Art. VIII- Expose de la Cmduite Politique de M. le Lieute- nant-General Carnot, depUh le ler Juillet 1814. 2nde Edi- tion. Paris. Courcier. 1815. Tt is not our intention, in the present article, to discuss the momentous questions of general policy, connected with the distinguished individual whose name appears in this title-page. We purpose to confine our remarks to that which concerns him personally ; and they are offered, by way of supplement, to a former article upon bis celebrated Memorial, addressed to Louis XVIII. If he had continued in the high station to which he was called during the last summer, we should not hove deemed a recurrence to the subject so necessary. But, when men have fallen from power because of their principles, and when, even in the recesses (^f that obscurity which they prefer to a splendidiapostasy, they arc still exposed to persecution, it be- comes the lovers of liberty to second their demands of justice, though, for the moment, the clamours of the multitude should be found in unison with the sycophancy of courtiers to refuse it. For the rest, we believe it would puzzle the most ingenious and most suspicious of maiikiiid to descry any other motive than the love of justice, which cc'uld induce persons, at thd present time, to undertake General Carnot’s defence, more especially persons who have all alor g professed so widely to differ in opinion with him upon fundamental points. Finding, himself the ouly one of Buonaparte’s late cabinet ministers, who is proscribed by the decree of the 21th of July, he here inquires into the grounds of this strange exception.- It cannot be, he contends, that the others were playing a dou- ble game before the second abdication, and serving their coun- try in appearance, while they were secretly in league with ita Isis. Carno defence. M enemies. Besides that such an imputation would be rejected by them with indignation, he asserts, as a fact within his owil knowledge (and all that we have seen appears to confirm ii)f that whatever difference of opinion may have prevailed among them as to the means, their whole conduct was zealously points ed to one olyect, the defence of their common country. To the rest of those ministers, he appeals with respect to his own services ; and placed, as they all now are, in situations of safety^ some of them in high authority, one of them at the publication of the tract in the highest station under government, he chal- lenges them to say what duty he omitted in that arduous crisis^ which preceded the battle, and followed the abdication. Ho even calls upon the Allies to deny, that their united efforts were as successful as circumstances would permit^ in saving the effiif sion of blood, aad securing the safety of the capitaL Was it, then, the General asks, because of his former pam- phlet, that the distinction was made ? No other' motive has ever been assigned for it ; and yet a more absurd one cannot be imagined. For, not to mention the universal contempt in which the Iloyalist party studiously held it, the question, whether he had authorized, or even permitted the publication, had been so- lemnly decided in the negative by a judicial investigation last year. After Buonaparte’s return, however, it was republished^ and industriously circulated, with various mutilations and addi- tions. Of these the General was entirely ignorant ; nor, as he says, was it very much in his nature, to have busied himself in such a matter, while executing the duties of the most important department of the State at the most critical moment. But as soon as he heard of the republication, he applied to the Minis- ter of Police, in whose province it lay, to stop it; and he fre- quently complained to Buonaparte himself. Tlie latter treated the affair as of no consequence ; and the former avowed, that be had himself furnished funds for the publication. As far as in him lay, he had constantly checked the publication, refusing bis per- mission to all ^ the booksellers who applied for it, and only ab- staining fropi proceeding legally against the publishers, because the matter belonged to the police, which had in fact taken mea- sures against them, and let them escape. Upon the object and motives of the Memorial itself. Gene- ral Carnot adds sev^riil inieresling remarks ; and the charges against the government of 18 I t which he had before urged, he now repeats with his wonted firmness, — undismayed by the more severe complexion of the times, the increased power of the Crown, and the exasperated enmity of his adversaries. * Chacun sait qu'on marchait ouveitcmcnt u la plus violentc reaq- 441 Carnot^s Defence. Oct* tion ; qu^on afFectait de fonler aux piecls la Charte