IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

.Ar.

1.0

I.I

1.25

Li 128

■50 "^™

12.5

2.2

1^ 1^

m m

Z 1^ 12.0

1.4

1.6

HiotDgraphic

Sciences
Corporation

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(716) 872-4503

CIHM/ICMH

Microfiche

Series.

CIHM/ICMH
Collection de
microfiches.

Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques

Tschnical and Bibliographic Notas/Notas tachniquas at bibliographiquaa

Tha Instituta has attamptad to obtain tha bast
original copy availabia for filming. Faaturas of this
copy which may be bibliographically unique,
which may alter any of tha images in tha
reproduction, or which may significantly change
the usual method of filming, are checked below.

D
D
D

D
D

Coloured covers/
Couverture de couleur

I I Covers damaged/

Couverture endommagie

Covers restored and/or laminated/
Couverture restaur^ et/ou peiliculAe

Cover title missing/

La titre de couverture manque

Coloured mapa/

Cartes giogruphiques on couleur
I I Encra de couleur (i.e. autre qua blaue ou noire)

Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/
Encra de couleur (i.e. autre que bleuc

Colo'jred plates and/or illustrations/
Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur

Bound with other material/
Relii avec d'autres documents

Tight binding may causa shadows or distortion
along interior margin/

La re liure serrie peut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distorsion ie long de ia marga intirieure

Blank leaves added during restoration may
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been omitted from filmirig/
II se peut que certainea pages blanches ajouties
lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans la text*,
mais. lorsque cela ttait possible, cas pages n'ont
pas itt filmtes.

Additional comments:/
Commentaires suppl^nsentairas;

The
to tr

L'Institut a microfilm^ la meilteur examplairs
qu'il lui a itt possible d«) se procurer. Las details
de cet axamplaire qui sont paut-dtre uniques du
point da vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier
une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent sxiger una
modification dans la m^thoda normale de filmage
sont indiqute ci-dessous.

□ Coloured pages/
Pages de couleur

□ Pages damaged/
Pages endommagies

r~~] Paget restored and/or laminated/

Pages restaurdes et/ou pelliculdes

Pages discoloured, stained or foxai
Pages d^color^es, tarheties ou piqu^es

Pages detached/
Pages ditachies

Showthrough/
Transparence

Quality of prir

Qualiti inigala de I'imprassion

Includes supplementary materii
Comprend du materiel suppl4mentaire

Only edition available/
Seule Edition disponible

r~~| Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/

I I Pages detached/

r~7| Showthrough/

I I Quality of print varies/

r~l Includes supplementary material/

pn Only edition available/

The
post
of tl
filml

Grig

begl

the

sion

othf

first

sion

oril

The
shal
TINI
whii

Mar
difff
enti
begi
righ
reqi
met

Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc.. have been refilmed to
ensure the best possible image/
Les p~ges totaiement ou partieilement
obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata. une pelure,
4ic., ont itib filmies i nouveau de fapon d
cbtenir la meilleure image possible.

Thiv item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/

Ce document est filmA au taux de rMuction indiquA ci-dessnus.

10X

14X

18X

22X

26X

30X

.„i -,

12X

16X

20X

24X

28X

3P.X

The copy filmad her* has b««n r«produc«d thanks
to the generosity of:

Douglas Library
Queen's University

L'exempiaire fiimi f ut reproduit grice k la
gAnArositi de:

Douglas Library
Queen's University

The imeges appearing here are the best quellty
possible considering the condition end ieglbility
of the original copy and in Iceeping with the
filming contract specifications.

Les images suivantes ont 6t4 reproduites avec le
plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition at
de la nettetA de l'exempiaire filmA, et en
eonformitt avec les conditions du contrat de
filmaga.

Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed
beginning with the front cover and ending on
the last page with a printed or illustrsted impres-
sion, or the bacic cover when appropriate. All
other original copies are filmed beginning on the
first pege with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion^ and ending on the last page with a printed
or illustrated impression.

Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en
papier est imprimte sont fllmte en commenpant
par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la
dernlAre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second
plat, selon le ces. Tous les autres exemplaires
originaux sont fitmto en commenpant par la
premiere page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par
la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle
empreinte.

The last recorded frame on each microfiche
shall contain the symbol — ^> (meaning 'CON-
TINUED "), or the symbol y (meaning "END"),
whichever applies.

Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
different reduction ratios. Those too large to be
entirely Included in one exposure are filmed
beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to
right and top to bottom, as many frames as
required. The following diagrams illustrate the
method:

Un dee symboles suivants apparaltra sur la
derniAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le
cas: le symboie -^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le
symbols V signifie "FIN".

Les cartes, pienches. tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre
fllmAs k dee taux de reduction diff Arents.
Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre
reproduit en un seui clich6, il est film6 A psrtir
de Van^jie supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite,
et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre
d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants
illustrent la mithode.

1 2 3

'^%^

■w

•**■.

DANGEF

'.Ji :. - '*

THE A\

Cre

.*,

Per

• ' * * *'

-...iN

>,t

.1*

11%,

f'f"

> '* ■ ; .<>•'',

'*^

,. *

■;f- #,»

»'

* • i • J

'.*'

'^S^TRi.

fmr^^--

wBlijiiiui ) I. I ii.iiiMiJ'

* *

ADVERTISEMENT.

ir'i

r. -•.■

THE first part of this Pamphlet was written, and partly sent
to press, soon after the ruin of the Prussian army was certainly
known in England, and when we supposed ourselves to be again left
alone in the war ; a conjuncture, at which the feelings of the Public,
as to the perils oi^our situation, were probably much more in unison
than now, with those of the Author. At present, perhaps, a propo-
sition which he has assumed, viz. that the danger of an invasion^
though very indistinctly and inadequately conceived, is'tt^niversally
admitted to exist, may be far from the truth. But he deems it, on
this account, only the more necessary to raise his feeble voice
against the indifference and supineness which prevail in regard to
our public defence ; since the apprehension of immediate danger no
longer tends to correct these faults, and thfy may, by a false sense
of security, be fatally confirmed.

May the next news from the seat of continental war, be of a kind
to diminish further the apparent importance of his labours? But, in
his estimate, our danger from the power of France was never more
serious and imminent than at the present moment.

^;''i'>''*

# r*" Jpnuary 21, 1807.

173012

#'«

tJF

■<■

■'!- ,<•

"^F ■'IF"",

THE

DANGERS OF THE COUIfTRY.

^ect. 1, We mat/ be conquered by France.

IN the revolutions which overthrow the powef and the inde-
pendency of nations, there is nothing more astonishing than the
extreme improvidence which sometimes prepares their fell. Let
us mark in the page of history the periods which immediately pre-
ceded the Wibjugation of Greece, by Philip and Alexander, th«
dreadful overthrow of Carthage, by Rome, and of Rome herself by
the Barbarians, and we shall perceive that their fate was long verj^
visibly approaching, that it might probably have been averted bf
vigour and prudence, but that the devoted nations strangely neglected
the obvious means of self>preservation, till the opportunity of using
them was lost.

How deplorably does the age w« live in abound with simUav
cases !

Nations, however, like individuals, seem rar - if ever, to take^
warning from the fatal errore of each other. Such ipsdom is indeed
cheaply bought, but not so cheaply reduced into practice; for tha
measures of prevendve prudence generally demand some renuncia-
tion of present ease, or apparent advantage. It is easy to see what
timely sacrifices others should have made to avoid impending nrin.
It is not so easy to make those necessary sacrifices ourselves.

Besides, there seems to be an unaccouiMable prejudice, a sense
of inextinguishable vitality, in the body politic as wdtt as natural,
. whichj:heatB us into a persuasion, that whateifr may fal^e bef^le.n
ethers in similar circumstances, our own existence is sectJit.

" All men think a!! men moitiu but themscivcs.^

It,

The same may bf said of nations; and the delusiop|ieThaps is sfif^
.«trong«rwiti| them, than with individqala.

w^"^

II bcems impossible upon anjr other principles than these* to ac*
count for the apathy of the British public at the present most tre-
mtndous crisis. The torrent of French ambition, has now washed
away every mound that opposed it on the continent We stand as
on a little spot of elevated ground, surrounded withinundaUons; and
while the waters are still rising on every side, and rapidly under-
mining our base, wfr look c^^with atupid.iii^Qerenc^ or torpid
inactivity, heedless of the means by which safety might be still
'attained.

These strictures I hope are not now applicable to those with
whom the government of the country is intrusted.— Measures are
probably preparing in the cabinet such as our perilous situation
demands : but the people at large are not sufficiently awake to the
tremendous evils which menace them, and the duties to%hich they
are called.

A sufficient proof of this might be found in the spirit of personal
and party rivalship, ^^which has abounded in our late parliamentary
elections, and that exclusive attention which they excited through"
out the country at large. -> •• >

Never in the present rdgn did the choice of a new parliament
produce a greater number of obstinate contests, and never were im*
portant national questions less generally involved in the rivaldliip of
contending caitdidates ; yet when has the public mind been more
closely intent on the concerns of a general election ? It must have
been obvious to every calm observer, that the combats of the hust-
ings had more, interest than the battles in Saxony, that the state of
the poll was the subject of more anxiety than the advance of the
Russians, and the subversions of thrones, events of less concern than
thelpejection of a favourite candidate.

Could this disposition be resolved into a magnanimous contempt
of danger, it might perhaps be deemed a feature of national charac-
tsi* fey ho means of evil omen. The Spartans, on the eve of the
battle of Thermopylxj were seen combing their long hair, and in-
d^ging in their usual amusements. But this construction of the
public feelings, though complimentary, would not be just. The
dangers of the country! fear have not been so much despised, as
forgotten j. wid the patiiotic emotions which the ewijuncture iwight
to inspirejtfeave bee#8uperscded by the nearer interest (^ borough
or provincial politics.

This, however; is by no means the only indication of popular
jpsensibility to the present dangers of the country.
' Have pridi, dissipation, or luxury, contracted iiaii^ degree their

mfimmm

8. ■ • . ■

accustowed range, or are their tourics less intent th«n before on
fheir favourite pleasures ? Has the civil war of parties been sus-
pended ; or have we in earnest begun to make our peace with a
0jaatising Providence, by religious and moral reformation ?
. The nation^ of antiquity, while they possessed their freedom,
^t true source of patriotic feeling, were neither too gay to mourn,
too luxurious to retrench, too factious to unite, nor too proud to
fepent and pray, in seasons of public danger. A situation like, ou:
9wn, at Sparta, at Athens, or at Rome, in their best days, would
have been marked by gravity and mourning, by a suspension of
civil feuds, by an emulation in every species of private sacrifice to
tihe pubUc service, and by such propitiations as their -religion taught
them to offer, to their offended gods. The most distant danger
from a foKign enemy, united every Roman in a generous wlf-
devotion to the stete. The rich remitted their exactions, the poor
renounced their complaints j the patrician forgot hb pride, the ple-
beian his factious discontent, the tribune his mob-importarce, the
senators their mutual discord. If the assault or defiance of an ene-
my fcund them in the heat of dvil cominotions, it in a moment put
an eod to the strife j If the people were drawn up by their dema-
gogues on the Mona aaeevy their citadel of s^ition, they descended
without delay to the Camfiua Martitu^ and crowded to be enrolled for
the miUtary service of their countr. .

We admire this spirit ; we perceive in it one great cai^se of the
teng conservation of Roman freedom, and an essential basis of R6-
vassi greatness.— -Yet what have Romans, Grecians, or any other
people ancient or modem, had to attach them to their county, com-
{»red with the social blessings of these much favoured islands! The
sun, in six thousand years, has beheld no human beings so happ^ in
their civil condition as ourselves ; has enlightened n^ land which it»
inhabitants had so vast an interest in^defending as Great Brit&in. *

Whence then that indifference, that stnuige defect at least of
patriotic zeal and exerticm, -ytnich marks this arduous cri&ns ?

It cannot be the effect, of a rational confidence in our security,
for who is t^ere now that does not admit the countrjr to be in dan-

„> The absurd opinion that England cannot be inva^ wMIe we
have an invindble fleet, is now rejected by eveiy intellig^t man, a^
it always was by men of nautical knowledge ; and the government

tions for our interior defence^ that a powerM descen^ on our shor^
ie> no impos^ble efea(.

%^f

Wm'

ThoM wh« formerlf thought such m enterprise imprtctiodde*
mutt have retted their opinion on the extreme depreM^on t^ thcr
Frmch marine. But from this etllc it has already begun to reco<
Ter, and diere can be no doubt that unl^s the enemy should be raik
eiKAigh to expose himself to iwir Trafidgars, his navy will rapidljr
encrease. When we consider the large acquisitions of ships of all
kinds, of naval magazines, of forests ripe for the axe, of excellent
docks, and harbours, and even of able seamen, which France has
unhappily made by conquest during the two last campaigns ; vnd'
when we regard her as mistress of all the coasts of continental Eu-
rope, from the bottom of the Adriatic gulf to the straits of Gibraltar,
and from Cape Finisterre to ihc Baltic, it would be idle indeed t«
suppose that the disparity of her naval power to that of the British
blands, will long condnue to be great.

But even a very inferior .leet to our own, might as I shall here*
after shew, give her ample means of invasion.

That an invading army would infallibly be repelled by the force
ve at present possess on shore, is a persuasion that may still be too
general, yet can hardly new maintain its ground in well informed
and considerate roinda.--^It must at least be greatly weakened, if
not removed, by the late tremendous events on the continent.

Arc we proudly confident in our military prowess ? So were
the renowned battalions of Frederick the Great.-— The Prussians
marched from Berlin as to a certain triumph. Intelligent English
gentlemen who were there at the moment, declare that the general
confidence was extreme ; that it was imposuble to make the most
rational Prussians with whom they conversed, admit a doulrt of the
victorious amUes of France being defeated by the Prusalan tactics ;
and that to suggest any uneasiness on the subject, was regarded as
|frepost»rou8 It least, if not insidting.

Yet where is now that mighty army that was drawn up by the
veteran generals of Prussia in the plain of Auerstadt ? Dispersed,
as with the impetuous breach of a whiriwind, or rather the blast rf
an explosion, its scattered fragments ware soon to be found only on
the shores of the Baltic ; and even there were gatht^red up by its
enemies.

The mendacious vanity of the victors ? ere found no place for ex-
aggeration. It was strict truth to say that a late mighty monarch,
flying from the throne of his ancestors across the Oder and the Vw-
tula, carried with him only a handful of guards from the great army
vrhich he lately commanded, and that with this excepticm, not a man
of that vast host^ escaped. Neither the defeat off Darius at Arfa«Ia,

.- • ^

or any other victory by whkh erojrfres have been overthrown, wae
fa this respect half »o disastrous.

Where has since been found the proper reserve of regulars, or

of citizens in arms to renair thia mi«<n<<*im« ? i ib^* »k. ^ e n

hernia and Hungary, after the defieats at Ulm and Austerliti, such
forces have not been ready to talie the field in time, either to stem
the tide of conquest, or make a new stand for their country ? Prussia,
lilie Austria, neglected, alas! to call forth the spirit, and prepare th«.
defensive energies of the people till the important opportunity wa«
lost.

If examples like these cannot open the eyes and excite the ap-
prehensions of England; if she can sdll repose on an array, hardly
recruited so fast as it is exhausted by colonial service, and upon
volunteers, which from eyisting defects in their constitution are de-
clining in numbers and discipline every hour, it must be from an in-
fatuatbn against which it would be idle to reason.

But the truth is, that the national slumber proceeds les» from a
rash confidence, than from inattention to the terrible nature of the
events with which we are visibly threatened.

There are objects of apprehension so dreadful in their gcneial
suspect, that we rarely give ourselves the pain to examine them stea-
dily enough to contemplate their particular features. Much less do
we anticipate with a disUnct foresight, the conseqitences which they
are known to involve.

Of thb kind, is the approaching death of a beloved wife or hus-
band. The heart recoils at the idea of such an event in the abstract,
and we shut our eyes to all its concomitant horrors. The sight of
long protracted agonies, in a frame endeared to us by a thousand
tender recollections, the plaintive eye imploring from us unavailing
pity, the tears of children surrounding the bed of pain and death, the
last fond and sad adieu to them and to ourselves, the ghastly linea-
msnts of death on a face which had long used to beam upon us with
intelligence, sensibility, and lovej these, and many other sad accom-
paniments of the loss, are unimagincd till they are felt; nor are the
cheerless hours of widowhood that succeed, the ^oom that long
broods over the once cheerful family table, and winter fireside, the
gall that now mingles with aU the wonted sweets of parental affection,
the black cloud with which recollection suddeuly arid cnjelly darken*
the brief occasional sunshine of the mind, sulajjects of anticipated
pain.

The same, I conceive, is the case in the public mind at this junc*
ture,in respect ©f those possible and dreadful cvenl«, our being ior

. . .«^

master, strangcii even to the ordinary miseries vrhich beltmg to «
Btate of vr9T In roiintries which ar» the theatres of its horrors, we
have indeed some dread of those events, but it is a vague and indefi>
nite apprehcaaion. We do not distmguish the many specific evils
whidi would make up the aggregate disaster of jch a conquest ;
much less do we look forward to the miseries that would unquestion-
jRbly foUpw,

' V ivj would endeavour therefore to supply in some measure the de-
fects of these loose conceptions, to analyze the tremendous mischief
which is possibly impending over us, to exhibit some of its calami-
tous elements, and point out the exquisite wretchedness which it
trould entail upon my country. We must unavoidably be soon call-
ed upon for "ery great and very painful sacrifices, in order to avert
the national ruin with which we ai-e menaced by the power of
France. Let us fairly examine then the impending evil, that we
may be reconciled to the unpleasant means by whicli alone it can be
•verted.

'feff/. 2. The effects f^mch a c6n(/uesf.~—UsurJiiition or destruction qf

■ ■ ■'■■: the thvone.

It is needless to insist much on that ordinaiy, and most promi-
nent feature, in the revolutions of kingdoms by conquest, the transfer
of the royal power, from a hatiiw io a foreign monarch. It is an evil
which the loyalty of my countrymen, and their affection to the best
of sovereigns, will sufficiently appreciate.

If the ruthless Napoleon has ever spared for a whSe, a prince
whom he had power to depose, it has been from motives of polky
which would find no place in England. He may safely trust b legi*
, timate monarch to wield for a while a feeble and tarnished sceptre
on the continent, while bis doniinions, reduced in extent, stripped of
their host interior resources- and deprived of every outwork that can
guard them fVom invasion, are in ho condition to oppose his ulterior
projects. It may even serve his purposes, to make these degraded
sovereigns instruments of his rapacity, in exacting &r his use ccm-
tributions from their wretched subjects; as well as involuntary mi-
nisters to his ambition, in the further extension of his conquests.
When rendered by such means, hateful to their subjects, and to their
neighbours, they may be more safely commanded to descend from
thisir tlirones, and make room for some upstart succesKir. He seems
even to have a^ruel pleasure in this course of proceeding % as the

-.ge. ^^, „ „iu. .„ «w«Hi»r>*, vreum, and apparenuy «nioys its dread-
ful suspense, jMrior to it*. fi»al destruction. .
- But should thU subverter of empires ever lw:ome inaatep of
England, the uluatrious house of Hanover will have no such pro.
tooted toitnents, nor any p^aivocal fate. Our island is not capable
of a secure or ccmvenient partition among his satelUtes. Them are
nocOTquests beyond us, to which England, Uke Holland or Saxony,
mayfurmshjunderanominalindependency, a safe and convenient
scaffold. And, what is more decisive, the natural bulwarks of Eng-
land cannot be wtmoved. The straits of Dover cannot, like the for-
tresses on the Rhine, or the pasees of the T.y«>l, be annexed to a
hosule states and the popularity of our helmed sovereign* would stiU
mere effectually secure his fall} ior he has a throne in th^ hearts of
his subjects that a conqueror could not subt^ert.
-S^ Perhaps in consideration of our raaridme fame, we might be
honoured with the gift of the imperial admiral Jerome Bonafiarte, as
our new sovereign lord; and hs might even deign to accept the hand
of some female descendant of the princess Sophia, in order to plant a
n«w dynasty, on something like hereditary right. Nor is it impoa-
sible that the male branches of that Ulustrioua house, might soon be
so disposed of, as to leave none who could dispute the legality of
the marriage, or of any Utle founded upon it; England has no Salic
law; the usurper is not scrupulous in his mean8,.and be has shewn
that he knows the value of that hereditary right upon which ha has
80 violently trampled.

- I must admit, however, that it i* more probable we sliould notte
trusted with any shew of national independence; but be either re-
duced avowedly into the form of a province, or honoured with the
name of a department. . If the choice 6f the French people had any
weight, such would of course be our destiny ; sinqe our insular situa-
tioft and maritime character, might soon convert a nominal, into a
real independence.— Rome did not think herself safe, whi^e Carthage'
had walls or foundations.

I leave these prospects without remark to a spirited and loyal
people. True loyalty, like k>ve, is too delicate to admit of excite-
meat or expostulation, unless from the object of its attachment.

Sect. 3.

Overt/trow qftlic Conatitutu.n.

^ What shallj say of the subversion of that glorious fabric the
British consdtution I We have be^n ktely exercising the elective
iianchise, and if.th^ spirit of our contests for repres^n|^¥e%i» pau-

liament) at this arduous crisis, has in some instances deaervipd
repnx^ at leaM we must admire that perfect freedom olcluitCff
' mrhicli to many- have been able to exercise. Whether^more of that
fi«edom is s£^ely attainable than the present scheme of representation
affords, is a <|ucstion wluch it would be impertinent to discuss in these
sheets, kior is this a proper season for such discussions. It is not
when the ship labours in the tempest, and when breakers are und^r
her lee, that you would set about an alteration kt her ciU»ii»,,9r
even think of repairing her helm. It is easy to find faults in every-
thing human ; but when in danger of losing what we love, we think
not of its faults, but of its value. He that really loves Britisli liberty,
«ti)erefore will now be disposed to forgot for a wliile what I^ may
^em imperfect in it, and reflect with fond anxiety onits inestimable
worth.

' What nobler civil exhibition did earth ever afford than the iplec-
tion of a British House of Commons! A whole people, not in. a
rude state, or while few in number, but when forming a mighty na-
tion, great in anna, great in civilization, commerce, and wealth,
freely assemble in their various districts to choose their own le^s-
^tors, the organs of their will, the delegates of their authority, the
guardians of their rights. If influence be used by the existing ad-
'ministration, what is the administration but a power, which the
attachment of former representatives of the people, as m^ch perhaps
as the choice of the sovereign, has created or upheld ? Influence too
is used in an opposite direction, not perhaps with less zeal or effeet.
Man is not made universally to wzt in society- from purely spontiineous
motives. But force, brute force, that engine of usurped authority,
*hat instrument of almost evei^ t^her human government, however
legitimate, in matters that concern the state, is driven from the hal-
lowed precincts of our elective freedom, like a demon from conse-
crated grounu. The ordinary instruments of monarchical power,
the military, though here never employed but in subservience to, and
at the requisition of tlie lat.'s, are forbidden to approach the place
'Iwhere these high franchises aie exercised, lest even the shadow of
constraint shoid seem to diminish their lustre.

Would French conquest leave us such lUierties to boast? Let us
look to Sviritzerland, to Holland, to France herself, for an answer to
that question.

The freedom of our constitution, mortifying and opprobrious in

115 VAaiupio iu X toiiCiiiiKjit, io iiic inol ui uUi uic»iuu|p» iuai ific

usurper would consent to spare. To subvert this freedom, by the
inviting image of which his throne is perpetually endangered, ii^

Miai itiCT

. . I^e object of his arms. He would rather by far, leave us our poU-
^cal independency, and our commerce, than our civil institutions.
%> I dare not venture however to affirm, that we should have no
libre parliaments. It is his policy to retain the nune of cveiy
sacred establishme^^, the s|Hrit and use of which he takes «wi^:
and we should probably therefore, in losing the substance of parlia-
mentary representation, be insulted with its empty form.
% I am not sure even that we should not have mock contested elec-
tbns: the mummery of Garret Green might be transferred to
Goveitt Garden or Guildhall. But woe to those electors, or to tl»at
populace which should be simple enough to suppose that the return
of members was imleed submitted to their choice. A vote against
the nominee of the court, or a hiss at the Frenchified hireling, woukl
fat^ly mark the disaffection of its author, and ere long he wool4
have leisure in a dungeon to bewail bis temerity and folly. .

Sect, 4. Subversion of our Ldberty and Laws,

Our fi-eedom of chdce, however, and our elective franchises in
fenci'al, are rather buttresses of civil liberty, than the happy edifice
iteelf. That inestimable blessing, chiefly consists, in the supremacy
of known and equal laws, in theu' upright administration, and in the
security of the mdividual, against the oppression of the civil magis-
tt-a's, or the state.

And here, what people ever bad so much to lose, as the inha-
bitants of this fevoured land !

When I enter that veneraU^pl which for many centuries his
been the seat of our superior tribunals, and contemplate the character
of the courts which are busily exercising their several jurisdictiona
ground it, I am ahfnost tempted to forget the frailty of man, and the
imperfection of his noblest works. There, justice supported by
Kberty and honour, sits enthroned as in her temple, elevated for
above the region of all ignoble passions. There, jwUciaV character
is BO strongly guarded by ages of fair example, by public confidence,
by conscious inc'ependence, mkI dignity of suUoo, that it is scarcely
^virtue to be just. There, the human intellect nourished by the
morning dew of industry, and warmed by manly emulation, puts
forth its most vigorous shoots, and conseci-ates tliem to the noblest of
ail sublunary ends.

.If the rude emblems of heavetUy intell^iKe with which our
pious ancestors have adorned that jpj^^c j^^^

had looked (^'own upon an administration of justice, advancing pro«
gfCiiif et) , aom the days of our Henries, at least, in corPectnessy
KberaMtf , ^piority, and independence, till it has arrived at a degree of
][^»rfection, never before witnessed up<Mi earth, and sucli as the chiK
4nhi of Adam are n'^t likely ever to surpass.

Tliis blessing, the lEairest offspring of freedom, or rather k» '
purest essence, may like all other advantages, be undervaHied by
dJose who have always enjoyed it, and know only by report the evils •
*f a different lot. But those Englishmen who have travelled fi«*
enough, to see ignorance, prejudice, servility, and oppression, in the
seat of justice, know how to appreciate and admire the tiibunais of
flieir native land.

4^ Nor is the protecting power of our supeiior courts less distin-s

g;ui8hed than their purity. In what other realm can an indepen^

dent judge, deliver him whom the government has consigned to the

darkness of a dungecm? Where else is the sword of the state

chained to its scabbard, till difawn by the sentence of the law ? And

who but an Englishman can defy, while judges are incorrupt, the

Rudest minister, or most insidious mink»n of a court !

%"•. The unique and inestimable institutbn (rf trial by jury, is an item

UfAfi though a pmtid ar>d precious one, of this gbrious accounti

The' Englishman's life, ms honour, and, with some reasonable cx^^

ceptions, his property too, are placed not only under the protectiotf

of the laws, but un^cr the further safeguard of his neighbours and

equals in private life, without whose sanction, solemnly g^ven <^n

oath, he cannot be condemned. .^'d

^ Sueth my countrymen, are some of the blessings of our freeboro

jurisprudence; and *hese, I need not tell you, would all cease t»

i^ast, if we fell under the dbmiiiioh of France. -y

^ None of you can be so ignorant as to suppose, that Buonapai^

would allow a habeas corfnis, a jury, or a gaol-d'jlivery, to the vkt*

thns of his stateH*aft or revenge. He has reirfaced by a hundred

bastilles, the one v««hich he has assisted to destroy. A thousand

miserable pri«)ners groan in his dunge<»8 for one that met that fate

ulRider tbe unfortunate Bourbons. He has found the secret also, of

dbtaining from civil as well as military tribunals, a Wind obedience-

to his will. ..;

It cannct be supposed that he will sttbmit to the restraint of la^v«•

in a province, while he rejects it in imperial France. We must bid-

fSWwell thereforei should he becs&me our master, to protecting laws,

to kidependent md upright judges^ to tiiai by juiy, snfKS to all those!

frmrl^j^ DjmicH ROW consdtii our seoority ^nn dvtf or niiiitar7
oppression. Tbb innocent will n<» longer U abie to lie down iRi
fMace^ secttrb that thef shall m^ be torn from theuf famitiea era
monun^y to be exatiiineit by torturesy or peririk in the gloom oEi#
Amgeon. 4

From that time, integrity will retire frmn the seat of }u8tice) tmA
«emipt!on take its place. Judgments, in civil cases^ will be sold j
itf 'liMMimAf^ will be dictated by the nithkss T^ce of oppressiMjj
Fraud and violenee will erery wlwre prevail, and cunning servility
foe the only path to safety. If any of our laws rmnain unaUered»
ihey will be stith only as may serve, ivhen no kmger guarded by tha
checks of a fi-ee constitution, to fltnttiply the modes, md «ggmvat«
the weight of despotism.

^'ilet us look next to the infallible and total suppressicm of the U*
fcerty of our press.

' White any portion of tins privilege remains in Mjy couiUrv, there
is, if not a hopie of deliverance, at least some c(H>sol&ti<m for the opi
{irtfssed. .

' ' ' The minions of power may be kept in check, by ^»e publicity df
transactions which, though not directly arraigned, wouhl i^ak th«i»
<»#i <kmd(^iii6efi. Bcitif n«t,the victim of despo^sm wilt at least
know that he is pided, perhaps admired and appUwded, by his vivttt^
ous fellow ciiijaens ; and that reflection wilt make his chains uf
lighten

But no -such consolation remians where the power of Buonaparte
prevails. He has made a league with darkness. He has declafp^
irar agdnst the mutual intelligence and sympathy, as well as the
happiness of mankind. He has tNlt-indeed destroyed the org«hs of
|)ublic information t btiit he has done inftYiitely wotse : he has appro-
priated them all to his own tyrannic use, compelled them to utter all
his falsehcKtds md calumnies, and forbad them to speak or whisper
with any breath but Ws own.

#' The government of the press by the French Bourbons, or eveit
by the Spanish Inquiution, was wholly of a negsUve kind. Robes*
pierre, his asscr iatesj artd successorsj imposed tio restraints on the
pt^ss, unless through the unavoidable terpsr of their power j and we
learned, eVen from the Pt^nan journals, the worst crimes of those
sanguinary mlers.

But Bui^sanart^- more craffTt thQu»h nm iem craek than his
p^deeessors, supjwesses every act of govertm»ent that he wishes to
cone^sd^'^Kiiii^ fts'ievery adverse remarfc oti im condwbt j wMle .b#
obliges every vehicle of pubHc inteHigence to circulate, as on its ovm

tnthorky, whatever impostures or forgeries be chuMs to propagate.
The victims of his tyranny, if not plunged in oblivion, arc defamed
in their characters, and misrepresented in their conduct ; yet find no
posiaUe means of reply. They are not only deprived of liberty and
U£p, but defrauded of the sympathy of their friends, of their families,
ftnd mankind.

.'^ Fancy not then, Englishmen, that under the oppression of this
unparalleled tyrant, you would have the consolation of knowing that
your most cruel "Tongs, or t^ j. honourable fortitude with which you
might sustain them, were known and pitied by y6ur country. You
might be tortured to death, Uk» Pichegru, and accused of suicide }
you might be naui:<iered,lik,pJD'EnghieR, and represented as con-
victed assassins. You might be buried in a dungeon, like Toussaint^
and libelled as perfidious traitors. Nay, you might, like his unforta-
npte family, be hidden for ever from tiie world, or secretly destroyed
in prison, without a voice that cwld cMJvcy to the public, or even to
y^iw ^xiously inquiring riends, the cause or nature of your fate.
liljNIW*^W be endless to enumerate the various wid peculiar mise-
rbs which the sudden subversion of our liberties would produce*
amMig a generous and high spirited people.

, When Buonaparte ba^e Frenchn>en resume their chain», it was
little more than a change from one f6rm of slavery to another. Even
in their short-lived zeal , for liberty and equality, they never for a
moment tasted the rich fi-uit of genuine freedom. But EngUab-
men have enjoyed for ages that inestimable blessing j and how
sh^ we be able to bear its sad reverse ? How shall we endure the
cootemptuous despotism of office, the exactions of rapacious commis-
saries, and the harsh controul of a military police ?

We must lay aside, my coumrymen, that indignadon at injustice
in the exercise of pov^er, which is so natural to the free bom mindr
when stung by the sense of oppression. We must also suppress
that generous sympathy for the wrongs of others, which is so eaaly.
excited in the breasts of an English populace. That amiable feeling,
now too often abused with tales of imaginary oppression, must then
be suppressed, even on the most real and extreme provocation. Fatal
would it then be to murmur, when we saw our innocent countrymen,
our friends, or dearest connections, dragged away by the rude hand
of power, at the mandate of some angry despot, to imprisonment or
death.

nni r_..i__^

. . upuw.., M,v uaocai j,icriiuy, iiie most savage cru*
«l$y, when clothed with the authority of our new mastersi must

ji^— „.»~Mk .v|»«i>««fa«Mt) wr tMAiiine compHanc; nay, muit be tr«tt«
od by us with towly subntiMkm and reelect.
*r» We must lay aside also that proud sense of personal inviolabiUty,
%hich wenow cherish so fondly ; and what is justly priased stUl more*
the civil sanctity of our homes. The Englishman's house must be
his castle no more.

4**-Instead of our humble watchmen to wish us respectfiriJy good-
night when returning to our abodes in the evenkig, we shall be chia-
lenged at every turning b> military patroles; and ahaU be fortunate,^
if we meet no pert boy in commission, or ill-natured trooper, to t0-
buke us with the back of his sword, or with a lodging in the guards,
bouse, for a heedless or tardy reply. Perhaps, after all, when we mi
rive at our homes, instead of that quiet fire-side at which we expect*
ed to ut in domestic privacy with our wives and children, and relieve
oui burthened hearts by wghing with them over the sorrows of our
eountiy, we sl^ili find some ruffian famiUars of the police on a domid-
liary visit j or some insolent young officers, who have stepped in m^.
asked to relieve their tedium while on guard, by the converta|bii ©f
our wives and daughters. It would be dangerous, however, to offend
such unwelcome guests j or even not to treat them with att the res.
pect due to brave warriors who have served under Japoleon the
Great.

jS But should we escape Mich intruders for the evening, stiU w#
n»st lie down uncertain whtther our dwellings will be left unviolat-
ed ail the morning. A tremendous noise will often at midnight
rouse the father of a femiiy from his sleep, and he will hear a harsh
voice coromanding to open the gate, through which its hapless mas-
ter will soon pass to return no more.

Th^e are but a small part of these intolerable reverses in point
of civil government to which Englishmen would be doomed to aub-
mit. I win however pursue no further their odious detail ; but pro-
ceed to another consequence of the supposed conquest-— the transi-
tion from opulence to ruin. -

Sect. S, Deatmaion of the Fttnda, and ruin qf Pro/urty

i Wi:i

It cannot be necessary to prove, that tbe rapid decline, ifbot Out
immediate ruin, of our manufactures and cfflaimerce-. would be s s**-
tain effect <^ subjection to a fori gn power.

These envied possessions of England, would be the favourite
spoils of the c(M-^ueror ; and though he might not find it cwy to re-

efforts to preserve them t»ufr could we expect suclva benevolem wi*
taplpc, would certainly be fruitless. They are the creatures of gc-
MMl -confidence and credit, of le|g;al security, and of the pecutfir
4akMmmtm which have t^en held forth to commercial industry gni
•^Interprise, by the genius of our happy constitution. Still nwvre do
Ifcey owe their extent end prosperity to that maritime grewness,
ivhich they reciprocalty nourish md sustun. They depend mudi
also, on what would of course immediately vanish, the conBdence and
fespect of foreign ns^ions, and those treaties wMch give us a prefei'*
ence in their markets. Need 1 add, that another of dieir grand siqN
ports, the coroiaerce of the East, would no longer be ours ; nor iIkms
tolonies which we v«lue toontuch.

^'-But irb idle to dwdl on such remarks. As we!? might we ex^
pect the tt^e to flourish after its roots are cut ofT, as our commerce of
msBQU&ctures to survive the loss of out power, independeivcy, and
teedoni. ...

liNlMiRtil more awful view of the effects of conquest^ 'will be fmmd
fbUie- contemplation of our public funds. ?*>

• Is any man absurd enough to expect, that the annuities of tlur
atock-holdi^rs, will be pt^ «nder the government <rf BuonafMirte ^yf
fear there are at lef:st many who have not thought seriously upon th©
<^estion, or reftected on the certainty of the opposite event, and its
truly dreadful consequences: for otherwise we slxHild certainly nen&r
hear of the weight «f taxes, or of financial dangers frona the wary
1»hen the security <rf the country is at stake;
'rn^ht speedy wreck of the ftmds is demonstrated, the moment if
is ascertained that commerce and manufactures must be ruined : for
*e whole current of the revenue has now barely force enough t»
keep the immense wheels of our iinances in motion, and carry thertv
snnfoothly through their annual revolutions. The loss of commerce
And mamifacture% let it be remembered, is wot merely the loss of «v
equal portion of duties in the customs and excise ; though that alone
would be fatal, It involves also the decline of various collateral
branches of revenue; of the duties on income, of- assessed taxes,
and all die various direct and indirect contributions, of the merchant,
the manufacturer, their families and dependents. It leads also to a
Bsord tiian proportionate bcrease of parochial Contributions, those
great drawbacks on the national resources. im

But if our funds could possibly survive the loss of commerce and
»anufecture8, ttesr vitality would certunly nol be proof against the
grasp qf 41 rapadoog goypniment. Buonaparte wo^d assuredly find

tthcr u3£& fcr ottf teiMiiuni^ revenue, than tiiat of payiof divideiulfr
•t the bank, to the public oredltwa of EogUnd. »

I know not bow mmy tens or bumlreda of tbousandi of Ffcacb
Mddieri, it might be thoMi^t necefSM?j' to station he»» for the sup»
poft of the new government: but beyoud do«ibt we ahould, tikd
Holland, and the conquered countries on the Rhme, be honoured
with the {>resence of a strong army of the best tiwpa cf the (^raat
■Btion, who would invite us to pracUse in a very iiberal ws^ towards
them, the virtues of hospitality.

.^ We should also Iwve to provide for the ^endour of a royal m
proconsular court, which would ill second the views <rf the magniB*
cent Napoleon, if k did not compeiwato for the want of native dignity,
by a luxury and extravagance far surpassing in expense the charges
ef a legiamate government. Supposing however, that our revenue
should exceed the immense demands of our new civil and military
•rtabUshmenta, still who can doubt that the surplus would be drawa
away into the treasury of the great nation, or the privy coffers of it*
imperial master? Unhappy creditors, to whom above twcnty.tii»
millions a year are now issued in public annuities, your rights would
be a weak obstacle to the avarice of your conquerors, even though
Ms appetite for plunder were not sh«rpei!ed by necessity.
« The conquest of Europe, tet it be considered^ is a costly things
and so roust long be the maintenance of those prodigious armies, anil
the enriching of those numberless needy instruments, mimrj and
civil, by which tiie conquest must be maintained. But the continent
is already impoverished. Even France hersdf has been latsif
obliged to pay her contributions in kind. If all the millions, there-
fore, which this country must raise in order to be solvent, couW be
sUll raised when our freedom h no mme, not one of them, we m«y
be sure, would be spared in compassion to the British stockholder.
When solveney should become plainly hopeless, and a small eompoi
suwn beaU that justice itself ceuW ofter, our new government would
not fooUshly embarrass itself with the trouble of apportioning such »
pittance among the hungry multitude, but take the short and simple
courseofshuttingupthebooksat^Mice. >

;y Without therefore stopping to enqtiire^ whether bank papey
vould retain its value after the supposed conquest, or whether a^nf
other medium of payment could be found, X may safely assiime, that

With the independency of our ftottnt»vr= tw 4I^;a.»j.. ^* >u- , >_

would cease. It is not even too much to assert, that a stockliolde^
before m the receipt of thousands pef annum, might be unable t«>
pay forhisjjfflomt^, V,

•*

Tiak this >U(jdeii annihilation of our fun^, would b« • certun
effect of the conquest, will, probably, not be disputed by any reMon<
ing mind. Let us pause then awhile, and contemplate that dreadful
•vent. Men are very apt to deceive themselves on this subject, by
&lie anriogies in the history of other countries. « America became
a bankrupt to her own citizens; so did the French republic ; and th«
consequences, no doubt, were dreadful; but they were endured--
they were even exceeded by other calamities of the same unfortu-
nate periods." ...

But have we considered the essential and fearful differencel, be-
tween our own public debt, and that of America or France ?

First, as to its amount— The sums for %vhich those countries
felled, bore no proportion to the mass of Uieir general property.
The people, collectively, lost not a hundredth part, perhaps, of their
possessions. But Great flVitain owes, and chiefly to her own sub-
jects, above six hundred millions sterling, bearing an interest of above
twenty-two millions yearly; and the whole rental of our lands, esti-
nmted'even at the rate to which the artificial effects of this very debt
has laised it, does not exceed twenty-five millions.* If the rental
te taken at the value, to which the fall of our funds would rapidly
teduce it, the loss of the public creditors collectively, would greatly
^xcetd the whcJe remaining income of the country, except thid:
Jfchich is produced by commerce, manufactures, and other modes of
«^tive industry. The amount of income that might be derived from
such sources, after the national ruin here supposed, cannot easily be
<p«imated; but it would unquestionaUy become inadequate to the
support of the millions who now depend upon it, and would by its
sudden fall, prodigiously augment the mass of the general distress
more directly occasioned by the wreck of the funds. It would pro-
bably, on the whole, be no extravagant conjecture, that by the
mediate and immediate, direct and collateral, effects of this great
calamity, <Mie half of all the in«ome of the kingdom derived from
actual property, would 1» suddenly annihilated.
te Happy, however, comparatively would the case be, if the conse-
quence only were, that each individual possessed of property lost a
half part of hfs income ; or if the loss were to be in any degree
equally divided. On the contrary, to a very great proportion of our
stockholders, the sudden effect would be the loss of all that they
possess: an instant reduction from opulence or competency^ to total

♦ This was Mr. Pitt's eiBtitnate for the purpose of the lacome Tax-

" DrebdfuUjr in other respect*, would »uch a case be distinguished
ftom those of other nations, in which public insolvency has occurred.
Never elsewhere was public credit so well established on the basis
of long experienced security, and so upheld by the firm pillars of
j^ublic principle, and constituUonal controuls, that men have beeft
confident enough to trust their all, to the integrity and prudence of
the goverrtraent. Nor ever elsewhere was property so widely dif-
fosed, that multitudes of all classes, from the peer to the peasant,
had a pledge of this nature to confide. In other instances of national
bankruptcy therefore, it has been the calair.ity, not of the many, but
the few; and even to these, has been but a partial loss. Nay, it has
^principally fallen upon those to whom it was rather an ordinary
.^sualty of commercial adventure, than -xn unforeseen and total pri-
vation of actual property, supposed to have been realized, and placed
beyond the reach of hazard. Foreign stock, like the share of a new
loan, or canal subscription, has been rather a subject of gainful specu-
lation, than a depository for quiescent capital, invested with a view
& fixed and permanent income.

