The Sun.
London, England, 1818-10-08 00:00:00

AllVlC.Samageir • boar

F(EDERA A&RICANA.

[N t. Vl.]

have now finished my extracts from the work
of January 1807, which, as the Case then stood,
•Wili be :Admitted by pions minds to have main-
tainvd the opinion avowed in it by arguments of
no trivial weight.
If the singul,a calamities of the age were penal
visitations of Divine Providence, the reasons given
for regarding the Slave Trade as the chiefaniong
the offences by which the chastisement was 'lto-
yoked, were such as it s: erns difficult to resist.—
It would be hardly possible at least to imagine
reasons of greater force, by which in any case the
In:miles! at ions of •Di vine displeasure can, wi; hoist
express Revelation, he referred to any particular

cause.
But tweee years have since elapsed, and many
most important events have intervenetk reversing
in most respects the state of the civilised world.
The supposed provocation has by several nations
been discontinued. The calamities which were
regarded as penal have in general ceased. If the
-opinion, therefore, was groundless, it haS pto-
bably becordisetedited by events : if just, we may
expect to find that it has rather been confirmed.—
An inquiry, which of these has been the result,
may be curious even to the sceptical ; and to those
who devoutly regard the operations of Providence,
can hardly fail to he deeply interesting..
Let us advert first to the case of Great Britain ;
the country which, till March 1807, was the most
deeply culpable, and to which the arguments were
chiefly addressed. Their Author's expectation was,
that if she did tint-desist from the Slave Trade,
the extreme difficulties and dangers, in which she
was then involved, would terminate in her final
destruction ; but that if she adopted an imme-
diate reformation, they would terminate in safety
and peace.
The latter was happily her choice. In less
titan three months after the publication of that
work, the Slave' Trade was totally abolished by
Act of Parliament. The reformation was, in a
religious view, the 'more satisfactory, because it
was adopted with an unanimity such as bas rarely,
if ever, accompanied any measure of public im-
portance, both in the legislative bodies and among
the British people at large. No act could bemore
entirely national. Nor was its Moral and peni-
tential principle concealed beneath a plea of ex-
pediency, as its the recital of the Act of the pre-
ceding year, for prohibiting the Trade to Foreign
Colonies; but was avowed in the law itself, by
reference to Parliamentary Resolutions, which
condemned the Trade as repugnant to Justice and
Humanity. The measure, therefore, was in all
points well calculated to appease the righteous
indignation and propitiate the favour of Heaven.
It was a genuine act of national contrition and re-
pentance, such as the world in modern, times had
rarely, if ever before, 'witnessed. A mighty peo-
ple fell down in their collective dignity before the
Throne of God, confessing, by the voice of their
Legislature, the injustice and cruelty they had
long been in the habit of perpetrating against the
helpless, unresisting natives of, a foreign land, and
solemnly binding themselves to renoance for ever.
the guilty practice. It was all that they had power
to do ; except that which has been since sedu-
lously attempted, the promoting the same refor-
mation in other countries ; and except the pro-
tection and relief, by all sate and prudent means,
of those oppressed and degraded fellow-creatures
who are retained in our Colonies in a cruel bond-
age, imposed on them or their ancestors by means
of that iniquitous trade. But this -also was at the
saute period sincerely intended, and attempted,
both by the British Government and Legislature ;
though hitherto unhappily without suciess. The
reformation, therefore, of 1807 was not wilfully