conslitutionnelle : rjiic toLites les pioiucsses faifcs par Ic Roi client eludees sans pudeur par Ics agens dc son pouvoir ; qu'on nu s'attacliait qu*a decourager Ics defonsciirs dt la patric : que tout cc qui avait pris une part quel- conquo a la revolution 6tait devoue a la proscription, menace dans son honneur, danssa vie, dans ses propriety. Ces fails sont noloires ; les personnes les plus devouecs au Gouvernement en convenaient d la tribune ; ils sont officicllcnient avoues aujourd’hui. On pouvait se tairc sans doute ; on pouvait se laisser mcnacer, dittamcr, sans rien dire ; niais peut-on faire un crime 'a celui qui reclame I'cxecution des lois journellement violees a son prejudice, qui sc recrie contre les in- fractions coiitinuclleiiicnt faites aux engagemens les plus solennels p, il. 12. Speak inr» of the arrival of Buonaparte, and the marvellous spectacle which his progress offered, through an unresisting, and passive population at the Ixi'^t, though he came almost alone^ the General boldly tells the reason of such a plienomonon. * Pourquoi cherclier a se tromper soi-mcane et faire prendre encore le change au Roi, sur le veritable principe d^un cvenement si extra- ordinaire ? pourquoi s*en prendre a des causes secondalres, loisque les premieres, les vraleH causes sont connues de tout le monde? Ne soiu-ce pas les atteiutes continuelles porlces a la Charte ; les inquie- tudes jer^es parmi les acquereurs de domaines nationaux ; les me- naces, les sor^s sans cesse renouvelces contre tout ce qui avait pris part a la revolution? et ne voit-on pas encore anjourd’hui renaitre de nouveaux germes de troubles dans Pinterieur ? sera-ce encore un delit d’averlir les agens du pouvoir, que des causes semblables peu- vent produire de aemblables effets? sera-ce manquer aux justes Cgards qu*on Icur doit, de leur dire que ceux qui leiir succedcreiit n^eurent point a Se faire de partils reproches V p. IG, 17. It is inconsistent with the design of this article to enlarge up- on the evidence which, since the subject was last iinrler our no- tice, has left the violations of the Charter, and the truth of the remarks now cited from this Tract, a matter of absolute demon- istration. But we may, without stepping aside, refer the reader to the confessions extorted from the (iovernment itself at the mo- jnetit of its last dissolution — extorted, not by any*exlcrnaJ force, but by the intimate persuasion, that the only remaining chance of salvation was to be sought in a full and publick acknowledg- ment of what, its own conscience wliispcred, the people well knew to have been its errors. We allude especially to the ad- dresses of the Chamber of Deputies to the King, by their presi- dcfnt, M. L'Airie, on the 10th and 17th of March, in which the faults of the administration are broadly stated, and the necessity of a change of system avowed ; and to the declaration of the J8th of March, promising that the ‘ unguarded acts* of the ministers shall ccasc. We may add the King's piodamation at Cambrsy, d^ted so late as the 28tfa of June, in which he admiti errors to have been committed, and promises to profit by expe^ rience, and avoid the repetition of them. That General Cat^t only desired to see the . King remaii| faithful to his engagmehts, and govern according to the Con-^ stitution, seems incontestably proved, by the conterence which he describes himself to have had with M. de St Roman, a staunch royalist in the King’s service, to whom he now publicly appeals for ^s correctness of the relation. It was when Buonaparte had advanced towards Lyons, and was supposed to be that city, that M. de St I^man waited upon him, aifd^i (d his great personal alarm at the state of affairs, 4nd thiei, ent probabinty of the King being forced to leave The General, who expresses much respect for courteously observed to him, that he TOlieved if tftefb were 'rib royalists but such as he, nor any republicans but^nteh as hjttfp seif, men would ndfe fight with one another about maftereW *6^ pinion. Being pressed to kate what he tbobght; tho result of the present crisis, and whether he sd^ any avoiding the evils which menaced the state, he ainswe^, manner not very well calculated, we should thin the character of a malcontent, and plotter of ||i|chief, or a partisan of Buonaparte, which the unthinkingPIfoblb. pf idjl ranks have, in this country, been taught to tmtow upon;him,— ^ * Je lui rdpondis que je ne connaissais pas biend’dtat de ^oses, * mais que je croydis qu’il ^tntt encore powble d’y rj^edfori ‘ qu’il fallait pour cela que le iloi s’empressat dfraporieer qu’il * etait dans la ferme resolution de maintenir i^^i^maisles AiTr * torites dans la ligne constitutionnelle, et qU’it * nistresquine travaillaient visiWement gu’d i^pi^earter * si I’on etailtuhe fois rassurc sur les ve^bitM mt^tions'dB^ * M., je croyais que Bonaparte ne trotiyerait ^(^u /ip * France, et que je he doiitais pas qu’il n’dcbou4|U|c^l€t^|ri^^ < dans sonentreprise. ’ p. l!