aid in that destruction, rather than to forego the advantages of continuing in possession of his fleet and trade.There is, however, a larger view, in which this question presents itself. If there be two great powers and many litle powers, in any part of the world; and, if one of the great powers, setting at nought all the rules, by which nations have hitherto suffered their warlike operations to be circumscribed, compels all the little powers within its reach to join it in its endeavours to destroy its rival, the other great power is fully justified in resorting to similar means; for, if this be denied, then, the power which will set the rules at defiance, is sure, in the end, to conquer all; so that, the question, is, shall all be conquered by one of the great powers, or shall this part of the world be divided between them? I am for the latter. In this view of the matter, therefore, it signifies not what was the disposition of Denmark, or what was the extent of her ability to injure us, The only question to be asked is this: has the expedition to Copenhagen put us in a state the better to defend ourselves against that enemy, who is, and long has been, engaged in the work of conquering all Europe? There are persons, who will answer this question in the negative; and who talk about “ rotten hulks" and "perishing stores"; but, rotten as they are, they are as well here as at Copenhagen, whence I think no one will deny, that they would soon have been gotten out under the effect of a French decree. In short, the expedition against Copenhagen is to be tried by no settled rules relating to the practices of nations: the circumstances, under which it was resolved on, were entirely without example: and our justification rests solely upon the seizure of the fleet being necessary to our safety. It is my opinion, that this and similar measures, or, at least, measures in a similar spirit, were and are necessary to our safety; and, therefore, though I lament the necessity, I approve of the measures. Upon the subject of peace, Lord Grenville is reported to have expressed his regret, that the ministers insisted upon a basis to be laid down by the proposed mediator; and that, he saw no objection to a mediator not being himself independent. His lordship disapproved of petitions for peace; but, could not help feeling anxiety at the number and strength of our foes, expecially when he feared that America would soon be added to them. To the expressing of which anxiety I have only this one objection, namely, that it was perfectly useless; and could answer no purpose but that of producing, in a greater degree, the very effect which his lordship apprehended from the petitions. I do not view the question of peace in the same light with his lordship. I do not think, that the increased number and strength of our enemies adds at all to our danger; because it is strength which cannot be brought to operate against us. While we had run-away allies upon the continent, our danger was, in my opinion, much greater than it now is; and, be our danger what it may, to overcome it, or to be conquered, is our only choice. This is the notion, which appears to me to be the most useful to inculcate at this time. To talk about forms of treating; to amuse us with a display of terms from the dictionary of the portfolio, is not only useless but mischievous. It must, I think, be evident, that England has yet to maintain a long and arduous coutest, before she can have a chance of obtaining a secure peace; and, if that be the case, our only study ought to be, how we shall maintain that contest. This is the question, about which the enemy should see us disputing; but, if he turn his eyes this way, he will see us engaged in nothing but little squabbles about who shall have the most of the money that is annually raised upon the public. There is a great talk. indeed, about "a crisis; we are told, that we are "in the crisis of our fate; " but, we have been told this any time these fifteen years last past; therefore, it appears to me to be quite useless to talk about a crisis any longer.With respect to Portugal, or, rather, the Brazils, Lord Grenville was very right. He said he could not see any new opening that the emigration would make for our commerce. As to any commercial or political advantages to this country, said i "he, to be derived from the emigration t "the Brazils, I cannot consent to delude my countrymen by holding out such an "idea." The Morning Chronicle must have been somewhat disappointed at this, after having so boldly asserted, that the Erazils were "able to supply our West-India "colonies with lumber and provisions." I do not think, that there was much necessity for his lordship's saying what he did say, upon this subject, for, I believe, the public have been, for some time, satisfied, that 110 advantage whatever will arise to this kingdom from the emigration in question; while, on the contrary, it will produce a heavy and constant drain of men and money.