The Sun.
London, England, 1821-09-26 00:00:00

MR. EDITOR,—In the situation to which a set
of men, who conceal their project of overturning the present Go-
vernment, under the mask of humanity and patriotism, have
reduced the country, it is of infinite consequence to lay aside
every possible' prejudice, to judge coolly and dispassionately,
and to view objects, not through the delusive medium of party
spirit, but in the mirror of immutable truth. In order to at-
tain so desirable an end, it is absolutely necessary that opinions
should be distinguished from facts ; a method of discussion
seldom or ever adopted by popular demagogues, whose object
is to mislir d, and not to enlighten, the unreflecting multitude,
upon whose passions alone they endeavour to make, any im-
pression. In their mode of attack, the evil disposed shew their
knowledge of the human mind, or rather, they prove that the
examples given by their predecessors in the career of sedition,
are not lost upon the present generation of perverse citizens,
and rebellious subjects.-..

In their contest against religion and social order, the writers of
the' present day generally employ the invidious forms of so-
phistry, and the envenomed shafts of ridicule ; and in this re-
spect they folloi the path pointed ont by the antisocial au&
thors whose impious and blasphemous productions were hawk-
ed from one end of France to the other, and prepared the revo-
lution of that.kingdom. The advantages of modifying, in some
measure, the too great liberty of the press, may be a matter of
opinion ; but the incalculable mischief which its present free-
dom has produced, and may produce, is' a matter of fact. In
discussing these points I frequently refer to the French revolu-
tion, because this terrific event should serve as an example to
all ages and to every nation, and because the mode of proceed-
ing adopted by the propagators of Radicalism is nearly the
same as that which was employed in France by the advocates
of Jacobinism.

The destructive causes which gradually undermined, and
finally levelled to the ground one of the most ancient, and of
the most splendid thrones in Europe, had long been se-
cretly, but actively, employed in preparing this awful
catastrophe. At first sight, the means selected do not seem
adequate to the proposed' end. To hold up to ridicule,
to trample under foot all that had been hitherto vene-
rated by mankind : to eradicate from the human breast every
religious and moral sentiment, to instill into the human heart
the contempt .of virtue, and to plant there in its stead the love
of a liberty which consisted in the gratification of every inor-
dinate passion, in the disregard of every law, both human an;
Divine ; in a decided enmity to every lawful authority, in tFfe
violation of private property, and to silence the voice of con-
science; by pointing out the certainty of impunity in the eter-
nal sleep of the tomb—such were the important purposes which
the enemies of religion and of social order proposed to accom.
plish.
As the number of conspirators was comparatively inconsi-
derable, and as they had to dread the united efforts of every
friend of religion and of loyalty, they did not venture to attack
openly the venerable fabrics it was their intention to destroy.
'The destructive poison was instilled in a manner almost imper-
ceptible, and under the alluring form of amusement and relax-
anon. It was in the pages of pleasing tales, or amidst the lines
of sportive poetry, that the deadly venom was slimly but se-
curely introduced into the mind of the unreflecting mul-
titude. Finding that these insidious proceedings remained
unchecked, they now began a more open mode of warfare ; and
the whole kingdom was soon inundated with anti-raigious and
anti-social productions the baneful doctrines of which were
brought within the reach of the meanest capacity. Such is the
method now adopted in this country, a method which is here
much favoured by the liberty of the press. Few of the advan-
tages which society can derive from the freedom of the press,
can compensate for the mischief which it may eventually pro-
duce. The streets of the metropolis are now inundated with
incendiary pamphlets, tending either to ridicule or to abuse.
both the religion and the government of the country. To bring
these productions more within the reach of the lower classes,
upon whose mind they are intended principally to act, they are
published either at a very low price, or in weekly numbers, and
are hawked about with an impudence and an impunity which
disgrace the police of the country.
In this alarming situation of affair's, what checks- do we find
upon this general propagation of the most pernicious doctrines ?
None that is likely to prove
.eflicacious. Sheltered by the
boasted liberty 'of the press, the advocates of radicalism fear-
lessly pursue their antisocial career. All they have to fear is a
prosecution. But, independently of the many chances they
have of an acquittal, even if they are condemned they are
,considered as the martyrs of liberty, and acquire a degree of
celebrity Which turns to their own personal advantage. True
it is that, if convicted, they may be confined for a certain period :
and are subject to a heavy fine; but the increased sale of the
condemned works, and the assistance derived from their friends,
socaenal)le them to pay off the lie, and even front the place of
their confinement they continue to propagate the most danger-
ous opinions. Such being the case, it becomes an imperious duty
upon every loyal legislator, upon every patriotic.represen tative of
the people, to strike out some more eMetualnictliodofpreventing
the circulation and publication of irreligious and disloyal works.
tl,ere are times when. even the Habeas Corpus Act, that
Pallalium of British liberty, may be for a while suspended,
som,:• plan must be devised more effectually to check, if not the
liberty, least the abuse of the Press. It is not enough to
clip-the wings of the propagators of such works as we have al-
luded to; the sting that might inflict a deadly wound upon the
political body must be wholly eradicated.
Ewhurst. A. P.

