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be done. In the South, and South East, and to the North, there is, yet, a good deal to do; but, the work-man, though no Latin Scholar, is a man of some dispatch. It has been suggested to me, by a very valuable correspondent, that we might arrest the progress of this" giant fiend" by opposing Lord Wellesley to him. I have heard of a French woman, who says, “il n'y a que deux grands "hommes dans le monde: Buonaparte et "milor Wellesley:" I am somewhat of the opinion of this French woman; but, I mean, as I presume she does, not to pit these great men against each other, with the same sort of weapons. Buonaparte with a sword, and our little Caesar with a pen; and, if the latter was but put in Mr. Canning's place, and we could but prevail upon Buonaparté to read his dispatches, nay, or only one half of them, he would never make conquest again; for, we would, every other day, at least, treat him with an epistle, which, if not quite so efficacious in the work of conversion, should be as long as all the epistles of all the Apostles put together.

Botley, 27th Nov. 1807.

IRISH TITHES.

Sir; It appears by your reasoning in your Register of the 14th instant, on the subject of a commutation for Tithes in Ireland, that you are an enemy to such a proposition, and would still saddle the land with the expence of maintaining a clergy of one sort or the other. And you say "in proportion to the Catholic population, "I would have diverted that expence to

their ministers, making the Protestant "Church a compensation in England, by purchasing up the lay impropriations, upon the unalterable condition, that Benefice "and Residence should in all cases, be in"separable. I had no intention to cheat "both the clergy and the laity, and call it patriotism."I have always entertained so high an opinion of your judgement and good sense, that I differ from you with much diffidence, but as my sentiments are so much at variance with yours, after peTusing what you have said with all the attention in my power, I am inclined to believe that you have not considered,this great question in all its bearings with your usual discrimination, as your reasoning on most subjects has wrought conviction on my mind. As few men are so capable as yourself and this question being of the highest interest, I am sure that your readers will be under great obligations to you to favor them with your matured sentiments upon it, and none

I assure you will feel the obligation more strongly than myself. Being unac quainted with the system in Ireland my remarks must be confined to that of England, and having always understood that in Ire land this grievance is the most oppressive, every observation must apply with additional, force. I am fully convinced that the landowner would be materially benefitted if tithes were abolished, as in that case the occupier of land could certainly afford to pay in additional rent, what he now pays in tithes, and I have no doubt would be required to do so; but in the instance of a commutation (which supposes the same payment by a different mode) I confess it does not appear to me that the mdlord can be a gainer. You seem of opinion that if the occupier of land does not pay less to the parson as a composition, than he now does, that he can derive no substantial benefits from the proposed change. It is the general practice in this country to lease lands for considerable terms, at certain rents, the tithes are also in many instances leased, but I believe in most they are not, and under: the most favorable circumstances such lease must depend on the life of the incumbent, which from its uncertainty must in a multitude of instances turn to the disadvantage | of the occupier, for no sooner does a change, take place, than the new rector has recourse, to a valuation of the tithes, and generally, they are either raised or taken in kind; in the former case, the occupier must be in a worse situation than if the landlord had. leased him the whole, as would have been the case had titles no existence; and in the latter a most grievous oppression would be exercised by taking a tenth of the produce from land, got into a high state of cultiva tion at great expence and by many years exertion. Under these circumstances the Far mer would be deprived of much more than he ought in justice to pay, by a subtraction of a tenth of the produce thus acquireds or by a different course of husbandry, which would certainly be injurious to himself, he would considerably lessen the advantages that the community would otherwise receive. And this to spite The Parson. You are too good a judge of human nature to doubt that this must happen, or not to know that these circumstances must continually occur.-With, regard to your observation of apportioning the tithes between the clergy of different religions in proportion to the population, every enlightened mind must coincide with you in so liberál a sentiment, and must decidedly agree with you that Benefice and Residence should be itisepatable, unlessțin

