pretation of this word. According to my idea, "it is a disposition of the mind "made up of courage, decision, sagacity, "and persevering vigilance, as essential "ingredients." I am bound, from your conduct, to believe, that you imagine this firmness consists in that patient resignation of mind which can submit to a continuation of every species of aggression, insult, and violence, without dignified complaint or spirited remonstrance. That you have this species of firmness I am inclined to admit, as I believe every man will, who has read the printed papers relating to the late negotiation.I will not argue whether this species of "firmness" does not approach too near to pusillanimity to make it a proper qualification for a public man; for even you cannot deny, that it may be made a most convenient cloak for the most base and marked want of decision and activity. I can imagine cases, in which a man gifted with this species of "firmness" might persevere in a line of conduct, but I confess, that I should attribute his perseverance to the hesitation of a weak, encumbered, and distracted mind, destitute of those powers and resources which would suggest new modes of conduct according to the alteration of circumstances. A man of this kind might keep his ground, but it would be from the mere fear of the consequences of quitting it.In short, where this sort of firmness exists we do not discover the calm yet commanding attitude of a determined spirit, but the waverings of indecision, which shrinks from every honourable exertion, and skulks from every appearance of difficulty and danger. We see not a courage coolly collecting and wisely disposing the resources of an enlarged and vigorous mind in order to meet the worst, but procrastination and compromise. We see a disposition" to deceive and to be deceived," which, while it winks at the evils of the present day, leaves futurity to take its chance.Sir, there is a wide difference between the conduct of the mastiff, who when attacked, stands at bay, and that of the ostrich, of pompous gait, who thrusts his head into the thicket and thinks, that there is no danger because he does not see it.To pursue, however, the line of argument which I have undertaken, I say, that it is most clear that you do not "know yourself," the duty, therefore, of giving you this most necessary information devolves on any man, who will undertake a task, which can afford him no one ray of satisfaction, except from the hope, that by discharging this duty he may contribute his share to

wards relieving the country from the burthen of your services.Sir, in proceeding to exhibit to your view, and that of my countrymen, the leading features of your character, I can assert, without the most remote chance of contradiction, that the most prominent one has been that of "a "continued endeavour to disguise from the public (and that by means of words not

always consistent with truth) the actual "difficulty of their situation; and to avoid "meeting such difficulties by every art of "political evasion."That under such a miserable system our embarrassments must accumulate, with every circumstance of aggravation, till they rouse complaints that must be heard, is unavoidable.-And pray, Sir, when the fears of an exasperated nation (fears exceeding even those which before doomed you to inaction) have goaded you into resistance, what has been your conduct? I will admit, that you have, in some instances, announced the determination to meet the actual difficulties of our situation, in a tone sufficiently loud, and in language sufficiently ostentatious. But, has not this display of words, this single effort of animation been uniformly and immediately followed by a conduct so wavering, undecided and inefficient, that every man of honour, of spirit and patriotism in the kingdom must blush for the disgrace, which you are daily accumulating on our heads, and tremble for the ruin, which such conduct must finally and irretrievably bring on the king and country!-Your friends, or rather those who are willing to make their fortunes by your means, have affected to discover in you great "simplicity of character," and a "fairness" and "liberality" in your conduct; and about this they make a great noise, whenever mere shame compels them to be silent about all the great qualities hitherto deemed essential to the situation.

-I, however, most decidedly differ from them on this subject, (and permit me to assert, that the mask is daily falling off) I can see nothing of this candour, this openness, this liberality of character; but I do see a great deal of what you may call "address" and " management in your transactions; but which those, who read the remaining part of this letter, may chance to distinguish by more appropriate terms.I had almost forgotten to remark, that you have the favourite modes of private" conciliation." You can resort to your nods the gra, cious smiles, and the affectation of confidentially consulting those whose services may assist you, but whose opinions even you must despise. These paltry and un

