the people of all they wanted to know. The slaves of the press seem dreadfull (Lord Melville's son), is intended to make the people of this country answerable for a part, at least, of the East India Company's enormous debt. I shall return to this subject in my next. In the meanwhile, I hope the public will be upon the watch. -V. SIERRA LEONE. Here is another Company, who, having failed in their undertaking, are modest enough to wish to surrender their sovereignty, their territory, into the hands of the king, and to place. their debts upon the shoulders of the public These are the Negro-loving gentlemen, who, in 1802, said, that with a little help, they should civilize the whole continent of Africa. Sixteen thousand pounds was grant ed them by the guardians of the public purse of that day. The same sum has been annually granted since; and, now, behold, a bill is actually before the House for saddling this burthened nation with the whole concern. It will be useful to find out who are at the head of this concern. I foretold, in the teeth of the report, what this would come to, in 1802.--VI. The chapter of jobs is too long to enter upon here; and, it will, perhaps, come better in company with the remarks upon the reception of Lord Cochrane's motion, for which, at present, I have not room. alarmed, lest the people should know too much; but their aların and precaution, as well as those of others, come a little too late; and their grave admonitions put one in mind of the old simile of shitting the stable door after the steed has strayed. Poor fellows! They are afraid, that, in good earnest, they shall be cut off from their resources. Never mind then,, my lord, out with it; out with the whole budget. Never stop at a brace of pensioned sisters. Let us have it all. We have, however, quite enough to satisfy us. We have seen the sample, and we reasonably conclude, that the whole sack is of the same quality.III. SIR HENRY MILDMAY moved, on the 29th of June, for the laying of his memorial before the House. His speech entire is given in the preceding sheet, and I now insert the memorial entire, wishing to afford him. every opportunity of justifying his conduct. But the memorial produces no one alleviating circumstance. The facts, the undeniable facts, remain unshaken.-Why, too, was this memorial delayed until the 29th of June? His contempt for the news-papers was not, surely, extended to the board of Commissioners ? He says, in a postscript, that the expenses of the inquest amounted to £250. For what? For what, I ask? Twelve men eat and drink, in one day, £250 worth! This is dear justice indeed. Oh, but his two counsellors! Aye, but the public are not to pay for that, I hope, especially as the government sent no one to plead against them? In short, it will not do. The more he struggles, the deeper he gets. But,, why move for the production of the memorial, without moving for some inquiry or discussion upon it? Why leave the matter there? Yet, there might have been incidental discussion, if Sir Henry's name had been put upon the list of the Finance Committee; but, this was prevented by his having modestly requested that his name might not be put upon it; though, as my readers will remember, he promised his Portsmouth dinner men, that he and Mr. Chute would . be upon the Committee, and would take care to put an end to peculation and jobbing to the utmost of their power! -The thing must not die, however, especially in Hampshire, where, if we should be so happy as to have another election, the subject will be fully discussed.IV. INDIA AFFAIRS. I wish, at present, merely to communicate to my readers ny suspicion,trict, made an application to me for permis -But, that a bill, about to be brought in by the new President of the Board of Controul MEMORIAL OF SIR HENRY ST. JOHN MILD- ral Gentlemen, Having seen that sevepassages in your Fourth Report, which relate to transactions in which I am personally implicated, have been industriously employed for the purpose of casting upon me the imputation of having either received undue favour from the government, or taken undue advantage of the public, I feel myself under the necessity of troubling you with a. more detailed explanation, of every particular of those transactions, than any examinations before you (from whom I received no intimation of any such suspicion) were calculated to produce.-About the year 1803, it was thought necessary to raise very extensive fortifications in the neighbourhood of Chelmsford, and it was decided, that they should be carried through the park and farm adjoining, and at about 400 yards from a mansion house, in which I was compelled to reside three months in every year. Sir James Craig, who commanded in the dis sion to begin the works without delay; to which I acceded, under an express stipula to the Barrack Department, who would ~ tion, that, when they were complete, I bourhood of Chelmsford, my living there " " for the lease; which Mr. Dundas said must be referred to the Barrack Surveyor, who would be directed to inspect the state of the premises, and to report on my terms, before the agreement could be concluded, Mr. Johnson, a person wholly unknown to me, was sent down to Moulshain for that purpose, without any intimation to me, of the time at which he was to make his survey. This gentleman was unaccompanied and of course uncontrolled by any surveyor, architect, or other person on my behalf. The result of this inspection, (after stating the solidity of the building, and enumerating some trifling repairs which would be wanting) was in these words: "to put the house into tenantable repair, will cost the sum "of £250; the annual amount will not "exceed £50 to keep them in repair. The taxes are supposed to amount to £143. "If the said premises are put in proper repair and to include the 20 acres of pleasure ground, &c. round the house, as de"scribed on the general plan, I am of opi"nion £400 per annum is a fair rent to 66 give for the same, after Sir Henry has put "the premises in repair."