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at the time by any means short of war; bad as the act was, he did not think its resistance worth a war, an opinion which he still retained for various reasons, amongst others for this-that the very effect it would have had, would have most assuredly been not to have got the French army out of Spain. A war, indeed, might have enriched England with new colonies, and possibly at its termination have placed her interests in a higher scale than those of France both at home and abroad; but this he would, nevertheless, venture to say, that the single point of the expulsion of the foreign army from the Peninsula would not have been accomplished; for whoever had found that a war between two great nations had ended by the accurate attainment of the exact point at first in issue between them? (Hear). They had heard, indeed, as a reason for disturbing this supposed link of union between France and Spain, that the disseverance of such a connection was inseparably associated with the recollection of the most glorious era in British history. Now, with great deference to those who entertained such an opinion, he must say, that they exaggerated the importance of that earlier públic circumstance. If they looked back to the time of Queen Anne, when the fact of the connection between France and Spain was most generally dwelt upon, and when the votes of the House of Commons of that day, recorded and proclaimed that no peace could be permitted while a Bourbon sat upou the throne of Spain-if they so looked back, how struck must they not be with the wide exaggeration of their apprehensions? Where could they now find that Spain, in the map of the world, which was to have swallowed up the power of maritime England? Did they not still remain in a nook of that same Spain-Gibraltar; where they had settled at a period contemporaneous with those fears, holding a firm and unshaken occupation up to this hour? and where, now, was that nation, which (continued the right hon. gentleman) "was to have shaken us from our sphere? That Spain of the old map was, be it remembered, the Spain, within the limits of whose empire the sun never set-it was Spain with the Indies--where will you find her now?" (Cheers). The old resistance to the Bourbon connection with Spain was founded upon the necessity of maintaining the due balance of power among the nations. of Europe, but how was that balance affected by the entrance of the French into Spain? Was it a fixed and immoveable standard, or was it not a balance perpetually varving as civilization advanced, and new nations sprung up, in the march of human events? The balance of power was a century ago to be adjusted between France and Spain, the Netherlands and England, and Austria; but thirty years after Prussia became a power in the scale, and thirty years after that again came Russia; so that the balance of power had gone on enlarging, and becoming at the same time more complicated from its extension, while it was likewise more easy of adjustment in proportion to the larger surface over which it was spread, by the facility of putting and regulating a greater number of the smaller weights in the scale. "I admit," said Mr. Cannidn, "that the entrance of the French army into Spain was a disparagement, nay, a blow to the feelings of the people of this country; but I deny that, questionable and censurable as in every respect it was, it was an act which called for our direct and hostile resistance by force of arms. Only look at what has resulted from the act; the mode of effecting it has made it harmless to us, and instead of proving of value, it has achieved injury to the possessor. Here then is a compensation for our disparagement, and have we reason to repent our steps? I repeat," continued the right honourable gentleman with great animation," that it was an aggression made by France upon Spain, but were we on that account to blockade Cadiz? No, I thought differently; I look. ed anotherway and struck a blow in another hemisphere; I said this shall not be

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France now, with Spain and the Indies: I hastened then to call the new world into existence, to redress the errors of the old, and counterbalance the evils which had been inflicted upon it.-[Loud cheers.] I redeemed the movement of France, while I left her own act upon her, unimitigated and unredressed, so that I believe she would be thankful to have relief from the responsibility of her assumed undertaking, and to get rid of a burden which has become too bitter to be borne without pain. [Hear, hear.] At all events, whatever France might have to endure from the position in which she had voluntarily placed herself respecting Spain, of one thing he was most certain, that the only way to rivet her in it, would have been to have so opposed her, as that the point of honour must have compelled her to stay. [Hear, hear.] The support which the redress had received from the honourable gentlemen opposite had been so ample, that it would be ungrateful, where he to transgress upon their patience by any farther observations. "In conclusion," said he, I shall only once more declare that the object of this measure is not war—[Hear, hear.]-its object is to take this, the last chance of peace. [Cheers.] If you do not go forth at such a call as this to the aid of Portugal, she, your ally, must be trampled down, and you will be irretrievably disgraced-and then will come war in addition to national degradation. [Hear, hear.] If, under circumstances like these, you wait till Spain has come out of her war with Portugal, snd ripened her resources, you will then have to encounter the war of the pacificators, and then will you see how that war must end" [Cheers.]·

There is another ground, though it is a fallacious one, on which the more ignorant part of the people of this country will rejoice at a war. They have found the period of peace-a peace of eleven or twelve years, bring them no plenty, no reduction of burthens, no advantages; they have been altogether worse off than they were during the war; so much so, that there has long been a popular wish that a war would turn up, to see if that will make things better. It will not make things better, unless it be followed by extensive reforms. Without great domestic changes, it will make things worse. There are no means of making France or Spain pay the cost of the war.

