A Visit to Paris in 1814 ... Second edition, corrected, and with a new preface referring to late events

Preface

REFERRING TO LATE EVENTS. LONDON: PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 1816. Printed by A. Strahan, Printers-Street, London.

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. |"T was observed in the Preface to the First * Edition, that just as the following work was originally completed for publication, a change of the political situation of France occurred, which bore a strong testimony to the truth of many of the views taken of the French character and condition in the course of its pages. The change alluded to was that caused by the strange return of Buonaparte from Elba, and the expulsion of the Bour bons from the nation, to the sovereignty over which they had been so recently called. The three months that carried off the First Edition of the " Visit," both com menced and concluded the second reign of " the Emperor:" — and the second Restora tion of the Bourbons, and the various cir cumstances by which that event has been ac companied, give superadded confirmation a

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. to the Author's general estimate, and autho rity to his particular statements, relating lo the French people. The burning, but self ish irritation of the French soldiery, appeared to him, in October 1814, to threaten future disturbance; and, in March 1815, the fermenting mischief burst forth, and took a fiery course. The almost utter want of public principle and private honor in France, struck him as a hideous apparent symptom of her morbid state, — and the perfidy, profligacy, and inconsistency of her notorious individuals, and the regardless ness, vanity, and inconstancy of her multitudes, have been since disgustingly displayed in the face of Europe. But the Au thor ventured to say, that the French carried their boasting far beyohd their merits, and that their vauntings before the day of trial would not always be found sustained by their fortitude and ability when it arrived : — this opinion also, though severe, has been amply vindicated by the second subjugation of this misguided and misbe having people, — by the severe chastise ment which they have received, chiefly from the hands of England,— and by their un-

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. V exampled disgrace in the fact of their Capital falling twice into the hands of a foreign force, in the space of twelvemonths ! That army, which had the character and influence of a firebrand, is now almost extinguished, — that cry of ferocious exultation, which rung in our startled ears, is subdued into the tone of plaintive appeal, — " our fine Country" has become " our unhappy Country," — and the philanthropist has, for once, a satisfaction in the contemplation of suffering, because it involves the downfall of a pernicious system of society and government. The probability of the establishment of Buonaparte in France, offered the prospect of no slight calamity to those who looked rather to facts than to fancies, and con sidered that the character of a man is es sential in itself, and not to be varied like the words that flow from the mouth.

This is a subject to which one or two introductory pages may be with propriety devoted, and, as I have already been led to express my sentiments upon it, in a work which may not go into the hands of the majority of the readers of this, I am tempted to make a

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. VI the following extracts serve the purpose, and save the trouble of fresh writing. " Little as we are inclined to praise what may be termed the system of the Allied Princes, we must retain, in all its original force, our conviction, that the prospects of the world have been injured by the restor ation of the power of Buonaparte. The former withholds what is desirable, — the latter disgraces its reputation, and poisons its essence. The former then stimulates to exertion, while the latter weakens the prin ciple of action, and corrupts the source of virtue. The old governments display the connection between profligacy of conduct and imbecility of mind, — which is one of the most salutary exposures that can be made ; but Buonaparte has all along opposed intellect to principle, which is the most horrible disunion that society can possibly witness.

His system, in a greater degree than any other, leads to a disregard of per sonal honor, by making it an avowed rule to reward accomplishment, independently of any reference to the means employed. It substitutes destructive errors, which are adapted to the complexion of the times, for

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. VII those which were decaying of themselves, or which the advancing tide of public opinion was about to wash away for ever. The whole course of Buonaparte's history, should surely be sufficient to convince, that people might as wisely expect iron to sparkle like a diamond, or emit odour like a flower, as that he should take a generous view of the interests of mankind, or be touched with kindness towards them as individuals. His ends are essentially inconsistent with human happiness and the dignity of the human character ; and the best proof of this is, that his invariable instruments are false hood and cozenage. Under his influence a language of affectation, bombast, and duplicity, was introduced into addresses from public bodies, more sycophantic and tawdry than had been offered to the oldest despotisms.

