The Statesman.
London, England, 1814-12-07 00:00:00

TR STAT.%

rstic EDITOR or rue STATESMAN;
Ste.,,4•The Navy List, " by mithority", for the
present urontb, exhibits the following Catalogue of
Qificers,,tiorr employed on the Impress Service, vit.
General Rendezvous, Tower-Hill—One Captain, Three Lieu-
tenants.
Bristol-08e Captain, Two Lieutenants.
Cark--One Captain. Two Lieutenants.
Dublin—One Captain. Two Lieutenants.
Falmouth—Duty performed by Olken of the Guardship.
Fowey (Cornwall}—One Lieutenant.
Gosport—One Captain, Three Lieutenants.
Greenock—One Captain, Two Lieutenants. ..- •
Leith—One Captain, Two Lieutenants.
Liverpool—One Captain, Three Lieutenants.
Shields—One Captain, Four Lieutenants.
Now, Sir, reduced as the existing Parliamentary'
Vote for Seamen stands, and there being consequently
immense numbers discharged, I humbly presume if any
man in England can devise a plausible pretext for
keeping up such a List of Officers, with their pro.
portionate number of subordinates, on the above
enormously expensive establishment, he will, at least,.
not lack ingenuity. Ido not sag a reason Wed Igoe
be found.—l am, Sir, your humble servant,
HORATIUS (MINIUM.
linterprize Farm, Surrey, Dec. 4.

no THE EARL 0 livEttpooll . -
carrying 65 goes, as be stated in bi-11, t 'official report t
ON THE AMERICAN WAIL i Which report, by-the-bye, fully justifies our Mud.
. •
—.NW— . - I ratty as to Lake Erie. I take the following para-
. reams cos IMP 8 excise:lE4 . I graph from his report to his Government upon this
1.4.1ThR 1. - , ' occasion :—" I also beg your instructions respecting
MY Loßb,—From the report of year speech, on the wounded. lam satisfied, Sir, that whatever steps
the Bth inst. it appears very clearly, that your Lord- I might fake governed by humanity would meet your
ship is, by the reporter, made to entertain an opi- approbation. Under this impression, I have taken
nioh, that the DIVISIONS amongst the American upon myself to promise Capt. Barclay, who is very
people are already such, that we tesy rationally dangerously wounded, that he shall be landed as
hope, by a continuation of tie war, to produce near Lake Ontario as possible, and I had no doubt
either a compliance with any conditions, or an over- you would allow me to plrote him. Ile is snider the
throw of the Union, in which Union alone consists impression that nothing but leaving this part of the
the strength aed the prospect of future greatness in country will save his life. There is also a Humber
that rising and' fast-grbwing Republic. The words, of Canadians among the priscuers, many:rsko have
as given in the report of your speech, were these : families."
"He (the Earl of Liverpool) had seen much stronger I Captain Lawrence, in the brig liornetitt.lk tacked
justifications of the conduct of our forces at Wash- and sunk, in 15 minutes, our beig the Peacocic, killing
ington, which had been published in America, than between 30 and 40 of her milli, while the Hornet
any that had been published even in this country. lost but one man killed and two *minded. Thos
Not only were they not more hostile to us, but the says the American report. Ours I have not at hand.
-reverse was the case. In places even where the Bri- Then comes the following letter ; New York,
i fish arms had been successful the people had shown 27th .11(r.ch. 1814. " Ste,—We, the surviving Of-
I themselves in our favour, and had seemed well dis- ficers of his Britannic Majesty's late brig Peacock,
posed to put themselves under our protection."— beg leave to return you our grateful acknowledg-
Your Lordship is net singular in your opinion, if it ' meets for the kind attention and hospality we expe-
be your opinion. It is the general opinion in this rienced during the time that we remained on board
country. How that -opinion has been created-and the United States sloop Hornet. So much was done
kept alive, I will not now enquire. The means to alleviate the distressing and encomfortable sites..
made use of for this purpose, the " most thinking lion in which we were placed, when received on
people" know nothing of. They have opinions fur- . board the sloop you command, that vie cannot better
nished them by others as regularly as soldiers or impress nor feelings then by saying, ' lfe ceased to
sailer, are served with rations. The lower class are,.. consider ourselves prisoners;' and every thing
from their poverty, wholly without the pale of in. i that friendship could dictate was adopted by you, and
formation true or false, and appear to know and the officers of the hornet, to remedy the inconve-
care as littleabout the acts of the Government, and 1. nience we would otherwise have experienced front
the state of public affairs, as the earth, or any other the unavoidable loss of the whole of our property
substance, on which they expend their time and their 'Tend clothes by the sudden sinking of the Peacock.
