great offence to the Author, for whose talents, and still more, for whose principles, as they appear in this work, we entertain a high and sincere respect. At the same time, we cannot help thinking, that this offence has arisen chiefly from a misconception of our meaning. We never dreamt of charging the Author with conduct inconsistent with morality, or with a wilful deviation from fidelity in delineating the character of the Roman Catholio Divines, Nevertheless, being of opinion that he had so deviated, it became our duty to mark the deviation, especially at this particular juncture, when it is doubly important that the real nature of the Roman Catholic Faith should be understood; and that the fascinations of the "Tour to Alet" should not lead its readers to consider the differences between · Popery and Protestantism as trivial and unessential. When we made.use, therefore, of the terms " fabrication," "romance," &c. we did not mean to use them in any invidious sense, but merely to intimate that the Author had exhibited a view of the sentiments of the Port-Royalists, which gave an unfair and inadequate representation of them; a) representation, indeed, in some respects, very dissimilar. We have weighed with attention, and we trust with candour, the arguments and evidence advanced by the Author; and the conclusion has been the confirmation, with one or two modifications, of our critique. Qur main objections were, first, that the characteristic features of the Port-Royal Writers were not accurately delineated; secondly, that a great many conversations were given which never passed, but in the mind of the Author. The first objection, which was, in other words, that the Roman Catholic Religion had been protestantized, the Author attempts to answer by producing a series of passages from De Sacy, to shew that his views of the grand doctrine of Justification by Faith were perfectly sound, and consistent with those advanced in the "Tour to Alet." The passages from De Sacy do not appear to us, however, to bear on the point at issue. They prove only the pious feeling with which M. de Sacy regarded the sacrifice of Christ, and that his views of the inestimable benefits resulting from it deeply influenced his whole religious system. They do not prove that he believed that "we are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings," and that he did not attach a meritorious efficacy to good works, as uniting with the merits of Christ to justify the penitent. This doctrine is a distinguishing badge of genuine Protestantism, and it is the Divinity of the "Tour to Alet"-but it is not the Divinity of the Port-Royal School, as we could easily prove by numerous extracts. We will content ourselves with referring to the celebrated Nicole, to whom the Author himself especially refers on the subject of Justification. We beg Lim, therefore, to turn to the following passages, viz. vol. II. p. 214, vol. VI. p. 265, vol. VII. pp. 148, 205, and 207. The edition before us is that of La Haye, in 18mo. 1700, Those who possess Lancelot's Memoirs of St. Cyran, may find additional light thrown on this subject, by consulting vol. I. pp. 456, 460, and 476-The Author has succeeded in shewing that the words put iute the mouth of the Bishop of Alet, relative to the floly Scriptures, and which we censured, are sanctioned by M. De Sacy; and we have pleasure in admitting this to be the case. At the same time we are still of the opinion that those words are not consonant to the general spirit of the Port-Royal Writers. --The only defence attempted relative to the Author's representation of M. de St, Cyran's sentiments respecting absolution, is the production of the testimony of his enemies. This, however, can hardly be considered as sufficient.With respect to our second main objection; that the principal portion of the conversations, alleged to have passed between the Bishop of Alet and others, was not to be traced in the original; we really cannot perceive that it was overstated. Lancelot's Narrative contains sketches of the conversations which actually did take place during his visit to Alet. To these, the conversations given by the Author bear but little resemblance. They not only differ in the materials of them, but we regard them as not strictly characterestic. This difference we could not but consider as at variance with the Author's promise in the preface, of "the most strict fidelity in point of fact." At the same time, in saying, that, in our view, this promise had not been adhered to, we were far from wishing to convey the impression that the deviation had been designed. We pass over many other points of inferior moment, reserving, however, to ourselves the right of future explanation, should that be necessary. In the mean time, we assure the Author, that we feel no disposition, either to resent or to retort the severity of his animadversions. The only pain they occasion, arises from regret that any ill-weighed expressions of ours should have provoked them.