The Statesman. — London, England, 1809-12-29 00:00:00

I ON TIIE AkTAIRS. Prr pueorr, pro ESTfinealia, pro tirtate, titularies, largitio, ararilia,vicohnl. Vary tanortsi animas 411110 nueba r .r lett% nsearrit c.•:irins; Semen ;refer taala:ritia irn6, cilia aget, a torrapto,!encialur.—Sizttsi. Belt Ca. trafor. It is a cott , iction . tiith which I am deeply im plebsc.d, that the fate of this country must be. de. cih.d in tl approaching Session of Parliament. By many, I am aware, oar situation is deemed ra ther calamitous than alai ming : evil without or With ta peril. wither great or immediate. To such an opinion it is the disposition of human ria. lure to incline ; but• its pi evidence, when tin. fotintle'd*,• is pregnant with roil. I propose to stare, 'with the utmost simplicity, the grounds of TT- persuaSion. The crisis is acl.nowledged by all to he difficult ; and no candid discussion ran fail to he useful. It will he one' aelvatitag,! attending this brief survey, to collect the - principal circum. stance: of our situation into a connected view. We arc engaged in a War, by its very character, formitlenle in the extreme ; a war for national in dependence. That this is its Character ap : sears trunk the circumstances of its commencement. It AsTs our policy to precipitate resistance before the enemy had ac:ptir• ..1 an itticontrutilable advan. 1.4 , ,e. We befit :d his strides of pacific aggrandize: moist isiOv .4ann 11410 rti'in . t in .; under the exhaustion of recut warfare, eoull allow ho breathing elate of prase. When the conflict began, the enemy was held in cheek by three powerful empires ; and this teutitry bed reason, to calrislato 'Tun their ail. It *as cltiAly io the hope of combining them in resistance, while they', et remain:Nl entire, that we precipitated hostilities. In the course of the con. all these empires lure been transferred from oor owls scale into that of - the enemy ; his power has butono conso:idated, and be is established master of the Clittinent; Spain, governed as she is, cannot be.e:moceted to resist many months his tindistractid force. Whatever cause of alarm el. isted at the outset, is now . prodigiottsly augmented. A contest for the decisive stake of independence, in which, with the half of Europe our ally, we hate increased our difficulties manifold, most be i prosecuted, without the possibility of alliance,.! against all Europe, animated and directed by iranseendent genius and i'Mplteahle hatred. Such is the stare of our exterual relations. IVhat is our condition at home? The first objects that present themselves are, a tational debt c:teeeding 600 millions, and an an- tilt3l drain of favation exceeding 70 ; a magni. rude of financial inCurtabrance, which, making !Jeri' fob the 'dlrPleellifitaii of money, hat never, , by a •vaSt'interi.i', been approarhed ; that questeatth, extraordinary as it Is, is not so extraiwarchari as air ; that the present aysteat, alr4dy strained b...yoadvarury opinion of its caparsisn sailass4. he cwaipailed . muelt farther ; these are three proofs. the riatinnid batik • for years ost itfsofvcit in specie, a fifth part of our poputation driven by absolute want to parish alms, and Mualltitei of extreme vi4ottr pursued in levy ing the actual taxes. It I. the ,7,-irral sentiment, confirmed by the late practice of our financiers, that additional imposts,. operating chiefly to Wish the productiveness of the present ; will raise filth; atldition of revenue ; and it is certain, that . any considerable increase of burthens, must be. enforced by the bayonet. Added to these pecuniary diffichlties, the public -niud is convoked. The series of disastcr l tha. Ms-Marked t h e: war, :13.1 the monstrous speeticks es liibitcd in the •aate, hart. imnaircd cnnfid:•nce, and impress:A bt•ry generally iudignation and eon ttinpt. We ac,u cen expand to a fatal disit•ion. A Lii.;otry the most deplorable (I use no other epi— t:.t.t) 'withholds from the common rights of the t ltd a fifth part ef the population ; awl this in mast volocratile varier of the empire. While t:arliotie Emancipation is refused, a descent upon Ireland cannot he imaxined without dismay ; and Spaita, the nu'; present obstacle, will soon be converted iaato an opportieriit* of arced. Rut, 3 trait in the last dezree orninAls, the Pub tic is cootathinated isith corruption. Influence, overflowing Iron its original scat among the Wgher orders, descends in copious poison into tiier two tKawoNlaepolitical body. Throughout st . laystoptsportiva *of :common