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applauding. A writer, unless he he of the first order of merit, can seldom be fairly estimated by foreigners, Every nation has its mode of thought as well as of expression. The mi nute arrangements and subtle class sifications of German authors are ridiculous to the French; the florid and declamatory style of French composition is meritricious to English taste; whilst the simple beauties of some of our classic authors are frigid and unattractive to our Gallic neighbours. Thus, a vast number of Count Pecchio's observations, which we are persuaded would appear attractive to his countrymen, are jejune and trifling to us, who, in our more sombre clime, are accustomed to severer thought, and to expunge those reflections which are not the result of greater care and depth of inquiry. Many of Count Pecchio's similies, for the same reason, are rather trifling to English readers. The comparison of the monster, despotism, to Polyphemus, and the likening of the sweet smelling shores of Italy to Sirens, are to us far-fetched, and ridiculous conceits rather than similies worthy of the press.

The Count's first letter is dated Irun, in May 1821, and from thence he travels to Madrid viâ Burgos, and afterwards leaving that capital for Cadiz and Lisbon, returns to Madrid, from which city his last letter is dated in August 1822. The author gives us a statement of the extreme familiarity existing between the grandees of Spain and their ins feriors: this is certainly very con tradictory to the notions entertained in England of the haughtiness of the Spanish character; but we cannot agree with Count Pecchio that such familiarity is any proof of liberty or of liberality of opinions in the Peninsula; for the fact is, that in despotic countries, the relation between the poor and the rich is always on the extreme of familiarity or of oppression. The liberties taken by a West Indian slave with his master are incredible to an Eng lishman; such liberties are allowed because the master can at any time enforce the transition from familia rity to obedience by the application of the lash, whilst in free countries. the respect of the lower for the

higher orders of society can be obtained or preserved only by propriety and consistency of demeanour. The Count dwells upon the simpli city of the habits of the Spanish peasant, his extreme abstinence, his self-denial, and his almost entire destitution of furniture, of clothing, and of every object of accommodation; and from this he argues that war can bring no privation to the Spaniard, and that he is therefore invulnerable. We doubt if this inference is consistent with any sound theory, or that it can be supported by a reference to historical facts. There are causes of enthusiam and of temporary excitement, which may render a people invulnerable without any reference to their poverty or luxury, but such cases are anomalous to general principle; and we believe it may be laid down as a maxim that countries are defensible in proportion to the value of the objects to be defended; or that, cæteris paribus, a rich country is always more capable of defending itself than a poor one. A rich country implies a larger population, and that state of agriculture, with a general use of machinery, which enables a few to support the many; and disengaging a great portion from the necessity of labour, supplies the means of a more numerous army. In a rich country, science, that great source of strength, is always carried to a higher degree of excellence, and is more generally diffused than in a poor one; and, finally, it may be taken as a general law of our nature, that man is disposed to defend, in proportion to the value of the object to be defended. In writing thus, it must be clearly understood that we allude to that natural state of lux ury which is the necessary conse quence of industry, of equal laws, and of a wise and pure Government. There is another state of luxury which is confined solely to the upper classes, and is supported by the Government, extorting from the poor in order to pamper the privi leged orders. This state of luxury exists more or less under all des spotic Governments; and has inva riably been carried to its climax in the southern countries of Asia, and, we fear we may add, in the southern peninsula of Europe. We need not

say that such a state of unnatural luxury invariably implies every spe cies of national weakness and degeneracy. In no country in the world perhaps were the comforts of life so generally diffused as amongst the people of north America; and we doubt if the destitute and needy Spaniard will be found to fight so well, to endure so much, or to persevere so long against his present invaders, as the citizens of America, in the war of their revolution, did, against the attempted oppression of Great Britain.

