The Sun.
London, England, 1801-03-24 00:00:00

DEAL, MARCH 23.

, His Majesty's Brig Anacreon sailed this morn-
ing on a Cruize to the Westward; and arrived
from the Eastward His Majesty's hircd Armed
Brig rideue, which remains.

Sir CHARLES STUART iS so SeriollSly ill at
his house at Richmond, as to cause gret tinelsi-
ness to his friends. Under this circumstance, it
is necessary to name another Commander in Ire-
land ; and Lord MULGRAVE is mentioned for
that service.

The late Overland Dispatch from India, brought
accounts in decided contradklion t(4 the reports
in the French Papers, of the renewal of hostilities
between the Eng and the Mahrattas ; each
Government appears sedulous to perpetuate the
good understanding so happily subsisting, and the
Court of Pgonah has recently &iven several

JP

LORD FITZW4LIAM, aad Mr. FOX.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,

." AT this extraordinary crisis, when the vital
-Interests of the
,Country must neces,aply, so mud',
del. nd on the Public Virtues or Vices of leading
Men, 'the forma. appear more prominent, and th-e
lam,. ..more glaring, than in ordinary times of
trauquillity and repose. With those engaged in
-the hustle of Public Life, traits of- Charadter 'and
conduct of exalted Individuals may frequently
csc:ipe notice, which attrad the attention and, ob.
servation of those,. who, like myseif, live in re-
and who, unconnected with Public Men,
disclaiMall bias, but that which strong opinions,
on auot,c Measures, and,- Public. Condua cannot.
fail to excite. •

I*zrhaps, Sir, it .may be considered as almost
belonging to our nature, to be more dis,.)psed to
`deteit and to express our reprobation of Mikon-
duit, than to discover and applaud Merit :,avid to
indulge this, disposition still more towards !Pub-
lic than Private ChilraCters. We shall generally
find, that our expressions of. admiration are les's
warm towards Men, .whose eflbrts are 'diretted to
save the Country, than. those..of resentment and
detestation towards' an opposite description of
PersOns, who seem, by their conduit, to aim
'at its ruin. This is unjust towards the former :
but it is a piece of injustice, which, while I con-
demn, I cannot disown that I find ,myself guilty
of, in common with others.
These observations, Sir, have WI suggested
from finding, through the channel of your Paper,
which comes to -me daily, a diameter ap.
Fearing on the Public- Stage, of whom,, for the
last three years; we.have heird but little, and of
whom perhaps it might have been as well for the
Country if we had Leard,no more. ' I mean Mr.
Fix. I observe, that he has chosen, the 'Whig
Club as the goal- from whence 'he should start_ in
7ieviPolici'cal Career, or rather from whence
he should run his. old beaten course 'of unvarying
opposition to any existing Governm'ent. \\se
there find him modestly stating to his chosen asso-
ciates:, his intention of crying once more, on a
great impending Question, whafirnpreiAon might
be made on a British House of .Commons l. and as
tnodest/y intimating,- that unless his efforts should
prove more.successful on that occasion than they
had on former ones, he was apprehensive in
future they' might be of.little use to- his Country.
An unbiassed Speetator, like myself, might,
perhaps, without impropriety., ask Mr.. Fox :
What, Sir, can be your claim, on what grounds
do you rest your pretensions, to any siirt of con-
fidence- from the 'Representatives of the People,
or from the People themselves ? Can you be so
sanguine as. to hope, that a temporary retreat
from the Public Stage, nay even that 'Time itself,
. cane ever efface from' the reeollthion of your
Countrymen, any part of the Public conduit of
the great' English Champion of the 'French Revo-
lution ? Can we so.soort forget,.thai, after hay.
ing openly supported at the commencement 'of it,
the ridiculous and execrable doctrines of Liberty
and Equality, of the right of cashiering Kings,
the Sovereignty of the People, &c. ; after havp ig,
throughout this arduous struggle,' Opposed every
single measure, brought, forward by .a Wise- and
vigilant Government, for the preservation of all
that was dear and valuable to us as Men and as
Englishmen—you quittedyour post, you desert.
ea' your duty, in a moment of unexampled diffi.
culty and danger? If at a crisis of danger and
difficulty you have again come forward, does your
return betray less cowardice than your re-
treat ? Can you expect}. the Public or even your
own Friends, to' believe that you would again
have had the courage' to face Mr. PITT, as Mi.
nitter, in the House. of Commons, which had been
the field of so much easy triumph to him, and of-
such 'signal and repeated `disgrace and defeat to
yOurself ? Till, his resignation was known; .not a
whisper,,l believe, was heard, of your inten.
lion to quit your hiding place: how then can
I account for your sudden, alertness, but from
your courageously cherishing the hope, that you,
may have-a chance of ,better success, in coping
with a new, and partly an untried, Administra.
tion ? Perhaps the result may be, andiher retreat
to St. Ann's-hill." • •

It might, Mr. Editor, be a curious specula-
tion to conjeaure, what sort of ground this Gen-
tleman proposes to take on.the great day, when
Mr. GREY is to make his Motion on the State of
the Nation : a day; to which the-former, no
doubt, looks forward with the presumptuous
hope of making some impression, by,empty.-de-
clarnation; on an Assembly which brawl him;
and the result of which 'his new Political Adver-
sary, who is knouts by it a/so, probably atitici,..
pates without apprehension, or even anxiety. A
1171 an, aCling solely from. a high sense of Public ,
fluty, can fear nothing-; and, in truth, 'on such
a Question as this, of all others, the new
ster can have nothineto fear. But, whatever
course Mr.. Fox may think proper to pursue,-
some ,dilemma must present itself to him. Should
the view which he may take of Affairs be retro.
speaive,, every term of asperity, or coridemna;
tion, which he may apply to those Measures,
which have baffled the desperate attempts-of our
Foreiiti o 1 Domestic Enemies, Must-be a dagger
plated in the heart of his new. Confederate, Earl
ITZWILLIAM. If BONArAItTE should be, 'as
probably he will be,. the theme.of bis_panegyric,
at the same instant, perhaps, in the House of
Lords, Earl FitzwILLIAM may be deprecating
all idea of TrCaty with an. Usurper, and express-
ing- anxiety for the Restoration of Lot/ Is XVIII.
to the Throne of his Ancestors. If he should
chase to take a prospective view, .and, to avoid
the embarrassment of reprobating what is past,
shOuld prefei the more useful task of condemning,
by anticipation, what is to come, where, amongst
hiS warmest Advocates, would he find one man
of honour, who. would not shrink from the fla-