A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Complete. Charlotte Biggs
three branches of your legiſlature, and depend for the protection of your perſon and property on ſoldiers and conſtables? Yet ſuch is nearly the ſtate we are in; and indeed a ſyſtem of injuſtice and barbariſm gains ground ſo faſt, that almoſt any apprehenſion is juſtified.—The Tribunal Revolutionnaire has already condemned a ſervant maid for her political opinions; and one of the Judges of this tribunal lately introduced a man to the Jacobins, with high panegyrics, becauſe, as he alledged, he had greatly contributed to the condemnation of a criminal. The ſame Judge likewiſe apologized for having as yet ſent but a ſmall number to the Guillotine, and promiſes, that, on the firſt appearance of a "Briſſotin" before him, he will ſhow him no mercy.
When the miniſter of public juſtice thus avows himſelf the agent of a party, a government, however recent its formation, muſt be far advanced in depravity; and the corruption of thoſe who are the interpreters of the law has uſually been the laſt effort of expiring power.
My friends, Mons. And Mad. de B____, are releaſed from their confinement; not as you might expect, by proving their innocence, but by the effortſ of an individual, who had more weight than their accuſer: and, far from obtaining ſatiſfaction for the injury they have received, they are obliged to accept as a favour the liberty they were deprived of by malice and injuſtice. They will, moſt probably, never be acquainted with the nature of the charges brought againſt them; and their accuſer will eſcape with impunity, and, perhaps, meet with reward.
All the French papers are filled with deſcriptions of the enthuſiaſm with which the young men "ſtart to armſ" [Offian.] at the voice of their country; yet it is very certain, that this enthuſiaſm is of ſo ſubtle and aerial a form as to be perceivable only to thoſe who are intereſted in diſcovering it. In ſome places theſe enthuſiaſtic warriors continue to hide themſelveſ—from others they are eſcorted to the place of their deſtination by nearly an equal number of dragoons; and no one, I believe, who can procure money to pay a ſubſtitute, is diſpoſed to go himſelf. This is ſufficiently proved by the ſums demanded by thoſe who engage aſ ſubſtitutes: laſt year from three to five hundred livres was given; at preſent no one will take leſs than eight hundred or a thouſand, beſideſ being furniſhed with clothes, &c. The only real volunteers are the ſonſ of ariſtocrates, and the relations of emigrants, who, ſacrificing their principles to their fears, hope, by enliſting in the army, to protect their eſtates and families: thoſe likewiſe who have lucrative employments, and are afraid of loſing them, affect great zeal, and expect to purchaſe impunity for civil peculation at home, by the military ſervices of their children abroad.
This, I aſſure you, is the real ſtate of that enthuſiaſm which occaſionſ ſuch an expence of eloquence to our gazette-writers; but theſe fallaciouſ accounts are not like the ephemeral deceits of your party prints in England, the effect of which is deſtroyed in a few hours by an oppoſite aſſertion. None here are bold enough to contradict what their ſovereignſ would have believed; and a town or diſtrict, driven almoſt to revolt by the preſent ſyſtem of recruiting, conſents very willingly to be deſcribed as marching to the frontiers with martial ardour, and burning to combat les eſclaves des tyranſ! By theſe artifices, one department is miſled with regard to the diſpoſitions of another, and if they do not excite to emulation, they, at leaſt, repreſs by fear; and, probably, many are reduced to ſubmiſſion, who would reſiſt, were they not doubtful of the ſupport and union of their neighbours. Every poſſible precaution iſ taken to prevent any connections between the different departmentſ—people who are not known cannot obtain paſſports without the recommendation of two houſekeeperſ—you muſt give an account of the buſineſs you go upon, of the carriage you mean to travel in, whether it has two wheels or four: all of which muſt be ſpecified in your paſſport: and you cannot ſend your baggage from one town to another without the riſk of having it ſearched. All theſe things are ſo diſguſting and troubleſome, that I begin to be quite of a different opinion from Brutus, and ſhould certainly prefer being a ſlave among a free people, than thuſ be tormented with the recollection that I am a native of England in a land of ſlavery. Whatever liberty the French might have acquired by their firſt revolution, it is now much like Sir John Cutler's worſted ſtockings, ſo torn, and worn, and diſguiſed by patchings and mendings, that the original texture is not diſcoverable.—Yours, &c.
