were war against the Revolution. He overturned all it had raised-the declaration of rights, the sovereignty of the people, the constituent rights, the national representation, the right of election, political liberty, freedom of the press, the right of meeting, the class of moral and political sciences at the institute, the republican calendar, the Pantheon, in fine the Republic and its daughters, and the fraternity of nations. 'He re-established everything it had destroyed-monarchy, the coronation by the clergy, the legitimacy of divine right, despotism, the court, the royal tombs of Saint Denis, the Pope and Catholicism, the emigrants, nobility, the aristocracy, the body-guards, insignia of knighthood, arms, liveries, privileges, monopolies, entails, feudality, the cabinet noir [letter-opening office], lettres de cachet, stateprisons, etc. In one word, fostered from the cradle by France, at first revolutionary like her, Jacobin, Montagnard, a friend of the Robespierres, taking the title of the champion of liberal ideas, ungrateful child of the Revolution, he repudiated, slandered, and stabbed his mother. 'And his despotism was most heavy, brutal, intolerable; it was the pretorian or military despotism, the despotism of Imperial Rome, the despotism of the sabre. The soldiers being all in all to him, he sacrificed everything to them; he abused their ignorance and confidence, corrupted them, and developed in thein all the military passions, the lust of conquest and supremacy. Thus perverted, these soldiers, so patriotic under the Coinmittee of Public Safety, no longer treated their fellow-citizens otherwise than as conquered people......His generals being necessary to him, he tolerated their plundering, and pillage became one of the scourges of his times......In order to maintain his usurpation, he called to his aid egotism, cupidity, and ambition; he availed himself of all the vile and anti-social passions; he demoralised and corrupted, he enriched and honoured his accomplices, his flatterers, and lackeys. 'See what he said, at St. Helena, of Talleyrand and of Fouché: “Talleyrand is a cynic-corrupt, always ready to sell himself, and everybody and everything else, to the highest bidder-who has betrayed all parties and men. The triumph of Talleyrand is the triumph of immorality......He proposed to me to murder the Bourbons. He wanted one million a head." And this man whom he knew so well, he appointed him his minister! He made him Grand Elector, Prince of Benevento, President of the Senate! ""Fouché never enjoyed my confidence nor esteein......He had been a Terrorist, one of the Jacobin chiefs......He betrayed and sacrificed his comrades and accomplices......He was a wretch of all colours, a priest." And yet he made him his minister, senator, Duke of Otranto! 'He might have re-established Poland, and he would not. He ratified the partition, and guaranteed the shares of his father-in-law and of Alexander. 'But the labouring class, it is said, had employment and high wages. Yes, but for a time, because there were few able-bodied workmen left, but only old men, invalides, women, and girls who could not find husbands. Young men he considered as cannon-meat. He expended his soldiers as he did his powder, and strewed with more than five millions of corpses, French and foreigners, the fields of Italy, Egypt, Germany, Prussia, Russia, and France. 'After the peace of Amiens he was attacked because his ambition, his usurpations destroyed the equilibrium of Europe, and threatened the independence of all sovereigns and peoples......He rendered war necessary, without consulting the senate or the nation. Returning through Grenoble, in March 1815, he said himself: "I have been too fond of warfare; I will make war no more, but leave my neighbours quiet." He condemned himself.......He committed a crime under the pretext of saving the Republic and France; if in the morning he made conquests which raised the number of Departments to 130, he lost them again in the even ing. He even lost Belgium and the Rhine frontier, acquired before he appeared; he delivered the country and the capital to the Coalition, to the Restoration, after having wrung from France, between 1805 and 1813, more than two millions of soldiers, whom he caused to be slaughtered......When we see the fatal path he chose, instead of following the glorious career opened to him by fortune; when we see him prefer the vain glory of being the dread of the world to the ineffable delight of being the regenerator and the benefactor of nations; when we consider his faults (and no man ever committed faults so numerous and great), is it not doubtful whether posterity will call this extraordinary being a man of genius ?' PROUDHON AT VAUDEVILLE. A MUCH noised dramatic piece, brought out at the Theâtre du Vaudeville, in Paris, in ridicule of the axiom put forth by Proudhon, that all property is robbery, had the following scene-at which Proudhon could afford to laugh as much as the wits of Paris: The hero, M. Bonnichon, appears; his clothes in disorder; and he recounts, with a terrified air, how he had been seized by a cabman as he was in the act of stepping into a neighbour's shop to buy two sous' worth of cord; how the cabman, insisting on his right to labour, lifts him bodily from the ground, flings him into the vehicle, and drives him, at a most rapid pace, for three hours, through the streets of Paris, and at length brings him back to the shop door which was only a few paces from his own. The only answer to his complaints is, a reference to the decree of the Republic, recognising the rights of labour. Bonnichon dismally exhibits his ficelle which, instead of two sous, has cost him 4f. 95c., without taking into account the injury done to his hat, the wear and tear of his nether garment, and sixty or seventy bruises he received in his struggles to free himselt from abduction. But Madame Bonnichon has also her own share of the troubles, which, however, the love for finery imputed to the fair sex induces her to bear with more resignation, though they do not diminish the irritation of her husband. Fiveand-twenty