The Press.
London, England, 1853-11-12 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

There was a moment when the conquest of
Paris seemed hardly doubtful. In Sir Harry
\'ctHey's word:—

'I he allies hail now been successful in many of the
r,bjeets which they had ileelamil that they would Neet,nl
pli.h. Thev had driven the French out of Austrian
Flanilev4 and Brabant and their armies, having captured
two important frontier fortresses, stood on Fretieli ground,
ready to advance on the capital. No republican force,
capable of resistance, interposed between them and Paris,
which they might reach in fifteen mangles. Rut the con-
sequences of converting the war of defenet. and repulsion
into one of aggression and conquest, predicted by Major
Calvert. in his letter dated Bruges, April 17, hail ensued.
The whole French nation were united to widistaall to the
uttermost the attack on their native land—to save their
country from dismemberment : the dread of this national
ruin banished the fear of other mils less out , than this.
The dread of destruction united France as
one man—the prospect of decisive victory led
the allies to quarrel prematurely about the
division of the spoil. England was not less
blameworthy than the rest ; but history gained
another proof of the impossibility of a cordial
and lasting union between powerful, and
therefore rival, states. Conde and Valenciennes
indeed fell, after protracted sieges ; but the
English forces turned aside to attack Dunkirk,
and failed of their intent ; partial and doubtful
combats ensued ; and they/revocable opportu-
nity passed away—not to they/revocable
How acutely
British officers felt the inglorious position in
which the events of '9l tended to place them
may be gathered from the following written
immediately after the retreat of2Tournay

The conduct of the British infantry does them the
greatest honour. Their retreat eisailsl volt lie etreete4l
wit' tat heavy lolls of Incas and artillery. I most
hincerely hope that the heavy disaster which laas fallen
muleserredly on its will he 11 Warning in trill for
while the name loose, anavotativeted, 11111 l iihtary system is
1/I•Evevered in, while such rasslane,s and soda childish 461)-
1411'ml are the striking characteristics of their
nothing lint loss and disgrace east attend the 111111% of his
I tuperial Majesty.
•• a • •
. .
" • '

:oil IlleSm yoa, Hey dear Sir Hew. My indignation he
excited to a pilule I can hardly describe by the reflection
of What wt have suffered by the obstinaey, ignominy, allid
pride of thow who take the dirtwtiou tin. war,
• • •
•

The public Gazette will give boa a very te
111.1.01111 t of the transact' ssss 14 of illy 1 ilb 111111
of the latter were Ha unpleasant as )att can 4. .4.4 Had
' flaunt ra)self in a ail wit itat which it lass been Inv g 444441
before—namely, ill

never

army.
had, last year, so orras 'ty of seeilig the I Pitt. il
xnll
11111101V1i1111 111116144 ill tile 1.111111. lOW the i41.11,414i14.11 IM
very different whist the blow falls on oursehes. We have
the eSSIPS.IIIIIi(iii Of knot% ing that 110 fault can Is' impacd to
is, and that our loss was 114`1.115. '4l by the obstinate folly
of others. No mobbed fox was ever uu.rr pia to it to
make his escape than Ne were, living at t' 's nearly sir•
rounded ; and I sin sun,' yell will is' 'Uglily Io 111.111* 11111 i I
Inn perfectly well, and have :oily li,st iu the sertuuble a
horse ol• little Vaille,
Amid in .only of the satiw year Nlajor l'alvert
writes even more emphatically :
As l have no pleasure in being the recorder of low own
disgraces and losses, I shall tell you in a very lea words
that the storm that has been long gathering over this
fated country has at length burst. All is terror and dismay
amongst the wretched inhabitants, and d.•'.olatiots will
quickly follow. In three short days we have lost, without
thing a shut, Marchienneli, I ►tehics, Tournity,
Ghent—in slob, everything except N'alisicientirs, Qlllllll4l,
and Comte, 101.1VIVell Itruasels and the Freneh fitaitier.
Nye retired in obedience to the Prince Of 'obi itirg's 'osiers,
and he oar the enemy's force in his front was such KM to
leave him no alternative. So di for the acquisition
procured by the expenditure of so unu•ll laliour. blood, and
treasure last year.

The one lesson whivh is taught in every line
of this work—lt lesson of permanent value—
is the futility stud folly of relying on continental
aid against it einetinental enemy :
We English I says our author) ail• Ida s excepted from
these views of and I am taaivifter,l that wl•
shall (la !Niter to stand hira aril singly in this grist
nitalit. than to ,•lieloaric iu another eampaiikm
allusv want of shility. csviiiim. and I •sty,
have stigmatised the van 1791 a ith a degree of infamy
mid loaded it a ith emhuuitia s which still long In kit in
Enrols%

Agnin
In short, 1 retaly hclieve that ‘thatt.v.-E ...Wire of publie
spirit 111111 pnLlie virtue rentsitot on tlo• cloth i 4 exclusively
r.al.potrtitoll in timid Britain. 1,..t lot trust to malting
hot, 4;ml atol otirseltus ; for I repvitt it assail) and again,
fhrrr i 4 disc left Sin which we ea rely with aettely.

