Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1809-10-27
COBBET'S LETTER TO THE KIM
On the maritime svar against France. g.
LETTER I.

SIR
When every eye in the nation, at the
end of is years war, which has given rise TO
the income tax-which has caused part OF
every mans estate to be alienated, under the
name of redemption ofland tax-Wh,eh mas
banished guineas from the land. and maae
bank notes legal tender-whlch has seen
the habeas corpus or personal safety act, tor
many years suspended-which has drained
the kingdom Of its youth and its vlgor, leav, :.
inc the next generation to be the offspring OF
dscrepi.uds, deformity & in'beelity-,w when i(i
has thus entailed Upon the nation ugllness'
and weakness and disease whlch,Whlle
It has robbed the land of thousands upon
thousands of the best Of its laberers, IN or
der to convert them into defenders OF oicliy
and other foreign countries, has introduced
thousands and thousands OF foreigners 20
defend the same land--At such time when
every eve in the nation is anxlously hxea
upon the great, and in all probability the last
attempt about to be made against the enc
nv, it appears to me, that it may be useful
publicly to state certain facts, relating to the
mode of carrying on war OF such weari'
some length and such desolatlng conse
quence; and that this statement may from
lis manner, lose none Gifts intrinsic lmPor'
tance I for the second time in my lite pre-
sumo to address myself directly to your ma
iesty, taking care, that in this instances no
keeper of official papers shall, as in recent
one, have it in his power TO ear0ie' OF 10
suppress any part of that which | write. ;,
That your majesty is net well informed
as to the great and interesting matters upon
which | am addressing you, without the
smallest hesitation, conclude first because
the me assures of your servants, thro' whom
your information must come, are in no WISE
calculated for the real state OF things; and
secondly, because supposing those servants
to possess both talents and zeal sufficient tor
all the purposes of their respective sta'ions'
their time has from the moment they enter
ed those Offices, been almost wholly engres-
sed by endeavors to defend themselves, ana
to annoy and degrade their own political e.
nemies and your majestys late servants. rs
men may be blinded by loo much light, soa
people may be kept in error, may be aecei'-
ed and ruined, by the means OF the press,
which unpervert1d, is 81 we'll calculated to
ensure the constant triumph or truth /; and
have for my part no doubt, that with all our
parade of publicity, with all our osten,aaon
of unreserve, there is,ia the whole worId,no
people, who, in proportion to their maynI-
tude, understand SO little OF their pubic al
fairs as is understood by the people OF this
kingdom. Were not this the case, sla, IL
would be impossible that the enemy should
be in his present aourishing state, with re-
speCt to his Internal and other resources,
while England possesses such means OF cut
ting off these resources.
The general opinion in this country is,
that France is in miserable statc--that The
people are starvins--and that as to com
merce there is no doubt OF its going ON III
the do1linions OF Napoleon than upon any OF |
the isIets in the Thames, about Windsor OF
Hampton Court. This too, conclude to
be the opinion ofyour majesty because as
before observed, your information as &c
such matters, must be derived from your
servants, who prove, by their express de
clarations, as well as by their conduct, tina
such is their view OF the situation Of the en-
pire of France. As to whether the subiec,s
of Napoleon like or dislike his government.
or whether they are better or worse off now
than they were under 'their former sover
eigns; these are questions which we can
discuss to no profit, because we possess NJ
facts wherein to reason--but with regardtt +.
th- commerce of France and thai source q
commerce which is the only valuable ont,
possess from the best possible source, quit,
sutHe ienoy of facts toshew, tina: upon 'hat
subject at least this has been the most de- !
ceived of nations ,and your majesty the most
deceived of severeigns.
ri 70 ,uL,ch all,,Ie |