Spread o'er my mind a sombre gloom, Hail cheering light! thy welcome ray The charms of mind, of form, and face, M. THE FAREWELL. Oh, thou, whose ardent soul aspires Accept Amanda's last adieu. And every scene so lov'd and fair, The light that wisdom borrowed there. Where silver Colne meand'ring glides. RETROSPECT OF POLITICS FOR JANUARY, 1807. AFTER a campaign, which the unexampled folly of the enemy, rather than the fortune of the conqueror, rendered the most complete scene of spoil and triumph on one part, and of ruin and disgrace on the other, Bonaparte has obtained Berlin, and established himself at Warsaw. Two questions here occur,-Will he succeed in his re-establishment of the kingdom of Poland-Will he proceed forward? this base act, and Prussia, Austria, and Russia, have already paid at Austerlitz, or Auerstadt, the full reckoning of their partition. It will not end here:-the Poles remember their ancient independence, and have long felt their new masters. To a man, therefore, they are seen rallying around Bonaparte-To a man they will flock to that standard which invites them to liberty and independence. With these confederates Bonaparte cannot fail of success. The whole force of the Russian Empire will not be equal to a contest between the French and the Poles. Russia will scarcely venture to contest it, and Bonaparte will be suffered to winter in Poland without a battle. With regard to the first, it will not admit the doubt of a moment. He has conducted this affair with his usual artifice and dexterity. He is fighting his enemy as it were with resources of his own. He raises one part of the empire against another. Of all the unprincipled acts which are recorded in history, none ever equalled that of the partition of Poland. The Government of this country was indeed such as was equally incompetent to its own civil purposes, and with the tranquillity of the neighbouring States. What then?-This state of things Eight doubtless give the neighbouring States a right to interpose, and demand a new form of policy; but it could give them no right to destroy the liberty of the country, and divide it amongst them. The justice of Heaven, as sure as it is slow, has overtaken the participators in ! is Russia. No. XIII. Vol. II. G Such has been the first event of the fall of the Prussian Monarchy. It has lost Poland. Bonaparte could by no other means have reached this country, so suited to his ambition and prepared for his designs. The restoration of this Monarchy was long a favourite project with the Emperor of the French,—Poland, as a kingdom, will be a sufficient check to Russia, and a barrier against her entrance into the South of Europe. If there be a Power in Europe which France hates with more passion than another, it With regard to the second question, it is as easily answered.-Bonaparte will effect the perfect conquest, or what amounts to the same thing, the perfect restoration of Poland. But here he will stop. He knows his situation too well to venture beyond the Vistula. It is totally a different thing marching to Warsaw and marching to Petersburgh. The Russian peasantry will fight on their own fields with all he obstinacy of northern courage-Russia, out of her own country, loses half her strength,-within her own limits she is invincible, and the whole collected armies of Europe would be destroyed in detail. Bonaparte knows this, and will never invade Russia on the side of the North. What then will be the course of the war after Bonaparte has acquitted himself of his promise to the Poles? The answer is in one werd,-Peace, an immediate continental Peace. This will be the interest of all parties, and therefore cannot fail of effect. We will venture a political presage,—before Christmas, 1807, Russia and France will be at peace. The last month has supplied many other circumstances of intelligence The town has been in constant alarm with respect to the different reports from the seat of war. At one moment the Prussians are said to have been annihilated in a pitched battle; at another, defeat, disgrace, and disease, (more fatal than either,) are attributed to the French. At this period (the 25th of Jan.) there is no certain intelligence from the Continant with respect to any of these points." France is said to be on the eve of a war with Spain. We are sorry for it; Spain, like Prussia, would take up arms to her ruin. She has been a slave so long, that she can have no hopes in a contest with her master. Her spiri's must sink within her, even at the contemplation of such an effort. It is beyond her strength; but fall she must, and fall she will. Portugal must follow of course, and Bonaparte again be stopped by the It is fortunate that there are some ocean. bounds. The most interesting articles of the month are two Proclamations of the King of Prussia.In the one his Prussian Majesty enters into a kind of historical detail, for such it may be considered, of the causes of the miserable failure of the Prussian armis, and the total ruin of the Monarchy. It appears from this document that a most general treachery pervaded every branch of the Prussin Government,-its Army,-its Garrisons-its Councils—and its Nobility. There appeared to be a kind of race of treachery amongst the Governors of the fortresses, and strong towns. History scarcely presents a scene of more general || treachery. There seemed to be a resolution not to fight. Towns, provided with every necessary for sustaining a siege of two or three months, were surrendered in the same moment in which they were summoned. And what is more sin. gular, and as it were most complete in infamy, if any of the garrison happened to be absent from the towns at the time of capitulation, and thus to have escaped the necessity of surrender, they seemed to have considered this escape itself as a misfortune, and to have voluntarily hastened to unite themselves to their companions in disgrace, and deliver themselves up as prisoners. The Prussian proclamation accordingly disgraces them all en masse. It would scarcely be going too far to assert, from this document alone, that the Prussian army is declared infamous in the face of Europe. There are, doubtless, however, some most honourable exceptions. The second Proclamation states a most curious circumstance,-that the King of Prussia's Negotiators had twice signed an Armistice,-once on the 14th of October-the second on the 22d of November. The latter was proposed by Bonaparte on the violation of the former,-Lucchesini signed it, but the King of Prussia, on the approach of the Russians, refused its ratification. We have received New York Papers to the 14th ult. The intelligence which they afford is extremely satisfactory. That hasty and injudicious measure, the Non Importation Act, passed in a moment of jealousy and irritation, has, at the recommendation of the President, been suspended till the 30th of June.-This limit, short as it is, is still sufficient to answer every purpose. The Treaty concluded with this country will most probably be ratified and published long before the Suspension Bill can expire. We have the satifaction of learning, both from the American Papers and private letters, that the prejudices which had been so artfully raised by some designing and factious men against this country were rapidly wearing away. The great body of the inhabitants of the United States was firmly impressed with the advantages of British intercourse and connection, and determined to maintain them. In respect to our domestic intelligence, there have been few occurrences of importance.—It is now certain that we have lost the valuable settlement of Buer cs Ayres. The chief topic of Parliamentary discussion has been upon the subject of the late Negotiation, on which Ministers have received more than an honourable acquittal, in an implied vote of thanks by way of address to his Majesty. |