HI S T O R Y O F EUROPE. 



235 



In this address, and indeed in 

 the whole tenour of Lewis's con- 

 duct towards Holland, as was ac- 

 knowledged by the Dutch them- 

 selves, we recognize moral senti- 

 ments the very reverse of those 

 of his eldest brother: a sympathy 

 with the human race, and a lively 

 regard to their sympathy and 

 approbation. Lewis shewed an 

 excellent understanding too. He 

 appeared in the light of both a 

 good and asensible man, struggling 

 hard to do the best he could under 

 untoward and adverse circum- 

 stances. Yet he cannot on any 

 account be considered as a great 

 man. He had become the instru- 

 ment of a tyrant in subverting 

 the constitution of the country, 

 and establishing a form of go- 

 vernment inconsistent with the 

 habits, and repugnant to the opi- 

 nions of the inhabitants. He la- 

 mented, and endeavoured to re- 

 lax the restrictions on trade pre- 

 scribed by Napoleon. He had 

 assisted in wresting from the 

 Dutch a much more valuable pos- 

 session than ever they obtained, or 

 could obtain by their commerce; 

 which could neither restorcliberty 

 lost, nor, it may be unfortunately 

 added, go hand in hand for any 

 great length of time with its ex- 

 istence. It is melancholy to ob- 

 serve, how feeble the impulse of 

 patriotism has been in every coun- 



try where the mercantile spirit has 

 predominated, from the times of 

 Tyre, Carthage, and Gadez,* to 

 those of Genoa, Leghorn, and 

 Amsterdam.t 



Lewis Buonaparte would have 

 had a far juster claim to approba- 

 tion and applause if he had re- 

 fused to accept the Crown of 

 Holland. Yet he does not, in his 

 farewell address, express the 

 smallest compunction for that act 

 of his life. On the contrary, in 

 thatlastofficialdocumenthe seems 

 rather to exhibit himself in the 

 character of an unfortunate and 

 injured monarch ; and in this, as 

 in all his preceding slate papers, 

 he makes constant use of the pos- 

 sessive pronoun my — vtxj people ; 

 which, however allowable in a 

 lawful king, is altogether disgust- 

 ing in an upstart usurper. — How 

 much more noble, lofty, and truly 

 great was the conduct of Lucien ! 

 who, after repeatedly refusing to 

 accept proffered crowns, withdrew 

 from the tyranny of a despot, 

 though his brother, to breathe the 

 air of liberty, banished from the 

 continent of Europe, to the great 

 isle of Britain,J where he was 

 previously assured of the protec- 

 tion of government. 



It was not the wish nor the 

 policy of Buonaparte to deprive 

 his brother of the regal state to 

 which he had raised him, if he 



* Cadiz, once an independent republic. 



+ Commerce, by bringing mankind together, is to a certain extent, favourable to 

 liberty : not when it is the predominating and only pursuit. In extensive countries, 

 as in the British empire, the mercantile spirit is counteracted by landed property, 

 agriculture, and industry of other kinds, and even by a spirit of war and con- 

 quest. 



\ Lucien Buonaparte, with his lady, children, and the whole of his suite, which 

 was very numerous, including a number of artists and men of letters arrived at 

 Plymouth from Malta, on the 13th of December, in an English frigate aftei aquick 

 pabsagc.— bee Chkon. p. 294. 