There is also a ferocious spirit prevalent among the mass of mankind that makes them delight in war. It is the very principle of religion to engender sects and war. The present or prospective war will be a war of religion. It is a religious sect that has invaded Portugal. And the question of a general war will be a question of religion or no religion. The sword has introduced, the sword has supported religion, and as the sword will always be the last resource in defending it, another sword will be required to assist in its extirpation. Religion, where there is no discussion on its merits, is a very different thing from what it is where free discussion exists. For instance, the religion of the Spaniards and Portuguese is not a thing to be encountered with the weapons of reason. The mass of the people can neither read, write, nor understand an argument. It would be vain to preach to them: they must, if religion be now to be extirpated, follow the stream of successful war and be deprived of their priests, churches, and church property. This step will extinguish religion. "Let there be no priests," as Talma exclaimed

on his death-bed, and there will be no religious multitude. Some persons are of opinion that ignorant people will ever run after some superstition; but I rest the matter on the existence or nonexistence of priests, churches, ceremonies, &c.

Mr. Canning will not avow his dispositiou to go to this length; but it is the only point at which effectual and lasting good can be done, Wherever the war commences, whether it be in Portugal, or Spain, or France, the plan, for the benefit of the people, should be, to sweep the track clean as they go to leave nothing behind from whence an evil can arise.

It would be extremely wise in the British Ministry, at this moment, to abolish the Established Church in Ireland. Far better will it be to do this, than to allow the Catholic Church to be reinstated in the benefices; which certainly will be the case, if there be a serious war. Without those benefices, and unopposed, the Irish Catholics will be a harmless body; with it, they will be as furious and as treacherous as the Catholics of Spain or Portugal. Let them gain the present Church property in Ireland, and we shall have a virulent enemy at our right elbow. Let that property be applied to the exigencies of the State, and the Irish Catholics will assist to pull down all other Churches. The time is momentous, and a directing hand should now be that of a man of the most enlarged mind, of the most honest and philanthropic views.

Time has not yet elapsed to acquaint us with the impressions made on Ireland and France by this hostile step on the part of England. In London, there is a new panic, stocks of all kinds have fallen, and must on some day fall to nought. The difference ia already 7 per cent. in the English Consols. and, in a few weeks, they are likely to come down to the old war prices: or that the money which counted but a year ago as 97, will shortly count but as 60. This makes a dire havoc in those families whose fortunes and subsistence are invested in the funds. These imaginary funds are altogether a great national evil, and it would be worth a war to extinguish them. They are false lights and false props, distorting our prospects and misleading our steps.

Republicans, our duty in the present state of things is to look on, and to watch the proper opportunities at which to forward our views, and to strengthen our means. As certain as the motion of the earth is it, that our principles must eventually triumph. For any early period, we cannot predict the completion of that triumph. But the beauty of our principles is, that we have no personal hostilities, no party views, no rancorous feelings, no bitter prejudices, we can wait calmly, undisturbed and undisturbing, the progress of those events which are being worked for us by others, and put our hands to the plough only when the opportunity offers for the cultivation of something useful. The man who is a Republican and an Atheist, that is, the man who has

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It is an affair of which the public should be apprised, that the petition about oathmaking, presented to the House of Commons, by Mr. Hume, in the name of the Reverend Robert Taylor, was a forgery imposed on Mr. Hume, and the work of the person noticed in the last week's Republican' under the name of E. B. Singly. This same person was exceedingly busy in my war with Cobbett. I inserted one or two of his communications under the signature of Amicus: and was threatened with his extreme indignation because I would not insert more.

An abundance of specimens of the person's handwriting are preserved; indeed, the handwriting is somewhat feminine, though not sufficiently so as to lead to the inference that it is the game o

a woman.

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REMARKS ON THE GENIUS AND WRITINGS OF THE LATE MR. PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY.

To the Editor of The Republican."

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Truth's deathless voice pauses among mankind!
If there must be no response to my cry
If men must rise and stamp with fury blind
On his pure name who loves them thou and I,
Sweet friend! can look from our tranquillity
Like lamps into the world's tempestuous night,-
Two tranquil stars, while clouds are passing by
Which wrapt them from the foundering seaman's sight,
That burn from year to year with unextinguish'd light,

SHELLEY.

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SIR, Tollington Park, Dec.. 1, 1826. I RECOLLECT that a short time after the death of Mr. Shelley, you published a sort of promise that you would at some future period gratify the readers of" The Republican" by giving them a criticism on the writings and principles of that ill fated gentleman. Seeing that you have not fulfilled your promise, and understanding that "The Republican" is doomed not to outlive the present year, I will, with your leave, make a few remarks on that very interesting subject myself.

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