I promised to write something about politics. All accounts agree as to the very disturbed state of France, and the difficulty of establishing the Bourbons. That which now takes place is only a continuation of the error committed by the Allies last year, in which it is melancholy to think that Great Britain took the lead, namely, the restoration of Louis XVIII., without considering whether he was sufficiently supported by public opinion, or had sufficient virtue or talents to enable him to regain the confidence which the family had lost. Whatever may be the crimes of France, or however desirable it may be that there should be a settled and moderate Government in that country, one cannot possibly wish success to this great violation of the great principle of national independence.
It will probably bring with it its own punishment. The Allies are certainly in a very embarrassing state; for they cannot continue to hold France as a conquered
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| The Duke of Wellington |
Blucher, who has established himself at St. Cloud, conducts himself like a captain of freebooters, and in some cases has encouraged his soldiers to new excesses, both by precept and example. The Duke of Wellington, who has interfered very honourably in some cases, is for the most part a calm spectator, and appears to take little real interest in what is passing. He is thus described in a letter from Paris, which I have just seen:—
“Le Duc de Wellington, ce héros froid et mediocre, que la nature a crée pour prouver que la science militaire peut exister sans autres talens, et l’intégrité pecuniaire sans autres vertus.” Notwithstanding the epigrammatic turn of this sentence, I believe it on the whole to be a pretty fair representation.
