"the preceding Saturday, when the com- to look on with seeming approbation, exist.' And, he answers himself, and says, that" it cannot be believed."—Why should it not? How long have the world seen tyranny quite equal to this existing in many countries? It has in itself the seeds of destruction, we are told. Aye, but' such seeds are often of very slow growth; and the plant, unfortunately, too long in ripening.The fact is, that this system will last just as long as the government has Men without arms cannot face men with arms. Troops are placed at convenient distances all over the country. Any rising is quelled in a moment. The revolters, who might call themselves patriots, the government would call rebels; the Judges would hang, or transport to Cayenne, all those who escaped the bayonet or musket; and, what is the most odious and detestable thing of all, the great mass of the people would stand by and utter not a word against any of the government's proceedings; nay, rather than be suspected of disaffection, they would applaud its most infamous and cruel acts.So long as the government has a sufficient number of troops at its command, the tyranny will go on; and, the time when the government will cease to have such a number of troops, is, when it ceases to have money to pay them, and not one moment before. Therefore, it is all nonsense; it is all beastly absurdity to talk about a revolt of the people in Holland, as long as the government is enabled to pay soldiers to shoot or stab the people. As long as it has money for this purpose, it will find no difficulty in keeping the people down. As long as it can pay a numerous army, it has nothing to fear from the people; and, the only wonder with me is, that the despotism makes use of Judges, or of any of the forms of law; unless, indeed, these are supposed to be the most efficacious of its tools. The soldiers, perhaps, would have less method in managing the affairs of taxes and the like; and so one set of tools is put to assist the other; and thus is tyranny aggravated by its complexity.From this view of the matter it is evident, that no rational hope of a subversion of this tyranny can be entertained, so long as the government has the means of keeping in its pay a sufficiency of bayonets. The whole thing is military. The government depends wholly upon the army; all the powers of oppression, in whatever way they may come at the people, depend upon the army; but the army depends wholly upon its PAY. Take from the despotism the means of keeping the bayonets, and the nation is free. To talk of any other mode of the poor Dutch or Flemings being able to obtain redress is worse than absurdity, because it tends to excite false hopes and to produce disappointment; nay, it might possibly induce some persons to expose themselves to useless destruction in a contest with the despotism. Such is my view of the state of Holland and Flanders; and, my last word of advice to the people of these countries would be: remain quiet, 'till the day comes, when your despotism" is left without the means of hiring bayonets, and then you will be free if you choose it. however, I do not agree with SIR RICHARD: I ruean as to his remedy. He does not, indeed, seriously says, that the thing can be done which he say would be efficacious, if it were done. But, he talks as if it could be done; and, I am fully persuaded, that he knows it cannot. It is, therefore, wrong for him to sport with the feelings of the Old Lady; especially at a time' like this.--In the meanwhile curious work is going on out of doors. I will here insert a string of paragraphs that have appeared in the news papers of London, since the publication of my last Number; that the world may see, that wa may have upon record, and that our children and other countries may take warning from what is now passing here.-I. Nefarious Traffic in Gold. A seizure of 10,000l. was yesterday made at the "Custom-house, of gold, in bars, regularly entered and sworn to at Guildhall as foreign gold. The boxes had passed "the Custom-house, and were on board ship when the discovery was made. It I know, that, for this advice, I shall "is supposed that some person employed be exposed to the calumnies of our venal "in the melting of it into bars, gave inwriters, who will accuse me of a wish to "formation that guineas were melted with prevent the people of Holland from rising "the foreign gold. The Custom-house at all. No, you fools, I do not entertain "Officers are still searching the vessel, it any such wish! I only wish the people "being suspected that much has been senot to afford the despotism an excuse for "cretly put amongst the other goods." murdering them in detail. I wish them II." Alarming Riot at Sumpford Penot to stir, till they are likely to succeed," rerell. On Monday last a disturbance, knowing that, against