dignified acts have, to my surprise and disgust, for a time procured you some friends; but friends, you may be assured, who will desert or betray you without scruple, the moment they see, that the nods and the smiles of another man are more likely to promote their interest or gratify their selfimportance. Having cursorily mentioned the most marked and obvious features of your political character, which I do not hesitate to assert, is a compound of cowardice, in decision, folly, and not less duplicity, I shall call to your recollection some facts, in which some or all of these respectable qualifications fra Prime Minister of Great Britain do most distinctly appear. In the first moment of your administration, you were so terrified by your own advancement, and so absolutely in a state of pupilage, that the whole appears to have been a mere blank in your history.The first fact in point of date, which occurs to my recollection, is that, in which, by a motion of yours, you sacrificed the law of the land, and the rights of Parliament to your fear of the Rev. J. Horne Tooke.—I cannot forget the indignation, with which I read the report of your speech on this occasion; in which, after detailing with more than your ordinary clearness, the legal arguments wherewith you had been supplied, and which most distinctly proved, that the clerical character disabled any man from being elected a member of Parliament, you, in direct contradiction to every argument which you bad used, concluded by a motion for a bill to confirm the seat of this Rev. Gentleman, to whom no regular government ever had, or, I believe, will have any obligation. That your motive was fear, direct dastardly fear of Mr. Tooke, let no man doubt; the friends of your government, the runners from your offices proclaimed it most loudly by their commendations of your "discretion" in avoiding contests similar to those about the Middlesex election, &c. &c. being arguments which your cowardice made necessary, and their prompt servility led them to circulate.--Believe me, Sir, a sacrifice of the principles of established law to motives which you find it convenient to dignify with the title of "discretion," is no light matter; and you may be assured, that many men of serious and reflecting minds, formed from this beginning a very correct estimate of the character of your administration, an estimate which subsequent events have indelibly confirmed.--The next act in point of date, of which I shall take notice is, alas too well known, and too severely felt to lay me under the necessity of

naming it your conscience will immediately tell you, that I can allude to nothing but the transaction relating to, and ending in, the disgraceful (and not less disastrous than disgraceful) treaty of Amiens. I could wish, for the honour of my country, that history could be silent as to this treaty; this cannot be but be assured, that no man can ever record the details of this event, with the fidelity of an historian, without transmitting your name to posterity with all the contempt it deserves.--That this event most fully proves your disposition to retreat from present difficulties, no man can deny; I will not waste words in proving it; but the transaction proves another leading feature of your character, I mean, that of your " management" and "dexterity." You were, and you knew that you were, the deliberate author of this treaty, which commenced from the date when our evil stars made you prime minister; and yet you most industriously proclaimed the "people of England" as the authors of this disgraceful event, for which, as prime minister, you were almost exclusively responsible.I am informed of a fact, which you cannot deny (and which if a public address would justify me in disclosing names I could prove), namely, that during the disgraceful interval which elapsed between the signing the preliminaries of peace and the definitive treaty, when we were insulted by every means of aggression, that proclaimed the continuance of the "hostile mind" of the eremy; you were informed from various sources, (and from sources to which you attached a credit) that this people," whom you so unfairly traduced as the authors of their own disgrace, were again fully roused to action and eager for the continuance of the war.

Surely, Sir, this conduct cannot be said to convey the idea of fair "address" or management." But, to use plain words, it exhibits a most striking effort of the art of political chicane.The next point, I shall mention, relates to your conduct as a minister of finance, and arises from your budget of the year 1802If I am correctly informed, you have uniformly been among the foremost in your panegyrics on the system pursued by that great man (who I trust will never again call you his right hon. friend, or permit you to address him by that title,) and by which he provided for the extinction of the loan of each year, by raising one per cent. on the capital stock funded, in addition to its current interest. -The step which you took in this budget of 1802, was to introduce an

Act entitled, " An Act for amending and rendering more effectual the Acts for the re"duction of the public debt." The leading feature of this Act (however incredible it may appear, let no man disbelieve nie,) was to dispense with a provision for the reduction of our debt to the extent of "eight bun"dred and sixty thousand pounds per onn.", a sum nearly equal to the original sinking fund!!

