The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-01-14 00:00:00

THE STATESMAN.

111aU. LIFE BELOW STAIRS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STATESMAN.

flea,--1 very much approve of an article in your
pltriotic Paper of Monday last; earnestly recom-
renting all housekeepers to peremptorily forbid
tivir Ferranti, to reroice visiters. I am a house-
)„,Ter, and have not for several ) ears past allowed
out of my domestics to ask their relations or ac-
auaintances into my kitchen, not only because it
c:v:: to servants a tern to idleness and dishonesty
theyj"r will he always sure to entertain their friends
the ver) best manner), bat that it encourages them
f make brothels of our houses; and as vice is pro-
f ;essive, the pretended lovers of our kitchen wenches
are sometimes thieves in disguise.—Some years since
every bed in my house, in the summer time, during
my absence from town, was let to servants out
of place. My trusty servant took in washing,
to a gnat extent, and it was my good fortune to, de-
tect her in the height of her glee, surrounded by her
iwizers. by coming unexpectedly to town; and, as

•
k nould bare it, I found my door vp6ii the

in., one of fir, party having stept but for souse porter
slid gin. I walked directly down seeks, whitne
Wahl about fifteen seated at table, on which was a
In.:, dish of ham, in slices, a turkey, and pastry,
wi,ll some of my old Madeira and port on the table.
Tl;e table, as you may well suppose, was soon In an
uproar—the most 'expert making their escamtle aiyH
etatring the kit Chen ; but willing to ascertain whit
these guests were, that my trurty servant entertained
at my expence, I took care to secure the door, to
revent the escape of the rest.—Three of the party,.l

evered, Lodged in my house—three others were
_ .

t:3:tesmen in the neighbourhood—and a fourth was a
tree -grocer, who supplied me with vegetables.—
v laundry, on lisiting it, was like an oven, and
lien susp.ibtl to dry in it belonging to different
people., On examiAing a!l my apartments before
...en" to bed, I discovered a man in a closet in a lumber
!-iom adjoining to the servants'-room, who, on being
el....:ged out and gnestioned, fell on his knees, said
1 was Betty's sweetheart, and hoped 1 would not

hart him. I gare him in charge of the wateh, and
nest morning lie was recognised at Bow-street as
suspicious fellow, who had long been vigilantly
.;:ached by the Officers of the Police, from having
Itrfa seen in bad company. It was this adventure
that decided me to allow no visiters in my kitchen ;
sad I was the more strongly confirmed in this reso-
lution, ou fluffing that a friend of mine had made a
similar discovery, only with this difference, that a
ball instead Ida supper was given ; and I have since
fffunfl that it is a common practice for those left in
charge of a house, when the family is absept„ to let
the beds to servants out of place; and for.gentlernen's
coachmen, late at night, to ply in the streets. In
Ciort, Sir, the proffijacy of, out ierifiltS is arrived
i such a height, as tryseriously call for the interpo-
si;ion of the Legislature; and when you are in-.
formed that one Register-Otfice for Servants had
5e..10 ou their list, I will leave you to judge how
ite:assary it is to have a vigilant eye over the morals
of a class of people to whom so much is confided,
and who have it In their power to do a world of
I.li,cliief. I have, therefore, again to than. you for
the very wholesome advice you offered to Mouse.
LeTers, by recommending them to discontinue the

miwhieveus, and dangerous indulgence of
their. servants to have visiters, some of
im may•, possibly, be admitted with a view to
~,') and murder the family. I am, Sir, yours,
le. A HOUSEKEEPER.

-;atitrilav a Mail from the West Indies, brought to
.'in.ml;l by tlie I artiret packet, reached
e letters and papers from Surinam are of the 30th
Dmierni a 9th November, and Barbadoes
!•-•-•2.1!1 November.•We collect from them that mach
i.,;gnation h.:s been manifested by the House of •As-
!•!,.!)1y, of St. Christopher's, in consequence of the
1.-.!llitation of a dispatch from Governor ELLiorr to
Ltvraraol..--." In this dispatch," observes the
A'..,Yibly in their Address to the Noble Secretary,
-• r most vilifying reflections are east upon the
-4%.01e population of the colony, with scarcely the
"rf ption of a class, character, or perion." Tice
!Itraing is the offensive extract of the'displitcbae:—..
" fact is; the government or smaller tabled&
inrmed in times when -many of the Peoprietairs
0t..11 upon their estates, and the white population
%a, in some instances perhaps ten times as.numerous
a% it now is— of thts, few 'white inhabitants who re-
manuyrs. ovil seers, self-created lawyers, self.
41' :e,.ted pe).:ciatia, and adventurous merchants,
sits little (41:ital and scanty credit, compose the
rsvzt q Vie acquirements of education
"'"A of this-description of persons are very
i,ta I to the task of taking a share in the govern-
'PP. prevalence of principle, either merit, pr
n?so, I fear, not to be fairly calculated
tie repetition of the hackneyed expressions of
di an ostentatious use is frequently made in ad-
and on all occasions meant to meet the pub-
'' c. 44. at hoine. To collect from each a state of so-
'.:lY: meu fit to be legislators, judges, or jurymen,
l'' Perfectly impracticable; individual interest, per-
influence, animosity of party feuds, weigh
Int the scale of justice, and divert the course of
authority Into acts of arbitrary and uo-
-aiftable power, cloaked under the pernblance, and'
with the name of, constitutional acts.—The
lobiere is, therefore, I fear, only to be solved, by
ontirming the melancholy. statement I have made in
' oattet 01 this dispatch, of the unworthy and in-
4:tluate materials which compose those tribunals,
''"'Properly styled Courts of Justice, in several of
West India islands."
The Dividends are now 'paying at the Bank. The
t,, to Lottery begins Drawing et sNiue e'Clock o a
esday morning, and finishes the Mee day.