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extreme cases, when half the profits of the living should belong to the curate, who should reside. But to me your proposition of applying the tithes of England to the payment of the resident clergy in Ireland would be extremely objectionable. Suppose a Farmer seeing his tithes taken in kind, and the profits sent to a clergyman in Ireland, whom he had never seen and for whom he could entertain nothing but detestation. What would you say to that Mr. Cobbett, or what would the people of England think of such a measure:-You also say you would still have saddled the land with the expence of maintaining the clergy. My understanding is certainly not sufficient to discern the rule of equity by which you would burthen any particular description of persons with the whole charge of maintaining a clergy, when all classes of the community are equally interested in, and benefitted by such an establishment I do not see why a tenth part of the produce, or a fifth part of the rent of my little farm (which is what tithes are usually let at) should be taken to-, wards the support of an establishment, when the rich merchant, the overgrown Fundholder, or the man whose fortune is on bond or mortgage to ever so great an amount, are exempted from any charge whatever, though equally interested with me. I do not see the justice of all this, and I am sure you sir do not recommend it on the score of its having so long existed. Indeed formerly, according to Burn's ecclesiastical law, personal tithes, or a tenth part of the clear gain arising from the honest industry of men, was payable, which probably was discontinued on account of the difficulty of ascertaining its amount; however, be that as it may, there does not seem any good reason why the land alone should bear the whole burthen. I conceive the church establishment is intended as a general benefit, and that its real object is, or ought to be, the improvement of the morals of society at large, and therefore as all are interested, that mode of payment which falls the most equal on all class es, and is the least irritating to the feelings of any, should seem the best that could be adopted. If this idea is correct, it would be difficult to devise a mode more objectionable than the present one, or que more ruinous to agricultural, improvements, or more destructive to religion, it being a source of endless vexation and discord; and to such a degree is it carried in several parishes which I know, as to cause a great part of the inhabitants to refrain from going to church.-Would it not be highly beneficial to the interests of religion, and infinitely

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more equitable, if Parliament were to dispose of**** the tithes, and the clergy were to be paid in annuities; every individual would then contribute to their support, there being but few, who do not pay taxes to the state. To some this mode would be objectionable from the tendency it appears to have in throwing the influence of the clergy into the hands of government, and to others it being a fixed money payment, the depreciation of money might make it very injurious.-Perhaps the presentations remaining in the same persons might obviate the first objection, and the second might be easily remedied by a rise in the annuities at stated periods (if found by parliament to be necessary,) equal to the depreciation of money.-Having been an eye" witness to a multitude of ills from the present partial and oppressive manner of providing for the clergy, and fully believing that it not only has an injurious tendency to the country, by cramping agricultural im-1 provements in a variety of ways, but that it' is also essentially injurious to the best inte- " rests of religion, I cannot help thinking, that the statesman who has virtue and resolu- ' tion enough to undertake so great a good, as the commutation of tithes, will be entitled to be ranked amongst the most distinguished patriots of any clime or any age-With' much respect, I am Sir, &c. A LAND-OWNER. November 21.

COMMERCE.

SIR;I have perused Mr. Spence's arguments, as given in the last and preceding Register, together with your extracts; and, though I agree with you, Mr. Cobbett, that that gentleman cannot claim the praise of originality, either in his ideas, or in the printing of them; yet, I am free to say, that the public is much indebted to him for the clear, logical precision with which they are discussed in his publication. Admiring the positions laid down by yourself and Mr. Spence regarding commerce, and feeling as I do that the existence of this country as an independent nation*, is by no means endan gered by the suspension of our foreign commerce, and persuaded too, that a temporary suspension will be of peculiar advantage to the country, because it will engrave on the hearts of Englishmen, the solemn, serinits, and important TRUTH, that British independence and foreign commerce have by do means a reciprocal relation; yet, I confess, I cannot attain to the conclusion, that a permanent suspension of foreign commerce

By independence, I mean, her safety from foreign conquest,

would be productive of any serious advantage to Great Britain. You must not imagine, Mr. Cobbett, that I am going to start difficulties or doubts for the mere purpose of opposition, I am only disposed to state such grounds as appear to me at present objectionable to the PERMANENT ANNIHILATION of foreign commerce, in order, Sir, that you, who have much more deeply considered the subject in all its various bearings than myself, may remove these with the other objections which you have promised to notice. Mr. Spence states the population of Great Britain at twelve millions; and, he says, that in the supplying food for these twelve millions, not more than two millions are employed; and that the remaining ten millions may be engaged in fabricating manufactures of use or of luxury; in defending the state; in communicating religjous, moral, or scientific instruction; and in other ways which he has mentioned. Now, Sir, I apprehend, that for communi. cating religious and moral instruction, and for the administration of justice, (I do not mean to speak with levity upon these subjects) we employ as many gentlemen as the interest or welfare of the state requires; but it seems, that notwithstanding our supply in these particular branches, which are the whole, I believe, wherein literary talents can be employed, we have yet sufficient of the ten millions of population left, to manufacture clothes, hardware, and pottery for the WHOLE inhabitants of AMERICA, besides a thousand other articles of the most pressing necessity, and of the greatest durability, and that all these are manufactured after we ourselves have been first supplied with every thing that is essential to our comfort and happiness. Now, Mr. Cobbett, I find this difficulty in the annihilation of commerce;

consumption. Can such manufactures be pointed out? I admit all this time, that the internal riches of the country are as affluent as if the exportation had continued; but, is it no serious ground of objection, that a large mass of the people is to be out of employ; that four or five millions probably are to be added to the present lamentable list of mendicants, who disgrace our cities, and corrupt our prisons. I know that though the whole ten millions were paupers, there will be wealth enough to support them, because the same wealth that supported them before still continues in the country; but are the fea tures of the country not materially defaced, when a considerable mass of population, which before claimed respect from its comparative independence, is reduced to solicit charity for mere subsistence. I can perceive, Mr. Cobbett, that luxury may be carried too far. The confines of virtues do not easily admit of their respective lines of demarcation being traced with mathematical precision; but that is no proof that luxury, as well as virtue, has not a necessary existence. Luxury in great states seems an inevitable consequence; and the only question is, whether in attempting to limil her powers considerably, we do not place ourselves in opposition to nature's laws; and if we do, we may be sure we shall be lamentably disappointed in the consequences. When I view Great Britain consisting of twelve milhons of inhabitants, and find from Mr. Spence that only TWO MILLIONS are required to labour to supply the whole with FOOD; If man be (what he is unquestionably) born to labour and to support himself by the result of that labour, reason imprints on my forehead in characters as strong as any that were written on the twelve tables, that luxury, whether a vice or a virtue, is an indisif we have no foreign connection to re- pensible law if it be a law, though we may lieve us from these surplus manufactures, be cautious not to enlarge its powers, it must who is to become the purchaser of them? nevertheless be reverenced. When the For we, it must be observed, are already FEODAL SYSTEM predominated in this counsupplied with these articles. Why, if it be try, commerce was but little known; that extremely material to get rid of them, throw may probably have been the cause and basis them into the sea! But throwing them into of feodal tyranny. The population was conthe sea will not retribute the manufacturer siderable, and a small proportion could supfor his labour in producing the manufac- ply the whole with food; another small tures, or for the purchase of the raw mate- proportion could supply the other limited rials with which they have been made: the wants of an unenlightened people; the perresult then is this; if there be an end of the sons so employed gave to the feodal Baron an exportation of these manufactures, that por-equivalent for the food which fed them; the tion of the ten millions of population which has been employed in producing them, must, be divested of all employ; all means of supporting themselves by their labour; unless you can substitute in their plase other manufactures, which will be exhausted by home

rest were necessarily dependant upon him for support; and what are DEPENDANTS, Sir, of any kind but SLAVES? When commerce introduced luxury, and the appetite of insatiable man became vitiated with foreign dainties, those masses of population which

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NOVEMBER 28, 1807.-British Commerce.-Spain.