(No. xiAO
MEMOIRES DE VABBE MORELLET, &c.l. e. Memoirs
of the Abbt Mo RE L LE T, a Mem)rerof tlieFrnch Academy,
on the Eighteenth Century, and -on tire, French Revolution.
Bvo. Paris, 1821.
This 'work comes rather late, and people will
not fail to ask whether, after all that has been
written on the eighteenth century, and on the
French-Revolution, the Abbe Morellet can have
any thing new to say respecting them ? But was
not the same question asked when the Memoirs
of Marmontel were publiWed ? and yet they
were read with avidity; Tihe success which at-
tended them was so great as to astonish even the
friends of the author._ Their perusal, I con-
fess,;is interesting,l'isut iGfi3c clo we learn from
them ? or What itsfermation furnish to the
historian-of the eighteenth century and of the
French Revolution ? It seems to me that at
least in this respect the Memoirs of the Abbe
Morellet will be preferred to those of his nephew
Marmontel.
Though not so pleasing, they are more instruc-
tive, they make us better acquainted with the 18th
century, and give us a more just idea of the men and
of the events of that period. A part of Marmon-
tel's Recollections are the work of his imagina-
tion. The various circumstances of his life were
to him, if we may be allowed the metaphor, a
canvas on which he painted beautiful pictures, in
which you can always discover, even under the
most affected attire, the author of the Moral
Tales. This is, I confess, the certain way to
please, but is it also equally instructive ?
The Abbe Morellet has less art ; affectation,
it is well known, was never laid to his charge.
He tells what he has seen and done, and tells it
with simplicity, and without premeditation.—
Though he translated formerly romances, yet he
does not know how to romance ; and such is his
regard for truth, or what he believes to be such,
that for fear of deviating from it, he refuses to
embellish his tale. This strictness of principle
may not perhaps suit. the taste of all readers,
but it will be very acceptable to those who ex-
pect from historic memoirs something more than
vain and unprofitable amusement.
The Abbe Morellet completed his classical
studies among' the Jesuits at Lyons ; but the
years he passed at college, which so many others
recall to memory with delight, only inspire him
with sad reminiscences ; he cannot think of them
without horror. Whence arises this horror ?
" When I belonged to the fifth and sixth form, I
was," he says, " constantly one of the lowest in
the class, and was flogged regularly every Satur-
day." These floggings were his weekly allow anct,
his privy purse ; and I admit they were not very
pleasant ; but after the lapse of sixty years ought
he not to have forgotten this petty vexation,
which, I have reason to think, was at that period
common enough? These things are seldom
borne so long in the mind, but the Abbe recol-
lects them as if they had happened only the day
before : you would fancy he was still smarting
under their effects.
It was doubtless done, observes he, as an ex-
ample and for the benefit of others ; for he is
quite sure that this weekly penance was of no
use to him. I doubt it, and with the more reason,
because I perceive that he soon rose to the high-
est places, and obtained, at the end of the year,
the first prizes in the upper classes. The receipt
therefore was not so very bad ; but it should,
perhaps, have been used with greater modera-
tion; every Saturday is too often.
I do not know whether we ought to give the
credit of it to the receipt, but it is certain that
after finishing his studies the young Morellet
wished to become a Jesuit; his friends, how-
ever, would not consent to his wishes, and the
Society in consequence had one distinguished
member the less.
See now to what our destinies lead us. If it
had not been for the opposition of his family,
the Abbe Morellet would have been a Jesuit,
instead of which he was a philosopher, which is
rather a different thing. The Abbe Morellet,
as a Jesuit, would have otsly known Diderot,
D'Alembert, and many others, by name. Ile
would not have laboured at the Encyclopwdia,
but very probably at the Journal de Trevoux,
published by the Jesuits, and in which the En-
cylopcedia and the very cloptedists were, we
know, but roughly treated. It was otherwise
decided; and perhaps it would be ungrateful to
repine at it, for the Abbe has left us Memoirs
which are rather interesting. The Pere Morel-
let would not have had the slightest idea of
writing them ; and we should have lost, more-
over, a very pretty song of twenty couplets
against the Jesuits, composed and sung upwards
of twenty years after their suppression. Its
appeaj'ance was, doubtless, very well timed.
On leaving the Jesuits' seminary, where he
became a very acute theologian, M Morellet en-
tered the College of Sorbonne, and soon acquired
the esteem and good-will of his associates.
" They always called me," he says, " Use good
Morella." But what' did he do then, ask the
wits of the day, who find it'very convenient to
revile those studies, of which they have no idea?
M. MOrellet has taken the pains to answer their
foolish question ; and truly, it was his duty more
than that of any other person to defend the
school-divinity, which is the subject of their ridi-
culous contempt. It gave him more just and
enlarged ideas ; it habituated him " to discover
the objection, and to answer it :" that is to say,
thanks to the school, he was the mast terrible
arguer of his time. Woe to the rash one who
dared to dispute with him ; violent in argument,
as he himself acknowledges, he dealt hard hits

