The Newhampshire gazetteer — Exeter, N.H., 1791-10-21 00:00:00, page 1

Newhampfhire
ing attack on the French Revolution.—
M.de la Fayette went to America at an
early period of the war, and continued a
volunteer in her service to the end. His
conduathro' the whole of that enterprise
n one of the most extraordinary
that is to be found in the hiftory of a
young man, scarcely then twenty ye<rs
of age. Situated in a Cour try that Was
like the lap of sensual pleafgre, and
with the means of enjoying it, bow few
are there to be found who would ex-
change such a scene for the woods and
wilderness of America, and pafi the
flowery years of youth in unprofitable
danger and hardship ! But such is the
sass. When the war ended, and he was
on the point of taking his final departure,
he prerented himfelf to Congress, & con
templating, in his afiaionate farewell,
the revolution he had seen, expressed
himfeft in these words: " May ibis great
monument, tofed toLibertyJerve as alefc
son to the oppreffir, and an example to the
cppreftd !" When this address came to
the hands of Dodor Franklin, who wAs
then in France, he applied to Count
Vergennes to have it inferred,id the
French Gazette, but never could obtain
his content. The sass wai that Count
WE now come more particularly to
the affaifs of Frances Mr Burke's
book has the appearance of being written
as inttradion to the French hation ; but
if I may permit &felf toe life of an
extravagant metaphor, foiled to the ex
travagance of the case, it is darkriefiat
tempting to illuminate light.
Whilb I am writing this, there is
accidentally before mt. feme propbfals
for a declaration of rights by the Mar-'
quia de la Fayette (I a& his pardon for
using his former address, and do it only
for diftinaion's.fake)to the National As
sembly on the tith of July 1789, three
^for^tf^ the taking of the Buftille ;
ip,^ Qpnptjiut be frock how bpport e
the foujjfe§ fire from which that Gentle,
man and Mh; Mirke draw their princi
ples. Instead of referring to musty re
cords and mouldy parchments to prove
that the rights of the living are loft,
" renounced and abdicated forever," ,y
those who are now n 3 more, as Mr.
Burke has done, M. de la Layette ap
plies to the living world, and emphati
cally fays, " Call to mind the fenti
meats which Nature has engraved in tfe
heart of every citizen, and which take
a new force when they are solemnly re
cognized by all : For a nation to love
liberty, it is fifficieat thatgfhe knows
it ; and to be free, it is fofficient that
ffie wills it." How dry, barren, and
pbfeure, is the foarce from which Mr.
Mrirke labours ; and how iuefcaua^ &>'
^ay with flowers, rire all his deciama
ifon and his argument, compared with
these clear, c?ncife arid foul animating
Ifentifhents ! Few and ihoft as they are,
they lead on to a val lfield of generous
and manly thinking, and do not fiaifa,
like Mr. Burke's periods, with mafic in
the ear, and nothing in the heart. .
; As I Wave introdneed.the mention of
M.de laFayettej will tike the liberty of
adding in Anecdote ' refreding his fare
well address to the Congress of America
in 1753, and which occured frefh to my
mind when I saw Mr. Burk's thinder#
Being an ANSWER to Mr.
Burke's ATTACK on the
FRENCH REVOLUTION:
By Thomas Paine,
Secretary for Foreign Affairs to Congress
in the American War, and Author of
the Work entitled Common Sinfe.
RIGHTS or MAN:
FRIDAY, October 21,] 1791.]
EXETE R, (New-Hamp[hire) Printed and Published by HENRY RANLET, at Nine Shillings per annum;
[ld {bnlinuation.]
It was not against Louis the XVlth,|
but against the dtfpotic principles of the |
government, that the nation revolted.
Chafe principles had not their origin in
him, but in the original establishment,
many centuries back ; and they were
become too deeply roomed to be remo
ved, arid ;he augean stable of parafitec
and plunderers too abofninable filthy to
be cleanfea by any thing fhurt of a com
plete and universal revolution. When
it becomes necefiry to co a thing, the
whole heart and foul ffiould go into the
meafure,or not attempt is. That Crisis was
then arrived, and there remained no
choice bet to aft with determined vi^
gour, or no! to a& at all. fr^^:^
was known to be the friend of fjl&lllt^h,
and this circumstance was fdvotirabl&
to the entertirife. Perhaps rio man.bred
op jn the file of an absolute King,ever
poffenej ofA heart,so little disposed to the
exercise of thic species es power, as the
present King of prances But the prin
ciples of the government jtfelf still re
mained thb fattie. The Monarch and
the Monnhrchy whre diftind and sepa
rate thing, ; Ind it was against the esta
blished defpoiifm'of the latter, and not
against tie person or principles of the
former, ttiat tfetevolt commented, and
the revocation has been carried.,
Mr. B6rke does not attend to Hiedif
tin&ion between men and principles,
and therefore tie does riot fee that a re
volt m^ take place against the defpo
rifm of the latter,; while there lies DO
charge df despotism agirift the former.
