Page:Life of William Shelburne (vol 2).djvu/427

Rh horror to his mind as those which Lord Lansdowne had adopted. The manner in which the unfortunate monarch in question was described, was precisely that which was used by those who were heaping upon that amiable prince every species of indignity. The only appellation they gave him was that of "Louis XVI.," an appellation purposely meant to point out the man as distinct from the kingly office and dignity, which they themselves had sworn to maintain to him and his posterity. This was not the way in which England was accustomed to treat the Sovereigns of Europe; and he trusted the House of Lords would have too much regard for their own honour and for that of their country, to adopt the language of men whose actions were calculated to inspire horror and detestation.

And yet no body of men were more thoroughly aware than Lord Lansdowne and his friends of the injury being done by the Jacobins to the cause of the Revolution itself. Lord Holland wrote from Berlin of the 2nd of September: "It was a melancholy day—a day which no man really attached to the cause of liberty can think of without regret, and which gives a handle to every prejudiced or interested Royalist throughout Europe to inveigh against the principles of the French Revolution. I am sure," he went on, "you must agree with me in lamenting that so glorious a cause as the enfranchisement of such a country as France is supported by people and individuals, whose conduct upon several occasions not only does not claim respect but excites both horror and contempt. However notwithstanding all this, the defeat or failure of the combined armies must give a good Englishman, that is a selfish one, great pleasure. We have more to fear from the encroachments of the King and Administration than from that of the people, and who can say, had France been conquered, whether our turn would not have come soon. The same benevolent reasons which induced the kings to make war against France, might have also inclined