laces.

It is because your correspondent J. O. has failed in both these requisites in his account of a fracas that happened some time since, in the corps of Light Horse Volunteers of this city, that I claim a small portion of your publication, to give a plain but brief statement of that dispute, which did not originate with those to whom the blame is attributed, neither in its progress did any thing transpire which could justify a charge against them of having violated the regulation under which they associated.

After the corps was formed, and the officers appointed, it was thought necessary to have a Major Commandant; this the senior caprain strenuously opposed, unless he could be appointed, on the ground that it was umilitary to put any body over his head. Here the dispute began and a great deal of ill-blood arose between the friends of the captain and the advocates for the rights of the corps. And here it will not be amiss to tell you that a committee, consisting of one commissioned‹fficer and four privates from each troop, has the complete command, both civil and military. This committee, of which the senior captain was chairman, framed a sort of constitution, or form of government, not taken from the pigeon holes of the Abby Scyes, but copied from the regulations of the London and Westminster L. H. V. By this the right of choosing officers is vested in the body at large, and any private may be elected to fill a vacant situation. In virtue of this claim, a gentleman of great respectability, but whose modesty had hitherto kept him in the ranks, was nominated at a general meeting called by the chairman of the committee, at the requisition of several members, as a fit person to be appointed Major Commandant, The nomination was car ried unanimously, A few days after this, the Major sent a note to the committee, stating that difficulties having been raised to his appointment he felt himself bound to resign. Upon this two-thirds of the men resigned, until the senior captain, who was regarded as the cause of the majors' resignation, thought proper himself to resign. Here the dispute ended. The seceders rejoined, another major and another captain were appointed (by the men and not by the committee) and the corps has never failed to perform any duty required of it, from the time H. R. H. the Duke of Cumberland, ordered a detachment to escort French prisoners from Wells; in which service the men were absent two days, and on horseback twelve hours without dismounting; this they did cheerfully several times, and now two men act as videttes every day at

the French prison. All this I admit they promised his Royal Highness to do, but it was more than the terms of service required; and I only notice it to shew that no "pledge was forfeited," to prove that these men acted up to the letter and spirit of their engagement. It would be as reasonable to expect the members of the House of Commons to abandon the liberty of speech, or any other privilege they derive from the constitution, as to call upon the members of volunteer corps to give up the rights they enjoy under their internal regulations, which have been sanctioned by an act of the legislature. Whatever is wrong is a neces sary consequence of the defects of the vo

lunteer systein. It has already produced many inconveniencies, and the dangers which it threatens are more than enough to territy the sroutest heart. In every word and sentiment you have published on that subject, I most perfectly coincide. I am, Sir,

A CITIZEN SOLDIER

Of the Lath and Plaster Army.

Lanarkshire, Jan. 6, 1804.

SIR, I read your paper with a great deal of pleasure, as I deem you sincerely attached to truth, and to the true interests of your King and Country. A similar attachment leads me to state to you a late occurrence at L which is no bad illustration of your opinion of the Volunteer System.-On, Friday, the 16th of December, 1803, as two or three town's-people, one of them a member of the Common Council of the Borough, were met together in a public-house, two of the L- Volunteers intruded into their company, which occasioned some altercation, ending in blows from the volunteers, to the effusion of blood and the loss of a tooth to the Borough Councillor. The constables came to carry the delinquents before a magistrate; but were much obstructed by the volunteers, now assisted by others of the corps; and afterwards, while one of them was carrying to prison by order of a by order of a magistrate, the constables were actually deforced in their duty, beat, and abused, and the prisoner set at liberty:nay, it is said, one of the volunteer officers joined in the deforcement, insisting that a volunteer could only be tried by a court martial, and was not subject to the civil power; and some of them even threatened the magistrate, with the vengeance of their Majer Commandant. A serjeant, too, ran to a room where some of the volunteers were drilling, remonstrating why they remained there, while one of their number was carrying to

prison! Now, Sir, I tremble for the re-sult of such doctrine and practice!-If the civil power is allowed to be trampled upon by the volunteers with impunity, and without investigation, the consequence must be serious indeed. -I am, Sir, yours, &c. &c. A HIGHLANDER.

Ell, Surrey, Jan. 30, 1904. SIR,-Permit me to ask for a corner in your paper, in order to convey to the public some account of the Volunteer-corps of this place. It consisted of 139 men, to whom, about four months ago, the oath of allegiance was tendered; but, it was generally, if not wholly, refused. A set of regulations was afterwards submitted to the corps, who, thereupon threw up, with the exception of 35 men. They paraded the place in great triumph, with blue cockades, and threw their regimentals, with great contempt, into the house of a man, who had originally subscribed 1. towards clothing and disciplining them! Are these the men, Mr. Cobbett; is this the description of troops, to meet and to deleat the veterans of France? Is it thus that we are to be saved, Sir? I was, myself, some time ago much in favour of the volunteer system; and, I must confess, that even your arguments were not sufficient to correct without the aid of experience. That experience I have now had; and, with you, Sir, and, I believe, with ninety-nine hundredths of the nation, I say, "short follies are best;" away with this foolery, and give us a real army in its stead.- -I am, yours, &c. &c. C. S.

me

Extract from Proceedings of a Parish Meeting in the Parish of Mary-la-bonne, dated Jan. 7, 1804, and signed by JOHN JONES, Clerk. RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY, that the following address to the nobility, gentry, and other inhabitants of this parish, be printed and distributed, relative to the ROYAL YORK MARY-LA-BONNE VOLUNTEERS. The Volunteer Association in this parish having been brought to its present state of discipline, at an expense of not less than twenty thousand pounds to the individuals who compose that corps, exclusive of their annual subscription towards its support, and the incidental expenses they must necessarily be put unto, besides the time given from their several occupations in personally attending their duty. And that the aid of Volunteer Corps is requisite at this perilous time to our safety and preservation from a menacing feroCious enemy, who threatens our entire destruction and existence as a people and na

tin is not disputed; yet as their annual expense can not be supported without the aid and subscription of those whose situation precludes personal service, and upon whom their continuance must depend, you will be waited upon by a Committee of vestrymen and parishioners, attended by an officer of the Royal York Mary-la-bonne Volunteers, who have undertaken to solicit your subscrip tion for that purpose, so ng only as it may be found necessary and expedient to continue the services of those who have so nobly volunteered to support the freedom of our country, protect our property, and defend our lives at the peril and hazard of their own.

Extract from an Address to the Members of the Not East Division of the Artillery Company, from the Captain of the said Division, dated Angel Court, January 28, 1804.

GENTLEMEN, Wednesday next is the day appointed for the inspection of the regiment.It is painful to me to observe that the musters of the North East Division have of late done no credit to its members.―――I appeal to your feelings, as men, to your honour, as soldiers, whether the members of the North East Division have not of inte been too relax in the performance of their duty; government has seen and noticed this relaxation, and the feelings of your Colonel have suffered much upon the occasion. Let me entreat you then, as friends, to muster strong on Wednesday next. -The Honourable Artillery Company have till now stood high in the estimation of govern ment: their punctual attendance on all pressing occasions has merited and obtained universal approbation. Rouse then, my brave comrades, retrieve your good name, and be emulous to rank foremost in the list of volunteers. The occasion was never more pressing; your exertions were never more required. I confidently hope that this address will meet with the sanction of the whole drvision. Believe me, Gentlemen, most sincerely your dev.ted servant,

THOMAS DAWes, Captain.

Copy of a Letter from a CORPORAL of a Volun teer Corps, in the City of Westminster, to HIS COLONEL, dated January 25, 1804.

SIR,I'me desired by the several privates in my company, to acquaint you, that it is their determination to withdraw themselves, unless you immediately order **** [a captain] to resign-He may bless hist stars, I did not bayonet him-but-dam him I've done with him-Yours to command ****

The reader may depend on the authen

ticity of this document. I have the names of all the parties; but, it is useless to mention them. It is the facts and not the persons that I wish to hold up to the notice of my readers.EDITOR.

CHANGE OF MINISTRY...

SIR,I sincerely congratulate you, or more correctly speaking, the public, on the increased circulation that you a.nounced at the beginning of the year of your patriotic publication; and am glad you have so very easy a mode of silencing ministerial cavillers respecting the truth of your statement; by referring them to the Stamp Office. I have taken in the Register for the last twelve months, and am sure it is not your fault, if the people of England are not, by this time, not only fully acquainted with their real situation, but also with the only practical means that can afford a rational hope of surmounting the complication of ills which menace our destruction. I trust you will continue boldly and independently to urge the important truths you have already brought forward, so as, if possible, to awaken the nation from its besotted apathy respecting the present imbecile administration: who have so largely contributed to our present dangers, and whose continuance in power renders our deliverance next to utter impossibility.

You have lately pointed out, in a most forcible manner, the indispensable necessity of an union of parties; such as will enable his Majesty to avail himself, for the safety, honour, and dignity of the country, of all the energy that can be derived from a combination of the most consummate wisdom and powerful influence. Besides, your own conclusive reasoning on the subject, you have laudably shown your devotion to the interests of your country, by giving additional publicity to two very luminous essays on the subject of coalition, which lately appeared in a daily paper. It is natural enough, indisputably, for our present mi nisters to feel exquisitely sensitive, when a coalition of great and enlightened men is spoken of; for certainly there can be no such thing as an Addington in the composition. When you mention the names of my Lord Grenville, Messrs. Windham, Pitt and Fox, you only re-echo the sentiment expressed throughout the kingdom by all intelligent and disinterested persons; the only question being how the union of so much talent and influence can happily for the country, be brought into action. I hope it will not be imputed to me, that I presune

to take measure of the ability contained in the country; or that I consider these gentlemen to be exclusively possessed of distinguished talent; or even take upon me to decide, that, their abilities are unequalled. It is sufficient for my purpose, to refer to them, as known, able, leading men, who, collectively, would be able to call forth into the service of their country, at this season of unexampled difficulty, all the physical strength and mental energy it contains.

And now, Sir, will you permit me to state, as the result of most serious reflection, that greatly as I admire the splendid genius of Mr. Pitt, his coalition with the gentlemen 1 have named, but on conditions, which, I fear, would be rather mortifying to him, and which I much wish he may so far master himself as to accede to, would, instead of proving an acquisition, only add to our embarrassment. From Mr. Pitt, I should demand as a preliminary, the complete renunciation of the system he has pursued for some years, relative to finance; and, especially, with regard to the Bank of England: for, until the unnatural and disgraceful restriction be removed from the latter, we cannot even begin the work of political salvation. I implore the weight and eloquence of this gentleman, with the public; not to add to the hideous fabric of our paper credit; not to attempt any longer, the delusive and d leterious quackery of sustaining the overgrown size of the na tional debt, by addition taxes; but, to employ all his credit, all his skill, all his persuasion, in honestly co-operating with the great leaders I have named, in the best, which in truth will be the speediest plan, by which its reduction can be effected, in such proportion as to bring the payment of the interests within the compass of a natural, legitimate system of taxation. But how is this great desideratum to be performed? By no other possible method, I dare venture solemnly to aver, than positive and adequate taxation of the interest, which is the same thing as reducing the principal of the debt itself. But this is, at once, to acknowledge national bankruptcy. To be sure it is; and I wish the commission to be sued out, that the creditors may have all that they are entitled to; namely, an annuity from the public, of all that a rich commercial people can pay in such taxes, as are compatible with due encouragement to industry, freed m, and morality. If it be contended, that the national creditor has claims to sanction ups limited taxation, or in other words, unlimit ed oppression and extortion; I can only consign such claims to the indistinguishabię

