commonly treated merely as a commercial question, and indeed it is a commercial question of very high moment, but, I apprehend that it has no remote bearing upon na val greatness and every thing belonging to it. At the same time that we maintain our just rights and ancient practices, respecting this (falsely called neutral) trade, and inflict that, which I am persuaded would be felt by Buonaparté, as the severest wound we could inflict on him, by blockading the French and Spanish West Indian colonies, we have the means of conferring a mutual benefit on America and ourselves, by laying open to her the trade with our own West Indian possessions. You are, I am sure, perfectly aware of all the extensive benefits that would result from this measure. I shall, therefore, leave the detail of them to you, and here close this long letter, subscribing myself, A SUBJECT OF ENGLAND, AND NO CITIZEN OF AMERICA.

EXPATRIATION.

Sir-Notwithstanding the unfavourable description which I have received, from the cool and dispassionate pen of that profound commentator on the dusty pages of Bracton and Fleta, S. V. who from a disposition for "manly and liberal animadversion" has designated me as abortively vomited from the fissures of alma mater," I shall venture once more to make an appearance in the pages of your valuable Register. S. V., who has attributed to me the crime of personal scurrility, has evinced himself, beyond all doubt, to be a particeps criminis; but I will satisfy you, Mr. Cobbett, that personality is solely the possession of your erudite correspondent. S. V. has chosen to say, that when I used the words, "that the "most uncivilized wretch, or the most li"centious libertine, could not promulgate

a doctrine more repugnant to integrity, gratitude, and humanity," that they were personally directed to him. Now, if S. V. will take the trouble of perusing again the passage immediately succeeding, he will find, most indisputably, that they could not have been so intended. The passage immediately following is this: "Were there no - ́ ́ ́other memorial characteristic of a Prench"man's disposition, this alone would inde"libly stamp the truth of Voltaire's de"scription of his countrymen, that in their

exterior they are monkeys, and in their "hearts tigers." Could I, let me ask, be fairly construed to have intended any thing by those words personal to S.V. or were they not clearly and explicitly addressed to the Frenchman Pecquet? The charge of

personal abuse, therefore, I am apprehensive must be borne upon the legal colossal shoulders of S. V., who will exclusively enjoy all the merit and demerit attendant upon it. With respect to any prejudice in favour of S. V., his latter did certainly not produce that effect. At a period when the momentous state of this country calls for extraordi nary energy for its safety, and when every exertion must prove unavailing, unless her sailors, from affection, or some other powerful stimulus, are united in her defence, I confess I did not entertain any thing like predilection for the man, who could assiduously travel over the musty pages of almost obsolete authors, to drag to light some equivocal passage, which accompanied by a strained and distorted interpretation, might appear to legalize a defection, which if acted upon, must inevitably leave the country a weak and defenceless prey to her ene

mies.

Could I, Sir, believe such a man to be an Englishman, divested of interest every but what was reconcileable with his country's welfare? Could I, though I should have played the hypocrite in mildness and urbanity as masterly as S. V.; could I have complimented him, without blushing for my own depravity? No, Mr. Cobbett, opposuit natura! No man, Sir, unbiassed by self-interest, ever yet took such extraordinary pains as S V., to discover latent doctrines in mouldy folios, which when published meet with no admiration, but, on the contrary, produce sorrow and regret. If S. V, denies the truth of what I assert, let him consult the effect which his letter had on yourself and correspondents. What was the result of the doctrine on your mind, Mr. Cobbett, whom even the paid hireling has never, yet charged with intentional error? What was its effect upon your correspondents? If I am not much mistaken, the absurdity of the doctrine was noticed both by Wroc and R. R. However unpleasant then it may be to S, V., I must in candour inform him, to use his own expression, that I remain in " dubiety, how far it is true, that he is neither interested in the funded or landed property of America, notwithstanding he should accompany the assertion with the heart-breaking intelligence, of how

few and meagre have been the briefs, "whose superscription of a fee have been "visited by the initials S. V."- Let us con sider what the proposition is which S.V. would persuade us a love of justice alone prompts him to spend so many hours to tablish that if the amor patrice should be insufficient to bind the affections of the subject against the lures held out by her eue

