. I therefore pray you, Madam, to particularize, some of those Instances in which it has appeared or been represented to you, that my Prejudices or Passions were too Strong for my Sagacity and Judgment, and I will undertake to vindicate or rather to justify myself to you, or if I cannot do that will, will make you the necessary Concessions.\nIn the same Page you say that \u201cMr Adams was sent to England with a view of negotiating a Treaty of Commerce; but the Government too save from the loss of the Colonies, and the Nation too much Soured by the Breach, nothing was done.\u201d\nTo form a just Idea of this Passage, it would be necessary to transmit my Commission, and the Plan of a Treaty which was offered to Great Britain. A Letter of Credence to reside with a Government and a Commission to make a Treaty, are sometimes different Instruments, and were made so by Congress in this Instance. I was accredited as Minister Plenipotentiary to reside at the Court of St. James: But in the Commission to make a Treaty of Commerce, Mr Franklin and Mr Jefferson were consociated with me, and the Project of a Treaty, was conformable to the Judgment of a Majority of the three Commissioners. Mr Franklin could not come over to England: but Mr Jefferson did, and was presented by me to the King as one of the Commissioners and united with me in presenting our Project of a Treaty to the Marquis of Carmarthen. This Project contained all those Articles relative to the total suppression of all Privateers and Prizes and other Articles which you will find in my our Treaty with the old King of Prussia. These Articles were as congenial to my heart and Feelings, and had the Approbation of my Judgment as Sentiments of Equity and Humanity, as entirely, as they had those of my Colleagues. But I knew at that time as certainly as I do now, that Britain would voluntarily burn her Navy and her Flagg as soon as she would consent to them. Had I been alone in the Commission I should not have inserted them in the project, not because I did not approve them as Philosophical Principles but because, I knew the only effect of them would be to disgust and alarm the Government and the Nation. No Notice was ever taken by the British Ministry of these Articles, but there is no doubt they had an unfavourable Effect upon their Minds. Their avowed and ostensible objection to a Treaty was that the Treaty of Peace had not been executed and the Proofs which had been given to the World that Congress had neither Power nor Authority to bind the Nation. For Every State in the Union had passed Laws in direct Violation of the Treaty of Peace. You say I resided in England four or five years. I resided there from August 1785 to the 19th. of April 1788 not three years: but this is an Erratum of little consequence. When you say that Nothing was done, the Error is of some Weight. The Truth is a great deal was done, and will appear to the World if ever my Letters to Congress and their Instructions to me, together with Lord Carmarthens Letters to me, should be published. Among other Things it will appear that every State in the Union was induced to repeal their Laws which had been made against the Treaty, though Virginia and some other Southern States continued to contravene it without Law. As the whole Transaction was a disgrace to our Nation, I am apprehensive no Historian will ever be found to record it. But the most exceptionable Passage, as yet found in this page is \u201cUnfortunately for himself and his Country, he became so enamoured with the British Constitution, and the Government, Manners and Laws of the Nation, that a Partiality for Monarchy appeared, which was inconsistent with his former Professions of Republicanism.\u201d\nEvery Part and every Sentiment in this Paragraph, I affirm upon my honor and my Faith is totally unfounded.\nMy opinion of the British Constitution was formed long before I had any Thing to do in Public Life, more than twenty years before I ever saw the British Island. I learned from Fortescue Smith Montesquieu Vattel, Ackerly, Bacon Bolinbroke Sullivan and Blackstone and Delolme and even from every Marchamont Nedham Algernon Sydney, James Harrington and every other Writer on Government and from all the Examples I had ever read in History, and from all I know of the human heart and the Rise progress and tendency of the Passions in Society, the Information, Opinion and Judgement I have ever formed of the British Constitution long before the Stamp Act in 1764 and 1765. I also learned to admire that Constitution from Col Otis your Father, from James Otis your Brother, from Mr Gridly Mr Thatcher, and even from Samuel Adams and James Warren, and even from Mrs Mercy Warren his ingenious and amiable Lady. Neither my Judgment of that Constitution nor my Esteem of it nor my Affection for it, were increased or altered by my Residence in England. My Esteem for the Manners of the English or the French was not certainly augmented by my Residence among them. If we may distinguish between manners and Morals, I should certainly prefer the Manners of the French and the Morals of the English. But my Esteem of neither was increased by a residence among them.\nYou say a Partiality for Monarchy appeared. This fact I deny, and entreat you to mention to me the Evidence, which you Supposed would warrant the Assertion, that I may clear it up, or at least be heard in my Defence.\nI have never exhibited or entertained, but one opinion of Monarchy in any part of my Life. Despotism, absolute Monarchy, absolute Aristocracy, and absolute Democracy, I have uniformly detested, through my whole Life: because I knew that absolute Power, was Tyranny, delirious Tyranny wherever it was placed. T A mixed Government is the only one that can preserve Liberty. The limited, equipoised Monarchy of England I have always thought the only Government which could preserve civil, political or religious Liberty or even the Semblance of it in any of the great populous, commercial, oppulent Luxurious and corrupted Nations of Europe.\nIn America I have always thought that a Mixed Government was necessary. But by a mixed Government in America, I have never understood a Government with an hereditary Executive or an hereditary Senate. Neither of these ever appeared to me to be necessary. But I have always advocated a mixed Elective Government in three Branches, Such as are the constitutions of Massachusetts and New York, from which the Constitution of the United States is wholly borrowed. So far from manifesting a Partiality for Monarchy, I have always uniformly declared to my Friends whenever the Subject has been Seriously Started in Conversation, that if the People of America would unanimously confer on me the Power of instituting a Government for them as the Athenians did on Solon and the Lacedamonians on Lycurgus, and I knew beforehand that they would quietly Submit to whatever plan I Should propose, I would not recommend to them either an hereditary King or an hereditary Nobility, Because I did not in my Conscience believe it would be for their Happiness Security or Prosperity. On the other hand I have always reprobated and opposed a Government, that is a Sovereignty in a Single Representative Assembly, in Opposition to Franklin Paine, Matlock, young Lt Governor Cushing and even Samuel Adams as well as Mr Turgot. In Conformity with these Views and Principles I wrote my Letter to Mr Wythe, under and it was published in the Beginning of the year 1776 under the Title of \u201cThoughts on Government in a Letter from a Gentleman to his Friend\u201d in which a Legislature in three Branches was recommended, and an independent Executive And Judiciary, and from which the Constitution of New York was taken. In conformity with the Same System In the Convention of the Massachusetts in 1779 I advocated a Legislative in three Branches, with an Executive entirely independent and even with a Negative on all the Laws, with an independent Judiciary, not only in the Committee of thirty and in the Subcommittee of three who appointed me to draw the Constitution, but after our Report, in the Convention at large before three or four hundred Members from all Parts of the State. I have never deceived the People, Mrs Warren, nor any Individual of them. I have never practiced Simulation nor Dissimulation with my Countrymen. My Principles and Opinions, have always been as public as Arguments before the most numerous popular Assemblies, and even as dissemination from the Press could make them, and they have always, been uniformly the same in matters of Government. No other Professions of Republicanism than these, did I ever make and these I have always made.\nIn page 394, you say in a Note that \u201cCircumstances in some future day may render it necessary to adopt an hereditary Monarchy in Am the United States.\u201d This is going the Utmost length, to which I have ever gone in any of my Writings or Conversation; though I could name to you Men in high Rank Power and Popularity with the present predominant Party who have gone much farther and asserted that the Constitution of the United States was defective in not having an hereditary Executive and Senate.\nI can recollect but one Circumstance, which could give a colour to the representation you have given of my Monarchical Sentiments, and that is this. Not long after you my Return from Europe, in a Conversation between General Warren, yourself and me at my House, the Constitution of the United States, was the Topick. The General did not like it. You said you had a Letter from Mrs. Maccaulay in which she said, she thought it would do, for the foundation of it was Democracy. Poh! Said The General, \u201cShe does not understand it.\u201d I said \u201cI thought the Consitution an Acquisition, and after Some Slight observations on both sides, I said jocularly, laughing, in that Style of familiarity which had been long habitual between Us \u201cFor my Part I want King Lords and Commons.\u201d I Supposed, that both of you perfectly understood me to mean, what alone I did mean, Such a Ballance of Power, as the Constitution We had been talking of contained, which is a miniature Resemblance of King Lords and Commons, though without the Names and without the permanent quality of the two former. This and no more was my Meaning, and it is certain that you understood me, in this Sense and in this Sense only, for you answered me, as quick as lightening, laughing as I did \u201cAnd So do I too.\u201d\nIt was a very common Saying at that time, by some in the Sense in which you and I understood it and used it. I can prove that Mr Speaker Morton said that \u201cNo Government was worth a dam, but that of King Lords and Commons.\u201d Governor McKean has Said Seriously to me, that the Constitution of the United States was defective, in not having an hereditary Executive and Senate, and I can prove that he Said the Same thing to others, and even in open Coversation at public Tables, and held Serious Arguments to prove and Support his opinion. Many others I could mention who now rank high in Power, Some of them even so far as to say that We ought to have a Monarchy here in the Person of one of the Sons of the King of England an Idea I have always most cordially detested. If I were to measure out to others, the treatment that has been meted to me I could make wild Work with some of your Party. Shall I indulge in retaliation, or not?\nI shall proceed no farther at present, but expect with impatience your Answer. In the meantime I shall prepare more for your Consideration. My Regards to the General, and believe me Still your Friend, though with some Grievances to complain of\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "07-16-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5194", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Mercy Otis Warren, 16 July 1807\nFrom: Warren, Mercy Otis\nTo: Adams, John\nPlymouth, Ms., July 16th: 1807.\nAfter a long suspension of a friendly literary intercourse, it was very unexpected to me this day, to receive a letter from the hand of Mr. Adams;\u2014nor can I conceive of any thing that should occasion a resentment in his bosom, or prevent his old style of address to Mrs. Warren, or give the semblance of an \u201cold friend being hastily converted into an enemy;\u201d\u2014much less could I have expected to have been charged with a want of veracity, or a malignancy of heart, by a gentleman who has long known me too well to suspect me wilfully guilty of either.\u2014Had not the irritation of the times or some other cause unknown to me have agitated his mind too much for the gentleman or the friend, I should not have received a letter couched in such terms as his of the 11th of July.\nIn the second paragraph of this letter, you say you have read much, if not all of my History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution.\u2014You proceed to say that you \u201care not about to write a review;\u201d that. \u201cif you should, the commentary would be twice as voluminous as the text;\u201d\u2014But of this I think I am sure, that, were you to write with the same eye of candor and friendship with which you once viewed her compositions, the author might have little to fear from your strictures.\nI have lived long enough to be sensible that such a work would be variously received by such a world, and in such times as those in which we live.\nI have expected that this history must pass under the criticisms of great and little men;\u2014but conscious that I have uniformly endeavoured to write with impartiality, to state facts correctly, and to draw characters with truth and candor, whether the friends or the foes of mv countrv, or the enemies of myself and family, or of those connected by the dearest ties of nature and friendship, I have ventured to submit it to the ocean of public opinion.\u2014I think I feel a firmness of mind at my advanced period of life, that will not be shaken by censure or elated with applause, my conscience bearing testimony that I have aimed at a just delineation of every fact and every character I have thought myself obliged to touch in the course of my narration.\nYou surely thought this a just standard of historic merit, when a letter now in my cabinet, dated March 15th, 1775, was written;\u2014you therein have observed that \u201cThe faithful historian delineates characters truly, let the censure fall where it will.\u2014The public is so interested in public characters that they have a right to know them, and it becomes the duty of every good citizen who happens to be acquainted with them to communicate his knowledge.\u201d\nHaving written under a strong sense of the moral obligation of truth, adhering strictly to its dictates according to the best of my information, which I endeavored to draw from the purest sources, I had determined on a uniform silence relative to any criticisms that might appear from public scribblers, or the disquisitions and interrogatories of others in a more private character.\u2014How far I may be induced to depart from this resolution by your observations addressed directly to myself, I know not.\nI have always been sensible of the difficulty and delicacy of drawing living characters.\u2014It is my opinion that the character of man is never finished until the last act of the drama is closed. There is therefore a variety of circumstances that may exhibit his opinions and his transactions in a varied point of view from what they have been in different portions of his life.\nYou say in your letter that you \u201chave some grievances to complain of,\u201d and that justice has not been done you in my historic work. Of this I have never been sensible,\u2014what I have said relative to your character was read and revised and re-read, and I frequently wished for an opportunity to have submitted it even to your own eye, thinking that, under the pressure of abuse that you had received from your enemies, your mind might have been relieved by such a candid scrutiny of error and mistake to which all are liable.\u2014\nYou have requested me to \u201cparticularize some of those instances in which it has appeared or been represented to me you that Mr. Adams\u2019s passions and prejudices were sometimes too strong for his sagacity and judgment.\u201d\u2014It is true that I have asserted that you were subject to passions and prejudices like other men;\u2014your warmest friends and acquaintance will never contradict this;\u2014nor do I think a natural irritability of temper any impeachment of character.\u2014Passions are sometimes the heavenly gales that waft us safely to port, at others the ungovernable gusts that blow us down the stream of absurdity. I have never charged you with prejudice or passion in the discharge of your functionary duties in public life. But, strongly impressed with the idea that from a firm republican, you was become an advocate for Monarchic Government in your own country, I was led to think that your prejudices were too strong for your sagacity and judgment, or you never could have expected that for a long time to come, such a Government could have been acceptable in America.\nYou have made a number, of criticisms on my observations in page 392, Vol. 3d. relative to your residence in England, of your attachment to the British Constitution, of the number of worthy characters who taught you to love that Constitution, among whom you have done me the honor to place the name of Mrs. Warren, and have added; that \u201cneither your judgment of that Constitution, nor your esteem of it, nor your affection for it, was increased or altered by your residence in England.\u201d Of this, I shall only say that that attachment was long felt by every American as well as yourself. The principles of that Constitution have been admired, but the deviations from them detested, and the corrupt practices and arbitrary systems of that Government are become abhorrent.\nBut as you say you are making preparations for further commentaries on the work you are reviewing, and have promised to do it \u201cin the spirit of friendship,\u201d I shall waive a reply to what you are pleased to say of those whom you denominate my party, and leave you to indulge in retaliation or not\u2014As I do not understand the drift of your question, I am not competent to reply. I shall subscribe myself, so long as you have the smallest title to that claim, / Yr friend,\nMercy Warren.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "07-20-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5195", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, 20 July 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Warren, Mercy Otis\nDear Madam\nQuincy July 20th. 1807\nIn the 392 Page of the third Volume of your History you say that \u201cAfter Mr Adams\u2019s return from England, he was implicated, by a large portion of his Countrymen, as having relinquished the Republican System, And forgotten the Principles of the American Revolution, which he had advocated for near twenty years.\u201d\nI am somewhat at a loss for the meaning of the Word implicated in this place. If it means Suspected, or accused, or reproached, I know nothing of it. No Man ever accused or reproached me, with any such Relinquishment or Oblivion. My Books had been received and read. The first Volume had been published in three new Editions of it, one in Boston, another at New York, and a third at Philadelphia and propagated far and wide in all parts of the United States. It was put into the hands of the Members of the Continental Convention at Philadelphia then sitting for the formation of the Constitution in 1787, and almost in despair of ever agreeing upon any Plan. This Book had such an Effect upon upon the Gentlemen that it united them in the System they adopted. Your Friend Mr Dickenson came out of the Convention and said to Dr Rush, that he had been in despair of getting the Convention to agree at all. But Mr Adams\u2019s Book had diffused among the Members such good Principles, that now he had no doubt they should agree upon a good Constitution. Governor Martin of North Carolina and for six years a Senator of the United States, who had been a Member of the Convention that formed the Constitution told me, that my \u201cDefence\u201d had produced the Constitution of the United States. Dr Morse told me, that he was informed from good Authority that my \u201cDefence\u201d had produced an entire Revolution in the Sentiments of the Convention, and influenced the Members to agree to the Constitution that was adopted. I have learned the same Fact from many other Sources. The general Principles and System of that Book were adopted by the Writers of Publius, or the Federalist, Mr Jay Mr Madison and Mr Hamilton. My Principles and Opinions concerning Forms of Government were therefore certainly public enough: they were perfectly well known throughout the Continent. Besides this, Dr Jarvis of Boston was known publickly and openly to approve of that Book, and he sent me Message after Message, that of all the Politicians of the Age he agreed most with me: and General Warren himself, in a Letter he wrote me in London, after he had perused the first Volume of the Defence, which Letter I shall produce on a proper Occasion, for I have it at hand, expressed his entire approbation of it, saying that there was nothing in it, but what he entirely agreed in, excepting the Negative upon the Laws proposed to be given to the Governor, which he said upon the whole he had rather should be qualified as it is in our Constitution, than absolute as I proposed. Mr Samuel Adams said to me, more than once that he did not differ much from me in the Sentiments in that Book.\nNow, Madam I pray you, to tell me, who were the Persons who composed that large Portion of my Countrymen, who implicated me as having relinquished the Republican System? Was Mr Dickenson Dr Jarvis, General Warren, Mr Samuel Adams, or the Convention who framed the Constitution of the United States, among the Number who composed that Constitution \u201clarge\u201d Portion? For a long time after my Arrival in America, I heard but one Voice concerning my Book. George Bryant of Pensilvania, said or wrote, that he believed the Convention that formed the National Constitution had been too much influenced by Mr Adams\u2019s Book, and this is all the Slurs, that I remember to have heard or read, upon that Book, till the Election of Vice President came on.\nMr Hancock was ambitious of being President or Vice President. I stood in his way. Hamilton, was afraid of me, and General Knox over whom Hamilton At that time had great Influence, came to Boston with a view of promoting Hancock, to the Vice Presidency. I had been the Friend of Knox, from the time when he was a little Boy in Deacon Henksmans Book and Stationary Shop, and had done at least as much as any Man in the World and I believe much more, towards bringing him forward in Life and in the Army. But Hamilton had insinuated into him that I should not Harmonize with Washington and (would you believe it?) that \u201cJohn Adams was a Man of too much Influence to be so near Washington.\u201d In this dark and insidious manner did this Intriguer lay Schemes in Secret against me, and like the Worm at the Root of the Peach did he labour for twelve years under ground and in darkness to girdle the Root while all the Axes of the Antifederalists Democrats Jacobins, Virginia Debtors to English Merchants and French Hirelings chopping as they were for the whole time at the Trunk could not fell the Tree. Knox however, after spending sometime in Boston, and conversing with all sides, found he was upon a wrong scent, and that Mr Hancock could not be carried; And indeed he was convinced that he ought not to be, and was decided in my favour: though he had previously gone so far with Mr Hancock himself, that he was under Embarrassment about declaring it openly. All this however never made any Alteration in my Friendship for Knox nor in his for me to the day of his death, which did not happen till he had been Supplanted by Hamilton, as many others were. From this time, Some of Mr Hancocks intimates began to insinuate in Secret Whispers Prejudices and Calumnies against me. But at first nothing was said about my Monarchical Principles, nor my Attachment to England: but they reported that I was stingy and avaricious. It was two or three years I believe before I heard any thing of Monarchy or England.\u2014The very first time I heard any thing like it, was from Samuel Adams, who told me that General Warren had said that \u201cJohn Adams had been corrupted by his Residence in England.\u201d Astonished as I was I said nothing. But I remembered a Letter from General Warren, which I had received in England, which I still preserve and will produce if necessary, in which he said Samuel Adams has become, contrary to all his former Principles and Professions, \u201cThe most arbitrary Man in the State.\u201d I had learned from all Quarters, the dissentions between Samuel Adams and General Warren at and before Chaise\u2019s Rebellion, and therefore I attributed these peevish Ebullitions from both to their mutual rancour, and took great care to conceal from each of them what the other had said. In truth I could not believe that General Warren had said that I had been corrupted. I never could think it possible, till I read your History, in which I found many Things quite as extraordinary. Corrupted? on what ground? on what Colour, did he giv venture this Assertion and Expression? That he had fully approved under his hand, Was it my Book? That is impossible for he had fully approved it under his hand. Besides I will forfeit my life, if there is one Thought in that or any other of my public Writings, which by a fair construction can be interpreted against the purest Morality, or inconsistent with the Principles and the System which I have always professed; Corrupted! Madam! What Provocation, what evidence, what Misrepresentation, could he have received, that could prompt him to utter this execrable Calumny? Corruption is a charge that that I cannot and I will not bear. I challenge the whole human Race and Angells and Devils too, to produce an Instance of it from my Cradle to this hour. But what am I to infer from this Conduct of General Warren, if Sam. Adams\u2019s Assertion is true? What indeed am I to conclude from your History? Shall I infer from both that General Warren and his Lady were the first Propagators of the Stories which were Spread through the Union before the Election of Mr Jefferson, and which were fully believed by the ignorant German Boors in Pensilvania, and by many of the ignorant Voters in all the Southern States, that John Adams had married his Daughter in England to the Prince of Wales and his Son John Quincy Adams to the Princess Royal of England, and had entered into a Treaty with King George, to make his Son in Law King of North America? or am I to attribute to the Warren Family, the honor that was done me in the back Parts of Pensilvania, and in Kentucky of being hanged in Effigy by the Side of Mr Jay, with a Purse of English Guineas in my hand? There was nothing worse in all this, than there was in General Warrens Assertion, if he uttered it. Corruption! Madam! I Shall not very easily or very Soon quit this Topick: and I have a right to demand of you, and of General Washington too Warren too, a more explicit Acknowledgment of my uncorrupted Integrity, than any you have made in your history. Both of you well knew that Promotion to a very respectable and lucrative office under the Crown was offered me by Governor Bernard by the Advice of Lt Governor Hutchinson, and that I not only declined, but was so long urged to Accept it that I was at last reduced to the Necessity of positively refusing it. And you knew that my Refusal was owing to my resolution not to be led into the temptation of Corruption. You knew that from 1760 and 1761 I had invariably Adhered to the Cause of my Country and to all its Friends, in opposition to every Mortification that Government and its Friends could throw in my Way: that I had been always employed in the most perplexing and embarrassing and at the same time the most unprofitable Causes in behalf of the Whiggs. You knew that my Integrity was always acknowledged both by Tories and Whiggs. You knew that I had abandoned the head of a Lucrative Profession, in which I had the first practice for Seven years, and went to Congress to serve my Country for twelve shillings a day. You knew that I had abandoned my Wife and Children whom I loved more than my own Life, and lived ten years in a state of Seperation from them, at the call And in the Service of my Country. You knew that I had crossed the Atlantic Ocean, three times and run the Guantlet through Successions of British Men of War at a time when the Spirit of the British Government was so high and the Passions of the Nation so exasperated, that I had ever reason to apprehend, if they once had me in their Power, they would make me an Example of their Vengeance by executing upon me their Punishment of Treason in all its horrors. You knew that I had undertaken all those hazards, after your philosophical Friend Jefferson had not dared to accept them. You knew that not one Lisp or hint of Suspicion of my Integrity had ever crossed the Atlantic, from Europe, either from Friends or Enemies, either in France England or Holland where I had resided as an Ambassador ten years, and done a vast deal of Business and been engaged in perpetual Intercourse and Conversation, will all Sorts of People from the highest Ranks to all the middle ranks, if not to the lowest: and I presume to say you never heard my Integrity impeached, from that side the Water. I would not hesitate to appeal to all Europe and am confident you would not find one Man or Woman who would question my Integrity in any Transaction of mine abroad public or private. Provoked as I am I will say, I believe you would find many more of the opinion of the Chevalier De la Luzerne, though they might not approve of his Expression. In Company one Day with Members of the Congress of whom our Friend Mr Gerry was one, the Conversation turned upon me and one of the Gentlemen asked the Chevalier whether he thought Mr John Adams might not be corrupted? The Chevalier Answered \u201cone might as well attempt to corrupt Jesus Christ.\u201d If there is any indecency or Blasphemy in this expression, it is not my fault. It Shocked me when I heard it, and I never should have committed it to Writing if your History had never been printed. Mr Gerry is my Author and of him you may enquire. So much for my \u201cCorruption in England, and relinquishment of the Republican System\u201d\u2014Now for my \u201chaving forgotten the Principles of the American Revolution, which I had advocated for near twenty year.\u201d\nHere a wide field is opened indeed.\u2014We must enquire what were the Principles of the American Revolution? Whether Mr Adams had advocated all of them? Which of them he had ever advocated? And which of them he had advocated for near twenty years? Whether he had forgotten all of them? if not, which of them he had forgotten? The Principles of the American Revolution, may be said to have been as various as the thirteen states that went through it, and in some sense almost as diversified as the Individuals who acted in it. In some few Principles or perhaps in one single Principle they all United. I will give you, Madam as Succinct an Analysis of the Principles of the Revolution which I embraced and Advocated as I can.\n1. The first Principle of the American Independence and Revolution, that I ever embraced advocated or entertained was Defence against the French. As I still take great delight in Writing to Mrs Warren, whatever grief, resentment or indignation I may justly feel, I shall indulge myself in a little Ramble with her. In the year 1745, and before and After that time, I heard and read a great deal about the Expedition to Cape Breton, and the Projected Expeditions against Canada. I heard a great deal about the Enterprize and Valour of our People, not only in these military Enterprizes but in the Indian Warrs of Standish Church, Lovell and others: I heard a Number of old Men who had been a Soldiering as they expressed it in their youth, at the Westward at Number four and at the Eastward, relate their Dangers, Escapes Combatts and Enterprizes. From all these, and many other Sources, my little Noddle had conceived a very high Opinion of the Intrepidity Enterprize Patience and Perseverance of my Countrymen, so that I had not the smallest doubt but our People would cutt to pieces at once the Duke D\u2019Anville\u2019s Army if they should dare to land at Boston or on any other part of our shores. In the same years I heard great Complaints of the English, of their Neglect to defend Us and assist Us, and a thousand murmurings about Cowardice and Treachery, and some Apprehensions that the English would forsake Us or sell Us to France. This War however went over and my Mind was much at ease about public affairs till 1754 and 1755. Then the French were making Encroachments, and Shirley was appointed the Great Negotiator to the Court of France, and soon after, with a French Wife he was made Commander in Chief of the mitary Force in America during this time our Affairs went so ill, that I had great apprehensions that the French would overrun Us. When Lord Loudoun Succeeded his Conduct was so ridiculous, that I could not help thinking We could do better without England than with her, and I seriously wished she would leave Us to ourselves and send Us no more of their Generals. So great was my Confidence in the Resolution of my Countrymen that I had no doubt We could defend ourselves against the French and that better without England than with her. In the Course of that War, I heard such relations from our provincial officers of the Treatment they received from the Regulars, as made my Blood Boil, in my Veins. Brigadier Ruggles with this whole Brigate, and my Friend Gardiner Chandler as one of his Colonels was put under the Direction of a British Ensign and employed to cutt roads when they were much more Willing and I believe much more able to fight the French than the British officers and Soldiers who treated them so cavalierly. As Early as this I thought Seriously of American Independence, and if the Conduct of Britain was not altered I thought I should wish for it. Here then I say that Defence against the French was my first Principle of Revolution. But Wolf and Amherst succeeded, Affairs went well and all my Reveries about Independence vanished.\n2. But they were not allowed to sleep long. As early as 1760 orders came to Paxton and Cockle to demand Writs of Assistance to break open Houses Cellars Shops and Ships to search for uncustomed Goods. Judge Sewall died Hutchinson was appointed C. Justice on purpose as I believed to give Judgment in favour of these Writs. I heard your Brother James Otis and Mr Thatcher in the Council Chamber before the Superiour Court in February 1761 against the Legality of those Writs and Mr Gridley in their favour, took minutes of the Argument made a short sketch of a Report of it, which was afterwards Surreptitious printed, though garbled and has got into Judge Minots History. This Cause opened to my View a nearer Prospect of a Revolution than I had ever seen before. I saw a haughty, powerful Nation who held Us in great contempt, bent upon extending the Authority of Parliament, over our Purses and all our internal Concerns as well as external: I saw on the other hand the People of America cordially and conscientiously averse to these Pretentions, and such was my opinion of their Resolution that I believed they would oppose them to the last Extremity. I saw no possible Way in which these opposite opinions and determinations could be reconciled, and therefore concluded the Controversy would be long continued, productive in time of a civil War and ultimately terminate in a Seperation of the Colonies from the Mother Country. My Second Principle of Revolution, therefore, Madam was The Justice and Necessity of resisting the Claims of Parliament of Authority to impose internal Taxes on the Colonists, and to regulate their internal Policy.\n3. In 1764 and 1765 Parliament had provided so far as to pass the Stamp Act which was a more explicit avowal and a more compleat Exemplification of their Claim and Determination to impose internal Taxes and to govern our Domestic affairs. In opposition to this Act I employed all the means I possessed, in Conversation and in Writing to animate the People. I published those Papers in the Boston Gazette which were soon reprinted in London under the Title of a Dissertation on the Common and Feudal Law, which, however inconsiderable they may be now be, very justly esteemed, had at that time a greater Influence and Effect among the People, than many other Writings of older and abler Men, and of much greater Merit.\u2014I called together the ancient large and populous Town of Braintree, and procured an unanimous Vote for those Instructions to their Representatives, which were long known by the Name of the Braintree Instructions. When the General Court met, the Members produced their Instructions and I was informed, Forty Towns were found to have adopted the Braintree Instructions verbatim. The Town of Boston, whose Instructions were drawn by Mr Samuel Adams had, in the main essential Point of all, adopted the Sentiment and the very Expressions of my Instructions. And even the Town of Plymouth, whose Instructions were drawn by General Warren, had borrowed the same Injunction and the same Expressions. In the Counties of Plymouth and Barnstable where I had considerable Business, and whose Courts, especially in Plymouth I attended four or five Times a year, I was instant in season and out of season in explaining to the People the nature of the Claims which were sett up against them, and in exciting them to opposition to the last Extremity. This Course I continued till 1774 when I was sent to Congress. This was so notorious to all Parties, that Southward Howland used to say, that though none of his Customers paid him better than Mr Adams, yet he would chearfully give him Entertainment at his house for the Assistance Mr Adams gave him, in his Exertions to procure the Election, from year to year, of his Friend Colonel Warren. The same Conduct I invariably held in the Counties of Bristol Worcester, Middlesex, Essex, York, Cumberland and Lincoln as well as Suffolk, and even Dukes County in all of which I had practice, more or less. When the Question came forward whether the Courts of Justice should proceed without Stamped Papers, I exerted myself to the utmost in all the Counties, especially in Suffolk and Plymouth to unite the Bar, in an unanimous Resolution to Urge the Courts to procceed. In Plymouth it was no easy Task. You knew who were Judges and who were Lawyers at that time. Mr Hovey, Mr Clap and Mr Little of Scituate and Mr Johnson of Bridgwater, and Mr Stockbridge of Hanover you knew were not very well affected any more than the Judges to our Cause or our Connections. Yet, Mr Robert Treat Paine cordially and zealously joining me, We called a Meeting of the Bar, and succeeded in obtaining an unanimous Consent. Yet Madam notwithstanding all this and much more you are pleased to insinuate in your History, that I did not come forward till the first Congress in 1774. However more of this hereafter, you see here, that my third Principle of Revolution was the Necessity of resistance to the Stamp Act.\n4 The Stamp Act was repealed, but the Claim of Parliament was not relinquished. It was soon followed by other Acts laying Duties on Tea, Paints &c and what was worse by a declaratory Act, asserting the unlimited Authority of Parliament over Us in all Cases whatsoever. I became instantly as decisive and determined and as industrious too in opposition to these Acts, as I ever had been to the Stamp Act. But as I am not writing a History, I shall not enter into details. My fourth Principle of Revolution may be called the Necessity of Resistance to the Tea Act and the Declaratory Act.\n5. The Country had been filled with Rumours, of Designs of King, Ministry or Parliament, or all together to introduce into America, Bishops Deans, and in short an English Hierarchy. A great House, at that time thought to be a Splendid Palace was built by Mr Apthorp at Cambridge and was Supposed to be intended for the Residence of the first Royal or Parliamentary Bishop. Although I had not a wish to restrain the Liberty of Conscience of any Man or any Denomination I thought this Innovation if admitted would be a compleat surrender of the Priviledges of our Charter, an entire concession of the Authority of Parliament to legislate in our internal Concerns. And besides this, that only the most needy and perhaps vicious of the English Clergy would be sent here, and become an Ecclesiastical Establishment wholly under the Influence of the Ministry, increase the Patronage of the Crown, become a political Machine to establish the Unlimited Authority of Parliament, and introduce a flood of Corruption in Morals as well as Politicks. You may then sett down, for my fifth Principle of Revolution, The Necessity of resisting the Introduction of a Royal or Parliamentary Establishment of an Ecclesiastical Heirarchy.\n6. When Mr Hutchinsons Letters recommending an Abridgment of English Liberties and Mr Ollivers, proposing a kind of Nobility to be erected and Established in America by Royal or Parliamentary Authority, were brought to Light, I thought this measure would annihilate all our Priviledges by Charter, and establish the Sovereign Authority of Parliament in all our internal Concerns. I entered therefore with Zeal into an opposition to this Scheme. And my fifth Principle of Revolution may be called The Necessity of resisting the Introduction of a Royal or Parliamentary Nobility or Aristocracy into the Country.\n7. When an Act of Parliament was passed Authorizing the King to grant salaries to our Massachusetts Judges, when the King had granted and the Judges at least the Chief Justice accepted them, I was more allarmed and Arroused than ever I had been. This was laying the Ax directly at the Root of every Thing that was dear to Us. It was not only an Annihilation of our Charter, an Establishment of the absolute Sovereignty of Parliament, but it was a Subjection of the Lives and Fortunes of us all to such Judges as would forever be the blind and corrupted Tools of the British Ministry. In opposition to this measure I wrote and published Eight Letters to General Brattle, which first turned the Attention of the American People to this important Subject, and diffused through the Continent just Principles and Sentiments which have remained to this day, and I hope will remain to the End of time. The Massachusetts Legislature of the last year, have done themselves great honour by remembering and respecting them.\nAgain: The People were astonished and confounded, knowing not what to do, nor how it was possible for them to escape from the Snare. I am bold to Say that I first put them upon the only Measure, which could relieve them, and which not only relieved them from dependent Judges, but from Dependence on Great Britain. I could name to you the House, and the Company in which I was I was asked by Dr Winthrop And Doctor Casper, my opinion whether there was any possible Remedy for Us. My Answer Was Yes. The Question was instantly urged What can it be? My Answer was \u201cAn Impeachment of the Judges, by the House of Representatives before the Governor and Council.\u201d The Company all Agreed that this Idea had never been before Suggested, and they started twenty objections at once. We had no Power of Impeachment. The Governor and Council would not hear the Impeachment &c &c &c. I referred to the Powers and Priviledges of the Charter and the General Doctrine and Practice of Impeachment of the Commons before the Lords in the Parliament of England where the Commons were the Grand Inquest of the Nation. That this Power was considered as the highest Power of the Commons and the most essential to preserve the Liberties of the Nation and the Ballance of the Constitution. This Conversation was forthwith Spread among the Members of the House. Major Hawley came to me directly to interrogate me about it. Asked me many questions and started many difficulties. I turned to the Passages in the Charter and made him read them and consider them. I turned to Mr Seldens Judiciature in Parliament and made him read it, and Several other Law books in which the Subject is treated, and pointed to the Volumes of the State Tryals, in which he might read all the Impeachments that had ever been tryed in England if he pleased. Mr. Robert Treat Paine came to me, in the same perplexity, having heard that I had publickly given such an opinion, and I gave him the same Reasons in Support of it. I did the same to several other Members.\u2014Major Hawley was determined to know the Sentiments of others. He went to Cambridge and visited Judge Trowbridge, made the Judges read over with him the passages in the Charter which I had read to him and made him read, mentioned the Authority of Selden which he had read in my office and some Impeachments in the State Tryals to which I had referred him. The Judge told him that he could not see, how the Charter or the Authorities could be evaded. Impeachments were the right of Englishmen! We were entitled to all those Rights, and therefore must be to this. The Judge related this to me afterwards and said he \u201csaw I was determined to explore every Resource in the Constitution, to Support my Cause.\u201d The Tories considered this Impeachment, as the hinge on which the Independence of America turned. When the Impeachment was prepared in the Committee, Major Hawley without whom nothing could be done in the House, would not take a Step without me, insisted on my meeting with the Committee, which I did at my own House till twelve or one OClock at Night. I have been informed by an Ear Witness, that Chief Justice Oliver in England Since the Independence of America was acknowledged by Great Britain, has said that John Adams was the Author of that Impeachment and consequently the Author of Independence as he said, and expressed much ill humour against me in consequence of it. Nothwithstanding this, Mrs Warren you are pleased in your History to say I first came forward in 1774. I need not detail to you the Consequences of that Impeachment in all the Counties of the State. My Seventh Principle of the Revolution, therefore may be Sett down as The Necessity of the Independence of the Judges.\n8. Governor Hutchinson, in a speech to the General Court, undertook to demonstrate to all the World, the Supream, Absolute, unlimited Sovereignty of the British Parliament over the Colonies in all Cases whatsoever. The House of Representatives undertook to answer him. But Mr Hancock, Mr Cushing, Mr Samuel Adams Colonel James Warren, and all their particular Connections in the House could carry no Point in the House, upon any legal or Constitutional Question, without the Concurrence of Major Hawley; and Major Hawley would agree to nothing till he had consulted John Adams, and made the Committee consult him too. He accordingly insisted that I should be invited to meet with the Committee, and give my opinion and Reasons upon every question. I was accordingly invited and in such urgent terms that I could not in common Civility refuse to comply. I met with the Committee Accordingly. A Draught had been prepared for them made, as I then supposed by Mr Samuel Adams, but I have since heard it was by Dr Joseph Warren. It was very prettily written, but filled with that Silly democratical Nonsense, which at that time and ever since has poisoned so many of our Newspapers, and produced such a black Catalogue of Horrors in the French Revolution. I reasoned, I pleaded, I declaimed with the Committee till I convinced them of the many Errors and induced them to expunge them; and instead of them introduced that discussion from, Legal and Constitutional Authorities, which was adopted by the Committee and with Astonishing Unanimity in the House, and which convinced the whole People of North America and the whole Scientific World, that by Law and Constitution Parliament had no Authority over Us, in any Case whatsoever. My Eighth Principle of Revolution, was the Necessity of denying in Theory upon all legal and constitutional Grounds the Authority of Parliament over Us in all any Cases whatsoever.\n9. But while We continued connected with Great Britain, which We all of Us still wished, it appeared to me necessary that We should voluntarily consent, that Parliament should regulate the Trade of the Empire. I accordingly allways contended for this Point and was never opposed in it by any of my Associates. Afterwards in Congress We found this the most difficult Point to manage and I drew up the Article respecting it in the Bill of Rights of 1774, which was finally acquiesced in, Unanimously. My Ninth Principle of Revolution, then was To Allow Great Britain the Power of regulating our external Trade.\n10. But all these Reasonings Disenssions and Concessions availed Us nothing. The British King Ministry Parliament and Nation to would pay no regard to any Thing. Hostilities commenced\nIf you will please, Madam, to look into the Journal of the first Congress in 1774 in the Month of September, and the 7th day of the Month you will also find that Congress appointed two Committees, one to State the Rights of the Colonies and another to State the violations of those Rights; you will also find that I was upon the first Committee. And I will now inform you of What does not appear on the Journal, after ample discussions in the Committee at large consisting of two Members from each Colony, a Sub Committee was appointed to prepare a draught of a Report: I was one of this Sub Committee, in which the whole Ground was reviewed, and all the Points deliberately reexamined, and after this I was appointed alone to draw up the Result: From these facts it may I presume, without any pride of Talent be fairly inferred that in the opinion of Congress, the General Committee and the Sub Committee, that I understood the Subject and was likely to express the Sense of the Continent as exactly as any of them. I accordingly drew the Report which was accepted first by the Sub Committee then by the general Committee and last of all by Congress. The Declaration and Resolves you will find in the same Volume, Page 27. on Fryday October 14. 1774. They contain all the solid Principles which nearly two years afterwards were inserted in the Declaration of Independence. In these Resolves you will find many of my Principles of Revolution, particularly the fifth and sixth which were at that time Principles of every Member of Congress and of the whole Continent.\nThe fifth Resolve is, \u201cThat the respective Colonies are entitled to the Common Law of England and more especially to the great and inestimable Priviledge of being tried by their Peers of the Vicarage, according to the Course of that Law.\nThe Sixth Resolve is \u201cThat they are entitled to the Benefit of such of the English Statutes, as existed at the time of their Colonization and which they have be Experience, respectively found to be applicable to their several local and other Circumstances.\nThe Tenth Resolve is \u201cIt is indispensibly necessary to good Government and rendered essential by the English Constitution, that the Constiuent Branches of the Legislature be independent of each other.\u201d\nThe tenth Principle of Revolution embraced by me was The Necessity of preserving the common Law, the Usefull Statutes, and the Independence of the constituent Branches of the Legislature. This Principle or rather these three Principles of I have heartily embraced and strenuously defended far more than fifty years, without one moments doubt of the Truth Utility or Necessity of them. Who then Madam has forgotten the Principles of the Revolution?\n11. When, after fifteen years Exertion of all my Faculties and the Faculties of all my Friends to bring the English Nation to hearken to to reason and respect Justice, on the 19th of April 1775 I found Hostilities commenced and the Blood of our Citizens barbarously spilt I concluded what I had long foreseen, that We must resist in Arms the whole force of the British Empire. I thought it weak pusillanimous and dangerous to resist by halves. I went to Congress prepared to Seize every British officer in America and hold him as a Hostage for the Security of the People of Boston then imprisoned in the Town and all other Persons who might have the Misfortune to fall into British hands, to recommend to the People of all the States immediately to institute governments by their own original Power, and Authorize Congress to declare the States independent and then enter into Negotiations with England concerning Terms of Peace, but in the mean time to exert all the Force of the Continent to resist the British Forces by Sea and Land. This System I advocated with the Members of Congress in the House and out of Doors and more than half that Body were of my Mind; till Mr Dickenson aided by the Quakers and Proprietary Gentlemen of Pensilvania, prevailed on Mr John Rutledge of South Carolina to depart from his first opinion and go over to the other side, and he carried with him a Majority in Congress.\nMy Eleventh Principle of Revolutions then may be called A total but temporary Independence, without any foreign Connections to be Surrendered again by Treaty in case Safety and Liberty and Peace could be obtained upon honourable Terms.\n12. When our Petition failed a Second time and I found We must go through a long War, I thought it folly to hesitate any longer and a total Seperation of the two Countries forever was become necessary and inevitable, I accordingly exerted all the Talents I had, feeble as they were, both in Doors and out to prevail on Congress to recommend to the States to institute Governments, to declare the Country independent, and to Seek commercial Connections not entangling Alliances with foreign Powers. I thought our Country fully adequate to the Contest with Britain without embarrassing ourselves with future European Wars. I thought that our Commerce was Reward enough to allure France Spain and Holland to countenance and befriend Us. And I knew that France And Spain then dreaded the Naval Power of the United British Empire to Such a degree, that I thought it impossible they Should let Slip the opportunity of Striking one Pistol at least out of the hand of an Enemy who constantly threatened them with two.\nMy twelfth Principle of Revolution then was Independence absolute and perpetual, not only of England, but of France Spain Holland, and all other Nations of the Earth. Others entangled Us with France \u2013 Not I. The whole History of which I could detail, but it is not necessary here.\nIndependence was declared, Congress recommended to the States to Sett up Governments, foreign Alliances were p Treaties of Commerce and Friendship were offered to foreign Powers. In Short the Revolution was compleat and perfect And these were my Principles and no other. During all this time No Form of Government had been recommended to any State, nor had any Conferation or National Constitution been adopted by Congress. It was not untill October and November 1777, more than a year after the Declaration of Independence and the perfect Accomplishment of the Revolution, that Congress deliberated Seriously on the Articles of the Confederation though a Report of their Committee had layed some time on their Table. I was present through all these debates, and took a share in them but the System adopted was so poor, So Superficial, so ill digested a Thing that I had no Satisfaction in it, and more than once declared to Congress in my Place, that it could govern none of the States that it could not hold the American People together, and that it would not exist ten years. Two years past away after Congress recommended it before the States adopted it in 1780 and it lived only to 1789.\nBut in this Confederation there was no recommendation of any particular form of government to the Seperate States. An hereditary Monarchy and Nobility might have been erected by every state in the Union, if they had pleased, so might an Absolute Monarchy or even a Despotism. So might a Simple Democracy, and Simple Aristocracy, a Simple Democracy Monarchy or any mixture of all of them. No State, No Man was pledged to adopt or Advocate any form of Government whatever. The States Accordingly did as they pleased, and there was a great variety in the Plans they did Adopt. Pensilvania adopted her Man Trap, for it deserved that the Name of that insidious Instrument of Punishment and Cruelty, much more than that of a free Republican Government. Accordingly the Partisans of it assumed the Name of Constitutionalists, and gave, or left the Name of Republicans to their Constitut Antagonists.\u2014Vermont and Georgia were left to imitate and adopt this miserable Abortion, which fell dead almost from its Birth. Virginia the two Carolinas and Maryland all erected different Governments, Massachusetts erected none till 1780 four years after the Revolution terminated. During these four years We continued to Govern, According to a Royal British Charter. Connecticutt and Rhode Island have done the same to this day, full thirty one years after the End of the Revolution. New Hampshire contrived a few variations from Massachusetts, so did New Jersey from New York and Pensilvania both. I say again, that Resistance to Innovation, and the unlimited Claims of the Parliament was and not any particular new form of Government was The Object of the Revolution. We all acknowledged the Right of the People to frame their own Governments, and We knew they would not think of any other than Republican Governments. The most of Us, and my self among the rest, neither wished or thought of introducing any other, nor have wished for any other to this moment. We were not unanimous however. Mr Nelson, afterwards Governor of Virginia and a favourite of the People and really a very worthy Man declared to Congress in his Place that he should vote for Independence because he knew it was the sense of his Constituents: but that he was against it in his own private Judgment, because he knew the People would institute Republican Governments, and for his Part he acknowledged that he dreaded and abhorred Republican Governments.\nThe first Appearance of a national Stipulation in favour of Republican Government was in the Constitution of the United States, in which a Republican Constitution was guarranteed to the Several States. It may perhaps be a Sufficient Recommendation of this Article to say that it was introduced by Mr Charles Pinkney of South Carolina, and he ought to have the Glory of it. But I confess I never understood it, and I believe no other Man ever did or ever will. A Republican Government is a Government of more than one. The Word Republick has been used, it is true by learned Men to Signify every actual and every possible Government among Men, that of Constantinople as well as that of Geneva. But the most accurate Writers distinguish Republicks from Despotisms and Simple Monarchies, and call every Government by that name in which more than one Person is concerned in the Sovereignty, and in this Sense the Kingdoms of Sparta Poland and England were Republicks as truely as Saint Marino. Venice Holland and other States were universally called Republicks both by the Learned and unlearned; yet the People in these States had certainly no more Liberty than those of England or France. The most Accurate distinction then has been between free Republicks and Republicks which are not free. It is not even said in our Constitution that the People shall be guarranteed in a Free Republican Government. The Word is So loose and indeffinite that Successive Predominant Factions will put Glosses and Constructions upon it as different as light and darkness, and if ever there should be a Civil War which Heaven forbid, the conquering General in all his Tryumphs may establish a Military Despotism and yet call it a constitutional Republic as Napoleon has already Set him the Example. The only Effect of it that I could ever See, is to deceive the People: and this practice my heart abhors my head disapproves, and my Tongue my Pen have ever avoided. I am No Pharisee, Jesuit or Macchiavilian.\nNow Madam, in the Name of Justice, Truth, Friendship And Honour, I demand of you to shew me when are where and how I have relinquished the Republican System, and what Principle of the American Revolution I have forgotten. The Grave and Solemn philosophical Reflections which follow in this and in page 393, are callculated to give more formality and a more aggravated Character, to the gloomy Defamation in the Paragraphs I have been confuting.\nI am very Sorry Madam you have laid me Under the Necessity of fatiguing you with these tedious Letters. But as I have begun I must pursue the Subject to the End. It will not be long before you will receive another Letter from your injured Friend\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "07-28-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5197", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, 28 July 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Warren, Mercy Otis\nDear Madam\nQuincy 28th. July 1807\nIn the 135th. Page of your Second Volume, you State that in 1778 Mr John Adams of the State of Massachusetts was chosen to Succeed Mr Deane as Commissioner in behalf of the United States at the Court of France: an inaccuracy however of so little importance that it was Scarcely worth a Correction.\nIn the 139th. page you say that within a few Months after Congress made a new Arrangement of Ministers, and Mr Adams had been sent on in the room of Mr Deane, both Mr Adams and Mr Lee were directed to repair immediately to America: and Dr Franklin was appointed Sole Minister at the Court of France. My Commission is dated November 27th. 1777. Your Information Madam is incorrect. Dr Franklin was in deed in about little more than a year afterwards appointed Sole Minister at the Court of France. But neither Mr Adams nor Mr Lee were directed to repair to America. Mr Lee had a Commission to the Court of Spain which Still remained in Force, and therefore so far from being directed to return, he could not return without a Breach of Duty. He had still Negotiations to carry on with the Spanish Court and possessed the Means of Subsistence at least in his own hands, for Spain had advanced him a Sum of Money. Mr Adams was left, in an awkward Situation. He was neither directed to return to America nor to stay in Europe, nor was he furnished with the means of Subsistence, nor even with those of bearing his Expences of a Journey to a Seaport or paying for his Passage home in a Merchant Ship. The Cause of this neglect was the Division in Congress, which made it almost impossible to do any Thing or pass any Vote, in their foreign Affairs. If I had been directed home, as Mrs Warren affirms and a Passage offered me in the Alliance Frigate and provision made for my very moderate necessary Expences in the Journey and Voyage my Mind would have been in Paradise. I had no Reason to complain of the Annihilation of my Commission, and the appointment of Dr Franklin alone, for I had previously recommended both those Measures and they had been adopted by my Advice as the following Letter will show.\nI had not been two Months in France, before the disputes between the two American Parties became so well known to me, and their violence had arisen to such rancour, that whatever was done or said by Dr Franklin or by me when I agreed with him in Opinion was censured and often misrepresented by one Party, And whatever was done or said by Mr Izzard Mr Lee and by me when I thought they were in the right was at least equally censured and misrepresented, by the other. I was so thoroughly disgusted with the Service, and so fully convinced that our whole System was wrong, and that ruin to our affairs abroad, and great danger and confusion to those at home must be the consequence of it, that I thought it my indespensible duty to represent my Ideas in America. To Congress I had no Justification to write, but in Conjunction with my Colleagues. It was impossible that we could agree in any Thing. I therefore determined to write to a confidential Friend in Congress, who I knew would communicate it to others, who might make such Use of it, as the Public Good might require. I accordingly wrote to Mr Samuel Adams as follows,\nPassi May 21. 1778\nMy dear Sir\nI have never yet paid my respects to you, since my Arrival in Europe, for which seeming Neglect of Duty, the total Novelty of the Scenes about me, and the incessant Avocations of Business and Ceremony and pleasure (for this last I find in Europe makes an essential part of both the other two) must plead my Excuse.\nThe Situation of the General Affairs of Europe is Still critical and of dubious Tendency. It is Still uncertain whether there will be War between the Turks and Russians; between the Emperor and the King of Prussia; and indeed between England and France, in the opinion of many People; My own Conjecture, however, is, that a War will commence and that Soon.\nBefore this reaches you, you will be informed, that a Strong Squadron of thirteen Capital Ships and Several Frigates, has Sailed from Toulon; and that another Squadron is ordered to Sail from Spithead. Whatever I may have heard of the Destination of the first, I am not at Liberty to mention it. We have yet no Intelligence that the latter has Sailed.\nChatham the great is no more: but there is yet so much of his wild Spirit in his last Speech, yet left in the Nation, that I have no doubt, but Administration will put all to the hazard.\nWe are happy to hear, but the Frigate Le Sensible, which has returned to Brest, that the Treaty arrived Safe at Casco Bay. We hope to have the earliest Intelligence of the Ratification of it. The Commissioners from England who sailed about the 22d. of April, will meet, as We Suppose with nothing but ridicule.\nPrussia is yet upon the reserve concerning America, or rather forgetting his Promise has determined not to acknowledge our Independence, at present. His Reason is obvious. He wants the Aid, of those very German Princes who are most Subservient to Great Britain, who have furnished her with Troops to carry on the War against Us, and therefore he does not choose to offend them, by an Allyance with Us, at present. Spain is on the reserve too: but there is not the least doubt entertained here of her Intentions to Support America. In Holland there is more Friendship for Us, than I was aware, before I came here. At least they will take no part against Us.\nOur Affairs in this Kingdom I find in a State of Confusion and Darkness that Surprizes me. Prodigious Sums of Money have been expended, and large Sums are yet due: but there are no Books of Accounts, or any Documents from whence I have been able to learn, what the United States have received as an equivalent.\nThere is one Subject, which lies heavily on my Mind, and that is the Expence of the Commissioners. You have three Commissioners at this Court, each of whom lives at an Expence of at least three thousand Pounds Sterling a Year. I fear at a greater Expence. Few Men in this World are capable of living at a less expence than I am. But I find the other Gentlemen have expended from three to four Thousands a year each, and one of them from five to six. And by all the Enquiries I can make have been able to make, I cannot find any Article of expence, which can be retrenched.\nThe Truth is, in my humble Opinion, our System is wrong in many particulars. 1. In having three Commissioners at this Court. One in the Character of Envoy is enough. At present each of the three is considered in the Character of a Public Minister, a Minister Plenipotentiary, which lays him under an absolute Necessity of living up to that Character. Whereas one alone would be obliged to no greater Expence, and would be quite sufficient for all that Business of a Public Minister. 2ndly. In leaving the Salaries of these Ministers at an Uncertainty, you will never be able to obtain a Satisfactory Account, of the public Monies while this System continues. It is a Temptation to live at too great an Expence, and Gentlemen will feel an Aversion to demanding a rigorous Account. 3dly. In blending the Business of a Public Minister with that of a Commercial Agent. The Business of various Departments are by this means so blended, and the Public and private Expences so confounded with each other, that I am sure no Satisfaction can ever be given to the Public, of the disposition of their Interests, And I am very confident that Jealousies and Suspicions will hereafter arise against the Characters of Gentlemen, who may perhaps have Acted with perfect Integrity and the fairest Intentions for the Public Good.\nMy Idea is this, Seperate the offices of Public Ministers from those of Commercial Agents\u2014Recal, or send to some other Courts all the Public Minsters but one, at this Court. Determine with precision, the Sum that shall be allowed to the remaining one for his Expences and for his Salary i.e. for his Time, Risque trouble &c and when this is done See that he receives no more than his Allowance. The Inconveniences arising from the Multiplicity of Ministers and the Complication of Businesses, are infinite.\nRemember me, with the most tender affections to my worthy Colleagues and to all others to whom you know they are due.\nI am your Friend and Servant\nJohn Adams\nThe Honourable Samuel Adams\nThis Letter was received by Mr Adams in due Season and by him communicated to Mr Richard Henry Lee and others. Mr R. H. Lee wrote immediately to me, that he had seen it, and was entirely of my Opinion. It was communicated to so many Members of Congress that it produced the Revolution which followed. My Friends and the Friends of Mr Arthur Lee, uniting with those of Dr Franklin Mr Deane and Mr Izzard in introducing the New Plan.\nThe Representation in my Letter of the Expences of the Commissioners, related only to the State of Things before my Arrival. My Expences were very trifling. I had no House Rent to pay Seperate from Dr Franklin. I kept no Carriage and used none, but that of Dr Franklin, and then only when he had no Use for it. I had very little Company more than Dr Franklin would have had, if I had not been there. But before my Arrival Mr Deane had his House and Furniture and Establishment of Servants, as well as his Carriage in Paris and another Establishment for his Apartments in the Country at Passi and another Carriage, sett of Horses and Servants, besides his Libertine Expences. Mr Lee had a House Furniture Carriage and organization of Servants at Chaillot. Dr Franklin had his in the Basse Court de Monsieur Le Ray De Chaumont the ancient Hotel de Valentinois, at what Rent I never could discover, because Mr Chaumont would never tell, but from the Magnificence of the Place it was universally expected to be enormously high. Making the best Estimate I could from the Representations that were made to me, I wrote as I then believed. But after a longer Residence more experience and further Inquiry, I was convinced that I had admitted much Exaggeration into the Account. Nevertheless the Expences of Mr. Deane never have been known and I presume never can be known.\nFrom these Papers, Madam, you will see that Americans may easily investigate the Necessity, not of the Sudden recall of Mr Adams and Mr Lee, for they were not recalled, but of the Change of the Plan of our affairs abroad, and Mr Franklins Appointment as Sole Minister.\nIn page 140 of the 2d Volume you say that \u201cMr Adams returned rather disgusted at the early Revocation of his Commission, and the Unexpected order thus Speedily to leave the Court of France.\u201d But you see Madam that the Revocation of his Commission had been Solicited by himself, was fully expected by him, and did not indeed arrive so soon as he expected it. The order to leave the Court of France never arrived at all. The Truth is it was not the Intention of Congress that he should return. Mr Samuel Adams and others told me it was the Intention to send me to Holland and that Nobody had the least Idea that I would return till I heard further from Congress.\nI had taken pains to persuade my Colleagues to take a House in Paris and have but one Establishment for Us all. Mr. Lee whose opinion was that We ought to live in Paris, readily consented, but Dr Franklin refused. I then proposed that Mr. Lee should take Apartments with us at Passi, and there was room enough for Us all, and I offered to resign my Appartments to him and take others which were unoccupied and not so convenient. But Mr Lee refused to live with Us, unless it were in Paris, where the Americans in general and the French too, seemed to think We ought to live. All my proposals were therefore abortive.\nBefore I wrote the Letter to Mr. Adams, I had many Things to consider. What would be the Consequence, if my Plan should be adopted? Dr. Franklins reputation was so high in America, in the Court and Nation of France and all over Europe, that he would undoubtedly, as he ought to be, left alone at the Court of Versailles. Mr. Lee held too two Commissions, one to the Court of France and one to the Court of Spain. If that to the Court of Versailles should be annulled, the other to the Court of Madrid would remain in Force. The new Plan would therefore make little odds to him. I had but one, and that to the Court of Versailles. If this were annulled what would become of me? There was but one Country to which I thought it possible that Congress might send a Minister at that time, and that was Holland. But there was no hope that Holland would then receive a Minister, and I thought Congress ought not to send one there as yet. I thought therefore that there was no Alternative for me, but to return to America: and I very deliberately determined, that I had rather run the Gauntlett again through all the British Men of War in the Bay of Biscay, the British Channel and the Gulph Stream, with all their Storms and Calms, than remain where I was under a System and in Circumstances so ruinous to the American Cause. I expected however, that Congress would make some Provision for my return, by giving me orders to receive Money enough for my Expences, and give me a Passage in a Frigate, if any one should be in France. In these last Expectations only I was disappointed.\nIf I ever expressed any disgust it was at this disappointment, and not at being recalled, for I was not recalled and if I had been I should have rejoiced at it. Even this disgust was removed when I had opportunity to converse with Members of Congress who explained the Mystery to me. I might express disgust at another Thing. When, My Family and Baggage were all on board the Allyance, below Paimboeuf, in Nantes River ready to Sail the next Morning for America, my Frigate was impressed into the Service of John Paul Jones and I was left to wander on the Seacoast of France like a Ghost on the Banks of the Styx, for three or four months waiting for a Passage in a French Frigate. This however was not the Fault of Congress. It was an Intrigue. Whether the Motives to it were justifiable, or excusable or laudable or otherwise I shall not Say at present. Who were the Persons concerned in it and how they conducted it, are Questions which might fill many Pages, which may one day be written but not here. As the Public Service of The United States and of the King of France was the Pretext, and in part, I believed the real object, I acquiesced, however painfull my personal disappointment was.\nYou are pleased to add, Madam, that I retired privately to my Seat in Braintree, where I employed myself in preparing a concise Statement of the Situation and political Connections of the Powers of Europe, which I laid before Congress &c &c &c. And for this and Several other Things you refer to a Letter of mine to Congress dated August 4. 1779. I arrived in Boston Harbour, on August the third, on the next day the Letter is dated. I could not employ my self long therefore in preparing this Statement after my Arrival. But the Fact is that the Materials of that Letter had been collected in Europe and on the Passage and committed to writing before my arrival, and Sent off to Congress on the day of the Date. My time therefore, during the Inverval between my Arrival on the 3d of August and my Departure for Europe the Second time which was I think on the 19th. of November was not employed in preparing that Letter, but in Something of much more Importance. A few days before my Arrival my Fellow Citizens, of the Town of Braintree expecting me daily to home, every day, had elected me a Member of the Convention which was then called, to institute a Constitution of Government for the State of Massachusetts Bay instead of that Royal Charter under which they We had conducted all public affairs to that time. Upon my Arrival I found myself a Member of the Convention, and the Duties of this office in reading over my old Books upon Government, in constant Attendance in the Convention and Committees, and in drawing up all the Papers the Bill of Rights as well as the Frame of Government, and in daily and hourly debates both in the House and in Committee in vindication of my own opinions against a multitude of Motions, Schemes and Plans urged in opposition to them, I found full Employment for my time, without \u201crepairing to Congress.\u201d I sent on my Accounts which were soon approved and Settled by an honourable Vote. I Sent on all the Information I thought necessary or proper to be communicated and among the rest a Copy of all the Letters of the Commissioners had written in my time, all of which excepting two had been written by my own hand. My \u201cPride in the Gallican Alliance\u201d and my \u201cZeal for Supporting it,\u201d and all \u201cthe Expressions\u201d of it, and are Still preserved in my Letters all of which public and private are at the Service of the Public, whenever the Public Voice shall call for them in Print.\u2014It is not correct however to talk of my \u201cZeal for the Alliance,\u201d without restrictions and Explanations. As the Treaty was made, and the Public Faith of my Country Solemnly pledged, no Man was more decidedly Zealous for fullfilling it, in every Article. But Articles had been Admitted into it, which I never approved and had always opposed in Congress from first to last. My invariable Maxim has been from the Beginning to this day Friendship and Commerce with all Nations but entangling alliances with none, except in the last Extremity of Necessity, And no Man knows this better than Mr Jefferson.\nIt is very true, that I advised Congress and every body else in America to guard against Principles and Manners inconsisted with our Government And have I ever given other Advice? Who, Madam has introduced an Inundation of Atheism Deism, Annihilation, Gambling, Contempt of Marriage and the Sabbath? Is it I? Who has dissemminated Paine Barlow Bowlanger, The System of Nature &c &c &c into the darkest Corners of the obscurest Villages, in our Country? Is it I?\nThere is an insinuation in the Note in this page. \u201cThis was under the Despotism of Kings. It was monarchic Principles and manners that Mr Adams then Admonished his Countrymen to avoid.\u201d The Insinuation here Seems to be twofold. First that since France became a Republick the manners and Principles have been better, or Secondly that Mr Adams had Since become better reconciled to Monarchical Principles and manners. The first is contrary to the most notorious Facts; For the Principles and manners of France have been ten times worse Since the Abolition of the Royal Authority, than they were before. The Second insinuation if it is was intended, is as false as the first, for my opinion of Monarchical Principles and manners is the same it was in 1779 had been for twenty years before and has been ever Since, vizt that the Principles were indispensible and the manners unavoidable because incurable in the great Nations of Europe, but wholly inadmissible in America.\nWhen you proceed to say, Madam, that \u201cMr Adams continued in this retired and mortified Situation for Some months,\u201d I am astonished at the Spirit that guided your Pen. With how much apparent delight, do you inset the Word mortified. Instead of being retired I was in public forming a Constitution of Government for my Country, which I have Since Spent a great Part of my Life in \u201cdefending\u201d If Solon and Lycurgus were retired when they did the same for theirs, I may be said to have been retired. Instead of being mortified it was the proudest Period of my whole Life. I made a Constitution for Massachusetts, which finally made the Constitution of the United States. Still in hopes, Madam that you will do me Justice I Subscribe as usual your injured Friend\nJohn Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "07-28-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5198", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Mercy Otis Warren, 28 July 1807\nFrom: Warren, Mercy Otis\nTo: Adams, John\n(Lettr. 2)\nSir,\nPlymouth Ms. July 28th: 1807.\nBefore I had an opportunity to forward my reply to yours of July 11th: I received another letter under date July 20th containing twenty pages, in which so many demands are made and so many threats denounced, that a total silence might be construed dismay.\nMy thread of existence in this evanescent state is too far spent for me again to enter on political discussion; yet, I think it my duty to observe upon this letter, so far as is necessary to vindicate my own veracity, and to confute the unfounded charges contained therein, and repel the assertions that my pen has been guided by a malignant heart.\nYou have observed in your letter of July 11th: that \u201cin the spirit of friendship\u201d you shall select passages \u201crelative to yourself, without attending to order, but take them up as they occur by accident.\u201d I perhaps may do the same thing, yet wish to be a little more methodical, therefore, I advert to the first time I have mentioned you in my historic work. You have grievously complained that you have been so long neglected, and that your appearance on the theatre of politics was not recorded until the Year one thousand seven hundred, and seventy-four.\u2014Perhaps it would not have been done so early, had it not been for the extraordinary exigencies of the times, when I thought it would be an honor to Mr Adams or any other man to be mentioned on the list of Govr Gage\u2019s negatived Counsellors. In this List, the names of Governor Bowdoin, Dr: Winthrop, Colo. Otis and Mr John Adams were particularly designated as \u201cdistinguished for their attachment to the ancient Constitution, and their decided opposition to the present Ministerial measures.\u201d\nIn the page complained of, 131, Vol. 1st, it may be observed there are only four lines relative to Mr Bowdoin, seven to Dr Winthrop, one to Colo: Otis, and four to John Adams, Esqr:. It may be noticed there is only one line of my own father at this period, and no more than nine throughout the whole work, though his abilities, his firmness, and his long services to his country were universally acknowledged. He had been a Counsellor for many Years, and was very eminent as a professional man, as a patriot, and as a Christian,\u2014yet is only incidentally and concisely mentioned by his daughter, as have been many other gentlemen without any charges of partiality or malignancy.\nI am so much at a loss for the meaning of very many of your paragraphs, and the rambling manner in which your angry and indigested letters are written, that I scarcely know where to begin my remarks.\nI never had the wish to enter into a discussion of your motives of action while President of the United States, nor to give a particular detail of an Administration that rendered you unpopular indeed.\u2014This may be done by some one of that large majority of the people whose suffrages removed you from Presidential rank and placed another in the Chair.\u2014I have frequently vindicated you as acting with honest intentions, however you might have been mistaken or have varied from some Gentlemen possessed of equal abilities, honor, and honesty with yourself. Had not Mr. Adams been suffering under suspicions that his fame had not been sufficiently attended to, or that his character was not invulnerable, he would not have put such a perverse construction on every passage where he is named, in a work in which the author aimed to do him compleat justice.\nA striking instance of this appears, when you say, \u201cThe grave and solemn philosophical reflections in this and page 393, Vol. 3d are calculated to give more formality and a more aggravated character to the gloomy defamation in several paragraphs.\u201d\u2014My soul shrinks from such a charge.\u2014The solemn or philosophical reflections annexed to the paragraphs where his change of sentiment have been mentioned were designed to throw a charitable veil over the general weakness of human nature, and to extenuate Mr Adams\u2019s conduct where the writer thought political errors and deviations had been apparent.\u2014\nI shall however, answer such parts of your letter, notwithstanding its prolixity, in a manner that may or ought to restore your tranquillity. If it does not, it will exculpate me from the imputation of \u201cfalshood or malignancy.\u201d\u2014\nYou complain that I have asserted that a partiality for Monarchy appeared in your conduct. This fact you deny, and entreat me to bring forward the evidences which I suppose will warrant the assertion.\u2014The assertion was not founded on vague rumor, nor was it the result of any scattered and dubious expressions through your defence of the American Constitutions, that might warrant such a suspicion,\u2014but from my own judgment and observation soon after your return from Europe in the Year 1788.\u2014There certainly was then an observable alteration in your whole deportment and conversation.\u2014Many of your best friends saw, felt, and regretted it.\nIf time has not weakened your memory, you will recollect many instances of it yourself. I will remind you of a few.\u2014Do you not remember an interview at Cambridge, soon after your return from England, when his Lady and myself met you walking up to Mr Gerry\u2019s?\u2014We stop\u2019d the carriage and informed you, that Mrs. Gerry and myself were engaged to take tea with Madam Winthrop.\u2014You returned and took tea with us at the house of that excellent Lady.\u2014You will remember that Mr Gerry\u2019s carriage was sent for me in the edge of the evening.\u2014You took a seat with me and return\u2019d to Mr Gerry\u2019s.\u2014Do you not recollect Sir, that in the course of conversation on the way, you replied thus to something that I had observed,\u2014\u201cIt does not signify, Mrs Warren to talk much of the virtue of Americans;\u2014we are like all other people, and shall do like other nations, where all well regulated governments are Monarchic.\u201d\u2014I well remember my own reply,\u2014 \u201cthat a limited Monarchy might be the best government, but that it would be long before Americans would be reconciled to the idea of a King.\u201d\nDo you not recollect, that a very short time after this, Mr Warren and myself made you a visit at Braintree? The previous conversation in the evening, I do not so distinctly remember, but in the morning at breakfast at your own table, the conversation on the subject of monarchy was resumed.\u2014Your ideas appeared to be favorable to monarchy, and to an order of nobility in your own country.\u2014Mr Warren replied,\u2014\u201cI am thankful that I am a plebeian.\u201d\u2014You answered,\u2014\u201cNo Sir, you are one of the Nobles,\u2014there has been a natural Aristocracy here ever since the Country was settled,\u2014your family at Plymouth, Mrs Warrens at Barnstable, and many others in very many places that have kept up a distinction similar to Nobility.\u201d\u2014This conversation subsided by a little mirth.\nDo you not remember that after breakfast, You and Mr Warren stood up by the window and conversed on the situation of the country, on the Southern States, and some principal characters there?\u2014You, with a degree of passion exclaimed,\u2014\u201cThey must have a master;\u201d\u2014and added by a stamp with your foot\u2014\u201cBy God they shall have a Master.\u201d\u2014In the course of the same morning, you observed that you \u201cwished to see a Monarchy in this Country, and an hereditary one too.\u201d\u2014To this you say I replied as quick as lightning,\u2014\u201cAnd so do I too.\u201d\u2014If I did, which I do not remember, it must have been with some additional stroke, which rendered it a sarcasm. You added with a considerable degree of emotion, that you hated frequent elections\u2014that they were the ruin of the morals of the people\u2014that when a youth, you had seen more iniquity practised at a town-meeting for the purpose of electing Officers, than you had ever seen in any of the Courts in Europe\u2014.\nThose conversations were not disseminated by us,\u2014we were too much hurt by the apparent change of sentiment and manner\u2014they were concealed in our own bosoms until time should develope the result of such a change in such a man.\u2014Is not the above sufficient to warrant every thing that I have said relative to your monarchic opinions?\u2014Had you recollected the conversation alluded to above, you would not have asserted on your faith and honor, that every sentiment in a paragraph you refer to is \u201ctotally unfounded.\u201d\u2014\nOn your return from Europe it was generally thought that you looked coldly on your republican friends and their families, and that you united yourself with the party in Congress who were favorers of Monarchy;\u2014that the old tories denominating themselves federalists gathered round you,\u2014and did not your Administration while in the Presidential Chair evince, that you had no aversion to the usages of Monarchic Governments?\u2014Sedition, Stamp, and Alien Laws\u2014a standing Army, House and Land Taxes, and loans of money at an enormous interest, were alarming symptoms in the American Republic\u2014 and Your removal from the Chair by the free suffrages of a majority of the people of the United States, sufficiently evinces that I was not mistaken when I asserted that a \u201clarge portion\u201d of the inhabitants of America from New Hampshire to Georgia, viewed your political opinions in the same point of light in which I have exhibited them, and considered their liberties in imminent danger without an immediate change of the Chief Magistrate. However, I never supposed that you had a wish to submit again to the monarchy of Great Britain, or to become subjugated to any foreign sovereign. An American monarchy with an American Character at its head would, doubtless, have been more pleasing to yourself. The veracity of an historian is his strongest base,\u2014and I am sure I have recorded nothing but what I thought I had the highest reason to believe.\u2014 If I have been mistaken, I shall be forgiven\u2014and, if there are errors, they will be candidly viewed by liberal-minded and generous readers.\nIf you have a copy as doubtless you have I advise you to re-peruse the fourth and fifth pages of your Letter of July 20th: when I think, in a cooler moment you must be ashamed of the very angry and virulent expressions, poured out with the rapidity of a cataract against Mr Warren, myself, and my family.\u2014You there say, that Mr Warren in a conversation with Mr Samuel Adams once charged you with corruption.\u2014If he did which I very much doubt, he did not charge you as being corrupted by British Gold.\u2014But, if he thought the pure principles of republicanism were contaminated in your breast, it is not strange that a man of his integrity and uniformity, should regret it, and express in any manner he thought proper, his surprize at so unexpected a change.\u2014When you say, \u201cCorruption is a charge that you cannot and will not bear,\u201d Mr Warren is not shaken by your angry epithets or vindictive resolutions. Your ebullitions of passion may pass by without disturbing his tranquillity.\nBut why is Mrs Warren so indecently attacked?\u2014You ask her in this petulant page, what you are to think of her history? I answer by asking another question which it has been said is common among New-Englanders,\u2014What is Mrs Warren to think of your comments? I readily tell you she thinks them the most captious, malignant, irrelevant compositions that have ever been seen among criticisms from Zoilus to the Sage of Mount Wollaston. If you can infer from a history so impartially and candidly written, that myself or my family, have been the propagators of all the ridiculous stuff you mention, previous to Mr Jefferson\u2019s election, I believe you are the only man in the United States that would draw such an absurd conclusion.\nYou have asked, \u201cAm I to attribute to the Warren family the honor that was done me in the back parts of Pensylvania and in Kentucky, of being hanged in effigy by the side of Mr Jay, with a purse of English Guineas in my hand?\u201d\u2014Be assured Sir, the Warren family have said or done little about you for many years, and I believe have generally observed a great degree of delicacy when they have occasionally thought it necessary to mention your name: nor did they ever hear of the royal alliances of your children, the stories of the German Boors, or the burning in effigy, until you detailed them in not a very polite letter to Mrs. Warren.\nThere is a long list of items in your letter of July 27th just come to hand, which you say, Mrs. Warren ought to have remembered. I do remember your writings previous to the Year 1774, as well, as those of Dr. Mayhew, Mr Dickinson, and Mr Otis, all of which had an happy effect in our country and will never be forgotten, though no historian may take them up in detail. I do remember my first acquaintance with you, which commenced a short time previous to the Stamp Act. I do remember an increasing regard and esteem of myself and my husband, towards a young Gentleman who appeared to be warmly attached to the rights of America, and well qualified to assist in bringing forward her independence, if necessity should impel the effort. But, I do not remember that my brother James Otis ever predicted, as you assert he did, that \u201cJohn Adams would one day be the greatest man in North America.\u201d\nBut I well remember the critical period when your friends at the Plymouth fire-side, where you have spent many a pleasant hour, first named and brought you forward as a suitable character for a councillor. The project succeeded to our wishes, and Dr Winthrop and Yourself came in together, through the influence of a friend\u2014a friend who was very sensible of your capacity and abilities for rendering service to your country, but among his many respectable acquaintance of that day, he had not anticipated, nor do I believe that any of them had, that \u201cMr Adams would one day be the greatest man in North America.\u201d\nThe frequent negative of men of merit by the royal Governors Hutchinson and Gage, and yourself marked among them, led me to think it a proper period to introduce you, as then on a public theatre which would exhibit to the world the most important and interesting events.\nBut I do not remember that ever Mr Warren stood in need of your assistance to promote his popularity against Deacon Foster or any other man.\u2014There was not a man who more generally possessed the confidence of the people of the Massachusetts for very many years than Mr Warren;\u2014nor is there one in the United States who has been more uniform in his conduct and more faithful to the interests of his country than this Gentleman, whose long services are recollected with gratitude by most of his cotemporaries.\nYou also remind me of the long and friendly correspondence that subsisted between us for many years. I well remember the warm and affectionate expressions of regard, on account of your talents, patriotism, and friendship at that time.\u2014These letters you observe, are not lost;\u2014I have never been ashamed of them;\u2014neither are your former letters lost,\u2014nor do I intend your more recent ones shall ever be lost;\u2014they shall be safely deposited for future use, if occasion shall require it.\nI have attended to several of the grievances complained of in the long and laborious letter before me, & have noticed some unimportant things in a letter which immediately followed; but I must be excused from entering on a discussion of your principles of the American Revolution, or whether you have or have not ever appeared to \u201chave relinquished the Republican system.\u201d\u2014This subject comprizes fourteen pages of Yours, and as I can see no pleasure or benefit in dwelling on such a theme, or following a thread spun out to such a length, it shall not at present be attempted by,\nMercy Warren", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "07-30-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5199", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, 30 July 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Warren, Mercy Otis\nDear Madam\nQuincy 30th July 1807\nHad I really been disgusted and mortified at my Treatment by Congress which in fact I was not, but was Satisfied as Soon as it was explained to me, the mortification would have been more than compensated by the Commissions I received on the fourth of November, 1779 unquestionably the more confidential Commissions that Congress had ever issued. The Commission to General Washington as Commander in Chief of the Army was far inferiour to it them both in Confidence and Importance, and in danger and in difficulty. The first constituted me Sole Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate and conclude a Peace with Great Britain. The Second to negotiate a Treaty of Commerce with that Power. The first Commission was in these Words.\nThe Delegates of the United States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticutt, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Marland, Virginia North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.\nTo all who Shall See these Presents Send Greeting. It being probable, that a Negotiation will soon be commenced, for putting an End to the Hostilities between his Most Christian Majesty and these United States on the one Part, and his Britannic Majesty on the other Part, and it being the Sincere desire of the United States, that they may be terminated by a Peace, founded on such solid and equitable Principles, as reasonably to promise a Permanency of the Blessings of Tranquility, Know Ye, therefore that We confiding in the Integrity, Prudence and Ability of the Honourable John Adams Esquire, late Commissioner of the United States of America at the Court of Versailles, late Delegate in Congress from the State of Massachusetts Bay, and Chief Justice of the said State, Have nominated and constituted, and by these Presents do nominate and constitute him the said John Adams, our Minister Plenipotentiary, giving him Full Power, general and Special, to Act in that quality, to confer, treat, agree and conclude, with the Ambassadors or Plenipotentiaries of his Most Christian Majesty and of his Britannic Majesty, and those of any other Princes or States, whom it may concern vested with equal Powers, relating to the Reestablishment of Peace, and Friendship, and whatever Shall be So agreed and concluded, for Us and in our Name to Sign, and thereupon make a Treaty or Treaties, and to transact every Thing, that may be necessary for compleating, Securing and Strengthening the Great Work of Pacification, in as ample Form, and with the Same Effect, as if We were Personally present and acted therein, hereby promising in Good Faith, that We will accept, ratify, fullfill and execute whatever Shall be agreed, concluded and Signed by our Said Minister Plenipotentiary, and that We will never Act nor Suffer any Person to Act, contrary to the Same, in the whole or in any Part. In Witness whereof, We have caused these Presents to be given in Congress at Philadelphia, the Twenty Ninth day of September, in the Year of our Lord, One Thousand Seven hundred and Seventy nine, and in the Fourth Year of the Independence of The United States of America.\nSigned by The President and Sealed with his Seal.\nSamuel Huntington President, And a Seal.\nAttest Charles Thomson Secy.\nThe Commission for making a Treaty of Commerce with Great Britain was in these Words\nThe Delegates of the United States of New Hampshire Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticutt, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina South Carolina and Georgia in Congress assembled.\nTo all who Shall See these Presents send Greeting.It being the desire of the United States, that the Peace, which may be established between them and his Britannic Majesty, may be permanent and Accompanied with the mutual Benefits derived from Commerce, Know Ye therefore, that We confiding in the Integrity, Prudence and Ability of the Honourable John Adams Esquire, late Commissioner of the United States of America at the Court of Versailles, late Delegate in Congress from the State of Massachusetts Bay and Chief Justice of that State, Have nominated and constituted, and by these Presents do nominate and constitute him the Said John Adams, our Minister Plenipotentiary, giving him full Power general and Special, to act in that quality, to confer, agree, and conclude with the Ambassador or Plenipotentiary of his Britannic Majesty, vested with equal Powers, of and concerning a Treaty of Commerce, and Whatever Shall be So agreed and concluded, for Us and in our Name to Sign, and thereupon make a Treaty of Commerce, and to transact every Thing that may be necessary for compleating, Securing and Strengthening the Same, in as ample form and with the Same Effect, as if We were personally present and acted therein, hereby promising in good Faith, that We will accept, ratify, fullfill and execute whatever Shall be agreed, concluded and Signed by our said Minister Plenipotentiary, and that We will never Act, nor Suffer any Person to Act, contrary to the Same, in the whole nor in any Part.\u2014In Witness whereof We have caused these Presents to be given in Congress at Phyladelphia, the twenty ninth day of September in the Year of our Lord, one Thousand Seven hundred and Seventy Nine, and in the fourth year of the Independence of the United States of America.\nSigned by The President and Sealed with his Seal.\nSamuel Huntington President, and a Seal.\nAttest Cha. Thomson Secy.\nWith these two Commissions I received Special Instructions in detail. I have Submitted, Madam to the Drudgery of copying these Commissions for your Information. If I had ever made any ostentation of Talents or in your Words had Shown any \u201cPride of Talents,\u201d which I deny, I would produce these Commissions in Justification of it, at least as an Apology for it. I had Spoken and Acted daily for four years before that Congress, which was composed of Men equal in Talents and Integrity to any who have Since figured in American Councils. I had been abroad about Eighteen Months and had minutely informed Congress of all my Conduct, which had Stood the Test of the most critical and vigilant observation of the two most obstinate and inveterate and inflamed Parties I ever knew. These Commissions were voted to me by Eleven States out of Twelve as I was informed. If therefore Confidence was ever placed in any Man by others, here was Confidence placed in me by Men, who had ample Experience of my Information in American Affairs and in my faculties of conducting them whatever they were, as well as of my Integrity. It is utterly incredible that Such Men should confide themselves their Country and all their Interests to a Man whose heart they did not believe incorruptible, and whose head they did not think Adequate to the Service, great, difficult and dangerous as it was.\nIt is not however from Vanity nor the \u201cPride of Talent\u201d that I send you these Copies. It is that you may well weigh them as Historical and political Documents. For on these Commissions hangs a very long History. Many Intrigues have grown out of the Subjects of them especially that for Commerce and the Consequences are not yet ended. In my opinion most of the Disputes We have had with England, if not with France, have Sprung from the Jealousy which soon appeared of that Commission, and the Intrigues to get rid of it. I shall not enter into this history at this time, it would require a Volume. You Seem to have had no Idea of this great Tract of History, or did you omit it, Madam for fear it should do honor to me, or for fear it should do dishonor to the Comte De Vergennes? or for fear it should bring into Suspicion the Fortitude or Patriotism of Some of your present Political Patrons?\nYou have carefully recorded the Mission and appointment of Mr Jay to Madrid in page 141. Vol. 2 to have been on the twenty seventh of September 1779 yet have taken no Notice of mine which was on the twenty Ninth of the same Month. Both these Missions had been del under deliberation and discussion for Some time and were both resolved before any Person was nominated. Congress determined to nominate a Minister first for Spain, and Mr Jay was chosen; After this John Adams was nominated for Peace and Commerce chosen and appointed. I am not able to account Madam for your Knowledge of one Event, or your Ignorance of the other. If it was not \u201cPride\u201d of Talent it was Presumption \u201cof Talent\u201d in a Lady to write a History with so imperfect Information or So little Impartiality.\nIn page 276 of the Second Volume you say that early in the present years the Honourable Henry Laurens of South Carolina, late President of the Continental Congress was vested with this important Commission. What Commission? You Say above \u201cA Minister with proper Credentials to appear in a Public Character at the Hague.\u201d\u2014I have not Pride of Talent enough to Say what Commission Mr Laurens had. I have never inspected with this View The Secret Journal of Congress in which these Proceedings of Congress were recorded. Mr Laurens came over to Holland, after his Release from the Tower, and told me he had no Commission. By this I Supposed that he had Sunk his Commission in the Sea at the Time of his Capture. But I know not to this day whether he ever had a Commission or Credentials as a Public Minister. My present opinion is that he had only a Commission as Agent to borrow Money. If in this I am mistaken I am Sorry for it: but the fact may be ascertained by recurring to the Secret Journals of Congress. I have Several reasons for this conjecture among which is this that Mr Laurens never mentioned to be any other Credentials, and another is that no mention is made in my Commission of any other. My Commission is dated the 20th. day of June 1780 and is in these Words\nL.S. seal\nThe United States of America, in Congress assembled\nTo the Honourable John Adams Esquir Greeting, Whereas by our Commission to the Honourable Henry Laurens Esquire, bearing Date the thirtieth day of October, in the year of our Lord, one Thousand Seven hundred and Seventy nine, We have constituted and appointed him the said Henry Laurens, during our Pleasure, our Agent for an on behalf of the said United States, to negotiate a Loan, with any Person or Persons, Bodies Politick And and corporate; and whereas the said Henry Laurens has by unavoidable Accidents been hitherto prevented from Proceeding on his said Agency; We therefore, reposing especial Trust and Confidence in your Patriotism, Ability, Conduct and Fidelity, Do, by these Presents constitute and appoint you the said John Adams, Untill the said Henry Laurens, or Some other Person appointed in his Stead Shall arrive in Europe, and undertake the Execution of the aforesaid Commission, Our Agent for and on behalf of the Said United States to negotiate a Loan, with any Person or Persons Bodies Politick and Corporate, promising in good Faith to ratify and confirm whatsoever Shall by you be done in the Premisses, or relating thereunto.\u2014Witness his Excellency Samuel Huntington Esquire President of the Congress of the United States of America at Philadelphia, the twentyeth day of June in the year of our Lord, one Thousand Seven hundred and Eighty, and in the fourth year of our Independence.\nSamuel Huntington President\nAttest. Chas. Thomson Secy.\nOf this Commission, Madam, Although it was issued long before Mr Laurens\u2019s departure from America, you take no Notice. On the contrary in Page 300. Vol. 2. you say \u201cImmediately after the News of Mr Laurens\u2019s capture, Imprisonment and Detention in England, the American Congress directed John Adams Esquire, who had a Second time been Sent to Europe in a Public Character, to leave France and repair to Holland, there to transact Affairs with the States General which had before been entrusted to the Fidelity of Mr Laurens. Mr Adams\u2019s Commission was enlarged\u201d:\nThis is the only Notice you have taken of my Commissions as Minister Plenipotentiary to treat of Peace and Commerce, with Great Britain. Who could understand what was meant by being sent a Second time to Europe in a Public Character? I was not in France, and had been long in Holland, which Congress knew very well for they had received a great Number of Letters from me in Holland. Although I went first to Spain and then to France where I resided some months, yet neither My Commissions nor Instructions as Minister for Peace and Commerce, required of me to reside in France: all Europe was open to me at my discretion I might have gone directly to England, and Lord North said he wished Mr Adams had come to London, where he should have been protected, for his Lordship began to be convinced that he must treat. I had no Thoughts of this however because it would have been a just cause of Jealousy to our Ally. But I went to Holland to see and reconnoitre that Country, to make more Friends for my Country and to See, as I told Dr Franklin, whether I could not find means of rendering America Somewhat less dependent on France. The Dr whom you respect so profoundly immediately wrote this to Congress as a Complaint against me. Congress did not, it seems think it a Crime to make them more independent. But instead of punishing recalling or censuring me, they exerted themselves to assist me, and athorized me to do what I hoped and intended. I accomplished it so fully that I not only made Congress but Dr Franklin himself less dependent on France: for years before he left France, he could get No Money to pay his own Salary nor even the Expences of his Household but from the Fund I had obtained in Holland. How was Mr Adams\u2019s Commission enlarged? No Commission of his was enlarged or diminished. His commissions for Peace and Commerce remained in Full Force, and to them was Added a new Commission to negoitate a Loan of Money.\nOn the twenty Ninth day of December 1780 Congress issued another Commission in these Words\nL.S. seal\nThe United States of American in Congress assembled\nTo all who shall See these Presents Send Greeting. Whereas an Intercourse between the Citizens of the United Provinces of the Low Countries, and the Citizens of these United States, founded on the Principles of Equality and Reciprocity, may be of mutual Advantage to both Nations, Know ye, therefore that We confiding in the Integrity, Prudence and Ability of the Honourable John Adams late Commissioner of the United States of America at the Court of Versailles, late Delegate in Congress from the State of Massachusetts Bay and Chief Justice of that the said State, have nominated constituted and appointed, and by these Presents do nominate, constitute and appoint him the said John Adams, our Commissioner, giving full Power general and Special to Act in that quality to confer, treat, agree and conclude, with the Person or Persons vested with equal Powers by the States General of the Said United Provinces, of and concerning a Treaty of Amity and Commerce: and whatever Shall be so agreed and concluded for Us and in our Name to sign and thereupon make a such Treaty, Conventions and Agreements as he shall judge conformable to the Ends We have in view. Hereby promising in good Faith that We will Accept, ratify and execute whatever Shall be agreed, concluded and Signed by our Said Commissioner. In Witness whereof We have caused these Presents to be given in Congress at Philadelphia the Twenty ninth day of December in the year of our Lord one Thousand Seven hundred and Eighty and in the fifth year of our Independence.\nSigned Samuel Huntington President\nAttest Charles Thomson Secy.\nAt the Same Time Congress Sent me a Letter of Credence to His Serene Highness the Prince of Orange as Statholder of the United Provinces.\nThere is no mention here of any Commission to Mr Laurens to negotiate a Treaty of Commerce or of any Letter of Credence as a Minister Plenipotentiary. In short I have reason to believe that the appointment of a Minister Plenipotentiary to the States General or to the Statholder, were occasioned entirely by my Letters in a great number of which I had recommended these Measures and urged them by every Argument of Necessity or Expediency that occurred to my own Mind or was Suggested by my Confidential Friends of whom I had many among the first Character for Talents and Influence in the Country, besides the Baron Van der Capellen de Poll and his Brother Van der Capellen de March. These Letters are recorded in the Books of the office of foreign Affairs at Washington, and if they should be destroyed they remain in my own Letter Books. I had urged the Appointment of a Public Minister not only to the States but to the Statholder, as a public Measure of great public Utility: but had not Sollicited this appointment for myself. Whatever may be thought of it, now, I had Business enough as Minister of Peace, and I knew not how Soon I might be called to Act publickly in that Character and I thought there was danger that I Should be embarrassed between the two Trusts as in fact it afterwards happened. I was accordingly very much concerned when I received the Full Power to negotiate a Loan and still more when that Arrived to Negotiate a Treaty with the States and represent my Country at the Prince of Oranges Court, least the Duties of one Commission or another Should be neglected. But as the Papers arrived I determined to do all in my Power.\nIn page 161 of the third Volume you say that \u201con Mr Adams\u2019s Arrival in Holland he found every Thing in a Happy Train for Negotiation; the People well disposed and many of the most distinguished Characters zealous for a Treaty with the American States, without any farther delay.\u201d Here Madam your Information is very erroneous. The People it is true, except the Statholderians and Anglomanes which Who were very numerous and then all powerfull, were well disposed towards the Americans and heartily wished them well, but neither the People nor any of the distinguished Characters were zealous or even willing for a Treaty. Even Mr Van berkel and his Friend Mr Bicker, nor Mr Geizlar the Pensioner of Dort were ready for a Treaty as yet. And America had no better Friends than these. Holland was full of the spies of the Statholder and the English Minestry in England and of Sir Joseph York the British Ambassador at the Hague. Even Some of the American Refugees particularly Paul Wentworth came over to watch and counter Act me. Sir Joseph York began soon to thunder with his Memorials to the State\u2019s General, and to demand Vengeance against Some and threaten Vengeance against all. War was dreaded by the whole Nation as the greatest of Evils and they all knew that an Acknowledgment of American Independance would draw down the most furious Indignation of England and produce an immediate Declaration of War against them. Such was the universal Terror that Mr John De Neufville told me that Amsterdam and especially the Exchange was more gloomy and dismal than a Church yard. Mr Van Berckel was under Such Apprehensions that he dared not have any communication with me. I made a Visit to his House but was denied Admittance. I wrote him Letters but received no Answer. He was reduced to the necessity of writing Secretly to Mr Dumas to pray him to make his Apology to me, and to say that though he was very desirous to See me and to answer my Letters he dared to do neither. \u201cParce qu\u2019on fait tout, Son possible pour me Sacrifier awe Anglomanes\u201d i. e \u201cbecause they are using their Utmost Endeavors to Sacrifice me to the English Party.\u201d This Gentleman and others were apprehensive of the Fate of the De Witts i.e. of being torn to Pieces by an enraged Populace Stirred up by their Ennemies. And many People thought I had more reason to tremble than Mr Van Berckel. I might have retreated to France under twenty Pretexts or I might have gone on a Journey of Curiosity or Pleasure into Germany or to Antwerp: but I thank God that in those Parts of my Life when I have thought myself in the most personal danger, I have hitherto found myself the most collected. I determined therefore to remain at my Post, and ride out the storm.\nThe next paragraphs I never could read without laughing. \u201cMr Adamss manners and habits were much more assimilated to the Dutch than to the French Nation.\u201d The Satyrical Sneer intended in this place would have come from Mrs Warren with a better Grace in a Satirical Poem than in a Grave History. However I declare the Assertion to be false. Distinguishing Morals from manners, I avow that the manners and habits of the French are the more agreable to me, than those of Holland England or even my own dear Country America. Conversation is more gay more Sprightly more good humoured more entertaining and instructive in France than in any Country I ever Saw. And their temperance and S\u00e7avoir vivre, is more agreable than the deep drinking and perpetual Electioneering Politicks which poison Society in England and America and even in Holland. Though this trait was intended for a Sting it has not wounded me. It has excited nothing but ridicule.\u2014If it were worth while I could produce very Satisfactory Proofs that my Manners and habits were at least as acceptable in France as those of any Minister America has ever yet Sent there. I could appeal to the Duke De La Vauguion with whom I lived in the Strictest Intimacy for many years and to the Chevalier de La Luzerne and Mr Marbois, and indeed to all the French Men and Women with whom I ever conversed to determine whether my Manners were ever disagreable to them. They were only Politicians and Intriguers who found fault with me and they, not for my Manners but my Morals and because they Said I had beaucoup de Tete, that is head enough to understand them and obstinacy enough to resist their insidious Policy.\nThis Assertion however, I can easily Suppose Mrs Warren has borrowed from Some Informer. But there is Something that follows which I cannot conceive could have been communicated to her by any Person in the World. \u201cHe took Lodgings at Amsterdam, for Several Months, at the House of Mr Dumas, a Man of Some mercantile Interest, considerable Commercial Knowledge, not acquainted with Manners or Letters, but much Attached to the Americans from the General Predilection of Dutchmen in favour of Republicanism.\u201d\nIt is impossible for me to conjecture the Source from whence this foolish Information could have arisen. Whether Ignorance Dullness or Malice produced it I know not. If I had been dead it might have passed for Truth and gone down to Posterity. But it Shall not. It was manifestly intended to cast a Slur upon me, for an injudicious Choice of Lodgings, and as having Stooped below my Character in domiciliating myself with a Trader. But it is all false. Mr Dumas never lived in Amsterdam. Mr Dumas never was a Merchant. Mr Dumas never had any Mercantile Interest. If Mr Dumas had any Commercial Knowledge, it was merely Theoretical and Such as every Man of Reading and Reflexion and Knowledge of the World possesses. Mr. Dumas was a Man of the World, and well acquainted with Manners. Mr Dumas was so much of a Man of Letters that he was one of the most accomplished classical Schollars that I have been acquainted with, and had taken as general a Survey of ancient and modern Science and Litterature, as most of the Professors of the Universities of Europe and America. He was indeed much attached to the Americans, but from better motives and more Knowledge than \u201cthe general Predilection of Dutch Men in favour of Republicanism.\u201d Such was Mr Dumas. He always lived at the Hague, at least from my first Knowledge of his Name till his Death at upwards of fourscore. He had been in England before our Revolution and Dr Franklin had been in Holland, in both of which Countries Dr Franklin and Mr Dumas had been Acquainted and attached in Friendship to each other. When Dr Franklin was a Member of the Com Secret Committee of Correspondence appointed by Congress, he advised them to write to Mr Dumas. When Dr Franklin Arrived in Paris a Correspondence took place at once between him Mr Deane Mr Lee and Mr Dumas. When I arrived in Paris the Correspondence was continued, and some Letters passed between me and Mr Dumas. Mr Dumas corresponded also with Congress and he was allowed three hundred Pounds Sterling a year for his Services. All this had passed before I ever visited Holland or had Seen the Face of this Gentleman.\u2014What kind of Republicanism Mrs Warren, do you think was the general Predilection of Dutchmen? It was a Self created a Self continued and a Self preserved Aristocracy, in which the People had no more Share than they had in France; no more indeed than they had in Turkey: for in Turkey the People Sometimes rise in Mobs, and so they did in Holland. Besides this Mr Dumas was not a Dutchman, in Mrs Warrens Sense: He was a Native of Germany. I can Say no more about Republicanism because I know not the Meaning of the Word as Mrs Warren Uses it. And I believe She does not know her own Meaning: at least I will am confident She will never give me nor the Public a Definition of it.\nSoon after my Arrival at Amsterdam in midsummer 1780 Mr Dumas came from the Hague to make me a Visit and pay his respects to me as an Ambassador in the Service of the Country in whose Service he was a Subordinate Agent. This was my first Personal Acquaintance with him: he Staid a few days and returned to his Home. We continued our Correspondence occasionally.\nWhen afterwards I received my Commission to negotiate a Loan I took a House in Amsterdam, Op de Keisers Gracght, by de Spiegel Straat. The House was as commodious and elegant, as my public Character required and my Appointments would afford. For I had no additional allowance from Congress, for any Commission or Services but those for Peace. I employed Mrs Sigourney and Ingraham an American House established at that time in Trade at Amsterdam to furnish my House with Moveables and necessary Servants, which they did while I was absent at Leyden and the Hague. Here I lived with as much Hospitality to my American Fellow Citizens who visited me, and to the Inhabitants of the City with whom I was acquainted, and to all Strangers who were recommended or introduced to me, as was in My Power, though not so much as was in my Will. What you mean Madam by My \u201cAssociating much with the Common Classes,\u201d I know not. It Seems as if your Pen could not possibly approach my name without issuing some Insinuation of meanness and Awkwardness, or in other and plainer Words, without venting Some Spightful hint. Travelling in the Trecht Schuits, and at the Inns where I dined and lodged, I endeavoured to converse with the People and obtain as much Knowledge of the Country and its Inhabitants their manners Customs and Laws and Politicks, and of their Sentiments of France England and America as I could and associated no otherwise with the Common Classes, unless you except my Domestic Servants. My Society in Amsterdam were Burgomaster Hooft, Mr Van Berckel as respectable a Man as any in Amsterdam, Mr Vischer another Pensionary, The House of Horneca Fitzeaux and Grand a respectable French Banking House, the Vanstaphorsts De la Lande & Finie Mr Crommelin and an ancient Gentleman who had retired from Commerce with a Fortune and his three Sons who with large Property and high Credit, carried on the extensive Trade of the Company; Mr John De Neuville and Son, and especially Mr Bicker who had closed the Accounts of an Ancient House and retired upon a Capital of four or five Millions. This Gentleman was the a most intelligent and useful Friend, always ready to inform and advise me, and that with all the Prudence caution and circumspection which my Situation required. His Son also who was then a Magistrate that is a Judge and a Counsellor of the City was my Acquaintance and Friend both at Amsterdam and the Hague. There was no better Company in that Country. I might have added Mr John Hodshon one of the first Capitalists, who was as honourable a Friend as any that I found. I was advised to be introduced to Mr Hope the Dominant mercantile House in Holland, and Mr Hodshon offered to bring us together: but upon a careful Inquiry I found that The House of Hope did all the Business of the British Ministry in Holland on which he drew Commissions to a large amount that he would hold himself obliged to communicate whatever he knew to the English Government, and above all that he had conceived a Notion that America ought not to expect to borrow Money at a lower Interest than the Batavians had given in their Revolution which was ten or twelve Per Cent: for these Reasons I determined to have nothing to do with him or his House. I had many other Acquaintances and Several among the Litterary Characters, but those I Shall not name because excepting Mr Kalkoen, they had little Political or Monied Connections with me.\nAfter the Receipt of my Commission a and Credence as Minister Plenipotentiary to the States General and the Prince of Orange, I bought a House at the Hague, ever Way fit for a Public Minister even if he had the Title of an Ambassador, and removed my Furniture into it\u2014Here I resided as I had done at Amsterdam, but finding myself perplexed with the Care of a Family and the Pecculations and Villanies of Servants, Mr Dumas, whose Property was not large though he had a Small real Estate and his Income as American Agent but Small, offered to remove with his Family into my House. I readily accepted his Proposal, and promised to bear all his Expences. He came Accordingly with his Wife and one Child an amiable and beautiful Daughter of about twelve years of Age and took the Oversight of my Servants and Family affairs to my great Relief and their considerable Emolument. It was a regular and a virtuous Family as far as ever I observed or heard. This Madam is the Mr Dumas, whom you have transmitted to Posterity, in so contemptible a Light.\nFrom page 163 to 166 inclusively you have been pleased to insert a little Approbation and Something like a Panegyrick, yet in a Note at the End of it, you could not restrain your Malignity against me but must poison it all by a base insinuation. \u201cTheir object then was a free, independent Republick, without any Approximation to regal Authority, or Monarchic Usages: there was no Sighing then for rank, Titles, and the expensive Trappings of Nobility.\u201d The Insinuation here is too obvious to need any explanatory Commentary. It is intended by the Historian to gratify the Prejudices of the present ruling Party in America, and to Sanction the Slanders by which they ascended to Power. Every true blue Jacobin who reads it will easily and readily apply it to all the Lies he has heard and read concerning me and cry out in all his drunken Circles \u201cAh! John Adams was once for a free independent Republic, without any approximation to regal Authority or Monarchic Usages: But Since he has been \u2018corrupted\u2019 in England he has been Sighing for Rank Titles, and the expensive Trappings of Nobility.\u201d I was always for a Free Republic; not a Democracy, which is as arbitrary Tyrannical bloody cruel and intollerant a Government as that of Phalaris with his Bull is represented to have been. Robespierre is a perfect Exemplification of the Character of the first Bell Wether in a Democracy. That I ever Sighed for Rank Titles or for the expensive Trappings of Nobility is false and Mrs Warrens knows me well enough to know that there is not a Man in the World to whom, Rank Titles and the expensive Trappings of Nobility, are more indifferent.\nWhat have I done, Mrs Warren, to merit so much Malevolence from a Lady concerning whom I never in my Life uttered an unkind Word, or a disrespectful Insinuation? At least untill your History appeared, nor even Since I read it, till I began to write these Letters. I have Still confined my Resentment to these Communications to yourself. In these I have used the Words of Truth and Soberness. Still in hopes that you will do me the All the Justice in your Power, I subscribe / myself your Friend\nJohn Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "08-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5200", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Mercy Otis Warren, 1 August 1807\nFrom: Warren, Mercy Otis\nTo: Adams, John\n(Lett. 3d)\nSir,\nPlymouth, Ms. August 1st: 1807\nYour fourth Letter like the preceding ones, discovers a fixed determination to mis-construe every expression of mine, where-ever You, Sir, are introduced in my History of the American Revolution. I am astonished that you should discover so much resentment at a sentence in page 140, particularly at the word mortified. I did, at the time alluded to, think you in a mortified situation. I did think you had been ill-treated, from your own representations, on your return from France in 1779. Mr Warren and myself visited you in the retirement noticed,\u2014firmer and more attached friends you had not then in the United States.\u2014We both thought alike on your deportment at the time, and both regretted the disappointment, chagrin, and vexation, you discovered, and drew our conclusions from your own expressions.\u2014But, we never named it, and when it has been alluded to in an historic work, never designed to enter into the details of the wranglings of the American Commissioners at the Court of France, it was done in a delicate manner, consistent with the part I had been used to take, when you thought yourself injured, either by public or private men;\u2014and none of your friends rejoiced more at the very honorable appointment you received in a few months after your first return, to repair again to Europe in a public character.\nThe copy of the letter you sent me, to Mr Samuel Adams was a very good one;\u2014but, when you recommended through him to Congress, to appoint only one gentleman as a Plenipotentiary to the Court of France, did you wish Mr Lee to be the man?\u2014You surely could not have wished it to have been Dr. Franklin.\u2014I have long known your opinion of him too well to suppose this, and from what I had often heard you say, I have not a doubt, the bare apprehension would have been reason sufficient for your disgust and mortification.\nThere are several frivolous criticisms in your Letter of July 28th: that I do not think worthy of any observation; but, if you will please to look at the eighth page of the same letter, you will not wonder I am totally at a loss what to make of it, as I am at very many pages of the whole of your late correspondence.\u2014You there ask,\u2014\u201cWho Madam, has introduced an inundation of Atheism, Deism, Annihilation, Gambling, Contempt of Marriage and the Sabbath?\u2014Is it I?\u2014Who has disseminated Paine, Barlow, Boulanger, the System of Nature &c. &c. &c. into the darkest corners of the obscurest villages in our Country?\u2014Is it I?\u201d\u2014What can you possibly mean by asking Mrs. Warren those questions?\u2014Can you mean to insinuate that she has had any part in introducing or encouraging those abominable principles and enormous vices which you have witnessed both in Europe and America?\u2014Or is it meant to reproach any person or persons whom you think she is obliged to defend?\u2014\nYou very well know Sir, that my detestation of the atheistical writers both in France and England, is at least equal to your own, and my dread of the result of the dissemination of the works of Voltaire and his disciples, has often been expressed by my pen;\u2014and you never in conversation, in the course of a long acquaintance, had any reason to suspect my veneration for the Christian religion, the purity of its morals, and the efficacy of its example in promoting the happiness of mankind, both in this world and in the next.\u2014Why then these extraordinary questions?\u2014I might repeat this interrogatory on many other queries, assertions, and allusions, through the whole series of your late correspondence, so replete with jealousy, misconstruction, strange conclusions from unfounded suspicions, and a general want of candor and kindness, as renders the business very unpleasant.\u2014\nNothing further need be adduced to prove this, than your forced construction on a note of two lines in page 140.\u2014Was not the observation true?\u2014If it was, where was the impropriety of making it?\u2014And is not every one at liberty to draw inferences according to his own ideas of truth?\u2014\nYour strange suggestion that I had dwelt with pleasure on the word mortified,\u2014a word only once used,\u2014I can impute only to the mortified and vexatious state of mind you was then in.\nYou have appeared in your next Letter very much enraged at my informant relative to your residence for a time under the same roof with Mr Dumas.\u2014You say, \u201cMr Dumas shall not be handed down to posterity as I have represented him.\u201d\u2014I do not think it very important whether Mr Dumas is handed down to posterity as a merchant or a man of letters\u2014or whether he was a republican in my sense of the word, or in yours;\u2014nor is it very material whether you resided with him as a boarder, or he with you as a domestic Inspector\u2014as you say he did for some time. The little consequence this is of to the public, will exonerate the Gentleman from either \u201cignorance, dulness, or malice,\u201d who incidentally mentioned the trivial circumstance to me.\u2014The inaccuracy might be mine, that it was at Amsterdam instead of the Hague.\u2014I do not see that this information tended to cast a slur upon your character, or that it lessened that of Mr. Dumas.\u2014\nIf one or the other is done in this instance, it is by your own pen,\u2014a pen from which I have lately received so much abuse, unfriendly, ungenerous, and ungentlemanly treatment, that my indignation is too much raised to reply to every particular of your dark, unfounded suspicions.\u2014Some of them I hold in too much contempt to notice at all. But when you assert, that \u201cit is intended by the historian to gratify the prejudices of the present ruling party in America, and to sanction the slanders by which they ascended to power,\u201d it reaches a point beyond patient forbearance, where there is any degree of sensibility, honour, or truth.\u2014If you wish to read the next scurrilous observations, look at your own copy of July 30th.\u2014\nI have never added or omitted a line relative to you or any other man from a malignancy of heart with which you so often charge me;\u2014nor for fear \u201cit should do dishonor to the Count de Vergennes;\u2014nor for fear it should bring into suspicion the fortitude or patriotism of some of my present political patrons.\u201d Pray Sir, who do you mean by my political patrons?\u2014I have never had political patronage from any quarter, and I desire to thank a kind providence, I do not stand in need of it.\nYou have boasted that you \u201chave done many great and dangerous things, that my philosophical friend Mr Jefferson had not dared to undertake.\u201d\u2014You add, that I knew all this\u2014there Sir, you are mistaken.\u2014I never knew that my \u201cphilosophical friend, Mr Jefferson,\u201d was afraid to do his duty in any instance.\u2014But, this I know, he has dared to do many things for the benefit of his country, for which posterity will probably bless his memory, and I hope he will yet, by his wisdom, justice, moderation, and energy, long continue the blessings of peace in our country, and strengthen the republican system to which he has uniformly adhered.\u2014\nYou have somewhere observed that you \u201ccan say no more about republicanism, because I know not the meaning of the word, as Mrs. Warren uses it, and I believe she does not know her own meaning, at least, I am confident she will never give me nor the public, a definition of it.\u201d\u2014Mrs. Warren has already given a definition of her meaning in several parts of her Historical Work.\nYou may see her ideas how the system ought to operate, in page 432, Vol. 3d. of Mrs. Warren\u2019s History;\u2014\u201cThe people may again be reminded, that the elective franchise is in their own hands;\u2014that it ought not to be abused, either for personal gratifications, or the indulgence of partisan acrimony.\u2014This advantage should be improved, not only for the benefit of existing society, but with an eye to that fidelity which is due to posterity.\u2014This can only be done by electing such men to guide the national counsels, whose conscious probity enables them to stand like a colossus, on the broad basis of independence, and by correct and equitable arrangements, endeavour to light the burdens of the people, strengthen their unanimity at home, command justice abroad, and cultivate peace with all nations, until an example may be left on record, of the practicability of meliorating the condition of mankind.\u201d\u2014\nThus\u2014You may see, by what I have already written, what I mean by a free republic, and that my ideas are very different from those which you exhibit, when you assert that, \u201cRobespierre is a perfect exemplification of the character of the first bell weather in a democracy:\u201d and go on in the same page to expatiate on \u201cthe true blue Jacobins, and the drunken circles that will apply my representations, and cry out, Ah! John Adams, &c.\u201d\nBut, after I have heard you say, that the celebrated Mrs. Macauley knew nothing about government, I cannot wonder at your saying, \u201cit is presumption in a lady to write a History with so little information as Mrs Warren has acquired.\u201d\u2014Perhaps that presumption might have been excited by yourself, when with the warmest expressions of friendship you acknowledged you had received a Letter from an incomparable satirist, and requested your most profound respects might be presented to her, desiring her husband at the same time to tell her, that \u201cGod Almighty (I use a bold style) has intrusted her with powers for the good of the world, which in the course of his providence, he bestows upon very few of the human race.\u2014that instead of being a fault to use them, it would be criminal to neglect them.\u201d\u2014Letter to General Warren, Braintree, March 15th, 1775\nSuch a flight of encomium is not claimed by Mrs. Warren as her prescriptive right\u2014she has viewed it as the exuberance of partiality from a real friend;\u2014but as it was from a friend who has declared, that he never used any dissimulation or flattery, either to man or woman, her judgment might be so far imposed upon as to lead her to attempt an historic record, without the fear of a charge from the same Gentleman of either \u201cpride or presumption of talents.\u201d\u2014\nIs not this a sufficient apology for transcribing an extract so flattering to the pride or presumption, of\nMercy Warren", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "08-03-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5201", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, 3 August 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Warren, Mercy Otis\nDear Madam\nQuincy August 3d 1807\nIn your third Volume page 169, you say that \u201con the twenty Second of April 1782, Mr. Adams was admitted at the Hague and with the Usual Ceremonies received as Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America.\u201d This mistake of a few days in Chronology is Scarcely worth a Remark, but I suppose you would wish to be correct. It was on the Nineteenth day of April, not the twenty Second.\nIn the 176 Page you quote an Author as Saying that \u201cone more Such Revolution, (as ours is understood) would give Freedom to the World.\u201d There has been one Revolution Since, and what kind of Freedom has it given to the World?\nI have passed over a Passage which ought to have been noted in page 175. You say \u201cThe People have been divided between an Aristocratic and a Republican Party: the one influenced by their Attachment to the Statholder The other had is operated with the Interests of France.\u201d It is not Surprising that an American Lady Should misunderstand and be misinformed in relation to the Government of Holland and the Temper Genius and Habits of the People, as well as their political Principles. But nothing can be more diametrically opposite to the Fact than your Representation of it. The Dutch Nation had no Idea of any Republic but an Aristocracy. The Aristocratic Party instead of being influenced by an Attachment to the Statholder were the only Persons who opposed him and finally drove him to Bois Le Duc. The People, as distinguished from the Aristocracy were almost universally his Friends, and attached to him as much as the People of France were to their King, or as the People of England were to theirs. It was the People, as contradistinguished from the Aristocracy who first established William the first Prince of orange. These People Supported Maurice and afterwards King William. These People have Supported the Sathouderat in all times. It was with the good Will and applause of this Same People think I attached to the Statholder and in opposition to the Aristocracy, that Barneveld was beheaded, Grotius imprisoned and banished to France, and the De Witts massacred. These were among the first of Mankind in Integrity Talent and Wisdom, yet they were Sacrificed as many Similar Characters are now in America to popular Prejudices and the falshoods and Slanders which Such Prejudices always engender and which Mrs Warren has manifestly countenanced encouraged and flattered in her History. This Same People instead of cooperating with the \u201cInterests of France,\u201d have always been in opposition to it, and always attached to the Statholder and the English Nation. Their affection for Us was chiefly partly because they considered Us as a part of the English Nation and partly because they thought We were contending against our oppressors as their Ancestors had done against Spain. The Cry of Liberty had a Charm in their Ears, but they knew not what American Liberty meant. They probably thought it was the Same as their own, thought they had none in reallity, that is no Political Liberty any more than the People of France. They had no legal or constitutional Mode of expressing their opinions or their Wishes or their feelings. And they never did express them but upon great and dangerous Emergencies and then only by Mobs, Riots, Uproars and Seditions. Had a Maurice or even a King William been Statholder when I was in Holland Mr. Vanberkel and your present Correspondent, might have experienced the Fate of De Witt\u2019s for the Populace was on Tiptoe and wanted only a little more encouragement, to have proceeded to the last Extrmities.