the assurance of almost certain impunity? | action well. Give every part of it due There is, however, a sort of codicil to consideration. Come to a correct opinion the history of this Anti-Jacobin News-pa- of it; such an opinion as plain good sense per, with which the public should now be dictates; and, when you have so done; made acquainted.--The work, after then remember, that it was Mr. Canning, having, in vain, endeavoured to rise in who, a little more than a year back, insale, never attained a publication of more veighed, in such lofty strains, against the than about 2,000, though, as may easily dastardly conduct of the press; against its be conceived, every effort was made use baseness and cowardice in attacking persons of to force a sale, and though many persons in high rank; and, who was directly foltook it from the same motives that they lowed by his colleague, Lord Castlereagh, subscribed to the " Voluntary Contribu- who, to Mr. Canning's accusations, added tions," at that time going on. The public, an expression of his regret, that it was so properly so called, were disgusted with difficult to insure conviction in cases of liit, and even the alarmists were ashamed bel.- Reader, you must remember the of it. It was dropped; but the authors, outcry that was set up, towards the close hoping to preserve the rhyme part from of the last session of parliament, against oblivion, and, at the same time to gratify what was called the prevailing disposition their" gentlemanlike" feelings, proposed, to attack all public men, when the real truth or, at least, assented to, the re-publishing was, there was nothing attacked but the of the rhymes, in a quarto edition, illumi- base and detestable corruptions that made nated with plates, by that celebrated pain- notorious to all the world, and which were ter, MR. GILLRAY of St. James's Street, attacked with becoming abhorrence by who, for all his admirable representations the Speaker of the House of Commons of louring knaves and cut-throats, is said himself; but, suppose it had been otherto be indebted solely to his mirror. This wise; suppose we had attacked the persons, was the person, who was to furnish those surely we had as good a right to attack illuminations, which were to preserve from persons with truth as Mr. Canning and his the merciless trunk-maker the rhymes of news-paper associates had to attack other Canning and Co. In plain English, he persons with falsehood. was to give a caricature, corresponding with the written description of each of the principal persons, who had been so grossly attacked in the work. The printed part of the book was finished in September, 1800, and the illuminations, from the hand of the worthy Mr. Gillray, were nearly all finished about the same time; when, whether from the alarming state of the country at that time, and a dread of any change which that might produce; whether from a foreboding of danger, and of a day of retribution, without perceiving any specific cause; or, from whatever other motive, certain it is, that, all of sudden, our Authors, who had subscribed to the work themselves and encouraged it in all manner of ways, and who, Mr. Canning at least, had corrected the sheets, as they went through the press; all of a sudden they withdrew their names from the subscription list, and, as Mr. Gillray asserts, not only put a stop to his further operations, but MR. CANNING actually took the plates into his own possession; having stated which circumstances, I shai! leave the public to form their own opinions as to the share which he had had in the selecting of the several subjects of those plates.--Now, reader, look at this trans "The great, it seems, are privileg'd alone, "To punish all injustice but their own." But this conduct of the Rhodian Judges is surpassed by Mr. Canning; for he cen sures in us attacks which we justly make, while he, as we have seen, has made severer, or, at least, ruder and grosser, attacks unjustly. We accuse nobody of treasonable language and designs; we accuse no peer of cozening the House; we accuse no Duke of intentionally endeavourng to cheat the revenue; we deal not in the abuse and ridicule of the persons, the features, and the dress of public men; and what was he, I want to know, that he shouli make such attacks with impunity? Why, he was a favourite of the minister of the day; he was under the wing of office and of power. Talk of jacobinism, indeed! Talk of levelling! Talk of pulling down dignities! Look into the pages of Mr. Canuing's news-paper; look into the scandalous volumes of the "Anti-Jacobin," and see how men of high rank are there treated. Is it not monstrous, then; is it not sufficient to awaken anger and resentment in the breast of any man who has a heart there, to hear other authors and publishers represented as aiming at the overthrow of all government, though they have had this example before them, and have stopped very far short of its bounds?---But, no matter what the pretence, it is the liberty of the press itself, which is hateful, and which there exists an evident intention to destroy; and, the truth really is, that corruption must destroy the press, or the press will destroy coruption. It is a deadly struggle between them.