The National Register. — London, England, 1809-04-02 00:00:00

PRIL 2. : 6 . • 1 THE NATIONAL REGISTER. • • • ?0 . • •4••••41,11 getic policy. Half measures, and tardiness oC execution,. h av e occasioned our late disasters o n the continent. It their recurrence is to be avoided, we must abandon the errors which produced them. We. must not appear in the character. of auxilia.ries ; we should come as principals. We are not contending exclusively for Spaniards Portu guese, or Austrians; we are fighting our own battles, and clime the Peninsula, or 6ermany, as the scene of action. Our resouiTc:s g ive us a right to appea r in the li g ht of principak ;• to- do so, we must have an army sill ciently4 formidable to maintain that claim. A British Minister, who is able to appreciate the character of his countrymen,. would feel uo apprehension in adopting, this measure. A series of victorious operations abroad will facilitate the Administration at home; and a reverse, instead of damping, call forth the full extent of their moral resources. Itostilites, on our part, are not the consequence of a restless ambition ; they arc rendered unavoidable by the insatiable rapacity of the enemy. We are fight ing for our altars and lire-sides; passions, we are or contendspeakinto g for every thing that can warm the the interests of men and citizens. Our fields are threatened with devastation; our Government with subversion ; our property with plunder; our • families with diipersion and misery ; our country with . carnage and slavery. These are motives to make old age vigorous, and women, heroines. REVOLUTION IN SWEDEN . The last twenty years have been peculiarly marked by physical and moral convulsions. Whilst earthquakes, inundations, and volcanic eruptions betrayed an alarmibg fermentation in the interior o f our globe, all the hinges of society have been viwently burst by conspiracies, re bellions, and the worst crimes which have disgraced the worst ages of our world. Where, and how, they will end, it is now beyond the reach of 'human prudence, or fore sight, to determine. It requires, however, only a super ficial spirit of observation to be convinced,i that the cala mities with which we have been already visited, tremend ous as they have been, arc only a prelude to others, at which thought itself recoils. Our nature abhors a constant antici pation of gloomy events; but the symptoms we have noticed ' and which assume every day a more malignant aspect, prove there is a mass. of feverish matter in society, which must occasion a dreadful and unheard of crisis. The rev elution, which has taken place in Sweden, is, in whatever light we regard it, one of the most da n g erous, criminal, and impo litic occurrences, we have ever read or heard of. It is as silly and unretlecting an action, as to put a sword into the hands of a Madman. The minds of the lower classes, in every part of Europeare already too much dissatisfied with their governments and institutions t . betray too impatient a sense of every kind of restraint, manifest too thatmark - ed a jealousy of the higher and privileged or ders ; one or two more examples of this kind are only necessary to make them feel, that the supposed hardships of their condition originate in the injustice of their governments. Whenever that dreadfal moment arrives—whenever so fatal a sentiment begins to take rooted possession of their minds, a, scene cif an archy and complicated atrocities will ensue, which will convert society itself, into a great slaugh ter-house. This is the fatal presentiment, which . rushes on our minds, in coutemplatin: , the rash and iithiuitous act which has taken place in Swellen. The weak and unprincipled instigators will bemoan , we clearly foresee, their injustice and violence, with tears of blood. They have given a dreadful precedent in the deposit-;on anti arres:ation of their Sovereign—hat force conqtituic a riOt! and the Po- place, they arc obliged to flatter in order to support their aggression, impressed with the uli!ity of this maxim, will seize the first opportunity to turn it t” , :alust themselves. Exclusive or the atrocity and iinpolicy of the act, every individual, who is averse to the horrid system of gratin? . which is now established in the greater part of Eurevs., must warmly spupthise in the sufferings of a- voting . ~ - :.:,: . Monarch, whom neither threats nor promises could induce to swerve from the general cause of freedoM. Ile had his faults; blithe amply made up for them by a numbeiof splendid virtues; he was chaste, temperate, laborious, loving the good though lie might have erred in the means of attaining it.. We appeal to every man of honour and, honesty, had he been placed in the situation of GUSTAVUS, if he would not have pursued the same line of po licy, which that Monarch did. In condemning him, every Englishman Must condemn his own govern ment, and ivakes the base acknowledg ment, that . interest, and not justice, is the basis of his morality. . The KING of SWEDEN detested BONAPARTE; and where is the honest man, who does not detest a murderer and a robber. He had the magnanimity to spurn his insidious oilers of friendship ; and every man, who has the slightest respect for himself, or feeling for others, would act with the same spirit and magnanimity. He tried to maintain the independence of his country against an unprovoked attack; he appealed to the loyalty and coura g e of his sub jects to assist him in so sacred and lionouraLle a cause ; . and if he has fallen in it, he carries with him the consolation, that the honest and impartial of every country admire his principles, and take a warm interest in his fate. It may be asked how far a government has a right to in. terfere in the conduct of another country.. But if an inter ference of that kind be justifiable, ours has a strong interest to employ every means in its power, to re-establish the deposed Sovereign. Conciliatory measures may have a good effect on some occasions; but we believe, that only vigorous and decisive policy can bring back the Swedish nation to a sense of the atrocity committed against their SOVEREIGN. For Heaven's sake ! let us at least avoid giving a sanction to usurpation, by allowing a British Minister to remain at a court, where the Sovereign lan. : guishes in chains, in consequence If his friendship to this country. Positive instructions, we trust, will be immediT ately transmitted to Mr. Mcnav to make a peremptory declaration, that unless GUSTAVUS be immediately re-esta blished, the British Government is determined to take the most effectual.and vigorous means to effect it. The revolution has been effected without the least blood shed, and without theislightest resistance, on the part of the people of Stockholm. The inhabitants of the capital in al most every country, are morally and politically more de praved than such as inhabit the provinces. Bodily vigour, love of country, and simplicity of mind, are frequently found at the greatest distance from the seat of power. Whether this be the fault of courts or ministers; or if it be a consequence of the dissipation and egotism which predominate in large towns, —we will not take upon us to decide. But that the fact is se, has been proved by recent occur rences in several countries ; a nd Sweden has furnished us with a new example in support of this opinion.----Whilst the people of Stockholm tamely and basely beheld the de_ rsition of their Sovereign, the hardy inhabitants of Dale. carlia have formally protested against the infamous act. The energy and patriotism of this province are known 1,1 every man who is versed in Swedish history. Its bra-. mountaineers, under GUSTA Ves VASA % reionquered the le_ dependence of Sweden ; and, about two centuries a; ter- wards, they offered their services to the Senate, to liberate CR.% aLes XII. from Bender. This offer was a bad proof of their geographical and peliiical `knowledge; but fur nished a most honourable one of their. lON alty and courage. The Dalecarlians hive not degenerated.--The' poverty and the extreme rigour of their climate, brace their 'lleitis as much as their bodies. Their voice and their arm may still save GysTAVIIS ; and thwart the criminal projects ol an intriguing nobility, who, regardless of the honour and interests of their country, have no other wish than to re cover the exclusive advalitag;es they enjoyed during the interval of anarchy which intervened between the death of CHARLES the Xllth, and the re volution of 1712. Tlnrng that period, the most contemptible r the Se ( *dish anir o:., they were invariably the pensumerseither of France (~.. ..f