^N,\tllBRARVry/ ^T-rnVJ-JO"^ ^(^OJilVl^O'^ iW^ ^\)\'L\[\n}Hp 'y\t\vn>\\\-\^ Mi.iM ..,., \\\llNIVtVA /UiVHHill^' ^m^'INVSOl^^ ^\^EUNIVERV/, :^ ^ KlOSANGELfj: ^lUBRARY/^/ ^7]30NVS01^ "^A^aAINR ^WV" ^^Aiivaan-^^ o^t-LlBRARYr^. fr\ '^ .^ILIBRARYQ/ ,^QFCA[IFO% ^/9A,'IV7!Hn-^\'^' ^^^AHVHHIl-^'^ ARY^/^^ ^\WEl!NIVER% ^lOSANGELi> #11 ^^\^EyNIVER% ^lOSANGEUjy,, ,,.e^ IHITl^^ ^^r7130WS01^ THE RETROSPECT. PRICE HALF A CROWN. THE RETROSPECT; OR, REFLECTIONS ON The State of Religion and Politics I N FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN. By the Rev. JOHN OWEN, AM, FELLOW OF CORPUS-CHRISTI COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. Atque utinam Refpublica {^clifT^t quo caper at JIatu ; nee itt homines non tarn co?nmutandarum rerum quam e'ueriendarum cupidos incidilTet. Cic. Off. lib. a. LONDON: PRINTED FOR T. CADEr.L, IN THE STRAND. 1794. DC ADVERTISEMENT THE following Remarks owe their exifcence to foine of the late tranfalions in that infatuated country againft which our arms are now carried. The Author was of the number of thofe who admired with enthufiafm the Reformation of the P'rench Monarchy, by the events of the firfi: Revolution. Having had opportunities of obferv- ing the country at the very difli- milar periods of July 1750 and September i 795? he received im- predion 3 VI ADVERTISEMENT. preffions of a very oppofite nature, und finds motives of abhorrence to the later Revolutions in the prin- ciples that led him to applaud the frfl. The Reflections which enfue were written with no ftudied at- tention to method, and were dic- tated by no influence but that of conviction : they are fent into the world in their imperfeft (late, left the delays neceffary to render them more worthy of the public patron- age fliould preclude the ufes they are intended to ferve. It was judged unnecciTary to crowd the pages with references to facts, as the records of thcfe are in the hands and recollection of every one. If it be aflvcd, to what Tarty the ADVERTISEMENT, vii the Author belongs ; he can only reply, That the fpirit of his fyfteni is to fear God^ to honour the Kingj ^nd to love the Brotherhood^ and that, zealous to fupport the dignity of his T'rofejfion^ the authority of his Sovereign^ and the rights of his Fellovj-JiibjeSisy he acknowledges 710 Tarty where thefe principles are not revered. Dec. 23, 1793, THE THE RETROSPECT, AT a period when a people, once renowned for loyalty and refinement, are tramp- ling under foot the rights of monarchy and the fenfibilities of nature ; when unconciliated by vengeful regicide they are demolifliing the altars of chriltian adoration, and faniftioning, by afts of uilirped LegiHation, the mofb out- rageous blafphcmies againft the God of heaven : at a period when the profeffional fupporters of eftabliflicd devotion are immolating at the altars of reviving paganifm all the dillinclions of revealed religion, it becomes the duty of all, upon whofe fcrviccs the public have any claim, to oppofe tlie advances of that enthu- fiafm which threatens to oven'prcad the world with unexampled b:irbariim. B Fore- ( ^ ) Forcmofl in tlic rank of humiin inflrudors the public teachers of Chriftianity fhould feel iliemfelves particularly called upon to eredl a barrier in fuch a crifis, againft the threatened univerfality of infidel fcepticifm ; and in mo- ments of fuch danger to crowd around the tot- tering altars of national religion. To them arc profeffedly committed the faithful oracles of re- generative truth with them is lodged the powerful artillery of chriftian defence from them the public is taught to exped: the ge- nerous effufions of inftruclive eloquence, and the ufeful corroboratives of exemplary faith. Conftituted by the original laws of the empire, guardians of the public manners, it is theirs to watch with adive jealoufy every departure from acknowledged reditude; to anticipate the confequences of infant herefics, and to proted the fabric of national faith from the affaults of profanenefs, and the ambufn of fophifby. The Hiftory of the World prcfents no asra. in which the very exillcnce of religion was fo formidably threatened. In all the viciffitudes of {)agan empire, regard was had to eftablillied devoiion i and protection extended to the altars of the (.