No More Learning

464 ON THE POLICY OF THE ALLIES.
ture and outraged man as man. In this list, all the
regicides in general, all those who laid sacrilegious
hands on the king, who, without anything in their
own rebellious mission to the Convention to justify
them, brought him to his trial and unanimously
voted him guilty, - all those who had a share in the
cruel murder of the queen, and the detestable proceedings with regard to the young king and the
unhappy princesses, - all those who committed coldblooded murder anywhere, and particularly in their revolutionary tribunals, where every idea of natural
justice and of their own declared rights of man have
been trod under foot with the most insolent mockery,
- all men concerned in the burning and demolition
of houses or churches, with audacious and marked
acts of sacrilege and scorn offered to religion, -in
general, all the leaders of Jacobin clubs, - not one of
these should escape a punishment suitable to the nature, quality, and degree of their offence, by a steady, but a measured justice.
In the first place, no man ought to be subject to
any penalty, from the highest to the lowest, but by a
trial according to the course of law, carried on with
all that caution and deliberation which has been used
in the best times and precedents of the French jurisprudence, the criminal law of which country, faulty
to be sure in some particulars, was highly laudable
and tender of the lives of men. In restoring order
and justice, everything like retaliation ought to be
religiously avoided; and an example ought to be set
of a total alienation from the Jacobin proceedings in
their accursed revolutionary tribunals. Everything
like lumping men in masses, and of forming tables
of proscription, ought to be avoided.
? ? ? ? ON THE POLICY OF THE ALLIES. 465
In all these punishments, anything which can be
alleged in. mitigation of the offence should be fully
considered. Mercy is not a thing opposed to justice.
It is an essential part of it,-as necessary in criminal
cases as in civil affairs equity is to law. It is only
for the Jacobins never to pardon. They have not
done it in a single instance. A council of mercy
ought therefore to be appointed, with powers to report on each case, to soften the penalty, or entirely
to remit it, according to circumstances.
With these precautions, the very first foundation
of settlement must be to call to a strict account those
bloody and merciless offenders. Without it, govern --
ment cannot stand a year. People little considerthe utter impossibility of getting those who, having
emerged from very low, some from the lowest classes
of society, have exercised a power so high, and with
such unrelenting and bloody a rage, quietly to fall
back into their old ranks, and become humble, peaceable, laborious, and useful members of society. It
never can be. On the other hand, is it to be believed that any worthy and virtuous subject, restored to the ruins of his house, will with patience see the cold-blooded murderer of his father, mother,
wife, or children, or perhaps all of these relations,
(such things have been,) nose him in his own village,
and insult him with the riches acquired from the
plunder of his goods, ready again to head a Jacobin
faction to attack his life? He is unworthy of the
name of man who would suffer it. It is unworthy
of the name of a government, which, taking justice
out of the private hand, will not exercise it for the
injured by the public arm.
I know it sounds plausible, and is readily adopted
VOL. IV. 80
? ? ? ? 466 ON THE POLICY OF THE ALLIES.
by those who have little sympathy with the sufferings
of others, to wish to jumble the innocent and guilty
into one mass by a general indemnity. This cruel
indifference dignifies itself with the name of humanity.
It is extraordinary, that, as the wicked arts of this
regicide and tyrannous faction increase in number,
variety, and atrocity, the desire of punishing them
becomes more and more faint, and the talk of an
indemnity towards them every day stronger and
stronger. Our ideas of justice appear to be fairly
conquered and overpowered by guilt, when it is
grown gigantic. It is not the point of view in which
we are in the habit of viewing guilt. The crimes we
every day punish are really below the penalties we
inflict. The criminals are obscure and feeble. This
is the view in which we see ordinary crimes and criminals. But when guilt is seen, though but for a time,
to be furnished with the arms and to be invested with
the robes of power, it seems to assume another nature, and to get, as it were, out of our jurisdiction.
