STATE PAPERS. 



631 



■which so lately excited them to a sa- 

 crilegious war, but which now onltr 

 collects them to Invoke the blessings 

 of heaven in favour of the man that 

 governs them. Nor do we see any 

 extraordinary measures, any suspen- 

 sion of the ordinary protecting laws ; 

 no longer are there any dissensions 

 between the Morbihan and the Cote 

 d'Or, between La V^endee and the 

 Meurt.'se. — In the mean time, at the 

 other side of the ocean, Ireland pre- 

 sents to us the spectacle of ncver- 

 cndirj conspiracies, instigated by 

 oppression as constantly renewed ; 

 an army of soldiers restraining with 

 difficulty an army of citizens, by the 

 aid of those violent measures, of 

 which the revolution scarcely fur- 

 nishes an example ; and to. concen- 

 trate all in one word, we behold in 

 that unfortunate country a war of 

 religion, persecutions unknown at 

 this moment in the bosom of Eu- 

 rope, that it is indignant to observe, 

 the only spot upon the earth where 

 the most sacred rights are unacknow- 

 ledged, and where government arras 

 itself against the uncontrollable pow- 

 er and the sacred freedom of con- 

 science. — If, on the other hand, you 

 draw a parallel between the finances 

 of the two states, you will find on 

 the opposite shore new expences ac- 

 cumulating upon the expences alrea- 

 dy immense ; of a nation to whom 

 a Hiillion and a half was yearly ne- 

 cessary in an ordinary war, and 

 who, in the present war, stands in 

 need, for the first time, of a levy in 

 mass; of a lavy that costs it hun- 

 dreds of millions. It provides for 

 (hat sum, it is fruc : but by goading 

 'he present, and by swallowing up 

 the future, by resolving to fund its 

 debt, instead of being extinguished 

 by the operation of its sinking fund, 

 iwcUed by the abuse of its only re- 



source, loans. — On our side, our 

 numerous armies have been always 

 the cause of our greatest expence j 

 and their maintenance brings with it 

 but an inconsiderable addition, that 

 is not made to bear upon a foreign 

 country. — The budget which will be 

 shortly laid before you, will apprise 

 you, that our territorial resource" 

 have provided for every thing ; and 

 that, instead of adding to our debt, 

 during these two years of war, our 

 sinking fund has begun efficaciously 

 to operate for its extinction. — What 

 France has done, she may continue 

 to do for 30 years, and has only to 

 ask of heaven that the sun may con- 

 tinue to shine, the rain to fall upon 

 our fields, and the ground fecundize 

 the seed deposited in it. Ten years 

 more of war would make no addition 

 to our debt; ten years more of war 

 would add four milliards to the debt 

 of England. Let her not forget, 

 however, that if public credit be a 

 powerful and formidable weapon, 

 that the bow, too strongly bent, snaps 

 in the hand that holds it, and leaves 

 naked and defenceless the man 



that employs it. England, it 



must be owned, has plundered with- 

 out risk during. the first months 

 of hostilities, from our unprotected 

 ships, forty or fifty millions (li- 

 vres) to the detriment of our com- 

 merce. But at ^Martinique, Guada- 

 loupe, the Isle of France, everyday 

 sees our privateers carry in English 

 prizes ; and already the balance in- 

 clines in our favour in the calculation 

 of our finances as well as in the coni- 

 j)arison with ourglory.-I may there- 

 fore say, and say it confidently, that 

 the advantage is on our side. France 

 is invulnerable in all the })oints ofher 

 immense territory ; she has notliing 

 to apprehend in her advanced ports 

 in tlie West aud East Indies. , En<r- 

 S s 4 land,. 



