go were endeavouring to escape, on account of the successes of the negroes. --The fol lowing is an abstract of the trade from Russia to the United States of America, during the year 1802.-Number of vessels 57 300,905 poods iron-203,418 ditto clean hemp-33,891 do. outshot-2,466 do. half clean-7,607 pieces sheetings-10,313 do. ravens duck-10,877 do. sail cloth-- 64 do. tallow-1,050 do. candles-60,172 arsheens narrow diaper-98,857 do. broad diaper 22,314 poods cordage-1,589 do. bristles 1,964 feathers 146,350 arsheens crash 850 poods glue.

"out for the ports of Spain Portugal, but "that British vessels could not clear out for "those ports until convoy was appointed."

DOMESTIC.. -It has been rumoured, within these few days, that there were appearances of fresh disturbances in Dublin, that inflammatory hand-bills had been distributed, and that (information had been communicated to the government, of the agitation of new treasons.--On the 5th inst. the commission of Oyer and Terminer will be opened in Dublin by the right hon. the Lord Mayor, when grand juries for the city and county of Dublin will be sworn in: the trials of those persons who are accused of high-treason will commence on the 7th.Hugh Porter, a journeyman taylor, was convicted on the 25th ult. at Carrickfergus, of having borne an active part in the late rebellion. In the London papers of the 1st inst. it is said that "government has deter"mined not to receive the surrender of any

On Tuesday last, the 1st of November, in obedience to an order of the House of Commons, the agents for Sir Francis Burdett and Mr. Mainwaring exchanged their lists of objections to the voters who polled at the last Middlesex election. The numbers objected to on the part of Sir Francis Burdett were 2367; on the part of Mr. Mainwaring 2194. Difference in favour of Sir Francis Burdett 173.-The numbers on the poll were-For Sir Francis Burdett 3207--For W. Mainwaring, Esq. 2936.-Majority for Sir Francis Burdett 271.If each party is accurate in the objections made, after striking off the bad votes on each side, the final numbers will be-For Sir Francis Burdett 1013For Mr. Mainwaring 569.-Majority for Sir Francis Burdett 444.-So that by this petition Sir Francis Burdett will gain a majority of 173 more than at the close of the poll.

MILILARY.-Papers and letters received from the Continent, by the last Hamburgh mail, state, that on the 14th ult., Berthier, minister of war, left Paris to inspect the different camps forming in the Netherlands and on the coast of France. This tour will occupy two weeks, at the end of which time the First Consul will set out to superintend the arrangement of the whole force intended for the invasion of England. He will command the expedition in person, and under him, Berthier will act. During his absence, the republic will be under the government of the two inferior consuls. Preparations are making for his reception at Flushing, where general Monnet has signified to the magistrates that he may be speedily expected with a large retinue of generals, and also at Dunkirk, where he is to be preceded by fifteen battalions of infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, and a large body of the consular guard from Paris. Three regiments of French dragoons have been ordered from Hanover to Maestricht, whence they are to be sent to join the armies on the coast. Three regiments of French artillery are also to be sent from the Electorate to Flanders to join the army of general D'Avoust at Galoo; and on the coast of the Island of Cadsand barracks are building with the greatest expedition, for the cantonment of the troops which cannot be encamped on account of the severity of the approaching season. Barracks will also be built on the coast of Flanders to lodge the troops which are assembling there.Great number of carpenters have set out for the coast between Ostend and Blankenburg, and likewise for Walcheren, in all

part of St. Domingo from the French "planters and merchants, nor to occupy "with our troops, a single fortress in that "island, the immediate evacuation of which " is now considered as a certain event.". The gazette of last Saturday contains the appointment of Lord Castlereagh, the Duke of Portland, Lord Hawkesbury, Mr. Secretary Yorke, Lord Glenbervie, Mr. Wallace, Mr. Golding, and Gen. Maitland to be commissioners for the affairs of India.--The King has been pleased to appoint John Halkett, Esq. to be Captain General and Governor in Chief of the island of Tobago.--The King has also been pleased to grant to the Rev. John Brereton, Clerk, A. M. the place and dignity of a prebendary of the Cathedral Church of Salisbury, void by the promotion of Dr. Thomas Burgess to the See of St. David. At a council held at St. James's palace on the 26th inst. his Grace the Duke of Beaufort took the oaths, on being appointed by his Majesty, Lord Lieutenant of the counties of Monmouth and Brecon.On the 27th ult, another message was sent down to the Custom House, stating that "there was no objection to Spanish, Portuguese, or other neutral vessels clearing

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which places barracks are to be immediately built. Almost all the troops from the frontier fortresses of Old France have been marched to the coasts of Belgium, Holland, and the northern and western parts of France. Twelve thousand men are now on their march to Utrecht, where a camp is to be established. A park of two hundred pieces of artillery is nearly completed at St. Omer's; and twelve thousand men are collecting at Cherbourg, -General Ney is expected from Swisserland, to take the command of the two camps which are forming on the right and left of Dunkirk: his head-quarters will be at Salperwyk.-The combined French and Italian army, now in Italy, amounts to about fifty thousand men, besides nine thousand which are stationed at Verona and Mantua. The army which General St. Cyr commands, in the Neapolitan and Papal dominions, amounts to about thirty-six thousand men. Austria has, also, a very considerable force in the Venetian territories; but at present there is no appearance of hostilities. The division of General DAvoust will conist chiefly of light troops, and will, previous to its embarkation for England, be increased to sixty thonsand men-General Augereau is hastening to take the command of the troops assembling at Bayonne, and, on his way thither, stopped at Paw, on the 11th ult. and reviewed the 83d demi brigade.--Upwards of twelve thousand men are encamped in the neighbourhood of Boulogne, and large bodies of additional troops are daily arriving The whole coast, from Etape to Calais, forms one continued line of batteries, and generals have been dispatched to the northern coast to expedite the preparations for the grand attack. All the generals holding commands in the army of England have been directed to hasten to their places of duty, and assist, by all possible means, the measures preparing for the invasion. The First Consul is, however, still at St. Cloud, and at his leisure witnesses the maneuvring of the boats at the dock of the Invalides. It is universally allowed, that he will immediately join the grand army on the coast A field lodging, said to be very portable and convenient, has been constructed for his use. A decree was published on the 4th ult. for raising a company of guides and interpreters to be employed in the invasion. It will consist of one hundred and seventeen men, including the captain, four lieutenants and subalterns. It is to be formed by voluntary enrolment at Paris, and in the sea ports from Ostend to St. Malo: the qualifications for admission are, a knowledge of speaking and translating the English language, a previous residence in England, and a topographical ac

quaintance with the country. The Irish who are in France, and the young Con scripts, who do not form part of the army,' if they may be received into this company possess the requisite qualifications. officers are to be appointed by the First Consul, but the subalterns by the Minister at War. Their uniform is to be a short

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green coat with red facings, and white hussar buttons, white waistcoat, leather breeches, American boots, and black bronze spurs. They are to be armed with a musket, bayonet, and sabre.-A new organization of the French army is about to take place: The number of corps of infantry and cavalry are to be diminished, but the number of men is to remain the same. Demi-brigades are to be incorporated and receive the name of regiments, by which the expense of the staff will be greatly lessened. The heavy cavalry will be reduced to ten regiments of cuirassiers, and the dragoons will serve both as infantry and light cavalry.--On the 15th of September, the government published a decree relative to the recruiting of the army, and the organization of This dethe Conscripts of the reserve. cree regulates the appointinent of 60,000 of them among the different veteran corps. They consist of one half of those drafted for the year 11, and one half of those for the year 12, whose active services were required by the military law passed during the last session of the legislative body.

