The Sun.
London, England, 1821-12-06 00:00:00

FOREIGN INTELLIG ENCE.

LISBON, Nov. 24.—The Cortes continue to
discuss the Articles of the Constitution, day by
day, besides the various other subjects that are
laid before them.--In the Sitting of tlt• 17th,
they continued the debate on the proposed law
for the relief of the peasantry, by the abolitiou
or reforan of the institutions called Foraes. .A
great diversity of opinion prevailed on this sub-
ject : it was at length agreed to, on the question
being put by the President.
1. That the general project had been suffici2ntly discusvd.

2. That the Foracs should be reformed. •
3. That one of the bases of the reform should b?, that the
indeterminate and uncertain imposts and dues should be re.
duced to certain services or payments.
4. Thal
,the second principle of the reform shall be, the
munition of the services or payments.

In the Sitting of the 19th, after the debate on some articles
of the Constitution,
M. Fernandez Thomas brought forward a complaint against
the Minister of the Marine. He sheaved two passports, such as
are given to vessels going out to sea, which he said were drawn
up in a very anti-Constitutional 'style; which had been expressly
introduced by the present Minister, those formerly issued
being in other terms. In one, the Honourable Deputy observed
the term " Vassalos," in the other " Subjects ;" in the. one
" Royal Navy," in the other " Royal and National." He ob-
served, that the proceeding was very reprelien;ibleat all times,
but especially now ; he complained greatly ofithqudolenee and
negligence of the Minister, saying, that in'hilleyeimaent eei•Vflf
thing was in the same, or a worse state, than ll'efiire ;;.and that.
in so important a branch of the service there was not the slightest
amelioration. The Hon. Deputy concluded by saying, that
it was necessary to inform his Majesty how ill he was served by
that Minister, and by proposing to lay the two passports on the
table. to be examined by the. Deputies.
M.:Borges Carneiro was going to speak, but was flailed to
order by the President, who told M. F. Thomai that he must
present his motion in writing.
M. Vasconeellas brought forward two motions. The first

" 1, That it be henceforth forbidden that criminals who are
to be transported to Africa, be gent to the Pedras Negrns,
Ango:ia, or any other Presidios, where, on account of the un-
wholesome air, Europeans cannot live, except a short and pain-
ful life.

" 2, That those unfortunate persons who now languish on
those Presidios he immediately removed to others more healthy."
The second proposal related to a number of Neapolitans con-
demned to the galleys, for real or supposed crimes committed
in their own country, who were conducted on board _Portuguese
ships to Rio Janeiro, and thence sent to Angola, there .to do
penance for the crinior they had committed at Naples. It Woidd
be little suitable to the free principles which we have adopted
since the happy 24th of August, that the Portuguese territory
(which ought to bethe sanctuary of liberty, and a sacred asylum
for all strangers who shall take xefuge in it.), should longer serve
as a prison for these unfortunate people, who were by right free,
according to the 4th Article of the bases of the Constitution,
which prohibits any person from being arrested, excel . in con-
sequence of legal proceedings. I therefore move, first, that the
Government be called upon to'give orders to restore to liberty
the Neapolitalis. sent tb_the Presidios of Africa, and who ure
there employed in the public service or works, not being con.
denied to mem for crimes there committed; second, that-they
be allowed to go where they pl rase. ..„.
These olotions were ordered to remain for the second reading.
LISiION, Nov. 23.—Otficiad notice is ;liven; by the Board of
Health of liadajos and the Governor of that-Province, dated
the 17th instant, that the terrible etVects 9f the contagion, which
raged in two provinces of Spain, bordering our kingdom, have
considerably diMinished, so that the Governor of Bailajos
judges that there is •no reason to fear any thing from reviv-
ing our comthunications and commercial relations with those
two provinces.

The debate respecting the abolition of the Patriarchal Church
is not yet'finished in the 'Cortes. 'Many flembers urged the
necessity of reducing the expence of our establishment, which
I. consumes 'a great proportion of the revenue ; and it appears
that the institution wi be maintained, but that the revenues
will be greatly data ea, in such 'manner as the Cortes shall
deterinine.

FOREIGN LITERATURE•

No. LI.

