FROM this time till the peace was concluded, the political debatings,
before noticed, continued, and were almost the constant subject of all
companies. I have often sat and listened with wonder to the jargon of
the protected fools, and heard them argue, if so it may be called, in
defence of all the measures then pursued; and I have seen with surprise
the impudence of those who lived upon the taxes. Knaves and their
abettors appeared to predominate in the land; and they carried their
subserviency to such a length that I think, if Mr. Pitt had proposed to
make a law to transport all men who had pug noses, and to hang all men
above 60 years of age, these persons (those excepted who came within the
meaning of the act) would have advocated it as a brilliant thought and a
wise measure.
If we examine the history of these times, and look back to those of old,
we shall find that the in-roads of ignorance have ever been the same.
The time was when the magistrates of Newcastle sent to Scotland for a
man who was reputed clever in discovering witches. He came, and easily
convicted many a fine woman, as well as those who were wrinkled by age
and wisdom, and they were by his means tried and put to death.[32]
Footnote 32:
“He was for such like villainie condemned in Scotland, and upon the
gallows he confessed he had been the death of two hundred and twenty
women, in England and Scotland, for the gain of twenty shillings
a-peece, and beseeched forgiveness and was executed.”—_England’s
Grievance, by Ralph Gardner_, 1665.
I think, if there be a plurality of devils, ignorance must be their
king. The wretchedness which ignorance has, from time to time, spread
over the world is truly appaling. This is a king that should be deposed
without loss of time; and that portion of mankind who are under the
guidance of his imps should have nothing to do with the affairs of
society, and should be carefully looked to and kept out of every kind of
command. Even the poor, innocent, unreasoning animals should, in mercy,
not be allowed to be goaded, and to suffer under their ignorance, in the
shape of folly and cruelty.
To attempt giving anything like a detail of the history of this eventful
war would, in this place, be useless: that must be left to the
historian. It appears to me that Mr. Pitt was urged into it chiefly by
ambition, and that disappointment broke his heart. General Bonaparte,
from his unparalleled victories, became in his turn blinded by ambition,
which ended in his being conquered and banished to St. Helena for life.
He had divided and conquered almost all his continental enemies, one
after another, and then mostly reinstated them in their dominions. But
this generosity would not do. Despotism, urged on and supported by this
country, was rooted too deeply in the governments of Europe to think of
making any change to better the condition of the people. It would appear
that that is a business they cannot think of; and the old maxim, that
the many are made only to support the few, seems continually uppermost
in their resolves. If Bonaparte had been as good a man as he was a great
one, he had it in his power to settle all this, and to have established
the happiness of both the governors and the governed, over all the
civilised world, for ages to come. Although he had the example of the
incomparable Washington before him, he did not copy it. He ceased to be
first consul, managed to assume the title of emperor, married an
Austrian arch-duchess, and became one of the Legitimates. This added to
the stock of his ambition, and from that time he began to decline.
Fortune at length seemed to frown upon him, and the frost and snow of
Russia cut off and destroyed his immensely large and well-appointed
army. He was baffled in his strenuous efforts to repair his loss, and
his defeat at Waterloo sealed his ruin.
One would think that the gaining of worlds would not compensate for the
misery and the horrid waste of human life which are the certain
attendants of war; and one would wonder what kind of minds direct the
actions of the authors of it. Were they to reflect, it may be fairly
concluded that they could not bear their own thoughts, and that, after
taking a full survey of the wretchedness they had occasioned, they would
go immediately and hang themselves. They are perhaps not fitted for
reflection, or only for that kind of it which can look at nothing but
ambition or private gain. It would be well for the abettors and
advocates of war to try to weigh the profit and loss (setting aside the
inhumanity) attendant upon it. This we should do at home; and, instead
of celebrating the birthday of the “Heaven-born minister,” ask his
admirers how he deserves such a title, and compare it with his actions.
Might not the lives of, say, a million of men have been saved? Was it
necessary that they should have been sacrificed in such a way? Could he
have avoided it? With his consummate abilities, I humbly think he could.
Would not these men have been sufficient in number to colonize and to
civilize immense unoccupied territories? The money wasted would have
accomplished almost anything. The men and the money would have canaled
Britain and Ireland from end to end, and intersected them from side to
side; and also made piers, where wanted, at the mouths of the rivers of
the two islands; and, besides, would have converted both countries into
gardens. To point out more improvements would be a waste of words. With
such means in hand, they might have been almost endless. Then, per
contra:—What has been done in exchange for the millions of lives and the
millions of money thus spent? They have restored legitimacy; they have
restored “Louis the Desired,” and “Ferdinand the Beloved,” and the
Inquisition! Monarchs are still to be called “God’s vicegerents here on
earth!” When by their actions they shew themselves deserving of such
titles, mankind will not disturb them in these their dreams; but, till
then, they will continue to smile at the conceit, as well as the glitter
they keep up to dazzle the sight of their purblind “loving subjects.”
All wars, except defensive ones, are detestable; and, if governments
admitted morality into their institutions, and were guided by its
precepts, war would, in all probability, grow into disuse, and cease.
But hitherto that treasure of inestimable value, I think, has been
discarded from their councils, and I cannot discover much difference
between them and the lesser banditti of old; for each has been guided by
the strong disposition to rob, (as soon as they thought themselves able
successfully to do so), and to show that “might is right.” From the
feuds of the nobility down to “Rob-in-hood, Will Scarlet, and Little
John;” and from the ferocious combats of the Percy and Douglas, on the
Borders—of Johnny Armstrong and his eight score men, down to “Yeddy
(Adam) Bell,” “Clem of the Clough,” and “William of Cloudsley”—and the
Mosstroopers,—the same wicked principle has guided them and their
ferocious retainers to murder each other and to soak the earth with
blood.
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