--One would imagine, that, as danger approaches us, there would be a greater and greater disposition to relax in severities, to disarm men of their resentments, and to unite all hearts in the country's defence; but, after what we have seen, in all the countries subdued by Napoleon, we cannot be much surprized at what we now see in our own country. increased taxation. ----Numerous as the German troops, in our pay, are, we have, upon a moderate computation, lost more of our troops in Spain and Portugal than we have of German troops. Would it not, then, have been better to have kept our own men at home, and have left the Germans in their own country? What have we to show for all this loss? What have the ministers to tender the burthened country in lieu of all the money and life that has, in this war, been expended? Nothing; for, not only have we, thus far, at least, failed in all our attempts at keeping the French out of the Peninsula; but, if we fail in the end, as there is now reason to believe we shall, we shall have assisted the French in the subjugation of the country; because when the People of Spain see us driven out of the field, they will no longer entertain any hope from resistance, and, indeed, will not wish to resist.It was, from the beginning, the opinion of thousands, amongst whom I was one, that, if we gave our aid to a revolution in Spain, we should succeed; but that, if we made war, and incited the Spaniards to make war, for a choice of masters for Spain, we should fail, and, in the nature of things, we must fail. SPANISH REVOLUTION, or TURTLE-PATRIOT WAR. So, it seems, that the French, in spite of that " defeat," for which we are praising and rewarding Baron Douro and Viscount Talavera, have reached SEVILLE; and that the Junta, the "Supreme Central Junta," who (having good advisers, I dare say) began their labours by putting down the small degree of liberty of the press that had risen out of the absence, of the momentary absence, of despotism; yes, it does seem, from the -How severely were these opinious renews-papers of this morning, that this probated by the partizans of the ministry! Junta, though they had taken the precau- They had the charity to represent me as tion to fortify their" regular government" being " truly instigated by the Devil." by putting down the liberty of the press, They asserted, in opposition to my opihave been obliged to quit Seville, and to nions, that the People of Spain were deflee towards Cadiz; that is to say, to get as voted to their " amiable monarch," Ferdifar out of the reach of their pursuers as nand the Seventh; that it was for the inthe sea will let them go.- -Well; letterests of the world that no revolution should that stand there. And, when we have leisure, let us look back a little, and see what this war in Spain; this war for Ferdinand, this war for a king, this war for the prevention of change, this war for the support of the old order of things, this war, as the pastry-cook called it, for the holy altars of Spain, this war, the object of which was first openly avowed at the dinner of the TURTLE-PATRIOTS, where the Lord Chancellor, he who had been one of Pitt's Attorney Generals, made a most flaming speech against Buonaparte's villainous attempts to rob the Spaniards of their freedom; yes, let us look back, only for a moment, to the time when the TurtleMeeting took place, and see what this war has cost us, how large a portion of our means, how many thousands of valuable lives, and how much suffering from many causes, amongst which we must not forget take place in Spain; that the people of England view the possibility of such revolution with horror: and they, at the same time, were so very candid as to assert, that I and those who thought with me, were grieved to the soul to see, that the people of Spain loved their monarch, and that Buonaparté would, at last, be beaten by the " loyal and religious." Their hope was, or, seemed to be, this: that the Spaniards would repel Buonaparte's attacks, and finally beat him, and that they would afford (for the benefit of " regular government") an instance of a people, UNDER A DESPOTIC GOVERNMENT, having risen in defence of their country and succeeded in their object. This was the hope of our political opponents. They were very anxious to have it in their power to say to us: " look, here are people, living under a despotism, who have been able and willing to defend their carious. As connected with this topic, I will just inform the reader, that, i MR. COCHRANE JOHNSTONE had been allowed to export Arms to Spain, upon his first arrival in England, early in December last, and if proper assistance had been af forded him, he would now have bad, safe in England, the famous NEGRETTI FLOCK, consisting of from fourteen to fifteen thousand sheep and lambs! A full account of all the transactions, relating to these sheep, will hereafter be published. Well; but, after all, how stand the Welicsieys? How stands the question between them and Buonaparté? They have all been in Spain. They have all been employed against him. Well, brave and accomplished generals and statesmen, what have you done with him, or to him, or against him, or about him? Can you give us no account of him; and, shall we have you all home again, leaving him as he was before you went out? What! Douro and all! All come home again, and leave Buonaparté untouched; untouched, did I say; uay, unseen by any one of you ?—— At any rate, whatever may become of the Junta, and whatever may be the result of the war in Spain, I shall always bear in mind, that, under the Junta. the Liberty of the Press was forbidden. That is a fact, which I shall never forget, and which I hope the whole nation will remember. country against France." Their motives | pending solely upon his will, must be prefor this were not easily mistaken; and, if the French had, no matter by what means, been driven out of Spain, we should never have heard the last of it: morning, noon, and night it would have been dinued in our ears, that people, under despotic government, had succeeded in defending their country against France, when the people of states, comparatively free, had made little or no resistance against her. The inference would have been too plain not to be perceived, and too useful, in the eyes of some persons, not to be applied. This hope, however, this heart chearing hope of our political opponents, has, it seems, now vanished; for, if the Junta have decamped from Seville, there can be no doubt of the whole kingdom's being upon the eve of submission.