The Spaniards open theirs, I
fear, upon no fixed principle, and with very little judgment. By means,
however, of this foolish, mean, and jealous policy on our side, all the
Royalists whom the English might select as most practicable, and most
subservient to honest views, are totally excluded. Of those admitted the
Spaniards are masters. As to the inhabitants, they are a nest of
Jacobins, which is delivered into our hands, not from principle, but
from fear. The inhabitants of Toulon may be described in a few words. It
is _differtum nautis, cauponibus atque malignis_. The rest of the
seaports are of the same description.
Another thing which I cannot account for is, the sending for the Bishop
of Toulon and afterwards forbidding his entrance. This is as directly
contrary to the declaration as it is to the practice of the allied
powers. The king of Prussia did better. When he took Verdun, he actually
reinstated the bishop and his chapter. When he thought he should be the
master of Chalons, he called the bishop from Flanders, to put him into
possession.
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