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the scite of the Bastille ; from which a grand street was * projected to the front of the Louvre , through the whole length of the city . The canal of Ourque , a grand work of his for the supply of Paris with water , was to have formed . a fountain through
the proboscis of the elephant . It is said that he invited the artists to furnish him with designs for a monument , to be erected on this spot , and having received them , he proposed his own of the elephant , which was characteristic of its author , but will
probably never be completed . Whereever you turn is some majestic monument of his taste . In fact , the grandeur of Paris was his creation , and you now see workmen busy in all parts , scratching out his name and defacing his eagles . This is very
pitiful . The Bourbons , in their attempts to disgrace Napoleon by pulling down his statues and obliterating the ensigns of his power , are directing their attack against his least vulnerable part , and inviting a comparison greatly to their own disadvantage .
He executed many great works of lasting utility , and many of amazing splendour . Under his auspices the internal government of the country was wise and effectual : property was
sacred , and crimes were rare , because they could not be committed with impunity . It was through the madness of his external policy that his tyranny had become intolerable ; for this he drained the best blood of his
people , and sacrificed the commerce and manufactures of France ; and to render the nation subservient to his ambition he laboured to enslave it . Let his successors pursue an opposite course : let them study peace , encourage commerce , and cherish liberty ; then they will have no rival in Buounparte . I think there is not in France
any political party in his interest . If we view France at large , apart from the busy politicians of the metropolis , nine-tenths of the people will he republicans when put to the test .
• To the republic they owe all they possess of property and independence ; out their only present prayer is for 'epose and security . Let the restored monarch look to this . There is a
strong party in favour of tranquillity ; but very little love for royalty out of the immediate circle of the court , louch , or only threaten , the present
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arrangement of property , and such a fermentation will be excited in the republican mass , as will shake Paris , and " discover its foundations . " With regard to the late Emperor , there seems to be no cement by which a party can be united for him . Many , no doubt , have lost situations of profit
which they held under his government . The host of officers of revenue , and of all the departments of state who have been displaced ; these naturally regret the power which nourished them 3 but they are now mere individuals , who , with their places , have lost much of their influence . The
army too may regret him ; but it had suffered so deeply by his latter madness , that I really believe , highly as they respect him in character of General , they do not wish for exactly such a leader . Beside , a large part of the army is now re-settled in good
pay and quarters under the present government ; and there is little prospect of Napoleon ' s , being in a situation to stand forward as a rallying point for the discontented among the remainder . A good lesson this for the present king . The fermentation of
twenty-five years has purged off that mystical affection called loyalty , ( so serviceable to kings and governments , that they have classed it among the cardinal virtues of a good citizen , ) and they will value their government
like other things , according to its usefulness . Their experience has given , them more to fear than to hope from their rulers : reverse it , and they need not fear a competitor , though backed by all the potentates of
Europe . In speaking of parties I had forgotten the brood of priests which is hatching in all quarters . They are objects of derision and disgust whereever they appear . Their contracted shoulders , inclined heads , and hands
dangling from their weak wrists , together with their immense hats and long earn blot gowns , give them a sneaking demeanour , which contrasts most unfavourably with the erect gait and manly air of all . other descriptions of people . It is a miserable thing that a class of men , born like their fellows *
" Vultu erecto couspicere coelum , * should be so debased by bigotry or hypocrisy . Religion , that most sub lime relation , which connects man with his Maker , must ennoble the
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State of France . 7-5
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1815, page 75, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1757/page/11/
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