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on either side, having been weighed in council, were accepted. It was considered that though the infidels employ cunning and craft, the sword of the true faith always predominates. On the other hand it was observed, that the post of Sed could not be carried, without landing troops there; and that, on account of the ground which the Nile leaves uncovered in its ordinary course, the landing depends absolutely on the great increase of the waters of that river, which, having inundated the whole surface of the earth, would every where favour the entrance of the boats and the gun-barks. Now the overflow of the Nile has been middling this year, and does not allow these barks to venture into this shallow water. It would, no doubt, be possible to take vengeance, by another means, of our enemies; but if we gave them time, they might receive succours and reinforcements. From these considerations, we confined ourselves to requiring some other conditions, and the accommodation was signed.

"I directly dispatched to Alexandria my riahia, intendant and lieutenant, Mohammed Aga, in order to take immediate possession of the town and fortifications, of the artillery, warlike stores, and other things most essential; and I myself, today, Tuesday, 19th of the moon Redjele, (22d of September) made my entry into this town, which has been at length purged of the infidels who sullied it, and is now returned under the Mussulman dominion, glory be to the Most High. So great a favour from the God of Mercy, and the signal grace which he vouchsafed to the most feeble of his slaves, in taking him for the instrument of the re-capture of Alexandria, and of the execution of the imperial will, must be exclusively attributed to the infinite merit of his highness, my most august, most formidable, most powerful, and y miraculous emperor and master, and imputed to his fortunate star. "The information of this conquest is the principal object of the present dispatch, which I have the honour of writing to your highness by the chief of my Tartars, and by his companion. I shall hasten to lay before your highness the circumstantial account of this glorious event, the inventory of the cannons, arms, stores, and other effects found in the town, and the copy of the act of convention, and to join to them the keys of the fortress, and of the other fortifications.

"The whole will be presented to you, and laid at your feet, by your slave, Mustapha Aga, my intimate Tichichadar. This is all that I can, at the first moment, write here in haste. Moreover, goodness and benevolence belong to your highness, &c. &c. The 19th of the moon Kedjele, in the year of the Hegira, 21st of September."- -Moniteur.

Paris, November 12.-" England has within two years sent out four expeditions. "The first was against Constantinople, which was attended with the loss of several ships, the confiscation of all English merchandize, and the expulsion of their commerce from all the trading ports of the Levant. Admiral Duckworth, and his squa

dron, were happy in being able to find safety in flight.

"The second expedition from England was against Egypt. This was still more shameful, more disastrous, more disgraceful. Its army, defeated at Rosetta, surrounded on its march, lost more than 4000 chosen men in killed and made prisoners. In vain did the English break down the dykes, cut the canals, and inundate that unhappy country, in order to secure themselves in Alexandria. On the 22d of September the Pacha arrived from Cairo, defeated them, and obliged them to surrender Alexandria, into which he made his entry on the 24th. It is difficult to find a more humiliating expedition..

"The third English expedition was that against Monte Video and Buenos Ayres. Ten thousand English troops failed in their attack an unfortified town. It is true, that the hatred which the Spanish Catholics have for the enemies of their religion, furnished them with new means against them, animated the whole popuJation with a new ardour, and the 10,000 men were too happy in being permitted to retire. This expedition, which cost the English enormous sums, only served, therefore, to destroy the illusion which had induced them to imagine, that it was easy to seize on the Spanish possessions. The Portuguese possessions would not have offered less resistance. Wherever there are Catholics, the intolerant English will find enemies. In this fatal expedition, they lost more than 5000 men.

"Their fourth expedition has been most notorious. It was that of Copenhagen,

the most atrocious expedition of which history can preserve the remembrance; the shame with which it has covered the English government is indelible. Why did the English evacuate Zealand and Copenhagen, when the Danish government would not ratify the capitulation, and the engagement to evacuate no longer existed?-Why did the English evacuate, when the prince royal refused to receive their envoy, when that prince concluded an offensive and defensive alliance with France, when he only answered their propositions by the recal of the agent he had at London; in fine, when in his political negociations he speaks of the English by calling them robbers, a name they have so well merited-Why? Because they are convinced of their weakness and inability by land. The approach of the season when the ice would render the arrival of the Danish troops possible, determined them prudently to take to flight, instead of waiting for the enemy, whom they had surprised when unarmed, and whom it would soon be necessary to combat: a disgraceful flight, which can never be treated with too much contempt."

