laws, when, by their adherence to those which they had once believed fecured their freedom and happinefs, they had been nearly led to ruin, which they had only efcaped by violating and fubverting them altogether. Thus, the only crime imputed to Roland was that rigid virtue of which his contemporaries were not worthy-his fole offence was hating vice too much.-But Roland difdained all accommodating principles, and retired from office for no other reafon than that he was too pure to hold it. Perhaps he may again be called from the ftation of a private citizen, by the voice of his country*; if not, he has done enough for immortality, and when, in perusing the hiftory of the French revolution, the mind is fatigued with the relation of thofe crimes which difgrace one difafterous page, it will turn to the unfullied worth of Roland, and find repofe and comfort. To him may justly be applied those well known lines of our poet: Statefman, yet friend to truth! of foul fincere, So far, E. In action faithful, and in honour clear; Who broke no promife, ferv'd no private end; Who gaind no riches, and who loft no friend." This volume alfo contains an examination into the conduct and character of Dumourier; and it concludes with a very interefting letter, extending from p. 155 to p. 271, written, as we are informed, by one of our earliest and most argumentative advocates for the revolution in France; and which peculiarly addreffes itself to readers of our own country, fince its object is briefly to trace the progrefs of the French revolution, and to account for the erroneous opinions in England respecting it." The writer clearly ftates and divides into periods the diftinguifhing occurrences of the eventful times of which he treats; and proceeds to mention feveral important changes which nece farily alienated the minds of many of the French nation, and produced great clamour among fimilar orders of people in other countries. Concerning more minute circumftances, which contributed to disgust English obfervers of their actions, he well obferves: The want of order in the National Affembly-the indecent noise and confufion-the licentious applaufes of the tribunes appeared fhocking to Englishmen, accustomed to the dignity and regularity generally preferved in the House of Commons. It is true, in their cenfures relative to this, they did not make fufficient allowance for the peculiar character of the French nation, nor for the interefting nature of the fubjects they had to difcufs. They did not confider that they were comparing the calm progrefs of an old eftablished government in a time of profound peace, with the agitated movements of a revolution in a nation at war; and where every day produced difcuflions that roufed all the paffions, by oppofing all prejudices, and attacking all interests. Tranquil fpectators of the form, they would have had the mariners *The death of M. Roland happened fince the above was written. ; caught in the middle of the tempeft preferve the fame composure as they did in viewing it fecurely from the shore!' Speaking of the warning which fome alarmifts have intreated this nation to take from the example of France, it is juftly re marked that, Had you even a revolution in England (which God forbid should ever be neceffary!), it would not-it could not be such a one as the French revolution. For the men and the circumftances are totally diffimilar. You have not in England the fame mafs of abuses to change-you have not the fame mafs of folly and vice to struggle against-your people are neither fo generally ignorant nor ferocious as the French populace-and; what is above all in your favour is, that you have not amongst you that shocking inequality which dif figured human fociety in France. There mankind were all in extremes, exceffively exalted or exceflively debafed; and the people, once delivered from the tyranny of the great, having neither friend, counsellor, nor confidant, abandoned themselves to the wanderings of their own ignorance or paffions. In England, on the contrary, there is a long feries of claffes of well-informed and worthy men in the middling ranks of fociety, who connect the rich with the poor, and the men of large property with those who have none. In France the queftion was, whether certain princes and dukes, or whether the lowest of the people fhould govern the country. And, whether the first or the last obtained the predominance, there was danger of tyranny. The two claffes were too far diftant to place confidence in each other.' Near the close of his epiftle, the writer mentions a few leading circumstances which have kept in conftant agitation the paffions of the French nation, viz. I. The inveteracy of a powerful ariftocratic party, which operated from the very beginning of the revolution, and which has kept up an unceafing irritation amongst the people. II. The manifefto of the Duke of Brunswick, whofe threats were ever prefent to the minds of the people. III. The confpiracy of kings, formed at Pilnitz; an association of a new kind, as terrible as it was monftrous. Our countryman, Dr. Parr, has left me nothing to add to his eloquent reflections on the fubje&t. IV. That real civil war, which, under the name of peace, has exifted in France fince the beginning of the revolution, and openly broke forth in the latter periods of it. I could enumerate feveral other circumstances, if my leifure permitted me to enter into details. I must, however, farther obferve, that our friends in England, in judging of the French revolution, do not feem in many cafes to have allowed even for the ordinary weakneffes of human nature. It has always been the foible of man to run from one extreme to another Grant that the French have, for the moment, run from defpotifm to licentiousness-they have committed the common fault of our nature. Let us reafon of them as we would do of ourselves, and let us allow them time to return to the just medium.' At the maflacre of the 2d of September 1792, the writer expreffes the utmoft indignation; and concerning this dark tranfaction he makes many plausible explanatory remarks. We muft, however, difmifs this letter with recommending it very strongly to public attention. We wish to fee it printed and diftributed feparately. An hour or two bestowed in the perufal of it will give clear and concife retrofpective ideas of thefe momentous tranfactions, to those who have hitherto little attended to them, to thofe whofe memory has been clouded by the rapid fucceffion of events, and to thofe whofe views have been misdirected by incorrect or biaffed reprefentations at home. It should be remembered that this letter was written at Paris by an able hand, and by one who was possessed of authentic fources of local information. We have chiefly confined our brief extracts from these volumes to the concluding letter, because we deemed it worthy of principal attention; and, indeed, we have no doubt that the whole publication will be very generally perused. So far G.2. ART. XX. A Narrative of the Tranfations relative to a Sermon, preached in the Parish Church of Brighton, August 18, 1793: with mort Extracts from the Sermon, and occafional Remarks. By Vicefimus Knox, D. D. Mafter of Tunbridge School, and late Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford. 8vo. pp. 132. 