\nI had many opportunities of observing the Sentiments of these People. I was present at Utrecht at the time of the Revolution of that Province. These People had been wrought up to fury against the Aristocracy, and under the Conduct of a Scotch officer of their Army had demolished the old Aristocracy and chosen a New one by popular Election. Annual biennial or any other Elections limited by years, were either not thought of or could not be carried. I Saw the Ceremony of Inauguration And this Scotch officer was the Master of the Ceremonies and administered the Oaths. Every officer And every Magistrate of the new order was permanent was perpetual was for Life. The People could not trust themselves with Periodical Elections. Here then was a new Aristocracy instituted by the voluntary decree of the People with the Same Functions and Powers with that which they turned out by Force, and in which the People had no share, over which they had no Power and could have no Influence but by a fresh Uproar. When the King of Prussia came to the Aid of that Statholder, all these People flew over to his Side with rapture, and the whole Seven Provinces became as yellow as an orange.\nI could relate Proofs enough of this, one I will mention more. The Baron Van Der Capellen De Poll, often complained to me, that the Patriots could do nothing with the People. He said they were haunted by the Demon of Aristocracy, in every Province City and Village. It entered into the Souls of every order of Citizens. He met with it and was resisted by it in every project he could invent. One instance in particular he related to me in detail. He went, he said upon Some Occasion to Amsterdam and took great Pains to Assemble the Merchants to deliberate upon some political Question in which the Commerce of that City was interested. He procured a general Meeting, and proposed Some Measures to be taken. He Strove to reason with them and convince them, and persuade them to put the Propositions to vote: No; the great Majority would have no Question put. They would appoint Three or four Men to manage the Business according to their Judgments. The Baron hoped the Committee would report to the assembly that their Results might be deliberated on and accepted or rejected by the assembly at large. No. The Cry was immediately general, if the Business was to be conducted and decided in a Croud they would have nothing to do with it. Accordingly a Small Committee was appointed, with full Power to do the whole at their discretion and the Assembly was immediately dissolved to meet no more. It is the Aristocracy which has always inclined to France. Barneveldt Grotius the De Witts were all of that Party and disposed rather to France than England. The French Ambassors, the French Court and Nation have always endeavoured to conciliate these, and consequently always in opposition to the Statholder and the People, both of whom have been always inclined to the English. It was the People in their Uproars who made the Statholdership permanent, first for Life and afterwards hereditary.\nThe Attachment of the People to the Statholdership appeared in a thousand Instances. The Capital Manufacturers, who were inclined to the Aristocracy And consequently to France, tried the Experiments with their Journeymen. Mr. Van Heukelem of Leyden the greatest Woolen Manufacturer I believe in the United Provinces, who employed a great Number of Workmen told me, that the biggoted devotion to the orange Family among all the Artificers was astonishing, that he had gone among his own People and conversed familiarly with them, endeavoured to convince them that the Statholdership was unnecessary, that it was a restraint of their Liberty and the Republiick would be better without it. But he said he could make no impression. His Journeymen to a Man rejected all his insinuations, and declared to him, in plain Dutch language \u201cSay or do what you Will You and your Friends, We will have a Statholder.\u201d And they run out into long Histories of the Contests between the Regencies and the Statholder, in which they Shewed the Oppression of the People, and the disgrace of the State, when the Patriotic Party had prevailed, and the happiness of the People and prosperity of the State when the House of orange had prevailed in justification of their resolution, which Surprised him. He had no Idea he Said \u201cthat those People had so much Knowledge of the History of the Country.\u201d This History, is very true, not withstanding the Splendid naval Actions under their Aristocracy in Some Periods.\nOne more Anecdote, which happened when I was in Holland, Shall be related. The Legislature passed and proclaimed a Placart, forbidding all Persons to wear orange Cockades. It was posted up in all public Places and published in all the usual forms of a Public Law. The Doyen of the Turf Lifters, immediately procured him a Monstrous orange Cockade, and wore it publicly every where in the Streets of the Hague in open defiance and Derision of the Legislature. Did this Legislature prosecute this Man? No. They dared not. Did the People hiss this Man? No. As far as they dared they Snickered and giggled, and were mightily pleased...There is a Sett of Men, called Turf Lifters because they carry Turf about the Cities for the Consumption of the Inhabitants, and being generally very Stout hardy and daring Men, are as much dreaded in popular Uproars as are the Butchers of Pensilvania. This Doyen was the oldest Man of this Class at the Hague, fourscore and upwards I believe; had been one of the Stoutest of them and famous for his feats on former occasions. In short he was Supposed to have the Body of the Turf Lifters as much at his Devotion as Mackintosh was once supposed to have a certain Class in Boston. What could the Legislature do? braved, disobeyed insulted to their Faces by a Turf Lifter! They dared not exert one Act of Authority. But a Caucus of their Chiefs after grave consultation and deliberation concluded to Send two of their most popular or rather least unpopular Members to treat with the Doyen. These Gentlemen took an opportunity to Send for him Secretly in an amicable Way. He appeared. They represented to him the Placart. I know it very well said the old Man. They represented to him his Conduct in disobedience of it.\u2014Very true said the old Man and here is the hat with the Cockade in it. They then assumed an Air of Friendship, entreated him to consider the dangerous tendency of his Behaviour: that it would produce divisions, Quarrells, and perhaps Uproars. For all Riots Routs and Unlawfull assemblies, in the Laws of Holland are called Uproars. They used every argument which could influence his Reason or touch his Feelings. The old Man heard them all with a Solemn, Stern, immoveable Countenance, till they had exhausted their ingenuity, without uttering a Word. After they had ceased for Sometime, and a Solemn gloomy Pause on his Part, he raised his Arm on high and with his brawny enormous Fist, Struck upon the Table before them, a blow almost enough to Split the Board and roared out \u201cThere is no knowing how to live with you.\u201d And here he ceased. The Gentlemen then began to enquire, Why? how? what is the matter? What hinders your Living with Us? or what part of our Conduct is it that you do not understand. Mention it and We will explain it, if We can. It was a long time before they could get any thing more from him: but at last he broke out again. \u201cIt is but So many years ago that you issued a Placart commanding all Persons to wear orange Cockades: now you Send out another forbidding all Persons to wear orange Cockades. There is no knowing where to find you.\u201d The Gentlemen continued to reason, to soften to apologyze, without daring to threaten. At last the old Mans generous Feelings were wrought upon, and he expressed them in his own Way. Taking his Cockade out of his hat \u201cWell,\u201d Said he, \u201cthis once Il I will put you upon Tryal. I will wear the Orange Cockade no more: But remember this if you ever issue another Cockade Placart commanding Us to wear the orange Cockade, Dunder and Blixom Seize me if I obey you.\u201d This is the vulgar Dutch oath, which is as Strong and horrid as any you can conceive in English. This which is a true History, shews the Distinctions of between Statholders and Aristocrats, and the People: and that the last are were unalterably attached to the first.\nThe \u201cRepublicanism\u201d Madam of the People of the United Provinces, was Statholderism, or House of orangeism: and the Republicanism of the Regencies, was Aristocracy, unlimited by any Statholder on one Side or any People on the other.\nOf The third Party you speak of, which embraced a System more free I know nothing. It existed not in my time. Mr. Cerisier, after I left the Country published a Book which he called Groundwettige Herstelling in which he recommended a Constitution in three Branches somewhat like that of England, as I have heard. I understood not enough of the Dutch to read it. And I have often heard the most zealous Friends of Liberty in Holland wish for the Constitution of England instead of their own. Other Third Party I know not. It must have been even more insignificant than our Third Party in America, who love their Country only without fawning Love or Servile fear either of France or England. The Aristocratic Party called in the French to Subdue the Statholder and the People, and the World has Seen their Reward. There were others, the most worthy Men in the Nation who wished for a good Understanding with all their Neighbours, without any Servile Attachments or Submission to any.\nBy what has been Said I think it is manifest that Either your Information or mine is extreamly erroneous. For Eight years, i.e. from 1780 to 1788 I was conversant in Holland and held a public Employment in it. Several years I lived constantly there. I read as much as I could of their History Policy and Government. I inquired diligently into the Character, Views, Principles and Habits of the Nation.\nIn the next Page Mrs Warrens Benevolence to Mr Adams is again displayed in a copious Stream of his her historical Eloquence. \u201cMr. Adams had never enjoyed himself so well, as while residing in the Dutch Republic.\u201d I know not what foundation Mrs. Warren has for this observation. In holland I had a Fit of Sickness, the most Severe that I ever experienced and as dangerous as any Man ever passed through and lived. It left me debilitated both in Body and in Memory to a degree that I have never since recovered, and for two years after it I had Scarcely a day of good health. I was pursued into Holland by the Intrigues of Vergennes and Franklin at least as much as I ever had been in France, and was embarrassed and thwarted both in my negotiations for a Loan and in those of a political Nature by their Friends Agents and Spies, as much at least as I ever had been in France. I had found Friends, very ingenious and learned Friends in France as well as in Holland. \u201cHis Genius was not altogether calculated for a Court Life, amidst the Conviviality and Gaiety of Parisian Taste.\u201d The How does Mrs. Warren know this? Who is her Informer. I know of no source from whence she could draw it except the English Newspapers in which the American Refugees inserted a great deal of such coarse Stuff. Pray was the Genius of Franklin or Jay or Laurens or Jefferson better calculated? Do you think the Genius of Mr Morris, Mr Monroe, Mr Livingston or Mr. Armstrong better calculated? If you do, you know nothing of Franklin Jay, Laurens Morris, Monroe, Livingston or Armstrong. It was not the Genius of any of these that made them agreable or disagreable in France, but their Politicks and their Subserviency or Repugnancy to the Political Views of the French Minister. \u201cIn France he was never happy.\u201d I declare this is false, and affirm that I was as happy in France as I ever was in my Life, excepting the last Seven years. \u201cNot beloved by his venerable Colleague Doctor Franklin.\u201d Would you advise me to publish and explain the reason and History of this? A Volume as large as one of yours might do it, and it may one day be done. At present I will give no other Answer to this observation than this. Mr Silas Deane was beloved, dearly beloved by his Venerable Colleage Doctor Franklin, and Mr Arthur Lee and Mr. Ralph Izzard most cordially hated. Thwarted by the Minister, the Count De Vergennes, he was; but never, untill he became an Ambassador for Peace and Commerce nor then untill he had been forced to give some broad hints that he never would consent to Sacrifice the Fisheries, and an hundred and Fifty millions of Acres of Land, and the Independence of his Country too to the Caprice of that Minister. My not being beloved by my Venerable Colleague, and my being thwarted by De Vergennes are the greatest Glories of my Life, and I shall rejoice in both to my last hour. Your Idols Mrs Warren will not have their Worship increased if you force me to expose them naked, \u201cridiculed by the fashionable and polite, as deficient in the Je ne Scai quoi so necessary in polished Society.\u201d Franklin Jay Laurens, Jefferson, Morris Monroe Livingston and Armstrong I Suppose were not deficient in this Je ne Scay quoi. Mrs Warren, you have exposed yourself to eternal ridicule, by this very Lady like, I will not Say, Insinuation but assertion. No Man or Woman in France, ever ridiculed me, in my presence or within my hearing. I never was informed that any Person had ridiculed me behind my back. No Symptom of Ridicule ever appeared in print in any Journal, Pamplet or other publication in Print that ever came to my Knowledge. I was treated in France by all sorts of People from the Throne to the Foot stool with invariable respect and Kindness. When I returned from France in 1779 after having resided there about fifteen Months I brought with me the Kings full approbation of my Conduct Signified to me by his order in a Letter from the Count De Vergennes, and I have in my Possession authentic Proofs in Writing of the Esteem and respect of some of the most confidential Agents of the two Ministers De Sartine and De Vergennes. If the Labour were not too great I would send you Copies.\nNevertheless, I will not Say that I was not ridiculed in France. Was there a King or a Priest in Europe, or a Noble a Magistrate, who was not ridiculed? Was there a Saint an Angell or a God in Heaven, who was not ridiculed? Was there a faithful Husband, or a chaste Wife in France who was not ridiculed? I trow not. Was the Grand Franklin not ridiculed? I will relate to you two Anecdotes, which nothing but your History would have drawn from me. The Dutchess De Polignac, was a great Admirer of the Grand Franklin, for reasons which I could detail, from probable Conjecture, which would do no honor either to the Favourite or the Philosopher, But I forbear. The Dutchess, when in Company with the King and Queen, was always launching out in Panegyricks upon the Grand Franklin. The King Sometimes Smiled, Sometimes Snickered, but said very little. After sometime upon a Visit to the Royal Manufactory of Porcelaine at Seve he gave Secret orders to have a Chamber Pot made of the finest materials and most exquisite Workmanship, with the most exact Portrait of the Grand Franklin painted on the Bottom of it, on the inside: and this most elegant Piece of Furniture for a Lady\u2019s Bed Chamber, the King presented to the Dutchess with his own hand, that She might have the Satisfaction of contemplating the Image of her Great Philosopher and Politician whenever she had occasion to look at it. This fact I received from such Authority that I have no doubt of the Truth of it. But if it was a Fiction, it Shows in a very Strong Light the Ridicule that was thrown upon the American Ambassador by Somebody.\nI dined at a Great House in Paris, in Company with Archbishops and Bishops, and many other Ecclesiastics, with Dukes Marquisses and Counts, and many Ladies. Dr Franklin too was one of the Company. I observed Something circulating from hand to hand round the Table, and very Shrewd Looks, Shruggs and Gesticulations with Some half Suppressed Tittering. Whether it was put into Franklins hand in its Course or not, I know not. I rather think not. It was carefully concealed from me. But after the Company rose from Table, two Abbe\u2019s of my Acquaintance came to me, while the Company were drinking Coffee and shewed me the Picture which had circulated round the Table and made so much diversion. With all the Skill of the finest artists in Paris, America was represented as a Virgin naked and as beautifull any and graceful both in Face and Figure as the Venus of Medicis, and the grand Franklin, with his bald head, with his few long scattering straight hairs, in the Act of debauching her behind her back. Can you imagine any Ridicule more exquisite than this both upon America and Franklin? A Lady of fourscore cannot fail to blush at this, but she has forced it from me and brought it upon herself by her History...I expressed the Utmost disgust at this impudent insult upon us all. The Abbees Shrugged their Shoulders and said C\u2019est une Pollisonerie francoise. It is a Piece of French Blackguardism...You may depend upon it, Madam, it required all the imposing Influence of the Government, the Accademicians and \u0152conomists, and even of the Atheists Deists and Philososphers, and it has since appeared that these last had more Influence than all the former, to keep Up the respect to the Grand Franklin. The Watchword had been given and every one of these Agreed Whenever he appeared, to say, with Solemn French Gravity \u201cC\u2019est un homme respectable!\u201d. Without this his droll Appearance would have been the Sport of the Populace wherever he went, notwithstanding all his \u201cJe ne scai quoi.\u201d\nIt was the eternal Wrangles among my Colleagues and the Parties of Americans and french Small Folk who were attached to them; and the Injury and Ruin to our public affairs that were the Consequence of them, that occasioned all the Unhappiness I felt in France. But I had little less of this in Holland and should have had as much if I had been honoured with Colleagues. Who is, or who has been your Informer Mrs Warren?\u2014He or they whoever they may be, were so deceived themselves or So determined to deceive you, that I declare to you all the Suggestions are false. I have no recollection that I ever had a dispute with any French Man or Woman in my whole Life, nor ever received an uncivil Word from or uttered one uncivil Word to any of them. Neither Frigidity or Warmth ever appeared to any of them. Certainly not Warmth. They have been Englishmen and Americans, and perhaps sometimes Dutch Men who have excited My Irritability, not French Men. Even Mr Brissot who has immortalised a transient Conversation between him and me at my House in Grosvenor Square in which he reports I believe truly that I Said I did not believe the French Nation capable of a Free Republican Government does not insinuate that there was the least Warmth. The whole Conversation passed in perfect good humour and entire Civility. He left me in Friendship and Sent me after his arrival in France a compleat Sett of his Works. The harshest Word that ever passed between me and any Frenchman that I recollect was this. The Duke De Liancourt on a Visit to me when Mr Jays Treaty with England was first ratified worked himself up into a Passion, and Spoke in very harsh Terms against the Treaty and the Government for ratifying of it. I heard him long without uttering a Word. At length his Language became so indecent that I thought it out of Character for me to hear it. I gravely but coolly said to him that I thought it unbecoming in him a Stranger treated as he had been every where with Uniform Hospitality and even Kindness to indulge himself in Such Expressions concerning the Government that protected him and a People who afforded him so good an Assylum. The Duke retorted upon me \u201cQuand on a l\u2019esprit de Party, on est pres de l\u2019injustice.\u201d \u201cWhen a Man has a Spirit of Party, he is near the Confines of Injustice.\u201d And here the warmth ended. Neither of Us every thought the worse of the other for this. I have had a sharp Contest or two with De Vergennes upon public Questions in Writing. He treated me ill and I return\u2019d him huff for huff. But these Papers were laid before Congress in 1780 and 1781, and will speak for themselves. They were excited by a Scandalous Attempt of his to impose upon America, and I would not be the Instrument as he wanted to make me of his foolish and dishonest Trick. I had the Thanks of Congress for what he resented so highly, and their Vote of Thanks is on Record.\nI cannot but admire the wonderful fluency and the dear delight with which those Soft Expressions \u201cNot beloved\u201d \u201cthwarted,\u201d \u201cridiculed,\u201d \u201cviewed with Jealousy\u201d \u201chated\u201d \u201cFrigidity and Warmth\u201d are rolled along by Mrs Warren and applied to her old Friend who has been all his lifetime more tender of her reputation and that of her Husband than his own. What have I done to deserve this?\n\u201cHe there did little of Consequence\u201d! I cannot Say that Mrs Warren knew any better: but I must Say she was altogether unqualified to write the History She has undertaken, if she did not. For the whole Time I was in the Commission, with Franklin and Lee, I did the whole Business of it. Luckily I have in my Possession, the original Letter Book of the Commissioners. It is a Folio and pretty full. Every Letter in it, but two, was written by my hand, And appears in my hand Writing. If Mrs Warren will make me a visit I will shew her this Book, one Copy of which I left with Franklin and another I Sent to Congress. Congress I believe thought there was Something of Consequence done and of difficulty too: otherwise they would not probably have sent me to Europe again to make Peace and that alone, and that with so much Unanimity. Through the whole of this Period, All the Public Papers were put into my hands I disposed of them as they required and wrote all the Answers to Letters and all other public Papers in my Book, had them copied fair by a Clerk and Mr Franklin and Mr Lee had nothing to do but come to my Appartement and Sign them. This was the daily course, except in cases where I thought there might be a difference of opinion among us, and then I consulted by my Colleagues first, and then drew the Papers According to the Sense of the Majority. I had afterwards a great deal to do, and I did it, in getting the Frigate Allyance fitt for Sea, in composing the almost War that existed between the Captain and his Purser one side all his other officers and crew on the other, and in disposing of five and thirty Prisoners who had been arrested for Mutiny and a Plott to carry the Ship to England.\nUnder my Single Commission for Peace, I resided in France but a few Months from February to July I believe only. In that time I did Business enough, at the express desire of De Vergennes, to involve me in a Controversy with him about Paper Money, and to convince him of the inadmissibility of a Plan that he urged me to recommend to Congress, the most absurd unjust and ridiculous Suggestion that ever came into the head of a French Projector. It was No less than for Congress to distinguish Frenchmen from all other Nations and even from all our own American Citizens, by paying French Men for the paper Money in their hands or the hands of their Agents in Silver and Gold dollar for dollar, when We had resolved to pay to our own People only one for forty. I conducted that Controversy with perfect decorum, transmitted all the Papers Pro and Con to Congress and received from them a Vote of Thanks for my industrious attention to the Interest and Honour of my Country and especially in this Controversy with De Vergennes.\nAfter I had been in Holland about a year, the Count De Vergennes desired to See me at Versailles to consult with me as the Sole Minister for Peace, concerning certain Propositions of the Emperor of Germany and the Empress of Russia, of a Meditation of the two Imperial Courts in order to bring forward a Peace among the Belligerent Powers among whom America was one. I went to Versailles accordingly and consulted with the Minister and Stated to him in Writing the Rules and Principles by which I should conduct the Negotiation. These were the same that were observed by Me and Mr Jay, when the final Negotiation came on.\nI will now explain to you, Madam, the Want of Love to me in Franklin and the Hatred of Vergennes. Franklin, like many others, thought himself the Founder of the American Republick. He had been flattered both by Europe and America, till his head was turned. He thought himself injured because he was not appointed by Congress to conduct all their Negotiations in Europe. He has repeatedly told me that there was no need of more than one. De Vergennes was of the Same opinion and wished Franklin should be the Man, because he could manage him as he pleased. Disappointed in this he united with Deane against Lee and Izzard, in hopes of getting rid of all of them. Disappointed in this and finding me Sent to Europe he was more allarmed than ever. It was When Peace was contemplated it was the Expectation of Franklin to be appointed alone to negotiate it, and Vergennes wished and expected it too. But his Agents in America found that Franklin could not be carried, and I was elected allmost Unanimously to that exclusive Commission which they had destined for Franklin. This, as a demonstration that I possessed more of the Confidence of our Country than himself mortified Franklin and all his Friends beyond Expression. When Vergennes and Franklin found themselves disappointed in getting the Philosopher alone into the Commission for Peace, they sett themselves to intriguing with all their Engines, to get others associated with me: and this Point they could not carry without courting the Vanity of every Part of the Union. For this Part End five Commissioners were determined on John Adams Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens and Thomas Jefferson. By thus uniting the local Feelings of every Part of the Continent, they carried the new Arrangement. No Man on Earth rejoiced in this more than I did: and no Man had so much reason, for I had trembled under the Burthen of my Responsibility from the moment it had been imposed on my Shoulders. But the new Commission brought a real mortification to me. My Commission for Commerce was revoked, and none given to the five Commissioners for Peace. In this De Vergennes had compleatly carried his point. But both Franklin and Vergennes were excessively mortified in another Point. In Spight of all their Intrigues, they had not only failed in obtaining the Sole Power to Franklin, Congress had been So obstinate and disobedient as to give the first Place in the New Commission to John Adams. Here Madam you have the true Secret why Mr Adams was not beloved by Mr Franklin. Jealousy And Envy engender Malice and Revenge. Franklin found that John Adams possessed more of the Confidence of his Country than himself.\nIf you have ever Seen Mr Marbois famous intercepted Letter you can be at no loss for the Motive of De Vergennes dislike of me. Marbois had not dared to write that Letter, if he had not been previously instructed by Vergennes to oppose Us in our Claims to the Fisheries and out extended Boundaries. Marbois Conduct was directly contrary to all his Declarations to me in our Voyage together, even on the grand Bank of Newfoundland. He must therefore have found Instructions at Philadelphia contrary to his own opinion.\nIf you have Seen a Publication entitled Politique des Cabinets, which has been published by the late revolutionary Government, you must have Seen the clearest demonstration of every Thing I ever Suspected concerning the designs of Vergennes. There is a Memorial in it of Vergennes which lays open his whole Head and heart in relation to America. No wonder he did not like me, when he found me an inflexible and uncorruptible opposer of all his Plans, and especially that I thwarted, foiled defeated and compleatly defeated tryumphed over him in every one of his Projects, respecting Fisheries Boundaries Independence and every Thing a Treaty with Holland a Loan of Money and every Thing else, excepting the unfortunate Commission for Commerce with England: here he succeeded to the incalculable damage of America by the Timidity of Some and the Selfish Views of others in Congress. I know what I Say, in all these Points and could write an History of them, much more correct, Madam than yours.\nAfter all I have no reason to think I was hated by a Single Courtier not even by Vergennes. I did Business with him often after all this in perfect good humour and politeness: dined frequently at his Table. My Integrity was acknowledged both by him and his Master to the last. Of this I have unquestionable Testimony.\nI was not Summoned from the Hague, by Congress to assist in the important work of negotiating Peace. As I had been alone in the old Commission for Peace given me in 1779 and had communicated to Congress all my Proceedings, and was now placed at the head of the new Commission Congress knew that I should attend the Negotiation as Soon as it was proper. Congress indeed passed a Resolution enjoining on all their Commissioners to attend, but this was intended for Mr Jefferson and Mr Laurens. Mr Jefferson nevertheless never attended at all; and Mr Laurens not till the last Evening of the Conferences before the Signature of the Preliminary Articles, When he gave his Vote like a Man, upon the Article of The Fishery, and procured the Insertion of an Article concerning Slaves.\nThe Dutch Government never conceded to the Propriety of Assisting the United States by an Advance of Monies, as you Say in the 178 Page. Neither the States General nor the States of any Province, nor the Regency of any City ever interfered in the affair of Money. Nor did the affluent Merchants, or others in Possession of vast private property offer with So much allacrity, their handsome Loans. The great Capitalists were very timorous. Some of the most respectable had even refused to open a Loan for me. Mr John Hodgson was the only Millionary who would consent to accept even that Lucrative office. Some Houses of Small Capital, but good Credit were ready enough to Accept. I had infinite difficulty and perplexity with this Business, which would require too much time to devellope. At last the House of Wilhem and Jean Willink were persuaded to Unite with the Van Staphorts and De La Land & Finie and a Loan was opened with moderate but not Great Success at first. The Willinks were oppulent and had more oppulent Relations. I am Madam as in former Letters, Still your / Friend\nJohn Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "08-08-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5203", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, 8 August 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Warren, Mercy Otis\nDear Madam\nQuincy August 8 1807\nMore demonstrations of your Friendship for Mr Adams appear in the 229 page of the third Volume. The Same disposition to wink him out of Sight, to represent him in an odious light, to lessen and degrade him below his Station, which runs through every part of your history in which he appears, is very visible here again.\u201cMr John Adams had left Holland and joined the Plenipotentiaries of the United States, previous to the Agreement, on Provisional Articles for Peace Signed November, (you should have known that it was the thirtieth) 1782.\u201d\nI was engaged in Holland in very diligent Service, in order to compleat a Treaty and negotiate a Loan. The Treaty was an unweildy Business. It must be conducted by me in English, and by a large Committee from all the Seven Provinces, in Dutch. When any Proposition was made by me it was in English, but it was expected and would have been insisted on, that the English Should be accompanied with a Translation into Dutch or French. There were Some Gentlemen, among the Dutch whose opinions must be consulted whose disposition was to retard rather than accellerate. When any Proposition was made by me, I must first write it in English then translate it or get it translated, then have it copied and Sent. When the answer or a Counter Proposition or Project came to me, it was in Dutch. I understood not enough of this Language to depend on my own Construction of it. Consequently must procure it to be translated into French or English. These Projects and Counter Projects and those Translations in various Languages occasioned a delay that was as pleasing to the English and Statholderian Party as it was irksome and inconvenient to me. The Maneuvres concerning the Loan in which I was \u201cthwarted and embarrassed by the French as much as in the Treaty I was by the English Party.\u201d The Points and Questions which were Started by these able Negotiators, gave me a great deal of Trouble and occasioned long delays. The Loan was of great Importance to my Country, and occasioned also much Trouble and delay. I was loth to leave these important Objects unfinished. On the other hand a Later Commission from the King of England appeared in Paris to treat of Peace: but no Notice was taken of America, except under the vague general Style of France Spain and any other States. a Copy of this was Sent to me. I wrote to my Colleages that I would treat with England under no Such Commission, that I would not leave the Business I was engaged in till a Commission should appear to treat with The United States of America as well as with France, Spain and Holland. Another Commission was Sent over to Paris and communicated to me, Still without an Acknowledgement of the United States America. I wrote again to my Colleagues, that I would not go to Paris to meet any Such Commission. It was trifling with Us. As Soon as a Commission should appear to treat with The United States of America, I would leave all my Engagements in Holland and fly to Paris but not before. At last a Commission to Mr Oswald appeared to treat with France the United States of America. The Moment I received it, I acquainted my Dutch Negotiators that our Treaty must be finished and Signed immediately or not at all, for my Presence was indispensible at Paris. The Treaty was immediately finished and signed, and I was in Paris as soon as post Horses could carry me. When I arrived in Paris nothing was done. Franklin would agree with Jay in nothing. Mr Jay had drawn up a Memorial to the French Minister, a very able Paper to convince him that We ought not to treat but with a Commission Acknowging The United States a belligerent Power. Franklin would not Sign it. Franklin and his Satellites insinuated about, that Mr Jay was a Lawyer, and addicted to disputation &c &c Immediately after my Arrival in Paris Mr Jay, communicated to me all that had passed, enumerated all his Embarrassments, stated to me the Principles on which he had acted: that Mr Franklin would agree with him in Nothing: that he had Sketched a Plan of a Treaty: but that nothing had been done and nothing discussed. I told him the Principles on which he had Acted were the Same on which I had insisted during the whole Time that I had been alone in the Commission that the Count de Vergennes knew it for I had communicated them to him in Writing at the time of the proposed Mediation of the two Imperial Courts: that I approved of every Step he had taken and that he might depend upon it, I would pursue the System to the End. The next day I went out to Passy and Spent Part of the Day with Dr Franklin. I wished to know his Sentiments: but not a Word could I get out of him. Solemn, frigid Silence on the Subject of our public affairs. Merry and pleasant enough about Trifles and Tittle Tattle. In the End I told him that I had conversed fully with Mr Jay, approved every Step he had taken, and Should proceed with him throughout upon the Same Principles which he knew I had always professed and maintained towards the French considering myself a Servant of a Nation totally independent of England, upon an equal Footing with her, and as independent of France as of England. The old Politician Said nothing: But when the first Conferences were opened, a Day or two after, he turned to his Colleagues and Said \u201cI will go on with you, and treat without consulting the Court, and the rather because they communicate nothing to Us\u201d.\u2014All the Reason and Address of Mr Jay had never been able to bring him to this; but when he Saw that two could and would make a Treaty without him, he thought that would make an ill Sound in America and Europe too.\n\u201cHe was no favourite of the officers and Administrators of the Gallican Court\u201d What then? Was Mr Lee Mr Izzard or Mr Jay a favourite? They loved their Country better than France: So did I. No American Minister ever was a favourite but Mr Deane and Mr Franklin, and by this Time at least you know the reason of it. It was no more nor less than a Servile complyance with their Intrigues however absurd unjust and ruinous to the honor and Interest of America.\n\u201cHis manners were not adapted to render him acceptable in that refined and polished Nation.\u201d My Manners again! Why am I Singled out to be Stigmatised as a Clown? Because Mrs Warren had a particular Spight against me, the cause of which Shall be investigated in its proper Place. In the meantime I affirm that the Assertion is false. My Manners were as acceptable and as well accepted as those of any American who ever resided in France in a public Character.\nNor did he appear to have much partiality for, or confidence in them. He certainly never had any Partiality for them from his Cradle to this day. Had he indulged any Partiality for them in his public Station he would have violated his Duty and justly forfeited the Esteem of his Country. \u201cOr confidence in them.\u201d In the King he had the Utmost Confidence, believing him a Sincere cordial friend to America and desiring nothing but Justice and good faith for us and determined to Act with Justice, good faith and Generosity too towards. In the Count De Vergennes I had no Confidence at all believing him to be fixed in designs to deprive Us of our Fisheries and half our Territory to prevent our Connections with Spain Holland and all other Countries if he could that We might be made as dependent on France as possible, and to Sow the Seeds of eternal discord with England particulary by preventing a Treaty of Commerce between Us. That I was right in this belief is fully proved by a thousand facts: but Mr Marbois Letter and the Politique des Cabinets, has placed it beyond all doubt with the present Age and Posterity. You have Slided over Franklin in page 230 too Softly and Smoothly for an Impartial Historian. A feather often Shews which Way the Wind blows. An Exemplification of this light Proverb is in the 231 Page. \u201cDavid Hartly Esqr on the Part of Great Britain, and Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and John Adams Esquires in behalf of America &c Signed the Treaty affixed their names and Seals to the Treaty\u201d How could this historical Departure from all my Commissions, from our joint Commission and from the Treaty itself, have happened? You knew, or ought to have known before you attempted to write Such an History that I had been alone in the Commission for more than a Year before Mr Franklin or Mr Jay had any Thing to relation to it: that I had been employed in various Negotiations under it, in which I had established all the Principles upon which a Majority of the New Commission finally Acted. You knew that I was placed by my Sovereign at the head of the new Commission, that I acted as the head of it through all the Conferences and in the final conclusion Signed and Sealed it before all the other Ministers. Yet in your impartial History you are pleased to place both Franklin and Jay before me. This discovers Such a Want of Candour, Such a willfull departure from the most authentic documents of History, public Records: that I can Account for it only by a Spirit of inveterate Bitterness against me and a determined Resolution right or wrong to Strip me of all my Laurells You will Say no doubt this is \u201cSighing for Rank.\u201d Very well: Say So Mrs Warren. Make the most of it. But I Say it is not Sighing for rank. You may call it boasting of rank with my more colour. But why Should not I blazon my Escutcheon as well as Mrs Warren, hers? But to be Sober I deny that it is boasting of Rank. Mrs Warren boasts that her Brother, (and consequently herself) was equal to any one in the State, in Point of Birth. In the name of all Heraldry and all common Sense is not Birth, Rank, at least as much as Preceedency in a Procession? And yet your Co Patriots will contend for this as Sharply as the Apostles debated the question which Should be greatest.\nIn delineating the Character and painting the Complexion of this Transaction I would appeal to Thucidides Plutarch Livy or Tacitus whether this Circumstance was not essential to be remarked, to Shew the real Character of all my Colleagues of the Count de Vergennes and his Mirmedons, among whom were Deane and twenty others among whom was even Paul Jones, of Myself, and above all of Congress. The unbiased Judgment, the Spontaneous Volition, the natural Feeling and affection of Congress had Selected me from all the other Candidates to negotiate a Peace and Commerce alone. My Dispatches had almost daily arrived to them giving them an Account of every Step of my Progress, of my Passage in a Leaky Ship four and twenty days on the point of Sinking, of my Journey through Spain, which was worse than a Campaign in the field, of my Journey through France and my Conduct at Paris and Versailles of my Journey to Holland and all my Conduct there; after all this the Intrigues of De Vergennes and Franklin Deane and all his friends, and all the Influence of De La Luzerne and Marbois; could not carry Franklin nor Jay, Jefferson nor Laurens to the head of the new Commission. Jay had been President of Congress, Jefferson had been Governor of Virginia Laurens had been President of Congress, Franklin had been I never know what in Politicks, yet all these Interests could not carry any one to the head of this new Commission but John Adams. Congress, to their honour had then then the Integrity Candour and Fortitude to resist all Influence, and refuse to disgrace degrade or discourage a Man who had been the first Object of their Choice whose whole Conduct they approved, and who they knew had run the Gauntlett through burning Ploughshares, and Rank between ranks of Jannisaries armed with Scorpions, and reached the Goal without a Scar upon his foot or a Sting or Scar upon his back. Now Madam call this Vanity; call it Pride of Talent; or call it as Some of your French Friends call Such Things all moral Principle the \u201cVanity of human Virtue.\u201d You are welcome Madam to make the Severest Use of it, in your Power. You knew, Madam and General Warren knew that at th in those times I had much more of the Confidence of Congress and of all the most intelligent and disinterested People in America who had any Access to the Secret of affairs, than Franklin. Congress had Seen Franklin and me together before them above a year i.e. from May 1775 to the Autumn of 1776. They had Seen me active and alert in every branch of Business, both in the House and on Committees, constantly proposing Measures, Supporting those I approved when moved by others, opposing Such as I disapproved, discussing and arguing on every question: on the contrary they had seen Franklin from day to day Sitting in Silence, a great part of his time fast asleep in his Chair. He was employed on Committees more in compliance with the Prejudices of the People in Europe and America, than for any Use he was of or any Service he performed. Congress had seen my Dispatches from Europe and compared them with those of Franklin. They had distinguished mine with high applause on many Occasions. Franklins never.\nIn Page 250 You Say that \u201cin 1783 interested and ambitious Men endeavoured to confound Opinion Ideas, and darken Opinion, by asserting that Republicanism was a dark an indeffinite Term.\u201d This is News to me. I thought my Enemies had agreed to impute all this to me. I was not here, and did not return till five Years afterwards. But whoever asserted it in 1783 I asserted in Print in 1786 and have frequently asserted it Since in Conversation and in Public: and I now most Solemnly repeat it; and You Mrs Warren and General Warren too know it to be true. Ask your Friend Mr Speaker Morton; ask any other Man of Sense and Learning of your Party throughout the Nation, and if he answers at all and has any regard to his Character, he must Say the Same Thing. Fraud lurks in generals. There is not a more unintelligible Word in the English Language than the Republicanism. Neither Yourself nor The General has ever condescended to commit yourselves to any Definition of it and I venture to Say you dare not attempt it to this hour. Do you mean by Republicanism a Government in a Single House of Representatives exercising all Legislative Executive and Judiciary Functions, without a Governor or Senate or permanent Judges? I presume to Say you dare not Say this. Do you mean a Mixed Government of a Senate and House without a Governor? I believe you will not Say this. Do you mean a Governor Senate House and Judges as they are in this State? If you do I agree with you in all your Republicanism. This is my Republicanism and I was the Father of it in this State in 1779. But if you agree to this now it is but very lately that you would avow it.\nYour thirty first Chapter, Madam is like Mustard after Dinner as your our Friends the French Say; or like the volunteer Toast after a Feast, when the original List is exhausted. After the Termination of the Revolutionary War your Subject was compleated. I have no Objection however to follow you. The Same good Will to me appears in the Suppliment as in the Body of the Work. Not the least Notice is taken of my repeated Elections as Vice President, nor of a laborious discharge of the very arduous Duties of that office for Eight Years. Three Successive Elections, two as Vice President and one as President might have convinced you that the People did not believe, the falsehoods that were fabricated concerning my Monarchical or Aristocratical Biasses which you have So unjustly countenanced. Nay I presume to Say that the People do not believe them at this hour. No it was not untill twelve years has passed, and a ruthless Host of Liars and Libellers had been hired like mercinary Hessians and Anspachers to conquer America to propagate every Species of Slander in Newspapers, Pamphlets, Hand Bills and by Secret Spies Emissaries and Agents throughout the Union. And after all, Colonel Burr and Alexander Hamilton effected the Revolution. Do you glory in the Exploits of these virtuous Men and pure Republicans? Yes I know you do. But even these Heroes could not have affected it, if the Election of South Carolina had been held in Charlston. Though New York and Pensilvania had been turned by your Splendid determined Republicans Mr Burr and Mr McKean, I had an equal Number of Votes till you come to South Carolina\u2014Shall I hint to you Madam, a few of the plausible Reports they propagated among the Germans in their own Language and among all the religious Sectaries thro the United States? They not only Spread the Splendid History of the Allyance between the two Royal Houses of Adams and Guelph, and a thousand other explanatory and corroboratory of that probable Invention but that President Adams was determined to take away their Lands and give them to the Yankees. Gentlemen of the best Characters have informed me, that in travelling the Back Parts of Pensylvania, they have heard a general mourning and Grief and Rage among the Germans, crying \u201cWhat a dreadfull Man this President Adams is? We came here from Germany, many Years ago, We have laboured very hard night and day, We have got a little Land Some of Us more Some less, Some of Us three or four thousand Acres perhaps, by our Sweat, and now this cruel President Adams is going to take it all away from Us and give it to them New Englandmen.\u201d Other Reports were Spread among the religious Men and Sects, not only the German Lutherans and the German Calvinits, but all other denominations through the Union Catholics, Protestant Episcopalians Methodists Moravians, Anabaptists Menonists, Quakers &c This was the decicive Stroke of that infernal Policy which decided the Election. Among all the Sources of my Information on this head, I will Select an Anecdote which will give you a clear Idea of it. When on my last Journey to Washington, I passed through York Town in Pennsilvania where more than twenty Years before I had Satt Some months in Congress, the People had been violently Agitated by electioneering Passions, I had Scarcely Satt down by the Fire Side at an Inn where I was to Sleep, before a German Clergyman Sent the Landlord to me to desire the Liberty of Speaking to me. I prayed the Landlord to introduce the Gentleman without Ceremony or a moments delay. Behold the Dialogue between Us. Domine \u201cI am the Minister of a German Church. My poor People are honest but ignorant of the English Language and liable to be imposed on, by artful and designing Men. Many Persons have come among Us and many Papers in our Language have been Sent among Us. My poor People come to me to ask me what they shall do. I have long wished to see you, though a Stranger that I might tell you, what reports are sent among my poor Germans, and that I might ask you what truth there is in them. Adams. I thank you Sir for your candor and Frankness, please to mention the reports and I will answer to them with the Same Frankness and Candor. Minister. They report that you made the Constitution of Massachusetts and have had influence enough in that State to Establish the Presbyterian Religion, and make all other Sects of Christians pay Taxes for the Support of it. Adams I had a Share in the Convention that formed the Constitution, but I did not draw the Article respecting Religion, but that Article as it is obliges no Man to pay to the Support of any particular sect. Every Man is at Liberty to apply his Taxes to the Support of his own Church and Minister. Minister. Taxes however they are obliged to pay. Adams Taxes for Building Churches and Supporting Ministers, with Some limitations and exceptions that I am not certain that I remember they are obliged to pay. Minister. Well that is an Establishment of Christianity. This was Said with an Arch and Smiling Countenance, which I understood very well to mean I am very glad they have established Christianity, but I must not acknowledge it because my People have been taught to believe that any Establishment in Pensylvania, will be an Establishment of Scotch Presbyterianism. Adams. What other Reports Sir. Minister. A great many but foolish ones. I will mention one more. They Say that you belonged to Dr Priestleys Church in England, and used to Sett down to the Lords Table with him, after hearing him preach against the Divinity of Christ. Adams I never was in Dr Priestlys Church or Meeting: I never heard him preach against the Divinity of Christ and never received the Communion with him, as I remember. Minister you cannot conceive Sir how much distressed my poor Germans have been nor how much Anxiety and trouble I have had with them: but I am very glad to have seen you for now I can Speak from your own mouth.\nThis Idea was propagated through the Union, that I was a Presbyterian, that I was about to introduce an Establishment of Presbyterianism and compell all other denominations to pay Taxes to the Support of Presbyterian Ministers and Churches. And a kind of continental Synod or General Assembly of Presbyterians which was called at Philadelphia a little before this time, an Innovation that allarmed all but Presbyterians, contributed infinitely to countenance those Electioneering Man\u0153uvres. Upon the Catholicks I have reason to believe they had Some Effect. Upon the Protestant Episcopalians they had little or none: for these had received too much countenance and assistance from me in Holland, and England for them to believe that I was a biggotted Presbyterian, or that I would promote any Establishment that would do Injustice to them or any other denomination. With the Baptists Quakers Methodists and Moravians as well as the Dutch and German Lutherans and Calvinists it had an immense Effect and turned them in such Numbers as decided the Election. They said Let Us have an Atheist or Deist or any Thing rather than an Establishment of Presbyterianism.\nMy next Anecdote is not So grave. It was propagated far and wide and as I have been well informed, believed by Thousands of Voters in the Southern States, that I had written to General Pinckney when he was in Europe to go to England and bring over with him four of the prettyest Girls he could find there and bring them over with him two of them for my use and the other two for his. But after I had entertaind them for Some time, I found I was grown old and did not want them. Therefore I borrowed Money at Eight Per Cent to pay them for their Services to pay their Passages back to England, and Sett them Up in comfortable Circumstances there!\nThese are the Principles, Motives and Artifices that influence our Elections, Madam. Of what avail is Virtue Talents Services in Such Scenes of Corruption? What is this better, than purchasing Votes with Money? When a Nation is So nearly divided that the Majority may be decided by a few Thousands, a few hundreds, or Sometimes even by a Single Vote: and this Vote or this hundred or this thousand Votes can be obtained by Such fabrications as these, bad Men will be always Sure of their Elections because they will employ them such means without Scruple, while good Men will despize and abhor them. There a are Scattered in various Parts of your History, Madam, insinuations about Tittles and a titled Nobility, & which I Supposed were intended as Sarcasms upon me.\nI arrived from Europe on the 17th of June 1788, Soon after the Adoption of the National Constitution, by the State of Massachusetts. A Title to be given to the President, when he should be chosen and the Government come into operation, was a common Topick of conversation. The first Person Whether it should be excellency or any higher Tittle. The first Person that I remember to have heard propose a Title was our present Governor Mr Sullivan. He Said \u201cwhen Congress Should come together they would have nothing to do, (Such was the form of his Expression) but to give the President the Title of \u2018His most Patriotic Majesty.\u2019\u201d After Congress were together and Washington had arrived, and before his Inauguration, I was informed that your Correspondent Mrs Montgomery, had in a Party of Ladies and Gentleman taken the lead and given to the President the Title of Highne His Highness. After all this the two Houses of Congress resolved that the President Should be received in the Senate Chamber by the Vice President. I arose from the Chair and respectfully asked the direction of the Senate, by what Style I should address him? by the Title of Sir, your Honour your Excellency, or any other? A Senator arose and moved that a Committee Should be appointed to consider what Title Should be affixed to the office. Mr Richard Henry Lee I think was Chairman of the Committee and he drew the Report made it to the House and it was accepted by a large Majority among whom were Mr Lee himself and Several others as determined Republicans as any in the United States or in the World. The Report gave the Title of His Highness to the President. It was Sent down to the House. There the Members were more equally divided. Mr Madison was in doubt what was best to be done. The repulsive force began to be felt between Madison and Hamilton. They had acted contended and wrote in concert hitherto in the formation recommendation and Adoption of the national Constitution. The Moment was now Arrived when they must divide. Washington should have appointed Madison Secretary of State when he appointed Hamilton Secretary of the Treasury. This would have continued the Harmony between them. Madison visited Washington to know his Sentiments. I knew his Sentiments before. He had conversed with me before on the Subject And I know that his opinion was in favour of a Title. I know not all that passed between Washington and Madison because I was not present; but this I believe to be the Truth from Information that I ought to credit. Washington was far from expressing any disapprobation of a Title; So far that he thought a decent Tittle to the Office to be useful and proper but he wanted no Title himself and was convinced from what he heard and read in Conversation and read in the public Papers, that if the Title of Highness was given it would excite such a popular Clamour, that Congress would either be obliged to rescind it or it would produce Such a prejudice against the National Government as would do more harm than good. Mr Madison! Am I right in this? I appeal to you. If you contradict me, I will give it up.\u2014Mrs Warren! If my Country men choose to distinguish themselves from all other Nations in Trifles while they are imitating them in essentials, I will not quarrell. If they would be pleased to pass a Law that all Majistrates, Justices Judges, Senators, Governors Vice Presidents and Presidents Shall be Thee-ed and Thoued as William Penn addressed King Charles and King James I acquiesce. I have nothing to Say against obedience to their Sovereign Will. But I will Say that my Obedience is implicit and not voluntary. My Opinion is unaltered. My opinion is that Titles of Office are useful in this Country, in order to distinguish Grades and facilite Subordination. Titles of office are very different from Titles of Nobility. Titles of office are not hereditary. Nor are they for Life unless by Curtesy, rather than Custom, at least in our Country. The Title of your Worship or your Honour, or your Excellency is no Mark of an hereditary Nobility in any Country, certainly not in this, any more than the Title of Colonel or Major General. The Title of Excellency is given in Europe to Ambassadors, Commanders in Chief of Armies or Fleets, to Governors of Provinces &c &c &c but none of these are hereditary. Excellency Honor established by the Constitution of Massachusetts and even by Law in Connecticutt are not hereditary Titles\u2014Nevertheless I Say go on my dear Countrymen, with the Style of John Ad George Washington John Adams Tom. Jefferson, Jemmy Sullivan, for your Presidents, Vice Presidents and Governors if you will. But I will Say to you that in my humble private opinion, your Liberties will not be secured, nor your happiness promoted either by Quakerism or Clownism. Imitate the Quakers in their Virtues not their Oddities. After all there is not a Country under Heaven in which Titles are mo and Preceedency are more eagerly coveted than in this Country. The Title of Excellency and Honor and Worship, of Councillor Senator Speaker, Major General Brigadier General Colonel Lt Coll, Major, Captain Lieutenant Ensign Sergeant Corporal and even Drummer and Fifer, are sought with as furious Zeal as that of Earl Marquis or Duke in any other Country. And as many Intrigues and as much Corruption in many Cases are used to obtain them.\nIt was my Intention when I began these Letters, Mrs Warren to have avoided any observations at present on any Parts of your History but Such as have an immediate relation to myself. Indeed I shall not depart entirely from this rule in Saying Something of Mr Dana. He was appointed Secretary of Legation to my first Commissions to degotiate Peace and Commerce, with great Britain. His Birth his Education, his Connections, his Information, his Talents his Services as a Member of Congress, were Such Such, and the Friendship which had Subsisted for many Years between me and his Father and his Unckle Judge Trowbridge, and himself had been Such that I thought myself honoured by his appointment and Connection with me. An uninterrupted Harmony And Friendship was maintained between Us, during the whole time We were together in France and in Holland and after We were Separated by Congress and he was Sent to Russia.\nIn the Pages 301. 2. 3. 4. and 5 of your Second Volume you have taken Notice of this Gentleman, in a manner that shews your want of information as much well as Impartiality. You Say that the Empress of Russia only among the European Nations, refused peremptorily to receive any Minister at her Court, under the Authority of the Congress of the United States of America. The Truth is that every Power but France had refused. Spain had refused, The Empress of Germany had refused, the King of Prussia had once promised but afterwards refused, The Grand Duke of Tuscany had refused. Holland had refused in reality. In Short every Power of Europe to whom overtures had been made had refused. How then, in order to throw a Slurr upon Mr Dana could you make this Assertion? \u201cShe did not even deign to See the Person Sent on by Congress.\u201d Did the King of Spain deign to See Mr Lee? Did the Empress of Germany deign to See Mr William Lee? Did the grand Duke of Tuscany deign to see Mr Izzard? Did the States General of the United Provinces deign to See me, till they had explicitly acknowledged the Independence of America? Did the King of France deign to See Mr Deane Mr Arthur Lee, or even Dr Franklin till a Treaty had been Signed by his Ministers? No, from December 1776 to February 1778, the Grand Franklin was obliged to Skulk about in obscurity in Paris: never admitted to the Presence of the King Queen or any branch of the Royal Family, nor to any of the Ministers of State unless privately and in Secret: and in truth very often under trepidations least he should be finally obliged to fly the Country? Inquire Madam if you please of the Secretary of this Common Wealth, Mr Jonathan Loring Austin.\nMrs Warren Should have known more of the Law of Nations, the Policy of Governments and the Ettiquette of Courts before She hazarded assertions So dogmatically and indeed before She attempted to write History. She Should have know more of the Facts in this case. The Empress of Russia and the Roman Emperor, had offered their Mediation to France England and Spain in order to terminate the War, and decide the Questions between them, particularly whether the United States of America were or ought to be British Subjects or an independent State! That I may not mistake or misremember any Circumstance, I will Send you a Copy of the following Letters, and minutes made at the Time, while I was Still alone in the Commission for Peace.\nVersailles July 7. 1781. Hotel de Jouy.\nSir\nI have the Honour to inform your Excellency, that, upon an Intimation from you, Signified to me by Mr Beringer, And Afterwards by the Duke de la Vauguion, that the Interests of the United States required me here, I arrived last night in Paris and am come to day to Versailles, to pay my respects to your Excellency and receive your farther communications. As your Excellency was in Council, when I had the Honour to call at your office, and as it is very possible that Some other day may be more agreable I have the honour to request you to appoint the time which will be most convenient for me to wait on you. I have the Honour to be, with great Respect, Sir, your most obedient and most humble Servant\nJohn Adams\nHis Excellency the Comte De Vergennes.\nThis Letter I Sent by my Servant, who, waited untill the Comte descended from the Council, when he delivered it into his hand. He broke the Seal, read the Letter and Said \u201cHe was Sorry he could not See Mr Adams, but he was obliged to go into the Country immediately after dinner, but that Mr Adams Seroit dans le cas, de voir Mr De Raineval (his first Under Secretary of State) who lived at Such a Sign in the R\u00fce St. Honor\u00e9\u201d. After dinner I called on Mr De Rayneval who Said \u201cM. Le Duke de la Vauguion has informed you, that there is a Question of Pacification, under the mediation of the Emperor of Germany and the Empress of Russia, and it was necessary that you Should have Some consultations, at leisure (a loisir) with the Comte De Vergennes, that We might understand each others Views. That he would See the Comte tomorrow morning and write me, when he would meet me. That they had not changed their Principles nor their System: that the Treaties were the foundation of all Negotiation.\u201d I Said that I lodged at the Hotel De Valois, where I did formerly: that I Should be ready to wait on the Comte, when it would be agreable to him, and to confer with him upon every thing relative to any Propositions which the English might have made. He Said the English had not made any Propositions, but it was necessary to consider certain Points and make certain preparatory Arrangements, to know whether We were British Subjects, or in what light We were to be considered\u2014I Said I was not a British Subject: that I had renounced that Character many years ago, forever, and that I Should rather be a Fugitive in China or Malabar, than ever reassume that Character\u2014He repeated that he would See the Comte in the Morning and write me, when he would meet me.\nYou may easily Suppose Madam, that I was allarmed, when I heard From the Representative of the Comte De Vergennes, that it was Still a question with him whether We were British Subjects, when We had declared five years before that We were not, and When the King of France, at least a Year and a half before had Solemnly Stipulated that We were not, and that We never Should be. However as Mr Rayneval had recognized their Principles their System and their Treaties, I had little Apprehension from the French. But I was more Startled to find that the two Imperial Courts were about to make a question both about the Effect of our Declaration of Independence and our Treaties with France. Mr Rayneval, according to his Promise wrote me and I returned him this answer\nParis 9. July 1781\nSir\nI have this moment the Honour of your Billet of this days date: and will do myself the Honour to wait on his Excellency the Comte De Vergennes at his office, on Wednesday next at nine O Clock in the Morning according to his desire. I have the Honour to be, with much Esteem Sir your humble and obedient Servant\nJohn Adams\nMr Rayneval.\nI went to Versailles and waited on the Comte Accordingly. Mr Rayneval was present. Every Thing was conducted with perfect good humour and politeness. There was however a visible perplexity in the Comtes mind. At Sometimes he Seemed resolved to Shew me all the Propositions of the two Imperial Courts, at other times he Seemed to think that I ought to See only that or part of that which related to America. When he had Shewn me what he thought proper, I perceived what the Points were which he wished me to consider. 1. Whether I would go to the Congress at Vienna when the two Imperial Courts were to mediate or Sit as Umpires. 2. Whether I would appear there as a British Subject or in a doubtful Character to be decided by the Umpires? 3. Whether I would consent to the meeting of Such a Congress whether I was to be in it or not? 4. Whether I would consent to the Mediation or Umpirage of the two Imperial Courts. In Language the most temperate and measured both in Conversation both and by Several Letters, I explained myself to the Comte. That I would go to Vienna, if the Comte De Vergennes Should advize me to Such a Journey. That I could not appear there as a British Subject, nor in an equivocal Character. That I could not consent to any Congress unless I was to be admitted in it as a Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States and an independent Sovereignty. That I could consent to no Mediation or Umpirage, untill the Independence of my Country was acknowledged by Great Britain as well as by the two Imperial Courts, and by all other Courts whose Ambassadors were to be admitted to the Congress. That I could enter into no Conferences or Explanations with any Minister from any Power, untill that Minister had Shewn me a Full Power to treat with the Minister of the United States of America and exchanged Copies of Full Powers with me. To detail all our Conversations and Conferences upon these Points and Send you Copies of my Letters to the Comte upon this occasion would be too tedious and is unnecessary. These were the Principles on which Mr Jay and I insisted fifteen Months afterwards untill a Full Power arrived to Mr oswald exactly in the form that We contended for, after two Attempts had been made to evade Us, and two Commissions which We reprobated Sent back to England: Though the Comte de Vergennes would feign have had Us treat under them and Dr Franklin united with the Count De Vergennes. This Madam will be Sufficient I hope to explain to you the Principle on which the Empress Katharine Acted in refusing to receive Mr Dana. She could not have received him and been consistent with herself. Mr Dana however was uniformly treated in that Country with personal respect and Civility, and was promised to be received in his public Character as Soon as England Should acknowledge the Independence of America, and was upon the Point of being received and of making a Treaty when Suddenly the Intrigues of Vergennes and Franklin with the Members of Congress effected his recall. In Short to consider the Conduct of Vergennes and Franklin, from first to last, it would seem as if the former had Sworn an eternal Seperation between Aamerica and all Europe except France, and the latter eternal hatred against every virtuous Man and faithfull servant of his Country.\nMr Dana was placed in no more \u201cunpleasant Predicament, than every American Minister in Europe, had been placed in every other Country, even in France. Instead of being \u2018at a Loss\u2019 what further Steps to take\u201d Mr Dana was at no loss at all. He knew that he had nothing more to do but to wait, till Great Britain had acknowledged our Independence, and instead of returning to America voluntarily, he did not give up his fair Prospect of Success in his Embassy till he was recalled by Congress, for the ill Will of Vergennes and Franklin had not been able to Starve him out, as they intended. He had now a Friend in me, and a Resource in my Resources in Holland.\nThe Note at the Bottom of this Page Mrs Warren, makes me blush for you. The Scandalous Chronicle Says that the Grand Autocratrice, had \u201can Animal Weakness\u201d as a great Lady of my Acquaintance once expressed it to me. That She had Sometimes conversed with Strangers, from other Motives than Curiosity or Policy: but not publickly. She had never that We hear or read of Acknowledged the Independence of a new Nation for the Sake of Such Interviews. I blush for my Country too. A certain Native of America, who had been as he thought a Great Man in Europe, and who thought himself and was thought by Some others to be the m handsomest Man in the World both in Face and Figure, as well as the Man of the most polished manners and irresistable Address. This Gentleman made a Voyage or a Journey or both to Petersbourg, in hopes of obtaining an Audience of the Autocratrice, for the benefit of his Country. But the Lady was as cold as Marble. Neither the Face nor the figure nor the Address could procure a Glance or an Ogle from her. There is in this page Madam, a manifest Allusion, though coloured and covered with too much Art for an Historian, to what, I am as much ashamed as you to explain. Mr Dana I presume was not mortified that his Face Figure and Address, did not procure him Such an Audience. Besides it is generally Understood that the Empress was too much of a Statesman to be influenced in Politicks by such Audiences and Interviews. She too much resembled her Great Example Elizabeth of England.\nIn page 302 You Say it was doubted by many whether Mr Dana was \u201cqualified,\u201d though \u201can Attorney of Emminence\u201d. Why an Attorney? Why not a Barrister? \u201cHe had neither the Address, the Penetration, the Knowledge of Courts, or the human Character, necessary for a Negotiator,\u201d &c. Who, in the Name of Astonishment in all America at that time had a Knowledge of Courts? Franklin alone had resided in England as a despized and Scorned Agent at the Court of St. James\u2019s.\nIn Address, and good Breeding he was excelled by very few Americans. In France and in Holland, where he lived with me I know, that his Manners Address, Learning Knowledge and good Sense was were acknowledged by all who conversed with him. If by Address you mean graceful Attitudes and elegant Motions and Gestures, he had received as Genteel an Education as any Man in America\u2014if you mean a civil and polite Conversation, he was at least equal to any American then in Europe.\n\u201cIt requires Equanimity of Temper and true Greatness of Soul, to command and or retain the respect of Great Statesmen and Politicians\u201d. Where did Mrs Warren learn this great Mystery? Has Mrs Warren been in Courts? and acquainted with Great Statesmen? When? Where?\u2014Oxenstiern, who had been acquainted, said to his Son \u201cGo and See, by what kind of Men this World is governed\u201d But if Equanimity of Temper, and Greatness of Soul, were necessary, Mr Dana had them in all his Negotiations and Public Transactions in Europe, as far as I knew or ever heard, in as great a degree as any Man. Indeed the Diplomatick Corps, and Ministers of State in Europe are Generally Men of So much good humour and good Breeding, that one has no provocation or excuse for being otherwise with them. Even when Some of them endeavour to cheat you, they do it with an eternal Civility.\nI am weary and ashamed of commenting on this monstrous Perversion of Truth and Decorum, in this bitter Satyr upon a Gentleman who is now living, in Retirement, after having filled the Office of Chief Justice of the State of Massachusetts for, I believe Eighteen Year, after his return from Europe. In the Science of Jurisprudence, and in general Information, he was unquestionably equal to any Chief Justice who had ever Satt upon that State Seat. The Purity Integrity and Impartiality of his Administration has never been impeached or questioned even by his Enemies. It is therefore highly reprehensible in any Woman or Man in the World, to publish Such an envenomed Satyr under the Grave Title of an History.\nStill in hopes of receiving Justice and Some reasonable / Satisfaction for the Injuries you have done me, I still / Subscribe myself your Friend\nJohn Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "08-15-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5204", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, 15 August 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Warren, Mercy Otis\nDear Madam\nQuincy August 15, 1807\nIn order to give you all the Authentic Documents necessary to explain the Remarks I have made upon your History, I have omitted to give you Copies of one or two Commissions which I intended to have transcribed in their Places. One of them is in these Words.\nThe United States of America in Congress assembled\nTo all to whom these Presents Shall come Send Greeting.\nWhereas these United States, from a Sincere desire of putting an End to the Hostilities between his Most Christian Majesty and these United States on the one part, and his Britannic Majesty on the other, and of terminating the Same by a Peace founded on Such Solid and equitable Principles as reasonably to promise a Permanency of the Blessings of Peace Tranquility, did heretofore appoint the honble. John Adams, late a Commissioner of the United States of America at the Court of Versailles, late Delegate in Congress from the State of Massachusetts and chief Justice of the Said State, their Minister Plenipotentiary, with Full Powers, general and Special to Act in that quality, to confer, treat, agree and conclude, with the Ambassaors or Plenipotentiaries of his Most Christian Majesty and of his Britannic Majesty and those of any other Princes or States whom it may might concern, relating to the re-establishment of Peace and Friendship; and whereas the Flames of War have Since that time been extended, and other Nations and States are involved therein: Now know Ye, that We Still continuing earnestly desirous, as far as depends upon Us, to put a Stop to the Effusion of Blood, and to convince the Powers of Europe, that We wish for nothing more ardently than to terminate the War by a Safe and honourable peace, have thought proper to remove the Powers formerly given to the Said John Adams and to join four other Persons in Commission with him, and having full Confidence in the Integrity, prudence and Ability of the honble. Benjamin Franklin, our Minister Plenipoteniary at the Court of Versailles, and the honble. John Jay late President of Congress and Chief Justice of the State of New york, and our Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Madrid and the honble. Henry Laurens formerly President of Congress and Commissionated and Sent, as our Agent to the United Provinces of the Low Countries, and the honble. Thomas Jefferson Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, have nominated, constituted and appointed and by these Presents do nominate, constitute and appoint, the said Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens and Thomas Jefferson in Addition to the Said John Adams, giving and granting to them the Said John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay Henry Laurens and Thomas Jefferson, or the Majority of them, or of Such of them as may assemble, or in case of the Death Absence, Indisposition or other impediment of the others, to any one of them, Full Power and Authority general and Special, conjunctly and Seperately and general and Special command to repair to Such Place as may be fixed upon for opening Negotiations for Peace, and there, for Us, and in our name, to confer, treat, agre and conclude, with the Ambassadors, Commissioners and Plenipotentiaries, of the Princes and States, whom it may concern vested with equal Powers relating to the Establishment of Peace, and whatsoever Shall be agreed and concluded for Us and in our name to Sign and thereupon to make a Treaty or Treaties, and to transact every Thing that may be necessary for compleating Securing and Strengthening the great Work of Pacification, in as ample form and with the Same effect, as if We were personally present and Acted therein, hereby promising in good Faith, that We will accept, ratify, fulfill and execute what ever Shall be agreed, concluded and Signed by our Said Ministers Plenipotentiary or a Majority of them, or of Such of them as may assemble or in case of the death, Absence, indisposition or other impediment of the others, by any one of them, and that We will never Act, nor Suffer any Person to Act contrary to the Same, in whole or in any Part. In Witness whereof We have caused these Presents to be Signed by our President and Sealed with his Seal. Done at Philadelphia, the fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord, one Thousand Seven hundred and Eighty one, and in the fifth Year of our Independence by the United States in Congress assembled.\nSam. Huntington, and a Seal Attest Cha Thomson Secy.\nAnother Commission given the Same day is as follows\nThe United States of America\nTo all to whom these Presents Shall ComeGreeting.\nWhereas his Most Christian Majesty, our great and beloved Friend and Ally, hath informed Us, by his Minister Plenipotentiary, whom he hath appointed to reside near Us, that their Imperial Majesties, the Empress of Russia and the Emperor of Germany, actuated by Sentiments of Humanity and a desire to put a Stop to the Calamities of War, have offered their Mediation to the belligerent Powers, in order to promote Peace, Now know ye that We desirous, of as far as depends upon Us, to put a Stop to the Effusion of Blood and convince all the Powers of Europe, that We wish for nothing more ardently than to terminate the War by a Safe and honourable Peace, relying on the Justice of our Cause and persuaded of the Wisdom and Equity of their Imperial Majesties, who have so Generously interposed their good offices for promoting so Salutary a Measure have constituted and Appointed and by these Presents do constitute and appoint, our trusty and Well beloved the Honble. John Adams late a Delegate in Congress from the State of Massachusetts, the Honble Benjamin Franklin our Minister at the Court of France, the Honble. John Jay late President of Congress and now our Minister at the Court of Madrid, the Honble Henry Laurens formerly President of Congress and commissioned and Sent as our Agent to the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and the Honble. Thomas Jefferson Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, our Ministers Plenipotentiary, Giving and Granting to them or Such of them as Shall assemble or in case of the Death, Absence Indisposition or other Impediment of the others to any one of them Full Power and Authority in our Name, and on our Behalf in Concurrence with his Most Christian Majesty to accept in due Form the Mediation of their Imperial Majesties, the Empress of Russia and the Emperor of Germany. In Testimony whereof We have caused these Presents to be Signed by our President and Sealed with his Seal.\nDone at Philadelphia this fifteenth day of June in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven hundred and Eighty one and in the fifth year of our Independence, By the United States in Congress assembled\nSam Huntington President and a Seal\nAttest Cha Thomson Secy.\nThis Commission, I think is full Proof that Mr Laurens never had any other Commission or Credential in Holland except that of Agent to negotiate a Loan: because when they were assembling his Titles to do him honor in the Commission for Peace they would not have Suppressed a Superiour Title and inserted an Inferiour. This however was a Circumstance of little Consequence.\nSoon after the Peace of the third of September 1783 I wrote to my Friends in Congress, particularly to Mr Gerry, that it was my Wish to return to America, but if Congress had any other Services for me in Europe they must send me my Family, for I was determined at all Events never to live another year in a State of Seperation from them. In 1784 Mr Jefferson, was a Member of Congress, and now, after having twice refused; the World being at Peace, and no British Men of War to fear Mr Jefferson conceived a fancy to go to Europe. Accordingly, as Mr Robt Morris informed me, he conceived a curious Plan of negotiating Treaties of Commerce with all the World. Fifteen Commissions were accordingly issued to John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson to treat with France, England, and every other European Nation and all the Barbary Powers. Mr Jefferson came over to France with these Commissions, with Colonel Humphreys as a Secretary of Legation to all of them and I was Summoned from Holland to Paris to attend then. At the Same time, my dearly beloved Heroine had embarked with her Daughter and two Servants and arrived in England. In 24 hours to I arranged all my Papers took leave of the States General and Prince of orange and Satt out for London, where I met my two Angels and immediately went on to Paris, where We resided together about a year before I was ordered to the Court of St James\u2019s. I have stated these minute Circumstances, that you might have a distinct View of my Residences in France. In 1778 and 1779 I was there about fifteen Months, during all which time I was treated with invariable respect and Esteem by the Court and City and Nation as far as I Saw it and I have now by me original Papers and Letters, expressing the Esteem of the King his Ministers and even the little Subordinate Agents of Ministers Some of whom I had thwarted in their little peculating Projects. From february 1780 to July 1780 I was in Paris again. Then I was invariably treated with Esteem and respect even by the Comte de Vergennes, notwithstanding a keen dispute in which he had officiously involved me respected certain public Questions which is on Record and I am not affraid to Submit to Posterity nor even to the Party poisoned present Age. I was only three Weeks in France in 1781 on the affair of the Mediation of the two Imperial Courts, and all that time I was treated with Universal Respect. I had no more to do in France, till I met Mr Franklin and Mr Jefferson in our fifteen new Commissions. I resided at Auteuil, near Paris little more than a Year under those, during all which time all Animosity between Mr De Vergennes and me Subsided. I attended the Levee of the King and his Minister, dined weekly with the latter, with the other Ambassadors and was treated with as much Civility as any of them. In 1785 I was ordered to England. Where then is the Ridicule and Hatred which Mrs Warren has taken so much delight to record, either from her own Imagination or from the Information of some Worthless Tatler, I know not who.\nI have been earnestly solicited, Madam, by Gentlemen in various States to write Memoirs of my own Life, and for this reason because no other Person ever can write them. I am too old to hope for time to go through such a Work, which must necessarily be very voluminous, however insignificant it may be, but Suppose I should undertake it. I must relate many Things concerning, your Family. Suppose I should imitate your Example, and say Colonel Otis of Barnstable, was implicated by a large Portion of his Fellow Citizens, in this that and the other Thing which I have often heard of him. Suppose I should say Mr James Otis of Boston was implicated in all that I have heard and read of him. Suppose I Should Say General James Warren was implicated in all that I have heard of him during and Since the Revolutionary War. Suppose I Should Say of Mrs Warren herself all that I have heard of her, and Say She was implicated in them by a large Portion of her Fellow Citizens male and female. Suppose I should write all this, without inserting any refutation of any part of it or Suggesting any doubt of its Truth. I will go no farther at present. I turn with disgust from the Odious Idea. But I ask you how Such a Work would affect your Feelings? and what Judgment you would form of it, if it were published in Print in your own Time?\nSince your History has been public I have been informed by Evidence which you cannot contest, that when Sometimes I have had Friends at your Table who have drank my health in a Toast General Warren yourself and the whole Family, instead of accepting the Toast have all drank the King of Great Britain. This no doubt was intended as an Heroic Avowal of your candid belief of my Corruption in Great Britain.!!!\nMrs. Warren it is my opinion and that of all others of any long experience that I have conversed with that your History, has been written to the Taste of the Nineteenth Century and accommodated to gratify the Passions Prejudices and Feelings of the Party who are now predominant. The Characters are not Such as you esteemed them in the times when they Acted, but Such as will please the present fashion. The Great Thuanus appealed to God for the Truth of his Histories: can Mrs. Warren imitate his Example? History ought to be written in no other manner.\nIn a former Letter I hinted that I might attempt to conjecture the Motives which had turned changed Mrs Warren from a Friend to a bitter Enemy to me. I have much to say on this head of a personal Nature. I know of nothing to say of a public nature. But at present I will mention only An Intrigue of a Party Complexion. I have been informed that when Mr Jefferson was Secretary of State there was a Meeting of the Antifederalists at Boston who agreed to write to Mr Jefferson and engage him to reserve himself for a Candidate for the next elections of President, and promised to Support him in opposition to me and all others. I was accordingly to be run down and turned out. Since that Time the Warren Family have countenanced Some of the Worst if not all the Calumnies which have been circulated against me.\nMrs. Warren! The Scottish Fratrum dulce Par, Alexander Callender and Alexander Hamilton might have printed Libels against me till this day and I might have let them all pass in Silent Contempt. But Mrs. Warren is a very different Author, A Native American of a Family I respect, and a Lady as well as her Husband with whom I lived in Friendship for many Years, though for the last three and thirty Years I have Seldom Seen them. I shall not suffer her Errors to go down to Posterity uncorrected. I call Callender Alexander because I believe him to have been the very Rascall who basely deserted his Bail in Scotland and fled from a Halter to this Country, where to disguise himself he assumed the Names of his great Patron Stephens Thompson Masen Mason.\nIf Mrs Warren is determined to be enrolled in the glorious List of Libellers of John Adams she is welcome. Ned Church Loyd, Freneau, Peter Markoe, Andrew Brown, Ben Beach, Duane Porcupine, John Fenno Junior, McDonnald and his Satellites Callender, Hamilton, Wood, Pasquin and the nameless Crew of the Chronicle. But most of these have already come to a bad End and the rest will follow. I am Madam as far as I possibly can be Still your Friend\nJohn Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "08-15-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5205", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Mercy Otis Warren, 15 August 1807\nFrom: Warren, Mercy Otis\nTo: Adams, John\n(Lett. 5th.)Plymouth, Ms., August 15, 1807.\nYou begin your Letter, Sir, of August 8th. with complaints of \u201cnew demonstrations of Mrs. Warren\u2019s friendship.\u201d Indeed, I cannot see the smallest foundation of complaint from page 229, Vol. 3d. of the Revolutionary History, to signing the Treaty with Great Britain page 232, that could give cause for the smallest umbrage, except the inadvertency of placing the names of Benjamin Franklin and John Jay, before that of John Adams. This might have happened from the carelessness of the author, rather than from any particular reasons in her mind, at the time. But this I very well remember, that when I observed, that Mr Adams was no favorite of the Officers and Administrators of affairs at the Gallican Court, and that his manners were not adapted to render him acceptable in that refined and polished nation, or that he did not appear to have much partiality for or confidence in them, I meant to convey to my readers an honorable idea of his impartiality, republicanism, and independence,\u2014this the subsequent part of the paragraph proves.\nAngry as you have appeared in your late correspondence, your integrity or industry, your moral or religious character, has never been impeached, and when the impartiality of history required any observation on political delinquency, your change of opinion has been imputed to the dictates of conscience which may sometimes be misguided where there are the best intentions. But the greatest characters will sometimes stoop to trivial observations, when their irritability is wrought up by groundless suspicions.\nYou ask, page 4th of the letter under consideration, \u201cWhy am I singled out to be stigmatized as a clown?\u201d\u2014You answer yourself in the next line, \u201cBecause Mrs Warren has a particular spite against me, the cause of which shall be investigated in its proper place.\u201d I can patiently wait your time for investigation. If you are conscious of any cause for any particular spite against you, I should not wonder if you were wounded by the recollection. I have never felt any particular spite against you or any other man, but if you are sensible that you have been guilty of any thing that might have wounded my sensibility, I forgive you.\u2014If you are satisfied with yourself for inserting in the next line that my observation was \u201cfalse,\u201d it will be no proof of the correctness of your manners, or exculpate you from the imputation of Clownism.\nA gentleman or a man of generous feelings could never have charged a writer with \u201cbitter inveteracy against him,\u2014a wilful departure from the most authentic records of History, and a determined resolution right or wrong to strip him of all his laurels,\u201d for the trivial circumstance of placing his name below his brother Negociators.\nI pass over the several subsequent pages and allow you the full enjoyment of your rank, as you say, of which neither Jay, Jefferson, Laurens, Franklin, or any other could rob you, nor carry any other man \u201cto the head of the new Commission but John Adams.\u201d You observe \u201cCongress to their honor had then the integrity, candor, and fortitude to resist all influence, and refuse to disgrace, degrade, or discourage a man who had been the first object of their choice, and whose whole conduct they had approved.\u201d You go on, Sir, with a long list of your dangers, difficulties, and escapes, of which we had before heard, of your meritorious services both in Congress and in Europe;\u2014for these you have been justly respected by your Country, by General Warren and by Mrs. Warren, who you say, \u201c knew that in those times I had much more of the confidence of Congress, and of all the most intelligent and disinterested people in America, who had any access to the secrets of affairs than Franklin.\u201d\u2014After this follows a Philippic against the aged Doctor, in which you censure the old gentleman for sometimes dropping to sleep amidst the multifarious discussions of a very respectable body of men, who had each his own opinions and his own system.\nIt was not the design of my historic work, to write a panegyric on your life and character, though fully sensible of your virtues and your services;\u2014You may do that yourself in some future memoir, as I observe you contemplate writing your own life; and however largely you may expatiate on your superior abilities or services, I will not charge you with \u201cvanity,\u201d I will not say it was \u201cpride of talents\u201d;\u2014I will not even say, \u201cit is the vanity of human virtue,\u201d as you assert, \u201csome of my French friends call all moral principle.\u201d I wish you had pointed out to me who my French friends are? I never knew that I had a friend in that nation. You might also, if you had pleased, have explained any of their maxims which you quote. I am not enough acquainted with their meaning to have adopted any of them.\nIt is very true that I have said on page 250, that \u201cinterested and ambitious men endeavoured to confound ideas and darken opinion, by asserting that republicanism was an indefinite term.\u201d The observation was true, and you very well know Sir, though you was absent several years, that there were interested and ambitious men in your country, before, and in and after the termination of war, and that many of them had sufficient pride of talents and confidence in their own opinions, to broach such sentiments, before I ever suspected that Mr. Adams had said, or would say, that \u201crepublicanism might mean any thing or nothing.\u201d What your enemies had agreed to impute to you, I know not. At the time referred to above, I was certainly your friend, and, several years after, the remains of that friendship, and the delicacy of my own feelings, prevented me from charging you with such an assertion, though after your return from Europe, it was often reported.\u2014Such an expression, and its subsequent confirmation from such a man as Mr Adams, must naturally confound the ideas, and darken the opinions of the people, whose feelings had been flattered, that it was no chimera that a pure republic might exist,\u2014that it was not an undefinable idea, but that they had thought themselves far advanced in the establishment of such a system. Twenty years ago I should not have hesitated to explain my own meaning when you asked it, on any subject; but so much perversion as I have recently experienced from you, on every expression of mine, is a sufficient reason why I should not further attempt to define the word republicanism to Mr Adams. Thus have I answered for myself, but am yet of the opinion that notwithstanding your challenge, General Warren would dare to give you his ideas of a republican Government, or a correct answer to any other question you should condescend to ask him.\nThe supplementary Chapter after the completion of the rise and progress of the Revolutionary War, you say, is \u201clike mustard after dinner.\u201d Perhaps mustard after dinner is not more disgusting to any palate, than the vinegar and nitre which so plentifully seasons all your pages which you assert you are writing in the \u201cspirit of friendship.\u201d But the resentment expressed, seems principally to arise from the neglect of the writer to dilate on the honors done you by your country. Your abilities and your exertions have frequently been acknowledged by myself, in a measure sufficient to gratify the most ambitious of men.\nIt is true you have been frequently elected to high office, notwithstanding which, the people suspected your aristocratic and monarchic biasses, though they were not generally and fully convinced of this solemn truth, until after your elevation to the Presidential Chair. Many of your friends were earlier convinced that a change of opinion had taken place in your mind, and silently regretted the marked and uniform preference to monarchic usages, discoverable without your own confessions. In a more elevated station clearer conviction appeared, that you had no aversion to introducing the modes and forms of arbitrary systems of Government, which they never wished to see adopted in America; much less, to see them rivetted on posterity, by the hereditary and ancestral claims of a new born Nobility. A diadem and a sceptre are powerful temptations to any one who thinks himself the \u201cgreatest man in America,\u201d\u2014and could such an one resist the charms of a crown, if the way was properly prepared?\nIt was necessary this should be done by the general voice and consent of the people. A revolution of opinion was effected, of which you complain, and charge General Hamilton and Colonel Burr with the guilt of bringing this forward in conjunction with a swarm of \u201cLiars and Libellers.\u201d\u2014You then ask Mrs Warren if she \u201cglories in the exploits of these virtuous men and pure republicans?\u201d and then answer yourself, \u201cYes, I know you do.\u201d Prompt decision this.\nYou have named three gentlemen in your opprobrious charges of effecting a revolution which reduced you to private life, with whom Mrs. Warren never had the smallest acquaintance, though she very well knew the characters of them all. Of Colonel Hamilton there was little to fear until you placed him after Washington, at the head of your standing army. Mr Burr I never held in high consideration, and regretted that he had an opportunity of introducing so much confusion in Congress, at the memorable \u00e6ra when your party so strenuously exerted themselves to place him in the Presidential Chair.\u2014Was it not your adherents and partisans who would have plunged the country in a civil war, rather than Mr Jefferson should have been elected the first magistrate of the United States? They would have placed Mr Burr in that dignified station, but though he was really possessed of talents, he was never esteemed by those you denominate my \u201cparty,\u201d as sufficiently qualified to role up to one of the first offices in the State. Yet his Countrymen never apprehended much danger from him, until he too, thought himself qualified to usurp and wear a crown. Of Governor McKean\u2019s real character or designs I have been less informed.\nYour anecdotes of the German clergyman and the apprehensions of the German boors, that the choice of the President of the United States, lay between an Atheist and a Presbyter are new to me, and I think them all as improbable as your next anecdote of the pretty Girls to be procured in England for yourself and Mr Pinckney. Such things as these, you assert, \u201care the principles, motives, and artifices, that influence our Elections,\u201d and ask, \u201cof what avail is virtue, talents, services, in such scenes of corruption\u201d?\u2014Is not this a severe libel on your Country? Nor is it a singular one; you have in several parts of your late Correspondence stigmatized the Americans as a very corrupt people.\nYou next observe, that there are scattered in various parts of Mrs Warren\u2019s History \u201cinsinuations about titles and a titled Nobility,\u201d &c. which I supposed \u201cwere intended as sarcasm upon me.\u201d From what possible source could you infer that these observations were designed as a sarcasm upon you?\u2014Did you suppose there was no other man in America, equally emulous of rank and title with yourself? Or was you in expectation that the first, the most exalted, and sweetest fruits of those royal institutions and privileged distinctions, must be reaped by yourself and your favorites?\u2014Whenever those reflections have occurred in the history with which you are so much disgusted, they were the result of the Author\u2019s cool reflections on the danger a young country was in, just relieved from a long war. In such a Country which appeared to be laying aside their simple habits, and from a connection with foreign nations and an association with foreign Officers seemed to be hankering after the modes, distinctions, and ranks of the servants of European Despots,\u2014was it not obvious that dangers would thicken?\u2014There were a number of military characters of high pretensions on one side, and on the other, very many characters in civil life dignified by their own virtues, and perhaps all possessed of an equal share of pride and an equal claim to those hereditary distinctions.\nThere certainly was at that time, a great number of aspiring characters, that might have created domestic difficulties if not a domestic war, for the sake of acquiring a nominal distinction and an assumed right to domination from the tinkling of a sonorous title.\u2014You say yourself that even the good and great \u201cWashington was fond of a title, and when His Highness was fixed upon as the most appropriate, he expressed no disapprobation.\u201d\u2014Nor will any one deny that there were many others at that time, who were eager expectants of an harvest of honor as well as wealth, both in military and civil departments, who were fanning the fond idea, that their merits too, had entitled them to this feather in their cap. Why then do you claim this sneer if it was one, as properly due only to yourself?\nYou go on next in order, with an assurance that when you began the extraordinary series of Letters in my hands, you intended \u201cto have avoided any observations at present on any parts of your history but such as have an immediate relation to myself.\u201d\u2014\u201cAt present\u201d\u2014this is a threat often repeated in your letters;\u2014what you have in your storehouse of thunder bolts I am yet at a loss to conjecture, and what you can mean by your dark allusions, it is not possible for me to understand.\nThough I am fatigued with your repetition of abuse, I am not intimidated, even should it extend to all the characters an impartial historian has thought proper to name. Where I was personally acquainted, I have never thought myself mistaken in any of the traits of character I have sketched.\u2014What has been related in conversation or from other means of information, I had the highest reason to suppose was correct.\nIf you had added six pages more, relative to the American Agent or Agency, I should not think myself amenable to you for any thing said of Mr. Dana, or his mission to the Grand Autocratrix of Russia. His character is known to his countrymen, and whether his talents were more conspicuous on the bench of justice or as a diplomatist, they will judge;\u2014and whether his mission was defeated by the intrigues of the Count de Vergennes, Doctr. Franklin, or Sir James Harris, is not very material.\nNo immorality has been recorded of him in any page, nor any \u201cenvenomed satire\u201d designed, under the \u201cgrave title of an History,\u201d by Mrs Warren. Mr Dana is now retired\u2014she wishes he may enjoy happiness through the present life and a due preparation for the next.\nAs you seem to have almost run out the thread of selfeulogium, you may perhaps, for want of other matter, continue to reproach and affront a writer, whose sex alone ought to have protected her from the grossness of your invectives.\u2014For this purpose you may have taken up the defence of your friend Dana, who does not, from any thing I have said of him, appear to require your interference.\nNothing farther need be adduced in evidence of your disposition than the indelicacy of your insinuations in your comment on the note in page 304, Vol 2d. of the history under consideration. There you say,\u2014\u201cThe note at the bottom of this page, Mrs Warren, makes me blush for you.\u201d\u2014If your modesty was a little more consistent, you would have spared the recital of what you say you have met with in some \u201cScandalous Chronicle,\u201d confirmed by some great Lady, relative to the weaknesses of the Grand Autocratrix. What was your design, your feelings, or your ideas, in bringing forward those obscene allusions, I cannot possibly conjecture.\u2014It might have been expected that the purity of your mind would have turned disgusted from them, and that your cheek would really have cindered when you made an effort to bring into contact any thing so vulgar and indecent with a line ever written by Mrs. Warren. Surely, it must be a cankered heart as well as a jaundiced eye, that can discover any thing in that note inconsistent with purity or rectitude of heart.\nI have six times read over a page in the same letter, without comprehending its meaning or understanding the ground or the drift of such an abusive clause as the following.\u2014\u201cThere is in this page, Madam, a manifest allusion, though coloured and covered with too much art for an historian, to what I am as much ashamed as you to explain.\u201d\nI challenge any man of common understanding, any woman of delicacy, or any genius of the deepest penetration, to find an expression or a word that wants explanation, or an artful allusion coloured or covered through the whole page, unbecoming to my sex. And, sure I am, there has never been a thought in my heart that I was ashamed to express whether it related to person or opinion.\nNor can I more readily investigate the design of the story, or the character of the person, his errand to Russia, or your delicate observations thereon, which are to be found at the top of the 17th page of your letter of August 8th. but the result drawn is, that you are ashamed of your country. On this dark tale I have nothing to say, as I know nothing about it,\u2014but as you seem to be in a blushing mood, while you \u201cblush for Mrs Warren\u2014while you blush for your country,\u201d I advise you to add one item more, and blush for yourself.\nI now wish to be relieved from a correspondence so repugnant to my feelings, and that I shall not be obliged longer to make extracts from yours and observations thereon which must of necessity be disadvantageous to the character of a Gentleman I have always wished to respect notwithstanding his political opinions may in some part of his life have deviated from some of the best and wisest of his friends.\nMy feeble health forbids too much exertion, and the abuse as well as the prolixity of your very extraordinary correspondence since the 11th of July, is fatiguing indeed. I have long wished to lay aside all political attentions, as well as other cares that are not only oppressive, but viewed by me as a waste of time at my advanced period.\u2014I would now take leave with my sincere wishes for your tranquillity in retirement and felicity in future even though you should tell me as you have frequently done before, that there is not a single word of truth in the assertions of your once respected friend,\nM Warren\n Nothing in one was designed by the writer of this note, than simply to exhibit the determined spirit of the Empress against receiving or encouraging a public Minister from the United States of America.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "08-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5206", "content": "Title: To John Adams from William Vaughan, 17 August 1807\nFrom: Vaughan, William\nTo: Adams, John\nOrig per. New packetSir\nLondon, 17 Aug 1807\nI feel a pleasure in forwarding to you the second part of the Transactions of the Philosophical Society for 1806 and the first part for 1807, which that Society have been pleased to transmit to you through me which I hope you will receive safe by Captain LeBosquet of the Morneo.\nIn the same Packet, I have sent duplicates for Bowdoin College may I beg the favor of you to cause the same to be sent to them with the enclosed letter.\nI hope the Volumes of last year were received safe.\nPermit me to suggest to you sending me a line of acknowledgement to the Society for the present I am with great respect / Sir / your mo ob Sert\nWm Vaughan", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "08-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5207", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, 17 August 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Warren, Mercy Otis\nDear Madam\nQuincy c. August 17 1807\nIn the 306 page of your first Volume there are certain Traits that I had overlooked. \u201cRichard Henry Lee Esq. was the first who dared explicitly to propose a Declaration of Independence. The Proposal Spread a Sudden dismay. A Silent Astonishment, Seemed to prevade the Assembly\u201d &c. These Expressions, Madam, could only have arisen from Misinformation, or perhaps I shall express myself more properly, by calling it a Want of more accurate and particular information of the Proceedings in Congress. The Truth is the Subject had long been perfectly familiar to the Contemplations of all the Members of Congress. The three great Subjects, a Declaration of Independence, a Confederation of the States, and Treaties with foreign Powers, had been held up by me to the View of Congress for more than a year before this motion was made by Mr Lee in concert with me. I had myself, for more than a year, Scarcely Suffered a day to pass, without publickly adverting to those as Measures of indispensible Necessity, and earnestly urging Congress, by various Arguments to prepare themselves and the States and People to Adopt them. It appeared to me that those Gentlemen who Still flattered themselves with hopes of Reconciliation were extreamly deficient in their Knowledge of the haughty temper of the British Government and Nation and of their Sovereign Contempt of Us. It was very well known that some of the Members would never consent. For a whole year I had earnestly contended for the first Step, which appeared to me to be necessary, which was a Recommendation to all the States to take the whole Power of the Nation into their own hands, by instituting Governments by the original Authority of the People. It was not till the fifteenth day of May 1776 that We carried the Resolution. This Measure also was concerted between Mr Lee and myself, and Supported by Us and carried after a long debate. Mr Lee and myself were appointed to draw up the Resolution; it was drawn by my own hand agreed to by Mr Lee and reported by me as Chairman of the Committee. If you will please to read that Resolution in the Journal of Congress you will find that it amounted to a compleat declaration of Independence. What was it else? It was a compleat dissolution of all Allegiance to the King, it was a compleat Assumption of all Authority as well as Power. It was considered in this light by those who opposed it. Mr Duane called it \u201ca Machine to make independence.\u201d But in Fact it was an Assumption of Independence itself. There could be therefore no real astonishment in any body when the Motion was made by Mr Lee. If there was any affectation of Astonishment it was only by those who determined to oppose it to the last, the greatest Part of whom left Us upon that occasion, Some recalled by their Constituents and others went over to the Ennemy.\n\u201cThe Measure was advocated by John Adams.\u201d So it was, and so it had been for a year before and So many Arguments Used, and So many counter Arguments used against it, that neither Mr Adams nor Mr Dickinson, produced a Single new Idea, or Suggested a new Thought. Mr. Adams \u201cinvoked the God of Eloquence.\u201d It is amazing to me, whence this ridiculous Story could have originated. I think I have read it in Some of the former Historians, from whom probably you received it. But you may depend upon it Madam, it is totally false. The Supream Being it is true is the God of Eloquence and of every other good: But I should never have invoked him under that Title. I remember very well what I did say. But I will previously State a Fact as it lies in my Memory, which may be Somewhat explanatory of it. In the previous multiplied debates which We had upon the Subject of Independence, the Delegates from New Jersey had voted against Us: their Constituents were informed of it, and recalled them and Sent Us a new Sett on purpose to vote for Independence. Among these were Chief Justice Stockton and Dr. Witherspoon. In a Morning When Congress met We expected the Question would be put and carried without any father Debate; because We knew We had a Majority, and thought that Argument had been exhausted on both Sides as indeed it was, for nothing new was ever afterwards advanced on either Side. But the Jersey Delegates appearing for the first time, desired that the question might be discussed. We observed to them that the Question was So public and had been So long discussed in Pamphlets News Papers and at evry fireside that they could not be uninformed and must have made up their Minds. They Said it was true they had not been inattentive to what had been passing abroad, but they had not heard the Arguments in Congress and did not incline to give their opinions untill they should hear the Sentiments of Members there. Judge Stockton was most particularly importunate, till the Members began to Say let the Gentlemen be gratified, and the Eyes of the Assembly were turned upon me and Several of them Said come Mr Adams you have had the Subject longer at heart than any of Us, and You must recapitulate the Arguments. I was Somewhat confused at this personal Application to me and would have been very glad to be excused; but as no other Person arose, after Sometime I Said \u201cThis is the first time of my Life, when I Seriously wished for the Genius and Eloquence of the celebrated orators of Athens and Rome. Called in this unexpected and unprepared manner, to exhibit all the Arguments in favour of a Measure the Most important in my Judgment that ever had been discussed in civil or political Society, I had no Art or oratory to exhibit, and could produce nothing but Simple Reason and plain common sense. I felt myself oppressed by the Weight of the Subject: and I believed it Demosthenes or Cicero had ever been called to deliberate on So great a question neither would have relied on his own Talents without a Supplication to Minerva and a Sacrifice to Mercury or the God of Eloquence.\u201d All this to be Sure was but a flourish: and not as I conceive a very bright Exordium: but I felt Awkwardly, but nothing that I Said had the most remote resemblance to \u201cAn Invocation of the God of Eloguence.\u201d I did not think it necessary in that assembly to make an ostentation of Piety by a Solemn Prayer: but I believe I can Safely Say I had Supplicated the Great Governor of the Universe in Relation to the Independence of my Country as often and as devoutly as Mr Dickenson had done.\nWhether this crude Idea was vented by any Member of Congress from ill Will to me or merely from misunderstanding or misrecollection, I know not. I wish Some one had remembered the Speech, for it is almost the only one I ever made that I wish was litterally preserved. The Delegates from New Jersey declared themselves perfectly Satisfied, and the Question prevailed, not withstanding Mr Dickinsons Superiour \u201cbrilliancy of Epithet.\u201d And now Madam I will relate an Anecdote. Some of these Expressions of mine have got into a Work of the Abby Raynal, and I will tell you in what manner. The Abby was very inquisitive with me after my Speeches in Congress; Said he had read Some Speeches in Some of the Publications in Europe, which were attributed to me, and he wished I would furnish him with any that I had published or delivered. I Said if he had Seen any Such Speeches they were forgeries for I never had writt published nor written a Speech in my Life made in any public assembly. Nor did I wish that any one I had ever delivered Should be preserved in Form excepting one And that was upon the Question of Independence. That had appear to me the greatest Question that ever was agitated, that the Consequences of it would be felt over the whole Globe, and therefore when I was called to discuss it I owned I had wished for the \u201cGenius and Eloquence of the celebrated orators of Athens and Rome.\u201dBut that I had made no minutes of what I said and no part of it had been published, I thought no more of the Conversation till the Abbys Pamphlet came out and there I read: \u201cQue n\u2019ai je re\u00e7u le Genie et L\u2019Eloquence des celebres orateurs d\u2019Athens et de Rome\u201d &c and these are all the true Words of my Speech that have ever appeared in Print. I have mentioned this because even this Passage of Raynal has been belied in America to my disadvantage.\nI am Madam as usual\nJohn Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "08-19-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5208", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, 19 August 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Warren, Mercy Otis\nQuincy August 19, 1807\n\u201cPride of Talents and much Ambition were undoubtedly combined in the Character of the President, who immediately Succeeded General Washington\u201d and these are represented as the most prominent features of his Character. Vol. 3. p. 393.\nPermit me Madam to ask the favour of you, to point out the Act or Word, which appeared to you to evince this Pride of Talents. I know not that I ever felt any Such Pride. A Man whose disposition is So open as mine and who has indulged himself in So much facetiousness and So much Irony among his Friends as you know I always have done, may have often mistaken for his Friends, Enemies of the blackest rancour of heart, who may have misrepresented him in a thousand Instances. But Pride of Talents has been very far from my heart. I never in my Life believed that I had any Talents beyond mediocrity. I have always been Sensible to my mortification that all I have done, has been accomplished by the Severest and most incessant Labour. I have no reason to be proud of any thing. If I could be proud of any Thing it would be Industry: but even in this, I am much more inclined to be ashamed that I have done no more than to be proud of what I have done. I mean not by this, any affectation of Modesty for I will open my whole Soul to you on this Subject. I have great Satisfaction in believing, that I have done more Labour, run through more and greater dangers, and made greater Sacrifices, than any Man among my Contemporaries living or dead, in the Service of my Country, and I Should not hesitate to hazard all Reputation if I did not convince the Public of it too, if I should ever undertake it. This I deliver to you as my cool, Sober, deliberate opinion, and am not afraid it should go down to Posterity as Such. Will you please to name the Man who has done Suffered and Sacrificed So much? Name him and I will make a Sketch of a Comparison and either convince you or expose my self, perhaps both. You may call this Pride or Vanity or Self Sufficiency, or vain Glory or what you please. But it is the Truth.\nOne Event in my Administration I might expect would be represented by Hamilton and his Faction as the Effect of Pride of Talents: but I ought not to have expected it from Mrs Warren or any of her Party. I mean The Peace with France. In this Measure I was opposed by all the five of my own Cabinet Council as they call it. And by all the leading Members as they are were called of the Senate, and by all the like Members of the House of Representatives, I mean of the Federal Party. I was reduced in my own Judgment to the alternative of involving my Country in a foreign War abroad and a civil War at home on one Side; or taking upon myself, against the Advice and Wishes of all about me, the Renewal of Negotiations with France after France had humbled herself in her own Eyes, and in the Sight of all Europe and America. This I did believing at the Time, that I was Signing my own death Warrant as a Public Man: for I knew that the Antifederalists had been wrought up by twelve years of incessant Calumny to Such a rage of Prejudice and Antipathy to me that this measure would not procure me a Single Vote from that Party, and I had demonstration enough that the Same Measure would exasperate so many of the Federalists, that the next Election would undoubtedly be turned against me. I was very far from being proud of this Situation. But I thought my Duty to my Country ought to prevail over every Personal and Party Consideration, and that I ought to follow my own Judgment formed upon mature and very Serious deliberation, let it differ from whom it would. I did follow it and gave you that Peace which has been the Source of all the Tryumphs of your Party. I think you ought to give me Credit for it, instead of charging me with Pride. But it Shall be just as you please Mrs Warren. But I have never Sacrificed a Principle nor even concealed an Opinion from a Motive of ambition or an affectation of Popularity.We come now to the \u201cmuch Ambition.\u201d I am not about to unman myself. If I Should represent myself more than Man, no Person would believe me: and if I pretended to be less, I hope I Should find no Credit. Ambition is wrought into the Soul of every human Being from Alexander and Napoleon down to the Infant in his Mothers arms. I must be a Monster then in my own Estimation if I had been destitute of it in any part of my Life. Ambition too is the most lively in the most intelligent and the most generous Minds. I am far therefore from being offended at being represented as ambitious. There can be no rational question about the Existence of ambition in any human Breast, it is Scarcely extinct in Idiots and Lunaticks. The only questions Should be to what objects it is directed? and by what Laws is it governed? If the Object be the good of our Friends, Neighbours, Country and Mankind, this is Surely not censurable. If it is regulated by Truth, Honour, Justice and Benevolence it is certainly laudable. Now Madam I beseech you to tell me, when where, and in what Transaction of my Administration, or indeed of my whole Life when my Ambition prompted me to any other Object or was not regulated by those moral Sentiments and Rules? What Projects inconsistent with the Strictest Purity did my Ambition ever Suggest instigate or pursue? Whilst I hope for your candid Answer to these Questions, I will Say if any Man living or dead could produce incontestible Proofs, of a Sense of Duty prevailing over the most Seducing temptations of Ambition, I am bold to Say I have it in my Power to produce a great many of them. On the contrary I challenge all my Enemies to produce an Instance, in which my Ambition aimed at improper Objects, or pursued good ones by unjustifiable Means. I have never adopted the Maxim that the End would Sanctify or justify the means.\nCareat Successibus Opto\nQuisquis ob Eventu facta notanda putat.\nIt is with the Utmost astonishment that I read from Mrs Warrens Pen Such abominable Sentiments as those in the next Page, that I \u201cdrew a dolefull Picture of the Confusion and dissolution of all Republicks.\u201d I drew no Pictures but that of faithful History. Not a Fact has ever been contested, nor ever can be. My Pictures of the Confusions and dissolutions, were of Republicks ill constituted, improperly mixed or not mixed at all; and this with the Single View of convincing my Countrymen of the Necessity and Duty of constituting their Republicks with Such Ballances and as could protect them from Despotism and Tyranny in every Form; and this in opposition to Chaise\u2019s Rebellion, to the disorganizing Votes of County Committees and Conventions and especially to the weak vain Projects of Cong my particular Friends Rochefaucault and Condercet, who I Say Saw were about Setting the Universe in a blazing Bonfire by their presumptuous Ignorance, and Shallow Jurisprudence, a Sovereignty in a Single Representative assembly in France. \u201cMy Defence of the Constitutions had a powerful Tendency to Shake the Republican System, through the United States.\u201d This is so far from being true, that those Books contributed more than all the military Exertions, to quell the Insurrections in Massachusetts, to convince the People who had been guilty of them of their Error, and to establish the Constitution of Massachusetts and introduce it as a Model into the National Constitution. You pay a miserable Compliment to the Information and Judgment of the People, Mrs Warren and a worse Compliment to the Republican System, when you Suppose that the Truth can deceive the former or Shake the latter. Republicks well constituted have been the best Governments in the World: but Republicks ill constituted have been the worst. \u201cFew had the hardiness to counteract a Republican Form of Government, untill Several years after the United States had become an independent Nation.\u201d Who were these few? I know of none who ever counteracted a Republican government. If there has been any Party or any Individual who has counteracted Such a Government, I know nothing of it. Such abominable Misrepresentations, Such political Chim\u00e6ras, may have answered the Purposes of a Party: but as far as I know they are a merciless Injustice. If even a Hamilton or any of his Admirers, ever counteracted Such a Government, I never knew it: and certainly at this time of day if I knew it I would not conceal it. Nay farther there has been no time not even when he was most obsequious to me, when I would not have revealed it, if I had known it. The Quakers are the only People who avow themselves Monarchists and the Quakers are Jeffersonians. The grave reflections in p. 394. and 395 would make a figure in the Aurora or the Chronicle and would be very proper for one of the Sitters, or Runners or Riders at our Elections to read in the Bar Room of one of our Inns to a Cluster of Tavern haunters: but are altogether unworthy of the Pen of Mrs Warren, utterly repugnant to the Character of History.\nOne Word more of my \u201cmuch Ambition.\u201d If by Ambition you mean a Love of Power, or a desire of Public Offices,\u2014I answer I never Solicited a Vote in my Life for any Public office. I never Swerved from any Principle, I never professed any opinion, I never concealed even any Speculative opinion, to obtain a Vote. I never Sacrificed a Friend or betrayed a Trust, I never hired Scribblers to defame my Rivals I never wrote a Line of Slander against my bitterest Ennemy nor encouraged it in any other. Look over the List of your present Party Friends, and See if you can find one who can Say as much. From 1768 when I removed my Family to Boston, I never attended a popular assembly, till I was chosen their Representative, in the Place of Mr Bowdoin and your Brother in 1770 and then only for a Moment to accept the Choice. I never attended another popular assembly till 1774 when in a Boston Town Meeting of which I was made Moderator, I received the News of the appointment of Members of Congress and that I was one. The unbiased Judgment and Spontaneous feelings of the People have conferred upon me all the offices and Trusts I ever held. When I was finally turned out of the highest office in the Nation, by the Arts of a Burr and a Hamilton, and by innumerable other Arts which you probably know better than I do, have I complained. Have I been dejected,? have I been enraged? Ask those who knew me? Ambition disappointed naturally turns into Revenge. It produces Rage, Violence, Envy, Malice Hatred, and perpetual Projects to recover the lost consideration. Have you heard of any Such Effects upon me? If you have you have heard most impudent Lies. On the Contrary, although I have met with private Misfortunes and Family Afflictions Since my Exile to my \u201cTerres\u201d as Severe, as any you have ever experienced, I can Sincerely declare that the last Seven years have been the happiest of my Life. Have I uttered one complaint have I taken one Step to regain the popular favour? have I done one Act of Revenge upon any of my Ennemies? Have I ever done any Thing in opposition to Mr Jeffersons Government? I could have made a great deal of Noise, Mrs Warren. If those are Characteristicks of any illaudable Ambition I am ignorant of the nature of the Passion as well as of the meaning of the Word and must humbly intreat your Ladyship to explain them both to me. I will not retort, Mrs Warren, at present, upon you or your Connections: though you must be Sensible that in the opinion of World, or at least in the Prejudices of the People I might find an ample field for retalliation.\nIn a former Letter I hinted at Some personal Motives, that might have contributed to change Mrs Warren from a Zealous Friend into an Enemy to me. I can conjecture but one Source of this Memorable turn of the tide. It is this. At the Commencement of the new Government, Mrs Warren by Some of her Letters to me Seemed to Suppose it was in my Power to obtain Some promotion for Some of her Family. She might think that I did not exert my Self enough for this purpose. To this Accusation, if it is one I answer. By the Constitution, the Vice President was confined to the Legislature at the head of the Senate and had not the Smallest Connection with the Executive Authority. I Soon found that all the Secretaries of State were jealous enough of my Interference in any of their departments. As I had no Authority I thought I ought not to aim at any Influence in Nominations to offices. When Washington thought fit to consult me concerning the Qualifications or Merits of any of the Candidates I gave him all the Information I possessed, with Candor and Integrity: but I Scarcely recollect an Instance of my recommending a Person for nomination without the express application of the President to me. Had I been President, and at Liberty to act my own Judgment, I Should have nominated General Warren, to the office of Collector for the Port of Plymouth; for at that time all the Obloquy I had heard and all the extream Unpopularity into which he had fallen, had not Shaken my opinion of his Integrity. His Merits and Capacity in the Revolution were known to no Man better than to me. But the Conduct of General Warren at the time of Chaises Rebellion, whether truly or falsely represented, and his Supposed decided and inveterate Hostility to the Federal Constitution, had produced So determined a Spirit against him that if Washington himself had nominated him to any office, he would Surely have been negatived by the Senate. Nor was there one Moment during my Administration, when he would not have been negatived by two thirds of the Senate. For in my time the Federalists had a great Majority in Senate, which they never had in Washington\u2019s day. This their Strength made them presumptuous and proved their ruin. But it was an immoveable Bar to any nomination of Warren in my Short Period. I am not chargeable, then, with any neglect of the Duties of Friendship, or of any oblivion of the Merrits of General Warren, while I was in Public. But I am apprehensive that the Family thought I was opposed to them or forgot them, and consequently turned their devotions to a Planet, that they thought a rising Sun, became very willing to believe as many of the Popular Lies against me as they possibly could, to call me a Monarchist and encourage the Insinuations that I had been corrupted in England &c &c &c and to cry up Jefferson as the great Republican. Jefferson who is not half so much of a Republican as I am, and whose Administration has not been So conformable to Republican Principles, or Manners as mine was. This is imputing your Change Madam to private Views and Selfish and Family Motives, to be Sure: but I cannot help it: I can think of no others. If you can explain it upon better Principles I Shall be very happy.\nThe only two offices, General Warren ever held under the old Congress, that of Pay Master of the Army and that of Member of the Navy Board I procured for him; and General Warren has repeatedly acknowledged it to me, I believe in your hearing. General Warren must remember, that Mr Cushing, and Mr Hancock were not very cordial Friends of his, and if he is ignorant, I know that Mr Samuel Adams, was not very zealous, till I compelled him to be So. The Motives of these Gentlemen may be conjectured. I wish I had not been compelled to expose the Imperfections of So many Patriots. But if more Justice is not done me, than is done in your History I Shall be obliged in Self defence to lay open many more Mrs Warren! In my numerous Journeys from France to Holland and from Holland to France, I took a great delight in contemplating at Antwerp the great and beautiful Productions of Art, which are collected in that City, by Rubins, Rembrandt, Vandyke and many other great Painters of the Flemish School. Among these was one, which I never failed to view with wonder, because it represented human Nature So truly and So exactly according to the experience of my whole Life, though in the most perfect and Sacred of human Characters. The Painting represented Jesus in the midst of his twelve Apostles, leaning familiarly on the Shoulder of the beloved Disciple and distinguishing him from all the eleven by Some peculiar marks of Attention and kindness. The Eyes of all are turned upon this tender Scene, and Jealousy is painted on every Countenance, more marked however in Some than in others: but Peter is almost transported with Rage His Eyes look as if they would Start out of their Socketts, his Lips Seem to quiver and his Teeth grin So Such a degree that you are apt to fancy you hear them grit against each other.\nI might mention many of our best Men in whom I have observed these Passions: but at present I Shall name but few Mr Hancock was a Saint, Mr Cushing was a Saint and Mr Sam Adams was a Saint. I will not Say which of them resembled Peter the most. But I will Say that the last of them resembled Pet Saint Peter, more than the beloved John.\nThese Gentlemen all considered General Warren as a Person who might be brought forward as a Candidate for Governor or Lieutenant Governor. I have no more to Say at present.\nI may have passed over Some Passages in your History Madam which relate to me. But I believe I have observed them all. This Letter therefore will be the last upon this Subject. I have received none of your favours Since I began to write. Had I read your History without knowing the Author, I Should have written under that Part of it which relates to me, a Stanza from Popes Alley, in imitation of Spencer, and taken no more notice of it.\nHard by a Sty, beneath a Roof of Thatch,\nDwelt obloquy, who in her early days\nBasketts of Fish at Billingsgate did watch\nCod, Whiting, Oyster, Mackrel, Sprat, or plaice:\nThere learn\u2019d She Speech from Tongues that never cease,\nSlander beside her, like a magpie chatters\nWith Envy, (Spitting cat) dread foe to peace;\nLike a curs\u2019d Cur, Malice before her clatters,\nAnd vexing every Wight, tears clothes and all to tatters.\nBut Mrs Warrens egregious Errors must be corrected, though I cannot and will not apply these Lines to her.\nJohn Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "08-24-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5209", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Rev. John Disney, 24 August 1807\nFrom: Disney, Rev. John\nTo: Adams, John\nDear Sir.\nThe Hyde, near Ingatestone. August 24. 1807.\nAmong the papers of my late friend Mr.mr Brand-Hollis; I have been greatly gratified by the perusal of several letters from you, and by two from Mrs. Adams addressed to him.\nIt is probable that I may print a Memoir of my munificent friend, in which I should greatly wish to introduce these letters, in testimony of the friendship which subsisted between the parties, and from my conviction of their good principles, and their doing honor to the writers. But I am reluctant to take this liberty without previously asking Mrs Adams and your leave to make this use of them: and I hope such discretionary leave will not be denied me.\nI had lately the pleasure of seeing Mr. Buckminster of Boston at the Hyde. From the high regard he expressed for you, I presume he is well known to you. I beg my best respects to him. I greatly regretted he made so short a stay with me.\nThe situation of our two countries must be alarming to each. But I trust that all serious misunderstanding will be done away by our respective rulers.\u2014War will not afford any evidence of the justice of either side, but materially injure both.\nI have been resident here since January 1805, and employed nearly the whole of my time in restoring the devastations of time, but wish a special regard to the designs of my friend.\u2014The walk in which I pass Mr. and Mrs. Adams has been enlarged\u2014neatly fenced, and the plantations deepened. The two respected pines are improved in situation as well as in their growth.\nMy family self unite in best regards to Mr. and Mrs. Adams and to Col. Smith, and I am / Dear Sir, your obliged and obedient humble servant\nJohn Disney", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "08-27-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5210", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Mercy Otis Warren, 27 August 1807\nFrom: Warren, Mercy Otis\nTo: Adams, John\nPlymouth, Ms., Augt 27th. 1807.\nAt a time of life when retirement is sought for, and the release from all political attentions desired, ten long letters of accusation and reproach, of interrogation and retrospection, within the term of a few weeks, may be designed, not only to distress, but to create passions in my bosom which were never felt nor indulged.\nWhen I finished mine of August 15th, I thought I might calculate on a respite from your exertions to insult and affront a woman of my age and standing in society. But her character may yet resist the malevolence of your pen, however indecently it has or may have been wielded, in hopes that the celebrity of your own fame might sanction an effort, as you threaten, \u201cto enrol her name with a list of Liars and Libellers.\u201d\nIt is impossible to pass over in silence your tenth letter, though you say it is your last. This letter, combined with many passages in the preceding one, is the top stone of insolent composition.\u2014It is wound up with the most finished abuse and affrontive language that your genius or reading could furnish.\u2014To this you have subjoined a curious selection of poetry from Pope\u2019s Alley.\u2014But it was a miserable subterfuge, to cover your own malignancy, to crowd in an interlineation with different ink, and at a different time, that \u201cyou cannot nor will not apply these lines to Mrs. Warren.\u201d\u2014You might perhaps never have been prompted to such allusions, had not your previous efforts to wound the feelings of your former friend have hardened your own so far as to lead you to cry out with Macbeth,\u2014\n\u201cI am in blood\nStept in so far, that, should I wade no more,\nReturning were as tedious as go o\u2019er.\u201d\nAfter all, what has been the crime of the author of a History in which you have been named with so much respect? The historian never charged you with a single immorality, though her impartiality has led her, however highly she may have estimated your talents and your meritorious services to your country, conscientiously to assert that you, like all other human beings, was subject to change.\u2014\nThis truth I have witnessed from my first acquaintance with you;\u2014your nerves have not always been wound up by the same key.\u2014I have seen you at some times ready to despair of the Commonwealth,\u2014at others have heard you assert jocosely that liberty-pole government was the best government in the world.\u2014At one time, I have heard you talk enthusiastically, on the \u201cdivine science of politics\u201d and the systems productive of the greatest good to mankind; at another, I have heard you assert that self-love was the sole principle of human action.