“tions."(6)—Now, it has not been other wise stipulated between the two nations: at least, our ministers have no proof that it bas, nor have they any reason to suppose it. Why, therefore, are they surprised? What ground have they for complaint on this head? And to what can their astonishment and their whining be attributed, if not to that unparalleled and almost inconceivable ignorance, which, in conjunction with their other qualities, have brought this kingdom into its present state of embarrassment and disgrace? It is not a want of talents that they here stand accused of, but a want of mere common information. They appear to know nothing at all of what has passed in the world for the last seven years, and still less of what is passing in it now. The fact is, that, from the moment they took possession of their ill-gotten places, all their attention, all their efforts, all their measures, both domestic and foreign, appear to have been directed to the sole object of retaining those places and of turning them to the emoJument of themselves, their families, and their dependents.--But, while we allow France to have a perfect right to declare Flushing in a state of seige (for this right is necessarily included in the rights of exclusive garrison), we by no means admit, that she has any right whatever to keep troops in the dominions belonging to the Batavian Republic, which Flushing does not. We have before proved, (7) that France, by keeping troops in the Dutch territories, even for one week after the conclusion of the treaty of Amiens, was guilty of a flagrant, and, to us, a most injurious breach of that treaty, a breach which will, at all times, be a full justification for the non-fulfilment, on our part, of any of the stipulations of the treaty; and, if keeping troops there were such a breach, the marching of more, troops into Holland in time of peace, is a further, a greater, and more outrageous breach. The reason why the ministers never touch upon this subject is evident enough: they know, that their complaints would instantly produce the question: "why did you restore any thing, "and particularly the Dutch colonies, until "the French troops had evacuated Holland;" which they could not possibly answer, except by urging the absolute necessity of keeping their places. All considerations of treaty, however, France now boldly and

(6) Il v aura dans la place et le port de Flessingue garnison Française exclusiv ment, soit en paix, soit en guerre, jusqu'à ce qu'il en soit stipulé autrement entre les deux nations.

(7) See Register, Vol. III. p. 434 et seq. which we request our readers to refer to for an ample discussion of this subject.

openly sets at defiance; she has already exercised her despotism at Hamburgh, in direct violation of her joint declaration with Russia, and she is resolved that there shall be no neutrality, a resolution which she will adhere to as far as it relates to any of the numerous feeble maritime states, which are, in any wise, under her controul, and the hostility of which is likely to injure the commerce or cramp the naval enterprizes of England.-Yet is she not without some little uneasiness as to the possible turn of affairs which may arise out of the wishes, the secret hatred, of the powers upon the continent. Her Stutgard Gazette gives sufficient proof of this. She does not wish for war just at this moment. She is not ready. Her preparations, whether diplomatic or warlike, are not quite finished; and, we should not be at all surprized, if, in order to gain time, she adopts some measure that will renew, for a short space, Mr. Addington's lease of the Treasury Bench. Should this be the result, swift destruction comes upon us. Should this artifice succeed, we shall be the slaves, literally the slaves of Frenchmen, in a very short space of time, but not one moment sooner than we deserve it.

LOUISIANA EXPEDITION -The troops destined to take possession of Louisiana, (see p. 560), are, it appears, disembarked, and, we have it from good authority, that the materials for the purposes of colonization, which were immense, have actually been sold at Helvoetsluys. First they were extorted from the Dutch, and then sold for the account of the French. What a shame, what disgusting cowardice on our part, to affect to regard Holland as an independent power! This account, as to the expedition having been laid aside for the present, is corroborated by a paragraph in the Moniteur, (see p. 561), stating, that Spain has replaced every thing, at New Orleans, in its former situation. This is, so far, exactly the line of conduct which we told Lord Hawkesbury. France would pursue. (8) France will take to herself all the merit of this conciliatory measure. She will lull the Americans till the present dispute with us is adjusted, or till after another war is at an end; that is, if English and American statesmen are not wiser and more magnanimous than they have hitherto been. To divide these two countries, and to devour them one at a time, is her object, an object which she will most assuredly accomplish, and by their own instrumentality too, unless they at once lay aside their pitiful ungene