>. • ^ Buonaparte however arrived at Parish and was once tlffore*®^ peror of Fran’ce, without a struggle. M.^Carno c solemnly assdrfip that he neither aided, nor even knew beforehand, of riieexped^ tion which thus marvellously succeeded in destroying a. dyiyis^ possessing, but a fow days before, ajl the oOtward appi^irance^df Mlidity and duration. * J’affirme que; ni directemepttii indU ' rectement, je ri’ai pris aucune pmt ati|^ tentatbree qbi ont.M dtre faites pouf je retour de Napdleon ; que je ti*ai; eutretmL aiieune correspondaned d ce sujet, et que je n’ai ett cofiiu^K sauce d’aucuniefcorres^ndance enti-etenue par d’autres.: aueii n’ai assiste i aucune reunion particulidre, i adctUI ton'* vot. XXV. NO. 50, ’ ^ f Oct* * 446 Carnot’s Defence] ‘ qu’enfin j’ai partage Ictonnement univcrsci, lorsquej’ai aprif? ‘ sadescentesLir Ics cotes cle France^’ (p. 17, 18.) Laying^oiit of view Iiis acknowledged cliaracter for strict veracity, nothing short of madness could induce a man in his critical situation to make such assertions, if they were unfounded, in the face of so many enemies anxious to obtain a justification of their behaviour to- wards him, and furnished, some of them, as Fouche, from their own knowledge, with the means of exposing him. But the night after Buonaparte arrived, he sent for him, and appointed him to the home department. Does his acceptance of this office, and his discharge of its arduous duties, constitute the ground of the decree against him ? Then, why were not the other ministers comprehended in it; and why, above all, was/)ne of them, in- stead of being proscribed, placed at the head of affiiirs under the King ? Buonaparte had regained his power with the unanimous concurrence of the army, and without the slightest opposition from the people. Was it incumbent on M. jCarnot to treat him as an usurper, and plot his destruction, or foment a hopeless ci- vil war, for the restoration of princes, to preserve whom in their place not a soldier had lifted his arm, or a citizen liis voice, at a moment when an unarmed individual w^as driving in his car- riage through the country to dethrone them ? But the General might at lea® have refused office under a man whom he had so often denounced as a tyrant : and he frankly avows tlie reasons which now made him cooperate with Buonaparte, as they liad a year before induced him to ofler his services for the defence of the frontier. But, together with these reasons, there was another wdiich, we confess, appears to us much less sound, — a conviction that Buonaparte had returned from Elba with views of moderation and peace ! J’ai cru, et je crois encore, ’ say^ this intrepid person, ‘ que PEmpereur etoit venii avec le clesir sincere de con- ‘ server la paix et de gouverner paternellement. ^ The fearless- ness which prfcmpts such an avowal, in such terms, at a moment like the present, when the cause of Buonaparte h desperate, and M. Carnot is as it were upon his trial, may well excite astonish- ment. But we own, that our wonder is hardly less at the fact, of such sentiments ever having entered so acute and experienced a mind. But it was not only towards Napoleon that the Generafs candour appears to have misled him ; he believed the Allies to be as moderate as the Emperor, and never suspected that their professions might be iTuiig into the shade by the prospect of brilliant success. ‘ J’ai cru que les Allies ne voudroient paa ‘ npporter de nouveau la desolation dans im pays dont le va'u ‘ eioit si fortement pron once pour la tranquillite de f Europe. ’ — * On lie doutoit pas que Jes ’;)uissanccs ne nous I ! 8 1 5. Carnot’s Defence* 447 * commc dies ravoi’ent tant defois proteste, clioisir Ic gouverne- ^ ment qui nous conviendroit, pourvii que nous dcmcurassiona • fideles aux stipulations du traite de Paris. * Thus we see, that there were views of a nature somewhat roman- tic, both respecting Buonaparte and the Allies, mingled with the solid and defensible ground upon which he tpok office, namely, the necessity of supporting the Government, in order to avoid one of the worst calamities that could befa! his country — civil war. The ground upon which he continued to act, after he found those hopes disappointed, was the necessity of saving France from the very worst of all calamities, — foreign conquest, ending probably in dismemberment, certainly in forcing a government on the people. But romantic as we