\u2014\nYou may probably remember that this kind of conversation once at the Plymouth fireside, with some allusions to the doctrine of fatalism, produced a little poem addressed to yourself, which you may peruse again in page 195 of Mrs. Warren\u2019s volume of miscellaneous poems. You have done many important services for your country since those days, but you have doubtless changed your opinions of men and things very many times; those changes, when marked or mentioned by Mrs. Warren, have always been attributed to the best motives, with a candid apology for the imperfection of human intellect, and the mistakes of an old friend.\nHow unlike are your charges?\u2014Mrs. Warren is accused of a total defalcation from all principle, actuated by a malignant heart, uttering falshoods without number, and joining an infamous band of worthless defamers, in slandering Mr. Adams, in order to bring forward Mr. Jefferson to the Presidential Chair; and in writing for, and lost in the idolatrous worship of, such as you have considered, the atheistical and licentious partizans of republicanism. These, sir, are some of the charges against Mrs. Warren, through a correspondence, in which, not only the principles and manners of a gentleman, but even the language of one, have been abandoned.\nTo satiate your thirst for revenge for imaginary crimes\u2014for sins of omission and commission\u2014for omitting to draw an immaculate character,\u2014and, for suggesting that Mr. Adams could have been once mistaken\u2014Mrs. Warren\u2019s family and her connections, are implicated as accessory in the guilt of the historian.\u2014And what is the imputed guilt?\u2014The temerity of telling the truth;\u2014that in a certain portion of his time Mr. Adams was in favor of a monarchic government, and that this was generally believed through the United States, who rejected his opinions.\u2014These insinuations are interwoven through all your letters against the whole Warren family, as having opposed or criminated you. These charges are contemptible enough, but more contemptible still, is your effort to magnify the ingratitude of the family, by saying that there once was a time, when, had you been the Chief Magistrate, you would have nominated General Warren a Collector for the little port of Plymouth.\nLook back, sir, on what you was\u2014look back also on Mr. Warren, say forty years ago, and recollect, what would then have been your reflections, had you have been told that you would some day have been raised to such a pinnacle of honor, as to have it in your power to insult Mr. Warren by the offer of such a petty appointment.\u2014A short retrospection may also bring to your mind, that you are perhaps not so much indebted to any other man in the United States, for putting you in the road to the various dignified stations to which you have since been lifted;\u2014and, when his influence had brought you forward as a member of the first Continental Congress, you may also remember that you took no step of importance without first consulting him.\u2014This may be evinced by the many letters now in our hands, as well as by your own copies.\u2014\nI will remind you of this by copying a few extracts which confirm this assertion.\u2014In a letter to Mr. Warren, dated Ipswich, June 25th, 1774, you speak of the Congress that was to be convened at Philadelphia, thus,\u2014\u201cI view the assembly that is to be there, as I do the Court of Areopagus, the Council of the Amphictyons,\u2014a Conclave, a Sanhedrin, a Divan, I know not what. I suppose you sent me there to school. I thank you for thinking me an apt scholar, or capable of learning. For my part, I am at a loss, totally at a loss, what to do when I get there.\u2014I must entreat the favor of your sentiments, and Mrs. Warren\u2019s, what is proper, practicable, expedient, wise, just, good, necessary, to be done at Philadelphia. Pray, let me have them in a letter before I go.\u201d\u2014\nI have just counted twenty-five letters received from you in those days of your pupilage, dated Philadelphia, October, 1775, and directed to Mr. Warren, besides a number to myself\u2014November 5th, 1775, you go on, \u201cI am under great obligations to you for your attention to me.\u2014I am obliged to trouble you with inquiries concerning subjects which you understand very well, and I know nothing of.\u201d\u2014In a previous letter, you have observed thus,\u2014\u201cEvery line I receive from you gives me great pleasure, and is of vast use to me in the public cause. Your letters were very useful to me last fall\u2014Your character became then known, and much esteemed.\u2014The few letters I have received from you this time, have increased the desire of more; and some other Gentlemen who happened to know you, particularly Governors Hopkins and Ward, of Rhode Island, have confirmed very good opinions which had been formed.\u2014I must entreat you to omit no opportunity of writing, and to be as particular as possible.\u201d\u2014\u201cEvery letter of yours is worth its weight in gold.\u201d\u2014\nAnd is it possible that you could ever suppose that this friend to whom you once looked up with so much veneration, could, in a subsequent period, ever think himself obliged, promoted, or dignified, by your appointing him a Collector for the little port of Plymouth?\u2014\nYou have several times hinted at personalities, and expressed your suspicion that private resentment had been harbored by the \u201cWarren family\u201d\u2014for something that seems to lie upon your conscience\u2014\nI know not what you can mean, unless you refer to a circumstance that I never thought of much consequence.\u2014Thus, you have upbraided me in your last, with asking your influence, in the newly organized Government of the United States, for promotion to my family.\u2014I deny it, sir.\u2014I once had a son\u2014a son whose amiability and worth you have frequently acknowledged under your own hand.\u2014This son had resided long in Europe, was well acquainted with the history of foreign nations, with foreign languages, and with commercial affairs;\u2014He would have liked a longer residence abroad, had he been appointed consul at Lisbon, as he had reason to expect from the influence of several of the first members of Congress.\nIt is true I once mentioned this circumstance to you, presuming you would readily facilitate this little favour, which was not beyond the influence of the Vice-President of the United States, the long professed friend of a gentleman, whose services and merits you very well knew, deserved much higher marks of consideration, both from his country and its government, than such an appointment for a son.\u2014A rough, ungentlemanly reply to that letter was a sufficient bar to any subsequent application for your patronage.\u2014But a circumstance of so little importance to them has never instigated the \u201cWarren family\u201d to form a junction with Burr, Hamilton, or any others in your list of enemies, as you have insinuated, \u201cto turn you out of the highest office in the nation.\u201d\u2014\nThe allegations scattered through your letters, that Mrs. Warren was acquainted with the arts and intrigues of your enemies, or that she knew any thing of a long list of persons, whom you have denounced as infamous, and observed that \u201cmost of them have already come to a bad end, and the rest will follow,\u201d are too much despised by her to attempt a refutation of your errors.\nAre not these things a strong proof that a man may be \u201cset in opposition to himself,\u201d that the same man who has at one time requested her husband thus, \u201c Remember me, sir, in the most respectful manner to your good Lady, whose manners, virtues, genius, and spirit will render her immortal, notwithstanding the general depravity:\u201d\u2014at a subsequent period the same lady is insulted and vilified in the grossest manner in a series of letters from Mr. Adams to Mrs. Warren? Thus much for personalities. I know of nothing else on which you could found your numerous insinuations that personal resentment towards you had ever actuated my pen. If you scrutinize your own heart, you may perhaps be the best judge, whether your own conduct has not merited every censure you complain of.\nYou say in one of your letters that you have been \u201curged to write the memoirs of your own life, because nobody else could do it.\u201d\u2014If you should commence your own biography, a work which you say \u201cmust necessarily be very voluminous,\u201d\u2014which, undoubtedly, it must be, if you mean to include therein every trivial suggestion that may have come to your ear, relative to friends or foes, there may be allegations brought forward, which were never before heard or thought of by them.\u2014I am led to expect this, not only from your threats, but from the little captious, unmeaning insinuations in the string of suppositions which here follow: \u201cSuppose I should say, your father Colo. Otis, of Barnstable, was implicated,\u201d &c. For what, sir? Colonel Otis\u2019s character was so pure, that malice itself could not injure it.\u2014\u201cSuppose I should say Mr. James Otis, of Boston, was implicated,\u201d &c. You know and the world knows his abilities and his merits too well, to dare to say any thing to injure his memory. \u201cSuppose I should say General James Warren was implicated in all that I have heard of him during and since the Revolutionary War?\u201d\u2014Supposing you should, sir,\u2014if you say nothing but truth, his integrity, his patriotism, and other virtues, cannot be depreciated by the pen of envy or slander. \u201cSuppose I should say of Mrs. Warren that she has been implicated by a portion of her fellow-citizens, male and female?\u201d\u2014She is not afraid to stand before the tribunal of any of her fellow-citizens, either \u201cmale or female,\u201d who may be disposed to examine her conduct through a long page of life, in which she has endeavored to discharge her domestic, as well as all other duties, with fidelity and kindness.\u2014\nFor what, then, is she implicated?\u2014You bring no specific charge against her,\u2014but in the next page you say, you will mention \u201can intrigue of a party complexion,\u201d and that you \u201chave been informed, that when Mr. Jefferson was Secretary of State there was a meeting of the Anti Federalists at Boston, who agreed to write to Mr. Jefferson, and engage him to reserve himself as a candidate for the next Election of President, and promised to support him in opposition to me and to all others. I was accordingly to be run down and turned out.\u201d\u2014Is Mrs. Warren to be implicated for this intrigue?\u2014Is it possible that Mr. Adams could for a moment indulge the absurd opinion, that Mrs. Warren knew any thing of an intrigue of which she never heard until informed by him?\u2014You have observed that, \u201csince that time the Warren family have countenanced some of the worst, if not all the calumnies which have been circulated against me.\u201d This is a bold and unfounded assertion,\u2014The Warren family at the period to which you allude, were too deeply immersed in domestic affliction of the most poignant nature, to pay much attention to the party contests of candidates for office. Mrs. Warren\u2019s bosom was then lacerated by wounds which no time can heal, nor can oblivion ever be drawn over the cruelties which occasioned so much parental grief. Nor have the Warren family ever injured you or yours, but their mother has been very attentive and affectionate to your children\u2014This they know, and to this my beloved friend Mrs. Adams will attest.\nBut however vindictive you may feel towards Mrs. Warren, or however ardently you may wish to implicate her character, you can make no exertions more injurious than those contained in your late letters.\u2014To them you may recur; there you will find the darkest passions of the soul are in some measure gratified; and if you wish, as you seem to hint, to enroll her name on the list of a group of characters whom you most detest, it is at your option. It is true she has some general knowledge of several of the most prominent characters you have named as your enemies, but she knows not either the modes of life or the manner of death of but few of the characters that complete your long list of culprits; nor does she tremble at the most terrible denunciations of your pen\u2014\nI shall, therefore, now close after a question or two, and some subsequent observations which naturally arise. You have observed in your letter of August the fifteenth, thus: \u201cIt is my opinion, and that of all others of any long experience that I have conversed with, that your History has been written to the taste of the nineteenth century, and accommodated to gratify the passions, prejudices, and feelings of the party who are now predominant. The characters are not such as you once esteemed them in the times when they acted, but such as will please the present fashion.\u201d\u2014\nPray, sir, who are the wise and experienced characters whose sagacity has discovered that Mrs. Warren\u2019s History was written to the taste of the nineteenth century, and was accommodated to gratify the passions, prejudices, and feelings of the party predominant? Do they not belong to that description of persons you once so emphatically denominated \u201cSummer-flies, Blood-suckers &c.\u201d?\u2014If you have forgotten the conversation to which I allude, I will remind you when it took place, and with whom. It was with a particular and very dear friend of mine, a few weeks before it was ascertained that you had been elected Vice President of the United States. Your mind was then in a perturbed state, or you would not have made use of very many expressions which were penned down, and transmitted to me within a few days after the conversation. Shall I refresh your memory with a small part of this curious conversation?\u2014You spoke of Mr. King with a great deal of passion, and pronounced a philippic against him, in which were these expressions,\u2014\u201cIf such men as King had been in Government ten years ago, we should now be trampled, (stamping hard with your foot) under the feet of the British Lyon.\u201d\u2014This might be true enough.\u2014You went on, in answer to an observation of the gentleman, that \u201cMr. King was popular in some parts of the State\u201d\u2014\u201cdon\u2019t tell me of his popularity, Sir,\u2014it originated in deception\u2014He obtained it by opposing the continental impost; and now he comes forward the most strenuous supporter of it;\u2014\u201csuch Summer-flies,\u2014such Blood-suckers\u2014it would take fifty such men as King to make a Josiah Quincy, and five hundred of him to make a James Otis.\u2014I never saw any thing original from him yet.\u2014What is it has given him this reputation? And who is it that is puffing him in all the papers?\u2014Who are your Sedgwicks and your Kings?\u201d\u2014\n\u201cMr. King and Mr. Sedgwick are disappointed in the election for Senators, are they not, Mr. \u2014\u2014\u2014?\u201d\u2014\u201cMr. Sedgwick to be Speaker of the House of Representatives, and member of Congress for this State, is quite too much for him. What, in God\u2019s name, gave him a right to become a Senator for this State?\u201d\u2014\nIt is not difficult to prove that Mr. Adams himself has often changed his opinion of men and measures;\u2014An instance or two is sufficient to evince this truth.\u2014About the time his own son was appointed to reside as a public minister in the Batavian Provinces, Mr. Adams asserted that, this same Mr. King, \u201cthis summer-fly,\u201d this \u201cblood-sucker,\u201d\u2014should be promoted to the rank of Ambassador from the United States of America to the Court of Great Britain.\u2014Thus, it is clear that he has not always estimated characters just as they were in the times when they acted, but such as would please the present fashion.\u2014\nI will only add one instance more to the same point.\u2014Compare a letter from Mr. Adams to Mr. Warren, dated Paris, April 13, 1783, with an extract of a letter of his to the same gentleman, dated July, 1775, in the last of which Mr. Adams says:\u201cFranklin\u2019s character you know,\u2014his masterly acquaintance with the French language; his extensive correspondence in France; his great experience in life; his wisdom, prudence, caution; his engaging address, united to his unshaken firmness in the present American system of politics and war,\u2014point him out as the fittest character for this momentous undertaking.\n to go into Canada\n Nothing more need to be said:, there is no abler or better American that I know of.\u201d Again: \u201cI assure you, the old gentleman is as firm as a mountain, and very serviceable to us. His head is clear, and his heart strong. I wish the multiplicity of business at his age may not deprive his country of his services too soon.\u201d\nWhen you compare the two letters above alluded to, in the first of which, dated April 13, 1783, no language is too severe in which to draw the character of Doc. Franklin, you may perhaps justify a change of opinion relative to the characters of men, when time has developed alterations which sanction a different portrait of them, without a conformity to present fashions or modes of thinking.\nYou have informed me that some of your friends have observed to you that my History was calculated for the taste of the nineteenth century. Whatever deference might have been due to the judgment of some of them, before their hearts were perverted by party rancour, you may be assured I have now very little consideration for their opinions. I have had reason to suppose for several months, that there has been a combination to sink into oblivion, or to destroy the validity of a late History of the Revolution; but until recently I did not suspect that Mr. Adams had any hand in the authorcide.\nThe History has gone forth to the world, with my settled and fixed determination to disregard its censure or applause. Mr. Adams\u2019s opinions might have defeated this determination, had they not have been so marked with passion, absurdity, and inconsistency as to appear more like the ravings of a maniac than the cool critique of genius and science. Criticism, in order to be useful, should always be decent, as has been said by some of my \u201cFrench friends.\u201d\nYou know, sir, that the History under consideration, was written before the Commencement of the Nineteenth Century, and even before Mr. Adams was President of the United States. Did you not often urge Mrs. Warren to \u201ccontinue her annals,\u201d and add, as a reason for urging this, that \u201cno one had more authentic materials, and that you knew of no one that would do it better.\u201d This opinion might have induced you to write thus to Mrs. Warren: \u201cHeague, Aug. 19, 1782. I hope Mrs. Warren will give my Dutch negotiation a place in her History: it is one of the most extraordinary in all the diplomatic records. But it has succeeded to a marvel.\u201d\nThere is a meanness as well as malignancy in striving to blast a work that many of the best judges of literary merit that even yourself have been acquainted with in America have spoken of in a manner very flattering to the author. Nor has your correspondent ever been charged with a want of veracity until you have unkindly done this; and no part of her deportment through a long life has ever been suspected to spring from malignancy of heart.\nIf there is not sufficient merit in the History of the American Revolution to establish its reputation, the author ought not to endeavour to impose it on society. If there is, it will not be in the power of enmity to sink it into oblivion. If I should live to see another edition called for of the work you have been vilifying, and should be fully convinced of any mistake, I feel myself ready to correct any error that may inadvertently have crept in, but am persuaded I shall never be obliged to contradict myself.\nI have heretofore been fond of perusing your opinions on any work or any subject. This has never been done with feelings so deficient in the benign and heavenly spirit of friendship as I think have appeared in the letters recently received from the late President of the United States. I think I shall ever be a stranger to those intemperate passions that have guided his pen.\nI now forbear further remarks. The lines with which you concluded your late correspondence cap the climax of rancor, indecency, and vulgarism. Yet, as an old friend, I pity you, and as a Christian, I forgive you; but there must be some acknowledgment of your injurious treatment or some advances to conciliation, to which my mind is ever open, before I can again feel that respect and affection towards Mr. Adams which once existed in the bosom of\nMercy Warren.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "09-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5211", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Benjamin Rush, 1 September 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Rush, Benjamin\nDear Friend\nQuincy September 1, 1807\nIt is rare, that a Letter of yours remains so long upon my Table unacknowledged as has that of July 9th. Crudens Apophthagm is well worthy of your Remembrance and that of your Posterity for forty times forty years more. It is the only Clue to the Labyrinth of the World, the only key to the Riddle of the Universe. \u201cSome Crimes are punished to prove a Providence; others escape to teach a future State.\u201d In attempting to Shorten it, I see I have weakened it.\nWhen General Lee called Prudence \u201ca rascally Virtue\u201d his meaning was good. He meant the Spirit which evades danger, when Duty, requires us to face it. This is Cowardice not Prudence, for he meant that Subtility which consults private Interest, ease, or safety, by the sacrifice or the neglect of our Friends or our Country. This may be Cunning, but is more properly called Knavery than prudence.\nYour Complaint against the Director might be prudent and necessary and probably did much good by checking abuses, notwithstanding its apparent ill success. Caveat Successibus apto, quisquis ab aventu facta notanda putat. Luther and Harvey were prudent, because they saw farther into the State of Things than those who reproached them. You was prudent in discharging your own mind and Character of all responsibility for the consequences of those Errors in Theory and Practice, which you saw prevailing in the management of the yellow Fever. Those who gave their Advice for a defensive War in 1775 had more carefully attended to the Character and Conduct of the Government and People of England on one hand, and the People of the Colonies on the other, and had penetrated deeper into the designs and Power of both, than those who were afraid of War and advised against it. The Event has shewn that their prudence was consummate. Those who advised to early overtures of Friendship to France, had considered the State of France, humiliated by the Commerce and Naval power of Great Britain, and the irresistable temptation which the opportunity presented to the former, to disarm the latter of half her Power and acquired a share of it to herself. They had better information and a clearer foresight, and therefore more Prudence than their Antagonists. You heard in Congress I believe in 1776 the debate between Mr Dickinson and me, upon the question of Independence. Recollect the arguments of both and then Say which of Us discovered the most prudence. No honest Man can read the History of your Executorship without pronouncing your conduct infinitely more prudent than that of your Colleague.\nBy Prudence I mean that deliberation and caution, which aims at no Ends but good ones; and good ones by none but fair means, and then carefully adjusts and proportions its good means to its good Ends. Without this Virtue there can be no other. Justice itself cannot exist without it. A disposition to render to every one his right is of no Use with out prudence to judge of what is his right and skill to perform it.\nWhen in 1797, 8, and 9. I promoted the Fortification of our Sea ports, the purchase of Navy yards, the Building a Navy &c. I think I was more prudent that those who opposed me: though my popularity was Sacrificed to it, and my Ennemies rose to power by their imprudent opposition. Their prudence, I agree with Lee was a rascally Virtue.\nI am anxious to see the Progress of Burr\u2019s Tryal: not from any Love or hatred I bear to the man, for I cannot Say that I feel either. He is, as you say a Nondescript in natural History. But I think something must come out on the Tryal, which will strengthen or weaken our Confidence in the General Union. I hope something will appear to determine clearly, whether any foreign Power has or has not been tampering with our Union. If it should appear that he is guilty of Treason and in Concert with any foreign power, you and your twelve thousand copetitioners might petition as earnestly as you did for Fries, if I was President, and the Gallows Should not loose its prey. An ignorant Idiot of German is a very different Being from a vice President of the United States. The one knew not what Treason was: the other knows all about it. The one was instigated by Virginians and Pensilvanians who deserved to be hanged much more than he did. The other could be instigated only by his own Ambition Avarice or Revenge. But I hope his Innocence will be made to appear, and that he will be fairly acquitted.\nWar? or No War? That is the question. Our Monarchical, Antirepublican Administration conceal from Us the people all that information that I a zealous Republican was always prompt to communicate: So that we can only Say \u201cwhat can the matter be\u201d? If an express stipulation is demanded and insisted on by Us, that our Flagg on board Merchantmen as well as Ships of War Shall protect all British Subjects, Deserters from their Navy and all others I am apprehensive the English will not agree to it. A little Prudence such as I have defined above might accommodate matters. But our People will not Suffer their Government to be prudent. They will clamour for the protection and Hospitality of every foreign miscreant. Prudence would dictate that our Government should forbid all its Naval officers to recruit a Deserter from any Nation, in any case: and if the President has not the Power Congress should enact it. But our People have Such a Predilection for Runaways of ever description except Runaway Negroes that I Suppose Congress would think it too unpopular, to abridge this right of Man.\nHow We Shall get out of the Scrape I know not. I would not give up the Principle by an express Stipulation. But I see no necessity for Stipulation on either Side. The principle is already Sufficiently established by the Law of Nations, And I think the Question might be waived by a little Skill and mutual Understanding tho\u2019 I carry the Principle by the Law of Nations, to as great an extent as Mr. Jefferson does.\nIf the English fly into a Passion and with or without declaring War seize every Ship and Cargo we have at Sea, I dont believe our present Congress would declare War against them. I am sure they cannot consistently with their avowed System, which is to defend nothing but our Farms. If our Commerce is captured and our Seaport destroyed taken or laid under contribution We Shall have a Scene of Universal distraction: But unless the people alter their Sentiments, I See no Remedy. I do not believe, however that any necessity exists to give a colour to the Pretensions of the English. They have the means of preventing the desertion of their own Seamen.\nParting with your Daughters and their suit must have been a tender Scene in your Family, and the more affecting for the present critical State of our Affairs. I have Suffered these pangs So often that I know how to Sympathize with every Sufferer in any Such Occurrences.\nWe are So ready for War that many of our Country Towns have voted five Dollars bounty and Sixteen Dollars pay a Month. to all their proportions of the hundred thousand Militia. You may judge what a pleasant Scene is opened to our View. We Shall have the most costly Army of Defenders that ever existed in this World, or any other I believe.\nYour Fellow Citizens were disappointed as I am informed in not having you for their Moderator as they wished and intended. I think however you was right.\nI am as ever\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "09-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5212", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Benjamin Rush, September 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Rush, Benjamin\nDear Sir\nQuincy September 1807\nI want to write an Essay.\u2014Whom Shall I choose for a Model?\u2014Plutarch, old Montaigne, Lord Bacon, Addison, Johnson, or Franklin? The last, if he had devoted his Life to the Study might have equalled Montaine in Essays or La Fontaine in Fables: for he was fitter more fitted for either or both than to conduct a Nation like Prony or Colbert. I am however too round about, to imitate the close, direct and Sententious manner of any of them. I am stumbled at the very Threshold. My Subject is Disinterest or Disinterestedness. I must leave you to decide, for I cannot Say which is the most proper Word.\nMirabeau said of La Fayette \u201cIl a affich\u00e9 desinteressement\u201d and he added \u201cthis never fails.\u201d You know the sense of the Word \u201caffich\u00e9\u201d? It is as much as to say \u201che advertised\u201d his Disinterestedness. That is equivalent to saying that he employed a Crier to proclaim through the Streets O yes! O yes! O yes! All manner of Persons, may have the benefit of my Services, Gratis, provided allways and only, that they will yield me their unlimited and unsuspecting Confidence, and make me Commander in Chief of five hundred thousand Men, and after I shall have gained a few Victories make me a King or an Emperor, when I shall take a fancy to be either. This has been the amount and the Result of most of the Disinterestedness that has been professed in the World. I say most, not all. There are exceptions and our Washington ought to pass for one. La Fayette imitated his Example. So have Jefferson, Hamilton, Governor Strong Fisher Ames and many others; Some with and others without success.\nWashington had great Advantages for obtaining Credence. He possessed a great Fortune, immense Lands, many Slaves, an excellent Consort no Children. What could he desire more for Felicity here but one? His Professions therefore of attachment to private Life, fondness for Agricultural Employments and rural Amusements, were easily believed: And We all agreed to believe him and make the World believe him. Yet We see he constantly betrayed apprehensions, that he Should not be Seriously believed by the World. He was nevertheless believed, and there is not an Example in History of a more universal Acknowledgment of Disinterestedness in any Patriot or Hero, than there is and will be to the latest Posterity in him. La Fayette had not the Same Felicity. His Fortune in France bore no proportion to Washingtons in America: and Frenchmen had not the same faith with Americans, in the Existence or Possibility of Disinterestedness, in any Man. His Professions therefore did not produce Such an Enthusiasm as Washingtons. Jefferson resigned his office as Secretary of State and retired and his Friends Said he had Struck a great Stroke to obtain the Presidency. I heard Some of them Say this, particularly Edmund Randolph who was his great friend. The whole Anti federal Party at that time considered this retirement as a Sure and certain Step towards the Summit of the Pyramid: and accordingly represented him as unambitious unavaricious and perfectly disinterested in all parts of all the States in the Union. When a Man has one of the two greatest Parties in a Nation, interested in representing a Man him to be disinterested, even those who believe it to be a lie will repeat it so often to one another that at last they will seem to believe it to be true. Jefferson has Succeeded, and multitudes are made to believe that he is pure Benevolence: that he desires no Profit: that he wants no Patronage: that, if you will only let him govern, he will rule only to make the People happy. But you and I know him to be an Intriguer. Hamilton had great disadvantages. His original was infamous: His Place of Birth and Education were foreign Countries: His Fortune was Poverty itself: The Profligacy of his Life: his fornications Adulteries and his Incests were propagated far and wide: Nevertheless he \u201caffiched\u201d Disinterestedness as boldly, as Washington. His Mirmidons asserted it, with as little Shame, tho\u2019 not a Man of them believed it. All the rest of the World ridiculed and despized the Pr\u00e6text. He had not therefore the Same Success. Yet he found means to fascinate Some and intimidate others. You and I know him also to have been an Intriguer. Governor Strong retired and Succeeded: He acquired the Reputation of being destitute of Ambition and was chosen Governor by fair means, and was a very good one. Ames miscarried. He was obnoxious to one Party, and by placing all his hopes on Hamilton, lost the Confidence of the Soundest Portion of the other Party, and is now dying, as I fear, under the gloomy feelings of his Disappointments.\nI have Sometimes amused myself with inquiring where Washington got his system. Was it the natural Growth of his own Genius? Had there been any Examples of it in Virginia? Instances enough might have been found in History of excellent Hypocrites, whose Concealments, Dissimulations and Simulations had deceived the World for a time. And Some great Examples of real disinterestedness, which produced the noblest Effects and have always been acknowledged. But you know that our beloved Washington was but very Superficially read in History of any Age Nation or Country. Where then did he obtain his Instruction? I will tell you what I conjecture.Rollins ancient History you know is very generally diffused through this Country, because it has been and is in England. The Reading of most of our Men of Letters extends little further than this Work and Prideaux\u2019s Connection of the old and New Testament. From Rollins I Suspect, Washington drew his Wisdom, in a great measure. In the third Chapter of the third book, i.e in the Second Volume page forty three, in the History of the Kingdom of the Medes, there are in the Character of Dejoces, Several Strokes, which are very curious, as they resemble the Politicks of So many of our Countrymen, though the whole Character taken together is far inferiour in Purity and Magnanimity to that of Washington. \u201cHe retired from Public Business, pretending to be over fatigued with the Multitude of People that resorted to him.\u201d \u201cHis own Domestic Affairs would not allow him to attend those of other People\u201d &c \u201cThe licentiousness of Dejoces which had been restrained for Some time by the Management of Dejoces, began to prevail more than ever, as Soon as he had withdrawn himself from the Administration of Affairs; and the evil increasd to Such a degree, that the Medes were obliged to assemble, and deliberate upon the means of curing so dangerous a Disorder.\u201d\u201cThere are different Sorts of Ambition: Some violent and impetuous carry every Thing as it were by Storm, Sticking at no kind of Cruelty or Murder: another Sort more gentle, puts on an Appearance of Moderation and Justice, working under ground, and yet arrives at her Point as Surely as the other.\u201d\u201cThere is nothing, certainly nobler or greater, than to See a private Person eminent for his merit and Virtue, and fitted by his excellent Talents for the highest Employments, and yet through inclination and modesty preferring a life of Obscurity and Retirement; than to See Such a man Sincerely refuse the offer made to him, of reigning over a whole Nation, and at last consent to undergo the toil of Government, upon no other motive than that of being Serviceable to his Fellow Citizens. His first disposition, by which he declares that he is acquainted with the Duties and consequently the dangers annexed to a Sovereign Power, Shews him to have a Soul Superiour to all Ambition more elevated and great than greatness itself; or to Speak more justly, a Soul Superiour to all Ambition: Nothing can Shew him so perfectly worthy of that important Charge, as the Opinion he has of his not being So, and his fears of not being equal to it\u2014But when he generously Sacrifices his own quiet and Satisfaction, to the Welfare and tranquility of the Publick, it is plain he understands what that Sovereign Power has in it, really good, or truly valuable; which is, that it puts a Man in a Condition of becoming the Defender of his Country, of procuring it many Advantages, and of redressing various Evils; of causing Law and Justice to flourish, of bringing Virtue and Probity into reputation, and of establishing Peace and Plenty: And he comforts himself for the cares and troubles, to which he is exposed, but the prospect of the many Advantages Benefits resulting from them to the Publick.\u2014Such a Governor was Numa, of Rome and Such have been Some other Emperors, whom the People have constrained to accept the Supreme Power.\u201d\n\u201cIt must be owned, (I cannot help repeating it,) that there is nothing nobler or greater than Such a disposition.\n\u201cHe commanded his Subjects to build a City, marking out himself the Place and Circumference of the Walls.\u201d \u201cWithin the last and Smallest Enclosure Stood the Kings Palace. In the next there were Several Appartments for lodging the officers. The Name of the City was Ecbatana.\u201d &c Tom Paine represents me as exulting at Washington \u201cIs not this great Babylon that I have Builded?\u201d &c. The Scoundrel knows it was Washington and Jefferson that built this Ecbatana: and he might have known that I opposed it, in every step of its Progress and voted against it in Senate on all occasions. But Truth has no Esteem in his Eyes. No more.\nTell me, has not our American System of Politicks and Ambition been copied from this very passage? If not from whence did it come? Read the Chapter in Rollin. Washington was more sincere than Dejoces: but I am persuaded he had read this description of him.\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "10-31-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5213", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Benjamin Rush, 31 October 1807\nFrom: Rush, Benjamin\nTo: Adams, John\nMy Dear Sir\nPhiladelphia October 31st: 1807\nI am ashamed of my long silence after the receipt of the two last letters from my kind friend and benefactor. The hurry introduced into my ordinary mass of business by the Influenza and its Consequences, must be my apollogy for my seeming inattention to your interesting favors.\u2014\nYou have happily distinguished between Prudence and Art. I agree with you in your history of Disinterestedness. It is indeed a rare Virtue. An Englishman died a few years ago near this city who left the interest of \u00a31500 to be appropriated Annually to reward Acts of disinterestedness. One of our Lawyers has declared the design of the testator cannot be fulfilled\u2014and the Brother of the deceased, as heir of at law, has claimed the legacy. I do not think the Gentleman you alluded to in your letter upon this subject, formed himself, or his Conduct upon the model of the Character described in Rollin. He was selftaught in all the Arts which gave him his immense elevation above all his fellow Citizens. An intimate friend of Col: Hamiltons informed me, that he once told him that he had never read any other a single military book except Sims\u2019s Guide. Sir Hanse Sloan used to show among the Curiosities of his Museum, a list of Dr Ratcliff\u2019s library, which consisted only of a half a dozen practical books upon medicine. A friend of Ratcliff\u2019s told him of this Satire upon his medical character, and spoke at the same time of the large size of Sir Hans\u2019s library. \u201cThat is all right said Dr Ratcliff. D\u2014\u2014n the fellow he requires books.\u201d\u2014The same remark has been applied to many other men who possess learning and reading, and the same preeminence over them by men who never read, has often been ascribed to the Gentleman mentioned in your letter. While the resources of Genius,\u2014reading, and reflection has each had its specific Advocates for fame, perhaps Dr Clarks opinion of the means of becoming eminent in a profession deserves the most credit\u2014it consists he says in \u201creading much\u2014thinking much and writing much.\u201d They mutually assist each Other in giving the greatest expansion & correctness, to the human mind. For this purpose they should bear a due proportion to each other. Dr Priestley read & wrote a great deal. but Had he thought more he would probably have corrected many of the errors which he defended upon several Subjects. Dr Franklin thought a great deal, wrote occasionally, but read, during the middle & latter years of his life very little & hence the errors of several of his opinions upon Government. Our great man wrote constantly a great deal, thought constantly, but read (it is said) very little; and hence the questions of disrespect with which his talents & character have been treated by his Aid de Camp. But eno\u2019 of great men! especially to one who has ceased to believe in them, and to be known from knowing so well, how much littleness is mixed with human Greatness,\u2014how much folly\u2014with human Wisdom, and how much Vice\u2014with the greatest Attainments in human Virtue.\nWhile thousands in our city spend their whole time in speculating upon peace or War, I am quietly pursuing all the objects of my profession. On Monday next I expect to begin my annual Course of lectures. The subject of my introductory lecture is \u201cthe duty & Advantages of studying the diseases of domestic Animals, and the remedies proper to cure them.\u201d I have given the following reasons for urging the subject upon my Class. 1 our relation to domestic Animals f arising from our being formed at the same time & from the same dust\u2014possessing bodies capable like theirs, of pain, and Subject like theirs to death, and from the dominion over them given to man at the Creation. 2 Our Obligations to them generally & particularly. 3 The inability of Nature to cure their diseases. 4 Their Sufferings from Quacks. 5 The necessity of knowing their diseases, in order to prevent our being injured by the flesh of such of them as compose a part of our Aliment. 6 The necessity of preserving the Character of their flesh as important and profitable Articles of Commerce. 7 The Advantages to be derived from a knowledge of their diseases, in aiding our inquiries into the diseases of the human body. 8 The precepts of the Old & new testament which inculcate tenderness to, & Care of them. My 9th reason is as follows. \u201cI proceed in the last place to mention a reason for making the health of domestic Animals, the subject of our studies & care, which I should hesitate in delivering, were it not sanctioned by the name of a man whose discoveries in physiological, metaphysical & theological science, mark an \u00c6ra in the Atchievements of the human mind, I mean the great & good\u2014I had almost said\u2014the inspired Dr Hartley, and that is, their probable relation to us in a resurrection after death, and an existence in a future state. I shall read a short passage from the Doctors Works upon this Subject. After expressing a doubt concerning the redemption of the brute creation he adds \u201cHowever;\u2014their fall with Adam, the Covenant made with them after the deluge, their serving for sacrifices for the sins of men, and as types and emblems in the prophesies, and their being commanded to praise God, seem to intimate that there is Mercy in store for them, more than we may expect to be revealed in due time. The Jews considered the Gentiles as dogs compared with themselves, and the brute creatures appear by the history of Association that has been given, to differ from us in degree, rather than in kind.\u201d\nIn favor of these remarks of Dr Hartley, it many be said, that as moral evil and death accompanied each other in the human race, they are probably connected in the brute Creation,\u2014that they possess nearly all our Vices & Virtues,\u2014that the perfection of the divine Government requires that their Vices should be punished, and their Virtues rewarded,\u2014that reparation should be made to them for their accumulated sufferings in this World, and that the divine bounty discovered in the gift of their pleasures, would be rendered abortive unless they were placed in a situation to make returns for them in praise and gratitude in a future state of existence. It is alike foreign to my inclinations, and the design of this lecture to enter further into this question. To such of you as wish to see all the Arguments from reason & revelation that are urged in its favor, I beg leave to recommend the perusal of an essay in the Works of Dr Hildrop a learned and pious Clergyman of the Church of England entitled \u201cfree throughts upon the brute creation.\u201d In whatever way the controversy may be decided, I shall only add that a belief in the opinion that has been suggested by the physician, & defended by the divine whose names have been mentioned, is calculated in no one instance to do any harm, but on the Contrary, much good, by encreasing our obligations to treat them our domestic subjects with tenderness, and care. If the Opinion be erroneous, let the justice & mercy of the supreme Being in his Conduct to his brute creation remain unimpeached. The divine government in this World may be compared to a dreary prospect of an extensive and highly cultivated Country on a Winter-day. The last revolution of our Globe will cloathe this prospect with all the beauties of the Vernal, & all the products of the Autumnal months. It will then appear that the apparent discord of in the being of and end of all intelligent and animated Creatures, was \u201charmony not understood\u201d and that all their sufferings were a necessary part of \u201cUniversal good.\u201d\nI was much gratified by your approbation of my declining to preside over our town meeting last Summer. I was invited to it by the heads of all the three parties in our city, and urged to it by all my family & several of my friends. My feelings revolted against it, and my judgment disapproved of it. My family & friends now think I acted properly. My ever honoured preceptor the Revd: Dr Finley I well recollect when a Schoolboy in taking leave of one of his Scholars who was coming to live in Philada: laid before him the temptations to Vice to which he would be exposed from the solicitations of bad company\u2014and concluded his advice to him by saying in an emphatical tone \u201clearn to pronounce that bold Word\u2014no.\u201d Happy\u2014happy had it been for me\u2014had I upon a hundred occasions used that bold monosyllable with the same decision that I did upon the Occasion to which I have alluded.\u2014The misfortunes of most men in moral, commercial, and political life, arise from their inability to pronounce that Ark-like Word.\nWhat would have been the present state of our country\u2014had you used that word half a dozen times at the time the appointments were made of in the late American Army? One of your letters to me two years ago\u2014has answered this question. Adieu\u2014Adieu with love as usual, I am my Dr friend ever yrs\nB: Rush\nPS: My son Richard has just returned from Norfolk, where he went to take a part in the inquiry into the Conduct of Cap: Banon. On his way home, he stopped at Richmond where he saw and heard many things which it is not lawful to tell. Federalists! Democracy! law! Order! \u201cLibertas et natale solum\u201d!\u2014all fine very fine words. I wonder in the language of Dean Swift \u201cwhere we stole them.\u201d", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "11-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5214", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Fran\u00e7ois Adriaan Van der Kemp, 1 November 1807\nFrom: Van der Kemp, Fran\u00e7ois Adriaan\nTo: Adams, John\nDear Sir!\nOlden barneveld 1 Nov. 1807.\nMuch time has elapsed indeed, Since you have favoured me with your last Letters\u2014and more, Since I dropt to you my last line\u2014I do not plead another excuse than my particular Situation\u2014Tho at times I was not in want of leisure, to acquit meself of an incumbent duty, but then m\u00ff mind was not often enough composed, and a numerous correspondence within and without this continent imposed imperiously duties which I could not dela\u00ff. Since the Last wounds inflicted upon my too feeling heaart\u2014not yet healed\u2014I Suffered a new Lately by the disease of dear ones\u2014cut of in the prime of their Lives, leaving worthy parent\u2019s in anguish. Mrs Tongerard in France\u2014the eldest Daughter of the excellent Mad. La Roche\u2014honoured, when She resided in this Countr\u00ff with Mr and Mrs\u2019s Adams\u2014condescending attention at Philadelphia\u2014is no more\u2014She was only 28 years of age\u2014and left an Orphan of five years behind her. Since, the tidings of the fatal event, by which my worthy and ever honoured Luzac was taken from this world\u2014I received perticular tidings, from that devoted Country. He was just then visiting a female frend\u2014Mad. Bennet, Born Tak\u2014before whose door he fell\u2014She was once one of my pupils, and loved and esteemed me\u2014Her Husband was at the Hague\u2014She, with her Domestic, and house was crushed by that terrible explosion\u2014\nMrs Tak\u2014her niece\u2014Sister to my frend Le Pole\u2014m\u00ff amiable Eleve, and intelligent Correspondent, was, while her only daughter of Sixteen was to Church\u2014of which posponement She, by neglect, hath not been instructed, burried with her Domestics and house burried by the Same Catastrophe. Consider that Darling daughter returning to the ruins, and crying with anguish for her mother\u2014in the dusk of the evening, and flying\u2014inconsolable to her uncle Le Pole, if there She might find a mother\u2014and finding no mother\u2014and an Uncle with his famil\u00ff\u2014cr\u00ffing\u2014for a Sister\u2014for a Mother for a niece in undescribable Sorrow. O Adams! your heart can place itself in my Situation\u2014even now\u2014I can not express what I feel\u2014and\u2014when I Silently adore the ways of Providence my voice is Stiffled. What a remaining blessing\u2014that So man\u00ff worthies\u2014that here m\u00ff famil\u00ff are Safe\u2014that you\u2014who, So condescendingl\u00ff, Stooped to pour balsam in the wounds of m\u00ff deep afflicted heart\u2014are yet Safe. Oh! may your days be prolonged\u2014long\u2014long\u2014for your family\u2014for your frends\u2014for my dear\u2014dear\u2014floating Countr\u00ff\u2014Could it be bought with a part of mine\u2014God knows\u2014how willingly I would part with it\u2014to prolong your precious life! by but God knows what is best He is wise\u2014and powerful and good. This is a consolation\u2014Nothing can prevail against his will\u2014and America\u2014Shall not be doomed to destruction, whatever Severe discipline may Stand at her doors, to correct her follies and errors.\nI am a new\u2014nearly above m\u00ff present circumstances\u2014involved in European and American Literar\u00ff correspondence\u2014on multivarious Subjects. If I Live\u2014I must devote this winter to accomplish any of its objects, but how can I dive in the woods into the dephts of Similar pursuits withouts Sufficient aid\u2014with only a Scanty provision of my own materials?\nDid I know\u2014that Select parcels from Luzac\u2019s Socrates\u2014would be acceptable to the Antholog\u00ff\u2014I would bring them in order\u2014to honour my worthy friend\u2014and instruct her Readers\u2014But too man\u00ff here dare not, too man\u00ff will not be wise.\nWith anxiety I wait now for European accounts from the Seat of war, and with greater anxiety yet, if possible, if our administration Shall be wise enough not to Scorn to accept the offer of peace\u2014May the Councils of Achitophel\u2019s be turned into foolishness\u2014and may our infatuated nation repent, while the day of her Salvation is yet at hand.\nDe Gyzelaer Survives John Luzac\u2014is his administrator and the Guardian of his Sons\u2014You have, long Since, done homage to that\u2014Virtuous Statesman\u2014that enlightened frend of John Luzac\u2014if real meritts have a claim with the Bostonian Academicians, whom you honour by your presidenc\u00ff\u2014what men worthy member can fill withe dignity the place of John Luzac\u2014except it was another of his warm frends Theophilus Parsons\u2014and I know\u2014your high Character too well, than to Suspect, that this hint could be deemed an intrusion\u2014Luzac would have given me his Sincerest thanks for this proof of my frendship towards him\u2014\nPermit me, to recommend me in to your continued remembrance\u2014how would it flatter\u2014how would it exalt me in my own eyes\u2014if, thro you, I participated a Small Share of that of mrs Adams\u2014tho not a john\u2014Luzac\u2014tho Scarce known to her in person;\u2014But did I not owe to my frend Luzac too, that you deemed me not unworth\u00ff your attention\u2014upon his recommendation?\u2014\nI am with the highest consideration and respect / Dear Sir! / Your most obed. and obliged Sert.\nFr. Adr. van dr Kemp.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "11-09-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5215", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Rev. John Disney, 9 November 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Disney, Rev. John\nDear Sir,\nQuincy near Boston Novber. 9th. 1807.\nI was agreably surprised, the last week on receiving a very kind and obliging letter from you, dated at the Hide near Inglestone the 24th. of Augst. a seat where I had formerly passed many agreable hours with a Gentleman whom I esteemed as a man of sense and letters and as a Friend of Liberty and Humanity.\u2014It is true that several Letters have passed between me and Mr. Brand Hollis: I have but a confused recollection of their Contents, and if I preserved any Copies of mine, which I cannot determine by my memory, I have not time at present to search for them among my old papers and Letter Books long since laid aside; I have no hesitation however to confide to your discretion, to make any use of them you may think proper.\u2014Mrs. Adams desires me to say to you, that she has so much respect for your Judgment that she is willing you should make what use you please of hers, though she had no remembrance of any part of what they contain and had even forgotten, that she had ever written\u2014to Mr. Hollis.\u2014Had not the French Revolution prevented; you would have found a more numerous Collection of Letters from me to Mr. Hollis.\u2014That terrible event and the furious spirit of Party which it diffused through, rendered all Correspondence useless and in my situation dangerous both to me and my Friend.\nAs it was impossible to write freely, I determined not to write at all \u2014and consequently discontinued all Correspondance with any part of Europe: This I considered as a Misfortune, as it certainly was a great Mortification and self denial to me.\u2014From the first symptoms of a Revolution in France, even from the first assembly of the Notables, I dreaded the Consequences not only to that Nation but to England and all Europe as well America and have never had any other but one opinion of it from that time to this\u2014I knew the Men who were to be foremost in it, and that they had neither Experience among a free People nor any correct notions of a free Government.\nAs it has been the most cruel\u2014so it might be made the most instructive Example that has occured in the History of the World, but unhappily I see no disposition to make the proper inferences from it.\u2014If Atheism and Infidelity if superstition and Hipocricy; if Corruption and Immorality, if Despotism and Arbitrary Power, if the Aristrocracy of Birth and Wealth, if the cruel, bloody and merciless spirit of Democracy, should fall into Disgrace in Consequence of it, and a well regulated mixed Government, come into Esteem, Mankind might derive a Consolation for the many inexpressible horrors of it.\u2014But I see no apperiance of any such Things\u2014I see nothing but false inferences drawn from it in any Country. It is to be wished that when a calmer time shall come, more independent and sagacious Reflections may be made upon it.\u2014But in General Mankind will not tolerate, free and upright discussions on the subject of Government\u2014\nThe situation of our two Countries is a source of Grief to me: not that I am very apprehensive of an immediate War: but discussions and Resentments are afloat, which will produce injuries and offences, and keep alive a spirit of Ill will on both sides\u2014\u2014France wishes us at War with England, and England wishes us at War with France\u2014I am for good will to all nations, and see no reason why we should be subservient to any.\u2014Some pretended Friends of England however took offence at my impartiality, and contributed to throw all power into the hands of Men who were not so impartial as I was.\u2014I have not so much knowledge of Mr. Buckminster as I hope to have soon.\u2014He is a young Gentleman who stands at least as high in the Estimation of his Country as any one of his age\u2014\u2014He is much pleased with his Visit at the Hide and is gratefull for your Attention to him.\u2014He Delivered me a message from your Gardner, with which I was much pleased, as I was with him and his family, when I was at Mr. Hollis\u2019s seat. Please to present my regards to him\u2014I rejoice, that my Countrymen the two Pine Trees, together with the Garden and seat of my Friend Hollis are in the Hands of so worthy and finally a keeper, and that they, (the garden and seat I mean) may long remain a Comfort and an honour to yourself and Family is the wish of mine as well as of your obliged Friend / and servant\nJ. A.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "11-11-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5216", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Benjamin Rush, 11 November 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Rush, Benjamin\nMy dear Phylosopher and Friend\nQuincy November 11 1807\nI have, long before the receipt of your favour of the 31 of October, supposed that either you were gazing at the Comet or curing the Influenza: and in either case, that you was much better employed than in answering my idle Letters. Pray! have our Astronomers at Phyladelphia, observed that Stranger in the Heavens? Have they noted its Bearings and Distances, its Course and progress! whence it came and whither it goes.? or are Astronomers in America as rare as they are in other Parts of the World? Franklin has Several times related to me an Anecdote concerning Astronomers in England. Government had an occasion to send an Astronomer abroad upon Some Service. The Ministry asked the Royal Society to recommend one: they appointed a Committee to enquire for a Suitable Character. Franklin who was one of the Committee, Said that he and all his Colleagues, upon looking over the List of the Society were astonished to find, how few, had ever studied that science. I am very much afraid that our Scientific Societies in America, are at least as deficient in Numbers of Students of the Universe and the Sum of Things as England.\u2014Have our Physicians in Phyladelphia made any new observations on, that horrid Endemical Distemper that has employed you so much. It Seems to have become, a Complaint of every year, and of two or three times in a year. This last has been the most universal and most irksome and the most unmanageable of any I ever knew.\nI presume the Lawyer whom you mention has founded his opinion upon that of Rochefaucault, Mandeville Hobbs, Machiavel, and I had almost Said Tacitus, that there is no Such thing in Nature, actual or possible as a disinterested Action, and that the Testator must have been non Compos, when he supposed such a Thing possible. Brother Lawyer! Thou art not Sound. Thou hast no Faith in Virtue! Butler, Hutchinson or even Shaftesbury might have taught thee Better. Perhaps you will say that God alone can judge, what is or is not a disinterested action. Though this is true in an absolute sense, yet Men can judge according to their best information and discernment, and if the Testator made his Executor the judge, he must determine according to his own understanding and Conscience. I should deprecate a Solemn Judgment of any Court, that such Legacy was void.\nSelf taught or Book learned in the Arts, our Hero, was much indebted to his Talents for \u201chis immense elevation above his Fellows.\u201d Talents? You will Say, what Talents? I answer. 1. An handsome Face. That this is a Talent, I can prove by the Authority of a thousand Instances in all Ages: and among the rest Madame DuBarry who said Le veritable Royaute est la Beaut\u00e9 2. A tall Stature, like the Hebrew Sovereign chosen because he was taller by the Head than the other Jews. 3 An elegant Form. 4. graceful Attitudes and Movements. 5. a large imposing Fortune consisting of a great landed Estate left him by his Father and Brother, besides a large Jointure with his Lady, and the Guardianship of the Heirs of the great Custis Estate, and in Addition to all this, immense Tracts of Land of his own Acquisition. There is nothing, except bloody Battles and Splendid Virtues, to which Mankind bow down with more reverance than to great fortune. They think it impossible that rich Men especially immensely rich Men, Should submit to the trouble of Serving them but from the most benevolent and distinterested Motives. Mankind in general are so far from the opinion of the Lawyer, that there are no disinterested Actions, that they give their Esteem to none but those which they believe to be Such. They are oftener deceived and abused in their Judgments of disinterested Men and Actions than in any other, it is true. But such is their Love of the Marvellous, that they will believe and such their Admiration of uncommon Generosity that they will believe extraordinary Pretensions to it and the Pope says si bonus Populus vult decipi, decipiatur. Washington however did not deceive them. I know not that they gave him more credit for disinterestedness, than he deserved though they have not given many others so much. 6. Washington was a Virginian. This is equivalent to five Talents. Virginian Geese are all Swans. Not a Bearne in Scotland is more national, not a Lad upon the High Lands is more clannish, than every Virginian I have ever known. They trumpet one another with the most pompous and mendacious Panegyricks. The Phyladelphians and New Yorkers who are local and partial enough to themselves are meek and modest in Comparison with Virginian Old Dominionism. Washington of course was extolled without bounds.\nWashington was proceeded by favourable Anecdotes. The English had used him ill, in the Expedition of Braddock. They had not done Justice to his Bravery and good Council. They had exaggerated and misrepresented his defeat and Capitulation: which interested the Pride as well as compassion of Americans in his favour. President Davis had drawn his Horroscope by calling him \u201cthat Heroic youth, Col. Washington.\u201d Mr Lynch of South Carolina told me before We met in Congress in 1774 that \u201cColonel Washington had made the most eloquentt speech that ever had been Spoken upon the Controversy with England, viz That if the English Should Attack the People of Boston, he would raise a thousand Men at his own expence and march at their head to New England to their Aid.\u201d Several other favourable Stories proceeded his appearance in Congress and in the Army. 8 He possessed the Gift of Silence. This I esteem as one of the most prescious Talents. 9. He had great Self Command. It cost him a great Exertion sometimes, and a constant Constraint, but to preserve so much Equanimity as he did, required a great Capacity. 10. Whenever he lost his temper as he did Sometimes, either Love or fear in those about him induced them to conceal his Weakness from the World. Here you see I have made out ten Talents without saying a Word about Reading Thinking or writing, upon all which subjects you have Said all that need be Said.\u2014You See I Use the Word Talents in a larger sense than usual, comprehending every Advantage. Genius Experience, Learning, Fortune Birth, Health are all Talents, though I know not how, the Word has been lately confined to the faculties of the Mind.\nDid not Ratcliff Give a Library to the University of Oxford?\u2014He had Wit at Will. Riding one day by a new brick building, he saw the scaffolding give Way under a Mason who was laing Bricks and the Work which had been laid following the scaffold, buried the Workman and crushed him to death. Ratcliff cried out before the Man or the Bricks had reached the Ground \u201cBlessed are the dead who die in the Lord for they cease from their Labours, and their Works shall follow them.\u201d a thousand other stories are told of his Wit. Whether he read or not he affected to be a profound Metaphisician. I read in England, at Mr William Vassalls of Clapham, in Manuscript, a Demonstration of Atheism written by this Dr Ratcliff, as abstruce and profound as the Writings of Condorcet. The Writer at least seemed to think it profound, or to wish that others might think it so: but it was a miserable Piece of Sophistry, worthy of Diderot.\nI admire the Subject of your intended Lecture. A Story goes of our Universalist Murray It is said that more than twenty years ago he preached upon the Subject of Animals in a future state and asserted that they would all be saved, even down to the Ladies Lapdogs. He told the Ladies they need not fear the loss of the favourite Animals, for he could assure them that even Bounce should wag his Tail in Glory.\u2014I once told Murray the Story and asked him if it was true? Ah, Said Murray you will hear a thousand Such Stories about me.\nPray cannot you contrive to get the Trees and Plants into a future State too? I Should like to think that Groves and Forrests, Apple Peach Pear and Plumb trees oranges &c. might be seen in the Abodes of the blessed. The Earl of Shelbourne\u2019s Bishop Watson, while he was a Chymist, which I wish he had been to this day printed a very respectable Pamphlet, to shew that Vegetables were animated. He did not publish it, but I made interest enough with him to obtain a Copy of it. Who knows but Vegetables and Animals are all in a course to become rational and immortal. There is room enough in the Universe. Hershell digs up Starrs in the heavens, fixed Starrs, all Suns with Planetts Satilites and Comets, layer after layer and Stratum under Stratum, ten million times faster and more numerous than my Men dig Potatoes out of the Earth. Why Should We Set limits then to our benevolence, or the predominant benevolence in the Universe. Let Sensibility Animation, Intelligence Virtue and Happiness be universal; with all my heart. Think not that I am laughing. I assure you I soberly approve your Subject and your manner of treating it, as far as you have communicated it to me.\nNow for that resolute Word. \u201cNo.\u201d...I ought to have said No to the Appointment of Washington, and Hamilton and some others: and yes to the appointment of Burr, Muhlenburg and some others. I ought to have appointed Lincoln and Gates and Knox and Clinton &c But if I had said Yes and No in this manner the Senate would have contradicted me in every Instance. You ask what would have been the Consequence. I answer Washington would have been chosen President at the next Election, if he had lived, and Hamilton would have been appointed Commander in Chief of the Army. This would have happened as it was, if Washington had lived and this was intended. With all my Ministers against me, a great Majority of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives, I was no more at Liberty than a Man in a Prison, chained to the floor and bound hand and foot, an Idea that was once held up by a Parson Burr of Worcester an Anceter of Aaron as I suppose, as an illustration of human Liberty. I was perfectly at Liberty to stay there. I have given you Paradoxes enough under this Word No. But I will justify any of them if you desire it. Washington ought either to have never gone out of Public Life, or he ought never to have come in again.\nI have a great Curiosity to know what Richard saw and heard at Richmond which it is not lawfull to tell. Symptoms of a Corruption, allarming to the Friends of rational Liberty, appear in every Part of our Country. They will have their usual Course and their usual termination. We are like other Men\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "11-11-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5217", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Abiel Holmes, 11 November 1807\nFrom: Holmes, Abiel\nTo: Adams, John\nMr. Holmes, presenting his respects to President Adams, takes the liberty to ask of him an account of General Oglethorpe, and particularly of what passed between the general and him in the interviews when the President was in London after the Peace of 1783. Mr. Holmes has noticed in Boswell\u2019s Life of Johnson mention made of a MS. Memoir of Oglethorpe, and does not despair of obtaining it. He hopes yet to see a full account of that extraordinary man.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "11-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5218", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Abiel Holmes, 14 November 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Holmes, Abiel\nDear Sir\nQuincy November 14. 1807\nI am Sorry it is not in my power to give you much information relative to General Oglethorpe in complyance with your desire in your favour of the Eleventh of this Month.\nRecovering from a great Sickness in Paris in the Fall of the year after the Signature of the Definitive Treaty of Peace in 1783 I was advised by my Phesicians to take a Passage to Bath in England, for the purpose of Using the Waters for the restoration of my health which was reduced very low. In London, General Oglethrope came twice to my Lodgings at Mr Stockdales in Piccadilly to See me, but as I happened to be out I had not the honor to see him. Summoned immediately to Holland, by the pressing Necessities of my Country I was obliged to leave England, not only without returning the Visit of General Oglethorpe, but without Tasting the Waters at Bath, though I went there and Staid at least one night. Mr Robert Morris had been bold enough to draw upon my Banker\u2019s for fifteen hundred thousand Guilders, when there was no Money in their hands, the Bills had been protested for Non Acceptance, and I was obliged to go over to Amsterdam, to borrow the Money necessary to prevent their Protest for Non Payment, an Event which would not only have involved the United States in an immense Loss of Interest and Damages but would have been a fatal blow to American Credit. Although I was extreamly weak and greatly exhausted I performed the Voyage and the Journey in the frozen month of January 1784: a Boisterous Stormy Voyage of three days across the Channel, and a wearisome Journey, over the Island of Goree in Boors Waggons, i.e. Horse Carts, over the Rivers and Arms of the Sea in Iceboats. Thus with infinite fatigue and at the hazard of my Life, I Saved the Credit of my Bills of Exchange. But I heard no more of General Oglethorpe, till Midsummer 1785 When Congress Sent me to England as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James\u2019s. Within a Day or two after my Arrival in London had been announced in the Newspapers, a Servant announced General Oglethorpe. From my Chambers in the Bath Hotel I went to the head of the Stairs, intending to go down to the Front Door to receive but him: but I met a tall upright elderly Gentleman running upstairs with the Agility and Vivacity of a youth of five and twenty. He took a Seat with my Family, was very polite and complementary, \u201chad come to pay his respects to the first American Ambassador and his Family whom he was very glad to See in England, expressed a great Esteem and regard for America, much regret at the Misunderstanding which had existed between the two Countries and was very happy to have lived to see the termination of it.\u201d He asked many Questions concerning America, and concerning General Washington, was very talkative and facetious, said a good deal about himself, and particularly that his Friends had lately joked him about his being in Love. He Said he begged them to look in his Face and See if they could not see traces of Age, that was Superiour to all the Charms of Love &c &c &c. All this time, Although I Saw he was advanced in years I had no suspicion of his real age.\nIn due time I returned his Visit; and supposing his Visit to me to have been a mere Ceremony I expected only to have left my Card, but he was at home and insisted on my coming into his House, where I found him Sitting at his Table, with the Cloth not removed, with a Lady two decanters of Wine, one of Port and the other Madeira and some Glasses. He gave me a very warm and cordial Reception, entertained me an hour or two, Was very fluent and animated, rambled all over Europe, and gave me a great deal of friendly Advice concerning the Policy of my Country. I heard him with great pleasure and Silent Attention. Indeed he Scarcely allowed me time to put in a Word. His Advice was either common place Opinions Such as every American was familiar with, or Ideas that I could not perceive to be of any use to Us, Such for Example as an Alliance between the United States and Switzerland. I had as much Esteem and regard for Switzerland at that time as the General had but I could not see in what manner that Country could be very beneficial to Us, nor how We could promote the Interests of Switzerland, though I made no Objections to any of his Plans but heard them all with patience and Attention.\nHe Said much about himself and his Enterprize in Georgia, but mentioned no particulars of any Consequence which I remember, except that he had entered very early into the Army had been early a General Officer, and particularly that he had been a General Officer under the Duke of Marlborough. This convinced me that he must be very Aged but I did not yet realize his true Age. I Saw no more of General Oglethorpe. In about a month the Newspapers informed Us of his Death at his Country Seat, at the uncommon age of one hundred and four Years.\nLooking over this Letter I am ashamed to see So much more about myself than about General Oglethorpe: but this is all I know about the latter and you may burn the former if you please.\nWith great Esteem I am Sir your very friendly\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "11-21-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5219", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Amos J. Cook, 21 November 1807\nFrom: Cook, Amos J.\nTo: Adams, John\nSir,\nFryeburg Novr. 21. 1807.\nHaving the honor to be Preceptor of the Academy in this place, and feeling interested in the diffusion of science and literature in general, I am respectfully led to request the favor of your sending me by mail, or otherwise, as you may think proper, a specimen of your handwriting, to be preserved in the cabinet of curiosities, collecting in our Institution for the benefit of students.\u2014I need not add how highly such a favor wou\u2019ld be prized; nor how time would be continually rendering it more and more valuable.\nYour personal acquaintance and intimacy with General Washington induces me to suppose it in your power, likewise, to furnish a specimen of his writing; and perhaps that of others, whose characters are to be respected, so long as virtue should be rewarded.\u2014\nImpressed with sentiments of respect, permit me, dear Sir, / to subscribe myself your much obliged and very humble / servant,\nAmos J. Cook.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "11-30-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5220", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Amos J. Cook, 30 November 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Cook, Amos J.\nSir\nQuincy November 30th. 1807\nI have received the favour of your letter of the 21st. day of this month, and have complied with your request so far as to inclose with this letter, a Copy in my hand writing, of some Latin Verses, which I copied into my Pencil Book, in December 1779 from an inscription over the Door of the Cell of a Monk in Corunna in Spain.\u2014The moral is so good, that they are worth the attention of the young Classical Gentleman under your instruction, and I should like to see a translation of them into English Verse or prose by one of your schollars. With my best Wishes for the success of your Labours and the reputation of the Academy at Fryeburg, I have the hounor to be Sir your most obedient servant\nJ. AdamsHere follow the Verses \u2013\nSi tibi pulchra domus, si splendida mensa, quid inde?\nSi species auri, atque argenti massa, quid inde?\nSi tibi sponsa decens, si sit generosa; quid inde?\nSi fueris pulcher, fortis, divesve, quid inde?\nLongus servorum, si serviat ordo: quid inde?\nSi doceas alios in qualibet arte; quid inde?\nSi rideat mundus; si prospera cuneta; quid inde?\nSi Prior aut Abbas, si Rex, si Papa; quid inde?\nSi rota fortun\u00e6, te tollat ad astra; quid inde?\nAnnis si f\u0153lix regnes mille; quid inde?\nTam cito praetereunt, h\u00e6c omnia, qu\u00e6 nihil inde?\nSola manent Virtus, qu\u00e2 glorificabimur inde:\nErgo Deo servi; quia sat tibi provenit inde,?\nQuod fuisse volens in tempore quo morieris\nHoc facias juvenis, dum corpore Janus haberis\nQuod nobis concedas Deus noster. Amen.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "12-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5221", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Fran\u00e7ois Adriaan Van der Kemp, 1 December 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Van der Kemp, Fran\u00e7ois Adriaan\nDear Sir,\nQuincy December 1st. 1807.\u2014\nI sympathize with you in all your Expressions of grief in your favour of Nov. 1st. at the melancholly Catastrophy of so many worthy persons your friends at Leyden and elsewhere.\nYou derive consolation from the only source from which it can be drawn.\u2014If I knew of any other I would joyfully administer it to you, as well as to myself.\u2014\nHunc solem et Stellas et decedentia certis\nTempora momentis, sunt qui formidine nulla\nImbuti spectant.\nThis Vault of Air, this congregated Ball\nSelf center\u2019d sun and stars that rise and fall\nThere are my friends whose Philosophick Eyes,\nLook through and trust the Ruler with his Skies.\nYou have very much obliged me by the information you have given me concerning our friend De Gyzelaer. I rejoice that he is Administrator on Mr. Luzars Property and Guardian of his Children.\u2014I pray you to write me, as soon as possible, the Christian Name, the place of Abode and the present and passed Titles & office of this our very deserving friend De Gyzelaer.\u2014Parsons is a member of the Academy, and has been such from its first incorporation\u2014I never knew however that he had any correspondence with Luzac or any knowledge of him.\u2014The hint you give me is so far from being an intrusion, that I thank you for it, and if you give me the necessary information, I hope you will one day hear more of it.\u2014\nI think as little as possible and say less of our public affairs, because it would be useless to speak or think.\u2014The best and ablest men are neglected, despised, and insulted, the worst are applauded, honoured, and trusted. The best measures are unpopular, and such as are not best are adopted; But even these are not popular, because they are not the very worst that could be persued.\u2014I have no more to say.\u2014\nNihil tam incertum nec tam in\u00e6stimabile est, quam Animi multitudinis. Livy and all the other Historians may say what they will: but they are not regarded any more than Experience. Atheniensis literis verbisque, quibus solis volent, bellum adversus Philippum girabant.\u2014Nec unquam ibi desunt lingua promptu ad plebem concitandam: quod genus, in omnibus biberis civitatibus tum pr\u00e6cipue Athenis, ubi oratio plurimum pollet, favore multitundinis alitum.\u2014The history of Sparta and Athens, after they began to love money, and had become commercial and grown rich, should be read, though it will not be regarded by us.\u2014We were commercial and rich too before our Democratical Goverments were instituted, and we have immensely increased both in trade and wealth since. Our Merchants are Princes and our Trafickers the honorabl of the Earth\u2014So were those of Tyre and Sidon, Sodom and Gomorrah.\nLet me hear from you as soon as possible, especially relative to De Gyzelaer.\u2014\nJ. A.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "12-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5223", "content": "Title: From John Adams to William Heath, 14 December 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Heath, William\nDear Sir\nQuincy December 14. 1807\nAs I did not wish to oppress you with my Letters I have not acknowledged the receipt of your favour of the 18th of May, though I received it in due Season and esteemed it very highly.\nI have seen lately in the Chronicle, that like the good Steward you bring out of your Treasury Things new and old, and in very good Season. The Military Countryman written five or six and thirty years ago I have relished like the best of old Wine. I seemed to be conversing with an old Friend, whom I had not seen for an Age: and was agreably surprized to find so compendious an Abridgment of the Art of War, so comprehensive and yet so concise, produced by a young Officer of our own so long before the revolutionary War commenced. I have Seen among the Writings of Jean Jaque Rousseau an Epitomy of the Art of War, drawn up with long Study and great Labour, and embellished with all the ornaments of his enchanting Eloquence which I should be very glad to compare with yours. But I know not where to find it. The Editor of a Collection of Tracts in which I read it, observed that there was nothing comparable to it in Marshall Saxe or the Chevalier Folard.\nIt is very fashionable to impute all Wars to the Ambition of Kings. Is this conformable to Truth? Does not the History of all the Republicks of the World shew, that they have been as ambitious, as Monarchies. Even the most democratical Republick of Athens Antiquity Athens, was a perfect Hotspur. Even our People in America, have been more inclined to a War, than their Government for these fifteen years past. There has been no year within that Period when they would not have gone to War with England with pleasure. There is always in a Democracy some Themistocles or Pericles, some Alexander Hamilton or Aaron Burr, weary of the dull pursuits of civil Life and impatient to be at the head of affairs. We have not only such Causes within ourselves, but others from abroad, which will not suffer us to enjoy a perpetual peace. We seem to be upon bad terms with France and Spain as well as England and have too many causes as well as motives of War against all the three Powers. I fear We cannot reasonably hope to preserve our tranquility very long. England is jealous of our Commerce our Capitals and our Seamen. She envies and dreads Us and would willingly give Us a Severe Check. All these and a thousand other Considerations concur in demonstrating the Wisdom of your Sentiments, and the merit of your patriotick Zeal to arouse a military Spirit among our fellow Citizens, and to encourage the Study of all the Sciences Subservient to the Defence of the Nation, as well as the Prepartion of the Means.\nNapoleon who is not only possessed of consummate military Talents but of great historical Knowledge, Seems to have learn\u2019d a Lesson from those ancient Parthians who cutt off the head and hands of Crassus, and totally defeated and ruined the finest Army that Rome ever had assembled. The Velocity of their Motions, was one of the principal Causes of their Tryumph. They were Troops not to be escaped when they pursued, nor overtaken when they fled. France owes a great part of her Successes to the same rapidity. The March of their Armies is like Lightning and their Artillery flies as fast as their Men and Horses. We must adopt their Policy. We ought every where to be provided with all the apparatus of a flying field Artillery. I perfectly approve of all your Ideas on this Subject and have long been convincd of their propriety and Necessity. I wrote to McHenry, when I was President and he Secretary of War, to prepare a Report to me of a System for Such a flying Artillery to be laid before Congress. But whether his Idol Hamilton did not approve it, or whatever other reason he had for the Neglect, it was not done.\nI am happy too to find that We agree so well in the Utility and Necessity of military Accademies. This is a very old favourite of Us both. In 1777 I believe it was I moved and carried in Congress Several Resolutions recommending to the States to establish military Accademies for the Instruction of youth and the Formation of officers. But I believe nothing was done in any one State. And I fear your recommendation will not have the Influence it deserves, because We too much resemble the Miser who kept his Guines in his old Shoes under his bed, exposed to be Stolen by his own Domesticks or any other Thieves because he loved his Money too well to afford a trifle to purchase a Strong Box.\nIn the Journal of Congress 1: October, 1776, I find it\n\u201cResolved that a Committee of five be appointed to prepare and bring in a Plan of a military accademy at the Army: The members chosen Mr Hooper, Mr Lynch, Mr Wythe, Mr Williams and Mr J. Adams.\u201d\nDo you remember whether any thing was ever done in it, at Head Quarters?\nI am Sir, with much Esteem your old Friend / and most humble Servant\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "12-15-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5225", "content": "Title: To John Adams from Robert Smith, 15 December 1807\nFrom: Smith, Robert\nTo: Adams, John\nSir,\nNavy Department 15th Decr 1807\nI have the honor of herewith transmitting to you, for your acceptance, an impression of the medal, presented, to the late Commodore Edward Preble, in pursuance of the resolution of Congress, of the 3rd March 1805.\nI have the honor to be, / with great respect, / sir, yr. mo. ob. st.\nRt Smith", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "12-28-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5226", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Benjamin Rush, 28 December 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Rush, Benjamin\nMy dear Philosopher and Friend\nQuincy Decr. 28, 1807\nI thank you for your printed lecture on the humanity Economy and other virtues, which require of us, more attention to our domestick animals, and especially to their diseases. We see our horses, horned cattle, sheep, swine and other species, as well as our cats and dogs, sick or wounded and no body knows what to do with them or for them, so that a broken bone or a fit of sickness is almost certain death. The animal Economy in all of them is in general, I suppose nearly the same in them as in us, and the Sciences of anatomy and medicine might be studied in the same manner in their cases and in ours.\nThe clamour of your city is too late. Pennsylvania may thank herself for the evil she feels. She has not only established the permanent residence of Congress at Washington, but she has established a perpetuity of absolute Power at the Southward of Potomack, under which, however she may complain she must suffer. The union is not a palace of ice, nor a Castle of glass. There must be an intense heat to melt it, and very hard blows to break it. One war will not dissolve it, Deep and strong are its roots in the judgments and hearts of the people. A dozen Hamiltons & Burrs will be killed in duels or hanged, before the union will be broken. Washington beleived, bona fide the Federal City would be the Nexus utriusque Mundi, and bind together not only the Northern and Southern States, but the Transalleganians with the Atlantic states. How far his interests and the consideration of the rise in the value of his lands might influence him in the formation of this opinion, I leave to the Searcher of all hearts. My Judgment was in favour of an unshackled residence at Philadelphia; and I consequently voted against every project of a permanent residence and a federal City, till mr. Robert Morris deserted me, and left me in a minority or rather made a majority in Senate, and left me without a vote.\n\u201cGreat abilities\u201d \u201cextraordinary abilities,\u201d \u201cGreat talents,\u201d \u201cBrilliant talents\u201d \u201cSplendid talents,\u201d \u201cextraordinary man,\u201d \u201cThe most extraordinary man that this or any other age has produced,\u201d \u201cacute and elegant mind,\u201d \u201cable and eminent man,\u201d \u201coverwhelming eloquence\u201d &c &c &c are the modest epithets, which become the common place expressions concerning every Virginian from Patrick Henry and R. H. Lee down to J. Randolph and Mr. Munroe. Huzza for Virginia!\nKnowing as I did the humanity, delicacy and piety of your sentiments on the Subject of duels; I felt so much distress for you and your family that I could not write you, for fear of renewing your grief. I rejoice with you in the alleviations of it, you have received. Your Son was remarked, when he was in Boston, for his manly discretion among his brother officers, Instances of which were repeated to me, by a gentleman who was once present, and observed it with pleasure, The custom is too much considered as a law, especially in the Army and Navy. It is certainly a remnant of a barbarous superstition, but whether the world will ever be rid of it, I know not.\nThe resemblance you remark between the arguments in 1774 and 1775, and this time really exists. Who will argue, and what will be the arguments in favour of the Sovereign of the World to apply to Napoleon, the Epithet which Dryden applies to Alexander in his Feast? The Dutch once declared war against England, France, and Spain all at once, and fought them all with great intrepidity. Shall we follow their example? fight them all with 240 Gunboats?\nI wish you would cure our Rulers of the Hydrophobia! Yet, if they should get well of it now, it seems to be almost too late. I suppose they have thought with Gen. Lee that Prudence was a rascally virtue. I wish their inattention and want of foresight may not expoze them to Capture and imprisonment by the enemy, as his did him. If ever a nation was guilty of imprudence, ours has been so in making a naval force and maritime preparations unpopular. But any thing, no matter what, to turn J. A. out, and come under the Dominion of Virginia. Huzza again for Virigina! Hail Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania! Sacrifice, loyally your Commerce and clank your chains in harmonious concert with Virginia! She tells you that commerce produces money, money luxury; and all three are incompatible with republicanism! Virtuous, simple frugal Virginia hates money, and wants it only for Napoleon, who desires it only to establish freedom through the world!\nMy friend the times are too serious. Instead of the most enlightened people, I fear we Americans shall soon have the character of the silliest people under Heaven.\nJ. A.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "12-28-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5227", "content": "Title: From John Adams to Robert Smith, 28 December 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Smith, Robert\nSir\nQuincy December 28. 1807\nI have received with pleasure, the letter you did me the honor to write me, on the fifteenth of this month: and pray you to accept my thanks for the impression of a medal, presented to the late Commodore Edward Preble in pursuance of the resolution of Congress of the third of March, one thousand eight hundred and five. This medal, in honor of the Commodore and in commemoration of a Splendid Event in the early History of our Naval Exertions, becomes more interesting by the unfortunate loss of that brave and able officer. The Design is ingenious and the execution respectable. The Portrait is an exact resemblance: and the Reverse will light up the fires of Ambition in the breast of every American Seaman. May they become a flame of Glory that Shall Shine more and more untill the perfect day. I have the Honor / to be, with much Esteem, Sir your most obedient / and humble Servant\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "12-28-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-02-02-5228", "content": "Title: To John Adams from William Heath, 28 December 1807\nFrom: Heath, William\nTo: Adams, John\nDear Sir\nRoxbury Decemr. 28th. 1807\nI have to acknowledge the receipt of your highly esteemed favor of the 14th. current, and to ask your pardon for not doing it sooner, which has been prevented by particular engagements,\nIn my attempts to arouse the military genius of my fellow Countrymen, your declarations of approbation and coincidence of sentiment, are no Small encouragment and Support.\nI do not recollect, to have seen the epitomy of the art of war, which you mention, unless under a nother character\u2014The French have many books on the subject,\u2014The British but few on the art of war, but many on military discipline, Capt. Otway, indeed, favoured the British with the translation, of a very excellent essay from the French of the celebrated Count Turpin, and a nother English officer with a translation of the \u201cregulations for the Prussian Infantry\u201d, and also of the \u201cmilitary Instructions of the King of Prussia\u201d, this translator does not speak highly of the performance of the Chevalier Folard, who he saies was beyond doubt a man of much military erudition but intolerably prolix, full of repetition, and extravagantly chimerical\u2014we must observe that one was a frenchman, the other an Englishman,\u2014the latter goes on to observe that if the few practical Instructions of the King of Prussia, are properly attended to, will be of more real use to an officer, than all the ideal, impracticable man\u0153uvres, of all the french writers that were ever published,\u2014I fully agree, with him in estimation of the Prussian Instructions, which I think are the best extant but in all the others, there are some things worthy of notice.\nDifferent nations, at different times, have appeared to excel in the Art of war, as great geniuses have sprang up among them,\u2014to say nothing of the ancients, in more modern times, the Spanish army was once considered as a military school,\u2014at a nother time that of the Dutch, when enterprising geniuses went to acquire a knowledge of the art of war, in Flanders under Prince Maurice of Nassau, who was frequently stiled by the military writers of his time, the reviver of the discipline of the ancients,\u2014was in Some degree eclipsed by the great Gustavus Adolphus, whose exploits were more brilliant, and his successes more rapid,\u2014had Gustavus lived, he would probably have exhibited greater stretches of genius,\u2014to the world;\u2014you will recollect that after fighting two memorable Battles he was killed at Lutzen,\u2014but the Swedes after loosing him maintained their reputation for valour and discipline for many years, which proves that during the short time Gustavus lived, he had formed many excellent officers.\nLewis the 14th. of France employed Monsieur Martinet, to regulate the discipline of his Infantry after the Dutch manner, Martinet was killed at the Siege of Doesburg,\u2014The Prussian System under the great Frederick Second, whose genius was displayed over the \u201cregulations for the Prussian Infantry\u201d. a work of his fathers (that extravagant lover of tall men) who was better qualified for a drill Adjutant than a General, brought the Prussian Armies under the highest State of discipline to the former, who knew how to improve them and arrested the attention, and admiration of all Europe, Marshal Saxe, was appointed by the King of France to give his Opinion on Several plans of exercise drawn up for the practise of the french armies,\u2014Saxe, gave his opinion in favor of that which was the most like the Prussian, and this seems to have (at least as a ground work) prevaild almost throughout Europe.\nNapoleon has now rushed to view, (like a Comet among the sphere\u2019s) on the theatre of the world, and the world Seem to be Standing as on tiptoe astonished at his career, the science of war you know, is a boundless Space where genius Soars, on her own pinions and higher, or lower, according to their length, and Strength,\u2014on those Napoleon Sports, by those his furious Car is wafted.\nMankind have pretty nearly the Same dispositions whether they live under a monarchy, or in a republick,\u2014They are more Curbed in the former, while like a Hamilton, or a Burr, they venture to discover them in a republic\nYour observation of the Jealousy of great Britain on our growing Commerce, and Capitals is Just, it is a subject which I have frequently revolved in my own mind,\u2014we are not to expect disinterested friendship from any nation on Earth, I hope our country will never be entangled by, or put herself in the power of any of them, but wisely provide for our own defence,\u2014I am happy that we so fully agree and that you have done so much to introduce military academies in the United States\u2014You must persevere, they must be adopted,\nNothing was done at the head Quarters of the American Army in the case which you mention that ever came to my knowledge. our revolution was not an Era, remarkable for the brillancy of military discipline, although astonishingly fortunate in its Issue. wishing you long life, health and prosperity / I have the honour to be / with the highest respect & esteem / Dear Sir / your old friend and humble servt", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1554", "content": "Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to John Quincy Adams, 1 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nBoston Janry. 1st. 1807\nTo offer you, the kindest wishes of the season, my best friend, is almost unnecessary; my happiness, & felicity, in this world, is so interwoven with yours, that I fondly believe, the one cannot be sensible of a joy, or a pain, which is not sincerely participated by the other. To say that I hope each revolving year, may produce additional felicity, is poorly to express describe my feelings; and I must leave it to your own heart, to suggest all that my pen is inadequate to express\u2014\nI scarcely know what I wrote you on Sunday; the distress of my mind, and the dreadful headache it I suffered almost incapacitated me from writing at all, but the fear of occasioning you a moment of painful anxiety, induced me to attempt it, and I fear my pen ran away with my reason, of which I can seldom boast\u2014\nThe acquital of Selfridge, seems to have given great & serious offence to some people. Mrs. Carters House, was surrounded by a mob a few nights since, which they threatend to pull down, and to day, they hung Mr. S. in Effigy in the Mall, which roused the anger of some others, who cut the figure down. Mr. White, the Son of a Carpenter in Boston was almost killed in the attempt. I cannot actually vouch for the truth of this story, but this was told me at noon. It is pity things should be carried such lengths\u2014\nI am very anxious to hear from you, though I thank you a thousand times, for devoting so much more of your precious time to me, than I could reasonably expect. I think George improves in his french, but am almost afraid to say so. I devote the greatest part of the day to him, but cannot prevail on him to speak it. he frequently asks when you mean to return, and is really impatient to see you. John is at Quincy, where I think it is probable he will stay, great part of the winter. I am reconciled, as your Mother cannot live with out him. She looks remarkably well, and was in good spirits. She gave me such an account of Sally, that I cannot think of permitting her to return it seems she has so powerful a propensity to liquor, she is seldom sober, where she can possibly find the means of gratification. I have partly engaged the Boy we now have to live with us this Summer, but it remains for you to decide, his father is a violent Fenno; I do not know how far this might prove an objection; he is intelligent and tinctured with the modern principles, if we engage him he is to have victuals & cloaths while he stays;\u2014\nAdieu my best friend, I regret much the loss of the Book but am happy it does not fall upon you. The Vessel in which I sent the Box, is called the Sally, Capt Brayston, master. I sent Mr. Buckanon a bill of Lading, with a request he would forward it as soon as possible\u2014\nOnce more, my friend, farewel, give my love and best wishes to all, and that the choicest blessings of heaven may you, is the ardent Prayer of your tenderly affectionate, wife\nL. C. A.Papa I wish you many happy years", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1555", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 1 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nMy dear Louisa.\nNew-Year\u2019s day 1807.\nI cannot suffer this day to pass without wishing you and our dear children many and many happy returns of it though my fingers are almost too numb to write\u2014The year has introduced itself with great severity; though with delightful weather\u2014My thermometer this morning stood at 9. which is precisely the lowest point to which it descended through the whole course of last Winter.\nThe Senate adjourned over this day, and I have been with your Mamma, and Sisters to the President\u2019s Annual levee\u2014It was crowded as usual, and in additon to the customary Indian visitors had two Squaws with three children of the Mandan tribe brought by Captain Lewis\u2014They are the most distant and whitest Indians that have ever been seen here\u2014The children are of a lighter complexion than most Spaniards or Italians; and ruddy as Milkmaids.\nI dined yesterday at the President\u2019s\u2014Captain Lewis was there; more altered in manners and appearance, from what he was when we saw him before than I ever beheld any man\u2014I did not know him again though I expected to meet him\u2014I must add that his alteration is to my judgment inexpressibly for the better\u2014But he looks fifteen years older\u2014\nYour Mammas\u2019s things, together with my boots have arrived safe. Mr: Buchanan received and forwarded them immediately\u2014It was very fortunate they were not sent with my boxes of books, neither of which has yet arrived\nMr: Boyd\u2019s child is still quite unwell, though they scarcely know what ails it\u2014All the rest of the family here and there are well.\u2014Adieu my Dear friend; may every happiness you through this and many many succeeding years\u2014So prays again your ever affectionate husband.\nJohn Quincy Adams.Do not forget to give my love and kindest wishes to Caroline\u2014I do not know whether you can read my letter\u2014My fingers are all but frozen\u2014", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-02-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1556", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 2 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nMy dear Louisa.\nWashington 2. Jany: 1807.\nI have just received your letter of 24. Decr: and lament that the expression of my anxiety to hear from you should in any respect have been understood by you as implying any idea of complaint as if you had been negligent in writing\u2014I never had such intention, and have always been convinced of your attention in writing regularly.\nIt gives me great pain to find by your letter that your health & Spirits were so indifferent; and that George continued so ill, that you had been obliged to keep him at home from School\u2014God grant that your next letter may be more cheering\u2014We are here all well\u2014\nYours affectionately\nJohn Quincy Adams.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-05-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1557", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 5 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Thomas Boylston\nMy dear Brother.\nWashington 5. Jany. 1807.\nOn new year\u2019s day I received your very agreeable Letter of Decr: 21st: which I should have answered immediately; but it was not sitting day; and I find no time for my correspondence but while we are in Session\u2014The reason of which is that having become a Jack of so many trades, I employ all the time I have to spare at home, in preparing for my bussiness at Cambridge next Spring\u2014I have therefore been more buckled down to business since the commencement of this Session, than ever before, though we have yet done nothing of a public nature, and the Senate have not been upon the average in Session one hour a day.\u2014Happily I have enjoyed and still enjoy better health than I have known these fifteen years.\u2014Another cause however why I did not answer your letter was that the next morning I received one from my wife with such an account of her health, and that of my dear boy George, that it has kept me in a state of alarm and suspense, so distressing that I was in no situation to answer with that pleasantness which a due return to your letter required\u2014I have been this morning relieved by information this morning from my wife that the children are both well; and you have been long enough a Parent to know how much joy that must have given me.\nI have been witness here, and in some degree a partaker of the distress which the loss of an infant child must occasion\u2014Mr: and Mrs: Hellen have lost their youngest boy, a charming child just turn\u2019d of two years old\u2014His disorder was the same of which Mr: W. Smith\u2019s son John so lately died\u2014They call it here the Hives.\nI congratulate you upon the success of your Causes at the Norfolk Common Pleas.\u2014I do not suppose the question of right respecting the Sea-weed could be settled on the question whether the Special pleas should be filed, but whenever that hopeful idea of more than rank jacobinism shall be duly brought before a Court of Justice, I trust it will meet with the fate which it so richly deserves\u2014I hope the worthy town of Quincy, will act as correctly upon every attempt to draw them into wickedness and absurdity as they have done, and never countenance such profligate combinations against private property, as are this and the half-moon controversy both\u2014\nI have continued to forward you our Documents, though hitherto few of much consequence have been printed\u2014I have also two or three times I think written a few lines to my father with the enclosures; and ought to have written to my dear Mother\u2014She will accept as my apology the same cause which I have alledged to you at the beginning of this letter\u2014I knew she would learn by the receipt of the documents and by my frequent letters to my wife, how we are here; and that she would excuse my omission of writing specially to her on knowing what has really oppress\u2019d me with bussiness here\u2014When Pope undertook the Translation of Homer, he used to dream that he was toiling upon a Journey, to which there was no end\u2014My Lectures for Cambridge, haunt me Night and Day, in the same manner, and not a week passes without my dreaming about them\u2014I hope by the blessing of Heaven at some day to find an end to the Journey they have opened to me; but they must give me unremitting labour for years yet to come.\nWith respect to my farm I shall be satisfied, with what you will do concerning it\u2014My expectations now are not quite so sanguine as when I left you\u2014Time, absence and Reflection have cooled down the ideas, which the anxiety of Vesey and the other applicants had excited, and I remember again what a farm yet is\u2014I rely with perfect confidence on your good offices and discretion\u2014I am very sorry to hear of Mr. Briesler\u2019s illness, and hope he has ere this recovered\u2014I presume he will have no money to pay over to you\u2014I owe him a year\u2019s interest upon a note of hand, which I ought to have paid him before I came away\u2014I desired him if he sold the Cattle to deduct the amount I owed him ($74.30) and credit it upon the note\u2014And I promised him if he could not sell to send him a check for it from here\u2014I will thank you therefore to ask him whether he has paid himself the year\u2019s interest, and given me credit for it upon the note; or whether he expects I should send him the check\u2014If he wishes this, I will send it immediately on receiving your answer.\nYour project of purchasing the house and land of the Vesey\u2019s appears to me a very good one; nor should I suppose $4000 by any means a high price for them\u2014They would in every respect suit you better than your place at Quincy Braintree\u2014I would purchase this of you myself, if I could command the means\u2014\nThe sculls of our members in the House of Representatives have not yet been cracked externally\u2014Their alarm has furnished some merriment to the wits, and I wonder it has not furnished much more\u2014Yet I believe there was real danger\u2014and they did actually sit with something worse than a dagger of lath suspended over their heads.\nMr. J. Randolph if we judge from present appearances, is put upon his good behaviour\u2014It appears to me that in the lapse of ages his name must have gradually changed, and that in the days of Jack Falstaff it was Bardolph:\u2014the same of whom the fat knight says, that he would not swagger against a Barbary-Hen, if her feathers turned up, with any shew of resistance.\nI hope Buonaparte will never undertake to teach him french, as he did the poor king of Prussia\u2014I pity this unfortunate Gentleman too\u2014But the young Dace must be a bait for the old pike\u2014There was no help for it\u2014Like his brother of Austria, he fell because he could not stand\u2014Prince Louis was not the king\u2019s brother\u2014He was a son of Prince Ferdinand; or rather he was one of those of whom Mirabeau says that Count Schmettau was the pere indubitable\u2014Schmettau too, according to the papers was killed in that butchery of Iena; and if so he was a heavy loss.\u2014I have always been of opinion that the Prussian army would never again fight\u2014M\u00f6llendorff had still a soul in his body worthy of old Frederic\u2014But he was turned of 80\u2014and he was all\u2014I knew personally almost every man high in command in the Prussian Armies\u2014I pretend to know nothing of military character\u2014But the conclusion I had drawn from my own observation was that take off M\u00f6llendorff, Schmettau, and Tempelhoff, (I do not see him mentioned in these late accounts) and there was nothing in the Prussian army left but muskets\u2014Artillery\u2014and Uniforms.\nI do most cordially congratulate you and rejoyce with you, at the health and growth of your dear little girl\u2014Heaven grant that she may continue to grow, and thrive, and always be not only as the Hebrew idiom says a desire to the eye\u2014but also a delight to the heart of both her Parents\u2014Remember me affectionately to all the family, and particularly to your wife. Adieu", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-06-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1558", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 6 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nMy dear Louisa.\nWashington 6. Jany: 1807.\nI received yesterday your letter of Decr: 28th: with the enclosures to Mr: & Mrs: Hellen, and to your Mamma\u2014I enclosed to you last Evening a letter from her to yourself, and one for Caroline, but not having received them untill my return from the Capitol which was late, I was obliged, to save the last Evening\u2019s Mail to defer answering your letter untill this morning\u2014\nI take in kind part your observations upon my neglect to pay proper little attentions to Mrs: Hellen; in which I perceive with pleasure your tender affection for your Sister\u2014I submit cheerfully to the voice of reproach from you, when I remember that it was dictated by your love for her\u2014That my heart has bled with the purest sincerity, for her, in this affliction is true; but might perhaps be of no use for me to assert\u2014That I would have done any thing to which my powers of body or of soul are competent to avert the misfortune, or to alleviate her suffering under it, is alike true, though I neither claim nor expect any credit for it; but most equally true it is, that I do not know what are the trifling attentions, by which the heart of a mother can be comforted upon the death of a darling child, and from this ignorance, I am afraid that I have been as deficient in paying them on this occasion as your letter apprehends\u2014\nI lament that Mrs: Hellen should ever have entertained the opinion that my want of attention to her has proceeded from an unjust depreciation of her strength of mind\u2014I have always felt a proper sense of her kindness to us, however unfortunate I may have been in expressing it\u2014Of her strength of mind and genuine Fortitude, I have had at this time the most convincing proof\u2014It has impress\u2019d itself forcibly upon my observation, and has a full share of my respect and admiration\u2014I should certainly be very far from deserving those compliments which you make to the goodness of my heart, if my inattention to the little Chesterfieldian graces of life, proceeded from an overweening, presumptuous confidence in my own abilities, or from a pedantic and foolish overrating of my own occupations\u2014\nFor your sake and for that of your Sisters I have often wished that I had been that man of elegant and accomplished manners, who can recommend himself to the regard of others, by little attentions\u2014I have always known however that I was not, and have been sensible that I could never be made that man\u2014It has perhaps been natural that my deficiency should be imputed to a deeper, and more inexcusable Cause\u2014to a want of proper sensibility\u2014to an unfeeling heart\u2014If the general tenor of my conduct does not authorize persons disposed to kind construction, to ascribe my imperfections to the lighter-shaded fault, I know they must impute it to the darker\u2014If such imputation must befall me, I hope it is erroneous\u2014\nI have said thus much, My dear friend, to reply, as far as I am able, and in the Spirit of kindness, to a complaint, which in the moment of your distress for your Sister, you conceived proper to make against your husband.\nI hope the head ache under which you laboured while you were writing your letter did not out-last the day; and that you have ever since enjoyed uninterrupted health\u2014Your letter before the last had alarmed me for George; and although you only say in your last that the children were well, without mentioning him particularly I hope his cold and cough have been subdued by your care in keeping him from school to take proper remedies; I rejoyce that you took that precaution, and hope he will have no return of the cough\u2014\nWe are here all tolerably well\u2014Mrs: Boyd\u2019s child is quite recovered\u2014I never saw two children more contrasted than this little boy and Mrs: Hellen\u2019s daughter, Mary\u2014The boy is pepper\u2014The girl is oil\u2014Both charming children\u2014Mary is very large for her age, and the sweetest tempered child I ever saw.\nAdieu , Dear Friend; I cannot continue writing without making the family wait for dinner\u2014My love to Caroline and the children.\nAffectionately your\u2019s\nJ. Q. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1560", "content": "Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to John Quincy Adams, 7 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nBoston Dcbr Janry. 7 1806 1807\nI have impatiently waited for letters, my best friend, having recieved none, since last Thursday I sincerely lament, having mentioned Georges Cough. which though it still continues, will I fervently hope, not be attended with any bad consequences. I take every possible precaution to prevent it, and by Dr. Welsh\u2019s advice, do not suffer him to go out of the House, unless the weather is very mild. he may perhaps lose a little time by it from school, but his Lungs have never been strong, since he had the Whooping-cough, and what he loses in English, he perhaps may gain in French\u2014\nI am sorry to inform you that Deacon Storer was yesterday found dead in his bed I never hear\u2019d of it untill just before dinner when Shaw called to let me know it and to bring me the Book which Mr. Duer sent the Funeral is to take place on Friday your Father & Mother are expected in town to attend, which I shall do likewise\u2014\nMr. Osgood as sent an estimate as you requested I know not whether to send it on or send you a copy I believe the latter will be best as I can enclose it in my next if you desire it\nEstimateCarpenters bill including painting and Glazing $7000}Masons bill including all other charges6895.13895Messrs Clap & White have intimated to me that they will pay one half of the expence of the partition wall between you & their building which will be about$. 400The materials of the building of the old building will be worth400800Which deducted from the first Sum leaves13095\nN.B. We calculated for Slate Roof Plaistering the two first Stories the biths of the Shop excepted, & the Ceilings of the two upper do\u2014\nThe expence will be somewhat greater than you expected but the advantage would still be great arising from it should you be able to rent it for what you mention\u2019d to me when the idea first occur\u2019d of building\nAdieu my best beloved friend tell Mama how anxious I am to hear from her & the Girls give my love Boyds & Hellens families & believe most sincerely yours\u2014\nL. C. Adams\n still at Quincy & well", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-09-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1561", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 9 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nMy dear Louisa\nWashington 9. Jany: 1807.\nLast Evening I received your truly kind & affectionate letter of the 1st: instt: and most sincerely reciprocate every sentiment of kindness it contains\u2014It is impossible for me to enjoy life without your affection, and the assurance of possessing it must always be grateful to my heart\u2014So great and so numerous are the blessings for which I ought to be impress\u2019d with the favour of Providence, that, with that I should scarcely have any thing more to ask, but a continuance of what is now freely bestowed.\u2014I would willingly neither say nor do any thing that could give you a moment of pain; and nothing can more contribute to my own happiness than the means of giving pleasure to you\nI have already replied to that part of your letter of Decr: 28. which you refer to in the last\u2014I am fully sensible of the tenderness which dictated the remark, that you had written before under the pain and irritation of illness, and my own thoughts had before suggested the idea to myself\u2014Yet in the observations themselves there was so much of Justice, that I have endeavoured as well as I could to profit by them\u2014as a little attention to Mrs: Hellen, I have written some lines on the occasion of her afflicting loss, with the hope that at this time they may not be unseasonable, and that she will take them as they are meant, in kindness\u2014I have not yet given them to her, and have not time now to send you a copy; which I will however, very shortly\u2014\nWe are all well\u2014Mr: Boyd\u2019s child continues occasionally in a state of health, which gives us uneasiness; but I dined with them yesterday, and he appeared quite well\u2014Last Evening your Mamma and Sisters attended the Ball, but found not much fashionable company there excepting Indians.\nThe enclosed bill was sent me this morning\u2014From the nature of the Articles, and the time when they were furnished, I suppose they must have been taken up by you\u2014But as you did not mention it to me, I presume it escaped your recollection\u2014I therefore send it, to know whether it is correct; and in that case wish you to return it immediately to be discharged\u2014And let me know at the same time if there are any other outstanding bills here\u2014I would rather be informed by yourself of such accounts, than after a length of time by the persons to whom they are due\u2014I shall always with the utmost pleasure discharge any bill, for Articles which can be of use to you, and which your own judgment deems necessary.\nYours faithfully \nJohn Quincy Adams\n Mon cher fils.\nVotre Papa est charm\u00e9 d\u2019apprendre que v\u00f4tre sant\u00e9 est r\u00e9tablie, et il a re\u00e7u avec grand plaisir la bonne ann\u00e9e que vous lui avez \u00e9crite\u2014Mais il auroit mieux aim\u00e9 encore la recevoir en Fran\u00e7ois. J\u2019espere que vous \u00eates toujours bon gar\u00e7on, et toujours ob\u00e9\u00efssant \u00e0 v\u00f4tre chere Maman\u2014Vous sav\u00e9z que le Grand Cheval ne viendra que lorsque vous parlerez entierement Fran\u00e7ois.\u2014Adieu, Mon fils; je vous aime beaucoup, et j\u2019espere dans deux Mois revenir vous embrasser; et vous retrouver aussi bon gar\u00e7on que v\u00f4tre Cousin, qui grandit et apprend \u00e0 merveille.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-13-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1563", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 13 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Thomas Boylston\nMy dear Brother.\nWashington 13 Decemb Jany: 1807\nI received a few days since your favour of the 28th. ulto: with the very interesting account of Selfridge\u2019s trial\u2014A subject upon which there has been much curiosity here; though we had heard nothing of the trial except the short paragraphs in the newspapers.\u2014It has confirmed me in an opinion which I have long since entertained, that for our real security, in the protection of person, property, and fame, whenever faction takes a part in the course of judicial trials, we have infinitely stronger reason to depend upon the purity of Juries, than upon the firmness of Judges. I have scarcely known an instance for years, when Judges have maintained their Independence of Spirit on such occasions\u2014The Pennsylvania Judges flinched on Dannie\u2019s trial.\u2014That Parker should flinch, sitting alone does not at all surprise me, but if you did not mistake his words\u2014if he did put together such syllables as \u201cman-slaughter, at least,\u201d in his charge to that Jury, I shall never consider any-thing that I have dear the more secure, for his holding a seat among the Judges of the Land\u2014\nI have constantly sent you the documents as they issue from the press; but hitherto we have had the drowsiest Session that I have known since I have been in Congress\u2014The Burr conspiracy, the object of which nobody yet seems to understand, is the only thing which appears to agitate our political nerves\u2014You will have seen that it has brought out some precious confessions in Kentuckey\u2014One Judge it seems has been in the constant habit of receiving a pension of $2000 from Spain; and another, according to the phrase of Junius only not accepted a similar bounty. We are receiving admirable comments upon our doctrines of expatriation, and renouncing allegiance and such\u2014In due time we shall understand the subject to perfection\u2014\nThe first debate we have had this Session, has been upon a bill to relieve George Little from a sentence of the Supreme Court loading him with ten thousand & some hundred dollars costs and damages for obeying his Instructions\u2014That same Supreme Court has given some very strange decisions, of which this is one\u2014The bill fought hard through the House of Representatives; but has pass\u2019d to the third reading here, by large majority\u2014I think it will finally pass without further difficulty.\nWe have this day a bill reported by a Committee, for raising another Regiment of troops; but it is still doubtful whether it will pass.\nIf my little John is still with you, give him his Papa\u2019s love, and tell him I am glad to hear he is a good boy, and he must be so till his Uncle can write it without his word only for it.\nThe Attorney General of the U.S. Breckenridge is dead\u2014And we hear there is to be a vacancy of the War Department\u2014But we are not informed yet, by whom the offices are to be filled.\nThe House of Representatives are labouring with convulsive kicks against the Common Law\u2014One Member is for impeaching all Judges who practice on common Law Principles\u2014Another is for indefinite suspension of Habeas Corpus privilege\u2014A third is upon judicial trials in a criminal case for throwing the burden of proof, upon the defendant, whenever suspicion is proved against him\u2014We have had five negro-bills as they are called on the carpet, and seem not so far advanced as we were the first week in the Session\u2014The proposition to appoint an Official Bill-drawer, to shorten useless discussion is not approved.\nWe are well; excepting a child of Mr. Boyd, who appears to me afflicted exactly as your daughter was when she was about two months old\u2014I have seen no part of Mr: Cranch\u2019s family except himself since I came here\u2014Neither have I seen Mrs. Quincy\u2014but they are all well. We live more out of each other\u2019s way than ever.\nBest love and duty to all of your fire-side\u2014and ever remaining your\u2019s\nJ. Q. Adams.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1564", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 14 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nMy dear Louisa.\nWashington 14. Jany: 1807.\nThe last Letter I have received from you was that of the 1st: instt: which I answered last week\u2014I then mentioned to you that I had written some lines to Mrs: Hellen, in consequence of your observations in a preceding letter\u2014and that I would send you a copy of them\u2014They are accordingly now enclosed\u2014Of their merit or demerit, a part belongs to yourself, as they were instigated by your remarks; and with a view to shew some of that attention which I am sensible is too often neglected by me\u2014It is indeed an attention in my own way; and I know not whether it is of a such a nature as you alluded to\u2014However I hope it will give you satisfaction, as Mrs: Hellen was pleased with it.\nSaturday Evening, I was with your Mamma and Sisters at a large party at Mr: Madison\u2019s. There was a supper, at a small table in one of the lower Rooms, to which the company successively retired by turns in portions sufficient to fill it\u2014The supper I heard was very good; for I was not let in to the secret, untill after we got home\u2014Upon which your Sisters enjoyed a good laugh, at my expence.\nSunday, we dined at Mr: Boyd\u2019s; whose child I wish I could say was better\u2014We are all very uneasy for it; and it appears to me to be in a situation very similar to that of my brother\u2019s child, as you remember it was for three months after it was born, before it took the Dysentary. It is attended by Dr Weems, and one Mrs: Lytle a Quaker woman in high repute as a doctress for children\u2014I believe you know quite as much on the subject as she does\u2014The child seems to be in constant pain\u2014In the Night time particularly, and has kept them up now many Nights\u2014Mrs: Boyd herself suffers much in her health, by the fatigue and anxiety she endures\u2014I am suspicious that the child has not sufficient sustenance, and wants feeding\u2014This they are very reluctant at believing, and have not hitherto given it any other subsistence\u2014I still hope the child will do well, but am much concerned for it.\nWe have hitherto had no business to occasion debate; but the House of Representatives have again pass\u2019d a bill for a bridge over the Potowmac; which is now before the Senate, and has already been two or three times postponed\u2014The parties on both sides are warmer than they have ever been before, and I expect we shall have a very animated discussion of the question\u2014The time now fixed for it is next Monday. The General Assembly of Maryland have pass\u2019d a Resolution instructing their Senators to use their influence against it; and Mr: Giles, who is here takes a very strong interest against it\u2014But Mr: Bayard and Mr: White are quite as zealous in its favour; and as far as I can judge the opinions in Senate are very equally divided\u2014The probability seems to me that the bill will pass\u2014\nThis day there is a subscription dinner given at Stelle\u2019s to Captain Lewis, of which and of its toasts I suppose the newspapers will give account\u2014I shall not be present, though I think Captain Lewis deserves much more than a dinner\u2014Indeed I have no opinion of this species of payment for public services\u2014\nKiss my dear boys for me, and believe me ever affectionately yours\nJ. Q. Adams Enclosure\nTo Mrs: Hellen. on the 19. Septr: 1803. and 19. Decr: 1806.\nSure, to the mansions of the blest\nWhen Infant Innocence ascends,\nSome Angel, brighter than the rest\nThe spotless Spirit\u2019s flight attends.\nOn wings of ecstasy they rise\nBeyond where worlds material roll;\nTill some fair Sister of the Skies\nReceives the unpolluted Soul.\nThere, at th\u2019Almighty father\u2019s hand,\nNearest the throne of living light,\nThe choirs of Infant Seraphs stand,\nAnd dazzling shine, where all are bright.\nChain\u2019d for a dreary length of years\nDown to these Elements below,\nSome stain, the sky-born Spirit bears,\nContracted from this world of woe.\nThat inextinguishable beam,\nWith dust united at our birth,\nSheds a more dim, discolour\u2019d gleam,\nThe more it lingers upon Earth.\nClos\u2019d in this dark abode of clay\nThe stream of glory faintly burns;\nNor unobscur\u2019d the lucid ray\nTo its own native fount returns.\nBut when the Lord of mortal breath\nDecrees his bounty to resume,\nAnd points the silent shaft of Death,\nWhich speeds an Infant to the tomb\u2014\nNo Passion fierce\u2014no low desire\nHas quench\u2019d the radiance of the flame\u2014\nBack to its God, the living fire\nReverts, unclouded as it came\u2014\nOh! Nancy! be that solace thine:\nLet Hope her healing charm impart;\nAnd soothe, with melodies divine,\nThe Anguish of a Mother\u2019s Heart.\nOh! think, the darlings of thy love,\nDivested of this earthly clod;\nAmid unnumber\u2019d Saints above,\nBask in the bosom of their God.\nOf their short pilgrimage on Earth,\nStill tender images remain\u2014\nStill, still they bless thee for their birth,\nStill, filial Gratitude retain.\nThe days of pain, the Nights of Care\nThe bosom\u2019s agonizing strife\nThe pangs which thou for them didst bear,\nNo!\u2014they forget them not with life.\nScarce could their germing thoughts conceive\nWhile in this vale of tears they dwelt\u2014\nScarce their fond Sympathy relieve\nThe suffrance thou for them hast felt.\nBut there\u2014the soul\u2019s perennial flower\nExpands in never-fading bloom;\nSpurns at the Grave\u2019s poor transient hour,\nAnd shoots immortal from the tomb.\nNo weak, unform\u2019d idea there,\nToils\u2014the mere promise of a Mind\u2014\nThe tide of Intellect flows clear,\nStrong, full, unchanging and refin\u2019d.\nEach anxious care, each rending sigh\nThat wrung for them the Parents Breast,\nDwells on remembrance in the sky,\nAmid the raptures of the blest.\nO\u2019er thee, with looks of love they bend.\nFor thee the Lord of life implore;\nAnd oft from sainted bliss descend,\nThy wounded quiet to restore.\nOft in the stillness of the Night\nThey smooth the pillow for thy bed:\nOft till the Morn\u2019s returning light,\nStill watchful hover o\u2019er thy head.\nHark! in such strains as Saints employ,\nThey whisper to thy bosom, Peace:\nCalm the perturbed heart to joy,\nAnd bid the streaming Sorrow cease.\nThere dry henceforth the bitter tear\u2014\nTheir part and thine inverted see!\u2014\nThou wert their guardian Angel, here,\nThey guardian Angels now to thee.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-16-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1566", "content": "Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to John Quincy Adams, 16 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nBoston Jany. 16th. 1807\nYour letter of the 6th and the enclosures, arrived safe last evening. I was a little surprized at your appearing so angry at the observations made in my letter. I merely meant to insinuate that by now & then addressing her particularly in conversation, and leading her to partake of it, she would feel herself highly flatter\u2019d. this my testy friend was all I required, and you must really think me mad, if you supposed that by little attentions, I could possibly think of Chesterfieldian graces. any one really possessing them, would laugh at the Idea. be good humour\u2019d my friend, and dont imagine, that any thing has been written to me on the subject. on the contrary, all the letters are filled with your praises, but enough on this (to you) very disagreeable subject\u2014\nLast night the Columbian Museum, was destroyed by fire, they had been commemorating the last misfortune, which took place three years ago, and owing to some accidental circumstance it caught fire. It is the first serious alarm this Winter I hope it will be the last.\nI supp\u2019d at Dr Howards a few nights since where I met all the Sargent Family the old Lady spoke very highly of you and said she regretted that circumstances had arisen to check your former intimacy; however to use her own words, (do not think me vain,) she was so fascinated with me, that she should avail herself of that evening introduction, and take the earliest opportunity, to visit me. (dont laugh mon Ami.) Harry is going to be married immediately to little Hannah Wells. and I suspect Daniel who by the by looks very old, is to be married shortly, to Harriet Frazer, this I do not know positively, but Mrs. Sargent told me two of her Sons would shortly lead their young Brides to the alter\u2014She tells me that Mrs. Gardner is her Sister, who resides in your house, that they do not wish to move from your house, but that owing to a gentleman, having purchaced a house which is the receptacle of every vice, she is under the necessity of changing her situation. they are in hopes you will undertake to remove this nuissance, it will not be a very agreeable undertaking\u2014\nGeorge is still at Quincy with his Grand Mamma, and much better, John is with me, very well. he has nearly forgotten the little french he had acquired, but as you will take him as soon as you return, he will then acquire it very rappidly, I have no doubt\u2014\nThe Thermometer was below five the day before yesterday, and rose thirty degrees yesterday, these violent changes cannot be good I am sure. your friends are all well. Joe Hall has been much alarm\u2019d, by a complaint in his lip, which has been for some time thought of a cancerous nature. it is at length pronounced not to be so to the great relief of his mind\u2014\nAdieu, Heaven bless you make the best of the dreadful evils under which you labour and remember you took me for better for worse and if you have so much the worst of the bargain I am sorry for it I have vainly wished to render you happy and it is still and ever will be the most ardent wish of your really affectionate wife\nL. C. Adams\nP.S. I never knew what Harriet had called her Child till last night the letter you wrote proves that the name is appropriate to the character you gave him I have just heard that seven men lost their lives by the falling of the wall of the Museum during the fire\u2014\nPapa John sends his duty says he is a very good Boy\nI see by the Papers the Attorney General is dead\u2014Write me who is to have his place\u2014", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-19-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1567", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 19 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nMy dear Louisa.\nWashington 19. Jany: 1807.\nSince I wrote you, which was last Thursday, I have received three letters from you, which call for a particular Answer\u2014I must however defer it untill to-morrow; for at this time we are in the midst of a debate on the Bridge question; to which I must give all my attention\u2014The weather too is so cold that I am scarcely able to write in my seat\u2014My thermometer stood this morning at 6. degrees.\nI am distress\u2019d to learn that you have so much reason to be dissatisfied with your present situation\u2014That they should supply you so penuriously is insupportable\u2014I would recommend it to you, if Mr: G. will not remedy this cause of complaint, to change your lodgings\u2014I presume however that if you speak to him he will take care that you shall be sufficiently provided\u2014\nMy anxiety on account of George was perhaps excessive; but you know how we feel on knowing a child far distant from us, to be ill; and you will conceive how much that alarm was aggravated by the calamity to which I had been so recent a witness\u2014I still feel much concerned for him, although the account you give of him in your last Letters has abated some of my anxiety. I hope soon to have the pleasure of seeing under your hand that both he and yourself, and John and Caroline are all well; being ever faithfully your\u2019s\nJohn Quincy Adams.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-21-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1568", "content": "Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to John Quincy Adams, 21 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nBoston Jany. 21st. 1807\nHow shall I express my gratitude, my thanks, my admiration, of your very beautiful lines, my best beloved friend you have more than answerd my every wish and evidently proved how little trouble it costs you to gain the hearts of all those you wish to please you may smile mon ami but a fond and tender Mother of every human being who possesses real sensibility must feel affection for a man whose heart so truly sympathizes in the afflictions of his fellow creatures; and who can thus delicately offer consolation from the only source from whence it can be found my tears flow every time I peruse them & my heart is filled with sensations utterly impossible to express, but your heart will understand what I cannot describe\u2014\nCaroline has had a letter from Buchanon he has not actually offer\u2019d himself but made a sort of insinuation that he shall be happy to meet with an opportunity to do so when they meet should not some favor\u2019d Bostonian become sensible of her worth before that time and seize the invaluable prize. do not mention the circumstance to the family as they would only laugh at her & perhaps disconcert her quite on such subjects she is very tenacious\u2014\nI. P. Davies who is at Washington it is here reported is going to be married to Miss Susan Jackson of Philadelphia who passed the Summer at Mrs. Quincy\u2019s to the astonishment of all the World Professor Ware likewise finds it impossible to live any longer without a Bib and is going to marry the Widow Lincoln poor Miss Bose\u2014\nThere has been a Pew advertized to be sold at Mr. Emmerson\u2019s for some time had you not better commission Shaw to purchase it if reasonable the meeting house at Cambridge-port is now open Mr. Davenport I suppose will give up the Pew he has at Thatchers.\u2014\nI understand they are growing quite gay at Quincy & have established a Dancing subscription Assembly Your Brother is the leading man in the business George is still there and very well I tremble for the french John is at home and always asking when march will come he says he wants to see papa as he used always, to keep the best Apples for him at Quincy and he was a very good Papa\u2014since his return from Quincy it has been impossible to prevail on him to go to school your mother says it is of no consequence and you know I am too much inclined to agree with her in opinion\u2014\nAdieu my most sincerely loved friend, I fear I caused you some uneasiness, in what I said concerning our living, I have spoken to Mr. Gulliver and we now go on very well therefore I beg you will not think any thing about it\u2014\nThat every blessing may await you is the ardent prayer of your tenderly affectionate though I fear undeserving Wife\n L. C. AdamsI am much distressed at the indispostion of Harriets Child and still more at their again employing two peuple physicians I mean to attend tell her the best thing is to change the air take it to Nancy\u2019s for a little while and feed it in very small quantities upon very light food and to wrap it well up in Flannel and not suffer its feet to be exposed to the cold air tell her that your Sister\u2019s child was wash\u2019d from head to foot in hot brandy and a broad flannel steep\u2019d in the same kept round its body. It must be fresh dip\u2019d twice a day. Tell her I have seen the good effects of this otherwise I would not recommend it your Sister child was fed on Arrah root with a little magnesin stir\u2019d into it once a day while its Bowels were weak give my affectionate love to all and compliments to Mr. Tracy, who is I hope recover\u2019d", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-26-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1570", "content": "Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to John Quincy Adams, 26 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nI have not recieved a line from friend since you enclosed your very beautiful whom I permitted to read them pleaded so fervently for permission to publish them in his Anthology I could not withstand his entreaty and suffer\u2019d him to have them, you will I am sure if this is a fault on my part excuse it for the goodness of the motive\nThe Children are well, John has been to school to day. I ran down to meet him when he return\u2019d, he told me he must go again in the afternoon there were such a fine parcel of pretty Girls there to use his own words George is still at Quincy and goes to the Town school he told Dr: Welsh who went down a few days since that his master did not know what to make of him he believed he was too clever for him\nAdieu God bless you I am well only almost congeal\u2019d, the Thermometer has been 12 degrees below nought Yours affectionate\nL. C. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-27-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1571", "content": "Title: To John Adams from John Quincy Adams, 27 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, John\nMy dear Sir\nWashington 27. Jany: 1807.\nI received nearly ten days since your very kind letter, which has hitherto remained unanswered owing to the very sudden transition we made, from almost total idleness, to an excessive press of business\u2014This transition was introduced by a question upon the building of a bridge, which has already made five days of debate, and upon which the question is not yet finally taken\u2014Besides this Mr: Burr, and his conspiracy have begun to occupy our attention\u2014Last Friday (23d.) the Senate with closed doors pass\u2019d an Act, suspending in certain cases the privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus\u2014The business was finished in one day; with a slight opposition from Mr: Bayard, who voted alone against the Bill; but did not use his privilege of forbidding the reading of the bill three times on the same day\u2014The House of Representatives adjourned over, untill Monday, before we had finished. Yesterday morning the message and the Bill were sent to them in confidence\u2014They immediately opened their doors, and almost unanimously rejected the Bill at the first reading\u2014I have enclosed to you the papers from the President upon which the Senate acted\u2014Bollman and Swartwout who were arrested by General Wilkinson are now here, and it seems questionable what can be done with them\u2014The general subject is yet mysterious, but there is a concurrence of testimony establishing facts more important, as they respect the operation of our Institutions, and the future prospects of this Country than most of us appear to be aware of.\nThose two Subjects and the projects for prohibiting the importation of Slaves into the United States after 1. Jany: next exclusively engross our attention\u2014We have in the two houses had seven different printed bills for this purpose; and at length we have pass\u2019d a bill in Senate which has this day gone to the House of Representatives.\n30. January\nThe part I have taken in the business of the last three days, and the important transactions now going on in the Circuit Court here, have prevented me from finishing this Letter\u2014I enclose you a newspaper in which you will find the proceedings hitherto on the singular cases of Bollman and Swartwout; which is still under argument; by the District Attorney and present attorney General, on a motion for their committment on a charge of Treason\u2014and by the late Attorney General, Mr: Charles Lee, and a young Mr: Key, for the prisoners.\u2014They are now before the Court, and excite such universal curiosity that we are scarcely able here to form a quorum to do business and the House of Representatives actually adjourned this morning for want of a quorum.\nWe were almost without public business during the first six weeks of the Session, and I employed the leisure time principally to prepare for my labours of the ensuing Spring\u2014I have also continued my application to the Greek; and have read through the Odyssey in the original\u2014I selected this because I have it in a single small volume with a latin version at the side, but without a commentary\u2014There is no great plenty of Greek Books here\u2014I found so long as the mind was unagitated by other subjects of meditation, and the feelings in a state of tranquility, I could read and understand Homer much better than I can since the public business has taken hold of me\u2014I now read without understanding much.\nI have been again taken off from the possibility of finishing my letter by a debate which I have been obliged to support for the whole of this day, on a bill of little importance, but which I happened to Report\u2014Upon such Bills I have never had the good fortune to escape hard pushing and struggling; but we pass\u2019d half a dozen other bills, without raising half an hour\u2019s discussion\u2014\nIt is now almost 4\u2014The Circuit Court have committed Bollman and Swartwout, without bail or mainprize\u2014Judge Cranch dissenting.\nEver faithfully your Son. \nJohn Quincy Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-29-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1572", "content": "Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to John Quincy Adams, 29 January 1807\nFrom: Adams, Abigail Smith\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nMy dear Son\nQuincy Jan\u2019ry 29 1807\nWe have had in the Week past the coldest Weather that has been through the winter, yet we have not had Snow enough through the Season to cover the ground. I expet Febry and March will pour upon us the whole quantity which the cold must have engenderd through the Winter. The Season has been very healthy. few cold\u2019s or coughs. George after spending a fortnight with me and getting quite rid of his cough, growing very hearty, returnd to Town the day before yesterday. If I could have sent him to School I would not have let him gone home yet; as he was very fond of staying, but he is so buisy a Gentleman that a School is absolutely necessary for him. he was very good according to his promise made before he came\u2014he told me his Mother tried to make a good Boy of him, but She could not. She said he was good for promisses. He always tells all he knows against himself\u2014\nI expet to bring John out the next time I go to town. I saw a Letter of yours to your Brother in which you mention the sickness of Mrs Boyed Child. When your Brother\u2019s was so ill; we usued to give it injections every four hours of Arrow Root with six Eight and ten drops of laudanum. Sometimes we made them with Mallows & seeds either anise seed or Carroway I think it was the first thing which appeard to keep it.\nI have to request the favour of you, when you return, to settle an account with mr Allibone of Philadelphia who supplies me with flowr. When my last arrived, he as usual sent his account, and the Bill of lading. mr Smith gave it to mr Shaw to forward to me. he neglected to do it, and when I called upon him for it\u2014he could not find it, nor has he yet been able to get it. I am indebted to him for three Barrels\u2014except a little Surplus in the last remittance which I made him. which he has no doubt creditted me for\u2014you will request him at the same time to send me three Barrels more by the first Spring vessels; I will repay you when you return\u2014\nYour friend mr Ware is published to mrs Lincoln, and soon to be married.\nYour Brother writes to you I presume all the politicks worth retailing. I am very glad to be excused saying any thing about so unpleasent a subject, if our country is saved from the fate of Europe\u2014it will be the Lords doing, and marvellous in our Eyes.\nCan you yet discover what Burrs views and designs are? everyone writes respecting him, just as they hear, or imagine without facts to ground their opinions upon. It really is a mystery\u2014but I am getting upon something very like the area num of politics when I send declared off.\nI rejoice much to hear of your Health and hope it may be continued and confirmed.\nO Health! thou Sun of Life, without whose / beam/ The fairest scenes of nature seem involv\u2019d / In darkness, shine still upon thy path, / even till the last sceen stage of Life ... / Most affectionatly / Your Mother\nA Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1574", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 1 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nMy dear Louisa\u2014\nWashington 1. February 1807\nThe Potowmac Bridge question is at last postponed untill the next Session of Congress, after seven days of as warm and close debate as I ever witness\u2019d in the Senate\u2014The postponement was carried by a single vote 17 to 16, and in all probability had the question on the Bill itself been taken, it would have prevailed\u2014I have been so constantly engaged upon it, that I could not find time for writing even to you, more than two very short letters in the last fortnight, and my letters from my mother and brother yet remain unanswered.\nThe Bridge is for the present dismiss\u2019d; but king Burr furnishes a topic of no less interest and agitation in its stead. Two of his agents, Bollman and Swartwout, who were employed to seduce General Wilkinson and the army, and whom the General seized and sent here, have been committed upon a charge of high Treason; but I suppose they must be sent back to New-Orleans for trial\u2014At least they cannot as I believe be tried here\u2014\nI am much obliged to you for the copy you sent me of Mr: Osgood\u2019s estimate of the expence which it would cost to build the place I contemplated in Court Street. The amount is so much higher than I had expected, that I shall be obliged at least to postpone the Execution of the Plan. For although I might possibly borrow money to pay the bills, yet the chance of making it a profitable undertaking is so much lessened by the amount of the sum to be expended that I think it best not to embarrass myself with a heavy debt upon a prospect of remuneration which at best must be uncertain\u2014I shall therefore not abandon the design, but reserve it for an opportunity if it should ever present itself, when I can engage in it, with safety, and without getting too much involved.\nI have received in one of your late Letters Riggs\u2019s Bill, which together with the other you mention shall cheerfully be discharged\u2014I am sorry that anything in this matter has given you pain, and once more assure you that so long as I have a dollar in the world it shall always readily be devoted to any thing which in your own Judgment can contribute to your comforts.\nI rejoyce to learn that upon speaking to Mr: G\u2014 you have been better accommodated in the Article of diet\u2014I was indeed much mortified and chagrined at hearing that you had any reason to complain in that respect, and hope it will not happen again\u2014The time is now fast approaching when I hope to return, and to go into our own houseI presume Mr: Shaw has informed Mr: Bradford that we shall want it at the expiration of his present quarter\u2014You mentioned sometime since that you had a boy with you, who you thought would answer our purpose there\u2014If you still continue of this opinion I wish you to engage him\u2014And also to procure in Season if you can a woman as Cook; for after what we hear of Sally, we must not think of taking her\u2014Mr: Bradford\u2019s quarter expires I think the 17th: of March; by which day I hope to be in Boston; and I would have you be ready to move without the loss of a day, as soon as the house shall be empty\u2014The inconveniences of the neighbourhood mentioned to you by Mrs: Sargent are to be regretted, and certainly I shall use my best endeavours to have them removed.\nI thank you sincerely my dearest friend for mentioning the pew for sale at Mr: Emerson\u2019s; if it can be purchased at a reasonable price, I wish Shaw would bespeak it for me\u2014My personal friendship for Mr: Emerson concurring with other impressions on my mind induce me to be desirous of not leaving him, when I reside in Boston, though as a temporary object the pew which Mr. Davenport now holds in the Brattle Street Church would suit me sufficiently.\nWithin the last fortnight I have dined both at Mr. Erskine\u2019s and Genl: Turreau\u2019s; and have pass\u2019d Evening\u2019s at Miss Lee\u2019s, Georgetown, and Mr: Erskine\u2019s & Mr: Madison\u2019s in the City\u2014Mrs: Lenox and Miss Keene are here\u2014The latter a beauty of the most dazzling pretensions\u2014We heard her perform the other Evening on the Tambourine, with all the confidence and all the graces of a gypsey. Her dress is as much admired as her person and manners; and in the poetical vein of Dr. Thornton\nOn her breast she wears a dart\nWhich I warrant will make the heart\nOf many a fine Gentleman smart.\nThis morning as I was going to the Treasury to hear Mr: Laurie I met Mr: Hopkinson and Mr: Hare, who told me that he saw you about three weeks ago, though he did not say where. They are here to attend the Supreme Court, which is to sit to-morrow.\nI called at Mr: Boyd\u2019s, and gave Caroline\u2019s letter to Eliza. They were all at Breakfast so that we had the anecdote of Dr: Spring & his patient without going through the indirect course of Mrs: and Mr: Boyd before it came to me\u2014I am going there again, to dinner, which obliges me to shorten this letter, that I should else certainly carry through the other page\u2014Mrs Boyd\u2019s child continues at intervals very ill\u2014but is this day more easy. What its name is I never told you because I have not understood that it was finally fixed upon\u2014I heard talk of its being called by my name, but never either from its father or mother\u2014Be it called what it may, I pray God it may recover and do well.\u2014\nYour\u2019s ever affectionately,\n J. Q. Adams.Kiss my dear John for his remembrance of Papa\u2014And George too if he has returned\u2014", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1575", "content": "Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to John Quincy Adams, 1 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nBoston Febry. 1st. 1807\nI enclose two letters my beloved friend which I request you will give to Adelaide I have not recieved your promissed letter I will not say that I anticipate much pleasure from its perusal as I think it is an answer to a letter I wrote you which has caused me much regret still to hear from you at all affords me so much real satisfaction. I anxiously await its arrival firmly convinced that you cannot censure me more than I merit. The Children are both with me George is very well John has a cold but is not sick We are all going down to Quincy next Wednesday to attend the Assembly the first of which is to be on Wednesday Eveng. I have not a word of News\u2014and only wish I could hasten the period of your return which is ardently desir\u2019d by your most sincerely / affectionate Wife\nL C Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-03-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1576", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 3 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Abigail Smith\nMy dear Mother.\nWashington 3. Feby: 1807.\nI have hardly been able to reconcile it to my own conscience for some weeks that so much time had elapsed since the Commencement of this Session, and that I had not written directly to you\u2014The occasion of my silence has been explained in my letters to my father and my brother, which you have certainly seen\u2014Your favour of 16. Jany: has been these ten days in my possession, but this is the first time I have found a moment for replying to it.\nOur foreign Negotiations are in a state of suspension, concerning which a degree of apathy prevails here, not very creditable to our foresight\u2014France and Spain, are obviously waiting only for a moment of leisure, to push us with claims and pretensions which when they come will make themselves felt, and the Treaty with England is broken off upon a pretension on our part to which G. Britain will never concede, as I believe, and to which I doubt much whether we ought to require her to concede\u2014How this policy of sleeping on the edge of the precipice will eventually terminate, I hardly dare to enquire; but we must put our trust in Providence much more than in the wisdom or the fortitude of man.\nThe projects and the transactions of Mr. Burr, are giving rise to an extraordinary course of our public affairs\u2014On the one hand we are assured that his conspiracy is altogether impotent; without means; and without resources\u2014while on the other\u2014we adopt the most violent and extraordinary measures to counteract them\u2014The President pledges all his responsibility to a state of facts, exhibiting Mr: Burr at the head of an expedition to sever the western States and Territories from the Union, by force, with the intention to seize New-Orleans and plunder the Bank there, as a preliminary step; and yet he tells us that there is no danger to New-Orleans\u2014At the same time General Wilkinson establishes de facto martial law in New-Orleans, denounces one of the judges, as an accomplice in the conspiracy\u2014seizes and ships off three Citizens of the United States, on the ground that they cannot be safely tried, or even suffered to remain there\u2014And two of these three Citizens upon application to the Judges of this District, have been committed by their order to prison, without bail or mainprize, as upon a charge of high-treason. The Senate suspend the privilege of Habeas Corpus, by an Act pass\u2019d in one day; and without a division\u2014At the same time the House of Representatives reject the Bill at its first reading by an almost unanimous vote\u2014By the last accounts, Mr: Burr was at the mouth of Cumberland river encamped with four or five hundred men.\nI have not heard directly from my Sister since I came through New-York. Of her situation then she said not much to me, but I know it was distressing\u2014The Coll: had no occupation, and no rational project or prospect of occupation, and was still flattering himself with the idea of a new Office from the Government\u2014I was gratified however by receiving from him a most positive and unqualified assurance that he had no knowledge of Mr: Burr\u2019s purposes against the Union\u2014 On my return home I shall make the enquiries you desire, and shall again propose to my Sister to go on with me; if as I apprehend must be the case their situation will make it impossible for them to remain at New-York, keeping house\u2014\nI have been once at Mr. Cranch\u2019s, and only once since the Commencement of the Session\u2014Their Residence is in a situation much more pleasant than where they were last Winter, though so much more retired that Mrs. Quincy does not like it so well\u2014They are all as well as circumstances admit; and yesterday Mrs: Cranch brought a son in addition to the family.\nThe Supreme Court yesterday commenced their Session\u2014Judge Cushing and his Lady have been here this fortnight, and are very well\u2014We are also well in the family where I reside, and my own health has been hitherto so unusually good, that I am afraid I shall fatten into laziness\u2014\nI remain ever affectionately your\u2019s.\nJohn Quincy AdamsBest remembrance to all the family\u2014And Love to my boy, if either of them be with you.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-03-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1577", "content": "Title: From William Stephens Smith to Morgan Lewis, 3 February 1807\nFrom: Smith, William Stephens\nTo: Lewis, Morgan\nGentlemen\u2014\nAlbany Feby. 3d. 1807.\nWith the highest respect I take the Liberty of presenting myself as a Candidate for the office of Sheriff of the City and County of new York. my pretentions to your favour I feel some diffidence in stating, but from the variety of applicants for this important post, whose claims to your favourable consideration I am informed are minutely detailed, I flatter myself, that the statement I shall make to furnish the ability of comparison, will not be attributed to vanity, but to that profound respect which I entertain for your honourable Body.\nI entered the service of my Country in the early part of our revolutionary war, I served as Aid de Camp and Major in the Line with major General Sullivan at the Battle of Long Island, where my General being taken prisoner, I was taken into the Commander in Chiefs family, and was wounded at the Battle of Harlem Heights, where dispatched by the Commanding General with orders to the troops in close action\u2014After recovering from the wound, I joined the army at Polly Bridge in the County of west Chester, when in action with the Army, continued in my station. the Campaign, assisted at the Battle of the white plains and on the march of the army thro\u2019 New Jersey, was aid de Camp to Major General Lee at the time he was made Prisoner by the British Cabalry at Basking-ridge and at the Battle of Trenton personally took the Commanding officer of the Hessians from his Horse, and on the 1st. day of January was promoted by General Washington, appointed Lieut. Colo. in one of the 16 Regiments which by the resolves of Congress The General was authorised to raise. It might be tedious to narate the different actions thro\u2019 the course of the War, where I had honourable command, in the Light Infantry; it may suffice to say, That I commanded the advanced Regiment at the Battle of monmouth, & at the seige of newPort on Rhode Island, that with six companies of Light Infantry, I marched from Eastown on the Delaware and enclosed the Garrison of Wyoming on the susquahanah, under the Command of Brigadier General Hand besett by the savages, accompanied General Sullivan in his Campaign against the Indians, & in the following spring commanding the 2d. New jersey regiment, successfully covered for Angels Regiment, when retireing from the fire of the Enemy, at the noted battle of spring field.\nI was appointed by the Commander in Chief\u2014Adjutant General of the Light Infantry, under the Command of the Marquis Lefayette & at the Close of the Campaign was honoured by the appointment of Aid de Camp to The Commander in Chief; served in that capacity at the seige of York & Capture of Cornwallis.\nWhen the Army returning to the Banks of the Hudson, I was honored by the Command of the advanced fost of the army at Dobbss ferry, and appointed Commissary General of Prisoners, After the intervene between General Washington & Sir Guy Carleton, upon the signature of the Preliminary articles of Peace, I was Commissioned by General Washington to reside in the City of New York, to supperintend the evacuation of the City, and was the acting officer of the Day, when The British Troops embarked from our shores\u2014\nSince the peace I served three years as Secretary of Legation to the Court of Great Britain on my return home, was appointed Marshall of the New York District\u2014then Supervisor of the same, appointed Commandant of the 12th. Regiment of Infantry belonging to this state, & commanded the Union Brigade composed of the 11th. 12th. & 13th. Regiments, stationed in new Jersey, untill that army was disbanded, & finally appointed Surveyor of the port of new York discharging faithfully and Honourably the duties of that station for nearly five years\u2014Apprehensive that I have too far trespassed on the patience of The Council, I shall only further observe, that my life has thus far been spent in the pursuits of honor, ambition only for the applause of my fellow Citizens\u2014\nI have spent all my property in public service have an aged mother & a numerous family who look to me for support\u2014If with these pretentions to your favourable Consideration, I should be deemed worthy to fill the office, the appointment to which, I most respectfully solicit you may rest assured Gentlemen, that the duties of it, shall be most sacredly and honourably discharged and a due sense ever entertained of the favour conferred\u2014\nI have the honor to be / With the highest respect / Gentlemen\u2014 / Your most Obedient / and very Humble / Servant\nW: S: Smith", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-04-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1578", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 4 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nMy dear Louisa\nWashington 4. February 1807.\nSince I wrote you last, which was on the 1st: of this month I have not heard from you\u2014I enclose you now a letter from Eliza, who is unwell with a bad cough\u2014Mrs: Hellen is also this day quite unwell\u2014The rest of us are in usual health.\nSince Messrs. Bollman and Swartwout have been committed to prison, without bail, on a charge of high Treason, we have not heard any thing material from Burr\u2014It is said that Bollman has given full information to the President of the whole conspiracy, upon condition that nothing told by him shall be used as Evidence against himself on his trial, or against any other person.\nThe Supreme Court are in Session, but two of the Judges, Chase and Cushing, are so indisposed that they are unable to attend\u2014\nMrs: Cranch was confined the day before yesterday, with a Son\u2014She is as well as can be expected.\nWe have very cold weather again\u2014My thermometer stood this morning at 13. But the snow is all gone from the ground, and the river is open.\nLove to Caroline, and my dear boys. Tell John Papa longs for March, as much as he does\u2014\nEver faithfully. \nJohn Quincy Adams.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-05-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1579", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to William Smith Shaw, 5 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Shaw, William Smith\nDear Sir.\nWashington 5. February 1807.\nI received some days since your favour of the 19. January, and thank you for the information it contains, and for the trouble you have taken in my individual concerns; I should have been happy to hear frequently from you; but I have been sensible that the multiplicity of your usual occupations, and the extraordinary call upon your time and attention, by the illness and decease of your excellent and lamented friend Walter, were amply sufficient to justify your silence\u2014I have continued to enclose to you all the public documents; though having also sent a copy of them to my father, I may sometimes have sent a double set to him and none to you\u2014This may have arisen from the hurry with which I am sometimes obliged to make up the packets, and will easily be rectified by yourself on examining the papers received at Quincy.\nI am sorry that you have been unable to accomplish the purchase which I was desirous of making when I left Boston. Mrs: Adams has written to me that there is a pew in the first Church (Mr: Emerson\u2019s) advertised for sale\u2014I now regret very much that I sold that I had there; for being determined to resume my residence in Boston, I wish to return to the same place of worship which I have always frequented since my establishment in Boston in the year 1790. My friendship and esteem for Mr: Emerson, is a decisive consideration for inducing me to return there now\u2014If the pew advertised is to be had on reasonable terms, I will thank you to engage it for me the refusal of it\u2014I hope to be in Boston by the middle of next month, when I can come to a final arrangement upon the subject.\nMr. Bradford I presume understands that my intention is to go into the house which he now occupies, at the expiration of his present quarter\u2014This I think will be the 15th. (or the 17th) of next month\u2014If it should so happen that I do not arrive in Boston by that day, I shall rely on your goodness for assisting my wife and family in their removal.\nI have observed by the Boston papers that the reading-room has been opened, and I hope that the subscribers, and you who have taken so much interest in the establishment, have found it as useful and satisfactory as you have anticipated\u2014I have not received any of the numbers of the Anthology this Winter, nor would I wish you to take the trouble to forward any of them to me; I shall have the pleasure of perusing them after my return\u2014I have seen in the Boston Gazette, some lines upon Walter\u2019s death, said to be taken from the Emerald, and with which I was much pleased. My brother writes me that they were to be republished in the Anthology.\nMr. Burr and his conspiracy have made so much noise, and fill\u2019d all the newspapers throughout the Union to such an extent that I imagine I can tell you nothing new concerning it\u2014His accomplices Bollman and Swartwout are imprisoned here upon a charge of Treason\u2014But it appears that they cannot be tried here; and there is a great doubt whether they can be convicted of Treason any-where.\nThere is an application before Congress from the Corporation of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company, requesting that a quantity of the public Lands (about 200,000 acres) be appropriated to purchase shares for the public in that Company. Mr: Bayard has just closed an eloquent Speech in favour of this measure\u2014Mr: Giles has just risen in answer to him. I doubt whether the measure will or ought to pass.\nThe Supreme Court of the United States are in Session, but I have not been able to attend, and learn what they are engaged upon\u2014The whole Court is here; but Judge Cushing has been indisposed and unable to attend\u2014We have pass\u2019d a Bill in Senate to add a seventh Circuit consisting of the three Western States, to the Courts of the United States, and for the appointment of an additional Judge of the Supreme Court\u2014It is now before the House of Representatives\u2014\nIf you see my brother, I will thank you to tell him I have received his letter of 21. Jany: and shall answer it in the course of a few days\u2014\nWith great regard & esteem, I remain, Dear Sir, truly yours.\nJ. Q. Adams.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-06-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1580", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 6 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nMy dear Louisa.\nWashington 6. Feby 1807.\nYour letter of 26. Jany: enclosing one to your Mamma, reached me the same day that I wrote you last\u2014I have myself no objection to the publication of my lines in the Anthology; but as they were address\u2019d to your Sister, they belonged to her more than to me, you must answer for the printing to her\u2014I know not that she would take any displeasure from it, and suppose you had reason for presuming on her consent as well as mine.\nWe have got another prisoner arrived here from New-Orleans; who as well as the two others who were here before, Bollman and Swartwout, applied yesterday to the Supreme Court now sitting, for writs of Habeas Corpus, to obtain their discharge\u2014The Court I believe are upon the subject now\u2014The Ladies sympathise much with Swartwout, who is a genteel young man\u2014One of his brothers from New-York is also here; and was at the Ball last Evening\u2014I was not there; but this morning, the possession of him was so warmly contested between two of the young Ladies at Breakfast, that I conclude he must be a person of formidable accomplishments.\nMrs: Hellen is quite unwell; but I hope from no alarming cause\u2014The other Ladies were all well enough to attend the Ball last Evening; and are to be this Evening at a party, at Mrs: Delaney\u2019s.\u2014\nWe had snow the greater part of last Night, and this day we have a furious North-West Wind, which has just blown down one of our windows in the Senate chamber. We thought at first that the whole building was tumbling about our heads, and began to scamper in a manner which would have made a good subject for a caricature Painter\u2014We soon discovered however that it was only a false alarm.\nThe enclosed lines may perhaps afford you some Amusement\u2014They were written in consequence of the writer\u2019s meeting in Company a young Lady, rather more than usually undress\u2019d\u2014You will not mistake their object\u2014I suppose it may be one mode of exciting Ladies to Reflection, to describe the effects which their exhibitions have a tendency to produce upon Sensation.\nMy dear Boys\u2014I bear them constantly in my heart, and hope you always remind them of their father\u2019s Affection when he writes\u2014I am glad to hear John is a good boy, and was charmed with the assurance of it under his own hand.\nIt blows such a hurricane that I scarcely know how I shall get home\u2014The Senate have adjourned before two O\u2019Clock; having nothing to do.\nMost Affectionately your\u2019s.\nJohn Q. Adams Enclosure\nLines.To Miss In full Un-dress at a Ball.When first, in Eden\u2019s flowery dell\nOur Grandam Eve was fram\u2019d,\nShe was, as holy legends tell,\nThough naked, not asham\u2019d.\nBut when the Serpent\u2019s subtle head\nHad brought her to disgrace;\nWhen Innocence and Bliss were fled\u2014\nThe fig-leaf took their place.\nStill the more guilty she became,\nShe show\u2019d herself the less;\nAnd thenceforth nakedness was shame,\nAnd Innocence was\u2014Dress.\nBut soon, her daughters shall again\nLike Eve, before the fall,\nConcealment of themselves disdain\nAnd stand display\u2019d to all.\nSoon, venom\u2019d Envy\u2019s search defy,\nUndaunted and unblam\u2019d;\nSoon dare the keenest critic\u2019s eye;\n\u201cThough naked, not asham\u2019d.\u201d\nFor one, shall niggard beauty save?\nFor one, her treasures spare?\nNo!\u2014free, be all that Nature gave,\nAnd common as the air!\nNo more, each lovely limb to mould\nShall Fancy\u2019s aid require\u2014\nNo more, mysterious gems infold\nThe blossoms of Desire.\nAlready, Sally now reveals\nTo view, Neck, Arms and Breast;\nWhile a bare spider\u2019s web conceals,\nAnd scarce conceals the rest.\nDear Sally! let thy heart be kind\u2014\nDiscover all thy charms\u2014\nFling the last fig-leaf to the wind,\nAnd snatch me to thy arms!", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-08-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1581", "content": "Title: From Thomas Boylston Adams to John Quincy Adams, 8 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, Thomas Boylston\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nDear Brother\nQuincy 8th: February 1807.\nWhen Sunday comes I usually enquire whether I have any arrearges to make up with my correspondents; if I have, it is to me the most convenient season for discharging such debts. Though I have, at present, no letter unacknowledged, I have a variety of documents and journals from you, which deserve mention, because they serve as a substitute in some degree for letters, which we know you have not leisure to write.\nI wrote you, in my last, that I had not formed an opinion as to the design of the Ex-Vice President, in his movements to the Westward. We had not then received the Messages of the President, in which he discloses the additional information from that quarter. These go a great way in assisting me to make up my mind; and, if I were called upon now, to give an opinion, as to the views and intentions of Mr: Burr, I should say with Mr: Wood, the Editor who first denounced him, that I believe him \u201can innocent man.\u201d What single act has he done of which any legal evidence yet appears of a criminal nature? Did he write that cyphered incoherent scrawl to Wilkinson? And if he did, is it treason or rebellion or insurrection? Our Chief Magistrate and a majority of his Constitutional advisers must have been haunted by the Ghost of General Hamilton to excite this hue & cry against Col: Burr. There never was, in any Government, or in any Country that I ever heard of, such ado about nothing as this whole affair now appears to me. If the reward or price set upon Burr\u2019s head were worth stopping the descent of his boats a single day, I have little doubt but he would voluntarily surrender himself. Ten boats and sixty men going to market down the Ohio, produced a bill in the Senate of the United States to suspend the privilege of the Habeas Corpus. This beats all the Ocean Massacres and Tub bottom plots, which caused so many sarcasms a few years ago.\nBut this is not the language of the Presidents adherents. The Proclamation has knocked the treason in the head, and the Commander in chief of the Army has arrested the chief abettors of the illegal combination; the Militia posted on the Ohio & its waters have stopped the ammunition boats, and \u201cthe most formidable conspiracy, (late or present) of any we know of in history,\u201d has thus most providentially been nipped in the bud.\nYou have heard so much on this subject, that you would willingly dispense with my crude comments. But you will remember that I am only amusing myself, at the publick expense, and attempting to give you some faint idea how happily adapted the recent measures of our Rulers at Washington are to excite mirth; \u201cmaking that Idiot laughter keep men\u2019s eyes, and strain their cheeks to idle merriment.\u201d\nThe proceedings in the Circuit Court for the District of Columbia, upon the motion of Mr: Jones have but one precedent, that of Judge Tallmadge in New York. I expected Judge Cranch would think and act right, as I believe he did.\nYour Wife and family have been with us a few days and are in good health; they will return some time this week to Boston.\nSince I wrote last, I have agreed with Mr: Frederick Hardwick to let him your Quincy Meadow for five years, at $50 per ann. I prefered this to taking the chance of a tenant at Auction, as I have a good opinion of Mr: Hardwick\u2019s circumstances and character. He takes the land unconditionally for that price, which neither of the other applicants would. Mr: Faxon has requested to take back his offer for the Salt-meadow, and to take his chance at Vendue. I consented to it, believing we shall get more for it in that way.\nIt is not improbable that I shall become your tenant in the house you left\u2014say the old Mansion house in which we were born. I shall be willing to take my chance as a bidder and if the house should be struck off to me, I can dispose of the land adjoining, unless I should want it for some purpose of my own. It is not long since this project was contemplated, and I have embraced it more earnestly on account of some recent letters from our Sister at New York, which make it probable that she will come here this Spring. I shall be, on many accounts better satisfied to live by myself, with my own little family, than as I have done hitherto; though I have every reason to be grateful for the kindness & indulgence I have so long experienced from our parents. If I had sooner determined upon this step I should have communicated it to you; but I had another plan in view, which I think cannot be so readily accomplished. If any objections occur to your mind, as to the fitness of this measure, I beg you to mention them without reserve. It will not be too late to change my purpose, if I hear from you by return of Mail.\nWith best remembrance to all friends / I am truly Your Brother\nT. B. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-09-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1582", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 9 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nMy dear Louisa.\nWashington 9. February 1807.\nSince I wrote you last, when we were in the midst of a hurricane from the Northwest, untill this moment, we have had the coldest spell of weather I ever knew in this place\u2014On that day as I wrote you, the windows were blown in and broken down here at the capitol\u2014Houses or at least one House was unroofed\u2014Carriages were overset; and Mr: Quincy undertaking to walk home was so much overpowered by the gale that he became faint and dizzy; and but for assistance to carry him home, might have perished on the way\u2014My old Cap however did me its usual service on such occasions; and I walk\u2019d home without suffering more from the cold, or wind than a walk in Winter must always expect\u2014The weather having been so severe here, I am not unconcerned to hear what it must have been with you\u2014If the cold, or the violence of the Storm was as much greater there than here, as the usual difference of the climate imports, I hardly know how the houses themselves could stand\u2014Since Friday the thermometer has every night been nearly quite as low as 0, but this day the wind has come round to the Southward, and the weather has become comparatively moderate\u2014We had very little snow, which fell the night before the tempest came on; but it is all blown away\u2014The sky has been the whole time clear as a Bell\u2014\nI received last week a letter, bearing the Post-mark of Frankfort, Kentucky, which upon opening, I found dated Paris 3. Septr: 1806. in french\u2014quite a long, and a remarkably kind letter, without signature, but from its contents I knew it must be from Pichon\u2014He speaks with much affectionate esteem of your family, and desires the remembrance of his wife to you\u2014How it got to Frankfort in Kentucky I cannot imagine\u2014He refers me for information respecting himself to a Mr: Giraud, of whom he speaks, as the bearer of the letter\u2014It was originally address\u2019d to me on the back, at Boston\u2014But Boston is struck out, and Washington City, written in its stead; in a hand-writing which looks to me like Whitcomb\u2019s\u2014I have suspected that this Mr: Giraud must be in Boston; living at Whitcomb\u2019s, and that learning I was here he had given the letter to Whitcomb, to be forwarded, and he made the alteration in the direction\u2014But still I know not how the letter could have got into a Kentucky Post-Office before it came here.\nI received on Saturday your letter of 29. Jany: and most heartily rejoyce to learn that you are all well; which I with equal ardour wish you may still remain and hereafter continue\u2014Mrs: G\u2014\u2014was rather late in her doubts respecting her own condition, and I am glad to learn they were eventually solved to her satisfaction\u2014\nYesterday I dined at Mr: Boyd\u2019s; where they are all upon the whole well, though the child is not in confirmed health\u2014We are also well at Mr Hellen\u2014The enclosed from your mamma is for Caroline, to whom as to my dear boys, remember me with the tenderest affection\nyour\u2019s\nJ. Q. Adams.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-10-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1583", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 10 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Thomas Boylston\nMy dear Brother.\nWashington 10. February 1807.\nI have two letters from you of the 18th: and 28th: of last Month to answer\u2014And since the receipt of the last have also received from Shaw, a copy of Selfridge\u2019s trial\u2014It corresponds very accurately with your abridgement, excepting only the Article of Mr. Dexter\u2019s argument with which I confess I have been much disappointed\u2014It is professedly much compress\u2019d in the printed trial, from what it was in the delivery, and must I think have suffered by the compression\u2014I am not thoroughly satisfied either with its law, or its eloquence\u2014The position upon which he dwells with most earnestness, that a man of honour, may kill for the defence of his reputation against the disgrace of a beating, does not appear to me to be tenable, and I do not think it was necessary for his cause\u2014The great intrinsic difficulty against it is the impossibility of distinguishing between the man of delicate mind who prefers death to the disgrace of receiving a blow; and the man who according to his own statement would take a beating for a five dollar Bill\u2014The laws which under the same Circumstances would put a deadly weapon into the hand of one man, and deny it to another, founded only upon the difference in their personal character cannot in my judgment be Laws either just or equitable. Neither does it seem to me that this argument was necessary to the cause\u2014The point of self-defence, (I mean legal self-defence) seems to me so clear upon the Evidence, that I should have been more inclin\u2019d to rest the argument with Gore upon unquestionable Law, than upon a doctrine questionable as to the principle, and not without danger in its tendency\u2014It may have had its effect upon the Jury, and if its further consequence should be to restrain the practice which has been too much indulged of Street-brawling, and personal attacks upon the Exchange, it will prove of real service to the Community\u2014The charge of the Judge you represented with perfect correctness\u2014The general tenor of his conduct from beginning to end is marked with an anxious desire to do right, coupled with diffidence of himself and terror of consequences\u2014His objection against the Evidence of the previous quarrel, and the manner in which he finally yielded to its admission indicates feebleness of two kinds\u2014He ought to have seen from the first, that the cause could not be tried, without a full investigation of the whole subject\u2014But when he had declared that he would not admit such Evidence, even by consent of parties, he ought not to have been driven from his purpose, by threats of a full Court or a New Trial.\u2014He was pushed back step by step to the ground which he ought to have assum\u2019d from the beginning\u2014His charge has marks of the same character, and with the best intentions in the world he leaned against the prisoner more than seems to me to have been right\u2014His situation I know was delicate and distressing\u2014I am far from being confident that I should myself have acted with more firmness or more Judgment\u2014But for that very reason I will never be a Judge of high criminal Jurisdiction, under our Institutions\u2014The trial has suggested to me many other remarks\u2014But I should tire you by detailing them; and many of them must have occurr\u2019d to you upon the trial\u2014I cannot however forbear to notice Sullivan\u2019s awkward embarrassment at the nature of the Indictment, and his labours all directed to show murder, on a Bill for Manslaughter\u2014Had the subject admitted of mirth, I could not have refrained from laughter, at his political episodes, and his windings to convince the Jury that they were all of his own party\u2014The Impudence of his reproaches against the Grand-Jury and the insolence of his tone to the Court did not surprize me but roused too much Indignation to be diverting\nYour difficulties in ascertaining what was your own opinion concerning Mr: Burr\u2019s projects gave me a hearty laugh, as it so exactly described the situation in which my mind was for a long time, and that of others with better means of information than either of us\u2014The President however has at last told us what the real projects of this aspiring adventurer are, and by a letter from the Secretary of the Mississippi Territory which I now enclose, you will perceive that he begins to show his teeth\u2014to threaten resistance against coercion, and to talk of civil War.\u2014From the proceedings of General Wilkinson, with Governor Claiborne and some of the Judges at New\u2013Orleans\u2014another question of \u201cdubiosity\u201d seems to arise; viz: whether the supposed Traitor, or those who oppose him are the greatest offenders against the Country\u2014I suppose you have seen or will see E. Livingston\u2019s address to the Public, from which you will find that Wilkinson has been rather more soldier than citizen upon this occasion\u2014What the issue will eventually be, I know not; but it has been my opinion ever since we took possession of that Country that almost every act Legislative and Executive has been made, as if it was for the express purpose of driving them to Rebellion\u2014Mr: Alexander who was sent here has already been liberated, and the Supreme Court have now before them motions for Habeas Corpus to bring in Bollman & Swartwout. The Court doubt whether they have original Jurisdiction.\nWe have had Reports that a Treaty with England was signed; but as now appears without foundation\u2014\nWith my duty and affection to all the family I remain, faithfully your\u2019s.\nJ. Q. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-11-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1584", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 11 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nMy dear Louisa\nWashington 11. Feby: 1807.\nI yesterday enclosed you a letter from Adelaide, under a blank cover, because I was all the morning writing to my brother, and when I came to enclose the letter to you, it was so late that I had not time to add a line with it\u2014I now send a letter from Kitty for Caroline, and must tell you that we are well; excepting Mrs: Boyd\u2019s child which continues in the same State of illness from time to time, and was yesterday quite unwell.\nYou will observe that Adelaide\u2019s letter has two wafers in it; the occasion of which was that on finding it on my table directed to Mrs: Adams I broke it open supposing it address\u2019d to myself; but on perceiving that it was for you, I did not read more than the two first lines, and then closed it again with the second wafer.\nYou have several times enquired, concerning the supposed appointment of Genl: Dearborn to the Office of Collector of Boston\u2014No such appointment has taken place\u2014Genl: Dearborn is still acting Secretary at War; and we have no official information that Genl: Lincoln has resigned\u2014which has induced me to doubt the fact.\nI hope your Assembly at Quincy was agreeable\u2014We are all invited to a Ball, at Mrs: Erskine\u2019s next Tuesday\u2014I enclose you the last news from Coll: Burr. I have received your\u2019s of the 1st:\u2014\nEver affectionately your\u2019s\nJ. Q. Adams.Kiss the dear Boys for me\u2014", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-13-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1585", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 13 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Abigail Smith\nMy dear Mother.\nWashington 13. Feby: 1807.\nI have received your kind letter of January; and shall particularly attend to your directions at Philadelphia, respecting the flour\u2014It is at present my intention to leave this place the 4th: of next month; but the winter and the roads are now breaking up; so that I know not whether the roads will at that time be passable\nThe termination of this Congress will leave our public affairs in a singular Situation; threatened with War on all sides, external and internal, yet disarming ourselves of all force both of arms and of Revenue\u2014We have now nothing to do\u2014Or rather we do nothing\u2014 But I think there must be a special call of the next Congress before December.\nWe have no further news from Mr: Burr since the paper I enclosed to my brother two days ago\u2014\nThe Supreme Court have this day decided after long argument that they have the power to issue an Habeas Corpus, and have accordingly issued the writs for Bollman and Swartwout returnable next Monday\u2014Neither of the Judges, Cushing or Chase, was present.\nI remain in duty and affection, your\u2019s.\nJ. Q. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-15-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1586", "content": "Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to John Quincy Adams, 15 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nQuincy Feby. 15 1807\nBeing apprehensive that you may be uneasy at not hearing from me my beloved friend I write from your Mother\u2019s where we have been the last fortnight and where I think we seem likely to remain sometime longer although I at present expect to go into Boston tomorrow Louisa has been very sick and Sister T. B. is confin\u2019d with a bad Breast her Baby grows finely and is one of the prettiest creatures I ever saw still not so handsome as our John who retains his beauty in its highest perfection\u2014\nYour Father was for a considerable time much concerned about the bill which passed so rappidly through the Senate and still cannot account for the Vote of a certain friend of mine. It never caused me the slightest anxeity as I know your Opinions to be generally form\u2019d upon mature reflection and deliberation and almost always correct he has tax\u2019d me once or twice upon two of your former votes as if he suspected my having been concern\u2019d in the subject, which makes me smile. no woman certainly ever interfer\u2019d less in affairs of this kind than I have, and if I ever possess\u2019d any influence, I certainly have never exerted it. however these two Votes, he says, he never can forgive, and I suspect he has since included the last among the number. Is it fair mon Ami, for a man, thus to condemn, without Knowing upon what grounds you have acted? I think not, but my judgement is apt to be erroneous.\nThe Boy I mention\u2019d, has left Mr. Gulliver, and is not to be had. his father intends to keep him at School. I do not know where to look for one, but will make enquiries, before you return. I have some time been enquiring for a Girl, and hope I shall be able to procure one who may answer our purpose. I shall be ready to remove the moment you return, which I most anxiously anticipate they all here endeavor to alarm me, a little by assuring me, that the Senate will be detaind some months after the Session expires. but this I will not believe, it would make me too unhappy. nothing but the period of your absence being limitted, to a short time, could possibly have induced me to stay. I should be too severely punish\u2019d for doing so, if your time is lengthen\u2019d\u2014\nYou will see by the papers, how much we are like to shine the next Election, two such bright constellations as Judge Sullivan, & Levi Lincoln, cannot fail to add lustre, to the bright hemisphere of Massachuset\u2014\nThe deposition of Judge Inis, affords a topic of conversation at present, and not a little astonishment. he certainly must be a very profound & learned Judge, to require ten years deliberation, before he could decide how he should conduct himself in such a situation I always thought untill now, that a J. should possess strict integrity, firmness, and decision of character, an idea I presume is obsolete\u2014\nAdieu my best belov\u2019d friend the Children are both well. John has been quite sick but is entirely recover\u2019d. The Thermometer since I have been here has been as low as 11 in the entry between your Fathers and Sister T. B.\u2019s room; and as low as 15 below nought out of Doors. It is now very mild and has rain\u2019d heavily since yesterday before Sun Rise, every thing is overflow\u2019d, even the bridge by Mr Blacks. if it continues I think poor Neponset, will be washed away\u2014present my best love to all the family, and believe me most sincerely, & affectionately yours,\nL. C. A.Bring Mrs. Smith home with you if possible. Your Mother hopes you will take no denial as it regards John\nThe Col. is building a house at Shenang to which Mrs. Smith intends going in the Summer", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1588", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to William Smith Shaw, 17 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Shaw, William Smith\nDear Sir.\nWashington 17. February 1807.\nI received in proper time from you, a copy of Selfridge\u2019s trial, and also the Anthology for January, for which you have my best thanks; and in return for which I now send you a blossom for the next month\u2019s basket\u2014I hope your council of Literary botanists will not be of opinion that some of its petals are too rank for the sense; however it is entirely at your and their disposal.\u2014You must shew it to Mrs. A\u2014\u2014 before the publication, as she has a right to see every thing of the production of this soil; but if she should in return shew you another, though a more fragrant flower, which I sent her yesterday, you will perceive that that cannot be fit for publication\u2014\nBridge-fighting, which has been as much in fashion here this winter as at Boston, has subsided for the Session\u2014The slave bill has almost pass\u2019d the two houses of Congress; and there is nothing else to detain us here, excepting the custom of staying here untill 3. March\u2014But the Supreme Court are full of business\u2014Bollman and Swartwout are now before them on return to a writ of Habeas Corpus; and two motions in their behalf are under argument; one to discharge them; and the other to Bail them for appearance at the Court in New\u2013Orleans\u2014The Senate have pass\u2019d a Bill to regulate the summoning of Grand-Jurors, which will excite your attention\u2014But it has not yet pass\u2019d the house of Representatives.\nYour\u2019s with the greatest regard & esteem.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1589", "content": "Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to John Quincy Adams, 17 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nBoston Febry. 17th. 1807\nWe return\u2019d to Town yesterday morning which was one of the most bitter Cold I ever experienced but fortunately were not frozen The Children bore the ride better than I expected though George could not refrain from tears nothing contributed so much towards producing a free circulation as the sight of Mr. Shaw with a letter from you my beloved friend written apparently in great spirits and containing the sauciest lines I ever perused I have a great inclination to have them published in the next Anthology for the sake of my sex in general to whom I hope they would prove a serious advantage to say any thing in their praise is surely unnecessary. you have but to exert the talents you so eminently to shine possess to shine almost unrivall\u2019d\u2014\nI should have been much diverted could I have seen the Fathers of the Nation, \u201cscampering away, as you so ludicrously represent, and think it a great pity, that no painter was present, to do justice to the Scene, and hand you all down to posterity, in so dignified a situation, & so perfectly expressive of the general situation of affairs. I fear Count G. must have been considerably discomposed by the effort, & Mr. Tracy must have been a little distress\u2019d for the Counts 9 hairs, which he appear\u2019d to take such interest in last winter\u2014Give my love to Mr T. and tell him I still remember his good sayings with pleasure\u2014\nYour Brother tells me he wrote you about a week since, from him his quizical manner to me I suspect he has been writing some nonsense, concerning me, but you know him, and wont mind what he says\u2014\nI will speak to Mr. Shaw about the Pew, but I suppose you have mention\u2019d it to him, he tells me you have written to him very fully. I have not yet found a Girl to do our Cooking, but I hope to do it before you return. your Mother advises me not to take a boy but to look for a man Servant, as she thinks a Boy would only prove a plague, and not answer our purpose at all. I have therefore commission\u2019d Mr. Shaw, to look out for one, and hope to have all these matters arranged before you return\u2014\nThe poor Woman of the house, owing to neglect, is not yet able to walk across the room yet has been confined three weeks. I am sorry to have no reason to boast of Mr. Gullivers attention. However do not make yourself uneasy, the time for our stay is short and will soon slip away\u2014\nYour Mother & father are well, though much affected by the severity of the Season. Sister T. B got a bad Breast from her own imprudence, but was a little better yesterday, Thomas is as fat as ever, and Mr. Dexter in a thriving way. Adieu God bless you and send you safe back to the arms of your sincerely affectionate wife.\nL C A.The Children are both well though the cold does not appear to agree with John", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-27-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1593", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 27 February 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nMy dear Louisa.\nWashington 27. Feby: 1807.\nI received yesterday your letter of the 15th: and this morning that of the 17th: enclosing in the former a letter from to your Mamma, and in the latter, one to Mrs: Boyd\u2014We are now at the last days of the Session, and you know how much we are oppress\u2019d with public business at such times\u2014This will give you my excuse for the shortness of this letter\u2014It is not yet certain whether the members of the Senate, will be detained after the 3d: of March; it depends upon the circumstance of the Treaty\u2019s arrival\u2014It is now expected every hour; if it should come before Wednesday next, we shall not be detained\u2014If not, we may possibly be detained a few days\u2014Though I do not even in that case expect it\u2014I have already engaged to take my passage with some other members on Wednesday morning, in a carriage for Annapolis\u2014from whence I purpose to proceed the ensuing day to Philadelphia.\nMr: Daniel Clark the Delegate from the Orleans Territory, gives a Ball this Evening, which we are invited to attend, and to which we intend to go\u2014It is to be at Stelle\u2019s Hotel.\nMr: Daniel Clark is beyond all comparison, among the Ladies the most popular member of Congress that ever made his appearance at Washington.\nI was last Evening at Mr: Boyd\u2019s; where they are all tolerably well\u2014The same at Mr: Hellen\u2019s\u2014Mrs: Hellen has never been out, in any Company through the Winter.\nI hope you have before this time got through the great severity of the Season\u2014Here it has been mild and fine for some days past\u2014But the Season is later than I have ever before known here.\u2014The Roads are just breaking up; and almost impassable from here to Baltimore.\nMy best love to the boys, and to Caroline\u2014And believe me ever affectionately / Yours\nJ. Q. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-09-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1596", "content": "Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, 9 March 1807\nFrom: Adams, Abigail Smith\nTo: Warren, Mercy Otis\nmy Dear Mrs Warren\nQuincy March 9th 1807\nTo your kind and friendly Letter I fully designd an immediate replie, but a Severe attack of a rheumatick complaint in my Head has confined me to my Chamber for Several weeks and renderd me unable to hold a pen. tho recovering from it, my head Still feels crakd: Shatterd I am Sure it is\u2014you will therefore pardon any inaccuracy I may commit. my Health which you so kindly inquire after, has been better for two years past, than for many of those which preceeded them. I am frequently reminded that here I have no abiding place. I bend to the blast. it passes over for the present and I rise again.\nyour Letter my dear Madam written So much in the Stile of Mrs Warrens ancient Friendship, renewed all those Sensations which formerly gave me pleasure, and from which I have derived sincere and durable gratification, and I anticipate a Still closer and more cordial union in the World of Spirits to which we are hastning, when these earthly tabernacles Shall be moulderd into Dust.\nIf we were to count our years by the revolutions we have witnessed, we might number them with the Antediluvians, so rapid have been the changes; that the mind tho fleet in its progress, has been outstriped by them\u2014and we are left like Statues gazing at what we can neither fathom, or comprehend.\nyou inquire what does mr Adams think of Napolean? If you had asked Mrs Adams, She would have replied to you in the words of Pope.\nIf plagues and Earthquakes, break not heavens design\nwhy then a Borgia or a Napoline?\nI am Authorized to replie to your question, What does mr Adams think Napoleon was made for? \u201cMy answer Shall be as prompt and frank as her question. Napoleons Maker alone can tell all he was made for. in general Napoleon was, I will not Say made, but permitted for a cat o nine tails, to inflict ten thousand lasshes upon the back of Europe as divine vengeance for the Atheism Infidelity Fornications, Adulteries Incests and Sodomies, as well as Briberies Mobberies Murders Thefts Intrigues and fraudelent Speculations of her inhabitants\u2014and if we are far enough advanced in the career\u2014and certainly we have progressd very rapidly\u2014to whip us for the Same crime\u2019s\u2014and after he has answerd the end he was made, or permitted for, to be thrown into the fire\u2014now I think I have meritted the answer from Mrs Warren which She has promised me to the Question, What was Napoleon made for?\u201d\nMay I ask mrs Warren in my turn\u2014what was col Burr made for? and what can you make of him or his projects? enveloped in as many Mystery as Mrs Ratcliffs castle of udolphus? how he mounted to power we know, and a faithfull historic page ought to record, and after he had answerd the end for which he was permitted, we know how he fell. what is yet left for him to perform, time must unveil.\nI thank you my dear Madam for your inquiries after my Daughter\u2014She was well a few days Since\u2014She had Letters from her Son dated in Nov\u2019br he was then at Trinidad where he expected to pass the winter, a don Quixot expedition which could never have met with his Grandfathers or my assent or consent, if it had been known to us before he had Saild. it has been a source of much anxiety to us, and to his Mother.\nI cannot close this Letter without droping a Sympathizing tear with you over the remains of your beloved Neice, and my valued Friend. She was from her Youth all that was amiable Lovely and good, the youthfull companion of my daughter. I always saw her with pleasure, and parted from her with regreet. She was endeard to me by the misfortunes of her youth to which from her Strong Sensibility, and dutifull affection, I was frequently made the depositary of her Sorrow and tears. She always exprest for me a Sincere Regard\u2014when I learnt her new engagement, knowing the Delicate State of her Health, I feard She might find it too arduous for her, but her companion She had long known, esteemd and valued as his many virtues deserved\nHeaven Spared her to act well the Mothers part towards her Sons, to whom She devoted herself and having reared them to Manhood, for wise ends which we cannot comprehend\u2014took her out of Life\u2014what can we Say, but that the ways of Heaven are dark and intricate\u2014\nI pray you to present mr Adamss and my regards to Gen\u2019ll Warren\u2014we both of us rejoice to hear that he enjoys So much health at his advanced period of Life. we Shall always be happy to hear of the welfare of Friends whom we have loved from our early years and with Whom we have past many, very many Social hours of pleasing converse, in unity of Bond and Spirit.\nwith Sincere Regard / I Subscribe Your Friend\nAbigail Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-09-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1597", "content": "Title: From Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Smith Adams, 9 March 1807\nFrom: Peabody, Elizabeth Smith Shaw\nTo: Adams, Abigail Smith\nAtkinson March 9th. 1807\nIt is a long time my Dear Sister, since I have written to you; but I consider it a priviledge that we can think of our Friends, animate our Souls by a view of their useful lives, & refresh ourselves by a retrospect of past scenes, when we cannot find one leisure moment to visit them, or impress our Ideas upon paper.\u2014\nEver since Thansgiving we have had one, or other of our Family sick in bed, or confined to their Room. We have had a large Family all winter, & we ought to be grateful to heaven, that we are continued in Being, while so many of our dear Friends in the Course of the last year, are numbered among the Dead. My eldest Brother Oakes Shaw, I see by the publick Papers, has finished his ministry on Earth, & is now, I hope, joined the redeemed of the Lord\u2014Every valuable connection taken from us, should increase our zeal in the service of our heavenly Master. And when we see that our Day is far spent, may we be found with our Lamps trimed & burning, ready to attend our final summons. It was painful to me, that I could not see you last Fall. Oh! how rejoiced I should have been, to have had the President & my Sister made us such a friendly visit, as they kindly intended, but though we were disappointed of that honour, I hope, it will be put into your hearts, to make us a visit this Spring\u2014Perhaps the weather may be more salubrious, & much more pleasant when the days are growing longer, & when Nature assumes her most mild & charming aspect,\u2014than when the falling leaves lie whithered upon the sable ground, & Earth with a mournful face, sees the Herald of the shortest Days, when she must be buried in cold, & ice\u2014& Snow\u2014\nAll the Ideas respecting the advanced age of our friends had fully impressed my mind, before I received your last letter, & the uncertainty of life, & of ever seeing each other again are often in my thoughts\u2014But hope, is the balm of Life, & the pleasure of seeing each others Face, I fondly cherish\u2014\nMy Son was very unfortunate in the time of his visit here\u2014My help were all sick, & I could not speak scarcely one word, Lydia has had a disorder, a humour in her feet, which has for six weeks disenabled her from walking, & Nabby Leach was sick a bed\u2014And Abby had just got about house\u2014I pitied myself, & him too, poor little George, will never want to come again. Though I was relieved at my Lungs so as to speak by monday, though it hurt me, that I dare not say much\u2014George appeared very fond of my Son\u2014& he is really a fine child\u2014He had two new hankercheifs, which Abby hemed, marked one, but had not time to mark the other\u2014If miss Susan will mark it for him I will thank her\u2014\nMr Peabody was at Haverhill, & heard that Miss Adams was very sick\u2014You my Sister have suffered greatly in the same way, & know how to pity her.\nMy Love, & tender regards to all your family, & my Brother & Sister Cranch\u2014\nThe Stage calls, & I can only add what I always am, your affectionate / Sister\nElizabeth Peabody", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1598", "content": "Title: From John Adams to William Smith Shaw, 17 March 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Shaw, William Smith\nDear Sir\nQuincy March 17. 1807\nI have advised Messrs. Perkins to print Mr. Cremeres Letter literatim. But it ought to be accompanied with explanatory Notes, E. G.\n\u201cNarrowly bound\u201d The Writer undoubtedly had in his mind the French phrase \u201cEtroitement li\u00e9\u201d\u2014His meaning is \u201cclosely or intimately connected\u201d.\u2014\n\u201cTrespass\u201d Here the French word \u201cTrepas\u201d, which signifies death or decease, was no doubt in the writers mind.\u2014\n\u201cCarge\u201d charge in french. Cargo\u2014this may be corrected by Note but it would not be taking too great a Liberty to correct it, without taking Notice of it.\n\u201cMore threaten\u201d encore menacent, still threaten\u2014\n\u201cVirtuous Politick\u201d virtuous Politician\u2014\n\u201cHow more\u201d by how much the more\n\u201cThe came early\u201d They came early. This may be corrected without notice.\nThe catastropy of Leyden is to me a most afflicting Event. A beautiful City where I resided with my Children many months & where I attended divine service on Sundays in the venerable Temple where Mr. Robinson & his congregation worshiped for a dozen years before their Pilgrimage to Plymouth. This very ancient and revered edifice is now probably a mass of ruins. The University of Leyden, with all its renown, is another confused heap You may print my letter to Messrs. Perkins & this too with that of Mr. Cremeres, if you think proper, though I do not desire that you should, if you will only insert the necessary notes. I am not ashamed to be known to the public as a lover of Leyden & if my life is continued long enough I am determined to be known to posterity as a friend to John Luzac\nI am my dear Shaw, your affectionate friendJ A.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "04-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1600", "content": "Title: From Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Mary Smith Cranch, 17 April 1807\nFrom: Peabody, Elizabeth Smith Shaw\nTo: Cranch, Mary Smith\nMy Dear Sister\nAtkinson April 17th. 1807\n\u201cCompletely blest, to see my fellows blest.\u201d\nI was happy to hear from you, & to find that you, & your family had enjoyed health, through a long cold tedious winter, for sickness at any time is a great affliction, more especially when it is necessary to have watches in long nights\u2014\nWe have been favoured with a remarkable share of health among our numerous boarders, untill lately, & have never had but one dangerously sick in our family\u2014But what is very affecting to me is, that there should be three taken with spitting of blood, & continue with puking\u2014Two with scarcely any cough\u2014\nIt has been my Lot to have one continued series of Sickness in our house ever since the first of January\u2014When Mr Peabody was in Boston Abby was taken very ill, before this she was more fleshy & better than I ever saw her\u2014But she was sezed with an oppression at her breast, & when she coughed it was so hard, that she used to say that she feared the blood must pour out of her Stomack\u2014Providence has kindly spared her to a too doating Mother\u2014She is a great help to me, though a tender plant\u2014She feels for all\u2014But if I am unwell\u2014she is too anxious & distressed\u2014I sometimes fear what will become of her, if I am taken away\u2014I tell her, \u201cTis strange that a heart, with thousand strings should keep in tune so lon,.\u201d & naturally so slender\u2014I do all I can to fortify her mind, But God alone can give her strength, & a shield, to sustain her in the day of trial\u2014\nThe recent Sickness, & death of my dear Arolina Augusta Gilman, has wounded our hearts\u2014Nine years since, Mrs Gilman committed her almost Infant Offspring to our Care\u2014Like a fond delighted Mother, I have nurtured, & watched over their youthful days\u2014charmed with their growing Virtues. But the cruel Spoiler came, & cut down in its early bloom, one of the fairest flowers\u2014\nIndeed my Sister, I feel almost worn out with anxiety & care\u2014watching the pillow of the distressed\u2014Five weeks I have sate by the bed of Miss Harriet Livermore\u2014who was taken first, with a lung fever\u2014It appeared to form a crisis, but she soon relapsed, & I fear is, or will soon be in a fixed Consumption\u2014Mr Peabody watched with her last night, with me, for she puked such bloody matter, that I dared not leave any of the family with her\u2014& the neighbours had all watched twice over. My heart aked, for we really thought she might burst a blood vessel & time with her, soon be closed\u2014\nShe came in February upon a visit, & her Father requested Mr Peabody to let her continue in the Family as a boarder\u2014\nHer Talents are remarkably brilliant, cultivated by extensive reading, she is a most pleasing visitant\u2014& elegant composiest both in prose & poetry\u2014But Nature though liberal in her Gifts, is not lavishsome check to human greatness, is ever thrown in the Scale\u2014A constelation of Virtues seldom appear in the female hemisphere\u2014She thinks herself unhappy, & therefore is really so\u2014Early in life she lost her Mother\u2014her natural friend\u2014& monitor\u2014I heard the Presidents family had been sick, but were better when I last heard from Quincy\u2014Our dear Sisters Cares are great. She like her heavenly Exemplar, is constantly doing good\u2014may her valuable life be long continued\u2014\nI was sorry to hear of Miss Adam\u2019s trouble\u2014I never had that, but know so delicate a part, affected, must be extreme pain\u2014 I am glad to hear that her little one grows\u2014notwithstanding deprived for a time of its proper nourishment\u2014I have not been able to see Miss Mary, since her return\u2014but hope we shall recover from sickness, & make some pleasing excursions\u2014\u201cHope springs eternal\u201d\u2014With this I conclude what is written, with weak Eyes, in a dark sick Chamber. Accept my best love, present it where due / from your Sister\nE Peabody", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "04-25-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1601", "content": "Title: From Hannah Phillips Cushing to Abigail Smith Adams, 25 April 1807\nFrom: Cushing, Hannah Phillips\nTo: Adams, Abigail Smith\nMy Dear Madam\nWashington April 25th.1807.\nIf my hands could have obeyed the dictates of my heart I should have written to you long before this. But I have been constantly nursing my poor sick Husband, who has been confined to his room for 82 days. I never knew him enjoy better health than he did from July to the last of Jany. He attended Court Feby. 2nd., called on the President, & that night was taken with a Remitent Fever, & sore throat. He had been gaining some days before 26th., when he was finely in the morg, & looked over some Court papers; But at night went to bed with chills, which were followed with a high fever, and continued unabated some days, which proved to be a slow Nervous fever, & it is not more than a week since the thick coat has been wholly off of his tongue. For 70 days he eat no meat, and not a bit of bread for 44 days. Heaven be praised, he has been gaining surprisingly for a fortnight. It does my heart good to see him eat a small piece of beef steak, \u201cIt is delicious very delicious,\u201d indeed every thing he takes now is so. What a comfort it would have been if I could have had one of my beloved Sisters with me, in this long & distressing period. I hope & pray that when that all important Period comes to him, & me, it will find us in our own Couuntry, & amoung our Kindred. How often, & forcibly, has it brought to my mind my Dear departed Brother, who sickend, & died among strangers, and not one near Connexion to impart a wish to. We have received much kindness, & attention, from many of the Citizens here, particularly Judge Cranch, & it was a great solace to my mind to know that we had so good a Friend near us. He was well last Sabbath & called to see us, but is now at Alexandria attending Court. Mrs Cranch is much confined with her Infant, not having any person she can trust it with. It was with much concern that I heard of your indisposition. You my much valued Friend, have had a large share of pain, & sickness, & I most heartily wish that it would please the Almighty to prolong your valuable life, without those great alloys to happiness. I cannot be too thankful that I have been blessed with so large a portion of health through Life, & particularly at this time, when it seemed to be so necessary to my Husband. Indeed my \u201clot has been cast in a pleasant land\u201d Few, very few have had more real enjoyment than myself, & if I am permited once more to be seated by the side of my best Friend, travelling homeward, my joy will almost obliterate what has past the last three months.\nIt will be twelve weeks day after tomw. since I have been out of the house, but once, and then only to speak to a Lady in her Carriage, but I hope we shall ride out next week. We shall not leave here till Doctor May thinks we can with great safety. The Dr has been unwearied in his attention to us. It has been very sickly in the City, & many deaths have taken place. Mrs. Tingey I am told to day, is departed. Her death has been expected a long time. Mr Tracy was sick with a Fever, & confined near 40 days, but is out again. He observed to us that it is not so bad to be sick as well people are apt imagine, there is so much pleasure in getting well again. Do give our best respects to our good Friends Judge, & Mrs. Cranch, and thank them for their kind solicitude for us.\nSunday 26th.\nMr C has just walked around the Ball room, which joins ours. Day before yesterday was the first of his walking without my assistance. I hope Miss Smith enjoys good health, my love to her & Susan.\nWe wish to be kindly remembered to Mr & Mrs J Adams, Mr & Mrs T Adams, Mr & Mrs. Quincy, & hope they with their families enjoy health.\nIn less than four weeks I hope we shall reach Philadelphia. Do be so good as to let us hear from you there. I need not say how much my Husband with myself venerates, & esteems, our late and good President, & to hear of his health & happiness with yours my Dear Madam will always give pleasure to us.\nI was much gratified the other day in hearing a late Memr of Congress Mr Fowler who calls himself a Republican, say, that Mr John Adams had done more good to his Country, by one Act, than any other President ever did.\nYour much Obliged \nH Cushing", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "06-10-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1602", "content": "Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, 10 June 1807\nFrom: Adams, Abigail Smith\nTo: Peabody, Elizabeth Smith Shaw\nMy dear sister\nQuincy June 10th. 1807.\nIf I had written to you my dear sister half as often as I have thought of you and contemplated writing, you would have had a Letter by every Mail for these two months: I have to acknowledge the receipt of two kind Letters from you since I have made you any return the last bearing date May 29th, which came last week to hand, and to which I should have replied yesterday by a young Man who lives with us who was going home for a week, and had promissed me to call and tell you how we do: and bring me word of your welfare; I attempted writing to you yesterday, but the weather had become so suddenly so intencely hot, that my feeble frame sank under it, and renderd me wholy unfit for any exertion of body or mind; To day an easterly wind has given me new Life and spirits, and I determined, no longer to delay returning you thanks for your kind favours which always do my Heart good; tho they are so sparingly bestowed that I have frequently to regret, that Talents so brilliant and powers so harmonious and touching, should not more frequently be displayed for the improvement, and edification of those who know how to appreciate their value.\nI know you can plead a thousand cares and avocations which necessarily devolve upon you; Surrounded as you are by your numerous family, in which you are continually doing good, and communicating it to others, knowing so well as you do, that we live not to ourselves.\nMy own Family when collected together consists of 21 persons. Mrs Smith, John & Caroline have been these three weeks in Boston upon a visit to my Son J. Q. Adams, who with his family are residents in Boston. I say residents, because they mean to take their flight in the fall like the Birds of passage to the southward. I shall inform mrs Smith of your kind invitation to her and her children\u2014She is a woman of great firmness of mind you know, from her youth up\u2014She has had ample Scope for the exercise of it, in the visissitudes of fortune which have attended her. To herself are confined her troubles. She never makes them a subject of complaint to her most intimate Friends\u2014but they evidently wear upon her spirits, and produce many a silent tear\u2014her present Situation is painfull to her, her future prospects . . . we see but a little way into futurity\u2014\u201dor who could suffer Being here below\u201d?\nThis world we are told is our School may we all of us improve aright, the usefull Lessons we are taught.\nI hope Lydia has recoverd, and that you will make us a visit soon. We are now, all in pretty good health. I have recoverd from the disorders which confined me, from the first week in Febry untill the middle of April, I was threatned with a Lung fever for many days, which finally terminated in an Eruption upon the skin, which with its dissagreeble qualities gave me one pleasure\u2014that of scratching.\nMrs T B Adams hopes you will come before she makes her visit to Haverhill, or not untill her return. She will go there the first week in July. My little name sake is a sweet child\u2014pretty enough I think. I have little John with me too. Susan is grown to the stature of a woman before she is in her teens\u2014a great misfortune to have the Body out grow the mind\u2014I never saw two children more different in their turn of mind behaviour and tempers than Caroline Smith and Susan\u2014I sometimes think of what Mr. Joseph Dyar, used often to say to me when I was young and very wild, Nabby you will either make a very bad, or a very good woman. Caroline is soft in her manners compliant in her temper and disposition, yealding to the opinions of those whom she considers her superiours\u2014and every way engageing\u2014A thread would govern one, a cable would be necessary for the other\u2014yet time is doing much for her, and reason and argument begin to take hold, and make impression which give hopes that a very good woman may be made from seeds Sown. If you had been near me, I should have sent her to you long ago; but the distance has been an obstacle\u2014She has a strong mind and a generous temper. She is not proud, haughty or envious\u2014but an ardent temper, and a Spirit of contradiction odious in youth\u2014You have had a variety of tempers and dispositions to deal with. How would you manage one, upon whom you could not impress any subordination\u2014any true defference to age, or relation or Rark in Life?\nhow hard it is to rule the Spirit and govern the tongue\u2014\nBrother and Sister Cranch are well. Mrs Norten looks very thin\u2014She is indeed multiplied in children\u2014I hope she will live to see them a comfort to her, and reward her for all her toil and trouble.\nYour son is well-envoloped in Science a promoter of literature with all his Heart and Soul and Strength\u2014no man engages more zealously, or is more persevering. There is Some talk of his sacrificeing to the graces\u2014he will not however acknowledge it Yet I belive he has his favorite\u2014and in time will make it appear so, if other circumstances are favorable. I have at length prevaild upon him to get him a peice of linnen, and mrs. Smith with Susan & Caroline have made it up: and a very good peice it was\u2014but he wants a care which neither you or I can help him to, a stich in time\u2014and a care of his own things, and indeed a knowledge of them\u2014a man whose mind is so engrosed with great objects\u2014cannot descend to the minutiea of an odd sock\u2014a raggid ristband &c &c.\nMy Love to my dear amiable Neice I hope she will accompany you. My best respects to mr Peabody in which we all join. I shall tell John Smith what you have written respecting him. He is the same in mind and manners that he early presaged.\nPray my dear Sister do not let it be long e\u2019er you make us all happy by seeing and embraceing you with that sincere and tender affection which has ever Subsisted between us\u2014and which still burns with undiminished fervour / in the bosom of your Sister\nAbigail Adams.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "06-18-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1603", "content": "Title: To John Adams from John Quincy Adams, 18 June 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, John\nDear Sir.\nBoston 18. June 1807.\nThe Fire and Marine Insurance Office are now repaying the third part of their capital, to which they were authorized by an Act of the Legislature; and issuing new Certificates to the Stockholders\u2014The old Certificates must therefore be returned into the Office\u2014I will thank you to send me, by the earliest opportunity, your Certificate for the forty shares, which stand in my name, but of which you have the Certificate.\u2014The repayment is made principally in Shares of the Boston Bank, your part of which I will either hold for you, or sell as you may think proper.\nI am ever affectionately & dutifully your\u2019s\nJohn Quincy Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "06-20-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1604", "content": "Title: From John Adams to John Quincy Adams, 20 June 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nMy dear Son\nQuincy June 20 1807\nInclosed is the Certificate of forty Shares in the Fire and Marine Insurance Company. The third part of the Capital which is to be paid off, you will please to receive in shares of the Boston Bank, if you approve of it, and hold them as you propose.\nI am your affectionate / Father\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "07-09-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1606", "content": "Title: From Walter Hellen to John Quincy Adams, 9 July 1807\nFrom: Hellen, Walter\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nDear sir\nWashington 9th: July 1807\nAs the British have blockaded the Chesapeak it has deprived us in this Quarter of any conveyance to Europe; will you therefore my dear sir be good enough to forward the enclosed letter by the first vessel going from your place to any part of Holland\u2014as its early conveyance under present circumstances may be of considerable consequence to me\u2014\nYou will observe from the Papers how indignant the people in this Quarter feel at the Outrage committed by the British at Norfolk; Our Executive however take things with more composure, & will I fully expect endeavor to persude us, that what has happened is for the best. Most of their own friends expected that Congress wou\u2019d have been immediately convened, but it seems now, that we must first send to London to ascertain if they intended to kill our people or not; if they say it was not done intentionally, why I suppose we shall then be completely redress\u2019d, at least in the opinion of our Rulers.\nWe shall expect to see you in when the Revenge returns wch. will I presume be in Novemr.\nYours most Affectionately\nWalter Hellen", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "08-08-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1608", "content": "Title: From Thomas Jefferson to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 8 August 1807\nFrom: Jefferson, Thomas\nTo: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nMadam\nMonticello Aug. 8. 07\nI have duly recieved your letter of the 28th. of July expressing a wish that your brother could find some emploiment in New Orleans in which his knolege of the French and Spanish languages might be made useful. it would have been pleasing to me to have been able to point out such an emploiment, & more so to add that any such was within my powers of appointment, but the only appointments I make there, or in any department, are of the highest officers. they alone appoint to all subordinate places under them. in N. Orleans the Governor, Collector, Naval officer & Surveyor of the port are of my appointment, but each of them appoints those under them; and being responsible for their underagents, are left uncontrolled in their choice as is just. I can do no more therefore than indicate the true sources of appointment there to which your brother should apply. I tender you at the same time the assurances of my high respect & consideration.\nTh: Jefferson", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "08-18-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1609", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Catherine Nuth Johnson, 18 August 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Johnson, Catherine Nuth\nMy dear Madam\nBoston 18. August 1807. Quarter past nine O\u2019Clock in the Morning.\nI take the first moment of self-possession that I have to inform you that my dear wife at half-past eight this morning presented me a third son.\u2014The labour which commenced about 2 O\u2019Clock this morning was extremely severe, and the child and mother both suffered so much in the birth as to give us great concern\u2014We had at first little hopes of the child\u2019s life; but it is now and Mrs: Adams also as well and better than we could have expected.\u2014I hope in the course of a few days that she herself will give you a favourable account of both; and in the mean time with our affectionate regards to Mrs: Hellen, Mrs: Boyd and the families remain, Dear Madam, ever truly your\u2019s,\nJohn Quincy Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "08-20-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1610", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Catherine Nuth Johnson, 20 August 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy,Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nTo: Johnson, Catherine Nuth\nDear Madam\nBoston 20. August 1807\nAs the account I gave you the day before yesterday may occasion you some anxiety on my wife\u2019s account, it gives me the most cordial pleasure now to inform you that she is as well as under the Circumstances could possibly be expected, and the infant remarkably hearty and Strong\u2014My Sister Smith came in from Quincy the morning of the child\u2019s birth and has been with Mrs: Adams constantly since.\nI remain, Dear Madam, ever faithfully yours\nJohn Quincy Adams.I write a few lines to say that I am doing very well and that the little Gentleman is likely to do so too. He is born to be lucky as you say having come into the World as Harriet did\u2014", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "10-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1611", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to William Smith Shaw, 17 October 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Shaw, William Smith\nDear Sir.\nNew York 17. October 1807.\nWe arrived safe at Providence on the Evening of the day when we took leave of you in Boston; and the next morning embarked in a Packet which was ready to sail. We were however detained at anchor just below Providence the whole of that day, and the next Night\u2014On Monday we effected with much difficulty our passage to Newport, and sailed from thence on Tuesday Morning\u2014We had every possible variety of calm and head-wind, with scarce an hour of any other, untill Thursday afternoon about 4 O\u2019Clock, when we reached the Passage of Hell-gate just an hour too late to come through\u2014We therefore anchor\u2019d there untill yesterday morning, when with the wind still a head we came through and beat our way up to this City about Noon. We had however fine weather and pleasant Company the whole time, and unfavourable as the chances of time and tide were to us, the voyage was less fatiguing and tedious to us than the journey by land would have been.\nOn arriving here I found Mr: Otis, had gone on, yesterday morning to Philadelphia\u2014So that we were disappointed of hearing from our boys\u2014Mr: Quincy is still here, and proposes remaining here till Monday\u2014We intend to proceed on our Journey to-morrow.\nMrs: Adams and her maid in the hurry of departure from Boston, both left their Cloth great-Coats behind\u2014I have sent a number of Articles to Mr. Baxter\u2019s Store. N. 55. Long-wharf, to go by his schooner Good-Intent; if you will have the goodness to call at our house and have a bundle made of the two great Coats, and get them sent to Mr: Baxter\u2019s Store, to come with the rest of the things I shall be much obliged to you\u2014The bundle may be directed to me, as the trunks now are\u2014And you will be kind enough to recollect that I mentioned to you the Insurance I had made on the books going to Congress\u2014to be sent by the Good-Intent\u2014And if Mr. Baxter should eventually send them by any other vessel, notice is to be given at the New\u2013England Insurance Company Offices, that a proper alteration may be made in the policy.\nWe are all tolerably well\u2014The infant has hitherto proved an excellent traveller both by land and water\u2014It would scarcely be possible for him to be less troublesome than he is. I hear no news of consequence here, and have not looked at a newspaper since I left Boston.\nLet me hear from you, as often as your leisure will permit, and believe me with the greatest affection and esteem your\u2019s\nJohn Quincy Adams.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "10-28-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1614", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to William Smith Shaw, 28 October 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Shaw, William Smith\nDear Shaw.\nWashington City 28. October 1807.\nI enclosed to you by last Evening\u2019s Mail a Copy of the President\u2019s Message, as first printed by Smith\u2014I now send you a copy together with the documents that accompanied it\u2014You will see that the H.R. have a new Speaker and Clerk\u2014They have this day determined to appoint the standing Committees by ballot instead of leaving their appointment to the Speaker as heretofore\u2014The Washington Races constitute the principal business of the present week.\nI suppose you will receive this letter, about next Monday, upon which day you will recollect to offer Sewall & Salisbury\u2019s bill which I left with you, for discount at the Bank\u2014And also on the subsequent Wednesday to take up my note there\u2014I hope you will already have received the rents of Mr: Gardiner and Mrs: Newton, and paid the bills of Bradlee, Pollock, and Endicott\u2014I am anxiously waiting to hear from you that my boys are well, and remain, yours affectionately\nJohn Quincy Adams.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "11-03-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1615", "content": "Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to Mary Smith Cranch, 3 November 1807\nFrom: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nTo: Cranch, Mary Smith\nWashington Nov. 3d 1807\nHaving at length recover\u2019d from the fatigue of a very unpleasant journey I take the liberty my dear Aunt of writing to solicit the favour of your correspondence although I know your avocations to be so numerous I almost fear to trespass upon your time\u2014\nIt was with the greatest regret I found myself obliged to leave Boston without seeing you as I wished much to converse with you concerning John who has appear\u2019d two or three times this Summer to be threaten\u2019d with a dreadful complaint which is known by the name of Hives of which I feel a continual apprehension owing to its being so sudden in its consequences I will therefore my dear Madam simply mention the remedies made use of in this part of the Country where the disorder is common. It generally at first comes on with a hoarseness and difficulty of breathing the least sympton of which must be immediately attended to by giving Onion juice prepar\u2019d in this cut a large Onion into slices and lay as much Brown Sugar between as will extract all the strength of the Onion to be taken a teaspoonful at a time frequently and not to be exposed at all to a damp air if this does not take effect an Emetic to be giving immediately and the feet and Stomach rub\u2019d with Goose Oil\u2014\nYou will I am sure excuse my writing you on this subject as it is a complaint which even the Physicians in Boston are very little acquainted as Dr. Welsh inform\u2019d me and the loss my Sister met with last Winter as render\u2019d me more than usually anxious I am fully persuaded that under your protection he is perfectly safe and happy which is a source of comfort and happiness to / Your affectionate and grateful Neice\nL C Adams\nPS Remember me affectionately to my Mother and tell her how anxious I am to hear from her likewise to the President and all the family", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "11-04-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1616", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 4 November 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, Abigail Smith\nMy dear Mother\nWashington City 4. Novr: 1807.\nLast Evening I had the pleasure of receiving your favour of 25th: ulto: which contained the first information we had received from you or from our children since we left Boston\u2014and for which we began to be very anxious. I am glad to hear that George is so well satisfied with his situation and promises so well\u2014If the french Gentleman will allow him to chatter with him according to his own propensities he will maintain his French at least where it is, and I hope another Summer will get over all the difficulties he will ever have to encounter for the mastery of that Language.\u2014John has been so much more with you and has experienced so much of your tenderness and indulgence, that I am not surprized he should hanker a little for it now and then\u2014But I feel so perfectly easy with regard to the affection and kindness with which he will be treated and such entire Confidence in the Management he will be under, that I am satisfied he will be perfectly reconciled to his situation, and be content with occasionally visiting you on holidays.\nWe have hitherto been doing as little more than Nothing as imagination can conceive, to form a distinction\u2014The Message advised us to wait for news from abroad before we should do any thing decisive, and the disposition is universal to take the advice\u2014 Our friends in Boston were afraid that the measures of Congress would be warlike\u2014I did not expect so myself and I now know from personal observation that the national Representative pulse never has beaten so slow as it does at this time\u2014 The Cotton of the South is a great peace-maker. The great Sentiment which appears to me predominating in the minds of Congress-Men at present is the dread of their own valour\u2014Every man seems to tremble least he should do something rash\u2014We feel less than the People do\u2014We shall want a spur more than a rein.\nMr: and Mrs: Cranch called upon us last Sunday\u2014Both very well, with their family\u2014Mrs: Cranch has grown quite fat\u2014I am doing the same thing untill I am afraid of growing lazy too. My wife and child, and all the family we are with are well\u2014We pass\u2019d a couple of days at Baltimore with Mr: & Mrs: Buchanan who are also very well.\nYour\u2019s ever affectionately\nJohn Quincy Adams.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "11-05-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1617", "content": "Title: From Thomas Boylston Adams to John Quincy Adams, 5 November 1807\nFrom: Adams, Thomas Boylston\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nDear Brother\nQuincy 5th: November 1807.\nYour letter from Washington of the 27th: ult: to our dear Mother, came to hand this day; and as She was in Boston, we had the first perusal of it. We learn from it with much pleasure your Safe arrival at the end of your journey and that you and yours are in good health. In return for this intelligence I am happy to be able to acquaint you with the health of all our friends here and your children in particular. Little John is here this afternoon with his Aunt and he Stays with us regularly on Sunday\u2019s though he seems perfectly contented at his place of abode. From George we have heard but once since his Grandparents left him. He was quite at home before they came away and I have no doubt he will recommend himself very soon to the favour of the good people among whom he lives. His aptitude to learn and his inquisitive turn of mind will gain the good graces of the old parson, who will Stuff him chock full of Stories So as he but listen to his tediousness. I shall endeavour to See him when I go to keep Thanksgiving, as we are wont, with our friends at Haverhill. Our Sister is Still with us and I think will not leave us this Winter; at least I hope not, for I think there cannot be Suitable accommodations for her at Hamilton. We have had no news of John since he was at Albany, though letters are expected from him every day. William is very desirous of obtaining a situation in a Compting-house in Boston, but has not yet made any direct application to any Merchant. I Shall render him all the aid in my power towards the attainment of his wishes, but whether the terms on which he would be admitted are such as he can comply with, I am yet to enquire.\nI presume that our good Uncle Cranch has communicated to his Son the result of the law suit in which he was engaged in the Circuit Court. Mr: Blake thought proper to become non-suit, for default of evidence though he ascribed it to the Plaintiffs marriage, which he acknowledged to be the fact, notwithstanding we had taken no advantage of it in our plea. Miss Penelope alias Mrs: (I dont know who) is said to have torn herself from the embraces of her newly acquired husband and is gone to the West Indies in search of evidence of her birth & parentage, with which She threatens to come back and overwhelm us. We Shall wait with patience her return. The Baxters very probably will be glad to See their Dollars back again rather than the lady.\nThe only news I have of importance to communicate is that on Tuesday last His Excellency the Governor of the Commonwealth, accompanied by his trusty and well-beloved Jerry High Sheriff &ca. paid a visit in due form and ample Style, at Quincy; I was in Boston and he Saw none of the family but your father, who received him, I presume, with due respect. The Governor & his Council are yet twain. They pull different ways, but measures go with the greater number; so that we are generally thought to have nine Governors in lieu of one. The winter Session of the General Court will determine who Shall be our next Governor. Either his Excellency or the Honorables in Council must yield their Sharp points, or there will be serious divisions among the dominant sect. This is the opinion of Some folks, but I have not sufficient knowledge of the matter to make any conjectures of my own.\nIf you Should take the new paper which we hear is established at Washington, we Shall be glad to receive it instead of the Intelligencer, provided the debates are reported in it.\nWith best love and regards to all friends at Washington, I am / Your\u2019s affectionately\nThomas B Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "11-11-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1619", "content": "Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 11 November 1807\nFrom: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nTo: Adams, Abigail Smith\nMy dear Mother\nWashington Nov 11th. 1807\nYour very kind letter has eased my heart of a load of anxiety, on account of our dear George, whose health appear\u2019d to me to be in a very indifferent state. and I could not have quitted him with any satisfaction, had I not placed him under your protection. recieve my dear Madam our united thanks for your extreme kindness in taking him to Atkinson which journey I sincerely hope proved beneficial both to the President and yourself\u2014\nI have nothing to write worthy your attention. Washington is worse than Dull at present Mr. Randolph has commenced the Session by making a violent attack upon the administration condemning it severely for not having called Congress together immediately after the affair of the Leopard. many of the Members have not yet arrived\u2014I have not yet seen the new Room for the Representatives but am told that it is extremely Elegant\u2014\nMr. Erskin has not left Philadelphia but is expected shortly\u2014\nDo my dear Mother write soon, if you can possibly spare the time and tell us if Mrs. Smith is with you and if she stays with you this Winter. at any rate give my best love to her and request her to write to me remember me kindly to all, particularly to Louisa Smith. kiss my darling John for me. Charles grows finely he is the very image of his father who is thank God more fleshy and in better health than I ever knew him\u2014\nI passed two days with Mrs. Buchanon she had been very sick but was much recovered she requested me to offer her best respects to yourself and family and I remain dear M Mother your very affectionate daughter\nL. C. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "11-12-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1620", "content": "Title: From John Adams to John Quincy Adams, 12 November 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nMy dear Son\nQuincy November 12. 1807\nI have not written to you, though I have received two kind Letters from you, Since your departure, giving me very pleasing accounts of your comforts in your Travels.\nSoon after you left Us, I took the resolution instead of Sending George to Atkinson by the Stage or any other accidental and precarious conveyance to convey him myself. Accordingly We Set out, your Mother your Son and myself, and after three or four days of visit to Mr Peabody and his Family We returned in better health and Spirits to Quincy. George\u2019s Behaviour on the Journey and in the Family was very agreable and We left him Satisfied and contented with every thing about him. He is a very fine Child, and requires a mixture of tenderness and resolution in the Government of him, which I hope he will never fail to experience at School or at home. A young French Gentleman, whose Manners were very engaging and who Sings a multitude of French Songs, remarkably well, Soon became intimate with George and made him Sing his French Song. This is a Student in the Accademy not more than Eighteen or nineteen, and has an excellent Character in the Neighbourhood. He boards at Dr Cogswells where We Spent an Evening.\nMr Buckminster, whom I expect with Mr Shaw to dine with me, to day has furnished me with the fifteenth and Sixteenth Volumes of La Harps Course. They are posthumous publications and are only fragments, but bear indisputable Characters of his head heart and hand. They relate wholly to the Phylosophy of the Eighteenth Century. He distinguishes very justly between true and false Phylosophy. The latter is ascribed to the Atheists Deists and in general all the Ennemies of Religion, whom he calls Sophists. He goes over the Productions of Newton Lock Clark, Montesquieu Condelac, Buffon, D\u2019Alembert, Condercet, Voltaire Rousseau, Diderot Boulanger &c &c &c Raynal Mably. &c but these are but Scraps. He makes Diderot the King of the Sophists. He candidly allows them all their Merits as fine Writers, but has no Mercy on their Absurdities, Sophisms, Hypocrisy and Lies. He ascribes the French Revolution to the Sophists, with all its horrors.\nIf La Harpes Conversion was political only, he was the most excellent and Masterly Hypocrite that ever existed. The Master of a Mint could not counterfeit his own Coin with his best materials and Instruments, and make a more perfect impression.\nI have been delightfully entertained and much instructed by these Books, and I think that any Man who reads them with attention and impartiality must be convinced that the Atheistical and Deistical Phylosophers and their Writings contributed a great deal to bring about the french Revolution but especially to produce the worst Parts Scenes and most bloody horrors of it.\nMr Buckminster has lent me another Work, however, in one Volume, which has been written expressly and professedly to Show, in opposition to Robinson and Barruel, that neither the Phylosophers, the Free Masons, nor the Illuminati, had any influence at all in producing the Revolution. This Work is the Production of J. J. Mounier and was printed at Tubingen 1801. You remember Mounier in the assembly of the States General, and in the National Assembly. He advocated the System of a mixed Government of King Senate and Commons, and a Seperation of the Legislative Executive and Judiciary Powers. For these Sentiments he was obliged to fly and emigrate.\nThe Volume is very well written: more laboured in the Style by far than La Harpes: yet I think he has not proved his Points. The whole Truth may be collectd from La Harpe and Mounier compared together. The Extravagances of Courtiers, the Disorder of the Finances, the Usurpations of the Parliaments and the Oppressions of the Remnants of Feodalities, and the infinite Multiplication of the Nobility, arising from the absurd System of France and all the rest of Europe except England by which every Child of a Nobleman is Noble and entitled to exclusive Priviledges (for it is in England only that Aristocracy has but one Child), and many other Causes conspired to produce the Revolution. But I think it may be fairly denied that all these Causes, added to the American Revolution, would have produced one in France if the Philosophers had not prepared the Minds of the Nation for it. I more over Still think that the Free Masons and the Illuminati contributed a good deal in Aid of Phylosophy and all other Causes.\nI will give you a sample of Diderots Atheism, from La Harp. Vol. 16. p. 155 \u201cIl etait devenu Ath\u00e9e, au point d\u2019entrer en fureur au seul Nom de Dieu, et de regarder 1\u2019idea d\u2019un Dieu comme le premier des fl\u00e9aux de la Terre. Il cherchait comment cette idee etait entr\u00e9e dans le monde et quel \u00e9tait le premier qui avast pu s\u2019en doiser. Ii ne disait pas comme Lucrece: Primos in orbe fecit Deos timor. La Crainte a fait les Dieux. Son imagination lui fourniss ait une autre Hypothese bien digne d\u2019une tete comme la Sienne. Il suppos ait Un Misantrope furieux, un Timon, un homme qui avait nourri trente ans, dans une caverne le resentiment de tout le mal que lui avaient fait les hommes, et cherch\u00e9 pendant tout ce tems, comment it exercerait contre eux une vengeance terrible et durable qui put assouvir toute la haine. Un jour, enfin cet homme etait sorts de sa caverne tout rempli d\u2019une id\u00e9e qui repondait a ses fureurs. Il en etait sorti, en criant d\u2019une voix epouvantable: Dieu! et avast ainsi couru le Monde en jetant partout le meme cri, Dieu, et ce mot, repete et commente, avait repandu toutes les Calamites sur la Terre. Telle etait la fable Philosophique que Diderot substuait a celie de Pandore.\nIt must be confessed that this is much more profound than J. J. Rousseaus fable of the first Man who marked or Staked out a Garden and called it his own. This Man ought to have been instantly put to Death, as he Says. And I Say that both Rousseau and Diderot ought to have been Sent aux petits Maisons.\nPiety and Property, according to these profound Phylosophers have been the Sole Causes of all the Calamities and Miseries of Mankind. It Seems to be almost a Sin, as well as a folly to reason with these great Masters of the \u0392\u03b1\u03b8\u03bf\u03c2. But I cannot help considering whether, if Men were So happy according to the Ideas of these Gentlemen, as to be Totally destitute of the Love Fear and belief of a God, and to be agreed to have no property, whether they would not Still be liable to diseases, Cramps Side Sstiches, Head Ache Tooth Ache Gout Stone fevers and a thousand others. Whether they might not freeze in our cold Winter night, without houses to Shelter them. Whether they might not melt in the heats of Summer. Whether they or their Children might not be unluckily torne by wild beasts. Whether the old might not perish for Want, when their Children had no faith in any precept to honour father and Mother. Whether Children would not suffer, when their Parents were Sick or drunk with eating too many grapes or drinking too much of their Juice. The miserable Conditions of our North American Indians in the Months of February March and April, when their Stores are almost empty and they are reduced to short allowance, emaciated, exhausted Sunk in their Spirits and Scarcely able to move, might convince those Men but they are ignorant of these facts and will not believe them, though they are well known to all who have been conversant with Indians in our Woods.\nMounier has given Us the most intelligible Account of the System of Weishaupt, the Professor of Law in Bavaria, which I have Seen. The most profound, most extensive and at the Same time the most delirious and the most wicked of all the mistic Empiricisms of ancient or modern times. How it was possible that Such a Knave could associate with two or three other Knaves and find So many Dupes and among them Princes Magistrates, Nobles Philosophers, Some of whom were respectable Characters I cannot conceive. My Capacity for comprehending the Elevations of Such Genius\u2019s is however very Superficial. I could never fathom the heighths or Depths of Miranda or Burr or even Hamilton. How then can I hope to penetrate Weishaupt. The very Circumstance, that his Scheme for the Perfectibility of Man to Such a degree as to make Princes Magistrates and Laws unnecessary, was not to be expected to be accomplished in less than thousands of Years would to my contracted Mind, have been Sufficient to discredit it forever.\nMr Shaw and Mr Buckminster as I expected obliged Us with a Visit. Buckminster is a charming young Man and Seems to be in good health. If his health should continue and the Sword does not cut through the Scabbard, he will raise an Enthusiasm in this Country. I pity him. Such Splendid Talents and the enthusastic Reputation they Spread are very dangerous to a Mans Peace. Sir Isaac was a real Phylosopher when he Said he would not Sacrifice Something so real as his Peace of Mind for a bauble. This he Said when Envy made a Serious Attempt to take from him the Honor and Merit of his greatest discoveries.\nI shall not take the trouble to read what I have written because it is to you. I sSay little on public affairs, because I know little of them. I am glad however to see that you and Mr Quincy are so attentive to the honor and Interest of your Country. The Facts you move for are very important and ought to be authentically ascertained, for the Satisfaction of the American People in the first place and foreign Nations in the Second. John is pretty well and tolerably contented. Rather too much attached to the Old Mansion but that is flattering to old hearts.\nYour Porter has done me much good, but you must charge me for it lest it should be forgotten by your\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "11-30-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1621", "content": "Title: To John Adams from John Quincy Adams, 30 November 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, John\nMy dear Sir\nWashington 30. Novr: 1807.\nI received a few days since your very kind letter which I am ashamed of answering by a few lines; but by some accident I have fallen from a state of almost total idleness into an overwhelming flood of business, which leaves me scarcely a quarter of an hour of the day or of the Night\u2014I sent you last week a copy of a volume in the form of a bill which I reported upon the Aggression business and which is now under debate\u2014The mere scribe-work of its compilation (for not much of it is my own) and the attendance upon a large Committee where it was discussed before it came into the Senate has already employed me with sufficient Industry\u2014But on Friday last Mr: John Smith of Ohio made his appearance here\u2014and was going to take his seat\u2014A Resolution for a Committee of enquiry whether he ought not to be expelled was immediately offered, which after some debate was substantially adopted\u2014A Committee of seven was raised of which I have the misfortune to be Chairman; I did not introduce any one of the proposed Resolutions, and as you will see by the printed debates took very little part in the discussion\u2014It was a subject which of all others I was desirous of avoiding, but in vain\u2014The principles and facts involved in this inquiry are of a compass and magnitude, at which I hardly dare to look, and the solicitude to discharge my duty, oppresses me beyond measure.\nI remain of my first opinion on my arrival here\u2014The President\u2019s Policy is procrastination\u2014and if G. Britain does not wage complete War upon us, we shall end with doing nothing this Session\u2014\nMy wife, child and the family where we live are in good health\u2014With my duty and Affection wherever due I am, in hopes of writing to you soon more at length\u2014faithfully yours.\nJ. Q. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "11-30-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1622", "content": "Title: From Abigail Smith Adams to Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 30 November 1807\nFrom: Adams, Abigail Smith\nTo: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nmy dear Daughter\nQuincy Novbr 30th 1807\nI received your favour of Novbr 20th and rejoiced to learn that you reachd Washington in safety with your young Charge. it is an important undertaking to travel such a distance with so young a Baby, by land and by water, but you have been accustomed to it, and therefore feel less embarressd with it than others would be. the little fellow seems to be Born for deeds of greater hardihood than his Brothers.\nJohn grows very fat. he is as thick as he is long is very well, but that gasping for Breath always attends him when he grows fleshy. I know not what to attribute it to. I hope he will out grow it\u2014he is very well, sleeps quietly and is quite gay and happy. he is fonder of me than ever, thinks it a great priviledge to tarry with me a day or two at a time, which he frequently does, and looks for Sunday with much earnestness\u2014yet when he is at his Aunts, he is quite content\u2014he amused me much a few days since with his Reasoning. he was sitting on my lap when he began. Grandmamma I know who made me, God made me, and made me to be happy. Well are you not happy? After a pause of some moments. Grandmamma Elizabeth had a peice of toast this morning, and I had two peices, but Elizabeths one peice was larger than both mine\u2014Now that did not make me happy\u2014Altho he was very serious, I could not refrain from bursting into a laugh.\nI heard from George a day or two since he was very well and quite content. his Aunt writes, that he is a very good Boy, and not more trouble than Children of his Age usually are.\nMrs Smith, William and Caroline are still with us, and will pass the Winter here. I cannot think of her going into the Wilderness at this season of the year. William wishes to go into a store to qualify himself for a voyage to the East Indies, but the State of uncertainty in which our public affairs are involved, are a Bar and obstical to his getting into a merchantile House at present\u2014his engageing manners, and pleasent temper and disposition are qualities which will recommend him. he has also a Strict Sense of honour and integrity. we have not heard from John but once since he left Quincy, which was from Albany. Mrs Smith is very anxious and uneasy in concequence of ithe was always so punctual to write, and so anxious himself to get Letters, that we know not what cause to attribute it to\u2014\nMr and Mrs T B Adams are gone to celebrate Thanksgiving at Haverhill when her Sister Betsy is to be married. I have scarcly ever been able to collect my Family together tho so small a Number at these Annual festivals\u2014they have been scatterd over the Globe\u2014I had the largest collection of them together the last Sunday you dinned with us\u2014all my Children, and all but one of my Grandchildren\u2014which have ever met before\u2014it is a pleasing and gratefull Sensation to parents to see them thus assembled like olive plant round about the tableYea to see as the psalmist expresses it. to see our childrens Children\u2014\nBy the Journals of Senate I perceive mr Adams is like to have his share of Buisnessbut Congress never get their Blood in motion untill after Christmass.\u2014I was quite amused to see how reluctantly the Truth came out, that the Administration had been obliged to have recourse to those very measures which their ignorance and folly had led them to censure under Washingtons\u2014under the last, there was not any money applied, but what had been previously appropriated yet such will frequently be the exigency of the Country, that such a measure must be resorted to for its immediate safety, and security. but that was a Jeffersonian trick to catch popularity, of which he ought now to be asshamed, to make the people believe that he was so tender and carefull of their money, that not a shilling should be expended, but what they had voted to a particular purpose\u2014I do seriously believe that the greater part of mankind from the days of Adam to this hour were designd to be Dupes and tools\u2014and they have most admirably answerd the end of their creation to this blessed hour as all history proves from haughty Nimrod to the tyrant to Napolean\nQuincy december 3d\nMy Letter has lain by for several days, unfinishd\u2014I have only to add that the family are all well. and desire to be rememberd to yours: Louisa desires me to present her Love to you & Mrs Buchannan whose sickness we hope is not of a very allarming nature the weather is very fine, tho we had one severe snow storm in Novbr\u2014\nMy Love to my son I am glad to learn that he grows fat, as well for his looks as his Health\nWhilst you I do not expect you will be Burdend\u2014Remember me kindly to your Mother and Sisters ask Eliza if she has sown wild oats enough to become the sober solid dame of a parsons wife? She had better persuade her swain to think of some other profession.\nMrs Smith Caroline Susan and Mrs Adams / all present their best Love to which I join that of your / affectionate Mother \nAbigail Adams\u2014", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "12-13-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1623", "content": "Title: From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to Mary Smith Cranch, 13 December 1807\nFrom: Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson\nTo: Cranch, Mary Smith\nMy dear Aunt\nDecember 13th. 1807\nI recieved your very kind Letter for which I return many thanks I hope you will pardon the anxiety which my last expressed concerning my darling John who is I am well aware safer with you than with me but the continual apprehension his father and I suffer\u2019d when he visited us last Summer induced me to write so particularly. We are sincerely thankful for your kindness to our Children and I shall ever feel happy in expressing my gratitude for your goodness\u2014\nThere is nothing new stirring here We hear of nothing but War The P\u2014 however has no idea of anything of the Sort which gives me great hopes that the Negociation may terminate amicably. war is certainly to be deprecated by either side, the mischiefs resulting from such a step, must be nearly equal to both Countries\u2014\nMr: Adams is just come in from his Walk I must therefore resign my seat but must first request you to give my most affectionate love to my Mother and all the family with best respects to Mr. Cranch and a thousand Kisses for John of whom I am delighted to hear so good an account Charles grows in proportion to what he was when you saw him. he is a lovely Baby! he has two Teeth nearly through with the wishes for your health & happiness I with pleasure subsribe myself your affectionate Niece\nP.S I have seen Mr. & Mrs. Cranch but once they were in good health She is grown very fleshy", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "12-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1624", "content": "Title: From John Adams to John Quincy Adams, 14 December 1807\nFrom: Adams, John\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nQuincy Decr 14. 1807\nKnowing very well by too long Experience the nature of your Employment, I wish you to understand that I never expect or desire any answers to my Letters except when I expressly request Information, more than a bare Acknowledgment of the Recipt of them. I Say this however upon a very patriotic and Self denying Principle because every Line from you is a cordial to my Spirit.\nMr John Smith of Ohio is so much a Stranger to me that I never saw him nor he me. He is therefore as far removed from my Love or hatred as any other Gentleman in the United States. I could very conscientiously be a Juryman, upon his Tryal, and therefore perhaps the more anxious that he should have Strict Justice.\nThe Senate upon the Tryal of Impeachment, is a Sacred Trybunal of Judicature, and the Principles, the Passions and Predjudices of Party Should have no Influence in their decisions. In this Case indeed there is no Impeachment. The Power however of the Senate to expell a Member is not much less important and delicate. Expulsion from the Senate is almost as ruinous to a Citizen as conviction of Guilt and the highest punishment a Senate can inflict.\nThere are two questions of great importance which will not escape the Attention of any inquiring Mind. The first is what are the Crimes Misdemeanors or offences, which will deserve or justify Expulsion; The Second is what Evidence is to be admitted in Proof of any Crime, fault or offence.\nI know not what is advanced, or proposed in Senate. if the President has laid before the two houses the Tryal in Print or manuscript of Col Burr and there are any Testimonies which bear hard upon Mr Smith, will it be contended that Such Evidence is Sufficient? Will it not be necessary to have the Witnesses present in Person to be examined and cross examined viv\u00e2 voc\u00e8?\nThe Case of William Blount was So confused and mysterious, that I know not what can be made of it.\nAnother Case of direct disobedience to an order of the Senate and an insolent contempt of their Authority, by one of its Members was passed over without any animadvertion at all. Such Examples give Us little reason to hope for any great advantages from the Power of Impeachment or that of Expulsion. Yet these Powers are indispensibly necessary in terrorem at least.\nIf the Spirit of Party intermingles in the least in these Impeachments and Expulsions, the Man convicted or expelled is immediately taken up by his Party, put upon the compassionate List and returned again to Congress like John Wilks, or promoted at home in some more honourable and lucrative Way. So that Such Things cannot be too maturely weighed and considered: and the Safest Course is always on the Side of Mercy Candour and Clemency.\nGovernor Sullivan has been very ill of a Lung Fever and As I arrive had fitts and died of Such a fever, the Governor, having had fitts and being seized with a like fever, apprehended that the cause of the fitts had Seized the Lungs in both Cases, and might have the Same Effect. But he is better and Attends his office upon Business.\nI cannot omit to mention the Death of Elseworth, or to lament it as a misfortune to his Country. Not to mention his Probity, Integrity or Public Spirit, in which he was equalled by few and perhaps exceeded by none, he had the clearest head in the United States.\nIf We were not all well I should mention the Sick. My Love to the Mother and the Babe, and the Family where you are.Yours forever\nJ. Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "12-18-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1626", "content": "Title: From John Quincy Adams to William Smith Shaw, 18 December 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Shaw, William Smith\nMy dear Sir.\nWashington 18. Decr: 1807.\nI received some days since, your letter of the 18th: of last Month\u2014But it was longer in coming than the time usually taken by the mail\u2014and I have left it longer without reply than I could have wished\u2014\nI am much obliged to you for your attention to my personal affairs, and much gratified that my obligations at the Bank have all been taken up\u2014You will recollect my wish that you would pay to my father $91..22. on the 22d: of this month, on my account, and also inform me what dividend upon a share is declared at the New-England Insurance Office, and at the Boston Bank, this Month.\nDr: Bullus the Messenger sent in the Revenge, arrived here yesterday, we understand with dispatches from Mr: Armstrong\u2014Their substance has not yet been communicated to Congress, but the rumour is, that it contains notification that the French decree of November 1806 will henceforth be rigorously executed against us as well as others.\u2014We learn the English have issued their counterpart\u2014Between the two our prospect is not bright\u2014\nYour\u2019s faithfully.\nJohn Quincy Adams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "12-27-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1627", "content": "Title: To John Adams from John Quincy Adams, 27 December 1807\nFrom: Adams, John Quincy\nTo: Adams, John\nMy dear Sir,\nWashington 27. Decr: 1807\nYour favour of the 14th: instt: came to my hands just at a moment to renew and to strengthen impressions which had been weighing heavily upon my mind for near a month\u2014The general questions relative to the powers and the process of expulsion under our Constitution had been forced upon me by the situation in which I was placed as Chairman of the Committee on the present Inquiry\u2014My own inclinations would have led me to investigations of a different kind, for which indeed I was making preparations and collecting materials\u2014This subject however came on quite unexpectedly, and still more unexpectedly was it made my duty to take the principal labour of its management upon myself\u2014The Committee have been in Session almost every day, Saturday\u2019s, and Christmas day not excepted since their appointment\u2014Their report is now ready and will be presented in the course of a very few days\u2014It is long and has been agreed to by the Committee almost to a line, as drafted by myself\u2014It will probably form a subject of animated discussion on the question of acceptance, and if printed I shall immediately send you a copy\u2014If its principles should not meet your approbation, it will be a subject of the deepest regret to me\u2014But even then, I think you will find in it internal evidence that its errors if such you should deem them have not arisen from carelessness or inattention\u2014That they should have proceeded from any less excusable origin I am sure you will not suspect\nI perceive by the newspapers, and by letters from more than one of my friends that the Bill, which has here commonly been termed the aggression Bill, and which was also reported by me, as Chairman of a Committee, has excited surmises, and occasioned imputations among my federal friends, not very auspicious to their good opinion of me\u2014I think that when I enclosed you a copy of the bill I informed you that scarcely any of its provisions were mine, although I gave the Bill, as it pass\u2019d the Senate my vote and my support\u2014I know not any thing that has given me so much pleasure, as to have learnt by a letter from Dr: Waterhouse that you approved of its principles\u2014I have however inferr\u2019d however from your silence respecting it, and from some other circumstances, that you supposed it a measure too high-toned for our situation, and perhaps hazardous to our Peace\u2014That may possibly be\u2014It pass\u2019d by a vote almost unanimous in Senate, but has not finally been acted upon in the House of Representatives\u2014It may therefore be considered as indicative of the tone of Sentiment in the Senate, particularly with regard to the affair of the Chesapeake, and to the support of our own authority, within our own Jurisdiction\u2014That I have contributed to the best of my abilities, and as far as my very slender influence in that body extended to pledge them by this Bill to the assertion and support of its principles I can never deny\u2014But I had evidence too clear and irrefragable of the temper prevailing through both branches of Congress, to fear that any measure which might unnecessarily endanger the peace of the Nation would be over-hastily adopted.\nOur prospects have indeed been growing more gloomy from day to day\u2014And we have now, at the express call of the President, an unlimited Embargo\u2014To this measure also, as merely precautionary and defensive I gave my assent and vote\u2014It was in Senate carried through in one day\u2014but was contested with much more violence in the other House\u2014Under the decrees of France and Great-Britain dooming to capture and confiscation all our ships and cargoes trading with either of those powers we had no other alternative left, but this or taking our side at once in the War\u2014I do not believe indeed that the Embargo can long be continued\u2014but if we let our ships go out without arming them and authorising them to resist the decrees, they must go merely to swell the plunder of the contending parties.\nThe British Proclamation, expressly commanding impressment from our merchant vessels, and assuming in fact a right of annulling our laws of naturalization, has given again a new and a darker complexion to our old controversies on that subject\u2014We ought not I think to suffer this new encroachment, and yet I know not how we can take a stand against it without coming to immediate War\u2014Mr: Canning in his correspondence with Mr: Monroe has insisted very strenuously upon keeping the case of the Chesapeake distinct from all other subjects of negotiation between us, and yet the Proclamation itself improperly connects them, by taking occasion, with the disclaimer of the right of search in National Ships, to place upon new ground, and under the formal tenor of a proclamation the pretension to impress from merchant vessels.\nThere are some important lights in which this question of impressment has not yet been presented to the People of this Country\u2014You have seen the Resolution which I offered in Senate some weeks since, to request from the President information as to the impressments within the two last years\u2014The returns have not yet been made\u2014\nIf it would not be too troublesome to you, I would intreat you to send me an account as minute and particular as your recollection will admit, of the case of the man, whom you defended for killing Lieutenant Panton\u2014If you have any minutes of the trial, or any means of reference to your argument, the authorities you adduced, and the opinion of the Court, they might be of service to me\u2014I think I have heard you say that in that case it was admitted by that decision, that the practice of impressment was even then held to be inadmissible in the Colonies.\nI would also thank you for your opinion on the following points\u2014Is not the impressment of a native born American Citizen, from an American vessel, in point of principle, precisely the same thing, as if a British recruiting Officer, from Canada should come within our lines, and forcibly take away a man, to make him a British soldier?\u2014And is not this forcible levying of recruits by the Officer of one Nation within the Jurisdiction of another, the offence against the laws of Nations, known by the name of Plagiat, or man-stealing?\u2014And is not that offence by the universal usage of civilized Nations punished with death?\nIs there any Law or usage of Nations, which forbids an American merchant or Master of a vessel, from engaging by contract a foreign seaman, to serve him as a sailor, upon a lawful voyage?\nIs not every seaman thus engaged by signing a shipping-paper according to Law?\u2014And is not the personal service of a Seaman thus engaged, a debt?\nI put the case of deserters from ships of War, or any other vessel out of the question\u2014But setting that aside\u2014If the personal service of a British Seaman has become by contract a debt to an American merchant\u2014And if a British Officer, is warranted, and ordered by his Government, forcibly to take the Seaman away from the service to which he is bound\u2014is it not in principle, an undertaking by the British Government to cancel a debt due by the individual of one Nation to the individual of the other\u2014and as such, in substance, a direct violation of the tenth Article of Mr: Jay\u2019s Treaty?\nPerhaps these last questions may at first blush carry an appearance of refinement in their train of reasoning more than they really deserve\u2014I will thank you to weigh deliberately the nature of the contract between seamen and their owners, and the moral reason professedly assigned in the tenth Article of the Treaty, for placing contracts between individuals even beyond the reach of War, and say whether the forcible dissolution of contract, which must be involved in every case of impressment, does not violate the substance, if not the form of that Article?\nThese are not the only subjects of public concern, upon which I feel the want of your judgment and advice. My situation here at this moment is singular, and critical\u2014My views of present policy, and my sense of the course enjoined upon me by public duty, are so different from those of the federalists that I find myself in constant opposition to them\u2014Yet I have no communication with the Administration, but that which my place in the Senate of course implies\u2014The friends of the Executive in Senate repose little confidence in me, and discover occasionally unequivocal marks of their distract and suspicion\u2014Even when concurring in my opinions some of them betray an involuntary anxiety lest their popularity should be affected, by having their names go out as supporters of measures linked with mine\u2014This temper does indeed appear in some small degree to be wearing off, but any trifle light as air, would restore it in all its vigour\u2014Yet since the Commencement of the present Session I have been placed upon every Committee of national importance, and made the reporter of several\u2014Without having the weight of a single vote besides my own, in point of personal influence, I find myself charged with the duty of originating\u2014and conducting measures of the highest interest\u2014I am made a leader without followers\u2014Until the present Session I have always had two friends, (Tracy and Plumer) with whom I could consult in the most intimate and confidential manner, and on whose friendship I could always rely\u2014Almost always upon their concurrence\u2014But Death has removed one of them, and the changes of political party the other\u2014I am compelled therefore to lean upon my own judgment more than it will always bear\u2014My only consolation is in the consciousness of good intentions, and unwearied attention to my duty\u2014Man can give no more\u2014the rest must be left to a higher power.\nMr: Monroe is here; and has been received with great demonstrations of respect and affection by his own State\u2014There is said to be some electioneering on foot, of which he is one of the objects\u2014Electioneering indeed is reported to be very active, but I know nothing of its course of proceedings.\nWe are well, here, excepting that my wife, my child and myself have all colds. With my best affection and duty to my mother and all the family with youBeing ever your\u2019s\nJohn Quincy Adams\nP.S\u2014I hear there is a private correspondence now passing between Genl: Wilkinson, & J. Randolph, which is expected to terminate in a meeting of honour.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "12-27-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-18-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Adams/99-03-02-1628", "content": "Title: From Thomas Boylston Adams to John Quincy Adams, 27 December 1807\nFrom: Adams, Thomas Boylston\nTo: Adams, John Quincy\nDear Brother\nQuincy 27th: December 1807\nI returned from Dedham on Friday morning, and found your letter of the 14th. The Court of Common Pleas dispatched business rather faster than usual, on account of Christmas; but there was business enough left unfinished to have occupied a day or two more.