called the Richmond Inquirer: It states that he was born in North Carolina, and educated for the bar; that he was a member of the Tennessee convention; then, a member of assembly; and, afterwards, a senator of the United States; since that, a judge of the supreme court: that after having filled this station with honour, he turned his attention to military life, and soon rose to be a major general of militia. The account speaks highly of his private character and disposition, and states that he is abe fifty-five years of age.

This is the way, my lord, that these people make their generals; or, rather, I should say, this is the manner they have hitherto made them. We have our black gowns, and wigs with three tails, our counsellors, our barristers, and judges, but we rarely see any of them turn out, and take the tented field. As regards wigs, no man in America, that has hairs enough to keep his head warm, whether he belong to the bar or the pulpit, ever thinks of troubling a periwig-maker's shop; with us, we call them perfumers. Yet, although they don't wear wigs, they are not without wits; and I assure you, that they esteem the inside of the head as of much more value than the out. I have repeatedly mentioned, whether I am believed or not, I can't say, that you can scarcely find a man in that country who cannot read and write; and that the village blacksmith is frequently seen to put down the Gazette, to shoe a traveller's horse. Thus it is that General Jackson, after having been a member of a convention, a member of assembly, a senator, and a judge, commences, in what we would call the decline of life, the arduous profession of arms; and this, with motives very different from pecuniary ones; for his private fortune is said to be independent. Now, I believe I might assert, that such an instance is not found among us once in fifty years, and I am inclined to believe, they would be scarce, even in the alarm of French invasion. It really would be ludicrous to see some of those non-descripts we meet with at Doctor's Commons, performing the manual under a drill sergeant.

My lord, history has hitherto confined herself to the Maid of Orleans, and the exploits she performed against our Henry's generals, Talbot and Salisbury. Hereafter, it will speak of the Man of Orleans, and it is as well we should know who he was; and although not, like the maid, inspired by a religious phrensy, he was certainly inspired to do us more mischief in one fatal hour than a twelvemonth can repair. Whatever idea you may have of my heart, I assure you, in the language of sincerity, it aches on this occasion. Would to God, I had not to record it! This battle has cost me some agonies, in common with many others of his majesty's subjects. The British troops, on that day, immortalized themselves for their bravery; never was more heroic gallantry displayed by men. The Americans themselves attest it ;

and there were brave spirits who fell on that field, deserving of a better memorial than the temper of the times can now afford them, whose valour should live in marble and in brass.

My lord, we have met dreadful humiliations in this contest; the supremacy of the British flag has been destroyed in the eyes of all Europe, and, what is still worse, in our own. All our demonstrations by land, have met with disaster upon disaster, not to say disgrace, except in one solitary instance-I mean the attack upon the capitol of Washington; and here we displayed a ferocity in setting fire to the president's house, and burning a library, for which the Americans pretend to accuse us of Vandalism. Notwithstanding all the injuries at home and abroad, which this unnecessary, war has inflicted on us, the Times paper, when it heard that peace had been concluded at Ghent, instead of rejoicing, was the first to throw a firebrand in its face. "Let us" says the Times," yet see one of our first generals sent out. Let us behold a British force in America, capable of intimidating Madison and his congress. Let us hope to see the war concluded with one blow, that may not only chastise the savages into present peace, but make a lasting impression on their fears." This is the language held out to deceive, and to irritate passions which should be assuaged. What would the Times want? What kind of generals? What kind of armies would he send out to subdue that country, which he considers as easily intimidated as the island of Jersey or Guernsey? Have we not had generals of the first talents, and the best of veteran troops employed? What a Drummond, a Ross, a Pakenham, and a Gibbs, could not perform with a hundred thousand men, who could? Had the Duke of Wellington been at Orleans, what would have prevented his sharing the fate of Pakenham? He has no more claim to invulnerability than another man, and a Kentucky rifle would no more have missed fire, if directed against him, than against another-its mark it never misses.

The American papers state, that the watchword and countersign of the English army was, booty and beauty; for the honour of English officers, I doubt this statement. If one brave man was alive, who fell on that field, I could ascertain the fact; and if I found the statement false, I would desire the Americans to contradict it, which I am convinced they would do upon a refutation properly authenticated. These people are generous as well as brave; they have displayed their generosity in many instances, which must have made an impression even upon yourself: they would use their best endeavours to take the life of their enemy; but they would no more strip him of his honour than they would a wounded soldier of his shirt. This assertion of the American newspapers is a stigma on all the military of the kingdom. As you, my lord, can easily ascertain the fact, I beg of you, if found,

as I believe it, a misstatement, that you will, for the honour of the army, contradict it.

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*

And now, before I close this letter, which I intended should not tire you, being written on a subject which I entered upon with pain. * (Here twelve lines, and upwards, are entirely defaced, and without any connection we read)—a corrupted majority denationalizes a state, and weakens its energies. (Another break of about six lines.) Fortune has apparently been propitious-what we have lost by one contest we have gained by another. Let us not lose this also. I adjure you to reflect on what ground it is we stand-a few missteps, and we might find ourselves plunged into miseries, against which there is no combating, and no retreat.

Above all, let me impress upon you, to be sincere in this pacification with America; endeavour to forget that she ever had been a colony to Great Britain. This is the most pernicious recollec tion we have among us; and I know that among many of your counsellors and bosom intimates, and even by many members of the royal family, this ridiculous recollection is still maintained, and the idea still cherished, that she might become so again. It is an illusion of the weakest, as well as the most injurious stamp. If you wish to avoid another war with these people, which I forewarn you will prove the most calamitous one that Britain ever waged, you must treat them as an independent and high-minded people. Should you do this, and curb the insolence of petty officers in our navy, who disgrace their flag by usurping an authority to which they have no title, you may succeed in making friends of a nation, which, in a few years to come, will hold the highest rank in the estimation of the world. Let the disasters of this war be constantly before your eyes, and do not believe that a prolongation of it would have produced any changes for the better. The wisest step, since its commencement, was its conclusion; for had it continued another year- -but I forbear, my lord, I wish not to provoke an irritation; things that are past had better be forgotten, provided our memories will admit of it. Botley is still a very pleasant place, notwithstanding my year's confinement in Newgate, and the money I paid to his majesty.

Did I think that you would accept of advice from a man who really has never deceived you, and who has told you more truths about America than you ever learnt from any man living, I would recommend you to admonish the prince, if he wishes to preserve the interests of his kingdom, to place the commercial relations with America on the most favourable footing. The late contest has lost us much, and cost us more, than I can pretend to keep an account of; of this, however, you, my lord, need no information. A part of this loss may yet be retrieved, but it must be by wiser measures than we have hitherto adopted. Let

me caution you not to drive the people of America to become a manufacturing nation; should you do this, you lose a third of your strength. You may consider this as a preposterous idea; but I assure you I see symptoms of their becoming one much earlier than I ever imagined. This has been one of the many serious evils resulting from the misunderstanding with America; I view it as one of the greatest; and should you have any doubts on this head, you may easily satisfy them, my lord, by engaging an able linguist in all our various vernacular tongues, and travelling through the different manufacturing towns in England and Scotland, when, I engage, you shall find my fears are not without foundation. I am, my lord, yours respectfully,

Botley, March 20, 1815,

WM. COBBETT.

FINIS.