EUVRES COMPLETES tie I'EMPEREUR JULIEN; I
i. e. The Works of the Emperor Julian, translated for the
first time into French from the Greek, with Remarks and
Notes; to which is prefixed an Historical and Critical NOtie:3
• of his Life, by R. TOURLET, Member of several Acade-,
miss and Literary Societies, and Translator of Pindar and
Quintus of Smyrna. 3 vols. 8v0..7.--Paris, 1821.
[Continued from THE Sex of the 28th ult.]
We have seen that Julian, as a writer, marks
a memorable epoch, that of the last efforts.of the
literary genius of the Greeks. As a Sovereign,
manlier attached his name to one
of tlytimßst important moments of the history of
ci.vkliwi9q, at that moment when the ancient re-
ligions . and political institutions of the Roman
empire, after a last effort, for ever ceded its place
to victorious Christianity. •
After the admirable volume of Gibson, devoted
almost entirely to Julian, it would seem, at the
first glance, as if nothing new or important re-
mained to be said concerning this Emperor.—
Who indeed would pretend to paint with equal
interest the rapid, yet varied, destinies of the
• nephew of Constantine the Greattlie perilous
situation of this young Prince near the, Emperor
Constantine, the assassin of all his family—the
art with which .he disguised, during ten years,
the secret ties which united him to the pagan
party—the ability which the young Julian dis-
played in the government of the immense pre-
fecture of the Gauls, of which Spain.and Eng-
land were dependencies—the military science
and valour which, at the commencement of his
career, distinguished the pupil of the philoso-
phers of Athens in his campaigns of Germany—
that astonishing march from Paris to Constan-
tinople, equal to the boldest enterprises of
Cwsar—that energy with which the new Emperor,
scarcely seated on his throne, repressed abuses
and corruptions of all kinds—and lastly, the
heroic end of such an active and agitated life ?
There remains, however, a point very badly
cleared up, and which appears to us very essen-
tial. What were the real religious sentiments of
Julian, and how far did these sentiments influence
• -his plari§vatid his destiny ?
The 'la' de la Bletterie has maintained that
e
Julian was sincerely attached to the doctrines of
Paganism this opinion evinces the. candour of an
honest man and the charity of a Christian ; and
we shall find that it comes very near to that
which a perusal of the writings of Julian leads us
to consider as the truth. .

The French philosophers of the last century
hail particular reasons for, denying the sincerity
of Julian. To believe in no religion was, ac-
cording to them, the characteristic trait of a
great man ; again, the most famous enemy of
Christianity must necessarily be a great man ;
then, he was a Powerful mind, like those of the
eighteenth century ; he inwardly laughed at
Jupiter and Apollo, ridiculed auguries and sa-
crifices, despised the vain terrors of a future life
and the fables of another world, but (a Machiavel
philosopher) resolved on bringing back his sub-
jects, by stratagem or force, to a worship devoid
of moral ideas, it is true, but which had the es-
sential merit of being irreconcileably opposed to
the Christian religion. On these humiliating
conditions did the sect admit Julian to the rank
of its sages ary' heroes it placed him by the
side of Fretferick 11., and recommended him as
a model to the emulation of every Northern
King who was desirous of being praised in the
saloons of Paris.
It is impossibte to regard Julian in this light,
if any person has reflected at all on the whole
tenor of his writings, and on the sprit of his age.
Gibbon felt it; but, influenced by the ideas of his
time, he never had a perfect conviction of it, and
after having, in several places, proclaimed the re-
ligious sincerity of this extraordinary man, he
makes him, in a few pages further on, the object
of a sarcasm.

We think that the character of Julian must be

considered as a compound of sentiments an

opinions which he knew not himself how to re,
coricile, and the internal conflict of which he con..

stantly experienced. A classical scholar, he es-
teemed thegods of Homer ; a severe moraJist, he
cletestecl morals of Paganism ; a man of in-
telligence, he viewed with disgust those obscure
mel;physics,the parent of numerous heresies which
already disturbed the palace and the schools

