The National Register. — London, England, 1809-03-12 00:00:00

itl2 confidence, or lay claims to friendship. They, conse quently, exercised no other influence, and obtained no fur ther information, than what they were able to do in their officio/ capacity. Favour more than merit regulated the nominatio3 even to this chart;e, in which versatility of tilent and suavity of manners arc pre-eminently requi s.e. It can he no gratifying task to recur to a period, which has not left a single monument of our wisdom, a trace of well directed energy, a proof of progressive improvement, or increased security. The occurrences were trans cendently favorable to, and powerfully urged, the deve lo;iement of great virtues and great talents; but our ex ertions never rose beyond the level of vulgar acquire ments, and our civic duties were confined within the nar row circle of ordinary sacrifices. Our thoughts and our actions bore the stamp of mediocrity ; whilst every passing eveut was calculated to communicate unusual impressions, to suggesi, the necessity of extraordinary efforts. Govern ment during that interval seemed rather impressed with the utility of imposing political restrictions, than of multiply ing the moral resqurces of the state, by enlarging the pri vileges of the subject.; though the accumulating dangers of the community required the full exercise, and the widest stretch of the virtue and vigour of its respective mem:iers. The old routine which regulated and disgraced the nomiyuition to offices in the most sluggish and uniform years, was adhered to ; and intrigue thrust in mere mini ons of favour, vulgar instruments of corruption, to the exclusion of merit, experience, and patriotism. Our dis cipline and vigilance relaxed in proportion as our dangers and diflicidties encreased ; and the grossest violations of public duty, the most flagrant delinquency, were tole rated, or srreened from punishment, at a juncture, when Roman severity and civism were urgently requisite. In a word, our expedients, our regulations were ordinary ; thong!' our embarrassments NVere unprecedented, and our danei• accumulating. The decrease of our foreign influence kept pace with the increasing w'e:ll.iiess and inexpediency of our measures at home. Our local peculiaritA-, and the spirit of our insti tutions. gave us the stronge,; ci.aims to the confidence and w;sbei of the greater part of our neighbours ; but, from fiorne fatalitv in our mai:ner, our ;:vices were re quited wit!! coldness, our pciaered friendship excited sus picion. WC have had the mortification to see, that states, - which were peculiarly invited to connect themselves with us, a; well from incidental circumstances and the force of habitual, long esiablished alliance, as from the power ful sense of nlutual danger and reciprocal interest, declined even in the last struggle for existence, in the very ag,:av of their inclenemience, our direct interference and active sup port. 'Whitt renders this suspicMll the iitere painful is the certainty. thai neifher the moral reputation of the com munity. nor the idea of imaginar prepondi:i-ance justify its existeace. Some might, perhaps, console themselves at this less of fortner reputatien, by that inisQrable plea of levity and indiscretion,—Mat ire .4;auld attach no impor tance 16, and ereu despise, the judgtmen:s of mankind, if . theNeo :201 coincit'c vith our 0z,:.7 good opinion qf oursetres. This resolution is the last resort of the sublimest phitos phy and the most conscious virtue, struggling against a pi , geese generation ; but among the rest of men it is a. r-, symptom of extreme rashness and indiscretion, or of a ',la) extinction of moral fe..ling. Nations, in many in stances, but supremely so in this, deserve to be considered and estimated according to the same principles as indivi thials. Tl)eir greatest and most useftti qualities arc ren dered hiefrectnal to themselves, as well as to others, if' the reit of the -world, arc unwilling to acknowledge their va b:ify- and splendour. They are, in fact, like lamps burn in a tomb, consuming and casting to no purpose. political theories it would he hazardous to calculate on ;, , :acrosily of govcrualcuLs ; but, as a great inauulac- • THE NATIONAL REGISTER; MARCII 1.2. luring and commercial people, leaving the present poli— tical situation of Europe ont of the questions it is unque tionably the interest of ours to enjoy the esteem, the con fidence, and good will of our neighbours. Every circum stance eventual, as well as stationary, fa.youred our preten sions in this respect. They were, indeed, so strongly in our favour, that it required a studious refinement, a long con tinuance of irritation, to alienate the continent from tin.: country. But the hardest bodies are worn by collision : and our respective 4dministrations have ctlected their pur pose, in the course of fifteen years, so completely that they have left us and future generations, we are afraid, an eter. nal monument of their capacity, perseverance, liberality, and spirit of conciliation. Previous to the commencement of the revolutionary war, nothing was so great and respectable as/ the word " Briton."—ln the different languages of Europe it was synonimous with every thing good and exalted; and af forded the poet, the philosopher, and the dramatic writer, their noblest images, their happiest illustrations. Our least amiable singularities furnished a theme for admiration ; and even our real defects were anxiously excused, were studiously extenuated. Wherever an Englishman appeared, he was a general object of attention and services.—H is name was a passport; his appearance a letter of recommenda tion. liven France, our great political and commercial rival, ranked, for more than half a century, among;; he ioremost of our admirers, among the most animated of o::r panegyrists. Our institutions, our arms, our philosophy, and our arts, were the noblest models of her imitation, the most fervent objects of her attainment. If a change, sup posed to be salutary, was proposed, or introduced into any branch of the Administration, it was invariably borrowed from our customs. fa every dispute between nation and nation, we were referred to as umpires;—the oppressed looked up to us as avengers ; the weak as protectors; and the aggressor dreaded our justice and resentment. Such was our character. But how it stands now we have already developed. It must be a curious, as it is certainly a momentousoub ject of inquiry, to investigate the cause of this alienation./ Before we proceed further we will preface our examination by declaring that it solely originates in ourselves, and that it still operates almost exclusively on our side ; making, how 'ever, a trilling allowapce for the effee.ts of the French Re volution, too imperceptible almost to be noticed. The first symptoms may be traced to tha rapie. and excessive increase of our commercial preponderiuce, which began annost immediately. after the conclusion ot' the American War, and to the inordinate desire of ;-,ecieliary considera tion ‘• hich follov!ed. This sudden !teritiati revolutionise', ill some uneasure, our pursuits, charaeter :tad polities.— lov'e of glory became secondary to a love of money ; and u, every object of national pursnik. we began to cal ea,;.tro, with . mercantile ini, - .ll . ,eness and anxiety, the loss and the gain we were likely to incur. From that moment those -hot:: and hazardous combinations, which are peculiar to a community animated e.ith all ardour for freedom and glory, in preference to moaey, began to disappear from our conneds and operations, and we ventured on small and various spec.ulw.ion:•,; that if one tailed, another might he proilne,ive. A unity of action and will immediately ceased, and the national energy diverged into various di rections. In consequence of this system, we lorded it over Nabobs and unarmed Indians, and conquered spice-islands and sugar-plantations ! whilst the enemy was demolishing those formidable barriers, which the wisdom and energy of our forefathers had exerted and maintained. Instead of those great and decisive battles, which were fought under M A imtmitouGit, onr soldiers were engaged in some petty skirmish on the Ganges or the La Fiala, at the very time that iimumerahle armies were contending on the Danube, the Po, and the Sant, for the domiaion of Europe. Na tions and men sink, or rise, iu the estimation of their ♦+ 1