failure; and is the public eye, ever-and- | from the news-papers, or written them out anon, to be drawn back to the date of his pe-a-new; not, the printing, but the alterations cuniary distresses?-Still, however, in any made by Mr. Windham himself, after the other member of parliament; nay, in almost speeches had been printed off upon slips any other man in the whole world, Mr. Wright of paper. Mean wretches, as he chooses might have forgiven this attack; but, in to represent us, all in a lump; and Mr. Windham, it is not to be forgiven.- bankrupt" as Mr. Wright was to be What I am now going to state is not at still called, Mr. Windham never heard of all necessary to the vindication of the this charge before; no, nor of any other character of Mr. Wright, whose character such charge, though we are both of opiis known to so large a portion of the nion, and I state it as a truth, of which we public; but, I shall state it, in order to are convinced, that, during the 14 Voenable that public to form its judg- lumes of Debates, alterations, of the sort ment upon the attack on that charac- above-described, made with Mr. Windter. Be it known to the public, then, ham's own hand, upon slips sent to him that, of all the Noblemen and Gentlemen, at his request, and without any possible for whom Mr. Wright has corrected or view of gain on our part, have cost us upinserted Debates; of all the persons, whom wards of seventy pounds.Mr. Wright he has ever obliged in this way, he never has sent him proofs, and even revises (that is obliged any one so much as Mr. Wind- to say, second proofs) down into Norfolk; ham; nay, I am of opinion, that he has and, what I suspected, but did not know, done more to oblige Mr. Windham in this till I came to town, the publication of the way, than he has ever done to oblige all last Volume of Debates was delayed for the other members put together. This weeks, in order solely to oblige him.-seems hardly credible; but, it is the fact. These facts, while they enable the public This gentleman, who carries his contempt to judge of Mr. Windham's conduct toof the traders" in debates to such a wards Mr. Wright, will also enable them height; who, to hear him, one would to form a pretty correct estimate of the sinthink, would disdain to speak to them, cerity of that carelessness, which he professmuch less to have recourse to their assist- ed to feel as to what became of his speeches ance; this high-minded gentleman, this after they were uttered. But, there is Mr. Windham, who does not care whether his still a fact to be related, which will place constituents know what is passing or not; this sincerity in a very nice point of view; this same gentleman has given Mr. and that is the fact, that Mr. Windham, Wright more trouble about his speeches who has such a contempt for the Reporters than, if it had been duly paid for, would and the Gallery, has, not once or twice, have cost, according to the worth of Mr. but many times, asked this bankrupt,' Wright's time, five hundred pounds. Innu- whether he was well heard in the gallery; merable are the times that he has sent what impression his speech produced; and for this "bankrupt" to his house to consult consulted with him how he should moduhim about the correcting and publishing of late his voice, how and where he should stand, his speeches; Mr. Wright has received, so as to be best heard in the gallery; aye, he supposes, two hundred notes and letters in the gallery, by those " bankrupts, lot from him upon the subject of his speeches, "tery-office-keepers, footmen, and demade at different times; and, as to" giving cayed tradesmen !"-- Such are the "into corrupt misrepresentations," so far facts. And he did not know any of from his ever having witnessed any dis- "the conductors of the press, but he had position of that sort in Mr. Wright, we have, both of us, though his speeches gave very great trouble and put us to considerable expence, took pleasure in having them upon record as full as possible. In the Printer (Mr. Hansard's) bill for the Debates of the very last Session, there is the following charge against us: "Corrections, Revises, Slips, &c.

"&c. of Mr. Windham's

heard about them!"- -The comment I leave to the public; but, I cannot help adding, that I regard this attack upon the characters, in a lump, of the persons connected with the press, as of a piece with all those numerous means, which since about a year ago, have been put in motion for the purpose of stifling the press, towards which end nothing would be more likely to contribute, than the creating of a ge neral belief, that we, who are the conductors of the press, are, without discrimination, a set of worthless wretches.

Upon public ground, therefore, as well as in justice to MR. WRIGHT (the attack upon whom was too palpable not to be perceived by every one), I have stated the above facts; and, upon public ground I insert the letter, which will immediately follow this article, and which will be found well worthy of the reader's attention. I am told, that the author of it is a young gentleman of very amiable character, a good scholar, and an excellent artist into the bargain. And, does Mr. Windham suppose, that such men, because they have not privilege of parliament, have no feelings? Some persons may say: "it is impossible, that he should mean to allude to Mr. Wright." One would hope so, if one could; but, when we, in looking round, can find no other person, at all connected with debatepublishing, who has ever had the misfortune to be a Bankrupt, we must conclude, either that he meant to point at Mr. Wright, or, which does not much mend the case, that the charge was made without the least consideration as to any fact in support of it.

WM. COBBETT.

London, 9th Feb. 1810.

MR. WINDHAM'S ATTACK UPON THE
PRESS.

fame, in the comparatively limited circle in which they move, as their accuser himself, with all those adventitious advantages which the possession of wealth may have afforded him. It is rather too much when an individual such as I have described, preferring honourable and vigorous exertion to ignoble idleness, has been daily and nightly toiling in the execution of a task of the highest interest to the public; and who in the faithful execution of that painful task (equally harrassing to the mind and to the body) enjoys, as the sole satisfaction for a shattered constitution, the consciousness of deserving well of his country-it is rather too much for such an individual, so circumstanced, to hear a member of that house of parliament, whose proceedings it has been his anxious wish and endeavour accurately to convey to their constituents, speak of him in language, the bare recollection of which raises in my cheek the blush of shame and indignation. I appeal to my country. men whether it is consonant to the generosity and courage of Englishmen to attack any man under circumstances in which the assailant is assured of impunity? Protected by the privileges of the House of Commons-privileges which no one respects more than myself-Mr. Windham has ventured to describe us as a (From the Morning Post of Feb. 8, 1810.) worthless and a venal set of men. Sir, I SIR-A proper jealousy of character, call upon him to prove his assertion. I and a due estimation of public opinion, call upon him to adduce an instance of have ever been considered by wise and that venality. Let us have facts, not virtuous men as among the surest indica- inuendoes. I will set the honourable tions of the presence of wisdom and vir- gentleman an example. I will state a tue. The laudable sensibility which you transaction which occurred at no very have shewn to the aspersions of Mr. WIND- distant period; and the truth of my stateHAM on the Editors of the London News- ment I am prepared to establish in any papers, and my long experience of the way that may be demanded of me. A liberality of your mind, justify me in the member of the present house of commons conviction that you will allow to an indivi- (a gentleman of whom I am sure I am not dual of another class, which has incurred disposed to say any thing at all disrespectthe unmerited censure of that Gentleman, ful) sent me a note, during an important the privilege of entering his protest against debate, intimating that he was about to the justice of that censure, and against the address the house, and requesting that I accuracy of the statements upon which it would pay particular attention to his was supported.Mr. WINDHAM has speech; adding that he would make me thought fit publicly to characterise the a handsome pecuniary acknowledgment Reporters of Parliamentary Debates in for my trouble. It was not difficult for an terms of general and unqualified repro-honest man to decide how to act on such an bation, too gross to be repeated, and as unfounded in truth as they were coarse and illiberal in expression. I will venture to assert, without fear of contradiction by any one who knows those gentle men, that there are among them men of as respectable birth of as liberal education, of as honourable principles, and of as fair

occasion. To the note I gave no answer; and to the honourable gentleman's speech I paid precisely that attention to which, in the excrcise of my judgment, and in the discharge of my duty to you, Sir, and to the public, it appeared to me to be entitied.-The next day the honourable member inclosed to me a check upon his

banker. This I instantly returned, accompanied by a few lines, in which I ob

COBBETT'S

served that he had entirely mistaken my Parliamentary Debates:

The Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Volumes of the above Work, comprising the Proceedings in both Houses of Parliament during the last Session, are ready for delivery. Complete sets from the Commencement in the Year 1803, may still be had of the Publishers.