(8) See letter, Vol. III. Register, p. 298.

rous policy towards each other, and heartily unite for their mutual interest, honour and happiness. Such an union might yet, not only secure the independence of America and England, but might, and would, restore freedom to all the states of the civilized world; but, who can hope for so desirable an event, who would not despise the Americans if they took any step towards it, with a minister who, like the "safe politician" Lord Hawkesbury, could boast of having "placed the French upon their back, in order

to bind them more closely to Great Bri"tain?" No, no; these tricks of low cunning; these little, narrow, selfish notions, must be abandoned on both sides, and must be succeeded by an open, liberal, generous system of intercourse, political as well as commercial, or both countries will successively fall a prey to their artful, rapacious, and relentless enemy. As a first step to wards a system like this, on our part, we should pay to America what was long ago her due, whether we consider her conse quence in itself or her conduct towards us; that is, we should send, as our minister to the president of that country, a person of high public consideration in this. Mr. Merry, we are told, is destined to fill this most important post. "Who is Mr. Merry?" the Americans will ask; and, indeed, most persons in this country, will put the same question, and that, too, without much chance of obtaining an answer. Mr. Merry may be a mighty good sort of a man, or, in the cant of the offices," a good creature ;" but, is he the man to go to America, as the representative of his Majesty, at the present time, or at any time? Will the Americans regard him as a suitable return for Mr. King, a gentleman always of great public consequence in his country, and, at the time he was appointed to this mission, a senator of the United States? The first minister sent hither from America was Mr. Adams, who was recalled to fill the post of vice president, and who succeeded General Washington in the presidency; the second was Mr. Thomas Pinckney, who had been for about fifteen years in the legislator of his own state, and in that of the general government, and who has, since his return home, been a candidate for the presidency; the last was Mr. King, a senator of the United States, as we have just observed, and a person who is now looked up to as the successor of the president. To say nothing of the policy, is it decorous, is it just, we ask, to repay these marks of high respect by sending as ministers to America, consuls, secretaries, chargés des affaires, the mere stop-gaps and journeymen of the corps

diplomatic, men who have been trained up to the trade, who follow diplomacy for bread, who (to pass over their incapacity) have not the means to give a dinner, and, if they had, have not the manners wherewith to receive and entertain their guests? Is this, we ask, the sort of persons to send as plenipotentiaries, as conservators of his Majesty's honour and of the interests of his people, in a country, with which we have a greater and closer connexion than with any other upon earth, and which is, too, situated at such a distance as, in case of emergency, absolutely precludes the possibility of our minister's receiving instructious from home? We have heard it suggested, that, because the Americans have no aristocracy themselves, it is rather a compliment than otherwise, not to send noblemen amongst them. Never was there so weak, so utterly foolish a notion! They have, indeed, no titles, but they have their great men; their senators, their members of Congress, their governors of States, their chief justices, and their chancellors; these, and these only, they send on diplomatic missions, expecting, and having a right to expect, a suitable return for this mark of respect to foreign powers. What would, what could, Mr. Merry, or any such person, do in America? He would be overawed, he would be borne down by the French minister. He would be almost totally unknown amongst the great, and unheard of amongst the mass of the people. Can a person so situated serve his country? No; but, Mr. Merry must be provided for; there's the answer! there's the joint answer from Downing Street and the Treasury! Let him, let him be provided for; give him a pension, give him a sinecure, give him any thing in the shape of money, let him share, largely share, in the good things of "the

family;" but, in God's name, let him not go to the country, in which, above all others, we stand in need of a great, and enlightened, and high-minded statesman !

