The National Register. — London, England, 1809-03-05 00:00:00

),t.t . message to the Senate; and none of the private accounts from Holland allude to any such communication. We will not reject it, however, absolutely, in consequence of this silence. But if he has left Paris, and given no notice to the Senate of his intended departure ; if he stole away clandestinely, and in the midnight hour; if he feared. to make an appeal to the pliable loyalty of that base herd of slaves and sycophants; if he entertained some doubts of the sentiments which his good city of Paris might express tm this new prospect of carnage and bloodshed : then we will say, that hig hopes are mit so o.anguine as they had been in the last. wars with Austria and Prussia; or previous to his projected invasion of Spain. Whatever favourable forebodings we may entertain ourselves, or however ar dently we may hail tlie dawn of a better day for Europe, and execrate the lawless ambition of the ruffian who builds the edifice of his aggrandizement on the ruins of freedom, public and private happiness, we still feel an unusual dejee= Lion, when we reflect on the disasters which may Occur. It is their last stake which the nations on the Continent are going to lay down. Should that be lost I..should every hope of freedom be extinguished for ever!..should a mili tary despotism; the most odious, the most insolent; th e most harassing, that eve r . afihicted our earth; rule, with brutal nncontrouled caprice, and stifle in its birth every generous sentiment ! The lite of a solitary ruffian weighed against the happiness and independence o f the present ge neration !—These are reflections; which are capable of in timidating the most undaunted, of depressing the most ar dent of us all. We Shall now ekaMinewhat policy, unde r these circum stances, is must coufornu ible to the interests of Great Bri tain. Our sentiments in favour of energetic measures; have been so often declared, that they must lie pretty familiar to oae Readers at pt•esent; And the moat drivelling place= man must now confess that if BONAPARTE succeeds in his bast system of conquest, the situation of this country he tomes pre-eminently dangerous. With the resources of Europe at the absolute controul of the vigilant, restless, inexorable tyrant; and ni) other enemy to contend with but with us, nothing less than a miracle can preserve our beloved and happy country from the general wreck. For us the last cup of his vengeance is reserved, and should he sgcceed, we must drink it dregs and all. Whatever Iv &my, in its worst and most hideous form, has invented ; whatever inveterate malice is capable ot'sugge4ting ; or un bridled rapine, furious hate, and long repressed vengeance can inspire, will be indicted on us 'With a keenness of refine -nicht and torturefroth which demons themselves would recoil. It is unnecessary, therefore, to allude to the advantage we must derive from the independence of Austria. No sa- Ofice, were it even of half our wealth, would helot) much, could it secure that desirable result. To say that Nye cannot contribute powerfully to that effect, both in men and money, betrays that fatal, dastardly Selfishness, to which we have no hesitation m attributing the calami ties of nations: But it may be inquired where these troops I.,tre to be employed In Holland, Brabant, and in Italy ; where there is not an individual who does not execrate French tyranny. But, for Heaven's sake, none of our neat little expeditions ! A large force of 60,000 men ought to be immediately collected and encamped on the Kentish coast, with transports sufficient for their convey ance.. The very aspect of such a formidable armament 'will either coMpel BONAPARTE to retain an equal force for the defence of the menaced points, and thus diirinish his means of attack against Austria ; or he must yield to the necessity of abandoning these important acquisitions to their fate. A revolution in Brabant or Holland, where the detestation of the tyrant is greater and more inveterate than in any other country on the Continent, would shake to its very basis the immense colossus of his power. It is the very excess of pusillanimity and error to main. tail) that we have no chance of contending successfully on the Coutiucut. Were it possible, bud we see no reason 147 why it should not, to disembark a hundred thousand British soldiers in Holland, the hest hearted and the best discielincd in the universe, we might secure for ever the independence of Europe. No force which BONAPARTE could bring to hear upon us, were he invoked with Austria and Spain, could make a momentary stand against. such an army. Ignorance and impudence .have centupled the resources of the enti►i►y; but we know, from a long sojourn in the midst of the French armies, that his military fotce is nut half se great as it is generally represented. TIDE NATO Al, III;rIfiTI T#. a FREE Yes ! the last lien for Freedom let the draw, Witco Tau . Tit STANDS G ON THE INOC:11 OF LAW; AII4I for that cause which made your fathers shine, rairby the votes of their degenerate line! Port. tsci SAMUEL WHITBREAD, Egg. M. P. Sin—One who knoWs you only as a public person, but whd has lately watched, with sympathetic solicitude, your conduct in the senate of this country, now presumes, distanced as he is front on by adventitious circumstances, to claim, for some few moments, 3 our most serious attention. Our common country, demands our common cares. Frnin the highest to the lowest order of sticiety, rich or poor, ennobled or ignobled, every man among us feels deeply Interested in the fate at hii tlalive land; and is justified, by this feeling, as well as by the eventful scenes of which we are all witnesses, in stepping forward to assist tlfe treat work of national patriotism. Yes, Sir, these are times in which the humblest individual may, if possCssed of ability and integrity, With propriety assume his public character. It is thus that 1 take the liberty , of addressing to you some cursory r& marks on UK! manner in Wlifeh you have treated certain recent encroadhibents agaiiist the optration of what is called a Fn. . rs Pit uss. Anxiously looking around for independent senatorial Characters (according to the legitimate interpretation of the wont nide pendence), whom can 1 more profterly select, fur the purpo-e of communicatin my sentiments respecting a Free Pres:, than Whitbread ? You, Sir, have already endeavoured to all ILL the attention of our parliamentary reisrescotatives di:• im portant considerations inseparably connected with the Molly of openly discussing whatever may concern, collectively or indi vidually, the people of these kingdom:. Let it be hoped, hott - ever, that you will not stop here. tour countrymen (those of them, at least, who mast value all that gives value to °dr country !) are pleased with the prospect of your patriotism; and fondly contemplate it as the promise of ultimate security to their al waye acknowledged, but too often assailed, privilegeti Glory Pig in your real iiideghdence, and having experienced your integrity, they look up to your exertions with uocomaion emotion. A . on, Sir, are knows. We have not now to ascerta in to what party YOU belong; who have stouts aloof amidst the official struggles of all our petty parties, and whose hands are uncontaminated with the proceeds of corruption. Assuredly, Sir, you are endued with too utpch sagacity of in tellect, and have acquired too deep an insight into human nature, to rest contented with the evasive answers by which your in quiries, as to the Liberty of our Press, are attempted to he silenced ; while you possess too much representative iserepidity, 1 am persuaded, to &Aime the difficulties to v% hich you ina• be exposed in pursuing your patriotic inquisition. It will not ap pease yon, Sir, that the " existing laws are found adequae to the punishment" of modern " libels." Can it escape your re flection, that it is not so much upon the laws themselves, fts upon the interpreting and administerirk,, ,, of them, that the felicity ut misery of legalised Society depeeds? Alas, it is vain for Juries • . 7 to try thr, fact of libel—if Judges arc to decide in :chat Ethel ought to consist! Look, Sir, once more, to the conduct of our courts ; review, solemnly review, the verdicts given into them; Knd do not sulks yourself to imagine, for one saltier, moment, that you have at all accomplished, as it respe c ts ! h e Doctrine of Libels, the noble object of your late parliamentary interference. It is mortifyingtd talk of a Juty, when we know that a .letTeries could invalidate the puiest coae of laws in the wtirld ! Do—if nothing mere is to be done—do, Sir, exert yourself on behalf of tortured Wheite and crtatibuted intiodnee, to 'ob,. s