\o{\-i : wliatever changes were introduced into (3 ) into their modes of government ; whatever re- finements into their fyftems of faith, flill the propriety of religious adoration remained un- queftioned j and the jurifdiftion of the Deities was confidered as paiamount to the threats of the conqueror, or the decrees of the Legillator. In the annals of paft times, the hand of re- form has not unfrequently been ftretched to heal the maladies of an unfound government : orders once confecrated by public admiration have been annihilated, and the idolized dif* tinftions of a long antiquity have been con- figned to oblivion, or to change: yet in all the havock which fuch comprehenfivc regulations have produced ; amidft all the tumult of war, the rapacity of plunder, and the convulfions of Revolution, the temples of the gods have flood fecure from facrilegious violence j or, iffpoiled of their votive treafures in the moment of vic- torious infolence, they have fuffered more from the enthufiafm of conqueft than the effrontery of atheifm, and yielded rather to the thin'l of pillage than the wantonnefs of infi Jeliry. It was, indeed, referved for a nation in the decline of Iier political greatncfs, and in the B 2 prof- s ( 4 ) profpcd of gathering calamities, to exhibit enOr* mities againft Heaven and good faith, which the mod extravagant legends of fabulous romance have never recorded; it was refcrved for a nation whofe dawning Freedom aftonilhed the wife, captivated the generous, and conciliated the bigottcd, to tarnilh the luflre of her re- generated policy by adls of Legiflation, and events of priv'ate example, which kindle re- fentment in the brcafi: of Freedom, and fhock the fenfibilities of the Patriot and the Cbrif- tian. It is impofiible to turn the eye of attention upon the recent extravagancies of the French Republic, without recoiling at the fanguinary violence which marks its ads of public autho- rity, and the enthufuiftic iniquity which ac- companies the individual exertions of its moft dirtinguifhed citizens. By a feries of events to which maffacre and good fortune, the arti- fices of fatfhion, and the fiuality of circumftances, have equally contributed, all tiie happy regu- lations of a purified Le^xiflation liave vanillicd ; a Conflitution fonncd h}- ur.'.'-:d talents imd Patrioiilin, has been rudely dcniolinicd; a crude lyftem of changeful tyrannv lias been iiiili- ( s ) inflituted, and a handful of aflaffins have efta- bliflied their thrones upon the ruins of wifdom, of probity, and honor. Who, that is not fteeled to the emotions o^ mercy can regard with a fteady eye the bloody progrefs of thofe faftious rulers, through al* the (lages of their enormity, from the * day that opened the veins of bleeding Patriotifm> and yielded to Republican Cabal the furviving fpoils of a debilitated Monarchy ? Who, that is not abandoned to fixed infenfibility, can view with patient fpcculation the lafl iniuks offered to the fallen Monarch, the mockery which affumed the forms of juftice, and the -f- fero- city which drowned the accents of complaint ? Warm with the blood of an unoffending Sove< reign, the fcaffold receives (unexpected furvivor of the laft indignities) his widowed Confort ! Perfccuted by all the brutal expedients which intoxicated fi6lion could devife, fhe is dragged to that ilern tribunal where juftice frowns in rigid horrors, and mercy never whifpered foft acquittal! All the caprices of paft intrigue, * Aiiguft loth. t The drums beat v, hen he would have addrefled the people. B 3 all ( 6 ) all the tyrannies of revolutionary tumult arc rudely charged upon this haggard ghoft of de- parted beauty : but councils of intrigue, and fyllems of diHifFedion, are not deemed charges of fuificient turpitude to fatiate the demands of greedy malice ; crimes mud be torn from the abyfs of iniquity, and invention be tortured to imagine faults which may tranfmit to future times the name of Antoinette, under all the black difgrace of unnatural deformity. But here let the fcene for ever clofe ! Configned to eternal oblivion be the memory of that tiibunal which* in exhibiting the lad triumphs of an abandoned faction, outftripped all the recorded atchievc- ments of gigantic villany ! Peace to the allies of that injured form, which, familiarized by long habitudes to cowardly infolence, were yet called to encounter thofe hideous (hocks which no acquaintance with praclifed iniquity could anticipate, and which no refources of mental fortitude could fuftain ! Poflerity will glance with cautious curiolity over this montlrous fiction of ftubborn barbarity : recoiling fenfibi- lity will dread to tear from its drear obfcu- rity what nature hears not without horror, and what the rifing ieelings of the human heart con- fpire to difcredit. The ( 7 ) The blow is now ftriick, the monarchy is fubverted, and the laft fupporters of its de- clining fplendor have been immolated at the altars of a revengeful faction. Freedom has feen, with agonizing throes, the glaring out- rages that have been committed under her ban- ners, and the aggravated crimes which have covered her proftituted name. All the bonds of fealty have been broken ; pledged allegiance and covenanted faith have been publicly violated ; and neither the didtates of policy, nor the accents of mercy have prevailed, to temper the unparalleled rigours of maflacre and profcription. Full as the career of iniquity had fliewn itfelf, there yet remained a glimmering hope, that, fick at length of havock and flaughter, the guilty Demagogues would relax