offer protection, but ensure persecution ;-in short, harlot like, it would "smile but to betray."

Thank heavens, however! and, with the fervour of a true British spirit, we pronounce the words, the mere dictum of a judge is not law in England. If the liberty of the press mean any thing, if it convey any solid and substantial benefit-and who will dare to say it does not ?—it must signify the right of freely discussing the public conduct of public men.. In this sense has it ever been taken by the best political and constitutional writers. But if tried by the test of the new doctrine, no such right can possibly exist; at least, it cannot be exercised;-for what ingenuity is sufficient, in explaining the incapacity of a minister, in producing proofs, in illustrat. ing the arguments by facts, and in assigning those reasons which are neces. sary to carry conviction to the mind of the reader, so to frame the style and language, as to render the whole innocuous to the feelings of the party? It is, indeed, the height of absurdity to suppose, that the attempt to prove a man unfit for the situation which he holds, will not be "uncomfortable" to his "feelings." And yet is it not the right, is it not the duty of an Englishman, if he know of the existence of such incapacity or unfitness; if he know that his country is injured by the conduct of such a man; to enter upon such proof, and to convince his sovereign, and the public, of a fact which it is of importance to the general good to certain-Either, then, the advocates for this doctrine must deny the existence of any such right of free discussion, or they must abandon the position as untenable. If they prefer the former, and if they be supported in that preference by the legal authority of the country, all arguments respecting the liberty of the press are at an end;-for who would be so senseless as to dispute about a non-entity ?--But we shall persist in denying that the doctrine in question is law, until the fiat of parliament shall have given it the force of a law; and we trust that we shall not live to see that day. This doctrine, however, as applicable to attacks either on pri vate persons, or on the private characters of public men, is not only defensible, but strictly legal. The mischief arises from the want of a proper distinction between such attacks and discussions of the nature before described. There is a marked and broad distinction between them; and while the former cannot be too severely restrained, the latter, when confined within the bounds of decency, cannot be too fully tolerated.

Reverting to the principle of judging of the merit of Ministers by their measures, it becomes necessary, for the formation of such judgment, to inquire what these measures have been. The prominent measures of the present Administration, are the Reform of the Army, the American Intercourse Bill, and the American Treaty. The first partakes a good deal of the nature of a modern reform, which is more favourable to demolition than to improvement. Its projector began, where a wise man would have ended, by abolishing the existing sources of military strength; and, on their ruin, he endeavoured to raise his own fanciful superstructure, the worthy offspring of a metaphysical brain, but ill calculated for any purpose of practical utility. If in the ordinary affairs of life, a man had proceeded in a manner so extraordinary, the sanity of his intellects would, assuredly, have been called in question. Who that wished to build a new house, would pull down his old one, before he had secured another for his reception? Or who that wanted to turn a road, would destroy the exist

ing road, before he had made another for the use of passengers? But an eccentric genius is not to be restrained by an adherence to common forms, or vulgar usage. It is not a fixed star that gives a strong and steady light; but a comet whose irregular blaze burns but to frighten and to destroy. Of the full effects of this alarming innovation, no adequate opinion can be formed, until the appearance of authentic documents,-the only facts which are known are these; that the bill for raising the population of the country in a mass, which was substituted for the General Defence Bill, has never been put in execution in a single instance; and, we shrewdly suspect, it never will be. Indeed, the Secretary for the War Department, has lately acknowledged that it was never intended to carry it into general effect; an alarming acknowledgment, since it proves that a general law has passed for a partial purpose; and that Ministers reserve to themselves the right of subjecting to its operation, only such part of the country as they shall think proper. As the duty which it imposes is a serious and a burthensome duty, a power is thus vested in them of imposing the burthen on their adversaries, if they should choose so to do, and of exempting their friends from its weight. It is not meant to be insinuated that this monopoly of wealth, rank, and talents, would be rendered subservient to any purpose so mean, so base, and so unconstitutional. But the best means of preventing the abuse of power, by bold and enterprising men, is, either not to entrust them with it, or so precisely to define its limits, as to render misconception and misapplication alike impossible. The next known fact, is, that by the alteration in the period of enlist ment, and the measures which accompanied it, a vast additional expence is imposed on the nation, without any one advantage, in return. All those fine philosophical inducements which, the public were told, in the florid harangues of metaphysical eloquence, were to operate so powerfully on the minds of men, have, as all sober minded people expected and foretold, failed to produce the smallest effect. If, then, it should ultimately prove that a durable expence of an annual million has been incurred by this wild speculation, what a weight of responsibility will the imprudent speculatist have attached to himself, and what a serious call will his country have on him!