mies, no duty, no moral, no legal tie of fidelity exists; that the bands of allegiance are loosed; and that the disaffected may expatriate at pleasure, I say such a proposi tion, if it emanated from the mind spontaneously, indicates a heart unvisited by any of the milder virtues. It stamps the author as a man with whom friendship would be as a rope of sand," which every wind would weaken. If S. V. insist that all this is mere prejudice, let us consider the doctrine first with regard to reason, and next with respect to the law. If expatriation be allowed at all at the will of the subject, it must be allowed without any exception, because S. V only argues for its existence on the ground of the absence of written authority: the proposition then goes to this extent, that when a subject gets intelligence of an intended invasion of his country, he may at that moment withdraw his allegiance from thence, and give it to the enemy who meditates his country's destruction. I insist, that such a proposition and reason are at variance; that it raises considerable indignation in an honest, mind, and conveys no favourable sentiments for the author of it. S. V. may answer, that the King by proclamation can prevent the inconvenience. Admit that; but does that admission lessen ought of the unreasonableness or iniquity of the doctrine. But how can a proclamation remove all the inconvenience and'mischief? The disaffected part of the subjects may have emigrated, before the proclamation becomes notorious. Ah! says S. V. but commonsense will tell us, that upon the first alarm which government has of a war, it will be expedient then to issue the proclamation. What is always expedient to be done in a case that frequently occurs, evidences the necessity of a law; for it argues a very shallow and improvident understanding, to provide by temporary expedients for that which an established rule of law would regulate with more certainty. The reason of the thing, therefore, strongly inculcates the opinion, that the law must have been considered as providing against voluntary alienage. I will now consider the question as affected by law indefatigable perseverante of S. V. must have discovered to him before this, that there is alex scripta, and alex hon scripta, a written, and a common law; and, I am acquainted with no better authority to establish the fact, that the common law restricts a British Subject from withdrawing his allegiance, than Lord Coke. If S. V. can inform me of a better, I shall be thankful for

The

his information. Lord Coke then says, (non meus hic sermo) "that no man can divest himself of his allegiance to the country in which he was born." Does S. V. possess the modesty to suppose that he is better acquainted with the written law in my Lord Coke's time, than Lord Coke was himself; if not, Lord Coke knew as well as S. V. that no written law prohibited a subject from withdrawing his allegiance. If Lord Coke was familiar with that fact, does S. V. mean to brand with infamy his character, by stating that he asserted that which he knew to be false: if not, it amounts to this; that Lord Coke, when he uttered the dictum which I have quoted, knew that he was stating no written law. But if he did not state what he knew to be incorrect, he must have believed that he was stating what was warranted by the common law; and the result is, that to doubt whether Lord Coke was correct or not, we must believe that which would strain the credulity of the most credulous; namely, that S. V. can inform us with more accuracy the common law in Lord Coke's time, than that great luminary himself. Really, Mr. Cobbett, if modesty, and that humility which ever attend conscious merit, could win briefs, S. V. could have little occasion to contend for the liberty of expatriating himself at pleasure. S. V. is a great stickler for consistency: he says, so long as we permit foreigners in this country, we shonld consistently permit our own subjects to expatriate. Now, S. V. should remember, that when we make laws, it is tor our own benefit, and not for the advantage of other nations; that if those other nations think it expedient to prohibit expatriation" they can do so; but, so long as our enemies invite our subjects to apostacy, I cannot discover that either consistency, or policy, calls upon this country to adopt a different course with their subjects. Indeed, I am unable to discover in the observations and arguments of S. V. any other motive than that of weakening the defence of this country, by an attempt to render her as easy a prey as possible to her enemies. His first plan is to get rid of our own subjects; and, secondly, to admit no foreigners; by which means he would persuade us, that we should evince to surrounding powers an incontestible proof of our wisdom, and should offer to our adversaries an impenetrable bulwark of strength. I trust, however, Mr. Cobbett, that experience has taught us better, than to fall at the first decoy, into a snare of this nature.I am, &c.--CANDIDUS.-Lincoln's Inn, Oct. 28.

Ye friends to truth, ye statesmen, who survey
The rich man's joys increase, the poor's decay,
Tis yours to judge, how wide the limits stand
Between a splendid and a happy land.