You know, or ought to know, that the fund would be wholly a loser to the extent of £850,000 per son. for the term of six years under your system; and that it would continue to be a loser (calculating at a moderate rate of interest) for upwards of twenty years; which is, in the view of every man, a sort of political perpetuity as to money concerns; and yet you deliberately and modestly call this an Act "to render more effectual the Acts for the re"duction of the public debt!"- Who is so blind, as not to see, that the whole measure had its origin in your feeling yourself unequal to the attempt of imposing taxes necessary for the support of the public credit according to your acknowledged opinions on the subject? And who can be so besot ted, as not to discern, that the title of your act was a mere fraud to mislead the public as to their opinions of the transaction?That the public did not see its baseness and folly, is most true; though your present right hon. friend Mr. Tierney" was not wanting in his duty, and did then very clearly expose and reprobate the impolicy and cowardice of the measure.➖➖➖➖➖➖ But, Sir, the blindness of the public as to these subjccts, may possibly have been among the motives, which tempted you to shew yourself more conspicuously to the world, in that most unfortunate, contemptible, and fallacious publication entitled " Substance of "the Speech of the Rt. Hon. Henry Ad"dington, Dec. 10, 1802."--The_mention of that pamphlet leads me to the immediate consideration of another very remarkable feature of your conduct as 66 mi"nister of finance."- -You have not, and cannot have the assurance to defend the statements contained in this pamphlet; if, however, you should be induced to do it, I request, that you would first ask the opinion of the "Rt. Hon. George Tierney." You, however, knew by this time most clearly, that the errors in your account of our receipt (and exceeding it) amount to so many millions of pounds that a common exciseman would be deprived of his place and his bread, for an erior of as many shillings. -I shall not, therefore, dwell on the errors of your statement, which are

known to every well-informed man in the country, and particularly to the gentlemen at the Stock Exchange.- I mention the subject with another view; you were informed of the existence of these errors on the very day, or the day before this publication issued from the press. And yet

with this information on a question not admitting of doubt, (if you comprehend a single principle on the subject) you officially sent this pamphlet as a sort of "financial "manifesto," to our ambassadors at the several courts of Europe.—Sir, till this disgraceful transaction, there is not an instance on record, of so fraudulent a juggling, and dishonest a trick on the part of any minister of Great Britain; it was reserved for the "candid," " liberal," and "honest" Mr. Addington to circulate a financial romance, equal in point of effrontery and fraud to any that ever issued from the pen of the celebrated Barrere or the complaisant minister of Buonaparte.- If another feature were yet wanting to exhibit those leading features of your administration, namely, those of indecision, folly, and duplicity, let any man read, (even in their mutilated and garbled state) the papers submitted by you to parliament as containing the substance of the late hostile negotiation. That we were on the eve of a war, whilst you were proclaiming the nation as being in the midst of a "pro"found peace," no man of common sense can doubt.. -Could you ever have supposed, that the long and laboured discussions of Lord Hawkesbury united with your "temporising," and your " conciliation," could have ever led to an amicable settlement of such a dispute with such an enemy?

And yet with a total absence of common sense, with a want of dignity the most marked, and with a duplicity the most disgraceful, you continued deluding this country with your prating about " profound

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peace," your disarmaments, and your abandonment of conquests; whilst our enemy, more decided in his character, more sagacious in his views, continued, without the smallest interruption, his conduct of " "gression," "violence," " and insult,” (I use your own words) till even you were sensible, that we were on the brink of a precipice, from which nothing but a renewal of war (under all the disadvantages of your creating) could witharaw us.--Sir, I most deliberately and solemnly warn you, that if you should have again the power of prescribing to the nation, another such opiate,

as the peace of Amiens," the sleep that will ensue will be the sleep of death! Can any man after these transactions look

