Revenue and Commerce: 4. The Indemnity | Duckworth has respecting the French army, in St. Domingo (which was a week ago reduced to 1,500 men, who, with their commander, had actually taken to their ships) we shall be disposed to give very little credit to his intelligence; and, indeed, we shall ne-, ver be in great haste to believe the foreign intelligence of a minister, who, in March, 1801, stated the French army in Egypt to consist of twelve thousand men, and who had, a few months afterwards, to inform the nation, that twenty-five thousand men of that very army had laid down their arms! The comparative statement which he gave of our navy, and of that of France and her two principal satellites, was, that France had 39 sail of the line, Spain 70, and Hol-, 16; and that, to oppose these, we had 192 sail of the line. Whether he meant to include the ships building, those unserviceable, in Holland, France, and Spain, we know. not; but this we know, that he did not in-. sea. to the Stadtholder: 5. The affair of Capt. D'Auvergne. As to the navy, it must give every one who loves England, and who wishes to preserve her from the power of France, great pleasure to perceive, that a stop has been put to the dismantling and disbanding system of Lord St. Vincent. The 50,000 seamen, voted for the whole year, must, in great part, be inlisted upon a new bounty, from those already discharged; but this is a trifle when compared to the alarming mischief which would soon have been accomplished, if his lordship's economical measures had not received a check. We have at this moment fewer ships of the line in commission than France has, if we include (as, in all such calculations we must) those which she has at her command, belonging to Spain and Holland; and, in Europe, we have not half so many in commission as France. Our ships of the line at this time in Europe, and in commission, are 9 include them. According to his statement, we number, or 10 at most; and, our readers may rest assured, that these have not hands enough on board to man more than 6 for We have about 50 frigates in commission in Europe, some of them manned with about one-third of their complement. Not more than 30 of these could put to sea with their present strength of hands. Mr. Addington has, indeed, told the country, that we can, at any time, get fifty ships of the line ready for sea in the space of a month! And here we have a striking instance of the lengths to which your modest, well-meaning men, who are everlastingly talking of their conscience, will sometimes go. Fifty ships of the line ready for sea at a month's notice! Forty additional ships, with all their tackling, rigging, guns, stores, and men, amounting to 24,000 seamen and 5,000) marines, to be got ready to sail out of port at a month's notice! The very press-gangs, for the impressment of the 24,000 seamen, would not be organized in that space of time. But why do we occupy the time of our readers with comments on a statement, which, if it be not (as we hope it is) a joint fabrication of the newspapers, is upon a level with any of the statements of Baron Munchausen. Mr. Addington contradicted certain reports, which had been circulated with respect to the strength of the French fleet at Toulon, and, upon the authority of Admiral Bickerton, assured the House that there were but 5 ships of the line in the harbour of Toulon; but, until it be proved to us, that Admiral Bickerton has better information respecting the French fleet at Toulon, than Admiral have 60 ships of the line more than the three powers; but, from so conscientious and candid a man, one might have expected a deduction from this balance of 18 ships building, 8 of the ordinary, 18 receiving ships, and 3 of the guard-ships, all unserviceable, which would leave us a balance. of no more than 13; and, as the Italian states have more than this number, the numerical balance is certainly against us. Far be it from us, however, to augur any evil. from this circumstance. We have ships enough; and we have entered into this examination only for the purpose of showing, that the sort of calculation on which Mr. Ad-, dington proceeded, was fit for nothing but. the amusement of children. He did not remove, nor attempt to remove, the serious apprehension, which every thinking man must entertain, of the consequences of the. emigration of British sailors to France; a thing that never was heard of at the end of any former war.