Under his influence books were sifted, not so much to detect passages hostile to his government, or censuring his conduct, as that no generous sentiments or vigor ous principles should find their way to his people, to render their hearts too good or too disdainful for his purposes. In the coldness of his craft he set about a design A

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. VIII the most nefarious which human villainy ever attempted ; it was by a regular system of training, to depreciate the character of a whole people, forming a very considerable proportion of the present generation of man kind, to the fittest level for the designs of tyranny and lawless ambition. For this purpose, talent was disciplined so as to leave it but its sagacity and dexterity, which might be employed in his service, while its fine sensibilities, and nice taste for simplicity ajid truth, were destroyed as worse than inconvenient. A most extraordinary and deplorable process has been proceeding under him, with reference to what have hitherto presented legitimate objects for admiration. Angels have been by him converted into devils, — that is to say, he has extracted all their excellence and beauty from high pursuits and great achievements, and while he has seemed to promote and encourage them, has been perverting their very natures, converting their balm into poison, their fragrance into offensiveness. For example, he has fostered a military spirit, but he has robbed the military character of all its virtues, — his soldiers break

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. IX their parole of honour, his Generals perjure themselves as a clever manœuvre, and to steal a King in this school of new nobility is thought as honourable as to vanquish one. He has patronised the arts, — which, being interpreted, means he has plundered their seats. Which of his artists, or scavans, joins sensibility with skill ? They are all cant, and cold vanity, and mere mechanical dex terity. They will talk in raptures of an an tient statue of Brutus, and then remove it from its ordained place, where it has rested for ages, to grace a trumpery theatre for a night, where a Roman story is performed by bad actors to their savage soldiery. The first thing they do with one of Raphael's pictures is to repaint it, — the first sensation they have when they come upon a time hal lowed relic of departed excellence, is to remove it within a short walk of the gambling-houses and toy-shops of the Palais- Royal.

All this is according to the sjrstem of Buonaparte, who feels nothing, and uses every thing. The world is positively thrown back further than a state of ignorance by this system, for it is one by which know ledge loses all its beneficial tendencies, —

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. X and great powers which dazzle the observation, are stripped of all their recom mendations to the heart. Yet some have, in our hearing, called this the triumph of in tellect: if it be so, it is like Agamemnon's triumph on his way to Troy, when he of fered up the fruit of his loins to ensure the success of his arms, — it is gained to the disgrace and detriment of human nature, by trampling on virtues and affections that are far more valuable and honourable with out talent, than talent is without them. We had better be contented with the natural though scanty growth of our time, and to labour hard for an increase hereafter, than thus receive all the finest fruits of the earth, with their flavours destroyed and their richness drained by an unnatural forcing. * # * * * * * * " Unbounded concession is most cheap to this Emperor, for, in the first place, he never feels a promise to be binding, and, in the second, the terror he inspires by his known dispositions, will effectually counter act the lenity of his laws. In this chiefly lies the difference between him as a ruler, and others, — that whereas they limit themselves

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. XI in some measure by their engagements, his engagements are neither limitations nor inti mations ; — what his civil courts cannot do, his military commissions can, — and what these dare not perpetrate by day, they can perform in the darkness of the night. He will readily swear to respect any thing you point out to him, and after this there is nothing that he will not violate, if it stands in his way. This being proved by his whole history, is it not idle now to in dulge credulous anticipations of his good intentions, because he heads his proclama tions to his soldiery with a declaration of the inviolability of civil rights, and because such men as Davoust and Fouche, called to his ministry, speak of the paternal and moderate intentions of the Emperor ? Are there persons yet to learn, that Buonaparte always speaks to his hearer, according to what he wishes to make of him, — never from himself according to what he thinks and feels?

He now praises Liberty and Peace, as he praised Jacobinism to the Revolutionists, Mahomet to the Turks, and the English nation to our countrymen, that visited him in Elba. It is worthy of

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. philosophical patriotism, in its anxiety to see the condition of society improved, to turn with hope towards the liberality and integrity of a man, who, when he kidnapped Ferdinand, told him that the feelings and interests of the people and their rulers must always be at variance; — who has broken every pledge he has made, not excepting his abdication for himself and his heirs, — who comes back through a purely military movement, and aided, not merely by broken oaths, but by the meanest personal duplicity, — who is still keeping up the farce in our faces, by returning to the old false jargon, about his " torn heart," and " his truly great peo ple," — and who is now surrounded by persons, all, like himself at this moment, full of zeal for the rights of man, who have been the most cruel instruments, alternately of Jacobinism and of military despotism !

