THE SPEECH OF ROLLA TO THE PERUVIANS. From Sheridan's Play of Pizarro. This animated Address is so peculiarly applicable to the present Situation of this Country, that we think no piece can be better adapted to commence the present Selection. My brave Associates-partners of my toil, my feelings, and my fame!-can words add vigour to the VIRTUOUS ENERGIES which inspire your hearts?-No-YOU have judged as I have, the foulness of the crafty plea by which these bold INVADERS would delude you-your generous spirit has compared, as mine has, the motives which in a war like this, can animate their minds, and OURS. THEY, by a strange frenzy driven, fight for power, for plunder, and extended rule-WE, for our Country, our Altars, and our Homes.-THEY follow an ADVENTURER whom they fear-and obey a power whom they hate-WE serve a Monarch whom we love-a GoD whom we adore.-Whene'er they move in anger, Desolation tracks their progress! Where'er they pause in amity, Affliction mourns their friendship!-They boast, they come but to improve our state, enlarge our thoughts, and free us from the yoke of Error!-Yes-THEY will give enlightened freedom to our minds, who are themselves the slaves of passion, avarice, and pride. They offer us their protection,-Yes, such protection as vultures give to lambs-covering and devouring them !—They call upon us to barter all of good we have inherited and proved, for the desperate chance of something better which they promise.-Be our plain answer this: The Throne WE honour is the PEOPLE'S CHOICE the Laws we reverence are our brave Fathers' legacy-the Faith we follow teaches us to live in bonds of charity with all mankind, and die with hope of bliss beyond the grave. Tell your Invaders this; and tell them too, we seek no change; and, least of all, such change as they would bring us. THE TENDER MERCIES OF BONAPARTE IN EGYPT! As the avowed purpose of BONA PARTE, is the subjugation of this Country, it becomes a matter of considerable interest to know his actual Character, and to what extent his pro mises may be confided in, and his humanity trusted, should he ever obtain footing in England. The ensuing relations will enable us to form a tolerable idea of these circumstances: SIR ROBERT WILSON, in his "History of the British Expedition to Egypt," gives the following Narrative of the cruelties committed by order of GENERAL BONAPARTE, now First Consul of France. "The Turks justified themselves for the massacre of the French by the massa cre at Jaffa. As this act, and the poisoning of the sick, have never been credited, because of such enormities being so incredibly atrocious, a digression to authenticate them may not be deemed intrusively tedious; and, had not the influence of power interfered, the act of accusation would have been preferred in a more solemn manner, and the damning proofs produced by penitent agents of these murders; but neither menaces, recompence, nor promises, can altogether stifle the cries of outraged humanity, and the day for retribution of justice is only delayed. Bonaparte having carried the town of Jaffa by assault, many of the garrison were put to the sword, but the greater part flying into the mosque, and imploring mercy.f .from their pursuers, were granted their lives; and let it be well remembered, that an exasperated army in the moment of revenge, when the laws of war justified the rage, yet heard the voice of pity, received its impression, and proudly refused to be any longer the executioners of an unresisting enemy. Soldiers of the Italian army, this is a laurel wreath worthy of your fame, a trophy of which the subsequent treason of an individual shall not deprive you! Bonaparte, who had expressed much resentment at the compassion manifested by his troops, and determined to relieve himself from the maintenance and care of 3800 prisoners*, ordered them to be marched to a rising ground near Jaffa, where a division of French infantry formed against them. When the Turks had entered into their fatal alignment, and the manifold prepa rations were completed, the signal gun fired. Vollies of musquetry and grape instantly played against them; and Bonaparte, who had been regarding the scene through a telescope, when he saw the smoke ascending, could not restrain his joy, but broke out into exclamations of approval. Indeed, he had just reason to dread the refusal of his troops thus to dis honour themselves. Kleber had remon "Bonaparte had in person inspected, previously, the whole body, amounting to near 5000 men, with the object of saving those who belonged to the towns he was preparing to attack, The age and noble physiognomy of a veteran Janissary attracted his observation, and he asked him sharply Old man, what did you do here?" The Janissary, undauntedly replied, "I must answer that question by asking you the same;, your answer will be, that you come to serve your Sultan; so did I mine." The intrepid frankness of this reply excited universal interest in his favour. Bonaparte even smiled. "He is saved," whispered some of the aids-du-camp. "You know not Bonaparte,' observed one who had served under him in Italy; that smile, I speak from experience, does not proceed from the sentiment of benevolence; remember what I say.' The opinion was *100 true: the Janissary was left in the ranks, doomed to death, and suffered." B VOL. I. strated very strated in the most strenuous manner; and the officer of the etat-major who commanded, (for the General to whom