A few personal anecdotes and details of a
lighter diameter agreeably relieve the grave
and often gloomy tone which pervioileh thim
correspoudeucc.

663

The Atoning Work qt. Christ. Hewed in rela-
tion to some Current Theories. In Eight
Sermons preached before the University of
Oxford in the year 1sh:1, at the Lecture
fintuded by the late Rev. John 'tampon,
MA.. Canon of Salisbury. By William
Thomson, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of Queen's
College. !Amai% : Longman and Co.

IN the science of theology,—and theology is a
science, at once the most important in its
claims, and the most comprehensive in its
subject-Inattry.—the end proposed is not so
nitwit the inauguration of new discoveries, not
the opening up experimentally of fresh foun-
tains of divine truth, as the denting away on
the part of man of those obstructions which
impede the flow of the living waters of sod's
relation ; the vindicating for His message
its supremacy over rival or opponent systems,
through every opportunity which age after age
presents for urging home its evidences upon
the hearts and consciences of mankind. Thus
the Divine Idea or body of truth, though in
itself' absolutely one and single, admits of
being exhibited in widely-varied yet truthful
aspects accenting to the need of its recipients ;
and is illrehted thereby with fresh beauty unit
increasing cogency. as these different shades
of conviction Mend into one harmonious tone
of proof. They are like so many elementary
hues, into which the pure light of truth is re-
filleted by the prism of thought. The message
of God delivered once for all to man 41004 not
change, but all around it does ; and tho human
forms into which its Mils are east. when called
upon for the purposes of argument or evi
dance, need continual adaptation oe unman-
t• ; not only Olt account of novel varieties of
langur.ge or dialect, but from the changed re-
lations which words and ideas assume in the
vicissitudes of time and thought: whim the
Altered necessities of its sulject, the human
heart, impose as it were so many new entitli-
t' sOn the gnind problem which religion
seeks to solve, the Spiritual Recovery of 111110.
Ilellee 1110 reappearallre 4)11 the field of con-
trovert:y of subjects held long ago exhausted
and set at rest ; and hence, too, the value of
works which bring to bear upon points of
vital doctrine all the resources of the latest
philosophy and the widest retuning' : which set
them in the light of the best and truest dis-
coveries of Bud's kindred dealings ; drawing
from the same armoury which has equipped
the sophist or the sceptic for his attack, more
powerful because more tretliflll We 5411011,4 Of

These views as to the progressive futtetions
of theological science attach in our eyes
additional interest to the series of (11111.
fleeted treatises in proof of Christian doetrine
to which the vI II liiiio berol*(l us 1101111 M
the latest contribution. We are enabled to
see in them an index, as it were, to the ',veva
lent tone of thought and reasoning in their
respective day, its represented by writers se-
lected no doubt on the whole with iin eye to
their special fitness for the task. The doctrine
treated of in the present lectures hail already
formed the subject of a course in the year
litri, by the Rev. Daniel Veysie, 11.1). ; but
Mr. I'l ))))) Nolo justly urges that,
bionic,. to meet in.w Amnon of &milt mitt moll olicf, it
in ureesnotry Eosin time. to time to 0p..11 111) 14.111111 sollojert st
whir, loom. ode..all , perhaps, 1.••••11 treated with n knitting,
picti., told ithilit, Illid n. 4118441 5ite1.,..1 ..linin.the.; Nilo, pg
itiliett 11.1.111ilry of usual 164441115 t i. in, (•1• go rat 104,1114.!iil eking, ,
WWI 11Ptt.11111thillg 1.1.115411.104 ill the 11111414.1.1111 sills, lugs 4•11119011
%IMP the 141 est its wt rine of tioo .% to stioltietit formed the
soiloiret tor II Vs rimy. osimilott to I Moo, it sill coop until. Om
owoologs of tho fs ostiosto.r to 1..inni.1.4. lin. &Kiri Hi* mour its
presi•tat aprectis, is, 1(1111114. sit sittlivialtimi iileirit prevent
town of thin any Instil two.optitsit it 114.1111i1y, moil sit the
nocitipin, hlierva 4111 or mot, lt/ 111t1 11141111 M: MN* thrill It S With
this imalternble. with.
Widely different in spirit and seope flout
the well-known work of Arehloishilp Magee, as
well as the less familiar but solid work alluded
to above, the volume before us exhibits a
tl glitfill imil original mind, !winging to the
treatment of its subject ivitsonisig powers or
no emilimm order, matured both by previous
habits of logical study end it range of reading
wide and juilicionpily selected. Down to our
day the principles UM Hell us the terminology
of scholasticism have continued to be ro
closely and intimately interwoven with out.