The Sun. — London, England, 1804-01-06 00:00:00

TO THE KING. 7P,E, HEN the affairs of a Nation are distraCled, t , private people are, by the spirit of the Law, " jas7ified in stepping a little out of their sphere." —such is the recorded opinion of one of our ablest and most illustrious Statesmen—That the existing circumstances of the British Empire are in their nature calculated to inspire confidence, or soothe - "apprehension, no one will be hardy enough to ''apprehension, the storm which loursis pregnant with mischief—that the crisis is abundant in (bi fenity, and the result of our exertions uncer_ tain, the Public feeling unequivocally testifies—l shall not therefore I trust be deemed too presump_ thous, Sire, if, afting upon such high authority,. I o erszep the line of common usage, o r t oo b o ld, if, breaking the bonds that would hind me down to my allotted station in life, I prostrate myselt at the foot of the Throne, and call upon the Father of his PeOple to rescue from peril, and shelter from im pending evil, the sacred birth, right of his Children. The enter - prize, intrigue and capability of the Eniimy to .whom we are opposed in the present eventful War, appear to me never to have been duly appreciated. • We have passed slightly over the immense resources which afford facilities to a mind ever aaive in their distribution, and unremitting in its attention towards the attempt at our extinction its a great People, whilst we have been satisfied with P ttradualdevelopement of those which we possess to oppose it—Rather has our pride been gratified by a contemptuous survey of the preparations making againsdus, than our judgment convinced by a dispas sionate investigation of their nature and extent, and the proportion our means of counteraction bear to - wards them—Thus, much must be left to chance ; aod, when the All of Britain worth possessing is im 'plicate(' in the question ; when the perfeilion of Re ligious, Moral, Civil, and Political Institutes is the sacrifice to a failure of our exertions, can we leave aught to the hazard of the die ?—Can we, though the chances may he calculated as much in our favour as the hostile Usurper admitted them to be, dare we trust to the operation of Fortune.(fickle and most to be dreaded when most apparently propi tious) upon an event where success may be ensured, and our safety placed beyond the controul of chance ? --It is not from half measures, temporising policy, or tardy economy, that this result will spring —We are not to look into remote precedent or black letter authority for the suggestion of rules and principles of polttiCal aaion in a period like the present—The mind ofGoeernment should relied the spirit and tem per of the times, and find in every passing event an antic ote to its deleterious efFeas.—A question hence arises which, I trust, I do not trespass beyond the - hanntlary discre:ioo, no less than AffeCtion and Loy alty to your Majesty, has prescribed, in pressing for ward—l feel the delicacy of the ground upon which I tread, and will pass over it as lightly as possible— { shall not- trace the effeas of systematic concession and periodical temerity, which have added fuel to the devouring flame of Wats—thrown a most lessen tial portion of the Empire within the grasp of the Enemy, and cut off from your 3.k/Ljesty the Here ditary Continental Possessions of your Illustrious Idouse—l waive all these, Sire, and centre my inquiries in one small focus—they will not even seek to prove whether the condua of your Ma jesty's Servants be good or evil, but only generally, whether they are the best possible—not to under rate their talents or disparage their resources, how ever disinclined to congratulate the Country upon either, hut to ascertain whether the criterion of political excellence and deliberative wisdom, the supreme powers of diplomatic experience and legis lative science—the prominent virtues and exalted • patriotism of the Empire arc to be found merged and aggregated in that body of men who hold tide sacred charge of - Government in this most perilous and awful crisis—lf this be not effirmatively an. swered, how shall we be judged by a Posterity de prived of the blessings which have been delivered into our hands in charge for them—when, they find, that in the day - of darkness and tribulation, when clouds obscured the horizon, and doubt was the precursor of every coming event, our readiest re_ • source's were disregarded, .and our best means con temned ; that we excluded our ablest Generals from a Campaign in which every thing sacred was staked ; where the alternative declared itself, that we were to continue tint great and independent subjects of the hest of Kings, under a Constitution that rivals the models of Utopian Theorists, or become the subjugated Slaves of an imperious Despot, who had reserved us for the last sacrifice to his hate, that he rni'seht the more securely glut o n hi s revenge, and :immolate our Liberties at the shrine of his ambi tion ?