Majesty to his people will be read by every Englishman with sentiments of delight.What should induce any Englishman to feel delight at any thing which such a King can say to a people? What has he to tell them, except that, having lately been a province of France, his states are now become a province of Russia; and that they, his subjects, who, a few months ago, were fighting for France and the Continental System, are now to fight against France and the Continental System? That the means of Napoleon have been very much

SUMMARY OF POLITICS. NORTHERN WAR. -PEACE. -The successes of the Russians have, at last, produced the effect of inducing the King of Prussia openly to join them by a treaty of alliance, and, at the same moment, to de-crippled there can be no doubt, and it may clare war against France.. Thus are be impossible for him so far to recruit his these two powers once more pitted against means, as to be able to re-enter Russia in Buonaparte, who, on his side, appears to the course of a single campaign; but, on be making dreadful preparations for reco- the other hand, we see that he has been vering the influence he has lost, and for making enormous exertions to this end, and chastising these his late allies.- In taking there is no doubt that he will return to the a view of the state of the war on the conti- combat with an immense army.We nent, we will not notice the particulars of have, during the last twenty years, seen that mass of falsehoods which is contained enough to convince us, that the French are in the divers proclamations and state-papers a people not to give up easily any object of that have appeared within these four or five their ambition. Napoleon is ambitious months. According to these, each party is enough; but he is not more ambitious than in the right; each has been ill used; each other Frenchmen. The enthusiasm of the has ground of complaint against its adver- Revolution; that is to say, the enthusiasm sary. There is, indeed, hardly a word of of liberty, against which our Government truth in the whole of their stories, and they so long warred in vain, does certainly no are all unworthy of any particular atten- longer exist; but, still it is the same peotion. But, on the conduct of the several ple, increased in population, enriched by powers we may remark; and may be able, new sources of industry, and accustomed perhaps, to form something like a correct to conquer. When I consider this, I think opinion as to what will be the result of the that this is the moment to offer Napoléon next campaign. The origin of this reasonable terms of peace, lest, by any acNorthern war was, the refusal of the Em-cident, he should recover his lost ground peror of Russia to fulfil the Treaty of Tilsil, in which he stipulated to adopt the Continental system; that is to say, to shut English commerce out of all the ports under his command. No matter what was the cause of this refusal the refusal was certainly the cause of the war. -The terrible measure of burning Moscow, and the severities of the Russian winter, turned the tide of that war against Napoleon; and, it is not to be at all wondered at, that Prussia has swum with that tide. In fact, the King of Prussia is a mere shuttle-cock between the two Emperors. He is, and he must be, on the side of him who has possession of his dominions. -The Duke of Bassano gives a pretty good description and history of the conduct of Prussia from the out-set of the French Revolution to the present day; and, really, when one does consider what that conduct has been, one cannot help smiling to hear the Morning Chronicle say, that the proclamation of his Prussian

:

-It was

in the North, in which case, we may be
quite sure, that the States of Prussia would
pass for ever from the House of Branden-
burgh.The same principle, however,
which produced this war of twenty years,
appears still to animate our Government;
namely, a fear of France; a fear, that if
she be left undestroyed; or, at least, un-
crippled, we cannot be safe.
this fear that was the avowed ground, upou
which Mr. Burke called for the war in 1792,
and justified its continuance afterwards. la
vain did the Republican government dis-
avow conquest; in vain did it beseech
England to look upon France as a friend
in the cause of freedom; in vain did
it declare that it would make any com-
mercial sacrifice rather than break with
England. Nothing would do. France
was becoming free, and was evidently
about to possess all the vigour of a free
state; and this was an object of dread.-
The example, too, of real freedom, was

something formidable in the minds of some |
persons. That example, however, was, un-
fortunately, soon rendered of no avail.-
But, still there remained the power, the
increased power, of France, in the hands
of new men; and that power still remains.
While war continues we feel but half the
conséquences of this power. Peace would
shew it to us in all its alarming effects.
All the world would flock to France, which
is now become the repository of all those
things, to have a sight of which people for-
merly had to travel thousands of miles.-
France, owing to various causes, is now
comparatively lightly taxed; and, in a state
of peace, she would scarcely feel the weight
of taxation. This circumstance alone would
draw thousands and thousands of rich peo-
ple to her fine climate. The emigration
from this country would, in all probabi-
lity, be very great. By changing countries
an Englishman would, indeed, cease to hear
speeches and songs about liberty; but, he
would, at the same time, lose the pretty
little printed papers that are handed to him
every now and then, with nice blank spaces
for him to write down how much he re-
ceives, how much he earns, how many
children he has to keep, how many horses,
mules, wheels, dogs, footmen, and so forth,
he employs, and whether his head be, or
be not, powdered. He would, in short,
lose the liberty of having a case, at his own
expense, drawn up for the Judges, without
a Jury, to determine, whether his goods
shall, or shall not, be seized, if he refuse
to pay the sum, which Commissioners, ap-
pointed by the Government, demand from
him.- -Here, in my opinion, we may
look for one of the chief causes of the con-
tinuation of this war. The cause is a per-
suasion, in the mind of our Government,
that, if France be left as she now is, there
would be no safety for England in a state of
peace; that the former would, in a few
years, grow over her; and, that to begin a
new war, at the end of four or five years of
peace, would be attended with difficulties
not to be overcome. Besides this, peace
would do nothing for us, unless we could
lay down our fleet and our army; and how
could we do either, France being in posses-
sion of all her present power and her pre-
sent means? The time which we must em-
ploy in disbanding and dismantling, she
would be able to employ in recruiting and
building. A peace with the establishments
of war would answer us no purpose at all;
and yet, if France retain her present power,
how are we to dispense with these estab-

