66 "Report of the Barrack Department, we see that the barracks were built, at what "is technically called measure and value, though it is well known that contracts for "building, even on a small scale, are made "at 25 per cent. under measure and value. "General de Lancey well knows this fact. "He has built for himself a beautiful villa " in Surrey, and he boasts that it only cost "him 1000l." This is perfectly consonant with the new doctrine of Mr. Fox ; and perfectly consonant, too, with the wishes of the Brotherhood, whether in or out of office; for, to them, nothing, surely, can be so convenient. "What check or audit can "there be of the Commissariat Accounts of "our famous campaign in Flanders, where a convenient fire, at every depot, settled "the accounts of the Commissaries, Con"tractors, and Insupers ?" What a ques tion is here to ask, and to be asked, too, by that same Morning Chronicle, that bellowed so loudly for punishment upon the head of Lord Melville and Mr. Trotter, because they had destroyed their books and accounts? The House of Commons and Westminster Hall still ring with the indignant reproaches of the late opposition (who are the present ministry) against those who wished to bury in oblivion the past with regard to Lord Melville and Mr. Trotter; and, do their writers now; good God! do they now tell us; now, the moment that their friends are in power; do they tell us; do they, with an air of langour, as if weary of inquiry, ask us how we are to make inquiry about the burnt accounts, relating to the CommissaryGeneral's Department, during those everfamed campaigns of Flanders, from which the DUKE OF YORK happily returned in a whole skin to go again on the no less famed campaign of the Helder, from which he also happily returned in a whole skin to command, with such distinguished celebrity, the army at home? In coming, Gentlemen, by way of conclusion, to the practical application of the facts and observations here presented to you. let me, in the first place, caution you against the cry of disaffection and of revolutionary designs, which, upon all such cccasions, is sure to be set up, first, by the innumerable swarm of peculators, and next, by the Brotherhood in general. It is their way to tell you, "abuses have always existed, in all countries; and, that, after "all, this is the best government and the "best country in the world;" the inference left to be drawn from which, is, that things must remain as they are, or that the government will be destroyed. So each of them 66 will declare to your teeth, if you push him to the point; and, so they say one and all. But, Gentlemen, if, by disaffection," they mean, disaffection to the country and to our sovereign, clothed with all his constitutional authority; if, by "revolution"ary designs," they mean designs tending to the destroying of the present orders in the state; if this be their meaning, their charge is utterly groundless, and it is equally malicious, because they know it to be false. It is the sincere desire of every good man, that the monarchy and that all the ranks and degrees in the state should remain unshaken; that the property, lawfully obtained, of every man should continue secure in the hands of its owner; but, it is also his sincere desire, that the people in general should be happy and free, as their forefathers were. And, Gentlemen, it is because we wish not to see things destroyed; it is because we love our country and its unimpaired constitution, in all its branches and in all its provisions; it is because the name, the laws, the liberties, and the renown, of England are dear to our hearts, that we anxiously seek to promote a real reformation of abuses, being fully convinced, that, unless such a reformation do take place, and that right speedily, a sweeping destruction will ensue. We have been told, Gentlemen, by the present ministers, that they are, by the pecuniary distresses of the state, driven to impose taxes which must 66 66 affect the prosperity of some branch or "other of our commerce;" we have, in defence of every new tax, heard them urge the argument of hard and cruel necessity; in every other breath we have heard them exclaim, "money must be obtained!" And, gentlemen, at the same time that we hear these arguments and exclamations, we see at the Board of Admiralty, a gentleman who has recently declared, in open parlia ment, that, in the department of the navy, a saving of one third might be made. Add to this what has actually come to light in the Barrack Department; and, I think, you will not find it difficult to believe me, when I say, that, after the fullest consideration that I have been able to bestow upon all the branches of the national expenditure, my sincere opinion is, that, in the current expenses of the year, leaving quite a sufficiency to support the splendour of the throne and fully to reward every service rendered to the state, one half of the present expense might be saved; and, Gentlemen, this object; this object, the eflecting of which is, in my opinion, absolutely necessary to the preservation of the monarchy, and even to that of our existence as an independant nation; this object in comparison with which all others in this world shrink into nothing, may be effected, and easily effected, by a few, and a very few, independent, honest, and zealous members of parliament; members of parliament, in short, like the honourable Gentleman, whose upright and useful endeavours have given rise to this letter, and for whose ability to serve us the thanks of the whole nation are due to the Electors of Honiton. With an anxious hope, that you will pursue the good path, to walk in which you have begun, and that you will scorn to sell your birth-right for a mess of pottage to a venal slave who will take care to obtain a double mess in return, I remain, Gentlemen, Your humble and obedient Servant, WILLIAM COBBETT. 