•; From the same causes another distinctitm, still more deplorable,
has arisen. There are periods in the life of almost every man who
possesses property, in which its security is far more important t6
him than its increase, and when this creature of society, acquires in
his eyes its highest interest and value. Such is the case with the
father and the husband, when, in the contemplation of death, he sits
down to exercise the power and the duty of making his last will, and
providing for the well being of those who are dearest to him, after
his decease. In such cases, what testator but an Englishman has
generally thought of committing the whole subsistence of his widow
and infant children, to the security of the public funds? But here,
that has not only been the frequent, it has been the fkyourite and
ordmary course, even with the most prudent parents and husbands,
who have had personal ph>perty to invest. The funds having kmg
been deemed equally secure with real e»tate, have been esteemed the
most convenient depoMtary for the property of those who, in respect
of their years or sex, are unable to improve or manage it for them-
selves.

Our courts of equity, too, in the exercise of their contnsul over
executors and trustees, and in their protection of the estates of mar-
ried women and hifants, have followed the same course. The most

CQQS6rV&tO!TV SHil Kartofir'igl nr>»iili<»a»{<»»> f^V ^w.,—;^;.;.! ^.^-.^ ....J-.— ^k^

direction of those courts, has been thought to be an investment in
the purchase of bank annuities; and a great multitude ©f widows

and orphans, are at thia^hour receiving their daily bread frem the
interest of monies so invested, not through the nrovWence of their
deceased relations alone, bfut by the decrees of our civil tribunals.

The certainty of punctual half yearly payments, and the con-
▼enicnc© with which they are received, have also induced persons
advanced in years, or retiring from businesi, to invest their capitals
in the public funds, preferably to all other securities ; and it is proba-
ble, that among twenty such persons living in retirement on their
kicomes, landholders excepted, scarcely more than one could be
found, that docs not chiefly or wholly depend on his half yearly divi-
dends a; the bank, for his subsistence.

There is besides, a virtual and indirect dependency of capital and
income on the national funds, which is scarcely less comprehensive
than that which is direct and immediate; and which also involves a
large proportion of the aged and helpless. The creditors or annui-
tants of public companies, the b6nd creditors of private merchants,
nay even in great measure the mortgagees of real estate, would find
the wreck of the public funds a source of general ruin.

Th? mortgagee indeed might be safe, when his loan, and all prior
incumbrances taken together, heir but a small proportion to the
value of the estate; but in that case only: because it is demonstra-
Me that as the value of land has risen progressively with the growth
of our funds, the annihilation of the latter would reduce that value
almost to its ancient Icvd; while the enormows increase of poor
rates, the effect of general ruin, would sink the land hc^dei-'s net rev«*
hue, out of which the interest of incumbrances must be paid, still
more perhaps than the value of his capital.

And here we may perceive a new range of callimlty, within which
the families even of our most opulent landholders would fall. For-
tunate is that real estate, which is not heavily charged with jointures,
and portions for younger children, and with mortgage., and other
mcumbrances besides, which are often prior in point of charge to
those family burthens. -

The interest of the proprietor therefore might be wholl mV ifk
the general wreck, shouW it materially lower his rental; aV ;>
might the whole incomes of all his nearest relations. K : i .i»^
probable, however, that the estates of the great landed proprietors
Would soon be confiscated, and given to the officers of the army ap-
pointed to keep us in subjection. The policy of Wifflam the Nor*
man wwiH furnish an inviting precedent to" our new conqueror, and
^--ur-: j>^.....j,„ „^ „.^ „eai uKiaia oi iinaiiy breaking down the Bri-
tish spirit of the country.

In short all who have property of aa" species irould ahu% soon
oJilatc in the common diBasier, while a very j^reat majority of them
* would be instantly dejfrivetl by it of their whole subsistence.
, ^ Nor wonW this calamity be limited to tb« loss of actual posses-
j* fions. How many parents and husbands are there now in this king,
; donri, whose sole hope that a helpless family will not want bread after
their decease, is built upon life insurances! To sustain this hope,
multitudes have long been paying premiunft which they could ill at
ford, and renouncing perhaps, in these costly times, long accustomed
gratifications, that they might avoid the intolerable dread, of leaving
fg beloved wife and children in absolute indigence and want.
1^ But what wiU become of the security of life insurances, when the
national funds are no more? Ask the directors of those great public
? eomi:Hnies whose credit is the most undoubted, and they will tell
^yoxx that their whole capital consists of stock, or other public sccuri-
^esj ami that when the state shall become insolyeo^ their policies
/^inay be thrown into the fire.

Where then, in this dreadful case, will the unfortunate, though
not improvident man, who had relied upon such insurances, find any
refuge from his cares? He had not property to lose, but he has lost
much more. He is bereft of the chief human consolation, from
Which he used lo derive comfort in the prospect of approaching dis-
solution. Perhaps he has already entered upon the confines of the
grave ; a broken constitution, or the delalily of age preclude the hope
of his seeing another sunmier, and still more of his saving, by future
industry, a provision for his family. A faithful wife therefore who
is begmning to feel the infirmities of declining years, and beloved
daughters who have no means of providing for their own support,
must soon be left exposed to all the horrors of want. Who can con-
feivo the sharpness of parental and conjugal misery, in atuations
like these !

Without attempting to pursue further the dreadful effects of na-
tional bankruptcy into their numberless ramifications, I would ask
the considerate reader, what proportion would subsi^ between such a
case as this, and any revolution of property that the world has yet seen ?
The *'",nding system, which alone could produce such terrible con-
sequences, is of very modern growth, and from its worst casualties
experienced in other countries, a national bankruptcy in England
would differ as widely, as an earthquake in a crowded city differs
*iS*" "a^vwieck on the ocean.

Ruin, though it may elsewhere have invaded the helpless, has
not made them its pecuUar prey j but hercj. its most numero\|^ vie-

Ut.ii7 nOuiu u€ jui;na ainung me loeoie, ine agea, tne %vidow, ana the
orphan ; among those who t.ve the least able to 8tnigg!8 against the
waves of adversity, and who on the loss- of their property would be
destitute of every resource. Tens, or even hundreds of thousands,
-^f hapless Englishmen, would in one day, be reduced from ease and
affluence, to extreme and remediless distress. Elegance would be
exchanged f i- rags, luxury for hunger and cold, comfort and secu-
rity for misery and despair.

I know not even whether the benign institutiou of our poor laws,
and our many charitable foundations for the relief of the aged and
destitute, would not aggravate the general distress. Most of the lat-
ter, would be entii-ely deprived of the funds provided for their sup-
port; and the multitudes of poor to be sustained by parochial rates,
would become a burthen scarcely supportable by the impoverished
contributors, reduced as they would greatly be in number as well as
in fortune. Persons in the upper and middle ranks of society, would
be consequently the less able to assist each other in the dreadful
event supposed. The hand of friendship or benevolence, would be
arrested by the grasp of the tax-gatherer,

Most persons have friends m whose af?bc donate sympathy they
think a resource would be found, under the greatest malice of for-
tune; but in ''lis tremendous case, whole circles of the dearest con-
nections, or most familiar acquaintances, would all find themselves
under the sad necessity of soliciting, instead of being able to impart,
relief. Their fortunes being all sunk in the same enormous vortex,'
they would be in no more capacity to assist each other, than passen-
gers in the same ship, when she goes to pieces on the rocks, or hun-
gry mariners on the same desolate island. Or could a wretched fa-
mily invoke the ait: of some acquMUtance or friend, who had still
some landed income, or. other means of support, they would find him
preoccupied by nearer claims; or so surrounded with supplicants,
the objects of equal sympathy, as to have but a mere useless pit-
tance to afford. The best hope of the miserable many, therefore,
would be to partake of iuch parochial relief, as a ruined country
might still be able to give to the common mass of its paupers.
f How terrible xvould it be for an accomplished and virtuous fe-
male, who till now had been accustomed to all the comforts, and ele-
gant enjoyments of an easy fortune, to become, witb her lov^'y chil-
dren, an inmate of a parish workhouse ! Yet those recestacifis cf
coarse and unsightly indigence, from which even the more decent of
our poor now turn with disgust, would then become an asylum, to
which the most refined and delicate might be driven to resort. They

might wish perhaps, that the humanity of their country had provided
no such sad alternative to famine ; but the imperious requisitions of
hunger, or a conscience revolting at suicide, would comi>el the starv-
ing individual, much more the wretched family, to proUact a painfiU
existence even on those loathsome terms.

The prospect of such calamities is enough to make an English-
mail view with anxiety and alarm, those appearances of general opu-
lence, in which we are too apt to exult. '

When we walk in the neighbourhood of this grand metropolis,
through any of those pleasant villages with which it is surrounded,
we see the wealth and prosperity of the nation, in their most pleasing
and captivatmg dress. The road is bordered on each side, and the
green or common surrounded with country retreats of all dimensions,
from the stately villa, down to the little painted box, which mocks
the tax-gatherer with its smgle window: and through the whole
range of the scale, all is neatness and comfort. Almost every man-
sion, however small, is provided with its parterre in front, and its
garden behind; unless fortunate enough to possess a more extensive
allotment of land, in the centre of which, surrounded with ornamen-
tal shrubs aLd flower-plots. It exhibits a still more inviting shew of
retirement and independence. ^.

Yet these are the abodes of men engaged in the busy occupa^
tions of commerce; and a great many of them too, in subordinate
stations ; men, who in any other countiy, and forty years ago in our
own, would have been shut up in the smoky town, under the same
roof with their counting houses or shops.

If we pass in the morning, the masters o*" these happy retreats
arc seen issuing with cheerfulness, refreshed by the pure breezes of
the country, to repair on horseback or in carriages, to their daily
business in London. In the aftemo(Mi, we see them returning in
the same easy and commodious way, to enjoy their family comforts ;
or already sat down tc the social meal, which waited their rTival.
In the interior of these rural mansions, all is answerable to their out-
vrard appearance. The smallest of them can boast, if not elegance,
at least neatness, cleanness, and convenience in its furniture, and
-plenty, if not luxury, on its table, greater than are always seen in
other countries even in the mansions of the great.

This wide extent of domestic enjoyments, exhibits moi'e clearly

s_ ».-}! __ _-_„^ -^«^ _• > ,. . _.». '_ _- i^ ,

even the profusion of private carriages, and the many splendid equi- .
pages, which crowd the roads to a great distance from the metro-

IS.

'■.;*a'-;,.

22^ . , ,

Often in the contemplation of such scenes, have I shuddered at
the thought of that sad reverse which may be near at hand. How
possible is it that in a few years, aye, in a few months, all tliis un-
exampled comfort and happiness, may vanish, like the painted clouds
in a western sky, l>efore an evening tempest!

These enjoyments of the merchants, and other busy actors in
the various industry of London, may be compafed to the tulips and
hyacinths which we sometimes see blowing in jRowei lasses in their
parlour windows. The numberless fibres from which they derive
their nutriment, arc not inserted in the solid earth of real property,
but float in the loose element of public credit; and the wreck of the
funds would be as fatal to t' m, as the fall of the glass cylinder to
the flower.

Our merchants would have again to return to the parsimonious
habits, and rigid industry of their fore-fathers. Instead of being
able to unite as now, the profits of the town, with the health and
pleasures of the country, at the charge of two residences, and the
expensive means of communication between them, singularly for-
tunate would be that individual, who could find, by immuring him-
self and his family in the heart of the metropolis, and by using
every resource that painful industry and parsimony could there ex-
plore, the means of escaping want.

Those numberless costly villas, therefore, which now arrest the
eye in every direction, those interminable ranges of less conspicuous,
but not less happy dwelUngs, which form the suburbian villages,
would soon be deserted; and would fall to the ground almost as ra-
pidly as they arose from it. In a few years, a walk six miles from
J-ondon, instead of exciting, as now, lively emotions of patriotic
joy and admiration, would be like an evening visit to a church yard ;
presenting nothing but the shadows of impotent ambition, and the
mouldering records of departed happiness. The wretched survivor
of the freedom of his country, would be happy to escape from that
wide circle tlmt now comprises the most interesting displays of our
commercial afl^uence, to leave Hampstead, or Woodford, Clapham,
or Norwood, behind him, in order to find a country less incumbered
with ruins, and deliver himself awhile from the torments of visual
recollection.

• ^Sect. 6. Dreadful extent and ejects of the C07itribution8 tlmt would

- — ^ . , ,*,««- ^, .f^^ — . - - —

' , IN this sad foresight of the desolation of my country, I have
passed over unnoticed some of the earlier and more terrible eflects

of conquest. -V,, ,.^ ,,;,.* * •.%.

Chi the probable camaet; in the field ?* «rn: n i^ « i .

anv strp«* Pr,„i „ 1 T . ' " ^^'^ "* uncandW to lay

worthy of such a. take; and though the astonishing cekritv of our

defenders of the chance ofdying for their country, yet the^l
My vrould be some actions fertile enough in sLhLrB^^^^

rlen "L"' ""'°" '''' ^"""« ''^ aggravations oTourtV-

^ead the? """ '""•^' "'^'"^ ^°"^^ ™^^^ ^^'^ «ving envy ti*

dead their peace, as well as their glory. Let us raU)er look ther?

;i uX:! '"' "?"^°^' -^^ ^"^^^- oppress.?rr:!^u tz

await the napless survivors.

I have generaUy and faintly sketched some part, of the wretch
ednes, of teing property, but a worse mischief will bl .he7^
repute of possessing it. "

the SZlf "° "•■■' " "?«" "^ 'ni^applybg, by false analogies,

It-aT F "^T""- '" "*""' "^•"""^ "»^l> ""vc been L^
quer^a by France, their in^^poverisheu and exhausted state has Z,
generally known to the victors. They have been either.hetau Tf
war, »ddraa,ed by previous contributions; or like H^nd L
quered under circumstance, which made it prudent to pt^ fo".'
bearance. an t.me had gradually revealec the real indige^ce^f rt.

Crtent":''" "^ '°°' ' ■"*= ^^'"""'■« ^ befSt
.natrument <« exactK«s; and its representations, the sincerity rf

whtch tbere has been littie room to doubt, have stlmeume. ^dl^
he conquero,, to moderate their extreme «qui.id6ns. A^^w^r^
suci, a government has been permitted to reguhte, equalize a^
soften, the^ctual collection. The fate of these conntrie' has ^ve"
theless been severe enough ; and much more so than ti.ey hav.
dared to reveal, thmugh any public channels of compi

But if England be conquered, it wHl be under circumstances
whuh W.11 leave France nothing to fear from the odium wMctshe
may «.nt™c. by the utmost rapacity of conduct, and to a native
B™A government, w. shall unquestionably not be intrusted.

Wh« ,. a still more fearful distinction, our enemies have the
most extravagant .dea. of our public and individual wealth. Far
from und,r,tand,„g the great financial difficulties undir which we
«tu^ly labour, they suppose us to have gold enough yet in reserve
to ^bsKhse the whole con-inen, for ages, and that instead of being
•mpovenshed, we have been greatly enriched bv the w,r *

J asK men, what eloquence, or what attainable proofs, would

aon, or the greatest number of heavy contributions, which they

raight'successivefy impose upon us, were too much for our purses
to yield? Sums would soon be required, which the subordinate ad-
ministrators of finan(.d for the country at large, would find it impos-
sible to raise. Our tyrants would then perhaps apportion the chai^ge,
upon counties, cities, towns, and even parishes. But the inefBcacy
,pi th^, and every other resort, would infallibly sooner or later bring
the levy home to our houses, by the mode of individual assess- .
ments ; and a system of inquisitorial exaction and oppression woulfi
.«nsue, more cruel than ever before existed upon earth.
^ Let the owner of an elegai.t villa, or sumptuous town mansion,
consider how he wotdd be able to satisfy a military commissary of
jbis poverty, when called upon for a thousand guineas; or let the
master of a handsome house either in town or country, reflect how
he could prove his inability to pay a hundred? Each indeed might
Itruly allege, that he had not one guinea in his possession or power,
that his wealth had been annihilated by the public bankruptcy, and
that his daily subsistence now depended upon the credit which hn
stiU found, for a while, with his tradesmen, or upon the compassion^
ate assistance of friends. But all this would be regarded as common
and stale pretence, which every man might set up, which could

-liever be clearly investigated, and which must therefore be generally
disallowed. The unhappy man perhaps might truly add, that his
plate had already been seized, his cabinets riAed, and his most valu-

^jable moveables sold, to satisfy former requisitions. But this would

-he considered Only as evidence of former contumacy, and systematic

^deception. The splendid or genteel manner, in which he would be
Jknown recently to have lived, would be deemed a presumption

^against him paramount to every proof that could be offered of pre-

.l^ent poverty or distress.

,1. In truth, nothing would be more natural than the surmise, that

^lioverty was a pretence to elude the demands of the state. With
many, their pleas of inability, if not wholly groundless, would at
least be exaggerated statements ; and the detection of falsehood in
some cases, would seem to justify incredulity in all. Besides, after

^every allowance made for the long use of our paper representatives
for money, it would be very difficult for a foreigner to believe that
so small a quantity of specie remained in the country, as would be

Ifctually found. Some few persons too might be detected in having
buried or concealed it; which when discovered, would perhaps be

ttiuiOal uS mlcii 10 iric;ir COUrilryiVicu, us liic cxpciiieili ui suiiie un-

llappy Jews (who on the capture of Jerusalem by Titus swallowed
their gold) was to their wretched fellow sufferers.

^ Fernaps some of my rtaders may suppose, that flic irofst cob-
li<}uence of suspicion, or of an imputation of contumacy, would be
the hating Fi^ch soldiers quartered in their hcwses, in order to in^
fore* discovery or compfiwice: a consequence certainly dreadful
enoagti, *specially tb thosfe who have wives or daughters: butun-.
less we are treated better than Frenchmen are in like cases, torture
^ asath may be prbbably superadded to that odious roede of cxac-
tioD.

^> The report that Toussairil was tortured to death, with « viiiw to
«xtort a discovery of the treasures which h* was supposed to have
hid in St. Domingo, and that his hapless wife shared the same fate»
seems not to be improbable. By recent accounts from that island,
it appears^ that the suspicion of his hating buried wealth to a large
amount, in a spot known only to himself, or to those in his most
secret confidence, certainly did prevail with the French party. But
if this crime be doubtful^ not so the murder, upon the same sordid
principle, of M, Fedon, a white man, as well aa a Frenchman, whose
ease may be worth attention.

General Rochambeau, finding that one of his last regtiisitions of
Ittoney from the inhabitants of Cape Francois collectively, was not
sufficiently productive, proceeded to assess'individual merchants, at
the sums of which he thought them to be still possessed; and M.
Fedon, being a merchant of the first eminence of that place, was
reqiiired to pay down immediately as his quota, 5000 dollars in
specie. He truly pleaded inability to comply ; and gave a reas<»i
somewhat similar to that which an unloPtunate Englishman might
allege, in the case which I wish to illustrate .--His whole funds, the
goods in his warehouses excepted, had been invested in bills drawrt
upon the French government, for public services in that colony^
under the authority of the general himself, or his predecessor}
which bills had been returned protested. The same had been the
fate of like paper to a large amount, in the hands of other mer-
chants in the town; by which means general distress from the want
of a circulating medium, had been produced at that calamitous junc-
ture. But though the general fact was indisputable, the particular
excuse was not accepted. M. Fedon vtaS put under arrest ; and with
peremptory orders to the officer who took charge of him, to shoot
hrn at three o'clock the same day, unless the money should be pre-
Tioualv nair1_

It was in vain, that the ufihapjiy merchant ofiered his keys, to
a^ertain that he had no money in his coffers, and in vain that he
offered to redeem his life with goods, or government bills, to any

•mount. Neither hi^ offers nor complaints were regarded ; and the
money not being brought forward by the appointed hour, he w«s
led forth and actually shot on the public parade, pursuant to the
general's order. Hi» counting-house and warehouses were then
taken posseasion of by the same tyrannic government, and, on a
strict search, the cash found there amounted to about five dollars.

This transaction, which through the loud complaints of a brother,
of the deceased, and of his mes sntile friends, is quite notorious in
the West Indies, and America, and which, if I mistake not, was
either mentioned, or referred to, in the official dispatches of our
naval officers, employed in the reduction of the Cape, has never been
disavowed by Rochambeau ; and his impatience to go from this
country to France on his parol, is a proof that he apprehended no
punishment for so foul a murder, though the complaints of M.
Fedon the brother are known to have made their way to the Thuil-
leries. In fact, he threatened all the merchants at the Cape, French
or American, with similar treatment, and would no doubt have fol-
lowed up the dreadful precedent, but fortunately, the only subse-
quent assessment which he had time to make before his expulsion
from the island, did not exceed a sum, which, by making a common
stock of all their resources, the merchants were able to pa/. ,

Were it not for the rigorous and unprecedented restraints im-
posed upon the press, in every country under Buonaparte's power
or influence, there would probably be no difficulty in citing many
instances of similar oppression in Europe ; and even in France it-
self; bnt the crimes of his interior government, are always perpe-
trated in silence, except when it becomes necessary to divulge them
for some political purpose ; and even then, care is taken to put every
gloss upon them that state-craft can devise. Torture and death
may very probably have been the secret fate of hundreds, who have
been made the victims of this frightful despotism, whether upon
motives of policy, avarice, or revenge.

' Here, the rapacious spirit of the victors, excited by the expecta-
tion of inexhaustible spoil, and abetted by a long cherished lust of
vengeance, would take its most direful range ; and horrors would
ensue, at the report of which our fellow vassals on the continent
might stand aghast, forgetting their own sufferings, in their pity of
miserable England.— -Alas, those unhappy nations now bitterly re-
pent their own supineness and folly, and regard us with envy, be-
cause we imve; siirr iijc power oi escaping the torments, to which
they ai-e irretrievably doomed. How would they rejoice to be again
as we .now are, hi a capacity to defend their liberties, though at the

cost of every painful sacrifice, and every arduous effort of patriot-
ism, which they fotally shrunk from before.

;i" ' " '" " Qpam veUent xtJiere in alto,

V r,- " ^""^ ** paupericm, et duros perferre labores !"

. ;?

J* Let us cease in time to follow their example, that we may not!
Z' pe partakers of their plagues. ,,

^tct. 7. Rigoroui ond merciieaa government that -would certainly ensue.

f In England, various motives would stimulate our new masters
to more than their usual excesses. i; ,'^ ^ *?

i Could we be fortunate enough, even in the total surrender of
i^blic and individual property, to satisfy our spoilers that no more
remained behind, still rage and revenge would claim their promised
prey. Has not Napoleon solemnly declared, that the last of his
eombined enemies, shall expiate the offence of them all, and feel the
full weight of his vengeance ? Has he not repeatedly held out allure-
ments to the army destined to invade us, such as plainly imply en-
gagements to give us up to the rapine and violence of his soldiers ?
When was he known to be less cniel in act tluin in pi-oroise, and
what ground has Engl nd to expect that his barbarous nature will
relent in her case alone ?

•f It is a peculiar characteristic of this insolent conqueror, to treat
every opposition to his purposes by foreign patriots, whether sove-
reigns, ministers, generals, or private persons, as a reproach and a
crime. Does an illustrious veteran retire mortally wounded from
the field, with the wreck of an^ army which he had gallantly com-
manded, his loyalty and courage are made reasons for spoiling his
domains, and excluding him from the tomb of his ancestors. Does
a gallant youth of high birth and early reputation, nobly perish in
battle, a martyr to the cause of his country, Napoleon is too crafty
to deny some praise to the soldier, but the memory of the patriot, is
treated with the most vindictive censures, and insolent derision.
His ebullitions of rage against that gallant officer sir Sidney Smith,
and his less impotent malice toward our unfortunate countryman
captain Wright, are specimens of the same spirit.

But why do I dwell on inferior instances, when deposed mo-

-™ ..^, Ttzr.j \.ii^xt u;;;;uppy ^U^^iaii^ wivUgn Znv* |^tauvo xii u^auiy iH

distress might aid the sympathy due to fallen royalty, are grossly
insulted by this unfeeling man, for having dared to resist his arms.
He, who punishes wkh death the publication oi strictures on his

■ - ■ %

o%vA nnvrmtlw rnn^«!«*. h« «n*n wi>/> »«r»«i !.:•« «.. .11.^: xni^

every newspaper with bia coarse abuse of sovereigns, who ought t0
ht sufficiently protected by the respect due to long hereditary ma-
jesty, and to the grandeur of those thrones in which they lately sat;
but who would find with every liberal mind a still more secure proi-
tection, in pity for their unparalleled misfortunes, and their extreme
distress. It would seem as if this audacious man arrogated to him-
*!lf a natural right to be lord of the human species; regarding his
usurpations only as the uniting possession to a title which belonged
to him before, and which it was always treason to oppose. Certain
itid, that patriotism, loyalty, and courage, which other conquerors
have respected in their foes, are with him unpardonable crimes.
*'^* What then has England to expect from this inexorable victor?
No nation that he has yet subdned, has opposed him so obstinately
, 'fcnd so long; and I trust the measure of our offences in this respect,
Is yet very far from being full. Here, too, that species of hostility
which he roost dreads and hates, though he employs it without
scruple agaihst his enemies, has been peculiarly copious and galling,
-Instead of one Palm, he will here find a thousand, who have at-
tempted ^hile there was yet time, to awaken their country to a due
sense lof his crime*, and o^ our danger from his pestilent ambition.
But it is needless perhaps to prove what he so freely and fre-
quently avows. If there be any sincerity in his language, when
thefe is no use in dissimulation, if either his proclamations, his bul-
letins, his gazettes, his avowed, or unavowed, his deliberate, or hasty
Jai>guage, may be trusted, a deadly, acrimonious hatred to this Cbun-
tpy, is the most settled and ardent feeling of his soul. He hates us
-9» a people ; and would conquer us less even frpm ambition, thaqi
fukn anger and revenge.

It is to be feared, besides, that partly from his unwearied mis-
representation s, and partly perhaps from certain errors in our own
ponduct, he has made this sentinfient very popular in France ; and
that the severest treatment which, as a conquered people, wer juld
possibly receive, wbuld expose him to" no censure at home, much
less be unacceptable to the enraged « Army of England."
:2 It would not, after all, perhaps, be possible for foreigners to go-
' Vern us without a rod of iron, while the memory of our beloved
liberties was recent, and custom had not yet taught us to carry our
(Chains with patience.

A free people when conquered, and placed under an arbitrary

government, must be kept in awe by a discipline peculiarly strict

"irid severe, till their high spirit shaU be subdued j like the wild na?

live of the ferett, which must ba dom^stkatea aod t»me4 by • «e-
.verity of treatment, such as the spaniel never requires.

Abcrrc all, every open act of sedition or insubordination among
•uch ^ people, must be terribly chastised. An illustration of thit

, piay be found in our own treatment of the Korom^ntyn negroes, or
natives of the Gold Coast; as explained by Mr, Bryan Edwards, in
*i8 History of the West Indies. Among aU the different nations,
and tribes of Africans, wh^m we reduce to a slavery unknown in
their native land, by making them work for Ufe under tlie whips of
our drivers, the Koromantyns, from their martial spirit, and perhaps

jfrom a peculiar degree of civil liberty possessed by them in their
padve country, are found, by far, the hardest to break in, or to wwwi,
as it is called, to the duties of West India bondage. Other negroes

<*quietly submit, though they die by great numbers in the process ;

^but the Koromantyns, as we learn from Mr. Edwards, are so into-

%fem\t of the yoke, as often to escape from it by self-murder.

* They art? naturally, therefore, very apt to resist the master's

ifoVcreign authority ; and sometimes form boW, though impotent .

*conspii3»cies, or desperate revolts; and the consequence ia, that the

people of Jamaica and other islands, have thought it right to make,

in such cases, the most dreadfu' examples, roasting the msurgents

«to death by slow fires, or hanging them up alive in iroi^s, to perish

#Ha a gibbet.*

* Edwards's History of the West Indies, vol. 2, book iv, chap. 3. The fol-
lowing is an account of one case of this kind, of which he was ai, eye-witness, t
•* Of those who were clearly proved to have been concemf d in the murders com-
mitted at Ballard's Valley, one was condemned to be burnt, and the other two to
be banged up alive in irons, and left to peri'h in that dreadful situation.
■4. " The wretch that was burnt, was made to sit on the ground, and his body
being chained to an iron stake , the fire was applied to his feet. He uttered not a
groan, and saw his legs'reduced to ashes with the utmost firmness and compo-
sure . After which, one of his arms by some means getting loose, he snatched a

C "*^ ^"^^ *^* ^^ **^* '^^ consuming him, and flung it in the face of the txt-
%Utioner. ^

* •' The two that were hong 1^ aTive, were indulged, at their own request, with

^U^ hearty meal before they were suspended on the gibbet, which was erected

lUi the parade of the town of Kingston. From that time until they expired, they

iKver uttered the least complaint, except only of coH in the night; but diverted

themselves all day long in discourse with then- countrymen, who were nentiitted.

very improperly, to surround the gibbet On the seventh day, a notion pttvailed

gmongthe spectators, that one of themwi^ed to ebmmunicatt an important

' sfctret to his master my near relation, who being, in St. Mary's parish, the^com-

manding officer sent for me. I endeavoured by means of an interpreter to let

That Frenchmen 'wotilrl fb!!ow precedents so horrible as th-"e
in punishing EngJish insurgents, is perhaps more than we havJ
reason to apprehend ; but the example proves, that dreadful seve-
rities would be used ; for we should certainly be, in comparison with
other subjected nations, what the Koromantyns are, in comparison

wth c*her Africans, when carried into slavery by our merchants.

The plea of necessity will be found here, as well as in Jamaica; for '

yfhen a whole people is reduced to slavery, the more abhorrent to

nature that condition is, the more fatal would be the effects of un-

subdued resistance. ,.

A French government too, would naturally form exaggerated

nmions of the danger arising from any effervescence ot 'popular

discontent.

Under the old regime in Paris, mobs were sometimes raised' fh'
the Fauxbourgs, during a scarcity of bread ; when, instead of turn-
ing out the constables, reading a riot act, or even giving warning to
disperse on the amval of a military force, a troop of horse coolly
rode m among them, and used the sabre, till the streets were cleared
at the expense of manyHves. '

^* Since that period, the Parisian mobs have fun>ished some apo-
logy for their having been formerly controuled by such sanguinary
means ; and so far is Buonaparte from being disposed to brook the
smallest demonstration of popular discontent, that he lately told the
ciUzens of Beriin, their sovereign had deserved to be dethroned
because he had not taken vengeance of them for breaking the win-
dows of an obnoxious minister.

The Britisli multitude would have a new lesson to learn there:,
fore, or would be fatally misunderstood by their new masters. They
would have to renounce their hisses, their cat-calls, their Green
men, and broad faced orators, and must be careful how they even
huzzaed too loudly, should they still find any subject of applause '
A tenth part of the tumult of the late Westminster election, would
be enough to cover our pavements with the dead or wounded, and
tinge our sewers with blood.
• m: The clubs, and numerous associations which now abound among

him know that I was present, but I could not understand what he said in return
Iremember that both he and hisfellow-sufferer laughed immoderately at so^ne'
thmgthatoccim^d: I know not what. The next momintron^ nf.K„^ ,:,„„..„
^xpin^a. as d.a the other on the morning of the ninth day." (History of Wat
Indies, vol. 2, book iv, chap. 3.) ^ *

^omtructions.

They would, no longer, indeed, have any of those interesting ob-
jects of union, the forming funds for mutual support iu sickness, old
age, or temporary loss of employment, the securing reversionary
interests to surviving relaUvcs, or any of the various other useful
purposes, to which our national taste for clubs has been made sub-
•eivient. The wreck of our funds, would have ruined all these hum-
ble but beneficent establishments; and the prudence of the poor,
disappomted in its present confidence, would no more be listenuig
to the advice of the benevolent, so as to provide, by Umely sacrifices,
against the ordinary evils of their situation. But convivial, and
other private motives, of union, might still draw men together in
numbers alarming to the jealousy of a foreign government; the ig-
norance or malevolence of a spy might misrepresent their intcn.
tions; and Englishmen, might soon find it dangerous to assemble
beyond the limits of a family circle, though they should abstain from
the consolation of lamenting together over their wrongs, and the
sorrows of their country.

I Our appetite for pubUc news, and our propensity to political
discussion, would give further occasion of frequent offence to the
ruling powers, and often provoke the scourge of a rigid police, tUl
we had learnt the hard lesson to forget the liberty of speech, as well
as the freedom of the press.

But it would be endless to anUcirite all the instances, in which
our present civil happiness, would then become a source of pre-
eminent misery. Every distinguishing feature of our national cha-
racter, would be offensive, or alarming to our new masters. An
entire revolution in our manners, our feelings, and opi.aons, must
be effected, before we could have such rest as the prostration of
habitual servitude affords. Meantime if France has chasdsed other
ijftUons with whips, she would punish us with scorpions.
^ Among the direct and comprehensive modes of oppression, to
ivhich rich and poor would be equally subjected, military conscrip-
tions are of course to be reckoned.* It cannot be imagined, that our
conqueror would treat us in this respect better than his oth^r pro-
vinces: and as compulsory service in foreign countries, has been
lutherto unknown to us> we should feel this species of tyranny also,
more keenly than our neighbours. The flower of the Hriti-h -.-.-.-k
ot all ranks, would soon be compelled to take up the musket, and to
bleed and die, in distant climates, for the glory of the great nation.
«ut this 13 a subject which I shall have occasion to reconsider, in

it now.

itlnoit Mriking rebtioni; I will not tlicreforo enlarge upon

*•.» '

Sect. 9, Stibvermon qfour reUgioua Ubertiea.

»- Senrants of God, sincere professorg of the reUgion of Jesus, sup-
pose not that in thk rapid and imperfect sketch of the calamities
with which French conquest would overwhelm our countr3r, I have
fi)rgotten, or mean to pass unnoticed, the grand interesU of piety
«id virtue.

On these, however, I need not much insist; lor men who know
how to value them, are not among tijc ii&ttless or careless observers
•f the scourge that is impending over us. Neither need they in
general to be taught, how closely the cause of religion is associated
with the liberty and independency of our country.

The church of Christ, indeed, is " built updn a rock, and tLo
gates of hell shall not prevaU against it." The word of omnipotence
is pledged for its security ; and it may therefore defy the floods of
civil revolution, and the cpnflagrations of conquest. But it pleases
4iyine providence, to accomplish its purposes in human affairs,
diiefly by human hands . and though tj-ue religion has never been
propagated by arms, yet the defensiv*; courage of nations, has some-
tinges been employed as the instrument of its protection. Witness
the glorious reign of our own Elizabeth, and the contemporary tri-*
umphs (rf religious liberty in Holland.

- We are not now menaced by a Philip the second ; but have »
fcr more dangerous enemy; and if any man suppose that he would
long spare our religious, after trampling on our civil freedom, he
must have examined very carelessly the character, and the policy
of Buonaparte.

That this man of blood, this open apostate from Christianity, is
not what he has the impious grimace to affect to be, a truly penitent
stm of the Roman church, and zealous for ner superstitions, I fully
admit. Beyond doubt he still is, what he was by education, a des-
piser of revealed religion in all* its forms ; and probably, as such
awn commonly are, profoundly ignorant of its nature,
i But that as an engine of state, he sets a high value upon the
Romish faith, has been evident from his conduct, ever sii^ce he first
seized upon the sovereign power in France. He perceived that the

Illl1u6!l€6 of the tJriesUinnd. an^i th^ *t^t\\n.rk^xT j^? =-.rr $r-.£v!itui^ -u u

might be made useful supporters of his throne; since by their aid,
he might remove from the minds of the pious, the horror they fek

it hii usurpation; and even transfer to himself, th(5 benefit of those
.|«hgiou8 sancuons, which bound them to their lawful sovereign.

' k- u*"* **'°"^** ^* *'°"''' *"^''"'''^ ^''''^"^ *''* P^^*""' " ^«" «• the
bishops and clergy, there was one great drawback on the immediato

effect of this policy, in the general infidelity and ignorance of the
people; for while Popery and Christianity had been subverted togc-
ther, in the minds of raulUtudes who were once believers in til*
gospel, few among that girat part of the nation which had been bom
or educated since the revoIuUon, had been at all instructed in rcH-
gion of any kind. He had in great measure, therefore, to rebuihl
Jhat engine of Popish superstition, with which he was desirous to
work.

^ To this end he has long assiduously laboured; a- ], among other
means, has lately procured a new catechism to be drawn up, and
estabUshed by the papal authority, for the use of the French church,
m which all the old errors and superstitious of Popery are strongly
inculcated, and maintained, by such miserable sophistry, as is com-
monly used in their support. In this respect it is well adapted to
the capacities of boys, and of adults in the lower tanks of society;*

• I have not room for any long specimen of its stile ; but tht foUowing ex-
tracts, of some of *he proposiiions of faith, may suffice to prove that Nano-
fcon's popery, has nof at all degenerated from the .tandaid of Leo the 10th.

Q. What is the sacrament of the Eucharist? - ,

A. The Eucharist is a sacrament which contain,, really and aabstanriaUy.
the body, blood, Boul. and divinity of our Loni Jesus Christ, under the forms
or appearance of bread and wine.
■ ^. ft: Why after having spoken to God, do you address the holy virgin ?

A. That she may offer our prayers to God ; and that she may assist us by in-
tercedmg with him for us.

ft; Is it good and useful to pray to the saints ? „* .

A. It is very good, and very useful, to pray to tbem.
ft: Why do you add the satisfaction of the saints, to that of Jesus Christ '
A. Because of the goodness of God, who i, willing, on the behalf of h}»
most pjous servants, to forgive the other.
ft Why besides?

A. Becaime the satisfaction of the saints a« united to that of Jesus Christ,
whence they derive all their value.

'? TJ'u'' ^^ ^""' ^''"'* ^^^ ^^"^ P"''''' *»»« P°w«r of remitting sin ? .
ru : « '^^ ''^ ''"™ '" the person of the apostles. " receive the Holy

Ghost ; sms shall be forgiven to those to whom you shall remit them, and th.-:
-n^h uc.rcU„,ed to tnose, to whom you retain them. ';

ft Do you believe only what is written !

has Li^lT *'"*.^^f .*^^ Apostles have taught by word of month, and which
h?3 always been believed in the Catholj<^hHrch. • . ^

and on the tsrhol*, a more Irigenious coniposiuiai for his ^rpoia
couW not .have been framed. With the solemn wmction of the
ftope's bull, an archiepiscopal mandate, and an imperial decree, in
iu front, is now carefully circulated, and assiduously taught, in
every parish of the empire.

If it were possible, vn a contemplation of Buonaparte's general
conduct and character, to question whether superstition, or policy,
had kindled his seal for restoring the faitl he has, by the spirit of
this curious instrument, removed alt doubt on the subject. A gen-
tleman who has just published an English translation of it, justly
remarks, thnt « the moral duties which it specifies, arc all on one
fidfi; thatwiiat inferiors owe to their supedors, is minutely detailed,
and stemty enjoined; but that what superiors owe to their inCsriors,
will be sought for in vain ; for not a word on the subject is to be
fouwJ."*

%>;

Q. How do you call this doctrine ? <

'A. I call it the unwritten,- word of God, or tradition.

Q. Why is the Catholic church called Roman ?

A. Because the church established at Rome is the head, and the mother of
ill other churches.

Q. Why do you ascribe this honour to it i^

A. Because at Rome the chair of St. Peter was established, and of tb|[
popes his successors.

Q; What do you understand by the words, ** I be. eve the chm-ch ?"

A. That the church may always continue; that all it teaches must be be-
lieved, and that to obtain eternal life, one must live and die in its bosom.; ;.

Q. Why must we believe all that the church teaches ?

A- Because it is enlightened by the Holy Ghost,

Q. Is the Catholic church then infallible?

A. Yes; and those who reject its decisions are heretics;

Q. What does faith teach us concerning indulgences ?

A. That the church has received from Jesus Christ the power of granting
them, and that the use of them is very salutary to Christians.

Q. Why are indulgencies so salutary ?

A. Because they are established to moderate the rigours of the temporal
l^aiiw due to sin.

N.B. This is explained by another article to relate to pwgatory.

Q. Is it necessary to know precisely how this rigour is moderated ?

A. No; it is sufficient to believe that a good mother like the church, gives
nothing to her cbildrea, but what really serves to relieve them in this world »nd

•*^

* IntroducUoa to this catechism by Mr. Bogue.

partc° """'^ *"' '^' '*''""^'°'' o^«q«»%» the democratic^ Bt«>n>

But then, he has carefully taught the duties, which both hieh
and low, nch and poor, owe to his heaven<lelegatud self; and that
00, as a branch of the Decalogue ! ! ! The reader's curiosity wiU
be still more strongly excited, when I add, that it ii the fourth com-
mandment, which has happily provided buttresses to the throne of
this usurper: but it is right to explain, that as Papists prudently
omfe the second, the fourth commandment, in their table, is that
whicft enjoins us to homwr our parents.

Cardinal Caprara, the legate a to..r. at Paris, and cardinal de
Belloy, archbishop of Paris, and " mnnbcr of the Xegion qfffonaur^^
have distinguished their pious ingenuity, by the following tery

clear fxpcsiUon. of what * Protestants call the fifth command^
ment «"««m

Q. What are the duties of Christian in regard to the princes
^vho govern them, and infiarticular what ane our Outies tc-mrdo M-
Poleori the Fir«tf Mir etnfieror ?

A. ChrisUans owe to the princes who govern them, and, we owe
tn Particular to Mfioieon the Mr.t, our em/ieror, love, respect, obedi-
ence, jwrtfwry service, and the tributes ordained for the preservation
and the defence of the empire, and of his throne; besides we owe
him fervent prayers for his safety, and for the temporal and spiritual
prospenty of the state. .? j« ««*

Q. Why are we bound to all these duties towards our empc-

A. First, because God, who creates empires, and who distri-
hutes them according to his will, in loading our emperor with fa*
vours, whether in peace or war, has established him our sovereigft,
has made him the minister of his iwwer, and his image on earth. To
honour and serve our emperor, is therefore to honour and survc God
lumaelf.

Q. Are there not particular motives which ought to attach ui^
more strongly to Napoleon the First, our emperor ?

A. Yes ; for he it is whom tiod has raised ufj, in difficult cir-
eumntances, to re-establish the public worship ©f the holy religiew
of our fathers, and to be the protector of it ; he has restored and
preserved public order, by his profound and active wisdom ; he de-
fends t...i state, by his powerful arm : and is become the ahmv*^
ED of the lord, by the consscration which he has rs* .