1s. 6d. Dilly. THE wild exceffes of the prefent political phrenzy, by which freedom of speech, as well as of writing, is profcribed in this land of liberty; and the mischievous effects which are to be expected from the indulgence of this phrenzy, on perfonal security as well as on public order; appear under the mott threatening afpect in this narrative. The interefting story, as we collect it from Dr. Knox's account, is briefly this: During a temporary refidence at Brighthelmftone, Dr. Knox, at the importunate requeft of the Vicar t, preached a fermon in the parish church. His text was, 66 Glory to God in the • For which, it must be acknowleged, the indifcretions and extravagant ideas of fome hot headed men, (writers as well as fpeakers,) have contributed not only too many occafions, but have greatly countenanced proceedings which, in cooler days, would perhaps have met with fome difapprobation from the best and truest friends of our happy conftitution. + We mark in Italics this the Docter's affertion, because it has been fedulously affirmed that he officiously intruded himself into the palpit of the Brighton clergyman. highest, higheft, on earth peace, good will towards men ;" and the leading topic of the difcourfe was, the prospect of perpetual and univerfal peace to be eftablished on the principles of Chriftian philanthropy. The preacher appears to have had no other defign than, by devefting war of its affumed fplendours, and reprefenting it as one of the greateft calamities of human life, to enforce the duty of univerfal peace, and to promote universal good will:-yet the fermon offended a few military men,-as the author candidly fuppofes, through a mifapprehenfion of its tendency. It foon became the general topic of conversation; and many angry cenfures were poured on the preacher and his doctrine. On the evening after it was delivered, an unknown gentleman in uniform, walking on the Steine, was heard to fay, My prayer to God is, that the war with France may be a long, a bloody-nay, an everlafting war." On the Tuesday following, Dr. Knox, Mrs. Knox, their eldest fon, fourteen years old, and their daughter, a year or two younger, went with a friend to the theatre, and took their places in a fide-box. During the performance of the play, feveral officers in the ftage-box on the oppofite fide of the theatre directed their attention toward Dr. Knox's feat, and appeared to be in frequent confultation, and anxious in concerting their plan of operation. Between the play and the entertainment, the fol lowing note, written with a pencil on a fcrap of torn paper, and fent without a name, was handed from behind the box to Mrs. K. who gave it to the Doctor: 66 "Your difcourfe laft Sunday was fo offenfive, that the Gentlemen of this theatre defire you will quit it immediately." While Dr. K. was attempting to addrefs himself to the oppofite box, to inquire who fent the note, and by what authority he was bound to obey it, the military men, who had accompanied the dispatch, furrounded the door of his box, and he was filenced by the clamours of, Democrat-out with the democratic fcoundrel-he ought to be hanged-irons, he ought to be put in irens directly. As he paffed through the lobby, he was purfued with fimilar exclamations, but received no perfonal violence. Dr. Knox made a fecond attempt to addrefs the houfe, but was overpowered by infults from thefe officers, and was obliged to withdraw with his family and friend; who were by this time come up to him, after Mrs. Knox had met with perfonal injury. After this difgraceful fcene, heightened by feveral circumftances detailed in the narrative, Dr. Knox and his party walked to his house without farther moleftation; and, on the day fol lowing, they left Brighton. We We have thus given the outline of this affair, because we cannot but regard it in a most serious light as an extenfion of military control over our places of diverfion, and even our churches, which, fhould it pafs unpunished and uncenfured, may furnish a most dangerous precedent to encourage our foldiers in the violation of thofe laws, and of that order, which they are fworn to defend. Many perfons will doubtlefs afk, why has not Dr. Knox published, entire, a fermon which has excited fo much attention? The reafon, which he affigns, is that he does not think it would answer the expectation which the irrational oppofition to it has excited, and that it was not written for publication. We own ourselves not fatisfied with this reafon. Viewing the tranfaction in the light in which it is reprefented in this pamphlet, and as totally unwarranted by any thing in the fermon itself, language does not occur to us fufficiently ftrong to exprefs the infamy which attaches to the conduct of the agents in that outrage:-but, in order to prevent the fufpicions which concealment ever excites, and to make manifeft, to all, the innocence which Dr. K. afferts, the fermon, verbatim et literatim, fhould have been given to the world. It is not yet too late to do this. The Doctor fays that it is ftill ready to appear, if he finds that the public call for it; and we think that this call must be pretty general. With regard to the compofition of this pamphlet, we must alfo express our opinion freely. It difplays ability in the art of writing, and who could doubt Dr. K.'s poffeffion of this ability? -but, if our judgment be right, on the prefent occafion irony and all humour are inappropriate. Dr. Knox's Prolegomena,' therefore, fhould not have appeared; and in the body of the work are feveral paragraphs and fentences of this kind which fhould have been erafed: nor can we wholly allow the admiffibility of the letters at the end. It muft, at the same time, be faid that there are many paffages which confer equal and great honour on the heart that could conceive them, and on the head that could dictate them. ART. XXI. Memoirs of the Literary and Philofophical Society of Manchefter. Vol. IV. Part I. 8vo. pp. 272. 5s. Boards. Cadell. 1793. A E. G.2. |