Recollections of Mirabeau, and of the two first legislative assemblies of France

Contents

Preface by the English Editor. . . xviii

Preface by the Genevese Editor. . . . xxiii

CHAPTER I. y

Chapter II

Journey from London to Paris in 1789. Elections of deputies at the bailliages. Regulations for the election, made whilst breakfasting at Montreuil-sur-Mer. Success of these regulations. Interview with M. Necker. Residence at Claviere's at Surene. Committees at Claviere's and Brissot's. The Duke de la Rouchefoucauld. Confusion of ideas at this period. Saying of Lauraguais. Right of representation claimed by Palissot. Assem.bly of the sections. Difficulty of proceeding. Assembly of electors. M. Duval-d'Espremenil. M. de Lauraguais, bourgeois of Paris, Opening of the states-general. Aspect of the tiers-Hat. Reflection upon the verification of the powers. 61

CHAPTER in.

How Mirabeau was situated in the assembly, on the opening of the states-general- His bitterness

CONTENTS. VU

against the assembly. Conversations on this subject. The author engages him to be more moderate. Intimacy between Mirabeau and Duroverai. Little committees. Duroverai's plan for bringing Necker and Mirabeau together. Adopted by Mallouet. Difficulty of an interview. It takes place. Mirabeau's saying on Necker. Embassy to Constantinople. Ottoman Encyclopaedia. Mirabeau's first triumph at the tribune. Debut of Robespierre. . Efiect of his speech. Saying of M. Reybaz concerning him. Sieyes, his character and habits. The bishop of Chartres. Anecdotes of this prelate • . . 73

Chapter IV

Inaction of the tiers during the disputes of the orders. Its effect upon the public. Motion of Sieyes upon the title of the assembly. Title of national assembly proposed. This question debated between the author, Duroverai and Mirabeau. The latter determines to oppose this title. Speech written by the author in the hall of the assembly. Mirabeau adopts it. Its effect upon the assembly. Author's anxiety. Sieyes's motion carried. Its effect. Duroverai forms the plan of a royal session. Mallouet undertakes to communicate it to Necker. This plan concealed from Mirabeau. It is spoiled by the influence of the court party. Royal session. Its effect upon the assembly and the public. Reflections. Circumstance which determined Necker to absent himself. Mirabeau's anger against viii CONTBNTSo

Duroveraio What he thinks of Necker. His opinion upon the session. .... 92

Chapter V

Agitation of the people after the royal session. Cause of this agitation. Saying of Sieyes on the Breton club. Attitude of the court. Arrival of troops. Mirabeau's speech. Address to the king. Mirabeau undertakes to write it. Confides this task to the author. Anecdote. General uneasiness. Supposed projects of the court. Mirabeau fears being arrested. Character of the king on his arrival. Death of the Marquis de Mirabeau. Work upon the events of the revolution 112

Chapter VI

Courrier de Provence. Its origin. Partnership between the author. Duroverai and Mirabeau, Success of this journal. Negligence and dishonesty of the bookseller. Annoyances. Embarrassment of Mirabeau. His connexion with Madame le Jay. The journal has a new editor. It begins to fall. New arrangements. Judgments upon the Courrier de Provence. What ultimately became of it. ... 126

CONTENTS. Ili IX

Chapter VII

Complete union of the orders. Aspect of the assembly. Address to the people. Mirabeau requests the author to write it. Cause of its want of success. Weakness of the assembly regarding the tumults. Fear and mistrust of the government. Cause of it. General opinion in favour of the revolution. Causes which led to an alteration in their opinion. Work of Burke. Declaration of the rights of man. Discussion. Opinion of the author and of Mirabeau on this subject. Sitting of the 4th of August. Reflection upon it. Anger of Sieyes. His opinion. That of Mirabeau upon the assembly. Effect of this sitting upon the people 134

Chapter VIII

Discussion upon the veto. Marquis de Caseaux and his speech. Difficulties of Mirabeau in reading it. Anecdote. Public opinion. Improper mode of proceeding in the assembly. Impatience of showing off. Love of making motions. Some traits of French character. Compared with the English. Regulations by Romilly. Rejected by the assembly. Opinion of Brissot, Sieyes, &c. upon England. Saying of Duroverai. Mirabeau applies it to Mounier. ....... 148