sbriety, patriot. . ism la a sordid spirit of ge of pursuit, at . e lucrative contracia-,.aa1l ; the "i• Vel . "" of pridao court dapesadenee, a barunetcyrad.i t.lissioss* tv 'Sae 'crtnieseending smilc of -the gi-eat: to cilkder t( 4 obtlin these, the bait* eryilit . r . is . . cu;:ivat:d : that the emolument derived feninikm . may be more secure and abundant, all ,untrt)til ul.un public men is v.olentry opposed- A mere assent to the ductviite of cuntroul brands the clia. raster with sedition, Shuts up the arenues at ad •ancement, incurs the lot 4 of any assailable a !rant:l;es alrealy possessed. If a detector of of ial abuse can be represented to be -of doubtful chaructet, thu,einctlon displayed is unt_anprelteu. slim lest a favourite chest- should be debased, but a triensphitit hope that a cause the mOst odious has ban btatetl. The imospurt timedf all bouuds —opportunitlet.arestinOt.tet bioast in public of I the victory, and to hall Ote restoration of the golden age : the paradise of abuse has thrust out its devil, and will flourish safe from disturbance. Ihad not corruption established among the peo ' pie a strong party, would it be avolvcd by public men 'withntit contrition or shame E Conicl thy combine to ti hel;er it (all their animosities for the . time forgotten) under the aggravating plea of common practice ? Could it happen, that any one i of them, desirous to remove a colleague,.s!totild I • hizird his !merest, and even ultimately detest it, to escape the suspicion of disapproving a design the most fatally corrupt, and should declare the motive with ostentation? A considerable part of the people must be bad, when, in the face of the people, public virtue ;.s disclaimed as a disgrace. If, in proportion as war is prolonged, disaster accumulates ; if pecuniary embarrassment rapidly increases ; it the nation, though prone to confide, becomes generally discontented, and though lately celebrated for independence, contracts a temper of corruption, to incinire into the character or the public councils is superfluous. Nut to have pre vented such a mass of calamity sufficiently con deams them. Lint if thy have caused it ;if it has proceeded, not from inevitable outrages of for. turte, hint, crett - imitriourCfortuuate conjunctures, in a natural current from the system of policy ; if, throughout the whole scene, one uniform as pect appears— in negotiations, in expeditions, in commercial regulations, in the management of public tribunals (whether a Curnmaticler-ia-Chief ,or a War Secretary is to be durcudtsl), even in Ca 7 binet arrangements, among the Ministers them selves—of all possible Administrations that would be the worst, whose political knowledge was con. fined to the science of intiortice, and w hose poli tical efficiency did not extend beyond its practice. The particulars hitherto exhibited, comprise the dark features 'of our situation. Trere are brighter circumstances, upon a partial and etch'_ sivn consideration of u hich, the reliance of those who lean to confidence, seems to be founded. We possess uncontronled sovereignty upon the ocean, an army of superlative valour, and a corn ' merce vast and flourishing ; the question is, how far these ohjects of pride and gratification may, in practical effect, countervail the evils which we Illre contemplated. Of naval sovereioty, the great advantage re. fers to commerce and distant warfare. In that domestic defence, which must be the future pur pose of the war, an engine dependent upon the eapri,-c of winds, is of very limited efficacy. That It cannot tuvrovind our with a constant barrier, the repeated evasion of our blockading squadrons has evinced ; and an armament destined against Ireland, from the western ports of France, and the northern and western of Spain, would, with extreme difficulty-, be intercepted. For de cisive protection, it is upon our land force that we must r t ly. I ain assuine, what I am wilting to believe, that, wish troops the bravest upon earth, °or mi litary officereare Competent to enigma(' ag Clint the consummate generals of the enemy. Of what advantage is this perfection of military means ? IVO! these competent Officers be appointed to a command ? If appointed, will conduct in the Geld be rendered effective by wisdom in the Cabinet ? Will they be doomed to achieve, by stupendous victories., defeat ? While the principle of our councils remain the same, the same result must be expected from our military operations. The flourishlug state of our commerce is a cit._ cumstance of vital