This I fear is the case with many. But there is another cause full as powerful towards this security to
enormous guilt, --the desire which possesses people
who have once obtained power to enjoy it at their
ease. It is not humanity, but laziness and inertness
of mnind, which produces the desire of this kind of indemnities. This description of men love general and
short methods. If they punish, they make a promiscuous massacre; if they spare, they make a general
act of oblivion. This is a want of disposition to proceed laboriously according to the cases, and according to the rules and principles of justice on each case: a want of disposition to assort criminals, to discrimi
? ? ? ? ON THE POLICY OF THE ALLIES. 467
nate tile degrees and modes of guilt, to separate accomplices from principals, leaders from followers, seducers from the seduced, and then, by following
the same principles in the same detail, to class punishments, and to fit them to the nature and kind of the delinquency. If that were once attempted, we
should soon see that the task was neither infinite
nor the execution cruel. There would be deaths,
but, for the number of criminals and the extent of
France, not many. There would be cases of transportation, cases of labor to restore what has been wickedly destroyed, cases of imprisonment, and cases
of mere exile. But be this as it may, I am sure, that,
if justice is not done there, there can be neither peace
nor justice there, nor in any part of Europe.
History is resorted to for other acts of indemnity
in other times. The princes are desired to look back
to Henry the Fourth. We are desired to look to the
restoration of King Charles. These things, in my
opinion, have no resemblance whatsoever. They
were cases of a civil war, - in France more ferocious,
in England more moderate than common. In neither
country were the orders of society subverted, religion and morality destroyed on principle, or property totally annihilated. In England, the government of
Cromwell was, to be sure, somewhat rigid, but, for a
new power, no savage tyranny. The country was
nearly as well in his hands as in those of Charles the
Second, and in some points much better. The laws
in general had their course, and were admirably administered. The king did not in reality grant an act of indemnity; the prevailing power, then in a manner the nation, in effect granted an indemnity to him. The idea of a preceding rebellion was not at all ad
? ? ? ? 468 ON THE POLICY OF THE ALLIES.
mitted in that convention and that Parliament. The
regicides were a common enemy, and as such given
up.
Among the ornaments of their place which eminently distinguish them, few people are better acquainted with the history of their own country than the illustrious princes now in exile; but I caution
them not to be led into error by that which has been
supposed to be the guide of life. I would give the
same caution to all princes. Not that I derogate from
the use of history. It is a great improver of the understanding, by showing both men and affairs in a
great variety of views. From this source much political wisdom may be learned, - that is, may be learned
as habit, not as precept, -and as an exercise to
strengthen the mind, as furnishing materials to enlarge and enrich it, not as a repertory of cases and
precedents for a lawyer: if it were, a thousand times
better would it be that a statesman had' never learned
to read, - vellem nescirent literas. This method turns
their understanding from the object before them, and
from the present exigencies of the world, to comparisons with former times, of which, after all, we can
know very little and very imperfectly; and our
guides, the historians, who are to give us their true
interpretation, are often prejudiced, often ignorant,
often fonder of system than of truth. Whereas, if a
man with reasonable good parts and natural sagacity,
and not in the leading-strings of any master, will look
steadily on the business before him, without being
diverted by retrospect and comparison, he may be
capable of forming a reasonable good judgment of
what is to be done. There are some fundamental
points in which Nature never changes; but they are
? ? ? ? ON THE POLICY OF THE ALLIES. 469
few and obvious, and belong rather to morals than to
politics. But so far as regards political matter, the
human mind and human affairs are susceptible of
infinite modifications, and of combinations wholly new
and unlooked-for. Very few, for instance, could have
imagined that property, which has been taken for natural dominion, should, through the whole of a vast
kingdom, lose all its importance, and even its influence. This is what history or books of speculation
could hardly have taught us. How many could have
thought that the most complete and formidable revolution in a great empire should be made by men of
letters, not as subordinate instruments and trumpeters of sedition, but as the chief contrivers and managers, and in a short time as the open administrators and sovereign rulers? Who could have imagined
that atheism could produce one of the most violently
operative principles of fanaticism? Who could have
imagined, that, in a commonwealth in a manner cradled in war, and in an extensive and dreadful war,
military commanders should be of little or no account, -- that the Convention should not contain one
military man of name,. - that administrative bodies,
in a state of the utmost confusion, and of but a momentary duration, and composed of men with not one
imposing part of character, should be able to govern
the country and its armies with an authority which
the most settled senates and the most respected monarchs scarcely ever had in the same degree? This,
for one, I confess I did not foresee, though all the
rest was present to me very early, and not out of my
apprehension even for several years.