mantua-makers, in the exercise of the sacred right guaranteed by the Republic, insist each upon furnishing the lady with a rich dress; so that her wardrobe, which, at least since the expulsion from the garden, was well supplied, is now furnished to superfluity. The dresses are made, and the bill-the husband is forced to pay. He predicts his speedy ruin. But this is the least of his troubles. In virtue of the famous decree, hundreds of citoyens, of all trades and callings, flock to his house, and, without notice or leave, at once enter on the exercise of their respective professions. Upholsterers' journeymen tear down the paper from his walls, which were already in good condition. He remonstrates, but they show him the decree. When every other expostulation is unheeded, he objects to the pattern of the tapestry; but they warn him, at his peril, not to refuse or object to 'the paper of the Republic.' Slaters, in virtue of the rights of labour, remove the roof from his house, to cover it with a new one; masons demolish his walls, to build them up again; carpenters break to pieces his doors, and tear up his floor; painters lavish on all sides their white, red, and blue; glaziers smash every pane in his windows to speedily renew them; porters insist upon removing his furniture to a new house which he has never taken, and never seen; porteurs d'eau inundate his bedroom with torrents of water, and finding no other vessel to receive the fluid, actually pour it into his boots! Bonnichon becomes exhausted, he falls to the ground in despair, but he is soon roused by a new demand, which well-nigh drives him to frenzy. A dentist out of employment, with the decree in his hand, rushes in and claims to exercise his art on the gums of M. Bonnichon. He takes his instruments from his pocket, seizes on his victim, and insists on extracting the best tooth in his head. This is too much. The wretched proprietor of the tooth rushes forth in despair; but he is followed by his tormentor, who at length succeeds in tearing from his jaw his best molaire-the whitest and soundest ever given to mortal! This enforcement of the rights of labour convulsed the audience. BURNLEY. SPIRITUAL INTRIGUES IN SIR,-Under the head of' A Step in the Right Direction,' the Wesleyan Times, of Jan. 15th ult., says: The leading gentlemen of the Wesleyan Society in Burnley have entered with spirit and perseverance on a project worthy of their character for Christian zeal and liberality. The society and congregation contain a number of young men who have long exhibited a strong disposition for the attainment of sound literary information, but have not heretofore been favoured with a proper and efficient organisation and other accommodations requisite for the profitable and successful prosecution of so laudable an object. The consequence is they have been under the necessity of seeking instruction from sources strongly imbued with infidelity and anti-Christian principles. In order to supply this desideratum, the above gentlemen have engaged some rooms in a central position of the town, and are now fitting them up in a way highly creditable to their taste, judgment, and generosity: and they intend supplying them with periodicals, papers, standard books, &c., for the young men of their society and the town generally. There is no doubt that it will be properly appreciated, and will render an excellent auxiliary to the society.' Now, sir, the reason given as to why these gentlemen are compelled to open an institution of their own is not exactly true, as the only acknowledged infidel upon the Board of the Mechanics' Institution is our friend Dr. Uttley, a man who perhaps has worked harder for the Mechanics' Institution than any other man. The general opinion in the town is, that this institution is got up (like the Church of England Literary Institution) because the constitution of the Mechanics' Institute admits of the eligibility of all the members becoming directors. The consequence has been that there have yearly been upon the Board men of all persuasions, such as Churchmen, Wesleyans, Catholics, and Freethinkers. But it appears now that the Churchman and the Wesleyan, in the plenitude of their Christian zeal and charity, could not sit down by the Catholic and the Infidel: neither could they brook the idea of a man like Dr. Uttley, holding the principles he does, to possess any influence in the society. But the Mechanics' Institution is far from being as liberal as it ought to be. Therefore, we are desirous of setting the public right upon such an accusation as the Wesleyan lays to its charge. Party politics and religion are excluded from the Mechanics' Institution. In a library composed of more than three thousand volumes, there is not one volume of a free-thinking or of an irreligious tendency-not even such a book as the Vestiges of Creation.' A deputation in this town recently waited upon Mr. Hopwood, a manufacturer and a Wesleyan, and, in conversation with him, they informed him that a number of young men had applied to the Directors of the Mechanics' Institute, wishing them to change one of Chambers's class books and substitute for it the Bible-but that the directors sternly refused. This the directors state to be a fabrication-that there never was such an application made to them. G. EDWARDS. 