-- -Thus, then, if the news be true, will soon have closed that famous war, of which MR. CANNING was the official originator, and thus will Englishmen know, and that, too, in the best possible way; by their feelings will they know, what it is to have an ANTIJACOBIN minister. Aye, aye! we have not yet felt all that we had to feel from Anti-Jacobinism. It is only now beginning to work upon us. To acknowledge the son as king, while the father was alive; to espouse the cause of that son in a war, carried on against his own published declaration; to send an embassador near his august person at Madrid, when it was notorious that the said august person was in France; to send a second army into the heart of Spain after the fate of the army of Sir John Moore; to send out embassador after embassador, with expence upon expence; to send out another new embassador just now, too, with all the enormous expence therefrom arising to do these things, and a hundred others, of the same description, was reserved for the Anti-Jacobins, whom, for many years, a majority of the people of this infatuated country extolled as their protectors. But, we have, as yet, merely had a taste of what is to be endured, as the consequence of that infatu>tion.Amongst the minor consequences of the subjugation of Spain by Napoleon will be that of giving him the exclusive possession of all the fine wools, without which it is very well known, that superfine cloth cannot be made. No wool of this sort shall we, in future, have, without his consent; and, though he may find it sound policy to give that consent, still our supply, de CORN AGAINST SUGAR.These two articles of human sustenance, which had so severe a combat during the Sessions before the last, and in which combat the former besides many wounded champions, had its great leader, Mr. ARTHUR YOUNG, killed by a cleft stick, dead upon the field, appear to have renewed their unnatural hostilities.It will be remembered, that at the time alluded to, an act was passed, prohibiting, throughout the united kingdom, the use of grain in the distilleries, and, permitting sugar to be used therein. -This was objected to by the "Corn"Growers," who said that it would make corn, and particularly Barley, so low priced, that they should be unable to pay their rents; and that, thus, agriculture would be discouraged.- -On the other side, it was contended, that supposing the notions about the effect of low prices to be correct, still there would be no danger of that effects' proceeding from the proposed measure, so long as the government was left with full power to stop the operation of the act as soon as the prices of grain sunk ture | down to the point, which the " Corn "Growers" acknowledged to be sufficiently high for the due encouragement of agricul-There were many other argumeats on both sides; the matter was fully discussed; reason prevailed; the act was passed, and has been in force ever since. It is, however, an act for a time limited, and now is the time for renewing it, for which renewal a bill is now before the House of Commons.--To this bill, it would seem, from the reports, given in the news-papers, that some opposition is intended, particularly on the part of some of the Irish members, and Mr. FOSTER, Sir JOHN NEWPORT, and MR. PARNELL, appear to be running a race of rivalship in this opposition Let us. therefore, | look a little into the grounds of their opposition. The objec s of the bill, were, and sull are, twofold: the 1st, to add to the quantity of corn in the kingdom, and thereby contribute towards keeping it at a reasonable price, and prevent the consequences of scarcity: the 2nd, to open a new market for sugar, and thereby afford relief to our fellow subjects, the West India Planters. Consequently, the propriety, or impropriety of passing the act, and of keeping it in force, must depend upon the price of corn in the kingdom.—— Well then, now let us compare the prices of corn when the bill was first passed with the prices of corn now. SOs. 588. 33s. 102s. 495. 32s. WheatBarley Oats -There requires, I think, nothing more to show, that, if the act was proper in 1808, it must be proper to continue it in force now. But, say the Irish members, though you have had a scanty harvest in England, we have had a plentiful one in Ireland, and, therefore, let not the act apply to that part of the united kingdom. In advancing such an argument, they might, surely, leave out the word united; for, to hear it, one would suppose that Ireland was completely separated from England, either by nature, or by some legat prohibition. Oh, no! These gentlemen, men of so much sense, never can think, that I, for instance, am such a fool as to believe, that, while the ports are open, corn can be dear in England and cheap in Ireland, scarce in the former country and abundant in the latter. They might just as well suppose me capable of believing, that the people of Hampshire could experience famine, while those of Wiltshire were living in the midst of plenty. That argument, therefore, is worth nothing.Another is, that, owing to the wetness of the harvest, there is a great deal of corn, which cannot be used "as human food," which might be used in the distilleries. Now, I have always understood, that none but the very best grain is used in the distilleries. But, be this as it may, of one thing I am very sure, that (speaking of what sort of corn you please) in proportion as it is damaged, by wet or otherwise, it is less valuable for every purpose; for distilling as well as for eating; and, it is well known, that Barley, which has been much wet, is never used for malting, if other can possibly