may think some of the hopes en- tertained at first, it is impossible to regard sentiments like the following as Coming from any other than an honest and high- minded character. ‘ Oui, j'en conviens, j’ai partage ces sen- ‘ tirnens. Je me suis flatte de voir nos desastres finis; de pouvoii* * faire tourner dcsormais les ressources de TEtat aux progres de * rindustrie, au soulagement dc la classe indigelfte, au perfec- ‘ tionnement dc ^instruction publique. J’ai joui en moi>meme^ ‘ dans la pensee qu’en nia qiialitc de Ministre de I’lnterieur, jc ‘ poiivais devenir I’un des agens principaux de ces heureux ‘ cliangemcns. ’ (p. 24 .) And again, after speaking of his plain remonstrances to Buonaparte, upon the arbitrary acts he was so soon betrayed into — ‘ Je lui suis demeure fidele jusqii’d snn abdi- ‘ cation ; je I’ai defendu avec un zcic extreme, parcc que je ne ‘ sais pas defendre autrenient, ct qu’en le defendant, j’ai cru ‘ defendre la Patrie ; mais jc n’ai point fait aupres de lui le ‘ role d’un Hatteur, et je ne lui ai jamais rien demande pour * moi-meme. ’ (p. 2.5.) After all, we suspect, the hatred shown towards this eminent person is of a date considerably more ancient than his late ad- ministration, or his defence of Antwerp. The royalists and their foreign allies have never been able to forgive his signal mi*- litijry exploits during the war of the Revolution ; and as this . was a feeling not very capable of being plainly avowed, at least in France, they deemed it expedient lio express it in other terms, and affected to confound him with Robespierre, as if he had been the accomplice of that monster in the reign of ter- ror.’ He seems to be aware that this is the turn given to his conduct; and has thrown together a few particulars extremely interesting, as connected with the history of those awful times, and peculiarly deserving the attention of any one who would form a correct judgment upon the merits of the individual. This charge, it should be remembered, was openly made against y IS. Oct. 4 IS Carn6t^5 Defence. him in the Convention, immediately after Robespierre’s fall, by •the party which that happy event had raised to the chief power ; Rut his defence was deemed so satisfactory, that the accusation was thrown out unanimously, and abandoned by those who had brought it forward. So extraordinary a testimony to his inno- cence, at such a moment, ought, in all fairness of argument, to go a great way ; and, at this distance of time, it would be rash, not to say unjuiL in the extreme, to pronounce a contrary sentence. But let us look a little further into the merits of the case. I'he only matters ever alleged against M. Carnot, are reduced to a very small number of signatures, officially given by him to decrees of the Committee of Public Safety. Upon this it is to be observ- ed, that he confined himself wholly to the affairs of his own de- partment, tlie conduct of the war ; and that, altliough he pre- sided in rotation over the terrible Body to which he belonged, and as president nominally issued, that is, signed, its orders, he did so in virtue of the arrangement, that each should affix his authority to the acts of his colleagues, and that no one should interfeA in another’s department. Had he refused hh concurrence to them, they would have refused their ratification of his military proceedings ; and in order to show how little he could, by possibility, have knowm of the orders signed by him, out of his own department, he informs us of the? extraordinary fact, that he was, at the time, carrying on the whole corre- spondence vfhh fourteen armies, without employing a secretary. That he worked without relaxation fifteen or sixteen hours a day, will not miich surprize any one who hears of such an of- fice. After all, situated as he then was, he had but one alter- native; either to continue in this dreadful situation, cooperat- ing with men whom he abhorred, and lending his name to their worst deeds, while he was fain to close his eyes upon their de- tails — or to leave the tremendous war w hich Prance was then waging for her existence, in the hands of men so utterly unfit to conduct the machine an instant, that immediate coiujuest in its worst shape must have been the consequencc,of his desertion. There may be many an honest man who would hpvc preferred death to any place in Hfcbespierre’s Committee, — and, for our- selves, we should never have hesitated in the choice; but it is fair to state, that, in all probability, M. Carnot savcid liis coun- try by persevering in the management of the war. It is p’ro- E er likewise to aJd Iiis assertion, that he saved more lives by is interference and resistance, while leagued in those unholy bonds, than Robespieri'e and his associates destroyed. Those who, after considering these things, retain the opinion, that nothing, not even the salvation of France, could justify such ■ tsi.1 Carnot’s Dejmce. 