Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1813-04-06
.ry.m Beies LerJsn Nsetk Nsssssstr.
PROSPECTS
From the Rllssian Victories: .

From tfse IeuoCtusss - 7s.,..,
Thsre i. frequently an infinite ssii'.y
( in looking back upon. - state q Isisg,
which i. not only of the greatest present
;mnottance. but is necessarily the Iouns
in,ion for future action. The late escn.s
hare passed SO rapidly before our eyss'
as ratnyr to appeal to our passions 'nAn
10 our judgments Every one Is 700
mncs, struck With wonder, or impressca
with tf,ankfulness, to possess MS ceoi
faculties Of Judging and reasoning -ana
therefore, if tsis question: should DC put
Ito any ene--Whrt is.it that you in'er OF
expect foe the future from ~has aas
| passed no one, we believe, eouiu giYe
4 very distinct answer. The worst pos
sible moment indeed, for the sxefcise
| of the Judgment, is during the doMla'oi'
| Of the passions.
The first main feature in the late e
vents is this very strong one--nanely,
| that we have seen, as 1t were oetoio
our own eyes, the destruction OF one ei
the mcstimmense armies which mooein
Europe has known, or modern conque,
ror has ever been ablo to collect Ana
this designation has been Infinitely more
coaplete than any human hand eon'a'
| have made it. Ii has DOT been oy nfc
! and sword--not by battle and deiea'' out
| 5y the premature inclemsncy OF The sea- =
sons. The srmy of Crassus was over
whelmed in the Parthian Desarss--thDe
| army of Cambyses. if Evolutionary nissGr
nv may be relied upon, persisted near
| Egyptian Ozsis--sut these are two rare rare.
examples in the long period OF hsaf'y
| 5000 years But modem history has
not an example Of 10000 cavalry PERISH
lag Oh the roads Of a civilized country
in ten days. And no annals can f '9 ai'n
| parallel TO the eyant--of such an army
being in the mid career Of victory IN one
week, and, in the following week a Tue
| give from its despised enemy Is II
net as evident as that light proceeds
from the sun, that the whole power OF
| Russia was totally unequal to this effort,
| and that her empire and independence
have bsen saved by the Supreme DIS
poser of Kings and Kingdoms Anu
what renders this most striking event
still mere wonderful Is this considcra-
tion-tliat the climate OF Russia, Ike all
the hiyh ATTITUDES, is according to Its
ordinary & general course, so thorsugh'
", regular and periodical, that the days
of one winter almost exactly answer to
| those of another, and that the coming
and conclusion Of the frosts tnay be near
ly as exactly foretold as the rising and
setting of the sun.
| How did j, happen, therefore, that al
1 this particular period wheh the iale OF
empires d pended upon it, this regular
course Of the season and temperature
was broken through, and that the winter
began with a most premature severity
! Can there be but one conc 3uslon-- ana
/ that is, that it was the very will u Pro-
| violence to a-,lserve the Russian ration.
/ Our own history presents another SIN
galar example of what we shall term
| singular providentiai interposltloi'i-
Philip the Second Of Spain collected an
imiaense fleet and army for the aubjuga.
| ton OF England--and England and Eli.
zAbeth were preserved then, 40 Russia
aud Alexander now, by the breath OF
| Heaven. The armada was destroyed
almost to its last tilnber--and VIII net
| future times read the same catastrophe
of the army of Napoleon? hasone tenth
OF j, escaped?
| To come now, however, to tae pros
| poets for the future which arc opened
| to us by these events the first qoes-
| ton is, will the Russians continue much
long er with the same precipitats course
| Of victory, or will the seasons or other
causes arrest their progress, and give
breathing time TO France or her Empe:.
ror? The Russians, according to the
last accounts, had passed the boundaries
Of Prussia, and had even established
themselves in some of their strong towns
They had thus, therefore, removed tho
war from their own country, and thereby
gained so much more facilities for them
selves, and so much interval Of rslieffor
the suffering Inhabitants. Both ofthese
points are OF Infinite value. II is aprin-
cipal in the military art, that no war is
SO dang erous as that which is strictly de-
lcnsivc and i, may BIO seen by the ac-
tual practice of Bonapartc, who has al-
ways carrie the war into the cnemy's
country, that his own knowledgs and ex-
perience have recognized the truth OF
this maxim. And Russia, moreover, was
so thoroughly exhausted, that there was
absolutely no further means of supply for
either of the armies whea in MOTION
Kutusoff, therefore, by carrying the war
into Poland and Prussia, has at the same
time broken new ground, and found Hew
raeans. His former operations, wonder
fully quick as they were, must necessa-
rily have been imseded by the difficulty
ii feeding such an il, nense body OF men.
This e snky is now over. He is in the