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It is in vain that our calumniators shall dare again to allege that we should not be considered as a people aspiring to independence, and collectively employed in the means of attaining it. This absurd assertion, invented by perfidy, wickedness, and the sor did interests of slave traders, deserves the profoundest contempt and indignation of inen of property in all countries. This assertion has been sufficiently falsified during eleven years of independence, and its happy results. Free in point of right, and independent in fact, we will never renounce these blessings; we will never consent to behold the destruction of that edifice which we have cemented with our blood, until we are buried under its ruins.

"We offer to commercial powers, who shall enter into relations with us, our friendship, security to their property, and our royal protection to their peaceable subjects, who shall come to our country with the intention of carrying on their commercial affairs, and who shall conform to our laws and usages.

"The king of a free people, a soldier by habit, we fear no war or enemy. We have already signified our determination not to

interfere in any way in the internal government of our neighbours. We wish to enjoy peace and tranquillity among ourselves, and to exert the same prerogatives which other people have, of making laws for themselves. If, after the free exposition of our sentiments, and the justice of our cause, any power should, contrary to the laws of nations, place a hostile fort in our territory, then our first duty will be to repel such an act of aggression by every means in our power.

"We solemnly declare that we will never consent to any treaty, or any condition, that shall compromise the honour, the liberty, and independence of the Haytian people. Faithful to our oath, we will rather bury ourselves under the ruins of our country, than suffer our political rights to sustain the slightest injury.

"Given in our palace of Sans Souci, the 18th of September 1814, eleventh year of independence, and the fourth of our reign.

(Signed)

HENRY. "By the king, the secretary of state, minister for foreign affairs,

Count de LIMONADE,"

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Fickleness and uncertainty of the English temper.-Dissension in the Royal Family.Exclusion of the Princess from the drawing-room.-Elopement of the Princess Charlotte.-Parliamentary grant to her mother-Speculations on the life of Buonaparte.Conspiracy to raise the price of Omnium.-Trial and sentence of Lord Cochrane and his supposed co-adjutors. His spirited defence in parliament.-Honours and rewards paid to Lord Wellington.-He is created a Duke, and receives from parliament a grant of half a million.-His reception in the House of Commons.

IT has been frequently and justly remarked, that the people of this country are easily roused to the vehement expression of their sentiments, and that their enthusiasm as easily subsides. Their first emotions of anger or indignation on any political question are

so violent, that a stranger might suppose some overwhelming commotion was at hand, but the lapse of a few weeks, on the occurrence of some trivial event, diverts the populace from the recent object of their resentment; and every former grievance is forgot

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ten in the contemplation of some new sub ject of complaint or curiosity. The restoration to power of the Duke of York presented a singular example of that fickle and uncertain temper to which I have alluded. The agitation of the public mind previous to his dismissal, was so great and general, that many symptoms of determined dissatisfaction made their appearance, but his recall to the duties of his important office was beheld with indifference. The case of Walcheren is still more in point. In the expedition to that place more circumstances had conspired to disappoint, irritate, and inflame the public mind, than had ever been united in one single enterprize; and its failure excited a very general and strong displeasure among the people. Yet, while the investigation was proceeding in the House of Commons, the case of Sir Francis Burdett occurred, and gave rise to a still more ardent degree of irritation, which was itself lost in other causes of popular complaint. In the sympathy excited by the wrongs of the Princess of Wales, feelings were enlisted which could not enter into any of the former cases. She was a woman and a stranger; the mother of the heiress to the throne: she had been, in the opinion of the nation, most grossly calumniated; and this calumny her husband rather encouraged than repelled. Sentiments arising from these causes were blended with motives of a public nature, and her advocates declared that they should not cease their exertions till her traducers had been punished, and she herself had been restored to the protection and favour of her husband. Certainly ncither of these events took place. A reluctant and indecisive acknowledgment of the innocence of the Princess was indeed given in Parliament by the ministers of his Royal Highness, but the injuries which she still experienced proved that this acknowledgment did not receive an echo in the Prince Regent's breast. Yet long before the close of 1813 the Princess was forgotten; even the fresh indignities she endured in the early part of the present year, produced only a feeble and partial rising of public interest in her favour; and that interest was divided with the astonishment and curiosity excited by the delinquency of Lord Cochrane. The

