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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 1829, Edition 1 of 1, Page 503, MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE.

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    • MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE.
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      Untitled Article

      On the Defence of Napoleon , To the Editor . Sir , June 10 M , 1829 . As it appears tome that in the letter signed IV . in the last number of your Repository , the author has mistaken my meaning in his observations relative to war , 1 think it incumbent upon me to explain the subject more clearly than I did before , and in so doing I shall also answer some other remarks which he has

      made . hi the first place , he is mistaken in supposing for a moment that I could be so simple as to mean that evil is not right and good , as overruled by a Divine goveruifwut for wise and benevolent purposes . I firmly believe that it is , but this does not alter the truth of , my affirmation , that we are not to do evil , for we

      are expressly forbidden to do evil , even tlrat good may come . What did the author mean by his assertion that " the Pi vine permission is equivalent to his appointment" in the instance of war ? Did he mean that war is justifiable ? He

      says not ; in his last letter he declares that he only approves of defensive war . 1 therefore suppose I have misunderstood him , though the only other sense the words will bear certainly render it an uncalled for truism ; for I believe every Christian knows that both the natural and moral evils of the world are

      overruled for good by their Creator . No doubt , Napoleon did some good along witli the evil in deluging the world with human blood ; no doubt he swept away many old , corrupt institutions and prejudices while he was overturning

      kingdoms and changing their very existence , but this does not alter the question . I may do the world a benefit , perhaps , by putting a murderer or an oppressor to death , but I am not to assassinate him on that account , bccau . se there are coinmauds of God which are supreme and

      Untitled Article

      ed cruelty , with which its shining qualities weie alloyed- Nor is the antidote the worse for not being made conspicuous by the formality of a commentary , or io ? haviug only appended to it the very naive reflections of Fray Antonio Agapida .

      Untitled Article

      antecedent to human judgments . The question at issue is this- ^ Is Christianity to be recognized or not in our opinions ? There are two ways of judging—there is the Christian standard and the opinion of the world . According to the first , war is unjustifiable—oppression , selfishness , and all political artifices and deceit * are unjustifiable , because they are

      wicked in their very nature : according to the latter , there is nothing right or wrong in itself ; the Christian commands are not recognized in judging ; but if a man at * tains to a certain height of power and fame , he is above the laws , and is not amenable to their tribunal ; he is to be judged by the law of policy , aud not by the moral law . He does not say , Is it

      virtuous , but , Is it expedient?—Is it necessary to secure my authority or increase my influence ? And if he finds it is , then , according to his standard , it is right . — On the principle of policy , Napoleon put the Duke d'ftnghien to death , and on the principle of policy he probably considered it justifiable $ but , if a man be a , Christian , he cannot conscientiously

      nay , even decently—admit this standard ; if a man be a Christian , to him there is but oue supreme authority , and that is the moral law , the law of Christ . Are we , then , to be told that a man is so great that he is not to be judged by this law , or so wicked that it would be uncharitable to judge him by it ? Is it not to be the future test of his conduct in

      that world where there is no respect of persons , and where the highest will be on a level with the poor and the slave ? Considered in this point of view , the death of the Duke d'Enghien was a murder , a cold-blooded and premeditated

      murder , and only aggravated by being perpetrated under the semblance of justile ; and any person professing himself a Christian ought at least to pause before he comes forward in its defence 5 for it can only be dcfeuded by giving up those principles which ought to be the dearett

      Untitled Article

      Miscellaneous Cowagpondence . 503

      Untitled Article

      The varnish of chivalry has been of late pretty well rubbed off . If Mr . Irviug yet loves it well , aud has perhaps lackered it a little , he has , at the same time , not omitted to record the ignorant fanaticism , the calculating ambition , the covetousness , treachery , and cold-blood * -

      Miscellaneous Correspondence.

      MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE .

  • Citation
    • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1829, page 503, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2574/page/55/