Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1827-07-16
PITT. BURKE, NELSON AND WELLINGTON.
Econ. the MNew interpretation Of the Apocalypse,

racterized England during the late war, and
pives passing sketch ofeach OF the four pre-
eminent public men by whom the countr! mas
been led 10 glory. =,
SIN all the interpretations of Providence, the
rewness of the instruments is Distinguishing
feature. In the commencement. OF the great
Europeau conflict, a man stood at the head
of English affairs, lifted beyond all his prede.-
cessors for the crisis-gifted with all the quail.
ties essential TO the first rank in the conduct OIL
empire-an eloquence siugularly various, vivid
and noble-a for,itude Of soul that nothing
could shake or surprlsc-a'yigour and copious'
ness of resources inexhaustible. But he had
still hieher ground of influence with the nation,
in the unsullied honor and superiority oil all the
baser objects Of public life-the utter stainless
ness of his mind and conduct-the unHussuon-
able purity Of the zeal which burned In ms DO
som. as on an altar for the glory OF England
The integrity Of Pitt gave him mastery over
the national feeling that could not nave oeeh
won by the most brilliant faculties alone. l"
those great financial measures, rendered heceS'
sary by the new pressure oil the 'lhe, an" ="
which all The sensitiveness Of a commercial peo-
pie was alive, the nation would have trusted "
no other man. But they followed Pitt with the
proroundest reliance They honored his match
lofty principle and pure love al country, that
they felt TO be incapable Of deception. he
British minister formed class by himself -
He was the leader, not only of English counsc',
but of European. He stood on an elevation to
which no man before him had assembled. he
fought the battle Of the world, until the moment
when the struggle was 10 be changed into vlcto-
ry-he died in the night Of Europe, but it was
when the night was on the verge OF dawn. II
il could ever be said Of minister, that he con-
centraled in Himself the mind and heroic heart
Of an empire, that he was at once the spirit ana
the arm Of mighty people--Pitt was that man.
"Another extraordinary intellect was sum-
moned for separate purpose, scarcely less cs-
sential. The Revolutionary influence had made
its way extensively through the country. a
crowd Of daring writer's, from whose pens every
drop tha, fell was the venom OF atheism ana
anarchy, were labourins to peryert the public
into general rebellion, success had made them
insolen,; and the country was filled with almost
the open array Of revolt. The connection with
France was palpable; for every hue OF tempest
in that troubled sky, there was correspond
ing reflection in our own; we had the ietes, the
societies, and the spirit of France; every burst
Of strange fire from the wild and bloody rites
that Republicanism had begun 10 celebrate,
flashed over our horizon-every voice OF Its
fantastic and merciless reyelry found an echo
on our own shore.
"Burke arose, his whole life had been all un-
conscious pre- paration for this moment. His
early political connections had led him close
| enough To democracy, to see OF what 1t was
made, like Millions Sin,
-"Woman to the waist and fair,
But ending foal in many scaly fold"
ellis Parliamentary life had deeply acquaint'
ed him with the hollowness ant grimace, The
selfish disintere sickness, and the proAiga,e pu
rity of faction: armed in panopIy, he took the
field. He moved among the whole multitude
Of qucrulous and malignant authorship, giant
among pigmies, he smote their Babel into the
dust, he left them without a proselyte or a
name. His eloquence, the finest and most sim
gular combination that the world has ever seen
of magnificent fancy and profound philosophy,
yet too deliberate, too curious in its develope-
ments, for the rapid demands OF public debate,
here found its true region, here might gather
its strength like cloud on cloud, touched with
every glorious color Of heaven till il sweled in
10 tempest, and poured down the torrents and
the thunders. No work within human memo
ry every wrought an effect so sudden, irresisl-
BILE, and saving, as the book on the French Re.
volution. 1t instantly broke the Revolutionary
SpeIIt inc Natlondl eyes were opened. he nc
tilious oracles, to which the people had listen
ed as to wisdom unanswerable, were struck
dumb in the moment Of the truth appearing.
The mobiles, the populace, the professions, the
whole nation from the cottage TO the throne,
were awakened, as by the sound Of The trum-
pet; and the same summons, which awoke them,
filled their spirits with the patriot ardor that in
the day Of battle made Them inviDcible. Burke,
too, made a class in himself. AS public wri.
ter he had no equal and no similar, his place
was alone. Like Pitt, when his labor was done,
he died.
"England had now been prepared for war,
and had been purified from disaffection Her
war was naval, and her fleets, commanded by
succession of brave men, had been continually
victorious. But struggle for life and death
was to come. From 1898, France was in the
hands of Napoleon. His sagaeity saw that
England was the true barrier against universal
conquest: and he forced the whole strength of
Europe against her. A mau was now raised
up whose achievements threw all the past into
the shade. Nelson instantly transcribed the no.
blest rivalry in profession of talent and hero.