The National Register. — London, England, 1811-12-22 00:00:00

1 • SUNDAY, DECEIT POLITICAL DISQUISITION. ~s No. 195. ' N°. 208. POLICY AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE PRESENT WAR EXAMINED. ~~ The triumph of . our arms is complete. Had we engaged in the present contest for selfish purposes of aggrandisement, our ends would be obtained, and we might lay down the sword after securing by peace the conquests of war. But we rose in defence of our land and of the common liberties of mankind. Tyranny was our foe an] freedom our guide. Ex ultingly we heard and obeyed her call ; nor long beard and obeyed it alone. Our example encou , raged the oppressed; terrified the oppressor. Na tions started from.their slumber ()cages, and uprising in their strength, followed us to the field. Want of arms and inexperience weakened their exertions ; we supplied their need and stood their shield. 'When compelled to yield before the discipline and numbers of their invaders, they found a safe retreat behind the British army. Inured to hardships by our side, taught order and regular manoeuvres by our officers, they learnt...Abat whilst heroism only fights, skid] conquers. Reppated overthrows served to call fresh armisforth, and showed them the reality ancrmag. rdtude of their strength; whilst the series Pf briliiant successes won by our troops, sustained their hopes, disarmed the enemy of the terrors of his fame, 'and • Inuit ultimattiy secure the total emancipation of the Peninsula. Champions of European indepen dence, which we have already partially redeemed on the fields of Portugal, and shall only cease to de fend, when it shall cease to be threatened ; our war fare has not been more glorious than disinterested. , The protection of our fleets would have seoared our s coasts from insult. From her throne of waves, Britain might have overawed a world in arms, with out shedding a single drop of her blood in land hostilities. But she could not enjoy the blessings of freedom without wishing to spread them abroad. Annihilated by violence and usurpation every where else, they only existed in her bosom. She no sooner perceived that their want began to be felt sopower fully on . the western parts of the continent, as to vent to the spirit of emulation, which her ex ,atriple had excited, and in defiance to the force of the oppressor, to create spit ited tions, than she sent her sons tq battle. in Vol. ./V. Ni. COWL Inip CAb insur buy, V; • • s t ,a, CQ ;?:111 THE NATIONAL REGISTER. Cur 'king, Comitftution l . anti 3!..abass. PRINTED AND PUBLISEIED AT No. 5, PICK ETT-STii LET, STRAND, D EAR TEDIPLE BAR. ER 22, 1811. , • PRICE 9d. cause- of mankind. The shoot of patriotism welcomed their arrival, and bursting from every hill, re-echiied by' every vale, still continues to proclaim their . triumphs, and to scare the reduced legions of the enemy. To hasten his oierthrow, it was ne., cessary to exhaust his resources : one of their chief springs was trade ;' his trade must be destroyed. That with neutrals was so impeded and restricted, as to become inconsiderable if 'not nugatory : that ith his own colonies was the most profitable; they must be wrenched from his grasp. With this view, and from no purposes of national aggrandisement, powerful expeditions were fitted out : every French island was attacked arid almost carried by storm, and the last colony which NAPdLEON possessed in the Uni verse; Batavia, has just fallen into zur hands, after having afforded a fresh opportunity for the display of that British enterprise and heroism, which, under skirful leaders, have always proved irresistible. There are some writers, and many declaimers amongst us, who, wilfully blind to the motives, as to the advantages of the war, incessantly complain of the evils we suffer, the magnitude of our losses and the encreased . dangers 'to which we are 'ex posed, whilst they - assert that the enemy has dc. rivecl much benefit from the contest. Facts rebut these assertions. But facts, unless you give_them a voice, are only noticed by the attentive and. iEitelli -gent, and frecitiently pass unmarked by the busy Sind the ignorant, who compose the most numerous classes of the community. What are the evils which we suffer ? We have to py heavy taxes ; trade with greater risks, and less freely than for merly with France and the Powers under her con. troul ; and are not allowed to visit the various states of the Continent, either for amusement or business, without becoming prisoners of war. Our coasting vessels are exposed to. the attacks of privateer's, which they almost constantly beat off, and one capitalists unable 'to waste their fortunes in dan gerous foreign speculations, are compelled to spend them at home, or within the sphere of the British dominions. The cry of national bankruptcy is 'raised, it is true ; and because the enemy chooses to pay an exorbitant price for the gold coin of this realm, and instructs his agents here to give a pre mium of a few shillings on every guinea they can e are told that our bank-notes are depre- But as long as a pound note produces its