68] ‘ANNUAL REGISTER, 1790. 
eftablifhment, pafs for nothing with 
the lovers of revolutions. The 
French have made their way, thro’ 
the deftrutien of their country, to a 
bad conftitution, when they were ab-. 
folutely in poffeffion of a good one. 
‘They were in poffeffion of it the day 
the States met in feparate orders. 
‘Their bufinefs, had they been either 
virtuous, or wife, or had been left to 
their own judgment, was to fecure 
the ftability and independence of 
the States, according to thofe orders, 
under the monarch on the throne. 
It was then their duty to redrefs 
grievances. ; 
Inftead of redreffing grievances, 
and improving the fabric of their 
ftate, to which they were called by 
their monarch, and fent by their 
country, they were made to take a 
very differerit courfe. They firft 
deftroyed all the balances and coun- 
terpoifes, which ferve to fix the ftate 
and to give it a fteady direction, 
and which furnifh fure correctives 
to any violent fpirit which may pre- 
vail in any of the orders. Thefe 
balances exifted i their oldeft con- 
ftitution, and in the conftitution of 
this country, and in the conftitution 
of ali the countries in Europe. Thefe 
they rafhly deftroyed, and then they 
» melted down the whole into one in- 
congruous, ill-connected mafs. 
* When they had done this, they 
fnftantly, with the moft atrocious 
perfidy and breach of all faith among 
men, laid the axe to the root of all 
property, and confequently of all 
national profperity, by the princi- 
ples they eftablifhed, and the exam- 
ple they fet, in confifcating all the 
poffefions of the church, They 
made and recorded a fort of infti- 
tute and digeft of anarchy, called the 
rights of man, in fuch ‘a pedantic 
abufe of elementary principles as 
would have difgraced boys at {chool; 
but this declaration of rights was 
worfe than trifling and pedantic in’ 
them; as by their name and autho- 
rity, they fyftematically deftroyed 
every hoid of authority by opinion, — 
religious or civil, on the minds of — 
the people. By this mad declara- | 
tion, they fubverted the flate, and | 
brought on fuch calamities as no 
country, without a long war, has © 
ever been known to fuffer, and 
which may in the end produce fuch ~ 
a war, and, perhaps, many fuch. © 
Should they even perfectly fucceed 
in what they propofe, as they were 
likely enough to do, and eftablifh a | 
democracy, or a mob of democra- | 
cies, ina country circumftanced like | 
France, they would eftablifh a very ~ 
bad government—a very bad fpecies 
of tyranny. A 
But the worft effect of all their — 
proceedings, he faid, was on their — 
military. If the queftion was, whe- — 
ther foldiers were to forget they 
were citizens, as an abftract propo- — 
fition, he could have no difference 
about it; though, as it is ufual,” 
when abftraét principles are to be” 
applied, much was to be thought on’ 
the manner of uniting the character 
of citizen and foldier. But as ap-” 
plied to the events which had hap- 
pened in France, where the abftract” 
principle was clothed with its cir- 
cumftances, he thought that his 
friend would agree with him, that 
what was done there furnifhed nov | 
matter of exultation, either in 
Jt was not an 
ftrange thing, called a Revolut 
in France, fhould be compared w 
