10. Bear witness, Egypt, thy huge monuments 11. See barbarous Africa, on every side To error, wretchedness, and crimes resign'd! Behold the vicious Orient, far and wide Enthrall'd in slavery! As the human mind Corrupts and goes to wreck, Earth sickens there, And the contagion taints the ambient air. 12. They had the Light, and from the Light they turn'd; XXIII. "Yet are not people's errors ever free From guilt of wounds they suffer by the war; Never did any public misery Rise of itself God's plagues still grounded are On common stains of our humanity; And to the flame which ruineth mankind Man gives the matter, or at least gives wind." A Treatie of Warres. The extract which follows, from the same author, bears as directly upon the effects of the military system as if it had been written with a reference to Buonaparte's government. The thoughtful reader will perceive its intrinsic value, through its difficult language and uncouth versification. LIX. "Let us then thus conclude, that only they Whose end in this world is the world to come, Whose hearts' desire is that their desires may Measure themselves by Truth's eternal doom, Can in the War find nothing that they prize, Who in the world would not be great or wise. LX. "With these, I say, War, Conquest, Honour, Fame, LXI. "Where all states else that stand on power, not grace, And gage desire by no such spiritual measure, Make it their end to reign in every place, To war for honour, for revenge and pleasure; Thinking the strong should keep the weak in awe, And every inequality give law. LXII. "These serve the world to rule her by her arts, Raise mortal trophies upon mortal passion; Their wealth, strength, glory, growing from those hearts Which to their ends they ruin and disfashion; The more remote from God the less remorse; Which still gives Honour power, Occasion force. 13. What then in these late days had Europe been,.. Should one day yet receive their second birth, . . 14. The Light had been extinguish'd,.. this be sure 15. If among hateful Tyrants of all times LXIII. "These make the Sword their judge of wrong and right And in this sphere, this wilderness of evils, A Treatie of Warres. "Let no ignorance," says Lord Brooke, "seem to excuse mankind; since the light of truth is still near us, the tempter and accuser at such continual war within us, the laws that guide so good for them that obey, and the first shape of every sin so ugly, as whosoever does but what he knows, or forbears what he doubts, shall easily follow nature unto grace." "God left not the world without information from the be ginning; so that wherever we find ignorance, it must be charged to the account of man, as having rejected, and not to that of his Maker, as having denied, the necessary means of instruction."-Horne's Considerations on the Life of St. John the Baptist. 2 It is amusing to look back upon the flattery which was offered to Buonaparte. Some poems of Mme. Fanny de Beauharnois exhibit rich specimens of this kind; she praises him for 16. For not, like Scythian conquerors, did he tread From his youth up the common path of blood; Nor like some Eastern Tyrant was he bred In sensual harems, ignorant of good; . Their vices from the circumstance have grown, His by deliberate purpose were his own. 17. Not led away by circumstance he err'd, But from the wicked heart his error came : By Fortune to the highest place preferr'd, He sought through evil means an evil aim, And all his ruthless measures were design'd To enslave, degrade, and brutalize mankind. 18. Some barbarous dream of empire to fulfil, Might govern'd all, the sceptre was the sword, And Peace, not elsewhere finding where to dwell, Sought a sad refuge in the convent-cell. 19. Too far had he succeeded! In his mould "Tremble, tremble, fière Albion ! Ces généreux bateaux, exempts d'ambition, Enfan chéri de Mars et d'Apollon, Here follows part of an Arabic poem by Michael Sabbag, addressed to Buonaparte on his marriage with Marie Louise, and printed with translations in French prose and German verse, in the first volume of the Fundgruben des Orients. "August Prince, whom Heaven has given us for Sovereign, and who holdest among the greatest monarchs of thy age the same rank which the diadem holds upon the head of kings. "Thou hast reached the summit of happiness, and by thine invincible courage hast attained a glory which the mind of man can scarcely comprehend; "Thou hast imprinted upon the front of time the remembrance