HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF.
[To THE EDITON OF TEE " SPECTATOlt:.] SIR,—It is interesting to find a writer, in the early stage of the Peninsular War, explaining that our difficulties in Spain, as well as our unpopularity, were due to our neglect to tell the people the causes which led to the retreat of our army under Sir John Moore, and its embarkation. "They only know that the British troops advanced, and that the British troops retreated, but without knowing the reasons," wrote Captain Pasley. R.E., in his oft- quoted essay on The Military Policy of the British Empire. And he went on to point out that
"As long as we leave the people of Spain in the dark, they must of necessity hate us, because they have only heard one side of the question. With our usual haughtiness and reserve, conscious of our own integrity, we have not published a single manifesto or proclamation, whilst the enemy has been inundating time country with thousands, in order to paint our conduct and views in the blackest light."
The correspondent of the Times in Spain has been writing to the same effect, and almost in the same words, with reference to the neglect of our Government to counteract the German propa- ganda of hate towards Great Britain in that country of late.
Strikingly a propos to the present European situation are the words addressed by Lord Grenville to the House of Lords, at the meeting of Parliament in November, 1813, on the 'occasion of the Allied armies under Wellington having driven the enemy across the frontier, and entered France :- "Upon this grand question," said his Lordship, " all party conflicts must be swallowed up and lost; it is the cause of no party, but of the whole nation joined in sentiment and action to effect a great and glorious purpose. What we desired and expected was the real blessing of peace, not the empty name; not the shadow but the substance. Too long did deluded Europe, by temporary and partial truces, by concession following concession, purchase from the insatiable enemy a precarious quiet, a troubled sleep; furnishing to the foe the very means of his aggression, and of her own subjugation. . . . If in the course of human events (although I see little cause to fear) any unforeseen calamity should
unfortunately occur, remember the glorious cause in which you are engaged; it may for an instant damp your ardour, or shake your resolution. Be assured, my Lords, of this, that there is for this country no separate safety or peace! There is neither safety nor peace for England, but with the safety and peace of Europe. . . . The plain duty of this eountry, placing its trust in Provi- dence, is to improve by every possible exertion the bright prospect that lies before us. With the energies of Great Britain duly applied, ultimate success may be confidently anticipated : we may now look forward to the speedy accomplishment of that great purpose for which we have already sacrificed, performed, and endured so much, and for which we are still ready to sacrifice, perform, and endure."
To which may be added a very brief extract from the equally noble speech of Mr. Charles Grant, in the House of Commons : "If we had shown a dastardly spirit at the commencement of these troubles, where now would have been the deliverance of Europe ? There never will be a prouder page in history," he added, " than that which tells of this struggle and its victorious result."
Very wise, and comforting too, were the words addressed by Wordsworth to Robert Southey; after reading his History of the War in the Peninsula:— "I did not notice a single sentence or opinion that I could have wished away, but one—where you support the notion that, if Wellington had not lived and commanded, Buonaparte must have continued the master of Europe. I do not object to this from any dislike I have to the Duke, but from a conviction—I trust a philo- sophic one—that Providence would not allow the upsetting of so diabolical a system as Buonaparte's to depend upon the existence of any individual. Justly was it observed by Lord Wellesley, that Buonaparte was of an order of minds that created for themselves great reverses. He might have gone further, and said that it is of the nature of tyranny to work to its own destruction."
Strange how exactly all the above utterances apply to the present European situation 1—I am, Sir, &o., TEIGNMOUTH. C'levedon.
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