a bayonet, an un- "of a very serious nature, occurred at armed man is nothing; and knowing that," Sampford Peverell. The annual fair, by one means or another, all the people" for the sale of cattle, &c. was held there are disarmed. JUBILEE DOLLARS. In the news " "ton for the purpose of obtaining change "for the payment of their wages, which "on that day. On the Saturday preced"ing, a number of the workmen, employ"ed in excavating the bed of the Grand papers of this day, I see no less than forty-"Western Canal, assembled at Wellingtwo pamphlets advertised, the whole of which relate to the subject of Bank Notes and Bailion. -To-morrow the grand there has been lately considerable diffidiscussion takes place in the Honourable "culty in procuring. Many of them inHouse. The RESOLUTIONS proposed, or to "dulged in inordinate drinking, and combe proposed, by Mr. HORNER, were in- "mitted various excesses at Tiverton, and serted in my Number of the 24th of April, "other places to which they had gone for at page 1012. Those of the other side, "the purpose above stated. On Monday which, it seems, come from MR. NICHO-" the fair at Sampford seemed to afford a LAS VANSITTART, will be found in the "welcome opportunity for the gratificapresent Number.Here is fire against "tion of their tumultuary disposition. fire, you see. Bang for bang, except that" Much rioting took place in the course Mr. Vansittart returns one more shot than "of the day, and towards evening a body he receives.In this Number 1 have "of these men, consisting of not less than also inserted a set of Aphorisms by SIR" 300, had assembled in the village. Mr. RICHARD PHILLIPS, which do certainly "Chave (whose name we had occasion to contain, in my opinion, ten thousand times" mention in unravelling the imposture as much sense as both the sets of Resolu-" respecting the Sampford Ghost) was tions put together. In one respect," met on the road, and recognized by "some of the party. Opprobrious lan- "1170 oz. gold coin; 2517 oz. silver coin. gold coin; 6467 oz. "guage was applied to him, but whether" For Ostend, 477 oz. "silver coin.”. -VI" Mock Bank Notes. "on that subject, or not, we have not "A number of mock notes, for a penny, "been informed. The rioters followed "him to the House, the windows of which “fabricated obviously in imitation of the "they broke; and, apprehensive of fur- "one pound notes of the Bank of Eng"ther violence, Mr. Chave considered it "land, are at present in circulation. After "the words, "for the Governor and Com"necessary to his defence to discharge a "loaded pistol at the assailants. This unof the," the words "King's pany ""Bench and Fleet' are inserted in an "fortunately took effect, and one man fell "dead on the spot. A pistol was also fired upper line, in very small characters; "and the remainder of the sentence con"by a person within the house, which so "severely wounded another man that his life "cludes "Bank in (instead of of) Eng""land." The hackney-coachmen are "is despaired of. A carter, employed by "Mr. Chave, was most dreadfully beaten "the principal putters of of these notes. "by the mob. Additional numbers were "A person who asks change of a two "accumulating when our accounts were pound note from one of these gentry, "sent off, and we understand their deter- "particularly at night, rarely escapes -VII." New Dol"mination was to pull down the house.' "being cheated.". III." Hoarding. A respectable corres "pondent observes, that the hoarding of cash by farmers, servants, and country "people, is of a magnitude beyond what "writers on the subject of specie are "aware of; a robbery or death now and "then throws some light on the facts. In "the West of England, most of the "farmers keep by them from thirty to a "hundred guineas in gold, and some con"siderably more. A few days ago, a "wealthy yeoman declared he had three "thousand guineas in his house, the pos"session of which was more pleasure to " him than an accumulating interest. The "writer knows numerous servants, who "have from twenty to eighty guineas in "in gold by them, and believes this hoard "ing to be general among the middling "and common class of the people. The "amount of gold thus concealed must be "immense; perhaps the withholding this "coin from circulation may have pre "vented some from being clandestinely "sent out of the kingdom; yet that evil "will bear no comparison to the detriment "society experiences, by the entire dis"appearance and want of the intended "use designed by the Legislature."