The National Register. — London, England, 1808-11-21 00:00:00

. Y of his country. Thence originated the disgraces _ . and calamities of the Continent 4 and the cowardice or treachery of Mack at Ulm, is now accounted for by the lenity of his sentence/ But the people Of this country were snore Impartial in their judgment of that transaction 3 and notwithstanding the successful efforts made by the Austrian Ministry to recommend their favourite General to the cle mency of the Emperor, and the strong assertions made by ?tack' himself about the expediency of the surrender, they, loudly and unanimously, accused him of perfidy and pusil lanimity, for surrendering himself, under any pretext, with an army of 36,000 men, to one of 150,000 French- Men. The people of this country were right; for there is no excuse for dialmuMir ; and the soundmiss of their feel ing, and their sense of the.duties of a soldier, were justi fied by the' subjugation of the Austrian Afonarchy. In the same !winner they indignantly rejected, in 'common with Enfope the miserable plea of 'General Kleist, Gov enior of Magdeburg. ; zcho, in palliation of his igno minlousbreach of trust, assigned as a reason for surrender intethat fortress, Iti..par . of a .ocareity of previsions, and a retuctaiee to have the houses of the inhabitants burned, or firth - property destroyed. "rhe base wretch ! who, when the'last' fortunes and the honour 'sif his country were at itake, could find any reason sufficiently strong to shrink from its protection, or despair of its safety. True it is, that every villain and coward have always some virtue or expedient in the background, which they impudently thrust forward as a justification of their misconduct. The fatal example he gave was followed by the Governors of Custrin, Stettih, Nienburg, Hemeln, &c. and a monarchy, founded on military virtue and heroism, and ennobled by actions Anil perseverance bordering on the incredible, fell through the cowardice of• its Generals, and the selfish intriguing spirit of its Statesmen. It is this tremendous example, with all its fatal conse qucmces, which fills us with anxiety and alarm, when we perceive any thing in the conduct of our military coin manders which may have a tendency to produce similar consequences ; and we treat them with the same impar tiality and j?istice, which induced us to condemn Kleist and Mack, in refui•ing to consider the pretended difficulty of supplying their army with prolisions, or their affected repugnance to demolish sonic houses in Lisbon, as a de fence for lowering the British character in the eyes of gurope. They were guilty of the unaccountahte weakness of letting. pass by the most auspicious moment for re-esta blishing our ancient military reputati on , w hi c h h a d f allen from the conspicuous height, on which Marlborough and our ancestors had placed it, through the misconduct or incompetency of later generals. This is the irretrievable and discouraging loss; and when we reflect that not one of the advantages has been attained, which induced them to compromiee the honour of the army, and the interests of their country, we feel a difficulty in accounting for the action in any other manner, than by imputing it to mo mentary madness or infatuation. however an access of this kind might contribute to convert the indignation of the. [Milk into sentiments of commiseration, it is not less deplorable, that the fortunes of the British empire, and the tate of . a gallant army, sh ou ld h ave b een entrusted to men, u whose ndertanditigs were not more regular and luminous. We may be. accused of rekindling the public indi,Tna bon against men who art sow answering at the bar of their THE NATIONAL REGISTER. LEGISLATIVE BODY. Nov. 01. . . . I country tie" 'u c rges preferred aga ns -- them, and o f actin inconsistently with the principles of hum an it y , as well as of justice, in strengthening the popular prepossession against them. We undertake the task with reluctance • but the independence of our country, as well as of Europ e , in this momentous crisis, and the transmission of it itim ', paired to the coming generation, impose a duty more sacred and comprehensive thati - that of not hurting ph vale feelings and convenience. This indifference to tt:c public interest, in favour of individual ease, has plunged Europe into an abyss or misery ; and we have already had three or four dreadful specimens that indulgence to inca. pacity in the conduct of our . armies has been attended with no other consequence than to make the evil more alarm. ing. 'ff our - Officers continue to disappoint and disgrace `their country, we tremble to think of the fate which awaits us ; for it must be remarked, that, *in the short space of fourteen years, almost every expedition of Magnitude, has been unsuccessitil. At Dunkirk, the fielder, Ferrol, Buenos Ayres, and at ('intra, we saw prodigies of valour on the part of the soldier produce no other consequence • than . mortification and disgrace ; and hen we take into consideration the perfidy, inveterate animosity, and the talentS of the enemy, we cannot be accused of utmarrant able motives in wishing to provide an effectual remedy against this accumulatity , evil. Further indifference would be criminal and dangerons in the extreme : let us now try what a reverse of conduct may effect ; for it is absurd to think of reform, when the abuse accumulates, so as to I render it impracticable. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. FROM THE URCveir PIPERS. Cretet, Minister of the Interior, delivered the followkg Exposition of the situation of the Empire : After having spoken of what has heen done under the heads nt Justice, NVort.hip, Sciences and Literature, Public Institutions. Internal Administration, Public Works, Bridges and Industry, Trade, Agriculture, Finance, and the Navy ; Exposition proceeds to speak. . L 4 • _AIlk.. 4 1k ~~;^.~_ I P . _l6 THE pnEsEsT wArt. " At the epoch of your last sitting, Gentlemen, every thing combined to deliver Europe from its long asitations, but Eng land, the enemy of the world, still repeated the cry of perpetual war, and war continues. What then is ttc object, wont V. ill he the issue? The object of this war is the slavery of the world, by the exclusive possession of the seas. There is no doubt, that by subscribing treaties of bondage, disguised under the holy name of peace, nations may obtain repose ; but this shameful repose would be death. " The war which England has provoked, which she coati. MICS with so much pride and obstinacy, is tile terieination of the ambitious system which she ha• cherished during two centuries. Mixing in the politics of the Continent, she has succeeded in holding Europe in a perpetual agitation, and in exciting against France all the envious and jealous passions. She has extende d her Colonies, and augmented her Naval Power : and, by the aid of that power, she hopes henceforth to enjoy her usurpation, and to arrogate to herself the exclusive possession of the seas. " It is impossible to foresee what might have been the con , sequence of so much audaMy, had not fortune, • on our par t . raised up a mart of superior order, destined to repel the evils with which England threatens the world. He had always to combat the allies of that pow er on the Continent, and to conquer the rising enemies she succeeded in creating. Al Ways attacked, al s% :LN'S threatened, he found it tie . cessary to regulate his policy by that state of t bi og s, and felt that to lay the coolest it was accessary to augment our forces, and weaken those of our enemies. " The Emperor, pacific, but armed by necessity , wa; 0 " : “MbitioUi of aggraittlizing the Lcogire. It became trcesAlf w Y ~. . . 1 _ r ~''" =