CEIVBD IROM THE CHIEF POMTIlfP, H»AII OF TH» XJM».V»E»Ai.
CHURCH. **

■•'IP'

Q. What are we to think of those who should fiul in their duty
towards the emperor ?

A. According to St, Paul the .^jioatle, they would resist the order
tatabliahed by God himself; and would render themaeivea worthy o/eter*^
^ nal (iflmnation. ,/. ^^

Q. Are the duties by which we are bound towards our emperor,
equally binding towards his legitimate successors. *

A^ Yes, undoubtedly ; for we read in sacred Scripture, that Ciod
the Lord of heaven and earth, by a disposition of his supreme will,
and by his providence, gives empires not only to a person in parti-
cular, but also to his family.*
. It would have been creditable to these worthy cardinals, if they
could hav£ left out the sixth commandment, as well as the second ;
for it certainly follows too close on the commentary, by which this
man of blood, this destroyer of the house of his law^l and pious so"
, vereign, is described as a delegate of heaven.

There is such a combat between horror, and the sense of ridi-
cule in the mind, upon reading these impious absurdities, that we
, cannot fully gr e way tp pither emotion ; and it therefore seems al-
f most irreverent towards the sacred text, to quote tiiem } yet it is
")B*t. Mty that English Protestants, and even pious Papists, should
see how religion is likely to be prostituted and profaned, wherever
this vile hypocrite is master.

Infinitely more does he disparage our common feith, by ac-

{ knowledging the Messiah at Paris, thanf he did by denying him in

^ Egypt. - •

^ - This catechism, promulgated a few months ago, is but one of a

train of concurrent measures, all directed to tl^e same political end.

B'onaparte has not only taken pains to restore the former supersti-

• T^c Following curious apology is offered by the cardinal archbishop, in his
prefatory letter, for thus prostituting religion to sanction usurpation and trea-
son.

After intimating that the catecliism, as far as relates to the doctrines of the
Catholic church, is taken from the writings of the celebrated bisht^p of Meaux,
^^ ^hat zealous defender of Popery, against the Protestants, in tlie days of Louis
* l^h), he adds, *' The duties of subjf^cts towards the princes who erovem them.
" zr€ more fully explained in it than they had ever been before ; because the cir-
*' cumstances of the times in which we live, resemble not those of the times
•♦wtich hav« preceded thenri ; because Christians have never feared when cir-
- - CurriDluiiCca' bcei'iicil lit require it, to declare iheir sentiments concerning the
«• powers csmiblished by God to rule the world/' A most valorous mstance, to be
sure we here ifxvq, of this Christian &iiicevity»and freedom ! ! ?

. kS"

lions, at the expense of sneers am his philosophical f^J^-nds, but

sacrifices much time, of which unhappily he is a great economist,

m attendmg the celebration of mass^ and the other rites of the Popish

.communion. He even labours to restore, what after the public de-

tection of the impostures of priestcraft in the days of the revolution,

we might have supposed incapable of being renewed,-*the popul^

reverence for relicks: for he has lately transported, with solemn

■; pomp, a crown of thorns, pretended to be the identical one worn by

. our Saviour, from Italy to France. How indefaUgable he was, in

- compelling the aged pontiff to assist at his coronauon, -and anoint

Tiim with his holy chrism, the public cannot have forgot; and the

* catechism strongly teaches ns the reason.

t , Nor is his disregard to the temporal rights of the pope, a trait
+ at all inconsistent with the rest of this policy j for the most super-
,»tmou8 sovereigns of France, have not s-.rupled to adopt a similar
conduct. It has been the ordinary tone of the GalUcaii church, even
■among its most pious and orthodox raembeis, to limit the political
.[power of their holy Father, however fully they admitted his supre-
macy in questions of faith.

In short, Napoleon has been steadily aiming at acquiring, in the
^ye«i of the vulgar, the character of a good Catholic, and sincere son
pf the church.

« But Napoleon," it may be objected, « has not yet sh.>,wn him-

,^8elf a persecutor ol the reformed churches."--Certainly notr-it

Vould have been too gross and sudden an apostecy from liis phUo-

sophical creed, not utterly to disgust and outrage all those men of

.^science, whom it wa? his poUcy and vanity to attach to him ; and what

^tlwas more dangerous, even the officers ef his army.
If Some of the latter, were said openly io have expressed, at the
first, their contempt for those religious solemnities which they saw
the chief consul attending ; and educated as they for the most part
"Were,it may probably be some :ime,bcfore the spirit of open and con-
temptuous scepticism will be aufficvently subdued in the army, to

^^nak.e persecution entirely convenient.

,.. But already the conceited French infidels r ■ reconciled, to the
policy of cheating the ignorant populace with the errors to which
they are foolishly prone, and re-building the fabric of superstition,
for the sake of its civil effect?. Already, as may be perceived by
Napoleon's Tc Deums, his high masses, and canting professions of
piety, in his buiiciiiib oi general orders, the politic hypocrisy w'lich
he practises is beginning to be popular m the army. It will be but
one, and an easy step mor^ to profess hkpself the restor^jr of ths

true Catholic faith, and to obtain that glory, to wiiich Charles the
Fifth, Philip i\\t Second, and Louis ti.e FoOTteenth, vainly in the pie-
nitudc of their greatness aspired, by the mtei' extirpation of schism
^and heresy in the Christian church.

^I'^ ft is quilt unnecessary to suppose, as a motive for such an en-
terprise in the emperor's mind, any real preference of the Romish
faith, in opposition to tht: reformed religions ; and yet it h highly pro-
bable that' such a predilection exists. It is a strikingly uniform cha-
racteristic of the zealous enemies of revelation, even among thoste
who have laboui-ed most to discredit it in Protestant countries, that
they have a pre-eminent aversion to those forms of faith, which are
the least assailable by the shafts of wit on the score of folly and su-
perstition.

An attentive reader, of Hume or Gibbon, wHl perceive that they
harve much more indulgence for the grossest errors and abuses of
Popery, than for the rational laith of a sincere Protestant ChrisUan.
If the former are ever mentioned by them in strong terms, or de-
picted in high colouring, it is only for th? sake of iusiduously con-
founding theiji with the latjter; and thereby holding up all belief in
revelation, to ridicule or abhorrence. Hume, will be found nuch
itiore sparing than other historians, of his censures on the persecut-
ing bigots of the Romish church, in the unhappy days of Mary j'
and equally distinguished by his severity against the excesses of the
I'eformers, in the following reigns; and on the whole, he is evident-
ly partial to Popery, though this characteristic may escape the no- '
tice of such readers as take a much higher interest in constitutional,
than theological discussions. His malice against religious princi-
ple in genera!, is conveniently disguised, under a just severity to-
wards those poruical errors, with which, vi that age, it was too often
associated.

*- As to Gibbon, lie manifested, both in litei»ary and private charac-
ter, the affinity between Romish superstition, and philosophical seep-
tiCism. He was a convert to Popery, before he became an unbeliev-
er ; and though the questions bfetween Protestant and Cath( He, did
not lie in his historical path, it is not difficult to perceive, that he, like
Hume, is jealous of all mediums between his own philosophy, and a
blind devotbn to the tenets of an infaHible church. Even in regard
to queiJtiona in which the generality of Protestants and Roman Ca-
tholics are on the same side, against sects whom they both condemn

for attemntine* » rn^virkrvtmio^ Untio^j;^ — =*-' :«; -^i«- -!i... -.;..: . . ■-. .

the partialities of Gibbon are on the opposite side to those on which
we might have expected to find them . If he prefers Julian to Con-

^ 39

Bte^tinc, he prefers also the Athanasians to the Arians; and to none
of bi, controvcmal opponents was he more bitter and contemptuous,
than to the Socinian and philosophical Priestley.

A Uvii^ writer, of the same school, has laboured openly to
defend agmnst the opinions of his Protestant countrymen, both th«
F*<^tice of auncular confession, and masses for the dead

Nor IS there in all this, any thing strange ur uncommon. The

Uewt is naturally indignant at those Christians, who would presume

o rival him m the field of reason, and to exercise as finely as^^him^tf

' ,„^ "^^ ;^P"^^^t ^"'*^™'"*' ^^"^ '^*y nevertheless admit the
ruth and divme authoruy of the Scriptures. He regards them a.

1 1 K, Tk' ' '""^^ ^«t^^them, because he dreads them, ,«ore

than the bUnd bigots of a gross supersUiion.

For these and other reasons, it would be childish to imagine, ti.at
, Oicre IS any security in the irreligion of Buonaparte, again« hii de.
, l^ing hberty of conscience to his subjects, when political expediency

•hall seem to him to demand, or not to forbid, such- oppression.

Indeed, « seems to me, that a purpose of enforcing by his po.ver a

uniformity of faith, and submission to the church of Rome, thLgh-
^<»ut his dominions, is, either by inadvertency or design, pretty plainly

feumated,m the sole.^n instruments prefixed to his new catechism.
_. IJut let the reader judge for himself.

k .a",^'T"'*"" '"''^^'' ""^^"^ ^''"''*^^' ^^^'"'y ^l^ved brethren is,

^ that the doanne <f Qhri^i, being essentially one, may be uniforjy

« Y««^A^. and that Christians having the same sentiments and the same

Jl W, may every where use the same language. In pursuance of this

object, and m obeuience to a previous law, conformable to the

desire of the Church, a catechism has been composed desig^^d

to be the only one used in all (he Churches of the French £m/tire " '

a ^^Trl. ^^"^ ^""^'^ ""'^*''' ^^'^ government we live, though

I raised byProvidence to the pinnacle of human power, glories^o

9 acknow^dge that priests, and not emperors, are to preach the doc

I tones of the holy church. He unites with me of Ids illustrious

^/jrecf.c«.or*, who sat on the throne of France, in saying, that if the

duty of bishops IS to make known with freedom the truth which

they have received from Jesus Christ, that of the prince is to hear

^ « fromthem founded on the Script.- res, a«d/o.fl>-c.i/««W, «///,«
' might.

So fans mi^ pasiurai letter or mandate of Cardinal Bellov. In
?r *";P\"«1 decree that follows, the catechism is directed to be used ,
fin all the Catholic churches of the empire,", a change of phpse,

which seems to luanifest that the generality of the former instru-
ment, as descriptive of the emperor's design, had not passed unno-
ticed. Why then was it not altered i unless for the sake of intimating
to zealous Catholics, that the ulterior purpose was wider than the
immediate practice? But the allusion to that persecuting bigot,
Louis IVth, and the emphatic words that follow, seem to mark the
Knne intention more clearly.

Whether this construction be admitted or not, the immediate
practical moderation of a government, which in the nineteenth cen-
tury, so anxiously inculcates submission to the church of Rome as
essential to salvation, and openly brands as heretics all who deny its
infallibility, is certainly very suspicious. Napoleon, it is true, for the
present, tolerates the reformed religion in Holland, and even in
France; but did not Charles the fifth do the same in Germany, till
lie was able conveniently to throw off the mask ? Nay^ did not Louis
the fourteenth, profess himself the protector of the Protestant states
of that country, when it suited the views of his atnbition ? Let us look
forward then to a state of things, alas! too nearly accomplished,
when Europe will have ho more power of resistance to this impe-
rious man. Let us suppose him master of England, as well as of the
continent; and ask ourselves. what will then be the bamer of reli-.
gious freedom, in this once fortunate island.

; t*i He has found the utiHty of that alliance l>etween the throne and'
the altar, against which, in common with his Jacobin friends, he
once so loudly inveighed. But to what altar will he look for sup-
port? Not surely to one on which he cannot sacrifice, and the vota-
ries of which will never repair to his own. He will, on the contrary,
feel, like most of his predecessors in the career of conquest, that an
opposition in faith may one day lead to a dismemberment of empire ;
and that unity in church-govern menty is a necessary buttress to the
stupendous fabrick of usurpation which he has raised. Such a unity
can only be found, in restoring the universal supremacy of the see of
Rome ; and to him, the measure would be more inviting by far than
it ever was to any former son of the church, however poweiful ;
since he can have no fear that the holy father will ever dare to opi-
pose his will. The keys of heaven on the contrary, will be turned
at his cbmmand ; and enable him to secure with a triple bolt the
fetters tliat his arms have impose ', Without arrogating to himself
that divine legation as a teacher,; which he already imninnsiv as-
sumes as a subverter of tlironcs, he might add like the Caliphs', the
power of a spiritual, to that of his temporal empire.

t--Blv'

We may add to these considerations, that Buonaparte, in nre.
semng the religious liberties of Great Britain, would have to m2
tern, not only a Pi-otestant Episcopal church, but the Presbyterian
../f.tabhshn.ent of Scotland, the consUtution of which would present
to him the alarming image of popular and representaUye Lem.
m^nt^ and also to tolerate those nnmerous sects of dissenters!^
whose mtenor organization and discipline, wear still more of al^
mocratical aspect : nor would his alarm be lessened, by the discovery
that our Protestant dissenters have at all times Jen determined
enemies to arbitrary power.

n HappUy indeed, this has long ceased to be a distincUon between
Enghshmen; and smce a well defined freedom has Umit-d the dk-'
rogauve of our kings, the throne has not had more faithful S^:'
I^rters, than have been found amorg dissenters from the establish
church. In hatred to a foreign yoke, Britons of all religious denonu^
nauons would be equally ardent^ but the tyrant might find M oS
C.VJ1 history, and in tfee poUtical prejudices against sectaries, Chil
still Unger amaig us, as well as in the habits of some very poputar
reUgious socieues* peculiar grounds of distrust.

His dread of such sectarian associations however, would not ha
fatal^o.diss^iters alon^. If unwilling to preserve ^^
of toleration to its full extent, the sure alternative would be l^ «,
qmrmg an cnure uniformity of faith and discipUne. In him. afa
Papist, It would be the only consistent course ; and besides, were the
work of persecution once begun, resistance would soon push him
mo extremd^ against aU who presumed to lay claim to lib«rty^'
consaence. The line oi^ demarcation would not easUy be drawn
b|tween this, and that, hereUcal communion.
4 Buonaparte, it may further he added, would probab|y be led bv
lus temper, as well as his poUcy, to put down all religious disseitt
from the creed which he deigns to profess. His imperious pride:"
and insatiable appeute for domination, would after the conquest of
Lngland, soon find no cliange of the high-flavoured food to which
they have been used, but in subduingthe consciences of mankind. \
. The religious then, of every denomination among „s have pecu-
Uar cause to tremble at the idea of our becomino. a pro-V- of
France. The terrible scenes which were exhibited There up^n'^lhe "
revocation of the edict of Nantz, might soon be reacted in England
Uungeons and tortures miffht ba ftmnloved *a o,.u^..^^ .u^ - .!__ 1
the fwthful and the reverend bishops and pastors'of oir chureh!'
again be led out to a fiery trial mSmitbfield.

'i«

I, i. ,

Sect. l\. Dreaiful corrufitiontf moraU.

If there be men, who without any concern for religion, are
really anxious about the interests of virtue, let them also, shudder at
this prospect. j

The utter dissolution of morals in France, is a fact too fully
attested to be disbelieved, even by those who do not perceive in it a
necessary consequence of general and open infidelity. Vice, in her
most licentious forms, abound especially amongst the French mili-
tary, who would of course be our principal guests. How indeed
could h be otherwise, among officers and soldiers educated like those
"whb now serve in the armies of France ?

Sixteen or seventeen years have now elapsed since the founda-
tions of religion and morality were wholly broken up in that coun-
try; and but a very small part of its soldiers, can count twice as
many year* from their cradle ; while a vast majority of them, are t<x>
young to remember any other than the present licentious times.
Their ethics can have been acquired only in the Jacobin schools; or
in the camp. As pupils ©f experience also, their lessons have been
of the worst sort. They have seen nothing but the crimes and dis-
orders of revolution at home; nothing but scenes of blood and
^rapacity abroad.

Truly frightful is the thought, of havmg such men spread over
every district of our yet happy island, and executing among us all
the functions of an interior police : yet such would certainly be our
I«t. They would not only keep guard in our cities, but be quartered
Hi our country towns and villages, where few decent houses would
escape the pollution of a private soldier or two, as its constant biUet-
ted guests; except perhaps the mansions of the village squires, or
th<B chief inhabitants of the towns, which might have the honour of
receiving the officers.

The latter, would of course enter into every circle of public and
private society, and give the lead wherever they appeared; not only
by the means of wealth and splendour, of which they would be the
chief or sole possessors, and by the natural confidence of their cha-
racters; but by the aid of that timid and servile deference which the
texTor of their power would inspire. Much would be to be dreaded
imm the direct effects of their libertinism ; bnt stili more from their
pestilent ercample. We should soon become as vicious as them-
sc^Tc;:^ ur rsiJicr liior*; 5G. JLiiRc iuc puOi' ciiaiuveu Airicans in our
colonies, we should imitate the immoralities of our masters, and add
to them the vices of servility.

^iofii) are
Judder at

toofulfy
iveinit«
e> in her
nch mill'
w indeed
ilie those

: founda'
lat coun-

twice as
1, are too
(s times,
iools; or
ave been

and dis-
lood and.

Bad over
ng us all
7 be our
uartered
es would
ntbiUet'
uires, or
onotir of

iblic and
not only
d be the
eir cha-
htch the
dreaded
Hn their
s them-
s in our
and add

- It would soon be in vain to search for those modest and iovqly
young women, who now captivate our youth; for .those virtuous ''
matrons, wi o are the blessings of our manhood and our age; or for
thooe moral feelings in either sex, which are Uie guards of domestic
honour, purity and happiness. That probity of character also,
which has distinguished the middle ranks of EngUshmen, in com-
mercial and private life, that abhorrence of falsehood and fraud, in
our mtercourse with our equate, that disdain of serviUty, in our de-
meanour towards the great, that generosity, which, with one strange
smd sad exception, gives to the oppressed an advocate in every Bri-
tish bosom, would soon be found no more. The next generaUon, if
not the present, would be all frenchyied, and debased, even below the
vile standard of our oppressors. Yes, Englishmen! your children
would become in morals, as weU as in allegiance, Frenchmen I I caa
say to you nothing worse.

V When I contemplate all these sure and tremendous conscmitn-
ces of a conquest by France--the exchange of the best of sovereigns^
for the worst of tyrants; of the happiest constitution that ever blcs-
sed the social union of mankind, for a rapacious military despotism ;
of the purest administration of justice upon earth, for barefaced cor-
ruption, unbridled violence, and oppression its foulest forms; of
unrivalled wealth and prosperity, for unparalleled misery and ryili;
when I reflect on the direful means, by which this conquest must b^.
accomplished, and the still more dreadful mean* by which it must
be maintained; and when I add to this black catak>gue, the honors
of religious persecution, and that general corruption of morals, which
would probably ensue; I stand aghast at the frightful prospect.
« Who shall Uve," I could exclwm in the words of Scripture, « when
« God doeth this thing?"

It reminds me of the vengeance denounced by prophecy against
the great commercial city, the Babylon that is yet to be destroyed.
« Babylon the great, is fallen, is faUen,and is become the habitation of
« devUs, and the hold of every foul spirit, «nd a cage of everv uncleaiv
« bird. How much she hath gloriHed herself, and lived deUciousIy^,
« so much torment and sorrow give hers for she saith in her hearty
« I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall s£a no sditqw. Th-i-^
« fore shaU her plagues come in one day; death and mourning, and
« famine. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn
« oyer her, for no man buyeth tlieir merchandiz© any more. The

« merchandize of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls,
« and of fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyme
** wood, and all manner of vessels of most precious wood, and of
** brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odours, and oint-
** ments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and
« wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves,
« and souls of men, and the fruits which thy soul lusted after, are
« departed from thee ; and all things which were dainty and goodly,
« are departed from thee ; and thou shall find them no more at all.
« The merchants of these things, which were made ricli by her,
** shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wail-
«« ing, and saying, alas ! alas ! that great city, that was clothed in fine
« linen, and.purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious
« stoncis, and pearis. For in <Mie hour, so great riches is come to
« nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and
« sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when
« they saw the smoke of the burning, saying, what city is like unto
« this ^eat city ? And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, wecp-
« iftg an«3 wailing, and hj^mg* alas! alas! that great city, wherein
• were matle rich all that had ships in the sea, by reason of her cost-
« liness; foi in one hour is she made desolate."*

• S««thf 18th chapter o£ the Revelations.— The author, in thus availingbim-
Self of the forcible and awftd language of in^iration,* to express ideas which his
mind in vain labours to convey, trusts thathe shall not be accused of presumptuously
inteiTjretirtg this propti&y, as predictive of th« fate of hiscoBritry. Me'holdsit
Tftin, if not irreverent, .o attempt prospective interpretfttk>nst>f that kind; and
fceUhi* own extrettie incompetency to off«r, even omjectaipes, on such a diflkulc
^.pnl^ack—Besides, tlus prophecy, is by most, if not all, the ablest Protestantwm-
incm^tors, suppose4 to relate to the destruction of ?apal Rome,

<t1

PART II.

i, . ,, &f/. 1 , 0/the Meana by -tokich these Dafigtn may be averted.

■ V..' . ..

- THESE painful antidpations would be worse than useless, if

^ the sad fate which seems to be impending over the country, were
? »uch as no posa&le efforts could prevent.

* I see not the wisdom of propagating alarm without any ulterior

, ^ject; or for the sake merely of discrediting the measures of a for-

v^t govemmeBt. But if the pubUc be, as I concdre it in geaewl

is, unconaciou* of the true extent and dreadful character, of timse ca-

hmiucs with which we are menaced j and if the most wduous exer-

itons, animated by a spirit of unbounded devotion to the cause of our

^otintry, can alone preserve us from destruction ; a more important

%srvice to the state cannot be rendered, than to awaken the people to

tfaeur danger.

« By a fiitaUty which seems like the mysterious work of a chastbing
«l?rotidence, the nations successavely subdued by France, have had
%o adequate conceptions of the sad destiny which awaited them, till
they have actually felt the yoke. Some of them have wilfully
assisted her in forging their own chains; and all have been vfanting
m that resolution and ardour, wiA which so dreadful a foe ought to -
have been resisted. Their governments, perhaps, may have been
chiefly m fault, but, except in the useless struggles of the brave Ca-
labnans and Tyrolese, we have no where seen a popular energy
equal to the occasion ; but rather a torpor and indifference hard to
be explained.

, It would seem as if their and our deadly enemy possessed, like
the^ rattlesnake, whose destructive malignity and contortive progress
he imitates, the power of fescinatlnn. This tiemics«!'.- rs-tii^ i-^?^ -
encumbered with a. rattle, which, like the despotism of Vapoleon**,
gives a wholesome alarm to all around him, would rarely be able to
destroy the animals who are his ordinary victims, if it were not for a

atrangc stupifying iufluencc vrhich he is oble to exert upon them, at
soon as hit fiery eyes have arrested theirs, and marked them for d#*
Btruction. From that moment, instead of frustrating, thef favcwif^
his murderous purpow. Far from exerting their sure powers of re*
fiittance or escape, they await motionless his approach ; or even by
an unconscious suicide, rtish u\yQn his fatal fangs. The horrible tor-
tures whicli ensue, can alone awaken them from the charvn. Tra-
vellers confidently assure us, that not only the squirrel, the raccoon,
and still larger animals, Imt even mart himself, is the victim of this
strange fascination. It is added, that birds on the wing are arrested
in their flight, the moment their eye r.ieets that of the rattlesnake on
the earth below them ; and that renouncing the security of an ele-
ment in which this deadly enemy cannot reach them, they drop from
the air into his voracious jaws. Of this last particular I shrmld, I
. own, be incredulous, but for the recollecticm that there are En^isl^
'imcn, who would, by making peace at this juncture, lay op«n the aea
to France.

If governments have been elsewhere blameaUe, for not informing
the mind, and exciting in diie time the active courage of the people,
the prodigy is not lessened, but only altered In its form. It is true,
that under despotic governments, the popular spirit can have few
spontaneous movements ; but «.mgs and ministers, at least, have been
fascinated by Buonaparte ; and their superior means of information^
add greatly to the wonder.

In England, however, the government and the people mutually

and strongly act upon each other. It is just therefore to say, that a

• want of energy in preparing for our dv?fence, must be the fault of

both ; and with the voice of an independ»?nt, but loyal Englishman, Iv

will 'Endeavour to point out duties which each has hitherto nei

# glected.

But before I proceed to suggest the public measures, which ap*
pear to me essential to the salvation of the country, let me briefly'
but firmly, protest against one, which would greatly aggravate iti*
dangers.

Sect. 2. Ought we to make Peace vHth France?

We lately endeavoured to find a palliation fo^ the evils of the
times, by an immediate termination of the war; and happy is it for

Events have since occurred, which seem to remove all ^ngcr of
the same attemplf being speedily resumed; and yet there ar© per-

sons, who, by • strange invewion of whtt appears to !»« right reascs:-
ing, regard the ruin of the couuncnt, and the extrmne aggrandize-"
inent of France, ai arguments for a mariUme peace. It may not be
.wholly useless, therefore, to coudemn the late abortive attempt;
though I trust, that Auersladt, and the fall of Prussia, have now
•vinced the danger of i line of policy, which AusterUtz, and the
peace of Presburgh, might have sufficed to preclude.

To censure a great poUtieal measure of the present able and en-
Hghtened caWnct, is perhaps presumptuous in a private individual ;
•nd IS a work which I perform with Kgret. I am conscious that the
awful considerations which may weigh in the choice between a pa-
aBc or warlike system, cannot be perfectly known to the public at
large; and the diatinguishcd talents now united in the ministry, ccr-
twnly challenge the strongest general confidence in the wisdom of
our counsels. Yet I dare not suppress, at this awful coi»; ture, a
▼ery sincere, though perhaps erroneous opinion, that £ iv:- e with4
FWTice, if accomplished by the late negociatiofi^, would have been
filial to the security of the country.

Unfortunately, from the nature of our constitution, mmisters are
not always at Uberty to foUow that path of policy which they may
deem the best in itself. Interior difficulties, arising from parliamen-
tary opposition, or from the popular voice, may drive them out of
that course which they would otherwise think it prudent to steer;
and in this instance, it seems to have been imagined, that the public
vp>ice began to declare for peace. .,

At the same Ume, I find it difficult to conjecture whence that im-
pression arose} unless from a natural source of mistake to which
great men, whether in or out of office, are unavoidably exposed.
There is nothing on which it is safer to hazard an opinion in private,
than the incUnation of the popular voice; and a statesman is not
likely to hear any information, hostile to opinions, which are under-'
stood to be his own. In this case it certainly was very generally,
understood that the new administradon, especially Mr. Fox, and hia*
friends, were decidedly bent upon peace.

But whatever might be the source of this impression, I am con-
fidently of opinion that it was erroneous ; that the nation at large was
never more generally disposed for the prosecution of wa-; and that
the burst of joy w|th which the rupture of the late negociation waa
xeceived at the Exchange, would have been echoed from the remotest
part5 5i the kuig^iii, iiiia aound, and its occasion| could have been
heard so for. Noi that the pco0e love, ov do not deplore the wal- j but
that they wisely despair of any real or abiding peao«i and dread the

•

^IW

<♦
consequences of any treaty that can be made with France at thb
period. :..,.-.,.,
* That there was not more reason to apprehend opposition to a
fleternuoed War system in parliament, I dare not s^rm; and feeling
hov much party spirit is now to be deprecated, I venture to censure
the negocbtion the more freely, because if i^ was wrm^g to negociate
with France, it wai> an error which the present oppoaitioi) d^s noti
and cannot airaign. The leading members of that body, some of
whom well deserve the esteem of their country, had not itideed ex-
pressly declared fear a pacific syiitemj but language was hfeld by
them wiuch plainly ira'pUed an opinion, that peace might not in^pro-
perly be negociated for at that disastrous sera, on what they called
" honourable terms/*

The true objections to the measure then, as well as at the present
inore awful crisis, apply to the unavoidable nature and effects of any
^fpeaty that a)uld be proposed ; not to its particular terms; yet we
lieiMili of « a good peace," ai:id « an honourable peace," as proper to
be treated for with France. For my part, if the possibility of a safe;
peace can be shewn, I will heartily admit, be its articles what Jthey
may, that it is good for my country in these evil times; and m% dis-
honourable to her, but gloiious to those who may make it, But
while no such peace is to be hoped for, I would not treat; becaust I
would not lead the people of England into the danr 'xms error of sup-
posing, that peace with France, in her present a de, is compatible
with their safety ; nor would I lead the people o .urope and M n^r
nm to believe that England is of that ojanion. i". ■•

The great and insuperubie objections to a treaty of peace WUfe
Buonaparte in the existmg state of Europe, are first, that it will
enable him to prepare new means for our destructicm; gh^condly, thstf;
it cannot abate his inclination to use them; and thirdly, that it caft
'bring us no pledge or security whatever against km pursuing the
most hostile and treacherous conduct.

.' We have, heard much lately of the uti fiossidetia ; but this basis^
from the offer of which the enemy receded in respect of the shor<J|»
he cannot be expected to extend to tlie sea. If he would apply it to
the relative situations of the British and French navies, allowing U8
to keep,thc exclusive liosseasion of the ocean, and engaging neither
to increase his marine, nor send his fleets out of _port, nor prepare
seamen to man tliem hereafter, the true spirit <$ the uti fioasideth
uMgui apply to % present new ana s=;xriiordmary case; in whiph, as
Napd^on hitidsii' admits, the dddninum of the sea is in our poapes-
sioij ; and is an advantage which forms our <ajly counterpoise to his

1^
trtmenduuB continental power. But since this application of tlie
principle cannot be hoped for or proposed, the specious teiis for

• yhich we so eagerly contended, would in truth be fallacious and un-

'^liqual. It would leave to France all her present means of annoyance •

i^^nd soon deprive us of that extreme ascendency at sea, which is our

jphief mean of defence. It is like the equality of proposing to a man

that has a shorter sword than his enemy, that each shall keep his

jpistols, provided he wiU come out of the house in which he has taken

' ^elter, or lej; the door be open to both. , : '

^ Napoleon, however^ thought even this bad bargain too good for ua,
when he found us ready to accept it: or rather, as we were disposed
to leave him possessed of every usurpation in Europe, he postponed
the agreement, till he should have usurped a still larger share of the
jliPntin^Lt; and thrown down every remaining outwork by which wo
might hope to be in any degree covered, when no longer irresistible
on the ocean. I doubt not, that when his continental enetries shal^
have been brought to acquiescence in a new manufactory uf king^

, doms, out of the ruins of their power, he will again offer to us the
itti fioa^idetia,

V In yielding to us the sovereignty of new colonies and settle-
ments beyond the Atlantic, or in the extremity of Africa, he well
ktiows that he shall give us no means of future security against his
arms; but on the contrary, increase those fatal drain? which exhadst
our defensive energies. What can a mm who wishes to conquer
England, desire better, than to give her new colonies to garrison, in
the sickly swamps of Guiana; and new civil and military establish-
ments to maintain, at the Cape of Good Hope ? He professes indeed
ilj place a great value on colonies; and perhaps, considering the
situation of France, might reasonably do so; but new distant terri-
tory to Great Britain, is like new projections from the upper floors
of a building which already overhangs its base.

If, however, Buonaparte were ^hort sighted enough not to per-
ceive that we should be enfeebled by such acquisitions, he knows at
least that the free use of the sea, is worth to him a hundred such co-
lonial cessions, as the uti fioasideiis would give us. We should in
effect pay him a large compensation for the spoils of his allies in the
colonies; while he would retain thfi enormous spoils of our allies iti
Europe, without paying for them any compenstion at all. ! cannot
think therefore t^t he has receded from this offered basis, except
*°^ * |hort interval, and with a view to finish his usurpations on the
continent, before he accepts our comprehensive sfft^ion of tfapm in
a new treaty of peace.

< '■'Via-

'^ Stipposing this basis unsafe for us, what other it may be asked, -
would be less so? I answer, what in the existing posture of affairs is
diametrically opposite, the »tatu» quo ante beUuntj for ourselves and
our allies.

But this, it may be exclaimed, it would be preposterous to ex-
|lect at present from France. I admit it, and therefore it would be

. preposterous to expect at present a peace safe for Great Britain.
The impossibility consists in this, that France will not relinquish her
new possessions t)n the continent; and that therefore Great Britain
cannot safely relinquish her undivided possession of the sea. We
cannot.do so, -not only because we should, by opening the sea to our
enemy, enable him soon to become a formidable maritime power,
but because his usurped empire on shore, would become far more
terrible and irresistible than it is, were its commercial communica-

■^Agsions restored. We dare not give him back his navigation, and let

^^him keep all his new territory too.

4 These principles, in any day but the present, would have needed
no demonstration. If we can safely make peace with France in her
present most alarming attitude, ve have been fighting since 1792,
and even in all our wars since the treaty of Ryswick, not only with-
out necessity, but upon the most irrational and extravagant views that
ever governed the policy of a nation.

,, To the argument—" How can we now hope to redeem the con-
tinent by war?" I answer, its redemption by peace, is at least equally
hopeless. Let us, therefore, if the continent be indeed irrecoverably
, lost, look well to what remains, — to the last hope of Europe, as well
as our own nearest interest, the safety of the British islands. There
was a time perhaps, when it itight have been more prudent to open
the sea to Francfe, leaving her in a state of great continental aggran-
dizement, than to risque her pushing her conquests still further, if
that could have been prevented by any pacific conventicms that we
had power to make, for ourselves and our allies ; but if there was
^ ever a proper season for such policy, it plainly exists no longer; and
this, not only because our enemy has shewn that no confidence can
be placed in any treaty which opposes his thirst of universal empire ;
but because it may now fairly be doubted, whether any further in-
crease lof his dominions, would really add to his po'^er.

' For my own part, however singular the- o^ion may leem, I

should have letrs apprehension of danger from the arms of Napoleon,
if th© reniaihin^ territories of Prussia, and Austria, and even the im-
mense domains of Russia and Turkey, were added to his conquests,
t^ than I feel at tlie present moment. At sea^ the acquisition of every

:- If .

bottom stiU friendly to this country, would not now enable hip tQ
cope with ua: and on shore he has power enough already for our de-
•truction, when it can be brought into actbn against us. The mo-
inentum of the vast machine, on its present scale, is more than we can
* hope finaUy tc resist: but every enlargement of its dimensions, and
multipUcauon of its mtricate movements, increases its tendencies io
interior derangement; and therefore, without adding to our imme.
diate peril, improves our chance of escape. Buonaparte has hitherto
been so astomshingly prudent or fortunate, that we naturally begin
to doubt whether :here be any thing too difficult for him to accom-
phsh ; but his power is already composed of so many discordant ele-
i|»ents, that their cohesion is truly wonderful: and as he proceeds,
he is gaming at double or quits. Even the large armies, which he
has to station in so many conquered countries, wiU soon be very diffi-
cult to govern. They, or their generals, will probably recoUect, that
the Roman legions bestowed the purple, as well as kept the pro.|
vmces m subjection; and revolutions in tiiis extraoKiinary age move
with a celerity of which history has no example.

But if it be stiU thought that we have cause to dread the further
extension of French empire on the continent, it is a danger against
which peace can furnish no degree of security. Napoleon wiU not
treat ouf mediation or remonstrances now, with more deference tiian
he did after the treaty of Amiens.

I I conclude, therefore, that in relaxing by a peace, that naval and
commercial embargo to which the enemy is now subjected by our
fleets, and enabling hipi thereby to replenish his treasury, and res-
tore his marine, we should incur very formidable new dangers, witji-
out at all diminishing the old. We should not check, but accelerate,
the growth of his tremendous power on the continent; while we
should give him the opportunity of building that bridge for it to the
British islands which is now happily wanting.
,, If peace would not diminish the power of Napoleon to prepare
means fpr the conquest of England, still less would it remove his
present hostility to our independence and freedom.
. 1 In truth, it is impossible, that he should ever cease to regard our
subjugation as the first and most necessary object of his policy. His
throne cannot be stable, while civil Uberty remains unsubverted in
any part of Euro^ ; and though freedom is every where the objeci
of hia l«at»'ed OP'S At-^aA «>a» :* :_ ..^-t:— « •__ »^^_»i • ._ i_" •_ _ ;

With such a neighbour as the British constitution, he knows that hi«
military despotism can never cease to be invidious and odious in
f'Vance.

■ — S^^™

^- f:^?''^^®^ ,i^^(2i-

: ,^f'

'^'.

..V -,: . -i.

, Equally impossible is it, that new subjefeti of cdfi
not soon and often arise. Already he justly foresees one of them,
which he is by no means prepared to tolerate, in the freedom of our
press ; and therefore has modestly proposed its abolition by act of par-
liament,as essential even to that temporary peace, which he is willing,
for his own purposes, to accord to us. If he did not press that demand
as an indispensible condition of the treaty lately projected, it only
proves the more clearly, that he either was insincere in negociating
for a peace, or meant to make use of it as a mere stratagem the bet-
tj^r to insure our destruction .

But supposing that he really means to live in peace with a coun-

j try whose news-writers shall dare to divulge and arraign his crimes*

i it is an intention to which he would be incapable of adhering. He

is not less proud or irascible now, than before he had assumed the

'^ title of Emperor, or won the battle of Austerlitz ; and yet during the

last peace, he resented with great indignation the censures of our

press.

What then is to be dope ? He disdsdned in the case of M. Peltier
the satisfaction of a prosecution at law; nor would he consent to disi
I tinguish between strictures such as our courts might deem libellous,
and those remarks upon his public conduct, which might be within
the strictest limits of allowable public discussion. We know his sys-
tem of government for the press, and the policy on which it is found-
ed. Nothing, according to his maxims, ought to be published, where-
"; by a tyrant may be rendered deservedly odious at home, or a coH^
queror be obstructed in his schemes against the independency of
foreign nations. Even political rumours in conversation are with
him capital crimes. When it was lately reported in Hanover, that
9 Russian army was marching for that country, the French governor
publicly announced that such rumours were by the law of France,
punished with death. '*

We know too, by Mr. Palm's case, with what vengeance Napo-
leon pursues the offences of a foreign press, when he has the power
to punish. To proclaim in a neutral country, the dangers with which
Europe is'menaced by his ambition, is with him an atrocious crime ;
?»nd entitles him to trample on the rights of nations, as well as of in-
dividuals, in order to avenge it. Are we prepared then to prohibit
our press from divulging even such enormities of this man's coil» '

Attts^ OB If moir nrtncf V,.o\\i\va tVio rK>r\nI« f\f KnorlnpH tn IcTtQW ? Tf nnf.

•Vi^avrtj z*,-^ sr ••"-' rr ■- j •-- ^,- - - -- - - ~r

what hope of abiding peace with Buonaparte ? '^■•

I will not insist on the danger of quarrels on account of his fit-

ture outrages against other nations, and his usurpaticms of new king-

Y .

doms and cotenies in time of peace ; for to all this we must of course,
be prepared to submit. It would be grossly inconsistent to go to^
war again for such causes, if we make peace at the present junc-
ture ; nor would the people of England be easily brought to engage
again in a foreign quarrel, when persuaded that the moat enormou*
-•ggrandizement of France is compatible with their own peace arid
security. Buonaparte, therefore, must be left to act as he did after
the treaty of Amiens ; and to take if he pleases the rest of the world,
as the price of abstaining awhile from war against the British doxni-
nions.

^ But our commerce, and our navigation, would become sure sub-
jects of early dispute, unless we were willing tamely to submit, to
injuries fatal to our trade, to our revenue, and maritime power.
, It is impossible, when we consider Napoleon's maxims of com-
thercial policy, to doubt that he will avail himself, as soon as the
seals open, of all his enormous power and influence, to exclude us '
by means of treaties, and of municipal laws, not only from France,
but from every other country in Europe, to the government of which
he can dictate. With a sincerity unusual to him, he has already
pretty plainly intimated that such will be his pacific system, by pro-
testing, in &mine, when he began to negotiate, against every stipula-
tion in favour of our commerce. He Would have no commercial
treaties witii us whatever.

And here I must own myself quite at a loss to comprehend the
views of those, who regard the interests of our commerce and ma-
nufactures, as considerations on the side of peace. That such is not
the opinion of our merchants in general, is well known ; and yet they
judge perhaps only from the necessary effects o'" a free peace com*
petition against them, under the present great disadvantages of the
country, without taking into the account the unfair preferences and
exclusions, to be systematically opposed to them in foreign coun-
tries.

Who that attentively considers the Apirit of Napoleon's late de-
cree againn our commerce, can be insensible to the danger of his
acting on the same principle in time of peace? He might then pem
haps find means to carry into effect, what he now impotently threat.^
ens. The necessities of his subjects, and of the subjects of his

allies and dependents, will secure to us their custom during war, in
snit-e rtf iiio r..u>u:k:t.:^..> . e i^. « _ • • _

• ~" ~ j--t --■:;i-_"-,i"::= , iTsi ii uaiiSJUi Go aUppuScu ihai Oiir govern*

ment will omit to employ the obvious means of counteracting them.
I hope rather that we shall embrace the fair opportunity which it af-
fords of asserting more firmly our maritime rights, and thereby giv-

«l

, t

'■*

iflg new vigour to Brkiah oomiDerce. But when we shall have no
longer the power of opposing to regulati(»is cm shore, the pressure
of owr hostUities by sea; when th« sh^pn of France, Spain, Holland,
Genoa, aiKl Venice, and all the other maritime countries now hostile
to us, shaU be able to navigate without interruption, on eveiy voyage,
and with every species of merchandize ; the same, interdict on our
trade, in the inoffensive form of municipal laws, may produce the
desired effect, and gradually exclude us from almost all the ports of
Europe.

Commerce, it is true, will force its way in spite of prohibitions,
where the demand and the profits sufficiently excite the enterprize
of the merchant; but it is difficult to believe that the manufectures
and trade of this country, under the extreme pressure of our public
burthens, will long retain inherent energy enough in the comparative
cheapness and skill with which they are conducted, to supplant other
maritime nations, in their own, or neighbouring markets ; and if by
9 hostile system which we cannot retaliate, they shall be further en-
cumbered with all the disadvantages and risks of a contraband car-
riage, while our rivals cah trade safely, and with every encourage-
ment that commercial laws can afford, I see not how we can hop©
long to maintain the unequal contest. In this view, the comparison
between peace and war is plain and simple. Napoleon is fully re-
solved to deprive us of the commerce of the continent; but in war,
he has the inclinaticm without the power; in peace he will have both.
He holds the continental gates of the market ; but in war we com-
mand all the roads that lead to it, and can therefore starve him into
the admission of our trade : In peace, the rou s will be free to him,
and he will still command the gates.

Let me not be understood to propose commercial advantages as
motives of war ; but when the question is of abandoning a contest, on
a firm perseverance on which our liberty and national existence may
depend, from the dread of ruin to our manufactures and trade j it is
right to consider how these would be affected by peace. Let it be
shewn therefore what reason we have to hope, that Buonaparte would
be disposed to spare them. He must willingly abstain in this res-
pect from lawful means of depressing a rival, or we should probably
soon have to choose between the ruin of our commerce, and the re-
^mmencement of war.

