The Sun.
London, England, 1804-08-28 00:00:00

THE PRESENT CONTEST.

IT might be expeaed. that the dreadful copse.
quences which attended the attempt to carry. the.
Revolutionary Principle's of France into pratlice,
would have prevented any of our Public Journals,
at this time, from contributing their efforts in arty.
respeft to lessen the horror whichthose Principles
must excite. Even the liberal
.Friends' of a Re.
public, who detest the excesses of Jaeobinism, might
be expefted to look with more complacency towards
a Monarchical form of Government, since Repub.
lican Principles tend to jacohinism, and to the
establishment of a Military Despotism. It might
indeed be expelled, that if our Journalisis were not
cyred of their, errors, they would have. too much
common sense to-insult the feelings, of Britons, by
attempting to damp the spirit of their Country at
the most critical period of its history ! Yet we
find that there are degenerate Englishmen who take
every opportunity of discouraging the exertions Of
their Country to save itself from the menaced yen,
geaoce of its most deadly Foe, and to animate that
Foe in his endeavours to destroy us : yet they ,
are only " afraid that they shall be accused of //mi.
evirei!" For our parts we conceive, that instead of
being accused of it:civil/sr, the soft and tender term
which they have borrowed from their favonrite.Po.
liticians, the French Revolutionists, these Writers
deserve , to be stigmatized with every opprobrium
that charasfleriZes• the enemies of their Country.—
The Writers we allude to are constantly trying, by
all possible means, to weaken the National Defence,
or to bring it into ridicule. Sometimes they la-
bour to &eft thcir purpose .by an appearance of
argument, but more frequently by tareorous abuse,
contemptible ribaldry, 'and sneering impertinence.
Having done their utmost to bring derision upon
the Volunteers, they now endeavour to throw ridi.
tole upon the Meetings for the purpose of arranging
methods for the conveyance of our Troops to any
point of attack at which their services may be sod-
denly required. These Writers tell us, that such
Meetings should not be. voluntary, but should have
resulted from the positive orders of Government.
if Government had issued orders for that purpose,
the same Writers would doubtless have exerted
their talents, with the utmost vehemence, against
the severity of Goverornimr, as well as its impolicy,
in neat leaving th,e matter to the spontaneous offers
of a pateiotic People, who have shevin so much
attachment to their Country, by honourably corn.
ing forward with their voluntary services in a mi-
litary cliarataer. , Such Writers obviously na upon
a t7etermined, system of hostili:y to Government,
and always will do so, till their Own friends get
into power, Can they titbit: that the People
will place airy eenfeleece in then,? Can they
think that they will excite any thing but con.
terry, end ahhortence ? But these Writers, on
the sane" day in which they attempt to depreciate
and frustrate all the measure" of N.'itional Defence,
tell us that the preparations of the,Eeeory, o' if not
complete, according to a pre.arranged system, ap.
bear gigantic and pro:it/able." MArc they then
performieg an ad of public dirty iii attempting to
weaken and degrade our efforts to resist these gi.
'..e.a;ftic anti formidable preparations ? But what rea.'
lion have they to insinuate that the Enemy's prepara.
titers. are pot complett, according to a pre.airenged
'
plan ? Ifal not the Enemy had time enough to arrange
Isis hostile system ? I las he not, in fait, laboured in.
cessantly to arrange his system in the most complete
and formidable' order ? Do these Writers wish to
put us off our guard, by inducing us to believe that
we shall be attacked with numbers withaut system,
and that Noce we may easily throw our Invaders
into coast, ion ?---4"510,. these degenerate men, who
do not de:;teve the name of Britons, tell us that our
arvernmeot is weak and inefficient, and more than
insinuate that we should become an easy prey to an
prienty used to vielory, and eager fut. plunder. But
such is the inconsistency end folly of the
.Writers
alluded to, that while they urge, the necessity of an
aCtive conitont on the part of Government to carry
into effeEt measures fir conveying our TroOPs' at a
time of emergency, they lay, that the zeal of the
People to furnish the means would have existed just
as much, without the Meetings. Where then was
the necessity for interposing the commands of Go.
ve,rnment, when the voluntary zeal of the People
would supply alt that Givertonent could require ?
How was this zeal to be manifested, unless such
Meetings were to he held, in brdcr to bring the
Friends of their Country together, and to arrange
their voluntary offers into the form of an effeCtual
tein It is evident chat these Writers, whose
eTposition to Government is uniform, whatever
may be its measures, are blinded by their malice, and
,refute themselves by their absurd inconsistencies,
BLit they are blind also to their own interests; for
if, by unnerving the arm of their Country, they
could strengthen that of the Enemy, they would

here little chance of escaping in the general wrck,
whaever they, might expeff from the graitude"
of teat' Enemy—not for their inc;virscs,, but for
theirpersevering promulgation of those sentiornts
whicl have a tendency to betray the Land that save
them. birth to its most deadly Foes—whose sue.
cess would be followed by massacre, desolation,
and irretrievable ruin.
We than resume this subjea; in order to detea
the malice and expose the folly of Writers who digs.
graces the British Press, and convert it into an in-
strument of hostility to their Country.