The Abbe Morellet invokes besides the laws
and justice. Both law and justice were certainly
little regarded when they suppressed the Sorbonne,
and deprived him of his share of the 50,000 livres
annual rent, of the bread and of the wine, &c.
The spirit of the age had many other arguments
to advance against this institution. Moreover, he
ougla not to have contributed towards the Encl.
clopmclia. I know very well that the articles
furnished by the Abbe Morellet to this collection
do not smell much of heresy ; but a man of such
deep judgment, who saw so clearly and so far,
might hue easily foreseen that the spirit of the
Encyclopaedia was incompatible NI ith that of the
Sorbonne.

In the Sorbonne the Abbe Morellet'became
acquainted with many personages who ate fre-
quently mentioned in his Memoirs : Turbot, the
Abbes de Lemonier, de Boisgelin, de Rohan and
de Marbceuf. He expected that the Abbes, des-
tined by their birth to fill the highest offices in
the Church, " would introduce him into the
career of moderate fortune to which he might
reasonably aspire." This expectation was never
realized : they forgot their poor comrade, who
was not, however, very difficult to satisfy, who
only asked for some good ecclesiastical sinecures,
the least laborious benefices possible, fur he did
not wish to undertake the cure of souls. One
has enough to do in taking care of one's own.
Be this as it may, the moderate desires of the
Abbe were gratified; rather late to be sure, but
he lost nothing for having u aited. Including
every thing, his pensions, benefices, not forgetting
the handsome priory of Thhnor, he had at the
time when the Revolution began thirty thousand
livres (12504 sterling) a year. The Abbe Mo-
rellet was contented ; and he had reason to be
so. Thirty thousand livres a year ought to satisfy
the ambition and the wants of the man of letters.
I. do not require more for those of the present
day. I only wish they had the small income of
the Abbe Morellet ; for it is right they should
know how to. moderate their desires.

Connected in early life with the Encyclopw-
dists, M. Morelle't thought himself bound. to
defend them on. all occasions. It was, in his
eyes, a duty of 'conscience, and he performed
it very well. Pompignan was his first victim.—
" lie kept up," he says," a continual tire against
him : a paper appeared every eight days, and the
poor fellow was obliged to go• back into the
country." It was well he did so, for the Abbe
Morellet would not otherwise have let him oil so
quickly.

Palissot had his turn. The comedy of the
Philosophes had just been performed. Imme-
diately afterwards, the Abbe Morellet composed
the Vision qf Charles Palissot, an ingenious pamph-
let, in which, however, according to his own ad-
mission, he passed the bounds of literary sar-
casm. " 1 feel some compunctions of con-
science," lie says, " for this transgression."—
Well, ,we forgive the repentant offender ; and
more especially in consideration of his confine-
ment in the Bastille, for M. de Choiseul, in a
great passion, sent the Abbe Morellet there, not
to avenge the honour of Charles Palissot, for
whom the ,Government cared little enough, but
in compliance with the applications of the friends
of a great Lady, to whom the author of the Vi-
ston had very indiscreetly made some allusions in
his pamphlet.
46 What a pity," exclaimed Voltaire, " that
such a brave officer should be made prisoner at
the Leg;nning of the campaign." The loss was
the more'severely felt, because this brave Ofli-
cer, when' he was arrested, had three more pa-
pers in progress nearly ready for the three fol-
lowing weeks. ".1 was quite prepared," he
adds; " and. should have followed up the game