Star.
London, England, 1803-11-17 00:00:00

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED EMPIRE.

LETTFR VIII.
Aft thou a friend to peace ?--Suhdtte the 'rya.
The fsvord, the vengeful lword, mutt d-I in away
This boiling blood, that thus dilturbs the nations!
Talk nut of terms. It is a vain attempt
To bind th' ambitious and now ft by treaties:
Theft- they elude a thouf,ir.d Inecious ways;
Or if they cannot find a fair pretext,
Uhey butt not in the face of HE.%VL N to break therm
Curiolanus. A& IV. Scene 11.

If we were engaged in a common war, fuch as any
if thofe which nations feel and repent of, one might
x ercufeable for lending a ready ear to the reports
-if mediations, and of an approaching peace. But the
elements of difcord are too deeply concentrated in the
nature of our prefent quarrel, to allow the fuppofi.
• tion that they can be difperfed without a trial of
power, and without a great and convulfive !hock of
rms. In the ordinary competitions of rival nations,
we may hope, in lonic inftances, to difarm the aa-
gry pafiions of jealoury and envy, to inftill into the
breads of Belligerent States, fentiments of can-
dour towards eAcli. other, and to infpire their rulers
. w;th a difpontion to humanity and jußice. But in
! n war of saty.firife on the one part, and for exig-
ence on the other, it is vain to expel`.' that we can
give or receive peace from an infatiate, m(levolent,
--, and reanorfelefs enemy.
What is the kind of peace which now exills be-
tween France and other Powers ; The moll gloomy
- pen can give boat a faint idea of the deplorable anxie-
• ties of one half of Europe, and the defnlation of the
other. It is in a wort.* condition than Italy at the
time of its invalion by the Huns and Alans—it is
• the fpirit of Carthage at the end of the fecund Pur.ic
war—it is that combination of terror, inftabilit y, and
• irrefoluti iny which has always been the precurfor of
'.* great and awful catatlrophes. Would you have a
- true piaure of the Continent f—Conceive miferable
millions buried in the flames of an earthquake,
amidit the ruins of edifices, which an horde of ruth-
lefs mifcreants are ranfacking, and in expedation
; every minute of another and more fatal (hock, and
you will form a:jolt idea of every people incorporated'
with or conquered by France. In the next place,
conceive the neighbours and fpeetators of this con-
• vulfion, fenfible that they are devoted to a fimilAr
: fate, yet, from the dread of being overtaken by it,
remaining panic. truck and mor:onlefs, in the midft
' of their confufinn, difeord, lamentation, and dan-
gers, and you will have the image of all Germany.
From Naples to Berlin, every one perceives the
thunderbolt ready to fall, but fear it much lets than
the application of the means by wtich its ftroke may
be intarcepted. The wretched Continent, by its
;apathy, is inflrumental in diveiling itfelf of power
, and refpetaabiliry. Whatever aas been predifted and
brought home to their fenfes ; whatever experience
,and the flagitious career of the Corfican freebooter
•have detannarated in charaCters of blood; all that
-they feel, and all they are on the eve of (offering,
'have sot been fufficient to make them fhake off their
• grocindieh timidity. The Confular wand Teems to
"have confined them within a magic circle, in which
:they turn upon an invariable pivot, without being
able to quit the path that bunks them on to the
'precipice. Placed between a ((ingrained peace and
a necelary war, they flare in the dangers of both,
'without having the common advantages of the for-
mer; or the chances which might wife from she
-latter. his remarkable, that the incertitude of their
:politics is the principal fource of their mifery.—
Never have the horrors of war prefented a more de.
, plorable afped, nor the dangers of peace been more
manifea ; for in negotiating its reconciliation with
:! e tremendous Tyrant Republic, no State can deter-
Minn 'whelser by fuch conduit, it has committed a
intl. ea idled with prudence ; whether there be lets
`xi& in braving the hatred of B011•PAILTI, than in to.
'licking his friendthip.
Can this condition, which thus excludes the pre-
.fetvative principles of independence and tranquillity,
be called a Rue of peace I If it be, let the world
ceafe to mourn over the ravages of war; if it be
not, let the people of this empire no longer hearken
to the fyren tales of mediation, which are intention-
ally circulated by France, to bony up the hopes of
.her bankrupt merchants, and tranfmitted to this
country, to allure us from our invincible attitude of
vigilance and defiance. TAO war was not occafioned
by any difpute concerning the boundaries of a dif-
triCt, or the right of poltelfing a conceited province;
it originated in our determination to maintain unim-
paired thofe fundamental principles, without which
our fi,cial union would be dellroyed, and life itfelf
become hateful and burthenfome. Neither was it
lightly conceived, or ralbly undertaken; every effort
was exhaufled to convince the reafon, to awaken the
juftice, and to allay the ungovernable ambition of
the enemy. It was not until we were all convinced
that no reliance could be placed on the faith of the
tyrant, and that his inia6ons during peace were
more deltruaive thin his arms in war, that we re-
curred to the lail meafure of an intuited nation; and
as we drew the (word with reluttance, let us not
think cf fheatbing it again until it has been fully
drenched in the blood of oar perfidious adverfaries,
or until they have changed their eonqaering maxims,
-,od adopted others conductive to genital fafety.—
Oar Itonour demands Gitilaaioa, and fatisfadion

