Читать книгу A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Complete - Charlotte Biggs - Страница 45

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Rouen, like moſt of the great towns in France, is what is called decidedly ariſtocratic; that is, the rich are diſcontented becauſe they are without ſecurity, and the poor becauſe they want bread. But theſe complaints are not peculiar to large places; the cauſes of them equally exiſt in the ſmalleſt village, and the only difference which fixes the imputation of ariſtocracy on one more than the other, is, daring to murmur, or ſubmitting in ſilence.

I muſt here remark to you, that the term ariſtocrate has much varied from its former ſignification. A year ago, ariſtocrate implied one who was an advocate for the privileges of the nobility, and a partizan of the ancient government—at preſent a man is an ariſtocrate for entertaining exactly the ſame principles which at that time conſtituted a patriot; and, I believe, the computation is moderate, when I ſay, that more than three parts of the nation are ariſtocrates. The rich, who apprehend a violation of their property, are ariſtocrateſ—the merchants, who regret the ſtagnation of commerce, and diſtruſt the credit of the aſſignats, are ariſtocrateſ—the ſmall retailers, who are pillaged for not ſelling cheaper than they buy, and who find theſe outrages rather encouraged than repreſſed, are ariſtocrateſ—and even the poor, who murmur at the price of bread, and the numerous levies for the army, are, occaſionally, ariſtocrates.

Beſides all theſe, there are likewiſe various claſſes of moral ariſtocrateſ—ſuch as the humane, who are averſe from maſſacres and oppreſſion—thoſe who regret the loſs of civil liberty—the devout, who tremble at the contempt for religion—the vain, who are mortified at the national degradation—and authors, who ſigh for the freedom of the preſs.—When you conſider this multiplicity of ſymptomatic indications, you will not be ſurprized that ſuch numbers are pronounced in a ſtate of diſeaſe; but our republican phyſicians will ſoon generalize theſe variouſ ſpecies of ariſtocracy under the ſingle deſcription of all who have any thing to loſe, and every one will be deemed plethoric who is not in a conſumption. The people themſelves who obſerve, though they do not reaſon, begin to have an idea that property expoſes the ſafety of the owner and that the legiſlature is leſs inexorable when guilt iſ unproductive, than when the conviction of a criminal comprehends the forfeiture of an eſtate.—A poor tradeſman was lamenting to me yeſterday, that he had neglected an offer of going to live in England; and when I told him I thought he was very fortunate in having done ſo, as he would have been declared an emigrant, he replied, laughing, "Moi emigre qui n'ai pas un ſol:" ["I am emigrant, who am not worth a halfpenny!"]—No, no; they don't make emigrants of thoſe who are worth nothing. And thiſ was not ſaid with any intended irreverence to the Convention, but with the ſimplicity which really conceived the wealth of the emigrants to be the cauſe of the ſeverity exerciſed againſt them.

The commercial and political evils attending a vaſt circulation of aſſignats have been often diſcuſſed, but I have never yet known the matter conſidered in what is, perhaps, its moſt ſerious point of view—I mean its influence on the habits and morals of the people. Wherever I go, eſpecially in large towns like this, the miſchief is evident, and, I fear, irremediable. That oeconomy, which was one of the moſt valuable characteriſtics of the French, is now comparatively diſregarded. The people who receive what they earn in a currency they hold in contempt, are more anxious to ſpend than to ſave; and thoſe who formerly hoarded ſix liards or twelve ſols pieces with great care, would think it folly to hoard an aſſignat, whatever its nominal value. Hence the lower claſs of females diſſipate their wages on uſeleſs finery; men frequent public-houſes, and game for larger ſums than before; little ſhopkeepers, inſtead of amaſſing their profits, become more luxurious in their table: public places are always full; and thoſe who uſed, in a dreſs becoming their ſtation, to occupy the "parquet" or "parterre," now, decorated with paſte, pins, gauze, and galloon, fill the boxes:—and all thiſ deſtructive prodigality is excuſed to others and themſelves "par ce que ce n'eſt que du papier." [Becauſe it is only paper.]—It is vain to perſuade them to oeconomize what they think a few weeks may render valueleſs; and ſuch is the evil of a circulation ſo totally diſcredited, that profuſion aſſumes the merit of precaution, extravagance the plea of neceſſity, and thoſe who were not laviſh by habit become ſo through their eagerneſs to part with their paper. The buried gold and ſilver will again be brought forth, and the merchant and the politician forget the miſchief of the aſſignats. But what can compenſate for the injury done to the people? What is to reſtore their ancient frugality, or baniſh their acquired wants? It is not to be expected that the return of ſpecie will diminiſh the inclination for luxury, or that the human mind can be regulated by the national finance; on the contrary, it iſ rather to be feared, that habits of expence which owe their introduction to the paper will remain when the paper is annihilated; that, though money may become more ſcarce, the propenſities of which it ſupplies the indulgence will not be leſs forcible, and that thoſe who have no other reſources for their accuſtomed gratifications will but too often find one in the ſacrifice of their integrity.—Thus, the corruption of manners will be ſucceeded by the corruption of morals, and the diſhoneſty of one ſex, with the licentiouſneſs of the other, produce conſequences much worſe than any imagined by the abſtracted calculationſ of the politician, or the ſelfiſh ones of the merchant. Age will be often without ſolace, ſickneſs without alleviation, and infancy without ſupport; becauſe ſome would not amaſs for themſelves, nor others for their children, the profits of their labour in a repreſentative ſign of uncertain value.

