Page:Englishmen in the French Revolution.djvu/115

In 1796, probably before his return to Paris, Vaughan published at Strasburg a pamphlet entitled "De l'état politique et économique de la France sous sa Constitution de l'an 3." It professed to be a translation from the German, made by a foreigner who craved excuse for inaccuracies of idiom. It is an unqualified panegyric of the Directory, a system of government to be envied, according to Vaughan, even by America, much more by England, Switzerland, and Holland. There is an incidental reference to the Reign of Terror as a political inquisition whose rigour equalled that of the Spanish tribunal, and there is a very just remark attributing the atrocities of the Revolution in part to the despotism and superstition under which its leaders had been trained. Vaughan likewise observes that the mob generally respected private property, frequently yielded to the voice of reason, and were rarely intoxicated, "which"—an evident fling at the London and Birmingham rioters—"cannot be said of mobs everywhere." It is surprising, however, to find him not merely extolling the cumbrous and corrupt system of the Directory, but confidently predicting its durability and an era of peace and prosperity. He was manifestly wanting in political foresight. He was also smitten with the craze of the Revolution being a fulfilment of the Book of Daniel, and wrote a treatise on the subject, but had the good sense to suppress it, the