The most hideous feature of France, which she has acquired under the influence of this regenerator, is the utter looseness of her principles, evinced in the conduct of her conspicuous characters. Thus Ney kissed the king's hand, swore fidelity to the Royal cause, and then went and joined the Emperor ;

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. XIII — Soult accepted the office of Minister of War under Louis, took oaths of fidelity, is sued a proclamation againstBuonaparte,and, as it is now strongly suspected, had been preparing every thing for his return when acting as the sworn servant of the Bour bons; — several of the other Marshals, ap parentty penetrated with devotion to their unfortunate, infirm, and well-intentioned Monarch, attended him on his retirement from Paris, merely, it seems, to cajole him out of the French territory, and to take care that his cause should not be supported ! These men now return laughing to the Tuileries, to sport the decoration of the Legion of Honour, to join their Chief in some new piece of baseness, and look in his face to receive his smiles, in the con sciousness of reciprocal villainy. This is the New School of Nobility of which Buo naparte is the Parent, and from which is to proceed the regeneration of the world !

We are called upon to rejoice in the pre dominance of this, because it will pull down Feudal bondage and superstition : — we can only reply, that we see no cause for congratulation in the substitution of a

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. young, sturdy, and desperate cut-throat, for a hoary-headed knave, fast dropping to his dissolution, and able to commit only petty depredations. But we shall take our stand on another ground, and affirm, that the system of the Old Rulers, with all its faults, will admit of more favourable views to be taken of it, than this which the Regenerator has introduced. It gives more room and encouragement for personal honour amidst political profligacy ; its offences partake more of the nature of habits, and less of dispositions; — it has grown up with us, it has not been forced upon us ; — it is not so directly aimed at all that gives confidence to our firesides, peace to our hearts, security lo society." Champion, No. 117, April 2d, 1815. A new and a great change has taken place since these reflections were written.

The Bourbons are again the nominal sovereigns of France, and Buonaparte, after a reign of three months, has been hurled from his throne, and plunged into capti vity, chiefly by his " oldest and most con stant" enemy England, into whose cus tody he preferred to commit himself. Yet,

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. XV although this triumph seems, on the whole, to be favourable to the interests of man kind, the state of affairs in France at pre sent is equally appalling to the friend of order, the friend of liberty, and the friend of peace. It seems to be precisely in that condition of distraction and violence, which leaves to just principles no refuge, which exposes them to destruction from the most opposite quarters of danger, when nothing has so bad a chance of thriving as honesty, when no line of conduct is so unsafe as moderation, when even the well-intentioned are constrained to acl suspiciously, and when the faction that is justly detested is opposed by a party that cannot be safely en couraged. It is true that from the gratifi cation of party spirit, a miserable consola tion may be derived. The weakness of the king's government is a source of glad ness to those illuminated admirers of liberal principles and practice, who were in love with Buonaparte as a Reformer: — and the outrageous enemies of the despot Napoleon, comfort their minds, enamoured of national and political independence, with the idea that the government of France is 4f

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. XVI upheld by a foreign force, and that the ex pression of her opinions is regulated by the general orders of Prussian commanders ! But the thinking and cool observer can not sympathise with either of these zealo tries. In his view, the aspect of things is disheartening : — whatever satisfaction he may feel at the overthrow of the chief dan ger by which Europe was threatened, is sadly dashed with fear for the mischievous consequences of the terrible remedy which has been applied to the disorder. — It is true, the predominance of Buonaparte, wicked, base, and cruel as his nature has been proved to be, over a nation so vain glorious, so volatile, and so unsound as the French, could not only offer no ground of confidence, but would have destroyed every principle of rational hope, since flattering appearances and generous professions were with him the usual harbingers of oppres sion and ruin.

His destruction as a ruler, therefore, seems absolutely necessary, both as an expiation and a security ; and his aggressions on foreigners by means of France, gave foreigners a title to interfere with France, and to prohibit her from again

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. XVII placing herself at the disposal of one, in whose hands she could only inspire hatred and alarm. Nevertheless, as I am not prepared, with a writer in the Journal des Debats, to com gratulate mankind on the resolution of a combination of Sovereigns to support what is called legitimacy, as the only principle of peace and order, and to assemble in behalf of any one of their number, who may be called to account by his subjects, — 1 have my anxieties and discontents. By making this confession I shall incur the sneers of those, on both sides,Avho have strong prepos sessions and few scruples ; and the consola tion under them must be, that the wisest and best of men hitherto, have felt even their wishes paralyzed, by discerning how much of the elements of evil are mingled up with every thing here that offers itself as a choice.

