dam, July 13. ment will continue on the present footing (Signed) A. J. J. H. VERHEUEN. AMERICA.-Massachusets Legislature: Ex- the system, of which this treatment is a branch, emanates from his Majesty the Emperor, it becomes my duty to submit the facts to your Excellency, and to seek, through your intervention, such correction of the evil as humanity and justice may conspire to dietate. A remark which exquisitely applies to the crews of the ships captured in Spain and Naples, is, that should the vessels to which they belong be confiscated means ought to be afforded to them of returning to their country. In this event, therefore, I have to "In adverting with your excellency propose to your Excellency that two or to the convulsed state of Europe, the mind more ships be put at the disposition of the involuntarily shudders at the afflicting nearest American Consul, and permitted spectacle. A war exterminating in its to sail for the United States, under bond nature, extends its ravages, and what will for amount of their valuation.-Respect- be its final catastrophe is known only to fully I am, Sir, &c. J. ARMSTRONG. that Being who maketh darkness his pavil lion. In the wide rage of its desolation, HOLLAND. — Proclamation, dated Amster-inauspicious events have resulted to the best interests of this country. England and France, without any pretext or com Dutchmen; Charged with the provi-plaint in relation to our conduct, on the sional government of the kingdom of Hol-professed principle of annoying each land, we have this day received the order other, have wantonly introduced a systemin of his Majesty the Emperor of the French, equally repugnant to the usages of nations, King of Italy, Protector of the Confedera- the immunities of neurals, and the dic tion of the Rhine, and Mediator of the tates of justice. In both nations we petSwiss Confederation, to notify to you, that ceived the same spirit, modified to pur his Imperial Majesty, having taken into poses that will comport with the actual si consideration the state of affairs in Europe,tuation of each. England, on the one the geographical position of Holland, and hand, in the insatiable spirit of commercial the pretensions of the common enemy, monopoly, has interfered with some of the has, by a decree, issued from the palace of most beneficial branches of our commerce, Rambouillet, 9th July, 1810, resolved, in order to afford her own a more exten that the kingdom of Holland should be uni-sive expansion. On the other, the ruler of ted with the French empire: In commu- France, with an ambition as inordinate, as nicating to you the decree, we are also his mind is vigorous and capacious, in his charged by his Majesty the Emperor to favourite scheme of bearing upon the com inform you, that his Majesty finding him-merce of England, has violated the sanctity self compelled to put an end to the inter-of neutral rights, and the obligations of mediate Governments, which for sixteen positive compact. The one with the mas years have harrassed this part of the em-tery of the ocean, and the other with the pire, the inhabitants of Holland shall be dominion of the Continent, have waged the objects of his care, and his Imperial war upon our dearest interests, and pro Majesty will rejoice as much in their duced incalculable private distress, and prosperity as in that of his good city of public embarrassment. For either of Paris; whilst the spacious field, from Rome them there is no apology, no excuse to Amsterdam, which is laid open to the which, in the moment of returning reason industry of the inhabitants, may encou-and candour, justice would not blush rage, to look to the period of the exten- own. Instead of being benefactors to man sion of their mutual commercial relations kind, instead of promoting the prosperity in those regions, which their ancestors of nations, and extending the circle of hu rendered so renowned, and which have man happiness, the destructive consequen carried to so high a pitch the glory of the ces of their conduct are felt in every Batavian and Dutch name.-We finally quarter of the globe. notify to you, that the general govern (To be continued.) Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent - Garden :-Sold also by J. BUDD, Pall-Mall, LONDON:-Printed by T. C. Hansard, Peto.barough-Court, Fleet-Street, VOL. XVIII. No. 6.] LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 1810. "Cast on the wildest of the Cyclad isles, "Where never human foot had mark'd the shore, [Price 18. THOMSON; Agam. Act III. 193) e -[194 king requesting him to cause inquiries to, be made to ascertain the fate of Jeffery.. -The ministerial writer tells the public, that " Mr. Jackson's inquiries were, "of course, made in consequence of official SUMMARY OF POLITICS. ROBERT JEFFERY.It has been stated in the news-papers of the 9th instant, that MR. JACKSON (Our Envoy and Plenipotentiary in the United States of Amer has directions from home." Yes; to be sure transmitted a deposition, made by the they were; but, it was SIR FRANCIS BURfellow, ROBERT JEFFERY, So late DETT; it was SIR FRANCIS BURDETT, who 18th of June last, giving an accoun Jaused those directions to be given, and the transaction" which has attracted so that, too, by a motion made about 48 "much public notice."Stop here, hours before the Honourable House orreader, and mark, for a moment, the dered him to be imprisoned in the Tower! [braseology of this ministerial writer. This writer is happy, he tells us, that "Atracted so much public notice." How" the result of these inquiries has proved did it attract notice? In what way did the" so completely satisfactory as to the exist most abominable act come to the know-"ence of Jeffery;" but, he does not tell us, ledge of the public? It did not suit this what is the precise cause of his satisfacwriter to say: "the transaction, which, tion; and, whether his satisfaction arises ouing to the humanity and integrity of SIR from the safety of Jeffery, or the safety of "FRANCIS BURDETT, has been made known Lake. His expressions are quite equivocal; "to the public and the world." Till he but, if the context be examined, I think it took up this affair, not a word did any one will appear, that he cared very little about say about the matter. LAKE was tried by the poor seaman.- -He tells us, that Jefa court-martial, at Portsmouth, on the 5th fery "was nine days upon the island, and and 6th of February last; and, on the" supported himself upon limpets, and rain 23rd of that month Sir Francis moved in" water from crevices in the rocks!" So! the Honourable House for a copy of the This is treatment for one of " our Jolly ainutes of that court-martial. But, first" tars," is it? Verily, this is a thing that of all, he mentioned the matter in the ought never to be forgotten. What feelHonourable House; and asked the minis-ings must not this treatment of Jeffery ters, whether they meant to take any steps have excited amongst the people of Amerelative to it. He told them, that, if they rica; and, especially amongst the sailors did not, he should. He accordingly made of New-England! I wonder what sort of his motion in a few days afterwards. The commentary the author of the IMPOSTOR effect of that action was the production of PAMPHLET will make upon this transacThe proof of the horrid deed of putting the tion?I know, or, at least, I have poor fellow neore upon a barren unin- heard, that there are not wanting persons; tabited rei, and there deliberately leav-wretches, cold-blooded wretches! let me, nylam. The publication of the papers rather, call them, who scruple not to say, the Register of the 17th of March, and that Sir Francis's conduct, as to this matin other public prints, excited general ter, was mischievous; for, that the exposure feling upon the subject. Still, bowever, of Lake's "irregularity," as SIR ALEX. ng was DONE, 'till Sir Francis again COCHRANE calls it (See Register of 24th k up the matter, and, upon his motion, March, 1810. Vol. XVII. p. 464), would de just two days before the Honourable be likely to excite discontents in the navy. se voted the sending of him to the Never was any thing more detestable than wer, an address was presented to the this reasoning, according to which no ille G treatment of a seaman by his superiors could ever be made a subject of complaint, without the risk of doing harm to the seaservice. How much more forcible is the reasoning on the other side? How much more likely are such exposures (especially if proper steps be taken by the government in consequence of thein) to prevent discontents from swelling into open mutiny, by shewing the seamen, that, however distant from home, when cruelly treated, they will, when their treatment be made known, not fail to meet with protection in England. What could possibly be better calculated to inspire the seamen in general with confidence in the justice of their country, than this vote for an address to the king in behalf of a common sailor? And, I am not easily to be persuaded, that the satisfaction and confidence of the seamen will be the less on account of the circumstance of the merit of the proceeding belonging exclusively to Sir Francis Burdett. -The poor fellow was set on shore in December, 1807; the act was known to Sir Alex. Cochrane soon afterwards; the Admiralty knew of it early in the summer of 1809; a court of inquiry was held upon the subject in December 1809; the court martial was held in about two months afterwards; Lake had, after the deed, and after Sir Alex. Cochrane knew of it, been promoted from a Commander to a Post Captain. All this time had elapsed, and nothing at all did the public know of the matter; till, on the 23rd of February last, Sir Francis Burdett took it in hand. To him, therefore, and to him alone, the thanks of Jeffery, and the thanks of all those who wished to see justice done in this case, are due. It may be said, that any other member could have done the thing as well as he. But, why did no other member do it? The power, the capacity, being possessed by any other member, is only another circumstance in proof of the superiority of Sir Francis Burdett's public virtue. When the thing was once before the House (and had already been placed before the public), there were enough to join him in reprobating the cruelty of Lake; but, what great merit was there in that? It would have been strange indeed if no one had joined him then. But, who was there that joined him before? Was there a single voice raised to second him when he first made inquiries into the matter?