The National Register. — London, England, 1809-06-18 00:00:00

398 TO WI4LIIIM COIMETT.-I.LTTER. 111. Parturiunt monies r:dicul►ts nascitur inus ! ! SIR, • You are really a great master of dramatic effect. You have raised public expectations by the h u Uncss with which thegaunt let was thrown down, alTd have as completely digippointed P by the silly delusive prevarication, and• the bowlful disgusting ego than with which your long long letter is stuffed. A dextrous fencer is prepared for the thrusts of his antagonist, and antici pates what he is capable even of attempting in any passiblf si- ttsation. I give you credit for your dexterity, but cunning, sir, is no proof of wkdom ; you certainly have not, like the • fencer mentioned by D'..rno:thenes, waited for a wound ; you have been prepared to parry, before you were hit ; but the gall which has flowed from your peu, skews that some how Of other, from some butt/ or other, Lateri hmsit letlvilis arqndo. And 60 Mr. Conot:rt we are tobelieve the account which has been published, and the ci,lcumeets w hick have been produced of the Court Martial are ? have you pointed out one that is eith,c tered, or that soneven dare to say, notwithstanding your effron tery, is not correct ? " Aye, but all of them are not published." Yon are accused of a deliberate and malignant attempt to injure the officers of the corps in lOich yos. were fmt a cor poral, and then a serjeant, by false charges. The evidence pro duced is sufficient to convict you, unless dZsproved ; you do not even challenge it, which every thief does in some way or other, and yet you expect we shall believe your bare assertion, that yOur letters, and the charges, were sufficient, if they had been published, to have sr.; istied the public thp.t these charges were true. This is curious logic. Where did you pick this up, Mr. Cobbett ? in the wilds of America ? or iu y:Air disgraceful re tirement at Kotley ? You might as well endeavour to prove that you were not 44 guilty of highway robbery, house breaking, or any other of fence," because the documents by which the fact might be esta blished, are not complete. So the documents do contain some thing which is true in tcords, but the meaning is totattu perverted, r the suppression of all the material parts of the transactions. At the time of writing your letter you knew this was false. , You knew that every word of thee documents is correct, and bears the stamp of truth, that the meaning is nut altered or' perverted, and that the conclusion I% irresistible. When the words in which the charge against you arc understood, it re quires no ingenuity, there is no necessity to pervert their real meaning. You are dri:en, Sir, to a c:irner, and den; in suppositions. These are the usual subterfuges of chi canery in the retreats of villainy, and ygtu do not even handle them with your usual dexterity. They are fnlse in argu ment, and even if adtilitird mould not serve your purpose ; b ut i t i s no t true even in words, `• that it would be a shame to bang a poer fellow for iio:Le breaking." If I were to ask the question in fewer words ; if it would he any shame to hang such a fellow, I hel;eve there are not ten honest men in the country Would hesitate about what answer should he given. In sending copies of this charge into Hampshire, the Gentlemen have done a public dut: ; nublic nuisances should not only be pointed out, but removed too. The Winchester Clergy are as much above your despicable sneer. as Sou are beneath their indiguation.— Your proper situation is just upon a level rr ith their contempt. y rot ba , e rep y our di-cho,rge, written bg a Traiior.—Cc ;:e -rcl lit:Dull lc grants it at Ow request of FITZG RA 1.0. Was the effrontery of this noblusliine document necessary to convince any honest man of the nature of the connexioo between the only Honest Officer in the regiment and •on WI c.LIA al CO 1111ETT.