dreadful confequence. His lordship might alfo have allowed' fome weight to the influence of national prejudice, in exciting wars between the rival kingdoms; to that antipathy to the English, which, no matter whence it originates, the people of France moft certainly entertained under the old government, and which, as certainly, they have evinced, in a degree at the leaft as strong, fince the revolution, and even previous to. the commencement of the prefent war*. That Lord Lauderda'e has confidered the circumstances attending the revolution in a fingular point of view, is evident from the following paffage. "In vain shall we confult our memories, in vain shall we attempt in retracing history, to discover the features of a nation that had existed for centuries under a form of government, in which we had been taught to believe that it had long habitually prided itself; where, without any inftance of immediate active oppreffion that drew forth refiftance; without any act of tyranny on the part of the monarch; nay, with a general belief, even in his enemics, of his goodness; without any struggle amongst the different orders of the state; all feemed to agree in the neceffity of fuch alterations as virtually amounted to a diffolution of its exifting government. Yet he who looks at the fituation of France, who reads with attention the numerous addreffes of its parliaments, the accounts of the enthusiasm with which they were received by the people, who examines the propofitions entertained by the nobility in the Affembly of the Notables, and the addrefs propofed by the Bishop of Blois, which was agreed to and prefented by the clergy, cannot abftain from admitting, that all orders. of the community feemed to affent to this propofition. Nay, the fchemes of innovation, to the extent of alteration, of what had long been its practical conftitution, fucceffively brought forward by its ministers, fhewed a conviction, even on the part of those who managed the government, of the neceffity of a change. The Affemblée des Notables of M. de Calonne, the Cour Plenier of M. M. de Brienne and Lamoignon, the calling together the States General by M. Neckar, were all fucceffive proofs of the opinion of thofe ministers. And the court, in the edict for affembling the States General, which gave to the Tiers Etat a number equal to the other two orders, feemed not only to pronounce the neceffity of the extinction of the government that exifted in practice, but to declare the inadequacy (to the fituation of the times) of those checks and inftitutions, which exifted in France at a former period.". pp. 39, 40. In vain fhall we confult our memories,' in vain fhall we attempt, in tracing hiftory, to difcover one feature of truth in Any one who is difpofed to doubt the truth of this affertion, may refer to the debates of the Convention, at the period when a war was expected to break out between England and Spain; and to the language generally ufed by the French upon that occafion. the the fanciful picture here drawn by his lordship. We certainly have read and examined the documents to which he refers, but fo far from finding in them any arguments that can justify the opinion of his lordship, that all parties feemed to acknowledge the neceffity of a total diffolution of the government,. we discover that which authorizes us to draw an opposite inference; which convinces us, that to restore its proper energy to the exifting government; to enable it, by conflitutional means, to extricate itself from its numerous embarrassments, was the object of a great majority of the nation, of all who had the real intereft and welfare of their country at heart. It is the height of abfurdity to cite the conduct of M. M. de Calonne and Neckar, in convening the Notables and the States General, as a proof of their opinion of the neceffity of diffolving the government, when it is notorious, that both thofe minifters have, in works publifhed fince the revolution, exprefled, in the most unequivocal terms, their difapprobation of all the measures which tended to promote that diffolution; when the former, in his book "On the Prefent and Future State of France," reprobated the departure from the spirit of the conftitution, and fhowed it to be the fenfe of the people, as conveyed in their inftructions to their reprefentatives, that the monarchy fhould be preserved inviolate, with the diftinction of orders, and all its various props and fupports; and when the latter, in his fpeech, on the fourth of May, 1789, denied the neceffity of ever convening the ftates. The ad dreffes of the parliaments too, cited by his lordship, in fupport of his pofition, invariably profeffed to have for their object, the execution of the laws, and the maintenance of the principles of the constitution. After telling his readers that all defcriptions of perfons were agreed in the neceffity of diffolving the government, his lordship informs them that they may exclufively attribute its diffolution to the operation of the funding fyftem on the vicious frame of the French monarchy, which rendered it incapable of proceeding. But, in fact, it was the want of a regular funding fyftein, which created the difficulties that occafioned the convention of the ftates. And the incapacity of the government to proceed, if it really exifted, (which, it muft not be forgotten, M. Neckar peremptorily denies) was exclufively owing to the perfeverance of the parliament of Paris, in refusing to register the fifcal edicts, calculated to supply the wants of the state, and the too fuccessful efforts of the magiftracy, to diffeminate difcontents throughout the nation. The most indifcriminate, and we muft fay, the moft illiberal abufe, is lavifhed upon the nobility and clergy of France, R 2 who who are represented as a fet of tyrants the most rapacious and oppreffive. P. 57. But this raih and ill-founded cenfure we are able to repel, and, from perfonal obfervation, to declare, that the characters of many of the nobility, and of almost all the provincial clergy, were truly exemplary. The lower class of people feem alone to engrofs the commiferation of his lordhip, who, viewing every thing with the eye of prejudice, magnifies their fufferings, and grofsly exaggerates their wretchednefs. From what the writer of this article could obferve, during a refidence of feveral years in the country, the fituation of the French peafantry was infinitely superior, in all refpects, to that of the Scotch Highlanders: on which account, we beg leave to remind Lord Lauderdale of an admonition of Rouffeau" Put no truft in thofe cofinopolites, who, in their writings, feek for duties at a distance, while they neglect to A philoperform thofe which are their immediate concern. Topher of this kind loves the Tartars, by way