unanimity; as if a nation were to be rendered unanimous by representing five sixths of them as traitors in their hearts! said tenth part of the French army remains in the heart of Spain, and even in the capital of that kingdom? What more do we want to convince us that the cause -I know, that the answer of these viof Spanish independence is not in a state pers is, that those, whom they so repreto warrant any of those expectations which sent, are "a mere handful of jacobins.” Are the editors of the hireling prints would they, then, jacobins? And, was it a handhave us entertain? In the eyes of these fel that was seen, the other day, assembled wretches, it is not only to be ignorant ; in the City of London and in Middlesex? it is to be criminal, to doubt of the truth Was this a "handful ?" Insolent and of any of those assertions, respecting the empty wretches, was this a handful? ———I fair prospects in Spain, which assertions do hope, however, that these infamous enhave, in the end, invariably proved to be deavours to divide the people will be atfalse. With them, not to believe every tended with no consequence other than exaggerated statement, either in our own that of the disgrace of those who make use favour or against our enemy, is to be the of them; and, that, in our resentments, no friend of that enemy; for any one to an- one will be so unjust, or so foolish, as to ticipate disaster is to wish it, and to doubt confound the cause of these wretches with the existence of success is to mourn its the cause of his country. For my own reality. The wretches, who conduct these part, I am resolved, that nothing shall inprints, seem to sigh for nothing so much duce me to suppress my opinions of any as for grounds of accusation against a part actual event of the war, or of any event of the people; and, when they communi- that I anticipate; and I am also resolved, cate to their readers an account of any that, in speaking of the actions and chasuccess on the part of our army, our fleet, racter of Napoleon, I will take no liberties or on the part of our allies, they are sure that I am not allowed to take with any not to forget to mention, amongst its con- persons in this country; and, indeed, how sequences, the mortification of the factious at dare I, seeing that, if peace were to come, home, which epithet, factious, they apply to I might be prosecuted for such liberties, every man, who wishes for a reform of though taken many years before. There any abuse, or the reduction of any public is, perhaps, no state in which you can posexpence. Now, this class of persons is sibly exist so humiliating to you as that, very numerous; it is notoriously very nu- which freely permits you to assault a permerous; and, if these publications have son for certain alledged offences to-day, any sense in them, it is this, that a very and which punishes you for the same asconsiderable part of the people of England sault to-morrow, a change having taken are mortified, when they hear of the re- place in nothing but in the connection beverses of Napoleon, and pleased when they tween the person assaulted and your rulers. hear of his success. That this is abomi- It is precisely the life of a dog, let loose nably false we know; but, if it were pos- to-day upon him, for only barking at whom sible so to change the people as to make the poor cur would have been whipped it true, those who write in the afore-men- but yesterday. This dog's life I will not tioned prints would certainly produce that live. I will say nothing of Buonaparte in change. The insolence, which they never time of war that I dare not repeat in time fail to discover, when they communicate of peace; but, if I live to see that time, I any thing which has a tendency to create will not fail to remind the hirelings of what a belief that Napoleon will finally be they now are saying of him. I can reoverthrown; the insolence, which, upon member when these same hirelings found such occasions, they discover; the intoler- him full of all manner of good qualities; ance; the persecuting doctrines they aye, and I can remember, when they preach; all these are calculated to pro-abused Spain for hesitating to give up to duce the worst possible effect; to imbitter us a part of her territories, which Buonathe minds of the people; to implant in their hearts a feeling of resentment too deeply rooted to be removed even by common calamity; and, indeed, to make them think nothing of any calamity, when compared with the ground of that resentment. And these, too, are the wretches, who, when the ague-fit is on them, talk of parté, without the consent of Spain, had given to us. I can remember when these hirelings abused Spain for this; and, yet, they now abuse Buonaparté, because he is interfering in the affairs of Spain! We complain of the MONITEUR; we affect to believe nothing that it says; but there is nothing in the Moniteur a millionth part so base as is the conduct of our hireling prints. The Moniteur, notwithstanding what it might have done, has really done nothing worth speaking of in the way of exposure of certain acts and persons in this country. It has passed all over in silence, or in saying but very little indeed. This is, too, no weak proof of the security which Napoleon feels himself to possess in the hearts of his people. He does not stand in need of any attacks upon other rulers. He is not afraid, that his people will