June 3, 1793.
We have been three days without receiving newſpapers; but we learn from the reports of the courier, that the Briſſotins are overthrown, that many of them have been arreſted, and ſeveral eſcaped to raiſe adherents in the departments. I, however, doubt much if their ſucceſs will be very general: the people have little preference between Briſſot and Marat, Condorcet and Robeſpierre, and are not greatly ſolicitous about the nameſ or even principles of thoſe who govern them—they are not yet accuſtomed to take that lively intereſt in public events which is the effect of a popular conſtitution. In England every thing is a ſubject of debate and conteſt, but here they wait in ſilence the reſult of any political meaſure or party diſpute; and, without entering into the merits of the cauſe, adopt whatever is ſucceſſful. While the King was yet alive, the news of Paris was eagerly ſought after, and every diſorder of the metropolis created much alarm: but one would almoſt ſuppoſe that even curioſity had ceaſed at his death, for I have obſerved no ſubſequent event (except the defection of Dumouriez) make any very ſeriouſ impreſſion. We hear, therefore, with great compoſure, the preſent triumph of the more violent republicans, and ſuffer without impatience this interregnum of news, which is to continue until the Convention ſhall have determined in what manner the intelligence of their proceedingſ ſhall be related to the departments.
The great ſolicitude of the people is now rather about their phyſical exiſtence than their political one—proviſions are become enormouſly dear, and bread very ſcarce: our ſervants often wait two hours at the baker's, and then return without bread for breakfaſt. I hope, however, the ſcarcity is rather artificial than real. It is generally ſuppoſed to be occaſioned by the unwillingneſs of the farmers to ſell their corn for paper. Some meaſures have been adopted with an intention of remedying this evil, though the origin of it is beyond the reach of decree. It originates in that diſtruſt of government which reconciles one part of the community to ſtarving the other, under the idea of ſelf-preſervation. While every individual perſiſts in eſtabliſhing it as a maxim, that any thing is better than aſſignats, we muſt expect that all things will be difficult to procure, and will, of courſe, bear a high price. I fear, all the empyriciſm of the legiſlature cannot produce a noſtrum for thiſ want of faith. Dragoons and penal laws only "linger, and linger it out;" the diſeaſe is incurable.
My friends, Mons. and Mad. de B____, by way of conſolation for their impriſonment, now find themſelves on the liſt of emigrants, though they have never been a ſingle day abſent from their own province, or from places of reſidence where they are well known. But that they may not murmur at this injuſtice, the municipality have accompanied their nameſ with thoſe of others who have not even been abſent from the town, and of one gentleman in particular, who I believe may have been ſeen on the ramparts every day for theſe ſeven years.—This may appear to you only very abſurd, and you may imagine the conſequences eaſily obviated; yet theſe miſtakes are the effect of private malice, and ſubject the perſonſ affected by them to an infinity of expence and trouble. They are obliged, in order to avert the confiſcation of their property, to appear, in every part of the republic where they have poſſeſſions, with atteſtations of their conſtant reſidence in France, and perhaps ſuffer a thouſand mortifications from the official ignorance and brutality of the perſons to whom they apply. No remedy lies againſt the authors of theſe vexations, and the ſufferer who is prudent fears even to complain.
I have, in a former letter, noticed the great number of beggars that ſwarm at Arras: they are not leſs numerous at Amiens, though of a different deſcription—they are neither ſo diſguſting, nor ſo wretched, but are much more importunate