soon be the case I am pretty certain. In the mean while I beg leave to subjoin a few remarks on the case of De Yonge, together with a Letter from himself to LORD VISCOUNT FOLKESTONE,* and remain, Gentlemen, Your friend, WM. COBBETT. State Prison, Newgate, Thursday, 18th July, 1811. was *The Case of DE YONGE, the Jew, who, in the month of August, last year, was tried for selling Guineas for more than their nomínal value in Bank Notes, has proved what I then said it would be, "one of the "most important that had taken place for many years."—I said, and published, at the time, my opinion, that, not withstanding the prosecution had been ordered and carried on by the Attorney General (Gibbs,) and though the man had been found guilty by a Special Jury and in coincidence with the direction of the Judge (Ellenborough ;) notwithstanding all this, I gave it as my decided opinion, and maintained that opinion by argument, that the Jew had been guilty of no crime in the eye of the law of England. The case, as we have before seen, bas since been argued before the Twelve Judges, and they have pronounced, that what the man charged with was not a crime.It is a long time since this man's prosecution began. Notice will be found of it in the Register a year and a half ago. It was manifest, that the poor man must have greatly suffered in purse as well as in mind; and, when the Judges had declared him guilty of no crime, LORD FOLKESTONE, who had before interested himself greatly in the mian's fate, and had given notice, that if the case was not speedily decided upon by the Judges, he would bring it before parliament; when the Judges had decided, his lordship complained, in the House of Commons, that the poor man had suffered greatly, and ought to have compensation made him. The ATTORNEY GENERAL answered, that every man was liable to the same sort of inconvenience and injury. To be sure, said his lordship, every man is liable to have a false accusation preferred against him; every man is liable to be prosecuted with sufficient grounds; but, this was a singular case: the prosecution was ordered by the King's own Attorney-General; and, what is more, the crime, as it was called, was, by the government Solicitor, procured to be committed; so that the man SUMMARY OF POLITICS. TALAVERA'S WARS.-In former Volumes I have put the title of Spain, or Portugal, to the articles relating to the war in those countries; but, now neither name is quite proper, for the same armies are carrying on war in both countries at one and the same time. I shall, therefore, give to all the articles that I, in future, was prevailed upon by the prosecutors to commit what they deemed a great crime; they tempted him to commit the crime; they, in fact, made the crime, or the supposed crime, that they intended to prosecute, and that they actually did prosecute. This is by no means a common case: it is by no means one of those vexatious and groundless prosecutions to which any man is liable from the malice or mistake of others. This was a prosecution by the law officers of the Crown, and by the Attorney General in particular; and, all the sufferings of DE YONGE have arisen from the Attorney General's not knowing the law upon this point. It is no crime, to be sure, to be ignorant of the law upon any point; nor is it to be supposed, that Attorney Generals are conjurors any more than other men; but, when they seek to get the grounds of a prosecution; when they get a man to commit a crime (or when those under them do it),' that they may have an opportunity of prosecuting it; when this is the case, there can be no doubt, I think, that they ought to know the law before they proceed. And, I am quite sure, that, in all such cases, where there is an acquittal at last, the suffering party ought to be indemnified for his sufferings and losses. For, if this be not so, what man is safe from utter ruin ? Who may not be ruined? What De Yonge has suffered we shall now see, in a Letter, which he has had the gratitude to address to Lord Folkestone, and which, as being a very clear and modest statement of his case, and as a document connected with the great subject of which we are treating, I here insert."MY LORD; I should be wanting in gra❝titude were I to omit returning you my "most sincere thanks for your disinterested "endeavours on my behalf, and I assure "your Lordship I do not feel the less grateful because they were unsuccess"ful.-Your Lordship will perhaps ex"cuse me if I mention a few circumstances "in my case of which I think I am justi write upon the operations of the army sort, but a true account; an account which ander Lord Viscount Talavera, the title will place all the actors, on both sides, in of TALAVERA'S WARS, the complete his- their proper light; that will hold up the tory of which I promise myself the plea-skilful and the brave to the admiration of sure of writing as soon as I have leisure, posterity, that will show what misfortunes, which will be, perhaps, when the Paper- disgraces, and miseries proceed from putMoney matters are finally closed. The ting power in the hands of a fat-headed Most Noble Marquis Wellesley has, upon fool, and that will damn to everlasting ina recent occasion, called my Lord Tala-famy those who have sought to disguise Vera " that DISTINGUISHED WAR- their cowardice by the means of bluster"RIOR," and that he will continue to being and lies, be they on which side a distinguished warrior I have not the least doubt: at any rate, if he be not, it shall not, if I live, be for want of one to give, and put upon record, a full account of all his operations: not a lying account; not a hireling account; not a base and abominable string of frauds upon the people of England, which serve to cheat some of them and to furnish others of them with excuses for their villainies, but which, so far from deceiving the rest of the world, are the scorn and contempt of all foreign nations; not an account of this " " * " they may.