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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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l « W # ttfr £ fc te ctoBttte&Htieed by it , it misujnterstends ^ entfafel y t&e nature of < mr consfftntft > ti and oar country . Bot the insinuations thrown omt in the French papers a «* ai « st our coacitryweti , will be circulated without the me ^ ns of refu tation . The press in that country is in the
most slavish state , and the government has paid the gretitt * st compliment to ours , by refusing" admission into theirs of the English newspapers . Though written in a lanfi-ua ^ e , which very few Frenchmen can read , the troths contained in them are of Such a
nature , that the government dreads their beino * made known to any . The free discussion which prevails here , is a most horrible thing * in the eyes of superstition and despotism : and we cannot but be astonished atlhe servile minds of the French , with
whom a change of g-overnment makes no change of system . The same plan of espionnage and censorship continues , whatever partv holds the wire by which the puppets are moved . Whether a Bourbon or a Bonaparte grains the ascendency , it is
the lot of -4 the French to be in terror , and the only difference is , that in the one case there was a degree of splendour to flatter their vanity , whilst in the other they are subjected to the caprice of a party , which thev cannot but despise .
Their legislative bodies continue to deliberate . Their great object is to save as much for the -clerg y as they can , and their vengeance is now directed to those who are married . Our countrymen i « confinement have not been brought to a trials The regicides have quitted Trance , and numbers of persons en £ ** ag * ed in the active scenes of the last twentv-five years have emigrated to America and Russia . The latter country
opens its arms to all classes , And will benefit greatly hy the event . The national institute has been purged also by tl » e Kfcig- 's authority and the celebrated Abbe IVfaurv , the staunch advocate of the Bourbons in the early part of the revolution , ceases to be enrolled amonp its members .
Germany seems likely to he soon in mohon , » ml the proceeding * rn Prussia will lead to eventful changes throughout the whole of the empire . The great hlow struck * £ amst Bonaparte , was occasioned chiefly by bringing" into action ag * ainst him the force of the people , and in this the Land-Wehre of Prussia was particularly effective * .
* n this body men of all ranks enrolled themwlves , with little inquiry whether , tney J ^ er e to serve as officers or common soldiers . In exciting- them to come forward , great use was made of secret societies , and the tyirit which prevafteo in themhas not
, ¦ ubsided . This has led to the circulation •» a variety of publications , in which the Principles of liberty have been laid down >» a manner by no means suited to the military despotism by which that country * * "governed . The return of the mrmy
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tLBtfriated by * be * r success , diffuses an uttL ergyover theiwfeeie ^ ktng'dom , and it is trr no means t > lear what will be the result 61 it . The same spi rit in a degree pervades the other armies , whicb'WTll carry into theftrespective kieg-doms new principles of
action , and in this general ag-itatron otre i « naturally anxious for the fate of our own armies , lest in their combination with the others , they may have acquired mere of -a foreign military spirit , and lost somewhat of the sentiments peculiar to our
constitutio A n . new turn has taken place in Spanish America . Carthag * eaa oppressed by famine , has surrendered to the Spanish troops , which on taking" possession of the place displayed its usual cruelties . In Mexico also the royal catise has had some ' sriceessfes , the prolongation of the conflict is ncnv certain , the eveut doubtful .
At home the meeting- of the parliament has been attended with the communication of voluminous treaties on the settlement of Europe ; which gave rise to animated discussions . The minister had a considerable majority in his favour , but the conduct of
the Bourbons in France and Spain met with severe reprehension . The intended measures of finance , howevet-created ^ gi-eatser interest , and the country TOafd wiffi norrot and astonishment , that fn spite of repeated promises thfc Income Tax ' was to be
continued , and a standing army kept on foot , quite incompatible with all tlie maxims of our ancestors on this subject . It was Warmly urged , that the confederacy of the European powers overthrew the greatest and most horrible military power that ever tormented mankind ; but if every kingf&om was to carry on the same military system , the
dang * er to Europe and the distress to each country were rather increased than diminished . Tkere can be no liberty , no security to a free constitution where there is a large standing" army . The men successively enrolled in it will gradually imbibe sentimetfts agreeable to the « spiit « du x ^ arps and inimical to freedom .
Th ^ -coatuiaaace the Property Tax hn excited also no < sjnall alarm , not merely on account of tfc evident inequality ia U « Assessments , in making- a man with a precarious income , derived from personal exerttons , pay the same aum annwaity &A tffbotiie > r whose income is derived from per . manent property , but also from T the vexations tfttetrflfitrff ihe cdllectitig ^ f 4 ke Wfk
and 1 h * s injtiTy that moral * tfill wnflfet- wW » litre spirit of espiontiac « , that wijl 'be'RtadtiallyHKffusfeft througfhowt the ecrtmtiy . Mn fact , wbeti uttth a tax is etrtftrhflsheil , the consequences will be the same in this kingdom with respect to property , as attended the inquisition in Spain with reg-ard to religion . The class of inquisitors , familiars and others connected with the inquisition , will become numerous : every one will look
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StetebfPuMicAffaifs . 1 ^
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1816, page 127, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2449/page/63/
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