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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), November 1808, Edition 1 of 1, Page 611

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    • MONTHLY RETROSPECT OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS; OR, The Christian's Survey of the Political World*
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      Monthly Retrospect Of Public Affairs; Or, The Christian's Survey Of The Political World*

      MONTHLY RETROSPECT OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS ; OR , The Christian ' s Survey of the Political World *

      Untitled Article

      The fire still rages in the great city . Is there not much remaining to be consumed ? Gold , silver , wood , stubble have been heaped upon the foundation , laid by the apostles , and the fire will try them . France has been in some degree purified . Its monasteries and nunneries and

      many of its outrages have been destroyed . Will they be suffered to continue much longer in Spain , and above all will that insult on human nature andxommon sense , the Inquisition , be suffered to exist ! The crisis is awful . The great

      hero , who has overthrown thrones and dominations , is now in Spain , and the world is in suspence to hear the result of his actions . Activity and energy are his great characteristics . When we wrote cur last he was in the heart of

      Germany , planning with his brother of Russia new schemes , new designs . Quick as lightning , he returned to Paris , and after spending a short time in his capital , and receiving the homage of his people for manifold exertions in their favour , in the internal concerns of his empire , he flew to Spain , and is now at the head of his armies .

      Something decisive has probabl y by this time been atchieved . We know not the strength of his armies We know not what reinforcements have passed the Pyrenees ; but this we know , that the French emperor is as skilful in the formation of his plans , as he js prompt in the execution . We heard of him one week , haranguing : his troops in Boulogne , and

      u few weeks after they were marching triumphantly before him in Vienna . His late journey into Germany did not retard any of his measures . His troops were during that time marching into Spain , and we may be sure , that he was at their head , as s © on a « the determined number were prepared to act under him .

      His plan for the last few months , 6 xnce his brother left Madrid , is rtow apparent . It wa 3 impossible to act with effect with the . French troops then in Spain . They were ordered to retreat , and to keep themselves on the defensive ¦ i n the north of Spain , by all means

      Untitled Article

      taking care to secure the passes of the Pyrenees . These orders they seem to have obeyed , and the wonder is , that scarcely any effort has been made to dislodge them . The French king of Spain seems to have lived with sufficient security in the district , occupied by his troops , and to have waited patiently for those succours , by which he expects to be reinstated in his dominions .

      "We hear of Spanish armies on the right and left and front of the enemy Yet there is too much reason to believe that Buonaparte will have been the assailant , and choosing his own ground may without great skill on the part of the Spaniards cut them off in detail . What blood will flow in this horrid

      conflict ! If he is victorious , the people will not readily submit , and dreadful scenes must be exhibited before they aic brought into subjection . To providence we must leave the is ^ ue of these dreadful battles . For wise purposes he has suffered the great ^ men of the earth to

      traverse vast regions , and to change the state of society . Dreadful was the vengeance exercised upon the gods of Egypt by Cambyses : the lady of the pillar and the other abominations of Spain will be bqt a sorry bulwark in the day of trial .

      Buonaparte has threatened to give law to the Peninsula , in Madrid and Lisbon . He has hitherto been successful in all his threats , yet to this time he has fougHt only with armies , not with a people . If the Spaniards are true to each other , and avoid pitched battles , the haUsrhty conqueror may know , that the battle is not always to the strong , nor the race to the swift . Yet he can

      not be-expected to be easily diverted from his purpose , and torrents of blood will flow to satisfy his ambition . Poor human glory , what fools it makes of mankind !

      But , in speaking thus of human glory , we should be caieful to remember , that these glorious actions of murder and conquest would not take place in the world , if man had governed himself by true princi ple * q £ wisdom and

      Untitled Article

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  • Citation
    • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1808, page 611, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2398/page/35/