The Statesman.
London, England, 1814-10-28 00:00:00

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The sodal state, sdeh as we view it, Is, propetly
speaking, nothing bet a continual struggle betweee
the desire of ruling, in the one side, attd the wish to
withdraw from subjection on the other, In the
eyes of the partizans -of irdetiolte liberty, all power
be it ever so confined, is illegitimate; in the eyes of
the partisans of absolute Government, every species
of liberty, be it ever so limited, is an abuse, The
one party maintain the perfect equality of all men ;
the other, the innate prerogative which some men
possess to hold dominion over others. From this
conflict of opinion and pretension have arisen our
intestine divisions, and it is difficult while the falai
gination is influenced by the horrors of those dew.,
\ den, to arrive at an impartial decision in a question '
of this nature.—Those whom the (armor state of
things had placed over others, imputorgil our Isis.
fortunes to a failure in submission ontitypart of the•
latter, whilst they again attribute them to the arbi-
trary privileges of the former, and to their obsti-
nacy in defending such absurd and• ridiculous privi-
leges. To be impartial on such a subject, a man
should be able to divest himself of all kind of pre-
judice, should transport himself in idea into future
ages, and even in this case should be ignorant of the
historical regalia, and divest himself of the irre-
sistible propensity of judging of every thing by the
event.
It is true that this manner of deciding most quest.
tions is in some respects justified, on account of the
errors to which abstract theory always leads. The
Revolution furnishes melancholy proof of this to
future ages. We thought that we had laid hold of
the phantom of. national felicity—rwe thought that it
was possible to obtain a Republic without anarchy ;
an unlimited liberty without disorder; a perfect sys. •
tem of equality 'without factions; experience has un-
deceived us most cruelly. Ye who wished to be free
have failed, and ye are now considered as guilty per.
sent to whom pardon is provisionally offered—oat
the condition of taking back your former chains, ren-
dered more heavy by a' sense of pride; end now,
in-the name of Ikaren, dipped in the spirit of re.
venge.
'And what during the revolutionary storm has bee*
theconduct of those men who would bring yet beck
your chains? Is it net to themselves that theliankt
of assassin and of regicide is applicable, whirl) they.
ett prodigally lavish en you ? What I are net those, ,
'who voted for' the death of the King the regicides ? •
No ; the regicides are the persons who took up arms
against their native country. The others voted as
judges appointed by the station, and if they fell into
I errirl they are in the same circumstances as other
edges who have erred. They hive erred With the
'tire nation, which tailed for that judgment, by
thousands of addresses from the departments and
Item the districts. But you, fienttemen; tithe ,re-
turn after the storm is overt how do you pretend to
4 justify yourselves for having so unmercifully refused
i your assistance to that King whom you affect to
I lament? Why did you refuse those gratuitous bffer-
', Lugs, for which he asked you ? Why did you refuse
i him those additional aids which your depredations
had rendered indispensible ? What (lid the Notables
land Clergy do for him ? Who were they' who caused
e general insurrection throughout all France—and
who, when the Revolution had once commenced,
! found themselves incapable of stemming the torrent ?
i If you could do it, why did you not ? if you could
inot, why reproach others with not having stopped
it ? Louis XVI. was, you say, the best of Kings :
.1 did you not abandon him in the most cowardly malt-
ear when you saw him in that danger into which you
' had precipitated him? Was it not your duty to form a
rampart round him with your bodies ? Was it the
•business of Republicans to defend with 'their tongues,
him whom you had not the courage to defend with
.your swords? What would those Republicans have
had to rest upon for their support, who, contrary
I to their own interest, might have wished to save the
0 King? When you ran away, was it not evident that
they would have sacrificed him and themselves use-
lessly ; that they would have been the victims of a
i 1 popular commotion ? You exact from others a virtue
I i more than human, whilst you yourselves give an ex.
.! ample of desertion and of felony.
' Louis was no longer King when his trial was over ;
his destrction was inevitable; he could not reign
from the instant that he was deprived of the means of
keeping the fattions under.
You draw a frightful picture of the Revolution ;
the more frightful it is, the more criminal are you,.
for it is your Work—you are the authors of all the
telamities which has resulted from it. Expiate (you
cannot do better), expiate your cowardice and 'in-
gratitude to Louis XVI. by annual sacrifices in the
temple* •
HoW=disesit happen. 9 thee the first authors of the
martyrdom of Laois XVE, the real instigators of
our civil commotion, are the persons, who, in the
present day, take talitetaselves the part of accusers ?
How happens it, that theft Who have courageously
braved the Revolution in the midst of its vicissitudes,
find thernselies at once struck, as it were, with stu-
por, and appear to Suffer condemnation from their
hypocritical clamours ? It is only from`the singularity '
of the events that their weak adversaries have become
the stronger. It is because the enemies of the French
'name, with whom they leagued themselves, had, by
the advantage of numbers—.ten to one—got posses-
sion of the capital without resistance; that, when
one instant suffered to efface 20 years of glory and
of victory, those who have fled at the moment of
'danger, . returned in triumph behind the baggage.
waggons, and that thus 20 years of glory and of
victory, have become 20 years of sacrilege and of
outrage.
I Had the system of liberty prevailed, things would
1 have borne'far different names ; for, in the annals .
of the world, the same action is at one time a crime,
and at another an act of heroism. The same mats is
at one time a Claudius, at another a Marcus Aure-
lius. Catalina is but a vile conspirator. Cromwell
I was acknowlodged till his last hour, and his protec-
-1 lion sought by all Sovereigns. So long as Napoleon
1-was fortunate, Europe bowed before him. The first

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ew it, is, propetly
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ii struggle between t
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ist other, In the
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liberty, all powert
late; in the eyes of
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neat, every species
is ati abuse, The
!milky of all men ;
e which some men
others. From this
In have arisen our
cult while the 'Conti
errs of those disore
cisian in a goestkot ' • ..,
le Carew state of
ipetiopikil our eds.
1 ontltevart of the
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them to the arbi-
Ind to their obsti-
id• ridiculous privi-
h a subject, a man
of all kind of pre-
in idea into future
be ignorant of the
m4elf of the irre.
every thing by the
deciding most ques.
, on account of the -
always leads. The .
r proof of this to
e had laid hold of -.,.
-we thought that it
• without anarchy ; , -
rder ; a perfect sys. • 1
• propria.or. has an.