"After these four expeditions, which so manifestly shew the moral and military decline of England, let us speak of the situation into which it has brought Portugal. The prince regent of Portugal loses his throne ;-he loses it, influenced by the intrigues of England; he loses it, because he would not seize the English merchandize which was at Lisbon. What then does England, that powerful ally?-She sees with indifference what passes in Portugal. What will she do when Portugal shall be taken?-Will she go and seize upon Brazil ?-No; if the English make that attempt, the Catholics will drive them out. The fall of the house of Braganza will remain a new proof, that the destruction of whomsoever attaches himself to the English is inevitable.

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"But in the midst of so many disastrous events, what do the English ministers wish? We do not say England wishes only, what all nations wish, peace, and to enjoy, at length, tranquillity, under the reign of morality and the laws; but what does the committee of Oligarchs, which directs its government, wish?--It has declared perpetual war. These systems of perpetual war will last no longer than those crises, in which wild and extravagant men wish to abrogate the law of nations, and put every thing to the extreme. The committee of Oligarchs, at London, is actuated by the same sentiments as those which animated revolutionary committees: those who. direct it are equally atrocious with Marat. What did he more atrocious than to present to the world the prospect of a perpetual war? These directors of government will conclude, as all violent and furious men have concluded: they will become the opprobrium of their own country, and the object of the hatred of all other nations. The refusal of the emperor Alexander, and the expedition to Copenhagen, sufficiently reveal the sentiments of the English ministers,-their system of perpetual war. The first consequence of these events has, therefore, been to determine the nations of the Continent, which were still at peace with England, to break off in future all connection with her. Austria did not hesitate: scarcely had the emperor Francis II. received certain information of the events at Copenhagen, and the refusal of the English to accept the mediation of Russia, when he declared war against England. Already is the blockade closed on every side. Lord Pembroke, when he left Vienna, to return to London, was forced to embark at Trieste.

"The correspondence of England with every part of the Continent is intercepted. There are more than 100,000 English letters, and bills of exchange to the amount of several millions sterling, collected and detained in consequence of the blockade. These measures must press heavily on the English nation, and, at length, reduce it to a desperate situation. But what does that signify to the violent men who govern that nation?--What have they in common with the English people? Happily on the day when these ministers are to be overthrown, they will become nothing, They may, for some time, continue to act on their maxims, but a catastrophe is. inevitable; injustice and extravagance may, for some time, impose on nations; but experience has proved, that the duration of these scourges is transitory. Peace, the first of benefits to a nation, ought to be the principal end of all the actions of thosegovern. A ministry which professes perpetual war, betrays the dearest interest of its country. It has lost its confidence. Its inevitable and near-approaching fall will satisfy the interest of the nation, and public morals."- Moniteur.

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FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE, SATURDAY, Nov. 28.
At the Court at the Queen's Palace, the 25th of November, 1807; present,
the King's Most Excellent Majesty in Council.

Whereas it has been represented, that it would be expedient to fix certain periods at which it shall be deemed, that a reasonable time shall have elapsed for receiving information, at different places, of his majesty's order in council, of the 11th of November instant, respecting the trade with his majesty's enemies, and in their produce and manufactures; his majesty taking the same into consideration, and being desirous to obviate any difficulties that may arise in respect thereto, and also to allow ample time for the said order being known to all persons who may be affected thereby, is pleased, by and with the advice of his privy council, to order and declare, and it is hereby ordered and declared, that information of the said order, of the 11th of November, shall be taken and held to have been received in the places hereinaftermentioned, at the periods respectively assigned to them; namely,

Ports and places within the Baltic---December 21, 1807.

Other ports and places to the northward of Amsterdam---December 11, 1807.
From Amsterdam to Ushant---December 4, 1807.

From Ushant to Cape Finistere---December 8, 1807.

From Cape Finistere to Gibraltar, inclusive---December 13, 1807.

Madeira---December 13, 1807.

Ports and places within the Streights of Gibraltar, to Sicily and Malta, and the
west coast of Italy, inclusive---January 1, 1808.

All other ports and places in the Mediterranean beyond Sicily and Malta---
January 20, 1808.

Ports and places beyond the Dardanelles---February 1, 1808.

Any part of the north and western coast of África, or the islands adjacent,
except Madeira---January 11, 1808.

The United States, and British possessions in North America and the West
Indies---January 20, 1808.

Cape of Good Hope, and east coast of South America---March 1, 1808.
India---May 1, 180S.

China, and the coast of South America---June 1, 1808.

And every vessel sailing on or after those days, from those places, respectively, shall be deemed and taken to have received notice of the aforesaid order: And it is further ordered, that if any vessel shall sail within twenty days after the periods above assigned respectively, from any of the said places, in contravention of the said order of the 11th of November instant, and shall be detained as prize on account thereof, (To be Continued.)

ERRATA IN THE LAST NUMBER.
"made" read "evade,"

"sessions" read "session."

Page 407, line 9, for P. 408, 1. 49, for P. 409, 1. 1, for "of promoting" read" of promoting the public service." The excellent article which appeared in our last week's Review" on the regulation and extension of existing taxes," contains an error, which I believe has escaped the observation of the intelligent writer. He says, that "a country banker can re-issue his notes as long as the paper will hold together, and sometimes, (after that) without reference to the date." This is, I think, a mistake: for the last act of parliament has limited the circulation to three years only from the date. This being the case, the expense of stamps upon a large circulation must be immense. In every other respect, I assent most cordially to his opinions; and, if possible, "I shall exhibit in my next number, a plan of finance founded upon the principle of the income tax, which I hope will meet the public attention, and induce gentlemen to favour me with their sentiments upon it, as its object is, to make our means meet our expenditure, and to simplify the mode both of taxation and collection.

Printed and published by G. SIDNEY, No. 1, Northumberland-Street, Strand; Sold by H. T. HODGSON, Wimpole-street; J. BELL, Sweeting's-alley, Cornhill; and by all the News-venders in Town and Country.

Vol. III. No. 24.

Saturday, December 12, 1807. Price 10d.

433

CONDUCT OF AMERICA.

:

The most important circumstance which presents itself to our notice this week, is the message of the President of America to the Congress, assembled on the 27th of October. For any extraordinary event upon the continent of Europe, we are perfectly prepared, and what would have made us tremble a few years ago, we now observe almost with indifference. But, we have not yet arrived to this point, in matters relative to our intercourse with America; and, as a pacific connection has long been maintained between the two countries, in despight of some occasional bickerings between their respective governments, every thing which comes from that quarter, in the present agitated state of society, must excite a great interest among the people of the United empire. The message of Mr. Jefferson, however, does not appear to be in the least calculated to gratify the public expectation; for it throws greater obscurity upon our mutual relations than before existed, and, in several instances, it betrays a want of candour which we should not have looked for in the public declaration of the chief magistrate of a free people. In one point, indeed, every paragraph of the President's message is sufficiently explicit it indicates throughout a mind hostile to the interests of Great Britain. Though this hostility le not denounced in formal terms, we are nevertheless left to infer it from the reprobation with which all our measures are treated, and the marked forbearance and moderation observed, when the wrongs which America has sustained from other powers at war with us, are the themes of the President's animadversions. When the executive power of any state endures repeated insults and outrages from another power, without expressing the least resentment, and without threatening the smallest disposition to repel them by an appeal to force, while it is lavish of its menaces against a third power for supposed injuries, it is a fair and natural inference, that it must cherish a peculiarly hostile mind against the latter. Hence, before Mr. President had allowed himself to expatiate upon "the successive innovations on those principles of public law, which have been established by the reason and usage of nations, as the rule of their intercourse," he ought to have stated as a fundamental principle of that rule, that public injustice may be done as much by omission as by commis sion; or, in other words, that if the executive government of a country neglect to pursue, or wink at, the injuries committed against its subjects by a power at war with another power, at the same moment when it is demanding satisfaction for acts of injustice perpetrated by the third power, it not only violates the duty of a government towards its own people, but it invalidates, by a premeditated relaxation of principles, that rule of their intercourse which it affects to support. It would also have been worthy of the dignity of the American president, to have borne in his recollection, his own commentary upon this assumed rule of intercouse between the United States and other powers. To qualify a government to speak in the tone of independence, it is above all things requisite that it should display the most scrupulous equity towards every other state with which it has any relations. For power is only the evidence of independence: equity is its basis. Accordingly, Mr. Jefferson should have de monstrated, that this principle had been the rule of his government towards every power, without the least partiality, favour, or indulgence, in behalf of one preferably to others. He should have shewn, according to the obvious maxims of neutrality, that the sole policy of the United States consisted in endeavouring, "by justice, by a regular discharge of their national and social duties, and by every friendly office their situation has admitted, to maintain, with all the belligerents, their accustomed relations of friendship, hospitality, and intercourse." These are his own words, in the proclamation which he issued on the 2d of July, relative to the prohibition of English ships of war from entering the harbours of the United States.* By this test, * See page 138, No. 7, of this volume.

