The National Register. — London, England, 1811-03-24 00:00:00

178 Whilst the skill of Lord WELLINGTON and the dreaded valour of our troops still hold in check, the army sent forth to conquer under MASSENA, a new field of hope slowly opens in the northern parts of Earope. Russia, long suffering under the oppres siveffiendship of France and frequently warned by the vice of the English Press, of the dangers which a lin:low peace accumulated around her, is at last, if rumours may be credited, aware of her impending fate. She has banished from her councils the agents of INIAr(V.EON, and by degrees assumes an attitude of distrust, if not of hostility. These symptoms of reviving feeling and energy have, it is added, en couraged an illustrious rrince, now a wanderer on our shores, to claim ALEXANDERI co-operation, and with the assistance of his troops and of our fleets to snatch tha Swedish throne from the hands of an ambitions relative, and a foreign upstart. In a short time, Gvsr.tvus ADOLPHUS is expected to em bark, and from the activity of his mind, the energy of his chharacter, and his chivalric he roism, great expectations may justly be formed. On re-entering his kingdom, hosts of friends will spring around him. Surprise and fear bad chained their swords when the sudden over throw ,of his power took place. To surprize, indig nation has now succeeded ; to fear, resentment.— The weakness of the Usurper, the election of a French Military upstart, and the nearly total wreck of trade, have opened the eyes of the least discern ing. They now recollect the virtues of their exiled and. heroic Monarch ; they remember the solemn engagements which they contracted with his mur dered father,. when he placed his first born in their arms. Thiitender and dignified address, so full of natural and patriotic affection, of confidence and magnanimity when in 1778 he opened the States of tie realm, will revive in their memory and con science, will imperiously demand how they have repaid the noble trust placed in them by their great and unfortunate Monarch : " Ere many days are elapsed I hope to lay within your pro tecting arms, the child whom Ptovhience vouchsafes to grant me as the comforter of 'my age and the supporter of my thr one. " To whom could I entrust with more confidence this pledge, which next to my kingdom is dearer to my heart than any thing else on earth, but to you, Gentlemen, who represent the nation ? We are all hitherto Ignorant of the see of the being appointed by Providence to succeed me ; but whatever it be, I shall wel come it with equal gratitude, confident that if it is a daughter you will protect the weakues of her sex. Should Providence crown her manifold blessings by granting me a son, never forget that your arms will have carried hint to the altars of the Al- Mighty, and that with the seal of religion you have rendered still more sacred die &ides which nature had imposed upon you ctowswasaltell dowp with me the blessings of the Omni potent on d of that son, for wl , pm I claim your love, and the fruits of the gratitude which I may have excited and deserv- •••••.• a ~. wR' r'~Fl;'~l.. . REGISTER. ed during the course of my reign. May he one day prove wor thy of ascending the throne on which Gustavus Adolphus sat.— But should that son be destined to neglect the sacred duties whiehtfall to his share on entering life : to forget that the first and most binding obligation oa a Swedish Monarch is to love and honour a free people; to wander from the path t raced by the great Princes Wbo have tilled this throne, however rapturous be the joy of his birth, however deep my sorrow at his loss, I would beseech Heaven as a blessing, to recal from earth that child, the spring of Any fondest hopes : for I should never cease to grieve at the thought, that my descendants should forget after my death, that whilst Providence entrusted them with sovereign rule over a mighty kingdom, she also gave them free and loyal subjcctr, whose happiness and prosperity it is their duty to secure." They will also recollect the joy which they ex pressed at the birth of this very Prince, whose in terest they have for a time so shamefully abandoned, and which drew from his Royal Father at the con tlusion of the same Diet these glowing expressions of gratitude : " Ihave received from you the most affecting proofs of grati tude and attachment to me and my family, as well as to a belov ed consort who, whilst you were assembled, has crowned my hopes by giving me a son, the invaluable supporter of my throne. The lively emotions with which you have shared my joy, and the engagements Which you have contracted with him, have drawn still closer, my beloved subjects, the ties that unite us, and which I cannot render too numerous. My most ardent wishes are, that this child may, during the course of his life, pre serve and deserve the love which you have displayed towards him at his birth, and that the honourable name which y6u have bestowed upon him, may incessantl/ recall his duties to his - mind, without ever becoming a term of reproach through the want of those virtues which you have a right to expect from its bearer. I shall spare nothing to educate him in these sentiment?, and my chief care will be to implant in his infant heart that sin cere affection which I shall never cease to feel for my people." On comparing the conduct of their present Go vernors with that of their lawful King, they will feel and acknowledge the difference which exists between the tools of a foreign Despr , t, and a Prince whose education Gus - rAvus 111. so faithfully decribed to the Diet, in 1786, in the following words : 44 Among the reasons that have called for the convocation of this Diet, there is one mosi dear to my heart, that of presenting you this child, who in so many respects may be considered as your own; and who, since you witnessed his birth, will enable you to judgeby the progress he has made of the hopes which you may form of him in future. " It is v . in: ray opinion, a great blessing that the first object which strikes his eyes, at an age when the soul takes deep int pressi•yas which seldom wear away, should be the assembly of a free people, obedient to the laws, and of a King who governs through them w:'.iout any abridgment of Hs power. Let his youthful heart be deeply moved—let be tilled with respect for the Constitution of the kingdom, and with esteem for the nation. Since fortune and birth have raised him ;above the rest of men, I will teach even his infancy the consideration which he owes to a free people. He shall learn that, should Providence one day entrust him with the Swedish Sceptre, he shall ascend the-Throne only to make his subjects happy. 44- Such are the principles on which his education is founded. He is made acquainted with the virtues and exploits of his heroic ancestors, the former Monarchs of Sweden, but when lee will • ? 11_f ~~ ..~ or • , I •I