44.9 an alliance, may be in the right : It is a safe maxim which teaches us, that there arc some deeds so shocking as to mock all computation— i^eds to be at all hazards shunned, what ills soever may elffiue. But we protest against the ignorant clamour of persons, who, upon ordinary grounds, object to M. Carnot’s conduct, unaccjuainted with the facts, and quite unaware that his country exalted liim in a transport of gratitude at the very moment of Ilobcspierre's most just punishment. He was, notwithstanding the reaction (to use a modish phrase) which then took place, retained in the Committee, and returned for no fc:wer than fifteen different places in the ensuing election. It is well known that the two bodies of the Legislature soon after raised him to a seat in the Directory, and that his exclusion from that body two years after, was ejected upon the pretext of liis having shown toc» much favour to the Enugrants and other lloyalisls. In questions like the present, the testimony is not to be disregarded, which popular opinion, pronounced at the mo- ment, and upon subjects so immediately within the knowledge, and so powerf ully addressing the feelings of the publick, gives in favour of a ruler. At thi^ distance of time, it is unsafe to ap- peal from so remarkable a decision, unless with the view of tt}’- ing it by a standard much loftier than the people ever can apply, and admitlitig a principle of which they are wholly ignorant, that there arc some things which a man had better see his coun- try perish before his face, than consent to. Tried by this se- vere test, M. Carnot will be found wanting: But let it be re- membered, that, whoever admits the public safety to be a justi- fication of all measures ; whoever denies a man’s right to sacri- fice his country to iiis principles j whoever refuses to an indivi- dual the right, not of going down to the grave rather than part with his integrity, but of maintaining his virtue upon the rujn of the state, must, of necessity, acquit tjiat distinguished personage. Let us not, at all events, call things by wrong names, and pronouncq him guilty, without reflecting in what sense we are to use the w>jrd. Nothing is more prejudicial to the cause of vir- tue, than confounding together, under one appellation, objects which ought to excite the most various, and even opposite, sen- timents. For the rest, he informs us, that the whole Convention knew. Robespierre, (cet huume aff'reiiXy as he terms him), to be ‘ his * most mortal enemy, and, precisely, because he would, ndt * share in his fury. ’ ‘ On savait (he adds) qu’il avait proiqis , * de faire tomber ma tke aussitot qu’on croirait n’avoir plus.be- « soin dc moi ; mais il se pressa trop de demander I’acte d’accu-r. ‘ sation do ses ennemis, ct se fut la sienne qui tomba, avec cel- Carnofs Defence. Oc^ ^ Ics de Saint-Jiist et de Couthon, que j’avais Iiaiitenient design ‘ nces depuis long- temps sous le iiom de triumvirs. Je dirai * iiierne a cette occasion, que Saint-Just pa||Posa un jour cn ma • presence, au Con}ite, mon expulsion, rfmime on avait pro- • nonce qiielque temps auparavant cello de Herault de SecheJ- • les, ce qiii Tavait aussitot menc a I’cchafaud. Jc rcponclis froi- ♦ dement a Saint Just qu’il sortiriiit dii Comity avaiit moi, ainsi * que tout Je triumvirat, et le Cumite, frajipe de stupeur, garda * le silence. ’ p. 3:^, 33. Another circumstance equally deserving of our notice, is the total indifference which General Carnot always showed towards the populace, and his keeping aloof from all agitators and fac- tious persons. While they were eternally in the tribunes or at the clubs, he never spoke in the asseniblies except when the dis- charge of his duty obliged him ; and then his discourses were of a kind too severe to flatter the follies or encourage the licentious- ness of tlie people. As for the Parisian clubs, he never once entered the threshold of any assembly of that ilescription. lie- ferring to his conduct in the Legislature, he says, ‘ On a sculc- ^ ment pu y voir qiic la patrie etait tout pour moi : mais on suit ^ assez quelle est da recompense ordinaire de ceux qui sc dc- ^ vouent exclusivement au service de la patrie . ' p. 33. We close our account of this tract with the following remark- able passage at its conclusion, in which he sums up the account of the injustice he has been exposed to. ‘ Qu’il me soit permis d'arreter un moment ici ratfeiition de mes lecteurs aur la bizarrerie de quelques