-We rejoice, however, that, whether by the opponents of the peace, or by Buonaparté, the ministry have been goaded into an augmentation of the fleet; and we rejoice still more at the augmentation of the army; for, however we may hope to the contrary, it is on this army that we must finally depend for the preservation of our. independence. The Secretary at War, in bringing forward his estimate (see preceding sheet, p. 754), attempted a defence of the precipitate measures of reduction, in which he completely failed, if a speaker ought to be said to fail in not defending what is indefensible. Our pleasure, however, at per ceiving, that it was resolved to maintain an "free passage now given to their ships and efficient army of a bundred and thirty thou-" armies into every part of the world, and 68 "the establishment of them every where in "the neighbourhood of our most valuable possessions. Against all these dangers war provided, as it were, by its own sin"gle act. The existence of our fleets upon "the ocean, with an admiralty order "to "burn, sink, and destroy," shut up at once, as under lock and key, all those attempts, "which are now let loose, and require as many separate defences as there are parts "liable to be attacked. A fleet cruising "before Brest, therefore, was not to be "considered as so much clear expense, to sand men, made us willing to overlook an attempt (perhaps laudable enough "upon the whole and under all existing circumstances") to draw a veil over past errors, particularly when accompanied with such thumping atonement. Before we dismiss this subject of naval and military establishments, justice to those who opposed the peace call upon us to remind our readers of their sentiments, formerly given, applicable to establishments. as connected with the measure, of which they disapproved. Mr. Windham, in his speech of the 4th of November, 1801, said, The chief question, as to the expenses of" be charged to the account of the war; "peace compared to those of war, will be, "not between an ordinary peace establishment " and a war, such as, from circumstances, "ours has hitherto been, involving expeditions to all parts of the globe; but be. "tween a peace establishment, such as that "which is now declared to be necessary, and a war, which had become, and was likely "to continue, merely defensive; in which we should have had nothing to do, but to "maintain a competent force, with little "prospect of being obliged to make use of "it. The advocates for the present peace "must find themselves always in an auk"ward dilemma, between economy and "safety. We make peace in order to save our money if we reduce our establish"nents, what becomes of our security? If we keep up our establishments, what be"comes of our savings? Whatever you "give to one object, is unavoidably taken "from the other. The savings of the pre"sent peace, therefore, can be looked for "only between the narrow limits of a bigb 46 peace and a low war establishment; or, to "state the case more correctly, between a "high peace establishment and a war, re"duced in the manner that I have described. "I wish that a correct estimate were formed "of the difference, in point of expense, be"tween these two states; recollecting always "that among the expenses of peace are to be "counted the provisions necessary against the "new dangers brought by the peace itself; the "new dangers for example, with which "Jamaica, and all our West-India islands are threatened by the establishment of the "French in Saint-Domingo, and other parts in that quarter of the world; the new dangers to which our empire in the East "is exposed, by the re-entry of the French "into the peninsula of India, and the ces"sion to them, for such in effect it is, of the Cape and Cochin: in general, by the "without deducting the expense of addi"tional troops and additional ships, which "the absence of the fleet might require to be "kept for instance, in the West-Indies."-How correct was this reasoning! How minutely correct have these calculations proved to be! The expense of the five thousand men added to the establishment of Jamaica since the peace, and that of the four ships of the line, at least, added to those on that station, the amount of these expenses (which are so much higher in the West-Indies than in Europe), the amount of these expenses alone, which is entirely an addition to the war establishment of Jamaica, would, if we take into the account the greater loss of lives there than in the Channel, more than have maintained a squadron of 12 ships of the line and 4 frigates to blockade the port of Brest, which blockade not only defended Jamaica, but all those other numerous points of the British empire, which, being exposed by the removal of that blockade, must now be guarded by an addition to their war establishments, as long as this armed truce shall continue. Leaving our readers to apply the reasoning of Mr. Windham to our present circumstances, we shall proceed to our third