defective.
If, after such an expiation of her offences,
England had fallen a victim to the scourge with
which she was chastised, the hypothesis in ques-
tion would have been materially shaken. If other
nations which continued obdurate in regard to
the Slave Trade had been spared, arid had
emerged from the common calamities with feli-
city and glory, an opinion which ascribed their
past chastisements to that offence would have
lost still inure of its probability. But if the
events which have actually ensued have been di-
rectly opposite to these.; if Great Britain has
been delivered from the most imminent dangers,
and raised to Ow highest pinnacle of glory ; and
if the obdurate nations have, on the contrary,
been visited with more severe calamities ; still
mote, if all ;he favourable circumstances which
then distinguished their lot front that of England
have been since strangely reversed, to their na-
tional degradation and loSs, but to her exaltation ;
then the opinion must be admitted to stand on
much broader ground than when it was first ad-
vanced, and to have still stronger claims on our
most serious attention. -
On which side the progress of events has tes-
tified, a few facts and dates will sheer.
In the Spring of 1807, the political prospects
of England lad gathered nearly their deepest
blackness. The gloom of the preceding year,
consequent on the battle of Austetlitz, and the
prostration of the Continent which followed, had
been enough to sink the spirits, and even it is
thought to terminate the life of a British Minis-
ter of no ordinary firmness. Prussia, however,
remained still unconquered and entire ; and she
had in Russia one great power willing to sustain
her in defensive efforts, if the insatiable ambition
and perfidy of France should attempt new usur-
pations in the North. But this last hope of Eu-
rope seemed to be lost in the battle of Jena, and
t-he overwhelming disasters that ensued ; and
though at the period of this review, the latter end
of March 1807, a faint expiring ray of hope still
glimmered on the Vistula, where Russia bravely for
a while suspended the fate of her confederate, it
was soon obscured at Friedland, and at Tilsit to-
tally extinguished.
Front that moment, France bad not an enemy
on the Continent ; nor England an Ally. That
was worse, the irresistible power of Napoleon,
and the terror of his name, had engaged nearly
the whole of Europe in a combination against our
commerce, the success of which %rook] have been
lulu to our finances and to our domestic peace.—

To crown ail, the only nation on earth' a',
once in a condition to despise his enmity, and to
frustrate that deadly blow at our resources, scent-
ed rather bent on making it effectual ; demanding
from us a surrender of what we deemed the neces-
sary means of resistance.; and denouncing, as
he alternative, a new and impoverishing war.—

To these complicated dangers from without, were
added internal dangers arid difficulties not less
alarming : public discontents , furious party ani-
mosities, unprecedented burthens, and enormous
tvar establishments, which, though essential to
our security against invasion, could no longer be
recruited and upheld by ordinary means. Ever►
our wooden walls were then, though the fact is
little known, in some danger -of decay 5 and our
brave defenders, titval and militaty, with-out a
hostile penant to exercise their valour- at sea, or a
field of combat on shore,, were likely to become
weary of a tedious war, in which no laurels could
be won, and wherein their patience only, not
their courage, could be tried. In a view to our
paper circulation, to Ireland, and other subjects
of alarm, this .enumeration might be enlarged,
were it not my wi,l3 tq avoid all controverted
ground.

We are too apt to forget, at the expence of pru-
dence, as well as of gratitude to Divine Providence,
the number and magnitude of the petits which
we have escaped, when the danger exists no
more. It may be useful to Englishmen there-
fore to look back with particularity on the very
alarming state of their country at the epoch to
which 1 refer.

Bait how happily, bow gloriously, and how won-
derfully has thiS state been reversed !
I have already noticed the striking coinci-
dence, in point of time, of the actual cessation of
our Slave Trade, with the unexpected light for
England anrEurope that suddenly sprang up in
Spain, the hostile country most completely de-
voted to France, and identified with her in its
policy.*

" Via prima salutis
Graia pandetur ab urbe."
.t was there, that the tide first turned against the
military and revolutionary fortunes of Buona-
parte. It is from this point that we may date the
reflux of popular feeling, which flowed hack to
the North, till the democratic energies of Europe,
combined with patriotic and military ardour,
checked there the torrent of the Usurper's con-
guests, and rose into a flood for his destruction.
But what is still more obvious, the Revolution in
Spain opened to
.England a field. of military glory
and success, which reconciled the country to per-
severance in the war, and led to final victory and
triumph. There we exchanged a heartless defen-
sive war, and the terrors of invasion, fur an ani-
mating contest, in which the heart of the country
accompanied its arms. There the modern Car-
thage, as Britain was contemptuously called, sent
forth a lianniba'l, who found many a Trebia and
Thrasymene, but neither a Capita nor a Beneven-
turn ; and who, after the Cannte of Waterloo,
knew how to use his fortune.
If military renown bad been the only fruit of
this revolution in the war, the favour of Divine
Providence towards England in it would still have
been gfeat ; for national glory is national strength.
But the crown of all was that blessing, of
which at the time of our great moral reformation
we had reason to despair, A. SAFE AND HONOWI-
- PEACE.

