The National Register.
London, England, 1808-11-21 00:00:00

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Y

of his country. Thence originated the disgraces

_ .
and calamities of the Continent 4 and the cowardice or
treachery of Mack at Ulm, is now accounted for by the
lenity of his sentence/ But the people Of this country were
snore Impartial in their judgment of that transaction 3 and
notwithstanding the successful efforts made by the Austrian

Ministry to recommend their favourite General to the cle-
mency of the Emperor, and the strong assertions made by
?tack' himself about the expediency of the surrender, they,
loudly and unanimously, accused him of perfidy and pusil-
lanimity, for surrendering himself, under any pretext,
with an army of 36,000 men, to one of 150,000 French-
Men. The people of this country were right; for there is
no excuse for dialmuMir ; and the soundmiss of their feel-
ing, and their sense of the.duties of a soldier, were justi-
fied by the' subjugation of the Austrian Afonarchy. In the
same !winner they indignantly rejected, in 'common with
Enfope the miserable plea of 'General Kleist, Gov-
enior of Magdeburg. ; zcho, in palliation of his igno-
minlousbreach of trust, assigned as a reason for surrender-
intethat fortress, Iti..par. of a .ocareity of previsions, and a
retuctaiee to have the houses of the inhabitants burned, or
firth- property destroyed. "rhe base wretch ! who, when
the'last' fortunes and the honour 'sif his country were at
itake, could find any reason sufficiently strong to shrink
from its protection, or despair of its safety. True it is,
that every villain and coward have always some virtue or
expedient in the background, which they impudently thrust
forward as a justification of their misconduct. The fatal

example he gave was followed by the Governors of Custrin,
Stettih, Nienburg, Hemeln, &c. and a monarchy, founded
on military virtue and heroism, and ennobled by actions
Anil perseverance bordering on the incredible, fell through
the cowardice of• its Generals, and the selfish intriguing
spirit of its Statesmen.

It is this tremendous example, with all its fatal conse-
qucmces, which fills us with anxiety and alarm, when we
perceive any thing in the conduct of our military coin-
manders which may have a tendency to produce similar
consequences ; and we treat them with the same impar-
tiality and j?istice, which induced us to condemn Kleist and
Mack, in refui•ing to consider the pretended difficulty of
supplying their army with prolisions, or their affected
repugnance to demolish sonic houses in Lisbon, as a de-
fence for lowering the British character in the eyes of
gurope. They were guilty of the unaccountahte weakness
of letting. pass by the most auspicious moment for re-esta-
blishing our ancient military reputation, which had fallen
from the conspicuous height, on which Marlborough and
our ancestors had placed it, through the misconduct or
incompetency of later generals. This is the irretrievable
and discouraging loss; and when we reflect that not one of
the advantages has been attained, which induced them to
compromiee the honour of the army, and the interests of
their country, we feel a difficulty in accounting for the
action in any other manner, than by imputing it to mo-
mentary madness or infatuation. however an access of
this kind might contribute to convert the indignation of
the. [Milk into sentiments of commiseration, it is not less
deplorable, that the fortunes of the British empire, and the
tate of
.a gallant army, should have been entrusted to men, u
whose ndertanditigs were not more regular and luminous.
We may be. accused of rekindling the public indi,Tna-
bon against men who art sow answering at the bar of their

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

LEGISLATIVE BODY.

Nov. 01.

. . .
I country tie"'u c rges preferred aga ns--
them, and of actin
inconsistently with the principles of humanity, as well as
of justice, in strengthening the popular prepossession
against them. We undertake the task with reluctance •
but the independence of our country, as well as of Europe,
in this momentous crisis, and the transmission of it itim-
', paired to the coming generation, impose a duty more
sacred and comprehensive thati-that of not hurting ph-
vale feelings and convenience. This indifference to tt:c
public interest, in favour of individual ease, has plunged
Europe into an abyss or misery ; and we have already had
three or four dreadful specimens that indulgence to inca.
pacity in the conduct of our. armies has been attended with
no other consequence than to make the evil more alarm.
ing. 'ff our-Officers continue to disappoint and disgrace
`their country, we tremble to think of the fate which awaits
us ; for it must be remarked, that, *in the short space of
fourteen years, almost every expedition of Magnitude,
has been unsuccessitil. At Dunkirk, the fielder, Ferrol,
Buenos Ayres, and at ('intra, we saw prodigies of valour
on the part of the soldier produce no other consequence
• than. mortification and disgrace ; and hen we take into
consideration the perfidy, inveterate animosity, and the
talentS of the enemy, we cannot be accused of utmarrant-
able motives in wishing to provide an effectual remedy
against this accumulatity, evil. Further indifference would
be criminal and dangerons in the extreme : let us now try
what a reverse of conduct may effect ; for it is absurd to
think of reform, when the abuse accumulates, so as to
I render it impracticable.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

FROM THE URCveir PIPERS.

Cretet, Minister of the Interior, delivered the followkg
Exposition of the situation of the Empire :
After having spoken of what has heen done under the heads nt
Justice, NVort.hip, Sciences and Literature, Public Institutions.
Internal Administration, Public Works, Bridges and
Industry, Trade, Agriculture, Finance, and the Navy ;
Exposition proceeds to speak.