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Previous to General Clinton's return
to America, in April 1777, he demand-
ed a formal audience of the king, and
particularly requested that his letter on
the affair at Charlestown should be pub-
lished in the Gazette, unmutilated.—
His majesty answered, Clinton, you
would injure yourself in appealing from
the crown to the people. I am perfectly
satisfied with your conduct. Why are
you so solicitous what the multitude
think of you? If you are right, twenty
to one but they condemn you.'
my honour, Sire, appears'
your honour to me; it will be in as
good hands as if with the people.'
"Your majesty shall be obeyed.
you, Sire, are satisfied, I shall always
be happy."

To the publishers of the Atheneum.
Gentlemen,

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'But 'Leave

If

I observed in your Number 76. p. 244, that you had selected an interesting biographical sketch of the life of the late king of England. The conversation

which passed between the King, and Mr. Adams

The King, in one of his morning at home expect, and have a right to dewalks, accompanied by the Prince of mand, from you.' Wales, (now his present majesty) met a farmer's servant travelling to Windsor with a load of commodities for market. Unhappily, however, the cart was stuck fast in the mud, nor could the poor fellow extricate it, though labouring with all his might. Both the king and the prince were dressed in a style of great simplicity; and as if with one impulse of humanity, they immediately rushed -forward to the assistance of the embar-rassed rustic. Having through dint of main strength enabled him to set his cart fairly on the road, the poor fellow, glowing with gratitude, asked them very cordially if they would accept of a cup of ale from him at the next house; adding, that as the road was dirty, they were heartily welcome to take a seat on the cart. Both these offers were of course declined, and they parted; the king having previously slipped a guinea, and the prince two guineas, into the hands of the rustic. The man was thunderstruck; nor could he help relating the particulars of his adventure the moment he reached Windsor. He was assured it must have been to the king and prince that he was so much indebted : and the only circumstance that seemed to puzzle the man himself, and make him doubt the fact, was, that the prince should have given him two guineas, while the king gave him but one. Every thing, as here related, soon reached the ears of the monarch; and happening the week following to meet the same man again on his way to market, he stopped him, and smiling, said, Well, my friend, I find you were rather dissatisfied with the little present I made you when we last met; the son you thought more munificent than the father. He was so, I confess; but remember, my good fellow, that I am obliged to be just before I can be generous; my son has at present nobody to care for but himself; and I (with an infinite deal more anxiety in my mind than you can possibly experience) am bound to promote the happiness of millions, who look to me for that protection, which your children 2K ATHENEUM VOL. 7.

our Ambassador, is there misstated, and as the real
sentiments which each delivered at that time, are
highly honourable to both-please to insert the follow-

ing.

"The King then asked me, whether I came last from France, and upon my answering in the affirmative, he put on an air of familiarity, and smiling or rather laughing said," there is an opinion among some people that you are not the most attached of all your countrymen, to the manners of France." I was surprised at this, because I thought it an indiscretion, and a descent from his dignity. I was a little embarrassed, but determined not to deny the truth on one hand, nor leave him to infer from it any attachment to England, on the other. I threw off as much gravity as I could, and assumed an air of gaiety and a tone of decision, as far as was decent, and said, "That opinion, Sir, is not misstated: I must avow to your majesty, I have no attachment but to my own country." The king replied as quick as lightning, "An honest man will never have any other."

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From the New Monthly Magazine,

PRESENT STATE OF RELIGION AND LITERATURE IN SPAIN.

AS public attention is likely to be for great injustice to the regular clergy of

a long time directed to Spain as the theatre of events, from which the statesman and the philosopher of every country may draw important lessons, we shall endeavour somewhat minutely to illustrate the condition of the people previous to the recent change; and thus furnish the best means of accounting for it on the most satisfactory data. It is only by investigating the causes which plunge nations into anarchy, or raise them to prosperous tranquillity, that we can profit by the impressive admonitions of history.