-This is a memorable transaction altogether, and must not soon be let drop. It is one of the things to be kept everlastingly alive. But, it is, I should suppose, impossible that some further proceeding should not be adopted with respect to it. At any rate, as often as it is revived, either in conversation or in thought, let those who converse and think about it, always remember to whom we are ind-bred for all that has been done in this case, towards the obtaining of justice.The mother of Jeffery, who is a widow, is alive. What joy must it be to her to find that her son is yet in existence! She, too, has to thank Six FRANCIS BURDETT, had it not been for whom she would, in all likelihood, never have heard of that son again.-After all, however, let me not be understood as stating it for fact, that Mr. JACKSON has sent home proof of Jeffery's being alive. I must see Mr. Jackson's report, and examine it well, before I shall be convinced of the truth of what is now reported. The shortest way, and, in every respect, the best way, would be, to bring Jeffery home to England. There can be no reason for not doing it. The means are always at hand; and, there can be only one objection, which, indeed, may naturally occur: namely, that the poor fellow may be resolved never again to set his foot in Eng land, or upon any land, or in any place or situation, where he may be exposed to the possibility of being again pressed on board an English ship of war; for, though, it is to be hoped, that his fears of a repetition of such treatment would be totally groundless, seeing that Lake is no longer in the naval service; yet, no one could blame him for entertaining such fears, and, of course, for resolving never to quit the country where he now is, and where, besides being amongst those who rescued him from the most horrid of deaths, he is in perfect security. Much, therefore, as one would wish, on some accounts, to see the man return to England; it would require, with me, some time for consideration, before, if my advice were asked, I should advise him to return. Where he is now, it is impossible for him to fall under a power sufficient to condemn him, without trial, to a desert rock. Where he is now, he is safe from the operation of any such power. Where he is now (in the State of Massachusetts it is said) he cannot be exposed to death for having taken a drink of spruce beer that did not belong exclusively to him. Where he is now, in sho.t, if he has not both liberty and p property, the fault is his, and not that of any body else. timents.In short, it is the very height of stupidity; of stupid, senseless, animal pride and conceit, and that alone, which can induce us to turn a deaf ear to the writer, merely because we hate the man, who, by the bye, is totally unaffected by our hatred. Besides, we should, I think, be a little cautious how we speak of Mr. O'Connor, while we are praising and dining GENERAL SARRAZIN! There is, indeed, some difference in their cases. Mr. O'Connor was banished: General Sarrazin came away of his own accord ; took French leave; or, as Vandamme calls it, deserted. Mr. O'Connor was forced from his native country. He was compelled to adopt another country; or, have no spot to call his country, and be like a Jew, a FAREWELL OF THE ARGUS.In another part of this sheet, I have inserted the FAREWELL of the famous public print, called the ARGUS. The editor, who is said to have been MR. ARTBUR O'CONNOR, has not failed to demonstrate, in this his last Number, that the work does not cease for want of talents to keep it on. -The coyness of our public prints, with respect to this article, is well worthy of notice. They, in general, inserted little fragments of it for the purpose of speaking against it. Most of them mentioned it; but I have seen but two London papers, which have given it at full length, and those are THE TIMES and THE STATESMAN, the last of which, really, talks like a statesman upon the subject. It advises all those, who wish to see the country saved, to read this arti-wanderer upon the face of the earth. In cle, and seriously reflect on its contents; and observes, very justly, that the smile of contempt, which some of our prints affect to cast upon this production, will not save us. -It is, indeed, a most important paper; and, think what we will about it, the effect it will have produced on the continent must be very great.It is quite useless for us to call the person who has written it "an unnatural wretch." The Edinburgh Reviewers did the same, in reviewing a work of Mr. O'Connor's on the English paper money. But this, whatever might be the justice or the injustice of it, had nothing to do with the writer's facts or his reasonings. There may, perhaps, be two opinions upon the subject of Mr. O'Connor's conduct, some persons thinking, that he ought still to love the government, by which he was banished from, and rendered an out-cast of, his native country; while others think, that it is most scandalous meanness in us, who support and approve of that government, to complain of the loss of his friendship for it, and especially to make this complaint in the very same breath, wherein we speak of his talents with contempt. But, in whatever way this question may be decided; whatever we may think of MR. O'CONNOR'S motives; whether we think his conduct unnatural in the extreme, or perfectly natural; still bis facts and his arguments remain the same; and, we should be very careful not to disbelieve that which is true, merely because it comes from the pen of a man, whom we think it right to speak of as the blackest of villains, and, at the same time think it quite becoming in us to complain, that he betrays evident marks of his ant loving us, in return for those kind sen America there are hundreds of English Let into the heads of their readers, that we are in such a state of safety, in England, "that we do not want a single regular soldier "in the island." This is, indeed, somewhat different from the opinions of Mr. Attorney General, and Judge Grose; but, this is what they say; that we do not want a single regular soldier in England, of any sort whatever, and that every regular soldier ought to be sent out of it, to learn, in Spain, Portugal, Walcheren, and else where, to beat the French. Of this we may say more, perhaps, hereafter; but, if it be true, that we do not want a single regular soldier in England, notwithstanding the opinions of the above-mentioned grave personages; if this be true, surely all the regular soldiers between this and the time that they are sent off to learn to beat the French in Spain, Walcheren, and Portugal, might be safely employed in works of agriculture? -At any rate, let it be re correctly. The picture that he exhibits | who tell the public; who are labouring is, perhaps, exaggerated; the eagerness and sweating like negroes to hammer it of his wishes may have been too powerful for his reason; but is there any man, who really feels anxious; who feels any portion of anxiety, for the permanent secuity of England against the arms of France; is there any such man, who can refrain from being deeply impressed with apprehensions, that the part of the article, which relates to maritime force and operations, has but too much truth in it? We do not see, because we will not see, the danger to be apprehended from the inevitably increasing marine of Napoleon. It must, if he wishes it, increase to a size enormous, and that, too, in a comparatively short space of time. There is now nothing for Napoleon to do upon the continent except in Spain and Portugal; and, when that last continental labour is finished, will there be no apprehensions for Ireland, which as we are daily told, is, even now, agitated with a French faction ?- -What is, in this essay, said about the South American co-membered, that the measure, as far as it has lonies is well worthy of attention. It is what every one of us should read every hour in the day; because there is yet time to avoid or avert what is here predicted; and this is the use, to which sensible people put the predictions of their enemies. I do not say, that, if we had listened to Mr. O'Connor in the year 1804, upon the subject of paper-money, we could have done any thing to prevent the accomplishment of his predictions; but, we should have sooner perceived the real state of our affairs, and sooner got rid of the shackles of delusion. CORN CROPS.In my Register of the 4th instant, page 142, I recommended the permitting of all the soldiers in the kingdom to work during the harvest, observing, that if it should be catching weather, this would make a material difference in the price of bread. The news-papers now tell us, "that an order has been issued from the "war-office, for not more than one-fourth of each battalion of the regular infantry and "militia stationed in the Kent district to be employed in getting in the harvest, and that "it is left entirely in the power of the "Commanding Officer whether any or "what part of that number shall be so "employed."This is something; and especially if the same be done in all the other districts. I can see no reason why the whole should not have such permission; and, I shall not be found fault with, in this instance, by the ministerial writers, been adopted, originated in a recommendation of mine; and, what is of more importance, in an act of the government itself we have here a recognition of the principle, that agriculture suffers from the raising and maintaining of armies; that is to say, in the changing of labourers into unproductive people; a principle which has never been sufficiently inculcated in this country, where, how ever, men do really, at last, seem disposed to listen.The loaf, I see, continues to rise; and, I shall be very much surprized if it stops short of 2 shillings. I, at one time, thought it would go higher; and, appearances then warranted my opinion. The very great change, however, which has taken place in the appearance of the Barley and Oats more than in the Wheat, and the favourable appearance of the potatoes, induce me to think, that bread will be less dear than I expected at first; but still I think it will be very dear.--From a letter, which I insert in another part of this sheet, it would seem that the harvest in Ireland promises to be abundant. The price of the quartern loaf, however, appears to have been sixteen pence, at Dublin, on the 3rd instant. Irish money, of course; but, this is very dear for Ireland, and quite inconsistent with the fact, as stated by my correspondent, of an approaching greatly abundant crop.As to imports, my opinion is, that, if we have a decided scarcity, we shall get very little HAL |