lishments?-
against peace so long as France remains
what she now is; and, hence it is conclud-
ed, that we ought to persevere in the war,
until the power of France be so reduced as
to make peace a measure of safety; for, if
we never succeed in reducing the power of
France, we shall be no worse off than we
should be in making a peace with her now,
seeing that such a peace must end in our
subjugation. Supposing all this to be
true, and some part of it is true, what
have those to answer for who began the
war, and who, by refusing repeatedly to
make peace, have, at last, reduced us to
such a dilemma? They went to war on
the pretence of preventing the French from
partaking with the Dutch in the navigation
of the river Scheldt; and what has been
the result? However, the grand ques-
tion is, what is to be done now? Ought
we to offer to negotiate, or not, at this mo-
ment? Or, ought we to run the risk of an-
other campaign, and to take other chances
of reducing the power of France before we
negotiate? I think we ought to negotiate
if we can; that we ought to see what we
are able to do by negotiation, since we have
been able to do nothing by war.—Į
would, for my part, give up all our con-
quests, I would leave Sicily, Spain, and
Portugal to defend themselves; for, after
all, leave them we must; I would disband
nine-tenths of the army; I would keep up,
in good order, a moderate fleet; I would
give up the pretended right of impressing
people on board the ships of America; I
would put arms into the hands of the peo-
ple of Great Britain and Ireland; I would
reform the Parliament; I would reduce the
taxes; and then I would set France at de-
fiance. Those who are not prepared to do
this; those who are not prepared for doing
all these things, must be content with a
continuation of the war; for, without re-
form, and a reduction of taxes at home, it
appears to me clear as day-light, that it
would be impossible for this country to
maintain itself in peace against the over-
growing power of France. France must be
reduced by war, or we must make such re-
forms as to enable us to exist in peace. One
of these two must take place, or this nation
must fall under the power of France.
This is my opinion, and I should be glad
to hear any one seriously maintain the
contrary. I should be glad to hear what
those have to say, who cry out for peace,
and who are silent upon the subject of re-
form at home.- -I have seen petitions for

-These are the arguments

peace can

am persuaded, at last, come, if the independence of this kingdom is to be preserved. There are people weak enough to believe, that, if the Whigs were in power, we might hope for peace. But, did any man ever hear the Whigs talk of a reform in parliament? Yes, formerly they did; but the moment they were in possession of

peace; but I have never noticed them as being worthy of great attention; because I know that no real be made unless it be accompanied with reform; because I know, that, until England be made a different place to live in from what it now is, there can be no real peace with France, possessed of all her present power. Those, therefore, who oppose reform, are per-power they ceased to talk upon such subfectly consistent in being opposed to peace jects. They are now full as inuch the ene→ with France at this time; and, as both the mics of reform as are any of their oppo great political factions are opposed to re- nents; so that their talk about peace is form, they ought both to be opposed to mere trick practised against the Ministers, peace.The Morning Chronicle, which, who are much more consistent in talking in general, speaks the sentiments of the neither about peace nor reform.-They Whigs, is often reproving the Ministers for see clearly, that without reform, that is to not entering into negotiations for peace.- say, without a great change in the system of But, will Mr. Perry undertake to shew any ruling this country and managing its reone benefit with which peace, without the sources, including always a reform in the, previous reduction of the power of France, Commons' House of Parliament, this counwould be attended? A peace would, at try cannot exist in peace, if France retains once, open all the ports and harbours of her present power and possessions; and, France; it would bring out the French therefore, as they are bent against reform, ships; it would, in a short time, create a they are also bent on war, until the power French navy. It would give Napoleon the of France be reduced. They, very likely, time and the means to make himself for- have doubts as to the result of the war; midable by sea. We must, therefore, they have their fears, perhaps, that the keep up our navy to nearly its present power of France will finally be increased amount of force. The army we must also by the war, instead of being reduced by it; keep up; for he need not disband a single but, even in that case, they are consistent ; battalion. What saving, therefore, would for, it is no matter that ruin come in that peace bring us? If it produced no saving way, if they be convinced that ruin would of expense, it would, of course, not reduce also come in the other way. The Ministers, the taxes; and, if it did not reduce the therefore, are consistent; and those only peace and are taxes, who, with such a prospect before are inconsistent, who call for him, would remain in England if he could silent upon the subject of Parliamentary quit it? Who that had ten thousand pounds Reform. Now is the moment to offer would remain here to pay, in one way or peace. Napoleon is so situated as to make another, one-half of the interest of it to the him lend an ear to such an offer; but, unGovernment, and that, too, without the less you can prevail upon him to give up most distant prospect of alleviation? The two-thirds of his power, which is not very peace, if you nation, under such circumstances, must likely, it is useless to make dwindle into a state of feebleness that would be not, at the same time, prepared to make naturally prepare the way for utter subju- a reform at home. I should be very gation. To reduce the taxes without re- glad, if I could prevail upon the manufac ducing the army; indeed without disband-turers, and upon all those who suffer from ing the army, it is nonsense to talk of; to disband the army without putting arms into the hands of the people would be to invite invasion; and, to put arms into the hands of the people, without giving them a share in the concern by the means of a Parliamentary Reform, would be madness.No as Major Cartwright has long ago contended, and long ago proved, the only sure defence is in an armed people, represented in parliament by persons chosen by that population. His scheme is, that the duty of arms-bearing and the right of voting should go hand in hand: and to this we must, I

