Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1816-02-27

"efe lifiair. perhap TO test Ito
Justice of these hopes by t e EXAMPLES S IS
antient history; toremark how little n"
civilization of the Greek states preserras
them from discord how little the ~
iinement of Rome repressed corrupt;on 5
in her populace, or taught justice to ber
rulers in their transactions with man
kind. The populace of these states a.,
rude if compared with that of modas
communities, in which philosophy a.
closes her sanctuaries to the profane. an,
sheds broader ray on society. Ye f' q
these batteries of philosophical FAM
were ever tobe realized, it had NOT sn'
ly. occurred in this age of extenaa II, &c
finement, glolifed with the wopdsr. IT,
every science, and adorned with the he's ~ u
racles of every art, that we shonl1 IN J.. MI
beheld the most splendid proaiais ,S' "e.
folly and of crime, every sea sjs;n , .:
with slaughter, every soil SMOKING
ruin. There is melancholy proof in fIo.
things. that there arc wastes in sor ;sts
condemned toPerpetual barrenness; elc.
ments, which the voice Of philosoTIn
cannot speak into order; that there mp.s
everremain a large portion Of mankind
unable to obtain, or unwilling TO prof,
by the lessons of wisdom ; slaves 70 tb";
own, or tools for the qualification Of tba
passions of others /; and err forward 20
follow to their own destruction the artf',
directors of their foIlies and their cr;ma,
We cannot dismiss these reflection ~
the condition of the most cultivated sn
cieties of mankind, and be ioreetful Of
him who occupied so large SPACE. and
exercised SO long and large an influence
in their concerns. No longer the ck.
ject of our terror or our hope, no lonee,
the theme OF party diseord. it he
permitted us to speak of him with tho.
same partiality as Of other heroes and
iconquerors. who, By a strange inccn.
srtsty. are at once the greatest curse.
and the highest admiration Of their spe.
cies.
If, indeed. the renown Of genius bore
any proportion to the upri9htneSs Of it's
principles, or the amount Of its benefit.
it would be difficult TO assign to the des.,
+, OF of France a point too depressed in
the scale of greatness. How variously
and contradictorily that renown is &.
warded by mankind, is, however. fmci.
bly, exhibited in the hero OF nerica and
the Corsican adventures tae one adm.
nistering the scanty resources of re.
public, for the establishment Of its free.
dom, and tie preservation o. It's felicity,
the other welding with comprehensive
skill the energies OF half Europe, for the
subiugation and desolation of the rest:
the one enlisting cur affections, ard de.
irving greatness from his virtue the
other borrowing lustre from the CABLING
complexion of his crimes; and in out
rage Of our hatred, and sometimes our
contempt. extorting admiration OF his Ia
tents, and even some sympathy for Lis
fall.
Posterity, unswayed by tie PROPOSES.
sions of his contemporaries, must cOu-
Gess his high calm to that dismal great
ness. which consists in The misehievou$
apsIleation Of powerful abilities. Great
he undoubtedly was, in the enterprise
which conducted him to power; in the
energy which bowed before his ambition,
and subdued to his purposes, TIE master
spirits of his nation in the policy, de-
structive as it was of the repOse Of Eu-
rope, with which he fostered that militia.
nv spirit; and pursued those schemes OF
conquest which, though eventuatlns IN
his ruin, were the most probable seen.
rites of his reign; in the boldness O.
his conc options. and the rapidly with
which he urged their accomplishment
aadfwhat mankind alwaysreckOnin Their
computation of gleatness) he perfOrm'ea
on great theatre, and his guilty amO'
ton embraced an ample range, and nu'
merous and splendid victims.
If his downfall has dissolved somewhat
of that charm which enchanted our ad,
miration. it may be asked, who else raa
occupied SO long that giddy emine0ceOn
whose height all men gazed with "onae''
and which SO many interests & PASSIONS
combined to subyertf II his lawIess
surpations and sanguinary ambition set1'
in peculiar deg"ee, to merit GU! e>t
crations,-how many Of the race 81 cray 'Sr,
ty statesmen and ruthless eohq0e'''
have deserved them less. ..
We have not on this occasion ltlS DVt
ed, expatiated too widely and ea Gso,:.
on the condition ard fortunes OF HIIOPII'
since recent experience has G itponJ