Search -
On the state of Europe before and after the French revolution
On the state of Europe before and after the French revolution Author:Friedrich von Gentz Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: the Means of ruining England, than An Examination of the State of France. At any other period, fuch a production though it might have been amufing to a very f... more »u- perficial politician, would hardly have excited the] attention, much lefs required the anfwer, of a profound and enlightened writer. But it ap- . - . peared at a time when certain unfortunate and unfounded prejudices againft this country were at their higheft pitch; and it was craftily de- figned to inftame that fpirit of animofity which could alone give currency to its abfurditks. Upon thele grounds it acquired a degree of popularity, fufficient to induce a Pruflian writer, whofe talents have before been difplayed in fome excellent political works, to undertake the refutation of it. The following is a tranflation of this reply of Mr. Gentz to Citizen Hauterive: but had theGerman been only valuable as an anfwer to the French publication, I certainly fhould have fpared myfelf the pains of preparing it for the EnglifhEttglifh preis. It would have been a very fuper- fluous labour in a country where the pamphlet that gave rife to it, had excited neither admiration nor argument. But the merits of Mr. Gentzs work are not confined to the controverfy before him. His State of Europe is fomething more than an occa- ftonal treatife: it has an independent and general character. And though the arguments and afler- tions of his adverfary are completely difpofed of, yet the ordinary fpirit and defects of polemical writings have been carefully and judicioufly avoided : a. circumftance which does him the more honour, as he had received what might be efteemed juft provocation from the French writer, who treated him without candour or refpe6t in his allufions to fome of his former productions. De FEtat de la France is on...« less