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    A seventh charge against Napoleon is , that he was an enemy to the liberty of the press . None can esteem the press more than ourselves , because we duly appreciate its advantages to society . But the press , like other blessings , has been

    often wickedly applied . It has as frequently been employed in offering inceuse to tyrants on the one hand , and encouraging licentiousness among the people on the other , as it has been engaged in the diffusion of genuine truth and moral excellence . It has been the

    organ of abominable libels , of the basest of calumnies , and of the greatest of errors , both religious and political . When , therefore , gentlemen talk of the liberty of the press , we ask , What is the signification of the phrase ? Do they mean that the press should be free to publish falsehoods , to promote the intrigues of tyrants and the designs of factious and

    restless demagogues , as well as to state real truth ? if so , we differ from them ; for this is not the liberty but the licen - tiousness of the press . Oh , but it must not be meddled with 1 Though it blow up the flame of discord , and arm factions against each other under the old cries of liberty , equality , usurper , despot ,

    and many other party terms , still it must be free ! Presume to keep it within the bounds of truth and decency , and the cry is , Behold the tyrant ! the enemy of the liberty of the press ! So found Napoleon . When the reins of government were placed in his hands , he found France assailed by enemies without and factions within . He succeeded in

    repelling foreign invasion , reconciling many hostile parties , restoring order out of confusion , and in giving confidence and stability to the government . One of the means which he adopted to effect these things was , by putting a proper restraint upon the licentiousness of the press . The libellists of France could no longer calumniate their sovereign , nor could the factious rekindle the fires of La

    Vendee , and re-erect revolutionary tribunals . Hence they never forgave him ; they never will . The bitter invectives , the inflammatory spirit , and the misrepresentations which abound in the Analysis , are sufficient to satisfy us that the press is often very licentious , and requires strong curbs to keep it within the bounds of real liberty .

    An eighth charge against Napoleon is , that he did no good , and that all his exertions and sacrifices were without results . He certainly did not effect the good he intended , because of the destruction of his fleets , the burning of

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    Moscow , and the unexampled severity of a Russian winter . These things pre - vented him from accomplishing his glorious designs with respect to the nations of Europe . He was more than twice upon the point of succeeding : had he done so , he would have been hailed as the liberator of the world ; but because

    he failed , he has been represented as the worst of men . Such is the way of the world . Still he did much good . Wherever he marched , religious tyranny and persecution fled before him . He sowed the seeds of civil liberty in most European States , the germs of which still appear , and will , we trust , grow up to a glorious maturity . With regard to

    France , the good he did was immense . He reconciled hostile factions , restored the deluded and wretched emigrants , encouraged agriculture in all its branches , promoted the arts and sciences , made roads , canals , bridges , quays , harbours , adorned and enriched the capital , founded schools for the education of youth , and gave the French people enlightened and liberal laws . We well recollect the

    astonishment of foreigners upon the invasion of France in 1814 . They expected to find the country poor and exhausted ; but they were strangely surprised to find it rich and flourishing . Look at France at present . Her debt is small and decreasing ; her institutions are liberal ; and her people are not burdened with excessive taxation . We

    hesitate not to say that France is now the most free and happy country in Europe , and that all this is owing to Napoleon . His name , his memory , his actions , will ever be dear to the French people . A comparison has often been made between Napoleon and Washington , the latter of whom has been considered greater than the former , and termed the Fabius of the West . We admire

    Washington , and we are sure that his name will ever be dear to the real friends of liberty in every country . Napoleon admired him also , and on the 9 th of February , 1800 , when he heard of his death , he addressed the army by the following order of the day : " Washington is dead 1 That great man has fought against tyranny ; he has consolidated

    the liberty of his country . His memory will always be dear to the French people , as well as to all liberal men of both worlds , and especially to the French soldiers , who , like him and the American soldiers , have fought for equality and liberty . " In addition to this honourable testimony , he farther ordered that , during ten day 8 , black crapes should be sus-

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    204 Miscellaneous Correspondence ,

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1829, page 204, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2570/page/52/