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hordes of ignorant bigots, that, having little or nothing of their own to contend for, they care not who is their next master :

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another, and another still succeeds, And the last fool's as welcome as the former!"

We have witnessed all these things-we say -Well, what then? demands the reader. Why, we add, that we have witnessed enough to convince us-nay, even kings themselves, who oftener lose their heads than their prejudices, that the public esteem is the sole prop of every government, when put to the trial; and, as a man's esteem is not to be gained, like a spaniel's, by kicks and thumps, he should be treated with decency at least, if not with attention and civility. We add, too, that the study of the history of past events is only an idle amusement at best, if not a waste of time, unless applied to the amelioration of our own conduct, by observation and amendment upon the faults of others. Buonaparté was wise enough to be

aware of the force and prevalence of public opinion, and he began with Spain by making its reigning monarch, and his successor, and. indeed the whole of (to him detested) race of Bourbon, despicable to the nation. We will venture an opinion, that if Carlos or Ferdinand had remained firm in their capital, and thrown themselves into the arms of the nation, by making their cause the people's, and the people's theirs, they would have made a glorious, and, with the aid of the British, a successful defence. But when the king, queen, and princes, had so indelibly disgraced themselves and the nation, as to leave the kingdom, and to throw themselves at the feet of a known despiser of all honor, to accuse, nay abuse, and request his protection against each other, what great veneration could be expected either for themselves or their mandates, issued by their creatures, whose highest prospect of reward for victory, held out to the nation to be inspirited, was that of having things restored to their former situation !!! Why, the nation cannot be in

a worse situation than its former one; and this was a notable incentive to prodigies of valour! What is true valour? We subscribe to the poet's idea of it:

"It is the greatest virtue; and the safety
Of all mankind; the object of its danger:
A certain mean 'twixt fear and confidence;
No inconsid'rate rashness, or vain appetite
Of false encount'ring formidable things,
But a true science of distinguishing
What's good or evil. It springs out of reason,
And tends to perfect honesty; the scope

Is always honor, and the public good:
It is no valour for a private cause."

The proclamations of the Junta against the liberty of the press sufficiently explained that the people were not to be cured of their blindness; and they have remained in it till the mist (that is, their host of oppressors) has been chased away. The conqueror has seen the errors of the Junta, and has shewn that he knows well how to profit by them; he knows that his own strength lies in the weakness of his opponents, and their weakness

in a contempt of the people. He, therefore, assumes those virtues to which he is a total stranger as well as themselves. He feigns to respect the public good and public opinion; and whatever any westward ho! writers may say, it is morally certain that the condition of the Spaniards must be ameliorated, even if Buonaparté should subdue them, since we find that he deems it necessary to his own views to hold out to the people, that their situation will be better under his, than the Bourbon dominion. Read his IMPERIAL DECREES: he abolishes the inquisition and feudal rights, and reduces the number of convents to one-third!!! If these are not what (in a strict sense of the rules of descent of the Spanish crown) may be termed Imperial Decrees, being undoubtedly the ipse dixit of an usurper of the Spanish crown, they are, nevertheless, DECREES worthy of an Emperor! And, although by these means Buonaparté may think to bolster up his own illgotten power, yet to give the Spaniards a glimpse of civil and religious liberty, is the

surest method to make them assert their rights to both, even against himself!! According to the old saying-" Give him rope enough, and he will hang himself."-But this, in all human probability, may be a work of time, and therefore "patience and shuffle the cards."

We will venture another trifling guess, which, however, is much more probable than the prophecies of Mr. Brothers, because built on the rational premises we have before mentioned; which is-that Buonaparté will not only profit by his pretended respect for the public good and opinion, but that he has it in contemplation to take advantage of another weapon, weak in itself, but overwhelming in the hands of a multitude; namely, superstition and credulity!—Alexander, (the great hero, but little man) not contented to subdue the bodies of men by his arms, sought to tyrannize over their minds by palming his divine origin upon them: The Roman emperors pursued the same state

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