topic, to wit, the Revenue and Commerce. Mr. Adington's statement relative to which we have given correctly and at full length in p. 778 of the present sheet. On a sub ject so complicated we cannot be expected here to go into detail; we shall, therefore, content ourselves with some general remarks, which we preface with an unfeigned expres sion of pleasure to find, that our financial affairs are in so flourishing a state, and with a request that our readers will believe, that if we endeavour to shew, that the great excess, of which the minister speaks, is owing to temporary and not to permanent causes we are actuated by a desire, not to delude but to prevent that delusion, which mu E "full compensation for the losses suffered by by the House of Orange."-Here, then, we 12 have the interpretation of the article of the treaty relative to the compensation to the House of Orange: and this interpretation comes, too, from the nobleman who negociated the treaty, and from him who drew it up. That these noble lords looked to Hol. land for the compensation, or, at least, to some other country than England, is evident. Indeed, it is notorious, that the ministers and their adherents never supposed it possible, that any demand of the sort would come upon this country: when charged with ingratitude towards the House of Orange, they endeavoured to diminish our obligations to that house; and Lord Hobart, in the very debate above quoted, "denied that the Dutch colonies had been "delivered into our hands by the Prince of "Orange, or by his means." In fact, it is well known, that, from the beginning to the end of the long and repeated discussions on the peace, the ministers, upon every occasion, insisted that they had PROCURED, by negociation, a full and adequate compensation to the House of Orange. And, will they now pretend that they meant to procure it from the people of England! Was it necessary to obtain the consent of France, Spain, and Holland to this! Or, did those nations, seeing us basely inclined to desert our faithful friend and ally, resolve to bind us down to do him justice !-Oh shame! shame! shame! lon), and Mr. J. Dumaresq, sailed from He ed that he would either go, or write to. Mr. Talleyrand, demanding the immediate release of Captain D'Auvergne. Mr. Merry instantly wrote, but received no answer.. He desired Mr. Dumaresq, in case the Captain should not be released that night, to inform him of it early in the morning. Mr. Dumaresq did so, and Mr. Merry, thereupon dispatched a courier to London, to inform his court of what had happened.. We now come to the last of our proposed topics: the affair of Captain D'Auvergne, which, agreeably to a notice given by Dr. Laurence, is to be discussed after the recess. In the mean time, we think it necessary to put our readers in possession of the leading facts relative to the subject. The news-glish Plenipotentiary at Paris, and requestpapers have represented Lord Pelham as saying, in reply to Lord Spencer, that (we quote the True Briton of the 14th inst.) With respect to the gallant officer, Cap. "tain D'Auvergne, no possible imputation "could rest upon ministers. It was true, "that he had been arrested by an officer of "police, and for a short time confined in "Paris; but, the moment it was known to the "British Minister, application was made "to the Minister of Foreign Relations, On the 9th of September (two days "and by that means, he was instantly re- after Captain D'Auvergne was arrested) "leased." Now, we positively assert, Mr. Dumaresq was also taken up, in the at the newspapers have combined to missame way, carried to the police-office, aud. sent his lordship, or that his lordship after a few interrogatories, was also seat› en kept in the dark, and grossly de- to the Temple, previous to which, how-7 with respect to this unjust and in- ever, he requested to be informed as to the ansaction. The facts are as fol- charge against him, but could obtain no apt.D'Auvergne,(Duke de Bouil-answer.On Sunday, the 12th of Septem 7 ber, both the gentlemen were released. On the Monday, they went to the office of the Minister of Police, in order to recover their papers, and to find out, if possible, what were the charges alledged against them, and who were their accusers; but all knowledge of this kind was refused them.-On Wednesday, the 15th of September, they received their passports to quit France, and the next day they set off from Paris. As we pledge our word for the correctness of this narrative, it follows, of course, that Lord Pelham must have been misrepresented by the news-papers, or must have been, as we said before, kept in the dark and grossly imposed upon, with respect to this shameful transaction. His lordship is made to say, that "the moment "it" [the Captain's arrest] 66 was made known to the British Minister, applica❝tion was made to the French Minister of "Foreign Relations, and by that means, "he" [the Captain] "was instantly re"leased."-But, the fact is, that Captain D'Auvergne, instead of being instantly released upon the British Ministers application, remained in a filthy prison six days after the making of that application, whieh, besides, was not even answered by Talleyrand-Lord Castlereagh has been pleased to speak of this matter as too trifling to give rise to a national dispute. "have an alien law," says he, "and we "should not suffer any other nation to inter" fere in our execution of it." True, my gentle Lord, and to avoid such interference, on the part of France, you will never attempt to execute it against any of the friends or agents of Buonaparté. Lundberg! Lund berg! Lundberg! The pronunciation of that name is a sufficient answer to every thing that ministers can say as to the reci procity of the alien laws of England and France. When the ill-treatment of Captain D'Auvergne is brought regularly before Parliament, our readers will see it fully and ably discussed; but we could not, in the mean time, refrain from submitting to them a few facts and observations on so interesting a subject. After having gone through the preceding distinct and important heads, it was our intention to have remarked on other speeches, attributed, by the newspapers, to members of parliament; such, for instance, as that, where a general is represented as declaring that "if the war had been kept up, "they" [the members] "would not, perhaps, have " been now_debating in that flouse." And again, where an English country-gentleman is made to say, " "that he wished to see no change of ministry, be cause as the present ministers were known to be of a pecific disposition, the turning of them out might " furnish an ambitious neighbour with a pretext for 18"newing hostilities." It was our intention to have shown how exactly this gentleman had verified our opinions, as stated in the present Vol. p. 343, 573, &c.; but, we must content ourselves with barely referring to those pages. The curious answer of His Majesty in the French official paper, would, Mr. Addington, too, respecting the libels against had we room, demand our animadversions. Mr. As to M. Sheridan's speech, we had prepared several pages on that delightful topic, which we most reluctantly postpone till our next. Of Thomas Grenville, Lord Temple, and Lord Grenparties, however, we must say a few words. ville, having all expressed a wish to see Mr. Pitt again at the head of affairs, the old opposition and their adherents, who, it seems, are never to be cured of their rancour towards those men who prevented them from revolutionizing the country, have made this call a handle for describing all those who opposed the peace of Amiens, as a faction struggling for power and place, thau which nothing can be more false. Mr. Windham and Dr. Laurence have clearly expressed their conviction, that, unless the temper of the country be previously changed, a change of men would be of no use. These two gentlemen, therefore, and many others who opposed the peace, have made that neither Lord Grenville, nor Mr. Grenville has any view to office. It is not for them, however goaded, to make profession of a desire to remain out of office; for, their rank, their talents, their no call for Mr. Pitt; and, we are well assured, integrity, their many great and statesman like King; but we know, that their opinion is, that qualities, mark them out for the service of their Mr. Pitt should be prevailed upon to join the present ministry, for the purpose of putting a stop to that system of submission, which, if suffered to procomplete destruction. ceed much longer, must bring upon us switt and POSTSCRIPT.It is proposed by France to give Parma to the family of Spain in exchange for the Fidas! Cochin has been given up to France by the Ditch!-Our readers will remember that we foreto d both these cessions nearly a twelvemonth app. -Tobago (poor little Tobago!) was surrendered to the French on the 7th of October. TO CORRESPONDENTS. The letter of W. A. we should rather keep to insert with the succeeding ones in the Supplement to this volume; and we beg leave to observe, that the sequel should, for this purpose, reach us by the 1st. of January, at furthest.-DETECTOR, On the modesty of ministers, TYRTEUS, on the fraternization of Messrs. Fox and Addington, and CrPRIAN, to the Bishop of London, shall appear in our next. MR. WILBERFORCE, when he perceives how matter has pressed upon us, will, we make no doubt, excuse us till next week.