CHAP. XXVII

The Blessings of a free Constitution,—and our comparetive Happiness.-Dire Effects produced in other Countries.-The Calamities of War described in the Situation of Leipsig.-The Allied Sovereigns return Thanks to God on the Field of Battle.-Switzerland joins the Allies.-Tottering State of Bonaparte.-Proclamation of the Allied Powers.-Victory by Lord Wellington.Accounts from Hamburgh.-Denmark joins the Allies.

THERE are but two countries in the world that are blessed with the freedom of political discussion; that England is the parent of the second, will be anticipated on a moment's reflection. When we look round us, and observe the dissolution on all sides; Europe implicitly obeying the commands of one tyrant, from the ancient borders of France to the Elbe; and the nations beyond it, almost exhausted, making a convulsive struggle to regain their independence; Italy sending forth her strength to rivet her own chains; and Spain and Portugal, like Russia, vast mementos of destruction ;-we turn with redoubled satisfaction to our home, the only resting-place for the tortured mind, the only asylum for the persecuted. After having witnessed the events of the last twenty years, and remained in domestic peace, surely the inhabitants of this island may calculate upon an age of happiness, founded on the stability of a form of government which possesses an inherent strength beyond all the systems of absolute tyranny ever invented. The three great estates of the realm so exactly counterbalance each other, that a very little exertion on the part of either will keep down encroachments on that of the remainder; and this advantage arises from the

freedom of discussion. The very soul and essence of the British constitution exists in the right of examining the measures of those who conduct the machine of state,-if the opponent of such measures becomes intemperate, and betrays more violence than is consistent with sound argument, the ministry is safe; for, however his eloquence and satirical sallies may captivate the mob, men of reflection will, in due time, condemn him; and of such is the majority of the nation composed. On the other hand, the ministry find it necessary to explain their motives of action, which, when well founded, produce a degree of acquiescence on the side of the public, that the emperor of France never did or can experience: and we have the further satisfaction of knowing, that temperate examination and temperate perseverance have caused, and will cause, the abandonment of any obnoxious proceeding.

After a contest of twenty years duration, Britain, thanks to her insular situation, her native energies, and the wisdom of her counsels, knows scarcely any thing of the calamities of war but from report, and from the comparatively easy pecuniary sacrifices required for its prosecution. No invader's foot has polluted her shores, no hostile hand has desolated her towns and villages, neither has fire and sword transformed her smiling plains into dreary deserts. Enjoying a happy exemption from these misfortunes, she hears the storm, which is destined to fall with destructive violence upon others, pass harmlessly over her head. Meanwhile the progress of her commerce and manufactures, and her improvements in the arts, sciences, and letters, though liable, from extraordinary circumstances, to temporary obstructions, are sure and steady; the channels of wealth are beyond the reach of foreign malignity; and after an unparalleled struggle, her vigour and resources seem but to increase with the urgency of the occasions that call them forth.

Far different is the lot of other countries. There is scarce a region of continental Europe, but has, in its turn, drank deep within these few years of the cup of horror. Germany, the theatre of unnumber. ed contests--the mountains of Switzerland, which, for ages, had reverberated only the notes of rustic harmony-the fertile vales of the peninsula-the fields of Austria-the sands of Prussia-the vast forests of Poland, and the boundless plains of the Russian empire-have all alternately rung with the din of battle, and been drenched with native blood."

Holland, catching the furor of the French revolu. tionary mania, has tasted the bitter cup of French subjugation; and her sacrifices to the rapacious hand of as unrelenting a tyrant as the world ever knew, will long be felt in that country.-Unhappy Spain too became the dupe of French friendship, and converted her once smiling plains and fertile fields into a dreary desert, and stained with human blood a country on which nature seems to have lavished her choicest bounties. Her energies, her counsels, be came enervated, and she must long since have sunk under the yoke of her usurper, but for the fostering and protecting hand of this country, her immor tal hero, and his victorious army.

That all the miseries here enumerated sink consi derably under their real value, when compared with Leipsig, undoubtedly one of the first commercial cities of Germany, and the great exchange of the con tinent, which has severely felt the effects of what Napoleon chose to nickname the continental system, will be clearly seen by an extract from the letter of count Schonfeld to Mr Ackerman, London; the principal object of which is, not so much to expose the atrocities of Gallic ruffians, as to awaken the sympathies and call forth the humanity of the British nation. Like that great and glorious luminary, whose genial rays vivify and invigorate all nature, Britain is

looked up to by the whole civilised world for sup port against injustice, and for solace in distress.

"In events like these, every individual, however distant, must take some kind of interest, either as a merchant or a man of letters, a soldier or an artist; or, if none of these, at least as a man. How strongly the late events must interest every benevolent and humane mind, I have no need to tell you, who must more feelingly sympathize in them, from the circumstance that it is your native country, where the important question, Whether the continent of Europe should continue to wear an ignominious yoke, and whether it deserved the fetters of slavery, because it was not capable of bursting them,' has been decisively answered by the greatest and the most sanguinary contest that has occurred for many ages. That same Saxony, which, three centuries ago, released part of the world from the less galling yoke of religious bondage; which, according to history, has been the theatre of fifteen great battles; that same Saxony is now become the cradle of the political liberty of the continent. But a power so firmly rooted could not be overthrown without the most energetic exertions; and, while millions are now raising the shouts of triumph, there are, in Saxony alone, a million of souls who are reduced to misery too severe to be capable of taking any part in the general joy, and who are shedding the bitterest tears of abject wretchedness and want. That such is the fact, is confirmed to me by the situation of my acquaintance and neighbours, by that of my suffering tenants, and, finally, by my own. The ever-memorable and eventful battles of the 16th to the 19th of October began exactly upon and between my two estates of Stormthal and Liebert wolkwitz, All that the oppressive imposts, contributions, and quarterings, as well as the rapacity of the yet unvanquished French had spared, became, on these tre

mendous days, a prey to the flames, or was plundered by those who called themselves the allies of our king, but whom the country itself acknowledged as such only through compulsion. Whoever could save his life with the clothes on his back might boast of his good fortune; for many, who were obliged, with broken hearts, to leave their burning houses, lost their apparel also. Out of the produce of a tole rably plentiful harvest, not a grain is left for sowing, the little that was in the barns was consumed in bivouac, or, next morning, in spite of the prayers and entreaties of the owners, wantonly burned by the laughing fiends. Not a horse, not a cow, not a sheep, is now to be seen; nay, several species of ani mals appear to be wholly exterminated in Saxony, I have myself lost a flock of 2000 Spanish sheep, Tyrolese and Swiss cattle, all my horses, waggons, and household utensils. The very floors of my rooms were torn up; my plate, linen, and impor tant papers and documents, were carried away and destroyed. Not a looking-glass, nor a pane in the windows, or a chair is left. The same calamity be fel my wretched tenants, over whose misfortunes I would willingly forget my own. All is desolation and despair, aggravated by the certain prospect of epidemic diseases and famine. Who can relieve such misery, unless God should be pleased to do it by means of those generous individuals, to whom, in my own inability to help, I am now obliged to appeal ?"

We have been more than ordinarily prolix on the battles of Leipsig, as those battles have eventually liberated the whole of the continent from the iron yoke of the tyrant. One-and-twenty different states, some of the first-rate magnitude, others of an inferior size, containing a population of forty millions, have been set at liberty, and thrown on the protec tion of the allied powers.