23d May, 1806. PUBLIC PAPERS. WAR WITH PRUSSIA-Order of Council for taking off the Embargo upon Vessels belonging to Hamburgh, &c. At the Court at the Queen's Palace, the 14th of May, 1806, Present, the King's Most Excellent Majesty in Council.-His Majesty having taken into consideration the present state of Hamburgh and Oldenburgh, and the circumstances under which several vessels belonging to Bremen and Papenburgh, have arrived in the ports of the United Kingdom, is pleased, by and with the advice of his Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, that the embargo now subsisting upon all ships and vessels belonging to Hamburgh and Oldenburgh, be taken off: and it is hereby further ordered, that the embargo be also taken off those vessels belonging to the towns of Bremen and Papenburgh, which had cleared out for ports of the United Kingdom previous to the Prussian Notification, dated the twentyeighth of March last, whereby British ships were excluded from the ports of the Prussian dominions, and from certain other ports in the north of Europe: and thrt the said ships and vessels, with their cargoes, not being Prussian or enemies' property, be permitted to sail to any port not blockaded and the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, the Lords. Commissioners of the Admiraly, the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty are to give : the necessary directions herein, as may to then respectively appertaiu. W. FAWKENER. Order of Council granting General Reprisals against the Ships, &c. of the King of Prussia. At the Court at the Queen's Palace, the 14th of May, 1806. Present the King's Most Excellent Majesty in Council. Whereas during the interval which has elapsed since his Majesty found himself compelled, by the hostile measures of his Majesty the King of Prussia, to lay an embargo on the ships and goods belonging to his subjects, and to places under his controul, such hostile measures have not been discontinued: and whereas the town of Papenburgh cannot but be considered as dependent on, and under the absolute controul of Prussia; his Majesty therefore is pleased, by and with the advice of his Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, that general reprisals be granted against the ships, goods, and subjects of the King of Prussia, and of the town of Papenburgh, (save and except any ships to which his Majesty's licence has been granted, or which have been directed to be released from the embargo,) so that as well his Majesty's fleets and ships, as also all other ships and vessels that shall be commissionated by letters of marque or general reprisals, or otherwise, by his Majesty's commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admirai of Great Britain, shall and may lawfully seize all ships, vessels, and goods belonging to the King of Prussia, or his subjects, or others inhabiting within the territories of the King of Prussia, or belonging to the town of Papenburgh, (except as aforesaid,) and bring the same to judgment in any of the Courts of Admiralty within his Majesty's dominions; and to that end, his Majesty's Advocate General, with the Advocate of the Admiralty, are forthwith to prepare the draft of a commission, and present the same to his Majesty at this Board, authorising the commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral, or any person or persons by them empowered and appointed, to issue forth and grant Letters of Marque and Reprisals to any of his Majesty's subjects, or others, whom the said Commissioners shall deem fully qualified in that behalf, for the appre hending, seizing, and taking the ships, ves◄ sels, and goods belonging to Prussia, and the. vessels and subjects of the King of Prussia, or any other inhabitants within his countries, territories, or dominicns, or belonging to the town of Papenburgh, (except as aforesaid); and that such powers and clauses be inserted in the said Commission as have been usual, and are according to former precedents; and his Majesty's Advocate-General, with the Advocate of the Admiralty, are also forthwith to prepare the draft of a Commission, and present the same to his Majesty at this Board, authorising the said Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral, to will and require the High Court of Admiralty of Great Britain, and the Lieutenant and Judge of the said Court, his Surrogate or Surrogates, as also the several Courts of Admiralty within his Majesty's dominions, to take cognizance of, and proceed upon all and all manner of captures, seizures, prizes, and reprisals of all ships and goods that are, or shall be taken, and to hear and determine the same, aud according to the Court of Admiralty, and the laws of nations, to adjudge and condemn all such ships, vessels and goods as shall belong to Prussia, or the vassals an i subjects of the King of Prussia, or to any other inhabitants within any of his countries, territories, and dominions, or as shall belong to the town of Papenburgh, (except as aforesaid;) and that such powers and clauses be inserted in the said commission as have been usual, and are according to former precedents; and they are likewise to prepare and lay before His Majesty at this Board, a draft of such instructions as may be proper to be sent to the Courts of Admiralty in His Majesty's foreign governments and plantations, for their guidance herein; as also another draft of instructions for such ships as shall be commissioned for the purposes above-mentioned. (Signed) SPENCER. SWEDEN. HOWICK. H. PETTY. GRENVILLE. C. J. Fox. W.WINDHAM. NAT. BOND. Circular Dispatch addressed to the Ministers of His Swedish Majesty at Foreign Courts.