indiscretion of the Prince Regent, however, revived the attachment and the indignation of the people. A short time previous to the arrival of the Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia in this country, when, of course, it was to be expected that the levies and drawing rooms would be unusually splendid, the Princess of Wales received a letter from the Queen, in which her Majesty stated that she considered it "her duty to lose no time in acquainting the Princess of Wales, that she had received a communication from her son the Prince Regent, in which he declared that he considered his presence at his own court indispensible, and desired it might be distinctly understood, for reasons of which he alone could be the judge, to be his fixed and unalterable determination not to meet the Princess of Wales on any occasion, public or private." The Queen added, that she was thus placed under the painful necessity of intimating to the Princess of Wales the impossibility of receiving her Royal Highness at her drawing-room.

To this letter the Princess of Wales replied, by recalling to the recollection of her Majesty the affectionate regard with which she had been honoured by the King, who had bestowed upon her the most gratifying and unequivocal proofs of his attachment and approbation, by publicly receiving her at court, at a season of severe and unmerited affliction, when his protection was most necessary. She was now without appeal or protection; she could not so far forget her duty to the king and to herself as to surrender her right to appear at any drawing-room to be held by her Majesty; yet, that she might not add to the difficulty and uneasiness of her Majesty's situation, she yielded in the present instance to the will of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent. A letter was at the same time transmitted to the Prince Regent, in which she represented the peculiar hardship of her case, in being treated with this new and unprovoked indignity, at the moment when many illustrious strangers had arrived in England, on the eve of her daughter's nuptials, and amidst the general rejoicing of the people. She reminded the Prince that a time might possibly arrive when, in the event of a coronation, she must appear

in public along with his Royal Highness. No notice being taken of this letter, she addressed a statement to the speaker of the House of Commons, in which she explained the nature of the wrongs she had sustained, and inclosed copies of the communication between her Majesty and herself. The debates which ensued were attended by no other result than a pecuniary addition to her establishment, to be partly paid from the public purse, and partly from the coffers of the Prince Regent. It was generously proposed by Lord Castlereagh that 50,000l. per annum should be granted from the consolidated fund, to be replaced by future arrangements, but at the request of the Princess herself the sum was afterwards reduced to 35,000l. a year.

In the parliamentary discussions respecting the conduct of the Princess of Wales, it was vehemently contended that neither the nation at large nor the legislative bodies ought to interfere on so delicate a topic: that a quarrel between man and wife was above the reach of public interference; and that an officious invasion of the privacy of domestic life would only exasperate the feelings of the respective parties. It was forgotten by the enemies of public interference, that the object of those who supported the Princess was not the reconciliation of the two parties, for that was impossible, but to induce the Regent to change his treatment of the Princess, and to allow her to intermix in those circles to which her rank, as his consort, gave her an undisputed title. Nor can the Prince and Princess of Wales be regarded as private persons. Their private demeanour has a decisive and visible influence on their public conduct, and their indiscretions and infidelities may frequently affect the stability and even the inheritance of kingdoms.

A striking testimony of the evils occasioned by such dissensions was presented in the behaviour of the Princess Charlotte of Wales, who took a decided part in the dispute between her mother and the Regent. This young Princess had been educated chiefly in retirement, and regarded the injuries of her parents with an enthusiasm more indicative of native and amiable feel

