The National Register.
London, England, 1814-05-01 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

No. Pc7.'

POLITICAL DISQUISITION.

BUONAP'•RTE AND TrE PARIS WRITERS.

Though men are always sufficiently disposed to believe
their own praises, and the censures lavished on their eu
must- Fincerebecau so they think them deserved, it is hardly
possible for a man of common sense to read the Paris pa-
p awl refrain from lanfeting at the chant? which a few
bhnrt w,shks have eirocted. He must think the French very
versfit Ile, he must think they can play the hypocrite ex-
tremely well on one side or on the other ; or believinf,
what he secs sprin 4. from the two sources,,we have noticed,
he will fqel not a little disposed to mAct a jest of human
nature altogether. To express his thoughts, he will be
almost compelled tl borrow BEN JONION'S epitaph—

This life's a jest awl all thins show it,
I thought so mice hut now I know it.

It is an interesting time fer a journalist to live in, when
Treat events throw so much light on the characters of those
who have most attracted the notice of the world ; when
he who has been called a hero, shorn of that pomp which
the unreflecting call glory. can be viewed as he his, after
having long been seen as an actor on the stage. Not only
does his conduct at such a time possess more than common
value with the writer Who employs himself in marking the
wcrkings of the human mind, but the deportment of all
those who were formerly affected by his actions or influ-
nce become of some importance. In the case of a deposed
monarch, it L.; both amusing and instructing to mark the
facility with which those who tA.e. upon themselves to ex-
press, the sentiments of the people, f.,79-ffom one to the op-
posite extrerne.—When the change is thought to be on the
eve of taking place, a cautions advance to..ards truth may
be sometimes observed7 but where it is suddenly effected
flattery at once takes the tone of insult—unmerited re-
proacht-4 quce, ed to nnfountled praises, and trot!), left in
the mid-wpv bef:seen both ahnost forgotten, k only occa-
sionally referred to, for the increased effect which a partial
use of it may give to the dissemination of falsehood.
A short time ago, in every French publication a la-
boured eulogy on BUONAP RTE was sure to he found. lie
was represented to be little legs than divine. Not only
France. but all the countries which France under him had
subdued, were plc' to look up to him as to a common
father. England was called the modem: Carthage, and
re7esentect to be the only fee to the repose of Europe.
Now we see th? direct reveree of all this. England is said
to be entitled to the gratitude of the world, and BCONA-
P IRT F. is loaded with obloquy for his every action. Even
his tears, where the state of his affairs would have j
Va. VII, No CC Ciir V/ I.

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Cur Constitution, ani tabu.

PUBLISHED AT NO. 11, NEWCASTLE-STREET, STRAND.

SUNDAY, MAY 1. 1814.

P firer 9d.

L belief that they were genuine, are reported to have
h,,pn purely arti&cial. They are asserted to be a preme-
nn avowed stare trick which extorted tears from a
few simpletons in the Pit while they only called forth
laughter in the Boxes. The tide is completely turned, and
he succeeds to those expressions of detestation which were
formerly th:l inheritance of the BOURBQNS. Perhaps it will
he some consolation to him to know, that in this, his present
situation, is not unlike that which was lately the lot of
royalty.

The conduct 'of BUONAPARTS was certainly such, that
his character is not much exposed to the shafts of calumny.
This advantage, at least, he may boast as the result of his
iniquity. Yet the manner in which his most insignificant
actions are detailed mark n fixed determination to con-
demn his conduct whatever that conduct might be. When
he left Fontainbleau, we are told—" All those who re-
mained near 13UONAPARTE till the moment of his depar-
ture, were Struck with the want of soul and sensibility
which he displayed towards the persons who surrounded
Lim. Not one emotion of tenderneqs, net one expression
of the heart escaped him, to show that he was susceptible
of the least attachment : Ile received the adieus of his
oldest companions in emu without addressing to them a
siugle friendly word. This man, who has played so many
parts, never could appear good ; for, thank Heaven, good-
ness cannot be acted, and the wicked cannot even imagine
its language."

Now, really, the assumption that because he was
silent, his conduct was marked with insensibility ;
was what we should not expect in the case of au
ordinary- individual. In that of BUONAPARRE, (though,
for ourselves, we know not one good quality of
which he appears to be in possession) we should have been
dkposed to believe, that the emotion of a heart, however
depraved, would at suo:i a tiraO, and on such an occasion,
have been sufficiently great to cause that silence which is
here described as insensibility. The anguish of mortified
pi ide at seeing himself a prisoner, under sentence of ba-
nishment, and that sentence about to be carried into efrict,
without giving him credit for a single virtue, was enough
to check utterance, and might be received as a tolerable
apology fur silence.

A 3. far as we are enabled to collect from all the ac-
counts whit% have reached us, the conduct of BuoNA"
PARTE has been what we should have exrcted it to be. had
we not suffered our reason to be misled by his own Tairnt-
ings, and the inflated panegyrics of his sycophants in the
days of his prosperity. In his decline he lyss
and boasted in public, that his enemies- might not sup;
Wks affairs to be so desperate as they were. After

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