The National Register.
London, England, 1809-11-26 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGJATEA.

plains. Under 414-theso circumstances, we highly applaud
the resolution evinced by Government of reinforcing the
British army in Portugal. This policy accords with our
resources ; and does honour to the feelings and under-
standing of the persons who support it. We feel a plea-
sure in praising the measures of Government, when they
deserve commendation ; and shall never, from party
motives, or caprice, refrain from paying that tribute,
whenever we think it due. We wish the force we had ,
there were more numerous; for it is universally ad-
mitted, that it were of incalculable advantage to pre-
serve the independence of Spain ; or, in case of fail-
ure, to render conquest aseostly to the enemy as possible.
Lord WELLINGTON possesses great talents ; and were he at
the head of an army of 50,000 men, with a more compe-
tent Commissariat, and the means of securing sustenance
fur his army, we should not entertain the slightest appre-
hension for the safety of our troops, whatever force of the
enemy he may have to- contend with. There is a strong
prejudiCe, we know, entertained by a considerable part of
the Public, against a powerful and effective interference,
on our part, in favour of the Spaniards; but this proceeds
from passion, ignorance, and misrepresentation; and should,
consequently, have little weight upon the conduct of Go-
vernment. if it unfortunately produce an injurious
influence upon the resolves of the Cabinet, and our
troops were, in consequence, ordered home ; this we can
predict, that the men who are now loudest in their disap-
probation of active measures, will be the most virulent
in censuring the opposite conduct, should it hereafter be
adopted. We tremble at the idea of the complete subjuga-:
tion of the Peninsula—it offers the enemy so many means of
annoyance against the most vulnerable part of the Empire.
A statestnan•must look beyond the twelvemonth, and cal-
culate what the naval resources of an active enemy may
. be in five years from this date, if he obtain undiSputedpos-
session of Spain and Portpgal
A terrific calm has prevailed for some days, in the
political hemisphere, portending, we have no doubt, some
dreadful storm, The man, whe impels or arrests the
whirlwind, is represented as amusing himself, in the
mean dime, in the fo'rest, of I'Ontainbleau, in a spe-
cies of subordinate warfare, preparatory to some new
enterprise, when men,
.not boars and deer, are to. be
the ganke. The modern INtIfIIROD seems to conclude, where
his great prototype began ; and .happy were it for.mankind
were his activity and passions confined, for the future, to
his present employment, He is a dreadful and unaccount-
able man Accustomed 'to restlessness, and anxious to fix
•
the attention of mankind, he seems, from clay to day, to
fc,4 a stronger repugnance to tranquillity and inaction.
Pe now hunts, with the same ardour, and impelled by the
same motives, in Fontainblcau, which mark and urge the
career of his conquests. His mind, his heart, his passions,
are impregnated with so large a composition of irresisti-
ble ardour for fame, distinction, and notice, that it would
be as easy to arrest the course of the planets, or change
the order pf the seasons, as to induce him to spend his.days
in the 4alita of retirement, or tbe innocent enjoyments of

7.51

domestic life. Few, cry tew, are in the habit of reflect-
ing on the dangers, which this ungovernable resAessue4s in
such a man implies against the tranquillity and freedom
of mankind. This indifference is to be accounted for,
upon the same principle. which exrlains the apathy
that succeeds the find terrors of a seise, or the horror
of an epidemic disorder ;—habit accommodates, by de-
grees, the pliable mind of man, to familiarity with
the most painful objects.—This observation will ex-
plain the insensibility of the Public to the . move-
ments of that extraordinary mortal. He is, unques-
tionably, the boldest, and at the same time, the most
prudent ; the most unprincipled, and most plausive vil-
lain, or hero (too frequently sinonimous), that we can dis-
cover in the history of the world. He miites the genius of
CASAR with the habitual temperance of CIiATME;; XII.; tho
boundless ambition of ALEXANDER, with the policy of his
father; the military genius and boldness of BANNinAL,
with the perfidy of AGATITOCLES ; and combines, in a word,
the greatest qualities of mind that raise and honour
.the
species, with the most flagitious qualities of the heart,
which mark its affinity with the tygcr. This composition
of Demi-god and Devil has, we grievously apprehende‘not
displayed as yet half the powers of his destructive mind, or
half the passions of his ferociouslieart. Exclusive of the
natural irritabilitY of his temper, and the insensibility of tfis
heart, custom and unrestrained lust will gradually- infue
into his character a .bold indiffereuce for opinion, foria,
rights, and human feelings.

His silence and tranquillity, in this moment, appear to
us to portend seine dangerous explosion. it is the dread-
ful calm, which precedes the hurricane. We cannot, pog
sibly, devine his future projects, or mark his eeccatrie
course: He seems to have mastered a little the irritability
and ostentation of his character, which formerly betel \ ef.l
him into disclosures and professions, which h;: frequ.ntiv
regretted, and the latter of which he was unable to fis!Ill.
Spain will, probably, be the first object of his attentio,i,
and call into action all the talents, the ferocity, and the
vindictive passions of his heart.
But he will not.move a step, nor make a demonstration,
nor betray by a single word his intention, until his means
are in complete readiness. This is, ' probably, his motive
for net appearing in the Senate. He gave that assembly
strong pledges twelve months ago, on the subject of the
Peninsula, which he has not redeemed as yet; and is pro-
bably unwilling to re-appear before them, until his means
to that purpose are completely organised. The frivolous
in Paris may be amused with the anecdotes of the,life he
leads at Fontainblcau, with the preparations for the feasts
in Paris, and the arrival of so many Kings and Princes s
but mem of !clue are anxious to penetrate his.views with
regard to Spai i. This curiosity he wishes to elude; and
this may be one of his motives for retn,ining.atsome dis-
tance from the metropolis.
Exclusive of the King of §:trxorty ; the Kings. of 134ViritIA.
WURTEMSERG, WICIITPHALIA, and the Grand,„Huise' of
WURTZBURG Are expected to pay their homage to the head
of the Confederacy. This circumstance has given rise tolbe
opinion, Opt he means to get himself crowned Emperor of