Our account of M. Llorente's first volume, showing how severely human nature has suffered from the endless persecutions of the Inquisition, will, perhaps, be followed up, in a future Number, with a few remarks on the concluding portion of that writer's interesting work, and has suggested the utility of our collecting some facts more immediately connected with the actual state of religion in Spain. In pursuing our enquiries on this subject, we have been favoured with the sight of an unpublished tract, containing the result of a journey through the Peninsula last year; which presents a faithful, lively, and able picture of the present Spanish hierarchy. To the exact truth of many of Mr. Bowring's (the author) statements, and the justice of his remarks in general, an intercourse of some time with the southern provinces of Spain enables us to bear ample testimony.

"There are," says he, "in Spain, according to Antillon's calculations, two hundred thousand ecclesiastics. They possess immense revenues, and an incalculable influence over the mass of the people; though it is certain that influence is diminishing, notwithstanding the countenance and co-operation of a government deeply interested in preserving their authority. It would be

*A distinguished literary character and patriot,

not long since murdered by a hired assassin.

Spain to class them with the immense hordes of monks and friars scattered over the face of the Peninsula; some possessing rich and well-stored convents, large estates, and accumulating wealth; and others (the mendicant orders) who prey more directly on the labours of the poor, and compel the industrious to administer to their holy, uninterrupted laziness. The former, though doubtless by far too numerous, are for the most part intelligent and humane; dispensing benevolence and consolation in their respective parishes; friendly in many instances to liberty, and devoted to literature. The latter with few, but striking, exceptions, are unmanageable masses of ignorance and indolence. They live, as one of the Spanish poets happily observes—

Desde el coro al refectorio,

in a state of sensual enjoyment between the organ-loft and the refectory, to which, as the same writer (Montalvan) says, all other enjoyment is but purgatory in their estimation; the link which should connect them with the common weal for ever broken; the ties of family and friend dissolved; their authority founded on the barbarism and degradation of the people, they are interested in stemming the torrent of improvement in knowledge, which must inevitably sweep away these 'cumberers of the soil. No society in which the sound principles of policy are at all understood,

would consent to maintain a numerous

body of idle, unproductive members in opulence and luxury, at the expense of the active and laborious, merely because they had chosen to decorate themselves with a peculiar insignia-to let their beards grow, or shave their heads; and though the progress of civilization in Spain has been greatly retarded, or rather it has been compelled to retrogade under the present despotism, yet, that great advances have been made since the beginning of the French invasion is too

obvious to be denied. Much was apprehended from the recalled Jesuits: they came-not the learned, the illustrious fathers of former days, but a handful of ignorant, helpless old men, incapable of good; and, I trust, incapable of evil.

"The above event has, in fact, produced, and will continue to produce, a very favourable influence on the ecclesiastical government of Spain. Leav ing out of consideration the immense number of priests and friars who perished during the invasion of their country, the destruction of convents, the alienation of church property, and the most unfrequent abandonment of the religious vow, unnoticed amidst the calamities of active war, more silent, but more extensive changes have been going on. The Cortes, when they decreed that no noviciates should be allowed to enroll themselves, gave a death-blow to the monastic influence, and since the re-establishment of the ancient despotism, the chasm left by this want of supply has not been filled up, nor is it likely to be; for the greater part of the convents, except those very richly endowed, complain that few candidates propose themselves except from the poorer classes of society, who are not able either to maintain the credit or add to the influence of the order. Examples are now extremely rare of men of family and fortune presenting themselves to be received within the cloisters, and offering all their wealth and power as the price of admission. Another circumstance, the consequence of the late war, has tended greatly to lessen the influence of the regular clergy among the peasantry and poor tradesmen. Driven from their cells by the bayonets of enemies, or obliged to desert them that their convents might become hospitals for their sick and wounded friends, they were compelled to mingle with the mass of the people. To know them better was to esteem them less, and the mist of veneration with which popular prejudice had so long surrounded them was dispersed, when they became divested of every outward distinction, and exhibited the same follies and frailties as their

