Why recount the tragic comedy they play at home and which they repeat abroad？ The piece abroad is the same as that played in Paris for the past eight years，[120] an absurd， hasty translation in Flemish， Dutch， German， and Italian， a local adaptation， just as it happens， with variations， elisions and abbreviations， but always with the same ending， a shower of blows with gun and sword on all property-owners， communities， and individuals， compelling the surrender of their purses and valuables of every description， and which they gave up， even to remaining without a sou or even a shirt. As a rule， the nearest general， or resident titulary in every small state which has to be turned to account， stirs up malcontents against the established authorities， never lacking under the ancient régime， especially all social outcasts， adventurers， coffee-house ranters and young hot-heads， in short the Jacobins of the country ； these， to the French representative， are henceforth the people of the country， if only a knot of the vilest sort. The legal authorities are forbidden to repress them， or punish them； they are inviolable. Employing threats or main force， he interferes in their support， or to sanction their assaults； he breaks up， or obliges them to break up， the vital organ of society； here， royalty or aristocracy， there， the senate and the magistracy， everywhere the old hierarchy， all cantonal， provincial and municipal statutes and secular federation or constitutions. He then inaugurates on this cleared ground the government of Reason， that is to say， some artificial imitation of the French constitution； he himself， to this end， appoints the new magistrates. If he allows them to be elected， it is by his clients and under his bayonets； this constitutes a subject republic under the name of an ally， and which commissioners dispatched from Paris manage to the beat of the drum.
The revolutionary régime with anti-Christian despoiling and leveling laws， is despotically applied. The 18th of Fructidor is carried out over and over again； the constitution is revised according to the last Parisian pattern， while the Legislative Corps and Directory are repeatedly purged in military fashion.[121] Only valets are tolerated at the head of it： its army is added to the French army； twenty thousand Swiss are drafted in Switzerland and made to fight against the Swiss and the friends of Switzerland. Belgium， incorporated with France， is subjected to the conscription. National and religious sentiment suppressed， exploited， offended， to the extend of stirring up insurrections，[122] religious and national. Five or six rural and lasting Vendées take place in Belgium， Switzerland， Piedmont， Venetia， Lombardy， the Roman States and Naples， while fire， pillaging and shooting are employed to repress them. Any description of this would be feeble； statements in figures are necessary and I can give but two.
One of them is the list of robberies committed abroad，[123] and this comprises only the rapine executed according to order； it omits private plunderings without any orders by officers， generals， soldiers and commissaries； these are enormous， but cannot be estimated. The only approximate total which can be arrived at， is the authentic list of robberies which the Jacobin corsair， authorized by letters of marque， had already committed in December， 1798， outside of France， on public or on private parties； exactions in coin imposed in Belgium， Holland， Germany and Italy， amounting to 655 millions； seizure and removal of gold and silver objects， plate， jewels， works of art and other precious objects， 305 millions； requisitions of provisions， 361millions； confiscations of the property， real estate and movables， of deposed sovereigns， that of the regular and secular clergy， that of corporations and associations even laic， of absent or fugitive proprietors， 700 millions； in all， in three years 2 billion livres. -If we closely examine this monstrous sum， we find， as in the coffers of an Algerian pirate， a booty which up to this time， belligerent Christians， commanders of regular armies， would have shrunk from taking， and on which the Jacobin chiefs incontinently and preferably lay hands：