I believe very few were able to enter into the effects of mere terror, as a principle not only for the
? ? ? ? 470 ON THE POLICY OF THE ALLIES.
support of power in given hands or forms, but in
those things in which the soundest political speculators were of opinion that the least appearance of force would be totally destructive, -- such is the market, whether of money, provision, or commodities of any kind. Yet for four years we have seen loans
made, treasuries supplied, and armies levied and
maintained, more numerous than France ever showed
in the field, by the effects offear alone.
Here is a state of things of which in its totality if
history furnishes any examples at all, they are very
remote and feeble. I therefore am not so ready as
some are to tax with folly or cowardice those who
were not prepared to meet an evil of this nature.
Even now, after the events, all the causes may be
somewhat difficult to ascertain. Very many are, however, traceable. But these things history and books of speculation (as I have already said) did not teach
men to foresee, and of course to resist. Now that
they are no longer a matter of sagacity, but of experience, of recent experience, of our own experience, it would be unjustifiable to go back to the records of
other times to instruct us to manage what they never
enabled us to foresee.
? ? ? ? APPEND IX.
EXTRACTS FROM VATTEL'S LAW OF NATIONS.
[The Titles, Marginal Abstracts, and Notes are by Mr. BURKE,
excepting such of the Notes as are here distinguished. ]
CASES OF INTERFERENCE WITH INDEPENDENT POWERS.
J" F, then, there is anywhere a nation of a restless
I and mischievous disposition, always ready to injure others, to traverse their designs, and to raise domestic troubles,* it is not to be doubted that all have a right to join in order to repress, chastise, and put
it ever after out of its power to injure them. Such
should be the just fruits of the policy which Machiavel praises in Caesar Borgia. The conduct followed
by Philip the Second, King of Spain, was adapted to
unite all -Europe against him; and it was from just
reasons that Henry the Great formed the design of
humbling a power formidable by its forces and pernicious by its maxims. " -Book II. ch. iv. ~ 53.
"Let us apply to the unjust what we have said
above (~ 53) of a mischievous or maleficent nation. If there be any that makes an open profession of trampling justice under foot, of despising and
* This is the case of France: - Semonville at Turin, -- Jacobin
clubs, --Liegeois meeting, -- Flemish meeting, -- La Fayette's an.
swer, - Clootz's embassy, - Avignon.
? ? ? ? 472 ON THE POLICY OF THE ALLIES.
violating the right of others,* whenever it finds an opportunity, the interest of human society will authorize all others to unite in order to humble and chastise it.
We do not here forget the maxim established in our
preliminaries, that it does not belong to nations to
usurp the power of being judges of each other. In
particular cases, liable to the least doubt, it ought
to be supposed that each of the parties may have
some right; and the injustice of that which has
committed the injury may proceed from error, and
not from a general contempt of justice. But if,
by constant maxims, and by a continued conduct, one
nation shows that it has evidently this pernicious
disposition, and that it considers no right as sacred, the safety of the human race requires that it
should be suppressed. To form and support an unjust pretension is to do an injury not only to him who
is interested in this pretension, but to mock at justice in
general, and to injure all nations. " - Ibid. ch. v. ~ 70.
To succor "If the prince, attacking the fundamenagainst
tyranny. tal laws, gives his subjects a legal right
to resist him, if tyranny, becoming insupportable,
obliges the nation to rise in their defence, every
foreign power has a right to succor an oppressed
people who implore their assistance. The English
Case of justly complained of James the Second.
English
Revolution. The nobility and the most distinguished paLriots resolved to put a check on his enterprises, which manifestly tended to overthrow the Constitution and to destroy the liberties and the religion of
the people, and therefore applied for assistance to the
United Provinces. The authority of the Prince of
* The French acknowledge no power not directly emanating from
the people.