THE- NAPY.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE STATESMAN.

Sin,—Observing in one of your Papers a para-
graph relating to Preach Privateers, you state a let-
ter from Admiral FOLEY says, " that from the ig-
norance and inattention of the Commanders the
ships are captured, and that it seems to be a rule in
the trade bound up Channel, that if they cannot
weather the South Sand Head, they continue their
stretch all night, which bring them under the enemy's
batteries." Now, Sir, after twenty years spent in
the merchant service, and always successfully per-
formed the object of the voyage, and at all seasons
of the year, I never yet knew the South Sand Head
was au object to be weathered, by ships running for
the Downs, with the wind any way from the westward.
The stigma cast upon the Commanders of merchant
vessels, is a mean and a disgraceful one; and it is
hardly to be supposed that any man would, after a
long and perilous voyage, put his liberty and his earn-
ings at such a stake as Admiral FOLEY pleases to re-
present. No, Sir, the privateers of the enemy are
often t• be met close in upon the coast; and it is not
thz first Naval Officer upon the Coast station who
has said—" he would sooner recapture than prevent
one." I am your's, occasionally,

A SEAMAN IN THE MERCHANT SERVICE.
Portsmouth.

PROTECTION OF COMMERCE BY THE
ADMIRALTY.

TO THE EDITOR OP TliE STATESMAN.

There is nothing from which the country receives
deeper wounds than from the French privateers, the
existence of which, to a great extent, must originate
in the culpable neglect of the Admiralty. One of
the Government Papers, a few days ago, exultingly
stated, that his Majesty's cruizers were beginning to
be more successful, as the Furet French privateer had
been captured by one of them. But it will be ob-
served that she had first taken TWENTY-FOUR PRIZES,
many. of them West Indiamen. Quere—Are not the
Owners of the Furet, from such a number of valu-
able captures, able to start fresh with just such an-
other vessel ? The writer of this article dined lately
in company with a Gentleman belonging to the Ad-
miralty, when the topic of conversation turned on
the captures, and he was asked, why the Admiralty
did not clear the, narrow seas of French privateers ?
're this he answered, that our Commanders of small
vessels did not capture French privateers, because
they were afraid of !RE EXPENCES of condemning
them in the Admiralty Court, as the process would
cost them double the amount of what the prize would
sell for. What will Sir W. SCOTT say to this ?

PUBLICOLA.

PRISONERS OF WAR. _

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STATESMAN.

