ve men have perished by the fatal delusion, he
will find some, if not ample consolation, in reflecting, that by his
vigilance, and vigour, he has saved his country from the miseries of a
revolutionary frenzy, which has rendered, even our enemies, the objects
of our sympathy, and compassion.

Such is the narrowness of our nature, that we know not how adequately to
appreciate our preservation from an _intercepted_ evil: it is
indistinctly seen, like a distant object. The calamity must _touch_
before its powers and magnitude can be estimated. The flames of the
neighbouring pile, must stop at our very doors, before our gratitude
becomes animated with its highest energies. If Providence were to unfold
to us all the horrours which we have escaped; if all the blood which
would have followed the assassin's dagger were to roll in reeking
streams before us; if the full display of irreligion, flight, massacre,
confiscation, imprisonment and famine, which would have graced a
revolutionary triumph in these realms, were to be unbarred to our view,
how should we recoil from the ghastly spectacle! With what emotions of
admiration and esteem should we bend before the man, whose illumined
mind and dignified resolution protected us from such fell perdition, and
confined the ravages of the "bellowing storm" within its own barrier.

The dazzling and perilous claims of the Rights of Man in the abstract,
have had a long and ample discussion before the sanguinary tribunals of
another country; and the loud decree of an indignant and insulted world
has pronounced their eternal doom. Other contests may arise; but the
powers of a prophet are not necessary to assert, that such rights will
form no part of their provocation.

In France, I was repeatedly asked my opinion of the probable stability
of the peace. The question was always addressed in this rather curious
shape: "Thank God, we have peace! _Will your_ country let us enjoy
it?"--My answer was, "You may be assured of it; for it will not cease to
be prepared for war."

Alas! the restless spirit of ambition seldom long delights in repose.
The peaceful virtues, under whose influence Nations flourish and mankind
rejoice, possess no lasting captivations for the Hero. The draught of
conquest maddens his brain, and excites an insatiable thirst for fresh
atchievements--He

"Looks into the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend"----

May that extraordinary Being in whos