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ing, than of her proficiency in the intrigue and hypocrisy of courts. It was determined therefore to repress her spirit of independence, and extend her knowledge of mankind by a matrimonial connection with one of the Princes of the continent The person selected was the young Prince of Orange; he was recommended by the length of his residence in England, by his education at an English university, and by the connection between his family and that of Brunswick likewise favourably known by the courage which he had displayed in the campaign of the Peninsula, under Lord Wellington. It never appeared, however, that he was very acceptable to the Princess Charlotte of Wales; but as mutual attachment is seldom deemed a requisite in royal marriages, it was imagined that the union would take place, notwith. standing any indifference or repugnance on her side. The real objection of the Princess to her intended husband have never bec perfectly understood: she certainly expressed a strong unwillingness to leave the country, especially at a time when her mother required her countenance and consolation.— This objection it was endeavoured to remove, by promising that her absence should be by no means permanent, and that after her visit she should never be required to return to Holland. In these conditions the Princess appeared to acquiesce, and the marriage settlements were prepared. Suddenly, however, her Royal Highness expressed doubts as to the promised security that she should not be compelled to reside longer than she wished in Holland, and demanded that a clause should be inserted in the marriage contract, prohibiting her from quitting the kingdom on any account, or for any time, however short. To this the Prince of Orange could not consent, as the Dutch had already engaged him to obtain a complimentary visit from the exalted female with whom it was expected that he would form a matrimonial connection.

Obstacles of this description might have been easily removed, but the affections of the Princess were already pre-occupied. In the suite of the exalted visitors who now honoured the court and the metropolis of England by their presence, the third son of

the Prince of Saxe Cobourg was peculiarly distinguished by the symmetry of his person, and the elegance of his deportment. He was regarded by the Princess Charlotte with no unapproving eye, and was received in the private circles of the Queen with unusual courtesy. As the Prince Regent was unsuspicious of the real cause by which his daughter was influenced in the rejection of the Prince of Orange, her obstinacy was ascribed to the influence of her attendants, and they were all dismissed. The Prince, acThe Prince, accompanied by the bishop of Salisbury, pro ceeded to Warwick House, the residence of the Princess Charlotte, upbraided her Royal Highness with her late undutiful demeanour, and instructed the persons who had just been placed in attendance to watch her conduct with the strictest scrutiny. While they were thus employed the Princess took an opportunity to descend the back stair-case, left the house in a private manner, entered a hackney coach, and sought refuge with her mother. She was, however, induced the next day to return, and was immediately removed from Warwick House to Carlton House, the mansion of her father.

In consequence of this transaction the Duke of Sussex, in the House of Lords, put several questions to the Earl of Liverpool, as prime minister, respecting the communication of the Princess with her friends, since her residence in Carlton House; whether she would be allowed the use of the sea-baths which were recommended by the physicians, and whether there existed any intention to form a nuptial establishment adequate to her station. The Earl of Liverpool declined to answer these questions, and his refusal was sanctioned by the Lord Chancellor. The Duke of Sussex then gave notice of a regular and formal motion on the subject, but was afterwards induced to withdraw it.

At this time peculiar reasons existed for refraining from every measure which might disclose these lamentable and degrading differences. I allude to the visit of the Emperor Alexander, the King of Prussia, and other illustrious strangers to this country.It is not my intention to describe the complacency of the Prince Regent on this me morable occasion, or the fetes and exhibi

tions, so remarkable for their licentious vulgarity of taste, and their extravagance of expenditure. To atone for the folly and profligacy of these pageants, the impression left on the minds of the people of England by the foreign monarchs, especially the Emperor of Russia, was highly favourable. His demeanour was at once conciliating and dignified, and he and his fellow visitors, accompanied by his sister, the Duchess of Oldenburg, examined with the utmost vigilance and activity, every useful manufacture, and every curious invention. The impressions received by the monarchs and their suite must upon the whole have been highly favourable to the English character, and they probably witnessed a greater degree of downright and warm honesty of heart, of manly confidence, and of comfort and cleanliness, than any part of the continent exhibits.