NAVAL.-Early in the month of September, an expedition consisting of thirteen armed schooners, having on board upwards of seven hundred men, was fitted out at Guadaloupe, for the purpose of destroying the arsenal and port of Antigua. They were, however, met on their passage by the Emerald frigate, who succeeded in taking three of them and driving the rest back under the batteries of Guadaloupe. The Emerald sustained some loss by venturing too near to the enemy's guns on shore.On the 27th of October, captain Brenton, in his Majesty's sloop Merlin, attacked and drove on shore, near Gravelines, the French privateer Les Sept Frères, carrying two carriage guns and a great number of small arms, and manned with thirty men. Notwithstanding, a con• stant fire was kept up from some field pieces on shore, the privateer was completely destroyed, and the Merlin suffered no injury whatever. A great number of small vessels are said to have been lately purchased by the government t Liverpool, for the purp.se of being converted into gun-boats.The merchant ships in Holland and Belgium are put in requisition for the expedition against England. Those who offer their ships

voluntairly are to receive ten florins for freight per last, besides a premium of two hundred florins, and some other advantages on the success of the attack: those who are compelled to yield their ships for the service, are only to receive the freight.-All the Dutch fishing boats are to be assembled at one place, aud, for the present, to be drawn on shore. Letters from Holland say, that, notwithstanding the great activity with which their naval preparations have been carried on, they will not be completed before the middle of the present month.

It is reported on the coast of Italy, that lord Nelson is preparing an expedition against the Island of Elba.

TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD FOLKESTONE. LETTER I.

MY LORD,-As that state of things, which is the natural offspring of the defensive system, and which was, long ago, so forcibly described by you,* appears now to be very near at hand, I have chosen, as a vehicle of my sentiments on some points connected with the general subject, the form of a letter to your lordship.Of this fatal system, the Volunteer-corps establishment, appears to me to form the characteristic feature; and, therefore, to that point I beg leave first to solicit your lordship's attention.--You, my lord, who are in the camp with General Moore and his brigade of homely coarse-dressed soldiers, can' hardly conceive what fine shows we have lately had in the neighbourhood of the metropolis; and, though you will, perhaps, have read of them in the London newspa

"Against this plan" [of defence] "I must "object in toto, and for this very plain and sim"ple reason, that, of all the plans that can be "pursued, this, more surely than any other, will "bring on the country speedy and inevitable de

struction; and, the more complete the plan, "the more likely to be adequate to this dreaded "effect, the more speedy and more certain will "be the ruin. In that case the country will pe"rish by the weight of its own defence. It will "then be exactly in the case of a man, who, "when attacked by an active enemy should say, "I do not want to hurt my enemy, I only wish "to defend myself; so I will wrap myself up in "a god suit of armour, in a coat of mail, and

then may be perfectly at ease. But, what "would be the event? Not only if any of the "nails were to give way, or, if there were to be a "little rust, or any weak part, or the joints were "to open, would the enemy be immediately en"abled to thrust in his poignard, and give a "mortal stab; but, without any such accident, would "it not be certain, that this man must soon full down "faint and oppressed by the weight of his cron arms ?" -Speech of 14th June, 1803." Register, Vol. III. p. 1800.

pers, it will require some additional information to enable you to form a correct no. tion of the degree of safety, which the country is, in case of need, likely to derive from the 30,000 men, who have been recently reviewed in Hyde Park, and to whom the Commander in Chief has been pleased to say, that "the loyalty and patriotism on "which the Volunteer system was founded

may enable us to burl back on our ene"mies, with becoming indignation, the "threats which they have presumed to

vent against our independence and even our existence as a nation." To hurl threats back upon an enemy certainly means to threaten that enemy in the same way that he threatens you; but, I, for my part, cannot perceive, how the Volunteer system can possibly enable us to menace without exposing ourselves to ridicule and contempt, the territory of France with invasion, ber government with subversion, and her people with slavery. Not to criticise, however, too minutely words, which, all cir cumstances considered, it may be proper to have used, on the occasion referred to, I shall, my lord, proceed to point what I regard as the principal defects of the Volunteer establishment; and, in order to give your lordship a view of both sides of the question, I shall first lay before you the arguments, which have been opposed to the opinions, which, on this subject, I have alrea y submitted to the Public :