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 473
Orange had, doubtless, an influence on the deliberations of the States-General; but it did not make them commit injustice: for when a people, from
good reasons, take up arms against an oppressor,
justice and generosity require that brave men should
be assisted in the defence of their liberties. Whenever,
therefore, a civil war is kindled in a state, Caseofcivil
war.
foreign powers may assist that party which
appears to them to have justice on their side. He
who assists an odious tyrant, he who declares Anodious
tyrant.
FOR AN UNJUST AND REBELLIOUS PEOPLE, Rebellious
offends against his duty. When the bands of people.
the political society are broken, or at least suspended
between the sovereign and his people, they Sovereign
and his
may then be considered as two distinct pow- people,
when disers; and since each is independent of all for- tinct
eign authority, nobody has a right to judge Powers.
them. Either may be in the right, and each of those
who grant their assistance may believe that he supports a good cause. It follows, then, in virtue of the voluntary law of nations, (see Prelim. ~ 21,) that
the two parties may act as having an equal right, and
behave accordingly, till the decision of the affair.
" But we ought not to abuse this maxim Nottobe
pursued to
for authorizing odious proceedings against an extreme.
the tranquillity of states. It is a violation of the law
of nations to persuade those subjects to revolt Endeavorto
persuade
who actually obey their sovereign, though they subjects to a
revolt.
complain of his government.
"The practice of nations is conformable to our
maxims. When the German Protestants came to the
assistance of the Reformed in France, the court never
undertook to treat them otherwise than as common
enemies, and according to the laws of war France
? ? ? ? 474 ON THE POLICY OF THE ALLIES.
at the same time assisted the Netherlahds, which
took up arms against Spain, and did not pretend that
her troops should be considered upon any other footing than as auxiliaries in a regular war. But no
Attempt to power avoids complaining of an atrocious inexcite sub
jeqts to re jury, if any one attempts by his emissaries to
excite his subjects to revolt.
Tyrants. "c As to those monsters, who, under the
title of sovereigns, render themselves the
scourges and horror of the human race, -these are
savage beasts, from which every brave mail may
justly purge the earth. All antiquity has praised
Hercules for delivering the world from an Antseus,
a Busiris, and a Diomedes. " - Ibid. ch. iv. ~ 56.
After stating that nations have no right to interfere in domestic concerns, he proceeds, --" But this
rule does not preclude them from espousing the quarrel of a dethroned king, and assisting him, if he appears to have justice on his side. They then declare themselves enemies of the nation which has acknowledged his rival; as, when two different nations are at
war, they are at liberty to assist that whose quarrel
they shall think has the fairest appearance. " - Book
IV. ch. ii. ~ 14.
CASE OF ALLIANCES. ' IT is asked if that alliance subsists with the king
and the royal family when by some revolution they
are deprived of their crown. We have lately remarked, ( ~ 194,) that a personal alliance expires with
the reign of him who contracted it: but that is to
be understood of an alliance with the state, limited, as
to its duration, to the reign of the contracting king.
This of which we are here speaking is of another na
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 475
ture. For though it binds the state, since When analliance to pre.
it is bound by all the public acts of its soV- serve a king
ereign, it is made directly in favor of the takes place.
king and his family; it would therefore be absurd
for it to terminate at the moment when they have
need of it, and at an event against which it was made.
Besides, the king does not lose his quality King does
not lose his
merely by the loss of his kingdom.
If he is quality by
the loss of
stripped of it unjustly by an usurper, or by his kingdom.
rebels, he preserves his rights, in the number of which
are his alliances. *
"But who shall judge if the king be dethroned
lawfully or by violence? An independent nation
acknowledges no judge. If the body of the nation
* By the seventh article of the Treaty of TRIPLE ALLIANCE, between France, England, and Holland, signed at the Hague, in the
year 1717, it is stipulated, " that, if the kingdoms, countries, or provinces of any of the allies are disturbed by intestine quarrels, or by rebellions, on account of the said successions," (the Protestant succession
to the throne of Great Britain, and the succession to the throne of
France, as settled by the Treaty of Utrecht,) "or under any other pretext
whatever, the ally thus in trouble shall have full right to demand of
his allies the succors above mentioned": that is to say, the same succors as in the case of an invasion from any foreign power, - 8,000 foot and 2,000 horse to be furnished by France or England, and 4,000 foot
and 1,000 -horse by the States-General.