CONTENTS,

Chapter IX

Camille Desmoulins. LaClos. His connexion with Mirabeau. Was Mirabeau acting in concert with the Duke of Orleans ? Facts for and against. Translation from Milton against royalty. Duroverai prevents its publication. Saying of Mirabeau upon the events of Paris. His conduct on the 4th and 5th of October. Aspect of the interior of the assembly. Anecdotes. Desertion of several deputies. . . . . . 159

Chapter X

Discussion upon finances. Mirabeau's reasons for supporting M. Necker. Effect of his speech. Singular compliment paid to Mirabeau by Mole. Address to the nation. Mirabeau confides to the author the task of writing it. Want of success of this address. Mirabeau proposes a vote of thanks to Lafayette and Bailly. What determined him. Project for bringing Mirabeau into office. Motion to prevent it. Civic inscription. Proposal of Sieyes. Mirabeau brings it forward. Law concerning bankrupts. Martial law. . . 173

CONTENTS. XI

Chapter XI

Connexion of Mirabeau with the court. Confidence on this subject. Plan of a counter-revolution by Mirabeau. King's departure. Basis of the plan. Appeal to the nation. Decrees of the assembly annulled. Immediate convocation of another assembly. Surprise of the author. His resolution. Conversation and discussion of the plan. Mirabeau promises to renounce it. Another mode is adopted. The Marquis de Favras. His trial. Uneasiness of Mirabeau. Discussion on church property. P6Iin author of Mirabeau's speeches on this subject. His connexion with Mirabeau. Anecdotes. . ..... 186

Chapter XII

Mirabeau's habits changed. His house. Luxury. Expenses. He refuses to take his father's title. Receives 20,000 francs a month. His connexion with Prince Louis d'Aremberg. Quarrel between Mirabeau, Clavifere and Duroverai. The author reconciles them. Gradual election. Idea of the author. Mirabeau's motion. Barnave opposes it. Mirabeau abandons it. Reflections. . . 203

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CHAPTER XIIL

Author's departure. Motives. Barrere. Barnave. Petion. Target. Mnlouet. Volney. Robespierre. Morellet. Necker. Champfort. Return to Paris with Achille Duchatelet. His character. Anecdotes. Conversation vi^ith Mirabeau. His connexion with the queen. He directs the court party. Report of diplomatic committee. Author's share in it. Anecdote. Increased expense in Mirabeau's style of living. Remark of the author. The Abbe Lamourette, Mirabeau president of the assembly. Opinion thereon. Mirabeau's ill health. His forebodings. Emotion on taking leave of the author. He prophecies on the fate of France. His death. . . .213

Chapter XIV

Private life of Mirabeau. Anecdote on his marriage. Correspondence with Madame Mounier. How he wrote it. Portrait of Mirabeau. Considered as an author. Distinctive characteristic of his writings. As a political author. His good qualities. Defects. Compared with Fox, with Barnave. His private habits. As member of the assembly. Venality. Saying on this subject. Despair at not enjoying a spotless reputation. Plis vanity. Saying of the author. Public character of Mirabeau. His object Designs, Cause of

CONTENTS. XIU

their failure. Charactoristic trait of his genius. Political sagacity. Powers of prophecy. Knowledge of mankind. . . . . . 232

Chapter XV

Detached anecdotes. Mirabeau's habit of giving nicknames. How he designated Sieyes, d'Espremenil, Lafayette, Necker, Claviere. His opinion of Washington. Saying concerning the assembly. Annoyance at praise bestowed upon mediocrity. Saying of the author on this subject. Viscount de Mirabeau. Laughable answer. Personal courage of Mirabeau. Adored by his domestics. Visit to the Bastille. His friendship for Cabanis. Cause of his death. Last moments. Legacy to the assembly. Activity. Hopes of becoming minister. 251

CHAPTER XVL

Author's return to Paris. Flight of the king to Varennes. Aspect of the assembly. Effect of the king's flight upon the people. Shade of Mirabeau. Project of a paper. Its object. Why renounced- Paine at Paris. Confidence of Duchatelet. Placard in favour of the republic. Condorcet becomes a republican. Claviere, Brissot, Petion, &c. discuss the question. Origin of this opinion. Condorcct's motives and influence., Lameth, Barnave, &c. join the king. The author returns to London with Paine. Opinion on this

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writer. Details given by d'Andre on the assembly. His complaints. Reflections. Supposed dialogue between d'Andr6 and his servant, recited by Sieyes. 265

CHAPTER XVn.

