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guineas for the one hundred golden ones;
and if so, then there can be no clearer de-
duction made from premises, than that
there is a depreciation of twelve or fourteen
per cent. on bank paper.--The notes of
the Bank of Ireland only, now in circula-
tion, have a nominal value of 2,600,000!.
but at a depreciation of half-a-crown in a
guinea, suppose that depreciation to grow
no worse, the public loses 325,0001-Now
suppose a coinage to issue for the nominal
sum of 2,600,0001. but intrinsically less in
value, after coinage expense, by a sum of
325,0001. how is the public affected? Why
the said sum is in the nature of a tax, which
makes no man the poorer-is perfecily un-
felt, and brings a supply to the exigencies
of the state to the amount of 325,0001.-
R. S.-Dublin, 26th March, 1504.

THE DOCK-YARDS.

pledged that no increase of them shoutd take place? Shail a minister, and such a one as defiles the seat of authority at this noment, pledge himself to our representatives not to raise more than 6 millions by way of loan, and in a few short months afterwards, publicly state to the contractors, that he Certainly should not want less than 16 millions; and, shall it all pass without a com ment from those representatives? Shall the country be kept in total ignorance upon a subject which involves the welfare, nay, the existence of the constitution; and shall men be peaceably allowed to exercise the executive functions, the supreme, authority of the Empire, whose good intentions are become proverbially ironical, and whose qualification, do not raise them above the very ordinary routine of private life? Superadded to all these evils, shall our first and great resource be cut off, and the annals of our naval glory be brought to a period, through the petulant and arbitrary misconduct of an individual and a few contemptible satellites? Where! where is the spirit of our forefathers? It is no more. It is failen, and will not rise again. From the vituperation and dogmatical mandate issued by the lords paramount of the Admiralty, and the restrictions laid upon the contractor, and upon the persons authorized to receive timber in the King's Dock-yards; that most important article has been taken to any and every market in preference to the King's service. And this

same enlightened Board (enlightened by men interested in pampering their crude and puerile conceits, and aggrandizing themselves by raising windmills for their sage employers to destroy.) after all their outrageous and ridiculous conduct, have still looked to the merchant sooner or later for the usual supply of timber felled; but, alas, pocr prudent souls to their utter surprise aud astonishment, they now find, upon inquiry,

SIR,It is not for the purpose of sinking the leading members of administration in the estimation of the public, that I trouble you with this letter. They have done more to crush themselves than the bitterest of their opponents could have devised, and are in fact, fallen so low, that it were almost barbarous to add to the miseries of their degradation. Our judgment however, must not yield to the suggestions of pity, when the paramount duty which we owe to our country is involved in the question.-I have had occasion lately to converse with several leading men in our Dock-yards, unconnected with each other, and the result of their several communications, I lament to say, is most fearful. The rash and intemperate person at the head of the Admiralty, (whose obstinacy has defied and baffled the efforts of his trembling colleagues in administration, to turn him out, for these last twelve months) has by, the same unbending tenacity of his cwo ill-formed opinions, resolved to adhere to a system which threatens anoihi-that it has all been consumed in building lation to our navy. Nay, I have no hesitation to say, that a perseverance in it for one year more, will so far cripple our means, and curtail our resources, as to render it impossible for any future Board of Admiralty (be it the very reverse of the present, suppose it to be possessed of the first rate talents, und the most rigid integrity,) to restore our navy to its proper standard under ten years of profound peace. And shall Englishmen tamely bear this? Shall we suffer under the gross and wilful deception of a minister whose talents and powers are the laughing stock of his very creatures and partisans? Shall we submit to have our burthens tripled upon us, when the faith of government was

merchant vessels, and in country uses even, owing to the high price of foreign timber! At this moment, though scarcely credible, it is a fact, that the yards, instead of having three years stock in hand, as under former administrations, have not one, whilst the crippled state of our navy, owing to its having been constantly at sea, and our necessary Josses from the magnanimous system of blockading now pursued, require and demand an infinitely greater stock than at apy period of our naval history. This, I suppose, is meant to contribute to that appearance, f economy by which the narrow-minded, shailow-witted politicians of the present Board, and, indeed, of the whole administration,

