to extremity.' Upon negociation, To be sure they will, whenever they see a fair opening for it, though it would be unwise to shew any very great eagerness. Bat, though they may, and ought, to be ready to negociate; and though I agree, that the titles and other assumptions of Napoleon and his family ought to be no obstacle; yet, it does not follow, that peace must be made, because he has now graciously condescended to say, that he does not mean to force us to give up our maritime rights. Now, as before, the question whether peace be proper, will depend wholly upon the terms. -The Morning Chronicle has an argument in favour of peace, to which, I think, none but a very desperate politician" would have resorted; namely, the distressed state of the cloth-makers in Yorkshire, who are, as he afbrms, all thrown out of employment in consequence of the demand for cloth for ex decided upon the plains of Moravia and Poland. The peace of Tilsit, after having stunned us for a moment, gave a new turn to our thoughts; and, I hope, and believe, that the historian will have it to record, that, taught by this event to look at home, to consider the immense resources, natural as well as acquired, of our country; the strength arising from the industry, the patient enterprise; the valour; the confidence anmixed with suspicion, of her people; the mass of means collected upon so comparatively smali a spot, and means, too, so manageable, so easily brought into operation and wielded against every foe: that, thus taught to consider, we looked back with shame to the days, when foolish or wicked ministers had made us believe, that our existence as a nation depended on the caprice of some half-ideot upon the continent, or upon the intrigues of a French or German strumpet, whose friendly protection we had pur-portation having ceased. I have proved, as chased with sweat and with blood; that, from a contemplation of our past follies, we came to wise and manly resolutions for the future; that we explicitly declared our 66 clearly as the fact would admit of proof (see Vol. XII. p. 875), that the total number of persons, employed in manufacturing goods for the foreign market, and in exporting those goods, did not amount, in England. and Scotland, to more than 400,000, including women and children, from the cradle upwards. Mr. Spence, in a third and enlarged edition of his pamphlet, availing himself, as he acknowledges, of my information and arguments, has, from a more deliberate calculation, concluded, that the number does not exceed 300,000. Now, supposing the whole 300,000 to be thrown out of employment, it is only adding about one fifth to the paupers already in England, Wales, and Scotland. The evil would be very great, I allow. God forbid, that I should speak of it with levity. But, the effect would be to "starve" nobody, the parish paupers being full as well fed and clothed as a great part of those, who are not paupers. The same quantity of food and fuel would remain in the kingdom; and I think, it will not be contended, even by the Morning Chronicle, that clothing would be dearer. The effect would be this: those who, from being able to earn their living, would descend into the list of paupers, would become somewhat debased, and those who possessed the real property of the country, would be obliged to support them, a considerable part of the burthen falling, as in justice it ought, upon these districts and those persons, who have been enriched by the labour of the manufacturers now thrown out of employment. We are constantly reminded of the immense increase of Birningham, Liverpool, Manchester, and other places. All this," say the partizans of commerce, is the effect of what you wish to see perish.". All this, we say, is an evil, and, amongst other reasons for this opinion, we urge that of its being a hot bed for luxury and pauperism. But, laying this question aside, for the present, all these buildings, all this suddenly acquired wealth has arisen out of what? The labour of the manufacturers; the labour of 'those, who, as the Morning Chronicle asserts, are now starving for want,... ... of what, think you? Not of food and raiment, for it is clear that the war takes none of that away; bat of work; actually starving for "want of work!" That is to say, the poor wretches have, by their labour, enriched their respective neighbourhoods, and now, that their masters have, for a while, no demand for their labour, they will suffer them to die with hunger and with cold. Oh, no! Not so, at any rate, unless, indeed, which is rather improbable, all the justices of the peace, in the districts alluded to, be master-manufacturers. The food and raiment is all here, just as completely as it would have been, if commerce had received no check; and, I am in no fear, that the ousted manufacturers will not receive, generally speaking, as much of it now as they did before; the only dulerence being this; that, while they gave work for their food and raiment, their masters and the land-owners derived great profit from the existence of the manufacturers, whereas they will now derive no profit from it, but will be obliged to give back part of their