-Before we conclude, we deem it due to the Author to re-state, that the work he has produced is both able and interesting; and is distinguished no less by the pious sentiments which it breathes, and the just views of Christian doctrine which it inculcates, than by the beauty of many of its descriptions. We still think, however, that he has not exhibited a faithful portraiture of the doctrinal opinions of the Port-Royal School; and that, he has, in some instances, and particularly in the construction of his conversations, exceeded the licence claimed in his preface. But we disclaim the remotest idea of attributing these blemishes to causes which in any degree affect the moral reputation of the Author, and we do most sincerely lament that the slightest ground should have been afforded or such an impression. • APPEAL ON BEHALF OF THE SUFFERING GERMANS. N our Number for February last ramparts; the oppressive order to lay in provisions for nine months; the plundering of the peasants by armed men, in the most wanton manner, I p. 122), we called attention are already suficiently of our readers to the dreadful calamities to which Germany had been subjected by the war, and urged upon them the duty of endeavouring to alleviate the severity of their pressure. Much additional information bas since been received; and we feel that we cannot make a better use of a few pages of the present Number than in communicating a part at least of this information, with the view of interesting their best sympathies, and exciting their best efforts, in behalf of our suffering brethren in Germany. For ample details of the miseries under which they groan, we must refer to three Reports of the German Committee in the City of London, which may be obtained on application either at the City of London Tavern, or at Mr. Ackerman's, No. 101, Strand. It is to these Reports we are indebted for the following authentic statements. Hamburg and Altona were invested in the middle of December, by Russian corps, at the distance of two miles from the city. It would be endless to detail all the oppres sions which the unhappy inhabitants of Hamburg suffered from the French, even before the present blockade. A contribution of about two millions and a half sterling, the plunder of the bank; requisitions amounting to upwards of two millions sterling; the destruction of all houses within 4,500 feet round the CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 148: During the week before Christmas, more extensive measures were adopted. All the suburbs, and adjacent villages and beautiful country seats, were burnt down, after only eight hours' warning. At Christmas and New-Year's Eve, large bodies of inhabitants were turned out: young and stout persons, as being dangerous; and old and infirm ones, as being useless consumers. Soldiers and policeofficers entered the houses by night, dragged the unhappy people from their beds, suffered them hardly to dress themselves, much less to take any thing with them, confined them for some hours in churches, and turned thousands of them, at daybreak, out of the gates, exposing them to the inclemency of the weather. The property of the banished fell to the share of the soldiers and of the populace. The orphan-house was evacuated, and upwards of four hundred children driven out of the Dam Gate to Eppendorf. From the hospitals and infirmaries, old and weak persons were driven in herds out of the Altona Gate: dressed in their festival habits, the only ones that were left them, they were seen wandering and tottering about in the streets of Altona. Four of them were upwards of a hundred years old. Some, having been unaccustomed for a length of time, to the air, and exposed, half naked, to a cold of 19 degrees (Reaum, lost their reason. Scenes were witnessed, which filled even French 2 E gens d'armes with horror and detestation. The sick were next to be disposed of: they were transported in many waggons, attended by officers of the police, to Altona; but there being a great scarcity of provisions, fuel, straw, &c. occasioned by the interruption of all intercourse with Holstein, some of these waggons were refused admittance; on which the poor unhappy wretches were thrown upon the high roads, where they must have perished miserably, had they not been ultimately received, and carried into Altona. In the first week of the new year, Davoust ordered the infirmary without the town to be burned. During that night, the sick were thrown on the snow, in the neighbouring field, where they lay till waggons arrived; on which the nervous, blind, maniacs, and those afflicted with infectious diseases, were promiscuously laden. Eight hundred of these wretches were carried to Eppendorf, where no previous notice had been sent, and consequently where no preparation had been made for their reception; so that three days after their arrival, many of them were without shelter, and maniacs ran about the streets, at the very time that