Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1823-07-25
From .Somerciiie's Letters on France.
8 There Is mo- indlyldu..I Mhn haas so lnrrel

NhiSii DDstTNdItU inquiry nave lditls re-
moved some of the impressions / derived
from his writings aud as he has become al
most the oracle of arisiocracy, from The fan
clrd rerication of some of his prophecies, il
may not be amiss Ia examine, i'm this intro
ductOry letter, his claim To the praise that is
every day SO unsparngly lav.shed on his sagd-
city. After exclaiming, that in consequence
of the French Revolution, ttp age of cIIi,aIry
was gone, and the glory of Europe extinguish-
cd ior ever, he did not hesitate t0 assert, that
France had brought poverty by crime"
ana To predict d" that she was going fast, and
| by the shortest cat, TO that horrible and dis
gushing situation of a nation of gross, stupid,
terocious, and Gar the same iime,) poor and
sordId barbarians." Yet, after waging war
Tor i've and twenty years against successive
coaiitions III all the powers nf Europe after
having suffered the most terrible defeats re-
corded IN the annals of her history, and had
her territory twice over run by hostile ar
mes after having it occupied altogether four
years by foreign tIoops, and lost by The last
INVASION alone, by piiage, contribution, and
impositlons on her new government, for for
mer spollations for the expenses of the war,
and the support ofthe Army of Occupation, a
sum estimated nj nine hundred millions of
dollars; France still remains in "A more four
ishing condition than any country IN Europe.
Her government, which, before the Revolu-
ti"n, could not raise, by straining every nerve,
neat revenue of more than about ninety
millions al dollars now collects with facility
about one hundred and eighty millions annu
ally. So far indeed is France from having
purchased poverty by her political changes,
that her circulating medium is gold and silver,
whilst that oil many of her n, ighbours is pa
per OF adulteraicd coin her agricultural pro.
duets have increased near fourth and her
manufactures marc than dnnhI.I c;pca ia ID.
volniion. Thus, in spite of her misfortunes
she appears like the fleece of Gideon, /" irrigu-
Gus with the dews OF heaven, whilst the TEST
ofthe vicinage is dry"
| Almost on the very page too, on which
Mr.. b. SCOTS at Bulingbrokr as "a prrsumpt,,ous
and superficial writer, he does not hesitate TO
predict, that g long Series of years must be
told before the population aud wealth of
france Can recover IN any degree the effects
OF tins phIlosophic revolution, and before the
nation can be replaced on its former fooiirg"
de even went so far TO apprehend her de
population from the flock Of emigranfs, that
we're then hurrying from her volupiuous eli
male, even into the icy regions of Canada,
ana f"resaw IN II the eclipse of her glory, and
nothing less than her absolute ruin You
may, perhaps, feel disposed To place this pro-
piIecy along side Of thr assertion of fashion
able lady IN Paris in 1899, that So France could
not then go To war, because the Marshal de
Brog'e Was too old" But let us seriously
examine It's correctness. The pnpuIaiinn of
France was variously estimated in 1889 =
The National Assembly vcntured 10 carry il
az high as twenty-six millions, but the more
Errobable estimate placed il at twenty four and
| a nall millions; and ae may therefore con
1 clude II did not exceed twenty five millions
| Yet France, after having lost about FIVE mil
Hons of persons since 1859 by domestic mas
sacre and foreign war, contained in 1919.
twenty nine and half, and ny this time no
doubt contains Thirty millions of inhabitants
| rms increase is nearly equal IN number Ia that
which took place in the century " hich ELAPSED
from the rerocation of the Edict of Nartes,
Ia the Re, olution. II should also br rrmen-
b"red, that she now feeds ahundantly this
augmented population ON a Territory some
| what smaller than that on which her peasant
! ry, from supposed excess of numbers,
were almost exposed to famine in 1855
Mr. Burke predicted, that in consequence
OF the division ofFrance into departments. the
! inhabitants Of that region, instead of hecom-
Ing all Frenchmen, would, in all likelihood,
shortly have no country mt ALL" He not
only declared, that in political light he consi-
] der'd France expunged out of the system of
Europe, but flat" whether she could erer up
pear IN IT again, was 10 him matter of doubt
because the fall from height was with an &C
I celebrated velocity, bnt 10 lift weight up 10
! that height again, was dilEcnlt and opposite to
the laws orphyslcal and political gravitation."
Now whether the Revolution has actually
harbarlZrd France" us he prophecied 1t
would, might be easily determined Ivy all who
have had occasion TO observe the unparalleled
| prosperity which The useful as well as the
elegant arts have of late enjoyed in this coun-
try aud whether the Revolution has des-
uoyed all her consequence as a nation might
he answered by The personal experience, of
every country between the Pillars of IIerru.
| les and the Baltic > bptween the kremiin and
the Pyramids
III might tie easy TO enlarge the number Of
these lofty predictions which time has shown
10 b" empty OF all foundation in the nature
/ of things but the above quotations are sn1i-
I cent, conceive to- prove That the opinions of
| MIR. Is. on the consequences uf re, olutinn in
the old feudal nonarcIies were Fundamentally
! false. He has delivered his IDEAS, il is true
with n certain sub!iml,y Of Discourse which
I occasionally coniOunds the understanding for
ms mind was naturally so full of light that
4 even " hen his thoughts are mere prriud,ces
they resemble the corruscatons OF sea water
when disturbed in tie dafk. IL the beginning
"i the rceoluii0n his visions were seemingly
verified by the stnguipary fnIiirs Of tle'pup.
! uIace but The consequences ofa political re
b. volutlon are not 10 br Judged OF from its first
effects. The characters nf nicn aie uol firn.
"a ma day and no one can brlirre that the
Old Sotcrnm"nt foslcred morality, since ~
large body Of ils subjects were found read
tihc moment q link WAS broken IN the Chain q
suhmssion) 10 consider nalional honour ~
empty dream, aud private justice mcr,
chimrra
The truth IS, that the virtue Of France haf
been " slain hy d'spuiisn." and TIA, her ru