34 Fred Morrott Fling 



limited monarchy. But what hopes had he that thoj would be 

 granted and in case they were not, by what means could society 

 secure its rights? 



Upon this subject he held different opinions at different times. 

 He was honestly opposed to revolution and illegal measures, 

 but when off his guard he often declared that revolution was 

 justifiable when a ruler had proved false to his vows. ' And 

 upon the subject that lay nearest to his heart, personal liberty, 

 he asserted that a man was justified in taking any step, any 

 step "without exception," in order to break his chains.^ When 

 charged with preaching revolt — in his address to the Hessians, 

 he denied that he had any such intention and endeavored to 

 defend himself. When filled with indignation, he warned the 

 kings that their arbitrary rule would eventually cost them their 

 thrones; but in his calmer moments, when he turned to the 

 people, he spoke of the " force of inertia " as an effective 

 weapon against absolutism.^ His conservatism found utterance 

 when he affirmed that "all changes, all new constitutional 

 establishments are rarely without danger."* He never lost 

 sight of this fact even in the Revolution when he was nominally 

 the leader of the populace. Yet if he did not preach revolt, 

 his writings were certainly influential in producing a public 

 opinion that would render revolution most natural. He looked 

 forward to the time "when truth, generally diffused, by assur- 



^ "Quand I'autorit^ devient arbitraire et oppressive la resis- 

 tance est de devoir." Reponee aux eonseils de la raison, 329. 



^ "Comrae si tout, je dis tout sans exceptions n'^toit pas permis h 

 rhomme pour rompre ses chaines." Des lettres de cachet, 269. 



^ " Mais tout citoyen a une force d'inertie qui ne lui permet point de 

 concourir h une injustice manifeste et I'exercice universel de cette force 

 sauveroit la chose publique."' Ibid, 326. 



* "D'oti Ton doit conclure que les changemens ou les nouveaux ^tablis- 

 sements constitutifs sont rarement sans danger." Essai sur le despotisme, 



287. 



78 