of thine innumerable exploits in characters of light, one of which alone suffices with its brilliant rays to enlighten the whole universe. "Who can resist him who is never abandoned by the assistance of Heaven, who has Victory for his guide, and whose course is directed by God himself? "In every age Fortune produces a hero who is the pearl of his time; amidst all these extraordinary men thou shinest like an inestimable diamond in a necklace of precious stones. "The least of thy subjects, in whatever country he may be, is the object of universal homage, and enjoys thy glory, the splendour of which is reflected upon him. "All virtues are united in thee, but the justice which regulates all thy actions would alone suffice to immortalize thy name. "Perhaps the English will now understand at last that it is folly to oppose themselves to the wisdom of thy designs, and to strive against thy fortune." A figure of Liberty, which during the days of Jaccbinism was erected at Aix in Provence, was demolished during the night about the time when Buonaparte assumed the empire. Among the squibs to which this gave occasion, was the following question and answer between Pasquin and Marforio. Pasquin enquires, "Mais qu'est-ce qui est devenu donc de la Liberté ?".. Heyday, what is become of Liberty then?.. To which Marforio replies, "Bête ! elle est morte en s'accouchant d'un Empereur.".. Blockhead! she is dead in bringing forth an Emperor.-Miss Plumtre's Narrative, ii. 382. Well may the lines of Pindar respecting Tantalus be applied to Buonaparte. "Nam se deve accusar a Fortuna de cega, mas só aos que della se deixam cegar."-" It is not Fortune," says D. Luiz da Cunha, "who ought to be accused of blindness,.. but they who let themselves be blinded by her."-Memorias desde 1659 athé 1706. MSS. Lieutenant Bowerbank, in his Journal of what passed on board the Bellerophon, has applied a passage from Horace to the same effect, with humorous felicity. "I, BONE, quo virtus tua te vocat, Epist. lib. ii. ep. v. 37. 23. O my brave Countrymen, with that I said, The debt which to your ancestors ye owed, 24. And we did well when on our Mountain's height To see the crest of Skiddaw plumed with fire. 25. The Moon who had in silence visited His lonely summit from the birth of time, That hour an unavailing splendour shed, Lost in the effulgence of the flame sublime, In whose broad blaze rejoicingly we stood, And all below a depth of blackest solitude. 26. Fit theatre for this great joy we chose ; Emerging, first that pinnacle arose, Had cause been given for deeper gratitude, For prouder joy to every English heart, When England had so well perform'd her arduous part. 27. The Muse replied with gentle smile benign,.. The will, the power, the wisdom thus combined, 31. Behold! she cried, and lifting up her hand, 32. As I have seen from Skiddaw's stony height 33. So at her will, in that receding sheet Of mist wherewith the world was overlaid, A spacious City first was there display'd, 34. In splendour with those famous cities old, Whose power it hath surpass'd, it now might vie; Through many a bridge the wealthy river roll'd; Aspiring columns rear'd their heads on high, Triumphal arches spann'd the roads, and gave Well mayst thou praise the land that gave thee birth, Due guerdon to the memory of the brave. And bless the Fate which made that country thine; For of all ages and all parts of earth, To chuse thy time and place did Fate allow 28. From bodily and mental bondage, there Hath Man his full emancipation gain'd; The viewless and illimitable air Is not more free than Thought; all unrestrain'd, 29. There under Freedom's tutelary wing, Deliberate Courage fears no human foe; 30. The wisdom to direct her power aright; effected a prosperous conclusion. It was not human wisdom which wrought our deliverance; for when policy (as well as prowess) had done its utmost, Buonaparte's return from Elba seemed at once to undo all that had been accomplished. It was not human power; for at Waterloo the prize was as much 35. A landscape follow'd, such as might compare 36. There the old seaman on his native shore Of well-rewarded service loved to tell; 37. Such was the lot of eld; for childhood there as ever to be contended for ; and notwithstanding all that had been achieved, the fate of Europe once more trembled on the balance. Never, surely, did so momentous and vital a contest terminate at once so happily and so instructively."—Knox's Remains, iv. 297. |