\nI am glad to find you are satisfied with my sale of your wood\u2014I believe, no body has done better since, though sundry lots have been disposed of at publick sale. If Congress should declare war against GB. the price of wood, in the vicinity of Boston, would doubtless be considerably higher, than it is or has been, but, as I could not absolutely, calculate upon such an event, I am, as yet, well pleased with my private bargain for the Grove.\nThe information you gave us on political topicks, was, in some particulars, a confirmation of opinions entertained here, especially as to the influence of the Corsican; but the rumour of yesterday, brought by express was, that the Secret Session had been held in consequence of dispatches from our Minister in France, which confirmed the declaration that there should henceforth be no Neutrals; that the Decree should be rigidly enforced against us in common with others, and that any Nation, having a Minister at the Court of GB, should be considered enemies at war with France. So much for rumour\u2014which also reported an act to have passed both houses of Congress laying an Embargo throughout the U.S. If all this should be true\u2014What then? I am sure I can\u2019t tell, or even guess from the complexion of your Congress, what effect any external occurrence will produce there. Some say the Senate are unanimous for war with France & the House of Representatives nearly so, for war with GB. A Committee of conference ought to decide the question between you, since the venerable President is so neutral. Alas! We learn from his own pen, his wish to retire from the Arena of political contention, that he may enjoy the security of domestic scenes, while the furies of war and discord, which he has let loose, are striving which shall do the most harm; not to a foreign enemy, but to our own dear Country. In critical times he has been known to call on the Mountain to cover him, and I hope the same friendly retreat may be reserved for him again. It is generally believed that for himself he has no idea of fighting, and is not a little surprised to find that any body should think him in earnest. Mr: Monroe is said to be astonished at the hue & cry for war so prevalent here; doubtless because his instructions were of a more pacifick tenor than the publick have been taught to believe. A language official and a language confidential has been heard of under a former Administration.\nWe have received the documents and a file of Newspapers; but I have not yet had time to read much of the debates. The Gun-boat system has undergone a tedious investigation, and there I think it would be best to leave it. But I speak after the manner of Men\u2014having little knowledge of the subject, any more than common sense teaches, and what Peter Pindar says on the same, \u201cFleas are not Lobsters G\u2014d-damn their souls.\u201d\nI shall be glad to receive your instructions as to the disposition of so much of your Real Estate in Quincy, which was leased for one year & which will expire on the first of April. If I can let the house and all the land together would it not be preferable to dividing it among many tenants? But if no person should apply for the house and farm, how shall I dispose of the land? I do not like Mr: Cook for a tenant, at any rate, and shall give him seasonable notice to quit. Shall I sell your fresh and Salt hay soon or wait till Spring? The Spring chance for a price being fairest, but I am afraid of Cooks horse or some one\u2019s else being in great straits for food before the Winter is over\u2014There is but a small quantity of fresh hay to steal or sell and the Salt hay is safe enough.\nMy wife & daughter are well and send love to Mrs: A\u2014Give mine into the bargain. Your boy John is well and passed the day with us\u2014My little daughter has just recovered from the Kine-pock, which she had very severely by the instrumentality of your friend the professor.\nIf you read the Col: Centinel, you need no private hints on the subject therein discussed between my two worthy and highly esteemed friends, the Doctors; Who shall decide when Doctors disagree? This is a very trite quotation, but it suits my purpose to a tittle tittle. I wish them well through with the scuffle, but will have no hand in prescribing for either.\nWe are all well. The young Col: is teaching our youth the discipline of angles and parrallelograms\u2014He is one of my chusing, being myself on the Sub-school Committee. I like him well\u2014So do all who know him, and I refrain from odious comparisons\u2014\nCompliments of the season to every friend I have in Washington. / Your\u2019s", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1229", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Tench Coxe, 1807\nFrom: Coxe, Tench\nTo: Madison, James\nBritish blockade by mere notification--\nRussian--do.\nNot to produce a fall of the blockade plan but to annoy the adversary belligerent & to defend the distant subjects of the blockade,\nincluding neutral ports.\nBoth before Nov. 6. 1806. Berlin & Milan Rety. Decree", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1230", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Tench Coxe, 1807\nFrom: Coxe, Tench\nTo: Madison, James\nThe present condition of the world certainly demands all the consideration of every wise and good man, which his situation permits or requires him to bestow upon a temporal subject.\nThe war, which in various forms and upon several grounds, has been carried on between France and her adversaries, has reached a degree of seriousness, which ensures consequences of the most extensive effects and influences.\nGreat Britain arrogantly tramples on the decencies of public life, perseveres in the most extravagant and false pretensions, goads her wild enemy to new extremes by evil examples, officially declares she will not abandon the principles of her orders in council, continues to recruit her navy out of our ships, enacts, by her executive, non intercourse of Neutrals with her enemies, however recently her friends, as freely as she would forbid the intercourse of her own subjects by act of her legislature, & rewards those, who have insulted our flag & assumed our jurisdiction with increased honors & emoluments.\nFrance observes no measure in her counter Operations, establishes officers, offices, dispensations, penalties and regulations within the jurisdiction of other governments, operates no less by revolutionary means in the civil walks of neighbouring states than by arms in the field of battle, and bears as severely, thro her influence on the continental cabinets, upon the commerce of our country as upon that of Great Britain.\nIt is yet to be seen what will be the precise and full effect of the measures of the United States at the last Session of Congress, upon France & England. The recent Treaty of France, and Holland, the advices from Mr. Forbes and from Gottenberg, the letter of the Duke of Cadore, the St. Sebastians cases, the acts of Naples & at Trieste, & the condemnations in the Danish or Norwegian court of Appeals are ill Omens.\nThe brief, but widely sweeping blockades of Portugal & Spain, following the explicit avowals of Mr. Canning & the silence of Ld. Wellesly respecting their existing orders, promise us as much future evil as to that Government may seem good.\nIn this state of things, if we consider their actual posture and their true nature, we shall see two possible issues, which it may be useful to anticipate.\n1. One or the other side will relax\nor\n2. Both will continue to injure.\n# If General de Moustier comes out with powers to do away all matters of irregularity and injury, England will probably break the peace. #\nIf England, awakened to the unwarrantable extremity of things and by a French, Swedish German Danish, Italian & Turkish attack on Russia and on her Communications with Britain thro the Baltic & the Black Seas, should on her part, determine to relax, the recent Conduct of France and our standing as the sole & useful connexion of GBritain render war from the Emperor Napoleon far more than probable.\nIf neither England nor France should relax then, it is not to be doubted their extreme orders and decrees, will be more extravagantly executed and that new supplements to them, in the same spirit, will be made, instead of repeals and relaxations.\nIt is a time for all the wisdom of the innocent and well intentioned.\nThere appears much reason to expect an attack of the privateers from the whole continental coast of Europe upon the trade between the United States & British Europe. If France does not decide to set us at variance with England by rescinding her decrees, we may perhaps hear of the capture the ships from America with cotton, wood, potash, flax seed, grain, and tropical produce.\nIn such a Season the preparation of the instruments of defence, manufactures, the cement of the union, internal improvements, the removal of local, personal & real-party prejudices by the most temperate and lucid explanations of the measures of the government, appear to merit all our exertions, and cares.\nFrench Men of no light Character occasionally agitate the idea between the marks # # on the 2d. page. So far and so long as it would give us Justice in peace, it would certainly be well; but if unhappily the heightened passions of Britain should pervert it into a pabulum to jealousy or hostility, inducing a quarrel between us, it would hasten her convulsions her fall. Our Magnanimity may look down upon her errors, her insults and her injustices thro the medium of a virtuous and wise policy, which would desire and promote her preservation to balance the fearful & stupendous power of her wonderful adversary.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1232", "content": "Title: From James Madison to John Henry Purviance, 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Purviance, John Henry\nprivate\nMr. Madison understood the idea of the President to be that Mr. P. should be allowed as stated in his charges agst. the U.S.; and of course to be accountable for the advance made by Mr. M. & Mr. P. Mr. P. will be allowed $233.33. for his passage back; with his further expences from his arrival at Washington till his embarkation. These may either be put into the acct. by way of estimate, or the acct. may be closed, and an advance made by the Treasury on a letter requesting it from the Dept. of State", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1236", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Griffith Coombe, January 1807\nFrom: Coombe, Griffith\nTo: Madison, James\nJames Madison Esqr.To Griffith Coombe dr1807January 7th. To 90 bushels Coal @ 35/ 100$31:50Cash Pd. for halling the same 3 1/ 2 Cts Bushel3:15$34:65\nRecd. Payment in full\nGriffith Coombe", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1238", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Tench Coxe, January 1807\nFrom: Coxe, Tench\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nJanuary 1807\nIt is proper that the Government should understand the language held in so important a city as this by the federal partizans, in the present Crisis: I am well assured by information and by my own hearing, that they say \"let the Sth.Wn. Country go. We can still trade with them. New England will do nothing to prevent it. They will not stir a step. We should have had an army\u2014we must have an army. The federalists are for the separation\" &c &ca.\nThey see where the gain of power would be, if Kentucky & the Mississippi country to the gulf were to be cut off from the United States. They see too, that our country would have what most & perhaps alone can influence a change of it\u2019s democratic government\u2014that is to say an antirepublican Neighbour under the protection of one or more of the great European Nations, the secret cabinets of all which are hostile to our constitutional principles.\nI recommend, upon public and personal grounds, that the government render manifest, as early as may be proper, every measure they may have covertly adopted to probe, check and frustrate the apparently dangerous measures proved by Mr. E. to have been contemplated by Mr. Burr: and by other circumstances.\nThis affair will greatly injure our character and prosperity, so far as the latter depends on the confidence of men of property of foreign nations\u2014that is, very considerably indeed. For ostensibly or covertly they own more than half of all our funds and national corporations, and much of others. Trembling at subversions and derangements in Europe, they will still more fear the consequences of such things in a scene so distant as America. I have the honor to be, Sir, Yr. respectf. h. St.\nT: Coxe\n(private)", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1239", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Caesar Rodney, January 1807\nFrom: Rodney, Caesar\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir,\nJanuary, 1807\nI have read & considered the enclosed letter agreeably to your request & beg leave in answer to the enquiries therein made to submit the following remarks.\nBy the second section of the act creating the Michigan Territory, 7 Vol. page 241, a government is established in all respects similar to that provided by the Ordinance of Congress of the 13th. July 1787, & by the act to provide for the Government of the Territory North West of the Ohio.\nThe Ordinance speaking of the Secretary says, \"It shall be his duty to keep & preserve the acts & laws passed by the legislature & the public records of the District & the proceedings of the Governor in his Executive department, & to transmit authentic copies of such acts & proceedings every six months to the Secretary of Congress\".\nIn many of the States the laws are returned to the Secretary of the Governor, or of the State, & are generally published under his care. The journals of the legislature are however kept in their own possession & published by their clerk in obedience to their rules. This practice may have produced the provision on the same Subject, in the Ordinance of 1787, which I cannot consider as requiring the journals of the legislature to be delivered into the possession of the Secretary. Because this construction must produce infinite inconvenience to the legislative body, who must whilst in session perpetually want to recur to them. The expressions \"acts & laws\" do not include the journals, but have a limited & well understood sense & meaning, & the legal maxim that expressio unius est exclusio ulterius well applies.\nThe subsequent terms \"public records of the District\" I am inclined to think include those of a general nature, which concern equally the whole District & not any particular subdivision, county or township; & to which therefore, it was supposed access would be had more readily at the seat of Government. If however this clause were to be considered more extensive, the legislature have the right to controul the official duties of the Secretary by law This is given by the third section of the act of 1792. 2 Vol. page 126, which was previous the subsequent divisions of the territory North West of the Ohio into those of Indiana & Michigan. Laws in pari materia, or the same subject matter, are to be taken together & construed from a general view of the whole as one law, & I am of opinion, this section is in force in the Michigan Territory; & of course the legislature of that Territory, have a right by law to appoint other depositaries for deeds & wills than the Secretary of the territory. Yours respectfully & sincerely,\nC. A. Rodney", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1240", "content": "Title: From James Madison to David Montagu Erskine, January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Erskine, David Montagu\nSir\nDepartment of State Jany. 1807\nFrom the supplement to your letter of the 4th. instant, and the papers enclosed in it, I learn that Captn. Douglas of H. B. Majestys Ship of War Bellona now in Hampton Roads, has failed to discharge an American Citizen named Richard Dickins now on board that ship; alledging that he entered voluntarily on board another British Ship of War, whence he was sent on Board the Bellona, where on the 10th. of Jany. 1806, he accepted the Bounty given to British subjects in such cases.\nIt is not necessary to call in question the fact that his free will alone engaged this American in his present service; however positively the contrary is asserted in his letter to his Mother of Sept. 21. 1806; because the illegality of his detention results from either supposition. If he be a volunteer, as is suggested, he infringes a law of the U. S. and being within the jurisdiction of the U. S. is subject to the legal process proper for bringing him to justice notwithstanding his being on board a foreign Ship of War; which, whatever courtesies may be due to it, in the execution of the process, can never pretend within the waters of the U. S to be a sanctuary for offenders. If Dickens be compulsively detained, you must be equally aware, Sir, that he is himself entitled to his release by another legal process, to which as little bar can be found in the public character of the Ship in which he is detained.\nThis concise view of the case cannot fail, I am persuaded, Sir, to engage your best offices for rectifying the misconception of the British Commander, and for his relinquishment of the person detained, without any resort, other than to his respect for the laws of a Country which affords him hospitality and accommodations.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1241", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Caesar Augustus Rodney, 1 January 1807\nFrom: Rodney, Caesar Augustus\nTo: Madison, James\nMy Dear Sir\nWilmington Jany. 1st. 1807.\nBy this day\u2019s mail I send you Lofts\u2019 Reports which contain Somerset\u2019s case.\nI found on my way home that the merchants were eluding the embargo, by surrendering up their registers & taking out licenses for coasting. This Mr. Gallatin had an amendment drawn up to prevent. It should pass as soon as possible in the shape of a supplement to the original act. It is a pity the resolution as proposed did not succeed, with the provision in favor of foreign vessels with their cargoes on board or in ballasts. It would have effectually prevented the game that has been played & a law might have been passed in a more perfect form at leisure. Your Very Respy. & Sert.\nC A. Rodney", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1243", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Riggin, 1 January 1807\nFrom: Riggin, William\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nConsulate of the United States of America at Trieste.the first day of January 1807.\nI had this honor on the 10th. Septr. and have now that of inclosing you the report of Vessels arrived in this district for the last six months.\nThis Country continues to maintain its Neutrality, which has hitherto been respected by the Belligerent powers, the order for the exclusion of English and Russian Vessels from the Austrian Ports remains in force, but those Governments do not appear to resent it, and altho\u2019 the ports in the Adriatic Gulph not subject to Austria are strictly blockaded by the Squadrons of those Powers, yet the trade to this Port, communicating with places not interdicted, has never been molested, and our ships in particular have been treated respectfully by all parties.\nThe French continue in possession of Dalmatia, and Istria, but their force is presumed to be very small in those Countries, and \u2019tis reported that the Servians allied with the Russians purpose advancing to that quarter this approaching Spring, their force is represented to be much more considerable than any the French now have in Dalmatia, and the issue of the war in the North of Europe, may probably decide the fate of that Country. The Russians continue in possession of Bocce di Cattero, the Austrian troops that left this to receive it from them still remain inactive on some Islands in its Vicinity. The Russians have about fourteen ships of the line, besides Frigates, Schooners and Brigs in this quarter, their Rendezvous is at Corfu, and Bocce di Cattero, the English have a light Squadron of Frigates and brigs, chiefly employed in the Blockade of Venice, this blockade together with their present circumstances, has nearly annihilated the commerce of that once great and populous City.\nThe Austrians do not appear to make any movement of troops in this quarter, nor are the French reported as strong on the Italian frontier bordering on the Territories of this Country. I have the Honor to be with perfect Respect and Consideration Sir Your very Obedient Servant\nWill. Riggin", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1244", "content": "Title: From James Madison to United States Congress, 1 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: United States Congress\nDept. of State Jany. 1. 1807.\nIn pursuance of the act of Congress entitled \"An act to regulate and fix the compensation of Clerks &c.\" the Secretary of State has the honor to report to Congress the annexed list of the persons employed in his office, and to state that the business of the Department generally is in a state of progressive increase; that particularly the business, relating to patents issued for useful arts, has increased at the rate of doubling in four years, and the patents for Lands, and the business attending the impressment of American Seamen have also much increased. It is his opinion therefore that the public service would be promoted by a provision at least sufficient for the employment of an additional Clerk.\nAll of which is respectfully submitted.\nJames Madison.\nList of the names & compensation of the persons employed in the Department of State in the year 1806.\nMr. Wagner\u2014\u2014$ 2000.The Chief Clerk distributes the business among the others and superintends its execution under the direction of the Secretary. His active duties are diversified according to the nature & presure of the general business of the Department, and among them may be particularised his assistance in its correspondence upon minor subjects.Mr. Brent\u2014\u20141000In conjunction with Mr. Smith, he attends to the business of impressed Seamen, and assists in collating the laws preparatory to their publication, which he superintends.Mr. Thom\u2014\u2014881.Makes out and records Virgina Military Land Patents, pays the awards under the 7th. article of the British Treaty so far as they are payable in the Department, and keeps the contingent accounts of the Department.Mr. Pleasonton\u2014\u2014$ 906.Makes out & records Patents for Military bounty lands; for lands in John Cleves Symmes\u2019 tract; Exequaturs for Consuls; all civil Commissions, and Commissions for Militia Officers within the District of Columbia; records the Correspondence with our Ministers in foreign Countries, and transmits the laws to the printers for promulgation.Mr. Smith\u2014\u2014800Records all the correspondence, except with the Ministers abroad, and in conjunction with Mr. Brent attends to the business relative to impressed Seamen, and to collating the laws previous to their publication.Mr. Forrest\u2014\u2014800Makes out & records patents for lands sold under the direction of the Registers, and also passports for Citizens going abroad. His knowledge of the French language, which he speaks is found an useful quality.Among other business too various to be detailed, there is a considerable quantity of copying, particularly of correspondence with our Ministers & agents abroad, frequently including voluminous documents. This is performed by the gentlemen of the office, according to the state of their other engagements, without its being the stationery business of any.Mr. J. Gardner for occasional service in filling up & recording land patents\u2014\u2014$ 25Patents & Copy Rights.\nFor services rendered by Dr. Thornton, in superintending & issuing patents for useful inventions and discoveries; in securing copyrights &c. &c. a compensation has been allowed to him of\u2014\u20141400.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1245", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Stephen Moylan, 1 January 1807\nFrom: Moylan, Stephen\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nJanuary 1st. 1807\nI hereby notify you of my intention of quitting the Tenantcy of your house at the expiration of the present quarter. Also offering my services to procure another Tenant. I have the Honor to be Sir Your obedt Servt\nStephen Moylan", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-02-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1246", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Robert Montgomery, 2 January 1807\nFrom: Montgomery, Robert\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nAlicante 2 January 1807.\nInclosed you will please find the semiannual list of Arrivals till this date in which it is pleasing to Observe a greater number of Vessels than appeared at any period for the same space of time.\nA French privateer called le Serpent of fourteen Guns commanded by Luis Dodero a noted Smuggler from Genove has been for some time past on this Coast cruising against the Enemies of that Country with little or no success, but on the first appearance of the Decree of Berlin 21 November last he has directed his depredations also against the flag of the United States and on the 26 ulto detained the Ship Cyrus of Boston Samuel Eames with 4000 Quintals of Salt and dry fish and yesterday in the same manner brought in the Schooner Sibay also of and from Boston with Staves Salmon and dry fish. I have opposed this outrage with all my powers both private and publick, but heretofore without success. I shall however by this post lay the whole matter before Mr. Erving and request his instructions how I am to conduct myself upon it in the meantime I have demanded redress from the government of this Country. I have also advised Commodore Campbell now at Gibraltar and requested any force he can spare to prevent those insults to Our flag. I have the honor to be truly Sir Your Obedt. huml. Servant\nRobt Montgomery", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-02-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1247", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Smith, 2 January 1807\nFrom: Smith, John\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nPhiladelphia January 2d: 1807.\nPermit me to take the liberty to inform you, that my commission, as Marshal of the Pennsylvania District, will expire on the 25th: instant.\nIt is my wish to be honored with a re-appointment; and I rely upon your goodness, to introduce the Subject to the President, in the most favorable manner.\nMy official conduct has, I believe, obtained an approbation of the Bench, the Bar, and the Suitors, of the Federal Courts, as nearly approaching to unanimity, as could reasonably be expected: Personal feeling, and party prejudice, may, perhaps, discover, or create, objections, but, be assured, Sir, that upon the test of my own Conscience also I have acted a diligent, faithful, and impartial, part.\nI am aware that the unfortunate collision of Politics in our State, has produced new Combinations, and New interests. But I beg you to understand, explicitly, that the principles and pursuits, which recommended me, at first, to the favor of the President, are without change in Motive, and in object. I am the inflexible friend of the Republican cause, and the Republican Administration of 1801.\nAccept, Sir, my most cordial wishes for your health & happiness. & am With High Consideration your Obedient Servant,\nJno. Smith,Marshal of the District of Pennsylvania", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-03-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1249", "content": "Title: To James Madison from James Monroe, 3 January 1807\nFrom: Monroe, James,Pinkney, William\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nLondon January 3d. 1807.\nWe have the honor to transmit you a Treaty which we concluded with the British Commissioners on the 31st. of December. Altho\u2019 we had entertained great confidence from the commencement of the negotiation, that such would be it\u2019s result, it was not untill the 27th. that we were able to make any satisfactory arrangement of several of the most important points that were involved in it. On the next day we communicated to you that event by several dispatches, three of which were forwarded by vessels from Liverpool, so that we hope you will receive very early intelligence of it. We commit this, with the Treaty, to Mr. Purviance, who we flatter ourselves will have the good fortune to arrive in time to deliver it to you before the adjournment of Congress.\nThe necessity we feel ourselves under to forward to you the Treaty without delay will we fear render it impossible for us to enter so fully into the subject of it, as on many considerations it might be proper to do. We are aware that such instruments must be construed by an impartial view of their contents uninfluenced by extraneous matter. A knowledge however of the sense in which the several articles of a treaty were understood by the parties to it may in cases be useful. It is also just to remark that some circumstances occurred in the course of this negotiation, which, altho\u2019 they do not appear on the face of the Instrument itself, yet as they may have no inconsiderable influence on the future relations of the two countries, it is peculiarly important to explain. We shall endeavor to give such explanations, where they may be necessary, in the best manner that may be found compatible with the dispatch which the occasion so imperiously requires, and we flatter ourselves without omitting any thing on any point that may be deemed of essential importance.\nThe first article of the present Treaty which stipulates that peace shall subsist between the parties is taken from that of 1794 and is found in most of the modern treaties.\nThe second article confirms those of a permanent nature in the treaty of 1794. The British Commissioners were very desirous to introduce the permanent articles of that treaty in the form of new stipulations into the present one. They insisted with great earnestness that the article which relates to the trade with the Indian tribes should be so amended as to admit the traders of Canada and the Hudson Bay Company to participate with us in the trade, with the tribes in Louisiana. They seemed to admit that by a fair construction of the article they could not support such a claim, but contended that it was justified by its spirit. Their solicitude on this point which they had supposed was an unimportant one to the U. States created some embarrassment and delay in the business. They intimated that it proceeded from a desire to conciliate the public opinion in this country in favor of the treaty, which became necessary in consequence of the concessions which they thought they made us on other points. As we were decidedly of opinion that the article in the Treaty of 1794. could not apply to territory afterwards acquired, and could see nothing in its spirit which entitled it to such an extension, and more especially as our instructions contemplated a different result, it was impossible for us to adopt that proposal. They finally agreed therefore, tho\u2019 not without evident reluctance, to the article in it\u2019s present form.\nWe regret to say that the third article which regulates our trade with the the British possessions in India, which with one essential and most unfavorable difference is the same with the thirteenth article of the treaty of 1794., is not what we had been led to hope it would be practicable to make it. Aware of the importance attached to this commerce in America, we have used the most zealous and persevering efforts, not only to prevent the introduction of new restraints upon it, but even to emancipate it from some of those which the treaty of 1794. had distinctly sanctioned. The India company have however been less accomodating than was at first expected, and hence the rejection of all the amendments proposed by us, one of which sought to omit entirely and (when that was refused) to modify, the provisions copied from the treaty of 1794, that our voyages from the British possessions should be direct to the U. States. This amendment, in both it\u2019s shapes, was repelled in such a manner as to convince us that nothing would be gained by continuing to press it, and we gave it up at length with great reluctance. In this stage of the business the British Commissioners insisted upon an amendment upon their part by which our voyages to British India were required to be direct from the U. States. This unexpected amendment was proposed, at the instance of the India Company, after the project of the British Commissioners (which, with reference to this subject, was a literal copy of the 13. art. of the treaty of 1794) had not only been presented to us, but fully discussed, and, as we understood, settled. The real intention and office of it were said by Lord Holland and Lord Auckland to be no more than to make the article speak unequivocally what was the true meaning of the article in the late treaty. We replied to this that the article in the late treaty was not susceptible of this limited construction; that its obvious import was that only the voyage from India should be direct; that this had been solemnly adjudged by their own courts of law, and that the practice had been and still continued to be so. We were answered by the production of a paper purporting to be a report of that in their opinion an American vessel was not entitled to a clearance from a port in G. Britain to Calcutta under the treaty of 1794. We were told moreover that Lord Grenville when he made the treaty, the India Company when it sanctioned, and the British government when it ratified it, did not mean to authorize any other than direct voyages, outward as well as homeward, between the U. States and their Indian possessions, and that if the treaty was liable to any other construction, it arose from mere inadvertence in adjusting the phraseology; but that in truth it was not a fair and natural interpretation of words, which authorized a commerce between two defined limits, that a commerce between one of those limits, and some third place was intended to be allowed, altho\u2019 not a word was said about it in the article. Having given the obvious answer to these suggestions, we urged as long and as zealously as was thought advisable the inconveniences to which our trade with India would be subjected by prohibiting any of the modes in which it was prosecuted, as well as the unfriendly appearance of the new restriction for which there existed no adequate motive. We spoke of the sensibility which would be excited in our country by such an ill-timed and ungracious interference, the interests which it would affect, and the passions which it would enlist against the entire treaty; to all which it was finally answered that the India Company could not be prevailed upon to relax upon this point; that moreover it ought not to be forgotten that this was a trade from which their own subjects were ordinarily excluded in favor of the company\u2019s monopoly: that this monopoly, as a losing concern, seemed at present to require peculiar protection: that our admission into British India at all was a boon for which we did not and could not give any equivalent, and of course that we could not justly complain, if that admission was somewhat qualified with a view to the mitigation of the evils, by which it was undoubtedly attended and which it was not possible wholly to prevent; especially if we were not placed upon a more disadvantageous footing in that respect than other friendly powers, which was so far from being the case that we were unquestionably admitted by the article, as they proposed to amend it, upon much better terms than any other nation, inasmuch as our commerce (exclusive of the advantage of being secured by treaty) would be subject only to British duties, whereas the Danes and Swedes paid alien duties to a considerable amount, without enjoying any priviledge (whatever might be said to the contrary) to which we were not equally entitled. We were at last reduced to the necessity of accepting the article with the obnoxious amendment, rendered less obnoxious perhaps by the clause, relative to the most favored nation, or making a treaty without any article upon the subject, which would have the same and probably worse effects, or of making no treaty at all. We preferred the first.\nThe fourth and fifth articles regulate the trade between the U. States and the British possessions in Europe By these, we are persuaded that much greater satisfaction will be given to our government and country, than by the preceding one. The three first clauses of the fifth article which place the vessels and merchandize of each country in the ports of the other, in respect to duties and prohibitions, on the footing of the most favored nation, are taken from the treaty of 1794. To these we were not aware that any well founded objection was ever made. But the subsequent clauses give a new character to this intercourse. The right which the British government reserved by the Treaty of 1794 to impose a tonnage-duty on American vessels equal to the duty which was payable on British vessels in the U. States is, by the first of these clauses made reciprocal. Under that reservation or rather as we presume the pretext of it, the British govt. had actually imposed a tonnage duty on American vessels of 6/ 5 per ton, being almost three times the amount of the duty which was payable on British vessels in the U. States. And as the U. States had expressly stipulated not to raise the duty on British vessels higher than it then was, it was out of their power, without a palpable violation of that stipulation, to countervail the duty imposed by G. Britain on American vessels. But by making the reservation reciprocal the U. States have an unquestionable right to raise the duty on British vessels to the same level, wherever that may be. And by conjoining the reciprocity strictly to the principle of national equality, that is an equality of tonnage-duties which shall be payable on the vessels of each party in the ports of the other, a right is reserved by each to give what preference it thinks fit within that limit to its own vessels and people. At present such preference is given by our law, to the amount of Cents p. ton, which is not only protected by this clause against any countervailing measure, other than by lessening the duty, but the right is secured to increase it in the degree above stated. By this we do not wish to imply that it would be advisable to take all the advantage of this circumstance which the article admits of. The presumption is that the British govt. will, in case the treaty is ratified, repeal the additional duty on American vessels, which will leave them charged in common with their own and those of every other nation with the sum of 4/ 5 per ton. Should our government think proper to raise the duty on British vessels to the same point, it may perhaps be adviseable not to increase the present discrimination. The last clause of this article which stipulates that the same duties of exportation and importation shall be paid on all goods and merchandize, and that the same drawbacks and bounties shall be allowed in both countries, whether the same be in British or American vessels, will it is also hoped be found of very essential advantage to the U. States. The right which G. Britain had reserved by the treaty of 1794, to countervail the difference of duty payable in the U. States on European or Asiatic goods when imported in British or American vessels had been productive of very serious injury. The duties which had been imposed by the British govt. on American productions, on that principle, were so high, making in most cases a difference of shillings per ton in favor of British vessels, that it must have been impossible in peace for our navigation to have borne it. The evil was the greater because the species of commercial warfare in which it engaged in consideration of the comparative value and of the articles subject to it, in each country, furnished no remedy. On the contrary as the principle was unfavorable the farther it was carried the worse would be it\u2019s effect. By this clause it is presumed that the evil will be completely done away, while we flatter ourselves that the stipulation in favor of drawbacks and bounties, without exposing us to any inconvenience, will be productive of some advantage.\nIt is proper to remark that we did not omit to propose an arrangement on the subject of export duties by which the U. States should at least be placed in that respect upon the footing of all other nations. The discrimination to our prejudice in the British duties on exportation which took their rise in the convoy duty of the last war has undoubtedly an unkind and oppressive effect. This discrimination is found in the 43. Geo. 3. ch. 68:, a permanent act (which repealed the then existing duties, and substituted others) and in the 43. Geo. 3. ch. 70. which imposes additional duties during the present war. Taking the war duty and the permanent duty together, the consumers in the U. States of certain British manufactures (for the duties in question apply only to British manufactures, and not to all of them; British cotton, yarn and manufactures, and some other articles being excepted) pay 2 1/ 2 percent ad valorem more than the consumer in Europe, or within the Straights, pays on the same goods.\nThe only mode in which it could be supposed to be possible that this unpleasant distinction could be removed, was by applying to the subject the rule of the most favored nation. G. Britain was not likely in her present situation to stipulate against all export duties or even to agree to a maximum. Neither was she likely by considering the actual duties as originally and even now convoy duties, and therefore in their principle applicable only to the navigation which her convoys protect, to relieve from them wholly or in part such merchandize as should be carried to our country in American vessels and leave them to oppress her own tonnage, thus offering a bounty in favor of American ships against her own. The rule of the most favored nation was therefore finally suggested with a hope that it would meet with no objection. It was however perseveringly opposed. We were told that the single effect of such an arrangement would be to compel G. Britain to raise the export duties against other countries, not to reduce them as to us, and that this would be of no advantage to the U. States, but might be a serious embarrassment to G. Britain. It was urged on our part that, if G. Britain could not give up entirely the excess of export duty now paid by us, it did not follow that it might not be fairly distributed among the consumers of her merchandize in every part of the world so as still to produce the same revenue with more regard to justice; that as her best customers we had a right to be placed upon at least an equal footing with other nations, and to complain if we were rather distinguished by the peculiar burthens which she undertook to impose upon us; that the discrimination against us upon the notion, that the duty had reference to convoy, was a fallacy, since part of the discrimination was permanent, and of course a peace as well as a war duty; since we who paid the duty derived no benefit from the convoy, which was professed to be the consideration of it; and since, the protection of their own trade in their own navigation being a general and national concern, there was no sound reason why the relative expence of particular convoys should be allowed to suggest the relative measure of the duties, which were to supply the means of affording them. They replied to the idea of distributing the amount of the discrimination among all the consumers of their merchandize by referring us to the present state of Europe. They reminded us that their own colonies in America paid the same export duty that was paid by us, and repeated that, as it was only the discrimination between the U. States and Europe of which we could have any right to complain, we could not demand to have any part of the duty against which we remonstrated, withdrawn from us, and that we could gain nothing by forcing this country to add to the burthens of others, already overwhelmed and impoverished by the calamities of war. We were obliged, tho\u2019 very reluctantly, to abandon this object.\nThe sixth article relates to the commerce with the West Indies which it was found impossible to arrange in a satisfactory manner. There were many serious obstacles to an agreement on this point, some of which seemed to be peculiarly applicable to the present time. The British W. India merchants had at an early stage represented that by the trade which our citizens enjoyed with the colonies of their enemies, we had so completely stocked the markets of the continent with W. India productions as to shut those markets on them. They had remonstrated earnestly against any arrangement of that point which should sanction in any degree our trade with those colonies. This question had taken deep hold of the minds of a great proportion of this community, among whom may be classed, not those in the mercantile line only, who were immediately engaged in the trade, but the whole commercial interest, and many in other circles of great consideration in the country. Of this fact sufficient proof was furnished by the debate which took place in the last session of Parliament on the bill for regulating the intercourse between the U. States and the W. Indies. The British Commissioners seemed to have taken from that debate, more especially from the support which their opponents apparently received from the public in it, a very strong admonition not to touch the subject by treaty at this time. They were apprehensive that any regulation of this trade, however fair it might be, which should accompany their sanction of that with the colonies of their enemies, would produce the worst effect with all parties and endanger any treaty which might be formed. They were therefore desirous of postponing the subject for the present: to which we agreed. In the stipulation which provides for the postponement we have as you will perceive, in conformity with our instructions, reserved the right to our govt. to counteract any regulations by which the British govt. may exclude us from a fair participation in that commerce. While the war lasts we shall enjoy it in a certain degree with the consent of the British govt. by necessity. And the reservation cannot fail to be considered by it, as a permanent weapon of defence, to be used, when occasion calls for it. It must be seen that it will be impossible for the Congress to prohibit an intercourse between the U. States and the W. Indies in British vessels, without producing a very serious effect on their whole navigation and commercial interests. We flatter ourselves therefore that it may be found practicable, and perhaps not difficult to arrange this business hereafter to the satisfaction of both countries.\nThe seventh article relates to the appointment of Consuls by each party in the territories and ports of the other. It was taken from the treaty of 1794.\nThe eighth article which specifies the causes for which vessels may be captured or detained, including among them the circumstance of their having enemies property on board is (except the last clause) a transcript of the 17. art. of the treaty of 1794. The stipulation contained in that clause, that the parties shall be allowed adequate damages and charges of the trial in all cases of unfounded detention or other contravention of the regulations of the present treaty, will, we presume, produce the salutary effect contemplated by it. There is perhaps no principle, in the maritime pretensions of this country, which has been more abused in practice, than that which this provision is intended to remedy. That damages should be allowed in all such cases is, it is true, a doctrine recognized by the court of admiralty. It cannot however be doubted that by providing for them in the treaty, the obligation to allow them will acquire greater force with the court and even the govt. itself, while it cannot fail to give an useful admonition to the cruisers.\nThe ninth article regulates what shall be deemed contraband of war. You will observe that tar and turpentine, except when destined to a place of naval equipment, are not comprized in it, and that provisions are altogether omitted. We endeavoured to exclude from it naval stores but without effect. We succeeded however in exempting the vessel on the return voyage, after depositing her cargo at the port of her destination, from being detained on the pretence, that it consisted of contraband articles.\nThe provision in the tenth article, relative to vessels sailing without knowledge of a blockade, is somewhat altered from the treaty of 1794. The precise effect of the change cannot perhaps be pronounced with certainty; but it seems to be clear that it cannot be otherwise than advantageous. The alterations consist in the introduction into the preamble of \"the distance and other circumstances incident to the situation of the contracting parties\", and of the word \"such\" into the provision which follows. The first amendment appears to justify an inference that, on account of the peculiar circumstances, local and relative, thus recited as the reasons why in the opinion of the contracting parties \"it may frequently happen that vessels may sail for a port or place without knowing that it is besieged, blockaded or invested\", our vessels ought not to be liable to be judicially affected with knowledge of a blockade, so as to subject them to penalty, by the evidence usually held to be sufficient for that purpose. Sir W. Scott decided in 1799, that, in consequence of the distance of the U. States from Europe, we were entitled to a more favorable rule in that respect than other countries, and our article may be fairly considered as adopting that idea and acting upon it. On the foundation of the single fact of distance Sir W. Scott justified a conjectural destination from America to Amsterdam, altho the blockade of that port had been notified; and the parties concerned were proved to have known of the commencement of it. The article, as it now stands, seems necessarily to imply at least the same indulgence: and, if it does, it certainly goes farther than Sir W. Scott\u2019s opinion, which does not admit that an inquiry can be made of the blockading force, as our article unquestionably does, in the cases to which it applies. It does not appear to be unreasonable to hold that, a peculiar motive being now assigned in the preamble for the provision which it introduces, a corespondent peculiar effect is contemplated by that provision; and no such effect can follow from it, if it be not that (as our distance makes it impossible \"that we should have constant information of the state of the blockade, whether it continues, or is relaxed\") the mere notification of the blockade or even the knowledge that the blockade has been commenced de facto, shall not be sufficient to make the destination illegal, but that, notwithstanding such notification or knowledge, we shall receive warning at the port or place blockaded. The words \"without knowing that the same is either besieged, blockaded or invested\" will admit of this interpretation, since, by reason of our distance, it may in our case be truly said (and has in substance been judicially said) to be one thing to know that a blockade has been notified or instituted, and another that it continues. We endeavoured without success to obtain the consent of the British Commrs. to the article proposed in your project. They would only agree as you will perceive to take its preamble and engross it upon the article of 1794, observing that this would give to that article a new and more favorable, tho\u2019 certainly an undefined character, and that, at a moment, when their maritime efforts in this mode of hostility might more than ever become indispensable to the national safety, it was impossible to do more. We pressed them long and earnestly to connect with the clause a definition of blockade, to which in the early stages of our negotiation it was believed there would be no objection. We found them however decidedly averse from such a definition by treaty, notwithstanding the precedent afforded by Lord St. Helen\u2019s convention with Russia. They maintained that the British doctrine was already as explicit on this point as any definition could make it, that it was difficult if not impracticable to agree upon one which should be at the same time accurate and complete; that the clause in it\u2019s present form would do much towards the accomplishment of our object; and that what remained it would be in their power, as it certainly was in their inclination, to supply, as effectually as in the treaty itself, by taking occasion to state, in a letter which it was intended should be delivered to us on their part at the time of the signature of the treaty, which you will hereafter find explained, the theory and practice of the British government on this subject.\nThis reasoning was in no degree satisfactory and it was resisted accordingly, but without effect. The proposed substitute for a definition by treaty might be of some value and was not therefore opposed; but it was obvious that it would be greatly impaired if not wholly destroyed by the nature of the letter of which we had received a full explanation and in which the suggested document was to be inserted.\nThe eleventh article regulates the great question of our commerce with enemies colonies, the interruption of which was one of the principal causes of the late disagreement between the two countries. We trust that the compromise which has been made on this point will be advantageous to our commercial interest and satisfactory to our government. The British Commrs. were very desirous of burthening this intercourse with several severe restrictions, to place, as they did not hesitate to state, their own merchandise on an equal footing, in the great markets of the continent, with those of the U. States. With that view, and to settle all questions concerning the continuity of the voyage, they proposed, that all articles of W. India produce should be stored in the U. States for the term of one month, be transported thence to Europe in another ship from that in which they were brought, and be likewise subjected to a duty of at least four per cent on re-exportation. They finally agreed however to relinquish all these pretensions, except the landing of the goods in the U. States and the payment (by which is understood the securing of the payment in the mode prescribed by our law) of one per cent on such European articles as may be carried thence to the colonies, and of two per cent on such W. India productions as may be carried to Europe, including the parent and every other country. We are persuaded that this arrangement will be attended with less inconvenience to the parties than the other restrictions above mentioned or either of them. The storing of the goods especially for a month seemed to be peculiarly objectionable, as it would have subjected us to a serious injury without being attended with any circumstances to alleviate the regret inseparable from it. We flatter ourselves that the sum agreed to be paid will not be felt as a heavy one on our merchants, whose patriotism will be gratified by the recollection that the duty which they pay will redound to the advantage of their country. By the compromise which is made the practical enjoyment of the rights of each party is forborne, in the manner stated and for the term specified, while the rights themselves are reserved. The stipulation being in the form of a concession on the part of G. Britain is intended to mitigate her principle where it applies but in no respect to enlarge the sphere of its operation. No judicial decision of the court of admiralty in this country has hitherto extended the British principle to enemies colonies in the East Indies, and it is understood that it does not apply to the greater part, if to any, of them. Some cases are depending before it, from the vice admiralty courts of Halifax and Columbo, which will bring the point into question. Should the opinion of the court be that the principle is applicable to the colony to which the cause relates, then the party will have the advantage of the provision contained in this article; should it on the contrary decide, that it does not apply to such colony, then the trade between it and the parent country will be free. This view of the subject was entertained equally by the British commrs. and ourselves, and is that, as they assure us, which the court of admiralty will adopt in its decisions. We endeavoured to exempt this branch of the trade with enemies colonies from the operation of the British principle; but that was found to be impracticable. We flatter ourselves that the arrangement made respecting it will be deemed the next most eligible one that could have been adopted, and that it will produce in practice, in a great measure, if not altogether, the same effect.\nThe twelfth article establishes the maritime jurisdiction of the U. States to the distance of five marine miles from their coast in favor of their own vessels and the unarmed vessels of all other powers who may acknowledge the same limit. This govt. contended that three marine miles was the greatest extent, to which the pretension could be carried by the law of nations, and resisted, at the instance of the admiralty and the law officers of the crown in Doctors Commons, the concession which was supposed to be made by this arrangement with great earnestness. The Ministry seemed to view our claim in the light of an innovation of dangerous tendency, whose admission, especially at the present time, might be deemed an act unworthy of the government. The outrages lately committed on our coast, which made some provision of the kind necessary as an useful lesson to the commanders of their squadrons, and a reparation for the insults offered to our govt., encreased the difficulty of obtaining any accommodation whatever. The British commrs. did not fail to represent that which is contained in this article as a strong proof of a conciliating disposition in their govt. towards the govt. and people of the U. States. The limit established was not so extensive as that which we had contended for and expected to have obtained. We persuade ourselves however that the great object which was contemplated by any arrangement of the subject will result from that which has been made. The article in the treaty, in connexion with the causes which produced it, forms an interesting occurrence in the history of our country which cannot fail to produce the most salutary consequences. It is fair to presume that the sentiment of respect which G. Britain has shewn by this measure for the U. States will be felt and observed in future by her squadrons in their conduct, on our coast, and in our bays and harbours. It is equally fair to presume that the example of consideration which it affords in their favor by a nation so vastly preponderant at sea, will be followed by other powers.\nBy the thirteenth article it is agreed that the sum for which bonds shall be given by the commanders of privateers before they receive their commission, to indemnify those who shall be injured by their misconduct, shall be increased to a greater amount than was required by the 19th. article of the treaty of 1794. It is also enjoined in stronger and more definite terms on the belligerent, in this than in the former article, to see that it\u2019s ships of war and privateers shall observe in a manner the most favorable to neutrals the acknowledged principles and rules of the law of nations in the search of merchant vessels. We endeavoured to obtain an arrangement more adequate to the object, and relinquished the pursuit of it with regret. While the subject of visitation and search was under consideration the British commrs. assured us that their govt. would regulate it in a satisfactory manner to the U. States by Act of Parliament, especially in respect to privateers; which assurance was repeated when the treaty was signed.\nThe following articles to the twenty first inclusive are taken from the treaty of 1794. The British Commrs. shewed a desire to retain them, and, as it appeared that they had in substance been introduced into the Treaty with France of 1801, and that an attempt on our part to omit them would be thought unaccommodating and captious, we agreed to them.\nThe twenty second article contains a new and useful provision in favor of the unfortunate in the case of shipwreck.\nThe twenty third article, after declaring that it is the intention of the high contracting parties that the people of their respective dominions shall be on the footing of the most favored nations, stipulates that in case either of the parties shall hereafter grant any additional advantages in navigation or commerce to any other nation, the citizens or subjects of the other party shall fully participate in them. This article is deemed particularly important in many views, but more especially in it\u2019s application to the British possessions in the E. Indies. If it can be shewn that any peculiar accomodation is or shall be hereafter granted to any other powers we become entitled to it of course.\nThe twenty-fourth article engages that the parties shall communicate to each other the laws which their respective legislatures may enact for the abolition or limitation of the African slave trade, and that they will also use their best endeavors to procure the co-operation of other powers for the complete abolition of that trade. As this engagement reposes on our laws, it follows that it does not enjoin any obligation unknown to them. If it should be acted on at all by our govt., farther than by communicating to this the laws of Congress, as is proposed in the first part of the article, the sphere of its operation would be a very contracted one till the year 1808. After that period such a co-operation on a more enlarged scale would become a constitutional measure of the govt., and as we think a suitable one. Mr. Fox had taken great interest in this question, and it is understood that in suggesting the idea, in the address of the house of Commons to the King, of obtaining the co-operation of other powers, the U. States were held particularly in view. The British Commrs. proposed the article and shewed great desire that we should agree to it. As this stipulation was not comprized within the scope of our instructions, we have thought it our duty to explain to you the cause to which its admission into the treaty is to be attributed.\nThe twenty fifth article was introduced for the purpose of protecting other powers having treaties with either party, in the enjoyment of the rights secured by them. The stipulation contained in our treaty with France in 1803, of certain commercial priviledges in favor of French and Spanish subjects for a defined term in Louisiana, made such a provision particularly necessary\nThe twenty sixth article fixes the term of the treaty at ten years from the date of the exchange of the ratifications.\nWe are sorry to add that this treaty contains no provision against the impressment of our seamen. Our dispatch of the 11. of Novr. communicated to you the result of our labours on that subject, and our opinion that altho\u2019 this govt. did not feel itself at liberty to relinquish formally by treaty it\u2019s claim to search our merchant vessels for British Seamen, it\u2019s practice would nevertheless be essentially if not completely abandoned. That opinion has been since confirmed by frequent conferences on the subject with the British commrs., who have repeatedly assured us that in their judgement we were made as secure against the exercise of their pretension by the policy, which their govt. had adopted in regard to that very delicate and important question, as we could have been made by treaty. It is proper to observe however that the good effect of this disposition and its continuance may depend in a great measure on the means which may be taken by the Congress hereafter to check desertions from the British service. If the treaty is ratified, and a perfect good understanding produced by it between the two countries, it will be easy for their governments by friendly communications to state to each other what they respectively desire and in that mode to arrange the business as satisfactorily, as it could be done by treaty.\nWe regret also to be under the necessity of stating that no provision has been made by the treaty to indemnify our citizens for their losses by the late seizures and other violations of the law of nations. This object engaged our attention in every stage of the negotiation, and was not abandoned by the signature of the treaty. On the day it was signed we stated in explicit terms to the British commrs. that we could not conclude without having a satisfactory assurance by them of the part their govt. intended to take equally in regard to the vessels and cargoes which had been condemned and the suits that were depending. The principle established in the correspondence between Mr. King & Lord Hawkesbury we admitted should form the bounda of our claim in respect to the seizures for an imputed illegal trade, for every violation of which in cases of condemnation we expected a full indemnity, and a dismission of all the causes still depending that were protected by it. The British commrs. observed that it was neither their wish nor expectation that we should relinquish our claim; on the contrary they were willing we should preserve it: with which view they proposed that we should present them a paper, bearing date prior to the signature, which should make the reservation in such form as we thought best suited to the object. They intimated that in cases of vested right it was not in the power of their govt. to interfere to the prejudice of the parties, and that it wou\u2019d be hard on the govt. and unpopular in the ministry to apply the public mony to such a purpose; still they said nothing to preclude that expectation, on the contrary they encouraged it, and were still more explicit in suggesting that the depending cases would not be unfavorably adjudged. They seemed desirous that, while we should resume our claim, their government should retain a right to pursue such a course of conduct in regard to it as might be dictated hereafter by circumstances. To enter into an engagement in favor of our claim in the present state of things appeared to them as being likely to expose their govt. to the imputation of having done it by coercion, and to deprive it of a claim to any merit for such an accommodation as it might under other circumstances be disposed to yeild. Should the circumstances of collision which had taken place between the two countries be done away, and their commerce and friendly relations be re-established, as they hoped was already in a great measure done, and would be so completely by this treaty, their govt. they thought would feell itself more at liberty to yeild accommodations on this topic than in the actual state. This was the substance of the communication made us on this subject by the British commrs. before the signature of the treaty, on which and our declaring explicitly that we would reserve the right in the manner they had proposed in full confidence that their govt. would respect it, we proceeded to sign the treaty. We have had an interview with the British commrs. since the signature, and were happy to find that they had not forgotten what had passed between us on that occasion. We had asked the interview, as we informed them, for the purpose of conferring on this subject, and of obtaining their sentiments in so distinct a form, as to leave us under no embarrassment in the communication it was our duty to make to you on it. Nothing passed in this interview on their part to change the ground on which the business had been placed in the former one. They intimated however that it might be advantageous, and would certainly be proper for us, in the present stage, to confer with Lord Howick on this subject, since any declaration from him could not fail, according to it\u2019s import, to merit the peculiar attention of our government. We have accordingly seen and conferred with Lord Howick upon this topic, whose sentiments appeared to correspond strictly with those which had been delivered to us by the British commrs. He intimated however that it would be better for us to address the note which should contain a reservation of our rights to indemnity, to him than to the Commrs., to which we assented, as we could not perceive that that circumstance would make any difference in the case. We are engaged in preparing this paper which we now expect to present to his Lordship in a few days, tho we fear it will not be ready in time to enable us to obtain his answer to it to be forwarded to you with this dispatch. We shall not fail to communicate to you without delay whatever may occur on this subject. We think it our duty however to add that we do not wish our govt. to be too sanguine in the expectation of a satisfactory result. In the deliberations on this subject it may perhaps be better to presume that such a one may not be obtained, as it is not provided for in the treaty. The above statement is nevertheless perfectly correct, and we beg you to be assured that we shall continue to exert our best endeavors to secure an object which we consider of so much importance. We shall send you a statement of the cases of condemnation, and of the causes still depending, which is less extensive in both views than may have been supposed.\nIt happened, when the negotiation had reached a very advanced stage, that an account was received here of the decree of the Emperor of the French at Berlin of Nov. 21., which declared G. Britain and Ireland in a state of blockade, and all British manufactures and the produce of British colonies lawful prize. This circumstance produced a strong impression on this govt., which was very seriously felt in our concerns. It seemed probable for some days that it would subject the negotiation to a long suspension, if it did not entirely defeat its object. The British commrs. informed us that the decree of the govt. of France had opposed a powerful obstacle to the conclusion of any treaty with us, before our govt. should be consulted on the subject, and it\u2019s answer obtained as to the part it might take in regard to it: that in case the U. States submitted to a violation of their neutral rights by France in the manner contemplated by that decree, it would be impossible for G. Britain to respect them: that by concluding a treaty with the U. States, by which they should not only bind themselves to the observance of such rights, but agree to concessions or relaxations of what they conceived to be their unquestionable rights of war, after knowing the contents of that decree, they might be understood to restrain themselves from counteracting the policy of France, which it would be improper to do, unless our govt. should engage to support its rights against the measures of France. In consideration of these circumstances they proposed that we should proceed in the business so far as to agree on all the articles of the treaty, to reduce them to form, and then transmit the instrument to the U. States, to become obligatory in case our govt. should enter into a satisfactory engagement of the kind proposed. We replied in very explicit terms to the British commrs. that we considered their proposition altogether inadmissible on our part, and not likely to accomplish, if we could agree to it, the object which they contemplated by it: that such a proposition to our government, under the circumstances attending it, would amount, in substance to an offer to it of the alternative between the treaty and a war with France, since if our govt. refused to give the satisfaction which they desired, the treaty would be lost; and if such satisfaction was given and the treaty concluded, and France should persist to execute her decree, according to the construction given of it here, war seemed to be inevitable; that if it should happen that our govt. should approve the treaty it was not to be presumed that it would make any sacrifice, or stipulate anything not contained in the instrument, especially so very important an act as that alluded to, as the condition on which it was to be obtained: that the arrangement of our differences and other concerns with G. Britain was an affair which rested on it\u2019s own ground, and had no connexion with our relations with France: that his Majesty\u2019s government ought to suppose that the U. States would not fail in any case to support with becoming dignity their rights with any power, and that it must be sensible that it would be more at liberty to enter into suitable friendly explanations with the govt. of France on the subject of the decree in question, after the adjustment of their differences with G. Britain than while they existed, as it likewise must be that the prospect of obtaining satisfactory explanations on that point of France would be better while they acted under their own impulse as an independant and friendly power than it would be in case they entered into an engagement of the kind proposed with her adversary. The British Commrs. admitted that these considerations were entitled to much attention: at length however after the subject had been, as we had reason to believe, maturely weighed in the Cabinet, they informed us that their government still thought it incumbent on it to make a reservation of their right to counteract the policy of France in case our govt. did not give them the satisfaction they desired, either by suitable assurances before the ratification of the treaty or by it\u2019s conduct afterwards. With this view they presented us a paper which we have the honor to transmit with this dispatch. In transmitting to you this paper it is our duty to observe that we do not consider ourselves a party to it, or as having given it in any the slightest degree our sanction. The incident which produced the paper was unexpected on our part, and without entering into its merits we used our best exertions to diminish it\u2019s effect in relation to the objects of our negotiation. The British Commrs. brought the incident into view, and made it the subject of discussion in the manner above stated, as they did the part which it became their govt. to take in the depending negotiation in consequence of it. We therefore thought, not only that we were at liberty but that it was imperiously our duty, to use our best exertions to make the paper which they proposed to present to us, in reference to the degree of France, as little injurious as possible, and even to urge that decree as a strong reason why G. Britain should be more explicit and satisfactory in her definition of neutral rights, as well for the purpose of vindicating herself against the strong denunciation it contained, as to enable our govt. to urge with more force with the govt. of France, it\u2019s objections to the decree. We were glad to find that these remarks were not altogether without effect, as will appear by the paper referred to, especially the definition it gives of a blockade, which is tolerably correct.\nYou will observe that the commerce between the U. States and the British colonies which bound them to the East and North, has not been regulated by this treaty. The British commrs. refused to agree to any arrangement of it in consequence of our declining to admit their Canada and Hudson Bay traders into Louisiana. It has occurred to us that it might be advantageous to the U. States and consistent with the views of our govt. to comprize both these objects, under suitable regulations, in a separate Convention, especially if they can be made instrumental to a satisfactory establishment of our boundaries. We have reason to think that in the form of a new act, in connection with these other objects, it would be more agreeable to this govt. to settle the question of boundary, according to the views of the President and Senate, than by ratifying the Convention already entered into with the exception of the 5th: article. The British Commrs. have expressed their willingness to proceed in the business for the purpose of arranging all these topics in a satisfactory manner, as Lord Howick has likewise done; and it seems to be highly important to take advantage of this disposition to settle amicably with this govt. at the present time every remaining cause of strife, so far as it may be practicable. Should we undertake to form such a convention, the commercial part of it will of course be limited to the same term, not to exceed that of the treaty. We shall also be attentive to the conditions on which the traders with the Indian tribes are to be admitted into Louisiana; by being particularly careful that it be done on such conditions as to render it impossible for them to do any injury. We are persuaded that such regulations might be adopted, as would even at this time have that effect. We are confident that our population will have so far spread over the whole surface of that country, by the time the treaty would expire, as to supercede the necessity of renewing it. We have the honor to be with great consideration & esteem, Sir Your most obedient Servts.\nJas. Monroe\nWm: Pinkney", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-03-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1250", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Albert Gallatin, 3 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Gallatin, Albert\nSir.\nDept. of State, January 3d. 1807.\nBe pleased to issue your warrant on the appropriations for the Contingent expenses of the Department of State for five hundred dollars in favor of Christopher S. Thom: He to be charged and held accountable for the same. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-03-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1251", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Albert Gallatin, 3 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Gallatin, Albert\nSir.\nDepartment of State, January 3d. 1807.\nI have the honor to request that you will be pleased to issue your warrant on the appropriations for the relief of distressed Seamen for Seventy three dollars and eighty three cents, in favor of William Mc.Creevy, holder of the enclosed bill drawn upon me on the 10th. day of September last by William Riggin Consul of the United States at Trieste, who is to be charged with and held accountable for the same. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-03-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1252", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Joseph Brown, 3 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Brown, Joseph\nSir.\nDepartment of State, January 3d. 1807.\nI have received your letter enclosing the representation of Mr. Small respecting seals for the Territory of Louisiana. Those which may be necessary you will be pleased to obtain and draw upon this Department for the expense. You will of course take from Mr. Small such of those which he has prepared under the orders of Govr: Harrison, as may be adapted to the wants of the Territory; and refer him to the Govr. as to such as he may consider himself bound to pay according to the contract. I am &c. \nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-05-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1257", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Marmaduke Williams, 5 January 1807\nFrom: Williams, Marmaduke\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nWashington City 5 Jany 1807.\nI last evening recd. a letter from Mr. Lockhart informing me, that he will not accept of his appointment as Marshal for North Carolina. \nThis circumstance has been made known to the President by a letter to Mr. Alston, but I have thought proper to enclose to you Mr. Lockharts letter agreeable to his request, so that some other person may be appointed to fill that office. I am Sir with due respect yours\nMDuke Williams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-05-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1258", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Stanley Griswold, 5 January 1807\nFrom: Griswold, Stanley\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nMichigan Territory, Detroit, 5. January 1807.\nBy the mail which conveys this letter, will be forwarded an authenticated transcript of the Acts and Proceedings of the Governor of the Territory of Michigan, for the last semi-annual period, to wit, from the first day of July 1806, to the first day of January 1807. With great respect, I am, Sir, Your most obedient and very humble servt.,\nStanley Griswold,Secy. of Michigan Territory", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-06-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1261", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Thomas Fitzsimmons, 6 January 1807\nFrom: Fitzsimmons, Thomas\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nPhilada. Chamber of Commerce January 6, 1807\nI am requested by a No. of Merchants to state to Government, that the want of a Conveyance for Letters to the Continent of Europe, Adds greatly to the Inconvenience experienced from the Embargo\nThe dependancys in france Holland & the North of Europe are very extensive. If it is not Judged perfectly Safe to send their letters thru England, If Government should deem it proper & either for its own purposes to dispatch a Vessel or for the Accomodation of the Merchts. to Carry their Letters, it would operate a very considerable public Convenience\nWill you be pleased Sir to Lay this Subject before the President, & Communicate the result. Yr Mo. hble Servt.\nThos. FitzSimonsPrest. P C C", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1262", "content": "Title: To James Madison from George Erving, 7 January 1807\nFrom: Erving, George\nTo: Madison, James\nNo. 20.(Duplicates.)\nSir,\nMadrid January 7th. 1807.\nMy last letter (No. 19.) was of the 24th. Ulto; I have now the honor to acknowledge the receipt of yours of November 10th. & of Mr. Wagners (in your absence) of October 3rd. which with the several inclosures therein referred to reached me on the 5th. Inst.\nWe received here some considerable time past thro\u2019 the medium of the French & English Newspapers, information of the advances which had been made by a considerable Spanish force towards our frontier post at Nachitoches, & latterly it has been said, & generally believed, that the Spaniards have again retired to their former positions, but it is not understood whether they have been driven back by our troops, or by what means they were induced to recede, & it is very doubtful whether the Government has received any official information on the subject. The general impression here at the time was that the advance of the Spanish Troops was an act of hostility, & no doubt was entertained but that it would be repelled by military force. I have not received any communications from the Minister of State bearing the least allusion to that affair, nor has any thing respecting it appeared in the Court Gazette, which is considered as the vehicle for conveying impressions to the publick mind, in cases where it is desirable that such should be produced. I conclude therefore that the proceeding of the Spanish Commander was wholly unauthorized, & will be disapproved of by his government; that it is disposed to pass over the transaction with as little noise as possible, & not to increase the difficulties of its actual situation by opening new causes of contest with us. Perhaps this beleif receives some degree of countenance from the explanation which Mr. Cevallos has thought proper to give respecting the transactions at Cuba in the correspondence which was transmitted with my last letter; from the diminution of their excesses by sea, the injuries of this kind having been of late confined wholly to the port of Algesiras, & which, as I have endeavored to point out, are owing principally to a very infamous understanding which exists between the Cruizers & the Tribunal of that place; & finally from the apparently sincere intention which the Government now manifests to investigate & to punish the outrages in that quarter of late so much complained of.\nBesides these in matter of minor consequence, I have observed a more than ordinary disposition to concede. Whatever degree of importance these considerations may appear to have: still, certainly I would not surmise that any radical change is wrought in the temper or policy of the Government toward us. If it be more inclined to a conciliatory course of conduct than formerly, this is a temporary disposition attributable only to the embarrassments of its actual situation. The late attempts of the English, & even of General Miranda upon their Colonies, have awaken\u2019d their attention to their interests in that quarter: As the present state of Europe places England as it were in the necessity of obtaining a footing there this Government must calculate upon every temptation being offered us to join in, or to promote the enterprizes of that Power, & their late misintelligence with France, & the very uncertain tenure by which they still enjoy the friendship of the Emperor, must have certainly diminished very much the perfect confidence which they formerly had on his assistance in the event of a rupture with the United States upon the old grounds of dispute. Hence it appears probable that the report which prevails of new powers having been sent to the Marquis d\u2019Yrujo, may be correct, & that some attempts to negotiate thro\u2019 him, (at least with a view to gain time) may be made. I received information lately thro\u2019 a channel in which I think dependance may be placed, that orders had been dispatched to the Governors of New Mexico as well as of Cuba, to refrain from all acts of aggression against us, & to cultivate as much as possible an harmonious intercourse.\nIn reference to what is herein said respecting the proceedings at Algeciras, I have herewith the honor to transmit copies of four notes; Vizt; Mr. Cevallos\u2019s of 18th. 23rd. & 27th. December, & mine of December 27th. being the suite of the correspondence (up to date December 14th.) inclosed in my last.\nI wait only for some depositions from Cadiz to transmit to Mr. Cevallos the evidence promised by my note of December 27th., as specified in that of November 20th. In what regards the transactions in the case of the \"Romulus\", I had depended upon obtaining thro\u2019 the means of Mr. Kirkpatrick, our Consul at Malaga the relation & partner of Mr. Grivignee who paid 5,500. dollars to the Captors, the affidavit of that Gentleman; & also of his brother in Law, Mr. Newman, the ostensible &, as Mr. Kirkpatrick states, the bona fide shipper of the Cargo; but I have been disappointed in this object; the fact may, however, as I trust, be established by other means.\nYou will perceive that the Judge of the Tribunal is for the present suspended, & I flatter myself that the result of the investigation will be his dismissal, the entire reform of the Tribunal, & a termination to the Excesses which have been lately practised.\nI think it proper to lay before you also copies of my late correspondence with the Consul at Malaga, not only as it relates to the proceedings referred to, but because in the course of it a difference of opinion has arisen between us respecting some very essential points of his Consular duties, upon which he has referred himself to you. I have the honor to be, Sir, With the most perfect respect & Consideration Your very obt. Servant,\nGeorge W Erving\nP. S. The Correspondence (referred to) with Mr. Kirkpatrick being too large to be Sent to Cadiz by the post, it will go with the Original of this letter by a private conveyance to that port.\nGWE", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1263", "content": "Title: To James Madison from St. Mary\u2019s Seminary, 7 January 1807\nFrom: St. Mary\u2019s Seminary\nTo: Madison, James\nJanuary 7 , 1807\nJames Madison $225.62\n7 Pour le cte. de J. P Todd d\u00e9taill\u00e9 en folio ....133... 225.62", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1264", "content": "Title: From James Madison to David Montagu Erskine, 7 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Erskine, David Montagu\nSir\nDepartment of State Jany. 7th. 1807\nI have had the honor of receiving your letter of the 4th. instant, stating that certain British Seamen charged with mutiny, piracy and an attempt to murder their Officers on board an American vessel which had been detained by a British ship, and was then proceeding to a British Port under the care of a prize master, had taken refuge in the U. S. and requesting that the Government would cause the seamen to be surrendered to their allegiance.\nPretermitting an enquiry into the precise quality of the transaction which in its event placed the seamen within the U. S. an enquiry which might extend itself to the possession of the vessel as justifiably or tortiously acquired by the British Cruiser, I must observe, not merely that no prerogative for the purpose in question is vested in the Executive of the U. S. but that neither the law, nor the practice of nations, imposes on them an obligation, to provide for the surrender of fugitives from the jurisdiction of other powers. The obligation can result only from special and mutual stipulations, which do not exist between the U. S. and Great Britain, and which indeed, as limitted in the expired articles of the Treaty of 1794, do not comprehend any other offences than those of actual murder and forgery.\nIt would be a culpable omission on this occasion, not to observe to you, that the Collector of Norfolk, has lately transmitted a Copy of a letter from Captain Douglass of His Britannic Majesty\u2019s Ship of war the Bellona to the British Consul at that place, on the subject of certain American Citizens detained on board British Ships of War lying in the Harbors of Virginia in which letter he refuses to discharge them without particular orders to that effect from the British Admiral at Hallifax, and undertakes to assign for a reason the neglect to surrender the British Seamen who are the subject of your letter. You will doubtless, Sir, see in its true light a conduct so extraordinary, and I assure myself that the efficacy of your interposition will relieve the Government of the United States from the painful steps which may otherwise become indispensable for maintaining the rights of Citizens suffering illegal violence within the very harbors of their own Country.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1266", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Thomas Appleton, 7 January 1807\nFrom: Appleton, Thomas\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nLeghorn Jan 7th. 1807\nI have now the honor to inclose you a list of American Vessels sail\u2019d from this port during the last Six months; as likewise, my account of disbursements, (with all their attendant Vouchers) to Sick, and otherwise distress\u2019d Seamen for the same period. In the month of October the brig \u2019light horse\u2019, John Quin master of Boston, was driven on the Southern Coast of Tuscany, on her passage from hence to Sicily: the Vessel was lost but the crew were sav\u2019d; and I have since procur\u2019d passages for them in divers vessels bound to the U:States. As Capn. Quin had concluded to return immediately to Boston, he declin\u2019d delivering into my hands the register and other papers, inasmuch as the law leaves him this liberty. On the third December the Brig Caroline Capt. Drew was stranded at the entrance of this mole, when the cargo was totally lost; but the Vessel, I presume, will be recover\u2019d. In the month of September, the ship Calpe, Richard Jones Master of Norfolk in Virginia, was taken by a british privateer and convey\u2019d to Malta, while on her passage from hence to Barcelona. The goods on board this vessel were altogether Neutral, and even Some part of them, belonging to Americans, and her papers in correct order. This it seems, has had no avail. The Vessel has been unloaded, and discharg\u2019d, and the cargo sequester\u2019d without discrimination of the proprietors.\nOn the 27th. of October the ship Serpent, Elisha Russell Master of Baltimore, was driven on rocks in the harbour of Tripoli in Africa, when the vessel was totally lost. The crew have since return\u2019d to this port, and at the expiration of their quarantine, I shall procure passages for them to the U:States.\nI should not trouble you, Sir, with a relation of the following fact, if it had terminated without any unpleasant issue; but I am induc\u2019d to give it place here from an apprehension that it may be represented with that kind of colouring, which the passions and feelings of the parties, are liable to give to events, in which they are both the actors, and the sufferers. A few days since a dispute arose at an inn between Capt: Stuart of the Brig Humbird of Baltimore, and a Mr: Boy\u2019d Clerk to Captain Porter of the U: States schooner the Enterprise, the result of which appears to have been, that Mr. Boy\u2019d challeng\u2019d Mr. Stuart, who declin\u2019d such modes of conciliation; and on the following day appear\u2019d at the corners of the Streets, a libel written by Mr. Boy\u2019d in our language, and in terms similar on such occasions. In short, Sir, they met in the great street of the city, and on Mr: Stuart\u2019s shewing with his cane some menacing Signs, Mr. B. drew his dirk, and the former then took from his pocket a pistol: however no blood was spilt.\nAs the governor is inform\u2019d of every event, so this came to his Knowledge: and the libel was taken down by the constable and deliver\u2019d to him. His excellency applied immediately to me, requiring Satisfaction for the violation offer\u2019d to the laws of the Country: and which he added, must be an arrestation of the parties. On Capt. Porter\u2019s offering to put under arrest Mr. Boyd on board the Enterprise for two days, and that Mr. Stuart should surrender himself a prisoner in the appartments of the Sheriff for six hours, he was finally appeas\u2019d; and thus terminated this unpleasant business\nI can only add, that the Governor on this occasion shew much indulgence; for most assuredly, had the offence been committed by subjects, their punishment would not have been short of a months detention in the common prison.\nSince my arrival in this country I have ever Consider\u2019d it one of the most important parts of my duty, to be particularly attentive that no persons in my district should avail himself, either from a similarity of language, or by otherwise imposing on the facility of any Citizens of the U:States here, to procure documents, by which they might legally require from me passports as being american Citizens; and I beleive in this endeavour I have in all Cases succeeded: excepting perhaps, in Some instances with Sailors, which are circumstances of not much public import, and extremely difficult to prevent deception.\nIn the month of November, Mr. Timmins an english merchant of Naples, made application to me for a passport, to proceed thro\u2019 Paris to London; and grounding his claims, on one he had receiv\u2019d from an italian Authority at Naples, unacknowledg\u2019d by the consul, tho\u2019 purporting him to be a Citizen of the U:States. Knowing full well that this gentleman emigrated with his father in the earliest stage of our Revolution, I declin\u2019d acceeding to his request; and by the following post I wrote Mr. Degen Consul of Naples on this subject; a copy of which I now enclose you. In the mean time, Mr. Timmins Set forward for Paris, not judging it necessary, as I have since learnt to write Mr. Degen, as he assur\u2019d me should do. The measures of the present government become daily more energetic, and their watchfulness over british Subjects requires on my part the utmost vigilance, and Attention, to prevent impositions.\nIn the course of the last month, I made application to the Governor of Leghorn, in Conjunction with the french Consul, in order to procure his mediation with the Queen Regent, that the half term of quarantine impos\u2019d on Vessels to perform, in the open roads, might either be abolish\u2019d, or at least diminish\u2019d, during the winter months; for, from November to February, prevail the most impetuous gales from the S: West; and in the last we experienc\u2019d, every vessel was driven on shore, excepting two american.\nIn our petition, we were strongly Seconded by the french minister who on all occasions is Singularly well dispos\u2019d towards me: but the truth is, that the dread of a Second contagion, countervails all reasoning on the Subject; and of course, our hopes of a diminution, are for the present totally Suspended.\nI have mentioned in my former letters a change in this government, as an event highly probable; and in this opinion I am now still more confirm\u2019d but the breaking out anew of the war on the continent, has for the present turn\u2019d the immediate Attention of the Emperor of france to objects of greater importance, and the ordinary course of affairs is still conducted by the Queen Regent. Already thro\u2019 the influence of the french minister has commenc\u2019d a change in some of the principal officers of administration, and it appears very certain, that no one will be employ\u2019d in future who is not known to be friendly dispos\u2019d towards the approaching reform. The late decree of the Emperor which respects british subjects and property, is already acceeded to by her majesty; tho\u2019 temper\u2019d with more moderation, than is discoverable in most parts of the french dominions.\nIn the kingdom of Naples there is a degree of calm, and of quietude, which will be scarcely credited by those who read only the british accounts of the State of Calabria, the opinion, I in the beginning entertain\u2019d, has been fully realiz\u2019d, to wit, that the unqualified measures of the french would shortly disperse those who were openly inimical, and compel the british forces to retire to Sicily. All the principal leaders of revolt, have been either slain in skirmishes, or hang\u2019d in the public squares of Naples; and of those few miserable men who still remain in arms, they are rather view\u2019d as robbers, than as soldiers fighting under any Standard, who suddenly fall on the unguarded inhabitants of isolated places, and afterwards retire to the forests. Accept Sir the Assurances of respect with which I have the honor to be Your Most Obt: Servant\nTh: Appleton", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-09-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1267", "content": "Title: To James Madison from George William Erving, 9 January 1807\nFrom: Erving, George William\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nMadrid Jany. 9. 1807\nMr. Barry, late of Washington, having placed his claim upon this government (the subject of your letter to Mr. Bowdoin of June 15 1806) under the care of Mr. Young, I have had frequent consultation with that gentleman as to the best means of bringing it to a settlement. It is the Opinion & wish of Mr. Young that no official application shoud yet be made to the Minister of State, since as he apprehends the affair is so circumstanced that such application woud more probably produce a prejudicial than a beneficial Effect. It appears that the Treasurer general of the Indies has reported unfavorably upon the accounts submitted by Mr. Barry, & these have been referred to a board of Accounts the cheif of which is also to make a report; which, if it shoud happen to conform to that of the Treasurer general will in the Opinion of Mr. Young preclude the probability of success from any application: if the accountants Report shoud be of a different character, he thinks that the way will be then open for the adjustment of the demand, & then that I may possibly be able to promote the object: He has proposed to Mr. Barry a means of procuring a favorable Report, & till that gentlemans determination is Recd. he begs that I woud suspend my interference\nWhenever the suitable moment arrives I shall not fail to observe your instructions upon this subject.\nMr. John Livingston of New York has transmitted a statement respecting his ship \"Grampus\" which has been detained by the commander of Conception bay, where it put in from stress of weather. I have herewith the honor to inclose copies of my notes to Mr. Cevallos of Decr. 10 & of the 7th. Inst, & of his note 26 Uto. upon this subject. With sentiments of perfect Consideration & respect, I have the honor to be Sir Your very obt. St.\nGeorge W Erving", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-10-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1269", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Sylvanus Bourne, 10 January 1807\nFrom: Bourne, Sylvanus\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nAmsterdam January 18 1807.\nHerewith I transmit the Leyden Gazette up to yesterday in which will be seen a Short Acct. of a most affecting Accident that has lately occurred in that City by the bursting of an immense quantity of Gun Powder, fire being communicated thereto in a way unknown to any one. 100 houses are totally ruined & as many more heavily damaged & two to three hundred people have lost their lives & among the unfortunate victims is Proffessor Lausac & many others male & female of distinguished Character & worth. The public prints inform us that a large number of Privateers are fitting out in the Ports of France to Cruise upon Neutral Vessells trading with England Scotland & Ireland. I fear much that this procedure may operate to involve our Country in new difficulties with France especially as it is said that our disputes with GB are settled by treaty\u2014our right to do which is certainly not to be disputed on any rational grounds but the rancour which at present reigns in the French Govt. against the English induced the first to regard those as enemies who negotiate with the latter. It is indeed a difficult task for the UStates to steer Safely between Scylla & Charybdis, but by the prudence of our Govt. this valuable object has hitherto been effected & I cordially hope it may so continue. I have the honor to be With great respect Yr Ob Serv.\nS Bourne", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-10-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1270", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Kirkpatrick, 10 January 1807\nFrom: Kirkpatrick, William\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nMalaga 10th January 1807\nI had last the honor of addressing you on the 4 ulto: and am since without any Letters from you.\nSince the recommencement of the War in Europe, American Captains have been in the habit as well here, as in all other ports of Spain, of chartering their Vessels for Neutral Ports in the North, & signing a private agreement with the Freighters, obliging themselves to call in, on their Voyage at a Port in France, Great Britain, or Holland, where their Cargos are generally landed, and some have loaded for their Owners Accts. in the same manner, prefering to be provided with a clearance, and other Documents for a Neutral Port, as less subject to molestations from the billegerent Cruisers. The Captains make application for a clearance to such Port as they think proper to indicate, and the Shippers of the Cargos come forward and declare before me under Oath, to the circumstances of the Case, as you will observe by the enclosed Copy of what is usually inserted at foot of the Manifests, which remain on board during the Voyage, at times the Captains have mentioned to me they meant to call in at a different Port than the one they clear out for, but even with this precedent you will allow it is absolutely impossible for me to pry into the Shippers business, or to find out for a certainty whether the Shipment is really made or not for the Neutral Acct. they swear to. In most cases I believe it to be perfectly true, as I Know many Houses in the North are in the habit of passing Orders for Cargos to be shipt for the Ports of the Powers at War, with a clearance for their own.\nThe Ship Romulus, Captain Prior, was chartered here in the month of September last, and loaded by a German, for Tonningen, in virtue of Orders from a Danish Subject residing in Altona, in the manner above related. It would however appear the Captain Kept a copy of his private agreement on board, and passing the Streights being boarded by a Spanish Privateer, fearing such a document found in his possession, might occasion detentions, or otherwise injure him, he threw it into the fire, which being observed by the Privateersmen, they snatched it out, and carried his Vessel into Algeciras; The charterer being informed of this circumstance, prevailed on a friend of his to go round to that place, and endeavour to get Ship and Cargo liberated, giving him faculty to compromise with the Captors in case of need, being convinced in such a place as Algeciras, the Judge would not hesitate in condemning both, conformable to one of the Articles of the Spanish Marine Ordinances, which subjects thereto all Vessels whose Captains throw over Board, or burn Papers, and because he was afraid the Cargo being of a perishable nature, it might be spoilt during the appeal. The business was made up for less than 1/ 4 of the value, and the Papers of Ship & Cargo were returned to Captain Prior, but as the Romulus was getting in readiness to proceed on her Voyage, she was seised upon while yet at Anchor, by the Commandant of the Gun Boats stationed at Algeciras; The Charterer made application to me to write to our Charge d\u2019affaires in Madrid, George Will. Erving Esqr. which I did, stating the case, and requesting he might represent in the strongest terms to the Spanish Government against such an act of Violence, which he did, but before any answer was received the Commandant, after Keeping the Romulus detained a few days, finding he had acted with impropriety, and fearful of the results from the repeated Protests made against him by the Agent or Vice Consul, set the Vessel and her Cargo at liberty; I have since been assured he has been severely reprimanded for his conduct on this occasion, but I do not know whether any other satisfaction was obtained thro\u2019 the interference of Mr. Erving. I have considered it proper to give you a full Statement of this case, and of what occurs in the freighting of Vessels, in consequence of the correspondence I have had on the subject with Mr. Erving, in order that if in any one Instance I have acted with impropriety, you may be pleased to transmit me Instructions for my future Government, under the full assurance they shall be duly attended to. According to the Treaty with this Country, and France, our Vessels can clear out direct for England, but I cannot force the Captains so to do when they think their property is more exposd, having no Orders from you, and Knowing of no Law that allows me to refuse clearing out a Vessel for any Port in Europe, they think proper to indicate, whilst on the other hand I am authorised to admit of declarations from foreigners when they have a reference to the Interest of Citizens of the United States, as I consider is the case when they are Charterers of an American Vessel, it being required by the aforesaid Treaties that a Certificate of the particulars of the Cargo should accompany the Shipment, and for want of which, I have been assured some have been condemned. At present it would be highly imprudent to clear out for a Port in Great Britain for since that Kingdom has been declared in a state of Blockade, French Privateers have commenced to capture Americanvessels when from the United States, because they had a suspicion some of the Goods were of British Produce, or Manufactory; The Decree of the 21. Novr. has not yet been enforced here, and it is to be hoped it will not\nYou will find here enclosed the return of arrivals here since the begining of July, \u2019till the end of the Year. Captain Campbell proceeded from Gibraltar for Algiers on the 22 of December, before his departure he addressed me a Letter of which the enclosed is a copy. I have had no late Accts. from the other Ships of War in the Mediterranean. I am with much respect & esteem Sir Your most Obhble Servt.\nWillm: Kirkpatrick", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-11-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1277", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Charles D. Coxe, 11 January 1807\nFrom: Coxe, Charles D.\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nTunis January 11th. 1807\nI beg leave to refer you to my letter of 26th ulto. since which nothing has occur\u2019d of an extraordinary nature. The Ship Two Brothers has nearly finished discharging her Cargo, which has necessarily proceeded very slowly, owing to the great distance of transporting it from the Ship to The Town in Sandals across the lake, which is about nine miles.\nMr. Lear has not yet made his appearance here, nor have I received a single line from him since the arrival of The Ambassador. I wrote him Pr. a grecian vessel on the 26th. ulto. & have also with much difficulty & unavoidable delay, dispatched a Courier to Bona, from whence I have taken measures to have a coasting Sandal sent to Algiers, a communication direct from hence being totally impracticable, & even that by Bona dangerous.\nI am now occupied in taking an inventory of the property of the U. States in the Consular House, & another of the effects belonging to the late Mr. Dodge. I will transmit you his A/ C with the U. States after it is revised by Mr. Lear, together with the Inventory & ca. I remain with great respect Dear Sir, Your Mo: Obedt. & humle. Servt.\nCharles D. Coxe", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-11-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1278", "content": "Title: To James Madison from James Monroe, 11 January 1807\nFrom: Monroe, James\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir\nLondon Jany 11, 1807.\nI must request that you will be so good as to forward the enclosed to Mr Divers. As it relates to an object of some importance to me I am very desirous that it reach him soon.\nOn publick topicks I have nothing to add to our joint communication. We have had many difficulties to encounter with this govt., & I hope that such will never occur again in our relations with it. If a favorable opportunity offers we shall sail early in April for the UStates.\nMr Purviance will communicate to you every detail in the current of events which is not furnished by the gazettes which he carries. Mrs. Monroe & our daughter desire their best respects to Mrs. Madison, & I beg you to be assured of the respect & esteem with wh. I am very truly yours\nJas. Monroe", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-12-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1279", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Rudolph Tillier, 12 January 1807\nFrom: Tillier, Rudolph\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nU. S. Factory Belle Fontaine Near St. Louis, 12th. Jany. 1807.\nConceiving it to be my duty as a Public Officer I do myself the honor to communicate to you Some facts which it may be useful for the Govt. to know.\nIn Novemr. last, some of the Principal Chiefs of the Little Village of Osage Indians, were here on a visit: during their stay, they informed me that there were white Men in their Village, who were endeavoring to make the Indians believe, that the Americans would not be able to keep possession of this Country for that the Spaniards had already taken Lower Louisiana and that with the aid of the French, they, would Soon be able to possess themselves of this Territory.\nThey had also been told by the same Persons, that the Factory here was broken up.\nMr. Boilvin mentioned to me a conversation that he had with a British Subject, corroborant of the above: and also holding out the opinion that France & England, tho\u2019 themselves at War, would assuredly contribute mutually to wrest from the U.States, the power of controuling their Commerce with the Natives.\nTho\u2019 this last is merely the opinion of an Individual, I thought it not amiss to mention it here; as it adds weight to the proof already before us, that there are Men in this part of Louisiana, who wish and endeavor to influence the Indians (who are naturally well disposed) to fall out with our Govt. I have discharged my duty in laying these things before you. The Govt. will Judge of their importance, & take measures accordingly. I have the honor to be Sir, very Respectfully Yr. Mo. Obt. Hble. Servt.\nRudolph TillierUnited States Factor", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-12-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1281", "content": "Title: To James Madison from James Monroe, 12 January 1807\nFrom: Monroe, James\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nLondon Jany 12, 1807.\nWe do ourselves the honor to enclose you a copy of the treaty which we lately concluded with the British commissioners. The original was forwarded yesterday by Mr Purviance who sailed in the enterprise from this port for New York. We send this copy to Mr Maury to be forwarded to you by the first safe opportunity from Liverpool. We have requested him to instruct the Captain of the vessel to whom he entrusts our dispatch to be very careful of it, without however communicating to him its contents.\nIn perusing the press copy we retained of our letter, which accompanies the treaty, we find some inaccuracies and one omission wh. it is important to supply. A paper which is enclosed contains a note of those errors, which we beg you to have the goodness to correct. We have the honor to be with great consideration yr. most obt servants.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-12-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1283", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Thomas Terry Davis, 12 January 1807\nFrom: Davis, Thomas Terry\nTo: Madison, James\nDr. Sir,\nJeffersonville I. T. Jany. 12th. 1807.\nThe small salary of 800$. which I receive as Judge here does not support my Family: Many offices in the Land Business here (and not incompatible with my present Office, are within the Gift of the President). Will you use your influence to assist me to one of them. I am with high respect your obt. Servt.\nTho. T. Davis", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-12-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1284", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Benjamin Nones, 12 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Nones, Benjamin\nSir.\nDepartment of State, Jany. 12th. 1807.\nIn answer to your letter of the 7th. inst. and the memorial it enclosed, I have to state that the government of the United States is unauthorised to appoint a Notary Public in any foreign dominion. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-12-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1285", "content": "Title: From James Madison to William Charles Coles Claiborne, 12 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Claiborne, William Charles Coles\nSir.\nDepartment of State, January 12th. 1807.\nYou will have observed in the Gazette that a Mr. Thomas Power, said to be now residing near New Orleans, was engaged by the Marquis of Carondelet, to carry certain propositions to Kentucky, of a tendency to alienate its inhabitants from the Union. As it may be important to establish by proof the part taken by Spain in that affair, it is thought necessary that you should endeavor, by means, which are advisable & promise success to obtain from him, details & authentic proofs, particularly original documents, and for this purpose to incur a reasonable expense if necessary. It may not be useless at the same time to ascertain if possible whether Power is an Agent in the passing events and whether he may not be made instrumental to a disclosure of something important. I am &c. \nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-13-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1286", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Fulwar Skipwith, 13 January 1807\nFrom: Skipwith, Fulwar\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nOffice of Coml. Agcy. of the U. S. Paris Jany. 13th. 1807\nWith this are official Copies of the citations rendered by the Council of Prizes, for the appearance of the Captors of the eight following Cases\nBrig Friendship--Smith--Constant Boisgerard of Charlestown, S. C., Claiming\nSchooner Paragon--Grant--Michael & Edward Wise, Kennebunk, do.\nBrig Polly & Fanny--M. Neil--Hull, Mansfield Humphreys &c:, Boston, do.\nSchooner Sally--Durham--Elisha Deane, Wm. P. Smith, do., do.\ndo.--Juliet--Alderson--Constant Boisgerard, Charleston do.\ndo.--Mary--Appleton--John Austin & others, Boston, do.\nSloop Almyra--Bartholomew--Tomlinson, Smith & Fellows, Milford, do.\nBrig Hannah--Chase--Joshua Carter, Newburyport, do.,\nand in company also are letters containing special instructions for the several Owners respecting the particular proceedings to be adopted in serving those Citations upon the Owners, Captains, &c., before final judgments of restitution can be obtained. It is in fact the province of the Department of Marine here to cause the formalities required by the Council of Prizes to be executed, but the circumstances of the present war render this course so uncertain & tedious, that I consider it fortunate for the Claimants that they should be permitted by the Council of Prizes to exercise that faculty.\nFor the purpose of securing to our Government the Funds already advanced to me by their Minister here, & by me disbursed in the support of prize Causes, I have by my letters to the Claimants, required of them to pay into your hands the sum of 111$ 12 Cts. each, & in the Cases, especially, just noticed, I forward to you the citations, in order that the payment, if judged proper by you, may be exacted previous to the delivery of them to the Parties.\nThe Council of Prizes have lately rejected my appeal in the case of the Ganges, with which I was charged by your Department. Their decision I here forward. With great respect I have the honor to be Sir, Your Mo. Ob. Servt.\nFulwar Skipwith", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-13-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1287", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Henry Hill, 13 January 1807\nFrom: Hill, Henry\nTo: Madison, James\nTrade of Vera Cruz in the years 1802. 1803. & 1804.\nAccompanied with an official account of the coinage in the Mint of Mexico since the year 1733. Respectfully presented to the Honble. James Madison, Secretary of State for the United States, for the information of the Executive, by\nHenry Hill Jnr:\nNote. Vera Cruz is the only port of Entry in New Spain on the Atlantic, and Acapulco and St. Blas the only ports of entry on the pacific ocean.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-13-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1289", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Beckley, 13 January 1807\nFrom: Beckley, John\nTo: Madison, James\nIn the House of Representatives of the United States,\nTuesday the 13th. of January 1807.\nMr. Clinton presented to the House a petition of James Jay, of the state of New York which was received and read praying the adjustment and settlement of his claims against the United States, for money advanced, and for services rendered, during the revolutionary war with Great Britain, which were of a peculiar, secret and interesting nature.\nOrdered that the said petition be referred to the Secretary of State, with instructions to the same, and report his opinion thereupon, to the House.\nExtract from the journal\nJohn Beckley,Clerk", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-13-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1292", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Louis-Marie Turreau de Garambouville, 13 January 1807\nFrom: Turreau de Garambouville, Louis-Marie\nTo: Madison, James\nMonsieur,\nA Washington le 13. Janvier 1807.\nLe Coup de vent qui S\u2019est fait Sentir depuis le 18. jusqu\u2019au 23. Ao\u00fbt dernier a consid\u00e9rablement endommag\u00e9 deux Vaisseaux & deux Fr\u00e9gates de S. M. & ils ont \u00e9t\u00e9 oblig\u00e9s de venir chercher un r\u00e9fuge dans les ports des Etats-Unis, tant pour S\u2019y r\u00e9parer que pour y trouver des vivres qui leur manquaient, les leurs ayant \u00e9t\u00e9 avari\u00e9s par les mauvais tems qu\u2019ils ont essuy\u00e9s.\nL\u2019Administration Consulaire ne Se trouva point avoir dans cette circonstance des fonds Suffisants pour les besoins urgents de ces b\u00e2timents et pour y Subvenir, elle eut recourse aux traites Sur France. Mais cette ressource vient de lui manquer par le grand nombre de celles du commerce qui Se trouve Sur la place & qu\u2019on ne peut n\u00e9gocier, et elle ne peut remplir les engagements qu\u2019elle a pris pour payer & assurer la Subsistance des Equipages.\nDans cette circonstance je Suis oblig\u00e9, Monsieur, de revenir Sur la proposition que j\u2019ai dej\u00e0 eu l\u2019honneur de vous faire & de m\u2019addresser au Gouvernement des Etats-Unis pour prendre des traites du Commissaire G\u00e9n\u00e9ral de France Sur le Payeur G\u00e9n\u00e9ral de la Marine jusqu\u2019\u00e0 la concurrence de Soixante mille dollars, Somme qui lui est absolument n\u00e9cessaire pour Solder & assurer la Subsistance des equipages des Vaisseaux de S. M., jusqu\u2019\u00e0 ce que les fonds demand\u00e9s & attendus d\u2019ici \u00e0 un mois ou deux Soient parvenus.\nJ\u2019ose me flatter, Monsieur, que votre Gouvernement ne refusera pas de rendre un Service que toutes les Nations civilis\u00e9es Se rendent en pareil cas; et que vous \u00eates bien persuad\u00e9 que la France S\u2019empresserait de vous en rendre un Semblable toutes les fois que l\u2019occasion S\u2019en pr\u00e9senterait. Agr\u00e9ez, Monsieur, un nouvel hommage de ma haute Consid\u00e9ration.\nTurreau", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1294", "content": "Title: From James Madison to DeWitt Clinton, 14 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Clinton, DeWitt\nSir\nDepartment of State Jany. 14th. 1807\nI have just received a letter from Mr. Monroe, dated 24th. October last, in which he intimates that on account of a deficiency of evidence of the fact of John Pierce having been killed by a shot from the Leander, and respecting the position of the Vessel in which he was shot, Captn. Whitby\u2019s trial by a Court Martial had been postponed until the lst. of March next, to give the American Government an opportunity of collecting & sending evidence to England. Though the time is short, it is nevertheless thought expedient to use every just and practicable means of supporting the charges preferred against Capt. Whitby.\nAs it appears that the rules of evidence in Courts Martial are precisely those of the Common law, and it will be necessary to send the witnesses themselves to England. Accordingly I shall this day instruct the Collector of the Customs at Phila. to apply to the Brother of Peirce to attend the trial, to advance him what reasonable expenses may be necessary, and to promise him a suitable reimbursement. Beyond this it is conceived improper to go in offering a pecuniary inducement to witnesses.\nShould Captn. Pierce be willing to undertake the voyage, he will be able to prove the two points above stated, as far as his credibility will go; but it will be expedient to corrobate his testimony by that of Pilots, masters of vessels, and other credible persons, who are to be sought for at New York. I am therefore under the necessity of asking your assistance, as the Chief Magistrate of that City, to trace the witnesses, to induce such as may appear necessary to go by an advance of expenses, and promise of further reimbursement as above mentioned, and to facilitate their prompt departure. It is understood that Capt Whitby denies his presence on board of the Leander at the time of Pierce\u2019s death; but it is suggested that it took place when all the vessels, British as well as American, were within the jurisdiction of the United States, that the British fired from all their ships concurrently and even as if by concert, and that Captain Whitby might have restrained the firing from either of them. In selecting the testimony it will be useful to keep these circumstances in view, as well as the consideration that if Capt. Whitby should be found unamenable for the offence, the officer commanding in his place, ought if possible to be brought to justice, according to his degree of criminality.\nThe letter Capt Whitby wrote you on the 30th. of April will also be material evidence on account of the avowal it makes of his orders to board everything, in order to collect such information from the coasting vessels as they might be possessed of. You will therefore be pleased to forward the original to Mr. Monroe by a safe hand with an explanation of the object.\nFor the money you may advance, you may draw upon me in favor of the Collector, whose cooperation you will be pleased to ask, if necessary for any of your arrangements. I shall likewise desire the Collector of Philadelphia to inform you of the time of sailing of the first Vessel bound to England from his Port, and I beg you in return to communicate to him without delay the means of passage you may fix upon for the witnesses, in order that he may forward Captain Pierce in season, if you should prefer a vessel from New York.\nIt is proper to observe that I have desired Mr. Monroe to prepare the British Government for a disappointment in the arrival of our evidence by the first of March, and to endeavor to postpone the trial till it can be on the spot.\nAmong the witnesses, whom it may be desirable to send, are Captain Thomas Pemberton of the Brig Mars of New York, who was on board the Leander when Pierce was killed, Capt Manning of the Schooner Nimrod of the same port, and Capt Fairchild of the Ship Aurora also of that port, both of whom were in the same fleet with Pierce\u2019s vessel, who were equally fired upon and who were captured and taken on board the Leander at about the same time.\nMr. Henry Hill of N. York, who is now here but who is immediately to return, possesses much information respecting this subject and will probably be able to render you some assistance in tracing the witnesses and judging of the importance and applicability of their testimony.\nI have desired the District Attorney to render you all the aid in his power. I have the honor to be Sir, With very great respect Your most obed. Servt.\nJames Madison\nP.S. Be pleased to inform me of the probable time of the witnesses sailing, after you can fix it; so that the opportunity may be used for transmitting my dispatches.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1296", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Peter Muhlenberg, 14 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Muhlenberg, Peter\nSir.\nDepartment of State, January 14th: 1807.\nIt being found that the evidence already in England, on the charge against Capt. Whitby of murdering John Pierce, within the jurisdictional limits of the United States, is insufficient as to some points, it is determined to send thither aditional evidence, if practicable before the trial, which is assigned for the lst. of March next. Mr. Clinton, the Mayor of New York, has therefore been desired to send to England such of the witnesses to the important facts as may be willing to go and he may judge necessary. It is also thought desirable that Capt. Pierce, the Brother of the deceased, should attend the trial. Be pleased therefore to ascertain whether it will be agreeable to him to do so. If he should consent, you may advance a reasonable sum for his expenses & promise him a suitable reimbursement. An effort will be made to pospone the trial beyond the lst. of March if the evidence should not arrive, but it is nevertheless of consequence to accelerate the departure of the witnesses as much as possible. I have informed Mr. Clinton, that you would acquaint him of the time of sailing of the first Vessel bound to England from your port, which I must beg you to do; but should he prefer a Vessel from New York, he will let you know of it, in order that you may send Capt: Pierce thither. For your advances you may draw upon me, in favor of the Treasury, or in any manner you prefer. Should Capt. Pierce be at New York or near it, you will inform Mr. Clinton of the circumstance that he may make the application to him. I am &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1298", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Nathan Sanford, 14 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Sanford, Nathan\nSir.\nDepartment of State, January 14th: 1807.\nHaving requested Mr. Clinton the Mayor of New York to collect a body of evidence against Capt. Whitby, whose trial is fixed for the 1st. of March next before a Court Martial in England, I must beg the favor of you to cooperate with Mr. Clinton in such manner as to diminish as far as possible the burthen imposed upon him. As I have written upon the subject fully to Mr. Clinton, I must refer you to him for a further explanation of the views of the Executive. I am &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1299", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Louis-Marie Turreau de Garambouville, 14 January 1807\nFrom: Turreau de Garambouville, Louis-Marie\nTo: Madison, James\n[Translation]\nSir\nWashington 14 Jany. 1807.\nI have the honor to address to you enclosed an answer to the objections made by the Secretary of the Treasury to a complete Settlement with the heirs of Mr. Beaumarchais This answer is annexed to the note which I have had the honor to address to you on this Subject. Accept, Sir, a new assurance of my high consideration.\nTurreauFaithfully translated: Jacob WagnerCh. Clk. Dep. State", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-15-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1300", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Charles Coles Claiborne, 15 January 1807\nFrom: Claiborne, William Charles Coles\nTo: Madison, James\n(Duplicate)\nSir\nNew Orleans Jany. 15. 1807.\nThe inclosed is a copy of my address to the two Houses of Assembly.\nOn yesterday General Adair, attended only by a Servant arrived in this City after a rapid journey from Nashville in Tennessee, and was immediately arrested by orders of Genl. Wilkinson, and is now, I learn, on his passage to the City of Washington; several other individuals were also arrested by the military on yesterday, but have on this morning been delivered to the Civil authority.\nThe state of things here for some time past has been most unpleasant; the Judges are greatly dissatisfied, and there are many persons who much censure the General for his strong acts and also myself for not opposing them with force. There are others again, perhaps a majority of the inhabitants of the City who applaud the measures pursued, and think them such as could alone ensure the general safety. For myself I believe the General is actuated by a sincere disposition to serve the best interests of his Country; but his zeal, I fear, has carried him too far; his responsibility however is great, & I hope he may be enabled to justify himself. On my own account I feel no apprehension as to the part I have acted; my whole conduct has been guided by my best judgment, and when fully and impartially investigated, will be approved. The uncertainty, at this period, as to the safe conveyance of letters from this to the Atlantic States, induces me for the present to decline entering into a full explanation of my conduct, and stating the various considerations which have influenced it; but I pray you to receive no unfavorable impressions; I pledge myself to you that in due time, I will satisfy the administration that under all circumstances, & in a situation so singular and embarrassing, I have done that which was best.\nI suspect the House of Representatives of this Territory will pass some resolutions expressive of their disapprobation of Genl. Wilkinson\u2019s conduct, and of a forbearance on my part which they may suppose sensurable. Be this as it may, I shall nevertheless be convinced that in my singular and embarrassing situation, I have done that which was best, and I have no doubt that it will be in my power to convince you of the fact.\nMy apprehensions of Mr. Burr and his associates have in a great measure subsided; but the security I now feel may be attributed to the preparations which have been made here to meet danger. My present impressions are strong that there are many disaffected persons in this City. There are a few Citizens whom I believe to be unjustly implicated: others to whom a charge of Imprudence ought, probably, in truth alone to attach, but there is good reason to suppose that some persons here, from whose standing in Society a contrary course was expected, meditated much mischief. They however are now unable to produce evil. A profusion of abuse on their part will certainly be bestowed on the Officers who have exposed their wicked views; but in this quarter, it will do no harm. I am Sir; with great respect, Your mo. obt. Servt.\nWilliam C. C. Claiborne\nP. S. I enclose you Copies of Letters from Mr. Secretary Meade, and General Wilkinson; they will acquaint you in part of the names of the dangerous members of this Society, and will induce you I am Sure, to appreciate fully the very delicate Situation, in which I am placed.\nW. C. C. Claiborne", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-16-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1301", "content": "Title: From Thomas Jefferson to William Henry Harrison, 16 January 1807\nFrom: Jefferson, Thomas,Madison, James\nTo: Harrison, William Henry\nJanuary 16, 1807\nThomas Jefferson, President of the United States of America,To all who shall see these presents, Greeting:\nKnow ye, That reposing special Trust and Confidence in the Patriotism, Integrity and Abilities of William Henry Harrison, of the Indiana Territory, I have nominated, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate do appoint him Governor in and over the said Indiana Territory; and do authorize and empower him to execute and fulfil the duties of that office according to Law; and to Have and to Hold the said office, with all the powers, privileges and emoluments to the same of right appertaining unto him the said William Henry Harrison for the term of three years from the date hereof unless the President of the United States for the time being, should be pleased sooner to revoke and determine this Commission.\nL. SIn Testimony whereof, I have caused these Letters to be made patent, and the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. Given under my hand at the City of Washington, the Sixteenth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred and Seven; and of the Independence of the United States of America, the Thirty first.\nTh: JeffersonBy the President,James Madison Secretary of State", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-16-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1302", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Armstrong, Jr., 16 January 1807\nFrom: Armstrong, John, Jr.\nTo: Madison, James\nDuplicate.\nSir,\nParis 16 Jan. 1807.\nI had yesterday the honor of receiving Your letter of the 10th. of November last, with a copy of one from Mr. Daniel Clarke and a duplicate Copy of that in relation to Gen. Wilkinsons instructions &c. &c.\nThe Campaign being over and the Emperor and his Minister of foreign relations about to return to Paris, I hope soon to have an opportunity of renewing my communications with the latter.\nI have the honor to be, Sir: With the highest respect Your Most Obedient & very humble Servant\nJohn Armstrong", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-16-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1303", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Josef Yznardy, 16 January 1807\nFrom: Yznardy, Josef\nTo: Madison, James\nRespected Sir,\nConsular Office of the United States Cadiz 16th: January 1807.\nI had the honor of addressing you on the 20th. ultimo p the Schooner Franklin John Smith Master bound to Philadelphia, since when thank God, I am recovering fast from the Sudden attack of a malignant fever which I experienced last month. As I have had no further news from Comodore Campbell since the Circular received from him (Copy duly forwarded you) makes me hope that no bad consequences will result with the Tunisians.\nI have the pleasure of enclosing you the General List of the American Vessels arrived, Sailed, Condemned, and liberated in the Ports of Cadiz, San Lucar, Ayamonte and Algeziras during the last Six months of the year 1806. With the greatest impatience I am expecting your instructions and determinations respecting the various points on which I have repeatedly represented and molested you; as I wish most sincerely to be duly informed how I am to act and mannage in certain cases, as by no means I do not like to meddle in affairs that does not correspond to me; as my desires & anxietys are & ever will be to favor every Citizen, & cumply with the Office under my care to the utmost of my powers.\nRespecting political affairs, we are these few Posts past without any material occurence, only the famous Decree of the French Emperor and as I suppose you are long ago in possession of the same, I do not trouble you with a Copy. Monsr. Boharnais arrived a few days ago at Madrid from Paris, it is supposed on a mission of high importance but not Known. He has had already two private audiences with the King.\nThe Blockade of this Port continues as Strict as ever. Only Vessels in Ballast and loaded with Tobaco and Stores are permitted to come in to this Bay and that of San Lucar.\nBy the Schooner Franklin Capt. Joseph Smith bound to Philadelphia and p the Schooner Columbia Capt. Joseph Manning bound to New York, I forwarded you Dispatches remitted me by George W. Erving at Madrid. With due Respect and Veneration I have the honor of subscribing myself, Dear Sir, Your most obedt. and humble Servant\nJosef Yznardy\nP. S. In consequence of the Imperial Decree, prohibiting Correspondence &ca. in English, I would be glad to be informed in what language I am to direct you henceforward. Govt. notes 46 3/ 4 a 47 1/ 2\nIn virtue of the contents of a Letter wrote by Mr. Erving to Mr. Porrah respecting some proofs he wishes to obtain; I have thought proper and prudent to write to the first a Letter wherein I give him ideas and make some reflections respecting the Laws of this Country for his better management; and that you may be informed of the same, I take the liberty of enclosing you Copies of said Correspondence.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1306", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Jacob Crowninshield, 17 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Crowninshield, Jacob\nSir.\nDepartment of State, Jan: 17th. 1807.\nI have received your letter respecting Daniel Clark\u2019s case. Should evidence from the Department of State or of the Treasury be material it must be taken under legal forms emanating from the Court, and would, be useless in any other. The certificate to which you allude has been forwarded to Mr. Sanford.\nIn prosecuting the reversal of the judgment given on the invalidity of the bond, the government was interrested, as it involved the fate of all the securities given by the Consuls. As to the questions of fact the Executive has no concern, and to interfere in them in this instance might prove an inconvenient precedent. It is therefore necessary that Mr. Clark should be apprised that his success depends upon his own exertions to prepare the cause for trial. I am &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1307", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Albert Gallatin, 17 January 1807\nFrom: Gallatin, Albert\nTo: Madison, James\nThe instructions from the President are necessary before I can purchase the bills. Every thing in relation to this must be matter of record, in order that the ground on which the assistance is given may hereafter appear. Will you write to me to-day or Monday a letter directing me in the President\u2019s name to purchase the bills? Your\u2019s\nAlbert Gallatin", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-20-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1309", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Louis-Marie Turreau de Garambouville, 20 January 1807\nFrom: Turreau de Garambouville, Louis-Marie\nTo: Madison, James\nMonsieur,\nA Washington le 20. Janvier 1807\nDes rapports officiels m\u2019annoncent l\u2019avenement et le Chargement dans le port de Newyork de deux B\u00e2timens destin\u00e9s, dit-on, pour la partie r\u00e9volt\u00e9e de St. Domingue. L\u2019un est la go\u00eblette Louisa & l\u2019autre le Navire l\u2019Empereur appartenant \u00e0 la Compagnie Ogden.\nSans doute la Destination de ces B\u00e2timents Sera masqu\u00e9e & Sous ce rapport, Monsieur, ils doivent fixer l\u2019attention de vos employ\u00e9s aux Douanes. Mais c\u2019est Surtout \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9gard de l\u2019Armement que j\u2019ai cru devoir vous pr\u00e9venir de cet \u00e9v\u00e8nement. Les armements n\u2019ont ordinairement lieu que pour les voyages de l\u2019Inde, et il est toujours ais\u00e9 de S\u2019assurer par la Nature de la Cargaison Si un B\u00e2timent A vraiment cette destination. Vous\njugerez d\u2019ailleurs, Monsieur, que le nom d\u2019Ogden et celui d\u2019un de Ses Navires d\u00e9j\u00e0 Signal\u00e9 par Ses courses \u00e0 St. Domingue, doivent naturellement donner de l\u2019inqui\u00e9tude. Je vous prie d\u2019Agr\u00e9er Monsieur une nouvelle assurance de ma haute Consid\u00e9ration.