On the American Intercoursè Bill, so much has already been said, by the former writers in this work, as well as by the intelligent author of that able tract, "War in Disguise," that, out of a certain circle, there cannot remain two opinions in the country. It is fraught with the most ruinous consequences to the shipping and commercial interest, which can only be averted, by suffering the Act to remain a dead letter on the statute book. The arguments used in support of that bill, were some of the most extraordinary that were ever employed by British Senators. The amount of our exports to America was dwelt upon with all the pomp of oratory; and the strongest language was used to impress the country with a convic. tion of the vast importance of the American trade. In short, whoever reads the speech of Lord Auckland, and that of Mr. Randolph, would naturally be led to conclude, that the former had been delivered in the American Congress, and the latter in the British Senate. Most true it is, that the trade with America is highly advantageous to this country; but it is equally true, that it is absolutely necessary to the political existence of America. The manufactories of the United States are utterly incapable

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of supplying the inhabitants with the most necessary articles; while the greater part of their revenue is derived from the duties imposed on British Imports. To us, then, war with America would be productive of verylittle inconvenience; while to America it would be ruinous. Yet what has the policy of the two countries been under these relative circumstances? The American government rejected the propositions of Mr. Randolph, per. sisted in holding high and insulting language, and actually passed a law to prohibit the importation of British goods; a law which was in itself declaration of war. The British Government, on the contrary, adopted the sentiments of Lord Auckland, assumed a tone of humiliation and de. spondency, took no step to resent the unprovoked hostility of the United States, and appointed Lord Auckland himself, and another Nobleman, who had seconded his motion, and echoed his opinions, to conclude a Treaty with the American Commissioners !!!-What was the conduct which the honour of the Crown and the dignity of the Nation required? Certainly, to enter into no negotiation whatever with America, until she had repealed her non-importation act, and made ample reparation for the insuit; and to have rendered such repeal within a given time, the sine qua non of con. tinued peace between the two countries. These are not times, in which national honour should be considered as an object of little importance. It is a feather in the British diadem, of use as well as of ornament; and ought not to be touched lightly or irreverently. Experience has suffi ciently taught us the dangers of concession; and though Ministers may flat. ter themselves that their conduct in this instance will be imputed to a consciousness of existing strength, they will assuredly find by our enemies it will be construed into a proof of weakness. What can be expected from a treaty concluded under such auspices *? Have we not a right to infer that the spirit of concession will mark every provision? But to argue on a treaty, on which, from prudential motives no doubt, Ministers have observed a profound silence, and with which the British public will probably be first made acquainted through the medium of the American prints, would be the work of anticipation, and not the task of history. We shall, how. ever, declare our fixed opinion, that if we have conceded to the Ameri. cans the privilege of transporting the colonial produce of France and Spain to the respective mother countries, on the sole condition of first landing them in America, and there subjecting them to a duty (the payment of which will never be exacted, nor shall we have the power to enforce it) we have given a fatal blow to our shipping, commercial, colonial, and

Lord Auckland is an able political writer; it would, no doubt, afford great satisfaction to the public, to see him state his reasons, for the total change which seems to have taken place in his opinions, respecting our intercourse with America, since the discussion which took place in the House of Commons, subsequent to the acknowledgment of American Independence, in which he took a decided part. That circumstances have changed since that period, must be generally admitted, but to common observers it would appear, that such alteration imperiously demands a more rigid adherence to the doctrine which his Lordship then laid down. It would not be unworthy of either his Lordship's courtesy or his talents, to reconcile this apparent contradiction.

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manufacturing interests. It was a privilege to which the Americans were not entitled, by the law of nations, by the principles of justice, or by established custom. And the concession will enable our enemies to carry on the war against us with additional advantage, since it will exempt them from the risk and expence of maintaining a military or commercial navy for the supply of their colonies, while it will secure the safe return of their produce at a considerable reduction of price, and will enable them not only to raise a revenue thereon, but to supply the Continent with those very articles which must otherwise have been furnished by the British market. The evils flowing from such a measure are of such mag. nitude, and are so multifarious, that the detail of them would fill a volume. It is to be hoped, however, from a recent declaration of the Secretary for the Foreign Department, that we have at least reserved to ourselves the right of retaliation upon France; though, if we have, it is impossible to guess at the motive which has deterred Ministers from the full exercise of it. When Buonaparte, by the ridiculous assumption of a power which existed but in his own frantic imagination, like the mock monarch of the theatre, fulminated his anathema against the Commerce of Britain, issued his mandate of prohibition to all the nations of the earth to enter British ports with their ships; it immediately occurred to the mind of every man who thought on the subject, that our Ministers would retort upon him, by declaring every port of France, her vassals, and allies, in a state of blockade.