Proud swells the tide with loads of freighted ore,
And shouting folly hails them from her shore ;
Hoards, e'en beyond the miser's wish, abound,
And rich men flock from all the world around.
Yet count our gains. This wealth is but a name,
That leaves our useful products still the same.
Not so the loss. The man of wealth and pride
Takes up a space that many poor supplied;
705]

SUMMARY OF POLITICS.

-A pamphlet

SPENCE ON COMMERCE. has been published by a Mr. William Spence, entitled, "Britain Independent "of Commerce," the object of which pamphlet, is, to prove, from an investigation into the true causes of the wealth of nations, that our riches, prosperity, and power are derived from resources inherent in ourselves, and would not be affected, even though our commerce were annihilated. This is certainly a very important subject, and, as 1 find the leisure, I shall notice every part of the pamphlet. At present I shall content myself with noticing what this writer says in support of his opinion as to the real source of national wealth; first adverting, however, to the motives, which induced him to undertake the work, which motives, the reader will perceive, were of the most disinterested and benevolent kind.

Mr. Spence, after describing how much alarm is experienced, by the nation at large, at the idea of our being ruined by the loss of our commerce says :- "The author of "these pages has long been satisfied, that "the importance of our commerce, has "been greatly overrated; he has long in"deed been convinced, that the ivealth "we derive from it is nothing; that the

[PRICE IOD.

Space for his lake, his park's extended bounds,
Space for his horses, equipage and hounds;
The robe that wraps his limbs in silken sloth,
Has robb'd the neighb'r'ng fields of half their growth;
His seat, where solitary sports are seen,
Indignant purns the cottage from the green;
Around the world each needful product flies,
For all the luxuries the world supplies:
While thus the land, adorn'd for pleasure all,
In barren splendour feebly waits the fall.

GOLDSMITH.

[706

port against us with terror and dismay, "and have regarded our exclusion from "commerce with Hamburgh, with Holland, "and with Italy, as the almost sure pre"cursor of national ruin, he, persuaded of "the fallacy of these fears, has looked up"on these events with indifference; and " has rather been inclined to pity the poor "inhabitants of the countries, who are "prevented from buying our manufactures,

than us that are hindered from selling "them.--Such being his sentiments, he "is desirous of laying the grounds of them "before the public; to the end, that tried "by such a touchstone, their truth, or "their error, may be made apparent; wish

ing, if the former, that the diffusion of "just ideas, on an important subject, may "lead his countrymen to more manly views "of their independence; and if the latter, "that his own erroneous notions may be "rectified, and that no longer buoyed up, "by the delusions of indifference, he may

sympathize with the hopes and fears of "his fellow men."-Nothing, surely, can be more worthy of praise than such a motive as this. Mr. Spence, though he no where throws out even a hint, that the taxes are too heavy, and does, indeed, seem to think, that the labouring part of the nation are no more useful than the French valets and Italian singers, appears, from the above extract, to be a very compassionate gentle. man; and, therefore, it will certainly give him great satisfaction to hear, that the public, properly so called, are not in so much anxiety as he supposes with respect to colo nies and commerce; and that, though "ninety nine out of every hundred persons" whom he has met with, look upon our greatness as dependent upon our commerce, more than one half of the persons, that I meet with, are of a contrary opinion; and

2 A

:

"portion of their subsistence, it is evident, must be drawn from the class of land proprietors; from that surplus produce paid to them under the denomination of rent. "It will therefore in a still greater degree "simplify our illustration, if we suppose, "what will in no respect influence the ac

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that, as to myself, it would be strange indeed, if I entertained any dread of the effects of a diminished commerce, seeing, that I have frequently, I may say hundreds of times, and in almost the very words of Mr. Spence, expressed my conviction, that this nation derived from commerce neither wealth nor power. Nay, there is scarcely any one sentiment, relating to the main ob ject of his work, which sentiment the readers of the Register have not heard from me; and, as Mr. Spence would hardly have taken such pains to premise that he was the first to promulgate these sentiments, if he had read the Register, I cannot help considering it as a high compliment to myself that a person so clever, as he appears to be (notwithstanding he has had the weakness to put F. L. S. at the end of his name), should' not only concur with me in sentiments upon this important subject, but should have chosen almost the same form of words, wherein to convey those sentiments to the world.- -Being, at this moment, at a distance from my books, I cannot refer to the precise pages, from a comparison between which and the pages of Mr. Spence this striking concurrence would be made apparent; and, therefore, I shall now just quote the passage, wherein he gives his description of the real source of national wealth, which passage I earnestly recommend to the attentive perusal of my readers.