the division belonged was absent,) even refused to execute the order without a written instruction; but Bonaparte was too cautious, and sent Berthier to enforce obedience. When the Turks had all fallen, the French troops humanely endeavoured to put a period to the sufferings of the wounded; but some time elapsed before the bayonet could finish what the fire had not destroyed, and probably many languished days in agony. Several French officers, by whom partly these details are furnished, declared this was a scene, the of which tormented their recolretrospect lection; and that they could not reflect on it without horror, accustomed as they had been to sights of cruelty. These were the prisoners whom Assalini, in his able work on the plague, alludes to, when he says, that for three days the Turks shewed no symptoms of that dis, ease, and it was their putrifying remains which produced the pestilential malady which he describes as afterwards making such ravages in the French army. Their bones still lie in heaps, and are shown to every traveller who arrives; nor can they be confounded with those who perished in the assault, since this field of butchery lies a mile from the town. Such a fact should not, however, be alledged without some proof or leading circumstance, stronger than assertion, being produced to support it; but there would be a want of generosity in naming individuals, and branding them to the latest posterity, for obeying a command when their submis sion became an act of necessity, since the whole army did not mutiny against the execution: therefore, to establish further the authenticity of the relation, this can only be mentioned, that it was Bonn's division which fired: and thus every one is afforded the opportunity of satisfying themselves respecting the truth, by en quiring of officers serving in the different brigades composing this division. "The next circumstance is of a nature which requires, indeed, the most particu lar details to establish; since the idea can scarce be entertained, that the commander of an army should order his own coun trymen (or, if not immediately such, these amongst whom he had been naturalized) to be deprived of existence when in a state which required the kindest considèration. But the annals of France record the frightful crimes of a Robertspiere, a Carriere; and historical truth must now recite one equal to any which has blackened its page. Bonaparte, finding that his hospitals at Jaffa were crowded with sick, sent for a physician, whose name should be inscribed in letters of gold, but which, from weighty reasons, cannot be here inserted: on his arrival, he entered into a long conversation with him respecting the dangerous contagion, concluding at last with the remark, that something must be done to remedy the evil, and that the destruction of the sick in the hospital was the only measure which could be adopted. The physician, alarmed at the proposal, bold in the confidence of virtue and the cause of humanity, remonstrated vehemently, representing the cruelty as well as the atrocity of such a murder; but, finding that Bonaparte persevered and menaced, he indignantly left the tent with this memorable observation: "Neither my principles, nor the character of my profession, will allow me to become a human butcher; and, General, if suchTM qualities are necessary to form a great man, I thank my God that I do not pos-' sess them." Bonaparte was not to be diverted from his object by moral considerations. He persevered, and found an apothecary, who, dreading the weight of power, (but who has since made an atonement to his mind by unequivocally con fessing fessing the fact,) consented to become his agent, and to administer poison to the sick. Opium at night was administered in gratifying food; the wretched, unsuspecting victims banquetted; and in a few hours, 580 soldiers, who had suffered so much for their country, perished thus miserably by order of its Idol. Is there a Frenchman whose blood does not chill with horror at the recital of such a fact? Surely, the manes of these murdered, un offending people must be now hovering round the seat of government and . . . . . If a doubt should still exist as to the veracity of this statement, let the members of the Institute at Cairo, be asked what passed in their sitting after the return of Bonaparte from Syria; they will relate that the same virtuous physician, who refused to become the destroyer of those committed to his protection, accused Bonaparte of high treason, in the full assembly, against the honour of France, her children, and humanity; that he entered into the full details of the poisoning of the sick, and the massacre of the garrison; aggravating these crimes by charging Bonaparte with strangling previously at Rosetta, a num ber of French and Copts, who were ill of the plague; thus proving, that this disposal of his sick was a premeditated plan, which he wished to introduce into general practice. In vain Bonaparte attempted to justify himself. The members sat petrified with terror, and almost doubted whether the scene passing before their eyes was not illusion. Assuredly, all these proceedings will not be found in the minutes of the Institute-No! Bonaparte's policy foresaw the danger, and power produced the erasure :but let no man calculate on the force of circumstances which may prevent such an avowal as is solicited, presume on this to deny the whole; there are records which remain, and