What friend of this country amongst us was,
twelve years ago, sanguine enough :o think such
a consummation even possible ! What British
Minister could then promise himself to regain
even the terms of the last dangerous and short-
lived peace ; or to sheath the sword on any terms
that could afford even the prospect of a brief tran-
quillity I '[be man who had talked of expecting
that we should be able to compel France to re-
store Holland or Belgium, or Italy, or even to
unseat the Corsican dynasty in Spain or West-
phalia, would have been laughed at as a dri-
veller, or railed at ,as en advocate for intermin-
able war. The hope of a counter-revolution,
favourable to the repose of Europe, in France
itself, would have been thought not less irra-

tional.
Who then can sufficiently admire the ways of
Providence, in rewarding our penitence and re-
formation with such a peace as we have since hap-
pily attained ; a peace made, not with a perfidious
Usurper, but a just and legitimate Sovereign,
disposed like ourselves to respect the faith of trea-
ties, and the rights of independent nations ? That
the treaty was obtained by a triumphant British
army at the gates of the French capital, is,
though not the most valuable, one of the very
striking circumstances of the case ; because a
" march to Paris" had been a sarcastical by-word
with the enemies of the war, even- when it wore
the most promising aspect for Great Britain and
her Allies ; but this -supposed impossibility has
been since twice performed. I would leave it un-
noticed it our triumph had not been gained over
treason and usurpation, and tyranny ; not over
the legitimate throne of France, or the willing
hostility of her people. • But surely nothing can
mat k more strongly bow diametrically opposite
the event of the awful contest was to all llama',
calculation, as well as to the boasts of our arro-
gant and formidable enemy. He threatened to
terminate the war at the bead of his legions in
LONDON ; but casting away his truncheon, as
well us his ill-gotten sceptre, and yielding him-
self up as a prisoner, he left us to end it at I'a•-
ats 1. Such were the contrasted fortunes of the

* That the dangers of the country did not thus apparently
subside Or diminish immediately after we made our peace
with [leaven by the Abolition Act, does not :it all impeach
these views. The practical reformation was not in its effect
immediate. Tin the Ist of March, IWOt3, the poor injured
African exiles were importable by law into our colonies, to
be placed in perpetwal slavery there, and even later in special
cases; and it is believed that some of these special eases oc-
curred as late as the month of May. It was in that mouth
that the revolutionary- movements be; Spain; and sexy
early in June, Spanish Deputies arrived here to solicit the
support of this country. I will not inquire Ns bet her the tune
we gave for winding up a system of rapine and murder, ..sit
li-
out loss to the merchants engaged in it, NV excucable. The
Government of the day acted on the purest principles; and
did all, perhaps, that could, under the circumstances, he
safely accomplisited. But if the happy change ill our 'ra-
tional prospects was nearly coeval with the actual cessation
of the crime, it is as much as the argument call be thought
at all to require. Indeed, it is by nu means necessary to the
belief of a providential interposition, either of punishment or
mercy, that it should immediately follow the weird cause
which we sum:e to trace induced it.

nation that (TT and "atetyrart Who reiiored,
the Shave Trade I.
A still more impressive fact yet remains-1
mean l'untende honouratte which this grand of-
fender against the African race was 'Condemned
by Providence to make during his restoration
when repudiating his own Decree of 180'2, and
his calumnies against England, as well as his
matchless wickedness in St. Domingo, he pro-
claimed the Abolition of the Slave Trade, as his
only expedient to reconcile the British people to
hi, second usurpation. The gross hypocrisy ag-
gravated his guilt, and added, if 'possible, to the
approaching justice of his fate ; but this inci-
dent belongs rattier to the case of France than of
England. [To be continued.]

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

ATTEMPT TO IMPOSE UPON A ;JOURNAL BY FALSE
INTELLIGENCE.
Be:bre Mr. Alderman mom', the presiding Alagiztrate,
GUILDHALL.—A Mr. Hicks said, he appeared
On the behalf of the Proprietors of The English-
man Sunday Newspaper, to 'apply for a warrant
against a Mr. Thomas Acton, for a fraud com-
mitted by him on them on Saturday, September
the 26th. He, however, saw that Gentleman pre-
Sent, and, wiih the Alderman's permission, he
would state the case. On the day he mentioned,
the defendant bad furnished the complainants with
a report of a case, as they at the time believed
to have occurred at Boat-street -Police Office,
headed, " A Son of Misfortune," describing
the distresses of a Mr. Chanter and his .fa-
mily," and it appeared in The Englishman
on Sunday, under the head of Police, Bow-
street. It was copied into all the Daily Journal's
of Monday, and amongst them into The Times, and
several sums of money were sent to the Proprie-
tors of that Paper for the supposed distressed fa-
mily. . On account of his (Mr. Hicks's) connexion
with The Times, he was sent to investigate into
the case. He was informed at the office of The
Englishman, that the article was furnished to them
by th, defendant, fur which he charged them
15s. Gd. He had a conversation with the de-
fendant, and be acknowledged that he had st fur,
nished it. Ile bad made inquiry as to the truth
of the statement, and was able to make oath that
it was untrue from beginning to end, and that no
such case had occurred at Bow-street Police-
afii c e..-
Mr.'Payne, Clerk to the Alderman—" The de-
fendatit.was not paid for it."
Mr. Hicks—" No, but he delivered his bill, and
afterwards called for the amount, which was re-
fused, on account of the fraud being discovered."
Mr. Acton, in his defence, said, he felt him-
self in a very awkward situation. He had been
for two years in the habit of giving articles'of
police to different Newspapers, and this was the
,first time they had ever been complained of. That
he. had been imposed on he could not doubt. On
Thursday week he met a person in the Strand, who
was in the habit of attending Police Offices for his
amusement, and it was %veil known that many per-
sons did so; for instance, there were 40 persons then
in the Office who had no business to transact
there. He did not know the name of the person
he met ; he said, " How do you do ?" and asked
him if he wanted a good story, as there had just
been a most distressing case at Bow-street Office:
He told him he would be much obliged to him for
it, and they went to the Crown public-house, in
Little Russell-street, Covent-garden, where his
informant related the story, and he took notes of
it, anti afterwards wrote out the account which
appeared first in The Englishman, and another
Weekly Paper. - Ever since the discovery of its
being an imposition, be had done every thing in
his power to find the person who had imposed on
him, without effect. • He well knew, if the pre-
sent case went out to the public, and he bad no
doubt but it would, be should be ruined for
ever. The case of Oldershaw and his distressed
family he had furnished the Newspapers with ;
anti it was of use to them, as it caused many
persons to subscribe for their relief. When lie
heard of the case complained of, he thought, by
giving it publicity, it would have the same effect
un the humane and generous, and that be would
have the consolation of knowing that he was the
humble instrument of relieving a fellow-creature.
He had been imposed upon, but he was not inten-
tionally guilty of the fraud. His character had
stood unimpeached until the present moment, hut
when the statement of the proceedings of that day
were published it was lost for ever, and he de-
prived of a livelihood, which also supported an
aged person. Under these considerations, it was
of little consequence to him whether he was or
was not convicted of the charge against him. He
would, -however, ask any man of common under-
standing, if lie ga(e the article to The Englishman
with a guilty intention, would he have furnished
another Weekly Paper with it from which he had
a settled salary 1 There appeared to be a combi-
nation against him for the purpose of ruining
him ; for another kind friend gave him a case on
Saturday last, as °mining at that Office, which
he gave to a Weekly Paper on Sunday, and was
copied into the Daily Papers of Monday, under
the head of " Police, Guildhall, Elopement Extra-
ordinary," which he understood was contradicted.
Mr. Payne—" No such case occurred here on
Saturday, as the business of this Office was dune
at the Mansion-house on that day."
Alderman Thorp—" It is very unfortunate,
Mr. Acton, that you have not been able to find
your informant."
The Defendant—" It certainly is, Sir ; hut if
he has any spirit of generosity in hint, on hearing
what has passed this day, be will come forward,"
Mr. Hicks—" I believe the statement of Mr.
Acton 'to be true,' although it is not supported by
evidence; and if he will undertake to put into the
newspapers of to-morrow, what has passed here
this day, I will, in the name of the Proprietors of
the PaperS I am connected with, withdraw the
charge."
Mr. Acton—" I can have no objection, but I
cannot insure its being published in all the Pa-
pers."
Alderman Thorp—" 1 consider it highly proper
that the proceedings of Offices, situated as this is,
should be published, as it tends to correct vice,
by exposing it. The great misfortune'as to the
case complained of is, that when a true case of
[
actual distress is published, the public will hot