The natural triode,atibn of Louis
XVI, contributed nothing to alter the
hereditary despotism of the monarchy
Ail the tyrannies of former reignsjaded
under that hereditary despotism, & were
still liable to be revived in the hands of
a successor. It Was not the respite of a
reign that would fatisfy France; enligh
tened as she was then become. A ca
sual difeontitnarice bf the praam ts
despotism, is not 1 discontinuance es
its principles ; tie former depends cn
the virtue of the , individual uho is in
tamediates possession of the power; the
letter, on the +irtae and fortitude of the
. natic& , In the case of Charles I. arid
iJames 11, of England; the revolt was
against the personal despotism of the
men ; whereas in France, it was against
the hereditary despotism of the eftabliffi
ed government. But men who can con.
figri over the rights of posterity forever
on the authority, bf a mouldy parch
ment,,Jike Mr. Burke, are not qualifi
ed to judge tis this revolution. It takfs
in a field too vast for their views to ex
„ore, nnd proceeds with a mightiness
of reason they cannot keep pace with.
But there are mirty points pf view in
which this revolution may be consider
ed. When defpotiftn has established
itfelf for ages in 1 country, ;a j in:
France, it is not in the petfon of
the King Ont, that it refidesf ,It has
the appearance 6f being so in ffiow/and
in nominal authority ; but it is^ so
in practice and in fa& Ifto its hand-
Vergeones was an ariftocratical despot at
home, and dreaded the example of the
American revolution in France, as cer
tain other persons now dread the exam
ple of the French revolution in En
gland ; and Mr. Burke's tribute of fear
(fbr in thisfigh; hit book mull be cpnfi
dered, parallel wuh Caint Vergennes'
refufal. 'But no return more particular
ly to this work. —
"We have seen fays (Mr. Burke) the
French rebel againfi a mild and lawful
monarch, with more fury, outrage and
infolt, than any people, has been known
to rife against the most illegal usurper,
or the most sanguinary tyrant."-—This
is one among a thoufaud other instances,
in which Mr. Burke shews that he is ig
norant of the fpringi and principles bf
the French revolution.
rf^^^^
THE
ard every where. Every office and de
parmenr has its despotism, founded up
on custom & ufige. Every place has its
Bastille, and every Baftile its despot.
~T±e original hereditary despotism re
sident in the person of the King, divides
and fibdivides itfeJf i^to a thousand
Shapes and forms, till at left the whole
of it is afted by deputation. This was
the case in France ; and against this
species of defpetifm, proceeding on
through an endiefs labyrinth of office
till the fotirce of it is scarcely percepti
ble, there is no mode of redress. It
strengthens itfelf by affirming the ap
pearance of duty, and tyrannifes under
the pretence of obeying. ,
When a man refleas on the condition
which France was in from the nature of
her government, he will fee other causes
for revolt then those which immediately
conned themselves with the person or
chareder of Louis XVI. There were, it
I may Co express it, a thousand despo
tisms to be reformed in France, which
had grown up under the hereditary def
potifri of the monarchy, and became so
rooted as to be in a .great measure in
dependent cf it. Between the monarchy,
the parliament, and the church, there
was a ri^Kl/hip of despotism ; besides
the feudal despotism operating locally,
and the mi niflenal despotism operating
every where. But Mr. Burke, by con
fidcring the King at the only possible
objed of a revolt, speaks as if France
was a village, in which every thing that
passed, mull be known to its command
ing officer, and no oppression could be
tided but what he could immediately
control. .Mr. Btirk? might have been
in the Basilic hit riffle life, as well
utider Loaii XVI. as Louis XIY, and
neither the one nor,febtfer known that
such a man as Mr.Bdrke hiiffed. ,Tht
despotic principles of government tvere
the fame in both reigns; though the
dispositions of the men were as remote
as tyranny and benevolence:
What Mr. Burke confiders as a re
proach to rhe French Revolution (that
of bringing it forward under a reign
more mild than the proceeding ones) is
one ofits highest honours. The revo
lutions that have taken place in other
European countries, have been excited
by personal hatred. The rage ^as a
gainst the man 2nd he became the vic
tim. But, in the instance of France,
we fee a revolution generated in the ra
ticr.nl contemplation of the rights of
man, and diftinguilhing from the be
ginning" between persons arid princi
ples.