6 CHARTIST ADVOCACY. Dear GeorgE,—An embargo has been laid on your Reasoner for somewhat about a fortnight, under a supposition that it was solely devoted to the advocacy of the views of Robert Owen; but as it has been ascertained that it is devoted to the development of truth in general, it has at length been admitted, and I am now in possession of No. 138-which I have read with much pleasure. It is high time that the small portion of the genus Homo who have received that modicum of education, either from men or books, to enable them to form an opinion, should look upon things as they are, and exchange ideas without uncharitableness, prejudice, or dogmatism. It would be well if all social and political reformers would adopt such as their rule of action, and that all propositions were taken at their instric value, in the same manner as a marketable commodity. If such were the case generally we Chartists might perhaps escape from some of the indirect censures cast upon us. You should consider that the Chartists are subject to the same feelings as other men, and that however you may feel it necessary to repudiate the acts of some of them, they have the same defence, and a vast deal more of reason on their side, than the educated and wealthy who oppose them. The actions of the one result from strong feelings of injustice to which they are subjected, and which they have endeavoured to make known as far as their powers would admit; whereas the other parties never condescend to show cause why those grievances should exist, but entrench themselves behind those barriers which the prejudices of mankind and the fears of the possessors of wealth so abundantly supply. I have been led to those remarks by a statement in your thirty-fourth page-you say: 'There must be a number of persons connected with Socialism in France who are in Communism, what the Chartists recently were in politics among us-and these the press lay hold of and report to the discredit of the whole scheme of industrial advocacy." All thinking men will doubtless be led to attribute the late proceedings, which have been unjustly laid to the charge of the Chartists, to their proper origin. The disaffection and discontent which then manifested itself was the loud and unmistakeable protest of suffering humanity and a veritable arraignment of the present order of things. If the tone, temper, and mode of advocating or disseminating opinion which pervades the columns of the Reasoner could be generally adopted, a recurrence of such scenes might be avoided; but if those who claim to possess a larger amount of intelligence persist in endeavouring to stifle those opinions which they may deem detrimental to their interests, they may expect a repetition of the same so long as human nature remains as it is. No men have struggled harder than the Chartists to establish the empire of reason in all things appertaining to human welfare, or been more willing to abide by the principles of free discussion. I therefore trust that your little Reasoner will not make the mistake of representing us in the same light as the organs of things as they are'-and that a better understanding may take place among the friends of progression. GEORGE WHITE. Kirkdale Gaol. [It is hardly necessary to say that I estimate as leniently as Mr. White the errors to which he alludes. But that is not the point. Are we for ever to be excusing and never improving ourselves? Is it the part of wise men who suffer ever to go on complaining in that way which only postpones redress?—ED.] SUFFERINGS OF NONCONFORMISTS. THE sufferings of the Nonconformists in 1685 are thus described by Macaulay in his 'History of England :' 'Never, not even under the tyranny of Laud, had the condition of the Puritans been so deplorable as at that time. Never had spies been so actively employed in detecting congregations. Never had magistrates, grand jurors, rectors, and churchwardens been so much on the alert. Many dissenters were cited before the ecclesiastical courts. Others found it necessary to purchase the connivance of the agents of the government by presents of hogsheads of wine, and of gloves stuffed with guineas. It was impossible for all the sectaries to pray together without precautions such as are employed by coiners and receivers of stolen goods. The places of meeting were frequently changed. Worship was performed sometimes just before break of day, and sometimes at dead of night. Round the building where the little flock was gathered together, sentinels were posted to give the alarm if a stranger drew near. The minister, in disguise, was introduced through the garden and the back yard. In some houses there were trap doors, through which, in case of danger, he might descend. Where nonconformists lived next door to each other, the walls were often broken open, and secret passages were made from dwelling to dwelling. No psalm was sung, and many contrivances were made to prevent the voice of the preacher, in his moments of fervour, from being heard beyond the walls. Yet, with all this care, it was often found impossible to elude the vigilance of inforthers. In 'In the suburbs of London, especially, the law was enforced with the utmost rigour. Several opulent gentlemen were accused of holding conventicles. Their houses were strictly searched, and distresses were levied to the amount of many thousands of pounds. The fiercer and bolder sectaries, thus driven from the shelter of roofs, met in the open air, and determined to repel force by force. A Middlesex justice, who had learned that a nightly prayer meeting was held in a gravel pit about two miles from London, took with him a strong body of constables, broke in upon the assembly, and seized the preacher. But the congregation, which consisted of about 200 men, soon rescued their pastor, and put the magistrate and his officers to flight. This, however, was no ordinary occurrence. general, the Puritan spirit seemed to be more effectually cowed at this conjuncture than at any moment before or since. The tory pamphleteers boasted that not one fanatic dared to move tongue or pen in defence of his religious opinions. Dissenting ministers, however blameless in life, however eminent for learning and abilities, could not venture to walk the streets for fear of outrages, which were not only not repressed, but encouraged, by those whose duty it was to preserve the peace. Some divines of great fame were in prison. Among these was Richard Baxter. Others, who had, during a quarter of a century, borne up against oppression, now lost heart, and quitted the kingdom. Among these was John Howe. Great numbers of persons who had been accustomed to frequent conventicles repaired to the parish churches. It was remarked that the schismatics who had been terrified into this show of conformity might easily be distinguished by the difficulty they had in finding out the collect, and by the awkward manner in which they bowed at the name of Jesus.' |