The Sun.
London, England, 1808-12-08 00:00:00

FllO.ll A SPAMSH PA P.P. R.

" morns, scalper nocuit differrc paratus."
" The Spanish nation swore to conquer or die
free. Faithful to this oath, the provinces, one and
all, rose in a mass; and . expelled the7tirst armies
sent bythe Tyrant to subject us. The. commence-
ment of the enterprise has been glorlous ; but to in-
sure its being conducted to a happy terrnination, we
must incessantly bear in mind, that upon our energy:
and activity alone depends whether we are to be
happy or miserable—slaves or freemen,. We have
long since impressed upon the nation at large, a doe
sense of the bold but glorious pledge .which we have.
given each other, to resist a Tyrant who holds in
subjection a population triple that of Spain, and who
puts to hazard the lives of all that obey him in the ptio-
secution of his ambitions designs---the indiscriminate
mass of his vile slaves, by an unaccountable singu,
larity of conduct, sacrificing theMselves, in return,
for the robbery and pillage in which his soldiers are
permitted to indulge. We also then said, and we
now repeat it, that both the Chief and the Nation
with whom we contend are soldiers by profession,
expert in the use of arms, and in all the evolutions
of the military art:. In order to• resist them, we re-
' marked, not only that numerous armies .were neces-
sary, but also that all of us,without exception, should
devote. every moment of leisnre to learning the use
of arms; that so we might form a nation of war-;
riors ever ready to defend our properties, which the
Tyrant would subject not only. to the ordinary laws
I of conquest, but likewise to all the rigours of con-
fiscation, as belonging to men whom he deems and
denominates rebels.—We added, that it would be
absurd to expect any other than that fresh and nu-,
-merous armies would conic to replace those- who
were flying before us, panic-struck with the chastise-
ment we had inflicted upon them. Experience,
and an attentive observance of what has, for many.
years, been passing in Europe, prepared us for
this event beyond the possibility of doubt. • Our
predictions have been verified. Our object was
not to dissuade the nation from the most honour-
able
and. heroic -of all undertakings, but on - the
contrary to stimulate them to persevere in it with
increa,ed firmness and ardour; convinced as we
are, that neither France, nor the whole world,
can subjugate us, if our exertions properly cdr-
respond to that noble impulse of magnanimous
feel-
ing which miraculously united the whole nation.—
The Provinces have been deeply impressed with this.
incontestible truth ; the hearts of Spaniards glowed
with the noblest ambition ; they displayed prodigies
of valour : and a general levy was adopted, of sin-
gle men between t 6 and 40 years of age, from
which mass armies • were embodied on a scale
adapted to the. existing funds and other circum-
stances. Our pecuniary resources were not, in the
first instance, adequate to, the pay and subsistanee of
the numerous host of volunteers ; but the •succcurs, '
the friendship, and proteelton of Great Britain
speedily enabled us to supply the wants of the regu-
lar troops already in the field, and to the expected
aid from the Colonies we looked for a supply more
than sufficient for the' army of reserve, which was
to be organized and disciplined without delay, in
order to supper- the former. .This wise plan, the
only basis and prop of a happy issue, .should -never
be lost sight of ; and in order to its being rendered
etfedually operative, now is the time for preparing
even more than the necessary reinforcementa; 'We •

ought to make sure of having a force always equal;
if not .superior, to that of our- enemy. If, by any
chance, this indispensable. resource has in some pro-
vinces been neglected, -not a Moment' ought 'tolbe
lost in making it efficient, however 'great the diffi-
culties that are to be surmounted: All ought to re-
flect that the salvation of the country depends upon '
promptitude and energy, and that those who are
deficient in their duty • will be responsible for the
evils it may suffer through their negligence. To
work then with heart and hand! Away with all de-
lays and impediments I if we are not -ready to sub-
mit our necks to the most infamous -slavery: Let
our young men be disciiilined, and keep theniselves
ready, and resolved to march in a body to whatever
point they are ordered. Whilst some of us are
fighting, let others be qualifying themselves tojoin.
in the battle. Let all of us, without exception, ac-
custom ourselves to the use of arms, and, as a mea-

sure of precaution, fortify ourselves-at every point.
As the town or district which • displays the greatest
zeal in the discharge of this duty, will most entitle
itself to the esteem and gratitude of the country, so,
that- which may- be remiss or negligent, will subject
itself to an indelible stain. Anticipating and reliev-
ing the cares of the Goternment, let us voluntarily
bring into operation the means and resources of our.
security. This line of-conduct is alike enjoined. by
the Circumstances- of our own situation, the natural
impetuosity of our enemies, arid the ferocious di ipo-.
sition of their leader. • Let us be every where pre-
pared to meet and repel Them, and we shall secure
our independence. Fellow-countrymen !—Energy !
--;•Energy.l" •