implies tick pariameat. We Ihould never lore fight
of the animating principle, that the c,SaraOrr of a
nation is of greater importance than its extent; and
if it be honourably upheld by virtue and prowers,
the whole colleted force of malignant paflions may
be condenfed and poured again(' it, but without effea.
Nothing contributes fo much to increale the
arength and vigour of a people, as the contemplation
of their relative power and charafter. For there is
a wide difference between national vanity and na-
tional
pride ; the former, generated by the foppery
of the imagination, flourifhes in weak minds only,
which cannot penetrate beyond the flievry furface of
things—but the latter fprings from that confcious ele-
vation of mind, which every individual feels when he
reHeds that he is a member of a community. not
lefs renov ned for its valour than for i:s love of juf-
tice. The one is oflentatious and frivolous, and, hke
drefs, impofes on the fences; but the other is folid
and invariable, and, like a cultivated intel'ed, rens
its pretenfions folely on realms and refiedion. From
thefe diftindive marks, by which the French and
Bririfh people are charaderiCed, we may form a cor-
red judgment of the degree of their refpedive public
fpirit. Ever fince the age of HENRY IV. the fpirit
of true patriotifm has been declining in France.—
During the monarchy, its place was fupplied by a
lets commendable, but nor lefs propelling motive of
anion, and Frenchmen, under the fentiment of be-
aver, often blindly fought for their monarch's glory,
at the expense of their own happinefs. In the course
of the various wars in which France has been engaged
fince the period alluded to, her martial policy, what-
ever may have been the impulfe of her ambition,
was, with a few exceptions, confonant with the gene-
ral pradice of civilized countries. She fought and
conquered, but Rill refpeded the religion and the
laws of nations. Hence, though her civil wifdom
was condemned, her military fyßem rarely fickeaed
human nature, and was often the theme of admira.
tion. Her generals and warriors were fkilful, brave,
and generous, and the principle of honour feemed to
have compenfated their want of public virtue.
But now, and ever fince the commencement of the
Revolntion, there has been an interminable void, a
dreary charm, out of which nothing honourable or
praifeworehy has emanated. With the downfall of
the Monarchy, expired alto the ancient mode of legi.
timate warfare; the gentlemanlike honour, fpirit,
and charafter of the French foldier deferred him
the moment he was transformed into a machine
of the philofophical republic. His former principles
being totally eradicated from his breaft, the wildeß
pdfions 'framed their Ration. Thenceforward, ha.
tilitics were carried on without any relpeet of things,
human or divine, and without any difcrimination of
age, fez, or condition. Their GOD abjured, their
fovereign murdered, their hands imbrued in the blood
of their fellow citizens, their little flock of private
morality vaniflied in the abfence of law and public li
Office, their homes and the tweets of donsenic life
hateful to them, from wanting the incentives to ho.
nett induflry ; with confciences thus hardened again('
r color fe, the ravenous and felonious legions of afar-
fins which France collefted, went ford% to lay walk
the fineß provinces of the world ; and what is worfe,
to fpread the penitence of their native abominable
inßitutions. In there new and hitherto unheard of
deltroydt of their fpecies, we recognize the features
neither of the blood-thiray ravage, whore epheme-
ral fury is (abated with revenge, nor of the unfeeling
executioner who maffacres in heaps the 'Mims of a
tyrant's rage. They are a monllrous, horrible, and
non.defctipt afembhise of difciplined robbers, and
cut-throats, under the legiflation and guidance of
fwindlers and cheats, whom the revolution has eleva-
ted to power from among(' the lowa dregs of the
rabble, wretches devoid of honour, even ignorant of
its qualitiea, and veterans in blood and rapine. Com-
pared with filch ruffians, the devaßating route of the
fierceß Mabratta tribes is a march of honour and
mercy. The locußs that poifon and defiance the
moft fertile diftrifts of Africa ; the whole collated
fum of evil accoraplifhed by ferocious men and favage
animals; the earthquakes which have fubverted
whole cities, the plagues which have (wept thoufands
from the face of the earth ; the war of elements with
which this world has been fmnetimes vifited and
ehaftifed, have not collededly, Since the creation of
man, produced calamities equal to thole which thtfe
=curled agents of athcifm, anarchy, and hypotrify,
have brought upon mankind. There concuflions of
nature, for ought we know, perform a portion of
good, while they diftribute evils. The true and hum-
ble fpirit of philofophical invelligation has affirred us
that in Come of thefe fports of nature, fo fearfully fa-
tal to man, the order and objpfts of creation are con-
fated and fuftained. A pious refignation in the in-
fcrutable omnifeience of that ETSRNAL NINO, the
reafbn of whofe dirpenfations is moo properly with.
held from us in this Rage of exigence, fortifies the
belief, that thole which remain obfcured from the
higheß reach of intelleftual inquiry, ate allowed for
providential ends. But it is the morel atmofphere,
which there villains have infefted: they have poifoned
the happinefs of this world for twenty generations to I
come. The wholefome in*itutinns of met, religious, ,
moral, and political, have been Outten to their foun-
dations; and even our children have been contami-
nated in a greater or Idler degree with this contagious
influenza. If the latter were becoming convakfcent
face the conclufion of the Inte war, by the pendent

