MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS. 
have happened, which have brought 
desolation on town and country ? 
Has not philosophy assumed ali 
forms, and borrowed ali languages, 
in order to make our monarchs 
comprehend that they ought inces- 
santly to occupy themselves with 
the happiness of their subjects ; 
that, in sacrificing the public wel- 
fare to the desires of some indivi- 
duals, they did not even satisfy 
the avidity of their courtiers; that 
they exposed themselves to the risk 
of seeing extinguished in the hearts 
of their subjects that love which is 
so nataral to the people under their 
dominion, and which was the firmest 
‘support of their throne ? Were not 
the days of the author of Telema- 
chus poisoned with exile, because 
he dared to trace, under the eyes 
of Louis XIV. the duties of a 
great king ? Was not Racine over- 
whelmed with a load of disgrace, 
for having essayed to move the 
heart of the same prince to the 
misfortunes of his people ? 
Did not Voltaire, Montesquieu, 
Mably, Rousseau, in fine, all the 
philosophical and morai writers, 
use all their efforts to snatch Louis 
XY. from his scandalous indolence, 
and to sow in his frozen heart some 
seeds of virtue? What eulogies, 
even to exaggeration, have they 
not given to Henry IV. in order to 
excite the emulation ot his descend- 
ants, and to cause him to be re- 
vived in the heirs of his throne? 
The wisest counsels have been dis- 
dained, the best intentions calum- 
niated. Then the zeal of philoso- 
phy was irritated; she assumed 
‘the prophetic tone, and concluded 
with clearly announcing — those 
events which now strike our eyes 
and astonish our minds, ‘These 
truths appeared so improbable, that 
[487 
scarcely any attention was paid to 
them. In proof of my assertion, I 
only quote the following passage 
from Emilius: ** You trust to the 
existing order of society ; without 
reflecting that this order is subject 
to inevitable revolutions. The 
great become little, the rich be- 
come poor, the monarch becomes 
a subject. Arethe strokes of fate 
sO uncommon that you may ex- 
pet to be exempt from them ? 
We approach the state of crisis and 
the age of revolution; who can 
answer to you for what you will 
then become??? ‘To render this 
the more striking, the author adds 
in a note, ** I consider it as impos- 
sible that the great monarchies of 
Europe can have jong to last; all 
have shone, and every state which 
shines is near to its decline: I have 
more particular reasons for this 
maxim for my opinion; bat it is 
not my business to mention them, 
and every one sees them too 
plainly.” 
King, prelates, nobles, finan. 
ciers, was it possible more clearly 
to predict to you your present 
state ? Happily for him who fare- 
told your sudden fall, you only re. 
garded him with contempt. 
If the magistrates had not with 
inexorable insensibility reje€ted the 
maxims of the Beccarias, the Fi. 
langieris, and the Dupatys, and of 
all those who conjured them in the 
name of humanity to extend an 
equitable protection over innocence 
and wretchedness, would they not 
have found defenders in that na- 
tional assembly which destroyed 
their power? The nobles, so jea. 
lous of their quit-rents, their cor. 
vées, their right of the chace, and 
all those claims of servitude which 
degrade the inhabitant of the coun. 
li try, 