Having thus, with candour, argued against what we conceive to be two great errors in Count Pec chio's views of Society, we may be allowed to indulge in the more pleasing duty of praising the general accuracy of his conceptions, and of expatiating upon the fund of information and of amusement which his work has afforded us. The Count is remarkably impartial in his opinions, and judges of actions. by their real nature rather than by their relation to the passing scene, or to temporary convenience; thus, with all his attachment to Spain and Portúgal, he very justly exposes their want of principle and consis tency in their endeavouring to im pose upon the South Americans those very doctrines, against the im position of which, upon themselves by the French, they are now ready to appeal to the sword. The Count's letters, both directly and indirectly, afford the most indisputable corroboration of the mass of evidence we have had of the dreadful corruption of the old Spanish Government, of the revolting vices of the King, and of the dire effects which these have had upon the prosperity and happiness of the people at large. In the Hall of the Cortes, allegorical and antique statuary have given place to tablets and devises commemorating the patriots of the revolution; the members appear in their ordinary costume, and, avoiding the French example, they follow our's of speak-' ing extemporary, and from any part of the hall, instead of from a rostrum. Great decorum and polite. ness appear to be observed in the debates; about one third of the Cortes is composed of priests, and the close of every sentence of a speech is accompanied by the speaker

making the sign of the cross. In letter the sixth the Count gives us a short sketch of Ballasteros, in which we recognize the pride, the prejudice, the lofty honour, and all the other features of the Spanish character. In the next letter we have a circumstantial account of the manner in which Quiroga and Riego effected the revolution. We lament to see that the old leaven of religious intolerance still exists amongst the Spaniards; but we can hardly be surprised at this when we reflect how very little of the true and extensive spirit of religious toleration exists even in our own country, and that in some of our dominions we are, perhaps, as intolerent as any people on earth. The work gives us a summary of the various causes which are favourable, as well as the many that are unfavourable, to the ultimate success of Spain in her present struggle for freedom; and we are happy to see the preponderance considerably in favour of the former..

In closing this amusing and in structive work, we cannot but suspect that there is some principle of slavery and of passive obedience inherent in the very nature of man. We here see one of the finest portions of the earth kept by religious and political tyranny in a state that would almost mar every object of social aggregation. Idleness, poverty, and vice afflicting the poor, whilst the rich are degraded by meanness and ignorance; and yet when a few noble spirits have rescued their country from bondage, and broken the odious chains of slavery, we find nearly one half of the clergy and nobles anxious to crouch once more beneath the yoke, and plunging their country in a civil war purely to prevent her enjoying the blessings of freedom. But God giveth not the battle to the strong; and we trust that the righteous cause of the Spaniard will prevail over the unhallowed efforts of the Gaul.

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was in the possession of his political supremacy, the attention of mankind was so completely absorbed by the grandeur of his actions, that the people of Europe, or at least of this country, never thought of any other history of his life than his bulletins or the public journals: except, indeed, that some anxiety might have been felt for a candid portraiture of his youth, from the age of his developing his faculties, to the period of his becoming the star of the political horizon. No sooner, however, had he yielded the grasp of his sceptre, and thrown himself upon the generosity of England, no sooner had he ceased to be the one great bbject of attention, than we began to feel something like astonishment that nothing approaching to authentic biography, or even to memoirs (that species of writing for which France is so celebrated) had yet appeared of a man who had for so many years swayed the destinies of Europe, and concentrated all attention upon his military and political career. After his transportation to Saint Helena, considerable surprise and impatience were expressed by the people of England, that they heard so little of their captive. Ă few works had issued from the press respecting him, but these were either of questionable authority, or destitute of merit. At length Mr. O'Meara's work was given to the public, and this production of the English surgeon is rapidly followed by four volumes from Count Las Cases, with the Memoires pour servir à l'Histoire de France, by General Gourgaud, and the Melanges Historiques, by the Count de Montholon. These, with some strictures upon, and a relation of the battle of Waterloo, by General Gourgaud, are all the authentic documents that have yet appeared of this extraordinary character; and the historian must anxiously hope, that many of the great political coadjutors of the late Emperor may yet design to publish their accounts of those scenes in which they bore so conspicuous a part; to expose the intrigues of the revolution, and to lay open the arcana and secret springs of those great events which for so many years kept Europe in a continued state of agitation.