--J. JOHNSON, Archt May 24th, 1804.--On this report being communicated to me by the Secretary at War, I stated, that I was not aware the house required any repair, as a very large sum of money had been recently expended upon it; which was proved in the Committee of the House of Lords; but that I was willing to give up the first half year's rent (amounting to £200) if government would take the repairs on themselves, and make them in whatever manner they thought proper. On these terms the Secretary at War agreed with me at the rate of 1400 a year for 4 years Possession of the premises was given to government on the 24th of Jutte, 1804, and they began the repairs immediate- ly. I have in no way whatever interfered since that period, either with the occupation of the house, or with the repairs. It must be obvious to every one, that when the government were once put in possession of the premises, whether they chuse to use them for the residence of a lieutenant general and his staff, or only for a major general, or whether they thought it adviseable to make any use of them, was a matter with which I had nothing to do, and for which I cannot be responsible. With respect also to the repairs, I must remark, that having paid £200 according to agreement, I had nothing more to do with the transaction, and whether the money laid out on the premises has either amounted to, or exceeded that sum, I am at this moment wholly ignorant. During the whole of this transaction, I was not aware that any part of the arrangement was a matter of consideration for the Treasury; and I had at no time during its progress any communication on the subject directly or indirectly, to the best of my knowledge and belief, with any person connected with that department. I have already stated, that government took possession of the premises at Moulsham Hall, and the land let with it, on the 24th June, 1804. On the 6th of August following (the military works in my park being nearly completed) a precept was signed by Sir James Craig: in consequence of which, a special jury, composed of the most respectable gentlemen and magistrates in the county of Essex, (General Strutt being foreman) was impanelled in the Mansion House on the 18th of the same month. Government had then been about eight weeks in full possession of it, with the other premises, and they had made considerable progress in the repairs, and it was notorious to all the country, that an agreement had been entered into between government and my self, which had placed the house in the hands of the Barrack Office. The jury examined the evidence, took a very minute and accurate survey and yiew of the military works, and the damages; and after being shut up for more than two hours, made the following award, as stated in the report page 161 :- "One thousand three hundred pounds to "be paid for the use and possession of the lands (stated to contain 30 acres, 1 rood, "39 poles, in the occupation of Thomas "Chandler and Wm. Meyhill, as tenants to "Sir Henry Mildmay, but then occupied "by the military works) from Michaeimas "1803 to Michaelmas 1804, and from that "time 1600 a year so long as the same should be in the possession of his Majesty."There is nothing in this verdict which by any possible construction can have reference to the contract, which I had entered into with government, for the lease of my house, furniture, stables, garden, gardener's house, &c. I can neither conceive that this verdict precluded me from residence in the house, if I had thought proper; from pulling it down; from letting it to any individual, or to the government; or inter feres with any disposition of it, which I may judge it prudent to make. It is not possible that it could be considered, that the letting of my house for four years only, at £400 per annum, ready furnished, could be a compensation for the use of the land covered by the military works, and for the injury niy house and estate must sustain, so long as those works should be continued; for it must be observed, that the contract for the house terminates in June, 1808, but there is no limit within my choice as to the occupation of the ground for the military works. Government may keep it as long as they please. The verdict confines itself strictly to 30 acres of land, which is particularly described to be in the occupation of Thomas Chandler and Wm. Meyhill, and which is stated to be covered by the field works. If the jury had intended to