Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1823-07-15

| approach tile altar are not attracted by idl,
parade Ot their religion but by the aspira
tions of real piety and that the clergy are no,
abandoned to poverty may be Inferred,
think, from the fact, that sxty-eight million.
of francs (about thirteen millions of dollars
are annually appropriated by the government
| to their support
1T is s"unem hat difficult TO fix standard ia
measure the moral sentiment of a nation, and
our Opinions Of Its comparative elevation eau
only he at best AN induction from particular
appearances. Now, if the sentiments of per.
sonai independence and probity have under
gone no change for the better 10 France sine.
the revolution, how does it happen that ladies
OF rank and fashion are no longer seen press
ing forward with alacriiy To sacrifice their
honour TO the royal caprice? Why are Dues
and .Hdrshdts no longer seen soliciting prefer
meni AT the expense of the reputation Of their
wives and daughters? The truth is, that M
spite of the inordinaie temptations that have
been held out TO profigacy in France during
the last thirty years, real morality and religion
nave very considerably extended their influ-
ence. The reform, admit, is very far from
being complete but it is silently working its
way under The control ofpuhlic opinion.
III has been asserted likewise, that the Rev
oiution has Hooded France with ignorance and
immortality that ii general decay of istruc-
.ion nas been The consequence of the down
iaii of The old government, and that in spite ui
the occasional freedom Of the press Ia France
the nation has made no advance i'm political
Intelligence, nor acquired greater aptitude
Tor the establishment of civil liberty Than it
possessed In 1889. But On what ground the ST.
oroad assertions are bottomed, (since il is adj
united that the number OF crimes has dimin-
'shed) know not. IL idlrness be the mother
q A gh.ll 81,
increase OF the productions Of agriculture and
manufactures. cited as proof of The increase
Oh corruption. If becoming regularity of
loeha'iour, and submission 10 the laws, indi-
cafe correctness of moral dispositions ia II
natoii, we shall not surely hear the boudlrs IS
| revolution OF 1914 and 1915 cited Ia prove,
mat the national depravity has increased since
mat era, when every debate i'm the National
Assembly wasa signal for IA massacre. Before
the revolution, regiment could not br dis
banded without leading 20 scenes Of robbery
anu disorder; after the late war, half mil.
non oi soldiers were let loose, at time whcn
q" regular government se. med suspended,
and yet they retired quietly To their homes
without mutlny or depreciation The inter
rupti"n OF agriculture by the Invasion of 1915,
ana The cold which bIighted the crops
throughout Europe in 1918, created great
scarcity "i provisions, and yet no riots inter
r"f.eu me puDiIc peace, or imprded the adj
Ininistration ofthe laws. In 1889 the govern
ment was bankrupt; the taxes collected AT
the point of the bayonet the highways in.
Tested by robbers the provinces mutinuns.
ana the army disloya: at pr esent the trrasu-
| ry 10 rich the national credit good the
taxes are collected with facility travelling is
perfectly safe the departments are vbrdrnt
1" government The army free from licenlious-
l.
tn. Revolution has dem0Ialized FRANCE
" Most the governments of Europr npo,ips
t'onabiy did every thing in their power TO
make the French Revolution disastrous and
that they should now endeavour to keep ,iu a 4.
iong az possible The idea that they have not
sptht Their eXertous in vain, is natural in the
extreme. Ii is for this reason that we hear g.
often reiterated, with an air of scofIinr fri
umph, The question, What has France gained
by her Revolution ?" To this i, might be- re-
p'Ieu' mat notwithstanding the iuauspiciuus
events which have attended il, she has gained
new territorial division Of the kingdom, by
wh'ch her various dIssmi!ar provinces have
oeen melted down into one cummuuity-an
abolition of the privileges of the noLiesse-
the suppression of an oppressive ecclesiastical
system, aud of the right in religious corpora
Tons I" hold landed proprrty-an equal as
sessinent ui taxes over the whole kingdom
Inc establishment of AN uniform system of
Jurisprudence, with the trial Ivy iury-a res.
Pect Tor talents over birth, with Il fee access
To any employment, civil or miitary-thp
equality OF all, in the eye of the law-ihe sub.
division OF the great estates Of the Kingdom
the emancipation of industry from the shack
les of Jurandes and .HdityiSfs, and consequent
W great improvements Ia manufactures and
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of conscience i'm matters
OF relislon-the liberty of the press at least
Tor books--a representative form Of govern
ment, with long ct cetera of inferior advan
taSes-Ali these, we may be told, might have
been acquired without the trouble Of re- golu-
ton. True but what reason have we to
suppose that government which had refused
these blessings Ia the people for centuries.
would have accorded them of IA sudden, with
out compulsion ?"
tErfrGets to be Contin4sd.l