By the fourth article of the Treaty of QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE,
between England, France, Holland, and the Emperor of Germany,
signed in the year 1718, the contracting powers,' promise and oblige
themselves that they will and ought to maintain, guaranty, and defend
the right of succession in the kingdom of France, according to the
tenor of the treaties made. at Utrecht the 11th day of April, 1713;. . . and this they shall perform against all persons whatsoever who may presume to disturb the order of the said succession, in contradiction to the
previous acts and treaties subsequent thereon. "
The above treaties have been revived and confirmed by every subsequent treaty of peace between Great Britain and France. - EDIT.
? ? ? ? 476 ON THE POLICY OF THE ALLIES.
declares the king deprived of his rights by the abuse
he has made of them, and deposes him, it may justly
do it when its grievances are well founded, and no other. power has a right to censure it. The personal ally
of this king ought not then to assist him against the
nation that has made use of its right in deposing
him: if he attempts it, he injures that nation. England declared war against Louis the Fourteenth, in
the year 1688, for supporting the interest of James
the Second, who was deposed in form by the nation.
The same country declared war against him a second
time, at the beginning of the present century, because
that prince acknowledged the son of the deposed
James, under the name of James the Third. In
Case where- doubtful cases, and when the body of the
in aid may
be given to nation has not pronounced, or HAS NOT PROa deposed
king. NOUNCED FREELY, a sovereign may naturally support and defend an ally; and it is then that
the voluntary law of nations subsists between different
states. The party that has driven out the king pretends to have right on its side; this unhappy king
and his ally flatter themselves with having the same
advantage; and as they have no common judge upon
earth, they have no other method to take but to apply to arms to terminate the dispute; they therefore
engage in a formal war.
Not obliged " In short, when the foreign prince has
to pursue
his right be- faithfully fulfilled his engagements towards
yond a certain point. an unfortunate'monarch, when he has done
in his defence, or to procure his restoration, all he
was obliged to perform in virtue of the alliance, if
his efforts are ineffectual, the dethroned prince cannot require him to support an endless war in his favor, or expect that he will eternally remain the enemy
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 477
of the nation or of the sovereign who has deprived
him of the throne. He must think of peace, abandon the ally, and consider him as having himself
abandoned his right through necessity. Thus Louis
the Fourteenth was obliged to abandon James the
Second, and to acknowledge King William, though
he had at first treated him as an usurper.
" The same question presents itself in real alliances,
and, in general, in all alliances made with the state,
and not in particular with a king for the defence
of his person. An ally ought, doubtless, to be defended against every invasion, against every foreign
violence, and even against his rebellious sub- Case of
defence
jects: in the same manner a republic ought against
subjects.
to be defended against the enterprises of one
who. attempts to destroy the public liberty. But it
ought to be remembered that an ally of the state or
the nation is not its judge. If the nation has deposed its king in form,- if the people of a republic
have driven out their magistrates and set themselves
at liberty, or acknowledged the authority of an usurper, either expressly or tacitly, - to oppose these domestic regulations, by disputing their justice or validity, would be to interfere in the government of the nation, and to do it an injury. (See ~ 54, and following, of this Book. ) The ally remains the ally of the
state, notwithstanding the change that has happened
in it. However, when this change renders the Case where
real alliances
alliance useless, dangerous, or disagreeable, it may be
renounced.
may renounce it; for it may say, upon a
good foundation, that it would not have entered into
an alliance with that nation, had it been under the
present form of government.
