There would be
deaths, but, for the number of criminals and the extent of France, not
many. There would be cases of transportation, cases of labor to restore
what has been wickedly destroyed, cases of imprisonment, and cases of
mere exile. But be this as it may, I am sure, that, if justice is not
done there, there can be neither peace nor justice there, nor in any
part of Europe.
History is resorted to for other acts of indemnity in other times. The
princes are desired to look back to Henry the Fourth. We are desired to
look to the restoration of King Charles. These things, in my opinion,
have no resemblance whatsoever. They were cases of a civil war,--in
France more ferocious, in England more moderate than common. In neither
country were the orders of society subverted, religion and morality
destroyed on principle, or property totally annihilated. In England, the
government of Cromwell was, to be sure, somewhat rigid, but, for a new
power, no savage tyranny. The country was nearly as well in his hands as
in those of Charles the Second, and in some points much better.
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