— -The whole of the debate was, as was before observed, very unin | Mr. Sheridan, on the 25th instant, gave notice, that, on Monday sen'night, he should make a motion for the appointment of a committee," to inquire into the nature and teresting, all the points having been so am- | ply discussed beforehand, in the newspapers, There was one interesting circumstance, however, and that was, that Mr. Ponsonby, the new "leader of the opposition," was an- grounds of the existing grievances in Ireswered, and most triumphantly too, by Mr. "land." What it may be Mr. Sheridan's Milnes, a new orator, and a very young man. intention to effect by this motion, I know At this, if we may believe the reporters, Mr. not; but, I am satisfied, that something Whitbread took fire, a fire, however, more ought to be done for Ireland. Yet, it is to ardent than brilliant. Of the article, or pa- deceive ourselves most grossly to suppose, ragraph, or whatever else one may call the that Ireland, that a country of miserable peothing, which has been published under the ple, is to be quieted and made happy by an title of his speech, we may, indeed, say as act of parliament, enabling about thirty or Lord Thurlow said of the pleading of the forty of the rich Roman Catholics to hold sessions lawyers, that i was like a taylor's offices under the crown. Besides, with what goose, hot and heavy.- An amendment to face can the out faction bring forward this the address was proposed in the House of proposition now, when it is well known, Lords, and eight peers, amongst whom was that, in the hope of keeping their places, Lord Erskine, entered a protest; but, no di- they withdrew it, during the short parlia vision took place in either House, and, it ment? If it was proper to be adopted, why is pretty certain, that, if a division had been withdraw it then? And, if not proper to be called for, the ministers would have had a adopted, why propose it now? Why, if not majority of three, if not of four, to one. The purely for the purpose of embarrassing the fact is, that the opposition, as it is called, bas ministers? I do not say, observe, that it fallen into general disrepute as a political ought not to be proposed, and adopted, party. The people have no confidence in though I have very little faith in its efficacy; iThey feel not at all interested in any of but, I do insist, that for the out faction to its proceedings.... There exists no hope or bring it, or any thing like it, forward now, expectation from the efforts of an opposition when we know, that, at the mere suggestion now. That party feeling, which used, some of the king, they suppressed it, even after it years ago, to extend itself through the peo- came before parliament, when they themple, was nearly extinguished in a few months selves were in power, would be a proceedafter Mr. Fox came into office, and that part ing as scandalously factious as any that ever of it which remained during his life, went was heard of. If they had remained in ofout, like the snuff of a candle, at his death. fice; if the king had not turned them out; The party feeling that now exists is confined these measures about Ireland would no more to the mere retainers of those who are strug- have been thought of by them, except as to gling for place. In short, party, such as it the means of preventing them from being used to be, is no more; the people are no brought forward; they had been completely longer its dupes. Speaking of them in ge- hushed by the royal command; but now neral, they see the matter in its true light. they are working up and fomenting and inTwo sets of men opposed to each other only flaming, in every direction. The language while they are upon the boards of the House, of their principal publication, the Edinburgh the opposition being absolutely necessary to Review, as it is still called, is that of a downthose great ends, which it would be waste of right incendiary; it is addressed to the pastime for me to attempt to describe.-For sions of the most blind and violent of the these reasons, we shall, I think, have a very Irish; and, this is the conduct of men, who uninteresting session of parliament. The while in office, were ready, at the nod of Morning Chronicle would fain have per- the king, to postpone, for an indefinite term, suaded us, that the public looked forward to even the first little thing that they had prothe meeting with that anxiety, which is al- posed in favour of Ireland! -III. On the ways felt by men, who are waiting to know 25th instant, Mr. Bankes moved for leave to their fate..." The public looked forward to it bring in a bill to prevent, in future, the not at all. There was no public anxiety grant of Places in Reversion, or survivorabout it. The public well knew, that what ship. This bill, it will be recollected, passthe ministry had done, and what they would ed the House of Commons last year, and was do, the parliament would sanction; and, thrown out by the Lords. The motion was that, of course, the same measures would be opposed by Mr. William Dundas, who deadopted, whether the parliament met or not. nied, that reversions were, in general, grantWhere, then, was there any reason for aux- ed to unworthy persons, and who was aniety about the meeting of parliament?