*

**All Communications for the Parlia mentary Debates will be carefully attended to; but it is particularly requested that they may be transmitted to the Publishers with the least possible delay.

LORD GAMBIER.

Lord COCHRANE's Reply-(Continued from p. 192.)

character, and I firmly believed the character of all my coadjutors, if he imagined that we were to be influenced in the performance of that, which we conceived to be a public duty by any private consideration. My correspondent then came up to the gallery, and we had a short conversation, in which I frankly expressed my sentiments on the subject, and which terminated by a polite acknowledgment on his part of my disinterestedness. To a gentleman, the Reporter of another Paper, this hon. member made a similar application, and from him he experienced a simiJar line of conduct. Now, Sir, to the general charge of venality, here are in reply two particular proofs of the contrary. Let Mr. Windham bring a fact in answer to them; and I assure him that I will be as ready as himself to attach to the person on whom he can fasten it the odium which he 2. Did you know previous to the 12th deserves. But, even in that case, a case of April, of any anchorage above the the existence of which I at present totally Boyart-shoal and near the Palles shoa!, disbelieve, Mr. Windham, in the opinion for line of battle ships out of range of of every rational and generous man, will the enemy's shells?-A. I knew of no anremain unjustified for having visited the chorage.-2. Have you acquired a knowsins of an individual upon a whole profes- ledge of any such since?-4. I have not, sion; and for having given to many a -2. Were you in the road of Aix, after manly and independent mind the pain the British ships were placed for the purwhich those who are desirous of preserv-pose of attacking the enemy?-A. No. ing the good opinion of their fellow-citizens, must feel at an attack so virulent and unprovoked.As to the manner in which the task assigned to Parliamentary Reporters is executed, you will, perhaps, Sir, permit me to say, that when the peculiar inconveniencies to which those gentlemen are subject are considered, deprived as they are of those facilities which could so easily be afforded them, and even compelled to struggle for their situations in the gallery of the house of commons with the herd of common and comparatively uninterested strangers who frequent it, the accuracy of their Reports is a matter of surprise, and, I will be bold to add, ought to be one of general gratitude. That these Reports are free from error, nobody will assert; but that they are much more correct than under the disadvantageous circumstances of every description in which they are composed could possibly be expected, every candid man must willingly allow.-I am, Sir, your obedient humble servant,

A REPROTER OF PARLIAMENTARY
DEBATES FOR THE

MORNING POST.

So much for this gentleman's knowledge of that to which he positively swears. Now, Sir; let us see Mr. Stokes's evidence on this head. "He does not know the distance between the sands from his own soundings," yet he positively swears that "the space for anchorage is much confined, and the water round it shoal, that it is difficult for large ships, and that the Channel is very narrow."-Why, Sir, even by his fabricated chart, which he says he copied from the Neptune François, the channel is a mile wide, and neither bank or shoal between where our fleet lay and the Cassard and Foudroyant, which he has very injuriously contrived to put in a corner, a mile distant from Aix, though in his evidence he swears they were only one third of the distance, and here is his deposition.-"The Cassard and Foudroyant both lay afloat, the Cassard one third of a mile from Aix, the Foudroyant three cables length astern of her."-The reason, Sir, for making a corner between two shoals, and putting them in it, was to prevent the possibility of getting under their sterns and between them and the ships on shore, which, Mr.

written out by me, were delivered by Lord Gambier in the cabin of the Caledonia, directing quite the contrary-Ordering them to use their discretion as to the time when they were to be kindled, and had the state of the weather render.