moment. Di ninish the influx of wealth throw;h this main channel, and we ' must indeed despair ; incurring, not only a fail ure of resources, but the general and deep distress that attends declining opulence. But though the present fact countenances 'congratalatitat, it is only the prospect of its continuance that can jiis. tiff confidence. Does oar commerce flourish se curely ? Through this quarter the enemy directs his principal attack : all Europe (gpa:n soon must be included) has become ) shtit against us America betrays an alienated tamper, prohibiting intercourse, and fitreatening war ; half of our trade must necessarily Li: , carried cm 'twin a smug gling system ; and that absurd p01:c . 7 continues, which issued the late, Orders in Council, and has estranged America. That the restrictions imposed by the enemy will be baffled to a considerable v;.. tent, I entertain no doubt ; but the degree of oar .future success in this particular not ascertained •by the past. No neutral or friendly port will re main to collude in covering our merchandise, or to form a depot for its circulation; 'the chief circumstances of our situation we have thus hestily,,surveyed. The evils which it presents appears.to he numerous, each of alarm iag megttitudr, and indeed with an independent piinci, le of increase, while elf have either been created or arc aggravated by the system of go vernment: its . advantages, on the other hand, secure and valuable according to the skill with which they are administered, sink, under that sys tem, into a condition more and more precsiiiims, aud are wasted ig. mimosa asisapplicatiaw.. quit ..11e•d • i 66.1 0110 • • i . iiil.stAtiiiivtkii. .. . „ Navy &Woe slaw& i afely phiapetons ) A Mid in. strurtiie lesien: our Navy; iipoi which the els tem of government has nub yet directly operated. filet corrupt system, the seeds of which wan Clasen, and shortly subsequent to the Revolution, Walpole Peered to maturity ; and during the last twenty years it has been stiiking its Mots in evtry direction, and spreading its pestilential brancbes,* ti.l it absorbs the nourishment of the soil, and vi flutes. the general atmosphere : the fable of the Javare (limy realized. The fortune tl►;►t awaik us I have computed, it will have been perceived, upon three assumptions : the continuance of war, the continuance of im. becility in the public councils, and' the con tinuance of corruption in the syslem of Co vernment. These, at present, arc the only data afforded for computation. For the introduction of better, Parliament is the natural organ ; and so I perfect and 'lmminent has the peril become, that its interposition, to be efficient, must be speedy. If the Session which is about to commence shall be a Session of blind subserviency, or pro crastinating palliatives ; if the system whieh has so lung been permitted to operate, shall be sanc 7 tioned and prolonged during another year, it is scaccety_in.,theßatiirc of human affairs, that Par. !lament shall again assemble invested r ith means arleq►rate to our rescue. What is now danger, gill have become calamity ; and the healthful p►inciplc that still remains will have been cis I►a+isted into the feverish impotence of turbulent de%rair. In the publication of these sentiments, it is my impose not to depress, but to animate; not to infuse dismay, but to promote, while thcro is yet opportunity, tho causes of hope. I design to recommend, in a subscquetst Paper, the mea sures which our situation appears to me to. de mand. SOSIPOLIS.. EXCISE SALES. When we find bribery, corruption, and gross Irregularities openly and unblissoinely avowed among the higher orders of the Governmeot, the discovery of like political evils existing in those of the lower, would not be matter of surprise or astonishment. But if, in the account I am about to give, I do not accuse any inditiduals of bribery or corruption, I beg the reatleis of your Paper a ill not init.:. that I pronounce those ititlividualscither innocent or guilty. The dillicti!ty, too gcner..lly speaking, of proving facts of that nature, even if a man knew they did exist in any particular quarter, woulti deter him, if he was in his sanscs, (ruin engag. jog in any such Quixotic and hatArdonseuterpriv. It Rill ke.sofficient for _Lan anal/he pulslic_tti point out most. gross irregularities ; and the defective- 1 ness of a system, where individuals are exposed to ' these lures of temptation whieh#ll whet:Govern. mews would avoid ; here itidueoraents to teed. bcry, corruption, and gross