The volumes now before us re

late, as their title indicates, to Napoleon during his confinement in Saint Helena, but they are not so exclusively devoted to this period as Mr. O'Meara's work; they relate less to the minutiae concerning Sir Hudson Lowe, and are, in all respects, more discussive, and of a more general nature. The Count Las Cases, from a more intimate acquaintance with foreign characters, and with public events, had greater facilities in eliciting facts and opinions from Napoleon, and his volumes therefore are, in many respects, of increased interest.

A critic who attempted to form an opinion of these volumes by any abstract or general notions of literary merit, or by any general characteristics of intellect, would find himself exceedingly perplexed to come to any precise and consistent conclusion. They exhibit so much of seriousness and levity, of knowledge and ignorance, of ingenuity and frivolity, of self-love and disinterestedness, in short of almost every opposite and contradictory quality, that it is difficult to be persuaded that they are from the pen of the same person. Some clue will be afforded to the solution of these inconsistencies by considering the Count not only as an individual, but as a member of a very peculiar school or sect. The Count as an individual is ingenious, and if not profound, he is at least intelligent and sagacious; but then he is not only a Frenchman of the old school, but the most perfect specimen of the old school of French courtiers. is always serious upon trifles, and often trifling upon serious occasions. He is devoted to his royal master; but although the object of his devotion be worthy of his homage, nevertheless he throws over it all the air of that frivolous solicitude and indiscriminating subserviency which rendered the old courtiers of France always ridiculous, and so often criminal. Our latter observation, however, must be considered as applicable to the Count's manner, for we strongly admire him for his pure and devoted fidelity to his fallen master, particularly as his attachment to Napoleon was a conquest wrought over early prejudices by his appreciation of the Emperor's powers of intellect and goodness of heart.

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It seems incumbent upon us before entering into the details of this work, to discuss the two points to which a considerable portion of the volumes has a constant reference; and one of which points indeed is the very basis of the reasonableness and merit of the work itself: we allude to the right and to the mode of detaining the person of Napoleon by Great Britain. It is almost impossible at present for any periodical writer to enter upon such a subjeet without incurring the suspicion of political predilections and of the bias of party. In the execution of our duties, however, we always consider the great interests of mankind, and of moral principles, as para mount to any objects purely national, or to the subjects that agitate nations for the period; and, impressed with a deep feeling of the usefulness and grandeur of history and philosophy, we never suffer our functions to be intruded upon by the petty conflicts of statesmen, nor by the yet pettier attachments and antipathies of those who range themselves under their banners.

In reviewing Mr. O'Meara's valuable work, we gave it as our opision that it was the bounden duty of this country to secure the person of Napoleon. We are aware that such a judgment arises more ex necessitate rei than out of any general principles, and we must also acknow ledge that the doctrine of necessity is always objectionable from the great liability of its being misapplied. Considering the stupendous powers of Napoleon, and his insatia. ble ambition, his political existence seemed inconsistent with our safety, and that a permanent detention of his person was therefore compatible with the laws of nations, and of civilized warfare. The contrary doctrine to this has been most ably supported by Count Las Cases and others, and we must acknowledge that our premio leads to a consequence that an enemy's imprisonment will always be in the ratio of his talents. On the same principle that England justifies her detention of Napoleon, Persia might have thrown Themistocles into a dungeon; the Gauls, had they captured Cæsar, might have doomed him to perpetual incarceration; Scipio might Eur. Mag. April, 1823.

have received the same fate from Carthage; or, to come nearer to our own times, the same doctrine might have been applied to Charles of Sweden, to Frederick of Prussia, or even to our own Colonel Clive in India, and to our Marlborough in Europe. It may be further argued that if an enemy's genius be so vast as Napoleon's, he must exert it either compatibly or incompatibly with justice; if compatibly with justice he docs us no injury if incompatibly, he raises the indignation of mankind against him in the proportion of his injustice, and nations, leaguing in common defence, will at length restrain him within reasonable bounds. The Deity, in short, has, in his wisdom and mercy, so constituted the human race, that no man, however stupendous his intellect, can be daringly vicious for any length of time, and that England therefore had no occasion to violate the eternal principles of justice by resorting to the perpetual Imprisonment of her enemy as a

means of self-defence.'