sigh for any change; or, at least, he is so confident of his power over them, as to be under none of those apprehensions, with which our hirelings choose to represent him as being continually haunted. THE EXPEDITION (for that is the name it is known by) has, at last, taken Flushing, and made its garrison prisoners of war. As its further movements must so very soon be known, it would be useless to offer thereon any conjectures; but, one may venture to assert, without waiting for any further particulars, that, if more, and a great deal more, be not done, this Armada will be the laughing stock of the world. The dispatches, giving an account of what has hitherto been done, are very long and very insipid. More than two thirds of the matter consists of praises and compliments, without it being possible for any one to discover an adequate cause. Why, what has been done? What is it that all this talk is about? What occasions have there been for drawing forth all this wonderful stock of merit? In the taking of a place like Flushing, with such an immense force, except by storm, it appears next to impossible that there can be any ground for the bestowing of high praise on many persons. To the Engineer, who constructed the batteries, and to a small number of persons engaged in resisting the sallies, some particular mention may be due; but, we have here as long a list of praises as might have been expected after a battle like that of Blenheim, and, indeed, a much longer list than did actually accompany the account of that battle. The naval dispatches, upon this occasion, are of the same character. "Much a-do | "about nothing." Every body who is named, is praised. The thing, by being so common, becomes little worth. It is like the firing of the Park and Tower Guns, and the illuminations at Whitehall and the Gaming-Houses. Surely, it is no snow great thing for any of our admirals or captains to perform this or that branch of service with ability and zeal? To swell out dispatches with praises in such a strain is not calculated to add to the reputation" of the navy, whose officers never, except upon occasions where their merit appears in a very conspicuous light, ought to be the object of particular praise; because to praise them for trifles is to check, instead of encouraging emulation. In such a service a man ought to feel that to be any thing at all, he must be greatly meritorious; but, according to the new system, there are degrees of praise to suit all sizes of zeal, talents, and courage; so that if a man has but moderation in his views of fame, he need never despair of being satisfied. But, the worst of it is, this moderation is not at all calculated to produce that sort of deeds, which support the reputation of the service and the renown of the country, and which, by those means, tend to the preservation of the country's independence.- -There is some talk of an intention to keep possession of the island of Walcheren, and to retain it at the peace. When we speak of peace it is like speaking of posterity; but, whether in war or in peace, I cannot think it possible long to hold this island. The garrison must be very numerous; the provisions must be sent from England; the fuel to cook them must be sent from England; and, I think it not unlikely, that no small part of the water, for certain purposes, at least, must be sent from England. The permanent possession of the island would, therefore, be attended with an enormous expence, and that, too, without a probability, as far as I can see, of producing any proportionate good effect. It would, perhaps, prevent the port of Antwerp from sending forth ships of war against us; but Napoleon has so many other ports, that this would be no great injury to him, and could, not much retard his naval projects, unless, indeed, we were able to block up closely all his other ports. All that he wants to do, at present, is to build ships and get them fit for sca. He may build a fleet of a hundred sail of the line in the Scheldt, in spite of our possession of Walcheren, or of the whole of Zealand. The hemp grows in abundance in the North of France and in the whole of Belgium. Oak and other timber, of all sorts, is to be had in plenty upon the banks of the Scheldt, as well as upon those of the Meuse and the Rhine. The countries which these rivers run though are covered with forests of hard wood; and, from the mountains of the say; and, a most fearful dream it is. It does, in short, with other circumstances, render it next to impossible, that the battle for the independence of England should not be finally fought upon English ground. To this, after all our endeavours to avoid it; after all our attempts to disguise the fact even from ourselves, it is evident that we must come at last. In this view of the war, every proof of the valour of our army is greatly valuable to us; and, as far as the army has had opportunities of shewing its excellence, it has, I believe, shewn it upon this occasion. 66 Vosges and of the Schwartzwald, the foot of which is washed by the Rhine, there are pines as good, perhaps, as any in Norway. Hence will come the pitch and tar also; and, in short, without receiving a single article by sea, Buonaparté may build in the Scheldt, and at a comparatively trifling expence, a number of ships of war equal to that of the English fleet. Indeed, the fact of his having actually built thirteen ships of the line, in the port of Antwerp, while we most firmly believed, that he had not the means of building a ship of the line any where, and while our immense naval force was employed in LORD GAMBIER.