their glutted tyranny ; and the loofened energies of public virtue refume their intermitted functions : There ftill remained amongft the hideous wade of demolifhed thrones and abjured divinities, a ray of cxpeftation, that, urged by frantic patriotifm to inordinate revenge againft ancient prejudices, the tide of rebellion would yer be turned; and tlic, national enthufiafm be dif- T 4 ciplined { 8 ) ciplined by wholefome and permanent laws. Circiimftances had indeed little encouraged fiich expcdlation ; and the greater part of ihofe who had diftingiiiflied themfelves by an attachment to the revolutionary outline, renounced their affeclion for a people, whofc inconfiflency had marred their patriotifm ; and whofe vices had rendered them unworthy of the public patronage. There were not, however, wanting amongft the ftrcnuous admirers of the firfl: Legiflature thofe who, averfe to defpondency in an affair of fuch lively intereft, ventured to flatter themfelves that the nation would revert to its firft prin- ciples, and that the foftcr yoke of a generous monarcliy would yet fucceed to the opprefTive bondage of an outrageous democracy. Amongft thofe who, attached to monarchical authority, fighed for the rcftoration of this falutary fyftem, difcordant opinions ftill prevailed ; and the wiflied-for accompliftimcnt of this neceflar}' mcafure fecmcd to demand, in the view of different individuals,' cxcriions of a different nature. To the one, the united hoftilities of the European powers appeared the only inflru- nicnt which could clir.llife the infolencc of uliirpcd authority, and rccal to reafon and to loyaity an iniatiiartcl nation ; To the other, tliC ( 9 ) the gentler maxims of a pacific policy appeared more confonant with the didates of public juftice and political expediency. The reafon which guided thefe contradidory fyftems might indeed be unequal, yet the integrity alike in each. Speftators alone of thefe tumul- tuous events, each laboured to afcend through the chain of outrages which fucceeded each other, to the remote caufes which gave birth to all. The conclufions were different accord ingr o as the refearches had been more or lefs pro- found, or conducted under a greater or lefs degree of prepoffeffion. To fome the horrors, which ftained the later seras, appeared the defperatc fruits which fprung from the co-ope- ration of internal cabal and foreign hoftility. To others, the o;rowino- ravacres which defolatcd all the remaining monuments of ancient efta- blifliment, appeared the inevitable refult of thofb early principles which diftateJ the fubverfion of political diftinAions ; and infpired the luminous, yet imprafticablc, code of human rights. So novel indeed was the experiment in the vicilhtudcs ot empires ; fo inllantaneous was the converfion, and fo rapid the eftablilhment of tiiii. regcnciaicd people, that the moft pro- found ( lo ) found fpeculation regarded it with ailonifhment, and the moft difpaffionatc philofophy beheld it with emhufiafm. In an event fo new in the annals of Icgiflation, it were not to be wondered at, that men, equal in underftanding, in loyalty, and patriotifm, Ihould have adopted, from the complicated tranfadtions, fentiments which militated eflentially with each other : It were not to be wondered at, that, regarding the diflblution of ancient eftablifhments, and the fabrication of new regulations, men accuf- tomcd to the freedom of political difcuffion, Ihould have had the hardinefs to approve or con- demn, as the fads accorded with their received fyftems, or contradicted their habitual maxims of national policy. The abrupt deftniclion of hereditary diftinc- tions, the bold confifcation of the clerical trea- furcs, the unqualified abolition of feudal pri- vileges, provoked indignant murmurs on the one hand, while they called forth the mofl lively applaufc on the other. To thofe who regarded with plauditory triumph the zeal which combated ancient eftablifhments, the ftupendous evils which thofe had produced were prefcnt in all tiieir glaring extent. To the 111 ( " ) them the hlftory of paft crimes was written in blood ; and government appeared but a fabri- cated expedient to plunder andopprefs mankind, A nation infulted by an overgrown nobility, feemed, in their view, to demand fome late redrefs j and vengeance appeared not impro- perly exerciied upon peculation, though fup- ported by ancient inflitution ; and violence, though fanctioned by immemorial ufage. On the contrar}"-, thofe who flood aloof, while ad- miration gazed on thefe brilliant tranfadions, fixed with fteady eagernefs on that portion of crime which entered into thefe ads of heroifm, while they glanced with partial attention over thofe complicate oppreffions which gave them birth. Thefe fuffered themfelves to be engrofled by the very natural commiferation of private inconvenience j and made no allowance for that torrent of indignation which