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dier of a few years standing, (8) but, in that time, I have been very actively employed in the duties of my profession, and am pretty well acquainted with the habits, dispositions, temper, and ideas of the privates of the army, from whom an officer, much among them, will frequently hear, that "such an officer is a very gallant man, but "no general. Such another will lead us "into action, but knows not how to lead us "out. Such a man has never seen ser"vice, and how can he conduct us advan"tageously? Perhaps, to shew his courage, " we must all be cut to pieces, because he is

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inexperienced." On a march, my Lord, men must talk, and very often in terms of dissatisfaction. Men will judge, will think, and will speak. Ask the 52d what they thought, and still think, of their Ferrol excursion; they will answer, "we feel dis

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graced by our leader; had Moore, Mon"" son, or any one under whom we were "accustomed to serve in India been our "leader, with the power to act, we should "have acted as gloriously as we have acted " in India." A raw recruit soon learns from the old soldier, the character and ability of his general or commanding officer, and he is easily lead to adopt, with juvenile ardour, the opinion of the veteran. With what enthusiasm are some names mentioned by them! The undrilled recruit feels elated, when Reard, Hutchinson, Abercrombie, and his not less gallant and admired brother, Robert Abercrombie, are named. He has learnt, and firmly believes, that these men are conquerors, that they know how to fight, and how to beat an enemy. Under these men, or those who are known to have possessed their confidence, to have aided their efforts, to have distinguished themselves under them, and to have received their public and unqualified approbation, soldiers, my Lord, are ever ready and able to perform acts of heroism. But, in our service, unfortunately, interest and not merit, carries every thing. When a general assumes a command, the natural and general questions which soldiers ask each other, which one regiment inquires of another, are, "Where has he been on service? Who did "he fight under? Did he beat or was he "beaten? Is he an old soldier, or has he "got on by his purse and his friends?" The name of old soldier, sounds even to the recruit, like the name of brother, father, and friend. How much must, consequently, depend upon the mere reputation of a general or leader? It is not in St. James'sstreet, or at the Horse-guards, that officers learn the art of war; there, it is true, they obtain notice, patronage, and lucrative em

ployments: and with tolerable interest in that quarter, a man may acquire (from being out of the army entirely, and after never having been more than a captain in the army, and a commissary of ordnance) the rank of Lieut. Colonel, and a snug command, (a fit reward for an old and needy soldier,) followed by another very good appointment. There are many useful and valuable officers, who have never qui ted the service, and who might reasonably expect, and look for such rewards after a long and toilsome life, in the service of their country; and it is the misapplication of these rewards, that tends greatly to undermine, and will eventually ruin our military service; I have often heard it remarked, that the very numerous new regulations made by our superior, only operated to the prejudice of the poor, and were all easily surmounted by the rich; under such an idea, men never will serve with zeal, activity, and diligence, and it is greatly to be regretted, that such really is the case. At the commencement of a new war, it is certainly necessary for the good of his Majesty's service, that officers of every rank and description, should have ample reason to feel assured, that their services will not only be remembered, but be rewarded, without the aid of interest, or influence of money. The circle in which patronage, employment, emolument, and rank are confined, does not embrace very many of our most able, and most deserving officers. It is the duty, my Lord, of every true, every manly patriot, (of your Lordship's consequence,) to adopt an unconfined, steady, and discriminating attention to, and support of, merit in our officers. In such a free country as this, noblemen have the power of recommending to his Majesty such of his subjects as deserve his notice, and our Sovereign is known to possess a desire to reward services in a flattering manner; but, my Lord, there are persons possessed of diffident and modest merit, men who complain only in private, men who disdain to solicit favours, but are ever ready to offer, and afford services. These are the men fit to be employed. Take the pains, my Lord, to scrutinize the list of generals, and brigadiergenerals, now employed on the staff, inquire into their qualifications for such distinction; ask where, when, and how they have served his Majesty? Do not confine your inquiry merely to those in Great Britain, extend it to Ireland, to Scotland, and even in India; you will meet with objectionable characters, not in Baird, Stewart, Wellesley, or M Dowall. These are distinguished characters worthy of any and every distinction which their country can confer on them.

But, my Lord, at such a time as the present, it is absolutely necessary, that in the selection of officers to command armies in detence of our country, constitution, liberty, and religion, no partiality (but for eminent abilities and distinguished services), should be shewn to particular interests or court favour. The stake is too material, too important to be trusted to raw and untried generals. The guards, my Lord, have been spoken of as brave troops, and as such are entitled to the commendations of every soldier, but let us not forget that their services have been very limited, and that every insignificant achievement performed by them, has always found its way into public prints in language the most flowery, and the most flattering from the most partial authority. The guards, my Lord, are not superior, if equal to our troops of the line, their officers are gallant men, but not exclusively entitled to royal favour and patronage. The zeal of our officers can alone be kept alive by the impartial administration of honours. Men are easily disgusted, and when displeased are ready to enumerate every accidental or premeditated act of injustice with asperity and warmth; their sentiments are not confined to themselves or their confidential friends, they are the topic of conversation among every class, and, in propertion as their characters are esteemed, the stigmas, and loud censures, not only of their intimates, but of the country at large, are bestowed on the author of such injustice. Is it not, my Lord, the subject of conversation throughout this kingdom, why, or how, so many, so great a proportion of our general staff should be taken from the guards, when officers of much greater pretensions are left unnoticed, idle, and unemployed Every respectable farmer feels the present, a war for the defence of all that is dear to him in life, and feels, consequently, an interest in knowing that the officers who are honoured with commands, are men, not only of indisputable courage, and great abilities, but of experience and knowledge in the art of war. They naturally say, our existence is at stake, we require, and must have men at our head who have served in various quarters, and who are, at least, equal to French generals. We must not have men only accustomed to retreat, or whose personal courage seems their only recommendation. This is the

language, my Lord, of those who have a just detestation of a French yoke. But, before I conclude, give me leave to point out to your Lordship one or two late acts which give general disgust. The staff of general officers is composed of more than three-fourths from the guards. The establishment of the

line, field-officers have been fixed at one Lieut. Colonel and two Majors, by which the Lieutenants in the guards have evident ly a very great advantage over Captains in the army, by being able to arrive at the rank of Lieut. Colonel by regular succession, much sooner than the Captains of other corps, this is deemed a flagrant act of injustice. Again, the senior lieutenants of the guards have been allowed to raise only thirty men for the rank of Lieut. Colonel, whereas the senior Lieutenants of other regiments have to raise the same quota for the rank of Captain. Is not this, my Lord, a stretch of partiality too liable to give umbrage? Further, the guards who served in Egypt, and who never performed any very memorable exploit, is the only corps for whom his Majesty's permission has been obtained to wear their Turkish medals; is this not an invidious and disgusting mark of distinction? What do the troops who served in that quarter say? Why, my Lord, they condemn any limited act of favour, where all were equally worthy of notice. In the army we hate pet regiments, we wish, and expect from a Commander in Chief liberality and justice; from him we hope for encouragement and rewards as we merit them, not according to our interest with the individuals who compose his family. We allow a certain latitude to their influence, but we wish our Commander in Chief to act from his own ideas of justice and propriety, and not merely to limit his favours to their friends, or needy relations; this, my Lord, has been too much the case, and has lead the most respectable of our officers to fear, that H. R. H. has no opinion of his own, and is totally subservient to the advice and recommendation of a few artful and interested persons. It has been alleged as an accusation against the gallant Lord Hutchinson, that his Lordship was deficient in not applying for his Majesty's permission, for all the officers who composed his army to wear their medals; and, that Gen. Ludlow made such an application for the guards, which was accorded. Now, my Lord, does it not appear to your Lordship, as well as to the army at large, that this mark of Royal grace ought to have been solicited for the whole army by the Commander in Chief, as a mark of his approbation of their services, and consequently, a flattering compliment as well to Lord Hutchinson, as to every officer who served in Egypt? I am clearly of opinion, that such ornaments are more pleasing to officers of the guards than those of the line. At St. James's, a medal given by the Grand Seignior has attractions, which in the field are despised. It is an ornamental part

of dress which adds no sort of consequence to the wearer but at a levee or in a drawing room. But, my Lord, what value would have been attached to this paltry ornament, had H. R. H. (without an unbecoming solicitation from any quarter,) considered it his duty to those gallant officers of the army of Egypt, to make an application to his Majesty for them to wear such medals, as had been given by the Turkish Monarch in testimony of his sense of their merits, and to publish such Royal permission in the strongest terms of merited approbation? The army is, as your Lordship well knows, composed of men of the nicest, and most honourable feelings; men equally alive to praise or insult; men emulous to obtain the one, or ready to resent the other. The evil to be expected from such a marked and invidious partiality to the guards, is not, perhaps, so evident to H. R H. as to every experienced officer in the service. They must be kept distinct from other corps, or broils, discord, and duels will ensue. And your Lordship is aware that these feuds will not be confined to the officers of corps, there is, my Lord, an "esprit de corps" existing in the bosom of every private in his Majesty's army, a spirit which it would be highly impolitic to extinguish. A spirit which once destroyed will reduce our army to a mere mercenary, and, I may add, despicable force. Every regiment in the line, must and will feel a great degree of jealousy towards the guards, and it will be their pride and amusement to ridicule and undervalue their services; to dispute and deny their pretensions to that extreme degree of favour and affection which is shewn to them; and in doing this, my Lord, is it possible to avoid censures on the person who bestows such mortifying partiality? The true and real sentiments of the army will never reach his Royal Highness, unless your Lordship or some other independent nobleman, should point them out to him. And indeed, my Lord, you are of too exalted a rank to be made acquainted with their opinions, but through the medium of an anonymous letter. The great are generally in the dark,

until the clouds burst and inundation ensues. His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, could not have foreseen the insurrection at Gibraltar, although he studies his profession, and endeavours to form just notions of military duty. Governor Johnston is reckoned a sensible man, and yet he was not aware of the mutiny of his own regiment. Indeed, my Lord, great dissatisfaction has been given by innumerable acts of decided partiality to particular regiments. The army is naturally tenacious of justice,

"jealous of honour," and easily offended.And now, my Lord, give me leave to make a suggestion, which, in my mind, seems of most material consequence for the safety of Ireland. The papers some time past, stated a plan of exchanging the Irish Militia for the English, a measure which would have given a great proof of consummate wisdom in our ministers, but, my Lord, that measure has never been carried into effect, a measure which every man accustomed to the Irish, and acquainted with the senti❤ ments of that class, which is enlisted into the Militia, must ardently desire. The nobility of Ireland are ignorant, or pretend to be so, of the defection of their countrymen ; they grossly misrepresent their sentiments, and ridiculously imagine that a total change has taken place in their ideas, because they are too artful to avow those principles which, at present, they have not the means of vindicating and asserting; believe me, my Lord, nothing can render that country secure but an exchange of the Militia of both countries. In England, or abroad, the Irish make good soldiers, but their family connexions and original dislike to a Protestant Government, will render them infinitely more formidable to this king. dom that to a French army.- -And, indeed, my Lord, I will venture to assert that there are many regiments of the line now in Ireland which ought to be removed to this country, if we have the least fear of an invasion of that island. Many, my lord, have been recruited in Ireland, and are full of those men who were once in arms against the beloved Sovereign now on the throne of this country. Many have been there sufficiently long to have married, and contract. ed intimacies and friendship with the disaffected part of that community. Some of our corps, most complete, are principally composed of men, whose dispositions I will not characterize. In Ireland, where liquor is so easily obtained, and where the people are ready, and studious to corrupt their principles by every insinuating attention, soldiers are easily seduced from their duty and allegiance. The regiments which have been two or three years in Ireland ought certainly to be relieved without loss of time by corps from England; the danger would be much less of an association between corps just arrived in that country, with the disaffected Irish, than with those who have wives, brothers, and near connexions among them, whose influence may greatly tend to their seduction. The guards, my lord, being considered as troops most incorruptible, and certainly bound to do more than the regiments of the line, from the partiality

and affection shewn them, ought to be sent to that country for two or three years. This would give them some claim to that affection so greatly displayed on every occasion; it would reconcile the army in some degree to that conspicuous notice which is paid to them; and it would eventually be of great service to them, provided they were placed under the command of some veteran and able generals. Not men of their own corps, or of the horse guards, or of light drageons, or men who have only witnessed our defeat on the Continent. There are, my lord, but Few generals of experience and tried ability in that Kingdom. There are as few on this side the water. What then must be our hopes if the French are fortunate in effecting a landing, under the protection of men who know not the range of a piece of cannon, the advantages of position, the most skilful method of fighting, or how to defeat the purposes and intentions of an artful and warlike foe? Much must depend on the ability and talents of a general conducting an army against a desperate and enterprising enemy. Against able, brave, experienced, and active generals. It is not only necessary to oppose force to force, skil must be opposed to skill, and in the latter, my lord, I greatly fear the French will possess an important and material advantage. They will be commanded by men who have been accustomed to meet and to surmount difficulties, to defeat as much by their talents and ingenuity as the force of their arms; the vivacity of their minds readily places before them an artful method of deceiving, of misleading, and eventually of discomfiting our gallant, but inapt and inexperienced countrymen. Sagacity is acquired by experience in the field, which the French possess in an emiHent degree, and against which the most noble courage will occasionally fail. These considerations will, I trust, induce your lordship and every patriotic peer to make inquiry into the military characters of those in whose hands our safety and security is placed; to find out the proper officers fit and able to oppose the abilities of the French, and to recommend them to his Majesty's notice. In acting thus, my lord, you will receive the approbation of the whole Kingdom, you will be admired as a true patriot, you will be beloved as a real Englishman, and you will be considered as the most useful defender of all that is dear to your countrymen. Let not personal attachment or partiality influence your conduct, take a comprehensive view of all who have proved useful to the state, who have evinced merit, and possess abilities as soldiers; let

your selection be such that the character of every individual can stand the test of minute inquiry or investigation. This, my lord, your own existence as a peer, your fortune, your safety, your country, and religion demand. All these may be lost by a want of talents in our commanders: all may fall a sacrifice to their ignorance: all be transferred to French mastery, by their folly. It is a great, a momentous, a critical period! The country requires the exertion of talent and abilities. Much may be dreaded when 28 general officers are taken from the Guards out of 32, when interest is allowed to influence the conduct of government, and when ability and experience are so evidently wanting in those who are entrusted with important commands. ert yourself, my lord, to rouse every peer from that state of lethargy, and of fatal security into which they seem to be lulled. The country will bless you, and you will attract the admiration of the world. A. B.

Ex

P. S. How, my lord, do all our able officers grumble at the contents of the late Gazettes! Who, my lord, are the men entitled to regiments? Old and distinguished officers, sufficiently active in body or mind to serve their King and Country effectually. Where, my lord, did Colonel Vansittart see service? At the Cape!!!!! And by holding an inactive command in the West-Indies!!! How far does his abilities soar above those of officers who served in Egypt or in India? The oratorial talents of Colonel Maitland are known within and without the walls of the House of Commons, but is he is eminent for his conduct without the walls of the fortress that protects the entrance to Ferrol? Which, my lord, is most essential in a soldier, the epistolary art, or the art of war? The name of the Earl of Cavan is but little known to military men. His untried abilities may hereafter justify the choice of H. R. H.-Is it not a mortifying circumstance to find Col. Durham distinguished by the command of a regiment. For what? for raising a fencible corps from which, it is well known, great emolument was gained, and for serving in Ireland!!!! This, my lord, is a sore cut on the army-that fencible officers should be introduced among us, not at the botto:n, but at the top of our profession. The very privates of the army feel and consider fencible officers as inferior to, and a distinct class from, the officers of the line. They ought to be so. The spirit of the army will be broken if it is not so. We shall expect with despondency to be perpetually superceded by that species of soldiers accustomed to home service only. Pray, my lord, is our

list of colonels so deficient in able and active officers as to render it necessary, decent, or proper to bring Colonel Stapleton or Lord Roden in among us? Or are their talents or services so transcendently conspicuous as to impose an obligation to confer distinction and rank on them? This, my lord, is a severe and open censure on our colonels-perhaps there may be terror in their names which the French have learnt to dread. If these things occur, adieu to all zeal, all emulation, all desire for rank, when a gallant and experienced officer may suddenly find himself superceded or commanded by an heterogeneous animal who has been of all other trades before he tries soldiering. All upstart officers are obnoxious to the army. We wish for men who have entered on our profession at an early period, and have steadily persevered in the duties of a soldier. Not such as by Court favour have made a traffic, a mere mercantile profession of our service. How would a captain of one of our ships of war gaze with confusion and astonishment should he receive an order from the Admiral y to make a landsman steer his ship into action! Or should he receive as a lieutenant on board his ship a man who never saw the sea. How then, my lord, must the army wonder to see men brought in among us who are only conspicuous for having raised regiments, much to their own profit and gain! Men placed at the helm of a regiment, without having served a regular apprenticeship in the different gradations of our service! How mortifying, how disgusting, how vexatious are these circumstances to all zealous, steady, and able officers!

LOUISIANA.

Proclamation of the Spanish Intendant at New Orleans, for restoring to the Americans the right of Deposit at that Town.

It is hereby made known that his most excellent Sir Don Pedro Ceballos, Secretary of State, &c. has forwarded to me under date of the 1st of March past, the following royal order:-"The King being informed of the edict that you have published, prohibiting the deposit of the goods, the effects of the citizens of the United States, granted to that nation by the 22d article of the treaty of 1795, his Majesty has thought fit to order, that you permit the said deposit in New Orleans, without prejudice to what the two governments may agree upon between themselves, respecting the construction to be given to the

said treaty in what relates to changing the establishment of New Orleans, for another on the borders of the Mississippi, in order that the depositing of the merchandize and effects of the United States be fulfilled-which I communicate to you by royal order, for its more punctual performance on your part."— And whereas the edict of the 16th October last past, which prohibited the introduction and depositing of the merchandize and effects of the citizens of the United States, until the Intendancy should receive express orders from the King, to authorize its continuance, is hereby become null and void, and without force.-Given at New Orleans, the 17th May, 1803, under my hand, and countersigned by the notary of royal finance.

Juan Ventura Morales.

Letter from the Governor General of Louisiana to the Governor General of the Mississippi territory.

Most Excellent Sir,-As the smallest circumstance respecting this important subject is so interesting to the general satisfaction and tranquillity of our respective governments, I take the particular pleasure in communicating to your Excellency, that yesterday at twelve o'clock, one hour after the arrival of the courier, the deposit for American merchandize and effects was restored, and put on the footing it formerly stood. God preserve your Excellency many years. MANUAL DE BALCEDO. New-Orleans, May 18, 1803. His Excellency W. C. C. CLAIBONE.

By a treaty concluded at Paris, on the 30th of April last, between the United States of America and the French Republic, Louisiana, in its full extent was ceded to America on the following terms:-1st, 11,250,000 dollars to be paid to France in 6 per cents. three months after the delivery of the country. 2d. An assumpsit, not exceeding 3,750,000 dollars, on the part of America, of the debts and captures provided for under the Convention of September, 1800.-3d. The admission of French and Spanish vessels, laden with the merchandize of their country, and coming directly from its ports, into the ports of the ceded countries, for twelve years, without paying a higher duty than Americans: a privilege which is to be extended to no other nation. The country is to be delivered up immediately on the ratification of the treaty, and it is to be incorporated with the United States, as soon as it can be done, consistently with the American Constitution.

LONDON,

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