- -The news-papers blockading his ports, and cutting off his state, that "the enemy's fleets and squadcommercial communications; this fact rons this side of Gibraltar, being either alone ought to be sufficient to convince us, "destroyed or rendered useless, Lord GAMBIER that the naval resources of the Scheldt are "and Sir John Thomas DUCKWORTH have very great.The possession, therefore," arrived in town; their ships not being of Walcheren by us will not prevent Na- now kept in an efficient state for sea, their poleon from building ships, from building" crews have been put into smaller vesa navy, in the Scheldt; and, unless we could be certain of being able to keep the island, the possession can be only of temporary use; for, the moment we give it up, or are driven from it, that moment out comes a French fleet.Some say, that Walcheren is accessible by means of the ice. If so, it cannot be tenable against a power like that of Buonaparté. But, this point ought to have been ascertained, before any expensive attempt had been made upon it; for, if it be accessible by means of the ice, it may probably be in the hands of the enemy before next Christmas, and that, too, with great loss on our part. In short, if the possession of it be at all dependant upon the frost, it would be greatly criminal in any minister to leave a garrison in it at any time later than the month of November. -I dare say, that the public in general have been much surprized to find, that there were thirteen new ships of the line in the Scheldt, not dreaming that there were so many in all Napoleon's dominions, and not having, three times in their lives, heard the port of Antwerp mentioned. There are not a few other things existing, of which the people of England hear nothing; but, of which they will Lear by-and-by.At the peace of Amiens, I, assisted by a gentleman who was more conversant in the affairs of the continent, foretold what this port of Antwerp would become, if left in the hands of the French. The prediction was treated as a dream; but, it has been realized; the "dream is out," as the old women "sels." So! So! What, then, the enemies' fleets were all destroyed in Basque Roads, I suppose? I have heard of no destruction of his flects since the destruction caused by LORD COCHRANE and his gallant crew.- -The view, with which the above quoted paragraph has been published, is plain enough. There is scarcely any one so dull-eyed as not to see the bottom of. But, it will not, and must not, succeed. The COURT-MARTIAL at Portsmouth must not be passed over in that silence, in which some persons are so anxious to see it buried. The Evidence there given (that most curious Evidence!} requires to be laid before the public in a shape more clear and less expensive and cumbrous than it now is. This task I shall endeavour to perform in the course of two or three Numbers. AUSTRIA.The public cannot but have observed the high-flown praises, which the hireling prints have, constantly bestowed upon the ARCHDUKE CHARLES, as often as the Austrians have been at war with France. These very prints, the SUN, the COURIER, the MORNING POST, and others, are now attacking this same Archduke, with the utmost virulence of language. Upon this subject the STATESMAN news-paper asks: "Are the people of England prepared to acquiesce in that degradation-that destruction of character, "which is now manifestly meditated against "this illustrious Commander, on whose "individual talents and exertions we were, "but a few short weeks ago, taught to be"lieve the fate of Europe rested?" Why, should have made them, all at once, open, full cry, upon the poor Archduke? They must have had something like certain information, that he is in favour of peace with Napoleon. That, we may be assured, they firmly believe, at any rate; and, in all probability, the fact is so. PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.- -Below, the reader will find a Letter from MR. WORTHINGTON to Major CARTWRIGHT, in reply to Lord SELKIRK'S Letter to the Major. Ilis lordship is here completely answered as far as relates to France; and, as to America, besides what Mr. Worthington has said respecting universal suffrage, what analogy is there in the two cases? Lord Selkirk might as well have cited the govern ment of the Indians or the Negroes. Have they any King in America? Have they any House of Lords? In short, what similarity is there in the state of the two countries? In America the Governors and President are elective; and, as Judges may become Governors, they act upon the beach with a view to their future elections; they canvass in their charges, judgments, and decisions. This is truly abominable. It is the very worst system of tyranny. But, what has this to do with us and our question of Parliamentary Reform, my Lord Selkirk? Have we any Governors and Presidents? Can our Judges or Chancellors ever become our in-chief magistrates?