be got. The reason is, that it has lost part of its spirit; part of that, which in one way or another, would go to the forming of human sustenance. Wheat is not dis iled; but, suppose it was. Take a bushel of grown wheat, and it will make just as much less spirit than a bushel of good wheat would nake, as the former would make less than the latter of human food in the shape of flour. As to Barley, that which is unfit for malt and the distilleries, is, generally, consumed by Hogs; and, surely, they are not so very nice in their diet as to refuse to eat that which is fit for the still. Oats can hardly be called "human food." This argument appears to me to have nothing at all in it; and, indeed, unless there be something more in the meaning of these gentlemen, than I have been able to pick out of the reports of their speeches in the news-papers, their opposition must be intended merely as a compliment in kind to their constituents.But, I had, in imitation of these gentlemen, nearly forgotten to ask them, how they came to pass over the circumstance (however trifling) that we are now actually importing corn from abroad; nay, from France, where we have, by our importations, raised the price, since July last, from 27s. to 42s. a quarter, and where the corn, which we import, pays a duty of 12s. a quarter, which is so much English money paid into the coffers of Buonaparté! and, the Irish members overlooked this! Or, did they really, and do they really mean to say, that it is better to give this money to Buonaparté, than to suffer the distillation of sugars, because the latter may be hurtful to the interests, or, rather, the imaginary interests, of the corn growers of Ireland? London, Feb. 16, 1810. WM. COBBETT. N. B. I was mistaken, last week, in confounding MR. VILLIERS, Envoy to Portugal, with MR. VILLIERS late Paymaster of Marines. They are different persons; and I avail myself of this first opportunity of correcting my error. COBBETT'S THE HON. GEORGE VILLIERS AND MR. HUNT. SIR;-In a former communication on Mr. George Villiers's delinquency, I stated a circumstance of Mr. Waters, his Deputy, having a contract from the Ordnance Of fice (see page 126,) which I qualified as a transaction that appeared extremely suspicious on both sides; at that time I Parliamentary History did not know, that a delinquency, similar OF ENGLAND, Which in the compass of Sixteen Volumes, royal octavo, will contain a full and accurate Report of all the recorded Proceedings, and of all the Speeches in both Houses of Parliament, from the earliest times, to the Year 1803, when the publication of "Cobbett's Parliamentary Debates" commenced. The numerous Subscribers to the above Work are respectfully informed, that the Sixth Volume, embracing the period from the Accession of Queen Anne, in 1702, to the Accession of King George the First, in 1714, will be published in March next. MEXICO. To the COTTON, WOOLLEN, and SILK MANUFACTURERS of the United Kingdom. Gentlemen;-While I was at Mexico, last year, I conceived it to be a duty incumbent upon me, to endeavour to procure every sort of information which might be of service to the interest of my country. Amongst many other objects, I attended particularly to the state of the Cotton, Woollen, and Silk Manufactures there, and I have brought home with me patterns of most of them, with their prices. As I think that these patterns may be of very essential consequence to your interest, I take this opportunity to inform you, that if there be any amongst you, who wish to see them, I shall be at home every Tuesday and Friday from 10 o'clock in the morning until 1 o'clock in the forenoon, when I shall be happy to afford you every explanation in regard to them, and also relative to the exports and imports of Mexico. I am, Gentlemen, your obedidient humble Servant, A. COCHRANE Johnstone. to that in the Marine Pay Office, had actually taken place in the office of the Treasurer of the Ordnance; an event, which though it does not directly prove connection or complicity, certainly tends, from the coincidence of time, and similarity of circumstances, to create an additional suspicion, that the one was connected and influenced by the other; in whatever manner that influence had operated. On the discovery of the delinquency, Mr. Villiers resigned; on the discovery of the delinquency, Mr. Hunt, following the example in this, as in the malversation of the public money, resigned; and the Minister has appointed a successor. The Minister has informed the House of Commons, that the proper officers are investigating Mr. Hunt's accounts, that they will soon be made up, and the deficit known. He has not given any information respecting Mr. Villiers; but now that the discovery is made, we may sup pose that no time will be lost in bringing down his account so as to ascertain the deficit to the time of his resignation.—That every effort will be made, by the one, and the other, to pay up their respective deficits, I make no doubt; and I will even admit that they may both be able to repay the whole, without any loss to the public, though I am far from thinking that that will be the case. But even then, a question still remains of much greater im portance to the public, than the actual repayment of the money; and that is, the danger of example, if such glaring acts of delinquency are suffered to pass with im punity; and without being made the subject of a criminal prosecution.-This is not a light matter, in which Ministers may exercise a discretionary power as the guardians of the public purse. It does not end in itself-It branches out into considerations of the deepest social interests; connected with the free and equal distri bution of justice, which is the first and pre-eminent distinction of the British Constitution, from that of any other in |