The National Register. — London, England, 1809-08-20 00:00:00

AUG, 20. One conquest to pay the expenee of itself, and of a succeed iug one he has likewise. produced another dangerous union, namely, that of adding new recruits out of his new conquests to swell his old armies. It i s this combination which forms the most dangerous of all systems, and pre clu(!es the possibility of peace whilst there is a portion of the world left to be subdued. It is pert bps our only 1.01ic3 to stri%e by every means to distract, to divide, aud to lessen this power of BTIONAPARTE I no matter u iicther our at tempts are haled with enthusiasm or received with coldnes; leZ us endeavour to check him whilst it is in our power; to wait the end of th.s evil may place us is a situation not only beyond remedy, but be)ond mitigation. When there ert ! loier any intik to his power, we may depend upo • • will be none to his ambition. Instead of being satis devoured kibgdoms, he will thereby outv • • niel.!:stionc, and new force, to gorge in rthe '! that will then remain for us to hope is that sto w ill rid the world of a monster who h . c.ts d .o be its scourge since he has possessee 'pf, , %,:r, and that like a map of mountain snow f,r, 'se in cold and lofty regions, which progressively augment 4 itself in Fop:Lion to its size and weight, it may split ii: to fragmei;ts against some vlsi obstacle inter posed by nature, or he to be dissolve o In the sunshine of a luxurious prosperity ; but we fear, too, that this ma y not happen before it has marked its rapid passage by an un.- versal ruin of the works of man. We have great plc'sure and satisfaction in statinT, that Flushing has snrrenAred. The ne%ls arrived late c n Thurs day morning. Considering the strength of the works, the obstinate and protracted resistance of the enemy, and the character of MONNETI, the loss upon the part of the British is comparatively trifling—it is said not to exceed 850 in killed, wounded, and missing. We sincerely hope the fu ture operations will be prosecuted with a promptitude and vigour that will induce 113 to overlook the time that has been lost. We do not • learn that Sir JOILN HOPE anti the Marquis of HUNTLEY have made any progress--they were half way to Antwerp almost a week since. Nothing but dispatch can redeem the errors, for such we still think them, that have been committed ; as to the sn:plus, we leave that, with confidence, to British valour, under the protection of Heaven. Whether it forms a part of our plan to occupy portions of Holland, under any circumstances, is uncertain. With re spect to the Expedition, we certainly appear to have corn nutted two errors, first, in not occupying Cadsand ; by this, t e 7arrisoa of Flushing, which it was understood amount td o i)r to about 3000 men, has been invested to 8 or 10,000. The second error appears to have been committed by loit ering about the Island of Walcheren, when a considerable part of the Expedition should have proceed-•d immediate y to Antwerp ; instead of which, we have all'orded the ene my abendant time for concentrating his means of resist ance, and of recovering from that alarm and surprise which,the magnitude of our armament necessarily created, whilst the objects of it were undefined, or at least uncer tain. Whetly;r this may defeat the illterior plans, will de pend very much upon the state Of BUONAPARTE'S negotia tion with the Austrian Emperor. If it has attained that roint, which may enable him to send a considerable de tac'onent to the aiiistance of the defending army at Ant werp, we may meet with great difficulty, but in con si !ering it in this point of view we cannot help feeling a great devve of eons;)) Ition from the circumstance, that it is now fourteen days since the report was first circulated 537 that Prelihnivrie: of Peace were actun Es - settled. The Austrians can no mote; be ignorant of the immense arma ment we were sending, nor we believe of its destination . ; nor can they be ignorant of the success of our arms in Spain. In short if they are capable of tesrsting the power of France for a short period, they may now rely upon a cordial, and, indeed, upon an effectual assistance trom. this country. The disappointment which has been pretty 2:eaerally felt at no of!icial accounts having been received of the :••urren der of flushing, has been attributed to the delay which is' sapposed to have taken plate respecting the ttorms of ca pitulation; and this deliav i.; sug'gcsted to have arisen froth the supposed peculiar situation of the Irish Rebels who compose a part of the garrison. We cannot, however, bring. ourselves to believe, that any Commander will len- • tire, by an unnecessary degree of refinement, to involve the Government of this. country in the discussion of such a principle. Not that we think it will admit of two opini ons, but that we know, upon such occasions, passion, pro-- judice, and sometimes worse propensities of our nature, will usnrp the judgment seat and mislead our reason. The law, according to the best authorities, holds that there is. • ten original, implied, virtual allegiance, owing from evety, subject to his ,Sovereign, antecedent to any oath ; and Cite mason is, because the King, by the %cry descent of the crown, is fully invested with all the rights, and bvwzd to cal the duties of This allegiance is a debt of gratitude due from the ject, in return for the protection which he receives. It is said, ', I'. Win. c. I`4, "'this allegiance cannot be tor;eite4, cancelled, or altered, *b . - any change of time, place, co cii-cumstance, nor by any thing but the united teoilom.ren(•it. of the Legislature.'' But the principle of this univers:.:iir law seems to be, 1 Hal. P. C. 6e.. "Ahet a. natural bona sabject cannot, by any act of his own„ put off or dischargt• his natural allegiance ;" Sir W. lilaCks'ione observes, Vol. 1, B, di. 10„ " that this natural allegiance was mtrin sic and primitive, and antecedent to. the other ;'' ailading to an oath of allegiance voluntarily taken to 'another so , • vereign; " and cannot (he adds) Lc dirt sted hiihou.t th• concurrent act of the Prince to whoin it was first due." 'i ;: . q amounts to a clear admission, that the concurrent act. of the Sovereign, to whom natural allegiance Ivag due, may alter the nature of an universal :old perpetual allqi.lnce into one of a local and temporary nature. To apply this reasoning to the case of the Irish Rebels:-- They were expatriated by military force, under the duet - tions of the Sovereign (for so we must suppose), and they were assigned over to the king of PausstA, (whether le i gaily or not we will not stay to enquire); others were ex patriated in consequence of a mutual understanding bells cell trio servants Of the Sovereign and themselves; will the hu ' inanity, will the, justice of the Sovereign, be compromised' by an endeavour to punish men who have taken np against Great Britain, under commissions from the Empe ror of FitAsicle, or his ally the 'King of PittiSSlA. Let them, as they deserve, be gibbetted to eternal infam: , • for endeavouring to sheath their parricidal swords in the bosom of their country but let not the honour of that - country be stained, by an attempt to punish their former crimes in any other way than the laws of war will justify... - Let them, it you please, never pollute our shores with their. presence t send them to Canada, or send them any where, but.: neither decimate them as the Romans, or alternate theta as the Grecians would perhaps have done; neither let the rogues he hanged, as many of our own countrymen argue - should be done. _ _ Of the ulterior objects of the Expedition we have little to add to what has been already said upon that head. - Au army of 50,000 Englishmen upon the - Continent, sup ported with all the resources of this country, may vet ds, wonders. Indd, little short of miracles can now save 14 from the grasp Of the two Emperprc. They have got scev, in part possession, of the., prey which is destined for t 'Royal Hunt. We have been told, that Austria is to lie 1 damnified with the spoilii of Turkey, and that 600410 THE NATIONAL REGISTER.