HISTORY OF EUROPE. [33 



to be wondered at. The domina- 

 tion of a few men, successively over- 

 thrown by others, presented no sta- 

 bility of principles and views, no 

 guarantee for the state, any more 

 than protection and security for in- 

 dividuals. The constitution of the 

 3rd year, from which, at first glance, 

 more might have been expected, 

 had not been attended with more 

 stability and security; nay, perhaps, 

 even with^Iess. True it was, they 

 had made some partial treaties; they 

 had agreed to a peace on the con- 

 tinent, and, in order to consolidate 

 it, sent deputies to a general con- 

 gress. But those treaties, those di- 

 plomatical conferences, seemed only 

 to have given birth to a new war, 

 more ferocious and sanguinary than 

 ever. This has been ascribed to 

 the bad faith of our enemies, the 

 private passions and false views of 

 certain individuals, who had made 

 a bad use of their power and influ- 

 ence in the republic. But were 

 these the only, oreventheprincipal, 

 causes ? This he thought there was 

 reason to doubt. Was not the re- 

 newal of the war rather to be 

 ascribed to the want of sound and 

 truly republican principles in the 

 conduct of France, towards foreign 

 nations? Was not the French suffi- 

 ciently great, powerful and victo- 

 rious, to say to other nations — 

 These are my just rights : I have 

 proved that it is not in your power 

 to ravish them from me ; that, in 

 the present contest, the risks incur- 

 red are greater on your side than 

 ours; and thus that yehave as great 

 an interest in peace, as we have. 

 If, on the one liand, the French 

 nation does not jwssess sufficient 

 strengtli for holding such lan- 



f;uage: is it not sufficiently cn- 

 ightened, on the other, on the 

 Vol.. XLII. 



subject of its true interests to say — 

 I confine myself to the just rights 

 which I hold of nature and my own 

 courage ; respect mine, and I will 

 respect yours. Let us both submit 

 to the empire of that natural law 

 which ought to be a bond of union 

 among all nations : and let us not 

 pretend to any other influence than 

 that superiority which is the natural 

 result of wisdom and industry. Be- 

 fore the eighteenth of Fructidor, 

 (fourth of September,) of the year 5, 

 the French government presented 

 to its sovereign relationsnothingbut 

 a precarious existence, and there was 

 not any power that would treat 

 with it. After the great event of 

 that day, the whole power being 

 concentrated in the hands of the 

 directory, the legislative body was, 

 in a manner, defunct. Treaties of 

 peace were violated, and war was 

 every where waged, without their 

 having any participation either in its 

 origin or conduct. The same direc- 

 tory, after alarming all Europe, and 

 destroying a number of govern- 

 ments at pleasure, was found inca- 

 pable of making either war or 

 peace, or of establishing itself. It 

 was accordingly dissolved by a 

 breath on the thirtieth of Prairial, 

 (eighteenth of June,) to make way 

 for other men, who might have 

 other views, or fall before an oppo- 

 site influence. Thus it was evident 

 that the government had no fixed 

 principles that could give personal 

 security, or guarantee any establish- 

 ed order of affairs. A flood-gate 

 was opened to individual wills and 

 particular passions, to the epheme- 

 ral and successive triumphs of par- 

 ticular passions. If for want of a 

 fixed and permanent system of fo- 

 reign policy, it was difficult to make 

 anv sure treaty of peace, what se- 



