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Untitled Article
of a mild disposition and a pacific character . It is to this quarter then that Louis must look for sup- port * He must cherish his people . he must foster their arts , their commerce and their manufactures . I will further observe , that if he would wish to establish his throne
upon a lasting foundation , lie will do well to restrain notorious vices in his court , and to avoid , as his greatest bane , the scandal of pecuniary extravagance . The follies of Louis XV . are not forgotten , and the people of France shew every disposition to revolt against
unreasonable taxation . If any question should unfortunately arise between his people and himself , Louis XVIII . cannot rely upon the support of the army . Precluded then from governing by force ^ he can only govern by influencc And that influence is not
to be maintained by a priesthood , who have as yet no hold upon the public mind , but by prudence of personal conduct , and by wise and lenient measures of administration . Now , as far as personal character is concerned , it may be justly expected that the present monarch will regulate his reign by these principles : and when it is considered that the interest of the
marshals is now strictly united to those . of the present dynasty ; that the Peers also and the Corps Lcgislati / hsive irretrievably committed themselves in the same cause , we
may conclude that the House of Bourbon enjoys a reasonable prospect of swaying the sceptre of France for some generations to come .
But the prospect of the continuance of peace is affected by ¦ another circumstance , namely , the disposition of the people of
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; France I . And I am sorry to state that did not perceive in them any due sense of the blessings of
i i public tranquillity . The minds of the army both officers and privates are bent upon violence and rapine , and they care not upon whom these are exercised . Their
notions of warfare are not modified by the chivalrous spirit of modern times . They have even little regard for the welfare of their country . Plunder and promotion are
the main articles of their creed ; and they are leady to draw the sword without inquiring against whom . Nor are the balk of the
people chastised into wisdom by the events which have lately occurred to humble them . They cannot be persuaded that any of the ordinary occurrences of war could have exposed the French arms to disaster and defeat .
Their language already begins to be lofty , and the nation at large seems to wish for an opportunity of redeeming the military
credit , which , though they are too proud to acknowledge it they are conscious they have lost . The animosity both of the army and the people is most inveterate
against Austria , which power they loudly accuse of treachery and cupidity , political vices which they , very consistently , nodoubr , avow their wish to punish and restrain . On England also they look with an evil eye . They cannot bear to think of our naval
power , and they contemplate with all the jealousy of rivalry our commercial prosperity . The complaints of the prisoners of war whom we have lately dismissed in such numbers , are too readily iistened to , and aggravate feelings in themselves sufficiently turbulent .
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State and Prospects of France * 601
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1814, page 601, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2445/page/13/
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