deed, that he acknowledges no mastery but power. This truth must
be evident to all who breathe--from the dawn of childhood, till the last
gleam of twilight is lost in the darkness of dotage. But take the tyrant
as he is, in the plenitude of his supposed strength. The vast country of
Germany, in spite of the rusty but too strong fetters of corrupt
princedoms and degenerate nobility,--Germany--with its citizens, its
peasants, and its philosophers--will not lie quiet under the weight of
injuries which has been heaped upon it. There is a sleep, but no death,
among the mountains of Switzerland. Florence, and Venice, and Genoa, and
Rome,--have their own poignant recollections, and a majestic train of
glory in past ages. The stir of emancipation may again be felt at the
mouths as well as at the sources of the Rhine. Poland perhaps will not
be insensible; Kosciusko and his compeers may not have bled in vain. Nor
is Hungarian loyalty to be overlooked. And, for Spain itself, the
territory is wide: let it be overrun: the torrent will weaken as the
water spreads. And, should all resistance disappear, be not daunted:
extremes meet: and how often do hope and despair almost touch each
other--though unconscious of their neighbourhood, because their faces
are turned different ways! yet, in a moment, the one shall vanish; and
the other begin a career in the fulness of her joy.

But we may turn from these thoughts: for the present juncture is most
auspicious. Upon liberty, and upon liberty alone, can there be permanent
dependence; but a temporary relief will be given by the share which
Austria is about to take in the war. Now is the time for a great and
decisive effort; and, if Britain does not avail herself of it, her
disgrace will be indelible, and the loss infinite. If there be ground of
hope in the crimes and errors of the enemy, he has furnished enough of
both: but imbecility in his opponents (above all, the imbecility of the
British) has hitherto preserved him from the natural consequences of his
ignorance, his meanness of mind, his transports of infirm fancy, and his
guilt. Let us hasten to redeem ourselves. The field is open for a
commanding British military force to clear the Peninsula of the enemy,
while the better half of his power is occupied with Austria. For the
South of Spain, where the first effort of regeneration was made, is yet
free. Saragossa (which, by a truly efficient British army, might have
been relieved) has indee