with confidence to the future; if such things have been, who can dare hope, that they will not occur again!--Can any man after such woeful experience, be so blindly sanguine, as to look forward to any thing but disgrace and ruin from the continuance of your miserable government? I have, as you may suppose, omitted a variety of facts, which concur in proving these leading points in your political character, which I will not again repeat. It is however impossible not to notice, in a few words, your quant of decision as to the conduct that should be pursued against Spain; your total and shamefal abandonment of even the common form of vigilance as to Ireland; your magnanimous promises as to " gigantic "measures" for the security of the country, and your sudden terror when you begun the actual performance of them; your miserable indecisive policy, your arming and disarming, your orders and counter-orders, which will speedily bave the effect of rendering every effort of bonourable zeal, every disposition to voluntary service languid and ineffectual.--On these points I shall say little; because I do most sincerely hope, that they will be subjects of the most early attention of parliament: and, unless you have better fortune than you deserve, they may end in discussions, that may cost you what you value more even than your place. Since this letter was begun, the papers have announced a fact, which, from its extreme wickedness and foily, I almost hesitate to believe: It is said, that a pamphlet has issued from the Treasury, (where you command, or ought to command every man and every measure,) loaded with the grossest invectives against this "truly great

man," to whom you owe your political existence. It is said, that this paper, (at the same time that it affects to disclose the most sacred and confidential communicacations) misrepresents every fact in a manner the most disgraceful to the writer and to you, who, if you did not direct, at least must have permitted him to write.I do not know any of the confidential communications between you and Mr. Pitt; but this I know, and the whole nation knows, that it was to him that you first owed your clevation to the chair of the House of Commons; I also know, and every man knows, that when you were, to the astonishment of all mankind, created prime minister, the friends of Mr. Pitt either retained their places or accepted them under you, at his express solicitation.You also know, that without the silent influence of his support, or open assistance, (which, alas 1 he gave you) your administration could not have con

tinued its puny and rickety existence for one month.--That obligations such as these, that a friendship so disinterested, should have been for an instant forgotten, must excite the astonishment of any man who has the smallest spark of an honourable feeling in his bosom.--What then must be the degree of indignation, contempt, and scorn, which your conduct must now excite through the whole nation, when it sees you basefy and secretly abetting a Treasury Hireling in the circulation of abuse and invective against this "great man," who has con. siderably lessened the obligations we all owe to bim, by the unfortunate support he has given to You.I am sensible, that my zeal for the best interests of my country, has induced me to address you, at greater length than the bounds of a letter fairly justify; I shall therefore conclude, by solemnly requesting, that you will anxiously consider, whether from the experience of the past, you can possibly suppose, that your continuance in power can lead to any other event than the ruin of your country. I would also advise you to reflect, whether your incapacity and weakness have, not unfrequently almost compelled you, in self-defence, to resort to political fraud for your protection; for I do admit it to be possi-ble, that your disposition might have led you (if it had not been tinctured by the most offensive vanity) to have been harmless, if not in some degree useful.--You might have done some service at the vestry of your parish, and have exhibited yourself with some advantage as the foreman of a jury.--You may be assured that the contempt, with which you have been hitherto treated, is speedily rising into active and general indignation, and except you make a prudent retreat, (I most solemnly admonish you as to the inevi table consequence) the public indignation will take from you, what you value more even than your place or its profits.--You are partial to the signature of a "near ob"server," I shall, therefore, subscribe myself, your humble servant, and

A NBARER OBSERVER.

TO THE EDITOR.

Antrim, Sept. 10, 1803. SIR, I have just obtained a sight of your No. 8, (Vol. IV. p. 289), wherein your Correspondent from Dublin of August 6, has enumerated many instances of gross inattention and criminal neglect of the various notices given to government concerning the intended insurrection, July 23d. But the most striking and remarkable of all seems to have escaped his recollection. The

traitors amid their ample and uninterrupted preparations, being most destitute of gunpowder, were encouraged by the wilful obstinacy at the Castle, actually to set up a manufacture of it in one of the principal streets in Dublin; where, by the ignorance or carelessness of the workmen, an explosion took place, and one of them was killed on Saturday, July 16. The alarm and apprehensions which this discovery excited among the loyal part of the inhabitants, were treated with the utmost derision at the Castle, and they were even stigmatized with the opprobious name of Alarmists in the account published by government in the Dublin prints, as may be seen in the republication of their account in our Belfast News Letter of July 22d, which is here copied, viz. DUBLIN, July 19th."Saturday last, some gun-powder having

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exploded at a house in Patrick Street, "two men were dreadfully wounded, and

