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    -south of Madrid , it is certain that they have met with considerable success . , Their whole force will soon be directed against the strength of the junta at Seville , and from the experience of the

    past * little can be expected from its exertions . The question must come home continually tp the Spaniards , what are we fighting for ? Is the contest merely between a Buonaparte and a Bourbon ? ami I then greatly interested in it ? Is it between the rectification and the

    maintenance of abuses , by which my country has been evidently depressed ; from whom is the . one to be expected , the other to be dreaded ? Buonaparte has already diminished the grievous burden of the , church , and removed altogether the horrors of the accursed Inquisition .

    What on the other side has been performed ? what has been promised ? These arguments must have their , weight , and all the information communicated by our unfortunate army , tends to shew , that the Spaniards feel their etfect . Had their leaders called a Cortez at the be *

    ginning , and when the spirit of the peopie was roused ; had they set themselves in good earnest to produce a reform ; had they animated instead of damping the ardour of the people ; had they promoted instead of discouraging the liberty of the pre ^ s , every thing was in their favour ; they , might have maintained their

    ground every thing now seems against them , and they will probably be governed in a better manner by a Buonaparte than a Ferdinand . At any rate , the cause of religious liberty will be a gainer . Popery will receive farther depression ; and this is of far more consequence to mankind , than the rise and fall of families .

    If Spain presents but faint hopes to the politician of resistance to French influence , we cannot flatter him that Portugal will in the end be more successful . Strong proclamations have been issued in that country , and armies have been formed . If we believed all the reports , the Portuguese would be a match for the French ; but with all this prowess *

    Porto , the second city in the kingdom , is in possession of the French , and it was taken by a very small force , and without scarcely apy resistance . It is difficult to Ascertain at a distance the strength of a country . We know only , that the old government of Portugal was a very bad ne , and that the country was overrun by JPNcits . smcL monk © . tflfeccs naturally

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    flow from causes ; and what must a bad government and church influence produce ? In this perturbation of states , France , which was lately so forlorn and desolate , as to have been excluded by the wild Irish orator from the map , of Europe ,

    preserves the utmost tranquillity within , raises troops by conscription without alarm , and its sovereign leaves his capital for remote expeditions without the least dread of insurrection . His subject are full of activity ; the arts , sciences and manufactures , flourish ; and the

    utmost encouragement is given by govern * ment to every exertion that can promote the prosperity of the country . The emperor has however received some mortifying checks from our arms . The British navy , has shewn its superiority oa his shores , and destroyed his vessels in

    the sight of his subjects . Four ships of the line ; have been burned oa his coasts , and seven others compelled to take refuge up the river , oppo ite to the isle of Aix . In the conflagration of the ships , die newly-invented rockets of Mr . Congreve were used ; and they ane said to hp

    of very great efficacy . How far this invention is deserving of encouragement from a marine power , is a subject deserving of enquiry . lu effects may in a future age be recorded , as an exemplification of that power , by which the arrogant designs of man are kept within due bounds . Thus the casual mixture of a

    few simple ingredients , in the ceil of a friar , destroyed the combinations of knights in armour ; and in consequence of these rockets * the seas may be delivered from the burdens of floating batteries , vomiting forth death and destruction . But , the exertions of talent in the arts of

    destruction , are not without some attendant good . In consequence of his researches into the pyrotechnic art , Mr . Congreve is said to have discovered a rocket , by which he can illuminate a space three miles in extent , in eighc minutes ; so that a ship may in the night be made sensible of impending danger .

    Another blow will be felt by the French emperor , which hasl > een struck in the West-IncRes , and has taken from him the island of Martinique . The other islands will probably follow , and thua France will see itself without ship . ? * colonies , or commerce . Bur , if foreign commerce is gone , its internal commerce m , ust be greut , and its influence in Europe will predominate , iiow tar the

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• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1809, page 229, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1735/page/53/