—I shall continue this subject in my next. no: I do not believe, that the people of MR. TOWNSEND'S Letter, in explanation of what was said at the Middlesex Meeting about tythes, as connected with Parliamentary Reform, shall appear in the next Regis ter. It should have been inserted in the present; but I am sure that when Mr Townsend has read the Letter of Mr. Wor thington, he would be very sorry if any part of it had been left out. WM. COBBETT Botley, Thursday, 24th August 1809. A LETTER TO JOHN CARTWRIGHT, ESQ. In Reply to the Earl of Selkirk's Letter to his on the subject of Parliamentary Reform. DEAR SIR,-A venerable and exceller friend of yours, my neighbour, here, ha just put into my hands the Earl of Selkirk Letter to you, containing his own accou of his reasons for declining to act as Steward, at the late Meeting for Promotion | these "reasonings," long, or short, are the of Parliamentary Reform; from whose very things we wanted! He then proceeds well-merited celebrity my expectation (pages 9 & 10) to the common places of own, was highly excited.-I was very corrections endangering benefits, of our anxious to know what more could be said enviable mass of public happiness, &c. &c. on the other side; I therefore looked from till he ends at the end of page 9 in the (as the pen of Lord S. for a novel exhibition, himself allows)" hacknied topic" of the either of powerful argument, which might French Revolution;—which continues to stagger, if not convince; or for a defence page 1, where the necessary tendency in some theory at all events ingenious, if "of elections purely democratical" are not firm and sound, for the universally ac- ably pointed out. Then (page 15) come the knowledged corruptions. In short if, ow- Edinburgh Reviewers, or commendable ing to Lord S.'s unfortunate side of the representation by family influence," &c.— question, I should be disappointed of a so- until page 16, where the noble writer relid joint, I yet expected the savoury re- turns to his favourite topic, America, again, mains of the late Edinburgh Reviewers, and to " Peter Porcupine," (pages 18 and served up again with superior skill in a 19) wherein it is contended, when we high seasoned curry or haggies, exquisite translate the passages into plain English, at least, if not digestible. In both these that it is more important to remove abuses, respects my expectation has been baulked; than their causes; followed by an apostroand I have got up hungry and disappoint- phe or avowal on the part of Lord S. himed-yet not dissatisfied.-There is one self, which, as the opponent of so honest point, however, at starting, in which I claim and popular a measure as Parliamentary a full concurrence with the noble writer- Reform, he seems to have thought necesWhere, stating his defection from himself, sary, and to which the reader will of course as well as from his deceased father and give credit," that he is the decided friend brother, he offers in their names the just "of every just measure of economical tribute of respect to your character. Those "reform.' Pages 20, 21, & finis, contain names are venerable; that of his brother an appeal to the friends of Reform, deespecially is dear not only to those who precating their efforts, by a suggestion, knew his candid nature, but for his en- that this bustle about Parliamentary Relarged and philanthropic spirit is dear to form will defeat all other salutary rehis country, and would have been equally forms.-Yet are we convinced (probably dear, if he could have been equally known, by our malevolence) that it is the appreto the universal world. I will add, that inhension excited in the minds of the gothe entertainment of the great question now vernment by this question, or bustle, solebefore us, the best part of the public will ly, which has put the ministry upon the with me regret, that their heir as well as qui vive, on the subject of any sort of Resuccessor in talent, should, in expatiating form whatsoever!-Having taken this ra upon their political opinions, have ex-pid view of the grounds on which Lord S. punged with his own hand this quarter has chosen to rest the argument, and which from the shield of his descent.--I must be- certainly are neither new, nor striking, I gin with a rapid synopsis of the Letter. proceed to follow him upon those grounds, Lord Selkirk accounts for this his change which, after all, afford but a mere arguof opinion, both from his family and from ment of analogy, leaving the principle, as himself, on the ground of the opportunity I trust to shew, intirely undecided and even (page 6) which he had, but " which they untouched. I regret that a man of Lord "never had, of seeing the practical appli-S.'s abilities should have blinked the prin"cation of those principles, from which ciple; I would far more willingly have met "they expected consequences so bene- him in the noble field of general argument. "cial."-He then instances America as For I want to know from a man of his cathe scene of this application (pages 6 & 7) pacity, what connection there is between but expressly declines on the score of Rotten Boroughs and any of the valuable their length, (page 8) to go into the rea-privileges (yet extant) of Englishmen. A sonings, which have occurred to him, " as case in point just occurs. I am writing "to the source of the fallacy," (now in- this, not in my own house, but in the Isle deed pretty prevalent, if it is one, in Eng- of Wight; now I long to know from Lord land) that a Parliamentary Reform would S. by any induction, however ingenious, in "have the effects, which its most sincere what way the protection of the Liberty of "and zealous friends anticipate." Alas! the Subject, the purity of the distribution |