The National Register. — London, England, 1814-09-18 00:00:00

"W ~ w..,.--..~..~+~..r Are Ir.rosolir JIB NATIONAL REGIST.ER. Out Zing; Constitution, au tatm riJBLISUAD AT NO. 11, NEWCASTLE•.BTI4Ety" STAAND• I ' No.p4s. SUNDAY, iEPTEMBER 18, 1814. . PA zer 9d. POLITICAL DISQUISITION. • THE APPROACHING CONGRESS. In less than a fortnight the Congress at Vienna will open. From every part of Europe, nay, even froi:beyond the seas, Envoys and Ministers are travelling to the seat of nerciation. • Monarchs thetesettes ) unwilling to trust their high interests to the integrity of Diplomatists, prepare to survey and direct their labours, and the capital of the Austrian Empire ivi l shortly present an assembly of • 'pings and Emperors, of which history o ers no eaamp e. The avowed motives of this auguit . synod *are equally. grand and novel. When, powerful..Seveceigns,. satiated with human slaug-hter, drop the sword, it is not in general because the flame of. their' ambition has ceased to burn : it is because, despairing of success in the field, they hope for more easy triumphs in the Cabinet.l ' Yente ttie paci fication of . the world is their last thought. They destrr sd cities and ravaged the earth, to add their ruins and its solitudes to their dominions, and they settle the respective portions of plunder 'Which they are to yield or to receive l .in order not to repair the evils 'which they have done, but to augment their means of :in flicting fresh calamities on mankind, when rest shall have recruited their strength.. A Treaty of Peace is then only a temporary truce, and bears within itself the seeds of its Own destruction. In the present instance, as higher and more generous motives than lust of aggrandizement armed the Sovereigns of the earth: as they rose to vindicate, not their rights alone, but those of nations: as they fought, not to destroy, but to save; not to enslave, but to free, And as the result of their exertions has been the downfall of that tyranny which aimed at, and almost grasped, universal empire, it would seem a con trajiction in human nature, were they to belie, not only their pi ofessions, but their own conduct, by making the Congress a focus of ambitious liews and clashing pre tensions, likely to disturb, instead of pacifying the world. If they act in a consistent manner, and continue to Prefer the general good to individual advantage, their course may Le easily anticipated. It would be, perhaps, too much to expect that they should entirely lose sight of eferA selfish consideration, but making allowange for the vol. vu. No. CCCAYLVI. , P . "‘ m • llam _w •riq AP. x infirmities` .of nature, and admitting that thelr"sin- :c/ --- 4- cerity is unquestionable, their good-will unbounded, - and that they are resolved to fulfil the engagement which they have solemnly taken, to restore justice among nations and happiness on earth, the leading Powers cannot depart widely from the following Expos.' As our. speculations are founded on a strict sense of politi. cal justice, any Contradiction which they may afterwards receive from events; must be occasioned by an abandon , m ent on_the part of . the Allies of those principles which have hitherto guided their, conduct and prepared their • Faithful to heriword, anti combining at once prudence with kvbtice l Russia will remain satisfied with the delive rance of her territory and the total annihilation of the •power of her foe. The immensity of her dominions reqUir.ei sic> addition. She has proved herself unconquer able, and will henceforward be respected. By acquiring fresh provinces she would only engraft on a vigorous tree, feeble bfauches, which the first storm would sweep away. In the mixture of spirits, it is not the weak that acquires force by being joined with the strong, but the strong that loses strength by its union with the weak. Such Would be the case with Russia. She would have to protect and contain the inhabitants of ill-disposed frontiers, without rendering them secure, whilst the sound heart of the Empire would be drained of its vigour'. At the first approach of Napoleon, in 1812, all the popu lation of Lithuania and Courland rose in arms to join the invader, and shake off a yoke borne with secret reluct ance through a long course of years. And yet it is said that Alexander demands the restoration, and claims the throne of Poland ; whilst wisdom and true policy would, on the contrary, require that ho should again a f, iend in that kingdom, and contribute at once to its re establishment, and to the consolidation of his own dominions, by yielding those parts of former . Poland unjustly added to his empire and which .1% ill otherwise ever remain its weakest and most unweildy limb. By so doing sltg would prove the sincerity of her pro fessions. She would place betil Len her and the hostility of southern Europe, should it again be Ivie!ded by a powerful hand, an impenetrable shield. For Polat.d, *Wing its revival in pristine greataQss to /ler niegnailiro:tyr, - - - ~-