—Perish the thought, which never, never can he realized—for the Father will listen to the Prayer of !iii Children, and ere it be too late, renovate his Councils with those talents, and invigorate them with those principles, which may meet the premeditated attack upon the Country and Constitution, with becoming confidence ;Ind assured success—We have no ordinary Foe to deal w ith—lf a People are to meet a crisis man. fully, they must be made aware of the difficulties they have to encounter, and the disadvantages under which they labour. How swill the false and assumed prowess which is built upon the contempt of an tenemy sink and be annihilated by the slightest re_ verse of fortune, whilst the man who feels that his dearest hopes are threatened in the conflict, will be doubly armed by reason, and the just estimate of the sake for which he contends. Those who look danger boldly in the face will have half gained the nettle, before the deluded hordes of men, unprepared for the near.approachingconflift, will be able to take their ground. The war-whoop is raised against our KING, our Country, and our Constitution, and our All devoted to destruaion by a Foe, whose resources I are as vast as his designs are unbounded, and whose success has hitherto been commensurate with the rashness of his enterprise—lt is not by common , minds or ordinary talents that such an opponent can be kept in check, much less successfully counteraa eil—Chance of accident may favour us, but they have flyer deserted him. It may be our lot to reverse the destinies of him who has hitherto been the spoiled Child of Fortune ; hut, if we fail, our pre sumption will be chastised by a fate our very Ene. rnies must weep ever whilst they intik}, and a won. dering world will lift up its hands against our teme rity, in disdaining to resort to those means for our salvation, which could alone ensure it beyond the caprice of chance—in neglecting those advantages which can never be wanting in a Country, fertile in talent, and charaderized by sound and wholesome judgment. Think, Sire, would the principles of Government which are at present pursued, have been sufficiently ' powerful to have checked the easuriez of Jacobinism Would such a system have strangled the Hydra Revo. lotion in its birth, and stripped the sanguinary Mon ster of the false and luring trappings it had assumed Would such measures, creeping out of each other, and smuggling themselves into anion, have rallied a People round the Throne when the storm began to lour, and have opposed (with a vigour beyond. precedent, and with a success which never could have been ensured, had that vigour been less) the innovating and undermining system of the Times ? No, Sire, I have no hesitation to affirm, that had the Servants of the Crown been wavering, unset tled, and unsystematic; had they pursued an objeCt one day, which was to be renounced the next—had they adopted half measures, or been guided by half principles, the land of our Fathers would have been involved in the common fate of subjugated Europe ; —nor should we, at this moment, upon our own shores, have had to await the outward attacks of the Enemy—That storm was weathered—Pray Heaven we may ride this out as well !—lt is not necessary to call to your MAJESTY'S recolleetion the misconduct of a former Administration, to whose devious system the loss of the American Colonies is attributable. The great Lord CHATHAM, lucid and profound, saw their fatal aberration, and wain. ed them of its effeas—He not only foretold the re. suit of their projeds if carried into died, but point ed out the mode of correding them. It requires little ingenuity to note the points of similitude be. tween the unintelligible Negotiations at Paris—the feeble attempt to obtain a shadow—the barren rock of Lampedosa ! with that strange and imbecile te. naciousness which led the first promoters of the American War, when compelled to repeal the Co lonial Duties, to determine on retaining one to save appearances ! Who can at this hour doubt, that had the Duty upon Tea been repealed with the other Imposts, America would still have acknowledged the Sovereignty of the Mother Country ? Who will deny, that the Cession of the insignificant Rock of Lampedosa to this Country, would have averted the present War ? Both Administrations grounded their comind upon the same principles—Each dread ed the reproach of weakness—and each made a stand (without reference to the Interests of the State, but for the purpose of Individual defence) at one point—The one