ࡱ> >@= -bjbj99 48[{_[{_%%###8[w#t"$BBWTTTTTTT %.FTm0TG@GTGTTBB@G : Primary source: a manuscript letter by Thomas Paine to Georges Danton in the French Revolution, just as the Terror was beginning. Archives nationales de France, AN: AF/II/45, Collection 348, doc. 44 The following letter is by the revolutionary Thomas Paine, author of Rights of Man and influential supporter of the American and French Revolutions. In 1792, he fled Britain, where he faced charges for seditious libel. Despite having weak French, he was elected to the French National Convention (a dignified escape route from Britain!) and was present in the Convention just as France was sliding into its Terror phase. France was on the edge of civil war and was indeed at war with much of Europe. Paines letter was addressed to Georges Danton, a famous Jacobin and leading force in the Convention, alongside Robespierre. Danton was a driving force behind the creation of revolutionary tribunals the judicial instruments of the Terror. What in this letter strikes you as odd, surprising and worthy of further research? What questions does it raise about the nature and extent of the civil liberties associated with the Enlightenment, namely, free speech? Paris, May 6th 1793, Year 2 of the Republic Citoyen Danton, As you read English, I write this letter to you without passing it through the hands of a translator. I am exceedingly distressed at the distractions, jealousies, discontents and uneasiness that reign among us and which if they continue will bring ruin and disgrace on the republic. When I left America in the year 1787, it was my intention to return the year following; but the French revolution and the prospect it afforded of extending the principles of liberty (and squeezed above between two lines) and fraternity through the greater part of Europe have induced me to prolong my stay upwards of six years. I now despair of seeing the great object of European liberty accomplished, and my despair arises not from the combined foreign powers, not from the intrigues of aristocracy and priest-craft but from the tumultuous misconduct with which the internal affairs of the present revolution is conducted. All that can now be hoped for is limited to France only, and I perfectly agree with your motion of not interfering in the government of any foreign country, nor permitting any foreign country to interfere in the Government of France. This decree was necessary as a preliminary towards terminating the war. But while those internal contentions continue, while the hope remains to the enemy of seeing the republic fall to pieces, while not only the representatives of the departments but representation itself is publicly insulted as it has lately been and now is by the people of Paris or at least by the tribunes, the enemy will be encouraged to hang about the frontiers and wait the event of circumstances. I observe that the confederated powers have not yet recognized monsieur or dArtois as regent, nor made any proclamation in favour of any of the Bourbons, but this negative conduct admits of two different conclusions. The one is that of abandoning the Bourbons and the war together, the other is that of changing the object of the war and substituting a partition scheme in the place of their first object as they have done by Poland. If this should be their object, the internal contentions that now rage will favour that object far more than it favoured their former object. The danger everyday increases of a rupture between Paris and the Departments. The departments did not send their deputies to Paris to be insulted; and every insult shown to them is an insult to the departments that elected and sent them. I see but one effectual plan to prevent this rupture taking place and that is to fix the residence of the Convention and of the future Assemblies at a distance from Paris. I saw during the American revolution, the exceeding inconvenience that arose by having the government of Congress within the limits of any municipal jurisdiction. Congress first resided in Philadelphia and after a residence of four years it found it necessary to leave it. It then adjourned to the state of Jersey. It afterwards moved to New York. It again removed from New York to Philadelphia and after experiencing in every one of those places the great inconvenience of a government within a government it formed the project of building a town not within the limits of any municipal jurisdiction for the future residence of Congress. In every one of the places where Congress resided, the municipal authority privately or openly opposed itself to the authority of Congress, and the people of each of those places expected more attention from Congress than their equal share with the other states amounted to. The same things now take place in Paris but on a far greater excess. I see also another embarrassing circumstance arising in Paris, of which we have had full experience in America. I mean that of fixing the