Nothing is better fitted to give a lesson in modesty3 to philosophers and statesmen than the history of the French Revolution; for never were there events more important, longer in ripening4, more fully5 prepared, or less foreseen.
The great Frederick himself, with all his genius, failed to perceive what was coming, and was almost in contact with the event without seeing it. Nay6, more, he even acted in the spirit of the Revolution beforehand, and was in some sort its precursor7, and already its agent; yet he did not recognise its approach, and when at length it made its appearance, the new and extraordinary features which were to distinguish its aspect, amidst the countless8 crowd of human revolutions, still passed unheeded.
The curiosity of all other countries was on the stretch. Everywhere an indistinct conception arose amongst the nations that a new period was at hand, and vague hopes were excited of great changes and reforms; but no one as yet had any suspicion of what the Revolution was really to become. Princes and their ministers lacked even the confused presentiment9 by which the masses were agitated10; they beheld11 in the Revolution only one of those periodical disorders12 to which the constitutions of all nations are subject, and of which the only result is to open fresh paths for the policy[2] of their neighbours. Even when they did chance to express a true opinion on the events before them, they did so unconsciously. Thus the principal sovereigns of Germany assembled at Pillnitz in 1791, proclaimed indeed that the danger which threatened royalty13 in France was common to all the established powers of Europe, and that all were threatened by the same peril14; but in fact they believed nothing of the kind. The secret records of the period prove that they held this language only as a specious15 pretext16 to cover their real designs, or at least to colour them in the eyes of the multitude.
As for themselves, they were convinced that the French Revolution was an accident merely local and temporary, which they had only to turn to good account. With this notion they laid plans, made preparations, and contracted secret alliances; they quarrelled among themselves for the division of their anticipated spoils; split into factions17, entered into combinations, and were prepared for almost every event, except that which was impending18.
The English indeed, taught by their own history and enlightened by the long practice of political freedom, perceived dimly, as through a thick veil, the approaching spectre of a great revolution; but they were unable to distinguish its real shape, and the influence it was so soon to exercise upon the destinies of the world and upon their own was unforeseen. Arthur Young, who travelled over France just as the Revolution was on the point of breaking out, and who regarded it as imminent19, so entirely20 mistook its real character, that he thought it was a question whether it would not increase existing privileges. ‘As for the nobility and clergy,’ says he, ‘if this Revolution were to make them still more preponderant, I think it would do more harm than good.’
Burke, whose genius was illuminated21 by the hatred22 with which the Revolution inspired him from its birth, Burke himself hesitated, for a moment uncertain, at the sight. His first prediction was that France would be enervated23, and almost annihilated24 by it. ‘France is, at this time, in a political light, to be considered as expunged25 out of the system of Europe; whether she could ever appear in it again as a leading power, was not easy to determine; but at present he considered France as not politically existing; and, most assuredly, it would take up much time to restore her to her former active existence. Gallos quoque in bellis floruisse audivimus, might possibly be the language of the rising generation.’[2]
The judgment2 of those on the spot was not less erroneous than that of distant observers. On the eve of the outbreak of the[3] Revolution, men in France had no distinct notion of what it would do. Amidst the numerous instructions to the delegates of the States General I have found but two which manifest some degree of apprehension26 of the people. The fears expressed all relate to the preponderance likely to be retained by royalty, or the Court, as it was still called. The weakness and the short duration of the States General were a source of anxiety, and fears were entertained that they might be subjected to violence. The nobility were especially agitated by these fears. Several of their instructions provide, ‘The Swiss troops shall take an oath never to bear arms against the citizens, not even in case of riot or revolt.’ Only let the States General be free, and all abuses would easily be destroyed; the reform to be made was immense, but easy.
Meanwhile the Revolution pursued its course. By degrees the head of the monster became visible, its strange and terrible aspect was disclosed; after destroying political institutions it abolished civil institutions also; after changing the laws it changed the manners, the customs, and even the language of France; after overthrowing27 the fabric28 of government it shook the foundations of society, and rose against the Almighty29 himself. The Revolution soon overflowed30 the boundaries of France with a vehemence31 hitherto unknown, with new tactics, with sanguinary doctrines32, with armed opinions—to use the words of Pitt—with an inconceivable force which struck down the barriers of empires, shattered the crowns of Europe, trampled33 on its people, though, strange to say, it won them to its cause; and, as all these things came to pass, the judgment of the world changed. That which at first had seemed to the princes and statesmen of Europe to be one of the accidents common in the life of a nation, now appeared to them an event so unprecedented34, so contrary to all that had ever happened in the world, and, at the same time, so wide-spread, so monstrous35, and so incomprehensible, that the human mind was lost in amazement36 at the spectacle. Some believed that this unknown power, which nothing seemed to foster or to destroy, which no one was able to check, and which could not check itself, must drive all human society to its final and complete dissolution. Many looked upon it as the visible action of the devil upon earth. ‘The French Revolution has a Satanic character,’ says M. de Maistre, as early as 1797. Others, on the contrary, perceived in it a beneficent design of Providence37 to change the face not only of France but of the world, and to create, as it were, a new era of mankind. In many writers of that time may be seen somewhat of the religious terror which Salvian felt at the incursion of the Barbarians38. Burke,[4] reverting39 to his first impressions, exclaimed, ‘Deprived of the old government, deprived in a manner of all government, France, fallen as a monarchy40, to common speculators, might have appeared more likely to be an object of pity or insult, according to the disposition41 of the circumjacent powers, than to be the scourge42 and terror of them all; but out of the tomb of the murdered monarchy in France has arisen a vast, tremendous, unformed spectre, in a far more terrific guise43 than any which ever yet have overpowered the imagination, and subdued44 the fortitude45 of man. Going straight forward to its end unappalled by peril, unchecked by remorse46, despising all common maxims47 and all common means, that hideous48 phantom49 overpowered those who could not believe it was possible she could at all exist,’ etc.[3]
And was the event really as extraordinary as it appeared to those who lived at the time when it took place? Was it so unprecedented, so utterly50 subversive51, so pregnant with new forms and ideas as they imagined it to be? What was the real meaning, the real character—what have been the permanent effects of this strange and terrible Revolution? What did it, in reality, destroy, and what has it created?
The proper moment for examining and deciding these questions seems now to have arrived, and we are now standing52 at the precise point whence this vast phenomenon may best be viewed and judged. We are far enough removed from the Revolution to be but slightly touched by the passions which blinded those who brought it about, and we are near enough to it to enter into the spirit which caused these things to happen. Ere long this will have become more difficult; for as all great revolutions, when successful, sweep away the causes which engendered53 them, their very success serves to render them unintelligible54 to later generations.
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1
judgments
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| 判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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ripening
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的现在分词 )；熟化；熟成 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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precursor
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| n.先驱者；前辈；前任；预兆；先兆 | |
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countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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disorders
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| n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调 | |
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royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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specious
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| adj.似是而非的；adv.似是而非地 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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factions
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| 组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 ) | |
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impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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enervated
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| adj.衰弱的，无力的v.使衰弱，使失去活力( enervate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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expunged
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| v.擦掉( expunge的过去式和过去分词 )；除去；删去；消除 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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overthrowing
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| v.打倒，推翻( overthrow的现在分词 )；使终止 | |
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fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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overflowed
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| 溢出的 | |
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vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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32
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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unprecedented
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| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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39
reverting
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| 恢复( revert的现在分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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40
monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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41
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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42
scourge
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| n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏 | |
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43
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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44
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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45
fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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46
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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47
maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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48
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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49
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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50
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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51
subversive
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| adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子 | |
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52
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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53
engendered
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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