The National Register. — London, England, 1808-04-03 00:00:00

.~ 1 . . ' . . • , THE NATION-Ail REGISTER. eur fling, donnitution, anti 1 ab3o. PRICE Set. SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 1808. co. 14. POLITICAL DISQUISITION, NUMBER FOURTEEN. ON THE ESTABLISHIIENT OF A HEREDITARY NOBILITY IN FRAINCL. We have at length arrived at the concluding chapter of that awful lesson which the French Revolution has pub lished to the world. We now learn how weakly the efforts of man are adapted to his objects* and how naturally the band of Providence can produce the greatest events, by the very means which appear to forbid them ! France, oppressed and enslaved, wes roused but twenty years ago from the sluggish subinisaion with which sl•e had endured her thraldom, and, starting with a sudden impulse, hulled furiously on the rulers who had trampled on her lights. But instead of establishing a constitution where Mutual and inherent Checks might ensure the good order of her government, she rushed into an opposite and wild extreme * madly hoping to ensure her peace by the subver. , sion of her laws, to bless her people by the despot►sm of her demagogues, and to • confirm her honour by the de . strnetion of her King and her Nobility. Europe trembled to its centre ; and not a single throne among its hundred dynasties stood uncenseieus of the mighty shock. Monarchs were taught to distrust their heaven - commissioned powers, and the rights of man were dreadfully asserted in the suf ferings of humanity. Justness of principle was darkened by atrocities of practice : honourable independence dege nerated into brutal ferocity—and this unaccountable mix ture of magnanimity and folly * of glory and disgrace, af fording to the nations an example at once admirable and detestable, terrified the weak * and confounded the wise I Who that had a heart to feel for the dcgradatioa of human nature, could refuse to hail the shout of triumph which France, in the first emotion of her rising liberty, sent forth to all the Empires of Europe P Who could deny a blessii:g to the infant efforts of a great nation, emancipating the bulk of her population front the tyranny of needy oppres sors, and vindicating the sacred privileges of freedom that Are given by Nature and by Cod ! Wi:o was so insensi ble as not to rejoice that some bold arm had undertaken the demolition of that system which had pampered the Nobles, till they rose, like over-hanging trees that check •egetation and exclude the common benefits of light and heat from the humbler shrubs that grow beneath them Yet who, that understood the real nature of human go ternmeuts, could refrain from expressions of disgust and despair, when the reform of particular abuses became the ruin of all civil institutions, and the freedom of the subject was purchased by the slaughter of the sovereign : when every thing that for centuries had been deemed . noble, honourable, and great, was swept away in one .nndiscrnninating extermination ; when virtue was pu nished for its connection with nobility., merely because nobility had required punishment for its connection with Niip, Xi'', Va. I. . • • • .y . 8.3.L..Mil vice : when all the customs of society, all the charities of the human heart, were sacrificed to the ambition of wit:z.ed adventurers, and the spirit of virtue was extingttished with the hope of reward ; when the smiling. plains of France, on which the day-star of Liberty hall so brightly dawned, became one vast and desolat:d •silderness, whern the he... rizon was overclouded by the darkness Of a new despotism, where the pour were nut satisfied; and r,eacinesi found no repose ! But the faults, the follies, and the mories of the tn‘ei gh „ titude. have alww: been productive of advantage to the few : and among the generals and statesmen who rose amid the misfortunes of their country; appeared one tekteer of a genius proudly pre , einioent, who made Morality a shadow, and used the glories of all former conquerors but us a con trast ; danger was his stepping stone, and anarchy was iris path •of power. With rapid strides he advanced amid the tumult - of his time i and now, Emperor of France, and arhitor of a host of Princes i he triumphs in his ow* security, and wields . thdempire of the World I When we view these strange and sublime events, when we contemplate a nation which plunged into liberty only to be dashed once more upon the strand of despotism, when we trace the steps of a ruler who rose by repub4 licanism to a throne, and aided the suppression of a stub born aristocracy, that he might erect a Nobility Whom he could mould, we are struck at once with a con tempt and an admiration of human nature.--France, after seas of blood have flowed over her 'fields, to moisten the newly-struck roots that sere shooting from her tree of liberty, has submitted once more to arbitrary power s and lost every trace of her popular independence. A new Nobility is established, which is boun'l to the Eni , poor by the remembrance of a partnership in dangers past s by the hope of participation in honours to come, by the cereainty of enjoylnent in the distinctions and property already: possessed. Nobles, endowed with titles, that are destined to last but for their lives, might have found a mo tive for rebellion }nit desire of security ;at present all :s secured by the Emperor's constitution, anti the ettiperor's constitution itself becomes the more secure. The govern ment of his annexed dominions is already settled; .aveiy day contributes to its conficination. The death of his fa , vourites at home will create no confusion : I;st the suc cession to their titles and fortunes is fixed to their heirs. Bonavarte himself stands on high, the centre of govern ment, the dispenser of fortune and honour, the cause at once of his country's greatness, and of her slavery. One thing only is wanting to perpetuate his Empire : and that one thing is s the freedom of his subjects. The French peo ple should share in the legislative power, and each annexed doitlin should send its representatives to the deliberatoo councils of e Metropolitan state. .Then France mlght • ,be happy, her Ruler powerful : now., the people are, ip- ..s- : - deed, more powerful abroad, but as-tnuch enslaved at burgs asig tits days of their Kings. They wake, • and thiukthat „ k t • • itiV, " 141 111101 b. , ;`~►: ZW•,... 1 4 . : :: .7:.i.::. 4Sj. _ ~;