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hink to deceive a British public; and really, I taken into the scale with the account of hemp given in your last number, it will make a very handsome drawback upon current expenses; two tolerably essential and heavy articles, hemp and timber; the one being stored by a preceding and provident administration; the other not being stored at all, and left to be arrayed by some future administration. Well, Sir, but people will talk, and these good men began when driven into a corner to grow frightened and alarmed, and to whisper their apprehensions. They very humbly called upon the timber trade, and requested to know the cause of the alarming deficiency; but, before they could return an answer, a sharp twitch of the gout, or some equally important incentive, produced a mandate to compel the Navy Board to send out a surveyor to make purchases piecemeal through the country; which, if he succeeded in obtaining, must be done at the expense of the country, to the amount of from four to six per cent. according to the most moderate calculation, above what it would have cost, had it proceeded on the established plan, through the hands of the contractor.--I have only to add, that no man is more ready than myself to hail with admiration any reform of flagrant abuses; but, having myself been at Martinique, when the noble earl at the head of the Admiralty was there also, and witnessed abuses of a very flagrant nature indeed, which have not even called forth inquiry, I cannot help thinking that forbearance to a certain degree would have better graced the Earl's coronet, and the Presidency of the Admiralty Board, than a querulous, pettish, vexatious, and, I may add, frivolous interference on points of no importance in themselves, but of a very mischievious tendency from the turn given to them by the government. SILVA.

REPRIMANDING OFFICERS.

squads; if such admonition should be necessary, it is to be applied in private. Such orders exist in many regiments at this time. Now, Sir, it is rumoured, that a certain officer commanding, has, for some imaginary or trivial cause, sent the commanding officer of an old and excellent regiment to the rear, and ordered the regiment to be exercised by the next officer.Such conduct, I conceive to be an insult to the whole British army, and the redress of which they have a right to expect when the King's son is at the head of them. Though the individual may be satisfied by an apology, and the hospitality of the table, the insult to the army in general still remains and calls for Royal interference. What is the country to expect from a commander (should an invasion take place) who cannot command himself?AN OLD SOLDIER.-April 28, 1504.

NAVAL ECONOMY.

SIR,With the highest opinion of Lord St. Vincent's judgment in naval tactics, and his integrity as a private man, I have always wondered at his being selected as the most proper person to preside at the Admiralty. On a variety of subjects there is no doubt of his being able to afford useful information from his large experience; but surely, a mere sailor is as little qualified for the vast system of naval philosophy, as a mere artificer is to form the various machines of nice and complicated mechanism, to calculate their present powers, and invent new properties, although he may have skilfully directed, and successfully employed them in his own manufactory. His lordship, while a seaman, has noted abuses to exist in various departments wherein he is an ample judge, and it is an honest feeling which urges him to correct them; but, it does not follow that either to correct abuse, or economise extravagance, we are so to starve the whole frame as to enfeeble the energy and paralyse the vitals of a constitution.I have just received the inclosed letter from a lieut. of the navy, who in the last war behaved with intrepidity and reputation amidst unusual hardships, to which his superior officers bore ample testimony; he has been laid aside till within a few weeks pást on half pay, when he received intelligence of his being appointed to a signal-post, and peremptory orders to proceed imme

SIR, Having observed in your paper a propensity to correct the errors of the day, there is one, which seems to me, to require your notice, as it concerns the whole British army. I mean, the custom which has crept into the service of reprimanding field-officers at the head of their regiment, than which nothing can be more pernicious, as it very much tends to lessen that authority whichdiately for Cork, to put himself under the every officer ought to have over the men entrusted to him by his Majesty. I have seen the orders of very experienced commanders, in which all officers are particularly directed not to find fault, even with noncommissioned officers, in presence of their

Admiral; he instantly obeyed, leaving his own private concerns in confusion and under the management of others, that he might be at his post when called upon. His letter will explain his present situation, which requires but one comment. If our officers are to be

starved instead of rewarded, we shall very soon want honourable men to fill up their stations.—PUBLIUS.

ENCLOSURE.

"I have been arrived here these nine "days, and know just as much where I am "to be placed as when I saw you last; it appears that the houses for our residence are not finished, and there are only three or four begun; which I am informed,

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may be ready in three weeks: the others "will not be complete in as many months. "There are nine lieutenants waiting here, and which will be appointed first I know not. Lord Gardner says, we are to continue on our half-pay till we go to our stations; and, he absolutely refused to sign a certificate that I had complied with the directions of the Lords of the Admiralty, and put myself under his com"mand. All he could do was to give us King's allowance *, and we are to find our own lodging out of it. I pay 18s. per week for a dirty place, and every article of provisions is dearer here than in England. The most frugal way of living costs me 3 guineas per week; probably, by the time I get my appointment, I shall get pretty deep in debt. There is no exertion in the naval department, every "thing is flat."

