The National Register. — London, England, 1812-01-05 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL VE(;,ISTER. Crown and purple of the Empire, till the public mind I shuuld have wown reeonciled to the forms of Monarchy-. Ambition, his ruling passion—military genius and expe rience, inflexibility of temper, contempt for sacred and moral aligat ions, disregard of human blood, and indefa tigable activity of body and mind, were its agents. By these he had attained, and with these he resolved to secure i his present elevation. Grasping in his hand all the en larged resources of France, and conscious that concen tration increases strength, lie deemed them irresi,tihle, and aspired to reign—Over tl:c world. BefOre his gigantic forttines, the spirit of Continental freedom had shrunk and retreated to our shores. There, ha beheld it supported by an ancient eonslitntion and equitable laws, enthroned in every heart, and guarded by a naval arm which extended over every sea, and struck at once both extremities of the universe. He saw in our island, the spark that would revive the flame of independence on the Continent, and he determined to quench it. The sacredness of treaties opposed his designs ; an unfounded presence re moved the difficuky. The faith of allieuce was broken ' and the war renewed. Equal to the importance of his object, were his preparations for attaining it. He re callod his veterans from the scene of their late triumphs ; withdrew most of the troops which he had left to over awe his Allies and his pacified enemies, and collecting them on his coast, pointed out Albion and her riches, as their seat of futute victories, and the reward of their toils. Meanwhile fleets grew under his care, and numberless gun boats and flat-bottomed vessels were built to transport his legions across the channel. His soldiers quitted the minlet for the oar, and learnt to manage and to fight their boats. To enlarge their field of exercise, and to protect their evolutions, his cliffs were studded with bat teries, and frequent hostile demonstrations on various points, alarmed and divided ourcruisers, and disarranged our plans of internal defence. Stunned with the threats of our adversary, and watching their fulfilment, or the discomfiture of his hopes, Continental nations remained in suspense and anxiety. No hand was raised to join our cause, and fear suppressed even the expression of a wish in our favour. Never, amidst the eventful ages of the past had the world presented so interesting, so awful a scene. Carthage and Rome :untended for universal . empire, and from the conqueror the universe expected but slavery. France and England fought, the one to chain, and the other to free mankind ; and on the issue of the contest, depended the degradation ,or the inde pendence of the most distant generations. No vast ex panse of waves divided the waning empires. On .the sides of a nairow channel stood embattled, here the hosts that hid desolated the Continent, and there a nation in arms, ready to repel their hostility : in the midst, floated ,aval bulwarks loaded with British thunder, and 4, nations gazed with silent awe and breathless :h was the respective situation of England and !e ; at the opening Of the present war. Such were JAN. 6, the dangers vith which we were menaced, and their magnitude is best described w;:cr. we add, that they left us without an Ally. The asserted invincibility of the enemy's 1.-gions remained to be disproved, and the world only wal: - .ed :he issue of the grand trial, to surrender itself unresiting to its fate, or to resume hope and con• fidencc, and one more struggle to redeem its freedom. What line of conduct did the advocates for uninter rupted peace wish us to pursue, when we found ourselves assailed w:th a force, and in a manner which showed that our national existence was at stake ? Had the wor been. commenced wantonly by this country, it would have been right to reprove its origin, and to lament its conti nuance. But when we were compelled to arm, by an enemy who deemed himself secure on the seat of his usurpation, only when we should he ruined, to pretend that we ought to have shrunk from the contest, is to maintain that the dearest interests of man should be sacri ficed at the approach of danger. Such doctrine makes patriotism a vice, and freedom a toy unworthy to be kept. But, how could we have prevented the present war ? What concessions must we have tendered ? What humiliation must we have endured, and what security could we have obtained ? The reduction of cur fleets would have been followed by the lo:s of our naval supe riority; the surrender of our Colonies, by that of our pro sperity ; and the disgrace of purchasing peace on such terms, and no other would our adversary have accepted ; would have been almost forgotten, in our subsequent an guish and dispair, at finding that all our sacrifices were vain, and that, by disarming and debasing ourselves, we had only hastened and insured our ruin. Since then, consistently with our safety and our national dignity, war was inevitable; the only objection which can be defended with any show of reason, is that which applies to the manner in which it has been waged. On this question opinions may vary without being patriotically wrong —But as it is naturally comprised in the review of the chief events of the contest, which alone can enable us to ascertain whether the dangers of our present situation have increased or dimisheti, and :Is that review must na turally extend to some !length. we shall defer it till cur next. We hope then to be able to prove that few wars have been conducted with more wisdom. and effect titan that in which we are engaged, and that even the un successful additions foamed on the Continent, have work ed altogether for our good. We hope also we shad clearly .shew that the enemy has derived no lasting or real advantage from his most brilliant campaigns on the Con , tinent, but has himself sown the seeds of his own ruin. JANsENs, Governor-General of Batavia, has transmitted his Report of the battle of Cornelis, dated the 29th of August, to the Minister of Marine. This official account is addressed from Tzihupendong, on the road to Cheri bon ; and contains a detail of his movements from the 4th to the 26th of August. He premses to do all i , e can, but does not promise much. Cheribon is on the same side of the island with Batavia, about 200 miles to the eastward of that city.—JANSEN'S dispatches might have been easily intercepted. our M around • terror. Sucl France . • . • c hi.