Next to the circumstances attending the dissensions of the royal family, the delinquency of Lord Cochrane attracted the interest of the public. It would be needless and tiresome to enter into a detailed account of Lord Cochrane's case, but some observations are requisite to elucidate the nature of a fraud which has so repeatedly disgraced the annals of English history. One of the consequences of the wars in which we were engaged with revolutionary France, was a total change in the management of our mercantile transactions. Our merchants, unlike their ancestors, instead of looking forward to the gradual accumulation of a fortune, by the exertion of a long and unwearied industry, trust almost entirely to speculation, and in a very short space of time are, generally speaking, either men of large or of no property. All wars, by rendering regular trade difficult and uncertain, must in some degree produce this change in the character of mercantile transactions, but the late French wars rendered this change much greater and more general than before. It was not to be expected that the transactions of the Stock Exchange would be untainted by this spirit: speculation, to use the mildest and most unappro priate name, was the very element in which the members of that establishment lived, and the French wars were therefore particularly serviceable to their views

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At no period was there so much reason for speculation as in the spring of 1814. At this time the power and even the existence of the French government seemed on the very verge of destruction, and the fall of Buonaparte was hourly expected. If he were driven from the throne of France, or his death took place, stocks would rise, and many enterprising speculations would prove lucrative and advantageous. It was therefore the interest of the stock-holders, or stock-jobbers, to give circulation and credence to every report concerning the fate or death of the French emperor; and more particularly in the existing circumstances of the loan. At no former period had omnium risen to so high a premium, yet the purchasers were numerous and adventurous. They bought under the idea and the hope that it would afterwards rise to such a premium as would render this speculation highly lucrative. If it did not by a certain time rise to that height, and much more of it fell, they would have serious cause to regret their imprudence; for as they were neither able, nor intended, to pay the instalments when due, they would be under the necessity of selling the omnium which they held, even at a loss, in order to remove their responsibility before the payments became necessary.

Thus we perceive the extent of the temptation, not only to give credit and currency to all the reports of Buonaparte's death, but also to invent them: his fall, or destruction, had long seemed inevitable; there could be little reason to doubt that it would soon occur. But the speculations of the jobbers in omnium would not admit of delay; they might be ruined before the expected and desirable event; unless it happened so as to raise the price of omnium before the instalment became due, it would be of no service to them. They therefore resolved to raise the price by a false report of Buonaparte's death.

Accordingly a plan was laid with considerable impudence and adroitness to propagate a seemingly official report that Buonaparte was assassinated: the scheme succeeded; a belief in the event, thus communicated, prevailed a sufficient length of time, before its falsehood was detected, to enable many

who had purchased omnium at a very high rate to sell it again at a still higher. As soon however as the fraud was discovered, great indignation was excited on the Stock Exchange, and measures were immediately taken to discover, if possible, all those who were concerned in it. We have stated that the scheme was conducted with considerable adroitness; but the machinery employed was so complicated, that it was scarcely possible that every part of it should elude the vigilant and active scrutiny of the Stock Exchange. Accordingly it was soon ascertained, that the person who represented the official bearer of the dispatches announcing the death of Buonaparte had gone to the house of Lord Cochrane; and it was also found that, on the rise of the funds occasioned by the false rumour, his broker had sold out stock to a considerable amount. These circumstances combined, left no doubt in the minds of the Stock Exchange that he was a party in the scheme; and they also fixed suspicious circumstances on his uncle the honourable Cochrane Johnstone, De Berenger, who had represented the official bearer of the dispatches, and others. A true bill having been found against them by the grand jury, they were tried for a conspiracy, and found guilty.

Lord Cochrane, with De Berenger and another were sentenced to stand in the pillory, as well as to suffer the penalty and punishment inflicted on the rest. Cochrane Johnstone had fled from the country before the trial.

The sentence of Lord Cochrane to the pillory excited very general surprise and indignation throughout the country: and these feelings were increased from several causes: in the first place, great doubts were entertained by many respecting his guilt: it is not our intention to enter on a discussion or examination of the probabilities for or against this point; as we must candidly confess, that most of the papers published by his lordship for the purpose of proving his innocence, tend, in our opinion, only to render the question more involved and intricate. must however be admitted, that either from his own fault, or the fault of his counsel, his trial was not ably conducted; there were deficiencies in the evidence, as well as apparent

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