-11.swered by Mir, Whitbread, in a short speech, worth the perusal of every man in the country. He said, "it was but grateful in that right hon. gentleman, as he had been considerably indebted to reversions himself, and if he (Mr. W.) was not mista"ken, was now in expectancy of one; the " zeal of the right hon. gentleman against "this mode of reform, might, therefore, be easily accounted for. The right hon. gentleman, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had been an infant when he got the grant of a place in reversion, now held by "his noble relative, lord Arden, who had "obtained it in the same way; there were 68 many other instances in that house, and "surely this called for legislative interfe. 66 rence The post granted in reversion to "the Chancellor of the Exchequer was a "most lucrative one, but yet required no "other talent to fill it, than that of know"ing how to count the money it produced "so gratuitously.It is good to hear them talk thus of one another. The facts are pretty notorious; but, still, their repeating of them is useful.Sir John Newport stated, that a reform in the customhouse department of Ireland had long been wanted; but, that it had not yet been effected, and could not, because a reversionary grant of a place stood in the way. 46 -There was a Mr. Horner, who followed Sir John Newport, and who, after some preliminary matter, said that he thought this measure "the more valuable, because it was a mea"sure of reform, and that, perhaps, was the 66 very reason of the honourable gentleman's opposition to it." I was much pleased to hear this from a good plain man, who evidently was not born to delude the world by his eloquence, and who, doubtless, recommended himself to his constituents by the known independence of his situation and character. It well became such a maa to stand forward, upon an occasion like this, and gravely espouse those principles of "reform," which, in the way of justifying their patrons of the late ministry, that knot of little shoe-less Scotch hirelings, the Editiburgh Reviewers, have held up to contempt and ridicale. How must it shock a man of such apparent single-heartedness, as Mr. Horner to find, upon his arrival in London, that there are men, who absolutely sell the use of their pens and their fingers and their brains, and receive, as the price, snch or such a sum of the public money, in such or such a shape, and who have, all the while, the unconscionable impudence to call themselves patriots. How must it offend his plain good sense to hear, that the late ministry, whose partizans ex-^ tolled them for the possession of great talents, and some of whom did possess great talents; to hear, that many of the members of that ministry had, as to practical purposes, no more power than their chambermaids, the real movers being a set of irterested adventurers, well skilled in the art of disputation, industrious from necessity, and by nature flatterers of the great. How it must have disgusted such a good, hearty, frank man as Mr. Horner appears to be, 16 see a doughy, solden faced, soft-headed great man" surrounded with a swarm of these political parisites, leagued together to flatter him out of their food, and to laceh at him behind his back. But, what must' have most provoked such a man as Mr. Homer, was, to find, that these literary locusts had actually begun to eat up the fruits of the people's labour; that they had, through the means of their silly patrons, begun to creep into offices and sinecures, and that, in some cases, it appeared impossible to get them out, without totally destroying the places into which they had crept, and, with those places, to destroy no inconsiderable part of the building, which all men would wish to see remain untouched. Such a good, honest hearted, simple-minded man as Mr. Horner appears to be must have been so shocked at all this as to make him almost repent of having, though only for a few months, quitted those paternal estates, which he, doubtless, possesses in some part of the country, where his absence must be severely felt. With respect to the bill itself, I greatly approve of the principles of it, though I cannot see any great good that it would produce, unless accompanied with a restriction as to the granting of new places and pensions for life; for, we may be assured, that, if the reversion source be cut off, larger draughts will be made upon that of pensions. Besides, I am not quite satisfied; as to the motive of the late ministers, in proposing this measure; and, to say the truth, I am of opinion, that, as far as they are con cerned, the main object is, to prevent the present king from granting away what ought to fall into the hands of his successor; to which successor they now look as their only, though distant hope. This circumstance should be borne in mind, when we are estimating the "public spirit," attributed to the proposing of the measure in question. I dislike the measure, too, because it will deceive some people, by leading them to believe that reforms in the expendi ture are hereby begun; for, it