The National Register. — London, England, 1809-01-29 00:00:00

TH ,! E NATIONAL REGISTER. . . Our tine, eanAitution, anb trab4. No. 57. .. • PRICE Rd. SUNDAY, JANUARY It 9, 1809. POLITICAL DISQUISITION. NDMEER Fl FT Y-SI X! --w•-- TO WHAT CAUSE ARE olnt MILITARY -FAILURES TO BE ATTRIBUTED ? Every engagement with the enemy afords an additional testimony of the superiority of our troops. Every new expedition gives an alarming proof of some latent defect or mismanagement, which frustrates the effects of this su periority. Were our soldiers less disciplined, less nume rons and intrepid, and our disasters originate in this cause; we might, console ourselves with the prospect:of attaining hereafter the advantages we do not possess at present. But as our military are unrivalled in every quality which ren ders such a force effective, it is a subject of equal surprise and disappointment, as it is worthy of the most serious in vestigation, that, with so large and expensive an esta blishment, all our expeditions, for the last fifteen years, with the exception of that to Egypt, have not been pro ductive of advantages, equivalent to the pay of our army for a single day. When we recal, during that interval, the battles of Alexandria, Maida, Vimeira, and Corunna, in which our troops have performed prodigies of valour; and read over the history of the same period, which is only a , are almost the existence elder, Fer- rol, Buenos-Ayres, and in Spain. There is not one among us, who has not frequently at- . tempted to account for this contradiction. The incapacity of the Commanders, the weakness of the Ministry, the de fects of oar military system, and a variety of other causes have been assigned to explain this political phenomenon ; remedies have been proposed, anti changes introduced; but the mortifying inconsistency continues, and every new en terprise renders it more glaring and repugnant. When an evil appears so inveterate, and alarming from its frequency and continuation, it may appear like presump tiow, to indulge even in the hope of its eradication; or to propose measures to that effect. Selfishness might recom mend caution, and pusillanimity, silence; for there is no small degree of danger in combating abuses and errors too favourable to the interests as well as passions of many. The fatal influence, which is capable of maintaining them, is likewise armed with the power of molesting the reformer ; and the will is not inferior to the many; of ptinishing him for his interference. The whole shoal of contractors, job bers, commissaries, and minions, who fatten in the pool of army-patronage, will join in criminating his intentions; and, sensible of their present advantages, resist every pro posal for purifying the noxious sink. As long as they en joy their mistresses, villas, cooks, and equipages, their di gestion will not he impeded, nor their tVatifitations re strained, in consequence of the disasters of the country, or the disgrace of our arms. But such of the public, as are not i_diviniihy ititerest ed in supporting a system of peculation, begin to think there are other interests to be conseited, paramount to the gratifications of a minion, or the pretensions of a pr.- tron. The mortification of our former failures, joineti to the senseless profusion of blood and treasure during the present campaign, have already caused a degree of irri'a tion, which, we trust, will not subside!, till the catae be rigidly investigated and removed. if we are not dead to the honour of the country, and the increasing peril of otie situation, if experience can benefit us, or 'misfortune in struct, we will speedily and efficaciously set about the work of reform. Should the present system continue, every Tear wil be marked with a repetition of those blunders and d - asters, which have of late so prominently disti!lcA ed our military enterprises. The advantages of onr tom! situation, the vast superiority of our nay v, and the dis tracted attention of the etiemy, have hitherto preserved us from their effects. But the . fortune which has favoured us till now may change ; and the patriotic spirit of the country, the unrivalled bravery of our troops, be incapa- We of resisting the pressure of the unexpected difficultiett. If we Wish to have our destinies placed on a more solid basis than that of chance, we must effect a chancre and a radical one iu our military department. Past disasters, present disappointments, and the alarming prospect !before us, are sufficient,to rouse egotism and iodotsatie-to a of our danger. One or two facts convey more conviction to the mind, than volumes of eloquent declamation. Was there eN er ail army more compeleut for service, or animated with a better spirit, than. that we sent to Portugal ? The Gene rals employed ou the occasion displayed a knowledge of their profession, combined with the courage of a sold;et, that the only anxiety we felt, Was dispelled ; and the pre tended superiority of the enemy over us in this u ie res pect, was no longer admitted. From that moment we could look, with confidence, to the most brilliant re:vat from the operations of our army. Soldiers and Gene,rds were equally good ; and they were going to figia under the must auspicious circumstances which fortune coast present, or the man of honour choose. The natives, to a man, were ardent in our favour. They had labourol for some time, under the most oppressive and gsW.eg ser vitude, and, with our assistance alone they had any ra tional prospect of being liberated from its pressure. We will not. attempt to refute au opinion, maintamei by mo dern declaimers, which only an absolute ignorance of his -1 tory, and an extrava6 - ant predilection for general reason ing, unsubstantiated by fact, could have brought into cir culation. The people of every country, however confined their intellectual endowments, or degraded tlieir moo - i sense, prefer their own government, their Cott institn - Cams, let them be ever so defective, to the most beneficent innovations. If they are associated with the ideas of com pulsion and conquest. The insolence, the rapncqy, of the French are in constant collision with their prefessions ; catitagup and disgraces, we inetineti to d'alrtiiptir Senses, and to doubt th( of the reverses we sustained at Dunkirk, the 11 ~~;, ._