Sin,-1 have read, in your Journal of the 11th
instant, a letter upon the subject of Prisoners of
War, which has interested the friends of humanity,
and particularly those who have some relations pri-
soners in France. I must confess, that I was in-
duced, like many other people, to think that we had
offered very advantageous proposals to the French
concerning the exchange, and that on the contrary,
their's were neither founded upon reason nor justice ;
and I pitied the long captivity of our unfortunate
countrymen without the prospect of an exchange.—
But Candidus's letter has awoke my attention, and
in making use of the small portion of understanding
that nature has given me, I see plainly, by an im-
partial examination, that the proposals of the French
are not so much to be despised, nor so much to the
disadvantage of thii country, as they have been repre-
sented; and it gave me some hope that the long suf-
ferings of our prisoners may soon come to an end.—
According to Candidus's statement, I found that the
principal, or rather the only, objection made against
the plan of evacuation proposed by the French, con-
sisted in this; that some of our countrymen, ac-
cording to their plan, would remain two months
longer in France than according to our own.—
It is now easy to prove that the portion of
time for this purpose would be the same in both
cases. To elucidate this matter, we must remember,
that when Mr. M'Kensie was at Morlaix, the Eng-
lish prisoners in Fiance, were estimated as one to
three, with respect to the ['ember of French pri-
soners in England, and it was for that very reason
that the French proposed to exchange the prisoners
by 3,000 at it time (viz. one thousand English and
two thousand Spaniards or Portuguese), in order
that the English in France, and the French in Eng-
land, might constantly remain, during the exchange,
in the same proportion. Now, if we suppose the
sea-ports agreed upon by each Government for the
evacuation of the prisoners to be at Plymouth and
Morlaix ;—in order to carry home our own 16,000
prisoners, by one thousand at once, it would require
the ships fitted out for that purpose to make sixteen
voyages from Morlaix to Plymouth. If, therefore,
the ships, instead of bringing over only one thousand
at once, were to bring over three thousand each
turn, the whole 16 thousand English and 32 thou.'
sand allies would be all brought over in the time as-
signed for bringing over the 16 thousand English
only. This statement is accurate, and presents itself
to our conviction at once. Some people, I know,
have objected to the Spanish and Portuguese Prison- ,
ers coming to this country (according to the plan of''
the French); but I consider their coming hither of a
much greater advantage, in a military point of yiew,
than if they were sent to Cadiz (by one thousand at
a time), where they would be of very little use, and-
of no influence in the operation of the war; wheelies,
if we had them here altogether, we could carry them
to whatever point of the Peninsula we might choose,
either to strike tome great blow, or to make a very
powerful diversion. As to the eapence which has
been mentioned for clothing and arming them, I dare
say that two mouthy pay of the French Pri.ouers in

' England would.be more than sufficient for that pur-
pose. Besides if those prisoners 'were sent from
France to Spain as we propose, would there not then
be the same attendant ex pz.tce?Do not our Papers
often inform us of clothes and arms being sent for
our Spanish Allies ? and would there he any differ-
ence of expenditure, whether we should seoft these
articles packed up, or on the back of the soldiers ?
But even if we were to equip them, to the Peninsula,
in the most expensive manner, it would only be to
spend a pound to save much more than 10,000; would
toyeaven, then, that we were never to make a worse
speculation than this!--I can remember • but one
thing more, which has been advanced against the
plan of evacuation as proposed by the Freuch,which,
so far from being an objection, is, as I should think,
a high recommendation to it; and that is, that our
allies would be exchanged at the same time with our
own prisoners. For my part. I cannot conceive
that our prisoners would object to this plan, nor can
I see in what manner it would be an injury or an' in-
justice toward's our soldiers to exchange them with
those who have fought by their side, and been taken
along with them. . Were it not for such erroneous
ideas, our countrymen would now have been return-
ed to their homes a year ago. How many years
they are still to remain captivet, and what good rea-
son may be given for their captivity, we must ask of
those who lay all the blame upon the French Go.
vernment.—As to our plan of evacuation, Candidus
has given us very clear reasons, why the French
Government must object to it. The French have as
great right to mistrust tt., as we mistrust them; and
can any one blame them ? nsy, hare not the trans-
acttons for these last ten years proved, that we are
by no means so pure a people as to refuse to adopt a
measure very advantageous, only because it is unjust:
Might not the French have just ground to expect that
after the evacuation of Spain and Portugal by the
British army, we should say them ; now that the
Spaniards and Portuguese are become French sub-
jects, we cannot reasonably exchange them against
Frenchmen : when, therefore, and against whom (the
French would sac) would have been exchanged the
30,000 French 'Prisoners remaining in this country ?
We see then, Sir, that by consenting to the French
plan of evacuation, our countrymen would be ex-
changed in the same length of time, as by our own ;
that we should save more than one million sterling a
year (necessary for the maintenance of the French
prisoners in this country) and moreover should have
50,000 English and Spaniards to dispose of. These
are advantages resulting from an exchange of prisoners'
to the couutry at large; and what a blessing would
it be,—for our brave and unfortunate country-1
men, who, without it, may perhaps never see
their countrymen, or their friends in England,
who long to see them ; for the wives and children
who have been deprived of their husbands and fa-
thers for so many years? (I mean the wives and
zhildren of the English travellers detained in France
ever since the year 1803). It belongs only, Sir, to
a pen like yours, to treat such an interesting subject
as it ought to be. When the good of the country is
in contemplation, it is enough to give a hint, and I
hope, that through it the truths contained its this
Letter will find their way'to the Public, alai perhaps
neck- our gracious and benevolent Prince (the only
hope of England), who will not think ,I am sure, this
subject unworthy of his high consideration.—l have
the honour to b.!, Sir, your most qbedient servant,

AI ILES.