The National Register.
London, England, 1813-10-17 00:00:00

lie instability of human
.nt ! Not all the stormy
amities of Princes and of
,lublies, and the dismem-

.114..; the last twenty years,

ankind than the spectacle

which Europe now pi esents. That empire, which, rising on I
the ruins of surrounding; nations, towered pre-eminent in 1
fame as in strength : in which all the seeds of power seemed
to be collected, and whose gigantic grandeur overawed the
world, England excepted, into submission and vassalage—
that Empire, which, two years since, appeared founded en al
rock which the might of ages could not shake—by one of those
revolutions of fortune, which the wise call by a higher name
than chance, is now the only country in Europe threatened
with dangers, the existence of which i's bulk alouewould lately
have been theught sufficient to prevcnt. 1% hen in thesprirg I
of igt 2 Fl arc e sent 500,000 chosen warriors to the North,
whilst he:- legions occupied the whole of Spain and
besieged the Cortes in Cadiz, who did not fancy she
was invincible, and that the nation on whose head 1
the tempest of her wrath was bursting, must inevitably
perish? Seduced bv her example, and trusting in her might.
tie kingdnins that had so•often rued the weight of her sword•
now longing to secure her favour•, gave her all their power
and claimed the honour of joining her in the subjugation of '
tl:c world. Their united hosts exceeded those ever collected
since Persian ambition endeavoured to crush the freedom of
Greece. The countries %% 1 tich they traversed were unbound-
ed, and when, from the w.ills of the Kremlin, their Leader
beheld the " ocean of ilatue- wth h devoured a metropolis
sacriiked to his Unholy ambition, mankind already antici-
'paled the flight of his triumphant eagles to the towers of Bag-
dat. How sod&oly have those en cams of universal ronquest
evaparat«l ! now has the mighty hoer struck in his pride
For him % ietory has teemed with ruin and defeat, and the
moment of his greatest exultation almost proved that of his
(lest, uction. On this very day last vear, the avenging-sword
was let loose against him. On ths very day, the renrui!ed
Russian army attacked his advanced posts south of Mosccw ;
for the first time did the Co'sacks hurras alarm his troops, and
the capture of 27 ?ieces of cannon, attended with MURAT'S
defeat, attested the altered sate of his fortunes. A week
later, commenced his disastrous i ctreat, and the spear of the
'mistier, the horrors of famine, and the vengeance of winter
overtook and checked his flight. Since that time, the pro-
w e.s of his downfall has been incesl,aat and rapid, and the
Va. VI. No. C C CM.

Fiance, the invader 'and spoiler of nations, is invadt d And
spciled in her turn. She, whose armies lately held in sub-
jection the two extremities of the Continent, row scarcely
able to stop the torrent of foreign pattiottsm which threatens
to tear the rest of her northern conquests from her Lands,
sees leer southern provinces a prey totetaliatory ma• fare. The
avenging banner lately planted on the summit of the Pyre.
noes, now floats in her fei tile valleys, and the vainly pro-
nounced sacredness oilier territory is yiola,ed and exploded.
But what renders the blow more painful is the hand by which
it is struck. Ih)w few years have elapsed since the boast of
France NY:is, that England could iu contend siug!e handed
with her ; that her hosts woulii invade :Ind desolate our field,
and that whenever it should please the Gallic despot to pi
nounee the setaenee of our doom, we should be bowed ur.
der the yoke, our grandeur effaced, and our national exist-
ence swept away flout the earth. Yet it is England, who,
after baffling for nine years the efforts of France at.d those
of the Continent repeatedly leagued with her against
us, now plants her completing standards within the
French frontiers, and leads on the van of averging
nations ! How lately did NAPOLEON, in the pride of-
his power, denounce the warriors armed to redeem the li-
berty of Spain and Portugal as traitors, and deriding their
Obits, boast that when the time foredoomed by his wisdom
shou:d be an ived, all resistance would be mulled, and their
chains rivetted for ever ? Yet those very warriors are now
marching in our train, through his invaded provinces, deal-
ing just though terrible retaliation ! From those whom he
most affected to despise, does he receive the deepest wouti:ls,
and when it Is considered that the advance of our troops !ti
Gascony will give the signal for tenfold exertions .on the part
of the Allies on the Elbe: when it is seen that notwith-
standing the levies of 700,000 made a few months since
by France, a fresh blood tribate is imposed upon Lei
to endeavour to repel the hostile storm which bursts
on her from every side; that 280,000 youths are
called to lay down their lives:, because 900,000 men in
arms are insufficient fir her defence, is it unreasonable to
expect that the hour of her complete humiliation is come ?
Who can compare her present situation with the tremrnd u;
I attitude she still maintained a twelvemonth since, without
acknowledging the vanity of all human expectations, the
instability of all earthly power, and the awfulness of that
Providence, who, in the midst of so many changes, terrains
unalterably the same, and renders the wildest projects r f
man, and the greatvst con
to the executkin of her
wisdom ?

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Cur ting, Coiterttution, anti tabo.
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PLIBLISHED.AT NO. 11, NEWCAsTLE-STRECT, STRANb.
No. 303. SUNDAY, OCTOBER, 17, 1813. • PRICE rd.
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POLITICAL DISRIISITION. present eta shows the colossus of the French power forsaken
—am.— by most of its former vassals and tottering to its foundations.
INVASION OF FRANCE. Flance, the invader 'and spoiler of nations, is invadt d and
What time has demonstrated the instability of human spciled in her turn. She, whose armies lately held in sub-
power more clearly than the preAult ! Not all the stormy jection the two exttemities of the Continent, vow scarcely
changes of the Revolution, the calamities of Princes and of able to stop the torrent of foteign pati iottsm which threatens
States, the extinction of petty Republics, and the dismem- to tear the rest of her northern conquests from her Lands,
berment of mighty kingdoms, during the last twenty years, sees leer southern provinces a prey to ictitlia'ory ma•fare. The
avenging banner lately planted on the summit of the Pyre.
have yielded more instruction to mankind than the spectacle
necs, now floats in lwr fertile valleys, and the 'Vainly pro-
. , I

of
'vol.-ions of empires, suhservietttz
plans, and the piri,cses of htr: