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containing sea-ports and naval arsenals, would be quite sufficient to disarm of its power to do mischief the malignity of the Gallo-Americans. Such regulations as we ought to adopt, while they would most ter ribly annoy and distress our enemies, would do no injury at all to the people of America. Their goods, and their foreign freights or a considerable part of them, might still find free passage; and all the difference would be, that our enemies would have to pay ten times as dear for them.--In a former article, I made some remarks upon the proclamation of the Corresponding Society of American Merchants, issued from their court at Liverpool; and, I am now glad to have it in my power to communicate to my readers, the answer to that proclamation, given by a committee of American merchants, assembled at the City of London Tavern on the 21st of August, and which answer, prefaced by a letter from one of those merchants, will be found in a subsequent page of this sheet. This answer does great credit to the persons, by whom it was given; it pretty fully justifies my opinion of the proclamation; and, I hope, that the reception it has met with will tend to make the court at Liverpool less arrogant in itstone, upon future occasions. To say the truth, the sovereigns of that count received their impulse from the Morning Chronicle and Mr. Whitbread. Theywere alarmed for the safety of their cargoes and their debts, compared with which the honour and even the lives of Admiral Berkeley and his officers were in their eyes, mere trifles.I think, for my part, that it would be best to have no treaty of commerce at all with America. I cannot see any good that it could possibly lead to. Let trade alone. I warrant the merchants will find out the way to carry it on between our several settlements and countries. The shackles upon the American trade with our West Indies are injurious to those colonies, without producing any benefit to our navigation. The main object is to prevent our foes from receiving, either directly or indirectly, though the means of the American ships, any supply of any sort, without paying an enormous price for them. While those foes have hundreds of American merchant ships in their service, they want none of their owu; but, take these away, or load the supplies with heavy taxes (for every check operates as a tax), and the distress must be severely felt. Suppose all American ships, bound to France, or to any country under the dominion of France, were bonght into gor ports and taxed according to the value of her cargo; the consequence

would be, that the consumers, when the cargo finally reached them, must pay that tax. "No catch you, no have you;" but, as no one would be sure to escape, all must insure, and that of itself, would be a tax to be paid by the consumer--If, indeed, there be any idea still in vogue of trucking for dear Hanover, I am amusing myself with a dream; and, I see that Napoleon has kept dear Hanover in hand as an object of exchange. I fear that this will be the case, and that we shall soon hear the hireling prints, softening their tone gradually, tell us at last, that he is become more moderate in his views; and next, upon his evacuating some pitiful territories in the north of Europe, opening the Elbe again, and restoring Hanover, under the guarantee of Russia and Prussia, or some such nonsense, it is safe to make peace with him. This I predict will be the result of all the high language and apparent vigour of the day. I shall be glad to find myself deceived; but, looking at the past, I cannot but entertain these fears, so often expressed. Again and again I say, that I fear, that these ministers will do, what the Whigs proved their readiness to do, sacrifice the safety of England to the recovery of Hanover; and, if they do, it will be then evident to every man, that those who love their country have but one way left to provide for its security, and to prevent themselves from becoming slaves of France. Just as I was about to enter upon my next article, the following paragraph, extracted from a Halifax (Nova Scotia Paper), dated on the 17th of July, reached me through the London priuts" Commo"dore Barron is said to have assured Cap

tain Humphries, that his orders from his 66 own government were to receive no de"serters, and that there were not any men "in his ship who answered the description;

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though it afterwards appeared that more "than 120 British seamen were on hoard "her at the time, most of whom had been "recently in his Majesty's service. Au "officer (gunner) who was killed, had been "enticed to desert from the Chichester;' "and two seamen who fell, but whose names do not appear in the American accounts, were deserters from the Halifax. "J. Wilson alias Jenkin Ratford, who was taken out of the Chesapeake, had "been master sail-maker in the Halifax, "and, as a British seamen, had received

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Papers mention only 3 men killed and 13 wounded: the truth is, that 6 men were “killed, and 21 wounded; and it is obvious "for what reason the numbers were thus "mistated. The men whose names are " omitted were proved to have been deser"ters from the British navy; and, one of "them, the officer (gunner), lately from "the Chichester.These facts being "well ascertained, the candid reader, in "America or any other part of the world,

may be left to draw his own conclusion "whether commodore Barron has acted

64

consistently with the orders of his govern"ment; or whether, forgetting his digni"fied situation, he has stooped to evade and "prevaricate."- -Now, if this statement be true, and I am strongly inclined to think it is so, away go all the American lies, and away go, too, all the fine calculations of the Morning Chronicle about the "trifling "nun ber of seamen" whom we should lose by a forbearance such as it so strongly recommends for our adoption. I know how the American captains and news-papers will disfigure facts; I know that they will stick at no falsehoods; and I know that, on the part of our officers, heretofore, there has been but too much inclination to forego the exercise of their country's rights, in all cases where the Americans have been a party. I could mention the names of some, whom the Americans have recently disgraced by their praises, who appeared to me much more anxious about their money, lodged in the American funds, than about the interests of England. Admiral Berkeley and his captains have shown a different disposition; and, I trust, they will receive the support of the ministry and the gratitude of the country.

DANISH WAR.The only part of the king's Declaration (inserted below), relative to his conduct towards Denmark, that I could wish had been omitted, is that wherein he speaks of information, which he had received with respect to the intentions of France. Of this information every one will form his own judgment; but, if the measure had rested upon the ground of notoriety and necessity, there would have been no room for any difference of opinion, which did not before exist. The introduction of this private information would seen to in

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ply, that there remained a doubt as to the manifest intentions of Napoleon, and, of course, a' doubt as to the necessity of the measure; which doubt ought not, in my opinion, to have been excited; for, I do not believe, that it existed before. There has been much ranting upon the subject of the sufferings of the "unoffending Danes;" but, how could we avoid causing those sufferings, without abandoning the object? And here again we come to the original question of necessity. Upon this question I will just ask do you, Sir, the editor of the Morning Chronicle believe, that, if this measure had not been taken, we should not have seen a confederacy of Russia and Denmark, sufficient to have taken forty thousand men on board, and to have kept employed forty sail of our line of battle ships with a proportionate number of smaller vessels? Do you not believe this? I should like a yea, or a nay, to this question: and, if you say yea, if you say that you do not believe it, and if you speak sincerely, then is your conduct upright; but otherwise it is not.

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-The circumstance, too, mentioned in the Declaration, that the Danes pleaded the over-awing influence of France, in 1801, for entering into a similar confederacy, though in defiance of a positive treaty with us, is conclusive in justification of the present measure; and, with the knowledge of this fact, the ministers would have been guilty of the blackest treason, and would have deserved to lose their lives, infinitely more than Despard deserved to lose his life, if they had not acted in the manner they have done.——What may be the real intentions of Russia now I know just as much as the writers in London appear to know; but, she seems to have been staggered. I hope, however, that this operation of ours will not lead to a renewal of the war in the north of Europe, with all its curses of embassies and subsidies and commissaries and aides-de-camp and new plunder upon us. The Emperors of the East and of the West have got the continent between them; let them keep it, till they are disposed,' through the means of our naval exertions, to give up some of the countries, having ports and arsenals, and their possession of which is dangerous to England. We have the full power of producing this disposition in their minds; and, if for the sake of Hanover, or any such paltry object, we stop short of producing it, we ought to perish, and our name be blotted out of the catalogue of nations. --The Morning Chronicle, in reverting to the subject of the Danish expedition, says we tre not here before an impartial tribųs

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"nal." And is this, Sir, the way, in which you get rid of the question? Is it trne, that the public here are always on the side of the ministry, and so determined in this their partiality, as to render it useless to endeavour to put them right? This certainly is not the case; and, if it were, why not, at once, cease your endeavours upon all political questions? No; it is only, you will say, where the advantage of a measure is apparently in favour of the country, that the public are not impartial; but, why not endeavour, then, to convince them that it is not really so? They will, surely, hear you? The fact is, Sir, you are in a curious dilemma here; for, in this declaration of yours, you have tacitly allowed, either that the measure was manifestly advantageous to the country; or, that, not being so, you are incapable of making the contrary appear,

His

POOR LAWS--Another Scotch correspondent has favoured me with his remarks (which will be found in another page of this sheet) upon the parochial-school subject, or rather upon my observation thereon. He sets out in the true style of Sir Archy Mc Sarcasm, which I should be very willing to forgive, if he offered me any thing to the point, accompanied with his personal reflections. quotation of the opinion of Lord Buchan has no weight with me, being worth much about as much as the estimates of Gregory King, who was so minute as to include the number of rabbits in the kingdom. Does Sir Archy think, that the official documents that I refer to, and my calculations and arguments founded upon those documents, are to be answered by producing the mere random guess of person, who, for ought I know, might be half mad? The colonies", settled by Scotch labourers, of which he Jalks, are mere clusters of hovels, inhabited by people who seldom taste any thing but fish and potatoes.Sir Archy, too, following the example of Scoto Britannus, takes no notice of the grants annually made to the industrious and virtuous Scotch labourers out of the taxes, raised from the labour of the lazy and vicious English labourers. This is a point which they appear to shun with as much care as a sailor shuns the rocks. What! take the fruit of English labourers and give it to make work for Scotch labourers, in order to enable the latter to live in their own country, and then come to that same wise assembly which is the instrument in the donation, and propose to it to declare (quite unnecessarily), that the former ought to look to the latter as an example of industry! Nothing, surely, was every so outrageously impudent and insolent

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as this!
Sir Archy assumes that I am
the agressor in this dispute; and so I should
be, had not Mr. Whitbread framed his fa-
mous preamble, and confessedly, too, upon
the authority of Scotchmen. This being
the case, they are the agressors, and I think
myself as much bound to resent their insults
levelled against England, as I think myself
bound to resent the insults of the Americans
or the French. Since they have insulted us,
too, they must not be surprized, if I go
farther in showing, that Scotland, by one
means or another, has been, and is, greatly
favoured, in other respects, at the expence
of England and Ireland. My wish is to
drop the subject where it is; but, if new
provocations are offered, they will, assur-
edly, be met, and in a way that Sir Ar-
chy, with all bis vindictive sneers,
would, I imagine, be but little able to
withstand.

EXPATRIATION OF BRITISH SUBJECTS.
-This topic must be deferred 'till my

next.

It is important, not because it is likely that any law, or declaration, such as is recommended by my correspondent, in page 433, will ever be made, or seriously thought of; but, because the recommendation tends to show how anxious, some amongst us are to be at perfect liberty to pursue their own interest at the expence of those of their country.My other correspondent, in page 506, has given a good answer, upon general principles; but, I do not think, that he has gone enough into detail; and, I am pretty certain that he is not fully aware of all the motives which dictated the recommendation of S. V. nor with all the consequences, to which the adoption of it would lead.

PORTUGAL.-Great alarm seems to be entertained respecting thisstate. The factors are, it appears, packing up their alls, ready to decamp at a moment's warning; and so, if we believe the wise men of the daily prints, are the government of Portugal! Was there ever any thing so foolish as this in the world! A whole government emigrating! The Queen and Prince might, indeed, be able to emigrate; and, even they, I am afraid, would lose their reckoning, and get to England instead of the Brazils; but, for a whole government, with all its constituted authorities, and all its powers, to emigrate, is surely, the wildest idea that ever entered into a sick brain.If the Portuguese government be a good one; if the rulers are wise and considerate towards the people; if the people enjoy the fair fruits of their labour, it will be melancholy to behold, or to hear of, its overthrow; but, if just the

contrary be the case, the event will not give me much pain. As I know nothing about the government of Portugal, I cannot, at present, venture to give any opinion, or express any wish upon the subject, other than that I do not think Napoleon can do us, the mass of the people of England, any harm in that quarter.

AMERICAN STATES.

SIR;-In your paper of the 22d ult. No. 8 Vol XII, in your letter to the Independant Electors of Westminster you have inserted certain resolutions, and a circular letter, from the American chamber of commerce at Liverpool, accompanied with observations which convey an opinion, that, the mercantile body generally would be ready to join in the cry which that publication was intended to excite; I have not heard of its effects in other parts of the kingdom, but I inclose a resolution of the committee of American merchants in London, passed on the 21st of the same month probably at the very time you were writing your letter, which I hope you will, with your usual candour, take an early opportunity of presenting to your readers. This resolution does not imply, that that body were ready upon the impulse of the moment to join their brethren at Liverpool in a cry in favour of the particular interests of the mercantile body in preference to objects of greater political importance. These important objects are in other hands, and I hope will be attended to with the respect due to an independant, although a young state. I also hope there is no intelligent merchant trading to America so ignorant of the national character, and of circumstances there, as not to know, that his true interest is to strengthen the hands of his own government by any means in his power, and that promptitude, and vigour in our councils, are essentially necessary, most especially in the present moment.-A MERCHANT.

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"chamber of commerce, at Liverpool, "which may have a tendency to promote "the commercial intercourse between the "British Empire and the United States "of America, but with the knowledge that negociations of great political impor"tance are pending between the Government of this country and the American states, "they are of opinion, that any interference on their part, at the present moment, "would be improper; and this committee having no reason to believe his Majesty's "Government to be indisposed to an ami"cable accommodation of the present dif"ferences, see no necessity for " associa "tions being formed in the different manufacturing towns and seaports, for the purpose of collecting information as to the prospects of a good understanding, or other"wise, between the two countries." But if it "should at any time appear that the efforts of "this committee can be useful in promot"ing cordiality and harmony between the "two Governments, they will be ready to "do every thing in their power for the "attainment of so desirable an object.→ "John Gray, Secretary."

DANISH WAR.

SIR,At a moment when the event of the Danish expedition was yet uncertain, and that portion of our venal diurnal press devolved to administration, justified the measure by speculations, which (whimsically enough) one day charged upon the Danes an intended junction with the French, and on the morrow contained grave intimation that our fleet and army had been invited by the Danish court to garrison their capital, and place their navy beyond the reach of the iron grasp of Buonaparté; you, with that manly decision which forms a feature equally prominent and honourable in your character, bestowed on the project a warm and hearty approbation, upon the plain and intelligible ground, that the measure was necessary for the national safety, and as such fit to be adopted. I profess to follow the opinions of no man to the extent of an unqualified surrender of my own, and on this occasion in totally differing from you, experience all that a person may be supposed to feel, differing from another for whose understanding and integrity he entertains the highest respect. I with you am ready to uphold" the antient rights and practices of England upon the seas," and most cordially consign to execration that minister who shall waive one iota of them; but I am unable to found a justification of the Danish expedition upon any " right," nor, happily, does the

in my apprehension the justification or eondemnation of the Danish expedition. For, as to the "glory" resulting from approaching the shores of an unsuspecting neutral, surprising him in the hour of profound peace, and by the aid of a superior and irresistible armament bombarding his capital and

British history afford an instance "in practice," of a similar conduct to any neutral nation under the canopy of Heaven. There are a class of persons who judge of all things by the event! With these gentlemen reasoning is thrown away! And there is another order of men whom I have as little inclination to trouble, I mean those profound poli-seizing his fleet; though that (since the ticians who hold for nothing all principles of good faith and integrity, when opposed to national advantage. An ingenious writer of the present day, in the following passage, has admirably described these sages, and from his pen I give you the well coloured picture. "When a measure is shewn to "them to be wicked, it is more than half proved to be wise. Nay, their artificial taste, like other unnatural propensities,

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46

success of the attack has been announced) has taken fast hold of the mind of the editor of the Morning Post; yet this feeling I an inclined to hope is almost exclusively has own-That Napoleon acknowledges no re straints as opposed to his interesta, is unquestionably certain; and, that if so disposed, Denmark must have bowed to his yoke, I think probable. But that Russia would have consented to his holding the key of the Baltic, or he, without her assent would have taken such a step, appears of all things least likely. Napoleon, unfortunate

his interest; his politics at present court Russia; he has much to do "with her" before he begins to act against her," add to which, if Napoleon appreciates the Danish fleet at the price we appear to set upon it, I think he will be found to reason less acutely than past experience has shewn him in the habit of doing. The situation of Denmark in common with her neighbours Sweden and Russia, is by no means favourable for great and successful maritime exertion; for a large portion of the year their fleets are confined by the ice to their own ports; their seamea though brave and hardy, unused to naval tuctics have never ranked high. Moor thea fast in line, and they will fire and be fired at till they are knocked to pieces; but afloat they are little formidable. Let me appeal on this point to every man who saw the Russian navy, when under the infatuated policy of Mr. Pitt they were brought on our coasts, to receive the benefit fat our expence) of the instruction and example of our own incomparable marine, or to the more recent instance which occurred in the action between a Danish frigate, and his Majesty's

often acquires greater strength and more "powerful domination over reason and pru"dence, than the natural one it has supplanted could ever have attained. If phi-ly for mankind, at once knows and follows lanthropy has its enthusiasts, political immorality has its devotees, not so ardent "indeed, but more than equally blind and "irrational. There are fanatics in the "school of Machiavel, as well as in that of "Rousseau." 1, for my part, profess to write neither to fools or knaves. My address is to men, who like you have no party but their country. If this (I trust no inconsiderable) portion of the nation, hold by their integrity, the country may yet be saved; but if they, the best hope and stay of Britain, became converts to the doctrine of expediency, the period is not far distant when their characters will be most deservedly brought on a level with those they most condemn. Once broadly admit the principle, "that national injustice may be the source of national benefit," and the doctrine of expediency will overwhelm you as a flood. At home, no matter what the form of the constitution might be in substance, the government of Great Britain would become as despotic as that of Turkey, and our power from theretofore as in happier times) protecting the freedom, would degenerate into the scourge of Europe: and form, not "a north-ship Comus. A farther disadvantage occurs ern," but a "universal contederacy," grafted on the only principle that ever yet held a confederacy together; that of self-defence, and a common interest. Nations like individuals are assailed by their necessities, temptations arise, check are requisite, and laws assented to for mutual preservation, and perilous is the situation of that people, who without "an extreme necessity" shall presume to remove these landmarks of the nations of the earth. And upon this case of

extreme necessity fairly made out," rests

from their local position rendering the Baltic pecularly liable to the inconveniencies of a blockade. If acquiring the buils of the Danish navy was an object worth putting the character of the British nation to the hazard, I am satisfied it was not an object Napoleon would have risked much to obtain. "With the permission of Russia, de would have thought them dearly bought at the expence of throwing into our lap the commerce and colonies of the Danes. If nrere ships could wrest from us the trident of the main, out

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