I do not pretend to aſſert that theſe are the natural effects of a paper circulation—doubtleſs, when ſupported by high credit, and an extenſive commerce, it muſt have many advantages; but this was not the caſe in France—the meaſure was adopted in a moment of revolution, and when the credit of the country, never very conſiderable, was precarious and degraded—It did not flow from the exuberance of commerce, but the artifices of party—it never preſumed, for a moment, on the confidence of the people—its reception was forced, and its emiſſion too profuſe not to be alarming.—I know it may be anſwered, that the aſſignats do not depend upon an imaginary appreciation, but really repreſent a large maſs of national wealth, particularly in the domains of the clergy: yet, perhaps, it is this very circumſtance which has tended moſt to diſcredit them. Had their credit reſted only on the ſolvency of the nation, though they had not been greatly coveted, ſtill they would have been leſſ diſtributed; people would not have apprehended their abolition on a change of government, nor that the ſyſtems adopted by one party might be reverſed by another. Indeed we may add, that an experiment of this kind does not begin auſpiciouſly when grounded on confiſcation and ſeizures, which it is probable more than half the French conſidered as ſacrilege and robbery; nor could they be very anxious to poſſeſs a ſpecies of wealth which they made it a motive of conſcience to hope would never be of any value.—But if the original creation of aſſignats were objectionable, the ſubſequent creations cannot but augment the evil. I have already deſcribed to you the effects viſible at preſent, and thoſe to be apprehended in future—others may reſult from the new inundation, [1200 millionſ—50 millions ſterling.] which it is not poſſible to conjecture; but if the miſchiefs ſhould be real, in proportion as a part of the wealth which this paper is ſaid to repreſent is imaginary, their extent cannot eaſily be exaggerated. Perhaps you will be of thiſ opinion, when you recollect that one of the funds which form the ſecurity of this vaſt ſum is the gratitude of the Flemings for their liberty; and if this reimburſement be to be made according to the ſpecimen the French army have experienced in their retreat, I doubt much of the convention will be diſpoſed to advance any farther claims on it; for, it ſeems, the inhabitants of the Low Countries have been ſo little ſenſible of the benefits beſtowed on them, that even the peaſants ſeize on any weaponſ neareſt hand, and drub and purſue the retrograding armies as they would wild beaſts; and though, as Dumouriez obſerves in one of his diſpatches, our revolution is intended to favour the country people, "c'eſt cependant les gens de campagne qui ſ'arment contre nous, et le tocſin ſonne de toutes parts;" ["It is, however, the country people who take up arms againſt us, and the alarm is ſounded from all quarters."] ſo that the French will, in fact, have created a public debt of ſo ſingular a nature, that every one will avoid as much as poſſible making any demand of the capital.

I have already been more diffuſe than I intended on the ſubject of finance; but I beg you to obſerve, that I do not affect to calculate, or ſpeculate, and that I reaſon only from facts which are daily within my notice, and which, as tending to operate on the morals of the people, are naturally included in the plan I propoſed to myſelf.

I have been here but a few days, and intend returning to-morrow. I left Mrs. D____ very little better, and the diſaffection of Dumouriez, which I juſt now learn, may oblige us to remove to ſome place not on the route to Paris.—Every one looks alert and important, and a phyſiognomiſt may perceive that regret is not the prevailing ſentiment—

"We now begin to ſpeak in tropes,"And, by our fears, expreſs our hopes."

The Jacobins are ſaid to be apprehenſive, which augurs well; for, certainly, next to the happineſs of good people, one deſires the puniſhment of the bad.