The National Register.
London, England, 1809-07-02 00:00:00

TilE .NATIONAL REGISTER.

gather from these dispaiclies is, that a destructive fever
has broke out in the army of General Victou.
The French Bulletin limply confirms the distressed situa-
tion of tht ir army, and time complete derangement of
their attempt upon Portegal—;.haLall cominnuication be-
tween the respective clops has be,..n eut off for some time,
a: ,d that their situalio:: is periloiii iii ;he extreme. We
sincerely hope the 16g.mr of our Ocrrtra Is, and the co:ope-
ration of the Spanish Patriots, enable us, to purge the
Spanish Peninsula of every oar of these enemies to the
human race. Soucy is said to have arrived in Qallicia, in
other worthy, lie has effected a disgrncetill retreat, before a
pursuirg English army.
Letters from Portugal state, that Sir A. 117;:LLEst,ET is
closely pursuing VlCTOR—that Soutr's army was in the
North of Spain, and the Marquis de ROMA NA. was expected
to make an immediate attack upon him. Indeed it was
r,llio;•ted at Lisbon oh the 6th that he had surrendered to
tic Marquis, but was aftetwards shut whilst endeavouring
to :nake his escape.

Ev a Got tenburgh Mail we arc informed, that the Norwe-
ians are in a state of insurrection, and have refused to
shut their ports against the Fwedes.—Another report has
prevailed, which, however probable, does not seem entitled
to much credit, that the principal Nobility of Russia have
menaced the Emperor with deposition unless ha recalls the
:mules destined to act against Austria, and renews the re-
Hioos of amity and peace with England.--lt is said that
Si i• JAMES SACMATtr.Z has detained about thirty vessels
bound for and Prussian ports, in consequence of
hiving received information that out of ninety-eight
vessels which had arrived at Riga, only three had escaped
condemnation.—The Britis:t feet ofi' Carlscrona is imme-
diately to proceed to the Ctilph of Finland, the measures
adopted by the Covernment of that Country being un-
use 1 ily vigorous and severe.
The coronation of the new KING of SwieorN was expect-
ed to lake place on the 20th instant. The circumstances
tinier which this Crown has been received, do not promise a
loAg continuance o;* stability to the wearer, cir anv extent
or amelioration to, the people. They must continue to
light for 111;:ir indepentlem.e, or we fear they must resign
it. in short, man is the same animal, ambition the same
seducing motive, and politics the same treacheroui. and cruel
school, that we read of in TACITU4, in MAciriAvEL, and in
ItETz.

JULY 2.

Hanover to be buried in the convulsions of the Continent.
—We do not mean to defend the policy of our becoming
principals in a war for the defence of a little ;pot of no
entrinsic value to this country. The question has now
assumed another shape, we have no longer to debate (Ten
the propriety of interfering, it is merely the extent ands
nature of our interference, and of the assistance that we
can and ought to render, which deserves our consideration
for a momeut.,---To prove that the Continent should be re-
leased from the' vassalage of BCON PA RTE requires no ar-
gument; that'it is material to our safety, nay more, that it
IS perhaps necessary to our existence as an independent
and commercial nation, will he conceded without dispute,
Is this then the moment %%hen we ought to call forth the
arduous exertion iof our utmost ability, when wc are im,
periously urged by every feeling of humanity as well es
policy, and when to the hope of success is superadded the
impelse of duty ? We think it is the moment.—Even if it
were otherwise, if all our plans had failed, if hope were
almost gone, soul if in point of fact the great eileiny of
Europe awl of man Lind n't4C stronger in reputation, in
credit, and even in SIICCCii titan the wildest imagination fy
ready to ascribe either to his power or to his au;hition,
we should still say we must oppose him with the last
and with the last man we can spare ; we had better
do this upon the Continent than at home. If this be not
assented to by every man who is capable of understanding
the language in which this proposition is conveyed, we
should exhaust our own strength and the patience of our
reader: by endeavouring to prove it. Let the Administra,
Lion of this Cous.try then take a survey of the Continent,
let them look to our Allies, the dependence that may be
placed upon them, to their present situaton, and the pro-
bability both in respect to their will anti their power to act,
so as to bsnelit, 4n4 reader the common cause ultimately
successful.

When they have done this* let them consider the prin-
, emit!, upon which the war has hitherto been carried on,
and on which it is likely to he carried on ; a war on which
the eyes of mankind are peculiarly fixed, and whatever
may be the ulterior event, let them be able to say to God
and to their country, " we have done our duty, me have
faithfully eud conscientiously discharged the important trust
that has bcen reposed inns," In this crisis, Ministers are called
npott to act not only with yigour and exertion, but they are
called upon to act with wisdom and prudence, Wisdom and
prudence arc a part (and not the least important) of the re-
, sources of the country. The actual resources of men, and
the actual amount of money we are able to employ upon
this great occasion, and the manner in which they are to
be used, arc not to be considered merely by themselves; we
must look at them in their relation to other considerations,
to the state of our population, of our manufactures and
commerce, and of the general prosperity of the country,
which are the foimtains from which these resources flow.
W should endeavour to satisfy ourselves whether the coun-
try is able to bear such drains of men for the purposes of
Continental war, as are talked of. We all know that the
population of the country has increased of late years, but
it certainly is a matter of doubt whether it has increased
in proportion to the increase of its wealth and the extent
of its possessions. It is not only the number of men we
are able to support en the Continent, but in the East and
in the Westindies, at Gibraltar, and in our different set,
tlernents. But upon taking such a view, in the most exten-
sive sense, we are still of opinion that this country is im-
periously called upon to go the full length of 'assisting the
Continent, which is said to be proposed. In every un-
dertaking, there are two points to be considered,
the object and the means. We have talked about
the means first, because we think there cannot exist
two opinions about the object and with respect
.to the employment of the means, let us persist in
'our efforts to obtain the object by varying than, and by
by encreasing, if we may be allowed the expression, the
means of employing our means. Our armaments are es.