MAILS.

DUI. ARRIVID.
Hamburg h t

PRICE OF STOCKS,
THIS DAY AT ?WILMA oictocn.
Consols - - 57 a Red. Ann. • 57a ( Omn. 6i

THE SUN.

110.1.1A1 21/15 DICER/ YALSUM AUDZA.T ?

LONDON,

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 180 .

BONAPARTE is raid to have been at Etaples on
the 23d instant, where a considerable' Force is col.
Teed, and a number of Gun.bnats and other craft•
There is little doubt that the attempt at Invasion
will be made immediately.
The Blonde Privateer has been captured, and car.
tied into Cork, by the Loire Frigate, commanded by
Captain MAITLANo, after a running fight of near
twenty hours. This is the Privateer that captured
the WA/trent, and which has done to our trade:a
prodigious deal of mischief in the course of the pre.
sent War,—The particulars %%ill appear in this
evening's Gazette.

IT appears by the private Letters which were
brought.. by the last Hambargh Mail, that uNA.
PARTE is. adopting the same system of procrasti.
natini policy towards Russia that he did towards
this Country immediately before the commencement
of Hostilities, It is obviously his interest to delay
giving an answer to the Ultimatum delivered by
the Russian Charge' di Alaires, M. D'OtratttL, be.
cause that answer will most probably be The signal for
the commencement of Hostilities, as it is by no
means likely that BONAPARTE will comply with
the demands made by. the Esapeitoa of Rusits..
• Atpresent M. D'Ooaat c. cannot obtain an'answer
to his Note, because there is no ostensible Minister
at Paris whose duty it is to transmit it to BONA.
PARTE ; for TALLEVRAND, whose immediate pro
wince it is, has taken the .opportunity of 11)s
ter's absence, to go .into the Country. 1,.-se
evasive tricks, however, cannot avail long; for it is
generally believcd that the Russian Courier, that
passed through Carlsrulie, on his way to Paris, on
the 9th, catried inslruclions to M. D'Oua R. It to
leave Paris intotetliately, in case no answer, or k.rie
of an uns itistaeinry nature, was given to the Note
%%bleb he ha.l presented. .
'That 80r.:.5? ARTS feels, it impossible to avoid a
Rupture with Russia without abandoning his plans
of aggrandizentent and plunder, r obvious, from
the official paragraphs in die Mairiteur, anti from
the pains which he has suddenly taken to conciliate
the Cabinet of Vienna. instead: of the haughty
language which he would, under other circum-
stances,have held to Austria, in' consegoence of her
still declining to acknowledge his usurped Title, we
find him earnestly negotiating that point, without at
least. any public appearanee of insult and the Writs
which have been thrown out in the Alonittur resped.
ing the Republic of the Seven Islands, art evidently
intended to amuse the Cabinet of Vienna for the
present,. and to excite that degree of,. distrust be-
- tween it and the Cabinet at Petefihurgli, that
will, he hopes, prevent them'from cooperating for
the general deli v.:rance of Europe. -The artifice,
however, is too obvious to succeed but it very
evidently skews that BON:.!!PARTE begins to be sett.
tiitge of the danger of that situation into which his
unprovoked aggressions, his boundless ambition, his
treachery, and his cruelty have brought hits.

T will be seen by our Letters from the Coast of
Kent, that on Sunday afterooon a smart Cannonad.
ing took place between our Blockading Squadron and
the French Flotilla, supported by their Batteries
,at
Boulogne. We have not yet learnt the particulars of
the affair; but one of our Cutters was so damaged
by the fire from the Batteries, that she sunk soon
after. The Crew, it is supposed, were saved.

IT is with the, highest satisfaction that we are
able to congritulate the Public -on : the remo.
val of our apprehensions respeaing the state of
the Harvest. Notwithitanding the gloomy appear-
ances in, so'rne places, the general asped of the
Country in 'this roped 'is very promiling. There
.was a material fall in The Corn Market yesterdaz ;
and we haVe -lit tie doubt that 'the. 'price would have
continued to.dectline, even independently,
,of the llirge
importations 14tely mak fern other Countries.'