involved us in a Contest that severed the Colonies for ever from England : the other has plunged us also into a War, the effects of which, who, among the sons of men shall presume to calculate ? What mind, great or prospeEtive as it may be, shall dare to set boundaries to the re. kindled flame of this exterminating conflia ? In spite of the recorded Declaration of the first and most exalted talents of the Country, all the measures were followed up with unceasing perse. verance, which threw the Colonies into a state of Rebellion, whilst Ministers smiled (even as Mini. sters smile now) at the Impotent attempt of our re fraftory Children to throw off their leading-string, and separate themselves from the Mother Country. The Nation was taught to believe that we were fully prepared to meet and crush the Rebels in arms ; and whatever might he the shades of opinion with resped to the policy or humanity of the con. dud of Administration, the People were satisfied that our means of enforcing obedience were more than adequate to the exigency. The speeches of the Ministerial Adherents and Partizans were as replete with confidence as any we hear under the present too similar circumstances; and the Noble Lord at the hesd of the Naval Department, publicly stated in his place in the House, that the War Esta blishment, however low, was amply sufficient for the reduttion of the Colonies to obedience: he even contemned them as an undisciplined Horde, formed by Nature so as to facilitate their own defeat by an attempt to defend themselves. In 1774. the Ali. nister himself declared his confident reliance upon the effeft of the newly-made Asls against America, and felt convinced that they were competent to humble the whole Continent to the very. dust. Yet, alas ! wh a t are the fruits of this vain boast ing What the result of this inflated confidence ? Where are we to look, Sire, for the Colonies thus alienated from your MAJESTY'S Crown ? Where is the Ruin that was to lay the pretensions of our Re bellious Fellow-Citizens low, and thus humble the Continent to the dust ? To what has this foresight —this hold system of assertion tended ? To the establishment of a most powerful Republic upon the ashes of our glory, which bids fair to rival us in the first objeds of our national importance, and whose alliance is courted, and friendship conciliated, by the leading Powers of Europe.—When Lord CHATHAM proposed the Bill for " Settling the " Troubles in America, and for asserting the Su " preme Legislative Authority and Superintending " Power of Great Britain over the Colonies," he was charged by Ministers with impetuosity._ The great and comprehensive view which he had taken of the subject, was not to be communi cated to men who reasoned upon a more confined scale, and whose ads were circumscribed by the very narrowness of their perception. The promptitude of which his powerful mind enforced the necessity, was considered and treated by them as rash and headstrong. He reproached the leading Men in Go vernment with the blindness of their condua, pre. dided the loss of America, and concluded in these remarkable words :—" If Ministers thus persevere in missadvising and misleading the KING, I will not say that they can alienate the affeaions of the Sub_ jea from his Crown, hut I will affirm, that they will mike the Crown not worth his wearing—l will I not say that the KING is betrayed, but I will pro- I nounce that the Kingdom is undone." —The effect s I of Amputation upon the habits of a Patient MS, ever be considered doubtful and hazardous. If a skilful Vraditioner perceive, by his superior insight into the charafter and symptoms of the Disease, d mean whereby the risk of the operation may be I avoided —and the opinion of this man be SCOute:i nnlemned, it is but fair to infer that the loss of the member or limb is wantonly incurred, and that the recovery of the Patient may be considered as a boon from Heaven, or the result of a sound Con stitution. That the Country is Rot yet ruined, as predieted by the Great CHATHAM, we may thank Heaven—that we may not be on the verge of de struftion, God only knows. He foretold the first consequence of the criminal folly of Ministers, and America is for ever lost Perhaps the efFeCts of our Colonial Separation have not yet been duly felt, but to a speculative mind much matter appears to be afloat arising from that event, abundant in mischief, as extensive in its dissemination. ADOLPHUS. MAILS. DUI. Hamburg!) 