The last, and most decisive objection to peace, is that Napoleon
cleapiy caruiui be iriiaicu; aiiu has now so complete!)' broken down
the balance of Europe, that he has no guarantee to offer to us for his
observance of any treaty that he may make.

That he is faithless, is sufficiently tiotorious; and what is worse,
he feels no restraint from a rt-gard to qharacter, but is on the contrary,
vain of his fraudful policy. This trait in the character of that extraor-
dinary man, has not, in tny apprehension, excited aU the attention that
it dcsefves; for it is in a high degree curious and important. Othe*
conquerors have been perfidious; but I can recollect no instance of
any other sovereign, who was proud and ostentatious of his contempt
tor truth and justice, both in the cabinet and in the field.

To the intelligent reader, instances of this peculiarity in Napo^
eon, may perhaps readily occur. The Egyptian expedition, a crea-
ture of his own, abounded, from first to last, with proofs of it. His
dispatches, under a thin veil of expression, too flimsy even to de».
teive the lowest of the vulgar, and used only io make his address
conspicuous, informed France and Europe of that foul perfidy, with
which nations at peace with the republic, Turks, Mamelukes, and
»^s, were alternately cajoled and deceived. The sanguinary
tneansof eonquest, were also coolly narrated; and Denon, in his
account of the expedition to Upper Egypt, published at Paris under
the auspices of Buonaparte himself, needlessly enlarges upon the
barbarities committed by the French army in the villages of the mi-
serablc Cophts, as if they added to the honours of his patron
i^ He took care also that his impious hypocrisy in that comitry,
should be perfectly understood in France. His open disavowal of
Christ, m his proclamations to a Mahometan people, and his as-
sumption of the name of Ali, to countenance the pretence of his
being a convert to their faith, appeared, if I remember right, in his
official dispatches, as well as in his Egyptian state papers; and it is
probable, th^t the desire of being admired for his address at home,
more than the hope of any direct benefit from the^heat among the
Mussuhnans, was the motive of that vile expedient.

His late elaborate, though contemptuous, answer to the Prussian
manifesto, is evidently an instance of similar conduct. The absurd
policy into which he had long betrayed the unfortunate monarch, is
artfully pointed out to the notice of every observant reader ; ^d
those measure which were the result of a fatal complaisance for,
and confidence m the usurper himself, are held up as having ex-
posed their credulous and simple author to the distrust and hatred
ot Austna, and thereby prepared his fall. «•

In publishing Sebastiani'y renort^ he -y-vf.. s-~~.j?-.-^ *.-. ».?
Pitt's observation, a greater cause of war than'even'ihe'lnsidious
mission of that agent J and yet it ,.a8 evidently published, not for the
sake of insulting the powers with which he was then at peace, but

'(■■■I

ft'

\
\

for the sake of exhibiting his state-craft> ancl contempt for the i
gatk>n of treaties.

Other instances not less striking, might be found in his Euro-
pean policy ; and if so strange a singularity of cliaracter were still
fkiubtful, we might borrow a still stronger illustration of it /rom a
case well known in the West Indies; and which, though tittle nO'
ticed in this country, was recorded in the Paris gazettes. I mean
not the well-known treachery towards Toussaint, but the treatment
of Pelage, the chief leader in Guadaloupe, and the black army under
htis command.

The negroes in that island, remained perfectly quiet and obe-
dient to their masters, through the most trying revolutionary times,
till Victor Hugues, and his brother commissioners, arrived with a
decree for their enfranchisement, in the summer of 1794; and by
their help, reconquered the island from the British army, to which
it had surrendered. From that time to the peace of Amiens, the
new citizens not only defended the island for France, when she had no
other possession left in the Antilles, but enabled her to do infinite
mischief to the neighbouring British colonies; and powerfully divert-
ed, our arms and treasure from the European contest, at the most
critical period of the war. a*{ n- i| 4,*

Interior subordination and good conduct, accompanied these
important services ; and Buonaparte himself on the restitution of
peace, pubUcly praised these black patriots, whose freedom was
then anew most solemnly guaranteed by the state, and by himself,
for having maintained the island in a state of great agricultural va-
lue. He added, by way of apology to the planters, that " it would
"cost humanity too much to attempt there, a new revolution." At
the same moment, however, he sent a new governor. La Crosse,
with an army, to restore slavery and the cartwhip ; and that officer
was pi'oceeding to execute his instructions, when the negroes, under
Pelage their chief leader, resisted, and drove him from the island*;
,3 They acted, nevertheless, with the utmost humanity and mode>-
ration ; and sent a very loyal address to the chief consul, humbly
justifying their conduct, imputing the strange attempt of La Crosse
to a breach of his orders, and offering to receive dutifully any other
governor whom the republic might chuse to send. Napoleon took
them at their word ; and Richepanse, whom he sent out with new
and mpst solemn declarations that liberty should be inviolably main-

«<rt«rk^vr1 wna vuk#.AiirArl Kir T^aIqcva ork/i fno r*Ki^f rukl.!* f\7 nta K1a/*lr aTmnar
lintlt-!-, rrv:^ T-^-^.-j,-.".-; ■■- - „ -- - j .-— - — -j

with all the honours due to the representative of the republic. A
part however of the negro army, being less credulous after what

ttiey had recently witn*,«sed, refused to obey hiserderl^lt^ which.
Pdage marched his loyal troops ag:ain9t them, and after several
Woody conflicts, completely suppressed all resistance to the autho-
my of the new governor. The last body of the disaffected negro
soldiery that held out, consisting of some hundreds, took shelter ili,
a fort, and when they found it no longer tenable against their nume-
^us and brave assailants, followed a memorable example of ancient
resolution ,n the cause of Uberty, by setting fire to their magazine.
• fhe explosion, not only saved every one of these intrepid men from
the whips of the driven., but was fatal to many of their brave deluded
brethren, who were approaching to storm the walls.

Buonaparte, in his gazette account, paid a very high tribute of
praise to the astonishing gallantry of Pelage and his black battalions,
by whom such determined enemies had been subdued. But what
m^ their immediate reward? To be treacherously divided, seized at
their different posts by surprize, sent on board transports, and, as
was supposed in the neighbouring islands, drowned at sea. The
only reason for imagining that the report of their being destroyed in
thut mode, may not have bfn universally time, is that at the com-
mencement of the present war, an article appeared in some French
news-papers, importing that Pelage was set at liberty from a prison
in France; but it was probably only designed to inspire a fear into
our government, that this brave leader might again be employed to
annoy usin the Antilles: for neither he, nor his exiled followers,
have since been heard of.

I do not cite this case for the very needless purpose of shewing
that Buonaparte is perfidious in the highest degree, but to prove that
he IS proud of that quaUty ; for this unparalleled instance of fraud
and ingratitude, though notorious in the West Indies, would pro-
bably never have been fully known in Europe, if he had chosen to
conceal it; and he had actually concealed the cause of the expulsion
ot La Crosse, together with the loyal address of Pelage and his coun-
trymen, for the sake of suppressing the disgraceful result of his first
attempt on negro liberty in Guadaloupe, till he received accounts of
he success of his second perfidious stratagem. But as soon as he
learnt from Richepanse, that all the miUtary negroes were destroved,
and their unamied cuhivators in his power, he filled the columns ot
the Monitetir with their address, though then several months old ,
and a few days after, announced aU the events that followed ; relatincr
wo;:, ,ne af i^« and deportation ot Pelage and his troops, without
even accusing them of a fault, or suggesting any other excuse, for
tbat unexampled perfidy of which they were the victims.

Sticli if the maOf whose good faith muftt now be our pnly lecur
Tit^ Scr ««w nsMutiuniug tus ctuue^ wf pvoCci or obssFviij^syiq c<iij|j|^i*
tions of treaties. Were he, whUe bound by pacific conventions to
Ua, sudden^ to l»nd »n »r«ay in Irtland or Great Britain, he would
mher boast of, than blush fpr, the stj^tagcm. Much less vrauld he
be ashamed of |naidioug)y stirring up against us new and dangerous
vara in India, for which he would immediately prepare, when
the Bea should be no longer impervious to his emissaries and his
troops.

The dilSculties of making peaee with enemies of a faithless cha-
racter, have hei:etQfore been commonly obviated or lessened, by the
mediation and guarantee of powerful neutral states; or where these
have not thought fitxlii-ectly to interfere, a treaty has still been held
the less insecure, because other nations likely to censure, perhaps
to assist in avenging, wiy flagrant act of perfidy, were privy to the
compact. But France, having left in the civilized world no indcr
pendent power but England at all capable of annoying her, has no
longer any thing to fear, i)or have we any thing to hope, from the
interference of other states.

Is tliere any reason then to expect that the sense of self interest,
f» the political maxima of Napoleon, will lead him to adhere to bis
pacific engagements? On the contrary, were his revenge and hatred
towards us, and even his dread of the example of our civil liberty,
jenioved, still he would feel it necessary to crush a power which so
otetinately opposes the march of his ambition.

It is a common error, of which we find many fatal examples in
Wstory, to suppose that a mind inflamed with the lust of conquest
and^ominbn, has set certain bounds to its desires; and that by
allowing it the quiet possession of present usurpations, it will be
sated and become quiescent. As well might we exis^ct the flames
. to subside, because the conflagration is already enormous, while
• there is fresh fuel within reach of their spires. The prodigbus
jUsqent of Buonaparte, is al<H)e a sure earnest, that he will never rest, "
while it is possible to mount any higher — A mighty monarch, who
inherited his throne from his ancestors, may greatly aggrandize him-
self by conquest perhaps, without giving decisive proof of an arobi-
lpi<^ afesfti^t«ly t^undless; but what can be capable of satisfying the
1*|IW» **^Wb^ suddenly elevated from a private station, to the
throne of the Bourbons, wid possessed of a dominion greater by far
than the Bourbons ever possessedi' could not for a moment be con-
|ei}t.' It is not enough for him, that his ovro brows are bound with
an imperial diadfijga.—^Il9 muM; sot crowms also w the heads of all

his near relations and connectiohs. N«v hi. f^^A. — j i-x««^^-
must be ra,«=d to the rank of princes, and placed on a level with the
inost ,1 ustnous house, of Eumpe. Is it in nature that ambition like
this, will evef respect any limits over which it i. possible to vault?
What human passion wa* erer diminished by exce«,ive indul-
Sed? '*"' ^''*'' ""^ *"* "'°'' *^*'"""'* graUfication r,^-

Let it be recollected that the appetite of a conqueror is, not to
enjoy dominion, brt to acquire and extend it ; or rather, to find iif
that favourite work, new sources of military fame. He value. •
kingdom after it is subdued, no more than the sportsman a fox or
hare, after u » run down : the pleasure is in the pursuit. Alexan-
^r ""derstood this, though his friend Parmeniadid not, when Da.

rwtf *"" ^^"^™°"' '° '""'^ *^« ''''^ *^«ther with hi.

St J" "J^^^'/I'^oUld accept the proposal," said the

. i?!::^iS:Le,:;:r'^'"""^^

L '" a word, when we consider attentively the pecuUar force of
tbis destructive passion, in the breast of Buonaparte, and the absti-
nence from its gratification which must be the price of a durable
peace with England, his personal feelings, still more than his in-
terest or his policy, render his adherence to a paciBc system utterly
hopeless. '

^ For these reasons, as well as others, the poHcy of treating with
!• ranee at the present conjuncture, is by no means like that which
prevailed at the close of the last war. The treaty of Amiens, was,
I then thought, and still think, a wise and laudable measure.
Buonaparte had not then given unequivocal proof that he was actua-
ted by views incompatible with a true or lasting peace. On the
contrary, there was reason to hope that he desired to build his future
tame, and his domestic authority, on that popular foundation. Be-

'"^^M !*;'u."°''^'" ^^"'•^"^ the republican government, and
estabhshed his ppwer upon the basis of an absolute monarchy. The
popular voice in France therefore was likely to be respected, and it
was decidedly in fevour of peace.

At the same time it seemed highly probable, that the strengUi
of the republic, if r^t her warlike aisposiiion, would decline, when
the pressure of foreign hostilities should be removed, and her dis-
cordant interior elements be left to their natural motion. These

-...-__ j.^ ..„^ „^^^, ^ oBhamed oi erroneous calculati<»is

on such subjects; for the extraordinary course of events has placed
the most heedless rashness, and most cautious circumspection, in

political judgment, nearly on a level. Now however, the character
sbm system o» jjUGnaparte are u'-come iiiHtters not of speculation
but experience, while his power seems to be irreversibly established:
conaeqiiently the hopes 1^hich justified the treaty of Amiens, could
not now be rationally admitted, even if tiie state of Europe were
e(|ually favourable to peace.

But the most important disUnction between that case and the
present, is to be found in the much altered, and now deplorable
Stat* cf the continent. The great military powei-s, our natural al-
^ lies, were then lef^ in a condition to keep in check the ambition nf
France, by a timely union; and in this we had some apparent se-
curity for her future moderation, which is now entirely lost.

In this lespect, the case is most decisively altered for the worbe,
even since the late negociation at Paris. Neither the example
therefore of the administration which treated at Amiens, nor that of
the present cabinet and Mr. Fox, would afford any sanction for n
new exiifriment upon the good faith and moderation of France^ after
the battle of Auerstadt, and the total ruin of Prussia.
• Stirely the ungrateful treatment of that power, will convince us
of the extreme folly of hoping to conciliate Napoleon by a timid
pacific system. If not, we shall give a more striking instarrce than
has yet been exhibited of that infatuation which prepares for him
his victims ; since England has at present a security in war, that
neither Prussia nor Austria possessed.

Such are my reasons for thinking that a peace with Buonaparte,
would not lessen, but aggravate our dangers. — Those who maintain
the contrary, are pridently sparing of explanations. They hold it
enough to spread before our eyes the dangers and inconveniences
of. war, without shewing how they are to be diminished by peace; o!-
what possible hope we have, that any peace we can make will be
lasting.

In a view to finances indeed, they say, how are we long to carry
on the war? — I admit the difficulty, but retort the question, how are
we to carry on tlie peace ?

Dares any n 'nister promise us a peace which will so far deliver
us from the necessity of defensive precautions, as greatly to diminish
our expenses ? — But to juaufy a negociatitm in this view, its advocates
should go much farther, and shew, that contrary to the calculations
of our merchants, peace will make no shrink in our commercial
revenue ; otherwise the diminution of import and export dutiesys
may be more than equal to any possible saving of expenditure.
Some statesmen are said to assert, that we may by persevering ia

the aystcm of finance, dttabHshed by Mr. Pitt, sdm find r«o..rrei^
for prosecuting the war without any addiUonal taxes; but nobotiy'1
behevc will maintain, that a peace dctructive of our commerce
would be consistent with any auch hope.

ilf our finances were likely to be improved in peace, it wouW b*
•anew and decisive reason with Buonaparte for the speedy renew^
«f war. But without taking any such nioUve into the account, it
must be, and is admitted, even by the most sanguine advocatea for »
peace, that its duration would be in the highest degree precarious.
.1 we must therefore set agauist the very sleixder chance of finaMciai
liawngs by a pacific system, the probable and vast expense of renew-
ing, at an early period, our wnr establishments, aftf- they may have
been broken up or reduced.

- When these considerations are fairly weighed, it wiU appear
^ry doubtful whether a steady prosecution of the war be not tbe
•lost economical, as well as the safest course, we can at present
pursue. That would at least, I dare affirm, be the case, supposinir
the war to be conducted upon right principles, and such as'the duty
of self-preservation, at this awful crisis, demands. If we are still to
persevere m miUtary expeditions to distant countries, those sure
sources of enormous peculation and waste, the war indeed may be
costly enough ; but if we wisely keep at home the army which may
be essential to our domesuc safety, act only on the defensive oa
shore, and assert firmly our belUgerent rights on the ocean, we shall
find It more frugal by far to continue at open war, than to suspend
hostJities again fo. a year or two, by an anxious and dangei-oua '
peace. Such a use of our maritime power as the state of Europe,
and of the world, would abundantly justify, and as the late conduct
of the enemy mvites, would give us means of maintaining the con-
test lor fafty years if necessary, without an adcUtional tax, except
such as France, her alUes, and the states under her influence would

p*y*

- The only additional argument for siieathing the sword that is
commonly urged, appears to me perfectly frivolous, « If we continue
the war, it is said, from a dread of making peace with France in her
present state of aggrandisement, we may continue it for ever; for
we cannot deprive her of her conquests." Permanent war, no doubt
IS a dreadlul idea ; but let it be contrasted, as (to meet fairly the pre-
sent arguments for war,) it ougi t, with permanent servitude to

t ranee, and nerhnus it= hnfi-twiz ■=.".!>. -:.-.--...!.

The objt^tion however supposes, that because we cannot dis-
locigt the enemy from bis present possessions, they must of cour^

he perpetual J and that all the other dangers which forbid a pacific
aysteiii at ihe present alarming jm^cture, are also interminable.
Bat if the terntorial aggrandisement of Prance, and what is not less
dangerous, the talents, strength, and ambition of her present govern-
Ifient, are to last for ever, so much the less can we afford to divide
with her the possession of the sea. If in that case, the naval power
of the enemy is to vegetate long and freely upon the enormous
ields of dominion now plowed up for its culture, farewel to every
hope of our pcnaanem safety : but we may now cut off from it by
war. that maritime carriage and trade, which are essential to its nu*
tl'itbn and growth.

For my part, I regard neither Buonaparte, nor his conquests,
nor hi3 ambitious system, as immortal; though all may live long
enough for the ruin of England, if we give him a peace at this iunc-

• if Judging from historical examples, and natural probability, winch
; r notwithstanding the strange occurrences of the age, we must stilt
do, if we would anticipate future events, I cannot beUeve th : the
new erected empire of , France will long survive the buUder. It
. , V has been put together too hastily, and with too many unseasoned
V, ; materials, to be durable. It may even fell by the rupture of that
military scaffolding bjr which it was raised. The deposed sove-
reigns may probably not be restored, nor the conquered nations de-
. livered fiom a foreign master ; but it seems probable that. the cap-

, ^ tains of this second Alexander, will at his decease at least, if nbt
during his life, carve out lor themselves their respective kingdoms,
without mucJi respect for the claims of the Corsican family. He
has already shewn them the way to take up crowns with the sword,
a»d h^ whetted their appetite for sovereign power, by the elevation
of their comrades. France, therefore, may like Maccdon, be soon
glad to maintain her ancient borders against those who conquered in
her name ; and new political combinadons, may produce a new
bal^jce of power in Eui ^>e. The conqueror himself even, may
possibly meet the fate of his brother emperors, Gaesar, and Dessa-
lines; and if we must at last faU, it will be something at least, to
have escaped by a protracted war, the yoke of Buonaparte.

We should dread subjection to this man, beyond all other fo-
reign masters; not only because he personally hates us, and all th^
ismosinoble among us; but because, of all those scourges of man*

* ' -~ — ' ^^~^^ «^w^.« aivv^^^ saivrsv.* Is ui y v^uOua.

' And here let mr deprecate with just alarm, let me reprobate
with honest in^g^tion^ the grovelling sentiments th^t would E?<»ib#

to tU. ph*„«„««„ „d ^^h of ouf-g., ft. character of a h.«!
yoke, w. shall be compelled Uke Frencbroen <o pra« him, b«t tel

}, Z't^r;^ """^ """"" "" "^ "-""^ «» "« 'ow level ^

There has alway. been in the world a fatal propendty ,„ admir.
ho,epest.of ourapedoa, called conqueror, and tol^t^^
feme the «,gea for which they labour in .he Belda of U^ b"
_ ^ error^ ha. .n general one excaae. We comn.c„,, ,i^X
to m.«h,e™. race, a. in the Uon, a aavage dignity a. le. T»2
..ge„ero.,yof chancer. Even in d»ir c™,r.h're i, . fZ
».,y w,„ch „sp,re. terror indeed, and perhaps i„dign.Uon,C
«. dtsgust or contempt. How diHe^n, the man, X .fte" Z.
iattleoiAueratadt, could send forth those pitif, j„. „■„.,.'

«nhappy woman, and a queen, which have appeared . - .• Tench
^.e.,.. : who has repeatedly indulged the same paltry spi aet,™^
«^u.^c«ma..,p,e«,of Nap,., and the brav,%„lastaa?Z
*»ted h,m m Syria , who refused to allow the body of the gallan, oM

itelfe' of T^': "' '^^ '" '^-'O""- of his ancestorsfand Z
m ine case of Trafalgar, and many other instances, has not scruole.!

^ I fMT that the detestMion due to this last mean part of BuoM.
P^.e-scharac.er,hegi„stowearou., fmm the frequency oHt. "^
bttton Let us ^collect then if we can, any other man i„ Icfen
cr modern Cory, known by ft. appellaUon of G«at, whTel
stooped to the pitfful tricks of systematic falsehood, in hdr puhl

utterly unknown , and though in our modem wars with the kings „f
1-rance, account, of battles are «ud to have been unliir, at U^^
ti» «de of our enemies, the misrepresentation, have b^en suet Z
nugW, m good measure, be ascribed to the decoptious report, Z
subordinate comm«,ders, or to the since™ n,rd,L .f^Z,c

Lt'reTrr'Tf"™ "' "° '"""«'' (t.«.te.^.me'm th.
d^lTfl?""^ ' ''«""F™'=fc «"« w^ip^bably ...cr, th,
dupe of flattery, than the author of wijf,,! fi|lM|™j_ i.ry..^ jT

used .n those days, from the shameless effrontery which could

'htt^ lost fifteen or sixteen ships of the line, and forge letters from
Gibraltar to confirm the vile impobture.

There is even a generical difference between this mean hatuit of
Napoleon, and the falsehoods ever before used by.any monarch who
has "tooped to this grovelling vice. Deceits , have been practised
^ivately in the cabir»et ; but they have been regarded, at least by
those misjudging minds which used thera,as th€ lawful circumven-
tion of an enemy or a rival ; and such violations of truth, have com-
monly been perpetrated in the hope of escaping detection. But the
mendacious giiaettes of Buonaparic, differ from such secret and pa^.
ticular crimes, as open prostitution, differs from a private intrigue,
lie publi3hes without a blush, relations the gross falsehood of which
'hb knows to be notorious at the moment to every man in Europe,
except those who are prevented from reading any newspapers but his
own ; and which must soon lose their credit even with his own de?
fuded subjects. For a temporary domestic, purpose, this mighty
monarch is content to incur an infamy from which every gcntlemea
shrinks with abhorrence, and the proper epithet for which is too low
to sully these sheets, r^i ,

If any man can regard a contemptible trait of character like this,
as compatible with true greamess, let him look to another criterion.
TbeJi^is a comity in heroism, and a sympatliy between great minds,
which have secured to illustrious characters, when fallen, respect and
kindness from their conquerors. Antiquity abounds with examples
of such magnanimity, which we admire, though we feel, at the same
time, that they could hardly be of difficult practice , But the pseudo-
heroism of Buonaparte, has no such amiable feature. .

I will not stop to illustrate his odious want of senafaility ia,such
cases, by instances to which Europe has been sufficiently awake ; but
refer to one that appears to me the most remarksdble and shameful.

He had once an illustrious opponent, who attracted much atten-
tion in the present day, and will probably be still more admired in
the calm view of future ages ; I mean that extraordinary African
.iToussaint. Napoleon himself pronounced his eulogy in these terms,
« Called by his talents to the chief command in St. Domingo, he
« preserved the island to France during a long and arduous foreign
« war, in which she could do nothing to support him. He destroy-
« ed civil war, put an end to the persecutions of ferocious men, and
«' restored to honour t^ religion and worship of God, from whom

ttm-J' ««twM«ia

• Speech of July or August, 1802, in the X.ondon newspapers of August 9ft»-

♦■

oo«, «Med greatly to h« formCT gloiy. Incorruptible, dlintereiiK

J ^<«p.d, a«d «um»e, he performed, in hi, ,a., con^t for fre^

**'««»>» «!.« womM bear con,p.ri«„ with the nx^ MIB^

™mp over the conqnerors of Europe. We Itm,w too well 4e

Tunpi^^ttr "''"""''"""• "•'^'"-'^^-'^

C^i, 2^ T'" ""'" ="P" "■«•" W been expected to h6.
Z^tT^ '^ eharactcr, and take pride in r^watxling hi,

«:ir.;rd::: ■ idt '^^'hrh f "^ '"::™'"^ '° '■^"

Mo, the .ere. of n-anho^-^:- J-l^r ^T:^::^^
Before he counted into the region of i.luatriouB de"ds, he hTto
ctean« h,. w,„g. fro„ .n. tilih of a brutalizing bondage :Y.7h"

man, and he chief of a peopie, formed br his own «nius fr„^
.laves and taAarian., into citizen, and »ldiers Hfwa, „e™

ed famtb-, and thrown him into a dungeon to ,«ri,h " A C.«X

spared h„n , but it was hi. hard lot to fall into the hands of an e„e!

and'l H """; "^"^"^ "' " "™8e, the apathy of . ," ,"'
and the baseness of a sham renegado. •> "-fptic,

tim.«''th *" "''? '? "■" '"'" °f ""'' S<="«™» »■"! elevated sen-'

•..nent, the Mn.berle» positivs crime, against humanity, jmUcL*

nd honottr, by which NaHeon J, disgraced, it seems IS^

2 «n:t;r;r "" "- ™"' *"•'•''"- "^-"^^ ^= ^'--^

ch™';^« ""mil":"' *" • '"^"'' '=™" **• "" ""-' "-'o™

iire h.:l.,'!'l"r.tr..'l!''''~"'«* "-B f™m the laUe of
thimi^h A^" ." '' "■■"' "■■*"■' "' """"B ™ adveoturous cours*
<hwngh el,M,, to wage new war. against the Almighty, in a new
created world we cnncetve of him with fear and hat«d Leed b«
there ., a majesty i„ m, crime., W,i,h screen, him fmra comemp,

: V,>

^\L^-m^ J .J^-.

Not so, when he meanly lies to the archangel ; and still less, vihtx^
in the shape of a loathsome reptile, he aits at the car 6f our first
mother, practising detestable frauds and falsehoods upon her fancy,
for the ruin of her innocence and peace. His dignitf now vanishes,
and admiration is lost in abhorrence. Yet the fiend still sins in the
prosecution of a public purpose : he is serving i '>e state of Hell,
and not merely the individual Satan. The heroism of Buonaparte,
on the contrary, is sunk in selfishness, as well as in despicable
Crimes. His private personal feelings are ever predominant t it is
the opposition to, or the libel against Napoleon, that provokes his
bitterest vengeance— it is for little self, and its connections, that he
purders, deceives, insults, oppresses, and betrays.
^ The extreme elevation to which talents and success have raised
Jiim, makes these mean and loathsome qualities only the more op-
probrious and disgusting. How abject must be the c(»istitution of
that mind, which such fortunes could not ennoble ! Antichristiaii
philosophy, behold thy work ! See here the differe ce between thy
godless heroism, and the dignity, I will not say of Christian, but even
of Pagan, greatness. The 'majesty of the Temple it ruined, because
there was no sense of a present Divinity to guard it from pollution.
It is as if the sublime dome of St. Paul's wete lined, and its lofty pil-
lars covered, with the rags of Chick-lane, and the offals of Newgate-
market. ;''(.. ■ o^\ -■;<**•■.■■;;;■,, <iw«..,»--, ■, • ^

:^ If the irreligious character of the age has generated this spun-
Urn greatness, let us distinguish and revere the appropriate justice
of H aven. We would have morals without religion; and God has
sent us ambition without dignity in return. We admire talents
more than- morals ; and he has chastised us by means of a mind
bom to illustrate the pestilent effects of their disunion. We have
rebelled against him, by opposing publicly to his laws the idolatrous
worship of expediency ; and he has put the scourge into a hand
which dishonours, while it chastises, our proud and boastful age. It
is like the punishment of a noble traitor, whose bodily indignities
and pains are aggravated, by the sentence that he shall receive theni
from the vile hands of a common executioner. ' * Ai

Should this man, however, become our master, his vices will no
-longer be objects of censure, but rather themes for applause, and
patterns for imitation. The moral taste of the country, and of Eu-
rope, will be corrupted by the example of their mighty lord, as well
as by the debasing effects of his oppression, and the licentious man-
ners of his soldiers. I repeat, therefore, that should perseverance
in war fail to produce our final deliverance from the power of France,

-.5*;-

I^-

it will be stiU an effect of great value if it secures u» from that of
Bii^apart f

- Sect, 5. The miUtanj force of the country mght to be greatltf ,

encretutetf.'^ ' ■ , \ .-.y^^

' Having.thus cursorily shewn that a treaty of peace would be a
.soilirqe of new dangers, rather than of security lo the country, against
the power of France, I proceed to point out the means by which such
Ipeurity may be effectually attained.

. . They are, in general, military vigour, patience, unani-
mity, and aEFORMATioN ; meaus, the first and last of which I pro-
pose, distinctly, but briefly, to consider.
> . And first, a much greater proportion of miiitary vigour^ than now
exists, must.be infused into our defensive preparations; or the na-
tion will very probably be lost.

jwjjhave already offered some observaUons, tending to shew, that
the conquest,, as well as the invasion, of our country, is by no means
an impossible event; though we may, like the unhappy and infa-
.^u^ted Prussians, proudly believe the reverse. We are at present in
peculiar danger of a fatal self-deception 6n this point; because the
enemy, occupied with the conquest of oth^r nations, or engaged in
treacherous negociations for peace, has long discontinued his threats
of an immediate invasion. The danger had before been lessened in
our eyes hy familiarity, and is now stUl more diminished by imagi-
nary distance. We may fondly suppose, perhaps, that Buonaparte
seriously expects to vanquish us by a commercial war; or that, hav-
ing easier conquests in view, he has ceased to be intent upon the
speedy subjugation of England.

s^/llis true that he has for the moment other work on hand ; and
it is possible that he may not again directly employ himself in that
of our destruction by arms, till he has finished the defeat of his co^m
tinental enemies, and found that we are not to be ensnared into a
ruinous peace. Hence we have a happy, and I trust a providential
opportunity, of better preparing for our defence. J

A But that this season of apparent security will last long, cannot he
supposed by those who reflect on the present situation of affairs, un^i
less they expect that Russia will still be able to turn the tide of warl
and find long employment for all the armies of France. Mav suck
be the event ; but tlie contrary is much rather to be feafcd. Whiie
I write, it is not improbable that a new treaty of peace for the conti-
nent, iw^l?e^^t2|0^y||^^ ^^^l^^lll^hrone of Pp-

hmd f and that French columns have began their mavch from the
Vistula, which may soon be on the coast of the channd. Beude*.
the immense armies now advancing towards the seat of war, occupy
already ail the intermediate space ; and as soon as the command to
halt is given in the front, the rear divisions will be ready to ikroiVf
themselves into the now vacsmt camp at Boulogne.
• Those innumerable hosts, will then have no object worthy of
their arms, but the conquest of Great Britain. We shall eisploy
tiie undivided attention of an enemy, who adds to the insatiable am*
bition, the military talents, and the fiwtune of an Alexander, the mul-
titudinous forces of a Xerxes. If half a million of French solcHers,
elated with victory, were not sufficient for our destruction, he could
reinforce them with near as many more of the t^ssals whom he calls
allies; while France herself is ready at his c^l, to supply him every
year with eighty thousand new conscripts, in the prime of youthful
manhood. . . .^

His means of wafting armies t© our shores, are indeed at present
^limited and precarious. If they were not, our situation would be
desperate indeed. But th^se means have encreased, and are rapidly
encreasing, and we may not be able to find, by rencounters with his
fleets on the ocean, opportunities of checking their growth. When
we look at the geographical range of the territories now at the (^
Totion of France, and the maritime resources they furnish, it would
be irrational to hope that the hostile navies will remain in their pre-
sent state of depression ; though we may, by perseverance in the
war, maintain a decisive superiority over them, such as to prevent
their openly contesting with us the dominion of the sea. The
mind of Buonaparte will soon direct all its energies towards their
restitution. Ships and seamen will be the only acceptable tribute
which a fawning world can bring to him. He will invite, or exact
them, from every province, from every conquered country, from
every ally, and even perhaps from countries which he yet allows to
be nominally neutral. In short, « ail tlw rescirces of his empire'*
(to quote his own words) « will be again employed in constructing
fleets, forming his marine, and improving his ports."* *'

Though his threats 6f invasion have been suspended, not so his
ftaral preparations. He has not discontinue the building of that
great number of^hips of the line, the keels of which wer 1 >ng since
laid at Antwerp, at Brest, and in various other ports of his^ dominions;

smce, are How iuiljr employed, as welt as

4.|._ J--!- ---—J- - ■If •»-

2v %4%#w» j.m*%i^ \#»

M. Backet's Address to the Diet of Ratisbon, Sep* , ': %s. -m^

"vP|K-'

-, t

those of Snain tinA U'/tll<»J :- .~-^. t. !.• /'

M««ume. U» Buologn. floUlla, h., beep .,refuUy .„r^„ru«^

wtach h, had raU«i i, b.fo« hi» »„«h ibr .h. Hhi«!Tt tf

P*1K ««i generl report m.y be edited, .pahte of ,ft™.„, ^„

> a «,>gle emb.rk.tio.. ,.o,ooo m™, to our .hore.. N«.IS

»» .of .„,» p^H , ,f „. „,„ „, ,,, ,^,___ "J^

which Napoleon was.plaoed, by the necessity of either ri,qui«g la*

ZvTr " H-^*"?' * "''^"'"« *° "^»^- commander tt
gto^of theexpedmon, m^he event of its .access. But now hec«.

Sstr"^*'.^K '*°^-«»^I^->»«, or some other dis.
^guished general, the renown of conquering Great Britain ; nor
feel any appi^hens,on that such a delegate wUl use the large force

1^. ^'*™"'*'*'^ ■'' *^"** '"''"' '* ^"**»Sne, or on this side the
ebanneLso as to triumph with satety, and«void the fete of Mor^au
The usurper will therefore most probably not xpose himself to the
i«conv«„ence of leading the .my of England, nor mshly re-enga^
kimself to do so; but will yield to the prayers o( hh anano^^sly^.
^iTd ""**' *^^ devolve on some fevourite chief, that ha«arL«

- But the Boulogne flotilla will not be relied upon, as the only
mean of invasion. In other ports of the channel, in the Germa;
•ccan, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Adriatic, regular
and powerfiU armaments will be prepared, so as to distract our at-
tendon, «id divide our naval force ; nor would it be possible for us
to blockade them all, through every season, and with fleets and
. squadrons sufficiently strong, if our navy were three times as Ja,^

Ztr^'T T'"""'"' *" '' ^^"''^ ^ Preposterous therefore^
suppose, that from no part of his immense maritime regions, wiU
he «H«^y be able to send expeditions to sea ; and not less so, to
rely that his fleets and transports will all be met with by British
squadrons, before they can land troops on our shores.-Even the
vigilance and energy of Nelson-, could nm ~-^-_.*r-.- *>-.= ^„ .=__-... =_

Z'T ?, PV '"^ '^ p"*'" '^ *'^'' «»y "^«" «^<^««^«d that it is

mipossible for the hostile fleets to steal from their harbours, to per-
forn^ voyages, and to land forces in distant parts, without being ar-

■.";■' -

xMted by British fleets in their way, he must now be quite cured of
that mistake. We have leamt by reiterated experience within the
last two years, that all this may be done, without the discovery evca
of the point of destination, till it b too late to frustrate the plan.
. It would not be quite so easy, I admit, to collect and send to sea
%ith equal secrecy, a fleet large eiraugh to waft over an army ade-
quate to the invasion of England ; but supposmg such fleets to be
collected at more ports than one, even this might very probably be
effected. It must not, however, be concluded that the enemy will
certainly be driven to the necessity of embarking by 8tealth.--A
much more likely, and feasible expedient would be, the bringing to-
gether, by combined and well concerted movements, a large part of
his naval force, at the destined point of embarkation, and then sailing
openly for our coast, under the protection of a fleet such as we
could not immediately collect ships enough to intercept and de-
feat, •;

*? It has been computed by sea officers of reputation and judgment,
that 150,000 men might be embarked at Boulogne in a single days
for the vessels now coUectejl there, are so constructed as to take the
ground without damage ; and when anchored at high water mark, on
alMig sandy beach which is impregnably fortified for their protec-
tion, they are left dry for hours by the ebb tide; so that the troops
may march on -board by means of planks, as quickly almost as they
could file off into their barracks; and at the return of high water, be
ready to put to sea. If so, the command of the channel for eight and
forty hours, might suffice for the most formidable invasion. „ ,^
t A plan of this kind is supposed to have been formed in the «am-
mer of 1805. The combined fleets, after leading a good part of ours
to the West Indies, were suddenly to have returned, to have r> laed
the blockades of Cadiz, Brest, and Rochefort, and being reinforced by
all the ships in those ports, proceeded to Boulogne, where perhaps
the fleet from the Texel would have been brought to their aid.
They were then to have convoyed the fli^Mla, with as large an army
as Buonaparte thought proper to embark ; and England might pos-
sibly have been lost before her scattered fleets could be collected in
sufficient numbers to oppose them. This plan, it is true, was frus-
trated by the energy of Nelson, and the prudence of our admiraitf#
and above all, by the mercy of Providence, which combined with those
means, very propitious coincident events. But similar schemes may
be formed hei'eafter ; they will become more fe*>sible in nronortinn ts
the increase of the enemy's force ; and their chai>ce3 of success may
be multiplied, by the coliectiMi of an adeqiiat«^i»tt|iilie^' (^ tfpisptM^

' 4-

. \\

nt different ports, far remote from each Other. Thev wr«,W also b«
greatly tacilitated by the possession of Venice, and of those other'ne#
• raantime station*, acquired by Buonaparte, during the two last cam-
paigns ; for these, give bira not only new ships, but the means of di-
verung the navy of England by a much wider extent than before, in
necessary foreign service.^Unhappily, our own distant <x>nquests,.of
Which at this conjuncture, we are unaccountably fond, by no means
lessen, but on the contrary, encrease this advantage.

clearly the faality of open invasion, by the sudden concentration of
an mferior, during the dispersion of a superior navy. But having
manjraiew topics yet to touch upon, I will rely upon what h«
already been offered, or rather on the plain nature of the case, fai'
proof that we may probably be invaded by a very powerful army, not-
withstanding our maritime power.

^ On what human foundation then can we repose a tranquil confli
dence m the present state of the country ? We have no inexpugnable
fortresses, Uke Austria and Prussia; no Alpine mountains, lik#:
Switzerland ; no dykes and means of inundation, like Holland; n«?
sandy deserts, Uke Egypt. AU those impediments have been sur,l
mounted by our formidable enemy; but he would find none such ti^f
oppose his progress in England. The torrent must be stemmed, if t
al all, by the force of our arms in the field.

What then is this last retrenchment of the inestimable liberties! '
of England? What is this ulterior defence, against the most deplor-
able revolution that conquest ever made; against miseries more
dreadful, those of the devoted Jews excepted, than any people eve"
#idured? -^ r r

/ We have a regular army, which I will suppose to be in point of
quality throughout, such as specimens of it have gloriously proved
to be upon trial, both in Italy and Egypt. But it is widely dispersed,
by a policy which at this arduous conjuncture I am quite at a loss to
comprehend, upon foreign and distant services. Not less than fiva
differem British avnies are said to be at this moment employed in»
or destmed to, five different regions of the globe: and I am really
afraid to state the small amount to which some credible reports now
reduce the regular infantry actually within the realm.
p.;- But it is not necessary to my argument to ascertain such alarm-
ing facts : for were our whole army within the island, it would still be
v«y UM«qu«i, u. poiiu vi numbers, to our detence, supposing an inva-
sion to take place, on a scale suitable to tlie magnitude of the object,
apd to tlie ordinary maxims of our enemy. Could our regiUar troops

::. v'V

'3t

\-) -

he collected at once from every part of the island, they might find
themselves gf eally outnumbered. But we should, through the gretrt
quickness of the enemy's motions, be obliged to fight him prevkms
to any general union of our forcos, or give him possession of the
cajHtal.

A Country so exposed h^ thf extent of its assailable coast, and by
hi defenceless interior .i^H^w ngland, would perhaps hardly be
safe from conquei*, vmch bua . .om ruin, when invaded, if it con-
tained in its whole extent, three soldiers for every enemy that should
land on its shores. Whereas France, if she invade us at all, will
pn^bly send a force exceeding that of our regulars and militia
united. I suppose, it is true, in this e-?*- ,-> . <.C) n equality of military
character I but I calculate also oh that &e# system ot tactics wliich
is so fbrmitfeble in offensive war, in which our enemies so fatally ex-
eel, and for which England presents to them a most favourable field..

That daring confidence wliich never measures difficulties in ad^
tancing, which reckons too surely on victory, to make any provisioi)
for retreat, has been known ever since the days of Agathocles, to be
most propitious to invadetis; and it has probably been partly owing
to a more cautious character of war in modem ages, that the subvofw
sion of thrones by conquest, has teen a very rare event in Europlf
till the present disastrous times. But to this audacious spirit, oul-
enemies have added an astonishing celerity of movemcUs, whicl* IP
perhaps still more peculiarly characteristic of their military system,
and a greater cause of their success. The invaded country has n#
time to collect its proper domestic resources, much less receive su^
cour from its allies ; it must submit to the ravages of a conqueror,'
or with such a force as it can bring in a moment into the field, stak«
its fate upon the issue of a battle. If a defeat be the event, the vic-
tws- advance with a rapidity that destroys every ulterior hope. It is
the speed, not of an army, but a post. They bring the first news (rf
their own victory to the dismayed capital ; and the flying divisions of
the routed army, instead of meeting friendly battalions advancing t»
their support, find enemies in their front, as well as in their red^
Their utmost speed is arrested by their impetuous pursuers, and th#
passes by which they hoped to escape, are seized by hostile corjMii,
■who arrive at the defiles before them-= It is then too late to call odl?
«n irregular defensive force ; or even to collect the regular troops
from distant positions, and the gartf sons of interior towns. The in*

ifrftnipttHi Tiotrin «[Ai*»A«1 ittxriM 4-kjs #ftAVfc4^«w«1

t« .^

*j ««*• * %» vn^^ova

p«S^

every pass, and cut off every source of comnuinicttion or concert^
between the different (Hstrictt . The Tit«l organs of the stikt« too, t^

.aV

- ?»th?irha|HJ«»«4tl>«ycancoiitit>iaa!lit8funcaon9. Thedkcon-
^jwa e»pi^ oi patnotism ami courage that may sUU be made io
aOferent places a^ e li^ the cqnviilsive moUon^ Pf members just se-
Jfered ft«m the body ; a mere .^mblan<:e of life, momentary and

, \yhtJB I reflect upoij the terrible cffccti of this impetuous W-

|w^. by vWch Europe has been repeatedly dismembered i wheal

J»ehold the last example of its force, in the yet rolling fragments of a

in^hty fl^ijarchy, which it has recently burst asunder; I am amazed

fnd confounded, at the strange presumption of those who rely on our

, psent weansof interior defence, vvhUe they admit the probabUity of

, h has been said, I know, that though London were lost, the
jountry wouW m be safe. Were our pn,per defensive preparation,
-^y made, it woidd be right to cherish that opinion. But it cannot
• -i""?^^ '^' ^^ metropoUs would be given up without a batUe z
Wid should we lose a battle first, and London afterwards, our final *
?«cunty wjHwt depend upon exertions equaUy difficult and precarious,
lam at a loss to comprehend the practical views upon which an oi> ^
positeopuuon can be founded.