- -When Talavera first went into the Peninsula I was glad; because I wished to see some of that family, of whose wars in India we had heard so much, pitted against Buonaparté; but, I was quite delighted when the Most Noble Marquis went as Embassador, taking his brother HENRY WELLESLEY with him, while Lord Talavera was to be commander in Chief of our Troops there. "Now," said I, "we shall see who are the best men, "the Buonapartés or the Wellesleys. "These our statesmen and warriors have "cutors moved to quash it and prefer "another, because they had misrecited "the proclamation. A second Indict"ment was according found, and this also "I proceeded in, until it was coming on for trial at the Old Bailey, when, to my great mortification and astonishment, it "was removed by the prosecutors into "the Court of King's Bench, by which means, I had, as it were, my defence again to commence. -Being in very "moderate circumstances, and having a family to support, I have necessarily "sustained many deprivations in consequence of the great law expences in"curred in defending myself against this "accusation, and, I fear, it will be a con"siderable time before I can recover my "self from the injuries I have sustained."I will not further trouble your Lordship, "but conclude with observing, that I "humbly conceive the Law Officers of the great public bodies and of govern"ment, having, as they must, the best "means of information on legal points, "fied in complaining, and particularly as Mr. Attorney General asserted that I "had suffered no material hardships."In the first place, I did not seek the barter or exchange which formed the subject of the accusation against me, the" plan was laid by the Mint Solicitors to tempt me to the bargain, and then to prosecute me.-Pursuant to this arrange"ment, a foreigner was employed, who came to my house as the interpreter to "another man, in his company; they "stated, that they were recommended to me to make the purchase, and, after urging me to deal with them, officers "came into my house, seized me and my money, and, at a late hour in the evening, I was burried from my family to a "loathsome prison, (the Poultry Counter) " and there kept three days and three nights in custody without bail being "admitted. At length, on the final ex"amination, I was discharged on giving "bail to a large amount, which I had "some difficulty in procuring; and had 1 "not been able to obtain them, I must ought to be somewhat more circumspect "have remained in custody 18 months, "and accurate in their expounding acts of "the period this question has been pend-" parliament, before they distress and bear "ing.-Lastly, the expence and anxiety" down an humble individual and expend "I have sustained has been enormous, "the public money, by harrassing and "some through the solicitors for the pro-" groundless prosecutions. I am,, my secution, for, after going through all the Lord, with the greatest respect, your "necessary forms of law to bring the first "most obedient and very humble Servant, "Indictment against me to issue, and, in- 107, Houndsditch, "JAMES DE YOUNG." 'deed, when it stood for trial, the prose- 17th July, 1811. should have a British army to defend our country, if ever the enemy landed; and, said he, raising, as I can suppose, his voice and his head at the same moment, and looking about him to receive the approv ing nods of his audience, "what must "NOW be the feelings of the enemy after "be now his CONFUSION, when he sees "that he is without the means of carrying his "designs into execution." The statesman then took an enlarged view of the continent, gave a significant hint as to the effects which Lord Talavera's victories might produce in France; said it was not unreasonable to suppose that we might be the instruments to effect the deliverance of Europe; led us to hope that in Spain and Portugal the "power of the tyrant would find its grave;" and concluded with asserting, that so long as "distinguished military glory, acquired in a righteous " cause, so long would the fame of Lord "Talavera stand embalmed in the memory of "a grateful posterity, and so long would he "continue to receive the Thanks of man conquered many kingdoms and princi- | palities in Asia; we shall now see what they will do in Europe. And, above all things, we shall now see, what they, "with all the flower of the English army, "will do against the French." Such were my observations at the time. Since that the Most Noble Marquis has come home;" all his insolent boastings, and what must but, it has only been to have still more power, as to foreign nations, while the brother Henry Wellesley supplies his place as Embassador in Spain.Well, then, here we see the Wellesleys on one side and the Buonapartés on the other side. Every thing has given way to the object of supplying Talavera with the means of carrying on the war. The whole of the troops of the country have been sent off to him as fast as they could be got ready. Transports, Ships of Transports, Ships of" War, nothing has been spared to make him, in point of numbers, a match for the enemy. He has had, in short, the resources of the kingdom poured out upon him. At no time of our history did England ever put so great a mass of means at the disposal of any Commander. There-"kind."This is, in part only, what fore, we are now to wait the result, in order to determine, who are the best men, the Buonapartés or the Wellesleys. I am aware, indeed, that the Buonapartés do not come forth here in person; but, they send their Marshals, and if my Lord Viscount Talavera beat them, I shall be prepared to claim for him and his family the victory over the Buonapartés.