"That the examination into the truth "of the opinion, that agriculture is the only "source of wealth, may be rendered as sim

ple as possible, let us inquire what would "take place in a country constituted much

in the same way as this country is; where "there should be a class of land proprie

tors, a class of farmers, and a class of manufacturers, but where there should "exist no money of any kind, no gold, sil66 ver, or paper, in fact, no circulating me"dium whatever. In such a society, the "land proprietor must receive his rent in

kind, in corn, cattle, or whatever may be "the produce of his land; and all transac"tions between man and man, must be car"ried on by the medium of barter. How

ever inconvenient such a state of society might be, it may be very well conceived "to exist, and has, indeed, existed in a great degree, at one period, even in our own country. In a nation so circumstanced, though part of the subsistence of the manufacturing class would be drawn from the farmer, from the profit which would remain with him after the maintenance of his family, and the rent of his landlord were deducted, yet by far the largest

curacy of our reasoning, that the whole of "the subsistence of the manufacturing class must be derived from the class of land proprietors.- From this system results. "such as the following would ensue: the competition which would necessarily take place amongst the class of manufacturers, to dispose of their articles to the land proprietors, would restrict the price of these "articles, as is the case at present, to a quantity of provisions barely necessary to replace the subsistence of the manufacturer, whilst he had been employed on them. This being the case, all the articles which the manufacturer might fabricate in the course of a year, would by the "end of that year, be in possession of "the land proprietors, in exchange for pro"vision. All the food which the class of "land proprietors had to dispose of, would, "by the industry of the class of manufacturers, be transmuted into various articles "of use, or of luxury; and these remain"ing and accumulating with the former class, it would in time heap up great "wealth, by this successive and constant "trausformation of its riches. None of "this wealth, however, could with truth be "said to have been brought into existence "by the manufacturer, for as the land pro

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culture, none by manufactures, there will "not be need of further argument, to prove "to the philosophical inquirer, that the very same results must take place in a society "where a circulating medium is made use " of. Yet, as there is an idea prevalent, "that the employment of a circulating me"dium materially affects the creation of a "national wealth, it will not be amiss to "examine this subject a little further. "The circulating medium of civilised na"tions is either gold and silver, or paper. "Gold and silver are undoubtedly wealth,

yet they are but a small portion of what "has properly a claim to that title; and a "nation, which has abundance of gold and

poor. This query has been in part an"swered already, as the admission has been

made, that the master manufacturer would "demand a profit on the articles he had "caused to be fabricated, and it is clear, "that by an accumulation of these profits, "he would acquire wealth. At the same "time, it is not difficult to perceive, that "in a society without a circulating medium, "as in a society with one, many of the class "of land proprietors would be always poor. "There would be found there, men, whose "love of grandeur and of pleasure would "lead them to spend every grain of their "income in kind, as there are men found "here, whom the same motives cause to

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or the promissory notes of men of undoubted property, form a circulating me"dium, fully as useful, and much less expensive. No one will pretend to say, that "the wealth of Great Britain consists of

gold and silver, because every one knows, "that these metals do not form a tythe of "her circulating medium; yet multitudes

If

will maintain, that this circulating me"dium, composed chiefly of paper, is a "portion of national wealth. No position, however, can be more false than this. gold and silver be but the representative of wealth, much more is all the paper in cir"culation but the representative of wealth, "the shadow, not the substance, nay, in many cases, it is the representative of nothing "the shadow of a shade. When the "Bank of England coins a million of pounds "worth of notes, does it issue them with-. "out receiving an equal value for them, or, at

any rate, without having security for the "amount? And when a swindling country "banker, without fortune, has persuaded the surrounding country to take his notes in exchange for real property, do not his