Stokes has sworn, “lay on the Western part
of the Palles shoal, the three decker on
the North West edge of the Pailes shoal,
with her broad side flanking the passage,
the N. W. part nearest to the deep wa-
ter," although in his fabricated chart he
has transported them from the N. W. parted it practicable to couple then together,
nearest to the deep water, to the S. E.
side farthest from the deep water beyond
the Tonnere, where he says they never
could have been got at for the shot to
reach." This chart, it is affirmed by Mr.
Stokes, is taken from the Neptune, but
the space is contracted to about one third
of its size. For what reason, Sir, could this
be done, but to induce a belief of the "un-
warrantable peril," to which his Majesty's
ships would have been exposed. Mr. Stokes
confessed on his examination his ignorance
of the distance between the sounds, and yet
presumed to deliver to the Court a chart,
not, of the scale of the Neptune François,
of which, it professed to be a copy. And
to crown all, Sir, after having sworn that it
was a chart, of the position of the enemy's
ships, on, and previous to the 12th April,
he, on a subsequent day, when asked by the
President, who observed that "the Ocean
was not marked on the 12th, she was
marked on the 13th," afterwards positively
swears that the only ships marked on this
foul fabrication," are the ships that were
destroyed." Yet inadvertently several of
ficers have spoken to this chart as correct,
and some have even deposed, that it was
impossible to pass under the stern of the
Foudroyant, between her and the bank,
although, she was seven miles from
them, and the bank, from nine, to thir-
teen feet, under water. I trust, Sir,
this is sufficient, all this I can prove to
the world by the testimony given by the
witnesses themselves. Another naval
member opposite has offered to prove a
fact which, he must do me the justice to
own, is not within his own knowledge-
That I was to blame for the failure of the
fire ships; and he states, first, that the ex-
plosion vessel was a signal to the fire
ships, and next, that she was improperly
exploded. Now, Sir, this gives me an op-
portunity to remark again on the conduct
of the Court. How rigorous, as to the law
on one side, and how lax on the other.
Lord Gambier, too, has asserted that, which
the honourable gentleman has undertaken
to prove, but his Lordship did not prove
it, and I will tell the House why he did
not prove it, because the explosion vessel
was no signal to the fire ships. Orders

the senior officer of each division of four,
was to shew a lanthorn, or a false fire, to
direct, whether, the long, or short fuses were
to be kindled.--And an acknowledgment
of the delivery of these Orders will be found
in Lord Gambier's Official Letter, I think
of the 10th of May. The Court, however,
refused to receive this document which I
offered to them, because, they said it was
not relevant to the charge, although the
Court, had not only suffered Lord Gam-
bier to make the assertion, but had them-
selves examined several witnesses to the
point. So far, Sir, from the explosion hav-
ing been asigual for the fire ships to kindle,
the fire ships were, by their written orders,
to go in, in three divisions, each half a
mile apart, and the explosion vessels half
a mile a head of them. Thus much for the
signal, and for the impartiality of the
Court. Now, Sir, as to the place in which
the vessel exploded; and Mr. Fairfax,
one of the fabricators of the chart, is the
only person examined to this point; he,
Sir, notwithstanding that he has sworn
that she blew up within two cables length
of the Lyra, has a remark a little unfortu-
nate, on a chart or in a let er, I do not re-
member which, in the Naval Chronicle
(I think of July): "the French frigate (F.)
cut or slipped before the fire ships got to
where they were set fire to;" the fact is,
Sir, the explosion vessel blew up close to
her.-I submit to this house-many of the
members are military men, and all are ca-
pable to judge of the fact, whether one
hundred barrels of powder, covered with
shells, and at least a thousand grenades,
would not have destroyed the Lyra, if ex-
ploded, within two cables length.
Court, indeed, asked Mr. Fairfax "where
he was when she blew up," and he an-
swered, "In the Lyra."-In the Lyra, Sir,
was his answer; the Court did not put a
question on the minutes, Was you on deck
in the Lyra? If I could n.ake use of notes
which I had taken, I might submit also to
this House, whether, a man who was be-
low, at the explosion of the first part of
100 barrels of powder, could get on deck
to see the second part exploded. Lord
Gambier's defence was full of accusations
against me.

The

Evidences were examined to