The Sun.
London, England, 1811-12-19 00:00:00

tenaplation is no longer hazardous ; when we can
look upon his most splendid achievements without
(ever that admiration shall subside into fear. The
o.d oilascination happily is past. The light of
onr own triumphs in the,field enables us to bear
without shrinking the hill blaze of his military
glork. . It has pethaps been too much the fashion
poli tidal controversy,- and• it' has given apparent
advantage in argmbetirto the opposers of the war,
that the crimes 'of Bnonaparte,,havUbeen constantly
britue,lit,forward: in conjunction With his projects.
and with his power, to reconcile us to privatioos in-
- separable horn 'a state of eiertion such as we now
maintain, and to animate u's to a continuance of the
contest. We do 'not blaMe the *production of such
topics. We have ourselves, employed them, and
shall, no don't, employ them again.' It is unavoid-
able in discei.sions 'of ethe conduct of. the enemy,
that we should mix the acts 01 the' man with those
of the warrior, and esent to ourselves in one view,,
the qu:dities for which lie is to be detested as well
as. those for which he f7is-to. be opposed. We say
only, and say it as matter ofAelf-congratulation,
that in the present state and temper of the public
mind, we coal,' fie -ly consent to give up all topics
Of inflammation, to admit to our opponents in argu-
Men' that we are at war wilb.the power, and not
With the moral. nature Of Buonaparte,•and yet should
feel assured that upon the Most dispassionate exami-
nation of the extent of that power, the -calm judg-
ment of the Country would be for the necessity of
continuing the war, and its confidence unshaken as
to our ability to maintain it. It is enough that he is
bent',upon the conquest of this kingdom, and that
Ire is indefatigable in his attempti to accomplish it.
It is true that in addition, to this he has in' him all,
that can be depicted or imagined to make him odious
in the moral estimation ,01 mankind. But we can
now afrord to leave out of our contemplation. this
latter view of his character, and it is wise oceasion-
ally to do so. So tar from the argument losing any
tLing by being placed in this single point of view,
we rather think that it gains hi force as much as in
simplicity. The appeals to our feelings against the
atrocities of the indtv,idual might seem to imply that
if he were not guilty 91 them, there would be no
justifiable cause for opposing him. But we oppose.
him not oily for what he is, but for what we are;
and pre determined to be; not because he is an
odious !jinni, but .because we are an independent
nation ; not front detestation of him. as 'a conqueror,
but from our determination not to 'be conquered.
If he were a Titnq car an Antonine; if instead'of
ceding in
,feto ity the barbarian conquerors, the
scour' es of she human race, tie were gitted with
the endowments of all those heroes uho enslaved,
oily to. reclaim and polish •nations;—if instead of
degrading. the character of, ambition by avarice and
cruelly, by unsparing eitprtion and omen revenge,
he were an Alexander,intenerosity, and ire cle-
mency a Crzsar,ut--still.slrould we not sutler to be-re-
, !axed, by the contemplation ,of his virtues, that re-
solute reoiiStanCe, which his vices ace not wanted to
sustain ; still would it be no less our duty to our-
selves'and our posterity to use all legitimate meahs,
to exhaust all practicable efforts for turning his at=
tempts against the independence of our country, to
his own confusion and destruction..
• " Examining l Iwo , caltiyly and dispassionately, he
military means of Buonaparte, we see that lie has
the direction of an armed force to which no state in
Europe can produce a counteepoise; and it is.nOt
from General Sarrazin's opinions, which may very
probabl be &tot,* on prejudice, but from idol.? •
'nation which he incidentally id 01413, that we de-
rive
a consolatory hope as to the ultimate issue of
the present struggle. If we may believe that tile,
regular organization Of the [French armies was, in
fact; very little injured. by the revolution; and that
their unexampled victories, When not owing to the
folly or corruption of the enemy, have been the re-
sult of their superior numbers and audacity, aided by
severe discipline; it may. perhaps be doubted whe-
lher the real energy of France has not lately been
diminished, 'by moral causes,
,na, nearly.the same
proportion es her extent and physical power have
'been augmented.
" Doting all the various changes of the republic,
the whole strength of the country was applicable to
military purposes; betatnie, though the ruling fac-
tions usually supported their usurpation, as Buona-
parte has since done, by means of violence, the in-
struments of that violence were a rabble, and not a
regular armed force. The present tyranny requires
and employs an army of police far more numerous,
and infinitely moreappressiv e than the army of war;
and has extended, beyond all bounds, that abusive
system of which Louis XVI. is said to have often
complained, as compelling him to ,maintain the
troops who were available against his foreign
enemies, by means of a much larger - body
available only against his own subjects.; It is
true that, the conscription, which, during the
re-
public, was confined-to France alone, is now in-
flicted on the population of a most extensive tract df
conquered territory ; but the numerical advantages .
thus obtained will probably be found to be tallaci.-
ous, whenever the vicissitudee of wat shall afford
to these 'reluctant conscripts en'opportunity of