VOL. III.NO. 24:

we must judge of the practice of the American government, and the justice of itë allegations against us. In the proclamation just cited, the President has made an assertion, respecting the rule of intercourse adopted by the United States, which is not warranted by any experience that we have derived from its observance. He says, of the United States, that, "taking no part in the questions which animate these powers (the belligerents) against each other, nor permitting themselves to entertain a wish but for the general restoration of peace, they have observed, with good faith, the neutrality they assumed, and they believe that no instance of a departure from its duties can be justly imputed to them by any nation."

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Keeping these data in our recollection, and comparing them with the last message under our consideration, we shall discover, that the conduct of the American government has been the very reverse of friendship; and that even the intercourse with this country, which the interests and the necessities of the Americans have imposed upon them, has been blended with sentiments of the bitterest rancour, and the most insuperable animosity. Are not these facts self-evident, when we daily perceive the interruptions which the American commerce and navigation experience from the French and Spaniards, without provoking even a remark from the executive power of that republic?-Yet, the least attempts, on our part, to recover our seamen, to detect the frauds carried on under the flag of neutrality, and to assert our maritime rights, are treated in America, as acts of unprovoked outrage and wanton despotism. Can America pretend, that her policy has been governed by justice," when she knowingly encourages the seduction of our mariners, and peremptorily refuses to deliver up the deserters from our navy, when we reclaim them?-Under our circumstances, our navy constitutes the chief bulwark of our national security and independence. To sanction, or connive at any measure which has a tendency to diminish its strength, is as culpable an act of aggression, as it would be for America to take possession, if it were practicable, of one of the most important fortresses of France. Indeed, the culpability is materially enhanced from the consideration of the facility with which America can undermine the strength of one power, and the impossibility of her inflicting any serious wound upon the strength of the other. It cannot, therefore, be said, with truth, that the government of the United States has maintained, with all the belligerents, the relations of friendship, &c. nor that it has observed, with good faith, the neutrality it had assumed; inasmuch as the preference which America, under professions and the advantages of neutrality, has notoriously shewn to some of the belligerent parties over England, by her fraudulent and clandestine commerce with them, cannot be otherwise considered than as a systematic pursuit of secret hostility against us. No one pretends to deny the right of the Americans to entertain a greater predeliction for France than for England; but there is a wide distinction between favourable wishes, and treacherous co-operation; the latter of which it would not be difficult to substantiate as the uniform conduct of the people of the United States against this country. I shall not here inquire into the abstract policy of any state remaining neutral, when the very existence of every other state is menaced by an usurping power, which is striving to set its foot upon the neck of the civilized world; nor shall I examine into the prudential motives of the Conduct of any government, which, instead of contributing its efforts in extinguishing a flame, that has set the world on fire, feels no shame in publicly boasting, that its best and sole policy consists in enriching itself at the expense, and upon the distresses of every other nation. But, I must protest against the admission of the principle broached by Mr. Jefferson, that any nation can be considered as in a state of perfect neutrality, and, as observing good faith toward all the belligerents, when the utmost latitude is afforded to one party to commit positive depredations with impunity upon them, while the opposite party is assailed by clamour and threats of violence, for the commission of imputed injuries, which have never been recognized as such, by any previous rule of their intercourse. Exceptions, therefore, made in favour of one belligerent party, necessarily imply an hostile disposition, toward the other, who must be materially affected by them; and, as these cannot take place, without collusion, injustice, and prevarication, the neutral government which acts upon them, is deservedly liable to reproach for its falsehood, cowardice, and perfidy.

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