The measure of forcing a King on the French nation is an abominable one, and it does seem that without the help of foreigners he could scarcely have been restored to his throne ; but it is not to be denied that France has herself imposed it on Europe as u

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. XVIII a duty to take measures for preserving her peace and possessions, and if there shall be something of rough interference in these, who is to blame ? Yet it is by no means clear that France disowns the Bourbons : this timeof burning resentment and wounded pride, is not one for the display of what can fairly be called the national sentiment. All therefore, that can be done, rationally, at present, is to shew ourselves ready to make a stand against abuse and mischief from whatever quarter they may chiefly threaten, — and to hope that a period will soon arrive, when the French King shall have an opportunity of rendering himself secure by what will be more pleasant to his feelings and honourable to his character, than the bayonets of the powers that have espoused his cause. The fact of Buonaparte's being fairly out of the way, may help to extricate the King from the very embarrassing situation in which he has been hitherto placed.

Owing his return to the Allies, he has been fixed betwixt ingratitude to his friends, and a sub mission to the degradation of his kingdom which would for ever render him unpopular

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. XIX with his subjects. The earnest desire of every honourable mind must be to see liberty and integrity joining hand in hand, and lay ing in France the order of a new and better system. — That this might take place, it was necessary perhaps that all parties should be chastized ; but chiefly that the wild bri gand spirit, which was so insolent in its ebullitions, should be severely humbled. This has certainly been done: — the army, to be sure, has kept up a haughty and angry tone, and at first it seemed that it rather held out conditions to the King, than beg ged his forgiveness. But, regarding the military strength of France as now broken, and not to be built up again for years, it is not to be regretted, perhaps, that something of intractability should manifest itself, which may keep the bigotted party from driving the court into pernicious recurrences to exploded practices.

There is but one good reason for preferring Louis to Buonaparte ; namely a conviction that under the former, more certainly than under the latter, con cessions in favor of liberty will be wrested from the government, and remain to the people. The event has turned out precisely a

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. XX as was to be wished : Louis theXVIIIth sees that he must lean still more decidedly to wards the party for freedom. The pro clamation dissolving the Chamber of Depu ties is a proof of this ; it is an important acknowledgement in favor of popular rights. With regard to his ministers, some of them © certainly are men for whom no one can en tertain respect ; — but I hesitate not to de clare, that I would rather see Fouche in the Cabi net than Blacas, and would sooner hear of riots on the Boulevards, than of Priests' pro cessions from the Tuileries to Notre-Dame.* I repeat, however, that there can be no reasonable doubt, that the cause of political freedom in France, will be benefited by what has happened. Buonaparte's fall has proved that he was not supported by the opinion of the French, and, if not so supported, his return was a piece of ruf fian-violence, and his pretensions since his return sheer knavish imposition.

La Fayette, who is the representative of the only truly respectable party in France took * Since this Preface was written, the Fouche and Talleyrand Administration has been displaced, for that of which the respectable Duke de Richelieu is head.

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. XXI no part in the proceedings of the Chambers which had for their object to secure the government in a Buonaparte Branch ; al though he was very zealous that improve ment should be made of the crisis, to give to France a Constitution which should se cure to her freedom under any Sovereign. If this shall be done, as let us hope it will, the return of Buonaparte, terminating as it has done in an encrease of his disgrace, will have been a most fortunate occurrence, — for the Bourbons certainly needed a fresh lesson. The Allies had no business to insist on their restoration, but the Allies have business to demand from long troublesome, and now beaten France, " indemnity for the past, and security for the future." The following observations on Buona parte's surrender to a British Frigate, were written by the Author of this work for the publication already quoted from in the course of the present Introduction, — and he confesses that he is anxious they should appear incorporated with the present volume, thinking that they belong to the class of its subjects : — a

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. " Buonaparte's surrender of his person into the hands of Great Britain, in prefer ence to trusting any of her Allies, or mak ing a bargain, which we have no doubt he © © 7 might, with the government of France, gives a romantic finish, an unexceptionable completeness to the crown of glory which our nation has acquired in the struggle. This, then, is the issue for our country of the wonderful events of the last twenty years ! Throwing one's eyes back on the prodigious past ; looking from this tower ing eminence on all the fearful vicissitudes and besetting dangers through which she has travelled ; recalling the many and se vere trials of her heart and patience to which she has been exposed, — the seem ingly hopeless blackness of the wintry day through which she has toiled, the gloomy loneliness in Avhich she has been left, the distance from all her objects to which she has been occasionally thrown, — the present consummation, going, as it does, to the full extent of the dreams of the most sanguine fancy,— nay,beyond what the most sanguine fancy could at one time have figured lo itself as possible, — strikes with a