adminifiration of lenitive, and connitutional medica-
ments, the needlities of obi: war have braces their
nerves and rendered them whole, firm, and vigorous.
At a period when the hearts of the virtuous are on
trial, and when unexampled dangers almrd confound
the i uudcrflandings, let us not be unthankful for this
!biking ditpcnfation of Divine favour.
The degenerated portions of Europe may now dir
cover and learn to value that genuine !pint oipatrio.
tifin which beams with fo much loth e.
On yon, nol,kft
Whore blood is fetcht from fathers of wzr proof.

The cattle which animates and hurries us to the
field of battle, is the fame for which we have often
taken up arms, and for which our forefather., at the
fira fignal, buckled on their armour. Dosing the
long revolution of a thoufand years, we have never
forgotten the Lova or ova COUNTRY. This faered
principle bears no affinity to that obnoxious abortion
of a rmichievous philofophy, which, ur-ler the name
of univerfal benevolence,combineethe worn elements
of fdlifhncfs and ambition, and excludes the pr.Olice
of thole duties which we owe in a paramount degree
to the land which gave us birth. Neither is it folly
on account of her velvet favannahs, and her fmiling
landfcapes, that we cling to our country with an af
feßionate attachment, which Arangers, who have
never felt as we feel, deem romantic. Thank; be to
Goo l ova love of country derives its exiftence from
a more malted origin. The foil is dear to us, becaufe
it is the abode of Juftice, Freedom, Induftry, and
Heavenly Light ; becaufe virtue alone is honoured
here, and every man among us, confcious of this in-
poffdlion, is proud of his name, and lives
op to the dignity of his nature. The glorious pre-
poflason flows in the blood of our kings, as well as in
that of our people. From the firft foundations of our
empire, the immortal ALFRED declared, that ir is
RIGHT THE ►EOFLI OF ENGLAND SHOULD ■E AS FREE
AS 7 Milk OWN THOUGHTS ;" and nine centuries af.
ter, a patriot king, flrong in his people's love, opened
the career of that reign of greatnefs and of goodnefs,
under which we live and profper, with the proud
fentimenß, that .4 SORE ♦ND FRED IN THIS COUSTRYI
HE ci.or.rxs 111 THE NAME (IF BRITON." Slls.li is
diftindlion between national vanity and national pride,
between the vietims of ambition ‘vithout one honour'
able principle, and the foldiers of liberty infpired and
aft.rated by the Lova or C.• -:Nrtv ; and I will add,
between the fqualid fkelerr . 7 bent on blood and ra-
pine, and the manly port r: freemen contending for
their hearths and for le;.; cimate power.

