Paris, Sept. 25, [1792.] First Year of the Republic.
Fellow Citizens,
I RECEIVE, with affectionate gratitude, the honour which the late
National Assembly has conferred upon me, by adopting me a Citizen of
France: and the additional honor of being elected by my fellow citizens
a Member of the National Convention.(1) Happily impressed, as I am, by
those testimonies of respect shown towards me as an individual, I feel
my felicity increased by seeing the barrier broken down that divided
patriotism by spots of earth, and limited citizenship to the soil, like
vegetation.
Had those honours been conferred in an hour of national tranquillity,
they would have afforded no other means of shewing my affection, than
to have accepted and enjoyed them; but they come accompanied with
circumstances that give me the honourable opportunity of commencing
my citizenship in the stormy hour of difficulties. I come not to enjoy
repose. Convinced that the cause of France is the cause of all mankind,
and that liberty cannot be purchased by a wish, I gladly share with you
the dangers and honours necessary to success.
1 The National Assembly (August 26, 1792) conferred the
title of "French Citizen" on "Priestley, Payne, Bentham,
Wilberforce, Clarkson, Mackintosh, Campe, Cormelle, Paw,
David Williams, Gorani, Anacharsis Clootz, Pestalozzi,
Washington, Hamilton, Madison, Klopstoc, Kosciusko,
Gilleers."--_Editor._. vol ni--7
I am well aware that the moment of any great change, such as that
accomplished on the 10th of August, is unavoidably the moment of
terror and confusion. The mind, highly agitated by hope, suspicion and
apprehension, continues without rest till the change be accomplished.
But let us now look calmly and confidently forward, and success is
certain. It is no longer the paltry cause of kings, or of this, or of
that individual, that calls France and her armies into action. It is the
great cause of all. It is the establishment of a new aera, that shall
blot despotism from the earth, and fix, on the lasting principles of
peace and citizenship, the great Republic of Man.
It has been my fate to have borne a share in the commencement and
complete establishment of one Revolution, (I mean the Revolution of
America.) The success and events of that Revolution are encouraging to
us. The prosperity and happiness that have since flowed to that country,
have amply rewarded her for all the hardships she endured and for all
the dangers she encountered.
The principles on which that Revolution began, have extended themselves
to Europe; and an over-ruling Providence is regenerating the Old World
by the principles of the New. The distance of America from all the
other parts of the globe, did not admit of her carrying those principles
beyond her own situation. It is to the peculiar honour of France, that
she now raises the standard of liberty for all nations; and in fighting
her own battles, contends for the rights of all mankind.
The same spirit of fortitude that insured success to America; will
insure it to France, for it is impossible to conquer a nation determined
to be free! The military circumstances that now unite themselves to
France, are such as the despots of the earth know nothing of, and can
form no calculation upon. They know not what it is to fight against a
nation; they have only been accustomed to make war upon each other,
and they know, from system and practice, how to calculate the probable
success of despot against despot; and here their knowledge and their
experience end.
But in a contest like the present a new and boundless variety of
circumstances arise, that deranges all such customary calculations. When
a whole nation acts as an army, the despot knows not the extent of the
power against which he contends. New armies arise against him with the
necessity of the moment. It is then that the difficulties of an invading
enemy multiply, as in the former case they diminished; and he finds them
at their height when he expected them to end.
The only war that has any similarity of circumstances with the present,
is the late revolution war in America. On her part, as it now is in
France, it was a war of the whole nation:--there it was that the enemy,
by beginning to conquer, put himself in a condition of being conquered.
His first victories prepared him for defeat. He advanced till he could
not retreat, and found himself in the midst of a nation of armies.
Were it now to be proposed to the Austrians and Prussians, to escort
them into the middle of France, and there leave them to make the most
of such a situation, they would see too much into the dangers of it to
accept the offer, and the same dangers would attend them, could they
arrive there by any other means. Where, then, is the military policy of
their attempting to obtain, by force, that which they would refuse by
choice? But to reason with despots is throwing reason away. The best of
arguments is a vigorous preparation.
Man is ever a stranger to the ways by which Providence regulates the
order of things. The interference of foreign despots may serve to
introduce into their own enslaved countries the principles they come
to oppose. Liberty and Equality are blessings too great to be the
inheritance of France alone. It is an honour to her to be their first
champion; and she may now say to her enemies, with a mighty voice, "O!
ye Austrians, ye Prussians! ye who now turn your bayonets against us,
it is for you, it is for all Europe, it is for all mankind, and not for
France alone, that she raises the standard of Liberty and Equality!"
The public cause has hitherto suffered from the contradictions contained
in the Constitution of the Constituent Assembly. Those contradictions
have served to divide the opinions of individuals at home, and to
obscure the great principles of the Revolution in other countries. But
when those contradictions shall be removed, and the Constitution be
made conformable to the declaration of Rights; when the bagatelles of
monarchy, royalty, regency, and hereditary succession, shall be exposed,
with all their absurdities, a new ray of light will be thrown over the
world, and the Revolution will derive new strength by being universally
understood.
The scene that now opens itself to France extends far beyond the
boundaries of her own dominions. Every nation is becoming her colleague,
and every court is become her enemy. It is now the cause of all nations,
against the cause of all courts. The terror that despotism felt,
clandestinely begot a confederation of despots; and their attack upon
France was produced by their fears at home.
In entering on this great scene, greater than any nation has yet been
called to act in, let us say to the agitated mind, be calm. Let us
punish by instructing, rather than by revenge. Let us begin the new
ara by a greatness of friendship, and hail the approach of union and
success.
Your Fellow-Citizen,
Thomas Paine.