recommend. History bears ample testi. mony to the revolutions and convulsions occasioned by financial dilapidations; and the example of France is now before our eyes. The attempt under the direction of our present set of feeble creatures, I should consider the signal of irretrievable confusion and calamity; whi'e, under the auspices of such an administration as I have named some of the leaders of, men, uniting all parties, and possessing unlimited endence with the public; the measure would be as practicable, as it certainly is indispen a ble: and the only question is, whether, by putting the reins of government, before it be too late, into able hands, we may be fully prepared, by timely precaution, or wait till the gathering storm suddenly burst over us, and scatter ruin and devastation in every direction.

As a prominent feature of Mr. Addington's budger, stood the additional duty on tea. From indisputable authority, at the East-India House, I learn, that in the last March sale, there was sold of this article 7,400,000lbs. weight; and that such has been already the effect of the high duty, as to bave reduced the quantity declared for sale in March ensuing, to 4,700,000 lbs. guly; which, it appears, is very considerably less than has been sold at any one sale, for many years past.. In addition to the loss sustained, by so diminished a sale, I understand, that a depreciation has taken place of such a nature as to threaten very serious and important consequences to the East-India Company; to whom this article, if I am rightly informed, has, for some time past, been an essential, as well as very im proving resource. In point of revenue, the interence is too palpable. The tax is levied upon tea ad valorem, and there seems every reason to rapprehend, that, combining depreciation with reduced quantity, there will very soon, be a less sum produced at the present monstrous duty of 95 per cent. than the preceding duty of only 50 per cent. afforded. This tax, it appears, was very obstinately persisted in, against the most cogent reasons, and torcible representations urged by the chairman and court of directors of the East-India Company, on their own behalt; and by a very numerous budy of traders, in behalf of themselves and the Community; under a conviction, front former experience, that the excessive dury would prove equally injurious to themselves and to the revenue.

The next striking object in the ways and means was the additional duty on spirituous liquors. On adverting to the commence

ment of Mr. Pitt's administration, it will be found, that he reduced the duty on rum from about 75. 64. per gallon to 45.; and on French brandy and Dutch geneva, from about gs. 6d. to 58. per gallon; and that, however, extraordinary it may appear, the event not only justified the sanguine expectations he held out to the public, of augmenting the revenue, by the low du ics, but as it should appear, from what I have been informed. in a few years, rendered it, almost beyond all comparison, more productive. Unfortunately, Mr. Pitt was induced, during the war, to gradually raise the duty on these articles to their former limit; and thus restore the exploded system of his predecessor, in the American war. But now steps forward the modern hero of finance, Doctor Addington! brave. ly asserting his entire superiority over common sense and experience; he offers you a large additional supply on paper, by at once raising the duty on brandy and geneva, to about 14s.; and on rum to about 115. per gallon. From some highly respectable persons in the West-India trade, I am positively assured, that such has been the corsequence of this exorbitant duty, that it may be presumed on a very moderate calculation, that the article of rum, to the loss of the planter, is sunk full half in price; occasioned, partly, by the want of internal consumption in this country, and, partly, by the large proportion of British spirit, mixed with it, in order to counteract the high duty. The spirituous liquors of France and Holland, they inform me, still experience a much greater diminution of consumption, from the high duty; and hence greater defalcation of revenue. I will not pursue, as I might do, the investigation of the Doctor's flimsy budget any further. I have said enough to render the conclusion level to the cpacity of all men of common understanding it is to such, and not to his Majesty's ministers, that I address myself.