MR. DRAKE.

MR. COBBETT,In your Register of the 14th of this month you assert, that you have no doubt as to the authenticity of the letters which are, by the Moniteur, ascribed to Mr. Drake. Let me ask you, whether it is manly, whether it is liberal, whether it is constitutional to condemn Mr. Drake un heard? The weight of the accusation, the heinousness of the charge of being the abettor of assassins, (a crime from which every generous mind shrinks back with horror,) should surely have induced you to pause before you subscribed your almost unqualified conviction of its truth. Is it in this instance alone that you have pinned your faith on the official papers of the French government? In this instance alone are you ready to give credit to the declations of an enemy never remarkable for conscientiously adhering to the

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text of truth, which in other cases you would have weighed and sifted with your usual sagacity, coolness, and impartiality. Has not your opposition to a weak, though I trust, not a wicked ministry, induced you to assent, on slight grounds, to a charge which, if hereafter proved, must implicate them in its criminality? The character of your paper on the Continent has been fully established. What then will be the opinion of foreigners when they read the paragraph alluded to? Will they not suppose that you must have built your conviction on evidence far stronger than that to which they have had access through the medium of French papers? You will not, I trust, hesitate to insert this letter in your Saturday's paper. Happy indeed should I be if this humble effort shall tend to rescue, in some degree, from premature condemnation, those, who, I hope and trust, will stand fully acquitted hereafter before the tribunal of the world at large.-OXONIENSIS, April 20, 1804.

DOMESTIC OFFICIAL PAPERS. Relative to the Capture of Goree. Dated Downing Street, April 22, 1804.

Dispatches, of which the following are copies, were this day received by the Right Hon. Lord Hobart, one of his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, from Colonel Jolin Fraser, Commandant of the Settlement of Gorce, on the Coast of Africa.

MY LORD,

Goree, Africa, Feb. 5, 1804. On the 17th of January, about noon, a negro arrived from Yoff, and reported that a fleet had been seen from thence, that morning, at day light, and appeared to be standing for Gorce.Betore two o'clock vessels were seen from the hill behind Cape Emanuel; near four they came round the Cape; the squadron consisting of one ship, carrying a commodore's pendant, and five armed schoones, with pendants, all shewing French colours, and with large boats towing after them.-—— The commodore hired a gun, and hoisted a red flag at his fore-mast head, which we have since learnt was meant as a signal to us, that in case of attack during night, no quarter would be given. About sunset the squadron tacked, and before dark was near the anchorage, standing in-The inhabitants having agreed to assist, in defending the Island, against any attempt that should be made from Senegal, and being of opinion that the present force was of that nature, such measures were taken as appeared most likely to prevent the enemy from landing during the night. All the arms that could be procured were accordingly issued to the inhabitants, who, with the garrison, were stationed at the different posts round the Island. The moon set at eleven, and affairs remained in the situation described until about three o'clock on the 18th; when shortly alter [ had returned to the Beach Battery from visiting the posts, a fresh firing commenced on the East side of the Island, from boats, and at the same instant a schooner came in sight, standing directly for the beach; a strong and well directed fire of great guns and musketry was immediately opened

upon her, and the people on board, being either wounded or driven below, she drifted on shore.

In the mean time the boats, to the number of eight, full of troops, had unfortunately effected a landing on the rocks to the east side of the town, where the surf happened to be unusually low, and having overcome the force which was opposed to them, they had penetrated through the town as far as the main guard, of which, after being once repulsed, they gained possession, making some prisoners.The inhabitants having given way nearly on all sides, and the enemy being now in full force on our right, it appeared advisable to form a junction with the soldiers in the North Point Battery, where we should retain the command of the Beach, and be ready to check any farther attempt to land, until some information could be received of the strength and situation of the enemy, to enable me to judge what ought to be done. The firing continued until towards six o'clock, when being yet uncertain what number had landed, and in hopes that the main guard was the only post held by the enemy, I directed that it should be attacked by the soldiers I had with me, which was executed with great alacrity, and the post carried, with considerable loss on the part of the enemy; on our side it was less as to numbers, but I lost the assistance of a very gallant officer, Doctor Heddle, being shot through the breast in the attack, when Capt. Lloyd was also slightly wounded.