\nTurreau", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-20-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1312", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Thomas Parker, 20 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Parker, Thomas\nSir.\nDepartment of State January 20th. 1807.\nGeneral Wilkinson having, under a military order, sent to Charleston Dr. Bolman, charged with a conspiracy and other offences against the United States, it is probable that an effort will be made to liberate him under an habeas corpus, if indeed it has not been already made. In any case however it is proper that he should be detained under a legal commitment, and I therefore request you to take immediate steps for the purpose. It is expected that the affidavit of Genl. Wilkinson, which was sent with Dr. Bolman, and the supplemental affidavit of the Captain charged with conveying him to Charleston, will be sufficient to warrant his committment, or if he should have been liberated his reapprehension & committment, which you will accordingly promote. The order of Genl. Wilkinson imported that Dr. Bolman should be delivered to the Commanding Officer at Charleston, who will probably communicate with you upon the subject. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-20-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1313", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Abraham Gibbs, 20 January 1807\nFrom: Gibbs, Abraham\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nPalermo 20th. January 1807\nI have the honor to transmit you Duplicates annexed of my last respects 10th. November ulto. & enclosed of the late Wm. Smith Account Current, likewise the second Set of the Bond of $2000: I have since received Via Syracuse by the Storeship Commerce of Alexandria, Capt Josiah Burnham, arrived there from Baltimore, & Gibraltar, the Acts of the 1st. Session of the 9th. Congress, under blank Cover.\nI enclose a general Return of the American Trade at this port, since my last one of 12th. Jany. 1806. Viz, a list of the Arrivals & departures of American Vessels to & from this port from that period to March 1806, when having been acknowledged by this govermt. as Consul Interim, for the Un. St. of Am. I entered into the functions of the Office; And a general & particular Statement of same from 25th. March 1806, to this Day. I join thereto Statement of the same at Trapani for the last 6 Months; I have not yet received the Return from Marsala & Girgenti.\nI also transmit you An Account Current of all the Moneys, received for Account of the U. S. from the Sailors discharged at this port or in the departmt. of this Consulate, & paid for the same Account to the American Sailors been found in distress in said Departt. with a particular Statement of their Names & Circumstances (1) likewise of such that have applied to me for release from the British Service, & which I have not been able to serve, owing to the reasons Mentioned in my former Letter.\n1. balanced by $104.35 to my Debit. \nIt was expected that Adml. Sir Sidney Smith would Winter at Syracuse with his Squadron, Consisting of 3 Sails of the Line & 8 fregates or Brigs of War; but he has now been here for several Months & will not quit this Station this Winter.\nThe Brittish Land forces in this Island Under Genls. Fox & Moores, Consist of abt. 25 thousand Men; they still Occupy the garrisons of Reggio & Scilla in Calabria, and are Stationed on the Eastern side of this Island, None being here where the Court resides & 2 Regiments form the garrison of Syracuse.\nI have succeeded in having the American Navy put upon the same footing as the Brittish, in this Island, respecting quarantine the Word of honor of the Commanding Officer, being deemed sufficient at the health Offices to Secure them prattick; and if coming from a Port from whence a 40. is performed, the Days of their passage are reckoned on the Number assigned to Merchant Vessels. The 40., from America is now reduced to 21 days & Vessels are allowed to land their Cargoes during that time.\nI hope to be enabled to send you in My Next, a Comparative View of the port Charges in all the ports of my Department On American & other Vessels. I have the honor to be respectfully, Sir, Yr. most Obedt. & hble. St.\nAbam. Gibbs,Consul", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-20-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1314", "content": "Title: From James Madison to George William Erving, 20 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Erving, George William\nSir,\nDepartment of State, January 20th. 1807\nA statement of the case of the Marquis de Casa Yrujo is inclosed; with a view to enable you to answer fully the several letters of Mr. Cevallos, and to do justice to the course pursued here in relation to that Envoy. You will make the statement therefore the matter of a communication to the Spanish Government, giving to it, at the same time, the form of a reply proceeding from yourself, tho\u2019 pursuing the sentiments of your Government. You will perceive that the statement whilst it prepares the Government of Spain for any rigorous steps towards the Marquis de Yrujo which may become necessary, leaves this Government uncommitted as to the time and degree of such a resort. Be careful not to depart from this ground.\nI forward also sundry publications, which will make you acquainted with the perfidious conduct which Spain has long been pursuing towards the United States through her diplomatic and other Agents on this side of the Atlantic. The overtures of Mr. Gardoqui made to Mr. Brown in the year 1787, proves that whilst that Minister was employing all his arts of negotiation to draw the federal Government into a relinquishment of the use of the Mississippi, he was insidiously taking advantage of the disgust excited by the project among the western people, in order to alienate them, if possible, from their atlantic brethren, and to bring about a dismemberment of the Union.\nYou will find also that at a subsequent period in 1796 the project of dismemberment was again contemplated by the Baron de Carondelet the Governor of Louisiana, and was arrested solely by the conclusion of the Spanish Treaty of 1795.\nLastly you will find that in the year succeeding the Treaty the same officer entered into the most scandalous and corrupt intrigues, for the avowed purpose of exciting rebellion and dismemberment; and with explicit declarations that the faith and friendship solemnly pledged by that Treaty should be no obstacle on the part of the Spanish Government to the prosecution of the execrable plans recommended by him.\nIt is proper that you should be possessed of this information. But you will understand that it is not, either directly or incidentally, to be brought into your official communications with the Spanish Government, much less to be made the subject of formal representations to it. The facts are of too serious and weighty a character to be used, otherwise than on the occasion, and in the manner, which may be particularly prescribed by the authority of the President.\nTo the preceding documents are added other publications as they have appeared in the Gazettes, which will inform you that an expedition has been lately projected within the United States, having for a leading object, the invasion of Mexico; and that the most prompt and vigorous measures were taken by the Government here and the subordinate authorities in the orleans Territory, for defeating the plans of the conspirators. The progress of these measures is known to have been such as to leave no doubt of their final and full success. For the present it is sufficient to have said this much on the subject. It will enable you to controul misrepresentations, and as far as may be expedient, to present just views of what has passed. I have the honor to be &c\nJames Madison\nNB. All the late letters from you in cypher have used one unknown to this office, and if of importance require rectified copies. Mr. Bowdoin has made a like mistake.\nP. S. I have enclosed for your information a statement by Lieutenant Porter of a rencounter he had in the Schooner Enterprize, with some Spanish gun Boats in the month of August last.\n[Enclosure]\nCase of the Marquis de Casa Yrujo, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Catholic Majesty to the United States.\nThe deviation of this Minister from the line of conduct prescribed by his diplomatic station near the Government of the United States, may be traced as far back as the month of February 1804. In a letter of that date, to the Department of State, he undertook to require from the Government, a prohibition of all trade by the Citizens of the United States, with the Island of St. Domingo, a Colony under the dominion of a third power; and endeavoured to enforce the demand, by suggesting that it would be backed by the principal nations of Europe. It is true that he disclaimed this import of his suggestion; but his explanation, if it had done less violence to his expressions, could not rescue him from the just charge of referring to the presumed views of those Nations, with the manifest and offensive desire of awing the Councils of the United States.\nThe correspondence on that occasion must have become known to the Spanish Government, which ought to have seen in it, moreover, a stile and a tone very different from what it would expect from the Ministers of other nations residing at Madrid. It was not long before another occasion was seized by the Marquis de Yrujo, for developing the intemperance of his character.\nThe situation of the Southern frontier of the United States, fixed by the Treaty of 1795 with Spain, had for some time required an extension, to that quarter, of certain revenue provisions existing in every other. During the session of 1804, this extension was made by an Act of Congress; and it was so framed as to be applicable to the event of an expected adjustment of the controversy relating to the Territory between the Mississippi and the river Perdido; which would put the United States in actual possession of the entire river Mobille. This was the construction put on that part of the Act by the Executive authority, the constitutional expositor of it, and the construction in which the law has been actually carried into operation.\nThe Marquis de Yrujo, without waiting for any evidence whatever of the meaning which would be officially and practically applied to the terms and phrases used in the act, without even previously asking for explanations on this subject, gave way to the vehemence of his temper, first in his verbal remonstrances against the act; and afterwards in his letter of March 7\u20141804, in which he substitutes a positive meaning for the provisional meaning; and on this unwarrantable construction, proceeds to arraign the act of Congress in terms which ought never to stain a diplomatic paper. After acknowledging that he had ascertained the printed act to be authentic, he calls it, \"an atrocious libel\" \u2014 \"an insulting usurpation of the unquestionable rights of his sovereign\" \u2014 \"a direct contradiction of the assurances given by the President.\"\nIt was reasonably supposed that the Spanish Government with such a specimen of the character of its Minister in its hands, would lose not a moment in making him feel the marks of its displeasure, which were so clearly prescribed as well by its respect for itself, as by that which was due to the United States. In this confidence, no recall of him was expressly desired; and from an unwillingness to interrupt the ordinary communication between the two Governments, that channel of it was permitted to remain unclosed.\nThis moderation on the part of the American Government was not, however, followed by any steps on that of His Catholic Majesty, expressive of corresponding sentiments; and it was not very long before the Marquis de Yrujo, encouraged doubtless by the impunity he had experienced from his own Government, and calculating on the patience of that of the United States, took a course which put their patience to a new trial.\nInstead of confining himself to a communication with the Government, in all cases where he had information to give, or representations or remonstrances to make, according to the established and essential rules for exercising the Diplomatic trust; he addressed himself, in the month of Sept. 1804, to the Editor of a Gazette in Philada., with the avowed purpose of engaging him, by a pecuniary recompense, to make his press instrumental in combating the supposed measures and views of this Government, and in gaining over the people here, to those of his own. This charge does not rest merely, as has been alleged, on the declaration of the Editor, which included many aggravating particulars, and was made under the solemnity of an oath; but is ratified by the express and official avowals of the Marquis himself. It may be added, that the attempt to seduce the Editor, was, contrary to the assertion of this Minister, in direct violation of an act of Congress, prohibiting under adequate penalties any correspondence or intercourse of Citizens of the United States with any foreign Government or its Agents, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of such foreign Government or its officers, or defeat the measures of the Government of the United States.\nInstead, again, of offering apologies, or even a modest silence, for so flagrant an aberration, he made it the subject of a letter to the Department of State, in which he avows the fact charged; denies the impropriety of it, even in the latitude of the affidavit made by the Editor; and asserts a right, as the public Minister of His Catholic Majesty, in common with the Citizens, and under the Constitution of the Country, to employ the press in vindicating and advancing the objects of his Government, and in turning the opinion of the people against their own.\nThis is the first instance, without doubt, in which such a doctrine ever made its appearance; and it is not less notable for its extravagance, than for its novelty. To claim, in the same breath, all the rights of a citizen, and all the immunities of a public Minister; to speak of rights under the Constitution of the Country, as belonging to a foreign Minister who disclaims every species of allegiance except to his own Sovereign; to put himself on a level with private Citizens in the free use of the Press, and to put himself above even the Government, by holding himself responsible for his abuses of that freedom, to a foreign Government only; these are inconsistencies which overwhelm the pretension from which they flow; a pretension which, as it has its origin, will probably have its end, with the case in which it is advanced.\nWhat in fact would be the state of things, if in a government where the press is free, so extravagant a pretension were admitted and exercised; if, to all the privileges and means already indulged to public Ministers, by usage and the law of nations, were to be added, the free use of the press under the municipal laws, for the purpose of employing, in that most operative of all modes in a government like that of the United States, the treasures of a foreign Prince, and the intrigues of a foreign Minister; in poisoning the public opinion, in biassing the elections, and in turning both against the interests and government of the Country?\nTo shew that this pretension is not unjustly ascribed to the Marquis de Yrujo, it is stated in his own words, as follows\u2014\"Under such circumstances I believed then and I believe now it was not only my right but also my duty to check the torrent of impressions as contrary to truth as to the interest of my Country, being very well acquainted with the great influence of public opinion in a popular government as that of the United States; with a just intention of bringing the subjects of discussion under a forcible point of view, which had been carefully concealed, and presenting them to the public eye under new aspects; and, apprehending that the Editors who had previously espoused a party on the question would refuse to insert in their papers my intended publication, I thought that Mr Jackson among others would not perhaps have the reluctance which I anticipated in the former.\"\nNot satisfied with addressing to the Government this curious attempt to justify his transaction with the Editor, he had the temerity to carry his doctrine into practice, by causing the letter to be printed in a newspaper; and such was the eagerness in taking this step, that the letter appeared in print before it was delivered at the office of the Secretary of State.\nWho could doubt that the Spanish Government would be duly struck with such an outrage on decorum, and such an open contempt for all the restraints imposed by the law of nations on foreign Ministers, who have far more than a balance for these restraints, in the privileges with which the same law endows them? The Government of the United States could certainly no longer forbear a formal representation to the Spanish Government, of the insuperable objections to such a diplomatic organ; and to let it be clearly understood, that the recall of its Minister was expected. Instructions to this effect were accordingly forwarded to the American Ministers Extraordinary then at Madrid; and in pursuance of those instructions, the requested recall, with the grounds of the request, was on the 13th. of April 1805, formally addressed to the Spanish Government.\nIn answer to this letter, the Minister informed them on the 16th. of the same month, by command of the King, that as the Marquis had obtained his royal permission to return to Spain \"at the season which should be convenient for making a passage with the most probable safety\", the desired removal of the Marquis would, in that mode, be accomplished; and a hope was expressed that the Government of the United States would consider that as a proper mode for reconciling its object with the respect due to the Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty.\nTo this communication the American Ministers, reciting the permission given for the return of the Marquis \"in the course of the present favorable season, and the wish of His Catholic Majesty that this mode might be satisfactory,\" expressed in reply their confidence that the respect entertained by the United States for His Catholic Majesty would induce their Government to be satisfied with the mode of fulfilling their object, most agreeable to him.\nThe President acquiesced in the proposed removal of the Marquis by a permitted return, instead of a recall; and on the receipt of the communication from the Ministers of the United States at Madrid, justly expected that the effect of the instructions from the Spanish Government to their Minister, which ought not to be much longer on the way than the communication of those Ministers, would speedily appear in the presentation, by the Spanish Minister, of his letters of leave. Whilst presumable casualties could in any measure explain the delay, it was allowed to have as little effect as possible; either on the estimate of the dispositions of the Spanish Government, or on the intercourse with its representative. This explanation however, vanishing gradually with the lapse of time, was at length precluded altogether by satisfactory evidence, that the Marquis had received, at different times, communications from his Government of dates subsequent to the engagement that his return should take place by permission; for which return the most favorable season of the year, might have been found between the arrival of instructions, if duly given, and the winter months. It was under these circumstances, and after a lapse of many months, that it was learnt with no little surprize, that the Marquis, instead of leaving the United States, had formed the purpose of taking his station at Washington, as usual, on the meeting of the Legislature; the time for which was approaching. Such a purpose would certainly have justified a course, which a government less temperate in its character than that of the United States, would have rigorously pursued. In adherence, nevertheless to its principles of moderation, and to the policy of rather preventing than redressing obnoxious occurrences, measures of rigor were not only forborne, but a friendly and informal intimation was allowed to be given to the Marquis, that under existing circumstances, prudence and delicacy equally recommended a change of his intention.\nThe intimation was disregarded; and at the end of the 8th. month from the period at which his leaving the United States was promised, he arrived at the City of Washington. Those who take into view the more rigorous modes of proceeding which the law of Nations, as carried into practice by some of the most respectable of them, would have authorized, will find in that adopted by the Government of the United States; a fresh example of its disinclination to depart from the most lenient course reconcileable, in any manner, with the attention indispensably due to the rights and to the honor of the nation. In this spirit the following letter was written to the Marquis, bearing date the 15th. Jany 1806:\n\"In consequence of the just objections which your conduct had furnished against your continuance here as the organ of communication on the part of His Catholic Majesty, it was signified at Madrid, in the Month of April last, thro\u2019 the Mission of the United States there, that the substitution of another was desired by the President. In reply, it was intimated by Mr Cevallos, that as you had yourself expressed a wish and obtained permission to return to Spain, the purpose might be accomplished without the necessity of a recall; and that such a change in the mode would be agreeable to your government. In a spirit of conciliation, the arrangement proposed by Mr Cevallos was admitted; and it was not doubted that it would, without delay, have been carried into effect. It is seen therefore, not without surprize, that at this late day, you should have repaired to the seat of Government, as if nothing had occured, rendering such a step improper. Under these circumstances the President has charged me to signify to you, that your remaining at this place is dissatisfactory to him, and that altho\u2019 he cannot permit himself to insist on your departure from the United States, during an inclement season, he expects it will not be unnecessarily postponed, after this obstacle shall have ceased.\n\"I am charged by the President at the same time to let it be fully understood, that the considerations which have led to this explanation being altogether personal, they are perfectly consistent with the ready admission of a successor; and with all the attention which can be due to whatever communications His Catholic Majesty may please to make, with a view to maintain and cultivate harmony and friendship between the two Nations. I have the honor &c\n (Signed) \"James Madison\"\n This letter was written in English.\n This letter was answered, on the succeeding day, by one in which he prefixes to some very unsound remarks, in terms not always the most delicate, on his transactions with the Philadelphia Editor; and on the letter of the American Ministers requiring his recall, a declaration in these words: \"As I have not come to form plots, to excite conspiracies, or to promote any attempts against the Government of the United States, and as, to this hour, I have not directly or indirectly committed acts of that tendency, which alone could justify the tenor and object of your letter, to which I now reply, it results that my coming was an act innocent, legal, and which leaves me in possession of all my rights and privileges both as a public man, and a private individual. Making use of these I intend to remain in the City of four miles square, in which the Government resides, as long as may suit the interests of the King my Master, and my own personal convenience; adding as I ought to do, that I shall not lose sight of these two considerations, in relation to the time and the season, of fulfilling our mutual wishes for my departure from the United States.\"\nThe letter from which this passage is extracted, was followed by another of Jany 19 which is given entire:\n\"Muy Se\u00f1or mio. Desembarazado de las explicaciones personales en que por justas razones me vi obligado a entrar en mi primera contextacion a la carta de V.S. de 15 del corrente, debo ahora decir a VS lo que de otro modo habria entonces constituido mi unica respuesta, a saber, Que el Enviado Extraordinario y Ministre Plenipotenciario de Su Magestad Catholica, cerca de los Estados Unidos, no recibe ordenes sino de su Soberano. Tambien debo declarar a V.S. que considero el estilo, y tenor de su carta como contrarios al decoro y su objeto como una infraccion de los privilegios que me da mi caracter. Esta violacion de los derechos diplomaticos, tan inexplicable, como poco fundada exige de mi la protesta mas solemne contra la citada carta de V.S. su estilo, y el intento conque se me dirigio. Protesto, pues, del modo mas solemne que me es posible executarlo, contra este paso tan contrario, baxo las circumstancias existentes, a las leyes y costumbres diplomaticas, como lo es al espiritu de la constitucion y Gobierno del pays; y a fin deque la conducta de V. S. in esto caso no pueda afectar de modo alguno los privilegios del cuerpo, \u00e0 que tengo la honor de pertenecer, pasar\u00e9 immediatamente \u00e0 los demas Miembros de el, acreditados cerca de los Estados Unidos, copia de la citada carta de V.S. de mi primera contextacion, y de esta mi Protexta para que conste siempre que si ha existido de parte de esta Administrac\u00econ una determinacion arbitraria \u00e0 violar los derechos de Embaxada, respetados por todas las Naciones civilizadas, ha existido tambien en mi la justa resolucion de repeler semejante atentado. Dios que a V.S., Ms. as. Washington 19 de Enero de 1806\n &c &c &CEl Marquis de Casa YrujoSor don Jayme Madison These letters speak for themselves. With the sole exception of cases where a foreign Minister may be engaged in plots, conspiracies, or attempts on the Government itself; they assert a right in him, under the law of nations, and, what is more, under the municipal constitution, to go where he pleases, to stay as long as he pleases, and to commit every other species of offence he pleases; without being removable or controulable by the Government of the Country; or in the least responsible to any other authority than that of his own sovereign.\nMay then a foreign Minister, when once received, offer with impunity to the Government receiving him, every offence short of the specified crimes against the state? May he trample on all the rules of decorum observed in public as well as in private intercourse? May he tamper with the virtue and fidelity of the Citizens; may he corrupt the presses for the purpose of public or private defamation; may he give ostentatious defiances to the Government; may he insult the Chief Magistrate by insolent letters charging him with dishonorable conduct, and by the publication of them arraign him before the community; may he even insult him to his face, by his looks, his language, and his deportment; may he commit, and go on committing, these and a thousand other enormities not falling within the specified cases; and find, in his diplomatic badge, a consecrated shield against every restraint, until his case shall have been transmitted to his own Government, and it shall please that, to rescue the insulted government from the presence and provocations of such a functionary?\nCommon sense revolts at such pretensions. Every Government which respects itself, will feel its right, whenever a foreign functionary shall presume to carry them into practice, to banish him instantly from its presence, to strip him of his immunities, or to order him out of the Country; according to the degree of provocation given. This right, inherent in all governments, derives additional energy in the case of the United States, not only from peculiarities in their political principles and institutions, which would widen the range for indignities not on the short list of crimes against the state; but especially from the distance of the Governments whose representatives might so offend, and the lengthened periods of liability to such indignities, if no right existed on the spot to put an end to them.\nAfter the moderate exercise of this incontestible right, in the letter signifying to the Marquis de Yrujo that his presence at the seat of Government was dissatisfactory, the provocation superadded by the stile and matter of his answers, would have justified a procedure against him, much more expressive of the sentiment they were calculated to inspire. This sentiment however was no otherwise manifested, than by a silent consignment of him to the mortification of his own reflections.\nThese reflections had not the effect which they ought to have had. On the contrary, pressing forward in his intemperate career, he not only executed his purpose of communicating to the other public Ministers at Washington, the correspondence which had just taken place with the Department of State; but caused that correspondence, with his letter to those Ministers, to be published in the Gazettes, as another appeal to the people against their Chief Magistrate. So familiar, indeed, had this resort become to his mind, that nearly about the same time, he addressed to the public, through the press, and with the same view, an official letter which he had written to the Department of State, commenting in a stile which might have been more respectful, without being less adapted to its object, on certain passages in a message of the President to the Legislative Body.\nBut altho\u2019 no immediate notice, beyond that of the letter of Jany 15 was taken of the Marquis de Yrujo, notwithstanding his continuance for two weeks thereafter, within the City of Washington, it was a matter of course to communicate to his Government these aggravated provocations, with the proof they afforded of the protracted forbearance of the Government of the United States. The printed copies of all the documents, with the fact attached to them, of his having caused them to be thus published, were accordingly transmitted to the Diplomatic Agent of the United States at Madrid; with an instruction, to lay the whole before the Spanish Government, without a single comment.\nOn the 6th. of May last, the communication was so made; with an effect, however, very different from what was expected. Instead of repairing the wrongs of the Spanish Representative against the United States, by expressions of regret, and by withdrawing the author of them, Mr. Cevallos, in his answer to the communication, vindicates the Marquis de Yrujo throughout, adopts his pretensions and his fallacious arguments, copies often his very words; and descends so far as to repeat observations, which, as they would have been passed over in silence in an answer to the Marquis, if his title to one had not been forfeited, must excite the greater surprize at their escaping the pen of His Catholic Majesty\u2019s first Secretary of State. The letter of Mr. Cevallos does not scruple to mingle with these extraordinary contents, a complaint not less extraordinary, that the Communication made on the 6th. May, without an explanation of the reasons which supported it, was a disrespectful mode of addressing the Spanish Government on the subject.\nBut what explanation could be deemed necessary in a case, which explained itself in every particular; which carried on the face of it, pretensions, without example in diplomatic history, addressed to the Government in terms at which every Government ought to take offence; and the proof, that these pretensions had been actually exercised, in a printed appeal to the people of the United States, against their own Constituted authorities. This silence was, in fact, so far from being dictated by a want of respect for His Catholic Majesty, that it was preferred, as at once the most delicate and emphatic manifestation of the charges against his Minister, and of the confidence placed in his readiness to do justice to a friendly power, who might reasonably have declined awaiting so distant an interposition.\nProceeding himself in the very footsteps of the Marquis de Yrujo, which this Minister ought to have been made to tread back, Mr Cevallos contends that the letter of Jany 15 signifying the dissatisfaction of the President at the repairing of the Marquis to Washington, was a marked violation of the sacred rights of embassy; that such a step would be justified, solely, by a conspiracy of that Minister against the Chief magistrate of the United States, or against the security of the Nation or its Government; and that in case the Spanish Plenipotentiary had justly drawn on himself the treatment experienced, a specification of the crime and exhibition of the proofs, ought to have been the first communication made; instead of that silent transmission of copies of the correspondence in question, which was itself a confirmation of the violent and causeless procedure of the American Government. He even allows himself to assert the singular pretension of the Marquis, as the Minister of a foreign nation, to the peculiar rights and privileges of American Citizens, under the constitution of the Country.\nIt would be an useless repetition of remarks already made, to point out the tendency of these spurious doctrines and pretensions; but it may not be amiss, once for all to substantiate these remarks by the latest as well as the highest authorities on public law; premising only that a material error of fact runs through the answer of Mr. Cevallos. He takes for granted that the letter of Jany. 15th to the Marquis de Yrujo, which cut off official Communication with him, stripped him, at the same time, of the immunities attached to his Character, and subjected him to the municipal jurisdiction. However justifiable this Course might have been, it is neither the import, nor has it been the effect of that letter.\nThe Rights and the Responsibilities of Public Ministers are perhaps no where more clearly laid down than by Mr. Rayneval in his work entitled\u2014 \"Institutions du droit de la Nature et des gens.\"\n\"Mais l\u2019immunit\u00e9 dont il s\u2019agit n\u2019assure point l\u2019impunit\u00e9. Si le ministre oublie lui meme sa dignit\u00e9; s\u2019il perd de vue la maxime qu\u2019il ne peut ni offenser ni etre offense; s\u2019il permet des injustices, des actes arbitraires; s\u2019il troubler l\u2019ordre public, manquer aux habitans, au Soverain lui meme; s\u2019il conspire, s\u2019il rende odieux suspect ou coupable, c\u2019est \u00e0 son Soverain qu\u2019il faut s\u2019addresser; c\u2019est a lui \u00e0 le punir: il le doit; c\u2019est une condition tacite mais essentielle, de l\u2019admission de son Agent. Le Soverain pres du quel celuici reside peut aussi selon les occurrences, prendre des mesures de suret\u00e9 contre lui: il peut interrompre toute communication, tout rapport avec lui; il peut meme le renvoyer de ses Etats, et en cas de resistance, il peut employer la force pour le contraindre; car en pareil cas le Ministre se met dans un \u00e9tat hostile, et devient lui meme l\u2019auteur de la violence qu\u2019il eprouve, il manque aux obligations que son caractere lui impose, il detruit par l\u00e0 lui-meme le caractere et par consequent, les prerogatives que y son attaches.\"\nThe authority of Mr. Rayneval has been cited, not only because he is so late a writer (his work being published in 1803) and of known talents, but because he has, thro\u2019 the greater part of his life, been practically occupied in Diplomatic affairs; sometimes in the Foreign Department under the French Government, and sometimes as its Minister abroad. To the best means therefore for understanding both the law and the practice, he adds an advantage of deriving an impartiality between the pretensions of foreign Ministers and those of the Sovereign receiving them, from his having been in situations to maintain both.\nShould authorities longer known to the public be called for in this case, Grotius, Bynkershoek and Wiquefert will be found to speak a similar language, and above all, Vattel, as will be seen by the passages here extracted, to L IV. C VII. S. 94/95.\nSi l\u2019ambassadeur oublie les devoirs de son etat, s\u2019il se rend desagreable et dangeroux, s\u2019il forme des complots, des entreprises prejudicialles au repos des Citoyens, \u00e0 l\u2019 Etat, ou au Prince a qui il est envoy\u00e9, il est divers moyens de le reprimer, proportionnes a la nature et au degr\u00e9 de sa faute s\u2019il maltraite les sujets de l\u2019Etat, s\u2019il leur fait des injustices, s\u2019il use contre eux de violence, les sujets offenc\u00e9s ne doivent point recourir aux magistrats ordinaires, de la jurisdiction des quels l\u2019ambassadeur est independant, ou par la m\u00eame raison ces magistrats ne peuvent agir directement contre lui. Il faut, en pareilles occasions, s\u2019addresser au Soverain, qui demande justice au Maitre de l\u2019ambassadeur, et en cas de refus peut ordonner au Ministre insolent de sortir de ses Etats.\nSi le Ministre etranger offense le prince lui m\u00eame, s\u2019il lui Manque de respect, s\u2019il brouille l\u2019Etat et la cour par ses intrigues, le Prince offense, voulant garder des menagemens particuliers pour le Maitre, se borne quelque fois a demander le rappel du Ministre; ou si la faute est plus considerable, il lui defend la Cour en attendant la reponse du Matre, dans le cas grave, il va meme jusqu\u00e1 la chasser de ses Etats.\"\nTo these passages from Vattel, an extract from a succeeding one may properly be added, as a concise and conclusive reply to a Consideration which Mr. Cevallos seems to regard as particularly supporting the pretensions of the Marquis de Yrujo. In requiring, on the occasion of a demanded Recall of a public Minister, that regular proofs should accompany a specified offence, Mr. C. gives, as a reason, \"that the contrary doctrine would leave Ministers at foreign Courts at the mercy of the Governments there, and deprive them of the sacred and necessary independence, requisite for the discharge of their duties, a monstrous doctrine, Yet a necessary consequence of admitting the principle of removal without those preliminaries.\"\nVattell referring to a like agreement used in a case which he cites, makes the following Remark.\n\"Elle serait bien plus malheureusse, la Condition des Prince, s\u2019ils etoient oblig\u00e9s de souffrir dans leurs Etats, & a leur Cour, un ministre disagreable, ou justement suspect, un brouillon, un enemi masqu\u00e9 sous le caractere d\u2019ambassadeur, qui se prevaudroittab de son inviolabilit\u00e9 pour traimer hardement des entreprizes pernicieuses\"\nThe solidity of this reflection of Vattel is illustrated by the best attested experience which has constantly shewn a greater tendency in foreign Ministers to abuse their privileges and pervert to evil purposes the benevolent policy of permanent legations, than in Governments to exert an undue authority over the Minister residing near them.\nNo Institution could promise better to the peace and harmony of Nations, than that which naturally places near friendly Governments well chosen Representatives always on the spot to explain difficulties to repress unjust or extravagant jealousies, to remit faithful intelligence to promote justice; and by these laudable offices, to cherish that confidence and good will which alone can maintain peace among nations. And where this important trust is committed to enlightened and upright functionaries, of whom there are many honorable examples, who consult the true object of the diplomatic establishment, its happy fruits confer on it the highest praise. But how often has there been occasion to lament the course, actually pursued by those intended organs and guardians of the friendship of nations? How often has it been found that instead of the good which they might do both to the Countries appointing and to those receiving them, all their address is employed in the evil task of corrupting the Citizens, of poisoning the Councils, and of disturbing the tranquillity of the latter? How often are they found to sacrifice every patriotic consideration, to their selfish views, by representations to their Governments calculated not to correct injurious errors, or impart salutary truths, or promote a wise and honorable policy, but to flatter prejudices, to stimulate jealousies, to disguise or pervert facts, or to varnish and recommend projects contrary both to the Interest and the honor of their own Country; in a word, by telling their Government not what is true, but what may be agreeable; not what will promote its just and useful objects, but what will recommend themselves to the favor of their Superiors, and pave the way to higher honors or advantages for themselves.\nThat this is not a picture drawn by fancy for a particular occasion, will be admitted by all who have the least acquaintance with the history of diplomacy. Instead of citing cases, which it would be so easy to multiply, a single, but very unexceptionable authority shall suffice.\nMonsr. Callier\u00e9s, who held an important station in the French Cabinet, after having been employed at different times in diplomatic missions, delivers in his \"De La Maniere De Negicier\" the following instructive testimony on this point.\n\"Il faut rendre justice a la pl\u00fbpart des legitimes Souverains, en disant, qu\u2019il y en a tres peu qui se portent d\u2019eux-m\u00eames \u00e0 de semblables desseins; presque toutes les entreprises injustes, et les cabales qu\u2019on fait en leur nom dans les autres Etats, leur sont sugger\u00e9es par leurs Ministres, ou par quelques negociateurs qui les y engagent, en s\u2019offrant de les executer, bien loin de les en detourner, & ces negociateurs ne sont pas a plaindre quand ils tombent dans les filets qu\u2019ils ont eux m\u00eames tendus pour autrui; on pourroit alleguer divers exemples de la v\u00e9rite de cette observation, et on en trouvera toujours dix contre un, ou les negociateurs ont \u00e9t\u00e9 les auteurs et les solliciteurs de pareilles entreprises, pour se faire de f\u00eate aupr\u00e9s de leurs Princes\"\nMr. Cevallos is unfortunate in all his attempts to vindicate the conduct of his government on this occasion, towards the United States.\nReferring to the delay in the promised Return of the Marquis, assigned in the letter to him of Jany 15. 1806, as a ground on which his visit to Washington was reprehended, and a communication with him refused, Mr. Cevallos not only denies the sufficiency of the delay, if real, to justify the measure, but denies that the promise required the departure of the Marquis until his return should be freed from the risk incident to the state of war.\nThe best answer to this construction of the promise will be found in a brief review of the Correspondence between the Ministers Extraordinary of the United States and Mr. Cevallos.\nIn the letter from those Ministers already cited, they expressly state the demand of the President to be, \"the immediate recall of the Marquis de Yrujo,\" for reasons which rendered his \"longer stay\" in the quality of Minister Plenipotentiary \"highly improper.\"\nIn the answer, Mr. Cevallos suggests, that as the Marquis had asked and obtained the royal permission to come to Spain at the season which shall be convenient to him to make his passage with the most probable safety, it was hoped that the Government of the United States would consider this as a proper mode of reconciling their wish, with a due respect to the Character of the Minister Plenipotentiary of his Majesty.\nIn the Reply of the American Plenipotentiaries, citing not the words but the sense of Mr Cevallos, they observe, that as his Majesty had some time since given leave to his Minister Plenipotentiary near the United States to return to Spain in the Course of the present favorable season &c &c, they were very confident that the mode proposed of complying with the request of their government would be satisfactory.\nIf there were any ambiguities in the terms by which Mr. Cevallos expressed the season for the Return of the Marquis, an ambiguity which ought not to be presumed, the sense in which they were understood by the Ministers of the United States is perfectly free from it. They expressly refer to the season, not of the war, but of the year; and even to the present season of the year. If Mr. Cevallos had therefore meant not the season of the year, but of the war, his candor would never have permitted him to be a party to an arrangement in which he clearly understood the intention of the other party, whilst the other party misunderstood his intention, and whilst he knew that they did so. He would have corrected their misconception, by an explanation required by good faith, instead of confirming it by the silence which he observed.\nAnother Reflection annihilates the plea now urged. The object of the President, communicated by the American Ministers to the Spanish Government was, the immediate recall of its Minister, because his \"longer stay\" in the United States had become highly improper. The object of the Spanish Government was, to spare the feelings of its Minister, by substituting a return by permission, in place of a recall; and in this change of mode, which equally produced the departure of the offensive Minister, the essential object of the United States, their Plenipotentiaries acquiesced, and anticipated the acquiescence of their Government. How could Mr. Cevallos suppose that with this essential object in charge, they meant to be satisfied with an arrangement which completely defeated it, which instead of producing the immediate departure of the Minister, whose recall was demanded, permitted him to remain as long as an obstinate war, just entered into by Spain, might be protracted? How could he suppose, that if the Ministers had so far forgotten the purport of their orders just presented to him, that the Government of the United States would so far forget what it owed to itself, as to accept, for an immediate recall of the Minister who had so highly offended it, his voluntary return, at any time, within a period so likely to be of protracted duration? How could the American Ministers, in fact, how could the Government of the United States, suppose that so preposterous an expectation could ever enter into the discerning mind of His Catholic Majesty\u2019s first Minister of State?\nMr. Cevallos dwells on a passage over the Atlantic in time of war, as a risk unjust towards the Marquis as it would be unreasonable towards his successor.\nDoes he suppose then that this tenderness is due to a public Minister who has abandoned himself to the Career in which the Marquis de Yrujo has been traced? Can he suppose that a Government is to tolerate the indefinite stay of an offensive Minister, and subject itself to a re-iteration of his insults, because the remedy may expose him to personal inconveniences? Such an expectation would, it is true, be unjust and unreasonable: not, however, as it relates to the culpable Minister, but to the offended Nation. If, besides the mere recall or removal of the Minister, the risks of the Sea in time of war, be an additional Consequence of his misconduct, they ought to be an additional restraint from acts which might justly lead to that Consequence. These risks never can be a consideration, to which a Government can be expected to sacrifice the essential respect which it owes to itself, and the satisfaction due in such a case from a friendly government. More than this, Mr. Cevallos ought to have recollected that the Minister in question actually passed the Sea on his original mission to the United States whilst Spain was at war with the same power as at present; that this is not the only instance in which the sea has been passed in time of war, by Spanish Ministers appointed to the United States. He may be informed also, that it has been usual for both French and British Ministers to cross the Atlantic, during war, both in missions to, and returns from the United States.\nThe anxiety of Mr. Cevallos to transfer to the Government of the United States the blame which adheres to that of Spain, has led him into errors of various kinds. Among others, he has permitted the assertions to escape from him, that the letter to Mr. de Yrujo, closing the Communication with him, was scarcely half a year after the demand of his recall at Madrid; and that the promise of fulfilling the wish of the American Government, even by the return of the Marquis on leave, was an excess of Condescention on the part of His Catholic Majesty.\nHad the interval between the demand of Recall, and the refusal of further Communication, been correctly stated, the inference of Mr. Cevallos would not have been warranted. Six months was evidently a longer time than could have been requisite for the transmission of instructions from the Spanish Government to its Minister in the United States. With the aid of several Copies, always employed in time of war, two or three months are amply sufficient; and as has been already noticed, communications, of dates posterior to the promise of his return to Spain, had unquestionably been received by the Marquis, from his Government, a considerable time before his visit to Washington took place. But the statement of Mr. Cevallos is not correct, and the error is the more surprising, as it ought to have been prevented by the face of the very documents on which he was commenting, or rather by the very dates which he cites from them. The letter demanding the Recall bore date the l3th April 1805; the date of the letter of the Marquis on his arrival at Washington was Jany 15. 1806; making an Interval of more than 8 instead of scarcely 6 months.\nIn calling the promise that the Marquis should return on leave, even in exchange for a recall, an excess of condescention on the part of His Catholic Majesty, Mr. Cevallos has created a difficulty of replying, without observations of a nature which the Government of the United States would always reluctantly employ towards a Government which it wishes to respect. Mr. Cevallos before he indulged his pen in this very extraordinary sentiment ought to have weighed more deliberately its inconsistency with a regard due from one Government to the reasonable expectation of another to be gratified by the removal of a public minister on the mere consideration that his Character or conduct was disagreeable; and that this reasonable expectation becomes a positive and incontestible right, in such a case as that in question, has been shewn to be. He ought to have reflected that the language held by him implies that a government has a right to keep an obnoxious Representative near a foreign Government, in defiance of the will of the latter, within the limits of its own sovereignty; a doctrine, to which neither His Catholic Majesty, nor any other Sovereign, would listen for a moment. These reflections would have been suggested by any one of those accredited authors on the law of Nations, to whom Mr. Cevallos has appealed. He would even have been led by them to reflect that a government in attempting to obtrude or continue a minister near a foreign Government, to which he was unacceptable, violates the first principle of diplomatic policy, not less than it forgets the dignity which ought to be seen in all its proceedings. Mr. Reynaval\u2019s remarks on this subject could not be more pertinent.\n\"L\u2019premier d\u2019un ministre public est de se rendre agreable, d\u2019inspirer de la Confiance de se faire considerer; se donc un souvrain manifeste de la repugnance a le recevoir, il y a de l\u2019imprudence a exiger son admission, et si par des circonstances particuleres on lui fait la loi a cet egard un Ministre disagreable remplira mal sa mission. Il faut bien se penetrer de cette verite en un Ministre public doit avoir de la consideration personelle, s\u2019il veut qu\u2019on en en ait pour son caractere. La necessite peut forcer de dissimuler; mais cette dissimulation nuit au succes des affaires, comme a la dignite du souverain que s\u2019obstine a soutener un agent qui deplait.\"\nThe letter of June 2d. 1806 from Mr. Cevallos having been answered by the American Charge des Affaires at Madrid, he replied in another on the 24th day of June, in the same spirit and to the same effect; and this, again, receiving an answer from the same quarter, it was intimated in a brief reply from Mr. Cevallos on the 18th of July, that as the motives for demanding the recall of the Marquis de Yrujo had not been explained, His Majesty had given orders that the Reclamation on this subject should be addressed at Washington, to the Government of the United States.\nIn the mean time the Marquis de Yrujo, tho\u2019 he has not again obtruded himself at the seat of Government, has not retired from the United States; and has lately invited through an indirect Channel the acquiescence of the Government in a modified renewal of his official communications with it. Not succeeding in this, he proceeded to signify peremptorily, thro\u2019 the same channel, that it was the purpose of His Catholic Majesty, that he should continue to exercise in the United States the functions of his Minister. Finding disappointment alone to be the fruit of these experiments, he resorted to another, still thro\u2019 the same channel, regardless of the light in which he placed both his Government and himself, by such versatile and inconsistent disclosures. A day or two only after it had been signified to be the intention of His Catholic Majesty, that this particular Minister should continue to be his diplomatic functionary in the United States, it was signified, without any intimation or probability of intervening instructions, that provisional arrangements existed, for the use of a different functionary of an inferior grade. As the government of the United States had in the letter of the 15th January sufficiently explained its readiness at all times to admit a Successor to the Marquis de Yrujo, the proper answer was found in that letter, to this abrupt change in the aspect given to the intentions of His Catholic Majesty. No accredited Successor, however, of any grade, has yet presented himself; nor, consequently, has any reclamation, such as was intimated to the American Charge des Affaires at Madrid, been yet received.\nFrom the foregoing Review, it is manifest, that if the Government of the United States be under any difficulty of justifying itself, in the case of the Marquis de Yrujo, the difficulty arises not from the illegality or rigor of its proceedings towards him, but from that excess of condescention and forbearance, of which his continuance to the present day within the United States and in the enjoyment of the immunities of a public Minister is a conspicuous monument.\nIt only remains to observe that the conduct of the American Government throughout has been equally a proof of the disposition of the United States, in spite of every adverse occurrence, to maintain harmony with Spain, and to defer to the last moment the most just and proper steps which misinformations or misconstructions might possibly render unpropitious to the relations between the two Countries.\n Chap: IX. P 76, first paragraph.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-21-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1315", "content": "Title: To James Madison from George William Erving, 21 January 1807\nFrom: Erving, George William\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir\nMadrid Jany. 21. 1807\nI had yesterday the high satisfaction of receiving your Official letter of Decr. 2. covering two copies of the Presidents Message.\nI have written to you lately several letters, publick & private, some of which will reach you before this, & others which are too bulky to go by the post wait a private opportunity which I expect to have in a few days for Cadiz. Since my last there is nothing entirely new in publick affairs.\nIn my unofficial letter of Decr. 16, I mentioned the proposal made to this government by the Emperor of France respecting 25,000 Prussians, & the acceptance by Spain of 10,000, some circumstances as to the increasing influence of the Prince of Peace here, & in another letter, the conversation which took place between the Emperor & Genl. Pardo at Berlin.\nWith respect to the 1st. point it is now said (I know not upon what authority) that the whole 25,000 Prussians are to be sent here, with the Option however of becoming cultivators, or of continuing to be Soldiers. I learn from very good authority another circumstance not Easily to be understood, viz that by a late arrangement 25,000 Spanish troops are to pass into France: this surely can have no object but that of weakening Spain, & must tend to encrease the distrust which obviously Exists, as to the friendly professions made by the new embassador.\nOn the 13t. Inst. the Prince Received the dignity of High Admiral of Castile, & of the Indies with all the other authorities & dignities particularly set forth in the Royal Cedula of which a copy is enclosed, & which is more than was Expected or has ever been conferred on any former Admiral.\n\"Glamis thou art, & Cawdor, & shalt be\nWhat thou art promised.\"\nYou will perceive that under the civil & military authority in Marine affairs & the title of Protector of Commerce granted by the Cedula, are introduced a variety of phrases & sweeping words carrying with them very Extensive powers. The whole seems to be calculated as it were to prevent the defining the line where his power ends & that of the sovereign begins. Indeed nobody doubts but that to all important purposes, his Serene Highness is now in the place of the King. A formal Communication of the Cedula has been made by Mr. Cevallos to all the foreign Agents. The Prince is daily attended whilst at the Royal Residence by all the Ministers of State, & dispatches business with them. It is said that in future the King will dispatch with him Exclusively, & not as heretofore with the Ministers: the change however has not yet gone to that Extent. This elevation of the Prince will of course render it impossible for him to pay the visit to Paris contemplated in the conversation between the Emperor & Genl. Pardo before referred to; otherwise, as it respects foreign powers in their intercourse with this government, it must be considered to be advantageous: His government is no longer that of mere favoritism, he has become as it were a part of the Executive power & is held by his situation to a certain degree of Responsibility: heretofore, as he had no ministerial charge, tho he influenced Every thing, he woud not appear to act but when he thought proper, that is where he might derive credit from an open interference: thus tho he took no responsibility upon himself, the ministers were not allowed to act on their own: He prevented the Success of every application which did not concur with his own views, or which had not previously secured his Special favor, & yet he woud deny having interfered in such cases. But he is now also raised much above the necessity of depending upon little intrigues, narrow views, or of Employing indirect Agencies.\nHappening to have previously appointed to see Mr. Cevallos at Aranjuez on the 17 Inst., on the subject of the late proceedings at Algesiras, I took that opportunity of calling upon the Prince to felicitate him on his new dignity; this is Expected of Every body. He received me in his usual manner, but observed that he had not seen me for a very long time. I told him that I had not had any thing particularly necessary to communicate with him upon, & that I knew visits of ceremony were not necessary to convince him of my respect for him! that I coud not however but profit of the present occasion to felicitate him on the new dignities which the King had been pleased to confer on him. He seemed much pleased, (for he has a very musical Ear) & went on to talk of the news from England. He said that as it appeared, we shoud be an ally of Spain against that power. I answered that the accounts from thence were extremely contradictory, I had not received any direct intelligence or any upon which I coud rely, & therefore did not know what to expect; but upon the whole thought it very improbable that the English woud risque a war with the United States. He did not as usual make our differences a subject of Conversation nor did I mention them. I afterwards saw Mr. Cevallos, & again on the next day had a conversation of two hours with him principally upon the subject of my late notes (relating to the iniquitous proceedings at Algesiras) & upon the question much discussed in our Correspondence, whether or not discussions of this character shoud be referred to the Council of War. Mr. Cevallos did not fail to bring upon the carpet the old questions about Casa Calvo & Yrujo. Nothing new however was said on Either Side, & the detail of the conversation woud only serve to fatigue you. I was surprised that he was perfectly silent about Miranda. He gave me an opportunity of asking him whether the rumour which had prevailed in the U. States respecting new powers sent to Yrujo was or was not true, & I added that I had not beleived it possible that the king after all that had passed, coud have contemplated any such appointment. He declared that no new powers of any kind had been sent that Yrujo remained only upon his old footing. I introduced the subject of the late affair on the Sabine river, & intimating that it might be unfortunate if the commandant there had acted upon any instructions from the government, seemed to ask whether or not he had such authority. He was rather reluctant at answering appearing to be desirous first of catching at the motive which led to the question, & afterwards seeming to conclude that I was instructed by you upon the subject, he answered with a great deal of Empressement that the commandant had no authority from the government, that it was wholly his own act, & he reiterated this assurance in a way marking a considerable deal of apprehension: he added, in rather an inflated manner that the government some time past on the Expectation of an attack from us, had directed the force to be augmented so as to secure their frontier from any possibility of danger & that consequently they had now an army in that quarter of 10,000 men! but that they had not certainly given any orders to advance &c. However it seemed that the affair was now accommodated by convention between the two commanders: You will find by the inclosed Madrid Gazette that this arrangemt has been published as news from Philadelphia.\nFetes were given at Aranjuez to the Admiral by the Guards du Corps to which he formerly belonged. In his Box at the play he was accompanied by four Ministers of State, & by the Major domo of the Queen. A Congratulatory address & a panegyric of the very strongest quality was there administered to him, which, & the applauses accompanying it he received with Considerable grace.\nOn the 18th. he came to Madrid & shoud have been Recd. in the manner of the King by the whole garrison under arms. This however he dispensed with & was content that the officers only shoud go out to meet him. After his arrival he had a lev\u00e9e which was as I am told (for I did not return till the 19th.) attended by an immense Crowd, including all the foreign Ministers (not Excepting France) & a very great portion of the grandees.\nThis day I have seen another Royal Cedula dated the 18 by which the King has further conferred on the admiral the office of \"Deacon\" (President) of the Council of State. The Prince has now quitted the Key of Chamberlain (which he has hitherto worn) as being beneath the dignity of his new character. By the last Cedula he is expressly declared next in rank to the infantas of Spain.\nNothing else occurs worth the communication. You may possibly think the foregoing not so. Dear Sir with sincere Respect & Esteem your very obliged & obt. St.\nGeorge W Erving", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-22-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1317", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Jarvis, 22 January 1807\nFrom: Jarvis, William\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nLisbon 22 Jany 1807\nNot having been honored with a letter from you since the 1st. Novr. 1805 has deterred me from addressing you since the 25 June last. I have little now to communicate beside what is in my official letter of to days date. I sincerely hope that the ideas of the President relating to roads, Canals clearing of Rivers & a plan of National education may be acted on by the Legislature. The advantages of the three former are unquestionable; and the latter appears to me to present much greater, if a system is formed suited to the State of our Country, particularly for a Government like ours. I hope the idea of its being an innovation will not startle any of the Legislature. Such an idea is not worthy of a member of so enlightened a body. Had such sentiments prevailed in 75-6, what situation should we now have been in? Had such Sentiments always prevailed mankind never would have emerged from a savage state. It ought to be recollected too that the Presidents plans have succeeded beyond even the most sanguine expectations of his friends. Surely a Man who has been so good a paymaster ought to be largely trusted.\nThe late french decree for the Blockade of Gt. Britain was perfectly unlooked for; and the conduct of the English Government has excited an equal degree of surprise, but agreeable. To have judged from \"War in disguise\", several other Ministerial pamphlets about that time, the Ministerial Newspapers & the much better authority of Sir Wm. Scott, one would have supposed that an advantage would have been taken of it to distress, if not to destroy Neutral commerce. This certainly was the general expectation here, & excited more alarm than any circumstance that has occurred since the War except Lord St. Vincents Visit. I cannot but be persuaded that the Neutral world are much indebted to the Law passed the last Session of Congress prohibiting British Manufactures & the consequent Situation of things between the two Countries. Perhaps to this Source too may be traced whatever is favourable in the late treaty between the two Countries. I do not Sir however mean to say that the British Government have not opened their eyes to the advantage of a good understanding with the U. S. I am persuaded that they have. The late Mr. Fox I imagine was very friendly to us, as I think is Lord Holland & several members of the administration; whose influence doubtless has had some effect toward introducing more just & moderate Sentiments regarding us.\nI pray you Sir to do me the honor to solicit in my behalf your Lady\u2019s acceptance of the inclosed purse. It is a thing of little value, which is generally considered of curious workmanship, or I should not venture to offer it. Trusting to your goodness to excuse the liberty I have taken, I remain With perfect Respect Sir Yr Mo: Ob: Servt.\nWilliam Jarvis", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-22-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1319", "content": "Title: To James Madison from DeWitt Clinton, 22 January 1807\nFrom: Clinton, DeWitt\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nNewYork 22 Jany. 1807\nI had the honor of receiving your letter of the 14th. January. Enclosed is a copy of my letter to Mr Monroe which will supersede a more particular answer to your communication\nI think it will be best to send two of the most intelligent pilots and one or more of the men belonging to the Revenue Cutter besides such Masters of Vessels as witnessed the transaction. The Revenue Cutter was near the scene of action.\nCapt. Manning cleared in the Schooner Columbia on the 20th. Septr. for Algeziras and is now at Cadiz: Capt. Pemberton is on a voyage to St. Domingo and may be expected daily. The testimony which Capt. Fairchild can give is contained in a memorandum enclosed. If you conceive his testimony of great importance, Mr Monroe can obtain his attendance from Bourdeaux where he has now gone on a voyage, and where he will in all probability continue during the whole month of March and part of April.\nI set out to morrow for Albany and have requested the Collector to attend to the sending on of the Witnesses aided by the advice of the District Attorney. The Pilots I have Selected to send to England can fully establish the three points stated in my letter to Mr Monroe", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-22-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1320", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Henry Hill, 22 January 1807\nFrom: Hill, Henry\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nNewYork Jany. 22d. 1807.\nPermit me to acquaint you that I propose departing from hence for Jamaica by way of Havana immediately after being honord with your instructions, say by the 10th. of next Month. I have the honor to be Sir Very respectfully Your Mo. ob. Servt.\nHenry Hill Junr", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-22-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1322", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Jarvis, 22 January 1807\nFrom: Jarvis, William\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nLisbon 22nd. Jany. 1807\nThe last letter I had the honor to address to you was under date of the 20 Ulto. & went by the Brig Maria, Captn. Hilliard, via New York. I was favoured a few days Since with two copies of the Presidents message at the opening of the present Session of Congress. Few things could have gratified me more than such a picture of the happy state of our Country from authority so unquestionable. The great benefit which his Country has already reaped from his services, and the fatherly love & care he shews toward it in attempting to perpetuate its happiness & prosperity by the wisest plans, must greatly endear him to his Countrymen & make posterity venerate his memory. Did such ideas want the ornament of stile, the simple elegance & perspicuity of the composition must make them appear to the greatest advantage. I did not know what I could do better with the two than to inclose one to His Excellency Mr d\u2019Araujo & to wait on the French Charge with the other, requesting him to deliver it to the Spanish Ambassador. Two nights afterwards I met them both at a third place in a large company. They both appeared pleased with it. A strange story had got about here that Colo. Burr, had caused an insurrection in Kentucky, the object of whichh was to cause a separation between the Western & Eastern States. Absurd as this was many appeared to beleive it & among the rest I found the French Charge inclined to give some Credit to it; but the message has eradicated every impression of the kind. The Secretaries of the Legations also appeared to be pleased with it. I think Moore in his Travells somewhere observed that a Frenchman is alway willing to allow great merit to every other Nation, because he beleived that France was so decidedly superior to all other Countries, that no one would pretend to dispute her pre-eminence. It may be owing to this National vanity that a Frenchman when he praises a great Man of another Nation it is generally by a comparison with some one of his own. The Secretary of Legation in speaking of the President compared him with Henry the fourth of France after the Civil Wars were ended. This is no small praise in the mouth of a Frenchman, for of all their long line of kings he is the only one whom they seem to speak of with affection. I shall take the liberty to hand inclosed my note accompanying the message with His Excy. Mr d\u2019Araujo\u2019s answer in English.\nThe late edict declaring England in a State of Blockade, completely paralized trade here for three or four weeks. It was generally expected that a similar declaration would have been made on the part of Gt. Britain & as that Nation has a fleet adequate to the enforcement of it, the ruin of Neutral Commerce was looked on as certain. At last a packet arrived bringing advices to the 28th. Ultimo, at which time no notice being taken of it, not even in the King\u2019s speech, in some degree restored confidence to the Mercantile world. I understand that Many privateers are fitting out both in France & Spain in consequence of it & am apprehensive that they will give much embarrassment to our Commerce; which must be attended with Serious dislocations, always unpleasant but which it is peculiarly desirable under existing circumstances to avoid if possible. I confess it was the last thing I should ever have expected; for in addition to the palpable infringement on the law of Nations, I cannot persuade myself that it is consistent with sound policy, for was the English to retaliate with their superiority at Sea, it must distress the French Nation exceedingly. From the British writings I had supposed that they long had wanted a pretext for destroying Neutral Commerce & that they would have siezed the opening that this had offered with the greatest avidity. That they have not done it, makes me conclude that the Ministry are again turning their attention toward a Peace.\nThere has been a report here for some time past that Buenos Ayres was retaken by the Spaniards the 12 August, but it rests altogether on the authority of private letters. This would be a thing very acceptable to the Portugueze, for fear the possession of that Country by the English, should leave the opening to such an immense contraband with the Brazils as nearly to destroy the trade between the mother Country & her Colonies.\nA circular from Captn. Campbell will accompany this. I did not comply with his wishes in making it public, as I considered it would tend to injure our flag without any immediate danger. These people seldom get to Sea before May or june. If I am well informed, the Tunisian vessels are not in the highest state of repair; of course it must take some time to repair them; beside which, after witnessing the result of the War, their neighbours the Tripolines, engaged in with us, I cannot beleive they will be very much inclined to break with us; and if they do, there is already a force in the Mediterranean, that would afford a very considerable protection to our Commerce against that power; I therefore concluded to shew the letter to such as were bound into the streights, by way of precaution; and I hope Govmt. will not disapprove of my not making it public.\nA short time since the Quarantine was lessend from eight days to five from Philada. & New York & from five to three from all other ports in the U. S., but I am afraid that I shall not get any alteration in the discharge by Bira. With the most perfect Respect I have the honor to be Sir Yr: Mo: Ob: Servt\nWilliam Jarvis\nP. S. A Sloop of War which arrived at Faro a few days Since brings advice that a Treaty had actually been entered into lately, sometime, in Novr. between Gt. Britain & Russia & the porte. The most prominent articles are, that those two powers shall be entitled to trade in the Black Sea for nine years & that the Russians shall be allowed to recruit their Armies in the Turkish dominions, probably in the Christian provinces, & be permitted to March thro the Turkish territories whenever the affairs of War required it. This no doubt will be viewed as a virtual declaration of War, whenever it may suit the convenience of France.\nUpon the Royal Decree being handed me two days since from the \"Real Fazenda\" I was happy to perceive that it not only cleared Captn. Hooper of the duties on his Cargo, but also conferred a favour on Commerce at large. The old franquia Law (ie the Law whichh granted the privildge of Vessels under certain circumstances, proceeding to Sea without paying the duties on the inward Cargo, but paying the regular port charges on the Vessel) made it necessary that a Vessel should have been bound to a foreign port & have put in here owing to actual distress of weather or a want of necessaries to obtain this priviledge: when the judge or administrator of the customhouse determined what number of days she should be allowed to lay. By the present edict however Vessels are allowed to take the benefit of a franquia for ten days when entering for the purposes of Commercial speculations only. This will save much trouble & secure a point of much Service to our flag; inasmuch as it will prevent any further embarrassment to such vessels as it is desired should proceed elsewhere in Search of a better market. The decree goes inclosed with a Translation: and its benefits will be duly appreciated when it is recollected that the most of our Vessels come here on speculating Voyages & proceed to such places as offer the best prices for the Cargoes, which the central situation of this place enables with ease to do, when the markets here are not favorable. Within a few months past there has been here several persons of respectability from New Orleans, to whom I have made it a rule to give the most pointed attention, wishing to do the little in my power to make Government as popular as possible in that quarter.\nP. S.Sir29th. Jany.\nMonsr. Rayneval the French Charge d Affaires the last evening informed me that a decisive battle had been fought between the French & Russian Armies. It commenced the 22nd. Decr. near Osterode by the french attacking the whole Russian line, continued the 23rd. 24, 25, 26, 27 & 28th. when the french obtained a complete Victory; Killing, wounding & taking prisoners 30,000 Men, the rest of the Russian Army flying in all directions. The whole of the Russian Artilery & field equipage fell into the hands of the french: The Emperor Napoleon at the head of one column of his army consisting of 50,000 was pursuing his route to Memel, by which the communication between the Prussians & Russians would be completely cut off. The Maria being detained longer than was expected affords me the opportunity of communicating this information by her.\nW. J.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-22-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1323", "content": "Title: From James Madison to James Anderson, 22 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Anderson, James\nTo all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting:\nJanuary 22, 1807\nI Certify, That the bearer herof, James Anderson, is a citisen of the United States of America and proceeding to Havana in discharge of a public trust; these are therefore to request all whom it may concern to give him no molestation in going, staying or returning; but on the contrary to afford him security and every friendly accommodation. \nIn Faith Whereof, I James Madison, Secretary for the Department of State of the United States of America, have signed these presents, and caused the seal of my office to be affixed hereto, at the city of Washington, this 22d. day of January A.D. 1807 and in the 31st. year of the Independence of the said States.\nseal\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1324", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Dominic A. Hall, 23 January 1807\nFrom: Hall, Dominic A.\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nNew Orleans 23. Jan: \u201907.\nJudge Mathews of this territory being desirous to change his situation from the bench of the Superior Court of this territory for that of the Mississippi is anxious that his wish should be communicated to you. He understands that a Seat on that bench is now vacant. I take the liberty, Sir, to state to you, that the Judge Since his arrival here has given general satisfaction--He possesses talents and learning--His knowledge of the civil law would render him a very useful officer in the Mississippi territory where many of their titles and contracts depend on that system. Permit me to add that Mr. Mathews is a man of the strictest integrity. I am with the greatest respect and consideration Sir, Your most obedient Servant\nDom: A: Hall.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1325", "content": "Title: Report of Bollmans Communication, 23 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: \nJanuary 23, 1807\nSubstance of a communication made on the 23 of Jany. 1807. by Doctor Bollman to the President; J. M. at the request of the P. attending.\nDoctor Bollman having just arrived from N. Orleans under the charge of Lt. Wilson in pursuance of an order from Genl. W. had conveyed to the P. his desire of an opportunity which was immediately allowed to disclose to him certain interesting particulars relating to the plans of Col. Burr in which the Docr. was charged with a criminal participation.\nPrevious to the disclosure, the P. assured him that nothing which he might say or acknowledge, should be made use of agst. himself: and it was further observed to him that it was a settled rule in Court, that no communication confidentially made to an Officer of the Govt. in his official capacity, could be extorted from him as a witness.\nThe Docr. opened himself by observing that he had known Col. Burr for some years & that he had reason to believe that his thoughts had for five or six been turned to Mexico, as an object of enterprize worthy of his preparatory researches, but that his confidential intercourse with Burr on the subject, commenced at Washington during a visit which he Bollman made there with a view to effectuate thro\u2019 the Marquis de Yrujo, a share in the royal licences from Spain, to trade with her American Colonies; in which licences his House was with others included; all of them however being in fact suppressed in favr. of that of Craig of Philada. in which it was well known that Yrujo was a partner of the prodigious gains made; and this House itself being since shut out by a later arrangemt. of the Spanish Govt. with the Hopes & Barings who had been able to afford advances of money as well as more satisfactory provisions for transferring the treasures of N. Spain to Europe.\nDuring his stay in Washington he had occasional interviews with Burr. They were chiefly at night & very transient owing to the constant occupations of Burr, with the others, and with his plans, and papers. In consequence however of what passed between them, and of further explanations of Burr at Philada. he was induced to enter into his views, and under the colour of an arrangement with a farming brother on the Ohio who wished to gain a better establishment for himself on lands held out for settlemt. by Mr. D. Clark near the Washeta, he proceeded to N. O. where he arrived in Sepr. with the duplicate letter from B. to W. which he delivered on the arrival of W. at N. O.\nHe stated that what he knew of Burr\u2019s plans & views was derived entirely from B. himself; Burr as he believed having an unbounded confidence in him, and making of course no other the depository of what was not disclosed to him.\nIn explaining these plans & views He stated that Burr had taken great pains to acquire a knowledge of Mexico in all its circumstances which might invite an attempt to revolutionize it, that he had been successful in gaining information, and was made very sanguine by it: that he considered such an enterprize as under every aspect happy for Spanish America, as highly beneficial to the U. S. as extremely favorable even to Europe, and as promising a glorious place in the history of magnificent events. He more particularly stated that Burr, had obtained abundant proofs of the hatred of Spain to the U. S. her aversion to the transfer of Louisiana to them, and her hopes of undoing that transaction; that France was also unfriendly, considered the sale of Louisiana, as little more than a loan on mortgage, had views of getting it back on the return of peace in Europe, and ultimately of bringing all Spanish America under her sway; that for this purpose it was not to be doubted that the present feeble & degenerate Govt. of Spain, would be set aside in favor of a French dynasty, under the tutelage of France; and thereby all the wealth & power of Spanish Ama. be turned into French resources for accomplishing the objects of France in Europe, as well as on this Continent; that even now the money of N. S. was a fund essential to the operations & victories of that scourge of Europe & humanity; & that in cutting it off, all the world blotwould share the happy effect; that under all these circumstances it was equally just, necessary, & honorable for the U. S. to enter into war agst. Spain, & to separate from her her most wealthy possessions, as was easy to be done; and that the most expedient mode of beginning & conducting hostilities would be under the auspices of an individual who might find the means independently of the Govt. for the purpose; that B. was able to provide these means; that he had accordingly engaged in so doing; that he would be able, as he had latterly written to his friends at N. O. that he could & should be at Natches about the 20 Decr. with about 2000 volunteers, to be followed by about 4000 more; to which he could super add two or three times as many, if necessary & he had possessed the pecuniary resources; that his plan then was to proceed to N. O. avoiding as much as he could violence & the invasion of private rights; but that it was his intention to seize for his use the French Artillery deposited there; and using force as far as necessary to lay under requisition all the shipping there, expected at that season to be sufficient to convey to Vera Cruz in a few days, six or seven thousand men a force which once effectually landed, could easily march to Mexico, and with the aid of the discontented, bear down all opposition.\nWas it understood that any of the officers, particularly the higher ones, of the Spanish Govt. would join in the revolutionary project? No. Influencial characters only, not in office, were understood to be ready to co-operate.\nHe professed to be unacquainted with much of the detail of the project, and seemed to be so, of both the proceedings of Burr, and those agst. him, which have lately taken place in the W. Country. He denied any knowledge of an intention to seize the money in the Bank at N. O.\nThe part which Wilkinson had taken he said was contrary to all Burrs calculations, and would so embarrass him that it was difficult now to know the course it would produce. As a proof of the reliance of Burr on W--n\u2019s joining him, and accordg. to the belief of B. as of the good grounds for it, he said that just before he parted from Burr at Philada. in July, Burr told him he had just recd. a letter from W--n pledging himself to the enterprize, which he W--n applauded with an enthusiasm. On being asked what was meant by W\u2019s joining Burr, he said by resigning his commission in the army of the U. S. and taking a command under Burr. Was it expected that W. would carry over with him the army or any part of it; No: it was only thought probable, that a certain portion of the individuals might desert and join the corps of B. Was it not apprehended that the army would be an obstacle to the progress of B; very little if at all; and it was expected that the army would be either engaged in hostilities with the Spaniards or detained by the unsettled states of things on the Sabine; or so scattered into detachments, that they could not make head agst. such a superior & collected force.\nOn being asked whether he was himself to have gone with B. to Mexico; he said no: that he was allotted for another, a sort of diplomatic, service. What was that? It was the intention of B. as soon as he had embarked at N. O. for the execution of his plan, that he B\u2014n should be sent to Washington, charged with such communications & representations to the Govt. as might induce it to espouse the enterprize, to concert measures with Burr, and thus by a war to consummate and extend its objects. These communications & representations were to consist of documents, facts, discourses, and arguments, which taken together could not fail to convince Congs. & the Ex. that such was the deadly hatred, dangerous designs of Spain & France, and such the oppy. of frustrating them by securing all we wished & must have with respect to Louisiana & the Floridas, and at the same time of effecting a glorious revolution in the Spanish provinces, and depriving Bonaparte of the resource which principally supports him in his irresistible career, that the whole Govt. would readily accede to his propositions.\nWhat was the intention of B. in case of his success in Mexico, with respect to the political estabt. to be made there? This was to partake of monarchy; the people not being fit for a republican Govt: but the most influential & most intelligt. of the well disposed persons of the Country were to be consulted, and proper use made of their advice & co-operation.\nWere there now or had there been with Burr, any persons of consequence belonging to Mexico? He did not know that any were now; or that more than one Spaniard had been with him on the business. There was one who had given him information as to the state of things there?\nHow could it be supposed that so extraordinary & illegal an enterprize as that undertaken could proceed with the acquiescence or without the knowledge of the Govt; or if presumed to be not disagreeable to it, why was it, instead of being communicated, so industriously concealed? He had often discussed this point with Burr: who supposed that the measures were so taken and would be executed with such rapidity, that the enterprize would get beyond the reach of the Govt: and that it was more expedient, in every view that this course should be pursued, even on the supposition that the dispositions of the Govt. were in his favor. Burr, he said, would have not concealed his views from the P. if the necessary authority had laid with him; but he the P could do nothing, or would be obliged to oppose them; and to make the communication to Congs: would have produced a ruinous publicity.\nWhence have the funds been obtained or expected for purposes so far beyond those of individuals, such as the enlistment, equipment, subsisting, and transporting even to N. O. a body of 6 or 7000 men? No other than private funds, contributed by the friends of Burr, with the use of Bills at long sights, had been employed. Many of These bills were drawn at 120 to 150 days sight & Burr had expected, by the rapidity of his successes, to be able to provide for the discharge of them. He repeated that he was not acquainted with such details of the plan; and particularly disowned knowledge of the contributing friends of Burr, or any circumstances affecting his son in law Alston.\nHad no pecuniary succors been obtained or attempted from foreign Govts. and What were Burr\u2019s prospects or connections with those Govts? Had nothing taken place with the Govts. of G. B. or Spain, thro their Agents Ministers here? or by agents of Burr abroad. Yrujo, whom Burr, in order to lull had duped into a belief that his object was to revolutionize Louisiana, and separate the Westn. States from the Union; entered eagerly & zealously into the plan; visited him continually, and pestered him with his advice & exhortations; offered him the use of 10,000 stand of arms, and money to any necessary amount; was in fact so full of zeal, that he would have gone to Spain, in order to put his Govt. into the course of effectual co-operation. Burr however despised the dirty character of Yrujo, and never would accept either money or any thing else from that quarter.\nDid it appear that Yrujo acted merely from himself, under a general confidence in the dispositions of his Govt: or that he had applied for & obtd. particular instructions on this subject?--he did not know that there had been, or was time for, any communication of Yrujo with his Govt. subsequent to the first communication of Burr with him.\nHe dwelt here on what he had very early intimated, that it never was a part of Burrs plan, to detach the Western Country, or to revolutionize Louisiana; Burr\u2019s sole view in his intercourse with Yrujo was to keep him from watching, him, and sounding alarms to the Govt: by letg. him enjoy the pleasing belief that the operations of Burr were levelled agst. the U. S. not agst. Spain. Yrujo was not without jealousy. He, one evening posted himself for two hours opposite Burr\u2019s lodging, to ascertain the coming out of Merry. After this, Burr was obliged to take measures, for duping him thoroughly; and succeeded.\nDid Burr contemplate a union of Mexico with the U. S: or did he not rather intend a Union of Louisiana & Mexico in an Indept. State? Neither--he had in view a connection of friendship, but Mexico was too distant. The idea appeared to be absurd. If Burr had wished to unite Mexico & Louisiana, it would also have been folly to attempt it; because he must in that case, have left part of his force to guard Louisiana, & thereby have ruined his expedn. to Mexico. But might not the plan be to proceed with the whole force to Mexico, and after success there, to react with its resources on Louisiana?--he could not see any grounds for such a plan.\nHad Burr any and what communication with the B. Govt.? He communicated freely with Merry, who entered warmly into his views, assured him that its dispositions could not but be entirely favorable, and that he would make such representations to it, that it could not fail to see its interest in the event too clearly not to be active provided it could be done without cause of umbrage to the UStates. He (Bolman) understood that no doubt was entertained, previous to the death of Pitt, that decisive measures wd. have been taken for espousing the plan of Burr, not with unfriendly views towards the U. S. but, to promote the interests of G. B; & eventually to unite more closely both agst. the Enemy of the latter. The death of Pitt, changed the face of things so much that he could not say whether Burr had taken any steps since, as to that Govt. or what his hopes from it were, farther than that it would not oppose him, and that its ships of war in that quarter might keep off those of Spain & France. He had understood that Truxton would go to Jamaica to make some favorable arrangemt. with the British Commander there and spoke of him as being there at this time.\nWhat kind of aid was it understood was to be derived from the B. Govt? Was it money, a regular expedition of ships & troops fitted out for the occasion, or merely the incidental protection of Ships of war, as in the case of Miranda? He could not be precise on this subject. He presumed all these aids if requisite would be furnished: Money as well as the rest. How would the money probably be brought into the use of Burr? In the usual mode, he presumed, of bills drawn on G. B. Was it understood that the measures of G. B. were to be the effect of an arrangement particularly expected between Burr and that Govt. or at least of a mutual understanding of the parties resulting from the communications between Burr & Merry? He could not say any thing particularly on this head. He presumed that the measures of both would be guided by the understanding at least between them, which commenced between Burr & Merry. He took pains at the same time to impress the idea, that Merry had no wish to injure the interests or infringe the authy. of the U. S, but solely to advance those of G. B. and to draw as much as possible the two nations into a common interest on this occasion.\nBurr he said had sent a person to the British Court. On being asked his name?-he wished to know whether the assurances that his communications sd. not be used agst. himself, extended to others, and being told not, he professed scruples at giving the name, intimating however that he was not a native, was of the mercantile class and not a conspicuous character; and that havg. arrived in England after the death of Pitt, had probably never disclosed or done any thing in his mission.\nHad Burr\u2019s plans any relation to those of Miranda? No. Not the least. Burr thought meanly of Miranda; of his plans, & of his prospects.\nThe primary object of B--l--n in wishing to see the P. seems to have been to explain his own conduct; which he supposed to have been viewed as blended more with Burr\u2019s transactions than was the fact: his next object, to present Burr\u2019s plans & proceedings in a light as little criminal as possible. He manifested a bitterness towards Yrujo & Spain--the reverse towards Merry & G. B.\nHe betrayed also the strongest resentmt. agst. Wilkn. but tempered his remarks with a respect to his relation to the Govt. & to the presumed sentiments of the P. He complained however of W--ns conduct toward him as harsh--insinuated as the motive a conscious treachery of W--n towards Burr & expressed a confidence that many were suspected at N. O. & some denounced, without cause. He particularly acquitted E. Livingston, & Prevost. The latter he said, Burr, who avowed the maxim, of trusting nothing to any body, beyond the necessity of the case, & the measure of discretion, never wd. unbosom himself to because Prevost was not considered as possessing the requisite discretion.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1326", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Joseph Warner Rose, 23 January 1807\nFrom: Rose, Joseph Warner\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nAntigua January 23rd: 1807.\nMy last Respects was under date the 1st: Ulto: duplicate of which you have herewith. I am sorry to observe that since the above period the American Vessels have been detained and sent into this Port both on their outward and homeward Passages, and in several instances not the smallest grounds for the detention.\nIf you will be good enough to refer to the list of detained Vessels you will observe the Ship Thomas Wilson Jos: Gardner Master belonging to Mr: Jno: Donnell of Baltimore bound to Martinique & La \u2019Guira with a Cargo and Specie to the amount of one hundred and thirty five thousand Dollars This Vessel had too Valuable a Cargo (as the Captors observed) to be released without a strict Scrutiny. The Papers were very clear and every document on board that could be demanded by this Court so etly attended to that they were under the necessity of acknowledging the same without the knowledge of the Claimant the Captors broke open the Hatches and took some part of the Cargo on Deck on suspicion of having contra band Articles. As soon as it came to my Knowledge I represented this Conduct to the Judge when a stop was put to it and the Vessel liberated and proceeded on her Voyage I am fully persuaded that no Orders from Great Britain could sanction such interruption, to the American Commerce in these Seas. In the case of the Schooner Enterprize, Geohegan Master from Baltimore to Martinique with Flour, Wine, Candles, and a few small Articles the Captors thought proper to land the Cargo not with the approbation of the Claimant and after having probed every barrel and opened every package for the purpose as the Captors observed of finding Warlike Stores they found the Claimant innocent and the Captors guilty of an illegal Act. the ceremony of Writs of unlivery and inspection is not thought worthy of Attention In this case the Captors refused to defray the expences and I am determined to try the Question the next Court and I have no doubt a principle which has been so frequently determined in favor of the Claimant cannot on any ground be reversed in this Court. From the frequent Question that arises in the Admiralty of Naturalization I must beg leave to ask what determines a Citizen of the United States at large, and how far a Citizen Admitted in one of the States is equivalent to the adoption of the General Government. On the 23rd: August I informed you of the Condemnation of Brig Triton Printess Master and on the 21st: Inst. a similar case came on of the Schooner Horizon Jerkins Master which Vessel with five hogsheads of Sugar and six Tierces Coffee part of her Cargo was Condemned It appeared by the Attestation of the Master in support of the Claim that he had disposed of his outward Cargo at Dominica & received in payment Ten hogsheads of Rum Specie & Bills of Exchange he went to Guadeloupe where he took in five Hogsheads of Sugar and six Tierces of Coffee in payment of a Balance due upon a Cargo disposed of at Guadeloupe, in March last The Court was of Opinion that no Bills had been received as none Appeared in the possession of Captain Jerkins (he having sent them on by other Opportunities) but Specie had been received in payment which had been vested in Colonial Produce and considering the Trade as not the direct Trade permitted by the Order of Council Condemned the Schooner and that part of the Cargo reserving the Question as to the remainder of the Specie and Rum, on board which appeared ly, to have been taken at Dominica in part payment of the outward Cargo The Question reserved was whether as the Rum and Specie not having been employ\u2019d in this indirect Trade were confiscable as coming within the Order which point was given up by the Captors Advocates without an Argument. The Court was evidently guided by the Sentence pronounced in the Triton but in this case the rule appears to be more rigidly inforced the Court having presumed in opposition to the Oath of the Master that a part of the Proceeds of the outward Cargo disposed of in Dominica e Vested in Produce at Guadeloupe whereas in the Triton the Trade fully appeared. I have the Honor to be Sir, Your Obedient & Humble Servant\nJoseph Warner Rose", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-24-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1327", "content": "Title: To James Madison from E. Pentland, 24 January 1807\nFrom: Pentland, E.\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nPittsburgh, (Pa.) January 24th: 1807.\nI beg leave to trespass on your attention for a moment, and to trouble you with an application for printing the Laws, U. S. in the newspaper called \"The Commonwealth\" of which I am editor; And that you may be enabled to judge of the principles advocated by it, I shall henceforth forward you a copy to the Seat of Government. The laws U. S. have heretofore, for the benefit of the western country inhabitants, been published in the \"Tree of Liberty\", but as that paper has dwindled into insignificance, and has but a very confined circulation, perhaps not more than 1/3 of that of \"The Commonwealth,\" I conceive you might be induced to comply with my request. I appeal to the post master in Pittsburgh, for the truth of the assertion, as to the circulation of the different papers, and I refer you to Mr Saml. Smith, the representative from this District in Congress, as also to Wm. Hoge, Esqr. the member elect for the adjoining district, and to Jos: Clay from Philada. to all whom I am personally known, for the character I have borne & the part I have taken in support of the present administration. The Commonwealth is the only republican paper in the 3 surrounding districts. Should you see proper to grant this request, the favour will be long remembered, but if it is not agreeable to your wishes, I assure you the denial will be received with that pleasure, that every good citizen ought to feel at the acts of those who labour to serve their country faithfully. Wishing you health & happiness, I have the honor to be, Your fellow citizen\nE. Pentland", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-25-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1330", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Tobias Lear, 25 January 1807\nFrom: Lear, Tobias\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nTunis, January 25st: 1807.\nIn consequence of the arrangements made with this Regency, in pursuance of the Instructions which I have had the honor of receiving from you, under date of the 7st. of June 1806, &ca. (A particular detail of which negociation and arrangements is given in my letter to you of this day) I have found it necessary to draw upon Mess: Degen Purviance & Co. in Leghorn, for money to pay the reimbursement made to the Bey for his Cruizer and her two Prizes, the freight and demurrage of the Ship Two Brothers, chartered at Boston by Order of the Government of the United States, And to furnish funds for the Expences of the Consulate here, as well as at Tripoli, during the residence of Dr. Ridgely at that place.\nIn order to cover these drafts upon Messrs. Degen Purviance & Co. and to leave some money in their hands for future Contingencies, in these Regencies, I have this day drawn upon you, in favor of these Gentlemen, for Twenty five thousand dollars in five sets of Exchange, of five thousand dollars each, dated January 21st., 22d., 23d., 24th. & 25th., 1807, each set in Six bills, Vizt 1st. 2d. 3d. 4st. 5st & 6st.\nThe Commercial intercourse between this Regency and Leghorn being greater than with any other Port in the Mediterranean, makes the exchange much more favourable to the drawer on that place, than with any other; and from peculiar circumstances now existing here, there will be no loss on these drafts. With Sentiments of the highest respect, & most Sincere Attachment I have the honor to be Sir, Your Most Obedt Servt.\nTobias Lear", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-26-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1332", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Speaker of the House of Representatives, 26 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Speaker of the House of Representatives\nDepartment of State January 26. 1807\nThe Secretary of State to whom was referred by a Resolution of the House of Representatives of the 13th. instant, the Memorial of James Jay of the State of New York, has the honor to report\u2014That it appears from Testimony entitled to the highest confidence and respect, and which is now deposited in the Secret Archives of this Department, that the System to which the Petition refers, as invented by him, was found very useful to the Public Service during the Revolutionary War, that it might be equally applicable, as long as it shall be sufficiently concealed, to the public service on future occasions; and that it, consequently, remains for the consideration of Congress, how far it may be expedient to provide for the purchase and safe keeping of the invention (which is stated to have been the result of tedious efforts and some expence) for the future use of the Executive: It being understood that no recompence has ever been received by the Petitioner, and that the invention as reducible to practice is now known to no person except himself.\nWith respect to the claim for Loss sustained by the petitioner in his pecuniary Transactions with the United States, and the subsequent failure of his attempts to repair it, the Secretary begs leave to remark, that as the Case does not, in any of its features, fall within the purview of the Department of State, he presumes it to be consistent with the views of the House of Representatives, that this Report should not be Extended to that part of the Report.\nAll which is respectfully submitted\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-26-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1333", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Robert Marien, 26 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Marien, Robert\nSir.\nDept. of State, Jany. 26th. 1807.\nI have received your letter of the 6th. requesting an estimate of the losses sustained by the Merchants of the United States in consequence of illegal captures made by the French prior to the act of Congress authorizing the capture of French armed Vessels, & such other information as may be of a nature to influence the question how far the U: States are bound to indemnify the sufferers.\nOn the 21 February 1798 a Resolution passed the House of Representatives directing the Secretary of the Treasury to obtain through the Collectors of the Customs, statements of the captures of property belonging to Citizens of the United States, made since the 1st. of October 1792, including statements of the value of the vessels & cargoes: but from the course of public events which ensued this resolution, seems never to have been carried into complete effect; nor do any other means exist of forming an accurate idea of the value of such property, both because the cases of capture have been but partially made known to the Executive and because the features which distinquish them as to the justice or injustice of the seizure were not always apparent. In the reports made from time to time by the Department of State will however be found materials for judging in some measure upon this subject. It may be proper to particularise that of 2 March 1794 to the President, communicated xx to Congress on the 5th. of the same month; the report made to the House of Representatives on the 27th. Feby. 1797, and that made to the House on the 21 June following. To these I subjoin a statement made to Genl. Pinckney when at Paris in the year 1798, of American Vessels captured & carried into France between the Month of July 1796 & the 17th. April 1798. The original of this statement is sent because the delay which would take place by the copying of a document so voluminous might disappoint the wish of the Committee to be in possession of an earlier answer. I must therefore request the favor of its being returned when it shall be no longer needed by them. I am &c. \nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-26-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1334", "content": "Title: From James Madison to William Lee, 26 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Lee, William\nSir.\nDepartment of State, Jany: 26 1807.\nYou will have learnt from the public prints, some of the particulars attending the murder of John Pierce last summer by a shot from the British Frigate Leander. Captain Whitby has been ordered for trial by the British goverment on a charge of the murder and of violating the jurisdiction of the United States. Though this trial is fixed for the 1st. of March next, an attempt will be made by Mr. Monroe to cause a postponement until the witnesses to be procured by the United States arrive. Among other testimony that of Capt: Fairchild is thought to be material, and as it is represented that he is now absent and will be at Bourdeaux, until sometime in April, I must use your offices to induce him to attend the trial in England. The only pecuniary inducement we can offer is a suitable reimbursement, and you may if necessary advance him a reasonable sum. Be pleased to write to Mr. Monroe, whether he may expect Capt. Fairchild or not. I am &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-27-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1335", "content": "Title: To James Madison from James Anderson, 27 January 1807\nFrom: Anderson, James\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nBaltimore 27 Jany. 1807.\nI have had the honor to receive Your letter of the 22d: instant, with my Commission & your Instructions to Consuls & vice Consuls. Permit me, Sir, to return You my sincere thanks for the confidence which You have been pleased to place in me & to assure You that I will endeavour to merit a continuance of Your protection.\nI now take the liberty to return You, Sir, the cypher for secret Correspondence, which I have copied with attention & I hope free from error: I wish to hear of it\u2019s being received.\nThe severity of the Weather prevents the navigation of this port. I shall sail for the Havana the moment the ice will permit. With the greatest Respect, I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient Servant\nJames Anderson", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-27-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1336", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Valentin de Foronda, 27 January 1807\nFrom: Foronda, Valentin de\nTo: Madison, James\nMuy Se\u00f1or mio:\nPhilada. Enero 27. de 1807.\nTengo la honra de poner en noticia de V. S. que la grande nieve qe: ha ca\u00eddo estos d\u00edas, me ha retardado la satisfaccion de pasar a Wash\u00edngton, como lo hab\u00eda determinado, solo para presentar mis respetos a su Exca. el Sr. Presidente y felicitar a V. S. ant\u00edc\u00edpadamente, antes de hacerlo oficialmente a su tiempo, por la acentada eleccion del Pueblo, para Presidente.\nA vista de que V. S. no tiene la bondad de contextarme a la carta que tube el honor de escribirle el 31. de Diciembre; por no mortificar la atencion del Gobierno hab\u00eda resuelto no hablar a V. S. de ella en la visita que tendre el honor de hacerle; pues he cumplido por mi parte con las obligaciones que me \u00edmponen el honor y mi Empleo.\nV. S. habr\u00e1 podido notar, que desde que tengo la honra de servir a mi Nacion en cal\u00eddad de Encargado de Negocios, no me he mezclado en la menor intriga, y que me he ce\u00f1ido unicamente a ser el Ynterprete de las tranquilas y apacibles ideas de mi Augusto Soberano y como sab\u00eda que alagaba \u00e0 mi Gobierno, al mismo tiempo que satisfac\u00eda los impulsos, de mi corazon, le dec\u00eda en una de mis primeras cartas: \"No dar\u00e9 lugar a que Su Exca. el Sr.Presidente me apl\u00edque lo de Bruto:\nL\u2019Ambassadeur d\u2019un Roy m\u2019est toujours redoutable\nCe n\u2019est qu\u2019un ennemi sous un titre honorable\nQui vient rempli d\u2019Orgueil, ou de dexterit\u00e9,\nInsulter ou trahir avec impunit\u00e9.\nNo, a\u00f1adia; yo me conducir\u00e9 de modo, que S. E. lexos de aplicarme lo de Bruto me aplique los versos siguientes:\nLes vrais Ambassadeurs, interprets des Lois,\nSans les deshonorer savent servir leurs Rois:\"\nS\u00ed Cavallero Madison, estos sentenc\u00edosos versos, espero me aplicar\u00e1 s\u00edempre este Gobierno: asi no me queda sino, Ofrecer \u00e1 V. S. todos mis respetos y consideraciones, p\u00edd\u00edendo \u00e1 Dios le gue. ms. as. B. L. M de V. S. su mas atento servidor\nValentin de Foronda", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-28-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1337", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Albert Gallatin, 28 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Gallatin, Albert\nSir.\nDepartment of State Jany. 28. 1807.\nBe pleased to issue your warrant on the appropriation for the Contingent expenses of the Department of State for Five hundred dollars in favor of James Davidson Jnr.--he being the holder of a bill of exchange for that amount, dated 3 Decr. 1806, drawn on me by W. C. C. Claiborne Esqr., who is to be charged & held accountable for the same. I am &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-28-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1338", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Ebenezer Stevens, 28 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Stevens, Ebenezer\nSir.\nDepartment of State, January 28th. 1807.\nYour letter of the 24th. October respecting the Minerva is not recollected: if it came to hand, it is mislaid, and has not been found after a search. For the American Vessels burned by Admiral Allemand, Genl. Armstrong had made a claim more than a year ago and received a promise that indemnification should be made. His subsequent communications do not, however, add anything respecting the subject. It would therefore be well for you to communicate your case, with proper statements & documents to him. Enclosed is a passport for Mr. Reusseau. I am &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-28-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1339", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Martin Baker, 28 January 1807\nFrom: Baker, John Martin\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nConsulate of the United States of America for the Balearick IslandsPort Mahon, Island of Minorcathe 28th. of January 1807.\nI had this honor, on the 6th. September ultimo, (per triplicate, transmitted per different vias) which beg leave to confirm.\nOn the 16th. November last came to my hand your official letter of the 15th. April ultimo, by Which you are pleased to acquiesce, and grant me the leave of absence, solicited per mine of the 8th. January 1806. I now beg leave Sir to communicate that on receipt of the cited official, I determined on my voyage Home, and arrived with my family, here on the first ultimo, with the view to pass to Marseilles, there to procure a passage to the United States: and when on the point of sailing thence on the 24th. instant, came to my hand, an Official circular from Hugh G. Campbell Esquire, Captain Of the United States Ship Constitution, dated Gibraltar Bay, 20th. December 1806: addressed to Mr. Henry Pater, my late Vice Consul, as follows: \"The Tunisian Ambassador, left this on the 3d. instant for Tunis, carrying with him impressions not the most favorable toward our Government, which may induce the Bey to act in a hostile manner to our flag; in consequence of which, I think it prudent to advise you of the circumstance and recommend to the Commanders of American Vessels not to sail, without first being convinced that hostilities have not commenced; The present force under my Command, are the Constitution, Brig Hornet, and Schooner Enterprize with which I shall render every Service in my power to the Commerce of our Country.\" In consequence of which, I have considered prudent to protract my departure, until convinced on my Safety in Sailing, and with the hope to prove serviceable to my Country: to the end whereof, I trust the port of Mahon, may be considered as well situated, for the Rendezvous of the United States Ships: and furthermore, in the case that the Port of Cagliari, Island of Sardinia, should by Government be considered more convenient, I have this day transmitted a written recommendation to and in favor of Dn. Joseph Olivar, of said Cagliari, a Gentleman of Abilities, Integrity, and Responsibility, to aid, and assist, the Navy, and others the Vessels, and Citizens of the United States, when urgencies may require the same, on the said Island of Sardinia: (provisionally until the pleasure, or further determination of the Most Honorable The President of the United States of America) which recommendation I trust, and cannot doubt will give Satisfaction: and when necessary, and advised, I shall pass there myself; all which I trust will meet your approbation: and in the event of any misunderstanding with the Regency of Tunis, I beg leave Sir, to solicit the Most Honorable The President of the United States of America, the appointment of Navy Agent, at said Cagliari, or other the port, of Rendezvous of the United States Navy: and if the same should be already filled up: I pray of the President, any other appointment it may to himself Seem meet to confer, and confide to my charge.\nConsul Gavino, writes me under date 2d. November 1806. \"The dispatch which Mr. Simpson mentioned to you, is I presume a Book of late laws. I have Since received another for you, both which I forwarded Consul Kirkpatrick to send on.\" I beg leave Sir, to make known, that I have not received the above mentioned Government dispatches, and now conclude them lost: A Spanish Packet, coming from Barcellona having been captured on the 26th. December 1806, and the Mails Sunk, in consequence whereof Solicit the favor of Copies thereof for my Government &c\nMr. Henry Pater, my late Vice Consul having quitted this Island, I have now deputed a Respectable Merchant of this City, George Theodore Ladico, and hope will meet your approbation.\nI shall in a few days embark with my family, on my return to my heretofore Residential Station at Palma, Island of Majorca, where I ask the favor of being addressed; while praying that you may be preserved to enjoy many returns of Years in Happiness I have the honor to be With the Greatest Respect Sir, Your Most obedient humble Servant\nJohn Martin Baker\nimmediately on my arrival at Palma, shall transmit my last demi-annual Consular Report.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-28-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1341", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Robert R. Livingston, 28 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Livingston, Robert R.\nDear Sir\nWashington Jany 28. 1807\nYour favor of the 24 Ult: has lain longer by me without an acknowledgt. than I intended. One cause of the delay was an omission to address myself to the Auditor instead of the Sey. of the Treasy. and his taking some little time in the crowd of business, to prepare the inclosed note on the subject of your accts. which contains all the information I can now give.\nI have myself recd frequent letters from Mr. Mitchell pressing his wishes for the consulate at Havre. I am not authorized however by existing or very probable circumstances, to encourage them. Besides the lien of Mr. Barnett, the value of that place in time of peace, will produce always a competition of which the Ex. judment ought to be free to avail itself. I do not mention this with any purpose of disparaging the pretentions of Mr. M: which will doubtless receive the proper comparative attention.\nOur last advices from the state of our negociation with Spain are of very old date. It is by no means certain what particular policy may predominate on that side: But it must be a very bad, & I hope an improbable one that will prefer rupture to reasonable accomodation. From London we have just recd. communications to the llth. of Novr. The British Cabinet is not yet prepared to relinquish the claim to British subjects from neutral ships on the high seas; and there is a possibility that the negociation may split on that rock. With respect to Colonial trade, blockades, and some other points, there is a spirit & language that promises an admissible if not satisfactory result. In general a sincere desire manifests itself to prevent a failure of the negociation; but a great repugnance to yield a principle which is imagined to be essentially connected with their maritime power & national safety. We may daily expect from our Commissioners further means of calculating the issue of the business they have in hand.\nThe enterprize of Burr has probably recd. its death blow. Every additional developement of it increases the wonder at his infatuation. Bollman & Swartwout, two of his most confidential agents seized & sent here by Wilkinson, have just failed in their efforts for a discharge. And being now committed by the district Court here, for an offence not bailable, will remain in prison until a warrant issues for transferring them to the place of trial, which can not be before the meeting of the Court in March. With sentiments of great consideration & esteem I remain Dr. Sir Yr. obedt. Srt.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-29-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1342", "content": "Title: From James Madison to James Anderson, 29 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Anderson, James\nSir.\nDepartment of State, January 29th: 1807.\nWith your letter of the 27th. inst: I have received the cypher for secret correspondence, of which you were requested to make a copy for your own use.\nI have directed a packet addressed to Mr. Maurice Rogers to be sent to you and I beg the favor of your causing it to be forwarded to him on your arrival at Cuba. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-29-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1347", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Charles Coles Claiborne, 29 January 1807\nFrom: Claiborne, William Charles Coles\nTo: Madison, James\n(Private)\nDr Sir,\nNew Orleans Jany. 29th. 1807.\nScarce had I finished my private letter of this morning, when a Gentleman of great respectability, a native of Louisiana, & a Member of the Legislature, entered my office, &, desiring to speak to me confidentially, made the following Communication, to wit, \"That a kind of political Committee existed in this City, composed of Frenchmen & Americans. That at a late meeting the principles of the American Government were discussed; that it was deemed too feeble for this Territory. That a stronger Government was desirable, & a Military one the most prefered; that it was proposed to declare General Wilkinson the Chief, & to vest him with full powers; that he had energy, & could secure the happiness & safety of the People\"; to these sentiments, one person present objected; & had been much urged to embrace the opinions of others; he was told \"that a Revolution of the kind, would not be opposed by the People; that a paper would be read to him, & he would then be convinced of the necessity & expediency of the proposed Revolution\"; the dissenting person, declined having the paper read, saying \"he had Sworn allegiance to the existing Government & would enter into no plan to subvert it.\"\nMy Informant had this relation from a highly esteemed friend of his, who I suspect was the dissenting Person, & altho\u2019 he was unwilling to mention the name of his friend, yet he assured me of the facts.\nMy Informant spoke in French & made his communication in the presence of my office Clerk Mr. Vassant, who Copies this letter, & thinks with me, that the substance of the Communication is fairly Stated. My Informant promises to learn further particulars, & to communicate them to me; I cannot believe it possible, that the General either knows or approbates this project; But it will soon be spoken of, & will highten the distrust of the General.\nPerhaps this project has been suggested in order to prejudice the public\u2019 mind against the General; this City in point of intrigue is Paris in Miniature, & believe me, that the reputation of no public\u2019 officer here is safe.\nAltho\u2019 I believe the General has no knowledge of this project & would not countenance it, yet I esteem it a duty to pay a due degree of attention to the Communication made me, & will endeavour to find out the real objects of the parties concerned. I am Sir, with great respect yo: faithful friend,\nWilliam C. C. Claiborne", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-30-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1349", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Murray Forbes, 30 January 1807\nFrom: Forbes, John Murray\nTo: Madison, James\nDuplicate\nSir,\nConsulate of the United States of America Hamburgh printed sealJanuary 30th. 1807.\nI had the honor of addressing Your Excellency by different opportunities, under the several dates of 22nd. Novr. and 12th. Decr., further Copies of which are now inclosed. These Letters gave an account of the occupation of this City by the French Arms and of their principal measures up to the last date. Among these measures I noticed the refusal of permission for our Vessels, even in ballast, to leave the Port, and that I had made several applications on this Subject to the French Agents without Success. These efforts I have since continued and have proposed several modifications of the measure to which I was willing to submit, and which I hoped might come within the discretionary authority the minister might think proper to assume. To these various applications I have only been able to obtain for answer that Copies of my Letters were sent forward to the Prince of Benevent. Notwithstanding the long continuance of this measure, and although they give it the name of a Blockade of the River, it is matter of general surprise that as yet no notice has been taken of it in any of their public ordonnances. I at length therefore thought it necessary to write the French Minister a note under 12th. Instant, protesting against the Secrecy and retroaction of this measure. Copies of my letters and such answers as I have received are inclosed. Seeing little certainty of obtaining any Security for our Trade, and apprehending that if Vessels expected from the Ports of the U. S. previous to the knowledge of the late events here, were to come at once up to the City, having touched in England, or having on board any exceptionable Goods, they might be the victims of chicanery, and, if not ultimately confiscated, would be exposed to heavy ransoms by way of bribery. I deemed it necessary to issue circular instructions to the Masters of Vessels bound here, to repair to Gluckstadt, and there wait further Orders. Copy of these instructions will be found inclosed. I was the more justified in this proceeding from a confidential conversation with the French Consul, in which he said that, consistently with the present Orders, no Vessels coming from abroad could be admitted to an entry here, and that any Vessel, known to have touched in England, (a practice with many of our Vessels) would be seized; but he intimated that on putting themselves in rule at Gluckstadt, and declaring here that they came only from this last Port, means might be found to facilitate their entry under a previous condition that they should be allowed to depart after being discharged The secret of this, as of most of their measures, is, that the austerity of the Agents must be softened by pecuniary motives. I shall, of course, leave the expediency and whole arrangement of such means to the respective Consignees, charged with the Interests of the Individuals concerned. In some Cases of detained here, even the motives alluded to, have been employed by some of the Merchants without effect. I hope, that the measures I have adopted, will be found to be necessarily dictated by circumstances and not incompatible with proper prudence Your Excellency may rely on it, that in all cases I shall do every thing in my power to serve the cause and commerce of my Country, and, that loyalty to such feelings has imperiously forbidden my deriving any, the smallest advantage, during the late crisis, from a line of conduct, which, in this Country and in these times, is considered, both by public and private men, as perfectly fair, but which does not comport with my sense of public duty. I am every day reproached with great weakness and misconceived delicacy, but, if I am found, in any degree, worthy the confidence of my own Government I shall disregard such reproaches.\nThe measures published against English Subjects and their Trade, here continue, without any modification, but have as yet, only been partially executed. The deputies of the City have returned, having had an interview with H. M. the Emperor, but without being able to obtain a satisfactory decision on any of the points on which they were charged to supplicate his clemency. The representations of the French Minister have been equally unsuccessful, and since the first occupation of this City, the Emperor has been so entirely occupied with the military operations of the Army, that it has been impossible to bring his attention to the sufferings of this place and of commerce in general, for which however he does not affect much sensibility.\nOf the late military events, we have no very accurate accounts. It seems generally conceded, that on the 26th. Decr. there was a most bloody action on the other Side of the Vistula, at or near Osterode, in which the loss was very great and nearly equal on both sides, and that afterwards both armies retired in consequence of the total want of provisions. The French have gone into Winter Quarters, and are marching up rapidly their reinforcements. The Army of Marshall Mortier has left Mecklenburg for the Grand Army & has renounced the meditated Siege of Stralsund. The Spring will bring on very extensive and tremendous operations. Since my last Respects, Marshall Brune, who commanded at Boulogne on the Channel, has been appointed, arrived here, and entered on his functions as Military Governor General of the Hanseatic Towns, in the place of General Michaud, who still remains here without any other destination. The neutrality of Denmark seems now to be settled, nor is the occupation of Holstein any longer necessary to the plans of the French against British Trade as the possession of Hannover, Mecklenburg & the Hanseatic Towns, as well as all Prussia, renders them Masters of all the Channels of Commerce with the Interior of Germany.\nThe English Government has at length taken its ground and the moderation of its measures is not unlike what I had the honor to conjecture in mine of 12th. Ulto. If we can obtain any facility on the part of the french, the result of all these events must be highly favorable to our commerce. I have the honor to be, with great Respect Your Excellency\u2019s most obedient Servant\nJ: M: Forbes\nCopy", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-30-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1350", "content": "Title: From James Madison to James Monroe, 30 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Monroe, James\nSir\nDepartment of State Jan\u2019y 30, 1807.\nInclosed herewith is a statement of the case of the Marquis de Yrujo, which tho\u2019 drawn up for another purpose, and not falling within the range of your official transactions, it may be well for you to possess. No step has since that date, been taken by the Executive in relation to him. He has not as yet manifested any purpose of repairing again to Washington. It seems to be understood that he is to leave the United States as early in the spring as can be effected.\nI forward also sundry publications, which will make you acquainted with the perfiduous conduct which Spain has long been pursuing towards the United States thro\u2019 her Diplomatic, and other agents on this side of the Atlantic. The overtures of Guardqui made to Mr Brown in the year 1787, proves that whilst that Minister was employing all the arts of negociation to draw the federal Government into a relinquishment of the use of the Mississippi. He was insiduously taking advantage of the disgust excited by the project in the Western Country for alienating us from the Atlantic States.\nYou will find also that at a subsequent period in 1796. the project of dismemberment was again resumed by the Government of Louisiana.\nLastly you will find that in the succeeding year, and after a solemn Treaty had just been concluded, the same officer entered into the most scandalous and corrupt intregues for the avowed purpose of exciting rebellion and dismemberment, explicitly declaring that the faith and friendship, pledged by that instrument, would be no obstacle with the Spanish Government.\nTo the preceding document are added a series of others, as they have been printed in the Gazettes which will give you a view of the enterprize projected and lately commenced by Col. Burr. The enterprize is presumed to be pretty effectually crushed. With a handful of men only he passed the mouth of the Ohio about the first of January, it being unknown what his future course would be. The court of this District is now deliberating on the case of Dr Boleman, and young Swartwout, both arrested at New Orleans by General Wilkinson, and sent round by him.\nThere is good ground to believe that Yrujo was duped by R into a belief that his object was a severance of the , that he entered eagerly into it and was ready as far as he could to pledge his government as well as to aid, arms, and pecuniary. It does not appear however such aids were actually received from him.\nThere is as little doubt that Burr intrigued with Merry that the latter was highly pleased with the tendency of the project against Mexico and anticipated the concurrence of his government guarding however both against the idea of a course that would be offence to U.S. The death of Pitt is believed to have destroyed the hopes from that quarter. Burr had an agent in London not improbably D brother of Bollman. But as he did not arrive til the next administration had come in it is uncertain whether he ever acted under his commission. Perhaps you may gain some insights relative to the matter. It is not improbable also that the departure of Merry w/ o his wife and in the worst of seasons may have had in view early explanations with his government. This circumstance also will of course engage your attention.\nSince my letter of Jan\u2019y. l3th. measures have been taken with prospect of success for sending the witnesses necessary to prove all the facts essential on the trial of Whitby. It can scarcely be hoped however that they will arrive in time to prevent the necessity of a further adjournment of the Court Martial. Mr Lee at Bordeaux has also been directed to send if he can from that place a witness who is on a voyage to that port, and to write to you upon the subject.\nThe interposition of Mr Erskine has been without effect with Captain Douglas commanding the British ships in Hampton Roads. The latter adheres to his refusal to discharge the American seamen until he is instructed so to do by his superior officer who is stated to be at, Bermuda, his general orders being to grant no discharges without that sanction. Thus we are reduced to the dilemma of taking steps at variance with the conciliatory posture of things between the two countries, and which may even produce bloodshed, or of seeing our laws silenced and prostrated by a foreign armed ship enjoying the security and hospitality of a friendly port. The case is marked with the strongest aggravations. The ships under Douglass being those which entered our waters fresh from the outrage and insult committed near the shore of N. Carolina by the destruction of the French ship L\u2019Impetueux, and Douglas himself having been an offender on several other occasions, as well as on this. It is not yet precisely decided what will be done in case the interposition of the superior officer should not very quickly take place. But it will be proper for you to prepare the British Government for whatever course may be found necessary for vindicating the authority of our laws within our own limits and fulfilling the responsibility of the Government, to the national sentiment. Mr Erskine appears to be particularly anxious to prevent extremities, and to be exerting all his faculties to remove the occasion for them.\nThe papers lately received from the Insurance Company of Baltimore relating to the ship Messenger, with a communication from our Agent in Antigua of all which copies are also enclosed, present a very singular adjudication in the Vice Admiralty Court at Halifax, and fresh proofs of the extortions practiced in the courts at both places. You will be at no loss for the proper comments on the former subject as well as on the latter, nor for the use to be made of them in making the British Government sensible of the reforms which are equally called for by justice to other nations, and by a regard to the character of its tribunals. No recognition of neutral rights which may be inserted in a Treaty can render the state of things between the two countries such as it ought to be, and as we wish it to be; if those who are to give effect to the Treaty, are left at liberty to prostrate it by such abuses of their trust. The difficulty is not cured by the right of appeal from those subordinate decisions, and the removal of them in the superior Tribunals for reasons too well understood to require repetition. I have the honor, &c\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-30-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1352", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Masters of American Vessels at Matanzas, 30 January 1807\nFrom: Masters of American Vessels at Matanzas\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nMatanzas, (Island of Cuba) Jan. 30, 1807.\nThe undersigned American citizens, now in this port, under the pressure of the most serious concern, conceive it our duty to address you on a subject deeply interesting to our feelings. We are well aware that the constitutional organ, through which these communications ought to be made, is the consul or commercial agent, but as neither of these officers reside here, we are under the necessity of doing it ourselves.\nThe enclosed statement, to which we have affixed our signatures, we have examined and compared it with many corroborating circumstances, all of which came within our own knowledge and finding they so well agree, we hesitate not to express our opinion of its truth.\nThe act of exchanging the oar under similar circumstances, might have happened under directino of any one of us, and can be termed nothing more than accident, by no means bearing even the appearance of guilt. The opposition made by the boat\u2019s crew at the point, was no doubt improper; but it ought to be considered that it was the act of the men in the boat, and from our knowledge of the conduct of sailors, after being indulged with only a few hours on shore, we affirm that seldom any thing short of positive force will restrain them.\nWe therefore venture to express our opinion that the conduct of Francisco Preble, commandant of a gun boat, now stationed at Matanzas, in going on board an unarmed, inoffensive vessel, seizing the first officer and ignominiously bestowing upon him more than forty lashes was entirely upon his own responsibility, without the knowledge of his superior officers, and totally contrary to the laws of this country.\nThis unfortunate man was tried unheard, and this disgraceful punishment inflicted, without it being possible for the devoted victim to know the crime for which he suffered -- and what (if possible) added to the injury, the American flag was waving nearly over the head of the unhappy sufferer. This unwarrantable proceeding calls particularly for national enquiry. With sentiments of esteem, Yours respectfully,\nSigned by all the masters of American vessels, at Matanzas, at the preceding date.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-30-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1353", "content": "Title: To James Madison from David Airth, 30 January 1807\nFrom: Airth, David\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nGothenburg 30 Janry. 1807\nI had the Honor of addressing you last the 18th. June last Year by the Ship Good Intent of and for Newport Capt. Dennis a Duplicate of which I take the Liberty herewith to inclose. By a letter from Colonel Gardiner Newport Rhode Island dated 26th. June 1806 he confirms the unfortunate fate of his Son Mr. Robt. Champlin Gardiner Consul here, as Stated in the Duplicate of my last herewith inclosed, and I hope my request therein contained will be favourably received.