cvenemens de nia vie politique. ‘ J ai partage avec mes collegues le boriheur de sauver Paris, et par un coup d’etat je suis exile de Paris. * Je me suis charg§ de la haine de Napoleon, pour ni’ctre oppose Feul a son premier avenement au trdne des Pran^ais ; je suis du tres- petit nombre de ceux qui n’ont jamais brule d’cncens sur ses autels, ct Ton me compte parmi ceux qui ont conspire pour Ic rctablir sur le trdne. ^ ^ Je me suis plaint au Roi des infractions que les agens de son pou- voir se permettaient de faire a la Charte constitutionuelle qu’il nous avait donnee, et Ton pretend que ces plaintes sont un outrage fait a {S. M. ‘ J’ai toujours fait profession de me soumettre au gouvernement ^tabli, et Pon me depeint comme un factieux qui ne m’occiipc qu’a marcher de revolution en revolution. * Je fus le plus mortel ennemi de Robespierre, et Pon me fait pas- ser pour son complice. .le me suis-mis sur la breche pour empC chcr les reactions, et Pon me fait passer pour avoir cheichc a les favoriser. * J’ai passe le^ jours et les nuits ’a seconder les operations de nn^ armces^ et Pon me represente comme occupc, pendant^cc temps, ' I IS 15. Carnot’s Defence^ 45 f dresser des llstes de proscription. Dans mes nombrcuses missions^ je n*ai jamais ordonnc de mon chef, m^me une arrestation, et I’on fait de moi un proconsul sanguinaire. ‘ Je me suis const^mment montrc I’ennemi dcs*conquetes ; je ne \oulais pas m^nf»e, dans notre plus grande prosperity militaire, qu'on fut jusqii’a la limite du Rhin, et Ton assure que je ne respirais que guerre, invasion, bouleversement des ^tats. ‘ Je n’ai jamais sollicite ni places ni faveurs ; e'est toujours malgr^ moi que je me suis vu appelc aux grandes fonctions publiques ; je ne suis pas plus charge de richesses qu'au commencement de la revolu- tion, et Ton me ddpeint comme un homme avide de domination et de fortune. * ^ Of his well known disinterestedness, he has himself given no details ; we insert therefore the following facts, taken from a letter recently published in one of the public Journals, most hostile to the (icneral, and written by a person well known, and who had been pro- scribed at the Revolution of 1 8. Friictidor, The writer describes Jiirnself as being * neither the eulogist nor thp censurer’ of General Carnot ; but confesses he was unable to keep silence, when he saw him, in the Royalist pamphlets, compared with Mandrin th^ high- wayman, and recommendations given to ‘ bury him alive, ' or ‘ ex- hibit him in an iron cage. * ‘ In the year 8, General Carnot took charge of the War Depart- ment. At that period, fifteen months salary were due to the indivi- duals employed in that office. In the space of three months, all was paid, excepting the salary of the Minister himself. ‘ The Minister rose generally at five in the morning, and was em- ployed until nine in expediting himself the most urgent business. Then the heads of division were introduced, and the Minister only quitted them to attend the Council. ‘ We were just entering on a campaign, A contract for J^ses was about to take place. Lcnichrre, the contractor, obtained the preference, on account of the good security which he offered. It had been customary, under the old government, never to conclude a bargain without presenting the Minister with a douceur. The dou* .L'cyr on such an occasion would amount to 50,000 livres (upwards of 2000/. ) 'The Minister at first did not understand what this But, upon being informed of the custom^ he took the present without ^ hesitation, and, immediately returning it into the hands of LanchirCf “ There, '' said he, “ are .50,000 livres in advance upon payment of your contract ; be correct in your proceedings, and I will continue to employ you. ” . • ‘ General Carnot coulfl have aipassed wealth, and that widjottt . committing himself, by means of the contracts for the invalids wd the hospitals ; but such speculations were at all times unworthy of I hat Minister. Indeed, it was in consequence of the unpleasant^ al- ■ t^-rcations be experienced in reducing the expenditure of the hospU lals, tliat he resigned. ’ Carnot’^ 'Defence* Oct. * nffert mes services au chef de PEtat dans un moment ou le salu' de la patrie otait presque desesp^re, et Pon a dit que c’ctait par anibitifm. ‘ Cl’.argc de la defense d’une place importante, j’ai inspire la con- fiance au ^(ddat. j** lui ai fait aimer la discipline, j’ai maintcnu Por- dre et la scciirlie '.»armi les habilans. lorsque tout au-dehors etait livre anx ahrn.es et a Poppression ; j’ai, sous ma responsabilite, em- pechc Tincendie d*un immense faubourg de cette ville, et Pon a es- saye de persuader que je ne m’etais montre dans cette place que comme