- So endeavoured to caution this "most thinkmuch by way of INTRODUCTION to a Series ing nation" against indulging any very of Articles, which I foresee I shall have sanguine hopes of future successes in Porto publish under the title of TALA-tugal or in Spain, and, I told them exVERA'S WARS.-Let us now look at pressly, that the expressions: "driven out the present situation of Talavera, first "of Portugal; evacuation of Portugal, and taking a hasty glance at the events which "the like, made use of at that time by the have occurred since the retreat of Massena, "COURIER and TIMES and other venal by which retreat this " thinking nation" "prints, were mere inventions to deceive this was filled with joy up to their very lips, "credulous nation."- -Whether I was filled up to blubbering height.- -On ac-right, or not, we shall very soon see.. count of that retreat Talavera did, as the reader must remember, receive the Thanks of the two Houses of Parliament. The Minister (Perceval) in moving these Thanks said, that there had been, from day to day, distinguished actions during the campaign; that our general had given our allies a most useful lesson, and had, at least, secured them for another year; that those who had till now doubted of the power of the nation to preserve its character, must now congratulate the illustrious glory with which their country had been crowned; that now, now, aye now, we all knew that we was said by the prime minister of this 66 It was always plain to me, that Massena's retreat was, as far as regarded any thought of us, a matter of choice; that our army did not, and could not force him to retreat; that he was in want of provisions himself, and that he saw, that, while we lay covered by the Lines of Torres Vedras, he could not get at us, and could not injure us or weaken us, because we were easily fed from the sea, whence we were supplied from home, from America, and even as to certain articles, from France! Therefore, Massena, whether he had been in want of provisions himself, or not, must have thought it wise Torres Vedras! But, of these matters I must speak more fully in my next. I have here only had room to open the subject, and to call the attention of my readers to it. I shall resume it with a resolution to leave no part of it unexplained to this should compare the siege of Badajos with State Prison, Newgate, to draw Talavera out if he could. When- the approach of those very Frenchmen, ever I have been rat hunting I have ob- whom, it was said, our general had but a served, that, when the pursued party gets few weeks before driven out of Portugal. to his hole, the pursuers, if they have not-Lord Talavera has now, we find, dethe means of ferreting him out, always clined a battle with the French, and has draw off to a distance from the mouth of ¦ made some movements towards his Lines at the hole, and there wait till the party chose to come out again, and then the way we used to go to work was either to fall in upon the party outright and kill him if possible, or to push away towards his hole, and having fairly shut him out, give him chase, from" thinking people," who, in the meanwhile, which he had great good luck if he escaped. Massena seems to me to have acted upon this principle; for, no sooner had he arrived at the point where he intended to make a stand, than he turned about and fell upon those who fancied themselves to be his pursuers! How the English and Portuguese armies must have been surprized at finding themselves so furiously attacked as they were, to lose so many in killed and wounded, and to have so many prisoners taken from them, by those whom, but two or three days before, they looked upon as being run-aways!-While MASSENA was playing this part, SOULT was co-operating with him in the most effective and able manner. He had, just about the time of Massena's starting on the retreat, stepped across and taken BADAJOS, which was of very great importance, because, while the French held that place, it was not safe to send the whole of our army after Massena. If we did, the French had nothing to do but to go and take possession of the Lines at Torres Vedras. This was a grand feature in the campaign. It did, indeed, decide the fate of it before it was hardly begun. Our army being thus divided was the more easily assailed. How it was assailed in the neighbourhood of Almeida the reader well knows; and he also knows how it was assailed at Albuera, where Soult made his attack so soon after the attack of Massena, that there was no time left for the sending of assistance to Marshal Beresford, who had been, with a large part of the allied army, amused with the siege of Badajos.After the battle of Albuera Lord Talavera joined Beresford, and the siege of Badajos was undertaken: for what they best know; but, for my part, the reason is quite beyond my comprehension. Here, after almost literally knocking their brains out against stone walls; they were compelled to raise the siege, upon hearing of the approach of the French armies; aye, N. B. The Dispute with America in my next. OFFICIAL PAPERS. FRANce. -Exposition of the State of the Empire, presented to the Legislative Body at its sitting of June 29, by his