-Next week we' shall publish two numbers, for the purpose of getting out several interesting articles, a particular, AN AUTHENTIC NARRATI THE TAKING OF THE INVINCIBLES ARD IN EGYPT, by ANTOINE LUTZ, a royalist, and a private soldier in the Queen mau Reg. of Foot. "Render, therefore, honour "honour is due," is a precept, which, with r this affair, has been much too long negle Printed by Cox and Baylis, No. 75, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. Published by R. Bagshaw, Bow Street, Covent Garden, where all the former Numbers may in OF VOL. 2. No. 25.] London, Saturday, 25th December, 1802. [ Price 10D CONTENTS.-Lute and the Irvine Stand. 801. Lett. from Bost. 823. Let. to Bp. of Lond. 827. Mr. Sheridan and Speech, 830. Tyrtaus on the Reten. of Malta, 838. Decl. Bohem. 844. Tobago, Guadal. $45. Vienna, Montr. in Holland, 847. Moniteur, Troops for Louis. 848. Ct. Woranz. Pr. Ruspoli, Mr. Moore, 849. Ld Melville, 852. Fr. Tr. Holl. 834. K. of Sard. 856. Libels in Monit. 857. Cochin, Floridas, 861. West-Iml. Trade, 864. S01 AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE OF THE [802 restore it to LUTZ, I must take from the brow of the Highlanders. Most of my readers will remember, that, for some time after the unofficial accounts TAKING OF THE INVINCIBLE STANDARD, of the battle of the 21st of March arrived, public report ascribed the victory of that day almost entirely to the 42d regiment:. not only, in every narrative that was heard, was the Queen's German Regiment totally overlooked, but no other regiment found a place, except by way of a foil to the fortysecond. The Highlanders!-the brave Highlanders!--the more than invincible Highlanders!-were, as in Mr. Porter's Panorama, always in the foreground; always active, always victorious. It was, in short the Highlanders who won the battle, and, therefore, it was perfectly natural, that to them should belong the honour of taking the Invincible Standard, which was regarded as the sign and proof of thats victory.-The London newspapers, "never last to hand "about a lie," soon began to lend their aid 1; whether gratuitously or not is more than I can say. In the month of February, 1802 (I have lost the day), the following paragraph appeared in the ministerial paper, the True Briton: " Lieut. Corbett [not Cobbett] has arrived from Egypt with the "official dispatches of the battle of the "21st of March, and brought with him the Standard of a French corps taken in "that battle, entitled The Invincible Legion of Buonaparté,' and which was seiz"ed by the 42d regiment, who were the par"ticular object of the attack of that French The precept, inculcated, in the words which I have chosen for my motto, has, with respect to the taking of the Invite.ole Standard, not only been unobserved, but directly and flagrantly disobeyed. Honours upon honours have, indeed, been rendered to this meritorious and gallant achieveparent; but, they have been with-held from bim, who, alone, has any claim to them, nd lavished upon others to whom they do not belong. The columns of our public papers, the windows of our print-shops, the Canvas of our public exhibitions, the scenes of our theatres, the proceedings of public bodies, have proclaimed to the army of England, to the people of England, and to the whole world, that the honour of taking the Invincible Standard is due to some persons of the 42d or Royal Highland Regiment; whereas, the whole of that honour corps. The whole of them were cut to belongs to ANTOINE LUTZ, a Frenchman "pieces, and their Standard remained in by birth, and a private soldier in the "the hands of our gallant soldiers as a trophy Queen's German Regiment. In doing jus"of their victory."- After verbal and tice to this gallant, though friendless, fo- newspaper report had passed for some time reigner, I could have wished to avoid every uncontradicted, the Highland Society held a thing like controversy with any body, and meeting, at which certain resolutions were particularly with any part of the army of passed respecting the battle of Alexandria; Egypt; but I am compelled to controvert and, what is more important, the question and to refute too, or to leave my doty un- respecting who took the standard was inquirdischarged. The Highlanders have claimed into and settled. The proceedings at ed the honour to them the meed has been awarded, through every channel which a nation has of conveying its sentiments to the world and to posterity: there is but one wreathe of invincible laurel; before I can this meeting were published in the True Briton of the 25th of February, 1802; and, as will be perceived by the remark with which they are introduced, they were evidently published, if not by authority of the |