that they had inspired his soul with such military ardour that the modern Quixotte has, luckily for the defence of our eastern shores, taken upon himself the command of a whole battalion of us! And will not his faithful Squire, his Sancho, his Subaltern follow him to the field? O, doubtless! His recantation is to pare the way. And where, now a-days, is the ODIUM of INCONSISTENCY? What polttician of modern times is absurd enough to think of such exploded prejudices for a moment? Nay, the pressure of the times, the public good demand this sacrifice of every PATRIOT of the nineteenth century. And political inconsistency is now a political virtue—the most glorious sacrifice that can be made for one's country. O, noble Lord Grengille! noble Mr. Windham! virtuous Charly Fox!- amiable Cobbett! Marcus Curtius was a BooBY to either of you. GLORIOUS JUNTO!!!

But though all these inconsistencies so far from being an insult to the public, merit our warmest acknowledgements, still it must be confessed these gentlemen have had some feelings of a delicate nature to settle amongst themselves, which are said to have given rise to an heroic dialogue, in their tender moments; some fragments of which I send you. How, my old friend and my disciple," quoth one of them, « couldst thou have DESERTED me?”, “ Aud you, my Lord, how could you ever 4 call me wicked, and a TRAITOR?" So * * * spake, to him

* * * *thus answered. 4 Why wouldst thou starve thy followers? Why so long refuse to share thel oaves and fishes?"-And again: Why with thy wild 44 reforms wouldst thou attempt to shake my sway in Parliament?" And then the minor Cobbett did begia-“ Patron! Master! Why didst thou bid me first, abuse our VOLUNTARIES*, then tell me to recant? Why call on me first to fall, me fouk of their Committees, their Elections, then tell me to declare-any amendment Miúnisters might make were breach of public faith most base and most abominable? 6. Or why didst thou vote me first, a golden statue, big as myself, then bid me say— 44 there was no gold i'the land.--Where is my statue then, that like mine other 4. honours, I may melt it down? I will not write without an image! But ah! I fear there is no gold the land:—and thou Master of mine, when thou wert Minister "of War, didst, by thy subsidizing spirit, and by thy love of REAL soldiers, send it all 4 away!!!_" Peace, varlet," quotha. But the rest is wanting, Sir, of these little Interesting reproaches, which the present Coalition has given rise to,-should any more come to hand, you shall have them.

And now, Sir, I shall conclude with a question for your solution.-Whether after all, you do not think this military spirit of Mr. Windham's in our County is not an electioneering business; and whether as he fought himself out of our good graces, he does not wish to fight himself in again; and whether as he put his own Nose out of joint at the late general election, by pulling the Nose of a freeholder, we ought to trust him within reach of our Noses in future?

I am, Sir,

your most obedient servaut,

A FREEHOLDER AND VOTER OF NORFOLK

P. S. I have taken care to insert my right of voting; that Mr. Fox

may
not take

any quibbling exception to me!

* Vide Register 4th of February.

DOMESTIC POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

The mild and constitutional language of the secretary at war, on his motion to introduce a bill into parliament for the consolidation, explanation and amendment of the several acts that have passed respecting the volunteer system, must afford the highest gratification to every man, who feels a cordial attachment to the prerogatives of the crown, and the proud independence of the kingdom. The loyalty of the vo lunteers, who are in arms, to maintain the political existence of the nation, and the preservation of its dearest rights, is not to be seduced from the regular performance of their duties, by the introduction of some few regulations, by which their patriotism may be rendered more useful to their country, and more formidable to its enemies. The people of England are now informed from the highest authority, that the preparations of the enemy are nearly in a state of completion. Any relaxation therefore in any of their military exertions, would be giving advantages to the armies of France, much more to be dreaded than what they could derive from the exercise of their valour. We have stated to the public, on several occasions, some most remarkable coincidences in sentiment, between the observations in the Moniteur, the speeches of Mr. Windham, and the writings of the weekly Political Register. We have also been furnished with too frequent opportunities of cautioning the volunteers against the rancorous malignity of Mr. Cobbett, as their enemy. We now most particularly advise them to be on their guard against his artful insinuations, as their adpocate. His insolence as an enemy, was supportable, but his friendship is intolerable. The volunteers do not want an advocate, and if they did, they would nat seek one in their calumniator, The invariable object of this Weekly Journalist has been to create a spirit of disaffection and discontent amongst the volunteers, and to destroy the reciprocal confidence between them and his Majesty's ministers. Every act, in any volunteer corps, in the kingdom, that was not strictly conformable to the severest discipline of a regular army, has been represented as an act of mutiny and sedition. Government was unmoved by these artifices, and invariably entertained the highest opinion of their loyalty, and relied with the most perfect confidence on their zeal. This attempt having failed, he is now in the character of a friend and advocate, endeavouring to create a distrust in government, which, from its professed intention to organize the force and render the system less objectionable, is accused of a violent breach of public faith.