fellow-men. He who, in the imposing procession, or at the illumined altar, appeared a saint or a prophet, was little when mingling in the common relations of life; he stood unveiled before his undazzled observers. For the first time it was discovered that the monks were not absolutely necessary for the preservation even of religion. Masses were celebrated as before; the host paraded the streets with its accustomed pomp and solemnity: the interesting ceremonials which accompany the entrance and exit of a human being in this valley of vicissitude, were all conducted with their wonted regularity. Still less were they wanted to implore the blessing of heaven on the labours of the busbandman, whose fruits grew and were gathered in with unvarying abundance. Without them the country was freed from the degrading yoke of usurpation, while success and martial glory crowned the arms of their military companions (the British), who cared little for all the trumpery' offriars, white, black, or grey'; and if the contagion of their contempt did not reach their Catholic friends, they lessened, at least, the respect with which the inmates of the convent had been so long regarded.

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But in anticipating a period in which the Spaniard shall be released from monkish influence, it must not be forgotten how interwoven is that influence with his most delightful recollections and associations. His festivities, his romerias, his rural pastimes are all connected with, and dependent on, the annual return of some saint's day, in honour of which he gives himself up to the most unrestrained enjoyment. mass is with him the introductory scene to every species of gaiety, and a procession of monks and friars forms a part of every picture on which his memory most delights to dwell; and a similar, though perhaps, a stronger impression is created on his mind by the enthusiastic 'love of song,' so universal in Spain. He lives and breathes in a land of poetry and fiction: he listens with ever-glowing rapture to the romanceros who celebrate the feasts of his heroes, and surround his monks and hermits with all the glories

of saints and angels: he hears of their mighty works; their sufferings, their martyrdom; and the tale, decorated with the charms of verse, is dearer to him than the best of holy writ. The peculiar favourites of the spotless Virgin, their words fall on his ear like the voice of an oracle, their deeds have the solemn sanction of marvellous miracles. To them he owes that his country is the special charge of the queen of angels,the mother of God, and in every convent be sees the records of the wondrous interpositions of Heaven, which has so often availed itself of the agency of sainted inmates, while every altar is adorned with the grateful offerings of devout worshippers miraculously restored to health, or preserved from danger. He feels himself the most privileged among the faithful. On him our lady of protection' (del amparo), smiles; to him the Virgin of Carmen bows her gracious head. In his eye ten thousand rays of glory encircle the brow of his patron saint, the fancied tones of whose voice, support, ensure, and encourage him: he believes that his scapulary, blessed by a Carmelite friar, secures him from every evil his house is adorned with the pope's bull of indulgences-a vessel of holy water is suspended over his bed, and what more can he want, what danger can approach him? His mind is one mass of undistinguishing, confiding, comforting faith. That faith is his religion, his Christianity! How difficult will it be to separate the evil from the good, if indeed they can be separated! What a fortress must be overthrown before truth and reason can advance a single step; what delightful visions must be forgotten, what animating recollections, what transporting hopes! Have we a right to rouse him from these blessed delusions? This is indeed the ignorance that is bliss. Is it not folly

to wish him wise?"

Having thus described the effects of their peculiar religious belief on the people of Spain, the author proceeds to discuss another and not less important part of the subject-the species of devotion which they are called upon to pay the Divinity.

"But, alas!" says Mr. B., "this is only one side of the picture, for however soothing, however charming the contemplation of contented ignorance may be to the imagination, in the eye of reason the moral influence of such a system is baneful in the extreme. All error is evil; and the error which substitutes the external form of worship for its internal influence on the heart is a colossal evil. Here we have a religion, if such it may be called, that is purely ceremonial. Its duties are discharged in the daily walk of life, not by the cultivation of pure and pious and benevolent affections, but by attending masses, by reciting Paternosters and Ave-Marias, by pecuniary offerings for souls in purgatory, and by a thousand childish observances, which affect remotely, if they affect at all, the conduct and the character. The Spaniard attends his parish church to hear a service in an unknown tongue; he bends his knees and beats his bosom at certain sounds familiar to his ear, but not to his sense: he confesses and communicates with unde viating regularity; and sometimes, perhaps, he listens to a sermon in the eloquent style and beautiful language of his country, not indeed instructing him in the moral claims of his religion, but celebrating the virtues and recounting the miracles of some saint or martyr to whom the day is dedicated. He reads his religious duties, not in a Bible, but an almanack; and his almanack is but a sort of Christian mythology. His saints are more numerous than the deities of the Pantheon, and, to say the truth, there are many of them little better than these.

"He is told, however, that his country exhibits the proudest triumphs of orthodox Christianity. Schism and be resy have been scattered, or at least silenced and if in Spain the eye is constantly attracted, and the heart distressed, by objects of unalleviated human misery; if the hospitals are either whol ly unprotected, or abandoned to the care of the venal and the vile; if the prisons are crowded with a promiscuous mass of innocence and guilt in all its shades and shapes of enormity-what does it

matter? Spain, catholic Spain, has preserved her faith unadulterated and unchanged; and her priests assure us that an error in creed is far more dangerous (or, to use their own mild language), far more damnable than a multitude of errors in conduct. A depraved heart may be forgiven, but not an erring head. This is in fact the fatal principle, whose poison spreads thro' this strongly cemented system. To this we may attribute its absurdities,its errors,its crimes. In a word, intolerance, in its widest and worst extent, is the foundation on which the whole of the Spanish ecclesiastical edifice rests. It has been called the main pillar of the constitution, and is so inwrought with the habits and prejudices of the nation, that the Cortes, with all their general liberality, dared not allow the profession of any other religion than the "Catolica Apostolica Romana unica Verdadera." The cry of innovation became a dreadful weapon in the hands of those who profess to believe that errors became sanctified by age. Too true it is, that if long usage can sanction wrong, persecution might find its justification in every page of Spanish history, from the time when Recaredo, the Gothic monarch, abandoned his Arian principles. Long, long before the Inquisition had erected its frightful pretensions into a system, or armed itself with its bloody sword, its spirit was abroad and active. Thousands and tens of thousands of Jews and Moors had been its victims, and its founders did no more than obtain a regal or a papal license, for the murders which would otherwise have been probably committed by a barbarous and frenzied mob, excited by incendiary monks and friars."

Although the author is of opinion that the influence of the holy office has diminished, his remarks on the subject tend strongly to corroborate the statements we quoted from Llorente's work. "The Inquisition," he observes," has no doubt been greatly humanized by the progress of time; as, in order to maintain its influence in these more enlightened and enquiring days, it has availed itself of men of superior talent, these have softened the asperity,or con

trolled the malignity and petty tyranny of its inferior agents. Its vigilance and its persecutions, are indeed continually at work, yet, I believe its flames will never be lighted. Its greatest zeal is now directed against Freemasons, of whom immense numbers occupy its prisons and dungeons. I have conversed with many who have been incarcer-+ ated by the Inquisition, and they agree in stating that torture is no longer administered. But its influence on literature is perhaps greater than ever: for though Spain possesses at the present moment, a great number of admirable writers, the press was never so inactive. The despotism exercised over authors and publishers, is so intolerable, that few have courage voluntarily to submit to it. Often after authorizing the publication of a work, they ordered it to be suppressed, and every copy to be burnt, and never think of reparation to those who are so cruelly injured. Their presumption in condemning whatever they cannot understand, their domiciliary visits, their arbitrary decrees, against which there is no security and no appeal, make them fearful enemies and faithless friends. delay, expense, and frequent impossibility of obtaining a license for the publication of any valuable work, may well be contrasted the ridiculous trash which daily issues from the Spanish press. Accounts of miracles wrought by the different Virgins, lives of holy friars and sainted nuns, romances of marvellous conversions, libels against Jews and heretics, and freemasons, histories of apparitions, and so forth, are generally introduced, not by a mere license of the Inquisitor, but by long and laboured eulogiums!"

With the difficulty,

Mr. Bowring very justly observes that the advocates of intolerance and persecution are most frequently found amongst those who are devoid of relig ious principles themselves. No plea of modest inquiry, of conscientious doubt, or honest difference of opinion, is permitted to oppose their wishes. adds, with equal truth, that such men are the prime movers of restraints on toleration; that they are to be found

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