1803.) Parallel between the Ancient Romans and WModern French, 
French have had to contend, by land, on- 
ly with the Houfe of Auftria and her al. 
lies, whom fhe had treated either with dif. 
guttor difdain. 
The French and their allies, for eight 
years paft, have experienced nothing but 
lofles and defeats at fea. Carthage was 
no lefs fovereign of the {cas at the period 
of the firft Punic wat, than England is at 
prefent.. The. power and policy of Car- 
thage were not to. be compared, with thofe 
of England ; but the fhures of Italy were 
ata much greater diftance from, Africa, 
than Calais 1s from Dover. . Amilcar and 
Hannibal yielded to ncne of the Romans 
4n. point of 
Carthage yielded to thatef Rome. 
The French, like the Romans, make 
partial peaces, and miflead the weak by 
fear and promifes. The Romans did not 
deftroy Carthage till after the third Punic 
war, and aiter many armiftices, the con- 
ditions of which gave them the means of 
conquering their rivals with greater cer- 
tainty. They fuspended the war againit 
the Carthaginians, after the battle of Za- 
ma, becaule they were in hafte to transfer 
it into Iuyria and Greece. But the vet. 
fels, the talents, and pc fleffions, of which 
they deprived Carthage, leit her at their 
difcretion. Bonaparte has made feven or 
eight armiftices, which have given him 
the fortrefles of Germany and Ttaly, and 
the pillage of ail of them. He concluded 
a truce with Auftria at Campo Formio and 
Luneville, in order to unite all his forces 
againft England. It he fuceveds, ;with 
the ailiftance of the other Powers, in-mak. 
ing an advantageous peace with England, 
or in deftroying her,* he may, then at- 
chieve the revolutionizing of the continent, 
in the fame manner that the Romans, bee. 
tween the firft and fecond, and fecond ard 
third Punic wars, conquered Upper Italy, 
Spain, Greece, Iuyria, ‘acd parc of Afia. 
Juke the Romans, he reckons as much.on 
his negotiations as on his arms, and more. 
Bs: a peace that may divide, iull to fleep, 
r difarm his enemies, than upow a war 
which may fubdue them. We find inthe 
decrees of the Roman Senate, relative to 
the cities of Greece, the model of Bona. 
parte’s decree, which at once fanétions a: 
treaty, comprehending, in a general form, 
a dozen of German Princes, clailed by Au- 
gereau according to the quota of their 
con:ributions,. 
* It is needlefs to remark, thace this was 
written before the conclufion of the late 
war. 
MonTuiy Mac. No. 104. 
aby Bare them offence. 
‘to flop, in-erder to remark 'the fim litude 
ability; but the fortune of 
33 
The Romans deflroyed the cities, took 
pofleffion of the fhipping and ne and 
carvied off the mafter-pieces ef the arts 
from among theirenemies, to exhibit them 
in. their capital ; ard fome of thefe very 
fpoils are now at Paris, , They perfecuted, 
took in hoftage, or banifhedathofe, who 
It. is unneceflary 
of conduct, in every Ripert on the part 
ofihe French. They desvolifh tile fir. ong 
places, that they may relerve to them. 
felves a faciltty of again. entering thofe 
countries, which they evacuate only for 
the moment. Peace, war, and Eruces, 
all tend to the inal object in view. 
To finifh the parallel, nothing more ee 
than to compare the fortune of the French 
andthe Romans. Plutarch, after having exae 
mined whether virtue(and this word include 
ed courage, patrioti{m,and talents hed con- 
tributed more to the grandeur of the Ro. 
mans, than fortune, decides in favour of 
tle latter. . Let us pefle&t on the good for. 
tune cf Bonaparte, who in three: years an 
a half has cleared the immeafurable difs 
tance between arftate ot obicurity and the 
throne.of France ; vho fuccceded in ex. 
tinguithing civ war, and. rendering all 
arties fubmiffive. When we reflc&t on 
thefe refults, aftonifhing from their gran. 
deur, and efpeciaily from), their apparent 
incompat. bility, we cannot. en‘ertam.a 
doubt that the good fortune of Benaparte 
is more ‘extraordinary than any thing 
of which hiftory preferves the record.— 
Alexaider was bon with .an hereditary 
title to a throne; he was heir to the rew 
nown, the power, and the armies of Phi- 
lip. Czelar appeared, when Rome could 
no jonger do without a mailer; he came 
after Marius, Sylla, and Pompey ; ; his 
eminent talents, and the greatne(fs of his 
charadler, fecured to himthe rank to which 
his birth enabled him to afpire. He: em-' 
ployed fifty years of ‘his'life in the attain. 
ment of his object; and Napoleon Bona 
parte, born at an obfcure village in’ Corfi- 
ca, is become, in the fpace of three years 
anda half, the fovereign of France, and’ 
the arbitrator of the greatefl part of Eu. 
rope ! 
If we examine what he has already been 
able to do, and the means he pofleffes to- 
wards projecuting the plan of {ubjegating 
Europe, fhali Gind that the preateft dit. 
ficulties A furmounted. The move we 
attribute to his talents and genius, the 
greater is the danger; for in that cafe his 
fucceflors will be leds dependent. on that 
gocd fortune, which migit abandon him; 
F 1 tel in 