PEDEsTatANism:---,The following instance of won-
derful exertion in walking, performed by one Thos.
&wager, which took place the beginning of the year
1789, is related by the Reverend John Lodge, in Iris
Sketches towards a Topographical History of the
County of Hereford This man, who Was at
that tine about 50 years of age, five feet four inches
high, and lame, from one leg being considerably
shorter than the other, undertook, for a wager of a 0
pine* to walk four hundred and four miles in six
days-.. The line agreed upon for the display of his
agility was on the turnpike road from. Hereford to
Ludlow, and back again from Ludlow toHeretbrd.
Owing to the unevenness and badness Of the road in
general, and especially to the lofty hill of Dinmore,
which he was obliged to pass at least three times a
day, the odds at starting were a guinea to a shilling
against him, and were still further increased on the
•

triird day by a tall of snow, which made the road ex-.
ceedingly slippery and dirty. He continued his ca-
reer, however, with infinite spirit, and won his war
ger tire hours within the time allowed. It appeared
afterwards, by adding together the superfluous
around he had walked to his lodgings at Hereford,
Ludlow, and elsewhere contiguous to the road, that
instead of four hundred and four, he had actually
travelled' no less than four hundred and tWenty,nine
miles ;" which makeS More .than three miles an hoi.lr
for the whole 139 hours !
Mr. .Mootta's Novel, "-The . we un-
derstand, wiil make its appeararice'in a lcw Liqs.

LATV
1?EFO1 T.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, Drc 7.
BEFORE. LORD ELLENROROUGII, AND A SPECIAL JURY.

THE KING V. ALEX. DAVIiON.

Mr...Mena riF,,iN opened the pleadi ags,and stated
this to be a Criminal Information, filed by his Ma-
jesty's. Attorney-Genet al, against the Defendant,
41extinder Davison, Esq. for a misdemeanour, that
of making ,a false and fraudulent charge upon the
Barrack Department, in violation of his agreement
with General Delancey, Barrack-master-General,
which agreement was entered into between' the
Barrack-master and the Defendant, by letters, the
one written on the aaili of December, 1794, pro-
posing that the Defendant should become the agent
to supply the Mirrack Department with all requi-
sites., on' terms therein specified ; for which he was
to'have two.and a half per cent. for his trouble, by
way-olconrinission, •as a general agent ; which was
to be the whole of his emolument for his trouble in
that business. To Nvi;ich, on the loth of January
'following, the-Defendant assented, in a letter which
he wrote in .answer to that of General Delancey.
Which terms were. proposed, to him on account of
his general knowledge and skill in business, . and
especially business of that sort. That he entered
upon that • business accordingly, and carried it on
for awhile ; but that afterwards, -instead of adhering
to that agreement,. by which he was confined to his
two and a half Per cent as agent in procuring such
articles as the Barrack Department wanted,
.which
was to be the whole of his emolument, he sold se-
veral articles. on . his own account, upon which he
had not only the prafits of a seller, of the goods, but
"charged, in addition to that,. two.and- a. half per
cent. commission upon the whole aatotint. a That
the .articles which he thus supplied .*ere to the
amount of 15,1361.. 9s. 3d., by means ..of sales as
coming from merchants to him, whereas thev• were
-colourable sales set up by. him, in which had
made his own Clerks appear as the merchants; and,
by means of Use .vouchers, got
.such accounts
passed at the Barrack Departmeht. That for this pur-
pose he had set up George Watson, one.of.his own
Clerks, as a merchant, who had supplied him with
goods to the above amount ; that is 15,1361 95..3d,
upon which be . (the Defendant) got,a besdes• .his
profit upon the sale, the sum of 3281. 17s. 3d.
fur his commission.—And that he had carried .on
this species of . fraud, and rendered false accounts in
this manner half-yearly, for:eight. half-years, which
was at last deteCted. This was the substance of the
Information a to which the Defendant had pleaded
not guilty; whereupon issue was joined.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL ' opened the'ease on .the
part of the prosecution ;- 'and observed, that as the
Jury had attended to the comprehensive' opening'
of this case •by his •Isearaed.Friend, they were pos-
sessed of the general nature- of this charge against
the Defendant, Mr. Alexander Davison : the sub-
stance of which waa, that he being employed by
Government to supply the Barrack-Office with arti- •
claa in the Department of an-racks—that was, with
all such goods as that Office should- want, aad that
Mr. Davison was toata as agent, and as agent only,
in that business ; and his emolument, and the-
whole of -his emolument; was-to be two and a half
per cent. upon-all which he should so supply as agent.
He had this two and a half per cent.• upon all
that -he thus procured to be supplied to Govern-
ment, and. this WaS given to Mr. Davison for the
full application of his experience, skill, and dili-
gence; in seeking oat the articles which might be'
wanted from time to' time 'in that department, ;"- in
seeing that they were of the fit quality, and that
the charges upon them. were reasonable. In a word,
this two and a half per cetit:-..COMMiSSI3II was given
to Mr. Davison upon the whole of what he should
procure to the Barra& Department, for the purpose
. of -procuring front Mr. Davison his best energy in
the public service, in which the most material abi-
lity he could produce Was in -his character of a check
upon others; that is,. the persons' of whom lie pur-
chased these articles ; but not that he should
deal With Government on his own account ; that
was purposely excluded:, because that- would de-
feaCthe very spirit of-his-.engagement: He- had;
however departed from that spirit, and had -supplied
theSe articles on his own account, and had even
charged commission for procuring that which was
sold. by himself. Thus Government not only lost
the.security intended to be saved by this engage•
ment with Mr. Davison, of making him a check
uptin the conduct of others, but Mr. Davison had a
dired interest in letting others charge as highly as
possible, because the higher they charged the higher
he might charge as he must not charge
higher than they did ; so that Mr. Davison, by hag-:
ing thus become the seller of articles to GOvern-
ment himself, instead of being a check upon others,.
had an immediate interest in direa opposition to
his duty, ; and accordingly so he acted, for he
had set up his own clerks as merchants, and
had actually in their 'names supplied the Bar-
rack Department with articles of his own, and
charged upon all these articles commission as.
if they had • beeli merchants who had, regularly
supplied them all. These articles, amounting to
the above sum stated in the Information, were
only hi the course of the first' half-year after
the agreement had been departed from ; and his
i. clerk, or apprentice, George Watson, of the age of
about 22, was made the merchant, and he appeared
to have supplied these articles, and the bills of par-
cels were made out in his name, and as such passed
. at the BarraCk Department, because the officers there
thought they were regularly supplied by merchants
with whom Mr. Davison dealt, and therefore he
; was allowed commission on them ; and he • went