LINOIS'S SQUADRON.-If this squadron, which, as our readers will remember, sailed from Brest, with seven thousand men, just after the promulgation of the king's mes sage, should stop at the Brazils, Buonaparté will certainly say, it was intended for "colonial service," and the ministers, should they, unhappily for the country, continue in their places, may cite it as a proof of the Consul's pacific intentions.-The Brazils were the only pledge we had for the remnant of independence in Portugal; if those colonies are now gone (and the fact is strongly suspected) we may, in a very short

time, even though war should not take place, expect to see Portugal united to Spain, in exchange for provinces bordering on France. This plan, we are well assured, has been long in agitation; and, we believe, that it is now upon the point of accomplishment, though a word of it is not to be found in the archives of Lord Hawkesbury's office. If Linois and Decaen do not make a stay at Brazil, they will, doubtless, call-in at that "tavern," the Cape of Good Hope, which they will be able to render an excellent" free-port," and will, in so much at least, strictly fulfil the treaty of Amiens!

SAINT DOMINGO.-The intelligence from this colony continues to be favourable to the French, and, therefore, unfavourable to

us.

The troops that lately sailed from Dunkirk, will, indeed, arrive in a very bad season, and, we hope, they will be soon unfit for any expedition against Jamaica. The Spanish part of the island is perfectly tranquil; and, in case of war, our privateers will no longer find shelter in the Bay of Samana,heretofore a most convenient rendezyous for them -If France finds herself embarrassed with the West-India Colonies, in war, she will instantly let loose her negroes and ours too; and thus, the peace of Amiens, may produce the accomplishment of Mr. Wilberforce's wishes, in a way and in a degree which he could scarcely have hoped, just at the time, too, that that terrestrial paradise, Sierra Leona, after an expenditure of the public money to the amount of £100,000, is about to be abandoned !-Should war really be the result of the present dispute (if there be any dispute), it will be, according to Lord Castlereagh's principle, a moot point with the ministry, whether they shall assist the blacks to kill the French, or the French to kill the blacks. Their object, their great, and, indeed, their only object (next to that of keeping their places), in permitting the French armament to sail into the neighbourhood of Jamaica, previous to the conclusion of the Definitive Treaty, was, to destroy the black_empire;" to attack the French, therefore, in St. Domingo, would be to revive, and confirm for ever, this frightful black empire; to block the French up in the island, or to prevent them from receiving supplies of men and arms, would have the same effect; for, still the blacks would, in that case, again become masters. What, therefore, will his lordship do? We should be glad if some one would discover and communicate to us his intentions as to this point, which we find to be one of the most knotty that we ever met with.

CHANGE OF MINISTRY.-Before we enter on the few remarks we have room to make on this subject, it seems necessary to notice a paragraph, which has appeared in the True Briton, by way of contradiction to the assurance, on which we stated, that Mr. J. Hiley Addington was the author of the article, in which the New Opposition are styled "blood-bounds." The True Britou thinks itself bound to "declare so"lemnly," that Mr. J. H. Addington was not the author of the article in question, a declaration, which, especially when we consider its solemnity, it is fair to attribute to the said Mr. Addington himself, and which, though it cannot possibly change our opinion as to the fact, we are willing to receive as a virtual acknowledgment of past offences, and a tacit promise of future good behaviour.-In a subsequent paragraph, published a day later than the former, the offensive expression is pared down, in its application, so as to extend only to ourselves. Surprizing! How long has the writer of this work been a "little band?" We can remember when the ministerial hirelings, in order to excite the ignorant mob to demolish his house, called him a "solitary