The following account, shewing what has been redeemed of the National Debt, the Imperial Loan, and Land Tax, to the 1st of February, 1804, cannot but be gratifying to all who are not desirous of seeing Mr. Cobbett's remedy-TIE SPONGE applied to the National Debt!!

National debt redeemed

Imperial loan ditto

Land tax ditto

£79,294,138
459,828
21,147,888

Total £100,901,854

The sum to be expended in the ensuing quarter is 1,587,8251. So that we are

not yet exactly on the verge of BANKRUPTCY!!!

2

FOREIGN POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

The mails that have arrived this week bring but little intelligence, and none indeed that can be considered of any great importance. It is however stated that the preparations for invasion, do not in the least relax-that 12,000 men had actually embarked at Flushing,that Decrés, the Minister of Marine, had been there to inspect the fleet that some person had been apprehended on suspicion of an intention to destroy this fleet-and that he is discovered to be an emissary of the English.

VIENNA. Count Marcow, the Russian ambassador, still remains at Vienita ; he has frequent interviews with the Imperial Ministers-but has refused to have any intercourse with the French Ambassador.

The first Consul persists in his interference in the internal arrangements of the Empire; and to compleat the measure of political wonders of the present day, has resolved on taking the same side as the Emperor, against the Elector of Bavaria.-An oficial note, written by Talleyrand to Baron Wachter, upon the subject, has been published.

AMERICA. The Spaniards have now finally ceded Louisiana to the French, for the purpose of its being made over to the Americans-the news of this transaction has, unfortunately for Mr. Cobbett, reached this country at the very moment when he had declared an unexpected difficulty to have arisen.

Jerome Bonaparte's stay at New York was very short--he has returned to Balti more, to console himself, in the arms of Miss Patterson, for being kept from the court of his brother.-The repairs of the Poursuivant frigate, which was supposed to have been intended to convey him-go on with less activity than some time since.

POSTSCRIPT.

LONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1804.

The West India Convoy, consisting of 145 vessels, have sailed from Corkonly one ship, the Trident, of Liverpool, got on shore.

Several line of battle ships sailed from Bantry Bay, the 2d instant, on a cruise. The French have ever been notorious for their treachery-but in the late evacuation of St. Domingo they have, in a variety of instances, exceeded all former example -one in particular we shall notice.-Although Captain Bligh négociated from mo tives of humanity, and to save the remnant of their army, which must otherwise inevitably have perished, a French General, with 14 officers and some soldiers, rose upon the crew of one of our small vessels, and have carried her to Cuba.

Le Duquesne, of 74 guns; La Sagesse, Surveillante, Clorinde, and Vertu Frigates, and the Vigilante and Goelan, fine new Brigs of war, are a noble addition to the British navy in that quarter.

Printed by JAMES. WHITING, FINSBURY PLACE.

Published by J. PARSONS, Bookseller, Ludgate Hill; by CLEMENT, 201, Strand (to either of whom all Communications are requested to be sent) sold-and by A. HAMILTON, at his Musical Library, 221, Piccadilly; by E. KERBY, 2, Stafford Street, Old Bond Street; SEATON, 40, Oxford Street; THOMAS, 35, Old Bond Street; WOODHAM, opposite Chancery Lane, Holborn; PECK, Lombard Street; and by various Booksellers and Newsmen in Town and Country.

PRICE NINE-PENCE.

A REPLY to the Arguments contained in the French EXPOSE, and in the WEEKLY POLITICAL REGISTER, relative to the Grounds and Origin of the War.