centuries of tyranny and wanton perfecutlon had infpired. They paid no deference to the exafperated feel- ings of a nation, efcaped from the lafh of guilty authorities. In compaffionating the few, they neglccled to confider the many ; and in the fuffcrings of the innocent, forgot the atroci- ties of the euiky. It C '2 ) It is eafy to fee how oppofite fcntiments might enter minds equally difpofed to the fupport of truth, upon a fubjed of fuch novelty, com- plicacy, and political extent. The abolition ot Ariftocracy might be ccnfidered by the one, a political good ; by the other, a political evil ; widi a fliew of argument in each contending fcale, that would appear a juft counterbalance the one to the other. In the one cafe, Ariftocracy v.'oiild naturally find no inconfiderable advocates amongft thoic whom private predilection, added to the fuppofition of acknowledged utility, had attached to its inflitution. Ten thoufmd prejudices confpire to rivet the afiections to ancient diflinclions; and the mind familiar- ized to thclc by habits of long and unin- terrupted intimacy, affbciates the laws which prot.c6t their privileges with thofe which na- ture herfclf promulges. It was natural that eflablifliments of ancient prcfcription fhould have found, amidit all their extravagancies, no few defenders ; and under all their corruptions, no n^iean apoiogifts. The brilliant lervices wlii.h ihele have rendered to civilized focietv, the lupport they have communicated in the concufiK/iis of revolt, the dignity they have conferred in the progrcffions of refinement, what ( 13 ) what they have added to the common fplendor, what they have operated for the piibhc good, might contribute to commend their fafhionable influence, til] mankind had forgotten to mark the boundaries between primitive right and covenanted inftitution ; and learned to blend in one common mafs, the diftind authorities of nature and civil fociety. On the other hand, tlie evils that grew out of that pernicious ftock, the wild luxuriancy of thofe multifarious Ihoots which penetrated every part of the Gallic Empire, had converted this imagined good into a real evil, rendered it an infiipportable burden to the groaning fub- jeds of its enormous tyranny, and given birth to difordcrs more numerous and pernicious than thofe it was intended to prevent. There is in all inftitutions of human conftruclion, a point bcj'ond which iniquity cannot extend ; a period at which evil confummatcs its plenitude, and violence defeats its own piirpole. In France, at the a?ra of the Revolution, ariilocracy had found this point. To this crifis had the over- bearing infoiencc * of ihc nobles arrived 3 when * Fuh R:ibauc!'i Fr-ch H:f:or:^ue. f^^niclcfs ( '4 ) fenfelefs pertinacity urged their extravagance^ and infatuated obflinacy precipitated their down- fal. It was then, while, intoxicated with re- dundant authority, and bigotted to diflindlions which were yielding to refinement, they carried their licence to an excefs, which the circum- flances of policy and of juftice mufb for ever condemn, that the fparks of a rebellion already ripened, kindled into flame : the exafperated feel- ings of an indignant people, armed againft the authority of their infulting rulers ; and big with vengeance, annihilated for ever thofe eftablifh- ments, under whofe licentious outrages they had fo often bled. The blow was fudden and un- premeditated J particular events haflcned on the cataftrophe; and circumflances, which could not be forefeen, precipitated the meafure. Enthufiaftic with new and unfek fenfations, the Legiflators of the country were feen to pafs, in the paroxyfms of their zeal, all the bounds of policy and juftice ; they abandoned that ex- perience which might inftrud, for that inftind V, hich muft miflead ; and, furrendering them- lelves to the tranfports of recovered freedom, they fapped the ftamina of their future prof- perity, tore up the roots of implanted authority, and committed all the props of national fecurity to ( 15 ) to the raging flames of an extravagant pa- triotifm. Perhaps the ruin which has fince extended itfelf throughout the different departments of civil authority, owes no fmall fhare of its pre- fent magnitude to the unqualified abolition of the ariftocratic orders. The extent of this evil was not promptly apprehended by. that zealous enthufiafm which, once embarked in cnterprizes of reform, is not ulually confined within the limits of prudent policy. It were, however, cafy to difcover, in retracing the fleps of re- volutionary operations, how inconvenient a chafm muft have been created in the fcalc of fociety, by the total abolition of orders fo numerous, fo diverfified, and of fuch acknow- ledged importance in the fphere of authority. In them was annihilated that comprehenfive link, which, in the fubfequcnt purity of go- vernment, would have defined, by an inter- mediate intereft, the