326 Travels in France 



my home. I shall not omit observing that his conduct in the 

 revolution has been direct and manly from the very beginning; 

 his rank, family, fortune, and situation at court, all united to 

 make him one of the first subjects in the kingdom; and upon the 

 public affairs being sufficiently embroiled to make assemblies 

 of the nobility necessary, his determination to render himself 

 master of the great questions which were then in debate was 

 seconded by that attention and application which was neces- 

 sary in a period when none but men of business could be of im- 

 portance in the state. From the first assembling of the States 

 General he resolved to take the party of freedom; and would 

 have joined the tiers at first if the orders of his constituents had 

 not prevented it; he desired them, however, either to consent to 

 that step or to elect another representative; and at the same 

 time, with equal liberality, he declared that if ever the duty he 

 owed his country became incompatible with his office at court 

 he would resign it; an act that was not only unnecessary, but 

 would have been absurd, after the king himself had become a 

 party in the revolution. By espousing the popular cause he 

 acted conformably to the principles of all his ancestors, who in 

 the civil wars and confusions of the preceding centuries uni- 

 formly opposed the arbitrary proceedings of the court. The 

 decisive steps which this nobleman took at Versailles, in advising 

 the king, etc., etc., are known to all the world. He is undoubtedly 

 to be esteemed one of those who have had a principal share in the 

 revolution, but he has been invariably guided by constitutional 

 motives ; for it is certain that he has been as much averse from 

 unnecessary violence and sanguinary measures as those who 

 were the most attached to the ancient government. — With my 

 excellent friend Lazowski I spent my last evening; he en- 

 deavouring to persuade me to reside upon a farm in France, and 

 I enticing him to quit French bustle for English tranquillity. 



20th — 25/A. By the diligence to London, where I arrived the 

 25th; though in the most commodious seat, yet languishing for 

 a horse, which, after all, affords the best means of travelling. 

 Passing from the first company of Paris to the rabble which one 

 sometimes meets in diligences is contrast sufficient — but the 

 idea of returning to England, to my family, and friends, made all 

 things appear smooth. — 272 miles. 



30/A. To Bradfield; and here terminate, I hope, my travels. 

 After having surveyed the agriculture and political resources 

 of England and Ireland, to do the same with France was certainly 