— A rler such a declaration before Mr. PITT, can you wonder that he refined to si: down a second time w ith such a man, I had almost At rit tun a ------. Are we to endure from such a wretch as WIL k M (74106r,TT to be told that bit personal safety was not THE NATIONAL REGISTER. ij i, l 4 G. Tara arc secure under the protection of British Laws, if ite preferred a contplaiut against his °dicers, without his discLar,e Ir.v ing been ilirst obtained, although the ob'eet of that complaint, wits to olttPin redress for pie ances ti.teer whit!' his fe.low diets laivtured. Tio.4 is a lie ant! a Itlies—ts iil it he credited that t!,e fear of 44 bloody slioulder7;," or " cxviring uctler a cruel flagellation" would prevent such melt front ~.;'!Aing eseitlunce in their own favour i Really idr. (40 ÜBE IT % , (sti iriVe so lung mßi poherl upoti the public, that you p;:e tn; credit for a degree and eZteut of citilibility that is perfectly out of oil titre. Are we really to believe that before yo.t were TO ye..., of age, ell the accounts of the regitsteot, its discipline, :cid the cr :tole military part of the regint;i:t.'. :::'stirs" was dime by y.. 11 This is really tr t ,i mach to soa!low ; an 3 to yhtte zeal for the House of Brunswick, (uf %t you igtn:rant of vis AI J EST Y • S nilay relation), y pur rev.ird for t'te dishonest 0111cers of vottr regiment, these 4 . tame caeateiN,"ah,.... :I.! a law. IA part of the nicest . for 111?naseArs, iridut:cti )cu t' v ! itil: one hundred miles by yourßtif i“ a wood, u:44;re nu tncvz had cuer vei!ured ta gry (;"d; An,l t Iva;ly pat nu yeti to desertion—Why you will rival MUNCMAUSEN himself is tune. This is much ;n st 3 le of tie French Hulletia, where an Adjutant and a dra,6oon summoned and took t tico thots,ao,l prisoners ! If you did make a complaint about the provisions, an inv,t with a reception that convinced you that you must tin' er en„he another, was there no witness, no evidence ~f the nature of this complaint, nor to w hoin it was made ? The nature of the reception, and the person who gave it. are very adroitly kept in the back-ground, or we might have been furnished with some clue to have exposed the falsehood: but this reception irritated you so mach that from this tittle you set abont to COLLECT mat.- Hats fur an exposure upon your return to Eng!and—dij it nrvcr occur to you, in writing this sentence, to substitute the word MANUFACTURE instead of COLLECT? 66 You had ample epportunities," you say, and nobody will doubt your inclination. The precious extracts that you made surely you might have conveyed to England, or some other place of safety than merely at tin box made by yourself for the purpose. T!tis is really, for a man of your craft, too childish to be crc. tilted. But rogues sometimes act like fools. Providence has nisely ordered that it should he so, for the sake of honest men. Well! now you and IlVilliont BeW tarot at lerigth "set to work upon your project, and whilst the good erlsy men thought no mischief was a brewing" there were you and the other clerk under you gutting no small part of the regimental books, rolls and other documents ; mid these were signed by you and your Coadjutor "and he regimental seal clapped to the copy" oh tie, oh fie. By Iv but indirect means does providence suffer his creatures in bring about hit: purposes? But not: , ithstaudin:; this alritivenee from 66 bouzi.::.:7‘nd drinking" and although you were acquainted dot oily with t]:e Fact but the law too, and were " able tow rite such letters as . ..eu did write to the KING, the Juot;r: Anvo- CA rE, and r, whi:'h Sou refer to a proofs of the " su perieritv of your mine," how is it possible for such a :genius as you represent yourself t,) be, a man of such discretimi, to sit down one hew isphere to collect materi;ls to be employed for the exposure of nis officers in another. How lu.ppened it, indeed, it credible that it should never have occurred to such a man, that before he had obtained his discharge he should have taken care to secure the oelv documents upon the pivot of which every thing turne•l ? Witold not my Lord FITZGERA that other traitor, ha‘e ns.Ted you ? Is it not evident that he must have been e..quainted wi! el your object, and kiew the motives of your ,journey to London ? Has it never occurred, do you think, to others who do not perhaps krow the fact as teal as gau lid, and the other traitor did, that your object in retiring front a military life was to gel married, and tluit your motive foraecusing your Officers yv as to get money to support y corself after you were married ? I have not done with yON yet : I have exhaust ed my time more than my A MODERATE REFORMER. !