Ushant. French island in the Ocean off the coast of Brittany, across from Le Conquet. It is three leagues wide and contains several hamlets and a chateau. It is surrounded by several other smaller islands that are called the islands of Ushant . Longitude 12.28 Latitude 48.30.

The Golden Age, this ingenious chimaera more apt to excite our regrets than our hopes, that the imagination cherishes and that is irritated by the feeling for human misery; this contrast with the real age that tears apart the soul after having amused the mind; this philosophical tale which has at last escaped from charity and virtue in the ardor of its wishes for the happiness of men; the Golden age was almost realized in this little corner of the Earth. The law of all hearts (natural law) on the one side, and the law of chosen hearts (Christianity) on the other, form the bonds of an eternal harmony among its inhabitants, and dissipate without bitterness and noise from the voice of the age those small inseparable clouds of yours and mine. Integrity is there a common treasure, but so necessary that he who does not possess it is banned without return by a general judgment. Chastity is not the only dowry, but the essential part of the dowry of the girls of this unknown canton. She who puts herself in a condition not to be able to give it to her husband, will be banished with the same severity as a thief; for these simple men, that is to say, sages, think that the loss of chastity is a theft committed against the marital partnership. When the Philosophers wanted to create a society of virtuous men, they spread pompous speculations, majestic edifices erected by genius, but fragile reeds that were not able to stand the storms of great societies. The simplicity of nature is a narrow circle that is suitable only to a small number of men who all impose on themselves the practice of virtue, because they are constantly observed by everyone else; they enjoy a happiness that the philosophical trinkets of Plato and Utopia do not provide. The unknown [ obscur ] and consequently happy people of whom I speak, has among its members, from the beginning of this war, defenders who could well make them buy their protection; the troops ... I tremble for them [the people] when I think that military license [1] is the grave of morals. [2]

1. Alternative translation: licentiousness

2. The author’s tone in this article may be influenced by the indecisive naval Battle of Ushant (1778) and the larger Anglo-French War of 1778 – 1783.