must be evident to every one, at all acquainted with the mat ter, that no such reforms are, by either party, intended, or wished for. AMERICAN STATES. An act which shall be inserted in the next sheet, has been passed by the Congress, laying an embargo upon all American shipping, in their own ports, with a view, as they pretend, of making all the belligerent nations feel the effects of the measures which those nations have, repectively, adopted with respect to the American commerce. "We can no longer sail the sea in safety," say they, "let us, therefore, shut up our ports, lay up our ships, and thus punish the tyrants "for their injustice towards us." This language differs somewhat from what we heard about six weeks ago. Instead of invading Nova Scotia and Jamaica, the heroes of the Atlantic draw themselves into their shell, and wait with patience for the effect of the privations, which they fancy themselves in a state to inflict. The embargo, laid, during last war, lasted only about six weeks, at the end of which time the whole country was nearly in a state of commotion. While it lasts now, there can be no revenue, except from the cargoes, on board of ships which have not yet arrived; and, I must beg the reader to bear in mind, that there are no internal taxes, no taxes except those collected at the custom-house upon foreign goods; for, twenty thousand pounds a year, which is about the sum collected from internal resources, is, in fact, nothing at all. The Congress, think, however, that this measure will have an effect upon us; but, I am decidedly of opinion, that even our West India colonies are able to hold out a year, and more, without any supplies from the American States; and, I am quite sure, that they cannot keep in their ships for three months. I should suppose, that the passing of this embargo law has, at once, added a third, at least, to the price of all European goods and all West India produce, and this, too, observe, at a time when taxes, if raised at all, must be laid upon internal objects. What must be the consequence of a long continuation of this embargo any one may easily guess. Yet, an embargo was the only means of preventing the loss of all their shipping, unless, indeed, they had chosen to do what reason and justice dictated, namely, to demand a rescinding of the French decrees, and, if refused, to join us in the war against Fiance This their rancour against us prevented them from doing; and, of course, they adopted the measure of an embargo. off seeing war desolate Europe; and they vainly hoped to continue to profit from the miseries of all other nations. It was owing to them, that the wars in St. Domingo were so long and so bloody. They carried provisions to both parties. They supplied both with powder, ball, and all the means of mutual destruction. While some of them hired their vessels, at an enormous price, to carry the fugitive masters and mistresses, others got possession of their plate and jewels, through the means of a jew like commerce with the revolted slaves. There was not a town or settlement destroyed, in the pillage of which they did not share. From Cape François they carried off the ornaments of the magnificent church, which was there. burnt to the ground; and, I remember seeing, at Wilmington, in the State of Delaware, the marble slabs, that were taken up from before the altar piece. The vulgar wives of the unfeeling villains, who commanded their ships, were seen swaggering about, in the years 1792, 3, and 4, with the rings and snuff-boxes and ear-bobs and bracelets of the once-opulent inhabitants of the Cape, who not unfrequently recognized their valuables upon the persons of the new possessors. A whole casket was sometimes obtained from the negroes in exchange for a barrel of flour. Men, not worth a dollar, were, by means like these, suddenly elevated to great wealth, and now form no inconsiderable part of the great men of that virtuous republican country. line of conduct has, at last produced the effects which we now see, and I am not at all disposed to lament their existence.In the debate upon the King's speech, the Earl of Galloway said: My Lords, I "wish it was possible to animadvert with "satisfaction upon the conduct of the Uni"ted States of America; local knowledge, "obtained by me at the early periods of "the French revolution, enables me to form This a very decided opinion with respect to "that country, and I am sorry to say, my "Lords, I cannot form a flattering one. I am, however, happy to learn, by the te"nor of the speech, that it is not the inten"tion of his Majesty's government to con "cede one point more to that illiberal and prejudiced people. My Lords, we must "make a stand somewhere; and where can we do it better than in defence of our seamen and our trade, which they unequivocally demand. If America prefers "French alliance to British connection, it is 66 not in your Lordships' power to controu "her choice, nor can you prevent that war, "which I do not wish to see take place, but ༤་ These, modern Dutch have, at last, fallen a victim to their own greediness and envy. They