include the rent of the house, furniture, &c. in their verdict, they would have expressed such intention distinci ly; on the contrary, they have stated their precise meaning to be otherwise, by derining the lands, as those alone occupied by the military works, containing 30 A. 1 R. 39 P. in the occupation of Chandler and Meyhill. The premises let with the house, amount to about 20 acres, and the lands occupied by the military works, 30 acres. Had the jury intended to include both in their verdict, they would have stated 50 acres, and not 30 The lands let with the house were never in the occupation of Thomas Chandler and William Meyhill, nor were any part of them used for the military works. It is therefore most obvious, that the jury did not mean to include them in their verdict, or to meddle in any way (as indeed I understood afterwards) with any disposition, or any purpose, to which I might convert the use of the house and furniture and premises. This construction of the verdict of 12 of most respectable gentlemen, cannot be a wrong one.-I will only further remark, that by a reference to various transactions of a similar nature, as well between individuals, as where the public has been a party, it will be found, the compensation which I have received, under all circumstances, has not been beyond that which has been customarily given.--On the amount of the rent which I receive for the house, &c. from the public, I must beg leave to say, that baying expended £200 on repairs, which I did not deem necessary, my receipt is reduced to £350. The land occupied with the house, garden, gardener's house, &c. cannot be valued at less than £60 a year. The furniture of a house containing 14 rooms on a floor, one of them 50 feet long, can be estimated at no inconsider able sum, and a fair rent put upon it, added to the above-mentioned value of the land, must very considerably reduce my annual clear profit from the lease of the house.One point more which it is my wish to im press upon the minds of the commissioners is, that the property which has devolved to me in Essex, I possess only during the life of my wife; and that the next person in succession (my own property and residence being otherwise entailed) will have, no other place of residence, where the bulk of his property is situated, and be reduced to reside in a rented house, in consequence of the military works at Chelmsford. - Having by this plain statement vindicated myself, ¦ hope, from the imputations, of which I have so much reason to complain; having, I trust, made it manifest that I have acted with perfect fairness to the public, the original occupation of the land having taken place und r an administration to which I was politically opposed, and the offer of my house made to the same administration; it remains for me only to observe further, that having made the whole of this statement (her the lapse of four years) chiefly from recollection, and with few documents to refer to, it may be possible that in some trifling instances I may have been inaccurate; particularly, as, much of these transactions passed through the hands of agents. Where any such inaccuracy may appear, I am persuaded that I shall meet with a favourable construction.[ have the honour to be, Gentlemen, your most obedient, very humble servant, The Title II. Of the government.-6. The government of Hayti is composed; First, of a Chief Magistrate, who takes the title and quality of President and Generalissimo of the Forces of Hayti, both by land and sea: every other denomination is for ever proscribed in Hayti. Secondly, of a Council of State.-The Government of Hayti takes the title, and will be known by the denomination of "The State of Hayti."-7. The Constitution names the General in Chief, Henry Christophe, President and Generalissimo of the Forces, both by land and sea, of the State of Hayti —8. The trust of President and Generalissimo of the Forces is for life 9. The President has the right to choose his successor, but only from among the Generals, and in the manner hereafter prescribed. This choice must be secret and contained in a sealed packet, which shall be opened only by the Council of State, se-leniuly assembled for that purpose. President shall take all necessary precautions for informing the Council of State where this packet shall be deposited.-10. The armed force shall be under the direction of the President, as also the administration of the finauces.-11. The President has the power to make treaties with foreign nations, as well for the purpose of establishing commercial relations as to secure the independence of the state.-12. He is to conclude peace, and to declare war, to maintain the rights of the people of Hayti. 13. He has also the right to consider of the means of favouring, and increasing the population of the couptry.-14. He is to propose the laws to the Council of State, who after having adopted them, and drawn them up, send them back to him, for his sanction, without which they cannot be executed -15. The appointments of the President are fixed at 40,000 dollars a year. Title III. Of the Council of State16. The Council of State is composed of nine members, nominated by the President, of which, at least, two thirds are to be generals.