which in due season will be produced. In the interim, this represen B & tation will be sufficient to stimulaté enquiry; and, Frenchmen, your honour is indeed interested in the examination." In the Official Correspondence between Lord Hawkesbury and General Andreossi, the latter terms the above relation "a most atrocious and disgasting calumny." Sir Robert has since written the following letter to the Editors of the public Newspapers, which we consider as con clusive on the subject. TO THE EDITOR, &c. "SIR, "In the official correspondence lately published, there appears some remarks, which the French Ambassador was instructed to make on my History of the Expedition to Egypt, and of which I feel called upon to take notice; not in personal controversy with General Andreossi, for, conscious of the superior virtue of my cause, I find myself neither aggrieved nor irritated by the language he has used; but that the public may not attribute my silence to a desire of evading further discussion, and thus the shallow mode of contradiction adopted by the Chief Consul acquire an unmerited consideration. "The Ambassador observes, That a Colonel in the English army has published a work in England, filled with the most atrocious and disgusting calumnies against the French army and its General. The lies it contains have been contradicted by the reception which Colonel Sebastiani experienced. The pub licity of his report was at once a refutation and reparation, which the French army had a right to expect.' "But surely a new signification muşt have been attached in France to the word calumny, when such a term is applied to my account of the conduct of the French troops in Egypt, and the consequent dis→ position of the inhabitants towards them! "Independent, "Independent, however of the proofs to be adduced in corroboration of my statement, Europe may justly appreciate the probable truth of what I have written, when she recollects the unparallelled sufferings endured by the unoffending countries, into which, during the last war, a French army penetrated; and she will at least hesitate to believe that the same armięs should voluntarily ameliorate their conduct, in a country more remote, where the atrocities they might commit would be less liable to publicity, and that this extraordinary change should be in favour of a people, whose principles and resistance might have excited the resentment of more generous invaders. "I will not enter into any unnecessary detail of the numerous facts which I could urge; but I appeal to the honour of every British officer employed in Egypt, whether those observations are not sacredly true, which describe the French as being hateful to the inhabitants of that country, which represent them as having merited that hatred from the ruin and devastation with which their progress through it has been marked; and I am ready, if there be one who refuses to sanction this relation, to resign for ever every pretension to honourable reputa tion, and submit, without farther struggle, to that odium which should attach to calumny, and a wilful perversion of truth. "But, Sir, I feel confident there is no individual, who will not amply confirm all that I have written on this subject; and perhaps Europe has a right to condemn me for not having made the accusations still stronger, when I can produce general orders of the French army, for the destruction of villages and their inhabitants; when I can prove, that above 20,000 of the natives perished by the words of the French soldiery; and that every act of violence was committed, and particularly in Upper Egypt, which could outrage humanity, and disgrace the character of civilized nations. When writing a history of the campaign, was it possible not to express indignation against the authors of such calamities? Would it have been natural not to have felt the animation of that virtuous pride, which a reflection on the different conduct of the British soldiery must inspire in the breast of every Briton? I have asserted that a British soldier could traverse alone through any part of Egypt, or even penetrate through the Desert, secure from injury or insult I have described the natives as considering the British as their benefactors and protectors, soliciting op portunities to manifest their gratitude, and esteeming their uniform as sacred as the turban of Mahometanism; and I may venture to predict, that hereafter the French, traveller will be compelled to conceal the name of his nation, and owe his security to the assumption of the British character. "But, Sir, does the effect of Colonel Sebastiani's report justify the Chief Consul's conclusion, that it is a complete refutation of what I have advanced,” even if we attach to that report implicit belief in its candour and veracity? Is it possible that the Chief Consul can sup◄ pose the world will trace respect for the French name in the circumstance which occurred to Colonel Sebastiani at Cairo, and which rendered it necessary for him to demand protection from the Vizir ? or would he imagine that the apologue of d'Ghezzar Pacha was not intelligible even previous to the instructions being published which M. Talleyrand_sent to the French commercial agents ? "That illustrious senator, to whose virtues and stupenduous talents England owes so much of her prosperity, has declared, that this report of Colonel Sebastiani in no case contradicts my statement; and I should consider that high opinion . |