un despote et uii vandale. ‘ J'aime et je cultive les sciences et les lettres, et Pon a dit que j’avais voulu desorganiser Pinstruction publique. ‘ J'ai idolatre nia patrie, et bientot, peut-ctre, je serai force de snlliciter de la generosite des princes etrangers un asile dans leurs ^tats. * Des parens, des amis, tous les hommes a idues libcrales et mo- dcr^es prennent part a mes infortunes ; ils me croient dans Pafflic- tion. QiiMs se rassurent; je puis confirmer a leurs yeux cette grande x^r'vG de morale universelk*, qu'avec un cceur pur on n^est jamais ^alheureujc, * 7l/c pote7is s7n I.cctjisqiie degety cm licit in ditni Dixisse, vixL* p. 49 — 51. These are not tlio lamentations of a disappointed courtier, or n decayed and broken-down intriguer; they are the parting words of a sU'rn patriot, in whose mind, if the gentler feelings of our nature had not ihcir ful) plnce*, U was only because the love of Ills conn^^y swayed with ai;s(*lute and undivided empire; whose political conduct, ii sometimes harsh and unbending, never once was icjuivoc.i by selfish or tipiid ; whose zeal for publick liberty, oftentimes exposed Inni to the vulgar charge of enthu- siasm, and only seemed to admit of a temporary abatement, whih* in the choice of mighty evils, he saw that he must either league himsell with domestic oppressors, or witness the more intolerable yoke of strange, barbarous, and exasperated con- querors. but wherefoie do we dwell upon the character and the fortunes of an individual, wholly withdrawn from the publick gaiie, and surviving, in obscurity, all but the recollection of ex- ploits which once bore his fame abroad upon the wide spreading renown of his country ? — It is because we believe his errors to liave been honcM, and bccau'-e we know them not to have been profitable; because he has at ah Hints dared to avow and to maintain his principles, learless tjf consequences to himself, and only bending before the storms that menaced the publick salely ; ^bpve all, because he has been singled out by the minions of arbitrary powei as a sacidice to iheir jtlol of ' legUimacij^ * — an aru 1*1 » ahomiiuition, with a newlanglcd, lyicouth iiaine, but long ago chased, we trust lor ever, Ironi this free country with the other devices of our popish tyrants. IBlv?# Carnofs Defence. 453 We might indeed justify the interest taken in the fate of M* Carnot, were it merely as an individual, by reminding the reader that his misfoftuncs are scarcely less remarkable than his me- rits. He has been in opposition to all the t^Tannies, and suf- fered by almost every one of the changes which for five and twenty years have visited his distracted country; and now, in the decline of life, with neitlicr health nor spirits to strug- gle against calamity, he is fated to see his countrymen en- slaved by a foreign coldiery ; the trophies which he so mightily assisted in winning, torn from them as the symbols of crime ; and himself proscribed once more, alone of his colleagues, but in common witli his party, his family and friends. It is natural^ from such a situation, to draw reflexions of a tuelancholy cast. Yet a patriot in adverse circumstances, is not to be pitied like an ordinary sufferer. His misfortunes are his country’s, not his own ; and he feels the calmness of martyrdom, if not its ex- ultation, when, infighting for the good cause, he has reached what the vulgar regard as the pitch of despair. He can look back upon the past triumphs in which he shared, and the con- tests in which he was honestly defeated, to relieve his present anguish ; and even if the future should alford him no gleam of liopc, he can submit chct'rfully, because he feels that his own duty has been faithrully done. If a frame, wasted before its time in the service of mankind, or the somewhat slower progress of natural decay, have brought him within' view of the period to which all tilings hasten, he looks forward to the enjoyment of a repose which he had never tasted ; and, gazing at length upon prospects where disappoijitment can no Ipnger cast a shade, he feels satisfied that his misfortunes have benefited the canse he servc^l. The cold-hearted and worldly-minded may mock his en- thusiasm ; the slave of a base and unprincipled despotism may aflect to deride what he has long since learnt to di'ead from the bottom of his soul ; but let him beware how he disbelieves the existence of such a spirij, or reckons upon its extinction wilah the victims whomjie has destroyed ; for the fire may again burst from their ashes, and devour him with all the idols of his worship. It is impossible to reflect on the conduct of many leading per- sons in these times, and the language familiarly