The inquisition begins to grow so strict, that I have thought it necessary to-day to bury a translation of Burke.—­In times of ignorance and barbarity, it was criminal to read the bible, and our English author is prohibited for a similar reason—­that is, to conceal from the people the errors of those who direct them:  and, indeed, Mr. Burke has written some truths, which it is of much more importance for the Convention to conceal, than it could be to the Catholic priests to monopolize the divine writings.—­As far as it was possible, Mr. Burke has shown himself a prophet:  if he has not been completely so, it was because he had a benevolent heart, and is the native of a free country.  By the one, he was prevented from imagining the cruelties which the French have committed; by the other, the extreme despotism which they endure.

April 20, 1793.

Before these halcyon days of freedom, the supremacy of Paris was little felt in the provinces, except in dictating a new fashion in dress, an improvement in the art of cookery, or the invention of a minuet.  At present our imitations of the capital are something more serious; and if our obedience be not quite so voluntary, it is much more implicit.  Instead of receiving fashions from the Court, we take them now from the dames des balles, [Market-women.] and the municipality; and it must be allowed, that the imaginations of our new sovereigns much exceed those of the old in force and originality.

The mode of pillaging the shops, for instance, was first devised by the Parisian ladies, and has lately been adopted with great success in the departments; the visite domiciliaire, also, which I look upon as a most ingenious effort of fancy, is an emanation from the commune of Paris, and has had an universal run.—­But it would be vain to attempt enumerating all the obligations of this kind which we owe to the indulgence of that virtuous city:  our last importation, however, is of so singular a nature, that, were we not daily assured all the liberty in the world centers in Paris, I should be doubtful as to its tendency.  It has lately been decreed, that every house in the republic shall have fixed on the outside of the door, in legible characters, the name, age, birth-place, and profession of its inhabitants.  Not the poorest cottager, nor those who are too old or too young for action, nor even unmarried ladies, are exempt from thus proclaiming the abstract of their history to passers-by.  —­The reigning party judge very wisely, that all those who are not already their enemies may become so, and that those who are unable to take a part themselves may excite others:  but, whatever may be the intention of this measure, it is impossible to conceive any thing which could better serve the purposes of an arbitrary government; it places every individual in the republic within the immediate reach of informers and spies—­it points out those who are of an age to serve in the army—­ those who have sought refuge in one department from the persecutions of another—­and, in short, whether a victim is pursued by the denunciation of private malice, or political suspicion, it renders escape almost impracticable.