this place was taken by assault by the Russians. "The number of persons driven away from Hamburg, amounts, at this moment, to twentysix thousand, besides which, twenty thousand have lost their houses and property by fire in the suburbs; and yet, daily, more are expelled and more houses burned." A subsequent account from Altona, dated 8th February, adds: "It is impossible for you and your London friends to form any adequate idea of the number of the unhappy Hamburg exiles or their extreme distress. Thousands arrive here without clothes, withcut money, without shelter-persons of every age, from the sucking babe to the tottering old man of ninety. I myself saw from my ⚫wn windows, aged decrepid peo ple set down from dung carts, and left to the commiseration of the benevolent, or utterly to perish. The inhabitants of Altona, as well as the wealthy Hamburgers who have taken refuge here, do all they can to alleviate the distress; but the number of sufferers is so great that it is impossible to relieve all. The orphan-house, the public baths, the small church of the United Brethren, and a large manufactory, have been made receptacles for the exiles; in addition to which all cor ners and recesses in Altona are filled with them. These poor creatures mostly lie on damp straw, without having any thing to cover them in this rigorous season: the want of fuel, linen, and blankets causes great want of cleanliness and imminent danger of disease. Alas! we have to contend with great difficulties: Altona being surrounded on one side by the French, on the other by the Russians, the supply of all kinds of provision is rendered extremely difficult. Bread and meat have risen to an enormous price: several kinds of food are not to be had. Our houses are daily besieged by crowds of beggars, who on their knees implore a morsel of black bread, made of rye mixed with bran: their clamour in the streets is most affecting." The sufferings of Dresden have been scarcely less deplorable: "Its environs," we are told, "lately so remarkable for their natural beauties, are now marked by unexampled desolation. Since the retreat of the French from Russia, this city has been incessantly involved in the storms of war." It four times changed its masters, and for several months was the head-quarters of Bonaparte and the centre of his operations. In consequence of this," most of the beautiful walks were destroyed, many of the inhabitants turned out of their houses, which were pulled down, and whole woods felled for pallisadoes. Many wounded were brought in, and the already impoverished inhabitants had to provide for ten or twelve thousand sick and helpless objects. The engagement, which extended to the very walls of the city, aggravated the general misery. The beautiful country-seats in the vicinity were burned to the ground. All the streets were crowded with sick and wounded, whom the hospitals were incapable of receiving; at the same time, provision was to be made for the whole French army, which was concentrated there. Not a loaf," adds the writer," was to be had; and I well remember, that for several days I was under the necessity of applying to friends for my scanty pittance. How many wretched citizens did I then meet, from whom absolute want extorted bitter tears! In spite of this misery, the iron-hearted Napoleon obstinately persisted in his resolution, and continued near two months longer in the city, while sanguinary actions were incessantly transforming the adjacent villages into heaps of ashes. As famine at length drove him away, you may judge what must have been the state of the wretched citizens and country people. After the departure of the French army, a garrison of 33,000 men was left behind at Dresden. The city was now doomed to endure the horrors of a siege; and of these some conception may be formed, when it is considered that a general famine at last compelled the French to surrender." Nor do these heart-rending pictures of calamity apply exclusively to such places as Hamburgh, or Dresden, or Leipsic *; we could exhibit details equally afflicting, from almost every district in Germany. We shall merely give a specimen of them : "The most distressing effect of the calamities under which HANOVER has suffered for these ten years past is the entire ruin of the excellent For some account of the sufferings at and near Leipsic, see our Number for February, p. 122. institutions established in this city for supporting the poor, widows and orphans; and of the public hospitals and workhouses While the soldiers, on their march, are fed and made comfortable in their quarters, our streets exhibit numbers of our wretched fellow-subjects wandering about like spectres, pale from hunger, and shivering with cold; and many others, who, stretched on their bed of sickness, fervently pray to God to send death to release them from their misery. But what is still more affecting, young persons, hitherto virtuous, plunge into vice to gain some few pence from