The Sun.
London, England, 1802-10-19 00:00:00

REFLECTIONS

ON E
Pii.ESENT STATE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS.

EVERY Person well affeaed to the .Country
must' wish the Peace to last, provkled it ian be
maintained with Honour to ourselVes and without
a sacrifice of Interests and Advantages which more
thpn out weigh the blessings we derive from
The present is a new, and a most impor,taut situa-
tiori ofihings—one not less critical, not less con.
nede-d—with the future Interests' of our Country,
than that state of War, from Which we hive • so
lately emerged. A Treaty. may be signed--7:the,
forms of Diplomacy may be regularly observ,e4-..
but if a pacific disposition does not 'prevail between
the subscribifig Parties, thereat benefits of 'Peace
will not be obtained.. No man will doubt the sin-
cerity of His Majesty's Ministersin the conclusion
of the Treaty with France-7—nay, the complaint-
against them was, that, in their love of Peace they'
trusted too much to thepacific dispositions on the part
of those with 'whom they-had cOncluded the Treaty.
But have we seen any such disposition in the-Go.'
vernment of France ? Scarcely- one month has pas..,
sed since the signature of the Preliminaries of Peace,
which -has not been attended with the adoption of
measures, on the'part of the French:Government,
calculated- to excite the just . jealousy -and, appre-
hension of this Nation. •

• But we haie been.lately led more particularly to
state, and to repeat, these opinions, from the -tan
warrantable condua of BONAPARTE towards the
People of STvitzer/and—i People 'interesting to
every British heart, from the simplicity of their
Manneri, the independance of their Principles,..the
reetitude of their Conddt.duringithe War—the in-
juries they have sustained—:and, above. all, from.
the new 'Tyranny with which they are threatened.
—lf feel thus interested for them as Men—as
EtcoList-IN,TE—as Friends, to our Country, are.
theie nor still higher considerations which call upon
us to interfere for the preseivatiOn of their. Inde.
pendance, and for the purpose of eliecicing the am-,
.bitious career of the- First Consul ? 'lf we do. not
feel this, we must be prepared,
,to say that BONA.
PART E is at full liberty to annex one Nation, which.
is sufficiently weak or pliable, to France—to dic-
tate Laws to another which is_ not quite so obse„
quiousto- interfere in the Administration of a
third, where. he cannot yet publicly interpose—
and, in short, to continue and-eXtend this. system
of Controul to such a degree, as, in area, `to bring
every surrounding Nation under his Dominion.
We are- sure that neither His Majesty's Ministers,
nor the _People of the British Empire; will subinir
to this. •

The Revolution. of
.Frapce has shook ,to its .four;
dation the antient Balance of Power in Europe—
,
but are we prepared to say that no such thing shall
exist in future ?---LAre. we ready to disclaim any
connexion with the affairs of the Continent ? Ilave
we made up -our minds tacitly to witness the ag-
,
grandizement of France by the subjugation of every
neighboitring:State F—lf.so, let us look to our own
safety in a way in which we never have before con
templated it—let us surround our Island with

CtuiZers and let us become an armed Nation !
T.ficre is,uo other security, in that case, against the

daring pro-jeas of the First Consul. , '
But---No!-=His. Majesty's Ministers will sheW
the same sincerity in the preservation of Peace,.
which they evinced in the conclusion of, it.,, 'Where'
conciliation can be effeilual, without a-sacrifice of
our honour and our interests, they-will conciliate
but they will not ciuietly suffer-80-NAPARTE
stray the Independance of Switzerland, after having
himself expressly guaranteed it in the •Treaty: QED
Luxteville—they 'will not suffer him, in any
case, by a virtual infringement of the Peace
which he, has made with us, to oppress and
subdue other Nations, or' to aggrandize,his power,
so as to increase the danger to ourselves. They
know well the value of :Continental Connedion Ito
Great Britain.—BONAPARTE knows it too—and

every step he takes has for its objea to deprive us

of this advantage; in the importance of which to
this Country even Mr. Fox will agree with us,
unless indeed he has lately learnt at the Tbuilleries: