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deed, be consulted, it not being, at that time, imagined, that, in less than a twelvemonth, these same news-printers would gladly catch at, and retail, as matter of national joy, every fact relative to the enlistment of a Hanoverian regiment, in order to obtain recruits for which we are now, with the hearty concurrences of these dreaders of Cayenne, expending at the rate of forty guineas a man! The only reason, however, that was stated for this part of the reduction, was, that they were disbanded in preference to British troops; which amounts to a declaration, that, if there had been no foreign corps, a num ber of regular British soldiers, equal in amount to those corps, would have been disbanded. So that, the whole immediate operative causes resolve themselves, at last, into a motive of economy; the economy of peace, or, to use the words of the minister, "the husbanding of our resources against "a day of trial:"aud, my lord, to give the deceived nation just a peep into the budget of tricks, let them be told, that, the whole of the expense attendant on the maintenance of the 26,000 men who were disbanded; the whole expense of maintaining these 26,000 regular disciplined men up to this day, would not have exceeded one-third part of the sum which must be expended upon 26,000 men of the Army of Reserve, even before they have arms put into their hands! This is the economy of the peace of Amiens, my lord. This is "husbanding our resources "against a day of trial!" This, my lord, is one of the precious advantages of being ruled by safe-politicians; by ministers of tin-man purity; by statesmen" selected from the middling class of society "But, my lord, not only these 26,000 men might have been preserved in the service of the country, but the militia and fencible regiments, both in Great-Britain and Ireland, might have been so discharged, if discharged at all, as to render our difficulties and our danger much less than they have been and now are. These corps might have been discharged by degrees; and, the discharging might have been so managed, as to time, place, and other circumstances, as to have rendered perfectly complete, by means of the men discharged, every regular regiment in the service. This slow process of discharging, together with great activity in the recruiting department, would have kept us constantly in a formidable attitude, and would have enabled the ministers, if any thing would, to assume a becoming tone, aud to act with becoming dignity, resolution, and effect, at the time when they, from their disbanding

and dismantling system, were, in some sort, compelled to play the mendicant and the spy, in the affair of Switzerland. If they had proceeded with slow and cautious steps in the business of disbanding the army and dismantling the fleet, they would never have had occasion for an army of reserve bill, and for a levy in mass; Buonaparté would never have been able to terrify us with the spectre of invasion; and, perhaps, he never would have shown that disposition and those: intentions, which compelled us so soon again to go to war.Of the stripping which the fleet underwent, I shall, at present, say nothing; but, as to the regular army, in-stead of cherishing and strengthening it; instead of examining its several parts, and putting all in order against another day of trial, it was thrown aside as an useless skeleton, and, generally speaking, in a skeleton state; while all imaginable dispatch was made to return to the financiering system of making an army upon paper, of creating a monstrous mass of immoveable force, and thereby rendering the kingdom a mere station of defence; a consequence, which was, at the time, explicitly predicted by several gentlemen, particularly Mr. Elliot * and Mr. Windham, and which prediction has now been so fully and so fatally accomplished. Numerous are the instances, in which the ministers were cautioned against a hasty reduction of our effective military force. This was one of the subjects, embraced in the advice, which was proposed to be tendered to his Majesty, in that address, which Mr. Windham moved, and which your lordship seconded, in answer to the message on the Definitive Treaty. A scale of naval and military defence, adequate to the scale of our danger, and to the importance of the.. "interests which we have to maintain," was one of the means which the new opposition proposed, for preserving the peace that had been made; and of these words, in particu lar, the ministers took care to retain no trace, in the address, which was finally voted by the House, and presented to the King.-The only ground, therefore, on which they could now attempt to justify their having disbanded so large a part of the regular army, is, that they did not at all apprehend that the peace, would be of so short a duration. This would be very weak ground, indeed, for statesmen to take; but, even this they have deprived themselves of, by calling the peace a peace

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* See Mr. Elliot's Speech, 31st May, 1802, on * the Scotch Militia Bill, Register, vol.i. p. 690 et

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of experiment;" by repeatedly declaring that they foresaw it could not last; by circulating, at the public expense, a pamphlet, in which every one, who believed in the permanence of the peace, is called "nature's "fool," and not the fool of the minister, who, it is there stated, never could regard the peace as likely to be permanent *; by the whole tenor of the state papers, relative to the rupture with France, whence it appears, that no ministry, not bent on the ruin of their country, could, for the moment the peace was concluded, have ever expected it to last for a year; and, finally, they have fully and formally deprived themselves of this ground of defence, by advising his Majesty to issue a paper, in which he has solemnly declared to his subjects, and to all the courts of Europe, that "the system of vio"lence, aggression, and aggrandizemnent, "which characterized the proceedings of the "different governments of France during "the war, has been continued with as little

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disguise since its termination t." It is, indeed, very true, that declarations exactly contrary to this, were, many times, made by the ministers; and it is also notorious, that the ministers acted, in many very important instances, upon the presumption of a long continuation of the peace: but, with these inconsistencies, with these flat contradictions, we need not trouble ourselves, in the discussion of the present subject; for, either they believed the peace would be durable, or they did not: if they did, let them acknowledge their ministerial incapacity; if they did not, let them plead guilty to the charge of having, from wicked motives, disbanded 26,000 regular disciplined soldiers, and thereby exposed the kingdom to the danger, with which it is now menaced.Deferring the other points of the subject to my next, I remain, with the greatest respect, my lord, your lordship's most humble and most obedient servant,

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P. S.-My lord, since I sat down to write this letter, I have learnt, that MAJOR SHEE, commandant of the Dover corps, is a gentleman of great military talents and experience, who has served many years in India, and who went to Dover at the express request of Mr. Pitt, who has allotted him apartments in the castle, and by whom his services are highly valued. Such a man, if the volunteers, as they are called, were under proper regulations, would be a perfect treasure to the district; but, amongst men, who are under no law but that of their own will, he can be of no use at all."

SUMMARY OF POLITICS.

Under this head, there are many subjects, which, were there room, would occupy much of the reader's attention. In the next sheet they will find a place. Where, also, will be inserted the IXth Letter to Mr. Sheridan. On the subject of invasion, which still continues to occupy all men's minds, it may be necessary to say a few words.-Buonaparté 'does not tell people, at least not the people who correspond with our ministers, what he intends to do; and, therefore, he keeps us, just as he wishes to keep us, in a constant state of uncertainty, anxiety, and alarm, a state in which no nation ever long preserved its liberty or its independence. As to his preparations, they are certainly formidable, though, perhaps, not so formidable as fear has represented them: one fact, however, relating to these preparations, is of importance, and it is a fact, on the truth of which perfect reliance may be placed; and that is, that many thousand suits of red cloaths, for the army, have, within these few weeks, been made at Paris, and sent off to some of the regiments lying on the coast, and said to be destined for the invasion of this kingdom. The object of such a stratagem is evident enough; and, if a successful landing were to take place, it would require great vigilance on our part to prevent the completion of that object. The naval force at Brest is greater than has been generally thought; and, it is far from being certain, that, favoured a little by the weather, the Consul would not be able to send, even in defiance of our fleet, a formidable army to Ireland, where let us hope that God will be our defender-and keeper, for there every thing else seems to be against us...

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LONDON

“The solid foundation" [mentioned by Sir F. M. Eden], " on which our commercial connexions with "America are fixed, is a treaty, all the commercial and maritime regulations of which, are of them"selves to cease in two years from the end of the late war with France. Then, Sir, it is to be de"termined, in the negotiations of a new treaty, what further regulations shall be adopted, with re"spect to the American commerce with the West-Indies; and also it is to be determined, whether " in any, and in what cases, neutral vessels shall protect enemy's property. These are point, Sir, which America will be much more obstinate than you imagine. They have ever been the objects nearest " her heart; and, she will ere long obtain them, or she will effect the ruin of our colonies. Your peace "has at once humbled us, and exalted every other nation, whose interests, or views, are, or may be, " opposed to our own."- -MR. COBBETT'S LETTERS to Mr. Addington on the Preliminaries of Peace. New Edition, p. 248. Published in January, 1802.

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LETTER VIII.

TO R. B. SHERIDAN, ESQ. M. P.

SIR,--How SIR, How far the London news-printers have profited from the advantages, offered them by the singular circumstances of the times; what have been the nature and tendency of their publications; how those publications will bear a comparison with former publications from the same pens, and respecting the same principles, and the same person or persons; what degree of credit, for fair and honourable conduct, the nation is likely to derive from their labours, on which you have bestowed such unbounded applause; these, Sir, are amongst the objects of the examination, which will form the subject of the present letter.-The circumstances of the times offered most striking advantages for making of the press such an use as would have not only excited a spirit calculated to resist the efforts, which the French may make against this country, but as would also have completely revived the ancient salutary prejudice against France, generally speaking, at the same time that it eradicated every fibre of those poisonous principles of republicanism, which the modern French have scattered all over the world, and which the London news-printers and yourself have heretofore used no common exertions to propagate in this kingdom. But, so far were the conductors of the press from giving this direction to its powers, that, with the exception of Buonaparté, the persons, whom they thought most worthy of their hatred, were precisely those, of whom no harm could be said, without implicating, in some sort, the cause of royalty; and, of course, without injuring that in which we were engaged, it being very evident, that the ultimate object of the present war is, on the part of France, to destroy the British government; and that, therefore, the question with us is, "monar"chy or no monarchy?" Instead of endeavouring to convince the people, that the tyranny, VOL. IV.

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in France, had arisen out of the levelling principle, the London news-writers were, and yet are, continually, crying out against Buonaparté for having destroyed that principle. It is as a despot, not as a demagogue, that they rail against him; as a tyrant, not as an usurper; as a traitor to the people, not to his Sovereign; as the apparent friend, not as the real enemy of the Gallican church. The grounds of hatred to Buonaparté became more and more evident from the description and character of the persons, who were associated with him as objects of attack, and amongst whom the French Bishops occupied a prominent place. Mandates were, upon the breaking out of the war, sent by the several bishops to their clergy, the greater part of which mandates contained sentiments disadvantageous to the government and the people of England. This circumstance, which was by no means extraordinary, which was nothing to be wondered at, and, indeed, nothing that could justify rancorous expressions, even in an enemy, was laid hold of, with an eagerness that surprized every one, who had not been an observer of the persecuting spirit, which these writers had ever manifested towards the royalists of France, and particularly towards those of them, who had given the strongest proofs of their attachment to the Catholic church. The moment the mandates appeared in the Moniteur, all the French Bishops were immediately accused, by the London news-writers, of perjury, of blasphemy, and of the basest of treason to their Sovereign. If these charges had been well-founded, they would have had an odd appearance in the very same papers, and other periodical works, wherein the French had been openly applauded for their rebellion against their king; in many of which Robespierre had met with most strenuous advocates; and all of which bad approved of a peace with Buonaparté. But, the charges were unfounded. Out of A a

131 French Bishops, who were in existence in 1790, 47 died before the Pope's brief, for resigning their sces, was issued; 37 refused to resign; five never were consulted; so that, there remained but 42, who had resigned, and who alone could, of course, belong to the new Gallican church. To impute perjury, blasphemy, and treason, therefore, to all the French Bishops, was a false and malignant libel, and a most cruel and cowardly attempt to add to the pain already endured by a number of aged and most respectable, though unfortunate, gentlemen; who, besides the offences against their Sovereign and their God, were charged with ingratitude towards this country," where they "had been fed and protected." But, as to this latter point, it appeared, upon inquiry, that of all the French Bishops, who had resided in England, only five resigned their sees; these five of them, and these five only, returned to France; one of them died before the present war broke out; so that, there were only four, who could, in their mandates, possibly have shown any ingratitude of the sort alluded to; and, it so happened, that, in the mandates of these four, not one word was to be found injurious to this country or its people!

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From the same motive

that the Bishops were chosen as objects of abuse, the other French emigrants were selected. It was industriously reported, that the plans for the invasion were all furni-hed by them; and that they collected the mate rials for these plans, while they were eating the bread of this country." Upon this assertion the news-writers founded a proposition for hanging in chains every man, belonging to an invading French army, who, upon being made prisoner, should be found to have been in this kingdom, in the character of an emigrant during the last war! So base a thought as this never before entered the mind of man; and never could have found its way into any mind, except one of those, which are continually on the rack to discover new means of humouring the worst of the rabble. The monstrous injustice of this proposition shocked every man of sen. timent, and was reprobated, more particularly, by all the foreigners whose ears it reached. Amongst the persons, coming under the character of emigrants, were many of the officers and soldiers of those foreign corps, nine thousand persons belonging to which were, by our wise ministers, disbanded at the close of the last war. There was, indeed, in the amnesty of the Consul, an exception against persons, who had borne arms against France during the war; but, this exception was suffered to lie a dead letter, and the

men, who had so gallantly served ander our colours during the war, and whom Mr. Yorke and his colleagues were "glad to

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spare" the moment peace was made, Buonaparté was equally glad to receive into his service. Against these persons the cry of ingratitude was doubly strong. What! to refuse to remain to be kicked and cuffed, like dogs, by the door-keepers at the HorseGuards and in Downing Street; to refuse to stay here and starve to death, or to beg their bread in the street, after having ventured their lives a thousand times in his Majesty's service; to prefer the service of Buonaparté to such an existence, or such an end; was this a proof of ingratitude! Was this something which it became the British nation to regard as an offence? Which it became the British nation to complain of and to threaten to punish by an ignominious death? What were these men to do? Arms was their profession; they could not turn shop-keepers; if they had been willing to debase themselves by taking up a mechanical or dealing occupation, they would have found neither work nor customers; and, therefore, they were compelled to leave the country and to become soldiers again in France, or to remain here and beg or starve; and, because they were not disposed to end their days as paupers, to lick up the crumbs that fell from the tables of the generous shop-keepers of London, they ought, acording to the notion of the news-writers, if taken in the service of their new master, to be put to death, in defiance of the laws of war, and to “grace "the loftiest gibbets" that could possibly be erected! Your friends, Sir, were very particular as to the gibbetting part: the gibbets were to be very lofty, and the ceremony was to take place instantly after the unfortunate victims should fall into our hands! —In both these instances, the batred to royalty really appears to me to have been much greater than the hatred towards the enemy, whose threat scenis, up to the time of which I am now speaking, only to have furnished the news-writers with a pretext for exciting in the minds of the rabble a desire to abuse, or to commit violence on, the French royalists, to whom there was, as yet, a strong position to attribute the "unfortunate” recommencement of hostilities." But, when it was stated, and believed, that Buonaparté had made a solemn declaration, that, the moment he took possession of London, be would ship all the news-writers and printers off to Cayenne, these gentlemen entered, in good earnest, into a mortal league against him and against all his subjects, his army in particular. Not, therefore, for the sake of their country

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nominous death ! Now began the age of Placards, or "Patriotic Handbills" and pictures, and scandalous indeed was the scene. The newspapers had led the way. They had called Buonaparté "a tyrant, a despot, a cut-throat, a murderer, an assassin, a "poisoner, a monster, an infidel, an atheist, a blasphemer, a hypocrite, a demon, a "devil, a robber, a wolf, an usurper, a "thief, a savage, a tyger, a renegado, a liar, "a braggart, a cuckold, a coward, and a "fool." I am turning over the pages of a volume of newspapers, and I set down the names just as they occur. I could go on, and add greatly to the list, but the task is too disgusting, and besides, my specimen is already ample enough. The question here is, not whether Buonaparté merited this application of the newspaper vocabulary, but whether it was not most scandalous to see that application made by the very writers, who had but a few months before, nay, but a few weeks, a very few weeks, before, ap-. plauded the ministers for making peace with him, and reprobated, in the strongest terms, the conduct of all those, who ventured to doubt of his sincerity, or of the permanence and safety of the peace. They even extolled his character, talked continually of his courage, his magnanimity, his wisdom, and even of his piety; and, upon the strength of all those, they severely censured the emigrants of all descriptions, who remained in this country, and who "obstinately and fool.

or their Sovereign; not from any consider-sented as a malefactor about to suffer an igation but their own personal safety was it, that they publicly proposed to the government and the nation to murder the prisoners of war, who, in case of invasion, might fall into our hands. This was the most scandalous, the most base and infamous scheme or intention that ever was entertained by any human being; and, it discovered, at the same time, insolence, which would not have been endured by any other public in the world. The army, nay, the nation, the whole of the people of this kingdom, were to render themselves the scorn and detestation of all mankind; were to become assassins, murderers in cold blood, merely to prevent the possibility of the news-mongers of London, the dealers in advertisements and paragraphs, the venders of flattery and of scandal, being disturbed in the pursuit of their pestiferous trade! It is, however, but justice to observe, that, as to this point, there was one honourable exception; and, as far as my observation went, but one; one only amongst about thirty newspapers, which did not cordially, and without hesitation, adopt the cut-throat principles broached by a paper notoriously under the immediate con. trol of the ministers, of one of whom, indeed, it is well known to be, in part at least, the property.- -The attacks, made by the periodical press, on the character and condoct of Buonaparte, were sometimes fair and discreet enough; but, in many instances, they were scandalously false and foul, and calculated to produce, in the end, much more harm than good. One of the first facts, which, after war was declared, the London news-press communicated to the world was the following:-" Amidst "the general rejoicings, at Edinburgh, on "bis Majesty's Birth-Day, an effigy of Buo

naparte, dressed in a generals uniform, was carried in procession through the principal streets of the city and Leith, "and, after a mock trial, was sentenced to "be banged, drowned, and burnt." The act of publishing an account of this transaction shows to what a depth of degradation the press must be sunk, that same press, which had, only a few months before, related, with the utmost delight, painted in the most pleasing and glowing colours, the exultation of the people upon the conclusion of peace with Buonaparté, upon the cordial friendship established between their king and the man whom they now repre

The Morning Chronicle.
The Morning Post.

Morning Post, 10th June, 18037

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ishly persisted in, refusing to return home "and thereby avail themselves of his pro"ferred amnesty;" yet, those of them, who have returned and accepted of the amnesty, these very news-writers now propose to murder in cold blood, if any of them should be made prisoners in the army of this same Buonaparte! The newspapers were however, loaded with a stamp; they were rather too dear; they could not be pasted on the walls; something more cheap, not so voluminous, and exhibited with greater facility, was wanted to complete, what the daily and weekly points had so patrioticly begun. Hence arose the placarding system, which, though of transitory existence, and though it conveyed some striking and useful truths to the people, has imprinted on the character of this nation a stain, which will not be easily effaced. Some of the publications alluded to, contained truths, and truths very necessary for the people to be made acquainted with; but, in the far greater part of them, the writers seemed to vie with each other, who should invent the most shameful, incredible, and ridiculous false

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