the war, to see the matter in this light.-
They feel the evils of war; the masters are
ruined and the journeymen are starved by
That is enough: they look no
the war.
further: they ask for peace. But, they do
not reflect on the causes of peace being re-
fused; they do not ask themselves how
peace is to be got; they do not take time
to inquire into the consequences of peace as
things now stand with regard to the rela-
If they
tive power of the two countries.
peace
did, they would soon discover, that
is not to be had without a parliamentary
reform, or without a reduction of the power

of France by war; and, of course, instead of calling out for peace, they would call out for the previous measure of Parliamentary Reform.A peace at this time, or at any time, leaving France in possession of Holland, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, and Naples; such a peace, it cannot be too often repeated, would not enable us to save a shilling, while it would reduce our means of paying taxes, and would enable Napoleon to make a marine force capable of giving us serious annoyance in case of another war. But, if we, by arming the people of this kingdom, could save, at once the expenses of the army and of a large portion of the navy, then, indeed, a peace would be worth having; we should then be in safety, and the country, relieved from a large portion of its enormous burdens, would be comparatively happy. This, I repeat it, is to be accomplished only by making voting and armsbearing go hand in hand; and, therefore, I say, give us a Parliamentary Reform, as being the only sure road to a safe and lasting peace.- As to the wars of Russia and Prussia; as to the proclamations of those sovereigns and their generals; as to the vows and acclamations of the people whom they address; what do all these amount to? They are of very little consequence to us. Even the complete success of these our new friends would do nothing for the people of England, whatever it might do for the people of their own countries. For my part, I can see nothing that the people of the Prussian States are likely to gain by the change. They will change masters. They will fall back into the hands that they were formerly in. Their condition will not be mended. The successes of Russia may open a channel for our commerce; but, I take it, that will be all. The power of France will continue nearly the same with regard to England. At the very best, all I expect from those successes is a mitigation of the Continental System. So far, how-ven momentary pain to their Lordships, ever, am I from believing in the continuation of those successes, that I believe most firmly they will speedily come to an end. The French armies are upon the point of once more moving forward; and it will not be easy to make me doubt of their defeating those whom they have so often driven before them. I am aware of the effect of the turning of the tide of victory; but, this is not the first time that the French armies have had to stem such a tide. Reverses in war have never yet subdued their spirit: the whole nation partakes in the feelings of its chief Cuppow. goaded on by the

two furious passions of ambition and re-
venge: and, whatever they are capable of,
may now be expected from them.

In the last Number, p. 569, 1. 6,
for take off read talk of.

LETTERS OF LORD MOIRA AND MR. WHIT
BREAD, RELATIVE TO THE PRINCESS OF
WALES.

