1730 men. That they would present to the world the new spectacle of a "nation, truly free, submissive to the laws of justice amid the storms of "war, and respecting every where, and on every occasion towards all men the rights which are the same to all. Peace," say they," which impos"ture, intrigue, and treason have banished, will never cease to be the "object of our wishes."-Those persons who were led by a consciousness of uprightness in themselves to rely on the faith of a great nation, who were too little practised in the artifices of the political world, to suppose that such a declaration was intended to deceive mankind, with a view of promoting the interests of this government, by gaining the public opinion in its favour, could not but congratulate themselves on the arrival of this harbinger of peace, and the prospect of those happy days when other nations would be induced by the example of France to adopt these pacific principles, and when, of course, the world would exhibit an universal scene of justice, benevolence, and tranquillity.-Fortunately, those who, from their stations in society, were most interested in knowing the maxims of this state, knew that, had they spoken with candour, they would have acknowledged that expediency and a regard to the peculiar interests of the existing government were the standard of their conduct.-This was so clearly manifested in their contemporary transactions that the delusion could take place only among such as did not attend to them.-The national assembly, we have seen, had violated the laws of justice by stripping the church of the greater part of its revenue, without even making the present proprietors, who had given up the profit they might have derived from other pursuits, an adequate compensation. That they might give them a further proof of their sincerity in the fraternal embrace with which they had been received by the tiers etat, when they needed their support, they now passed a decree, "that such of them as should neglect to take the "oath to the nation, the law, and the king, enjoined by a former decree, "should be deemed virtually ejected from their benefices."-This oath was intended to free the existing government of the danger it apprehended from the intrigues of the clergy who were disaffected to it, and may, therefore, be justified upon the principle of expediency. But if we consider that the decree called on them, virtually, to retract the oath of allegiance which they had taken to the old government, which they thought could not be conscientiously done, and that the greater part of them had discovered no seditious disposition, it cannot but be deemed an act of injustice and oppression.-The only compensation to the suffering clergy was the opportunity it afforded them of shewing their integrity and a more eminent example of it was, perhaps, never exhibited. For, of a hundred and thirty-one bishops, three only chose to sacrifice their principles to their temporal interests.' Another example of the maxims by which the French government regulated its conduct, and the arbitrary manner in which it determined points relative to foreign as well as domestic policy, was the affair between it and the pope respecting the comtat of Avignon. This country, which had been the property of the counts of Provence, had been given to the see of Rome in the fourteenth century by the heiress of it, Joanna queen of Naples and countess of Provence. This year, a powerful party in the comtat and the Venaissin, which also belonged to the ecclesiastical state, revolted against the papal government, and desired to be incorporated in the state of France. A contest ensued between them and the pope's partisans, which was attended with some bloodshed. And the result was that, after some deliberations in the assembly, it was resolved, that the territory of Avignon and the county of Venaissin should henceforth be considered as a part of the French dominions; and that a compensation should be offered to his holiness. In consequence of this, a body of troops was sent to support the French partisans and to take possession of the city and territories. That the national assembly did not carry their professed submission to the laws of justice to every branch of the human race was seen in another transaction at this time.-In the autumn of 1789 the ministry had received the alarming intelligence of a violent contest, in the island of St. Domingo, between the mulattoes and the planters supported by the white inhabitants, occasioned by a petition from the former to the assembly of the island, that they might be admitted to the common rights of citizens. This was not granted them: on the contrary, they were insulted and abused for their presumption in asking it.-A representation of what had passed was laid Annual Register. 156. before Rabaut de St. Etienne, 188. 1790 1790 before the national assembly this year. But, instead of conferring on the mulattoes the rights which they had declared to be due to all mankind, and which they had themselves asserted by the subversion of the ancient monarchy, they thought it expedient to temporize; and passed a decree,† which pleased neither party, and left a source of discord and enmity among them which soon after broke out in a more tremendous civil war.* Among the occurrences of this year the appearance of an extraordinary character, bearing the name of Anacharsis Clootz, before the national assembly, deserves to be noticed, as it shews, though in a trifling incident, the effect of those sentiments which the French government were endeavouring to impress on the minds of men.-This man, who was a malecontent Prussian, introduced himself to the assembly at the head of a motley tribe, who called themselves "the virtual ambassadors of all those "enslaved nations who wished to be free, and were therefore disposed to "enter into fraternity with France, for the glorious purpose of establishing liberty * + May 15. The conduct of the national assembly was prudent and politic, but not consistent with their own principles. 