\nAccording to your General Orders, I have the honor to inclose an Account of the Ships and Trade of the United States to this Port for last Year which I am happy to say is increased in a Double proportion to any former Year and I hope and flatter myself will continue Still more to increase and I have the Honor to remain With the Utmost Consideration Sir Your Most humble & devoted servant\nDavid AirthVice Consul", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-31-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1354", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Albert Gallatin, 31 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Gallatin, Albert\nSir.\nDepartment of State, January 31. 1807.\nBe pleased to issue your warrant on the appropriation for the Contingent expenses of the Department of State for five hundred dollars, in favor of Christopher S. Thom, who is to be charged and held accountable for the same. I am &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-31-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1355", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Albert Gallatin, 31 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Gallatin, Albert\nSir.\nDepartment of State, Jany. 31st.1807.\nBe pleased to issue your warrant on the appropriations for the Contingent expenses of the Mississippi Territory for Seventy three dollars & ninety seven Cents, in favor of William Chew, authorised to receive the same, by the enclosed order from Cowles Mead Esqr., who is to be charged and held accountable for the same. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-31-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1356", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Augustus Woodward, 31 January 1807\nFrom: Woodward, Augustus\nTo: Madison, James\nThe subject of the donations having been, through some discontented characters here, transferred to the press, I have enclosed what will serve as an explanation of it at the seat of government, and will shew that the source and object of the clamor do not merit serious attention, and that some little firmness is necessary in a government here, or otherwise the laws could not be supported.\nA. B. Woodward", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-31-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1357", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Charles Scott, 31 January 1807\nFrom: Scott, Charles\nTo: Madison, James\nCanewood (K) Jany. 31st. 1807\nSuffer me my Dear Sir to make You Acquainted with my Particular friend Mr. Henry C. Gist a son of our old Acquaintance Colo. Nathl. Gist. He is Accompanyed By a Brother inlaw Mr. Jessee Bledso both which are of high Standing & of great Respectability here. Their object in going to the Federal City is to Report the Discovery of a Lead mine in the Indiany terrytory of which they wish to have an entrest upon Resonable terms. Your attention to them Well do Honor to an Old Soldier With Great Respect\nChs. Scott", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-31-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1358", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Hubbard Taylor, 31 January 1807\nFrom: Taylor, Hubbard\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir\nKentucky Clarke 31st. Jany 1807.\nPermit me to introduce you to the acquaintance of Mr. Jessee Bleadsoe & Mr. Henry Gist; two Gentlemen of my particular and long standing friendship they are respectable Carrecters, of strict integrity and punctuallity in engagements; and are possessed of hanzome property. the object of their visit to the City of Washington they will make known to you, and I hope it will prove mutually advantagious to the government & themselves\nMr. Bleadsoe\u2019s correctness in business good discredt Judgement and legal information cannot but ensure success to any undertaking he shall engage in. Any Information he may give to enquiries, you may think proper to make either of a local or political nature may be relyed on. He is a worthy citizen & a good republican Patriot\nMy family are well & join in respects to you and Mrs. Madison and believe me to be with esteem Dr. Sir Yr Afft. Friend\nH. Taylor", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-31-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1359", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Augustus Woodward, 31 January 1807\nFrom: Woodward, Augustus\nTo: Madison, James\nDetroit, january 31. 1807.\nI have the honor now to transmit to the Secretary of State the map which I promised to procure of, his Britannic Majesty\u2019s province of Upper Canada, accompanied by a small pamphlet of statistical information. I made enquiries for it immediately on my return to this country, but having been confined to this side of the river by unceasing public business I did not succeed until yesterday in obtaining it. Not having seen the merchant from whom it was procured I am not yet acquainted with its price; and I have understood a second copy, from another quarter, is on its way to me which, if received, I shall also transmit.\nYou will immediately perceive, Sir, that this country is by no means unimportant. A prejudice prevails to the Southward that these northern countries are cold, sterile, and unprofitable. It arises from the attention being turned to Nova Scotia, New Brunswic, and other comparatively barren provinces in the vicinity of the Ocean. I was myself a victim to it until my own observations corrected the error; nor had I the most distant apprehension of the advances it had made. From the Ocean all the way to these settlements there is a continued line of improvements; following, without deviation, the course of the navigation. It is seldom more than forty miles of breadth; but its length is at least fifteen hundred miles. These settlements are fertile, pleasant, and even opulent. They present, along the whole line, a scene of activity little imagined in the United States. The Commerce in Furs, which has been carried on in one channel for two centuries, and which will continue for a considerable period to come, is the cause of this phenomenon.\nThe measures of Bonaparte have just in a great degree cut off the English from their continental market for furs. The Chinese have also laid restrictions on the Commerce. At present there is a shock felt along the whole line I have described; and which paralyses even this country.\nThe settlements of this vicinity may be considered as having been, while in the possession of the English, the extremity of the firm and perfectly civilized establishments. To this point their direction has been westward; and at this point the line may be considered as making an angle to the north-west, and at the same time assuming a difference of aspect, from the point of contact with the savages not having hitherto been extended to a greater distance from the ocean. The north-west line may be considered as extending fifteen hundred miles more. But if another angle is assumed at the Arabasea Lake, it may be considered as divided into two lines, one north, and one west; and then the line of this commerce may be considered as reaching the Pacific and Arctic seas, though with traces very faint at those remote extremities.\nThis commerce belongs to another nation. The Americans have never been able to succeed in it, though the most valuable part of it belongs to their own Territory, and the whole passes along their line. Since the cession to the Americans the country from which I write has been languishing. American exertion is destitute of the most common and necessary protection. A furious and irrational antipathy to commercial enterprize is supposed to pervade their councils. Without dwelling on the point the triumph of their rivals is complete; and however unimportant any participation whatsoever in the Fur Trade may be to the United States generally to this country it is all-important. Perhaps it cannot be said there is any positive disaffection; but it is a remark, which the experience of mankind too often very fatally verifies, that small causes sometimes give rise to great events. For thirteen years the inhabitants of the small section which has fallen to the Americans have lived on hope; and hope, according to an expressive proverb sometimes used among their traders is a good breakfast, but a bad supper. L\u2019Espoir fait un bon dejeun\u00e9, mais un mauvais soup\u00e9.\nIt cannot therefore be considered unimportant in American policy to encourage these quarters of their dominions in the line of industry to which they have been accustomed, so far as it is usual and proper for government to regulate their concerns.\nAn application was made here by commercial characters during the last summer to favor the embarkation of a very respectable American Capital in this Commerce. It was notified to the Senate of the United States in anticipation the past winter. They proposed to commence their operations with an institution of primary importance to their enterprize. As this institution has very suddenly been distorted, by those who did not comprehend its object, and has attracted, Sir, a share of your attention; instead of reducing to writing the observations which I submitted when you did me, Sir, the honor of consulting on the communication from the Governor of New-York, relative to the islands along the American and British line, which was what I at first intended; I will confine myself to one or two explanations relative to that institution.\nFirst of all it is necessary to premise that Colonel Burr, his agents, emissaries, or friends, have no possible concern in it; and probably scarcely know of its existence. A suspicion of this nature appears here the most strange and unjust.\nIn the next place I remark that if it is thought improper, on general principles, to have a Bank here; I do not intend to occupy either your attention, Sir, or my own, with any arguments on one side or the other of that question.\nIf it is thought, in that medley of opinions which exists relative to the powers of territorial governments in their present most awkward and imperfect state, that this government has not a power of adopting laws of this description, I am also silent.\nAssuming the other points; it is alone the details of the Bill which I undertake to justify.\nOn a careful perusal of it I can only discover two points, which it appears to me will not be immediately understood elsewhere; and for these I am in a great measure responsible myself, since they were at first advocated very differently by others. These are the duration, and capital assigned to the institution. They were at first made thirty years, and I believe a hundred thousand dollars. On my arguments they were changed to a hundred and one years, and a million of dollars. It is necessary those arguments should be understood.\nIt was a principle made that incorporating laws are necessary in governments to answer only two substantial purposes; one, to enable an association to act as a moral person, to have one will, to be capable of representation in courts of justice and elsewhere as a moral person having a unity of will, and of course, while it lasts, to have succession, that is to say, that whatever individuals may successively compose it the body itself may remain the same. The other, to exempt those individuals from a liability in their private property for the contracts of the body itself. The common law of England, adopted in this country, renders these provisions necessary; otherwise associations might, at any time, act without the necessity of any legislative aid. All the other powers and forms accompanying them are considered as only subsidiary to these purposes.\nIt was a principle next made, that in no American government ought any privilege to be given to an association, which individuals or other associations did not possess.\nThe next principle made, and that the most firmly adhered to, is that an act incorporating any institution is, and ought ever to be, like an act of ordinary legislation repealable at the pleasure of the legislative power, and that in order to remove all question on the point every law of that kind ought to contain a clause to that effect.\nExpedience may sometimes require a pledge of the public faith against a repeal for a certain time as an indemnification for particular advances. In this case it could only relate to the expence of the edifice, and a few years would have sufficed.\nIt is therefore well understood that this act is at any time repealible at the pleasure of the legislative power of the United States.\nIt is further understood that the legislative power of the Territory may at any time request such repeal, if they do not undertake to make it.\nIt was further contemplated to insert in the act a clause expressly reserving to the legislative power of Michigan, for the time being, a spontaneous right of repeal. But not being able to find a precedent, even in an imperfect shape applicable, it has been deferred, the Congressional right fully answering the object for the present. At a future day, if not previously anticipated by Congress, it will be the subject of mutual and satisfactory arrangement.\nIt therefore appears that a constant and spontaneous right of repeal is the basis on which this government tread. The duration therefore was considered mere form under the circumstances, and as short periods opened always a door for intrigue and corruption for renewal, and also held out an implication of promise to let the period run out, it was deemed prudent in order to manifest the clearness of the right, and to prevent intrigue, to extend the period beyond the lives of all who might be at present affected.\nThis much, Sir, on the right of repeal; and the consequent formal duration assigned.\nOn the capital it is to be considered that this like the others is deemed form. Indeed it follows from the other principle; and for the same reason it is extended at once beyond the possible limits it can ever reach.\nIt may however be remarked, and it is conceived with the utmost justice and propriety, that all attempts on the part of legislative powers to assign limitations to capital, or quantum of medium, are fruitless and unnecessary; and are a mere relic of popular prejudice and mistake.\nOne or two abstract principles will perhaps immediately shew this.\nCoin is valuable to man, in the civilized state, because it is an artificial mode of representing the necessaries and comforts of life. Let coin cease to represent the necessaries and comforts of life, and it ceases to be valuable as such. It is alone because coin is exchangible at pleasure for the necessaries and comforts of life that it has a value. When it ceases to have that value, it ceases to be coin; and is converted into the raw material.\nA bank-bill is valuable to a member of the civilized state because it is an artificial mode of representing coin. Let a bank-bill cease to represent coin, and it ceases to be valuable. It is alone because a bank-bill is exchangible at pleasure for coin that it possesses any value. When a bank bill ceases to be exchangible at pleasure for coin, it ceases to be a bank-bill; and is converted into worthless paper.\nPopular sagacity and good sense, though perhaps not always competent to express these ideas with precision, yet is always competent to act on them, and always does act on them, and that with the greatest precision. Governments need therefore never attempt to regulate the quantity of coin, or of bank bills in society. The good sense of society always regulate both, without any aid, and much better without aid than with it.\nWhen capital can be employed more profitably in a bank than in other kinds of trade it will flow into that channel, and the effect is beneficial to society.\nWhen capital can be employed more profitably in other kinds of trade it flows into those channels; and the effect is again beneficial to society.\nWhen coin multiplies unnecessarily popular good sense converts it into its raw material.\nWhen bank bills multiply unnecessarily popular good sense converts them into coin.\nThe government need not therefore and on correct principles ought not, to regulate either. When flagrant and unprincipled abuse are practised the spontaneous right of repeal is a radical, prompt, effective remedy; as long as legislatures remain virtuous and uncorrupted. When they cease to be so, the pecuniary interests of society are not alone at stake. All the interests of society are in danger.\nTo turn from principles to plain facts, a bank has been instituted here, supported by merchants of the country and others on the sea-board, concerned in the commerce of Furs. The specie in its vaults is between twenty and thirty thousand dollars. Thirty thousand more are called for on the first day of next July. After that period the increase will be small and gradual. It is in successful operation, has the confidence of the country, has already done much good, and is calculated to do much more. If hastily and unadvisedly extinguished Canadian confidence can never be regained; and one species of national enterprize is for the present effectually sacrificed. I enclose specimens of the medium formerly used here. I enclose also specimens of the present medium.\nShortly after the institution went into operation an application was received here from the Exchange Office of Boston for a loan. It was deemed useful, and acquiesced with. Its obvious tendency is to commence at once in each extremity of the line, through which the commerce of furs is destined to travel, the operations of the capital which is embarked in it. If any abuse exists, which is not believed here, like all others it will necessarily correct itself. I am not acquainted with facts, and can therefore say nothing; but I trust investigation will be candid, deliberate, and independent.\nIf, Sir, the subject should be under the attention of a committee of either house, or should otherwise attract attention, I beg you to communicate these remarks, as no objection is conceived to exist to their publicity. I have the honor to be, Sir, with the most perfect respect, your obedient servant,\nAugustus B. Woodward\nIf any legislative measures are thought advisable at present I suggest one of the underwritten.\nAn act concerning the Bank of Detroit, in the City of Detroit, in the Territory of Michigan.\nBe it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, &c., that the act of the government of the Territory, of Michigan entitled an act concerning the Bank of Detroit passed on the day of one thousand eight hundred six, be, and the same is hereby made repealible at any time at the pleasure of the legislative power of the United States, or the legislative power of Michigan, for the time being, any thing whatsoever to the contrary thereof notwithstanding.\nOr\nAn act concerning incorporations in the Territorial governments.\nBe it enacted &c. that all acts passed in any territorial government of the United States, incorporating any institutions whatsoever, shall be and the same are hereby made repealible at any time at the pleasure of the legislative power of the United States, or the legislative power of the Territory or country for the time being, anything whatsoever to the contrary thereof notwithstanding.\nEither of these regulations will appear to me to place subjects of this description exactly on the footing they ought to stand.\nA. B. Woodward\nThe date of the communication to the Senate relative to the merchants proposing to embark in the Fur trade is April 14, 1806.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "01-31-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1361", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Peter Muhlenberg, 31 January 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Muhlenberg, Peter\nSir.\nDept. of State, Jany. 31. 1807.\nI have received your letter of the 29th., containing the terms on which Mr. Pearce will consent to go to England to attend the trial of Capt. Whitby, and suggesting that Elijah Hudson is a material and desirable witness.\nMr. Pearce\u2019s terms are considered very high, but as an inclination prevails to make every effort to send the evidence, which can be obtained, you may if you cannot induce him to reduce his demands, accede to them in substance but reducing the undefined claim of expenses in a certain or monthly sum. You will also be pleased to make the best bargain you can with Hudson. In the letter you write to Mr. Monroe by these witnesses, I will thank you to inform him precisely of the terms on which they go & the sum advanced. I am &c. \nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1363", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Samuel Smith, February 1807 to March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Smith, Samuel\nFebruary-March 1807\n...The Treaty lately concluded between the American and British Commissioners being in a situation to admit of deliberation on its several articles, it is thought highly advisable to avail the Executive of such observations on those relating to commerce and navigation as your intelligence and experience...will enable you to afford...particularly: 1st to the actual operation of the Articles...2nd to the question whether the articles...be or be not on the whole preferable to a treaty without any provisions...3rd what alterations might be made favorable to the United States, and not otherwise to Great Britain. 4th what desirable alterations would not be disadvantageous to Great Britain in a degree forbiding the hope of obtaining them. 5th whether the general stipulations concerning the trade between the two Countries, comprehends or not, the trade between the Continental Colonies of Great Britain and the United States...I only add that this last branch of trade does not appear to have been contemplated by the parties to the negociation, and that it was...understood between them that the trade to the East Indies was to be direct from, as well as to America. You will be fully sensible of the propriety of making this letter confidential...which the delicate nature of it suggests.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1364", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Lee, 1 February 1807\nFrom: Lee, William\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nBordeaux feby 1st. 1807.\nI have the honor to transmit you herewith a return of Vessels that have entered and cleared at this Consulate from the 1st. July to 31st. Decr 1806. With great respect I have the honor to remain your obdt. Servant\nWm. Lee", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1365", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 1 February 1807\nFrom: Jefferson, Thomas\nTo: Madison, James\nTh: J. to Mr. Madison\nSunday Feb. 1. 07.\nThe more I consider the letter of our Ministers in London the more seriously it impresses me. I believe the sine qua non we made is that of the nation, and that they would rather go on without a treaty than with one which does not settle this article. Under this dilemma, and at this stage of the business, had we not better take the advice of the Senate? I ask a meeting at 11. oclock tomorrow to consult on this question.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-02-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1367", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Cowles Meade, 2 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Meade, Cowles\nSir.\nDepartment of State February 2d. 1807.\nI have received your several letters of the 28th. October, 24th. Novr. & 4th. of December.\nMr. Williams\u2019 claim to Salary as Secretary of the Mississippi Territory being admitted to the 3d. of June last, excludes the admission of yours antecidently to that day, and this circumstance was no doubt the cause of your having drawn for more than can be legally allowed. At the time of the bill for a quarters salary being presented, which was during my absence, the Salary of Secretary had been paid up, and none was payable until the succeeding quarter, no were there more than about seventy dollars of the Contingent fund for the Territory remaining unapplied; it was therefore impossible to make any arrangement by which the bill could be paid.\nThree hundred dollars have been paid to Mr. Chew for his compensation, and one hundred & fifteen for his expenses, which he represents as having been included in the agreement he made with you for carrying the dispatches. Should you understand it otherwise he has engaged to return the money in which case you will credit the public with it.\nI have caused him to be paid on your account the whole remaining balance of the appropriations for the contingent expenses of the Mississippi Territory, being only about Seventy two dollars, and shall increase the sum as soon as the new appropriation law passes & he returns to this City.\nYour draft for $500 was paid by the War Department, there being no means of paying it in this, and it having been thought probable that you may have incurred expenses to be charged against the former Department. The item of 28 dollars for the hire of horses and the several sums of forty five & five dollars for expenses, require an explanation of the purpose for which they were used, in order that we may ascertain the head of expense to which they are to be charged. The charge of the protest of your bill is not now decided upon, but must remain till the Treasury takes up your accounts, in regular order for settlement. I take the liberty to observe that you ought to draw your Salary by quarters with reference to the 1 Jany., April, July & October; and at the Treasury they admit of no statements of Salary which do not begin, or end, on those days. I must further observe that your drafts for salary ought in strictness to be made on the Treasury Department. Enclosed you will receive the Presidents communications to Congress, respecting Mr. Burr\u2019s enterprise. I am &c. \nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-03-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1368", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Albert Gallatin, 3 February 1807\nFrom: Gallatin, Albert\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nTreasury Department Feby 3d. 1807.\nThe ship Brutus of New York, respecting which Genl. Turreau made a representation, has cleared out for Gonaive, an island in the vicinity of San Domingo, but not imbraced by the Act prohibiting the intercourse with certain ports therein. This being a case not foreseen by the law, I have written a letter to the Chairman of the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures, pointing out the several ways in which the Act has been or may be evaded, and for which it appeared practicable to apply a legislative remedy A copy of the letter is enclosed for your information.\nI have the honor to be, with the highest respect, Sir, Your obedt. Servt.\nAlbert Gallatin", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-03-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1369", "content": "Title: From James Madison to John Graham, 3 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Graham, John\nSir.\nDepartment of State, February 3. 1807.\nI avail myself of an express going from the War Department, to acknowledge the receipt of your several letters, as marked below, and the last of which informs me that you were at Nashville, on the 14th. Ult, on your return to New Orleans. I have the pleasure at the same time to express to you the satisfaction which you have given to the President, in the execution of the important & intricate task committed to you. It is not impossible that you may, by getting ahead of Burr, as he proceeds Southward contribute still further to cooperate in the measures which it may be proper to take with respect to him. I enclose the communication made to Congress by the President, on the subject of the enterprise, & a few newspapers which will give you the current information of other kinds. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-03-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1370", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Gavino, 3 February 1807\nFrom: Gavino, John\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nGibraltar 3d: Feby. 1807\nStill without the honor of any of your Commands I beg leave to referr to my last Dispatch No. 38 under date of 18. Ultimo when advised admiral Duckworth with five sail the Line having left this for Sicily & Constantinople, at same time I inclosed the list of arrivals & Departure of our Trading Vessels for the last Six Months.\nThe Portuguese Squadron that Cruises in the Gutt has been reinforced by a frigate & Schooner so that it is now Composed of two line of Battle ships 3 frigates, 2 Brigs & a Schooner.\nI am sorry to inform you that I yesterday received a Letter from London dated 6t: Ulto: advising me that Sir Francis Baring &Co: had Protested Tobias Lear Esqr: of Algiers Bill to my order dated Algier October 11t. 1806 for \u00a31500 Stg at 30 days Sight Expressing its being for Account of the U. S. Goverment as Pr Copy anexed. The reason for Protesting same was \"for want of orders from the U. S. of America.\" I still hope said Gentn: may be discharge it when due for should it come back it will be truely disagreeable.\nA few Days ago the Brig Humbird of Boston, James Stuart Master from Leghorn with a Valuable Cargo for Lisbon called in here, remaind a few hours to Water, the Wind springing up fair Proceeded, a little before a small privateer went out, & next Morning brought in said Brig, & is detained for adjudication, as they say some letters are found stating that the greatest part is Genoese Property, altho by Bills Lading & Certificates it appears to be Portuguese, & for their account, and Risk.\nIn consequence of the Empr. of Frances late Decree, orders have come from England (as I am informd) for all Nutrals that may be found Going from a french to a spanish Port, or Spanish to french, likewise one Enemy\u2019s Port to another, shall be Warnd to alter his Voyage & if found making an attempt after Said warning is to be sent in for ajudication, & after a reasonable time is Elapsed, they are to be sent in for tryal without Warning. I have the honor to be with respect, Sir Your most obed. & most hul. servt.\nJohn Gavino", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-03-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1371", "content": "Title: From James Madison to James Monroe, 3 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Monroe, James,Pinkney, William\nGentlemen,\nDepartment of State, February 3--1807\nThe triplicate of your communication of Novr. llth. has just been received. Those of Sepr. l2, had been previously received in due time.\nThe turn which the negotiation has taken, was not expected, and excites as much of regret as of disappointment. The conciliatory spirit manifested on both sides, with the apparent consistency of the interest of Great Britain, with the right of the American flag, touching impressments, seemed to promise as much success to your efforts on that subject as on the others; and, notwithstanding the perseverance of the British Cabinet in resisting your reasonable propositions, the hope is not abandoned that a more enlightened and enlarged policy will finally overcome scruples which doubtless proceed more from habits of opinion and official caution than from an unbiassed regard to all the considerations which enter into the true merits of the question.\nIn the mean time the President has with all those friendly and conciliatory dispositions which produced your mission, and pervade your instructions, weighed the arrangement held out in your last letter, which contemplates a formal adjustment of the other topics under discussion, and an informal understanding only, on that of impressment. The result of his deliberations which I am now to state to you, is, that it does not comport with his views of the national sentiment or the Legislative policy, that any treaty should be entered into with the British Government which, whilst on every other point it is either limited to, or short of strict right, would include no article providing for a case which both in principle and in practice is so feelingly connected with the honor and Sovereignty of the nation as well as with its fair interests; and indeed with the peace of both nations.\nThe President thinks it more eligible, under all circumstances, that if no satisfactory and formal stipulation on the subject of impressment be attainable, the negotiation should be made to terminate without any formal compact whatever, but with a mutual understanding, founded on friendly and liberal discussions and explanations, that in practice each party will entirely conform to what may be thus informally settled. And you are authorized, in case an arrangement of this kind shall be satisfactory in its substance, to give assurances that as long as it shall be duly respected in practice by the other party, more particularly on the subjects of neutral trade and impressments, it will be earnestly, and probably successfully recommended to Congress by the President, not to permit the nonimportation Act to go into operation. You are also authorized to inform the British government that the President adhering to the sentiments which led him to recommend to Congress at the commencement of the Session, a suspension of that act, and trusting to the influence of mutual dispositions and interests in giving an amicable issue to the negotiations, will, if no intervening intelligence forbid, exercise the authority vested in him by the Act of continuing its suspension from the 1st. day of July to the time limited by the Act, and which will afford to Congress, who will then be in Session, the opportunity of making due provision for the case.\nYou will perceive that this explanation of the views of the President, requires that if previous to the receipt of it, a Treaty not including an article relating to impressments should have been concluded and be on the way, the British Commissioners should be candidly apprized of the reasons for not expecting its ratification, and that on this ground they be invited to enter anew on the business, with an eye to such a result as has just been explained and authorized.\nHaving thus communicated the outline assigned by the President, as your guide in the important and delicate task on your hands, I proceed to make a few observations which are suggested by the contents of your last dispatches, and which may be of use in your further discussions and your final arrangements.\nImpressments.\nThe British Government is under an egregious mistake in supposing that \"no recent causes of complaint have occurred\" on this subject. How far the language of Mr Lymans books may countenance this error I cannot say; but I think it probable that even there the means of correcting it may be found. In the American seas, including the West Indies, the impressments have perhaps at no time been more numerous or vexatious. It is equally a mistake therefore to suppose, \"that no probable inconvenience can result from the postponement of an article\" for this case.\nThe remedy proposed in the note from the British Commissioners, however well intended, does not inspire the confidence here which gave it so much value in their judgment. They see the favorable side only of the character of their naval Commanders. The spirit which vexes neutrals in their maritime rights, is fully understood by neutrals only. The habits generated by naval command, and the interest which is felt in the abuse of it, both as respects captures and impressments render inadequate every provision which does not put an end to all discretionary power in the Commanders. As long as the British Navy has so complete an ascendency on the high seas, its Commanders have not only an interest in violating the rights of neutrals within the limits of neutral patience, especially of those whose commerce and mariners are unguarded by fleets: they feel moreover the strongest temptation, as is well known from the occasional language of some of them, to covet the full range for spoliation opened by a state of war. The rich harvest promised by the commerce of the UStates, gives to this cupidity all its force. Whatever general injuries might accrue to their nation, or whatever surplus of reprisals might result to American Cruizers, the fortunes of British Cruizers would not be the less certain in the event of hostilities between the two nations.\nWhilst all these considerations require in our behalf the most precise and peremptory security against the propensities of British Naval Commanders, and on the tender subject of impressment more than any other, it is impossible to find equivalent or even important motives on the British side for declining such a security. The proposition which you have made, aided by the internal regulations which the British Government is always free to make, closes all the considerable avenues through which its seamen can find their way into our service. The only loss consequently which could remain, would be in the number at present in this service, with a deduction of those who might from time to time voluntarily leave it, or be found within the limits of Great Britain or of her possessions; and in the proportion of this number who might otherwise be gained by impressment. The smallness of this loss appears from the annual amount of impressments, which has not exceeded a few hundred British seamen, the great mass consisting of real Americans and of subjects of other neutral powers. And even from the few British seamen ought to be deducted those impressed within neutral ports, where it is agreed that the proceeding is clearly unlawful.\nUnder this view of the subject the sacrifice which Great Britain would make dwindles to the merest trifle, or rather, there is just reason to believe that instead of a loss, she would find an actual gain in the excess of the deserters who would be surrendered by the UStates, over the number actually recoverable by impressment.\nIn practice therefore Great Britain would make no sacrifice by acceding to our terms; and her principle, if not expressly saved by a recital as it easily might be, would in effect be so by the tenor of the arrangement; inasmuch as she would obtain for her forbearance to exercise what she deems a right, a right to measures on our part which we have a right to refuse. She would consequently merely exchange one right for another. She would also by such a forbearance, violate no personal right of individuals under her protection. The UStates on the other hand, in yielding to the claims of G Britain, on this subject, would necessarily surrender what they deem an essential right of their flag and of their Sovereignty, without even acquiring any new right; would violate the rights of the individuals under the protection of both, and expose their native Citizens to all the calamitous mistakes voluntary and involuntary of which experience gives such forcible warning.\nI take for granted that you have not failed to make due use of the arrangement concerted by Mr King with Lord Hawkesbury in the year 1802 for settling the question of impressment. On that occasion, and under that administration, the British principle was fairly renounced in favor of the right of our flag; Lord Hawkesbury having agreed to prohibit impressments altogether on the High seas; and Lord St. Vincent requiring nothing more than an exception of the narrow seas; an exception resting on the obsolete claim of Great Britain to some peculiar dominion over them. I have thought it not amiss to inclose another extract from Mr Kings letter giving an account of that transaction.\nIn the note of Novr. 8. from the British Commissioners, the Security held out to the Crews of our vessels is that instructions have been given, and will be repeated for enforcing the greatest caution &c. If the future instructions are to be repetitions of the past, we well know the inefficacy of them. Any instructions, which are to answer the purpose, must differ essentially from the past, both in their tenor and their sanctions. In case an informal arrangement should be substituted for a regular stipulation, it may reasonably be expected from the candor of the British Government that the instructions on which we are to rely, should be communicated to you.\nColonial Trade\nIt may reasonably be expected that on this subject the British Government will not persist in attempting to place the United States on a worse footing than Russia. In agreeing to consider the storing for a month, and changing the ship, as a naturalization of the property, the concession would be on our side not on theirs; and in making this a condition on which alone we could trade with enemy colonies even directly to and from our own ports, beyond the amount of our own consumption, we should make every sacrifice short of a complete abandonment of our principle, while they would retain as much of their pretension as is compatible with any sacrifice whatever, a pretension too which they have in so many ways fairly precluded themselves from now maintaining. In addition to the many authorities for this remark already known to you, you will find one of the highest grade in 5th. Vol. of Tomlin\u2019s Edition of Brown\u2019s cases in Parliament p. 328, Hendricks and others against Cunningham and others, where it was expressly admitted by the House of Lords, in a war case before them, that \"it is now established by repeated determinations, that neither ships nor Cargoes, the property of subjects of neutral powers, either going to trade at, or coming from the French West India Islands, with Cargoes purchased there, are liable to capture: and therefore when a ship and Cargo so circumstanced are Seized and condemned, the Seizure and condemnation shall be reversed and the value of the ship and cargo accounted for and paid to the owners by the captors.\"\nAs it has generally happened that the British Instructions, issued to the Vice Admiralty Courts and naval Commanders have not come first to light in British prints, I inclose one of Novr. l4, which has made its appearance in ours. As it relates to the present subject, it claims attention as a proof that all question as to the legality of the voyage, in a Russian Trade with the Enemies of Great Britain is excluded, by limiting the right of capture to the cases where the innocence or ownership of the articles is questioned. The Instruction may at least be considered as coextensive in its favorable import with the Art. in the Russian Treaty; which you have been authorized to admit into your arrangements; and in that view, as well as on account of its date, the instruction may furnish a convenient topic of argument or expostulation.\nIf the British Government once consent that the United States may make their ports a medium of Trade between the Colonies of its Enemies and other Countries belligerent as well as neutral, why should there be a wish to clog it with the regulations suggested? Why not, in fact, consent to a direct trade by our merchants, between those Colonies and all other Countries? Is it that the price may be a little raised on the Consumers by the Circuit of the voyage, and the charges incident to the port regulations? This can not be presumed. With respect to the Enemies of Great Britain, the object would be unimportant; with respect to her neutral friends, it would not be a legitimate object. Must not the answer then be sought in the mere policy of lessening the competition with and thereby favoring the price of British and other Colonial productions re-exported by British Merchants from British ports? and sought, consequently, not in a Belligerent right, or even in a policy merely belligerent; but in one which has no origin or plea but those of commercial jealousy and monopoly.\nBlockades.\nOn this subject, it is fortunate that Great Britain has already in a formal Communication admitted the principle for which we contend. It will be only necessary therefore to hold her to the true sense of her own act. The words of the communication are, \"that vessels must be warned not to enter.\" The Term warn technically imports a distinction between an individual notice to vessels, and a general notice, by proclamation or diplomatic communication; and the terms, not to enter, equally distinguishes a notice at or very near the blockaded port, from a notice directed against the original destination, or the apparent intention of a vessel, nowise approaching such a port.\nMarginal Jurisdiction on the High Sea.\nThere could surely be no pretext for allowing less than a marine league from the shore, that being the narrowest allowance found in any authorities on the Law of Nations. If any nation can fairly claim a greater extent, the United States have pleas which cannot be rejected; And if any Nation is more particularly bound by its own example not to contest our Claim, Great Britain must be so, by the extent of her own claims to Jurisdiction on the Seas which surround her. It is hoped at least that within the extent of one league you will be able to obtain an effectual prohibition of British Ships of war, from repeating the irregularities which have so much vexed our Commerce and provoked the public resentment; and against which an article in your instructions emphatically provides. It cannot be too earnestly pressed on the British Government, that in applying the remedy copied from regulations heretofore enforced against a violation of the neutral rights of British harbors and Coasts, nothing more will be done than what is essential to the preservation of harmony between the two Nations. In no case is the temptation or the facility greater to Ships of war, for annoying our Commerce, than in their hovering on our Coasts, and about our harbours; nor is the National sensibility in any case more justly or more highly excited than by such insults. The Communications lately made to Mr. Monroe, with respect to the conduct of British Commanders even within our own waters, will strengthen the claim for such an arrangement on this Subject, & for such new orders from the British Government as will be a satisfactory security against future causes of complaint.\nEast & West India Trades.\nIf the West India Trade cannot be put on some such footing as is authorized by your Instructions, it will be evidently best, to leave it as it is; and of course, with a freedom to either party to make such regulations as may be justified by those of the other.\nWith respect to the East India Trade, you will find a very useful light thrown on it, in the remarks of Mr. Crowninshield, of which several Copies were forwarded in October. They will confirm to you the impolicy, as explained in your instructions, of putting the Trade under the Regulations admitted into the Treaty of 1794. The general footing of other nations in peace with Great Britain will be clearly more advantageous; and on this footing it will be well to leave or place it, if no peculiar advantages, of which there are Intimations in Mr. Crowninshield\u2019s remarks, can be obtained.\nIndemnifications.\nThe justice of these ought to be admitted by Great Britain whenever the Claim is founded on violations of our rights, as these may be recognized in any new arrangement or understanding between the parties. But in cases of which there are many examples where the Claim is supported by principles which she never contested, the British Government ought to have too much respect for its professions and its reputation, to hesitate at concurring in a provision analogous to that heretofore adopted.\nIt is not satisfactory to allege that in all such cases, redress may be attained in the ordinary course of Judicial proceedings. If this were true, there would be sound policy as well as true equity and eoconomy in transferring the complaints, from partial Tribunals occupied with a great mass of other cases, to a Joint Tribunal exclusively charged with this special Trust. But it is not true that Redress is attainable in the ordinary course of Justice, and under the actual Constitution and Rules of the Tribunals which administer it in cases of Captures. Of this the facts within your knowledge, and particularly some which have been lately transmitted to Mr. Monroe, are ample and striking proofs; and will doubtless derive, from the manner of your presenting them, all the force with which they can appeal to the sentiments and principles which ought to guide the policy of an Enlightened Nation. I have the Honor to remain, with great Consideration & Respect, Gentlemen, Your Very Obedt. Servant,\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-04-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1372", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Alexander Balmain, 4 February 1807\nFrom: Balmain, Alexander\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir\nWinchester 4th. February 1807\nPermit me to solicit your interest with the President, in favor of Major Edmund Taylor. His name, I am informed, stands on the list of candidates for an appointment in the land office, in the Western country. I would not venture to recommend him to you, Sir did I not know him to be a man of real worth. Honest, virtuous, modest & capable, he served his country, as a lieutenant under General Wayne in several campaigns against the Indians, and distinguished himself, as a good, & a brave officer in some of the bloodiest actions of that dangerous warfare. And, Sir, (if his personal merit can receive any accession from his being the descendant of a Patriotic family) he is the Son of Mr. Edmund Taylor, and consequently the Grand son of Colo. George Taylor of Orange, whose many Sons, you well know, fought the battles of their country, during the revolutionary war.\nI need not say to you, Sir, that his family is numerous & influential in Virginia & Kentuckey, & that his connexions are the firm friends of Mr. Jefferson & yourself; nor, of course, need I add that, in promoting his wishes, you will not only gratify himself, but his & your many friends, whilst you will do what, I am persuaded, will yield you the purest pleasure, you will place in a responsible station, one, in whom, the President of the united States, may, in my judgment, repose the fullest & most entire confidence. For farther particulars respecting the character, the Situation, & the views of Major Taylor I beg leave to refer you to Judge Thruston a Senator from Kentuckey, who will do me the honor to hand you this.\nLucy joins with me, in tendering to you, & to your lady our best respects. I have the Honor to be, with the highest consideration, Dear Sir, Your most obedient and very humble servant\nAlexr. Balmain", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-05-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1374", "content": "Title: From James Madison to George Hay, 5 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Hay, George\nSir.\nDepartment of State, February 5. 1807.\nThe commission for the Marshall of Virginia District was forwarded to his address in Amelia County. A duplicate will be enclosed to you by this days mail, which I beg the favor of you to transmit to him should he be elsewhere than in Amelia.\nI am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-05-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1375", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Caesar Augustus Rodney, 5 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Rodney, Caesar Augustus\nSir.\nDepartment of State, Feb. 5th. 1807.\nThe enclosed documents from Judge Lucas, evince a difference of opinion between him & the acting Governor. Should the construction of the latter be erronious it may be necessary to warn him of it. I therefore request the favor of your sentiments upon the case. I am &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-05-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1376", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Caesar Augustus Rodney, 5 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Rodney, Caesar Augustus\nDept. of State, Feby. 5. 1807.\nThe Secretary of State requests the favor of the opinion of the Attorney General upon the right of the Territorial Governors to remit penalties, and return the enclosed letter from the Governor of Michigan upon which the question arises.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-05-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1377", "content": "Title: From James Madison to John Mullowny, 5 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Mullowny, John\nSir.\nDepartment of State, February 5th. 1807.\nThe enclosed duplicates of a letter to Mr. Skipwith, respecting the case of the ship Catherine are transmitted to you to be forwarded: Its contents will evince that the Department has not the means of satisfying your enquiries. It is however to be expected that the defect will be supplied by the gentleman on the letter reaching his hands. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-05-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1378", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Robert R. Livingston, 5 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Livingston, Robert R.\nSir\nDepartment of State, 5. Feby. 1807.\nHaving written to you some time past, that the papers respecting the claim of William Lewis were not in the possession of the Legation at Paris, you were good enough to promise that you would review your papers, in order to separate such as related to unfinished business of individuals, which it was your intention to forward to Genl. Armstrong. An application lately made respecting Lewis\u2019 case suggests to me the enquiry whether you have done so? With great respect, I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obed. Servt.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-05-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1379", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Roger Griswold, 5 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Griswold, Roger\nSir:\nDepartment of State, Feby. 5th. 1807.\nAgreeably to your request, the form of a bond of indemnity to be executed by Mr. Landell is enclosed. The sureties he gives are to be approved in writing by the Collector, as before signified. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-05-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1380", "content": "Title: From James Madison to William C. Williams, 5 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Williams, William C.\nSir.\nDepartment of State, Feb. 5th. 1807.\nI duly received your letter of the 15th. Ult. The latest intimation of the state of the case of the Friendship, received at this Department, is of the date of August 1805, which suggested, as a caution, not to pay the money until the result of a Chancery suit, instituted against the Agent, should be ascertained. Under such circumstances, it is deemed inexpedient to pay the money to you at present. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-06-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1382", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Daniel Clark, 6 February 1807\nFrom: Clark, Daniel\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nWashington 6th. february 1807.\nI have been requested by the Mayor of the City of New Orleans to apply to you for reimbursement of the Sum of $568 52/100 paid to Monsr. Leuzenau for furnishing materials and making the foot ways in front of the several public Buildings in New Orleans mentioned in the accounts annexed. The Corporation has never pretended to the right of laying a tax on any public Property, but when a Sum has been expended by which it is as much benefitted as if laid out in roofing these Buildings or any other Species of repairs, you will I am persuaded see that it ought to be repaid, especially as many of the public Buildings produce a Rent which never would have been received if the Streets were left unrepaired and the approaches to the Buildings in Question totally neglected.\nShould it be thought more proper to appropriate the Rents to be received in future from any of the public Buildings in New Orleans to the payment of the Expences already incurred, than to make provision for the reimbursement here, an Order to that effect communicated to the Governor to authorise the Corporation to receive the Rents until the present demands are paid, will answer the purpose and the Corporation tho\u2019 it may suffer by the delay will chearfully wait \u2019till the Sum can be received from the Rents of the Buildings themselves. I have the Honor to remain very respectfully Your most obedient Servt.\nDaniel Clark", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-06-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1383", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Charles Coles Claiborne, 6 February 1807\nFrom: Claiborne, William Charles Coles\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nNew Orleans February 6th. 1807.\nI learn that Colo. Burr\u2019s associates are daily arriving in the Mississippi Territory, and that among them are Blannerhasset & Tyler; I learn also, that Aaron Burr has had the address to make many good Citizens believe that he is an innocent & persecuted man, & that the real traitor is General James Wilkinson, whom he (Burr) denounces as \"an Enemy to the U. States, & a Spanish Pensioner\". I must confess, that on the General\u2019s arrival in this City, from Natchitoches, I was not without some suspicions as to his fidelity, & therefore gave him my support with a cautious & in some respects a sparing hand; but my distrust was very soon removed, & I do really feel mortified to find, that notwithstanding the late proofs which he has given of his zealous attachment to his Country, there are some Citizens who seem to view his Conduct as more censurable than that of Colo: Burr\u2019s, whose traitorous designs Wilkinson has opposed, & (in justice I must add) defeated; for I hesitate not to give it as my opinion that if General Wilkinson had not withdrawn his troops from Natchitoches to this City, or its vicinity, and made vigorous measures for defence, New Orleans, would most probably have fallen into the hands of Burr & his adherents.\nThe Territorial Legislature are still in Session; they have not yet passed a single act, & there is little prospect of much business being transacted; the Legislature has given to the Executive no aid in checking the conspiracy, from which, this Territory had so much to apprehend; but those of the Members who sufficiently appreciate the danger, have thus far, opposed successfully opinions & measures, which went to censure the conduct of General Wilkinson & myself, & which would have tended to encrease that division & agitation in the public\u2019 mind, which (altho\u2019 not designed) was well calculated to favour the views of Burr.\nI find by the papers, that my ungenerous & persevering Enemy Mr. Clark has commenced his attack against me; I could have wished to have been present at the Seat of Government & to have answered in person his Charges; But my presence here has been indispensable, & I do hope, that under existing circumstances, the representations of Mr. Clark, will be received cautiously, & not admitted as evidence of my demerit. For nearly three years, I have had no intercourse with Mr. Clark & during that period I have thought that his political conduct in this Territory, was such, which every friend to the U. States should not only discountenance but oppose: Under these impressions-I have seen with regret the ascendency which Mr. C. (by his address, intrigue, & wealth) has acquired over a portion of this Society; But I feel strong in an opinion, that the time will come, when my continued (altho\u2019 in some measure unsuccessful) opposition to the views of this ambitious individual, will be considered by those of my Countrymen, whose good opinion I am desirous to retain, as deserving approbation.\nMy friend Mr. Graham has not arrived; but I find by letters from Kentucky that his time in that quarter, has been usefully employed in developing the views of Burr, and recommending the means best calculated to defeat them.\nMy impression is, that Mr. Burr\u2019s offence was committed in Pensilvania, whether it would be proper to convey him for trial; It seems that at Philadelphia, his plans for the dismemberment of Union, & the invasion of Mexico were determined upon & that from that City he dispatched his various agents, and addressed his letters to General Wilkinson: there I should presume, he should be sent for his trial, & I do hope that this course will ultimately be pursued. \nI am Sir, with great respect, yo: mo: obt. Servt.\nWilliam C. C. Claiborne", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-06-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1384", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Anonymous, 6 February 1807\nFrom: Anonymous\nTo: Madison, James\nA letter of the 6th Feb. 1806 dated at N. Orleans with the post mark of the to a person in the middle states proves that the writer at N. Orleans knew that Burr was then watched by Yrujo, and as long before December, November or October 1805. The letter exists this day, for it has been seen? Yrujo\u2019s prior thereto charge Burr with some design against Spain\u2019s This because he knew it or because knowing some of the design he meant to cover it by such charges. If Yrujo acts under the instance of F. or of F. party in the Spanish Government, he may have known, approved or acquiesced in a plan of making a subconfederate state for F. with Burr at the head, out of the American & Spanish Dominions. It is prudent to think this may be Burr\u2019s plan. A public character here from abroad not Spanish said here last week, \"Your government cannot go on. You must or will have an Emperor. Your government does nothing right. Your foolish negociators might have the Floridas, but they have no capacity With 5 millions of dollars in your treasury they manage badly not obtain the Floridas, when you want them. Every thing is English here. F. is not solicitous to change your Government but you will have another. If Burr had made himself an Emperor his enterprize would be spoken of differently\". You can depend on this language having been held. Some time ago, when Burr was yet in Ohio & Kentucky, and his design was first spoken of, a certain person of information of the same Nation as this public man, and confidential with him, dwelt upon the scheme as one which would produce a Monarchy in the Southwest and which would be the sure introduction of Monarchy throughout these states. This had the air of common conversation; but the person is well informed in the affairs of the government of the public man public man I call now \u0394\u03a0. Our multiplied, diversified, and imperfect jurisdictions favor such enterprizes. The times, the European times produce them. It is safest to believe Burr s scheme is not perfectly developed. Are there any officers with the Spanish army, other than Spanish? Who was the French emissary of Burr to Genl. W. Burr and Genet were closeted here last summer at Richardet\u2019s certainly, as I learned certainly last week. What would an examination of Mr. Eaton as to the Members of Congress bring out? Who were they? Ought they not to be \u201cexamined\u201d? Ought not the other persons to whom Burr communicated to be desired to publish or requested to permit the delivery of the substance to the press? Ought not attention to be paid to the case of a son of a Genl. of ours at Pittsburg engaged with Burr, and provided by his father, if true. If the Government of the U. S. had no suspicion of Burrs designs on Spain or on our S. W. country so far back as Feb. 6, 1806, then it is certain that the Spanish Minister had, and that a person of standing at N. Orleans knew them and before that he was spoken of by the M. de C. Yrujo in Philada. two, three or four months before as connected with Burr, and the Marquis sent him a Message that he must take care for the M. would have been watched. This is certain; & I beleive it was in Octo. 1805, the Message was sent.\nImperious circumstances oblige me to say that all the contents of this paper are in exclusive confidence, with the P. & yourself, as coming from me. I will say who is Delta Pi, and had I not missed the Atty genl. I would have sent the name thro\u2019 him. He was gone three days when I had the declaration of \u0394\u03a0 from an earwitness.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1385", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Thomas Newton, 7 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Newton, Thomas\nSir.\nDepartment of State, February 7th. 1807.\nThe enclosed letter from the Collector of Chester, respecting Edward Herren, containing the most satisfactory proof of his being a Citizen, as well as ample means of confirming it further, if necessary to remove the scruples of Capt. Douglass; it is scarcely possible that he should not be discharged. You will therefore be pleased to apply for him through the British Consul at Norfolk. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1387", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Daniel Addis, 7 February 1807\nFrom: Addis, Daniel\nTo: Madison, James\nHond. Sir,\nNo. 100 So. 4. St. Philada. February 7. 1807\nA Person who claims the protection given to those who are members of the Houshold of Counsuls, Ministers &ca. on account of his being a Clerk to the Marquis De Cassa Yrujo is indebted to a Mr. Henry Eihonst of the State of New York, for whom I am Agent, in a large Sum of money. I have been advised to pursue legal measures for the recovery thereof; but on the one hand while I am anxious to serve my principal I would not willingly contravene the Law of Nations.\nI have, therefore, thought proper to request the favour of you to inform me if the Marquis De Cassa Yrujo is now recognized by the Government of the United States as Minister Plenipotentiary from his Catholic Majesty the King of Spain.\nYour Answer will much Oblige Sir, your Hble Servt.\nDanl. Addis", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1388", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Smith, 7 February 1807\nFrom: Smith, John\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nWashington Feby 7, 1807\nI have the honour to enclose you the copy of a letter from Mr. Lennox dec\u2019d, the late Agent at Kingston, And to suggest the propriety of appointing a Successor. \nI am Sir very respectfully Your most ob Servt.\nJohn Smith", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1389", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Peter Audrain, 7 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Audrain, Peter\nSir.\nDepartment of State, Feby. 7th. 1807.\nI have received your letter of the 11th. ult.. The printed laws of Michegan have been packed up and are on their way to Detroit, if they have not arrived there. Governor Hull has been authorised to procure the seals necessary for the Territory.\nI have directed a copy of the laws of the last session of Congress to be forwarded to you. The proportion intended for the use of the Territory has been packed up in order to their being transported. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1390", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Albert Gallatin, 7 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Gallatin, Albert\nSir.\nDepartment of State, Feby. 7th. 1807.\nBe pleased to cause fifteen thousand dollars, from the fund for foreign intercourse, to be remitted to Sir Francis Baring & Co., the Bankers of this Department in London. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1391", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Gabriel Christie, 7 February 1807\nFrom: Christie, Gabriel\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nCollr\u2019s Office Baltimore 7 feby 1807\nI am sorry to inform you that the Brig Jacob Nichs. W. Easton Master from Bordeaux, on board of which sundry articles were shipped for the President & yourself as appears by the inclosed papers, has been cast away on the coast of North Carolina, where, I am inform\u2019d by the consignee, the cargo will be sold if recovered.\nI have received no particular information respecting your wines &c pr the Betsy since the communication that was made to you on the 27 decr. last, except that the owner of the vessel has given directions to his Agent at Guadeloupe to send them in.I have the Honor to be very respectfully Sir Your mo ob Servt.\nG Christie", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-08-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1393", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Graham, 8 February 1807\nFrom: Graham, John\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nNatchez 8th. Feby 1807\nHaving heared on my way to this Place from Nashville that Colo. Burr had arrived at Bayou Peirre with his Party, and having seen a Copy of Letter which he wrote from that Place to Mr Mead, then acting as Governor, I pushed on as fast as I could, and arrived at Washington on the 30th. Ulto. where I found Colo. Burr. I immediately called on him and told him of the great alarm and agitation which had been exscited in the Western Country by his Movements, and after a short conversation in which I stated in part the Instructions you had given me, invited him to make some Public Declaration of what was his real object. He observed in reply that no Declaration of his would have any effect as he was a Party concerned, that the alarm had been excited by the machinations of his Enemies and that their assertions were not supported by Facts. I gave him to understand that the Government and the great Body of the People were anxious to receive proofs of his Innocence and then left him. The same day I came on to this Place and waited on the Governor to give him a detail of all the Information I had collected on my Journey thro: the western Country and so soon as I could see Judge Rodney I lodged with him under oath a Statement of what I had heared in the Neighbourhood of Marietta. No steps were taken by the Judge in consequence of this Information. Since then however Judge Toulmin has interfered & had Blanerhasset arrested and to morrow I am to appear as a Witness against him. Davis Floyd & Alexr. Ralston both of Kentucky are also arrested and I believe it is the opinion of the Judge that he can send them either to New Orleans or to Kentucky for further trial. They were sent on I am told by Colo. Burr from New Madrid to make enquiries in this Part of the Country & to examine the state of the Fortifications at Fort Adams and Baton Rouge. They let a Doctor Charmichael (formerly of the army) into their Secret and he has lodged an Information against them.\nYou will receive from the Governor a particular account of the Trial (if it can be so called) of Colo. Burr which has ended in a manner that greatly depresses & mortifies all good Freinds of the Government here. For myself I am exceedingly chagrined for I felt that it was due to the Dignity of the Nation that Colo. Burr should be brought to a solemn trial where all the Evidence both for & against him might be brought forward and did all that I could to impress upon the Mind of the Judge the Expediency of sending him on to the Federal City if it could legally be done. It was the opinion of the Attorney for the United States that this might be done and the Governor told me it was his wish that it should be done. I joined the Governor in opinion; but it would seem they were very little informed on the Subject.\nI shall keep this letter open until the Departure of the Mail in hopes that I shall be able to give you the Determination of Judge Toulmin as to Mr Blanerhasset.\nFeby 10th. The Examination of myself and of the Witnesses summonsed on the part of Mr. Blanerhasset, took place at Washington yesterday. The Judge however did not give his opinion so that I am not able to state it to you possatively tho I am induced to think he will order Blanerhasset round to Virginia of which he was an Inhabitant, to take his trial for a violation of the Law of Congress, perhaps for treason. On this Subject I will give you more certain information before I leave this Place. At present it is impossible for the Mail is closed. With Sentiments of the Highest Respect, I have the Honor to be, Sir, Your Mo: obt Servt\nJohn Graham", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-08-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1394", "content": "Title: To James Madison from James Taylor, 8 February 1807\nFrom: Taylor, James\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir \nNew Port Kentucky Feby. 8th. 1807\nJudge Coburn a particular friend of mine & a Matrimonal connection (Mrs. Coburn being a Sister of Mrs. Taylor) has requested me to drop you a line soliciting your aid in the procurement of some appointment in upper Louisiana.\nThe following is an extract of his letter on the subject.\n\"A desire to make some more effectual provision for my increasing family induces me to renew my application to the General Government.\nI have written on to some of our Members requesting some appointment in upper Louisiana; where the probability of health is more flattering than in the Southern Country. I shall be Obliged if you will write to Mr. Madison & Such others as you may think proper & inform them that the extreme dread of the climate of Orleans prevented me from an acceptance of the former appointment\"\nOffice hunting is an unpleasant task; but the attempt is not dishonourable.\nAs to the Judges qualifications I imagine there are few in this State his Superior, but have no doubt but you are perfectly acquainted with his character. Should you wish any further information I refer you to Genl. Sandford & The Honble Mr. Thruston who are both intimately acquainted with them.\nIt is an unpleasant task to trouble you on the score of appointments Knowing that you must be frequently troubled on this subject but from the connection, I could not refuse: And particularly when I reflect that there are few men who merit an appointment in the Judiciary more than Mr Coburn. He has a numerous family (Eight Children) & likely to have several more.\nI believe there has been few Men more arduously engaged in the republican cause than Mr C. It perhaps will not be amiss to observe that he is acquainted with the french language.\nI will now address you on a subject in which I conceive the interest of the U. States is materially concerned. Genl. Dearborn directed Major Martin to remove all the old arms from Fort Washington to the Arsenal in this place. This was done and I think they amount to about 800 a great many of which could be repaired to advantage & with but moderate expence. Would it not be good policy to have these arms repaired by a Small establishment at this place? Capt. Stoddard who now commands the Garrison here has a good many good artificers & others if wanted could be easily procured. I am sure there is no post in the Union that can be supplied with provisions cheaper than this. And from the present aspect of affairs it appears to be good policy to be prepared for War.\nThe Secretary of War at the time he addressed me on the subject of the Site for the Arsenal mentioned that probably a manufactory of arms might at some day be affixed to the establishment.\nI have taken the liberty of suggesting the thing to you in order that you may if you think proper have some conversation with the Secy of War on the subject.\nI hope from the present steps taken by the Executive & Other subordinate Officers Colo. Burr & his adherents, that all his schemes will fail & that they will meet the contempt of the American people generally.\nThe Ohio has been closed with Ice for upwards of three weeks since which nothing has transpired as to Burrs party at this place, & We have not had a Mail from Orleans for three weeks and another is due tomorrow. My brothers family were well a few days ago & our friends generally.\nI pray you Sir to accept with Mrs. Madison Mrs. Taylors & my best respects. I am Dr. Sir with great respect & esteem your friend & Servt.\nJames Taylor", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-09-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1396", "content": "Title: From James Madison to John F. Delaplaine, 9 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Delaplaine, John F.\nSir.\nDepartment of State, February 9th. 1807.\nThe payment of the passage money for the Seaman, mentioned in your letter of the 2d. belongs to the Treasury Department. They will however require a deposition stating that the man was actually landed in the United States, which with the certificate now returned ought to be addressed to the Auditor of the Treasury. I am &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-09-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1397", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Peter Muhlenberg, 9 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Muhlenberg, Peter\nSir.\nDepartment of State, February 9. 1807.\nThe Collector of New York has informed me, that the witnesses in Capt. Whitbey\u2019s case are ready to embark at New York. Should you not have provided another preferable passage it might be best to send your Witnesses to New York to embark. I avail myself of the occasion to impress you with the necessity of their promptly proceeding to England, to prevent their testimony becoming useless by being unseasonable. I am &c. \nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-09-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1398", "content": "Title: From James Madison to David Gelston, 9 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Gelston, David\nSir.\nDepartment of State, February 9th. 1807.\nI have received your letter of the 6th. You will be pleased to forward the dispatches sent under cover to you the day before yesterday by some opportunity different from that of the witnesses. The dispatches however which you receive by this day\u2019s mail you will commit to the care of Capt. Brewster, with a charge to deliver them as soon after his arrival as may be. He may also be made the bearer of some Gazettes for Mr. Monroe. I have no particular directions to give the Witnesses, except to enjoin upon them to lose no time in presenting themselves to Mr. Monroe or to the Court Martial, if they should find it sitting nearer the port of their arrival than London, but in that case to acquaint him of their arrival. I shall be obliged by your stating in a letter to Mr. Monroe, the sums you may advance to the witnesses, respectively, and what is understood to be the allowance they expect. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-10-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1400", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Henry Hill, 10 February 1807\nFrom: Hill, Henry\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nNew York Feby 10th. 1807.\nHaving been absent from the city a few days past, it was not untill this morning I had the honor of receiving your letter of the 4th. Inst., with a commission constituting me agent of the United States for seamen, to reside in the Island of Jamaica, and my passport.\nIt is with sentiments of gratitude I acknowledge, and accept, the favor which the president has been pleased to confer upon me by appointing me to that charge, and I trust I shall execute the duties enjoined upon me by it, with advantage to my country and to the sattisfaction of the Executive.\nThe tenor of the commission differs in some respect from what I expected, as it expresses only an agency for seamen. I am not anxious for emolument of office further than would be sufficient with proper economy to sattisfy the expenses that will be incident to my situation, as it is not from any expectation or desire of pecuniary profit that I have accepted of the appointment; but I am solicitous from regard to personal considerations, that it should be as honorable as is compatible with the interest and views of my government to make.\nI trust I shall not assume any authority not given me by my commission and the nature of my appointment, neither shall I wish to omit any duty that will be incumbent upon me, whereby my country may be benefitted. I am therefore induced to ask, (and I trust I shall be excused for the inquiry) whether the duties of commercial agent will devolve upon me, particularly under the act of congress of the 28th. of Feby. 1803.\nIn the letter I had lately the honor of addressing you, I mentioned my intention of proceeding to Jamaica by way of Havana; but considering the uncertainty of an opportunity from thence to the place of my destination, and the expence and delay, that rout, would occasion me, I now propose to proceed direct to Kingston, in a vessel bound thither to leave this port in 7 or 8 days. Be pleased Sir, to accept the assurances of regard and respect, with which I have the honor to be Sir your mo. ob. servt\nHenry Hill Jr.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-10-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1401", "content": "Title: To James Madison from David Stone, 10 February 1807\nFrom: Stone, David\nTo: Madison, James\nTuesday 10th. Feby 1807\nDavid Stone will leave Washington on his return to North Carolina on Sunday next and expects to be in the neighborhood of the place where the Jacob was wrecked early in the next month. It will give him great pleasure to aid in recovering and forwarding to Mr. Madison his articles on board the Jacob.\nMr Tredwell is Collector at Edenton, Francis Hawks at NewBern. James Taylor the Collector at Ocracock will probably have it more in his power than either of the others to be serviceable if a Letter could reach him in Season D. S. presents Mr. Madison his best respects", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-10-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1402", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Tench Coxe, 10 February 1807\nFrom: Coxe, Tench\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir\nPhiladelphia, Feb. 10. 1807.\nI have the honor to inclose to you an extract from a letter from Silas Dinsmore, Indian agent of the U. S for the Choctaws & Post Master in that quarter, tho I do not know the name of the office. It is dated at Natchez Jany. 4th. and bears the post mark of that place of the 6th. The letter was occasioned by his having some instruments in a ship from London, after mentioning which he concludes the letter with the paragraph inclosed. In several points of view I think it proper confidentially to make it known to you. I hope the writer has not failed to communicate fully to the heads of \nthe two Departments of Indian affairs & of the P. Offe. with which he is by duty connected.\nI would not wish to go beyond the P. and yourself. I have the honor to be in haste yr. respectf. h. Servant\nTench Coxe", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-10-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1404", "content": "Title: To James Madison from George Joy, 10 February 1807\nFrom: Joy, George\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir,\nLondon 10th. Feby: 1807\nI believe I promised you, in my last a transcript of certain marginal Notes on the Pamphlet you were so good as to send me: but besides that copying my own writing is the last of all possible amusements, and my Nephew having been all the time absent; I found the question it treats of drawing to a Conclusion which was not likely to be influenced by any discussion between you and me. I did not hesitate, however, on receipt of your favor of April to communicate to Mr: Fox such part of it as related to the differences between the two Countries; perceiving in the measure a possible promotion of the conciliatory dispositions that it has been my Aim to cultivate, and apprehending, for the reasons set forth in the enclosed, no possible inconvenience from it.\nFrom Mr: Fox, whom I could not see in his illness, and, perhaps ought not to, had he been well, I had, as you will perceive, no written Reply; but I was assured that he manifested to Mr: Monroe the same zeal to maintain the relations of \"harmony and sincere friendship\" that he had ever professed; and in short that he expressed to him his apprehension, his only apprehension, that he should be disposed to grant America too much. I hope the U.S. have lost nothing in the treaty, the terms of which I have never enquired into, by the decease of this truly noble and benevolent, tho\u2019 perhaps imperfect, man. I have not been without my fears that his Colleagues might deal out their Concessions with a sparing hand from the want of his weight of Character to justify them. I think however there is now but little danger of their being shaken. Nous verrons. Would you know the wish of some of the best friends of America here? Tis that faults may be found in the treaty, to a certain extent, on both sides. This they consider a test of reciprocity without which it cannot be lasting. Indeed the mutual Concession that cements a treaty must be expected to call forth objections from the turbulent and captious; but I hope nothing will be found in it so radically wrong as to require deracination.\nBesides the Efforts here referred to, I have taken care to disseminate certain estimates of the proportion of the Proceeds of the Remitances from America to the belligerent nations, which find their way to England, and are applied either directly, or more commonly by the sale of the Proprietors\u2019 Drafts to the Importers in America, to pay for british Manufactures; and for some time, but more especially a short time, before the Treaty was contracted, I took care to promote an enquiry into the British Newfoundland fishery business, so snugly conducted by neutral aid at Boston. I knew one house at Poole that sent 25,000 Quintals the preceeding, and 40,000 the last, season to be sold or reshipped at that port. This to be sure was a large proportion for one house; and the Head of it controuls a great number of Votes for the 2 Members who are of course his friends; so that the truth of the information was very easily confirmed. Indeed as I knew what the Result must be, I preferred promoting the Enquiry to placing it in the shape of direct information. The rocking of this Cradle for the nursery of the vital strength of Britain: (for I was apprized on a visit to Poole that the ships took out even more green hands (Landsmen) than the Law enjoined:), and the increasing difficulty of getting the fish to Market from England, which had already induced the Owners in several instances to forego the Bounty 3/ . Pr Quintal here (being 20 Pr Ct: on its present value) and incur the foreign Duty with us: these Considerations, I thought, could not fail to influence the discussion; which by the way I found so sluggish that I feared I should be obliged to enlist as fifth Commissioner. Whether Mr: Monroe or Mr: Pinkney made use of the Fish Argument or not I do not know. It did not appear to me important that they should; and the inclination of my own opinion was that it would operate more favorably derived to the administration here thro\u2019 a home Channell; besides I have carefully abstained from all intercourse with these Gentlemen, that in case of interrogatory, I might aver that my Suggestions did not originate with them. I know, however, that they were furnished by my friend Mr: Williams with corresponding, (not literal), estimates of the influx of wealth to this Country from our trade with the other Belligerents. Par Parenth\u00e8se, I dont believe we had the best advantage in the Negotiation from the Non importation Bill. You know I am in the habit of giving you my opinion without Reserve. Under the Change of administration it was, I apprehended, worse than useless. The immediate Negotiators could not but see in it a Weapon in the hands of the opposition to inflict them with the Charge of timidity; and the haughty spirit of this people is hard to subdue even by an appeal to their Interest. These interpositions of temper in the struggle for the Empire of reason, which is not without its advocates in this Country, tend powerfully to retard it\u2019s progress. But let that pass. We have our speculations here of the next Presidency; and are told that Randolph is endeavouring to set up Mr: Monroe in opposition to you. Mr. Monroe \u201cwill sooner be a Constable\u201d, of this you may be assured. This reminds me of the scanty provision for the official Characters of the United States, wch. I cannot but consider reproachful in every point of view: it is hostile to the first principles of elective Government, by circumscribing the numbers from wch. it\u2019s members can possibly be chosen: it is not warranted by the poverty or distress of the Country, for there is no Country on earth so flourishing; it is prejudicial to the true principles of independence, which can only be maintained in equilibrio between the public functionary and the rest of the Community: but by a Parsimony, the reverse of economy, the Man that promotes and maintains the prosperity of the Country is the only one that does not enjoy it. I hope if you succeed to the Presidency you will not seek an unworthy popularity by a shew of savings, which, however formidable in figures, would scarcely amount to a Cent Pr Head on the Population; and be cheerfully paid by that Class of the Community on which it would fall: a false appearance of things at which sound Policy and Justice equally revolt. I never heard Mr: Monroe complain but I cannot but contemplate him as occupied in calculating whether it be cheaper to buy or jobb his Horses; when he should be perched on a Sofa ruminating on the means of carrying a political point; or consulting a large and expensive library for authorities to obviate a false Axiom. I\u2019ll venture to say that a Bachelor with his Curricle and Groom will rarely bring the year round with three fourths of Mr: Monroe\u2019s salary. And what is Mr: Pinkney to do, with his family? I think Mr: Jefferson cannot do a better thing on retiring from Office than to place this subject in it\u2019s true light. Profusion is at all times to be avoided: it tends to lassitude and Corruption; but the Man who devotes himself to the public should derive at least equal Emolument from them with what he could obtain elsewhere, for it is inconsistent with the spirit of a free people to be fettered with the Idea of obligation for services unrequited, or inadequately compensated. With sincere Esteem and Respect, I rest, Dear Sir, Your friend & Servt:\nGeo: Joy\nMy address is No. 7 Old Broad Street: but Letters simply addressed to me in London will always find me.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-12-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1405", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Charles Willing Byrd, 12 February 1807\nFrom: Byrd, Charles Willing\nTo: Madison, James\nMy dear Sir\nBrandon 12th. of Feb 1807\nA bill, as you probably know, has passed the Senate this session, entitled \"an Act establishing circuit courts and abridging the jurisdiction of the district courts, in the districts of Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio,\" and it appears that a committee in the lower house to whom the bill was referd, have reported their agreement to the same with sundry amendments. It seems probable that this bill, the details of which I have not yet seen, will be enacted into a law, and that circuit Judges will be created under it (one two or more) and that there will be a consequent appointment by the President and Senate.\nWill you do me the favor to mention my name to the Executive as an applicant for a seat on the bench of that court? You will perhaps remember (and if you do not I shall always recollect it with pleasure and gratitude, at least I was so informed) that you were instrumental in procuring for me the appointment I now hold of Judge of the district of Ohio. This circumstance does not furnish an apology for the liberty I have taken with you on the present occasion, but it will account for my intrusion upon your time and attention. I am with every sentiment of respectful consideration your most ob servt,\nCharles Willing Byrd.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-13-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1406", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Tobias Lear, 13 February 1807\nFrom: Lear, Tobias\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nTunis, February 13th. 1807.\nIn consequence of the arrangement made with this Regency, in pursuance of the Instructions which I have had the honor of receiving from you under date of the 7th. of June 1806, &c. (a particular detail of wch negotiation and arrangement is given in my letter to you of the 25th. of January) I have found it necessary to draw upon Wm. Higgins Esqr. of Malta, for money to pay the reimbursement made to the Bey for his Cruizer and her two Prizes, The freight & demurrage of the Ship two Brothers, Chartered at Boston by Order of the Government of the United States, and to furnish funds for the Expences of the Consulate here, as well as at Tripoli, during the residence of Dr. Ridgely at that place.\nIn order to cover these drafts upon Mr. Higgins, and to leave some money in his hands for future contingencies in these Regencies, I have this day drawn upon you, in his favor, for ten thousand Dollars, in two Setts of Exchange of five thousand dollars each, dated February 12th. & 13th: 1807. Each set in Six bills, Vizt. 1t. 2d. 3d. 4t. 5t. & 6t., which I pray you will honor, and pass the same to Account. With sentiments of the highest Respect And most Sincere Attachment, I have the honor to be Sir, Your Most Obedt. Servt.\nTobias Lear.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1410", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Lee, 14 February 1807\nFrom: Lee, William\nTo: Madison, James\n(Private) duplicate.\nSir,\nBordeaux Feby 14: 1807.\nI beg leave to transmit you herewith copy of a correspondence, relating to a very ridiculous letter written by a thoughtless young man by the name of Hackpole of Boston, and made public by the inconsiderate Mr. I. C. Barnet. I should not have troubled you Sir with this pitiful affair had it not been suggested to me in a letter I have this day received from a respectable friend of mine at Paris, that the contents of that letter were calculated to make an unfavorable impression at Washington by creating an impression, that I had been, (in the true spirit of a new England-man) trying to barter away my office: Permit me therefore to assure you that I was totally a thousand francs in the whole Empire.\nIn calling your attention to such trifling affairs as these I always feel as if I was doing wrong and I have twenty times since my residence in this City, omitted addressing you on subjects of this nature infinitely more interesting to me, from a fear of trespassing on your valuable time and of being ranked with those Colleagues of mine, who are always tormenting Government with their silly complaints and details of Office. With the highest respect I have the honor to remain your obliged and obedient Servant\nWm Lee", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1412", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Timothy Pickering, 14 February 1807\nFrom: Pickering, Timothy\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nCity of Washington Feby. 14. 1807.\nI have just received from your office a letter covering a copy of one dated the 10th instant from the French Minister, relative to the claims of the owners of the vessels detained by the Ship of War L\u2019Eole; by which they are referred to the French Consul at Baltimore to obtain the adjustment of those claims. Having no documents in my possession, I must request you to send me those which were forwarded to you by Mr. Joseph Swasey & Daniel Rogers owners of the Schooner to which Mr. Swasey refers me. Furnished with these, I will employ some person at Baltimore to pursue the claim of those Gentlemen. And in the hope that the settlement may be made by the time Congress shall rise, & that I may obtain the sum allowed, to carry on to my neighbours Swasey & Rogers, I shall be obliged by your transmitting to me the documents immediately.\nAs besides the injury from the delay of settlement for six months, those gentlemen have already incurred the expence of sending their captain to this city for the sole purpose of obtaining their dues, will it not be perfectly equitable, that they should be allowed the whole of these expences, and the charges in procuring the legal documents to support their demand? I am &c \nT. P.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1414", "content": "Title: To James Madison from George Davis, 14 February 1807\nFrom: Davis, George\nTo: Madison, James\n(No. 1. Triplicate.)\nSir,\nLeghorn 14. February 1807.\nA circular letter from Commodore Campbell dated Gibraltar December 20th. was received here on the 19. ultimo, intimating the possibility of a rupture between the United States, and the Bey of Tunis, and recommending to the Captains of American merchantmen to remain in port until further information was received; the general anxiety is not yet quelled as we have heard nothing from Tunis since that period.\nI hoped before this time to have received some answer from the Commodore to my letter of the 20th. of November of which I had the honor to inclose you a copy. As I am without any information & his visiting this place is most uncertain, it only remains for me to return to the original plan of chartering some vessel for Tripoli. I have in consequence made an arrangement with the Captain of an American Vessel now at Marseilles, who is to touch at this port in ten or twelve days, for the purpose of placing myself and family at Tripoli, and, his compensation will be left to the decision of some merchant of this place.\nThe commerce of the United States in the Mediterranean, particularly with this port, has increased so considerably, as to induce me to offer the enclosed note of the imports direct from the United States for the last year.\nIn the year 1805 the number of vessels from the United States were estimated at 116, and the amount of the Imports at two millions and a half of dollars in 1806. There were 170 Sail; and the amount of merchandise is fixed at something less than four millions of Dollars. With high respect & Consideration, I have the honor to be, Sir, Your Mo: Obt. servt.\nGeorge Davis\nImportations from the United States from 1. January 1806 to 4. November same year.\n82,000 Quintals Sugars\n5,942,000 lbs Coffee\n2,85,000 lbs Pepper\n350,000 pieces Nankeen\n920,000 lbs Cocoa\n410 Hogsheads of Rum\n82,000 lbs. Cassia\n19,150 Quintals Codfish\n387 Hhds Tobacco\n379 Tons Logwood.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-15-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1416", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Thomas Truxtun, 15 February 1807\nFrom: Truxtun, Thomas\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nPhiladelphia 15th Feby. 1807\nI am Sure you will excuse the liberty I take in writing You this letter, because I know you can Appreciate My Motives in doing it. Being a Considerable holder of Insurance Stocks, I have pretty accurate Means of Ascertaining the State of our commercial concerns, tho in No other way Concerned in adventures beyond the Sea. Sometime Subsequent to Berkeleys Outrageous order and the Consequent Attacks on the Chesapeake, an Estimate was made, as You know I presume, of our Oriental risks, Namely, risks beyond the Cape of Good Hope, and it was found that we had nearly 28.000000 of dollars out. Since then those risks by arrivals have been reduced Considerably, but it is beleived we have Yet at hazard from the various ports of the U.S., between this Country & the ports of India & Canton, 17.000000, which with other property on ye. ocean, (Subject to the depredations of French Cruizers, if they Should Act immediately on the decree of Bonaparte of the 17th. of December) is immence, and if that decree has arrived at Gaudeloupe & is acted on, the privateers that will be dispatched to windward of that Groupe of Islands, may fall in with a large portion of our Most valuable Ships, None of which Are Sufficiently Armed & maned, I fear, to make a probable Successful defence, against Cruisers prepared for war;\nUnder these considerations, without dwelling on Others of importance touching the Subject, I merly Suggest to You, and for the perusal of the President of the US, that Such of our vessels of war as are equipt & ready for Sea, if Sent to Cruize in the Trail of our return Asiatic Traders, might fall in, cover and protect them, without Molestation to any flag, while on this Service, Unless Ordered by the Government in case of other events. And for the greater Security of this immence property which with our exposed Seamen (a part of the great Sinews of war) only our Corvet\u2019s dispatched to the cape of Good Hope immediately would probably arrive there in April, and by leaving Circular letters for the Masters Calling at that place on their return home, would Apprize them of their danger from the belligerents. This vessel Should Sail again instantly for St. Helena and leave More Circulars there, and Afterwards Cruize So as to fall in with Such Ships or vessels as may Not put in to either of these places. Much of the property thus perilously Situated, with our Seamen, would by such a plan probably escape the Clutches of a hostile Cruizing foe, Should there be a real danger of Surprize or Sudden war.\n Some of our vessels will Not pass that promontory of Africa, till June or July.\nIf the Masters of our vessels returning from the Cape of Good Hope and beyond it were thus Apprized of danger in the Usual route, they would ward off that danger in a great degree, by keeping far to the Eastward of the Common Tract.\nThe News of this day from New York Which gives an Account of Bonaparte\u2019s Mandate, Aforesaid, is Contained in a letter from the very respectable house of Cromelin of Amsterdam (a house well known to Me) and has excited great Sensation Among the Adventurous Merchants, and Must plead My Apology for the trouble I give you by this letter. I have the honor to be Sir Respectfully Your very Obt Servant,\nThomas Truxtun.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-15-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1417", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Armstrong, Jr., 15 February 1807\nFrom: Armstrong, John, Jr.\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nParis 15 February 1807\nI had the honor of receiving your letters of the 10th. of november and 10th. and 23d. of december 1806.\nThe late movements of the Spanish troops in Louisiana afford a sufficient motive for renewing my application to this Government on the subject of our controversy with Spain, but the application itself was necessarily Suspended till the 5th. instant. I did not wish it to find the Emperor under circumstances which could be made to furnish either a ready, or a reasonable apology, for not acting upon it. The 5th. of March is the earliest day on which I expect an answer.\nIt would appear that russian mission had failed. Austria will not lend herself to Napoleons project of saving Turkey either by permiting him to traverse Galicia or by declaring against Russia.\nMetternich the Austrian Ambassador at this Court has demanded his pass-ports for Vienna. Whether his motive to this step was of a public or private nature, I do not know, but be this as it may, the pass-ports were refused.\nAmidst all her military glory and triumphs the perspective of France is not flattering.\nJohn Armstrong\nI have been told that no answers have been given to the letters of foreign ministers here since the Battle of Eylau (the 11 Ult) This is perhaps owing to the occupation given to the Emperor\u2019s attentions by interests more touching than those arising out of the relations of friendly Powers. Another reason for it may be M. de Talleyrand\u2019s seperation from the tho\u2019 this is at , the Minister is at Warsaw, but on the point of moving, and it is whispered, to Berlin. Very different conclusions are drawn from this fact. Some think it indicates peace, which would appear to be the of the Court, or what is found of it, at Paris, while others consider it as the first Step towards France. I have written another Note to the Minister on the 4 of March,", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-16-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1418", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Daniel Addis, 16 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Addis, Daniel\nSir.\nDepartment of State, February 16. 07.\nIn answer to your letter of the 7th. I have to state that the public character of the Marquis of Casa Yrujo is so far unchanged, as to leave, to his Domestics and Domestic Servants, the privileges, which under certain limitations, they derive from that situation, by the law of nations, to their persons & their property. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1419", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Joseph Browne, 17 February 1807\nFrom: Browne, Joseph\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nSt Louis Febry. 17th. 1807\nThe excitement which appears to have created so much interest in the United States and particularly in the western Country, has not been wanting in influence in this Territory. Alarms are generally increased in proportion to the distance from correct information, our last advices from the Seat of Government are at least six Weeks old, and those from New Orleans more than two months; situated as this Territory therefore is, it may well be imagined that surmises which are only whispered as probable at first soon become propagated, as fear or hope may affect the narrator, into undoubted facts, and the public mind is kept in a continual state of agitation--I have taken much pains to repress those false reports, which I hope have had some influence in tranquilising it--I have the Honor to inclose you a copy of an address which has been presented to me, and the answer returned to it, as elucidative of public opinion, & the State of the Territory--and beg leave to assure you of my attachment to the Goverment of the United States, my devotedness to the Executive of it, and of the great respect and esteem with which I have the honor to be your most humble Servant\nJoseph Browne", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1420", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Robert Smith, 17 February 1807\nFrom: Smith, Robert\nTo: Madison, James\nNavy Department 17 feb. 1807\nBy direction of the President of the United, Commre. Saml. Barron was on the 6th. Octr 1806, directed to proceed to the place where the Impeteux was destroyed for the purpose of ascertaining whether she had been destroyed within the jurisdictional limits of the United States. This Service was performed by him & I believe you are in possession of the result of his enquiries.\nThe commre. now asks remuneration for the expences he was necessarily subjected to in executing the orders above mentioned. As the Navy Department can not, with propriety, pay such expences, I have referred commre. Barron to the Department of State, & I make this Statement to you to confirm the propriety of his claim. I am with great respect Sir yr mo obt St\nRt. Smith", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1421", "content": "Title: To James Madison from George Howell, 17 February 1807\nFrom: Howell, George\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nSpruce & 4th Streets Philada. 17th. Feby. 1807\nFinding that I could not procure the honor of an answer to my repeated demands in Justice, & apprehending that it might be deemed below the dignity of the Chiefs of Government to reply to an accused, I requested my friend Doctr. W. Shippen a Gentleman known for every point of View, to be entitled to attention from his great consideration, & respectable standing to address you. He accordingly did. He informed me yesterday, however, that he was without the honor of an answer though more than 15 days had elapsed. I cannot conceive how you have granted such respect & confidence to a secret communication which would in no respect have been admissible in our own Country even, & totally inadequate to have authorized what has been done against me! Can such a charge derive more sanctity from coming from abroad? Certainly not. Can the information of a malicious person, given to a spy, & neither of them known, because a foreign Minister thinks proper to credit it, be authority for depriving an American Citizen, of his liberty, property, or reputation God, forbid it.\nI hope Sir that you will have the goodness to look more into this reasoning, than I fear you have done, knowing your great regard to Justice. The result certainly goes to prove that the accusation is false as it is near 18 months since I left Paris, & no symptom of executing this plan has appeared.\nI have requested Mr. Joel Barlow to call on you for such information & explanations as are necessary. I pray you to cause them to be given, & that such measures may be taken as are necessary to terminate this unpleasant business. I want no other reparation than what I have asked, namely to place me in the situation I was in before your circular letter of March last was issued. You cannot certainly refuse this piece of Justice, as a man is always Innocent till the Contra is proved. I invoke this solemn principle of Law, while I have the honor to be yours respectfully\nG. Howell", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-18-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1425", "content": "Title: To James Madison from David Montagu Erskine, 18 February 1807\nFrom: Erskine, David Montagu\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nI have the Honor to acknowlidge the receipt of your letter of the th Inst. respecting John White, who is stated to be an American Citizen, now detained on board His Majesty\u2019s Ship Elephant, & about to undergo a Trial by Court Martial for Desertion.\nI will immediately forward an application to the admiral on the Jamaica Station, to suspend this trial until the facts stated can be investigated; but I much fear that it must arrive too late, as it appears his Trial was to have taken place in August last. With the highest Respect & Consideration I have the Honor to be Sir Your most obedt. Servt.\nD. M. Erskine", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-18-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1426", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Henry Hill, 18 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Hill, Henry\nSir.\nDepartment of State, 18 Feb. 1807.\nI enclose a new certificate of your appointment, embracing commercial concerns. In strictness you cannot, under this, exercise the functions of a legal commercial Agent or Consul, without the concurrence of those, whose interests are directly affected by your acts, but it is nevertheless believed that you may render valuable services to your fellow Citizens, trading to the Island, or whose property may be sent thither by the British Cruizers, by the opportunities you may find of interposing for their benefit. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-19-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1427", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Waln and Davy Fitz-Simmons, 19 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Fitz-Simmons, Waln and Davy\nGentlemen.\nDepartment of State, Feb. 19. 1807.\nA communication, made this day by the President to Congress, of a correspondence between our Minister at Paris, and the French Minister of Marine, respecting the Imperial Decree of the 21st: of Novr. last, renders it unnecessary for me to return you any other answer, than a referrence to it, with the observation, that I have written to the Minister Plenipotentiary of France, in this City, a request to forward, to the French Agents in the West Indies, such explanations of the decree, as may prevent errors, which might arise from misconstructing the general terms in which it is expressed. With this request he has intimated, that he will comply. I am &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-20-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1428", "content": "Title: From James Madison to John Armstrong, Jr., 20 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Armstrong, John, Jr.\nSir,\nDepartment of State Feby 20th. 1807\nI inclose the sequel of the information respecting Mr Burr\u2019s enterprize as communicated to Congress yesterday whereby you will perceive that he has surrendered himself to the Civil authority of the Mississippi Territory. I have the honor to be with great respect, Sir, your most Obt. Svt.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-20-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1429", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Charles Coles Claiborne, 20 February 1807\nFrom: Claiborne, William Charles Coles\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nNew Orleans 20th. Feby. 1807.\nPrevious to the receipt of this letter, you will have heard of the escape of Col. Burr from the Mississippi Territory, and of the reward offered by Governor Williams for his apprehension.\nThe reports are variant as to the course Colo: Burr may pursue in his flight. One conjecture is, that he is making to the sea Coast, & from thence to Europe; another, that he has gone to the City of Washington, with a view to challenge enquiry; a third that he is concealed in the vicinity of Natchez, & awaiting the arrival of a greater number of his followers, and a fourth that he has sought & found an Asylum at B\u00e2ton Rouge. I had myself supposed this latter conjecture the most probable; but a friend of mine who has been in the Spanish Service, arrived from B\u00e2ton Rouge on yesterday, & assures me that Burr is not there, nor would he now receive the protection of the Spanish Government; on the contrary, my friend gives me his honor, that he perused a letter from the Spanish minister Yrugo to Governor Folch in which Burr is mentioned to be full of deception, & his real views represented to be hostile to Spain. The Letter is said to have reached B\u00e2ton Rouge a few days since, & that courriers with dispatches from Yrugo, had proceeded to the interior Provinces of Mexico.\nThe District Court here is now engaged in trying Indictments which have been found against Lewis Kerr and James Workman for seting on foot an expedition against the dominions of Spain. In Kerr\u2019s Case, a Jury has been impanelled; but after being kept together for three or four days and not agreeing, were discharged, & another trial is to to take place on this day. Workman & Kerr are not the only persons implicated in this business; It seems that there lately existed at this place a Mexican association whose proceedings were secret and the members bound by an Oath. In this association there were several persons, whose Standing in society was the most respectable; Doctor Watkins the Mayor of New Orleans, is of the number; I have heretofore esteemed the Doctor an amiable & useful Citizen; But unless he can rescue his character from the reproach to which it is now subjected, painful as it may be to me, my confidence in him shall be withdrawn for ever.\nYour Letter in Cypher under date of the 12th. of Jany last has been received, and I will make every exertion to obtain for you the desired information.\nI have good reason to believe that Yrugo the Spanish Minister, under an impression that Burr\u2019s sole object was the division of the American Union, did give countenance and aid to the Traitor; I am told by a person, attached to the Spanish Service, that Yrugo (early in the last year) advised the Governors of Havanna, Pensacola & B\u00e2ton Rouge of the designs of Burr, and that Folch & Grand Pr\u00e9, were advised to place at the disposition of Burr such cannon, muskets & ammunition as they could conveniently Spare; my informant gives it as his opinion, that had Burr appeared before Baton Rouge three weeks ago, the fort would immediately have been surrendered to him; but that Yrugo\u2019s last dispatches had given much alarm to the Spanish agents, & had put them upon their guard against the Traitorous adventurer. I am Sir, with great respect yo: mo: Obt. Servt.\nWilliam C. C. Claiborne", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-21-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1433", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Stanley Griswold, 21 February 1807\nFrom: Griswold, Stanley\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nMichigan Territory, Detroit, 21st. February 1807.\nIn the ordinance of Congress of the 13th. July 1787, is the following passage describing the duties of the territorial Secretary: \"It shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the public records of the District, and the proceedings of the Governor in his executive department.\"U. S. laws, vol. 2, page 560.\nAgreeably to the first and the last members of this passage, I have kept and preserved the acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the proceedings of the Governor in his executive department; but have nothing in my keeping other than these, or any thing which might be intended by the middle clause, viz. \"the public records of the District.\" If Deeds of land, Wills &c. be intended, I have to inform, that this legislature have appointed other depositories for these. If the Journals of the legislature be embraced in any of the above clauses, I beg to be empowered by you to call for them. In short, if the course which has been pursued should in your judgment fall short of the full and exact intent of the passage above quoted from the Ordinance, I shall expect your instructions.\nWhile writing, I will just say, it is reported here, that our legislature have adopted the late patriotic Law of Ohio respecting conspirators against the public safety, tho\u2019 with a modification, it is said, of the amount of bail to be required. It is further added, that they ordered their Clerk immediately to make out and transmit a Copy to Government, probably to your office. I have to inform you, that no such Law has been deposited in my office, nor any information transpired from the board to me that such a law exists: I have not seen the original, nor examined, or compared, or certified, or seen any Copy. If it exist, it is yet a secret law, nor am I able to give any information of its provisions (as adopted) to the numerous applicants who are in the habit of repairing to my office for knowledge of the territorial laws. The motion at the legislative Board for their Clerk to transmit a copy to government, I am told, came from Judge Woodward. I hope this gentleman does not intend (before he has the sanction of Congress) to reduce to practice the idea he uttered publicly in open board last fall, that the office of territorial Secretary ought to be abolished as an unnecessary appendage to this government, and an useless expence to the public.\nIt gives me pain, Sir, to inform of these things; but I conceive that I should be wanting in duty, not to do it. Nor can I refrain from assuring you, that the people of this Territory are much discouraged, and that some of its most valuable citizens, true friends of the American government and Union, are resolved to leave it, for which they are now making preparations, and they openly and unreservedly avow the cause of doing so. I have the honor to be, with great respect, Sir, Your most obedient, and very humble Servant,\nStanley Griswold\nP. S. I was lately informed by Doctor Mitchill of the U. S. Senate, that a committee was appointed to enquire into the causes of failure in the regular returns from the territorial Secretaries, and that I was said to be in arrears. I immediately forwarded to his care an affidavit of my own, together with the certificates of the Postmasters here, which I hope have been received.\nS. G.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-22-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1434", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Brown, 22 February 1807\nFrom: Brown, John\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nSenate Chamber 22d. Feby. 1807\nThe Bearer is one of the Swiss Emigrants who have commenced the culture of the Vine in Kentucky & on the Banks of the Ohio. He requests to have the honor of presenting to you in testimony of their respect, a sample of Wine made by them last Autumn at their Vineyard in Kentucky. Yo mo ob Ser\nJ. Brown", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1435", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William MacCreery, 23 February 1807\nFrom: MacCreery, William\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nWashington 23 February 1807\nWhen the law to prohibit intercurse with the Island of St. Domingo was passed last Session, the consequences of it were foreseen by many; and that none of those consequences cou\u2019d in any degree gratify the wishes or expectations of France or of this Country, was predicted.\nThe entire trade of that island is now at the disposal of G. Brit: and the immense proffits arrising from buying and selling near 40. Millions pounds of coffee annualy, will be no triffling aid in carrying on War against France.\nAn administration composed, as I believe that of France has been of late, chiefly of Military men; can be convinced by experience only, of the propriety or impropriety of any commercial regulation; and although such an argument might have had little effect last Year, I think it ought to have full weight now. They certainly can have no repugnance to our participation in the trade of that Island at present.\nI am aware that other considerations had their influence in the passing of this law. The Southern States were alarm\u2019d at the example of trading with people of that description: But as this trade can be carried on by us by permission of France only, it will be chearfully relinquished whenever that Nation shall be in a situation to resume it; and as to any evils that can possibly arrise to the Southern States during the War, they appear to me to be totaly chimerical.\nOur Merchants have heretofore submitted chearfully to the privation of this valuable branch of commerce, because not only our own Government, but that of a friendly Nation thought that good policy required the measure: but experience having in their minds, and in mine, fully proved the contrary they now entertain a hope that the President will, \u2019ere long, see cause to permit a free trade with that Island.\nThe receipt of several letters from some of my constituents on this subject, has induced me to obtrude this letter; and, I take the further liberty to ask the favor of an answer, when your convenience may allow it. I have the honor to assure of my perfect respect; and am Sir Your most obedt Servt.\nWm. MacCreery", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1436", "content": "Title: From James Madison to James Machir, 23 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Machir, James\nSir.\nDepartment of State, Feb. 23d. 1807.\nIn answer to your letter of the 4th. inst., I have to state that a patent for 1000 acres, issued to Samuel Haws, appears to have been delivered to Anthony New Esqr., but whether it is that to which you refer is uncertain. With respect to the papers lodged for patents in the name of Fenn, the claim of assignments is imperfect, there being none from Smith to Marshall, and that from Fenn to Smith is so defective as to be of very doubtful effect. Fenn has moreover, since given a power of Attorney to Mr. L. G: Martin to obtain patents on the same survey\u2019s. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1437", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Louis Fousard, 23 February 1807\nFrom: Fousard, Louis\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir\nPhiladelphia 23d. of. febr 1807\nGive me leave to introduce to your acquaintance Mr. Fr\u00e9mon the bearer of this letter; he is very particularly recommended to Mr. Beaujour our Consul G\u00e9n\u00e9ral, and has been for many years an inhabitant of the United States. I presume he has the intention of making an application to the President, and to yourself, for a Situation in the West India, which a French Representative would not think himself authorised to support, as their Government do not acknowledge any foreign Agent in their Colonies. But, Sir, would you think it necessary to collect more information of the private character of Mr. Fr\u00e9mon, on your application to Mr. Beaujour, he would very cheerfully confirm what I do assure you, that from his conduct in this country, and the friends which he has acquired, he is deserving of any favour the President & yourself will think proper to confer upon him.\nI avail myself of this opportunity to present my respectful Compliments to Mrs. Madison & to your self. I am with respect Dear Sir your most obedt. & very hble. Servt.\nLouis Fousard", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1438", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Henry Hill, 23 February 1807\nFrom: Hill, Henry\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nNew York feby 23d. 1807.\nI have the honor to acknowledge the recpt. of your letter of 18th. currt. with a new certificate of my appointment, and to enclose herewith the one I had before recd.\nYou have conferrd upon me Sir, increased honors, and strengthened my obligations to the Executive and my country; I hope and trust I shall acquit myself however, in my new duties, to the sattisfaction of the president and yourself, & to the advantage of my fellow-citizens. I have the honor to be, Sir, very respectfully Your mo. ob. Servt.\nHenry Hill Jr.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1439", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Robert Williams, 23 February 1807\nFrom: Williams, Robert\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nWashington (M. T:) Feby. 23d. 1807.\nOn my arrival here about four weeks ago, I found the publick mind much agitated on the Subject of Colo: Burr\u2019s Conspiracy even to a degree which tended to intercept private intercourse and the harmony of society. This I must say, however, was not owing so much to any disposition to favour the improper Views attributed to him, and his party, as from a dislike to some of the measures which had been taken relative thereto in this and our Neighbouring Territory.\nThe arrest and transportation of persons from the Territory of Orleans by the Military authority in despite of the Civil, and the Writ of habeas Corpus, the alter of Civil liberty, the issuing of warrants by General Wilkinson to private individuals as well as to officers of the Army and Navy to seize Colo. Burr and others Suppos\u2019d to be of his party, within the Territory and Convey them off without the least interposition of the Civil authority. The agreement made with Colo. Burr on his approach to this Territory, by the Secretary at the same time that a Considerable part of the Militia was order\u2019d out and Ready to prevent his progress. The Summoning of a grand Jury by Judges Rodney and Bruin to appear at a Court (which evidently had no Jurisdiction) the binding over Colo. Burr to appear at that Court without any previous examination so as to ascertain the Nature of his offense and where it might be Cognizable, all these things tended to harrass the people and inflame the publick mind so as to Make them Ready to loose sight of the Real object in View. The consequences were that the grand Jury having No charge Preferrd against Colo. Burr or any one, took upon themselves after being detained three days to present most of these measures and to make a Negative presentment as to Colo. Burr, a Copy of which I inclose Mark\u2019d No. 1.\nAlthough at a time like the present and under existing Circumstances this was certainly impolitick Coming from So Respectable a part of the Community as Composed this grand Jury, Not so much as to any effect it might produce here as to that which it might have abroad and at a distance, where their motives and inducements May be less known and understood. It affords, however, an additional proof of what I have ever discover\u2019d to be the disposition of the people of this Territory (with a very few exceptions) that they are well attached to their Government, understand its principles, and wish to Support them inviolate. It is true they may be under a temporary error to which all are liable, but no people are more disposed to regard, and yield to Moderation and Reason.\nAfter the grand Jury was discharged Colo. Burr absented himself from the Court, and was Called out on his Recognizance. I have issu\u2019d a proclamation for his apprehension Which I also inclose mark\u2019d No. 2.\nI feel it my duty, also, to mention that the publick Confidence in the measures which had been taken, was much weakened in Consequence of an unhappy disagreement which had taken place between General Wilkinson and Mr. Mead the Secretary of this Territory. I have not as yet been made acquainted with all the grounds of their disagreement So as to authorise an opinion. Perhaps the Superior Station and experience of the one, and the Juvenal pride and Jealousy of the other may have had a greater agency in this, than Just Causes. However So it was that, whilst the General Seem\u2019d little dispos\u2019d longer to Consult any aid or authority eminating from the Secretary, he in return Spared no pains to render the General and his acts unpopular.\nThis I could not but think at the present Crisis improper and impolitick and have afforded my influence against it.\nA few days after Colo. Burrs escape, a Small billet in the handwriting of Mr. Burr was taken from a Negro boy belonging to a Dr. Cumming of this Territory; the boy was going under a pass from his Master to where Burr\u2019s boats had lain (about 16. or 17. Miles above Natchez) but which that day had been brought Hither by my order. This apparently hostile billet was conceal\u2019d in the Cape of a coat the boy wore a copy of \nNothing in or about them, more than is Common to the most ordinary trading boats, laden with the Customary productions of the upper Country, except there were Some more than an ordinary number of hands. The owners have had the privilege of disposing of their boats and property in the usual manner and the hands have either Return\u2019d or dispersed through the Country pursuing their Various Occupations, and Render\u2019d intirely harmless as to their power to act, and I believe Many of them were innocent, but have been induced under a Variety of pretensions Calculated to meet the necessitius situations, Views and talents of each.\nMy wish was to have these men Committed to Some district where they might be tried with More Safety as Regards Jurisdiction, overt acts they may have Committed, and the obtaining of testimony against them, but Judge Rodney has not thought the testimony Sufficient to warrant Such a Commitment, although Judge Toulman was of a different opinion, and Committed them accordingly, but Judge Rodney brought them up before him by Writs of habeas Corpus and discharged them on the ground of Judge Toulman\u2019s having no Jurisdiction in this part of the Territory. Judge Rodney then took Cognizance of them himself and Committed them as above Stated.\nPending these occurrences I recd. two letters from Colo. Burr Copies of which I inclose together with my answer mark\u2019d No. 4. 5. 6 These letters were handed me by one of the Genlmen of Council for Colo. Burr, who said they were left at his house by a person unknown to him with a line addressed to himself from Mr. Burr requesting him to deliver the letters immediately, and informing him when he might have an answer. He assur\u2019d me upon his honor that he did not know where Mr. Burr was. I shew\u2019d this genlman the letters and my answer which I deliver\u2019d him. He said he expected Mr. Burr would Surrender himself to the law.\nI believe and it is the opinion of all our legal characters and one of the Judges, that the Superior Court to which those men are bound has not Jurisdiction. It is created by a Statute of this Territory Mearly as a Court of errors and appeals, in which Rules of practice and points of law are to be Settled and decid\u2019d, without having any criminal or original Jurisdiction. This Clashing of Opinions with the Judges as to Jurisdiction &c do and are likely to produce Serious evils & inconveniences and ought to be Remedied by an explicit law.\nAs I presume most of the testimony Relating to this Conspiracy will be furnished and made known to you, I shall expect to Receive some advices on the Subject on or before the term of the Court, to which these men are bound, which Commences on the 4th. Monday in May next, So as to authorise their transportation by the Constituted authorities, on bills of Indictment being found against them in Districts where they may have offended and Can be tried, or testimony furnished which will induce the Judge or Court to Commit them thither.\nApplications have been made to me by General Wilkinson, himself and Conjointly with Governor Claiborne, with a Request to Seize Burr, Floyd, Tyler and others within this Jurisdiction and Convey them to the City of Orleans or the United States. With due defference to the opinions and Requests of these genlmen, I have not Complied. Orders from the General to private as well as publick Characters Residing in this and the Orleans Territory have been also issu\u2019d to the Same effect and Some of them are yet in force. These I have and shall Continue to resist as being incompatible with the laws of the United States and of this Territory, the Constitutional rights of the Citizen, and derogatory to the Supreme authority of this Territory, which I trust will always be disposed to Reverence and Respect the Sovereignty of the law, and thereby command Respect.\nI am proud nevertheless to have an opportunity to acknowledge to you that So great is my opinion of the patriotism both of the Governor and the General as to believe that these Requests and orders have been predicated on mistaken information, and a false representation of the State of things within this Territory which when United with that, in the Territory and City of Orleans May Completely Justify them, and the Suspending the Civil by the Military authorities, and which Might have Render\u2019d all those Measures extremely proper and Conducive to the publick tranquility and security of the people here, as I hope have been their effects in that Territory.\nI will venture to assure you that this Territory is perfectly secure against any influence or attack from Mr. Burr\u2019s Conspiracy, and that such are the attachments of its Citizens to their Government as to afford a Complete Guarantee against attempts of the kind from any quarter. It is true we may be over-power\u2019d by a Superior force: and I will take the liberty here to express an opinion which I have long entertain\u2019d, that So extensive is our Country; that the people Residing in the extreme parts, and So far from the Source of power Can only be Govern\u2019d Consistantly with the principles of our Constitutions by equal laws and a Just administration of them, Such as tends to Secure their affections and not their fears.\nI will now Conclude by Observing that I am aware the opinions if not the Relation of facts which this Communication Contains May form a Contrast with those of my best private and political friends. Nevertheless Should that be the case, I Shall console myself in having done that, and that, only which my duties compel and my Conscience will approve, to wit, that it is the duty of every publick officer at all times and under any circumstances to afford Correct information and to give Candid opinions to his Government and Superiors in office, Calculating at the same time that prudence will dictate their use and a Spirit of toleration forbid their abuse I have the honor to be Respectfully yrs.\nRobert Williams", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1440", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Alexander McIver, 23 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Alexander McIver\nSir.\nDept. of State, Feb. 23d. 1807.\nMr. W. C. Williams of Frederickburg has proposed, that if this Department will pay him the money due on account of the Schooner Friendship & Cargo, he will give bond & security to indemnify the United States from any consequence that may arise from it. Should you have any objection to this measure be pleased to sidnify it with as little delay as possible, in order that it may meet with the consideration it may merit. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-24-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1441", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Albert Gallatin, 24 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Gallatin, Albert\nSir.\nDepartment of State, Feby. 24th. 1807.\nI request you to be pleased to issue a warrant on the appropriations for Barbary Intercourse, for two thousand dollars, in favor of Nicholas Whelan, the holder of the enclosed bill of Exchange, drawn on the 20th. of Feby. 1806, in favor of Richard W. Meade, by James Simpson, Consul at Tripoli, who is to be charged, and held accountable for the same. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-24-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1445", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Samuel Tredwell, 24 February 1807\nFrom: Tredwell, Samuel\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nCollectors Office Edenton 24 Febray. 1807.\nI have had the pleasure to receive your letter of the 8th. Int. respecting your Articles on Board the Brig Jacob Easton from Burdeaux which was lately cast away on the Coast of this State.\nThis Vessel came ashore in the district of Washington, and I have been informed that every thing was saved, that the Master had become the purchaser of the Goods and had carried them up to Newbern. I have written to Mr. Hawks the Collector of Newbern on the Subject of your Articles, and enclosed him a copy of your Letter. He I have no doubt will do every thing in his power towards recovering them, and if successful I have desired him to Ship them agreeably to your directions; and to draw on me for any expences he may be at for payment of Salvege Repurchase or any other. As soon as I hear from Mr. Hawks I shall write to you again. I am, with the greatest respect Sir, Your Obt. Servant,\nSaml. Tredwell", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-24-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1446", "content": "Title: To James Madison from David Stone, 24 February 1807\nFrom: Stone, David\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir,\nWindsor 24 February 1807.\nI am happy so Soon to have it in my power to inform you that I understand from Mr. Joseph Bryan a neighbor of mine and respectable merchant of this place who has just returned from Ocracock whither he had been to attend the Sale of the Jacob and Cargo that your Wine and nuts with Some for Mr Jefferson on board the Same Vessel were without being sold placed in the hands of Mr. James Taylor Collector of Ocracock\nI have the honor to be with the highest consideration Your Humble Servant\nDavid Stone", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-24-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1447", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Gabriel Christie, 24 February 1807\nFrom: Christie, Gabriel\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nBalto. Feby 24th. 1807.\nI have this day shipped on Board of Captn. Clements Packet the goods which arrived for you in the three friends & receipt for the same is herewith inclosed also the Duties and Charges thereon; together with all the letters and papers relative to them that have come into my possession With my best wishes for their safe arrival\nI have the Honour to be with respect Your Obdt. Sert.\nG Christie\nMessrs. Pouscault & Missoneir wd not receive any Freight they beg you to accept their respects", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-24-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1448", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Et al., 24 February 1807\nFrom: Meeker, Samuel\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nPhilada. 24. February 1807\nBeleiving that very great advantages will result from the Appointment by our Government of a Commercial Agent in the Island of Guadeloupe, with which very Important Communications and Commercial relations exist, and beleiving that Mr. Lewis Formon is attached to, and will support the Interest of the United States, and in all possible Cases aid and protect their Commerce. We beg leave Sir to introduce him to Your Acquaintance and recommend him for this Agency. He has been educated in this Country, is a Citizen of the United States and is a Partner in the House of Dennis, Formon & Tabouillot of Point a Pitre Guadeloupe, and is already engaged in the Commerce of this Country. We remain with great Respect Sir Your Obt. humble Servants\nSaml Meeker\nTho\u2019 Allibone\nJohn Savage\nL Napier\nThomas Nicollet\nAugne. Bousquet Jr\nFrs. Thel\nThos. FitzSimons\nWilliam Davy\nGeo Latimer\nMatw. Lawler\nGustavus Colhoun\nJohn Godfr. Wachsmeier\nJames S. Cox\nJohn Clement Stockey\nChand. Thiel", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-24-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1449", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Anderson, 24 February 1807\nFrom: Anderson, William\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir\nBotetourt County February the 24th. 1807.\nThis day I recd. a letter from the Right Revd. James Madison on the Subject of my application to the Government for to be appointed a surveyor in the Western country; by which he informs me that he has learned by a late communication with you, that I have not applied through the proper channel; & that the office which I have Solicited the Government for; is in the gift of the surveyor General. Thinking that the Executive nominated or appointed the officers to fill such places, I wrote to you by the last Mail & inclosed a letter of commendation from the honorable Creed Taylor. I also wrote a similar letter to Genl. Moore, one of our Senators from Virginia; & inclosed to him a letter of Recommendation from a number of the most Respectable citizens of this county.