Excellency Count Montalivet, Minister for the Interior. (Concluded from p. 64.) ...... As for the rest, if there have existed other causes of disunion between the Emperor and the temporal Sovereign of Rome, there exists none between the Emperor and the Pope, as the head of religion; and there is none which can cause the least inquietude to the most timorous souls. Judicial Order. Civil justice had been separated from criminal justice; the Magistracy did not pursue crimes till they had been marked out by the Police. The late code which you have adopted, has united civil to criminal justice; it has erected imperial courts, invested with the right of pursuing and of accusing, and has armed them with all the force necessary to cause the laws to be executed; the jury system maintained and brought to perfection; the con fronting of the witnesses, and the publici- | ty of examination, have united all that was good in the old and the new system. In appointing to different offices, his Majesty has sought out the men who still remained of the old Parliaments, and whom their age and their knowledge capacitated for being employed in the imperial courts; he invited them of his own accord, thus giving a new proof of his constant wish to see the French forget their ancient quarrels, and finish by embodying themselves with the interests alone of the country, and of the throne. Administration. Charitable Sisters, whose object is to wait upon the sick, and serve in the hospitals. The intention of his Majesty is, that all these Sisters should, in respect to religious matters, be under the direction of their Bishops, who alone have the power of interfering in spirituals, through the extent of their diocese.-Depôts of mendicity have been established in 65 departments; in 32 they are already in activity; and in these 32 departments begging is no longer permitted. These depôts still require to be improved, in such a way that different kinds of labour may be there carried on, and thus they may provide for the greater part of their expences. Public Instruction. The University has made some progress. Several Lyceums were ill constituted: the principles of religion, the basis of every institution as of all morality, were either discarded or feebly inculcated. The Grand Master and Council of the University have remedied the greatest part of these abuses. Much, however, still remains to be done to realise the hopes and the views of the Emperor in this grand creation.-Domestic education is that which merits the greatest encouragement; but since parents are so often obliged to entrust their children to colleges or places of education, it is the intention of the Emperor, that the organization of the Univer sity should be extended to all colleges and places of education of all degrees, in order that education may no longer resemble a manufacture or a branch of commerce, followed from views of pecuniary interest. To direct education is one of the noblest functions of the father of a family, or one of the principal ends of national institutions. The number of Lyceums and of Communal Colleges shall be augmented, and the number of private seminaries shall be gra Many reclamations have been presented with regard to the limits of different departments. Opinions have ever been listened to, which went to substitute great prefectures in the room of those at present existing; but his Majesty has rejected them, and has adopted as a principle, to consider as established and permanent what has been already done. Instability destroys every thing. A great revolution has passed over, under the existing organization of the departments: it is become like a species of property, which his Majesty does not wish to touch. These departments have been formed and consolidated amidst imperious circumstances, which have brought together their inhabitants, and they shall ever remain united as they are:-The administration of Communes is every where brought to perfection. The Budgets examined in the Council of State, direct and check the administration of all the Communes of the Empire, which have a revenue of more than 10,000 francs. Already the mass of these revenues amounts to more than 80 millions. Never in any time, or in any country, were the Communes so rich. Every where else the tax called the Octroi is an impost of the Sovereign: his Majes-dually diminished till the moment when ty has left it to the Communes; in consequence of which all their establishments are in the best state, and in almost all of them the erection of town-halls has been set about, of market places, of public magazines, and of other works, which must embellish or augment their prosperity.requisite for the citizen to be able to deThe hospitals are every where ameliorated: it may be said, that never at any time were they better kept. The acts of charity are copious, and the legacies accepted by the Council of State for the hospitals amount to several millions annually. -His Majesty has sanctioned and endowed a great number of congregations of they shall all be shut up. All public education ought to be regulated on the principles of military discipline, and not on those of civil or ecclesiastical police. The habitude of military discipline is the most useful, since at all periods of life it is fend his property against internal or external enemies.-Ten years more are still requisite for realising all the benefit which his Majesty expects from the University, and for accomplishing his views; but already great advantages are obtained, and what exists is preferable to that which has ever existed.-For the primary |