The National Register.
London, England, 1808-03-27 00:00:00

ILEGt5Ttit.

MATICIT 2f.

" treated by the existiug la.w4, berause the% know on en-
" tering the army the exact nature of the risk I hev incur;
" and may be considered in the light of all other prrsop.
" holding places at
But cur arguments have been directed to the injury sm..
tained by the constitution rather than to that sustained
iudividuals $ and at any rate, if it he ad siseahle to inerea,::
our army and encourage its officers, it must surel% he on.
wise to place officers of the army in a worse condition than
the rest of his Majesty's guhjects. And as to t.o7s.derin,
officers as tenants at will of their commissions, that is the
very idea which we combat $ for it is not, and it c;:;mt be,
the principle or policy of the British constitution, to en.
trust the crown with this immense mass of revocable gifts,
or in other words to place in the power of the king a
force that maw be employed for the overthrow of the s!:ite.
In every instance where an officer's conduct be. called
in question by an address from either !louse of l'arli:inicht,
it is to be hoped that a Court Martial will he necesr ry for
the ultimate disposal of his case : for the example of Lord
Melville has proved that the sentence of a laltoltil tribunal
may tuirer from that of a Parliamentary majority,
On this important question we hope to find the sen,e (.f
the country on our side. Let the hand of the Ring grant
favours, but let it not be extended for the purposes of de.
privation. The parent gives life to his child ; but
has not empowered him to take that life away. The in;
can distribute the blessings of the State : but the State has
not authorized him to antml them.

REVIEW OF POLITICAL. DECL.11311.114.

No. XIII.

Tilt ncirsr, OF' LORDS.

The flippancy with which some of tht modern jolt/710;4s dip
cuss the vital interests of the country and coostitution, cannot hot
disgust those persons vi ho love oMer and 9ntind principle, and
who deli;:ht to see the means proportioned to the ced. Ili our
Disquisitinns we therefore intend to sustain entar%.
a toter of manly yet moderate argument : and, as, truth is
the oely object of thitsr discussions, the sophistries of IneenTi-
strum ion, and the antitheses of wit, must he totally tininet•sary
in conducting them. But the reverrece that ti (Inert:lir la; 'he
;irinciples of British Govertnneet does not extend Own to
-'ver:, body who ehamea to busy itins-eg about !hem; and He
profess to feel no respect toward:, the crowd who ilerlAn. #lr
the purposes of fame err of profit, either by words or on varer,
whether in or out of Parlitotent--• intellectual
contend upon the stage of polities a show—•bu-,1i1,7
who make the constitution a foot-hall, and kick tr North or
South to keep themselves warm. Therefore,in ono Rep'o'rt
Political Declaimers. where entertainment is neeeafy
as truth, we shall vary our exposures of vice and
representation and inconsisteney, sejii.imes6 and i;oor„ire, by
'Cr:1'4)&1:01y introducing some aftifles of %gayer alid nnore
rical kind : articles which may have an operation, whore
more serious Reviews cannot he brought to bear; and us;r!i•
tike light vessels, may
pursue the enent‘ into that shallow vault
'vhere 11.1 M-rate ship- would not find depth enough to Rule!.
Without murh mar preface, therefore, we shall add a inlet
rom at fashiouable wit in London to hi,. friend, a ce'n't
fataily, who lives in the country. We have several of ih'"r
letters by us, and the 11011. Mr.
to a gentleman wit I w ill fat our us %yid+ a;)
!fiat are not of a private natore. The first is, letworr, ft! a
!tore *Hoes east than uto,t which t--
future epistles

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TitE NATIOtst,

IST

• 0, •••

Perhaps to you, who-Slave been bred iu retirement, and are
blest with a father; the ornament of the Peerage, it may seem
strange that a moth who holds a high hereditary distinction
among a people that value themselves upon their national
honour; can ever condescend to make himself the tool of a party,
or the slave of a Cohn. You would be apt to thick that his
pride would utempt him from the wish of private intrigue, and
that his rank and property would place him above the tempta,
titre of ftirtune or of favour, No such thipg, Desire increaseS
with acquisition t and those who have tewest real wants have
always the greatest number of wants in imagination. He who
has already competence is eager to gain wealth ; he who pos-
sesses wealth sighs for honours; he who enjoys both affluence
and dignities, having no more real objects to purtue, creates to
himself ideul pleasures in a ribhand, a garter, or it star ; an t
sells his country, if not for a fortune Whith he does not wunr,
yet perhaps for the coloneiry of a regiment which he cannot
command► or a bow from the Ministers who despise hint w hile
they smile. To win such baubles, Often has a Penr to private
intitvnced his powerful friends against the honest well-wishers
of the King and Country ! then, ‘s hen the prize is once
possesf.ed, the devilish compact s relit;iotuly o.)served, and he
who has privately Itt!•ayed his country fur his prop, nalit
publicly deceives her for his fame.
" The applicntiou of this statement, c!..!ar R--, is endnehtedly
by no means universal; but • the arts that I L•tve d?scribed
have been practised by thousands, Some here practised
them with a thorough and shameless Conscionsues.s tCeir
own villainy: and others have deceived their 'totl.; with thfe
shadows of better motives. But whether the guilt proceed fro it
bold or weak error, the country equally sitifer; and v ou, a hO
will be one of the country's legislators, ought to be informed of
the worst.
‘• So touch for political declaimers among the Peers, Your's
truly,

OBSETWATiONS ON THE CONDUCT OP GENERAL
WHITELOC KE,
So voluminous is the evidence on this trial, th4t; aftet the
perusal, the mind has considerable difficulty in distinguishing
the leading causes of our miscarriage at Buenos Ayres. The
lateness of the season, awd the consequent bad weather, engages
our attention, as one of the principal obstacles to success—the
hostility of the natives is another, And, it is not till after con•
sidernble reflexion that we arrive at the true conclosion, name-
ly, that although both of these were serious difficulties, our
pedition was strong enough to overcoule them, and that dill
grand chuse of our failure was bad generalship,
Successful objects have been a prominent feature in the cha-
racter of the grcates; commander•, as Hannibal, Conde, Mari-
borough, Suwarrow, and Bonaparte, But in attempting !sold
enterprizes, those men never forgot to adopt any precaution
which could ensure their success. Bonaparte determined to
fight the Russians at Austerlitz, but he passed the whole of the
foregoing night in anxious preparation, Hannibal ventured to
encounter an army twice as numerous as his own at Camas, but
he had contrived a plan of battle in which the numbers of his
enemy were to be of no avail. Nelson attacked the French on
the memorable Ist of August, as soon as he could approach
them, but he had occupied a great part of nis previous crnize
in describing to his captaias the various ways in which he
would fight them, according to the particular situation in which
they might be fauna. Marlborough marched into th•! !wart of
Germany to fight a pitched battle at Blenheim) against superior
numbers, but he revolved in his mind, during a lung march, the
measures which were likely to ensure success. Now, the dif-
ference between these commanders and General Nilittelf,cke
consists in this—ethat be attempted a difficult enterpri.:e• w ichout
taking alMost any precaution whatever. it was natural to yen-
Jade that the treops would find ao ptorislos dressed uu :bet:

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