monarch's grandeur and the people's rights ; that link, by which the contending advances of the one and the other would have received an cffcdual correction, and have been piefcrvcd amid ft all their con- flicts in a conilitutional equipoiic. The demo- lition ( i6 ) lition of thcfe orders marred the unity of that fyflem which was adopted by the firft reformers, and left a dejideratum in the h\iiwt monarchy, which all the energies of patriotic enthufiafni could not fupply. Amongft the internal caufcs of future ha- vock, the abolition of Ariftocracy appears to poiTefs the foremofl rank in thofe indifcreet meafures which diforganizcd the body of the empire, and precipitated the monarch's down- fal. The exalted rank of chief magiftrate irt an extenfive empire, demands fome medium to tranfmitthofe rays infofrened luftre, which would offend, by their tremendous majefty, the naked fight. The diftancc is fo wide in the fphere of created influence, between the throne and the fubjcd, that all which iflues from the Ex- ecutive Authority muft, in this cafe, appear to 'rufli like the cataraft from the frownins; precipice, inftead of defccnding (as it ought to have done) by the mediums of a juft gra- dation, and circulating through channels of artful communication. France exhibited, in this> inftance, an experiment of impracticable policy; and vainly expeded from a defective fyflem of garbled* authorities, all the brilliant advantages ( 17 ) advantages of the moft perfed governmen^. But thefe deftroyed, a mighty void was feen in the fphere of government ; and the furviving orders were torn afunder by an a6t of baneful reparation : the bulk ,of the people were left to gize, at an awful diflance, upon the mo- narch, who thus flood infulated amidft a de- folate fphere, once peopled by the fupports of his grandeur and the organs of his authority. A thoufand jealoufies were now feen to obilruft the concord of the exifting authorities, and cmbarrafs the movements of the executive power. The monarch faw, with anxious ap- prehenfion, the bold advances which trenched upon his reduced prerogative : The people eyed with dread fufpicion, every exertion of monarchical fovereignty, and laboured to con- fine that power from which they apprehended the return of ancient fervitude. Unfortunately for fociety, all the confli(fls which found exiit- encc between the rival parties, terminated in favour of the populace. The torrent thus ac- quired force from incffcftual oppoiiLion, till order fell before the formidable engines of dif- organization, and the riilng turbulence of triumphant faclion acquired the zenith of its influence. Then commenced that fpirit of de- C termined ( -8 ) tcrmincd anarchy, which cnimbled, in rapid fiiccefllon, all authorities, and levelled, amidft the ruins of extirpated tyranny, a fabric that had held captive the admiration of Europe. It would be readily admitted, that the boafted principles of Gallic Policy (as expounded in modern fyftems) approaches nearefl to the flandard of ideal perfe6lion ; and that in the per fe^ ion of fociety, a government by re- prefentation is not only beft accommodated to the wants of mankind, but affords the beft fecurity againft t3Tanny and corruption. But the manners of men have not yet acquired their millennian foftnefsj nor is fociety arrived at that point of polifhed excellence which is neceffary to the conilituticn of lb pure a fyftem. The focial virtues of mankind are perfected by flow and gradual relinements ; and all the important changes which have benefitted the world by great and durable advant^<2:cs, have been effected by patient induilry, and adopted wiih cautious policy. To the confiruftion of a government, no mean calculations arc requihte. It is not luiiicient tliar tlie fvliem be pure, it muft alfb be apt and practicable. The tempers of mankind are varied in a tliouG.nd different ihadesi { 19 ) fliades ; they are moulded to different habits by the varieties of chmate, of hiflory, and of events ; their obedience is to be excited by maxims fuited to their received opinions j and their allegiance to be infured by expedients, adapted to their national chara6ler. Refpeft muft be paid to the extent of their knowledge and the -caft of their morals j to the information they pofTefs, and the virtue they difcover. la France no fuch calculations vv^ere ever attended to i and no fuch circumftances were ever fuf- fered to have weight. The whole mafs of their revolutionary fchemes was formed upon abflraft principles of political fcience. All the expe- riments of pafh ages were, by them, held in difefteem ; and wlfdom appeared to utter her firft oracles in their plans of Legiflation. All their intellect, and all their enthufiafm, were abiorbed in imagining fchemes of immaculate policy, inilcad of purging the ancient channels of cor- rupt authority, and giving energy to thofe re- gulations which had been already ena