"The Gazette of Saturday contains a very flattering communication from the Com"mander in Chief by his Majesty's order to the Volunteers of the metropolis, re

specting their appearance on Wednesday "and Friday last. It certainly is highly "creditable to the country that within little

more than three months an army of almost "30 000 men has been formed immediately "within the capital. No man in his senses

pretends to say that these corps are equal "to troops of the line, or could with pro

priety be opposed singly to veteran forces. "It is not the question, whether the Volun "teers supersede an army, but whether the country is not in a better state of defence

by possessing so many Volunteers who "have acquired a certain proficiency in "military exercises, and who require no"thing but what all young troops want, ex

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perience and practice, to be fit for any "service. It is easy to say that the Volun"teers are not good soldiers; but would the men who appeared in Hyde Park on Wed"nesday and Friday, have been more useful "to their country, in a military view, had they still been sunk as they were before,

in the habits of business? Are they not now comparatively efficient? Have they not now acquired a spirit for military occupations, which, if well directed, may prove highly useful? Are they not now more qualified to defend themselves than "if on the alarm of the enemy's approach they had been caught behind the desk or "the counter? We are utterly at a loss, "therefore, to conceive why the system of "the Volunteers should be treated with contempt, and every effort made to induce "them to think meanly of themselves, and to render them contemptible to the enemy.

"

-If any body were so foolish as to "think of employing the Volunteers as a separate army, if any body were so absurd as to compare them to regular troops, it "would be perfectly just to expose their "defects, and to demonstrate the necessity "of a different and superior kind of force. But nobody, we believe, ever did pretend "that the Volunteers were equal to a reguス lar army. We think, however, that with

great propriety the Volunteers might be "called the Army of Reserve. They cannot "be the army first called upon; they can "be called upon only in small proportions, because they can be useful only "when called to act in small proportions "with a number of troops much superior "to themselves. But when the regular army knows that such a mass of reinforce"ment remains to join them if necessary, "it will add new confidence to their ef "forts. Nor is there any danger that the "attention which the Volunteers experience "will excite jealousy in the army. The

army cannot but see, that of all the kinds "of military force that can be devised the "Volunteers come least in competition with "them. The Volunteers will encroach nei"ther upon their honours nor their rank.

They come forward in a moment of pecu"liar danger to the public defence, and "having performed this duty they will re"turn to their former occupations.--We

are far from wishing to flatter the Volun

teers, or attempting to make them think "themselves, or make others think them, "what they are not. We do not believe "Sir William Curtis, or Alderman Le Me"surier, to be any thing like so good officers.

as General Massena or General Lecourbe. "We see very well, however, that the Vo"lunteers may be useful to a certain degree, " and we see no reason to quarrel with them "because they are not calculated to be as ef"ficient as any military force can be. They "do not interfere with the regular army, at "least those of the metropolis do not. If

quia posse videntur. Is it then very patrio"tic or very politic to teach the Volunteers "to despise themselves, and teach the army "likewise to despise them excessively, "which might at some future period be the source of infinite dispute and disorders ? Surely it would be more wise to cherish a military spirit among the people, even though that spirit might show itself in many fopperies and follies. Every man "in this country cannot at present be alto

gether a soldier. But why, at such a mo "ment, laugh at those who endeavour, as "much as their situation allows, to catch "something of the spirit, and to acquire "something of the business of a soldier? "A time may come when every man must "become a soldier, and if it does, every man "will be the better for what he has learnt as "a Volunteer, and the state will be the easier "defended for the spirit which the Volun"teer system has excited.--We have thought it right to make these few re"marks, in consequence of observing a dis"position to depreciate the Volunteers, because they are not what nobody ever expected them to be equal to troops of the "line. It is not too much to say, however, "that they add greatly to the national security that they give the government an entire command of the regular army, and "by this means they prodigiously increase "the active disposable force of the country. "They may therefore greatly facilitate any "offensive operations which it may be "thought proper to undertake, and in this

