The National Register.
London, England, 1808-01-17 00:00:00

T"" 7.

JAN. 17.

;as occasionally eclipsed by the popular fiataiiiiationi of this
aspiring rival ; and Yox, Sheridan, Grey, ckc. were be -praised as
I/mercifully as their autagoniqs were blackguarded. In this
:rain the Murniag Pole continued till Mr. Pitt and his friends
e;ired from pow 4-r ; and poor Mr. Addin;qon, at the coin-
iencuractit of his Administration, was received by a shower

of invectives, epie:ranti, burlesques, and the otiler noxious con-
Itatv.of a uewlpitry magazine. But the period wa_ come when
'le Editor of tilt- Jfurniiq Post was to be visited wit h a new
ght. • One morning, to the utter ainazerneut of all the Quid-
ones,. a.-11anitesto appeared in tliva Vapor, directly recanting

!te political te►,ets which it I:ad till then so zealuu•.ly main.
and assuming for its new creed every position tha

•uuld be agreeable to the existing Administration !
• From that period, 'fas ,horning Poet has continued the etre-
mous panegyrist of the party which had before been loaded with
is abuse. When Pitt returned'to power, at the head of a feeble

.od administration, his arrangements had still the
aid acclamations of this most olutquious paper, n hile the ta-
'tits and principles of Mr. Fox, its former idol, %% ere repre-
'wed, the one as useless, the other as dangerous. The Editor

tad the sagacity to perceive the unpopularity of the broad-

ottomed administration, both at court and with the public;
therefore,like a wise rat, he did not venture to trust himself'
otung the props of so totteriug a building. But when the pre-
!nt tuiniiters ascended to power, he agnin resumed his courtly
motions; and now coatiauee to deck, ►►ith the most pompous

I-thou:dims, whatever he imag Ines N 1 ill be agreeable to his pa-

•ons in polder.

The political writings of The Morning Poe, which has flail:.
•eriounced all its former principles, without even allegiog that
is was dune from conviction, would be of little importance to
my oar, were it not that it is considered as the organ of minis-
vial sentiments, as receiving private communications from Go-

moment, and as uniionnly expressing u hat Ministers N ish to
be expressed. These suppositious, which scene not to be ill-
-landed, giie a real importance to its pontical effusions: every

oerverted principle which it asserts, every improper declaina-
iou which it publishes, arc doubly pernicious, and doubly re-
Teheasible, since they come to the public apparently fortified
*tribe sanction of Ministers, and may be considered as tenets
;ilia, when occasion offers, will be acted upon. On this :le-
vant. we shall find it accessary to watch the tergiversations
f The Morning Post with a particularly jealous eye i• and shall
present expose ono of the vilest and most unjustifiable ma.-
louvres of faction, of which it has ever been the tool.

There is nothing'which more powerfully excites our indigna-
on, than to see the spirit of faction acquire such au aseendanc)
,er men, as to extinguish, in their minds, esery generous feeling
patriotism; as to isake them rijwice at the disasters of their
ouutry, and even join itt the reprioaebes and invectives of the
lolly, provided they cat), by this means, bring confusion and
'proaelics on th:te political antagonists. Of the eXCeSbed of
its degraded and pernictoui spirit we have seldom seen a more
'coking instance, than in the late discussions about our neglect
support our Allies. The present Ministers, anxious, as
,ual with our political parties, to exalt their own fame on the
Aim of their predecissors, were very busy, last Spring, in
:barging the defeat anedestruction of our Allies on the Conti-
'at to the negligence of the late Cabinet, in not affording them
'ectual support. The Emperor Alexander gladly laid hold
the pretext thus furnished him; and inserted it with pomp
the front of his hostile declaration, In the answer of
it Cabinet to that. (ice:oration, the justice of these re-

ouches was tacitly ackagowledged, because to have re-
ted them would have been to exculpate the former
inisters, a iacritce of patty to patriotism which could not he
pected : but care was taken at the same time to introduce a
,badil story respecting great armament:, suddenly created by
le extraordiparz vigour of our preseat Ministers. 2'Ae Morning

TIIE NATIONAL REGISTER.

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S 5

Post, having got its cue, has continued to rail, in strict unison
with Alexander, against the good faith of our country ; till at
last Bonaparte has chimed in with admirable e:fect ; and we
shall now bear Alexander, Bonaparte, and our demi-official
journal skewing who shall be most successful in ruining our
national reputation for good faith and honour.
It is hard that Britain, who has ever been the dupe of her
Allies; %vim, after repeated experience of their perfidy, has
continued to waste her blood and treasure in support of the Con-
iincotal Powers ; who, for this purpose, has impaired her own
prosperity, and loaded her people with intolerable burdens—
should now be thus reproached not by the client v, but also by
her own dry:wrote progeny. Let it nut be supposed, that we
mean to advocate the cane of the last administration : their
apology was sneaking and unmanly beyond all endurance. They
only asserted that they had given no formal assurances of aid
to our allies, and that consequently no hope of aid from us
could reasonably be formed. But such an excuse was only
an aggravation of their misconduct: if it was proper to
render as-,iistance to our Allies, their fault was doubled in not
giving timer assurauces that it would be furnished: if it was
improper to aid them, this silly and pusillanimous evasion was
utterly mean and degrading. The defence of our national
honour, against both our internal and external enemies, should,
in our opinion, have proceeded upon much loftier grounds : it
should have stated, first, that we had no common interest with
toe King of Prussia, and were in no respect called upon to assist
him ; secondly, that no diversion in favour of our Allies by
land could have had any probability of success; thirdly, that
Britain was making greater and more efficacious efforts against
France than all her Allies together. It' these positions be true,
w hick we shall endeavour to show in a few words, what are we
to think of those Political Declaimers, who unite with our ene-
mies in reviling our conduct on this occasion, with the must foul
and false aspersions ?
What were our common interests with the Court of Prussia?
After one gasconading but ineffectual campaign against France,
for which be was well reimbursed by British treasure, the King
of Prussia contrived first to trick us out of some further sub-
sidies, and then perfidiously made peace with the enemy. Ile
afterwards saw the miserable ruin of the British and Austrian
armies, without making the least effort to ;id them ; and
sheaved himself abundantly rejoiced at the triumphs of France,
since he was allowed, in the mean time, to seize treacherously
on some of the defenceless smaller states, and add them to his
dominions. When the Northern Confederacy united against
Britain in the hour of her distress, the King of Prussia did not
fail to be among the conspirators for her humiliation. Yet
this same champion, after having betrayed Austria into a league
by his promises of assistance, left her to be ruined at the battle
of Austerlitz, while his Ambassadors were perfidiously nego-
tiating in the enemy's camp! But this gallant Monarch was at
length roused to action : he boldly stood forth with his own
forces to oppose the Conqueror of the Continent. And what
incited him to this heroic resolution ? Not the cause of Uri-
twin ; not the deliverance of Europe :—No ; he had tree- ,
cherouslv seized a defenceless portion of the territory se
Britain ; of that Ally to whom Prussia owed not only Noir
greatness but her very existence; and pleased with the booty of
which he had so perfidiously plundered her, stood forward to
maintain his right to: it by arms. And this is the Prince, and this
the occasion, in behalf of which Britain s.:Juld have hasteesal
to expend her blood and treasures! Had tide King of Prussia
been successful, what would have been the result? Hanover
would have been finally annexed to the Prussian dominiuns
and Britain, had she assisted him, would have contributed to
plunder herself in order to prosper his treachery. Can any but
a fool or a knave maintain that we ought, in such circus:-
stauces, to have assisted. Prussia
We have 4se said that such asilitance would have been ire-
.