!physical force. The middle class are so incessantly 1 Permit us then, Sir, impressed as we are with a
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employed in pursuit of the means of keeping them- grateful sense of your kindness, for ourselves and
' selves from the horrors of pauperism, that they have: the other officers and ship's company, to return you
no time for discussion or enquiry. Many persons,' and the officers of the Hornet our sincere thanks,
in this class of life, have asked me, whether the ' which we shall feel obliged if you will commute-
Americans could speak English. Few men in the sate to them in our name; and believe us to ramie,
higher ranks of life {mow any thing worth speaking ' with a high sense of. the kind office; you have mo-
ot; with regard to the American Republic, a natiou rderiel us, your humble serritite,—P. A. Wright, Ist
nearly equal in population to Great Britain, and in Lieutenant ; C. Lambert, 2d Lieutenant ; Edward
hahited, as we now feel, by men full as enterprising Lott, Master; J. Whittaker, Surgeon; F. Donni.
slid as brave as our own soldiers and sailors. Evert • throne Unwin, Purser; James Laurence, Esq,
• the writers, who have fanned the flame of this I Vnnmander U. S: sloop Hornet."—The American
bloody war, appear to know nothing at all about I papers added, upon this occasion, the Waling :
I the real state of America ; for, though they have me ' " It is a fact worthy of uote, tied in the highest
, desire to promulgate truth ; though it is their trade ' degree honourable to our brave tars„ that on the day
Ito de( ive and cheat the people, they show by their ' succeeding the destruction of his Britannic Majesty's
staten.Lnts, that they are ignorant of facts, which, brig Peacock, the crew of the Hornet made a sub.
if they knew them, would make them able to de- ; scription, and supplied the prisoners (who had I 0
I eeive with less exposure to detection. This being I almost every thing) with two shirts, a blue jack :.e'
41#
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ithe case, it is no wonder that the whole nation is in and trowsers each."
la state of error as to this matter of primary import- Now, my Lord, without going into more parti.:4'. 7
i ance. On the day when the news reached the conn- callus, let me ask you, whether you think that this
I try, relative to the capture of the City of Washing- conduct towards our officers was the effect of dist(-
ton, I happened to call, on my way homewards faction towards their own Government, of dim).
from Sussex, at the house of a gentleman, who was I probation of its conduct, or of hatred.of the war,
likely to be as well informed as any other gentleman , and of " a disposition to put themselves under our
in the country. as ti this or any other political oat- protection P' And, if you answer‘in the relative,
ter. [Then follows the dialogue.] as you must, I suppose, why do you think, that the
Such was, as nearly as I can recollect, the dialogue I humane treatment of our officers elsewhere indicates
upon this occasion ; and, as lam sure, that the war such a disposition ? Does your Lordship see no pos-
ts continued in the hope, on the part of the nation,' tittle danger in dtawingsuch an Inference ? Do you
at least, of deririug success from a breaking up of the think, that it is wholly out of all belief, that your
Unroll in America, which lam thoroughly persuaded being reported to have drawn such an inference may
we shall ni.t effect, or see take place, I will end's- reader the treatment of our officers, prsinners of
your to show, that this my persuasion rests on good ! war, less humane and kind in future ? Seeing that
grounds; and, if I succeed in this endeavour, I shall a disposition in an American citizen to put himself
not yet abandon the hope, to which my Heart clings, under the protection of oar King is a disposition to
of seeing peace speedily restored between the two commit treason, in the eye of the laws of his coon.
countries, upon terms not injurious to the interest or try, would it be so very surprising, if, in future,
character of eith.-r. the Americans should be very cautions how they ra-
in turning back, now, to the reported speech of posed themselves to the merit of such a compliment ?
your Lordship, I perceive, and I perceive it with great 1 mast, however, do your Lordship the justice to
regret, that you are, by the reporter, made to found observe here, that what the proprietors of our news-
your opinion of Americans' disaffection to their Go- papers have published as your speech, might never
vernment, and of their attachment to our King, in have been uttered by you. I would fain hope, that
part, upon the fact of their having treated our offi- they have, in this case, put forth, under your name,
cers, prisoners of war, with great liberality and kind- the suggestions of their own minds. 1, therefore,
ness. I noticed this in my last Number. 1 chat. ,comment on the thing as theirs and not as yours.