General reflections on the revolution. Its causes. Nine causes of the faults of the assembly. Heterogeneous composition. Bad mode of carrying on proceedings. Immutability of constitutional decrees. Fear of a counter-revolution. Emigration.

• Affiliation and institution of the Jacobins. Wrong measures of the court party, &c. Causes of the fall of the constitution. Unity of the assembly. Absolute independence. Ineligibility of the members of the first assembly to the second. Immutability of the constitutional laws. Opinion on the national assembly. Author regrets his want of memory and curiosity. .... 284

CHAPTER XVIII.

Arrival of Petion in London. Object of his journey. How accomplished. D'Andre. His character. His talents. Persecuted by Brissot. Some particulars concerning Brissot's character. Talleyrand. Anecdotes. Object in coming to London. Reception by the king and queen. Author returns to Paris. Reasons. Accompanies Talleyrand and Duroverai. ..... 294

CONTENTS, XV

CHAPTER XIX.

Arrival at Paris. Conversation with Talleyrand. Anecdote on the consecration of the clergy. Aspect of the legislative aasembly. Divided into three parties. The king governed by the Feuillans. Girondists. Their object. M. de Lessart. Impeachment by Brissot. Author reproaches Brissot. Reflections. De Graves. Anecdotes. Author secretly consulted on the choice of a war minister. Speech to bring the Girondists into power, made by Gensonne. Petion's speeches. Vergniaud. Guadet. Gensonne, Buzot. Rcederer. Condorcet. ..... 304

CHAPTER XX.

The author taken to Roland's. Character of the latter. Madame Roland. Memoirs. Servan. Louvet. Lanthenas. Pache. Claviere is appointed minister. His life and character. His ambition. Activity. Madame Claviere. Her illness. Cause of recovery. Legislative assembly and Girondists. . . 322

CHAPTER XXL

Declaration of war against Austria. Reticences in the memoirs of Dumouriez. Austrian committee,

XVI CONTENTS.

Brissot desirous of war. Duchatelet refutes the objection of the desertion of old officers. Dinners at Claviere's and Dumouriez's. Gaiety of Louvet and Dumouriez. The latter communicates to the author his report on the war. Condorcet's weakness. Appointment of an embassy to England. Talleyrand. Chauvelin. Hesitation. Dumouriez puts an end to them. Garat. Embassy badly received in London. Pitt and Chauvelin. The embassy at Ranelagh. The public shun them. The Duke of Orleans. .... 334

CHAPTER XXH.

Object of the embassy. Maintenance of peace. Work of Garat. 10th of August. Talleyrand goes to Paris. Presses the author to accompany, him. Refusal. Motives. The Genevese government request him to proceed to Paris. Army at the gates of Geneva. Montesquiou. Travels with an Irish quaker who is come to France to make proselytes. Arrival at Paris. The author determines Brissot and Clavi^re to support ' the Genevese treaty. Gasc sent by the republic. Dinner at Claviere's. Lebrun's ode. Secret confided to the author by Gensonne. Intrigues by Grenus. The author proceeds to Geneva. 353

Preface

ENGLISH EDITOR

There is no public character whose actions have been more the subject of misrepresentation, and over v\^hom calumny has had greater sv\^ay, than the Count de Mirabeau. He is known in this country rather as one of the most profligate promoters of the French revolution, than as the most extraordinary man of his age, in those surpassing endowments of mind in which he far surpassed all the great luminaries of that brilliant period; and it has been reserved for Dumont, a man of high character and unsullied principles, to rescue his name from the blind obloquy by

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which it has been so long and so unjustly obscured.

With all his vices, and they were by no means few, Mirabeau had many redeeming qualities. The former have been exaggerated with all the virulence of party hatred, while the latter have been concealed with equal malignity. This is unjust. A man, whatever be his errors, should go to posterity with the benefit of his good as well as the odium of his evil qualities.

In these Recollections, Dumont, the friend of Mirabeau, has concealed nothing, nor has he "set down aught in malice." He has not shrunk from the task of exposing the blemishes of a master-mind, at the same time that he exhibits the splendour of its superior endowments. He has candidly stated Mirabeau's good and bad qualities without disguise, and while it will appear that there is much to despise, it will be found that upon the whole, there is perhaps more to admire. Justice has been rendered to an erring but illustrious man.