held by their creatures, witlumt serious alarm for the liberties of* mankind^ Were their talents at all proportioned to thgr*^ power and their numbers, we might indeed be dismayed. A proneness to re- ceive the yoke; an aversion to every thing like manly resistances^ a greediness after displays of force and power; a delight in tb^. topics and expressions ot arbitrary sway, seem to recal the very worst periods in the history of the country, when the people, iiv their ;;eal to be enslaved, outran the measures, and almost kept. 45i Carn6t^5 Defence* Oct. pace with the wishes of the Court. Under the hollow pretext of discussing wliat may be good for France, we have of late been listeninc: to doctrines utterly subversive of the foifndations upon which English liberty is built. The sacred doctrine of resistance, the corner-stone of the Constitution, has been covertly attack- ed ; and we are already become familiar with a more open and audacious promulgation of the principle, that the crown is for the benefit of him who wears it. Nay, proofs are not wanting that the accidental circumstances of the Catholic question have alone prevented our cars from being assailed by a defence of the religious persecution under which our Protestant brethren in some parts of Europe, are at this moment suffering ; * while every manifestation of arbitrary principles into which an inexperienced and misguided sovereign hasi^een betrayed, has been palliated and almost applauded by the pensioners, the placemen, and the place- hunters of the English press. We own, that it is dilFicult to see these things without anxiety, lest they prove the forerunners of evil times. Many persons, indeed, can descry no danger to li- berty in those inroads, trifling perhaps in themselves, which all history shows, to be speedily fatal if not immediately resisted. Nay, we verily believe, that were the Crown disposed to levy a sum of money without the authority of Parliament, or to keep together the array, without a Mutiny bill, numbers of your calm, rational people, who despise enthusiasm, and laugh at all dan- ger to the Constitution, would think it signified very little, so the sum was only a small one, and the Mutiny bill were to expire but for . a week or two ; and would treat him as a zealot who should say, that our freedom was in danger, while trial by jury, and the liberty of the press, still remained. In short, unless the whole fabric could be destroyed at once, these men of coo]^ sense * We are prevented from entering at large upon the interesting subject of the Protestant persecutions which have lately disgraced the constituted authorities in France, by the extreme difficulty of separating the religious from the politick parts ctf the disputes in that distracted country, and our fears of giving a false impression upon so delicate a question. From the facts which have come to our knowledge, we are enabled tossy, that such acts have been com- mitted, though chiefly under the colour of what is termed the reac- tion upon political grounds. The extent of these outrages we have no means of ascertaining ; but they well deserve to fix the attention of the people of this country. Some interesting particulars will be found upon this subject, in a tract entitled * Statements of the Perse^ ^ cuiion of the ProtedanlsP bj/ the Reverend J. Cobbin^ published by Ogles & "Co. London. The author shows himself to be a warm friend of religion and civil liberty. 1815 . 4-55 Caniot’^ Defence* see no real danger to the Constitution. Wiih such an army, however, and such a revenue as the Crown possc^^c^, the turn- ing of a straw is important to the balance ; and they who preat li the slavish doctrines just now cited, are indeed tlie lie raids — we know' them to be (he well paid heralds — of a despotism by which every man who dares not resist it, deserves to be crushed. It cannot be too often repeated to the people of this country, that their very worst enemies are tlio&e who affect never to sec any real danger to liberty; — hold up to ridicule all its best friends as senseless alarmists, crying out without a reason ; — and at each blow that is given to the undoubted rights of the Nation, arc ready to exclaim how slight it is, and how much is left unin- jured. f j* The extraordinary measure of delaying the assembling of Par- liament, until some months after the most important Peace ever co0- ' eluded by this country has been signed, ratified, and in part carrijsd into execution, merits particular attention ; especially considering the time chosen for such a departure from the pracpce of the Consti- tution. To ask a parliamentary sanction of the treaty, after this in* terval, is a mere mockery.