The National Register.
London, England, 1812-09-13 00:00:00

SEPT. 13.

can't! disgrace that advocate, who, in pleading the cause of treachery, r
iv:re to crown the defence kit the example ? How would a Court of .lu,.
tice address that advocate, who grounded his extenuation at the criuw
of perfidy, on a display, in his own acts, of perfidy the most prodigious?
Jf th. sacred veil of confidence be rent from top to bottom,—if the sicorn
nerrael«tor betray his trust,—if the secret instructions of a Cabinet Mi-
nister tt
become standing jests for the anti-chamber, the gaming-house,
and the trothel,—if the fame and memory of an English Statesman are
plunged into eternal odium, through a disclosure of those sacrifices
which were destined to win the meretricious smiles of TALLitint Awn ;
and ail this by the agent whom that Minister had empkyed, and .the
very ca:itive whom lie had ridea•ed from bondage ! Why this is mon-
strous , The rousty and puerile treachery of BuolvArAttiF Silk% at
once into oblivion ! Human Nature says, the fact is int:redib!e—
Lawyers, unanimously, that the charge is libellous. Ytt there arg,
who bear witness, that both may tr: true."
- - .

Now let us see this very advocate of the " greatest states-
man" in our days, who is so shocked that " sworn negociators
sliould betray their trust," publishing himself a fact with
which neither-he nor the public could ever have been ac-
quainted, unless some " sworn counsellor -had betraed.his

trust."
" The Emperor ALEXANDER, in the autumn of last year, made a de-
mand liorolthe British Court, which I,e pressed with the eagerness of a
man disciaiaivg alt compromise,-abiding all -xtremities,—resolute to
rave and fortify his einpne, by a display of high-minded coofidence,
sagacious, criginal, and coinplet,.. What then was his demand ? Whits,
was Lusonousat's mission ? Was it for fleets, or subsidies, or armies ?
or, was it not for that which no subsidy can purchase—without which
fleets and armies arc but the drapery of war? Russia asked only for a
Leader History and o!iservath,n, too seri?los counsellors 26r an
English Court, have some little weight with these barbarians of the
North ! From forty within:l of Russian sulnects, not one could be safe ly
'elected. •From sixteen millions ioliaboing the British islands, me
alone was worthy of ALF XAN Din% choice. No Li ernroot, nor
CASTLEREAMI, nor BATHURST, nor nor ELDON, nor
YARMoui u, was tlyintglit of by him, who had himself half a would at
issue.' ALExaN Dim has real virtues in his character : he, therefore,
deems flatterers of little price. His direct intentions would be only
embarrassed by an intriguer.-01 arrogance, ignorance, indecision,
tervilay, and pretension, the autocrat of I; utsia has seen enough to hate,
despise, and dread them. Nor was his preference bestowed upon Par-
liamentary orators, all powerful in speech, as they are imp tent in ac-
tion. Nu ! He left that noisy tribe to those who like advocates better
than advisers. Neither lead mor !pass was in contemplation of ALEX-
A S at:u,—tried steel was to him the precious metal. He looked to the
tiovernor (Marquis WELL ESLIY) who had recovered India when in
egenies,—only to be ii riled, like the keeper of a lu:,atic, for the
blessings of sanity which he had imparted. The Emperor looktd to
that poweriul Statesman, whose schemes of policy, wise and seasonable,
ih ugh by Court minions fur ever thwarte& gave Spain a chance of sal-
vation from tyranny, only that every chance and glimpse of escape
night be loft twain, as they will be (mark reader, these it ords) !IC his
successors. The late Noble Secretary !Or Foreign Affairs ts..s solicittd
to undertake the protection of the Russian em;ire,—solicited by an
::bsolute Monarch,--not to offer his counsels but to issue his commands,
free from all concurrent jurisdiction, or contruul, or interference, to
build the defence of a boundless empire, from the base to the summit,
with what materials, and on what fOundation he pleased ; and thus to
wield with his single arm, the energies of that gigantic war, on the
event of which will hang the fate, not of Russia only, hut of the civi-
lised world ; and mote especially of Britain herself', from whose admi-
nistration, though tendered to him wilh all the ceremonials of good
Cbith, he has, bya degrading alliance of rancour and deceit, been frau.
duh.ntly and fatally ex..luded."
I make no comment on the sentiments expressed in these
extracts, they speak fur themselves, and must lead every
candid reader to think, that bad ALEXANDER been able to
procure, what he was ready to sacrifice the sovereignty of
iris crown to Obtain, " tried steel," that is, " the Governor
who had recovered India when in agonies," " to issue his
commands free from all concurrent jurisdiction," he might
have, found after all, that he had only gained that very
" brass" with a large portion of that "'arrogance and pre-
tension" which he had not " in contemplation," and " of
Which he had seen•enough to hate and despise."
I remain, Sir, yo'ir's, &c.

VIII.