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the same principle , we will admit the unlawfulness of war . All these are under the controul of the Deity ; all are productive of many and dreadful evils , as well as war , but all are necessary and even right in the Divine plan , because they exist . When Dr . Charming , therefore ,
inveighs so fiercely against war and warriors , he should be told that by means of the scourge which he thus deprecates , the Independence and Liberty of his country were secured . In that affair the sword of Washington , with all its evils , was as necessary as the pen of Paine and the counsels of Franklin . —War has been
divided into offensive and defensive , but this is often a distinction without a difference . No doubt , one party must be the aggressor ; but circumstances frequently arise , through the course of events , to enable the power attacked to assume offensive operations , and to reduce its opponent to staud ou the defensive . Suppose , then , an attacking
power to publish a declaration of war , or to raise , equip , and march its forces as secretly and as rapidly as possible to invade another's territories—has the power thus threatened a right to assume the offensive , by immediately passing its own frontiers and carrying the war into the heart of the enemy ' s country ? Upon this question there cannot be two
opinions ; for if war , in any case , be lawful , the power threatened has an unquestionable right , if it possess the means , and circumstances permit , of opposing the hostile intentions of the other , and destroying instead of being destroyed . To remain literally and invariably upon the defensive is absurd . Such a procedure will frequently compromise your
army and endanger the independence of the country . With these remarks we turn to Napoleon and observe , that in all the wars in which he was engaged he was never the aggressor ; that the coalition against him always existed either secretly or openly ; that the secret of its being a war of life was openly avowed at the close of the affair ; and that , beiug constantly attacked in one form or
another , he had an undoubted right to repel force by force . The charge so often brought against him , that he was fond of war , is more easily made than proved . He fought because he was compelled to it ; he invaded others' territories under pain of being invaded by them ; but his spirit waa naturally gentle , and he loved better to be employed in making roads , bridges , canals , harbours , and in encouraging and promoting agriculture , the
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arts and sciences , and the happiness of his people , than in directing the march of armies and deciding the fate of battles . The third charge against Napoleon is , that he murdered the Duke d'Enghien * As this charge is a very serious one , it will be necessary to take a brief survey of the circumstances . Upou the rupture of the peace , or rather truce , of Amiens ,
the enemies of France and Napoleon had two objects in view ; first , the assassination of the First Consul , and second , a counter revolution , which would necessarily lead to a recall of the Bourbons . In order to carry these measures into effect , Lieutenant or Captain Wright landed a band of assassins in France , among whom were Pichegru aud Georges . These
wretches and their associates , among whom was Moreau , conferred in Paris and made their arrangements ; and whilst some were to murder Napoleon , others were to seize upon strong places marked out , and to raise rebellion in different places , among which were La Vendee and Provence , to the latter of which the uotorious Willot was sent . The Duke
d ' Enghien arrived at Ettenheim , about three leagues from the French frontiers , so that he might encourage the desperadoes and march upon Paris as soon as his agents had prepared the way . To give vigour and effect to the whole , we are sorry to say , that official reports announced two Englishmen as entering warmly into the conspiracy , and as furnishing large sums of money . Uuder these circumstances what ought Napoleon to have done ? Was his life of no
value and his blood mere ditch-water ? Was he to remain passive — and leave the Bourbons to triumph by treading upon his corpse ? Were they , their allies and agents , to effect all the nrischief in their power both to him and to France , whilst he and the French people were coolly to sit still and wait to be butchered ? We answer , No . Napoleon was
perfectly right in arresting , trying , and shooting , the Duke d'Enghien ; and though Sir Walter Scott calls it murder , and Dr . Channing seems horrified with it , we are satined that , had either or both of them been placed in the First Consul ' s situation , they would have done
exactly the same thing . We tell these gentlemen farther , that if this act of Napoleon's were murder , that of hanging Major Andre by the American chiefs was murder , and the shooting and decapitation of so many of the adherents of the Stuarts , in 1715 and 1745 , in this country , were murder also . But as long as
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202 Miseelianeous Correspondence .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1829, page 202, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2570/page/50/
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