-17. The functions of the Council of State, are to receive the propositions of faws from the President, and to draw them up in the manner they may judge adviseable to fix the amount of taxes, and the mode of collecting them; to sanction the treaties concluded by the President, and to fix upon the mode for recruiting the army. An account shall be presented to thein annually, of the receipts and expenses, and of the resources of the country.-[The fourth, fifth, and sixth heads respect the appointment of a Superintendant General of the Finances, the Marine, and the Interior, and also the appointment of a Secretary of State, and the Tribunals. Title VII. The Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion, is the only one acknowledged by the government.- -The exercise of other religions is tolerated, but not publicly. Title VIII. Public Education.-There shall be established a central school in each division, and particular schools in each subdivision. Title IX: Of the Guarantee of the neighbouring Colonies.-The government of Hayti declares to those powers who have colonies in its neighbourhood, its fixed determination to give no disturbance to the government of these colonies.-The people of Hayti make no conquests out of their own island, and confine themselves to the preservation of their own territory.-[After those nine heads, there follow some general regulations, the principal of which are: that every Haytian, from 16 to 50, can be called into the army, whenever the safety of the state requires it: that the government solemnly guarantees the foreign merchants the security of their persons and properties: divorce is strictly forbidden in Hayti; and agriculture, which is declared the most ancient, the most noble, and the most useful ot all the arts, is to be encouraged and protected.] Proclamation-Henry Christophe, President and Generalissimo of the Military and ·Naval Forces of the State of Hayti, to the Army and People. The light has broken in upon us, and a beneficent constitution has put an end to the plots and machinations, of which you were on the point of becoming victims. A wise code, adapted to our manners, our climate, and our customs, has sprung, as it may be said, out of chaos, and fixed once more the destinies of Hayti.Long had I in vain sought to present you with this precious gift; in vain did I assemble the districts, and urge them to send deputies to Port-auPrince, to give you a constitution. My anxiety, instead of being followed with the desired success, only operated as an additional incitement to the factious, to pervert the public opinion, and to establish a con stitution favourable to their interests, and those of their adherents; but as hostile to the liberty of the people, as it was to the principles of sound reason. Fellow Citizens, you have all been witnesses to the purity of my views, and the sincerity of my intentions. You know how this sincerity has been abused, by the miscreants who fomented revolt, and kindled civil war. Their efforts never intimidated me for a single moment, or diverted me from my design of serving my country. By night or by day I have never ceased to occupy myself in providing for the public safety. What have I not done to effect it? What have I not suffered in counteracting the secret, wiles and plots of the factious?—I have always been in the midst of you, and you can say whether my conduct has ever been influenced, or my honour tarnished, by ambition. Invested with the supreme power, this day, by the wish of my fellow-citizens and my companions in arms, I have yielded to their desires and I have consented to bear this weighty but honourable burden, because it was their wish that it should be entrusted to my hands, and because I am willing again to serve my country. Happy shall I be if my efforts are crowned with success, and if they tend to the happiness of my fellow-citizens! -But, to attain this, my efforts alone will not be sufficient! The laws and constitution which have just been presented to you must be observed. It provides for the religions preservation of your rights; it secures to every citizen his personal liberty, his right of property, and that of his family. fatal consequences of the wars in which we have been engaged, and still more the immoral example held out to us by the French, had almost destroyed every principle of religion, The moral system was publicly laughed at and a corrupted youth abandoned itself, without remorse, to all the licentiousness of its age; public education was degraded, and confided to mercenary instructors. It was necessary to restore to religion its dignityto cause it to be respected and cherished. was necessary to revive morality, to give it due distinction ; to inculcate into the minds of youth its sacred principles, and those of honour also; in short, to convince the peo ple, that without religion and morality, human society could not exist.-Your interests will be secured to you by proper tribunals the judgments pronounced by their ministers will be dictated by equity and justice. It remains for the people of Hayti to make themselves distinguished by their probity and good faith. Essentially a trading coun try, as well from its situation as the nature The |