The Sun.
London, England, 1801-10-02 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

slit,

Tug Writers in• the Morning Chronicle, and, in
some other, of the Opposition Newspapers, fre,
r!oently complain of an apathy which they suppose
pervades the minds of the People of this Country.
*They should be the last persons to make this corn:
pi,' int.: The' only. instance in which that apathy
appears,, is one in which it exists: very much to
their, advantage:` 71.Wenty ye:ars ago,.. the 11/1_
patriotic language. of these Writers would not have
been tolerated by the hatigiillicizti spirit of English-
men. , Such. Wtiters; and the vehiele.s of- their
opinions, 'would have been despised and abandrined,
by 'every set and description of men ; but -it' has
peen ode of the many. evils Whichluts sprung .froth
• the French Revolution,--that if we have .not im-
bibed its pernidions principles,,,we-have,learnt from
it to become' Freethinkers in Politics ; and: the first
lesson of this do&.rine teaches' us, ,to, relinquish= all
partiality for our own Country,
. ... • •
..When Mr. Fox, in the course
.of the American
War, wished -the .:Americans success, , grave 'men
were astonished at the boldness of such‘an -avowal;
, • and he was supposed to have outste-pped the bounds
of fair °opposition. "refer such men to the pages
of the Morning Chronic*, and the boldness of 'Mr.
Fox will vanish and sink into nothing'at every line.
they read. We were called Upon lately by the
Morning Chronicle, to exult in the abundant • Har-
vest (not in England, but) ,in France ! in the
Country of our implacable . Enemy, : BONAPARTi
is, of course, .in the eyes of, these Writers,
every thing chat- is • wise, great, and :magnani-
mous, while, our own Ministers are represented'as
the most helpless 'drivellers that ever were seleet-
ed for any office. But magnanimity, and, other
great virtues, are not confined, by these-Writers, •
to the First Consul. When the attack was Made at
i_lotilogne,'a speech was put into the mouth of the
French Commander of the Gun-boats, in which he
is made to address our Seamen, advising them not
to make the attack, and assuring the " brave fel-
lows," that it was risking their lives in vain.—
We suppose the inventor of this story, so industri-
Dusly circulated by the Opposition rapers, flatters
himself that at the moment when ~the French are
t;treatening the Invasion of this Countsy, he has
dole something to rcrider the .Charafter of a French-
;-pan.amiable in the eyes 'of our 'People. Now all
this, Sir,''appears to me 'to be-pew, 'and it
alartning. novelty.;
.1-fowever widely Parties dif-
feresl, formerly, our' Country and its: in:eresta Were
'held sacred by all ; but the new Philosophy of. the
'french Revolution has taught some - of. us . to' love
our Enemy. better than ourselves. 1, Sir, have
many objeftions 'to *this Philosophy, and not. the
least among them is, that its doarines, as taught
by our Countrymen,- approach.very near to what
our Law calls Treason. ' •
When the Writers to whom I have alluded, labour
in their vocation, .howeVer nee:a-194i, I do not,
complain of them. If an Expedition like that against
ggypt prorfiises _success, we aretold it is 'contrary
to all expegation, and a' faint praise ;$ .bestowed
ppon the fortunate General.; but-, if-an enterprize
fails, Ministers must- be to blame for planning it,
and as fair a wreath is woven for the unsuccessful
hero,. as if they really SUspeaed him of treachery.
An Opposition Newspaper has been the .channel
through, which unsuccessful men of talents have
always vented the spleen of dis.lppointroent. We
might expert tp find in it, unjust, vioktrt, but some-
times eloquent inveaive. Mr. ADD I NOTON, who
was lately thought a most excellent roan, is' now
covered with fatilts, but every body' knows' that
these faults are to be resolved into one,---he -has ,
dared-49 be Minister, and that carries with it a.
"` multitild; of transgressions."--'-This, however, is
unirersally understood, and no mischief can result
from it ; but when these Writers state the French
charaeter as noble. apd generous, and that of- an
Englishman as meek and subpiissive—when they
represent the praftice of the British Constitution as
4/a9tr.y, and that of the Frenci Republic as liberty,
we feel indeed, that the chara4er of our Country-
men is in some degree degraded, in submitting with
so trench apathy ,to such reproaches, and in tolerat-
ing the circulation of those vehicles by which such
ciliumnies are conveyed.

I am, Sir,
Your's, 84c.
ANTI-GALLICAN.

THE SUN.

lOLEM DiCtki 1,11,4,51;:d AIJDIAT