The National Register. — London, England, 1812-10-25 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER, grim coa ittitioii, PLISLISIIED AT NO. 3:57, SI•RA7k. 1), C )11N L: 01' (.\L Eli .k NC; • SUNDAY, o c ~ '0 LI 1. , sio PRICE !'d A' 6- I'OLI I'ICA L 1) 1,1 2 PETITION-; FOR PEACE. TIT ltornin2; Chronicle has to!d us in the course of the wcck, tint " the new Parliament will be met strongly with Poi,ions for Peace," and the proceedings which we under steel have taken place at Derby, and in other parts of the country, seem to entitle this assertion to some credit. On this interesting subject we wish to offer a few calm and im ptrtial observations, and to put it to the good sense of the country, whether at this ct isis an outcry for peace :vat be most likely to shorten or to protract the calamities of war. For oarzelves, to say that we ardently desire the return of peace, it merely to state that we are men, and not (lends, who, wearing the human farm, delight in the suffei hug,: of Ankind. We arc as sincere as the most outrageous " friends f peace" can possibly he, in our dete-tation of those wretchei; :•upposing such to exist,) who would wish to perpetuate the horrors of a sanguinary contest like that in which we arc en pl;cd, for private emolument; who would rise to wealth by Abe miscues of their fellow creatures, and immolate de -1-ote,l thousands to preserve their influence. If a peace can lioneurably and securely he made at the present moment, we would *consign to endless infamy the man who would seer his interest or his ambition to oppose it. For such a man no punishment would be too severe. In all this we will • rea(l:ly join with the friends of peace, and heartily unite ' xith thew to censure, nay, to execrate such a monster. I;ut we cannot think with them that such censure or such wcration is called fur at present. These gentlemen, how ever, in their pacific zeal, are too apt to array themselves in wility to truth, and to shut their eyes to the real state of bings From their harangues their ignorant auditors are cd to believe that it is only for the Ministers of England to Fill the restoration of tranquillity, and to have it ; to cast way the flaming brand of war, to receive the proffered iv'-branch of peace, and at once remove the burthens f which the people complain, bid plenty return, and taxa tion be heard of no more. Let those who have been misled b. such representations , lid wh o are capable of thinking, cease to rave, and begin to 'fleet. Doing this, they will see that , ve have but a choice ' 1 evils, that it is only left to us to continue the war or to ake peace With BCON AP A RTC. It will then be for them consider, first, whether peace at all can be securely - made ith Ikon APA RTE, and this carried in the: affirmative, it 111 4 for them next to decide, whether their addresses are, "ttY to serve or to injure the cause they wish to espou se. With respect to the first it has often been urged, and with Rreat show of reason, that a peace with WU° NAP ARV& iS "0111PatibiC with our wcutity. From all we hao rf;. r e. N. ccur. :cen of this ex traorilina-v nvin, a treaty of amity in his ,:and is but an- instrument of war. WWI this before our eves, would it be well to surrender to him those conquests which"have cost us so much blood and treasure, and which even now enable us to bid defiance to his power, enormous as it has become? Would it be well to give up these to procure a :.ho:t susnnsion of hostilities, like that obtained by the treaty 'of Amiens, and thus enable our enemy to attack us with greater means of annoyance than he can boast at pre sent, and impose on our warriors the task of reconquering those possessions, which, wiested from him by their valour, England now securely holds? In order justly to appreciate the value of a peace with him, we should look to the continental nations who have made the expel invent, in order to, ascertain whether or not 'what has been called a peace has saved them from his Motility. If this be done, it must be seen that his friendshie is to the full as dreadful as his enmity. To. prove this, no extraordinary powers of reasoning are necessary. We have only to point to the map, and the names of Holland,Spain, Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Helvetia, express more than could volumes. What has been the fate of those who, inti midated Isy.dereat, have hoped to gain repose by shame, and submitted to disgrace that their blood might cease to flow ? [lave their expectations been realized ? Look at the army which BUONAPARTE now leads, and in the Dutch, Spaniard , ., Swiss, Austrians; and Prussians of which it is composed, who have fought and bled under his banners, see the blessings of a peace concluded with a man whose towering ambition is only equalled by his matchless want of principle. It will the.. - c be seen, that those who shrunk from war when its ~b ject was to preserve their homes, are now dragged many ilo::dred miles from their native country, to fight the battles of a foreiiver ; and those who threw down their arms, when they ought to have wielded them ;n their own defence, are compelled to take them up at the mandate cf the tyrant, to carry on an offensive war against a nation with whom they have no quarrel, for the aggrandiSement of him who is the cause of their ruin. What is this but slavery, the molt abject, the most degrading slavery? What must those meanness . to purchase safety, monarchs, who had hoped by feel, while these scenes pass before their eyes ? What must be the raptures of the Emperor of AUSTRIA, when he hears of the success of his son-in-law ? With how much conscious and . fcrrid piJii .must he order a solemn Tr Deuin to Gon, because BUONAPIRTE has revenged himself onALEx; ANDER, for not coining sufficiently forward to complete the destruction of Austria! How must ttellulers and the People of the other places we have named, felicitate themselves on hearing of these things, and bask in the glare of that glory which their sons and brothers have acquired at the expeace of their lives, in the service- of France, 'pa how gay (