An argument less abstract and more contingent is, that all great conquerors owe their success to the vices of their enemies, and to their invention of some new principles of warfare, and that in the course of their career their invention is caught by their enemies, and applied against themselves, at least to the extent of checking their course. The former truth is remarkably illustrated by the histories of Hannibal, of Scipio, of Charles XII. and of Frederick the Great; and the whole of these truths are yet more strongly illustrated by the life of Napoleon himself, and by the early history of the French revolution. France, in the commencement of her revolutionary struggle owed her successes to the excessive weakness to which political vice and corruption had reduced the Governments opposed to her; and Napoleon's meteor-like campaigns from 1798 to 1810, were owing to his new system of strategy and of concentrated attack; but at length his enemies had learned his own system, and, although they could not wield it with the power of the master, they yet practised it with sufficient skill to check the rapidity of his career, and to pre

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vent any of those brilliant and overwhelming results which had formerly flowed from his tactics. Napoleon therefore was really innoxious in comparison to what he had been, and our resorting therefore to a perpetual detention of his person was as weak in policy as it was wicked in principle. We have thought it our duty candidly to give a recapitulation of the principal arguments that some of the most estimable characters in Europe have urged against the abstract injustice of the British Cabinet in their detention of Napoleon, and we leave these arguments to their own merit, confessing, however, that they have made considerable impression upon ourselves, and that no train of thought has arisen by which we can have been led to suspect their fallacy.

Upon the second point, that of the mode of detaining the Ex-emperor, our opinions are confirmed by Count Las Cases' work; and we have no hesitation in declaring that the treatment of Napoleon was unjustifiable in morals, imbecile in policy, and highly derogatory_to the character of our country. We strongly reprobate the making of this point a vehicle of censure upon the executive Government, for it ought to be treated as a question concerning morals and posterity, and one in which ourselves have comparatively less concern. But in whatever view the question is taken, we think its decision a matter of great facility, and that it can be resolved into the narrow compass of three especial points. The animus of the captors, the facts of our treatment of the captive, and the relation of those facts not to the prisoner himself so much as to the general principles of morality and of warfare. As to the first point, the animus of the captors, it appears clearly to have been strongly marked, and of a nature that the illtreatment of the prisoner might have been foretold, a priori, with the greatest confidence. In proof of this we need but mention one fact, which will create a thousand painful sensations in every person of sentiment, or capable of refined feelings; we allude to the order sent down to Plymouth to deprive the French attendants and the Ex-Em

peror of their side-arms. An order so revolting to generosity, and so disgraceful to the nation, as well as to the age, that the British Admiral (Lord Keith) refused to obey it, but took upon himself the responsibility of disregarding it, and depriving only the attendants of their side-arms, with the prouder feelings of an English officer, held sacred the sword of a fallen hero. With respect to the other points, the treatment of Napoleon, if the mortifications that were imposed upon him were not necessary, no language can be too strong in reprobating those who had the custody of him; if they were necessary, that necessity amounts to a proof of great incapacity, or of culpable negligence in those who selected Saint Helena as the place of his detention. For when the enormous expense of keeping Napoleon at such a distance was so repeatedly urged, it was always answered that that island had been selected because the prisoner could be there detained with safety, and without imposing upon him restraints derogatory from his former rank; now it appears to us, that subject to the restrictions and supervisions which were imposed on Napoleon at Saint Helena, he might have been detained with equal safety at numerous places at home, and of course at less than one quarter of the expense. We can only add that the regulations adopted by that able officer, Admiral Sir George Cockburn, for the safe custody of the Emperor, never gave him any permanent offence; and it is therefore for Sir Hudson Lowe to prove that those regulations were injudicious or insufficient, or otherwise his increasing the restraints upon Napoleon in such a merciless ratio will infallibly amount to a proof of the charges made against him. We have gone into these questions at such length because they really form the basis upon which the merit or demerit of the three great works of O'Meara, Las Cases, and Montholon must ultimately rest. It is not our custom to continue any of our memoirs from number to number, but we have continued our Memoirs of Napoleon, in the preceding division of our Magazine through three successive numbers,

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