66 Privileges," says Rabaut, 66 were the cause of these calamities, and the prema*ture pretension of the people of colour, joined to the unseasonable pride of the whites, proved "the ruin of the superb colony of San Domingo. The mulatto, or free man of colour, is the "offspring of a white man and a negro woman; these mulattoes have obtained the gift of freedom " from their fathers, and are, for the most part, proprietors. As the race is propagated, their com"plexion becomes clear, and they multiply in a much greater degree than the whites, who, besides, "indulge the hope of returning to their native country. So abject was their condition, that the white father would not eat at the same table with his coloured son. This prejudice took its rise "from the circumstance of the mulattoes being partly of slavish origin; and the prejudice was "supported by policy; for the whites being to the blacks but in the proportion of one to ten, "they unceasingly endeavoured to instil into the latter an opinion that the whites were a race of "superior beings, whom Heaven had appointed to command the race of blacks. They had consi"dered it as necessary, or as soothing to their pride, to extend this disdainful treatment to the men "of colour, although free, because there are also some amongst them who are slaves.". "-[Rabaut. 190.]—The decree ordained with respect to those persons who were not free, that no law relative to the condition of persons not free, could be enacted by the legislative body, unless upon the spontaneous and formal requisition of the colonial assemblies. It ordained, with respect to those who were free, that men of colour, born of free fathers and free mothers, should be admitted into all the assemblies; and that, as to those not born of free fathers and free mothers, the legislative body should not determine their political condition, unless upon the previous desire of the colonies, spontaneously and freely expressed. This degree, when it arrived at San Domingo, is said to have proved agreeable to neither party. The men of colour were not satisfied, as they are, for the most part, not born of free fathers and free mothers. The whites were still apprehensive, from the intelligence which they received from Europe, that the assembly would some day restore liberty to the blacks.-Rabaut. 194. liberty throughout the world."-What the origin of this farce was, whether it originated in the brain of the enthusiast himself, or was suggested to him by persons who had some political purposes to answer by it, does not appear to have been known. The ambassadors were seen in too ridiculous a light to claim any further notice from the assembly than what the bombast harangue of their chief demanded. But it was immediately followed by a decree for the removal of those figures of chained slaves, intended to represent prostrate, conquered nations, which surrounded the statue of Lewis the fourteenth in the place de victoires. 1790 SPAIN. THE enemies of Great Britain entertained sanguine hopes, at this time, of seeing her involved in a war with his catholic majesty on the subject of a settlement formed by some British merchants at Nootka Sound, on the north-west coast of America, for the purpose of opening a trade to that country. But, when hostilities were ready to be commenced, they were happily prevented by a convention between the two crowns,† the purport of which is given in the English history. Thus was the Spanish nation relieved from the dreaded evils of foreign war. But they were alarmed, and were in some degree sufferers, by a calamity of a different nature. The town and fortress of Oran, on the coast of Africa, together with three hundred of the garrison and two thousand of the inhabitants, were destroyed by repeated shocks of an earthquake, in the months of september and october.--The bey of Mascara, in which province it is situated, availed himself of their distress to attack the fortress: but he was repulsed in his cruel attempt with great loss. ECCLESIASTICAL + October 18. a Annual Register. 148. Idem. 1790 1790 ECCLESIASTICAL STATE. THE pope, who had distinguished himself by his resignation during the arbitrary proceedings of the French government relative to the church, was provoked to exert himself by the attack now made on the patrimony of the holy see; and, being engaged in the contest, we shall see him led by his warmth of temper to adopt measures which were not adapted to the circumstances of the times, and which exposed him to the malicious persecution of a cruel, tyrannical democracy.-The comtat of Avignon and the Venaissin had made part of the domains of the counts of Provence, and had been given to the church of Rome by Joanna, queen of Sicily and countess of Provence, in 1348. It had ever been a territory much desired by the kings of France, rather on account of its situation, and the inconveniencies attending its remaining in the hands of the pope, than its intrinsic value. Attempts had, therefore, been made by them to gain possession of it whenever a dispute with the court of Rome afforded them a pretext. But in the issue of the contest, the territory had ever been restored. But France now had rulers which had less reverence for the holy see than her kings had shewn. When one of the deputies from Provence expressed a wish for the re-union of the comtat to the French monarchy, and was supported by a strong party in the districts, the government, which was not embarrassed with scruples of conscience or rigid principles of justice, readily embraced the opportunity of making the much-desired acquisition.-Pius, roused to resistance, dispatched a bull to Avignon, annulling all the ordinances which had been extorted from his vice-legate. But his efforts, unsupported by a military force, were unavailing. And the French party acquired so great an ascendency, that the nine districts of the comtat unanimously expressed their desire to be incorporated with the department of the mouths of the Rhone.-It may be considered as one of the delusions of this age, so fatal to ancient establishments, that 2 Sce 1774. + In April. |