Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1821-05-12

4 uoHc, tIidl OuT PtCSS"S
an indefinite duration; but Of tins there is,
at least, no certainty, and We should be IN
sensible to the lessons Of history and the ten
denotes OF the human character, 1t we dio
not recognize the possibility, nay prooaoii'-
! ty, of the existence of various wholly inde'
! pendent states, On the surface over which
the Union now extends. AS their prosperity
and happiness will rest, iD good part, upon
the observance of the Law of Nations as DE-
rived from the Law OF Nature, the present
generation of Americans may be held 10
confer an important benefit on their Poster'-
~, when they transmit the kno"'eoge Oh
the true principles of that law anc a i'sey
sensibiity 10 the evil aud guilt OF It's In'rac'
ton.
If the poet who describes Heaven itself as
surveying with pleasure the scene OF
brave man struggling in the storms OF fa'e'
has not been thought oxtravagant, we may
without license, point at the spectacle OF
brave nation struggling for independence
and civil liberty, with the mercenary hosts
OF league of despotic potentates, as one
entitled to the deep concern and warm ad-
mration Of the civilized world. The con-
duct of the NeapoIitan Parliame Mt and peo-
ple must, indeed, be acknowledged to be
heroic in the solemn declaration OF their re-
solve to oppose by arms the pretenslons OF
the Holy Alliance. Their resources, so
slender in the comparison of those of the as
sailants; the vast and perfec! military array
of the latter, cuntrasted with their unprepa.
redness and DEFICIENCIES; the extent of The
Austrian dominion and influence in Italy;
the recent presence of an Austrian army in
their capital as victors, the uncertainty OF
succour al any period from any quarter, the
certainty that none could be obtained before
the first and most fearful shock was encoun-
tered-are considerations which must have
been present to all. and might be deemed
sufficient to appal the sIoutest hearts and
disconcert the 6rmest wisdom. At Vienna
and Laybach 1t does not appear to have been
doubted, that as soon as the military arm OF
Austria was extended, the revolutionary ma
ton would fall PROSTATE, Gen Frmont was
to reach the Neapoitan :apital without The
necessity of striking bIow--the Carbonari,
desparing of success in so unequal con-
test, would hide their bead, or await in sub
mission the dispositions which it might
please the Imperial Court TO make. We find
the Austrian commander in chief, in bis pro-
camation from Foligno. urging the utility
! of resistance; the vanity Of hope; and even
the French Charge d'A8aires at Naples,
talking, in an official commune alton to the
! Prince Regent, OF the inevitable evils of
useless resistance and war.
! But the Neapolitans, seeing, weighing,
as they appear TO have done, ali the dithcul-
ties and disadvantages of their situation,
conscious that it was in manner forlorn, as
we'll as full of dsDger-have not, it would
seem, covered under any apprehension, nor
suffered themselves 10 be in the least dis
heartened or deadened by the general gloom
of their prospects, They have taken coun-
sci not IRON the open fears OF their friends,
or the confident menaces Of their enemies,
but from their sense OF right AMI glory, their
duty to their descendants and to the cause
Of independence, and their justly excited
rage and hate after such display of AFRO
gance, fraud, injustice and violence, as that
Of which they have convicted the Holy Al
lance in their eloquent and elevated mani
festo. They received the insulting propo-
sitions Of the Alliance with the feeling and
declaration, that
"A moments parley were eternal shame "
They started forth in vindication Of their
honour and rights, with an ardour an aPPa-
ent unanimity, which have outstripped The
expectations OF those even who entertained
the most favourable opinion OF their charac-
ter and means of defence
A scene OF this kind, animated by primer.
pie, by enthusiasm, aud by vengeance; dig
nifed by the agency of learning, talents,
rank, and royal birth. as we'll as of the fer
vid patriotism OF simple and manly feeling
in the ruder and lower classes endeared
by the most affecting associations, to all the
countries that have shaken of tyrannica|
yoke. and borne up against an overgrown 4
overweening power-exbibited on theatre
which tho most snIeudid historical recolec-