With all his vices, Mirabeau was an ardent patriot. The good of his country was mingled even With his dying aspirations, and the love

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of France ceased in his heart but with his last breath. His great powers of intellect and transcendant eloquence maintained his popularity through all the fluctuating changes attendant upon one of the greatest political convulsions ever recorded in history ; and by the ascendency of his energetic mind, he awed Robespierre and the jacobin anarchists into harmless insignificance. Had his life been spared, there is no doubt that the French revolution would have taken another direction, and the horrible excesses of the reign of terror never have blackened the page of French political regeneration. His death was the knell of the French monarchy ; — the glory of a long line of kings was buried in the grave of Mirabeau.

Dumont's Recollections contain the most valuable materials for history. Facts hitherto unknown, the secret causes of many of those great and surprising events which have puzzled the acutest research of the historian, are laid open. However we may regret that the work remains unfinished, we cannot but be thankful for the abundance of information supplied by these Recollections, every page of which is of

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momentous interest. Our regret arises from the very perfection of the work even in its unfinished state ; and had Dumont found leisure to fill up the periods connecting its different parts, and to give his promised account of the revolutions of Geneva, subsequent to that of 17S9, and in which he was himself an actor, this volume would form the completest compendium of the French revolution ever given to the public. In reflecting upon the events contained in this book, the philosophic mind cannot but be forcibly struck with the disproportion between causes and effects in political convulsions, when once the edifice of the state has begun to totter upon its foundations. On these occasions, the most insignificant circumstance, like the chance spark which, unperceived, may slowly spread its latent flame and ultimately destroy the noblest edifice, often leads to astounding results, even to the ruin of states and the overthrow of empires. Such was the case in France ;— and such will be the case in all revolutions proceeding from the same causes. It is a lamentable fact that governments founded upon the barbarous remains of feudality — and most governments of

THE ENGLISH EDITOR. XXI

modern ages are in this predicament — naturally divide the state into two classes, whose hostility to each other is instinctive. A few privileged individuals hold the reins of power, and for their own interest and advantage, oppress the great mass of the people. When at length the latter discover and claim their just rights, those rights should be fairly and frankly admitted, otherwise the authority by whom they are withheld must ultimately, even in the absence of tumult and bloodshed, be crushed by the inert preponderance alone of the discontented mass of the population. Had this self-evident principle been admitted by the blind and bigotted aristocracy of France, no convulsions would have taken place, nor would the freedom of the French people have been cemented with blood. The inveterate and unjust prejudices of the nobles, and more particularly of the members of the royal family — which even five and twenty years of misfortune and exile could not eradicate — ^led immediately to those first excesses which showed the people their strength and betrayed the weakness of the government. It is singular that neither the fruits of experience, nor the pangs of personal suflTering, can rectify

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the warpings of the human mind ; and in the feelings which, in 1789, induced the Count d'Artois to convert the conciliatory object of the royal session into the immediate cause of the first revolutionary insurrections, may be traced the same spirit of bigotry, which in 1830 led him, as Charles X, to issue the ordinances by which he lost his crown.

Numerous other examples might be adduced which would form a collection of valuable lessons for kings and statesmen. But alas ! man profits not by the experience of others — oftentimes not by his own ; and it is not until we have obstinately and wickedly brought on the evil, that we choose, amid the pangs of tardy and useless repentance, to open our eyes to truth!

In oflfering Dumont's ideas to the public in an English garb, it only remains for the English editor to add that his sole aim has been to give the author's meaning with clearness and precision. If he has failed, it is not from want of zeal and attention.

G. H. C.

London, 29ih March, 1832.

PREFACE

BY THE

GENEVESE EDITOR

It is not my intention to write a biographical notice of M. Etienne Dumont. Two illustrious authors, M. de Candolle and M. de Sismondi, have already paid their tribute of admiration to the memory of their departed friend and fellow-countryman. I cannot do better than refer the reader to the Bihliotheque universelle^^ and the Revue encyclopedique^-\ in which they have deposited, with all the warmth of friendship, the expression of their regret at

* Bihliotheque universelle, November 1829. t Revue encyclopediqitc^ vol. 44, p. 258.

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the loss which our country, science and literature have just sustained.

To render, however, the present work more intelligible, it is necessary that I should trace, in as rapid a sketch as possible, the principal circumstances of the author's life, especially those preceding the period to which the work alludes. When I have explained his connexion with politics and political men, long before 1789, and the rank which he has since held, in the literary world, it will be more easy to understand how he, a stranger to France and to the great acts of the French revolution, should have been able to relate facts hitherto unknown, and have acquired the right of passing judgment upon men and events.

M. Etienne Dumont, of Geneva, spent the early part of his life in his native country, where his talents as a preacher gained him well deserved renown. In 1783, he left Geneva, in consequence of its political troubles, and went to St Petersburgh to join some members of his family who had settled there. During a residence of eighteen months in this city, he was equally successful, and obtained the high

THE GENEVESE EDITOR. XXV

consideration due to his merit and noble character.

He left St Petersburgh in 1785, and went to London to reside with Lord Shelburne, then a minister of state, who confided to him the general education of his sons. Lord Shelburne, afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne, soon discovered the great talents of M. Dumont, whom he made his friend. It was in the house of this minister that he became acquainted with some of the most illustrious men of the country ; and amongst others, with Sheridan, Fox, Lord Holland, Sir Samuel Romilly and Mr Brougham, then a barrister, now Lord High Chancellor of England.

His connexion with these distinguished in. dividuals, founded upon friendship, similarity of opinions and literary occupations, and the pursuit of great objects of public utility, gave them full opportunities of appreciating his high worth. He was generally known to be a man of profound knowledge, correct judgment, irreproachable character, and lively and brilliant wit. Each did him justice during his life, and

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they who have survived him continue to honour his memory.

He formed a very particular intimacy with Sir Samuel Romilly, a man equally distinguished by his private virtues and his great talents as a lawyer and a political orator. The friendship which united these two men, increased daily, nor did its activity cease till the death of Sir Samuel Romilly. M. Dumont was inconsolable for this loss, and never mentioned his departed friend without tears.

In 1788, they undertook a journey to Paris together, and it was under Sir Samuel Romilly 's auspices that M. Dumont first became acquainted with Mirabeau. During a sojourn of two months in the French capital, he saw the latter every day, and a certain affinity of talents and intellect led to an ultimate connexion between two men so opposed to each other in habits and character. It was on his return from Paris, that Dumont began his acquaintance with the celebrated Bentham, which had so complete an influence over his future opinions and writingSy and fixed, as it were, his career as a writer on legislation.

THE GENEVESE EDITOR. XXVH

Dumoiit, penetrated with a lively admiration for the genius of this extraordinary man, and profoundly struck with the truth of his theory and the consequences to w^hich it so naturally led, applied all his talents to make the writings of the English publicist known, and devoted the greater part of his life in rendering available to the world at large, the exhaustless store of knowledge which the ever active genius of Mr Bentham was always increasing.*

In 1789, M. Dumont suspended his labours in England to proceed to Paris with M. Duroverai, ex- attorney-general of the republic of Geneva. The object of this journey was to obtain, through the return of M. Necker to office, and the events then passing in France, an unrestricted restoration of Genevese liberty, by can-

* The following works are the result of this labour : 1° Treatises on legislation^ published in 1822, in 3 vols, 8vo, now in their third edition ; 2° Theory of punishments and rewards^ 2 vols, 8vo, also in its third edition ; 3" Tactics of legislative assemblies, two editions, 1815 and 1822 ; 4° Judicial evidence, published in 1823, and a second edition in 1830 j 5«* Judicial organization and codification, 1 vol. published in 1828. I do not here mention the numerous editions published in foreign countries.

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celling the treaty of guarantee between France and Switzerland, which prevented the republic from enacting new laws without the consent of the parties to this treaty. The necessary steps to which this mission gave rise, brought M. Dumont into connexion with most of the leading men in the constituent assembly, and made him an interested spectator, sometimes a participator in the events of the French revolution. The importance of the changes about to be operated, and the immense interest which this period inspired, determined M. Dumont to follow closely the course of events. Like all the other generous and elevated minds in Europe, he offered up his vows for the realization of the great hopes to w^hich the first proceedings of the national assembly had given rise, and was desirous of assisting at occurrences which he considered the forerunners of a new political era. His former acquaintance with Mirabeau was renewed immediately after his return to Paris, and it contributed to prolong his residence in France, during which he cooperated in many of the works of that celebrated man ; but being afterwards attacked in

THE GENEVESE EDITOR. xxix

pamphlets and other periodicals as one of Mirabeau's writers, he felt much hurt at his name being mentioned publicly, and determined to return to England. The reputation of being a subaltern writer was, as he himself states, by no means flattering, and that of an influential connexion with a man whose character was not untainted, alarmed his delicacy. From that period he sedulously employed his time in preparing Mr Bentham's manuscripts for publication.