-Head Quarters at Griefswald, Aprit 22d 1806. SIR, --The public papers will probably have already informed you of the march of different Prussian corps, destined, it is said, to take possession of the country of Lauenburg, which is at this moment under the protection of the troops of his Majesty. After the declaration which his Majesty made, on his departure from Ratzeburgh, that he would consider every attack on these troops as a hostile measure with regard to his own states, it is impossible to admit the distinction, as strange as it is unexpected, which the Court of Berlin endeavours at present to establish, in pretending that the Duchy of Lauenburg (as well as the rest of the Électorate of Hanover) is a French conquest ceded to Prussia by a formal treaty, and that the taking possession of that province ought not to be considered as an attack on the Swedish army.-If, in consequence of his engagements with the King of Great Britain, his Majesty wished to employ all his efforts for preserving to that sovereign a part at least of his hereditary possessions on the Continent, and that at a period when the projects of the Cabinet of Berlin were no longer doubtful, he has since found, in the intimacy of that Cabinet with Buonaparté, and above all, in the measures it has adopted against the English commerce, motives too powerful not to adhere invaribly to that line of conduct which he had traced out to himself from the first. Accustomed for a long time to rank Prussia in the class of his enemies, by her alliance with a Government which is at war with Sweden and her allies, the King, setting out from this principle, only considers that which has taken place as a necessary consequence.--In wishing to deprive his Britannic Majesty of a State which belongs to him by shutting to his flag the ports and rivers of the North of Germany: by solemnly declaring at the same time that all this had been done in consequence of an agreement with France; the King of Prussia gives already sufficient proofs of his hostile intentions towards the three allied Courts. If, after this, he attack the Sweedish forces in Lauenburg, the King can only interpret such conduct in one way. Whereever the Swedish forces are, they cannot be attacked without the King considering such attack as a declaration of war, and it is in this light that he will view it.-The Court of Prussia pretends, that it does not wish in any case to pass its proper frontiers; but, in the mean time, it comprehends under this denomination a part of the Electorate which is occupied by the corps under the Count de Lowenhielm, which will never retire from it, but when compelled by force of arms. If this Court wishes to colour its aggression by certain pretended rights on Lauenburg, and shall strike the first blow, in order afterwards to pretend that it was obliged to defend itself, it is not the less certain that every impartial man will appreciate without difficulty the force of such crooked reasoning, and will acknowledge the justice of that cause which the King, our master, has determined to support.-It is with sentiments of perfeot consideration, that I have the honor to be, Sir, &c.-WETTERSTEDT. Printed by Cox and Baylis, No. 75. Great Queen Street, and published by R. Bagshaw, Bow Street Covent Garden, where former Numbers may be had, sold also by J. Bald, Crown and Mitre, Pale Mail. VOL. IX. No. 22.] LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 31, 1806, [PRICE JOD The fault is not in our stars, 8011 "But in ourselves, that we are underlings."SHAKESPEAR. (Con SUMMARY OF POLITICS. COMMISSIONERS OF ACCOUNTS. tinued from page 705.) Since the article, here referred to, was published, the plan of the intended new Commission of Accounts has been detailed in the House of Commotis (on the 21st instant), by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Henry Petty. The Commission, or rather, Commissioners, now to be instituted, are, it seems, to form several distinct Boards, each to have a Chairman, at a salary of 1 5001. a year, and several members, at a salary of 1,000k a year each. But, a question, which every one must ask here is, what are to become of the Commissioners already established? What are to become of Mr. Batt and his inborious colleagues, who have, for so many and many long years, been comfortably living upon the auditing of the Public Accounts? Are they to be dismissed, or continued? Are they to be pensioned, like Robert Ward, for the remainder of their natural lives; or, are they still to be auditors in name, and their places to become sinecures to descend to their heirs or to others? Seriously, and upon my word, I should not wonder if this latter were to be the case; nor should I be at all astonished to find that their places were, in a year or two, granted in reversion down to the third generation.Another question is, whose fault has it been, that there are now "four hundred and fifty mil"lions of the Public Money unaccounted "for," while that public has been paying to placemen and their clerks more than a million and a half year? Whose fault has this been? Certainly not the virtuous minister, upon the ground of whose "me rits," Lord Henry Petty and Mr. Fox, voted, but the other day, 40,0001. of the public money to pay his debts? Whose fault then? There must have been fault somewhere; and yet, not one word do we hear of responsibility! Not one word of it, even from that Mr. Fox, who, for. the last twenty years, has let pass scarcely a week of any session of parliament without amusing us with the doctrine of ministerial responsibility: For my part, I have no confidence at all in Commissions of Accounts, call them [802 by what name you will, whether auditors, 'manage the matter better." So have the former ministers always said; every former set of Commissioners has