the foreign military, to satisfy the demands of hunger, or to assist their starving parents." A letter from the Rev. M. Oldendorp, of Quickborn, on the Elbe, dated 18th February, states : "That his father, who was senior minister. in the same parish, had died from the effects of horror and suffering occasioned by the war. The old clergyman had often fifty of the military quartered in his house, and had been plundered in a dreadful manner. His parish church had served as a fortress to the French; and his parsonage for outworks. He has left eight children unprovided for. Abbot Salfeld adds, that no class of his Majesty's Hanoverian subjects have suffered more from the calamities of the war than the clergy and their widows. The heaviest burthens of the quartering of foreign troops fell upon them; their houses being the best in the villages, and their chief emoluments depending on the prosperity of their parishioners.-He likewise deplores the miserable situation of many hundreds of deserving schoolmasters, who, with a very low income, had to sustain the greatest hardships." "That part of Saxony lying between the Bohemian frontier and Dresden, including nearly all its villages, has of late been visited by the most direful calamities. Numerous armies over-ran this envied ter ritory during several months; and the despair of the enemy of German freedom drove him to the commission of the most outrageous excesses. Dwellings were burnt or destroyed: cattle were driven away and perished by famine; for provender of all kinds was exhausted, and not even corn left to sow for the coming year. The tenantry of these once flourishing districts, houseless and without bread, are now suffering under the most fatal contagious sickness; of 36,000 in habitants, 10,000 are afflicted with infectious fevers, and 6000 have already fallen victims to their dire ful effects. More than fourteen hun dred families (for twenty-five villages are wholly destroyed) are exposed, almost naked, to the inclemency of winter, and have not even straw enough to lie upon. We have made a collection in our town (Prague), to supply these unfortunate people for a few days. But Bohemia has suffered too severely to spare much. We wished to be enabled to pur. chase some necessaries for their use, such as straw, vegetables, and medicine, and if possible some corn for sowing; the fields at present all lying waste. If this cannot be accomplished, the misery must increase." In a letter from the Committee which has been appointed at Leipsic, to relieve the inhabitants of that town and its vicinity, is the following passage ; "You wish us to inform you what places have more particularly suffered. Besides our own neighbourhood, the environs of Lützen were dreadfully ravaged, on occasion of the battle of the 2d of May; several villages were burned, toge ther with the churches and schools. The vicinity of Grimma and Meis-, sen was likewise cruelly laid waste; and the country contiguous to Dresden, as far as beyond Pirna, is little better than one wide desert. In Upper Lusatia, the whole tract between Bautzen and Görlitz has been desolated in an equal degree; and poor Wittenberg, to which your benevolent attention has been already directed, has, together with the adjacent country, been very severely handled. The monsters have committed the greatest abominations there, not even sparing the venerable monument of the immortal Luther, which they have almost en tirely destroyed." more. We shall give only one extract It is from a letter dated Erfurt, January, 14, 1814, and addressed to the Rev. Dr. Schwabe. "The whole of last year was for us a time of distress, a succession of scenes of horror. In the early part of it we saw, daily, thousands of sick and mutilated soldiers arrive here, in the most wretched condition, emaciated with hunger and eaten up by vermin. It was a dreadful scene:-many had died on the road; others died in the street; and however exasperated the minds of the people were against the French in general, no one could deny pity to the suffering individuals. At first the sight occasioned the most painful feelings, but by the frequent repetition the mind became more callous." After relating, in a lively and feeling manner, the dreadful oppressions and enormous exactions to which the inhabitants of Erfurt were subjected during the summer and autumn of 1813, the writer proceeds to state their subsequent sufferings on the retreat of the French from Leipsic. "On the 22d of October we beheld the dreadful retreat, or rather flight of the French, which lasted three days and two nights. On the 25th the Allies advanced before our town, and our misery reached its summit. The first measure of the garrison was the removal of all the salt in the town to the fortress, and such immense requisitions were made of all kinds of provisions, that the greatest want arose. Every head of cattle was taken away for the use of the garrison, so that not a single one remained to the inhabi❤ |