The National Register.
London, England, 1809-07-23 00:00:00

TIIr NATIONAL REGISTER:

a •
.14.

artuy reduct,;l to 60,000 WILIt are becoAue,, of the other
100,000 men ? The more Nve anithse those Bulletias,
are the lucre klisposed to question the truth of their con-
Len!

The insinaltion at the end
.of the last Bulletin that
At:sia-ia will adopt a. sinitlar policy to that i4hich sus so
fetal after the of Aus!echtt, is rather what NAr:)-
itt-op: wishes than cx?Ects. Nothin., s e thin:, but the
dz.nith of the A.:,.7lhilic C. OA L Lti, 11.10 Vc LIJON PARTE
rit:ister of the Continent. Bat taking. the account of the
French to he as correct as flier Builetins usually arc, that
is, crjosing about half the amount to be true, what is
likely to he the cad of this defeat ni.on the Contment
We clintot shut our eyes to the probability of this advrin-
Sage confirming Ore fidelity of Iiu“NAPAIITE's allies, and of,
raralizing the efforts of those who acre dispoc:,-ii to revolt ;
it may prevent the wretched Politician or Prussia from join-
ing th Austrians, and chain him still tighter to the chariot
rheas of the Tyrant. But as to the etiect it may have
von our expedition, it can, it ought to 11:11C none at all,
sinless to accelerate its motions. For, if the Continent
were subjugated, and we are right in our ideas of the ob-
ject of this Expedition, BcoN,seARTE will have to begin
his means of attack upon us again. In the mean time,
soldiers can become sailors only by habit, opportunity anti
id:sciphue, and the duty of destroying the flotilla at Bon-
and the ships of war at Antwerp, becomes more
imperilus, and the policy of doing it at any expence be-
comes more obvious. We do not think such an armament
necessary for the destruction of Cronstadt, or of the Rus-
sian &et, nor do we think the capital of Russia can be
starved by such an object being obtained. We repeat that
the safety of this island can be secured only by a destruc-
tion of the mean; of attack, and in doing this we embrace,
to their fullest extent, not only British, but Continental
clijects..

We cannot help thinking there is a great deal of what
is eailod quackery, in the conduct of some of our contem- •
poraries in their reasoning about the objects of the Expe-
ditioa now sailing. To atfect a knowledge of its destina-
tiun is to assume the possession of what nobody will give
diem credit for having, and to suppose that any delicacy
would prevent them from making that knowledge pub-
k• if tbey really were possesied of it, is what nobody
wlll believe. The fact is, that conjecture is all that
caa b., pretended to, and we do not believe that any
s,:A•eslions en this side the water will be hap-
ier •Om °lose which must strike every intelligent
bbsc:ver ou the other. The magnitude, and importance of
lite;f; p:Pi? >ratioos Gliviot!s;,- suggest a relative importance
or that which k to be at!_ailied; the immediate object of
An expeli:ion which has cost so much treasure, and which
triseloys corHide.-abk a portion of our disposable force,
mus:t llCCeSatily be to harrass BUON. APARTE, and without
vbstraeting from the honourable support of our Allies,
Lel a c msidcration of their perilous situation, We may be
19 attach sortie immediate benat to this country,
in some ulterior and more remote benefit to them. When
DCWIAPARCE was defeated, nobody in this country had
caleolated upon his inactivity on the banks of the Danube
weeks; bnt it was very fair to calculate in the
ev;:nt eve!+ e his sdccess, that the Austrian would occupy
ti,s for a considerable time, that he would be
ebli;;.c!, to drain France of troops for the maintenance

the lot ce already in ;.pain, and ia order to co:low op his
successes against the Archtle!i.e Camti.r.s. Under such eir-
Cumstances what might, and indeed ....hat out ht to ha vo
bcen -the conduct of the Government of thi, Country
Why, if it be practicable to ckstrtiv the means which
the enemy has collected fog the purpose. of arming
this County in the event -of his succeeding in the
subjugation of Ott ton Trent, at what period of the
war has this opporto%ity 0..-corred with so muck
.prospect of success Boulogee, and all the hue of coast,
is comparatively deleneeless ; the regular troops have been
drafted to Germany and Spain ; and even the public mind
in France has been a ;;end deal corrected. The splendour
of victory that prodice no intermission of war, have lest
their fascination ; end if Bi.ONA PARTE should ultimately
succeed in his gigantic plans, the wise and the enlightened
only anticipate the prospect of the Continent becoming a
more extended prison.
• We therefore again contend, that the destruction of
the Boulogne flottilla is one of the objects of the present
expedition. To support this flotilla, BUON PA aTE has
been some years building men of war at Antwerp; we are
informed, that he has twenty-eight nearly ready, or in a
state of forwardness. These vessels are said to have been
removed to a place of greater safety, but they cannot bo
removed beyond the reach of an army of 40,000 men.
These are, therefore, in our opinion, the first great ob-
jects of the armament ; with respect •to the latter we de
not think that the Island of Walcheren can- be defended
with arty prospect of success. Flushing is within cannon
shot, and nobody will assert that Aliddleburg is capable of
defence. Fortified en this island, and possessed as we ate
of the command of the sea, we look forward to the most
important consequences. Holland groaning under A ty.
ranny the most oppressive, ntay require a strong force to
suppress that spirit of the people which the ty rant
has began to discover is fast rising against. him. Let
the external pressure which has kept it down be fairly
removed, and we think the Dutch have yet a spark
of liberty that may be kindled into flame. But the
further operations of this fApedition, may be deter-
mined by movements in the neighbourhood. If they are
disposed to shake off the tyranny of the French, we are
ready to support them ; but supposing the armarnen‘t to
have attained possession of this Island, we thiok there are
other objects to whick its ulterior destination is assigned,
and among these we think the occupa.tion of Ilambro' the
most likely. It has indeed. been Suggested that the Baltic
may be the scene of action, after the- greater objects ave
attained, and if there are any probability of destroying the
Russian fleet, we should be among the first to recommend
and enforce the adoption of a plan which was likely to ef-
fect it, thinking as we do that the Emperors are united is
a scheme of geuertaconquest, plunder, and devastation.,

P ittTSMOUTII, JULY 21.

The Expedition is still at Spithead—they talk of dropping
down to St. Helen's to-night; if so, they may perhaps start to-
morrow, or on Sunday; but at present the wind is against them
going to the Downs. A great many Officers have come on shore ;
the gay plumage of the Commissariat, and the sable plumes of
the Medical Staff' are btill seen nodding in the streets. The corps
embarked here are, the Royal Stall' corps,-Royal Artillery, 9th
Light Drarootp, Second German Light Dragoons, Scotch Royals,
Slit, Bth, 11th, 93d, 26th, Std, 35th, S6th, 51st, 63d, 63th. 'llst,
77th, &st, b2d, 85!h 95th, and Col. Ccohrhut'ittorps of detach.
; went*. The total strength 11,124.