We now learned that the enemy had possession of the hill, where Capt. Lloyd proposed to attack them; a measure I should gladly have adopted, but the day beginning to break, we had the mortification to see them appear in such numbers as left no room to suppose there was any probability of success, our force being reduced, by killed, wounded, and prisoners, to about twenty-five soldiers, Capt. Lloyd, Lieut. Christy, and myselfAt this time the enemy's vessels were standing closer in, apparently to land a reinforcement; and the inhabitants, seeing French colours on the hill, came to me, asking leave to treat. Under these circumstances, and expos ed to the enemy's fire on all sides, farther re sistance appeared vain; I therefore felt it my duty to comply with the request of the inhabitants, and sert an officer with them, proposing terms of capitulation for the garrison The officer who commanded the storming party having been killed, the annexed terms were verbally agreed to with the senior who survived, to be communicated to the commandant of the squadron; until his answer should be received, firing ceased, and we continued to occupy the battery.-The terms of capitulation being confirmed by the Commandant Mahe, the soldiers grounded their arms, and the place was surrendered.- We were informed that the enemy's force consisted of four schooners, which had been fitted out at Cayenne, and supplied with soldiers for the purpose of attacking Goree; that they had touched at Senegal, where they had been furnished with additional boats, pilots, a reinforcement of soldiers, and another schooner, and where they had been joined by the ship, which happening to call at Senegal, was put in requisition for this expedition: the squadron altogether carried upwards of sixty guns, and six hundred men, about two hundred and forty of whom had been landed; the whole, under the command of Monsieur Mahe, Lieutenant de Vaisseau, the commodore's pendant having been hoisted only while coming in, by the captain of

the ship, who had held that rank in their navy during the late war On the evening of the action we had fifty-four white men, including officers, and although the serjeant-major was the only one who was not able to come upon the batteries, when it is considered, that several of te men, worn out by disease, and disabled by accidents, were incapable of making any great exertion; that uncertain when an attack might be made in the night, it was necessary to divide our force very much to occupy the different posts, I hope and trust it will appear to our King and Country, that the garrison I had the honour to command, did not submit without discharging its duty like British soldiers.--- Our loss consists of a drummer, 8 rank ank file, killed; 2 officers, 8 rank and file; wounded.-Total 19.Of the enemy, according to the most correct accounts I can procure, 3 offcers and 40 men, killed, or since dead; 2 officers and 30 men, wounded.-Total 75.-Capt. Lloyd, who has already on several occasions been men tioned as a deserving officer, both here and at Sierra Leone, continues to merit very great praise.

-Doctor Heddle having proposed some time back to do military duty, I gladly accepted his offer, and he has given me great assistance; his wound, which was at first thought to be mortal, having taken a favourable turn, I am now happy to think he will recover, and I earnestly wish to recommend him to your lordship's notice, as distinguished by his conduct on this occasion, and also by his attention to his medical duties since we came to Africa I have the honour to be, &c. JOHN FRASER..

Right Hon. Lord Hobart, &c. &c. &c.

Goree, Africa, January 18., The French being in possession of the hill, the squadron being ready to land more troops, a considerable number of men being killed and wounded un both sides, and farther resistance offering only the prospect of occasioning an unnecessary effusion of blood, the following terms of capitulation were agreed to:-Art. I. The Island of Goree, with its dependencies, shall be delivered up to the Fench government as it now stands. Art. :1. The British garrison having laid down their arms in the North Battery, which they continue to occupy, shall be furnished without delay with a sufficient vessel as a cartel, to carry them to Great Britain, Colonel Fraser giving his parole of honour for himself, his officers, and soldiers, not to serve duting the present war, against the French Republic, or its allies, until regularly exchanged.

Art. III. The officers and soldiers shall pre serve their baggage and effects, which shall be em. barked with them. Art. IV. The inhabitants shall retain possession of their properties, without prejudice, however, to any orders to the contrary which may hereafter be given by General Bian chot, Commandant and Administrator General of Senegal and its dependencies.Agreed upon and executed in two copies, to be exchanged between us, the day and year already mentioned..

(Signed) JOHN FRASER, Col. Afr. Corps. MAHE, Licat de Vaisseau, and Commanding the Division. (To be continued.)

SUMMARY OF POLITICS.