--IV. New Silver Coinage.We are assured, " from undoubted authority, that the new "Silver Coinage is in great forwardness, "particularly dollars, which will be issued "speedily; in consequence of which, the "holders of the old silver suffer greatly, "as many of the shillings and sixpences will fall very short of their present value." V." Gold Exported. The following "entries of Bullion were made at the "Custom-house in the course of last week: "For Dunkirk, 1514 oz. of gold in bars; "lars. On Friday the Bank issued new shoots into their minds and mars all their felicity. It has its influence with them at moments when they have forgotten it. They are not thinking of it; but, still there is, they feel, a something at the bottom of their hearts that makes them afraid. They ask themselves what it is; they say, "why are we not happy? What is it "that makes us apprehensive ?"--And, then, the Dollar, the infallible proof of depreciation, presents itself. Now, in whatever degree these alarms are removed from their mind by the puffs in the CouRIER, that paper does good; because the tendency of its effects is to make any of the Anti-Jacobins, who now confide in the Old Lady, continue to confide in her, the effect of which will inevitably procure for them their just reward. Let all the Anti-Jacobins confide in her to the end! And, indeed, they ought to be made to confide in her. She, I am sure, has been a support to them. She has been their nursing-mother. If it had not been for her their cause would have been ruined fifteen if not eighteen years ago. She and they have indeed been the prop of each other. The support has been mutual. Aye, and they feel to the very bottom of their souls, that their fate is wound up in hers; that she and they must stand, or fall, together; and this feeling it is that haunts them night and day.- The discussion, which is to take place to-morrow, will be a memorable one. "LEARNED FRIENDS," who have upon this occasion, added to the raw material of the Trunk-Maker, were unparalleled in point of coxcomical stupidity; but, really, " DAVIS GIDDY, Esq." as he calls himself, seems to have fair pretensions to a preference before them all, the wise Baronet only excepted. But, it has just shot into my head, that Davis himself is a "learned friend." The wonder ceases! It is under the hands of "Learned friends" that the Nation has been for the last 28 years. Every minister since that time has been a lawyer. A greater bulk of laws have been passed since that time than was passed before from the time that England was called England. All has been law, and all power has been in the hands of lawyers. -The Old Lady has, amongst the rest, been under their care; and much good may it do her!DAVIS GIDDY, Esq. discovers, I think, a greater degree of stupidity than SIR JOHN SINCLAIR, though I say this somewhat doubtingly; for Sir JOHN's pamphlet really is a wonder in its way. But DAVIS has an air of profundity; and a sort of metaphysical manner, which is so outrageously disgusting, that one can scarcely contain oneself under the lecture.This man, too, this consummate booby of an author, has his scheme; his remedy; and he makes no doubt, not he, that, if his scheme were adopted, all would be well again. When I come, in my closing letters, to speak of the dif ferent schemes of these pamphleteers, I shall, perhaps, notice DAVIS GIDDY'S' amongst the rest; but, I cannot help noticing, here, one falshood, a downright falshood, which he has asserted, and, I think there is but too much reason to suppose, that it is also a wilful falshood.He says, that the Bank Notes are, in effect, a legal tender; and that, "not a single “individual has been found, in fourteen years, amidst the infinite variety of opi"nions and circumstances existing in that time, who has VENTURED to decline "these notes, and to demand cash.". What does he mean by declining notes? The demand of cash is clear, and the assertion is a clear falshood; for, as has been shown, in the last volume of the Register, page 1285, notes of the Bank of England were refused and cash demanded, in 1801; that the Plaintiff obtained a verdict ; that, upon argument before the judges, the verdict was confirmed. DAVIS GIDDY, Esq. may say, that he never reads the Political Register. So much the worse Hitherto we have seen nothing but reports and pamphlets. We shall now have the speeches of the honourable House upon the subject. When we have them; when we have before us not only the schemes but the arguments also, both of the INS and the OUTS, we will then take up the matter; we Jacobins will let the world see, whether we do not know as much about the thing as those do, who call us a "low degraded crew."--Every one of the pamphleteers, who acknowledge a depreciation in the Notes, has his remedy;" amongst the others DAVIS GIDDY, the steady defender of the borough-system, has his remedy. But, poor DAVIS, whose head, as an author at least (for as such, 1 may speak freely of him) is none of the clearest, does not seem to perceive how dreadfully this remedy of his would operate upon the borough system, which, he contends, is necessary to the preserva tion of the constitution.