The National Register. — London, England, 1809-02-05 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. contend agaiost the fortunes and genius of a BONAPA it TE. Thtl look, or rogues F (1 am' at a loss which name io give thew, though they are, perhaps, a composition of knavery and imbecillity,) with a particle of understanding and in tegrity they would comprehend, that such sentiments, it . yuiversally adopted, would place this country in the same deplorable state of abandonment and misery, in which the greater part of the continent is now raced is consequence of the propagation of similar doctrines. Some gloomy visionaries, brooding,. iu the silence and sp.een of solitude, over the vices of social institutions, and lettin these monitrons conceptions of a bewildered and sickly imagi gination loose among their countrymen, completely under mined those attachments, which men, in every age and Clime, instinctively feel for the place they are born in.— Tbeir country and themselves were crushed under the ruins of a pile which nature herself had erected as the burest prvp of socie:y and Government. But this. madness is almost peculiar to our age. The duties forninrly imposed on the members of a community, allowed them neither time, nor leisure, to indulge in such speculations:—They were satisfied to serve their country ; and they performed that service with a zeal, an ardour, a disinterestedniss, which we condemn as romantic, reject as ncredible:—"Nie prosperity of the community proved, however, the siiperiorit) of practical, over speculative pa triotism : And iY au enthusiastic leveller, or an ambitious demagogue, urged the necessity of innovation, they fell, almost invariably, victims to their mistaken zeal, or crimi nal restlessness ; ,for t%e people loved their institutions too ardently, with too much veneration, as to consent to their becoming the sport of novelty or passion. But Ido not recollect. Sir, in. the whMe course of Grecian or Roman history, a singic instance where either of this description of innovators was guilty of the temerity, in order to promote _ _ the attainment of his views, to panegyrize the conduct and talents of a hostile government`, This monstrous novelty was reserved for our philanthropic and enlightened centu ry; and iii the decay of Christianity, we seem inclined to carry even to excess the sublime theory of " love your enemy." In countries and ages over which we vaunt our intellectual and social improvement, this refinement was unknown ; and the idea of a Roman Senator extolling, in a full Senate, the character of Hannibal, after his unjustif:- able attack on Saguntum, appears so extravagant, an:l con tradictory in our received notions of that magnanimous Assembly, that we reject it with disdain, and something approaching to horror. I am unwilling, Sir, to press this question on yogi too far; because l sincerely admire your talents, and venerate your private virtues. You should not forget, however, the encouragement which the sanction of your name and merit gives to those miserable and unprincipled. wretches, who, without talents and virtue, have no pretensions to c notice, than by a systematic attack of every thing great in point of theory, venerable for its antiquity, or cemmendable for its use. Employ rather that influence which your popularity, fortune, and knowledge, give you, in counteracting the etre' is of domestic traitors and foreign foes, to destroy the noblest fabric of the wisdom of ages,— the Constitution of this country. Let your voice be heard for the future in supporting, instead of depressing, the dr►►oping spirits of mankind, and in s!.itnulating thr.nr to maintain their intlcrendeuce against the most revolting FEB. 5. andatrucious despotism that ever harrassed or disgraced the world. Appear the magnanimous and ardent advocate of an outraged and struggling community ; for there is some thing meanner than baseness, or more dastardly than cow ardice, to advise abandoning the Spanish patriots after they had implored our protection, and appealed to British ge nerosity, to the brutality, insolence, and, rapacity, of their terocious . invaders. Or can you think, without horror, of naving your name associated in the judgments and execra tions of future generations, with those of the ruffians who arc now weltering in the blood, and rioting in the plunder of eleven millions of Spaniards I For he assured, Sir, this tre mendous, censure of a more impartial and virtuout race of men, awaits you, and every other Member of the British Senate, should you recommend to your countrymen to dis continue their efforts in support of innocence, freedom, and justice. I am far from being your enemy, Sir, and am, therefore, disinclined to take you at your word, when you advert to the sinking and degraded state of this country.—Much al lowance must and ought to be made for a number of un warrantable expressions that are used in the heat of poli tical contention. The British islands are not in that de plorable state; and I entertain that opinion of your good souse, as to think that you arc one of the last men exist ing that would be deceived by an assertion of the kind an the part of another. I deplore, however, the existence of those fatal passions which can extort from an honest man a confession, disapproved by his conscience, and contrary to his conviction. Declarations of thin kind, even if true, are attended with no possible benefit, but may be produc tive of signal disadvantage;—as they tend to delude and dispirit a numerous and highly useful class of the public. Contrast, Sir, your disheartening sentiment, with the manly and inspiring principles of Mr. CANNING ; which, were they as erroneous as they are founded on the immutable prin ciples oftruth, justice, and sound policy, would be capable of creating a degree of spirit and constancy, more than suf ficient to counteract the danger they may occasion. ' speak to you with canda ur and without the slightest reserve ; for a few men of your disinterestedness, zeal, and courage, in times like ours, would be an invaluable acqui sition to the cause of freedom and humanity. But that part of your conduct, which appears to me most unintelligible, and least capable of defence, is the pertinacity with which you insist on the expediency of ne gotiating with the enemy. This is a subject of such vast importance, and embraces so many and such complicated interests, that it impresses a more than ordinary seriousness, and excites an accountable sensation as often as we refer to it. Peace is se desirable a blessing ; and in the idea of indeterminate and unlimited warfare there i t s something so diocking and even ferocious, that the most unprincipled and unfeeling ruffian would recoil at the image of never ceasing antipathy between people and people. The plun der of cities and provinces,—the ruin and separation of families,--tile subversion of thrones, and an alarming re , taxation of morals,—these calamities more particularly dis tinguish the present contest more than any other in modern times. If . sacrifices, consistent with independance and bo• nonr, for without them life itself is not worth enjoying, c•luld aThrd c - -,•!!1: a reasonable hope of removing these complicated evils, there is no man who would not willingly subscribe to them. But, good God 1 Sit, cao you eutcr- t `'