through the farce of taking a receipt for this sum of
15,1361. as having, been
.paid by him to G. Watson,

his own servant; and which receipt G. Watson, or
rather a person of the name'of Allen, signed, altho'
not a farthing of mont.‘y passed from Mr. Davison to
George Watson. The whole of this scene was laid
by Mr. Davison at his house of trade in Bedford-
street, where he- carried on, tos a vast extent, the
business of en army clothier ; the leading :win in
which was a.person of the name of Mango Sheddon ;
then Allen ; an 3, 'George Watson. The whole
of this was an absolute W7.tion to cover the frhud of
Mr. Davison, •and to enable him not only to sell
these goods at a profit to hiin,:cll, but also to Wain
his commission of t VO and a half per cent. upon the
whole .amount.- This business was arranged and
metbodised between Da-iison and a Mr. Bower-

ing, who wae, leading manager of his generti
and undetys':l"lose direction this plan of Mah.ing
signing these false vottchers, took effea, Tills Mr.
Bo.cering was the first to stigest to Mr. ,vison,
that it would look extremely odd that Mr. DaviGio-,
in giving his account of goods supplied by birrisL!rt,
should mike Alexander 'Davison debtor to Alexan-
der Davisoc, or Alexander Davison bought
Alexandyr Davison, and therefore this expel cot
was hit upon of making this charge, as if the go:)
had been supplied by this boy, George Watson, Ste.
To add to thiS, and to give every thing the appear-
ance (If regularity, the whole of the goods thus sup-;
plied by Mr. Davison, were sent 'to: the plate of
their destieation by a packer of the name of Lo:Lee, '
which had the appearante of regularity and this
scheme lulled the Offiters of the Barrack Depart-
ment into a false" security, and the whole of -ilia
charge was allowed. ,When he should have proved
these facts, it would be the duty of the Jury to find
the Defendant guilty.
Mr. Thomas Bennie proved that the different tio•
cuments, delivered in ' by Mt. Davison to the Par,'
rack Board, with his natne, had all of them hianaxa'
nature in his own hand-writing. Being reada ttidy
appeared to contain the different items of charge, made,
by Mr. Davison on the Barrack Beard, whteh in
eluded the items afterwards proved to have' heeti
by Mr. Davison himself, through the mediti-n o
'his clerks, Mono Sheddon, John Allen, rind
Watson, and Me'. Lodge, the Packer, Then the
bets, as they were opened, were Substantially
proved by these Witnesses, and also by a Mr. Wth,
James, Clerk of Mr. Lodge; and, in .short', there
was no essential controversy on these faas. The
Letters Of Mr. Davison, as well as his answers to
the Committee of Military Inquiry, were then read.
Mr. DALLAS made an eloquent speech for the
Defendant, which he commenced by observing on
the immense importance of the subjea, involving
every' thing that was dear to his client on this side
the grave. He complained of the prejudices excited
against his Client, by premature publications on the
circumstances of the case---publications which could
not inform, although they might inflame, •the
mind. He:maintained that the most material part
.of this case remained hitherto untold ; which was;
• that there was a new agreement after that of 1795
between General Delancey and Mr. Davison, by
which it was settled that Mr. Davison should, in
cotisequeoce of the great difficulty of procuring the
necessary supplies for the Barrack Department in
the market, supply that der.rtment out of his own
stores ; and that what Mr. aivison had done in that
respea had been by the consent of General
lancet' ; that this superseded the original agree-
ment; and that the partieS afterwards peoceedtad
upon a new footing. That upon' the new agree-;
ment, Mr. Davison was allowed by General De-
laricey to send in goodS to. the'Barrack Department '
out of-his own stores.--That 'haVing- done so, he
might be entilled"to a commission' of two and h
per cent. on' what 'he sold himself, as well as. what
he procured -from the multifarious duties which
• were imposed on hini in this'ease ; or if he. wasuot,
yet if he thought so, that would bean answer to this '
inforination, which went -Open the. intention -Of'e