before were absolutely dependant, found the |
means of employing themselves to advan-
tage; they manufactured, not for their own
countrymen-they were already supplied
but for those foreigners, who in exchange
gave them the fopperies of nature and of
art; and with these they supplied the liege
lord with an equivalent for that food, which
before they supplicated from his bounty.
But here an important æra burst from the
gloom of slavery, and with a talismanic
dissolved the enchantment of depen-
power,
dance, and raised to human admiration and
astonishment the bright CHARM of CIVIL LI-
BERTY. My question is, Mr. Cobbett,
"do we not, by annihilating commerce, re-
"trace the steps which brought us from feo-
"dal tyranny ?" I shall be happy, Mr.
Cobbett, to see a convincing negative given
to my question. Commerce and myself are
by no means cordial friends. Commercial
corporations have been always regarded by
me with a cautious jealousy: the sanguinary
effects of one, at least, is not to be oblitera-
ted from my mind, or from the mind of any
man that is tinctured with the faintest co-
louring of humanity. I am not of an age,
Sir, to have heard the speeches of Mr.
Burke on Indian delinquency, but I have
read them; and when I did read them, it
appeared as if an angel of light were open-
ing the ponderous gates of the damned, to
exhibit to my view all the exquisitely de-
praved torments of the arch fiend, with the
miserable wrecks of victims on whom they
had been exercised. I am, indeed, no ad-
vocate for Indian domination; but I should
be happy to have my mind set at rest on the
question of foreign commerce.

&c.

I am,
-W. F. S.-Lincoln's Inn, Nov. 23, 1807.

--

FOREIGN OFFICIAL PAPERS. BRITISH COMMERCE-Official Letter from the French Consul at Bremen, to his Excellency the Burgomaster, President of the Senate of that City.-Dated Bremen, October 26, 1807.

Sir,-I hasten to inform you, that it is the intention of his Majesty the Emperor and King, that all navigation on the Weser be prohibited ; it is his Majesty's desire that all vessels, even French, entering the Weser, be stopped, provided they are wholly or partly laden with colonial produce, or any other goods of whatever kind, that England can furnish. The goods are to be put under sequestration, and taken in charge until farther orders.-Vessels loaded solely with merchandize, which it is possible England cannot furnish, such as pitch, tar, iron, copper, and French wines, are to be ex

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empted from seizure; and all vessels are to
be prevented from leaving the Weser.-I
am finally ordered to take the most efficacious
measures that the intentions of his Majesty
be strictly and immediately fulfilled. I
hasten to warn you thereof, that you may
immediately inform the merchants of this
city, in order that they may avoid the in-
evitable loss to which they will be exposed,
if they attempt to render ineffectual the mea-
sures taken for the rigid and prompt execu-
tion of the orders of my sovereign.-
I am, &c. LAGAU.

SPAIN. Decree issued by the King of Spain
from the Palace of San Lorenzo, and ad-
dressed to the Governor of the Council ad
interim. Oct. 30th 1807.

C. R.-God, who watches over his creatures, does not permit the consummation of atrocious deeds, when the intended victims are innocent. Thus his omnipotence has saved me from the most unheard of catas

trophe.-My people, my subjects, all know
my Christianity and settled habits. They all
love me, and I receive from all of them
proofs of their veneration-such as the
conduct of a parent calls for from his child-
ren.-I lived persuaded of this felicity, and
devoted to the repose of my family, when
an unknown hand discovered the most
atrocious and unheard of conspiracy, which
was carried on in my own Palace, against
my person. My life, which has so often
been in danger, was too long, in the eyes of
my successor, who, infatuated by prejudice,
and alienated from every principle of christ-
ianity that my paternal care and love had
taught him, had entered into a project to
dethrone me. Informed of this, I thought
proper to inquire personally into the truth of
the fact, and surprising him in my room, I
found in his possession the cypher of his
correspondence, and of the instructions he
had received from the vile conspirators.-In
consequence of this discovery, I immediately
convoked the Governor and Council, in order
that they might make the necessary inquiries
and the result bas been the detection of
several malefactors, whose imprisonment I
have ordered; as also the arrest of my son
at his residence. This is an additional
aggravation of the affliction I labour under;
but however painful to my feelings, it must
be submitted to, as it is of the utmost
importance to the suppression of such a
conspiracy. At the same time that I direct
the publication of this affair to my subjects,
I cannot avoid expressing to them the regret
by which I am agitated; but that regret will
be alleviated by the demonstrations of their

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loyalty. You will take the proper measures 10 have this Decree circulated in due form.