5 THE SUN. SOLEM QVIS DICHLE TALSUM 4WDLAT LONDON, JANU4RY 6,1804. OUR Letter from Deal of this morning, furnishes us with the very pleasing intelligence of the result of the firing which was heard in the S. E. quarter, off the French Coast on Wednesday morning. It proceeded from an attack made by the Archer Gun_ Brig, commanded by Lieutenant SHERRI; P, assist ed by the Boats of the ImmortaThj, upon Five Sail of French Gun-Vessels that had come out of Calais the preceding evening, with the intention of pass ing along shore off Boulogne, the whole of which were captured. Our Readers will find a descrip. tion of these vessels in our Deal Letter. By another account we learn, that they are loaded with Gin for the French Army, and Timber for building small Craft, and are fitted up as Horse_ ships, with thirty Soldiers on board each. The immortaiiti and Archer were left in duce of seve ral others. The hopes of the French Army must, we think, soon be converted into apprehension and despair, when they see one English Gun.brig, with two or three small boats, making prize of some of their largest vessels, as we s u p pose t h ese may b e, t h e moment they ma k e their appearance beyond the mouth of their own Harbours. Another Ship, the Minotaur, of 74 guns, has sailed f rom Cawsand Bay to reinforce Admiral CORNWALLIS. The rest of the Ships will im mediately follow. WE this morning received a llnniteur and some Dutch Papers, but not of later dates than those already noticed by us. The Moniteur, speaking of the Shannon, which was wrecked near Cape 4 3 Hogue sometime ago, says she is a superb Ve s sel, almost new, having only been launched about four months. It is only by our misfortunes that the French can make a boast of any nava l acqui sition. A Letter from Plorence, of the ad ult. states, that the French Troops in the Eastern part of the Kingdom of Naple s had not made any movement which indicated an approaching enterprize. They consisted of from 35 to 36,000 men, all of the same Nation, the Italian Corps having entirely quitted them. Accounts from Paris of the i6th tilt. in the leer. den Gazette, state that the Army encamped at St. Omens consisted of 70,0c-'o men, and that /00,000 were cantoned along the shore from .ecu!ogne to Ostend. 7000 men were, it is stated, to march from Hanover to the French Coast, and the Troos in Swit zer l an d were to receive the same destinationp. The neighbouring Departments having been much harassed by requisitions to provide for the wants of these Troops, the First Consul had ordered the Mi. nister at War to authorize the payment of the sums due, and to assure those Communes which bad been subjeded to requisitions, that such demands should not be renewed. From Lausanne of the 9th ult. we learn, that or. tiers had been given for all the French Troops in Switzerland to evacuate that Country, and march to the Coast. A Consul from the United States of America has been recognized at Petersburgh, who is the first Public Agent sent to that Court by the United States. A Dublix Mail of the zd arrived this morning, barren of intelligence. His MAJESTY did not go to Kew yesterday, on account of the heavy fall of snow, Yesterday the DUKE of CLAR ENCE visited THEIR MAIESTIE,, Last night TVEIR MAJESTIES had a Sele4l Party. Among the company were the Dutchess of LEEDS, Generals MANnEtts and DEBUDIE, Lords ST. HE LEN'S, RADsiorEi SUDLEY, and HARCOURT; La dies NIANspIEI.D, CARDIGAN, and C. WALDE. GRAVE ; Mrs. ih. STANHOPE, and Mrs.L.DAMER. , On Wednesaay the C ountess of lIARD.I:4:7on iv;iitcd upon if RR MAJESTY %s itil a co; , y of the ScNnon preach q by the Rev. Zttopßß, at !Zanelagh, on Tuesday, at the presentation 6f thr Colours to the Queen's Volunteers. The same day Princess SOPHIA of GLotrcErrza, , Ladies SLIGO, AYLE3BURY, and NEALE, visited HER MAJ eSTY. The Duke of NORFOLK, who has been enter.. taining a numerous party of his friends at Home Lacy, quits that place next week for Arundel Cas... tle, where the rites of old English hospitality wit/ of course be renewed. We hear that the I-km. Wf.i. ELLIOT. and Mr. GARTHSHORE, have resigned their seats at the; Board of Admiralty ; and that the former will be succeeded by Colonel Wm. LENiON,, aid the latter isy Capt. Sir HARRY BURRARD NEALRe Major-General HE wo ILL and BrigadieteGenerg Lord CRAVEN, we understand, leave their Distat in Yorkshire in a few days. They will be succeed. ed by Major-General PHIPPS. Yesterday the Second Regiment of Loyal London Volunteers had a field day in the ground belong. tug to the East India Company ; their Grenadiers and Light Company, for the first time, wore their new caps, which are very handsome, and add much to the appearance of the Regiment. This Regiment is now, in every respea, fit for aBual service. They are provided with great coats, haversacks, canteensp and every other article requisite for a soldier to take the field. Their firing yesterday was excellent, and when altogether, make a very military appearance. Yesterday the PRINCE of \VAL ss's Corps had t field-day in Hyde