irregilaritics, have the faccistating accompaniments of almost iropessi. ble dit•coiciy, and consequent impunity. I speak of the Excuse Sales ; and u licit I deseribe them ) the Public will tolerably judgc-of all the rest. First, almost every person on the Bench ap pointed to regulate the Sales, and to keep an ac count (tithe owls, down to the very porters . who attend the warehouses where the goods are.soici, bid as freely as any other individual present. Some of these ;gain are, most no:tangy, the zp•ry persons rofso foe ous the goods, aml prepare MR samples. Now every intelligent nun would naturally ask, if those persons thus employed weee to show worse samples, of the goods which they themselves design ed to buy, what was to ptetent them from doing it? Next, in many instances the strength of the spirits is not given, and the strengths and qualities of the sans pies of bot h spirits, wines, and tither liquids, are les sened by being tasted by the mouth out of phials ; what security than has any individual to obtain the precise lot affixed uptin by the sample. Every avenue to justice is denied, by stating in the condi tion of ssle, that goodsanoist be taken away "with alt faults," tendering thereby samples altogether nugatory, and every application, till doomsday, for redress, of no avail whatever. In many in. stances ; too, the quantity of the lots is not fixed, and I know of nothing to prevent the totters of the goods to give a great deal to one individual, and almost nothing to another, jest as it may snit the whims, caprices, or interests of the individuals. It aoold be impertinent In me to stale all the absurdities and frauds that such a ridiculous sys tem might, or does generate. I shall only mention another obserention that 1 madei that the auctioneer seems to dwell very long on some articles, white: others he knocks down almost ietsantanetiosly, frequently occasioning observation.; from those bidding, that partialities wet iotended. The vile' anal alisurd parts of MB <ysfrim could be easily rooted out Hy a few' whidebotoe : the chief Of *bleb should be, that every person employed in the totiiog ur sale of goods sold by. the Excie, tr.• deprived of •his situation, if he bought any goods at thoie *Wes, of re ceired Guy profits or emoluments ar:aingfrJas the same. • If you Iva give insertion to this letter, you will not fail to gratify the: virtuous part of the contnotnity, and give rise to many letters on the mute subject, in regard to other departments. Throngh the munificence and exartions or Lord Mu sc.tirrn, sit prisoners fur debt s in the gaol sof Appleby, %tete released from confinement, arta turday, tlia 16th instant. M. Pitman, Editor of the imiips, and the Correspnadesst of Ctuurroeus is about to viait his Black Friend; he has alriLly disposed of his library, %hien was a weli.iesTectri (see. ..-... XO VIE EDITOR OF Mk: STATESMAN. COL O TEL (MIME. Srll,—ilatiag " fongllt the.gocid-fight" the Ai' Cl. P.'/ , ; I hdpe you are preparing a More itnpoy: tan t ,ictOry tor The iP.'a, I mean, the Public. '• Ana Glaf, Sir , in me ask,' who Mr. Ittoies; in some 'street near Goldeo.square I hair not heard of any great Gottlen.svare ainro . the famous Jock, Alderson, who shot ptior Stedhcns in a Duer,sitid. for - whorn a Mr.TomfAulf,' a deeraced Mewl of mine, was inihriscintid Dover Castle; but you know, Sir, th,t in theft oui days, stripes and iyni» . l , vantent dlr . ^ mere' iii(4lklarllicv, if we arc to eteilit those great au thorities, Wool the watermaii, Gibbons the in_ former, and Brandon the 11.a.ket;per. . . But, pray, Sir, what have you to td! us rea specting the purchase of Ala(lam Clarke's hook y , about which, with a very little trunblv, volt might learn a great deal ' From a late triai it - appears,' that one of the PuNte Purre-telders, bring it the same time one of his Makes 's Piistmagtersl. General has formed so wonderfully favrirtrib!e an opininn of this little Work, as to be induced to place it among the Pelham Papers, at the enor: mous expellee of .