V. Another good confequencc that (liould re-

fblt from the account that has been given of tlie proceedings of this confpiracy is, that lince the fafcinatiug picture of human life, by which men have been wheedled into immediate anarchy and rebellion, is infmcere, and a mere artificial crea- ture of the imagination, it can have no (leadinefs, but muft be changed by every freak of fancy, or by every ingenious fophifl, who can give an equal plaufibility to whatever fuits his prefcnt views. It is as much an airy phantom as any other whim of Free Mafonry, and has no prototype, no original pattern in human nature, to which recourfe may always be had, to correal mifcakes, and keep things in a conllant tenor. Has not France given the
moft
340 THE FREKCH REVOLUTION. CHAP, Ws
moil unequivocal proofs of this? Was not the de- cJaration of the Rights of Man, the produ£tion of their mod brilliant Iliuminators, a picture, in ab- flraCio^ where man was placed at a diftance from the eye, that no faHc light of local fituation might pervert the judgment or engage the paflions? Wa5 it not declared to be the mafter-piece of human wifdom? Did not the nation confider it at leifure? and, having it continually before their eyes, did they not, flep by flep, give their affent to the dif- ferent articles of their Conftitution, derived from it, and fabricated by their moH choice Illumina- tors? And did not this Conftitution draw the ap- plaufes of tlie bright geniufes of other nations^ who by this time were bufy in perfuading^ each his countrymen, that they were ignoramufes in ftatiftics, and patient flaves of opprcllion or of an-* cient prejudices? Did not panegyrics on it ifTue from every garret in London ? Where is it now ? where is its (uccefTor ? Has any one plan of govern- ment fubfiiled, except v/hile it was fupported by the incontroulable and inexorable power of the guillotine? Is not the prefent adminiftration of France as much as ever the object of difcontent and of terror, and its coercions as like aS ever to the fummary jullice of the Paridan mob? Is there any probability of its permanency in a flate of peace, w hen the fears of a foreign enemy no lon-^ ger give a confoiidation to their meafures, and oblige them either to agree among themfelvcs, or immediately to perifh?