The National Register. — London, England, 1813-08-22 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGI STER. Our Zing, Constitution, anD Labs. PUBLISHED AT NO. n, NEWCASTLE-STRIET, STRAND. N.. 293 EtTECTS OF THE LA'I'C BATTLEi. The anticipations of hope have not been disappoinied. The Peninsu{a has once more proved the seat •of British triumphs, and although the contest has been severe and the attempts of the enemy desperate, flesh - glories have crowned the bt.ows of our warriors, and added to the lustre, even of Wellington's name. Yet, however great our advan' taxes, they were wrenched from such a powerful adversary , that even in defeat he has not ceased to be formidable, ano victory im;loses upon us the duty of fresh and encreased ex ertions. This may seem contradictory, and it may also ap pear astoni , hing that the army beaten at Vittoria should have so soon repaired its losses and entered the field with such considerable numbers. The explanation of this problem we shall endeavour to give. Of all the evils with which he has afflicted nations, Buo naparte feels that invasion is the worst. The scourger knows which lash will inflict the severest pain, and when he sees it lifted by a stranger's hand against himself, naturally shrinks from the blow, and . endeavours by every means in his power, to avert it. In this situation Napoleon now staads. He whose whole military career has been a series of - invasions of neighbouring and distant countries—who began his tre mendous race, by desolating the plains of Italy—who, from the enslaved Tiber, carried both flame and the sword to the banks of the Nile, and from thence, returning to snatch an usurped diadem, covered Germany with blood, changed the fate and condition of her Princes, twice choaked the waters of the Danube with the noblest Austrian heroes, and in their conquered capital forced the proudest House in Europe to form with him a degrading family alliance—He, who in the bosom of the land consecrated by the triumphs of the great Frederick, at one blow overthrew the strength of the Prussian monarchy, fought his. way to the banks of the Niemen, and in a few months reduced Poland into a vassal— who next crossed the Pyrenees, and sent his hordes tO plunder Lisbon and Madrid, and after ravaging, to fall on the banks of the Tagus, the Douro, the Ebro, and the Alava, beneath the sword of Britain—lle, who in the wildness of his am bition, led half a vassal world in arms, to burn the palaces of Moscow, and perish amidst the snows of Russia beneath the spears cf the Cossacks—lle, the ravager of the world, knows too well the consequences of invasion, not to collect all his strength to repel it from his territories, when he sees them threatened with its retributive devastations. He feels that France owes a heavy debt of blood to surrounding nation 7, and fears the awful hour of .payment is come. Yet sympathy for his -people hears no sway over his con duct. He arms in their defence, because they form the props of his power, which their sufieriags would impair. Vol. VI. No. CCXCI7. SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 1813. He will allow no one but himself to have any share in their ruin, which he would disregard, were it pre ceded by the downfall and subjection of every surrounding state. In piapnrtion as he is attached to his own r,reathess, do his terrors of invasion, and his efforts to avert . it, en- • crease. He is conscious, that besides the reduction of force which the occupation of part of his* territory by an hostile army wonid occasion, he would also he exposed to the danger of seeing the strength of his enemies augmented, out of the very .sources from whence he derived his own. He knows that' his subjects have borne too long the weight of his oppression, not to be disgusted with his yoke, and the incessant sacrifices of men and treasure they have been com pelled to make. He therefore does. not place much con fidence on their fidelity. however he may 'proclaiM the con-. trary to the world. Were any part of France entered, and its population offered, either to maintain his cause and bear all the evils of conquest, or to join the :Iv, niers and be re lieved from every burden and injury, he apprehends they would not hesitate. He therefore wishes to,epare them, the temptation, and strains everysnerve to repel hostilicjet „from the soil of France, well aware that when the seat is re moved, the disposition of the people, whatever it may have been at the approach of invaders, 'will once more subsi.,le into the quietude of hopeless sufferlng and desponding. obedience. These are the reasons which have impelled him to make such extraordinary efforts On his south-western film. tiers. "But where could he find men and artillery to supply his losses?" This question can only be made in a- land. where the effects of arbitrary despoti m are fortunately miknoWns Since the conquest and 'new organization, of Germany, the French armies have been filled up with more fificign recio4a , than native conscripts. A certain proportion of the laVet were raised annually, and formed the 'kernel of Napole;m's force, but the rest were furnished by his . Allies. Thus out of the 50,000 men whom he led last y*ar, *against Rtisia, not 200,000 were French. Whilst the pc:pill-Mien of the rest of Europe was destroyed to aggraodize TAT. tyrant, Franr s e kept her own, comparatively unimpyked. To this wily policy may be attributed, after- thistret - siflY total annihilation of his northern:hogin the,WitiritereOprign, and the defection of,,Tius4fa, ate insfatifatteous forlitottOn of ta• - new armies, raised in France, and superior in .ntiats to those that had marched triumphantly in his porstrit. Grin Moscow to the .E4be. France, therefore, still.' poS es- es a greater and thicker set population than the neighbou! iag countries, and with an engine like the . Ceoscriliti. , n, the operation 111 . which is irresistibly felt throuOwut e v e, y ;auk in society, it is not di" to drag flesh thousands t. The establishmmt of a same 'plan as our Local ifficult for the De.spot at her 1::ad to tl,e field. a local national guard, on ne::rl}.the" 1 Militia, at the beginning of this POI,ITICAT, PRICE 9de