The effeas of this oppofition of ebarader were vi
vifible during the late war; and tliey have allonifhed
mankind in the ou:fet of the prefent. Their grand
And final difplay of greatnefs mull depend on you.
While the revolutionary tempeß has fwept the Con
tinent, and daily broken down portions of the ma
chine of fociety, Europe has witneffed what can be
effected by a legal Government, and a people armed
with that freedom which gives Iltength without vio-
lence, and energy without atrocity. To refill •tows
an enemy, before whom all Europe has grounded its
arms ; to diflipate with fuccefs an alarming rebellion,
and to overcome it, by the force of laws, national
nour, and confidence in a rigorous authority ; to
appal the (bores of France and Holland, and to im.
prifon their naval power; to maintain public credit
at home, and our poffefflons abroad ; to abforb nearly
the commerce of the whole world.—Such are the
fruits of that Lova or Conover, which has enabled
us to difplay moral and military refourees that have
excited the aflonilltment of the civilized world.
The Tyrant of France is now contriving for our
benefit, the glory of a triumph, which (hall deliver
one part of the earth from oppreffion, and the other
from anziety. But the means by which this happy
event (hall be enfured, mutt be thclubjeet of another
letter. O.IIL.G•CUIL

The following circular Letter has juft been ifued
to the Lords Lieutenants of Counties:—

My Loao, Wilhelm!Ayr to.
A. great inctutvenience is found to arife from the frequent pro.
'DUI. of alterations iii the eftabliOunents of corps and companies or
volunteer.. I am under the necclnty of apprising your l.ordaip,
that I Assn think it my duty in future to decline fabmitting any
propoutiost of that nature for his Majefly's approbationositkh has
fur its aloft the reduction or divilion of any troop or company
into troops companies of fanner ftrrngtb. wads Rrooplocal or
ot'ser can be given for filch redudion or &wilts.

I take this opportunity of r-viiictlieg, that is More, wheel yaw
Lordlhip may leave acclaim to mcornmend any Corps or cowpony
of volunteers far ►is lklajelty's acceptance, the proporcd
anent thereof; complete IN every particular, may be Wetted in one
at tSe blank returns which accompany thin letter; and that the
retorts fo Med up, may be tranfasittal to me at the aim time
with the saw.

It may be convenient that I estinid apprise year Lerdalp, es
this maim that there will be so abJedien en preen permanent
pay to an Adjutant who ban ferved fear yens st lead as a menelf-
(need Olen In the rqdsn, embedied eiYda. Ilindblee, or Bak
India Company's ferries, for a carped son &save rank and Its
if infantry, or 3.10 rank sad Its If cavalry; er to a Ilatjamt Mar,
who fall have lined three yews is fame of W ittptity's farces
armhole et the Raft ladia Company, far a corps of atm elfeltiv
rank sad Its If Infantry, or 1110 rank sad Ile if analry and that
to a corps of woo rank and file of infantry, sr doe et analry.bedt
an Adjutant and &Oran' Major will be aiketwed es pets
aliment pay, if qualified so shove deferibed ; prodded dist Is ell
Inch cafes the carps re which tbdit half often ate se be snubs*
as permanent pay.full agree to be astellad 11$ dam st lwl vele-
ta the year (Iv*, the number d days whisk din aid mem af is.
bantam, ne wham Minoan have keen Mewed oder the rm
sulatkes d Jaws MI, me espeasi to atoned a camels). and the
ass Commanders of the erns ritiodtrety.l6l. at the sod of mob,
year, earn smut Maw ths umber at days as mildrslio mops
Mall have aessity attiodsd media

Maar thek hotitstiseee sod coodisisoo. row Lodi* oill bo
always et liberty to recce...' &dm ea Seelefort Ms-
Jon, echo*, as the cafe may require. obit lON corps is of
the force required ; rid that the ea. Akers tosomfoodell hove
the wareiery quillestioss; sod thot the asps sod erewasolsg
Mere stem to she coodbleso probelied. 1 hem she hisour So
M, ary Lord. per Lemildee molt ebediust WNW Went.

To she Lad Lionson of tbs CositT at

e. resale.