Under the influence of these conflicting sent

meats, he was torn from his beloved studies, and
brought in the midst of a perfidious and sat gui-

nary court.
Soon after his application to the cares of Go-
.verninent, he meditated on the causes of the de-
cline of this vast empire to which he was the
heir; he admired those great and celebrated
characters of ancient Rome, Camillus, Brutus,
and` Scipio ; he sought the cause of so much
greatness, and traced it in the institutions of the
Roman republic, of which the worship of gods,
if we-are to give credit to-Cicero, wasthe-foun-
dation-stone. On the other hand, the vices of
Constantine. the Great, his effeminacy, his des-
potism, the murders which imbrued his palace,
the tyranny of the eunuchs of the court under
the weak Constantius—all this mass of corruption
which consumed the empire, presented the most
afflicting spectacle to a Roman mind. The man-
ners of the Christians, in the bosom of riches and
prosperity, had lost rapidly that purity and aus-
tereness which a century earlier would have
warmly excited the enthusiasm of Julian. lie
forgot that Christianity possessed that moral
force which alone could regenerate the world ;
he considered it only in the light of an institution
contrary„iiohose of ancient Rome, and corn-
p'rehe,nded,it in the general hatred he vowed
againgt the, corruption of his age. Such was,
doubtless, ale principal motive for the apostacy
of Julian'; -so far his opinion, though sincere, was
founded on a sentiment more of a political than a
religiops nature.
But political motives alone did not influence his
mind : he might, as a citizen, as an Emperor, be
attached to the party which espoused the ancient
religion of Rome without any hypocrisy, since
the 'Gods of Paganism, tolerant and even indiffe-
rent; permitted every person to measure the de-

gree of faith he n►igl:t he disposed to repose in
them, and also to make his choice among the
thousand rulers of Olympus. Julian, therefore,
was not a greater hypocrite than Cicero or Mar-
cus Aurelius ; but as an, individual, as a thinking
man,lte searched for something which might Occupy
the place in his heart of the religious doctrines
of Christianity, and he fancied that he had founds
it in the mysticism or the Platonic philosophy,
as it was revived by lamblicus and Proclus,
blended with the theosophical dogmas of the
Gnostics. This hermaphrodite system combined
the most singular elements : by the side of ab-
stract principles as subtle as those of Kant, it ad-
mitted a belief in ge►ii, demons, and ,a certain
number of select divinities; it.rejected the pro-
digia of paganism, and attacked the miracles of
Christianity, but it had faith in magical opera-
tions, visions, and the communion of spirits. Less
absurd in its morality, it pretended to connect all
that was elevated and tender in the doctrines of
Plato with all that was austere and temperate in
that of the Stoics; the proud leaders of this new
sect, not deigning for a single instant to inform
themselves that this combination, impossible to
be effected by,the sole powers of the human mind,
had already been-accomplished by the divine
morality of the Gospel.
Such was the system, then widely disseminated,
in which the strong and original mind of Julian
took refuge, after having lost, with the Christian
faith, that tranquillity, the first condition of
which is to believe in some religion. Why
should not Julian have been sincere in that opi-
nion ? How can we imagine that, unless he had

been perfectly convinced, he could have taken
the pains to compose his Discourse on the Sun-
King, his Commentary on the Mother of the Gods,
and so many other treatises, in theology, full of
abstruse research, and which certainly do not
contain the slightest indication of incredulity,
but, on the contrary, several passages breathing
the enthusiasm of superstition ?
It seems to us- that we may, without hesita-
tion, admit that Julian was a sincere protector
of Paganism, as the established worship, and a
fervent follower of the particular sect which he
had adopted, and which in part he had himself
created.

Hence those singular contrasts of, ability and
unskilfulness exhibited in the conduct of this
Emperor towards the religious party which he
wished to support, and that which he wished to
destroy,—contrasts which the historians have re:
marked, without assigning any plausible reason
for them. how could an Emperor, the worship-
per of the Gods of Rome, transfer to Constanti-
nople, a Christian town, one half of the Senate
which yet remained entire on the banks of the
Tiber ? Why did he not establish the seat of
the empire in the midst of the ancient temples of
the Capitol ? It was evidently because he wished
to introduce into Paganism his particular system
of mysticism, allegory, and theosophy ; and that
this kind of reform was much more likely to suc-
ceed in the East, where was the seat of the
Gnostics. Another instance of had management

in this reformer. The best chance in favour of
Paganism was incoutestibly the attraction of its
popular and licentious festivals; Julian, an un-
believing philosopher, would not have failed to
employ this easy means of captivating the multi-
tude; but Julian, a reflecting and a superstitious

man, censures the people of Antioch for ap-
proaching with their usual levity the Pagan altars
with dancing and boisterous mirth. " The Gods,"
he exclaims, " like a sober and decorous wor-
ship." This was not the language of a skilful
impostor. _ . .