"We may say here, what we have said on a per
? ? ? ? 478 ON THE POLICY OF THE ALLIES.
sonal alliance: however just the cause of that king may
be who is driven from the throne either by his subjects or by a foreign usurper, his allies are not obliged Not an eter- to support an eternal war in his favor. After having made ineffectual efforts to restore
him, they must at length give peace to their people,
and come to an accommodation with the usurper, and
for that purpose treat with him as with a lawful sovereign. Louis the Fourteenth, exhausted by a bloody and unsuccessful war, offered at Gertruydenberg to
abandon his grandson, whom he had placed on the
throne of Spain; and when affairs had changed their
appearance, Charles of Austria, the rival of Philip,
saw himself, in his turn, abandoned by his allies.
They grew weary of exhausting their states in order
to give him the possession of a crown which they believed to be his due, but which, to all appearance, they should never be able to procure for him. " -
Book II. ch. xii. ~~ 196, 197.
DANGEROUS POWER.
All nations "IT is still easier to prove, that, should
may join. this formidable power betray any unjust and
ambitious dispositions by doing the least injustice to
another, every nation may avail themselves of the
occasion, and join their forces to those of the party
injured, in order to reduce that ambitious power, and
disable it from so easily oppressing its neighbors, or
keeping them in continual awe and fear. For an injury gives a nation a right to provide for its future safety by taking away from the violator the means of
oppression. It is lawful, and even praiseworthy, to
assist those who are oppressed, or unjustly attacked. "
- Book III. ch. iii. ~ 45.
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 479
SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
" EUROPE forms a political system, a body where
the whole is connected by the relations and different interests of nations inhabiting this part of the
world. It is not, as anciently, a confused heap of
detached pieces, each of which thought itself very little concerned in the fate of others, and seldom regarded things which did not immediately relate to it. The continual attention of sovereigns to what is on
the carpet, the constant residence of ministers, and
the perpetual negotiations, make Europe a kind of a
republic, the members of which, though inde- Europe a
republic
pendent, unite, through the ties of common in- to preserve
order and
terest,for the maintenance of order and liberty. liberty.
Hence arose that famous scheme of the political equilibrium, or balance of power, by which is understood
such a disposition of things as no power is able absolutely to predominate or to prescribe laws to others. "
- Book III. ch. iii. ~ 47.
" Confederacies would be a sure way of preserving
the equilibrium, and supporting the liberty of nations, did all princes thoroughly understand their
true interests, and regulate all their steps for the
good of the state. " - Ibid. ~ 49.
CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY.
"INSTEAD of the pillage of the country and defenceless places, a custom has been substituted more humane and more advantageous to the sovereign making war: I mean that of contributions. Whoever carries on a just war* has a right of making the enemy's
* Contributions raised by the Duke of Brunswick in France.
Compare these with the contributions raised by the French in the
Netherlands. - EDIT.
? ? ? ? 480 ON THE POLICY OF THE ALLIES.
country contribute to the support of the army, and towards defraying all the charges of the war. Thus he obtains a part of what is due to him, and the subjects
of the enemy, on submitting to this imposition, are
secured from pillage, and the country is preserved.
But a general who would not sully his reputation is
To be to moderate his contributions, and propormoderate.
tion them to those on whom they are imposed. An excess in this point is not without the
reproach of cruelty and inhumanity: if it shows less
ferocity than ravage and destruction, it glares with
avarice. " - Book III. ch. ix. ~ 165.
ASYLUM.
" IF an exile or banished man is driven from his
country for any crime, it does not belong to the nation in which he has taken refuge to punish him for
a fault committed in a foreign country. For Nature
gives to mankind and to nations the right of punishing only for their defence and safety (~ 169): whence it follows that he can only be punished by those he
has offended.
" But this reason shows, that, if the justice of
each nation ought in general to be confined to the
punishment of crimes committed in its own territories, we ought to except from this rule the villains
who, by the quality and habitual frequency of their
crimes, violate all public security, and declare themselves the enemies of the human race. Poisoners. assassins, and incendiaries by profession may be exterminated wherever they are seized; for they attack and injure all nations by trampling under foot the
foundations of their common safety. Thus pirates are
brought to the gibbet by the first into whose hands
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 481
they fall. If the sovereign of the country where
crimes of that nature have been committed reclaims
the authors of them in order to bring them to punishment, they ought to be restored to him, as to one who
is principally interested in punishing them in an exemplary manner: and it being proper to convict the
guilty, and to try them according to some form of
law, this is a second [not sole] reason why malefactors are usually delivered up at the desire of the
state where their crimes have been committed. " -
Book I. ch. xix. ~~ 232, 233.
