The National Register. — London, England, 1808-02-07 00:00:00

54...... :~~ TIONAL REGISTER. ? .. .. -, NAtintarily added to the list of our acquisitions, the Island of Tnbago, or thr grouni of its being an English Colony. r.'icle V I I I.—naniparte will demand the cession of Sicily, e!implete the kingdom of his brother the King of Naple,. It would iudeeil be an uneasy eircuniAance for King Joseph to base so large and p3pul an island in his neighbourhood, still neknowledging the sway of that monarch m horn he had driven from hii other posses,iou-. Great Britain, hmwever, will not cooseut to see her ally df-..tniiled of territories vi hick she can de fend, unless a vc•ry large eotttpensation, such as she would be willing to accept, should be provided for hint. The Balearic which France proposed as an equivalent, are by no oilcans a sufficient eonspensatirm for Sicily, whether me regard th e ir magnitude, their fertility, their population, or their ztrength. It doe: not appear, however, that the French were lik c i V, in Ltqlti, to 'rake this an article sine qua non : nor is it to be snppored that !'iry would hale broke of a negnciation tiv:rely on thisacutit. a irtiele m-ould refuse to negoriate unless in eoncert with Russia, and would therefore demand that the etiims of this should be sat -tied. To this ISe could not ‘vell refuse our as-cut, a; we broke off the last nexociation a ith France, merely, because she would i e listen to such a proposal ., on our part. We could not ri:jeet, as unreasonable, a proposal on the reat,onableness of which we had oursell es so loudly in ai:ted. Jetick L--reparation will be demanded for the dania;re which Denmark sustained from our forces, previous to the declaration of War. That power is now the Ally of Russia sod France, and both thew powers have pledged theinselves to procure for her this reparation. We must aeknowledge that the .difftenlty attending a compromise of this circumstance, is the oply obstacle which teems likely to perplex the negotiation in a very serious manner; yet we cannot conceive that our notions of national pride, either on the one side or the other, should allow the consequences of this transaction to deprive the universe of the blessings of Peace. drtide Xl.—Great Britain will demand of France the resti tution of those territories of which she has lately robbed Por_ tual. To this demand. it is not more likely that the French will accede, than that we should pay a compensation to De•n stark. It is probable that, in the event of negociation, the two transactions with respect to 'Portugal and Denmark, will be set off against each other ; and that some Spanish islands will be alloted as a further compensation to the Prince of the Brazils. Article XII.— Great Britain will demand for her faithful ally the King of Sweden, the restoration of those possessions in Po merania which have been wrested from him by the arms of France. It is not, however, to he expected. that Bonaparte will readily retract those threat s , which he has so often ut tered against that restless and spirited monarch, to deprive him entirely of every possession which might give bun any title to interfere in the afrui:s of Cerutany. Great Britain, on the other hand, could never consent to see the King of Sweden left without any inflenmitieation ; and it is probable that the fertile genius of Bonaparte, aided by his complete command of continental territory, would soon des lie an expedient to roconclle these difficulties. By an accession of the populous and commercial ter ritory, to the South and Fast of Holstein, Denmark might be raised to the rank of a considerable continental power ; and Bonaparte would trust to the animosity excited in this power against Britain for a:long .- continuance of her friendship with France. In lieu of this accession of territory, Denmark might not be unwilling to renounce her claini to the iaho4litable re gions of Norway; and these, in turn, might 'afford to Sweden stab a compensation as might south her feelings for the foss of Pomerania. Such arc the stipulations which would, at present, probably forts . ' the Wifingittiation between France - 11nd England. . If •• sattifaction of both parties, it _,ziA•o\ ..... li / ...4 .. .:1 ~., • dp % i I FF.I3. 7. is not probable that considerable d; then 'ties 1% ()Uhl occur nith regard to less important points. The result would certaiiiiv highly advantageous to both parties ; hi the Welt we have specified. Bonaparte make, 1111 demand whirii could diminish either th. pip v.er or the pro•perity of Brit:till; nor are the demands of Britain anywie repugnant to the in. terests of France. There are men, both in Britain awl in Prance, who nii;rl,t quarrel w ith the moderation of these conditions, and think that neither of their governments Were justified in , 'needing so no n h ac enemy. The t:augniue Freud' politici a n; might exclaim, that the modern Carthage ought to be humbled, that she ought to he compelled t o renounce her assumed tyranny over the sea•;„ and he brought to ackonwledge herself e on a leN el w all other maritime nation'. Our I:nglish politicians of :amt. J tamp ig ill, no doubt, find that such rood itions are Nino, .piritles. and iti.,ecure ; that Bonaparte ought to be made to stipulate e‘actly the number of ships which lit be entitled to build or maintain in the harbour both of France and of her depeulent allies; and that he ought not to be left in possession of the numerous important naval stations w hich he has occupiea Hut it is evident, that neither the out nor the other east r. spertirely force its antagonist to submit to such Conditions : and between independent nationg, every man of re7.l disecrimacit will allo , that a Peace of moderation is alone likely to be per manent. We cannot close this article w ithout remarking that the light in which Bonaparte views this country, at pre ,get. is very dif ferent from that in which she appeared to him at the period of the Peace of Amiens. .At that time France hail not fairly tried her uttermost efforts against Britain ; and Bonaparte, on surve...- ing his own vast resources, and observing that Britain had al ways so anxiously courted and bought the assistauce of foieigo Allies, while France had so completely overturned these com binations, conceived that Britain was actually unable to con tend siugle-handed with France, and had even the temerity to make a public boast of this opinion. But experience has sin. e. proved to him the utter futility of such notions; and at present, though France is assisted by the unite.l power of the Contimart, she has been able to show her animo,ity against Britain, only by vexatious decrees As Hell have annihilated her own commerce and injured that of neutral nations; while Britain, altogether beyond the reach of her enmity, continues to insult her coasts, and to navigate the seas in perfect security. It is not likely,. therefore, that Bonaparte w ill stiffer some sudden gust of pa, sion to precipitate him again into hostilities with a nation. w hitt], he knows from experience. is capable of inflicting on hi, subjects such serious injuries, IA hilt. retaliation is beyoLd power. REVIEW OF POLITIC 1.1. DECIAINIERS. No. V 1. THE INDEPLNDENT ISHIrL The Liberty of the Pres% "lay be considered as the paVadi7o , , of our free Constitution: while the former is carefully prescrt. NI, we cannot be deprived of the latter. Of this Constitution, which we are naturally so anxious to guard, there is no part which in a greater degree promotes the happiness of the sub ject, or more effectually wards off every species of oppression, than Trial by Jury. SlPch, indeed. then, it is to be deprecated that the Freedom of the Press, and Trial by Jury, should (ter be found, by any chance, toes to each other. The ;martian of the Constitution is thus found attempting to destroy w hat it can alone preserve; that form of trial without which the accu• sailor's against every trio ial abuse of the press, would soon lead to the total destruction of its freedom. The one cannot stand without the other, nor our liberties without either. We have been led into these reflections by a late very viohmit attack which has appeared in several Numbers of The La! poident Irliig, a;:alnst the verdict of a Jury in a race of murder. We do not preteen] to judge in any degree of the justice or in justice of the decision past, nor shall we at ail give our pri vatv 71 1 .011131 w "imp+ r •••••