In 1814, the restoration of Geneva to independence, induced M. Dumont to return to that city, which, subsequently, he never quitted for any length of time. Until 1829, he devoted his talents to his country, to which he rendered very eminent services. It would be a w^ork of supererogation to recall his claims to the gratitude of his fellow-citizens. All know and acknowledge how much they are indebted to his patriotism and devotion ; and to the general mass of readers such details would present but little interest. In the autumn of 1829, he undertook a tour of pleasure to the north of Italy in company with one of his friends, M. Bellamy

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Aubert;* and his family were impatiently expecting his return, when they received the news of his death. They who were intimate with him can alone appreciate the charm which his goodness of heart, his active benevolence, and his great talents threw around him. He loved to encourage youth, and could make himself the companion of all who approached him. Men of all ages and professions were sure to find, in his inexhaustible kindness and remarkable conversation, interest, advice, information and pleasure.

Among the many unpublished works which M. Dumont's friendship, much more than his thirst for renown, confided to my care, I have selected for publication, in preference to any other, the one which appeared to me the best calculated to make him known in a literary

* I cannot suffer this opportunity to pass without publicly expressing the gratitude entertained by M. Dumont's family towards M. Bellamy Auberf, whose active friendship and affectionate attentions soothed the last moments of his friend. This consolatory circumstance, in so painful an event, can alone in some degree assuage the grief produced by a death so unexpected, which at a distance from his family and country, carried off a man in whose heart the love of both predominated.

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capacity different from that upon which he founded his honourable fame. It also appeared to me that a work, like the present, would diminish in value, in proportion to the distance of its publication from the events it records and the persons whom it makes known. This work, besides, contains materials for history which it is but just to submit to the judgment and criticism of those best able to appreciate them, I mean the contemporaries of the great epoch to which they refer. I must likewise state that of M. Dumont's other posthumous works, some are not finished, whilst others, written by parts and at different times, are not in a fit state to appear before the public. A last work of revision is yet necessary for the purpose either of placing the different detached portions in the order pointed out by their author, or of separating the parts that are terminated and publishing them in a miscellaneous form. But all these reasons, derived from the subject itself, were not the only ones which fixed my determination. I was influenced in my choice principally from a desire of showing M. Dumont in a work entirely his own. Hitherto he has been known

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in the literary and scientific world only as the propagator of M. Bentham's ideas, and few are able to appreciate the full merit of his labours. M. Dumont had no literary ambition; satisfied with the esteem of the distinguished individuals who knew him, he considered himself sufficiently rewarded by the consciousness of having contributed to the happiness of mankind by the propagation of useful ideas; and he never sought, I will not say to raise his fame at the expense of that which his celebrated friend had so justly earned, but even to claim the share of renown to which he was really entitled. His own thoughts and ideas merged in those of Mr. Bentham, and he gave the whole to the public under the name of that great publicisty without ever troubling his head about the portion of honour and esteem which he should derive from them. But if such unequal participation suited M. Dumont's modesty, it is no less incumbent upon me to endeavour to place him in the rank which is his due. God forbid, however, that I should desire here to raise a controversy, by claiming for M. Dumont all or the principal part of the merit belonging to the works which

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appeared under the name of Mr Bentham. It would be against evidence, and would, moreover, be a violation of the respect I owe to M. Dumont's memory ; for the latter did not cease, to the end of his life, expressing his enthusiastic admiration of the English publicist* My

* This is what he wrote a few days before his death : "What I most admire is, the manner in which Mr Bentham has laid down his principle, the development he has given to it, and the rigorous logic of his inductions from it. The first book of the Treatises on legislation, is an art of reasoning upon this principle, of distinguishing it from the false notions which usurp its place, of analyzing evil, and of showing the strength of the legislator in the four sanctions, natural, moral, political, and religious. The whole is new, at least with regard to method and arrangement, and they who have attacked the principle generally, have taken good care not to make a special attack upon the detailed exposition of the system. Egotism and materialism ! How absurd ! Nothing but vile declamation and insipid mummery ! Look into the catalogue of pleasures, for the rank which the author assigns to those of benevolence, and see how he finds in them the germ of all social virtues ! His admirable Treatise upon the indirect means of preventing crime^ contains, among others, three chapters sufficient to pulverise all those miserable objections. One is on the cultivation of benevolence, another on the proper use of the motive of honour, and the third on the importance of religion when maintained in a proper direction ; that is to say, of that religion which conduces to the benefit of society. I am convinced that Fenelon himself, £