Jenkinson) with respect to the father of the
present Emperor, that no man ought to take his word for one hour. No
material alteration, he believed, had taken place in the views of that
Court since the death of that prince, nor of others in the present
confederacy. Were we to forget that the King of Prussia encouraged the
Brabanters to revolt, and then left them to their fate? Were we to
forget the recent conduct with respect to Poland? Were we to forget
the taking of Dantzic and Thorn? Indeed he thought that those who
every day told us, in pompous language, of the necessity there was
for kings, and of the service they did to the cause of humanity, they
should at least have spared the public the pain of thinking of
these subjects, by not entering into the views of that unnatural
confederacy. Indeed it was impossible for him to dismiss the
consideration of Poland, without adverting to an eloquent passage in
the work of a right honourable gentleman, who was an enthusiastic
admirer of the late revolution there. Here Mr. Sheridan quoted the
following passage of Mr. Burke's Appeal from the Old to the New Whigs:
The state of Poland was such, that there could scarcely
exist two opinions, but that a reformation of its constitution,
even at some expense of blood, might be seen without
much disapprobation. No confusion could be feared in such
an enterprise; because the establishment to be reformed was
itself a state of confusion. A King without authority,
nobles without union or subordination, a people without
arts, industry, commerce, or liberty; no order within, no
defence without; no effective public force, but a foreign
force, which entered a naked country at will, and disposed
of everything at pleasure.
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