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. XXIII force, that almost drives one into a languid frame of mind as a refuge from the intensity of feeling. — People have exclaimed their joy and astonishment so often, that, being no longer able to keep up the proper cli max of interjection, they now receive each new fact, which tops its predecessor, with a sort of remonstrating silence, and a meek look, confessing that their faculties are quite overpowered, and, that, instead of continuing to take a spirited advantage of the gale, they must resign themselves in calmness and inaction to be carried along with the whirl wind. — Decline now when Britain may, — as probably decline she must, — she need not be ashamed to be the victim of a law which as yet seems to have had an unspar ing application. Fine as are the memorials, of antique glory, and fully as they redeem in the estimation of mankind the weakness and poverty by which they have been suc ceeded, the fame of all the past will for the future be overshadowed by the lofty image of England as she now exists, — predominating in the eyes of posterity, inasmuch as she will appear seated on the summit of an æra destined to be supreme over all others a

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. ln the world's annals. The ages and revo lutions that increase her distance, without obscuring her port or dimming her splen dor, will but render her more venerable, and consequently more magnificent. Fairly considered, it does not seem that the achievements of any former people have been per formed on a greater scale than those of Britain, or that fortune ever gave a more poetical conclusion to heroic adventure than that which, at the present time, she has awarded to the struggle in which this na tion has been successful. When the events of this day are removed from the columns of Newspapers, and are no longer sounded as the catch-pennies of horn-blowers, — when they are arrayed in the dignified garb of history, and are invested with the solemn pomp which living imagination awards as a tribute to what it recalls, — they will be classed amongst those magnificent examples of the higher qualities of public character, that form the common stock of human na ture's valuable possessions, in which every one takes an interest and a pride, without regard to time or place. Nor is this the unmeaning vapouring of national prejudice :

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. XXV let those who would oppose it with a cold sneer look around them and come with us to a sober estimate. — To begin sufficiently low; — our streets are cleaner,our fenders brighter, our fire-sides more snug, our domestic economy neater and completer, at this hour than these things will be found to be else where*. To mount higher in the scale : the moralities and decencies of conduct are here held chiefly in estimation ; integrity and vigour of mind have been here for centuries exercising themselves in all the varieties of religious and political dissent, unaccompanied by the ferocity and extrava gance that proscription and persecution occasion : — here we abolished the worst absurdities of superstition at a period long after which all our neighbours continued, as many of them do to this day, to wallow in their grossness : — here thrive, beyond parallel, by means solely of the popular stamina, institutions for enlightening and improving the condition of mankind : — here, * America shares with us most of our advantages, as in fact she inherits them from us : but as a growing coun try, and without the European circle, she is not included in the comparison. As a scion from our stock the merit she possesses cannot reflect disgrace on us.

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. and here only, does a superb union of pub lic spirit, opulence, and liberality, evince itself in voluntary subscriptions, uninstiga ted and unaided by power, in behalf of almost every desirable object of attainment, and needy object of compassion. What is the character of a philosophy that hesi tates to acknowledge a national superiority so constituted ? The ingenuities of specu lation may run a man in and out of his own nature, and the nature of the things about him, until he deranges duties and distorts realities so as to form for himself a labyrinth of tormenting perplexity, in which his spirit is likely to wander and perish, far from all cordial communications and substantial utilities. But common sense, and that general propriety of think ing which is to the mind what health is to the body, enable one to see the practical, and therefore essential worth of what have been enumerated, and cause one to feel how deeply interested the world is that they should be found to constitute the superiority of political strength, as Avell as the lustre of moral reputation. " It is to a country so distinguished, that Buonaparte has chosen, in preference, to

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. XXVII surrender himself; and thus his testimony has been received in favor of the superior respectability of the national character of Britain. How remarkably — nay, may we not say how affectingly, contrasted, is this catastrophe of his fate to the maledictions he fulminated against our Island, in the noon-tide of his power ! If he really feel no resentment against the British nation, it is a proof how completely he is in the habit of considering the complication of human interests and passions in the light of machinery, in which each part necessarily acts as it is operated upon — and the whole of which is made to be influenced by an adroit hand as convenience may re quire. This is perhaps at once the best explanation of his character, and the best apology that can be made for his conduct.

A man of this moral constitution neces sarily considers life or death, truth or falsehood, as means merely, to be used almost indifferently as most applicable to circumstances. He feels himself to be placed amongst certain materials, of which he has to make the most for his own use, — and he therefore conducts himself towards what is about him, precisely according to