66

American, opposed to the peace through envy of British prosperity "The truth is, that the expression blood-bounds, as applied to the noblemen and gentlemen, who opposed the disgraceful and fatal peace of Amiens, besides its intrinsic insolence and brutality, was peculiarly ill-timed it was soon found to have produced, on the public, an effect, exactly the contrary to what was intended; and, therefore, poor Heriot was made the scape-goat to carry off the sins of "the Family."-As to the change of ministry, about which so much has been said, we know nothing more than we did last week, which is nothing at all. The paragraphs which have appeared, on this subject, in the True Briton, we regard as no more than an indication of the wishes of the Addingtons and Hawkesburies, whose object, doubtless, is to shelter themselves, under the shield of Mr. Pitt, not only from ejectment, but also from that "deep re"sponsibility," which they begin to perceive may be actually called for at their hands. Lord St. Vincent they wish to get rid of, in order to pacify the nation with respect to the feet; for, while he is supported, the minister can never hold up his head against the cry for his fifty ships of the line. Hence all the paragraphs, which have been circulated through the True Briton, for this month past, expressing the public wish for a change at the Admiralty, and for an acces sion of Mr. Pitt to the ministry :-" Ą

577]

TO THE CHANCELLOR

CHEQUER.

OF THE EX

SIR, Before I enter on the 3d division of my subject, to wit, a comparison between the receipts and expenditure of war, if it had continued, and the receipts and expenditure of your peace, if it continue, I think it peculiarly proper to remind you of the opinions, as to this point, given by Mr. Windham, in his speech on the Preliminary Treaty, delivered in the House of Commons, on the 4th of November, 1801. My extract will be rather long, but not longer than useful, if you, and your colleagues, give that attention to it, which it merits, and which, at the time when the speech met your ear, you were too lofty to bestow

The evils of war are, generally speaking, "to be comprised under three heads: the "loss of lives and the consequent affliction "brought upon friends and families; the "loss of money, meaning, by that, money "expended in a way not to be beneficial "to the country that raises it; and the loss "of money in another sense, that is to say, "money not got; by which I mean the interruption given to national industry, " and the diminution of the productions "thence arising, either by the number of "hands withdrawn from useful labour, "(which is probably however but little "material), or by the embarrassments and "restraints which in a state of war impede "and clog the operations of commerce."With this enumeration in our hands, let us consider, in what so very violent a degree, the present armed truce, or peace, "if you choose to call it so, differs from "what might have been our state, in the "case so much dreaded and deprecated, of " a continuation of the war.-To take the "last first, the loss of national wealth by "the interruption given to commerce and "industry; such is the singular nature of "this war, such the unexampled conse

quences with which it has been attended, "that it becomes a question, and one in "itself of the most anxious and critical im"portance, on which side of the account "the consequences of peace in this respect are to be placed: whether, instead of "balancing the dangers of peace, if such VOL. III.

"there are, by accessions which it will "bring to our wealth and commerce, we are not rather called upon to prove some "great advantages which peace will give us in respect of security, in order to balance "the diminution likely to be produced by "it in our commercial opulence. That our

commerce will suffer at the long run, ad"mits, I fear, of no doubt. If my appre"hensions are just, it is in the diminution' "of our manufactures and commerce, that "the approaches of our ruin will first be "felt: but is any one prepared to say that "this may not happen in the first instance? "We have at present, subject to the incon"veniencies which war produces, nothing "less than the commerce of the whole " "world. There is no part of the world to "which our goods do not pass freely in

our own ships; while not a single mer"chant ship, with the enemy's flag on' "board, does at this moment swim the ocean. Is this a state of things to be "lightly hazarded? Does the hope of bettering this condition, even in the minds "of those most sanguine, so much outweigh the fear of injuring it, that these opposite chances can upon the whole be "stated otherwise than as destroying each "other and that of consequence, in the

comparison of war and peace, the pros

pect of increased industry and commerce, "which in general tells so much in favour "of peace, must not here be struck out of "the account? On this head the question "between peace and war stands, to say the "least of it, evenly balanced.-The next of "these heads, the first, indeed, in point of

consequence, but the next in the order "in which it is here convenient to consider " them, is the loss of lives, and the effect "which war is likely to have on private "and individual happiness. No man can "pretend to say, that war can continue "upon any footing, however restricted the "circle of hostilities, without the lives of

men being liable to be sacrificed; and "no such sacrifice can be justified, or re"conciled to the feelings of any one, but "by that which must justify every such "sacrifice, however great the extent-the safety and essential interests of the state.