^ Tlwt the loss of the metropoUs would immediately follow the Io«t
9f « battle, unless we had a secund army at hand to retrieve the mis-
S»"iage of the first, is evident. What then would be our military ,
rfiserve, supposing a regulai- army h»rge enough to make a stand
agflwst thff Wjraders, should be defeated? « Our volunteers, a bun-
dred tongues will be ready to reply, are that gitind ulterior resoarqei
nay, many of them would be in the advanced guard of their
country." * -^

The vohinteers, I most cordially admit, will do all that their num-
hers, their degree of discipline, and their physical powers, animated
by an ardent love of their country, and a high sense c honour, will
enable them to perform. »ut of our volmiteers, how small a part are .
jeally effecuv€ m the proper sense of that term; and how maay are
irom ftge, bodily constitution, and fixed habits of Ufc, utterly unfit for '
Ihe duties of the field.

^ Far indeed is it from my intention, to detract from the merits <J
these corps, or to deny their high utUity and importance. I would
most anxiously mamtain, were it necessary, that they are essential
means for the permanent safety of the. country; and, without
-24SVjr;g Uiut «.y incuaUer of the present cabinet ever entertained,
or meant to express, a contemptuous estimate of their value, Ik*
^ni§%^kwi4defjb,^^n|»jtonatelygpneabrQ^ ,

' .

'■ u

But it is one thing to applaud an instituticm in the i^stract, and
ahother to sajr that it has attained to practical perfection ; or that it is
equal to the important purposes for which it was designed. They
Who regard the volunteer corps as radically unfit for the defence of
their country, are, I am persuaded, greatly mistaken : but on the
other hand, they who suppose this defensive force to be, in ito pre-
sent statfi) sufficient to insure our safety, are in a £ar more duigerous
«Jrror. * ' -•<■ - -' ^

Various (Ejections have been made to these establishmwits oa.
the score of discipline, which no candid friend to them will affirm to
be wholly unfounded. A still more serious objection, however, is
that both their discipline and their effective force, is very generally
and rapidly declining. But what has always appeared to me the
chief defect in these corps, and the natural source of their decay is
& vice in their original constitution; I mean the indiscriminate mkl|
ture of men of widely different ages, and bodily habits, of which
they are composed.
' Of all qualities in a soldier, his physical powers are of the gre^'
elt importance ; but more especially, when his services are likely to
be of a severe and laborious kind ; and still more, when he is sud-
denly to be called from the habits of civil life, into actual service. I
would by no means undervalue the effects of patriotic and military
ardour, with which our volunteers, if opposed to an invading enemy,
would, I doubt not, be generally inspired. But though the body, in
such cases, may be powerfully sustained by the mind, there are limits
to the possible effect of such an influence ; and the qualities of the
inferior part of our natures will unavoidably determine, in a great de-
gree, our powers of military exertion. It is not in the love of
country, long to sustain under the sense of cold, hunger, and fatigue,
a man of tender habits, who has passed the prime of his life without
any acquaintance with such hardships. . r - ffl|ft

That our volunteers must unavoidably be in such respects inferior
t^ regular troops, is evident. They arc not inured, by long and con-
stant practice, to the duties of a military life: they are, for the most
part, men unaccustomed evon to those laborious branches of civil in-
dustry, which are the best nurseries for the army ; and a great ma-
jority of them, are inhabitants of cities and large towns; men oidqi
iViestic and sedentary habits, to whom, even exposure to the incl#
mency of the weather, is a novelty, and a hardship. .-^

Tliif fVt

r\iifvl-i o^wwtfk

«f ♦!-

,A. ,.^4. I_U.

nature of the institution in question, they certainly now exist in a
mucfc greater degi'ee than was necessaiy. We have more town^-

t.^ ^*'r#'

mm, and fe»MTni«(few,amonir our ToInmte~,i.„ _,_.,,. .

u« to the hardr poor, th.n »«,« j„y, been inrolled, if thoL S
dental MUM. had not exiiled. .,:,■. ."tnoMacci-

■.mml'lllTr.""? r-""' *•»"""."'' which greatly,
aggra^tes the eS)>ct. of au he r..t, !, one which might moat easil»
have been pre«nted, and .=„•. m .d™i« „f . remedy I ^
the number of volunte..-, « -., ..„nd ia everyl™ wl^I^^
P«.«d the meridian ,fli a.. I.a« the age of "rnilltt^r
and v-souri and yet are i. ..^..^ninately miL in Ae nnlH* >
much younger and abler associates. e rania, wuh

,.J^v" " ° **"°" "' "*- """^ "" ^•"='"« "•"■«» may be most
«.s.ly bent to new habits , and when the elasticity of J „„"u.

and an.m.1 spirits, is p,«,f .gains, .he severe,, pJssure n^^l
« |l.e .^, when brisk «,d vigomu. action is lu Jry,\3herZ^
f.U«ue , and wha, w. are prone to. by the impulse of'naTrl eve^
when duty points ,o repose. The imagination also, is tl"^!!
fully m.press.d by thecharm. ofnovelty.irieyerye^^i^mer^d
sympaUues of m kind, but esp.ci.Uy in bold L arter^"'„^,
have an .rresisdble influence. If man at such a seasoHfT has
p.cuharan.mal,^,ification, for a soldier, much more foratl™
teer. If he be St for gradual and pem,anen,, much more for s^di,
and unaccustomed, service in war, and especially if that ser^,^ ^
of a bnsk. active, and laborious kind. «=nrici) be

»l^tZ'7.'t'"*\"''?'r^- I' "'•)"^n' greatly ash, age, |„

of the French conscr.p,«>nj namely, from eighteen to twenty-L

,or„?h ""t"""""* ^'WaJto ourboyhZaTd
some of them may be unimpdred at thirty; but I sneak of >,Z.
When the body has nearly, or fully acquired it. matu^^of^jT
without any diminution of juvenile spirit* y o> atrengui,

And here. ,hough it may lead me to digress a litUe, and ,™n a
subject with which I have no profe^onal acq„aintan« I Xot
suppress an opn,«,n, that J',^, „«,„ ^ ,J,^^„iZ'lZ
mtwnm,_u the youth ^her nldim. ^

It is a common remark, among those who have had the misfor-
tune ,0 «e much of the French armies, that they are almost eS'
composed of stnplmgs, or very young meg^ And indeed how Z

Ir "^ '"i T""""' '"« ">''K'>«" of «Se sanguinary wa"rs that
have raged ™ce 1793, must have left few ve«r»,T^ow rema^„*'
who )»d«nred under their hwfol sovereign; a„d the r«,„iS'

\
\

n&w called conscnptiohs, by Which such tmmenMS afmlis have since
been annually rjdsed, have not yet cotupilsed a Mngl« tttan above the
age of twenty-five. Reckoning, therfe^re, from lt9!J, when th«
aystem began, the oldest soldief pfoditced by it, has not yet attained
forty J while an equal number at least, evfeh of the earliest rftqUisi-
don, must be seven years yoiitiger. But stit)pbs!hg equal nnmbers
to have been raised by it in each year, and t(J have towiprised an
equal proportion of men of every age, ff-om eighteen tb twenty-five,
it would follow, that a majority of the 'whole, if living, Would new be
under twenty-nine. The classes, howevet", who have served the
greatest number of years, must, cteterii fitlfidus, have been the Most
reduced by losses in action, and other tasUaltles of War. Supposing,
therefore, that in respect of natural causes of mortality, the chance of
a youth of vighteen, to be found alive at the distance of fourteen
years, only equals that of a man of tWenty-ftVe, it is plahi that the
surviving conscripts, of a later, must be far mote numerous than
tlhose of an earlier requisition. * --'

,*^ Soldiers thus raised, have a right to be discharged, as t appre-
Send, when they have passed their twenty-fifth year; but since it is
probably a right not much respected in time of War, I will take credit
for little or no diminution in the teladve numbers of old and new
<jonscripts on this account. '**'*" *^

** But there remains another c(Misideration of great importance;
iov it is evident, that each successive conscription, if impartially
made, must include a larger proportion than the preceding one, of
men in the earliest stage of the limited time of life. Supposing
the last year's levy, for itistance, to have been universal, there could
be no conscripts of the present year, teturned emigrants excepted,
but such as have attained the age of eighteen, since the conscription
of 1805; and consequently, whatever portion of the people may be
actually conscribed, unless there be a partial exemption of the
younger classes, which v/e have no reason Whatever to suppose, each
successive levy under this system, while it is annually used, must
produce a much greater proportivii of soldiers of eighteen, than of any
other age. But eighteen is probably found an age too early, in
many constitutions, for maturity Of growth and strength ; and there-
fore I presume it is, that in the last conscripUon of 80,000 men, for
service in the present year, Napoleon has required that they shall ail
be of the age of twenty,*and no more. f V

On the whole. It seems not too much to conclude, that while Ito
french urmy coftipri&eS very few soldiers who have attained forty, a

■■' 'V

4 ^Af-ic f !. - -.-S' 4 J -.^

■.:|n.

J,- "K-.

great majority of the 600,000 men, of which kUiitSA lo cone
under twenty-five.

UnleAs this extraordinary circumstance in the constitution of th«
armies of France, can be regarded as of a neutral or indiffertat kin<i
m war, it must be admitted to have favoured their success; for w*
have wonders enoujrh to account for in their alchievemcnts, withW
supposing that so striking a physical pecuHarity, was a disadvantag*
to be overcome. >

In this respect, the compoation of every army which they have
conquered, has been very different. The Austrian and Prussian
battalions, wWch they have so strangely overwhelmed, the latter
especially, contained a large proportion of old or middle aged sol-^
diers. Perhaps, with equal numbers to the French, they could have
counted twice as many years. The same, I apprehend, has been
the case with such Russian armies, as have been chiefly engaged in
these disastrous wars.

The British army, from its fatal employment in the West
Indies, has, alas ! not much longevity^ A great part of it, has been
formed during the last and present war, by very yoUng recruits; and
this circumstance also seems, when we regard the success of oar
armsjrathcr tosupport, than oppose, the conclusion to which I reason.
I am far from ascribing indeed, to the youth of our soldiery alone,
the failure of the ienemy's fortune in the field, when opposed to
Bntish battalions. The gallantry of our officers and tropps, and their
hereditary sense of superiority to our insolent neighbours, might
sufficiently account for it. But the army of Egypt, I apprehend, had
but a small proportion o^ veterans in the ranks ; and the brave corps
which so well sustained the military fame of their country at Maida,
were chiefly composed of very young men.

- I am aware that it has the air of heresy ih the science of war, 4
regard men who have but just emerged from boyhood, as an over-
match for veterans in the field. But if there be any truth in the
preceding observations, this is not merely an opinion ; it is a fact;
and the business is, not to prove, but explain it. The young sol-
diery of France, have in fact, triumphed over the veteran troops of
their continental enemies.

■ Innumerable attempts have been made at different times, and in
reference to the various disasters of our allies, to account for this uni-
form success of the enemy, by the treason of generals, the disaffec-
tion of troops, and by accidents of vsri^ia fein-ic- x-^-.t fK= --»--^f. ,
are all either inadequate, or highly incredible; as well as inconsis-
t«m with each other. Let us try then whether this very disparity of

«&

age between the soldiers of tlie contending armies, may not, in spit^t v
of old received notions, go far to explain the whole.

(^r Buonaparte, and other French generals, have repeatedly spoken
of the old tactics with omtempt; and it is at length become fashion^ .
able, with those who have, as weU as with those who have not, som«|
little knovirledge of the subject, to cry down the old art of war. W# \
liegin to look back on Marlborough and Turcnne as drivellers, wIh^
did nothing great in comparison with what they might have effected^
lait spent half an age, in slowly attaining, what ought to have been^
tlie work of a month. If, however, Marlborough or Turenne hadr
commanded the youthful revolutionary armies of France, I cani>Q||
help thinking that they would have discovered the same newmethodsi'^^
of warfare, Avhieh so many French generals hav& practised, and usedt^
them with equal success : for great commanders in all ages, seei%
to have been men of strong natural parts, wiio triumphed, not by, a^ "
pedantic adherence to established rules, but by the application of
idain common sense, to the circumstances in which they were placed.
It was, I conceive, not difficult to discover that the cautious and dila«^,
lory system formerly in vogue, was not fit for those inexhaustible^
multitudes of ardent young soldiers, whom France in tlie delirium
erf her enthusiasm for liberty, pouied forth upon her enemies. -.#'

21 The situation of the republic, at the first, prescribed impetuous
SBid. decisive operations ; and what was perhaps then bot a daring and
necessary effort, became afterwards from its signal success, an esta-.,
blished new system of war. Without depreciating the value of the
discovery, it may with probability be supposed to have been, like
iBtany others of great importance, the result of accident, rather thaaKi
«lesign. Buonaparte's genius may possibly be as great as his fo;*^-
tune ; but the new tactics, were Moreau's before they wei'e Buona*^
parte's, and Pichegrn's before they were Moreau's.

All I wish to eiitablish however is, that the success of this new;,
system, has been promoted by the peculiar and advantageous circura*v
stance in question, the youth of the French soldiers. A Frenchman)-
from the vivacity of his nature, has a juvenile impetuosity even in
sober manhood. How much more when sent into the field betweeix*
18 and 25. With such a soldiery it might have been difficult to sit
^w« to sieges and blockades ; or cautiously to watch the movementti
of an enemv, as on a chess-board, through a tedious campaign: hv^
it was easy to overwhelm him at once, by a rapid march, and a%.
impetuous attack. ,f

♦,One of the greatest auvauiagcs ofluis grami pliysical distinction,
is die capacity which young men have of sustaining for a long time*'

\ i

with fep less inconvcfiience than their sMmrU ei cesTif ^olertit
exercise; and of this BuoLaparte ha. .valM himself beyond any of
h« predecessors It is perhaps the chief source of his superiority
to them mbnUiant atchievements. His astonishing man:h ov«^
Mount Cems into the plains of Italy; his sUll more rapid adv^
from Boulogne to Bavaria and Ulm ; what were they, but wondefs
performed by youthful alacrity and vigour. His enemas were tlt^
by surprise, and ruined, because they thought such marches impo..

By the same means, he has been able to make the fraits of a vi#
Wry decisive, and the rout of an enemy irretrievable, beyond all
former example Not to mention the celerity of his movements
after the capitulation of Ulm, the late unprecedented fate of the
Prussian army, subsequent to the battle of Auerstadt, affords too
strong an instance of it.

^1^^^ f '"?? ^ '°"'*'''^ °" '^^ P^"^^ «"^«^^; ^d if more«|
be offered, to lUustrate the physical disparity between the pursuers
and the pursued, let General Blucher^s narrative be read. He db^
not indeed remark, that his veteran soldiers were opposed to much

IZrZ^^'V- '"r'' ""'^'^ " ""'''''''■ W« «"^' that though
traversmg a friendly country, his soldiers were fainting with fati^e

and hunger, and dropping, by fifties at a time, on theLd; so S

^jIh.. V'^\ ^V ''"^"'"* °^'" °"S^"^-^ f^*^^ i" miserable
plight to Lubeck; while his more vigorous pursuers, followed cloae
at hi8 heels, passed as enemies through the same country which W'
had previously exhausted, arrived in full force, almost atThe s r^
mornent with him on the coast of the Baltic, and in such unimpaired
spirits, as to storm his batteries before they halted. The contradic
^nspubUclygiventothis narrative by the^nemy,certaiyyt^^^^^^^^^
httle confidence; otherwise they would greatly strengthen these re. ' '
marks. But thus much cannot be denied-that til French had
Twith ar.ir7 f " " ''' Prussians^that they must have set

sp eading his army over a circumference of tlurty miles, cotdd
hardly obtain refre:;.^.nt, could not a few hours after, Ime yJ.'ded
greater relief to .. .nemies. At the same time the brave old^Gene-

tlT^r r I''?''' ''""'' °^*^' ^^^^'"^^°" ^"^ P^ti<^"«^« of hi,
xi-oops. 1 hey did therefore al! that the- c~jld. is*sta3s*- »;^^

Somethmg, I admit, should be allowedTnThis case, fo-tJ-Tdill
fercnce between the elation of victory, and the dejection of defeat;

'^ ;

\'>

4.i

itut no man of 50, or even 40, who remembers biaovn bodily pow-
ers and spirits «t 25, will be at a loss for a more adequate cause of
this disparity, between ihe conBc*ipts uf Buoimparte, and the vete*
rans of Frederick the Great.

How diilerent wa» the case with Moreau, in his famous retreat
before the Archduke Charles, in the campaign of U96? He had to
make his way through a hostile country, from the Danube to the
Rhine, by a most difikult rouU; of three hundred miles in length ;
and yet effected it with so little loss, that the retreat was held to be
more glorious tlian a conquest. Yet nothing is recorded of that
exploit, that may moi be fully explained by the same bodily superio-
rity of his troops. He made forced marches of such length, and
^vith such ea:treme perseveruioe^ as baffied all the efibrts of his
enemies. ^t

Whe^er, therefore, in advancing or retreating, our enemies
triumph by the juvenility of their soldiers. Their innovations on
the old system of war, are calculated to make the most of this ad-
vantage. They have wisely turned war, from a minuet into a race ;
fiu* they are sure tl^tt their vetenm .enemies will first be W^x£
In^ath. ^ ' w,

Nor SB the same superiority unfelt in the field of battle. No
man has a^ much active or animal courage at 45, as he had at 21.
The passive courage of the veCei^sn, it is true, wetf be increased,
rather than diminished by experience ; that is, he may ^and longer
motionless under a cannonade,or the fire of musquetryj and be maw
cwliy obedient to orders, and observant of discipline. Hence also
the old tactics suited him perhaps better than the new. But new,
the steadiness oi troops alone will not suf&ce; their strength) and
sjHirits, are tried to the uttermost, by brisk; persevering, and reite-
rated attacks ; new troops are brought up from distant quarters,
with such rapidity, that they arrive before they were known to be
on the march ; and the bayonet, is employed with a frequency for-
merly unknown. Sometimes^ it is brought into aptioo late in a hard
fought day ; and when a line of steady vetercuis are already fatiguml,
ami nearly exlmusted, by a long continued engagement, they are
suddenly assailed with that £cH*midable wei^u. At the battle of
Marengo, victory long hovered in suspense ; and the Austrians,
after many hours of brave and arduous confljct, were about, p orhapsj
to reap the fruits of their perseverance, when the sanoye youug eol-
diei-s, who had lately rushed from Dijon across the Alps, chaJ?j|e4

.« • _»^ ^ .^l i» _ L_ ._- » 1 il £i«^ii — *" ^^--^ij lii TS— - i*-*-

tlfVlM VJUQtUUMV IfTACt (mC viiyOiiwi} iiiiii 'SiiC imMtr Vi Utiimtijinr oi.SS'UC*

cided. ! - * ■ ' -' - '' '•• r- ; ' - - ' i;->.t ** - .-.ij-jf^j*

!--» .4.

To wh&t extent these refldctkms are Kabte to contiwersy, 1.

know not. Thev seem to me. to rest unon nUin

inowledged feet— But, if any man doubt, whether the youth of a
foidier be a great advantage under the new system of war, when be
fi opposed to a well disciplined veteran ; at least it will !. ttnivcrsally
Emitted, thm the young are for better qualified to form new haWti,
and sustain unaccu8totr»cJ t^•^rd8hips, than the old. There is in tlii*
view, if in no other, an liadt^able importance in the ageof our volun-.
teers. A man v^ ^aa been in the array thirty years, may be as
hardy, though no. s.^h or vigorous, as his younger comrade ^
but if two men, of different ages are to be taken at onc« from tjhe
tender habits of domestic life, and exposed to the toils of a camm
paign, who can hesitate to say, that the younger, is iikeiy best to
sustain the trying effects of the transition.

'^- Let it be fairly considered, how extreme the contrast would be,
between the duties to which a volunteer, in the event of invasion,,
would be summoned, and the ordinary habits of a man who has
always resided in the bosom of his family, in a commercial town or
city. Even to young men, if used to the comforts commonly en-
enjoyed by the middle ranks of Englishmen, the change would bo.
painful enough ; but to sustain, for a few days or weeks, hardships
before unknown, would be to them, if not an easy, at least a practi-
cable task. Not so to a man who has passed hi* prime,, without
having ever learned to bear the inconveniences of wet clothes, bad
loggings, watching, fatigue,and the other sufferings incident tc a mili-
tary life. The sense of honour, or fear of shame, might indeed
goad him on, to endure them for a while : but he would soon be
reduced to an absolute incapacity of further perseverance. He might
continue his march, or stand umler arms a second day, or a third
perhaps; but at length would be obliged, however reluctantly, to ask
leave to retire, or sink under the weight of his sufferings.

Nor would the loss of service of such feeble soldiers, be the only
ill consequence of their involimtary foilurc. The years, and the
situations in life, which unfit them for active service, naturally give
them more influence in the corps to which they belong, than
youii^r members; and an example, the necessity of which might
however painfully felt by themselves, be equivocal in the eyes of
others, would have a contagious effect. They would at first retat**.
the corps by their languor, and afterwards dishearten it by their
defection.

Gn iho wuoic ihereCbr^. I conclude, that mma truly patriotic
and valuable eatablishnients, our volunteer corps, are, as now coasji- ■

tutcd, from the ages and confirmed habits of maiiy of their mem-
bers, as well as from some existing defects of a remediable kind,
which hav. sjecn noticed Of others, a species of force not well qua-
lified to repel, by laborious and persevering efforts, the impetuous
amiies of France.

After all, have we effective soldiers, regular or irregular, suffi-
cient in point of numbers, to make the country perfectly safe against
a powerful invasion ?

The volunteers, much more than the regulars, are dispersed in
every part of the island; and no great proportion of them could be
convened at anyi given point, soon enough to stop the progress of
an enemy, who might land on our eastern or southern coast, before
he could become master of London. Besides, the defects which I
have just been stating, would be found pecuUarly fatal, if such troops
were to be marched from distant piirts of the island, immediately
prior to their being brought into action.

( Of the volunteers now enrolled throughout the kingdom, a great
many are certainly, in point of discipline as well as bodily qualifica-
tions, unfit for actual service; and a large proportion even of those
who are returned as effective, will not be found so upon trial ?— It is
too common, I fear, to keep every member on the effective list, who
has once exercised with the corps in battalion upon an inspection or
general muster; though perhaps, he never was perfect even in his
manual exercise, and has forgot the little he once learned of iU.
These undisciplined effectives too, are, it is probable, increasing
very rapidly, in almost every corps not receiving pay, though their
nominal force remains undiminished. >

Without cnlarffing on this subject, I will hazard an opinion that
there are not 50,000 volunteers in the whole island, now ready to?
take the field, and fit to act against an enemy ; yet were there six
times as many, it would be difficult to draw together two armies 06
that amount, in time to make a first, and second stand, for the exist-
ence of their country. Supposing a battle to be lost, and I^ndon
muiie hands of the invaders, the subsequent junction of volunteered
who are scattered over the whole face of the island, would be no.f
easy w»rk. With a most active and energetic enemy in the centre,
the communications between the east and the west, the north and^
the south, of the island, would not oe long open. The hope there-
fore of further i-csistance, would depend, not merely on our having
enough of effective volunteers, to form a powerful reserve, but on

their beine: sufficiently numemns. tn maha h»oj i^ Aia^^.. l^^^o!

the country at the same moment, and fight their way in large bo-

dies to a general rendezvous, though opposed by powerful detach^
nients.

If it be objected, "that these calculations are founded on an as-
sumption that we should be taken by surprise; I answer, that our
nouce of an approaching invasion would probably be extremely short,
and quite insufficient for the purpose of embodying our volunteers
throughout the island, prior to the actual descent. The means-of
suddenly embarking a large army at Boulogne, are continually at
the enemy's command. The only requisite for invasion therefore,
which, unless he trusts to the flotilla alone, he must p«>vide by new
expedients, is a convoying fleet : and this, as has been already shewn,
he may very possibly obtain by a preconcerted junction of different
squadrons off that or some neighbouring port. But the only proba-
ble means of so obtaining a temporary superiority in the channel
are so far from being inconsistent with secrecy, that they necessarily
imply that quality ; nor would the opportunity when found, admit of
any delay. It seems not unlikely therefore, that the same day
would bring us advice that the blockade of Boulogne was raised by
a strong hostile fleet, and that the troops were beginning to embark:
nor is it impossible, that the flotilla might be already on our coast, ht.
fore the danger could be announced by government, at any great
distance from London.

m What then is to be done in order to prepare effectually against
the danger of such a surprise, with our present means of interior
defence? Are the volunteers to be called from their homes, and
marched into distant parts of the kingdom, there to be formed into
armies, on every alarm ? The repetition of such costly and vexatious
means of preparation, would soon exhaust both the purse and the
patience of the , country. Besides, as the danger must always be
imminent as long as a large army is encamped within sight of our
coasts, and the most specious indications of an immediate intention
to embark, could be easily made, the enemy, if he found he couM
reduce ns to such costly defensive expedients, would take ca.c we
should have alarms enough to harrass our volunteers prior to an ac^
tual attempt. It is plain then, that forces which are to be assem-
bled from many different districts of the kingdom, at the expense of
every branch of civil industry, as well as of domestic comfort, must
probably be, for the most part, unembodied when the enemy is oa
his way to our shores.

^ What is the practical conclusion from these remarks? That the
Tahiutecis uughi to be disoanded, or discouraged r — fai* from it—that
their numbers ought to be very greatly i.Qcrea»cd, and their disci-

plinc improved. But that if this cannot be efle^ed, some other
means must be found, to cover the country more abundantly with
aniucd Citizens, lully pr^epured lor its defence.

The danger of a surprise will obviously be less formidable, the
mischief of losing a battle less irreparable, the power of assembling
new armies even aftei*; the loss of the capital, less difficult, in propor-
tion as our volunteers, or other defensive forces, become more abun^-
dant. But there is another consideration of great weight, which we
need not disdain to learn from Buonaparte. In a late decree or pro-
clamation for multiplying still further his forces by new conscrip-
tions, he observes, that while the objects of the war are better sc-
oured by increasing the amount of the forces employed in it, war
itself becomes less sanguinary, to the party who has a great supe»
riority in numbers; resistance being speedily subdued, and the hor-
rors of a long protracted contest avoided. The justice of the doc-
trine, as applied to his own enterprizes, may indeed well be doubted ;
because he extends his operations, and his ambitious designs, in pro*
portion to the magnitude of the force which he progressively ac-
quires. But if applied to a war, the field and object of which are
limited, and especially to a war of interior defence, the remark is
aelf-evidently true. The greater therefore the amount of our de-
fensive force, regular or irregular, the less of British blood will be
shed in the event of an invasion, while the dreadful issue of a foreign
yoke will be the more certainly averted.

Besides, a feeble, and barely adequate preparation, though it might
serve to repel, would not prevent invasion ; and our country would
be redeemed at a painful cost, though far inferior to the unspeakable,
value of the pledge, if we had to combat a powerful French army on
British ground,, with the arms of our volunteers. But if the people
were generally armed in defence of the country, few or none might
have to bleed for it. The enemy, in all probability, would not dare.
to assail, on their own soil, a whole nation of soldiers. But if he
shoujd act with such temerity he would be repulsed with an over-
whelming energy, that would for ever preclude a renewal of the mis-
chievous attempt.

War too itself might be shortened by such decisive preparations.
The enemy seeing that we are not to be conquered, might be glad to
give us peac* : not such a peace as would make him speedily master
of our fattj ; not a peace by which he would add the sea to the shores
of his trentc dous dominion in the old world, by ceding to us another
eolony or two in the new ; but a peace of real security, and genuine
bo«iwr: a ppape by which, in sonje degree at least, the sad destiny

of our alUes might be repaired, and the bulwarks of Earope rtatWed
At present, if we are not strong enough at home for a war. n^u.h
less so tor a peace, with Buonaparte. If our interior force gives no
adequate protection against him during the present depression of
the French marine, where will be our security on its rcstitutiont
and If we are now not sufficiently prepared to repel invasion, aft*^
three years notice of the danger, how much less should we be so on
a sndden recommencement of war, of which the appearance of a
French fleet on our shores, would, perhaps, give the first intima-

tlOn. :i<fv..;./'^

Were there no other argument against making peace at this
juncture, a decisive one might be found in the present inadequate
and dechnmg state of pur domestic defence. To improve it when
the dangers of war shall be supposed to have subsided, will neither
be so easy in respect of the feelings of the people, nor so concilia-
tory m regard to those of a just reconciled enemy, as to be a work
htter for that period, than the present.

If, after all, any reader be sanguine enough to think that we have
already enough of military force for our protection, let him compare
the fatal consequences of a mistake on that side, with the inconve-
mencies of superfluous preparations. Where the evil to be risked
IS mfinite, no preventive means can be excessive, which may con-
tribute to lessen the danger. But I am persuaded, that a great
inajority of the public will require no arguments to convince them
that our interior defensive force ought to be improved. They will
feel more difficulty perhaps on the subject to which I next proceed,
the ^neans of improving it.

To advance the discipline, meliorate the physical character, and
enlarge the number, of our volunteer corps, are beyond doubt, the
best defensive expedients we can possibly resort to, if such improve-
ments can be made. That they are in a financial, commercial, and
constitutional view, more desirable than a large increase of our re-
gular army, can, I presume, be doubted by nobody : and in a mili-
tary estimate, they are, I am confident, Hable to no sound objectic.s,
but such as may be removed.

To suppose that these patriotic bands are not cupable of bein?
made fit for the secure defence of their country, because they can
have no actual employment in war tiU the event of an invasion's to
adhere to old theories, in contempt of the most decisive experierce
The French officers, are said to expr-ess astonishment at our having-

a diffidence i" ''»u»' v»^i""*-»"-s -'-== ^„^' s_j :_ - -

, "-"----- -" iiUu. x^ajjIuucu piiiicipie ; and so

they reasonably may ; for by whom have the most brilliant exploits

of their own campaigns been performed, but troops that had never
•een service ? We oun*elves, however, might have learnt to coiw
rect the (dd prejudice earlier, by our experience in America ; and
what a glorious refutation was lately given of it by the 78th regi-
ment at Maida ? . ■
I'he brave young Scotchmen who composed that corps, wefe
raised in 1 805, and sent to the Mediterranean in September of that
year. Till they landed in the bay of St. Euphemia from Sicily, on
the first of July last, they had never seen a musket-shot fired in
actual service ; and yet they confounded by their steadiness, as wfell
as by their intrepidity and ardour, the bravest battalions of France.*

• The following is an extract of a letter, from one of the gallant young offi-
cers by whom this corps was raised, to his fiither, a rei^ectable geiitieman in this

4 *' The light infantry battalion, commanded by lieutenant -colonel tvcrapt, the
yftth, Highlanders, and the Slat regiment led the attack. We forijied line, at
about a mile in front of the enemy, and advanced in ordinary time, keeping an
excellent line. When arrived within a quarter of a mile of the enemy, we per-
ceived them in three large sol!d columns, with about 300 cavalry on their right.
They advanced, halted and deployed into line with much seeming regularity and
steadiness. After a halt of about five minutes, they advanced with drums beat-
ing and loud shouting, (the latter is an expedient by which the French attempt
to ? itirriidate their enemies, at the critical moment of an attack, and often witk
great success) and at 200 yards distance, the firing commenced, on our right, by
the light infantry battalion. The 78th at the same time advanced, but without
firing, until within 100 yards of them j when we commenced and received a
heavy fire for a quarter of an hour. The enemy then retired : and we charged
them four times, but they never would look us in the face — they fled about half
a. mile, and we halted to breathe a little.

•' By this time, the 78th had advanced considerably beyond the corps on their
right and left. The enemy perceiving our situation, brought forward their cavalry
to charge us, but they could not make them advance. We were soon supported
by the light infantry battalion, and 81st regiment. At eight o'clock, a large
column of the enemy was perceived on the left flank of the first line, they having
out flanked us by marching along a hollow way to our left ; but the second line
had perceived this manoeuvre, and were prepared for them. Our regiments
individually charged ; and after three hours very hard fighting, the enemy gfave
way in all quarters. The 78th and light infantry continued the pursuit, until
near two o'clock. The French had about 8000 men in the field, and the British
army did not exceed 4795 rank and file, as you will perceive by the annexed ac-
curate statement."

" The commander in chief, and the whole army, have bestowed on the 78th
the greatest praise, for their brave conduct ; for videcd, nothing on earth, could pos-
sibly resist the determined bravery oj our dear lads; luAo repeatedly charged, driung
ewry thing before thein. The French troops were mostly iignt infantry — ^two

lut the trooi* wfid lia^ thus immortaHsed their fii^ attetopts
m arms, have not been men who at the middle period of life, or
#feen they began to feel the infirmities of (JecUning years, hare been
transfdrmed at once from citizens into soldiers ; nor have they been
taught by halves, those essential, though soon acquired arts, of
usmg their arms, and performing military movements. Their wan|/
of experience in war, and of long habit in the exerciser of the camp
have been their only defects; but then these also are the only defects
inherent in the constitution of the BriUsh volunteers; and while such
defenders of their country can be found with the natural requisites
of the soldier, I see not why they should not be enabled to rival if
they found an , ^ ortunity in England, the heroes of Jcmappe, and

- But how, it may be asked, are we to improve the physical
character and discipline of our volunteers, and at the same time in-
crease thdr numbers ? In order to answer that question, I must look
back to the original constituti of these corps; and point out the
sources of those defects which are at present to be found in them.
^ If the youth of any country are the fittest to defend it in war,
they are also the most likely to become its voluntary champions.
The same feelings which qualify them for soldiers, impel them to
he the most forward in the pursuits of fame ; and especially of mili-
tary glory. But our volunteer corps are of two classes ; the one
formed prior to the training act of 1803, the other subsequent to"
that period ; and both were composed of a pretty large mixture of

regiments of them were favourite corps of Buonaparte. These regiments be-

'^n/o.?'"^ ^ ""'"' '"'^ ^'^ ""' '^'"^ '^' "^"'y '^'' °"^ »>^lf ^"« bayoneted."
.Of 950 young men, of whom the 78th consisted, more than the half were

under twenty years of age ; and further extracts of the same letter, might serve

Itlf ol7"'*"" °'. *'" ^""^^ °" "'''^^ ' •^^^ ^«=^°- --"' ^'i^ the
youth of soldier, especiaUy m services of hanisbip and fatigue. During five

alu^H ^^ " 'f'' " "'"*' ^'^" ^°"^"^ ^'^P'^y^«i -'^^ extraordinary
rl?.!! • ""! ^'-'""'"-^"^^ >-'*o«t any change of clothes, and without any

.^1 ff "! " •': ''" ^°""'' "^' "^^^"^^ ^— •" adds the writer!
snug htUe places, wath bushes and weeds, a,ui I a.sure you sleep n^t c^.forta.

o .0. T!'''^ ^^'''°''''^'*"'^^''^"'^'^ ^«°^- L^t the volunteer of 40
or 50 consult h,s own experience of the bodily effects of such hardships as he has

ever known and then suppose himself to have been in the rSth regiment, firs^

hanng the hardships here mentioned for five days, then marching and fig^t^,

have been h,s probable share of strength and animation in the battle. If this
case proves that th** rnus^ ~.a" ".» =r-'-' _a .. " "us

n«i«- lit . ' ' " ^ -• "V" lu /uMiiij Buioicrs, it proves

no less clearly that they fiisiUd be young nien.

"\?:

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGF^ (MT-3)

I.I

1.25

L£12.8 12.5
|io "^™ IMHI

M 12.0

2.2

1.4

1.8

1.6

Sciences
Corporation

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(716) 872-4S03

^
^

1^8

Tnid(He aged and etdeily men, as wdl at itieh of delicate habits, ffom
artificial causes. The former, were chiefly enrolled in troublesome
times, with a vievnr to assisting the civil poiirer in the suppression of
popular insurrections ; a purposfe in which men above the lower class,
and who had passed the prime of life, were led to engage, chiefty
for the sake of promoting the public object by their influence and
example; considerinr; that as there was no danger of their being
cailed into any servico far beyond the limits of the town in which
they resided, they should be exposed to no very inconvenient or
laborious duties. Yet when the country began to be thought in
danger from without, such men felt an honorary objection to retiiteg
from the corps in which they were enroll:^, and to the formation
of which they had contributed. * ' *

The same was a frequent c&s^. In several corps raised dc^ng
the last war, under an alarm of invasion, but whose o£&rs of service-
were then restricted to particular districts. '! xi; >.; :

The great aera, however, of volunteer institutions was in the year
1803, when the act for the defence of the cortoitry, usually called the
levy in mass act, held forth to every male between the age;? of 17
and 55, the alternative of cither serving in a volunteer corjjs of his
pwn choice, or being trained with men of all ranks, in a compulsory
way, in the parish to which he belonged.^

'^ Regard to personal credit, ease, and convenience, now conspired
with a sense of honour and patriotism, to induce gentlemen, and '
xnen above the labouring classes, to form volunteer associations, oi*
to enter into those which were already formed, in the neighbour- .
hood of their respective abodes. With many, the very circum-
stances which tnade thejn unfit for soldiers, were inducements to
such conduct ; for if their constitutions were delibate, or incapable of
bearing fatigue, they naturally expected more consideration and in-
dulgence when commanded by, and associated with, their eqlials and
Irlends, than in the ranks of a parochial mass. As volunteers too,
they had a certainty of the choice of good weather, and convenient
hours, for the business of the drill. They knew indeed, that by
volunteering, they might place themselves in a liability to be called
out into the field in the event of invasion, when periiaps the latter
classes, to which they would have belonged in the mass, might not
have been put in requisition ; but the nearer and more certain ir ■
conveniences of the drill, were more formidable, than the distant and
precarious hardships of service against invaders; a service too, under
which men ot right feelings, expected that their bodies would be
I>o\verfully sustained by their rainds. The expectation was i" some

«legreejust; though knowledge of roiUtary auOcs, aii4 experienqi
of bodily hardships in general, had not taught them its proper Umita:'
Besides, the levy m mass act, placed men under fifty, who were uq-

n»med airi had no children leas than ten v««t«. nM ;« *u j

ctaas or requtsttwn. These tberefore, very litUe increased tbew
chance of actual service, by enrolHag themselves as voluntrero. i

Fashion, and delicacy, soon inclined gentlemen the same way,
who might have made a different choice; for it was perceived, that
those who waited for the operaUon of the act, would find few of their
own rank in Ufe to keep them in countenance, and would have
scarcely any other associates in the parish trained bands, than ma,
Pial servants and labouters. Other gentlemen, very unfit by yearn
«nd consUtution, for military duties, but who had long before en-
roUed themselves in rolunteer corps formed at much earlier periods,
tod when their constitutions, perhaps, were equal to those very
kmited services for which they engaged, felt an honorary repug-
nance to withdrawing, when their corps, at a period of pi,Uc dangw
extended its offer of service, as required under the masract, to anf
part oflhe rc^m. . '

, The consequences of these concurring causes was, that a imm.-
^r of volunteers, more than sufficient to satisfy the wishes of go*
flfemtnent at that period, was speedUy enrolled ; but that the propor-
^ of townsmen, ia comparison With the more haixJy inhabitants
^ the country, of middle aged or dderly men, in proportion to the .
#o«ng» of tender or valetudinary persons in proportion to the robust
, and healthful, and of gentry, or men above the lowest class, in com-
parison with the peasantry and woriimen, was unnaturally and unfor-
tunately great. Almost the only volunteer corps composed wholly,
or chiefly of men who were corporeafly fit to make good soldiers,
i*re those which wens put upon pay by private subscriptions.
The common peo^ having no apprehension of being worse skuih
ted thim others by tne operation erf the act, had scarcely any other
motive for vohmteering. They were, nevertheless, by the perauar
sion of their superiors, and by the prevailing argument, that they
soon must be drilled, either by compulsion or choice, beginning to
come forward in many phices, when it was unfortunately announced,
that volunteers enough had been found for the defence of the eoun-
try, and that the mass act would not be enforced.
i I have ever regarded it as a great and mo^ unfortunate txrm on
^is occasion, that no wiention was paid to age, rank, or ntuirtioti iA
life ; but to numerical sufficiency alone. It was an error, howeven
which todt its rise in the defence act itself which, in its estimate ol

&« fulBciency of a volunteer foi%e, totallf disregarded such differ-
ences; even that moat important one, the distinction between yoitth
ind age, in a new soldier. When a numher of volunteers, between

k*t'#ntA»n arbl fiftc .fiv« v^nw* nW. #nnnl *t\ thn^r^Cntiviha. nf tit* niiw*.

feer of men in the first class in any district, should be actually enrolled,
the king was empowered to suspend, in such dictnct, the operati<m
Of the act ; so that a volunteer of fifty^five, was regarded as an ade-
quate substitute for a main between seventeen and thirty. It was
thought, perhaps, that volunteers might be safely left to appreciate
Ibr themselves their natural capacity for service ; but this, under the
artificial circunistances which I have stated, was a fallacious reliance ;
find besides, if that great master in the school of nature, Shakspeare^
toay be trusted, men who are the fittest for military duties, are very
commonly the least willing to perform them.