- This is a very shallow man. I thought that SIR JOHN SINCLAIR, MB. BOASE, and the five or six and for him; for, if he had, he could not have been ignorant of this fact. He, however, who is a "learned friend," ought to read law books. It is his trade to do that as much as it is that of a chimney-sweeper to carry a soot-bag. Indeed, it is not to be believed, that he had not read this case. At any rate, either he had read it, and has, of course, published a wilful falshood; or, he is grossly ignorant of what he ought to have been well informed of, before he attempted to put pen to paper upon this subject.——The fact is, that any man may demand payment of any legal debt in the coin of the realm, except debts due from the Bank of England itself. I do not say that any of the miscreants, who bargain for their borough votes, could demand the payment in coin; I do not say, that any of these possessors of the precious privilege of voting; I do not say that they could demand, and obtain, the wages of their corruption in coin; but, I know, that any man may demand and obtain payment, in coin, of any legal debt.-It seemed to me necessary to say these few words upon Mr. DAVIS GIDDY'S pamphlet; and having so done, I shall now dismiss this subject, till we have the debate of to-morrow before us. PORTUGAL. THE WAR. Since my last, the THANKS of the two Houses of Parliament have been voted to Lord Talavera and his army. -I am always glad of occasions to praise the army, or any part of it, and to defend, or any part of when need is.—I dare, that the army has behaved very well upon this occasion, or, at least, I see nothing to make me suspect the contrary; but, at the same time, I do not see sufficient reason, or any reason at all, for particular thanks to it at this time. If, indeed, the commander of an army is to be thanked when no victory is obtained; if victory be not essential in the grounds of thanks; then there may be room for dispute upon this point; but, if victory be essential, then I would not bave thanked this commander, for I have seen no official account of any victory that he has obtained since the time that he was last thanked and titled and pensioned for three generations.What, then, are the grounds of this new Thanking? What has he achieved? He has cleared Portugal of the French. The French have, indeed, marched to the frontiers of Portugal; they bave, perhaps, entered Spain; they have fallen back; they have retreated; nay, What they have, perhaps, run away. then? They did not do this in conse quence of any victory gained over them by him. He did not beat them; he did not drive them back; he did not even attuck them. This, at least, is what we are told in all the intelligence upon the subject.-That they would not have retreated, if there had been no army opposed to them is certain; but, how long were they suffered to lie unmolested in the face of that army? Besides, to clear Portugal of the French; the French must have first been in Portugal; and, how came he to let the French enter Portugal ?" They "were too strong for him. He could not "help it." Why, then did he go to the Frontier to meet them? Or, if there before he knew their strength, why did he not retreat sooner towards Lisbon, and not remain till the pursuit of him became so injurious to his army and to the country -This question of, why did he go to the frontier, was, I perceive, attempted to be answered by MR. PERCEVAL, when he moved for the thanks, on the 26th of April.-I will quote his words, as I find them in the MORNING CHRONICLE." Why "then, it may be asked, did he go to the "frontiers? It is to be considered, how " 66 ever, that one of the objects which he "had in view, was to acquire time for the discipline of the Portuguese army; that ́ "another of these objects was to gain time, "for the arrival of reinforcements from this Country, to be procured from all the quarters from which they could be spared; that he had always in contemplation the difficulty which an enemy "should find in the subsistence of a numer"ous army, while Portugal continued the "seat of war; and that if he moved to the frontiers, it was impossible for the enemy to operate but in great numbers. "It was for those reasons he thought proper to carry the war, to keep the war "at a distance; but it is but justice to "state, that while he was defending Por"tugal on the banks of the Coa, he was carrying on the fortifications at Lisbon ; "and that while he was giving security to "the frontiers, he was adding strength to "the heart. When the enemy appeared in "numbers, he then retired to a stronger situa"tion."-Now, this appears to me the strangest statement of reasons that ever was heard of in the world.-He wanted time to discipline the Portuguese army. Well, now, if he had remained at Lisbon, behind his lines, would he not have had more |