the party. This defence -fit should prate' by
General Delancey hianselle and other material •
faas, by proceeding to shew the integrity of `'Mr:
' Davison, to whom the public were greatly'
debted for the energy and the integrity with which
he had :transacted so many of their affairs, 'a► al.
thrOugli-whose,hands upwards-sof a million of their
tnoney htd' passed without so much as the' defalcaa
tion of a single shilling. Nor Was, there the loss' or'
a penny to the public in the case investion, but on
'the contrary, a benefit, for -the supplies could not
have been 'had with the necessary promptness in
any other manner. Taking then the case as it really
was, he submitted that the real justice of it vets
with Mr. Davison ; but 'if that was more than the
Jury could 'assent to, yet he submitted that, if the
matter was in doubt, the scale ought' to preponderate
on the side of mercy.
General Delancey was examined by Mr.'G.
SON.— He stated, that he bad been for some tinie
in the Barrack Department; he was appointed to
that office in the year 1793, and continued in if until
November 1804. He stated the manner in whith
the supplies of the barrack' stores were provided
when he came into office. It was condualed by the
War Office, and in some measure by the Ordanee.
With regard to the part which he had himself to
conduct, it had been previously conduced by the
War-Office. The supplies were obtained by t heWar-
Office by persons employed in that °Rice for the
purpose, but he did not know in what manner they
were paid. After he had been some time in the
Office, he found an inconvenience to the public from
that mode of obtaining the supplies in this Depart-
ment. He observed that persons had been employed
from the War-Office, who conceived it to be theird
duty to do no more than to • procure certain articles
for the Barrack Department, without providing for
their conveyance to the pldces of their destination,
and thought they discharged their duty by sending
them by the first convenient public conveyance,
which produced a very great inconvenience to the
public service ; for when he frequently wanted arti-
cles for the purpose, on inquiring for them, they were
still in the warehouses in London ; for these Officers
never took the pains of sending them expeditiously
to the department for which they were destined,—
These were inconveniences which appeared to him
to require a remedy; and a considerable alteration in
the mode of transacting that business.' In con.ie-
quence of which, at the end of the year 1794, .or the
beginning of 1795, he made an agreemeni with the
Defendant, Mr. Davison ; and. he entered into that
agreement with that Gentleman, not in consequence
of any previous acquaintance : he knew nothing of
him in private,' but had frequently seen him in the
Public Offices during the American War, where he
heard him spoken of frequently as a man of great
use in business, who had given satilfation to Go-
vernment in the various concerns he had,
that therefore he was a fit person to be employtd
on account of his knowledge of, public business ;
and upon the respectable character which he had, but
not in consequence of any private,intimacy or ac-
quaintance, ne entered into that agreement with
-him, which was to commence its execution in the be-
ginning of the year. I 795. His own letter, which he
wrote to Mr. D. on the subject, was dated on the
f23th Of December, 1794, and to which he received
• an answer on the 10th of January, 179.5 ; and then
Mr. D. entered open the office to which he was

To a question put to him by Mr.VimSogi whether
Mr. D. charged commission upon, the whole amount
of the F. upplies, as well on those which be supplied
out of his own stores, as on the others--the Gene-
ral said, be, nuclei-stood so, but the =omit would
speak for itself tip: r: that subjed. Being. asked
what manner Mr. D. concluded himself in that re,
Tett, with- reference to the Barrack Department,,
the General answered, that Mr. D. appeared to hun
to have fulfilled his engagement correaly, fairly,
Ind properly. He conceived Mr. D. to. have aded

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