The private views of Julian, his personal faith,
his attachment to a particular sect, were cer-
tainly so many obstacles to the success of his en-
terprizes against Christianity. All the skill of
man would undoubtedly have failed in a project
opposed to the designs of Providence ; but we
may be allowed to discover those secondary
causes, which, by the will of the Ruler of our
destinies, tend to hasten the triumph of the cause
which he protects. Amongst these causes we
must assuredly reckon the political errors of
Julian, which arose out of his very sincerity.—
A Machiavel, an atheist and hypocrite, would
have been a more formidable antagonist to the
Christians. Julian not only sided with the
weakest party and the most deficient in talents
and energy, but also, in this party even, he at-
tached himself particularly to a small fraction, to
a society of metaphysicians incapable of influenc-
ing powerfully public opinion. His faith evidently
gained the mastery over his prudence and genius ;
he died probably very seasonably for his glory ;
for ten or twelve years later, this Emperor of
Neo-Platonists and of Gnostics, surrounded, im-
portuned, and perhaps in the end governed by
the sophis,ts of his sect, flocking from all quarters
to. engross pensions and favours, might have
perhaps found himself at enmity with the Pagans
as well as the Christians.
The true political opinions of Julian are still
less known than his religious opinions. We fear
that-in-examining those passages of his wrltingt
in which he touches on politics, we shall find no
sufficient reason to ascribe to him the generous
project of restoring, or rather of creating, the
Constitutional. Government, of which the Roman
empire was no longer worthy. He loved, it is
true, to adorn his discourses with the great name
of the republic ; he condescended to harangue a
Senate, always ready to applaud his imperial
eloquence, and who, for centuries past, had
learned to use discreetly the liberty of speech ; ,
and he expresses himself even very nobly on the
duties of Sovereigns, whose only glory, he says,
consists in imitating the gods, in administering
justice, and in rewarding virtue. But Marcus
Aurelius had said as much, and this crowned
Philosopher did not on that account diminish the
absolute power vested in his person, which soon
afterwards,' in the hands of a Commodus and a
Heliogabalus, dishonoured the throne and the
empire. Philosophers are very subject to sad
errors in politics, and the immortal Marcus Au-
relius was perhaps. a Monarch more respectable
for his character than his genius and plans : he
had it in his power to give to the Roman empire
those regular forms of a moderate Monarchy,
which alone could prolong the national existence
of the Romans, and the first basis of which 1$ as

already prepared by the administrative organiza-
tion introduced by Adrian. It is to be re-
gretted that Montesquieu; in his La Grandeur
et la DlTadence des Romanis, had ndt dis-
cussed the state of the Empire during the
eighty one years when Nerva, Trajan,
and the two Antonines reigned. low came such
a fine age (according at least to the received
opinion) to be immediately -followed by an uni-
versal decline ? With respect to Julian be is
quite excusable : he could only rule as a despot
a people already sunk tp the lowest degree of
servility.
Thi.4 complete translation of the Works
of Julian is a well conceived undertaking, a'
pleasing and necessary book, and one that was
wanting in our libraries. The first appearance
in French of several very considerable pieces, is
a meritorious performance; and M. Tourlet
seems to us to have rendered happily the sober

prose of Julian, which, on account of the ab-
struseness of the matters it discusses, too often
presents many difficulties.
The printing of the Greek text of several
letters of Julian, which have hitherto existed
only in manuscript, must, in the estimation of
Hellenists, add to the bibliographical value of
these volumes which are moreover printed with
great care, and their acquisition will render un-
necessary the purchase of the former translations
of this author.

We think that the value of this Work would
have been considerably enhanced if the, translator
had annexed to it It Memoir and two geographical
maps, explaining and describing the celebrated
march of Julian from Paris to Constantinople,
and his operations beyond the Euphrates and the

Tigris.