been extolled to the skies for their. skill, their accuracy, their diligence, their integrity, and, what they liked much better, they have been amply rewarded out of the public purse, after all this, out comes the fact, that, never in the world were the accounts of any nation in such a shameful state, never was there upon earth a nation so cheated and plundered; and, it is with these facts before us, that we are called upon to pay for new sets of Commissioners of Accounts, and, moreover, to believe, that they will do better than their predecessors! In every former instance, we have seen, that the creating of such Commissions arose from the threefold motive of obtaining a sort of indemnity for the past, of providing for the stupid and lazy relations of those who had the means of supporting the minister of the day, and, of securing a stock of credit for good intentions, whereon to proceed the more safely in the reprobated practices: "E'en in penance planning sins anew.” And, are we now; are we, at this day; after all that has come to light; after all the moral turpitude and the political apostacy that we have witnessed in the world; are we now to be blamed, because we hesitate to believe, that the adding of 50 or 100,000). a year to our taxes, in salaries and pensions to commissioners, will do us good; will lighten our burdens? Are we to be blamed if we have our suspicions? Shall the Morning Chronicle reproach us with ignorance and obstinacy, because we wince and recoil? "Why don't you lie still, you fool?" said the butcher as he gave the struggling lamb a blow in the ribs with the handle of his knife.Great offence has, by the print here mentioned, been taken at our having been afraid that the new commission was intended, in part, at least, to furnish the ministry with a pretence for putting a stop to all inquiries,in the House of Commons, relative to the expenditure of the public money. But, was there not, nay, is there not, good reason to fear this? Have we not seen, that, during the last 26 years, during the whole of the time that the 450 millions of unaccounted for money has been expended, this pretence has been so made use of? Have we not, in answer to every suspicion of unjust charges against the public; in answer to every such suspicion, expressed by a member of parliament, have we not heard the minister assert, his majority backing the assertion, that the Anditors of Accounts. were upright and diligent and able men, and they so being, and all accounts coming necessarily before them, any inquiry in the House of Commons was unnecessary, and could only tend to " interrupt the business "of the House," just in the very words that the Morning Chronicle now says it? And, if all along heretofore, this has been the course pursued by the minister of the day; if this has been the course pursued all the time that 450 millions of the public money was expended without being accounted for, what reason, I should be glad to know, is there to suppose, that it is not intended to be pursued now; more especially when we take into view the conduct of the ministers, and of this Lord Henry Petty ip particular, on MR. ROBSON's motion for papers, on Friday, the 17th instant. Upon that occasion it was contendeday, the said Lord, that there being appointed to inquire into the milita MR. ry expenditure, under which general head the Barrack-Department was, of course, included; that, the House having, in this respect, delegated its powers to the said commission, it was neither proper, consist ent, nor decent for the House itself, therein to interfere, until after the said commission had thereon made their report. This was the argument of LORD HENRY PETTY, which argument was repeated by MR. HILEY ADDINGTON, MR. CALCRAFT, STURGES, and OLD GEORGE ROSE, and, upon the grounds of which argument MR. ROBSON's motions were actually reject ed. What reason, then, let me ask, was there for supposing, that the same argument would not be urged, and with redoubled force, when the new sets of commissions should come fresh from the hands of their political creators? This pretence for stifling inquiry in the House, which inquiry, I beg leave to repeat, is public, while all other sorts of inquiry are private, was, in fact, what I most dreaded, and what I still most dread, as the consequence of the intended Commission, for, if the minister of finance could make use of this pretence, when a system was existing, under which he knew that there were 450 millions unaccounted for, is it possible to believe that he will not do the same, not to say more, when his system of purity is established? -We are asked, if we mean that the House of Commons ought to be the Auditors of the Public Accounts? We care nothing about names; but, we mean, and we repeat, that the House of Commons, or any individual member thereof, has a right, and it is their duty, not only to inquire into, expose, and cause to be punished, if possible, all abuses in the public expenditure that may come to their knowledge, but also to inform themselves how the public money has been expended; and that, if this doc trine be not sound, the members of the House of Commons serve as a mere mask to a government that spends the public money just as it pleases. SIR JOHN NEWPORT, the Irish Chancellor of the Exchequer, and who is a banker besides, said, that, "if 66 every individual member might move for "whatever papers he pleased, without assigning any reason, the House could ne ver get through their business." Now, observe, MR. ROBSON had assigned a reason, to wit, that, the papers would show that the barns in question were paid for at double the rate that they ought to have been paid for; but, suppose there had been no reason assigned other than that of wishing to know at what rate the barns had been |