Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1804-08-15
TIE EcRhTFREWcH poLICE.

NS'ndh NioulGl5, curing The twelfth, thir-
teenlhi and fourteenth centuries, with the
only exception, that it secretly in.pecls or
(reA'oVeS obnoxious or suspected persons ;
whilst the tribunals secretly condemned,
aud secretly executed every person incur.
ring their displeasure--in the present
French system all forms are laid aside (;
IN the other the forms were more terrible
than death itself. Under The present sys.
tenn, persons disappear f,om society, to
be shut up in dungeons, to be transport
ed, or to be shot, without often knowing
the cause, equally unknown by their TAILOR
aAd by their eHecutioners. 1t is aud re-
MAINS, the secret of government. For
neriy the accused were summoned, tried,
acquitted, or condemned had time TO
prepare themselves for defence, or by
light To escape, if possible, their persecu
tors. Under the present sy EN- all fight
is impossible, escape avails nothing, be.
cause the agents of our police are every
where in England as in Russia, in Anne
RIGA as in Africa, in Turkey as in the East
Indies; they all possess the description
(S'Sn1tementO Of the person prosecuted :;
they are informed of his habits, place Of
resort, and have fac SimHe Of his hand
writing. Unknown to each other, these
gents act in unison by their reports as by
Their actions The duke OF Enghicn, Mo
reau' Pichegru, Georges, aud others. were
watched by hundreds os agents for years,
OF whom not two knew each other. Louis
XVIII. at Warsaw, and the Bou, bons at
London are vet surrounded by numerous
agents unknown and iisviSiGic 10 them, as
to each other. The transactions of the
cabinets of st. Pctersburgh, of Vienna,
and OF Berlin, are as well known To our
government, as those OF Madrid, Flo.
renee, Naples, ST. Cloud, the Hague, or
OF Berne. These agents SIT III the Owen
at ConstanlinoPie, as in the Congress of
the Americans and though their senti-
ments are often opposite, their services
meet IN the same central point. Not a
sovereign, not u minister, not states
man, not councillor, not warrior, not
Banker, not merchant, not an author of
any reputation, who is not watched by the
inOfSioLe agents OF our secret police, who
employ the talents of preachers, as well
! as those of actors, 10 serve them; they
take the advantage of the popularity of
an orator in the senate, as well as The
fashionable imbecility of ballad sireer
! IN the street; they influence the decisions
OF privy councils in palace as well as the
toasis of faction at public tavern. I heir
activity is seen in the budget oil finances
for state, as well as a subscription for
a fnc.nic or charitable institution. They
indirectly decide the marriage Of princes,
as well as the divorces of subjects. The
political, as well as the amorous in,liguer,
wear often their livery.-The law prem. ul.
gated, the air sung, the bargain conclu-
ded, the treaty signed, the war declared,
the peace proclaimed, are more than of.
ten their doings. They employ at The
same time, and for the same purpose, the
devotion OF the christian, aud the inhGel
ity Of the Dest the bigotry of The super
stlilouS, and the bias phemy Of the Athe.
ist; the intolerance of the fanatic, and
The indifference Of the philosopher. Tley
penetrate and plot equally in the pagods
OF the flindoos, in the temples of the Chi
nese, IN the mosques at Constantinop!e, il,
the church Of St. Peter at Rome, and in
the grand synagogue at Amsterdam. The
Royal Exchange in London, and the fish
market at Paris; the diamond mines at
Brazil and the marble quar,ies in Laconia
the galleons at Cadiz and the Flower hall
at Naples, are equally visited and inspect
ed by them. 1t is more difficult to say
where they are not lhan where they are ;
what transactlons escape their notice than
those they influence.
Some of the agents Of our secret police
are paid, others are volunteers but they
all combat under the same banners they
all fight for the same cause, and they are
all registered at the same Office, in the
same register.-Though the volunteers
are more numerous than the regulars, the
expense OF our government Tor this husfi-
fW'on amounts yearly to eighty millions
OF livres; large sum, il il was not re-
membered, at the same time, that tribu.
taFy kings and nations pay us yearly more
than three times that sum and that VIC
owe mostly to the agents Of our secret po.
lice the power we have to command such
an enormous external tribute.
Foreigners, as well as Frenchmer, have
done Fouche the honor Of CONSIDERING hin,
the parent of our q ret police but the,
are all mistaken. rs plaa was proposed
10 our cabinet under the monarchy, bur