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parties . In such a state as France has been in for the last twenty-five years , it must be fc very difficult to find many partisans of the royal cause , and scarcely indeed any vfh < $ can cordially desire the restoration < yf the old regime , with its feudalities , its noblesse and its priesthood . The two houses will have met before our
next , and before their meeting- a solemn mass has been appointed to the Holy Ghost , at which the king with his whole court and the two houses are to be present . To a Protestant ear the sound of a mass to the Holy Ghost will excite feelings very unfavourable to the canse for which it is
intended to be performed . The proclamation of the king * , by which it is announced , has in view a most laudable purpose ; namely , « i meeting of the king and his legislature to pray to God for the assistance of his Holy Spirit in their deliberations 5 and assuredly
it must be the prayer of every Christian , that the heart of every individual in this meeting maybe duly prepared to receive the benign influence of that Holy Spirit , by which our lives ought to be actuated . But when we consider the nature of the service
to be offered up solemnly to that God , who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity , Tvhen we compare it with the simplicity of worship required by the gospel of our Saviour , a worship in spirit and in truth , we cannot but lament that the opening of this meeting should be marked by- < the grossest superstition .
France is agitated by parties , and its ancient system of intrigue seems to have revived with the restoration of its ancient house . A very large body of the inhabitants tired with the * changes of the last twenty-five years , and wearied with the abuse of power , which has marked each party in its turn that has obtained it
naturally sighs for repose , and would g-ladly bend to any authority , under which it may be obtained . They who have remained aliens from their country for so many years , smarting under the pain of their sufferings , and desirous of preventing a recurrence of similar evils , naturally wish for what is called a strengthening of the hands of
government , and the placing of such a power in the sovereign , as shall give to them that influence in his affairs , which from ancient ideas they think to be their due . This party is small but active . In the house of peers its influence will be great , what it is in the house of commons time only can
manifest . As to the republicans they are either lost , or must refer their sentiments to a more favourable opportunity . The miseries of their common country may operate upon them all , and as far as their internal government is concerned , there is an opportunity of placing it upon a solid foundation . One of their first concerns is supposed to be the state of their country with respect to
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foreign powers , upon what conditions these immense armies are to leave it xuVin + j . -L s . ' a . T _ i * > wnat contributions are to be paid for their int ference , and what security can be gheu f 0 ' the future peace of Europe . These ar great and important questions , and it Is supposed that the allied powers have pre
pared a statement ot their demands , which will be presented to the bod y as soon as it is duly organized for deliberation . But what can be the nature of that deliberation where on one side are representatives without poiwer , and on the other six hundred thousand bayonets ! Here is room for the display of magnanimity on the part of the
conquerors . Among the misfortunes of this unhappy country , is now to be added the spirit of religious animosity . This had been smothered during the former constitutions , in which for the most part religious toleration was
stipulated for , and during the reign of the last despot , was strictly adhered to . Iu the south of France , the Protestants are very numerous , and in that part also the Bourbon party is very powerful . This has given rise to many dreadful atrocities . The
chapels of the Protestants have been burned down , and their persons treated with the greatest ignomi ny . The accounts that have arrived in England , are of the most distressing- nature , and it is to be apprehended that without great care on the part of the new legislature , the horrible days of Lewis the Fourteenth may be revived . . 4 s the
restoration of the Bourbons was owing in great measure to the valour of their Protestant allies , if may be hoped that the in * fluence of the latter will be used upon this occasion in favour of their Protestant brethren . The government of Paris and in fact of the greater part of France is in the hands of
the allies . Their troops are so disposed throughout the departments , that a . re-action on the part of the French is not to he dreaded : and magnificent reviews have taken place , which serve not only to retain their armies in proper discipline , but to display to the French the strength of their conquerors . Continual hints are thrown out of the approaching * departure of these Jfe * V M 4 M _ 1 . . 1 A t \ ate itu
torces , but in the mean time they and clothed at the expense of the vanquished . The trophies of former conquests are daily disappearing ' . Drafts are continually made from the repositories © f works of art 5 the statues of Napoleon are thrown down 5 but his laws and his many works ot public utility and mag-nifieence will lonf continue to preserve the memory « f lws
name . . . The mighty conqueror is now quW on his voyage to his destined retreat . family are scattered in Europe . The heroes , that figured with him in the late subversion of thrones , are living in insign 1 " ^??! Some are . decorated with titles » n <*
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598 State of Public Affairs .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1815, page 598, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1764/page/66/
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