By a measure so vigorous, and so perfectly just, we should speedily either reduce the tyrant to the necessity of formally abrogating his own restrictions on our continental trade, or compel him, by a circuitous course, and at a great additional expence, to obtain from the British markets, the produce of Ame. rica, and of the East, not only for the supply of other states, but for the use of his own subjects. But by the impotent Order of Council lately issued, no good effect whatever can accrue. France may still continue to supply herself and her neighbours, through the medium of America, with every article of which they stand in need; in this respect, they will suffer no pri、 vation from the war, but will purchase these articles at a much lower price than they could if brought home direct in their own ships-while the warehouses of our merchants are overstocked with colonial produce, for which no sale can be found. Had we boldly asserted our right, dis played the spirit of our ancestors, enforced a rigid observance of our navigation laws, and prevented America from carrying on, in time of war, any trade which she was forbidden to pursue in time of peace, all the avils which now flow in upon us on every side would have been averted, and, setting at defiance the impotent rage of our malignant enemy, we might have nearly monopolized the commerce of the word. By inju dicious concessions on the one haud, and by a wavering policy, and a wretched system of half-measures on the other, a great part of Europe has already been lost. And, if, with our eyes open to the consequences of such conduct, we pursue a similar system, we shall richly deserve a similar fate. Whilst the trade with our Colonies is opened to America, Ministers aware of the impolicy, and of the dangerous tendency of their own measures, have issued instructions to the contractors in the West Indies to procure the necessary supplies for our islands from Nova Scotia ; not aware that, from the mere difference in the rate of insurance, the

Americans

Americans can send their supplies at a cheaper rate by twenty per cent. Of course it is needless to observe, that little or nothing will be shipped from Nova Scotia. Yet had we prohibited the intercourse of America with our Colonies, and given to the settlers in Nova Scotia that common encouragement, and that common protection, to which all British subjects are entitled, they would, in a short time, have been able to furnish all the necessary supplies for our islands. As it is, seeing no prospect of a reward for their industry, they have adopted the resolution of emigrating to the United States of America. From the town of Liverpool (in Nova Scotia), alone, seventy families, with all their moveable property, with fifteen sail of vessels, have sailed to increase the number of American citizens. These are most alarming facts; and unless they become the subject of parliamentary investigation, and Ministers are induced to adopt a totally different system of commercial (as well as of military) policy, they will, very soon, feel such effects from their mea. sures, as will rouse them from their torpor, in spite of themselves. Providence, in its bounty, has amply supplied us with the means of defending ourselves, and of annoying our enemies, and if we neglect to employ them, we may reasonably expect that the punishment of ingratitude will await us.

In their negotiations for peace with the French, Ministers are deserv. ing of praise for the tone which they assumed, which was such as the honour of the crown and the interest of the country demanded; and they had certainly a right to infer from the language of the enemy, that the principle of the uti possidetis was admitted. When Talleyrand expli citly said, we demand nothing of you-the Emperor does not wish for any thing which is in the possession of England-and when, in the appli cation of this principle to a practical point, be added, in respect of Sicily-it is not in our possession, therefore no question can arise upon it— no doubt could remain that it was the original intention of Buonaparte to conclude a peace upon that basis, if he really meant to conclude one at all, But while we render justice to Ministers on this subject, we cannot but express our surprise that a point so essential, as the basis of a Treaty of Peace, should be left to inference-that an express and unequivocal admis sion of it in writing should not have been demanded, as an indispensable preliminary to the opening of a negotiation. The fact we believe to be, that Mr. Fox was so anxious to bring about a peace with France, that he eagerly seized the first opportunity that was offered him for the pur. pose; and if he had not found an opportunity, he would, probably, have made one: hence the vague and indefinite principles of negotiation ad. vanced in his letters to Talleyrand; and hence his forbearance to de. mand those definite admissions which would have left no room for cavil, or for doubt. The conduct of the French on the occasion was marked by all the characteristic fraud, hypocrisy, and perfidy of their government; and must have effectually convinced the world, that peace with this country forms no part of Buonaparte's hopes, wishes, or intentions. The Janguage of Lord Lauderdale, during the negotiation was uniformly dignified and firm, and exhibited a flattering contrast with the evasive conduct of the French Commissioners. The question, however, at issue, was so simple, and admitted of such a speedy decision, that the delay which took place was utterly inexcusable on the part of our government.

But