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which these writers are very fond of preferring against me, of "treating the Volun"teers with contempt, and making every "effort to induce them to think meanly of themselves, and to render them contemp"tible to the enemy." Now, it so happens, my lord, that most of the noblemen and gentlemen, with whom I agree in politics, and for whom I have, on every account, the highest possible respect, belong to vo lunteer corps, there being no other way left, wherein they could contribute towards the defence of the country. And, here I cannot refrain from observing on the contrast which the conduct of these persons exhibits, when compared with that of some of their opponents. The former were accused of holding the language of despondency, of disheartening the people, of inviting invasion, and of sacrificing the safety of their country to the indulgence of political and party animosity. Has this charge been corroborated by the conduct of the Duke of Richmond, of the Marquis of Buckingham, of Earls Fitzwilliam, Radnor, and Spencer, of Lords Grenville, Cary sfort, and Minto, of Mr. Windham, Mr. Grenville, Lord Temple, Mr. Elliot? These, and every other of the new Opposition, that I can now call to mind, are, and have been, during the whole summer constantly and earnestly employed in organizing and training men for the defence of the country, while no very small proportion of their patriotic accusers have been engaged in party intrigues, or in courting the rabble of the metropolis, seeking, in short, for private emolument and the gratification of personal vanity.

The writer of the above-quoted remarks first states, or at least alludes to it, as an unquestioned fact, that an army of 30,000 men has, within the space of three months, been formed immediately within the capital, and, that, such an exertion is highly creditable to the country, that is to say, including the ministry. The conclusion would certainly be very fair, and even very modest, were not the premises unfounded. It would, indeed, be not only a creditable, but a glorious circumstance, had 30,000 soldiers been raised, in the space of three months, by the voluntary exertions of the metropolis; but, alas! my lord, the 30,000 persons alluded to are not soldiers, and as without soldiers there can be no army, these persons are not an army. Then, as to time. as far as relates to the ministers, three months is not the space: it is now, my lord, six months since the war was resolved on by them, and eight months it is since his

Majesty announced to Parliament the necessity of providing for the protection of his dominions against the force, which was even then assembling on the coast of France, Having pointed out the fallacy of this statement, I shall reserve, for another part of my letter, what I have to say as to the dispatch that might have been made in this space of time.

It is," says this writer, "not the ques"tion whether the volunteers supercede an "army" [just before he had called them an army], "but whether the country is not "in a better state of defence by possessing so many volunteers, who have acquired a certain proficiency in military exercise, "and who require nothing but what all young troops require, expérience and prac"tice, to fit them for service." Here again is a conclusion without admitted premises, and even, without any attempt to establish the premises from which it is drawn. Yes, the country would most as suredly be in a better state of defence if its volunteers were such as are here described, than if it had no volunteers at all, nor any other sort of force in their stead; but, will any one assert, that this is a fair description of the generality of the Volunteer-corps? Will any one at all acquainted with military affairs, say, that the proficiency in military exercise acquired by these corps is not more than overbalanced by the injury which they derive from the spirit of indiscipline infused into them by their club-like constitution? Will any man say, that the Volunteer-corps of the metropolis, or of any large town or towns; that corps composed generally of men of all ages, of delicate constitutions, of an inactive way of life, many of them of corpulent bodies, and, not a few, of decrepid limbs; will any man say, that such corps, governed by committees and sub-committees, often assembled en masse to debate and

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pass resolutions: will any man of common sense and common modesty seriously say, that such corps require nothing but what "all young troops require;" nothing but what is required to perfect, for the field of battle, young men, who have no hope but in the army, who have, from the moment of their enlistment, been subject to martial law, and whose bodily capability has been ascertained by the review of a commanding officer, and by the scrutinizing examination of a surgeon? The description here given, then, not applying to the London volunteers, nor, indeed, to those of any other of those corps in the kingdom, it follows of course, that the argument founded thereon, can be nothing worth, and that the question