But Mr. Burke appears to have no i
dea of principles, when he is contem
plating governments. ,' Ten years a,
“ g° (fays he) 1 could have felicitated
" France on her having a government,
“without inquiring uhat the nature of
" that government was,or how it Was ad
“ miniftcred." Is this the language of
a rational man ? Is it the language of a
heart feeling as it ought to feel for the
rights and h^ppinefs of the human race ?
On this ground Mr. Burke must compli
ment every government in the world,
while the v ; ftifas fuffier underthem,whe
ther fold into slavery, or tortured out of
exiflznee, are ,holly forgotten. It is
power and ndt principles, that Mr.
Burke lecer'ates: and under, this abb,
finable depravity, he is difqualifed to
judge between them. Thus much for
hjs opinion as to the occasions of (he
French Revolution. I now proceed to
other confiderations'. ~ . - :
.{ Fkhow, h fylace ih 'America called
Point-rio-Point ; because as you-proceed
alon^ thevfhdfe,^ay and flowry as'Mr.
Burke's language, it continually re
cedes antprefent, itfelf at^ a dffinte a;
head ; and when yonhave get as far as
you can go, there is no point at <ll.
Just thus iris with Mr. Burke's three
Gazetteer.
>.' : NOTI! '
* Since noriting the aboie,
plates occur in Mr. Burke's famf@fi,^
which the name oftbeßahillejs
bat,in the fame manner. In the o^^»^
introduces it iffa" fort of obscure quCfliod,
and &*" inn an, mwfers who x^
serve ^cb a king, with but st decent ^-
pearan^ of rifped, cordially ©be, the ot
^{of. tbpje wbom but the oiber da,,ih
his rime, the, had committed to the Raf
ii@?" In the o:bsr, the taking it it for
tioned as implying crimir.alityin the French
* guards ,bo iffifted i n demolifeing it.
" The, bale 'not (fays be) forgot thefdk
-ling the king's fedft Its at Paris." ^ u "
Mr. Burke, aebopretendt to ^rite ^ cofc
flitutiondi freedom.
hundred and fifty fix pages. It is there
fore difficult to reply to him. But as
the points he wiffies to establish may be
inferred from what he abuses, it is id
his paradoxes that we mud look for his
arguments.
As to the tragic paintings by which
Mr. Burke has outraged his own ima
gination, and seeks to work upon that
of his readers, they are very well celcu
culated for theatrical representation,
where fads are manufactured for the
fake of ihow, and accommodated td pro
duce, through the weakneis of sympa
thy, a weeping effect. But Mr. Buiko
Ihould recoiled that he is writing hif
tory, and not flays ; and that his rea
ders will expert truth, and not spouting
rant of high toned exclamation.
When we fee a man dramatically la
menting in a publacation intended to
be beleived, that "The age cf chivalry
•' is gor.e ? that The glory of'' Ezrop:
" is extinguifoel forever ! that The u^-
" bought grace of Ife, (it any one knows
what it is) " the cheap defence of nations,
" the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic
“ enterprise is gone !" and'all this be
cause the Quixote age of chivalry non
sense is gone, what opinion c^ we forth
of his judgment, or what regard cart
we pay to his facts ? In the rhapsody or
his imagination, he has d'fcdvertd I
world of wind mills, and fils (arrows are^
that there are no Quixotes to att'aclf
them. But if the age of aristocracy:
like that of chivalry; (hould fall, and
they had originally foroe connexion;
Mr. Burke, the trumpeter of the Order;
maytfontir.ee his parody to the end, 6
finiih with exclaiming, " Othello's becu
nation's gone."
Notwithstanding Mr. Burke's horrid
paintings, when ,he French Revolution
is compared with that of other coed
tries, the aftoni^ment trill be, that it
is marked with so few Sacrifices ; but
this artonifhmeq, will cease when we re
flect that it was principles, ard not „r-,
fas, that were the meditated objects of
deftrudfon. The mind of the nation
was aded upon by a higher stimulus than
what the Sriti&i#wn of persons ' could
inspire, arid [bright a higher coriqueft
than could be produced by the dowr.fa|
of an enemy. Among the few who fell
there do not appear to be any that were;
intentionally singled out. They all of
them had their fate in the circumstances
of the moment, and were* not perfued
witfi that long; cold blended, unabated
revenge which pursued the unfortunate
Scotch in the affair of 1745.
The whole of Mr. Burke's book I da
not vbferve that the Bastille is mention
ed ±ore than once; arid that with a kin^
of implication -as if he was ferry iris
polled do&n; and willed it were built
up again.. “We have rebuilt New
gate, (fays he) and tenanted the man-
Son ; and we have* prisons almoftas
strong as the Baltille for, those who dare
so libel the Queens of France."*- As
to what a 'madman, like the person cab
led'Lord George Gordon, flight f%
and to Whom Newgate is rather a bed-
[Numb. 16 of Volume 6=