nary offers, if he would give up his claim, which they said was absolutely inconsistent with the very first principles of their monarchy; adding, in their peculiar manner of speaking, that the exclusive right to trade to their own colonies was one of the eyes of Spain, as the Inquisition was the other. Cromwell, however, obstinately insisted upon it, and several proposals were offered Spain, desiring peculiar privileges for the English all over Spanish America. There is some reason to think that Cromwell, had he lived, would have been able to effect this design, by making himself a mo derator between France and Spain; and thus, while both were weakened by mutual animosity, he might have obtained from either, through threats or from friendship, the concessions he so much desired. Charles II. was somewhat inclined to revive the claims of England; but it was now begun to be perceived, that France was growing potent from the downfall of the Spanish power, and England judiciously interposed, in order to save Spain from ruin. This monarch, however, concluded two formal treaties with Spain; one in the year 1667, relating to the Spanish European trade; the other in the year 1670, relative to our trade in America. This treaty has been couched in terms so ambiguous, that upon its interpretation both courts have been at variance almost ever since. The subject is of such importance to both crowns that neither are willing to concede, and even the indefinite treaty of Aix La Chapelle has left it to future discussion. The part which the crown of Spain has acted in the present war has been wise, honest, and greatly to the advantage of both nations. A war with Spain may enrich individuals in Britain, but can never be of public utility; nay, it must be of the most terrible national consequences; as the marine of Spain, if acting vigorously in conjunction with that of France, might form a fleet that would endanger the empire of the seas to England. Upon a review of what has been said, if England considers its successes in the present war, she will have the utmost reason to exult; but if the situation of the other states of Europe, she must feel all the terrors of painful apprehension. Such leagues, formed of the greatest and the most ambitious powers, look with the most inauspicious aspect on the liberties of Europe; and even allowing the small power opposed to such a combination ever so victorious, yet his own victories will in the end undo him. Like a sword long employed, he will be at last worn out; and glory alone can be the only advantage he may acquire. A prospect so gloomy cannot but fill the mind with sadness : no courage can resist multitudes, no prudence can ward off fortuitous events, and no virtue can secure its possessor from ruin. Glory, respect, and honour, are only the rewards of a few; and, though a hero should possess them in the most unbounded degree, still may the people be unhappy. After an expenditure of the most exorbitant sums of money; after a breach of every tie that can oblige mankind; after an effusion of blood that scarcely any other period can equal; after all the calamities, burnings, rapes, and desolations of war;-if after so frightful a picture of the present age, every power would sit down and be contented with the same state which they enjoyed before the war, how happy might Europe still be ! But this we can hardly expect, while ambition on one hand and obstinacy on the other, prevent any accommodation; while every victory, instead of procuring overtures of peace, only give spirits to prolong the war. While rapacious ministers find their account in prolonging, and the deluded people find glory in continuing war, what hopes can mankind have once more to repose in tranquillity; to talk again over the dangers of war, with all the pleasing satisfaction that past dangers will afford; to cultivate the arts of peace, and leave to posterity the truly valuable possession of newly invented arts, sciences carried nearer to truth, and a constitution nicely regulated by all the caution of political wisdom! 66 PREFACE TO THE MARTIAL REVIEW; OR, A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR." 12mo. 1763.(1) THIS is an attempt to separate what is substantial and material, from what is circumstantial and useless in history. That of the late War forms the brightest period of any in the British annals, and the author has endeavoured to do it justice by the manner in which he has recorded the several transactions, and the impartiality he has observed. As to the first, it is matter of opinion, and he must stand or fall by the judgment of his readers. His own intention acquits him of every charge with regard to the latter. He is sensible that, in many passages, he has the prepossessions of party to encounter; and the same must have been his fate had he adopted different opinions. He disclaims all systems in politics, and has been guided in his narrative by matters of fact only. In his reflections and conjectures, where his own lights failed him, he had recourse to those who were capable of giving him information; and he has the satisfaction to believe, that when the prejudices of party are buried with their authors, the following pages, whatever defects they may have in point of composition, will be acquitted of every imputation of partiality; as rational entertainment and undeviating candour has been his only object. (1) [See Life, ch. xiii.] 527 INTRODUCTION TO "A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE WORLD, FROM THE CREATION TO THE PRESENT TIME. BY WILLIAM GUTHRIE, ESQ., OTHERS EMINENT IN THIS 12 vols. 8vo. 1764.(1) EXPERIENCE every day convinces us, that no part of learning affords so much wisdom upon such easy terms as history. Our advances in most other studies are slow and disgusting, acquired with effort, and retained with difficulty; but in a well-written history, every step we proceed only serves to increase our ardour: we profit by the experience of others without sharing their toils or misfortunes; and in this part of knowledge in a more particular manner study is but relaxation. Of all histories, however, that which, not confined to any particular reign or country but which extends to the transactions of all mankind, is the most useful and entertaining. As in geography we can have no just idea of the situation of one country without knowing that of others; so in history, it is in some measure necessary to be acquainted with the whole thoroughly to comprehend a part. There is a constant, though sometimes concealed, concatenation in events, by which they produce each other, and without a knowledge of which they cannot be comprehended separately. The rise of one kingdom is often found owing to political defects in some other. The arts and learning of succeeding states take a tincture from those countries (1) [Hitherto not more than one-half of this well-written Introduction has been printed in Goldsmith's Works.-See Life, ch. xiii.] from whence they were originally derived. Some nations have been applauded for plans of government, which an acquaintance with general history would have shown were not their own; while others have been reproached for barbarities which were not natural to them, but the result of erroneous imitation. Thus no one part of the general picture can be thoroughly conceived alone; but by taking in the whole of history at one view, we can trace every cause to its remotest source, observe how far every nation was indebted to its own efforts for its rise or decline, how far to accident or the particular circumstances of the countries around it. We may here trace the gradations of its improvement or decay, mark in what degree conquerors introduced refinement among those they subdued, or how far they conformed to the soil and put on barbarity. By such reflections as these, and by applying the transactions of past times to our own, we may become more capable of regulating our private conduct, or directing that of others in society. A knowledge of Universal History is therefore highly useful; nor is it less entertaining. Tacitus complains, that the transactions of a few reigns could not afford him a sufficient stock of materials to please or interest the reader; but here that objection is entirely removed. A History of the World presents the most striking events, with the greatest variety. In fact, what can be more entertaining than thus reviewing this vast theatre where we ourselves are performers, to converse with those who have been great or famous, to condemn the vices of tyrants without fearing their resentment, or praise the virtues of the good without conscious adulation, to constitute ourselves judges of the merit of even kings, and thus to anticipate what posterity will say of such as now hear only the voice of flattery? These are a part of the many advantages which Universal History |