The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1804-06-20


l7be .tohiosvins extrai9 is taken from a svort
Late!r pA6hBed ia London and y,e-bn6k/5ed in
Philadelphia, entitled " The Hifory Of tie
HarS, epbitb 0rojS oa Of tie Ereneb Repolu-
ton 4: TO 9vbieb IS prefxed Req,iesv ef tie
cau/s5 fthat ersnt.--By Aiexander Stephens,
Of tire HoaoHrGbhe Society rftbe Middle Tenn
pie. EGq.---h Q 4'oinmes." This hiRo,y at-
pears to be an impartial 1,rzv of tbat nfereR-
Ing e1'ent. Its principal dets7s are, perhaps,
that its f0tements are exhibited in too rbcio-
ricai n .ayie; and that tbe political events
are NOT dr0avn on Ito xje an exb,s5Ton IF 81.
Leon "m all TIE magnitude and svealfb of
fbeir detail" TIE Editor bropoEs 10 gize, in
another estraa from tMt syo,k, a y;ssp oftbe
principal! changes qvkicb haqe been n.a.le la The
Political 9ate sf Europe, b. ibs sv0ry Of THE
si4en LIfenaafie q'.ezv Of the important con-
.f7Henees Su5ieb it has produced .i,on the ia
fernal psfcy Of Franee.]
a variety of caufcs confpired 70 fhake the
foundation ola throne upneid by the vcncrstion
of fourteen centuries, and to threaten the down
fall of a prince, the fucceiIor of iixty-eisht
kings. In Ala, where knowledge is fationary.
the blind vengeance of nation is fatiated with
the facri6ce of the reigniug detpot the NOT
terrible criiis produces charge, therefore, not
III the fate of whole people, but OF A fnee in
dividual. On the contrary, in Europe, where
learning and icience progreiiive, an a,terati-
on inienhbly takes place in IN: public opinion !;
and if this be rehted with violence, either a
new dvnafty, or Il new {pecies of government,
generally enfues. This immenfe difference,
which cnfures certain portion of liberty to one
quarter of the globe, and perpetual llayery to
another, is chiefly produced by the art of print
ing the men cf letters then, in the northern
fates, may be coni;dered as the ar5iters of the
dcfinv OF nations.
Thefe, as body, have unifoI. lily cherithed
love of freedom in every country and in that
Ofwhich VIC now treat, the influence oftheir wri-
tiugs and their example can icarceIy be aDpre-
eiated.* in confeGuence of the frequent inter
courfe with Italy, knowledge and learning beesn
to dawn on France during the reign of Charles
VIII. Francis |. not only cultivated tate for
letters but eitabliihed public Libraries. MeZe-
ray atiets, that his sswas the reign of men of
learning."f Charles TX. like Nero, feemed to
delight in low debaucheries and midnight aias-
iinations like him, too, he was very indiiler-
ent poet : vet mis- example could not be unpro-
ductive OF effect. But it is The reign of Louis
XIV. that has been confdered as the Auguftan
epoch and it NUT be confefed to have exhi-
bited whatever was exquiite in the fine arts, adj
mirable in polite literature, ufeful in every
branch of the licences. Ii was at this period
too, and under the ihelter of royal defpotifin.
that thoGe weapons began TO be forged, w!.:c!.
were afterwards defined to breal, its chains
After architecture, poetry, and the fine arts,
by improving the taffe of the nation, had contri-
buted TO the pleafures and the enioyments of To-
ciety, new race of men aroie, and undertook
the daring talk of correcting is errors. The
fncceeding reign beheld Montcfquieu fcttling
the principles of government, and withdrawing
part Of the veil that concealed the horrors ofty-
Ianny; while Mably, after fearching into their
ancient records, proclaimed to the French that
they had been once free and happy. Raynal
Familiarity arraisned tyranny before the tribupa,
OF public opinion, and thus coutrived TO render
II more generally odious. Rouffeau, born and
educated within the walls ofa republic, was in
fpired with high notions of liberty fiIch were
the charms OF his elOquence, that he at length
taught the fIbje6ts of one Of the mott abfoute
nlonarches in Europe to fipeak and think Ike
himfelf. Although fond of brilliant paradoxes,
ard romantic theories, his pen uniformly de-
voted to the caufe ofvirtue, and his writings con-
tributed not little to regulate the fpiiit of the
times in which he lived.
The age Of Voltaire forms an epoch in the
hifory Of his country. The heady and en-.
lightene i friend of humanity, he was equally ca
ger to ai1ift the oPpreilcd and a1ail the guilty.
He conferred eternal infamy on the members OF
the parliament of Touloufe, who had immola-
ted innocence on the altar of oppreiiiOn; and
acquired the bea and mott permanent title to
true glory, by refcuing the family OF CalaS from
infalny and defpar. He ailifed the Parliament
of Paris to annihilate the mott Gngular and for
midable fociety that has exiited in modern
times "a politico-rcligious corporation, the
branches of which extended TO China, while its
head was lof in the clouds. Such was the kill
with which he conducted his enterprises, that
he influenced both popes and princes to difinils
TIE mott devoted of their facilities body
which he hmielf confdered AS the pretorian
guards of civil and religious defpotiiin, ever
obedient to the pontfS, at times dangerous to
kings, but invariably attached to an abfolute
monarchy. Sometimes he condeicended to fat
ter defpotiim, but it was on purpofe to diiarm
it Of it's rage the arrows with which he aifdied
fIperltition. inflicted the mott deadly wounds.