lenge(' any one to show the instance, in which they In order to show, that there is no good founda-
had ever behaved cruelly to prisoners of war. I cited lion for the hope entertained by people liere,-ated so
the memorable case of Mr. (now Sir Charles) Aegyll,. often expressed by our newspapers, of dividing the Re.
and I appealed to their uniform conduct, during the public of America, I must go into a history of thepar-
present war, including the instances of Commodores ties which existin that Republic ; give an account of
Bainbridge and Perry. But as the conduct of the their origin and progress, end describe their present
former, in this respect, has been most basely slander- temper and relative force. The population is divided
ed in some of our public prints, I will be somewhat into two parties; the REPUBLICANS and the
more partite's, as to both instances, adding that of I FEDERALISTS. The latter also claim the title of
Capt. Lawrence. iI Republicans, but it is, and, I think, we shall fend,
Commodore Bainbridge captured the Java, off St. with justice, denied to them by the former. •
Saleadere, on the 29th of December, 1812. His fri- l These two parties have, in fact, existed ever, since
gate, the Constitution, carried 44 guns, and ours 49 ; the close of the Rev nary War, though their aiii-
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guns, according to the American accounts. Ours, I mosities have nee . red to be so great, nor to
be says, had upwards of 400 men on board. The I threaten such serious' sequences as since the corn-
Republicans killed 60 and wounded 170 of oar offs- I mencement of the French Revolution, and especially
cars and men, and bad themselves 9 killed and 251 since the first Presidency of Mr. Jefferson, whose
wounded. After the battle, at their pressing request, i exaltation to the Chair was the proof of decided
Commodore Bainbridge paroled them all. The Java 1 triumph on the part of the Republicans, and
had on board Lieutenant-General 'Helots •and his i plunged their opponents into a state of desperation.
Staff, together with several supernumerary officers The Federalists took their name from the Gene-
Rea oft. The following letter of Gen. Hislop to Com- sal Government, which, being federative, was
modeve Bainbridge will best speak for the latter :(--- called Federal. ' Some of the people, as well as
66 Dian SIIL,—I am justly penetrated with the some of the Members of the Convention, who form-
felled souse of your very handsome and kind treat- ed the Constitution, were for the new General Ge-
ment, ever since the fate of war placed me in your vernment, and some were saint it. Those who
power, and I beg once more to renew to you my were against it,.and who were for a Government of
sincerest acknowledgments for the same. Your ac- a still more dcmocraticat form, were called, at first,
quiescence with my request in granting me my parole, Antifederalists ) but, of late, they have been call-
with the officers of my staff, added to the elaligation ed Republicans._ in opposition to the Federalists, -
I had previously experienced, claims from me this who were for a-Government of an aristocratical, if
additional tribute of my thanks. May I now finally not of nearly a kingly form, and who proposed, in
latter myself, that in the further extension of. your the Convention, a President and Senate for life...-.
Igenerous and humane feelings, in the alleviations of : There was at this Moe a great struggle between the
the misfortunes of war, that you will have the 'good. parties ; and the opposition of the Republicans spoiled
ness to fulfil the only wish and request I am now . the projects of the Federalists : and the Government
ace anxious to see completed, by enlarging on their I was, at last, of• a form and nature, which was
-prole (on the same conditions you have acceded to wholly pleasing to neither, bat which did not, on
. w.ith respect to myself) all the officers of the Java the other hand, greatly displease either.
-fien on board your ship'—a favour I shall never The Federalists, however, took the whole credit
tease duly to appreciate by your acquiescence there- to themselves of having formed the Government ;
_.
to.—l have the honour to subscribe myself, dear and, as General Washington, who had been Press. ~.,
Sir., your much obliged and very obedient servant." dent of the Convention, and was decidedly for a
The request was instantly complied with. Men Federative General Government, was electid the
and all were released upon parole. In the case of President under the new Constitution, the Federal.
commodore Perry, the battle was fought on Lake Ist:, at once, assumed, that they were the only per.
sons, who had any right or title tokarre any thing to
Erie, on the 10th of September, 1813. With vessels,
'earning altogether 64 guns, he not only defeated, do with that Government; treating their opponents
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the whole of oar'fleet, six Tesools,as persons isteeriarily hostile to, and, of course, unfit

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