1 of)
beliefe it, and the rlotiira 'of inisforitine
i"." ri
%%idiotic relief. I ain of opinion arca d Plitili\'i e
course has been taken to render justice to t"
parties concerned."
Mr. Kicks and Mr. Acton then left the Ogee to

get her.

EXTENSIVE ROBBERY. ppU
BOW-STREET.--.-011 Tuesday afternoon'
laf
man of genteel appearance, of the naive °I; -tbi
Louis Marie Iclerat, calling him-self an officer 'll 1)
French service, was brotrgbt to the 015c,eldni
Bishop and Rutliven. The Officer charge° ""ei
with robbing Lieut.:General Stafford Lightburfloo
of Bank of England notes and HarnmersieYl
of altb°o;
Bankers' cirentir notes, to the amount
and froth whose statement, before
srs, Esc. the Sitting Magistrate, it oppeareoo
a short time-since, the General left Einglant!'.Whea
an intention of proceeding to Greece, a"
►r►tlh to
he left he was .possessed Of 6001. to travel
Bank of England notes, and Haminersleyerc"n"tie
far notes, which are knotvn all over the ;`l),:,osi
cent, and which are payable at every
town where there is a Banker, anuannting eu 'O,
and while he was out, he only chittigea'°"oe,,,Dc
note, which was at Lafayette's“hellaoher, 1"s „',0,1
and sob') after that the General 1-eceived
munication front England-; respecting sdnie td
l'et"o,
important business, Which obliged him
home, instead of proceeding on his jotirte./404
Greece. On his arrival at Calais, be, on/P.901
on board the Desiree French packet-boat, i°
ver ; and soon after he got on board the
boat,
was the last time he saw his pocket-)A
which contained the above notes; •.1e 1,100
taken his pocket-book out, in order
.tost, et:
a Police Officer his passport. He rcc%ei
ell the prisoner, and noticed his cone
teOloi
being very dark , and he considered hint tt,
of
a native of South America. He and the r,s,,,ei
the passengers wet e landed on the beach at
Yt;ot
on the night of the I.4ill'Of September last' °' ipso
nine o'clock, when he found the prisoner 004,
to his person, who asked the prosecutor t°
him to carry a map of Lisle in his hand, to
he was taking to the Custoni-house to Plgotel
duty for. The prosecutor declined his aisis—coo
and at the same instant put his baud to 04 0,0 k;
pocket, and missed his pocket-book ; '1:1;1„ie
he felt any thing at his pocket to cause 0-- by
Put his band to it or not, or whether it W 6,5,0101
chance, he could not tell: He instantly COfroi.
Iticated the discovery to the Custom-hoo6e„' prh
who was attending him. He recolltetd
soner then disappeared; hut he hail no slisP.ibefF
of his being the robber. The pritiseen°r 1)0'
made all
rpossible exertion in hailing tire boa
which lauded him, but it being prr"44 hue
1'1';
considerable difficulty in making the PT)
derstand him, as they had put off to ontb"a
`se—b„ereitt-,'
of the beach.; the boat was at lene foam
but no trace of the pocket-book could be, 0000
Information of the robbery ,aas.given
office, and Bishop and Rothve„ have be 0-1
themselves since to discover the robber. site
property. Two of the stolen 501, ii°ll
Inelse"ilesll‘
the 201. circular notes, have been
ode
payment at Hammersleys' Bank, Pi 111.111!
stopped, but the parties presenting theicil
trivet' to make their escape. Ott Toered,,~tr;
titer of the 201. circular notes was Pri9gcj'elt
then, by a man whom Bishop and Rotik%Pooe
to a house in Beaumont-street, Mat y-lc—ttleo-tbd
turned out he was merely employed to itil‘e -bat 1;,-1
to Hauimersleys' Bank to get change;3 coe',i
officers, by exertion and perseverance, 5:010r*
in discovering the prisoner with the Pr°'ettY,
pocket-book on him, and the stolen
the amount of 3901, which, togetber,°:, s
which had been stopped pa)ment, leo"iiveia
little deficiency of whit Origi""..; Ole Prf,
pocket-book. The officers, on searclitnv
sorter, found pawnbrokers' duplicate ""t be Pg,
a seal and a ring, which are snpo°sili,"ut ICI.II
property Of young man, of the ni'3111'0(),Itl
man, with whom the prisoner travelleilo;ijoerwo
whom he afterwards pot up at Li 54as briAr,il
Hotel, Leicester-square, where his box ► foie
open and robbed. A passpott was '4lsl-1, Wit
upon hint, which he bad obtained fl um r direo
yds d'Osmond, the French Ainbass"/►' totp,
days after his arrival in London, Whi`
have enabled him to leave at any t'llle;.e 010
might have passed the notes ally be.oott,o,
,Cleosicariititieesn thtivailtsfel (llft
atsli
naval
jo the Pi%
nf Brest. He said his tamilyailieetri':rin°i:teesl)'llllll'l.''
Ehe prisoner was committed for furtjg
,ation.

