New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-16
NORRIS IN PARIS.
THE DAYS OF THE REVOLUTION.

an important and highly interesting conoii'"'''
% American historical documents. Inc diary anu
lt,ers of Gouverneur Morris have peeh en'pioHeu
- SHARKS and others for the purpose of hstoricai
illustration mainly. Here they are prcseh'." -
n,ur nc 70 illuminate the social career OF the
,.sn;or, orvov orator and inancier, and to bring
distinctly before us that troubled vet frivolous
80 rovo1,,ionarv French society which the keen
end clear eyes of the young transatlantic republican
rooo-dcd with ca lively an interest and so shrewd
n judgment Morris was man equipped py h",use
Co. social conouests lie was an eminently cluo-
ohIo man. rs DR. johnson would have said; ana
ho ovidcntlv shone among the women. though IN
his diary he now and then exhibits the innocent
oeec,atiop Of undertaking his own attractive
qualities uu
or his political transactions the world is fully
.orrizopt These volumes however. give the de-
tails Of those events conversations, letters which
have hitherto for the most part been known onV
in outline and Of which the portions pubhsheG py
Sharks have been. TO speak, buried IN his heaVv
and turcid volumes The facts upon when inc
prevailng estimate Of Morriss character rests are
here set forth at length, and If at times the re',i
feels somewhat pcrplexed by the curious specV'oi.
., ,bis American tfaversing the Continent OF
Europe apparently for the purpose Oh "u'i''"5
as governments concerning their most intimate ana
the opinions of so frank, unpreIudlced ana
SANCTIONS an observer were in the majority OF IN
stances not only tolerated by the ministers states
mcn and princes to whom they were addressed
hut that these latter repeatedly manifested as
t;nct cacerness TO ascertain the views OF the VS.
itor upon current events. In his posluoh Oh
American Envoy Penipotentiary at the OourO Vi
s.. German, Morris certainly behaved win re-
marl,able caution and good Judgment When the
po.olution preyy 70 a head and violence began to
bcoc, violence he was reproached for not exhibit
i,r q moro sylnpathctic air TO the revolutionary
government His answer, that these quaSl-goV-
ernments were too cphemeral TO he seriously ue"io
with. covers the ground sufficiently. VI course III
is understood that his personal feelings LED MN 10
,i,r tho victims Of the Terror This was in
evitable, for he had learned all ne knew OF france
in Tho salons of the aristocracy and all his frends
,,'oro ca No found in that order But an envoy
he s,royc 10 hold the balance even. and he so iar
succeeded that at this distance his attitude appears
sinculary reserved and sell-contalned
II is partly 10 be regretted that from the time
Of tho September massacre he was preciuoeu rum
the accust omcd use Of his diary. his "ps'inehoe
was precaution of the most necessary kind for
the attempt to chronicle events at that time ish'
easily have cost the life even Of foreign minister
dcscrjpiion of life and death in Paris during the
Ea,en of Terror from the per of so keen an 3D.
server and 80 careful q reporter, would have peeh
Invaluable Such document as dlspass oha'e
oon,em poraneous record Of the Terror does not eN
isl. and could by no possibility have been Written
bv a Frenchman. Morris was perhaps the one man
then in Paris who was capable OF giving a luciu,
rerspicuous. not overchargd representation u
what was passing before him But he could not
write in tLe circumstances. 1t was much that ne
STAYED at his post when all the rest OF the
diplomatic corvs had withdrawn 1t was much
that he he'd his own and maintained the oiShi'N
and honor Of his government under the most IT.
,itatinc and exaspcrating conditions Few men
would have dealt as he did with domiclllary viS'S'
with personal arrests. with the scarcely restrained
runanism of the lawlcss section, with the base
jcalouscs and barbarian insolcnce OF the reVoiu-
tjoparv government Few men would have done
ca much rs he did for ms friends or would nave
risked so much rather than offer even passive ac-
oucscencc in the hidcous excuses OF the time. Yep
r fatiye and product of ordered liberty as he
v-as "a was impossible for him to regard without
rc s.on and profound disgust the red foo-lury
OF the Seine France as he observed. showed no
capacity for republican government. There are
these who. century later. would be willing to
put the same criticism on record
When Governor Morris went TO Paris, the
last days of the monarchy were being lived, and
the conventional frvolity and loose morals Of
the period were the most conspicuous features
Of society. French manners at first rather
startled the unsophisticatcd American, and he
shows his surprise sometimes in his dary-whch
in later years is not, we inclined TO think, so
perfectly candid or so perfectly full
as the publishers of these volumes
seem 10 conclude. But nothing escaped
him in the outer world. lie marks every sign
Of coming trouble; the empty treasury, the
despair Of the Finance Minister, the approach
Of famine, the omnous multiplication OF foreign
uniforms in the streets: the mutteringS of the
people the needless gayety of the nobility, the
heartless immortality of the fashionable men and
women. the prevalence of corruption, naked and
unashamed, IN every government department and
Office; and above all the lack of strong men
20 take the rens and LIT the State out of the
slough into which it was sinking. Meantime, he
entered with hght heart. into the social amuse-
ments which were offered him, and lost no time
in conforming TO the manners and customs OF
his new ncighbois Speaking the language fluent
IL. be had no apprenticeship to serve, but from
the beginning was able TO give and take freely,
and 10 make himself liked by the ladies', 10
whom, Notwithstanding his occasional dlsc!alm-
els, he paid assiduous court. There is evidence
enough OF an indirect kinl that Morris had many
"afaircs- and that he sought after and
cordially liked by charming women. Madame
de Flahaut the Duchess of Orleans; Madame de
Nadalllac, the Princess of Turn and Taxis I;
Madame Craven Madame de Segur, Madame de
Stael were frequently among his intimateS. and
he took and kept quite commanding position
in the salons of the gayest and the most
sprituelle people. At the same time he came
20 know men of affairs like NecSer and states
men like TalleyIand then Bishop of Autun. lie
was admitted at Court too and when the Revo-
lutionary wheel began to roll over its victims
there is no doubt that he narrowly escaped com
promising himself seriously, perhaps fatally by
narficnafinp in 4 t,lan for the rescue Of the King