I shall conclude with a very few observa tions on a subject, that the selfish crew, who have usurped the places of their betters, ridiculously enough, endeavour to make a question of such extreme delicacy, something, indeed, so wonderfully my steri ous, as to render the mere mention of it, a kind of profanation; a new sort of political crime: I mean, the undoubted, and I will add, most beneficial prerogative of his ma jesty; the power of appointing his own ministers, who questions the authority y which Mr. Addington is become the minis ter? But what practical benefit they mean to derive from such an aigament, as theic

enjoying undeserved favour from their sovereign, is incomprehensible, unless it be contended, because their incapacity, ignorance, and unfitness for the high stations they hold, is unprecedented; an unprecedented extension of the royal prerogative should take place, in order to protect them from the consequences of responsibility to the public. 1 have only very shortly to reply to such profound reasoners on our constitution, that it is the bounden duty of the subjects of our most gracious monarch, in a constitutional and proper manner to convey the full expression of the public opinion, respecting those servants, whom he chooses to entrust with the maintenance of the honour and glory of the crown, and the inseperable welfare and happiness of his people. After this short exposition, I will leave to others all the metaphysical disquisition they choose to display on this point, while, with implicit confidence, in common, I trust, with every loyal man, I may rely on such practical use of prerogative as becomes the father of his people, and the mest virtuous and religious King in Eu

rope.

When I reflect on the state of our finances; the situation of Ireland, from which the present ministers have pledged themselves to with-hold the only remedy, by which it can be rendered a sound part of the empire; when I turn my eyes to the Continent, and cannot find a single power that dare risk a common cause with such a set of drivellers; when I again turn them towards home, and behold the skeleton of a regular army, and the incurably defective system of our volunteer force; and, lastly, when I contemplate the formidable strength, skill, perseverence, and implacability of our inveterate enemy; I certainly wonder that there can be two opinions respecting the absolute necessity of a change of ministers. The Englishnian, who denies such necessity, may think and speak of me as he thinks proper; but, he must, if he pleases, excuse me, if, in return, he is only offered the choice of being considered either a fool or traitor to his king and country by, Sir, yours, &c. January 31, 1804.

VERAX.

DOMESTIC OFFICIAL PAPER. Circular Letter from the Secretary of State to the several Lord Lieutenants of Counties, Dated Whiteball, Jan. 16.

MY LORD,Referring your lordship to the directions contained in my Circular Letter to you, of the 31st of Oct. fast, for the removal, in cases of emergency, or render

ing useless, if needs be, such horses, draught cattle, and carriages, as shall not be wanted for the purposes therein mentioned; I am to desire, that your lordship will consider in every respect, as included in those direc tions, all such vessels, boats, or craft, as shall not be wanted for the like purposes, or shall not be armed and equipped for the annoyance of the enemy.As I am informed by H. R. H. the Commander in Chief, that only one light cart per company ean, on such emergency, be allowed to volunteer corps, for carrying their camp kettles and necessarics on their march, I beg leave to recommend it to your lordship, to give directions that one such cart be allotted before-hand to each company of volunteers with the County of ; and that, one

such cart be always kept marked and numbered, as the carriage intended for the use of that particular company for this service. In consequence also of a late suggestion from H. R. H. the Commander in Chief, I have strongly to recommend to your lordship, in communication with the general commanding the district in which the County of is included, to give directions for allotting and marking a suffi cient number of waggons for moving the volunteer force where it is not placed in the vicinity of the coast; and it would be found extremely useful, if boards, such as are used for seats in market carts, could be provided and kept in readiness, at the place or places of general assembly, ready to be slung upon the waggons, to which place of assembly these waggons should be held bound to repair upon the signal of alarm being givenI have the honour to be, my lord, &c.

INTELLIGENCE.

C. YORKE.

FOREIGN. According to late accounts from the East-Indies, it appears, that, in consequence of a League formed between Holkar, Scindea, Boonslah, and some other Mahratta Princes, for the purpose of com pelling the Nizam to break off all connexion with the English, Holkar had entered the Nizam's territory in the district of Aurunga bad, taken the city, and imposed a contribution on the inhabitants: thence he intended to advance to Nundeyr and Hyderabad, and the Nizam had, accordingly, ap plied for the recall of the troops under Gen. Wellesley.It appears that the Grand Signior has now finally agreed to the arrangement recently made with the Beys of Egypt, which, it is said contains some stipulations more favourable to his interests in