Park, under the orders of Majoe Sir WALrEtt STIRLING. They fired eight rounds with great precision, and their general conduct was such as to call forth the highest encomiums from Colonel Jrxxitrsort, the Inspettor of the Distriet„ who happened to be present on the occasion. Yesterday the Loyal Britons paraded at theie drill.ground, early in the morning, and marched, under a heavy fall of snow, to Muswell Hill, near Highgate, where they had a grand field.d,ty, and performed various manoeuvres, entirely to the saris- faction of their Colonel. The Bloomsbury and Inns of Court Corps mug. tered yesterday morning at nine o'clock in their ground, agreeably to orders to march to Finchley, for the purpose of having a sham fight. The wea.. ther being very severe and a heavy fall of snow at the time, the Colonel proposed to defer it until Thursday next, unless it met the wish of the Corps to proceed, when every man immediately declared his readiness, and dirsired to march. The Corps skirmished across the fields, leaving Copen hagen-house on the right. There the French party took post behind a thick hedge, and a very severe fire commenced. The English advanced close to the hedge, when, unfortunately, Mr. B. one of the Corps, received the contents of a musket in his face ; and, it is feared, he will lose the sight of both eyes. He was taken to Cupenhagen.house, and left there un.. der the care of Mr. WATSON, a Medical Gentleman belonging to the Corps. PERCY TENANTRY. —On Saturday last, nine companies of the Infantry, and three troops or Ca. valry, of the Percy Tenantry, commanded by Earl PERCY, were inspeEtea by Lieut.-Col. }ERR, in the parks adjoining Alnwick Castle. The'rapld progress which this fine body of men have made during the short period of their being drilled-:•-their steadiness, and the promptitude with which then went through the manoeuvres or a Rifle Corps, en. titled them to the warm approbation they received from the Inspeeting Officer. The noble Doke, on this occasion, entertained the Officers with a magni ficent dinner in the Castle, to which seventy Ladies and Gentlemen sat down in the ancient hall of the PERCYS, where the happy conviviality of the day was highly encreased, by beholding the present race of Northumbrians no way abated in their spirit and attachment to the gallant descendant of the Noble Family ; hut enlisting under his banners, with de termined resolution to defend and preserve all that could endear life from a most inveterate and malig. pant foe. Every individual attached to the Corps was plentifully regaled, by order of his Grace, at the different Inns in Alnwick while it is s most proud display of loyalty and patriotism in an individual to raise, clothe, and accoutre upwards of fifteen hundred of his own tenants, all of them must be animated with uncommon ardour to follow such a young Nobleman as Earl PARCY , whose first in. troduCtion among them has been to be placed at their head, and share equally with them in dangers, death, or vklory I Thursday se'nnight, the Cumberland Loyal-Leath Ward Volunteers, comprising the divisions of Dale_ main, Longwathby, Kirkoswald 4 and Hesket, were inspeded at Penrith, by Colonel HA R R Ti, (in num ber about - seven hundred) who was pleased to ex press his entire approbation of the steadiness and soldier-like appearance of the whole Corps, while under arms, and of their competency, from the manoeuvres they went through, of completing the: Last week the Northumberland Militia, (Far. tered at South Shields anti Monkwearmouth, were inspeaed by Lieut.-Gen. Sir H. DALRYMPLE, who expressed, in the highest terms, his approbation of the discipline of th:it Regimenr, and desired it to be inserted in the orderly books. Wednesday se'nnight the Chester-le.streer Vo lunteer Infantry were inspeded by Sir H. DAL.. RYNIPLE, Bart. Commander in Chief of the Dis.. tria; who was pleatied to express his entire appro bation of the state of their discipline. The Corps were on adual duty, and had the important charge of the great depot of stores near . Chester.le.street. On Thursday the Right Hon. the Ea! of SCAR. BOROUGH, and several Gentlemen of die first re. , spedability, honoured the Officers with their com pany to their mess dinner at the King's Head Inn, where the day was spent in the greatest cordiality. The Earl of SCARBOROUGH gave a grand enter tainment on Saturday last to the Officers of the Chester Volunteers, and a great number of Ladies and Gentlemen in the neighbourhood of Lumley Castle. On Sunday last the Chester-le-street Volunteers Were relieved from permanent duty, by a detach ment of the Northumberland Militia. Yeiterday se'onight the Royal Chester VoIon" teers offered their services to do garrison riuty• I l',a.e rot yet beet , c ; ,ned ' inns