table
lbolernbt aeteiitin
UNION-MALL.—Rex v. Cowcii.----.--/25 seC,o4'
EXCISE INFOILMATIOS.,rh. 0,0 9,
int' tai dlearrg4e2
wGaeyo
0.
flIbli: i :loci's: 3:tt,a'::: :le.:
against Mr. Jobm Cowell, a brewer "cealbc-ej.,
ilaiviiniieleil;ototiliri,tuilm:e;
ttabi3)ntlyo.leioato:).:vit:iitht:iiseilt:troaliisonligil)l.4le.eti
doshc,arntiltbaieti.,k(el
incurred
e, cidia) serkec,:ti
joe able et;riltbi,
obi
P.
f eicise'to.
leered to thealcilliallusle'ayonfe,thetiAPeCrtVitSi°Orde°r4licoiCtlilitilli.
brewer to mark his carsel:sinoirfillabeiv:lbietielirbsciailiji°::l6('
capital Roman letter T, of 'the Iligevery c;06;
inches, under the penalty of 506. I°l. Aff.tsi'
on which such mark shall not be Puit:,,' ,5 in ,-Or'i
added, that from the numerous de3"ric 010 deo,
'less which had existed between Itiolse lot hi1..0110,
Cowell, he was able to bear testintoltioosiio;:
net al attention to the taus and regtl,l.o the °lice,
Excise. He had reason to belie" 11:11,110%:,e tbd;
Sion complained of proceeded fron)i,),fi.oudin; Itif
rraae:t('l‘lielleittrrot.i etiche.
Cowell
leave
efsltrihoti tell:, eitae
itilt:ig'o'eeYittliiitig' touicts
ifl.litii
ii::(ce"itilloa,l)%ltt'cyoil:el'f sit;l9:r!tiel :
duty to bring the subject before Ito poi .
Ite ' ittlic
Co", - 1
egg ,
to their discretion. the chafe
o
00e to'
tamed in the information. feW lilt lI,Ie f,
The Magistrates consulled itir P the-_, r 0 o_
andwas iitiocworli'ssletcloinlettllcice I:tirttisollfillittiielilit:c: Sii/11:51:1:1;4111;1" fl
Excise to pple•ens,slitfyor the 1011 rel)litilletal°:ty
to a determination to fine the
lutie Costs. ',7,' zli,
of 12/. 106.>,_ ,
~...e.--;0:0716•4 f,'A, '
-- - - fri a 4„ ~l,
, `. I et; 'I, 0/'
LONDON: Printed I, '3.11. C,ItIS'IA oils', t iorig-
th."")ild-",et, Queen-sein:tre; an'l creet' 400,
SCRIPPS, of No. 7, South IN;o11011:';-,-0,ae
(Mice, No. 11-2, Strand ; where Ad' '(1. /
• Letters) ece. Oust-paid) must ilt% atidr