\nI am not so happy as to be acquented with the Surveyor General, or to know who the gentleman is, but as you have the letters of Recommendation from Bishop Madison And the honle. Creed Taylor (if such a request is not improper) I wish you to mention my case to the Surveyor General & Shew him the above papers; if you do not feel at liberty to do this, please to give them to General Moore, or if he has left Washington, to some other gentleman whom you think would be a proper person to lay them before the Surveyor General. Expecting that at this time you are much engaged in business I am sorry that I had to trouble you again on this subject. Let me succeed or not, in geting the office I have Solicited the government for, be assured you have my warmest wishes for your present & future happiness. I am Sir with esteem your friend And Humble Servt.\nWm. Anderson\nNB. If I should so far meet with the approbation of the Surveyor General as to make it Necessary for me to see him, on being informed of this I would immediately pay him a Visit.\nOn Reflection I believe it was improper for me to Request you to give up the papers of Recommendation which you have to any person as they are directed to you as I have wrote in haste I hope you will accept this appology.\nWA", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-26-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1450", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Charles Coles Claiborne, 26 February 1807\nFrom: Claiborne, William Charles Coles\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nNew Orleans Feby. 26th. 1807.\nI have this day received your private letter of the 17th. Ultimo, acknowledging the receipt of my communications of the 9th. of December.\nThe course Mr. Burr has taken in his flight is not ascertained; I learn however by a Gentleman from the Mississippi Territory that the general opinion there, was, that Burr was concealed at Natchez, where his adherents are said to be numerous.\nMy opinion is fixed, that Burr was encouraged in his undertakings by Spain; perhaps her agents have been deceived in the real views of Burr; but I much doubt, whether the sole objects of the Leaders of the Conspiracy, were not the dismemberment of the American union, and the erection of a separate Government on the Western Waters, under the protection of Spain, & perhaps of France.\nThe Legislature of the Territory is still in Session; The repeal of the present judiciary System has not yet taken place; but I trust this desirable object will Soon be effected. By the present system, I am obliged to Select from among the Citizens 12 County Judges, who are vested with very considerable civil and criminal Jurisdiction; It was impossible to find Men of Law learning willing to accept these charges, and the consequence has been, that injustice has been done thro\u2019 want of judg\u2019ment, and perhaps in some cases for want of principle.\nTwo of the County Judges have been indicted for mal conduct in office, and if convicted, by a law of the Territory, a removal from office must ensue; I was myself inclined to the opinion, that the power of removing an Inferior Judge was vested in the Governor, but the opinions of the other Branches of the Territorial Government seem to be otherwise, & I thought it best not to persevere in my Sentiments, and the more so, since I had myself some doubts upon the subject. I am Sir, with great respect yo: hble Servt.\nWilliam C. C. Claiborne", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-26-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1451", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Samuel Carswell, 26 February 1807\nFrom: Carswell, Samuel\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nPhila Feby 26th. 1807.\nFrom the recommendation of Messrs T. English & C Holland, Merchants of this City I am induced to Recommend to you Mr. Lewis Formon, as being of full Confidence. With Sentiments of esteem I am Your Ob Hble Servt.\nSaml Carswell", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-26-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1452", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Thomas Nicolson, 26 February 1807\nFrom: Nicolson, Thomas\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nRichmond, Feb. 26, 1807.\nMr. Randolph called on me this morning & delivered a message from you; desiring that I would immediately send on by mail the 3d vol of Calls Reports & the price thereof, which would be remitted on the Rect of the Book. In obedience of the above I herewith enclose the Book, the price of which is six dollars. I am Sir, with due respect your obt. Servant\nThos: Nicolson", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-26-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1453", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Thomas Newton, 26 February 1807\nFrom: Newton, Thomas\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nCollrs. office Norfolk, Febry. 26, 1807.\nThe inclosed I have just received & forward for your Consideration. It appears that Capt. Douglass is determind, not deliver any of our poor Seamen, if their birth be ever so well substantiated; Mr. Bond the Consul at Philadelphia has obtaind a servant of Mr. Graffs for him, & I now have him to sennd. Mr G\u2019s man has four years to serve a negro. I am respectfully Yr. Obt. Servt.\nThos Newton\nMr. Graffs man was discharged from the Leopard. Coll Hamilton also apply\u2019d for him.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-27-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1455", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Henry Hill, 27 February 1807\nFrom: Hill, Henry\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nNew York Feby: 27th: 1807.\nI have the honor to enclose you a letter from Mr. Ramage, the person acting as vice Consul at Havana under my late commission as consul for Cuba.\nThe Intendant it appears is desirous of acertaining the quantity of Sugar and coffee smuggled in Neutral vessels from that Port, with a view probably to adopt some measures to prevent it in future. It has been a pretty general practice of the Merchants there to make short clearances in order to save the duty; and this fraud upon the revenue is usually committed without the knowledge or consent of the American masters or Super Cargoes, who being obliged to employ Spanish Merchants to transact their business at the Custom House, have it not in their power to ascertain or to prevent such frauds.\nI am of opinion the threats of the Intendant, will not be productive of any bad consequences, either to the commerce of the United States, or the consulate at the Havana.The Foudroyant is probably the 80 gun ship said to have been seen lately off our Coast. I have the honor to be, Sir, Very respectfully Your Mo. Ob. Servt.\nHenry Hill Jr:", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-27-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1456", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Savary, 27 February 1807\nFrom: Savary\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nMillersburg Kent State 27th. Febry. 1807\nYou will be surprised of the liberty I take to direct you the present: But I hope that the Subject will carry with it my excuse.\nJuge John Coburn, man respectable by his character, his republican principles, his knowledge in the law & also as a father of a numerous family, had been appointed formerly a Juge of the Territory of new Orleans; The dread of that Climate entertained by a part of his family, induced him to decline the acceptance of an office, Which he had want, to provide for an increasing family; he write me that he desires to embark his fortune & family in upper Louisiana, where the prospect of health is better than in the Southern country & he engage me to Second his endeavours to obtain some respectable appointment in upper Louisiana. As I am persuaded that a man of his character will be a good acquisition for the U States I am emboldened by that motive to write you in his favour, because office hunting is not a pleasant pursuit for a modest man; I know Sir that I have not the least claim, the least pretent to your favour & to have some regard to my Weak recommandation. The long time elapsed Since I have had the honour of your acquaintance in Virga. is certainly obliterated of your memory, although it is very often present in mine with due respect; & I would have not troubled you in this instance, if it was not for a Worthy man, an old acquaintance of mine, Which enjoys the esteem in this State of all the Good citizens & had already deserved the confidence of the fedl. administration in choosing him once as a Juge for Orleans Territory. Permit me Sir to Seize this opportunity to renew you the assurance of the deep respect with which I have the honour to be Sir your most obedt & humble Servant\nJ Savary", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-28-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1457", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Albert Gallatin, 28 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Gallatin, Albert\nSir.\nDepartment of State, Feb. 28th. 1807.\nI request you will be pleased to issue a warrant on the appropriations for Barbary Intercourse, for twelve hundred dollars, in favor of John Davidson Jnr., the holder of the enclosed bill of exchange, dated the 15th. Octr. 1806, and drawn by James Simpson, Consul of the United States at Tangier. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-28-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1458", "content": "Title: From James Madison to James Monroe, 28 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Monroe, James\nSir:\nDepartment of State 28th. Feb\u2019y. 1807.\nI have the honor to recommend to your attention the case of Messrs Francis and Charles Bradbury, explained in the enclosed document, in order that you may aid them in regaining the proceeds of the sales of their property at Buenos Ayres, if the suggestion of their having passed into the hands of the British, at the capture of the place should prove to be well founded. I have the honor &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-28-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1459", "content": "Title: From James Madison to William Charles Coles Claiborne, 28 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Claiborne, William Charles Coles\nSir.\nDepartment of State, Feb. 28th. 1807.\nYour letter of the 22d. ult. enclosing your account for $200 dollars, as extra expenses in a public service to Atacapas & Opelousas, has been received. As it is without precedent & might prove inconvenient to allow to the Governors of Territories personal expenses within the limits of their government, I lose no time in intimating that the present charge cannot be passed to your credit. I am &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "02-28-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1460", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Czar of Russia Alexander I, 28 February 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Alexander I, Czar of Russia\n28 February 180729 August 1808\nto be illegible in quality illegible of Minister plenipotentiary. The bearer to you of assurances of the sincere friendship of the U. S. and of their desire to maintain with your Majesty & your subjects the strictest relations of amity and commerce. He will explain also to Your Majesty the peculiar position of these States separated by a wide Ocean from European powers, with interests & pursuits distinct from theirs, and without the motives or the aptitudes for taking part in the associations or oppositions which a different system of illegible produces among them. He is charged to assure Your Majesty more particularly of our purpose to observe a faithful neutrality towards the contending powers, in the war to which Your Majesty is a party, rendering to all the Services & courtesies of friendship, and praying for the reestablishment of peace & right among them; entertaining an entire confidence that this just and faithful conduct on the part of the U. S. will strengthen the friendly dispositions you have manifested towards them, and be a fresh motive with so just & magnanimous a Sovereign, to enforce by the high influence of his example, the respect due to the character and rights of Noble Nations.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1462", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Samuel Smith, March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Smith, Samuel\nMarch 1807\nThe treaty lately concluded between the American and British Commissioners being in a situation to admit of deliberation on its several articles, it is thought highly advisable to avail the Executive of such observations on those relating to commerce and navigation as your intelligence and experience on those subjects will enable you to afford. You will render an acceptable service therefore by forwarding, with as little delay as may be, the views under which the enclosed articles as they stand in that instrument present themeselves to you. It is wished that your observations may be pointed particularly 1st to the actual operation of the articles respectively, whither in reference to commerce or navigation ... 3d, what alterations might be made favorable to the United States, and not otherwise to Great Britain; 4th, what considerable alterations would not be disadvantageous to Great Britain, in a degree forbidding the hope of obtaining them, 5th, whither the general stipulations concerning the trade between the two countries, comprehends or not, the trade between the Continental Colonies of Great Britain and the United States, and if they do, how would they effect the interest of the latter? I only add that this last branch of trade does not appear to have been contemplated by the parties to the negotiation, and that it was, as is indeed sufficiently expressed, understood between them, that the trade to the East Indies was to be direct from, as well as to America ... .", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-01-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1463", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Robert Williams, 1 March 1807\nFrom: Williams, Robert\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nWashington, M. T., March 1st. 1807.\nBy last Mail I gave you a full detail of the proceeding had in this Territory relative to Burr\u2019s Conspiracy and of his escape. Yesterday I was informed of his being arrested in Consequence of My Proclamation, and detain\u2019d at Fort Stodart. I have thought it advisable to request the Necessary Steps to be taken for Sending him on to the Seat of the General Government, and have employed Silas Benjamin Esqr, who is Now here, to take charge of Mr. Burr, and have him Conducted accordingly. I have the honor to be very respy", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-02-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1466", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Daniel Carroll Brent, 2 March 1807\nFrom: Brent, Daniel Carroll\nTo: Madison, James\nMarch 2d. 1807.\nDaniel Brent having understood from Mr. Wagner that he is about to leave the Office of the Secretary of State in a few days, begs leave to solicit Mr. Madison to confer upon him the vacant appointment. He trusts that in this case his conduct will fully entitle him to the approbation and Confidence of the Head of the Department.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-02-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1467", "content": "Title: To James Madison from George Davis, 2 March 1807\nFrom: Davis, George\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nLeghorn March 2. 1807.\nI have this day received a letter from Commodore Campbell, an extract of which I have the honor to enclose you and shall hold myself in readiness to embark with Capt. Dent for Syracuse or Malta according to his orders.\nThe object of my visiting Syracuse is, I presume, to have an interview with the Ex-Bashaw and to make some arrangement respecting the Gun Boats mentioned in my letter to Commodore Campbell of the 20th. November.\nColo. Lear is at Tunis and I learn that our affairs with that Regency are amicably arranged.\nThe merchant vessel which was to have taken me to Tripoli is daily expected at this place. With profound respect & consideration I have the honor to be, Sir, Your Mo. Obt. servt.\nGeorge Davis", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-02-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1469", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Albert Gallatin, 2 March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Gallatin, Albert\nSir.\nDepartment of State, March 2d. 1807.\nBe pleased to issue your warrant on the appropriation for the Contingent expenses of the Department of State, for one hundred dollars, in favor of Abraham Bradley Jnr., he being the holder of a bill of Exchange for that sum, dated Abington 15th. Jany. 1807, drawn upon the Post Master General, by Jerrard W. Hopkins, who is to be charged & held accountable for the same. The said Hopkins was the bearer of dispatches from Governor Claiborne to the Secretary of State. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-03-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1471", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Charles Coles Claiborne, 3 March 1807\nFrom: Claiborne, William Charles Coles\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nNew Orleans March 3d. 1807\nLieut. Gains of fort Stoddard has arrested Burr and forwarded him under an escort, to the City of Washington, where the subtle Traitor, will I trust meet the punishment due his Crimes.\nI find that much censure is attached to the measures of General Wilkinson by some Members of Congress, and that the Machinations of Burr, are by them, considered as of little moment; I however, as an American Citizen, devoted to my Country and Government cannot but express my joy, at the defeat of a Conspiracy, (and not an inconsiderable one) which had for its primary object the dismemberment of the American union; and whatever may be said to the contrary, I shall never cease to think, that the prompt and energetic measures of General Wilkinson, have given security to this City and Territory. I am Sir, with respect & esteem yo. hble Servt.\nWilliam C. C. Claiborne\nP. S. I have the pleasure to inform you that Mr. Graham has this day arrived. ", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-04-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1472", "content": "Title: To James Madison from James Deneale, 4 March 1807\nFrom: Deneale, James\nTo: Madison, James\nDr Sir:\nAlexandria 4th. March 1807.\nI am requested by several of the Magistrates of this County to mention to you that the Commission of the Peace which Issued in 1801. has expired, and that there are only three Gentlemen now in Commission for the whole County, neither of whom reside in the Country part of the County which circumstance they suppose has escaped the recollection of the President I have the Honor to be wh. respt. Yr. Very Hle. Servt.\nJ. Deneale", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-04-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1473", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Jarvis, 4 March 1807\nFrom: Jarvis, William\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nLisbon 4th: March 1807\nThe foregoing is a Copy of the letter I had the honor to address you by the Brig. Mentor, Capt. Rhodes, via New York. Nothing worthy of notice has since occurred in the political world. On the 20th: Ultimo the funeral ceremonies in honor of the late Minister, the Conde de Villavorde, was celebrated. A piece of very elegant solemn Music was performed by about an hundred Musicians & twenty five singers, Mass said, & a funeral oration delivered. All the Foreign officers were invited, & all the Court that were not with the Prince. The day before a number of promotions took place. His Excy. Mr. d\u2019Araujo was appointed President of the Junta of Commerce, was confirmed Counseller of State & had the grand cross given him. The Count d\u2019Ega, Minister at Madrid, was made a Marquis; it is said for Negotiating a Match between the oldest daughter of the Prince Regent & the Prince of Brazil The princess is about 14 years of age She is neice to the Prince of Brazil. It is also said that he settled the differences between the Prince of Brazil & the Prince of Peace & that at present cordiality is restored between them; and for this service the King of Spain has recommended him very highly to the Prince. It is likewise said that he is to return & will have the Conde de Villavordes Office of Minister of Interior. At present the Visconde de Anadie is Officiating in it. The Minister of Finance had also some additional honors conferred on him. He is supposed to be rather favorable to the English, His Ex\u2019cy Mr d\u2019Araujo beleived to be rather inclined to the French; the Visconde Anadie, if any thing in favour of the French, but rather Neutral. Upon the subject of Peace & War the general Sentiment is in favour of a continuance of War but I presume this is founded on the decided tone of the British Ministry since the opening of Parliament & on the Russian Manifesto. Inclosed will go three packets from Mr Erving, recd yesterday by the Govmt. Courier from Madrid. With the greatest consideration I have the honor to be Sir Yr Mo: Ob: Servant\nWilliam Jarvis", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-04-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1474", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Martin Baker, 4 March 1807\nFrom: Baker, John Martin\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nConsulate of the United States of America for the Balearick Islands Palma,Island of Majorca the 4th: of March 1807.\nI have the honor to confirm my last official, under date, the Twenty Eighth day of January 1807 (per triplicate transmitted per different vias).\nI now beg leave Sir, to communicate my safe return with my family, at this City on the first instant.\nI have the honor to herewith inclose my last demiAnnual Consular Report, closing on the Thirty first day of December 1806.\nPer last Packet from Barcelona, I was honored with the duplicate of my leave of Absence: transmitted me per George W: Erving Esquire Madrid 5th: January 1807. Without more at present to communicate; I have the honor to be with the Greatest Respect Sir, Your Most obedient humble Servant\nJohn Martin Baker", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-05-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1475", "content": "Title: To James Madison from James Monroe, 5 March 1807\nFrom: Monroe, James\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nLondon March 5th. 1807.\nI have just received your letter of the 13th. of January, relative to the trial of Captain Whitby, of which you desire me to obtain a postponement if possible. I shall accordingly address a note to Lord Howick on the subject, as soon as I can prepare it. The note shall be sent to him tomorrow or next day, and I shall not fail to give it all the aid I can in personal conference. I hope the delay will be granted, tho\u2019 I foresee that much difficulty will attend it. The government and the nation rely so much on the navy, that it is the most delicate of all subjects to touch, especially in a case of this kind. The witnesses are, I presume, on their way, or soon will be, and may be expected here at an early period.\nWe shall write you a joint letter in the course of a few days, on the business belonging to the Commission. Mr. Purviance has, I trust, reached Washington before this, and delivered you the treaty with our dispatch which accompanied it.\nWe have not heard from our Ministers at Paris, in reply to our letters by Major Hunt, of which copies have been sent you. We expect his return daily, and have much reason to presume, that no ill effect, or rather that much good will result to our affairs with Spain, by the adjustment of our business with England.\nIt is my intention to sail for the U. S. as soon as the season will permit. The unfinished business for which it is hoped to provide in a separate convention, of which you were informed in our joint letter, will I think be concluded in a fortnight. I expect therefore to set out, if I can obtain a suitable conveyance, about the latter end of next month. I have the honor to be with great consideration Your Mo: Ob: Servant\nJas. Monroe", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-06-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1477", "content": "Title: To James Madison from James Simpson, 6 March 1807\nFrom: Simpson, James\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nTangier 6th. March 1807.\nI had the honor of addressing you Nr. 120 the 17th. January by way of Cadiz, recommended to the particular care of Mr. Richard W Meade. It handed the Accounts of the Consulate under my charge for last Year.\nHis Imperial Majesty returned unexpectedly from Morocco, in consequence of a serious dispute between the Governour and High Priest of Fez, which had well nigh brought their partisans to Arms. His Majestys appearance prevented it.\nMr. Seavers has repeatedly attempted to escape from the Arabs, but has always been taken before he could gain any part of the Country under the Emperours dominion. It is astonishing to me he has not lost his Life. At last he has been recovered by his original Master, who in revenge demands One thousand five hundred dollars as the lowest ransom he will admit for him. Five hundred dollars have been offered by a Merchant at Mogadore authorised by a Gentleman in Boston to endeavour to obtain Mr. Seavers Release. This tho\u2019 rejected has encouraged the Arabs to demand higher rates than before for the Christians are in their hands and may be productive of the worst consequences hereafter.\nI have been requested by the Mates Brother to pay as far as four hundred dollars for him. It is now very doubtful if the person I have employed will be able to obtain him for that sum. One of the Seamen Henry Long of Charleston S C fell from a Date Tree 4th. Decemr. and died on the 16th. that Month.\nMr. Gwyn who has acted as my Agent at Mogadore since Mr. Chiappi left it, being about to remove from thence to Tangier, I have entrusted the Publick concerns at that Port to Mr. James Renshaw, a person on whose attention and Integrity I place the fullest Reliance, and whom I can answer will transact any Commercial concerns committed to his care by Citizens of the United States with the strictest fidelity; he directs the busyness of the House of George Liami & Coy. The only occurrence of a Publick Nature for several Months back in this Empire, worthy of troubling you on, is the unconditional release of the Greek Vessels detained last Summer by Mulley Solimans Cruizers. A Messenger came from Constantinople and another was sent by the Captain Pacha when at Alexandria, on the busyness.\nThe French Consul persists in not hoisting the Flag of his Nation, because the Emperour will not consent to his hoisting also those of Italy and Naples, on his House.\nYou no doubt will be informed from Spain that they have begun to form a Harbour between the Island of Teriffa and the Mainland. I am told it is to be made capable of sheltering Frigates and smaller Vessels of War in all Winds.\nThis measure if well effected will give Spain a great command of the Navigation of the Straits.\nMulley Soliman some time ago thro\u2019 Alcayde Hashash, endeavoured to prevail on Spain to restore the Mole of this Port, engageing to give them in payment of the expence Wheat at a moderate Duty, but it was flatly refused. This Country does not afford a person capable of directing at so great a Work. I have the honour to be Sir Your Most Obedient and Most Humble Servant\nJames Simpson", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-06-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1478", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Cox, 6 March 1807\nFrom: Cox, John\nTo: Madison, James\nGeo: Town March 6: 1807\n$200 Dollars\nGentn,\nat five days sight pay to the order of James Madison Esqr. Two Hundred dollars for value received and Obg. your Ob Sert\nJohn Cox\nTo Messrs. Willm Gordon & Co\nFredericksburg\nAccepted March 9th. 1807\nWm: Gordon & Co\nPay the within order to Wm. S. Stone Esqr\nJames Madison\nRecd. herewith or in full\nW. S. Stone", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-06-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1479", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Charles Coles Claiborne, 6 March 1807\nFrom: Claiborne, William Charles Coles\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir,\nNew Orleans March 6, 1807.\nI fear I was greatly deceived in the character which was given me of a Mr. Hopkins, a young man who was the bearer of my dispatches of the 5. & 6. of December last. I have heard, from good authority that he lost by gaming some money at Natchez and behaved otherwise imprudently. His indiscretions were renewed at Nashville; and I fear it is true that he is undeserving of confidence: While therefore I have seriously to regret, that I was so far misled as to speak favorably of this young man in my letters to you, I cannot but express my sincere desire that he may not have obtained a commission in the army for which I had recommended him. I am Dr. Sir, Your friend\nW. C. C. Claiborne", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1482", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Gibson, 7 March 1807\nFrom: Gibson, John\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nSecretarys office Vincennes March 7th. 1807.\nI have the honour of inclosing to you the Laws of the Assembly of this Territory at their 2d. Session, also a List of Stationary for the use of this Office, as that wrote for last year has not as yet arrived. Mr. George Wallace the Contractor at this place, who is now on his way to the City of Washington, will take Charge of it, and have it Brought on to this place. I have the Honour to be with the highest Consideration and respect, Sir, your most Obedient, humble Servant,\nJno. Gibson", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1483", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Fulwar Skipwith, 7 March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Skipwith, Fulwar\nSir.\nDepartment of State March 7th. 1807.\nI request your attention to the case of certain property shipped on board the Brig Sally, Capt. Low of Baltimore, which was captured on the 30th. day of July 1805, by the French Privateer Schooner Resource, Capt. Tarnan, on her passage from Trinidad to Baltimore. The property belonged to Mr. Wm. Burn (a British subject & passenger) and consisted of Spanish, Portugal & English gold coin, weigt. 11,808 duts. of which the Capt. of the Privateer retd. 60 light joes wt: 432, keeping a balance of 11.376 dut. equal to about ten thousand dollars.\nMr. Burn founds his claim on the neutral character of the Vessel, and the Convention of 1800. For the particular circumstances of the case, I refer you to his own explanations, as the best guide to the species of aid you may be able to give him, reminding you that it is not to involve any expense to the United States. I am &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1484", "content": "Title: To James Madison from James Cole Mountflorence, 7 March 1807\nFrom: Mountflorence, James Cole\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nParis 7th. March 1807\nIt is a duty incumbent on Every Man, who Enjoys the happiness of being a Member of a free and independent Commonwealth, Such as the United States of America, to place Before the Eyes of his Government, the misconduct, atrocities or Crimes of its Servants. that duty becomes doubly pressing on a Citizen of the United States, who has the Misfortune of being oppressed in a far distant foreign Country by the Wickedness and through the malicious Perfidy of its Officers, in a public Capacity.\nWere I to neglect informing our Government of the Treacherous & unwarrantable Proceedings of Isaac Cox Barnet, commercial Agent for havre, against myself; others of our fellow-Citizens in this Country might a Like Become the objects of his Perversity.\nI have thus long deferred transmitting my Grievances to the Seat of Government, because I Expected ere this to have recovered my Liberty, and of having, Such of my Wrongs, as are of a private Nature, redressed in the most Honorable manner, by their Author, when I would have traduced him to the Censure and animadversion of our Government.\nI have the honor of advising you, Sir, that some years since, I received a Letter of Attorney from Mr. John Blagge, of New-york, for the purpose of demanding from the french Government, the Restitution of the Captured Schooner the Rambler and her Cargo.\nI obtained that Restitution, and had the Claim paid under the Louisiana Conventions.\nMr. Blagge probably displeased with the Considerable Expences attending the Recovery of his Claim, sent Instructions to Barnet, to demand from me a Circumstancial account of Such Expenditures.\nOn the first application of Barnet, I offered to appoint mutually Arbitrators, before whom I would render my accounts, and to abide by their Award.\nThis proposal was not acceeded to, tho\u2019 evidently to the Interest of Mr. Blagge; Barnet preferred a Written denunciation against me to the minister of the Treasury, transmitting to him, at the Same time, Copies of Several of my Letters to Mr. Blagge, and of one addressed by me on the Subject of Mr. Blagge\u2019s Claim, to Mr. Victor Dupont of New-york, a Gentleman intirely uninterested in the Business; not Satisfied with the odious Crime of Violating the Secrecy of a Confidential Letter, Barnet had the Baseness by Overstrained Constructions, to draw Inductions from it, which he asserted, were highly injurious to, and reflected Disrespect on, two of the Departments of the administration of France, and he Called down on my head the Resentment and the Vengeance of the french Government!!!\nSuch, Sir, has been the Conduct of Isaac Cox Barnet, and far from Concealing his Infamy, he has had the Impudicity to publish in french and English, his address to the minister of the Treasury, with Copies of my Letters and of Several others, in a Pamphlet which he has caused to be distributed here, and forwarded to America.\nBy such opprobrious and unheard of Measures, Barnet has impelled the Council of Liquidation to require I Should be arrested, and to issue the Decree, of which I have the honor to transmit a printed Copy, annulling Mr. Blagge\u2019s former liquidation, carried into Effect above twenty Months Since, and Condemning Mr. Blagge and myself jointly and severally to pay into the Treasury of France the Sum of \u00a3244,803#.7.s.6.d., under pretence that the Said Sum had been over paid, its Claims Supported, and its Liquidation obtained by fraudulent Means, and by forged documents.\nA Judicial Notification, whilst I was under Confinement, was the first Intimation I received of this Extraordinary & Rigorous Decree, as neither Mr. Blagge nor Myself, had been previously informed of his Claim being over hauled, discussed and reduced; and no person having been heard in our Behalf against such precipitated Proceedings.\nThis Decree was presented to the Emperor, who finding us charged with fraud and forgery, ordered us to be tried by the Criminal Special Court of Paris, the most tremenduous Tribunal of all France.\nOn the 15. October last, the Special Court acquitted me in the most honorable Manner, by the Decree of which I have also the honor to transmit you a printed Copy, ordering that I should be immediately Set at liberty.\nBut notwithstanding the Decree of the Court, and tho\u2019 I never owed a Single Dollar to the french Government, as I had merely been the agent of Mr. Blagge, yet the Council of Liquidation persisted, and still persists to Demand from me the Payment of the above Sum of \u00a3244,803#.7.s.6d., and has Kept me in Confinement Since Eight Months, where I am to remain till the Said Sum be paid Either by Mr. Blagge or myself; it is impossible for me, Sir, to form any Conjecture on the length of my Captivity, from the very Beginning of which his Excellency Genl. Armstrong, has had the Goodness to make repeated application for my release, and Even to write to Mr. Defermon president of the council of Liquidation and to the Minister of Exterior Relations; besides Since my acquittal by the special Court, our Minister has taken the trouble to address, in December last, a new Demand for my Release to the latter minister, who is in Poland with the Emperor.\nMr. Blagge, Sir, who with myself, is equally Victim of the atrocity and Infamy of Barnet, has addressed to him a letter, reprobating his proceedings, and he has Superceded him, by conferring his Powers to Colo. James Swan.\nBeleive me, Sir, when I do myself the honor of addressing you officially, as Secretary of State, it is with a View of rendering a General Service to my fellow-Citizens, as it is your Province to Watch over the Conduct of our Commercial Agents, with whom the President of the United States, has intrusted you the Correspondence; and I trust, Sir, you will consider this, as an Act of public and political Justice, for a Crime committed publickly, when the Cloak of a public officer, is made Use of as a Shield, from behind which, Barnet has thought that he might with impunity Shoot forth the envenomed arrows of personal Vengence and the Most inveterate Malignity. With very Great Respect I have the honor to be Sir, Your most obedient and your most humble Servant\nJ. C. Mountflorence", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1485", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Joseph Warner Rose, 7 March 1807\nFrom: Rose, Joseph Warner\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nAntigua 7th: March 1807.\nThe Appointment of Commercial Agent which I have the honor to hold from the President of the United States, by your Letter of 13th May has, in a great measure answered the purposes for which it was made. American Seamen have not been so frequently impressed as formerly and when impressed have been immediately released, except where I have been too late informed, of their situation, and the Impressing Vessel have sailed instantly.\nHaving discovered a disposition to recognise, this Appointment (at least so far as regards records in the Court of Vice Admiralty) I take the liberty of suggesting that should my continuance in the Office meet the approbation of the President and yourself, I may be honored with a Commission in the usual Form with the seal of your department affixed. In the Island of St. Kitts particularly a mode of ment has been adopted towards detained American Vessels which calls loudly for the Appointment of some person there who feels an Interest in protecting the property & persons of Americans. Captain Lander of the Ship Trent belonging to Mr. of Salem was wantonly detained in that Island Attempts were made to induce him to file a Claim there before even the Property was libelled which in all probability would not have met the Circumstances of the case and when he was at length committed here he was Obliged on his return to St. Kitts to pay unauthorised supernumerary charges of which I was not informed untill after he had sailed. The Brig Rolla of New York belonging to Mr. Longuimaire has been detained in that Island seven Weeks A claim has been unnecessarily filed there for the Kings Advocate declares that he is ready to give up the Papers upon proper application being made Therefore the expence of a Claim and all the damages of detention has been wantonly incurred.\nUnder such circumstances having already made myself acquainted with the Character of Persons to whom that important trust might be safely delegated in other Islands as agreable to your Letter of the 23rd 1806 I should have appointed particularly in St. Kitts a Vice Commercial Agent but the Court of Vice Admiralty conceive that the addition of the Seal of your department should be given to the document conferring the situation of Commercial Agent. I trust therefore that this application will not appear to you unnecessary and that you will agree with me in conceiving this additional sanction is requisite to give a full and efficient authority to my appointment. May I take the liberty of mentioning that any dispatches you may have to forward, will get to hand by sending them to Messrs. David I. & Charles W. Greene Merchants New York. I have the honor to be Sir Your most Obedient & Humble Servant\nJoseph Warner Rose", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1486", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Robert Gamble, 7 March 1807\nFrom: Gamble, Robert\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir,\nRichmond 7th. March 1807\nIn consequence of engagements to a Considerable extent, which my Sons, John & Robert Gamble Junr. has made, with some of their Western Customers, to receive in payment, Cotton &c at New orleans, it is deemed necessary that my Son Robert (who returned from Europe last fall & forwarded you dispatches from Colo. Monroe on his arival), Shall immediately Set out for that place (New Orleans) through part of Tennessee & Kentucke\nPresuming on the Multiplicity of business, your Official Situation involves you in, it is with reluctance, that I intrude on your time. But the disturbed State of affairs in that part of the World, seems at this time especially to require that a young man, a Stranger to all, there, shall avail of introductory letters, from Some person, whose Standing, & Situation in life will give confidence & entitle to the Civilities, & even Protection, Should unfounded Circumstances require, for it would be unpleasant in the highest degree, to a youth, going on indispensibly Necessary business, to be the Subject, of the Slightest obloquy, or Suspicion. Permit me to Solicit a few lines in his favor, to Some Character, or Characters in that part of the Country, introductory &c. He will be accompanied by a young Gentleman also in the Mercantile line, named Robert Gwathmey, of respectable connections, property, & integrity, whose name I wish you to insert, in the same letters, you will be so obliging as to furnish.\nYour attention to this request will be gratefully, appreciated & acknowledged, by Dear Sir, Your Obt. Servt.,\nRo: Gamble\n(Robert. Gamble Junr. & Robert. Gwathmey) will Set out immediately on receipt of your letters, and go, direct on without delay.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-07-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1487", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Brice, Jr., 7 March 1807\nFrom: Brice, John, Jr.\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nCollr\u2019s Office Baltimore 7 Mar 1807\nIt appears from Letters just received by Messrs. Rob & Jno Oliver that nearly the whole of the Cargo of the Brig Jacob from Bordeaux, which was cast away on Ocracocke Bar, has been saved & taken possession of by the Collector of the District of Newbern, North Carolina, & will be held by him until the Owners shall secure or Pay the duties arising thereon.\nI have thought proper to give you this information that you might have an opportunity of obtaining your Wines &c which are probably yet safe. I have the Honor to be Sir Your mo. ob Serv\nJohn Brice Jr", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-08-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1488", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Charles D. Coxe, 8 March 1807\nFrom: Coxe, Charles D.\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nTunis March 8th: 1807.\nMr. Lear, sailed yesterday in the Constitution Frigate Commodore Campbell; for Algiers. He has appointed me as Charge D\u2019Affairs for the United States near this Regency till the pleasure of the President shall be known, & handed me Instructions accordingly, to which I shall punctually adhere. He will no doubt give you a strict & minute Detail of all the circumstances of the progression & termination of his negociations with His Excellency the Bey, & the grounds on which our relations at present stand, with respect to this Regency. They are as advantageous as those of the most favor\u2019d Nations; & I believe I may safely say the impressions made on them generally, are more favorable to us than those they have received from any other Nation whatever. Mr: Lear has taken our Account Book of Expences, including all incur\u2019d by Mr: Dodge & myself, up to the day of his departure. As he has taken the original, it is now out of my power to forward you a Copy, but he will do it no doubt, after a revisal. I have open\u2019d another, which I shall keep from henceforward with exactness, & furnish both your office, & the Consul General, with precise Copies occasionally, as opportunities may offer.\nSidi Soliman Mellimelli, has been appointed by H: E. the Bey, as his Ambassador to Spain. He will take his passage on board the Schooner Enterprize Capt. Porter, (who sails tomorrow, for Gibraltar) on his way to Madrid.\nHaving nothing of Consequence to communicate, but what you will receive from the Consul General; I beg leave to conclude with reiterating the assurances of my attention to the duties of my office, & the exertion to the best of my ability, to promote the harmony & good faith, which at present exists between the United States & this Regency. I have the honor to be Sir, with every Sentiment of Respect & Esteem, Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant\nCharles D: Coxe", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-08-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1489", "content": "Title: To James Madison from David Montagu Erskine, 8 March 1807\nFrom: Erskine, David Montagu\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nWashington, March 8th: 1807.\nI have the Honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Letter of the 6th: Instant, relative to Christian Ast, who is supposed to be detained on board His Majesty\u2019s Ship L\u2019Observateur, on the Halifax Station.\nI will immediately forward to the Admiral on that Station, the Documents concerning him and I have no Doubt that prompt and due Attention will be paid to his Case. With the highest Respect and Consideration, I have the Honor to be Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant\nD. M. Erskine", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-09-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1490", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Lee, 9 March 1807\nFrom: Lee, William\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nBordeaux March 9 1807.\nThe last battle contained in the 60e. Bulletin of the grand Army which I have the honor to transmit herewith has cost very dearly to the French. Two or three such Victories would destroy the briliancy of the Campaign. I have seen private letters from the neighbourhood of the Army which state their losses at 40,000 men killed wounded and prisoners. The Russian losses it is said were more considerable. It is believed now that the Emperor intends to act on the defensive, and one sentence of the Bulletin leads the people to think he does not consider it worth his while to extend his conquest beyond the Prussins territory \"La Pregel est une barri\u00e8re au-dela de Laquelle l\u2019arm\u00e9e fran\u00e7ais n\u2019a pas int\u00e9r\u00eat de le jeter With great respect I have the honor to remain Your Obedient Servant\nWm Lee", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-10-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1491", "content": "Title: To James Madison from David Montagu Erskine, 10 March 1807\nFrom: Erskine, David Montagu\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nWashington March 10th. 1807.\nI have the Honor to acknowledge the Receipt of your Letter of the 9th. Inst. together with the Documents it enclosed respecting John Taylor stated to be an American Citizen detained on board His Majesty\u2019s Ships on the Halifax Station.\nIn Compliance with your Request I yesterday forwarded an Application to His Majesty\u2019s Admiral on that Station for his Release. I have the Honor to be, with great Respect and Consideration, Sir Your most obedient humble Servant\nD. M. Erskine", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-10-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1492", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Gavino, 10 March 1807\nFrom: Gavino, John\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nGibraltar 10th. March 1807\nI have not been honourd with any of your favours since my last Dispatch No. 39 under date 3d. Ulto. I then advised Messrs. Sir Francis Baring &Co. of London having Protested Tobias Lear Esqr of Algeirs Bill 11 Octr. last my order p\u00a3 1500 Stg for Govern\u2019t. service for non Acceptance. I have now the satisfaction to inform you that I yesterday had advice of its being paid when became due.\nThe Cargo of the Brig Humbird Jas. Stewart Master was Condemnd on Account of two Letters found on board wch: gave room to Suspect it was Genoese Property. The Master is to have his full freight & Demurrage if any due.\n(Yesterday a British hird Schooner was Captured by four spanish Gun Boats in the Gutt. She was Commanded by a Lieut: of the Navy had Dispatches from adl. Duckworth for the British Govt: left adl Duckworth with 14 Sail the Line at Anchor by the Dardenals, as the Turkish Government had refused Permission for the fleet to go up. The Turkish fleet was at Constantinople ready for Sea consisting of 17 Ships of the Line. This is the report riceived from said Schooner previouse to her being taken.) I have the honour to be with respect, Sir Your Obed. and Huml. servt:\nJohn Gavino", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-10-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1493", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Thomas M. Bayly, 10 March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Bayly, Thomas M.\nSir.\nDepartment of State, March 10th. 1807.\nI have received your letter directed to Mr. Giles, and in his absence to me, dated 25th. Feby.. An act of Congress passed the 2d. day of the present month, giving a further time, of three years, to complete the location of the Virginia Military land warrants, and five years to return the surveys & warrants to the office of the Secretary of War. This law amongst others, will be published in a few days, in the National Intelligencer & Richmond Enquirer. I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-10-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1494", "content": "Title: From James Madison to George Hay, 10 March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Hay, George\nSir.\nDepartment of State, March 10th. 1807.\nYour letter of the 4th. inst. has been duly recd. You will herewith receive an authenticated copy of the Proclamation of the President of the United States in relation to the three British ships of War, Leander, Cambrian & Driver. I am &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-11-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1495", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Lewis Forman, 11 March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Forman, Lewis\nSir.\nDepartment of State, March llth: 1807.\nIt being understood that the charge of American Agent, which the interests of the United States, seem to require at Guadeloupe, would not be unacceptable to you, the President has been pleased to confer it upon you. It will relate lst: to the Superintendence of our Seamen in the place of your residence, and as far as is practicable and convenient, in the adjacent Colonies & Seas; and 2dly: to the captures of American Vessels or property which may be carried into the Island.\nAs respects the former branch of your duty it will be necessary on your receiving information that any American Seamen, are in a situation to require your interposition or assistance, to make them objects of your special attention, and keep this Department constantly informed of your proceedings. When obstacles arise to their relief you will carefully note them in your communications, that they may if possible be removed.\nTo the discharged Seamen, as well as to those who may be in distress, you may advance such moderate succour in cloathing, diet &c. as is absolutely necessary until you can find them birth\u2019s to return to the United States. Should it be necessary in some instances to pay their passages home, you will take care to do it on the most reasonable terms. It will require great circumspection to distinguish in the applications which are made for your assistance our own from British, and perhaps even other foreign Seamen. You will make out your accounts monthly, with vouchers for each item, and transmit them by duplicates to this Office. Agreeably to an usage which has prevailed, you will be allowed to charge the United States a commission of five per cent on your advances. Your reimbursements & commission are to be drawn for upon the Secretary of State.\nWith respect to the defence of captured American Vessels or property it is to be observed that you are not to make advances or engagements for the payment of money on account of the United States. You will however be pleased to render the claimants every advice & good office in your power, other than such advances or engagements. You will also from time to time transmit to this Department an account of the captures made from Citizens of the United States, with the result & principles of the adjudication held upon them.\nIt will be agreeable to receive in your communications an account of any important military occurrences which may take place in the West Indies, and also such occurrences in the Commercial World as may be interresting in a general view to the United States. I am &c.\nJames Madison.\nNote--a similar letter, was addressed to Archbd: M:Cocke (appointing him Agent for the Island of Martinique) on the 21st: day of August 1807.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-12-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1497", "content": "Title: To James Madison from David Montagu Erskine, 12 March 1807\nFrom: Erskine, David Montagu\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nWashington March 12th: 1807\nI am charged by His Majesty to express to the Government of the United States His Majesty\u2019s perfect Confidence in their good Sense and Firmness in resisting the unjust Pretensions contained in the Decree issued by the French government at Berlin on the 21st: of November, which if suffered to take Effect, must prove so destructive to the Commerce of all Neutral Nations.\nHis Majesty has learnt that the Measures announced in this Decree have already, in some Instances, been carried into Execution by the Privateers of the Enemy, and there could be no doubt that His Majesty would have an indisputable Right to Exercise a just Retaliation. Neutral Nations cannot indeed expect that The King should suffer the Commerce of his Enemies to be carried on through them, whilst they submit to the Prohibition which France has decreed against the Commerce of His Majesty\u2019s Subjects. But though this Right of Retaliation would unquestionably accrue to His Majesty, yet His Majesty is unwilling, except in the last Extremity, to have Recourse to Measures which must prove so distressing to all Nations not engaged in the War against France.\nHis Majesty therefore, with that Forbearance and Moderation, which have at all Times distinguished His Conduct, has determined for the present to confine Himself to the Exercise of the Power given Him by His decided Naval Superiority, in such a Manner only as is authorized by the acknowledged Principles of the Law of Nations, and has issued an Order for preventing all Commerce from Port to Port of His Enemies, comprehending in this Order not only the Ports of France, but those of other nations, as, either in alliance with France or subject to her Dominion, have by Measures of active Offence, or by the Exclusion of British Ships, taken a Part in the present War.\nHis Majesty feels an entire Confidence that the Moderation and Justice of His Conduct will be duly appreciated by the United States, and has charged me to express to This Government, in the strongest Terms, the Regret He has experienced in being thus compelled in His own Defence to act in a Manner which must prove in some Degree embarrassing to the Commerce of Neutral Nations, and His sincere Desire to avoid any stronger Measures, to which however, if the Injustice and Aggression of His Enemies should not be resisted by those Nations whose Rights and Interests are invaded by so flagrant a violation of all publick Law, it may be ultimately necessary for The King to have Recourse. I have the Honor to be, with great Respect & Consideration, Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant\nD. M. Erskine", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-13-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1498", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Albert Gallatin, 13 March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Gallatin, Albert\nSir.\nDepartment of State, March 13. 1807.\nBe pleased to issue a warrant on the appropriation for the Contingent expenses of the Mississippi Territory for two hundred dollars, in favor of Wm. Chew, authorised to receive the same by Cowles Meade Esqr. who is to be charged & held accountable for the same. I am &c.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-13-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1499", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Price, Jr., 13 March 1807\nFrom: Price, John, Jr.\nTo: Madison, James\nNo. 4577 District of Maryland. Port of Baltimore\nI certify, That there was imported into this District, on the 13th: day of March 1807, by J Madison in the Three Sisters of Baltimore from Madeira one Pipe of Wine numbered and marked as per Margin, containing One hundred & One Gallons.\nJo Price JrCollector.Countersigned byD. Delozier Inspector.\nBaltimore\nThree Sisters\nMadeira, Gall. 101\nD. Delozier\nMarch 13th. 1807", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1500", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 14 March 1807\nFrom: Jefferson, Thomas\nTo: Madison, James\nThe following Commissions to be made out.\nLemuel Trescott of Massachusets Collector of the district, & Inspector of the revenue for the port of Machias.Jonathan Palmer of Connecticut Surveyor of the port of Stonington, & Inspector of the revenue for the same.\nJohn Vemor junr. Surveyor of the port of Albany & Inspector of the revenue for the same.\nRobert Cockran of N. Carolina Collector for the district of Wilmington N. C.Abraham Bissent of Georgia Collector for the district of St. Mary\u2019s in GeorgiaGeorge M. Bible Attorney for the US. for the district of Kentucky.\nTh: Jefferson", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1501", "content": "Title: To James Madison from James Monroe, 14 March 1807\nFrom: Monroe, James\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nLondon March 14. 1807.\nI hasten to transmit you a copy of the note which I lately wrote to Lord Howick, to request a postponement of the trial of Capn. Whitby, and of his reply to it; by which you will find, that the trial is postponed to the first of May. At present, I am too much indisposed to make any remarks on the subject; though indeed, I do not know that it would be in my power, to add any thing material to what these papers furnish. I have the honor to be, with great consideration Your most Obt. Servant\nJas. Monroe", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1503", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Andrew Parks, 14 March 1807\nFrom: Parks, Andrew\nTo: Madison, James\nDr. Sir.\nBaltimore 14th. March 1807\nThe Schooner Three Sisters from Madeira has arrived. She has two pipes of Wine for you, addressed by Murdoch Yuille Wardrop & Co. to me by the direction of Judge Washington.\nI sent you their Letter the other day which came via Norfolk. Be pleased to direct me in what manner you would wish I should forward you the Wine. With respectful Compls. to Mrs. Madison I am yr. very Obt. Hle Sert.\nAndrw. Parks", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1504", "content": "Title: To James Madison from George William Erving, 14 March 1807\nFrom: Erving, George William\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nMadrid March 14th. 1807\nI lose no time in transmitting to you a decree issued by this government in conformity with the Imperial blockade decree, of which I received the first notice from Cadiz on the 12th. Inst; and I send it as published in the Madrid Gazette of last Evening, where it is preceeded by a paragraph worthy of remark: By the next post I shall have the honor of addressing you more particularly upon this, & other subjects connected with our affairs here With perfect Respect & Consideration Sir, Your very obt. St.\nGeorge W. Erving", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1505", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 14 March 1807\nFrom: Jefferson, Thomas\nTo: Madison, James\nOn further enquiry and examination, I find it necessary to correct the list of justices before given in for Alexandria county. Commissions are therefore desired for Washington & Alexandria counties according to the subjoined lists, giving to all those who were in the former commissions the order in which they were therein placed, and adding the new names to the end.\nJustices for Washington county.Justices for Alexandria county.Robert BrentGeorge GilpinThomas PeterCharles Alexander junr.William ThorntonJonah Thompson.Joseph Sprigg BeltAbraham FawThomas CorcoranCuthbert PowellSamuel N. Smallwood.Alexander Smith.Robert AlexanderJacob Hoffman.Richard ParrottGeorge SlocumThomas FenwickElisha Cullen DickJohn B. KirbyJohn McKinneyJohn OttRobert YoungSamuel Harrison SmithJoseph Dean.Daniel RamineRichard DinmoreNicholas YoungAmos AlexanderJohn ThreilkeldClement SewellRichard LibbyJohn Richards.Henry O\u2019Reily.\n[brace] Included in list on next page [brace]", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-14-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1506", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Samuel Smith, 14 March 1807\nFrom: Smith, Samuel\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nBaltimore March 14 1807\nFrom the British papers and a Philada. federal paper (emanating I presume from Mr. C.) we are at liberty to guess, at what are the principal features of the Treaty. I will take leave to offer my opinion thereon. If my guess should be right my observations will apply. If not, then you will lose your time in reading, and I shall have only amused myself in writing on that which had no existence in fact.\n1st. The East India Trade to be conformably to the former treaty.\nThis is much more like a Boon now, than when Jay made his Treaty, for since that period, G. B. has possessed herself of all that Country belonging to the Native Princes from whence we might have drawn our supplies of India Goods without her consent. At present we have only Treguibsen (a Danish port) open to us & there we can only procure the worst goods, those that are rejected by the British Factories.\n2d. The West Indies trade on the same footing of the most favoured Nation, that is, on its present system. I have ever been of opinion that G. B. would on no condition relinquish her exclusive rights to her Colonial Trade. Indeed It is not reasonable to expect she will; she defends the colonies at a great expence The exclusive trade is supposed to compensate for that expenditure. In time of war we supply her colonies, and G. B. is more than one half her time at War. On this subject we cannot & ought not to complain until other nations equally powerful throw open their colonies to our commerce.\n3d: The drawback system to be changed to wit 2 p Cent on the cost of colonial produce, and one p Cent on all other goods to be retained (of the duty now charged) on exportation, instead of the 3 1/ 2 p Cent on the amount of drawbacks now retained by law. This is with a view to impose on the commerce of the U. S. charges which will make our expences in time of our peace equal to theirs who may be at War. This perhaps is an imposition which a powerful Nation ought not to submit to, and would not if they could resist. But we have not the power of resistance, and if we had, I fear we would not have the will. A prevailing idea in Congress (especially among southern Gentlemen) was, to take away all drawbacks that thereby the Neutral Trade might be put down and a supposed danger to our Peace resulting therefrom might in that way be avoided. As a Punds, shillings & pence calculation, It will have its ity for It will add to the revenue without taking much if any thing from the Wealth of individuals The savings in the premium of insurance will be as much as the loss arising from the difference between the two systems of drawbacks The loss of immence property captured annually by the British will be avoided which altho paid for by the Insurance Companies is yet that much loss to our national wealth.\n4 The Impressment of seamen in our ships forms not a part of the Treaty. This is to be regretted especially as our Envoys were directed to make that subject a \"sine qua non\" But the British would not consent thereto. Our Envoys then have done what they consider an equivalent & equally binding on the British Government, for if they will not be bound by a formal diplomatic note promising a line of conduct satisfactory to us, is there any probability they would be by a treaty; And if we send back the treaty, will we be less afflicted by their impressments than we should be under the promise made in their note?\n5 The note of threat, made under the impression that the French meant by their decree to afflict our trade. That construction of the Imperial Decree being false, the note becomes a dead letter, & the Treaty again rests on its own merits. Of that I can only judge from the information given in the public prints and from an opinion given to myself by the President that \"take the treaty so far it goes It might be acceptable\" Under those impressions I cannot but think the President will take on himself a very high responsibility should he send back the treaty without submitting it to the Senate. What will be the consequence? Our Envoys will feel themselves insulted. The treaty will be published. Men will judge for themselves. If the provisions of the treaty should please, if the capture of our ships should continue & new principles every day be assumed as pretexts for condemnation until the whole of the Peace & War principle shall be fully embraced, if the impressments should continue or increase, will not complaints arise? Will they not be loud? Will not the people feel? And is it not probable that the sending back the treaty may be attributed to hostility against Mr. Munroe? May not Mr. Munroe so consider the subject? May he not think it necessary to defend himself in the public prints? If he should he will have many Advocates I take leave to submit those crude Ideas to your consideration and I will flatter myself that the dispatches & information received by Mr. Purviance may be such as will tend to lessen the hostility in the mind of the President against the Instruments. With the highest Esteem I am Sir Your friend & Servt.\nS Smith", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-15-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1508", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Thomas Newton, 15 March 1807\nFrom: Newton, Thomas\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nCollrs. Office Mar. 15, 1807 Norfolk.\nI recd. yr. letters of the 7th. & 9th. instant Wm. Milfield I believe is incorrect in his statement of being a native of this place From my own knowledge & from every inquiry no such name has ever been resident here If I can get any documents in his favor I will use my endeavors to releive him I am respectfully Yr. Obt Servt.\nThos NewtonCollr", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-15-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1509", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Tobias Lear, 15 March 1807\nFrom: Lear, Tobias\nTo: Madison, James\nTriplicate. at Algiers, all well (Private and confidential)\nMy dear Sir,On board the U. S. Frigate Constitution, At Sea, Off Algiers, March 15th: 1807\nThe public dispatches which accompany this, will give a full detail of all my transactions and negociations at Tunis; And I shall feel peculiarly happy if the issue thereof meets the Approbation of the President and yourself. The base and false aspersions which have been cast upon my conduct in the Tripolis business, in some of our unworthy public Prints, give me some pain; but I was conscious that what I had done was for the honor and best interest of my Country, and the effects thereof would be acknowledged, when the contemptable aspersions shd. be in merited oblivion.\nThe more I see of Barbary Affairs, the more I am convinced that Government has been grossly imposed upon, by representations made from prejudice, resentment, vanity, or ignorance; and I confess I feel a little mortified to see some carressed who deserve more than censure.\nI have not perhaps fulfilled the expectations of Some of my friends, by sending from Barbary accounts of the Country which might be new and wonderful; nor of its curiosities and productions. Altho\u2019 my time has been strictly devoted to my public duties, I have not been inattentive to those things: But I wish to send nothing but facts, and things of real utility; in which I hope, at some time or another, to be able to gratify my friends. I have a pleasing hope that Dr. Triplett will be of great use in those things. He has received some impressions I find, from my Predecessor, which can be of no use to him; but Serve to mislead, as some other impressions made by him have done. I shall guard the Dr. against them as much as possible, and his own observations will be of use in removing them.\nWe sailed from Tunis Bay on the 7th., and in the same night a most furious Gale from North, attacked us, which cost the U. States some sails and rigging, and the Ship was in no small danger of going on shore; and I now write this in a heavy Gale, which has kept us from running for the land for two days past, altho\u2019 we suppose we are only a few leagues from Algiers, as the weather is so dark and rainy that we dare not approach the coast.\nI have not received a line from Dr. Davis since he has been in this sea. I saw a letter from him to Mr. Ambrose Allegro, the Consular Secretary in Tunis, dated at Leghorn the 19th. of January, in which he says he is going to Tripoli on special business for the U. States, with Mr. Paine, as Secretary of Legation, who will be left as Consul in Tripoli, when he shall go to Tunis, as he knows nothing can be done there without him; and from thence he goes to Paris and London before he returns to the U. States; unless he should be ordered to Constantinople, of which he has some expectation.\nI cannot feel too grateful to yourself and the President for the confidence placed in me to negociate the Tunis business, while I was so severely handled about the Tripoli Peace. My friends shall never have reason to blush for my conduct, while I am able to perform the duties imposed upon me.\nI pray you to present my best respects to your good Mrs. Madison, and beleive me to be, with unalterable attachment and friendship, Your very faithful & Obedt Sert\nTobias Lear", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-15-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1510", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Jarvis, 15 March 1807\nFrom: Jarvis, William\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nLisbon 15th: March 1807\nThe Commercial part of this City has been kept in a high State of ferment for two days past in consequence of the return of the Brig Tiger of Boston, Wm. Bartlett, Master, owing to his papers being indorsed to prevent his entering any port of France: for the particulars I must beg leave to refer you to the inclosed copy of my letter to Captn. McKinley dated yesterday. I waited on Lord Strangford in the forenoon of the 13th: Inst his Lordship had gone to ride, & in the afternoon I went on board the Lively frigate, but the Captain having come ashore to dine with a Gentleman, I came after him. When I found him without letting him know who I was, I asked him if any instructions had been received that would authorize the prohibition; but he declined making any reply unless after a farther examination of his instructions; & discovered much vexation, when, in the course of conversation, he learnt that Lord Strangford had been applied to before him, who he said was the proper person, as Senr. Naval Officer in the port. He however appointed two oClock of the next day (14th.) to give an answer. As he appeared pretty crusty I concluded it best to write him. After reading my letter & examing his papers, he made the following indorsement on the Sea letter \"The Brig Tiger Wm. Bartlet, Master, is authorised to proceed on his Voyage, not Sailing from any enemy\u2019s port to another. Given on board his Britannic Majesty Ship Lively in the River Tagus this 14th: March 1807 (Signed) George McKinley Captn\" & thus ended this business, much to the Joy of the Merchants of this place. Whilst one of my Clerks was gone on board the frigate with my letter, in company with Mr Sprague the owner, Lord Strangford called on me & assured me that Captn. Grant had no authority for what he had done.\nThe Conde d\u2019Ega as mentioned in my last (which went by the Brig Perseverance, Captn kins for Boston) was not made Marquis & I doubt whether he has settled the misunderstanding between the Prince of Asturies & the Prince of Peace, or concluded the match between the former & the Prince Regent\u2019s eldest daughter; as Mr Erving says nothing of one or the other, in two letters to me. I supposed they must be a fact, as they were very confidently related by a Lord to the Corps Diplomatic, but I find Courtiers are as liable to be misinformed as other persons. There is no doubt however, that a marriage is negotiating between the Prince of Asturies & the Princess, which it is generally beleived is, or will be shortly concluded. It is positively said too that the Conde d\u2019Ega is coming home, but it is understood that he Solicited his recall, because his expences had so greatly exceeded his income. With entire Respect I have the honor to be Sir Yr. Mo: Ob: Servt\nWilliam Jarvis\nWill accompany this a packet received from Mr Erving by last post.\nW. J.\nJust as I was on the point of closing this letter, I recd. one dated yesterday from Captn McKinley; a copy of which will accompany this.\nW. J.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1513", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Thomas Fristoe, 17 March 1807\nFrom: Fristoe, Thomas\nTo: Madison, James\nDr. Sir\nLimestone March 17t. 1807.\nCapt. Moses Daulton a resident of the Town aforesaid in the State of Kentucky a brother-in-law of mine perceiving by an act of last Session of Congress that a Surveyor is to be appointed for the port of Limestone I avail myself of the acquaintance Sir, I have the honor to have with you to recommend through you Capt. Daulton to the president in order to obtain the appointment to the Office. Capt. Daulton\u2019s political principles are decidedly republican and is esteemed as a man of integrity Sobriety & honesty by the inhabitants of this place. I am just on my return to Virginia from a tour through this state. Capt Daulton\u2019s former residence was in the neighbourhood of Dumfries and is well know to the most influencial Characters there to be the man I have represented him. Your prompt attention to the above request will be thankfully acknowledged by me I am Sir Your Obt Sert.\nThomas Fristoe", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1514", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Robert Harrison Grayson, 17 March 1807\nFrom: Grayson, Robert Harrison\nTo: Madison, James\nDr Sir,\nWashington March 17th. 1807\nMr. Moses Daulton a resident of Limestone, in this State, and an acquaintance of mine, perceiving by an act of the last session of Congress, that a surveyor is to be appointed for the port of Limestone has requested of me a letter of recommendation to the president in order to obtain the appointment to the office. I avail myself of the acquaintance Sir, I have the honor to have with you, to recommend through you Mr. Daulton to the president. Mr. Daultons political principles are, I believe decidedly republican, and since I first became acquainted with him which is about eight years since, he has uniformly as far as I have ever understood conducted himself with honesty and integrity, and I think if the office should be confered on him that he will discharge its duties with fidelity. I am Dear Sir with sentiments of esteem your Mo: obdt. Sert.\nRobert Harrison Grayson", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1515", "content": "Title: To James Madison from George William Erving, 17 March 1807\nFrom: Erving, George William\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nMadrid 17 March 1807\nThe foregoing is triplicate of my letter dated 14th. Inst, & herewith I inclose another Copy of the decree therein referred to. Tho this was transmitted to the commanders of districts governors &c on the 19 Feby, it was not made publick at the ports till the 5th. of March, & it was communicated by circular letter to the foreign ministers on the 13th. Inst; the same day of its publication in the Madrid Gazette. The adoption of the Imperial blockade decree was one of the important objects with which Mr. Beauharnois was charged on his mission to this court, & since his arrival he has not ceased to urge the measure. It is beleived that he was at first told that the leading principles of the decree had in effect been for a long time past acted on here; but it appears that this has not been satisfactory to the Emperor. The prelude to the decree as published in the Gazette, & as transmitted to the foreign ministers; in the form of a compliment to the Ambassador, seems intended to Shew, that it is not altogether a voluntary proceeding; yet as is said, the Ambassador himself has given motive to the insertion of it, by indirectly complaining that he has not been treated with due consideration; that even his arrival & presentation have not been announced; thus after three months delay, this mode is taken to satisfy him.\nImmediately on Receiving the decree from Cadiz I addressed a note to the Prince admiral of which the inclosed is a copy; & I propose to reply to the circular note from Mr. Cevallos of which also a copy is herewith transmitted in the same sense; hoping that this course, in consideration of the actual state of our affairs here, as displayed in the correspondencies Submitted to you, will meet with the Presidents approbation.\nSeeing that before the adoption of this measure no disposition has been shewn by the tribunals to respect the 15th. Article of the treaty, & no satisfactory answers given by the government to the various Reclamations under it which it has been my duty to make, you will not probably expect any modification in practice, favorable to the United States, of the principles now declared: Whatever replies I may receive from the Prince or from Mr. Cevallos I shall lose no time in transmitting to you.\nTho the French decree may probably in its Operation upon neutral Commerce be a very inoffensive instrument, in the hands of that dextrous government, or of a government well affected towards neutral Rights; yet even that decree as Executed here must from a variety of causes become very destructive. But you will observe Sir also that the Spanish government in the adoption of the French Measure, tho it falls short in some points, has gone very much beyond it in others; & is much more explicit in its encroachment on neutral rights. The French decree declares the British ports to be in a state of blockade; but from its own just definition of a blockade, this declaration may become perfectly innocent: The Spanish decree without pretending to blockade England, declares all goods on board neutral Vessels bound to its ports wherever they may be found on the Seas to be good prize: The french decree prohibits all intercourse with England, ships coming from thence shall not be Received in the ports of France &c &c. But the Spanish decree without warning Confiscates all british property on board neutral Vessels, bound & consigned to Spain: The general & great Object of the French decree seems to be to prejudice England as much as possible without declaring any hostility to neutrals; wheras the Spanish decree is levelled directly at neutrals, & with respect to some essential points bears as little upon England as possible: Thus you will observe Sir that tho\u2019 the law promulgated by the Emperor is adopted in general terms, there is no specifick & express confiscation of English property within the Spanish dominions; yet it is not to be doubted, but that a great quantity of such property actually Exists.\nMy letter of Feby. 8th (No. 23) inclosed a continuation of my correspondence with Mr. Cevallos upon the late proceedings of the prize tribunals; from which, & what was before transmitted I presume Sir You will have concluded that the Kings order (so often referred to) directing his tribunals to conform their decisions to the Existing treaty was intended to Satisfy in form our just complaints, but that in fact it must have been accompanied by other instructions authorizing the condemnation of British property on board neutral Vessels; that the tribunals coud not otherwise have dared so boldly & unequivocally to have violated the order; & twice in the course of conversation with the Prince of Peace on these subjects, he has intimated that this government coud not continue to respect Enemies property under our flag: it is therefore that I apprehend our commerce will not be Exempted from the Operation of the measure now taken.\nThe other Copies herewith inclosed are (No. 1) my note to Mr. Cevallos of Feby 11th. upon Quarantine (No. 4) his note of February 25th. & (No. 6) Mr de Beauharnois note of March 5th. upon the \"Cyrus\" & \"Sibae\"; being in continuation of subjects mentioned in my letter No. 23 above referred to, My note to Mr Cevallos (No 2) of Feby 24th upon the case of the Jane Brogdon Mr., My note of March 4 (No. 5) upon the case of the \"Abeona\", & another of March 13th. (No.) respecting the Commerce Bernard Mr. & Eliza Newton Mr.\nI take this occasion of transmitting to you a long order which has been lately issued for the March into France of 10,000 Infantry & 4000 Cavalry including the troops in Italy.\nA Considerable body of the Prussian prisoners, who were sent by the French government to serve in this Country having reached the frontier near Irun, & having learnt their destination, absolutely refuse to come further; a part of them have dispersed themselves about that country; & as to those who remain, the Spanish government is determined not to make use of any compulsory measures, but to Receive them only as volunteers.\nTo support the Expences of the Expedition to France & to supply the other urgencies of the state, which are very great, & above all to put the navy on a respectable footing, which it is the Admirals intention to do if possible; sale is to be made of an immense quantity of church property & that of some public charities; for which purpose an ample bull has been obtained from the pope. I have not yet been able to learn the details of this plan, but the government calculate very confidently on procuring by these means ample supplies for all their purposes.\nThe Constitution of the Admira Tazgo is too large to be inclosed with this letter, but I will transmit it (original & duplicate) under a seperate Cover. With the most perfect Respect & Consideration I have the honor to be Sir Your very obdt. St.\nGeorge W Erving\nNo 3. of the Copies is Mr. Cevallos\u2019 Answer to No 2.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-17-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1516", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 17 March 1807\nFrom: Jefferson, Thomas\nTo: Madison, James\nMarch 1807\nthe article against impressment to be a sine qua non.\nSo also the withdrawing or modifying the declaration\nendeavor to alter the E. India article by restoring Jay\u2019s Art. 8. Avoid if possible the express abandonmt of free ships free goods\n10. Define blockade according to the British note formerly recd.\n17. Expunge stipuln to recieve their vessels of war & treat officers with respect\nreserve the right to indemnificns.\nagree not to employ their seamen.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-18-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1518", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Francois de Navoni, 18 March 1807\nFrom: Navoni, Francois de\nTo: Madison, James\nMonsieur\nCagliari le 18. Mars 1807.\nJe me suis fait un devoir avec le plus humble respect et . obb\u00e9issence de lui humilier dans plusieurs occasions mes Lettres, la derniere dat\u00e9e le 27. Decembre pass\u00e9, que certainemt. Monsieur les aura re\u00e7\u00fbes parmis les quelles je me suis fait un devoir de lui reppresenter le tout selon mon devoir d\u2019office, dont je me flatte qu\u2019il se sera daign\u00e9 de les accepter, et de les prendre en consideration, mais jusqu\u2019a present je n\u2019ai pas merit\u00e9 la gra\u00e7e d\u2019une reponse \u00e0 tout ce que fidelement j\u2019ai expos\u00e9 me flatant toujo\u00fbrs que j\u2019obtiendrai la gra\u00e7e que Monsieur jugeraque je puisse meriter.\nDans le Mois de janvier venant de Livourne mouilla dans cette Rade la Golette de L\u2019Etat command\u00e9e parpra le Capne. Porter, et a cause du mauvais tems \u00e0 du se raccomoder de quelque dommage, et il fut tr\u00e8s content de mes empressments de servi\u00e7e, que de lui avoir procur\u00e9 tout ce qu\u2019il \u00e0 eu debesoin comme aussi il fut bien re\u00e7\u00fb ainsi que ses officiers de LL. M que du Royal Prin\u00e7e aux quels je les presenta, et S. M. gracieusement leur \u00e0 temoign\u00e9 toutes les offres d\u2019amiti\u00e9, ainsi qu\u2019un singulier attachement pour l\u2019auguste Gouvernement et appr\u00e8s quelques jo\u00fbrs il partit pour les environs de Tunis, m\u2019ayant assur\u00e9 de retourner bient\u00f4t dans ce Port pour avoir des nouvelles de Monsieur le Commodor De Berron si par hazard doit venir dans ce Port, ou si j\u2019ai quelque nouvelle de la lui communiquer.\nComme je me suis procur\u00e9 presques toutes les correspondences de Messieurs les Consuls, dernierement Monsieur le Consul Lear d\u2019Alger me participa qu\u2019il devoit passer a Tunis pour quelques affaires interessantes, et que vraisemblablement \u00e0 son retour pour retourner a Alger mouillera i\u00e7i pour faire ma connoissence et peut-etre prendre un chargement de Sel pour Alger, et par ma reponse faitte pour Tunis au dit Monsieur je lui ai repett\u00e9 mes offres.\nQuelques Navires Marchands frequentent ce Port pour charger du Sel, et il le trouvent tr\u00e8s bon et a prix honnete, que la promte expedition, comme aussi le Gouvernement se donne touts les mouvements pour favoriser la Nation, et aujourd\u2019huy je consigne le present au Capne. Lilly du Navire nomm\u00e9 le Spar qu\u2019il fut address\u00e9 \u00e0 moi de Monsieur G. H\u00e9ygens Agent \u00e0 N pour le charger de Sel, que sans alteration je puis assurer \u00e0 Monsieur qu\u2019il partit tr\u00e8s content.\nDe moment \u00e0 autre doivent arriver d\u2019autres Battiments Ameriquains pour charger de Sel selon les avis de Monsr. le Consul Appleton, que je me donnerai touts les empressements pour les favoriser que de leur procurer une promte expedition, et donner des preuves de mon service, que certainement Monsieur aura pris cognition de moi.\nJe le supplie derechef de vouloir m\u2019honnorer des Patentes de ma confirme de Consul dans tout le Royaume de Sardaigne autant plus que je suis depuis long tems en service faisant les fonctions, et que Monsieur le Commodor M. Morris m\u2019honnora d\u2019un Brevet d\u2019Agent, le tout deja bien connu a Monsieur selon mes rapports.\nJe suis pret \u00e0 servir Monsieur le Commodor De Berron S\u2019il arriver\u00e0, comm\u2019aussi de venerer ces ordres, et commandemts., et avec toute la veneration et obbeissence je suis humblement Monsieur, Le Tr\u00e8s Humble, Le Tr\u00e8s Obsst & Tres Fidel Serviteur\nComt Fran\u00e7ois NavoniAgent", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-18-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1519", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Graham, 18 March 1807\nFrom: Graham, John\nTo: Madison, James\nSir.\nNew Orleans 18th. March 1807\nI had the Honor a few days since, to receive your Letter of the 3d Feby. in which you are pleased to express to me the satisfaction I had given to the President in the Execution of the important and critical task lately committed to me. So far as Zeal and honest intentions entitle me to this Testimony of his approbation, I feel that I deserve it, for I used my utmost efforts to accomplish the great object of my Mission by means which I thought most congenial to the Spirit of our Government. My Letters from Natchez will give you a view of my Conduct in that Neighbourhood, and a letter I had the Honor to write you immediately after my Arrival here will I hope, induce you to beleive, I am still disposed to go beyond the limits of my official Duties to serve my Country.\nAs yet I have not been able to form an Opinion as to the State of Parties here, which I think sufficiently correct to be submitted to you.\nIn one of my Letters from Lexington I mention to you that I understood Colo. Burr had offered to draw on Mr Daniel Clarke and finding that Bills on this Place were not negotiable in Kentucky, had written to Chew & Relf, the Partners & Agents of Mr Clarke to remit the Funds to New York. Since my arrival here Mr Relf (my Friend Mr Chew being absent) gives me the most positive and satisfactory assurances that they never had any Funds in their hands liable to the order of Colo. Burr, and as their House receive & pay out all Mr Clarke\u2019s mony, he is very sure that Gentleman has made no advances to Colo. Burr. Mr Relf urged me to look at Mr Clarkes Account for several years back in their Books, which I did, and I now take the earliest occasion to say that nothing in this account justifies a beleif that Mr Clarke has advanced any Mony for Colo Burr. Mr Alexr. Parker of Lexington told me that Burr had offered to draw on Clarke and Colo. Lynch mentioned (as I was told by Mr Hunt & Mr Jourdon of Lexington) that he himself had sent on Burrs Letter to Chew & Relf ordering his Funds round to NewYork. Mr Relf tells me no such Letter was ever received by them. The Probability I think is that this supposed Letter was nothing more than a Cover for Burrs Communications to Bollman which were directed to the House of Chew & Relf and delivered by them to Genl. Wilkinson. With Sentiments of the Highest Respect I have the Honor to be Sir Your Most Obt Sert\nJohn: Graham\nAccident prevented this Letter from going by the last Mail.\nJG.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-18-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1520", "content": "Title: From James Madison to James Trimble, 18 March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Trimble, James\nSir,\nDepartment of State March 18, 1807\nThe President of the United States being desirous of availing the public of your services as Attorney of the United States for the District of East Tennessee, I have the pleasure to inclose your Commission, and am Very respectfully Sir, your most Ob Sert.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-19-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1521", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Louis-Marie Turreau de Garambouville, 19 March 1807\nFrom: Turreau de Garambouville, Louis-Marie\nTo: Madison, James\nMonsieur,\nA Baltimore le 19 Mars 1807\nJ\u2019ai l\u2019honneur de vous addresser ci:joint la commission accord\u00e9e par M. Le Consul G\u00e9n\u00e9ral de France \u00e0 M. de Verronnet pour remplir provisoirement les fonctions de Consul aux Natchez et Remplacement de M. Martel D\u00e9missionaire.\nJe vous prie en cons\u00e9quence, Monsieur, de vouloir bien solliciter de S. E. Monsieur le Pr\u00e9sident un exequatur en faveur de M. Verronnet & de joindre \u00e0 Son renvoi celui de la commission. Agr\u00e9ez, Monsieur une nouvelle assurance de ma haute Consid\u00e9ration.\nTurreau", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-19-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1522", "content": "Title: To James Madison from David Montagu Erskine, 19 March 1807\nFrom: Erskine, David Montagu\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nWashington March 19th: 1807\nI have the Honor to acknowledge the Receipt of your Letter of the 15th: Instant relative to the Schooner Morning Star of Providence, as also a Protest made by the Master and other Persons formerly belonging to the above mentioned Schooner.\nI have forwarded those Documents to the Admiral commanding His Majesty\u2019s Ships on the Halifax Station, and will have the Honor of communicating to you such Answer as I may receive. With the highest Respect and Consideration, I have the Honor to be Sir, your most obedient humble Servant\nD. M. Erskine", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-20-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1524", "content": "Title: From James Madison to James Monroe, 20 March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Monroe, James\nDear Sir\nWashington Mar. 20. 1807\nYou will receive herewith a letter for yourself & Mr. P. acknowledging the receipt of your communications by Mr. Purviance, and suggesting the intermediate course to be pursued, untill the further instructions contemplated by the President can be matured. The delay will be short; but it is desireable to accomodate the instructions to the result of some enquiries as to certain facts, and the probable operation of certain arrangements.\nThe President writes you by this conveyance, & touches I presume on the particular difficulties which restrain him from closing the bargain with G. B. on the terms which she so obstinately insists on. In general she has indulged a hard & 179. 1201. 883. spirit of which it is probable Mr. Fox would never have been the Minister. But in refusing an explicit pledge agst. the horrible practice of impressments, & in giving to the declaratory note, the form & face chosen for it, she has in the view of the President laid him under the necessity of recurring to the course & chance of negociation. The declaration, if not put aside by the turn of events, may be put into some candid & delicate shape which would remove that difficulty. But the case of impressments consists altogether of thorns. Considering that the public mind has reached a crisis of sensibility, and that this object essentially contributed to the Extry. Mission, as well as to the non importation act, there is every motive to seek in every mode an effectual remedy. For reasons already hinted, the promise in the note of Lds. H. & A. of Novr. 8. is not such a remedy, in the view produced here by circumstances which could not be so well appreciated where you are.\nIn several other points, the terms insisted on by G. B. are liable to all the objections which you opposed to them, and it is the wish of the P. that they may undergo revision on grounds which will be stated in my letter by Mr. Purviance.\nThe Presidt. & all of us are fully impressed with the difficulties which your negociation had to contend with, as well as with the faithfulness & ability with which it was supported, and are as ready to suppose, in as far as there may be variance in our respective views of things, that in your position we should have had yours, as that in our position, you would have ours. What may be the effect of further efforts, in another form, or on other grounds if these can be devised, remains to be seen. The P. has doubtless given you to understand as well the choice left you as to a participation in these efforts, as the satisfaction which will be felt in case your arrangements admit of your stay for the purpose. If he has been silent it is because he assures himself, that his sentiments cannot be misconstrued by you. The uncertainty whether you may not have carried into effect the purpose intimated in your private letter by Mr. P. before this reaches London, concurs with the urgency of the oppy. in rendering it shorter than it would otherwise be.\nI have forwarded your letter to Mr. Divers. I have no private news to give you from this quarter, other than what the arrival of Mr. P. will soon furnish. For public, I refer to him also, & to the Newspapers herewith sent. Mrs. M. offers with me best respects to Mrs. Monroe & Miss Eliza. Yrs. with sincere friendship & highest respect\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-20-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1525", "content": "Title: From James Madison to David Erskine, 20 March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Erskine, David\nSir.\nDepartment of State, March 20th: 1807.\nI have laid before the President your letter of the 12th: instant, communicating the views of His Britannic Majesty in relation to the French decree of Novr: 21st: 1806, and the principle of retaliation, through the commerce of Neutrals; who may submit to the operation of that decree; as also the measure actually taken, of prohibiting all Neutral commerce from port to port of his enemies, not only the ports of France, but those of such other Nations, as either in alliance with France, or subject to her dominion, have by measures of active offence, or by the exclusion of British Ships, taken a part in the present war.\nThe President cannot be insensible, Sir, to the friendship & confidence towards the United States, which are signified by His Britannic Majesty in this communication. In making this acknowledgment, however, the President considers it not less incumbent on him, to reserve for a state of things which it is hoped may never occur, the right of discussing the legality of any particular measures to which resort may be had, on a ground of retaliation. At this time, it would suffice to observe, that it remains to be more fully ascertained, in what sense the decree in question will be explained, and to what extent it will be carried into execution; and consequently, whether in any case, the United States, can be involved in questions concerning measures of retaliation supposed to accrue to one bellegerent from such a proceeding by another. But it is worthy the justice and the liberality of the British Government to recollect, that within the period of those great events which continue to agitate Europe, instances have occurred, in which the commerce of neutral nations more especially of the United States, has experienced the severest distresses from its own orders & measures manifestly unauthorized by the law of Nations. The respect which the United States owe to their neutral rights, and the interests they have in maintaining them, will always be sufficient pledges, that no culpable acquiescence on their part, will render them accessary to the proceedings of one bellegerent nation, through their rights of neutrality, against the commerce of its adversary.\nWith regard to the particular order issued against the trade of neutrals from one port to another of the enemies of Great Britain, no fair objection can lie against it, provided it be founded on and enforced by, actual blockades as authorized by the law of Nations. If on the other hand, the order has reference, not to such a blockade, but to a supposed illegality of the Neutral trade from one to another of the described ports, the remark is obvious, that on that supposition, the order is superfluous; the trade being, as interdicted by the law of Nations, liable at all times, without any such order, to the capture of British Cruizers and the condemnation of British Courts; and if not interdicted as such by the law of Nations, it canunclear otherwise be made illegal, than by a legal blockade of the ports comprehended in the order. This inference is applicable even to the case of a neutral trade between the ports of France herself; since it is not a principle of the acknowledged law of Nations, that neutrals may not trade from one to another port of the same bellegerent Nation. And it would be an innovation on that law, not before attempted, to extend the principle to a neutral trade between ports of different Countries confessedly open in times of peace as well as of war.\nIf the British order refers for its basis, to the principle of retaliation against the French decree, it falls under the observations already made on that subject, and which need not be repeated. I am &c:\n(Signed) James Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-20-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1527", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Peter Totten, 20 March 1807\nFrom: Totten, Peter\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nSt. Croix 20th: March 1807\nI consider it my duty, acting as American Consul, to transmit to you a Copy of the judgment of the Court of Justice at this Island, against James Quick, Francis MacGoaly and Samuel Wheeler, three men calling themselves Citizens of the United States of America. It appears that in consequence of Mutinous conduct of these men on board the Schooner Atlantic of New York, commanded by Samuel C. itman, while at Anchor in this Port, a Military Guard was sent on board to quell them, or, to take them in Custody. They resisted and attack\u2019d the guard, threw one of the Soldiers with his Arms overboard, and committed other acts of violence on the rest, insomuch that a second guard was ordered to the assistance of the first; the three men were therefore taken, and committed to prison; they have been tryed and condemned to Perform hard labour for a term of years at Copenhagen.\nI also herewith enclose Certificates they produced on which they claimed, as Citizens of the U. States, the interference of the American Consul, which proved ineffectual.\nI also take the liberty to enclose Docr. Valrond and Ann Schmidt accounts against me for attendance &c, on two American Seamen, Citizens of the United States, who applied to me for assistance being entirely destitute of every means of Subsistance. They arrived here in great distress from S.Domingo having been discharged there without the means or opportunity of returning to the States, and took passage from thence in a Danish Vessel to this Island in expectation of Obtaing. a Passage from hence. Immediately on their arrival here they were attackd with a fever. Humanity as well as duty dictated to me the necessity of affording them immediate relief, and I have the satisfaction to add, that they both recovered and embarked for the U. States, but were unable to pay any Part of my Advance for them. I therefore conceive I have a Claim on the American Government for the amount of the enclosed accounts, say $104. I will be thankfull to you to inform me on whom I must draw for this amount. Not having had occasion to draw on the American Governt., I am at a loss as to the mode of proceeding. I am most respectfully Your Hum. Servt\nPeter Totten", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-20-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1528", "content": "Title: From James Madison to James Monroe, 20 March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Monroe, James,Pinkney, William\nGentlemen,\nDepartment of State March l8th. 1807.\nYour dispatch of Jany. 3d. with the Treaty signed Decr 31 with the British Commissioners, were safely delivered on the 15th. inst. Your letter of Decr. 27, notifying the approach of that event, had been previously received, in time to be included in a communication of the President to Congress then in Session. A copy of the instrument in its actual form, with the declaration of the British Commissioners on signing it, was received by Mr Erskine on the day of the adjournment of Congress, and communicated by him to the Executive.\nThe observations relating to the whole subject as it is now presented, with such instructions in detail as will explain the views of the President, will be prepared with as little delay as possible, and transmitted by Mr Purviance, who holds himself in readiness to be the bearer.\nFor the present I am charged by the President to refer you to my letter of Feby. 3d., and to signify his desire that the negotiation may proceed in the form therein stated, but without being brought to an absolute conclusion until further instructions shall arrive.\nYou will conform also to the views of the President in forbearing to enter into any Conventional arrangements with the British Government which shall embrace a trade or intercourse of its subjects with the Indian tribes within any part of the Territories westward of the Mississippi, under the authority of the United States. Considerations derived from a recent knowledge of the state of the aboriginal inhabitants of that extensive region, irresistably oppose the admission of foreign traders into it.\nI have only to add that a proclamation will immediately issue, suspending the non-importation measure, until the next Session of Congress. This will be a sufficient evidence to the British Government of the conciliatory sentiments of the President, and of his sincere desire, that no circumstance whatever may obstruct the prosecution of experiments for putting an end to differences, which ought no longer to exist, between two nations having so many motives to establish and cherish mutual friendship. I have the honor to remain with great respect & Consideration Gentlemen, your most Obt. Set.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-21-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1529", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Francis Fairfax, 21 March 1807\nFrom: Fairfax, Francis\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir,\nChas.town 21st. Mar: 1807.\nThe inclosed Production is from the Pen of Gen: H: Lee, who intends it to be inserted in the first number of the Farmer\u2019s Museum; but requested me to transmit it to you for your examination, desiring that you will be so obliging as to return it to me, with such animadversions, as your leisure will permit you to make; particularly respecting the estimates of the whole effective militia of the Union, and the Probable number which the proposed Classification would give: which your nearer access to Statistical accounts would enable you to correct. I suppose Gen: Lee, from Military talents x and experience, to be well qualified for the undertaking. At all events it cannot be amiss to call the Public Attention, more than ever, to this important Subject. With respects to Mrs. M., I remain Dear Sir, With unfeigned and affectionate respect Yrs.\nF: Fairfax\nP. S. The Museum will not appear till late in April. May I beg your attention to forward the inclosed safely to Mr. Stoddert?", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-21-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1530", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Robert Wilkinson, 21 March 1807\nFrom: Wilkinson, Robert\nTo: Madison, James\nSir!\nSmirna 21st. March 1807\nIn my Dispatch of 22 October last by the Brig Joseph of Boston, I had the honor to inform You Sir, that all discussions between Russia and this Country were amicably arranged; since when great changes have taken place in the political situation of this Country. About two Months The Ottoman Porte declared War against Russia, on account of The Russian Army having enterred into The Provinces of Moldavia and Valachia in its way towards Dalmatia, which was granted to the latter by Treaty, and violated by The Turks after the defeat of the Prussian Army last Autumn; this declaration of War on the part of The Turks against Russia brought on a very serious discussion between The British Ambassador, and The Ottoman Ministers, which ended on the 29 January by the departure of The Ambassador, and the British Factory at Constantinople on board the Endimyon Frigate, which joined the British Squadron consisting of three Line of Battle Ships and two frigates under the Command of Admiral Louis at Tenedos; on the 5th: Ultimo the British Consul here received Dispatches from The Ambassador directing him and The Factory to embark immediately with their familys and Effects on board His Majestys Ship Glotton, and the Merchant Ships that might be here, and to proceed to the Rendevous off the Island of Tenedos, and the next day the Convoy saild. On the 9th. Ultimo they were all joined at Tenedos by another Squadron consisting of six more Line of Battle Ships, under the Command of Admiral Duckworth, where they lay Several days treating with The Captan Pasha who was at the Dardinells, with a Squadron of ten sail, whereof four of the Line, and finding all Negotiations ineffectual, the Commander in Chief notified The Captan Pasha, that his Commission was to proceed to Constantinople with The Ambassador on board, and that he was determined in case of any opposition to force the passage of the Dardinells between the Castles; and in effect The British Squadron consisting of Seven Line of Battle Ships, (whereof two three Deckers) two heavy frigates and two Bombards, profitted of a fair Wind on the 19 Ultimo, and sailed in; on their approaching the Castles on both sides began firing upon them, but were soon silenced. Just above the Castles the Turkish Squadron was at Anchor, and began to fire on the approach of the English, when a heavy fire from the latter soon put an end to that conflict also, by the destruction of the whole Turkish Squadron that was Stationed there; when The British Fleet bore away for Constantinople, and arrived before that City on the 20th: at Night; the next day Negotiations were opened, which were continued without success till the 1st. instant, when Admiral Duckworth notified to The Porte, that as all Negotiations were at an end between His Majestys Ambassador and The Porte, he intended to depart immediately with The Squadron under His Command, and to proceed to blocade The Dardinells; and on the 3d. instant they anchored again off Tenedos, after having forced the passage back; it must here be remarked that The British Admiral had it in his power to destroy the Capital, Arsenal and all the Turkish Marine, but it is supposed that His Instructions were not to push to such an extremity.\nThe British Squadron a day or two after was joined off Tenedos, by a Russian Squadron consisting of nine sail of the Line, and Several Transports full of Troops, the latter intended to Garrison the Dardinells which they propose to take, and were all waiting a Southerly Wind to proceed up, and must have taken place on the 14 or 15 instant, so that we are now very anxiously waiting to learn the result, and it is the general opinion that it will be Peace between the three Powers.\nThe Ajax 74 Gun Ship, one of the Ships that came up with Admiral Duckworth, took fire by accident on the 14 Ultimo in the Night off Tenedos, and consumed; about one hundred and fifty of the Crew perished.\nI have the honor to inclose Copys of the Doctors Account, and of the Account of the Hospital, for a Seaman Robert Smith of the State of Maryland, put under my care by Thomas Moore Master of the Ship Glory of Philadelphia, with a mortification in his Leg, and was in a very bad state, but cured with the loss of one of his feet. He was put on shore on the 28. April, and on return of the Glory here from a Voyage, was again put on board the same Ship on the 4th. of November 1806. On applying to Captain Moore for the payment of the Accounts, he told me that there was a fund in The United States for such purposes. You will please to observe Sir that the Accounts together amount to P647.11/ 40 Turkish or Spanish dollars 143.100/ 77 and not Knowing to what Office to apply for it, I have requested of my friends Messrs. Smith & Buchanan of Baltimore to apply for me. I have the honor to be with the greatest deference Sir! Your most Obedient and most devoted humble servant\nRobert Wilkinson", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-21-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1531", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Augustus Woodward, 21 March 1807\nFrom: Woodward, Augustus\nTo: Madison, James\nDetroit, mar. 21, 1807.\nThe last litigated question relative to titles here was decided yesterday.\nI have the pleasure to add that the form of our report is the only thing of consequence now engaging our attention. I have the honor to be Sir, respectfully your obedient servant,\nA. B. Woodward", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-22-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1532", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Gavino, 22 March 1807\nFrom: Gavino, John\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nGibraltar 22d March 1807\nI have not been honourd with any of your favours, since my last dispatch No. 40 under date of 10: Inst:. I then informed you of Messrs: Baring of London having paid Coll. Lears drft to my order Pr \u00a31500 Stg when became due. I also informd you that Adl: Duckworth was at anchor with 14 British Sail of the Line oposite the Dardenals, as the Turkish Govermt: had refused their passing up, as that the Turkish fleet at Constantinople were ready for sea Consisting of 17 Ships the Line.\nI now have the honour of annexing you Extract of a letter from Mr. Lewis who Coll. Lear left at Algiers, on his going for Tunis. It is dated 22d: Ulto. I find the Constitution Capn: Campbell has been at Malta & Saild for Syracuse, I have not a line from him or Coll. Lear, nor do they mention any thing to me regarding the affairs of Tunis.\nThe Spaniards have also Enforced Bonapartes Blocading Manifesto of 21st: Novr: last, & keep a Vigilent lookout for Nutrals in the Gutt.\nA few days ago the Brig Alert of Newbury Port Samuel Herrciks Master from Marseilles bound to Newbury Port was taken with ahead wind in the Gutt which obliged his making for this Port in effecting which he got within reach of the Gunns of the Battery at Cabrito Point, when the Spaniards fir\u2019d at said Brig, & badly wounded in the Leg Daniel Ford one of her Mariners, whom I have been obliged to take on shore to be Cured, & is now mending, tho at one time a mortification was apprehended. I have sent Copy of the Masters deposition to M. Young Esqr at Madrid to lay same before our Minister at that Court. I have the honour to be with respect Sir Your most obed & most huml. Sert\nJohn Gavino\nHerewith a dispatch from Consul Simpson of Tanger.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-22-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1533", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Robert R. Livingston, 22 March 1807\nFrom: Livingston, Robert R.\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir\nClerMont 22d. March 1807\nKnowing your engagements during the session of Congress, I have not thought it proper to break in upon your time by an earlier answer to your favor of the 28 Janry. The enclosed note you will have the goodness to read, & deliver to the auditor, as it contains the only explanation I can at present give to his inquiries. I sincerely congratulate you upon the total defeat of Mr. Burrs plans, for tho I can not determine from the evidence before the public what they were, yet his desperate situation & his unbounded ambition leave no room to doubt their dangerous tendency. I know him to be extremely sanguine & the dupe on every occasion to his own vanity. Still I can not think that he would have proceeded the lengths he did without having had reason to hope for support from our army. What information could have induced him to write with the confidence he did to Genl. Wilkinson, or to betray to him his friends Bolman & Swarthout? What folly lead him to write in cypher without having previously settled a key? And by what means has his letter been decyphered? These are enigma\u2019s which I can not unriddle. I somewhat fear that the violent measures pursued at New Orleans may afford a handle to those who are already indisposed toward us in France, tho I know they are susceptible of a favourable explanation, which should be given as early as possible. I am sorry for the slow progress of your negotiations with Spain & France, since I feel, for the reasons I have hinted, an uncommon anxiety for their success. The policy or impolicy of a rupture, upon which you seem to rely, weigh little where every thing depends upon the will of one man, & that man, neither free from pride or passion. Very different strings than those of reason or justice must be touched in negotiating with arbitrary sovereigns. It is highly important to us not only on account of our domestick arrangements, but on account of the continued increase of the power of France, that this negotiation should be pushed with vigour, & brought to some issue before the world is at her feet. I sincerely beleive that England will not much longer be a barrier to this event. Russia will, in a few months, loose her southern provinces, & be compelled to make an inglorious peace. Persia & the ports will afford an easy access to the east Indias, & the vitals of british power be destroyed, even if they are not assaulted more directly at home. Such temptations may also be held out to Austria, by France, as I think her virtue or gratitude will not be sufficiently strong to resist. All these reasons urge forcibly the policy (I had almost said the necessity) of keeping well with France, & giving her as little pretence as possible to interfere in our affairs, except when we are assured that her interposition will be favourable.\nFor these reasons, I rejoice at the decision of the president with respect to the british treaty,if it has the features it is said to possess. Knowing personally most of the members of the present administration & some of them intimately, I had hoped from the liberality of the sentiments they professed with respect to us, that a treaty might have been made which would have answered our purposes, without giving cause of alarm to France, but objects do not always present the same appearance to those who view them from different Light. I am at present an idle man. If the president should think that I could be of any use for a few months in France or Holland not as a permanent but as a special Envoy, I am at his command. A commission might be given which I should produce or not as circumstances should render adviseable. The expence would be no object with me, & might be limmited as the president thought proper. My knowledge of what has passed, & the degree of favour in which I stand with the royal family, might, I think, enable me to be useful. But perhaps I deceive myself. If the president should think so, I pray that this communication be considered as perfectly confidential, & not viewed as a personal application, or as any thing more than a wish to employ myself usefully for a few months, & to lend my aid in removing the cloud, which throws a dark shade upon one of the finest pages in the history of the presidents administration.\nThis state is at present agitated by preparations for an election, which will, if I am not greatly mistaken, put a final period to the power of a man, who without the half of his talents, has all the ambition & intrigue of Burr, & as little delicacy in the means he employs to attain his object. The federalists exult in our divisions, but their violence and intemperance, will for ever keep them out of power. I remain with sentiments of the highest respect & esteem Dear Sir Your Most Obt. hume. Servt.\nRob R Livingston", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1534", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Charles Coles Claiborne, 23 March 1807\nFrom: Claiborne, William Charles Coles\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nNew Orleans, March 23d. 1807.\nI inclose you a Memorial to Congress, as reported by a Committee of the House of Representatives of this Territory, but which has been rejected by the House; there being fourteen Members in favour of the rejection, and seven against it.\nThis Memorial is founded in error, and it is greatly to be regreted, that any Citizens of this Territory, much less a Committee of the Legislature, could permit themselves to be so far deluded, as to give the Sanction of their names to such a tissue of misrepresentation; the rejection however of this Memorial and by so large a majority will destroy the effect which it was intended to produce; But lest the reading of it may make some unfavorable impressions on your mind, I will in my next communication, state the various errors, into which the committee have been betrayed; & endeavour to place the conduct of the public Agents here in a just point of view. I am Sir, with great respect yo: hble Servt.\nWilliam C. C. Claiborne", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1536", "content": "Title: From James Madison to John Sears, 23 March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Sears, John\nSir.\nDepartment of State, March 23. 1807.\nIn answer to your letter of the 11th: inst., I can give you no other material information derived from our Agent at Antigua, than that the condemnation of the Schooner, is stated by him to have been founded on the principle, that inasmuch as a part of the cargo was shipped at Guadaloupe, and under peculiar circumstances, the trade ought to be considered as \"not the direct trade permitted by the British order of Council.\" I am &c.\nJames Madison.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-23-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1537", "content": "Title: Meeting of Commissioners including JM of the Sinking Fund and their resolves, 23 March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James,Gallatin, Albert\nTo: \nAt a meeting of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, on the 23d day of March, 1807.\nPresent: James Madison, Secretary of State.\nAlbert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury.\nC\u00e6sar A. Rodney, Attorney General.\nThe Secretary of the Treasury laid before the Board a report, dated the 21st of March, 1807, which was read, and is as follows:\n\"That the payments to be made during the year 1807, on account of the public debt, are estimated as followeth, viz: Annual interest and reimbursement of 8 per cent. on 41,800,000 dollars nominal amount of the six per cent. and deferred stocks,$3,344,000Interest on 19,020,000 dollars, 3 per cent. stock,50,600do. on 6,360,000 dollars 8 per cent. do.508,800do. on 80,000 dollars, 1796 6 per cent. do.4,800do. nine months, on 176,000 dollars, 4 1/ 2 per cent. do.6,000do. on 6,250,000 dollars, Louisiana stock, in London, including commission,376,800 \n$4,811,000Remittances wanted to complete the payments in Holland, to the1st January, 1808, inclusive,39,000$4,850,000Leaving a sum of3,150,000To be applied in order to complete the annual appropriation of$8,000, 000And that the said sum of 3,150,000 dollars, may be applied\u2014\n1st. To the reimbursement of the four and a half per cent. stock, amounting to 176,000 dollars, and which is the only species of debt redeemable at the pleasure of the United States, not yet reimbursed.\n2d. To the purchase, at the rates fixed by law, of the eight per cent. stock.\n3d. To the purchase of the new six per cent. stock, which may be created by the subscriptions of the old six per cent. deferred, and three per cent. stocks, in conformity with the act, entitled \"An act supplementary to the act, entitled \"An act making provision for the redemption of the whole of the public debt of the United States,\" passed February 11, 1807.\"\nWhereupon, it was Resolved,\n1st. That the Secretary of the Treasury forthwith give public notice of the reimbursement of the four and a half per cent. stock, for the first day of October next, and of the eight per cent. stock, for the first day of January, 1809.\n2d. That the sum, which, after making the current payments for the years 1807 and 1808, and after reimbursing the four and a half per cent. stock, as aforesaid, shall remain to complete the annual appropriation of eight millions for those two years, be applied, the President of the United States assenting thereto, to the purchase of the eight per cent. stock, and of the six per cent. stock, which may be created by subscriptions made under the provisions of the act mentioned in the preceding report, not exceeding for either the rates fixed by law.\n3d. That such of the cashiers of the Bank of the United States, and of its offices of discount and deposite, as the Secretary of the Treasury shall designate for that purpose, be the agents, under the superintendence of the said Secretary, for making the said purchases; that the said purchases be made at private sale; but that the names of the agents, and the prices given for the stock, or stocks, be published.\n4th. That John H. Purviance be appointed agent in London, and John B. Rittenhouse be appointed agent in Amsterdam, to perform the duties prescribed by the acts above mentioned.\nJames Madison, Secretary of State.\nAlbert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury.\nC. A. Rodney, Attorney General.\nAttest, Edward Jones, Secretary to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund.", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-24-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1539", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Jarvis, 24 March 1807\nFrom: Jarvis, William\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nLisbon 24 March 1807\nInclosed I have the honor to hand a letter received by yesterdays post from Mr Erving. As I presume it incloses the two Spanish decrees for blockading the Islands of Gt. Britain &c & for marching a body of Spanish troops to France from my having received them from him under the same cover, I shall not trouble you with a copy of those. My last was dated the 15th: Instant & went by the Schooner Louisiana, Captn. Copeland for Boston. It covered a dispatch from Mr Erving. There is nothing new here of the least interest. With perfect Respect I have the honor to be Sir yr Mo. Ob. St\nWilliam Jarvis", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-25-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1542", "content": "Title: From James Madison to Samuel Smith, 25 March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Smith, Samuel\nDear Sir,\nThe Treaty lately concluded between the American and British Commissioners being in a situation to admit of deliberation on its several articles, it is thought highly advisable to avail the Executive of such observations on those relating to commerce and navigation as your intelligence and experience on those subjects will enable you to afford. You will render an acceptable service therefore by forwarding with as little delay as may be, the views under which the enclosed articles as they stand in that instrument present themselves to you. It is wished that your observations may be pointed particularly 1st. to the actual operation of the Articles respectively, whether in reference to Commerce or Navigation. 2d. to the question whether the articles in their respective forms, be, or be not, on the whole, preferable to a treaty without any provisions on the respective subjects of them. 3d. what alterations might be made favorable to the United States, and not otherwise to Great Britain. 4th. What considerable alterations would not be disadvantageous to Great Britain, in a degree forbiding the hope of obtaining them 5th. whether the general stipulations concerning the trade between the two Countries, comprehends or not, the trade between the Continental Colonies of Great Britain and the United States, and if they do, how would they effect the interest of the latter?\nI only add that this last branch of trade does not appear to have been contemplated by the parties to the negociation, and that it was, as is indeed sufficiently expressed, understood between them, that the Trade to the East Indies was to be direct from, as well as to America.\nYou will be fully sensible of the propriety of making this letter confidential as well as private, and will I am sure in execut\u2019g the task which it imposes on you, use all the circumspection, which the delicate nature of it suggests. I have the honor to be very respectfully Your obt Ser\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-26-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1544", "content": "Title: To James Madison from John Jackson, 26 March 1807\nFrom: Jackson, John\nTo: Madison, James\nMy dear Sir,\nClarksburg March 26th. 1807\nIf your public labors have relaxed it would afford me the truest pleasure to hear from you on the subject of our political relations. The objects of the British treaty & the termination of Burr\u2019s conspiracy have justly excited the deepest solicitude; public expectation stands on tiptoe, gaping at every rumor afloat thro\u2019 the Country; & indeed they are so numerous that every probability is confounded, and sober men are (if I may be allowed the expression) even Skeptics of incredulity. The Chilicothe paper says Burr has assassinated Wilkinson, and the Aurora asserts that the treaty of which the basis had been agreed upon by Messrs. Monroe & Pinckney was not signed by them. Can this be? I heartily wish it may prove true, as from the Character of the treaty as rumor has announced it, I do not think the American Ministers can resist the overwhelming impetuosity of public disapprobation. Please to remember my dear friend that when I address myself to you upon any political subjects it is under the express reservation that I do not desire to know that which you may deem it improper to communicate. The winter in this Country has been unprecedentedly severe upon the stock, & winter grain: & my domestic concerns have sustained a correspondent shock like the Fox ministry, if small things may be compared with great ones. I succeed to dilapidated resources which will require a few months application to mend & splice the broken fragments. With sincerest affection dear Sir: yours truly\nJ G Jackson", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-26-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1545", "content": "Title: To James Madison from George Johnston, 26 March 1807\nFrom: Johnston, George\nTo: Madison, James\nSir,\nNewyork 26th. March 1807\nI had the honour on the 23d. instant of receiving from the Department of State, a Commission from the President of the United States, appointing me Consul for the port of Glasgow in Great Britain, the duties of which appointment I pledge myself to perform to the best of my ability, and with zeal & fidelity.\nI inclose the Official Bond which the Law requires, in which I am joined by two respectable and wealthy Citizens.\nIt will require a few months to make my arrangements, and wind up my business here, a delay which I presume the government will have no objection to grant me. I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, Sir, Your most obedient & most humble Servant\nGeo. Johnston", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-26-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1546", "content": "Title: From James Madison to James Monroe, 26 March 1807\nFrom: Madison, James\nTo: Monroe, James\nSir,\nDepartment of State March 26th. 1807\nMr. Erskine has presented, by instructions from his Government, a communication of the late British order against the trade between the ports of France and others therein described. With a copy of that, I inclose one of the answer given to the communication. It will not only put you in possession of what will be transmitted by Mr Erskine to his Government, but also of the sentiments of the President on that important subject. I have the honor to remain, With great respect & Consideration Sir, your Most Obt. Sert.\nJames Madison", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-27-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1548", "content": "Title: To James Madison from Tench Coxe, 27 March 1807\nFrom: Coxe, Tench\nTo: Madison, James\nDear Sir\nIn the present critical state of our affairs, I take the liberty to offer to your consideration a suggestion which appears to me of great importance.\nThe injuries to neutral rights have, as I believe, been produced by the conduct and example of great Britain in the form of Orders of her executive government abrogating in their Admiralty and superior prize courts the written or customary law of Nations, without the consent of neutrals: which is at strict public Law, cause of war. It appears to me that it is the interest and duty of this country to endeavour to introduce a stipulation into each of our treaties, declaring that the law of nations, as settled by usage and by our treaty with the power with which we are contracting, shall govern, notwithstanding any Executive decrees or orders, which may be occasionally, and from general circumstances, promulgated. It is plain that the English orders of May 1795, 6th. November 1793, and Jany 7. 1807 (as also others) did give their Admiralty courts the pretext of a rule other than and opposed to the Law of nations which imperiously governs us. They have the benefit of the law of nations, when best, and make a new rule by an order, in which we partake not, when the law of nations restrains them. All conventions & treaties is thus rendered nugatory.\nIn a paper published here, for the first time, this day, \"the democratic press\", there are some articles on the subject of the late British order of Jany 7th. & of impressment, which are submitted to the consideration of the Gentlemen connected with our national affairs.\nWe are in great want here of such materials relative to our negociations with E. as it might be proper to notice. When the suspension of the non importation Law til December becomes known and irrevocable, and the vessel with the Treaty or papers relative to the Negociation shall be ascertained to have sailed, I expect considerable disquisition from the federal and English Editors in America. I recd. the Proclamation in Mr. Smiths last paper to-day, & I suppose our papers will notice or publish it to morrow. This being good Friday, few publish.\nIf you have not heard that Mr. Burr, after beginning his Journey under guard, had so written hither, you may, I believe, depend on it as true. I do not know the person, tho I think there can be little doubt, who it is. But the fact I firmly believe from my channel of information. I have the honor to be Sir, yr respectful h. Servt.\nTench Coxe", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-27-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1550", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Charles Coles Claiborne, 27 March 1807\nFrom: Claiborne, William Charles Coles\nTo: Madison, James\nPrivate\nDear Sir\nGeneral Wilkinson continues to be much abused in this City, and nothing will be left undone, by a Party here, to effect his ruin. This faction are equally inimical to me, but for purposes best known to themselves, they do not, for the present, manifest as openly their hostility.\nDuring the late interesting Crisis, I resorted to a measure of precaution which I have not heretofore communicated to you; Finding my situation somewhat embarrassing, I determined to solicit the Counsel and advice of men in whom the Government and myself could confide. I therefore had recourse, from time to time to the five members of the legislative Council, Messrs. Poydrass, Mather, Bellechasse, Macarty, and Fouchet, and I have the pleasure to add, that the general Conduct which I pursued was by them approved.\nI have deemed it a duty to discontinue Doctor Watkins as Mayor of New Orleans, and have appointed, as his Successor, Mr. James Mather, late of the legislative Council. The Gentleman is a native, I believe of England; but has resided 35 years in Louisiana, and is the head of a numerous and respectable family. Mr. Mather is a man of great personal merit; is well qualified for the office of Mayor; and is I believe the most popular appointment I ever made. Some of the Americans who are here, call him a foreigner, and on that account censure the appointment, but when we consider that Mr. Mather resided in this Territory before the man who commissioned him was born, and that his character in private and public life is irreproachable, I do not think the circumstance of his having drawn his first breath in England, ought to be stated to his injury. I am Sir, with great respect and esteem, Your hble Servt.\nWilliam C. C. Claiborne", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-27-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1552", "content": "Title: To James Madison from William Charles Coles Claiborne, 27 March 1807\nFrom: Claiborne, William Charles Coles\nTo: Madison, James\nSir\nI have the honor to inclose you a copy of two Addresses signed by many respectable Citizens of this Territory, approving the late conduct of General Wilkinson and myself. I am dear Sir, With great esteem and respect, your hble Servt.\nWilliam C. C. Claiborne", "culture": "English", "source_dataset": "Pile_of_Law", "source_dataset_detailed": "Pile_of_Law_founding_docs", "source_dataset_detailed_explanation": "Letters from U.S. founders.", "creation_year": 1807}, {"created_timestamp": "03-27-1807", "downloaded_timestamp": "10-19-2021", "url": "https://founders.archives.gov/API/docdata/Madison/99-01-02-1553", "content": "Title: To James Madison from James Anderson, 27 March 1807\nFrom: Anderson, James\nTo: Madison, James\nSir.\nHavana, 27 March 1807.\nI have the sincere pleasure to acquaint You with my arrival in this City, which took place on the 20th: instant, after a tedious passage of twenty seven days from Baltimore.\nI have had the honor, Sir, to be presented to His Excellency The Governor, who received me very politely. Little was said upon the subject of my intention of residing here, but as much was understood as I could desire.\nWhile my conduct is irreproachable, I shall be permitted in silence to fulfill the duties of my Office. I will premise, Sir, that it will be absolutely necessary for me, to act with the greatest circumspection, if I wish to continue here and to be of any service to the Commerce of my Country. The inconsiderate conduct of Mr. Hill, has placed his successors in a precarious situation. The least complaint for the future, will perhaps be more attended to, than many at a former period. The executive inferior Officers of this government, are extremely jealous of their rank & prerogatives accustomed to implicit obedience. The mandates of strangers are ill received and often, attended with disagreeable consequences. Tho my instructions order me to keep a watchfulness for the Affrican trade, I doubt Sir, if I should dare do it with safety. Slaves are wanted in this Colony, and were it known that a prosecution had commenced in any of the courts of justice in the United States, against any one delinquent of our Laws upon this subject & that the information came from me, though obliged to it by my Office, I should be denounced, and a few hours after, be arrested, thrown into prison, have my papers seized & afterwards be ordered off the Island. Not long since, an indirect demand was made to Mr. Ramage, who filled the place here as Agent, during Mr. Hill\u2019s absence until my arrival; to give a list of the value of the cargoes imported & exported, understanding that such a list had been & was kept in the Office. Fortunately the demand was evaded though some threats were thrown out, for had the list been given, comparison would have been made between the amount of the same upon which duties had been paid & those of the Cargo\u2019s imported and exported; and in consequence of which, seizures, fines & imprisonment would have been inflicted upon every Merchant, supposing there were any, who had been found to have made a false entry either inwards or outwards. I shall, Sir, keep a simple register of the arrival & departure of Our vessels, as I conceive it unnecessary & impolitic to run any risque whatever in being too particular; as I am persuaded that the annual returns of our own Collectors to Government, give the best & most correct statement of the tonnage of our vessels, their cargo\u2019s out and home, and the number of seamen in navigating them. The trade between the United States and this Island is immense & increasing every day. It rest Sir, with our executive, to determine whether or not, this valuable branch of our commerce & revenue, shall be checked by ill timed measures & a too strict observance of the duties of my Office & the instructions which I have received, at all risques & independent of every personal consideration. The morals of the lower orders of the people of this place, are so depraved & infernal, that it would not be very difficult for any one who thought that I stood in the way of his making a fortune, to find an Assassin to plunge a dagger into me at any moment of the day, for it does not require darkness to cover the execution of their hellish vengance.\nGratitude to You, Sir, for your friendship & duty to our worthy President, for the appointment which He has been pleased to confer upon me, demand from me candor & truth. I will therefore acknowledge that the fees of Office are great & the expences are considerable. I expect during the War to receive $10,000 pr annum, out of which I am to pay the expences of my chancellor, Mr. Ramage, who has consented to remain with me, and give him beside a salay of $2000 pr annum. To rent a house at the rate perhaps of near $200 pr month, if I desire to live long & with a little comfort, for the Office is now kept in a lonely, disagreeable & unsafe place where I neither find security for myself or the papers which are deposited in the office, and