MR. DRAKE.-A correspondent, whose letter I have inserted in a former page of this sheet, seems to think, that my expressing an opinion, that the letters attributed to Mr. Drake were genuine, was doing au

act of injustice to that gentleman; because, if the letters are genuine, they implicate Mr. Drake in the intention to commit a most henious and infamous crime the crime of assassination. Now, when this correspondent has re-perused what I wrote (p. 556 of the present volume), let me ask him, whether my words will bear any such construction? Whether, from any thing I said, it can possibly be inferred, that, supposing the letters to be genuine, I attributed to the writer of them an intention to commit the crime of assassination; or, indeed, any crime at all? Incaution and credulity to excess I did, indeed, ascribe to Mr. Drake; but weakness and wickedness are very different in their nature, though they may often be equally mischievous in their consequences.

It is true that I appeared to entertain little doubt as to the authenticity of the letters. I entertained, indeed, none at all; and, I am deceived if the resting Mr. Drake's guilt, or innocence, as to the charge of abetting in assassination, upon the issue of any inquiry respecting the authenticity of the letters; I am very much deceived, if this be an act for which that gentleman will feel much gratitude to his friend.—The fact is, that the ministerial writers received the French papers, containing the Munich collection, too late at night to allow them time to go to the Treasury underlings for instruction; and, as they saw that the Grand Judge imputed Mr. Drake's letters to instructions received from his government; as they saw, that their paymasters of Downing Street and Whitehall were to be made responsible for the letters, they, like faithful and zealous slaves, but having more zeal. than knowledge, set up, as it were by concert, an unanimous cry of fabrication. This cry reached the country; and, while it gained credit amongst others, it is by no means wonderful that it should have been readily adopted by the friends of Mr. Drake. Those friends, however, will, by this time, I imagine, see the danger of allowing him to be guilty of a crime if the letters attributed to him are proved to be authentic; for, they will have perceived, that the Doctor, though he did, on the 16th instant, when called on, in Parliament, by Lord Morpeth, utter some very big words about the atrocious calumnies published against us by the French government; though he did, in most delightful bombast, pledge his honour, and not only his honour, but that of all his colleagues, that they had neither done nor sanctioned any thing not strictly consistent with the laws and usages of the nations,of modern Europe; though he did positively de

clare, that ministers were not, either directly or indirectly implicated in the transaction alluded to by Lord Morpeth. (Mr. Drake's correspondence), and that they had not given instructions or authority to any one homan creature for the purpose of carrying on such a negotiation; and, though he did promise, that he would take the strongest means of convincing the world of the purity of the intentions of himself and the rest of his Majesty's ministers; though the Doctor came out with all this, he did, nevertheless, not think it prudent to deny, or to call in question, the authenticity of Mr. Drake's lezters; but, on the contrary, he evidently evaded that point, by stating that the government had not received any information from Mr. Drake upon the subject. Indeed, this declaration of the Doctor amounts very nearly to an abandonment of Mr. Drake, the best defence of whose conduct, as far as it is defencible (and I have never said that it may not be so in a great degree), will, probably, be found in the fact of his having acted in perfect conformity with the instructions be received.- What are those "strongest means," which the Doctor is about to em. ploy, in order to convince the world of "the purity of the intentions of himself and "the rest of his Majesty's ministers," it would be temerity to guess. Perhaps the Doctor intends to prove, that he and his colleagues never knew any thing of Mr. Drake's correspondent, MEHÉE DE LATOUCHE? Perhaps the tin-man minister intends to prove, that that famous Septembriser was never received with open arms and caressed at Lord Hawkesbury's office? That no money was paid to him, either while he remained here, or at his departure; and, that he never was recommended to Mr. Drake? Perhaps the Doctor means to prose all this; and, for the honour of the country, I sincerely hope he may succeed, though the reputation of Mr. Drake should therebybe thought to suffer. But, until it be proved, that M. HEE DE LATOUCHE, who was in this country at the breaking out of the war, had no audiences in Downing Street, received no money from ministers, and never was recommended to Mr. Drake, until this be proved, we ought to be cautious how we blame that gentleman, except, indeed, for condescending to serve at all under such a man as Lord Hawkesbury, an act of meanness never to be excused upon any plea less powerful than that of a real and immediate want of the necessaries of life.

DIVISIONS IN PARLIAMEMT. Notwithstanding the great pains that have been

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