" Every nation has a right of refusing to admit a
stranger into the country, when he cannot enter it
without putting it in evident danger, or without doing it a remarkable prejudice. " * -Ibid. ~ 230.
FOREIGN MINISTERS.
"TIE obligation does not go so far as to suffer at
all times perpetual ministers, who are desirous of residing with a sovereign, though they have nothing to
negotiate. It is natural, indeed, and very agreeable
to the sentiments which nations owe to each other,
that these resident ministers, when there is nothing to
be fearedfrom their stay, should be friendly received;
but if there be any solid reason against this, what is
for the good of the state ought unquestionably to be
preferred: and the foreign sovereign cannot take it
amiss, if his minister, who has concluded the affairs of
his commission, and has no other affairs to negotiate,
be desired to depart. t The custom of keeping every* The third article of the Treaty of Triple Alliance and the latter part of the fourth article of the Treaty of Quadruple Alliance stipulate, that no kind of refuge or protection shall be given to rebellious subjects of the contracting powers. - EDIT.
t Dismission of M. Chauvelin. -EDIT.
VOL. IV. 31
? ? ? ? 482 ON THE POLICY OF THE ALLIES.
where ministers continually resident is now so strongly established, that the refusal of a conformity to it
would, without very good reasons, give offence. These
reasons may arise from particular conjunctures; but
there are also common reasons always subsisting, and
such as relate to the constitution of a government and
the state of a nation. The republics have often very
good reasons of the latter kind to excuse themselves
from continually suffering foreign ministers who corrupt the citizens in order to gain them over to their masters, to the great prejudice of the republic andfomenting of the parties, &c. And should they only diffuse among a nation, formerly plain, frugal, and virtuous,
a taste for luxury, avidity for money, and the manners of courts, these would be more than sufficient for
wise and provident rulers to dismiss them. " -Book
IV. ch. v. ~ 66.
END OF VOL. IV.
? ? ? The works of the Right Honorable Edmund Burke.
Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797.
Boston : Little, Brown, and company, 1869.
http://hdl. handle. net/2027/miun. aba1206. 0005. 001
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? ? ? THE
WO RKS
OF
THE RIGHT HONORABLE
EDM UND BUR KE,
THIRD EDITION.
VOL. V.
BOSTON:
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. I869.
? ? ? ? CONTENTS OF VOL. V.
I'AGH
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CONDUCT OF THE MINORITY, PARTICULARLY IN THE LAST SESSION OF PARLIAMENT, 1793 1 PREFACE TO THE ADDRESS OF M. BRISSOT TO HIS CONSTITUENTS: WITH AN APPENDIX. 65
LETTER TO WILLIAM ELLIOT, ESQ. , OCCASIONED BY A
SPEECH MADE IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS BY THE ****//
OF * * * * * * ~* IN THE DEBATE CONCERNING LORD
FITZWILLIAM, 1795. 107
THOUGHTS AND DETAILS ON SCARCITY. . . . 131
LETTER TO A NOBLE LORD ON THE ATTACKS MADE UPON
MR. BURKE AND HIS PENSION, IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS,
BY THE DUKE OF BEDFORD AND THE EARL OF LAUDERDALE, 1796. 171
THREE LETTERS TO A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT ON THE
PROPOSALS FOR PEACE WITH THE REGICIDE DIRECTORY
OF FRANCE.
LETTER I. ON THE OVERTURES OF PEACE. . 23a
LETTER II. ON THE GENIUS AND CHARACTER OF THE
FRENCH REVOLUTION AS IT REGARDS OTHER
NATIONS. 342
LETTER III. ON THE RUPTURE OF THE NEGOTIATION;
THE TERMS OF PEACE PROPOSED; AND THE RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY FOR THE CONTINUANCE OF THE WAR. 384
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