(Continued from page 576.)
no hesitation in saying, that, to the best of
my recollection, it contains the substance of
what I said in my place. Some verbal in-
accuracies are quite immaterial.I am
bound to fulfil your Lordship's hope, by
making your Letter to me public. In en-
deavouring to obtain the explanation of
passages so generally misunderstood, I knew
not how to proceed effectually, but by mo-
tion in the House of Commons; and the
motion having been calculated to obtain
your Lordship's attendance in the House of
Commons, if successful, your Lordship
would have had the opportunity of giving
the explanations, in the very place where
they were asked for; and I never had any
doubt of their honourable and satisfactory
nature. But the discussions in the House
of Commons having now been dropped (as
I sincerely hope never again to be reviv-
ed), I will send your Letter, and my an-
swer, directly to the Public Journals.-
It will give me pleasure to acknowledge,
by the same means, much personal civility
received at various times from your Lord-
ship; and particularly in the manner in
which I was requested, and the urbanity
with which I was received, to peruse the
documents to which your Lordship has re-
ferred in the early part of the present year.
In the discussions which afterwards arose,
I did not use the knowledge I had so ac-
quired of any one of them, until after it
had appeared in print.--I regret, that
in the course of these discussions I have gi-

ALETE

297

or cause of dissatisfaction to any persons, of whose friendship and esteem I was pleased in thinking I possessed a share, The loss, if lost, is entirely my own-it is painful to me. But justice has been the object of my pursuit-that pursuit has been conscientiously conducted by me, and must therefore, of necessity, have been free from all selfish considerations.--With the addition of these explanations from your Lordship, so honourable to the Princess of Wales, and so just to yourself, the public will be satisfied, that justice has been completely obtained. I have the honour to be,

my dear Lord, your Lordship's obliged | attempting to take her to the United States, and obedient servant,

SAMUEL WHITBREAD.

To the Right Honourable the Earl · of Moira, K. G. &c. &c.

AMERICAN STATES.

and not considering it prudent to trust her into a port of Brazil, particularly St. Salvador, as you will perceive by the enclosed letters 1, 2, and 3, I had no alternative but burning her, which I did on the 31st ult, after receiving all the prisoners and their baggage, which was very tedious work, only having one boat left (out of eight),

Commodore Bainbridge to the Secretary of and not one boat left on board the Java

the Navy.

-On blowing up the frigate, I proceeded to this place, where I have landed all the prisoners to return to England, and there remain until regularly exchanged, and not serve in their professional capacities in any place or in any manner whatever against the United States of America, until the exchange shall be regularly effected.have the honour to be, &c.

W. BAINBRIDGE,

St. Salvador, Jan. 3. Sir, I have the honour to inform you, that on the 29th ult. at two p.m. in South lat. 13. 06. and West long. 38. about ten leagues distance from the coast of Brazil, I fell in with and captured His Britannic Majesty's frigate Java, of 49 guns, and upwards of 400 men, commanded by Capt. Lambert, a very distinguished officer. The action lasted one hour and 55 minutes, in which time the enemy was completely dismasted, not having a spar of any kind standing. The loss on board the Constitution was nine killed and 25 wounded. The following message was received from The enemy had 60 killed and 101 wounded the President of the United States, which, certainly (among the latter Capt. Lambert after being read, was referred to the Commortally); but by the enclosed letter writ-mittee of Foreign Relations:

House of Representatives, Wednesday,
Feb. 24.

To the Senate and House of Representatives

of the United States.

ten on board the ship (by one of the officers of the Java), and accidentally found, it is evident that the enemy's wounded must I lay before Congress copies of a Proclahave been much greater than as above mation of the British Lieutenant Governor stated, and who must have died of their of the island of Bermuda, which has apwounds previously to their being removed. peared under circumstances leaving no The letter states 60 killed and 170 wound-doubt of its authenticity. It recites a Bried. For further details of the action, I beg to refer to the extracts from my journal. The Java had, in addition to her own crew, upwards of 100 supernumerary officers and seamen, to join the British ships of war in the East Indies; also Lieut.-General Hislop, appointed to the command of Bombay, Major Wilke, and Captain Wood, of his Staff, and Captain Marshall, Master and Commander of the British navy, going to the East Indies to take the command of a sloop of war there.Should I attempt to do justice, by representation, to the brave and good conduct of all my officers and Grew during the action, I should fail in the attempt; therefore, suffice it to say, that the whole of their conduct was such as to merit my highest encomiums. I beg leave to recommend the officers particularly to the notice of Government, as also the unfortunate seamen who were wounded, and the families of those brave men who fell in the action.The great distance from our own coast, and the perfect wreck we made the enemy's frigate, forbade every idea of

tish Order in Council of the 26th of October last providing for the supply of the British West Indies, and other colonial possessions, by a trade under special li censes, and is accompanied by circular instructions to the Colonial Governors, which confines licensed importations from the ports of the United States to the ports of the Eastern States exclusively.The Government of Great Britain had already introduced into her commerce during a war, a system which at once violated the rights of other nations, and, resting on a mass of forgery and perjury unknown to other times, was making an unfortunate progress in undermining those principles of morality and religion which are the best foundation of national happiness.The policy now proclaimed to the world introduces into her mode of warfare a system equally distinguished by the deformity of its features and the depravity of its charac ter; having for its object to dissolve the ties of allegiance, and the sentiments of loy alty in the adversary nation, and to seduce