1792

Thomas Beddoes to Davies Giddy, 11 May [1792]

Dear Giddy

A few days ago I shd have sent off the enclosed report with much greater satisfaction. At present the conduct of that part of the French people with on which the eyes of mankind are intent forms so unpleasant a contrast with the principles the whole nation has professed that I am somewhat disposed to question whether your solitary speculations at Tredrea have not as much influence on the happiness of Cornwall as the decrees of the Nat. Ass. on that of France. I cd easily at this moment resign myself to despondency: to that sullen sort of depression when one has no heart to complain & not energy enough to be fretful. There has been too much already to regret but the incidental evil was so soon & so largely to have been redeemed that it wd, I thought, have been cowardly & criminal to have abated of hope or ardour on this acct But this last complication of guilt, cowardice & misfortune is not calculated to stagger merely the unthinking & shock the prejudiced. It has not character in common with those excesses which originate in the intemperate spirit of newly acquired freedom. The French Revolution is every day losing that amiable aspect which it wore in the beginning: it is no longer a revolution cemented by water instead of blood. As to these murderers of their officer, of an unoffending priest & what I am utterly at a loss to conceive, of their prisoners, they are wild beasts broke loose & must either be hunted to death, or taken & chained more securely than ever. And how many more such may there be in the army? I am able to guess, but it is very clear that the most malignant croaker cd not have prognosticated an outset half so inauspicious. You feel very sensible how it must affect both the Austrians & the French officers, who ought to have fd in the confidence & voluntary obedience of the troops a compensation for what they have lost in pride & power by the establishment of the new system. Sitting here & imagining myself a French officer, I shd feel only shame & grief & indignation, witht any abatement of my zeal. But in so large a body must there not be many who are patriots more from example & authority, than from that conviction which is proof agt an untoward series of events? must there <not> be many fluctuating minds, where the old prejudices are watching but for a favourable opportunity to return; & where if they shd once return they will root themselves for ever? If there shd not arise one unanimous cry from all France & especially from the armies agt the perpetrators of these atrocities, I shall hardly wish a good cause to prosper in such hands. It is said Rochambeau must resign. But of this I do not believe a syllable. He will be the last man to despair of his country, or else time must have made in a mind terrible havoc in a mind so firm, equitable & well-disciplined as an hundred anecdotes from America prove his to have once been.

Mr Winwood to whose clear & copious eleoquence I was obliged to listen, I verily believe, three whole hours by the Shifnal clock gave me the first intelligence of your return. From what he said I cd gather enough to perceive that this transaction does about as much credit to a certain honourable house as the affair of Tournay to the detachment of the French army. It wd I shd imagine be well worthy of you to state the merits of the questions to the public; for I apprehend the case to be so clear that a commentary of invectives agt a pack of [xxxx] knaves from whom there is no obtaining the most palpable justice wd be unnecessary, though perfectly justifiable.

I lately sent a curious detail of facts relative to the manoeuvres of our government, that appear pretend to be so pure & immaculate, to the Morning Chronicle. I verily believe the editor of that paper will be afraid to publish my letter, though subscribed with my name. Yet I cannot imagine what can be the objection. I suppose there is nothing libellous, though I do not understand the term: and although I wd not suppress or palliate the truth from the dread of an Attorney General, I wd not wantonly seek to become conspicuous by prosecution or persecution. I know not which is the more detestable or pernicious character, he who flatters the passions of kings or influences those of the people. Both the one & the other are copious sources of human misery; the former the more permanent, the latter the more violent while it lasts. I do not desire to set either a flowing.

There is, as you may suppose, a general alacrity prevailing here, since the news from Lisle. And to a certain degree doubtless, I can join in the common sentiment. But while I execrate the savages of Tournai, it does not follow that the whole French Nation is involved in their guilt, though they may suffer from the wrong. It will however be of no use to make distinctions of this sort. Truth & right must stand or fall with the nation that has proclaimed them.

Thomas Beddoes

Oxford May 11th

I find myself obliged to defer the juge de Paix till Edwards leaves college. I cannot lay my hand upon it tonight & Millet sets off at 3 in the morning

If it is convenient to you I should be glad if you would make me <in the course of a fortnight> a fashionable hat or bonnet price not to exceed 15 shillings but as much lower as you can you will please at the same time to make a black silk bonnet for my mother. Let the shape & trimmings be fashionable but of a moderate size [xxxx] [xxxx] <suitable to> her age

Address: To / Davies Giddy Esqre
Endorsement: Doctor Beddoes / 1792 / May the 11th
MS: Cornish Archives MS DG 41/3 and 41/36

The full versions of these letters with textual apparatus will be published by Cambridge University Press.