of excufe for hating his neighbours." In page 69-we are told, that "we ought not, we cannot justly, afcribe to the new fyftem thofe fcenes which have fo often difgulled us; to contemplate it is a tafk fhocking to humanity; but conftrained to it, the difcerning eye difcovers alone the natural confequences of the vicious abfurdity of the old fyftem." The grammatical error here committed (and we muft obferve, that the work abounds with fimilar faults) transfers the difguft arifing from the contemplation, contrary to the intention of the author, to the new fyftem. Some of the writers, who favour the French revolution, have laboured to affix the odium naturally attached to the perpetrators of the horrid crueltics committed in France, during the deftructive progrefs of the revolution, to the ancient form of government; while others have afcribed those proceedings, fo difgraceful to humanity, to the war waged against France by foreign powers. This laft imputation has been amply confuted by the author of the "Obfervations on the Emigration of Dr. Priestley *;" and the former appears to us to be equally groundlefs. The influence of revolutionary principles, tending to break down those barriers which human prudence has devifed, as a restraint on the operation of human paffions, and even to remove those religious checks which divine wisdom has ordained for the fame falutary end, is alone adequate, without any foreign fti * Reviewed in the fifth number of our fourth volume. P. 498. et feq. mulus, mulus, or preparatory means, to the production of those difgraceful events. But it was neceffary to the establishment of his lordship's ground of argument, to draw as dark a picture of France, under its ancient government, as poffible, in order more strikeingly to contrast it with the happy fituation of our own country; from which difference he infers the non-existence of any danger of a fimilar revolution here. But while we accede to the propriety of his general reafoning on this point, we effentially differ from him as to the probable extent of the danger to be apprehended; from a conviction that, from the difproportion which must neceffarily fubfift between the rich and the poor, in every community, the propagation of revolu tionary principles must have a strong tendency to excite difcontents, even in the best regulated governments. Our right of interference in the affairs of France, is peremptorily denied by his lordship; but, by prudently abitaining from all argument on the subject, he has avoided the error which his friend and model, Mr. Fox, committed, in the debate on the war, when, attempting to ftrengthen his opinion, by a quotation from Vattel, he admitted the authority of that judicious writer on the law of nations; while, with more art than candour, he forbore to cite Vattel's exception to the general rule, which applied immediately to the point in queftion, and completely established the pofition for which his adverfaries contended*. Lord Lauderdale is one of thofe who think the war might have been evaded; and though he cannot but acknowledge that the French were guilty of "the first act of aggreffion," he by no means confiders that as a proof of their having been the aggreffors. P. 75. He feems, however, to fhrink from the difcuffion, and does not offer an argument in answer to those which have been repeatedly adduced, to prove that the war was alike unavoidable and just, The affertion, that "France exhibits herself more powerful than before the conteft," (p. 115.) will, we apprehend, receive credit from fuch only as are willing to believe, that an exhauftion of revenue, a decrease of population, the annihilation of trade, the deftruction of commerce, and a diminution of agricultural refources, are conducive to the extenfion of a nation's power. " Having thus followed his lordship through his first letter, * The principle of the right of interference is ably difcuffed in the Objections to the Continuance of the War examined and refuted," by J. Bowles, Efq. though though we have by no means noticed all the objectionable points it contains, we fhall now proceed to a brief examination of the other two. The fecond begins, by ftating that it is perfectly clear, that reafon never could have dictated a dereliction of the beneficial and falutary principles" of neutrality, which the real interests of the country would have led us to obferve. The pofitive manner in which this affirmation is made, is not calculated to produce conviction; perfuaded, on the contrary, that not only the interefts, but, perhaps, the very existence of the country, as an independent state, depended on a vigorous interpofition, we must altogether diffent from the opinion. His lordship, however, having established the point in his own mind, proceeds to draw from it this curious inference, that minifters could not have been guided in their operations by "any of thofe oftenfible reafons and feeble pleas they have hitherto held out to the parliament and the public." The real motive which he afcribes to minifters for engaging in the war with France, will probably be deemed equally curious; he affures us that Mr. Pitt, intent on dif uniting the Whig party, confented to compliment the Duke of Portland, and fuch of his friends as have lately joined administration, with the declaration of war against France, as the price of their feceffion from thofe with whom they had been accustomed to act. And "the alien bill, the infractions of the commercial treaty, and the ignominioufly difmiffing the ambaflador," (Chauvelin) are reprefented as fo many fucceffive compliments" paid by Mr. Pitt, " to his new fupporters." P. 203. Thefe are truly the most extravagant compliments we ever heard of being paid to any set of men ; and when we confider, that one of the minifter's most favourite projects was the reduction of the national debt, which could only be effected by the continuance of peace, we are persuaded that no man of fenfe could eafily have been induced to pay compliments fo totally fubverfive of his own best plans. His lordship's attempt to enforce the belief of this strange affertion, appears to have originated in a wish to magnify the importance of that party, of which he exultingly avows himfelf a member. Indeed, the greater part of his fecond letter is devoted to the purpose of convincing the world of the neceffity of a party in this country; but to fuppofe that an oppofition to government naturally arifes out of the conftitution, is to fuppofe that the conftitution itself bears within it the principle of its own deftruction. Believing, as we do, that many of the calamities which have befallen our country, at different periods, may be fairly imputed to "the exertions of party-fpirit" and convinced, by daily experience, that, in |