In fact, the gnmd principle which I am so anxious to recom-

. jnend, that by which France has performed her wonders in the two
last wars, seems hardly to have had any place in our scheme of na-
tional defence. If the youth of men liable to service, determined
their classification in thi mass, it was in a compound ratio of years
«nd domestic relations. The reason of imposing less public bur-
thens on % married man who has in&nt children, than on a batchelor,
is obvious: but th< e is no case perhaps in which it was of less force,
ttan in that of a public exigency, which demands our personal ser-
■vice for the safety of the realm. At least, however, the public, was
Immoderately sacrificed to the private, consideration, when the un-
married man of fifty, was placed in the line of service, and of prepa-^
ration for future service, before tiie married man of twenty or seven-
jteen.

vr "''At the same time, it is right to observe, that the probaUe in-
trisase of parochial burthens, was a consideration of some weight,
which reasonably, perhaps, controlled to a certain extent, the appll-
^jation of right military principles in a general law of that kind. But
'«B far as the principle in question was adopted in the compulsory-
clauses of the mass bill, it should clearly have been extended to the
commutation to be accepted in volunteer service. Returns, there-
"fcre, should have been required, of the ages of the men who had of-
fered to enroll themselves; and individuals of the first class, should

. Hot have been exempted from the compuisoiy effect of the act, unless
in competent number of men of the same preferable description, of-
fered to serve as volunteers. - It was not just cr politic, that single
jmen df twenty or twettty-five, should be exempted from the incon-
^niences of the training plan, and left in a stale of unfititess to serve

tbeir country in time of need, because roamed men, of foft^vejr
fifty, were more prompt in their ofiers of service. <'■

The course that was taken, has not only given us a body of volun*

•^~T'n — .— —wS- «li KMiutat 4uaiiuu<iUuus, lO lIUll WBICIl- W© ntl^Ht HaVe.

possessed ; but has thsreby very greatly tended to prevent the aUaiOT.
ment of such perfection in disciplme, au these defenders of th3«
country might have acquired; and to occasion that decline, bothin
discipUne an ' effective numbers, -.rhich we have now so much cause
to lament. liad young men only been enrolled in the volunteer corps,
youthful emulation would have led them to make greater exertiont
to become expert in their military exercises; and this spirit woul4
i»t have been checked by the inconveniencies of fatigue or bad wea-
ther. « You cannot imagine, (wrote a young volunteer of Ireland, to
his friend, when on service in the rebellion there) what fine sport we
have had; we never halted long in the same place, but have been
matching continually in all weathers, and slept on the ground a^
Bight." The imagination of youth is an alembic which can extrw^
i»pirit8, even from tl.3 cold dregs of discomfort. The lighter motiv;^
lor volunteering also, are pecuUarly fish by young men ; but I will
nt^t particularize them, lest I should seeir deti'act frtnnthat manly^
generous, and patriotic spirit, by which tue defenders of their coun-
try are chiefly actuated. In aU these resptjcts, the volunteer of forty-
five is a most unequal associate for his comrade of twenty. The ^-
mulus is less with him, the sacrifices infinitely greater. The <me f$-
turns from the drill, or the parade, fatigued and disordered, by a por-
tion of exercise, by which the other is rather enlivened. The senior
too surely anticipates a cold or rheumatism, from he efi^ects of wet
clothes at a review; while the junior laughs at his alarms, and es-
capes without any inconvenience. In short, nature, in the one case,
inclines towards military service; in the other case strongly revolta
from it.

J If the elder, or less vigorous members of a corps, were induced
by these disparities, to retire, they would, at least, do no harm to the
cause; as the loss of such soIdie;*s would be no subject of regret: but
this, a false sense of honour, too generally prevents. Nor is it plea-
sant to a man's feelbgs, when he has been reported as an effectiva
soldier, to request to be put on the non effective list, while his healtji
is apparently good. The common expedient, therefore, in such
cases, has been not to resign, but to withdraw more and more from
the meetings of the corps; till at length such members rarely attend
at all, except on extraordinary occasions. Tbgir example, naturally
induces others .who f^ Ijbss. iMifitjrQiVBcrvi«?> tp.be rery lax in their

mummm^

atten&mce, when b^iness or plourare presents the smaller tempt^'
tbn to the fault; and the younger roembera at length think it qttite
allowraUe, and even fashionable, to be f^»ent from the ordbaiy mus-
ters. MeMDtime, emulation in militanr exercise, is greatly damped
b^jr the same cause. The musters smd inspections are so thinly at-
fi(»ided, that the ^rps can no l<Miger make a respectable appearance
m the paiMie ; and those who are most expert in the usual evolu*
lions, find their merited credit lost, through the aukwanbtess and
nlstakes of some of the other members, who have been Absent at
previous meetings.

Having assigned the causes of these gi-eat defects in the compo«
skbn of the volunteer corps, it remains to suggest some practicid
tteuis by which they may be removed. . i*

*#> The chief defect of idl, that which consists in the insufficiency of
tfie numbers «f vohint^rs of prc^r ages and habdits, for our secure
defence, qin of course only be remedied by new enrolhnents. Bitf
the intermixture of young and old members, i» existing corps, which
is so great a drawback on the impiwnement of the former in disci"
pline, and likely to nili»^ their efficiency in actiwii service, is an evil
that may be easily corrected. Nothing more is necessary, than to
distribute the members into two or three different classes, accoi-ding
to their different periods of life; and then form them into first, se-
cond, and thind battalions, first, second, and third complies, or still
smaller cUvisions, proportionate to the strength of the corps. Young
men would then have a fair opportunity to qualify themselves com^
^letely for actual sei-vke, by exercising with men of their own age,
without being retarded or embarrassed by their less expert and less
active seniors: and the first divisions of many different corps, might
be brigaded together, and taught the more complicated evolutions,
on the largest scale, viith the same important advanta^ It would
SQon become discreditable among them to be lax in attendance, or to
be found incorrect Ln the field ; and in the event of an invasion, an
incorporation of the first battalions, companies, or divisions of the
nearest volunteer corps, would oppose to the enemy an army of
youthful patriots, who, Uke the heroes of Maida, might in their first
military essay, surpass his bravest troops.

Though this new regulation in our volunteer corps, would im-
prove their military character, it would not, I admit, immediately in-
crease their numbck's. It would not, however, produce a Gontrary
^=--r» — • s.ro / »»»«.g».» <nkmQ«iir>,«vuUmiH> uuiuiu more sirongty thsA
eyer by a sense of honour, not to desert the cause of tbdir country,
whea tffey found themselves peculiariy reUed upon for its support;

md placed, as it were, m the firoit Kne of owOtimmnmtmxi
Their eWers, on the other hand, reUeved from an arduous and un*'
equal competitiai, and placed in their proper stations, would no

„ J. ««,^«ic »wr iiegicGung tocn- assumed du

ties, and absenting themselves entirely from the parade. They
would i»epare themsehres better for the services to which they mkthi
be really equal. ^

Itmigtoteven not unreasonably be expected, that an improve- ^
ment which would raise the reputation and conseqwnce of the to*
lunteers in general, would progressively add to their numbers.
. >. While, however, I would thus cherish the spontaneous contribu-
tions of miUtary spirit, and patriotic sentiment; while I place tlie
highest value on the volunteer corps, and deprecate every thing
Which tends to their discouragement, I am far from thinking that the
aefence of England, at this awful conjuncture, should be left to their
arms akme, limited as their efikicnt force now is, in conjunction with
our present establishment of militia and regular troops. There was a
tome, when by adopting the principles here recommended^ we might
^ve bad volunteers enough, and of the very best quaKty. A new
tall from the government and the legislature, perhaps, might still in-
duce the youth of the country more generally to take up arms. But
if not, such a call ought to be enft«x;ed by anew compulsory law
^JsABd here again, I will dare to censure both the great parries m
thfe state: the administration for being content with so very inade-
quate a measure as the existing Trainhig Act; the opposition, for
condemning even that faint approach towards vigorous preparadoo,
Ma needless burthen on the people.

^ While France, to use a phrase repeated so often that its awfu!
import has ceased to be felt, is become a nation ofiioldUers, and while
she is assiduously impressmg on all her new dominions in Europe,
the same terrible character, it is truly amazing to hear British states-
men condemn, as oppressive or needless, the principle of compul-
9ory service. But it is not less extraordinary, to find the appKcatioii
of that principle, limited to a service of twenty-four days in thre<»
years. Yet this is the utmost effect of the Training Act now in
force. His Majesty's undoubted prerogative in time of actual inva-
sipn, IS not indeed impaired by this law. He may then call for the
full service of all his people : but in an age when military science has
reached such high perfectbn, and when all its instruments to be use-
ful, must be prepared by previous discipline, this prerogative would
be very ineffectud in the hour of danger, if prevtom riieasures should
not have pawd the way ^ its esefcae. tk,» i»».{oi««„»^ «i i-— _

wmmm

steps 81 to prefMire the peo{^e for performing the nu»t importut
duty of their allegiance in time of need; and sends f.htm for twenty',,
/bur day$ to the drilU under parish conrtafales ! ! Even this is to be
done in so stow and progressive a method, that unless the enemy
i^iaU be very dilatory indeed, he may socMier provide a marine for the
invasion of England, than a tenth part of the people of England fit
for military service, will be thus trained to receive him.
» - It would be unjust to the minister who propoM^ tbb law* and
who certamly. possesses very rare and brilliant talents, not todiserve,
that he himself does not much rely on the effect of it for our securityi
\mt looks chiefljr to a regular army.-— Where however, is that army
at present? I speak in reference, not to his plan for recruiting itf
which seems to be built upon a wise as well as liberal principle ; but
to the disposition of its existing force. If the regular army is to be
enlarged, only to furnish means of foreign expediUons, and colonial
conquests, I see not how the ablest pkn for its extensimi) can add to
Wr domestic safety.

, Is it really then thought too much, that Englishmen should be
obliged to prepare themselves effectually for the interior defence of
their country ? In what nation, but our own, was it ever doubted, that
free men are bound to serve the state with their arms, if necessary,
even in foreign and distant war? In the freest communities of
Greece, such was the common duty of all the citizens. At Rome,
even in the utmost plentitude of her liberty, the free citizen who
upon the C(m«uA refused to take his military oath of enrollment, and
to march wherever the Roman eagles led him, was sold into per-
petual slavery; as unworthy to enjoy the freedom of that country^
for which he was unwilling to fight.

t^i By the happy effects of our insular situation, and maritime
strength, tuded by that inestimable modem defence of Europe, now
so fatally subverted, the balance of power among nadons, we have
hitherto held in this respect, the richest inheritance of the earth, at
the cheapest quit rent. Since the decay of the feudal system, and
its military services, we have ncrt been called upon to defend our
fi^edom, perfect and unexampled, though it is, at the same cost
which other nations have paid, for extending the power, and promo-
ting the glory of their tyrants.

These happy times however, are passed 9way, and a new state of
things, more natural in a world of violence and wrong, prescribes to
us new duties. Yet still we have our citadel amidst the waves ; and
blessed be God, still possess our ascendancy in point of maritime
pQWer. We may yet therefore retain the best part of our singular

exemption from the mUitary duties otfft^timiWmi^-miqat^
is not necessary, to our safety; and thercfopc no Briton need be rc^
quired to bear arms, except within the borders of his country.

•iAre there any men «ni<nig us who hold even this too much? If
•0, they are unworthy of the national blessings they enjoy; and
.especially unworthy of British liberty.

If such persons would do less for the senriciTof their countffi
than every other free people have been content to do in similar
cases, let them regard with terror at least, if not with edification,
ihe present example of France. The system began during her
boasted liberty, is continued to this hour, and is not likely to be re-
linquished. There, every man is liable to serve who is of an age
for military duties ; though those between 18 and 25, alone, have yet
been put in requisition. Is it fit, that Frenchmen should do and
suffer more, to overthrow EngUsh liberty, than we to preserve it?—

And if such a humiliating contrast were decorous; is it safe? It is

iwipossible, that a nation so superior in energy to us, should long
fail to reduce us to the bondage we deserve? No^it is the general,
the inevitable course of human affairs, that a warlike people who
sink the citizen in the soldier, must give law to their unarmed
neighbours. Standing armies, however brave and faithful, will not
long protect a community that trusts to them alone, against a nation
of soldiers.

V- We may well lament that such a military system as that of
France, should have started up again in Europe; and that the iron
age of arms should revive in the 19th century; but the regret is un-
availing--«s our enemies have set this terr' le example, we must
follow it, or perish. Such would be the Uiiemma, even if thes«
enemies, like the subverters of the Roman empire, were rude and
uneivilized in comparison of ourselves, distant from us in place, and
inferior in extent of dominion ; how much more certainly so, when
we have to conflict with a power, which rivals us in arts and arms,
which looks into our harbours, and which can now summon to the
field, more than half perhaps, of the whole military force of Europe.
But if any Briton can be unmoved with the dangers that menace
his country, I beseech him to remember his own. He would nbt
choose it seems to become a soldier, to avert ail the horrors which
would fall upon his native land, in the event of its conquest by France.
But does he suppose, that in that event, he will be exempted from
military service? No^-^he may rest assured, that he would soon be
compelled to takeup arms in the hard service of the conqueror. Si

nalMtmuut curre^ hydroiucM. If he wiU not march as a free mai»,
he Mrill have to march as a slave.

Buonapftrte, who has tnwle Batavian and Italian conscripts, vill
klfdKibly maVe English conscripts too, whenever he has power. Is
it supposed he will then have no more u»e for soldiers? He will find
it convenient at least, to drain q\xv capti\^ land, of its young and ar-
dent spirits, as the iftost likely to break their chains. Nor will ho
want new fields of Uood for them, wherein they may gather fresh
laurels to adorn the brows of their master. The vast extent of Rus-
sia, may find long employment for his arms; so may the distant re-
gions of the new wwW ; and even Africa, which during the late peace,
he formed the plan of colonizing and covering with military stations,
might furnish a copious drain for the juvenile conscripts of England.
Righteous governor of the world ! who knows, but it may be among
the stores of thy retributory justice, already so conspicuous in our
&te, that the f outh of England shall be led captive into that very
land, whose hopless children we now cruelly exile and enslave I

That our enemy aims at conquering the whole worid is now
ibundantly evident. He will long therefore, have new battles to
fight, or at least new nations to overrun ; and whea even the world is
his own, the provinces of his empire, lAust be kept in awe by mili-
tary force. There is no doubt therefore that his system of conscrip-
tion will be as extensive as his conquests; and it will probably be his
prudent plan, to transport the levies of every country into some dis-
tant province ; just as he sent his unfortunate Polish legions, to em-
I^y their free born ardour in the slave-war of St. Domingo.
V Should our gallant young men, from 18 to 25, be marched in
chains, like the conscripts of France, to the coast, and embarked for
service in the torrid zone, or in some crther distant region ; they may be
indulged perhaps, with a last embrace of their chaste wives, or a last
adieu to the dear objects of their first affections ; and then, if the pain
of leaving such pledges in the hands of their licentious mastere shall
admit of any aggravation, it may be found m the thouglitj that by a
timely enrollment for the defence of their country, all this might
have been avoided. How will they then exe<yate those improvident
lawgivers and statesmen, who indulged their love of ease, at the ex-
pense of their civil security !

The djvious conclusion from these remarks, is that a$i far as in-
foluntary service may be necessary for the full and perfect security
of the country, it ought without scruple to be exacted.

How far sucli a necessity now really extends, it may not be ea|y

■■'B ■^:.

■•^r*

to 5«erm!ne; Ut -iboldng at the present aituttion of Europe, wxT
especwlFy at the population of the French empire, it is surely no
Immoderate estimate, that what France has already done. E«-Ld
cannot safely omit. We should at least, go as far in premratS;, a,
she has gone in practice. WhUe her young men from 18 to 25 m
actually serving, our young men of the same ages, should at least be
preparing to acrre.

' Jam for however from thinking, that this is the only part of our
popufetton whith ought to be trained to arms. Every man under 45,
should be m some degree prepared to take part in the defence of the
eountry : but while a moderate share of discipline, might be all that
^I'nfjhl' ^.^l^'d /=°7«niently acquire ; the young, ought, wi%

^1 poss^le cxpediuon and correctness, to learn the whole, busincsiik
at a soldier.

^ Of the specific means, for thus generally arming the people, 1
u^yt ^*'''**''°" and diffidence, being conscious that there may
be difficulties which I have not sufficiently weighed ; and feeUng my'
great mcompetency to judge, either in a miUtary or financial view,
what particular plan is the fittest to adopt. That the people should be

armed,and that the youthofthecountry should beassiduouslyprepared
for service, plam common sense may suffice to discover, but in what
specific mode, with what gradations, and by what persuasory or com-
pulsory means, these great ends may be best obtained ; are questions
on which even the ablest field officer, and best informed statesman,*
may deliberate with anxiety and doubt.

X ^* *^® ^™« t»*ne I feel, that to suggest some pracUcal ideas, is
m such a case, the fairest way of bringing abstract principles liuder
review ; and I will therefore in a very brief, and general way, sketch
the outUne of a plan ; not as the best possible application of the prin-
ciples which should be adopted in the defence of the country, but as
an example of their actual use.

First.— The fundamental maxim of the plan, should be that every
man who is of an age to bear arms with effect, and disabled by no
bodily infirmity, should be trained, as speedily and as fully as general
convenience may permit, to the use of arms ; and to all such duties
of the soldier, as may be learned without actual service. Difference
of age, should vary the time, the degree, and the manner of prepa-
ration ; but the exceptions grounded on circumstances exterior to
bodily fitness for $tervic», ahn.iH »^*» »..-.u i_ ^_ ^i-i ..^ „. . v ., .

terestsof the country, thevery first of which is reverence for religiwi,
indispensably require.

4S. Mtxii of n hUr pexipd of Ille, might fonn theimelTai intOi of
continue in vdluntc«r corps if they plwMed ; tnit irfioiUd not be co&«
fttrainedto t«ke up arms, nor pennitted to mix themaelvm vitli
yovmi^ Tol^tueenb unleM under suoh reguU^ons u would preTcn^
liny prejudice to the corpa at large} thnmgh their unfitoeaa mv.
factual service,

Sd. The men liable to compulsory training, should be divided
Into three classes, as follows: The fitst, comptMed wholly of men
|>etween seventeen and twenty-ftve; the second) of men from <Wf<iiM
. ty-fi>e to thirty-five; the third, of men from thirty-five to brty-fivo.
ijrears of age. If the classification should be vari«i in any degreei
^n ar-count of conjugal or parental connections, as in the Defence
Act of 1803, that principle should be admitted only in the two latter
classes. The proporti->n of married men under twenty-five, wh<n,
irith the aid of their wives, rxiuki m^ compatibly with tfne pubtic
iervices required from them maintmn their families, would nc^ fa»,
lai^e i and a distinction therefore ought not to be admitted in &vour
pf the married of that class, v/hich would materially impair the best
fcrce c£ the coimtry. '

4th. Every man of either class, who chuses to equip himsetff
|nd be trained, at his own expense as a volunteer, should have
Bberty so to do, and be eicimpted fromi; %h» comfmlsory trainmg t<|.
'Vhich he would otherwise be li^Ie, up^i enrolling hiimelf in SQif||>
Volunteer corps now existing, or in some new cwps whoa? offers of
Voluntary service shall have been accepted by his majesty. Th©
present volunteers, should of course have liberty to continue as now
incorporated, wUjject cwly to the new iriterior arrangement already
suggested. But it woaM be a point fit to be submitted to tlie ^sr
crstion of his majesty whether they diould be recruited by new
members of the first class; or whether in new corps to be &rm>
ed, any intermixture of that with the eldw dasses, should be per-
mitted.

By the vohmteers however, whether dd or n^w* much stricter
regukitions must be adopted for enforcing frequent meetings, and
regular attendance, than now in general exist; nor should there b«.
j^y relaxation of thofse ^lies, unt 1 up<m the most exact inspeo
*tbn(, all the member} shall be reported, by a field officer, to be per-
fect in their military exercises and discipline. By the efTect of this
.Tulc, members of the same association would become vigUant in^
9|rc«.&u*a u-t sowit v%uv>o rcgi4i^n,i,y «utu piogtviiiii aiia-it^ luaxif wno
by his negligence postponed the perfection of the corps, and the
coit^equent rcfexation of its active duties, being found a nuisance to

I kMe the power of expukioB fettlHkt cnuei «ula volwi.

«Mn^Nie««]q^lted from his eorfM, •booid he obHinl «o ttAimit to
MmBiifBorir t*Blnlti» fat hi* riMitui* rt:a*«4»* *:ii il.:.^ r .. ..

cipHneti, h« should b« abto igpin to ebtiia admisiim imo the um^
ir sonHs other corps. ■ •■■^ ..',..•.--*;■•. (^.t -^^ » - i/

The commanders In chief, or inspecting field officers of etch
district, siiould prescribe to each particular corps of vokinteen, the
thiHj within which, upon pain of being disbanded, and matle subject
i» compulsory training, they should attain the requisite degree of
discipline, for wtual serviee^Herein, however, some regaitl might
iM hid tD the ^fessions, occupations, or situations in life ol the
members; shd a similarity in these particulars therefore, ought to>
•iW Woteld determine, the choice of a corps. 1 ho same officer ought
s&tio to approve their pi»»s, la to tinmi of meeting, fines for non-at-
tteidarice, fcc. thfjugh thete might be \t% in the first instance, to
tfe* jud^iMit of the corps itself amd might be subject to occasionai
^Miatibtls, undl^ »*e inspeetisig field officer's sancdon.

Stfc. Whten th*- witttttter corps Wei* thus cither formed entirdf
<of tttti oi the same claSs, According to the divisibrts ah<eady men-
tioned, or divided into first, second^ and third ctimpanies, or other
denomihationsi by the same rule; distinctions might and ought tobte
riiWe, in the degi*6fe of application «nd dispatch required from dif-
ftewrt: eoiTps and diviskms, in qusdi^inii ^emselves respectively {<»
aW^^ The youngfest class should be allowed a shorter time for
that puT>o!<e Aan the second ; and the second than the third. Young
ttien may be expected to acquire cxf^rtness in the use of arm^
and in the rarious movements of a battalion, much easier than min
of more advanced years; for which reason, as well as because they
triU be the most efficacious sokiiers in die field, they ought to bo
trained with much greater ^spatch than their sentors.
- 6th. 1 think that no pay should be allowed to any member ofa
jmunteer corps out of the national purse, unless when he is called
into actual service, or permanent duty; though this rule may per-
haps admit, and require particular exceptions. Nor should the al-
IcfiTttice fiw the corporate expenses of these corpi, be tery consider-
able. The allemtion of public burtbtns iti this respect, miy be an
importmt object; and the petty contributions of the me^nbers, might
be conudered as a tax paid by men who haire property enough to
prepare themselves for service at their own charge, for the superior
ea» and convenience of their military education.

H^it may perhaps b^ gfejccted that the totanctiqa bgaitwi

100

tttch volunteering, and compulsory service, is mereljr iioinwal; and
I admit it is so ; except in the choice of a corps, and accoaimodation
as to the times and places X}f exercise, and in the modes of coercion
or di8( ipline. In all other respects, the duties of the volunteer, and
of bis fellow citizens in general, supposir-^ compulsory enndl-
ments to be necessary for our defence, would, and ought to be, the
^me.

7th. Provision being thus made, if necessary, for the improve*
nient and increase of the vdunteer institutions ; tha whole mass of
^people of proper age for service, except such of them as prior
to a very early peHod, should produce certificates of their enroUnaent
ia some volunteer corps, ought to be speedily, but progressively,
tinned and disciplined, so as to fit them for actual service.

What proportion of thcra should be put in requisition, at once,
for that purpose, I presume not to determme; Iwt the men of the
first class, should in a gi'eat degree, if not exclusively, be ihe first
selected The mode of compulsion, should, in the first instance, be
as mild, and as analogous to the ordinary sancti(Mis of municipal
law, as poa^iUs. The belt course, perhaj^, would be the imposition of
a small fine, for non-attendance) or for any act of iQsubordination«
witl^ a progressive increase Ji its amount on every repetition of the
offence; and a discretionary power in tliis respect, should be uitrust*
cd to those >vho may be appointed to adjudge such penalties; in
order that they may be fairly adapted to the fortune, or situation of
the offender. The last resort against the untractaWe, atter repeated
convictions, should be the sending them to some coips of regular
trc»ps, to be appointed for receiving such persons; in which they
should be subject to all the strictness of martial law, until thoroughly
qualified for service.

It would be a convenient and £dr expedient, to oblige those gen-
tlemen in every district who are past the period of military duty,
and yet not disabled by age or infirmities, to act in rotation, as de-
puty lieutenant? or commissioners, for the purpose of adjudging
fines, allowing excuses, and executing such other judicial functioas,
as the new system might require. It would thus become the duty
and interest of every man in the community, who is capable cither
of military or dvil service, to forward the grand common object, as
speedily as po,ssible; for when once the peoirfe were thoroughly
trained, and not till then, all these troublesome functions would, for

-— .;-■:;-_ 7.

Tbe process of training should be prtigressive, in respect of me-
thod| as well as of numbers: at least, such should be the case with

tilte' vounerer r.lasauH. • Th*> h»iainj>aa nf tu^ a^u :_l4. u. •

«nUf and expeditiously learnt by every mwi, in his proper parish,
by the allotment of an adequate portion of time for the purpose in
each day or week, without calling him far from his home,so m to inter-
fere with his domestic comforts; but after the manual and platooo
exercise are learnt, U-r voung defenders of their country,, may best
be taught the more complicated business of the regular soldier, and
initiated in his proper habits, by being embodied in battalions or bri-
ifsdes, and employed fw a certain time exclusively, in military du-
ties. Beyond all doubt, the first class ought to take the precedence,
in thus finishing their militaiy education.

If I may rely on the judgment of those who are best qualified to
calculate the time necessary for this important purpose, it would not
be necessary to separate our young men above three montlis in the
whole from their ordinary residence, and civil emplt^ments, In or*
der to make them perfect soldiers; by which I mean, as perfect as
men who have not in the ordinary meaning of the phrase, « seen ser-
vice," can possibly become.

' Such is the brief outline of my ideas, crude and imperfect ones
I adnut, on this momentous subject.

I do not overlook the finandal and poUtioal objections, that may
be opposed to this, or any other plan for a general armament; but to
state and answer them folly, would be greatly to exceed those bounds
which must be prescribed to the present work. The great and
compendious answer to them all is, that they must be surmounted,
were they tenfold as strong as they are.

I conceive, however, that this great and necessary effort for tlie
safety of the country, would probably in the end, be fess expensive
than the vexatious and costly means that must be employed greatly
to increase our regular forces: ami if there were now any possible
cause of diffidence in the loyalty of the people at large, which I en-
tirely deny, the best way to remove it, is to arm them in the nation-
al cause. Habits of military subordination, are the best correcUves
of a licentious popular spirit. If any man doubt it, let him contem-
plate the conduct of the army and conscripts of France; and this
not only under Buonaparte, but through every change in the go-
vernment that has succeeded the first revolution. Men are taught
mechanically by military exercises, the strength of concentrated
power, and the utility of obedience; and they become also attached
by new feelings, to that government in whose support they are ac-
tively engaged.

I repeatj however, as the short answer to all objections which

m^f to the pimij^t ohk fgmtnl anaament; it is indispensab^
jmrnmay. Times are arrived) ia vhteh we cm iwd no c^er sIhv
expedient, to iMroid a foreign yoke. We must become a mition of
aoidiers) or a nattoD of slaves.

*Hi-

Sect. 4. R^m^Hmt it On iaaenHal bdsik of our national

tqfeiy.

It remuns to say something of ihat oih&e mem of avertfa^ oius
p<Mc (teitger% which I propcMM to consider, namely, reformatit».
As io patience and rnammity^ their importance will be readily pei*.
emvad } but the necessity of such Te/brmationj as I i^ean to suggest,
may iMsrhaiw not be equally divious.

m-'Wen I to recommend the oorraction of abuses of a fimmcial or
constitutional kind, some readers would readily concur.«MThes%
they would say, are indispensably necessary j and without these, pt-*
tience and unmimity cannot be expected. But these are spedes of
reformation, which it is not my design here to con^der ; both be-
cease th«re is no dearth 6f advocates to recommend them ; md be-
cause a wish to reform such abuses, where tiwy admk of safe cer<«
reetiofH is not wanting in his majesty's orancils.
^.Frugality in the public expenditure, is beyond all doubt a duty of
h%h moment ; and the neglect of it voider the pi^s^m circumstanceii
of the country, would be truly opprobrious. Whether any such con-
sdtuUonal rcforn»tions, as moderate 6hd wise tnen have desired,
ought now to be attempted, is a questicin which I will not discuss.
It is 6f too extensive and delicate a nattire, to foMfl an incidental to-
pic m a work like this. 1 wiH only remark, that as th^re nev«!^ was
a period in which tl« popularity of our glorious c(»!8#tution, ahd of
our government, was more important j so neter Wbs It more dan*
geroilsto propose in parliament, any measure grestly desired by a
laiige portion ef the pwcple, against the known sens* of a majority of
the legislature. . iv

Leavi g such quentions to others, I wouW insist only on the Via*
mediate duty and necessity of one reformation, #hich we have too
long owed, both to God and man j which a great part <rf theeonki^
munity immt anxiotisiy desires; to which both houses (A parliament
are now solemnly pledged ; and which I iirmly beliete to be mcft^
essential to the salvation of the country, than her tokmtcers, h^
ariiijr', w iior imvyi I inean the awMiuoD of the slave trade.

Here, perhaps, some readers who have hitherto assented to most
of my remarks, and have found little to censure m these pages,

^tur.

dan^

109

CXCMA the t^tAiitt anil inftA»wiio»j» ■*■««•.. :_ i« i

, , -^. „ __^ , -~,.„^,,,^»», mumOuxir 41%. WOlCn 10011101)1001

truths Mve b«c» treated, wUl be diapoaed to hy the pamphlet down
withaamUej and exclaim* what coeujection ha» thia atalc aubicet
with the fate of England ? ^ s^^

1 conjurp them, however, if thcjr hav? bonie with me thiw fci;,
to Uaten a Uuie longer. I implore them to recollect, that many of
the most important relaUons between human events and human con-
duct, have been hidden from the wise and prudent, till subsequent U»
catastrophes which their timely discovery might have averted j « If
thou hadat known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things that
belong unto thy peace! But now they are hy from thine eyes."

That the slave trade is in its consequences, politically injuiloua
to the country, is a proposition which has been proved so often, and
ao clew^ly, in parliamentary debates, and in arguments addressed to
the imbUc, that I need scarcely regret the want of time to ofier here
new demonstrations of iu truth. It can be doubted cmly by those
who wiU not tisten or read on the aubjea; or whose prejudices are
q[iute invincible. .

The n^tiona sakchieft, however, produced lathis commerce
and t^ cdkoi^l^atem which it generates, are more and greater
than even abolitionists have yet stated. They are evils sustained at
the great expense of that commercial welfare which they are false-
ly aUeged to promote ; and by a still more ruinous waste of owrua-
tbnal wealth. They have cost us tenfold as many miUions as they
have truly returned.

The bankruptcies among oar merchants, and the losses among
our manufacturers, produced by the slave trade, and by West India
speculations in new lands, those kindred bubbles with which it is
always associated, notorioujdy and greatly exceed, in number and
extent, the gains and the fortunes produced by them.
•» I quarrel with no theorists here; unless they would push their
liaxims to preposterous extremes. Be it admitted, that the wrecks
of individual enterprise are often public emolument: stUl there must
be limits to the practical application of such theories. A nation can-
not profit by the adventures of its citiasens, when private ruin is the
ordinary event j wd success the rare exception.

^ Hawrdous, and in a general view, unsuccessful, as these specu-
latioiis have always been, they are now become infinitely more so
Before the markets of Europe were shut to oop W^it Indk n~-
duce, the prices of sugar were so far from yielding a profit on the
planter's capital, that they hardly paid his annual expenses, and the
charges of sending hb commodity to Europe. War has I admit,

XJUL naif «ucta . is

re i evi!. Nor 'cotil3^pieace biing any mitigatSon that ddc
siMy turn the balaticfe fti favoor of the planters at large. In fact,'
sugar planting has lo g been, 6n an average, a losing business;
and i» now b^-ome from the nattrbl progreks of causes inherent to
the existing system, Ihdependcntly of the evils erf" war, but abovtJ alt'
Inom the continuance of die islaveftrtide, a speculation whiehf to tll^
great majority of adventurers, is and must be ruinous.*

' Thirtnien are fouiid still to engage in it, is notirgitniieht what-
e^iHohth** contrary; any more than the great sale of lottery tickets'
is a proiof that tbe chanees are on the whole beneBcial to the pitf^
cliaMTs. ■ ''' ' '■

The West India lottery, froitt the unhappy and extreme Inl^''
qualhies of sugar crop*, has still a few tempting prizes : and so it'
would, pterhaps, if tipon thie general caiMtal embarked, fliere were a
lo^ of 90 per c^nt. The ^ccessftil adventures, like the 20,oCi01.'
prizes at Guildhall, are blazoned in dverywdk of English com-
merce I while the blankp are unnoticed and forgot. New dupes
tK^t^efote are corttinually found ; and while millions site pibriodicaUy
sunk by our planters, and slave traders, by our 4tterchants and m^*^'
nied ihenwho trt "^ them, and by bur manufacturers who trust the
merchants; the nation, like a simple Ibtterydub, is family perSuj^"
cd, that it is beneficial to fdUo^ the game.

Meantime, the accuwed system begotten and upheld in all its
abuses by the slave trade, produces a state of interior weakness and
danger in these colonies, which has msMe them, both in peace and

• That the si^jar plstttters, in the old islands, have, JTai^ many j^ears, feen pto-
gressivdy sinking deeper and deeper in ruin, is a fsKt quite undiluted zm&ng
those who know any thing of the case. In a late publication, by a ^ntlemaA
of big|i commercial character, and intimately connected with the sugar colonies,
it iiheld.that estates in St. Katt's, an island famous for the quantity and quali^.
of its produce, do not produce on an average, for a series of years, 4 per cent, oa
the capital invested. Yet the legal interest of that island is 8 per cent. ; and ma.*
ny i^nfeii are glad to obtaiti'mbney at that rate. The irtcuhibrances on estates'
in the West Indies, notoriously bear a large proportion to the whole vah«5 of the
capital : it requires little calculation therefore to shew, that enormous losses must
he incurred} and on whom do they chiffiy fail, but fiingUsh creditors ?-~See let-
ter to William Manning, Esq, M. P. by C. Bpsaivi«et, Esq. p. 17.

If further proof be wanted, that sugar planting js become a ruinous employ^
t»i*»»t for our cornniercia! cablta!. ! refer ta *?!~ WUH-im V^tsr-s-';: i-t-- %=-.=L- . =~_4"
to the fast manifesto of the Jamaica Assetnbly, printed by order of the house of'
ComittoTis,' Pcbniafy2Sth;i805. Bankruptcy h there described m the ahnost
univwsal lot of the planters of that island.

state ; and fetal drains on our ropiilar army. The West Indka
have probably cost us raore money since 1792, than aU our miUtaif
operatioDs on the continent, and subsidies to our alUea, united; and
the waste of our regular infantry which they have occasioned wUhitt
the same period, has beyond doubt, greatly exceeded the whole cX'
lecuve losses of ow army, by sickness or thf> sword, in every other
service.*

Were there no other objections to the slave trade, than that it ia
•ontmually adding to the extent of mercanule capital„thus wastefully
apphed, and colonies thus dreadfully maintained, it would be a suffi-
cicnt reason for its abolition. But this horrible commerce, at th»
same Ume, forms an insuperable obstacle to benign improvement*
in our sugar colonies ; and tends to perpetuate every mischief, mo-
ral and political, that belongs to their interior system. While a
slave market exists, neither wholesome laws, nor individual benevQ*
lence, will ever be able to meliorate the general lot of those wretched
beings, who toil under the whips of the drivers. It would be as ra-
tional to attempt to bring a sea marsh into tillage, without first em-
banking against the tide.

^1 That the propositions last advanced, are not wholly consistent
with the delusive representations of self interested men, and w|t^
the prejudices of the Ul-informed, I too weU know; and yetl cfei^I
not consistently with the plan of the present work, proceed to de-
monstrate their truth. Should the grand abolition controversy not
soon be shortened, by the force of those admitted principles on which
It ought to be decided, the public shall ere long be possessed of some
precise and systematic informaUon respecting cotonial slavery; and
I trust then to satisfy every man who will take the pains to reason
upon well cstabUshed premises, that all these propositions and re-
marks, as to the ill effects of this commerce in the colonies are irre-
fragably true. Mean time, I will rather leave them unargued to
the reflecUons of the discerning reader, than forbear to notice such
powerful consideraUons, among the reasons for abolishing the slave
trade.

■^ f^

• Sir Wiiliap Young lias g'lven in his late wotk, authentic returns, whereby
it appears, that out of 19,676 men, mustered in the windward and leeward islands
from 1796, to 1802, we lost by death, no less than 17.173. But this account, I

apprehend, contains nn Dart of the arnivstRtdnv^bj? •- «?. ■!■> -i __^ j. __j

nor does it embrace the lossesduring the years 1793,-4, and 5, dating which thij
yellow fever wa« peciHarly (kskuctive. See West India Common P(ae, £e«i
page 218. '

iHfkmning any tfcang that csai t» the stibjec^ of cwitixjrersy of dovAK)
fte may arrive at the same practical coiicluskm.

Thfc esteem of foreign nations, is obvkmsly of consequence to ot
M alt times, and especially at th» singular conjuncture <— 'We feel it
tb be so; for we have endeaTOured to condttate their good o]Hnkm
tttvd Mendship, by irery co^y sacrifices. Buonaparte too, is of the
same minu ; for he is t»;arcely more intent upon nsining our com*
i<ierce) than destroying our reptttadbnr on the continent : and beyond
deubt it "Wottld tend much to preclude mir effeetual inlerpoaitlon, at
liottte future and auspicious season, between his amotion, and the
remmAit of Europe that has yet escaped his sword, if he could sue*
et&A in persuading the world, that we are a sordid, selfish, and ufi*
principled people, whbse gold is their god, and who would spread
dtK^latiom thmugh the earth, for the sole purpose of extending their
commerce. It might also further his present plan, of engaging the
powers still neutral, in a confederacy against our maritime rights.

Now who can contemplate the slave trade, without feeling, that
ih that point, we are justly diargeable with the very crimes which
the enemy imputes to us ?— It is false, that we promote wshtS) for the
^ke of our trade in Europe ; but that we thtw sin i» Africa, is un-
questbnabiy irue. It b a foul Kbel, that the European continent
owes its present miseries to British avarice ; but that the great AM-
can continent owes chiefly to that catise, miseries far greater and
more durable than those of Europe, cannot fairly h6 denied.
' Btionapatte indeed, has not accused us of the slave trade- The
prejudices of which he is the dupe, and the crimes which he has
committed, ha\^ shut his mouth on that subject,. Bat a great ma-
jority ofiiis subjects, and of the people q€ all other nations, canimt
But supply in their reflections, what bis invectives have in this res-
pect omitted; and when they think of the slave trade, must be pre-
f»ared to believe us capable of all that he libellously imputes.. Even
slccomplices in guilt, know how to estimate the ine&ations which it
fbmishes, of the general principles of their associates. Let k be re-
membered too, that this is a crime, not Hi the contemplation of
others merely, but in our own : a national iniquity, long since record-
ed as such, by the solemn confession of our i-epresentatives in parlia-
ment, as well as by the voices of thousands and teas of thousands of
the people. Our public discussions on thb subject, and the resohi^
ticHis of nlm cem^ons» «i 17&3, excited great attcntwiJrfe «rther tia-
tlons) and no wlwpe more than in France. What then must be
thought of our having for fifteen years subsequent t&that period, f»t

^.f c^nshcd tim irthanoui cxMnnif rce wtikh v« liad praleaiedi «
*««>lution to abandon, l>ut greatly enlargtd Ut •KttiAi

What it actually thought is France, w« weU kiM>w.^Th« ap^
legists of the slave trade, aa well aa it« enenuea, iiccas« u» «« t vil^
hypocrisy ; supposing ttmt we me ait to lead othfij nationi into a di|j
Pdiction of their ahare of the trade, in «rder that we might monopE'
hxt Its proets. I am weU informed, that Buonaparte m«itioned his
leMcf of our diasin.ulaiion on the subject to Mr. FoJt, when in hi«
company at Paris; and was assured by that great man, but probaWy
iwthout effects tl^t the opinio© was uirfbunded^^No man could haif
repelled the charge with a better grace than that generous stafeM*
man; one of the ruUng feeling* of whose heart was abhorrence of
this detestable traffic. He pubtickly professed. that he should regan|
Its abolition as wi attsanment valuable enough to overpay all the la*
hours uf his life} and regretted in death nothing more deeply, \haM
his leaving that work unfinished.

But though Mr. Fox doubtless said ^ the First Consul, evew
thing which the wish to deUver Ms oountry from ao opprobrious aQ
iraputaaon, couU suggest, he must have felt that it was not easy t«
explain or defend our conduct. Buonaparte p >l>aWy remained uij*
convinced; and wnpnged the sincerity of his illustrious guest, bp
supposing that he had less love for truth, than for^he credit of hia
country.

That We have incurred upon this account, miach odium and com
tempt with the French people in general, cawmt be doubted. Even
after the usurpation of Buonaparte, a large part of them were so
averse to the infamy of repealing their own decrees against th? slav^
tiiide, that a very bold stand was made against the measure in their
senate; and the consul, notwithstanding th« terw>r of his n«wly ac^
quii-ed power, found himself opposed by a minority of 37 to 54. Let;
us here be just to our unfortunate enemies (unfortunate they trulf
Rre, though-guilty too). Their Uberty was irretnevably lost, through
the crimes which it bad engendered; but they would have 8ave4
from the wreck the moat generous of their reformations, if the sor-
did and mistaken policy of their new master had not c^pgsed it. .
They must have felt, however, with indignation, that Englaads
more than Buonaparte, was in fault. His advocates stiimTwelf
pleaded our example as his apofogy ; and the defence, it mxH be adn
mitted, was far more spc ious. than thatwluch Aom^ «f ♦i-- r..:^«-i..

«f this kirriWecommwee, offer upon the same principle in Eng3
land. If the mistress of the .ocean can plead, that she has no pw©i»
tp ^Mish the skf® tt-ftOe, white eth^rjjsMiioRs m^me 1»jcmykmi

«w«ii ^wmwmV -ma

«uiuosi aiav/i

«k •bkIvm #«*««Mn* laA

VT ««%# %^mgt»»m%r% »iu

time of war, protect her colonies from conquest, much lets their
commercial laws from suspension, against her maritime and slave-
trading eneiiiy. Good men indeed, am) even bad men, who reaadi|
iclearly, would see the absurdity of the defence in a moral view; for
France could at ieiuit' deliver herself from the- guilt and the shame,
if not Africa fiwn the scourge, of the commerce. But considering
how small a share she possessed of it, and how large a portion oSit
h in our hands, she could not hope in any great degree to benefit the
unhappy natives of that country, by a sacrifice in which we would
Dot concur.

*^ it seems impossible to doubt, that our opprobious adherence to
this traffic, has added much to the popular prejudice against us in the
minds of Frenchmen in general. DuHng the last war, it natura^y
confirmed the apprehension, that we were, from selfish motives, efi«-
mies to their freedom and independency; for it indicated a national
character coiidstent with such sordid feellhgs; and now when events
have precluded that suspicion in regard to the present war, the sartie
trime gives colour to the calumnies of Buonaparte, and prepares the
I>eoplej especially the friends of the negroes among them, to believe
that we basely wage war against them for the saice of commercial
spoils. Sure I am at least, that our immediate renunciation <^ tho
slave trade, would tend to open the mbds of Frenchmen, to our
true character; to make the war with us unpopular among them,
aoid lay a basis for solid reconciliation, when the spirit of their go-
vernment, and the state of Europe, shall allow of our sheathing the
ftword.