took delight in 66 48 which, if it does take place, my Lords, I am confident if pursued by us with judgment, and reference to the American character and situation, no man need fear. With respect to the affair of the Chesapeak frigate, my Lords, as a naval officer, "I may be permitted to be a little prejudiced, and to hold an opinion in some "small degree, differing, perhaps, from his Majesty's government. It is not, however, my intention to dispute the accuracy of the proclamation lately issued; nor "the principle of respect which is due to "national ships of war, as applicable to the governments and nations of Europe: but "as merited by America, if all the detail of "that transaction was before your Lord ships, I am inclined to think you your"selves would question. However, my "Lords, while the American navy is con"fined to a few frigates, the compensation "that has been made may not be of mate"rial import; how far it may affect us here"after, time only can shew."- These sentiments are worthy of an English naval officer. Lord Galloway knows the Americans, and, of any one who does know them, I am never afraid of the opinion.The embargo is not, perhaps, strictly speaking, an act of hostility; yet, when it is evident, that it has been determined on only as affecting us, or only in consequence of measures by us adopted, we should have a right to consider it as an act of hostility. That, however, would not be wise. The embargo will not, for a long time, do us any harm; and, in the meanwhile, France, Spain, and their colonies, not forgetting Portugal under its new masters, will suffer most severely. The quantity of American produce, carried into Spain and Portugal, was immense: Provisions of all sorts, the want of which will produce terrible effects. Nor will the want of coffee and sugar be lightly felt, in France. We all know how considerable a part of the comforts of the people consist in the use of these commodities. We have them still, in the usual abundance, and, in one way or other, we prevent the rest of Europe from having them. This is real dominion of the sea, If this state of things continue for a year or two, which it may without any injury to us, the merchant ships of all other nations will be rotten, and the whole world will acknowledge, that we have a maritime dominion in reality as well as in name. In one respect, however, the embargo, in America, will, in all human probability, be productive of serious consequences: I mean with respect to the "monish" of our late Lord High Chancellor, whose protest is, I perceive, just published, in a pamphlet, by that worthy fellow-labourer, Mr. James Perry of the Morning Chronicle. The "monish" was, indeed, transferred into American hands; but, as I have before observed, it would not, previous to the embargo, have been an easy matter to transmit it to England. Now, it will be impossible, until, at least, the embargo be removed, and then the monish will not be worth above ten shillings in the pound. This is a striking instance of the imperfection of human foresight, though possessed in the highest known degree. One would have thought, now, that this monish, lodged in a country, so distant from the seat of war, so free from all the dangers of invasion and of public bankruptcy, and watched over, withal, by a relation so near and dear to the proprietor and so well situated for the obtaining of that intelligence that would enable him to prevent the effects of every untoward event; one would have thought, that monish thus situated was beyond the reach of chance. But, alas! there arise, all of a sudden, event after event, that render its situation as perilous as that of a purse, hung out upon a tree by the highway side. It is very singular, too, and must naturally be somewhat provoking, that while the fund-monish in America is become of such depreciated value, the value of the funds, in England, not only holds its own, but is actually increasing. The pension, however, of four thousand good pounds a year, which the noble Baron Erskine is to receive for life, out of the taxes in England, the Americans, cannot touch. That, and also the pension for life, which the Baron's worthy son will, doubtless, receive out of the taxes, when he comes home, are safe in spite of all'embargoes. Mr. Lyon cannot lay his merciless fingers upon them. They, as Mr. Fox said, are as sacred as house and land.- -It is rather singular, that Mr. Perry of the Morning Chronicle, who has said so much about American affairs, should never have said a word, even by way of parenthesis, about Baron Erskine's monish. The letters of A. B. which I am positively assured were written by a nobleman, or, at least, by a person having a title, suggested numerous evils, that must arise from a war with America; but that of a stoppage of fund-monish appears never to have occurred to him. Did he forget it? Hardly. But, he thought perhaps, that it was something beneath his consideration. The "maniac," however, did not omit to mention it.- -There is, at present, little more to be said about the Americans. Like a snail, they have drawn themselves |