CHARLES R.-By command of His Majesty, I transmit this Decree to your Excellency, in order that if nay be duly promulgated. Sigued by the Ministers, and addressed to all Viceroys, &c. &c.

AMERICAN COMMERCE.Copy of the Circular Letter addressed by the Consul of the United States, at Hamburgh, to the Masters of American Ships, bound to that Port: dated Hamburgh, Nov; 4, 1807. At the request of the merchants here, dealing with the United States, I have issued the annexed Circular Instructions to the masters of such of our ships as may be bound. 'to this city, and have also sent over to Heligoland an agent, who will remain their for some months, in order to communicate such further information as I find it expedient to convey to our countrymen passing that island. You, Sir, will make such use of these circumstances as the interest of our commerce may point out to your known zeal and discretion.-I am, J. M. Forbes. W. Lyman, Esq. consul of the United States of America, &c. London,

To Masters of American Ships bound to Hamburgh

In the present unprecedented crisis, such great and almost daily changes take place, and the measures of the belligerents, affecting commerce, are put to such immediate operation, that it is impossible for the most prudent, with the best intentions, to avoid. the injuries which, on every side, lay in wait for fair neutral trade.-It is, therefore, by no means my intention to assume any controul in the destination of your ships, but merely to state such facts as it is important you should know. In this measure my own opinion has been fortified by those of the most respectable merchants here in connec-. tion with my country, expressed to me in their written request.-The French Customhouse Officers, or Douaniers, without any official intimation to the Foreign Agents here, have, some time since, in virtue of an Imperial Decree, applied the commercial regulations and laws of France to the trade of lis city, and without any exceptions, require certificates of origin, signed by the French Consul at the place of shipment, for all articles attempted to be introduced here. In addition to the inconveniences which the prompt and unexpected execution of this ingasure presented, within a few days, a new order of the French Emperor bas interdicted, in the most rigid manner, the navigation of the Elbe and Weser, to all ships,

whether going or coming; and in consequence of it the American ship Julius Hen ry, coming from Baltimore, has been seized, the cargo has been sequestered, the ship has been liberated, but without any freight, and ́must remain under an embargo, of which the term cannot be foreseen. Under this state of things, it must occur to every one, that it cannot promote the interests confided to you, to enter either of these rivers. Having stated thus much, I can only leave you to follow the dictates of your own prudence, assuring you, that I shall endeavour to, send you new advices by the first of December, or sooner, if any favourable change takes place. J. M. FORBES, Consul of the United States of America.

List of Articles permitted to be imported into Humburgh, with Certificate of Origin, signed by the French Consul, at the place of Shipment:

Timber, masts, iron, copper, hemp, sailcloth, or ravens-duck, flax, cordage, pitch, tar, wheat, rye, barley, oats, oatmeal, pease, beans, rice, flower, cheese, butter, wine, brandy, tallow, candles, salt, potash, flax-seed, madder, turnip-seed, linseed oil, hemp-oil, whale and other fish oils, fish-glue, mats, horse-hair, hogs'-bristles saltpetre, yellow-wax, bed feathers, caviar, and honey. All other articles are, for the present, totally prohibited.

DOMESTIC OFFICIAL PAPERS. BLOCKADE Order of Council. From the Supplement to the London Gazette; dated Monday, November 16, 1807.At the Court at the Queen's Palace, the 11th of November, 1807; Present, the King's Most Excellent Majesty in Council. Concluded from p. $32.;.

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And whereas countries, not engaged in the war, have acquiesced in these orders of France, prohibiting all trade in any articles the produce or manufacture of His Majesty's dominions; and the merchants of those countries have given countenance and effect to those prohibitions, by accepting from persons styling themselves commercial agents of the enemy, resident at neutral ports, certain documents,: termed certificates of origin," being certificates obtained at the ports of shipment, declaring that the articles of the cargoes are not of the produce or manufacture of His Majesty's dominions, or to that effect:--And whereas this expedient has been directed by France, and submitted to by such merchants, as part of the new system of warfare directed, against the trade of this kingdon, and as the most effectual instrument of accomplishing the same, and

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