£10,t.;00, in Newland and nose piper, and as much more in promises towards Mas. ter and Miss C!ailte I Oh, •that I may not taste' , of death till I have seine theie Pelham Papers 1 What treasures of wisdo - il m u they cOn'ain ; fog: dopend upon it, Sir, Mrs. (hike s lfborli Bie I letst valuable among the collection!! ' Between ourselves, Mr. li:tlitor, I • wore there suspect that a certain eh/mien/a Bdokseller to your neighbourltoozi has the means of redocing the value of the noble Poitrua.tar's Original, as Much' at Miss Linwood has; by her ins'incible art, re: duced the value of Lbrd Exeter's Winkle' Salintoe Niundi. That this prt - loas c . iillt 4 Ctinn of Leittes, Ste. has been sect' by mother! in this Town iend out of it, I well know, and so due+ Hie Knight . alluded to. I have indeed seen a Gpitleinau, who has had thegooll fortune to peruse them ; but as could furnish such parti only as bore tho most striking resemblance to awiatcregting work published twiny years since by a Young Lady, and as mine' has unfoitiinately bnt little te.: naei'y on this subkci, I recollect little moral than a most strikingly interestini passage, de, scrihing,iu langoule the most eloquent and ins. pasvioned, - the sensations that would attend the writer on entering the front Room on the . secora I ROW', after an cdosenCe un severe mill:ul duty !! ! ! Slit.% 11.'s Work, Sir, contains oil. • 1 thing half so Sublime or beautiful. ANTI-SEJANUS. Gloucester-place, Chricttraa-day. What human faculties can perform, BUNAPIRTI his afforded us the most estrAordinary josianres that the annals of the wurl•t edit show ; hitt prri,Apa it is the w4I o f Pulvidence, that Los Ciminero, sboald. desceld imtu the grave, without leatios behind him an. heir to inherit the last doutifkisoss Requited by his genius or his arms. 410:v.trattie was ntare:ed fifteen years to lb. Empress Jossassura r -ahrs.-14-abil.iwe br *4 fi r st hoilnotd, anti had no chitdtew by hint, filioszli she cettainly was not arriv,tl at a I ettiaut of liro ihrn women cease to be fruitful. Are we to 111111. pow, that the misrnrtutie of wants big progeny is snore imputable lo N IPot.nov hon. self than to his rou.ort ; if Ail be toe ir .1 et , tn! of the case, what will he be the better•for gelitet tad of Joss:Nit V-E A melancholy accident ht ;ustiell on Theirs fay Mays/nes Land, Gi?es's-street, 'Rslib. burgh. The ncighbours ol.,icrritte a mote than usual light to come rforn a Mrs. Fergasestft house, they burst open the thew, w hen theylwusid a woman laying on the floor, her clothei newly orf, and her face and oilier part- of het loot,' dreadfully seorehetl. Medical assistance was in. mediately procured ; little hopes ore,' however, entertained of her recovery. The accident is supposed to have been occasioned by some sparks having dropped . from her pipe upon ht.r clothes when she was smoking. • Bostoo.—A pugilistic contest, fer a purse of 20 guineas, wol the honour of first provincial fame, took !duce at Haaely, Berke, on Tuesday, between George GaflJ, a weaver, and 11. Moat, a miner, the latter of whom vanquished nowerc, of provincial note, about 12 months ago. God[ was never before pitted for a stake, bat be had given such proofs of his manhi.d that Captain Hanson, of Thatch:ma, brought him forward. in the first round Gold, by a deztoronl hit through the guard, closed up the left'aye of lrit %NM); ad. versiry, who, in return, slit the ear . of (kid, and threw him a severe cross.ltuttocl7. The bat. tic lasted 55 minutes, when a blow in the wind, and a stunning one on the bead of his adversary, gave the victory to Goa, who as well as his•bealfht foe was carried off the field. Gully and 'Crab, according to reports in the pngiliatic circles, last right, arc to coniend for the championship of England. Odds were tif. Bred 6t04 in favour of Gollq. It 41 spiso said t that Balch Sam and Tom Belcher are mateliedlo fi,:ht for a purse of WO guineas. The Theatres of Vicenst and Parma, halite in the 10th century, are the only ettffitrs' now Tit. tant which bear any resemblance to the asteieist Thestrel, as to fora) they are, however, much smaller. At them (De first es+ays of the dravatic art were made.; but its a taste for that sort of ' amusement made rapid progrss, more extensiro Theatres weralnund neces.ary for dramati” batons, dte when in France there w9rc only crad Deno and tcnis courts to pertorna in, numerous Oar-horses nein cotrattncted in Daly. &vend mote frigatti a!” to be .ent to the East /miles; the ships, toe, 4u that cation arc to Ise often When Count Evoeri, the Swedish Ambassador at Paris, applied to BONMPART6 fur a pasiinot for the deposed King of tiwkostr, it is sdi I the latter replied, "1 grant a free passport to that 110(tarelt to reside-at any pldce (whatever hi:Andy t hose ; and I engage, on my honour, that he shall receiia all protection in nay States...Do you thank, Cultic &spi lt Oat, GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS Woiliti hays done this to me, bid I been in his &tuition?" 1 ~j 1 1 I 111 I