If we turn to America, the importance of our national character,
in this particular, will be more than equally apparent. There, We
certainly labour under great and unmerited reproach. The most
moderate and abstemious use even of our maritime rights, is indig-
nantly resisted; and partly from misapprehensions which we vainly
attempt to remove ; because they spring from a rooted conviction,
that our policy is uniformly directed by narrow minded and selfish
principles: it is said that we scruple not to trample on the rights of
the weak and defenceless, whenever it may promote the interests of
our navigation and trade. It is equally singular and mortifying, that
even Mr. Randolph, and our other apologists in that country, admit to
their oppmients, that we really act on such principles ; ccmtenting
themselves with the argument that other natiofts do the same. Yet
3fto reasonable grotmd or colour for ttich imputcOions, is to be found
ki our late treatment of the United States ; esccept perhaps in our to«

Uviih eoncmioni. It n irm that «eif-intere»ted indit ichiilt Jit^
ibr their privite ends, fomented this witi-Briti»h spirit in America,
by false and injurioui charges ; but our general iroprestions of the
poral character of any individual, have a powerful effect in our con-
•truction of his conduct towards us; and it is in some measure tlw
jame between nations.

- There is, perhaps, no part of the world in which we hare incur-
red so much disestcem by our conduct, in regard to the slave trade,
as in the northern statel of the American Unten ; in which the late re-
ientment against us seems to have been the most prevalent; nor is
there any country, in which the abandonment of this commerce,
would have a more powerful influence in our favour. May it soon
be In the power of our friends in America, when they hear us taxed
ndth rapacious principles, and a contempt for the rights of mankind,
to adduce our dereliction of the slave trade, as a clear refutaUon of
the charge.

Should we now continue to refuse this long.promised reforms-
tion, the reproach must uke a deeper tinge than ever in the eyes of
all civilized nations. The lords spiritual and temporal in parliament
assembled, have at length concurred with the commons, in recog-
nizing the moral turpitude of the trade, and in giving a pledge for its
mi^tdy excision, which it would be infamous not to redeem.

If it be important that our national character should be vindicated
in the eyes of foreigners, not less so, that it should stand fair in our
own. ' ; .

Who can doubt that a high sense of national honour and virtue,
a reverence, as well as love for our country, and above all a firm re-
liance on the protecUng power of God, are popular sentiments of
great vahie at an arduous crisis like the present. We are called upon
to make great sacrifices; perhaps to give the last proof of fervent at-
tachment to our country; it is fit therefore that she should appear
fair and amiable m our eyes, and that whatever soils the lustre of her
character «,uould be instantly wiped away.

There is indeed an attachment to the land that gave us birth,
which depends on no elevated senUments. For my part, I am not
ashamed to avow a love for the very soil itself: a weakness which
has made me shed tears at bidding it a long adieu, which has made
me review it with transport at my return, independently of the
thought of every rational obiect of «ttadimfint r^.T«~-t-^a i^ih.^
endearing name of country.' I blush not to confess, that," in i
distant climate, the expectation of death has been embittered by the
thought ihat my dust would not isingle with my native soil* But

llMPlrMte thtt fkfevf it the iuim«, i$ cumpoMd of .nobler •!■«
imfO'tM. It b « filial sense 9S bonoup and duty ; animsted bf reT««
rence /or «il that is noble and great, by affection for all that is excel*
Ifot aod amiablet in the Mociety to which we belong. It looks baek
m t^ie glory of our ancf stors, it loolu^iip^to the dignity of the thro9^
it looks round on the wise and beneficem in8Uuikion% the mild «id
l^uitable laws, the freedom, the happiness, tho virtue, by which the
social edifice ia adomed ; till glowing with a ptnerous enthusiasm it
exclaims, " this is my beloved country! 1 iktetved it from my fa-
thers ; I will defend it with my blood ; I will tranamit it unimpaired
to my children 1"

^^Jf such patriotic feelings are at this awful moment peculiarly
ieaaonable and important, let them not be chilled with the sad refle%;
tion, that this same beloved country is polluted by the moat soc^
and barbarous crimes ; that though dear to ourselves, she is a curse
to a large portion of the globe; that her wealth generates, and her
{^wej* maintains, a greater masa of human wretchedness and guilt,
tt^ii^even the pe^ilent ambition of France : perhaps than all thet
Qtll^f, political crimes df the age. « I have often thought," a pious
fqendwho is thoroughly acquainted with the slave trade, once said
to^me, « that were an angel to look down from heaven, in order Uk
determine which of the nations of the globe is the greatest scourge
to the human species, his eye wouW be arrested by Africa and the
W^st Indies, and by those receptacles of unspeakable naisery, th«
ships thftt are passing between them; and bis awful report would be,
Qreat Britain is th^ merciless nation."

^ |t is by those only who have not read and reasoned upon the
sul^ect, or who suffer themselves to be deceived by rank and uh
consistent imposture, that such an estimate as this can be thought,
excessive. But V7ere the dreadful effects of the crime at all dis-
putable, not so at least its sordid and in&mtms nature. What ra-
tional being, who ever heard of the slave trade, can attempt to
rescue it from our contempt and abhorrence ?

,1 demajad here, however, np wider concession, than that this com-
merce is in £ict a subject of extreme detestation with a large portioj*
of the Bridsli peo{rf[e ; and consequently a great drawback Mpon that
reyex-jcn^,and that ardent love, for the iastitutiDuji and the moiiil
character of his country, by which the miod oi a patriot should ter
animated in times of danger and distress.

most zealous for the abolitbn of the slave trade, are men of reUgiom^
f^eUhgsi and who re^rd tim traffic as 1^ mo$t heinous offence, m^

Itl

•SSI, »o — « "»"> «w» mj^mnw %MVK,. IT inere tM tmtinnm w le^d»«

# tew, who can reconcile to their own views of Chritiltnity, their owfi

•fciweous ttKi kiadec{uat« noiior^of the dtve tm^, by iookkg be-

Ca the crimes and the cruelties perpetrated on th« coast tnd «i
middio paMago, and even lieyond the dreadftil deMr«Mfoa ofttii
ipecica which enaoca In the West IntMoa, and aD the mieeriefl of'i
hitp^hn bondagevio a auppoeed contpenialory good ; let them con-
Alef that a large a«nMery faluablc portion of theif ronntrytnen^
not only utterly disbel^e the existence of any such compenrrtirti;
hutfcject with hortw the idea of abetthig Injuatle*^ cruelty, and
bloodshed, upon the principles of expediency. They even regard
the deliberate admfaabn of «uch a motive as an aggravation of tho
crime; because it implies that man is wiser thun his Creator, whoie
bifieficeitt purposes, ife thtia supposed to be at variance with liH
•Urn eommands.

I will suppose, for tht argwnent's sake, that these men are mi-
veasonaWy scrupulous; ati» their own timid consciences must gl»©
the law to their expectations of the favour or disfcvoin- df God. Can
it be doubted then that muhitude- of Englishmen, who regard t^
slave trade in this ligfet, are much (fiihelHlenecl and alarmed by th«
atrocious national rin ? Cut they hope as conlidently in the benig-
nsnt dispositions of Providence fdr the safety of'thdr country, as If
she were ^ihless of innocent blood? On the contrary, many of
ihein are much more intimidated by our persevering piwocttM*
of iUvinc justice in the slave trade, than by all the burthens and all *
the visible dangeta of the war; It alarms them more, and in the
•vent of actURiimrasloh, wouM tend more to damp that confidence
so essential in the biisastof a soWief, than ail the vietories of Buoiia*
parte.

In the name then of this large portion of my fcltew subfects*
tihaft whom none love their cen»itry more, than whom none are more
ready to abide all extremities in her defence ; in the name of thdsi^
who worship God among us, aftd admit no pleas of expedieney
agairtst his holy laws; 1 earnestly imptore from iJarliamcm the im-
5«ediate abolition of the slave trade.

God foi-bid, however, ^at I sh^rfd dissemble m this sacre*
aubject ; and it would be dissimulation to state the ufteasiness of
reMgious minds on account of ^hts great offenoe, ifVi\'hout adding, thai
I think they are justly alarmed:

Yes! I will dare to avow i^ qjinion, that the public calamities
with which we have been so remarkably visited, ever stne« the iniw
qtMa «f this commerce were I^ open to ihe mtmcA cdnscwhce,

113

and feibnnatkm wat«dIoiuijr withheld, have been chsMtisemoitt foy
^t odious cause. . ,

It cuuiot be neceMary to apologize, in a land CRlied ChHsdaiH
fiMT aaniming in tiroes like the preaent, that we have incurr^ th«
anger of heaven; or for humbljr inquiring bjr what ofiences, thitf
anger is most likely to have be»i excited. At an ma ao portentcwa
aad alarming, the athekt indeed, if there be such a character among
us, may behold with a stupid stare the machinery of secimd causes^
without raising his thoughts to that Providdlce by which it is ^<
reeled i but all who believe, that " verily and indeed there is a God
who governs the earth ;" uid especially the sincere Christian, will
recognize in the afflicting prodigies of the age, the hand of the
Moat High.

That the goodor evil ckstinies of nations are often the retribu-
tory appointments of divine justice or bounty, no man who believes
in the scriptures can doubt : « A fruitful land m Aeth He barren for
the wickedness of them that dwell therein." A tnousand passages
in hnly writ might be cited to the same effect; as well as multitudeQ
of exan>ples there roodrded of jHiblic calamities, which were ex-
pressly imposed as punishments for national uns.

What indeed can be more consonant to our views of the divine
government, whether derived from revealed or natural religion, than
such retributory justice ? Kingdoms have no world to come ; com-
munities of men will not, as such, stand collectively, before the judg-
ment sent of Christ. If then, it pleases the Almighty in his tem-
poral providence, often to punish and reward in a remarkable man-
ner, the vices and virtues of individuals ; we may reason from
analogy (that best natural interpreter of the unseen works of God)
to the probability that liations will sometimes Le made to illustrate
in the same way, his justice, power, and mercy.

It would be easy to shew, that there is in fact a close analogy in
what is called the ordinary course of providence, be^vreer the divine
government of steites, and of private persons. Thewisvirtin;'; «)ually
tend to prosperity and long life ; their vices to m* • issolu-

tlon. If the decline and fall of nations may generally be dat^d
from the period of their highest attunments in arts and luxury, that
is also the period of their most heinous offences against God ; and
however opposite the proposition may be to ordinary notions, their
most cruel sins against man also. But I must abstain at present

mIomAma.** «)t«MB.na«.

.. i:i il ~> ,

•-0"*

•._ J_ i_

such cases, on the express testiuiony of inspiration.

In the particular case in question, I might fortify my remarks ST

i«'y» by the authority of

«r_ I 1

, wpeat«Uy enjoined, en d.y« of fasting and humiliation, to .cknow.
^d^o that the c«l«miUe. eikI dangers of the time, me appointmem.
ol divine providi,ncc, on account of our national »»». The ruiert o£
mt church, have not indeed attempted to point out to u» the parti-
^ crfTence, which call for reformation. Spiritual admonition fit,«i
tA<J puipit,.ia in the present age, of u general kind: but it is not le«
the nght and the duty of individual, to give a particular and practi-
cal apphcatmn to tbe^^ons reproofs. It it ohvious that a distinct
conception of our .ins, whether private or public, must be a n«e»<
»^y prelude to a sincere and eflkacious repentance.

.We have no prophet to declare to us the causes of the displea-
sure of heaven ; but conscience may enable us to discover them |
andU we fairly apply the examples and the declaraUons contained in
the holy scriptures, to the case in question, we shall inquire in tho
W»per way for its solution; and with a well-founded hope of success.
.. . VVhat can be more suitable to every exalted conception of th»
cUyifte nature, than the causes which are most frequently assigned
111 »criptare for the chastisement of sinful nations ? They are, for the
most part, the sins of oppression, injustice, and violence towards the
poor aijd helple*"., and the shetlding of innocent blood. The of-
fence of idoUitry itself among the chosen people, was not more fre-
quently denounced than these; nor more severely punished.

The passage? of scripture which might be cited to this effect are
numberless; and it is perhaps only weakening the general effect of
the remark, to adduce examples of them. Yet for the satisfaction of
those who are not sufficiently conversant with the bible, I offer a fetr
in the annexed note.*

The almighty declared himself offended even with those solerau
fasts, which were intended to avert his indignatfon, whUe oppression
wjy» unreformed. « Is it such a fast that I have chosen ? a day for a
man to afflict his souF? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and
to spread sackcfoth under him ? wUt thou call this a fast, and an ac-
ceptable day to the Lord?

• « For thus hath the Lord of Hosts said : Hew ye down trees and cast a
mount agamstjerusakm. This is the city to be visited ; she is whcfly oppre.-
..Oft m the midst of h*r; violence and spoil is heard in' her; before me cominii-
ally IS gnef and . oUnds.** Jeremiah vi, 6, 7.

^Make a chain j for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the citv is full of
s«Xi; ""'•'=^^"'*7";^""S««^vorstof the heathen, and thcy'sbaiLpos-
sess their houses." Ezekiel vii. 23 -4.

"Therefore th«, >aiih the Lord: Ye have not hearkeneiunto rt^'jn p^!

ii4

«!*'<! n YM ttAi the feat that I h»ve chosen; t'j loose the \m^ of
HHkedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppi^s^ied go
IMli, and that you break every yoke I"

» Not k*8 elear tothe same effect, are the exh«rtatk>ns of the pro-
phet Jtremkh : « Execttte ye judgment and righteousness, and de-
Rte the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; and do no wrcwig,
*6 no violence to ^le atran^^r, and the fetheriess, nor the vridow,
iicitherVhed innocent blood." ■.;

- Those, however, and a thousand snch allmDnitlons were alighted
15' the offending people; and what was the effect? An hivading
eword was sent through the guilty land, its throne and its altars were
e^rturned, and its surviving inhabitants, ^e?e dragged away by a
inercileW cimqueror, to groan in their turn under oppression, and
to illuatrate in a miserahle captivity, the Retaliating justice of God.
.' Were we with snch scriptural precedents and explanations of
the ways «f the almighty before us, to search for the causes of the
•pparent dippleasure of heaven ; k would be natural to turn our eyes
»ioward8 the slave trade, mi* account of the specific character of the
'*^uill which it Involves i even if its eftoraawis magnitude, did not pre-
eminently challenge attention. If rapifie, oppression, violence to
th^noor, the ' stranger, and the destitirte, dishonest gam, and the
« eif\}s!on of Innocent blood, be put in inquest against England, wher«
^ will they be fourd but m the slave trade ; except indeed in its asai&-
^ dated iniquity, the dreadful slavery of our colonies ?

claiming Rberty every one to his brother, and «very man to his neighbour : btt'
hold I proclaim a liberty for you, saitU the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence,

' and to the fiumine ; and I will make you to be removed with idl the kingdoms of

"'AeejCith.'* Jeremiah xxxiv. 17,
, ■ ** The children also of Jwlah^ and the children of Jerusalem have ye »6ld
unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them fti» from' their bofder." •* Be-
hold, I will raise them up out of the place whither ye have sold thefn ; and will
return your recompence upon' your own head." And I will sell your sons and
your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell thMn
to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the Lord hath spoken it." Joel lih 6,

;^-r, 8. . . .:. ^ r

*' " Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the ^opte diaU
spoil thee ; because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city,
and of all that dwell therein." "Wo to him that covctetn an evil covetousness
to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the
rowftr of *vi|-'* " Tho'J hast consulted sham* to thv hciiss hv catiins r9 manv
peopte, and hast sinned against thy soul." " For the stone shall cry out of the
wall, and the b<»m out of the timber *aU answer it." •' Wo to Wm that build-

bands of
essed go

the pro-
band d$-

wrong;,
e widow»

1 slightei)
uivading
;ar9 were
way by a
sion, and
5 of God.
lations of
e& of the
our eyes
ter o( the
1 not pre-
slence to
, and the
id) where
I itsau»-

i»».»«»««ka^ m%m 'twtL W^ «» - *1

'Mt^inm*. ua *« uc •itVltUl'UBS Op^Jf^SI-

•w m the £^ ImMea, as weli a« the West. But if the swupictoo \m
applied to our treatment of the poor, or t^e great mass of the p«h
pie J it is utterly unfounded. Theie i» m slavery in the dominions
pi the East India ctMupany, unless the contHtion of a Sew domectU
lae servmitS} may deserve the name ; and even these are so treated)
that their bendage can scarcely he distinguished from freedom. But
the labwring classes of the community, are in gjgneral free ; nay, for
the most part, the ai^ultural iabourers tiU their own iewsehoW
lands; for which they pay a fixed und very nwdei^te i^m. Ip jjq
part of Inyjia ere they so happy in this respect, as within the British
territories} and if *he native princes have ever had cause to com-
plain of us } to their subjects at least, it has been an advantage mi
« Wessing, to be transferred to the government of the company. I
heartily wish we were as innocent of neglecting their moral, andj
spiritual improvement, as of impairing their temporal welfare.* ,
If we cast our eyes around us in this happy island, there h^\
less matter of charge against the national conscience on the score
ff vieleiKe and oppression. In no other pait of the globe, are the
poOT and helpless so well protected by the laws, or so humanely
used by their superiors. Nor are tlie laws chargeable with inju*-
tice towards the less fortvkiate peasantry of our sifter island ; though
here perhaps, there is i»',ueh that ought to be re&rmed. If the
legislature be now ajlpable in regard te Ii^land» it is for omissioa

bbour: be-
pestilence,
ingdomsof

v< ye 86ld

\t and will

itr 9onsand

11 sell thi^

Joel lih'e,

jeople shall
of the city,
ovctousness
ed from the

r OHt of the
t that build-

"ity by iniquity* Habakkuk ii.

«th t cc^n with biood, and estiilisheth a
8—12.

"The people of the Iwd. have used oppression, and exercised rdibery, and
have vexed the poor and needy } yea they have oj^ressed thp. stranger wrpog,
f«Uy." " Therefore have I poured out raine indignatipii upon them, 1 have con,
^uned thesa witly the fire of my wrath ; their own way have I recompensed upon
their heads, aaitb the Lord." Ezekiel xxii, 29—31.

« Behold therefore Z have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which
thou hast mad«, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst (rf thee.* £g».
kiel xxii, 13. ,
• «« By the multitude of thy merchandize they have filled the midst of thee
with violence, and thou hast sinned : tlierefore IwiH, destroy tbet." "Thou
hast defiled ihy sanctuaries by the multitude of thy iniquities, by the ini<jujty of
thy traffic : therefore will I bring; forth a fire from the midst of t^e, it shall de-
vour th«e, and I will bring thee to ashes upoa the earth. Sic and thou shall be a

tenOf. and nap^r nhall thnn ho antr mn,^ " 17.

»l,:_i

• Jt ip bat just to say, th« the l»te govemwr-general voMi^h Wellks|f y, was
very laudably dii^sed to promote the i«lijj;ioH» iostructjon 9f the native*.

1^'

and neglect; witber.Uian for positive wwjng; nor does the fault arise
from any of those unrighteous principles, or from that oppressive
use of power, which are so pecufiariy offensive to heaven.

If therefore we are suffering for such offences as have usually
provoked the scourge of the Most High, if it he as the protector of
the poor and destitute, that God has entered into judgment with \is%
"we must I repeat, look to Africa, ^d to the est Indies, for the
causes of his wrath. But the magnitude of the crimes of the slave
trade, stUl more than their specific character, will conduct us to the
same conclusion. ,. , -.e,. ^

Near 37,000 unh )y men, women, and childrettf are yearty
carried by us from their native land to a far distant country ; there
to perish prematurely ; or to end their days in hopeless captiwty
and bondage.* They have given us no offence; they have, for the
most part, committed no crime even against their cotmtrymen,
^ worthy of exile or slavery ; the motive of our transporting them, is
|»ire undefecated avarice. Yet by our hands, and by our procure-
ment, the dearest ties of nature are barbarously rent asunder; the
husband is dragged froi^ the arms of his wife, the innocent child
from the bosom of its parents, and the cries of their agonized feel-
ings are ended only by the silence of despair. At this moment, ten ^
yT thousand shrieks and groans, uttered by the helpless victims of Brit-

Lish violence, are entering the ear of the Most High, the righteous
judge of the whole earth, and demanding vengeance against us.

Wliile our slave ships, like hungry vultures, hover continually
over the coasts of that hapless continent, dreadful are the horrors
in the iu.erior by which their victims are prepared.
»'^ The exportable slavery of Africa, is for the most part, the pro-
duce only of crimes which we directly or indirectly stimulate the
wretched natives to commit ; and by our means, every species of
miseiy, is continually propagated through the greater part of that
. vast continent. Treachery, false accusation, man-stealing, mid-
^^ht rapine, and conflagration, are ordinary means, by which in aid
©f that more copious source, captivity in war, our demand for slaves

. "' • The number of staves carried from Africa Sn 1804, in ships cleared oat

^' ftom Great Bntain, supposing their cai-gioes to have«qiialled, and not excee^d,

the numbers limited by law, was 36,899. (See Sir W. Young's West India

Common Place Book, page 8.) This account, however, comprises the slave

I , ships tradinsr umlet- British colours only, Tf the British slays trarl?; ratT4af! ro-
under American and Danish colours, prior to the act of last session, were in-
otiided, the dreadful amount of the human victims immolated at the shrine of
PUr national avarice, would be greatly enlarged.

ittit arise

; usualiy
>tect<M' df

with iMfi
I for the
the slave
us to tho
-' '♦"'w ,
B yearty
yi there
captmty
!, for the
itrynieny
them, Is
procure-
3er; the
int child
ted feel-
lent, ten >^

ofBrit*
ghteous

U8i

itinually
horrora

he pro-
late the
ccies of
of that
gj mid-
h in aid
r slaves

;4red out

;st Inda
he slave

ss supplied; and while by the frequency of thesf crimes, man be-
comes to man a greater terror than the lion of the desert, to the
destruction of afl ihnocent commewief and civil intercourse between
ihtHviduals; frequent- and dreadful wars are kindled between their
petty states, for the sole purpose of obtaining Ci^ives to barter wi«h
our merchants, for the arms and luxuries of Europe. '

Nor is war only increased in point of frequency ; its horrid f6a-
■ ^res are rendered far more dreadfiil, by the same detestable^ mo-
* Hive^Populous villages are beset at midnight, by armed bands, who
after' killing all that make resistance, carry off, to a more dreadful
fete, such of their prisoners as are fit for servitude; leaving of
course to perish, all who from age or infirmity, depended upon the
mort vigorous for support.

^ That this description of the sources of exportable slavery is strict-
ly true, all ivho will take the trouble of reading the most decisive
pubUc evidence, may be fully convinced. Their effects on the state
of manners and society in Africa may be easily conceived : and where
man is made at once so wretched and so guilty, it may scarcely ex-
cite additional horror, to reflect what enormous and Various destruc-
tion of human life, must directly or collaterally result, from the same
detestable commerce. This murderous waste, however, is of far
greater extent than the uninformed suppose. Many of the unhappy
tepdves are brought to the shores of the Atlantic from very remote
parts of the interior country ; and in their way have extensive desarta
to pass, whei-e so many eictemal hardships and sufferings are added
to the anguish of their minds, that of those who originally set out m
the coast, a great number perish miserably on the journey.*
«f Exportable slavery then, is not only the fruit of atrocious crimes,
and exquisite wretchedness; but this fruit is not, and frotri the nature
of the case cannot be, thriftily gathered. The hapless country, fo^
every bondsman placed in the hold of a slave ship, is deprived of
much mOTe than a single life.

-* But a still further waste of human existence takes place in that
foul prison itself. The mortality on the short passage which ensues,
among persons chiefly in the prime of life, is by the last accounts
equal to five in every hundred; even when the excesses of a bHnd
and merciless avarice are controlled by the regulations of the acts
ftiade to limit the carrying trade.f

were in-
shrine of

• Some truly shocking illusfrations of thia truth may be found in Mr. Park'i
txivels.

* t Sir W. Young's West India Common Place Book, p. 10.

Much fMMtiir Brap«rtions of the fIftVM which urnva in- tha Wc |||,
lndie% are coiif«9Be(UK brought tp ah untiuaely v^ speedy dealh, t^
lM »eaaonn^^ Of training to compulsory labour, in our ialands \* wd
on the wheH it may faiHy be calculated, that not less than thret
human b«ing» are directly, or indirectly sacrifjcoi in Africa, on the
middle passage, md « the West Indies, in order to place a single
seasbned negro upon a sngarplantationf.'i i " i'."" ' '. r ;

Such ia the murderoua nature of this intercourse with Africa,
which opprobriwsly to tl^e character of conunerce, ia known by the
^ame of Uie slave trs4e.

If we were to compute the homicides which it has produced since
we fim embarked in it, the amount would almost exceed credibility.
Perhaps it would be no extravagant, though a horrible proposition*
that a sword of divhio vengeance which shouhi utterly extirpate the
whole population of England, would hardly exact more than life for
Kfe, for the innocent l^ood with which we ore justly phargeable.t

^*^k?-i-A'-*

• By ft public do«uine)% r«| the possession <4 his majtisty's jnitiistere, it ap-
pears that in Trinidadu a. fuU moiety of between eight and nine thousand i^npoct'-
ed negroes had perished in two years. To enable the reader to conceive the
complicated miseries which brought th-nn to their end, it would be necessary to
give much, and very shocking information, respecting the settlement <rf' new
lands in the West Indies.

It is reputed that a great number of Chinese have lately been carried, by
whose procurement 1 know not, to that island. It is in>po?»U)le here to expose
the faUte views on which such an expedient xowt%^i3^* new lands by free la-
bourers has been built i but I seize this opportunity to protest publicly against iu
as a preposterous and cruel experiment.

t Mr. Edvrards estbnates the total import of negroca into the British colonies,
from 1680 to 1786, at 2,130,000, but admits that ih\^ is much less than was com-
monly supposed ; and it may, I conceive, be reasonably taken at three millions,
In 1787 the importation was 21,023. (History of West Indies, vol. 2, book C
chap. 2.) From 1795 to 1804, the numbers carried from Africa in Bridsh ship^,
were 380,^3. (West India Common Place Book, page 8,) and these may be
presumed to have been chiefly carried to cobnies then in our possession ; becatise
our foreign slave trade was, during that period, chiefly carried on under AmericsUi
ajad other neutral colours.

I cannot immediately refer to any authentic infonnation as to the state of the
trade during the two last years, or during the years from 1783 to 1794 inclusivl;
but as it has progressively increased during the last twenty years, it will be a vei^
moderate eHtiiti^te to tsk* tbc iniDortatio!! in the yeirs last Drecedinor *a.ch. cf
tbose periods, as the avwrage of the whole. The importation In 1787, therefore,
being 21,023, that in seveii years to the end of 1794, was at least 147,151 ; an,4
the importation of V^ b«ing 36,8d9, w«i must add 73,799 for the two last years.

wad

f»Vi rtf"

It wmild be ouite incombatible with th« npre-aajm ^mlf rf •»-s*
jw^t to fl^{^,evtn in the most sijmmarjr mannef, the di-cadfiil op^

PrtortoirW . . .

from 1787 to 1794 indusife

.i,^v. »' # '- ''""^^ *^** *^"'* ?° 1804
^V . Inl805andia06

3,ooo,ooa

21,023
147.151
380,893

73,796

ToMrt 3,622,885 imported inrt* the
IfftMh Colonies:

* How many of these have f)«iinaturely perished by the seasoning, or from tlM
iSrtwequeot eSects of West India slavery, cannot be ascertained ; bat we may
guess at it from the following data, Mr. Edwards asserts, that from aathentifi
lists of entries in his possession, there were imported into Jamaica, from 17(ji0 1»
1786, 610,000 negroes, and we ca-notsuppose less thk lOO.OCfe td have been oA
the island at the tottimencement 6f thut period. Froiti I7a5 to the end of 1792,
>he number* Imported, on the ordinary proportion which Jaittttica has hsid of thft
f*hole British trade, could not be less than 30,000. These numbers together
ttmiMgive, supposing the births t<r eqml the deaths, A population at the«nd o^
1792 df 740,(500 slavts ; whereas Mr. Edwards puWishing in June 1793, estimatcdl
their numbers at $50,000, being less by 490,600, than the nttmbirft Imported t 4ti«
even this, was near 40,000 more than the imount of the last poll tax returns. (See
History of Jatnaica, vol. i, book 2, chap. 5.) The l6sii, therefor, in thfsislirid.
wotrtd be near two-thirds of the whole number imported, if it were not for a de»
ductlon that is due on account of the numbers reexported ; which Mr. Edwaidft
irtimatfcs to have been in Jamaica, about one-fifth part of the import. Allowing,
by this rule, 128,120 to have been reexported, the losi will be reduced to 363,480*
or nearly one half. ' *

It may perhaps be objected, that in the lohg period here taken, a greatpropor-
tion 6f the wh61e number iitiported, must have died, even under the mfldest
treatment, and under circumstances the more fiavouraWe to longevity; and that
the calculation, therefore, for the most part, only proves that the births have ntK
efjualled the deaths.

But I atiswer first, that it is impossible to suppose the growth of native popo-
totion to have been kept down by any means, thw have not at the same time
shortened the lives of the adults ; especially considering how extremely prolific
negroes are in other places, under far less favourable circumstances of climate
*nd local situation. Secondly, that it is an error to suppose that the difference
between the numbers imported, and the remaining population, constitutes the
thole loss by mortality. On the contrary, the numbers of children, born and
iM'ematurely cut off, during so long a period, in an old settled »land like Jamaica,

may be fairly supposed to have much msr? th-tti -.-.ji^ih^J a^- ^_i^„!^ : -^

While we deduct then from the amount of a mortality produced by oppression
among the parents, we must add to that whieh was produced by the same cause
Jg(»ng the chUdran,

4. ^ ^

pression to whicl. the unhappy expatriated Africans am doomed, in
the c oIonic;> to which we carry them. A subject so copimis, so im-

Hfc''

^ Nor hit w, answer to say, that* great proportion of infants every where
perish without attaining to maturity ; for such a surplm of births is also found,
where oppression does not exist, as more than equals the loss, and iiiakes "he
rising greatly exceed the declinin ;3:eneration.

It is true, that among new-imported negroes the males shamefully outnum-
berthe females ; bm let it be put on the other side of the account that these are
^most aH in the pritne of life, when added to the ancient stock.

. If with all the blights to which infancy is subject, and all the barrenness of age,
the grove of human society is still elsewhere full of leaves from shoots of its nata.
ral growth, what luxuriance of foil^ge would the transplantation of such multi-
tudes of exotic seedlings in their full bearing have produced, had they found *
gonial sqII.

If after all, such objections should be allowed to diminish the tale of actual
murder, a more than equal addition might be made on the latter view to th?
dreadful character of the system. It has probably hindered the increase of our
species, by four times the number of mUlions that it has directly destroyed.

The mortality in new setded cobnies, is notoriously far greater than in such as
Uke Jamaica, have been long in cultivation ; and therefore if a moicty.cf the im-
ported negroes have prematurely perished in that island, to suppose that the same
proportion of all the slaves brought to our colonies in general, has met the same
fate, will be probably far too low an estimate.— If so, we are guUty of the blood as
well as the misery, of above one million eight hundred thousand of our fellow-
beings, by premature mortality, the effects of their rigorous bondage, in our co!^
niesalotie. ,j , , .;

But the dreadful account by no means ends here : for we have to add tte great
numbers lost upon the passage^ and on the coast^prior to, their departure from it^
which during the long period that preceded the SlaveCarrying Act?, was proba-
bly at least 15 per cent, and we have next to widen the basis of computation, by
the whole amount of our trade directly from Africa to foreign colonies, or with
foreign ships on the coast. This has always borne a large proportion to the whole
of our colonial imports. By the tables furnished by Sir W. Young in his recent
work, it appears, that at the two different periods to which his account of out
foreign Slave trade relates, viz. irsrand 1802, it comprised neariy 4.7ths parts of
all our exports from Africi. Ajid of 20,658 slaves supplied to foreign colonies m
^e latter year, only 5389 were re-exported from British islands. On the whofe^
it may be very moderately computed that we have sent from Africa, including tlie
vast numbers that used to be sold by our ships on the coast to the French and other
foreigners, two-thirds as many in all as we have imported into British colonies •
and therefore if we have carried directly to the latter 3,622,865, we have prbbab^
expaumted in all, above six millions of these unhappy fellow-creatures. Let the
loss on the passage, and in the foreign colonies, upon this additional multitude be
j^»r.ui;pu, aaa jacr. ici us z»K£ miu iiie account the enormous waste ot life thaU;
must have been produced in Africa, in the reducing by war, by conHagration,
«assaw, and all our otherordinary manufactories in that country, six mUlioos of'

w. ««.M »u Hiucii niMreprcMnteo, and so Bttle understood, rtxlmv€^ ^
be lUustraled in a treatise of no small extent, confined to Owt single
object: and such a treatbe I have already promised to submit to the
»«Wk,imle8» the interesu of humawtyshoufd happily cease to de-
mand it. Meantime I will in general affirm, that oiir sins agaitiM
that devoted race b the New WoHd, would even exceed those witli
which we ar« justly chargeable in Africa, were it not for the <Jon»ide.
ration that they are much less generally kpown in this country, and
therefore less deeply affect the consciences of the people at large,
V' If the guUt of the slave trade, in respect of t^ nature of the of-
fence itselA be enormous, how raqph- nHjire when we consider tlie
pecuUar obligations which we have l«ig owed as a nation to a bcnig-
Oant Providence, »

Who are the people that have proroked God thus heinously^
bnt the same who are among all the nations pf the «?arth, the mm
?mmently indebted to his boimty ? He has ,jiven to us an unesat^,
pled porUon of civU Uberty; and we in return drag his ration«^
creatures into a most severe and perpetual bondage. Social happi-
Bess has been showered upon us with sjs^ular profiiskm ; and we
tear from oppressed millions every sociaK Hay, almost every human,
<^rafbrt. In shor^. we cruelly reverse in our treatment bf^hese un-
^appy brethren, all the gracious dealings of G^l towartls ourselves.
Wqv our plenty, we give them want ; for our ease, intolerable toil ;
for our wealth, pritaUon of the right of property ; for our equal laws,
unbridled violence and wrong. Science shines upon us, with her
meridian beams ; yet we keep these degraded fellow-creatures, in
the deepest shades of ignorance and barbarity. Morals and man-
ners, have happily distinguished us from the other nations of Eu-
rope ; yet we create and cherish in two other quarters of the globe*
ap unexampled depravity of both. A contrast still more opprobit
^U8 remains, God has blessed us with the purest eflFulgence of tb»
Gospel } and yet we dishonour by our slave trade the Christian name;
and perpetuate the darkness of Paganism among millions of our fel-
low-creatures.

At this time of war, and impending danger, other striking con-
trasts arise, between the treatment which we have lone- rpp#>ivi.fl A«m
iim Almighty, and that which we give to our |y)or African bre-
thren. He has girt our isle with a bulwark which for ages ha*^^

J.'

p^le 5n the prime of life, into a state of exportable bondage . When the whole
of these dreadful items arc put together, the conjecture in the text wW pcrhapt
appear to be no excessive estimate.

L/>ufv%?u 9 nai iiaa at^ai\/€iy tiuiiii^ a \^«ni,ui/ auu i» iiaii| a

not

brief and slight civil contest or twd, excepted, visited our liappy soil ;
and its horroi*s for the most part have been too remote, to eJtcite
even a fear of Its contact. To devastation by foreign armies, tve
haviB been strangers for many centuries. In short, our domefrtic ex-
emption from the miiteries of vrar, lias' been perhaps unparallefed
among nations. But the eye of an all-seeing God, beholds in Africa,
a contrast ureadful indeed ; and of which much favoured Britain is
the chief, as well as most guilty, author. There, the wretdh^d i^f-
lager can at no time lay down his head in safety, secure from Iwring,
bef^tre the rising sun, the vidtltti of a predatory invasion. To fill
our slave ships, the sword, the fire arms which we furnish, and the
torch of midnight conflagration, ravage that hapless' land ; and v^ar,
in its terrors at least, if not in its actual inflictions, is neftrly in-
cessant. By Britain, both the arms and the motives are supplied')^
by Britain, those horrid consequences of captivity, eternal exile and
bondage, are chiefly inflicted. The commerce, th6 maritime ener-
gies, which to ourselves impart security, and internal peace ; are in
our hands, the instrum'eJftf 'of unspeakable misery to helpless and
unoffending milHonb. *' '*

Do we shudder at the idea of those calamines which a success-
ful invasion would bring upon our country ? They would, as I have
faintly attempted to shew, be indeed dreadful ; and a united people
should prepare to make every sacrifice, and to encounter every dan-
ger, by which they may be averted. But while we contemplate
these menaced evils; while we deprecate them in our closets, and
in the house of God ; let conscience fairly suggest to us what mO**
dreadful invasions we are hourly abetting in Africa! how much
worse than even French bondage, is the captivity which we multi-
ply, and perpetuate among her innocent children ! May the merci-
ful disposer of all events, avert from us, guilty though we are, the
horrors of a foreign yokel but let not those who can, and will not,
deliver us from the impious crime of the slave trade, join in this
prayer for our country ; lest it should from their lips offend, rather
than propitiate, the just governor of the world.

The obstinate adherence to this crime, yriih which we have t(K)
long been chargeable, is another aggravation by which divine justice
may be reasonably supposed to have been provoked ; for persever-
ance in guilt, after admonitions to reform it, has in what wc know of
the course of Providence towards nations, been usually added to the
oflfence, before the scourge has been inflicted.

ISS

--IV wi «iit.««;iii Uilic.

Tfj* •iniQu'ti** •^f ♦H#' fil^w* ♦pa'!'» ■■■■" '-- "— -• - ..-.- .. -_ - ^

tong course of years it has been a standiog crime of England to ex*
port Negroes from Africa, and 9«11 them into a cruel bondage in U^o
colonies.

But of a stubborn &nd obdurate mind, long perseverance in a
particular sin U not conclusive evidence. An inveterate, as well aa
» .accent, cjimj^ habit, max have had its origin m ignorance, or
^ef dlesji^^ss « ajad if conscience ita« at first bean blind, or inadvcr*
tent, the error is more Ukely to be confirmed, than diminished by the
length of the sinful pracuce.* The divine justice and mercy, there-
$i^§, are inost clearly vindicated, when to long forbearance, avrakcn-
|ng expostulation is added, prior to the avenging stroke. Accord-
singly, we are told that Noah preached righteousness to his contem-
poraries, prior to the overwhelming deluge. We find Lot, expos-
tul^U^g with tl^|S inhabititnts of Scdom, befcye the fall of the avciog*
ingi^re from heaven. Moses and Aaron were sent repeatedly to
admoiiish the Egyptians, and to demand the dbmission of the op-
pressed Israelites, before the various plagues which fell upon that
4«! voted land, successively chastised its contumacy. Above all, the
dreadful scourges which were inflicted upon the stiff-necked, though
.I^St^BPi wce» were always preceded by an open exposition of their
sin^, and earnest calls to repentance ; till at last the warning voice
of, the Messiah hinwelf, loudly denounced those full-blown iniquities,
>yhich were consummated by their rejection of that sacred monitor,

and were soon after punished by a terrible destruction. Amidst

60 many sign^ examines of this righteous mode of dealing of the
Most jHigh, we have one, in which the obduracy of the human heart
rejleBte^, and the uplifted scourge was withdrawn; for at the preach*
ing of Jonas, Nineveh repented and was spared.

In alarming conformity to these scriptural precedents, will be
fountl the conduct of Providence towards this Icaig favoured nation,
ypon the hypothesis that severe chastisements for the guilt oi the
^avi^trade, have been already felt, and that still severer are now ap*
pioachijigv

, ,j: The extreme wickedness of our African commerce, and of th'l^
ijolc^al oppressions which it geaerates, were, till about 19 years
ago, but little known to the British public at large ; and even our,
]^st intelligent statesmen and senators, had but imperfect concep-

»^t '•'It k well known, that queen Elizabetk was persuaded, that the Negroes, car*
ried from Africa to her colonies, were yoluntarf emigcants ; and cxpreued a fioiiS
horror at the idea of takings them bv force.

Hfltw, of Um n^nfiir inrf extent ©f tkose fdal crimes which British
subjects had long been perpetrating against the Negro race, tip^
both aides of the Atlantic-^The mode of procuring slaves in Aftici^
and the horrid eifects of our enormous and increasing demand fo^
them, in that ill-iated region, were distinctly known only to the ob-
teurt and aordid indhri^uala immediately engaged in that opprobrii
bua traffic— —Some crude notions prevailed, that men were unjust-
ly t^m from their native land in Africa, and oppressed in the West
India islands ; bnt the detail and tlie extent of their wrongs, were un-
investigated and unknown. It was not cleariy understood, that mul*
litudcs of cruel murders were cbargcable upon the British nation, as
the ordhiary effects of the slave trade.

<* Th« times of this ignorance God winked at;'*

It pleased him in the inscrutable counsels of his providence,
\vhcrcin compensations for temporal evil, rich enough to make its
J>ermi«sion just, and beneficent, are reserved for the virtuous suffer-
er, Uiat the cruelties of our traders and colonists, should be long
shcouded in obscurity, and unarraigned at the national bar.

But the greatness and suddenness of the light, was at length as
reiittarkable as the long duration of the darkness.— In the year 1787,
the wrongs of the oppressed Africaiis, forcibly attracted the atten-
tion, and excited the compassion, of some able and eminent men.
Their case was powerfully stated to the public, and still more pow-
erfully brought into Parliament. The moral feelings of the nation
were appealed to, and the appeal was at first very favourably receiv*
ed.— Pity, remorse, and indignation, were almost universally inspir**
ed ; except, indeed, among that too large ahd powerful proportion
Of our fellow subjects, whose private interests and connections, or
prejudices bom of such influence, bound tfaem to the aide of the co-
lonies.

This appeal to the national conscience, was not supported merely
By the exertions of individuals, or by private and hasty examinations
of the case. Obvious and seemingly irresistible, though the moral
considerations were that demanded an abolition of the slave trade, it
was made the subject of deep and long investigation. The great in-
quests of the crown, and the people; the privy council, and bouse
of commons, went into elaborate inquiries respecting the nature
and extent of those crimes, whereof the nation stood arraigned by
some of its most respectable members : and while evidence was

FCw\^2 ▼«/«.« %jtM

"i^yait.w iiio accuacra, every opponunity was given *v'
to those who profited by the alleged iniquities, to deny, extenuate,
^o"^ !*?«*« them.^j^^lte immediate perpetrators of those crimes,

TT^rc rc^^.,,^ .a ntkiivamsa uriiiwi' «wn laTour. if oenitl ttpoff |R#'
word of «n AfWcart tmdef, or West Indhi proprfctor, of arty clftirgi •
by which his own interest and character were assailed, was adroit-
ted as freely, as the testimony of those who w*rc Hible to no selfish
bias.

Ifiqdry, therefore, If hbt impartial, was at feast, not parttal to the
actusersi-Yet what was the result ?