profits to support those manufacturers without labour, than the justice of which nothing can, I think, be more evident. Not so, however, appear to think the master-inanufacturers and landowners of the districts in question. They fail not, when it suits their purpose, to proclaim the advantages which they derive from commerce; they refer us, and not in the most prodest manner, to their opulence and greatness, and their spinning-jenny Baronets; but, the moment their profits are checked, they complain of the miseries of the poor souls, upon the fruit of whose lahour they have fattened. They call them the poor wretches come to their foreboded end, they belong to the Church of England, which, like the nation, is obliged to own all" those who are disowned by every individual and every sect. But, the Quakers have ano ther principle, which the knights of the shuttle do not seem anxious to adopt; that is, that it is their duty to maintain all their own poor, à principle, which, in the country where I have been intimate with them, they act upon in the most kind and liberal manner, an example, which, if it be not beneath the dignity of the knights, I would beg leave to point out for their imitation at this time.Here it is that the shoe pinches. This is the cause of the petitions for peace, with which we are now threatened. It is notstarving manufacturers," that we hear crying for food and raiment; but, the avaricions clamour of those who have been enriched by their labour, perceiving that now they shall be compelled to give up a part of their riches to keep life in those, by whose labour they have been enriched; rather than do which they would see their country humbled in the dust.- -We are told of the 66 respectability" of the petitioners; that is to say, of their riches. To be sure The more property a man has, the more he has to pay towards the parish rates; so that these petitions are, in fact, petitions against the poor-rates, under the guise of feeling for the poor; just as the long parliament made use of the king's name in a war against his authority and life. Pass an act to divide the poor rates of the manufacturing districts amongst all the parishes of England; make all those, who have not shared in the profits of commerce, share in the burdens which it thus, occasionally brings; do something so manifestly iniquitous as this, and, though I will not say, that the knights of the shuttle will not grumble at the suspension of their profits, I will engage that they shall talk no more about petitions for peace.Thus far I have treated the matter upon a supposition, that all the 300,000 persons employed in manufacturing for exportation are now actually thrown out of employment, and are living, and must continue to live, in a state of pauperism. But, it is notorious, that much more than two-thirds of the export trade still exists, though it will, in all proba the starving poor," as if they had nothing more to do with them. Having no more profit from their labour, these poor are nobility, be further diminished. To leave nolonger theirs. They are melted down, all at once, into the mass of the nation. From the operation of a similar principle it is, that we never see a Quaker hanged; because, the moment any of the members of that sect thing, however, in dispute upon this score, I content myself with taking for granted, that even the "maniac" will not deny, that a part of the export trade will continue; and, then, it follows of course, that a part of the 300,000 persons above described, will not be caused to starve " 1 by the war. Another part of them we. If the country was in the hands of the best men that it can boast, the question of peace would still remain the same; for, however justly they might detest the conduct of their predecessors for a long series of years; however anxious they might be to punish public-robbers, and to prevent their future pillage, of what use would any of, or all, their efforts. be, unless they preserved the independence of the country. To be sure, when one reflects upon the shameful waste of the public resources; upon the scandalous abuses that are suffered to exist, and that are openly countenanced and fostered; upon the prodigality that daily insults us with its boasts; when one thus reflects, the devil is apt to tempt one with a wish, which it were useless to describe. But, we must resist this temptation, and resolve, first of all to keep out the foreign foe, and next to crush, as soon as possible, our foes within.-In taking my leave of this subject, I do not like to let slip the opportunity of saying a word or two, upon the effect which war has upon the prices of provisions, and, of course, upon those of labour, The last scarcity happened during war; and, I remember it was said by Mr. Fox: "the country may be "conquered by a peace, but the people "must eat," a saying which was frequently quoted, about the time, but which certainly discovered not much profundity of reflec tion in the great orator, from whose lips it proceeded. In Vol. VI of the Register, page 239, 1 showed, that, during the last half century, bread had been, upon an average, rather cheaper in war than in peace; aud now, after four years of war, wheat sells for sixteen pounds a load. The average price of the quartern loaf was 10d. during the last peace, and 101d. was its price on the 28th of last month, as will be seen by the table at the close of the preceding volume. Indeed, one would seek in vain for the reason, whereon the saying of Mr. Fox was founded; for, war has no effect. upon the seasons; it does not add to the number of mouths to be fed; if it takes some hands from the plough to wield the musket, it, in this country, brings others to the plough from the shuttle; and, if it neither takes from the quantity of food produced nor adds to the demand for food, where shall we look for a solid reason for the opinion, that war is the cause of dearth of provisions, an opinior which may in some cases, lead to great national calamities? AMERICAN STATES.In this number, or in the next, will be inserted the American" non-importation act," the passing of which is intended so materially to aid in that famous undertaking, "the conquering of the liberty of the seas," and which, after being suspended, time after time for nearly two years, has, with singular good luck, been put into actual execution, just at the time, when the empero's Napoleon and Alexander have notified to the world, that it is not, at present, their intention to conquer the liberty of the seas.---By a re ference to this act, it will be perceived, that, comparatively spe king, few articles of our goods are prohibited; but, particularly, woollens, of which the Americans import little of a fine quality, they, in this act, prohibit the importation of none but the very finest. Yet, the observance of this act, narrow as are the limits of its extent, they would not, either in peace or war, be able to enforce for nine months.----They allow the importation of goods from the Cape of Good Hope, or beyond it ; but, that channel will, I should suppose, soon be stopped.--The chief point for observation, however, at present, is this: that this hostile act was passed, as will be seen by a reference to it, on the 18th of April, 1800, a year and a half before the affair of the Chesapeake' took place, and long before any of our orders of council, restraining American comwere thought of. This act was passed for the obvious, nay, the acknowledged and declared purpose, of compelling England to accede to the demands of America. Of those demands we have before spoken; but, whatever they were, it is of importance to bear in mind, that this act of expected compulsion, this act of, at least, more than dem-hostility, was passed a year and a half before the affair of the Chesapeake took place. Let us not be told, then, that we have stirred up a war with America by our attack upon that vessel, or by our orders of council.- -The ground of the non-importation act was, as far as I have been informed, a refusal, on our part, to vield to a demand, made on the part of America, that we should enter into a stipu lation, that, in fixture, no American vessel, of whatever name or description, should, in any case, be detained, or searched, for 66 men. The author of a pamphlet, entitled "WAR, OR NO WAR,"published at New York, in December last, has, by way of stricture upon this demand, the following passage. Then, John Stiles may send inerce, a vessel from Philadelphia to Liverpool, "under the American flag, and while lying "there, should four highwaymen, who bad "committed robbery with murder, take resuge aboard her, they may be completely protected, and carried to any protect the traitor, the murderer, the "robber, the spy or the enemy of any na"tion, against British authority: for Great "Britain has a right to search his ship for men. Few, I believe, will be inclined "to carry the rights of John Stiles so far. "Yet the doctrine, as laid down, and as " contended for by many of the supporters "of our sagacious president, goes com "pletely this length. Whether the great men has actually instructed his ministers in London to this effect, as his friends say, is not for me to affirmi. But if he has, "I may say with much sincerity, that if "it should not increase my conviction of lits "weakness and inconsistency, it would of "his rashness."--The same writer says: 66 manner, in which they are covered, or "attempted to be so, by American protec "tions, has so often been detected, that "it has brought a serious imputation upon "our national character.". Now, though the writer, here quoted, may be well disposed towards England, and also of the party opposed to Mr. Jefferson; yet, he would not have ventured to make a statement like this, and at such a time, too, had it not been undeniably true. I cite it merely in corroboration of my own statements upon the subject; for to me the knowledge of the facts has long been fami liar.It is probable that Mr. Jefferson would have contented himself with some. thing short of the " rights of John Stiles ;": he would, perhaps, upon our supplication, have so modified the demanded stipulation," as to have left us at liberty to prevent him from sheltering felons in England, and from conveying the enemy's troops to our shores; but, if a whole ship's crow had deserted to his ships, he would have protected them all. The extent of the mischief, which would have arisen to us, from acceding to this demand, sets all calculation at defiance." With our right of search duly executed, and with the consequent continual dread, on" the part of the deserters, of being taken and punished, the Americans have now some thousands of our seamen on board their ships; what would that number be, then, if it were proclaimed, through our fleets and squadrons, that, by solemn treaty, we had bound ourselves not to touch any man, who should be found on board of an American ship, American ships being in all the ports and parts of the world? It is evident, that such a treaty would unman our navy. It would unman any navy; for, where is the sailor, English, American, French, or any other, who would not ac cept of such offers, if held out to him? But, it was precisely because they knew that it would have this effect, that the Americans demanded it at our bands. To join in the fight they were not disposed. They thought we were hard pressed. They thought England was down, and to use the words of their judge, Rutledge, upon a former occasion, they would gladly have "seized her by the throat"; but, like Falstaff, they had some fears that she might rise again, or, at least, give them a blow in her last convulsive agonies; and, therefore, to unite safety with enterprize, they resolved to proceed in imitation of their great Sangrado-like physician, DR. Rusu, that is to say, insinuate a lancet in.o her veins, let het bleed, to use one of his phrases, till she was "as white as New-Jersey veal", and, when she became motionless, approach her, and, with the malice of fiends, snigger in her face. This was their plan of operations; this was the design of the "mild, un"offending, and peaceable American peo"ple"; and, yet, there are Englishmen, or an Englishman (for, I should hope that the editor of the Morning Chronicle is the only one), who has the assurance to hold out to the public, that this people was to be "by concession.". -The Courier newspaper has published an extract of a letter, from Capt. WILLAUMEZ to General Turreau, the French minister in the United States, which extract I here insert, after observing, that it is stated, that the Captain met the brig, which he mentions, at sea. -"I "have just apprehended four seamen desert"ers from the Valeureuse frigate, which "I found on board an American brig, "where they had engaged at seventeen "dollars per month. Now, Sir, if you can succeed in making the American "Government pay down a compensation "for this misconduct in seducing thus our " seamen, you will punish it by making it "smart in that point in which it feels the "most viz. its avarice in money, and won "with so much the more justice, that these people have for three years past "been continually injuring our marine, by 66 seducing our best seamen".-Now, this lener, which bears date, on board the Foudroyant, at the Havannah, 25th October, 1805, is hardly a counterfeit; and, we have never heard of any demands, made, by the American government, upon France, touching this searching for seamen. And yet, why not upon France as well as upon England?" Why, they hate "us and love the French." That is a very good reason for their partial conduct; but a very bad one for our hoping to win them by concessions; by further concessions, I should say; for we have been making concessions to them for fifteen years past. This letter, wears all the appearance of authenticity;. and the sentiments are precisely those, which the French entertain with respect to the American government, which they despise beyond the power of decent words to express; to a degree, indeed, that I have sometimes thought to surpass the bounds of strict justice. Yet does it cling to them. It's love appears to be attracted, and preserved by contenupt. The real fact is this, that the Americans hate the French rather more than they hate us, personally; but, they fear them, and our cowardly conduct, for several years past; indeed, ever since the peace of 1783, has made them despise as well as hate us. I have before given my opinion as to the incapacity of America to carry on war, without producing her own destruction as a federative union of States. I will, now from the pamphlet, above quoted, shew the reader what is written and published upon the subject, in America. Suppose the author of " WAR, or NO WAR", to be a party opponent of Mr. Jefferson; yet, where facts are stated, and that, too, in such a form, there must be some truth whereon for them to rest: or, at least, it is pretty evident, that they are generally admitted as truths. 66 Our A commercial source of finance" (that is to say, the collections at the custom-house). produces annually somewhat above fifteen "millions of dollars (or £3,375,000). "very few ships of the enemy might rob us of it; and not only so, but also lay "" our commercial towns in ashes, annihilating our property to an incalculable "amount. If this stream of revenue should "be dried up, where could we look for sup port? Where is our system of internal "taxation? Where should we find means |