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conveyed to Stevens's Hospital, where 66 one of them died, but the other is in a "state of recovery. Various reports have "been founded on the circumstance, ac"cording to the different views and pre

judice of the reporters, and the alarmists

have not been idle; but from the in"quiry made by us, we have reason to be-. "lieve that nothing of a political nature is "connected with the transaction."- -As this explosion took place but one week before the insurrection of July 23d, the surviving workman must have been still a patient in the hospital, when the inquiries concerning it were, or ought to have been instituted by government. Yet I never heard that any inquiry was ever made, or any examination taken of him, concerning this traitorous manufacture of gun-powder. But I hope the subject will not escape inquiry, nor the guilty punishment at the next meeting of the Imperial Parliament. -I am, Sir, your obedient Servant, VINDEX.

Monsieur, mon frere et cousine,-It is with a feeling the most just, and with the liveliest sense of gratitude, that I avail myself of existing circumstances, to demand of your Majesty, on my own behalf, in that of my sons, of the Princes my cousins, and of all Frenchmen residing in your Majesty's dominions, that you would be picased to allow us to unite ourselves to your faithful subjects, and to offer our services against our common enemy -We are Frenchmen, Sire; and neither our misfortunes, nor the many acts

of injustice we have experienced, have weakened. the sacred ties that bind us to our country; but the man who has for the present subjugated France, and rendered it the instrument of his perfidious ambition, is in truth as much the enemy of every Frenchman, as he is of your Majesty, and of your paternal government. - On taking this step, we therefore fulfil a double duty and if your Majesty deigns to accept of our services, we will enter into a rivalship with your loyal subjects, in order to prove to you the full extent of our gratitude.-I pray your Majesty to receive, with your usual goodness, the homage equally sincere as respectful, of every sentiment with which I shall always remain,-Mons. Mon Frere et Cousine, &c. &c. &c.

LETTER from Gen. MACDOWALL, Commander of the BRITISH FORCES in CEYLON, to His Excellence the GOVERNOR, relative to the WAR carried on against the KING OF CANDY. · Dated one mile East of Geriagamne, Feb. 19, 1803.

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Sir, It is with great pleasure I inform your Excellency, that the advance under lieutenant colonel Logan of the 51st regiment attacked this morning and carried the two strong and important posts of Galle Gederah and Geriagamme. At the first, in which the enemy abandoned three very curious brass cannon, no resistance was made; at the last, a heavy fire commenced, the moment the grenadiers of the 19th, under capt. Honner, which led, appeared, and was maintained, though with little effect, until the assailants entered the battery. From their contemptible mode of defence, the enemy, I presume, have not suffered much loss; on our side, 1 serjeant and I private, of the 19th regiment, are severely wounded. From the steepness and narrowness of the paths, had the Candians behaved with common resolu tion, this conqueft would have lost us the lives of many brave men, The Adigaar, it is said, has fled into the Four Corles, and the troops who were lately under his command are dispersed in the woods, or have retired towards Candy. The road to the capital is now open; I shall reach Katoogastotte on the Mahaville Ganga to-morrow, and next day have it in my power to march into it. I have no news of 1.lieut. Col. Barbut's detachment.-I have the honour to be, &c. HAY MACDOWALLo

LETIER from COL. BARBUT, to the Chief Secretary to the Government of CEYLON, relative to the WAR now carried on against the King of Candy.— Dated at the Camp at Wallapoalloa, February 20 1803.

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Sir, Please to inform his excellency, the governor, that about three o'clock in the afternoon of the 19th, as my detachment approached the Great Candian River, I found the opposite bank, the village of Wallapoalloa, and neighbouring hills, occupied by the enemy in force; a tew minutes fire from two mortars and one six. pounder obliged them (after expending much of their ammunition without effect) to retire; and the detachment crossed the river this morning. The report of the country is, that the enemy lost 15 killed. At present we are posted at the village of Wallapalloa, within one English mile and a half of Candy, and are in hourly expectation of being joined by Major General Macdowall—I have the honour to be, &c. &c.

G. B. BARBUT, Licut. Col. commanding the Detachment,