price of provisions. But if this measure is to be attempted it ought to be done by the municipality. The Convention has nothing to do with regulations of this kind; neither can they be carried into practice. The people of Paris may say they will not give more than a certain price for provisions, but as they cannot compel the country people to bring provisions to market, the consequence will be directly contrary to their expectations, and they will find dearness and famine instead of plenty and cheapness. They may force the price down upon the stock in hand, but after that the market will be empty. I will give you an example. In Philadelphia we undertook among other regulations of this kind to regulate the price of salt; the consequence was that no salt was brought to the market and the price rose to thirty six shillings sterling per bushel. The price before the war was only one shilling and sixpence per bushel; and we regulated the price of flour (farine) till there was none in the market and the people were glad to procure it [at] any price. There is also a circumstance to be taken into the account, which is not much attended to. The assignats are not of the same value they were a year ago, and as their quantity increase the value of them will diminish. This gives the appearance of things being dear when they are not so in fact, for in the same proportion that any kind of money falls in value articles rise in price. If it were not for this the quantity of assignats would be too great to be circulated. Paper money in America fell so much in value from the excessive quantity of it that in the year 1781, I gave three hundred paper dollars for one pair of worsted stockings. What I write you upon this subject is experience and not merely opinion. I have no personal interest in any of those matters nor in any party disputes. I attend only to general principles. As soon as a Constitution shall be established I shall return to America; and be the future prosperity of France ever so great I shall enjoy no other part of it than the happiness of knowing it. In the meantime, I am distressed to see matters so badly conducted and so little attention paid to moral principles. It is these things that injures the character of the Revolution and discourages the progress of liberty all over the world. When I began this letter I did not intend making it so lengthy, but since I have gone thus far, I will fill up the remainder of the sheet with such matters as shall occur to me. There ought to be some regulation with respect to the spirit of denunciation that now prevails. If every individual is to indulge his private malignancy or his private ambition, to denounce at random and without any kind of proof, all confidence will be undermined and all authority be destroyed. Calumny is a species of treachery that ought to be punished as well as any other kind of treachery. It is a private vice productive of public evil, because it is possible to irritate men into disaffection by continual calumny who never intended to be disaffected. It is therefore equally as necessary to guard against the evils of unfounded or malignant suspicion as against the evils of blind confidence. It is equally as necessary to protect the character of public officers from calumny as it is to punish them for treachery or misconduct. For my own part I shall hold it a matter of doubt, until better evidence arise than is known at present whether Dumourier has been a traitor from policy or from resentment. There certainly was a time when he acted well; but it is not every man whose mind is strong enough to bear up against ingratitude, and I think he experienced a great deal of this before he revolted. Calumny becomes harmless and defeats itself when it attempts to act upon too large a scale. Thus the denunciation of the section against the twenty-two deputies falls to the ground. The departments that elected them are better judges of their moral and political character than those who have denounced them. This denunciation will injure Paris in the opinion of the departments because it has the appearance of dictating to them what sort of deputies they shall elect. Most of the acquaintances that I have in the Convention are among those who are in that list and I know there are not better men nor better patriots than what they are. I have written a letter to Marat of the same date as this, but not on the same subject He may show it to you if he chooses. Votre ami, Thomas Paine     PAGE  PAGE 1    = B L X ] a o < ! ѽѽѽѽѽѽѽѽѽѽѵ𪞕zohOhOCJaJhOhwoCJaJhifCJaJh%}VCJaJhifCJH*aJhOh~CJH*aJhOh~CJaJhSfCJaJhYx6CJaJhYxhSfCJaJhSfhSf6CJaJhY?CJaJhY?hY?CJaJhY?CJaJhYxCJaJ* 5 6 ^& q"$S%*,gdSf1%&lZEqu  U%v'**,-----------------ɾ߳߳߳߳|v|vr|v|hif hif0Jjhif0JUh%jh%UhOhMMCJaJhSfhMMCJaJhSfh~fCJaJhOh~fCJaJhOhSCJaJhSfhSCJaJhSfh~CJaJhOhOCJaJhOh~CJaJhifh~CJaJ,,$------------------h]hgdO &`#$gd'gdO-------hOhMMCJaJh%hif hif0Jjhif0JUh%}V0JmHnHu21h:pO|. 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