Mr. Cobbett having thought proper in his Register of the 4th of this month to amplify and extend the argument ade use of by his new Friend, the FIRST CONSUL, in the Exposé, for the purpose of throwing all the odium of the present war upon the British Ministers, we think it proper at once to expose the sophistry of Bonaparte and of his London Ally.

It cannot be denied that there is much ingenuity in the reasoning adopted upon this subject in the Exposé. "If," it is said, "on the 17th Ventose, in the year 11, "there existed any extraordinary ARMAMENT in the ports of France and Holland, or any PREPARATION that ought to have given any cause of suspicion to the English, "then we are the Aggressors, &c." Now herein consists the artfulness with which this proposition is put-that the French people, seeing the immense preparations are still insufficient, will be induced to believe that on the 17th of Ventose, in the year 11, there certainly could not have existed any that should have alarmed the British Ministers--and that therefore the reason assigned by them being thus done away, every one must believe the war was entirely unprovoked by the First Consul. All this to be sure must appear very convincing to a Frenchman, who knows nothing of the collateral provocations which existed-but to any one not ignorant of them, the fallacy is obvious.

since carried on

In the first place, it must be granted by every man, not desirous of strengthening the arguments of the First Consul, or not wishing well to his cause, that this very Exposé, so far from positively denying the fact of the existence of Armament in the Ports of France and Holland, at that time, as Mr. Cobbett is pleased to say it does,

contains a downright confession of that fact, and denies merely (as is self evident on the face of the words) the existence of extraordinary ARMAMENTS, or such as ought to have excited the suspicion of the English. Nay, M. Talleyrand himself, in his conversation with Lord Whitworth upon the subject (as stated in his official correspondence) expressly admitted, that considerable armaments were prepared to sail from the ports of Holland, though he endeavoured to cloak them, under the shallow pretence that they were destined for Louisiana.

Granted, that perhaps these armaments, taken alone, were not sufficient to have excited such alarm as to induce a war-yet we call upon every man of common sense, if at the same time he have common honesty, to say, whether coupled with the following statement, Ministers ought or ought not to have been alarmed.

66

Scarcely was the treaty signed-a treaty, the basis and principle of which was to fix the relative power of the two countries, when, by an infamous juggle, France obtained possession of the island of Elba, for the evident purpose of enabling her with more effect to overawe and controul the independent states of Italy. She annexed for ever to her dominions, the continental territories of the king of Sardinia, together with the duchies of Parma and Placentia.-Her army was increased to 430,000 men, and an insolent defiance was at the same time hurled at Great Britain.-Instead of withdrawing her troops from Holland, and leaving that country at liberty to act for itself," she gradually augmented their numbers, and made this very measure a pretext for new extortions: Without even the shadow of a pretence, and with a total disregard of the faith of nations and the general opinions of the world, she invaded and subdued the independent republic of Switzerland, and imposed her iron yoke upon that once free and happy country.-She sent her agents into Egypt, for the purpose of insulting the British army, in the person of its Commander-that army, by which the troops of France had been ignominiously expelled from a country which, in defiance of every principle of public faith, she had seized and overrun in time of peace, with every circumstance of insolence, outrage, and cruelty. Even in this island, in Great Britain itself, her commercial agents were instructed to obtain every information that might tend to facilitate a future descent upon our coasts.-She seized and confiscated the vessels of our merchants, upon the most groundless pretexts, and obstinately resisted every application for redress.-She recommenced her intrigues in the new republic of the Seven Islands, with a view to her favourite projects on the Turkish empire. In the remote regions of the West, in our provinces of Canada, she endeavoured, by every art, to excite and foment discontents against the government of Great Britain-the same policy, infamous in its means and in its object, was pursued, and, unfortunately, with too much success, in Ireland; and lastly, it is confessed, that armaments, though not extraordinary ones, that is to say, not exactly upon the present scale, were fitting out in every port of France and Holland.

We demand, therefore, again, ought, or ought not ministers to have been alarmed? They had indeed ample reason; and, happily for England, they were so! No man, not even Cobbett himself, can deny this!--Yet he has now publickly dared to take part with the First Consul against ministers, and to declare that "they have destroyed the honour of the country, and its character for sincerity and fair dealing,” by causing his Majesty to say, "that considerable preparations were carrying on