Td state the substance of the evi(»eirc«, eVdf In the ttiost cow-
Jiendlbns fbnfn, would be to demand thd peni^l of a Ikrge VoluttC,
upon a subject ftot Kliely 1 fear to obtain the attention whfch It pt*.

eminently deserves, at this alarming juncture But the gcfjcral tf-

feet, is sufficient for my purpose, and may be briefly told, the slav^
trade was condemned in the house of Comtnons, the only branch of
the legislature that gave an early ofjinlon uptjn the evience, !n the
most deliberate atid satisfactory way. Thai immediate reforma-
Uon Wis not toted, is a tameiitable truth j butlh'<^ itprobation of th<i
slave! trade upon moral prihcipfes, Hm not bn1«ite account less de-
cisive, as a parliamentiry verdict, 6f Its iniquity. It was even inotk
so perhaps, than had the just iirp.ctical consequence been instahtly
adopted. There were etiemies endugh to virtuotts refoitoation, t«
cany a votfe for delay; but Wc*^ tht^se, iritK tfife ekception of a self-
inteW:Sted few, wert til strohgty of opinion that the abolition of th«
tradfc was a moral ddty, ki thfeir opponents r hay, they adrtiitted, that
cveh the imperious modves of supposed poHtical necessiiy, the
ground upon which they voted Against an immediate reform, would
not justify the suspension of the measure beyond a period of eight or
ten years.

To those who can not, of will not, uhdeftake tfie fabdrftiai talk
of c*ftmining the printed evideiice, more dbtiiplete saiisfaciibh m to
the enormity of this national crime cannot be offered, than arises
from the confessions of those senators by whose votes it Was pro-
ti-aCted. Does any man doubt that the slave #ade is a system of
gigan^c guilt, let hfmgo to their speeches for conviction. The ta-
lents of some of these rt<in%ere very eminent, their diligence ex-
treme, their sceptical deitteiity in political discussions characteristic
eally great. Can it be beHeved then, that they would have conceded
to their bppdhents, ground so formidably strong, as the admission of
the moral duty of terminating this traffic at an early period, if the
effect of the evidence before the house Had net ?r-i'°?=!;K!s .-»=r^.=^..-j.
2d suchra (ssncesslon r-Were the guHt of a convict;' whose'tJiccu-
tion had been i'espitfed, mctieJr of doubt, what could be stronger
satisfection thftn t6 sajr, that the friends at those lamest solidiation

19^

.«■

km *UiB bad'fop ft-vhile been sparedt ^^ confesMd Uia jutUce of U^

MOtonce ( and peutiooed for no more than a temporary stay of ex«r

ciitionf

' Wkilo ibe nature and magtutude «f this grand iniquity, were
thus incontestibly established in point of evidence, it pleased HeavePt
to aid the effect whiqh Ihe display of its hideous £i»tui«s was fittad to
produce, by various motlcs of direct and strong expostulation. Not
poly was a flood of tight poured upon the consciiiucc of the natk>n,
which before lay sleeping in dai'kneiis, but a voice clear and loud» a»'
ever spoke without miracle to maii, called upon it to awake, and
escape from the judgments of Gotl, From the happy texture of our
constitution, the public mind has many org^s, tlirough which know-
■ledge, political as well as moral, cun be conveyed with peculiar faci-
"fjity ; and through them ail, were the people of England addresaed
upon this occasion, in the most impressive maimer. In parliament,
the call for reformation, was supported by a concert of splendid ta-
lents, such as perhaps was neve: employed before, in the support of
Imy national measure ! Nor was the credit of high station, wanting to
give weight to the pertiuasions of eloquence ; though its official in-
^uence, was fatally withheld.

r Supposing it to have been the will of God, that the result of tliis
grand investigation should furnish clear evidence of our sinful cha?
racter as a people, it is not difficult to discover, why while such
|trong expostulation was addressed to the commons, both in and
init of parliament^ the influence of government was neutralized^
through an opposition in sentiment which prevailed between differ-
ent members of the cabinet. Certain it is, that the theory of ouv
constitution, was in this case followed in practice, with a much closer
correi^ondence than is usual ; and perhaps than is generally expe-
dient; and that there never was know^i in parliament upon any ques-
tion of equal interest and importance, since the influence of the crown
succeeded to the awe of prerogative, so absolute a neutrality on tlwB
part of the administration. *

vi The call thus fairly, and thus solemnly, made upon the parlia-
ment and people of England, though adniitted to be just, has not
Mtherto alas 1 led to repentance. Like Pharaoh, we promised for
« moment to let the people go ; but like him? we speedily relapsed,
and persevered in following the counsels of national avarice, in de-
fiance of that voice of conscience, which is the undoubted messenger

%rrL«^

r\.,.

exceeded that of Pharaoh ; for he appears to have doubted, till cMir
yinced by repeated plagues, that Moses spoke by divine authority ',

lit

• ,1

principles, with the practical demtndt of whkli we tiereitheiete
refused to comply.

I hive not tinue to examine those strange and inconsistent e«f
ruses, that \irere offered by some respectable individoaia in parlfil|
ment, for withholding immediate reformation. 'l*h»f mm» not on^
unsound in moral principle, but Ibonded on assumptions of fucts thitf
are demonstrably untrue? and most of their authors have shice,
Cither actively or passively, depaned in conduct from those practi-
cal conclusions to which their own arguments ted But no man

can read the parliamentary debates on the slave trade, without pe»
celving the chief motives upon which the majority acted. Th«
sordid consideration of commercial expedient,^, was in reality the
grotmd dpon which the solemn call upon the national conscience waa
effectually repelled; and monll principle was deliberately sacrificed
by a national assembly, upon the altar of puWie interest.

Now what was this, but a public and systematic defiance of the
authority of God ?•— Had the alleged notion of effects compensatoryt
in point of humanity, that most specious, though preposterous ple%
been ever so sincere, and well founded ; still such a perseverance m
ackmwiedged iniquity, would have been opprobriotis to a ChrisUan
legislature ; and, as ! beiieve, without a precedent in any age orna-
tk»>*4€f individuals, in aiming to produce good by a breach of ti|#
di*ine law, contract presumptuous guilt ; more obviously ftill mt^
it be pronotmced of nations, in satch oases, that " their condemnation
is just." In public morals, still more than in private, an infractic»
of aclcnowledged principles of the divine law, is ill compensated by
any imaginary good consequence, while it is peculiarly affronting to
the majesty of heaven ; for this false principici always implies that
God ia not the best judge of the tendency of his own institutions ;
and when irreverence to the deity, finds admission into senatorial
Assemblies, the example must be fatal indeed.

Murder, let it be remembered ; deliberate, cruel, and wide-ex^
tended murder, is an indisputable, though by no means the only sin.
Continually produced by the slave trade. Thousands of innocent
lives rapidly destroyed, and tens of thousands consequentially, and
most miserably wasted, are annual fruits of our African commerce r
yet this, and still deeper guilt, is openly persisted in by the vote of
a British parliament, for the sake of the supposed temporal good toi
be produced by it, aid the temporal evils that are feared from Ten
formation. *

We even aggravated this viotetbn of the law of God, by .alleging

■■ ■ ■ "^ '

(r»dt. 1?lif) Bing^iO' resolutKHD <4 9 ChHttian legislature, Ui prose<it
«ute for years to come, a career of acknowledged oppre&skuv and
Woodshed, upon principles of national c«avenience, seeaos to ainoimt
to a sin, which not *>nly in its degree, but m its kind, k unpiecedeut-
fd and enorniou*. |t it a contumacious denial of the suprevnacjr oi'
f«Qd ( a kind of high treaton against the ip.ajestf of heaven.
f« What made the massacres in the & ^ets of Dublin some years ago,
ififferent in the species of crime, from ordinary murders, hv^ th«
^terous pfrinciple on which they were perpetrated ? The rebels
had nr* yet enthroned a usurper, or erected a republic ; neither have
#* yet set up the image of commerce in St. Paul's Cathedral j but
Ve carry slaughter among the innocent subjects of the king of he&-
▼en, as Emmitt and his fbllowers, among the subjects of an earthly
Idling, in open contempt ef his laws i because there is an object of
'i^loyal r.ttachroent in our hearts^ which we avowedly prefer to our
Itts^ance. We say, « It is true O Gody thy laws are^ good,lwt the
Iinrsof commercial policy are better— We mui* continue, for a wbiUi
at feait, to violate thy nhost solemn cmnmandments, and to destri^
as well as oppress, thy rational creatures t because we can noothe^
wise preserve our commerce, our colonial interests, and navigation."
^' There remains one further scriptural characteristic d'tbosecrimes,
Iby which the penal doom of natiot^ has bee^ sealed.<-~K mean thf
perverse and audacious extension, of < t very iniquity, which hae
been the recent subject of divine expostulation, and of a neglected
iM to Repentance.
*' k M They be idle^therefore they cry, saying. Let us go and sacn*
fice to our God,— let thiere more work be laid upon themen, that
rtiey may labour therein.'*——.** Ye shall no more give the peopki
^raw to make brick c.s heretofore ?— let them go and gather straw
for themselves.'* (Exodus, chap, v, ver. 7, «, 9.)— Such was Plm-
raoh's answer to that demand of God, ** L«t wy people go, that they
inay serve me ;*' and thtss did he audaciously straiten these ballds of
oppression which he was comnoinded to relax.— —Tiie same infa»
tUated monarch, enhanced the guilt of his contumacy, even after he
Md been repeatedly chastised. Immediately beibre tlie slaughter
of the first-born, the last and decisive plague, ht drove the tnes8en>.
ger of God finally from his presence, "Get thee from me ; take
heed to thyself, see my face no more : for in that day thou seestmv
&ce thou *h$li die.** And Moses smd, " thou hast well spaksn^MMi
will see thy face ;io more." Exodus, chap, xxviii, ver. 29.
, '1^ 'Ims not possible for Great Bi'iua^> eautctly to R;Uqw the 1kr,bt

jpart of tuis prcceuenc, by increasing U»e labour ol her WuA Jbdin
" bondmen. They were already making biicks witiiout straw j-und
©ppreasion in our colonies, had long pioduced an effect, tor which m
Woody mandate to the Egyptian midwives was found to be neeeMs^
ry, in the far milder bondage oftlie Israelites.— .The poor negro<»%
who have no land of Goshen, no Bocka, or herds, to be the subjeetg
of divine protccdon, no fleshpots of Egypt, to sustain them, and who
have, imteud df ^ask-maatcrs, and a tale of bricks, drivers armed with
whips, to urge forward their toil ; could experience as the fruit of
rejected intercession, no exacerbation of their fate.— Neither couki
skve making in Africa, be conducted with greater fraud and feroc^
ty, than our white and black ag^ts already employed and abetted^
except through an extension of the trade.

But what we could do in defiance of omnipotent justice, dreadftif
to think ! we did. If We could not m^e our colonial bondmen mor*
wretched, we could add to their numbers. We could also enlarge
Ae local domains of that abominable system, of wnioh the dreadful
nature and effects were now foi the first time understood, and laidt
bare to the national eye. We could acquire, at the fearful cost of
protracting a ctdamitous war, a new and vast accldama, for the ira»
molation of ttie victims of our avarice, in Trinidada ; where the pes-
tilent exhalations of an uncleared tropical soil, would quicken the
lethiferous process of oppression ; and where enormous and ever-
growin;. demands on the British slave market, would protract the
chief pretence For continuing the devastation of Africa.

Still more aggravation was possible ; and, though at the expenw
•f the most obvious principles of worldly policy, was accordingly
practised.— —Conquest had given to us a temporary and precarious
possession, of a foreign territory of vast extent, on the continent of
South America. To settle it by British capital, was like building-
en another man's freehold. The folly was still grosser ; for it wa*
to increase the competitory powers of a dangerous rival to our sugar
colonies ; and to Bugment the future maritime resources of an ene«
xnyv— Yet such was our increased and wiamoured attachment to the
manstealhig trade, and to West India oppressbn ; so eager were we
tb shew our contempt for consistency, and for the sacred principles
upon which reformation had been promised ; — so bold was our de-
iiance of heaven ; that full sixty thousand additional slaves were ma-f
nufactured by crimes in Africa, torn from their native lanrl. anA
placed permanently upwj that conquered soy, in^ the short term of
three or four years, by British subjects alone. New plantations,-
from 70 to 100 miles in length, «pon a frontier line, were open#d at

130

llie.camejniiic in that foreign territoryi upon Biitish capUal^ or cre»%
ditt in order to form still «ior« extensive and insatiable demands for

tfie same opprobrious commerce.* These facts are so stranger

that they will hardly be credible to future ages, though too notoriou»
to be denied in the present. They imply a national infatuation which
indicates, as well as an obduracy likely to have excited, the vengeance
of the Almighty.

The enormity of the aggravation of our sin, since the first call to
repentance, wiU perhaps be best estimated, by a view of the actual in-
icr^ase of the slave trade since the year 1787.

In that year, the number of sieves imported into our colonies

.collectively, including those which wers afterwards re-exported,
and sold to foreigners, was 21,033; and upon a medium of five
years, from the end of the American war, the annual import w?^s
3l,307.t This too was a considerable increase upon the average of

Jhe three. preceding years; and even while we possessed those colo-
nics on the American continent which are now become independent

^»tates, our whole colonial import of slaves, is estimated by Mr.

^Edwards, at no more than 20,095 amiuaily.^: et during ten years,
'"'^m 1795 to 1804, both inclusive, the average number of these un-

;,liappy men yearly brought from Africa in British vessels, and under
British colours, was no less than 32,377.|) Including the trade car-
ried on by our merchants under neutral colours, the whole export on

^British account, probsbly amounted to near 50,000 per annum; and

^^in a single year of that term, we exported under our own fiag alone

53,05 1 .§ On the whole, it is a moderate estimate, that we have more

„■ * The following extract (tpm the late work f Sir W, Young, an cminspt
^lonist, and parliabentary defender of the Slave Trade, will shew whatev^i
■^^ntlemen of that party, justly say of this branch of our national guilt :

" During the last war, and especially in tlie years from 1798 to 1800, the
Slave Trade (per table 8.) appears to have been greatly extended, and which is
.g be attributed to the then speculations of ttling the vast and rich plains of De-
4merara ; which province, on the return to Dutch sovereignty, by the treaty of
1802, carried with it a vested British capital of many millions, and the liieansof
increased produce to supply Europe with sugar, portending rivalship and ruin in
the foreign market to the anciem British colonies. *^-( West India Common
Place book, 11, 12 )

^ t See the account at large from authentic returns in Mr. Edward's Hist, of the
West Indies, vol. 2, book 4, chap, 2, page S7.
:'; I Ibid. p. 55.

ii Sec me aucount at iai^e xn Sir W. Young'a W«t India Common Place
look, p. 8, ,
§Ibid. ''^ '■'' ■■'""■

*:.. , .

■4

" fhan doubled this horrible trade, since we solcmWyi^tflfAlii'ts
IS^iltf nature, knd pledged ourselves to abandon it.

When vre advert to the grounds chiefly resorted to by the &dvt^

tates for a gradual, in preference to ^n immediate abolition, our iin-

pious inconsistency will be stHl more apparent. We protengedtKl

slave trade that our plantations in the sugar colonies might fill d^

their numbers. But what was the whole amount of slaves in those

Colonies in frar^ According to the official returns in the report of

the Privy Council, 465,276. What is now the amount? Only

524,205;* giving an increase only of ^8,929; but of this surnt. ,

tht hew-acquired'tolony of Trinidada fiirnishes, by the same csit^

Ttiate, 19,709; to that the actual increase in the colonies we held In

1787,13 only 39,220. Yet we have brought from Africa in British

Vessels alone, since the pretended necessities of these colonies was

fnade an apology for the slave trade, not less than 709,69 1 .f If the

fil%de under neutral colours, permitted till last year, he added to the

*^e<>irht, we have probably dragged a million at losist,of men, womeft,

and children into perpetual exile and bondage, since we stood

pledged to abandon such oppressive practises; and equalled in a few

yeafs of our promised penitence, the formei- crimes of half a ce«.

ftffy. -. _ ■ .';.

***^ The foreign islave trade indeed is at last abonshed by law ; a ri*
femiation the value of which I am by no means idcliued to disparagii
Bfet with many supporters of that great measure, its^ principle was
puf^ely political! and its effect in permanently reducing the exteht
of the slave trade, as well as in diminishing the guilt of that com-
merce, will be very equivocal, u» less we now proceed to a radical
and well-principled reformation. Meantime I am reviewing the con-
dudC bt our country, let it be observed, since the year 1787 : from

• This » Sk W . Young's estimate for 1 805. Ibid .

t Bjr Sir W. Young's tabic copied from official returns to the "house of com-
iTirons, the numbers which the ships were allowed to carry from the coast (and It
is a moderate assumption that they carried no les were from 1795 to 1804 in-
chisively, 323,770. In 1787, the number actually brought to the British colonkg-
was 36^000.

No returns I believe have been published of the trade from that year to 1795;
tau it i»a very low estimate to suppose, that at least as many were annually car-
ried froni the coast, as were imported in 1787. • They were indeed probably far
more numerous ; but taking that as the average, we have in seven years 252,000.
If we then estimate theexports of l805ana I8O6, of which there is also no authen-
tic account, as equal to that of 1804, which was 36,899, there will bca further a*.
ditiondf7S,7^. In all 706^1. ^,

t$n

m»^ia*%% *%^t^r*A 4t\ftkm^ f^C *V*^ tm'-i •<^«»S^m-. ^C ««««l!«*««fi«%«< '^•v^ ^AU^m*^^^^
^ufyia l<v«>wv iViann o> iwv Mtai oCaaiQns VM paiuaiiioUi) u«^ auiioiutMtv

p this national sin was unqualified) and its aggravation such as I
have noticed.

Cau it be denied then, that we have in this great national offence,
■n adequate cause of the displeasure oi Heaven, and of the calamities
pirhich have fallen upon the aountry 7 or cau it be alleged, that there
i« any coteroporary provocation that bears any proportion to the
tlave trade ? U otiier sins of the same heinous species, could be
justly charged upon us) if « the sorrowlul sighing of the prisoner,
the complaint of the poor oppressed, and the cry of innocmit blood,"
had gone up against us from other regions than Africa, ant! the
li'Vest Indies; stiii it ought to be sJiewn, that in those other cases, as
)D this, the crime had been aggravated by equal obduracy, and ex»
tended with equal perverseness, after the ope» exposure of its guil^
«nd solemn calls for reformation. But in these respects, as well a»
in its magnitude, and its cruel effects, the slave trade stands alone
among our national offences; defying, likeSitan, in the foremost
rank, the wrath of the iVlmighty.

Could Fc suppose oui*selves just arrived from another planet, im-
pressed with our present ideas of the divine government, but igno«
rant of the history of Europe since the year 1787, and informed alon©
of the parliamentary discussions on the Slave Trade, and of those
iniquities which England has since committed against tlie Africaa
race, we might naturally be disposed to inquire, " Has no scourge*
from Heaven yet appeared? Have no calamities, indicatory of di?
vine wrath, overtaken that guilty land?" But should we next take,
tip a history of the French revolution, and of the fatal wars that havs^t
ensued ; and learn how strangely the prosperity, the peace, and the
security of England have been * subverted by them, what singular
evils we have endured, ever since our first refusal to abolish the
slave trade, and by what still greater evils we art at this moment
threatened ; it would be impossible I conceive, not to recognise with
wonder and awe, the chastising hand of God. The only difficulty
would be, to comprehend how the living witnesses both of the provo«»
cation and the punishment, could possibly be unobservant of the visi*?
ble connection between them.

Never, to be sure, can phjcnomena more strikingly support any
hypothesis of this kind, than the dates, the nature, tmd the cxt«?nt, of
our public calamities, the opinion that they are providential chastise-
ments for the slave trade, — A guilty, though highly-favoured people,;
are called upon to renounce a criminal and cruel, but long-establish-
ed practice, «i. s^pugnaitt to the laws of God—They h»a^— delibe-.

i«M>*-disobey. Wiiiie they stiU hesitate, a tFenieiido«t«ce«a^lt
weaving for them in a neighbouring land-— the moment they actuaUf
disobey, that scourgR commences its inflictions. — — 4

The abolition of the Slave Trade was first virtually refused by
parliament, in April, 1792. Immediately, we were engaged in tiiose
stormy contentions within the realm, and those disputes with France,
which soon terminated in the last calamii us war.-— *In February,
1793, the house of commons more openly and clearly declared
»gainst reformauon, by postponing for six months a motion made by
Mr. Wilberforce, foi- going into a committee on the Slave Trade j
which was in effect to refuse even the gradual abolition voted in thci
preceding year .—In the same nwnth, a sword was definitely drawn^
which was not during nine years returned to its scabbard ; and which
is now redrawn, perhaps to be sheathed no more till England has
ceased to exist^^Within that period of six months, during which
the claims of justice and mercy were contemptuously adjournec^
•vents took place in Fi-ance, fertile to us of unprecedented evils, a«
we already feel ; and perhaps decisive of our fate. ,

We have since gone on in the same path, rejf^cting motion after
motion, and bill after bill, upon the same obdurate principles; and a.
cliasdsing Providence has kept pace with our temerity ; heaping
misfortune on misfortune, and addujg danger to danger. As wet
rouldplied and aggravated the impious crime, God multiplied and
Q^ravated the punishment. Treason, femine, mutiny, civil war,
the loss of our specie, the sale of our land tax, the eiwrmous growth
of our national debt, the intolerable pressure of taxation, the discora*
fiture of our miUtary enterprises, the destruction of our armies byi
disease, the deplorable ruin of our allies, the stupendous exaltation o£.
our enemies ; these, and other plagues, followed, like those of Egypt»
in a rapid succession, upon every itemtion of our refusals to obey tho
voice of God, by renouncing the execrable slave trade.

We obtained at length a breathing time of peace; but we were^
still contumacious to the behests of the Almighty ; for such, I dare,
to call the plain demands of justice and humanity. He sent us
therefore a new war j and tremendous have been its events.

Where will this sad series end ? Can we wearv out (io^ ? Ar» «,«.
stronger than he? Ah, infatuated men ! who would still urge us to
perseverance in this impious course, tremble at the prospect before

vou.

Our public ^ioonit lik« the darkne*u» nf ¥.sr*!ttt.
_ • - - — - -^-- _-

~ -7

for a while $ but if you harden yourselves still, the final event wiU
be dreadful.

»^ft is needles* to point flut the cxtraordiiiary natwe of the se-

4- f

«J4

^GtiA csOTCi by which these cafemidcs have bcsft produced. T»#f
k«ve excited universal astonishment, they have confiwnded the wis-
dom of the wise, and are without a parallel in the history of m«n-
kind. Even those who do not seriously look up to the disposing
power of an all-vrise and omnipotent ruler of the earth, often speak
of this case as if they did ; because they have no other n^ode of ex-
pressing their amazement at the strange progress of events. But
how can the devout mind, possibly pass unnoticed, the striking pro*
portion and resemblance, as well as the singular coincidences in point
of time, between these wonders, and the sin of the slave trade ? *

I date the grand provocation given by that crime, from the puH»
Kc developement of its nature, and the obdurate refusal to reform it.
—And when upon earth, since the delivery of the Israelites from
Egypt, was there an equal, or similar case? «^»/t wow of the datjut
that are past ^ which were befyre thee, nince the <Uty that God created
man u/ian the earth ; and ask from one side of heaven unto the ot!ier^
v/hether there hath been any sdch things cA this great thing is, or hatk
been heard like it ?-^H<tth God aamyed to take to himtelf a nat^n out
ffthe midst of another ntition, ilfc"

*>»li*et me with reverence imitate these awakening expostulation* ;
and ask, was it ever before heard, or known, that God, speaking by
the voice of conscience, and of his own reveakwl laws, publicly
called upon a great, civilized, and highly -favoured people, to desist
from spreading desolation and misery over a large region of the
globe ; and from carrying into a horrible bondage, millions of his
wtional creatures? — Was any human legislature ever before appeal-
ed to on a subject of such stupendous moment to the inhabitants of
the earth, or upon such high and awful principles? But a still more
alarming inquiry is, Did ever before any people. Christian or Pagan,
so flagrantly violate the religious principles which they profess to re-
spect, and offer so gross an affront to the deity whom they outward-
ly worship; as the parliament of England, in rejecting this appeal,
and redoubling tlie crimes of the slave trade ?

Surety in such a case, it is consonant to our preconceptions of the
ways of Providence, that the punishment should be singular and
■wonderful in its means, es well in its severity. Surely the prodigies
of the age, fornish here an awful parallel to the iniquities of Eng*
iMidi •

> It is, I feel, injuring this great and sacred subject, to treat it in a
oarsory and partial way. The reasoning by which my own mind
has long been clearly satisfied, that our sins against the African race
have chiefly, or solely, drawn upon us the ciaaraitieii with which wc

IS5

hav€ duHng near nfieen years been visited, rests upon m» induction
from many particulars ; and to omit any of them, i, to weaken the
force of the rest. Upon the singular and important events of the
late war m the West In<Ues,and especially the extraordinary revo*
lution m St. Domingo, many important observations might be made,
tendmg greatly to fortify my general conclusion. But it is impossi-
ble m a work like the present fully to state, and still more to reason
upon, the whole of the extraordinary phenomena from which my
«oO vicuons are derived. Yet I cannot prevail on myself wholly to
suppress at this great crisis, an opinion so closely connected with
my general subject, and with the destiny of my country ; an opinion
which has long had a powerful influence on the conduct of my life •
and which I share in common with many men of the clearest underl
standings, as well as the most diiiinguished piety and virtue.
^ If my necessary limits wUl not allow me fully to state the hyp^jr •
thesis Itself, and the positive arguments upon which it stands, mudr
kss to remove difficulties,- or repelobjecuons; but there is one*
which^frpm.us specious nature, demands from me some general no-
tice.

Is it objected that other .nations have also drunk, and hitherte-
much deeper than ourselves, of the phial of divine wrath poured out
in the.I-rench revolution? I admit the fact—But did they still^
•Irink deeper too of « the cup of tremWing," the dregs of which
may soon b? all our own, the objection would suU be of Uttle
weight.

Without attempting to explain, or conjecture, the entire 8chem« ,
•fa chastising Providence j it may be presumed, that those nations'
also, have all grievously provoked the indignation of a righteous Godi^
and^some of them in. the same way, though not in the same degree^,
with ourselves. Infinite wisdom well knows how to punish many
different offenders, by the same identical scourge, or through the
saro.f sources of evil.

I am relieved indeed from the necessity of suggesting a proba.
We cau?e t f provocaUon on the part of Austria, Prussia, and Russia ;
since the itnking retaliation which two of those powers have already
met with, for their injustice and cruelty towards Poland, seems of
late, to have made a strong impression on the public mind. We not
only hear m the conversation of the serious, and even of thtf ineli-
gious ; but read in the public prints, where m«t!-- -f -J.-.^^. ^b----
tion does not often find a place, remarks on the exact "netribution,
^rMch divine Providence h^s in this case brought home to the s^.-
ers of an unfortunate nation. Te be surcj, y^hm. we turn our e^*- ,

t» PeisRd as the seat of ittimediate war ; when ws rscolfesct withas
how tew years, its patriotic and unhappy soveriegn was deprived of
kis sceptre, by a foul confederacy of those powers, two of whom
hav« since nearly lost tlieir own ; when we reflect on the unjust and
violent partitions of territory, to which they have already been com-
peUed in their turns to submic ; and how reasonably they may dreail
tt final dismemberment of their dominions :-»VVheD, in a word, wf»
find Buonaparte at Warsaw ; and recollect how lately he was at Ber-
lin, and Vienna; it would be difficult even for an atheist, to ascribe
such strong characteristics of a Providential retribution, to the merv
effect of chance.

What i would wish to add to the existing popular impressions
(»n that subject, is only the remark, that Poland was like Africa, im-
piously destroyed upon pleas of political <?ar/jerfi>ncy.— That idola-
trous principle, that gr<^nd heresy of the age, which strikes at the
very foundation of the whole edifice of morals, and insults the di-
vine lawgiver, by arraigning the wisdom or goodness of his institu-
tions, was the alleged defence of three mighty sovereigns, for an
avowed violation of justici.— They threw down the gauntlet to Om-
nipotence ; and his venge^ice seems to have taken it up.

In other countries, causes of provocation enough might be found
perhaps, without listening to those accounts which have been given
of the degenerated state of their private morals and manners; enough
at least to satisfy those, who consider tlie substitution of philosophi-
cal scepticism for Christianity, as no venial offence against God. In
Italy, that Caprea of gross and beastly sensuality, it would be still
less difficult to find adequate causes, for its share of the general'
plagues. But after all, should any apparent difficulties remain ou> '
this subject, they would be only such as belong, in our finite views,
to the ordinary providence of God. Some less-offending nations of
Europe, like innocent members of the same family, or country, may
possibly be involved with their more guilty neighbours or connec-
tions, in evils which are the penal chastisement of extraordinary, at
■well as those which are the natural effects, of ordinary crimes. The
Altnighty has particular, or individual distinctions enough,^nd com-
pensatory provisions enough, in store, to reconcile with universal
justice the occasionally awful display of his moral discipline toward*
natimis and communities of men, without disturbing the general
laws of nature: but it is evident, that unless such a miracukms dis-
crimination as was exhibited in Goshen, were again to be made ; »
so^ge infiicted on many of the nations of Europe, must be felt 'm
soittd measure by the rest.

lif^

As to France, Spain, Koiiand, and Portugal, their shares ts th«
oppreM' >n of Africa, at that epoch of general proTocation which im-
iiiedi«te;f preceded the grand revolution in France, were only infe-
rior to our own. I mean not to convey that they were chargeable
with no other sins, peculiar in their extent and character to that pe-
riod I but in Africa and the West Indies, those slave trading nations,
had all like ourselves, recently and greatly aggravated their long es-
tablished offbnces.

Here, as in other parts of this great subject, I deeply regret th»
ndCessity of abstaining from full historical statements, of facts little
known to the public. .^

It may perhaps surprise many readers to hear, that the unfortu-
nate Louis XVIth, a short time prior to the revolution, distinguish-
ed himself from all his predecessors, by zealous endeavours to ex-
tend the slave trade of France. * ,,.,
Such however was the fact. That shocking trade, had beeti
nearly abandoned by the French merchants; and ihe misguided mo-
narch, under evil advice, laboured strenuously to induce them to re-
sume it By an ordinance of Oct. 1784, he offered a bounty of forty
livres per ton (which reducing the French measuration of ships to (
our own rt*ndard, wor «<|««i tu eighty Uvres per ton English)
upon all ships that should clear out from the ports of France for
tho slave trade; and he added premiums on n^roes imported into
the French cokmies, of sixty Uvres per 1, in the windward Islands,
and one hundred livres in St. Domingo -By subsequent ordi-
nances, these premiums were raised by him to no less than one hun-
dred and sixtty livres in the former colonies, and two hundred and
thirty livres in the latter.* The natural effect was so enormous an
increase of this guilty commerce, thai in 1787 and 1788, 60,345
slaves were imported into St. Domingo alone. On the whole, it
may be fairly computed^ that 300,000 human beings were carried
into ft miserable captivity, at the direct instigaticm of that govern-
ment which was soon after so terribly chastised.

It mayperhaps be equdly unknown to the British public at large,
that at tMW»ame memorable period, Spain began a new career of
oppresuon in her colcmies, and framed a new system of trade for
them, expressly in order to encourage the importation of slaves.
The facts of this htter case, are so varbus, striking, and important,
that they deserve a very particular statement i but from the ahsolut*
necessity of compressbn, I will here only give ihe ^citid of a decree

• See Privy CouncU Report onthc Slave Trade, Part 6. Tide France.

»■*

138

•f hii Soanish MMeBtv. of February. 17B9. bv which fl^cml of the
new regulations were introduced.

« In order" says that ill-advised, and since unfortunate monarch,
*i to promote by every imaginable meam the great advantage* which the
tncouragement of agriculture mu$t produce^ J thought proper to cauae
the teveral plana of the introduction of Megroea into the ialanda of Cuba
Santo Domingo^ Porto Ricoy and the province of Caraccaa, to be well
examined^ with a view of recurring to the urgent neceaaity there ia tff
attch helpa, without which theae countriea can neither proaper orftouriah,
nor produce to the state tlte immenae richea^ which the climate and fer-
tility <f their aoU afford; and having treated thia aerioua aubject with
that attention which the importance qfit claims^ I have determined for
the present that thia trade ahall be carried on under the following rule*
and comUtUma," He afterwards, in the 13th article, recites the di-
ject to be, " to procure for all hia aubjecta the greater advantagea in the
alave trade^ as well aa to augmem the number qfcultivatora in the Ame-
rican coloniea."* *

The contemporary conduct of Holland, was of the same oppro-
brious cast. The Duteh slave trade had also languished, or rathen
was quite extinct, when in May 1788, the states-general, at the in-
stance of the planters of Guiana, r«iialv»rl nn vigomns measures for
its revival and extension. The leading resolution was in the follow-
ing terms— "77ia/ every meana should be employed to promote the
speedy enlargement of the akrve trade." Accordingly, they voted
250,000 guilders to the West India Company j and adopted several
regulations for encouraging the importatbn of negroes into their
Golonies.t They were indeed limited to the term of six years ; but
God prescribed nearly the same limitation to the commerce, the li-
berty and independency of Holland. »

Portugal also, there is reason to believe, was rapidly increadng
her slave trade at the time of the French revOlution«...With her,
however, it was not, as with the other powers, occasioned by a sys-
tematic change in her laws; or by the direct subornation of the go-
vernment.— In her share of the scourge, she has been hitherto
.equally distinguished from them. *

Thus cruelly did the great commercial nations of Europe, all at
the same ara, resolve to extend the desolation, the miseries and
crimes of Africa|to the utmostof their power. Already they dragged
away every year 74,000| of her unhappy children; and a great part

■ * Privy Council Report onlie Slave Trade, part 6. Tide Spain.
J- Same report, and part. Title Holland.
^ Edwaid's W. Indies, vor. ij, p. 58;

pftl of the

monarch)
•which the
r to caute
!« of Cuba
to be well
here i» t^
rjlouriahf
e and/er-
bject with
fninedfor
ving rule*
Bs the ob-
iget in the
the Anie-
nt oppro*
or ratjien
at the in-
asures for
tie foUow-
•omote the
ley voted
)d several
into th^r
ears ; but
ce, the li*

ncreadng
Nith her,
by a sys-
)f the go-
i hitherto

)pe, all at
eries and
J dragged
;reat part

199

of her com becran to be almnat rlPs^itnt-A nf ;nk»u;*»»i- . „..*i,._4_-^
tiable tormentors were determined to drain the vein* of her popula
Uon sUU more copiously, and to obtain fuller meab for their avarice,
though they should reduce her to a desert. But the eye of the Al-
mighty was over them; and to avenge devoted Africa at least, if not
to save her, he dropped down among them the French revolution.

Surely it was a strange coincidence of events, that so many f»if.
fercnt nations should at the aame »ra, offer new and extreme provo-
cation to divine justice, by the same species of iniquity, though wUh-
out any mutual concert; and that each of them should immediately
after be involved, by the same cause, in new and extreme calamities.
But when we regard the unforeseen and wonderful origin of all those
calamities, the revoludon of France, the coincidence beeomes still
more extraordinary. Induced, by a common teraptsiion, the lucra^
tive oppression of the African race, many nations start together in a
new race of guilt: a strange source of unprecedented evil imme-
diately bursts forth, and suddenly overwhelms them all. A cruel
and unUmited slavery, is the subject of their crimes: a lawless and
ferocious liberty, is made their common scourge. .Not only France,
but Europe, becomes almost a second Africa. Order, security, pubr
lie morals, the sacred principles which mitigate the horrors of war,
and regulate the intercourse of nations, have vanished, or are beginr

ning to vanish, from this civilized quarter of the globe rThe

public law of the slave coast may soon be upon a level with that of
poUshed Europe; and *he persons of individuals, lilje theii; property,
become the spoil of predatory war, in these once happy regions,,-.
Already, if recent intelligence from Hamburgh may be credited,
Buonaparte takes credit for great moderadon, in not selling his cap*
' tives into slavery; and intimates that London will not be treated sq
mercifully in that respect, as Vienna and Berlin.

It must be quite unnecessary, with every considerate reader, to
prove that France herself has had her full share of the sufferings,
which she has been made the instrument of inflicting.^Of all the
offending nations, her lot has been perhaps the most deplorable.
Her glorjb is like the light of a conflagration; a lustre fed by ruin,
misery and death, in the mansion to which it belongs.

While so many naiions have been sustaining ektraordinary evils,
has not the hand of providence distinguished some portion of the
earth with blessings equally unusual ?— ,It has, ijt us turn our eyes
to th$ nsin^ Wcsici u eiupire, and we w|aii see a people, whose tor-
tunes furnish a striking contrast to the calamities of European coun*-
tries. As the autumnal storm, while it grips the grove of. \i% lefiVe^

14ft

afill tiys prottrate some of its more ancient tronki, fkfbvMhe younf
and hardy pine, by opening to itft aspiring point and expanding bMe,
a freer course^ and more copkms sunshine ; bo have those revolution-
fry tempests which have laid waMe the ancient /eatms of Europe,
given an accelerated growth to the United States of America, both
in their strength and statcire. Population, agricuhnre, commerce,
maritime power, how rapidly have they all increased in that coun-
try, since the revolution of France ! . A new and vast domain also
has been acquired, at the expense of the Spanish empire. With
such prodigious rapidity has the navigation of the United States in-
creased, that they promise soon to win from Europe, the trident at
least, if not the sceptre, of the western world.

Now, let it be well observed, that the United States have alone,
of all the nations of the earth, during the same period, done much to
redeem themselves from those sins to which I chiefly ascribe the ca-
lamities of Europe. Indeed, their government and legislature, with
whom the corporate responsibility in every country chiefly rests,
have done all that was in their immediate power; while every state
in the union but one, hM long since finally delivered itself from the
guilt of the African slave trade.

Il is truly honourable to the president and the congress, to find
by intelligence recently arrived, that the former has oflicially con-
gtatulated the latter, on the near approach of a period when they
Ifill possess the constitutional power of giving a final blow to that
hated commerce. That the power will be exercised, immediately
after it vests in the general legislature, has been long beyond a
doubt; and though the first of January, 1808, is now at no great dis-
tance, the president suggests a mean of accelerating the effect of the
intended law, by a previous notice, which ma/ prevent the Inchoa-
tion of voyages in the present year, to be terminated in the next.

I Chink my country has cause to complain of America ; and am
not sure that the amicable arrangements lately made, are of a kind to
reconcile with her pretensions, our most essential belligerent rights.
But while she acts, in relation to the most helpless and injured of the
human race, upon such righteous and liberal principles, it is impos-
sible to refuse her our esteem ; or to grudge any sacrifice for the
sake of her friendship that self-preservation may permit. I trust
that a nation which thus honourably respects the sacred rights of
humanity and justice, will not long persevere in a line of conduct
nHivii iiiuiiaicis lu ific pcSuiciii aiiibiiiuii of r ranee, and abridges the
only remaining hope of liberty in Europe. Indeed, the late out-
rageous and preposterous measures of Napoleon, till probably s«.

penede JP^uestbnR that have UtelV subsisted between this countr;
and the neutral powers; by the new and undeniable rights which re-
sult to us from such conduct ir the enemy. May the harmony be-
tween England and America be settled on the firmest foundations j
ami among the many sympathies which ought to hind us to each
other» may we soon have to add a mutual abhorrence, and conrefi^
tional renunciation of the slave trade !

But while America, has thus honourably distinguished herself
from other commercial nations, and has been equally distinguished
by her singular prosperity in the present disustrous t^mes, there is
one coimtry, I ccmfe&s, which hitherto but imperfectly cenfirms, on
a comparative view of her fortunes, the hypothesis I aim to sfktablish.

That country, alas ! is Great Britain.^ We have suffered enough
to evince that we have incurred the disfavour of heaven •, but other
nations less guUty, in regard to the slave-trade at k Jiave been
visited more severely. We have in truth, exceeded iit this respect
all their united provocations. Our offences against the helpless
Africans, have been far greater in amount; and against God, we
have smned more deeply than others, by all the wide difference be-
tween our national blessings and theirs. Our share of the crime is
also pre-eminent, through that pecuUar knowledge of its dete^£d)le
nature, which we have lately acquired. I fear it may even be added,
that the perseverance of other nations in their iniquity, is fairly im-
putable to England ; as being a natural effect of our example, after
our deliberate examination of the case.

But England, though severely chastised, is ijot yet, like some of
her fellow sinners, cast down or destroyed; and if the dangers of
the country had finally subsided, this J admit, would bo some appa-
rent drawback on the force of the reasons tiiatl^ave been offered for
ascribing our public calamities to the slave-trade.

But here it is, that I find by far the most alantiing view of this
truly awful subject. Let the sad prospects opened in the first divi-
sion of this work, be fairiy contemplated ; and then let it be remem-
bered, that the very country whose fate would demonstrably, in the
event of its subjugation 1^ France, be the roost terrible that ever
awaited a nation, is the same which has most highly provoked t'le
avenging justice of God.— Nor let us harden ourselves on account of
an7 seemingly auspicious change in the course of events, or the pros-
pect of new confederacies. « Though hand jgin in hand, the wicked
an«ii iiui pass unpunished."

At the present moment there h another consideration which fills
jne with the naist painful anxiety ; and w'lich urges me here to con-

•#

**■

#'^

Wit

142

, elude this work imperfect though it is, that I may no l(%er ivith-
hold from my country a £eeblc but seasonable wamiDg. In a few
days, or weeks, parliament will have to decide, whether it shall re-
deem the soleraji pledge which it has recently given, for the excisicm
of this dreadful traffic, or whether by a new apostacy, worse by far
than any former provocation of the same kind, it shall fill up the
measure of oi.r iniquities, and draw down, upon us, perhaps, a
speedy and signal vengeance.

I have tooldgh an opinion of the dignity, as well as the moral
feelings of the British legislature, to regard so opprobrious a relaps*
as a very probs^le event. But when I advert to the long and sad
experience which we have had of the fate of si»ch questions in par-
liament; when I remember the assiduous opposition, and the still
more fatal apathy, by which the fairest expectations of the fliends of
the oppressed Africans, have been repeatedly ruined; my hopes are
mingled, I own, with much uneasiness and fear.

May God, in whose hands are tlie hearts of all men, incline those
who, under his permission, are our lawgivers, to deliver us at length,

without delay, from the guilt of innocent blood ! Then only shall

I hope that the wisest measures of defence will be truly efficacious ;
then only will solid peace and security put an end to the d^gers of
the country.

THE £NI>.

PRINTED BY HOBERT CARB.

■T ii I i.'i yL .'i —

.„

ir wUh-
1 a few
(hall re-
sxcisicm
5 by far
1 up the
haps, a

•

B moral
reHaiMC
and sad
I in par-
the still
lends of
>pc3are

^ ■ 1

le those
length,
ily shall
acious ;
kg;ersof

f«

i$ *

•

r#-

itoiii