ee happier ‘lot, and an addi 
ne so favour able to their interest 
u nents, WI 
* nation, andesusmenied. the general dis. 
o> 
.. of character and ot morals. 
tmiglit have been easil y fores@en, the vil- | 
Hyp co be 
ee 
uf & _— 
“612 ¥ Bepbepecs of Fy co Literature —Hisiony 
Pee subordination, whieh in insu- 
Jated co mmuuities supplies the place of 
‘Taws, and is only transferred in the pro= 
gress of civilization, from individuals to 
societies. 
The nobles, few in pumber, i intimi- 
dated by the experience of the past, and 
dreading the evils reserved for them in 
future, began to court the affections of 
their vassals, while the parochial clergy, 
“whose deputies 1 m the first assembly had 
_ joined the patriots, : and how experienced 
al Bea CCl, 
eriercy 
ia co? pote ce of the ne i 
zealous for the continua 
Bat when the national assem y en- 
‘tirely destroyed the barriers that had so 
long separated the two privileged orders 
from the bulk of Hig, people, @ seene 
instantly changed. \ Many 1 viduals 
Lelonging to each of these parties, flying 
from pers secution, took refuge in a coun- 
‘ 
full vigour, the necessary meee could 
not be recurred to without the interven- ~ 
tion of the executive power. 
The court was accordingly solicited 
to enforce the laws; but suclhi was the 
Machiavelian policy prevalent at the pe- 
riod a uded. to, that instead. exuin- 
ett he insurrection, it seemed now 
to. be formally mvested: with the royal 
sanction, Mond f; OU tha moment lt be- 
‘came more form ible than before.* 
~ At length the” egislature, in an evil 
_ hour, dered to have recourse to 
| bat 
eh at that very 
try totally unconiected, i 1 respect to,se 
- Hiteal sen jith the rest of 
content. But it was the decree known 
yi the name of the eivil contribution of’ 
clergy, that embittered the minds, 
e oused the resentnient, and at ievgth 
armed the hands of a faretbipal ie 
tude. The greater part of the priesthood, 
considering the oath as a direct violation 
of their principles, refused obedience 
motive s. |The resig- 
tions an Pep rations. that ensue 
re ed a swarm of apostate monk: 
erior clergy from the capital, 
and 
equally 
AS 
lages retused to receive their new pas- 
tors: and while divine Service was per- 
formed in the parishehurches by the con- 
stitutional priests, to,empty pews, with 
the assistnce of sc rewed bay. nets, their 
refractory br apse, ho were concealed 
in the ‘wouus, celebrated mass a thou- 
san é ; 
Thus the civilowar that oe a a in 
France proceeded from the torch of dis- 
cm, si up by the first assembly, 
ich, afte Diessily prociaiming liberty 
of worship, andideclar: ny thatthere should 
ae no predonmnant rclimon, rendered the 
“versity of the acon bodies, the laws. 
Measures Of severity, and | roposed, the 
ened 10n of all priests, who refuse 
aor the 
£0 submit to the civil aa 
ce Louis XVI. hose spiritual 
Va nba 
ring churchman, refused 
ecree. This” denial, a 
yn formity to the laws 
alliag themselves pa 
“the fall of a tottering throne 
ae the, hopes of the 
deans. "Waa 
"The aristocracy, and the clergy of 
every description, being at this period 
threatened with prosefiption, made a 
common cause. 
a 
While the one erected , 
the standard of insurrection, the other 
ebrandished the storch of fanaticism, and 
the passions, of a good but credula s 
people weFe thus. exalted” an 1- 
mon pitch of frenzy. é 
At length a catastrophe was rendered 
inevitable, | by the imprisonment, trial, 
aud | execution | of the king, Sp the de- 
Phe revolution had never ae 
lippeaux, one of the 
ou and Bri- 
ssioit) intu those parts of Pc 
py, which were the seat of the insurrec- 
tion. Either the ignorance or the per- 
_of the Consrituting Assembly, relative to 
be 
evites the enemigs of the state and, by 
a> ‘touc! ving the ark with. an unhallowed 
hand, endangered the safety of the em- 
pire. 
the spirit of disaffection, wished, 
tow lates to eradicate this spuit of disaf- 
fection entirely, at least to impede its 
ess; but as tire constitution was in _ 
E a 
The second legislature, alarmed at, 
if not 
Ligh 
nobility and clergy, were but mea 
understood; and it was with infinite gts 
that even an appr amenes of submission could 
obtain Pig 
oh The sale gets of ‘those countries, 
plunged inte the most profound ignorance, 
and deprived of ail means of communication 
amon - themselves, en account of the badness 
ir roads, remained in subjection to the 
aud the priesis,in ee aha 
ised France. 
“Tie civil com: 
lissioners ser ifier, 
by the king, instea pening t es of 
the fanatics). and ee and pumshing 
those who misled them communicated anew 
degree oi force and energy to their €EITOrs, _ 
dnd solemnly approved of their criminal res 
sistance to a - 
Berecs 
~ , 
a 
vig 
ae 
at 
a 
